Turkey appoints new ambassador in Baku
13:33 – 23.02.12
Turkey has appointed a new ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Alper Cosgun will serve in the country in the coming years, replacing
Hulusi Kilic in the post, the Azerbaijan news website Salamnews.az
reported, citing the Turkish media.
Before his new appointment, Cosgun was a press secretary for Turkeys
Foreign Ministry. Earlier, he served in Brussels as the country’s
deputy permanent representative to NATO.
Tert.am
Antitrust committee targets medical institutions
15:09 – 21.02.12
The State Committee for Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) has
observed violations in 109 medical institutions as a result of recent
inspections.
It has launched administrative proceedings against 15 pharmaceutical
companies and 15 medical institutions found in breach of competition
rules.
`The medical institutions did not announce contests in a manner
prescribed by the law,’ the head of the Committee, Artak Shaboyan,
told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the contests very often bore a
formal character.
He said 109 out of the 134 medical institutions had breached the fair
competition rules.
As for the pharmaceutical companies, he noted that only one of them
won bids permanently, leaving behind other six others that did not
meet certain criteria because of technical problems.
Manuk Mikaelyan, a Committee member also attending the news
conference, said further that violations were observed in the
procedures of providing free or discounted drugs to the socially
disadvantaged.
`Twenty-eight medical institutions were to launch a contest to acquire
dugs that they were later supposed to distribute free of charge or at
discounted prices. But they did not announce a bid and purchased the
medicines from organizations they chose at their discretion,’ he said.
The Committee’s findings have shown that several medical institutions
voluntarily refused to sign contracts with organizations that were
declared winners in contests.
Shaboyan added all the companies engaged in the acquisition and free
distribution of state-donated medicines had come under inspections. As
to the companies facing proceeding, he promised to unveil their names
at the Committee’s next session.
Tert.am
FEBRUARY 25 LEGENDARY ARMENIAN HERO ANDRANIK OZANYAN’S BIRTHDAY
Tert.am
25.02.12
Today marks the 147th birthday anniversary of the legendary Armenian
freedom fighter and general, public and political activist Andranik
Ozanyan.
Andranik Ozanyan (was born in the church quarter of Shabin Karahisar,
Ottoman Empire (present-day Å~^ebinkarahisar,Giresun Province, Turkey).
His mother died when he was one year old, so his elder sister Nazeli
took care of him. Antranik finished the local Musheghian school and
became an apprentice in his father’s carpentry shop.
After losing his wife and son at an early age, Andranik joined the
Armenian freedom movement in the Ottoman Empire, and participated
in various political parties, including Armenian Revolutionary
Federation. He met the military commander Aghbiur Serob and joined
his fedayeen. After the death of Serob (1899) he became the common
leader of Armenian fedayee groups of Vaspurakan and Sassoun (Western
Armenia). All of Andranik’s lieutenants accepted that their leader
possessed undisputed authority and superiority in military matters
and that he was “primus inter pares” (the first among equals). Such
was the popularity Andranik earned among the men he led that they
came to refer to him always by his first name – even formally, when
he later held a general’s rank in the Imperial Russian Army.
During World War I, he participated in the Caucasus Campaign and was
appointed as general of the Armenian volunteer units of the Russian
army. He participated in 20 different offensives where he gained fame
due to his courage and the tactics he employed to defeat the opposing
forces. The Russian authorities made Andranik a Major General in 1918
and decorated him six times for gallantry.
He was the commanding officer of the Armenian volunteer units, which
helped the Van Resistance take control of Van on May 6, 1915. He
helped re-capture the city from Ottoman forces during the Battle
of Van. He was also the commander of the battalion that took the
city of Bitlis (see: Battle of Bitlis) from the Ottoman forces that
was under control of Halil Pasha. Between March 1918 – April 1918,
he was the governor of the Administration for Western Armenia (The
Armenian provisional government of a progressive autonomous region
that initially set up around Lake Van). His military leadership was
instrumental in allowing the Armenian population of Van to escape the
Ottoman Army and flee to Eastern Armenia, then controlled by Russia.
The territory later became the Democratic Republic of Armenia.
After the formation of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA), he
organized and fought alongside volunteer units to combat the Ottoman
army. Andranik was leading his army in combat against the Ottomans
during the signing of the Treaty of Batum, and refused to accept the
borders stated by the treaty. As the commander of Armenian forces
at Nakhitchevan, he “has protected in the name of the Armenian Army
against the peace treaty with Turkey, and has declared that his army
is determined to continue the war against Turks”.His activities were
concentrated at the link between the Ottoman Empire and the Azerbaijan
Democratic Republic atKarabakh, Zanghezur and Nakhichevan. Ozanian
struck back at the Ottoman Fronts, Army of Islam. He was particularly
prominent in the destruction of Muslim settlements and in the planned
ethnic homogenisation of regions with once mixed population through
populating them with Armenian refugees from Turkey.
Andranik tried several times to seize Shusha. Just before the Armistice
of Mudros was signed, Andranik was on the way from Zangezur to Shusha,
to control the main city of Karabakh. In January 1919 Armenian troops
advancing, the British forces (General William M.
Thomson) ordered Andranik back to Zangezur, and gave him assurances
that a favorable treaty would be reached at the Paris Peace Conference,
of 1919.
In 1919 he left Armenia amid political turmoil and power struggles
and went into exile in Fresno, California, United States. The New York
Times reported, that among the passengers who arrived on November 22,
1919 from Havre on the French liner Savoie to ask US for a mandate
“was General Ozanian Antranik, the hero of Armenia, who held out at
Zangezour with a handful of troops against the Turkish Army until
he was relieved on Dec. 13, 1918, by a British expeditionary force,
more than a month after the armistice was signed, and saved 30,000
starving refugees”.He was accompanied on the Savoie by General Jaques
Bagratuni, Captain Haig Bonapartian, and Lieutenant Ter-Pogossian.
Andranik Ozanian lived in Fresno for 5 years until his death on August
31, 1927 at the age of 62. According to county records, he died at
Richardson Springs, Chico, in Northern California. According to the New
York Times, more than 2500 members of the Armenian community attended
memorial services in Carnegie Hall for General Andranik Ozanian.
LE JUGE INTERNATIONAL DAVID KHITARIAN SELECTIONNE AU J.O. DE LONDRES
Krikor Amirzayan
armenews.com
samedi 25 février 2012
David Khitarian, vice-president de la Federation armenienne de judo
se rendra aux Jeux Olympiques de Londres cet ete en compagnie des
champions Hovhannes Davdyan et Armen Nazarian. David Khitarian est
egalement selectionne pour arbitrer des rencontres de judo lors
de ces jeux de Londres. Aujourd’hui dans le classement mondial par
categories Hovhannes Davdian est 13e et Armen Nazarian 12e. Ils ont
donc peu de chances de medaille aux J.O. de Londres. Mais un exploit
reste possible.
UN MINIBUS POUR LES ECOLIERS DE CHOCH, VILLAGE DU HAUT KARABAGH OFFERT PAR LES ARMENIENS DE TORONTO (CANADA)
Krikor Amirzayan
armenews.com
samedi 25 février 2012
Les ecoliers du village de Choch près d’Askeran au Haut Karabagh
ont recu un beau cadeau. Par l’intermediaire du Fonds Haïastan la
communaute armenienne de Toronto (Canada) a offert aux ecoliers de
Choch un minibus destine au transport scolaire. Ainsi près d’une
vingtaine d’ecoliers des villages proches de Choch qui devaient
parcourir chaque jour 2,5 km a pied pour se rendre a l’ecole, vont
ainsi pouvoir se rendre en minibus et reprendre le chemin de leur
domicile toujours en minibus. L’ecole du village de Choch qui se
dresse sur trois etages fut egalement construite en 2004 grâce au
Fonds Hayastan et les dons de la communaute armenienne de Toronto.
Dans les semaines a venir cette ecole sera reliee a internet et au
printemps les ecoliers de Choch disposeront de nouveaux costumes
scolaires, egalement finances par les Armeniens de Toronto.
LE PRESIDENT ARMENIEN DECORE MICHEL LEGRAND A L’OCCASION DE SES 80 ANS
Krikor Amirzayan
armenews.com
samedi 25 février 2012
A l’occasion du 80e anniversaire du chanteur compositeur Francais
d’origine armenienne Michel Legrand, le president armenien Serge
Sarkissian lui a decerne la medaille d’Honneur de la Republique
d’Armenie a-t-on appris hier du service de presse de la presidence
armenienne. ” Nous vous felicitons a l’occasion de votre 80e
anniversaire (…) vos creations ont fait le tour du monde. Vous
consolidez les liens entre l’Armenie et la France, vos deux patries.
Je me souviens avec chaleur notre rencontre en septembre 2009 a
Erevan. Je reste convaincu que nous aurons d’autres rencontres,
particulièrement a Erevan, car le peuple armenien vous aime et il est
fier de vous ” a ecrit Serge Sarkissian dans une lettre adressee au
chanteur et compositeur.
`DEPORTED’
by Richard Duckett
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
February 23, 2012 Thursday
Joyce Van Dyke will discuss her play, “Deported,” which deals with
the experience of the Armenian genocide, at a dinner meeting hosted
by the Arshavir Lodge of the Knights of Vartan at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 in
the Church Hall of the Armenian Church of Our Saviour, 87 Salisbury
St., Worcester. Van Dyke’s plays have been produced at New Repertory
Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Boston Theatre Marathon, and
the San Diego Actors Festival, among other venues. Her Armenian
grandparents survived the genocide of 1915. “Deported” will be
produced by the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre at The Modern Theater
at Suffolk University beginning March 8. A chicken kebab dinner will
be served before the speaking program. Donation is $10. Reservations
are required. Call (774) 261-1808.
ARMENIAN SINGERS CALL TO BOYCOTT EUROVISION IN BAKU
Russia Today
Feb 24 2012
Over 20 Armenian singers are asking the country’s public television
to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest due to take place in the
Azerbaijani capital Baku later this year.
The statement comes shortly after a 20-year-old Armenian soldier
was shot dead by an Azerbaijani sniper on the border between the
two countries.
The performers say that anti-Armenian sentiment persists in Azerbaijan
due to the long-lasting Karabakh conflict. As a result they state
that they would agree to take part only if the contest is held in
another country.
The head of Armenia’s delegation to Eurovision has also claimed her
country had not received any safety guarantees for its members.
Azerbaijan won the right to hold the event after its duo Ell & Nikki
won the contest in 2011.
WILL RUSSIA YIELD ON SYRIA?
Suren Grigoryan
Foreign Policy Journal
Feb 24 2012
Russia and China’s vetoes on the UN Security Council resolution
condemning Syrian government’s violent crackdown on opposition
and aimed at imposing greater international sanctions on Damascus
were largely viewed in the West, as well as in the Arab world, as a
critical obstacle for stopping the on-going bloodshed on the Syrian
streets. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s subsequent
visit to Damascus (on February 7th) put Russia in a position of being
the Bashar al-Assad regime’s main protector and therefore welcomed
the lion’s share of international pressure and criticism. Since the
criticism and pressure are growing concurrently with increasing number
of civilian deaths and worsening humanitarian situation in Syria,
the question arises, will Russia change its position on Syrian issue?
I think the timing of Moscow’s activation on Syrian issue prompts the
answer to the question. By the time Russia’s Foreign Minister visited
Damascus, there was already enough ground to assume that the political
regime in Syria was steadily heading toward a Libyan scenario. Assad’s
denial to step down and transfer power to his deputy (a suggestion
included in the Arab League’s plan), his belated and perhaps idle
efforts aimed at reforming the country’s political system, and his
overt determination to stifle political opposition by military terror
had made his regime’s political future extremely questionable even
before Lavrov’s arrival to Damascus. It is hardly plausible that
Kremlin’s decision-makers have underestimated these factors when
backing Syrian regime vis-a-vis international (particularly Western)
community. Then what’s the point of standing behind the regime and
its leader who has crossed all possible red lines and is virtually
condemned to political fiasco?
