Author: Babajanian Karo

CULTURE
BBC évoque l’engouement des Arméniens pour Wikipedia avec 390 000
articles en arménien contre 102 000 en azéri et 84 000 en géorgien

Un article paru le site BBC évoque l’engouement des Arméniens pour
l’encyclopédie en ligne Wikipedia. Se référant à la chaine de
télévision arménienne >, BBC écrit un article titré > qui invite tous les Arméniens à écrire comme un
devoir national des articles en arménien sur le site de Wikipedia en
augmentant tant la quantité que la qualité des articles en arménien
placés sur Wikipedia. Selon BBC par le nombre articles, Wikipedia en
arménien est largement devant l’azéri et le géorgien avec plus de 390
000 articles, tandis que Wikipedia ne compte que 102 000 articles en
azéri et 84 000 en géorgien. Placé sur Youtube, l’invitation de la
chaine de télévision > demande aux Arméniens de la planète
d’écrire et de placer des articles en arménien sur Wikipedia. De
nombreuses personnalités s’expriment pour cette invitation. Des
acteurs, musiciens, artistes, chanteurs, ainsi que des personnalités
politiques telles qu’Armen Ashotyan ou Seyran Ohanian le ministre
arménien de la Défense. Car la défense de la culture arménienne, de
l’alphabet arménien à travers internet est également l’un des défis de
l’Arménie…Aidons à notre tour cette action en plaçant des articles
sur Wikipedia.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 3 août 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

HAUT KARABAGH
Une nouvelle tentative d’incursion azérie qui s’est soldée par la mort
d’un soldat Azéri près d’Askéran (Haut Karabagh)

Hier 2 août vers 23 heures, une nouvelle tentative d’incursion de
soldats Azéris fut observée près d’Askéran sur le front est du Haut
Karabagh. Les forces arméniennes ont très vite détecté cette opération
de > et repoussé l’ennemi. Les Azéris se sont rapidement
repliés en laissant un soldat mort. Du côté arménien, aucune victime
n’est à signaler. Ces faits prouvent une nouvelle fois la parfaite
capacité et l’organisation de l’armée arménienne qui contrôle la
situation d’une main de maître en répliquant lorsqu’il est nécessaire.
L’Azerbaïdjan n’a toutefois, semble-t-il tiré aucune leçon de ses
échecs successifs de la perte de plus de 25 soldats en moins d’une
semaine sur ce front du Haut Karabagh.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 3 août 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

APA, Azerbaijan
Aug 2 2014

Moscow comments on tension on frontline

[ 02 August 2014 18:48 ]

Russian Foreign Ministry: “Mounting tension on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict zone is inadmissible”

Baku – APA. The Russian Foreign Ministry assesses the latest
happenings on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone as violation of the
ceasefire agreement.

The statement came from Maria Zakharova, Deputy Director of the
Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, APA reports.

“Mounting tension in the region is inadmissible. We call on the sides
to stop using force and take an action to stabilize the situation”,
she stressed.

Reuters
Aug 2 2014

Russia voices concern over violence in Nagorno-Karabakh

MOSCOW Sat Aug 2, 2014 8:20pm IST

(Reuters) – Russia expressed concern on Saturday over a flare-up of
violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway enclave of Azerbaijan with a
majority Armenian population, and said any escalation would be
unacceptable.

At least 10 people were killed in skirmishes this week between Azeri
government forces and ethnic Armenians controlling Nagorno-Karabakh,
officials from the two sides said on Friday.

“We see the events of recent days as a serious violation of agreements
on a ceasefire and declared intentions to achieve a regulation (of the
conflict) through political means,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said
in a statement.

“We take the position that any further escalation is unacceptable,” it said.

Fighting between ethnic Azeris and Armenians erupted in 1991 and a
ceasefire was called in 1994. But Azerbaijan and Armenia have
regularly traded accusations of further violence around
Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Azeri-Armenian border.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 2 2014

US calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to observe ceasefire

2 August 2014 – 12:34pm

The United States is calling on Azerbaijan and Armenia to observe the
ceasefire and expressing concern about the increasing tensions on the
front, RIA Novosti reports.

“We are expressing our condolences to the families of those, who
perished during the recent skirmishes. We are also calling for
observation of the ceasefire and immediate measures to decrese
tensions,” deputy press secretary of the US Department of State Mary
Harf says.

Itar-Tass, Russia
Aug 2 2014

Moscow concerned about deteriorating situation in Karabakh region

MOSCOW, August 02 /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow on Saturday voiced concern about
the latest flare-ups in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area and urged
the parties involved to refrain from using force and take steps
towards stabilising the situation in the region.

“We express serious concern about the dramatic deterioration of the
situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area, which has resulted in
considerable casualties,” Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesperson Maria
Zakharova said.

“We regard the latest events as a serious violation of the ceasefire
and the declared intentions to achieve a political settlement,” she
said, adding that further escalation would be unacceptable.

Four Azerbaijani army servicemen were killed in overnight clashes, the
Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said, adding that Armenians had also
sustained casualties but did not elaborate.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Vagif Dargyakhly denied media reports
alleging that the Azerbaijani army was using guided missile systems
against Armenian troops.

“Units of the country’s Armed Forces are taking adequate measures in
response to ceasefire violations by the Armenian side. But they are
using only large caliber firearms,” he said.

He confirmed that 12 Azerbaijani troops had been killed in the
conflict area over the past four days and several had been wounded,
but did not specify.

The spokesperson said the current situation in the region was relatively calm.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in July that his country was
using political and economic factors to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict peacefully.

He stressed that Azerbaijan could solve the problem by force, but “we
think the potential of negotiations has not been used up yet”.

“Using political, economic and military pressure we will try to get
the issue solved peacefully. Our economic, political and military
potential is quite strong and this factor will play a positive role at
the talks,” the president said, adding that the conflict could not
remain frozen.

Aliyev regretted the absence of progress in the resolution of the
conflict despite the international mediators’ efforts. “We are of the
opinion that the mediators dealing with this [Karabakh] issue are more
interested in keeping the situation in its present state. Their main
interest is in preserving stability and preventing a war in the
region. We also want peace. But at the same time we want to see truth
and justice restored and international law triumphing,” he said.

The president also believes that the conflict should be settled
“cardinally”. “Half-solutions can only be an interim step. We should
not forget the main goal. The people of Azerbaijan should return to
the occupied territories,” he said.

He stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians could get a high status
of autonomy within Azerbaijan. “We proposed this and this approach is
based on the most positive experience the world and Europe have,” he
added.

The Armenian president’s spokesperson Arman Sagatelyan said on
Saturday that the conflict could not be resolved by force.

“Armenia is convinced that there can be no military solution to the
Karabakh conflict,” he said. “The truce agreement signed in 1994
clearly states the parties’ legal obligations that must be respected.
The Nagorno-Karabakh problem can only be resolved through peace
negotiation,” Sagatelyan said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began on February 22, 1988. On November
29, 1989 direct rule in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended and Azerbaijan
regained control of the region. However later a joint session of the
Armenian parliament and the top legislative body of Nagorno-Karabakh
proclaimed the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

On December 10, 1991, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum,
boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an
independent state.

The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and
Azerbaijan obtained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By the
end of 1993, the conflict had caused thousands of casualties and
created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides. An unofficial
ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.

As of August, 2008, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group were
attempting to negotiate a full settlement of the conflict. On August
2, 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan travelled to Moscow for talks with Dmitry Medvedev, who
was Russian president at the time. As a result, the three presidents
signed an agreement that calls for talks on a political settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Eynulla Fatullayev is shamed in Azerbaijan for spreading
disinformation about Armenian side losses

15:30 02/08/2014 >> REGION

Former Chairman of “Ireli” youth movement Rauf Mardiev has accused
Azerbaijani journalist, head of Haqqin.az website Eynulla Fatullayev
of spreading disinformation on behalf of the Armenians regarding the
latest incident on the line of contact between NKR and Azerbaijan.

As reported by Azadliq website, Mardiev has written on his Facebook
page that the disinformation about “15 killed Armenian soldiers”
posted by a fake profile was spread yesterday by Eynulla Fatullaev.

“This man is fooling the people or is playing with their feelings
collecting Likes and increasing the number of followers of his
website,” writes Mardiev and notes that any user of social network
Twitter, even a beginner, will easily find that the account spreading
disinformation about the losses of the Armenian side is fake and was
created right before the post was made.

“We all want retaliation but let us not engage in self-deception,
thinking that ’51 Armenians’ have been killed. This is
disinformation,” writes the former head of “Ireli”.

At the same time Eynulla Fatullayev’s website Haqqin.az continues
unsuccessful attempts to legalize the disinformation about the losses
of the Armenian side, attributing the non-existent statement to the
Ministry of Defense.

Thus according to Haqqin.az the announcement spread by the Ministry of
Defence of the Republic of Armenia regarding the tense situation of
the recent days on the line of contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijan
says that “Armeniani side is having more losses.” From this the
Azerbaijani side makes the following conclusion – “the information
spread yesterday by a number of Armenian bloggers about a great number
of losses in the Armenian army is confirmed by today’s announcement
made by the Armenian military office.”

First, as it was operatively proven by the Armenian side, no Armenian
blogger wrote anything of that sort. This was written by an
Azerbaijani fake Twitter account. Second, the announcement of the
Ministry of Defense of Armenia is accessible to the readers who can
easily find that it contains no such phrase as “Armenian side is
having more losses.”

Public beaches in Sevan fall short of meeting tourists’ demands – opinions

18:18 * 30.07.14

The presence of public beaches in Sevan does not help avoid
privately-owned areas where the services’ quality is rather low
despite the considerable sums charged.

With very many tourists spending their summer rest in Sevan, the
public beaches are very few in number to meet everybody’s demands.
Most tourists are thus forced to go to the private beaches where the
prices range from 1,000 to 20,000 Drams (approx $2-$50) depending on
the kind of service preferred. But the private areas are not often
very clean, with gulls seeking food in waste dumps often striking
visitors’ eyes.

Speaking to Tert.am, environmentalist Silva Adamyan attributed the
problem to poor management. She brought the example of Philippines
where she said the private beaches stand out with cleanness, quality
services, and affordable prices. “Go to the Philippines, not a rapidly
developing country, to see how they maintain the beaches there. You
will never see anything reminding you of waste, dirt and other things
of the kind. If they charge money, they do it for a good service. And
the sum is not so big as it is here,” she noted.

The environmentalist said she thinks that the society itself is to
blame for choosing a dirty beach for money.

The mayor of Sevan, Rudik Ghukasyan, agrees that the situation in
their paid beaches is not very favorable for developing tourism, but
says they are taking measures to improve the conditions until next
year.

“We need a special program to develop tourism and to improve the
situation, but that program requires a financial component. Whenever
we hear that a tourism development program has been drawn up, such
statements are very often declarative in character. And they aren’t
enough for developing tourism. I have submitted proposals to the
Government, suggesting a plan and a normal improvement program with a
proper funding; otherwise the services’ quality will turn from bad to
worse by every year,” he added.

Asked whether they know the private owners or have any idea of whether
they charge money legally, Ghukasyan replied, “We have to state with
regret that the money which a rentee pays for a privatized area is for
the whole year but he or she uses it for just 45 days. They use the
period to exploit the area to be able to cover the expenses in a way.”

Ghukasyan said both the municipal authorities and the owners giving
their areas for rent know who they hand over the beaches to. “There
have been so many omissions over the past period that it isn’t so easy
to put everything in legal frameworks. I am hopeful we will have the
project proposal approved by the end of this year to make it our
guideline,” he noted.

As for the sums charged, the mayor claimed that they are absolutely
legal. But he did not mention a specific amount required for renting a
territory. “The prices vary from place to place, so I cannot say it
now,” he added.

Aravot: Citizens’ support of Putin may grow

Friday, August 01, 2014

The United States, Canada, Australia and Japan announced their
decisions to expand sanctions against Russia. ‘Aravot’ paper’s editor
Aram Abrahamyan writes that if Russia withstands these conditions and
citizens’ lives don’t get worse considerably, the West will see the
opposite effect and Russian citizens’ support of Putin will grow based
on the formula “despite being beaten, we are becoming stronger”.

“Will sanctions serve their purpose if serious damage is done to the
Russian economy? Why should the worsening of the economic situation
force Putin to stop funding rebels fighting in Ukraine’s east? If the
main goal consists in this, then the authors of the economic sanctions
should realize they engage in hopeless activities. The EU visa ban for
Russian officials and figures is not a serious step.

Russia cherished imperial illusions even in more difficult conditions
and it is not going to abandon them now. It is another matter that the
war and sanctions will last ten years and the West will find ways to
push down oil prices,” Aram Abrahamyan wrote.

31.07.2014, 10:29
Aysor.am

Hamalir representative: This is the continuation of Tigran Sargsyan’s
offshore (video)

20:22 | July 31,2014 | Interview

Where are the 25 million dollars drawn from the budget for the Karen
Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex – Hamalir – which have not
reached the addressee?

“Where is the money? Show me! Twenty-five million dollars disappeared
from the budget, and no one seems to be interested in it,” Koryun
Grigoryan, Spokesman for the Karen Demirchyan Complex, told A1+.

“The money disappeared during the term of office of Prime Minister
Tigran Sargysan and is the continuation of the offshore,” he
continued.

“One of the friends of Mihran Poghosyan, Chief of the Judicial Acts
Compulsory Enforcement Service (JACES), says Complex is not a
historical and cultural monument, while the other comes and expels
employees from the building,” said Koryun Grigoryan.

The military police are guarding the Complex throughout the day. On
August 1, employees of the Karen Demirchyan Complex are starting a
series of protests.