Author: Badalian Vardan

WILFRIED FURMAN: “THE ATTEMPT TO CONTINUE UNILATERAL CHANGES IN THE ETHNIC MAP IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH IS OBVIOUS”

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 12 2014

12 September 2014 – 2:44pm

Interview by Orkhan Sattarov, the head of the European Bureau of
Vestnik Kavkaza

Professor Wilfried Furman of Potsdam University has expressed his
opinion about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the light of the
Ukrainian crisis and changes in the geopolitical situation in the
world.

– Mr. Furman, how would you evaluate the events around the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in particular, the meeting of the
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Sochi and Wales, preceded by
violent August clashes in Karabakh?

– I would point out three main interconnected events here. Firstly,
the meeting of the presidents in Sochi initiated by Russian President
Vladimir Putin. Secondly, as you noted, the Americans tried to keep up,
organizing the meeting of Aliyev and Sargsyan in Wales, where the NATO
summit was held. And, finally, on September 8, the European Union
published information about granting Armenia and Azerbaijan funds
within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy – up to
74 million euros to Baku and up to 170 million euros to Yerevan. The
event should not be pulled out of the common context.

All these meetings and grants of certain sums to the sides of the
conflict prove that none of the three main actors (Russia, U.S. and
EU) are interested in aggravating the conflict and its transition to
a “hot phase.” The large players I named are trying to keep all the
conflicts in a deep frozen state.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in fact, happened in a zone between two
power blocks and, as it happens in a zone between two tectonic plates,
the region was in the zone of maximum military-political danger.

I disagree with the opinion that the key to the Nagorno-Karabakh is
in the hands of Moscow. Neither the EU or the U.S. have it. The key
to settlement of the problem is in the hands of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Speaking of Armenia, it puts maximum efforts into removing everything
associated with genocide against Azerbaijanis in Karabakh out of
memory. For me, it is a classic form of regional-scale genocide.

Expulsion from the region and extermination of a whole ethnos, call
it ethnic cleansing, destruction of the cultural landscape and all
memories about Azerbaijanis living in the region, is genocide. Armenia
accuses Azerbaijan but does not consider granting Azerbaijanis driven
out access to return to Nagorno-Karabakh. In other words, the Armenian
side is not ready for any concessions.

– The Armenian side assures that it would be possible but only after
Azerbaijan recognizes “the independence of the NKR…”

– I will tell you, give me a million dollars, and I will invite you for
coffee tomorrow morning… Azerbaijan keeps pointing out violations of
territorial integrity, four resolutions of the UN Security Council,
of international law. I, as a liberal-spirited man, can only welcome
the fact that there has not been a full-scale war so far. On the other
hand, the problem of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has not
found a solution. The principle of territorial integrity is constantly
emphasized in the case of Eastern Ukraine or Crimea. But when it
comes to Azerbaijan, no one in the West seems to express readiness to
support it in a potential war for restoration of territorial integrity.

– Do you think the problems of Crimea and Karabakh are similar?

– These cases are very similar but, at the same time, I think
that separation of Crimea is more legitimate, because it was done
via a referendum where the population of the peninsula was given
an opportunity to express its will. In Nagorno-Karabakh, such a
“referendum” was followed by pogroms, threats and the expulsion of the
Azerbaijani population. Driving out Karabakh Azerbaijanis, holding
a “referendum” and announcing that Armenians support Armenians is
certainly a big surprise. The argument that Armenians were the majority
in the NKAO before the conflict can in no way serve as justification
or explanation for the genocide they committed against Azerbaijanis.

Azerbaijan, relying on international law and insisting on restoration
of territorial integrity, does not find honest support from the West.

Thus, it was left in solitude with its attempts to restore sovereignty
over Karabakh.

– What do you think is the reason for the West’s refusal to help
Azerbaijan?

