Author: Babajanian Karo

Agence France Presse
November 28, 2014 Friday 12:49 PM GMT

Azerbaijan boosts army spending as Armenia tensions soar

BAKU, Nov 28 2014

Azerbaijan’s parliament on Friday approved a 2015 budget that sharply
boosted military spending in apparent response to rising tensions with
neighbour Armenia over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

The oil-rich Caucasus country’s defence outlays will rise by 8.6
percent to more than 1.78 billion Azerbaijani manats ($2.3 billion,
1.8 billion euros).

The budget also expects the economy to expand by 3.6 percent this year
and 4.4 percent in 2015.

Azerbaijan is locked in a long-simmering conflict with Armenia over Karabakh.

Ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan had seized control of
the territory during a 1990s war that left some 30,000 dead, and no
peace deal has yet been signed.

An unprecedented spat of violence has erupted this year with the
arch-foes’ forces regularly exchanging fire across their border and
along the Karabakh frontline, sparking fears of a major escalation in
the conflict.

Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia’s entire state budget,
has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations fail
to yield results. Armenia, which is heavily armed by Russia, says it
could crush any offensive.

eg-im/hmn

CTV News, Canada
Nov 29 2014

U.S. crowns youngest-ever chess grandmaster

(WASHINGTON-AFP) – Not many people can claim to have shattered a major
American record at 13 years, 10 months and 27 days.

But chess prodigy Samuel Sevian can now do just that, after being
crowned America’s youngest-ever Grandmaster, easily besting the
country’s previous record holder by more than a year.

At a tournament in St Louis last weekend, he won all four of his games
to push his World Chess Federation rating past 2,500 points — enough
to secure Grandmaster status.

“I feel really good and somewhat relieved. This was one of my best
tournament performances,” the teen told AFP, noting that he had beaten
three Grandmasters during the event in only 20-25 moves.

His father Armen — a scientist born and raised in Armenia who later
emigrated to the United States — is bursting with pride.

“He really outplayed his opponents in three games. But the fourth, it
was really back and forth, it wasn’t clear,” he said.

“It was like a blitz, it came down to the last seconds. Both players
were shaking.”

The previous record for the youngest US Grandmaster was held by Ray
Robson, who achieved the title two weeks before he turned 15. American
legend Bobby Fischer also once held the record.

At an August tournament, the bespectacled Samuel had put the record
within reach, getting to within 14 points of the 2,500 needed for the
elite Grandmaster title.

The young chess wizard is well accustomed to setting US records,
having become the youngest American Expert (another ranking) shortly
before his 10th birthday.

At 12 years and 10 months, he became the country’s youngest
International Master.

Samuel’s next target is to get to 2,600 points, which would secure him
invitations to the most prestigious tournaments.

His ultimate dream is to become world champion; the question is when
he will be ready to tackle the challenge.

“It’s way out in the future and I don’t want to busy my head with it
now. First, I would need to improve my game,” he said.

“After my big win in St Louis, my confidence level is high. This
definitely helps.”

The chess star’s father said he is the sixth-youngest Grandmaster in the world.

The youngest person to win the status is Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, who
became a Grandmaster when he was just 12 years and seven months old.

Samuel, who lives in the Boston area, said he was overcome with
emotion when he realized he was about to achieve elite status in the
chess world.

“The pressure was enormous when I played my fourth game, which I
needed to win to go over the 2,500 mark,” he said.

“I’m suddenly a Grandmaster and felt overwhelmed.”

In the coming weeks, Samuel will spend three days in New York at the
Garry Kasparov Foundation. The chess legend is one of Samuel’s regular
trainers and will be present for the three-day visit.

The foundation hailed his achievement, saying he is “the world’s first
Grandmaster born in this millennium.”

After celebrating his 14th birthday on December 26, Samuel will
participate in another tournament in the Netherlands.

“We want to go more to Europe. There’s stronger competition over
there,” said Armen Sevian, himself a former high-level player.

Former supporter of Aleksanyan hates oligarchs

17:58 | November 29,2014 | Politics

During socialism all the oligarchs including Samvel Aleksanyan will
hand over all their wealth to the state. Thinks socialist Robert
Aharonyan, who supported Samvel Aleksanyan in “Closed market” issue.

“Samvel Aleksanyan is one of the oligarchs in the republic, I hate
oligarchs, but if Samvel Aleksanyan bought Youth Palace years ago, it
wouldn’t be destroyed,”- noted “Armenian-Russian union” company head,
socialist Robert Aharonyan.

Starting from today he is a member of Communist party of Armenia and
he is sure that socialism is the only salvation for the people.

“It is a very right step to join the EEU, but the steps are very slow,
we not only must join but also must be the architect of the union and
the next goal must be the recovery of socialism in those countries,”-
noted the socialist.

Mr. Aharonyan is sure that there is no opposition in the republic so
Communist party must strengthen its positions.

Armenia Has to Pay for Criminal Decisions of Several People

– Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
– Law – 29 November 2014, 10:49

– Related
A Collective Crime
–
Why Deputy Speaker’s Husband Is Not Charged

–
Deputy Speaker and Her Husband Knew Apartments Were Owned By Other People

–
ECtHR Decision Does Not Stipulate Refund of Compensation

–
Deputy Minister Wanted Money To Implement ECtHR Decision

Within three months the Armenian government is to satisfy the
judgments of the European Court of Human Rights on the cases
Baghdasaryan and Zarikyants v. Armenia, Gharibyan and others v.
Armenia and Ghasabyan and others v. Armenia made on November 13.

For the mentioned cases the Armenian government is to pay 44,000 euro,
52,000 euro and 64,000 euro respectively. The total amount of the
compensation is 160,000 euro. The government has the right to appeal
against these judgments within these three months, in three months the
government will be given three months to administer the judgments.

Lragir.am has reported on these affected families earlier. They are
residents of 25 Byuzand Street who have been deprived of their property
within the framework of the Eminent Domain Program. The apartments of this
area were demolished in 2004, and most affected families are still
homeless. In 2011 ECtHR made a judgment on these cases but the Armenian
government did not satisfy the judgment.

In 2010 ECtHR informed these families that the Armenian government offered
a friendly settlement and to give them apartments. As a next step, ECtHR
made a judgment which the government had to satisfy within three months.

The abovementioned families waited for three months for the government to
satisfy the ECtHR judgment but having receiving no official letter, in
February 2012 they wrote a letter to Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan
who used to coordinate implementation of ECtHR judgments. These families
were invited to the Ministry of Justice where the ex-deputy minister, now
the rector of the Academy of Justice Ruben Melikyan told them they had to
pay for the ECtHR judgment.

The residents did not agree to these conditions and again applied to ECtHR
and this year, on November 13, ECtHR passed a judgment in satisfaction of
their application.

The chairman of Victims of Eminent Domain NGO Sedrak Baghdasaryan, the
first applicant of Baghdasaryan and Zarikyants v. Armenia, notes that the
taxpayers of Armenia and the budget of poor Armenia is paying for the
mistakes of the Armenian officials.

“Had the judgments of our courts been fair, the developer would have paid
us in time. Our application to the European Court is not against the
developer but the Republic of Armenia because our property was deprived
under the name of eminent domain. We were able to win, we were able to
prove that there is no justice in our country, the government infringes on
our Constitution. Three instances of the Armenian courts made unfair
judgments and turned us out and today we proved that the state must respect
human rights,” Sedrak Baghdasaryan told Lragir.am.

He recalls that the ex-chairman of the Court of Cassation Hovhannes
Manukyan who is the Minister of Justice now used to make final judgments on
such cases. The government has already paid 700,000 dollars to people
affected by the government’s Eminent Domain Program, including the
compensation for these cases at 160,000 euro which is a huge amount for
Armenia where poverty is officially 32%.

This is not the end. There are several cases against Armenia awaiting ECtHR
judgment.

The article was financed by Fund for Investigative
Journalism

Biggest Secret of Special Operation

Haikazn Ghahriyan, Editor-in-Chief
Comments – 29 November 2014, 14:29

The U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern has revealed several
details on the special operation of the Armenian armed forces to
recover the bodies of the crew of downed helicopter. He said the
embassy was following the developments attentively and consulting the
Department of State after every meeting with the ministers and deputy
ministers of defense and foreign affairs. The purpose was to
understand what happened and start work with the sides to avoid an
escalation.

Heffern told News.am he had been impressed by how important it was to
the minister to return the bodies of the three pilots to their
families to bury them with dignity and expressed his respect for his
ability to get this work done, adding that Minister Ohanyan has asked
for one thing – a statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to urge
Azerbaijan to help return the bodies of the soldiers.

Note that after the special operation the spokesman for the U.S.
Department of State Radtke announced that the United States was
following attentively the operation of the Armenian armed forces. And
the French Ambassador Charpentier had announced on the eve that France
will do everything to return the relics of the Armenian pilots. The
other co-chair – Russia which is in a close military and political
relationship with Azerbaijan – did not make any statement.

The minister of defense Seiran Ohanyan said the Armenian armed forces
carried out the special operation without waiting for the outcome of
diplomatic efforts. And his spokesman said there are secrets which
they cannot reveal.

One circumstance becomes clear from the words of the U.S. ambassador
which is highly important in the world. Heffern says he was impressed
by the importance of return of bodies of three pilots for the
minister. This is the humanitarian aspect, the human-centered approach
to the situation.

This is an acknowledgement of the new quality of the Armenian armed
forces when the armed forces are able to resolve not only military
issues but also put forth universal values – legitimize the special
operation. This language is understood by the civilized world and is
followed by large-scale international support that enables preventing
tension and losses.

Perhaps this is the greatest secret of the special operation.

It was proved that the Armenian armed forces have grown from purely
military skills to a political factor and an adequate international
partner whose special operation is admired by the civilization pole.
The Armenian army is growing from the stereotyped “power generates
right” to the philosophy of an adequate civilization “awareness of
right generates power”.

Power generates right is the self-excuse of weak, defeated, conformist
societies. The philosophy “awareness of power generates right” is the
belief of strong, progressive societies which are aware of their
rights and responsibility.

The Armenian armed forces have upheld another important circumstance.
There is always an alternative, and the alternative is the faith in
one’s own self, the ability to make sovereign decisions and adequacy
to the logic of global processes. This is appreciated in the world.

>From this point of view, a dangerous gap has occurred in Armenia the
political and economic systems of which never became adequate to this
logic, pushing Armenia into anti-civilization projects, leaving the
rare of the Armenian army and state bare.

Interestingly, Heffern made his statements after meetings with
different parliamentary groups. He is said to have inquired about the
Eurasian integration, and the Armenian members of parliament told him
that there is no alternative. There is no alternative from the grave
only, the old Russian saying is.

There is no alternative to those who are not capable of creating it.

Hraparak: New political blocs may emerge soon

When asked by ‘Hraparak’ paper if they will join any political force
or Nikol Pashinian’s movement, the chairman of Armenian All-national
Movement (HHSh) Ararat Zurabyan said that new political blocs will
emerge soon. “Naturally we will participate in them,” he said

Zurabyan also said he supports the idea of three non-governing
parliamentary parties about transition to a 100% proportional
electoral system.

29.11.14, 12:10

States News Service
November 26, 2014 Wednesday

OSCE TRAINS ARMENIAN AND GEORGIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ON
COMBATING CYBERCRIME THROUGH COMPUTER FORENSICS AND NETWORK
INVESTIGATION

TBILISI

The following information was released by the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE):

A two-day training course on combating cybercrime through computer
forensics and investigating networks started today in Tbilisi,
Georgia.

The event is organized by the Transnational Threats Department of the
OSCE Secretariat in Vienna in co-operation with the OSCE Office in
Yerevan and with the support of the Georgian Ministry of Internal
Affairs and its Academy.

Law enforcement representatives from Georgia and Armenia will take
part in the course with an emphasis on computer forensics and the
technical aspects of investigating cybercrime.

The practical training, using European Cybercrime Training Education
Group (ECTEG) material on computer forensics and network
investigations will be led by Raymond Genoe from the Centre for
Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigations at University College
Dublin.

The regional training courses organized by the OSCE are more than
welcome, since it is important that participants have the opportunity
to enhance their knowledge and exchange practices in the fight
cybercrime,” said Shalva Kvinikhidze, Director of International
Relations Department at Georgia’s Interior Ministry. “We hope that
co-operation with the OSCE will continue in the future in building the
capacity of police, including in the area of combating cybercrime.”

Erwann Tor, OSCE Police Affairs Officer and Adviser on the fight
Against Cybercrime, said: “With this training we want to enhance the
capacity of cybercrime investigators and cyber forensic examiners from
law enforcement agencies in Georgia and Armenia as well as to support
them in establishing networks.”

Erdogan receives U.S. Vice President in Armenian atmosphere

14:12 29/11/2014 » REGION

Vice President of the United States Joe Biden had visited Turkey by
the end of the previous week. It is known that the results of the
visit are not satisfying for the American side: Ankara had refused to
satisfy the expectations of Washington regarding the `Islamic state’.
However, regardless the results of the visit, the readers, the
Armenian readers in particular, have paid their attention on a very
curious fact, while discussing the photos of Erdogan ` Biden joint
press conference disseminated by the France Press agency.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an had received the U.S. Vice
President Joe Biden in the Istanbul based Beylerbeyi Palace. This is
the summer residence of the Ottoman sultans and is located on the
Asian shore of Bosporus. Beylerbeyi Palace was commissioned by Sultan
Abdülaziz and built between 1861 and 1865 by Armenian architect Sarkis
Balyan.

On one of the walls of the hall, where the Turkish President and the
US Vice President held the press conference, a canvas by Armenian sea
painter Hovhannes Ayvazovski was hanging. It is Sarkis Balyan whom
Ayvazovski owes for his meeting with the High Porte.

