Author: Badalian Vardan

LES KURDES DOIVENT DECIDER S’ILS VEULENT FAIRE PARTIE DE L’IRAK
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 13 decembre 2011

Les Kurdes doivent decider s’ils veulent faire partie de l’Irak ou
s’ils veulent etre independants, a affirme le ministre irakien du
Petrole Abdel Karim al-Louaïbi a propos des contrats signes par le
gouvernement de la region autonome kurde sans l’aval du gouvernement
de Bagdad.

C’est inacceptable que les Kurdes signent des contrats pour
l’attribution de chaque mètre carre du Kurdistan irakien sans faire
participer a la decision les habitants des 15 autres provinces et
qu’ils puissent participer aux decisions concernant les champs
petroliers dans le reste de l’Irak,a declare M. Louaïbi dans un
entretien publie vendredi sur le site Iraq Oil Forum.

Le gouvernement du Kurdistan irakien a signe dans le passe une
quarantaine de contrats avec des compagnies etrangères sans en informer
le ministère du Petrole, ni lui transmettre les contrats.

Aucun Irakien, qu’il soit Arabe ou Kurde, ne peut accepter cela.

Alors, en dernier ressort, la region du Kurdistan doit decider si elle
fait le choix strategique d’etre partie prenante de l’Irak ou si elle
a dans l’idee d’etablir un Etat independant. C’est son choix. Mais
ils doivent etre clairs avec nous, a-t-il souligne.

Concernant le projet de loi sur les hydrocarbures, adopte par le
Conseil des ministres le 25 août 2011 mais bloque au Parlement, M.

Louaïbi a affirme : Il y a des principes de base sur lesquels il
est impossible de transiger : les contrats dans le secteur petrolier
doivent etre approuves par le (gouvernement) central et toutes les
ventes de petrole doivent se faire de la meme manière.

Pour moi, il s’agit d’une ligne rouge et il ne s’agit pas seulement du
Kurdistan mais cela concerne tout l’Irak (…) Cette loi peut conduire
a la preservation de l’Irak en tant qu’entite ou au contraire conduire
a l’eclatement du pays en petits Etats, a-t-il ajoute en precisant
qu’il y avait peu de chance que cette loi soit adoptee comme prevue
avant la fin de l’annee.

Par ailleurs, le ministre a intime l’ordre au groupe americain
ExxonMobil de choisir entre l’exploitation du gisement de Qourna-ouest
et l’accord recemment signe avec le gouvernement regional du Kurdistan.

Le groupe doit prendre sa decision finale. Notre position est claire :
aucune compagnie, que ce soit ExxonMobil ou une autre, n’est autorisee
a violer notre Constitution et nos lois, a-t-il dit.

UN CONSEILLER DU PRESIDENT ALIEV MET EN CAUSE LES MEDIATEURS DU GROUPE DE MINSK
Gari

armenews.com
mardi 13 decembre 2011

L’un des principaux conseillers du president azeri Ilham Aliyev,
s’en est vivement pris le 8 decembre aux mediateurs internationaux
en charge du conflit du Karabagh, designant comme ” ridicule ” leur
insistance a vouloir amener les parties en conflit a un accord.

Ces critiques interviennent quelques jours après la diffusion, par
les ministres des affaires etrangères armenien et azeri, Edouard
Nalbandian et Elmar Mammadyarov, d’un communique commun par lequel
ils exprimaient la volonte de leurs pays d’avancer sur la voie d’un
règlement grâce aux efforts deployes en ce sens par le Groupe de
Minsk de l’OSCE et annoncaient de nouveaux sommets entre les chefs
d’Etat des deux pays dans cet objectif.

Le conseiller du president Aliyev en politique etrangère, Novruz
Mammadov, a pour sa part estime que la communaute internationale, et
plus particulièrement les dirigeants des pays copresidant le Groupe
de Minsk de l’OSCE, devraient reviser leurs positions concernant le
conflit du Haut-Karabagh conflict.

“Nous avons assiste a tous les stades de ce conflit, jusqu’a
l’occupation de territoires de l’Azerbaïdjan. Ayant ete temoin de
cela, l’Occident estime que les parties devraient regler le problem
ells-memes avec le soutien de la communaute internationale. Cela est
ridicule dans le context des relations internationales. Cela ne peut
plus durer”, a martele Mammadov.