– Risking getting into speculations, I will make a cautious
supposition that it is greatly associated with the factor of Christian
solidarity, present to a certain extent in all Western countries
and governments. In this aspect, preferences between Azerbaijan and
Armenia are unequal in the West. On the other hand, in the light of the
topical events in Iraq and Syria, where religious fundamentalists are
rampaging, the public of the West, having heard that Azerbaijan was
predominantly a Muslim state, forms an opinion through the prism of
their attitude towards all the Muslim world. The fact that Azerbaijan
is a secular state becomes secondary.

Finally, in the West, there are many people interpreting the law
depending on personal preferences. What some deserve, others do not.

– The unrecognized authorities of the “NKR” proposed resettlement of
Yazidi Kurds from Iraq to Nagorno-Karabakh. How would you comment on
that proposal?

– At first glance, the proposal looks very positive and humane. Giving
refuge to persecuted people is a good deed. But on closer inspection,
it becomes absolutely obvious that resettlement of an ethnos from
one crisis region to another conflict region has nothing to do with
humanism. Moreover, I do not believe that the unrecognized authorities
of Nagorno-Karabakh had motives of humanism when they were making
the proposal. One the one hand, it is a classic PR move to get mass
media attention, improve one’s own reputation, gain sympathy and
legitimacy in the world. On the other hand, Armenians are trying to
compensate for the outflow of their own population, young people from
Nagorno-Karabakh, because they have no prospects and future there.

Finally, considering the hostile stance of Yadizi Kurds against
Muslims, which include Azerbaijanis, Armenians are trying to create
another stronghold against Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh, using
Yazidi Kurds for that. Armenia can also try to use the EU funds to form
such a stronghold: build settlements, infrastructure. The attempt to
continue unilateral changes on the ethnic map of Nagorno-Karabakh is
obvious, and preventing it, other than by using diplomatic mechanisms
and active work with mass media, is extremely hard.

– The Baku authorities have stopped concealing their disappointment
and irritation with the position of the West on the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue. The foreign political preferences of Azerbaijan are becoming
more oriented towards the north, towards Russia. Does this mean that
European integration has been scrapped?

– It will largely depend on development of the events in Ukraine,
in particular, the resolution of the problem of the long-term status
of the political system in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. In the near
future, in my opinion, the problems will be projected in the South
Caucasus. In NATO, pressure from the Americans insisting on admission
of Georgia to the Alliance will grow. Abkhazia and South Ossetia will
appear on the agenda against, and pressure on Georgia will keep rising.

At the same time, President Putin will put pressure on Kazakhstan and
Armenia because he wants Yerevan to join the Customs and the Eurasian
Unions. Nagorno-Karabakh here is the key issue for Armenia, because
Kazakhstan insists on Armenia joining the unions only in accordance
with its internationally-recognized borders, which means exclusion
of Nagorno-Karabakh from the process.

Armenia, in its turn, will put maximum effort into pulling
Nagorno-Karabakh into the CU and the EaEU. And finally there is
Azerbaijan, a country on “a lonely island.” Azerbaijan, in fact,
has only two opportunities. It either starts drifting to the West,
like Georgia, undermining prospects to get Nagorno-Karabakh under its
jurisdiction. Another alternative is that Baku gives up its ties with
the West and goes for a close alliance with Moscow and participation in
all its integration projects. Because, at the moment, when Armenia is
joining the EaEU, Azerbaijan will not do that, its chances of regaining
Nagorno-Karabakh would significantly drop because Baku would be unable
to affect the decisions that Moscow, Astana, Minsk and Yerevan will
make. Now the question of whether Azerbaijan joins the EaEU or not,
just as it was in Ukraine, greatly depends on financial circles,
if you wish, the oligarchs, in Azerbaijan: will they prefer money
or territorial integrity? Will they prefer dynamic EU markets and
innovations or Nagorno-Karabakh, which can receive major autonomy as
part of the Azerbaijani republic, at best?

