Author: Andres-Papazian

TURKEY CANCELS MEETING WITH EU IN ISTANBUL DUE TO POINT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

16:00, 11 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. The relations between Ankara and
Brussels have been escalated due to the inclusion of the point on
the Armenian Genocide in the report made by the European Parliament
comprising 442 points.

As reports “Armenpress” citing the Turkish objektifbakis.com news
website, on these grounds Turkey has unilaterally canceled the
Turkey-EU parliamentary commission, which was scheduled to be held
on February 18-19 in Istanbul.

Among other things, it is noted that Turkey thus expresses its
protest to Brussels claiming that this is a “diplomatic counteraction”
against adding the point on the Armenian Genocide to the proposals.

From: A. Papazian

CHESS: NINE PLAYERS TO REPRESENT ARMENIA AT EUROPEAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP

CHESS | 11.02.15 | 10:19

Nine chess players will represent Armenia at European Individual Men’s
Chess Championship 2015 opening in Jerusalem, Israel, on February 24.

According to the tournament’s official website, a total of 251
chess players from 31 countries have submitted applications for
participation, 116 of whom are grandmasters and two are women’s
grandmasters.

Armenia will have the fourth largest representation at the championship
after Israel (100 participants), Russia (42) and Ukraine (13).

The following players will represent Armenia in Jerusalem:
Grandmasters Hrant Melkumyan, Gabriel Sargsyan, Vladimir Hakobyan,
Karen H. Grigoryan, Robert Hovhannisyan, Zaven Andriasyan, Samvel
Ter-Sahakyan and first-class chess players Arman Mikayelyan and
Vladimir Poghosyan.

The championship will be held till March 8.

From: A. Papazian

NKR DEFENSE ARMY OFFICER KILLED BY A FELLOW SOLDIER

02.11.2015 12:26 epress.am

At approximately 7:55 PM on February 10, 25-year old officer Tigran
Simonyan died from a bullet wound in one of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Defense Army’s northern military bases, reported the NKR Ministry of
Defense without any further details.

According to Armtimes.com, Simonyan died from a fellow’s shooting.

Both the victim and the shooter were senior lieutenants by rank. The
shooter’s name is not mentioned. The site stated that Simonyan was
a Vanadzor resident.

The Investigative Committee released a statement which notes that
Simonyan was killed from a shot as a result of a violation of military
patrol rules. The individual’s name responsible for the violation
was not revealed. A criminal case was initiated based on article 365
of the RA Criminal Code, “violation of combat duty regulations as a
result of negligence or bad faith that caused grave consequences.”

From: A. Papazian

TAX FIGHT: BUSINESS OWNERS VOW TO CONTINUE RESISTANCE AGAINST CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSED LAW

Economy | 10.02.15 | 14:52

By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Small and medium business owners say they will continue fighting
against the enforcement of a controversial sales tax law and will
demand that together with the government solutions be found for the
law that has twice been postponed already.

Small and medium business owners will defend their rights within
the “Confederation of entrepreneurs”, representatives of which told
reporters on Tuesday that they turned to the government with four
suggestions.

“Firstly, the section regarding gold must be separated and discussed
separately. And then, annual sales threshold of the organization
must be raised from 58 billion AMD and be more than 100 billion
AMD. Working with new principles must be a voluntary practice for
business owners,” Norik Sahakyan, the head of Armenian Producers’
Development Center NGO said.

“And lastly, in the adopted version of the law there is a point
that inspectors can at any point realize inspections, this must be
extracted, as it increases corruption risk,” he added.

Sahakyan said that they urged the government to pay visits at
department stores and shops instead of office discussions.

“You must listen to the people, rather than conduct office
discussions. Those who make laws in offices cannot imagine what it
feels like working at a store, on a cold ground floor.”

As a result of pressure the enforcement of sales tax law has twice
been postponed. The second time the government mediated the National
Assembly in the end of this January, after mass protests.

“We tell the PM that we expect help from you, so that we search and
find solutions from the current situation,” Sahakyan said, adding
that more than 700 stores have closed as a result of the tax change.

Tigran Hovhannisyan, head of the Car Importers’ Union was present
at the meeting and said that they are unified and they will win,
“because no matter how much misunderstanding there has been, they
continued the fight for six months and achieved success.”

From: A. Papazian

AS KARABAKH PEACE TALKS STAGNATING, SHELLING APPEARS TO BE ONLY METHOD OF POLITICAL DIALOGUE

ArmInfo’s interview with Ilgar Velizade, Head of the South Caucasus
Club of Political Analysts, Azerbaijani political scientist

by David Stepanyan

Tuesday, February 10, 16:13

Did the recent voting at PACE – where it was decided not to restore
Russia’s voting rights until April- show perturbations that may result
in a new geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus?

The voting was demonstrative and paradoxical. Three of the countries
that voted ‘against’ the resolution supporting the territorial
integrity of Ukraine have territorial problems. Those countries
were Azerbaijan, Serbia and Cyprus. That voting demonstrated that
there is no full consensus in the situation around Ukraine and
its interpretation by the global actors. Those three countries
sought to show their stance on all the international principles of
decision-making concerning the territorial integrity. In other words,
Azerbaijan, Serbia and Cyprus demonstrated that they anticipate
similar actions concerning their own problems. Since, nothing of
the kind has happened, they were reluctant to vote ‘against’ the
resolution to show their protest.

Nagorny Karabakh conflict also deals with the principles of
self-determination and territorial integrity…

These issues are raised during the settlement process, of course. On
the other hand, the political configuration in the South Caucasus is
changing, given the policy of the leading actors and the current
distribution of forces. Officially mediating in the Karabakh
conflict, Russia keeps developing its relations with both Armenia
and Azerbaijan. However, one can see that Russia’s benefits from the
partner relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan are quite different.

Armenia unlike Azerbaijan is a recipient of Russia’s military and
economic assistance. Meanwhile, Baku is a good trade and economic,
and, which is the most important, military-technical partner of
Russia. In 2014 alone, Sergey Shoiu made a $5 million arms deal
during his visit to Baku. Given the current problems of the JSC
Rosoboronexport – Russia’s major company engaged in arms export –
Russia cannot undervalue such a big order by Azerbaijan. Therefore,
if Baku supported the anti-Russian resolution, it would negatively
affect its partnership with Russia. Furthermore, Azervbaijan not only
would fail to settle its territorial problems, but also would face
confrontation with Russia – something it does not need at all.

Consequently, Azerbaijan’s vote was rather pragmatic and justified,
like the voting of Cyprus and Serbia, I think. It is untimely
anticipating any drastic changes in the region from the PACE voting,

Many believe that Russia has lost the confrontation with Ukraine. Do
you share these views? Will this change the distribution of forces
in the region and the balance around Nagorny Karabakh?

There are categorical assertions that Russia has failed to manage
the Ukraine crisis, but these assertions belong mostly to the media
outlets that interpret the situation in conformity with their editorial
line. That is why, one should not draw any far-reaching conclusions
from this so far. Nothing is that simple in the Ukrainian crisis. What
we are witnessing now is an extremely painful transformation of the
international and regional relations with predominance of destructive
elements. It is not likely that a new ‘construction’ will emerge from
the ongoing transformation.

Destabilizing processes continue getting new geopolitical accents,
additional negative and dramatic nature. Actually, not only Russia
and Ukraine, but also all the neighbors of Russia suffer from those
processes, particularly, the EEU member Kazakhstan that even has no
border with Ukraine.

What about Armenia and Azerbaijan?

As for Armenia, it is suffering also because its external borders are,
actually, the borders of the EEU. I cannot say how the real situation
in the case of Armenia will extrapolate, but Yerevan will inevitably
face difficulties, given that special laws that would facilitate its
special state can be adopted only in cooperation with the EEU members.

Further protraction of the Ukrainian crisis will negatively affect the
countries like Armenia, first of all. The situation is developing so
rapidly now that any decision on Ukraine influences the development
of the Ukrainian crisis. Therefore, no one can make any forecasts. As
for Azerbaijan, it has already displayed its choice in favor of Russia
by the voting at the PACE. Nevertheless, the issue of Azerbaijan’s
strategic choice is still open, because no global super actors present
Baku with a dilemma. The reason is that the EU, U.S., and Russia
are now satisfied with what they receive from Azerbaijan: Moscow –
arms deals, Brussels and Washington – energy resources.

And how does Karabakh fit into this configuration?

Unfortunately, Karabakh does not at all fit into the current
geopolitical configuration because no real ties between Karabakh
and Azerbaijan are observed. In the meantime, serious geopolitical
decisions affect the conflict. At the moment, one should not expect
any radical changes in the situation around the Karabakh conflict. Nor
should one expect Azerbaijan to make a real geopolitical choice.

Russia is not interested in the change of the status quo, because
in that case it will lose control over the conflict, especially
amid the conflict with Ukraine. So, at the moment the conflicting
parties are left to their own devices. What we see today on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border confirms that the parties are trying
to force benefits out of the general geopolitical context. Further
protraction of the Karabakh conflict is unacceptable. Specific facts
and figures also prove that. A few years ago, the ceasefire regime
was annually breached no more than for 2-3 thsd times, and now the
number of ceasefire violations has increased dozens of times, which
demonstrates a latent war.

So, do you see an impulse for resolution of the conflict?

Certainly, I do. And that impulse is natural. The escalation of the
arms race in the region, where mountains of weapons are stockpiled,
sooner or later raises the need to use these weapons. This is what we
see today. Despite numerous calls for peace, foreign actors make no
real management of the conflict. Naturally, Azerbaijan is not happy
with the current situation and tries to give relevant signals to the
world. That is, they try to say that protraction of the situation
will not lead to durable peace in the region. External actors and
Armenia, naturally, interpret these signals in their own way, which
just makes Azerbaijan use force. Therefore, as Karabakh peace talks
are stagnating, shelling appears to be the only method of political
dialogue.

What are the prospects of that dialogue?

This dialogue has two potential outcomes: either a short-term
small-scale war or even more ceasefire breaches. This perspective is
constantly growing. Such latent conflict is not likely to spiral into
a large-scale war, as it is not within the interests of big actors.

Russia and the West will not keep calm amid growing threats to
their national interests, for instance, explosions of oil pipelines
or new problems in the Caspian Sea region. Nevertheless, they need
to manage the situation carefully enough not to spark a large-scale
destructive war. This is what explains the calls for settlement of the
conflict by means of the ‘Madrid Principles.’ To resolve the conflict,
implementation of those principles, not political rhetoric is required.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIA DOES NOT NEED BASES ON CYPRUS – MILITARY EXPERT

Interfax, Russia
Feb 9 2015

MOSCOW. Feb 9

Russia does not need military bases on Cyprus, especially considering
the current economic climate, former chief of the international
agreements division of the Russian Defense Ministry’s main
international cooperation department Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky said.

“Sure, we do not need them [the bases], especially given the
present-day economic conditions,” Buzhinsky, PIR Center Board Chairman,
told Interfax-AVN on Monday.

He was commenting on a statement by Cypriot President Nikos
Anastasiadis who said Cyprus was prepared to consider the deployment
of Russian air and naval bases on the island.

In the opinion of Buzhinsky, “Cyprus must need something, it wants
money and is ready to do anything. It is especially amusing that they
are offering [Russia] to open its base near Akrotiri, the location
of a British military base.”

Being a member of the European Union, Cyprus is part of the sphere of
influence of the Europeans and the Americans, primarily, the Brits,
he said.

“So, all this talk about Russian bases on Cyprus reminds me of Cyprus’
“procurement” of S-300 missile systems. It even paid the bill, but
the S-300 systems were finally deployed in Greece because no one would
let Cyprus to deploy Russian-made air defense systems,” Buzhinsky said.

Speaking of Greek media reports regarding the Russian government’s
request for leasing an air base on Cyprus, a military diplomat told
Interfax-AVN in Moscow earlier that the Russian army did not have an
operative need to deploy an airbase in the Mediterranean but it could
temporarily use the Cypriot territory, for instance, for possible
evacuation of Russian citizens from conflict-ridden Syria.

“The Russian army has no operative need to station an airbase on
Cyprus, because the Russian Defense Ministry does not posses a regional
group which will require support from such base,” the source said.

“Most probably, it could be the question of temporary use, with the
consent of the Cypriot side, of some airfield for possible evacuation
of Russian citizens in the case of escalated tensions in Syria,”
he continued.

“The situation around that country [Syria] has changed, and Russia
has contributed to that by its efforts,” the source said.

At present, Russian airbases are deployed outside the national
territory wherever Russia has army forces, i.e. in Kyrgyzstan,
Armenia and Tajikistan, he said.

Western media, which commented on the statement by Anastasiadis,
said that a formal agreement on military cooperation between Russia
and Cyprus might be signed on February 25, 2015.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA’S C.BANK RAISES KEY REFINANCING RATE TO 10.5 PCT FROM 9.5 PCT

Reuters
Feb 10 2015

YEREVAN

Feb 10 (Reuters) – Armenia’s central bank raised its key refinancing
rate on Tuesday to 10.5 percent from 9.5 percent.

Annual inflation was at 4.3 percent in January, the central bank said,
down from 4.6 percent in December. Monthly inflation in January was
at 2.5 percent, compared to inflation of 3.0 percent in December.

The government forecasts annual inflation in a range of 2.5-5.5
percent in 2015, the same as last year’s target. (Reporting by Hasmik
Lazarian; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Jason Bush)

From: A. Papazian

SPOTLIGHT ON REALITY: DOWN SYNDROME CASE REVEALS ARMENIA’S FAILURE TO INTEGRATE THOSE WITH DISABILITIES

Society | 10.02.15 | 14:59

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

The story of the Armenian infant born with Down syndrome whose father
(a New Zealander) is taking the boy out of the country, has caused a
wave of social media chatter. The child’s father says Armenia is not
a fit place for raising a special needs child – a claim that has once
again raised questions about attitudes in Armenia towards people who
are physically and mentally challenged.

The boy, named Leo, was born January 21 to Samuel Forrest and
RuzanBadalyan. His story became international news last week when
foreign media reported that Forrest was “forced to choose” between his
wife and his child, because Badalyan had disowned the baby.Badalyan
filed for divorce a week after Leo was born and Forrest started a
fund-raising campaign to collect money to sustain the child’s welfare
back in New Zealand.

Meanwhile in Armenia, the much-publicized story has aimed a spotlight
at attitudes and perceptions toward those with disabilities.

Prkutyun NGO, center for disabled children aged 16-35 and youth,
established in 1999 exists to help families find solutionsto social,
educational and health care problems, as well as their complete
integration in the society by means of mediation and humanitarian aid.

ArpineAbrahamyan, head of the center said she does nothave any official
statistics of how many children are born with Down syndrome in Armenia,
however she said that it occurs in about one in 800 births.

“During recent years they check during pregnancy and in case of
confirmation of the syndrome, they turn to abortion. Because of this
there will be fewer children born like that, but I know that annually
5-6 children are sent to Gyumri orphanage,” Abrahamyan said adding
that six children with that syndrome study at their center.

The mother of one of their students, whose 22-year-old son has attended
the center for seven years, said that in Armenia,Prkutyun center is
the only salvation for her son. The mother (who did not want her name
publicized) said that a few days after the child was born they found
out that the boy has Down syndrome, and they had never heard about
it before.

“After three daughters I finally gave birth to a son, and with this
disease, everyone around said to give him away, but both my husband,
and my children and I were critically against that idea. Giving him
away was excluded. Certainly, it is very difficult to bring them
up, and the more they grow up the harder it gets, and I can never
judge parents of such children who give them away, but I think that
living in a family is the best,” the woman said adding that her son
is registered at Avan psychiatric hospital. The family is provided
with free medication and receives about $45 a month pension for people
with disabilities.

But the woman, a widow, cannot leave her son alone and go to work,
and with the little pension money it is simply impossible to sustain
themselves. Her only hope is help from relatives.

Nevertheless, more than physical difficulties, the mother says,
the hardest thing issociety’s attitude toward her son.

“Our society has not grown enough yet to accept such children. When
I take public transportation people look at me strangely. Imagine
a parent going out with a son, and everyone around staring; it is
very difficult for a parent,” the mother said, adding that the only
environment where her son can feel as a complete human is Prkutyun
center.

Center headAbrahamyan said that when a child is born with disabilities,
parents have to go through several stages, which they do not always
overcome with success.

“First of all, the family is shocked, they do not understand why.

Next, they have to get used to the idea, that there is such problem
in their family. Thirdly, they have to comply with the environment
as well. The fourth is the fight for the child, so that it enters
the world completely, enters the educational system,” Abrahamyan said.

According to Abrahamyan, in developed countries people with Down
syndrome have wide opportunities; they receive education, get jobs,
and are fully involved in social life. But she says with regret that
Armenian society is not yet ready to accept such children, and the
state hardly takes any measures to help.

“The children can perfectly behave themselves, we go to the movies,
to the theatre, to cafeterias with them. If there is no desire to
work with them, then it is pointless to expect good results. But even
with children with the harshest problems in case of good work there
are positive outcomes,” Abrahamyan said.

From: A. Papazian

ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE BY ARMENIA’S PARLIAMENT

13:34, 10 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: The representatives of the Greek and
Assyrian communities consider the initiative of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia of adopting a declaration, condemning the
genocide of the Greeks and Assyrians, to be very important.

On February 10 the Chairman of the Ilios Greek Community NGO Slava
Rafaelidis emphasized that they had learnt about this initiative
during the meeting with the Vice President of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov and consider it very
significant.

“We consider the initiative to be very important. I would like
to express my gratitude to the initiators and I hope that by the
centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the National Assembly of Armenia
will also adopt the declaration, condemning the genocide of the Greeks
and Assyrians”, – said Slava Rafaelidis, Armenpress reports.

From: A. Papazian

WE DON’T WANT TO LIVE WITH THIS SHAME ANYMORE: TOZDUMAN CALLS ON VISITING YEREVAN INSTEAD OF CANAKKALE

10:22, 9 February, 2015

YEREVAN, 9 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. What’s a shame for Turkey is that
1.5 million people were killed a century ago and nearly that many
people were exiled and were forced to leave their homeland. Now they
are scattered across the globe like particles of a pomegranate. Our
wish is to make sure neither our country nor the countries not having
recognized the Armenian Genocide continue to live with this shame.

This is what speaker of the platform for friendship and cooperation
with the Assyrians of Izmir Zeynep Tozduman said in an interview
with “Armenpress”. Tozduman is a representative of one of the Turkish
organizations that recently signed a proclamation addressed to foreign
countries to visit Yerevan instead of Canakkale on April 24th.

“Know that denying and not seeing are also genocide. The reason why
we have become the “voice” of the bodies that were not buried is
because we want to see the Genocide officially recognized and to have
those bodies rest in peace,” Tozduman said as she talked about her
organization’s decision to join the proclamation. Touching upon the
fact that the official Ankara responded to President of the Republic
of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan’s invitation by inviting the Armenian
authorities to Canakkale on April 24th “to respect together the memory
of the victims of Canakkale”, Tozduman stated that that was simply
an ugly tactic. “We believe Turkey’s response is the country’s way of
manipulating history, and it shows that lies and denial still prevail.

Viewing this response as disrespect towards the victims and their
grandchildren the year marking the 100th anniversary of the Genocide,
with this call we tried to address the countries not having recognized
the Armenian Genocide and their conscience,” the speaker said.

“We represent a platform for the friendship and cooperation of
Assyrians of Izmir, and we signed that declaration because we don’t
want to see genocide in any other land or unknown country. Our call is
to break the silence. In the 100th year, we’re persistently waiting
for Turkey to apologize for the victims, including the Armenians,
the Assyrians and the Greeks of Pontos,” Tozduman said.

“The conscience of people in this country who think like us has been
seared for a century. We don’t want to live with this shame and pain
any longer. As representatives of the platform for friendship and
cooperation of the Assyrians of Izmir, we want to tell all the nations
living in Turkey that that it’s impossible to “shake the hand” of peace
with denial and lies. There can’t be peace in this land where bones can
be found on any ground you set your foot. Mankind will not flourish
on the lands that are “watered” with sorrow and tears. On behalf of
the platform and on behalf of myself, I apologize once again to the
ancient nations and owners of these lands, that is, the Armenians,
the Assyrians and the Greeks of Pontos who experienced genocide. We
invite the people of any country with conscience and our country not
to Canakkale, but to the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex in Yerevan
on April 24th. To ignore this great crime against humanity means to
provoke new genocides,” speaker of the platform for friendship and
cooperation of the Assyrians of Izmir Zeynep Tozduman said.

From: A. Papazian