Author: Badalian Vardan

FRANCE
300 gendarmes font tomber un vaste réseau de cambrioleurs caucasiens

Trois cents gendarmes frappant à l’aube à travers le Sud-Ouest de la
France ont fait tomber vendredi un réseau mafieux d’une vingtaine de
cambrioleurs géorgiens et arméniens, soupçonnés de centaines de vols
dans des maisons et des commerces.

Vingt-trois suspects, des hommes et des femmes expérimentés, ont été
placés en garde à vue à l’issue de ce raid mené simultanément à 06H00
dans le Gers, le Tarn, l’Ariège, l’Aveyron, le Lot, le
Tarn-et-Garonne, mais aussi l’Oise et à Paris par le Groupe
d’intervention de la gendarmerie nationale, un escadron de gendarmes
mobiles, la section de recherches de Toulouse et d’autres unités de
gendarmerie, ont annoncé les enquêteurs.

De premières informations selon lesquelles des Russes et des
Tchétchènes figuraient au nombre des suspects n’ont pas été
confirmées.

Les suspects n’ont pas opposé de résistance, aucun coup de feu n’a été
tiré et personne n’a été blessé.

Parmi les gardés à vue figure le chef présumé de cette organisation
décrite comme très structurée et hiérarchisée. Il a été interpellé par
le GIGN à Millau (Aveyron). Le réseau est décapité, dit une source
proche de la Juridiction interrégionale spécialisée (Jirs) de
Bordeaux, qui a piloté l’enquête.

`C’était une grosse opération, une opération très importante, car les
cambriolages, c’est ce qui empoisonne la vie des gens`, dit un
enquêteur.

Depuis plusieurs mois, les cambriolages des résidences principales ne
cessent d’augmenter partout en France. Le ministre de l’Intérieur,
Claude Guéant, a fait du combat contre cette délinquance une priorité
et lui a récemment affecté près de 4.000 renforts dans l’Hexagone.

Le groupe de malfaiteurs démantelé vendredi volait bijoux, argent,
appareils photo ou matériel électronique dans les maisons et tous
types de marchandises dans les commerces, comme des ordinateurs ou
même un stock de vêtements lors d’un récent casse à la voiture bélier
dans un magasin de prêt-à-porter.

Plutôt à la campagne ou en périphérie des villes, ils sévissaient de
jour comme de nuit, sans aucune violence, en l’absence des
propriétaires. Le premier méfait dont ils sont soupçonnés remonte à
début 2011, dans un commerce du Gers.

Les bijoux étaient écoulés en Belgique ; le reste était chargé dans
des conteneurs et expédié par la route ou par la mer vers le Caucase.

Ceux qui ont écoulé le butin, qui devrait représenter au minimum
plusieurs centaines de milliers d’euros selon un enquêteur, sont
également sous les verrous.

Les chefs du réseau, dont certains auraient déjà eu maille à partir
avec la justice, étaient implantés depuis plusieurs années en France,
légalement, et `recrutaient au fur et à mesure, en fonction des
arrivages, des hommes de main, des petites mains`, parfois des
demandeurs d’asile, selon une source proche de l’enquête.

Ils avaient `une force de frappe considérable, ils pouvaient taper
très fréquemment, presque quotidiennement, en différents points`, dit
la même source.

L’organisation du réseau et la complexité des investigations menées
par la section de recherches de Toulouse et l’Office central de lutte
contre la délinquance itinérante (OCLDI) étaient telles que la
direction d’enquête a été confiée à la Jirs de Bordeaux et qu’il a
fallu plusieurs mois pour aboutir.

Les suspects sont à présent interrogés dans les différentes unités de
gendarmerie de la région.

Comme il s’agit d’une affaire de criminalité organisée, les enquêteurs
disposent de 96 heures pour les présenter à un juge, soit jusqu’à
mardi matin. Une des difficultés consistera à établir leur véritable
identité car ils utilisaient de faux papiers.

lundi 21 novembre 2011,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY AND DEFENSE MINISTRY’S COMMAND-STAFF ACADEMY TO BE SET UP IN ARMENIA

Mediamax
Nov 24 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. An international group of experts, set up under
the aegis of NATO, is visiting Yerevan to promote military-educational
reforms in Armenia.

The group comprises representatives from the military and civil
sectors of USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania, Switzerland
and NATO.

