Author: Andres-Papazian

Lyon Mag, France
24 jan 2014

Lyon : 200 Arméniens de la région réunis devant la préfecture

LyonMag

Ce rassemblement était organisé samedi matin par le Conseil de
coordination des organisations arméniennes de France de la région
Rhône-Alpes.

Ils étaient au final près de 200 à se réunir dans le but de faire part
de leur colère face “au négationnisme de l’Etat turc qui n’a pas sa
place en Europe”. Une nouvelle manifestation nationale “contre
l’entrée de cette Turquie en Europe” est prévue dimanche à Paris à la
veille du déplacement de François Hollande dans le pays.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 26 2014

Diaspora Armenians seek Turkish citizenship

26 January 2014 /TODAY’S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL
Representatives of the Armenian diaspora have asked for citizenship
from the Republic of Turkey on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the
tragic events of 1915 that led to the relocation of the Armenian
population from Anatolia by Ottoman Turkey during World War I, the
Taraf daily reported on Sunday.

In a meeting held in Ankara over the weekend, a number of diaspora
Armenians suggested applying for Turkish citizenship. `Those who would
like to have Turkish passports should be provided with identification
cards,’ Armenians said in a conference called `Looking at Hrant Dink’s
murder from the perspective of 2015,’ held jointly by the Ankara
Freedom to Thought Initiative and the National Congress of Western
Armenians (NCWA).

Arakadz Akhoyan and Sevag Arstruni, deputies from Armenia, George
Aghjayan, a scholar from the Armenian community in the US, along with
Nazmi Gür, Ä°smail BeÅ?ikçi and Fikret BaÅ?kaya from the pro-Kurdish
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) took part in the meeting.

Participants discussed steps to be put forward by Turkey on the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 tragedy and said that the citizenship rights
of non-Muslims should be restituted so that they can obtain Turkish
passports.

`Those who wish to return to their historical territories should be
allowed to come back. Ottoman-era property records should be open and
accessible to everyone, as well as military archives. The presidential
palace, once the house of the Kasapyan family, and the Atatürk mansion
in Trabzon should be given back to the [Armenian] Kabayannis family,’
meeting participants were quoted as saying by the Taraf daily.

The participants demanded that the aims of a Prime Ministry-affiliated
organization called The Foundation for the Struggle Against Baseless
Allegations of Genocide (ASÄ°MED) be abandoned. `Activities that aim to
reject the genocide must be brought to an end and allocation [toward
those aims] from the budget of the Prime Ministry must be repealed in
2014. Properties that have been seized by the state should be returned
to their previous owners,’ the participants of the meeting concluded.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA: IS DEMONOPOLIZATION POSSIBLE?

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 24 2014

24 January 2014 – 3:17pm

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

The opening of Yerevan Mall in February would look quite ordinary,
if it wasn’t for two substantial circumstances.

First of all, Yerevan Mall is owned by Gagik Khachatryan, head of
the Armenian State Revenue Committee and one of the largest import
monopolists. Secondly, it is this mall where the French network
Carrefour wants to locate their representation in Armenia.

Carrefour representatives have already declared their intention to
place their first 6.600-sq.m. supermarket in Yerevan, on the ground
floor of Yerevan Mall. However, the official owner of the commercial
center, Mr Norayr Khachatryan, decided to lease this territory to some
other tenants than Carrefour. After that, some representatives of the
State Revenue Committee started inviting owners of boutiques and shops
to rent at Yerevan Mall. It should also be mentioned that when this
article was being prepared, a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza applied
for rent in the mall, and received a refusal “due to the lack of free
territory”. The PR Department of the State Income Committee stated
that “the information on Yerevan Mall being owned by Mr Khachatryan,
as well as attempts to fill it artificially is not true”.

There can be no other conclusion – Mr Khachatryan is trying not to let
Carrefour to the Armenian market. And he is supported by Republican
Deputy Samvel Alexanyan, the largest import monopolist and owner of
Alex Grig, the largest supermarket network. The latter had already
rented an enormous area in another big Yerevan mall, Dalma City Mall,
for his Gurman supermarket, to prevent Carrefour from using it.

To understand the reasons for such efforts of the two oligarchs,
you must understand what Carrefour is, a company that in September
2012 opened in the neighboring Georgia.

