Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS MEET KESSAB ARMENIANS IN LATAKIA

Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

Member of the Armenian National Assembly Samvel Farmanyan speaks
to a journalist in the courtyard of an Armenian church in Latakia,
where scores of Armenian avacuees are being sheltered

LATAKIA (ArmRadio)–Many of Kessab’s Armenians have found refuge at St.

Astvatsatsin Church in Latakia and the nearby school, Member of the
Armenian National Assembly Samvel Farmanyan told Tert.am. Farmanyan
left for Syria on March 24 with a group of lawmakers.

On Wednesday the Armenian members of parliament met with Kessab
Armenians. “I should say the impression was shocking. The situation
is like the one we have read about in textbooks and literature about
the Armenian Genocide, in the memories of Genocide survivors,” Samvel
Farmanyan said.

The Governor, the Mayor and other high-ranking officials in Latakia
have assured the Armenian delegation that the Syrian government is
taking all possible measures to ensure the return of Kessab Armenians
to their native lands.

Farmanyan said Kessab Armenians were encouraged by the visit of the
parliamentary delegation. “We conveyed a very important message to
them: this is a problem of the whole Armenian nation, not an individual
sector of it,” he added.

“These are tragic events, which cannot but bring forth obvious
parallels with the events of 100 years ago – the Armenian Genocide,”
the lawmaker said.

Upon their return to Armenia, the members of parliament will present
their proposals to the National Assembly and the government, after
which the future steps will be determined and the details of possible
aid will be worked out.

Meanwhile in Yerevan, representatives of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation of Syria Nerses Sardisian and Karo Yuzbashian met with
journalists to speak about the Kessab events and the future of Syrian
Armenians. They have hope that Armenians will again return to Kessab.

The Syrian Armenians stressed that Turks opened the border and helped
the terrorists enter Armenian-populated Kessab. They are urging the
international community to condemn Turkey’s actions.

“The Turkish factor in Kessab was apparent both in their political
support and their contribution to the incursion of armed units into
Syria. The Armenian authorities can use this fact to reveal the
real face of Turkey ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide,” Karo Yuzbashian said.

Nerses Sargisian said several Armenian families did not manage to
leave the city, and their fate is unknown. Most of those who managed to
escape have found refuge in Latakia and must now wait with uncertainty.

Will this lead to another inflow of Syrian Armenians to Armenia? Karo
Yuzbashian said the first direction of every Syrian Armenia leaving
the country is Armenia or Artsakh. The farmers settle in Arsakh,
while craftsmen prefer Armenia.

The Syrian Armenians stressed it’s important for international
structures to condemn the role of Turkey in the recent events like
the Armenian National Committees in Europe and in the US have done.

DRUNK IN TEHRAN: THE ISLAMIC STATE’S SECRET PARTY SCENE

Alcohol is banned in Iran, but that doesn’t stop the wealthy partaking

PARISA HAFEZI

Wednesday 26 March 2014

His girlfriend, Shima, said they party every weekend. “Shahriyar has
one rule: bring your booze! We drink until morning,” she said on a
FaceTime call, as lights flashed to rap music in the background.

Despite the ban on alcohol and frequent police raids, drinking in Iran
is widespread, especially among the wealthy. Because the Shia-dominated
Muslim state has no nightclubs, it all takes place at home, behind
closed doors.

Some of the alcohol is smuggled in, but many resourceful Iranians
make their own.

“My friends and I routinely gather to stamp down on grapes in my
bathtub,” said Hesam, a 28-year-old music teacher in Tehran, asking
to be identified only by his first name. “It’s fun, a cleansing
ritual almost.”

Some take considerable pride in their results. “I have a friend who
makes wine for his own consumption but gives me around 30 bottles per
year as well,” said 36-year-old Mousa, speaking from the central city
of Isfahan.

Only members of religious minorities – Christians, Jews and
Zoroastrians – are allowed to brew, distil, ferment and drink, in
their homes, and trade in liquor is forbidden. Catholic priests make
their own wine for Mass.

Yet wine-making has a long history in Iran. Scientists believe Stone
Age settlers in what is now Iran drank wine with their olives and
bread as early as 5,000 BC.

The renowned Shiraz variety of grape, named after the city in the
south of the country, is said to have been brought back to Europe by
the Crusaders.

Persian poets Hafez and Omar Khayyam extolled the virtues of the grape.

“What drunkenness is this that brings me hope? Who was the cup-bearer
and whence the wine?” Hafez wrote in the 14th century.

In modern Iran, the Armenian community is the main source of
home-brewed spirits, notably arak, a vodka extracted from sun-dried
grapes.

Amin, a 35-year-old sports trainer, has turned his yard into a vineyard
and rigged up a crude apparatus in his basement to make the spirit,
which costs as little as 50p a litre.

Which all means if you aren’t inclined to make your own, wine, beer
and moonshine are just a phone call away.

“You don’t even need to leave the house,” said Reza, a computer
engineer in Tehran. “Nasser, the brewer, will deliver it to your door.”

The availability of alcohol has caused alarm among the country’s
clerical leaders, many of whom accuse the West of plotting to lure
Iranians away from pious religious observance.

The number of police raids has declined since the pragmatic President
Hassan Rouhani took office in August, but the ban on alcohol and
severe punishments for producing and consuming it remain intact,
for health as well as religious reasons.

And in fact alcohol abuse and alcohol poisoning are becoming real
problems.

There are as many as 200,000 alcoholics in Iran, according to Iranian
media reports. Last September, a permit was quietly issued for the
country’s first alcohol rehabilitation centre in Tehran.

“The centre was set up in Tehran to help our citizens. You cannot
resolve the problem by ignoring it,” a health ministry official said,
but would not give any details about the number of people under
treatment or even the centre’s location.

Home-brewed drinks can cause blindness and even death. Iranian media
often carry reports of deaths caused by alcohol, or mashroob.

Last year Iranian health officials warned the government over the
increasing number of “victims of home-made alcohol”, calling on the
government to take action.

Police seizures cause temporary price hikes on the street, but supplies
soon recover.

Back in Tehran, at the apartment owned by his wealthy father, Shahriyar
says his alcohol-fuelled parties allow his circle to get around Iran’s
social restrictions.

“By drinking we forget about our problems,” he said. “Otherwise we
will go crazy with all the limitations on young people in Iran.”

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN MILITARY DEAL SUBMITTED FOR PUTIN’S RATIFICATION

March 26, 2014 – 14:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russian cabinet of ministers submitted an agreement
on the development of military and technical cooperation with Armenia
for presidential ratification, Novosti-Armenia said.

The agreement stipulates for establishment of cooperation in
the sectors of the development, production, operation, repair,
modernization and utilization of weaponry and military equipment,”
Russian media reported quoting the message posted on the government’s
website.

Armenian parliament ratified the military cooperation agreement with
Russia December 4, 2013. In June 2013, during the visit of the Russian
Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev to Armenia, a military and
technical cooperation agreement was signed with Russia. The agreement
stipulates for each side to supply military products with the same
specifications as for one’s own armed forces. The agreement also
enables the supplier to exert control over the presence of products
and their compliance with the intended use to be described in an
additional treaty.

According to another deal, Armenia and Russia will form a joint defense
enterprise as well as the border guards and emergency situation experts
training centers. With Russia’s assistance, Armenia’s defense industry
will launch production of ammunition, armory, as well as form a repair
base for land, air and air defense forces.

ARMENIA TO ABSTAIN FROM VOTING ON UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S RESOLUTION ON UKRAINE- SPOKESMAN

YEREVAN, March 25. / ARKA /. Armenia will abstain from voting on
Thursday when the UN General Assembly is expected to vote on a draft
resolution on Ukraine, Tigran Balayan, an Armenian foreign ministry
spokesman, told Radio Liberty.

According to reports, the resolution urges all parties to pursue
a peaceful resolution of the situation in Ukraine, “refrain from
unilateral actions and inflammatory rhetoric that may increase
tensions, and to engage fully with international mediation efforts.”

The document affirms the General Assembly’s “commitment to the
sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity
of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”

It also calls on all states “to desist and refrain from actions
aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and
territorial integrity of Ukraine, including any attempts to modify
Ukraine’s borders through the threat or use of force or other unlawful
means.”

The General Assembly’s resolutions are not legally binding but they
reflect world opinion.

In a telephone conversation on March 19, Armenian President Serzh
Sarkisian and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were quoted as
saying that the referendum in Crimea “constitutes another case of
exercise of peoples’ right to self-determination via free expression
of will.”

Ukraine responded to the statement by officially recalling its
ambassador from Armenia, warning of serious damage to bilateral ties
because of Armenia’s recognition of the annexation of Crimea. -0-

– See more at:

RUSSIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE UNITS START SPECIAL EXERCISES OF MOUNTAIN AND SPECIAL TRAININGS IN ARMENIA

Wednesday 26 March 2014 14:27

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Over 300 military servicemen of intelligence units
of 102nd Russian military base started special exercises of mountain
and special trainings.

The exercises will be held in Pambak mountain intelligence training
center within 2 weeks, Mediamax was told in the press service of the
South Military District of Russian Armed Forces.

Special attention will be paid to studies of modern radio complexes
and Strelets communication systems equipped with up-to-date GLONASS
navigation system during reconnaissance operations in the mountains
as well as elaboration of actions aimed at resisting attacks of
subversive-intelligence groups of conventional enemy and their silent
liquidation during daytime and at night.

MANUCHARYAN: TURKS ATTACKED KESSAB BY INSTRUCTION OF SOME FORCES

15:35 26/03/2014 >> POLITICS

On the threshold of the Armenian Genocide centenary, it is not
advantageous for Turkey to attack the Armenian-populated town of
Kessab in Syria, given the fact that over the several past years Turkey
has tried to show the international community that it is normalizing
relations with Armenia, member of Karabakh committee Ashot Manucharyan
told reporters.

According to Manucharyan, this situation is not beneficial for Turkey
and Ankara acts under the pressure of some forces.

“Our society should remember exactly who provoked Turkey’s incursion
into Syria,” Manucharyan said, adding that the United States demanded
that Turkey interfere into the Syrian conflict.

ARMENIAN MPS ARE IN LATAKIA

17:09 26/03/2014 >> POLITICS

The delegation of Armenian MPs is already in Latakia, secretary of
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary faction Hovhannes
Sahakyan told Panorama.am.

“I have just spoken to Arman Sahakyan. He said that the Armenian
delegation is already in Latakia and that Armenia’s Ambassador to Syria
is also with them. They will soon meet with the Armenian families. So
everything is ok,” the MP said.

The Armenian parliamentary delegation includes Republican MPs Samvel
Farmanyan, Levon Martirosyan, Arman Sahakyan and Naira Karapetyan,
Heritage MP Tevan Poghosyan and independent MP Edmon Marukyan. The
MPs will familiarize themselves with the situation on the spot and
present it to the National Assembly upon their return.

Source: Panorama.am

SAAKASHVILI: IN ARMENIA THIEVES-IN-LAW AND FBS PLOTTED STATE COUP IN GEORGIA

Lragir.am
Politics – Wednesday, 26 March 2014, 13:38

The ex-president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili announced that the
attack on Imedi TV in 2007 was the reaction of complex factors,
apsny.ge reported. Saakashvili told who, where and how a state coup
was plotted in Georgia.

“One of the leaders of CIS members, I don’t want to mention his name
now, he is still in office, told me that after a conversation with
Putin Patarkatsishvili and several generals of the Russian Federal
Bureau of Security arrived, it was in 2007. They planned the action
in Georgia with generals for several days. Later in November, during
one of the meetings with the CIS, Putin said that Patarkatsishvili is
the president of Georgia. Earlier the Federal Bureau of Investigations
sent us a letter that the thieves-in-law Musoyan, Kalashov and someone
else were in Armenia and planned a coup in Georgia,” Saakashvili said
in an interview with Rustavi 2 TV.

According to him, the state coup was plotted in parallel with Georgia’s
membership to NATO, particularly when a big NATO delegation came to
Georgia and established that Georgia’s NATO membership is irreversible.

According to Saakashvili, it was a successful attempt of a state coup
because he resigned.

– See more at:

CALL TO THE UN TO CONDEMN TURKISH SUPPORTS TO AGGRESSION IN KESSAB

17:40 26.03.2014

Kessab, Syria

Karen Ghazaryan
Public Radio of Armenia

An act of protest was held in front of the UN Office in Yerevan. The
participants handed a letter to the UN, demanding to break the
silence and give a proper assessment to Turkey’s support to the
terrorist incursion into Syria, the destruction and robbery in the
Armenian-populated city of Kessab.

Organizers of the rally urged the UN to serve its mission, to condemn
Turkey’s terrorist steps and give a proper legal assessment to the
recent events. Turkey carried out aggression and terrorism at the
state level by contributing to the attack on Kessab. The protesters
condemned the UN indifference towards Turkey’s steps.

“The UN should first give a legal assessment and take adequate steps,”
the demonstrators said.

Member of “Tracing Ancestors” NGO Arman Mkhitaryan considers that
Armenia should take concrete steps to support the Armenians of Kessab.

He says sending 25-30-member groups to Armenian-populated regions
would be a good psychological support.

ARAM I URGES TO INTRODUCE TURKEY’S NEW OFFENCES TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

12:36, 26 March, 2014

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the
Holy See of Cilicia presided over the extraordinary session of the
Central National Department. At the course of the session His Holiness
reported on the situation in Kessab, his activities in this regard, and
the difficulties the Armenians of Kessab had to face with in Latakya.

As reports “Armenpress”, among other things His Holiness
Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia underscored: “Today,
support to the Armenians of Kessab is a priority for us. Where
the sons of the Armenian nation have to face with difficulties,
overcoming of those difficulties must become a priority obligation
for all Armenians.”

“As we said on Sunday, it’s the same Turk, who organized
the Armenian Genocide and who ruins Kessab today,” Holiness
Catholicos Aram I noted.

Previously it was reported that on Friday, 21 March, early in
the morning, His Holiness Aram I was informed of the assault and
bombardment of the radical rebel forces from Turkey on Kessab, the
historical Armenian region near the Turkish border. After consultation
with the Armenian clergy and community leaders in Latakia, Aleppo,
Damascus and Lebanon, the Catholicos demanded that the Syrian
authorities protect the Armenian population of the region.

On Saturday evening, the Ambassador of Syria to Lebanon visited the
Catholicos, accompanied by Hagop Pakradouni, Member of Parliament,
and Hagop Khatcherian, member of the Bureau of the Tashnak Party. The
Ambassador assured the Catholicos that the state will do its utmost to
restore security in Kessab. The Ambassador also informed the Catholicos
that the army had moved the population of Kessab to safety in Latakia,
because the militants, who had been armed by the Turkish authorities,
have already penetrated tents in Kessab.

On Sunday, during the Holy Liturgy, His Holiness invited the faithful
to pray for the Armenian population of Kessab, who 100 years after
the genocide had become refugees by an action instigated by Turkey.

He then sent a delegation consisting of priests to assess the needs
of the refugees.

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