Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIAN SOLDIER HAKOB INJIGHULYAN, WHO WAS CAPTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN MORE THAN A YEAR, RETURNED TO HOMELAND (VIDEO)

11:06 | October 2,2014 | Social

Today in the morning Hakob Injighulyan, who was moved to the third
country from captivity in Azerbaijan, returned to the homeland. Hakob
Injighulyan was greeted by his relives and huge crowd of people at
Zvartnots airport.

“I have still 9 months to serve in the army and I am going to do it,”-
said Injighulyan, once more confirming that he appeared in captivity,
as he was lost.

Injighulyan stressed that violence was carried out toward him in
Azerbaijan. He was beaten and cursed. “They said if I didn’t do what
they say I would appear in the same situation as that shepherd. I was
threatened with shooting. I also gave interviews under the pressure
of Azerbaijanis. Before the interviews I was called and told what to
say and if not they would kill me.

Also before the meeting with Red Cross I was called and given
instructions, they read the letters of my family,”- he said.

The Armenian captive was forced to leave for the third country or else
he would be killed. “They forced me to leave for the third country.

They said if I tried to run away or wished to return to Armenia,
they would shoot me. So I went to the third country and returned to
Armenia,”- he said.

Video by Aysor.am

‘NO PEACE TILL NETANYAHU NO LONGER IN POWER IN ISRAEL’

Published time: September 30, 2014 10:56

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a photograph as
he addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N.

headquarters in New York September 29, 2014. (Reuters//Mike Segar)

Arms, Army, Clashes, Conflict, Human rights, Iran, Israel, Middle East,
Military,Politics, Security, Terrorism, UN, Violence

The Israelis and the Palestinians will see no peace while Benjamin
Netanyahu remains in power, Charles Kogan from the Belfer Centre for
Science and International Affairs told RT, commenting on the Israeli
PM’s speech to the UNGA comparing Hamas to ISIS.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly
Monday, drawing attention to Iran and its nuclear program, which is
considered by Israel a bigger threat than ISIS.

“Make no mistake – ISIS (Islamic State) must be defeated. But to
defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win
the battle and lose the war,” Netanyahu said.

READ MORE: Win battle, lose the war: Photo-wielding Netanyahu puts
Iran over ISIS, slams Hamas

The Israeli Prime Minister also stressed that ISIS radicals and Hamas
share the same task “of imposing militant Islam on the world,” and
even brought with him photo claiming the “proof” showed Hamas using
Palestinian civilians as human shields.

“Hamas’ immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but it has a broader
objective. When it comes to its ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS, and
ISIS is Hamas,” he added.

RT: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was not holding back at the
General Assembly, telling the Iranian president to “save his phony
tears.” Why is he so distrustful of President Rouhani’s attempts to
make things work with the West?

Charles Kogan: First of all, I must say that this is my own personal
opinion, I have nothing to do with the US government anymore, and I do
have strong opinions. I looked at the speech that Netanyahu made and
there is very little statesmanship in it. It is an extended polemic,
or if I were to use a stronger word, it is philippic, it is rant.

There is inaccuracy in it also because he said some of the ideological
extremist groups are Shia – that’s not the case, they are all Sunni.

There are Shia militias trained by Iran but they don’t have an
ideological bent, they just have their mission to protect the Shia-led
regime in Baghdad.

A Palestinian girl looks out through her family’s damaged house, which
witnesses said was shelled by Israel during the seven-week offensive,
in the devastated area of the east of Gaza City September 22, 2014.

(Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

RT: At a time when the world is struggling to contain the rise of
the Islamic State, how relevant was this shift of focus to Iran’s
nuclear program?

CK: I think that it is probably the case that the Israeli leadership,
or Netanyahu, is concerned with the new emphasis on ISIS, or the
Islamic State, is taking some of the attention away from Iran, and
he wanted to set this straight in his speech. He wanted to bring Iran
in the forefront and describe it as a hypocritical power bent on the
regional hegemony and heading towards nuclear weapon which would be
a disaster from the Israeli point of view.

