Author: Babajanian Karo

GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN AGREE TO COOPERATE ON ‘BREAKAWAY’ TERRITORIES

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili (left) toasts Azeri President
Ilham Aliyev at a state dinner during his visit to Baku. Feb. 12,
2014. (Photo: official publication)

TBILISI (DF Watch)–Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Georgia
and Azerbaijan support each other in issues of “territorial integrity”
during a visit by Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili to Baku
on Thursday.

The comment was in reference to Karabakh, relating it to Georgia’s
issues with segments of the country that have been demanding
independence, such as South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Tbilisi ended diplomatic relations with Moscow after Russia recognized
the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia following a short war
with Georgia in 2008.

The Presidents agreed to support and cooperate with each other on
the issue.

According to RFE/RL, Margvelashvili praised Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev for helping build a “warm and friendly” relationship
with Georgia.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Margvelashvili also pointed
to the “historic” railroad project his country and Azerbaijan are
taking part in, saying the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line would be
a new bridge between Europe and Asia, RFE/RL reported.

The two presidents also discussed other transit projects involving
Caspian Basin energy resources destined for European markets that
cross both Azerbaijani and Georgian territories.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MILANO BOUTIQUE RECEIVED ASYLUM IN USA

20:09 | February 12,2014 | Social

Hovhannes Ghukasyan, the owner of Milano, one of the oldest and most
expensive boutiques in Yerevan, starts his days with new surprises.

According to a court decision, the territory of the boutique located
at 4 Abovyan Street was declared a zone of prevailing public interest
in 2010. And now the new owner of the area, Diaspora-Armenian Avedis
Karagulian, has filed a lawsuit against the ex-owner claiming that
Ghukasyan has tax liabilities for the property.

“If the court approves that there are tax liabilities in connection
with the sale of property, in that case the entire money will be paid
to the state in the form of taxes,” Tigran Hayrapetyan, member of
the Olymp Company representing the interests of Hovhannes Ghukasyan,
told A1+.

Ghukasyan was evicted from the area not only as owner of “Olymp”
LTD but also as a physical person from his own house. Despite the
eviction, Ghukasyan has not yet received compensation from the new
owner of the area. Karagulian had offered Ghukasyan over 200 million
dram compensation only for the first floor (125 square meters) of
the building. The store has three floors, not considering the roof
and the basement. Ghukasyan has received only the offered 200 million
drams and demands full compensation for the area.

Tigran Hayrapetyan added that Ghukasyan’s daughter Nelly Ghukasyan,
who is also the assistant director of the trade hall, has received
asylum in the USA.

“After studying the case material courts in the US found that the
verdict in the Milano case was unfair and granted asylum to Nelly
Ghukasyan,” said the lawyer.

HE IS THE MAIN KILLER’: MOTHER OF DECEASED LIEUTENANT WILL NOT MEET WITH GENERAL PROSECUTOR – VIDEO

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

17:17 epress.am

At the end of the cabinet meeting today, RA General Prosecutor Gevorg
Kostanyan approached the mothers of soldiers who died in non-combat
conditions who regularly protest outside the government building and
agreed to meet with them. He said he is familiar with each of their
cases and is taking appropriate action for their disclosure.

“I have never refused to meet with you and now too I am prepared to do
so, but so that our discussion is effective, come with your attorney
or another legal rights defender,” he said.

Hasmik Hovhannisyan (pictured), mother of the late Lieutenant Artak
Nazaryan, considers speaking with the prosecutor meaningless, as
she is sure Kostanyan is interested in not revealing but concealing
the crimes.

In conversation with Epress.am, Hovhannisyan said if Kostanyan had
the slightest wish to uncover the case, he would read at least one
page from Artak Nazaryan’s murder case.

“I’ve only been to see him 1.5 times: the first time I went with
an attorney, but that meeting did not get anywhere; the next time,
he didn’t even want to listen, took his mobile phone and went out,
talking. What can he say now? Of course nothing, so I won’t go to
the meeting, as he has nothing to say and I have nothing to hear.

