Author: Andres-Papazian

INAUGURATION DE CARREFOUR A EREVAN

Commerce

La multinationale Carrefour a enfin inaugure un hypermarche en
Armenie après plus d’un an de speculations sur l'”imminence” de
cette ouverture.

Le president armenien Serge Sarkissian et les principaux membres du
gouvernement armenien ont assiste hier a la ceremonie a Erevan Mall,
le centre commercial tentaculaire de la capitale armenienne.

L’accord entre Carrefour et Erevan Mall a ete signe en mai 2014 en
presence des resident Sarkissian et Hollande, alors en visite en
Armenie dans le cadre de sa tournee au Caucase du Sud.

Après la ceremonie d’inauguration organisee par Taron Markarian,
maire d’Erevan, et le manager de Carrefour en Armenie, Christian De
Nale, Serge Sarkissian et d’autres elus ont visite l’endroit.

Carrefour avait prevu de lancer son premier magasin dans un autre
centre commercial Erevan, Dalma Jardin, peu de temps après que ce
dernier a ouvert ses portes aux clients fin 2012. Cependant, ces plans
ont ete mis en attente pour des raisons encore obscures. La societe
francaise a ensuite cite la necessite de poursuivre “la recherche du
marche armenien.”

Des rapports dans la presse armenienne en 2013, cependant, ont accuse
un homme d’affaires local, proprietaire d’une chaîne de supermarches a
Erevan, d’utiliser ses liens etroits avec le gouvernement armenien pour
contrecarrer l’arrivee de Carrefour en Armenie. L’homme d’affaires,
Samvel Alexanian, et le gouvernement ont nie.

jeudi 12 mars 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

EU SUPPORTING ARMENIAN BUSINESSWOMEN OF LORI PROVINCE

18:41, 12 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 12 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The EU Delegation and the Armenian
Young Women’s Association (AYWA) celebrated International Women’s
Day in Akhtala on March 11. The goal of the event was to present
the current achievements of the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women
in Armenia Program. The joint event served as another opportunity to
show that the EU is willing to help women grow and become established
in the public, political, economic, cultural, educational and other
sectors, as the Department of Information and Public Relations of
the Armenian Young Women’s Association reports to “Armenpress”.

The event was held as part of the EU-funded Women’s Socio-Economic
Empowerment in Armenia Program carried out by the AYWA in the Lori
Province. In her speech, President of AYWA Lilit Asatryan mentioned
that the European Union carries out several programs, and this is
brilliant evidence of that. “More than 100 ladies and women of Lori
Province participated in the courses organized within the frames of the
program. After the courses, the participants presented a total of 62
business plans, of which 12 were group plans. Out of all the plans,
15 were approved, and 3 of those (1 in Akhtala and 2 in Alaverdi)
were funded, allowing the women to carry out their programs,” she said.

From: A. Papazian

IN DETROIT, DOCUMENTING MUSIC THAT LIVES IN MINDS AND MEMORIES

US Official News
March 11, 2015 Wednesday

Washington

The Knight Foundation has issued the following news release:

One of the greatest challenges of creating a documentary on Armenian
music is that so much exists only in the minds and memories of the
people who play it. The music, from ballads that describe centuries
of village life to upbeat songs performed at weddings and dances,
wasn’t notated. There is no sheet music. What we know is what we
play live for audiences and listen to on recordings. We also most
certainly lost music due to the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915, where 1.5 million Armenians were massacred at the hands of
the Ottoman Turkish government.

Creating Guardians of Music: A History of Armenian Music in Detroit,
I had a newfound appreciation and respect for the music and culture
I grew up in, something renewed each time I interviewed people and
had them tell their story for preservation. It was so important to me
to capture their stories on camera, I felt a sense of accomplishment
each time I did, as we were preserving history and giving the audience
the opportunity to be part of such an important period of Detroit’s
history.

