Author: Andres-Papazian

In `healthiest countries’ list of Bloomberg Armenia is higher than
Russia and Azerbaijan

14:42, 15 August, 2012

YEREVAN, AUGUST 15, ARMENPRESS: On health state indicators Armenia is
in the 79th position among 145 countries. Armenpress reports that
American media giant Bloomberg agency has formed a rating table about
health condition of citizens of 145 countries. In South Caucasus
region Georgia is the leader and has the 71st position. Azerbaijan
which has the 87th position is the most `unhealthy’ in the region.
Russian Federation is 97th and Ukraine 99th in the rating table.

The `healthiest’ in the list of 145 countries is Singapore. It is
followed by Italy, Australia, Switzerland, Japan, Israel, Spain,
Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and etc. The unhealthiest conditions of
citizens were recorded in Swaziland, Lesotho, and Congo.

The agency based on indicators of life duration and children death
when forming the list. The death reasons were also taken into
consideration.

From: A. Papazian

EUROVISION-TURCOVISION
La Turquie menace de se retirer de l’Eurovision…ce qui serait un bienfait !
la chaîne nationale TRT accuse les pays de compromissions. Et la
Turquie que fait-elle en votant pour l’Azerbaïdjan et les pays
turcophones ?

Le directeur de la télévision d’Etat turque TRT, Ibrahim Chahine a
annoncé aux journalistes que la Turquie pourrait ne plus participer à
l’avenir au concours de l’Eurovision de la chanson. Le journal «
Hurriyet » se rapportant à une autre déclaration du directeur de la
TRT écrit que la télévision turque pourrait utiliser son droit et se
retirer de l’Eurovision « où les résultats son connus d’avance ».
Ibrahim Chahine aurait en outre affirmé que « certains pays se
réunissent et décident du gagnant du concours de l’Eurovision, tandis
que de notre côté, nous votons de façon naïve. Nous avions décidé de
ne pas participer au dernier concours de l’Eurovision qui s’est
déroulé en Azerbaïdjan, mais nous avons pensé que ce serait honteux
envers l’Azerbaïdjan et nous avons participé ».

Mais en Turquie, ces déclarations ont provoqué un tollé général. Car
Ankara qui n’est pas à cours de combines, pour gagner avec une bonne
dose de compromissions comme ce fut le cas en 2003, ou tout simplement
faire gagner des « pays frères » comme ce fut le cas en 2011 où
l’Azerbaïdjan a fait le plein des points des pays turcophones avec en
tête la Turquie qui donne de toute façon, quelle que soit la chanson,
la notre maximale de 12 à l’Azerbaïdjan. Ce dernier répondant
également par 12 point à la Turquie, quelle que soient la qualité et
l’interprétation de la chanson…

Krikor Amirzayan

mercredi 15 août 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

Karabakh welcomes Massachusetts resolution

news.am
August 14, 2012 | 13:09

STEPANAKERT.- Massachusetts lawmakers’ resolution supporting
Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence is the second measure adopted in U.S.
at the level of state (the first was Rhode Island), said Karabakh
official.

Vahram Atanesyan, head of standing committee on foreign affairs at the
Karabakh parliament, welcomed the resolution calling it an action `in
support of freedom’.

Atanesyan stressed realistic decisions proposed by the states show the
Karabakh side may expect that trend of recognizing de facto
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh may become a priority for the
government.

`Recognition of Karabakh’s independence would ease tension and would
promote stability in the South Caucasus which is in the interests of
the U.S.,’ he added.

From: A. Papazian

MP Grigoryan: 1 Billion AMD in Cash and Counting…
Grisha Balasanyan

hetq
12:41, August 10, 2012

Arayik Grigoryan is one of the many MPs in the National Assembly who’s
never made a speech from the podium during his time in office.

Despite his inaction, he was re-elected MP from Ararat Marz during the
recent May elections.

I researched Grigoryan’s financial disclosure statements and came up
with the following;

For the year March 1, 2011 to March 1, 2012, Grigoryan declared 146.9
million AMD in revenue.

