Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIE
Manifestation des salariés de Nairit exigeant leurs arriérés de salaires

Plusieurs centaines de salariés de l’usine chimique de Nairit en
Arménie qui tourne actuellement au ralenti se sont à nouveau
rassemblés jeudi matin près du btiment du gouvernement à Erevan
exigeant que leurs arriérés de salaires soient payés. Les manifestants
ont déclaré que l’usine leur doit des salaires depuis 18 mois. Parmi
les revendications des salariés figurent aussi une relance de
l’entreprise.

Le ministre de l’Énergie Ervand Zakharyan a essayé de parler aux
manifestants, avant de rejoindre la session de gouvernement
hebdomadaire, mais les salariés l’ont accueilli avec des huées et des
sifflements et ont demandé une réunion avec le Premier ministre Hovik
Abrahamyan.

Pourtant, Ervand Zakharyan a promis qu’une solution à la question de
l’avenir de l’usine serait apportée avant le 15 Septembre et que les
salaires d’un mois seraient payés.

dimanche 7 septembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Kuwait Ambassador reconfirms assistance to New Aleppo

11:38, 6 September, 2014

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: The State of Kuwait reconfirms its
readiness to assist the construction of the New Aleppo District. The
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kuwait to the Republic
of Armenia Bassam Muhammad al-Kabandi told Armenpress about it. “This
program has existed for a long time and the Minister asked Kuwait for
help. Kuwait is ready to assist and to be among the countries, which
help the implementation of the New Aleppo program. It has been decided
that Kuwait will provide the assistance. The material support is
delayed because ofbureaucratic issues”, – said Bassam Muhammad
al-Kabandi.

ARMENIE-ECONOMIE
La société de production de feuilles d’aluminium Armenal en hausse de
5,3% de ses activités

La production de la société arméno-russe Armenal a été de 14 221
tonnes au 1er semestre 2014, en hausse de 5,3% par rapport aux six
premiers mois de 2013. Dans le même temps, Armenal a honoré 880
commandes de l’étranger pour un total exporté de 14 605 tonnes de
feuilles d’aluminium, en hausse de 6%. La productivité des salariés a
augmenté de 7% lors du 1er semestre et le salaire moyen de 10% en
passant à 355 000 drams (865 dollars). Armenal étant ainsi en Arménie
l’une des entreprises où les salariés sont parmi les mieux rémunérés.
Armenal contribue également à une part très importante aux recettes
des exportations de l’Arménie.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 6 septembre 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

German website publishes article of NKR Permanent Representative

15:50 | September 5,2014 | Politics

On August 19, the article of Permanent Representative of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic to Germany Harutyun Grigorian was published at the
site of the “European Center for Geopolitical Analysis” in Germany.
The article is entitled “Nagorno Karabakh and the Right of Peoples to
Self-Determination.”

The article, in particular, notes that in response to the peaceful
expression of will by the people of Nagorno Karabakh the Azerbaijani
authorities launched ethnic cleansing and a large-scale war against
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Touching upon the negotiation process, Harutyun Grigorian noted that
for achieving a final solution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and
Karabakh it is necessary to ensure the full participation of the NKR
in all the stages of the negotiation process. The article also
emphasizes the necessity of implementation of confidence-building
measures and guarantee of the irreversibility of the conflict’s
peaceful settlement.

The processes of state building in the NKR and its international
recognition are also touched upon in the article, the NKR Foreign
Ministry reports.

See the full article here

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 5 2014

Calm restored along Azerbaijan, Armenia borders after Sochi Summit

5 September 2014, 12:38 (GMT+05:00)
by Aynur Jafarova

The tensions on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
troops have relieved significantly after summit of Azerbaijani,
Russian and Armenian presidents in Sochi.

This remark was made by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Personal
Representative, Andrzej Kasprzyk on September 4.

The situation on the contact line of troops was very tense in early August.

“Intrusions, casualties and targeting of villages and civilians were
reported. The OSCE chairperson-in-office, the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group and representatives of other countries and international
organizations called on two sides to strictly observe the ceasefire,”
Kasprzyk said in an interview with Trend Agency.

The Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents met at a trilateral meeting on
the Nagorno-Karabakh attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin in
Sochi on August 10.

“After the summit, the situation got stabilized and according to
reports that I have received, it has calmed down significantly. This
is very positive and I hope that it will continue this way,” he
stressed.

Kasprzyk also noted the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia is in
force through an agreement reached between the parties and its
observance depends on the parties’ will.

“Ultimately it is their responsibility to ensure that their troops do
not violate the ceasefire,” he stressed.

Kasprzyk expressed his readiness to assist in any way possible to
build confidence, adding that he works continuously to present ideas
in accordance with his mandate.

“I offer the chance for local commanders to talk directly to each
other using OSCE radios during monitoring exercises, and support any
measures that the parties might consider useful to lower the number of
incidents on the line of contact and the border,” he said.

Kasprzyk also said he pays a lot of attention to protection of
civilian population in areas close to the front lines, visiting the
villages and getting acquainted with their situation.

“I also try to support activities of the commissions on prisoners of
war and missing persons as well as the International Committee of the
Red Cross on the releases of detainees and repatriation of bodies,”
Kasprzyk stressed. “Generally, I try to develop and implement
confidence-building measures that can alleviate the situation and are
conducive to progress in the peace negotiations that are conducted by
the co-chairs.”

Kasprzyk also highly appreciated his meeting with Azerbaijani Defense
Minister Zakir Hasanov, which took place last month.

“Personally, I value very much the opportunity to exchange views with
the defense minister. In line with my mandate, the discussion
concentrated on the situation regarding ceasefire, monitoring and some
humanitarian aspects, such as detainees and return of bodies,” he
noted.

The Armenian armed forces have intensified ceasefire violations on the
contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops since the
beginning of 2014. As a result of ceasefire breaches, several
Azerbaijani soldiers were shot dead.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from
Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More
than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were
displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in
1994, but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN
Security Council resolutions calling for their immediate and
unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no
results so far.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 5 2014

ErdoÄ?an’s first foreign visits

BERÄ°L DEDEOÄ?LU

A president or prime minister’s first international trips are always
significant as they reflect the country’s foreign policy priorities.
Newly elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s visits are no
exception: Right after the swearing-in ceremony, he travelled to the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) and Azerbaijan, and then he
attended the NATO summit in Newport, Wales.

Needless to say, the Cyprus issue is of paramount importance for
Turkey’s EU accession bid. Thus, President ErdoÄ?an mentioned the EU
process there and recalled that this issue will not remain unresolved
forever. That was, in fact, a warning: If nothing changes in Turkey-EU
relations and if the Greek Cypriot government keeps blocking the
unification talks, Turkey will find its own “solution” to the Cyprus
problem. No one should expect unilateral concessions from Turkey,
anyway. Not now, when the Turkish Cypriots have many options at hand,
given the precedents set by Kosovo, Crimea and Scotland.

ErdoÄ?an’s second international trip was to Baku. There is no need to
mention Azerbaijan’s importance for Turkey and the special
relationship between the two nations. Despite the solid friendship,
friction exists over energy transportation issues, but Ankara has
always believed these problems have been provoked due to Russia’s
pressure on Baku.

It is true that the relationship between Ankara and Baku is a very
complex one. Turkey needs to promote the image of being a reliable
energy corridor in order to become more attractive in the eyes of the
EU, and it knows perfectly well it has to do something to fix
relations with Armenia without forgetting Azerbaijan’s priorities. It
is also true that the progress in the energy and Armenia issues
depends largely on the positions of Russia and the Western powers.

