Author: Badalian Vardan

L’HOMME D’AFFAIRES KHATCHADOUR SOUKIASSIAN NE POURRA PAS SE PRESENTER AUX ELECTIONS
Gari

armenews.com
vendredi 30 mars 2012

Les autorites electorales de Erevan ont decide le 28 mars de refuser
a un homme d’affaires engage dans les rangs de l’opposition le droit
de se presenter aux elections legislatives du 6 mai en invoquant
des motifs lies a son statut de resident dans le pays. Khachatur
Sukiasian, qui a fait fortune dans la grande distribution, entendait
se presenter sur les listes du Congrès national armenien (HAK) de
Levon Ter Petrossian, dans la circonscription du centre de Erevan
dont il a ete longtemps le depute.

Pourtant, les services de la police armenienne ont refuse de lui
fournir le certificat attestant qu’il aurait reside de manière
permanente dans le pays au cours des cinq dernières annees, le privant
donc de son eligibilite.

L’homme d’affaires figurait au nombre des partisans de Ter Petrossian
qui avaient fui le pays après les violences de mars 2008, afin
d’echapper a la vague d’arrestations qui avait frappe les milieux
de l’opposition au lendemain de l’election controversee de Serge
Sarkissian.

Il rentrait en Armenie en 2009, mais pour faire face a des poursuites
judiciaires notamment pour troubles a l’ordre public. L’avocat de
M.Sukiasian, Ara Zohrabian, a conteste la decision de la commission
electorale de district, faisant valoir que la periode 10 mois durant
laquelle son client s’etait absente de l’ Armenia ne constituait pas
le cinquième de la periode concernee, et examinee par la commission
electorale, alors que la loi exige qu’un candidat prouve qu’il a reside
dans le pays pendant la plus grande partie de cette periode de 5 ans.

Il a indique que M.Sukiasian ferait appel de cette decision devant
un tribunal administratif.

Peu avant, le HAK avait denonce l’attitude des services de police, y
voyant une man~uvre politicienne ; en un geste de defi, il annoncait
qu’il allait inclure Sukiasian sur la liste de candidats eligibles
au mode de scrutin proportionnel.

Le frère cadet de Sukiasian, Saribek, se porte lui aussi candidat pour
l’un des sièges a pourvoir suivant le mode de scrutin nominal. UN
responsable du HAK, Levon Zurabian, a confirme devant la presse
que sa formation, federant plusieurs partis d’opposition non
parlementaires, soutiendrait la candidature de Saribek Sukiasian dans
cette circonscription. Reste a savoir si Khachatur Sukiasian, faute
de pouvoir prouver qu’il a reside de manière permanente en Armenie
au cours des 5 dernières annees, sera egalement disqualifie pour la
liste du HAK a la proportionnelle, sur laquelle il est en 10e position.

TOP OFFICIAL: SO-CALLED “ELECTIONS” IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH NEGATIVELY IMPACT PEACE-MAKING PROCESS

Trend
March 29 2012
Azerbaijan

Any political action carried out by Nagorno-Karabakh self-proclaimed
regime, negatively impacts the peace-making mission to resolve the
conflict, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political
Department Chief Ali Hasanov told media on Thursday.

He commented on the presidential elections planned to be held by the
separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh in July.

Azerbaijan’s position is unambiguous. The international organizations
have been informed about this position, Hasanov noted.

The OSCE Minsk Group member-states unambiguously condemn illegal
holding of the elections, he underscored.

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 peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

MATTHEW BRYZA: “AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA ARE NOT YET READY TO SOLVE THE NAGORNO KARABAKH PROBLEM”

APA
March 28 2012
Azerbaijan

Tbilisi. Nizami Mammadzadeh – APA. “Azerbaijan and Armenia are not
yet ready to solve the Nagorno Karabakh problem”, former co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew
Bryza told reporters, APA’s bureau in Georgia reports.

“The Nagorno Karabakh problem will be solved. Leaders of both countries
have a framework agreement on their tables. One needs to have 4-5 or
6 important conditions to solve the issue. The presidents of both
countries must undertake the solution of the problem and trust to
each other. This is a great political risk, because Azerbaijani and
Armenian societies are not ready to adopt a decision for the solution
of this problem, either both societies must change their views or
the presidents must undertake great political risk”.

OMBUDSMAN OF ARMENIA CALLS ON GREEN ACTIVISTS TO ABSTAIN FROM DISMANTLING THE PAVILIONS IN MASHTOTS PARK

arminfo
Wednesday, March 28, 21:36

Armenian Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan calls on the green
activists to continue the fight against the construction in Mashtots
Park, however, he asks them to abstain from dismantling the pavilions.

The press service of the Human Rights Defender’s Office reported
that Andreasyan is ready to cooperate with the activists and to find
a legal solution to the problem. He said that the issue is being
discussed and he will shortly present his decision. Andreasyan also
pointed out that it is irrelevant to oppose lawlessness to lawlessness.

Earlier the green activists addressed an open letter to Chief of
Armenian Police Vladimir Gasparyan. The letter reads that on March
31 10 activists are going to start dismantling the pavilions and they
ask Gasparyan to ensure public order and security of the activists.

FAMILY OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN SOLDIER MURDERED ON APR. 24 OFFENDED BY NATIONALIST LEADER’S REMARKS

epress.am
03.29.2012

The family of a non-Muslim Armenian private who was killed by a
fellow soldier while he was serving in the Turkish military was deeply
offended by remarks from Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet
Bahceli, implying that non-Muslim individuals who fall while serving
the state shouldn’t be considered martyrs, Today’s Zaman reports.

Martyrdom in Turkey is usually associated with nationalism, not
necessarily with religion. Anybody who is killed, or sometimes in cases
of accidental death, while performing a task considered a service to
the country is considered a martyr. Families of individuals who die
under such circumstances are also entitled to receive monthly benefits.

The family of Sevag Balıkcı, who was killed last April by a bullet
from the rifle of a fellow private, spoke to the Radikal daily, saying
Bahceli’s words emphasizing religion as a criterion were offensive and
discriminatory. “Until now, I always thought we were one as a nation.

Now they have made us feel we are ‘the other’,” said Ani Balıkcı,
the private’s grieving mother.

Ani Balıkcı said the military had requested documents from the family
so that they can be a paid monthly survivor’s benefit for their son.

“They wanted an income statement, a statement of assets, Sevag’s
birth certificate and documents indicating his education. But no word
has come yet. I assume they are waiting for the trial to be over,”
she said, referring to the ongoing trial of the private who shot Pvt.
Balıkcı.

His death, which was initially believed to be an accident, is now
thought to have been a hate crime committed because of the victim’s
ethnic background as a person of Armenian origin, based on later
testimony from another private. His shooter might face murder charges
if the possibility of an accident is ruled out.

She noted that her son died while serving in the military. “So if they
consider anyone who dies while in the army a martyr, they should count
my son Sevag as a martyr, too. This is what we are waiting to see.”

Pvt. Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı was killed on April 24, 2011, the date
the Armenian diaspora has chosen to commemorate the incidents of
1915, when hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. Officers and other privates in his unit,
which is stationed in Batman province, testified that Balıkcı was
shot accidentally while “joking around” with a close friend, Kıvanc
Agaoglu, who allegedly fired the fatal shot. They were serving at the
Kozluk GumuÅ~_göru gendarmerie station at the time of the incident.

However, Halil EkÅ~_i, a private who witnessed the incident, later
changed his testimony, altering the course of the trial. The next
hearing is on March 29.

During a hearing at the Diyarbakır Second Air Force Command Military
Court on Jan. 30, EkÅ~_i, who served in the military at the same
time as Balıkcı, revised his testimony to say: “Kıvanc pointed
his rifle at Sevag and pulled the trigger. His family had asked me
to testify in his favor,” implying that Agaoglu’s family pressured
him into giving false testimony.

Despite demands made by Cem Halavurt, the Balıkcı family’s lawyer,
the court has decided not to arrest Agaoglu.

In similar situations in the past, religion has not played a role in
determining whether martyr families are entitled to monthly survivor’s
benefits. Incorporating such a criterion would be a violation of
Article 10 of the constitution, which states that all citizens are
equal. Directive no. 439, which lays out the conditions for martyrdom
status, makes no reference to religion.

Bahceli’s words came shortly after Family and Social Policy Minister
Fatma Å~^ahin said the family of slain Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink could be paid regularly as part of the payments program for
martyr families.

Caveat Emptor – Unlabelled Eggs In Yerevan Marketplace

news.am
12:12, March 29, 2012

The RA Agriculture Ministry’s Food Safety Inspectorate says it has
come across a quantity of unlabelled eggs in the marketplace.

The Inspectorate advises consumers to avoid purchasing such eggs and
to report such cases to them at the following number – (010)45-74-21.

A CLASS GAMBIT

Albany Democrat Herald

March 28 2012

Since we’re always talking about education reform in Oregon, here’s
an idea from Armenia: Make chess a compulsory subject in grade schools.

That’s what they’ve done in that small country, a former Soviet
republic sandwiched between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and between Georgia
and Iran.

The Internet news program European Journal reports on the development
in its current edition. It quotes the leader of a public school and
others about the hoped-for benefits of the new requirement.

They expect the pupils to learn logic and the ability to plan ahead,
along with flexibility to meet unexpected moves, and certainly
patience, self-discipline and nerve. The one who loses his nerve first
loses the game, one of the children earnestly says on the program.

Chess apparently is the Armenian national sport. The country has
produced dozens of grandmasters. So it seems like a natural subject
in Armenian schools.

In Oregon, not so much. Still, if our kids could sit still long enough,
learning chess moves and tactics might help them in everything else
they’re supposed to learn. (hh)

IFC HELPS BYBLOS BANK ARMENIA BOOST HOUSING FINANCE AND RESIDENTIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY LENDING

Zawya.com

March 28 2012

Yerevan, Armenia, March 28, 2012–IFC, a member of the World Bank
Group, partners with Byblos BankByblos Bank Armenia to expand mortgage
lending and develop a market for residential energy efficiency finance
in Armenia, a country without fossil energy resources, helping save
energy resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

IFC will provide a $10 million loan to Byblos BankByblos Bank Armenia
to offer its clients access to housing finance. With advisory support
from the IFC Armenia Sustainable Energy Finance Project, the bank
will use part of the loan to offer its clients the first-ever energy
efficiency lending package in housing sector offered by local bank
in Armenia, which is in high demand in the country due to high
energy costs.

IFC has regional expertise in helping financial institutions expand
their residential energy efficiency portfolios, and will provide
training for Byblos BankByblos Bank Armenia credit officers and risk
specialists to educate them in assessing risks and processing energy
efficiency loan applications.

“While new homes can be designed from the ground up with energy
efficiency in mind, existing homes offer many opportunities for
improvement. By promoting energy efficiency and energy efficient
lending products, we can help homeowners in Armenia to reduce their
annual energy bills, conduct a more environment friendly lifestyle,
and improve the health, comfort, safety of their homes and. This is
the first funding of this nature in Armenia, hence it is equally
important to our customers as well as to Byblos BankByblos Bank
Armenia,” said Ararat Ghukasyan, Chief Executive Officer of Byblos
BankByblos Bank Armenia.Tomasz Telma, IFC Director for Europe and
Central Asia, said: “Our strategy in Armenia is to increase access
to finance, including energy efficiency finance, and to encourage
sustainable economic growth, support job creation, and diversify the
country’s economic base. By working with financial intermediaries,
like Byblos BankByblos Bank Armenia, we can achieve significant
development impact in a country which relies heavily on imported fuel.”

Byblos BankByblos Bank Armenia is committed to the development of
Armenia. Its lending strategy aims at offering innovative products
and services that contribute to building a solid economy and deliver
on long-term sustainability goals. The bank is establishing business
partnerships with local and international institutions to support
its efforts and cater to the needs of an ever-growing clientele.

Since Armenia became a member of IFC in 1995, IFC has invested
$168 million in 34 projects across the industry spectrum, including
financial markets, manufacturing, and mining. IFC Advisory Services
also provides advice through projects focusing on the financial sector,
sustainable energy, and regulatory simplification.

IFC Armenia Sustainable Energy Finance Project is being implemented
in partnership with the Austrian Ministry of Finance.

For further information, please contact: Ms. Lara Sleiman Noun Press
Officer Group Communication Department Tel: 01.335200 ext. 0314 Email:
[email protected]

ARMENIA DEFEATS AZERBAIJAN BY 3-0

news.am
March 28

Armenian men’s team defeated Azerbaijan by 3-0 in the fifth round at
the World Team Table Tennis Championship 2012 in Dortmund, Germany.

Murad Asatryan defeated Farhad Ismayilov 3:0, Mesrop Ghukasyan
defeated Ramil Jafarov with the same score, and Aleksandr Diaryan
defeated Ruslam Aliyev 3:1 in the Group N of the Fourth division.

Armenian team struggles for the first place and the qualification
of the Third Division. Final results will be available after
Kazakhstan-New Zealand play.

ARMENIAN POLICE INVESTIGATOR IS ARRESTED WHILE TAKING $500 BRIBE

news.am
March 28, 2012 | 16:13

YEREVAN. – A case of corruption by an official was exposed in Armenia
on Wednesday.

Capital Yerevan Central Police Precinct Investigation Department
investigator, Police Lieutenant Artur Hovsepyan was taken under custody
while taking US$ 500 bribe from citizen H., in return for not launching
criminal proceedings against him, the National Security Service (NSS)
informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

At present, the NSS is preparing documents to open a criminal case
against Hovsepyan, and on charges of taking bribe.