Author: Andres-Papazian

CONFLICT IN ARMENIA’S PARLIAMENT: JOURNALIST CALLS MP ‘TRAMP’

18:53 ~U 18.06.13

Aram Manukyan, Secretary of the Armenian National Congress (ANC)
parliamentary group, and Vardan Aivazyan, an MP from the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), had an argument in Armenia’s
parliament.

The reason is that Manukyan proposed setting up a committee to study
the revelations by the Control Chamber.

He proposed that Aivazyan participate in the committee’s work, saying
ironically that “he has nothing in common with mining business,
a perfectly clean and highly professional parliament member.”

Aivazyan’s response was so sharp that the parliament speaker urged
him to calm down.

Manukyan and Aivazyan went on to argue outside the assembly hall.

“I had an honor degree, but I worked as a loader. It was not
for nothing that I became a minister. Show me something stolen,”
Aivazyan said.

A journalist interfered in the argument and said that the hetq.am
website addressed the subject.

“What did they write? They took money and wrote,” Aivazyan said.

Aivasyan told the journalist she was “whimpering.”

“You are whimpering with all your family, you tramp,” the journalist
cried out.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

CHANGE OF THE GUARD IN NEIGHBORING IRAN: ELECTION OF NEW PRESIDENT IN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC AS SEEN FROM YEREVAN

NEWS | 18.06.13 | 16:23

By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Hassan Rohani’s election as new president of Iran will not bring
about any sharp changes in the Islamic Republic’s political tack,
nor will it impact the country’s traditionally good relations with its
northern neighbor Armenia, according to a Yerevan-based Iran expert.

At a press conference today Vardan Voskanyan predicted at least no
worsening in the relations between Yerevan and Tehran during the
tenure of Rohani, who was elected to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as
president in the June 14 ballot.

“One should bear in mind one important circumstance: Armenian-Iranian
relations are mainly not conditioned by the changes of presidents or
elections. These are stable and dynamically developing relations and,
fortunately, there has never been any aggravation in this relationship
ever since Armenia gained independence,” said Voskanyan. “If we look
around, we will see that Iran has had tensions and uneasy relations
with its other regional neighbors more than once.”

The expert noted that during the election campaign Rohani did not make
any statement on Armenia, while leveling sharp criticism at Azerbaijan,
in particular, stating that this country is the most serious threat
to regional security. As a candidate Rohani also criticized Turkey
for its ‘unsubstantiated claims’ to leadership.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was quick to congratulate 64-year-old
Rohani on his success in the Iranian presidential elections. Rohani
formerly served as head of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team and after
his election stated that he was ready for direct talks with the United
States around Iran’s controversial nuclear program, provided, however,
that Washington abstains from interfering in the internal affairs of
Iran and recognizes Tehran’s right to a peaceful nuclear program.

Voskanyan said that Rohani is perceived as a reformist among Iranian
politicians, while his rivals in the elections were representatives
of the conservative wing. But the expert added that in Iran both
reformists and conservatives, as a rule, do not go beyond the
boundaries drawn by the country’s spiritual leader, who is the top
policymaker in the Islamic Republic.

Voskanyan said that Rohani’s elections was a little bit of a surprise
considering the fact that opinion polls and surveys initially did not
show him as a favorite in the race, but his chances were boosted due
to support from two former presidents as well as votes coming from
women and young people.

Peaceful elections, the expert said, raise Iran’s image in the Islamic
world, and as one of the few stable states in the region today Iran
appears a very favorable neighbor to Armenia at present.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit that opened in Northern
Ireland on Monday the U.S. and Russian presidents expressed their
optimism on the Iran issue. Barrack Obama, in particular, said on
Monday that Iran’s election of a moderate as its next president was
a sign that Iranians want to move in a different direction, but he
was uncertain whether it would lead to a breakthrough over Tehran’s
nuclear ambitions.

It is also interesting from the Armenian perspective that
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan was among those
who addressed his congratulations to Rohani on the election as Iran’s
president. As head of an internationally unrecognized state Sahakyan
usually does not send his congratulations to leaders of nations
that are members of the UN or otherwise enjoy an internationally
recognized status.

