Author: Babajanian Karo

ZHOGHOVURD: ARMSWISSBANK AND ARTSAKHBANK TO DECLARE MERGER

10:53 10/02/2015 >> DAILY PRESS

Armswissbank and Artsakhbank will declare a merger soon, Zhoghovurd writes.

Speaking to the newspaper, a representative of Artsakhbank denied the
report. The newspaper has learnt, however, that 43.1% of Artsakhbank’s
shares and 80% of Armswissbank’s shares belong to the same person,
Vartan Sirmakes.

“It is known that it is shareholders that make a decision on banks’
merger. And the presence of the same shareholder in two banks
facilitates this process to a great extent,” the newspaper notes.

Source: Panorama.am

WHO CAN PRODUCE FILMS IN ARMENIA? – OPINIONS ON EX-LAWMAKER’S GENOCIDE MOVIE

11:10 * 10.02.15

The right to produce a movie can be practically enjoyed by anyone
in Armenia; all the problem has to do with licensing procedures,
representatives of the cinema industry have said, commenting on
ex-parliament member Hakob Hakobyan’s move to produce a film on the
Armenian Genocide.

The professionals’ opinion is that a film cannot show in cinemas
unless it has been issued a license.

“It isn’t possible to forbid anyone to produce a movie, likewise
it isn’t possible to forbid him or her to draw a picture …As to
what that film’s future will be, it is a different question,” Hrach
Keshishyan, a movie director and the head of the Armnews TV channel,
told Tert.am.

Moscow Cinema was scheduled to screen the movie, Recollection, on
February 10, but it cancelled the plan after a closed-door preview
organized for the media attracted negative comments by professionals.

The movie theatre Cinema Star (which operates in Yerevan’s Dalma
Garden Mall) also refused to screen Recollection.

Keshishyan said he thinks that it is important to have clear-cut
regulations (not only in Armenia but also in all other countries)
to prevent movies with questionable quality or content from being
screened for public.

“My film, for example, is to be screened in Russia, and I embarked on
several procedures [for having it licensed]. The film was sent to the
Russian Ministry of Culture in advance and submitted to its department
responsible for authorizing the show. They watched movie, checked
all the copyright-related issues and gave us the permission. They
checked particularly what age group the film is designed for and other
permissible and impermissible things – episodes features drinking
and smoking people or sex – before deciding to issue permission,”
Keshishyan explained.

He stressed the importance of introducing similar procedures in
Armenia too. “My son can now shoot a one-minute movie by doing the
necessary editing with his mobile at home, but that doesn’t mean it
has to show in public,” he added.

The director noted that the same practice exists also in the United
States where one can hire a movie theatre for one day to screen a
movie for just a group of friends.

Commenting on the problem, the National Cinema Center’s director,
Gevorg Gevorgyan, noted that Armenia hasn’t had any law on cinema in
the past 25 years since gaining independence.

“First, there was no cinema industry in Armenia. Did we have any movie
at all – from the USSR’s collapse until 2006-2007 – in order to have
a law? Secondly, there are so many sectors not governed by specific
legislative regulations in Armenia,” he added.

Gevorgyan said he has recently sent a draft to French specialists who
he hopes will present their judgments soon to enable him to submit
it to the to the National Assembly’s approval later this year.

“The law will regulate a lot,” he said, stressing first of all the
importance of licensing and quality assessment criteria.

Film director Edgar Baghdasaryan says he doesn’t understand why
especially the former lawmaker’s move kicked up that big fuss. “Anyone
who wishes [to produce a movie] does so, but because the topic was the
Genocide, the reaction appeared to be so painful. But it is equally
painful to me too, because I see no difference about tastelessness
of the kind,” he added.

The director noted that when Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman
(which is considered to the best movie shot in the past 10-15 years)
was on screen at Moscow Cinema, its every single show attracted no
more than an audience of six. “But one finds no ticket on sale when
stupid comedies are on,” the director added.

Gevorgyan said he really sees a difference between high- and
poor-quality movies. “Anyone can produce a movie, but whenever he or
she devotes the work to universal or spiritual or cultural values,
that person must have a license,” he added.

ETHNOGRAPHIST: I AM NOT SURE THAT NO POLITICAL INCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN IN ARMENIA ON 24 APRIL

by Ashot Safaryan

Tuesday, February 10, 16:22

After completion of Armenia’s integration in the Eurasian Economic
Union, neither the president of Armenia nor the Foreign Ministry have
come forward with the analysis of the situation and the explanation
how the country will develop against the background of the global
processes, ethnographist, Hranush Kharatyan, said at today’s
press-conference.

She said that the ambiguity that the country faces, directly affects
its domestic political situation. “The events happening for the last
period of time, I mean the incidents in Gyumri and Berdzor and the
beating up of activists are linked with this ambiguity. Many questions
have remained without answer”, – the ethnographist said.

She is confident that a criminal group of people has been set up in
Armenia, which has been terrorizing the community via close cooperation
with the force structures of Armenia.

When commenting on the intention of the Founding Parliament to organize
the power shift on 24 April, Kharatyan said that date is disputable.

‘I think that the events on power shift could be organized not
in April. Moreover, I am not sure that no political incidents will
happen in Armenia on 24 April. I do not rule out more stormy events
than those which the authorities of the country would like to present
to the external world”, – she concluded.

IF TURKEY AND RUSSIA ACHIEVE AGREEMENT ON KARABAKH

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Politics – 10 February 2015, 15:41

The European Union does not bear responsibility for the countries of
the South Caucasus, and there is not a notion of area of responsibility
of the European Union. The EU may influence security only through its
political reputation, and there is not a real lever of influence on
security issues even after creating a foreign political service.

The European Union is trying to revise their views on regional
conflicts, making those regions more accessible, involving them in
social, political and economic processes.

The former metropolises must realize that these intentions are aimed
at the settlement of conflicts. Peoples living in conflict areas have
the right to benefit from the advantages of broader cooperation with
the European Union and, at the same time, observe certain conditions,
keeping loyal to European values.

For the time being, it is hard to tell how the process will go. For
example, Georgia and Azerbaijan were cautious to this initiative,
Azerbaijan was hostile. The European Union is trying to fulfill these
principles within the framework of Eastern Partnership, defining the
advantages and commitments of the members of the project.

The European Union has assessed the arms race as a negative phenomenon
but confessed that it has no lever to influence the state of things.

For the time being, it is not known what the official political stance
on arms race and war of snipers in the area of the Karabakh conflict
is. Only the continuation of the process of settlement mediated by the
Minsk Group is considered, which is supported by the European Union.

The European Union thinks the probability of military intervention
in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is low. At the same
time, having the necessary information, at a time of war the EU may
put political pressure but cannot force stopping military actions.

One can state for sure that the European Union will be against
military actions but will not condemn any of the sides because it will
hardly condemn the aggressor. The aggressor will not be mentioned or
identified in the political statement.

These are the current perceptions in Europe, and everything may change
if Russia and Turkey achieve certain agreements on Karabakh.

RUBIN: US READY TO HELP ARMENIA IN OVERCOMING ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

13:52, 10.02.2015

WASHINGTON, DC. – The United States are ready to help Armenia and
other regional states in overcoming economic problems that occurred
because of deteriorating economic situation in Russia, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State Eric Rubin said.

The officials in Washington realize that economic difficulties in
Russia have an impact on other countries, and the U.S. is ready
to work with the governments of these states to help them overcome
the obstacles.

Eric Rubin noted that economic difficulties in Russia were caused
rather by reduction in energy prices and insufficient diversification
of Russian economy, than by western sanctions.

The goal of sanctions is not to punish other regional states,
Rubin said, adding that the issue will be high on the agenda of the
meetings between new Ambassador Richard Mills with Armenian leadership
in Yerevan.

The politician said U.S. policy on South Caucasus is based on support
of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states. At
the same time U.S. supports economic growth, democracy development
and free speech in these countries.

Eric Rubnin emphasized that the United States consider their relations
with the regional states in the context of development of bilateral
ties, rather than in terms of competitiveness with Russia.

L’ANC SUR L’INCIDENT DE BERDZOR : LE REGIME NE VOIT SON SALUT QUE DANS L’INTIMIDATION DU PUBLIC

ARMENIE

Le Congrès National Armenien (ANC),a condamne l’incident du week-end
dernier où des membres d’un groupe d’opposition radicale connu
pour etre a la recherche d’un changement de regime en Armenie ont
ete arretes et malmenes par la police alors qu’ils se rendaient au
Haut-Karabagh.

Le Parlement fondateur, un successeur de l’initiative appelee
pre-Parlement, a declare que plus d’une douzaine de participants le
31 Janvier dans un convoi d’automobiles ont ete blesses dans ce qu’il
decrit comme une attaque de la police sur l’autoroute Goris-Stepanakert
près de Berdzor.

Environ quatre douzaine de vehicules ont ete refoules par la police
et n’ont pu entrer dans le Haut-Karabagh pour organiser un convoi
d’automobiles.

Condamnant fermement “la violence contre les participants pacifiques
d’un convoi d’automobiles”, l’ANC a declare que cela etait le dernier
d’une chaîne de recentes attaques contre les anciens combattants du
Karabagh et d’autres personnalites publiques et politiques partageant
les vues de l’opposition, dont plusieurs membres de l’ANC.

“Cette chaîne [d’attaques] montre que le regime qui a subi des echecs
honteux dans toutes les sphères voit le seul moyen a son salut dans
l’idee folle d’intimider le public >>, a declare l’ANC. “Il est
regrettable que la violence qui a eu lieu en Berdzor a ete commise
par la police de la Republique du Karabagh … En dehors de tout
le reste, ce pourrait egalement avoir un impact très negatif sur
la notation democratique de la Republique du Haut Karabagh sur la
scène internationale.”

lundi 9 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

FITCH RATINGS RETROGRADE L’ARMENIE

ARMENIE

L’Agence Fitch Ratings a abaisse a long terme en monnaie etrangère
et locale la note de l’Armenie de BB- a B +, avec une perspective
maintenue comme stable.

Fitch Ratings a note que les phenomènes negatifs dans l’economie russe
(BBB- / perspective negative) affectent grandement l’Armenie, et que
dans ce domaine il y a des risques sur la balance des paiements et
les perspectives de croissance economique.

lundi 9 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SIGNALE DES DEFICIENCES EN MATIÈRE DE DROITS DE L’HOMME EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

Dans son rapport annuel en matière de droits de l’Homme dans 90 pays,
Human Rights Watch a signale des deficiences en Armenie, notamment
en ce qui concerne le droit de rassemblement. 70 personnes ont ete
interpellees dans ce pays en 2014 a la suite d’affrontements avec la
police anti-emeute lors de manifestations. Le rapport evoque egalement
la torture et les mauvais traitements lors de gardes a vue et le manque
d’efficacite des enquetes de la police. Les journalistes ont continue a
faire l’objet de pressions et de violences physiques. Des abus graves
persistent au sein des forces armees. Les minorites continueraient
egalement a faire l’objet de discriminations. / Jamanak, Hayots Achkhar

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 2 fevrier 2015

lundi 9 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ARMENIAN DIPLOMATS UPSET ALIYEV IN MUNICH

12:05, 9 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS. During the Munich Security Annual
conference the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had a speech
during the Panel Discussion “Beyond Ukraine- Unresolved conflicts in
Europe.” The President of Azerbaijan in essence repeated the boring
statements which are being made over the last two decades.

As reports “Armenpress”, during this section of the conference, where
a number of high-ranking officials were present, not everything went
smoothly for Ilham Aliyev. After the latter’s speech a question was
addressed by a member of the Armenian delegation Andranik Hovhannisyan
that “it is well-known that the OSCE Minsk Co-Chairs have on numerous
occasions appealed to the both countries to accept the Basic Principles
of the Madrid document, i.e. non-use of force or threat of force, right
to self-determination and territorial integrity. The Armenian side has
several times noted that it is accepting those proposals. Azerbaijan
has never clearly stated about this. Can you here unequivocally state
that you are accepting those principles as a basis for the conflict
settlement.”

Putting the question flatly perplexed Ilham Aliyev and he spoke
about his vision of the conflict settlement. Then he made a distorted
presentation of the right to self-determination completely ignoring
the principle of non-use of force and threat of force, and eventually
did not clarify whether he is unequivocally accepting those principles
or not.

Ilham Aliyev underlined that the conflicts in the former USSR space
should have the same solutions, adding that Russia has occupied
the Crimea.

The head of the Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Tigran Lazarian using the opportunity of asking a question, first
of all reminded about the addressed call of the Minsk Group, then
said that Azerbaijan is escalating the situation to undermine the
negotiation process. “Mr. Aliyev, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, about whom
you mentioned, a few days ago made a statement where they “called on
Azerbaijan to observe its commitments to the peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.” This is not accidental, that their
appeal is addressed to you, because it is the Azerbaijani side which
is ignoring those appeals and is violating the ceasefire regime on
Armenia-Azerbaijan border, as wlel as on the Line of Contact between
Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Since January the Azerbaijani side
has violated the ceasefire regime more than 3.000 sides, as a result
of which there were several losses on all sides. Just a few days ago
65 and 85 years-old Armenians were killed by your snipers. Don’t you
think that by your actions you are further escalating the situation
and thus are making the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in the near future less likely.

I would like to recall the Moderator of this session of the conference,
Slovenia’s President, Mr. Pahor’s question asked to you and the other
panelists, where he asked what the first step on the way to progress in
the peaceful settlement of the conflicts. You wandered around, but did
not speak about the most important. Settlement of a conflict commences
when duns are stopping to fire. So my appeal to you is – Stop firing!”

Aliyev got more upset by the statement of the Armenian diplomat,
repeated his accusations against the international community, the
Armenian Diaspora, Armenia, without responding to the question and
the appeal.

BELGIAN MEP FILES A BILL CALLING ON TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

10:38, 09 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On January 29, 2015, anniversary of the recognition of the Armenian
genocide by France, the Belgian MEP Gerolf Annemans (nationalist party
Vlaams Belang “Flemish Interest”) submitted to European Parliament
a bill calling on Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide, Jean
Eckian reports from France.

The proposal is also signed by the French deputies of the Front
National party, with its President Marine Lepen.

A. Considering that previous resolutions have not led to
the recognition of the Genocide by the Turkish government ;
B. Considering a century after the event, the time has come to
initiate reconciliation; 1. Calls on the Turkish government to
officially recognize the genocide in 1915 by the government of the
Ottoman Empire against the Armenians living in Turkey; 2. Instructs
its President to forward this resolution to the Turkish government,
the Armenian government, the Commission, the Council and the Presidents
of the Parliament of the Republic of Turkey and the Parliament of
the Republic of Armenia.