Author: Badalian Vardan

Iranian Army Preparing for 8 Wargames

Tue Jan 28, 2014 2:42

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force General Ahmad
Reza Pourdastan said his forces will stage eight sets of drills in the
next Iranian year (starts March 21, 2014).

“The Ground Force programs for the year 1393 (March 2014-March 2015)
comprise of eight wargames, including a drill in the cyber field for
the first time,” he said.

The Iranian commander underlined Iran’s full preparedness to confront
enemy’s possible threats, but stressed that the Armed Forces need to
maintain their preparedness through exercises.

Iran’s Army and IRGC hold regular wargames to practice combat tactics
and also test new home-made military tools, equipment and weapons in
action.

Iranian officials and commanders have repeatedly underlined that all
military exercises and trainings of the Iranian Armed Forces are
merely meant to serve deterrent purposes.

“When the enemy observes that our Armed Forces are constantly in
wargame zones and their fingers are kept on the trigger, it will not
dare to invade the Islamic Iran’s borders,” Pourdastan said in
January, underlining the significance of military trainings for
boosting the country’s deterrent power.

As regards the Iranian Armed Forces’ military exercises, Pourdastan
described wargames as “very important” to the Iranian military, and
said drills have provided the Iranian military forces, including the
Army Ground Force, with an opportunity to test its achievements and
remove deficiencies for future missions.

The Iranian Ground Force conducted Beit ol-Moqaddas 25 in the general
zone of Isfahan from May 20 to 24 in a bid to boost its units’
military preparedness and exercise different asymmetric tactics.

Lieutenant Commander of Ground Force for Training General Hossein
Shokouhi told FNA at the time that different army units, including air
force, airborne, infantry, armored, cavalry, artillery, air-defense,
drone, communications and logistical units participated in the
wargames.

Shokouhi further noted that during the drills, the Iranian army tested
its latest home-made weapons and equipment, including the newly
unveiled Shaher sniper rifle, Neinava tactical vehicle, optimized
Scorpion tanks, anti-chopper launchers, Fadak wireless radio and
Akhgar machinegun.

The commander also said that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and
aircrafts were used in the exercises for reconnaissance and aerial
imaging operations.

Freedom House: No country reacts as aggressive as Azerbaijan to
reports of organization

17:03 01/02/2014 >> REGION

No country in the world reacts to the report of Freedom House in such
an aggressive manner as the Azerbaijani authorities do, Arch
Puddington, the Vice President of the American Human Rights
Organization Freedom House said in an interview with Azerbaijani News
Agency Turan in connection with the recent accusations of the official
Baku.

According to him it is not the first time that Azerbaijan reacts to
the reports in a wrong way. Instead of discussing the issues
highlighted by the Human Rights Organization, the authorities in
politically unfair and unconvincing way attack Freedom House by
organizing spam attacks on it.

To the question why the government of Azerbaijan reacts to Freedom
House Puddington answered that this is not the only organization that
gives a very critical assessment of the situation of democracy and
human rights in Azerbaijan, so perhaps the government of Azerbaijan
acts in the same manner with other organizations as well. “They are
obviously unhappy with our estimates and reports. I don’t know why but
they think that the availability of the reports in the press that
contradict the reality and an online campaign against us would affect
our analysis. Anyway it will not affect.”

Puddington states that if we look back at the historical period
between the years of 1995, 1998 and 2000, Freedom House gave
Azerbaijan much better estimates than the country receives today.

“Thus, we were not biased by Azerbaijan in 2000 when we ranked
Azerbaijan as partially free country as we had expectations that the
adherence to the standards of Human Rights could be improved in the
country,” the Human Rights Defender said noting that the situation
worsened in the last decade.

“I don’t know what it is. I know that Azerbaijan has energy resources
and this is the reason why it is addressed diplomatically,
specifically because it is an energy giant. In this regard our reports
have less impact on Azerbaijan than they could have on the countries
without energy resources. However, I also think that the leadership of
Azerbaijan certainly would like to see their country recognized if not
as a great power but at least a respected member of international
diplomatic and economic sphere. Perhaps our reports in regard to this
irritate them,” Puddington noted.

To the question about the inclusion of Nagorno Karabakh into the list
of “partially free” countries the Human Rights Defender said that
their organization gives individual assessment also to the areas which
are not recognized as sovereign countries such as the West Bank , Gaza
Strip , Palestine , Western Sahara , South Ossetia, Abkhazia
Transnistria , Tibet and others.

Puddington stated that the organization doesn’t single out Nagorno
Karabakh and doesn’t try to punish Azerbaijan.

