Author: Babajanian Karo

ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT TO BE UNVEILED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 18, 2012 – 14:45 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Assyrian people of Armenia took a historic step
to preserve their heritage and history by honoring victims of the
Assyrian genocide, committed by the Ottoman government during WWI
(1914-1918), AINA reported.

According to Mr. Arsen Mikhaylov, the Chapter Secretary of the Assyrian
Universal Alliance (AUA) in Armenia, preparations are under way for
the upcoming official unveiling of the Assyrian genocide monument in
Yerevan on April 25, 2012.

The special program is organized by the AUA in collaboration with
Assyrian Armenian Association (Atour). The unveiling will commence
at 3:00 pm in Yerevan, at the crossroads of Moskovyan and Nalbandyan
streets, AINA says.

Mr. Mikhaylov noted that he expects a number of representatives from
the government to attend the unveiling. A large number of guests
are expected from overseas, including Mr. Hermiz Shahen, the Deputy
Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance from Australia,
Mr. David David, The president of the Assyrian Australian National
Federation and the Regional Secretary of AUA in Australia and New
Zealand, Mr. Edwin Babeleh Khanshan, Regional Secretary of Homeland
from Iran, Dr. Anahit Khosroeva, Ph.D., a Senior Researcher in the
Institute of History, National Academy of Science From The Republic
of Armenia, and Mr. Sabri Atman, Director of the Assyrian Genocide
Research Center (Seyfo Center) in Sweden. Among the guests will also
be representatives from the Assyrian Armenian organizations.

The Armenian Chapter of the Assyrian Universal Alliance and the
Assyrian Association of Armenia are extending an open invitation to all
Assyrians around the globe to attend this important memorial ceremony.

“The AUA will be pleased and honored to see participation by
non-Assyrians as a measure of support for the Assyrian nation’s demand
for justice, and the condemnation of genocide in general,” said Mr.
Mikhaylov.

EXPERT SEES EX-FM AS PROSPEROUS ARMENIA’S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 18, 2012 – 13:01 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – In case of success of Prosperous Armenia coalition
party at the forthcoming parliamentary elections, former Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian will become the party’s candidate for 2013
presidential race, an expert said.

In response to the question as to the possible nomination of
ex-president Robert Kocharian by Prosperous Armenia, Karen Kocharyan
noted “Kocharian and Oskanian as interrelated.”

“All this seems to be the casting for presidential elections,” the
expert said ironically.

Parliamentary elections, due in Armenia on May 6, feature 8 political
parties, Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Prosperous Armenia, ARF
Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), Orinats Yerkir, Heritage, Democratic Party of
Armenia (DPA), Communist Party of Armenia and United Armenian party,
as well as one election bloc represented by opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC).

GREAT ARMENIAN PHILANTHROPIST ALEKSANDER MANTASHEV’S SON VISITS ARMENIA

tert.am
13:13 ~U 18.04.12

Aleksandr Mantashian Junior, son of Aleksandr Mantashev, a prominent
Armenian oil magnate, industrialist, financier, and a philanthropist,
is on a visit to Armenia.

Mantashian Junior is accompanied by his son Mikael Mantashev.

At her Wednesday meeting with journalists, Armenia’s Minister of
Diaspora Hranush Hakobian awarded a Boghos Nubar Pashamedal to
86-year-old Mantashian Junior.

“I’m moved and I’m sure it will unite all Armenians,” Mantashian
Junior said.

Aleksandr Mantashev remains a symbol of philanthropy, Minister
Hakobian said.

Chairman of Armenia’s Language Commission Sergo Yeritsyan said that
Mantashev had eight children. Two of them are still alive – Darya
(92) and Aleksandr Mantashiants Junior. They are living in Paris.

The great philanthropist’s relatives said they had seen and liked
the monument to Aleksandr Mantashev in Yerevan.

“In Abovyan Street we are going to have a monument embodying kindness,
goodness and might of a businessman. It is also a symbol for all
those attaching importance to charity,” said Minister Hakobian.

She noted the great philanthropist’s contribution to Armenia’s
development: he sponsored about 200 Armenian students, who returned
to Armenia and worked for the country.

As to what had remained of Mantashev’s fortune, his son said,
“Nothing.”

The Mantashian are going to visit Tbilisi, Georgia. Aleksandr
Mantashian is honorary citizen of Tbilisi.

The unveiling ceremony of monument to Aleksandr Mantashev is to be
held in Yerevan at 5:00pm.

KIM KARDASHIAN DESIRE DEVENIR MAIRE DE GLENDALE, LA ” VILLE ARMENIENNE ” DE CALIFORNIE
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
mercredi 18 avril 2012

Kim Kardashian, star armeno-americaine du monde ” people ” desire
devenir maire de Glendale (Californie). Lors d’une serie televisee
du reality-show ” Khloe & Lamar “, Kim Kardashian a affirme qu’elle
desirait occuper le poste de maire de Glendale. ” Je participerai dans
cinq ans, avant cela je dois y acheter une maison ” dit la belle Kim
Kardashian qui n’est pas a sa première declaration ” sensationnelle
” et souvent sans lendemains. L’important etant pour cette star,
de tenir la une de l’actualite des ” people “. Selon le journal ”
Huffington Post “, Kim Kardashian, a confie qu’elle desirait habiter
Glendale car c’est une ” ville armenienne “. Selon les donnees
officielles du recensement de 2000, les Armeniens, au nombre de 53
000 representaient 27 % des habitants de Glendale, ville situee dans
le perimètre de Los Angeles.

ANOTHER ELECTION ATTACK REPORTED IN YEREVAN DISTRICT
Ruzanna Stepanian

17.04.2012

Armenia – Gayane Arustamian, a journalist and opposition candidate
in the parliamentary elections, is interviewed by RFE/RL, Yerevan,16
Apr 2012.

Gayane Arustamian, a journalist and opposition candidate in the
parliamentary elections, is interviewed by RFE/RL, Yerevan,16 Apr 2012.

Another activist of the main opposition Armenian National Congress
(HAK) claimed on Tuesday to have been attacked by government loyalists
while campaigning in a Yerevan district notorious for election-related
violence and fraud.

Karen Tovmasian said activists of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) in the Malatia-Sebastia district verbally and physically
abused him on Monday as he distributed campaign letters to voters
signed by Nikol Pashinian, an HAK leader running for parliament in
a local single-mandate constituency.

“I realized that they are going to attack me and immediately stopped
the first taxi in sight to flee,” Tovmasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). “I got in the car and shut the door but
they …

opened it and wrested 25 letters by Nikol Pashinian, shoving and
hitting me in the process.”

“I remember their faces. I saw them coming out of the [nearby] HHK
office,” he said.

A national police spokesperson told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that
the Malatia-Sebastia police launched an investigation after receiving
a complaint from Tovmasian later on Monday. The police have already
identified the men who stole the letters and summoned them for
interrogation, the official said.

The incident took place the day after three other HAK activists
were reportedly assaulted by supporters of the local HHK candidate
Samvel Aleksanian while handing out the same campaign materials to
Malatia-Sebastia voters.

The activists as well as the HAK leadership accused Aleksanian of
organizing the attack to intimidate the Pashinian campaign. Aleksanian
denied any involvement, however.

In a written statement, the Armenian police said a 41-year-old man
came forward on Monday to state that he bitterly argued with the three
oppositionists and “shoved” two of them, Gayane Arustamian and Babken
Garoyan. The man identified as Vartan V. said he might have injured
them as a result, according to the statement.

Arustamian, who is also a well-known journalist, accused the police of
trying to cover up the violence. She insisted that the HAK activists
were confronted by at least 10 men inside an apartment block. “I
was hit, not shoved, and by two persons,” she said. “I remember
their faces.”

Garoyan, who suffered a broken nose, gave a similar account. “It
all started when they slapped and punched Gayane,” he told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service. “There were multiple blows. There wasn’t just one
attacker,” he added.

All four activists allegedly attacked by Aleksanian’s backers are
running for the National Assembly on the HAK ticket under the system of
proportional representation. Arustamian is also an election candidate
in another single-mandate constituency in Yerevan.

BETWEEN KOCHARYAN AND OLIGARCHY
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 17:40:47 – 17/04/2012

Having nominated 250 people for parliament, Serzh Sargsyan conducts
the campaign of the Republican Party almost alone. He visits community
by community, region by region, and he is accompanied only by local
majority candidates and local lords, heads of communities, mayors. It
looks like a protocol more than a campaign.

Serzh Sargsyan handled the campaigns similarly in 2007 and and 2008.

The result is hardly any better than it would be if other Republicans
were involved in the campaign.

Perhaps the goal is not the result but the political message. Serzh
Sargsyan is trying to keep a distance from the traditional Republican
Party to hint to the society that it is not his team.

On the other hand, in the past 4 years Serzh Sargsyan was unable to
show the society where his team is, who its members are.

Serzh Sargsyan who speaks about change and modernization was expected
to introduce a team that would be suitable for his declarations. No
team is introduced to the society while the old team is pushed to
parliament.

Although it is possible that the old team pushes Serzh Sargsyan and
has him work for them in return for their support in the presidential
election in 2013.

For Serzh Sargsyan, the key issue is the presidential election in 2013.

It was clearly felt from his New Year message on the eve of 2012. Then
he stated that the parliament is not a means of holding on to power,
it is not an end in itself.

Perhaps the reason is that Serzh Sargsyan does not have a team to
form parliament. Therefore, he delegated formation of parliament
to the criminal oligarchy, hoping that he will rely on the criminal
oligarchy in the presidential election of 2013.

At the same time, Sargsyan thus expects to impede the advancement
of the Prosperous Armenia and its shadow leader Robert Kocharyan,
depriving Kocharyan of the possibility to play in the field of the
criminal oligarchy.

The point is that the criminal oligarchic system which crystallized
and institutionalized during Robert Kocharyan was perceived as the
most suitable platform for his political return or revenge.

The point is that the criminal oligarchic system had grievances
during Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency and Tigran Sargsyan’s tenure for
several reasons. On the one hand, commitments to reforms, monopolies
and oligopolies were unpleasant for the system. On the other hand,
it was unpleasant that in the absence of real resistance to these
systems a process of redistribution of the economic resource was
underway which was activated from time to time.

It was difficult for the criminal-oligarchic system to accept the
rules established by Serzh Sargsyan and Tigran Sargsyan, and they
were nostalgic about Robert Kocharyan’s quiet period. Some people
even openly expressed their preference, such as Gurgen Arsenyan who
is N4 on the Prosperous Armenia list.

Hence, there was a high possibility that Robert Kocharyan would use
the dissatisfaction of the criminal and oligarchic resource for his
political return either personally or represented by Gagik Tsarukyan
or Vartan Oskanian.

Public support could be a resistance resource for Serzh Sargsyan by
means of a relationship based on new values and content, as well as
the constitution of a new team and a new system.

However, the lack of political will and the financial crisis did
not allow Serzh Sargsyan to act more effectively and look far beyond
propaganda.

In this situation, ahead of the parliamentary election all Sargsyan
can do is to choose between compromise with Kocharyan and a compromise
with the criminal oligarchic resource by giving the latter possibly
big pre-election freedom. Sargsyan has chosen the second, perhaps
expecting that his second term will be in a more favorable period to
form his own government and ensure post-presidential guarantees in
the face of this team.

At the same time, Serzh Sargsyan has sent Robert Kocharyan into a
complicated or maybe unusual situation by forcing him to play in the
so-called social and civil field, depriving him of the criminal and
oligarchic platform. And this platform, besides being alien to Robert
Kocharyan, contains a number of objective hindrances and opponents.

And even if the Armenian National Congress agrees to cooperate with
him, this prospect is, nevertheless, vague because the Congress-PAP
cooperation will be too vulnerable in the same social and civil sense.

AZERBAIJAN SENDS ‘KHODJA’ TO GOLDEN APRICOT FILM FESTIVAL IN ARMENIA

arminfo
Tuesday, April 17, 13:14

Azerbaijan has sent the film “Khodja” to the Golden Apricot
International Film Festival that is traditionally held in summer
in Yerevan.

Vesti.az reports that Armenian spectators will get a unique opportunity
to see what happened in Nagorny Karabakh from the other side different
from the official propaganda. However, it will become possible only
if the juries of the Festival include “Khodja” by Vahid Mustafayev
in the list of the nominees.

EXPERT SAYS AZERBAIJAN THREATENING REGIONAL SECURITY

Panorama.am
17/04/2012

Azerbaijan’s military budget, as they claim, hit $3 billion not at
one jump; it was unintelligible and incoherent in 2009-2011. In fact,
the increase of military budget includes common expenses in military
construction, pensions and other fields,” military expert Artsrun
Hovhannisyan told Panorama.am.

Los Angeles Times published new data by Stockholm-based International
Peace Research Institute that Azerbaijan, wedged between Russia,
Georgia, Armenia and Iran in the Caucasus region, increased its
military budget by 89% in a single year, the biggest increase
worldwide, the report found. The dramatic growth came in the middle of
increasing warnings of renewed conflict with Armenia over a disputed
territory.

According to the expert Ilham Aliyev’s hollow promise, that
Azerbaijan’s military spending would align with Armenia’s state budget,
should have been presented as implemented.

“However, Azerbaijan has significantly increased its military spending,
threatening the regional security,” said the expert.

WATERTOWN’S LEGISLATORS HOSTING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION ON FRIDAY

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 17, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS: The Bay State’s Armenian community will
fill the State House on Friday, April 20 for the annual commemoration
of the Armenian Genocide, reports Armenpress citing Watertown Patch.

This year’s cermony will take place at 10:30 a.m. The event is both
solemn and celebratory, recognizing the genocide of 1.5 million
Armenians between 1915 and 1923 by the Ottoman Turkish government,
as well as honoring survivors and looking forward as Armenian American
descendants commit themselves to preserving their culture and working
for humanitarian projects and awareness, according to a press release
from State Sen. Will Brownsberger’s office. Khatchig Mouradian,
a journalist, writer and translator, will deliver the keynote address.

Mouradian is the editor of the Armenian Weekly newspaper; the Program
Coordinator of Rutgers University Center of Genocide, Conflict
Resolution, and Human Rights; and a PhD candidate in Holocaust and
Genocide Studies at Clark University.

“This is my 12th year participating in this program,” said Tsoleen
Sarian, who is chairing and coordinating the organizing committee.

“This event honors my grandparents and all survivors by calling out
human rights atrocities for those who don’t have a voice. We also
recognize the many generations who contribute to society and our
local communities here in Massachusetts.”

Sarian works closely with state Rep. Jonathan Hecht (D-Watertown),
state Rep. John Lawn (D-Watertown) and state Sen. William Brownsberger
(D-Belmont) who host the day.

“The energy put into this event demonstrates the devotion of the
entire Armenian American community, and the many friends of that
community, to the commemoration and recognition of the genocide,”
said Senator Brownsberger.

“Watching youth perform at the commemoration is particularly
enjoyable,” said Rep. Lawn. “It’s also symbolic of the commitment by
Armenian Americans to pass on their culture – whether it be language,
music, song, or dance, and to teach children about their history and
the importance of human rights.”

A light reception will follow the program. The late Speaker George
Keverian began the annual commemoration at the State House in 1985.

LE LION DE MONTBELIARD N’EST PLUS
Ara

armenews.com
mardi 17 avril 2012

Michel Moucher Deryeghiyan n’est plus. Il est mort lundi, dans sa
maison près de Montbeliard, a l’âge de 76 ans. Peu connu du grand
public, cet Armenien aussi discret que genereux etait l’un des piliers
de Nouvellles d’Armenie Magazine, l’un de ses principaux actionnaires,
annonceurs, bienfaiteur, soutien indefectible des bons et des mauvais
jours. Et il etait sans doute egalement l’un des plus formidables
mecènes de la communaute armenienne.

S’ils ne connaissent son nom, qu’il n’a jamais mis en avant d’aucune
facon, nos lecteurs ne peuvent ignorer celui de l’hôtel Arianis,
qu’il dirigeait, ou des Coupons d’Alsace, qu’il avait creee. Leurs
publicites parsemaient les pages de NAM, dans chaque numero, depuis le
commencement, ainsi que celles de certains de nos confrères. Il serait
vain ici de dresser la liste de toutes les actions qu’il a finance,
depuis son soutien au Collège de Sèvres dans les annees 70-80,
jusqu’a la chorale Sipan Komitas, en passant par la Croix bleue ou
les troupes de danse Sassoun ou Navasart, l’Armenie bien sûr et le
Karabagh. On ne compte plus les initiatives qu’il a encouragees,
les compatriotes qu’il a aides, les associations qu’il a sponsorisees.

Mais entre tous, c’est sur Nouvelles d’Armenie Magazine et Armenews
dans lesquels il voyait le levain et le fer de lance de notre
communaute, que se cristallisait le principal de ses efforts. Sans
Moucher, nous ne serions pas ce que nous sommes. Sans lui, ni NAM ni
Armenews n’existeraient de cette facon et le visage des Armeniens de
France en serait totalement different…

Travailleur infatigable, ce patriote intransigeant avait mis sa
reussite dans les affaires au service de ses ideaux, de la souffrance
de son peuple et de cette soif de justice qu’il l’a toujours habite.

Il laisse a leur douleur un fils exceptionnel, Rafi, une epouse,
Louise, auxquels nous presentons nos plus sincères condoleances. Il
laisse egalement orphelins tous ceux qui se considèraient comme ses
fils spirituels, qu’il a nourris de son amour de l’Armenie et des
siens. Il rejoint au Pantheon de nos bienfaiteurs, son compagnon,
son frère, Michel Mirhan a qui nous devons aussi beaucoup.

Mais Moucher parti, il nous revient de continuer cette oeuvre de
justice et de patriotisme a laquelle il a tant cru et donne. Si son
action garde valeur d’exemple pour les generations futures, alors le
peuple armenien n’aura plus jamais rien a craindre de l’avenir.