Author: Badalian Vardan

FOUR MORE MPS OF PROSPEROUS ARMENIA LOSE SEATS, MEDIA REPORT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 17 2015

17 February 2015 – 1:20pm

Four more PAP MPs will be stripped of their parliamentary seats in
the future on the grounds that they missed more than half of the
sessions in the National Assembly. One of them is Karapet Guloyan,
who is Tsarukyan’s father in-law.

“When the inquiries are completed, we will discuss and we will speak
about it at that time,” the National Assembly Speaker, Galust Sahakyan,
said regarding the non-pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party Chairman
Gagik Tsarukyan’s absences from the NA sessions.

“According to our information, the NA staff have already completed
their inquiries, and the NA chairman will submit a respective report
to the Central Electoral Commission within a week, News.am reports
with reference to the Zhamanak daily.

GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER EMBRACES ARMENIA VISIT

Agenda, Georgia
Feb 17 2015

The Speaker of Georgia’s Parliament is in Armenia on an official visit.

David Usupashvili met Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan
yesterday.

The meeting was held within the two-day official visit of a Georgian
Parliamentary delegation to Armenia.

The sides discussed bilateral relations and cooperation prospects,
as well as historical-cultural links and prospects of enhancing
friendly relations.

Usupashvili and Abrahamyan underlined that intensive communication
at legislative and executive level will be improved.

The Armenian Prime Minister hailed the visit of the Georgian delegation
to Armenia and positively evaluated the state of relations between
the two countries.

Abrahamyan, as the former Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, said
he placed high importance on cooperation between the Parliaments of
Armenia and Georgia.

The Armenian official also stressed Georgia was a strategic partner and
a friend of Armenia, and both leaders should enhance this relationship.

In return, Usupashvili thanked his host for the friendly reception
and stressed the importance of strengthening bilateral relations.

Within the Armenia visit Usupashvili also met Armenian Foreign Minister
Eduard Nalbandyan yesterday. The parties spoke about Armenia-Georgia
bilateral relations and the different foreign aspirations of both
countries.

Despite the differences, it was noted the two countries’ friendly
relations should be enhanced and the differences in future vision
could be used to benefit the other nation.

Today, on the second day of the visit, the Georgian delegation is
scheduled to meet the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the
Catholic-Patriarch of Armenia, His Holiness Garegin II.

The Georgian delegation will end their visit later this evening.

TURKISH INSTITUTE FOR PROGRESS ASKS ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO RECONSIDER 2009 AGREEMENT

Virtual Press Office
Feb 17 2015

Turkish American Group Expresses Disappointment at Armenia Thwarting
Efforts to Restore Diplomatic Ties

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following reports
that Armenian president Serge Sarkisian is refusing to ratify a 2009
Agreement brokered by the United States, the Turkish Institute for
Progress is calling on him to reconsider the decision that will cause
further roadblocks to much needed diplomatic ties in the region.

Members of the Turkish Institute for Progress suggest that by
participating in a formal dialogue and exploring more partnership
with Turkey, Armenia can reclaim its national sovereignty and prevent
alienating itself from the global community.

“This Agreement is an important part of the process,” stated Derya
Berk, President of the Turkish Institute for Progress. “It demonstrates
a spirit of cooperation that the region needs to heal old wounds and
look to the future for mutually beneficial partnerships. We welcome an
opportunity to work together with the Armenian community to explore
ways to work in the spirit of cooperation and for the greater good
of Turks and Armenians across the globe.”

“We hope President Sarkisian will reconsider his position on this
matter and that the Armenian community globally will join us in
advocating for solutions moving forward,” Berk continued. “Simply
refusing these continued overtures, especially those advocated and
negotiated by the United States, will cause division where progress
toward healing is well underway.”

The Turkish Institute for Progress was formed recently to demonstrate
areas of international cooperation with Turkey and establish additional
avenues to achieve global progress on economic, social, and security
issues, including: breaking down barriers to trade, addressing regional
energy dependence, and deterring the continued spread of radicalism.

