Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIAN SOLDIER IS DEAD BECAUSE OF THE ILLNESS

21.02.12, 13:52

Armenian soldier Narek Martirosyan was dead at Artsakh Defense Army
hospital on February 20. Panorama.am informs quoting to Mari Sargsyan,
head of the press service of investigative department of the Armenian
Ministry of Defense that Narek Martirosyan was transferred to the
hospital with pneumonia. The soldier was dead on February 20, at 9:50.

M. Sargsyan informed that the case in under investigation and the
criminal case launched. The corpse will be examined.

CONSTRUCTION WORK RESUMED IN MASHTOTS PARK OVERNIGHT

epress.am
02.21.2012

Construction work in Mashtots Park resumed late yesterday evening,
around 11:30 pm, after activists who for the second week in a row have
been camped out in the park protesting shop construction decided to
go home for the night.

Contractors resumed building the kiosks in the park next to the
maternity hospital on Mashtots Ave. in Yerevan even though up until
now they only worked during daytime hours.

News of construction resuming spread through Facebook.

The print press in Armenia, in turn, speculated today as to whom
the shops might belong: local daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian
Times”), former mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan and former Minister
of Transport and Communication Eduard Madatyan are behind the
construction.

Hraparak, however, along with these two names, reports that a part
of the park belongs to RA Minister of Healthcare Harutyun Kushkyan,
while another section belongs to head of the Compulsory Enforcement
Service of Judicial Acts, Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer Mihran
Poghosyan.

ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISIT ARMENIAN PRISONERS OF WAR

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS: On February 17, the representatives
of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited
three Armenian prisoners of war and five members of a family held in
custody in Azerbaijan, media contact person for the ICRC Delegation
to Azerbaijan Ilaha Huseynova told Azerbaijani news agency.

ICRC representatives delivered seven “Red Cross” letters to the
persons held in custody in Azerbaijan and received three “Red Cross”
letters from the Armenian family.

Currently there are three Armenian prisoners of war and five civilians
in Azerbaijan.

The civilians are the members of one family – Yegishe, Ruzanna, Alfred,
Gayane and Petros Gevorkian. They crossed the Azerbaijani borders in
January, 2010.

Two the captives – Ohan Arutunyan and Gevorg Tovmasyan passed into
Azerbaijani side in May, 2009, another one – Karen Arutunyan passed
into Azerbaijani side in July, 2009. All of three soldiers wish to
be sent to a third country.

An Azerbaijani serviceman is held captive in Armenia.

A NEW STRATEGIC ROLE FOR CYPRUS THE DISCOVERY OF MASSIVE GAS RESERVES OFF THE COAST OF CYPRUS THREATENS TO DESTABILIZE THE ENTIRE REGION.
By Robert Ellis

February 21, 2012

The island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean has for centuries
been the cat’s paw of foreign powers, including the United States. But
now, with the discovery of vast deposits of natural gas, the tables
have turned. The strategic balance of power has shifted and is a
threat to stability in the region.

For the Crusaders, Cyprus was a place d’armes, guarding the route to
the Holy Land, and for a hundred years it protected Venetian trade
until the Ottomans conquered the island in 1571. For the British,
who took control in 1878, it protected the sea route through the Suez
Canal, and with the Cold War Cyprus took on a new significance.

In 1960, Cyprus became independent with a constitution that shared
power between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority.

However, Britain retained two sovereign base areas, which, together
with intelligence-monitoring facilities, were crucial in tracking
Soviet missile launches and, now, in monitoring Iran. The Akrotiri
air base plays a key role in freighting men and material in and out
of Afghanistan and recently in support of operations in Libya. The
two bases are the last vestiges of colonial rule, but the British
Ministry of Defense has dismissed reports that the government is
planning a downgrade.

In 1961, Cyprus became a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the
Greek Cypriot president Archbishop Makarios sought the support of the
Soviet bloc in pursuit of his ambition of enosis (union with Greece).

In 1964, the prospect of war between the two NATO partners, Greece
and Turkey, and the threat of Soviet intervention led to a new Cuba
crisis. Washington’s conclusion that there was only one solution to
the conflict: partition.

