Author: Babajanian Karo

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES ELECTIONS RESULTS ARE WRAPPED UP IN NAGORNO KARABAKH

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 26, 2012
YEREVAN

The results of the elections of local self-government bodies are
recapped in Nagorno karabakh. Central Election Committee (CEC) informed
Armenpress that in Askeran district Hovsepavan community non-partisan
Khachatur Petrosyan, and NK Communist Party member Hrachik Simonyan
from the same district’s Sardashen community were elected. Reportedly
two women candidates, non-partisan won victory in local self-governing
bodies’ elections.

Lusine Dalalyan was elected in Martakert distric’s Kochoghut community;
Kima Grigoryan was elected in Martuny District’s Kerty community. New
elected self-government officials are mostly non- partisan.

Pre-election procedures, the elections itself were held in accordance
to the requirements of the Electoral code of the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh. The elections were fair, free and transparent.

VOTE 2012: POLITICAL FORCES STATE POSITIONS ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS IN PARLIAMENTARY RACE
By Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow
26.04.12 | 14:04

On April 24 Armenians around the world marked the 97th anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The closer the centennial of
this heinous crime is, the more there is talk about the likelihood of
the United States, and then the United Nations formally recognizing
the massacres and deportations of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
as genocide on April 24, 2015, and forcing Turkey to pay. Experts
say that the price to be paid may be varied – from reparations to a
territorial fragmentation of Turkey.

In this context, the position of Armenia becomes particularly
important. So far, Armenia has not made any formal territorial claims
against Turkey, but has not recognized its current border with it.

Political forces in Armenia that are going to hold seats in
parliament in 2012-2017 have already expressed their positions on
the Armenian-Turkish relations.

Speaking at the congress of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
last month, its leader, President Serzh Sargsyan commented on his
2008 initiative to improve relations with Turkey, which originally
had two ways of development. He said that the initiative has not
gone according to the first that was acceptable to Armenia and the
international community and the Armenian-Turkish border still remains
closed. However, the way the things went, according to him, was also
important, because: first it strengthened the international process
for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide; and secondly, let the
world see that the only obstacle to the establishment of relations
between Armenia and Turkey is in Ankara.

Armenia’s former foreign minister, now number second candidate on the
Prosperous Armenia Party’s list of election candidates Vartan Oskanian
thinks that the initiative for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations has actually led to nothing. “We made concessions, but the
border was never opened.” On the issue of the Genocide the U.S.
administration’s position has never been so pro-Turkish,” he says.

Still, he does not offer real ways for further policies in this issue.

Armenia’s first president, leader of the opposition Armenian National
Congress Levon Ter-Petrosyan says that it was the biggest diplomatic
blunder of the country that in 1998 then president Robert Kocharyan
raised the issue of the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide at the United Nations.

Ter-Petrosyan stated at the rally of April 20 that Kocharyan,
speaking from the UN tribune, urged the international community to
recognize the 1915 genocide “in order to earn dividends”. Meanwhile,
as he emphasized, Armenia should have requested that the UN examine
the question of genocide and make a report in accordance with the
protocol. It is after that step, claimed Ter-Petrosyan, that Turkey
took advantage of the situation and demanded the establishment of a
commission of historians to study these events. However, he did not
say, either, what Armenia should do.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) stands at more
radical positions. It demands that no documents be signed that would
question the legitimacy of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Arbitrary
Verdict of 1920 that included a number of provinces of Western Armenia
into the territory of the Republic of Armenia. It holds that the
interests of the Armenian people should be observed maximally in the
relations with Turkey and the signature of the Armenian side should
be recalled from the Turkish-Armenian protocols.

The Heritage party, while supporting the normalization of relations
with Turkey, considers inadmissible any preconditions in the
Turkish-Armenian protocols.

The party deems necessary raising the issue of the Armenian Genocide
at the international arena, as well as developing steps towards the
recognition of the rights of generations of Western Armenians to
repatriation and promoting cooperation with the Diaspora.

While there is a lot of criticism in this matter, it is not clear
what exactly the parties suggest for 2015 – to make Turkey admit the
genocide at any price and demand territorial concessions, or postpone
the claims and work for the opening of the border with Turkey.

TURKS SET TO RESUME EXCAVATIONS IN ANI

news.am
April 26, 2012 | 12:36

Hakan Doganay, Director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of
Turkey’s Kars Province, stated that excavations in the historical
Armenian city of Ani will resume in June.

Doganay noted that the diggings had stopped two years ago because of a
dispute between the archeologist, who was conducting the excavations,
and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Kars, Haberler news
agency of Turkey informs.

To note, “Armenian” or “Armenia” is not mentioned in any of the signs
placed in front of the still-standing Armenian constructions in Ani.

PAPER: ARMENIAN PM OWNS USD870000 AND AMD35MLN

April 26, 2012 – 09:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan had
USD870000 and AMD35mln in his bank accounts as of March 1, 2012,
Haykakan Zhamanak paper says.

These are the figures PM claimed in his property and income declaration
submitted to Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission.

The same document indicates that head of the Armenian government had
AMD 31.7 mln income over the past year, of which AMD 12mln made the
interest rate for his deposits in Anelik Bank.

The annual salary of the Armenian Prime Minister made AMD 3340000,
paper says.

Sargsyan also claimed two apartments and a house in central Yerevan,
as well as another villa in the village of Nurnus in Kotayk province.

PM’s property included also 3000 sq.m. land plot in Dilijan, and a
1979 VAZ 2103 car.

According to Haykakan Zhamanak, Tigran Sargsyan’s statement claimed
no property costing over AMD 8mln.

ARMENIA’S EX FM CALLS FOR POLITICAL COUNTERBALANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 26, 2012 – 11:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Representative of Prosperous Armenia party, former
foreign minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian had an election meeting
in Yerevan’s central Kentron district on April 26.

All political parties are reporting during elections on their
activities, with regard to what they did and what they failed to do,
Oskanian said. Meanwhile, “Armenia’s ruling party not only gives no
account for its failures, but lacks tolerance towards all those who
try to assess it properly,” he stated.

Touching upon the economic situation in the country, politician
mentioned the drastic drop in living standards since 2009, with
additional 500000 poor emerging in Armenia, and a threefold rise in
the country’s external debt which became a heavy burden on the state
budget curbing expansion opportunities for the future governments.

“Your constitutional rights were violated. No large-scale program
the authorities pledged to implement was realized or even launched:
a new nuclear power station, Iran-Armenia railway, Iran-Armenia
oil pipeline, North-South highway, All-Armenian Bank, technopark in
Gyumri, Dilijan becoming a financial center – to mention just a few,”
ex-minister declared.

According to him, Prosperous Armenia aims to solve two major problems
during the upcoming parliamentary elections.

First, change the political situation in the parliament by lifting
the one-party monopoly, and second, achieve political counterbalances.

AZERBAIJAN SHOOTS ON ARMENIAN BABIES (VIDEO)

April 26, 2012 | 08:07

Dovegh village in Armenian Tavush region has been attacked on Wednesday
by Azerbaijani military units. According to the interviews, conducted
by Armenian News-NEWS.am with the inhabitants of Dovegh, the village
was under fire for two hours, from 10 a.m. until noon.

The fire was focused on the small square of the village, where
the kindergarten is located. When Azerbaijanis started the fire in
the morning, children were in the kindergarten. Luckily, no one was
injured, although, the bullets were fired directly on the kindergarten,
which was damaged. Once the fire started, adults evacuated children
from the backyard.

“They fired with heavy machineguns; it was a miracle that no one has
been injured, we were lucky as we rapidly evacuated the children from
the kindergarten and later from the school as well. The school was
not accessible for the fire but we decided to evacuate students from
the school as well, just in case,” said one of the villagers.

According to the Dovegh village inhabitants, Azerbaijanis occasionally
fire on the village, however, the fire has never been this long
and intense.

“We cannot work the land, we are are frightened. I have no idea, what
will happen to our crop and where will we find means for living,”
said another interviewee from Dovegh.

ARONIAN BEATS KRAMNIK IN RAPID CHESS GAME

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 26, 2012 – 10:26 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – After tying the 4th round of the friendly match vs.
Vladimir Kramnik, Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian beat his rival
in the next rapid chess game.

The two final games are due April 27-28.

ARMENIANS ACROSS AUSTRALIA RENEW CALLS FOR JUSTICE

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 26, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: More than 2,500 Armenian Australians
honoured the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and
demanded justice for the Armenian nation during a series of events held
across Australia as part of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Week,
reports Armenpress citing Armenian National Committee of Australia. The
National Armenian Genocide Commemoration, organised by the Armenian
Genocide Commemorative Committee, observed at the Willoughby Concourse
Concert Hall on Tuesday, April 24 saw a record turnout of around 1,000
community members who were joined by a multitude of state and federal
MPs from across the political spectrum, as well as descendants of
survivors of the Greek and Assyrian Genocides.

Keynote speaker Professor Henry Theriault, Chair of the Philosophy
Department at Worcester State University, delivered a powerful speech
on the ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide for the present
day Republic of Armenia as well as the Armenian Diaspora.

Theriault advocated the importance of reparations, including land
reparations to the Armenian nation, as a long-term and just resolution
of the Armenian Genocide.

“A big part of the reason for the prevalence of poverty in Armenia
today and the ongoing threat to Armenia’s future sustainability goes
back to the Genocide,” said Theriault.

“The lives lost during the Genocide, the generations they were
never able to bear, the wealth confiscated in the form of land and
institutional and individual property and belongings have led to a
significant power differential between a Turkish state strengthened
as a result of the Genocide and a weakened Armenia,” he added, making
the case for the importance of reparation for the future viability
of the Armenian state.

A significant number of both Federal and State MPs also sent statements
of support to the Armenian Australian community. Several of these were
read during the National Commemoration, including statements by The
Honourable Tony Abbott, MP, Leader of the opposition; Senator Nick
Xenophon; Michelle Rowland, MP, Member for Greenway; The Honourable
Barry O’Farrell, MP, Premier of New South Wales; The Honourable John
Robertson, MP, Leader of the New South Wales opposition.

In his commemoration address, the Executive Director of the Armenian
National Committee of Australia, Varant Meguerditchian spoke about
the irreversible momentum achieved in Australia in the last few years
for the Australian recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

WE DO REMEMBER AND HONOR THE MEMORY OF THE 1.5 MILLION

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

The following is the text of the speech delivered by Nareg Khodanian
at the Pasadena’s Candlelight Vigil commemorating the Armenian Genocide
April 23, 2012.

On behalf of the Gaidz Youth Organization I would like to thank you
for joining us at this Genocide Commemorative Vigil.

We called this event a “March to Remember” not to imply that we, the
next generation of Armenian Americans, tend to forget the atrocities
committed by Ottoman Turkey against our own people in 1915 to 1923. On
the contrary, we are here today to emphasize the fact that we DO
remember and honor the memory of the 1.5 million of our ancestors
who were killed in this Genocide, a crime that remains unrecognized
and unpunished to date.

The walk that we just took from the City Hall to this sanctuary is a
symbol of the marches that the Armenian women, children and elderly
were made to take through the deserts while the young and strong
men, as well as the intellectuals were killed. The marchers were
raped, tortured, and starved to death. These were intended to be
death marches. Yes, many of them died, but some, against all odds,
survived, built new lives in new places, but most importantly they
kept and protected their Armenian identity. We are the descendents
of those survivors. And we are proud of our identity and heritage.

Here, we should also reflect on the decades of activism and hard work
those survivors and the following generations of diaspora Armenians
dedicated toward the Armenian Cause. Our presence here today is a
testament to the fact that the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide
did not succeed in their campaign to exterminate the Armenian race.

We, as young Armenian Americans, acknowledge our responsibility to
pursue our cause, and pledge to continue to fight for justice until
we receive recognition of the Armenian Genocide by all nations in
the world but most importantly by the Turkish government.

Each one of us can make a difference in our own way, whether it is by
contacting our government representatives or by teaching our classmates
and fellow community members of the Armenian Genocide. And why not,
by educating the Turkish people as well.

It is encouraging to see that in the past two decades there is more
awareness in Turkey about the Armenian issue than ever. This is
because Turkish historians and intellectuals began to do their own
research of their history. The young generation is much more curious
to know the reason of this historical burden on their shoulders than
any other time and we should satisfy their curiosity by urging them
to seek the truth and open up that chapter of their people’s history
the Turkish government tried to hide for so long.

We have a lot of work ahead of us but we are up to the task and
are prepared to fight against those who dishonor the memory of our
ancestors by denying the Genocide and rewriting history.

In the wise words of the beloved author Baruyr Sevak, “We are present,
we will continue to be present and we will continue to flourish.”

PAPER: PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE’S BROTHER ASSAULTED IN HRAZDAN TOWN

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 27, 2012 – 10:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Brother of David Kocharyan, nominated by Prosperous
Armenia party for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, was beaten
in Armenian town of Hrazdan on April 26, Hraparak paper says.

The paper claims that assaulters were rival force representatives.

Kocharyan’s uncle, Prosperous Armenia’s MP Mkhitar Harutyunyan who
is not running to favour his nephew in this vote, refuted the rumours.

“This is a lie, nobody can beat David Kocharyan’s brother. I don’t
know what else to say,” he declared.

However, according to Hraparak, rumours in Hrazdan say Prosperous
Armenia’s candidate decided to settle the issue “using others methods”
and not make a fuss about it.