Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIE
La Turquie veut imposer une bonne moralité à ses nouveaux citoyens

Le Parlement turc doit entamer mardi l’examen d’un projet de loi du
gouvernement islamo-conservateur qui renforce les règles d’obtention
de la citoyenneté turque, soumise à une exigence de “bonne moralité”,
et les pouvoirs de la police.

Selon une copie du texte déposé par le Parti de la justice et du
développement (AKP) au pouvoir, tout étranger qui sollicite la
nationalité turque via son mariage avec un ou une Turc(que) devra
désormais se comporter en “bonne moralité”, sans autre précision.

Cette condition s’ajoute à celle déjà exigée pour l’acquisition de la
citoyenneté turque, à savoir ne pas constituer une menace pour la
sécurité nationale ou l’ordre public.

Au pouvoir depuis 2002, l’actuel gouvernement turc est régulièrement
accusé par ses détracteurs de vouloir islamiser la société turque.

Outre cette mesure, le projet de loi fourre-tout déposé par l’AKP
prévoit toute une série de mesures renforçant les pouvoirs de la
police, après des émeutes prokurdes qui ont fait plus de 30 morts
début octobre, spécialement dans le sud-est du pays.

Il autorise notamment les forces de l’ordre à recourir aux armes à feu
contre toute personne porteuse de cocktails Molotov.

Le projet de loi interdit également aux manifestants l’usage de ces
cocktails et de tout autre engin incendiaire ou de dissimuler leur
visage. Les porteurs de masques, casques ou foulards risqueront
dorénavant jusqu’à cinq ans de prison et ceux qui seront coupables de
dégradations de biens publics devront les rembourser.

Ce texte étend enfin le droit des forces de sécurité à recourir aux
perquisitions, saisies et autres écoutes téléphoniques.

“Avec cette réforme les méthodes les plus efficaces seront prises
contre les vandales qui abusent les manifestations”, a plaidé mardi le
Premier ministre Ahmet Davutoglu devant les députés de son parti,
majoritaires au Parlement.

Début octobre, des milliers de jeunes kurdes sont descendus dans les
rues de toute la Turquie pour dénoncer le refus d’Ankara d’aider
militairement les combattants kurdes qui défendent depuis maintenant
deux mois la ville syrienne de Kobané (nord), assiégée par les
jihadistes du groupe État islamique (EI).

Ces émeutes ont fait au moins 34 morts et causé de très importants
dégts matériels.

Ankara a été récemment épinglé par les ONG et dans les capitales
étrangères pour la répression violente de nombreuses manifestations.

samedi 29 novembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

LIVRES-INTERNET
Sortie du livre électronique « Plateau arménien » en 7 langues
regroupe l’histoire et la culture de l’Arménie

L’Ugab mondial vient de présenter le nouveau livre électronique
consacré au « Plateau arménien » (« ÕÕ¡ÕµÕ¯Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Õ¬Õ¥Õ¼Õ¶Õ¡Õ·Õ – Õ¡ÖÕ° »)-qui
regroupe à travers ses centaines de pages la géographie, l’histoire et
la culture de l’Arménie. Le livre électronique est disponible d’après
le journal arménien des Etats-Unis, l’« Armenian Weekly », en 7
langues, l’arménien oriental, l’arménien occidental, l’anglais, le
russe, le français, l’espagnol et le turc. Le livre retrace l’Histoire
de l’Arménie des origines à nos jours. De nombreuses cartes (dont
certaines interactives) et photographies couleur, des paysages -dont
certains en 3D- des enregistrements audio, vidéo sont contenues dans
ce volume numérique d’une très large portée éducative pour tous. Ce
livre peut également être téléchargé gratuitement sur les tablettes et
Smartphones.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 29 novembre 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ARMEE ARMENIENNE
L’Arménie a envoyé un contingent de 32 militaires chargés de la paix au Liban

Le 26 novembre par des appareils de l’Armée de l’air italienne,
l’Arménie a envoyé vers le Liban un contingent de 32 soldats et
officiers charges du maintien de la paix sous l’autorité des forces de
l’ONU. Lors du départ de ces troupes arméniennes chargées de la paix
au Liban à l’aéroport Zvartnots d’Erévan, étaient présents à
l’aéroport le ministre arménien de la Défense Seyran Ohanian ainsi que
l’Ambassadeur d’Italie en Arménie, Giovanni Ricciulli. L’Arménie
délègue depuis 2004 des troupes aux forces internationales chargées de
la paix. Un contingent arménien se trouvant également en Afghanistan
et au Kosovo.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 29 novembre 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

SAMUEL SEVIAN IS AMERICA’S YOUNGEST EVER GRANDMASTER AT JUST 13

Malay Mail
Nov 28 2014

Thirteen year-old chess player Samuel Sevian plays against his father
Armen Sevian in Alexandria, Virginia, in this October 9, 2014 file
picture. — Reuters picWASHINGTON, Nov 28 — 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 realised 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. — AFP

ARMENIAN BREAD DECLARED INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE BY UNESCO

Moscow Times, Russia
Nov 27 2014

The Moscow Times
Nov. 27 2014 18:32

The UNESCO cultural and scientific organization has decided to
include Armenian flatbread on its intangible cultural heritage
list, recognizing the importance of the foodstuff to the country’s
inhabitants.