Interviewing was not an easy task. In many cases I was interviewing
older adults and asking them to relive their youth and tell me their
story. Memories had faded, or been erased by disease. Piecing together
information became difficult. There was one constant, though, while
conducting the interviews: the love for the music and the times in
which they listened and played. In some cases, I brought tears to
their eyes as they recalled the enjoyment they once had in listening
and performing Armenian music. This, they would never forget.

I have special memories from each person I interviewed, but probably
most memorable to me was my interview with Art Melkonian. He was
the only musician I interviewed that I did not have a previous
relationship with. Talking to him in person was a special treat for
me. I had always hear of Art, but never met him, nor was I aware of
his whereabouts until one of the other musicians, Simon Javizian,
informed me that he lived ten minutes from my own house!

In talking to Art, it was amazing to watch his mind as he reflected on
the past. You felt the sense of joy and how he still loved the music
and missed the “good ole days” of playing for the crowds. He was part
of a hit record called the Harem Dance (it was even on the Billboard
charts of 1957). Listening to him describe what it was like to play
Armenian music to a sea of people at the different venues they played,
you felt you were right with him.

Even though the documentary is produced and ready to be aired,
I still find myself from time to time reviewing the raw footage
from the interviews. I am captivated by the facial expressions,
the stories, and their respect of the music. These were not popular
musicians playing to sellout crowds. They were average, blue collar,
hardworking Armenians playing for fun.

My only regret is that I couldn’t cover every musician that played
Armenian music in Detroit. Since many of those musicians performed
from the turn of the last century, finding information, photos
or even living relatives was very difficult. Since Armenian music
isn’t mainstream, one must rely on others to tell their story. This
documentary is so much more than about the people I interviewed. It is
about anyone who touched an instrument and entertained the Armenian
community in Detroit. This is in the memory of the unsung hero of
Armenian music that learned music by ear and played for the audiences
during their leisure time. Many of them played for free or for tips.

They truly loved the music.

There is a concern that Armenian village music may become lost forever
in the near future as newer generations listen less to this form
of music. That would be a shame and I think we have a duty to teach
our youth all we know about folk music – from every culture. Music
is a major identifier for our history. Losing it is like burning
history books.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA PLANS SECOND ISSUE OF $500 MILLION EUROBONDS -WSJ

YEREVAN, March 12. / ARKA /. Armenia is planning to meet investors
in the U.S. and UK to discuss issuing its second dollar bond, The
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported citing one of the banks arranging
the roadshow.

Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan are the banks hired to run the
meetings, which are due to start March 16, WSJ said.

Armenia is likely to raise $500 million for between seven and 10 years
from the new bond sale, which could be issued as soon as Thursday
next week, it said.

In addition to the new deal, Armenia is offering to buy back up to
$200 million of its previous dollar bond issue. It will pay face value
for the bonds, which are currently trading at around 98 cents on the
dollar. The final settlement date is March 26.

The government of Armenia released today the prospectus for the
issuance of bonds without mentioning dates and interest rate.

Plans to sell more Eurobonds at international debt markets were
announced by the government on January 30 in order to finance its
budget deficit. More relating agreements were signed on March 10.

Armenia first issued $700 million worth dollar-denominated bonds
in September 2013 at the yield of 6.25 percent and used the bulk
of that money to repay a $500 million Russian loan ten years ahead
of schedule.-0-

From: A. Papazian

KREMLIN SAYS PUTIN HELD PHONE TALKS WITH ARMENIAN COUNTERPART

Big News Network
March 12 2015

RFE Thursday 12th March, 2015

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken by phone
with his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian.

In a statement released on March 12, Putin’s press service said he
and Sarksian discussed their countries’ “partnership” as well as
“integration processes” within the Eurasian Economic Union (EES),
which Armenia joined in January.

Among other issues discussed were upcoming events marking the
centennial of mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and
the 70th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in World War II.

The statement came amid rumors — denied by the Kremlin — that the
62-year-old Putin is ill.

