Author: Babajanian Karo

DRINKING WATER TO ARTSVABERD

Lragir.am
Society – 11 November 2014, 12:38

These days intensive construction works are being done in village
Artsvaberd that has a 34 km-long border with Azerbaijan. The water
supply improvement project announced last spring by VivaCell-MTS,
Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets
(FPWC), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
is being implemented.

The lack of water has resulted in the absence of basic household
conveniences, thus making the villagers leave the village community.

The village mayor is convinced that the implementation of the program
will relieve the burden of not only the villagers, but his as well.

The pump station that was out of use for around 16 years and had
undergone erosion is being renovated. Two new energy efficient pumps
will be installed there with the capacity of transferring 4 liters of
water each. New metal doors are already installed in the pump station,
and the other interior renovation works are in the process. The village
headman is convinced that after the pumps and windows are installed
and the renovation works are finished, the pump station will serve
to its purpose.

In the frame of the water supply improvement project implemented in
this village also a 5,5 km-long water pipeline will be constructed,
as well as a reserve pipeline that can transfer 4-5 liters of water
per second and a water intake station will be built. Intensive works
are done in this direction as well.

The village mayor says that everything is done to finish the project
as soon as possible. 90 % of the earthworks are done. The connection
works of water pipelines are almost finished, too. The daily regulator
reservoir (DRR) with around 370 ton-capacity has been covered with
concrete that according to the specialists’ evaluation can receive
the whole of the water transferred from the 2 water pipelines and
distribute it to the villagers’ houses for 24 hours.

In the near future a fence will be constructed around all the sanitary
protection zones, a water metric system will be installed that will
benefit to the economy of water. Also some other works will be finished
and the Artsvaberdtsi will no longer have to get the water from a
spring. The habit of gathering rain water for different household
purposes will also be forgotten once and for all.

As a result of the project implemented in the frame of the three-sided
agreement, the drinking water problem will be solved in Lukashin,
Arazap villages of Armavir region, and Berkaber, Artsvaberd villages
of Tavush region. VivaCell-MTS, USAID, and the Foundation for the
Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets have concentrated all
their efforts and follow the process of the works.

The beneficiaries of the project will be 6800 inhabitants of the four
above mentioned villages. VivaCell-MTS has allocated AMD 70 million
and USAID – AMD 60 million for the implementation of the project.

VivaCell-MTS…You are connected!

Welcome to VivaCell-MTS network with your phone number!

SEYRAN OHANYAN MEETS NATO OFFICIALS IN BELGIUM

13:08 11/11/2014 ” POLITICS

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan went on a working visit to
Belgium on Monday.

The Minister visited the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers
Europe (SHAPE) and met with Supreme Allied Commander Europe, United
States Air Force General Philip M. Breedlove, the press service of
the Defense Ministry reported.

The interlocutors discussed regional security issues and the
possibilities for raising the level of cooperation between the Armenian
Armed Forces and NATO forces.

On the same day, the Defense Minister had a working meeting with
Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alexander Vershbow.

They discussed Armenia-NATO cooperation and challenges to regional
and international security.

The sides hailed the current level of cooperation and expressed hope
that it will continue developing with the same success.

Source: Panorama.am

EURASIAN UNION TREATY RULES OUT POLITICAL INTEGRATION – POLITICIAN

11:00 * 11.11.14

Alexander Arzumanyan, a former foreign minister currently representing
the opposition Heritage faction in parliament, says he doesn’t expect
Russia to increase influence on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks
after Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union.

In an interview with Tert.am, the politician noted that Kyrgyzstan’s
move to eliminate the political integration component from the
accession treaty practically rules out such possibilities for future.

“What we speak of at the moment is that we will not independently
make our decision to establish customs rates, but rather, will do so
in coordination with partners. There will be a supranational council
to tackle the issue. Thank God, our Kazakh colleagues removed the
political integration component from the treaty, leaving only the
economic part. In this respect, we have a problem in terms of trade
and thecustoms tariffs,” he explained.

Arzumanyan said he doesn’t think that Russia’s involvement in the
Karabakh peace process goes beyond the frameworks of its mandate as
a co-chairing state of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“Russia is a co-chair of the Minsk [Group] as a partner with France
and the United States. That’s all. This is a process, so regardless
of any membership in a union and integration trends, that’s beyond the
negotiation format. I do not see any point in revising the negotiation
process at the moment,” he added.

