Author: Babajanian Karo

LE SOLDAT ROOSEVELT TOROSSIAN DECORE DE LA MEDAILLE > PAR LE MINISTRE DE LA DEFENSE

ARMENIE

Hier le ministre armenien de la Defense, Seyran Ohanian a decore de la
medaille > un soldat armenien, Roosevelt Torossian
pour son acte de courage face a l’ennemi. Fin mai dernier, ce jeune
soldat avait reussi a prevenir une incursion azerie sur un poste
frontalier qu’il gardait et lancer l’alerte pour une contre-attaque.

Les Armeniens avaient alors reussi a repousser l’ennemi grâce a cet
acte de courage de Roosevelt Torossian qui a ete blesse lors de
l’operation de la defense des frontières. Après une intervention
chirurgicale a l’oeil dans un hôpital en Armenie, il devra
neanmoins suivre un complement de reeducation dans un etablissement
a l’etranger. Le ministre armenien de la Defense a assure la famille
du jeune soldat que son ministère financerait l’ensemble des frais
d’hospitalisation a l’etranger afin que Roosevelt Torossian retrouve
la vue.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 19 juillet 2014, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

LE MINISTERE DE LA DEFENSE POURRAIT AUTORISER LA POPULATION DE KARVADJAR A PORTER DES ARMES

HAUT KARABAGH

Le commandement militaire de l’Artsakh (Haut Karabagh) etudie
actuellement la possibilite d’autoriser le port d’arme pour la
population de Karvadjar qui a ete la cible la semaine dernière de
l’infiltration d’un commando azeri qui fit deux morts parmi les
Armeniens. Le ministre armenien de la Defense, Seyran Ohanian, dans
une declaration a affirme que >. Precisons que la region de Karvadjar, très boisee et
montagneuse avec le mont Mrav le plus haut sommet du Haut Karabagh
est très peu peuplee. Environ 2 500 personnes y habiteraient. Les
autorites du Haut Karabagh, qui partaient du principe que ce mont Mrav
etait une frontière naturelle quasi infranchissable avaient allege a
l’extreme la presence de leurs soldats a cette frontière. Les Azeris
en ont profite pour y envoyer un commando qui s’est infiltre et a
commis des crimes avant d’etre neutralise par les forces armeniennes.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 19 juillet 2014, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

HAYOTS ASHKARH: RUSSIA SANCTIONS AND ARMENIA

09:43 * 19.07.14

Below is an excerpt from the paper’s editorial

The new restrictions on Russian companies are likely to have both a
direct and indirect impact on Armenia.

Thus, Gasbrombank is represented in Armenia through its affiliate,
Areximbank-Gasprom Group. The bank, which is a 100 percent owner
of Areximbank-Gasprom Group, is first of all engaged in serving the
cash flow of Russian companies operating in Armenia. Among the bank’s
clients are Gazprom Armenia, the Electric Networks of Armenia, the
International Energy Corporation, VivaCell-MTS and many other companies
attracting the Russian capital. Areximbank-Gazprrom is, of course,
vested with the functions carried out by the other banks in Armenia.

The enforcement of restrictions against Gazprombank will naturally
negatively impact its daughter company in Armenia. That may be
reflected through both the scarcity of financial means and a delay
in investment projects.

But the sanctions against Rosneft (a major Russian oil company – Ed)
are expected to have a far more negative impact. Though the company
can be said to be only formally represented in Armenia, there are,
nonetheless, serious investment expectations. That first of all
concerns the new plant being built on the basis of [the rubber plant]
Nairit which is expected to attract $500 million worth investments.

Armenian News – Tert.am

DINK’S MURDER “NOT PROBED EFFICIENTLY’: TURKEY’S TOP COURT

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
July 17 2014

ANKARA

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was not efficiently probed
and the rights of his family were therefore violated.

The unanimous verdict came after an individual application to the
Court from Hrant Dink’s family, Anadolu Agency reported. The family had
applied to the court on the grounds that they had not been adequately
informed about the investigation and that the probe was neglected.

The ruling came just days after an Istanbul court opened the path
for the investigation of key officials regarding Dink’s murder on
accusations of either intent or negligence. The Istanbul court lifted a
previous decision that ruled there was no need for sanctions against
the former deputy governor of Istanbul, Ergun Gungör, Istanbul
Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Istanbul Police Department
Intelligence Head Ahmet Ä°lhan Guler and six police officers regarding
the 2007 assassination.

The local court recommended an investigation into nine officials
following a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision. A lawyer
for the Dink family, Hasan Bakırcıoglu, confirmed that it was now
legally possible for a probe against Gungör, Cerrah, Guler and the
six police officers.

Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was
murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper’s building on
Jan. 19, 2007, by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. The triggerman,
Ogun Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to
22 years and 10 months of prison after a two year-trial, but lawyers
representing the Dink family have repeatedly expressed their dismay
over the way the investigations and the trial were conducted.

His assassination sent shockwaves through Turkey and grew into a
wider scandal after it emerged that the security forces knew of a
plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.

Backing up widespread accusations of a state conspiracy, another key
figure in the trial, Erhan Tuncel, claimed in December 2013 that he had
informed the police of the plan, but that his warnings went unheeded.

There have been suggestions that the killing was a result of “deep
state” work, but the court said there was no organization behind the
murder. According to reports, Dink was called to a police department
and “warned” about the plot against him, fueling belief that the
murder was known by some institutions within the state beforehand.

Top court’s decision came as an Istanbul court has once again postponed
the hearing of the case, despite Dink’s lawyer’s calling for an urgent
and just verdict.

The hearing was postponed from July 17 to Oct. 30 on the absence of
Ahmet Ä°skender, one of the main suspects in the case, and the other
18 suspects who did not appear at hearing.

July/17/2014

DETAINED BUSINESSMAN AYRAPETYAN’S LIFE IN DANGER

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
July 18 2014

18 July 2014 – 2:15pm

The lawyer of Levon Ayrapetyan, one of the richest Armenians in the
world, said that the businessman had gone through cerebral hemorrhage
and needed insulin due to diabetes, ArmenPress reports.

The Basmanny Court refused to release Ayrapetyan on bail of 30 million
yesterday. Lawyers say he is in bad health condition. Judges believe
that the businessman may threaten witnesses, should he be let free.

Ayrapetyan was detained at the Domodedovo Airpor of Moscow on July 15.

He is suspected in machinations when selling Bashneft in 2008.

A CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE TRIBUNAL AND LEMKIN’S LEGACY

The Diplomat
July 18 2014

A now obscure author finds relevance and rebirth at the trial of two
former Khmer Rouge leaders.

By Luke Hunt

It was a word that gave meaning to the greatest crimes of the 20th
century. Spawned from the massacre of the Armenians during World War
I and the final days of the Ottoman Empire, the term genocide was set
in stone following the Holocaust and has since become synonymous with
Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia and Cambodia.

But the man who coined the phrase, Raphael Lemkin, had been largely
forgotten by history until recently, when A Problem from Hell:
America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power was published,
and sparked an academic push to raise Lemkin’s stature and find a
more fitting place for his work within the public conscience.

He has been described by some as a slightly obnoxious crusader,
obsessive and annoying, but Peter Maguire, an academic, authority on
the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and author of Law & War said Lemkin’s work
was useful for planning the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals after
World War II.

“Not content to simply try individuals for recognized violations of
the laws of war, the architects of the Nuremberg trials proposed trying
Nazi organizations for conspiring to commit aggressive war and borrowed
Raphael Lemkin’s argument from his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.”

“Lemkin held that the SS, Gestapo, and other Nazi organizations were
an international version of La Cosa Nostra – a criminal organization
of volunteer gangsters,” Maguire added. “The concept of conspiracy
would also close legal loopholes that might allow guilty men to
escape punishment.”

Lemkin was Polish, born into a poor Jewish family in 1900, and coined
the phrase genocide by combining the Greek word “genos,” which means
race or tribe, with the Latin word “cide,” meaning to kill – in 1944
after escaping Axis rule in occupied Europe.

His work is also about to find additional stature in Cambodia, where
surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge – Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan
– are about to go on trial for genocide. And a separate verdict is
expected on August 7, in their case of crimes against humanity.

Youk Chhang, Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia has
spent almost two decades collating evidence of atrocities committed
by the Khmer Rouge for a trial of surviving leaders currently underway
in Phnom Penh.

He said one of the principal struggles the world faces in preventing
genocide has remained unchanged for the last 60 years.

“Discrimination, racism, bullying and the entire spectrum of inhumanity
that leads up to the legitimization of violence on fellow human beings
is dealt with at the individual and community level, and there is no
more efficient medium for dealing with these preconditions of genocide
than the medium of genocide education.”

Pol Pot ruled Cambodia with a brutal and methodical hand between
1975 and 1979 when up to 2.2 million people were exterminated or died
through starvation and illness while working as slave labour. Muslim
Chams and ethnic Vietnamese were among those targeted.

“For genocide prevention to be truly sustainable,” Youk Chhang said,
“it must not only be universally acknowledged at the international
level but also cultivated at the grassroots. Education must be the
next step forward in our collective work to realize a world without
genocide.

“Lemkin reminds the world, and in particular Cambodia, that genocide
will continue to happen because it is a political act and that we
need not only to punish those who commit genocide, but also prevent
it from happening again and again.”