Putin had been scheduled to visit Kazakhstan on March 12-13 and meet
there with the presidents of the other two founding members of the
EES — Belarus and Kazakhstan — but his spokesman said on March 11
that the trip had been postponed for several days.

Sarkisian was apparently not invited to the meeting.

From: A. Papazian

UPPER LARS CHECKPOINT TO LAUNCH GREEN TRACK FOR ARMENIAN EXPORTS

11:48 * 12.03.15

The customs authorities at the Upper Lars checkpoint (Russia-Georgia
border) will open a green track for Armenian exports to facilitate
the delivery of truck cargo to Russia.

To check the procedure’s effectiveness, both Russia and Armenia will
later conduct monitoring to ensure that the process is sufficiently
smooth and rapid, Suren Karayan, a deputy minister of International
Economic Integration and Reforms, told Tert.am.

“Mutual monitoring will be conducted within a month to see to what
extent and with what speed the cargo crosses the checkpoint and to
ensure that our promise for more easy and free integration into
the markets is kept after joining the Eurasian Customs Union,”
he explained.

Karayan, who is a member of the working group elaborating a model
customs code for the Commonwealth of Independent States, said he knows
that an agreement regulating oil export procedures has been recently
signed between the Russian side and the Armenian tax and customs
authorities and Ministries of Energy, and Economy. “As you are aware,
Armenia and Russian in 2013 signed a bilateral agreement on lifting
customs tariffs on the export of oil supply and raw diamond. But there
was a problem, particularly with several types of oil products which
Rusal Armenal uses as raw. The question that the organization raised
was that the Russian side wouldn’t provide the raw – the liquid oil
paraffin – on custom-free terms,” the official said.

He added this question too, was quite recently raised, and the
corresponding Russian and Armenian ministries agreed to allow that
products’ customs free delivery to Armenia within a couple of weeks
(the due date is today).

Asked to comment on the dynamics observed since Armenia’s accession
to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the deputy minister said he
doesn’t find evaluations timely for the moment.

The customs regulations effective across the common Eurasian economic
area imply increased customs duties for 1,800 types of goods. After
negotiations, it was agreed to leave the tariffs unchanged for 780
(for 3-5 years).

Asked whether there are available records revealing the new
regulations’ impact on the goods not included in the negotiated list
(clothing and perfumes), the deputy minister said that the Government
made the selection considering the products’ social significance.

For the rest of products, he recommended looking more thoroughly into
the statistics.

Karayan further addressed the concerns over the sugar and wheat
import. “There isn’t any problem as far as sugar is concerned;
we have included sugar in the exception list, so there will not be
changes in the customs tariffs in the near future,” he added.

The deputy minister admitted that there were certain problems on the
wheat market after new customs tariffs went into effect in Russia in
January) He said that the Russian side initially attempted to deduce
an equivalent to the export duty for insurance to later return it to
the exporting company after the wheat reached Armenia.

The procedure appeared to be an extra burden for wheat importers,
forcing them to freeze a corresponding amount.

Karayan said that the problem was raised and a possible solution
was offered at his recent meeting with a Russian deputy minister of
economy in Moscow. He said that wheat exporters will no longer have
to freeze any money for their products’ delivery to Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

REVUE DE PRESSE N°2 – 11/03/15 – COLLECTIF VAN

Publie le : 11-03-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN
[Vigilance Armenienne contre le Negationnisme] vous propose une revue
de presse des informations parues dans la presse francophone sur les
thèmes concernant le negationnisme, le racisme, l’antisemitisme,
le genocide armenien, la Shoah, le genocide des Tutsi, les crimes
perpetres au Darfour, la Turquie, l’Union europeenne, l’occupation
de Chypre, etc… Nous vous suggerons egalement de prendre le temps
de lire ou relire les articles mis en ligne dans la rubrique Info
Collectif VAN et les traductions regroupees dans notre rubrique
Actions VAN. Par ailleurs, certains articles en anglais, allemand,
turc, etc, ne sont disponibles que dans la newsletter Word que nous
generons chaque jour. Pour la recevoir, abonnez-vous a la Veille-Media
: c’est gratuit ! Vous recevrez le document du lundi au vendredi dans
votre boîte email. Bonne lecture.

