Author: Babajanian Karo

FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER SAYS CHIEF OF PASSPORT’S DEPARTMENT CHEATED HIM

Tert.am
02.12.11

A French-Armenian and former prisoner of conscience residing in Armenia
has said the chief of the Passports Department at Police backtracked
on his promise and did not provide him with an identification document.

“I don’t have any identification document and am unable to receive
one,” Sargis Hatspanyan, a participant of the Karabakh War, told a
press conference on Friday.

“In June thise year Head of the Passports Department of RA Police,
Police Colonel N. Muradkhanyan said he would give me a residence
status within three weeks, but later cheated me, hinting that it was
ordered by higher instances,” said he.

“It turns out that I will have to ask [President] Serzh Sargsyan for it
so that he will annul [former President] Robert Kocharyan’s expulsion
decree. But I do not recognize Serzh Sargsyan as a legitimate president
and will therefore not aks him,” explained Hatspanyan.

Sargis Hatspanyan moved to Armenia with his family for permanent
residence 21 years ago. He lived four years in Nagorno Karabakh and
17 years in Armenia.

Hatspanyan used to have Armenian citizenship and passport, but after
2008 post-election unrest he was arrested and spent three years behind
bars. Now in freedom, he has no ID docment and is facing the expulsion
order signed by the former President Robert Kocharyan.

“Only because I attended the rallies by the HAK [Armenian National
Congress] held on Liberty Square and actively advocated that
those rallies do not run counter the Constitution Robert Kocharyan
decided that I am posing threat to RA and decided to deport me,”
said Hatspanyan.

He also said that he is going to settle the issue solely on legal
platform and will file a complaint. The case will be heard at the
Adminsitrative Court on December 5, Hatspanyan informed.

At least ten people were killed and dozens wounded at the 2008
political unrest in Yerevan when the opposition claimed the
presidential vote had been stolen and set up a tent camp on Liberty
Square before it was disperced in a brutal riot police crackdoown
days later.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN NOTES MAJOR PROGRESS IN ARMENIA-SWITZERLAND TIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 2, 2011 – 18:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian attended
the meeting of francophone foreign ministers, hosting representatives
of 70 states worldwide.

At the event, Nalbandian briefed those present on Armenia’s policy
towards strengthening of ties with francophone countries, as well as
the results of Yerevan-hosted summit of francophone mayors.

On the sidelines of the event, the Foreign Minister met with the
President of the Swiss Confederation Micheline Calmy Rey to discuss
strengthening of ties. At the meeting, the parties mutually noted
significant progress in Armenia-Switzerland relations.

A meeting with the Secretary-General of La Francophonie Abdou Diouf
was also on Nalbandian’s agenda, Armenian Foreign Ministry press
service reported.

AXA INTER-ATTORNEY SQUABBLE II
Garen Yegparian

On Mon., Nov. 21, a hearing took place in Federal Judge Christina A.
Snyder’s court in downtown Los Angeles. It was the second in as many
weeks, and part of the lawsuit that has pitted against one another
attorneys Mark Geragos/Brian Kabateck vs. Vartkes Yeghiayan, who once
jointly fought the French insurance company AXA to secure payment
to the heirs of genocide victims who had bought life insurance
policies from that company. Much of what was addressed at the two
hearings was redundant because at the Nov. 14 hearing, Yeghiayan’s
attorney, Roman Silberfeld, was unable to attend and was replaced by
another, Gabrielson. The judge was unwilling to finalize anything in
Silberfeld’s absence.

Before proceeding, a “refresher” regarding some numbers is necessary
to follow what transpired during these two hearings. Approximately
13,000 claims were filed. Of these, about 1,000 were paid (the
amounts paid varied dramatically, from the low hundreds of dollars
to the hundreds of thousands). A sample (104) of the paid claims was
examined by both sides. It turns out 10 were duplicates or could not
be found, leaving 94. Among these some discrepancies have been found,
which constitute the current heart of the controversy.

Leading up to the later session a filing was made by the Yeghiayan
side. It described the status of the negotiations between the two
sides and laid out allegations against the other side, Geragos and
Kabateck. During the course of the hearing, the judge expressed
displeasure with the filing, seemingly agreeing with Kabateck in his
contention that it was an end run around the court’s instructions
that Yeghiayan refrain from issuing press releases.

