Author: Andres-Papazian

SOCHI 2014: ARMENIA FLAG IS RAISED AT OLYMPIC VILLAGE

13:50 AMT, February 6, 2014

The national flag of Armenia was raised at the village of the 2014
Winter Olympics that are underway in Sochi, Russia.

The entire delegation from Armenia was on hand at the flag-raising
ceremony.

The preliminary competitions will be held on Thursday.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics will take
place on Friday and on February 23, respectively.

Skiers Sergey Mikayelyan, Artur Yeghoyan, Katya Galstyan, and alpine
skier Arman Serebrakian will represent Armenia in Sochi.

National Olympic Committee of Armenia (ARMNOC) Secretary Hrachya
Rostomyan is the Chief Commissioner of Armenia’s Olympic delegation.

NEWS.am Sport is accredited by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) to cover the 22nd Winter Olympics directly from the Russian city.

From: A. Papazian

HERITAGE PARTY: THE FOUR OPPOSITION PARTIES OF ARMENIA COOPERATE ONLY IN THE PARLIAMENT

Thursday, February 6, 16:13

The four opposition parties of Armenia – Heritage, Prosperous Armenia,
Armenian National Congress and ARFD – cooperate only in the parliament
against the compulsory accumulative pension system, Secretary General
of Heritage Party Stepan Safaryan told journalists on Thursday.

He expressed regret about this fact. “I think our cooperation might
have been wider and might have led to quite good reforms,” Safaryan
said.

He found it difficult to say why the parties are not considering
joint efforts to change the government. “There must be something
that prevents us from doing this but what exactly I don’t know,”
Safaryan said.

To remind, the abovementioned parties are jointly fighting in the
parliament against Armenia’s gas contracts with Russia and against
the authorities’ decision to impose compulsory accumulative pension
system in the country.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA : FIRST TABLET COMPUTER MADE IN ARMENIA UNVEILED

TendersInfo
February 6, 2014 Thursday

The first ever Armenian tablet computer, dubbed Armtab, was declared
to the public on Feb. 4 in Yerevan.

The founder of Technology and Science Dynamics, Inc. Vahan Zakaryan
mentioned that the strategy for Armtab was made public in 2013.

Today we have come together to celebrate Armtab s birth for all of us,
for our motherland, and society, Zakaryan noted.

Vahan Zakaryan mentioned that he is confident that in the coming
months the factory will begin mass production of the tablets.

Zakaryan noted, We received incredible support to get to work as soon
as possible.

The Chairman of the Minno Tablet Company, Eric C. Ryan, mentioned
that the investment plan is among the bests, both with respect to
the help offered by the government of Armenia and the employee and
the associates engaged in the plan.

Eric C. Ryan said, I hold in high esteem Armenia s technological
ingenuity and potential and I am confident that very soon Armenia
will be widely recognized as a hub for high technology all over the
world with our support as well.

Sargsyan said that the IT sector in Armenia requires financial
injections and institutional help to develop. In this regard, the
legislative branch of the Armenian government looks to help nascent
firms in Armenia s tech sector, the Prime Minister said.

Tigran Sargsyan said, I am also pleased to note that Microsoft s
Innovation Center in Yerevan was recognized as one of the four best
such centers in the world, which means that our young people have
this tool as well to acquire new knowledge and new skills.

Sargsyan said, We must think about incentives to give an opportunity
to emerging companies to find their place in this rather highly
competitive field. Ltd.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIANS OF GREECE MEET SWISS AMBASSADOR TO DISCUSS PERINCEK CASE

February 07, 2014 | 18:15

The delegation of the Armenians of Greece met with Switzerland’s
Ambassador to Athens Lorenzo Amberg and handed over a letter of behalf
of the Armenian community.

They expressed concern over the ruling of the European Court for Human
Rights on the Perincek vs. Switzerland case as of December 17, 2013.

The delegation members noted that the court must hold public debates
in order to hear the opinions of all parties.

The Ambassador pledged to convey the letter to his government,
adding that he had been working as an ambassador to Armenia and
Georgia and knows Armenians well. He also asked about the state of
Syrian Armenians.

The ECtHR recently ruled in favor of Armenian Genocide-denying Turkish
politician Dogu Perincek’s lawsuit that was filed against Switzerland.

The said judgment by European Court of Human Rights was made on the
grounds of freedom of speech. In 2008, a Swiss court had convicted
Perincek for denying the Armenian Genocide. Dogu Perincek is Chairman
of the socialist Workers’ Party of Turkey.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN REPRESENTATIVES PARTICIPATE IN OPENING OF WINTER OLYMPICS

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

[749360.jpg] 21:18, 7 February, 2014

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS: Members of the Armenian team skiers
Sergey Mikayelyan, Artur Yeghoyan, Katya Galstyan and alpine skier
Arman Serberakyan participated in the opening ceremony of the XXII
Winter Olympic Games at the “Fisht” Olympic Stadium in
Sochi. “Armenpress” reports that Sergey Mikayelyan was
the bearer of the flag at the Armenian team march.

