Author: Andres-Papazian

Kazimirov: Heydar Aliyev’s persistence to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict by force helped the Armenians to win the war

ARMINFO
Friday, May 24, 11:49

Heydar Aliyev’s persistence to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
by force helped the Armenians to win the war, Vladimir Kazimirov,
former Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said during a meeting
organized by Rossotrudnichestvo in Yerevan on Thursday.

“Even losing control over their territories, both Abulfaz Elchibey and
Heydar Aliyev persisted in their futile attempts to turn things around
and to resolve the conflict by force of arms. The Azeris kept
rejecting the mediators’ peaceful initiatives, while the Armenians
were open to them,” Kazimirov said.

He said that though losing more and more territories, the Azeris were
stubborn in refusing to make peace, and that was good for the
Armenians, who moved farther and farther into Azerbaijan.

“Had the Azeris accepted the UN Security Council’s Resolution 822,
they would have not lost Agdam, Fizuli, Jebrail, Kubatlu and Zangelan.
But they do not wish to admit this as they want to pose as ‘victims of
occupation.’ Ilham Aliyev keeps referring to the four UN resolutions.
But he quotes only the articles that serve his
interests. He insists that Nagorno-Karabakh troops be withdrawn from
Azeri territories, but he forgets that it was Azerbaijan who wrecked
those resolutions by refusing to stop the war,” Kazimirov said.

The cease-fire agreement was signed by the defense ministers of
Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan on May 2 1994 due to efforts
of the OSCE Minsk Group.

From: A. Papazian

Nvard Davtyan
`Radiolur’

The Yerevan Press Club presented today the report on the 2nd and 3rd
stages of the monitoring of Armenian broadcast media coverage of
elections of the Yerevan Council of Elders.

The report covers the period of May 4-19, including the `day of
silence,’ the voting day and the post-election period.

The research included four national TV channels -Public TV, Yerkir
Media, Kentron and Second Armenian TV Channel, one Yerevan TV channel
– ArmNews, as well as the Public Radio of Armenia and ArmRadio FM 107
radio channel.

`Coverage of the `day of silence’ has identified obvious legislative
and regulatory gaps in the Armenian electoral system. There is a lack
of both clear definitions and explaining commentary as to what
constitutes pre-election promotion,’ President of the Yerevan press
Club Boris Navasardyan told reporters today.

From: A. Papazian

Charles Aznavour to be present at the opening of his star in Yerevan

16:38 24.05.2013

World-famous French Armenian singer Charles Aznavour will be present
at the opening of his star in Yerevan within the framework of the
Golden Apricot 10th International Film Festival.

The 10th Golden Apricot will take place July 7-14 with the support of
the Armenian Ministry of culture and VivaCellMTS.

This year the festival will feature renowned producer and film
director Krzysztof Zanussi and film director and screenwriter Jos
Stelling.

From: A. Papazian

Business | 24.05.13 | 16:07
Canadian firm shows interest in Armenian air market development
[image: Canadian firm shows interest in Armenian air market development]

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

Raffi Elliott
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

A Canadian aviation consulting company has shown willingness to draft a
development plan to spur the Armenian aviation market.

The Toronto-based KNM Aviation Company recently submitted an offer to the
government-affiliated Civil Aviation Department, the Ministry of Transport
and Communications and Armavia, Armenia’s national carrier, which stopped
operating flights last month, suggesting a plan that includes a rebranding
of Armavia, a change of management and further development.

The company’s representative in Armenia Raffi Elliott says the company is
experienced in working with small air companies in small countries and has
several success stories in post-Soviet countries and in the Caribbean.

Elliott told ArmeniaNow that his company’s interest in Armenia is partly
conditioned by the fact that it has native-Armenian partners.

`Diaspora Armenians take great pride in the fact that Armenia has its
national air carrier, but as soon as they went on board an Armavia aircraft
their pride would vanish. Now those people truly want Armenia to have a
modern and well-managed airline, and the occasion has arrived,’ he says.

Armavia stopped all of its flights starting April 1 this year, filing for
bankruptcy. The company owes millions of US dollars to the government,
local banks and other companies. It is noteworthy that the company has not
yet turned to court to start the bankruptcy procedure, instead submitted a
`rehab’ plan to the Public Council, which in turn approached the government
with suggestions over civil aviation. The Armenian government has filed a
lawsuit against Armavia demanding that it pay its debts on air tax. The
Orakarg (Agenda) newspaper’s economic analyst Armenak Chatinyan shares his
estimates of the scale of Armavia’s debts, saying only in Armenia it could
amount to over a hundred million dollars.

*Elliott says according to KNM Aviation, the reason Armavia failed is its
`Soviet’, very poor management system, which hampered the company’s
development.