MORE THAN SEMANTICS

Al-Ahram, Egypt
Sept 12 2014

Syria’s Kurds are complaining about the notional Arab character of
Syria, but their actions could open another can of worms, writes
Bassel Oudat in Damascus

Differences surfaced over the current name of Syria when Kurdish
members of the opposition to the government of Syrian president Bashar
Al-Assad objected to the word “Arab” in the name of the country,
the Syrian Arab Republic.

The argument is simple. Minus the word “Arab”, Syria belongs to all
its ethnic groups. But with this word it belongs less to the Armenians,
Assyrians, and Kurds than it belongs to its Arab population.

What began as a semantic question has now become a full-blown
confrontation in which not only politicians but also ordinary citizens
have traded remarks, not always benign, on social media.

For now, the rest of the opposition is apprehensive about the Kurdish
request. Many note that discussion of such matters should be made in
future elected bodies, not by the non-elected parties of the opposition
and not while the nation is still bleeding in a conflict with no end
in sight.

A few days ago, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and
Opposition Forces (NCSROF) said that it agreed to the use of the name
Syrian Arab Republic on the school certificates of students wishing
to pursue their studies abroad.

This name is internationally recognised, and changing the country’s
name at present could jeopardise the students’ futures, argued
officials of the NCSROF, a coalition of opposition groups that includes
nearly a dozen Kurdish parties.

But the Kurds say that the current name of the country jeopardises
the interests of non-Arab citizens.

The Kurds make up nearly 12 per cent of the Syrian population, and
Kurdish groups joined the opposition on condition that the latter
would recognise and support their rights. But until the issue was
raised, no one thought of the country’s name as something that could
undermine the rights of minorities.

When the Kurdish parties joined the NCSROF, they made several demands,
including that Kurdish should be an official language of the coalition
and that a Kurd should be appointed as deputy leader.

But the recent row over the country’s name seems to have ruffled
feathers across the ethnic divide. The NCSROF says that its decision is
“technical” in nature, as it is about the legality of students applying
for colleges abroad. But the Kurds are adamant that Syria should avoid
the epithet Arab, just as Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, and other nations do.

If Syria is to remain united, its name should not have ethnic
connotations, argue the Kurdish parties. Some have gone further,
saying that they can only live in a united Syria as long as its
name is ethnicity-free. If the country is called “Arab,” they say,
secession might become an attractive option.

Many question the right of the Kurds to dictate the name of the
country, asking whether a 12-per-cent minority should have the right
to tell the entire nation what kind of name it should adopt.

>From a legal point of view, a country’s name, just like its flag and
national anthem, are things to be decided by elected bodies, not by
opposition groups, however well intentioned they may be, observers say.

Strictly speaking, the opposition parties that exist today have no
more legitimacy than the regime, for none of them have been chosen
through free-and-fair elections. Some matters of national consequence
will have to wait until elected bodies are formed once the current
regime is gone, observers say.

Among those who believe that the moniker “Arab” needs to be excised
from the country’s name is Kurdish opposition member Radif Mostafa.

“To call a country Arab because most of its population are Arabs is
like calling a country Islamic because most of the population are
Muslims or Sunni because most of the population is Sunni. Perhaps a
certain sect of Sunni Islam will want the country named after them,
if they are the majority,” he told the Weekly.

“Syria must be a civil, democratic, pluralistic country that respects
human rights and citizenship,” he added.

Opposition journalist Mohammad Mansour is among the supporters of the
“Arab” epithet in the country’s name.

“For centuries, Syria has been home to diverse nationalities, but
it is also considered part of the Arab world, indeed its throbbing
heart,” he said.

Many orientalists, travelers, historians and geographers passed
through the region and spoke of Syria as its epitome, a country that
encapsulates the oriental heart of the Arab world, Mansour argued.

Some have argued that the Arabism of Syria was an invention of the
ruling Syrian Baath Party. Mansour, however, considers such views to
be untenable.

“Anyone who links the Arabism of Syria with the experience of the
Baath Party is mistaken. We, the Arabs, despise the fake nationalism
of the Baath Party. We cannot stand its racism and fascism, which
paved the way to dictatorship,” he said.