Another thing that he was anxious to point out in his speech was
that Israel has been very careful to protect civilians when it made
these attacks in Gaza, which of course is rather absurd because there
were some 2,000 Palestinians killed in the Israeli campaign, and on
the Israeli side there were something like 72 casualties, of which I
think three or four were due to Palestinian rockets and the rest were
Israeli army casualties. The imbalance is extreme. To say that Hamas
invited attacks on Palestinians is an overstatement. Israel this time
had some justification because Hamas was sending rockets into Israel.

They caused very few casualties but they set everybody’s teeth on
edge. So there was some basis for retaliation but as the former French
prime minister pointed out in an article in Figaro on August 1, he took
the example of the British in Northern Ireland: if they had casualties,
they didn’t respond by bombing Belfast. That’s basically what the
Israelis have done in this campaign – 2,000 casualties and great
damage. There was some justification for that but it was overdone.

RT: Another key message of Netanyahu’s speech was that Hamas is no
different from the Islamic State. He even brought a picture to make
his point. Would you agree with this point?

CK: There is no question that the Islamic State is totally separate
from Hamas in Gaza, they are not the same. He made the point that they
are the same ideologically but this is not true. The idea that Hamas
is responsible for killing Palestinians is absurd. There is a very
little nuance in what he delivered in his speech at the UN. I would
go further to say that as long as Netanyahu is in power in Israel,
there will be no peace.

L’ARTSAKH LANCE DES >

KARABAGH

L’Artsakh et l’Armenie collaborent a une initiative conjointe visant
a lancer un reseau d ‘ > tout au long de l’Artsakh.

Le projet, intitule >, sera mis en place dans les
villages de Khndzoristan, Patara et Astghashen, selon Arsen Gasparyan,
le president de l’Association des jeunes biologistes.

Lors d’une conference de presse l’ecologiste a decrit l’initiative
comme une campagne de sensibilisation visant a associer les efforts de
la communaute dans de futures activites communes. Il a dit que c’est
aussi une tentative de developper l’ecotourisme et l’agrotourisme,
ainsi que les technologies de l’agriculture et de gestion des dechets
organiques dans le Haut-Karabagh.

>, a-t-il promit.

Gasparyan a dit qu’ils ont besoin d’un total de 80000 a 100000 $
pour realiser le projet. > a note l’ecologiste.

Susanna Petrosyan, presidente du Centre de developpement de l’Artsakh,
a declare que le gouvernement du pays est pret a aider l’initiative.

LE PRESIDENT GREC KARLOS PAPOULIAS S’EST RECUEILLI AU MEMORIAL DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN A EREVAN – PHOTOS

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

A l’invitation du president armenien Serge Sarkissian, son homologue
grec Karlos Papoulias est arrive lundi 29 septembre pour une visite
officielle de deux jours en Armenie. Dès son arrivee, le president
de Grèce s’est rendu au memorial du genocide armenien a Erevan pour
y deposer une gerbe de fleurs. Haïg Demoyan, le directeur du Musee du
genocide a remis au president grec la medaille d’or du navigateur et
humaniste norvegien prix Nobel >. Rappelons que
la Grèce avait reconnu officiellement le genocide armenien en 1999.

Photos News.am

Krikor Amirzayan

Le president grec Karlos Papoulias s’est recueilli au memorial du
genocide armenien a Erevan Le president grec Karlos Papoulias s’est
recueilli au memorial du genocide armenien a Erevan Le president grec
Karlos Papoulias s’est recueilli au memorial du genocide armenien
a Erevan

mercredi 1er octobre 2014, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

L’ARMENIE COMPTE SUR LA GRECE POUR SE RAPPROCHER DE L’UE

Cooperation internationale

L’Armenie espère que la Grèce va l’aider a approfondir ses relations
avec l’Union europeenne, a declare hier le president Serge Sarkissian
après des entretiens avec son homologue grec, Karolos Papoulias.

“Nous avons reaffirme notre volonte d’approfondir la cooperation entre
nos deux pays sur les plans multilateral, y compris dans le cadre du
partenariat UE-Armenie,” a t-il dit a la presse. “J’ai fait part de
la determination de l’Armenie a developper ses relations avec l’UE
dans toutes les directions possibles et j’ai exprime l’espoir que la
Grèce soutiendra l’Armenie sur cette question.”

Papoulias, qui etait a Erevan pour une visite de trois jours, n’a
pas mentionne les liens de l’Armenie avec l’Union europeenne dans ses
declarations publiques faites après la reunion avec Serge Sarkissian.

