Author: Babajanian Karo

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 26 2014

Ä°stanbul’s Armenian schools face no shortage of troubles

Students of the private Levon Vartuhyan Armenian Nursery and Primary
School located in Ä°stanbul’s Fatih district are seen leaving the
school. (Photo: Sunday’s Zaman)
26 January 2014 /PAUL BENJAMIN OSTERLUND, Ä°STANBUL

Earlier this week it was revealed that non-Muslim students in Turkey
taking the Transition From Primary to Secondary Education (TEOG) exam
were penalized for not answering questions in a religious culture and
moral knowledge segment, a section of the test that non-Muslims are
exempt from taking. The error was subsequently corrected by the
Ministry of Education following complaints from minority schools, but
not before significant panic was felt among Armenian students. Issues
like these are minor discrepancies that reflect the larger problems
that Armenian schools contend with today.

Armenian schools in Turkey face significant financial, legal and
logistical difficulties. Another major obstacle is the fear of
reprisal for openly discussing these issues with the press. Armenian
educators see discrimination against non-Muslim communities and their
institutions to still be deeply ingrained in the state apparatus.
Sunday’s Zaman was able to visit two schools and talk to several
teachers and principals, most of whom requested that their names not
be printed. They explained that they feared investigation by the
Ministry of Education if they consult with the media without obtaining
official permission.

`We are in an odd position, as we are considered neither a private nor
a state school,’ said one middle school principal. Minority schools
indeed occupy a murky status. Armenians, Greeks and Jews, who comprise
the three `official’ minorities of Turkey, are allowed to maintain
their own religious and educational facilities, but with major
caveats. Only Turkish citizens who have at least one parent of
Armenian origin are allowed to attend Armenian schools. The status of
the schools falls in a bizarre grey area that seems to maximize state
intrusion and control. The state appoints the deputy principal as well
as teachers of Turkish history, language, literature and geography.
Their salaries are paid by the state, while the remainder of the
operational costs fall on the shoulders of the parents, private donors
and foundations. The schools are required to admit students regardless
of their ability to pay for the costs of education, a source of
continual tension and financial strain.

Nowadays there are just 16 schools and 3,000 students. All of these
schools are in Ä°stanbul, where the majority of Turkey’s 60,000
Armenians lives. Student enrollment today is half of what it was 30
years ago. The situation was entirely different in the late Ottoman
period, when there were nearly 2,000 Armenian schools throughout
Anatolia, comprising over 170,000 students.

Prior to World War I, 2 million Armenians resided in the Ottoman
Empire, primarily in the eastern provinces of what is now Turkey. Less
than a decade later, that number had fallen to less than half a
million. In 1915, hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Armenians were
uprooted and forced to march to the deserts of Syria. Armenians argue
that up to 1.5 million people were massacred, and consider the events
to be genocide, while Turkey refuses to accept such claims, asserting
that the deaths that occurred during the deportations were often
circumstantial and that there were numerous casualties on both sides.

Following the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the
number of Armenians continued to dwindle following a series of
policies and events that targeted non-Muslim communities. The Wealth
Tax of 1942 ostensibly sought to fund a potential entry into World War
II, but it was disproportionately implemented towards non-Muslims.
Property was seized and auctioned off and many who were unable to pay
were sent to labor camps in the harsh eastern province of Erzurum.
Armenians were taxed at the highest rate.

`There are major financial difficulties, and discrepancies with
teaching material. The state has never supported us,’ said another
principal who wished to remain anonymous. Another constant source of
tension is the lack of academic freedom: `There is a major identity
problem. We are not permitted to teach anything that has to do with
our own history as Armenians. The only Armenian courses we are
permitted to teach are language and literature.’

This intrusion and academic freedom are the biggest troubles that
Armenian schools continue to face, according to one high school
English teacher: `We cannot choose our Turkish history and geography
teachers. They are sent by the Ministry of Education. Sometimes we
face difficulties and they don’t take our school into consideration.
They have a schedule, they have their books from the Ministry of
Education, and they teach what they have to teach, the official
history according to the state.’

