Author: Badalian Vardan

COMMEMORATION OF THE CENTENNIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN DIYARBAKIR
22-24 APRIL, 2015

Why Diyarbakir (Dikranagerd)?

The Gomidas Institute, with the support of the Turkish Human Rights
Association, is organising a series of commemorative events in Diyarbakir
between April 22-24, 2015 to mark the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
The focus on Diyarbakir is for good historical and political reasons.

Diyarbakir was a major theatre of the Armenian Genocide

The Ottoman province of Diyarbakir was a key theatre of the Armenian
Genocide. Its governor Reshid Bey in 1915 played a prominent role in the
mass murder of Armenians. Some of the victims – such as the local prelate
Mgrdich Chlghadian – were killed in the city, thousands more were killed
outside, and even more further afield.

Diyarbakir already recognises the Armenian Genocide

Today, the people living in Diyarbakir recognise the Armenian Genocide and
wish to make amends. The city’s co-mayors and regional representative’s at
the Turkish Parliament speak out on the Armenian issue with a clear voice.
Diyarbakir city has already supported the reconstruction of Sourp Giragos
church, one of the largest Armenian churches in the world. Armenians can
live freely in this city. At last year’s commemoration of the Armenian
Genocide, the men and women who stood up for Armenians represented millions
of people. They included prominent politicians, lawyers, human rights
activists, and others.

Making a common stand in Diyarbakir

A strong Armenian presence in Diyarbakir this coming April will have great
moral and political significance by strengthening reconciliation between
Armenians and Kurds, challenging the official Turkish denial of the
Armenian Genocide.

The Gomidas Institute has been active in Turkey since the 1990s. While
opposing the official denials of Turkish state intellectuals, the Institute
has also built bridges with Turkish civil society and sought just
resolution of outstanding issues. The Institute has organised successful
projects in Diyarbakir before, including the commemoration of the Armenian
Genocide – and this coming year’s commemoration builds on earlier successes.

COMMEMORATIVE PROGRAMME DIYARBAKIR APRIL 22-24, 2015
April 22
Gathering and welcome in Diyarbakir city.

April 23
Morning: Visit the major massacre site where over 600 Armenians, including
the Diyarbakir Armenian leadership, were slaughtered.
Afternoon: Visit the gravesite of Mihemedê Mistê of Ã=8Alih, the Kurdish
tribal leader who opposed the Genocide of Armenians.
Evening: Visit special events and exhibitions in the city or gather at
Sourp Giragos with human rights activists and supporters.

April 24
Morning: Visit the old prison and the governor’s building, where many
victims were held before being killed.
Noon: A commemorative ceremony in the ruins of St. Sarkis church followed
by a public rally with featured speakers organised by the Diyarbakir Branch
of the Human Rights’ Association. This event will be followed by serving
“helva” in memory of all the victims of 1915 and their descendants.

Additional : Kharpert to Diyarbakir
For those interested: We plan to fly to Elazig (Harput/Kharpert) on April
19th and go to Diyarbakir overland, covering a major deportation route and
crossing key sites related to Armenians and the Genocide of 1915.

Press Release :

EX-SOVIET NATIONS SEAL NEW ALLIANCE

PUBLISHED 23/12/2014 | 15:01

Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to persuade Ukraine to join
the new alliance

Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations have completed the creation
of an ambitious new alliance intended to bolster their economic
integration.

The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, comes into existence on January 1.

In addition to free trade, it aims to co-ordinate the members’
financial systems and regulate industrial and agricultural policies
along with labour markets and transportation networks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new union will have a
combined economic output of 4.5 trillion US dollars (£2.9 trillion)
and bring together 170 million people.

Russia tried to encourage Ukraine to join the alliance, but Kiev’s
former pro-Moscow president was ousted in February following months
of protests.

Russia then annexed Ukraine’s Black Sea Crimean peninsula, and a
pro-Russia mutiny has engulfed eastern Ukraine.

