Author: Badalian Vardan

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

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–

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

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

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 :

BUSINESSMEN EXAGGERATING PRICES TO BE PUNISHED IN ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 22 2014

22 December 2014 – 10:16am

Armenian Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan said that businessmen
exaggerating prices will be punished according to the law. The PM
noted that prices for sugar, flour and some other popular products
had been set too high. Mr. Shaboyan, the head of the State Commission
for Protection of Economic Competition, was asked to make a detailed
price study and present results, Caucasus Online reports.

Abramyan noted that prices for medicine had increased by 40%. He
ordered Healthcare Minister Armen Muradyan to control prices for
medicine.

“I sent people for inspections in all place. There is no such price as
230 drams, gas costs 200 drams, 210 drams in some places,” Armenpress
quotes the prime minister.

JEMYMA BETRIAN PATIENTLY WAITING FOR HER TIME IN THE UFC

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
December 19, 2014 Friday

by Brian Martin

Just one week after the UFC crowned its first women s strawweight
champion, another 115-pounder waits in the wings.

Jemyma Betrian has the striking, evidenced by her several Muay Thai
world championships.

She has the experience in her corner, with Glendale Fighting Club s
Edmond Tarverdyan overseeing her transition to MMA.

Most of all, Betrian has the patience.

So while the 23-year-old Curacaoan native has more than 40 fights
and several title belts on her resume, she bides her time in her new
sport, taking on Catalina Madril on Saturday night on the undercard
at Gladiator Challenge at Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, Calif.

I live for the day. I m focused now on Saturday and I leave everything
in God s hands, said Betrian, who has a 35-2-1 Muay Thai record and
hasn t lost a fight since she was 16 in 2007.

I believe in God and I don t live in 2015 already. I m still in
2014 and I want to focus on that. And when the time is there, I will
be there.

The future to which Betrian is referring is what is expected to be
a bright career fighting among the best in MMA.

The UFC just launched its women s strawweight division via its reality
show, The Ultimate Fighter, with 16 fighters battling through a
tournament for a shot at the belt. On Dec. 12, a champion was finally
crowned when Torrance native Carla Esparza overwhelmed Rose Namajunas
for a third-round submission victory via rear-naked choke.

Betrian said she feels she belongs in the UFC, only her MMA experience
holding her back, yet she remains humble about how she d fit in with
the rest of the UFC 115-pounders.

I cannot say a lot about them because they are already there. I m
just like Give me the time, said Betrian, who won her pro MMA debut
in August with a 47-second knockout of Hadley Griffith at Chaos at
the Casino 5 at Hollywood Park Casino.

And I want to learn, and when the time is good, I will be there and
I will do all my best to compete.

Anyone who has seen Betrian fight will attest to what she can do. At
5-foot-5, Betrian is a buzzsaw in the ring, a flurry of punches with
purpose and devastating kicks.

Tarverdyan, with his years of working with boxing world champions and
UFC women s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, says he s a believer.

And Betrian s biggest attribute might be her attitude.

This girl goes for it and she fights every second of the round. She s
a fighter. She s a great champion and an exciting fighter, Tarverdyan
said. I was impressed with her skills, but after having someone like
Ronda in the gym, you know, it s not the first for me. It s something
that I ve seen and witnessed.

I grew a fighter from zero, which was Ronda, and got her to the level
she is right now. So I wasn t surprised really with Jemyma s skills,
but she s awesome. I love that a girl could fight at that level and
she does.

In Rousey, Tarverdyan took an Olympic judo bronze medalist and honed
her striking. After eight victories via armbar submissions, Rousey
s past two victories have been via knees or punches.

With Betrian, the striking is there. Five of her past eight Muay Thai
victories have been by knockout. It s the groundwork that needed work.

Betrian has been consumed with wrestling, training five days a week on
grappling and takedown defense under the tutelage of Martin Berberyan,
a former world-class wrestler and three-time Olympian for Armenia.

Jemyma is an exception because what a high-level striker she is. She
s someone who s going to be extra special, Tarverdyan said. So that
extra time, all the coaches understand they have to put into her. It
s time consuming, you know. It s like an investment basically, but
it s worth it. She s something unique and special.

If Betrian wrestles on a Monday night, she s back at it again Tuesday
morning. A Wednesday night session means a Thursday morning turnaround.

But Betrian is on board. She said the first few weeks were challenging
until she stopped overthinking it.

After all, anything can happen in the cage. She just has to be ready
for it.

Sometimes in the fight, it can happen so fast and you maybe go to
the ground, but I don t want to go to the ground, of course, she
said. But it can happen. Like a knockout happens in one second,
a takedown can happen in one second also.

Betrian rates her wrestling as a 6 maybe a 6 1/2, she said with a laugh
out of 10, but Tarverdyan says he s seen more from her six months of
training than from people with three or four years on the mat.

After Betrian gets past Madril, an Oceanside fighter who has lost all
four of her Gladiator Challenge bouts, Tarverdyan wants one more fight
for her in early 2015. Then he anticipates the UFC might come calling.

Betrian says she s game, but there is no hurry.

I don t want to rush. I just want to prove that I can be there with
those girls, Betrian said. Those girls are like, they are my level.

Maybe I am higher? But I cannot say anything about that now. Because
I did not prove myself yet.

But I think I belong there.

IRAN, ARMENIA TO INCREASE CULTURAL EXCHANGES

IRNA – Islamic Rep. News Agency, Iran
December 19, 2014 Friday

Tehran

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ali Jannati and
Armenian Ambassador to Iran Grigor Arakelian in a meeting on Wednesday
called for increase in bilateral cultural exchanges.

Jannati referred to the two countries’ historical and cultural
relations and called for expansion of ties in all fields including
arts and music.

Iran is ready to publish books in Armenian language, he added.

The Armenian envoy for his part hailed freedom of minorities including
Armenians in Iran.

The official further called for bolstering all out ties between the
two friendly nations.

UFC ON FOX 14: GEGARD MOUSASI DETERMINED TO SECURE A WIN AGAINST DAN HENDERSON

mirror.co.uk
December 19, 2014 Friday 2:59 PM GMT

‘The Armenian Assassin’ talks to Mirror Fighting about his upcoming
fight with “legend” Dan Henderson and his disappointing showing against
‘Jacare’ Souza

By Alex Watt

Gegard Mousasi was not impressed by his last performance.

It’s a point he makes abundantly clear over the course of our short
interview and something which he plans on correcting next month when
he fights at UFC on Fox 14 in Sweden.

Mousasi (35-5-2) fights fellow UFC, PRIDE and Strikeforce veteran
Dan Henderson (30-12) in the co-main event of the January 24 show.

Speaking about his future opponent, Mousasi said, “He’s tough. He has
fought the best and he’s been against a lot of good fighters. He’s
a legend. I’m happy to fight him.”

The 44-year-old Henderson would appear to be in the twilight of
his career, having won just one of his last five fights. Not that
Henderson’s recent form makes him any less dangerous in Mousasi’s mind.

“He’s fighting the best guys out there so, obviously, the chances of
losing is bigger,” added Mousasi. “I don’t know which Dan Henderson
is going to show up for this fight but I just prepare for the best one.

“There’s no gameplan, I just fight. This time, I’m going to go in
there and just fight. After my last fight, it was bad and I wasn’t
happy with my performance. This time, I just want to go out there
and give my all. Lose or win, I don’t care, as long as I give my best.

“This fight, I’m going to fight like my old self; go forward and put
the pressure on and try and make it a high tempo fight.”

That last loss came to Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza in September, when he
was outclassed by the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist and succumbed
to a guillotine choke in the third round.

It’s not an experience Mousasi looks back on fondly.

He said, “Even just walking to the ring that night I know I was not
myself. I’ve never felt so bad before a fight; not physically, but
with the desire to fight. I don’t know, it just wasn’t my day.”

When pushed on what made him feel so out of sorts that night,
Mousasi is hesitant to respond, simply saying, “I know, but it’s a
very long explanation”.

Gegard Mousasi interview

‘The Dreamcatcher’ joined the UFC in 2013 and has gone 2-2 inside
the Octagon thus far.

Mousasi has won gold across two weight divisions in multiple promotions
– Strikeforce, Cage Warriors and Dream – but a UFC title shot looks
a long way away for the 29-year-old right now.

He added, “I’ve lost two fights against the best middleweights so
it’s a far away thing to think about the title just now. I always
have that in the back of my head but, at this moment, I just need to
get a couple of wins before I can think about that again.

“I’m not even close. I mean, you never know in the UFC, but you
have Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva coming back, you have (Lyoto)
Machida, Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping, there’s so many guys, you
know? It’s a difficult division now and I just have to take it one
fight at a time and see what happens.”

At the top of the pile, UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is set
to defend his title against Vitor Belfort at UFC 184 on February 28.

Although Mousasi has no dispute with Vitor Belfort getting the next
middleweight title shot, he has been vocal in the past about ‘The
Phenom’s’ use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Unsurprisingly
then, Mousasi is pleased that the controversial ‘TRT’ has now been
banned in MMA but he doesn’t sound convinced that it will completely
stop the use of PEDs in the sport.

“For sure (it’s a good thing that TRT is banned). You never know,
people are going to try any way to get past it and pass the drug
tests. You never know if you’re fighting someone who is on something
or not.

“The UFC is testing more so that’s good but you’re always going to
have characters who will try to cheat the system.”

Fight Night Stockholm: Gustafsson vs. Johnson – Tickets On Sale Now!

For now, Mousasi’s only focus is Dan Henderson and, primarily,
turning in a better performance than he did against Souza.

Mousasi added, “I want to go out and just fight and whatever happens,
happens. I’m going to go all out and what the result is going to be;
I don’t care. I’m going to do my best and that’s the most important.

“I’m going to go for the victory, for sure. But, I’m not going to be
disappointed. My last fight, it just wasn’t me and I didn’t do what
I set out to do, so with this fight I’m going to go out there and
just fight.

“If something happens, it’s not my fault, anything can happen, it’s
a fight. But I am always training hard for the fight and I will be
happy with any result.”

Will Gegard Mousasi defeat Dan Henderson at UFC on Fox 14?

Mirror Fighting Facebook Promotion

WHAT IS NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE GETTING READY FOR?

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 22 December 2014, 20:57

The spokesman for Prosperous Armenia Party Tigran Urikhanyan told
Radio Liberty he does not think the statement by the head of the
National Security Service is not addressed to PAP. Note that Gorik
Hakobyan stated in his speech on the Day of NSS Employees that the
NSS will not be observing from aside calls for rebellions, toppling
the government. They will interfere and will not allow encroachments
upon constitutional order. Gorik Hakobyan considered it as a necessary
warning, not a threat.

At the same time, he considers formation of headquarters in the
Diaspora communities unacceptable as, in his opinion, these will
thwart the relationship between Armenia and the Diaspora, while only
ordinary citizens of Armenia may take part in Armenia’s domestic life.

The “pan-national movement” initiated by three non-governmental
forces intend to set up headquarters in the Diaspora. However, the
PAP is doing the main job, and Vardan Oskanyan, a member of the party,
had meetings with the Armenian community in Moscow.

In this respect, Urikhanyan did not comment on this but reiterated
that Gorik Hakobyan’s speech is not addressed to PAP.

However, there is an interesting circumstance. The point is that
the Diaspora comprises not only the citizens of other countries but
also citizens of Armenia who have left Armenia but remain citizens
of Armenia. The number of these people in Russia is high.

Those citizens of Armenia have to right to participate in the domestic
life of Armenia, and in this sense the NSS does not seem to have legal
grounds to prevent their involvement. It is not ruled out that the
PAP spokesman means this when he says that Gorik Hakobyan’s speech
was not addressed to them.

At the same time, the head of the NSS reminds in his speeches from time
to time that the NSS will not allow a change of government. Of course,
preventing change of government by violence is said but everyone
understands that generally preventing a change of government is meant.

This is a tradition inherited from the USSR. On the other hand,
however, when the NSS announced about preventing a change of
government, it is a statement on retaining power. In other words,
if they can prevent a change of government, they can also allow it.

In other words, Gorik Hakobyan’s statement must be interpreted from
this point of view and, in fact, he is not addressing any particular
force. This is a broader matter and is related to larger processes
underway in the world in the context of the U.S.-Russia resistance.

In this context, the statement of the National Security Service is
actually a bid for the present geopolitical situation which will
affect Armenia approaching the stage of forming government. This is
a bid for participation in the process of forming government.

What matters is on whose behalf the bid is submitted. In other words,
is the NSS of Armenia reminding about its role in the context of
Russia which, despite weakening, will not allow infringements upon
its influence in Armenia.

Or, is the NSS of Armenia reacting to processes relating to Armenia,
not wishing to appear in the margin, and is trying to make an
individual bid as an influential security agency ahead of likely
medium-term and long-term realities in case Russia loses its influence.