Author: Babajanian Karo

EU-Turkey relations on edge after Germany blocks talks

Today @ 09:28

By Andrew Rettman
BRUSSELS – Turkey has reacted angrily to Germany’s hesitation on
restarting EU entry talks.

The talks were to resume on Wednesday (26 June), with the opening of a
chapter on regions, after negotiations broke off in late 2010.

But Germany’s EU ambassador at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday said
he is not willing to give the green light.

An EU official said the Dutch ambassador also placed a “procedural
reserve” on the Netherlands’ approval, saying he must consult with The
Hague before he makes up his mind.

The development comes after Turkey’s violent crackdown on street
protests over the past two weeks.

But it does not mean that Wednesday’s accession talks will definitely
be cancelled.

The other 25 EU countries and the European Commission are keen to go ahead.

The German government is also divided on the subject.

Chancellor Angela Merkel this week strongly criticised Turkish leader
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But her foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, on
Thursday said the EU should also open a second chapter – on free
speech and freedom of assembly – in reaction to events.

The EU ambassadors will meet again on Monday morning in Luxembourg.

If they cannot agree, EU foreign ministers are likely to tackle the
issue at the same venue later in the day.

In the meantime, Turkish officials say they are considering a range of
options if Germany upholds its veto.

Potential measures include: withdrawing Turkey’s EU ambassador, Selim
Yenel, for consultations in Ankara; cancelling joint EU meetings on
foreign policy; and cancelling meetings between Turkish MPs and MEPs.

“The reaction in Ankara will I think be quite harsh … I hope common
sense will prevail in the EU,” a Turkish source told this website.

Another Turkish contact said: “We have fulfilled all the technical
conditions [for opening the regions chapter]. So the German objection
is political.”

For his part, Turkey’s EU affairs minister Egemen Bagis told Turkish
TV that Merkel is trying to exploit the situation to win right-wing
votes.

“If Mrs Merkel is looking for domestic political material for her
elections [in September], that material should not be Turkey,” he
said.

He likened her to former centre-right French leader Nicolas Sarkozy,
saying the Frenchman bashed Turkey in his election campaign last year,
but lost.

“Sarkozy tried to use it [Turkey] before, but it did not end too well
for him,” he noted.

“Those who mess about with Turkey do not have an auspicious end,” he added.

No political conflict between Armenia’s premier, Control Chamber – opposition MP

11:41 – 23.06.13

Aram Manukyan, Secretary of the Armenian National Congress (ANC)
parliamentary group, does not think the recriminatory statements by
Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and the Control Chamber of
Armenia are a political debate between the wings of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

Rather, it is a wrangle over property. `We are going to see how they
are wrangling over the property. The RPA has been ruling for 14 years,
and I have not seen any political debate between the RPA wings.

All the arguments are only over influence, land and property. This is
one more wrangle over property,’ Manukyan told Tert.am.

Asked about the clashes of interests are at such a high level,
Manukyan said: `It is because of the sides’ huge appetite. Just
imagine their shares, and they are now arguing about their shares. The
amount `in circulation’ is equal to double the state budget of
Armenia. Shadow economy constitutes 60%, and Armenia’s foreign debt is
44% of the country’s GDP. Can you imagine the figures? This means that
half of Armenia’s country is in debt, and 50% of the country’s
property is in the hands of 30 families.’

At the cabinet meeting on June 20, Armenia’s premier addressed the
Control Chamber’s report, which caused heated debate in Armenia’s
parliament.

In an earlier interview with Tert.am, Vice-Chairman of the Heritage
party Armen Martirosyan said that the conflicting statements made
recently by the Control Chamber and the prime minister result very
probably from internal disagreements. He ruled out any essential
controversies.

Armenian News – Tert.am

ARMENIE
Des experts en Arménie disent que le message de la déclaration
d’Obama-Poutine-Hollande est adressé à l’Azerbaïdjan

La plupart des analystes et des représentants des partis au pouvoir en
Arménie estiment que le message de la déclaration des dirigeants qui
co-président le groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE est plutôt dirigé vers
l’Azerbaïdjan que l’Arménie. En Arménie, la plupart des experts disent
qu’il y a un changement clair avec cette cinquième déclaration qui a
été délivrée par les dirigeants des Etats-Unis, de la Russie et de la
France au cours des cinq dernières années, en d’autres termes que les
puissances mondiales mettent l’accent sur l’inadmissibilité de
l’utilisation de la force et de la rhétorique de guerre.

