Author: Babajanian Karo

IS KRIVOPUSKOV’S COLLEAGUE A SPY?

The Mother Jones reported that the FBI suspects the head of the Russian
Scientific and Cultural Center in Washington (Rossotrudnichestvo)
Yuri Zaytsev of being a spy. The FBI finds that the center organized
trips to Russia for American citizens, allegedly for creating an
intelligence network.

Mother Jones informed referring to its sources that FBI had meetings
with Americans who somehow had contacts with Zaytsev. They told one
of them, Richard Portwood, that Zaytsev is a spu.

FBI refused to comment on this, and Zaytsev first agreed to hold an
interview but then he stopped communication.

The Russian embassy’s spokesman Yevgeniy Khorishko told RIA Novosti
that this publication evokes the period of the Cold War and intends
to blacken the Center and harm the relations of the two countries.

Not that there is a Rossotrudnichestvo Center in Armenia as well. It
is headed by the notorious Krivopuskov who used to be a commander of
Soviet internal forces deployed in Artsakh in 1990-1991 and implemented
together with OMON the “visa regime” against the Armenians of Artsakh.

13:28 24/10/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

PRIME MINISTER SARGSYAN: ‘EVEN A DEAD PERSON CAN REGISTER A COMPANY IN CYPRUS’

Grisha Balasanyan

17:59, October 23, 2013

The offshore scandal that Hetq first broke several months ago continues
to haunt Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, no matter how he tries to
wriggle free.

Yesterday, during a Q&A session at the National Assembly, opposition
HAK MP Levon Zurabyan again raised the issue of Sargsyan’s involvement
in an offshore company that allegedly siphoned millions of dollars
in loans.

Prime Minister Sargsyan, true to form, said that while he has already
responded to allegations of his involvement, nevertheless, he’s the
most interested to get to the bottom of the matter.

Sargsyan again argued that he never authorized anyone to register his
name for an offshore company and that he never travelled to Cyprus
during the time in question.

The prime minister said that the entire story was a fabrication
intended to defame him.

“The fact remains that a company can be registered in Cyprus using
anyone’s name. In fact, even dead people can go to Cyprus and register
a company. As we see, there are many ways to disparage officials,”
Sargsyan stated.

Levon Zurabyan responded that in the six months since the story broke,
nothing has been presented to refute the charges, and that keeping the
issue in the public spotlight isn’t aimed at disparaging the prime
minister but an attempt to “wipe away the dirt” that has smeared
the government.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING OF CIS FOREIGN MINISTERS IN MINSK

11:00 23.10.2013

CIS, Edward Nalbandian

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will leave for Minsk to
participate in the sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of
the CIS participating states on October 24, Press and Information
Department of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The Foreign Ministers of the CIS member states will discuss a broad
framework of issues related to the cooperation within the framework
of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN: WORDING ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IS IN CONTRADICTION TO EU’S POSITION

11:53 24/10/2013 ” POLITICS

The European Parliament adopted on Wednesday a resolution on “Eastern
Partnership,” which because of the doubtful efforts of some of the
parliamentarians of the European Parliament, contains wording on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. News.am asked Armenian Deputy Foreign
Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan to comment on that.

“In the EP resolution on “Eastern Partnership” the wording on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in contradiction to the European Union’s
official position, as well as to the positions of internationally
mandated format of mediation – the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Russia, USA and France.

Despite the fact that the above mentioned resolution is non-binding,
nonetheless independent of the motivations of the authors of that
wording, they should understand that they bear responsibility for its
possibly negative impact on the negotiation process and undermining
of the efforts of the Co-Chairs aimed at the peaceful settlement of
the conflict,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

Source: Panorama.am

SECURITY MEASURES BEING TAKEN ON BERD-IJEVAN ROAD – DEFENSE MINISTRY

12:40 24/10/2013 ” SOCIETY

The situation is relatively calm on Armenia-Azerbaijan border, in
Tavush area, the Armenian forces keep the situation under control,
Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told
Panorama.am.

The spokesman noted that following the latest Azeri shooting,
Berd-Ijevan road was closed and measures are being taken to ensure
its security.

On October 22, Azeri forces opened fire on cars driving by Berd-Ijevan
road, in Paravakar section, in Armenia’s Tavush province. Armenian
soldier Garik Poghosyan was killed. Three other soldiers were wounded.

“There is no tension now,” Hovhannisyan added.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIANS MAKE A SPLASH IN NEW YORK AT SHOAH GALA HONORING GEORGE CLOONEY

BY STAFF
– POSTED ON OCTOBER 19, 2013POSTED IN: ARMENIA, NEWS

By Tamar Mashigian

October 19, 2013

(New York, October 14, 2013) – More than

40 Armenians from around the U.S. attended the USC Shoah Foundation
Institute Gala hosted by Steven Spielberg and honoring actor George
Clooney on Oct. 3 at the American Museum of Natural History in New
York City.

Both Spielberg and Clooney graciously acknowledged to this writer and
other Armenians the presence of the Armenian contingent and guests
at the gala.

There were approximately 700 guests at the banquet, held in the
museum’s Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, also known as the Whale Room
because it features a replica of a 94-foot-long blue whale hanging
from the cavernous ceiling. When guests entered the banquet hall,
the cinematic lighting, with mottled blue colors swimming through the
space, gave the appearance of everything being underwater. The movie
“A Night at the Museum” was filmed in the same premises.

In the lobby of the museum, where guests milled during cocktail hour,
large screens played four film clips, one of them a short Shoah
Foundation documentary about the work of the late filmmaker Dr. J.

Michael Hagopian, who recorded the testimonies of 400 Armenian
eyewitnesses to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. When Barbara Gilmore,
who had worked with the documentary filmmaker for 40 years, introduced
herself to Clooney, he told her, “I know all about Hagopian.”

Hagopian’s filmed interviews of 400 Armenian Genocide survivors and
eyewitnesses will be integrated into Shoah’s Visual History Archive,
accessible online to 44 universities and institutions worldwide. The
Armenian Film Foundation, which Hagopian co-founded in 1979, is now
working with the USC Shoah Foundation to complete funding for the
indexing, cataloguing and integration of the Armenian testimonies
into the Visual History Archive by April 2015.

The day after the Shoah Foundation banquet, a lunch presentation on
the Armenian Genocide Testimonies project was held at the Columbia
Club in Manhattan. The lunch was hosted by Armen A. Avanessians,
Managing Director of The Goldman Sachs Group and a Member of the Board
of Trustees at Columbia University. Avanessians also is on the board
of directors for FAR (Fund for Armenian Relief).

Nearly all of the people who attended the Shoah Foundation gala
attended the lunch, including Southern Californians Antoinette
and Joanne Hagopian, Gary and Arsine Phillips, Paul and Sandra
Kalemkiarian, Deputy Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Amerian, USA
Armenian Life editor Appo Jabarian, Armenian Film Foundation board
chair Jerry Papazian, and this writer. Various prominent members
of the Armenian communities on the East Coast also were present,
including Nvair Beylerian, whose grandfather Anoush Krikorian is
in the AFF archive, Ambassador and Mrs. John Evans, and Edward and
Pamela Avedisian.

A special video on J. Michael Hagopian was presented at the Columbia
Club lunch along with videos about the Armenian Genocide testimonies
archive. Armenian Film Foundation board member and filmmaker Carla
Garapedian announced that the AFF has completed the digitization
of the Hagopian’s rare 16mm film collection, and she explained how
individual survivor interviews will be indexed and searchable online
via the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive.

“This is a new opportunity for Armenians,” Garapedian asserted.

“Armenians have traditionally invested in the core infrastructure
of our communities – schools and churches. The Digital Archive is a
new kind of investment. It is about reaching out to the non-Armenian
community – to Americans and the international community who do not
know about the Armenian Genocide. It’s about making these testimonies
accessible to the world.”

The USC Shoah Foundation is actively engaged in an international
fund-raising campaign to ensure completion of the integration of the
Armenian testimonies so that they can be presented to the world in
time for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, in April 2015.

Shoah’s Visual History Archive is the largest digital collection of
its kind in the world. The collection is available at 44 institutions
around the world, and approximately one million students, researchers,
teachers and lay people view the testimonies every year. In addition,
thousands of high school students across the country can view the
testimonies through IWitness, the USC Shoah Foundation’s educational
website.

For additional information about the Armenian Genocide Testimonies
project, please contact Sylvia Moskovitz at the USC Shoah Foundation –
[email protected] or (213)740-4991.

LES VETERANS DE GUERRE SE REUNISSENT AVEC LES PARTIS POLITIQUES SUR L’ETAT GENERAL DU PAYS

ARMENIE

Les veterans du Karabagh sont satisfaits de leurs rencontres avec des
representants de plus d’une douzaine de partis politiques, au cours
de laquelle ils ont suggere qu’un ” autre modèle de gouvernance sera
cree afin d’assurer la participation des populations dans la gestion
du pays “.

Cette aile de veterans de la guerre, par opposition a l’autre qui
exige seulement de meilleures conditions sociales pour eux et leurs
familles, a declare que le pays est sur le point de s’effondrer,
que des solutions sont necessaires pour l’empecher, des solutions
benefiques non seulement pour eux, mais la nation tout entière.

Le veteran de la guerre Suren Sargsyan a dit a la presse qu’ils avaient
demande aux representants des partis politiques de presenter leurs
evaluations ecrites de la situation dans le pays, sur la base duquel
ils feraient une declaration publique conjointe lors du prochain
rassemblement.

” Nous sommes tous a blâmer pour cette situation, y compris les
anciens combattants. Nous devons etre en mesure, pour une fois, de
tout mettre de côte et commencer a partir d’une nouvelle page. Le
format de la libre concurrence n’est pas respecte dans le pays, ce
qui signifie que les autorites n’ont pas 100 pour cent de certitude,
pas meme 70 a 80 pour cent, et c’est la que les autres problèmes
decoulent “, a declare Sarkissian, ajoutant qu’ils pourraient etre
bientôt rencontrer le president d’Armenie aussi.

Les anciens combattants tiennent des rassemblements sur la place de la
liberte a Erevan chaque jeudi envisagent de poursuivre les rencontres
avec les representants des partis. La première table ronde a reuni les
partis Heritage, le Congrès national armenien et des membres d’Armenie
prospère. Les Republicains au pouvoir n’ont pas ete invites, et la
Federation revolutionnaire armenienne n’a pas repondu a l’invitation.

En reference a la question de comment ils ont l’intention de forcer
les autorites a satisfaire leurs demandes, Sarkissian a declare :
” nous nous sommes assis avec tous les partis politiques et avons
discute d’une question et decide que, disons, les regions frontalières
de l’Armenie devraient etre exemptes de taxes et encourager les
investissements. Nous leura vons suggerer cela et ils sont obliges
de se conformer a nos exigences. Et s’ils ne le font pas, alors nous
n’avons plus rien a faire de plus ensemble, les partis doivent faire
appel aux gens pour s’unir, de rassembler sur la place et dire ”
Eh bien, maintenant il est temps pour vous de partir “.

Armen Martirosyan du parti Heritage, qui a pris part a la table ronde,
a declare a ArmeniaNow que la reunion a ete globalement positive,
les resultats reels ne peuvent toutefois qu’arriver que si les forces
politiques sont capables de s’unir et que la societe est capable de
faire preuve de volonte de se battre.

Par Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow

jeudi 24 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

ARMENIE : LE CHOIX D’UN ” CIEL OUVERT ”

Economie

Suivant les recommandations faites par un cabinet americain, le
gouvernement armenien a decide de liberaliser entièrement le secteur
de l’aviation civile nationale, plus de six mois après la faillite
de la compagnie aerienne nationale Armavia.

Le gouvernement a annonce que toutes les compagnies locales et
etrangères repondant aux normes de securite seront desormais autorises
a voler vers et depuis l’Armenie sans autorisations speciales ou
autres restrictions. ” Cela va creer de nouveaux emplois, rendre le
transport aerien plus confortable et reduire les tarifs “, a declare
le Premier ministre Tigran Sarkissian lors d’une reunion hebdomadaire
de son cabinet.

La decision historique annule une toute autre strategie qui a ete
approuvee par le gouvernement en juin. Cette dernière envisageait
une ” liberalisation progressive ” du secteur, dans lequel Armavia
devait etre remplacee par un maximum de trois compagnies aeriennes
armeniennes avec une certaine protection de l’Etat.

Des membres du cabinet de Sarkissian ont declare que le passage a une
politique a ” ciel ouvert ” a ete recommande une firme americaine,
qui avait ete mandatee par le gouvernement en juillet pour se pencher
sur le secteur et proposer des solutions pour le developper.

Armavia beneficie d’un droit exclusif pour les vols vers l’Europe,
l’ex-union sovietique et le Moyen-Orient depuis près de dix ans. Les
compagnies aeriennes etrangères devaient obtenir la permission
d’Armavia pour atterrir et decoller d’Armenie. Cela se traduisait
par un coût disproportionnellement eleve du transport aerien.

Sarkissian a averti que les effets tangibles de la liberalisation
du secteur se feront sentir dans un ou deux ans. Le ministre de
l’Economie Vahram Avanesian predit que les prix des billets vont
baisser de 10 % et que le trafic aerien augmentera d’au moins 20 %
au cours des prochains mois.

Avanesian a prevenu que la mesure aurait egalement un impact positif
sur l’economie armenienne dans son ensemble, rendant le pays plus
attrayant pour les investisseurs et les touristes etrangers. ” Dans
les moyen et long termes, cela pourrait conduire a une croissance
economique supplementaire de 1 a 2 % “, a-t-il ajoute.

La decision du gouvernement est tombee alors qu’Air Armenia, qui
aspire a remplacer Armavia, a effectue son vol inaugural commercial
de l’aeroport de Zvartnots d’Erevan. Son Boeing 737 a vole vers la
ville russe meridionale de Rostov-on-Don.

Des dirigeants d’Air Armenie ont declare que la compagnie privee va
louer deux Airbus 320 pour lancer des services de vols reguliers vers
plusieurs villes en Russie et en Europe avant la fin de l’annee.

Air Armenie a ete fondee il y a dix ans. La compagnie etait specialisee
dans le trafic de fret jusqu’a present.

jeudi 24 octobre 2013, Claire ©armenews.com

ANC-IL FUNDRAISER FEATURES HAMPARIAN

By Contributor // October 22, 2013

GLENVIEW, Ill.-On Sun., Oct. 6, a crowd of supporters of the Armenian
National Committee (ANC) of Illinois gathered at the home of Dr.

Khachig and Lena Ishkhan to hear about recent developments in Hai
Tahd at the local, regional, and national level.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian speaks at an ANC of Illinois
fundraiser at the home of Dr. Khachig and Lena Ishkhan on Oct. 6.

The featured speaker of the event was ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian, who discussed the various phases that Armenian political
activity has passed through. He described how Armenian political
activity began nearly a century ago when efforts were centered
around fostering sympathy, especially with regard to securing aid for
victims of the genocide and for Armenia’s fledgling republic. With
the Soviet takeover of the republic, Hamparian said, the community
entered a stage of partisanship, which peaked during the Cold War,
when different elements aligned themselves within the different poles.

Hamparian discussed how in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the community began
to take a more outward focus, organizing protests and becoming more
forceful in our demands. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the community grew
much active in lobbying efforts and influencing the decision-makers
within our government structures. More recently, the ANCA has tried to
expand the community’s reach by helping young Armenian Americans join
the government structures and eventually become the decision-makers.

He also described how the ANCA’s palette of issues has expanded beyond
human rights and the genocide, to demands for reparations, support for
Armenia, Karabagh, and Javakhk, and support for Armenian communities in
Iraq, Syria, and other areas in turmoil. He talked about the transition
of Armenia’s relationship with the U.S. from one that is aid-based
to one that is trade-based in order to help fuel economic growth.

Earlier, ANC of Illinois Chair Claude Ohanesian opened the program
by thanking everyone for attending. He then presented hosts Khachig
and Lena Ishkhan with a gift of a signed copy of the newly published
book One Church, One Nation by Hrair Hawk Khatcherian.

Reviewing some of the many activities of the ANC of Illinois, Ohanesian
spoke about the organization’s continuing efforts to raise awareness
about Armenian issues with local, state, and federal officials,
mentioning meetings with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, Armenian Caucus
Co-Chair Congressman Michael Grimm, Congressman Brad Schneider,
members of the Illinois State Assembly, and others.

Ohanesian also spoke about the ANC’s 2013 Armenian Genocide
commemoration, which was co-hosted by the Illinois Holocaust Museum
and featured noted author Peter Balakian. He also discussed continuing
efforts with the museum to mark the Centennial of Armenian Genocide.

He then introduced Illinois State Holocaust and Genocide Commission
member and long-time ANC activist Greg Bedian to provide an update
on the commission and other outreach activities.

Bedian, who was appointed to the commission by Gov. Quinn, described
the newly organized commission’s efforts to raise genocide awareness.

He spoke about how the commission was working to encourage the various
communities impacted by genocide to work more closely together and
learn from each other, and how the ANC had hosted a meeting of the
commission at the Armenian Community Center in March. He also discussed
the international academic conference held in May that was co-organized
by the ANC and the Assyrian and Greek communities, and held at the
Illinois Holocaust Museum. It was the first major conference ever
held devoted to the three genocides committed by the Ottoman Turks.

Upon conclusion of the program, attendees were given copies of the
book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, written
by Samantha Power, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The Armenian National Committee of Illinois is a grassroots public
affairs organization that works in coordination with a nationwide
network of offices, affiliated organizations, and supporters to inform,
educate, and actively advance the concerns of the Armenian-American
community on broad range of issues.

AZERBAIJAN`S RETALIATORY FIRE SILENCES ARMENIANS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 23 2013

23 October 2013, 12:15 (GMT+05:00)

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that subunits of the
Armenian Armed Forces were silenced with a retaliatory fire after
they shattered ceasefire with Azerbaijan on October 22-23, AzerTag
state news agency reported.

The Armenian Armed Forces started shooting from the nameless hills
of Ijevan region and Berkaber village of Armenia at the positions of
Azerbaijani Armed Forces in nameless hills and Gizilhacili village
of Gazakh region.

The Armenian forces also shot at the positions of Azerbaijani Armed
Forces from nameless hills of Goranboy region, the Defense Ministry
said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing
of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were
killed and over 1 million displaced as a result of the large-scale
hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh
and seven surrounding regions. Armenia continues the occupation in
defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate
and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S.

have produced no results so far.