Irak: La France condamne la poursuite des destructions du patrimoine
culturel Info Collectif VAN – – “La France
condamne avec la plus grande fermete la poursuite des destructions
du patrimoine culturel de l’Irak. Le dynamitage de la mosquee chiite
d’al-Qubba al-Husseiniya et des mausolees des prophètes Jonah, Jirjis
et Seth, le saccage du musee de Mossoul, et maintenant la destruction
et le pillage des ruines assyriennes de Nimroud relèvent d’une logique
abjecte d’aneantissement par Daech de l’un des plus exceptionnels
patrimoines de l’humanite.” Le Collectif VAN vous invite a lire
le Communique de presse du Ministère des Affaires etrangères et du
Developpement international publie le 6 mars 2015.

Collectif VAN : l’ephemeride du 11 mars Info Collectif VAN –
– La rubrique Ephemeride est a retrouver
quotidiennement sur le site du Collectif VAN. Elle recense la
liste d’evenements survenus a une date donnee, a differentes
epoques de l’Histoire, sur les thematiques que l’association suit au
quotidien. L’ephemeride du Collectif VAN repose sur des informations en
ligne sur de nombreux sites (les sources sont specifiees sous chaque
entree). “11 mars 1921 — Lors de la conference de Londres censee
permettre le retablissement de la paix en Orient, les gouvernements
francais et d’Angora conclurent un accord, le 11 mars 1921, prevoyant
le retrait francais de la Cilicie et des Territoires de l’Est. L’accord
de Londres prevoit notamment l’arret de toutes les hostilites. Ainsi,
la France cède a la Turquie, la Cilicie, incluse dans son mandat sur
la Syrie. L’evacuation de l’Armee francaise ne s’effectua qu’après
l’accord d’Angora du 20 octobre 1921. Cet accord de Londres signe
l’abandon, par la France, de la Cilicie et des Armeniens aux mains
de Mustafa Kemal. C’est au prix du massacre des Armeniens et des
Assyro-Chaldeens, de l’emigration des Grecs et de l’assimilation plus
ou moins forcee des Kurdes, que Mustapha Kemal realisera un Etat
national homogène où les Turcs n’ont jamais constitue une majorite
ethnique”.

Lyon commemore le centenaire du genocide armenien Cent ans après la
tragedie qui toucha le peuple armenien, les institutions lyonnaises
se mobilisent et, au travers d’expositions, de concerts, de debats,
commemorent le genocide armenien. En 1915, le genocide armenien a fait
plus de 1,5 million de victimes. En 2015, la ville de Lyon souhaite
porter un message aux victimes du premier genocide du XXe siècle,
mais compte aussi vanter l’idee d’universalite de la memoire et la
prevention de tous les crimes contre l’humanite.

Plusieurs manifestations seront donc organisees durant les mois de
mars et d’avril.

Pascal Bruckner : les chretiens d’Orient “victimes collaterales d’une
culture europeenne et americaine” Peut-on, comme Jean d’Ormesson le 25
fevrier dernier, dans une interview accordee a Europe 1, dire que les
communautes chretiennes d’Irak – “parmi les plus anciens chretiens du
monde ; presque des contemporains du Christ” – sont “genocidees” ? Sur
le plateau de Mots croises, personne n’a repris ce terme de “genocide”,
preferant employer celui d'”extermination”. Une guerre des mots qui
prend tout son sens dans un conflit hautement mediatique et mediatise.

