Author: Andres-Papazian

A NEW QUESTIONING WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ONGOING INVESTIGATION IN CIVILITAS FOUNDATION

15:00, April 12, 2013

Vahe Aghabegians, a founding member of the Board of the Civilitas
Foundation arrived in Armenia on April 6, and immediately thereafter,
on April 8, was called for questioning by Armenia’s National Security
Service within the framework of the ongoing investigation relating to
the Civilitas Foundation. Vahe Aghabegians has not been a member of
the board since February 2012, and has not lived in Armenia since 2009.

The questioning took place on April 11, during which the investigator
has inquired about projects carried by in 2001, in Armenia’s Foreign
Ministry. Vahe Aghabegians was an unpaid volunteer Advisor to the
Minister from 1998 to 2008. He was also questioned about car wash and
fuel issues having to do with cars not belonging to the Civilitas
Foundation. The Civilitas Foundation reports that there were also
questions about “money laundering.”

From: A. Papazian

AYF ANNOUNCES PROTEST IN FRONT OF TURKISH CONSULATE

10:55 12/04/2013 ” SOCIETY

The Armenian Youth Federation – Western Region will be holding its
annual protest demanding justice for the Armenian Genocide in front
of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 24th,
the organization’s press service reports.

The protest will include community activists and civic leaders across
the state coming together to publicly condemn the Republic of Turkey
for its continued perpetuation of a campaign resulting in the death of
over 1.5 million Armenians. The participants will gather in front of
the office of the Turkish Consul General at 6300 Wilshire Blvd. from
4 to 6 p.m. to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide and demand
justice from the Republic of Turkey.

“Although April 24 is a sad day in history, it has a redeeming quality
to it,” said Nina Amirian, one of the organizers of the event. “This
day in History brings all Armenians together around the world to
unite for this common cause.”

The Armenian Youth Federation calls on the community and all concerned
citizens to join the protest on April 24. The organization is providing
free buses which will depart Tuesday at 2 PM from various locations
throughout the greater Los Angeles area, including the Pasadena
Armenian Center, St. Mary’s Church in Glendale, Ferrahian Armenian
School in Encino, and Pilibos Armenian School in Hollywood.

The protest is the culmination of a number of commemoration events
organized by the AYF to mark the anniversary of the Genocide. A
few such noteworthy events include a candlelight vigil at city hall
hosted by the Burbank “Varak” Chapter, a Genocide Museum organized
by the South Bay “Potorig” Chapter, and the “Cycle Against Denial”
bike ride hosted by the Valley “Sardarabad” Chapter on April 14.

The protest is a symbolic focal point for the community and represents
the AYF’s year-long struggle to gain proper recognition and restitution
for the crime of genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government.

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American youth organization. With chapters
throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the
world, the AYF actively strives to advance the social, political,
educational and cultural awareness of all Armenian youth.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

TOWARDS RUSSIAN ROYAL COURT OR WHY RAFFI LEFT FOR MOSCOW

On April 11 Raffi Hovannisian left for Moscow. The visit is short
because he has promised to hold a rally on April 12 and make a keynote
speech. The purpose of his visit is not known. On April 9 he stated
that he was ready to leave for Moscow the next day to meet with Putin
and bring victory.

However, Raffi Hovannisian left on April 11, not April 10, which means
that one day was needed to get the approval of Russia. Since he left
two days after April 9, most probably Moscow said “let him come”.

Usually the leaders of the Armenian opposition do not have high-level
meetings. But visits to Moscow are something usual. Earlier in 2008
Levon Ter-Petrosyan had left for Moscow. At that time contradictory
information came on the meeting with then the prime minister of Russia
Medvedev. Anonymous sources from Ter-Petrosyan’s wing said he met
with Medvedev but official confirmation did not follow.

After Levon Ter-Petrosyan Levon Zurabyan was often sent on business
trips to Moscow but the meetings were not at a high level unlike
those with Georgian opposition leaders. For example, Nino Burjanadzeh
met with Putin. Perhaps, Putin met with her not because the Kremlin
loved the Armenian opposition less than the opposition of Georgia but
because the Georgian government did not like the Georgian government
at all unlike its attitude to the Armenian government.

Before Raffi Hovannisian’s departure, on April 10 the Armenian
government and the Eurasian Economic Commission signed a Memorandum
of Cooperation.

In the post-electoral rallies Raffi Hovannisian rejected the Customs
Union and the Eurasian Union. At the same time, by leaving for Moscow
he actually recognizes the dominance of Russia although he had stated
ready to visit the United States, Europe, even China.

Now it is not clear whether these countries will be ready to meet with
him after his visit to Russia. Or maybe Raffi Hovannisian’s problem
was with Russia, and so he leaves for Moscow to convince them that
his activities will not be anti-Russian.

It is also possible that Raffi Hovannisian does not have any planned
important meeting and just goes there for a private visit for the
sake of an intrigue before the rally of April 12.

Armenia was in an interesting situation in the past 20 years
of independence. In the result of the criminal activities of the
government Armenia has appeared in a one-sided dependence on Russia,
at the same time facing the crisis stemming from this very situation
when even the system is already aware of the need to diversify the
foreign policy and economy otherwise Armenia will find itself in the
margin of global developments as ballast of Russia.

Now the Armenian political “elite” is split. On the one hand, it
cannot ignore its dependence on Russia, on the other hand, it is
impossible to ignore the requirements of time which is also a threat,
and the only difference is the timing.

This is a complicated issue indeed and practically unsolvable with the
existing ruling or opposition “elites” which sincerely wish to resolve
the issue in line with their personal, not national interests. This
difficult mission is impossible for the so-called twenty-year-old
elite. Its continuity, independent from names, will sustain this
problem and continue to ruin Armenia. Solution is possible if the
elite is new and without inverted commas.

Hakob Badalyan 10:39 12/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

USED TO BECOME PRESIDENT BY SHOOTING IN ARMENIA

Or who are the real “political corpses” and who needed a clash on
April 9

The April 9 events will be discussed for long. Everyone hurried to
state on that day that Raffi Hovannisian is a “political corpse”,
that he didn’t go until the end etc.

Earlier, Raffi Hovannisian’s movement fitted a different logic from
what we have witnessed in Armenia for decades. It was unusual for the
Armenian society and the political class. That feeling used to deepen
against the background of Raffi Hovannisian’s unusual statements
and actions, uncertainty and sometimes also contradictory actions
and words.

On April 9, an attempt to break the new logic was made by those,
who honestly wanted “now” and those who realized the possible
consequences. Even if Raffi was uncertain and contradictory, one thing
was sure: peace methods made the criminal oligarchic system nervous.

This system in Armenia, unlike the political class and intellectual
frameworks, is still the most inadequate and no accident it has
been ruling in Armenia for already 20 years with this or another
“transformations”, having usurped completely the vital spheres of
the country.

The system saw his positions decomposing slowly and gradually. The
only way out was the clash on April 9 for which there were all the
necessary preconditions: huge people’s wave and people ready to act,
who have been humiliated for 20 years.

The power usurped this system by shooting at people and eliminating
the constitutional mechanisms of forming power. Later, the country was
divided into quotas and “zones” between power representatives and its
servants, depending on the kind of service they provided. Shooting was
a guarantee to avoid anyone “escapes” and the pyramid would be strong
with clearly defined rights and responsibilities. The pseudo-statehood
and pseudo-power were formed in Armenia, which used to act with its
own laws and logic.

The 2013 presidential election threatened to be with no shots: in this
case, the proclaimed president wouldn’t have any commitments towards
the system, which would mean collapse with all the consequences
– redistribution of property and “commitments”, new agreements,
naturally, on account of the system.

Fortunately, it was possible to avoid bloodshed and shots on April 9.

Let Raffi Hovannisian be the only “victim” about which the
past “candidates who won” announced but never became. Let Armen
Martirosyan’s nose be broken, and let the losses be this much. In
the result, Serzh Sargsyan will be the president, who didn’t shoot
with all the consequences. This is an invaluable chance for him too.

The essential for the society is that the system was deprived of its
only possibility to shoot which would help it to keep its positions.

The society has the opportunity to come out of the old logic and
vicious framework where the real political corpses are in agony.

Haik Aramyan 12:13 12/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

FABRIQUE DES CINEMAS DU MONDE UNVEILS CANNES 2013 SLATE

Screen International
April 10, 2013 Wednesday

Filipino Joanna Arong, Burkinabe Michel K. Zongo and Brazilian Gustavo
Pizzi head to Cannes with latest projects. Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck
[pictured] is honorary patron.

The Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde, aimed at finding finance for the
work of filmmakers from the developing world, has unveiled the project
line-up for its latest edition during the Cannes Film Festival.

The projects include Filipino Joanna Arong’s The Sigbin Chronicles, a
hybrid work revolving around a mythical Filipino creature, and Michel
K. Zongo’s The Siren of Faso Fani about the impact of the closure
of a textile factory on a small Burkina Faso town. Burkinabe Zongo’s
Espoir Voyage premiered in Berlin’s Forum to critical acclaim in 2011.

Haitian Pierre Lucson Bellegarde will unveil Carmen, his first
feature-length film after a series of UNICEF-backed shorts capturing
the plight of his fellow citizens in the wake of the 2010 earthquake
that wreaked havoc on Haiti.

Award-winning Rwandan filmmaker Joel Karekezi will present The Mercy
of the Jungle – a retribution drama set in the aftermath of the Second
Congo War, which led to the deaths of some 5.4m people in the region.

Karekezi, who studied filmmaking in Montreal, co-wrote the script
with US filmmaker Casey Schroen. The pair previously collaborated on
the award-winning Imbabazi tackling the legacy of the 1994 Rwandan
Genocide.

Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck will act as honorary patron at this
year’s event giving a master class to the participants.

Launched in 2009, the Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde has hosted
projects from 60 directors from 35 countries to date. Some 15% of
the projects presented have gone on to be made and several are in
post-production. In 2012, 80% of the projects signed co-production
deals within six months of the event.

Success stories among past selected projects include Algerian Djamila
Sahraoui’s Yema, which won a Silver Stallion at the FESPACO pan-African
film festival in 2013 and also screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section,
and Bolivian Martin Boulocq’s Los Viejos which premiered at Busan
in 2011.

The Fabrique is housed in the Cinema du Monde pavilion at Cannes. It
is a joint initiative between the Institut francais, the International
Organisation of La Francophonie and the Audiovisuel Exterieur de la
France, an umbrella organisation grouping international French-language
broadcasters.

The complete list of projects is as follows:

Before Leaving, dir. Mohammed Latrèche (Algeria)

Territoria dir. Nora Martirosyan (Armenia)

Loveling, dir. Gustavo Pizzi (Brazil)

The Siren of Faso Fani, dir. Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso)

The Taste in our Tongues, dir. Monica Bravo (Columbia)

Carmen, dir. Pierre Lucson Bellegarde (Haiti)

Jambula Tree, dir. Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya/South Africa)

The Sigbin Chronicles, dir. Joanna Arong (Philippines)

The Mercy of the Jungle, dir. Joel Karekezi (Rwanda)

From: A. Papazian

MEMBER OF PUBLIC CHAMBER OF AZERBAIJAN WAS BEATEN IN NAKHICHEVAN FOR CALL FOR PEACE WITH ARMENIANS

20:07 12/04/2013 ” SOCIETY

As the Azerbaijani news agency Haqqin.az reports, “Unprecedented
vandalism act took place in Nakhichevan against the member of the
Coordination Council of the Public Chamber of Azerbaijan, famous
political figure Ibrahim Ibrahimli.” The news agency notes that
Ibrahimli had left for Nakhichevan for the funeral of his nephew,
but his participation in the ceremony had troubled the leadership of
district and people were sent who tried to provoke Ibrahimli.

Realizing this, he tried to leave the ceremony, but a group of people,
who presented themselves as members of the police and Ministry of
National Security, surrounded Ibrahimli near the shop, put him into
the car and drove away in direction of Nakhichevan.

“They put a bag over his head as soon as they came out of the city,
took him to Duzdag which is at the bank of Araz River, and landed. In
the same time, he was beaten and insulted by obscene words. Soon the
people that had kidnapped him left, leaving Ibrahimli on the bank of
the river. He returned to the city on foot,” the report reads.

As the Azerbaijani newspaper Mirror reports, on April 11 the Ministry
of Internal Affairs of Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan issued a
statement. It said that the allegations about beating Hilal Ibrahim
oglu Ibrahimli at the funeral, rendering of physical pressure on
him and threats during detention which was committed by people who
introduced themselves as enforcement officers, are purely fictitious
and baseless.

The article cites the text of the statement of Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan. It reads that while
checking the statement of I. Ibrahimli it was revealed that on April
6, while he was attending the funeral of his relative in the village
Tumbul of Babak region, he conducted discussions “on false public
diplomacy” and tried to promote among the villagers the necessity of
peaceful, unconditional co-existence with Armenians. Ibrahimli then
began to defend Akram Aylisli, writer, who has been criticism for long
time by the Azerbaijani as was the ideas of his novel “Stone Dreams”.

This fact had caused the anger of the audience.

The statement also notes that the ecclesiast, who was holding the
funeral ceremony, as an example cited the Prophet: “The one who
turns away from his nation to another nation is the most foolish and
deluded one among those existing, who have lost their way.” However,
Ibrahimli, not listening to exhortations, continued his speech. Then,
some people demanded him to leave the ceremony. Forced to leave
the funeral Ibrahimli came out of the village and was once again
involved in a dispute. It ended with a fight between the youth and
I. Ibrahimli and his relatives who accompanied him, Interior Ministry
of Nakhichevan reports.

The statement reads that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nakhchivan
considers accusation of Ibrahimli groundless.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN NIGHT AT THE POPS TO FEATURE VIOLINIST EMMANUEL TJEKNAVORIAN

ARTS | APRIL 11, 2013 12:51 PM

BOSTON – The Friends of Armenian Culture Society (FACS) will present
the 62nd annual Armenian Night at the Pops on Saturday, June 1, at 8
p.m. at Symphony Hall. The evening will feature the young violinist
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian from Vienna, who will make his debut in Boston.

He will join Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra in a
performance of Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy.

The theme for evening will be film music, filled with the
sophistication and romance of the 1950s and 1960s and feature song
stylist Steve Lippia, whom Lockhart has called “the absolute vocal
re-incarnation of the Sinatra sound.”

As a tribute to Armenian film, Tigran Mansurian’s music for Henrik
Malyan’s 1980 movie “Ktor me yerkinq” (A Piece of the Sky) will also
be performed.

Tjeknavorian has been awarded several prizes in international
competitions, including the International Nutcracker Competition
in Moscow, the International Johannes Brahms Competition and
the Eurovision Young Musicians 2012 competition as the Austrian
representative.

He currently studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts
in Vienna.

Tickets for this concert are available for purchase online at

From: A. Papazian

APRIL 9 IN FOCUS: POLITICIANS, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DISSECT CRUNCH POINT OF POST-ELECTION PROTESTS

VOTE 2013 | 11.04.13 | 14:42

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

The political events of this week have brought to culmination the
Barevolution, or Hello Revolution, campaign launched after the
February 18 ballot – and seem to have raised another wave of public
disappointment. April 9 made it clear for many observers that the
authorities would go for the repetition of the 2008 post-election
crackdown and proclaim another opposition politician a “traitor”.

“The police did not use force, they isolated the leader and others
in charge – this was the obvious strategy. There were 3,000 people
in Baghramyan avenue and some 7-8 thousand policemen, but if there
were 30,000 people out there, the police would have applied force,
in case of 60,000 they would have fired guns, if there were more,
the police would have switched sides and stood by the people,” says
former presidential candidate Andreas Ghukasyan.

He believes that this scale should be taken into account when
suggesting political plans to people. He continues to see Heritage
party leader Raffi Hovannisian as inseparable part of the oppositional
processes, but believes that the responsibility is no longer his alone.

“From today on the anti-criminal revolution is the duty of every
citizen. It is no more about disputing the election results,” says
Ghukasyan, adding that: “There was no trust that Hovannisian would
be able to lead the political system in that transitional period,
hence there was no unification around him.”

Expert in conflict analysis Arsen Kharatyan raises a question:
“Why were you by Raffi’s side, in that case?”

“In order to create that center, but we failed. We saw that some
parties, parliament factions shunned the inauguration ceremony,
but they did not put down their mandates, did not go for a political
crisis,” says Ghukasyan.

Armenian Helsinki Committee leader, human rights activist
Avetik Ishkhanyan believes that the self-proclaimed alternative or
oppositional forces, possessing the main resources, treated Hovannisian
with even bigger jealousy that actually the authorities.

He says Hovannisian by his mentality, was psychologically strange to
them, in terms of corruption or from any other perspective.

