Author: Babajanian Karo

LE VATICAN PUBLIE LE PROGRAMME CHARGE DE LA VISITE DU PAPE AU LIBAN
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 4 juillet 2012

Le Saint-Siège a rendu public mardi le programme de la visite de trois
jours de Benoît XVI au Liban en septembre : un calendrier charge marque
par la remise aux eveques du Moyen-Orient d’un message synodal et
des rencontres avec les responsables politiques et religieux du pays.

Benoît XVI, qui a 85 ans, prononcera pas moins de sept discours pendant
cette visite, la 24ème du pape a l’etranger depuis son accession sur
le trône de Pierre en 2005, et l’une des plus delicates.

Cette annonce montre que les preparatifs vont de l’avant, en depit
du conflit en Syrie voisine, qui cree des tensions au Liban meme.

Le pape devrait mettre l’accent sur la coexistence pacifique entre
communautes chretiennes et musulmanes, l’arret de l’exode des minorites
chretiennes d’une region qui est le berceau du christianisme et leur
rôle dans la recherche des solutions de paix et de justice sociale.

Arrivant dans la soiree du vendredi 14 septembre, le pape se rendra a
la basilique de Saint-Paul de Harissa, a 20 km au nord de Beyrouth,
pour signer l’exortation apostolique a l’intention de toutes les
Eglises d’Orient rattachees a Rome.

Ce document donne les conclusions du synode pour le Moyen-Orient,
qui s’etait deroule en octobre 2010 au Vatican.

Le samedi matin, le souverain pontife ira au palais presidentiel
de Baabda, dans la banlieue de Beyrouth, pour une rencontre avec le
president de la Republique, Michel Suleiman, puis le Premier ministre
Najib Mikati.

Ces entretiens politiques seront suivis aussitôt d’une rencontre avec
les chefs des communautes musulmanes de ce pays multi-confessionnel,
les membres du gouvernement, le corps diplomatique et les representants
du monde de la culture.

Puis le pape se rendra au Patriarcat armenien catholique de Bzommar,
dans la montagne libanaise, pour y dejeuner avec les patriarches et
eveques du Liban, ainsi que les membres du Conseil special du synode
des eveques.

Egalement dans la montagne au nord de Beyrouth, a Bkerke, vers 18H00,
est prevue une rencontre avec les jeunes devant le siège du patriarcat
maronite.

Le dernier jour, le pape celèbrera une grande messe solennelle sur
le City Center Waterfront de Beyrouth et remettra a cette occasion
l’exortation apostolique aux eveques de la region.

Après un dejeuner a la nonciature a Harissa et un temps de repos,
une rencontre oecumenique est prevue au patriarcat syro-catholique. Le
depart du pape pour Rome est programme vers 18H00 heure locale.

Mi-juin, en reaction a des informations de presse selon lesquelles
la crise syrienne faisait peser des incertitudes sur sa tenue, le
Vatican avait fait savoir que le voyage etait activement prepare.

Le père jesuite Federico Lombardi, le porte-parole du Saint-Siège,
avait indique cependant que l’avenir n’est pas entre nos mains en cas
de danger particulier. Dans le passe, a l’epoque de Jean Paul II,
un voyage avait dû etre reporte a Sarajevo en raison d’une menace
d’attentat contre le pape.

Le Liban est un pays où les communautes de diverses religions
coexistent depuis des siècles et où les chretiens representent 35%
de la population, selon des estimations non officielles.

ARMENIAN COALITION GOVERNMENT’S JUNIOR PARTNER’S FORMER MEMBER MP PLANS TO START FISH BREEDING BUSINESS – NEWSPAPER

news.am
July 03, 2012 | 07:50

YEREVAN. – According to rumors, Armenia’s ruling coalition Government’s
junior partner Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) Party’s (RLP) former member
MP Gagik Baghdasaryan and his longtime opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun
Party-member friend Gurgen Shahinyan are working on a new business
plan, Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun daily writes.

“Aside from [the fact] that Gagik Baghdasaryan was involved in the
import and sale of diesel fuel for long years, now, he decided to
get involved in another business sector.

They say this time the former RLP member intends to try his capacity
in the domain of fish breeding. He plans on building a large fish
breeding pond in the Ararat Region because he has good ‘brothers’
and ‘partners’ there.

According to the information which the newspaper received, these days
Baghdasaryan is already busy with acquiring plots of land, [and]
subsequently he will start concrete steps and actions,” Chorrord
Inknishkhanutyun writes.

DOLLAR CONTINUES “CLIMBING” IN ARMENIA

news.am
July 03, 2012 | 16:33

YEREVAN. – The US dollar’s average exchange rate against the Armenian
Dram (AMD) comprised AMD 419.08/$1, at NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock
exchange on Tuesday, as compared with Monday’s AMD 419/$1.

The trading session commenced at AMD 419.25/$1, but afterwards the
US currency retreated all the way to AMD 419/$1.

The total sales were $1.65 million.

And there are no substantial exchange rate changes in Armenia’s cash
foreign currency market. On the contrary, the exchange offices are
more inclined to devalue the dollar. Specifically, the US currency
is primarily bought at AMD 417.5/$1 on Tuesday, as compared with
Monday’s AMD 418/$1. And the dollar can be purchased at AMD 420 or
421/$1. But some exchange offices even sell it at AMD 419.5/$1.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION MP REFUSES POST OF ETHICS COMMITTEE VICE-CHAIRMAN

tert.am
03.07.12

Nikol Pashinyan, an MP of the opposition bloc Armenian National
Congress (ANC), learned from press reports that Armenian NA Speaker
Hovik Abrahamyan had appointed him vice-chairman of the Ethics
Committee of Armenia’s newly formed parliament.

Pashinyan considers his appointment illegal.

The appointment is a violation of Point 3 of Article 24.1 of the
Regulations of the RA National Assembly. A parliamentary group member
can only be appointed if nominated by the group, Pashinyan said.

In his statement posted on his official website Pashinyan refuses to
fill the post of chairman of the NA Ethics Committee. On the other
hand, he is determined to be actively involved in the Committee’s
activities “placing first priority on the behavior of the oligarch MPs,
who consider themselves superior to law.”

Talking to Tert.am, Secretary of the ANC group Aram Manukyan said
that the group only nominated Pashinyan as a Committee member, and
the NA speaker should have consulted with the group before signing
a relevant decree.

During the autumn session of Armenia’s parliament, David Harutyunyan
will head the Ethics Committee in rotation.

ARAM MANUKYAN EXPECTS FROM SUPERPOWERS SUGGESTIONS TO OPEN ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER

ARMENPRESS
2 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 2, ARMENPRESS: Superpowers and international
organizations in autumn will try to suggest their versions of
opening Armenian-Turkish border. Armenpress reports that on July
2 such prediction made Deputy of National Assembly, secretary of
ANC parliamentary group Aram Manukyan. In his words the opening of
Armenian-Turkish border does not come only from the interests of two
countries; international organizations are also interested in it.

“The importance of opening the border now is greater than two years
ago. It comes also from interests of Armenia as it is the shortest
way to Europe, to European Union” he said reminding that ANC is for
Armenia having good relations with all neighbors including Turkey.

In the prediction of Aram Manukyan in autumn in political life of
Armenia will be changes. But he was not able to say more concrete in
which spheres they will take place.

POLISH AID TO ARMENIA: A TRACTOR FOR PARAVAKAR VILLAGE

hetq
16:11, July 2, 2012

On 1 July 2012, the representative of the Embassy of Poland in
Yerevan handed over a tractor with a mower and a plow, purchased
within the Polish Aid programme, to the community of Paravakar in
Tavush province. The village inhabitants as well as representatives
of local authorities all gathered to witness the ceremony.

In 2012, the Embassy of Poland is realizing six small grants in the
framework of the Polish Aid programme.

They are implemented in the Tavush, Lori, Aragatsotn and Syunik
provinces and include school renovations, water pipe construction,
support for the dendrological park in Gyulagarak near Stepanavan and
the designation and signposting of a tourist route from the Tatev
Monastery to the village of Harjis. The overall amount of the Polish
Aid grants is EUR 60 000.

ARAM MANUKYAN: “VAHE’S MURDER RESULTED BY IMPUNITY”

05:12 pm | Today | Social

Aram Manukyan, a senior member of the opposition Armenian National
Congress (HAK) says the brutal murder of military doctor Vahe Avetyan
was the result of impunity which is sponsored by the authorities.

“Can you imagine what might happen if the incident happened in another
restaurant owned by another businessman? They would eat him,” he said.

Mr. Manukyan believes that Serzh Sargsyan was to stay in Armenia and
second Avetyan’s family today instead of flying to Kyiv to watch a
football match. At the same time, he is surprised at the indifference
of some intellectuals and biased attitude of politicians.

“They kill your officer in your country and you keep silence! Why? Are
you afraid to be treated in the same way?” he said.

Speaking about Lieutenant Colonel Vardan Samvelyan, a senior
official at the Defense Ministry’s capital regiment, who threatened
to blow up the Harsnakar Restaurant, Mr. Manukyan said it was ‘a real
manifestation of a rebellious spirit.’

“You cannot blame anyone when your friend or relative is severely
killed. It is hard to say anything at this moment. Let us wait for the
honorable judge or prosecutor to make a decision,” said the HAK member.

He confirmed again that the HAK has its candidate in the person of
Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

Major Vahe Avetyan, head of ENT Department of the Yerevan Garrison
Hospital, died in a Yerevan hospital on June 29 after being severely
beaten at Republican MP Ruben Hayrapetyan’s Harsnakar Restaurant on
June 17. Avetyan, 35, died without regaining consciousness 12 days
after the incident.

PROTESTERS TO DEMAND STRIPPING FFA PRESIDENT RUBEN HAYRAPETYAN OF DEPUTY MANDATE

PanARMENIAN.Net
July 2, 2012 – 18:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On July 4, protesters will gather in front of
Armenia’s parliament building to demand for Football Federation of
Armenia president Ruben Hayrapetyan to be stripped of deputy mandate.As
a member of Heritage party David Sanasaryan sated, the rally will be
timed to the visit of EU delegation to Armenia.

As a result of June 17 brawl at Harsnakar restaurant, military doctors
Vahe Avetyan and Artak Bayadyan were hospitalized with serious
injuries. Doctor Garik Soghomonyan was transferred to the Central
Military Hospital with skull trauma. Major Vahe Avetyan died on June
29 while in coma.

According to some reports, the military doctors were beaten by MP
Ruben Hayrapetyan’s bodyguards.

NA EXTRAORDINARY SESSION ON HARSNAKAR CASE
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:37:23 – 02/07/2012

The case of Harsnakar has been viewed since the beginning as a purely
legal one and has gained political hue. Those guilty who beat the
military doctor to death will most probably serve a sentence, and
thus the legal aspect of the issue will be ensured.

But no protests are held with the demand to punish the killers. The
incident of Harsnakar was perceived as an impudent challenge of the
oligarchic system of Armenia to the society and each of us. Many
protesters held up posters “I’m Vahe Avetyan” because any of us could
be in Vahe’s place.

This incident is blatant not only because the society has changed
and is now ready to fight for its rights. This is the case when
the authorities and its henchmen cannot blame either the victim or
the society that defends him for fulfilling someone’s order. When
Mashtots Park activists were trying to pull out the bolt from the
illegal boutiques, many people said that they were fulfilling someone’s
order and it was not real struggle for honor or dignity. This was the
reason why most political forces did not join the fight being afraid
of working for “foreign” interests.

In Vahe Avetyan’s case, no one can say that this is an order that
Vahe was beaten up for opposition positions or activities. So, the
protests in memory of Vahe may be a precedent of combination of civil
and political fight.

Representatives of at least three parliamentary forces take part
in protests – the Armenian National Congress, Dashnaktsutyun and
Heritage. MP Vartan Oskanian, Prosperous Armenia, also condemned
the incident.

Former civil initiatives could have grown into a big movement if they
were supported at the political level. But the major Armenian parties
somehow shy away from civil initiatives, while civil activists do
not want to get “marred” by politics. Because of these complexes,
the civil and oppositional movement is moving towards the same goal
by different ways, not helping but hindering each other.

Levon Zurabyan, as well as other representatives of other forces say
that Ruben Hayrapetyan must not be a member of parliament. And we need
to expect that they will raise this issue in the NA sessions. It
happened so that the parliament is currently on leave but the
opposition should demand an extraordinary session to discuss this
important matter.

The civil initiatives may support them in the street and achieve a
political decision on their civil claim and removal of at least one
oligarch. So far the authorities may have harmed the interests of
the oligarchs but never touched their “body”.

If the opposition and the civil movement do not shy away from each
other, the oligarchy will destroy them separately. Together they are
a real force.

THE RIGHT TO WAR OR THE RIGHT TO PEACE

Monday, 02 July 2012 05:14

Will Azerbaijan have an adequate understanding of the situation?

Recently, the issue of war and peace has re-actualized in the Karabakh
conflict zone.

Many publications of the media comprise forecasts of analysts,
including international ones, on the increasing probability of
another war. Obviously, the wave of gloomy forecasts is caused by
the sharp rise in tension on the contact-line of the parties to the
conflict both in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Azerbaijani
border areas. As we know, only in June, as a result of Azerbaijan’s
provocative actions, several bloody armed incidents took place, which
resulted in the deaths of over a dozen soldiers from both sides. In
addition to this, extra tension is caused by the militaristic rhetoric
of official Baku, which by all means tries to maintain the high degree
of the situation already heated up to a limit.

It is quite natural that the explosive situation created by Azerbaijan
causes well-founded fear of both the international mediators involved
in the Karabakh conflict settlement and the expert circles. It is no
accident that at the recent G-20 Summit in Mexico, the Presidents of
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states – Russia, the USA and France –
re-issued a joint statement, in which they once again reminded that
“the use of military force will not resolve the conflict”.

Will Baku listen to reason? Apparently, not. Recently, the General
Headquarters of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has issued a statement
that “it will take 10 days to liberate the occupied territories and to
reach the Armenian-Iranian border”. Given the militaristic rhetoric of
Baku and its arms race, the British research center of Oxford Analitica
believes that Azerbaijan increases the volume of purchases of arms in
order to achieve operational readiness in 2014, threatening to start
a war, if by then no progress will be fixed in the negotiations. To a
certain extent, the British are echoed by well-known European Program
Director of the International Crisis Group Sabina Fraser who has
suggested that the June clashes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani
parties are risky in growing into a war in the region. We should also
add that the same research center of Oxford Analitica noted that,
in fact, the Azerbaijani army was not ready for a new war.

How real is a new war, and are there obvious prerequisites for it? To
answer this question, we should, perhaps, first of all consider the
actual geopolitical situation in our region. The beginning of the 90s,
when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union certain chaos occurred in
the South Caucasus and the world centers of power did not determine
yet their priority interests in the region, as a result of which
Azerbaijan could launch a war, without any control and punishment,
against self-determined Nagorno Karabakh, has already passed into the
history. The Karabakh conflict was long ago internationalized and went
beyond the purely regional one, or Azerbaijan’s peculiar monopoly
on it is over, especially after a failed attempt to re-subordinate
Karabakh. Today, Azerbaijan is trying to change the military balance
in its favor, however, official Baku should take into account that
now, when the interests of extra-regional political heavyweights
are present in the South Caucasus, its right to independent actions
becomes doubtful.

Exclusively all the experts state that in case of the war resumption
it will involve also other regional states, which is fraught with
very serious consequences, which means that Azerbaijan will hardly
be allowed to unleash it. After all, Armenia and Artsakh are not
sitting idly. In other words, the high risk of another war serves
also as a peculiar factor of its deterrence. However, sometimes you
can hear that Azerbaijan may use the probable war in Iran and start
large-scale military operations against the NKR. But, if the West
plans to give Azerbaijan the role of a military base for attacking
Iran, so under a similar development of situation it “shines” the
prospect of war on two fronts.

All the above mentioned about the unlikelihood of a new war, surely,
has the right to life, but by no means negates the necessity of taking
corresponding measures for preserving the balance of forces as an
important factor of maintaining stability in the region. The question
“to be or not to war?” is not rhetorical, but the most topical, and
first of all, surely, for Nagorno-Karabakh. This is testified also by
the fact that within the pre-election campaign started in the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic the issue of war and peace is always raised at the
meetings of the presidential candidates with the voters. Naturally,
Acting President Bako Sahakyan is asked this question more frequently.

At a recent meeting, the NKR President, speaking about the provocative
actions of Azerbaijan and the probability of resumption of the
full-scale combat operations, emphasized that in the previous war the
enemy’s ridge had been broken, and in case of a new war the enemy
would be defeated utterly. Will Azerbaijan take a risk of another
venture or will it have quite an adequate understanding of the possible
development of the situation fraught with high risks for itself? Let us
leave it upon the Baku authorities to make corresponding conclusions.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper