Author: Andres-Papazian

ZDISLAV RACHINSKI: GENOCIDE: POLAND COULDN’T GIVE ANOTHER JUDGMENT

16:53, 25 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Genocide set the beginning
for the new tragedies of the 20th century. On April 25 this was stated
by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to the
Republic of Armenia Zdislav Rachinski at the press conference. “Poland
has already recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide and I think
that everyone should follow that example to prevent such crimes to
be implemented in the future”, – said Zdislav Rachinski, as reported
by Armenpress.

The Armenian-Polish cooperation entered a new stage when in 2005
the Polish Sejm officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. “Poland
couldn’t give another judgment”, – stated the Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Poland to the Republic of Armenia.

Nevertheless, Poland is not going to criminalize the denial of the
Genocide yet.

The Polish Ambassador Zdislav Rachinski highlighted as well the
issue of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, stating that the position
of Poland does not differ from that of the European Union. “We are
for the peaceful regulation of the conflict in the framework of the
OSCE Minsk Group and support any works done in this direction”, –
stated the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to
the Republic of Armenia Zdislav Rachinski.

On April 24 it is the 98th anniversary of the remembrance of the
innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide. The entire series of the
documents, proving the fact of the mass massacres of the Armenian
people in 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Turkey as a premeditated and
thoroughly executed act of genocide, is enormous. The Armenian
Genocide was recognized by different organizations, such as the
European Council, the European Parliament, some commissions of the
UN Organization, the World Church Union, etc.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by many states. The first
country to officially recognize the Armenian Tragedy was Uruguay in
1965. The massacres of the Armenian people were officially condemned
and recognized as a genocide, in accordance with the international
law, by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland,
Sweden, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus, Lebanon,
Uruguay, Argentina (2 laws and 5 draft bills), Venezuela, Chile,
Canada, Vatican, and Australia.

From: A. Papazian

THERE IS NO PRACTICE OF QUIET CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT

Interview with Gaidz Minassian, expert of French Center for Strategic
Studies

The post-electoral developments culminated in April 9, no dialogue
followed. Should unpredictable results be expected in the mayoral
election of May 5?

There happened what was expected. Raffi Hovannisian lost.

Unfortunately, he made some mistakes while Serzh Sargsyan handled
everything as usual. Nothing new happened, and now Raffi Hovannisian
will try to continue the movement in the regions but will not succeed,
instead he should have focused on the mayoral election. I think the
hunger strike and demonstrations were exaggerations. We saw that these
strategic steps were meaningless, and today Serzh Sargsyan is at the
top of government. The opposition should have united and formed one
front against Taron Margaryan to win. Local elections in Yerevan are
held three months after the presidential election which means that
dynamics and movement must continue. I hope that this movement must
be organized and continued.

The opposition did not unite for this election? Are the results
thus predictable?

It is important who the candidates are. The government has nominated
Taron Margaryan, the opposition candidates are four representing
the ARF, Heritage, Congress and PAP. The government will certainly
win under the present electoral system. It is important that all the
opposition forces unite, separately they will lose. Today the issue
is not in Serzh Sargsyan but in the opposition forces.

In your opinion, why does the opposition always fail in independent
Armenia?

There are several reasons. First, the idea, the concept of opposition
is not well-established in the post-Soviet states. There is no
tradition and culture of having opposition. Second, the person who
leads the opposition. All the parties are weakened by intolerance,
envy towards leaders. Third, the government is guided by the principle
“divide to rule”, knowing that all the opposition parties have
been government previously. Last but not least, it is the lack of
confidence, lack of social agreement between the government and the
society, as well as between the opposition and the society. People
will doubt the words and actions of both government and opposition
unless there is confidence.

People would have changed their attitude had the opposition forces –
PAP, Congress, ARF and Heritage – treated all the issues seriously,
created the minimal platform. Opposition forces will not succeed
unless they come up with a joint strategy.

In what case would the regime give up?