The President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, the Head
of President’s Staff Vigen Sargsyan, President of National Olympic
Committee of Armenia Gagik Tsarukyan, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister
Yuri Vardanyan attend the opening of the Olympic Games.

98 complete sets of 15 sports medals will be drawn in Sochi Winter
Olympic Games. The closing ceremony of the games will take place on
February 23.

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(C) 2009 ARMENPRESS.am

-opening-of-winter-olympics.html

From: A. Papazian

GEORGIAN LEADER TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN NEXT WEEK

14:06 * 07.02.14

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili is scheduled to be on an
official visit to Azerbaijan between February 12 and 13, Georgia
Online reported.

It will be his first trip to the country since being elected in
November.

Talks on bilateral relations and regional cooperation are on the
visit agenda.

The Georgian leader intended to travel to Azerbaijan in December last
year, but the trip was rescheduled.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

MOVIE ABOUT SHAVARSH KARAPETYAN’S DEED TO BE SHOT IN RUSSIA

YEREVAN, February 7. /ARKA/. Russia’s Logos Film Company will shoot
a movie about a heroic deed of Shavarsh Karapetuyan, a multiple world
champion in skin diving, according to the company’s official website.

“This is an incredible story about the power of human spirit that
can do impossible things,” the company says on its website. “This is
a story about a strong man who had gifted the second birth to two
dozens of people and whose main reward for courage is saved lives
and own life.”

The movie producers are Svetlana Dali and Olga Sinelshikova.

Shavarsh Karapetyan is a retired Soviet-Armenian champion swimmer. He
is an 11-time World Record holder, 17-time World Champion, 13-time
European Champion and 8-time USSR Champion.

One cold morning on September 16th, 1976 he was doing his usual run
along the dam in Yerevan, Armenia, when a large trolleybus carrying 92
passengers lost control and flew off the road into the freezing water.

ôhe bus sank approximately 10 meters deep. Without a second of
hesitation, Shavarsh dived into the freezing water to rescue people.

Shavarsh used his feet to break the back window of the trolleybus. One
by one, he saved 20 peoples’ lives (he actually pulled out more then
20, but not everyone made it). He spent nearly 20 minutes in the
frigid water and accomplished 30 dives down to the wreck of the bus.

In 1980s, Karapetyan retired and in 1991 relocated to Moscow, where he
engaged in a business. He also established the Benevolent Foundation
of Shavarsh Karapetyan for fostering skin diving development in
Russia. In 2010, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan awarded a medal
for courage to him. -0—

– See more at:

From: A. Papazian

James Warlick: Armenian and Azerbaijani people will not agree with
unacceptable option of conflict settlement

18:05 06/02/2014 >> REGION

“We were actually encouraged after November 19th, (Armenian –
Azerbaijani presidents’ meeting date in Vienna-edit.). There was a
period when ceasefire was respected by both sides. The number of
incidents felt dramatically. We took that as an encouraging sign. Now
we know that ceasefire is very fragile. Events of past few weeks
demonstrated that,” US co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick
stated at the interview given to Azerbaijani news agency APA.

Answering to the question how does the tension influence the
negotiation process the diplomat said, “The new tensions are not
helpful as we try to move forward. We need to ensure that there is
trust on all sides that the atmosphere is conducive to make progress.
We hope that the ceasefire can be respected especially we are entering
the period of Olympics in just few days. I hope that both parties can
commit themselves to fully respect the ceasefire.”

According to James Warlick the new tensions do have an impact on
negotiations. “I think one of the difficulties is that after 20 years
no peace-no war there is distrust between the parties. That’s why the
respect of ceasefire is important to try to build up that trust in
each other in that confidence in all sides. And we, as mediators,
would like to try to build on that. The ceasefire is fragile, we
understand that it is not perfect ceasefire and we are not looking for
that,” James Warlick said.

The American diplomat stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group wants to see
the commitments from all parties to respect the ceasefire and minimize
violence, deaths and injuries not only on the line of contact but on
the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as well.

Answering to the question whether there is a direct link between the
negotiation process and the ceasefire violation, James Warlick noted
that he is familiar with such interpretation of the events, but is not
able to prove them.

“I think incidents wherever it happen are regrettable. There is a
ceasefire, but both sides are balance, there is a war going on; the
military forces are located one in front of another along the contact
line, and this is a dangerous situation. We would like to see this
issue settled. If this conflict is solved in durable way it will
signify a new era of prosperity for the region,” he said.

The OSCE US co-chair noted that the resources that are being wasted in
this conflict over the period of two decades could be much better put
in use for the well being of the people of both countries and for the
prosperity of the region. “I hope that the people of Azerbaijan and
Armenia will not consider this as only a territorial conflict, but
also as a way of prosperity for the future.

Answering the question how the mediators analyze the fact of increase
of ceasefire violations on the line of contact, James Warlick stated,
“It is difficult to obtain these facts. There are OSCE monitors, but
they are in very small numbers and they are able to visit the line of
contact on very infrequent basis. There is no other independent way of
verifying incidents. So it is very difficult for the Minsk group or
anyone to say how the incident started. We know there deaths and
injuries on both sides, sometimes it includes innocent civilians.”

The U.S. diplomat stated that the co-chairs have held a meeting with
the president of Azerbaijan in Baku and are intended to visit also
Yerevan. He also noted that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
will decide whether the meeting of presidents of both countries will
take place, or not, and if it will, where it will be held.

“We will continue working with both presidents and foreign ministers;
we will continue holding interesting discussion with all parties and
will try to facilitate a way forward. It is hard to predict what the
next step will be until we reach Yerevan, but we are, certainly,
intended to continue the dialogue. After the November 19th meeting the
two presidents renewed their commitment on peace process and they are
going to work together on this. They said that they are planning to
meet again. We need to make sure that this meeting will be a useful
one. It is up to the presidents to decide the date of the meeting,”
noted the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair.

James Warlick also expressed hope that the co-chairs will continue
their activities, will continue to put forward new ideas in the same
time working with the two sides in order to find a way forward.

Answering the question how successful were the two meetings held by
the Foreign Ministers of the two countries in Paris and Kiev, after
which the FM of Azerbaijan stated that it differed from the previous
meetings as “concrete issues had been discussed”, James Warlick said,
“The ministers are discussing the most difficult and sensitive issues.
And there is no need to tell you what kind of issues they are. These
are the key issues of the conflict. It is hard to discuss them, it’s
hard to find a way forward. These are negotiations, and we want to see
in these negotiations not acceptable compromise made by one side or
another. People of Armenia or Azerbaijan will not accept such a
decision.”

As James Warlick noted the OSCE Minsk Group tries to find a way
forward which will insure the victory, success for the two countries.

“The way forward is when both countries can stand up and say: “Yes,
this is a way taking to a new era of peace and prosperity for our
people. And that is not easy. In the case of Nagorno Karabakh it is
more than 20 years that this issue has been allowed to stagnate and no
progress has been made. Isn’t it time to see peace?! It is an anchor
that is waging down the region. And what we are supposed to do is to
get rid of that anchor so that there can be possibility of peace and
prosperity that the whole region deserves,” the U.S. diplomat summed
up.

From: A. Papazian

Armenia’s CU accession and EU cooperation processes are parallel – analyst

February 06, 2014 | 16:07

YEREVAN. – President Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to the Czech Republic was
important for Armenia in the context of creating a format for
cooperation between Yerevan and Brussels in the new situation.

Caucasus Institute Deputy Director, political analyst Sergey Minasyan
stated the aforementioned at a press conference on Thursday.

He noted that we are dealing with parallel processes with respect to
the Customs Union (CU) and the European Union (EU).

“Depending on the kind of progress there will be within the CU
framework, there will be EU processes, too,” Minasyan added.

As per the analyst, it may be possible to find an avenue, within these
two formats, whose negative impact on Armenia would be minimal.

“At the same time, the processes that are taking place in recent weeks
may lead to an interesting situation this year in the security domain
for Yerevan,” Sergey Minasyan noted.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

Survey: Azerbaijanis have no idea why January 20 is considered a
mourning day in their country

19:17 06/02/2014 >> SOCIETY

Azerbaijani portal “Xeberle.com” conducted a survey among the
residents of the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait. The topic of the survey
was the awareness about events held on January 20, 1990 in Baku.

The video footage , placed
in the YouTube becomes obvious that almost none of the respondents
could give a full and clear answer about the place, time and the
nature of the events of “January 20”, which is usually marked as
tragic date in Azerbaijan.

For example, on the 50th second of the record the journalist asks a
young man, what he knew about the events of January 20 and the latter
replies that the events have taken place in 1993 in Khojaly, Kubatly
and Fizuli.

On the second minute of the record, another one accuses Armenians of
the events that took place on January 20. “These events have shown the
true face of the Armenians,” he says.

Another respondent could not answer the question about the number of
martyrs killed during the abovementioned events. However, the other
respondents as well could not give a name of a single Azerbaijani
buried in the Alley of Martyrs in Baku. Many of them state confidently
that the events hav occurred in Sumgait.

Nearly all the respondents get confused in the date of the events;
someone says it happened in 1991, another one says 1993. Also, none of
the respondents could tell any specific thing about those events. Some
even flatly refused to answer to any question.

On January 13, 1990 in Baku, where there were left less than 35,000
Armenians, a massive pogrom of Armenian population started. Lists of
apartments where Armenians lived were prepared beforehand; the rioters
were walking with these lists in their hands, in some places they were
being supported by the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry officers.
Hundreds of people were killed. At the same time, as General Lebed
wrote, the Azerbaijani nationalists killed not only Armenians but also
Lezghins, Ossetians and Georgians. Moreover, a wave of violence
against the Russian population of the country started. Soviet special
squad soldier found even a well that was full of corpses of Russians
and Armenians.

On January 20 night, 1990, after a week of riots, Soviet troops were
introduced to Baku. The Azerbaijani militants fired at the troops, as
a result of which 28 Soviet soldiers were killed, another 100 Soviet
militants were wounded. According to official figures of Azerbaijan,
131 civilians were killed during the events held on the “20th
January.”

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian