Author: Andres-Papazian

SERZH SARGSYAN TO MEET VLADIMIR PUTIN ON MARCH 12

12:38, 6 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Republic of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan will have a meeting with the President of the Russian
Federation Vladimir Putin on March 12. This will be Serzh Sargsyan’s
first visit after the presidential elections, which were held on
February 18. As reports “Armenpress” citing the Press Service of
Kremlin, during the negotiations the interlocutors will discuss a
number of issues regarding the development of the comprehensive
cooperation in the spheres of politics, trade, and economy, and
in the humanitarian sphere as well. A row of issues regarding the
strengthening of integration procedures of the CIS countries will
also be discussed at the course of the upcoming meeting.

The last meeting between the President of the Republic of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir
Putin was held in Moscow on December 19, 2012.

From: A. Papazian

UN GROUPE DE DEPUTES LITUANIENS A ADOPTE UN MEMORANDUM SUR LA CREATION D’UN GROUPE D’AMITIE AVEC LE HK

Un groupe de deputes lituaniens a adopte un memorandum sur la creation
d’un groupe d’amitie avec le HK/ Hayots Achkhar

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 27 fevrier 2013

mercredi 6 mars 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

LES RESIDENTS DE SAMATYA PARTAGENT LEUR INQUIETUDE AVEC LES JOURNAUX TURCS

Les Armeniennes agressees vivent dans un quartier où de 80 a 90 pour
cent des residents furent Armeniens auparavant mais maintenant seuls
quelques-uns d’entre eux sont restes.

Selon le quotidien turc Taraf Seta qui etait une amie proche des femmes
armeniennes qui ont ete attaques dans le quartier Samatya d’Istanbul
a dit ” Je suis très inquiète, j’ai peur. Nous avons toujours eu peur
dans ce pays. Parfois, je me dis – Je souhaite que je sois pas une
armenienne “.

Elle a egalement dit qu’elle connaissait personnellement les trois
femmes attaquees. Entre autres choses, elle a declare qu’elles etaient
toutes pauvres et donc on ne sait pas quel est le but de l’attaque.

Elle a souligne : ” Nous Armeniens ne sommes pas de mauvaises
personnes, nous sommes prets a sacrifier nos vies pour le prochain “.

D’autres residents de Samatya ont egalement declare que tout s’est
degrade recemment. Beaucoup d’entre eux soulignent qu’il s’agit
d’une affaire politique. Un des residents de Samatya a souligne :
” Je ne peux pas comprendre comment ils ont pû traiter une femme de
80 ans comme ca. N’ont-ils pas des mères eux-memes ? Elle a egalement
ete une mère. Si les autorites turques ne peuvent pas proteger les
80 femmes ans, pourquoi leur accordent-ils la citoyennete turque ? “.

mercredi 6 mars 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

MOSCOW, TEHRAN IGNORE TURKEY’S PROPOSAL ON SYRIA

TERT.AM
10:49 ~U 05.03.13

Turkey has come up with the proposal to form new government in Syria
to accelerate that transition period in the country. Though Iran and
Russia hailed the proposal in the beginning, later they refuted it.

According to the proposal, the transition government in Syria would
have been created till the elections with president Bashar al-Assad not
having any place in the government’s staff. Instead he and his family’s
security will be ensured and money for further living provided.

The temporary government will have a PM, interior, foreign affairs,
justice, defense and communication ministers.

The other ministries will have been divided among 5 candidates
nominated by the opposition and the ruling regime.

The proposal was voiced during the latest meeting of Turkish PM
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Moscow
and Tehran have not responded to the proposal and have not informed
Bashar al-Assad about it.

From: A. Papazian

MEDVEDEV IS ‘DEAD MAN WALKING’ AS PUTIN UNDOES HIS RUSSIAN REFORMS – WASHINGTON TIMES

TERT.AM
15:11 ~U 05.03.13

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, once one of Russia’s most popular
leaders, is now politically a “dead man walking” as his former mentor,
President Vladimir Putin, undermines him, leading many to predict that
the ruthless president is preparing to dump his reform-minded protege.

Mr Medvedev, 47, was always the junior partner in the Kremlin duo
with Mr. Putin, the 60-year-old former KGB officer. They even traded
the top government spots so Mr. Putin could remain in power.

But somewhere between Mr. Medvedev’s term as president from 2008 to
2012 and Mr. Putin’s return to the presidency in May, the political
romance faded.

Mr Putin has been reversing Mr. Medvedev’s reforms, making slander a
crime again and imposing Kremlin control over the direct election of
Russian governors. Meanwhile, the pro-Putin state-controlled media
ignores the prime minister or carries negative stories about him.