The division of the island was achieved in 1974, when an attempt by the
Greek junta to overthrow Makarios was countered by Turkey’s invasion
and the occupation of northern Cyprus, ostensibly to protect the
Turkish Cypriot population. Despite a number of UN Security Council
and European Parliament resolutions calling on Turkey to withdraw
from the island, Turkey has refused to comply.

The architect of the present Turkish government’s foreign policy,
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, has in his key work, Strategic Depth,
explained why. “Even if there was not one single Muslim Turk over
there, Turkey would have to maintain a Cyprus question. No country
could possibly be indifferent to an island like this, placed in the
heart of its vital space.”

This now leaves the U.S. on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand,
a key foreign policy objective is to secure Turkey’s membership of
the European Union. On the other hand, it cannot fly in the face of
public opinion and continue with its tacit support of the occupation
of an EU member state. (Cyprus became a member in 2004.)

The balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean has been in Turkey’s
favor, but the discovery of new resources off the coast of Cyprus
has introduced a new factor into the equation. According to the U.S.

Geological Survey, there are 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in
the Levant Basin between Cyprus and Israel. By comparison, all the
EU countries combined hold 86.2 tcf.

Cyprus has delineated its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in agreements
with Egypt, Israel, and Lebanon, but Turkey has refused to acknowledge
Cyprus’ right to exploit its own natural resources as long as the
dispute over the island’s division is not resolved.

The latest round of talks, which began in 2008, shows no sign
of success and will probably collapse before Cyprus becomes term
president of the EU in July.

Cyprus accused Turkey of behaving “like the neighborhood bully” when,
in 2008, Turkish warships harassed Norwegian exploration vessels off
the southern coast of Cyprus, escalating the conflict. In December,
Houston-based Noble Energy, which received a concession to explore for
hydrocarbons in Block 12 of Cyprus’ EEZ, announced the discovery of
between 5 to 8 tcf of natural gas. Now Cyprus has opened for a second
round of licensing. Turkey has threatened to “take all necessary
measures” to protect what it consider its rights and interests in
the area. Cyprus has responded by forming a new alliance with Israel,
which has found considerable reserves of natural gas in its adjacent
field. This alliance not only includes the development of Cyprus as
an energy hub in competition with Turkey but also security and defense.

In a recent interview in Time, U.S. President Barack Obama stated
that he had forged a bond of trust with Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan. The question is whether this bond is sufficient to be able
to exert pressure on Turkey and avert a looming conflict.

Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish
and European press.

KARABAKH SAGA: FROM PETER TO PAUL. VOLUME 2 PUBLISHED IN MOSCOW

APA
Feb 20 2012
Azerbaijan

Moscow. Farid Akberov – APA. Karabakh Saga: From Peter to Paul. Volume
2 was published in Russia.

APA’s Moscow correspondent reports that the historical research of
Azerbaijani scientist Emin Mammadli will consist of 9 volumes. The
first part of the book covers the South Caucasus events which weren’t
investigated deliberately.

Karabakh Saga covers the period from the ruling of Russian Emperor
Peter I till the ruling of Paul I. The book consists of 22 chapters
including “The strategic plans of Peter I about the Caspian littoral
Azerbaijani khanates”, “Why Peter I’ successors couldn’t continue
his South Caucasus policy?”, “The list of Russia’s provinces in the
South Caucasus composed in 1728”, “Appearance of Armenian coloring
in historical studies of Iranian campaign”.

The book contains six preliminary documents which turned into rare
bibliographic units. One of these hasn’t been completely published
since 1783, another one since 1793. Volume 3 will cover hidden national
and confessional aspects which led to misconception of the history. It
will describe 13-year period of this history.

The book is designed for both wide group of readers and historians,
archive researchers, political analysts and other experts who desire
to learn the documents describing Karabakh conflict, which was created
as a result of Russia’s first attempts to include the South Caucasus
to its sphere of influence.

The main purpose of the author is to inform readers in details about
the aggression against Azerbaijan.

EDUARD SHARMAZANOV: “THERE’S NO GUARANTEE THAT ALL FRAUD WOULD BE ERADICATED IF ARMENIA TURNS TO PROPORTIONAL ELECTION SYSTEM”

Vestnik Kavkaza

Feb 20 2012
Russia

In his interview to VK, the vice-speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly, member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia Eduard
Sharmazanov, commented on the party’s preparations for the upcoming
presidential elections that are due to take place this May.

