Author: Babajanian Karo

KOBANI, THEN AND NOW: A CITY WITH A HISTORY OF SUFFERING

First Things
Oct 27 2014

by Mark Movsesian 10 . 27 . 14

For the past several weeks, the world has been watching Kobani
(in Kurdish, Kobane), a small city on the Syrian-Turkish border. In
September, militants from ISIS, the Sunni Islamist group that has
declared a restored caliphate in the Middle East, laid siege to the
city, which is mostly Kurdish and currently in the hands of the YPG,
a Syrian Kurdish group that opposes the Assad government. Kobani’s
strategic significance is debatable, but the city has symbolic
importance, and its fall would be a huge morale boost for ISIS.

Consequently, the U.S. has instituted a bombing campaign to push ISIS
back. As of this weekend, the siege was at a standstill.

A bewildering set of parties is involved. In addition to the two main
antagonists, ISIS and the YPG, there are the Iraqi Kurds–who, unlike
the YPG, do not have good relations with the PKK, the Kurdish militants
who seek to establish a homeland in Turkey; the Free Syrian Army,
part of the “moderate” secular opposition to Assad; the Assad regime
itself; the Iraqi government; regional powers like Turkey and Iran; and
the international anti-ISIS coalition, led by the U.S. Each of these
parties has its own interests to protect, which makes cooperation very
difficult. Most observers think the city will fall unless outsiders
supply substantial ground troops. That seems unlikely. Although Turkey
last week said it would open its border and allow some Iraqi Kurdish
fighters, as well as members of the Free Syrian Army, to reinforce
Kobani, it’s not clear whether that will occur.

One group that does not have a significant representation in Kobani
is Christians. This is ironic, because Kobani was in fact founded by
Christians during the last great wave of persecution in the region,
about a hundred years ago. In the wake of the Armenian Genocide of
1915, an ethnic-cleansing campaign that killed millions of Armenians
and other Christians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian refugees
established a village near a recently-built train station on the
Baghdad Railway, at a place called Ayn al-Arab in the Aleppo Province.

The Kurds came later and called the village “Kobani,” apparently
after the German company that had built the railway.

The Turks pushed many of Kobani’s Armenians further south. Those who
avoided deportation built churches and schools in Kobani, but most
eventually decided to move on, to other cities in Syria or to Soviet
Armenia. Doubtless, many of them wished to leave a place with so
many bad memories. According to political scientist Cengiz Aktar of
the Istanbul Policy Center, the area surrounding Kobani is known as
“‘the Armenian cemetery’ because of the thousands of Armenians who
died there during the deportations. It was a terrible place when the
Armenians arrived back then, and the area has a tragic history. It
is being repeated now.”

Hardly anyone today remembers the Christian presence in Kobani. I
didn’t know the story, myself, until a friend said his grandfather,
one of the refugees, once had a shop there. The churches are gone. New
humanitarian disasters succeed the ones of a hundred years ago; history
moves on. Still, it’s worth pausing to reflect on the great suffering
that led to Kobani’s foundation, and the great suffering that continues
there now. It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood.

CATHOLICOS ARAM I DISCUSSES ISIL ISSUES IN TEHERAN

10:32, 27 October, 2014

TEHERAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS: The Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia Aram I was hosted by the Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani
in Tehran on Saturday. Armenpress reports, citing Mehrnews.com that
the Catholicos Aram I expressed appreciation for Iran’s support for
the Armenian community and said, “Armenians in Iran enjoy plenty
of freedom and hold long-standing close relations with the Muslim
majority in Iran.”

He considered terrorism a global catastrophe and the main concern
of all nations and said, “Terrorist movements are abusing divine
religions for their own purpose.”

He also deemed Iran’s role in countering terrorism in Syria, Iraq
and Lebanon important and effective and said, “all countries must
acknowledge Iran’s prominent and constructive role in combating
terrorist groups in the region.”

