Author: Andres-Papazian

Augmentation du prix du pain et du blé

Economie

samedi 31 juillet 2010, par Marion/armenews

Le prix du pain et de la farine ont augmenté en Arménie d’environ 20%
ces derniers jours, à la suite de l’annonce d’une diminution
significative de la production mondiale de blé attendue pour cet
automne.

Le ministre de l’Agriculture, Gerasim Alaverdian, a déclaré, jeudi 29
juillet, que la baisse sera particulièrement forte en Russie,
principal fournisseur de blé de l’Arménie, qui doit faire face à sa
pire sécheresse depuis des décennies.

« Nos hommes d’affaires qui travaillent avec ces États producteurs de
blé, disposent d’informations crédibles selon lesquelles les prix du
blé vont augmenter. Ils vont donc adapter leur politique de prix en
conséquence », a déclaré le ministre.

Les opposant au gouvernement ont rejeté cette explication, en
dénonçant la monopolisation de l’importation de blé par deux sociétés.

La plus grande, Aleks – Grig, est contrôlée par Samvel Aleksanian, un
riche homme d’affaires proche du gouvernement. Aleksanian contrôle
également l’importation lucrative d’autres denrées alimentaires de
base dans le pays.

« Nos hommes d’affaires accusent souvent la hausse des prix
internationaux, tout en vendant leurs camelotte, a critiqué Hrach
Berberian, président de l’Union arménienne agraire et paysanne. Ils
génèrent juste d’énormes profits. »

Berberian a avancé que la Commission d’État sur la protection de la
concurrence économique (SCPEC) devrait immédiatement intervenir et
imposer des sanctions anti-trust prévues par la législation
arménienne.

Toutefois, le président de la SCPEC, Artak Shaboyan , a indiqué,
mercredi 28 juillet, que l’organisme de réglementation n’a pas prévu
de prendre de mesures répressives à l’encontre les importateurs.

« La Commission n’est pas un organisme de réglementation des prix, a
déclaré Shaboyan. Notre travail consiste seulement à s’attaquer aux
abus du droit de la concurrence. »

Alaverdian a pour sa part affirmé que le meilleur moyen de se prémunir
contre les fluctuations des prix sur les marchés internationaux est
d’alléger la forte dépendance de l’Arménie vis-à-vis de l’importation
de blé.

Selon le Service statistique national, les agriculteurs arméniens ont
augmenté d’un peu plus d’un tiers leur consommation de blé l’an
dernier, soit environ 600 000 tonnes.

Le gouvernement arménien a officiellement approuvé un plan de cinq ans
qui vise à stimuler la production intérieure de blé pour atteindre
plus de 350 000 tonnes d’ici 2013. Le programme met l’accent sur
l’utilisation de nouveaux types plus productifs de semences.

Le ministère de l’Agriculture est sur le point d’importer 1 000 tonnes
de semence de Russie pour les distribuer aux agriculteurs cette année.
Le gouvernement a alloué 558 millions de drams (1,5 millions de
dollars ) à cette fin.

From: A. Papazian

La liste des 6 soldats Arméniens tués communiquée par le ministère de
la Défense

ARMEE ARMENIENNE

samedi 31 juillet 2010, par Krikor Amirzayan/armenews

Le ministère arménien de la Défense vient de publier la liste des 6
soldats Arméniens morts lors d’une fusillade dans une base arménienne
au Haut Karabagh le 28 juillet. Les soldats morts lors de ces
violences sont le lieutenant Vartkés Tatevossian (d’Erévan), les
appelés Karékine Hovsépian (d’Etchmiadzine), Antranig Sarkissian
(Erévan), Robert Hovhannissian (Vanatsor), Artiom Manassian
(Tcharentsavan) et Garo Aïvazian (Erévan). Le ministère de la Défense
regrette vivement ces disparitions et présente aux familles des
soldats, ses condoléances en affirmant sa volonté de faire toute la
lumière sur cette affaire.

