Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMEE ARMENIENNE
Le Premier ministre arménien Dikran Sarkissian a rendu visite aux
soldats dans une base

Le Premier ministre Dikran Sarkissian s’est rendu dans ne unité
militaire sur la base « N » à l’occasion du Nouvel An afin de saluer
les soldats Arméniens. Il était accompagné du général Youri
Khatchatourov, le commandant en chef de l’armée arménienne. Le chef du
gouvernement arménien a déjeuné en compagnie des soldats et s’est
préoccupé de leurs soucis quotidiens, de la qualité de leur
hébergement. Dans un discours adressé aux militaires, Dikran
Sarkissian a dit « nous sommes derrière vous (…) chaque jour lors de
nos activités, nous savons que notre front est bien gardé. Nous
pouvons poursuivre nos pourparlers internationaux, sachant que nous
avons des jeunes comme vous qui aiment et protègent leur patrie. De
tout c`ur, je souhait que 2013 puissse être l’année de la paix. (…)
notre pays de renforce à petits pas en triomphant de toutes les
difficultés (…) nous sommes convaincus qu’avec vous nous allons
triompher de toutes ces difficultés ».

Krikor Amirzayan

mardi 1er janvier 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Location
Négociations entre l’Arménie et l’Iran

Les autorités arméniennes souhaiteraient louer aux Iraniens des
hectares de terre pour le bétail. Des contrats sont actuellement en
cours de négociation. « Plusieurs investisseurs étrangers ont fait des
propositions concernant plusieurs régions, notamment celle de Syunik
», a déclaré le vice-Premier ministre Armen Gevorgian. Un haut
fonctionnaire de la province arménienne de Syunik a précisé que la
partie iranienne propose officiellement de louer des milliers
d’hectares de terres dans cette région montagneuse adjacente à l’Iran.
« Ils veulent louer des pturages et faire paître leur bétail à cet
endroit-là. En ce moment les choses sont en cours de négociation », a
déclaré Samvel Tangian, le chef du département de l’agriculture.

Tangian a confirmé que le gouverneur de la province iranienne, Alireza
Beigi et des hommes d’affaires iraniens qui l’accompagnaient ont
exprimé un intérêt à ce sujet-là lors de leur visite à Syunik cet été.
Il a dit que Surik Khachatrian, le gouverneur de Syunik, poursuivra
les négociations en janvier prochain.

Le responsable a indiqué que l’administration de Syunik est prête en
principe à louer 4.000 hectares de pturages qui, selon elle, ne sont
pas utilisés par les agriculteurs locaux en raison de l’absence de
bétail.

Gevorgian, qui est également ministre de l’Arménie pour les
collectivités locales, a déclaré que rien n’a été pour l’instant
convenu formellement. Babken Mkrtchian, le chef du département de
l’agriculture de Vayots Dzor, a révélé que l’administration
provinciale a proposé aux Iraniens de faire paître le bétail sur les
pturages locaux. Il a affirmé que les fonctionnaires et les
agriculteurs commerciaux de l’Iran se rendront à Vayots Dzor au
printemps prochain pour inspecter les terrains.

« Nous avons également un accord avec l’Arabie saoudite », a déclaré
Mkrtchian à RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am). Les dernières années ont vu un
essor des exportations de moutons de l’Arménie à l’Iran.

mardi 1er janvier 2013,
Laetitia ©armenews.com

Armenia-based Heritage party leader 13th presidential candidate

tert.am
14:23 – 31.12.12

At 12:00am, Chairman of the Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian, and his
authorized representative Armen Martirosyan visited the Central
Electoral Commission (CEC).

CEC Spokeswoman Hermine Harutyunyan said informed Tert.am that Mr
Hovannisian applied for registration as a candidate in the
presidential election in Armenia, on February 18, 2013. He is the 13th
applicant for Armenia’s presidency.

Among the presidential candidates are Armenia’s incumbent President
Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia’s ex-premier Hrant Bagratyan, Chairman of the
Self-Determination Union Paruir Hairikyan, ex-FM of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Arman Melikyan, Chairman of the
National Concord party Aram Harutyunyan, as well as Vardan Sedrakyan,
Mher Hairapetyan, Andreas Ghukasyan, Pavlik Sargsyan, Narine
Lazarian, Taron Abrahamyan, and Robert Simonyan.

TURQUIE
Stagnation du nombre de touristes ayant visité la Turquie à fin novembre 2012

Le nombre de touristes étrangers ayant visité la Turquie, durant les
onze premier mois de l’année en cours, a quasiment stagné à 30
millions de visiteurs, selon les dernières statistiques officielles
sur les arrivées touristiques de la Turquie.

Les différentes villes touristiques du pays ont accueilli 30,4
millions de visiteurs, à fin novembre dernier, contre 30,2 millions
une année auparavant, relève-t-on dans des statistiques rendues
publiques mardi par le département du Tourisme.

L’Allemagne reste le principal pourvoyeur de touristes pour la
Turquie, avec 4,87 millions de visiteurs durant la période allant de
janvier à novembre 2012, suivie par la Russie (3,54 millions) et la
Grande-Bretagne (2,41 millions).

Les régions turques les plus prisées par les touristes étrangers sont
Antalya qui a accueilli 33,4 pc du total des arrivées touristiques à
fin novembre dernier, suivie par le hub touristique et commercial
d’Istanbul (28,7 pc) et les villes de Mugla (9,80 pc), Edirne (8,28
pc) et Artvin (4,57 pc).

Pour le seul mois de novembre 2012, la Turquie a reçu la visite de
1,63 million de touristes, un chiffre en hausse de 2,21 pc par rapport
au même mois de 2011.

lundi 31 décembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Politique
Le président fait une apparition publique avec le chef du BHK

Le président Serge Sarkissian a fait une apparition publique avec
l’homme d’affaires Gagik Tsarukian du parti Arménie prospère (BHK).
Serge Sarkissian a serré la main à son rival potentiel le plus
populaire lors de la cérémonie de remise de prix annuelle organisée
par Tsarukian dans un restaurant à proximité d’Erevan mercredi soir.
Les images de télévision diffusées le lendemain ont également montré
que les deux hommes étaient assis à la même table et ont eu une
conversation amicale. L’événement a été organisé en l’honneur des
athlètes de haut niveau en Arménie. Tsarukian, qui est également le
président du Comité national arménien olympique, a remis des prix aux
participants arméniens des Jeux Olympiques de 2012 à Londres.

Sarkissian a également remis des médailles à plusieurs athlètes et aux
entraîneurs. Dans un discours qui a suivi, il a également fait l’éloge
indirectement de Tsarukian. « En comparant 2012 avec les années
précédentes, on peut dire que ce fut une année couronnée de succès et
nous avons collectionné de nombreuses médailles », a déclaré le
président.

L’Arménie a remporté une médaille d’argent et deux médailles de bronze
aux Jeux olympiques de Londres, en terminant 60e du classement. De
nombreux Arméniens, y compris certains politiciens
pro-gouvernementaux, considèrent que cette performance est un échec. «
Je suis convaincu que nous allons gagner des médailles d’or aux
prochains Jeux olympiques », a-t-il ajouté.

La cérémonie a eu lieu deux semaines après que Tsarukian a subitement
annoncé qu’il ne se présentera pas à l’élection présidentielle de
février. Cette nouvelle a été annoncée quatre jours après sa rencontre
confidentielle avec Sarkissian.Beaucoup attendaient que Tsakurian se
présente aux prochains élections.

lundi 31 décembre 2012,
Laetitia ©armenews.com

New owners of Turkish ‘deep state’

MURAT YETKÝN
[email protected]

According to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoðan, despite his
government’s efforts of more than ten years now, the Turkish ‘deep
state’ is still active. The term has been popular in Turkish politics
for decades in order to explain a hypothetical formation within the
state apparatus that has its own agenda other than the coming and
going elected governments, and tries to achieve its goals by forcing
the limit of legality and violate it, if necessary.

Süleyman Demirel, the former Turkish president who was overthrown by
the military two times in 1971 and 1980, had defined it once in one
word: Military. It was the military who had overthrown the Menderes
government in 1960 and assumed widespread influence over civilian
bureaucracy, judiciary and universities along the way.

Erdoðan changed the rules of the game through a series of legal
changes and – especially after being threatened by the military in
2007 over the presidential elections – he enjoyed the successive court
cases, with indictments accusing scores of army officers, academics,
lawyers, writers and journalists of conspiring to overthrow the
government. Evidence based on police intelligence efforts like tapping
telephones or obtaining digital records from computers helped a new
generation of prosecutors to write the indictments for a new
generation of judges.

The return of the ‘deep state’ was voiced by Erdoðan in the same
statement where he revealed that some bugs had been found in his
office by intelligence organizations. It was later understood that an
attempt to interrogate Turkey’s intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, in
February 2012 by prosecutors acting upon police intelligence, was
after the incident. That was followed by a surge among prosecutors,
judges and police forces, which Turkish media claimed was close to the
U.S.-resident theologist Fethullah Gülen.

Yalçýn Akdoðan, a deputy for the ruling AK Parti and Erdoðan’s close
aide on security matters, told Radikal newspaper on Dec. 28 that there
was no rift between the government and the Gülen group, since “they
are complementary to each other.” On the other hand, Akif Beki, a
former official spokesman for Erdoðan and now a columnist, told CNN
Türk on Dec. 27 that “Those who played an important role in clearing
the influence of the military from the deep state might be trying to
fill the gap themselves.” He particularly mentioned the police and
judiciary, without saying who “those” might be.

A very interesting debate is going on in Ankara in the last days of
the year, signaling a lively debate in 2013.

December/29/2012

Festive events at the Parliament Park

16:32 28.12.2012

Festive event took place in the Parliament Park today. The Open Doors
program once again organized a feast for children, featuring the
heroes of beloved tales and cartoons.

Arevik ånsemble of the Public Radio, Dalita, “Starlets Project,” Silva
Hakobyan, Nune Yesayan performed at the concert. The Santa Claus and
the Snow Maiden also participated in the event.

National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan and MPs congratulated the
children on New Year and Christmas.

Deputy Police Chief: 72 Million AMD in the Bank on a 4.5 Million Salary
Grisha Balasanyan

16:47, November 20, 2012

In 2011, RA First Deputy Police Chief Hounan Poghosyan received an
annual salary of 4,552,080 AMD ($11,270).

Compare that to what he had in the bank – 72 million AMD and $40,000
at year’s end.

Poghosyan has only served as Deputy Police Chief since 2008.

His father, Hrach Poghosyan, started 2011 with 140 million AMD in the
bank, an amount which dropped to zero by year’s end. Oh, by the way,
the father also had a cool $100,000 in deposits as well.

Hounan Poghosyan’s mother, Heghineh, receives an annual pension of
336,000 AMD. She declared 1.5 million AMD and $5,000 in bank deposits.

Now let’s turn to the deputy police chief’s son, Hrachya. His declared
2011 revenues amounted to 140 million AMD. The amount was described as
a `gift’. This was probably a gift from his father given that it’s
the same amount that disappeared from the old man’s bank account.

Hrachya also had 10 million AMD and $24,000 in the bank.

P.S. These are merely the officially declared finances of the Poghosyan family.

Speaker: Occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia is one of Turkey’s
most disturbing issues

28 December 2012, 16:50 (GMT+04:00)

The continued occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia is one of
Turkey’s most disturbing issues, Turkish Parliamentary Speaker, Cemil
Cicek was quoted today by TRT Haber TV channel as saying.
Turkey is also concerned about the fact that most of the violence in
the world in 2012 as a result of various conflicts was observed in
Muslim countries, Cicek said.
Cicek wished the entire world a happy year and an end to violence.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions regarding the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]

Overview: Armenian economy 2012
Brief overview of main economic events of 2012 in Armenia

In 2012, Armenia faced several significant economic events which may
have further positive influence on the development of this sphere and
the country in general. PanARMENIAN.Net provides a brief overview of
the developments of this year.
December 28, 2012
PanARMENIAN.Net – Social benefits for public servants

Starting January 2012, social benefit package was introduced for
Armenia’s civil and public servants, state officials, as well as
administrative and professional employees in state-run organizations
in the spheres of culture, education, and social security.

The package envisaging allocation of 132000 AMD to each employee
provides certain social services to approximately 120 000 public
servants and their direct family members, the spouses and children up
to 27 years of age, regardless of their positions and salary.

The social package includes mandatory health insurance, monthly
payments of mortgage loans and tuition fees, as well as vacation in
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

52 000 AMD will be spent for mandatory health insurance monthly,
accounting for 3.8 mln AMD per year. The insurance within this
programme covers a range of medical services including neurosurgical
and cardiac operations.

The social package does not comprise the staff reserve, state
employees working less than six months, as well as high-ranking
officials and those providing for technical support.

Free Trade Area agreement with EU

On February 20, the 27-member EU Trade Policy Commission unanimously
approved the decision to launch negotiations with Armenia for Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).

The positive decision of the Commission came as result of steps aimed
at preparation of talks Armenia implemented during the past year.
Launch of negotiations required legislative amendments, improved
implementation of law and strengthening of relevant structures in
areas related to foreign trade.

This agreement will provide Armenia with access to EU’s 500 million
market, with average $30-40 thousand GDP per capita and high
purchasing power. Access to such large market will promote Armenia’s
economic development both in terms of quantity and quality, since only
quality commodities can enter Europe. This will help introduce new
capacities and technologies in the country and boost competitiveness.

Doing business

Armenia marked 18-point progress in the annual Doing Business 2013
ranking of the World Bank and IFC, being now placed 32th instead of
50th.

Armenia is placed between the Netherlands (31th) and Belgium (33rd),
leaving behind France (34th), Israel (38th), South Africa (39th) and
Spain (44th).

According to this report, Armenia improved some of its indicators, in
particular, `provision of construction permits’ (46th), `electricity
supply (101st)’, `protection of investors’ (25th), and `taxation’
(108th). Also, regress with regard to the following indicators was
recorded: `registration of enterprises’, `loans’, `international
trade’.

Singapore tops the list of countries with most favourable business
environment. The top ten includes also Hong Kong, New Zealand, the
U.S., Denmark, Norway, Great Britain, Korea, Georgia, and Australia.

Georgia still maintains its leading position (9th), followed by
Estonia (21st), Latvia (25th), Lithuania (27th), Armenia (32nd),
Kazakhstan (49th), Belarus (58th), Azerbaijan (67th), Kyrgyzstan
(70th), Moldova (83rd), Russia (112th), Ukraine (137th), Tajikistan
(141st), Uzbekistan (154th).

Minimum wages

On September 27, the government of Armenia approved the bill on
increasing the minimum salary up to 35000 AMD.

Currently the minimum salary in Armenia makes 32500 AMD.

The law is expected to enter into force starting January 1, 2013.

Introduction of new income tax model

The new Law `On Income Tax’ becomes effective starting January 1, 2013.

Currently the most part of the monthly social insurance payment is
provided by the employer, while the new law stipulates that starting
January 1, the employees must pay the total sum from their salaries.
For their part, the employers should raise the wages of their staff so
that the actual income of the latters does not suffer.

Introduction of the new model of income tax is linked to the funded
pension system launched in Armenia on January 1, 2011.

As of January 1, 2011, voluntary funded pension system was introduced
in the country. Starting January 1, 2014 Armenia shifts to mandatory
funded pension system comprising all citizens born after January 1,
1974.

Victoria Araratyan / PanARMENIAN News