Author: Babajanian Karo

A working consultation dedicated to the development of agriculture in
Hadrout region took place

On 19 January President of Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan visited the
town of Hadrout where he held a working consultation dedicated to the
development of agriculture in the region. Central Information
Department of the Office of Artsakh Republic President informs about
this.

In his speech Bako Sahakyan noted that we have all the preconditions –
climatic, historical and socioeconomic- for the dynamic development of
the field.
According to the Sahakyan, while accomplishing programs in the
agricultural sector special attention must be drawn to the
implementation of pilot projects which will reveal their negative and
positive aspects as well as will give an opportunity to expand the
scope of these programs taking into consideration the recorded
results.

NKR prime-minister Ara Haroutunyan, heads of regional administration
departments and communities partook at the consultation.

19.01.13, 18:56

Ivanishvili gets Georgia closer to Russia, says Saakashvili

tert.am
12:47 – 14.01.13

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has accused the head of cabinet
of shifting the country’s foreign policy course towards Russia.

According to Georgia Online, he has referred to a recent phone
conversation in which Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said he was
forced to repel attacks by the western world and the United State to
keep his policies independent.

Saakashvili reportedly said the premier is focusing more on Russia by
ordering the release of those who used to spy for the country.

`He now speaks of western attacks which have always helped Georgia,’
he was quoted as saying.

Ivanishvili has repeatedly said he seeks a normalization of
Georgia-Russia relations without any harm to his country’s interests.
The new phase, according to him, will mark a new level of partnership
in the economic, cultural and humanitarian sectors.

The court’s conclusions are not based on an objective assessment of
all the circumstances of “Matagis case”

2013-01-19 17:40:20

Prosecutors on resonance “Matagis case” believe that the court of
first instance of Shirak region has been a fundamental breach of the
substantive and procedural law, due to a judicial act, which,
according to the prosecution, distorts the very essence of justice,
violates the necessary balance between the protected interests and
values.

According to the prosecution, the court’s conclusions are not based on
objective, complete and comprehensive assessment of the circumstances,
all the facts presented by the prosecutors of the case were not taken
into account, in the event that they would be given a legal
assessment, the court would have come to different conclusions, which
would affect significantly outcome of this matter, reports Faktinfo.

Yesterday RA Military Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against the
acquittal of 18.12.2012 made by the court of first instance of Shirak
region. According to this judgment, the defendants Razmik Sargsyan,
Musa Serobyan and Ara Zalyan, the defendants in accordance with
paragraphs 1.6 and 14 of Part 2 of Art. 112 of RA Criminal Code, were
found not guilty on the basis of Part 2 of Art. 35 of the Criminal
Procedural Code acquitted for lack of evidence of their involvement in
the crime.

Note that the successor of the victim Roman Yeghiazaryan also filed a
lawsuit to appeal the sentence imposed by the trial court.

Azerbaijan’s attempts to press Georgia on gas issues will yield
reverse effect – expert

news.am
January 19, 2013 | 15:07

YEREVAN.- Azerbaijan’s attempts to press Georgia on gas issues will
yield a reverse effect, representative of International Crisis Group
(ICG) Johnny Melikyan said.

Georgian side realizes that energy dependence is disadvantageous, he
told reporters on Saturday. The gas price was one of the key points
discussed during Ivanishvili’s visit to Baku.

`After the visit Azerbaijani side reportedly expressed readiness to
cut gas price for Georgia,’ he added. Relations may deteriorate if
Azerbaijan attempts to blackmail Tbilisi.

`The path of balanced policy is full of obstacles but we have a good
opportunity to work with Georgian side in this direction,’ he added.

Under a 5-year agreement with state oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR),
Georgia is receiving gas for $167 per 1 thousand cubic meters, one of
the best offers in post-Soviet area.

London: Eilian Williams was attacked in Turkish Embassy

Yesterday, on January 18, eve of the anniversary of the murder of
journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul occurred in 2007, Mr. Eilian
Williams, leader of the organization {Solidarity with the Victims of
All Genocides}, to Cardiff (Wales), and one of its colleagues were
physically attacked by the members of the Turkish Embassy in London
when they wanted to deliver a letter of protest to the Ambassador
Ahmet Ünal Çeviköz. Jean Eckian informs about this from Paris.

According to the source the embassy staff refused to accept the letter
and one of its members attacked Ellian Williams. Clothes of Mr.
Williams were torn and a police officer had to intervene to prevent
things from escalating. Mr. Williams was then expelled from the
embassy.

In his letter, Williams Eilian calls also Turkey’s ambassador asking
him to answer the question: Who kills the Armenians in Istanbul?, in
Referring to article by Jenny White published on 11 January in Boston
University.

19.01.13, 18:22

Issues of people with disabilities not included in programs of political forces

TERT.AM
12:13 – 20.01.13

Executive director of Unison NGO dealing with the issues of disabled
people Armen Alaverdyan said the number of people with disabilities
registered in Armenia reaches 182,000 of which 174,000 are eligible
voters.

While he claimed the people with disabilities are not highlighted in
the programs of the political forces during the elections.

`If to speak about the previous NA elections, the promises were not
clearly given. The disabled people were included in different social
groups – in the groups of aged people, refugees, minorities while the
issues of people with disabilities differ, demanding clear promises,’
the NGO’s chairman said, speaking to Tert.am.

At the same time he stressed that certain changes are being registered
regarding the facilitation of movement of the handicapped people but
it cannot be considered satisfactory.

Alaverdyan said the NGO is going to undertake certain steps at the
upcoming presidential elections to encourage the people with
disabilities participate in the elections despite all the impediments.

`We have already participated in the discussions with the attendance
of the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Tigran Mukichyan.
Unison NGO is going to conduct monitoring in all the polling stations
in Yerevan in ten days to see whether they are available for the
people with disabilities come and cast their ballots,’ he said,
stressing that the results will be presented.

He said on the election day they will follow the process of elections.

REVUE DE PRESSE
L’Arménie, cette inconnue

Lundi soir, Reseau éducation sans frontière a organisé une conférence
sur l’Arménie, au cours de laquelle Taline Papazian a présenté les
spécificités de ce pays.Partager

En quoi l’Arménie est-il un pays enclavé ?

Aujourd’hui, sur quatre frontières, deux sont fermées : celle avec
l’Azerbaïdjan et celle avec la Turquie. Il y a une guerre ouverte et
latente avec l’Azerbaïdjan dans la région du Haut-Karabakh. Les
relations avec la Turquie sont tendues sur la question du génocide.
L’Arménie est ouverte sur l’extérieur seulement sur son axe nord-sud,
et le nombre d’Arméniens est plus important à l’extérieur du pays (6
millions) qu’à l’intérieur (3 millions). De plus, l’économie du pays
n’est pas forte et l’Arménie continue de se vider de ses habitants.

Qu’est-ce qui fait l’unité du peuple arménien ?

Il existe une forte identité nationale qui repose essentiellement sur
la religion chrétienne et sur une langue spécifique. En revanche,
l’institution arménienne aujourd’hui la plus solide est l’armée, dans
un contexte politique où la démocratie n’est pas accomplie. Il existe
également en Arménie une oligarchie composée de clans, qui mélangent
politique et intérêts économiques. Si vous devenez trop gros, vous
devenez un contre-pouvoir pour ces clans et vous pouvez disparaître.

Il est apparemment très difficile pour un Arménien d’obtenir un visa
en France. Pourquoi ?

Il y a une liste de pays jugés dangereux dont les habitants peuvent
demander l’asile en France. L’Arménie n’est pas qualifié de pays
dangereux. Cependant, c’est une des promesses faites par Hollande de
revoir cette liste et d’y intégrer l’Arménie.

L’Arménie est-il un pays dangereux ?

Le problème est que le danger n’est pas visible. Vous pouvez aller
passer 15 jours en vacances en Arménie, vous ne verrez rien. Pourtant
il existe un réel danger. La principale peur des Arméniens reste la
peur de la disparition.

La position de la France est-elle ambiguë par rapport à l’Arménie ?

Oui, car des liens profonds existent entre l’Arménie et la France :
l’Arménie fut la base arrière des Croisés dans l’Empire ottoman, sous
le règne de Léon II le Grand. Il y a eu des mariages entre le royaume
de France et le royaume de Cilicie. Ce n’est pas un hasard si le
dernier roi d’Arménie est enterré en France. Les Arméniens reprochent
à juste titre aux Français d’avoir reculé sur la question du génocide
en retoquant la loi contre le négationnisme. Même si la reconnaissance
du génocide n’est pas la priorité de l’agenda politique arménien, il
n’en reste pas moins que sa reconnaissance est attendue par les
Arméniens. C’est dans l’intérêt de la France de s’impliquer plus et à
mon avis, ce n’est pas très compliqué.

Née en France et d’origine arménienne, Taline Papazian est docteur en
sciences politiques, spécialiste de l’ancien espace soviétique, et
plus précisément de la construction des états, des nationalismes et
des conflits. Elle a travaillé entre autres sur les points communs
entre Israël et Arménie et sur la violence physique dans la
construction d’un état.

dimanche 20 janvier 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

DIPLOMATIE
L’Ambassadeur d’Arménie à Bucarest rencontre Varoujan Voskanian le
ministre roumain de l’Economie

Le 18 janvier, S.E. l’Ambassadeur d’Arménie à Bucarest, Hamlet
Gasparian dans le cadre des entretiens avec les membres du nouveau
gouvernement a rencontré le ministre roumain de l’Economie, Varoujan
Voskanian. La rencontre était chaleureuse, Varoujan Oskanian le
ministre roumain étant l’un des leaders de la communauté arménienne de
Roumanie. Au nom du gouvernement arménien Hamlet Gasparian a insisté
sur l’importance des relations entre l’Arménie et la Roumanie et s’est
félicité du niveau de ces liens arméno-roumains. H. Gasparian a
également émis le souhait qu’avec l’arrivée de Varoujan Voskanian à ce
poste, les relations entre les gouvernements d’Arménie et de Roumanie
se renforceront encore. Les deux hommes ont insisté sur le
développement des économies des deux pays à travers les échanges. Les
relations diplomatiques entre Erévan et Bucarest furent toujours
amicales et d’un très bon niveau. La Roumanie étant en 1991 l’un des
premiers pays à reconnaître la République d’Arménie.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 20 janvier 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Agence France Presse –
January 14, 2013 Monday 9:37 AM GMT

Football: Shakhtar can beat Borussia, says Mkhitaryan

Donetsk, Ukraine, Jan 14 2013

Shakhtar Donetsk are capable of defeating Germany’s Borussia Dortmund
to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the Ukraine
champion’s midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan believes.

The two sides will face up to each other home and away in the
tournament’s last 16 in February.

“Everyone knows that there are no weak opponents in the Champions
League play-off round,” Armenian international Mkhitaryan, who last
month was voted Armenian player of the year for the third time, told
AFP.

“I think that both matches with Borussia will be very interesting as
the clubs seem to be even and have equal chances of advancing.

“We will try to get a positive result against Borussia but I think it
will be a really tough task, they are very strong opponents.

“And we need to stay concentrated throughout both matches with the
German champions as even a single mistake against them can be fatal.”

The 23-year-old Mkhitaryan said that Borussia, who trail 12 points
behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on the homefront, will be
doubly keen for success on the European stage.

“Borussia are a very good and experienced team led by a strong
manager, who understands football really well,” he said.

“They are extremely dangerous on the counter-attack. They beat Real
Madrid and Manchester City in their group and I have no doubts that we
will need to perform at our top level to overcome them.”

Mkhitaryan added that Shakhtar and their ambitious owner Rinat
Akhmetov had set their sights high for this season.

“We are determined at the club to get the maximums result this season.
In the Champions League we are aiming to win every single match
remaining in the tournament. If we manage to do it we will win the
tournament.

“We want to progress. If we manage to beat Borussia it will definitely
be a success for us. Only after that can we start to think about our
next opponents.”

Shakhtar are currently top of the Ukraine league with 51 points from
18 matches, 13 points ahead of second-placed Dnepropetrovsk. The
league will resu,e on March 2 after the winter break.

Rustavi-2 TV, Georgia
Jan 17 2013

Georgian, Armenian PMs discuss Karabakh, Abkhaz railway, economic ties

[Translated from Georgian]

Visiting Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has met his
Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan in Yerevan, Georgian Rustavi-2 TV
reported on 17 January.

In remarks at a joint briefing after their meeting, they discussed the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, the possible restoration of the
Georgia-Russia railway and bilateral Georgian-Armenian economic
cooperation.

Karabakh

Ivan ishvili said in Georgian: “As far as the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem is concerned, the issue is very complicated. I spoke with the
Azerbaijani president, Mr Ilham Alliyev, about this issue during my
visit to Azerbaijan. I communicated his position to Mr Prime Minister
[Sargsyan]. I will not go into detail as to where and how we discussed
it but I can tell the press that the issue is quite difficult and it
seems that it will be hard to solve it in the near future. My wish and
my exhortation, if you will, would be that this problem should be
solved only through peaceful means.”

Ivanishvili also berated Rustavi-2 correspondent Nato Makhviladze for
asking a question about a recent statement by Georgian Foreign
Minister Maia Panjikidze that had been misinterpreted by some
Azerbaijani media as implying that the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
“can only be solved in favour of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity”.

Ivanishvili said his government had clarified the remark “a thousand
times” and told Rustavi-2’s correspondent: “It was distorted, there
was an explanation that it was distorted and yet you are still asking
a question about the distortion.”

Sargsyan expressed his gratitude for the clarification in Armenian: “I
want to extend great thanks to the prime minister for their
[Georgia’s] balanced position on the Karabakh conflict. Things often
get distorted when Nagornyy Karbakh is concerned. I want to thank my
Georgian colleagues for reacting in a very operative manner to this
distortion and made a decision that is befitting of Georgia.”

Abkhaz railway

Also discussed at the briefing was the possible restoration of railway
service between Georgia and Russia through the breakaway region of
Abkhazia. Armenia strongly supports the reopening of the link to its
main trade partner and strategic ally, Russia.

Ivanishvili said in Russian (according to Rustavi-2’s Georgian
translation): “I believe the restoration of the railway is possible.
More can be done. There are no problems in relations between our two
countries, Georgia and Armenia. But as you know, we had a big problem
with Russia. And this problem remains. We hope to and we are trying to
solve our problems with Russia. The deepest problem is Georgia’s
territorial integrity. This cannot be solved any time soon. But the
railway’s restoration is possible if all parties show political will.
Georgia, for its part, expresses its readiness. But there is the
Russian side. We do not have good relations with our fraternal Abkhaz
people. All the sides must express readiness. For our part we are
ready to solve this issue as soon as possible.”

Sargsyan, also speaking Russian, said: “We expressed our position that
we will increase our efforts to ensure the restoration of the railway.
We are interested in seeing this problem resolved as soon as possible.
We will stake out an active position towards the resolution of this
issue.”

Economic integration

In reporting on the Ivanishvili-Sargysan briefing, Georgia’s Imedi TV,
in contrast, ignored the two above issues and focused on the prime
ministers’ discussion on economic cooperation.

It showed Ivanishvili calling for “maximum integration” of the two
countries’ economies and work towards a “common market” in the South
Caucasus. He added: “Our new government, our team, is maximally
committed to deepening the relationship between these two friendly
states and, first and foremost, economic relations should be
expanded.”

Sargsyan, for his part, was shown saying: “There has not been a
problem in the history of the two peoples that could not be overcome.
There is a great potential for joint economic development of our two
countries. A bilateral joint group will be created to work on economic
issues.”

Imedi reported that two bilateral agreements, between the two
countries customs services and their culture ministries, had been
signed during Ivanishvili’s visit.

[Translated from Georgian]