“Elle [la communaute internationale] devrait avoir une position plus
claire, et exiger le retrait des forces armeniennes des territoires
occupes conformement aux resolutions [ad hoc] du Conseil de securite
de l’Onu. S’il existe une legislation international, alors elle doit
etre appliquee. Alors les copresidents sauront ce qu’ils ont a faire
et prendront les mesures qui s’imposent ” a poursuivi Mammadov.

“Ce groupe est-il encore habilite a, poursuivre ses activites quand
les responsables politiques patentes de chacun des Etats concernees
ne sont pas capable de mettre en oeuvre ce processus et de prendre
des measures efficaces ? Je pense qu’etant donne ce qui a ete dit
plus haut, les copresidents devraient deployer tous leurs efforts
pour prendre des initiatives nouvelles et plus credibles “, a ajoute
le conseiller presidentiel azeri, qui a aussi condamne l’Armenie qui
serait seule responsable selon lui de l’echec des pourparlers de paix.

“Durant les pourparlers, la communaute internationale, les copresidents
eux-memes et meme le president russe, qui assistait en personne
aux negociations, ont une fois encore dû reconnaître que la partie
armenienne recourait a differents artifices pour retarder le processus
de negociations. Toutes les propositions faites par l’Armenie sont
inacceptables aux yeux de la communaute internationale”, a declare
Mammadov.

Ce dernier a bien sûr recuse les affirmations armeniennes selon
lesquelles l’Azerbaïdjan chercherait a torpiller le processus de
negociations. “De telles remarques venant de la partie armenienne ne
nous etonnent plus guère. Elle a recours regulièrement a de telles
tactiques pour retarder le processus de negociations. La communaute
international est aussi parfaitement consciente de ce que la partie
armenienne fait regulièrement des declarations mensongères de ce type
a seule fin de perturber le processus, d’occulter les problèmes et
de mettre en avant des propostions inacceptables”, a ajoute Mammadov.

“Si la partie armenienne croit qu’elle marquera des points en faisant
de telles declarations de manière sporadique, elle se trompe.

Peut-etre certains membres du gouvernement armenien cherchent-ils a
se maintenir au pouvoir par de tells procedes. Mais c’est une grande
tragedie pour le people armenien. Ce qui est le plus ridicule et
le plus absurde, c’est que, bien que conscients de cette tragedie,
ils persistent dans leur attitude”, a conclu Mammadov.

PLUS DE 40% DES ENFANTS VIVENT EN DESSOUS DU SEUIL DE PAUVRETE
ARMENIE

armenews.com
mardi 13 decembre 2011

Selon une enquete gouvernementale plubiee cette semaine, plus de
40% des enfants en Armenie vivaient en dessous du seuil officiel de
pauvrete l’annee dernière.

Le Service statistique national (SSN) se base sur les revenus des
menages. Le SSN rapporte que le taux de pauvrete du pays est passe
de 36% contre 28% en 2009.

L’augmentation de la pauvrete est la consequence principalement de
la crise financière mondiale de 2008 qui a frappe le pays.

” Les menages qui ont deux enfants et plus sont plus pauvres que les
autres menages qui ont un seul enfant ou qui sont sans enfant “, a
annonce Diana Martirosova, la chef d’une unite de menage au SNRS. ”
Les enfants sont un fardeau financier pour eux dans le sens où ils
ne genèrent pas de revenus. ”

Le Fonds des Nations Unies pour l’enfance (UNICEF) s’est dit preoccupe
par les dernières donnees du SSN, affirmant que le gouvernement
armenien devrait davantage lutter contre la pauvrete infantile.

” Si un enfant vit dans la pauvrete et surtout dans l’extreme pauvrete,
il ne peut pas avoir accès aux soins de sante, d’education et autres
services publics “, a declare Emil Sahakian, un porte-parole du bureau
de l’UNICEF a Erevan. ” Et si un enfant est prive de ces droits,
il aura moins de chance pour reussir et sa famille sera affectee par
cette pauvrete. ”

L’UNICEF estime que seulement deux tiers des familles a faible revenu
en Armenie recoivent des prestations mensuelles de la pauvrete de
l’Etat.De nombreuses familles qui ont quatre enfants et plus ou de
membres handicapes n’ont pas toujours droit a ces prestations.

Sahakian a exhorte le gouvernement d’etendre le filet de securite
social pour eux aussi.

Mkhitar Mkhitarian, sa femme et ses trois filles mineures sont une
famille vivant par exemple dans une auberge delabree de Erevan.

Mkhitarian, qui n’a pas d’emploi permanent, a affirme qu’il ne
recoit pas tous les avantages car il possède une voiture. ” J’ai eu
une vieille fourgonnette, mais elle est tombee en panne après qu’un
arbre lui est tombe dessus “, a-t-il dit.

Selon son epouse Nina, la majeure partie du revenu familial modeste,
est consacre a la nourriture de base pour les enfants.

AAC ACTION LETTER ON BRYZA’S CONFIRMATION PUBLISHED BY BURLINGTON TIMES-NEWS

news.az
Azerbaijan
Dec 12 2011

AAC Action letter on Ambassador Bryza’s confirmation published by
the Burlington Times-News in North Carolina.

Letter by Pax Turcica Institute, Azerbaijani-American Council,
Azerbaijan Society of America and the Assembly of Turkish-American
Associations (ATAA) in support of Ambassador Matthew J. Bryza’s
confirmation in the Senate published in the Burlington Times-News in
North Carolina.

“Special interests shouldn’t dictate foreign policy

A year ago, following the ethnic special interest group’s
attempt to block the nomination in Congress, President Barack
Obama recess-appointed Matthew J. Bryza as the U.S. Ambassador
to Azerbaijan. After over a year of absence of the U.S. envoy to
Azerbaijan, Bryza assumed his duties in January 2011. However, to
continue serving, Mr. Bryza’s recess appointment must be confirmed
by the U.S. Senate before the end of 2011. Otherwise, Ambassador
Bryza would have to be recalled next month, and such a move would
negatively impact U.S.-Azerbaijani relations and damage U.S. foreign
policy in the Caucasus region.

President Obama initially nominated Mr. Bryza, then a deputy
assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs,
for the position in May 2010. Having represented the U.S. foreign
policy interests in the South Caucasus for the past several years,
Mr. Bryza is an expert on regional affairs and a career U.S. diplomat
with proven qualifications to serve as the envoy to Azerbaijan. Yet the
nomination was impeded from legislative approval by Senators Barbara
Boxer (D-Calif.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), under pressure from
Armenian-American lobbying groups. Some of the latter have gone as
far as claiming that Mr. Bryza is not qualified for the job due to
his wife’s ethnic Turkish background.

According to Thomas de Waal, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, Menendez and Boxer were “being driven by diaspora
Armenian politics as they put a hold on U.S. engagement in the region.”

I join members of the Pax Turcica Institute, Azerbaijani-American
Council, Assembly of Turkish-American Associations and Azerbaijan
Society of America, to call for Senate confirmation of Matthew J.

Bryza as the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan by the end of 2011.

Over the past 11 months, he has proven himself as a successful choice
to represent the United States in Azerbaijan, and our foreign policy
should not be derailed by the limited agenda of ethnic special interest
groups in Congress.

Fevzi Yalin Elon”.

BAYRAM SAFAROV: “WE WANT THE AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES OF NAGORNO KARABAKH TO MEET REGULARLY”

MilAz.info
Dec 12 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh intends to continue meetings
with Armenian community, said Chairman of Public Union “Azerbaijani
Community of Nagorno Karabakh” Bayram Safarov, APA reports.

“We want the communities to meet regularly”, he said and added that
the relationships and dialogue between the communities will contribute
to the settlement of the conflict.

Safarov said that the next meeting has not been scheduled and noted
that it was early to say anything on the participation of Armenian
side in the next meeting.

ANKARA WARNS PARIS OF ‘IRREPARABLE DAMAGE’ IF GENOCIDE BILL APPROVED

Today’s Zaman
Dec 12 2011
Turkey

Ankara has warned France of the “irreparable damage” that could ensue
should France’s latest move to criminalize denying that an alleged
Armenian genocide took place in Turkey in 1915 be passed next week
in the French parliament.

“Turkish efforts and contact [with French officials] are ongoing at
the moment,” Turkish officials told Today’s Zaman on Monday, as they
recalled statements from Ankara that urge France not to politicize a
historical matter that is very sensitive for both Turks and Armenians.

“The French administration is well aware of the sensitivity of this
issue [the Armenian genocide] for our country. We hope that no steps
that could cause irreparable damage will be taken at a time when
Turkey and France have entered a stable phase that could increase
opportunities of cooperation at bilateral and international levels,”
a statement released by the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, as Ankara
repeated once more that it regarded such attempts as “reoccurring
events” ahead of elections in France.

Turkey’s reaction to the move has been revived as the French parliament
readies to vote a legislation that could make denying the 1915 events
that took place in Turkey as genocide punishable by up to one year in
prison and a fine of 45,000 euros, the Anatolia news agency reported
on Monday. The voting, however, is not the first time France has
mulled over criminalizing the denial of the events as genocide,
as the French National Assembly adopted a bill in 2006, proposing
that anyone who denied the “Armenian genocide,” would be punished,
but the bill was dropped the same year before coming to the senate.

Since France officially recognized the genocide in 2001, stirring
up heated but short-lived tension between France and Turkey, French
governments have attempted to introduce penalties for denying the
alleged Armenian genocide several times, all of which were turned
down before gaining full force.

The debate was most recently revived in October, when French President
Nicholas Sarkozy urged Turkey during a visit to Armenia to recognize
the killing of Armenians at the onset of World War I as genocide and
threatened to pass a legislation that would criminalize its denial
if the country failed to do so. The president’s remarks, which drew
instant and sharp criticism from top Turkish officials, were claimed
to have been “misunderstood,” as his aide, Jean David Levitte, told
the Turkish Embassy in Paris a few days after the incident. Citing
diplomatic sources, Anatolia reported mid-October that Levitte stressed
French appraisal of Turkey as a great country and that France did
not want a face off with Turkey over the Armenian issue.

At the time, Sarkozy’s words drew a stormy reaction from Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who regarded his approach
as “usual election-time fodder” aimed at pleasing the Armenian
diaspora. Erdogan also commented that he found Sarkozy’s remarks
ironic, coming from a leader of a former colonizing country, while
other Turkish officials have expressed views that Sarkozy is trying
to increase French influence in Armenia and have a stronger say in
the Caucuses by abusing the sensitive issue between Turkey and Armenia.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Turkish EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen
BagıÅ~_ retaliated against Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s
remarks that Turkey would be governed by a true European government
that would bow in respect before the genocide monument in Yerevan,
saying that Sarksyan was “overstepping his boundaries” with such
remarks. “Nobody has the power to make Turkey bow down,” BagıÅ~_
told reporters, as he accused the Armenian government of weakening
the people of Armenia with hunger and poverty and forcing half of
the country’s population to flee to other countries, including Turkey.

Turkey and Armenia have long been in a deadlock caused by the mass
killings of Armenians during the fall of the Ottoman Empire, as
Armenia insists the killings constitute genocide, while Turkey says
the killings happened during civil war and people from all ethnicities
and religions suffered tragic losses at that time.

ARMENIA REDUCES NATURAL GAS IMPORT FROM IRAN

The Messenger
Dec 12 2011
Georgia

Armenia mainly uses Iranian natural gas to secure its energy safety
in case of problems receiving major gas supply from Russia. In
2012, Armenia plans to reduce plans for the import of natural gas
from Iran as a result of increase of supply from Russia. From Iran
so far Armenia was receiving natural gas in return supplying Iran
with electricity. The exchange rate between the two countries was
three kilowatt hours of electricity in return for 1 cubic meter of
Iranian gas.

SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAYS TO INVEST 1.1 BILLION RUBLE SIN 2012 IN UPGRADING THE SYSTEM

/ARKA/
DECEMBER 13, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, December 13, /ARKA/. The Russian-run South Caucasus Railways
(SCR) company operating Armenia’s railroads said it is going to invest
1.1 billion rubles in 2012 in upgrading of the system. In a press
release the company said the 2012 investment program was approved by
SCR board meeting held last Friday in Moscow.

“The parameters of the investment program will ensure that the
company fulfils its concession commitments for 2008-2012 by 100.4%”,
the press release said.

According to the report, SCR CEO Shevket Shaidullin said that
the company plans to reach break-even level in 2011. Chairman of
the board of directors of SCR, the president of Russian Railways
Vladimir Yakunin, highly assessed the results of SCR performance in
2011. The press release says SCR staff members, who contributed to
its achievements in 2011, will be awarded money and other prizes.

In 2007 the Armenian government called tenders for a 30-year
concession to modernize and operate Armenian Railways. An Indian
RITES and Russian Railways qualified to bid, but the Indian company
withdrew. The Russian Railways was the only bidder and has set up
South Caucasian Railway as a subsidiary to run the Armenian Railway.

On the 1st of June 2008 South Caucasus Railways (SCR) officially
started business operations under a concession agreement to manage
Armenian Railways. In that connection, by 1 June 2008, SCR, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Russian Railways, received property owned
by Armenian Railways consisting of 2,000 freight cars, 58 passenger
coaches, 85 locomotives and 30 electric trains. The concession
agreement was concluded for 30 years, with a right of extension for
another 20 years after the first 20 years of operation.

ARMENIAN CHILDREN ARE VERY POOR

According to official data, 41.4 percent of children in Armenia are
considered poor, and 3.7 percent are in extreme poverty.

“If a person is poor and doesn’t have the income for minimum living
standards, then that is already a violation of a family’s right,”
MP Hakob Hakobyan mentioned during a press conference today.

The representatives of all spheres related to children’s issues
today gathered around a round table to find ways out of the current
situation.

The MP also said Armenia has achieved success in the social sphere,
but the flaws are clear. “Compared to 2008, poverty has increased by
8 percent, and it is obvious that children’s rights are violated.”

He proposes to lead a policy so that children’s rights are not violated
in the family.

Chairperson of the NA standing committee on healthcare Ara Babloyan
says children’s rights have been protected by the law for the past
three years, and he considers the free birth an achievement.

After a certain age, children with violated rights are also capable
of committing crimes, and that is what concerns Head of the Service
for Minors of the RA Police Nelly Duryan the most.

Duryan also touched upon the latest child molestations and says even
though there have been such cases before, they have never been raised.

“We have to raise our concerns in order to prevent such cases from
happening again, but we have to be careful because this refers to
children,” the head of the service said.

The RA Minister of Education and Science said he was strictly concerned
with the education of children of socially disadvantaged families.

“The attendance of socially vulnerable children to school is still
a current issue,” Minister Ashotyan declared. To solve that issue,
the ministry and UNICEF will implement a new program to register
children left out of school.

NO INJURY, NO PUNISHMENT: GOVERNOR’S SLAP OF BUSINESSWOMAN SEEN AS NOT “BEATING”
By Sara Khojoyan

ArmeniaNow
13.12.11

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has quashed a criminal
case based on businesswoman Silva Hambardzumyan’s charges against
Governor of Syunik province Surik Khachatryan who slapped Hambardzumyan
on November 14 because of comments she had made about him.

The attack was witnessed, and recorded on security cameras inside the
Marriott hotel in Yerevan where the encounter took place in the lobby.

Hambardzumyan’s case, however, has been thrown out on the basis that
the slap did not “cause bodily harm”, and because Khachatryan has
express regret for the incident.

Leaving aside the issue of the decision’s being fair of unfair
Hambardzumyan told ArmeniaNow that she considers even this decision
to be a victory.

“I am very thankful to the service [Special Investigation Service],
because it made him [Khachatryan] regret what he did. Until now he
was declaring through the news service of Syunik’s governor’s office
that he had not done anything like that, whereas now it was found
out that he had done it and regretted it. I am proud and happy,”
Hambardzumyan says.

One week before the incident Hambardzumyan publicly alleged that
Khachatryan had stolen 102 million drams ($267,000) worth of equipment
from her Lichvaz-Tey gold mining company. The governor’s attack on the
businesswoman is believed to have been in response to those comments.

Many NGO representatives have released a statement, criticizing the
governor for behaving improperly as a man in such a public area.

Commenting on its decision about quashing the criminal case,
the Special Investigation Service representatives clarified that
Khachatryan’s deed did not contain “characteristic features of
‘beating’ because of its uniqueness and importance: ‘beating’ in the
Theory of Criminal Law means applying numerous hits aiming to cause
physical pain.”