Ali Larijani, while expressing gratitude for the positive role of
the Armenian community in Iran during the years after the Islamic
Revolution and particularly during the Imposed War, said, “Iran has
always held its Armenian community in high regard and many friendly
relations have been in progress between Iranian Muslims and Armenian
community in Iran.”

In regard to regional developments, Larijani deemed the reinforcement
of terrorist groups by the world powers as the greatest current issue
in the region and said, “these terrorist groups have been causing
problems for all followers of divine religions and will not show
mercy to any of them.”

“REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS” CALLS ON FRANCOIS HOLLANDE TO RAISE PRESS FREEDOM ISSUE DURING MEETING WITH ALIYEV

15:42, 27 October, 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS: Secretary-General of “Reporters
without Borders” non-profit organisation Christophe Deloire has sent
an open letter to French President Francois Hollande.

In the letter he calls on President Hollande to pay attention to
the pressures and violence committed against journalists during his
meeting with Ilham Aliyev, Armenpress reports citing Contact.az.

“Reporters Without Borders, an organization that defends freedom of
information, would like to draw your attention to the desperate state
of independent media and journalists in Azerbaijan, whose president,
Ilham Aliyev, you will receive on 27 October.

The authorities are cracking down in an unprecedented manner on both
professional and non-professional journalists in Azerbaijan, which
is ranked 160th out of 180 countries in ourlatest press freedom index.

Thanks to a biased regulatory agency, self-censorship and manipulation
of the advertising market, the government has complete control of the
broadcast media. The net is also closing on the handful of independent
newspapers that struggle to survive. One of them, Zerkalo, wasforced
to stop producing a print edition in May. Azadlig is being throttled
by astronomical damages awards and is now close to collapse.

With no fewer than 13 journalist and bloggers unjustly detained,
Azerbaijan is now the European continent’s biggest prison for news
providers.

The state of health of some of them, such as Khural editor in chief
Avaz Zeynalli, is worrying. Sham trials that respect neither legal
procedures nor defence rights are common. Outspoken journalists,
citizen-journalists and bloggers are subjected to all sorts of
intimidation including threats, physical attacks, blackmail and
smear campaigns.

These threats have forced many independent journalists to flee
Azerbaijan but the regime’s persecution now extends beyond its
borders. Rauf Mirkadyrov, a well-known reporter and columnist based
in Turkey, was extradited back to Azerbaijan on 18 April and was
immediately jailed on a trumped-up charge of spying for Armenia.

This past summer, the regime also began cracking down on NGOs that
support news media and defend freedom of information – NGOs such as
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Media Rights Institute
and IREX. It has frozen bank accounts, raided their offices and forced
their representatives into exile or silence. Most have had no choice
but to suspend operations.

The regime’s drive to eliminate all media pluralism undermines the
rule of law and the fight against corruption, without which it is
hard to regard Azerbaijan as a reliable partner. Regardless of the
economic and strategic advantages of a relationship between France and
Azerbaijan, a frank dialogue between partners must not ignore freedom
of information, a freedom guaranteed by Azerbaijan’s constitution
and international treaties.

We therefore ask you to clearly raise this issue with your Azerbaijani
counterpart during his visit to Paris and to request the release of
the jailed journalists and bloggers. We respectfully also urge you
to point out to President Aliyev that his government’s violations of
freedom of information are incompatible with closer relations between
Paris and Baku, as they are incompatible with Azerbaijan’s presidency
of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

We thank you in advance for the attention you give to our requests,”
the letter reads.

WINE FESTIVAL IN ARTSAKH, WHICH PROMISES TO BE TRADITIONAL

Monday, 27 October 2014 16:31

Last week, there was an exciting event for the people of Artsakh –
in Hadrut region’s Togh village, the first Artsakh Wine Festival took
place in the territory of the Melik Yegan Palace.

