Author: Babajanian Karo

Infographic: Hrant Dink in Numbers

ARMENIA – BY LIANA AGHAJANIAN ON JANUARY 19, 2013 12:21 PM

Six years after Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor of Agos Hrant
Dink was gunned down in Istanbul, hundreds of thousands of people
across the world have continuously gather to honor his memory, a trial
has seen his shooter jailed while requests have been made to overturn
a verdict that ruled out the involvement of any organized criminal
network behind his murder.
Though there have been great strides to improve Armenian-Turkish
relations in the years following Dink’s untimely death, setbacks
haven’t been uncommon. There were those protocols, which disastrously
failed, an Armenian Genocide bill in France that increased tensions
and several assaults on ethnic Armenians in Turkey, including the
murder of one of the Istanbul Armenian community’s oldest residents,
eerily reminiscent of Dink’s murder.
As debate and policy stir on, here is a short infographic with some
important numbers to remember and resources to read up on when it
comes to Dink and his legacy.

Check out our previous infographic, `The Importance of Armenian
Genocide Recognition.

Hrant Dink is in our hearts – leader of Kurdish party

news.am
January 19, 2013 | 18:53

Chairman Peace and Democracy Party, the Kurdish political force in
Turkish Parliament, Selahatin Demirtas made a statement on the
anniversary of the assassination of Hrant Dink.

In a statement, he noted that Dink’s murder became manifestation of
attacking democracy and peace. By choosing him as a target, the sights
were set on the brotherhood of nations, but it was doomed to failure,
Turkish Haber7 website quotes Demirtas.

`Hrant was an important symbol of the brotherhood of nations, their
living together in peace. He was convicted under Article 301 and fell
victim of `Love it or leave it’ concept which is inciting hatred,’
Demirtas said, stressing that Dink was killed with the tacit approval
of the government.

Hrant Dink, chief editor of the Armenian newspaper Agos, was shot dead
outside his office January 19, 2007.

Crowd is paying tribute to the memory of Hrant Dink in front of `Agos’
editorial office

17:49, 19 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS: Rally have been organizing in
Istanbul dedicated to the 6th anniversary of assassination of
prominent Armenian journalist from Istanbul, chief editor of `Agos’
weekly Hrant Dink. As reports Armenpress, as during previous years,
this year as well a big crowd has gathered at Shishli square of
Istanbul to rally to editorial office of `Agos’. People are hanging
posters with `We all are Armenians, we all are Dink’ notes.

Those gathered in front of `Agos’ are singing Armenian and Turkish
songs, waiting for the murder hour to pay tribute to the memory of
Hrant Dink. People are expecting the final investigation of the case
when the real responsible of the crime will be found and sentenced.

6 years have passed after the assassination of prominent Armenian
journalist from Istanbul, chief editor of `Agos’ weekly Hrant Dink.
Hrant Dink was shot dead in Shishli district of Istanbul on January
19, 2007. After leaving the murder shouted `giaour’ giving basis for
suspicion that the murder was committed based on nationalist hatred.
Dink was one of those intellectuals, famous for their fearless
speeches being numerously persecuted for that.

PACE co-rapporteurs distort facts on Karabakh

tert.am
17:16 – 19.01.13

The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) co-rapporteurs
on Azerbaijan have misrepresented facts concerning the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, say representatives of the Armenian
delegation to the Assembly.

Naira Zohrabyan, who represents the Prosperous Armenia party in the
delegation, told Tert.am that the European officials, Pedro Agramund
and Joseph Grech, directly distorted the OSCE Minsk Group documents,
as well as the world community’s attitude and opinion on the issue.

According to her, the European officials have not included any of the
Armenian delegation’s proposals the documents.

`Though the report reflecting Azerbaijan’s compliance with its
obligations has met criticism by the civil society representatives not
yet bribed or sent to jail by [President] Ilham Aliyev, there are
reports that Azerbaijan has carried into practice its entire
oil-caviar resource to make the caviar-loving European MPs protect
Azerbaijan’s interests and opinion,’ she said.

Speaking to Tert.am, Head of the Armenian Delegation David Harityunyan
refrained from giving comment, saying only that his and Armen
Roustamyan’s (ARF-D) opinions are enclosed to the report.

`I cannot introduce it because it is put into circulation after the
session – as stipulated for in the PACE Charter, – and I have no idea
if it has been spread. So I will refrain [from comments] not to
violate the regulations,’ he said.

The Assembly’s upcoming session agenda includes issues indirectly
related to Armenia. One of them, particularly, concerns the Freedom of
Press in Europe report, which addresses several Armenian media
outlets, and the freedom of press in general.

Vahe Hovhannisyan of the Prosperous Armenia party has prepared a
speech in this connection.

Armenia is undertaking the CoE Committee of Ministers chairmanship in
May, the first time since becoming a member state of the Council. The
Armenian delegation is planning serious work for the January and April
sessions to establish the country’s priorities for the six-month
period of chairmanship.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is attending the session in the
guest status. Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement and
European Neighbourhood Policy, is also among the invitees.

London: Turkish Embassy Staff Attack Dink Protestors

16:06, January 19, 2013

On January 18, the eve of the anniversary of the 2007 murder of
journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul, Mr. Eilian Williams, leader of the
Cardiff organization `Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides’,
and one of his 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.

The embassy staff refused to accept the letter and one of its members
attacked Ellian Williams. Mr. Williams’ clothes 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 called on Turkey’s ambassador to answer
the question: Who kills the Armenians in Istanbul?; referring to an
article by Jenny White published on January 11 at Boston University.

Former PM: `Armenian way’ contradicts Georgia’s state interests

Saturday 19 January 2013 09:48
Photo:
Former Prime Minister of Georgia Vano Merabishvili

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Former Prime Minister of Georgia Vano Merabishvili
said that `Armenian way’ contradicts the Georgian state interests.

Secretary General of former ruling party `United National Movement’
Vano Merabishvili said this commenting on the statement of Georgian
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili who said that Armenia is a good
example that it’s possible to have good relations simultaneously with
Russia and NATO, Civil.ge reports.

`Though Armenia is a friendly country and I respect their choice, the
Armenian way contradicts Georgia’s state interests’, said
Merabishvili.

Another representative of `United National Movement’ Goka Gabashvili
stated that Armenia which is a CSTO member and cooperates with NATO
but doesn’t try to become its member can’t be a model for Georgia’s
foreign policy.

`It will be a 180-degrees- turn of the course of the foreign policy.
It’s very worrying and dangerous for Georgia’, he said.

BAKU GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO TANAP PIPELINE DEAL
Alexandr Mazurkevich

RIA Novosti

BAKU, January 18 (RIA Novosti) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
officially approved on Friday a project to build the Trans-Anatolian
(TANAP) gas pipeline to Europe via Turkey, the president’s official
website reported.

Turkey and Azerbaijan signed an intergovernmental agreement on the
issue in June 2012.

TANAP is projected to deliver natural gas, mostly from Azerbaijan’s
Shah Deniz gas field, via Turkey to gas transport systems in Bulgaria
or Greece. Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum on December 26,
2011, establishing a consortium to build and operate the pipeline.

The planned annual minimum capacity of the pipeline, to be built by
late 2017, will be 16 billion cubic meters. Six billion cubic meters
will be bought by Turkey and the rest will go to Europe. The project’s
costs have previously been estimated at $7 billion.

The project’s major shareholders are the State Oil Company of
Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) with an 80 percent stake and Turkey’s
state-owned crude oil and natural gas pipelines and trading company
BOTAS with 20 percent.

SOCAR, which has the right to sell a part of its shares to minority
partners, has invited BP, Statoil and Total S.A. to become minority
shareholders in this project. BP and Statoil signaled their readiness
to buy 12 percent each, while Total S.A. said it might buy a 5
percent stake.

MAJOR ARMENIAN POLITICAL PARTIES DID NOT NOMINATE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES “BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF TRUST IN THE CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION”, PACE DELEGATION SAID

Friday 18 January 2013 10:34

Yerevan/Mediamax/. PACE Delegation said in a statement that major
Armenian political parties, “which were strongly expected to nominate
presidential candidates, chose not to do so because of their lack of
trust in the conduct of the election”.

“The intention of the Armenian authorities to organise an election
fully in line with international standards has been welcomed by a
PACE delegation visiting the country to assess the pre-electoral
climate ahead of the 18 February presidential election.

However, a crucial matter of concern for the delegation is the
continuing substantial inaccuracies in the voter list, since an
accurate list is a prerequisite for any proper election. There is
still confusion about the right to vote for Armenians living abroad.

The delegation was also disappointed to note that previous
recommendations on urgently dealing with these issues have not been
implemented.

The delegation also noted that, one month before the vote, the general
public is lacking both interest and confidence in the electoral
process. This is a matter of great concern, in particular given that
major political parties, which were strongly expected to nominate
presidential candidates, chose not to do so because of their lack
of trust in the conduct of the election. This decision has narrowed
the voters’ choice, leading to a situation even more regrettable as
the elections to come are already overshadowed by apathy and a lack
of faith. The delegation emphasised that citizens’ trust must be
restored as elections are essential for democratic development.

It also strongly hopes that issues already criticised in PACE’s report
on the parliamentary elections of 6 May 2012, in particular cases
of intimidation of voters and the extensive use of administrative
resources, have been dealt with in a way that ensures such practices
will not be repeated. It also hopes that a level playing field will be
granted to all candidates, inter alia, through balanced media coverage.

The delegation welcomes increased media freedom and hopes that
registered candidates will engage in electoral campaigns based on
concrete political programs and that the public discussion will focus
more on substance, so that the electorate can make an informed choice.

The delegation is aware of the legal improvements brought by the new
Electoral Code adopted in 2011. It however insists that a fair and
proper implementation of the Code is as important as the Code itself”,
the statement said.

The PACE pre-electoral delegation was in Yerevan at the invitation
of the President of the National Assembly of Armenia. It met with
presidential candidates, including the incumbent President, leaders
of factions in the Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
the President of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Central
Electoral Commission, the Head of the National Police, the General
Prosecutor, NGO and media representatives, the Head of the OSCE/ODIHR
election observation mission and diplomats in Yerevan.

A full 22-member delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly will arrive
in Yerevan in mid-February to observe the vote. The PACE delegation
will present its findings and recommendations to the Assembly during
its April session in Strasbourg.

ARMENIA’S RED BOOK AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC VERSION

January 18, 2013 – 21:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Yerevan hosted the presentation of “Scientific
Principles of Import of Plants in Armenia” book by director of the
Institute of Biology of RA NAS Zhirayr Vardanyan and Armenia’s Red
Book in electronic version, with Minister of Nature Protection Aram
Harutyunyan present.

Minister Harutyunyan highly assessed the contribution of Institute
of Biology to the development of the field.

The project was implemented by Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection,
Transboundary Joint Secretariat (TJS) and German Finance Foundation.

The e-book comprises the names of the plants and animals, featured
in the printed version. It will be available on Nature Protection
Ministry’s website.

I DON’T EXPECT WAR IN SOUTH CAUCASIAN REGION TO BE RESTORED. MATTHEW BRYZA

21:02, 18 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS: Former Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group,
Former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza doesn’t expect
war in South Caucasian region to be restored. As reports Armenpress,
Bryza has noted in interview with Azerbaijani journalists that war
may start only after the deliberate decision of one of the parties.

“I think that Armenia and Azerbaijan are not interested in it. The
establishment of confidence between the sides and coexistence of the
two peoples are more acceptable than a war,” Bryza said.

Referring to upcoming presidential elections held both in Armenia
and Azerbaijan Bryza said “I don’t want to say that the presidential
elections in Azerbaijan and Armenia have been predetermined. It will
be a democratic process and the citizens will vote their candidates”.

According to him, many experts consider the presidents of the two
countries will be reelected as in the US.

“If it happens, it will not be of great importance for the situation
in the region. As regards the statements that due to the elections,
this year will be a lost year in the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, I can say that there were a lot of lost years. I do not
think that US President will be able to play the role of Russian
President Medvedev. This is impossible and not real. But I think,
US President and Secretary of State can strengthen confidence between
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents. Without this, the co-chairs will
not be able to accomplish their activity,” he said.