“I consider him the main culprit; he is the main killer because he
protects killers. I consider that my son’s blood is on not only the
murderer, but also the witnesses, eyewitnesses, those who conceal, the
President and Prosecutor General of Armenia. Let them not respond here:
they will be held to account before God for what they did,” she said.

lieutenant-will-not-meet-with-general-prosecutor.html

LARISSA ALAVERDYAN: SERZH SARGSYAN PRESSURIZES EMPLOYERS – VIDEO

20:32 | February 12,2014 | Intervew

Armenia’s first Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan believes that all
employers who make deductions from wages to transfer to the mandatory
funded pension system are subjected to pressure.

“I can cite a vivid example. Serzh Sargsyan spoke positively about
the pension reform before its enactment. This was surely an example
of pressure,” Larissa Alaverdyan said in an interview with A1+.

She does not pin great hopes on the Constitutional Court which is
scheduled to open hearings on the appeal against the pension reform
on March 28.

“This is a real ordeal, an examination for the Constitutional Court and
judges which they should pass with dignity,” said the first ombudsman.

PENSION REFORM AND REVOLT: MORE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AS COURT WEIGHS NEW LAW

PENSIONS | 13.02.14 | 20:32

Photolure

By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

For several days now staffs of various companies and economic
entities have been rebelling against the controversial pension reform,
nonetheless, the mandatory deductions from their salaries continue to
be made, while authorities are convinced the unrest will soon subside.

On Thursday, the Armenian Electric Networks (AEN) company employees
joined the standoff demanding to return the “illegally deducted money”
from their salaries made for the pension funds.

The company press secretary Natalya Sarajanyan countered, saying during
her meeting with the press, that AEN had done nothing illegal and had
simply abided by the law. She gave assurance that the deducted money
was kept in a special account, no transfers were made, no pension
funds selected, and if the Constitutional Court ruled to suspend the
new law on mandatory pension savings, the money would be returned
to the employees. Sarajanyan says, the company has 8,000 workers,
to whom the law applies to 2,500 (born after 1974).

On Wednesday, a few dozen subway workers held an act of protest at one
of the Yerevan Metro stations, while on Monday some 50 employees of
the South-Caucasian Railways CJSC threatened to go on strike and the
National Academy of Opera and Ballet performers rebelled by refusing
to go on stage.

The four oppositional factions joined the civil initiative and filed
a motion to the CC, which led to the court’s January 24 decision
partially suspending the application of the law until its final
decision to be made in early spring. Meanwhile, citizens failing to
make the mandatory 5-10 percent monthly payments to the pension funds
as provided for by the new law should not be fined.

The authorities and many employers, however, have ignored the CC
procedural decision, claiming that the court has not suspended the
application of the law.

Despite the ongoing acts of protest, many believe they would not lead
to a social revolt.

Manvel Sargsyan, leading the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies, told ArmeniaNow that it is something new that
recently certain economic entity staffs unite into a civil protest
against a law they find unacceptable. However, he says, it is hard
to predict whether it might actually turn into a public rebellion.

“This demonstrates that, in fact, all the strata of society are
joining the standoff and if the authorities continue acting harsh,
it is merely a matter of time that broad front unrest unfolds in the
country,” says Sargsyan.

Sociometer Center director Aharon Adibekyan says because Armenia has
international commitments it is highly unlikely that she would give
up the pension reform, however says large-scale social rebellion is
equally unlikely, despite the ongoing acts of protest and disturbances.

Ruling Republican faction leader Galust Sahakyan shared an opinion
that despite the existing protest among the society, there might have
been greater civil turbulences across the country rather that what
is happening now.

EURASIANET ON LINGUISTIC AUTHORITARIANISM: AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES BANNED NAMING CHILDREN ATATURK

16:45 13/02/2014 >> SOCIETY

The Azerbaijani government has decided that citizens cannot name
their children after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of
the Turkish Republic, or after their favorite fruits and objects,
the site of the EurasiaNet American organization writes in an article.

After years of close cooperation with Ankara, Baku has decided that
it wants to help its big Turkic cousin make sure there is only one
Ataturk out there. As it stands, Azerbaijan has 18 of them; several
born within the past few years, according to the country’s State
Terminology Commission.

Commission Chairperson Sayaly Sadigova claimed that the decision
to ban “unofficially” the use of Ataturk was made at Turkey’s own
request. However as the article notes, the Turkish foreign ministry
did not respond to requests from EurasiaNet.org to confirm the report.