Ottoman Imperial architect Balyan has performed as a mediator for the
Turkish Sultan Abdul Mecid I to receive Ayvazovski. Abdul Mecid I, who
had already one of the canvases of the famous Armenian painter,
awarded him with a medal. The following sultan Abdülaziz was a more
businesslike person. It was him who ordered to construct the
Beylerbeyi Palace (meaning “Lord of Lords”). Sarkis Balyan presents to
the last sultan, Abdülaziz, another painting by Ayvazovski. The
seascape attracts the sultan so much that the latter orders him to
paint 30 other canvases for him.

The Sultan amply rewards the Armenian painter for his work. Later on
the success of Ayvazovski’s paintings makes Abdul Hamid II to express
his gratitude to Ayvazovski by awarding him with a silver medal. Abdul
Hamid awards Hovhannes Ayvazovski with another state medal before the
massacre of Armenians.

The massacre organized and implemented by Abdul Hamid disappoints
Hovhannes Ayvazovski deeply, who throws all the gifts received by the
Turkish sultan into the sea. At the same time he says to the Consul of
Turkey in Theodosia, `Tell your sanguinary master that I have thrown
away all the medals received from him, and if he wants he can throw
all my canvas into the sea.’

The Genocidal Turkey, naturally, has not thrown away the canvas of the
prominent painter. Moreover, till now Ayvazovski’s works decorate the
walls of such palaces like Beylerbeyi or Dolmabahçe. The latter, by
the way, is constructed by Garabet Balyan, the father of Sarkis
Balyan.

The photo made by the photographer of the `Associated Press’ in
Beylerbeyi Palace unveils one of the paintings by Ayvazovski, just
behind the two officials holding the press conference. The western
bloggers had surely noticed this fact and one of them has noted
acutely, `However hard Turkey tries, it cannot hide away itself from
Armenians¦’

168 Zham: Food production down in Armenia this year

11:00 * 29.11.14

In its latest edition the paper, addresses the National Statistical
Service’s latest report revealing decreased volumes in sugar, dairy
and bakery production.

Citing the statistics, the paper says that in the first ten months of
2014, sugar production decrease 26.6% to 62,057 tons against the
62,057 tons recorded last year. It notes that the only sugar importer
in Armenia isLusastgh Sugar, a company closely associated with the
name of Republican parliament member Samvel Alexanyan.

But while the decreased sugar production may be linked with exports,
the same cannot be deemed true for other foods whose production has
also been cut, says the paper, further elaborating on the statistics.
It notes particularly that the production of curds, sour cream and
bakery decreased by 7.5%, 3.5% and 1.4%, respectively.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Armenian economists rule out ‘Armageddon’ scenario

13:18 * 29.11.14

The floating exchange rate of the US Dollar is not likely to cause an
“economic Armageddon” in Armenia, an economist and a lawmaker of the
ruling Republican party has said, forecasting even an optimistic
scenario.

“If you want to listen to economists’ opinion, then let me say that no
‘Armacedon’ is expected. But neither are we going to face any boom in
light of the situation around the globe now. But our economy will see
a certain growth, and there will be no collapse,” he told Tert.am,
commenting on the past days’ Dollar-Dram fluctuations observed in the
currency exchange units of Armenia.

He said he doesn’t think that the trend is likely to have only
negative implications. “There is no unequivocal process in economy, so
the Dollar valuation has both positive and negative aspects; it will
boost our exports and economic growth,” Badeyan explained.

The International Monetary Fund’s resident representative in Armenia,
Teresa Daban Sanchezsaid in recent comments to the media that she
shares the Central Bank estimates forecasting the national currency
decline’s positive impact on the domestic economy.

Speaking to Tert.am, Gagik Minasyan, the Chairman of the National
Assembly’s Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary
Affairs, expressed his agreement to Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan’s
recent remark that the increased price for the US Dollar is likely to
have a positive impact on the society’s living standards. “What Mr
Abrahamyan said describes the situation in a very clear way,” he saod.

After the Republican Party’s executive board meeting on Wednesday, the
prime minister said he thinks that the trend may offer advantages to
the domestic manufacturers in their export procedures and job creation
efforts.

Vahagn Khachatryan, an economist affiliated with the opposition
Armenian National Congress party, says he thinks that Armenia’s
economy is now in a deep state of recession. “The authorities’
attitude is not unfortunately adequate, and they never clarify what is
actually happening. Instead of avoiding speaking about that we should
rather highlight the real situation in the economy, pointing out to
the problems and taking steps to mitigate these conditions,” he told
our correspondent.

Considering Armenia’s economic dependence on Russia essentially big,
the economist said he expects the current panic in the country to also
influence Armenia.

He said he finds the Government’s tools and efforts in that direction
absolutely unjustified. “What we see in the tax-collection sector
today is one of the best ways to undermine and eventually crush the
economy,” he noted.

As the best solution, he proposed suspending the government’s tax
reforms for a minimum period of three years and granting maximum
privileges to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make their
job creation plans realistic.