3.1 million derives from his salary as an MP; 90.5 million from his
shares in the Avshar Wine Factory, and 53.2 million from the sale of
agricultural produce by the same factory.

As of March 1, 2012, Grigoryan declared cash holdings of 1.2 billion AMD.

In Yerevan alone, Grigoryan owns two apartments. He also owns 25
hectares of vineyards in the village of Aygevan and a 679 square meter
private house in his native village of Avshar.

From: A. Papazian

12 August 2012 Last updated at 00:30 GMT
Why Azerbaijan is closer to Israel than Iran[image: James Reynolds] By
James Reynolds BBC News, Baku

Life at the Iran-Azerbaijan border

First of all, you need to ask for an appointment well in advance. Security
agents call your head office to make sure you are who you say you are.

If your credentials check out, an appointment is made, and a guard escorts
you to the top floor of the building. Another guard calls you in, tests
your equipment and ask you to leave behind your mobile phone. You are taken
through further checks and invited to sit in a corridor and admire works of
art on the wall as you wait.

Then, just a few minutes behind schedule, one of the most fortified men in
the Caucasus region arrives for his interview.

Michael Lotem is Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan. His embassy is the
closest that Israel physically gets to its principal enemy, Iran. From the
embassy it is only a four-hour drive south to the Iranian border.

The Israeli embassy in Baku is an important, and occasionally a dangerous,
outpost. In January 2012, Azerbaijan’s government said it broke up an
Iranian plot to kill the ambassador.

“I can tell you that the Iranians don’t sit still for a second,” says Mr
Lotem slowly, as he fiddles with his shirt sleeve. “But I’m not worried
about my security. I have full confidence in the Azeri security services.”
‘More Tel Aviv than Tehran’

Israel and Azerbaijan have had diplomatic relations since April 1992, six
months after the republic declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

Israel and the secular government of Azerbaijan share the same goal: to
check the spread of political Islam in general and Iran in particular.
[image: Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Michael Lotem] Israeli
Ambassador Michael Lotem says his country and Azerbaijan share the same
world view

Theirs is an alliance reinforced by hardware. In February 2012, Israel sold
Azerbaijan $1.6bn (1.3bn euros) of sophisticated weapons systems.

“We share the same view of the world, I guess,” says Michael Lotem. “We
share quite a few common problems. For us Israelis to find a Muslim country
which is so open, so friendly, so progressive, is not something the
Israelis take for granted.”

Earlier this year, America’s Foreign Policy magazine suggested the alliance
between Israel and Azerbaijan went deeper than many had previously thought.

The magazine reported that Israel had secured an agreement to use
Azerbaijan’s airfields in case it went ahead with a military strike against
Iran’s nuclear facilities.

If true, this would give Israel a significant tactical advantage. But
Israel denies the claim.

“That’s sheer science fiction”, says the ambassador, “or maybe we should
drop the science out of it. The aim is having very solid relations with
Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijan’s population is mostly Shia Muslim. But its government is
intensely secular.

A lone shop in the centre of Baku, called simply The Muslim Shop, shows how
rare the public expression of Islam is in the capital.

In the evenings, restaurants serve Turkish-made beer to customers in
Fountains Square. Most women do not wear headscarves. The centre of town
has a McDonalds, a Mothercare and a Versace shop. Baku feels more like Tel
Aviv than Tehran. The government is determined to stop its Islamic
neighbour from encroaching.

“Azerbaijan naturally rejects the Iranian Islamic influence because it is
perceived as a threat to the very nation state,” says Leila Alieva, the
Director of the independent Centre for National and International Studies
in Baku.

“On the other hand, Azerbaijan has always enjoyed a very good relationship
with the Jewish community.”
Strike ‘disastrous’

But there are those in Azerbaijan who disagree with their government’s
embrace of Israel.

Ilgar Ibrahimoglu is an Islamic cleric who campaigns for a greater role for
Islam in Azerbaijan.

He works from a small office and prayer room in Baku. Guests are invited to
take off their shoes when they enter in order to respect Islamic custom.