For more information please visit:

To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:

SOURCE Turkish Institute for Progress

Also at

ARMENIA HALTS RATIFICATION OF PROTOCOLS ON DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH TURKEY

ITAR-TASS, Russia
February 16, 2015 Monday 08:17 PM GMT+4

YEREVAN February 16.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Monday asked the country’s
parliament speaker to withdraw from the parliament’s agenda accords
meant to restore diplomatic ties with Turkey

In a letter to Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan, Sargsyan said
that Armenia would not ratify the protocols on the establishment of
diplomatic relations and development of bilateral relations, earlier
submitted to Armenia’s National Assembly for ratification, because of
the “preconditions” that Turkey was putting in place before ratifying
its part of the deal.

“About six years have passed since the protocols between Armenia and
Turkey were signed,” the president said, noting Armenia’s “consistent”
efforts to bring the accords into being.

“But we must point to a lack of political will among Turkish
authorities, distortion of the letter and spirit of the protocols and
continuous attempts to lay down preconditions,” he said, adding that
ahead of the 2015 centennial commemoration of the Armenian genocide,
a policy of genocide denial and editing history “was gaining a new
momentum”.

“Therefore, I have made a decision to recall from the National
Assembly the protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations
and development of relations between Armenia and Turkey, signed in
Zurich on October 10, 2009,” Sargsyan said.

The protocols aim to establish diplomatic ties between the countries
and re-open their common border, which has been closed since 1993.

Even though Armenia and Turkey share a 330-kilometre-long border,
the neighbours have no diplomatic ties.

Relations between the countries have been overshadowed by the mass
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One. Armenians
have campaigned for the killings to be recognised internationally as
an act of genocide – and more than 20 countries have done so. Turkey
admits that many Armenians were killed but says the deaths were part
of the widespread fighting that took place in World War One.

In another sign of tensions, relations have been complicated by
Turkish support for Azerbaijan in its armed conflict with Armenia
over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

As preconditions for normalising bilateral relations, Ankara
urged Yerevan to stop pressing for the international recognition
of the Armenian genocide as well as to pull out its forces from
Nagorno-Karabakh.

ARMENIA’S CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX FELL BY 3 PERCENTAGE POINT IN QUARTER 4 OF 2014

YEREVAN, February 17. / ARKA /. In the 4th quarter of 2014 Armenia’s
consumer confidence index was down 3 percentage point from the previous
one standing at 41.2 after a period of protracted growth since the
beginning of the year, the Central Bank said. Compared to the 4th
quarter of 2013 it was down by 0.8 percentage points, it said.

The indicator used to assess current conditions in the 4th quarter
fell by 4.3 percentage points from the previous quarter to 30.5,
largely due to a 7.5 percentage points decrease in the index used
to assess households’ current financial status and by a 5 percentage
point drop in the indicator that assesses households in the context
of common economic conditions of the country. The index used to assess
large purchases did not change noticeably standing at 50.

According to the Central Bank, the index used to assess future
conditions fell by 1.9 percentage points from the previous quarter,
but when compared to the same quarter of 2013 it was higher by 1.8
percentage points, standing at 51.8.

The only indicator that rose was the one used to assess employment
expectations. It grew by 0.8 percentage points to 55.5. After showing
a growth in the previous quarter, the indicator that evaluates the
financial condition fell by 3.6 percentage points to 44.3. The index
assessing expectations in large household purchases decreased by 2.9
percentage points to 55.6.

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is an indicator designed to measure
consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism on
the state of the economy that consumers are expressing through their
activities of savings and spending.

Since early 2005 the Central Bank of Armenia has been conducting
quarterly surveys of non-financial, financial institutions and
households to assess changes in current economic conditions compared
to the previous period, to assess the economic expectations of the
subjects under study and based on survey data to calculate and publish
composite economic indexes.

The surveys are conducted over the Internet, telephone, letter and
fax. Based on the survey results indices of business environment,
economic activity and consumer confidence are calculated on a 100-point
scale. The score above 50 shows high activity and below 50 a low
activity, and 50 a steady-state condition. -0- –

LEBANESE ARMENIAN MUSICIAN TO DEDICATE CONCERT TO GENOCIDE

14:21 * 17.02.15

Lebanese-Armenian violinist Ara Malikyan is going to dedicate one of
his upcoming concerts to the Armenian Genocide.

