Author: Andres-Papazian

Detained Political Activist Claims He Did Not Attack Police

11.30.2013 00:47 epress.am

Shant Harutyunayn does not accept the accusation of committing
violence against the police, Harutyunyan’s attorney, Inessa Petrosyan,
told reporters today after meeting wit her client, who was arrested on
Nov. 5 after instigating an anti-government demonstration that
resulted in clashes with riot police. The political activist is
currently under examination at the Nubarashen psychiatric clinic.

Harutyunyan claims he did not attack a police officer. Police officer
Edgar Aleksanyan, who, according to the charges, Harutyunyan hit with
a truncheon, was in civilian clothes. The detainee also stated that
ahead of his organized march to the presidential palace on November 5,
there were many provocateurs at Liberty Square.

The opposition leader told his attorney that the reason protestors
were carrying truncheons on the day of the march was because given the
precedent of the events of March 1-2, 2008, he and his supporters
didn’t rule out the use of force by police. He also recalled that he
had publicly stated ahead of the march that the truncheons would be
used only in the case of self defense.

Recall, Shant Harutyunyan is being accused of the use of violence
against a representative of the authorities. The accused claims he was
beaten by RA Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan while in police custody.

From: A. Papazian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Nov 30 2013

Armenian opposition protests against accession to Customs Union

30 November 2013 – 4:38pm

The Arnenian opposition protests against the country’s accession to
the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

According to the leader of the opposition National Self-Determination
Movement, Paruyir Ayrikyan, the government’s decision not to sign the
associate membership agreement with the EU was a great mistake and a
crime against the Armenian people.

President Serzh Sargsyan “has simply denied the Armenian people’s
right to develop,” the politician says. He underlines also that it was
Russia that forced Armenia not to sign the agreement.

He notes that the opposition will hold a protest rally on the day
Vladimir Putin visits Yerevan.

From: A. Papazian

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : LA NOUVELLE REVELATION D’HASAN CEMAL

ARMENIE

Il est nécessaire que la Turquie comprenne la douleur ressentie
par les Arméniens ayant survécu a l’année 1915, la partage et
présente des excuses avant l’année 2015 a déclaré le journaliste
et publiciste turc Hasan Cemal qui a écrit a ce sujet un article
publié sur T24.

” Les Arméniens sont un peuple d’Anatolie. Leurs racines et leur
patrie sont en Anatolie. Les Arméniens, comme les Kurdes, ont vécu
en Anatolie avant que les turcs y apparaissent. La vérité est
que la Turquie n’a pas encore accepté le fait que les Arméniens
ont été coupés de leurs racines et de la mère patrie en 1915 ”
écrit Hasan Cemal.

” La frontière entre l’Arménie et la Turquie devrait être
ouverte. Les relations diplomatiques devraient être établies entre
les deux pays.

Ces deux mesures doivent être prises sans aucune condition préalable.

La Turquie, en tant qu’Etat, devrait s’excuser devant les Arméniens ”
a déclaré Cemal.

Dans son article Hasan Cemal fait le récit d’un récent voyage dans le
New Jersey ” Après les discours et la séance de questions-réponses
terminée, j’ai commencé a signer des livres.

Une femme blonde est venue vers moi, mon livre a la main, se pencha
vers moi et dit alors qu’elle se nomme Anna et a indiqué : ” Elle
appartenait a mes parents la maison de votre famille a KurtuluÅ~_ ”.

J’ai été surpris pendant un moment. Puis je me suis levé, lui
ai serré la main. Des regards brefs. Anna a tourné le dos. Que
pouvais-je faire ? ”.

Hasan Cemal précise que par ordre d’Ataturk sa famille a recu un
immeuble que des années plus tard, sa famille a vendu en raison de
problèmes financiers.

” La propriété du grand-père d’Anna a été confisquée en 1915
par l’Empire ottoman et c’est l’Etat républicain qui en a accordé
la propriété a notre famille. Je ne sais pas ce qu’a ressenti
Anna a la lecture de mon propre livre. Mais je n’ai pas senti une
expression négative.

1915, le centenaire est a nos portes ! La Turquie, en tant qu’Etat,
devrait s’excuser devant les Arméniens ”.

vendredi 29 novembre 2013, Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

Armenian districts of Aleppo under fire

November 30, 2013 – 15:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – An Armenian child was injured as a shell hit near
Zvartnots church in the Syrian city of Aleppo Friday, Nov 29.

As PERIO NEWS said in a Facebook post, the kid, Anto Tutunjian, got
the necessary treatment and is already at home. Another shell struck
Sulaimaniya district, causing damages. No casualties were reported.

Before the war, there were 80,000 Armenians living in Syria, most of
them in Aleppo. When hostilities broke out, 10,000 people fled to
Armenia while 5,000 settled in neighboring Lebanon.

120,000 people have been killed in the fighting that has ravaged Syria
for two-and-a-half years, according to the UN.