Discussions in an enlarged composition were held under the chairmanship
of Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and Education Minister
Armen Ashotyan. At the meeting with U.S. vice Ambassador Bruce Donahue,
the head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies of Armenian
Defense Ministry, Hayk Kotanjyan, presented the project for the
reformation of the Institute into National Defense University.

Armenian First Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan also met with
the expert group and presented the work aimed at the establishment
of a Command-Staff Academy of Armenian Defense Ministry.

During the visit of the international expert group, the sides are
going to complete the program of command-staff courses for senior
officers, coordinate issues related to the training of lecturers,
improvement of the material-technical base and content of subjects.

An agreement will be also reached according to which the Armenian
Defense Ministry will participate in the international process of
elaboration of a common Euro-Atlantic training program for sergeants,
worked out within the framework of Partnership for Peace Generic NCO
Reference Curriculum.

SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IS READY IN TERMS OF DIPLOMACY – EXPERT

Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 24 2011
Russia

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, mediating the
Azerbaijani-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, will arrive
in the region on November 28. French Ambassador Jacques Faure will
replace Bernard Fassier as a co-chair of the OSCE MG and will be
introduced in Yerevan and Baku.

Vestnik Kavkaza reported earlier that the co-chairs’ goal is to
observe the situation in the region and prepare a conference of the
Council of Foreign Ministers in Vilnius in December. They will meet
the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and foreign ministers.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said that Baku has
no positive expectations from the visit. Armenia will try to benefit
from the visit.

At the summit of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in
Kazakhstan the situation clarified itself but reached a stalemate. The
French president’s visit to Yerevan and Baku was fruitless, Azimov
notes.

Felix Stanevsky, head of the Caucasus Department of the Institute
of CIS States, noted that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remains
tense and that conflict is still a threat. Russian diplomats and the
OSCE MG have developed principles for settlement of the conflict,
as it was pointed out in Aksville in July 2009.

The conflict settlement is being dragged out by the public views in
Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is not a matter of diplomacy, political
or media efforts, the expert concludes.

APOLOGY OF TURKISH PM SOLVES NOTHING, ARCHIVES SHOULD OPEN-TURKISH POLITICIAN

news.am
Nov 24 2011
Armenia

ANKARA. – Turkish main oppositional Republican People’s Party (CHP)
leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu spoke on Turkish PM Erdogan’s apology
regarding Dersim slaughters.

Kilicdaroglu stated that PM’s apology is not enough, calling on the
authorities to open the archives, Turkish Milliyet reports.

“The documents that Erdogan shows are not new. I read them in 1970s.

Apology is not enough, archives should open. Families deported from
Dersim should be given back their property and compensated material
losses. I asked documents from archives but no one gave me them.

Please, make these documents available for public,” Kilicdaroglu said.

It was earlier reported that Turkish PM apologized for Dersim
massacres. “If there should be an apology on behalf of the state I
can do it and I am apologizing,” PM stated.

Besides, Erdogan blamed Republican People’s Party (CHP), claiming
that it was on the reign at that time.

Various sources claim that about 100000 people were killed in the
slaughters. Armenians escaped from the 1915 Genocide and sheltered
in Dersim villages, underwent double genocide in 1938

ARAKELIAN FAMILY RENOVATES GETAPI VILLAGE SCHOOL IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
24.11.11

The Arakelian Family led by Ron Arakelian Jr. has sponsored the
renovation of the Getapi village school in the Shirak region of
Armenia, Asbarez.com reported.

The major renovation was done in memory of Jack Arakelian who was born
in the village of Getapi on March 3, 1913 and later imigrated to the
United States. The renovation was completed through the guidance and
the management of the Armenian Educational Foundation.

The Arakelians donated $75,000 to underwrite the renovation as part of
the AEF’s 60th Anniversary celebration which took place in November
2010. Jack Arakelian was a long-time member of the AEF, serving as
President from 1968 to 1979.

The village of Getapi (originally named Ghasmal) lies in the foothills
of the Aragats mountain range. Getapi was founded in 1827-1828 by
immigrants from Kars, Alashkert, Manazkert and Moush forming 40
households.

In the mid 20th century its population reached 1100 and the current
count is 830. Getapi is 18.6 miles from Gyumri and 62.2 miles from
Yerevan.

The Getapi school building was originally built in 1950 and in 1994
it became a high school producing its first graduates in 1996. The
school currently has 95 students, yet in the past that number reached
160. It has 21 teachers and 5 staff members.