The best option is the change of government by elections when another
force receives majority of votes. The worst example is 1998 when Levon
Ter-Petrosyan resigned, and Robert Kocharyan became president. In fact,
the Armenians are not used to change of government, there is no such
practice as quiet change of government. When a political force lacks
sense of responsibility, people think it is not serious. We need
political forces which assume responsibility, which are in people,
not like we have now. We know that most of them are in politics
for the sake of their own interests. This is the reality. The lack
of confidence comes from the lessons of history. People know that
history has always seen treacheries, and this mindset will change if
the political forces are guided by their sense of responsibility.

Siranuysh Papyan 16:40 25/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER DEMANDS TO MAKE ENTRANCE EXAMS DATABASES FREE FOR PUPILS

12:38, 25 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS: The entrance exams databases should
be free for pupils, who are going to enter institutions of higher
education. According to Armenpress, this was stated by the Prime
Minister of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan at the session
of the Government held on April 25, adding that “it is not right to
make business on it”.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Sciences of the Republic of
Armenia Karine Harutyunyan stated that the Ministry has got an
education portal, which publishes all the versions of the textbooks.

“We are developing a new program, all the digitized textbooks will
be available on the pupils’ computers to be provided in the future,
that is, they will not have difficulties even with the internet
availability”, – said the Deputy Minister of Education and Sciences.

She stated as well that the citizens will be able to use the portal
free of charge. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Tigran
Sargsyan requested Karine Harutyunyan to make the necessary information
available to the society.

The Evaluation and Testing Center published several entrance
exams textbooks for the final exams of 2013. They are as follows:
Mathematics-1, Mathematics-2, Physics-1, Chemistry-1, Biology-1,
English language-1, German language-1, Russian language-1, Armenian
history-1, Geography-1. Several databases of the previous year as
well will be in use.

From: A. Papazian

SERZH SARGSYAN MEETS OUTGOING BRAZILIAN AMBASSADOR

16:12 25/04/2013 ” POLITICS

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan met outgoing ambassador of Brazil to
Armenia Marcela Maria Nicodemus.

The President praised activities of the ambassador and her personal
input to the strengthening of the Armenian-Brazilian relations and
noted that during her tenure in office the agenda of the bilateral
relations has been augmented with new programs and initiatives. Serzh
Sargsyan expressed the hope that the next ambassador of Brazil to our
country will be carrying out duties with the same vigor and dedication
for the benefit of the Armenian-Brazilian friendship. The President of
Armenia wished all the best to the ambassador in her future activities
and expressed the hope that she will remain Armenia’s friend and will
put her rich experience and knowledge into further strengthening of
the Armenian-Brazilian relations.

The ambassador of Brazil spoke with satisfaction about the efficient
cooperation with the friendly Armenia in the framework of international
organizations. In strengthening the Armenian-Brazilian relations,
Mrs. Marcela Maria Nicodemus hailed the role of the Armenian-Brazilian
community, which, according to the ambassador, has made a significant
and serious contribution to the advancement of Brazil.

The parties stressed the importance of deepening bilateral economic
relations based on the high-level political dialogue and friendship
between the two nations, presidential press service reported.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY CRITICIZES OBAMA’S STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

YEREVAN, April 25./ARKA/.The Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized
Obama’s statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day released on
April 24.

On Wednesday U.S. President Barack Obama appealed to the Armenians
naming the 1915 tragedy “Mets Eghern” that means “great genocide” or
“great slaughter” in Armenian language.

“Today we commemorate the Meds Yeghern and honor those who perished in
one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. Ninety-eight years
ago, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths
in the final days of the Ottoman Empire,” Obama said.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized Obama’s statement
saying the U.S. President’s approach only reflected Armenian views.

“Such statements damage both Turkish-American relations, and also
render it more difficult for Turks and Armenians to reach a just
memory,” the statement read.

There are currently no diplomatic relations established between Turkey
and Armenia: official Ankara closed the border in 1993. The uneasy
relationship between the countries is caused particularly by Ankara’s
support to Azerbaijan on Karabakh problem and Turkey’s overreaction
to international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman
Empire.

The process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey
was initiated by Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan in the autumn of
2008. On October 10, 2009 Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers
signed in Zurich, Switzerland, protocols on the establishment of
diplomatic relations and normalization of bilateral relations, which
were to be ratified by the parliaments of the two countries. However,
in 2010 April Serzh Sargsyan suspended the process of ratification
of the Armenian-Turkish protocols by Armenian parliament saying that
Turkey was not ready to continue the process.

The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide committed in XX century.

Turkey denies the accusation of massacres and the killing of one and
a half million Armenians during World War I.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Russia, Germany, France,
Netherlands, Vatican, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Venezuela, Lebanon,
France, 42 U.S. states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece,
Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium, National Council of Switzerland, Canada,
Poland, Italy, other countries as well as the European Parliament,
the World Council of Churches. -0-

From: A. Papazian

“WE ARE NOT ASSESSED IN THE SAME WAY AS FREER COUNTRIES ARE,” LARISA ALAVERDYAN SAYS

April 24 2013

“I have examined the part related to the freedom of speech. The
issue is that when we want to compare reports, we should clarify
the following; since our aspirations become higher each year, the
assessments of us and the criteria we have to meet become closer to
those of high international criteria. So naturally, they assessed
us according to different criteria, say, fifteen years ago,” Larisa
Alaverdyan, the head of the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO and the
first Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, said during
a conversation with , talking about the report issued
by the US Department of State. The problem related to the freedom
of speech, in Alaverdyan’s opinion, is presented differently in the
report. “The issue is that we haven’t been able to present the problem
of TV channels in our country in terms of real freedom of speech, the
situation that has been there since A1+ and Noyan Tapan were closed.”

Alaverdyan thinks: “If we look at ourselves, we will see that the
rest what the US Department of State states reflects this or that
drawback one way or the other.” Alaverdyan assures that the problem
is presented in the report mildly. “We ourselves should realize that
they assess us, raising the criteria every year. All the same, their
approach to us is not equal to them, as their attitude would have been
toward freer countries.” As for whether we had to take note of that
report or not, Alaverdyan said: “We have to take note of our social
needs. I think that the condition of our press and the condition of
society don’t correspond to each other. Thus, critical articles and TV
shows don’t reveal the deeply-rooted reasons for the situation that
exists today. And the situation that exists in our country today is
lack of the rule of law.” Eva HAKOBYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
RAFFI HOVANNISIAN HEADQUARTERS
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]
Website:

26 April 2013

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN’S OFFICIAL MEETING WITH UK DIPLOMATS

Yerevan–Today, 26 April 2013, Raffi K. Hovannisian met with British
diplomat Colin Roberts, Director of Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Directorate at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK. Her Majesty’s
Ambassador to Yerevan Jonathan Aves, Deputy Head of Mission Amias
Moores.

They discussed Armenia’s recent presidential elections, according to
which Hovannisian was the actual winner and Serzh Sargsyan the false
champion, together with issues pertaining to Armenia’s resultant
domestic predicament, regional challenges, and international relations
in advance of the Moutainous Karabagh (Artsakh) Republic’s formal
recognition and the 100th anniversary of the Genocide and Great
National Dispossession of the Armenian people.

The Heritage Party’s Secretary General for International Affairs
Styopa Safaryan also attended the meeting.

Raffi Hovannisian Headquarters

From: A. Papazian

ASA PRESIDENT: THERE’S HUMANITY BEFORE POLITICS

April 24, 2013 – 17:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The UCSB Armenian Student Association led a march
through Isla Vista on April 23 evening, bringing the community’s
attention to the Armenian Genocide.

The ASA met at the eternal flame around 6 pm and proceeded to march
throughout campus and I.V. Participants remained silent as they walked
campus and then incorporated chants once they reached the end of
Pardall Tunnel. About 30 students took part in the event, waving
posters and Armenian flags to show their support, The Daily Nexus
reports.

ASA President Adam Jaratanian, fourth-year political science major,
said his family, as well as the families of most of the other students
who participated in the march, have been personally impacted by the
genocide.