This situation, however, used to be much worse: `Nowadays we don’t
have highly nationalist Turkish teachers in our schools. In my time it
was worse,’ the English teacher continued. `Once, when I was a high
school student, our Turkish vice principal told us to come to the
music room. She told us that we didn’t sing the national anthem with
enough enthusiasm and that we would have to sing it again. She made us
sing it 10 times. It was like torture.’

Dwindling support from the Armenian community itself is the foremost
setback, according to the middle school principal: `Armenian families
are sending their students to private schools and other foreign
language schools. Foreign languages like French and English are held
in higher regard. Learning Armenian is no longer seen as necessary.’

Presently, less than 50 percent of Ä°stanbul’s Armenian students attend
Armenian schools. Ä°stanbul’s rapid expansion is also a concern, as
Armenian schools are in centrally located districts. `There are
Armenian families living in [Ä°stanbul’s outer Anatolian-side districts
of] Kartal and Pendik; they don’t want to send their children to our
schools since they are so far away,’ the principal continued.

The past several years have also witnessed an influx of Armenians from
Armenia migrating to Ä°stanbul to find work. The children of these
Armenian immigrants, most of whom stay in Turkey illegally, were not
permitted to attend Armenian schools until 2011, when a legal
alteration enabled them to begin enrolling as guest students. However,
these children are not officially registered and cannot obtain report
cards or diplomas, effectively barring them from pursuing higher
education.

The students at both schools that Sunday’s Zaman visited all speak
fluent Armenian. Most of them learned the language beginning in
primary school. One 11th grade student remarked that while she and her
brother were able to speak Armenian, their parents had never learned
the language. Another student said that her parents only permit her to
speak Armenian at home. However, the students primarily speak Turkish
together, and it is the language with which they feel most
comfortable. When Sunday’s Zaman asked a group of students if they
ever speak Armenian together, one 11th grader smirked and replied, `We
do when we are gossiping about someone in public.’

The great problems faced by Armenian schools today reflect the century
of tragedy and discrimination endured by Armenians living in Turkey,
and not being able to explore this legacy freely in their own
institutions is the most fundamental deficiency, according to the high
school principal. `Having no past is like having Alzheimer’s,’ the
administrator remarked glumly.

The Times, UK
Jan 25 2014

‘We cannot do everything but we must not do nothing’

Caroline Cox, Credo

Over the years I have developed a passionate belief in the fundamental
importance of freedom. Brought up a Christian, I was familiar with
Jesus’s words “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you
free.” Experience has taught me the fundamental importance of truth
and freedom, through exposure to the suffering of those who are denied
them. The German theologian Ernst Käsemann said “Jesus means freedom”.
I have witnessed how Christianity so often motivates individuals and
societies to speak for the oppressed and to set the captive free.

My awareness began with academic freedom. In the 1970s, as head of the
department of sociology at the Polytechnic of North London, with 16
out of 20 staff being members of the Communist Party, I was so deeply
disturbed by ruthless indoctrination, academic blackmail and violence
in “occupations” premised on lies that I eventually co-wrote a
book,The Rape of Reason, to which Bernard Levin devoted three columns
inThe Times, one headed “In all Its Brutality, the Making of an
Intellectual Concentration Camp”.

In the 1980s I travelled many times to Poland to people suffering
extreme deprivations of martial law. I always returned humbled by
their courage, faith and dignity. One vignette: totalitarianism meant
one could be sent to prison for smuggling blank paper. I was warned:
“It’s dangerous: one can write ideas on it.”

In the 1990s I travelled many times to Sudan, then in the grip of the
Islamist National Islamic Front regime which had declared jihad
against all who opposed it – Muslims, Christians and traditional
believers. That war killed two million, displaced four million and
enslaved hundreds of thousands. I was privileged to help to rescue
several thousand. I will never forget their heartbreak stories, such
as little Deng’s, aged about 6. As we talk, tears stream down his
cheeks. He has just learnt that both his parents had been killed in
the raid when he was abducted; he is now an orphan. But before we
part, a little wistful smile appears and he says “At least I am home
now, I am called my own name, Deng; I’m no longer called Abd [Arabic
for slave].”

