Author: Badalian Vardan

IRAN TRUCK DRIVER FALLS INTO ARMENIA LAKE

February 14, 2014 | 11:23

YEREVAN. – The Rescue Service of Armenia received a call, on Friday
at 8:39am, informing of an accident nearby Khoren Lake, not far from
Areni village in Vayots Dzor Region.

It was found out that a truck had gone off road, at the
Yeghegnadzor-Areni section of the M2 interstate highway, and overturned
into the nearby lake.

As a result, truck driver J. T., who is an Iranian citizen, was
transferred to the Yeghegnadzor city medical center.

Doctors say the patient’s health condition is satisfactory.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIA’S AKOPIAN DEFEATS AZERBAIJAN’S RASULOV

February 14, 2014

Grandmaster (GM) Vladimir Akopian, who is a member of the Armenian
national team, defeated GM Vugar Rasulov (Azerbaijan) in Round 3 of the
David Bronstein Memorial chess tournament being held in Minsk, Belarus.

As a result, Akopian has tallied 2.5 points after three rounds.

But GM Gabriel Sargissian, another member of the three-time World
Chess Olympiad champions and the previous World Team Chess champions,
Armenia, lost to Vasif Durabayli (Azerbaijan).

GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan (Armenia), on the other hand, played a draw
with countryman Manuel Petrosyan.

Nine rounds will be played in the Bronstein Memorial.

NEWS.am Sport

670,000 ARMENIAN CITIZENS TRAVELED TO RUSSIA IN 2013

February 14, 2014 | 12:14

YEREVAN. – A total of 670,000 Armenian citizens traveled to Russia
in 2013, which is 20 percent more than the 540,000 people in 2012.

Svetlana Stepanova, Migration Policy Officer at the Russian Embassy
in Armenia, stated the aforementioned.

As per Stepanova, the number of Armenian nationals officially working
in Russia constituted 130,000 last year, and this is 4 percent more
than the 2012 indicator.

The embassy representative noted that 23,400 Armenian citizens were
refused entry to Russia in 2013, and another 8,000 were declined entry
as of Monday. Hence, a total of 31,500 Armenian nationals have been
rejected entry to Russia.

Svetlana Stepanova also noted that 170,000 Armenian citizens are
among the risk group.

“These are the citizens who have violated the duration of stay
[in Russia], have not prepared a work permit, and continue to stay
in Russia. Once crossing the border, their entry to Russia will be
automatically prohibited,” she added.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIA, IRAN REITERATE COMMITMENT TO IMPLEMENT RAILWAY PROJECT

18:45 14.02.2014

Armenia, Iran, railway

The Ministry of Transport and Communication is doing its best to
call to life the “Southern Railway of Armenia” program, a project
of strategic importance for the country, Minister of Transport and
Communication Gagik Beglaryan said at a meeting with the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran to Armenia Mohammad Reisi.

“The technical and economic plan has been worked out and is currently
under consideration,” he said.

The Ambassador emphasized the importance or the project for both
Armenia and Iran and stressed that it could greatly contribute to
the growth of commodity turnover between the ports of the Black Sea
and the Persian Gulf.

He reiterated the commitment of the Iranian side to implement the
project.

TRAVEL WEBSITE PRESENTS ARTSAKH AS NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC; AZERBAIJAN OUTRAGED

13:12 14.02.2014

Azerbaijan is going to appeal to the tripadvisor.com tourism website
for presenting Artsakh as “Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

The website, playing the role of a database about countries, tourist
facilities and hotels in Russian, English, Arabic, French and other
languages, provides information about hotels and tourism opportunities
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic for travelers.

Head of the Promotion Department of the Culture and Tourism Ministry
Vugar Shikhmammadov told APA that the Ministry is developing an appeal
to tripadvisor.com in this regard.

He also said that the hotels marked on the website should be licensed
by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism according to the legislation
of Azerbaijan: “We will ask them to remove hotels currently operating
without a license in Nagorno-Karabakh from the website.”

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Elman Abdullayev told APA that
the issue is being investigated: “The relevant diplomatic mission
has received instructions.”

L’UE SALUE LE SOUTIEN TURC A LA RELANCE DES NEGOCIATIONS SUR CHYPRE

CHYPRE

L’UE a salue lundi le “soutien” turc a la relance des pourparlers
pour une reunification de Chypre, mettant en sourdine ses critiques
sur une derive autoritaire en Turquie.

Lors d’un entretien a Bruxelles avec le chef de la diplomatie turque,
Ahmet Davutoglu, le commissaire a l’Elargissement, Stefan Fule, a fait
savoir que l’UE “a apprecie le soutien turc ces dernières semaines en
vue d’une relance des negociations entre les deux parties” chypriotes.

Les dirigeants chypriote-grec et chypriote-turc doivent se rencontrer
mardi pour relancer ces pourparlers, suspendus depuis 2012. Chypre
est coupee en deux depuis l’invasion de sa partie nord par la Turquie
en 1974, en reaction a une tentative de coup d’Etat de partisans du
rattachement de l’île a la Grèce.

M. Fule a par ailleurs convenu avec M. Davutoglu “de partager
par ecrit un certain nombre des preoccupations” de la Commission
europeenne concernant la recente loi turque renforcant le contrôle
de l’Etat sur Internet. “Il est du devoir de la Commission (…)
d’exprimer des inquietudes quand elles sont justifiees et d’offrir
son aide et soutien” aux pays candidats a l’UE, a souligne M. Fule,
dans un communique.

Par la voix de son porte-parole, l’UE avait exprime la semaine dernière
sa “forte preoccupation” face a cette legislation introduisant “des
restrictions a la liberte d’expression”, et contestee tant en Turquie
que par les Etats-Unis.

Selon une source europeenne, la rencontre lundi avec M. Davutoglu a
donne lieu “a un bon echange”, en depit des tensions croissantes entre
l’UE et le gouvernement islamo-conservateur de Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
suspecte de vouloir museler toute opposition depuis sa mise en cause
dans un vaste scandale de corruption.

La representante de la diplomatie de l’UE, Catherine Ashton, a
participe a ces entretiens, qui ont egalement porte sur les dossiers
syrien, iranien et les efforts de paix au Proche-Orient.

La crise traversee par le regime turc a donne un nouveau coup de frein
aux efforts de rapprochement du pays avec l’UE, alors que les deux
parties venaient de convenir cet automne de relancer les negociations
d’adhesion, entamees en 2005 mais freinees par le blocage du dossier
chypriote et les reticences des Europeens a ouvrir leurs portes a un
grand pays en majorite musulman.

vendredi 14 fevrier 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LA DECISION DE LA CEDH TOLERE LE >, ECRIT SA SAINTETE ARAM I

LIBAN

Dans une lettre au Conseiller federal du Departement de justice
et police , Simonetta Sammaruga , Sa Saintete Aram 1er a partage
l’indignation des Armeniens face a la decision de la Cour europeenne
des droits de l’ homme dans l’affaire Perencik condamnant la Suisse .

Le Catholicos a ecrit , > .

Abordant la question de la liberte d’ expression , le Catholicos
a ecrit > .

Sa Saintete Aram Ier a ensuite encourage le conseiller a faire appel
devant la Grande Chambre de la Cour europeenne car cela permettra
egalement d’assurer l’impartialite .

vendredi 14 fevrier 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LIFE CONDITIONS OF MUSLIMS CONVERTS DISCUSSED IN ARMENIA

Ahlul Bayt News Agency – abna.ir, Iran
Feb 13 2014

The Ministry of religious affairs of Armenia has discussed the problems
of Armenians who embraced Islam, armtoday.info news agency reports.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The Ministry of religious affairs of
Armenia has discussed the problems of Armenians who embraced Islam,
armtoday.info news agency reports.

According to the press service of the Ministry, the meeting was
attended by the Head of the Office Granush Akopyan, representatives
of social Armenian organizations, specialists in Turkic philology,
ethnographers, heads of educational and research centers.

During the discussions the participants delivered speeches and
offered their ways of solving the issues. At the end of the event
the Diaspora Minister made her closing remarks, thanking everyone
for their participation and constructive suggestions.

CITY READS ‘THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS’

Glendale News-Press (California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
February 12, 2014 Wednesday

by Nicole Charky, Glendale News-Press, Calif.

Feb. 12–Novelist Chris Bohjalian knows that he inherited a history
of survival.

As the descendant of Armenian genocide survivors, The New York Times
best-selling author discovered resilience was in his blood, inspiring
his epic love story “The Sandcastle Girls.”

Library staff selected his work for Glendale’s One Book/One City
project, an open invitation for local residents to read a novel
together.