“We refuse to link the Arabism of Syria to the experience of the
Baath Party.” Mansour recalled that one of the men who founded the
Arabic Language Academy in Damascus was a Kurd.

“The founder of the most important scientific board for the Arabic
language was a Kurd called Mohammad Kurd Ali. No one asked him
to conceal his ethnicity or change his name in order to do so,”
Mansour said.

It is true, however, that the Kurds have been treated unfairly in the
region, mostly because the Sykes-Picot Agreement after World War I
led to the dismemberment of Kurdistan, which was subsumed by Syria,
Iraq, Turkey and Iran.

In Syria, the policies of the Baath Party further obliterated Kurdish
rights. President Hafez Al-Assad, father of Bashar, surrounded Kurdish
areas with a so-called “Arab belt,” bringing in immigrants to make
sure that the Kurds were surrounded by Arabs and forcing them to live
in cantons shorn of their identity and many of their basic rights.

Hafez Al-Assad refused to have identity cards issued to a considerable
section of the Kurdish community, denied them government jobs, and
banned them from teaching their own language, or even celebrating
their national feasts.

Still, the Kurds suppressed their national aspirations in order to
join the current revolution. They eagerly adopted the slogans of the
revolution and have truly believed that it will give them back the
rights the Baath Party has denied them.

Once the regime started using force against the revolution, the Kurds
adjusted their position. Some stayed within the NCSROF, continuing
to work in tandem with other ethnicities in the country, while
others took up arms with the help of the Kurdish Democratic Union,
an offshoot of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Some say that the regime gave the Kurdish militants the chance of
a lifetime when it almost nodded its approval of self-rule in the
northeastern part of the country.

>From this point forward, a rift occurred in the Kurdish ranks. The
Kurdish Democratic Union is said to have expelled, arrested, or even
assassinated members of other parties. Some say that the self-rule
leaders have either made a deal with the regime or are hoping to
make one.

Other Kurdish parties, such as the National Kurdish Council, a member
of the NCSROF, have disapproved of self-rule, calling it a ruse.

Instead, they want Syria to become a federation, with equal rights
for all minorities.

For now, Kurds across the political divide say that they want Syria to
remain united, but in a formula that ensures their rights as citizens
and as a cohesive minority. They are also afraid that the moniker
“Arab” may undermine their status in the future Syria.

Home to many ethnicities, Syria needs to walk a thin line between
its integrity as a nation and the rights of its minorities. Syria
will lose much if it antagonises its minorities, for the country’s
rich legacy is a function of its diversity.

But if the minorities push their rights too far, they may risk breaking
the fabric that keeps their country great and united.

One option is for the opposition, Kurds included, to write a kind of
Magna Carta of the rights of the ethnicities and put the whole matter
to rest. All nationalities, Kurdish and others, would thus have full
rights within the perimeters of a unified country, one in which all
citizens were equal regardless of race, colour or creed.

GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE EDUCATION RESOLUTION

Friday, September 12th, 2014

GCC Board during Tuesday’s vote

Challenges Neighboring College Districts to Do the Same

GLENDALE–On Tuesday, September 9, the Glendale Community College
Board of Trustees, following the lead of LACCD Board of Trustees,
adopted a resolution designating the month of April 2015 as “Glendale
Community College Month of Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide of 1915” reported the Armenian National
Committee of America – Western Region.

The resolution also incorporates Armenian Genocide education and
awareness as part of discussions and campus activities, and calls on
the United States President to work toward equitable, constructive,
stable, and durable Armenian- Turkish relations based upon the Republic
of Turkey’s full acknowledgment, with reparations, of the facts and
ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and
comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity.

“The community thanks the Board of Trustees and President Viar for
their leadership. This resolution will definitely serve as a reminder
of the atrocities that should never be repeated and at the same time
assist educators, students as well as the community in general not
just about the facts, but also about the bitter consequences suffered
by many generations,” stated ANCA Glendale Chair, Artin Manoukian.