Mr Ibrahimglu enters the room, sits behind a desk and warns that previous
journalists have made him look stupid. So he says that he will speak in
short sentences, perhaps conscious that Azerbaijan’s government will keep a
close eye on his words.

“Iran is a Muslim country and a close neighbour of Azerbaijan”, he says,
“but I won’t say more. Even if this was a live interview I’d say the same
thing for five hours straight.”

But when the staccato conversation turns to Israel, the cleric decides to
loosen his rules and speak slightly more expansively.

“Azerbaijan shouldn’t be friendly with a country that carries out state
terror against another people, the Palestinians. Israel can’t beat Iran. It
couldn’t win in Gaza or Lebanon, and it won’t win in Iran.”

The cleric’s words won’t make Azerbaijan switch alliances. In May 2012, two
Azerbaijani poets were detained in Iran on charges of espionage.
Azerbaijan’s government has since advised its citizens not to travel to the
Islamic Republic.

Elman Abdullayev, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, deals with Iran every day.
He studied in California, and bounces from foot-to-foot as he talks.

He apologises for the renovations being made to the Ministry’s Soviet era
building (the apology is prompted when we pass a man who accidentally pulls
a door off its hinges.)

“Azerbaijan has always been famous for its modernistic approach – for its
secularism.” Mr Abdullayev says. “You know we have been first secular state
in the Muslim East. So we develop our relations with different countries
based on our national interest – be it Israel, be it Muslim countries.”

Mr Abdullayev rejects the reports that Azerbaijan might lease its airbases
to Israel. But what would his government do if its ally, Israel, strikes
its neighbour, Iran?

“This a hypothetical question which would be difficult to answer,” he says.
“We think that the Iranian issue has to be resolved diplomatically,
peacefully, politically, because anything like that [a military strike]
would be disastrous for the whole region, for all of us.”
Iranian suspicions

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are made more difficult because they
share not just a border, but a common heritage.

The Azeri people once lived under the Persian Empire. In 1813, the Treaty
of Gulistan after the first Russo-Persian war split the ethnic Azeri people
into two.
[image: View of Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital] Although Azerbaijan is
predominately Muslim, the country separates religion from state

Those in the north lived under Russian, then Soviet rule – and are now in
independent Azerbaijan. Those in the south lived under the Persian Empire –
and are now in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Today, around nine million ethnic Azeris live in Azerbaijan. But even more
ethnic Azeris live across the border in Iran. Figures show that there are
around 10-20 million Azeris in Iran – around a fifth of the country’s
population. Millions more Iranians have Azeri ancestry, including Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Among many Azeris there is a desire for reunification.

Simon Aruz is an ethnic Azeri from Iran. He worked as a writer and
political activist and campaigned for better rights for the Azeri people in
the Persian State. In 2009, he fled the country for Azerbaijan.

“We used to live under pressure in Iran,” he says. “We are always thinking
about our brothers, our sisters, our family. I hope they can be free soon. ”

Such words make Iran suspicious. The government of the Islamic Republic is
concerned that Azerbaijan wants to steal both land and people – a charge
denied by Azerbaijan’s government. The tensions of a shared, divided
heritage are now magnified by the different ways in which each government
sees the world.
Border tension

The overnight train from Baku to the southern border town of Astara leaves
at 11pm and makes its way slowly south, along the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Some travellers fall asleep immediately. Others drink and listen to the
chorus of frogs outside.

“Ask me anything about the Iranians,” says one man who says he is
travelling to Astara simply to drop off a music CD with friends. “I know
them better than they know themselves.”

Early in the morning, the train arrives in Astara. My colleagues and I take
a taxi to see the Iranian border. We stop at a gap in the trees half way up
a hill.

A group of Polish tourists is already standing by the fence. They are in
Azerbaijan to watch a Europa League football match – and happily pose for
photos with Iran as their backdrop.

The Islamic republic is just on the other side of the fence. Houses with
white walls and red roofs are clearly visible across the valley. Cars in
northern Iran head towards the border crossing with Azerbaijan.