The event, which was organized by the Department of Tourism and
Protection of Historical Environment under the NKR Government, was
attended by the NKR senior officials headed by President Bako Sahakyan,
as well as numerous guests.

It was a real festival with national songs and dances, refreshments.

The participants were able to familiarize with the art of making wine,
to taste the wine produced in Artsakh, and, if desired, to buy them.

The festival was blessed by the Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan. The honorable
guests, headed by the country’s President, walked along the pavilions,
watched the ritual of grape crushing, the performances by the students
of Togh village’s Art School and the invited artists.

At the final part of the official ceremony of the festival a raffle
of prizes, which were granted by the Stepanakert brandy factory, was
held. Those, who purchased wine in the pavilions, could participate
in the lottery. Although officially the first festival of the Artsakh
wine ended at the afternoon, the music and the songs sounded until
late evening.

Some participants of the festival shared their impressions with
readers ofAzat Artsakh newspaper.

Sergei SHAKHVERDYAN, Head of the NKR Department of Tourism and
Protection of Historical Environment:

– The idea of holding a festival of the Artsakh wine occurred long
ago. Finally, it has come true. I think that the festival was a
success. The Princely Palace in the village of Togh for implementing
this initiative was not chosen by chance. We want to intensify the
development of the southern tourist route.

The Artsakh wine festival is held for the first time, but it will
become traditional and will always be held in the village of Togh,
in the territory of the Princely Palace. We believe that the Artsakh
Wine Festival should have a permanent place and day of holding. It
should be noted that the NKR Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of
Culture and Youth Affairs, Ministry of Urban Development, as well as
local authorities greatly assisted in the organization of the festival.

Karen Aghajanian, NKR Deputy Minister of Agriculture:

– We hope that the Wine Festival held in the village of Togh will
become traditional, and it will have more participants in the following
years. Surely, this is a very exciting and positive event.

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture has organized a fair of
agricultural products, where the Artsakh wine was exhibited on an
honorable place. Our ministry contributed to the organization of this
event. But in general, I believe that the success and victory are
achieved by joint efforts, when there is mutual cooperation between
the authorities and society, the private and state sectors, the urban
and rural areas. And this nationwide festival is a vivid proof of that.

Janus STAS, a tourist:

– It is my first visit to Karabakh. We learned about the upcoming
events at the Tourism Information Center and were invited to the wine
festival organized in Togh. We accepted the invitation with pleasure
and we are greatly impressed by the event, by Karabakh and its people.

But, most of all we were pleasantly surprised by the people who
live here – theircordiality, hospitality, and warm attitude towards
foreigners. Although I do not feel myself like a foreigner, as I
was born in the Soviet Union and, like many of Karabakh citizens,
consider it our common homeland. The Artsakh cuisine is very tasty,
and I have already tried many dishes.

Ira JIVANYAN, resident of the village of Chartar:

– I am engaged in viticulture. I give the grape to Nelson Musayelian,
who produces good wine. I am not engaged in winemaking. I wish that
such events are held each year.

Nelson MUSAîELûAN, winemaker:

– Since 1998Â I have been producing wine. I grow grape myself,
on myown plantations, and sometimes I buy it from other farmers. I
mainly sell the production on the spot.

This is a wonderful event, and I have also brought wine for tasting.

Such festivals are beneficial for winemakers – in terms of attracting
new customers and partners.

Alexander SHABURYAN, head of the Togh community:

– I am glad that the festival is taking place again in our village,
in the Palace of Yegan Melik. I am proud that this initiative is
realized here, that national songs and dances are performed here. The
students of the Art School of our village have managed to demonstrate
their skills to numerous guests. This school, to the establishment
of which I also had my contribution, is the pride of our village.

Srbuhi VANIAN

NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO BECOME LARGE EXPORTER OF BLACK CAVIAR

YEREVAN, October 27. / ARKA /. Construction of a facility for
production of black caviar was launched today in Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR). The unprecedented project is financed by a Swiss
businessman of Armenian origin Vardan Sermakesh, who is also one of
the largest shareholders in Artsakh hydropower plant.

The Nagorno-Karabakh government press service told ARKA that Prime
Minister Ara Harutyunyan and Sermakesh visited yesterday the village
of Mataghis, the site of the project.

The fish farm will have 350 pools for growing fry and make
Nagorno-Karabakh an exporter of this delicacy in several years.

According to Karabakh prime minister, the implementation of this
project in the border community will serve as an additional incentive
for the development of the nearby villages. Prime Minister Harutyunyan
and Sermakesh visited also a number of local enterprises, including
the Artsakh HPP that was the first to conduct IPO contributing greatly
to the republic’s energy independence.

The two men were said to have traveled also to Drmbon community
hosting Base Metals mining company.

Prime Minister Harutyunyan was said to have praised the Swiss
businessman for investing tens of billions of Armenian drams
in the development of the Karabakh’s agriculture, banking,
hydropower and mining sectors. ($ 1 – 409.29 drams) .- 0-

PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN MEET IN PARIS

18:37, 27 Oct 2014

The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilhama
Aliyev are holding a tete-a-tete meeting in Paris, France, Spokesman
for the Armenian President Arman Saghatelyan said in a Twitter post.

Before that the Presidents of the two countries were hosted by French
leader Francois Hollande.

After that the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan met with Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

SEVAN WATER RELEASE MUST BE UNDER PERMANENT ATTENTION – ENVIRONMENTALISTS

17:57 * 27.10.14

The society must be kept informed of the daily quantity of water
release from Lake Sevan, environmentalists said today, expressing
their concerns over the damage caused to Hrazdan (Kotayk) in the wake
of a recent overflow.

Silva Adamyan said that she and a team of other environmentalists
have visited the village Jrarat which recently suffered big losses
due to an excessive quantity of water.

Addressing the problem, expert Seyran Minasyan stressed the need of a
higher publicity. “They have to inform us how much water they are have
taken from Sevan, likewise they report the air temperature every day.

For us. Sevan is of vital importance, so the society has the right
to know whether they release water within the set norms,” he told
reporters.

Aram Grigoryan, another expert also attending the news conference,
said their studies in Jrarat did not prove very effective in terms
of finding out the causes of the excessive water release.

“We initially thought that they had released much water for energy
purposes, but studying the volume of the electric power produced by
the Hrazdan cascade, we saw that it didn’t essentially differ from
the quantity observed in the previous months. We do not know whether
there are agricultural lands needing water; we didn’t manage to find
that out, but it wasn’t clearly a natural overflow. We think all
this was because of poor management which damaged many villagers’
potato and cabbage harvest. And no one feels responsibility,” he noted.

Grigoryan said he doesn’t think that the loss from poor-quality pipes
is likely to be reduced after repairs, without necessitating a further
increase in the quantity of legally permitted water release.

Armenian News – Tert.am

ANCIENT HUMANS INNOVATED STONE TOOLS IN ARMENIA

October 27, 2014

Thousands of artifacts from the Paleolithic era recovered from a
325,000 years old place in Armenia, an archaeological study, published
in the journal, Science stated. These artifacts allow researchers to
collect data regarding how ancient advancements developed and spread
around the globe.

According to the researchers, ‘local innovation’ rather than
‘population expansion’ seems to be the major reason that drove
technological developments into the old world. Certainly, this means
our ancestors didn’t need to wait for the technology transfer.

Instead, they better develop new technologies on their own. This was
the way how technologies emerged in Eurasia around 325,000 years ago.

Group of researchers from all over the globe, including a group Royal
Holloway, University of London had basis to think that an ancient
technique named as ‘Levallois’ was used to create hunting weapons such
as stone tools. These weapons were actually originated in Africa and
transmitted to the other continents with the passage of time.