“I think there is nothing bad about it, that is, the Artsakh Republic
is trying to show it is a member of the international community,”
said Voskanyan. “Regardless of whether it is recognized or not, the
Artsakh Republic is one of Iran’s northern neighbors and, in fact, it
has a larger stretch of the border with Iran than Armenia. I think that
in the future, out of its own economic and security considerations,
Iran should only promote growth and infrastructure development in
the liberated territory [in Karabakh].”

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA’S PM AND CULTURE MINISTER VISIT ANCIENT MONASTERY

June 18, 2013 | 15:00

A major restoration is in full swing at Armenia’s Sanahin Monastic
Complex ever since 2010.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, accompanied by Culture Minister
Hasmik Poghosyan, visited the ancient monastery on Tuesday and he
got familiar with the ongoing restoration, the Armenian News-NEWS.am
reporter informs from Lori Region, where the monastery is located.

The PM recorded that there is great progress and the structure is
regaining its former appearance. The architect, who is in charge of
the restoration, informed that there are still a lot of work ahead.

To note, 18 million drams (approx. $43,196) were allocated from
Armenia’s 2010 state budget and 22 million drams (approx. $52,795)
more, from the 2013 budget, for the restoration of this monum

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA’S VOTERS MUST FIGHT AGAINST AUTHORITIES, NOT SUPPORT THEM – MP

16:28 ~U 18.06.13

Artsvik Minasyan, an MP from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), agrees with Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan, who believes that the political opposition shares the
responsibility for emigration because society does not see any
alternative.

Speaking in Armenia’s Parliament, he accuses society as well. With 80%
poverty in the country, 60% of Armenia’s voters support the incumbent
authorities instead of “going to battle.”

“This is our common guilt. We were unable to remove the incumbent
authorities because the authorities’ policy forces people to emigrate.

I have no levers in my hands, have I?” he said in an interview with
Tert.am.

Minasyan does not accuse the opposition forces’ of being unable to
come to terms with society.

The opinion that the opposition forces may unite is “artificial”
as well.

“The opposition forces can never unite because they have no ideological
grounds or a system of values,” he said.

Minasyan believes Armenia’s opposition is weak, and the latest
presidential election did not prove the opposite as “37 percent is
not enough.”

“It must be 80%. However, when the incumbent authorities get 60% of
votes with 80% poverty in the country, it means society can hardly
be called society,” Minasyan said.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN TANKS WILL SHOOT AT KARABAKH

The Russia-based Vedomosti learned from the ministry of defense that
Russia supplies to Azerbaijan arms, namely modern tanks and armored
cars, with a value of 1 billion dollars.

Russia is one of the main suppliers of Azerbaijan. Russia is Armenia’s
strategic ally and a CSTO member state. So is Armenia. CSTO is a
military and political alliance which aims at protecting its members
from aggression by other states.

Azerbaijan is constantly making aggressive threats. Russia is
constantly supplying arms to Azerbaijan. Armenia is constantly silent
except for some media, political scientists, experts, analysts and
politicians.

Moreover, some Armenia-based apologists of the Russian-Azerbaijani
military cooperation have found the justification of silence: it is
not bad that Russia supplies arms to Azerbaijan because it means that
Russia will control the use of supplied arms against Armenia. Silence
is justified, and no doubt, only self-restraint prevents the Armenian
apologists of the Russian military deal from thanking Russia for
selling weapon to Azerbaijan.

In the meantime, Russian gas expansion is gathering momentum. First it
boosted the price, than took the government’s last shares of ARG.The
Armenian public and politicians are indignant which is expressed in
such descriptions of the government’s behavior is lie, falsehood etc.

Those are fair descriptions because lie and falsehood remain the most
typical descriptions of the government of independent Armenia.

On the other hand, what does the society and political class of
Armenia do apart from shouting abuse?

After all, the nature, basis and scope of relations between Russia
and Armenia are such that the government alone cannot do a lot. The
society, and particularly the so-called political forces can have a
big role.

What are those forces doing? They are waiting until the government
fails in coping with Russia. If it fails, and so has to pay a high
price to Russia, the so-called political forces are waiting to avail
themselves of force majeures and come to power with Russia’s blessing
or show up in the corridors of the Kremlin and announce that they did
not prevent Russia from strengthening their influence in Armenia,
protect their interests in Armenia, so let Russia defend their
interests a little in Armenia.

As a result, everyone benefits except Armenia.