ErdoÄ?an had declared that he would mention the Nagorno-Karabakh
question during the NATO summit. This was a way of saying that the
great powers must do their bit in order to find a solution to the
problems within the Ankara-Baku-Yerevan triangle. This is a meaningful
approach, as everybody knows the problems in the Caucasus are mainly
caused because of the rivalries between great powers. All the region’s
players have been taken hostage by at least one great power.

The problem is, of course, Russia’s eventual reaction when NATO starts
to be interested more closely in the problems in the Caucasus. Moscow
could even interpret Turkey’s call for NATO involvement as an implicit
threat: “If you don’t change your position on Ukraine, get ready for
every eventuality in the Caucasus, which you consider your backyard.’
Perhaps Ukraine will not remain the only country with which NATO
discusses membership.

Will Azerbaijan be pleased if it enters NATO’s agenda? Not sure. Baku
probably knows that NATO’s interest will exacerbate Russia’s interest
toward Azerbaijan in response. Baku has been playing a delicate
balancing game, so it would prefer not to be asked to make a clear-cut
choice.

Turkey has no interest in putting Azerbaijan in a difficult position.
Ankara’s aim is definitely not to provoke Moscow to increase pressure
on Azerbaijan. Turkey probably has the energy issue in mind when
talking about Azerbaijan at the NATO platform. The energy
transportation issue is not a bilateral problem between Azerbaijan and
Turkey; it definitely involves EU countries as well. The volatile
situation in Ukraine — another important energy corridor for Europe
— has made Turkey’s role in energy transportation even more
important. If Azerbaijan needs Turkey to get closer to the EU, it will
have to take some risks regarding Russia; if it doesn’t want to, it
will probably make a move about northern Cyprus.

Friendly visits are not free from difficulties. Fortunately, friends
can talk to each other openly, which is essential to prevent
unnecessary crises.

More Pension Law Controversy: Young state-run university professors
tend to quit jobs because of reform

Pensions | 05.09.14 | 11:12

By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

The controversial pension law that was amended in summer to meet the
requirements of constitutionality has again caused protests – this
time among lecturers and tutors of state-run universities.

Under the law, the requirement to make monthly contributions to the
pension funds in the amount of five percent of the salary is now for
only public sector employees and staffs aged under 40.

In September, several dozen young professors submitted applications to
leave their jobs because of the compulsion to make additional
contributions towards the pension funds. Many of them lecture at
universities as their second jobs, while they have their main incomes
elsewhere and because of the position at state-run schools they are
obliged to make payments in both places.

By the logic of the law on funded pensions after citizens join the
system they can no longer withdraw except in certain cases, like
changing citizenship, etc. Hence, they will have to make the
contributions from their salaries until they attain the retirement age
of 63. The lecturers who want to quit their jobs at the Yerevan State
University and other state-run higher educational establishments,
however, are more angered by the fact that their contributions at the
main jobs are often as comparable to the salaries they receive at
state-run universities, which makes teaching there unprofitable for
them.

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, a 30-year-old lecturer at the Yerevan State
University and the American University of Armenia, did not join the
system voluntarily.

“In my opinion, this is robbery in broad daylight. It should be
optional. It is humiliating that you must join it if you work in the
public sector,” the candidate of historical sciences tells ArmeniaNow.

Hovhannisyan says that another professor who combined his jobs at the
National Academy of Sciences and the American University of Armenia
decided to leave his position at the Academy, but was told that he
would still continue to be involved in the system as there is no
withdrawing after joining it.

“That’s why I say that public sector employees are enslaved. And the
rector tells everyone that we are not state employees and that’s why
we don’t have social packages,” he says.

The law that came into effect last January and concerned all employees
born after 1973 caused large-scale protests in the country after which
the Constitutional Court partially granted the claim of the opposition
and obliged the government and the National Assembly to amend the
legislation, including its part concerning the compulsory nature of
the contributions. Eventually, the amendments stipulated that only
public sector workers under 40 are required to make the contributions
in the form of social payments, while others will have an option to
join the new pension system until July 2017 when it becomes compulsory
for all.

It is remarkable that Yerevan State University Rector Aram Simonyan
has expressed concern about the departure of young specialists from
the higher school because of the compulsion to join the pension system
and even appealed to the minister of education and science.

“My impression is that the minister is optimistic about this matter.
And that’s why we have asked some people to be patient until some
solution is given. Some have agreed, others hesitate as to what to
do,” Simonyan told the Tert.am news website, saying that he had
already signed three requests for resignations from the 12 submitted.

Leaders of the YSU Trade Union Organization are also worried by the
prospect of mainly young specialists quitting their jobs at the
university. Recently, they addressed an open letter to Prime Minister
Hovik Abrahamyan. They expressed concern that the withdrawal of young
specialists may “significantly affect the quality of education, the
efficiency of organizing the work and on the continuity of
generations.”

REVUE DE PRESSE
>, une fresque de Fatih Akin sur le génocide arménien

Le cinéaste allemand d’origine turque Fatih Akin est entré en
compétition à la 71e Mostra de Venise avec son nouveau film. The Cut
se trouve parmi les vingt productions qui briguent le Lion d’or et
c’est l’un des films les plus attendus du festival. Huit ans, c’est le
temps qu’il a fallu à Fatih Akin pour faire aboutir son projet sur le
génocide arménien. Un sujet tabou en Turquie, pour lequel le cinéaste
a dû affronter de multiples obstacles, entre autres l’impossibilité de
trouver un acteur turc pour jouer le personnage principal du film.

C’est donc le Français Tahar Rahim qui incarne Nazareth, un jeune
maréchal ferrant, laissé pour mort par l’armée turque en 1915.
Lorsqu’il rentre chez lui, il découvre que sa famille a été massacrée,
à l’exception de ses deux filles.

LA SUITE…

?&_suid=140975670633108949033953491184

vendredi 5 septembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 3 2014

Nagorno-Karabakh included in NATO summit agenda

3 September 2014
By Seymur Aliyev – Trend:

The issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is to be included in the agenda of the
upcoming NATO summit that is to be held in Wales September 4-5. This
was reported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who made the
statement after a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham
Aliyev, in Baku Sept. 3.

During the upcoming NATO summit Turkey plans to recall the importance
of fulfilling NATO promises given to Azerbaijan.

“This is the right of Azerbaijan and the promises given to the country
must be fulfilled,” he said. “Turkey is ready to show determination
here.”

President Erdogan added that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is a priority for Turkey and testifies to the level of
bilateral relations between the two countries.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 3 2014

U.S. Dept. of State comments on California Senate’s resolution on
Nagorno-Karabakh

3 September 2014
By Sabina Ahmadova – Trend:

The U.S. Department of State considers a resolution on
Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by the California State Senate as a personal
affair of the State, according to the website of the U.S. Department
of State.

“I am not going to have any comment on a resolution on
Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by the California State Senate,” U.S
Department of State representative Jen Psaki said. “It is a state
issue.”

California Senate passed a resolution, which is of an anti-Azerbaijani
nature, Aug. 27.
“The anti-Azerbaijani resolution AJR 32 on Nagorno-Karabakh has been
on the agenda of the California State Senate for some time,” the
Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles said.

“From the very beginning, a number of serious measures were undertaken
by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles to counter the
resolution. These measures included, inter alia, sending letters of
protest to all senators, holding numerous meetings with them, thus
explaining the bias and flaw of the AJR 32, its contradiction to
America’s stated foreign policy and national interests, as well as the
fact that this racist resolution justified ethnic cleansing and
illegal occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia,” he added.
In spite of all the pressure by this ethnic lobby on senators using
threats, blackmail and other means, 17 out of 40 senators refused to
vote for the resolution Aug. 27, according to the statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.