Author: Badalian Vardan

PRODUCTION OUTPUT AT ZANGEZUR COPPER-MOLYBDENUM COMBINE RISES TO 16.4MLN TONS IN JANUARY-OCTOBER

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. Mining output at Zangezur
Copper-Molybdenum Combine rose hiked by 2.57% to 16 million 462,000
tons of ore in January-October, compared to the same period of 2013,
says the Armenian ministry of energy report on nine key mines in
the country.

Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine operates Kajaran copper-molybdenum
mine. According to the ministry, despite the higher ore output,
commercial production at the combine dropped by 0.89% to 102.3 billion
drams in the period, compared to January-October 2013.

The royalty paid was 54.12% lower, having totaled about 5.4 billion
drams in January-October this year.

Zangezur Copper- Molybdenum Combine operates the largest copper
and molybdenum deposit in the country. The company’s shareholders
are German “Croniment Mining” ( 60%), Pure Iron Plant OJSC (15%),
“Armenian Molybdenum Production” Ltd. (12.5%), “Zangezur Mining” Ltd.

(12.5%).

The company is planning to complete the year 2014 at an ore production
output level of 18.7 million tons, then apply for a new license
to increase the ore output to 20 million tons per year by Q3 next
year. According to plans, the output will reach 22 million tons per
year by 2016.

Armenia’s National Statistical Service reports metal ore production
output in the country was 157.1 billion drams in January-October,
a decrease of 8.4% from the same period of last year. ($1 – 462.81
drams). -0–

SYSTEM OF A DOWN PLAYED THEIR ONLY SHOW OF 2014

13:29, 15 Dec 2014

Over the weekend, System Of A Down returned to the stage to perform
at KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas event in Inglewood, California,
marking the band’s first and seemingly only on-stage appearance of
2014, Music Feeds reports.

System Of A Down’s Almost Acoustic Christmas set on Saturday, 13th
December (below) comprised of 16 tracks, including classics such as
Chop Suey, B.Y.O.B., Aerials, Radio/Video and Question!.

A young man called Christopher helped System Of A Down close out
their set with Sugar. Christopher’s appearance was made possible by
the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who granted his wish to play with the
band on stage.

System Of A Down last played live on 27th August 27, 2013, in Milan,
Italy. The group released their latest album, Hypnotize, in 2005.

Talk of a sixth System Of A Down album have been on and off for years,
and fans continue to drool over the thought of new tunes from the
group. Earlier this year drummer John Dolmayan voiced his concerns
over the group’s lack of output in recent years.

Last month, System Of A Down announced their limited-run Wake Up
The Souls world tour, marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide, which will begin in April. The tour will include a free
show in Armenia, which will be the group’s first performance in
that country.

System Of A Down’s Almost Acoustic Christmas performance was streamed
live online, and can be relived in full, below.

Azeri-Press news agency (APA)
December 6, 2014 Saturday

Pope beside Armenia, against Turkey and Azerbaijan

Pope Francis spoke of the TurkishArmenian borders, adding new colors
to the problem. The statement, full of biased, insincere and absurd
aspects, has two sides. First, the Pope formalized its position beside
Armenia by making that statement. Second, a possible reaction to the
statement will help draw the outlines of Turkey’s secret roadmap in
its policy toward Armenia.

As a matter of fact, the statement is the Catholic Church’s
interference in TurkishArmenian relations. Despite the Pope represents
a religious authority, and the Catholic Church has a serious power
worldwide, the closure of the TurkishArmenian borders is a secular
problem. From a logical point of view, the Vatican leader’s onesided
interference in this process is inadmissible and absurd (despite the
history of Vatican is full of thousands of such absurd facts about the
Pope playing a political role). So is the magnificent welcoming
ceremony for the leader of a state and a church that have recognized
the socalled Armenian “genocide”

The question is not about the Pope calling for the solution to a
secular problem; it’s about the call being biased. Turkey closed the
border with Armenia not only because of the invasion of Azerbaijani
lands, but also because of the claims about the socalled Armenian
“genocide”.Such a statement by the Pope runs quite contrary to the
position of Turkey, because the head of the Catholic Church in fact
supports the “reality” of the Turks committing genocide against the
Armenians back in 1915 and by demanding the opening of the border
clearly shows he does not accept Turkey’s position.