The article reads that Azerbaijan’s linguistic authoritarianism does
not end there. The name-regulators say parents also cannot call their
baby Samovar even if they are convinced that the little darling totally
looks like the Russian tea boiler. All such requests have been denied,
Sadigova underlines.

As the article notes, apart from providing guidelines for translations,
the commission has created an advisory system on proper names,
categorizing them essentially as good, bad and funny. The “good
names,” color-coded in green for users’ convenience, are the names that
supposedly conform to Azerbaijan’s cultural and ideological values. The
bad names are pretty much names associated with much-hated neighbor
Armenia and are marked in red. Names that sound funny in Azeri or
other languages go into the yellow, best-to-avoid category.

“Yet, despite the commission’s tireless efforts to improve the quality
of Azerbaijani names, funny names remain a serious problem. Back
in 2011, Sadigova complained that 10 percent of the 180,000 names
reviewed by the commission do not conform to Azeri-language standards
and are plain ridiculous,” the article notes.

Back in 2012 the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan adopted the
“principle of traffic light,” according to which it is the state
agencies that determine the “trustworthy” and “forbidden” names for
children that parents can choose. Armenian names were included in the
“red” – forbidden – list. Also, a special committee of the National
Academy of Sciences approved the draft law according to which the
endings of Azerbaijani surnames will be changed from “ov” and “ev”
to Turkic “lu-li”, “baili”, etc.

Chairman of the Committee on Culture of the Azerbaijani Parliament
Nizami Jafarov, answered the question, how will the new law affect
the national minorities in Azerbaijan – Lezghins, Talysh, Avars,
Tats and other nations, and said: “The question is presented in such
a way that anyone who considers himself an Azerbaijani, considering
the fact that most indigenous peoples merged with Azerbaijanis and
consider themselves Azerbaijanis, will have to change their names.”

Source: Panorama.am

NORWAY TO BOOST EFFORTS FOR SETTLING NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: ENVOY

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Feb 12 2014

12 February 2014, 17:22 (GMT+04:00)
By Sara Rajabova

Norway will increase efforts for a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Norwegian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erling
Shonsberg said on February 11.

Shonsberg made the remarks at a meeting with Azerbaijani Deputy Prime
Minister as well as Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of
Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov.

Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Hasanov said 20 percent of the country’s territory was occupied and
over one million people became refugees and displaced.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early
1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed
forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions.

Hasanov noted that Azerbaijan’s influence in the global community is
growing as a result of purposeful policy of President Ilham Aliyev,
but the problem hasn’t been resolved because of Armenia unconstructive
position.

He also spoke about the work carried out by the Azerbaijani President
and international organizations to improve the living conditions of
refugees and IDPs.

Some 82 modern villages have been built. The living condition for
180,000 people has been improved. Also, humanitarian projects have
been carried out for them.

The Azerbaijani government continues taking measures to resolve
social problems of the refugees and IDPs. Every year, a large amount
of funds is allocated for this purpose from the state budget, the
State Oil Fund, the state energy firm SOCAR, and other sources.

Hasanov stressed, “Norwegian Refugee Council” and “Norwegian
humanitarian enterprise”, functioning in Azerbaijan, have carried out
a number of projects in various fields, and the Azerbaijani government
has created all conditions for their free activities.

In turn, Shonsberg said Norway has supported Azerbaijan’s fair position
at international events in most cases.

He noted that relations between the two states developed rapidly
after the restoration of independence of Azerbaijan.

Shonsberg said his country will increase the efforts for a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and expressed confidence
that relations between the two states will continue to develop.

The sides noted at the meeting that bilateral relations are at a
high level and Azerbaijan is interested in a further development
of relations.

ANDREI FURSENKO: “THE NORTH CAUCASUS SHOULD DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVELY”

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 12 2014

12 February 2014 – 10:57am

Interviewed by Daria Melikhova, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Former Russian Education Minister Andrei Fursenko now heads the board
of trustees of the Russian Science Foundation and works for the
board of the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs. Mr Fursenko told
Vestnik Kavkaza about science and education in the North Caucasus,
as well as about humanitarian cooperation with the South Caucasus.

– How do you assess the state of education and science in the North
Caucasus?