“They found me,” said Bohjalian, the first Armenian American author
to be featured in the reading event in conversation with City Clerk
Ardy Kassakhian at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Glendale Central Library.

“I’m the grandson of survivors of the Armenian genocide, so this story
has always been important to me,” said the Vermont-based novelist.

“Writing ‘The Sandcastle Girls,’ however, helped me to discover the
part of my ancestral DNA that is deeply Armenian.”

Bohjalian’s historical fiction travels between present day and 1915
Aleppo, Syria. Armenian American character Laura Petrosian pursues
her heritage, discovering her grandparents’ romance during World War
I and unraveling family secrets kept hidden for years.

The novel has achieved critical success both in and outside the
Armenian community for a simple reason, Bohjalian said.

“It’s a love story,” he said.

“The Sandcastle Girls” was translated into more than 25 languages
and read in communities without direct ties to the Armenian culture.

“I wrote this book for non-Armenians. Armenians already know this
story. Non-Armenians read it,” he said.

Bohjalian’s book was chosen for the city’s reading project for a number
of reasons, said Chuck Wike, spokesman for the Glendale Public Library.

“His work is wildly popular,” Wike said. “He’s a wonderful speaker,
and this novel should resonate with our community.”

Bohjalian believes the support from Armenian National Committee of
America and his Los Angeles-area friends helped propel his book to
critical acclaim, landing his novel a spot on Oprah’s Book Club.

The One Book/One Glendale project now means that additional readers
in the community can find the novel and learn more about the genocide.

“I’ve met a lot of Armenians in Glendale, Los Angeles, who read this
book when it first came out and were deeply touched by it. That was
gratifying,” he said.

Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, large type, eBook and eAudio versions
of “The Sandcastle Girls” are available online and at all Glendale
Library, Arts & Culture locations.

___

What: Chris Bohjalian in conversation with Ardy Kassakhian about
Bohjalian’s book “The Sandcastle Girls”

Where: Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St.

When: Thursday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m.

BAR ASSOC. URGES ACTION FROM SWITZERLAND ON COURT RULING

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

The Armenian Bar Association

Armenian Bar Association sends letters to Swiss ambassadors in U.S.,
Canada

LOS ANGELES–The Armenian Bar Association has addressed letters to
the Swiss Ambassadors to the United States and Canada, respectively,
calling for the appeal of the European Court of Human Rights’ verdict
on the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The ECHR struck down a Swiss
law prohibiting the denial of the Armenian Genocide after the trial
of Turkish politician and Genocide-denier Dogu Perincek. Below is
the letter sent by the ABA.

***

Dear Ambassador,

On December 17, 2013, a Chamber judgment of the European Court of
Human Rights (hereinafter, the “ECHR”), in the case of Perincek vs.

Switzerland (application no. 27510/08), held that Article 261bis,
paragraph 4 of the Swiss Criminal Code violates Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights. The majority judgment is neither
final nor binding and the delay to refer the decision to the Grand
Chamber of the Court expires on March 17, 2014.

The Armenian Bar Association is the largest, most diverse group
of Armenian-American judges, lawyers, law professors and students
united by the greatest -and often elusive- universal interest, namely
justice. We vigorously condemn what we consider as a blatant travesty
of justice.

Given the powerful dissent of Judges VuÄ~MiniÄ~G and Pinto de
Albuquerque, we are confident that the Grand Chamber of the Court
will agree that the case deserves further examination, to reverse
the majority decision and deliver a just final judgment, upholding
Swiss Law.

With this non-final ruling, the ECHR casts a shadow of doubt on the
veracity of the Armenian Genocide. Under the guise of protecting
freedom of expression, the court tramples on universal values against
inciting hatred, and abuse of rights. The judgment also risks creating
an unfortunate legal precedent for all abhorrent versions of denial
and hate speech, thereby establishing a blueprint of immunity that
would encourage future perpetrators of genocide.

The decision further enhances the credibility of individuals such as
Mr. Dogu Perincek, who has been convicted to life in prison in Turkey,
under conspiracy and various other charges.

The Armenian Bar Association thanks Switzerland for its brave stand
on Genocide recognition and denial prevention. We hereby request that
you convey our message to the Federal Council of Switzerland, so that
it may apply to the ECHR Grand Chamber, if it has not done so already.

Yours very truly,

[Omitted]