I believe no one should be called “slave” in our world today. But
there are at least 27 million slaves in our world. I am so passionate
about this barbaric phenomenon that I have brought out a new edition
of a book on modern slavery with three chapters about people into
whose eyes I have looked who have been slaves – and their voices speak
for those whose voices we cannot hear, because they are still
enslaved.

William Wilberforce’s mission is far from accomplished. I believe we
have a moral imperative to continue his mission.

In the 1990s my passion for freedom led me to try to be a “voice for
the voiceless” – for victims of oppression ignored by the big aid
agencies and international media, often trapped behind closed borders.
Big aid organisations can generally only visit places with the
permission of a sovereign government. If a government is victimising a
minority and denies access, humanitarian organisations such as the UN
cannot reach those victims. I therefore established a small NGO,
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (Hart), to reach such people with aid
and advocacy. One example: a small historically Armenian land,
Nagorno-Karabakh, was cut off by Stalin from Armenia and reassigned to
Azerbaijan. In the early 1990s Azerbaijan began ethnic cleansing the
150,000 Armenians who lived there, unleashing full-scale war. With
courage – and some miracles – the Armenians hung on to their historic
land. A ceasefire was signed in 1994. Now, Hart supports a
path-breaking Rehabilitation Centre there and I have just returned
from my 80th visit.

We try to serve and speak for other people denied their freedom and
trapped in conflict, including the Rohingya Muslim, Shan Buddhist and
Christian Kachin peoples in Burma; and the peoples of Sudan and South
Sudan who have suffered too much for far too long.

I am painfully aware that my endeavours are minuscule. But I believe
that we who have freedom should use our freedom in the service of
those denied theirs.

HART is very small. We often feel overwhelmed by the enormity of our
partners’ needs on frontlines of faith and freedom around the world.
We could feel almost paralysed. But we have a motto: “We cannot do
everything, but we must not do nothing.”

I believe, if, together, we all do something, we really can make a difference.

Baroness Cox’s book This Immoral Trade was reissued in a revised and
e-book edition in August 2013

AZERI, ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS CALL FOR SENSITIVE REPORTING OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 24 2014

24 January 2014 /LAMÄ°YA ADÄ°LGIZI, BAKURIANI Journalists from both
Armenia and Azerbaijan coming together in the neighboring country of
Georgia, a neutral zone for both sides, which have had no diplomatic
ties for two decades, have agreed that although there are huge
differences between the two societies in terms of the status quo, both
sides need a bit of understanding, patience and a touch of humanity,
a wish that can be realized through the hard work of conflict-sensitive
journalism, which needs to be promoted on both sides.

Talking about how to promote peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
journalists from both Armenia and Azerbaijan have decided that
confidence building and mutual understanding should be mainly focused
on, as these are very important for both Armenians and Azerbaijanis,
who have considered each other enemies for 20 years.

“It is just like a building under construction — you set the base, so
that the building can stand firmly,” Arzu Geybullayeva, an Azerbaijani
freelance journalist, said in an interview with Today’s Zaman.

Noting journalists’ important role in the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Geybullayeva believes that journalists
have a very unique power to move the settlement process of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict forward, and that is why a choice should
be made as to whether journalists will engage in conflict-sensitive
journalism or stay among those who report on the conflict in the
usual way today.

“If a conscious decision is made to be conflict-sensitive reporters,
then we can be the ones adding that very ‘pinch of patience’ to the
rhetoric around the conflict,” Geybullayeva said.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous enclave within Azerbaijan, with
a majority Armenian population, became the main reason for the
ethnic-territorial conflict that erupted between Azerbaijanis and
Armenians in the early 1990s, as a result of which Armenian-backed
forces seized Nagorno-Karabakh along with seven adjacent Azeri
districts. A truce was signed in 1994, but there was no peace treaty.

Violence flares sporadically along the front line, while the media
is considered to be one of the prime sources of propaganda that not
only prolongs the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and leaves it unsettled
but also agitates the nations against each other.