From: A. Papazian

Food dominates consumer basket in Armenia, says NGO chief

15:30 – 30.11.13

Food products account for 56.9% of the consumer basket in Armenia, a
consumer NGO chief has said, citing recent findings by the National
Statistical Service (NSS).

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, President of the Consumer Union NGO
Armen Poghosyan said such statistics indicates the population’s low
well-being.

`The poverty level in the civilized world is estimated in the
following way: if 25% of the means go to food, the population is poor.
In our case, it is 57%. Any estimation suggesting that one person
spends one Dollar a day is a sign of extreme poverty. Here is the
boundary between life and death,’ he said.

Poghosyan further complained of the Service’s work, noting that it
hasn’t yet published its consumer market statistics for the first six
months of 2013. `The existing records are worse than last year, that’s
why they aren’t making them public yet,’ he concluded.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIE
La visite du Président russe

La presse reproduit le communiqué officiel sur la visite d’Etat du
Président russe en Arménie le 2 décembre. Dans le cadre de cette
visite, les Présidents évoqueront entre autres la mise en `uvre des
accords conclus lors de la visite du Président Sarkissian à Moscou, le
3 septembre (Union douanière).

Selon les sources de 168 Jam, le commandant de la base militaire russe
serait parti en congés juste avant l’arrivée de son Président. La
raison en serait son interview donnée au quotidien officiel russe «
Krasnaya Zvezda » dans laquelle il aurait déclaré que, dans le cadre
de l’OTSC, la base militaire russe interviendrait si l’Azerbaïdjan
décidait de résoudre le conflit du HK par voie militaire. Cette
déclaration avait suscité la polémique en Azerbaïdjan, qui avait
demandé des explications à la Russie.

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Arménie en
date du 28 novembre 2013

samedi 30 novembre 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

ERHAN TUNCEL, SUSPECT IN DINK TRIAL, BROUGHT TO COURTHOUSE FOR TESTIMONY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 29 2013

0
Erhan Tuncel
29 November 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, Ä°STANBUL

Erhan Tuncel, who was previously acquitted of all charges related
to the 2007 killing of Hrant Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was brought to an Ä°stanbul courthouse
on Friday to testify.

The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court, which has started a retrial
in the Dink case, issued an arrest warrant for Tuncel in September,
and he was detained by police on Oct. 24.

The Ä°stanbul court launched the new trial after the Supreme Court
of Appeals in May overturned the court’s ruling of Jan. 17, 2012, in
which it dismissed the involvement of an organized criminal network
in the murder.

Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2004 bombing
of a McDonald’s restaurant in the Black Sea city of Trabzon but
was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, including
prosecutors’ claims in the first trial that he was the one who ordered
Yasin Hayal, the man who was given a life sentence for soliciting
Dink’s shooter, to murder him.

Dink’s lawyers earlier said the Supreme Court of Appeals’ 9th Criminal
Chamber had indicated in its May decision that Tuncel may have played
a crucial role in the murder of Dink.

Hayal and Tuncel, along with all other defendants, were acquitted
of charges of membership in a terrorist organization in the local
court’s ruling.

Dink was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
Ä°stanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the
murder was linked to the “deep state,” a term used in reference to
a shady group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links to criminal elements.

In an interview with the Star daily last month, Tuncel accused the
gendarmerie of having a “big role” in the murder of the Armenian
journalist.

Prosecutor Muammer AkkaÅ~_, who is supervising the investigation, asked
that Tuncel be brought to the Ä°stanbul Courthouse in Caglayan. The
next hearing of the case will be on Dec. 3. The prosecutors first heard
testimony from Ogun Samast, who pulled the trigger and killed Dink.

From: A. Papazian

FIRST CSTO ACADEMY TO BE OPENED IN ARMENIA

Xinhua News Agency, China
Nov 29 2013

English.news.cn 2013-11-29 19:18:03

YEREVAN, Armenia, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — The first academy of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be opened in
Armenia, Armenian news agency Armenpress reported on Friday.

“The exact date of the opening is not clear yet, but I can tell
that it’s really necessary, as the students are very interested in
the activity of the CSTO,” said Nver Torosyan, director of the CSTO
Institute in Armenia.

A memorandum on creating a “CSTO Academy” Fund was signed on Jan. 29,
2013, and it aimed to establish the academy as a research, education
and study centre in the field of security and other related spheres.

The CSTO, which evolved from the Collective Security Treaty signed in
1992, comprises seven members — Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Armenia has been a member of
the CSTO since 2002.

From: A. Papazian

MASTERPIECE OF MEDIEVAL ARMENIA RESTORED

Independent online, South Africa
Nov 29 2013

November 29 2013 at 06:00pm

Yerevan, Armenia – Standing next to a newly refurbished bell tower,
priest Aristakes Aivazyan says it needed divine intervention to save
Armenia’s medieval Haghartsin monastery.

But it also took a lot of money from a very unlikely benefactor —
the Muslim ruler of the resource-rich Arab emirate of Sharjah, Sheikh
Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi.

