Author: Babajanian Karo

Daily Mail, UK
Nov 22 2014

Bodies of Armenian pilots removed from helicopter crash site

By Reuters

YEREVAN, Nov 22 (Reuters) – The bodies of three pilots have been
removed from a crash site in a special military operation after their
helicopter from a region controlled by ethnic Armenians was shown down
by Azeri forces earlier this month, officials from the region said.

The downing of the helicopter was the first such incident since a
ceasefire was agreed in 1994 following a war over the tiny mountainous
territory in the South Caucasus and has ratcheted up tensions between
Armenia and oil-producing Azerbaijan.

Azeri armed forces had been preventing soldiers from approaching the
crash site and removing the bodies of the pilots, who were on a
training flight, according to defence ministry officials in both the
Nagorno-Karabakh territory and Armenia.

“As a result of a special operation, the remains of the crew were
retrieved, as were specific parts of the helicopter,” Karabakh’s
defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

It said that two Azeri soldiers were killed during the operation and
that the Armenian side did not suffer any losses.

Azeri officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Azerbaijan earlier confirmed it had shot down a helicopter but said it
was an Armenian aircraft that had intended to attack Azeri soldiers
near the mined and heavily guarded line of contact around
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The incident highlighted the risk that tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh
could trigger a wider conflict in the South Caucasus, through which
oil and gas flow from the Caspian region to Europe.

About 30,000 people were killed in fighting between ethnic Azeris and
Armenians, which erupted in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed.

Mainly Muslim Azerbaijan and predominantly Christian Armenia regularly
trade accusations of inciting violence along the Azeri-Armenian border
and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

The region runs its own affairs with heavy military and financial
backing from Armenia.

The OSCE’s Minsk Group, co-chaired by France, Russia and the United
States, has failed to find a permanent settlement to the conflict, and
no peace treaty has ever been signed. (Reporting by Hasmik Lazarian;
Writing by Margarita Antidze; editing by Jane Baird)

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Nov 23 2014

Systematic approach is necessary to solve the problems in Armenian army

23 November 2014 – 6:10pm

On November 19 a protest was held in front of the residence of the
President of Armenia. The protesters were expressing their indignation
at the cases of non-combat losses in the Armenian army and demanded a
fair investigation into the deaths of the soldiers. Protests of the
relatives of such victims are held regularly near the government
building and the presidential residence. The parents of the dead
soldiers do not believe in the investigations and hope the cases of
the deaths of their sons will be reviewed some day. They believe that
the continuing rallies will eventually force the authorities to
reconsider the criminal cases.

Human rights activists have expressed concern that the number of
non-combat losses in the Armenian army is many times greater than the
number of those killed by the bullets of the enemy. According to
official data, in 2013 30 deaths were recorded in the Armenian army.
Compared with 2012, the number of casualties in the Armenian Armed
Forces, including the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, fell by 40
percent. 7 out of 30 of the deaths were caused by fighting: 6 soldiers
were killed by enemy fire as a result of violations of the ceasefire,
one soldier was killed as a result of a mine explosion during the
execution of combat missions. With regard to non-combat losses,
according to the official data 5 murders and 6 suicides were recorded.
5 more soldiers were killed as a result of traffic accidents, and 3
servicemen died because of health problems. In addition, one soldier
was killed by electric shock. Due to violation of rules for handling
weapons and ammunition 3 soldiers were killed.

Human rights activists publish their own data on the dead soldiers,
which are usually higher than the official information. The fact
remains that every year the number of casualties has been steadily
declining, the Defense Department is closely monitoring the situation.
In recent years a lot has been done to improve living conditions in
the army and increase medical supervision, which according to the
plans of the military department shall exclude or minimize the number
of recruits with unstable health.

But the reality is that, despite the ongoing work and its positive
results, the number of non-combat losses remains high. However,
neither the authorities nor public organizations conduct a comparative
analysis with the armies of other countries. On the other hand, the
Armenian army continues to be a closed institution, as opposed to, for
example, the armies of Western non-belligerent states.