Carrefour SA, world’s second largest retailer after the American
Wal-Mart, owns over 15,000 hypermarkets, supermarkets, discounters,
corner shops around the world. The supposed investments only in the
first supermarket in Yerevan would amount to $6-8 million.

According to the latest report of The World Bank, Armenian economy
remains one of the most monopolized in the region. And the high
concentration of property in the possession of 20 families is still
the main barrier for competition and economic growth. It is obvious
that after world’s second largest company comes to the Armenian
market, Mr Alexanyan will lose control over the prices for most of
the imported goods (first of all, flour and sugar). And taking into
consideration the fact that Carrefour imports on its own, its coming to
Armenia will inevitably impact the wallets not only of Mr Alexanyan,
but also of other privileged importers. Due to the convergence of
business and government, only a very lazy person, or, of course,
a person who has not been granted such a privilege, couldn’t import
essential commodities at favorable conditions, distributing them at
too high monopoly prices.

For the government, the essence of the issue is not limited to
defending Mr Alexanyan’s interests, the problem is much deeper, for
the advent of Carrefour, who is used to playing by their own rules,
will mark the decline of the Armenian oligarch clan economy. After
the import is divided not between several oligarchs, but between
the oligarchs and Carrefour, the extortionate prices for goods in
Armenian shops will have to be revised, which will make them lose the
superprofits. This, in turn, will deprive the authorities of the main
financing source at elections of all levels.

A new mechanism of printed units circulation that wouldn’t be
controlled by the authorities at the next election will inevitably
bring about political competition, which is absent in today’s Armenia.

Taking into consideration that all the major monopolists are
Republicans, the correlation between the Demonopolization of economy
and politics is obvious. And for the authorities, that is apparently no
good news, making them prevent Carrefour from getting to the Armenian
(so far, monopolized) market by any means.

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

The opening of Yerevan Mall in February would look quite ordinary,
if it wasn’t for two substantial circumstances.

First of all, Yerevan Mall is owned by Gagik Khachatryan, head of
the Armenian State Revenue Committee and one of the largest import
monopolists. Secondly, it is this mall where the French network
Carrefour wants to locate their representation in Armenia.

Carrefour representatives have already declared their intention to
place their first 6.600-sq.m. supermarket in Yerevan, on the ground
floor of Yerevan Mall. However, the official owner of the commercial
center, Mr Norayr Khachatryan, decided to lease this territory to some
other tenants than Carrefour. After that, some representatives of the
State Revenue Committee started inviting owners of boutiques and shops
to rent at Yerevan Mall. It should also be mentioned that when this
article was being prepared, a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza applied
for rent in the mall, and received a refusal “due to the lack of free
territory”. The PR Department of the State Revenue Committee stated
that “the information on Yerevan Mall being owned by Mr Khachatryan,
as well as attempts to fill it artificially is not true”.

There can be no other conclusion – Mr Khachatryan is trying not to let
Carrefour to the Armenian market. And he is supported by Republican
Deputy Samvel Alexanyan, the largest import monopolist and owner of
Alex Grig, the largest supermarket network. The latter had already
rented an enormous area in another big Yerevan mall, Dalma City Mall,
for his Gurman supermarket, to prevent Carrefour from using it.

To understand the reasons for such efforts of the two oligarchs, you
must understand what Carrefour is, a company that in September 2012
opened in the neighboring Georgia. Carrefour SA, world’s second largest
retailer after the American Wal-Mart, owns over 15,000 hypermarkets,
supermarkets, discounters, corner shops around the world. The supposed
investments only in the first supermarket in Yerevan would amount to
$6-8 million.

According to the latest report of The World Bank, Armenian economy
remains one of the most monopolized in the region. And the high
concentration of property in the possession of 20 families is still
the main barrier for competition and economic growth. It is obvious
that after world’s second largest company comes to the Armenian
market, Mr Alexanyan will lose control over the prices for most of
the imported goods (first of all, flour and sugar). And taking into
consideration the fact that Carrefour imports on its own, its coming to
Armenia will inevitably impact the wallets not only of Mr Alexanyan,
but also of other privileged importers. Due to the convergence of
business and government, only a very lazy person, or, of course,
a person who has not been granted such a privilege, couldn’t import
essential commodities at favorable conditions, distributing them at
too high monopoly prices.