El periodico reports that the musician will appear before public on
March 25 on the sidelines of Suite Barcelona 2015.

“It will feature the most different works I have performed and authored
in the past 30 years of my career. The oriental trend prevails in my
compositions. And whatever is oriental, normally sounds tranquil. And
there is a difference in what I present,” he added.

Twelve musicians will join Malikyan as specialist of the Armenian
music during the concert.

“The centenary of the Armenian Genocide is drawing near. It is a
way of recognizing the historical truth and paying respect to the
1.5 million victims. We, the Armenians, do not need anything. There
are countries which haven’t recognized the Genocide. So the 100th
anniversary is a good occasion for doing that,” he added.

GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER VISITS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL

16:27 17/02/2015 >> SOCIETY

On February 17, the delegation led by visiting Speaker of the Georgian
Parliament David Usupashvili visited Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide
Memorial Complex, accompanied by the Armenian National Assembly Deputy
Speaker Hermine Naghdalyan and member of the Inter-Parliamentary
Committee on Cooperation between the Armenian National Assembly and
the Georgian Parliament Vladimir Badalyan, the parliament’s press
service reported.

The guests laid a wreath and flowers at the monument eternalizing the
memory of the genocide victims and observed one minute’s silence for
the innocent victims.

On behalf of the Georgian people, David Usupashvili once again
expressed his condolences to the Armenian people in connection with
the tragedy that occurred to the Armenian people 100 years ago.

“We should do our utmost so that not only such tragedies do not
recur, but also there are no wars, and peace reigns in the world,”
said Usupashvili.

He noted that the Georgian people stand by the Armenian people both
in the moments of sadness and joy.

ARMENIA’S OFFICIAL POSITION ON 1915 GENODCIDE: TER-PETROSYAN CALLS FOR FACE TO FACE MEETING WITH SARGSYAN

15:00, February 17, 2015

Levon Ter-Petrosyan has called for a one on one meeting with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan to personally convey his concerns regarding
the recently issued Pan-Armenian Proclamation on the occasion of the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The proclamation was drafted by a state commemorative organizing
committee and Ter-Petrosyan argues that the body has overstepped
its authority by claiming that it speaks for the “united will” of
all Armenians.

Armenia’s first president also argues that given that the proclamation
was addressed to the international community it would have been imbued
with greater gravitas and legal-political significance had it been
signed by the presidents of Armenia and Artsakh and church ;eaders
rather than some faceless committee.

Ter-Petrosyan also faults the proclamation as a little more than an
ultimatum to Turkey, calling on Ankara to recognize and condemn the
Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire, but that it fails to
specify what Armenian plans to do if, and when, Turkey fails to do so.

In his open letter to Sargsyan, Ter-Petrosyan also broaches the idea
of organizing an consultative committee to finally delineate the
position of the Republic of Armenia vis-a-vis the Genocide issue.

Ter-Petrosyan says that such a committee would use the proclamation
as a basis to draft a new memorandum, signed by the president of
Armenia, to be forwarded to the United Nations Secretary General,
the presidents of the OSCE and the EU, and to all heads of state.

In conclusion, Ter-Petrosyan says that such a memorandum must not
damage the solution of the most important problems now facing Armenia,
namely a resolution of Armenia-Turkey relations and the Karabakh
conflict.

Ter-Petrosyan then suggests people to sit on the consultative
committee; individuals who have already proven capable of rising
above traditional perceptions and who can view the matter from
the perspective of Armenian state interests and in the context of
contemporary adopted global principles.

The individuals suggested are:

>From Armenia: Babken Ararktsyan, Vazgen Manukyan, Gagik Harutyunyan,
Vano Siradeghyan, Vardan Oskanyan, Stepan Demirchyan, Arman Grigoryan,
Ruben Shugaryan, Alexander Arzumanyan, Ashot Voskanyan, Ara Sahakyan,
Ruben Vardanyan, Ashot Sargsyan, Hrant Ter-Abrahayan, Ktrich Sardaryan.

>From the U.S. – Jirair Libaridian, Khachig Tololyan, Ruben Atalian,
Ara Sanjian, Hampig Sarafian and Raffi Urfalian.

>From France – Arman Sarian, Jirayr Malkhasian, Michel Marian,
Raffi Kalfayian.

>From Turkey – Levon Zekiyan

>From Argentina – Rupen Mozian.

Ter-Petrosyan says that he would be willing to participate in the
activities of the committee and that he doesn’t care how his “hostile
friends” perceive his initiative.

Ter-Petrosyan ends by saying that the imperative of his initiative,
regardless of the uproar it will cause, is made all the more urgent
given the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Genocide.

AKSOR, LE RETOUR DES ENFANTS ARMENIENS

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

Présentation détaillée du projet

“Aksor”, Õ¡O~DÕ½Õ¸O~@ : la déportation, l’exil.

L’HISTOIRE

Dans la nuit du 24 au 25 avril 1915, entre 235 et 270 intellectuels
sont arrêtés a Constantinople. Des médecins, des journalistes, des
avocats, des hommes politiques. Parce qu’ils sont Arméniens, ils sont
enfermés, déportés puis, pour la plupart, assassinés. Cet épisode
sanglant marque le début de l’un des génocides les plus tragiques
du XXe siècle, qui coÔtera la vie a près d’1,5 million Arméniens.

Cent ans plus tard, ils sont 9 a oser le voyage du retour. Des
déracinés, attachés a une terre ancestrale qui leur ” colle a
la peau ”. Arpig, Edouard, Annie… Tous sont des petits-fils et
arrières-petites-filles de rescapés du génocide. De Décines,
” la petite Arménie ” de la banlieue lyonnaise, jusqu’au sud-est
de la Turquie, en plein cÃ…”ur de l’ ” Arménie historique ”, ils
partent en quête d’identité et de mémoire. Pour certains, c’est le
quarantième voyage. Pour d’autres, c’est la première fois…. Cent
ans après, ils suivent les traces du génocide de leurs ancêtres.

Edouard, Hélène, Edgar et Arthur

LE PROJET

Pendant deux semaines, du 12 au 26 avril 2015, le collectif de
journalistes indépendants We Report suivra le parcours de neuf
Francais de la diaspora arménienne dans le sud-est de la Turquie,
près de la frontière syrienne. D’Adana, la grande ville du sud,
aux villages de l’Anatolie profonde, en passant par Diyarbakir,
la ” capitale ” du Kurdistan turc, jusqu’a Istanbul, a l’occasion
du centenaire de la commémoration du génocide arménien, toujours
officiellement nié par les autorités turques.

Carte-1423666191

UN REPORTAGE MULTIMEDIA

Le voyage servira de fil rouge a un reportage multimédia (texte,
photos, sons, vidéo) sur l’identité arménienne en Turquie. Ã~@
travers la question de la reconnaissance du génocide, se détachent
des histoires fortes de survivants, surnommés les ” restes de
l’épée ”, de familles islamisées, d’enfants cachés, d’églises
dévastées et de tabou arménien. Un voile qui commence a se lever
depuis l’assassinat tragique et médiatisé en 2007 du journaliste
turc d’origine arménienne, Hrant Dink.

Les reportages ont pour vocation d’être publiés dans la presse
francaise et européenne, sur des supports web, radio et papier. Le
collectif collabore avec différents médias européens, parmi lesquels
Radio France Internationale (RFI), Mediapart, Slate, La Tribune de
Genève ou Les Inrockuptibles.

QUI SOMMES-NOUS ?

We Report est un collectif international de journalistes indépendants
créé en juillet 2014.

L’objectif est de développer des projets communs, multimédias et
transfrontaliers, en toute indépendance éditoriale. Basés dans 7
pays, ses journalistes collaborent avec la presse francophone (RFI,
Europe 1, Le Monde, Libération, Mediapart, Slate, La Tribune de
Genève, RTS, La Cité…), mais aussi européenne (Die Zeit, Der
Spiegel, Der Standard, La Stampa, Il Corriere della Sera…).

