Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT CHINA IN A FEW DAYS AND ITALY IN APRIL

YEREVAN, March 18. / ARKA /. Addressing an international media forum
in the Armenian capital entitled ‘At the Foot of Mount Ararat,’
dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, President Serzh
Sargsyan said he will visit China in the coming days.

“In a few days I will be in China on a state visit. We expect it to
give a new push to the development of our relations in various fields,”
said Sargsyan.

The president also said he will travel to Italy in the first half of
April on an official visit. During the meetings with Italian leadership
he will specify the position of that country on participation in the
commemoration of the centenary of the Armenian genocide.

‘I am delighted that presidents of France and Russia will arrive in
Armenia on April 24 to remember the victims of the genocide. I hope
that Italy will also be represented by a high- level delegation,’
he said.

The president will also visit Naples to attend an event dedicated to
the Armenian Genocide and Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the first
head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

He said Armenian-Italian relations are developing actively.

‘In 2-3 weeks we will open a new Italian enterprise in Armenia that
will produce only export-oriented products, and another Italian
company will open a new hotel in Yerevan in late April,’ he said.-0-

WOMAN IN COMA FOR 22 MONTHS AFTER GIVING BIRTH: HUSBAND FIGHTS FOR HER RIGHTS

03.18.2015 18:06 epress.am

On May 19, 2013, Shirakamut village, Lori Province, resident Lilit
Nalbandyan fell into a coma after giving birth at the Vanadzor
Medical Center and her situation has not changed to date. Criminal
investigation in connection with the case has been underway for nearly
20 months; Nalbandyan’s husband and lawyer claim that the woman fell
into a coma as a result of not receiving proper medical care from
hospital staff and demand those guilty be held responsible.

Lilit Nalbandyan’s representative, lawyer Arayik Papikyan told
Epress.am that in December 2014, the investigative body (investigator
H. Hovsepyan) decided to terminate the criminal investigation of the
case. The decision was appealed to the Lori Province Prosecutor’s
Office, where prosecutor V. Dolmazyan rejected the lawyer’s motion.

Nevertheless, the decision was appealed to the Lori Province Court
of First Instance, where on March 17, 2015, the presiding Judge
Suren Baghdasaryan also rejected the lawyer’s suit. Currently, the
plaintiff’s side is preparing to appeal to the Court of Appeals.

According to Papikyan, the rejection of the motions and appeals is
not surprising; its a defective work style and a sad tradition. The
lawyer stressed that the forensic examination has proved that Lilit
did not receive proper medical care, but, nevertheless, the criminal
investigation was still terminated.

“Neither the prosecutor, nor the court noticed that the main
parttakers, the medical staff, gave different and contradictory
testimonies during the preliminary investigation, while some of them
“privileged” or “immune” and were not questioned at all. For example,
when the court asked the investigator why the Erebuni Medical Center’s
Head Health Practitioner was not questioned, the investigator answered
that he went to question him, but the practitioner was not there that
day. This answer was sufficient for the court, despite the fact the
preliminary investigation did not last one day but about 570 days,”
said Arayik Papikyan.

The lawyer noted that a civil suit demanding financial compensation
for Lilit Nalbandyan’s case is still in process and currently at the
Court of Cassation. Nalbandyan’s side had won in the first two courts.

Epress.am was told by Nalbandyan’s husband Artak Barseghyan (pictured)
that his rights are being limited by different officials “mixing in”
in the case.

“It feels like everyone has one objective, to hurt Lilit, me and our
child. I’ve been recognized as Lilit’s caretaker. When the civil suit
began, the Lori Governor, the doctor’s lawyer, a few workers from
the Governor’s office forced the Shirakamut village mayor to overturn
the decision and he did out of fear. Then I was recognized guardian
again and once again the Lori Governor forced the village mayor to
overturn the decision, because if a guardian doesn’t exist then no
one would be able to defend Lilit’s rights in court, and my wife is
in a coma, so naturally she can’t go to court. Now I’m fighting again
to be recognized as guardian. The governor’s office tells me that
they can’t let me receive compensation from the hospital. I also
know that the Ministry of Health is putting pressure. For a long
time, I didn’t want to speak to the media with the hope that the
investigator, prosecutor, the court, hospital, governor’s office or
another parttaker would take that fact into consideration and show the
appropriate attitude. But now I feel that they are either interested
in the money or their position,” said Barseghyan.

L’ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE DE L’EURONEST ADOPTE UNE RESOLUTION SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

ARMENIE

L’Assemblee parlementaire de l’Euronest a adopte une resolution
demandant a la Turquie de se reconcilier avec son passe en ce qui
concerne le genocide armenien. La resolution a ete adoptee lors de la
quatrième session ordinaire de l’Assemblee parlementaire de l’Euronest
qui a commence le 17 Mars a Erevan.

Selon un communique publie par la Federation Euro-Armenienne pour la
Justice et la Democratie (FEAJD), la resolution a souligne que le deni
est la >.

La resolution rappelle les resolutions et declarations sur les crimes
contre l’humanite et le genocide armenien, qui ont ete adoptees
par l’Union europeenne (UE), l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU)
et d’autres organismes internationaux.

La FEAJD a salue la resolution, qui a reaffirme l’intolerance des
genocides, crimes contre l’humanite, et leur refus par l’Europe.

“C’est encore un autre coup a la politique de negation de la Turquie,
et un appel a reconnaître le genocide armenien et se reconcilier avec
son passe. Ayant a l’esprit le format de l’Euronest, c’est une grande
reussite par la delegation armenienne “, a declare Kaspar Karampetian,
president de FEAJD. “Grâce aux efforts coordonnes de la delegation
armenienne, l’ambassade de la Republique d’Armenie en Belgique,
les Amis Europeens de l’Armenie et de la FEAJD, cette resolution
a ete adoptee a Erevan, aujourd’hui. Cette resolution envoie un
signal positif au Parlement europeen aussi qui se prononcera sur
une resolution sur le Centenaire du genocide armenien le 15 Avril “,
a declare Karampetian.

L’Assemblee parlementaire de l’Euronest est un forum parlementaire
visant a promouvoir l’association politique et l’integration economique
entre l’UE et les partenaires de l’Europe orientale. La mission de
l’Euronest est de contribuer au renforcement, au developpement et la
visibilite du partenariat oriental, en tant qu’institution responsable
de la consultation parlementaire, de la supervision et du suivi.

Creee par decision du Parlement europeen du 6 mai 2009, la delegation
du Parlement europeen auprès de l’Assemblee parlementaire Euronest
a ete constituee au debut de la 7e legislature (fin septembre 2009).

Après un an et demi de discussions ardues, l’Assemblee a ete constituee
le 3 mai 2011 afin de representer la dimension parlementaire du
Partenariat oriental, politique lancee par l’Union europeenne dans le
but de rapprocher ses voisins orientaux, d’eviter de nouvelles lignes
de separation et de conclure des accords d’association ambitieux,
notamment des zones de libre-echange renforcees et globales. Le
Parlement europeen avait deja reclame la creation de cette Assemblee
au cours de sa 6e legislature. L’Assemblee parlementaire Euronest est
actuellement composee de 110 membres : 60 membres issus du Parlement
europeen (il s’agit la du nombre de deputes faisant partie de
l’actuelle delegation du PE) et 10 membres originaires de chacun des
pays suivants (les “partenaires orientaux”) : Armenie, Azerbaïdjan,
Georgie, Moldavie et Ukraine. Pour des raisons politiques, il n’etait
pas possible, a ce jour, d’accepter de delegation de Bielorussie a
l’Assemblee parlementaire. L’Assemblee parlementaire Euronest entend
etre l’institution chargee du dialogue parlementaire multilateral et
de l’echange entre partenaires orientaux, mais aussi entre les deputes
europeens et leurs homologues des pays orientaux dans de nombreux
domaines d’interet commun, comme la stabilite, la democratie, le
rapprochement des legislations et des normes, le commerce, l’energie,
les contacts interpersonnels, etc.

