Author: Babajanian Karo

SCANDAL AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF ARMENIA

“Armenia occupied 20% of Azerbaijani territories perpetrating
a genocide against Azeris,” said the parliamentary advocate from
Moldova Aurelia Grigoriu today at the National Assembly of Armenia.

Note that the two-day pan-European conference is held in Yerevan which
hosts a number of specialists from different countries. The Moldovan
advocate stated in her speech that Armenia perpetrated a genocide in
Kodjalu, and this is an internationally recognized fact.

It is noteworthy that some of the participants of the conference
applauded to Grigoriu’s statements.

Vice-speaker Hermine Naghdalyan responded to her, urging her not to
use the National Assembly’s rostrum to carry out someone’s orders. She
noted that it is unacceptable when lawyers fulfill orders at the hall
of the Armenian parliament.

“I don’t know whose order you are fulfilling, dear lawyers, but you
can register your speeches so you get kudos from your clients. I
think high-ranking guests here should express their disagreement
with people who are trying to render this scientific conference an
unacceptable discussion,” underlined Hermine Naghdalyan.

She said that discussions on such topics are held in front of an
audience where there are relevant specialists who are aware of the
issue while statements that a genocide was perpetrated here or there
evoke daily announcements of our neighbors. “I think Ms. Advocate
should be a little more correct in her statements,” said Hermine
Naghdalyan.

“I’m not going to go into details of the conflict, I just want to say
that it is unacceptable to violate human rights in areas of frozen
conflicts,” said the Moldovan lawyer.

A Lithuanian human rights defender interfered and said that it would
be better if the Moldovan lawyer spoke about the frozen conflict of
her country, instead of commenting on the Karabakh conflict.

“This is not the right place to discuss this issue. Moreover, this
is not the issue to be discussed by the representative of a country
which has no relation to the conflict. I propose to stop discussing
this issue,” said the Lithuanian Ombudsman.

16:05 04/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

WHOSE WILL SIDE ARMENIAN ARMY TAKE TO?

The army in Egypt removed the president of this country Mohammad
Mursi. On June 30 Egypt burst into mass protests against Mursi’s
policy. The army took to the side of demonstrators and gave Mursi
two days to resign. After two days the army announced that Mursi is
not president and designated an interim government.

During last year’s demonstrations in Egypt the army supported the
demonstrators as well and refused to obey Mubarak’s orders.

In Egypt, like in Turkey, the armed forces have a specific status.

They are the guarantors of secularism and have the right to intervene
in internal affairs. In Turkey the army has carried out several coups
in the 20th centuries when Islamic parties claimed to power.

In Egypt the army maintains this status. In Turkey Erdogan’s party
which is an Islamic party and has become the victim of the army for
several times tried to behead the General Staff removing from the army
several influential military officers within the case of Ergenekon.

In Armenia there are precedents of involving the army in internal
affairs. In 1995 and 1996 the army was used to keep the All-Armenian
National Movement and Levon Ter-Petrosyan in government. In 1997 the
army had a key role in the coup d’etat. Later the army was used for
different internal matters which culminated in March 2008.

As soon as Serzh Sargsyan assumed the post of president, he legitimized
army intervention in internal affairs, when in case of “emergency
situations” the Police and NSS forces are not enough.

Besides, Serzh Sargsyan has highlighted the role of the army for many
times, announcing that the state must be built on the basis of the
army, and the government agencies must act in accordance with this
logic. In fact, he has “subjected” the state apparatus to the army.

However, the army and the General Staff do not have the same
constitutional status as in Turkey or Egypt.

The reference to the army is, perhaps, the only tramp card and pillar
of the government which has a lack of legitimacy, governance crisis,
no enforcement of constitutional norms. Having been able to set up
constitutional mechanisms for governance and organization of life,
the Armenian government has had to rely on the law enforcement
and security agencies, namely the army through which the issue of
reelection was resolved.

In this regard, control over the law enforcement and security agencies
is the guarantee of the government. It goes without saying that during
the meeting on budget expenditure Serzh Sargsyan was angry with the
head of the Control Chamber for “questioning” the expenditure of the
army budget.

Haik Aramyan 16:08 04/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

CIVILITAS FOUNDATION REFUTES MEDIA REPORTS ON SEVERED RELATIONS OF THE FOUNDATION AND JOHN HUNTSMAN
by Nana Martirosyan

Thursday, July 4, 15:29

Civilitas Foundation refutes media reports on severed relations of
the Foundation and John Huntsman, Civilitas Foundation Board member
John Huntsman.

Civilitas Foundation press-service told ArmInfo the Foundation
continues the warm, friendly and partner relations with Huntsman. As
regards media reports saying that Huntsman suspended financing of the
Civilitas Foundation, the press-service explained that the Foundation
has already received the funds provided by Huntsman and there were
no agreements on permanent financing. Consequently, the financing
could not be suspended, the source reported.

Earlier today, a Yerevan-based Zhoghovurd newspaper reported that
Civilitas Foundation Board member John Huntsman has suspended the
financing of the Foundation due to “Oskanian case.”

HENRIKH MKHITARYAN MEETS WITH LEVON ARONIAN

13:38 04/07/2013 ” SPORT

Midfielder of Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk and the Armenian
national team Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is a target for Liverpool and
Borussia Dortmund, is having his rest in Yerevan. Yesterday, he met
with leading chess players Levon Aronian and Sergei Movsesian.

They had a walk in Yerevan’s Northern Avenue.

We should add that Aronian tweeted about the meeting.

Source: Panorama.am

RUSSIA’S WEAPON SUPPLIES TO AZERBAIJAN ARE IMMORAL – PARUYR HAYRIKYAN

July 04, 2013 | 11:33

YEREVAN. – There is a type of business which is immoral, former
presidential candidate Hayrikyan said commenting on Russia’s weapon
supplies to Azerbaijan.

“They say it is business. Is prostitution a business then?” Hayrikyan
wonders.

Hayrikyan, who is heading the opposition National Self-Determination
Union, named such approach of an ally “immoral and criminal.”

They are supplying weapons to a state which threatens war. “Why do
you want to sell weapons if you are supporting peace?” he wonders.

Russia wants Armenian authorities to realize that they are Moscow’s
slaves, Hayrikyan told reporters.

ZHOGHOVURD: MINISTER’S BUSINESS TRIP COST STATE BUDGET OVER 4 MILLION AMD

Thursday,July 04

The business trip of Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration
Armen Gevorgian to New York in May of this year cost the state budget
over 4 million 480 thousand AMD. The ministry paid that sum for two
air tickets for a Yerevan-Prague-Paris-New York flight and a New
York-Paris-Yerevan flight, ‘Zhogovurd’ writes.

“According to documents at the paper’s disposal, one of the air tickets
was a business class ticket. In all likelihood, it was bought for the
minister and cost 3.1 million AMD or $7.5 thousand. Another ticket,
an economy class one, cost 1.3 million AMD or $3 thousand and was
bought for the minister’s advisor Suren Amirbekian who accompanied
him on the trip to New York. In fact, if the minister had bought a
ticket for $3 thousand instead of $7.5 thousand, his security would
not have been ensured. He needed a business class ticket to travel
safe and sound,” the newspaper says.

PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD IN INTERVIEW TO AL-THAWRA NEWSPAPER: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN EGYPT IS FALL OF SO-CALLED “POLITICAL ISLAM”

Jul 04, 2013

Damascus, (SANA) – President Bashar al-Assad has said that what
is happening in Egypt is the fall of so-called “political Islam”,
adding that those who use religion for political interests or for
the interests of one group will fall anywhere in the world.

In an interview given to al-Thawra newspaper, President al-Assad said,
“You cannot deceive everyone all the time, particularly the Egyptian
people who have a civilization dating back to thousands of years and
clear pan-Arab nationalist thought.”

The President added that after a year the image has become clear for
the Egyptian people and the performance of the Muslim Brotherhood
helped them uncover the lies made by the Brotherhood in the beginning
of the popular revolution in Egypt.”

President al-Assad said the experiment of the Muslim Brotherhood’s
rule failed even before it started because this kind of rule is
not consistent with the nature of the people and the project of the
brotherhood is hypocritical that actually aims at creating sedition
in the Arab world.

The President stressed that sedition cannot last in societies that
possess knowledge, adding “this is why from the beginning I said
their project is a failure before it began and this is what made the
Muslim Brotherhood’s experiment fall quickly because it is wrong,
and what is built on a wrong principle will definitely fall.”

More to come

PROTESTS IN EGYPT NOT THREATENING ARMENIAN COMMUNITY – REPRESENTATIVE

July 04, 2013 | 05:38

The Armenian community in Egypt is not in danger.

Armenian General Benevolent Union Egypt Chapter Director Berdj Terzian
told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am, reflecting on the mass
demonstrations taking place in the country.

In his words, the anti-government movement in Egypt has not posed
any threat to the members of the Armenian community in the country.

“Consequently, there was no reason for the Armenian Embassy in Egypt
to render assistance,” Terzian noted.

He added that the members of the Armenian community in Egypt is
about 7,000; around 5,000 of them live in capital city Cairo and
approximately 2,000 Armenians reside in Alexandria.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

IRANIAN-ARMENIANS WANT ROUHANI TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE

11:00 04/07/2013 ” ANALYSIS

The major contemporary problem facing the Armenian community of Iran
is socio-economic in nature, but the recognition and condemnation of
the Armenian Genocide is still the most important issue, the Deputy
of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Karen Khanlarian,
stated at the course of a press conference held on July 3, Asbarez.com
reported, citing Armenpress.

Karen Khanlarian underscored that “the primary issue for the Armenian
community of Iran and all the communities of the Diaspora remains
the issue of the Armenian Genocide.”

Among other things, Khanlarian noted that the Armenian community
expects Rouhani to keep the issue of the official recognition of the
Armenian Genocide in the centre of his attention. “That’s what we
shall demand from Mr. Rouhani,” Khanlarian underscored.

Hassan Rouhani’s victory in the presidential elections in Iran was
close to western democratic standards, said the Armenian MP of the
Iranian Parliament, Karen Khanlarian, at a press conference in Yerevan.

Reformist Rouhani’s victory will not lead to radical changes in the
country, Khanlarian said. According to him, the President-elect is a
reasonable politician, and one can expect tangible, tactical changes
in the domestic and foreign policies of the country.

The parliament member said the Armenian community actively participated
in the pre-election developments.

During the campaign, the Armenian community addressed the candidates
with a number of demands, namely to recognize the Armenian Genocide
and involve Armenians in the work of executive bodies.

“Now, after elections, we will try to establish contacts with Hassan
Rouhani,” Khanlarian noted.

He recalled that, on the eve of April 24, the Deputy Speaker of the
Iranian parliament condemned the Armenian Genocide, and that earlier
President Ahmadinejad had denounced the tragedy, while former president
Khatami had visited Tsitsernakaberd.

The Armenian community of Iran is estimated at 60,000-70,000. Many are
leaving Iran due to socio-economic worries, Khanlarian said. Iranian
Armenians mostly migrate to the United States and Canada, he added.

“Armenians of Iran have no political problems,” he said. Two Armenians
are represented in the Iranian Parliament.

Khanlarian added that Iran’s relations with Armenia can develop and
that new projects for economic cooperation can be initiated under
the rule of the Iranian president-elect Hassan Rouhani.

“Apart from that, I believe that scientific ties between Armenia
and Iran, and student and lecturer exchange programs in particular,
will increase during his term”, the deputy told a press conference
Wednesday.

Ex-Secretary of National Security, Supreme Council Rouhani, was elected
to the presidential post in the 11th presidential election in Iran on
June 14, where he polled more than 50% of the votes. Voter attendance
was 72.7 percent in the election.

Khanlarian said Rouhani is focused on Armenia-Iran relations and
positive changes should be expected in the bilateral relations during
his term in office.

Armenia and Iran are planning to implement a number of major projects
in the fields of energy and transportation.

Source: Panorama.am

LE NOMBRE DE DROGUES AUGMENTE EN ARMENIE

Si le nombre officiel de drogues est de 4 332, dont 52 femmes, ceux-ci
seraient au nombre de 12 000, ce chiffre etant en augmentation de 30%
par rapport a la meme periode de l’annee dernière (50% de plus qu’en
2011). / Hayots Achkhar, Haykakan Jamanak

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 27 juin 2013

jeudi 4 juillet 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com