In Armenia, however, as well as in the rest of the former Soviet
Union, there has been no serious expert analysis of the prevailing
situation in the army. The place of expert organizations is taken by a
variety of NGOs that are being financed by Western grants. However,
their emotional and biased statements, often aimed at denigrating the
Armenian Armed Forces, are often far from a peer review. The lack of
any serious analysis concerning corruption in the army is another
serious problem.

Meanwhile, it is well known that most of the problems in the army are
a direct reflection of the society’s problems. It is hard to imagine
unproblematic conditions of service, including human relations, in the
army of a country in which the economy is run by monopolies with all
its consequences, such as unemployment and growing poverty. And, most
importantly, all spheres of social life are mired in corruption.
According to some experts, minimization of corruption in the army
would be a major step in reducing crime in the Armed Forces. It is not
possible for a country in which the level of corruption is extremely
high to have an uncorrupted army.

Returning to the problem of crime in the army, one has to note with
regret that the sphere of human relations in the army continues to be
opaque and provides more evidence of the hidden nature of this
structure. While the rights of citizens in modern Armenia are being
violated constantly, what else can one expect from the Institute of
the Armed Forces, which is primarily based on the principle of limited
human rights?

An important role in issues related to the situation in the army is
played by crime-solving. Parents who have lost their sons in the army
during peacetime have not been able to get clear answers about the
causes of the deaths of their loved ones from the law-enforcement
agencies for many years. The most common official version is suicide.

“Most of the official explanation of the murders in the army are based
on the version of suicide or incitement to suicide. Meanwhile, it’s
even worse, because the army is formed by healthy young men, but it
turns out that they were driven to suicide there. Only a few people
believe in this version, as all these cases in the army, as well as
the investigation of these incidents, indicate that everything is done
to conceal the crimes,” a representative of the public initiative “We
Will Not Be Silent” Siranush Yesayan affirms.

The suicide theory, which enrages the parents of the dead soldiers, is
an important indicator of the situation in the judicial system, which
is a part of the current management system. Until some fundamental
changes are made in the system of the government and in the country
generally, all the promises of the president, the military, the
Attorney General and other officials to solve the crimes in the army
will remain empty words. The treatment of a disease requires a
systematic, rather than local approach.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
Pèlerinage de retour : août 2015 – réunions d’information à Paris et à Lyon

CIRCULAIRE GÉNÉRALE

Objet

Pèlerinage de retour : août 2015.

Paris, le 17 novembre 2014

Chers membres, chers amis,

Depuis plusieurs décennies, à travers ses actions en Iran du Nord, en
Syrie du Nord, en républiques d’Arménie ou d’Artsakh, Terre et Culture
oeuvre pour la sauvegarde et à la mise en valeur du patrimoine arménien
où qu’il se trouve. Comme en témoigne les derniers Rapports
d’activité, depuis plusieurs années déjà, l’Organisation est également
présente en Turquie où ses membres ont apporté leur concours au
chantier de restauration des fontaines de Havav conduit par la
Fondation Hrant Dink, et où, ayant confirmé et approfondi ses liens
avec ses partenaires locaux, elle est désormais associée aux efforts
déployés pour le sauvetage de plusieurs monuments.

En 2015, dans le souci de faire prévaloir le sens fondamental de
l’année du centenaire du génocide des Arméniens et fidèle à la
position qu’elle a toujours défendue par la voix du Collectif 2015 :
réparation, Terre et Culture souhaite mettre en avant l’absolue
priorité du combat pour la Justice et la Réparation, en même temps que
la nécessité impérative d’être présent sur le terrain. C’est pourquoi
elle s’est attelée à la question des Biens nationaux arméniens
confisqués par la Turquie et à celle de la réparation du préjudice
subi. C’est pourquoi également, parallèlement à son engagement en
faveur du patrimoine, elle a décidé de réaliser en août 2015 un grand
pèlerinage de retour.

Ce pèlerinage de retour consistera en une série de voyages ouverts aux
Arméniens du monde entier, que nous appelons, par différents
itinéraires et à l’issue de plusieurs journées ponctuées d’événements
culturels, de visites de localités et de monuments, tous chargés de
sens, à se rassembler dans la ville de Dikranaguerd/Diyarbakir. Le
rassemblement général aura lieu le 16 août, jour de l’Assomption, en
la grande église Sourp Guiragos récemment restaurée et rendue au
culte, à l’heure de la célébration de la divine liturgie. Le lendemain
17 août 2015, aura lieu l’office de Requiem pour nos morts de 1915.

Le programme est en cours d’élaboration et nous comptons que de
nombreux amis se consacreront à l’organisation de ce grand mouvement
dans de nombreux pays. Loin de n’être qu’une démarche mémorielle,
celui-ci a pour ambition de rappeler qu’en dépit de l’imprescriptible
crime qui a été commis pour les arracher à leur pays, les Arméniens
restent attachés à l’intégralité de leur patrie.

Une équipe se met en place pour mener à bien la réalisation du projet.
La première étape prévue est celle des pré-inscriptions. Les
pré-inscriptions ne sont pas des engagements, mais elles permettront
de fournir les estimations indispensables à la préparation des
voyages. Nous vous invitons donc à remplir et renvoyer le plus tôt
possible le coupon de pré-inscription ci-joint, même si la probabilité
de votre participation n’est pas totale.

Deux réunions d’information et de concertation sont prévues par les
sections de Paris et de Lyon.

* À PARIS. Le mardi 2 décembre 2014, à 20h. Péniche Anako, Bassin de
la Villette, face au 61 quai de la Seine, Paris XIXe. Métro : Riquet.

* À LYON. Le vendredi 12 décembre 2014, à 19h30. Restaurant Le Bon
Coin, 15, rue Vauban, 69006 Lyon (Réservations : 06 63 87 18 38
[email protected])

Ne les manquez pas !

Chers amis, par leur présence à Sourp Guiragos, les participants au
pèlerinage affirmeront incontestablement leur attachement au
patrimoine arménien de Turquie, mais plus encore, ils révéleront que,
cent ans après 1915, le lien avec les terres de leurs parents, leur
histoire familiale et avec celle du peuple arménien n’a pu être rompu.

Bien amicalement,

Le Conseil d’administration de Terre et Culture

Organisation Terre et Culture

16, rue Notre Dame de Lorette

75009 Paris

01 48 97 42 58

dimanche 23 novembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

The Daily Single
Nov 22 2014

Don’t Forget Putin. He’s Still Moving Aggressively.

Ted Bromund

NATO recently confirmed that Russian tanks were moving into
rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine. But Russia’s aggression under
Vladimir Putin didn’t begin in Ukraine and, unless the West stops
vacillating, it won’t end there, either.

After the 2003 Rose Revolution, the nation of Georgia, in the
Caucasus, became a staunch American ally. But in 2008, it was invaded
and partially occupied by Putin’s Russia, and in 2012 its pro-Western
president, Mikheil Saakashvili, lost the parliamentary elections.

Since then, Georgia has been governed by a coalition founded by a
shadowy billionaire who made his money in Russia. But recently, the
Georgian defense minister was fired and its foreign minister quit.
Both advocated closer ties to the West. Georgia is drifting into
Russia’s orbit.

Next to Georgia are Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia, heavily armed by
Russia, supports a separatist territory inside Azerbaijan, which is a
major oil producer. As Russia also exports energy, it has a lot to
gain from threatening Azerbaijan.

Last week, in a sequel to major border clashes in August, Azerbaijan’s
military shot down an Armenian helicopter. Armenia is not a mere
Russian puppet, but by backing Armenia, Russia perpetuates the
conflict and again makes Russian influence felt in the Caucasus.

If Armenia is a problem, Iran is a threat. Russia announced a contract
last week to build eight new nuclear reactors in Iran. There is
nothing new about Moscow’s nuclear ties to Tehran: Russia completed
Iran’s nuclear facility at Bushehr.