Lavash, a staple of Armenian cuisine, is a type of soft and very
thin flatbread that can be consumed as a wrap for cheese, meat or
vegetables. It is also popular throughout the South Caucasus, and in
Iran and Turkey.

According to a note on the UNESCO website, preparation of lavash
“requires great effort, coordination, experience and special skills”
and “strengthens family, community and social ties.”

Lavash was accepted onto the list on Wednesday, with the UNESCO
organization saying on its site that it acknowledged “the preparation,
meaning and appearance of [the] traditional bread as an expression
of culture in Armenia.”

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, a daring attempt to recognize
and preserve immaterial culture, have been compiled since 2008,
and entries from 103 countries are currently recognized by UNESCO.

Examples include Argentinian tango, Mongolian calligraphy, Middle
Eastern falconry, Vanuatu sand paintings and even the Mediterranean
diet.

The lavash puts Armenia, a small, ancient South Caucasus nation of
3 million, ahead of much of the pack with a total of four entries on
the Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Other Armenian entries recognized by UNESCO include the reed wind
instrument duduk, the performance of the medieval epic “David of
Sassoon,” and the art of stone cross making.

Russia has only two items on the list: The culture of the Semeiskiye
Old Believer sect, and the Yakut heroic epic “Olonkho,” which sees
songs comprising up to 36,000 verses performed by singers over the
course of several nights.

China is the runaway leader with 38 entries, followed by Japan (22)
and Croatia (14). Neither the U.S. nor Britain have a single item of
intangible heritage to contribute so far, according to UNESCO.

FOR THESE IRANIAN ARMENIAN REFUGEES, THANKSGIVING BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF ARRIVING IN THE US

WVXU (NPR)
Nov 27 2014

By Valerie Hamilton

A large number of Armenian refugees live in the Los Angeles area.

Every year the Armenian Christ Church hosts a Thanksgiving feast
featuring traditional American and Armenian dishes.

Marcus Teply

Vartan Hovnanian, an Iranian Armenian, celebrates Thanksgiving twice
a year — once at home on the actual day of the holiday, and once
the weekend before at the Armenian Christ Church.

It sounds overboard, but Hovnanian says he has a lot to celebrate.

Exactly 28 years ago, he and his family came to the US as refugees
from Iran.

It is a story his daughter, Eliz Hovsepian, has heard since she was
a kid. “He always mentions it every single year,” she says. “And I
just nod and I smile back at him.” Eliz was a baby when the family
came to the US.

Her Armenian father and mother were part of the Christian minority
in Iran and shortly after Ayatollah Khomeini led the 1979 Islamic
Revolution there, life got very tough for them, very fast.

“I couldn’t go with my wife next to me when I’m driving somewhere,”
recalls Hovnanian, “because of Khomeini’s regime guards. They used
to stop us. And I had to have a proof or ID that she is my wife,
otherwise they put us against the wall and they shoot us.”

Five years into the Iran-Iraq War, the family fled as bombs fell in
Tehran. They spent a year in transit in Germany. Then, in November
of 1986, their US visas came through and they headed to California,
where relatives lived.

“My brother picked us up from the airport and we went to his house
— turkey is ready, everything,” Hovnanian recalls. “My other
brothers came from Oklahoma City, and one of them from Manitoba,
Canada. I didn’t know anything about Thanksgiving … but we were
just celebrating.”

Of course, that is different now. For the family, Thanksgiving starts
early with a celebration at the Armenian Christ Church outside Los
Angeles.

“First of all, it’s a feast. One of the biggest things, one of the
most important things, is food in our culture,” Eliz Hovsepian says.

That’s hard to miss. At the church, there’s a line out the door
snaking past two long buffet tables, with huge trays of turkey,
stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, green salad and
pumpkin pie. But that is not all.

There’s also pita bread, a Persian-style salad with cabbage, carrot,
walnuts, and raisins, a traditional Armenian stew called lubiya
khoresht — with beef, green beans, and potato — and Persian tadik,
which is this delicious crispy layer of saffron rice off the bottom
of the pan.

About 250 people crowd the room, squeezed around banquet tables decked
with pumpkins and gourds. Nearly everyone came to the US like the
Hovnanians — as religious refugees from Iran.

Most are speaking Armenian. Then, a high school student takes the
stage and talks about the history of Thanksgiving, in English.

“During this time, there was a group of Christians known as Puritans
who were persecuted and who were imprisoned because they were not
allowed to worship in the way they want to worship God,” he says.

All of a sudden, I get it. I get why this American holiday means
so much to the people in this room. The story of pilgrims arriving
seeking religious freedom is very real here.

“You know, we do have freedom in America to be thankful for,” Hovsepian
says, “that we can express our faith and not be persecuted for that,
not have rocks be thrown at our churches because we’re Christians.”

Her father adds, “We celebrate to honor the holiday that we are in
the US [and the] government accepted us as a refugee. We didn’t know
what was going to happen.”

Nearly three decades after the Hovnanians’ first Thanksgiving, they’re
celebrating their arrival again. And their Iranian-Armenian-Californian
Thanksgiving is about as true to the Thanksgiving spirit as it gets:
turkey and tadik, and the story of Americans, old and new, seeking —
and finding — a home.

“GROSS VIOLATIONS”, TEENAGER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR MURDER

11.28.2014 11:07 epress.am

Hayk Aghamalyan was found guilty for the murder of 16-year old Tigran
Hayrapetyan which took place during a group fight on April 9, 2014.

Aghamalyan received the maximum sentence of 10 years under the various
articles he was charged with, says the Helsinki Association human
rights defender organization’swebsite.

Hayk Aghamalyan and his relatives claim that the investigation of
the case was conducted with gross violations; forcefully arresting
Aghamalyan, torturing him during the interrogation process, and the
absence of the knife that killed Hayrapetyan.

During one of the court sessions Aghamalyan noted that he participated
in a fight and stabbed an unknown person in the chest. After seeing
a photo of Hayrapetyan, he understood that he did not strike him.

During the court debates, the teenager’s mother, Narine Aghamalyan,
raised the issue of torture against his son. “They hit his spine, after
which he lost consciousness. They told him he had killed someone and
that he’d better confess, if he cares about his mother and sister,”
said Aghamalyan’s mother.

The existing violations of the case were also spoken by the Helsinki
Association president, human rights defender Mikayel Danielyan.

NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY GAVE GREEN LIGHT TO MEGHRASAR GOLD MINING PROJECT

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

16:45 November 27, 2014

EcoLur

On 18 November “Environmental Expertise” SNCO of Nature
Protection Ministry issued a positive opinion to Meghrasar open pit
mining project. On 11 November the public sector applied to Nature
Protection Ministry, KfW Bank and WWF Armenia on this mining project,
where the public representatives called for issuing a negative
opinion to Meghrasar gold mining project taking into consideration
the importance of the policy on establishing and expanding specially
protected areas.

WWF Armenia Head Karen Manelyan informed, “WWF Armenia is
ready to hold independent studies of the biodiversity in the area of
Meghrasar mine and to present the outcomes to the stakeholders. The
studies are feasible not sooner than the end of May 2015, as field
trips are not possible till the end of the spring because of thick
snow cover.”

KfW Bank thanked us for the information and promised to pass it to
Nature Protection Ministry and WWF Armenia.

What about the location of the mine in the area of the national park,
the acting staff head of Nature Protection Ministry Khazhak Aghabekyan
said: “…In near future after the approval by the Armenian
Government, the Nature Protection Ministry will present the borders of
“Arevik” National Park and the copy of the area map.”

In his talk with EcoLur environmentalist Levon Galstyan said,
“We will take other measures, for example, we will block the
mine and won’t allow to develop it.”

Meghrasar Mining Causing Great Damage to Arevik National Park and
Water Resources

Public Respresentatives Applied to Nature Protection Ministry, KfW
Bank and WWF Armenia for Meghrasar Mine

PEF Will Sue Nature Protection Ministry, if Ministry Issues Positive
Opinion to Meghrasar Mining Project

New Arguments About Riska of Meghrasar Gold Mine Project

“AT Metals” Respond to Environmental Society Concerns

-to-meghrasar-gold-mining-project/6824/

12 399 550 DOLLARS POUR LE 17E TéLéTHON DU FONDS HAYASTAN

FONDS HAYASTAN

Le 17e Téléthon 2014 du Fonds Hayastan (” Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¶ ”
Õ°Õ”Õ´Õ¶Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ¡Õ´)qui se tenait jeudi a Los Angeles a enregistré
jeudi soir la somme de 12 399 550 dollars de promesses de dons. Cette
somme -en recul par rapport a 2013 qui avait enregistré plus de 22
millions de dollars de dons- sera envoyée en Arménie au Haut Karabagh
et utilisée en grande partie pour financer la construction de la route
de 116 km reliant Vardenis (Arménie) a Mardakert (République du Haut
Karabagh) désenclavant un peu plus l’Artsakh (Haut Karabagh). Elle
financera également de très nombreux projets visant a améliorer
le quotidien des habitants d’Arménie et de l’Artsakh.

Krikor Amirzayan

vendredi 28 novembre 2014, Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

DARK CLOUDS OVER DILIJAN NATIONAL PARK’S EX HEAD

12:07 November 27, 2014

Voskan Sargsyan, Aravot

Based on the results of inspections conducted in Dilijan National Park
from July to August in 2014 by the employees of State Environmental
Inspectorate with Artur Zargaryan’s instruction, Deputy Prosecutor
of Tavush region, a criminal case was instituted by Tavush Regional
Investigation Department. The inspections referred the deforestation
carried out between 2011 and July, 2014. It was found out as a
result of inspections that 770 trees were illegally felled during
the mentioned period in the national park, as a result damage of 120
million AMD was caused to the state. In September after the inspections
conducted by the State Environmental Inspectorate, Ashot Davtyan,
Director of “Dilijan National Park” SNCO was dismissed according to
his application.