Mais il a dit que la Grèce reste determinee a renforcer ses liens
historiques etroits avec l’Armenie.

Les deux presidents ont salue les relations bilaterales. Sarkissian
a singularise la cooperation militaire greco-armenienne.

Le leader armenien a egalement salue le parlement grec pour adoption
recente d’une loi qui penalise la negation de l’Holocauste juif,
du genocide armenien et d’autres crimes contre l’humanite reconnus
par la Grèce. Il a dit a cet egard qu’il a invite Papoulias a visiter
de nouveau Erevan en avril prochain pour prendre part aux ceremonies
officielles qui marqueront le 100e anniversaire du genocide.

mercredi 1er octobre 2014, Claire (c)armenews.com

‘COMPLEX’ PROBLEM: YEREVAN’S HAMALIR BUILDING BECOMES DEFENSE MINISTRY PROPERTY

BUSINESS | 01.10.14 | 11:22

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

One of Armenia’s largest entertainment complexes that also represents
an original architectural structure was recently transferred to the
Defense Ministry and got the status of a military unit over the debts
contracted by its owner.

Enlarge Photo

Representative of the former owner of the Karen Demirchyan Sports and
Concert Complex (Hamalir) Sayat Grigoryan argues that the building was
“seized”. Another controversial aspect of what happened is that the
name of the building was changed after its transfer to the Defense
Ministry.

“It is ridiculous, it’s like turning La Scala into barracks,”
Grigorian commented to media on Tuesday. At the press conference he
wore a military uniform as a sign of protest.

The Service for the Mandatory Execution of Judicial Acts (SMEJA) of
Armenia’s Ministry of Justice first put up Hamalir for action in May.

It said its owner, Bamo Company, had failed to repay its debts to
the state budget running into tens of millions of dollars.

The bidding price for the building constructed in 1983 and situated
on a total area of 46335.7 square meters (including other auxiliary
structures and territories) was first set at 19 billion, 350 million
drams (about $47.2 million), but it was repeatedly slashed after the
failures of offers to attract bidders.

The Hamalir administration challenged the process, in particular,
insisting that it was not legal to hold auctions while the case was
still at the stage of litigation. It also pointed out other violations
during the process.

At the latest auction the building was evaluated at $31 million. The
representative of Hamalir’s already former owner insisted at Tuesday’s
press conference that they had made several times more investments
than planned on top of the sum that was paid for the purchase of the
Complex and annual expenditure for its maintenance.

“We have a corresponding contract that entitles us to extend
the contract, taking into account the fact that we have made an
investment of $42 million instead of $10 million. We spent $1.2 million
annually on maintenance and still had plans for new investments. In
a law-abiding state they would not demand the repayment of the money
at once, but would allow the extension of the deadline and we would
have returned that money,” said Grigoryan, giving assurances that
the Complex had always operated at a loss, because it was built not
as an income-generating facility, but as an “edifice for pride”.

Government representatives, however, said that the company had actually
been given extensions for debt repayment, but could not properly use
those opportunities.

Grigoryan said they were also concerned that the state would not be
able to allocate enough money even for the annual maintenance of the
building and Hamalir would fall into decay again.

“It will again be in a neglected state. In 2005, when we purchased
that state-owned facility, it was in a terrible condition… We have
changed, reequipped everything, and today we have the most powerful
and expensive system here. We are fighting for our reputation, we
don’t want our hard work to be lost,” said Grigoryan.

The Hamalir administration has turned to court over what it views as
violations committed during the auction process. Grigoryan said that
after exhausting all judicial instances in Armenia they would also
turn to the European Court.

Grigoryan also voiced concern that the SMEJA documents have already
distorted the name of the complex, removing “Karen Demirchyan” from
it and calling it “real estate at the address of the sport complex
operating in Tsitsernakaberd Park”.

The case is also alarming for members of the family of Karen
Demirchyan, the Armenian leader in the late Soviet period and leading
politician in post-independence Armenia who was assassinated during
the October 27, 1999 parliamentary shooting.