One of the arguments of Armenian apologists of the Russian-Azerbaijani
deal is that Russia provides the security of Armenia, and though
it sells weapon to Azerbaijan, it also sells weapon to Armenia at
low prices.

This demagogy about CSTO membership and cheap weapon is another myth
because cheap weapon supplied to Armenia is not equivalent to modern
weapons that Russia supplies to Azerbaijan.

Toasts about cheap weapon may sound nice at Armenian-Russian friendship
tables but in real politics Moscow charges market prices for modern
weapons being smart enough to state its requirements publicly. And the
Armenian government does not publish the requirements to make sure that
Russia does not deprive it of the opportunity of relatively old and
cheap weapons in the silence of the so-called main political forces.

James Hakobyan 16:24 18/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

NA SPEAKER IS SURPRISED

Dwelling on the report of the Control Chamber, Hovik Abrahamyan said
that the ongoing parliamentary discussions in this connection are
natural and fit into the framework of democracy. According to him,
only a strong government can speak about its mistakes and omissions.

He noted that there are discrepancies in the report of the Control
Chamber and there are people who say that no such misappropriations
happened. He said that grounded explanations should be provided
from the NA platform. He proposed to discuss the CC revelations in
NA standing committees with the participation of the executive body
and general prosecutor’s office. He proposed to the government and
Control Chamber to discuss jointly and present a legislative package
to boost the disclosure of breaches.

Hovik Abrahamyan said that he is surprised how people commit
misappropriations in case they know they will be punished. He called
to be sincere in charges and statements.

15:55 18/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

NEW HEAD OF NUBARASHEN DISTRICT INTRODUCED TO STAFF

15:12 18/06/2013 ” SOCIETY

Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan has introduced newly appointed head
of Nubarashen district Arthur Kirakosyan to the staff and thanked
former head of the district Mher Hovhannisyan for collaboration,
press service of Yerevan Mayor’s Office reported.

Mr Margaryan said that the new head of Nubarashen district is
well aware of the problems faced by residents of the district, has
distinguished himself as an active public figure, and, keeping the
traditions of team work formed in years, with his new approaches and
organizational skills, he will contribute to the implementation of
programs related to Nubarashen district and the city in general.

The Mayor of Yerevan stressed that staffs of administrative districts
are the first link in the communication with the people, and they
contribute to the formation of people’s attitude towards municipal
authorities.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA TO ASSUME CHAIRMANSHIP OF BSEC ORGANIZATION

YEREVAN, June 19. / ARKA /. Armenian foreign minister Edward
Nalbandian will travel to Ukrainian Odessa to attend a meeting
of foreign ministers of countries making the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation organization (BSEC). During the meeting scheduled for
June 21 Armenia will assume the chairmanship of the organization.

The Black Sea Economic Cooperation is an Istanbul-based
intergovernmental organization consisting of 12 states from Southern
Balkans and the Black Sea region. Members of the organization are
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova,
Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. -0- – See more at:

From: A. Papazian

MOSSAD RECRUITING ALGERIAN YOUTHS FOR FIGHTING SYRIANS

News number: 9203184394
11:01 | 2013-06-19

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, is recruiting Algerian
young men to send them to Syria to help the other foreign-backed
terrorists in the fight against the Syrian people and government,
an Algerian newspaper revealed on Wednesday.

Informed sources who asked to remain anonymous told the Algerian daily
al-Fajr that the activities of Salafi groups in the country are under
the supervision of Mossad and these groups coax the Algerian young
men into getting involved in what they call as “Jihad in Syria” and
includes killing civilians and increasing insecurity in the country.

The sources said that the Salafi groups in Algeria are in direct
contact with their religious fellows in Tunisia and also receive
different financial and military aid from Qatar.

In relevant remarks earlier this week, a senior Austrian officer
disclosed the logistic, military and medical assistance of Israel to
the terrorist groups fighting in Syria.

“Israel crosses the border with Syria very often and interferes in
Syria’s border villages at an unimaginable rate and these interferences
include assistance and aid (to the rebel and terrorist groups)
in various logistic, military and medical grounds,” the Austrian
officer, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an interview with
the Palestinian weekly al-Manar on Monday.

He also said that Israel and the terrorist groups have joint operation
rooms in the bordering areas between Syria and the occupied Palestinian
territories to coordinate their activities and facilitate assistance
to the rebel groups.