The Polish tourists head off to watch their match. After a few minutes the
security forces arrive and order my colleagues and me to accompany them to
their base.

They inspect the TV pictures we have filmed which show little more than the
fields of northern Iran and order us to delete the footage.

They explain that broadcasting the pictures would get them into trouble –
they say that they do not want to do anything to increase tension with
their Islamic neighbour. The commander, a vocal Wayne Rooney fan, finally
drops us off at a hotel in Astara.
[image: Ismail] Ismail took his sick son to Iran for a $6,000 operation
after local treatments failed

At the border crossing itself, crowds of Azeris load up their cars with
boxes of food and sweets. Day-to-day goods cost less across the border in
Iran. One woman has brought back soap, bananas, biscuits for her
grandchildren.

“We are going to Baku,” says Ali Mani, a carpet merchant from Iran. “Our
friends invited us. There are some restrictions in Iran that we don’t see
here. It’s interesting here.

“We haven’t any problem with Azerbaijan and I know Azerbaijan language,”
adds his friend in English.

Our interpreter asks them in Azeri if they would like to talk about Iran
and Israel. They say no, and also decline to have their picture taken.

Next to the border gate, a driver called Ismail stands next to his car. His
23-year-old son is slumped in the front seat, trying to hide from the sun,
barely able to move. The two are returning from a trip to hospital in
Tehran.

“My son was having treatment here in Azerbaijan but it wasn’t doing
anything,” Ismail says. “The doctors didn’t say what his problem was.
That’s why some people advised me to go to Tehran.

“We went there, they carried out a stomach operation and it was successful.
My attitude [towards Iran] is very positive. I went there with big hopes –
for my son to be cured there. It was successful. So I’m happy.”

Ismail says that his son’s operation cost $6,000. He has paid a first
instalment to the Iranian hospital and has promised them he will pay the
remainder.

Azerbaijan and Iran share both history and mistrust. Their network of
competition draws in both the Caucasus and the Middle East.

But for those Azeris on the border Iran is more simple and more immediate.
It is a cheaper place to shop, and the only hope to save a son’s life.

From: A. Papazian

APA, Azerbaijan
Aug 14 2012

Details of letter of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Main Intelligence
Directorate about secret arms sale to Armenia become known – LETTER

[ 14 Aug 2012 17:23 ]

Baku – APA. Details of the letter sent by the head of the Main
Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry,
Major-General Sergei Gmyza to the President of Ukraine Viktor
Yanukovych about the secret arms sale to Armenia became known.

The letter No. 22/3D/0102 dated back to 15 October 2011.

In the letter, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the
Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Major-General Sergei Gmyza explained the
ways of arms supplies to Armenia under a contract between
Ukrspetsexport and DG Arms Corporation (the mediator of Armenian
Defense Ministry). The letter offers to use front companies registered
in EU and CIS for supplies. According to the letter, Main Intelligence
Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry received information
about the contract between the Ukrspetsexport and DG Arms Corporation
(the mediator of Armenian Defense Ministry) to supply 12 units of
Smerch multiple rocket launching systems and their components, 50 Igla
MANPADS, as well as the fact that Armenia has already paid 50 percent
of contract value.
Gmyza said that not wanting to jeopardize the military-technical and
energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Ukraine, Ukrspetsexport is
invited to “publicly renounce the fact of an agreement with the
Armenian side.” At the same time the Armenian company is offered to
simulate the appeal to arbitration, “the spread among its environment
of sharply negative attitude to the leadership of Ukrspetsexport and
the Ukrainian side, as an unreliable supplier.”
At the same time head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the
Ukrainian Defense Ministry proposed to carry out the delivery of
Smerch sets in a conspiracy from the territory of Moldova, “using
front companies registered in the EU or the CIS.”
Marking on the products this should be changed, and in the case of
disclosure of fraud to conceal origin of Igla MANPADS by warehouses in
Libya, looted by rebels of the liberation movement.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry denied information about the sale of rocket
launchers to Armenia. APA quotes RIA-Novosty agency as saying that
speaker for the ministry’s foreign policy department Alexander
Dikusarov said during a briefing today that these materials placed on
Internet resources have unknown sources, don’t coincide with truth and
have a provocative character.