Another biased approach is related with the church’s attitude toward
the events of 1915. As a country recognizing “genocide”, Vatican drew
a thick line on the principle “not politicians, but historians must
assess these events” and supported Armenia in this issue. The
statement by Pope Francis doesn’t reflect sincere notes. His attitude
would then be considered sincere as he took the same attitude toward
Khojaly genocide, Srebrenica genocide. At the same time, Pope’s words
can be perceived sincere if he discloses main reasons for the closure
of borders, before calling on to open the TurkishArmenian border.

Is Pope’s request to open the border with Armenia a means of putting
pressure on Turkey? In fact, it is not, because Pope Francis is the
representative of Argentina where the Armenian lobby has the most
powerful position and head of the Vatican that recognized socalled
“Armenian genocide”. Therefore, it would be more interesting if Pope
didn’t touch on the issue of borders with Armenia. His statement
“TurkishArmenian borders should be opened” was expected, but the
interesting part of the process is Ankara’s attitude regarding this
statement.

This attitude will reveal the true position of Turkey on issue of
opening the border with Armenia. Ankara can react to this statement in
three ways:

a) Tough stance Turkey can officially reannounce the reasons for the
closure of the border with Armenia and conditions for its opening,
accuse Vatican of taking a biased position in this process.

b) Soft position Turkey can announce that it is ready for the opening
of border with Armenia, it has taken necessary steps in this regard,
but they failed and hint at possible activities to be carried out for
normalization of the relations with Armenia.

c) Indirect position Ankara does not react against Pope’s statement.
Instead, it can form public opinion like “There is serious pressure on
Turkey” and try to justify the necessity of easing relations with
Armenia on the eve of the 100year anniversary of the “Armenian
Genocide” taking advantage of media.

Tough position can be demonstrated in the case that Turkey takes into
account not only its own interests, but also the interests of
Azerbaijan, its strategic ally. However, Turkey’s position toward the
Armenian policy shows that Pope’s statement will be subjected to tough
position.

Soft position is intended for the Catholic Church, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and domestic public opinion. If Ankara takes this position it will
have the opportunity to maneuver between all parties (to please all).

The demonstration of an indirect position will show Ankara’s readiness
for major changes in the policy toward Armenia. From this perspective,
after the Pope’s statement, it is necessary to follow and monitor the
position of media.

One of the missions of the Catholic Church and the Vatican, its
supreme religious guidance, is to give messages of tolerance and
humanism. The Vatican, taking advantage of being the center of the
Catholic world, carries out missionary activity based on this
religion’s principles of humanism. Therefore, every message of the
Pope should include the principles of tolerance and humanism. These
messages are given back to Christianity and the Catholic Church as a
dividend with growing confidence. The messages given to increase the
mass of followers and the interest in the church should differ with
their objectivity and therefore, religious leaders always pay
attention to maintain the balance in their messages. However, the
messages Francis gave in Istanbul are biased and don’t meet these
principles.

Taking the proArmenian position, the Pope with insincerity
demonstrated that he stands against not only Turkey but also
Azerbaijan.

Commenting on the socalled genocide claims to be studied by historians
and the fact of closed borders, the Pope, of course, can not be in the
dark about the Armenia’s aggressive policy (this fact is reflected in
the four UN resolutions) and occupation of 20 percent of the
neighboring state by Armenia. Chief of the Catholic Church, which
regularly commemorates “genocide victims”, is well aware that people
as many as the Armenians claimed killed in 1915 have been living as
refugees and IDPs over the last 25 years as a result of Armenia’s
aggressive policy. If the Pope is one who represents humanism, he
would not have been so passionate in protecting the interests of a
country which took civilians hostage, killed a nineyearold child with
a sniper shot. If the Pope, who demands Turkey opens the border, is
just, then aggressive monoethnic Armenia, which violates principles of
humanism, would not be heavier than multinational tolerant Azerbaijan
on the scales of justice (If there is).

So therefore, the essence of the visit and the outcome of the
statement made are as follows:Pope beside Armenia against Turkey and
Azerbaijan. It’s nothing new. Even in the period of globalization the
factor of religious and ethnic identity continues to play its role in
policy. These factors, which are overshadowed in all process, are
often the main directive forces behind processes (especially in the
South Caucasus and the Middle East). And the Pope of Rome who is
supposed to represent humanism is the first of those who increase the
part of religion in policy.

Pressures on Turkey to make it compromise in the Armenia policy has
another positive side as well pressure also unites the sides
suffering from it. Because of this reason Ankara has faced a dilemma:
either it bows to pressures or these pressures unite the sides
suffering from it even tighter. This is very important on the eve of
the 100th anniversary, especially for Ankara to get rid of this fright
and properly coordinate steps to be taken with Azerbaijan, assessing
the processes calmly.

Fox News Latino
Dec 14 2014

Amenhotep III statues once more stand before pharoah’s temple

Two huge statues of Egyptian Pharoah Amenhotep III that were toppled
by an earthquake in the year 1,200 B.C., have been re-erected on their
bases at the northern entrance to the ruler’s funerary temple on the
west bank of the Nile River here.

An international team of archaeologists headed by Armenia’s Hourig
Sourouzian and Egypt’s Abdelkarim Karrar on Sunday unveiled the second
of the two colossal restored statues in the presence of Egyptian
Antiquities Minister Mamduh al Damati and Luxor Gov. Tarek Saad el
Din.

The two statues, which had broken into some 200 chunks of stone and
had lain submerged in the river had suffered the ravages of 3,200
years of humidity, erosion and vandalism.

The project to raise them, which was deemed an emergency by
archaeological and cultural authorities, was undertaken in two stages
within a single year, an unusual feat.

The first stage was completed between January and March 2014, when
more than 200 fragments of the statues were removed from the water,
transported 50 meters (yards) to dry land and reassembled into the
first of the two colossi standing 12.35 meters (40.5 feet) high and
showing the pharoah striding forward.

In November, the second stage was carried out, in which the second
statue – this one standing 12.93 meters (42.4 feet) high and weighing
110 tons – was raised and reassembled over the course of a month and
10 days.

“It’s the best reconstruction of colossal (statues) in the world,” the
technical director of the operation, Spanish archaeologist and
restoration expert Migual Angel Lopez, told Efe.

The project was made possible thanks to a system of compressed air
cushions and pulleys capable of moving items weighing up to 70 tons.

The huge pieces of stone were glued together with various types of
resins and reinforced with steel spikes.

Plans are for the entire temple – which also includes the famous
Colossi of Memnon, which are also huge, albeit seated and badly
damaged, statues of Amenhotep III, as well as three patios, a
peristyle, a sanctuary and other archaeological elements – to be made
into a museum in which assorted monumental art and other works
commissioned by the pharoah will be displayed.

Amenhotep III was the son of Pharoah Thutmose IV and belonged to the
18th Egyptian dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 1554-1304 B.C., during
which time the empire’s capital was located at Thebes.

The pharoah – who was the grandfather of Tutankhamen – died in about
1354 B.C. and experts say his reign marked Ancient Egyptian
civilization’s political and cultural zenith. EFE

em/bp

Daily Bruin: University of California – Los Angeles
December 5, 2014 Friday

Armenian Students’ Association holds town hall on divestment resolution

By Eliza Blackorby

The Armenian Students’ Association held a town hall Thursday to
educate students about and receive feedback on a resolution it plans
to bring to the undergraduate student government calling for the
University of California Board of Regents to divest from the Republic
of Turkey.

>From 1915 until 1923, Turkish authorities massacred about 1.5 million
Armenians in the then-crumbling Ottoman Empire, leading to the seizure
of Armenian land and forcing a diaspora of the Armenian people.

“This resolution is economic with a political end,” said Sevana
Manukian, a fourth-year human biology and society student and a member
of the Armenian Students’ Association. “We want (the Republic of
Turkey) to recognize a historical tragedy.”

Morris Sarafian, a third-year political science student and a member
of the Armenian Students’ Association, said he feels the Armenian
genocide provided a blueprint for persecutors of all subsequent
genocides, including the Holocaust.