Armenian News – Tert.am

HRAPARAK: SERIOUS DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN TSARUKYAN AND TER-PETROSYAN

Tuesday,
November
11

‘Hraparak’ paper citing its sources writes about a serious disagreement
over the political tactics between Prosperous Armenia Party leader
Gagik Tsarukyan and Armenian National Congress (HAK) leader Levon
Ter-Petrosyan.

According to the paper, when Tsarukyan informed Ter-Petrosyan that
no rallies would be held until February, the latter did not like the
idea. Yet the problem is related not only to reaching an agreement with
the authorities, but also to the fact that rallies are quite expensive.

“A HAK member told us that the cost of transporting a rally participant
from a province to the capital city is 10-12 thousand drams, which
is an astronomical sum in case of many people,” the paper says.

TODAY, 12:05

Aysor.am

L’ARMENIENNE SUSIANNA > KENTIKIAN S’EST IMPOSEE FACE A LA JAPONAISE NAOKO FUJIOKA ET CONSERVE SON TITRE MONDIAL WBA ELLE DEDIE SA VICTOIRE AU 100EME ANNIVERSAIRE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

BOXE

L’Armenienne Susi Kentikian (nee a Erevan en 1987) qui monte sur
les rings sous les couleurs de l’Allemagne defendait samedi soir en
Allemagne son titre de champion du monde des WBA des super-legers face
a la Japonaise Naoko Fujioka (39 ans). Un combat en 10 rounds. Susi
Kendikian (27) ans, surnommee > s’est imposee aux
points face a la Japonaise qui a toutefois realise un bon combat. Susi
Kentikian a dedie cette nouvelle victoire a la memoire des victimes
armeniennes a l’occasion de la commemoration du 100e anniversaire du
genocide armenien.

Krikor Amirzayan

lundi 10 novembre 2014, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

L’UE ENVISAGE UNE NOUVELLE COOPERATION AVEC L’ARMENIE

Diplomatie

Lors d’une visite a Erevan, un representant de Bruxelles a declare
que l’Union europeenne n’excluait pas un nouvel accord avec l’Armenie
malgre ses engagements envers l’UEE.

L’ambassadeur Traian Hristea, chef de la delegation de l’UE en Armenie,
a declare que les negociations autour de la question sont actuellement
en cours.

L’Union europeenne et l’Armenie ont signe un protocole d’accord le 3
novembre, en vertu duquel le bloc de 28 pays s’est engage a fournir
entre 140 millions et 170 millions d’euros a l’Armenie pour le secteur
prive, l’administration publique, et les reformes de la justice au
cours des trois prochaines annees.

Johannes Hahn, nouvellement nomme commissaire de l’UE pour
les negociations de la politique europeenne de voisinage et
l’elargissement, a annonce lundi le lancement du “premier processus
de reflexion” sur la question de l’identification des domaines de
cooperation future avec l’Armenie.

“Compte tenu des nouveaux engagements armeniens, nous allons voir dans
quels domaines nous pourrons cooperer dans le futur accord que nous
allons conclure, je l’espère, dans un avenir prochain avec Armenie”,
a declare Hristea.

lundi 10 novembre 2014, Claire (c)armenews.com

Sarke Economic Press Monitor, Georgia
November 7, 2014 Friday

ARMENIA DECLARES THAT ISSUE OF RESUMPTION OF RAILWAY’S ABKHAZIA
SECTION WILL BE SOLVED SOON

by Netgazeti.Ge

Referring to Armenian sources, the newspaper reports that an important
declaration might be done in near future regarding launch of Abkhazian section
of railway.

Artur Arakelyan, First Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication of
Armenia, declares that “negotiations are held behind the closed door”. “This
issue is rather political than economical”, he points.

“There are two strongly opposed positions regarding border crossing – Georgia’s
and Abkhazia’s – and it is a very sensitive issue for both sides”, Arakelyan
declares and notes that “Armenian, Russian and Georgian presidents emphasize
importance of this project”.

Regarding funds, which are necessary to resume this section, being idle for more
than 20 years, Arakelyan assures that “if political aspect of the issue is
solved, the funding will not be a problem”.

The newspaper reminds that Armenia is blocked by neighboring Turkey and
Azerbaijan and is very interested in implementation of this project, as it will
enable direct communication with Russia (published on November 6).

Armenian Armed Forces Are Getting Ready

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 09 November 2014, 00:16

Armenia and Artsakh are holding a big military exercise in accordance
with the military cooperation plan of two states. The military
exercise is one of the regular components of activities of the armed
forces and is implemented in accordance with plans, and spontaneity is
very seldom, considering issues relating to organization of
large-scale drills.

On the other hand, this large-scale military exercise of Armenia and
Artsakh is being held in an interesting period. A few days ago, the
Azerbaijani foreign minister Mammedyarov announced that the necessity
of a new Sargsyan-Aliyev is not ruled out in the forthcoming period.
The previous meeting was on October 27 in Paris, under the aegis of
the French president. During this meeting, according to the press
release of the French president’s administration, the sides agreed to
have the next meeting next year in New York.

If such agreement is reached, it means that France and the United
States at least are not planning a new Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting. Hence,
Mammedyarov’s statement means that there can be a meeting that will be
either unplanned or simply agreed with Russia, which also can take
place under certain unplanned circumstances. And another period of
escalation in the region can be such a circumstance. By the way,
recently the minister of defense of Armenia has announced about
escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact.

In this respect, the large-scale joint military training of Armenia
and Artsakh can be seen as an answer to Azerbaijan’s statement, and
the Armenian forces are preparing not to be startled.

At the same time, the region is facing new challenges, namely the
developments in Georgia. The issue that seemed to have been crossed
out of the agenda has been brought back: is Georgia facing the
Euro-Atlantic or Eurasian integration? The vivid supporters of the
Euro-Atlantic line are leaving the ruling coalition and government,
while the United States is expressing concerns about Georgia’s
commitment to the Euro-Atlantic path.

The ex-minister of defense Irakli Alasania has announced openly that
that the Euro-Atlantic line is undergoing an attack serving the
Russian interests. It is possible that it is just an external reason
to avoid defeat in the domestic situation which is not an actual
problem. However, the expression of concerns by the United States is
evidence to risk of a U-turn.

Although, deep inside the risk is bigger. Instability in Georgia will
eventually allow Russia to achieve full occupation of Georgia, which
had been prevented by Sarkozi and was left midway during the war in
2008.

Instability in Georgia cannot be outside the regional package because
the Caucasus is too small, with interwoven interests to be limited to
Georgia, and Turkey and Azerbaijan will certainly expect support for
mutual freedom regarding the issue of Artsakh for supporting Russia
regarding freedom of actions in Georgia.

In this respect, the large-scale military training of the armed forces
of Armenia and Artsakh is also urgent in the context of developments
in Georgia which are far from signaling vaster instability in the
region but currently developments are too dynamic, which requires
equally fast and far-reaching reaction of the Armenian side.

The military training of the Armenian armies is adequate to current
developments. At the same time, the Armenian armed forces have bitter
experience, especially that this experience showed that aside from its
core duties the armed forces have to perform foreign political
functions. Interestingly, the training precedes NATO week in Armenia.

In the context of regional realities and interests, NATO and Armenia
are natural allies because they are largely interested in stability in
Georgia which is essential to maintaining the regional status quo.

Biographile
Nov 5 2014

A Tale of Two Countries: Turkey, Armenia, and a Silent Genocide

November 5, 2014 |

By David Burr Gerrard

In April of 1915, the Ottoman Empire began the planned extermination
of its Armenian population, killing between 1 and 1.5 million people,
an event that contributed to the coining of the term “genocide.” In
present-day Turkey, acknowledging this fact is a crime. Nobel Laureate
Orhan Pamuk is only one of many who have been prosecuted or otherwise
legally harassed for speaking out.

As a child growing up in New Jersey, Meline Toumani was sent for
several summers to Camp Haiastan in Massachusetts, where she and other
Armenian-American children learned about Hai Tahd, the effort to gain
recognition for the Armenian genocide. Debate existed about whether
violence in the name of Hai Tahd was justified. As she got older,
Toumani started to wonder whether the obsession with recognition was
detrimental to the Armenian community. In 2004, she wrote an article
for The Nation asking whether the single-minded focus on this issue
was harmful to the country of Armenia by preventing it from opening up
economic relations with Turkey. Focused on this history and how it
might be overcome, she traveled to Turkey, a country that she had
often seen demonized, to get to know its people as people. Her hope
was to forge connections that surpassed the painful history of
genocide.