The ministry official said Ukraine was committed to the international
obligations undertaken within the UN and OSCE framework on the issue
of development of military cooperation between the countries. `Next
year, Ukraine will take over the OSCE presidency and will make maximum
efforts for security and stability in the region’.

From: A. Papazian

Hurriyet, Turkey
Aug 15 2012

Excavations continue at city of seven layers

KARS – Anatolia News Agency

The Ani Ruins between Turkish-Armenian border draw great attention
from tourists. DHA photo

Excavation and conservation works continue at the Ani Ruins, which lie
just outside the city of Kars between the Turkish and Armenian border,
after a two year hiatus. Excavation works first began in the Ani Ruins
in 1909 and were resumed a few decades later in 1946, according to
Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Hakan DoÄ?anay. `No excavations
were carried out in the region in 2010 and 2011,’ DoÄ?anay said, adding
that five restoration projects have been completed at the ruins so far
since 2009.

Surface excavations have been carried out by a group of 20 people
under the leadership of Professor Fahriye Bayram of Denizli Pamukkale
University.

`We regard the Ani Ruins as `a living city with seven layers.’
Excavation works should be conducted systematically to bring these
seven layers to the light. We initiated these systematic excavations
this year and they will continue in 2013 to reveal the historical
heritage,’ DoÄ?anay said. The Ani Ruins draw great attention from
tourists, said DoÄ?anay, who said increased interest in the ruins would
revive the city of Kars.

`This historical site in Kars province will get the value it deserves.
So far tombs, skeletons and broken pots have been recorded in an
inventory. The items found during the excavations are first cleaned
and then exhibited at museums. But we unfortunately lack an excavation
house. If we had one the works would progress more rapidly,’ said
DoÄ?anay.
August/15/2012

From: A. Papazian

Mediamax, Armenia
Aug 14 2012

Ara Abrahamyan allocates money for Yerevan-Aleppo-Yerevan flight

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Chairman of the World Armenian Congress and Union
of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan allocated USD 43 thousand to
“Armavia” for organization of Yerevan-Aleppo-Yerevan flight.

As a result of the charity campaign, 149 Armenian children arrived in
Yerevan from Syria today.

It should be recalled that the Armenian government made a decision to
organize 2-week summer camps for Armenian children from Syria.

From: A. Papazian

Haleb Diary: Abdo, Yousef and the Armenians

hetq
12:44, August 14, 2012

By Vahakn Keshishian

Abdo lives in the Skkari district. The name of this street has been in
the news of late. It’s a street that no one outside the area had ever
heard of before recent events exploded in Syria.

Skkari seems to be the next target of the opposition armed forces
after retreating from some areas they had controlled in Haleb of late.
They need a new base from which to launch their attacks against
government forces.

Abdo rushes back home to his eight member family. He’s heard that the
Syrian Army is about to enter Skkari. It’s a news blackout in Haleb.
Nobody really knows for sure where the official army is or the `Free
Syrian Army’

Their locations are all based on where the shooting is coming from and
the white plumes of bomb blasts. So, according to were the shots are
coming from and the bomb blast echoes, you either flee your house or
run back to it.

This morning there was news that the official army had recaptured the
Aleppo Citadel after days of heavy shelling. (It is considered to be
one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the
Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium
BC). Located smack dab in the center, the fortress remains the most
strategic position overlooking the entire city and is ideal for
artillery shelling.

From the fort General Soubhi speaks to the the losses inflicted
on the `terrorists’ and that they have regained control of the city.
But it doesn’t talk about the outlying districts. All Haleb residents
know that these areas are being controlled by opposition groups who,
despite being splintered, are united in their anti-official army
stance.

In fact the `Free Syrian Army’ is a catch all phrase under which a
number of disparate groups operate; for example, Islam Victory and the
Union of the Devotees.

Some of these groups have international links and, in addition to
weapons, also receive their manpower from the outside. Others are
purely local groups that have been set-up to defend this or that
village.