– The North Caucasus Federal District is a region where the development
of the humanities is particularly important, because the Caucasus
has always been a place where national culture and the interaction of
different peoples play a very important role. And this is precisely
the responsibility of the social sciences: how to form interactions
to the benefit of each and every person and to the country as a whole.

In the areas of natural sciences in the Caucasus there are several
interesting directions and very interesting institutions, in
particular, in Kabardino- Balkaria, North Ossetia and Stavropol
Territory. The newly-created North Caucasus Federal University has
been established precisely in order to coordinate and consolidate
the scientific forces in the Caucasus. One should see concrete work,
go there, meet different scientists.

This region is very important for the country. And this means it must
develop comprehensively. And education and science are an inalienable
and very important part of the development of each people, each region.

– How are scientific contacts with the countries of the South Caucasus
developing?

– Once we worked together on education, but also in science.

Thus, not accidentally, Azerbaijan opened a branch of Moscow State
University, because it was aimed not only at teaching the youth,
but also at ensuring that there was fully-fledged joint research with
our colleagues from Azerbaijani scientific institutes and universities.

There were outstanding mathematicians in Georgia. Nikolay Muskelishvili
was one of the pillars of Soviet mathematics. And my colleagues,
with whom I did pure modelling, they worked in universities, in the
Georgian Academy of Science. So Georgian science had potential, and
I’m one hundred percent sure that it is preserved, therefore I hope
very much that science will be the direction from which, perhaps,
we will start restoring relations with this country.

Successful cooperation with Armenia has developed in the field
of information technology. It is a very concrete thing, so it is
important to conduct scientific cooperation with any country on
specific projects. We need to do this not because we have been
ordered to do so, but in order to bring benefit, not only to the
scientists from collaborating countries, but also to the economies
of these countries. It seems that today such opportunities exist,
and something is already developing.

***

Speaking of the state of the Russian science and education, Mr Fursenko
noted that since about 2006, we can see a steady increase in the number
of scientists under the age of 40. “Today the possibility of paying
good scientists, good young scientists and giving them the opportunity
of interesting work (I mean the special devices and the infrastructure
for research) are very much advanced. We have never had such a level
of quality and quantity of scientific equipment as we have now. We
have dozens of leading centers, and the quality of the scientific
infrastructure there is in no way inferior to foreign centers”.

“We have lost the generation of people who are now 45-55 years old.

These people were in a very difficult situation. In the 1990s they
worked in science, and some of them left it. You know that in all
Russian banks, in all the commercial enterprises the top management
mostly consists of people from science, people who were quite
successful in science,” says Mr Fursenko. ” Some people left for
other countries, because they wanted to continue to work in science,
believing that in the 1990s the conditions for this were very limited.

Today, some of these people come back for good, some return for
a while, but they cooperate with their former employers and other
institutions very actively.”

According to Mr Fursenko, today full-time jobs in Russian scientific
institutions are in such demand that there is a queue for them. “There
are no vacancies. Both academic institutions and the Graduate School
said that it is necessary to create conditions for the young to stay.

Therefore, we are creating new tools now. One of the aspects is
supporting communities that to a large extent consist of young people.”

Speaking of the promising directions of science, Mr Fursenko said,
“It is very important to be competitive not only in terms of academic
or university science, but also in terms of the industry that would
be in demand. I think in the near short term a very interesting
direction for Russia will be related to the environment. I believe
that in the next 5-10 years, the issue of the environment, of saving
it, will be a highly-paid, well-funded direction.

Nuclear energy is also developing actively. It is an area that requires
work with new materials, and in the field of elementary particles,
and research in the structure of matter. Information technology are
needed there as well. Also a very interesting area is associated
with medicine. These are areas that are on the border between the
nuclear industry, nuclear science and medicine. There is much to do,
and I think that many young people are well aware of it.”

Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Description:

MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
From: Katia Peltekian
Subject: Andrei Fursenko: “The North Caucasus should develop comprehensively”

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 12 2014

Andrei Fursenko: “The North Caucasus should develop comprehensively”

12 February 2014 – 10:57am

Interviewed by Daria Melikhova, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Former Russian Education Minister Andrei Fursenko now heads the board
of trustees of the Russian Science Foundation and works for the board
of the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs. Mr Fursenko told Vestnik
Kavkaza about science and education in the North Caucasus, as well as
about humanitarian cooperation with the South Caucasus.

– How do you assess the state of education and science in the North Caucasus?

– The North Caucasus Federal District is a region where the
development of the humanities is particularly important, because the
Caucasus has always been a place where national culture and the
interaction of different peoples play a very important role. And this
is precisely the responsibility of the social sciences: how to form
interactions to the benefit of each and every person and to the
country as a whole.

In the areas of natural sciences in the Caucasus there are several
interesting directions and very interesting institutions, in
particular, in Kabardino- Balkaria, North Ossetia and Stavropol
Territory. The newly-created North Caucasus Federal University has
been established precisely in order to coordinate and consolidate the
scientific forces in the Caucasus. One should see concrete work, go
there, meet different scientists.

This region is very important for the country. And this means it must
develop comprehensively. And education and science are an inalienable
and very important part of the development of each people, each
region.

– How are scientific contacts with the countries of the South Caucasus
developing?

– Once we worked together on education, but also in science.
Thus, not accidentally, Azerbaijan opened a branch of Moscow State
University, because it was aimed not only at teaching the youth, but
also at ensuring that there was fully-fledged joint research with our
colleagues from Azerbaijani scientific institutes and universities.
There were outstanding mathematicians in Georgia. Nikolay
Muskelishvili was one of the pillars of Soviet mathematics. And my
colleagues, with whom I did pure modelling, they worked in
universities, in the Georgian Academy of Science. So Georgian science
had potential, and I’m one hundred percent sure that it is preserved,
therefore I hope very much that science will be the direction from
which, perhaps, we will start restoring relations with this country.

Successful cooperation with Armenia has developed in the field of
information technology. It is a very concrete thing, so it is
important to conduct scientific cooperation with any country on
specific projects. We need to do this not because we have been ordered
to do so, but in order to bring benefit, not only to the scientists
from collaborating countries, but also to the economies of these
countries. It seems that today such opportunities exist, and something
is already developing.

***

Speaking of the state of the Russian science and education, Mr
Fursenko noted that since about 2006, we can see a steady increase in
the number of scientists under the age of 40. “Today the possibility
of paying good scientists, good young scientists and giving them the
opportunity of interesting work (I mean the special devices and the
infrastructure for research) are very much advanced. We have never had
such a level of quality and quantity of scientific equipment as we
have now. We have dozens of leading centers, and the quality of the
scientific infrastructure there is in no way inferior to foreign
centers”.

“We have lost the generation of people who are now 45-55 years old.
These people were in a very difficult situation. In the 1990s they
worked in science, and some of them left it. You know that in all
Russian banks, in all the commercial enterprises the top management
mostly consists of people from science, people who were quite
successful in science,” says Mr Fursenko. ” Some people left for other
countries, because they wanted to continue to work in science,
believing that in the 1990s the conditions for this were very limited.
Today, some of these people come back for good, some return for a
while, but they cooperate with their former employers and other
institutions very actively.”

According to Mr Fursenko, today full-time jobs in Russian scientific
institutions are in such demand that there is a queue for them. “There
are no vacancies. Both academic institutions and the Graduate School
said that it is necessary to create conditions for the young to stay.
Therefore, we are creating new tools now. One of the aspects is
supporting communities that to a large extent consist of young
people.”

Speaking of the promising directions of science, Mr Fursenko said, “It
is very important to be competitive not only in terms of academic or
university science, but also in terms of the industry that would be in
demand. I think in the near short term a very interesting direction
for Russia will be related to the environment. I believe that in the
next 5-10 years, the issue of the environment, of saving it, will be a
highly-paid, well-funded direction.

Nuclear energy is also developing actively. It is an area that
requires work with new materials, and in the field of elementary
particles, and research in the structure of matter. Information
technology are needed there as well. Also a very interesting area is
associated with medicine. These are areas that are on the border
between the nuclear industry, nuclear science and medicine. There is
much to do, and I think that many young people are well aware of it.”

IRAN BACKS VISA-FREE REGIME WITH ARMENIA

Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Mohammad Reisi

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Iran and Armenia may soon lift visa
requirements for their citizens travelling to each other’s country,
according to the Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Mohammad Reisi,
RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) reports.

In an interview with the ArmNews TV channel aired this week, Reisi also
announced that Iranian President Hassan Rohani will travel to Armenia
later this year on an official visit that will underscore close ties
between the two neighboring states. “The visit will take place in
the course of this year,” he said without specifying a concrete date.

President Serzh Sarkisian was among a dozen foreign heads of state who
attended Rohani’s inauguration in Tehran last August. The two leaders
held separate talks following the ceremony. Rohani was reported
to tell Sarkisian that the Islamic Republic is keen to expand its
“deeply-rooted” ties with Armenia.

Rohani’s controversial predecessor, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, paid
an official visit to Yerevan in late 2011. It focused, in large
measure, on the implementation of Armenian-Iranian energy projects
that had fallen behind schedule. Those include the construction of a
hydro-electric plant on the Arax river serving as the Armenian-Iranian
border.

Reisi implied that Rohani’s visit will come after the next meeting
of an Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on economic
cooperation. He said the commission should discuss not only the energy
projects but also ambitious plans to build a railway connecting the
two countries.

“The best indicator of Armenian-Iranian mutual trust is that the visa
regime between the two states may well be abolished,” Reisi added in
the ArmNews interview. “In order to facilitate contacts between the
two peoples, we have communicated to the Armenian side our readiness
to put in place a visa-free regime.”

Tehran has long been seeking visa-free travel between Armenia and
Iran. Successive Armenian governments have been lukewarm about
the idea.

The existing visa requirements have not prevented a sharp rise in the
number of Iranian tourists visiting Armenia over the past decade. It
reached a record-high level of more than 100,000 in 2011.

“I hope that one day one million Iranian tourists will visit Armenia,”
then Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said during a November
2011 trip to Yerevan. “I also hope that one day a visa-free regime
will be established between the two countries and crossing our border
will be as easy as travelling inside our countries.”

Efforts to Reduce Arax River Pollution In a meeting on Wednesday,
Iran’s energy minister and Armenia’s minister of environmental
protection agreed to step up joint efforts to monitor and reduce
water pollution in the Arax River, Tasnim news agency reported.

The Iranian capital of Tehran hosted Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian
and the visiting Armenian Minister of Environmental Protection Aram
Harutyunian, who discussed a range of environmental issues, including
active cooperation to tackle pollution in the River Arax.

The rising pollution levels in the border river have been blamed mainly
on discharge of untreated waste from an Armenian copper factory into
the river’s water.

In the meeting, the two ministers, accompanied by their senior
advisers, decided that Iran and Armenia should put efforts into
monitoring water pollution in Arax and take measures to stop the
discharge of toxic waste from the copper factory into the river.

ARMENIA LEADER IN SOUTH CAUCASUS IN 2014 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX

02.12.2014 17:01 epress.am

Conflicts in various countries had a negative impact on freedom
of information and journalists, according to the latest report by
Reporters Without Borders, the 2014 World Press Freedom Index.

According to the report, in some countries the “tendency to interpret
national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner” has
led to “the detriment of the right to inform and be informed. This
trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering
freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies.”

This year’s report analyzes 180 countries: the Commonwealth of
Independent States, including Armenia, are in the “Eastern Europe
and Central Asia” section.

The region’s four best-placed countries in this year’s index are
the same as last year: “Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan
all enjoy a significant degree of pluralism and relatively little
state censorship,” reads the report. “But the considerable social
polarization is reflected in the media and the climate for journalists,
who are often harassed by pressure groups. Given that the political
orientation of individual media usually coincides with that of their
owners, it would seem that respect for the editorial independence of
media employees is still limited.”

Furthermore, Reporters Without Borders found that the 2013 elections in
Georgia and Armenia were “calmer” than in the past: “Violence against
journalists was rare. Armenia’s state broadcaster has progressed as
regards impartiality but the electoral environment exacerbated the
ongoing information war in the privately-owned media — a war in
which the authorities have a clear advantage.”

Armenia dropped four places compared to last year and occupies 78th
place in the 2014 index. In terms of press freedom, it is the leader
in the South Caucasus and the surrounding region. Georgia is in 84th
place; Russia, 148th; Turkey, 154th; Azerbaijan, 160th; and Iran,
173rd.

The top 10 countries in terms of press freedom are Finland, the
Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Denmark,
Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. At the bottom are Turkmenistan,
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and Eritrea.