ACTION OF “MIASIN” – DEDICATED TO PURITY OF THE MOTHER LANGUAGE

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 24, 2011
YEREVAN

“Miasin” (“Together”) youth movement organized today its serial
action. Head of the movement Hakob Hakobyan told Armenpress that
the goal of the movement is elimination of posters, wallpapers and
signboards with foreign-language notes.

“It is already our 4-5th event on this topic. By this step we call on
to follow the requirements of the law on advertising while designing
posters,” he said.

The serial action-march of “Miasin” movement, which is directed toward
preserving the purity of the mother language, will wrap up next to
RA government building.

“We will give a letter to the Prime Minister and ask him to take more
active part in this issue,” said Hakob Hakobyan.

According to the latest information, “Miasin” movement has 2000-3000
active participants.

ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCILS INDICATE DIRECTIONS OF COOPERATION 2012- 2013

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 24, 2011
YEREVAN

Armenian and Russian National Security Councils have signed a
cooperation document for 2012-2013 years. Press Secretary of the
National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan told today a news
conference that the document includes a wide range of issues on
Armenian-Russian strategic cooperation.

“Numerous measures are indicated, concrete responsibles are appointed,
and we are sure that this program will be implemented efficiently. All
the meetings in Russia with heads of corresponding systems have been
productive, the agreements are practical, and we are full of hope
that they will be brought to life,” stressed Arthur Baghdasaryan.

NATO EXPERT GROUP ON VISIT TO ARMENIA

Tert.am
24.11.11

A NATO-sponsored expert group arrived in Armenia Nov. 23 to assist
military education reforms in the country.

Experts from the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Lithuania,
Romania, Switzerland, as well as representatives of NATO military
and civil departments, form the group.

Armenia’s First Deputy Minister of Defense David Tonoyan held a meeting
with the expert group Nov. 23. He informed the guests of the progress
in military education reforms. He drew the experts’ attention to the
process of establishing a command staff academy, revised education
programs, personnel management, as well as to a number of other issues.

The NATO expert group is supposed to finalize the command and staff
training program, agree on a retraining program for lecturers,
discuss issues related to modernization of education base and program.

The NATO delegation and Armenia’s authorities are also expected to
reach an agreement on the Armenian defense office’s involvement in
the Partnership for Peace Generic NCO Reference Curriculum.

The NATO delegaton is to be on a visit to Armenia until Nov. 26.

VADIM MUKHANOV: POSSIBLE UNILATERAL PRESSURE ON THE ARMENIAN PARTY TO KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS FOR THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION BORDERS ON FANTASY
by David Stepanyan

arminfo
Friday, November 25, 10:48

Interview of Vadim Mukhanov, Senior Fellow at the Center for Caucasian
Studies and Regional Security, MGIMO Russia, with ArmInfo News Agency

Possible changes in Moscow’s stance on the Karabakh peace process
following the Medvedev-Putin rotation is much spoken of today. Would
you share your thoughts on this?

I do not expect any special breakthroughs in the Karabakh conflict’s
resolution especially on the threshold of the upcoming elections in
Armenia, Azerbaijan and in the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair-states. I am
more than sure that Russia’s policy towards the South Caucasus will
not change traditionally and no fundamental changes should be expected
in this context following the rotation of the top leadership in Russia.

Do you think this policy is clearly observed?

There is no strict Russian policy towards the South Caucasus,
since there are certain moments that make the country think over
their settlement. Unlike the USA and France, that face the Caucasus’
problems not so often, Russia faces the problems of both the North
Caucasus that are dominating for the Russians and the South Caucasus.

There is nothing extraordinary in all that, since Russia is a priory
connected to the region more than the West.

Is the forecasted lack of breakthroughs in the Karabakh conflict for
the near future positive or negative for both parties?

The lack of breakthroughs in the Karabakh conflict forecasted for the
near future is positive for both parties, as always when there is no
war. Maintenance of no-war situation in Karabakh is a great positive
factor, especially amid the growing trigger-happy policy despite
the frequent meetings of the presidents. This is in discord with the
continuing suggestions in favor of the conflict’s resolution, indeed,
with the meetings in Yerevan and Baku leading to rather sad thoughts.

In this light, even lack of breakthroughs is evidently positive. The
credit of the status-quo maintenance in the Karabakh conflict zone
goes also to Russia, the USA and France. Nicolas Sarkozy’s visits to
the conflicting parties are the best evidence of my words.

What major threats to the regional security of the South Caucasus do
you observe today?

First of all, it is the threat of resumption of the frozen conflicts.

Some top officials in the region regularly voice that threat, which
cannot but arouse concern of the OSCE MG co-chair-states. Energy
security resulting from the Karabakh conflict is also a relevant
issue, especially for the EU and the USA. These countries are very
interested in provision of energy security. There is also the problem
of international terrorism, which is acute in the North Caucasus, and
the North Caucasus and South Caucasus are two communicating vessels.

In that case, the problems of Russia in the North Caucasus may extend
over the South Caucasus and grow into rather a serious problem.

You have not mentioned the Iranian nuclear problem in the light of
the latest IAEA report…

Iran’s problem is a serious threat to the regional security of
the South Caucasus especially considering that it is the neighbor
of Armenia and Azerbaijan. No one of the experts can rule out the
possibility that a war against Iran may provoke resumption of the
Karabakh conflict. But such probability is not 100%.

Are any breakthroughs possible in the Armenian-Turkish process with
the change of the geopolitical situation in the region?

I would not say that the Armenian-Turkish relations are boarded-up
like a forsaken house. There is probability of certain breakthroughs
in the process but not within the coming months, I think. Sooner or
later, this issue will be put on agenda again after expected changes
in the region. Any problem in the region, and the Iranian one first
of all, will inevitably lead to activation of Turkey’s policy in the
South Caucasus.

They in Baku constantly hope for more external pressure on Armenia
and the NKR to get back “the occupied territories”. Have the OSCE MG
co-chairs such opportunity and desire to do that?

The OSCE Minsk Group is willing to resolve the Karabakh conflict,
of course, but Russia, France and the USA will hardly resort to
pressure on the Armenian party to achieve resolution. It seems to me
that such scheme would have been fulfilled long ago if it had chances
for realization. In the current conditions, that scheme is bordering
on fantasy and is subject to serious risks.

All the plans to resolve the conflict, in particular, the Madrid
Principles, provide for yield of several regions of the security
zone of the NKR to Azerbaijan by Armenia. If this happens, won’t it
increase the risk of resumption of the conflict given the vulnerability
of the Karabakh people after the “gift” presented to Azerbaijan?

The issue of the territories is extremely complicated, especially
given the discrepancies in the Armenian establishment regarding
resolution of the conflict via transfer of some territories. Many
in Armenia are categorically against transferring any territory
to Azerbaijan. Transfer of any territory will tangibly affect the
security of the Karabakh people. In addition, in conditions when
the conflicting parties lack mutual confidence, the guaranteed
stage-by-stage settlement of the conflict is not real either. This
makes the work of the Minsk Group even harder. At the same time, one
should not expect assistance in resolution of the conflict from other
actors in the region, including Turkey. The centuries-old experience
of relations of Turkey and the conflicting parties, first of all
Armenia, is not the best reason to involve Ankara into the Karabakh
peace process. The role of a moderator in this conflict simply does
not suit Turkey.

‘CASE IS SOLVED, COMPLETED’: MAR. 1 VICTIM ARMEN FARMANYAN WOULD’VE BEEN 37 TODAY

epress.am
11.25.2011

Armen Farmanyan, who died on Mar. 1, 2008, would’ve been 37 years
old today.

Though over 3.5 years have passed since his death, we see no progress
in his case, said Armen’s father, Vachagan Farmanyan, in conversation
with Epress.am.

According to him, they have meetings with representatives of
international agencies, they hand them letters, but nothing changes.

“They want to forget March 1, but we won’t let them. We hope there
will be progress during this administration’s term. Actually, this
case is actually solved, finished; there is the shooter, there is the
person who gave the order; they just don’t want to consider it solved.

It’s their handiwork, by their men. The Cheryomukha is a prohibited
weapon, why did they use it? And the snipers shot… It’s clearly
solved,” he said.

Armen’s father said apart from the opposition bloc the Armenian
National Congress, they don’t pin hopes on any other political force
or the National Assembly.

“Our hopes are tied only with the [Armenian National] Congress. [The]
Heritage [Party] is also opposition, and supposedly Dashnaktsutyun
[the Armenian Revolutionary Federation] is also opposition, but none
of them are doing anything,” he said.

Recall that mass protests against alleged electoral fraud, organized by
supporters of unsuccessful presidential candidate, first president of
the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, followed the presidential
election of Feb. 19, 2008, in Armenia. On Mar. 1, 2008, national police
and military forces, called in to disperse the crowds, used “excessive
force and violence” which left 10 people dead and many more wounded.