Quatre journalistes de We Report, Jean-Baptiste Cocagne, Daphné
Gastaldi, Pierre Gouyou Beauchamps et Mathieu Martiniere sont du
voyage en Turquie :

Jean-Baptiste Cocagne

Journaliste de radio, il s’est plongé pendant deux ans dans la culture
arménienne au sein de Radio Arménie, a Lyon. Après un voyage en
Arménie en 2011, Jean-Baptiste a couvert les débats au Parlement
francais a propos de la proposition de loi Boyer sur la pénalisation
de la négation du génocide, en 2012. Aujourd’hui installé a Rome
depuis deux ans, il continue a suivre de près l’actualité de la
communauté arménienne. Dans le projet, il sera a Istanbul pour suivre
des Turcs qui ont récemment découvert leurs racines arméniennes, et
pour qui le 24 avril ne sera désormais plus une date comme les autres.

Daphné Gastaldi

Journaliste radio et presse écrite sur le projet, co-fondatrice du
collectif We Report, Daphné Gastaldi collabore avec Radio France
Internationale, France Télévisions ou encore Slate et Lyon Capitale.

Dernièrement, Daphné a réalisé de nombreux reportages sur les
questions des migrations. Marquée par ses études d’histoire,
elle s’intéresse a la question de la récupération de la mémoire
arménienne.

Pierre Gouyou Beauchamps

Journaliste indépendant depuis 2007, photographe et rédacteur sur
le projet, ce Lyonnais d’adoption travaille a la fois sur des sujets
de société pour L’Humanité et sur des grands reportages pour des
publications nationales comme Terre sauvage, Alpes magazine ou le
Journal du WWF. Le voyage et le reportage sont ses deux moteurs.

Mathieu Martiniere

Journaliste presse écrite et web sur le projet, basé a Lyon et
indépendant depuis 2011, Mathieu Martiniere collabore sur des sujets
de société pour la presse francaise (Slate, Mediapart, RFI, Lyon
Capitale) et européenne (La Tribune de Genève, Die Zeit). Il s’est
notamment spécialisé sur les questions d’immigration et a signé
plusieurs reportages sur la liberté d’expression en Turquie pour
Les Inrockuptibles et Le Mouv’. Ã~@ quoi servira la collecte ?

La collecte servira a couvrir les frais de reportage des quatre
journalistes de We Report en Turquie, du 12 au 26 avril 2015
(transports, hébergement, fixeurs). A savoir :

Transports (x4) : avions AR Lyon-Istanbul (1 150 â~B¬) + vols
intérieurs (800 â~B¬) + transports terrestres (400 â~B¬) = 2 350 â~B¬

Hébergement (x4) = 1 150 â~B¬

Fixeur/Traducteur : 1 000 â~B¬

Au-dela des frais de reportages, le dépassement des dons de campagne
servira au développement d’un webdocumentaire et a l’organisation
d’expositions-débats avec les journalistes et nos partenaires : le
Club de la presse de Lyon, Profession pigiste et l’Atelier des médias.

mardi 17 février 2015, Stéphane ©armenews.com

BEATEN PAP BOARD MEMBER: KHACHATARYAN URGES CLEAN INVESTIGATION, SAYS HE WON’T LEAVE PARTY

HUMAN RIGHTS | 17.02.15 | 14:28

Alina Nikoghosyan
ArmeniaNow intern

The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) civil board member Artak Khachatryan
who was kidnapped and beaten last week, hopes that the investigation
of the case will be objective.

According to Khachatryan, he was kidnapped by three armed men dressed
in black and masks, five hours after which he was found unconscious
and beaten in front of his house.

“As a law-abiding and lawful citizen, I expect quick disclosure of
the case by law enforcement bodies, I do not want to put anything
under suspicion,” the PAP activist told reporters Tuesday.

This incident appears to have caused tensions in the PAP and the
Republican Party (RPA) relations, while some media circulate the
version of some law enforcement bodies that Khachatryan was kidnapped
and beaten as a PAP scheme.

Khachatryan urged against looking for a political context in the
criminal case and said that he will not leave the PAP.

“I have been a PAP member for years and I am the bearer of the ideology
of that party. I announce that as before, nothing has changed in my
life; I remain a member of that party. If need be I am ready to do the
hardest job in favor of that party and the interests of that party,
I am standing behind (PAP leader) Gagik Tsarukyan.”