Lemkin’s fascination with genocide dated back to the mass killings
of the Armenians by the Turks, and this was reinforced by the
extermination of the Jews in his native Poland. He pushed the
U.N. to outlaw what became known as the “crime of all crimes,” and
was subsequently shortlisted twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He lectured at Rutgers and Yale but fell into obscurity and died in
New York; destitute, unknown and until recently, largely forgotten.

In April during Genocide Appreciation Month, scholars were actively
promoting Lemkin with the publication of an autobiography, graduate
research at Rutgers, a Sundance award-winning documentary on his
legacy, and a UN award in his name.

BOARD REVOKES APPROVAL OF CHARTER SCHOOL

Burbank Leader, CA
July 18 2014

Failure of petitioners to secure a site for Giligia Charter Academy
was cited as a reason for decision.

By Alene Tchekmedyian, [email protected] July 18, 2014 |
4:24 p.m.

The Burbank Unified school board on Thursday revoked its approval of
Giligia Charter Academy, citing the failure of petitioners to secure
a school site by the deadline or provide a thorough updated budget,
as well as what some school board members considered a lack of a need
for such a facility in Burbank.

Board members — who initially approved the school last month on
certain conditions, including that petitioners would submit the
school’s address and lease information by July 7 — revoked their
decision in a 4-0 vote. School board member Charlene Tabet was absent.

“You need to come back with a proposal that shows us that you can
pull off what you’re trying to do,” said school board member Larry
Applebaum.

Petitioners said Thursday they had a five-year lease in hand for
property at 811 S. San Fernando Blvd., a contract that was contingent
on the board’s approval of the project.

Petitioner Julia Yeranossian said after the meeting that she was
shocked by the vote, but added that she’ll continue to pursue opening
the school because she feels there’s a need for it in the community.

The idea was to bridge the cultural gap for recent immigrants, though
the school would be open to all students. Lessons would be taught in
English, but the school would also offer foreign-language classes in
Armenian and Spanish, according to the petition.

At the meeting, board member Dave Kemp said he didn’t think there was
a need for a new charter school in Burbank given that existing public
schools are not underperforming or failing to meet student needs.

“If you see that there’s a need for some change in our schools, I
think it would be worthwhile for all of us to get together and try
to understand what those needs are and how we can best address those
needs within the public schools, rather than separating out students
to go to another school,” Kemp said.

More than a dozen community members addressed the board Thursday about
the proposal, some in favor of the new school, while others worried
about losing diversity in existing Burbank schools by separating
students with different backgrounds.

For parent Suzanne Weerts, diversity is among the qualities she values
most about Burbank public schools.

“The lives of my children have been enriched, as have my husband and
my lives, because of the variety of cultures,” she said. “I really
do fear that the segregation created by the opening of a potential
charter school would rob future generations of Burbank students of
this culture richness.”

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FARFETCHED PROPOSAL

Friday, July 18th, 2014

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

We, Armenians, should be developing better, broader, and deeper
relations with the Kurds (especially of Turkey).

The Kurds should be reaching out to us in more ways than Genocide
related matters.

Turkey claims to want “normalized” relations with the Republic of
Armenia (RoA).

Turkey is cynically supporting the Kurds of Iraq while “negotiating”
with the Kurds that are its citizens and simultaneously fighting the
Kurds of Syria (through intermediaries– the Islamic extremists it
is arming, backing, and providing a base of operations for).

Iran is confronted with the reality of a de facto Kurdish state on
its borders and is likely concerned about the potential restiveness
of its own Kurdish citizens.

The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government, of northern Iraq, that is,
not the fledgling one in Syria) is now sitting on far more oil (and
I’d bet methane [natural gas] too) than it knows what to do with,
especially after taking control of Kirkuk when the Islamist extremists
took over a portion of Iraq. A recent oil sale by the KRG made the
news by being transshipped across Turkey, then wandering around the
sea in a tanker until Israel bought it.

The RoA needs to diversify its energy sources while it transitions to
renewables (solar, wind, geothermal, small hydropower, etc). Think
about it. Fuel comes through Georgia from Russia to the north
and directly from Iran to the south. The northerly source has been
disrupted previously. The southerly source could be disrupted by well
placed pup-Turk (Azeri) shelling.

Put all this together and what do you get? An oil and/or methane
pipeline from the KRG to the RoA. Take a look at the accompanying
table. It would be the shortest of the pipelines listed. The numbers
show the distances between the beginning and ending points (cities)
of exiting or historical pipelines (The Baku-Batum pipeline was first
completed in 1906 and is no longer in use.) It also shows the length
of the pipeline between those two points.

Fig. 1

The “jiggle factor” is a measure of the zig-zaginess of the pipeline
to avoid various obstacles (mountains, lakes, bad ground conditions,
human settlements, etc.). Because a pipeline from Kirkuk to Yerevan
would run north-south and therefore CROSS mountain ranges (the other
pipelines tend to run East-West, parallel to the ranges, and are thus
easier to route), I’ve guesstimated a higher jiggle factor than any of
the other pipelines in the area have. This is to show how eminently
doable such a project is. I have also included the distances between
major cities that would be familiar to Diasporan readers to give a
sense of the scale such a project would entail.

So everyone wins, the Kurds/Armenians as sellers/buyers, as would be
either Iran or Turkey being a transit country that makes money and
works as a good neighbor with KRG/RoA, gaining diplomatic/political
advantage.

Of course, the idea of enabling more hydro-carbon (oil, gas, coal)
burning is extremely odious. We have climate change issues that are
threatening all of humanity. But, when a nation-state is sandwiched
between two others that are inclined to annihilate it, its government
must look at all options. Who knows, it might even motivate the
environmental community to help solve the Armenian Question and bring
Turkey and Azerbaijan into the world of civilized nation-states.

Tell me what you think. This idea is really “out there” and improbable,
right? Heck, people want to make money, which drives all kinds of
otherwise improbable activity.

ALAVERDYAN: MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS NOT TO PRODUCE RESULTS

Saturday,July 19

The meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Paris will not
produce results. First Ombudsperson of Armenia, chairwoman of Against
Legal Arbitrariness NGO Ms. Larisa Alaverdyan expressed this opinion
during a talk with the correspondent of Aysor.am, when speaking about
the planned summit of Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev.

“On the whole, such meetings are productive when there are some
relations between the countries, but in case of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
relations are still absent,” she said, adding that such meetings have
taken place repeatedly, but they did not result in anything. “These
meetings do not contribute to regional security. The sides usually
discuss the Madrid Principles, which do not give any results for the
negotiating process,” L. Alaverdyan noted, stressing that in reality
the meetings only complicate the talks.

As for Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement in Uruguay about
the sale of arms by Russia to Azerbaijan, Larisa Alaverdyan said that
not only the people, but also authorities of Armenia are concerned
over the fact that the strategic partner sells arms to Azerbaijan.

“It is a security issue that should be voiced. I connect it mainly
with the statement of French Ambassador to Armenia Henri Reynaud to
the effect that France may not sell arms and ammunition to Azerbaijan
because it is a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and must observe the
provisions specified by the Charters of the UN and the ISCE,” she said.

As regards Russia, Larisa Alaverdyan said the fact that Russia is a
mediator state of the OSCE Minsk Group as well as Armenia’s strategic
partner has not been an obstacle for it and Russia continues to
sell arms to Azerbaijan, which means it maintains neutrality in the
negotiating process.

The first ombudsperson expressed an opinion that Russia should act
in a civilized way and admit that it is a country participating in
the negotiations over the Karabakh conflict settlement. “Russia not
only violates the provisions of the negotiating process, but also does
not behave as a strategic partner,” L. Alaverdyan said in conclusion.

SENSATIONAL STATEMENTS BY IRANIAN AMBASSADOR

Lragir.am
Politics – 18 July 2014, 16:35

There is little probability of resumption of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
war, said the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Reisi. He
commented on the recent Azerbaijani attack on Karvachar, NKR, noting
that Iran is against any violence and extremism. According to the
ambassador, they believe that any disagreement must be resolved
through peace talks and dialogue.

“Since there are international principles, violence should have
no meaning, the international principles must be respected. If one
can negotiate, why would one reach their guns? Iran does not wish
instability in Iran,” he underlined.

Mohammad Reisi reiterated the readiness of Iran to facilitate the
settlement of the Karabakh issue if the conflict parties wish.

The ambassador commented on the sale of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan,
noting that arms can never be a factor of security.

“Can you show a country which has ensured its security through piling
of weapons or mass security weapons? All such countries have a low
level of security and massacres of innocent people and destruction
cannot provide a country’s security,” he said.

“Everyone is up for their business, they want to sell the weapons
piled in their plants. However, these weapons will not bring security,
if they shoot, the countries that sell weapons will have a problem,”
he said.

In answer to the question of Azerbaijan’s behavior and lack of an
adequate reaction of the international community the ambassador said
Iran constantly calls its neighbors to respect one another because
it is the way to dialogue. “If the international community observes
justice, there will not be additional problems,” he said.

In answer to the question on deployment of peacekeeping forces in
Armenia the Iranian ambassador said they are against deployment of
any foreign forces in the region. “It will threaten the entire region,
we have witnessed this in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

The ambassador dwelled on recent developments in Nakhidjevan and
minister of defense Seiran Ohanyan’s statement that there may be
Turkish forces in that part.

“We believe that there will be no developments on the border
of Armenia-Nakhidjevan-Iran. I am not sure about the existence of
Turkish troops in Nakhidjevan. This is the first time I heard about
it, he said.

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