Naturally, in those areas where such local groups operate and enjoy
the support of the local residents, no missile or helicopter gunship
can break the ranks of the opposition.

The opposite picture operates in areas where the weapons come from the
outside and foreign interests are at play. There, the regime can let
loose with firepower on towns and villages alike.

Abdo’s family decides to leave Skkari for a village on the outskirts
of Haleb. The grandfather has been trying to convince the family to
relocate for a month now. They hesitated since the family is so large
and tried to tough it out in Skkari. Today, they decided to leave. The
sound of the bombs and bullets had become so intense that it was
impossible to stay.

Yousef works in Der Zor at a bakery. He’s not from the city proper and
belongs to a large clan. Most of the family live in the villages. It’s
located some 25 kilometres from Haleb and has a population of 5,000.
About 100 are armed and they take their orders from the village elder
who lives some 50 kilometres to the southeast, towards the Iraqi
border.

The armed villagers don’t get involved in the larger political game.
One of them, who related all this to Yousef, said that he had been
made an offer to fight in Haleb for money but that he had refused
since the village head forbade it.

Abdo from Haleb and Yousef from Der Zor both know about the Armenians.
Abdo says the Armenians aren’t deeply connected to what’s going on and
that they can easily leave the country if warranted.

I should note here that a few weeks ago a bus headed for Armenia was
stopped by some armed militant a few kilometres from the Turkish
border. The militants entered the bus and seeing there were Armenians
on board on the way to Armenia, they let it continue on.

However, after getting off the bus, one of the militants remarked –
`fleeing is being half a man’

So what should the Armenians do? Stay or flee? Flee to Armenia, Lebanon?

If they stay in Haleb should they arm themselves? What’s the `manly’
thing to do?

While some Armenian leaders have more or less made up their minds some
are opposed to Armenians leaving Haleb while others are more
interested in exploiting the situation for political gain.

Nonetheless, the Middle East is too small of a place to hide from one
another. Who should go where?

Yousef says he has many Armenian friends and confesses that before
graduating from school he hadn’t heard of Armenians. Gradually, he
learnt that they are Christians and had gone been subjected to
genocide.

But Yousef still wasn’t sure about their political leanings. `Are the
Armenians with Bashar or against him, he asked.

From: A. Papazian

UN in Armenia Marks International Youth Day

hetq
16:49, August 13, 2012

Yerevan, 13 August 2012- International Youth Day is marked in Armenia
today by announcement of a Youth Short Film Contest on Human Rights in
Digital Age which is aimed at promoting knowledge of youth on the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The aim of the competition is to raise awareness among young people on
human rights in the digital age, to give youth the opportunity to
tackle this topic from a creative point of view, promote human rights
defenders successes and to offer an opportunity to participate in the
Human Rights Day celebration. The best films will be awarded and
screened on the Human Rights Day in Yerevan.

Young people are invited to submit their short film for contest. The
link is here:

The same event will simultaneously take place in other UN Member
States. The award ceremony in Armenia will be live broadcast, giving
an opportunity to youth from different countries to talk to each other
via internet, promoting international dialogue, building tolerance and
sharing their experiences in promotion of human rights.

‘Working with and for young people is one of my top priorities. Youth
are a transformative force; they are creative, resourceful and
enthusiastic agents of change, be it in public squares or cyberspace’,
said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

`We need to establish more and stronger mechanisms for youth
participation. The time has come to integrate youth voices more
meaningfully into decision-making processes at all levels. I call on
Governments, the private sector, civil society and academia to further
open doors for young people and strengthen partnerships with youth-led
organizations,’ UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon added.

The contest is being organized by the UN Department of Public
Information Yerevan Office, Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, UN Population Fund, UN Development Programme, OSCE Office in
Yerevan and the Council of Europe with the support of the Armenian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The International Day of Youth is being marked worldwide on August 12
since 1999, by the decision of the United Nations General Assembly.
This decision highlights the importance that UN Member States give to
youth issues including them in their national, regional and global
agenda.

From: A. Papazian