From: A. Papazian

Une équipe franco-arménienne conduite par Claude Touloumdjian et
Stéphane Kojayan a plongé dans le lac Sevan

DANS LES PROFONDEURS DU SEVAN

samedi31 juillet 2010, par Krikor Amirzayan/armenews

Du 12 au 2 juillet, une mission de plongée subaquatique
franco-arménienne a débuté l’exploration du lac Sevan. Un lac dont les
fonds demeure à ce jour presque totalement inconnus des plongeurs et
scientifiques. La mission était conduite par le plongeur Claude
Touloumdjian, président du Centre de Recherches et de Plongées
Souterraines basé à Marseille, accompagné du plongeur et photographe
Stéphane Kojayan. En compagnie d’une demi-douzaine de scientifiques et
plongeurs -dont Karen Balayan, président du « Ayas Nautical Research
Club »- l’équipe a réalisé près d’une centaine de plongées dans le «
petit Sévan » qui est en fait la partie la plus ancienne et la plus
profonde du lac. C.Touloumdjian « Nous avons plongé jusqu’à 25 mètres
de profondeur, et découvert une faune subaquatique très riche. Il y a
également des éléments fossilisés d’animaux et des sites
archéologiques qui restent à explorer ».

Des échantillons d’eau, de sédiments, de flore (plantes subaquatiques)
et de faune (écrevisses, mues, plancton) ont été relevés et remis aux
scientifiques pour étude et analyses. Des relevés de sites
archéologiques furent effectués. Des échantillons de matériel
archéologique furent même découverts et photographiés. L’équipe n’a
toutefois pas réussi à découvrir le volcan sous-lacustre dont les
scientifiques supposaient l’existence. Par contre, les géologues ont
localisé avec précision, la paléo-vallée située à quelque 35 mètres de
profondeur dans la baie de Noradouz. Ce site pourrait être le centre
de futures recherches archéologiques intéressantes. Une réunion
générale le 19 juin dans les locaux de l’Académie des Sciences
d’Arménie a permis de constituer un comité scientifique chargé de
cette exploration du lac Sevan. Autour de la table, se pressaient
outre Claude Touloumdjian et Stéphane Kojayan, des scientifiques très
renommés tels que Baroukh Gabrielian (Directeur de l’Institut
d’Hydrologie et d’Ichtyologie d’Arménie), Arkady Karakhanian
(Directeur de l’Institut des Sciences Géologiques), Armen Saghatelian
(Directeur du Centre d’Etudes Ecologiques et Noosphère), Pavel
Avétisian (Directeur de l’Institut d’Archéologie et d’Ethnologie),
Seyran Minasyan (Directeur-adjoint de l’Agence de suivi de la qualité
des eaux « HayEcoMonitoring) rattaché au Ministère de l’Environnement
et M. Gndoyan, Directeur du Parc naturel du lac Sevan.

Leurs centres ou instituts scientifiques s’apprêtent à analyser ces
centaines d’échantillons de prélèvements effectués sous les eaux du
Sevan. Un compte-rendu scientifique sera réalisé. Les médias d’Arménie
ont largement couvert cet évènement qui vise à développer les
connaissances du lac Sévan tout en améliorant la prévention face aux
risques de noyades et en sensibilisant la population sur la fragilité
de l’écosystème. Une école de plongée pourrait également voir le jour
dans un avenir proche.

En attendant une prochaine mission l’an prochain, Claude Touloumdjian
qui atteignit la profondeur record de 153 m à la Fontaine du Vaucluse
en 1981 affirme « nous espérons réaliser des découvertes très
intéressantes ». Un autre des objectifs du groupe est d’atteindre le
niveau le plus profond du lac Sevan à quelques 81 mètres de fonds et
de dresser une cartographie sous-marine précise.

La mission a besoin du soutien de tous ceux qui sont sensibles à ce
projet de découverte du lac Sévan et de la protection de
l’environnement. Tous ceux qui désirent apporter leur aide, peuvent
joindre Claude Touloumdjian (tél.06 16 70 32 08 e-mail :
[email protected]).