Supposedly the new reactors, like Bushehr, will produce only
electricity. But the West can’t even monitor Iran’s existing nuclear
program; with eight new reactors, monitoring will be far tougher.

The Obama administration badly wants a nuclear deal with Iran. While
Russia is a party to the negotiations with Iran, its new nuclear
contract seems designed to make the administration’s quest for an
agreement look unbearably foolish.

Even if the West gets access to Bushehr, Iran will, thanks to Russia,
simply draw new nuclear cards. And by selling to Iran, Russia wins
leverage over the West: By creating a threat, it can perversely demand
that it must be part of the diplomatic efforts to address that threat.

Nor are the Balkans free from Russian meddling. In late 2013,
Montenegrin newspapers reported that Montenegro had turned down a
Russian request for a naval base, which Russia apparently wanted
because it feared losing its Syrian port at Tartus.

As long as Montenegro has a hope of joining NATO, it is likely to
reject Russian requests. But Bosnia is more vulnerable, and Russia has
close ties to Republika Srpska, the Serbian part of Bosnia. In March,
Milorad Dodik, the Serbian president, met with the Russian foreign
minister.

Dodik, the Russians announced, was in Moscow to receive an award from
the “International Public Fund of Unity of Orthodox People.”
Translation: The Serbs are Slavic brothers, and just like the
Ukrainian rebels and the occupied parts of Georgia, they are under
Russian protection.

In a recent speech, Putin defended the pact between Adolf Hitler and
Josef Stalin that divided Poland and launched World War II. That was
both a hint that he is willing to cut a dirty deal with the West and a
threat to his neighbors: cooperate with Russia or, like Poland, be
divided.

If the West cannot give Russia’s neighbors a better option, they will
have to accept Putin’s terms. Putin has the West pegged: We always
condemn Russian actions, but invariably, we soon decide it’s time to
talk again. The West needs to draw a line and stand by it: No more
forgive and forget.

Domain News
Nov 21 2014

ICANN : IDN ccTLD Request from Armenia Successfully Passes String Evaluation

ICANN : IDN ccTLD Request from Armenia Successfully Passes String Evaluation

ICANN is pleased to announce the successful completion of String
Evaluation on proposed IDN ccTLD string for Armenia.

Details of the successful evaluation are provided here:

The IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track Process was
approved by the ICANN Board at its annual meeting in Seoul, South
Korea on 30 October 2009. First requests were received starting 16
November 2009. The process enables countries and territories to submit
requests to ICANN for IDN ccTLDs, representing their respective
country or territory names in scripts other than Latin. IDN ccTLD
requesters must fulfill a number of requirements:

the script used to represent the IDN ccTLDs must be non-Latin;
the languages used to express the IDN ccTLDs must be official in
the corresponding country or territory; and
a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated
by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts).

The request and evaluation processes entail three steps:

Preparation (by the requester in the country / territory):
Community consensus is built for which IDN ccTLD to apply for, how it
is run, and which organization will be running it, along with
preparing and gathering all the required supporting documentation.
Requests are submitted through an online system together with
additional material supporting the process at

String Evaluation: Requests are evaluated in accordance with the
technical and linguistic requirements for the IDN ccTLD string(s)
criteria described above.
String Delegation: Requests successfully meeting string evaluation
criteria are eligible to apply for delegation following the same ICANN
IANA process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs. Requesters submit
string delegation requests to IANA root zone management:
[email protected] This email address is being protected from
spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

With this announcement, a total of 35 countries/territories requests
have successfully passed through the String Evaluation. Of these, 28
countries/territories (represented by 38 IDN ccTLDs) are delegated in
the DNS root zone; with the remainder either readying to apply, or
actively applying for, delegation of the string. Up-to-date numbers
about the IDN Fast Track Program will continue to be provided on the
Fast Track Process web page at

ICANN looks forward to enabling the availability of non-Latin
country-code domains for countries that meet the Fast Track Process
requirements. ICANN will continue to accept new string evaluation
requests in the Fast Track Process. Staff support is available to help
all countries and territories interested in participating in the Fast
Track Process. Please email [email protected] This email
address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled
to view it. for any inquiries for participation.

