Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIAN NUKE STATION TO BE READY FOR RECONSTRUCTION STOP BY SPRING 2017 – MINISTER

YEREVAN, February 18. /ARKA/. Preparations for ceasing operations at
the Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant for reconstruction purposes
will be completed by spring 2017, minister of energy and natural
resources Yervand Zakharyan said at a meeting in the nuke station
on Tuesday.

Under the respective loan agreements between the Russian and the
Armenian governments, Armenia is obliged to ensure smooth suspension
by spring 2017, the minister said.

According to the agreement signed in Moscow on February 5,
Russia extends a $270 million loan and a grant of $30 million for
reconstruction and extension of the service live of the nuke station.

The loan will be provided under soft terms for 15 years and at a 3%
per annum rate.

The preparatory works will be carried out mainly by Rusatom Service
closed joint stock company, the minister said as cited by the press
office. The respective framework agreement with the company is to be
signed soon.

During the meeting, the nuke station management reported about measures
implemented so far and the action plan for 2015. Measures to raise
safety level at the nuclear power unit were presented in detail.

Armenia plans also to build a new power unit at the nuke station
with capacity of 1,000 megawatt. The start of the construction is
scheduled for 2018-2019. Russia says it is ready to meet part of the
construction expenditures and provide the so-called ‘nuclear island’
in particular. Other costs are expected to be paid from support funds
from various countries.

The Metsamor plant located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan, was
built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake
in 1988 that killed some 25,000 people and devastated much of northern
Armenia.

One of the plant’s two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was
reactivated in 1995. The Armenian government said earlier it wants
to build a new facility that is supposed to operate at twice the
capacity of the Soviet-constructed facility. Metsamor currently
generates some 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity. The construction
of the new facility is estimated as much as $5 billion.-0-

From: A. Papazian

VICTORIA NULAND VISITS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL

February 18, 2015 13:33

Yerevan /Mediamax/. U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs Victoria Nuland visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial at
the beginning of her visit to Armenia.

Victoria Nuland and the delegation she heads lay flowers to the eternal
fire of Tsitsernakaberd Memorial paying tribute to the victims of
the Armenian Genocide.

Afterwards, Victoria Nuland walked around the memorial accompanied
by Director of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan.

From: A. Papazian

WHEN CHARLIE CHAPLIN ATTENDED THE OPENING OF AREMNIAN HOTEL IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

19:01, 17 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Jakarta Globe presents the story of Armenians, who opened a chain
of hotels in Southeast Asia. The article reads:

As long as there has been cross-border trade there have been expats.

Be they Chinese from poor coastal villages in search of a better life,
or unskilled laborers from India dragooned by colonial overlords;
soldiers of fortune from the Japan or sons of the British Empire
brought up on boys’ own tales of pomp and riches, people have bid
farewell to their own shores and traveled in search of a brave
new world.

Expats come and expats go, but their legacy varies. Jakarta’s historic
Old Town is a testament to centuries of Dutch colonialism, India’s tea
plantations legacy to Europeans love of tea. And the Chinese influence
lives on in boardrooms of some of the wealthiest conglomerates in
the region.

And then we have the Armenians. As trade opened up the East and brought
yet more opportunities for the opportunistic, others followed in
the footsteps of the hardy pioneers, including people from an often
overlooked nation sitting at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

Little remains of the Armenian presence in Southeast Asia beyond the
odd church, road name and hotel. But what hotels?

Tigran Sarkies was his name, a precocious 23-year-old, and in 1882
he was working as an auctioneer in Georgetown, Penang. He must have
tired of banging the gavel because a couple of years later he opened
the Eastern Hotel and two years after he launched the Oriental Hotel
with his brother, Martin.

Another brother, Aviet, was brought in to manage the Eastern, while
Tigran and Martin extended the Oriental, which they reopened in 1889 —
renamed as the Eastern & Oriental, or E&O as it was know by generations
of planters and officials during those colonial times.

In just a few short years the name Sarkies became so synonymous with
hotels that Sir Frank Swettenham, who has more than left his own
imprint on the peninsula, first related an oft-told joke.

“A little boy at school was asked by his teacher who the Sakais
[indigenous Malay peoples] were, and he replied they were people who
kept hotels!”

In 1891 a fourth brother, Arshak, arrived on the scene and his industry
led to the constant reinvention of the E&O until it acquired its
moniker of the premier hotel east of Suez. Quite a character was
Arshak who could often be seen waltzing round the ballroom of his
hotel with a whiskey soda on his head.

Buoyed by the early success of the island-based hotel, Tigran and
Martin looked into opening a hotel in Singapore. A suitable premise
was found on the corner of Beach Rd. and Bras Brasah Rd.

The bungalow had been a boarding house for students at the Raffles
Institution and needed little renovation. By December 1887, Tigran
opened Raffles with the guarantee of “great care and attention the
comfort of boarders and visitors.”

Again the brothers had backed a winner. Extensions in 1889 increased
the capacity but the demand was still outstripping supply.

Martin returned to Persia in 1890, leaving Tigran to oversee the
construction of Palm Court Wing in 1894, which brought the total
numbers of rooms to 75.

Another wing was opened in November 1899, which led the somewhat stuffy
Straits Times to gush “palatial building with excellent ventilation,
and the vast airy dining room would make Raffles one of the largest
and handsomest hotels in the East.”

Now, with 100 suites, Raffles also was the only hotel in the area
lit by electricity and with a 10,000 gallon water tank!

The last tiger to be killed in Singapore was taken out in the Bar &
Billiard Room. I’m not sure what the patrons’ reaction was to having
their game interrupted by a great cat taking refuge under their feet.

As was common in many buildings at that time, the bar was raised off
the ground to prevent flooding and the tiger had hidden in the recess.

Given the popularity of tiger hunting, no doubt a few of the worthies
would have been disappointed they hadn’t pulled the trigger.

Today it is peaceful and makes for a nice stroll, taking in Chinese
temples and a house used by Dr. Sun Yat Sen as he plotted to
overthrow the Chinese government but in the past has been the scene
for disturbances between various secret societies.

Further south in Singapore stands the Armenian Church, the oldest in
the country. Today it is surrounded by high rises, while a busy road
provides a non-stop symphony of sounds; hardly the place of relaxation
and contemplation.

The neatly manicured gardens have a handful of tombstones, many
featuring the name Sarkie. It is tempting to try and lose yourself in
the moment and imagine Martin and Tigran taking time out from running
a hostelry and seeking solace within the walls of the small church,
but the 21st century is just too close, as is a busy intersection
and a bus stop.

Closer to home Lucas, son of Martin, eschewed the Sarkies successful
practice of setting up in the wake of the British colonials and headed
south east, to Surabaya, a city famous on the maritime maps of the
day but also home to a fair-sized Armenian community.

He opened the Oranje Hotel in 1910, named after the Dutch colonials
in the East Indies. That the Sarkies had opened a hotel was enough
to tempt people to visit the hot and sweaty town in East Java.

Charlie Chaplin, a familiar figure on the screen and at Raffles
attended the opening ceremonies of a refurbishment in 1936.

The Japanese arrived with the invasion of Java and used the hotel as
a barracks, changing the name to Hotel Yamoto.

The Indonesians declared their independence after the war on Aug. 17
but that didn’t stop the Anglo Dutch Country Section Office moving
into the hotel, room number 33 to be precise. On Sept. 19 at 6 a.m.

the officials raised the Dutch flag atop the hotel.

The Surabayans, angered by this arrogance, attacked the hotel, climbed
on to the roof and pulled down the symbol of oppression. They tore
off the blue band on the flag leaving just the red and white, merah
putih, the colors of the independent Indonesia.

From: A. Papazian

LA 34EME ASSEMBLEE GENERALE DE L’ACFOA

COMMUNAUTE-VALENCE (DRÔME)

La 34ème Assemblee generale de l’ACFOA (Anciens combattants francais
d’origine armenienne) de Drôme-Ardèche s’est tenue samedi 24 janvier au
restaurant du Parc Jouvet a Valence. Une vingtaine de membres etait
present. Le president Georges Eretzian qui a excuse l’absence du
Colonel Andre Seferian president de la FNACFOA (Federation nationale
des anciens combattants francais d’origine armenienne), a presente le
rapport financier et moral qui furent valides par l’Assemblee. Il a
rappele les activites de l’ACFOA au cours de la saison ecoulee. Parmi
ces derniers, la commemoration du 70ème anniversaire de l’execution
du Groupe Manouchian, la participation a commemoration du 99ème
anniversaire du genocide armenien ainsi qu’au 70ème anniversaire de la
liberation de la Drôme. Georges Eretzian a salue les medailles d’or
du ministère de la Diaspora de la Republique d’Armenie -plus haute
distinction- a deux de ses membres, Henri Siranyan en fevrier dernier
et a Krikor Amirzayan en novembre dernier. Il a egalement presente
les futures manifestations de l’ACFOA dont la conference sur > le vendredi 20 fevrier a la Maison de la
Vie associative avec la participation de Jean Krikorian, president
d’honneur de la Maison de la Culture Armenienne de la Loire. G.

Eretzian a informe les membres de l’association que l’ACFOA, tout en
restant a la Coada est desormais membre du C24, le Comite du 24 Avril
engage dans la preparation des ceremonies du 100ème anniversaire du
genocide armenien. Des informations furent donnees sur la naissance du
C24, Comite du 24 Avril Drôme-Ardèche. Georges Eretzian a presente
l’entree au bureau de l’ACFOA de Krikor Amirzayan au titre de
vice-President et de Noubar Arakelian en tant que President d’Honneur.

L’Assemble vota favorablement a cette proposition. Ce bureau qui fut
renouvele est compose de : Georges Eretzian (President), Presidents
d’Honneur : Henri Siranyan, Jacques Taboyan, Andre Seferian,
Noubar Arakelian. Vice-presidents : Krikor Kizardjian, Claude
Vartabedian, Georges Kouyoumdjian, Krikor Amirzayan. Secretaire :
Roger Emirdjian. Secretaire adjoint : Maurice Inokdjian. Tresorier :
Robert Kaprielan. Tresorier adjoint : Georges Ovanessian. Porte-drapeau
: Tatos Hagopian.

mercredi 18 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

ANALYSIS: SARGSYAN-TSARUKYAN “HOT WAR” ENDS, POLICY ON PAP’S OUSTER WILL CONTINUE

ANALYSIS | 18.02.15 | 11:18

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

Internal political tensions in Armenia appear to be subsiding and even
if it takes place on February 20 the opposition rally is unlikely
to have the potential to grow into clashes or lead to a change of
government.

The key opposition elements appear to be seeking peace with President
Serzh Sargsyan. The first step was admittedly made by the second
President Robert Kocharyan, who is believed to be the political
patron of Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) leader Gagik Tsarukyan. In
an interview published by his unofficial website, Kocharyan addressed
the persecutions of Tsarukyan, but stopped short of openly condemning
Sargsyan for his actions. He only warned that further steps could
lead to escalation.

Then, it was the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan
who published an open letter addressed to Sargsyan and offering to
meet “at any convenient time”. Ter-Petrosyan linked the necessity
of such a meeting with the upcoming events commemorating the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. He proposed the establishment
of a commission and even expressed willingness to personally take
part in the preparation of an all-national document that will be
addressed to the heads of all international organizations.

Later on Tuesday reports suggested that Sargsyan and Tsarukyan held a
meeting that was reportedly mediated by Russian billionaire of Armenian
descent, owner of the Tashir group Samvel Karapetyan. Sources at the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation confirmed the fact of the meeting
between Sargsyan and Tsarukyan and that the two have reconciled.

Nevertheless, the “peace” deal is unlikely to mean the return of the
PAP to the active political arena. Four members have already left the
party’s parliamentary faction, prosecutions of several PAP members have
been launched, and Tsarukyan himself was deprived of a number of posts.

Analysts say that Sargsyan has agreed to stop the persecution, not
going as far as the arrest and prosecution of Tsarukyan. But he has
refused to stop the “de-actualization” of the PAP and the current
policies aimed at achieving the disorganization of the PAP faction
and the party itself will continue.

Experts link the possible reconsolidation of the “three Armenian
presidents” (the incumbent president, Serzh Sargsyan, and his two
predecessors, Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan) with the
upcoming Centennial of the Armenian Genocide to be marked on April 24,
when Armenia will become the scene of important international events.

At the hottest time of the domestic strife Sargsyan withdrew from the
parliament the Armenian-Turkish protocols, thereby declaring that he
is not going to deviate from the path of claims to Turkey.

The three Armenian presidents do not have the experience of joint
participation in events, they have no joint photograph. And the
100th anniversary of the genocide may become the most natural
occasion when the interests of the three presidents will meet. The
presidents themselves surely understand that. They themselves know
that no internal arguments can justify their refusal to participate
in all-national events.

From: A. Papazian

NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY ARMED

18:07 February 17, 2015

EcoLur

Nature Protection Minister Aramayis Grigoryan submitted for the
approval of the Armenian Government a draft resolution on providing
guns to a number of specially protected areas of nature. Under
the resolution, Directors, Deputy Directors, Department Heads
and Inspectors of “Sevan National Park”, “Dilijan National Park”,
“Arpi Litch National Park”, “Khosrov Forest” State Reserve, Zangezour
Biospheric Complex, and Reserve Park Complex will receive guns.

“Sevan National Park” will be in the first place with its armament
level, where 110 guns will be provided followed by Zangezour Biospheric
Complex – 74 guns, “Dilijan National Park” – 53, “Khosrov Forest”
State Reserve – 47, Reserve Park Complex – 21. The list will be
finalized by “Arpi Litch National Park” by 18 guns.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA HALTS RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT WITH TURKEY

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 17 2015

YEREVAN – The Associated Press

The Armenian president has said he has asked the country’s
parliamentary speaker to withdraw his signature from a groundbreaking
2009 agreement with Turkey meant to restore ties between the two
nations.

President Serzh Sargsyan said in a statement yesterday that Armenia
would not ratify the agreement because of the “preconditions” that
Turkey is putting in place before it ratifies its part of the deal.

The agreement aims to restore diplomatic ties between the countries
as well as reopen the common border, which has been closed since
1993. It was brokered by the United States and other nations.

The move comes in a year that Armenia is remembering the mass killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman era in 1915, 100 years ago.

The relations between the leaders of both countries is tense with
recent remarks on the issue.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia Feb. 10 to
examine the 1915 events through the lens of “science, not politics,”
criticizing the rejection of Ankara’s invitation to representatives
of the country to attend war commemoration ceremonies in Turkey.

In January, the Turkish president sent invitation letters to more
than 100 leaders, including Sargsyan, to participate in ceremonies on
April 24 marking the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale.

The ceremonies in Canakkale were rearranged this year to coincide
with Armenia’s traditional day of remembrance for the Armenian victims
of 1915.

Sargsyan denounced Erdogan’s invitation as a “short-sighted” attempt
to overshadow the massacres of Ottoman Armenians.

“We would like them to come and be in Canakkale on April 24,
to breathe in that atmosphere and try to understand that happened
among our hundreds of thousands of martyrs. But they won’t do that,”
Erdogan said.

February/16/2015

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA WITHDRAWS PROTOCOLS WITH TURKEY FROM PARLIAMENT

World Bulletin, Turkey
Feb 17 2015

The protocols, aimed at normalizing relations between the two
countries, were signed in 2009, as a result of a landmark process
facilitated by Switzerland.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced Monday his decision to
withdraw from parliament the Armenian-Turkish protocols that aimed
to normalize relations between the two countries.

According to the Armenian news agency, Armenpress, the Armenian
president’s office said that Sargsyan had sent a letter to the
chairman of the National Assembly, Galust Sargsyan, informing him of
his decision to withdraw the “Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic
Relations ” and “Protocol on Development of Relations” between Turkey
and Armenia.

The two protocols were signed on Oct. 10, 2009, as a result of a
landmark negotiation process facilitated by Switzerland, which remain
suspended in Armenian parliament since 2010.

Turkey and Armenia, two neighboring countries, have no diplomatic
relations.

Turkish Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Turkey wishes to
normalize bilateral relations with Armenia, and within this perspective
it started “to unilaterally implement certain confidence-building
measures.”

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has said that the Armenian government
sent the protocols to its Constitutional Court for approval.

“Consequently, the court found the protocols to be commensurate with
the Armenian constitution with its reasoned statement, which contained
contradictory elements to the letter and the spirit of the protocols,”
the Turkish ministry says.

On April 22, 2010, the Armenian president suspended the ratification
process of the protocols.

Armenian-Turkey ties

During the First World War, the Ottoman Empire approved a deportation
law for Armenians amid their uprising with the help of the invading
Russian army. As a result, an unknown number of people died in
civil strife.

Armenian diaspora and state of Armenia term the incidents as “genocide”
and ask for compensation, whereas Ankara maintains that while Armenians
died during deportation, many Turks also died because of the attacks
by Armenian gangs all around Anatolia.

The high-tension rhetoric between Armenia and Turkey reached new high
this year when Turkish president’s invitation for Armenian president
to visit Turkey was refused.

In mid January, the Turkish president sent invitation letters to
more than 100 leaders, including Sargsyan to participate in the
commemoration of the Battle of Canakkale on April 24.

From: A. Papazian

CHP DEPUTY: AK PARTY SPENT MILLIONS TO SEEM FRIENDLY WITH ISRAEL

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 16 2015

February 16, 2015, Monday/ 17:55:07/ TODAY’S ZAMAN / ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ä°stanbul deputy Aykut
Erdogdu has claimed that the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) spent $65.4 million up until 2013 on efforts to portray
itself as a pro-Israeli administration while pretending to its voter
base that it is one of Israel’s staunchest critics.

Erdogdu, who is the head of the CHP’s corruption investigation unit,
shared a number of documents with the press on Monday, claiming that
they reveal the importance that the AK Party’s places on its relations
with Israel.

To prove his claims, Erdogdu said the documents show that the AK
Party paid $65.4 million to lobby groups in the US to promote its
relations with the Israeli government. However, Erdogdu did not
explain how paying lobby groups in the US helped Turkey to maintain
good relations with Israel. In common with a large number of countries,
Turkey works with a variety of groups in Washington to lobby for its
interests in the US capital. The groups that Turkey has worked with
over the past years have mostly worked against the strong Armenian
lobby groups in the US which have been working on the passage of a
resolution which would recognize the 1915 mass killings of Armenians
as a genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says the 1915
events cannot be considered genocide because Turks also died due to
the chaotic conditions in Turkey during the break-up of the Ottoman
Empire in World War I.

AK Party government officials have increasingly employed anti-Israeli
and anti-Semitic rhetoric to gain votes from the party’s conservative
base before the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on
June 7 this year.

“We [the CHP] have determined that the AK Party paid $65.4 million
to lobby firms in the US to tell the world that they’re friends
of Israel. We have documents to prove it,” Erdogdu said in a press
conference in Ä°stanbul.

The deputy claimed that the AK Party paid 19 lobby firms in the US,
including DiNovo Strategies, FleishmanHillard, Neusner Communications,
Livingston Group, Gephardt Group and DPA Piper in order to appear as a
friend of Israel. He said that the AK Party government is exploiting
the sensitivities of Turkish people to the Palestine-Israel conflict
in order to solidify its support among its conservative voter base.

“On the one hand they portray themselves to the Turkish people as
being in a constant fight with the Israel while on the other hand
they worked hard to make the Jewish lobby in the US believe that the
AK Party is a pro-Israeli administration and paid millions of dollars
to that end. This is completely hypocritical,” said Erdogdu.

The unofficial Jewish caucus in Congress has traditionally supported
Turkey’s position on the Armenian issue in the past, but this support
seems to be on the wane in recent years in parallel with AK Party
government officials’ increasingly anti-Semitic rhetoric.

From: A. Papazian

SARGSYAN-TSARUKYAN RECONCILIATION MEETING TOOK PLACE UNDER MEDIATION OF “DASHNAKTIUTYUN”

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Tuesday, February 17, 18:53

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan met in the president’s residence under
the mediation of the ARF “Dashnaktiutyun”, a representative of the
ARFD Supreme Body, Aghvan Vardanyan, told Arminfo correspondent.

He said that they simply needed such a meeting after the confrontation
of the RPA and PAP in order to prevent further worsening of the
domestic political situation in Armenia.

According to Arminfo’s sources, in a certain sense the meeting was
fruitful and the parties have come to a compromise. However, the
sources could not answer how the position of the PAP will change
after the meeting, and if the authorities will go on implementing
the punishing actions regarding the leader of the PAP.

To note, the owner of the “Tashir-group” Samvel Karapetyan arrived
in Yerevan yesterday and met Tsarukyan. His purpose was to reconcile
Gagik Tsarukyan and Serzh Sargsyan.

From: A. Papazian