Photos Stéphane Kojayan

From: A. Papazian

Trend, Azerbaijan
July 29 2010

Turkey’s position on Nagorno Karabakh unchanged

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 29 / Trend E. Ismayilov /

Turkey reaffirms that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only be
resolved by liberating Azerbaijani lands, Turkish Foreign Trade
Minister Zafer Caglayan said at a press conference in Baku.

“The Turkish position will remain unchanged,” he said.

The minister arrived in Baku today with a Turkish business delegation
to hold various meetings and negotiations.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the United
States – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

From: A. Papazian

Trend, Azerbaijan
July 29 2010

State Minister: Turkey to support de-occupation of Azerbaijani lands

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 29 / Trend I. Khalilova /

Turkey has supported and will support the return of Azerbaijani
occupied territories by Armenia, Turkish Foreign Trade MinisterZafer
Caglayan, taking part in the opening of the Azerbaijani-Turkish
business forum in Baku, said today.

“Our strength is our unity,” Minister said.

Turkish minister and a large delegation of businessmen arrived in Baku
on Wednesday to hold various meetings and negotiations.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

From: A. Papazian

Trend, Azerbaijan
July 29 2010

Additional actions are needed to reinforce the ceasefire between
Azerbaijan and Armenia – OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Igor Popov (Russia), Bernard
Fassier (France) and Robert Bradtke (United States) on Wednesday met
with members of the group in the Austrian capital Vienna, says a
statement issued by the co-chairs.

They briefed the Minsk Group on recent developments in negotiations on
the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including:
discussions held in St. Petersburg June 17, 2010 by the presidents of
the Russian Federation, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; the meeting of the
Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries with
the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia July 17, 2010; and the
joint statements issued by the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries in
Muskoka and Almaty.

The Co-Chairs stressed that the efforts made so far by the sides of
the conflict have not been sufficient to overcome their differences,
and that additional actions are needed to reinforce the ceasefire and
demonstrate a spirit of compromise.

To assist the parties in their efforts, the Co-Chairs plan to visit
the region in early September, says the statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are
currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
July 29 2010

Incident causes casualties in Armenian military unit – Defense Ministry

YEREVAN July 29

An incident involving the use of firearms has occurred in a military
unit in Armenia, causing casualties, the Armenian Defense Ministry
press service told Interfax.

A criminal case has been opened and an investigation is under way, the
ministry said.

“The Armed Forces are extending their deepest condolences to the
victims’ relatives and loved ones. The appropriate services have
already been instructed to investigate this incident,” the ministry
said.

The details of the incident have not been reported.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
July 30 2010

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs urge Baku, Yerevan to work harder for
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

BAKU July 29

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will pay a visit to the enclave
of Nagorno-Karabakh in early September, it was announced after a
meeting in Vienna.

“The co-chairs stressed that the efforts made so far by the sides of
the conflict have not been sufficient to overcome their differences,
and that additional actions are needed to reinforce the ceasefire and
demonstrate a spirit of compromise,” it said in a statement.

“To assist the parties in their efforts, the co-chairs plan to visit
the region in early September,” it says.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs ambassador Igor Popov of Russia,
ambassador Bernard Fassier of France and ambassador Robert Bradtke of
the U.S. informed the Minsk Group about the latest events in the
negotiations on settling the conflict at the meeting in Vienna.

Nagorno-Karabakh is located inside Azerbaijan but has a mainly ethnic
Armenian population. It declared itself independent in 1991 leading to
a three-year war.

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
July 30 2010

We strongly advise and suggest that NATO PA refrains from addressing
Nagorno-Karabakh issue

Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan sent a
letter to NATO Parliamentary Assembly President John Tanner. According
to the NA information department, the letter reads:

`Dear Mr. Tanner,

I am addressing you regarding a possible report on the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue to be prepared for the discussion at the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly. To be frank, I am surprised that such a step
might have been taken without proper consultations with members of the
Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

As known, currently the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process runs under the
mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs USA, France and Russia. It
is our strong conviction that given the confidentiality, specificity
and delicacy of the negotiations, the initiatives held in formats
other than the Minsk Group co-chairmanship, even with a good intent,
include a great danger of jeopardizing the negotiating process and
undermining the mediation efforts. Therefore, any initiative on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution requires prior consultations with
the Co-Chair States of the Minsk Group, having in view that the USA
and France are both NATO members.

