Author: Badalian Vardan

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.

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.

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.

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.