Author: Babajanian Karo

43 657 VISITEURS SE SONT RENDUS A ANI L’AN DERNIER

PATRIMOINE ARMENIEN

Les ruines du site d’Ani, la capitale armenienne de la dynastie des
Bagratides attirent chaque annee des milliers de visiteurs. Meme si les
guides touristiques turcs ” oublient ” de citer l’origine armenienne
de la cite des ” mille et une eglises “, les touristes sont chaque
annee encore plus nombreux a se rendre a Ani qui se trouve a quelques
kilomètres de la frontière de l’Armenie. Alors qu’en 2011 ils etaient
23 400 a visiter le site d’Ani, en 2012 le nombre de visiteurs passait
a 43 657. Mais ces visiteurs ne savent peut etre pas toujours qu’Ani
est une ancienne capitale de l’Armenie. La censure turque est presente,
comme ce guide qui indique qu'” Ani fut construite sous le règne du
roi Gaguik “, sans indiquer l’origine armenienne de Gaguik…

Krikor Amirzayan

mercredi 14 août 2013, Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ISTANBUL FOUNDATION DEMANDS LIST OF ‘CODED’ ARMENIANS

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 13 2013

ISTANBUL

Nazaret Ozsahakyan, the chairman of a foundation in Istanbul, demanded
the Interior Ministry release all the lists of “coded” Armenians,
Armenian-American daily Asbarez reported on its website Aug. 12.

The chairman of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Foundation in Turkey asked
the Turkish Interior Ministry for a list of the Armenians codified
as ethnic minorities in legal records.

Ozsahakyan, the chairman of the Armenian church foundation located
in Istanbul’s Balıkcıköy neighborhood, demanded the list of the
Armenians categorized under the “race code” from the Interior Ministry.

A debate over the “race codes” was raised on Aug. 1 after
Armenian-Turkish daily Agos reported on an official document penned by
the Istanbul Provincial Education Directorate, revealing that Turkey’s
population administration system had been recording with “race codes”
citizens who have Anatolian Greek (Rum), Armenian and Jewish origins.

People with Anatolian Greek (Rum) origins were classified with a
“one,” Armenian origins with a “2” and Jewish origins with a “three.”

Turkey’s Interior Ministry had confirmed that minorities in the
country were given codes depending on which community they belonged
to since the Ottoman period and that such information was sent to
the Education Ministry.

In his request, Ozsahakyan said the church needed the list of Armenians
residing in the Istanbul region for the upcoming elections at the
foundation.

“Since 1923, the Armenian community has been marked with code number
‘two’ in the population registers; the records are available at your
agency. It is mainly the voters in the Sariyer region that elect
[members of] the Bolajikyo (Balıkcıköy) Holy Trinity Episcopal
Foundation. The Armenian community members of Sariyer are the main
voters of our church’s foundation. But we are planning to conduct
the election outside of the region as well, including also the voters
currently residing in Istanbul in order to allow for a more democratic
poll. Hence, pursuant to the Law on Information, we request you
provide the Armenian community’s list, which bears the code number
‘two,'” Ozsahakyan’s request is quoted as saying.

August/13/2013

RUSSIA INVITES US TO COMPETE IN SHOOTING MATCH . . . USING TANKS

Fox News
Aug 13 2013

Published August 13, 2013
FoxNews.com

Putting a twist on an Olympic sport, Russia is holding a biathlon –
with tanks – and wants the U.S. to enter the competition.

The first-time event taking place this week has competitors from
Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan racing T-72 tanks around
a 13-mile track and shooting at five targets. Tanks that miss the
targets must take a 1,600-foot penalty lap, The Telegraph reports.

Russian Lt. Gen. Ivan Buvaltsev likened the event to a spectator sport.

“Spectators who come to visit us can watch not just a show, but
a competition between real men on real tanks,” he said, according
to Stuff.co.nz.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told RIA Novosti Saturday that
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel accepted an invite to compete in
next year’s tank biathlon after a meeting in Washington on Friday with
Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But
the Department of Defense has not commented on the invite yet.

OPERATIONS AT REPUBLIC SQUARE BRANCH OF HSBC BANK ARMENIA ARE SUSPENDED

August 13, 2013 | 14:44

YEREVAN. – By the decision-dated August 8-of the chairman of the
Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), operations at capital city Yerevan’s
Republic Square branch of HSBC Bank Armenia are suspended.

The operations at the branch are suspended until, and including,
September 20, the CBA press service informs.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

RUSSIAN POLITICAL EXPERT: THE KREMLIN IS ANGRY WITH YEREVAN’S ACTIONS ON THE AGREEMENT WITH THE EU, AND “IS BALANCING” ITS IRRITATION BY THE
” top priority” visit to Baku
by David Stepanyan

ARMINFO
Tuesday, August 13, 16:44

It is still early to speak about Russia’s transition to the new
strategy in the South Caucasus. If the situation is more or less
clear regarding Georgia, at least for a short period of time, there
is still no full clarity regarding Armenia and Azerbaijan, executive
director of the political centre “North-South” (Moscow), Aleksey
Vlasov, told Arminfo correspondent when replying to the question if
President Putin’s visit to Azerbaijan will mean the beginning of the
new strategy of Moscow regarding Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus
region in general.

“The Kremlin is angry with Yerevan’s actions on the DCFRA agreement
between the EU and Armenia, and “is balancing” its irritation by the ”
top priority” visit to Baku. But there is no fundamental pre-conditions
for the fully=fledged turning towards rapprochement with Azerbaijan”,
– the expert said.

Vlasov thinks that certainly one can seriously move the balance
towards the partnership with Baku in the energy and military and
technical sphere. However, these steps do not yet mean final making
a break with former priorities. “I think that in the present quickly
changing regional realities, Putin himself has decided to find an
answer to the question “Who Mr Aliyev is?”, which his advisers have
not manage to do”, – Vlasov concluded.

VISITING ARMENIA IS HONOR FOR ALL GREAT ARTISTS: HASMIK PAPYAN

13:30, 13 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 13, ARMENPRESS: The world famous opera singer Hasmik
Papyan has been impressed by the Armenian audience. As reported by
Armenpress, at the press conference held on August 13 Hasmik Papyan
touched upon the concert held on July 25 jointly with the Armenian
Philharmonic Orchestra, stating that the proposal was quite attractive
and at the same time was a surprise for her.

“The most interesting thing was that the audience was thirsty for
that kind of music. I am very glad that they understood and evaluated
it. We have a wonderful audience”, – shared Hasmik Papyan with her
impressions, adding: “Visiting Armenia is an honor for all great
artists”.

Concerning the forthcoming concerts the world famous opera singer
noted that the cooperation between her and the Armenian Philharmonic
Orchestra will be continued and it is not excluded that in the end
of the current year as well they will perform a concert with quite
another program.

The concert performed with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra was
more than symbolic for Hasmik Papyan, as for the last time she had
performed with the Orchestra 22 years ago, when the APO was conducted
by Loris Chgnavoryan.

SERZH SARGSYAN HAS SENT EVERYONE ON OPEN-ENDED VACATION

The citizens demanding the resignation of the head of transport
department and director of Yerevan Trans CJSC in front of the City Hall
have disseminated a video picturing the head of information and public
relations of the City Hall Arthur Sarukhanyan hitting the cameraman.

In fact, he has a unique method of setting up relations with the
public. He establishes physical relations with the representatives of
the public. Apparently, communication at the City Hall is still at the
primordial level when people communicated physically, not verbally.
Arthur Sarukhanyan apparently has problems with verbal communication
because after hitting the cameraman he does not utter a word to answer
the questions of the activists.

In a civilized country no official would stay in his or her office
after the publication of such a video. Serzh Sargsyan used to say
something about treating the citizens of Armenia with respect. Perhaps
this is the reason why Serzh Sargsyan is not returning from his leave.
He allows officials to treat the citizens as they want and are able
to. As if Serzh Sargsyan has sent respect on an open-ended vacation,
and the officials are not going to miss this chance, be it day
or night.

13:39 13/08/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

RUSSIA LAUNCHES ADVANCED ANTI-MISSILE RADAR CONSTRUCTION

August 13, 2013 – 10:49 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The construction of an advanced early missile warning
radar will begin on Tuesday, Aug 13 in central Russia to enhance the
capabilities of the country’s missile defenses, a Defense Ministry
spokesman said, according to RIA Novosti.

The new Voronezh-class radar will be built near the town of Orsk in
the Orenburg region as part of the comprehensive missile early warning
network to be completed in Russia by 2020, Col. Alexey Zolotukhin
told reporters on Monday.

“In addition to the Orenburg radar, the preparations for construction
of new-generation radars are underway in the Krasnoyarsk and the
Altai territories,” Zolotukhin said.

The new assembly technology allows the construction of radars from
standard container-type macro-modules at the place of deployment,
while the infrastructure required for this purpose is minimal. As a
result, the radar deployment period has been reduced to 12-18 months,
compared to 5-9 years needed before, the spokesman said.

Four Voronezh-class radar stations built with the use of high
factory-readiness technology are already part of the Russian missile
early warning network.

A Voronezh-DM radar is on combat duty in the Krasnodar territory
and a Voronezh-M radar – in the Leningrad region. The Voronezh-DM
radars in the Kaliningrad and Irkutsk regions are in the testing
stage of operation.

Voronezh-class radars have an operational range of 6,000 kilometers
(3,728 miles). They can be quickly redeployed to a new site and require
a smaller crew to operate, compared to previous generation stations.

Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said after visiting a Voronezh-M
radar in Siberia’s Irkutsk Region earlier in August that Russia’s
new-generation missile early warning radars are far superior to any
similar foreign models.

AVETIK ISHKANYAN’S COMMENT ON WHY THE DRAFT ON PENALTY FOR NON-TRADITIONAL SEXUAL RELATIONS PROPAGANDA WAS RETURNED

August 13 2013

Recently, the police put a draft into circulation, which was
recommending imposing a penalty for the implementer of non-traditional
sexual relations propaganda. Then, the Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan,
in consideration of the shortcomings and deficiencies revealed during
the debate of the draft law, indicating that the problem is not the
priorities of the police, sent the draft law back.

Avetik Ishkhanyan, Chairman at Helsinki Committee of Armenia, in the
interview with Aravot.am, referring to the draft, said that, first,
let’s talk about what the draft is for. “It was purely from the sphere
of assumptions. It can be assumed that once again the authorities tried
to beat their chest to demonstrate themselves national and patriotic,
because they are constantly criticized from different directions,
and they do not have any form of protection, therefore they attempted
to show how patriotic they are, which is expressed in a variety of
forms, including demanding lands from Turkey.” As interpreted by
Ishkanyan, it is likely for the draft to be linked to a concern to
show how they are thinking about the nations, or, “Because similar
draft was adopted in Russia, this is the way to ape Russia as if
we are on the side of Russians on this issue. If you think so, then
this is a very simplistic thinking. But this can be a very dangerous
draft. As to why it was withdrawn from the circulation, I think, there
were smart people who have said that now it does not worth to create
regular noise, and moreover, in the West, who had promised to donate
billions of dollars in case the Association Agreement, perhaps, will
get angry. In my opinion, there has been such a pragmatic approach.”

To our questions whether we need such a draft on our way to Europe,
Ishkhanyan replied,- “What do you mean we are going to Europe, are our
tickets bought, so that we are going to Europe. I do not accept going
to Europe. Does the European Association Agreement mean we are going
to Europe? Or, is it after the signing of the Association Agreement
the election in Armenia would not be rigged, or there would be no
oligarchs, or liskas would not shoot? … I am asking. We were going
to sign the Association Agreement in order to receive billions. And
the adoption of such a draft may block the money coming.”

Eva HAKOBYAN

Read more at:

NEW DETAILS ABOUT CITIZENS APPREHENDED IN TURKEY. “IT WAS AN ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR.”

August 13 2013

Armen Martirosyan, director of “Antares” Holding told new details to
Aravot.am regarding being apprehended by police in Turkish two days
ago. He and 3 other civilians from Armenia were taken to the police
station for taking a video and photo of the city of Van. “Last year,
we knew that there was an earthquake in Van, and when we saw the
empty domiks (translator’s note: little house) in the territory,
we were surprised at what a short period of time, Turkey was able to
resettle homeless citizens. I wanted to take a photo of the new houses,
and we thought that what we are taking, are newly build buildings,
it turned out that they were painted a month ago. When Mher Arshakyan
was taking pictures, a red car drove close, a man came out of the car,
showed police certificate, ordered not to move, and asked why we were
taking photos. We have said that you could recover the disaster area
only in a few months, and we wanted to show that we cannot recover
Gyumri during 25 years. The police officer immediately called the
police, half an hour later, people from the department fighting against
terrorism came by the car, on which they are probably transporting
terrorists, started to search us as if we were terrorists. Then some
more people came from the police, from the military police. We were
taken to the Gendarmerie. Before taking u there, we did not know
what will happen whether we are searched, and there is something
that has appeared in our bag. It was an atmosphere of fear, and we
did not know what was going on and why they were searching for,
because photo and video taking was not banned anywhere,”-told
Mr. Martirosyan. According to him, they could only read the word
terrorist on the cars, and in Gendarmerie they glanced at the word
captive. “We saw representatives of different nations arrested. We were
told that we were arrested, but they are checking up. It is not that
they offended us at the Gendarmerie, besides waiting in the sun for
4 hours, and a number of searches. Here, they took our cell phones,
computers, IPads, passports, everything. But there was a respectful
attitude towards us, they treated us to tea, continuously talked to us,
asking various questions, including questions that had no connection
with the problem. For example, they were asking how much salary a
police officer in Armenia receives. Our friends were asked how much
their salary is. I was not asked such questions, I was telling about
Erebuni museum, Urartu period, they were discussing historical issues
with me, or asking what Antares is, what books I have published.” Mr.

Martirosyan said that later, according to the procedures, they
were taken to the hospital for a medical examination to establish
whether they suffered injuries in the meantime. And on the way, when
the citizens of Armenia demanded passports, it turned out that the
police officers had left them behind at the Gendarmerie. Later, the
passports and searched items taken from them were returned unscathed,
and the police officers took us to Van and allowed taking photos.

Arpine SIMONYAN

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