For the government, the essence of the issue is not limited to
defending Mr Alexanyan’s interests, the problem is much deeper, for
the advent of Carrefour, who is used to playing by their own rules,
will mark the decline of the Armenian oligarch clan economy. After
the import is divided not between several oligarchs, but between
the oligarchs and Carrefour, the extortionate prices for goods in
Armenian shops will have to be revised, which will make them lose the
superprofits. This, in turn, will deprive the authorities of the main
financing source at elections of all levels.

A new mechanism of printed units circulation that wouldn’t be
controlled by the authorities at the next election will inevitably
bring about political competition, which is absent in today’s Armenia.

Taking into consideration that all the major monopolists are
Republicans, the correlation between the demonopolization of economy
and politics is obvious. And for the authorities, that is apparently no
good news, making them prevent Carrefour from getting to the Armenian
(so far, monopolized) market by any means.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS CONFERENCE WITH AMBASSADOR BASHAR JAAFARI, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SYRIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS, AT THE GENEVA CONFERENCE ON SYRIA LOCATION:

Federal News Service
January 22, 2014 Wednesday

Montreux, Switzerland Date: Wednesday,
January 22, 2014

[parts of speech omitted]

I’m not saying that in Syria there is — there are no victims, there
is no torture, there is no high level of deaths. I’m telling you,
I’m not denying the fact that there are many mistakes that are being
committed, not just in Syria, in all countries of the world. But
there is accountability. There is national accountability and not
international. Every time an issue comes to the surface, the people
claim there is a need for an international tribunal. If there is
— in that case, why didn’t they take Bush and who — Sarkozy,
Hollande and others who have waged war and killed many people? How
about the Armenian genocide, where 5 million people were killed? If
the treatment is the same on all, fine. But if you just want to be
selective on some weak countries in Third World only because you need
to settle some accounts with this country, then that is not possible,
and that will be refused.

…

From: A. Papazian

The Times of India (TOI)
January 24, 2014 Friday

Heritage lost and found

by Ashleshaa Khurana

SURAT: In spite of having been the state’s first city to have its own
heritage policy in 2010 – having listed almost 3,000 structures as
heritage building in town – the Surat Municipal Corporation’s (SMC)
vow to protect them has bitten dust. It was a project begun with much
ambition by the previous municipal commissioner along with local
representatives from all cultural fields. However, under present
administration, not a single meeting has been held regarding the same
in the past two years, and as of now, the heritage policy seems
non-existent. But in the city of Surat, hope survives.

On a recommendation by artist Monika and architect Charles Correa,
members of the Kilachand family took a heritage trail trip to Surat.
On the wish list were the Chintamani Jain Deraser, English, Dutch and
Armenian cemeteries, Mirjan Sami Dargah, Mughal Sarai, Begumwadi
Palace and ancient heritage homes. “We were surprised to know about
the existence of so many heritage places of interest in Surat when we
saw the TOI publication on the same,” said Nilima, who was eager to
visit every site featured in the book.

“People are surprised that there is so much to see in Surat and that
its history runs so deep,” said Sonal Jhaveri, a PhD in the field of
medical journalism from MIT, Cambridge who had accompanied the
Kilachands here.

Residents of a heritage home in Mumbai having well-travelled, the
Kilachands had in-depth knowledge of architectural design. Observing
the mingling Dutch, Mughal, English, Armenian and local styles
mingling in the constructions of the stucco and stone work at the
cemeteries, Tanil Kilachand mentioned how they reminded him of the
Mughal style of architecture of Lodhi tombs in Delhi. The visitors
wished that the ASI and authorities concerned in town could take
better care of the premises. “By simply growing and maintaining a mere
lawn on leveled ground, these places could be beautified for the
benefit of the visitors,” said Nilima.

The Kilachands were fascinated by the beauty of Mirjan Sami Dargah and
observed the similarity between its floral ornamentation which
resembles ancient Jain styles. They also visited several ‘ghar
derasers’ and pleasantly discovered idols and temples, which are
centuries old in the basements of heritage homes within Nanavat and
well preserved by locals.

Having relished local cuisine, which included undhiyu and Rangooni
fare, they made sure to carry back with them Surti goodies such as
sagla-bagla, padvali and farmas biscuits, ghari and ponk for friends
and family. “The last time we were here, there were mounds of waste
around the railway station. It is good to see the progress this city
is making and we hope it preserves all heritage structures,” said the
Kilachands.