“I cannot recall anything similar to this happening in our history
that some Arab sheikh, a Muslim, helped to restore and rescue an
Armenian Christian church,” Aivazyan told AFP.

“Without doubt it was God who brought the sheikh to Haghartsin,”
the priest, dressed in long black robes, said.

Perched spectacularly amid thickly forested mountains about 100
kilometres northeast of Yerevan, Haghartsin monastery is a masterpiece
of medieval Armenian ecclesiastical architecture.

Founded in the tenth century, the monastery – which includes three
churches and once housed about 250 monks – survived attacks from Arab
and Ottoman invaders and anti-religious campaigns under Soviet rule
during its turbulent history.

But after weathering those storms, decades of neglect in recent years
meant the complex looked headed for collapse as plants twisted through
walls and cracks threatened to send buildings tumbling.

“The monastery was in need of serious reconstruction but the repairs
were always delayed by the lack of finances,” father Aivazyan said.

That was until a fortuitous visit from al-Qasimi, who had been invited
to Armenia by former president Robert Kocharian on a trip set up by
the Armenian business community in the emirate.

“In 2005 his royal highness visited Armenia and generously offered
to renovate the complex during a tour of various Armenian regions,”
says Varouj Nerguizian, a Sharjah-based Armenian businessman who has
advised the sheikh.

Nerguizian refused to say how much the sheikh had given for the
refurbishment but local media reported that it could be around
$1.7-million.

Now, after years of building work including a new road up to the
monastery to help boost visitor numbers, the refurbished structure
was finally opened last month.

“It falls within the natural context of his royal highness’
philanthrophy as well respect for other religions,” Nerguizian.

Perched on the Persian Gulf, after Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sharjah is
the third largest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE.

Al-Qasimi, 74, – who came to power in 1972 after his brother, then
king, was killed in a failed coup – has sought to boost the emirate
as a tourist and cultural hub in the region.

Despite a thriving community of Armenian businessmen that now boasts
its own church in the emirate of about 900 000 inhabitants that now
boasts its own church – there have been few links between Yerevan
and Sharjah.

For those working at the monastery, the surprise of seeing an Arab
leader visiting the holy Christian site remains a vivid memory.

“He came with his entourage of about 10 people and looked around for
quite a while at all the churches and stone crosses before asking
to go into the main Church of Our Lady,” recalled Artak Sahakyan,
who sells candles to visiting worshippers.

“When he came out he said that he believed that the word of God was
really heard here,” Sahakyan said.

Armenia is considered to be the oldest Christian country in the world
and its Apostolic Church belongs to the ancient Oriental Orthodox
branch.

The church is hugely influential in Armenia and two monasteries
and its main cathedral are already listed on Unesco’s list of world
heritage site.

After a history of conflict between Armenia and its Muslim neighbours
of Turkey and Azerbaijan, those working at the Harghartsin monastery
say they hope the support they have received from a Muslim ruler
shows that the two faiths can get along.

“The sheikh is a deeply religious man so seeing a monastery is such
a bad state it is not surprising that he felt touched,” says father
Aivazyan.

“It is as if the with this generous gesture the sheikh is saying that
we need to be tolerant of other religions as in the end we all serve
one God,” Aivazyan said. – AFP

From: A. Papazian

COURSE OF ARMENIAN DUDUK

UNESCO, UN
Nov 27 2013

Paris

United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has
issued the following news release:

Course of Armenian Duduk

Maestro Gevorg Dabagyan will give lessons in duduk, an Armenian musical
instrument inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Duduk and its music were inscribed on the Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 (originally proclaimed
in 2005). The duduk, or “dziranapogh” in Armenian, is a double-reed
woodwind instrument made of apricot wood, conventionally called the
“Armenian oboe”. The roots of its music go back to ancient times. The
Armenian duduk is distinctive in construction and performance technique
and, characterized by a warm and soft timbre. It accompanies popular
Armenian traditional songs and dances of the various regions and is
played at events, such as weddings and funerals; over the last few
decades, its popularity has faded, in particular in the rural areas
where it originated.

Minas Lourian, director of the music section of the Studies and
Documentation Centre of Armenian Culture of Venice, has invited Gevorg
Dabagyan to teach this year’s edition of the Course of Armenian duduk.

Dabagyan is a major living expert in this very ancient instrument
and the main duduk teacher at the Yerevan State Conservatory. He has
founded several ensembles, including Shoghaken, a group dedicated
to preserving the very rich Armenian folk music heritage. Liturgical
music also features prominently in Dabagyan’s vast repertory.

Details Type of Event Special Event Start 29.11.2013 09:00 local
time End 01.12.2013 18:00 local time Focal point Rosati, Matteo
Organizer Studies and Documentation Centre of Armenian Culture of
Venice Contact Matteo Rosati at [email protected] Country Italy
City Venice Venue Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena
Language of Event English

For further information please visit:

From: A. Papazian