This announcement was sourced from :

Adept at Self-Sabotage

Keghart.com Report, 22 November 2014

North American communities where Armenian voters have asignificant
presence can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But rather than
utilize this strength, sometimes these Armenian communities–or their
leadership–inexplicably sabotage their potential clout by splitting
the Armenian vote at election time. Theirmodus operandi is often
fielding two competing Armenian candidates.

The ancient Greeks had a word for it: akrasia–acting against one’s
better judgment.

The latest drama in this suicidal tradition is being enacted in the
Montreal suburbs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Laval-Les-Iles. Viken
Attarian, a long-time Federal Liberal Party official, writer, scholar,
public speaker, and community activist, is seeking nomination as the
Liberal Party candidate in next year’s federal elections. [Disclosure:
Keghart.com supports Attarian, a regular contributor to the site].
Running against him for the nomination is Norair Serengulian, former
president of the local Liberal riding association and a member of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). In Laval-Les-Iles,
LiberalVicken Darakjian is running against several non-Armenians.
Ohannes (Hovig) Tufenkjian is campaigning in Vimy.

Some months ago, when Attarian launched his nomination campaign, he
made a point to meet the ARF Committee Hertabah to explain his
political and community priorities, and to solicit the backing of the
organization. The ARF Hertabah received Attarian with great
enthusiasm, told him he was the best candidate and that the ARF would
support his nomination. Attarian has, for many years, been a leading
light in the Quebec branch of the Liberal Party of Canada and is well
known nationally as well where he sits on the federal electoral
platform committee of the party. Of the several nomination candidates
in his riding, Attarian is the only candidate that has to date put
forward any concrete policy proposals, both for the riding and for the
country.

Apparently, Serengulian had previously announced to the ARF that he
wouldn’t be a candidate because the election campaign would be
financially onerous. But shortly after, when Serengulian declared that
he too was seeking the same nomination as Attarian, the ARF switched
its support to him. Serengulian’s major experience is with Hye Tadd.
It is not clear at this stage whether it is the ARF that pushed
Serengulian to run or it is the candidate who dragged the organization
behind him. But what is clear is the subsequent situation of two
Armenian contenders in the same riding.

In Laval, rather than support Liberal Vicken Darakjian, the ARF is
directly and indirectly backing some of the other non-Armenian
contestants. Interestingly, the ARF is also aiding a candidate of the
New Democratic Party (NDP). Although in previous elections the ARF
didn’t demonstrate affinity to the NDP, it’s now raising money for
that party’s candidate.

In Vimy, Tufenkjian, who also has ARF’s backing, is running against
Eva Nassif, a long-time Liberal and close colleague of Attarian in the
Policy Commission of the Liberal Party and a supporter of the Armenian
community. Tufenkjian is a newcomer with little chance of winning
against the entrenched Nassif.

In recent years certain Armenian Diaspora communities have made
tangible efforts to put aside their political differences and work
together for the common good of their communities and of the Armenian
Nation. This maturity and sophistication has been hard-earned,
following decades of internecine battles. By playing party politics
the Quebec ARF is taking a retrograde step. The organization’s
decision is especially damaging on the eve of the Genocide Centennial
when it’s imperative that Armenians become one voice.

It’s worthwhile to consider the farce that was played out in a
previous Quebec election when, because of vote-splitting, the Armenian
candidate lost to a politician who was brazenly backed by the Turkish
consul. Will the current divisions precipitate further losses by
Armenian hopefuls in Quebec?

What’s to explain the ARF strategy?

Russia will provide Armenia with $270 million loan for major repair
ofnuclear power plant

YEREVAN, November 19. / ARKA /. Russia will provide Armenia with a
loan of $270 million for a major repair of the second unit of the
Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor, finance minister Gagik
Khachatryan said on Wednesday to a Cabinet meeting prior to
government’s approval of an agreement with Russia whereby the latter
will provide Armenia with a government loan for financing the
extension of the service life of the facility.

According to the minister, the loan will be used for repair and
re-equipment of the second unit of the Armenian NPP from 2014 to 2018.

The loan is granted for a period of 10 years at a rate of 3% per annum
with the first payment scheduled for January 15, 2019.

In addition, the Armenian government approved an agreement between the
governments of Armenia and Russia on cooperation in extending the
service life of the second unit of the Armenian NPP.

In this regard, energy and natural resources minister Yervand Zakarian
said the authorized representative of the Armenian party is the
Metsamor facility; the Russian side will be represented by Rusatom
Service contractor

Earlier Russia had said it would provide a $270 million loan to
Armenia for the repair of the second unit of the Armenian NPP and a
$30 million grant.

The Metsamor plant located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan, was
built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake
in 1988 that killed some 25,000 people and devastated much of northern
Armenia.

One of the plant’s two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was
reactivated in 1995. The government wants to build a new facility
that is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the
Soviet-constructed facility. Metsamor currently generates some 40
percent of Armenia’s electricity. But the government has yet to
attract funding for the project that was estimated as much as $5
billion.-0-

Artsrun Hovhannisyan: NKR Armed Forces carried out unprecedented operation

14:14 22/11/2014 >> SOCIETY

The special operation by the Armed Forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic at the crash site of the Mi-24 helicopter was unprecedented
in its nature and complexity, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman
Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on Facebook.

“The task was performed excellently, considering the losses of the
enemy, which had set a trap.

“It was a brilliant operation,” the spokesman wrote.

The Armed Forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic carried out a
special operation on Saturday at the crash site of the
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Mi-24 helicopter downed by Azerbaijan on November
12. As a result of the operation, the body of one crew member, the
remains of two pilots as well as some parts of the helicopter were
removed from the crash site. The Azerbaijani army suffered two losses.
The NKR Defense Army had no losses.

A MI-24 helicopter of the NKR Air Force was shot down on November 12
in the airspace in the eastern direction of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani
border due to a ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
The area where the helicopter was shot down was at a very short
distance from the Line of Contact. The enemy opened heavy fire from
guns of various calibers at the incident site.

This is blow to Azerbaijan’s military leadership – Armenian expert on
MI-24 crew return

14:12 * 22.11.14

The recovery of the downed Armenian helicopter’s crew as a result of
special military operations is a serious blow to Azerbaijan’s military
leadership, David Sanasaryan, an expert in Azerbaijani studies, wrote
in a post on Facebook, condemning the Azerbaijani aggression.

“This is a blow to Azerbaijan’s military leadership. Hitting a plane
not waiting an attack with a self-guided missile from a close distance
is an act requiring no special manliness or military courage,” he
said, describing the attack as an act tantamount to a military
humiliation.

“Calling the international community’s attention to the violation of
ceasefire and the downing of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
helicopter was important, but the past days’ developments proved that
the Armenian army continues to remain the most effective and perhaps
the only support in resolving the problems with Azerbaijanis. So it is
important to emphasize after all that we deal with a raged society
which denies the international humanitarian law and which for more
than twenty years has been bred with the spirit of Armenophobia.
Azerbaijan will use every occasion to carry out anti-Armenian
operations, and it is only the Armenian armed forces that hinder the
Azerbaijani-Turkish plans to physically eliminate the Armenian factor
in the region,” reads Hakobyan’s post.

Karabakh military forced to take special operations: MI-24 crash
bodies pulled out

11:28 * 22.11.14

In the light of Azerbaijan’s official statements and unsound behavior,
the Armed Forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic had to take special
operations to resolve the fate of the downed MI-24 crew.

In a press release, the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army reports that its
troops managed to pull out one body and the remains of other two crew
members, as well as recover debris of the crashed aircraft.

Two fighters of the adversary’s army were killed in the special
operations . No losses are reported by the Defense Army.