Author: Babajanian Karo

HERITAGE PARTY REP: AUTHORITIES MUST RESPOND TO ZORI BALAYAN’S LETTER TO VLADIMIR PUTIN

by Ashot Safaryan
Wednesday, October 16, 16:37

Armenian authorities must respond to Zori Balayan’s letter to Vladimir
Putin, otherwise it will mean that all this was planned and organized
with their knowledge. Armen Martirosyan, Deputy Head of the Heritage
Party Board, made such statement in a press conference, Wednesday.

To recall, on 12 October publicist and writer Zori Balayan addressed
a 17-page open letter to President of Russia Vladimir Putin. In his
letter, the publicists dwells upon the history of Nagorno Karabakh,
Armenia, and the entire region, along with the groundless claims
of Azerbaijan and Turkey regarding Karabakh. Further in the letter,
Balayan invites Putin to visit Artsakh to make sure that his words
are true and that the decision adopted by the Soviet authorities in
1921 was unlawful.

After the letter was made public, media outlets and the entire web
was flooded with harsh criticism addressed to Balayan and allegations
of betrayal, Russophilia, and an intention to give Karabakh to Russia.

Meanwhile, Balayan denies the allegations and says his letter contain
no single word about giving Karabakh to Russia.

Martirosyan thinks that the letter expresses the personal views of
the publicists. He considers the letter as evidence of the negative
processes around Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. “I am against ‘inviting’
Russia to Nagorno Karabakh. We gain victory paying a high price in
blood, and will never give Karabakh to anyone. I am expecting the
authorities to give an exact and explicit response and condemnation
from the authorities. Otherwise, we will make sure again that we deal
with a group of usurpers who seek personal benefits,” Martirosyan said.

ATP USES VIDEO AND DESIGN TO SPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

The Building Bridges newsletter was illustrated by Alik Arzoumanian

WATERTOWN-Can two teenagers living 7,000 miles away from each other
create a solution to one of the world’s environmental problems?

American-born Armen never dreamed he would find what he discovers in
Armenia, and he counts on his cousin Nuneh living in a small village
to carry out his far-fetched plan.

This is the premise of Armenia Tree Project’s new film, “Something
New,” which was produced as part of the Building Bridges education
program. This is the fourth year of ATP’s innovative program to
introduce its environmental education material in Armenian schools
across North America. “Building Bridges: Connecting Diaspora Armenian
Students with Their Environmental Heritage” is funded by a grant from
the Thomas A. Kooyumjian Family Foundation.

“The making of ‘Something New’ was a collaborative effort that
involved people from all over the world. We hope that because it
was filmed in both the US and in Armenia, students will have a more
profound understanding about the state of the environment in Armenia,”
says Sarah Hayes, Building Bridges manager and executive producer of
the film.

“Something New” was directed by Kennedy Wheatley, assistant film
professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Tanner
Boyajian served as cinematographer and his brother Hunter Boyajian
acted as sound editor. It will be screened at Armenian schools
in North America and internationally. It is available online
at:armeniatree.org/somethingnew

Armen is played by AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian student Peter
Deirbadrossian, and his onscreen cousin, Nuneh, is played by Tatevik
Ghumashyan from Margahovit’s Secondary School in Margahovit, Armenia.

In addition to the film, ATP has published a series of colorful
newsletters for schoolchildren ages 8-12 and has distributed
thousands of copies to schools throughout the US. The new fourth
edition of the newsletter is a collaboration among project manager
Sarah Hayes, environmental education consultant Nayiri Haroutunian,
and award-winning illustrator Alik Arzoumanian.

“The first three editions of the newsletter primarily focused on
trees. This edition addresses another issue that you’ve probably
noticed if you have visited Armenia,” explains Hayes. “Armenia is
known for its beautiful landscapes and natural beauty, but even some
of its most popular tourist sites are affected by trash and littering.

This newsletter deals with trash and recycling as a way of promoting
environmental awareness and stewardship.”

The fourth edition of the Building Bridges newsletter is being
distributed to schoolchildren in the US and is available online here.

“ATP’s Building Bridges program fosters the idea that if our youth
become more aware of the environment in Armenia, they will feel more
connected to their own homeland. By feeling more connected to their
heritage, they will understand the similarities and differences
of our cultures and thus be more compassionate to make change,”
concludes Hayes.

ATP’s mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees
to improve their standard of living and protect the environment,
guided by the desire to promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the
fewest resources first, and conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP’s
three major programs are tree planting, environmental education,
and sustainable development initiatives. For more information, please
visit the website

FLORENZI: ITALY’S PERFORMANCE WAS UPSETTING

Forza Italian Football, Italy
Oct 16 2013

Italy midfielder Alessandro Florenzi has admitted that the Azzurri
did not perform up to their usual standards after a disappointing
2-2 draw with Armenia on Tuesday night.

The 22-year-old scored his first goal for the senior side in the match,
but conceded that the result was on the forefront of his thoughts.

“The start of the match was not great as we weren’t able to implement
our play,” he told Rai Sport.

“We began to play after Armenia took the lead. I think the result is
a bit misleading. The crowd played their part and we tried to give
our best but we are upset at not having picked up the win.

“The controversy with Balotelli over the past few days? When we are
on the pitch we leave everything behind.

“I am happy with my goal but it is upsetting to see a top seeding
for the World Cup in doubt. I have to thank [Lorenzo] Insigne for
the goal as he gave me a great pass.

“Ugly showing against Armenia? It wasn’t our best performance and we
are upset at not having played our best match.

“Roma-Napoli? It will be a great match, it will be a battle on
the pitch. From Napoli I fear Insigne, he is even better [Gonzalo]
Higuain.”

NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS MAY AFFECT ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

Wednesday,
October
16

The nationalist movements in Russia may affect Armenian-Russian
relations in a political sense, especially after Armenia announced
its decision to join the Customs Union. Political scientist Hrant
Melik-Shahnazarian expressed such an opinion at a meeting with
reporters today, when speaking about the recent nationalist riots
in Russia.

In his words, the nationalist ideology and movements are not something
new – these feelings are pent up for years and occasionally people
give vent to them for some reason or other.

Commenting on the recent stabbing death in Moscow, in which an
Azerbaijani is a suspect, and the subsequent actions of nationalists,
H. Melik-Shahnazarian noted that Russian law enforces used the wrong
mechanism to calm passions.

“Use of force only increases xenophobia”, the political scientist said,
adding that the nationality of a criminal (Azerbaijani, Armenian,
or Georgian) makes no difference to Russian society, so each such
crime becomes a problem for all the ethnic minorities.

We would remind you that he killing of Yegor Shcherbakov, 25, unleashed
earlier this week the worst race riots Moscow has seen in three years
and nationalists threatened further protests in areas populated by
migrant workers from ex-Soviet Central Asia and Caucasus states.

Police said they had detained a native of Azerbaijan, Orhan Zeynalov,
who is suspected of fatally stabbing Shcherbakov in front of his
girlfriend while they were walking home on Thursday night.

The murder triggered the riots in Moscow’s southern Biryulyovo
district, where Shcherbakov was attacked.

Police said Zeynalov resisted special forces when they tried to
detain him in Kolomna, a small town outside Moscow, Russian news
agencies reported.

Tensions simmer in Moscow between disenchanted ethnic Russian youths
and labor migrants mostly from predominantly Muslim ex-Soviet states.

Hundreds of nationalists gathered near a shopping centre in southern
Moscow, Russian wires said, to protest against Shcherbakov’s killing in
what was promoted online by nationalists as an “Answer to Eid al-Adha.”

City police official Oleg Sigunov was quoted by RIA as saying that
276 young people had been detained on their way to the protest.

TODAY, 17:28

Aysor.am

OUTPOST OR A STATE?

October 16 2013

Zori Balayan is interesting not by himself, but by the fact that he
is the expression of our political thought in some direction. This
direction, in its turn, reflects some of the sentiments of our people.

More precisely, as follows: for decades, Russian and Soviet Empire
were conducting certain advocacy through such writer-publicists. This
advocacy was directed not only to Armenians but also all the peoples
of the empire, simply in our case, due to a variety of reasons, it
fell on a fertile ground and formed the mood of part of Armenians,
which, in turn, gives a certain social order to our figures. The
connection, as they say, is dialectical. This sense of this advocacy,
manner of thinking, and direction political mind is the following:
we need to explain to superstates (not necessarily to Russia) that
we are good and fair, that we have suffered in vain throughout the
history, that looking at us with “a good eye” generates from the
interests of superstates, and we, will, as a compensation to it, will
serve it to our best, and will be its outpost. Naturally, under this
logic, it is necessary to write open letters to all the mighty of
the world, first and foremost, of course, to the Russian tsars. The
history has repeatedly proved the bankruptcy of this approach, the
absence of having your independent game (of course, which takes into
account the realities, of course, “with the size of your blanket”)
results in your becoming a very uninteresting to everyone. As, in the
present case, if Artsakh is Russia’s problem, the Azeri and others
should have to deal not with us, but Russia. In other words, you are
voluntarily depriving yourself from being a factor. Fortunately, in
1988-1994, the “Karabakh” Committee was far from that delusion. It
seems that the Republican Party should be the most to rebel against
Zori Balayan’s approaches. Ashot Navasardayn was even criticizing the
“Karabakh” Committee and the Armenian National Movement for not being
sufficiently independent. It is obvious, however, that the Republican
Party has nothing to do with Ashot Navasardyan, nor with Nzhdeh’s
ideas, current Republicans mind their money, and business, and have
no viewpoint about any issue. But those who do not agree with Zori
Balayan’s viewpoints, who are followers of a healthy, pragmatic and
state approaches should blame not so much on the writer-publicist
or the Republican Party, as much as on them. In other words, on all
of us. In 22 years, we could not inject state dignity, a sense of
responsibility for your own destiny in our people, the society. If
you could, no one would have paid attention to Zori Balayan’s letter.

Aram Abrahamyan

Read more at:

MP: LATVIA BACKS PEACEFUL KARABAKH SETTLEMENT WITHIN AZERBAIJAN’S INTEGRITY

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 15 2013

15 October 2013, 11:43 (GMT+05:00)

By Sara Rajabova

A Latvian lawmaker has said his country supports a peaceful settlement
of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the
framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and this was stated
recently at the UN General Assembly session, Azertag news agency
reported.

Romans Naudins, a member of the Latvian-Azerbaijani parliamentary
cooperation group, who visited Azerbaijan shortly before the October
9 presidential elections, said the policy of double standards of
the international community hinders a settlement of the long-lasting
conflict.

The 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. The
UN Security Council’s four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have
not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE
Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The
negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

Naudins expressed concern that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
poses major hurdles not only for the South Caucasus region but also
the stability of the entire Europe as reliable energy supply routes
are extremely important for the EU countries.

Naudins said Azerbaijan contributes significantly to the strengthening
of Europe’s energy security. The conflict also has a strong negative
impact on Armenia’s economy, given that Armenia has been sidelined from
the largest regional projects initiated and implemented by Azerbaijan,
he added.

He also said that next year will see the 20th anniversary of the
diplomatic relations between Latvia and Azerbaijan. According to him,
the two countries closely cooperate within international organizations,
and bilateral relations within the Eastern Partnership program are
efficient.

Naudins said there is every opportunity to develop bilateral
relations. He added that the Latvian-Azerbaijani parliamentary
cooperation group is ready to contribute to strengthening the
partnership between the two countries.

ARMENIA TO CUT BUDGET PAYMENTS FOR COMMUNITIES

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Oct 15 2013

15 October 2013 – 12:40pm

The Armenian government plans to cut the budget for Armenian
communities, Aykakan Zhamanak reports.

According to the Mayor’s Office of Kapan, the population of the city
totals 45,200 residents, the National Statistical Service gives a
figure of 37,600.

The National Statistical Service two years ago that the population
of Kapan totaled 62,000 people, thus dropping by 40% since. Aykakan
Zhamanak believes that it would be fair to use the city as an example
for all Armenia and calculates that the real population of Armenia has
dropped from 3.2 million two years ago to 2 million today, excluding
the migration factor.

The Armenian government plans to cut the budget for Armenian
communities, Aykakan Zhamanak reports.

According to the Mayor’s Office of Kapan, the population of the city
totals 45,200 residents, the National Statistical Service gives a
figure of 37,600.

The National Statistical Service two years ago that the population
of Kapan totaled 62,000 people, thus dropping by 40% since. Aykakan
Zhamanak believes that it would be fair to use the city as an example
for all Armenia and calculates that the real population of Armenia has
dropped from 3.2 million two years ago to 2 million today, excluding
the migration factor.

CRISIS GROUP ON THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

New Eastern Europe
Oct 15 2013

Author: Michael Kambeck .

Syria and Iran currently dominate our agenda, but the nearby
developments between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the conflict area
of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) have become increasingly worrying. This
so-called frozen conflict shows clear signs of unfreezing and
has the potential to unleash a much larger scale of warfare,
including geo-political tectonic shifts and human suffering. Now,
the International Crisis Group (ICG), a key NGO flagging conflict
warnings worldwide, has published a new report on this conflict in
the South Caucasus. “Terms like ‘Blitzkrieg’, ‘pre-emptive strike’
and ‘total war’ have gained currency with both sides’ planners,” the
report’s authors say, although war scenarios are much more dominant
in the Azerbaijani public than in Armenia.

Misusing conflict to distract from internal problems

The report is very timely, and considers potential unrest in both
countries. Azerbaijan’s presidential elections which have just passed,
although most observers expected a staged renewal of the Aliyev
family’s autocratic rule, may inspire uprisings. Armenia’s decision
to join the Russian-dominated Customs Union may also provoke internal
unrest, the ICG assume, and both countries may be tempted to use
the NK conflict to distract from their internal problems. Previous
elections in Azerbaijan have produced heightened military tensions
on the border with Armenia and NK. Yet Armenia’s internal situation
with the next elections due in 2017 seems incomparable and large-scale
unrest unlikely. Russia’s reinforced strategic partnership with Armenia
could even prevent a possible war. These ICG conclusions, therefore,
try too hard to see parallels where actually the situations differ.

They call upon the international community to work with the sides to
maintain a “quiet period during which both sides dial down rhetoric”,
to avoid accidental war. The report recommends re-establishing a
“crisis hotline” in order to lessen chances of a military escalation
and an efficient arms embargo regime for the conflict zone. These
positive suggestions have been put forward by the expert community
from time to time, including the book Europe’s next avoidable war –
Nagorno-Karabakh (Palgrave, 2013).

No confidence, no peace?

The report’s weakness is the attempt to balance out the unbalanced.

For example, the authors criticise Azerbaijan for being the driving
force in the arms race, for their regular hate speeches, including
those by President Ilham Aliyev, and for the extradition of the axe
murderer Ramil Safarov from Hungary and his immediate pardon and
public glorification in Baku as an anti-Armenian hero. The ICG report
additionally notes the NK authorities’ intention to re-launch civilian
flights between their Stepanakert Airport and Yerevan, a project which
would reduce transportation times, but not change anything else with
respect to current road transport. It would have been better to point
out this imbalance: both sides in the conflict clearly could do more
for peace, but currently mainly one side publicly works against it.

However, the report is a comprehensive resource for all the key facts,
even providing its own original sources, and admits that “since
mediation efforts have stalled, Baku has increasingly emphasised a
military solution, publicly and privately.”

The authors analyse that “time is neither side’s ally”; and this
is correct. For Azerbaijan, the arms race is based on the country’s
massive oil and gas revenues, which analysts say have already peaked.

For Armenia and NK, the economic costs of the isolation orchestrated
by Turkey and Azerbaijan make it difficult to keep up in this arms
race. While these points explain the urgency for action, they do
not provide for an artificial balance: Armenia has no incentive to
start any military adventure, while Azerbaijan is even creating such
incentives for itself, in particular by impeding the OSCE’s Minsk
Group mediations. During the years, these mediations have produced a
road map for peace already agreed by both sides’ foreign ministers,
for the summit in Kazan (in 2011), as well as a list of confidence
building measures (CBMs). However, President Aliyev renounced the road
map negotiated by his foreign minister in Kazan, effectively stalling
the deal, and Baku still refuses all proposed CBMs, demanding that
NK first withdraw from the buffer zone, which is actually one point
contained in the road map Aliyev rejected. In this way, Baku torpedoes
the Minsk Group process and then complains about its ineffectiveness –
all the while accelerating its arms acquisitions and declaring that
even Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, is allegedly positioned on “ancient
Azeri soil”.

A question of leverage

The urgency of CBMs cannot be underlined enough. The ICG mentions NK’s
recent call for cooperation regarding the Sarsang water reservoir,
which Baku again turned down. This reservoir could be misused by
either side to cause a military escalation, for example through acts
of sabotage. Re-establishing the hotline connection and denouncing
the propaganda of hate are also vital components to allow for a
breakthrough in the peace process. The question will be how the
international community, especially the European Union, can exercise
leverage on the side that so far blocks these CBMs, i.e. Azerbaijan.

Waiting for a change of government in Baku may take too long.

Azerbaijani lobbyists are currently re-floating an idea in Brussels
to condition the EU’s Association Agreements (AA) to progress in the
NK conflict resolution, knowing that Azerbaijan does not seek an AA
and that Baku would thus receive a veto over Armenia’s relations
with the EU. However, reformulated, this idea could work. First,
it must include all sorts of agreements that the EU negotiates
with both sides, including the energy partnership that Azerbaijan
currently seeks with the EU. Secondly, the country in question needs
to be able to fulfil the conditions alone, without depending on the
other conflict party in its relationship with the EU. For example,
the EU could help establish the Minsk Group’s proposed investigation
mechanism for shooting incidents, even deploy observers. This CBM,
accomplishable by each conflict party alone, could be a condition
for contractual agreements with the EU.

Michael Kambeck is co-founder of European Friends of Armenia and
its Secretary General. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the
University of Bonn and an MA in European Studies from the University
of Leeds.

RUSSIAN POLICE DETAIN AZERI MURDERER AMID ANTI-IMMIGRANT RIOTS

October 15, 2013 – 19:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Police in Moscow say a suspect in the murder that
recently sparked violent clashes between antimigrant protesters and
police has been detained, RFE/RL reported.

Police in the Russian capital announced hours earlier that Orhan
Zahid-oglu Zeynalov of Azerbaijan was wanted for the killing last
week of a 25-year-old Muscovite in the neighborhood of Biryulyovo.

That death stoked ethnic tensions and brought Russian nationalists
into the streets for a demonstration on October 13 that devolved into
lawlessness hours later, as bands of young men broke shop windows
and overturned cars.

A total of 23 people, including eight police officers, were injured
when some of those rioters stormed a vegetable warehouse in Moscow’s
Biryulyovo district, where Zeynalov reportedly worked.

After news that police were seeking an Azerbaijani national in
connection with the killing on October 15, a spokesman for Azerbaijan’s
Interior Ministry said authorities there were ready to help their
Russian colleagues find Zeynalov, if such help were requested.

“This person has never been wanted in Azerbaijan and is not on a
wanted-persons list now,” spokesman Ehsan Zahidov said. “[Moscow police
chief Anatoly Yakunin] claims that Russia addressed Azerbaijan asking
for help. I must say that up to this date, the Russian law-enforcement
agencies have not sent any request to the Interior Ministry of
Azerbaijan. None at all. Of course, if they file a request, we will
consider it.”

Aleksey Pronkin, a Moscow resident who shared an apartment with
Zeynalov, told journalists that Zeynalov was easily agitated and
could become aggressive.

Pronkin said that when he saw the closed-circuit footage of the
attacker on television, “I saw that was him…. The blue jacket was
also his. That was exactly his face there.”

Police detained some 1,200 migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus
at the vegetable warehouse in question on October 14.

The warehouse has been shut down temporarily by police.

The police chief in the Biryulyovo district, Gennady Kaverin, was
dismissed by the Moscow Interior Affairs Directorate on October 15.

TILMAN ALLERT ON ARMENIAN IDENTITY AND AUTHORITARIAN AZERBAIJAN

14:32, 15 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBE R15, ARMENPRESS. Armenia wants to join the Customs
Union and at the same time strives to Europe conditioned by “here and
there” principle, which is very characteristic of its identity. In a
conversation with “Armenpress” German sociologist Tilman Allert thus
explained the Europe-Eurasia dichotomy widely discussed in Armenia.

The sociologist tried to sum up the national, political, and social
peculiarities of the Armenians in his lecture titled “Sociological
Look on Armenia from Abroad”, which was delivered in the American
University.

In the public lecture Tilman Allert underscored: “Being a unique and
chosen nation is one of the main elements of the Armenian identity. A
number of tourists visit Matenadaran, which displays this nation’s
exceptionality. Mesrop Mashtots had a vision of the Armenian alphabet
in a dream, just like Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. In
case of the Armenians the religious identity is a significant element
of their ethnic identity.”

Among other things the German sociologist noted that while talking
about the Armenians one should not forget about the suffering they
had to face with. Sufferings, which were accompanied by continues
struggle for existence and strive for independence.

In addition Tilman Allert emphasized that only Armenia and Georgia
interest him in the South Caucasus, as Azerbaijan is an authoritarian
country, which he cannot accept.

Dr. Tilman Allert is a professor of sociology and social psychology at
J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt on Main, Germany. Professor Allert
also works as a practical sociologist. He consults companies like
Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn etc. This huge theoretical and practical
experience influences on Professor Allert’s books, some of those
are bestsellers translated to different languages. Professor Allert
is the author of “The Hitler Salute: on the Meaning of a Gesture”,
“The Family: Case studies on the non-destructibility of a social
praxis”, “Family, Milieu and Social Pedagogical Intervention” etc. He
also has a number of publications in famous German newspapers like
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, and “Neue Zurcher Zeitung”. Professor
Allert’s another field of interest is president’s biographies. He
held an interview with the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan several years ago. Dr. Allert has continuously contributed
to the development of sociological network in Armenia, as well as
in other South Caucasus countries, linked it to German sociological
school through organization of various training courses, seminars and
Summer Schools in the years 2007-2010. He is also planning to organize
another Summer School next year. In year 2010 Tilman Allert became
the winner of IPSC Institute for Political and Sociological Consulting
award winner. Professor is respected and well-known person in Yerevan.

Yerevan State University and IPSC are proud to host Professor Allert.

The topic of his public lecture organized by IPSC is “Sociological
Look on Armenia from Abroad”.

© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am