Author: Badalian Vardan

TSVETANA PASKALEVA CALLS TO TRUST THE ARMENIAN ARMY

ARMENPRESS
27 January, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian army has proved the
world that it is the most battle-worthy army, Bulgarian journalist,
film director Tsvetana Paskaleva told the reporters January 27, ahead
of the 20th anniversary of formation of the Armenian Army. She noted
with pain that Armenia and Artsakh are permanently facing the threat of
resumption of war, thus Armenian soldiers must be awake and vigilant.

Paskaleva remembered also the heroes of the Artsakh liberation war
with who she was in the battle field. “In my films I was trying to
create the characters of those I recognized and saw, so that they
always be in our memory. I was lucky to communicate with these heroes,
stay alive and transfer their heroic character to you, to the Armenian
and world history,” she said.

Paskaleva said very educated officers are serving in the Armenian army,
they can debate over each issue. But in propaganda war our country
concedes. “Having all the truth in its hands, including documents and
the result of the final victory the Armenian side is more passive
in the propaganda war. Armenians think the world knows the obvious
truth,” she said. But the world has its concerns and it needs to be
told the truth. The political environment is not a vacuum, it is ready
to hear the truth. The bright example of it is the adoption of bill
penalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the French Senate.

Paskaleva said it is necessary to be mobile. Army is a sensitive
place. It is necessary to trust it.

ARMENIA’S STATE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA TO GIVE CONCERT WITH WALTER JONG

ARMENPRESS
27 January, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s State Philharmonic orchestra
will give a classical concert with South Korean Walter Jong February
11 at Aram Khachaturyan concert hall.

The program will include works of Schubert, Paganini, Dworzak. The
soloists will be Nikolay Madoyan, violin and Walter Jong, conductor,
Narine Amiryan, music affairs manager of the concert hall told
Armenpress.

KARABAKH’S DM SAYS DEFENSE ARMY TO ENSURE SECURITY OF THE NKR

ARMENPRESS
27 January, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: The Defense Army has never made
anyone doubt that it may ensure the security of Nagorno Karabakh,
Defense Minister of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, Commander of
Defense Army Movses Hakobyan told Armenpress.

Speaking about the formation of the army, Hakobyan said the army was
formed more than 20 years ago, it was just left to form the documents.

“In reality the army was formed quite earlier as the aggression toward
the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia’s borderline villages
started earlier than January 28, 1992,” the DA Commander said, adding
that on January 28 the Defense Ministry was created.

“During these twenty years the army has gone through war, it has been
reinforced and has grown up. I would like our army be victorious both
at the military exercises in peace time and in the battle-field,”
Hakobyan said.

THINGS START MOVING: FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL CHANGES REALITY AROUND TURKEY
By Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow
27.01.12 | 13:46

Photo:

Ahmet Davutoglu and Sergey Lavrov (right)

Turkey is not in a hurry to materialize its threats of economic
sanctions against France, as it deems the law passed by the Senate
of France criminalizing the public denial of the Armenian genocide
is not yet a final decision by Paris. So says Turkey’s Deputy Prime
Minister Ali Babacan.

Turkey has so far limited its actions to some demonstrative steps,
showing what it can do if French President Nicolas Sarkozy signs the
law, which is expected in the coming days.

Immediately after the January 23 adoption of the law in the senate,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu went to Moscow, after earlier
canceling his trip to Brussels. In the Russian capital, the top Turkish
diplomat made a number of remarkable statements. First, it was stated
there that trade between Russia and Turkey may reach a $100 billion
mark over the next five years. Secondly, Davutoglu said that Turkey
will not become a springboard for attacks on Iran. And before that,
a Turkish minister who visited Moscow said that, along with Russia,
Turkey is in favor of non-interference in Syrian affairs.

Besides, an unprecedented joint statement was issued by the foreign
ministers of Russia and Turkey on the Karabakh problem.

Therefore Turkey tried to show that if pressure continues it will form
an alliance with Russia and Iran, refusing to cooperate with the West.

But, apparently, the West has not been deterred by this either.

Experts do not even rule out that France is intentionally provoking
Turkey into taking some drastic steps to abandon its allied services.

Apparently, Turkey is also aware that her being an Islamic country
and simultaneously a member of NATO sometimes does not satisfy the
Western community. With the adoption of a bill criminalizing the
denial of the Armenian Genocide France’s Sarkozy, who is running for a
second presidential term in spring, hopes to gain the support of not
only ethnic Armenian voters, but also those of the far-right circles
that suffer from Islamophobia and oppose Turkey’s membership in the
European Union, claimed Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu.

The French Senate law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian
Genocide, the discussions of an Armenian Genocide recognition bill
in the Knesset of Israel and a possible adoption of such a law in the
German Parliament show that the process of international affirmation
of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is unstoppable,
said director of the Yerevan-based Center for Regional Studies
Richard Giragosian.

The Armenian genocide issue has been considered by Israeli
parliamentarians for quite some time now. And recently a German
parliamentarian said that discussions of the issue might soon begin
also at the Bundestag.

Director of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan
also believes that “the train of the Armenian Genocide recognition
in the world has set off and it cannot be stopped.” According to him,
this event has changed the reality around Turkey and Europe’s attitude
towards Turkey.

Director of the Institute of Political and Social Studies of the
Black Sea-Caspian region Vladimir Zakharov said: “Now it is impossible
to say that there was no Armenian Genocide as Turkey and Azerbaijan
have tried to do it.” He added that the adoption of such a law by one
of the most influential countries will inevitably lead to a wave of
other recognitions of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide is, indeed, a subject being discussed
internationally. Thus, British Prime Minister David Cameron, recently
replying to the question of a Turkish delegate at the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe regarding the French criminalization
of the Armenian genocide denial, said that appalling things were
happening to Armenians and atrocities were committed against them.

“Our position on the issue raised is clear. Appalling things happened
to the Armenian people; appalling atrocities were committed. It is
important to state that, but we have to live in the present,” said
the British prime minister, adding that the UK has a legislation
making it possible to prosecute people for appalling war crimes.

The French Senate’s passage of the bill also appears to have inspired
Armenian American lobby groups with greater optimism for a genocide
resolution in the United States. Aram Hamparian, the Executive Director
of the Armenian National Committee of America, the largest of such
groups, earlier this week again urged U.S. President Barack Obama to
honor his pledge to recognize the mass killings and deportations of
1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

“The courageous vote by the French Senate shines the spotlight across
the Atlantic, on American policymakers, who, for far too long,
have let Ankara block U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide,”
said Hamparian.

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.