Depuis que le président azerbaïdjanais Ilham Aliyev utilise
fréquemment la rhétorique de la guerre et met en garde à la
possibilité d’une reprise des hostilités dans Karabakh, l’opinion la
plus répandue est que la déclaration contient des « critiques »
principalement destinées à l’Azerbaïdjan.

Le président américain Barack Obama et ses homologues russe et
français, Vladimir Poutine et François Hollande, ont publié une
déclaration conjointe lors du sommet du G8 à Enniskillen, en Irlande
du Nord, exhortant l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan à se concentrer sur les
questions qui restent en suspens dans leurs négociations. Le message
dit « faire tarder à parvenir à un accord équilibré sur le cadre d’une
paix globale est inacceptable ».

« Nous demandons instamment aux dirigeants de tous les côtés de
réaffirmer les principes d’Helsinki, en particulier celles relatives à
la non-utilisation de la force ou de la menace de la force,
l’intégrité territoriale et de l’égalité des droits et de
l’autodétermination des peuples. Nous les appelons aussi à s’abstenir
de toute action ou déclaration susceptible de faire monter la tension
dans la région et conduire à une escalade du conflit. Les dirigeants
doivent préparer leur peuple à la paix, pas la guerre » ont déclaré
les dirigeants.

L’Arménie a réagi à la déclaration en quelques minutes, avec le
ministre des Affaires Etrangères Edouard Nalbandian saluant et
soulignant qu’Erevan est d’accord avec ses principaux points. Mais il
a fallu à l’Azerbaïdjan plus de temps pour formuler sa position.
Seulement, le lendemain, lors d’une conférence de presse à Bakou,
Elman Abdullayev, un porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères
du pays, a déclaré que la déclaration reflète la position de
l’Azerbaïdjan.

Dans ses observations écrites le chef de la diplomatie arménienne a
également accusé l’Azerbaïdjan pour l’absence de progrès dans la
résolution du conflit, accusant Bakou de poursuivre sa rhétorique
belliqueuse et de provocations sur la ligne de contact avec le
Haut-Karabakh et à la frontière avec l’Arménie.

Sergey Minasyan, directeur adjoint de l’Institut du Caucase basé à
Erevan, en commentant la déclaration faite par les dirigeants des
États-Unis, de la Russie et de la Françe, a déclaré que l’Azerbaïdjan
était clairement le seul et véritable destinataire de l’appel du rejet
de la rhétorique de guerre. Le politologue estime aussi que les
présidents par leur déclaration ont appellé également les parties à
accélérer le processus de règlement du Karabagh.

Pendant ce temps, Edgar Vardanyan expert du Centre arménien pour les
études nationales et internationales a exprimé l’opinion que cette
dernière déclaration ne diffère pas des précédentes.

« Ici, ils ont de nouveau parler des principes sur lesquels la
communauté internationale estime que le problème du Karabagh devrait
être résolu. J’ai juste senti que la communauté internationale n’est
pas satisfaite par le statu quo et, qu’en réalité, la communauté
internationale fait tout pour que le statu quo change mais les parties
ne manifestent pas une volonté politique suffisante. En fait, c’est
dans une certaine mesure faire pression sur les parties pour dire : «
Hé, les gars, changer vos attitudes endurcis et montrer des approches
plus constructives » a déclaré l’analyste.

Edgar Vardanyan a également souligné que bien que les trois présidents
aient critiqué les parties au conflit, il n’y avait toujours aucun mot
sur les nouvelles approches ou solutions.

« En substance, rien n’a changé, parce que la même chose se dit encore
et encore. D’autre part, il est prévu que de nouvelles approches et
des solutions soient proposées pour mettre fin à cette crise et
impasse, mais cette déclaration ne contient pas de telles approches ou
solutions. Peut-être dans un proche avenir, nous allons voir quelques
nouvelles approches, mais similaires, mais ce texte ne dit rien à ce
sujet » a-t-il dit.

Edgar Vardanyan a trouvé difficile de dire pourquoi il a fallu
l’Azerbaïdjan un jour pour répondre à la déclaration.

« Peut-être qu’ils attendaient autre chose » a-t-il dit, tout en
pointant dans le même temps que la communauté internationale met à
égalité les parties dans le sens où ils ne présentent pas de volonté
politique de résoudre le problème et qu’elles sont toutes les deux
aussi responsables de l’absence de progrès.

Par Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow

dimanche 23 juin 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

WATCH LIVERPOOL FC TARGET HENRIKH MKHITARYAN IN ACTION

Liverpool Echo, UK
June 20 2013

Video of the midfield playmaker banging in goals for Shakhtar Donetsk

Liverpool FC have been linked with a move for highly-rated Shakhtar
Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan as they look to bolster their
squad for a serious assault on the top four next season.