Analysts generally agree that Mr. Medvedev’s dismissal and political
obscurity are imminent.

“Mr Putin has already decided on the issue of Mr. Medvedev. Now it’s
just a matter of time before he goes,” said Andrei Piontkovsky,
a Moscow-based political writer. “This will be when it’s most
advantageous for Mr. Putin.”

Nikolay Petrov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, was more
succinct: “In a political sense, Mr. Medvedev is a dead man walking.”

When Mr. Medvedev was elected president five years ago, he proclaimed,
“Freedom is better than nonfreedom.” He inspired a generation of urban,
educated Russians who were hoping for genuine reforms.

But Mr Medvedev proved too independent for Mr. Putin, who served as
prime minister during his presidency. Mr. Putin, president from 2000
to 2008, could not seek a third consecutive term under the Russian
Constitution and tapped Mr. Medvedev to be a place-holder until he
could run again in 2012.

There also has been widespread speculation that Mr. Putin, who as
president appoints the prime minister, could replace Mr. Medvedev
with Sergei Shoigu, the newly installed and popular defense minister.

In another high-profile slight, Mr. Putin in November personally picked
the head of the ruling United Russia party’s parliamentary faction
instead of letting Mr. Medvedev, the official party leader, do the job.

Mr Putin’s irritation with Mr. Medvedev stems in part from his belief
that the younger politician’s support for reforms as president gave
birth to an anti-Putin movement. As prime minister late last year, Mr.

Medvedev expressed public sympathy for Mr. Putin’s critics.

“Certain issues that are being voiced [by the opposition] are probably
reasonable, and the authorities should take action on them,” Mr.

Medvedev said.

Mr Medvedev also spoke out for a milder handling of a feminist punk
group whose anticlerical and anti-Putin prayer in a Moscow cathedral
landed several of its members in jail last year. Mr. Putin accused the
group of “undermining moral foundations” of Russia, but Mr. Medvedev
criticized the court’s harshness in imposing a three-year sentence
on the musicians.

Analysts also suggest that Mr. Medvedev’s dismissal would help Mr.

Putin isolate high-level advocates of political, social and economic
reform.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PUBLIC TV AND RADIO COUNCIL ELECTS NEW CHIEF

TERT.AM
17:46 ~U 05.03.13

The Armenian Public Television and Radio Company’a Council elected
Tuesday Ruben Jaghinyan its new president.

Writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-Gulanyan, who is a Council
member, confirmed the report to Tert.am, describing Jaghinyan as a
well-informed professional who clearly understands his job and knows
what to do to make the public TV channel keep pace with the times.

Jaghinyan later told Tert.am that he has submitted an initial concept
and now works on an interim document.

Two candidates – Jaghinyan and Astghik Avetisyan – had earlier won
the bid announced by the Council after the former president, Aleksan
Harutyunyan, quit following the expiry of his term in office. Under
a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan on Friday, Jaghinyan was
appointed a Council member for six months.

Jaghinyan was elected to the post after a Council session that lasted
about two hours.

From: A. Papazian

RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN: “KOCHARIAN IS A POLITICAL GHOST AND PROSPEROUS ARMENIA, A POLITICAL CORPSE”

16:03, March 5, 2013

At a press conference today in Yerevan, Regional Studies Center
Director Richard Giragosian called Robert Kocharian a “political ghost”
and the Prosperous Armenia Party a “political corpse”.

Kocharian was Armenia’s second president and Prosperous Armenia is
a party headed by the Armenian business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan.

The analyst told reporters that it wasn’t clear if the political
opposition in Armenia had a specific strategic plan or not.

Giragosian did credit Raffi Hovannisian for injecting a new political
set of tactics into Armenia by taking his message to towns and rural
communities outside of Yerevan. He said that residents in the provinces
are mostly overlooked by Armenian politicians in non-election years.

Giragosian said that the authorities in power get failing grades when
it comes to shaping a positive public image.

“All they can do is parade political figures like Artashes Geghamyan
and Khosrov Haroutyunyan or the singer Shoushan Petrosyan in front
of the TV cameras. Are these the only people they have to represent
themselves?” Giragosian asked.

The analyst called February 18, the day of the presidential election, a
missed opportunity for Armenia to conduct a truly free and fair ballot.

Giragosian said that every day after February 18 has brought to light
more cases of electoral fraud and violations.

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MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
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From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: Richard Giragosian: “Kocharian is a political ghost and Prosperous
Armenia, a political corpse”

Richard Giragosian: “Kocharian is a political ghost and Prosperous
Armenia, a political corpse”

16:03, March 5, 2013

At a press conference today in Yerevan, Regional Studies Center
Director Richard Giragosian called Robert Kocharian a ?political
ghost? and the Prosperous Armenia Party a ?political corpse?.

Kocharian was Armenia?s second president and Prosperous Armenia is a
party headed by the Armenian business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan.

The analyst told reporters that it wasn?t clear if the political
opposition in Armenia had a specific strategic plan or not.

Giragosian did credit Raffi Hovannisian for injecting a new political
set of tactics into Armenia by taking his message to towns and rural
communities outside of Yerevan. He said that residents in the
provinces are mostly overlooked by Armenian politicians in
non-election years.

Giragosian said that the authorities in power get failing grades when
it comes to shaping a positive public image.

?All they can do is parade political figures like Artashes Geghamyan
and Khosrov Haroutyunyan or the singer Shoushan Petrosyan in front of
the TV cameras. Are these the only people they have to represent
themselves?? Giragosian asked.

The analyst called February 18, the day of the presidential election,
a missed opportunity for Armenia to conduct a truly free and fair
ballot.

Giragosian said that every day after February 18 has brought to light
more cases of electoral fraud and violations.

From: A. Papazian

THE RESULTS OF THE PAST YEAR SUMMED UP BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE FUND.

Monday, 04 March 2013 17:01

During his February 27 press conference Executive Director of the
Artsakh Investment Fund Artak Mirzoyan summed up the activity of the
fund in 2012.

In 2012 the Artsakh Investment fund worked in two directions promoting
the development of minor and middle businesses in the NKR and financing
the improvement of the citizens’ housing conditions.

The fund subsidized the interest rates of the loans allocated to minor
and middle business entities. In 2012 98 additional minor and middle
enterprises were created, the banks appropriated loans at a total
amount of 2 mlrd drams, the fund provided an amount of AMD 656.4 mln
to partially subsidize the annual interest rates of the loans.

The loans provided to different spheres of activity were distributed
in the following way: 41.4% to the sphere of industry, 6 % to
constructional engineering, 19.4 & to trade and 33.2 % to public
services.

Only 42 % of the state financial assistance was directed to the
promotion of the activities of minor and middle business entities in
the NKR regions, the greater part of this sum remained in Stepanakert.

Explaining the fact that credits were also provided to trade companies,
Artak Mirzoyan said that this fact was recorded by the Control Palace
as well. The Executive Director of the fund noted that by law in
Stepanakert only the programmes containing innovatory ideas must be
financially assisted. But they got no programme of this kind as people
mainly apply for commercial credits. To support these people the fund,
making use of the investment fund director’s rights, granted them
guarantees which was regarded as a violation of law by the Control
Palace. Taking into account the great demand of work in the spheres
of trade and public services Executive Director of the fund Artak
Mirzoyan does not exclude further changes in the corresponding decree
of the government.

According to Artak Mirzoyan the number of minor and middle enterprises
which got financial assistance in the years of 2008-2011 increased
at a slow rate. In 2012 the business activity as well as the number
of minor and middle enterprises reduced by about 15 %, the amount
of loans granted to them by 43 % and the main reason for this is the
lack of the Armenian currency credits.

From: A. Papazian

COMMEMORATING INNOCENT VICTIMS OF SUMGAYIT MASSACRE

Tuesday, 05 March 2013 18:39

Commemoration ceremony of 25th anniversary of Sumgayit massacre has
been held in Batumi, with the efforts of the Armenian community and
the Armenian embassy to Batumi.

Memorial service has been held in “Holy Savior” Armenian church,
seminar has been organized by “Our future” youth organization dedicated
to all innocent victims of Sumgayit massacre. “Simple Genocide:
Sumgayit” documentary has been shown to all participants.

Commemoration ceremony has also been held in Spain. Memorial service
has been held in San Juan de la Cruz church by the Armenian community
and a documentary about Sumgatiy massacre has been shown in the end.

From: A. Papazian

Jrashen Village Will Not Have Gas Because Voted For Raffi

18:48 04/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

The pipes brought to Jrashen village of Ararat marz before the
election to lay out a gas pipeline were taken away today. The people
of the village tried to block the way of the trucks but they were told
they had better ask Raffi Hovannisian to bring gas to their village.
Jrashen village will not have gas because on February 18 Raffi
Hovannisian won the election in this village. 410 voted for Raffi
Hovannisian, 298 voted for Serzh Sargsyan.

From: A. Papazian