Moscow’s move was aimed at gaining an additional “platform” for
bargaining with the West. Given the forthcoming presidential elections
in Russian Federation such occasion may appear quite soon. The mass
demonstrations against the candidacy of ruling party (United Russia)
candidate and incumbent Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, that started
in December 2011 in Moscow revealed dissatisfaction by Putin’s planned
return within many segments of Russian society. Alarming numbers of
demonstrators proves that despite the affluence of administrative,
financial, media, and other resources that Russia’s ruling party
may employ for securing Putin’s victory, the latter’s ascendance
to power may be significantly thorny. Under these circumstances,
Russia’s ruling class may exclude neither undesirable outcome of
the elections nor post-election turbulence. If such problems arise,
Russia’s political regime will become extremely susceptible to Western
critique and even interference (whatever it implies), which in turn
may damage Putin’s team standing significantly.
Here, Moscow may use its position on the Syrian issue as a kind
of ruse for keeping the West, and particularly the United States,
away from Russia’s internal political “rumblings”. In other words,
Moscow apparently counts on yielding Syria to the West in return
to the latter’s non-interference to Russia’s pre- and post-election
political life. It is worth mentioning also that the urgency of Syrian
issue increases its bargaining value day by day.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev)
Hence, as election day in Russia comes closer, one may expect Moscow
to change its position in regard to the Syrian issue literally at
first convenient occasion to do so. According to the Russian daily
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, in November 2011, Russia’s President Medvedev
stated that if Bashal al-Assad is incapable of managing transformation
in his country, he has to leave. Thus Russia’s leader made clear that
Moscow is leaving the paths for Assad’s exit open, and may change
its position if needed.
As for China’s position on the same issue, it is unlikely that Beijing
will stand alone with the Syrian government once Russia leaves it. By
calling recently on the Syrian government and the country’s opposition
to halt acts of violence immediately, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister,
Mr. Zhai Jun, basically expressed Beijing’s obsession with the burden
it assumed by vetoing the UN resolution.
Thus, as violence in Syria intensifies and international concerns with
the situation in this country increases, one may expect revision of
Russia’s, and then China’s, position on dealing with Syrian crisis,
which will give way to greater international pressure on Syrian
government and possibly intervention.
Suren Grigoryan is a political analyst, who worked for the Ministry
of Defense of Armenia for more than 10 years. His experiences in
the Armenian armed forces range from commanding troops in the field
to advising the government on the legal aspects of international
military cooperation and defense policy formation. Concurrently,
he provided violence risk assessment in the CIS countries for the
London based Exclusive Analysis Company that forecasts commercially
relevant political and violent risks worldwide. He also taught graduate
course on Comparative Politics called “The Politics of Empire and
Post-Imperialism” at the Yerevan State Linguistic University of
Armenia. Suren has two Bachelor degrees. The first is in Law, the
second, is in military command and engineering. He earned his Master’s
degree (MSc) in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics
and Political Science (United Kingdom). The area of Suren’s expertise
and interest is the politics of the Post-Soviet space and the Middle
East. Currently he resides in the US.
MURDERS UP IN ARMENIA, PROSECUTOR GENERAL DISPLEASED WITH INVESTIGATORS
06:39 pm | Today | Social
The number of crimes increased in Armenia by 7% as compared to 2010.
Sixty murder cases were recorded in the country in 2011 against the
41 cases of 2010. Most of them occurred in Yerevan’s Erebuni and
Nubarashen communities.
Summing up the results of 2011 during today’s plenary sitting of the
Board of the Prosecutor’s Office Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan
said the criminal situation in Armenia is comparatively stable if
compared with other CIS countries.
“Thanks God, we are able to control the crime rate. However, we still
have much to do in this direction,” Mr Hovsepyan said.
The Prosecutor General also expressed dissatisfaction over the work
of investigators.
“They frequently assign expertise which is not required or ask
questions which have nothing to do with the criminal case,” he said.