The attempts of Azerbaijan to raise the Nagorno-Karabakh issue within
different international formats are aimed at advertising Azerbaijan’s
own perception of the conflict resolution with disregard of the
entirety of principles proclaimed by the Co-Chairs as the basis for
the conflict resolution. It is worth mentioning that the Co-Chair
countries voted against the resolution proposed by Azerbaijan at the
UN General Assembly session in March, 2008, stating that the
`resolution selectively propagates only some of the principles [of the
conflict resolution] excluding others.’

Just a few days ago, exactly on July 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of France Bernard Kouchner, and Deputy Secretary of State of the
United States of America James Steinberg issued a statement in which
they reaffirmed the principles and elements of the conflict resolution
stated by the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries
at the G8 Summit of June 26, 2010 in Muskoka. They once again stressed
the point that the mentioned principles and elements have been
conceived as an integrated whole and that any attempt to give
preferences over other principles would make it impossible to achieve
a balanced solution.

With due respect to an authoritative organization like the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly, we consider it our duty to remind that in
non-distant past a NATO PA report on Nagorno-Karabakh provoked
selective references, unsubstantiated interpretations, and wrong
speculations. I believe that the report in no way has contributed to
the creation of a favorable environment for the settlement process. I
do not see any reason why this new initiative may yield a different
result.

It was due to the clear understanding of the sensitivity of the issue
that Secretary General Rasmussen and other NATO high ranking officials
voiced their strong support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on
different occasions and stressed that NATO did not have direct
involvement in the issue nor did it play a role of its own in the
mediation process.

Based on these concerns, Honorable Mr. President, I would like to
strongly advise and suggest that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
refrains from addressing the issue on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. `

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
July 30 2010

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to seek ICJ ruling over its status

Panorama.am questions Hovhannes Nikoghosyan – a Research Fellow from
Yerevan-based Public Policy Institute, over the ICJ Kosovo ruling and
its implications over Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Panorama: Mr. Nikoghosyan do you believe, at the end of the day, ICJ
ruling will have its say in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue?

Nikoghosyan: Thanks for the question indeed. Well, I guess the
implications should better be derived from the ruling, but most
importantly ` also from the proceedings. Here I want to share 2
points. Firstly, the proceedings and the statements made by different
countries at ICJ make the real atmosphere of change in the
international relations when it comes to the issues of territorial
integrity, inviolability of frontiers and self-determination. This
change is of legal nature, not political. For instance, the
representative of United Kingdom said that (ICJ oral statements, para.
13-14) unlike Northern Cyprus or Palestine, the UN Security Council
“had not called upon the international community not to recognize
Kosovo”, while UN SC Res. 541 (1983) declared the independence of
Northern Cyprus as unlawful. Similarly, nor the UN SC, neither the
OSCE (which is mandated as the sole mediator) has ever declared that
Nagorno-Karabakh independence is unlawful, even though no state ever,
including Armenia, has ever explicitly and de jure recognized the
legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, what we should derive from
this ruling is the fact that international court declared that a
unilateral declaration of secession is hence a legal norm.

Secondly, some reports and rumors have spread these days that Armenian
authorities, co-signed and co-authored with NKR authorities are about
to circulate a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly, asking the
advisory opinion by ICJ over the legal force of the Constitutional
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, which took place in December 2006. The
only obstacle for this to happen, is the reservation made by the
National Assembly of Armenia (decision N-131-1, Oct. 23, 1996) with
regard to Article 66 of Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which
requires the mandatory consent of all parties to any particular case
before applying to an international court or arbitration. This might
be an utmost fascinating development of the peace process.

From: A. Papazian