What Toumani found in Turkey was much more complicated: a country that
was, among many other things, deformed by mandated denial. Her new
memoir, There Was and There Was Not, is a profound and nuanced work
about what it costs to remember the past and what it costs trying to
forget it.

Toumani spoke with Biographile recently at a café in SoHo.

Biographile: Let’s start with an obvious question. Why did you write the book?

Meline Toumani: As I was starting out my career as a journalist, I
overtly said I did not want to write about the Armenians or the
genocide. Inevitably, I kept doing it anyway. Every time I wrote
something, it became more controversial than I intended, specifically
this piece I wrote for The Nation in 2004. I was trying to find a way
to say that there’s something wrong with the way the Armenian
community deals with the genocide issue, that there’s something wrong
with the dominance it has over the community and the way it creeps
into every single realm.

I stumbled into this argument about how the diaspora’s obsession with
the genocide causes problems for the country of Armenia, which could
have benefited from economic relations with Turkey. The climate that
the diaspora was creating with its villainization of Turkey was making
diplomatic relations impossible. There’s some grain of truth in that,
but I wouldn’t make that argument anymore. What I realized over many
attempts to write and think about it is that what I was talking about
was an emotional and psychological problem, not an economic one. As I
started to realize that, I decided that if I didn’t explore this and
take it to the limit, I would just keep carving off little pieces of
it in articles and essays. I needed to get it out of my system so I
could work on other things. Even though it took ten years, I think
that that was really true, which means that I’m really looking forward
to working on other things now.

BIOG: One thing that’s fascinating about this book is that where many
memoirs have an arc of, “I was angry about something, and then I met
people and learned that we’re all human beings,” this memoir almost
has the opposite arc.

MT: That’s a very interesting way to look at it. In a sense, I started
out with a diplomatic goal, vision, almost a calling. I wanted to
bring people together. In my book proposal, I called it “a literary
act of diplomacy,” and I meant that a hundred percent. As I got deeper
and deeper into the material and into the experience of reporting in
Turkey, that optimism started to fall apart.

First, Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist in Istanbul, was murdered
in 2007, just as I was on my way back to Turkey to really dive into
this. I think I knew very quickly that I had gotten it wrong, but it
took me a long time to admit that on the page, because I didn’t want
to end up saying something like the people I had been criticizing at
first. I didn’t want to end up saying something that sounded like an
Armenian diaspora lobbyist, showing all the ways that Turkey has
screwed up. That wasn’t the literary act of diplomacy I had set out to
do. That brought me through the whole arc for myself. I still haven’t
made peace with that myself. I still want to give people a new way of
engaging.

BIOG: In encounter after encounter in the book, you seem to go in with
a lot of curiosity and goodwill, and then are disappointed.

MT: That’s true, and it took me a long time to pack up my toys and go
home, in part because I didn’t want that to be the answer. In some
ways, the pattern was established very quickly, but it took two and a
half years and the incident at the airport towards the end of the book
to make me realize that I had completely lost my center and that I
needed to get out of Turkey.

BIOG: What recent developments have you seen?

MT: It’s hard for me to say what the climate [in Turkey] is like
because I don’t like to make assumptions when I’m not there. But it
seems to me from everything I read on a daily basis that at the very
least the criminalization of talking about the genocide has changed
notably in the last couple of years. So while all the official
language and documentation will continue to push this contorted
denialist version of the history, there is notably more freedom for
academics and journalists to speak. Five years ago they would have
been spending all their time in court.

You’ll always have the Turkish version of American Confederate-lovers
in the South, people who never fully got on board with modern American
values of tolerance. Twenty-five years from now, though, it will be
much more mainstream in Turkey to acknowledge the genocide. I think.
But I could be wrong.

168 Hours: Tobacco import declines

12:18 08/11/2014 » DAILY PRESS

According to the Customs Service of the Armenian Finance Ministry, a
total of 1472.7 million cigarettes were imported to the country in the
nine months of this year, at a customs cost of $21.1 million. In the
same period of last year, 1732.7 million cigarettes ($33.9 million)
were imported, 168 Hours writes.

The budget revenues from tobacco import have fallen by 9.6 percent as
compared with the last year, the newspaper says.

The decline is due to the lower purchasability of the population as
well as a smaller market size – and emigration is one of its reasons,
the daily notes.

Source: Panorama.am