`There are so many reasons=85, since Armavia enjoyed monopoly in the sphere,
it did not even care to become competitive. I always say that Armavia is
the sky route bus (marshutka), meaning that it flies when the plane is
full, with nobody saying to fasten the belts, no rules, no order, etc.
Armavia does not need to pretend being British Airways, but can become an
Armenian version of Fly Dubai,’ he stresses.

KMN Aviation also believes that Zvartnots International Airport has to be
operated to its full capacity in order to develop Armenia’s civil aviation
market.

`Armenia is very lucky to have a state-of-the-art airport, best in the CIS,
but it is not used to its best advantage. Now that Armavia is bankrupt,
flights from foreign airlines have increased. Why aren’t we using the
airport of such capacity to offer flights from Europe to, say, India or
China, through Yerevan rather than Dubai, for more affordable prices?’ says
Elliott.

The KNM Aviation representative says the Civil Aviation Department has
given a positive evaluation to their offer, but stressed the importance of
working with Armavia. According to Elliott, however, they have not had much
luck getting in touch with Armavia’s management as the airline’s office
does not respond to their e-mails. But, he says, they will keep trying.

ArmeniaNow, too, tried to contact Armavia, but with no better luck.*

From: A. Papazian

`Orphans of the Genocide’ screened in New York

12:14 24.05.2013

The `Orphans of the Genocide,’ created by four-time regional Emmy
award winning filmmaker Bared Maronian, was screened at AGBU New York
headquarters, the ANCA Eastern Region reports. It will be aired at 8
p.m. on PBS affiliate WMHT () in New York on June
6.

`The ANC of New York is pleased to work with Mr. Maronian to spread
awareness of this significant film,’ said ANC of New York co-chair
Arousiag Markarian. `The documentary tells an important story in the
history of the Armenian people, and we are happy to showcase the work
of Mr. Maronian, a longtime active community member in Florida.’

`Orphans’ is a documentary that takes the viewer through archival
footage and discovered memoirs of orphans who lived through the 20th
century’s first full documented genocide. It profiles orphans while
unveiling many orphanages where Armenians were housed in the Middle
East.

The film also explores the American Near East Relief Foundation in
saving, feeding and sheltering more than 150,000 documented Armenian
Genocide orphans between 1919 and 1926.

From: A. Papazian

Reporters Without Borders condemns Turkish-Armenian writer’s blasphemy sentence

10:40 24.05.2013

Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned the sentence of 13
and a half months in prison that an Istanbul magistrate’s court passed
on Turkish-Armenian journalist Sevan Nisanyan for posting `insulting’
comments about Mohammed in his blog.

`Nisanyan’s jail sentence is a grave violation of freedom of
information and sends a threatening message to fellow journalists and
bloggers that is unacceptable,’ Reporters Without Borders said. `It
should be overturned on appeal. Suppression of comments critical of
Islam has no place in a secular country such as Turkey.’

`We have often hailed the gradual weakening of Turkey’s Kemalist –
secularist, nationalist and militarist – taboos but democracy will not
benefit if they are replaced by a new religious censorship.’

Reporters Without Borders added: `We urge legislators to repeal
article 216-3 of the criminal code, a draconian provision that is the
basis for a growing number of prosecutions.’

Nisanyan was convicted under article 216 of `denigrating the religious
beliefs held by a section of the society’ in a blog entry posted on 29
September 2012 that prompted 15 different complaints.

The court said the sentence could not be suspended because Nisanyan
had a previous conviction. If upheld on appeal and by the Court of
Cassation, he will have to serve the sentence.

Nisanyan’s blog entry said hate crimes must always be combatted
whether they target Muslims or other groups but he argued that the
controversial anti-Islamic video `Innocence of Muslims’did not
constitute a hate crime.

`Making fun of an Arab leader who claimed he contacted Allah hundreds
of years ago and received political, financial and sexual benefits is
not hate speech,’ Nisanyan wrote. `It is an almost kindergarten-level
test of what is called freedom of expression.’

He added further down in the post: `You also have to wonder why these
friends who used to be so quick to denounce hate crimes against
minorities and other ethnic groups in our country no longer manage to
be consistent when it comes to reacting to defend Islam and Muslims.’

Article 216-3 of the criminal code, which prohibits `openly
denigrating the religious beliefs held by a section of the society,’
was included in a legislative reform adopted in 2005. Any violation
deemed `sufficient to endanger public peace’ is punishable by six
months to a year in prison.

It was under this article that the pianist Fazil Say was given a
suspended 10-month jail sentencelast month. It was later canceled.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apost. Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian
Prelate, Western United States
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: 818-248-7737/8
Fax: 818-248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Dr. Hrair Dekmejian will be the guest speaker on the subject of
“Architects of the Armenian Genocide: A Social-Psychological Profile
of Young Turk Elites” at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta
Valley, located at Western Prelacy’s “Dikran and Zarouhi Der
Ghazarian” Hall, at 6252 Honolulu Ave., La Crescenta, California on
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 1pm, following the Divine liturgy, which
starts at 11am.

The higher echelons of the Committee of Union and Progress of over 80
Ittihadist leaders will be analyzed, using social-psychological
theories and methodology to build aggregate and individual profiles in
order to explain their genocidal policies directed at the Armenian
people. The slide presentation will be mostly in English.

Dr. R. Hrair Dekmejian is Professor of Political Science at the
University of Southern California and Founding Director of the USC
Institute of Armenian Studies. A U.S. Army veteran, Dr. Dekmejian has
worked as an analyst and consultant to U.S. federal agencies,
corporations and foreign governments. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia
University and his teaching and research fields include: Political
Leadership, Genocide Studies, Terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Middle
East Politics, Armenian Studies, and Strategic Risk Analysis. He has
authored and co-authored many articles and books including: Spectrum
of Terror (2007); The Just Prince: A Manual of Leadership (2003);
Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region (2001, 2003);
Ethnic Lobbies in U.S. Foreign Policy (1997); Islam in Revolution
(1985, 1995); Patterns of Political Leadership (1975); and Egypt Under
Nasser (1971, 1972).

This event, which is organized by Crescenta Valley Church Education
Committee, is free and open to the public.

From: A. Papazian

InSerbia News
May 22 2013

French Singer Charles Aznavour Turns 89

The world famous French singer, actor and songwriter Charles Aznavour
celebrates his 89th birthday today, reported VoR.

Born in Paris to a family of Armenian immigrants, Shahnour Vaghenag
Aznavourian aka Aznavour made his stage debut at the age of 9.

In 1946 he met Edith Piaf, who took him with her on tour in France and
to the US, thus giving a boost to his musical career.

Aznavour is known for his unique tenor voice: clear and ringing in its
upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. He has appeared
in more than sixty movies, composed about a thousand songs (including
at least 150 in English, 100 in Italian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 in
German), and sold well over 100 million records.

Aznavour is still active and plans to tour Canada in August.

From: A. Papazian

Carbonated.tv
May 22 2013

Turkish-Armenian Writer Handed Jail Sentence For Blasphemy

An Istanbul court has sentenced a Turkish-Armenian author and blogger
to more than a year in prison for insulting the Prophet Mohammad,
local media reported on Wednesday, weeks after a similar case caused
alarm among secularists.

Sevan Nisanyan, who has authored several books and who runs a blog on
what he describes as “history, religion and a (little) politics”,
posted a link to the offending blog on his Twitter account following
the ruling.

The accompanying message read: “Let’s share the article that brought a
sentence of 13.5 months from the Istanbul 10th Criminal Court for
insulting religious bla bla bla.”

Just over a month ago, world-renowned concert pianist Fazil Say was
handed a suspended jail sentence for insulting religious values on
Twitter, including one tweet poking fun at a muezzin, someone who
makes the Muslim call to prayer.

Say’s sentence stirred passions about the role religion should play in
Turkish public life and highlighted how much has changed since Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, which has roots in Islamist
politics, swept to power a decade ago.

Erdogan’s AK Party has witnessed unprecedented prosperity and is
admired among Western allies keen to portray NATO member Turkey as a
beacon of political stability in a troubled region.

But Erdogan’s opponents have increasingly accused him of posing a
threat to the modern, secular republic founded by Kemal Ataturk on the
ruins of the Ottoman empire 90 years ago.

They also say a judiciary once renowned for defending the secular
republic against Islamist influence now finds itself answering to
religious conservatives.

Nisanyan was sentenced to one year and 45 days for a blog post last
year entitled “Hate speech needs to be combatted” in which he wrote:

“It is not hate speech to make fun of an Arab leader who claimed he
had contacted Allah hundreds of years ago and received political,
financial and sexual benefits accordingly.

“It is a test of freedom of expression at an almost kindergarten-level.”

Media reported that the sentence could not be converted to a financial
penalty but that Nisanyan had a right to appeal. The court could not
be immediately reached for comment.

Reuters

From: A. Papazian

Case opened after incident in military unit in Martuni

Wednesday,
May 22

An incident occurred in a military unit in Martuni, Gegharkunik province.
Shots were fired after a dispute began between conscript Misha Khudaverdian
and contract serviceman Kamo Avagian. No one was wounded.

Aysor.am was informed by senior officer of the Defense Ministry’s
Investigation Service Ms. Mary Sargsyan that in connection with the
incident, a criminal case was opened under Articles 34 and 104 (attempt to
commit a murder) of the Criminal Code. Misha Khudaverdian was arrested.

Khudaverdian became enraged that Kamo Avagian informed the commander in
writing that he did not observe orderliness while on duty. For that reason
Misha Khudaverdian opened fire from his automatic rifle at K. Avagian and
another soldier.

TODAY, 18:16
Aysor.am

From: A. Papazian