mercredi 18 mars 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

TURKEY DOESN’T BELIEVE ARMENIANS WOULD REJECT CLAIMS ON 1915 EVENTS

Trend Daily News (Azerbaijan)
March 17, 2015 Tuesday 6:33 PM GMT +4

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 17

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

Turkey doesn’t believe that the Armenians will this year abandon claims
with regard to the 1915 events, Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Ismail Alper Coskun said in an interview with Trend.

He said Armenia, taking advantage of that this year marks the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 events, intends to show itself as a victims
of those events, and makes every effort to achieve the adoption of
political decisions against Turkey by the world’s countries.

“Therefore, Turkey doesn’t believe that the Armenians will this
year abandon their claims in connection with the 1915 events,” the
diplomat said.

The fact that Azerbaijani territories are occupied by Armenia is the
problem of Turkey as well, he added.

“The bilateral relations of Azerbaijan and Turkey have intensified at
international level,” the ambassador added. “The two countries are
represented in many international structures, and we are witnessing
that active steps are being taken for development of their bilateral
relations.”

Aside from that, he said, the Azerbaijani and Turkish diaspora abroad
work more actively.

Coskun said Azerbaijan and Turkey are jointly fighting the Armenian
propaganda about the 1915 events – a fight that is to cover not only
the current year.

“The Turkic world has a common history, and we are trying to protect
it,” he said. “To do so, we must first familiarize our youth,
the future generations with this history. On the other hand, it is
necessary to identify and focus on common values.”

This activity aims to prevent attempts of Armenia and the Armenian
lobby to denigrate the history of the Turkic world, according to
the diplomat.

“Of course, the most important thing is to tell the world about the
bloody events in recent history, the most important of which is the
Khojaly genocide,” said Alper Coskun. “And cooperation between Turkey
and Azerbaijan in this direction is expanding.”

He said that in this regard, Armenia should focus on statements by
the former Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
made last year.

“With this speech, Turkey reached out a helping hand to Armenia and
Armenian people, invited them to enter into discussions, listen and
try to understand each other,” he said. “However, the reaction of
Armenia showed that it would continue to pursue its unilateral claims
in the future as well and speak from the position of the enemy.”

The Armenian people must see the true state of affairs and put pressure
on the government of the country, according to the diplomat.

“Turkey does not recognize the one-sided view of Armenia on the events
of 1915,” he said. “From the legal, political and historical point
of view, the intentions of Armenia are unacceptable.”

“While using the events of 1915 in its own interests and trying
to achieve making political decisions by the parliaments of some
countries, Armenia is trying to put Turkey in a difficult position,”
he said.

“But this is impossible as the Armenians’ claims have no scientific,
historical or legal basis,” the ambassador said.

The ambassador said that it is necessary to have an appropriate
decision of the international court to prove the fact of genocide.

“On the other hand, according to the UN Convention “On prevention
and punishment of the crime of genocide”, the term “genocide” refers
to 1948,” the diplomat said. “This term can not be applied to the
previous events. This is the legal side of the issue.”

“Moreover, from the political and historical points of view, it is
impossible to use the claims about the so-called genocide against
Turkey,” he said.

“Armenia tries to use the unfounded decisions taken by the parliaments
of some countries on the basis of unilateral claims against Turkey,”
he said. “The attempts of denigrating our common history are completely
unacceptable. On the other hand, Armenia’s claims are also groundless
from the historical point of view.”

The diplomat said that the accuracy of many sources, cited by the
Armenians, raises great doubts and some of them are fictitious.

He said that Turkey offers Armenia to give any facts, if they exist,
and to consider this issue.

“It is impossible to forget the pain and anguish the nations in
Anatolia faced that time, as well as the atrocities committed by
Armenians against them,” said the ambassador.

The diplomat added that if Armenia is ready to discuss all this and
build a common future, Turkey is ready for the rapprochement between
the peoples of the two countries.

“But we don’t forget about the fact of occupation of Azerbaijani
lands as well,” said Coskun. “For the rapprochement of the peoples
[Turkey and Armenia], it is necessary to put an end to the occupation
of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia.”

Diplomat added that the protocols signed with Armenia pursued these
goals.

“Armenia has no a political will for the settlement of the conflict,”
said the ambassador. “Meanwhile, there is no even a hint that Armenia
will back down from its aggressive policy.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in
1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a
result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently
holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

Coskun added that it is clear in which demographic and economic
situation did Armenia find itself. “Armenian people can look around,
see Azerbaijan’s development, the cooperation between Azerbaijan,
Turkey and Georgia and think over the reasons of its isolation from
this development.”

The diplomat added that if fair attitude to the 1915 events is
ensured, Turkey will be ready to discuss any issue with Armenia and
with other countries.

“Turkey is confident in itself,” said Alper Coskun. “As our country’s
president said, if we have made a mistake, we are ready to discuss it.

Hopefully, common sense will prevail in Armenia one day.”

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey’s predecessor, the
Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out “genocide” against the Armenians
living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied “the
genocide” took place.

While strengthening the efforts to promote the “genocide” in the
world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of
some countries.

Festive events dedicated to the Canakkale Victory will be held in
Turkey on April 24. Heads of over 50 countries will take part in
these events.

Edited by CN

JOHANNES HAHN: EU IS CONTRIBUTING TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY WITHIN OSCE MG

APA, Azerbaijan
March 18 2015

[ 18 March 2015 16:58 ]

Baku – APA. “European Union is contributing to the negotiations on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement conducted within the OSCE
Minsk Group,” EU’s Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy
and Enlargement, Johannes Hahn said at a joint press conference with
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan.

The diplomat said status quo is unacceptable and main objective of
the negotiations is to achieve a peaceful settlement of the problem,
adding that EU encourages the continuation of the dialogue between
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents.

Hahn urged the parties to observe the ceasefire and create an
atmosphere for the resolution of the conflict.

REPUBLICAN PARTY: CONSTITUTION REFORM WILL PROVE USELESS, UNLESS IT SEPARATES BUSINESS FROM POLITICS

by Nana Martirosyan

Tuesday, March 17, 17:43

The Constitution reform will prove useless, unless it separates
business from politics, Vahram Baghdasaryan, the head of the Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary faction, told reporters, Tuesday.

He said the reform looks to normalize the political situation in
Armenia. In this light, Baghdasaryan said, Serzh Sargsyan advocates for
the suggestions of political forces to be included in the package of
the Constitution reform. “The first round of meetings with political
forces is over and all them expressed desire to discuss the concept
of the reform,” he said. Baghdasaryan recalled that all the political
parties were invited to the meetings with the president.

As for the Prosperous Armenia Party’s (PAP) stand on the issue,
Baghdasaryan said that PAP opposed the reform just because it had a
candidate for president. However, the ex-leader of PAP is no longer
in power.

“One of the major goals of the Constitution reform is to separate
business from politics, otherwise, it will be useless,” he said.

ARMENIA WILL COMPLETE BAKU’S PARTY: SAFAROV WILL LIGHT OLYMPIC FIRE

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 17 March 2015, 13:43

The Armenian TV channels showed how the official Azerbaijani murderer
Ramil Safarov was acting as the hero of the military parade, walking
in front of the parade carrying a torch.

This is a symbolic picture, especially in the context of the recent
decision of the Armenian National Olympic Committee to participate in
the first European Olympics in Baku. The torch is an Olympic symbol
of solidarity, not homicide. And Azerbaijan which supports homicide
at the state level is going to host the Olympic festival. It is not
ruled out that the Olympic fire will be lit with Safarov’s torch.