At the beginning of the public comments portion Manoukian took the
podium on behalf of the organization and stated “For a variety of
reasons, the Armenian Genocide has fallen out of collective memory.

Since it was perpetrated, Armenians have been continuously subjected to
the final stage of genocide by the perpetrators and their successors:
denial. We need to preserve this chapter of history as part of our
consciousness in order to prevent genocide deniers from succeeding
in completing the full cycle of genocide. This resolution is a
promising step in that direction…All college students should be
familiar with modern world history no matter what their course of
study. Study of 20th Century world history would be incomplete without
familiarity with the Armenian Genocide, its impact on global events,
and subsequent genocides then, and also the manner in which it has
shaped and affected the Armenian American community of California,”
prior to urging the Board to unanimously adopt the resolution.

Following Manoukian, ANCA Western Region Executive Director Elen
Asatryan thanked the GCC Board of Trustees for their leadership
and went on to note that in early 2014 the organization launched
an initiative, America We Thank You: An Armenian Tribute to Near
East Relief, timed for the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, to
recognize the outpouring of generosity by the American people in the
immediate aftermath of the Armenian Genocide and to honor the efforts
of Near East Relief in rescuing and providing assistance to hundreds of
thousands of men, women and children who were victims of the Genocide.

Asatryan concluded her remarks by extending a partnership offering
to the college and stated “We are thrilled to also see incorporation
of Near East Relief in this resolution and look forward to having our
America We Thank You Committee partner with Glendale Community College
in spreading awareness about the first massive US humanitarian effort
and this important part of not just Armenian History, but American
History.”

Several local students also spoke in support of the resolution in
the packed auditorium prior to the Board’s discussion on the item.

After closing the public comments portion, Board President Vahe
Peroomian introduced the resolution and called for a motion of
approval. Trustee Armine Hacopian made the motion to approve, which
was seconded by Board Clerk Anita Quinonez Gabrielian.

“I am delighted that we have reached this point at this College. My
father and his brother were raised in two different orphanages from age
4 because they had watched their parents be killed before their eyes,
and each thought the other was killed. So this is a true story, not
something people have made up,” stated Hacopian during her comments
while Gabrielian noted “I wholeheartedly support this resolution
with the acknowledgement that education and awareness is the first
step in making sure that Genocide does not happen again and so I am
proud to support it.”

Their sentiments were echoed first by Board Vice President Tony
Tartaglia who stated “As a non-Armenian, I was affected by the
Genocide as well. I did not have grandparents after the age of
10. I lived in the San Fernando Valley and had a very good friend in
elementary school that happened to be half Armenian. His grandmother
went through the last of the Genocide in the 1920s and she told me
stories of what she went through. So I consider this woman Anoush my
grandmother, who had to change her name because they lived in Turkey
and at that time you couldn’t carry an Armenian name. At the age of 4,
she watched her whole family be killed. As the bodies fell on her,
she only survived only because they walked away and thought she
was dead under the bodies. So the Armenian Genocide effected a lot
of people, including non-Armenians. I am very thrilled to see this
happen,” followed by Trustee Ann Ransford who noted “I also support
this resolution. The education is so important because unfortunately
we are experiencing in this day and time Genocides in our world.

Taking the leadership and this kind of a position for our board and
for our country is very important.”

Prior to taking a vote, President Peroomian challenged neighboring
college districts Pasadena, Rio Hando, Santa Clarita to also pass
an Armenian Genocide Resolution and start a wave passing such
resolutions. Trustee Hacopian took it a step further, challenging
Peroomian to challenge all the college districts. Peroomian accepted
the suggestion. The Board of Trustees then took a vote of 6-0 in
passing the resolution.

HEROISM OF OUR SOLDIERS HELPED THE PRESIDENT TO BE MORE CONFIDENT AT THE TRILATERAL MEETING – DM

15:30 / 12.09.2014

Armenia’s Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan visited today Armenia’s
State Economic University.