The 24-year-old scored 25 league goals last season and was named
Armenian footballer of the year in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

He has made 39 international appearances for Armenia since making his
full debut at the age of 18 in 2007 and was voted the CIS Footballer
of the Year for 2012, making him the first Armenian player to be
named the best player from post-Soviet countries.

Juventus and Borussia Dortmund are also thought to be interested in the
player who Shakhtar Donetsk would be looking for a fee in the region
of £20m for – watching him in action below, it’s not hard to see why.

Watch videos at

AZERBAIJAN DEFENDS ITS COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS

Sacramento Bee, CA
June 21 2013

By Azerbaijan Monitor
Published: Friday, Jun. 21, 2013 – 9:05 am

BRUSSELS, June 21, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ —

Azerbaijan continued its drive to greater European integration, as
President Ilham Aliyev met Friday with European Council President
Herman van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso for talks focusing on energy security and the Armenian-occupied
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

While Aliyev presented Azerbaijan’s hopes for the future and today, the
country also pushed back on recent allegations of human rights abuses.

Adressing a letter sent by Human Rights Watch to Barroso on the eve of
Aliyev’s trip, Elkhan Suleymanov, Chairman of Azerbaijani Delegation
to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, accused the rights group of
neglecting its core mission and distorting Azerbaijan’s record.

Human Rights Watch “does not take into account that Azerbaijan is a
full member of many influential international organizations, that
it has already established mutually beneficial cooperation on the
bilateral and multilateral basis with the states of the world and
finally, that Azerbaijan is an independent republic which develops
cooperation and partnership relations with the European Union,”
Suleymanov said.

The letter accused Azerbaijan of unspecified violations and encouraged
Barroso to “press” Azerbaijan for policy changes.

Suleymanov pointed out that the letter offered no factual bases for
its assertions. Instead, Azerbaijan “has announced the establishment
of civil, democratic, legal state and civil society, as well as
integration into Europe as priority directions of its internal and
foreign policy.”

Azerbaijan, he said, has dedicated itself to matching Europe’s human
rights standards. “Azerbaijan is committed to the establishment
of universal values, such as democracy, human rights and freedoms,
cooperates with specialized institutions of Europe in this direction,
constantly improves its legislation, and carries out relevant reforms.”

Suleymanov also defended Azerbaijan’s laws ensuring free speech and
assembly on the one hand, and protecting public safety and order on
the other, as “an accepted principle in all European countries.”

He pointed out that Human Rights Watch has been virtually silent on
Armenia’s ethnic cleansing, and subsequent human rights abuses of
the Azerbaijanis of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied
provinces, suggesting that the organisation was at best applying a
double standard where Azerbaijan is concerned.

Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding provinces were seized during
Azerbaijan’s war with Armenia, followed by the forced expulsion of
over one million ethnic Azerbaijanis from the provinces at the war’s
conclusion. Armenia refuses to end the occupation, described by the
United Nations and others as a violation of international law.

SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor

ARMENIA: HOW WELCOMING WILL BE THE EU’S EMBRACE?

EurasiaNet.org, NY
June 21 2013

June 21, 2013 – 1:23pm, by Marianna Grigoryan

The European Union is indicating a willingness to explore an
Association Agreement with Armenia. But even as it raises the
possibility of closer ties with this cash-poor South Caucasus state,
Brussels appears eager to stem the westward flow of illegal Armenian
migrants.

Official data, which many Armenians view skeptically, reports that
49,660 citizens left Armenia permanently in 2012, and that number shows
little change from 2011. From 2005-2012, 204,000 people left Armenia
for good, according to the National Statistical Service. The number
accounts for just under 10 percent of the country’s 2012 population
of 2.97 million people. Observers believe the actual number of emigres
to be much higher than the official figure.

With a large ethnic Armenian community, EU member-state France, in
particular, attracts many migrants. A 2012 report by UNHCR, the United
Nations refugee agency, reported that the number of Armenians applying
for a French residence permit increased by 8 percent between 2010 and
2011 to 52,100 claims. Armenia ranks third overall for such requests,
after Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report linked
the increase to a more than two-fold rise in the number of Armenians
requesting political asylum.

The number of Armenians moving to fellow EU states Austria, Germany
and Poland also has increased.

While receptive to legal immigration, the EU, already struggling
to accommodate its roster of 27 member-countries, is not taking a
laissez-faire attitude toward all forms of migration. An aggressive
crackdown launched by EU border forces resulted in a 49-percent
reduction in illegal migration over the past two years, according to
official data.

Keeping those numbers down involves encouraging potential migrants
to stay put, and showing potential high-volume source countries how
to avoid the negative impacts of migration.

In Armenia, the EU currently spends over 9.71 million euros
(roughly $12.85 million) on seven migration programs, ranging from a
1-million-euro (roughly $1.3 million) project via the United Nations
Children’s Fund to focus on “social problems faced by migrants,”
to support for the Armenian State Migration Board for “strengthening
migration management.”

But whether such programs are having the desired impact is unclear.

Among 12 former Soviet republics recently surveyed by the Gallup
International Association, Armenians ranked as the most eager to
migrate; some 40 percent of some 40,000 respondents interviewed said
they would like to move to another country.

Many Armenian migrants who, by hook or by crook, found work within
the EU say they have no intention of returning home. “Why would I go
back to Armenia? … There are no jobs and no hope there,” commented
the father of a two-child family who settled five years ago in a small
town in France. “Here, at least, I know that my children are safe and
the state will support us when necessary. We don’t feel neglected here,
and we are aware of what is going on in Armenia now.”

Improved living conditions, hopes for a better future for their
children and a desire for a stronger defense of their civil rights
were among the key reasons for emigration cited by respondents in
the Gallup poll.

To many would-be emigres, deception justifies achieving those goals.

After being denied a residence permit in Austria, the family above
invented new names and moved to France, where they managed to trick
officials into believing that their lives were at risk in Armenia. In
a common dodge, they alleged that the family’s mother is an ethnic
Azeri who risks being abused for the 25-year conflict with Azerbaijan
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

To avoid such situations, some specialists emphasize the need to
tie potential migrants to their home communities. An EU-financed
UNICEF program, launched in April, seeks to do that by “provision
of tailored social services and the best use of migrants’ financial
and intellectual resources in the development of their communities
of origin” in four regions – Lori, Tavoush, Gegharkunik and Shirak.

Further details were not available.

Some Armenian analysts, though, do not believe such programs will
work. Armenian Center for National and Strategic Studies Research
Director Manvel Sarksian commented that “it is hard to say how
efficient these programs will prove, given the people’s mood.”

“These programs are like minor patches that do not solve any problems,”
argued independent political analyst Yerevand Bozoian. “If the
EU wants to have real changes, it should help Armenia change the
social and political situation.” That “situation” erupted after
this February’s presidential elections, when hundreds of people,
angry at perceived election corruption and hard-pressed for cash,
took to the streets to protest the results.

At a March 18 meeting with media, President Serzh Sargsyan blamed
the problem of emigration on Armenians’ alleged refusal to recognize
their successes. He criticized media outlets for “talking about the
very worst [things]” and “only blackening the picture.”

Galust Sahakian, head of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia’s
parliamentary faction, agreed, claiming that the complaints are tied
to election-year politics, and “create a deceptive atmosphere.”

The government insists it is aware of the scope of the problem. In
2013, it allocated 13 million drams ($31,159) for a migration study,
said Gagik Yeganian, head of the Migration and Refugees Department. An
assessment, expected by the end of the year, will focus on population
movement since 2008, the reasons for migration and the countries of
destination, he said.

Ethnographer Hranush Kharatian, a former government official now
critical of the Sargsyan administration, insists that people often
emigrate for the simple reason that they do not sense their futures
in Armenia are secure.

“People will stay in Armenia if they get the chance to manage their
own activities, and if they have faith they will be able to do so,”
said Kharatian.

Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.

AS SANCTIONS BITE, IRANIANS INVEST BIG IN GEORGIA

Wall Street Journal, NY
June 20 2013

By BENOÎT FAUCON, JAY SOLOMON and FARNAZ FASSIHI

TBILISI, Georgia-Economic sanctions against Iran have made it
increasingly hard for Iranians to do business abroad. But Iranian
businessmen are flocking to Georgia, a longtime U.S. ally in the
Caucasus region, to pursue profits evaporating in much of the world.

In recent months, Iranian nationals have taken the reins of a private
Georgian airline, a major trade bank and a scrap-metal plant. Persian
is often heard, such as on a recent night at a Tbilisi casino,
where Iranian tourists played roulette and sipped drinks brought by
Russian hostesses.

Iranian products ranging from roofing materials to sour-cherry jam
are pouring into Georgian markets, made more attractive by Iran’s
weak currency. Iran’s government itself is buying Georgian land,
Iran’s agriculture minister has told Iranian media.

“It’s all Iranian, even that one with the sticker ‘Italy,’ ” said
Iasha Tsatsanidze, a Georgian trader, pointing to a plastic garden
hose among goods he was selling at a Tbilisi market last month. “It’s
cheap and good quality.”

This is a boom being closely watched by U.S. authorities charged with
enforcing sanctions that aim to block Iran from obtaining nuclear
weapons. “We are focused intently on shutting down any Iranian
attempts to evade sanctions, including through possible business
connections in Georgia,” said David Cohen, the U.S. Treasury’s top
official overseeing Iran sanctions. “We are working closely with
the Georgians on the issue.” Two delegations from the Treasury have
visited Tbilisi in recent months to discuss the matter, according to
U.S. and Georgian officials.

In some cases, they may have reason for concern. The business branch of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has some 150 front companies
in Georgia for the purpose of evading sanctions and importing dual-use
technology, according to two members of the Revolutionary Guard and
to the head of a Tbilisi facilitator agency-who said he helped set
up such firms registered under Georgians’ names.

“Investing in Georgia is a way of skirting the sanctions,” Iranian
media quoted an Iranian development official as saying in December.

In Tbilisi, Javad Golchinfar, an Iranian who helps his countrymen
set up Georgian businesses, said in an interview: “Especially in the
banking sector, Georgia has become a key place to evade sanctions.”

Georgian officials said they closely monitor the trade to prevent just
that. “There’s intense and routine coordination between the U.S. and
Georgia on enforcing Iran sanctions,” a senior Georgian official said.

Iran takes the position that the sanctions are illegal and its
companies have the right to do business everywhere. Economics Minister
Shamseddin Hosseini said in an interview that to offset declining
commerce with Europe and Mideast states, Iran looks to expand trade
with Asia and the Caucasus region.

“It’s the new Dubai here” in Georgia, said a 25-year-old Iranian
trader named Amin Akbari, referring to the United Arab Emirates
financial center that historically has been the main overseas locus
of Iranian business. Mr. Akbari’s Tbilisi company, Saint Rich Amin,
imports Iranian asphalt to Georgia and uses Georgia’s Black Sea port
to transport Ukrainian wheat to Iran-all legitimate trades.

Commerce such as that, a large part of the Iran-related business
here, doesn’t normally run afoul of sanctions. Yet U.S. and European
officials suspect that some illicit funds handled by other Iranians
are mixing into the financial flood here. Some recent developments
suggest why Washington is concerned.

In the past two months, Georgian customs has caught Iranians landing
from Dubai with a total of $315,000 in smuggled cash, according to
the agency’s website.

Among Iranian companies marketing products in Georgia is one that
counts among its customers back home the hard-line Revolutionary Guard.

The company, Parsian Civilization Development Co., sells products in
Georgia ranging from Iranian tomato sauce to bathroom tiles. “Georgia
is a good market for us,” said its general manager, Hamid Reza
Miraftab.

In Iran, though, Parsian sells a line of equipment that includes
mobile-phone jammers. A list of customers on Parsian’s website is a
who’s who of Iranian power centers: Besides the Revolutionary Guard
there is the Interior Ministry, the office of the Supreme Leader and
the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

Mr. Miraftab didn’t respond when asked about Parsian’s business in
Iran. There is no suggestion the group’s Georgia business violates
sanctions.

The surging Iranian presence in Georgia has startled the Obama
administration because of deep U.S.-Georgia ties that developed after
the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2008, the U.S. publicly
supported Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Georgia’s military
clash with Russia. The U.S. also has supported Georgia’s application,
still pending, to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In
addition, Georgia has been one of the few countries sending sizable
troop deployments to back the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

But when it comes to Iran, Georgia, which recently elected a prime
minister who takes a less pro-American stance than Mr. Saakashvili,
seeks to forge an independent line, its officials said.

A large portrait of George W. Bush stands along the highway to the
Tbilisi airport, honoring the former U.S. president for his support
in the 2008 war. Yet a few miles along the same road is a billboard
for Sepahan Oil Co., an Iranian company subject to U.S. sanctions.

Sepahan’s office in Tehran didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Georgian officials said they regard Iran as too important
diplomatically and economically to isolate or ignore. Although Georgia
has shunned heavily sanctioned Iranian crude oil and natural gas,
it imports lubricants and asphalt from Iran, some of it over land,
according to Iranian businessmen in Tbilisi. Such trade could violate
U.S. sanctions if it involves companies such as Sepahan.

According to Georgian government officials, the closer ties between
Iran and Georgia stem both from intimidation-after Iran threatened to
recognize breakaway Georgian regions-and a need to tap into Tehran’s
economic potential. “It’s not our interest to be on a high level of
enmity with Iran,” one official said.

Enlarge Image

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In 2010, Georgia decided to lift visa requirements for Iranian
nationals. It is one of just three countries in Europe and the broader
Middle East that grant Iranians such easy access. The others are
Turkey and Armenia.

Companies registered by Iranians in Georgia shot up to 1,489 last
year from just 84 in 2010, a corporate registry shows.

More recently, the welcome has led growing numbers of Iranian nationals
to move to Tbilisi from Dubai-which, under U.S. pressure, has been
tightening its own restrictions on Iranian businesses, according to
Georgian officials and Iranian businessmen.

Three men, in particular, have driven the Iranian investment boom in
Georgia, according to corporate documents and Georgian and Mideast
businessmen.

Houshang Hosseinpour, Pourya Nayebi and Houshang Farsoudeh have jointly
established one of Georgia’s first private airlines, FlyGeorgia;
have gained control of a bank, JSC InvestBank; and have opened a
string of other ventures.

They also negotiated last year to buy a Sheraton hotel in Tbilisi and
the Poti industrial zone on the Black Sea, both from an investment
fund controlled by one of the U.A.E.’s royal families. Mr. Nayebi
said those efforts have been put on hold.

The trio’s rapid expansion has raised alarms in Washington and Europe
rooted in worries their efforts might be linked to Iran’s government,
said Western officials. In visits to Tbilisi, U.S. Treasury officials
have specifically raised the matter of the men’s acquisitions,
according to Georgian and American officials, based partly on their
bank’s dealings in the Iranian currency.

Messrs. Hosseinpour and Nayebi, in separate interviews, denied
any financial ties to Iran’s government. They said they simply saw
opportunity in Georgia after Dubai’s welcome mat frayed.

“I have no connections to Iran,” Mr. Hosseinpour said. “We have
nothing to do with evading sanctions.”

Mr. Nayebi said, “We are not working for Iran’s government. We hate
them and worked very hard to set up our businesses abroad away from
Iran.” The third man, Mr. Farsoudeh, didn’t respond to interview
requests.

Mr. Hosseinpour, in his mid-40s, was born in Tehran and later obtained
residency permits in Canada and the U.A.E., plus in 2011 a passport
from the tiny Caribbean nation St. Kitts and Nevis. His two partners
also hold St. Kitts passports.

Mr. Hosseinpour said he initially ran a trading business in Dubai
focused on supplying cars and auto parts in the Middle East and North
Africa. His family had hailed from the Caucasus region, he said, and
he was drawn to Georgia after the 2008 Russian-Georgian conflict. He
said he had bought about 500 acres near Georgia’s border with Armenia
to raise corn and wheat.

Iranian airlines are increasingly cut off from international
destinations as sanctions limit them in buying fuel and spare parts.

Mr. Hosseinpour said that last year he founded FlyGeorgia, which
established direct flights to Tehran. It is 65%-owned by him and Mr.

Farsoudeh, Georgian corporate records show, with Mr. Nayebi as
chairman.

Business wasn’t booming on a recent FlyGeorgia flight to Tbilisi from
Dusseldorf, Germany. On a largely empty plane, fliers were served
Georgian wines by hostesses in tightfitting red dresses, practices
hardly suggestive of a link to Iran’s theocracy.

Messrs. Hosseinpour, Nayebi and Farsoudeh gained control of the
Georgian bank InvestBank in 2011 through a Liechtenstein-based
investment fund called KSN Foundation, Georgian corporate documents
show. The bank that year reported holding some assets in Iran’s rial,
the only Georgian bank to do so.

This is a red flag for Washington. The U.S. has passed a law, taking
effect July 1, that calls for sanctioning any firm dealing in the
currency outside of Iran. InvestBank held no rials at the end of 2012,
a newer audit showed.

Liechtenstein regulators began a preliminary inquiry into the
foundation through which the Iranians bought InvestBank after
learning the U.S. Treasury was investigating the bank on concerns
it could be used to bypass U.S. sanctions on Iranian banks, said a
top Liechtenstein financial regulator. Georgian financial regulators
said that they are cooperating with the Treasury in investigating
InvestBank.

The Georgian regulators said they hadn’t found evidence the bank
helped Iran avoid sanctions. They did say that the bank’s Iranian
owners hadn’t properly disclosed changes in the bank’s board, and the
Georgian central bank is looking into “whether any unlawful change
in the ownership structure…has taken place,” said a central-bank
legal officer.

Mr. Nayebi, InvestBank’s chairman, said that “maybe [bank officials]
didn’t update” board changes with the regulator. He said the problem
might have arisen because he was “too busy” with other Georgian
ventures, such as one in agriculture.

“The U.S. government is wasting its time” in scrutinizing InvestBank,
Mr. Nayebi said. “We didn’t do anything in breach of sanctions.”

Giorgi Kadagidze, the Georgian central bank’s chief regulator, said
his government is taking extra steps to make sure no sanctioned
Iranian company can penetrate Georgia’s banking system. Georgia
recently amended its laws to bar any country subject to international
sanctions from opening “microfinance” outlets that make small loans.

“Everything regarding Iranians makes us take a much closer look
because of the sanctions,” Mr. Kadagidze said.

Georgia banking officials said they have thwarted several efforts by
Iranian banks or people linked to the Tehran regime to open finance
offices in Georgia.

Two years ago, Mr. Kadagidze said, top managers from Iran-based Bank
Pasargad visited Tbilisi three times seeking to open a branch. Denied a
license, the bank complained to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, he said.

The U.S. has since blacklisted the bank, a designation that bars
Americans from dealing with it and also puts pressure on foreign
banks not to. A Pasargad public-relations official declined to comment.

Iranian businessmen search out channels to finance their Georgian
enterprises. Mr. Akbari said for his wheat exports, letters of credit
are issued using accounts in China and Qatar.

One Iranian trader in Tbilisi said he pays for imports from Iran by
using a branch in neighboring Armenia of Iran’s Bank Mellat, which
is sanctioned by the U.S. and EU but not the U.N.

Some Iranians in Georgia said they had to send cash overland to Tehran
to pay for imports-worth the risk because Georgia is a rare friendly
market. “We send the payments…by car through Turkey and Armenia,”
said Mohsen Bashiri, who runs a Tehran-based company selling copper
cable in Tbilisi. “We hope we can expand” in Georgia.

–Asa Fitch contributed to this article.

LEADERS CALL FOR PEACEFUL TALKS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

iStockAnalyst
June 19 2013

LOUGH ERNE, Northern Ireland, June 18 (UPI) — World leaders Tuesday
called for continued peaceful negotiations over the future of the
Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan.

President Obama of the United States, Vladimir Putin of Russia and
Francois Hollande of France released a statement as the Group of
Eight summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, concluded.

“We, the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries —
France, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America —
remain committed to helping the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict reach a lasting and peaceful settlement,” the statement said.

“We express our deep regret that, rather than trying to find a
solution based upon mutual interests, the parties have continued to
seek one-sided advantage in the negotiation process.”

Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that became part of the Russian Empire
in the 19th century, has been effectively independent since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The area was part of
Soviet Azerbaijan, and most other countries do not recognize the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

About 85 percent of the residents are Armenian, most of them Christian,
while Azerbaijan’s population is mostly Muslim.

“We reiterate that only a negotiated settlement can lead to peace,
stability, and reconciliation, opening opportunities for regional
development and cooperation,” the joint statement said. “The use
of military force that has already created the current situation of
confrontation and instability will not resolve the conflict.”

Daily News & Analysis DNA, India
June 22 2013

Akbar to William, the Armenian connection

Sunday, Jun 23, 2013, 5:00 IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Joanna Lobo

The prince’s Indian-Armenian ancestors revives interest in
Indo-Armenian history.

So, Britain’s Prince William is Indian. Okay, he’s at least 1/256th
Indian from his mother’s side, as reports said last week. For those
hiding under a rock when the news broke, researchers have traced Lady
Diana’s family line back six generations to a woman named Eliza
Kewark, whose father was an Armenian trader and whose mother may have
been Indian.

In 1812, Kewark gave birth to Prince William’s great, great, great,
great grandmother Katharine Scott Forbes in Gujarat. Tests reveal that
the Duke of Cambridge carries Kewark’s mitochondrial DNA that is only
inherited from mothers. That DNA has previously only been found in 13
Indians and one Nepali.

As the British and Indian media dissect this royal connection, there
is much discussion on how interracial affairs were common at that
time. Armenians and Indians have ties that can be traced to the Mughal
empire. Besides his better-known Hindu and Muslim wives, Emperor Akbar
had an Armenian wife, Mariam Zamani Begum, as well as an Armenian
doctor and chief justice. This has been documented in Armenians in
India by Mesrovb J Seth.

Armenians started migrating to India not just from the land of their
origin, but also from the Middle East during the 16th and 17th
centuries. Today, unofficial counts put their population here at 150.
But that doesn’t mean our ties are weakening. The Indian-Armenian
Friendship (IAF), an organisation devoted to inter-cultural ties,
notes that there are Armenian-Indian marriages still taking place in
India. The numbers are not spectacular, but for a community so tiny,
it is
remarkable.

Delhi-based businessman Rananjay Anand first met Armenian theologist
Ruzanna Ashughyan in 2009. By 2011, when Anand made his first visit to
Armenia, they had decided to get married. Their wedding in Yerevan
last year was a big affair – the entire Indian community was present,
including the then Indian ambassador to Armenia and his wife. The duo
live in Delhi.

They interact with the sparse Indian-Armenian community via a Facebook
group that Anand started. `The community is scattered but there’s
greater people-to-people interaction. We have found out that there are
a number of Armenian girls married in India,’ he says. These women are
the brides of Indians who have studied medicine in Armenia, fallen in
love there and brought their brides back home.

In Kolkata, the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy (ACPA) that
started in 1821 is evidence of centuries-old Indo-Armenian ties. The
college is open to Armenians whose education and lodging is sponsored
by the church and community.

Sevak Vartomiyan, 24, came from Iran in 2003 and studied at La
Martiniere, Kolkata. He is currently doing an IHM degree from ACPA. He
plays rugby for Armenian Sports Club and hopes to represent his
country one day.

The first Armenian church in Agra was consecrated in 1562, possibly
thanks to the patronage of the Mughals. At present, there are four
Armenian churches in Kolkata, one each in Chennai and Mumbai.

Zabel Joshi (Hayakian), the mother of actress Tulip Joshi, is the only
surviving Armenian in Mumbai and, thus, sole trustee of the
215-year-old St Peter’s Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Fort
that was established in 1796. It is now being used by the Malankara
Orthodox Syrians for services.

`The Chennai church is a heritage site. Once a year, a group from
Kolkata, led by one of the two priests in Kolkata, visits these
churches and conducts services,’ says Mike Stephen, 44, an Indian
Armenian, and the former caretaker of the Armenian Church of Virgin
Mary in Chennai. His family has been in India since 1860.

`I’m in contact with the college, the priests, and committees through
Facebook, email and phone calls. Besides I have around 3,800 Armenian
friends online from places like Ethiopia, Bulgaria and South Africa,’
he says.

While Stephen revels in the fact that Armenians are so spread out, his
friends are equally impressed that there are still Armenians in India.
The IAF is planning to create an official database of Armenians living
here. `We just want the two countries to come closer together,’ says
Anand.

The family tree
Elisabeth (Liz) Chater is much in demand these days. She has dedicated
her life documenting Armenian graves in India. Following the discovery
of Indian DNA in Prince William’s genes, Chater has received many
requests asking if she has come across any family connections or grave
markers for Eliza Kewark. `With several hundred Armenian grave markers
still to transcribe, it is difficult to know, but [it’s] quite
possible,’ says this family history researcher who has a database of
over 10,000 individual Armenians and about 3,000 families who have had
some connection with India over the last three centuries. She
continues to research Armenian families in India and helps the
Indian-Armenian diaspora find their long-lost ancestors.

Art Daily
June 22 2013

Exhibit including 10 women photographers opens at Armenian Center for
Contemporary Experimental Art

YEREVAN.- For the first time in the history of Armenia, ten women
photographers unite their vision to present Armenia as they see it now
and to exhibit in a group show supported by the Open Society
Foundations.

`I had the privilege to curate this exhibit and was allowed to enter
their world of mothers, professionals and social activists,’ said
Svetlana Bachevanova curator of the mOther Armenia exhibit.

`Women in Armenia still battle to establish a career. Women are still
expected to be full time mothers and housekeepers. But these ten
documentarians broke the rules and found a way to pursue careers and
create powerful bodies of work.’

The photographers include: Mery Aghakhanyan, Sara Anjargolian, Nazik
Armenakyan, Anush Babajanyan, Knar Babayan, Anahit Hayrapetyan, Hasmik
Hayrapetyan, Piruza Khalapyan, Inna Mkhitaryan and Nelli Shishmanyan.

The work in this exhibit tells intimate stories of Armenian life from
the perspective of women, revealing aspects of Armenia often ignored.
>From stark black and white photographs of people with disabilities
overcoming obstacles, to rich portraits of nonconformists, and
intimate images of transgenders struggling with finding a place in
society, these woman photographers address social injustice and the
role of women in modern Armenia.