Underlining the importance of conflict-sensitive reporting and agreeing
with Geybullayeva that “journalists should add more salt and pepper,
rather than wood, to the fire,” Sargis Khandanyan, a young journalist
working for Yerevan-based Civilnet, is suspicious about the current
state of media, as he does not think that journalists contribute to
the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

“On the contrary, journalism and journalists are being used as tools
for propaganda, hence they are somehow victims of that propaganda.

However, journalists can form an image of reality on both sides,
presenting it ‘close to reality’,” Khandanyan said, in an interview
with Today’s Zaman, adding that conflict-sensitive journalism is a
must for journalists covering the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but
unfortunately only a few journalists are aware and make balanced
stories using wording that is acceptable to both sides.

Khandanyan and Geybullayeva, along with 16 other Armenian and
Azerbaijani journalists, came together for the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict-aware journalism program held on Jan. 11-17 by the Imagine
Center for Conflict Transformation, which has been organizing
Azerbaijani-Armenian dialogue projects since 2007 that aim to
positively transform relations between the two nations and bring
lasting and sustainable peace in both conflict-torn societies.

Rizvan Huseynov, an Azerbaijani journalist and historian, underlines
the role of journalism in all sociopolitical processes of the world.

However, he thinks that it has a strong influence on the coverage of
conflicts, as “any incorrect wording, comments or aggressive rhetoric
might lead to greater confrontation and bloodshed.”

“That’s why journalists who are reporting about conflicts should
undergo certain training in which they the learn the skills of
conflict-sensitive journalism. Only after learning these skills can
journalists avoid provocative coverage of the conflict and find topics
that can ease the confrontation between the sides. Personally, from
my own experience, I can say that journalistic courses and training
allowed me to do less harm and instead learn more and contribute to
the reconciliation between our peoples,” Huseynov said, speaking with
Today’s Zaman.

Another Armenian participant in the program, Aghavni Harutyunyan,
who is also known as an analyst for the AZG daily, thinks that
journalists can contribute to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict only if they do their job professionally and do not become
tools of propaganda.

“With no wish to judge the journalists working in Armenia and
Azerbaijan, I can only hold up my own experience as a basis for
assessment, with the conclusion that nothing is done perfectly. Doing
a better job, being sensitive to conflict-related issues and paying
more attention to our wording will be affected by an understanding
coming from conflict-sensitive journalism,” Harutyunyan said.

SARKISIAN’S $186,000 ‘REJUVENATION TREATMENT’ IN SOUTH KOREA

Friday, January 24th, 2014

A screenshot from the website of the South Korean newspaper “Chosun
Ilbo”

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-President Serzh Sarkisian has undergone stem cell
therapy in South Korea aimed at rejuvenating his body, a Korean
newspaper revealed on Friday.

The daily “Chosun Ilbo” reported that Sarkisian became this month the
first foreign head of state to receive treatment at Chaum Center,
a rejuvenation clinic located in the city of Gangnam. A photograph
published by it showed him seated in a medical armchair and surrounded
by South Korean doctors, his chief bodyguard and Ara Abrahamian,
a Russian-Armenian businessman.

“The group visited Chaum every day during their weeklong stay here
and had treatment including stem cell therapy, spa and anti-aging
therapy, body polishes and massages and weight-control programs,”
wrote the paper. It said the treatment which lasted from January 9-17
cost around $186,000, a sum exceeding Sarkisian’s annual salary.

The Armenian president’s press office did not immediately comment on
the revelation.

That Sarkisian has had stem cell therapy was first suggested last week
by the Yerevan newspaper “Haykakan Zhamanak,” which quoted unnamed
sources close to the Armenian government. Sarkisian press secretary,
Arman Saghatelian, dismissed this as “ludicrous gossips” in comments
to A1Plus.am on Tuesday.

Saghatelian also shrugged off suggestions that the Armenian leader
may have health problems. The spokesman for ruling Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK), Eduard Sharmazanov, likewise insisted on Friday
that Sarkisian is “very healthy.”

Sarkisian officially went on vacation on January 7. The presidential
administration said at the time that he will spend it in an unspecified
foreign state. It gave no details.

ARMENBROK: BY KEEPING SILENCE PENSION FUNDS TRAMPLE INTERESTS OF FUTURE PENSIONERS IN ARMENIA

by Elita Babayan

Friday, January 24, 17:35

The silence of the pension funds empowered to manage the pension assets
runs counter to the future pensioners’ interests, Aram Kayfajyan, CEO
at Armenbrok Investment Company, has told ArmInfo when commenting on
the fact that most citizens are unaware of the important components
of the accumulative pension system.

“We are seriously concerned with the silence of the pension funds.

Many expect them to be active, to appear in the mass media and to
provide detailed information of their strategic plans. This behavior
of the funds can be explained either by their indifference to the
small Armenian market or by the lack of skilled personnel in the
country. I think the presence of foreign specialists, i.e. analysts
and senior managers, would enhance public confidence in these funds”,
says Kayfajyan.

According to Kayfajyan, both funds are nevertheless the leading players
in the European market of trust management of retirement savings and
manage rather big assets. This causes confidence in their activity.

The expert has cleared up numerous future pensioners’ fears concerning
possible disappearance of the pension assets. “Most fears expressed by
those against the accumulative system are hypothetic and only two of
them have an economic basis, particularly, the high level of pension
contributions (5%) and possible perturbations in the economy such as
default or hyperinflation. “The latter is linked with the long-term
effect of the pension reform. Theoretically, it is possible, because
the economic situation of any country may considerably change within
the next 20-30 years amid regular crises”, says the expert. However,
he stresses that Armenia, which has accumulated a big foreign debt,
faces no prospect of default.

Concerning the size of pension contributions, Kayfajyan says that
in some developing countries it is quite low. In some countries it
changes depending on economic conditions.

Almost 7,000 people gathered in Liberty Square on Jan 19 to express
their protest against the compulsory accumulative pension system. They
marched to the building of the Constitutional Court and demanded
that the court revoke the law that imposes the system. The court is
to decide on Saturday, Jan 25.

The voluntary accumulative pension system was introduced in Armenia
on Jan 1 2011. The system will become compulsory starting Jan 1 2014.

According to the bill, the minimal pension in the country will be
equal to the minimum wage, while the basic pension will total 150%
of the minimum wage. The compulsory accumulative pension system will
apply to the citizens born after Jan 1 1974 (the citizens below 40).

Starting Jan 1 2014, 5% of their salaries will be transferred to
their personal accumulative accounts. The government will transfer
a similar amount (but no more than 25,000 drams). It is noteworthy
that 6.6%-13% and not 5% of the monthly wages will be charged, as
the charges will be made from the so-called “brutto-salary.” On 15
November the Republican Party boycotted the extraordinary meeting
of the Parliament over the issue. Later on 21 November, an action of
protest was held in front of the Government against the pension reform.

Starting from Feb 2014 pension assets in Armenia will be managed by
Amundi from France (subsidiary of Societe Generale (20%) and Credit
Agricole (80%)) and C-Quadrat from Germany. During the first year
the assets will make up $100mln. Amundi’s assets total $1.3tln,
C-Quadrat’s assets $500bln.

KATIA PELTEKIAN ON `THE BRITISH RESPONSE TO THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES OF 1914-1923′

Yerepouni News
Jan 25 2014

JANUARY 24, 2014

On the occasion of the publication of her encyclopedic work `The
Times of the Armenian Genocide: Reports in the British Press’, author
Katia Peltekian, gave an engaging lecture on `The British Response to
the Armenian Massacres of 1914-1923′, on Thursday, January 23, 2014,
at the Cultural Hour of Haigazian University.

In her welcoming address, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
Dr. Arda Ekmekji, acknowledged the documentations carried out by
expatriate diplomats, namely from the United States and Great Britain,
who reported to their governments the atrocities taking place during
the genocide. Ekmekji also appreciated the painful task carried out by
Ms. Peltekian in collecting all the information related to the
Armenian Genocide in the British press, and compiling it in her new
book.

Peltekian, who has been engaged in teaching English in numerous
universities since 1987, began her lecture by stating that many
Armenian History and Genocide scholars give much attention to the
American response to the massacres perpetrated by the Turks, rather
than to the British reaction, although Britain had been politically,
socially and commercially present in the Ottoman Empire for more than
a century. In her presentation, Peltekian highlighted both the
official and public response to the massacres & deportations of the
Armenians as well as the Armenian Question during the peace
negotiations.

The first part of the lecture demonstrated a few samples of the
British parliamentary discussions and debates in the House of Lords
and the House of Commons. Although Britain was involved in the war
from the very beginning, and endured destruction and many casualties,
the official circle still found time to show its support to the
Armenian people in their dire situation. Peltekian presented some of
the proceedings of meetings in the Houses of Parliament during which
reports on the ongoing massacres were confirmed by the Foreign office,
and on a number of occasions, the British government avowed that the
Armenians would never be left under Turkish rule. But despite all
those promises, Britain at the end submitted to the Turkish demands
and abandoned Armenia.

The second part of the lecture demonstrated the British public’s
reaction to the appalling situation that the Armenians lived in.
Peltekian referred to letters and announcements by a number of funds
and organizations that were established to help the Armenian
survivors, refugees and orphans, such as the Friends of Armenia, the
Canterbury Mission, the Women’s Armenian Relief Fund, the Manchester
Relief Fund, and the Armenian Refugee Fund, which was established by
the Lord Mayor of London. Finally, Peltekian also demonstrated a
number of announcements placed in the newspapers calling for donations
to help the Armenian refugees and survivors.

At the end of her lecture, Peltekian answered questions by the audience.

Turkey attaches importance to teaching Armenian

January 25, 2014 | 16:41

President Metin Hülagü of the Turkish Historical Society in Ankara
stated that they underscore the teaching of Armenian in Turkey not
solely ahead of, but also following 2015.

The university students and the writers of scholarly works in Turkey
continue to show an interested in the Armenian language, Hülagü told
Anadolu news agency of Turkey.

He noted that they begun the teaching of Armenian not only in the
lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

`We attach importance to the teaching of Armenian also in the
long-term projects,’ Metin Hülagü added.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Armenian Government approves bill on excise stamps

16:45 – 23.01.14

The executive approved at its Thursday meeting a bill on issuing
excise stamps for all packaged products manufactured in Armenia.

Introducing the measure, Minister of Finance David Sargsyan said it
proposes making excise labels mandatory for dairy products,
manufactured meat, fish products, vinegar etc.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, a deputy head of the
State Revenue Committee, Vakhtang Pirumyan, said he doesn’t think the
proposed legislation is likely to cause a surge on the market.

`I don’t think it will cause social problems; the thing is that the
labeling of goods has helped reveal an increase in their declared
volumes. The Government-adopted trend requires a phase-by-phase
declaration of products. I think it is more important for the
businesses to accurately declare their realization volumes and to
fulfill their tax duties correspondingly,’ he explained.

The bill will be submitted to the National Assembly for a further consideration.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Does Armenia Give Up Minsk Group?

During the meeting with the Azerbaijani foreign minister and the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs Armenia’s foreign minister, according to the
press release of the foreign ministry, drew the attention of the
co-chairs to Azerbaijan’s military provocations, which he described as
neglect towards the co-chairs, as well a factor impeding the
settlement.

The official release does not specify whether Nalbandyan said that to
the co-chairs in the presence of Mammedyarov or during his separate
meeting with the co-chairs. There are no details about the answer of
the co-chairs.

Everyone is aware of their public evaluations. These evaluations are
mostly general. Of course, very often the messages between the lines
or the underwater part of the iceberg, and the addressee of the
statement either understands who the general statement is addressed to
or if it does not understand, they make it clear through other ways.
However, one cannot notice that they are trying to convey something to
Azerbaijan, it does not understand and they are trying to explain it
in another way.

Moreover, the impression is that Yerevan is sitting in front of the
mirror and complaining to its own reflection. There is no need to be
surprised. Yerevan, for example, dared complain to CSTO of actions of
its members that are not in line with its interests. However, Yerevan
was ignored, and Russia continues its trade with Baku, and CSTO
Secretary General Borduzha announces that all CSTO members have
dissatisfactions with one another.

If Yerevan’s grievances are ignored in the alliance which is
considered the guarantor of its security, how about elsewhere? By the
way, Azerbaijan has been keeping the border villages of Armenia, which
is the territory of CSTO, under constant firing whereas CSTO has not
uttered a single word on this. In addition, Armenia has not brought up
this issue in CSTO either.

It would not be a surprise if the American and French co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group, plus NATO and the EU announce that we should first
complain to and demand action by the alliance which has declared
itself the guarantor of our security.

And while Yerevan conducts an in-front-of-the-mirror foreign policy,
Azerbaijan continues its own policy a component of which is commando
attacks.

The Armenian side describes those attacks as attempts to thwart the
settlement. If the Armenian diplomats really think so, they must be
diplomatically insane or infantile.

The point is that Azerbaijan with its military provocations does not
thwart the negotiations and the settlement but it is its style of
negotiation and settlement. It is using these methods to gain
advantage in the talks, create a basis for new claims, create a
situation in which it will trade off commandoes in return for
something else. Baku this tries to change the state of things and the
balance of forces in the process called settlement.

Yerevan does not oppose. Moreover, in response to all this Yerevan
appears before the international community as an utterly irresponsible
subject which cannot be a reliable partner because it does not have
its own policy and its policy is an annex to Moscow’s foreign policy.
On September 3 Yerevan proved this.

In other words, Armenia stops being a party to the negotiations as a
sovereign state. It actually creates an emergency situation in this
process. And the process is part of a bigger thing than just the
settlement of the issue of Artsakh. Moreover, the settlement of the
issue itself was a rod supporting the format of the Minsk Group while
the group dealt with a broader scope of economic and political issues,
acting as a unique bilateral platform for Russia, France and the
United States.

However, if Armenia waives its right to foreign policy, proportions
will change considerably, and the axis of the Minsk Group will be
endangered. It is not accidental that Turkey and Azerbaijan did not
try to set the issue of Artsakh against the membership of Armenia
against the Customs Union. They did not need to hinder Armenia’s
membership to continue to dissolve the axis of the Minsk Group. After
all, Turkey and Azerbaijan have been doing everything to change the
format of the Minsk Group. What Turkey and Azerbaijan failed to do so
far are now doing together with the governments of Armenia and Russia
under a funny wording on enhancing Armenia’s security. One can judge
how security of Armenia has been enhanced by Azerbaijan’s continuous
brazen behavior and calmness.

Hakob Badalyan,Political Commentator
19:28 25/01/2014
Story from Lragir.am News:

Armenia’s Human Rights Activists Join Forces to Launch Human Rights House

01.25.2014 16:10 epress.am

This year marks the launch of Human Rights House Yerevan, which unites
11 NGOs in Armenia working in the area of human rights protection. A
Memorandum of Agreement was signed by the member organizations on Jan.
24 at the Public Information and Need of Knowledge NGO (PINK Armenia)
office in Yerevan. Their goal is to unite the efforts of member
organizations and promote cooperation among not only member NGOs, but
also other NGOs in Armenia working to protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms.

Human Rights House Yerevan is preparing to open its physical office
space in April. Anyone whose rights have been violated can contact
Human Rights House Yerevan for information or legal assistance.

Members of Human Rights House Yerevan are as follows:
Asparez Journalists’ Club
Democracy Today
Ensuring Equal Rights
Helsinki Association for Human Rights
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor Office
Public Information and Need of Knowledge (PINK Armenia)
Real World, Real People
Rule of Law
Shahkhatun (Wives of Political Prisoners in Armenia)
Socioscope Social Studies Research and Counselling Center
Women’s Resource Center Armenia