If a country continues to support and glorify the assassin, any action
of this country is part of this policy. In other words, the Olympic
torch has to be the continuation of Safarov’s torch.

After all, why has Aliyev spent millions to have the first European
Olympics held in Baku? He is doing this to compensate all that he is
doing with Safarov’s “torch” against dissidents in his country and
the population and soldiers of Artsakh.

Does anyone in Armenia realize that if the National Olympic Committee
of Armenia decides to take part in the Baku Olympics, it thereby
legitimizes the military parade in Azerbaijan the hero of which is
Ramil Safarov with his torch? And when Armenia points to Safarov’s
torch and parade as evidence to Azerbaijan’s brutality, do they ask
themselves in what capacity Armenia is going to take part in the
Olympics in Azerbaijan and why it is going to participate in the
global advertising campaign for Azerbaijan?

Can anyone who is more or less aware of the world of sports confirm
whether aside from being a sports competition the Olympic Games are
not a festival of solidarity and altruism? Hence, can anyone deny
that Armenia has made a decision on participating in the festival
of these values in Baku? And can anyone who is responsible for this
decision point out one single criterion for which Baku deserves being
the capital of this festivity?

A political decision has been made on the Olympic Games, one of the
biggest instruments of politics. And there are a number of cases
when the world’s great powers boycotted the Olympics in one country
or another, explaining it by some wrong political step or situation
in the host country.

Reducing the matter to mere sports ratings is an ultimate example
of lack of a serious state policy when Armenia merely supports the
shaping and growth of Azerbaijan’s political rating.

There is no need to convince anyone that Armenia is not capable of
important political decisions. However, it is a surprise that Armenia
is not capable in such cases as Azerbaijan’s advertising campaign.

Although, the very nature of the Armenian “elite” does away with every
surprise. Decisions of such “elites” fit within the policy of another
state. In the case of the Armenian elite the other state is Russia, as
well Azerbaijan with Safarov’s Olympic torch in this specific decision.

HRAPARAK: TURKISH CHRISTIANS TO VISIT ARMENIA TO APOLOGIZE ON BEHALF OF THEIR NATION

10:28 17/03/2015 >> DAILY PRESS

Turkish Christians will visit Armenia from April 10-13, Hraparak
reports. They are representatives of Protestant church in Istanbul and
other Turkish cities. They are coming to apologize to the Armenian
people on behalf of their nation for the events of 1915, assist in
burning the bridges of hatred, and pray together.

The newspaper also says that the President of the World Council of
Armenian Evangelical Churches is alongside the representatives of the
Armenian Apostolic Church and Catholicoses in the Armenian Genocide
Centenary Committee as an “act” of religious tolerance.

ZHAMANAK: SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS OF JERMUK PLANT CLOSE DOWN

12:05 17/03/2015 ” DAILY PRESS

Several departments of Jermuk plant have closed down, Zhamanak
reports. The plant does not work at its full capacity for a long time
now, the newspaper notes, adding that simultaneously salary problems
have emerged.

It is rumored, however, that these problems are created artificially
by Jermuk Group owner Ashot Arsenyan, who aims to include Jermuk
plant into Jermuk Group company, which fully belongs to him, the
newspaper adds.

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: NUMBER OF MPS MAY BE REDUCED TO 75, SAYS RPA FACTION HEAD

10:01 17/03/2015 ” DAILY PRESS

As a result of the constitutional amendments, the number of Armenian
MPs may be reduced from 131 to 75, Vahram Baghdasaryan, head of
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary faction, member of
RPA Executive Body, told Haykakan Zhamanak on Monday.

He said that he is in favor of having a small number of MPs and
formation of a professional parliament, adding that this is his
personal opinion.

Source: Panorama.am