The son of Karen Demirchyan, Stepan Demirchyan, told ArmeniaNow that
apparently it was a case of misunderstanding, but in any case, he said,
they would turn to the Defense Ministry for explanations.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry spokesman did not comment on this
subject, saying that they would not react to “provocative” and
“ungrounded” speculations. At the same time, he gave assurances that
the name of Karen Demirchyan would be kept, while the status of a
military unit was only necessary as a basis for legal documentation.

Co-author of Hamalir’s architectural design Hrach Poghosyan said he
could not imagine how the only edifice in Armenia that was awarded
with the State Prize of the Soviet Union should be used as a
“military unit”.

“I think it is something of a formal thing, because the Defense
Ministry is divided into some sections and this section is called a
military unit. If it were the Ministry of Culture it would have been,
say, the monuments section,” the architect said. “I think that the
Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister will prove wise enough and
will provide a right solution to the matter, as this structure should
work, it should not be closed.”

ARMENIAN ESABELLE DINGIZIAN ELECTED VICE-SPEAKER OF THE SWEDISH RIKSDAG

13:40, 30 Sep 2014

Esabelle Dingizian, a Swedish-Armenian Green Party politician, has
been elected third Vice-Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag, according to
Riksdag’s official website.

The Riksdag elected Urban Ahlin (Social Democratic Party) as the new
Speaker on 29 September for the electoral period 2014-2018.

Tobias Billstrom (Moderate Party) was elected as First Deputy Speaker,
Bjorn Soder (Sweden Democrats) as Second Deputy Speaker, and Esabelle
Dingizian (Green Party) as Third Deputy Speaker.

Esabelle Dingizian has been a member of the Riksdag since 2006. She has
been member of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and deputy member
in a number of committees including the Committee on the Labour
Market and the Committee on Education. Esabelle Dingizian is member
of parliament for the Stockholm County Council constituency.

ZHAMANAK: PROSPEROUS ARMENIA LEADER TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2018

09:30 * 30.09.14

Despite his earlier claims denying any intention to ever run for
presidency, the Prosperous Armenia party’s leader is said to be
preparing for the next campaign.

Citing its sources, the paper claims that Gagik Tsarukyan unveiled
to his closest circles plans for fielding his candidacy in 2018.

Though his desire was perceived equivocally, it isn’t absolutely
a surprise as far as the Prosperous Armenia members are concerned,
says the paper, adding that several opposition parties, including the
Armenian National Congress and Heritage, have now put their stakes
on him.

According to the paper, Tsarukyan is quite likely to run for election
as an opposition candidate in the next election.

Armenian News – Tert.am

ALIYEV’S ORDER: AZERI INITIATIVE TO ARM CIVILIANS NEAR BORDER SEEN MORE AS PROPAGANDA PLOY IN ARMENIA

KARABAKH | 30.09.14 | 10:18

Photolure

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Azerbaijan’s initiative to arm civilians living at the border
with Armenia and along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh,
according to an Armenian military expert, is aimed at letting people
in borderland communities feel more secure and at expanding the army’s
combat possibilities, but in reality it will have only a negligible
effect, while disproving the myth propagandized by Baku for years
about the “weak Armenian Army”.

Last week, Azerbaijani media published the text of the order by
President Ilham Aliyev on measures aimed at “strengthening the
protection of the country’s borders”. Under the order, measures need
to be taken “to form volunteer patrol teams that will consist of
residents of the areas adjacent to the line of contact between the
armed forces of the Azerbaijani Republic and the Republic of Armenia.”

David Jamalyan, an advisor to Armenia’s defense minister, thinks
that this is one of the steps to prepare Azerbaijan’s society
psychologically for a possible war. According to him, it is
not new that in recent years Azerbaijan’s military and political
leadership has been getting ready for a war both in the military and
moral-psychological dimensions.

“This way an attempt is made to create an additional combat resource
for the Azerbaijani army in case of war. I don’t think, however, that
it can significantly improve the combat efficiency of the Azerbaijani
army. Besides, our state border security is reliable,” Jamalyan told
ArmeniaNow, adding that by such steps official Baku, maybe unwillingly,
creates an atmosphere of fear among its own population in relation
to the Armenian armed forces, at the same time undermining confidence
in the Azerbaijani army.

Expert on Azerbaijan Angela Elibegova thinks that the move is just
another propagandistic rhetoric as after the recent events in Karabakh
and at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border the population of the borderline
zone in Azerbaijan gave quite a tough estimation to the work of the
country’s Defense Ministry.

“We saw that people began to leave Azerbaijani border villages,
as they do not believe they would be defended, and this move can
be seen as a promise to better protect them. Time will show whether
this promise is fulfilled or not. For years now we have heard from
the Azerbaijani side that they need to build a protective wall for
their border villages, however, despite the demands of the population
this wall has not been built,” said Elibegova.

In July, against the backdrop of increased Azerbaijani sabotage
operations along the line of contact there were also opinions in
Armenia that residents of border villages should be armed. Such
an opinion was, in particular, expressed by Armenian Public
Council Chairman Vazgen Manukyan. But President Serzh Sargsyan, the
commander-in-chief of the Armenian armed forces, did not agree with
that opinion, saying that he did not see the point of doing that,
as Armenian armed forces are capable of providing the security of
the population in border areas. He said that those who can handle a
gun should be in the army rather.

And although many residents of the border villages in Armenia’s
northeastern Tavush province in conversations with ArmeniaNow also
pronounced in favor of being allowed to carry guns in order to be able
to resort to self-defense, if necessary, some still acknowledged that
weapons in the hands of civilians sometimes could become an additional
headache and lead to shooting incidents amongst themselves.

Nevertheless, in early August headquarters were established in most
of the border villages. Even today local civilians take turns to be
on duty at such headquarters in order to provide support to the armed
forces, if need be.

According to Jamalyan, there is no need to arm Armenian civilians
living near the border with Azerbaijan today. This step, the official
explained, could only be taken if the support of volunteers were
needed to the army in the event of a large-scale war. Meanwhile,
according to him, nothing suggests today that Azerbaijan will start
full-blown hostilities in the near future.

“It is another matter, however, to prepare civilians in border
communities for possible hostilities, because I think that the
willingness of society to mobilize quickly against external aggression
is a serious deterrent,” the expert said.

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 27 2014

AKP deputy: “It is impossible to put pressure on Turkey regarding the
Armenian issue”

[ 27 September 2014 13:27 ]

Burhan Kayaturk: “I am sure that a commission including the world’s
top historians will be sooner or later entrusted with dealing this
issue”

Ankara. Mayis Alizadeh – APA. “Turkey’s position on “Armenian
genocide” allegations has been evident since our party came to power:
we have repeatedly stated that parliaments can not pass decision on
history matters. Some of our citizens were moved from one corner of
the territories to another one in the last periods of the Ottoman
Empire. Of course, no one wants people to leave their native lands.
However, today, the Parliament’s passing decision on the events that
happened under that period’s conditions is wrong,” the ruling Justice
and Development Party’s (AKP) Van deputy and head of Turkish
Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission Burhan Kayaturk told APA.

Answering the question “Turkey is expected to face pressures regarding
the 100th anniversary of so-called “Armenian genocide” in 2015. What
is your Commission doing in this regard?” Kayaturk said that Turkey is
completely self-reliant in this issue: “We have opened all of our
archives and demand other countries to do so. However, many countries
rejected it. Until recently, I was a member of the Turkish delegation
to the PACE. According to the proposal made by the Turkish MPs, PACE
adopted a recommendation on “Armenian genocide” allegations. Thus, it
was recommended that historical events should be assessed by the
historians, not by the parliaments. Turkey wanted to “normalize” its
relations with Armenia, but Armenian Constitutional Court suspended
the process under the pressure and threats of the Armenian diaspora.
People are living in a difficult financial situation in Armenia, while
Diaspora Armenians are always inciting hostility towards Turkey for
the sake of their own interests. Armenia has been also keeping the
territories of fraternal Azerbaijan under occupation for a long time.”

Kayaturk noted that Turkey would be pleased of Armenia’s withdrawal
from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and solution of the
problems between the two countries: “We will always support
Azerbaijan’s legitimate struggle in this direction.”

The parliamentarian reiterated that no parliament’s decision on
“genocide” can change Turkey’s position: “It is impossible to put
pressure on Turkey. We are confident that our ancestors didn’t commit
genocide. We will frequently meet and inform politicians of the
countries that passed unfair decisions against Turkey. Our archives
are open for everyone. I am sure that a commission including the
world’s top historians will be sooner or later entrusted with dealing
this issue,” he said.