“They keep voicing one question: “What does Raffi want to say?” or
“Then what?”. We have that dogmatic thinking of “what to do”, and
we have witnessed that “what to do” since 1996 till 2008. I do not
know what he will do, but my impression is that perhaps he tried to
move guided by Gandhi-like culture of tolerance… I do not know if
it will be a success or not, but that success might still come in a
longer term, and when they criticize him, I always ask: “What would
you do, if it were you?”

Kharatyan says there certainly is some disappointment after April 9,
especially among those who walked from Gyumri to Yerevan (around
125 kilometers).

“But yesterday [April 9], it was more important to prevent clashes,
than go for it,” he says.

Analyzing the April 9 events in terms of legal proportionality,
Ishkhanyan points out three cases of violation: “During the
candle-lighting where Baghramyan avenue starts a few candles were
thrown in the direction of the police, and the police used rather
nasty abusive language of sexual character. This is obviously violation
of proportionality.”

The third violation, according to him, is that regardless of the
nature of the rally, whether informed, prohibited, spontaneous or
urgent, if it is peaceful, the police have no right to intervene.

“There is, however, another facet to it. During the hours of the
president’s inauguration ceremony, I don’t think any country would
have dared to allow a rally like that. But the evening prohibition
of the peaceful march to enter Baghramyan was again disruption of
proportionality by the police. Activists were treated roughly during
detention, meanwhile the official police statement claims that only
one citizen was detained,” he says.

Ishkhanyan especially stressed that the Police were extremely worried
that day, judging from the amount of police forces concentrated in
various parts of Yerevan.

“In Zakyan, Khorenatsi streets there were 10-15 buses full of police
officers. We have photographs showing that there even were defense
ministry vehicles,” he says.

From: A. Papazian

RA NA PRESIDENT HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN RECEIVES THE FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC, THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS KAREL SCHWARZENBERG

11.04.2013

On April 11 the RA NA President Hovik Abrahamyan received the First
Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg.

Welcoming Mr Schwarzenberg in the National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan
highly assessed his visit with respect to the development of
inner-state relations. In the NA President’s word, Armenia is
interested in developing the cooperation in all directions with the
Czech Republic, taking into consideration also the common goals that
Armenia pursues within the framework of the Eastern Partnerership.

Touching upon Armenia-EU cooperation, the NA President noted that
the European integration was one of Armenia’s foreign political
priorities, and the format of cooperation with the European Union had
been considerably enlarged during the recent years. Hovik Abrahamyan
noted with satisfaction that partnership relations had been established
between the parliaments of the two countries, expressing conviction
that the parliamentary diplomacy was one of the important levers
of enhancing the political dialogue between the countries. The NA
President highlighted the cooperation within the frameworks of the
international structures.

Thanking for reception Mr Schwarzenberg noted with satisfaction that
Armenia-Czech Republic had a progress, which was displayed by active
political dialogue, development of inter-parliamentary relations and
cooperation in different spheres. He also highlighted the role of
parliamentary diplomacy in inner-state relations.

In the course of the meeting the sides touched upon Armenia’s
inner-political issues and post-electoral processes. The Foreign
Minister of the Czech Republic deemed important that all international
structures had given high assessment to the presidential elections
of Armenia and expressed hope that certain shortcomings recorded by
the observers would be rectified.

During the meeting the sides referred to regional problems, both
stressing that NK issue should be exclusively settled through
peaceful means.

From: A. Papazian

PEAK RETAIL PRICE TO BE PRINTED ON CIGARETTE PACKS IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, April 11. /ARKA/. Armenia’s government approved Thursday a
package of amendments relating to the technical rules and procedures of
“Tobacco goods.”

>From now on, the maximum retail price should be printed on a cigarette
pack.

Acting Minister of Finance Vache Gabrielyan clarified the government
was expected to approve this package of amendments since new amendments
to the laws on “Excise tax,” “Fixed payments for tobacco goods”
and some other related laws which authorize a common taxation for
tobacco goods are to be enacted on January 1, 2014.

Once the amendments were approved, prices for Armenian domestic
tobacco goods started growing.

Adhering to its international commitments, in October 2010 Armenia
adopted a package of amendments which equalize the conditions for
domestic producers and importers of tobacco goods, petrol, diesel fuel
and vodka. Since then, the rate of fixed payments have been gradually
climbing , as a result, the domestic producers and importers are
subject to paying almost the same fees. -0-

From: A. Papazian