The meeting with the students of the university took place on the
occasion of upcoming Independence holiday and 20th anniversary of
the foundation of students’ council.

Speaking to reporters Ohanyan said he is proud that he represents an
establishment which has passed a triumphant path and today as well
ensures the peaceful existence of the Armenian people. “During the
recent attacks our army managed to give a worthy counter-attack to
the enemy and ensured the security of our borders making the enemy
understand that it cannot reach what it wants. We have our version
of the settlement of the conflict and it is the peaceful way based on
international norms. The right of people to self-determination has no
alternative,” the minister said, adding that they will do everything
not to face imposed war for the second time.

“Now they impose concessions in the negotiation process. Mutual
concessions against uncertainty are unacceptable for us. For us
mutual agreements that will bring to self-determination of Karabakh
as free, independent region,” the minister said, reminding that after
negotiations the enemy always tries to display force to have an impact
on negotiations.

“Thanks to heroism of our servicemen and their devotion we managed not
only throw back their saboteurs but undertake preventive measures in
the territory. It helped the president to be more confident at the
trilateral meeting and stated strictly our position over Artsakh,”
Ohanyan said.

The minister once again stressed with regret that we had losses,
but found heroes. I also feel pain for the losses of the enemy as
their death is on the conscience of the Azerbaijani authorities.

Nyut.am

ARMENIA HAS ECONOMIC COMPETITION SHORTCOMINGS – MINISTRY

00:18, 11.09.2014

YEREVAN. – The Ministry of Economy will analyze the reasons for
the drop in Armenia’s position in the World Economic Forum (WEF)
global rankings, Economy Minister Karen Chshmarityan told reporters
on Wednesday.

He added, however, that this drop in Armenia’s ranking can be relative
due to the improvement in the rankings of other countries.

To the query as to whether Armenia’s low ranking in the free markets is
an impediment, the minister responded: “Yes, there is such a problem.”

Armenia was ranked 85th, dropping six spots, in the WEF 2014-2015
Global Competitiveness Report. In addition, Armenia was ranked 105th
among 144 countries in the effectiveness of antitrust policy.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

ARMENIAN HEALTH OFFICIAL CONCERNED OVER LOW NATURAL GROWTH

12:42 * 12.09.14

Natural growth in Armenia has decreased by 4.5 times since the 1990s,
with the birth rate being almost twice down, a healthcare official
said today, expressing concerns over the population statistics.

In a speech at the conference Family, Society and Church (held at the
Holy See of Ecmhiadzin), Head of the Healthcare Ministry’s Maternity
and Reproductive Health Department Gayane Avagyan said the trend is
likely to cut the country’s population in half by 2030 against the
backdrop of a surge in the neighboring states.

“This is really a challenge everybody has to pay attention to,” she
said, pointing out to an alarming birth statistics. “We do not even
have a simple reproduction in the country.”

Speaking about abortions, Avagyan said their number has seen a tenfold
increase in the past decade; she attributed the trend to the advanced
technologies that help timely detect fetal diseases and disorders As
for sex-selective abortions, the healthcare official said they are now
elaborating a concept aimed at concealing the fetus’ sex from parents.

As another concern, the specialist pointed out to the infertility
rate, which she said has twice increased in the country in the past
ten years.

ENEMY HAD NINE TIMES MORE VICTIMS, SAYS ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER

12:43 | September 12,2014 | Politics

Armenian Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan today visited Armenian State
University of Economics (ASUE) where he participated in the opening
of an audience dedicated to student soldiers.

Welcoming the students, the minister said after the ASUE he would
visit Yerevan State University and other universities.

“These meetings give birth to new ideas which we can accomplish
together,” said Mr Ohanyan.