Once again, the name of Parsegh Kartalian came up. He was the
administrator who ran the distribution of the millions of dollars
that AXA was required to pay to the rightful recipients of the
insurance policies’ payouts. One meeting has been held with him,
and the Yeghiayan side expressed dissatisfaction with that session.

Geragos (who was also absent from the Nov. 14 hearing) emphatically
requested, repeatedly, that Snyder order that he and Silberfeld
be locked in a room to hash out the problems and come up with a
resolution. The judge did so, expressing concern that otherwise much
of the funds due to the claimants might be expended on audits of the
files. But this is what Yeghiayan’s side is requesting to make sure
everything has been properly processed. Geragos and Kabateck countered
that to review all 1,000 files would be prohibitively expensive,
while agreeing that a 0.1 percent correction is owed to those who
received payments. This followed on the heels of both sides agreeing
at the Nov. 14 hearing that the preceding six weeks (since the last
hearing) had been an exercise in futility.

Silberfeld agreed that most of the outstanding issues could be
resolved between Geragos and himself. But, he argued that no amount
of negotiation could settle the issue of whether the discrepancies
discovered in the sample of files examined also affect the other
900 paid claims. He even suggested that some threshold could be
established, giving the example of $25,000 as a means of limiting
the scope of the work. Then, any claims with payouts higher than that
figure could be audited.

The question of whether the 12,000 rejected claims were properly
processed has not been addressed.

At both hearings, Kabateck asserted that the issues raised by Yeghiayan
were intended to distract attention from the latter’s misdeeds,
as alleged by the former. The judge indicated some suspicion of
the same. Along the same lines, Kabateck also complained that he
perceived an ever-expanding list of issues to be addressed being
raised by Yeghiayan.

Judge Snyder expressed her sense that at some point, an independent
accountant would have to look at some of the files. She said she
wants to limit the scope of that work in the interest of saving the
compensation fund’s monies. She did say, however, that it might
become necessary for those who mishandled the process to pay for
such auditing.

The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.

In the interest of full disclosure, my family is an AXA claimant. The
claim was denied. No explanation was given.

TER-PETROSSIAN’S STATEMENT ON PROSPEROUS ARMENIA POLITICAL TRICK – RPA

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 2, 2011 – 14:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Deputy Chairman of ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) Razmik Zohrabyan commented on Armenian National Congress (ANC)
leader Levon Ter-Petrossian’s statement suggesting ANC cooperation
with Prosperous Armenia if the latter leaves the coalition.

“ANC will fail to create a political gap as Prosperous Armenia masters
similar political tools,” Zohrabyan said, explaining Ter-Petrossian’s
statement by upcoming elections.

At November 25 rally Ter-Petrossian noted that ANC will step up
cooperation with Prosperous Armenia if the latter leaves the coalition.

ICRC HOLDS NEGOTIATIONS WITH AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN GOVERNMENTAL BODIES ON SEARCHING AND FOUNDING OF MASS GRAVES ESTABLISHED DURING THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

APA
Dec 1 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva – APA. The International Committee of Red Cross
(ICRC) holds negotiations with Azerbaijani and Armenian governmental
bodies on searching and founding of mass graves established during the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Head of ICRC Azerbaijani representation,
Sherin Pollini told APA.

According to her, the negotiations are held on determining the place
of both mass and individual graves: “It is a very important issue,
because 17 years have passed from the burial of these people. There
are people, religious figures living in these villages who know the
place of these mass graves. These people are still alive. It is needed
to obtain this information”.

ICRC will start new project on search of people who went missing
during Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

BAKU COMMENTS ON NON-PARTICIPATION OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF NAGORNO KARABAKH IN BERLIN MEETING

APA
Dec 1 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. “After occupying Azerbaijani territories
and achieving their certain goals, both official and unofficial
structures of Armenia try to avoid the negotiations and protract
the current reality”, said Head of Socio-Political Department
of the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov commenting on the
nonparticipation of Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh in the
meeting held in Berlin on November 28.

He said that one of the main directions in the settlement of the
conflict was negotiations between the communities and noted that
official Baku attached importance to this issue: “Azerbaijani community
was always ready to participate in the negotiation. It is needed to
investigate why the Armenians didn’t come to the negotiations”.

According to Hasanov, with this step, the Armenians try to force the
world and Azerbaijan to accept the reality: “It shows that Armenians
don’t want to put an end to their occupation policy and use the
negotiations for the purpose of protracting the process. Azerbaijan
stated many times that this policy has no end and in certain sense
it will lead to the military confrontation”.

NKR PERMANENT MISSION IN GERMANY: WE REJECTED “DIALOGUE” WITH AZERBAIJANIS BECAUSE OF FORMAT

Panorama
Dec 1 2011
Armenia

Panorama.am has contacted NKR Permanent Representative to Germany
after the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities refused to attend a provocative
propaganda “meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities”
organized by the Azerbaijani authorities in Berlin on November 28. NKR
Permanent Mission said that they received an invitation, or rather
a request to participate in the “dialogue”, but they turned it down
because of its format.

“The NKR Permanent Mission in Germany explained its refusal, saying
that the notion of “Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh” is equal
to the notion of “German community of Germany.” In this case, it is
inappropriate to plan or think of dialogue without acceptance and
respect for the right of a nation to self-determination. Instead of a
“dialogue,” we proposed that our German colleagues use neutral Berlin
to hold hearings for Azerbaijan to try to substantiate its refusal
to withdraw snipers from the line of contact,” said Grigoryan.

We will remind that Azerbaijani media spread misinformation that
allegedly at first representatives of NKR agreed to attend the event
but then refused to.

“We have never given consent. Our whole correspondence was in a written
form, and it is not difficult to prove that the Azerbaijani media
are lying,” said NKR Permanent Representative to Germany Harutyun
Grigoryan.

As to the organizers of this “dialogue,” one of them is the Caspian
Region Studies at the Free University of Berlin, the next is the
Azerbaijani-German Forum, the deputy head of which is the Azerbaijani
Ambassador to Germany, and the third is the Caucasian – European
Cultural and Scientific Society “EuroCaucAsia,” where Ramzin Mirzayev
takes a top post. So it’s no use talking about German organizers of
this event.

SENATE TO APPROVE CANDIDACY FOR U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN BEFORE HOLIDAYS – BRYZA

news.am
Dec 1 2011
Armenia

BAKU.- President Barack Obama nominated candidacy of Matthew Bryza
for the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan for the second time, Bryza told
the journalists in Baku.

“I am waiting for the Senate decision on approval of my appointment,”
APA agency quotes the diplomat.

Bryza stressed that every institution in the U.S. had own role within
the democratic authorities.

“We witness it in my case. The Senate will make decision before the
holidays, but it has not been scheduled yet,” he said.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, Bryza’s further office
terms may be put into question. Azerbaijani Turan agency spoke on
the confirmation of Bryza in the office by the Senate.

The more the discussion of the issue approaches at the Senate, the
more Armenian organizations are getting active to prevent Bryza’s
confirmation by the Senate.

BAKU HOSTS CONSULTATIONS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

ITAR-TASS
November 30, 2011 Wednesday 09:28 PM GMT+4
Russia

Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, who mediate in the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, had consultations with the Azerbaijani
leadership on Wednesday, November 30.

“International mediators met with Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev,
Defence Minister Safar Abiyev and members of the Azerbaijani community
in Nagorno-Karabakh,” diplomatic sources in Baku said, but provided
no details.

A brief press release issued by the presidential press service said
that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen and the Azerbaijani president
“exchanged views on the state of and prospects for the talks on the
resolution of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh”.

The new French co-chairman, Jacques Faure, was presented to Aliyev. He
replaced Bernard Fassier.

Sources say that the participants in the Baku consultations discussed
“the possibility of organising negotiations between the Foreign
Ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia at the 18th meeting of the OSCE
Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Vilnius on December 6-7.”

Prior to Baku, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen had talks with the
leadership of Armenia and entered in Azerbaijan by crossing the
militarised line of contact separating the sides.

Aliyev believes the time has come to change the status quo in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and return refugees and forced migrants to
the places of their permanent residence.

“Living on one’s own land is a fundamental right of people, of which
they have been deprived for years by the Armenian armed forces,”
Aliyev said earlier.

He stressed that incidents on the line of engagement “seriously
reduce mutual trust and can create a situation will unpredictable
consequences.”

“The conflict can be resolved on the basis of rules and principles
of international law. The current format of the talks can lead to a
peaceful settlement,” the Azerbaijani president said

He believes that the questions now under discussion can lead to
a restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and return of
refugees and forced migrants to their homes.

“At the same time, we can give Nagorno-Karabakh the status of
self-government, strong political guarantees and security guarantees,”
he said.

Aliyev said this formula is being discussed at the talks and Azerbaijan
is ready to continue them in this format.

Aliyev urged Armenia to continue peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan, as before, will remain committed to peace talks, hoping
that they will bear fruit,” Aliyev said.

He stressed that Azerbaijan “is ready to continue the talks and finish
them as soon as possible and reach such a result that will be based
on the rules and principles of international law, within the framework
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.”

Aliyev stressed that “Azerbaijan will never allow the initial process
to become open-ended and endless.”

“We are engaged in negotiations in order to get our land freed. We
are conducting them in order to restore the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan recognised by the international community,” he said.

The president expressed hope that the entities and mediators dealing
with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would “have their categorical say”.

“The time has long been ripe for that. Otherwise, these negotiations
will be completely senseless. Negotiations are conducted for a result,
not for its semblance,” Aliyev said.

He said, “The Karabakh conflict is a real threat to the region.”

The head of state called for a speedy and fair settlement in Karabakh
on the basis of international law. “We understand that major states
want the region to live in peace and stability, without war. We want
that too. But this does not mean that the conflict should remain
frozen,” he said.

Aliyev said he was hoping “positive tendencies” in the negotiations.

The president said earlier that the Karabakh talks were in “a crucial
stage.”

“Negotiations over the past five to six years have led to the drafting
of proposals on the settlement, which were officially presented to
the parties to the conflict by international mediators – co-chairmen
of the OSCE Minsk Group. These proposals are balanced and can lead
to a peaceful settlement of the problem within the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,” Aliyev said.

The mediators’ proposals call for “freeing the occupied Azerbaijani
territories, returning refugees to their homeland, deploying
peacekeeping troops in the region for security reasons, and opening
a corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh,” Aliyev said.

Speaking of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh, he said it was
“a matter of the future.”

“We have said many times that we will never agree to any status for
Nagorno-Karabakh outside Azerbaijan, and international law supports
our positions,” the president said.

WHERE ARE THE 35 MILLION FROM?

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:41:42 – 02/12/2011

Open fax-3 to the person who occupies the chair of the Prime Minister
of Armenia

Going on my willingness to support before your investigation, I recall,
that according to my research, in March 2009, that is a couple of
days before the explosion at the Nairit Chemical Plant of Yerevan,
USD 35 million was transferred from the Nairit account to a number
of organizations, 22 million of which to a Danish financial group, 8
million to Raynovil Property Limited, and 60 mln to certain Andranik
Hovhannisyan. The rest 5 million was used for paying off salary and
other debts.

Question 1: how this money appeared on the plant’s account?

Question 2: why were 150.000 of 35 million not used to re-equip the
dangerous plant and render it secure for the three employees who
died there?

The next very important question. My research found out that Nairit
owes AMD 7 billion to Yerevan TPP Company. This debt was formed during
2007-2010 March period when the plant stopped working. But Yerevan
TPP has no debts to ArmRusGazArd Company for the consumed gas.

Question 1: has Yerevan TPP with 100% state shares allotted
interest-free and termless loan to Nairit plant belonging to Raynovil
Property Limited offshore private company, while Yerevan TPP paid
off its debt to ArmRusGazArd through loans (12% annually). Could you
please explain?

Question 2: how it happens that the government of Armenia is caring
for a certain private-offshore Raynovil Property limited company to
which Nairit belongs, more that for Yerevan TPP, which belongs to
the people of Armenia?

Question 3: why the state enterprise, such as Yerevan TPP, paid off
the debts of salaries of Nairit employees? How much salary received
the vice-chairman of Nairit plant and your brother?

The rest at the next lesson …

Citizen of the Republic of Armenia, Harutyun Arakelyan