According to Jaratanian, the experience of being exiled from one’s
home country can leave a dramatic effect on how they identify with
their native cultural identity.

The march mirrors a much larger set of events that happen every year
in Little Armenia in Hollywood and at the Turkish Embassy in Los
Angeles. Such events educate the public on not only this specific
genocide, but on the general issue of historical genocides that have
been either denied or overlooked by the masses, he said.

While Jaratanian said he understands the political complications
surrounding this governmental recognition, he said human rights should
trump politics.

“It’s awareness through education. It’s not just seeing that sign and
saying, ‘Oh the Armenian Genocide happened.’ Understand why it
happened. It’s ethnic cleansing,” Jaratanian said. “And [the genocide
is] not recognized for political reasons, strictly political. Just
because Turkey is an ally… the U.S. doesn’t recognize it. And I
understand the politics behind that, but, you know, there’s humanity
before politics.”

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA MUST RAISE RESTITUTION PROBLEM

19:46 ~U 24.04.13

In the context of the Armenian Genocide, Ara Papyan, Director of the
Modus Vivendi center, believes that Armenia should raise the problem
of compensations.

The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not the only problem,
Papyan told journalists.

The 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will be a better
opportunity for raising the issue.

Papyan pointed out the necessity for a three-level compensation
process: individual compensations, restitution of national institutions
and Armenian churches, as well as Armenia’s territorial integrity.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

ZEHAVA GALON, “IT IS OUR MORAL DUTY TO REMEMBER GENOCIDE OF ARMENIAN PEOPLE”

18:21 24/04/2013 ” SOCIETY

“On Wednesday, April 24, a special debate will be held in the Knesset,
timed to the Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide Victims.

Meretz faction is the initiator of the debate,” Israeli news portal
“Newsru.co.il” reports.

As it is stated in the article, in this concern, Zahava Galon,
the leader of the faction Meretz, said, “It is our moral duty to
remember the genocide of the Armenian people. The recognition of
the horrors of the past should not affect our current relations
with Turkey by anyhow. It is a question of strategic importance for
Israel’s international relations. Despite the unwillingness of Turkey
to recognize the genocide of the Armenian people, we must clear up:
Israel has no intention to seek confrontation in our relations by
recognizing this historical fact.”

The topic of Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire and
necessity of its recognition by Israel has been repeatedly raised in
the Knesset. However, no decisions on this matter have been taken,
the article reads.

In December 2011, a survey held by the editorial office “Newsru.co.il”,
showed the increase of the number of readers who support the decision
on recognizing the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire,
even if it costs breaking Israel’s relations with Turkey. 84% answered
yes to the question “Should Israel recognize the mass killings of
Armenians in Turkey during the 1915 as Genocide?”. In the same time,
72% answered yes to the question “Should Israel recognize the Armenian
Genocide, even at the cost of breaking the relations with Turkey?” Only
22% believed that Turkey could be persuaded to recognize the Armenian
genocide. More than 90% of respondents agreed with the view that the
people of Israel, who survived their own catastrophe, have no right
to deny the catastrophe of other nations.

The short summary of “Newsru.co.il” of the Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire reads: “On April 24 Armenians mark the anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in committed by the Ottoman Turkey in 1915. It
was on this day that mass arrests of the Armenian intellectual,
religious, economic and political elite started in Constantinople. In
the list to be arrested were people of different political views and
professions: writers, artists, musicians, teachers, doctors, lawyers,
journalists, businessmen, politicians and religious leaders. From
1915 to 1923 about 1.5 million Armenians were killed.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Russia, France, Canada,
Lebanon, Uruguay, Cyprus, Argentina, Greece, Belgium, Sweden, Slovakia,
the Netherlands House of Representatives, the National Council of
Switzerland, the Vatican, the lower house of the Italian parliament,
Germany, Lithuania, Seim of Poland, Sweden, as well as a number of
U.S. states and the International Committee of the U.S.

Congress.”

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian