Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIA’S 21ST INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY MARKED IN GEORGIA

tert.am
02.10.12

Event dedicated to the 21st anniversary of Armenia’s independence was
held in Georgia. Armenia’s ambassador to Georgia Hovhannes Manukian
departed on September 29 for Batumi where he visited Armenian St.
Rescuer Church and was present at a liturgy.

On the same day in Batumi’s Friendship house the Armenian embassy
organized an event dedicated to Armenia’s 21st independence with the
participation of Armenian Union of Ajaria, representatives of youth
and women organizations. Newly appointed Armenia’s consul general in
Batumi Aram Grigoryan too attended the event.

Ambassador Manukian introduced the new consul general to the community
representatives, voicing hope that he will give new impetus to the
cultural and spiritual life of the community.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA ABOLISHES VISA REQUIREMENT FOR CITIZENS OF THE SCHENGEN STATES

ARMENPRESS
2 October, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, ARMENPRESS: Armenia facilitates the entry to
the country for European citizens. Euro Union 27 states, besides non-
members of the structure namely the citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway and Switzerland can visit Armenia without access visa. As
Armenpress reports citing Government official web site the issue is
included in the agenda of October 4 session.

Will the decision contribute to the development of tourism?

According to the draft the abolition of visa regime with the mentioned
states will spur tourism development which in its turn will create
more favorable conditions for the establishment of active relations.

Within the frame of cooperation with EU member states more favorable
political and economic environment will be formed, which will also
spur the expansion of business relations.

Access facilitation is done by reciprocity principle

Currently Armenia is negotiating with EU over access visa faciliation
aimed at further abolition of access visas. According to that agreement
Armenian Republic citizens are scheduled to receive access visa by
a more facilitated procedure. Simplified access is stipulated for
proper categories of citizens: official delegation members, scholars,
students, journalists, art and sports figures, close relatives of
EU legally residing people. Schengen access visa price is also set
to be reduced by 35 euro and made it free of charge for the above
stated categories including children and pensioners. By abolishing
access visa demand unilaterally Armenia has further intentions to
accelerate the signing of facilitation agreement. We have positive
experience in this context namely Ukraine and Moldova.

From: A. Papazian

OSKANIAN STRIPPED OF IMMUNITY: Armenian Parliament frees path for prosecution
By Gayane Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
02.10.12 | 16:53

The Armenian Parliament on Tuesday voted 64-6 to strip Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) lawmaker and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vartan Oskanian of his parliamentary immunity to allow his prosecution
on money embezzlement charges after two days of debate that included
strong suspicions about the political nature of the case. (One vote
was invalid, and 60 deputies did not participate in the vote.)

Reacting to the news of the vote Oskanian wrote on his Facebook page:
“This injustice is not against me. It is against our people, ordinary
citizens, the younger generation and in general against the future
of our country.”

During the discussions that followed Prosecutor-General Aghvan
Hovsepyan’s presentation of his motion regarding Oskanian, not only the
PAP, but also the three opposition factions of the National Assembly,
namely Heritage, Dashnaktsutyun and the Armenian National Congress
labeled it a “fabricated and baseless case”.

In his speech Oskanian himself said that Armenia had returned to
1937 [the peak of the Stalin purges] and was acting on the Stalinist
principle – “we’ll find a criminal count to charge a person with if we
find this person”. “In this case they’ve found a person and a count,
but can’t find evidence,” he said.

Oskanian has been facing criminal proceedings since May 25,
shortly after the PAP refused to form a coalition with the ruling
Republican Party after parliamentary elections. In his petition
the prosecutor-general said that Oskanian embezzled “a particularly
large amount of money entrusted to him by the Huntsman family for the
Civilitas Foundation and meant to be spent for charitable purposes”
and after that “he carried out various activities to legalize those
criminally obtained funds”, i.e. was engaged in money laundering.

The prosecutor-general stated that they are “protecting the interests
of Civilitas.”

Meanwhile, at today’s press conference assembled by Oskanian lawyers,
Civilitas representative, attorney Artur Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow that
“Civilitas’ interests are not being defended, but are being grossly
violated. Besides, the Civilitas Foundation and the Huntsman family
do not need the Prosecutor’s Office’s protection,” he said.

Oskanian’s lawyer Tigran Atanesyan said that the particular money
embezzlement charge presented to his client has nothing to do with law.