The Republic of Turkey, which took power in the area after the Ottoman
Empire fell, still denies the genocide against Armenians. The Turkish
government considers it a crime to bring up Turkey’s role in the
Armenian genocide – the government considers it to be “insulting
Turkishness,” according to The New York Times.

In 2014, the Human Rights Watch described Turkey as experiencing a
“rollback” of human rights, such as its media censorship and police
teargassing at the Gezi protests in Istanbul.

April 24, 2015, will mark the centennial of what is considered the
start of the Armenian genocide, when hundreds of Armenian
intellectuals were arrested and executed by the Ottoman Empire,
according to The New York Times.

The group decided to bring the resolution forward now because of the
centennial anniversary of the genocide, said Natalie Kalbakian, a
third-year political science student and external vice president of
the Armenian Students’ Association.

In 2012, USAC passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide
and condemning its denial. The Armenian Students’ Association’s
resolution aims to take this motion a step further toward more
assertive action against the Republic of Turkey.

The resolution, which is still being drafted by the association, has
two main objectives the group hopes USAC will support.

The first calls for the UC’s divestment from the Republic of Turkey.

As of December 2012, the UC Retirement Plan and the General Endowment
Pool both held investments in Turkish bonds, with a base market value
totaling more than $65 million, according to the listings of
investment holdings on the UC Office of the Chief Investment Officer’s
website.

Per its investment policy, the UC does not divest from any holdings
unless a foreign regime is recognized by the U.S. government as
committing acts of genocide.

The second provision of the resolution calls for enforcement of an
Armenian Students’ Association resolution passed by USAC in 2005 that
called for a boycott of Turkish products in the Associated Students
UCLA store.

Some who attended Thursday’s town hall expressed concern that Turkish
students and others from minority groups may feel antagonized by the
language of the resolution or left out of the discussion.

Jodutt Basrawi, president of the United Arab Society at UCLA and a
third-year engineering geology student, said he thinks members of the
Armenian Students’ Association should be careful to not criticize
Turkish people as a whole in the language of their resolution.

“The Turkish government doesn’t represent all Turks,” he said. “In any
Turkish city, you will find opponents of the Turkish government in
regards to Armenian genocide.”

Members of the Armenian Students’ Association said they plan to focus
the resolution against the government and that they have also reached
out to individual students who are Greek, Kurdish and Assyrian for
feedback on the resolution.

The association will present the resolution to the Undergraduate
Students Association Council on Tuesday, and the council will vote on
it on Jan. 6, said Mikael Matossian, president of the Armenian
Students’ Association and a fourth-year environmental science student.

Iran Daily
December 5, 2014 Friday

Some countries claim Iranian cultural heritage

While the baking of Lavash bread will be registered under the name of
Armenia and silk scarf will be attributed to Azerbaijan on UNESCO’s
World Heritage List, Uzbekistan is claiming Molla Nassreddin as its
own legacy.

While Iran intends to register Rituals Related to Prayer for Rain
under its name, the neighboring nations are seeking to register
spiritual heritage of their lands on the World Heritage List.

For example, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have prepared a joint dossier
themed “Construction of Turkish Tribal Houses” for UNESCO.

Turkey seeks to present the dossier of “Marble Works”.

However, out of 59 dossiers submitted for registration at UNESCO,
three have been intertwined with Iranian culture.

When Armenia’s Deputy Culture Minister Arev Samuelian announced that
her country sought to register Lavash on World Heritage List, many
Iranian professors and cultural heritage experts reacted against the
decision.

Because, according to the remaining documents, Lavash is being baked
in Iran since the Arsacide era.

Even some Chinese and Roman globetrotters, who had visited Iran during
the Arsacide era, wrote about Lavash. This is a proof that Lavash is
an Iranian bread.

However, Armenia also showed evidence that Armenia’s Lavash belongs to
hundreds of years before the Common Era.

Archeologists identified an oven and an oval stone in one of the
historical sites of Armenia. It indicated that thousands of years ago,
Lavash or Pita bread (in Armenian language) used to be baked in this
region.

Armenians consider Lavash as sacred and have many fables about it.

Armenia even built a cartoon movie, namely “Magic Pita” in 1988, which
was renowned as a training film for a long time.

In another development, Azerbaijan seeks to present the dossier named
“Traditional Technique for Manufacturing Silk Scarf” for registration.

This dossier has commonalities with the culture of Iran, Turkey,
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

People of all four nations believe that silk scarf belongs to their
own country. For example, as one of the most influential regional
nations with regard to women’s hijab (Islamic dress code), Iran
considers Osku in East Azarbaijan as the capital city of Azari Silk
Scarf.

Ataturk’s efforts for making women discard the veil led to the
resistance of Turkish people to preserve their traditions. So, the
Turkish people are also claimants of “Silk Scarf” dossier.

Also, Armenia is the other claimant. Silk scarf is one of the famous
handicrafts of Yerevan.

Azari Silk Scarf differs from other scarves. It is made of silk yarns
in diverse colors. Designs are printed on four sides of the scarf.

However, out of tens of dossiers presented to UNESCO, one could be
controversial more than others.

Uzbekistan is one of the claimants of Molla Nassreddin. Uzbeks call
him Nassreddin Khoja. A big statue has been established in Bukhara in
his honor.

The pottery dolls of Nassreddin Khoja are sold to tourists as
Uzbekistan’s handicraft and souvenir.

Iranian officials should prepare documents to present to UNESCO to
prevent the Molla Nassreddin dossier from facing the same fate that
met distinguished Iranian personalities like Molana and Avicenna.

Editorial: They all have dirt on their hands

12.10.2014 23:23NEWS

The Hrant Dink murder is seen by the ruling party as a weapon that can
be used against the Gülen movement. This is an ugly plan in which one
of the country’s greatest tests of justice is being instrumentalized.

We had already seen how the ruling party wanted to lay the entire
blame of the Hrant Dink murder on the Gülen movement when deceptive
and manipulative reports were published in certain newspapers close to
the government. In July, in response to these reports, we wrote,
`Those who use the Dink case as a vehicle in their strategy of war are
serving to keep certain perpetrators of this crime in the shadows, and
in essence, extending their complicity in the crime’.

The most recent statement given by Ogün Samast, the gunman of the
murder, and the manner in which the aforementioned newspapers have
embraced this statement, clearly show that the same strategy is being
perpetuated in a deeper and more comprehensive manner. In this most
recent statement that has immediately made headlines, Samast gives the
names of police chiefs known to the public as members of the Gülen
movement. This game, based on revealing only one aspect of the truth,
proves nothing but the fact that those who have set up this game have
dirt on their hands.

Today, we are passing through a new period of conflict and
polarization following the end of the 10-year partnership between the
AK Party government and the Gülen Movement. This is a war in which
both sides have shown they will resort to any means possible to weaken
each other. It appears that, in this atmosphere of spite and ill-will,
the Hrant Dink murder is seen by the ruling party as a weapon that can
be used against the Gülen movement. This is an ugly plan in which one
of the country’s greatest tests of justice is being instrumentalized.

Yes, it is true that the police chiefs allegedly in relation with the
Gülen Movement, and mentioned in the gunman’s statement, carry certain
culpability in the assassination of Hrant Dink. But was it only them?
State institutions, and the National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T)
and the General Staff first and foremost among them, and the Police,
Army, Judiciary, Bureaucracy and the political power to which all
these institutions are tied to, have all played a role first in Dink
being singled out as a target, then in his assassination, and finally
in the cover-up that has protected the perpetrators to this day. This
glaring truth was also declared by the European Court of Human Rights
which found that Turkey had failed to properly investigate the role of
state officials in the Hrant Dink murder, and by the Constitutional
Court that ruled the murder was not probed efficiently, which in its
decision made reference to the ECHR verdict.

This is why the only thing that needs to be done today, as it was
yesterday, is to shed light on all aspects of the Hrant Dink murder,
and bring all those responsible to justice. As long as this is not
done, we will not be fooled by merely a single aspect of the truth
being packaged as part of a certain script and presented to us as
conclusive.

This ugly game will not only fail to provide justice, but it also
means that the culpability of the ruling power in this murder, carried
out on the basis of a consensus, will grow even more. And we know very
well that only when this culpability receives an appropriate sentence
that Turkey will truly become `New Turkey’.