Moreover, this technology was in fact previously part of these earliest
Armenian groups, who flourished 325,000-335,000 years ago.

Another technique used in this region is known as ‘Bi-face’ which
could be believed as somewhat similar to Levallois. These instruments
were firstly analyzed by the researchers and told that the volcanic
material was used in them, which was discovered in Nor Geghi in Kotayk
Province, Armenia.

Voice Chronicle

CLOSURE AND CONSERVATION OF ILLEGAL ARTESIAN WELLS IN ARARAT VALLEY WILL HELP SAVING OVER 360 MILLION CU M OF WATER ANNUALLY

by Karina Manukyan

Monday, October 27, 16:02

Closure and conservation of the illegal artesian wells in the Ararat
Valley will help saving over 360 million cu m of water annually,
Deputy Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Khachik Hakobyan told
reporters, Monday.

He said that since 16 July 107 artesian wells with a total discharge
rate of 11.3 thousand liters/second have been closed, conserved and
imposed valve systems after monitoring and inspections.

The given wells belong to fisheries and “Hayjrmugh” and “Yerevan Jur”
Companies.

Earlier, the Government of Armenia recognized a number of areas in
the basins of the rivers of Akhuryan, Hrazdan, Sevjur and Qasakh as
low-water. The deputy minister said this will allow limiting water use
by economic entities by 2/3, which will positively affect the process
of self-restoration of the water basin. Hakobyan said a plan for
management of the Ararat Valley will be developed by September 2015.

To recall, subsurface horizons in the Ararat Valley went down by
several meters after fisheries were licensed to discharge water. To
stabilize the situation, illegal artesian wells have been closed. In
addition, the Government adopted a decision to increase the ceiling
for water release from Lake Sevan for irrigation purposes.

LE MINISTRE S’ABSTIENT DE FAIRE DES COMMENTAIRES SUR LE PROCES DE SHANT HARUTYUNYAN

ARMENIE

Hovhannes Manoukian ministre de la Justice a refuse de commenter les
peines dans le procès de Shant Harutyunyan et de ses partisans qui
ont ete arretes et inculpes le 5 Novembre 2013 après des affrontements
avec la police. Le tribunal a declare que le chef du parti Tseghakron,
son fils mineur Shahen et une douzaine de militant qui a egalement
pris part a la manifestation anti-gouvernementale ont ete reconnu
coupables d’actes de hooliganisme ou encore d’avoir recouru a la
violence contre des policiers.

Le juge Mnatsakan Martirosyan, qui a preside le procès, a annonce
des peines de prison allant de 1 a 7 ans pour les militants.

Harutyunyan a ete condamne a six ans, tandis que son fils de 15 ans
Shahen recu une condamnation avec sursis de 4 ans.

Parler aux journalistes en visitant Gyumri le ministre Manoukian a dit
s’attendre a ce que les avocats de la defense deposent des appels en
faveur de leurs clients devant une instance judiciaire superieure et,
par consequent, afin d’eviter une situation dans laquelle il pourrait
influencer le tribunal il s’est >.

Pendant ce temps, les principaux militants des droits de l’homme
d’Armenie ont critique la cour pour avoir fait passer un verdict
“politiquement motive” et condamnant les accuses, dont un mineur,
a des peines d’emprisonnement de longue duree. Ils sont egalement
critique le president Serge Sarkissian, qu’ils accusent d’avoir
violer le principe de la presomption d’innocence. Serge Sarkissian
a defendu l’affaire très mediatisee au cours d’une recente visite
aux Etats-Unis. S’exprimant lors d’une seance de questions-reponses
a l’Universite Columbia de New York, il a evoque Harutyunyan et ses
partisans arretes comme des >.

Les avocats d’Harutyunyan et d’autres accuses ont declare qu’ils
avaient l’intention de faire appel des verdicts devant la cour d’appel.

lundi 27 octobre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com