NOUVELLE AGRESSION CONTRE UN MILITANT ARMENIEN

EREVAN

Une nouvelle fois, un militant antigouvernemental a ete passe a tabac
a Erevan, et ce a peine un jour après les menaces samedi d’un haut
responsable de la police armenienne contre l’opposition (voir article
plus bas).

Vaghinak Shushanyan a ete attaque et blesse par des inconnus dans
le centre-ville. Il a poste des photos de son visage ensanglante
sur Internet avant de recevoir des soins medicaux a l’hôpital plus
tard dans la soiree. “Deux jeunes hommes se approches de moi et m’ont
dit :

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: HUNDREDS OF YAZIDI WOMEN TORTURED, RAPED BY IS

18:06 23/12/2014 ” SOCIETY

Hundreds of women of the Yazidi minority in the Iraqi territory
currently controlled by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group are
being tortured and raped, Amnesty International said in a report,
issued on Tuesday, according to Sputnik.

“Hundreds of Yazidi women and girls have had their lives shattered by
the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery in IS captivity,”
Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera
said, following interviews with several victims who managed to escape.

The adviser noted that victims face physical and psychological trauma,
while those who escape are vilified by their society because of the
“stigma surrounding rape.”

The survivors said that the perpetrators are mostly Iraqi and Syrian
men. A great number of them are IS militants, while others are thought
to be their supporters. Some of the former captives said they were
forced to live in the abductors’ households with their wives and
children, according to the Amnesty International report.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government, UN and other humanitarian
organizations who are providing medical and other support services to
survivors of sexual violence must step up their efforts. They must
ensure they are swiftly and proactively reaching out to those who
may need them,” Rovera added.

KARABAGH : LES ANALYSTES ARMENIENS VOIENT L’UTILISATION DE MORTIERS PAR L’AZERBAIDJAN COMME UN ECHEC DE SA GUERRE DES SNIPERS

KARABAGH

La semaine dernière, près de la ligne de contact des forces armees
azerbaïdjanaises et du Karabagh certaines violations sans precedent du
regime de cessez-le feu ont ete signales ; l’adversaire a commence a
utiliser des mortiers, ce qui, selon un analyste politique, est evident
que de cette manière l’Azerbaïdjan essaye d’augmenter la tension.

Le service de presse de l’armee de defense du Haut-Karabagh a declare
que du 7 au 13 decembre près de la ligne de contact des forces armees
azerbaïdjanaises et du Karabagh l’adversaire a viole le regime de
cessez-le-feu pendant environ 1600 fois, tirant plus de 18 000 coups
de feu dans la direction des positions armeniennes a partir d’armes
a feu de differents calibres.

“Plus precisement, dans la partie orientale de la ligne de contact
des violations sans precedent ont ete enregistrees. Dans le sens où
l’adversaire a tire plus de trois douzaines de coups de mortiers de 60
et 82 mm. Pendant la semaine l’adversaire a aussi utilise des grenades,
des tireurs d’elite et des mitrailleuses, “a indique le communique,
ajoutant que les unites de l’armee de première ligne de l’armee de
defense, le cas echeant, ont donne une reponse adequate a l’adversaire
maintenant la situation operationnelle tactique sous contrôle constant
“.

L’analyste politique Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan a dit que cela signifie
que pour le moment toutes les possibilites d’un règlement pacifique
ont expire, ce qui signifie qu’un tournant dans les relations sont
necessaires, sinon il y a un risque très eleve de reprise d’une
veritable guerre.

> tout en utilisant simultanement
les services des tireurs d’elite. L’objectif est de provoquer autant
de degâts que possible ” a dit l’analyste politique ajoutant que
meme s’il est clair que les unites de l’armee de première ligne de
l’armee de defense garderont la situation sous contrôle cependant,
il faudra compter que la situation reste risquee en première ligne,
et que l’Azerbaïdjan n’a aucune intention de faire une pause.

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN

ArmeniaNow

mardi 23 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VICE-PRESIDENT: ARMENIA IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF EUROPE

15:55 23/12/2014 >> INTERVIEWS

In the interview with Nvard Chalikyan from Panorama.am Vice-President
of European Parliament Mr. Ryszard Czarnecki, who was in Armenia on
an official visit, spoke about the prospects of cooperation between
Armenia and the EU.

Mr. Czernecki, who is also a historian and who has visited Armenia
for many times, stressed that Armenia is an integral part of Europe
both historically and culturally.

He said that the EU is therefore interested in having closer relations
with Armenia, despite Armenia’s decision to join the Eurasian Union
(which the EU understands given Armenia’s geopolitical situation).

Commenting on statements made by President of France Francois Holland
and by Foreign Minister of Latvia, who have recently spoken about
the need for a new type of Association Agreement with Armenia, the EP
Vice-President said that “the EU is open for every form of cooperation
with Armenia.”

He also noted that while for some EU countries it is preferable to have
closer relations with Africa, Maghreb and other regions, for Poland
(the country he represents) it is important to have closer ties with
South Caucasus countries as well as with Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.

As for the future of the EU, the EP Vice-President said that EU
enlargement is envisioned – it will be not a fast, but a step-by-step
process.

Speaking about the agenda of the upcoming summit of Euronest, which
is going to take place in Yerevan (Armenia) in March, Mr. Czarnecki
said that the future of Euronest will be discussed. He regretted that
Azerbaijan may be boycotting the session as it wouldn’t be beneficial
for Azerbaijan to miss a meeting in which important matters for the
region are going to be discussed.

Mr. Czarnecki also spoke positively about the recent strengthening of
ties between Armenia and Iran and said it is in the national interests
of Armenia to maintain the balance of power in the external relations
of the country and to cooperate not only with Russia, but also with
the EU, Iran and other countries.

Asked about whether the issue of Azerbaijan’s “caviar diplomacy”
is addressed in the EP after the incident with the EP election
observation mission in Azerbaijan, Mr. Czarnecki said that the
inconsistency between the reports reaffirmed the need to have one
common policy within the European Parliament.

As for the Nagorno Karabakh issue, Mr. Czarnecki reiterated the
position of the European Parliament in that it completely supports
the efforts of the Minsk Group and is waiting for the results of
their work.

Asked about the attitude of the EU to the fact that Azerbaijan
enhances its military budget (not concealing its intentions to start
a war against NKR and Armenia) by the money it receives from energy
projects with European countries, Mr. Czarnecki said that the EU is
not responsible for energy policies of its members, as cooperation
in this sector remains in the domain of sovereign states.

Mr. Czarnecki will be visiting Armenia in March 2015 for the Euronest
summit.

See the full video interview with Mr. Czarnecki here.

By Nvard Chalikyan

704 NAMES OF NEIGHBORHOODS OR VILLAGES IN THE VAN REGION WILL RESUME THEIR ORIGINAL NAMES, KURDISH OR ARMENIAN

WESTERN ARMENIA AND EASTERN TURKEY

By order of the City Council of Van in the Van region, 704 place names
have resumed their original name, Kurdish or Armenian. According to the
Armenian newspaper “Agos” published in Istanbul, Van Hall asked its
services list the old names of the city’s neighborhoods and villages
in the region, resulting in a list of 704 names of places .

Then the City Council voted Van deliberation related to restoring their
original names to these 704 neighborhoods or villages. Thus in the
region of Bachkale-region Van- 81 villages’ places or quartermasters
were renamed by their original name, Tchaldrtnou 86, 34 Chadakh,
18 Artamède, 105 Ardjech, 37 Kevache, 174 Kyurpnar 50 to Ipkyolou,
41 Mouradie, Ozalp 53, and 25 to Saray.

Krikor Amirzayan

Tuesday, December 23, 2014, Krikor Amirzayan © armenews.com

SCR PROVIDES SUBURBAN RAIL SERVICES TO 293,300 PASSENGERS IN ELEVEN MONTHS

YEREVAN, December 23. /ARKA/. The South Caucasus Railway (SCR) company
provided suburban rail services to a total of 293,000 passengers in
eleven months of this year, general director of the company Victor
Rebets told reporters on Monday.