He clarifies that the letter presented on behalf of the Huntsman family
and all members of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees proves that a
sum of $1.4 million was transferred to the account of Oskanian with
the consent of all parties, for an indefinite period of time and to be
used at his discretion. Last Saturday, Oskanian transferred the sum,
which by that moment amounted to $1.5 million (including interest)
to the Civilitas account.

“That is, the full sum and extra money generated by interest have
been transferred to the Foundation. If this is called embezzlement
in our country, then I have no other legal interpretation of this,”
said Atanesyan, stressing that a case on the hallmarks of money
laundering had been brought against Oskanian because “it is a very
dirty criminal case, something that is not forgiven and can damage
a person’s career and reputation.”

International criminal law specialist, consultant Nicholas Koumjian,
who worked as an attorney for 30 years, said he was concerned with
the timing of the prosecution.

“It is not at all a coincidence that the PAP decided not to join
the coalition and the next day this case was instituted. It has
a deliberate and clear message to those who come out against the
government that they will face prosecution. This is clear not only from
the timing of the event, but also from the absence of investigation
of the case as such,” said Koumjian.

The veteran attorney is surprised at how prosecutors can bring a case
without even speaking to the Huntsman family first.

“It’s absolutely impossible, inconceivable, why wouldn’t they even try
to speak to the Huntsman family. There is no need to waive Oskanian’s
immunity to be able to speak with the Huntsmans,” said the expert.

In their speeches in the parliament chamber many MPs urged the
prosecutor to conduct a “serious and comprehensive examination”.

From: A. Papazian

JOHN HEFFERN AND ARMENIAN DEPUTY PM DISCUSSED ISSUES RELATED TO THE CHILDREN AND LABOR TRAFFICKING

ARMENPRESS
2 October, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Deputy Prime Minister,
Chairman of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Committee Armen
Gevorgyan received US delegation headed by United States Ambassador
to Armenia John Heffern.

As information and public relations department of the Territorial
Administration Ministry told Armenpress, the issues related to
cooperation against the fight of trafficking have been touched upon
by the sides. The quests highlighted productive the activities of
Interdepartmental Working Group on human trafficking stating they
are much impressed by the work done in recent years and are ready to
assist them for further developing it.

Deputy Prime Minister noted that currently issues related to labor and
children trafficking are in the center of attention. There is strict
public supervision regarding the issue and any obvious trafficking
incident is being covered and issued by mass media.

In the course of the meeting the sides dwelled on Armenian part of the
report prepared by US dealing with forced labor by children. Deputy
Minister stated the relevant bodies will be instructed to examine
the issues raised in the report, besides Armenian official high
estimated the use of fresh and objective data in similar reports. He
also presented the work done in the field of child protection in
recent years.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN ARMY CONDUCTS STRATEGIC EXERCISES

Vestnik Kavkaza
Oct 1 2012
Russia

Strategic exercises of the Armenian armed forces started today in
Armenia, News-Armenia reports referring to the press service of the

Defense Ministry. The exercises will last one month.

“The aim of the exercises is to check the military plans of the armed

forces, the preparation of the necessary forces, the transfer of the
practical experience to the governmental and municipal organs, the
heads of the armed forces and the mobilizing resources, checking the
possibilities of the participants and the resources,” the message says.

The press service noted that these exercises will improve the skills
of the soldiers and fulfil military tasks.

From: A. Papazian

WROCLAW AND OLSZTYN ERECT MONUMENTS TO POLISH-ARMENIAN FRIENDSHIP

Vestnik Kavkaza
Oct 1 2012
Russia

Armenian artists together with the ArmenTel company have created a
memorial to Polish-Armenian friendship in two Polish cities,
News-Armenia reports.

One of them is located in the center of Wroclaw, one of the oldest
Polish cities. It is dedicated to the long friendship of the Armenian
and Polish peoples. Another memorial is erected in Olsztyn, the home

town of John Paul II. It commemorates the Pontiff and Armenian-Polish
friendship. The memorials are made out of cross-stones by the Armenian
artists Taron Martirosyan and Bagrat Balabekyan.

The events were attended by government and parliamentary
representatives and clergy.

From: A. Papazian

CSTO ALLOWED TO DEPLOY “BLUE CHAPKAS” IN SYRIA UNDER UN MANDATE

Voltaire Network
Oct 1 2012

The Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO), Nikolay Bordyuzha, and the UN Deputy Secretary General in
charge of Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, signed a Memorandum
of Understanding on 28 September 2012 in New York.

The document sets out the conditions for the deployment of CSTO troops
within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations.

The CSTO has carried out studies on the possible deployment of
peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Pridnestrovie
and in Syria.

So far, NATO has been the only military pact capable of deploying
peacekeepers under a UN umbrella. From now on, it will be possible
to also count on the “blue chapkas” (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia).

On the eve of signing, the foreign ministers of the CSTO countries
held a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. They
examined the possibilities offered by the Memorandum.

From: A. Papazian

V. OSKANIAN: IS THIS THE WAY I SHOULD BE TREATED?

04:59 pm | Today | Politics

“I have not taken money from Armenia,” Armenia’s former Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanyan said in the National Assembly on Oct. 1.

“Donations and grants were given to Armenia at my request,” he said.

Oskanian views the persecution as pressure on his party [Prosperous
Armenia Party -BHK] ahead of the 2013 presidential elections.

He warns that Armenia has reached a deadlock in all aspects and has
no resources to be a despotic state.

In his speech, Oskanian said he had never needed money and had enough
to use for his personal needs.

“Is this the way you should treat your foreign minister who served
in the office for ten years?” said Oskanian.

Nikol Pashinyan, an MP of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), said
he was surprised to learn that Huntsman Company had given US$2 million
donations to a statesman like Oskanian who knows many state secrets.

Pashinyan then asked a question concerning the March 2008 post-election
bloodshed and the inadequate police actions, he proposed given the
money donated by Huntsman Company to the families of March 1 victims.

Oskanian said he was ready to discuss the matter separately with
Pashinyan.

In the end, he warned the Republican MPs that the same fate is
awaiting them.

Mr. Oskanian and his Civilitas Foundation are accused of failing to
report US$2 million donations received from the sale of 100% shares of
Huntsman Building Products, LLC JSC owned by the U.S.-based Polymer
Materials and Huntsman International corporations, and for misusing
important portions of the funds donated for charitable purposes. The
National Security Service (NSS) press service announced launched on
May 25 criminal proceedings for “money laundering based on Article
190 Para 3.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.”

Last week, Armenia’s Prosecutor General petitioned the National
Assembly to strip Vartan Oskanian from his parliamentary immunity.

From: A. Papazian

SWISS MPS VISIT ARTSAKH

armradio.am
18:39 01.10.2012

President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan received a
delegation of the Switzerland-Armenia parliamentary friendship group
headed by its co-chairmen Ueli Leuenberger and Dominique de Buman.

Issues related to the development of Switzerland-Artsakh relations
were discussed during the meeting.

President Bako Sahakyan described Switzerland as a friendly country
and praised its balanced position and approaches towards global and
regional processes.

The President emphasized Artsakh~Rs interest in the multilateral
cooperation with Switzerland, specially emphasizing the importance
of establishing sustainable ties and working relations between the
parliaments of the two countries.

A number of issues related to the domestic and foreign policy of
Artsakh were also touched upon. The parties stressed the need for
peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, restoration of the
full-fledged negotiation format with the direct participation of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Central Information Department of the
Office of the NKR President reported.

From: A. Papazian

30.2% OF THE POPULATION IN ARMENIA WILL BE 60 YEARS AND OLDER IN 2050
Hasmik Dilanyan

“Radiolur”
17:47 01.10.2012

October 1st is observed as International Day of Older Persons. One
in every ten is 60 years and older today. By 2050, one out of every
five will be an older person, and by 2150, one third of the people
in the world are expected to be 60 years of age or older.

The UN Population Fund and the HelpAge International have issued
a report on “Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: A Celebration and
a Challenge.”

According to the report, 30.2% of the population in Armenia will
be 60 years and older in 2050. Under international classification,
Armenia is an ageing country.

The report predicts that the umber of people aged 60 and older will
nearly double in Armenia in 2050 to reach 885 thousand instead of
current 469 thousand, executive representative of the UNFPA Armenian
Office Garik Hayrapetyan told reporters today.

Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jemma Baghdasaryan noted
that a number of programs are being implemented in Armenia to support
the lonely older persons, the number of which totals 14 thousand
in our country. This August the Government adopted the strategy of
social protection of older people, she said.

According to Garik Hayrapetyan, although Armenia is not the best
country in the world for older people, it is one of leaders in the
region to address their problems.

Despite the efforts of the government, not all older people are
protected in Armenia, said 85-year-old Karlen Babayan, founder of the
“Association of old residents of Yerevan” NGO.

From: A. Papazian