Talking about the current situation in the army, the minister said
that the enemy has had nine times more victims than Armenia. Then
the defence minister answered students’ questions.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CONCERNED OVER ANCIENT CRYPT’S FUTURE

10:37 * 12.09.14

Driven by concerns over the fate of a 4th century Armenian royal crypt
excavated in the Aragatsotn region, a group of parliamentarians are
planning to visit the ancient site to see the situation on the ground.

It comes after Aragats Akhoyan of the Prosperous Armenia faction voiced
serious alarm about the desolate situation of the chapel, basilica
and the excavation site in the village Dzorap (historical Aghdzk)

His statement spurred active discussions among parliament members
(including Samvel Farmanyan, Tachat Vardapetyan etc) who are now
said to be considering plans for rescuing area and later making it
a tourist center.

Dzorap, a village on the slopes of Mount Aragats, is home to a large
grave monument complex and basilica of the 4th to 5th centuries. The
complex includes the 4th century architectural complex of Aghdzk,
the Arsacid Dynasty’s (54-482) crypt, a church dating from the 6th-7th
centuries etc.

Speaking to Tert.am, Mr Akhoyan shared his concerns over the
exceptional historical samples. “Excavations were periodically carried
out, but they were never completed. The Arsacid kings’ mausoleum, which
is the only royal crypt our nation has on the territory of Armenia,
is in a desolate state. I mean, the mausoleums have not been fully
excavated, and shamefully enough, the bones are thrown around like
waste. What’s even worse, they were broken, and the stone coffins
were scattered around. So we have to take urgent measures to first of
all complete the excavations and secondly, make them [the monuments]
tourist attractions, as well a strategically important sacred place to
contribute to our younger generation’s patriotic-military upbringing.

>From the 16th t to the 17th centuries, the Persians wanted to take
possession of those bones in order to undermine our statehood, but
we are consigning them to inattention today,” he noted.

Tert.am also talked to Pavel Avetisyan, the director of the National
Academy’s Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, who shared his
professional standpoint on the issue. The archaologist highlighed
the importance of preserving the monuments as unique samples of
national identity.

“This [complex includes] several graves of Armenian kings, which
do not have their analogues in any other place. Hence, it is
exceptional in this respect. If Ecnmiadzin is in the first place
in our religious-cultural set of values, then the Arsacid kings’
grave should be the first as a secular [value]. So this is one of
the remarkable memories in the Armenian history,” he explained.

ARTSAKH PRESIDENT MEETS AMERICAN ARMENIAN PUBLIC FIGURE ANNA ASTVATSATURIAN-TURCOTTE

19:33 | September 11,2014 | Official

On September 1, President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
received American Armenian public figure Anna Astvatsaturian-Turcotte
and her father Norik Astvatsaturian.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the objective coverage
of the Artsakh history and Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict overseas.

Bako Sahakyan rated high the input of Anna Astvatsaturian-Turcotte
in the international recognition of Artsakh, qualifying it the best
manifestation of patriotism.

President Sahakyan valued the book entitled “Nowhere: A Story of Exile”
authored by Anna Astvatsatryan considering it a unique work depicting
both historic events and human stories.

CZECH REPUBLIC CAN EXPORT TRUCKS, SMALL AIRCRAFTS AND HELICOPTERS TO ARMENIA

YEREVAN, September 11. /ARKA/. The Czech Republic can export trucks,
small aircrafts and helicopters to Armenia, Armenian Deputy Economy
Minister Garegin Melkonyan said at a news conference after the first
session of Czech-Armenian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic
Cooperation held Thursday in Yerevan.

Some 30 representatives of the Czech Republic’s public and private
sectors attended the session.

Melkonyan said that the aircrafts and helicopters made in the
Czech Republic are intended for five, ten and 12 passengers and may
contribute to development of tourism in Armenia.

“Armenia and the Czech Republic have considerable resources in tourism
area, therefore exchange of experience and joint efforts may produce
good results,” he said.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, trade
between the two countries amounted to $9.9 million in Jan-July 2014
against $13.26 million in Jan-July 2013. –0—-