The current commuter travels offered by the company are
Yerevan-Giumry-Yerevan, Yerevan-Ararat-Yerevan, Yerevan-Armavir
(Araks)-Yerevan, Hrazdan-Almast-Hrazdan and Yerevan-Yeraskh-Yerevan.

Apart from this, the SCR operates two international routes
– Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan (from October to June) and
Yerevan-Batumi-Yerevan (from June to October).

These routes had their passenger traffic increased by 210% from 27,500
people in 2008 to 55,500 in January-November 2014, Rebets said.

One of the achievements is the introduction of Orion automated
ticketing system that reduced the ticketing time from 10 to 2 minutes,
the general director said.

Online ticketing grows popular from one year to another, and online
ticket sales have tripled in 2014 compared to the year before,
Rebets said.

Yet, the company failed to maintain the 2013 sales level for suburban
services and hence started seeking options to optimize routes,
according to the general director.

Rebets said that, according to the concession agreement, the government
is obliged to make up for a part of the company’s losses from suburban
services as the routes are defined by the ministry of transport. The
government debt has totaled to 818 million since 2008, of it 495
million was transferred to the company in December.

According to the budget, another 620 million drams will be paid
off in 2015. The government debt will be paid in full in two years,
according to Rebets.

The general director also said the debt is paid not from tax receipts,
but from the 2% concession fee the company transfers to the budget
every year.

Since the beginning of the concession, the SCR has paid a total of
1.7 billion drams in concession fees.

South Caucasus Railway, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, runs
Armenian Railway, which was handed over to the South Caucasus Railway
on February 13, 2008 for 30-year concession management with a right
to prolong the management term for other 10 years. ($1 – 456.17 drams).

-0–

ARMENIA’S CENTRAL BANK RAISES REFINANCING RATE TO 8.5 PCT FROM 6.75 PCT

18:02, 23 Dec 2014

Armenia’s central bank has raised its key refinancing rate to 8.5
percent from 6.75 percent on Tuesday.

Annual inflation was at 2.6 percent in November, the central bank said,
up from 2.2 percent in October. Monthly inflation in November was at
1.3 percent, compared to inflation of 1.0 percent in October.

The central bank kept its refinancing rate unchanged at 6.75 percent
in September and November after cutting it from 7.00 percent in
August. Last week, Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate
by 650 basis points to 17 percent.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN VISITS SIMULATION EDUCATION CENTER IN YEREVAN

17:56, 22 Dec 2014

President Serzh Sargsyan today attended the opening of the Simulation
Education Center at Yerevan State University after M. Heratsi.

Accompanied by the RA Minister of Education and Science, Armen
Ashotyan, the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Health Care,
Maternity and Childhood, Ara Babloyan and YSMU Rector Mikayel
Narimanyan, Serzh Sargsyan toured the newly-opened center of N1
University Clinical Hospital, familiarized with the opportunities of
the center founded as part of the reforms which have been implemented
in Armenia’s higher education sector.

The Minister of Education and Science presented the implementation
process of the projects being carried out by the Armenia Higher
Education Competitive Innovation Fund and its spheres of activities.

He noted that with the opening of the simulation center, Yerevan State
Medical University is introducing a new method of medical education –
simulation education. This kind of innovative method allows students
to upgrade their practical skills and reduce the number of medical
mistakes during their professional activities both at the stages of
graduate and life-long education. The innovation project is generally
directed at substantially improving the quality and effectiveness of
medical education.

The simulation center involves four main directions – clinical skills,
reanimation, surgery and midwifery, and gynecology. The center is
equipped with necessary moulages, movers and computers installed with
educational programs. The YSMU has reviewed the educational programs
and has conducted retraining sessions. The full-fledged introduction
of simulation education at the YSMU is planned to launch in February
of 2015.

According to the executives, in case of necessity after the end of
the project a new video course available to other beneficiaries via
the university webpage will be designed. It is planned to organize
special retraining courses for lecturers and employees of the center on
a regular basis in order to involve the best international experience
and ensure reforms yield the best results.