Une video raciste d’une fraternite etudiante secoue les Etats-Unis
Au lendemain du discours de Barack Obama, commemorant la sanglante
repression de la marche civique de Selma d’il y a cinquante ans,
les Etats-Unis se retrouvent une nouvelle fois confrontes a leurs
vieux demons. Dans une video publiee ce week-end, on peut y voir des
jeunes de l’Universite de l’Oklahoma, issus d’une des plus grandes
fraternites etudiantes americaines, la Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE),
chanter qu’

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATIONS TO BE HELD IN 4 DIRECTIONS

15:02, 12.03.2015

On the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the remembrance
of its victims will take place in four main directions.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, noted
the aforesaid in an interview with Delo daily of Slovenia.

“First, a tribute will be paid in memory of the Genocide victims. The
Armenian Apostolic Church is going to canonize the Armenian Genocide
victims.

“Second is our word of gratitude to all those who lend a hand to the
Armenian people at the times of our ordeals.

“Third is the efforts to prevent new genocides, new crimes against
humanity.

“And the fourth direction: rebirth. The Armenian people not only
survived the genocide, but they were able to born again,” Nalbandian
stressed, in particular.

He added that Armenians across the world, and together with the
international community, will observe the Armenian Genocide centennial
under the slogan, “Never again!”

From: A. Papazian

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN: GENOCIDES ARE COMMITTED WHEN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY LACKS COMMON POSITION

GENOCIDE | 12.03.15 | 10:36

Photo:

When genocides are committed and repeated it becomes possible because
of the absence of a common position of the international community,
President Serzh Sargsyan said when receiving representatives of the
German Marshall Fund and the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation in
Yerevan on Wednesday.

According to the presidential press service, during the meeting the
Armenian leader thanked the two organizations for holding discussions
in such a format. He stressed the importance of such traditional
meetings with heads of state, noting that they provide an opportunity
to communicate directly with academic and analytical circles.

Noting that the German Marshall Fund aims to promote international
peace, security, stability, democracy, economic development
and people’s welfare, Sargsyan said that Armenia attaches great
importance to one of the Fund’s mission, which is to confront the
global challenges by joint efforts, especially as Armenian foreign
policy lays emphasis on the call to the international community for
tolerance and unity.

Unity is especially important this year when the Armenian Genocide
Centennial is commemorated, it was stressed during the meeting. The
Armenian president said that genocides as gravest crimes against
humanity take place or are repeated when the international community
fails to take a common position.

During the meeting Sargsyan informed his interlocutors about the
significance of the commemorative events on the 100th anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in Armenia and abroad. He also spoke about the
priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement process, Armenia-Turkey relations, as well as regional
problems and challenges. He then answered the questions of the guests.

From: A. Papazian

GEORGE CLOONEY: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ‘HASN’T BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED’

18:18, 12 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

George Clooney talks with CNN’s Richard Roth about his efforts to
stop genocide and other human rights abuses through his group Not
on Our Watch, at an event in New York where he announced the new
annual AURORA prize for those who have overcome adversity and gone
on to help others. Clooney also opens up about being part of a human
rights power couple with his wife, Amal Clooney.

“The Armenian Genocide has not been acknowledged 100 years after it
happened,” Clooney told the CNN.

He said one of the things that is important to his group Not on Our
Watch is to prevent the genocide before it happens. “Part of this is
acknowledging what happened before. We cannot just ignore the history,”
he added.

Clooney said it’s important to bring attention to the genocides still
happening today.

On March 10 George Clooney joined humanitarian leaders to launch a
new global prize, the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, as part
of the 100 LIVES initiative.

“We really want people to get involved with 100 LIVES,” said Clooney,
“to celebrate those that overcome adversity and give back to others,
just as the Armenian community is doing in this centenary year.”

The Aurora Prize will be given to those who put themselves at risk and
enable others to survive and thrive. Its annual grant of $1 million
will be awarded to a recipient who will, in turn, present it to the
organization identified as the inspiration for their action. Mr.

Clooney will award the inaugural Prize at a ceremony in Yerevan,
Armenia on 24 April, 2016.

Click here to watch video

From: A. Papazian