The officer who had been deployed in the Golan Heights within the
framework of multi-national forces in recent months said that Israel
also hosts and treats the wounded members of the rebel groups in field
hospitals and clinical centers near the bordering areas, specially
Zaif hospital in Safad city.

In relevant development, security sources in the Qatari government
disclosed on Sunday that Israel has sent its Coordinator on Syrian
Affairs Afif Shavit to a meeting with Qatari officials in London late
in May to discuss supply of more arms to the rebel groups fighting
the Syrian government.

“The 4-hour meeting was held in a house in Braum House in London
belonging to Khalid a-Abeed, a Qatari citizen residing in Britain,
on May 20,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous due to the
sensitivity of his information and for fear of his life, told FNA.

“During the meeting, It was decided that Israel prepare and supply the
weapons needed by the terrorists in Syria and enter negotiations with
European arms manufacturing companies on arms purchases and money
transfer methods, and the Qatari side cover the funds and needed
budget for purchases,” added the source.

The meeting was held at a time when the EU decided to lift the
arms embargo on foreign-backed militants in Syria. British Foreign
Secretary William Hague said on May 28 that European Union foreign
ministers meeting in Brussels have reached an agreement to lift the
arms embargo on militants in Syria, while maintaining other sanctions
on the country. The EU also decided to allow the European banks to
open branches and accounts in Syria for use by the opposition.

It also coincided with US Republican Senator John McCain’s surprise
visit to Syria in late May during which he urged the administration
of President Barack Obama to send heavy arms and logistic aid to
Syrian rebels.

On the other side, the Qatari government plays the role of a
facilitator and the financial supporter of the rebel and terrorist
groups in Syria. The British newspaper Financial Times published
an investigation in May which revealed that Qatar spent billions
of dollars in the past two years to fund the Syrian terrorist and
rebel groups.

“Qatar has spent about three billion dollars in the past two years to
support the opposition in Syria, which far exceeds what provided by
any other government. However, Saudi Arabia competes now in leading
the bodies providing Syrian opposition with weapons,” the paper said.

“The cost of the Qatari intervention in Syria only represents a very
small part of the international investment of Qatar,” it added.

FT claimed that Qatari support for the Syrian opposition overwhelms
the western support.

The UK daily also noted that during scores of interviews it made with
militant opposition leaders at home and abroad, along with senior
western and regional officials, everyone stressed the growing role of
Qatar in the Syrian crisis, and this has become a controversial issue.

The paper pointed out that “the small state with huge appetite” is
the largest donor of aid to the Syrian opposition, offering generous
grants for dissidents, amounting fifty thousand dollars per year for
the dissident and his family, according to some estimates.

Sources close to the Qatari government said that the total spending
on the Syrian crisis reached $3bln.

“According to the Institute for Peace Research in Stockholm which
tracks the arms supply to the Syrian opposition,” the paper added,
“Qatar is the largest arms exporter to Syria, where it funded more
than 70 cargo flights of weapons to neighboring Turkey between April
2012 and March 2013.”

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized
attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border
guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have
been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups
for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated
from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was almost restored in the Arab state after
President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but
Israel, the US, its Arab allies and Turkey sought hard to bring the
country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington
and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots to topple
President Bashar al-Assad, who is well known in the world for his
anti-Israeli stances.

From: A. Papazian

INTERNATIONAL THEATRICAL FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN GYUMRI

20:29, 19 June, 2013

GYUMRI, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS: In support of Ministry of Culture of
Armenia Gyumri Dramatic theatre after Vardan Achemyan will hold “Duet”
international theatrical festival. The president of the festival is
professor Nikolay Tsaturyan.

Producer of the theatre Tigran Virabyan informed “Armenpress” that in
the festival are included only those theatre and theatrical groups
which present a play of two acting people. 18 theatres will take
part in the festival. 12 of them are from Armenia, the others are
from Russia, France, Ukraine and Georgia. The number of theatres
which wished to take part in the festival was greater but taking
into consideration the format and abilities of the festival we had
to elect 18 of them. There are days when 4 plays are planned to be
performed. The plays will be performed in Dramatic theatre of Gyumri
and academy of arts,” mentioned Virabyan.

For eight days Gyumri will become regional theatrical center

From: A. Papazian