ARMENIE
Les prix de certains aliments en Arménie pourraient grimper de 14%

Les prix de certains aliments en Arménie pourraient augmenter de 14%
cette année a déclaré Armen Poghosyan, président de l’Association des
consommateurs d’Arménie.

> a-t-il dit.

L’inflation en glissement annuel a été enregistré à 3,1% en Arménie de
janvier à août 2014.

Armen Poghosyan a souligné l’absence de tout contrôle sur le marché de
la concurrence comme l’un des facteurs qui déclenche des hausses de
prix. Il a dit que les grandes entreprises bénéficient de conditions
plus avantageuses.

Parmi les facteurs qui poussent les prix à la hausse, Armen Poghosyan
a également souligné le fait que le prix de l’électricité a augmenté
en Août.

dimanche 14 décembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Russia will press Belarus and Kazakhstan into ratifying Armenia EEU
accession treaty – Khachatur Kokobelyan

13:29 * 14.12.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Chairman of the Free Democrats party
Khachatur Kokobelyan commented on the fact that the Belarusian and
Kazakh Parliaments did not ratify the treaty on Armenia’s accession to
the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Therefore, legally, Armenia cannot join the EEU from January 1, 2015.
Mr Kokobelyan believes, however, that Russia will press Belarus and
Kazakhstan into settling the issue.

Russia needs Armenia badly both as a vote and as a partner in the
South Caucasus, and it is desirable that Armenian statesmen and
politicians realize it, he said.

“Of course, the Kazakh and Belarusian Parliaments will not hold
special meetings on the issue of Armenia. So, legally, Armenia cannot
join the Eurasian Economic Union on January 1, 2015. Regrettably, at
its meeting on Saturday, the Economic Commission approved the EEU laws
on customs dues, but the decisions are to take effect after Armenia
joins the EEU. I do not think that Belarus or Kazakhstan will not
ratify the treaty on Armenia’s accession. But the fact that they did
not put the issue on their parliamentary agenda is evidence of lack of
coordination within the EEU. I would like to recall Russian FM Sergey
Lavrov’s statement, which, I think, is a serious problem. He said
that, in the case of sanctions, the EEU Rules of Procedure allow EEU
member-nations to a impose countersanctions.”

As to the reasons for the delay, Mr Kokobelyan said:

“There is a much-talked-of problem, which was raised by Belarus and
Kazakhstan: ‘we do not need Armenia, and it is a purely political
decision made by Russian authorities.’ Russia needs Armenia badly both
as a vote and as a partner in the South Caucasus, and it is desirable
that our statesmen and politicians realize it. And I am sure that
Russia will press Belarus and Kazakhstan into settling the issue
because it meets Russia’s political interests. Another question is
that before next May – which I consider unlikely -Russia’s influence
on its partners will weaken so much that it will not be able to ensure
a political solution for the problem – because it is a purely
political problem.”

With respect to a statement by Tigran Balayan, Spokesman for Armenia’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that “the misinformation [on the delay in
Armenia’s accession to the EEU] needs no comment,” Mr Kokobelyan said:

“We are not going to join the EEU on January 1. Our Parliament has
ratified the treaty and, I am sure, will approve the laws in
conformity with the EEU laws. And Armenia will have laws harmonized
with the structure’s requirements, but will have wait for the
Belarusian and Kazakh Parliaments to ratify the treaty.”

Cross-stone in memory of King Levon VI and Armenian Genocide victims
to be placed in Lusignan

December 12, 2014 22:06

On December 13, Armenia’s Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan will
pay a working visit to France to participate in the opening ceremony
of a cross-stone dedicated to the memory of Armenian King Levon VI,
ex-French-Armenian fighters and the victims of the Armenian Genocide
in Lusignan.

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: As “ArmenPress” reports, the
cross-stone is being placed through the combined efforts of the
Lusignan Municipality, the Ararat Association, the “Association of
Former French-Armenian Fighters and Resistance Fighters” and the
Commission Coordinating the Events Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide in France. During the visit, Armenia’s
Minister of Diaspora will have meetings with members of the France
Regional Committee in charge of Coordinating the Events Dedicated to
the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, as well as members of
community organizations.