– Does the RPA expect to win a parliamentary majority once again? How
is the party preparing for the campaign? What are the main points of
its pre-election program?

– If we make all the necessary efforts, we have a chance of winning
the majority of votes. We have managed the crisis and the post-crisis
situation in our country and managed to restore our economy. Today the
GDP indicator is already growing, we have successful social programs.

Of course, some branches of the economy still have a lot of problems,
but we have the potential to resolve them. Each party wants to
become the parliamentary majority, but desire is not enough, one has
to have the proper potential. A lot of parties in Armenia aspire
to win the elections, but it is our party that decisively won the
2007 parliamentary and 2008 presidential elections. The results of
the latest community administration elections showed a high level
of popular trust in our party. Not only do we hope to become the
parliamentary majority again, we also aspire to increase our presence
in the parliament. In fact, today I don’t see any other political
force in Armenia capable of winning a majority of the vote – and
polls show the same result.

– After the resignation of the parliamentary speaker, Ovik Abramyan,
it was declared that he will head the RPA’s election headquarters. But
no further information is available for now…

– The headquarters is being formed now, and this process is being
supervised by Ovik Abramyan himself. It will become operational when
it is stipulated by the law. For now party meetings are not official
staff sessions: our party doesn’t violate the law.

I won’t be surprised if some new parties win some parliamentary seats.

We are not polling experts or sociologists, so we won’t eat their
bread and try to predict the exact outcome of the elections; our
business is to provide the best pre-election agitation for the RPA.

– What flaws in its work is the RPA planning to correct after the
elections? Especially after budgetary taxation has been increased
in 2012?

– There is a myth that these additional 101 billion drams of the
budget will be gained by over-taxing the poor. This is very far from
the truth. Armenia has favorable conditions for medium-sized and small
enterprises. If we legalize the ‘underworld’ part of this business and
introduce efficient taxation, we can get ourselves the sum required.

As for flaws in our work, naturally, they exist. We are very concerned
about the level of corruption, the social polarization of society and
insufficient economic growth. Another pressing problem is the high
level of emigration. All these problems require time. We have never
denied the existence of the problems, and we are ready to fight them.

We already managed to increase pensions by 10%. We understand that
it’s not enough and we keep looking for a way to increase them again.

Some political forces promise to increase them by 10 times right away.

It’s very easy to promise, but it would be quite interesting if these
forces would actually explain how they are going to accomplish that.

– RPA’s coalition partner, the “Prosperous Armenia” party, has recently
taken up a position that can’t be called a friendly one towards
your party. Do you expect them to join the coalition again after the
elections and to support Serge Sargsyan in the 2013 presidential run?

– Being in the coalition isn’t the principle political aim of
its members. But I think that ‘Prosperous Armenia” will join
the new coalition, as it has already signed the new coalition
memorandum, stating that it’s ready to support Sargsyan in the
upcoming presidential elections. The party hasn’t made any other
official statements yet. Officially we act together. I don’t know
about “Prosperous Armenia”, but after Serge Sargsyan declared that
business and politics should be separated, the RPA decided to exclude
businessmen from its proportional voting lists. Businessmen will have
a chance to participate in the elections within the first-past-the-post
system at a local level.

– How would you comment on this paradox: all the opposition parties say
that the elections will be rigged, yet all of them plan to participate
in it.

– I think it’s not serious: to say that the elections, which haven’t
been held yet, are already rigged. If the opposition wants truly honest
and transparent elections, it shouldn’t sink to cheap populism and
make irresponsible claims like that. It seems that the opposition is
planning to take part in the ‘rigged’ elections only to say that the
people have been ‘deceived’ afterwards, after actually loosing the
election. Such an approach has nothing to do with true democracy. I
think that if our opposition continues to behave in such a manner,
even the foreign observers would understand that these claims are
nothing but an attempt to cover their own incompetence.

But of course, there are some adequate opposition politicians in
Armenia who chose the constitutional way of political competition. For
now the opposition forces have allegedly united themselves around the
idea of a 100% proportional election system. I think this demand is
nothing but a PR-move. The project has already been discussed by the
parliament, and there was no fuss around it back then. I don’t think
that changing the first-past-the-post system is a top priority for
Armenia right now. Both systems have their pros and cons, and there’s
no guarantee that all fraud would be eradicated if Armenia turns to
a proportional election system. The only thing that can grant the
transparency of any elections is political will – the authorities in
Armenia have this will, but does the opposition?

Interview by David Stepanyan, exclusively to VK .

EU TO BOOST TRADE TIES WITH ARMENIA

New Europe

Feb 20 2012

In order to increase economic growth and investment in Armenia, the EU
is launching negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade area.

The negotiations will focus on regulatory approximation along with
market access conditions, both of which will help to achieve a closer
economic integration of Armenia with the EU.

By increasing economic integration, the EU aims to enhance political
stability and security in Armenia. The free trade area will be part
of the broader Association Agreement, which has been negotiated with
Armenia since July 2010. It is expected to diversify and strengthen
the country’s export capacity and thus open the way to access the
EU markets.

“The opening of free trade negotiations mark a turning point in
our trade relations with Armenia. We are entering a new phase that
will bring our economic ties to a new level of depth and ambition,”
said Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. “The EU is Armenia’s first
trading partner and a deep and comprehensive free trade area will
give Armenia a more favourable access to the European Single Market
thereby helping to boost economic growth in the country.”

The Association Agreement with Armenia aims at closely associating
the country to the EU both in economic and political terms. The future
trade relations will therefore expand significantly beyond the scope
of current cooperation, set out in the Partnership and Co-operation
Agreements.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN ARMENIA DECREASES BY OVER 50% IN JANUARY

Vestnik Kavkaza
Feb 20 2012
Russia

The index of economic activity in Armenia has decreased by 53.7%
as compared to December 2011, according to the updated statistical
data of the National Statistical Service of the country published in
January 2012.

However, the economic activity figure is 4.4% higher than last January,
ARKA reports, referring to the Statistical Service of Armenia.

In contrast to GDP, the rate of economic activity is calculated
in terms of realized economic activities, rather than based on the
volume of added value and does not include net taxes on production
and financial services, which are calculated indirectly.

UNKNOWN PEOPLE NAMED “ARMENIAN CYBER ARMY” HACKS 20 AZERBAIJANI SITES

12:26 . 20/02

Unknown people calling themselves “Armenian Cyber Army” cracked
more than 20 Azerbaijani sites, saying it was done to commemorate
the 8th anniversary of Gurgen Margaryan’s murder, “Azatutyun” Radio
Station informs.

To recall, on February 19, 2004 Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan
was hacked to death by Azerbaijani lieutenant Ramil Safarov in NATO’s
Partnership for Peace training course in Budapest.

“Armenian Cyber Army”, the name of which appears in
Armenian-Azerbaijani hacker attacks for the first time, has changed
the first pages of 22 Azerbaijani sites, instead of them publishing
the photo of the Armenian soldier and a message with the words
“Gurgen Margaryan-8 years ago-remember always”.

Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan has stated in his talk
with Azatutyun Radio Station that with its number of sites hacked,
this is the most large-scale attack on the Azerbaijani sites. The
Armenian side made a similar attack in February last year, too.

Attacks on Armenian sites from the Azerbaijani side are also many. The
latest similar attack on 3 Armenian sites took place on February 14.

FILM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ANGERS TURKS IN SWEDEN

news.am
February 20, 2012 | 11:05

The film entitled “Grandma’s Tattoos,” which is about the Armenian
Genocide and which the state-run television of Sweden aired, has
raised a huge protest by the Turkish community in Sweden.

The Swedish Turks expressed their protest over this film by sending
thousands of Emails to the state-run television, Haberler news agency
of Turkey informs.

It is noted that the television responded to these protests by the
Turkish community by saying that the film is not about the Genocide,
but rather on the recollections of the grandmother of Swedish Armenian
Suzanne Khardalian, the director of the film.

“Grandma’s Tattoos” was premiered in Sweden in September 2011, and
it was aired three times on the country’s state-run television.

The film was also shown by the television stations of several other
countries, including Al Jazeera.