From: A. Papazian

Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Russia
Jan 24 2014

Lavrov sums up results of Russian diplomatic work in 2013 – official transcript
[parts omitted]

Armenia and Azerbaijan

Question: This year we celebrate 20 years since the signature of the
Bishkek protocol on the end of the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
For 20 years, the Azerbaijani have had no access to the cradle of
Azerbaijani culture – Karabakh. Will there be any specific
propositions to resolve this conflict this year?

A representation of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is
functioning in the territory of the Embassy of Armenia in the Russian
Federation. How legitimate is this? Isn’t this contrary to Russia’s
position in this conflict?

Sergey Lavrov: I have not heard of such information. I hear from time
to time that suites are created for somebody, or a restaurant is
opened in the territory of some embassy, contrary to the Vienna
Convention. I assume that the Vienna Convention should be observed by
everybody.

As to the first part of your question, we assume that two parties must
agree. The meeting between presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan
last November in Vienna is somewhat encouraging. Especially
considering the fact that there have been no such contacts for two
years. As far as we can understand from our talks with Armenian and
Azerbaijani friends, the heads of state were, in general, satisfied
with their talk and agreed to continue it at foreign minister level
and through a personal dialogue.

Russia jointly with the United States and France, as the co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group, is attempting to help in the setting-up of such
a dialogue. There are developments by the co-chairs, which were
deposited with the OSCE and were not rejected by the parties. They
require additional efforts to reach principled agreements on how to
resolve this regional problem.

We will contribute to this process. I emphasize once again: the main
things is that the parties agree to the principles, on which the
agreement will be based. We cannot do this work for them. Jointly with
the Americans and the French we are stimulating both parties, we are
ready to propose some ideas for consideration by Baku and Yerevan. But
the final word rests with them.

From: A. Papazian

James Warlick: Status quo unacceptable

15:44 25.01.2014

Nagorno-Karabakh, OSCE Minsk Group

`We need a greater political commitment from all parties to find a
peaceful settlement for Nagorno-Karabakh,’ US Co-Chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group James Warlick said in a Twitter post.

`The status quo should be unacceptable,’ he added.

On January 24 the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group met with the
Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, and Azerbaijan, Elmar
Mammadyarov, to continue negotiations on the peaceful resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

From: A. Papazian

The show must go on – Armenian expert on Minsk Group’s role in
Karabakh settlement

14:30 – 25.01.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Director of the Caucasus Institute
Alexander Iskandaryan addressed the negotiations over
Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Azerbaijan’s recent act of sabotage on
the Line of Contact. The expert said he sees a specific political goal
behind the gun attack, but in the meantime, he ruled out the
possibility of war at the current stage.

Could any expectations rom the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers’ meeting be real against the backdrop of the [incidents] on
the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border?

It isn’t right to speak of each of the meetings separately, because
they do yield a certain result, i.e. – the general process. There is
the Minsk Group, and everything else around it is a settlement
process.

For me, however, it is obvious that the Minsk Group has nothing more
to do for resolving the conflict. Such a settlement is not possible at
present, at least in terms of the political prospects. And it isn’t
possible for one simple reason, that is, the Armenian and Azerbaijani
positions are too far to be compatible. We are dealing with a zero sum
game, so to say.

So why then focus on the Minsk Group? The Minsk Group, which doesn’t
manage to settle the conflict instead of the parities, exists for
other purposes. Let’s recall, first of all, what the Azerbaijanis say:
`We are good, tolerant and ready for mutual concessions’. No one in
Armenia is obviously ready to speak of this.

Whereas, the Armenians say, `We are actually not against letting the
matter rest, in addition to seeking an official status for that’. And
that doesn’t absolutely leave the Azerbaijanis satisfied. Hence, it is
clear to all that there is no platform for negotiations here. There is
nothing to speak of? What follows from here? Why does the Minsk Group
work? It works for three reasons.

First, it esnures a certain platform for conducting the talks: the
show must go on, as the English proverb says. The process must
continue, because what we know from the international experience is
that the conflicts, which involve channels of communication between
the sides, see a smoother process than those which do not.

Second, that channel has to be internationalized; it has to have an
international format. This is a room which requires the presence of
not only an Armenian and an Azerbaijani but also a Russian, French and
an American. It helps create certain frameworks making the process
international.

And third, that’s actually what who were asking; the negotiation
process is a security format, a guarantee for maintaining the status
quo. And that’s what all the three co-chairs are striving for. Of
course, I am not inclined to believe in what diplomats say; for them,
words are tools set in motion through verbal manners. Both the US and
Russia are working jointly to prevent a renewed war. That’s the war
isn’t resumed. So now, why does Azerbaijan release gunshots?

Are the gunshots or preconditions of a war?

To wage a war, it is important to have the the necessary resources and
preparedness, the necessary quantity of armament and people, a certain
balance of forces etc. There are no preconditions for resuming the war
now. To do so, it is at least necessary have 80 percent assurances
that you will win. The Azerbaijanis have zero confidence about chances
of winning. Besides, this conflict is unique in character. We do not
have peacekeepers, and the ceasefire was signed because the sides had
reached a certain balance. And it is being maintained because [the
ceasefire] continues.

The border incidents received almost no international response. What
do you think is the reason?

The mediators deal with the reality; they never consider the truth.
They aren’t supposed to tell the truth. If they do so, they will be
ousted from the process. What they are supposed to do is to consider
both the Armenians and Azerbaijanis’ interests by saying something.

When saying something to Azerbaijan, the international mediators, and
the sides in general, mean Armenia; and by saying things to Armenia,
the mean Azerbaijan. And to remain involved in the process, they must
do everything possible not to leave any of the parties strongly
offended. So this is why Armenia says the mediators are
pro-Azerbaijani, and Azerbaijan says vice versa – they are
pro-Armenians. And this is what has helped revive the Minsk process
which died several times before.

From: A. Papazian

ARF Dashnaktsutyun to issue statement on CC decision

January 25, 2014 | 12:39

YEREVAN. – ARF Dashnaktsutyun will issue a written statement in
connection with Constitutional Court’s decision to suspend
implementation of the mandatory component of the new pension plan.

`We will issue a statement soon and will fully express our position on
the matter. Before doing that, I would prefer to refrain from
comments,’ ARF MP Aghvan Vardanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia on Saturday suspended the
implementation of the mandatory component of the Law on Cumulative
Pensions.

The new cumulative pension plan, which formally came into force in
Armenia on January 1, 2014, is mandatory for those born in and after
1974 and voluntary for those born before 1974. In line with this plan,
5 to 10 percent of the monthly salaries in Armenia will be deducted
and mandatorily be allocated to cumulative pension funds; the latter
will be reimbursed as pensions once a person turns 63 years old.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

COMMUNAUTE-VALENCE
A Valence, messe de requiem et dépôt de gerbe pour la mémoire d’Armen
Hovhannissian ce dimanche

Pour honorer la mémoire du sergent arménien Armen Hovhannissian mort
en héros en début de semaine sur le front de défense du Haut Karabagh,
les Anciens Combattants Français d’Origine Arménienne de Drôme-Ardèche
(ACFOA), l’association « Arménia » et l’UCFAF-Valence invitent le
public à une messe de requiem ce dimanche 26 janvier à 10h30 en
l’église Saint Sahag de Valence. A l’issue de la messe, l’ACFOA
Drôme-Ardèche, « Arménia » et l’UCFAF-Valence déposeront une gerbe
devant le khatchkar dans la cour de l’Eglise arménienne Saint-Sahag. «
Nous devons être solidaires de nos jeunes soldats qui défendent
vaillamment nuit et jour les frontières de l’Arménie et du Haut
Karabagh. Nous désirons honorer le souvenir de ce jeune soldat qui
s’est sacrifié pour sauver la vie de ses camarades et qui lutta debout
jusqu’à la mort face aux azéris dont l’attaque fut repoussée. Et même
si les pertes azéries furent beaucoup plus nombreuses, la disparition
d’Armen Hovhannissian nous affecte. Par notre geste, nous tenons à
marquer notre solidarité à sa famille, à ses amis, à ses camarades de
l’armée arménienne remarquables par leur courage » affirment les
membres des trois associations arméniennes de Valence qui honorent
ainsi la mémoire du jeune soldat arménien tombé en héros sur le front.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 25 janvier 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian