Author: Badalian Vardan

IRANIAN MEDIA: AZERBAIJAN PLAYS PIVOTAL ROLE IN CREATING INTERETHNIC CONFLICTS IN IRAN

Panorama.am
27/01/2012

Azerbaijan has a pivotal role in creating interethnic conflicts in
Iran, “arannews.ir” reported.

“Azerbaijan implements an important function for Israel. Aimed at
carrying out investigations, Israeli businessmen have bought huge lands
near river Araks,” Iranian media writes referring to Azerbaijani and
Israeli presidents’ meeting in Davos.

Iranian media outlets covered stories a couple of days ago focusing
on Azerbaijani Government’s cooperation with terrorist groups.

TURKEY MUST FACE GHOSTS OF THE PAST: US AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY ON GENOCIDE BILL

epress.am
01.27.2012

Turkey must deal with the ghosts of the past if it wants to become
one of the world’s top 10 economies by 2023, Washington’s envoy to
Ankara said following controversy over a French bill to criminalize
denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide.

“Every great country has brilliant moments of which we are proud in
our pasts and moments of pain,” Francis Ricciardone, the US ambassador
to Turkey, told a group of Ankara bureau chiefs late on Jan. 25. “We
think that historians need to grapple with this in an open and honest
way so that you can come to a full and frank acknowledgement of what
happened. We believe that you are beginning to do that.”

“We like to see our friends get along and we hope that you will
overcome this dispute,” Ricciardone said without commenting on the
nature of the French legislation. Instead, he reiterated Washington’s
objective of launching a new dialogue process between Turks and
Armenians.

“There needs to be a conversation. You need to get the historians
together on both sides. I’ve been glad to see since I’ve come back
to Turkey this past year that there is much more public conversation
and debate. It’s no longer a closed box,” he said, the Hurriyet Daily
News reported.

“Turks have greater confidence now to look into the past and to
a painful chapter and decide what it means. There is more contact
between Turks and Armenians to wrestle with this terrible period of
time. So we support that and we hope you will arrive at it,” he said.

DIRECTOR OF THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AUSTRALIA CALLS ON AUSTRALIA TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan
2012-01-27

This is what Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia
Varand Mgrdichian said regarding the French Senate’s adoption of
the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide during an
interview with the Australian ABC Radio.

On January 25, Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia
Varand Mgrdichian gave an interview to the Australian ABC Radio on
the French Senate’s adoption of the bill criminalizing the denial
of the Armenian Genocide. During the interview, Raquel Blul asked
Mgrdichian about genocide recognition as progress in politics and Hagar
Cohen’s statement “The Australian-Armenian community welcomes that
progress”. In response, Varand Mgrdichian said: “We attach importance
to that movement because Turkey has been denying the Armenian Genocide
for 96 years. For a community the ancestors of which were subjected
to genocide, which in turn has been continuously denied by Turkey,
genocide recognition is a huge step in terms of reconciliation. This
is an issue that concerns all mankind. The first step in preventing
genocides around the world is recognition of the past.”

Hagar Cohen has said Varand Mgrdichian has called on the Australian
government to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. In response
to this, Mgrdichian said: “We first and foremost appeal for the
Australian Parliament’s official recognition of what happened to the
Armenians. The Parliament of Australia still hasn’t recognized that
historical fact. Unfortunately, Australia is lagging in this issue
and still isn’t a pioneer in human rights.”

THOMAS HAMMARBERG NOT ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN SOLVING PROBLEMS OF ARMENIANS IN GEORGIA

news.am
January 27, 2012 | 13:43

Office of the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has
not been very active on finding solution to the problems of Armenians
in Georgia, Thomas Hammarberg said on Thursday answering delegates’
questions in the PACE.

French delegate Francois Rochebloine stressed that he had asked
Commissioner to shed more light on the situation of Armenian minorities
in Georgia, as many human rights violations had taken place in
Georgia. However, Hammarberg’s annual report had no reference to
this problem.

In his turn, Thomas Hammarberg, who was presenting his annual activity
report 2011, confessed to not being active on the problem.

“I have communicated with the High Commissioner on National Minorities
in The Hague within the OECD context.

He has been active on this issue, kept me informed about the steps that
have been taken, and I have given him my support. I have mentioned
it in some discussions with authorities in Tbilisi, but I agree that
we could have done more on this issue,” he said.

L’Economie Armenienne Evaluee ” Moderement Libre ”
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 27 janvier 2012

L’Armenie est situee au 39ème rang des economies les plus libres selon
une enquete publiee par deux etablissements conservateurs americains.

Le Wall Street Journal et la Fondation Heritage ont evalue 179 pays
sur quatre critères de liberte economique, dont l’autorite de la loi,
la taille du gouvernement et l’ouverture du marche.

Avec un score cumulatif de 68,8, l’Armenie a ete placee dans une
categorie de nations avec une economie ” moderement libre “. Elle est
classes 19ème parmi 43 pays en Europe, avant la France et la Norvège.

De toutes les autres anciennes republiques Sovietiques, seule la
Georgie voisine aussi bien que la Lithuanie et l’Estonie occupe des
positions plus hautes dans l’Index 2012 de la Liberte Economique.

Cependant, le score complet de l’Armenie a baisse de 0,9 point par
rapport a l’annee dernière a cause de ce que les auteurs de l’enquete
voient comme des tendances negatives dans la corruption, les depenses
de gouvernement et la liberte monetaire.

LE PARTI REPUBLICAIN NE CENSURERA PAS LE GOUVERNEUR VIOLENT
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 27 janvier 2012

Le parti Republicain du President Serge Sarkissian (HHK) a indique
qu’il ne reprimandera pas ou ne critiquera meme pas un gouverneur
regional pour avoir agresse une femme.

Eduard Sharmazanov, le porte-parole en chef du HHK a indique la
conclusion de la police affirmant que les actions de Surik Khachatrian
n’ont pas viole le Code penal armenien.

Le Service Special d’Investigation (SIS) a dit la semaine dernière
que Khachatrian, qui dirige la province du Syunik, avait frappe la
femme d’affaires Silva Hambardzumian dans un hôtel d’Erevan le 14
novembre juste quelques jours après qu’elle l’ait accuse d’etre lie a
des fraudes fiscales. Mais le SIS a dit que le gouverneur ne sera pas
poursuivi pour avoir battu Mme Hambardzumian parce que cette dernière
n’a pas ete blessee.

L’opposition a critique la position du SIS, la peignante comme la
nouvelle preuve de l’impunite d’individus proches du pouvoir. Le parti
Zharangutyun (Heritage) a exige mercredi dernier que les autorites
mettent a la porte Khachatrian ou fassent au moins un “evaluation
politique ” appropriee de ses actions.

” S’il n’y a eu aucun crime, quelle evaluation politique devons-nous
faire ? ” a declare M.Sharmazanov aux journalistes, reagissant a la
demande du parti Zharangutyun.

” En general, nous avons une attitude negative a tous les phenomènes
incorrects. Et sur cette question je n’ai rien a ajouter ” a -t-il
conclu.

Khachatrian, mieux connu par les armeniens avec son surnom de “Liska”,
a longtemps ete d’une triste notoriete pour sa conduite violente dans
le Syunik. Il a ete accuse d’attaquer des rivaux dans le domaine des
affaires aussi bien que des opposants au gouvernement, dont ant un
redacteur de presse du Syunik dont la voiture a ete incendiee en 2005.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : LA PREMIÈRE DAME DE TURQUIE BOUDE LA FRANCE
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 27 janvier 2012

La Première dame de Turquie, Hayrunnisa Gul, a refuse d’inviter
l’epouse de l’ambassadeur de France a une reception qu’elle
organise jeudi, pour protester contre l’adoption en France d’une loi
penalisant la negation du genocide armenien, a-t-on appris auprès de
son entourage.

La presidence turque a intentionnellement omis Sabine Bili de la liste
des participantes a un dejeuner au palais presidentiel a laquelle ont
ete conviees l’ensemble des femmes ambassadeurs en poste a Ankara ainsi
que les ambassadrices (epouses des ambassadeurs), a-t-on souligne de
meme source.

Laurent Bili, l’ambassadeur de France a Ankara, a confirme mercredi
soir a la presse que son epouse n’avait effectivement pas recu de
carton pour ce dejeuner mais a minimise l’incident en affirmant,
en turc : “Oui, nous n’avons pas recu d’invitation, mais ma femme ne
vit pas en Turquie”.

La Turquie, partenaire strategique pour la France, a promis des mesures
de retorsion musclees après le vote de cette loi, definitivement
adoptee après le vote du Senat lundi soir.

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a evoque mardi un
prochain “plan d’action en fonction des developpements sur ce dossier”.

LEAVE FRANCE ALONE AND LOOK AT TURKEY

yerkir.am
17:11 – 26.01.2012

Turkish Taraf writes that “Turkey condemns the French Senate for
adopting the bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide,
saying that it is a violation of freedom of speech, yet it is a crime
in Turkey to pronounce the word ‘genocide'”.

The criminal case of the author Temel Demirer, who had made a speech
during the first anniversary of Hrant Dink’s death, is ongoing.

“Hrant was killed not because he was Armenian, but because he announced
about the atrocities against humans. There was the Armenian Genocide
in our cou8ntry and it’s a fact”, said Demirer in Ankara on January
20th, 2008.

FATHER OF AZERBAIJANI SERVICEMAN CAPTURED BY ARMENIANS: “MY SON WOULD NEVER FALL PRISONER TO ARMENIANS WILLINGLY”

APA
Jan 25 2012
Azerbaijan

Lankaran. Aghaddin Babayev – APA. “Mammadbagir hates Armenians and
wants the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from Armenian occupation.

My son would never fall prisoner to Armenians willingly”, Talib
Akhundov, father of Azerbaijani Army’s junior sergeant Mammadbagir
Akhundzadeh, who was captured by Armenians, told APA’s southern bureau.

Akhundov said that his son came to home for furlough on December 7
last year and returned to the military unit after the furlough.

According to him, the family’s elder son Mammadbagir served in the
Border Troops till July 2010: “Then he started to serve in military
unit in Terter as re-enlistee. The statements that he crossed to the
Armenian side willingly are incorrect. If Mammadbagir hadn’t loved
his motherland, he wouldn’t have returned to the army after finishing
the military service”.

His father also said that command of corps where he serves informed
them about his captivity.

The soldier of the Azerbaijani Army Mammadbagir Akhundzadeh Talib,
born in 1990, was captured by Armenian troops in the contact line
between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan near the village
of Upper Chayli. The Defense Ministry confirmed the fact.

Armenian National Congress: Republican Party of Armenia will try to
remain at power in every possible way

arminfo
Friday, January 27, 18:02

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will try to remain at power in
every possible way, Hovhannes Igityan, member of Board of the Armenian
National Movement Party, said at today’s press conference in Yerevan.

“The authorities do not want to yield their positions and will do
their best to keep them. The RPA representatives’ latest statements
that there will allegedly be no oligarchs in the new parliament
resemble a fairy tale”, he said. He added that the 100% proportional
electoral system proposed by the Heritage and ARF Dashnaktsutyun
Parties will help avoid electoral fraud, but will not rule it out
completely.

For his part, Vardan Bostanjyan, MP from the Prosperous Armenia Party
(PAP), pointed out that the PAP’s ideology included the 100%
proportional system, however, the party did not considered it a
priority issue for the country. “During the discussion of the
Electoral Code we expected a specific reaction from the opposition,
however, the parties kept silence at that time, and for us it was not
more important than other problems. But if this issue has been raised
now, I think it is necessary to hold debates and discuss its
prospects”, Bostanjyan said.

On Dec 27 Heritage and ARFD came out with a joint statement. They
suggested removing the majority system and switch to the 100%
proportional electoral system. On Jan 26 the representatives of the
coalition Prosperous Armenia Party and the oppositional Heritage and
ARFD Parties applied to Speaker of Armenian Parliament Samvel Nikoyan
to hold parliamentary hearings on the relevant issue. To recall, the
parliamentary election in Armenia will be held on 6 May 2012.