“We don’t have pro-Armenian or pro-Azerbaijani bias. We assess the
Nagorno Karabakh because it is a disputed territory. This is a
territory the status of which is not decided yet and which is not
controlled either by Azerbaijan or by Armenia. Our analysts considered
that the situation in Nagorno Karabakh is such that it can be
evaluated as “partially free” and that is why we gave that estimate,”
Puddington said.

He also referred to the release of a call record by Azerbaijani Media
where the director of Azerbaijani News Agency Turan Mehman Aliyev
speaks with the alleged representative of the Freedom House some
Evgeni who called from Ukraine to tell that they are ready “to make
the changes” in Azerbaijan.

“Evgeni doesn’t work at Freedom House. We don’t know anyone by that
name. And of course there was no phone call to Azerbaijan from the
official saying that we are ready to aim at Azerbaijan. This is a
primitive fable devised by Azerbaijani authorities,” Puddington
declared.

Note that according to the Freedom House report “Freedom in the World
2014” Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic are ranked as
“partially free” countries, while Azerbaijan is noted by the
organization among the countries that recorded a significant decline
in freedom.

Source: Panorama.am

Sponsorship Needed for Inesa Sargsyan at Gavar Orphanage

Gavar Orphanage is a state orphanage in Gavar housing approximately
115 children between the ages of 3 and 18. SOAR’s Sponsorship
Program is the primary mechanism through which we provide support to
specific orphaned Armenians. The entire donation benefits the
individual you are sponsoring – no funds support the facilities or
SOAR generally. Once a week, we highlight an orphaned Armenian in
need of sponsorship. This week we highlight Inesa Sargsyan.

Name: Inesa Sargsyan

Facility: Gavar Orphanage

Gender: Female

DOB: April 2o, 1992

Father’s name/Occupation: Unknown

Mother’s name/Occupation: Unknown

Family history: Unknown

Health history and current medical conditions:

Inesa studies in the Law Department of Gavar State University. She is
an excellent student.

If you would like to sponsor Inesa, please contact George S.
Yacoubian, Jr., at [email protected] or select her (under Gavar)
through our Sponsorship Enrollment page. Thank you in advance for
your support!

SOCIETY FOR ORPHANED ARMENIAN RELIEF (SOAR)

1060 First Avenue, Suite 400, King of Prussia, PA 19406

Office: 610.213.3452 Fax: 610.229.5168

Email: [email protected] Web:

Armenia’s natural population growth in 2013 declined by 2 percent from the
year before to 14,605 people

YEREVAN, February 1. / ARKA /. Armenia’s natural population growth in 2013
declined by almost 2 percent from the year before to 14,605, Karine
Kuyumjyan, head of census and demography department of the National
Statistical Service, told a news conference today.

The number of babies born last year decreased by 1.7 % to 41,770 (19,570
girls and 22,220 boys) against 42,480 babies born in 2012. The number of
deaths also decreased by 1.6 % to 27,165 against 27.599 in 2012.

Kuyumjyan said the birth rate in Yerevan, Aragatsotn , Ararat , Kotayk
and Shirak regions was higher of the national average (14 per 1,000
persons), while the lowest birth rates were recorded in Vayots Dzor ,
Armavir, Syunik , Gegharkunik and Tavush regions.

According to demographer, 411 cases of child mortality (under 1 year) were
reported last year against 458 cases in 2012.

Armenia’s population as of January 1, 2014 decreased by 9,500 from the year
earlier to 3. 017.4 million. Some 1. 914.3 million were urban residents. -0-

– See more at:

ARMENIE
Une personne gée arménienne qualifiée de > par Bakou

L’armée azerbaïdjanaise a confirmé ses allégations selon lesquelles un
résident de 77 ans d’un village à la frontière arménienne capturé par
ses forces faisait partie d’une unité de commando arménien qui a
essayé d’entrer en Azerbaïdjan cette semaine.

Les agences de presse azerbaïdjanaises ont cité un porte-parole du
ministère de la Défense à Bakou affirmant que l’homme, Mamikon
Khojoyan, a agi comme guide pour les troupes arméniennes qui
envisageient de mener une incursion transfrontalière.

Le ministère avait affirmé plus tôt que Mamikon Khojoyan avait été
blessé et arrêté mardi après que les forces azerbaïdjanaises aient
repoussé un >. D’autres reportages
azerbaïdjanais ont déclaré, cependant, que le résident de Verin
Karmiraghbyur, un village du nord de l’Arménie, était en fait détenu
par des villageois azéris et remis aux autorités militaires.

Le ministère arménien de la Défense et le maire du village de Verin
Karmiraghbyur, Kamo Chobanian, ont ri des revendications officielles
de Bakou. Selon Chobanian, le vieil homme souffre de troubles mentaux
et s’est égaré dans le territoire azerbaïdjanais par accident.

Uzeir Jafarov, un analyste militaire de l’Azerbaïdjan, a également
rejeté la version officielle de l’Azerbaïdjan sur la capture de
Khojoyan. >, a déclaré
Jafarov. >.

Khojoyan a été montré jeudi à la télévision azerbaïdjanaise. Il a été
montré assis sur ce qui ressemblait à un lit d’hôpital, avec son bras
droit dans le pltre, et a parlé à la chaîne ANS. > et a ajouté >.

samedi 1er février 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

YOU SAID IT: THE HIGHLAND – BERDZOR (ARTSAKH) SISTER CITY PLAN

Highland Community News, CA
Jan 31 2014

Published: Thursday, January 30, 2014 4:21 PM PST

The Highland City Council has recently been discussing the adoption
of Berdzor, Nagorno Karabakh, as Highland’s sister city. Nagorno
Karabakh, next to Armania, is a breakaway nation not recognized by
the U.S. government.

This week we asked online readers: Should Highland recognize Berdzor,
Nagorno Karabakh, by choosing it as a sister city?

In a poll that brought much greater response than usual 95 percent of
voters answered “no.” Three percent indicated they were “indifferent”
to the issue while one percent said they were “unsure.” Two percent
of voters answered “yes” for the adoption of Berdzor as a sister city.

JAILED PKK LEADER PENS LETTER URGING SUPPORT FROM ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

Hurriyet Daily News , Turkey
Jan 30 2014

ISTANBUL

The PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan (L) is seen with the BDP lawmakers
Pervin Buldan (R) and BDP co-chair Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ (C) at
İmralı Island. DHA Photo

The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has penned a
letter to the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, calling on the Armenian
community to support the demands of Kurds in Turkey.

“The Kurdish people’s fight for freedom and the cure for the Armenian
people’s sorrows have overlapped in the fight to [be able to] live
in this land as citizens who share the same rights,” Abdullah Ocalan
said in the letter, published Jan. 30.

The letter came after the co-chair of the Kurdistan Communities Union
(KCK), Bese Hozat, controversially described the Armenian, Jewish
and Greek lobbies as a “parallel state,” echoing Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s accusations against the movement of the U.S.-based
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen (Cemaat).

In the letter, Ocalan also accused anti-democratic powers “from
inside and outside of” Turkey of hampering the resolution of
the Kurdish issue. “Every time that we undertook peaceful paths,
they have interrupted it with provocations,” Ocalan wrote. He cited
“capital lobbies” and “structures such the Cemaat” as groups that
sought to hamper the processes.

He also said the killing of former Agos editor Hrant Dink was
perpetrated with the same logic. “The true friend of the people Hrant
Dink was massacred by the representatives of this dirty mentality,
to serve the purpose that I have attempted to describe above,” Ocalan
wrote, urging the Armenian community to stand against such networks.

“I invite everyone to be more vigilant and consider matters more
objectively against deep, open or parallel structures, and different
structures as lobbies, or the Cemaat, which intend to frustrate our
endeavor for the people,” he said.

In the letter, the jailed PKK leader also urged the Turkish state to
reckon with its past “regarding the Armenian genocide.”

“In our time, it is necessary that the whole world recognizes the
Armenian people’s tragedy, paving the way for the mourning of their
sorrows. It is inevitable that the Turkish Republic will approach
the matter with such maturity and reckon with this bitter history,”
Ocalan said.

The letter comes amid growing uncertainty about the stalled Kurdish
peace process. Ocalan had previously argued the graft probes launched
on Dec. 17 were attempting to prevent the peace process launched over
a year ago.

January/30/2014

U.S. EMBASSY CONGRATULATES ARMENIA, U.S. COMPANY CONTOUR GLOBAL

Targeted News Service
January 29, 2014 Wednesday 6:59 PM EST

YEREVAN, Armenia

The U.S. Embassy issued the following news release:

The United States Embassy welcomes the agreement between the government
of Armenia and the U.S. Company ContourGlobal over the purchase of the
Vorotan Hydro Cascade. This 180 million dollar investment represents
the largest ever U.S. private investment in Armenia and the first
U.S. investment in Armenia’s energy sector. The Vorotan Hydro Cascade
is a series of three hydroelectric power plants capable of generating
405 MW (on the Vorotan River in southern Armenia). It is one of the
largest and most flexible power generating facilities in Armenia
and the Caucasus. The agreement was signed today in the office of
the Prime Minister, by the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
Mr. Armen Movsisyan and ContourGlobal’s Executive Vice President and
CEO for Eastern Europe & CIS, Mr. Garry K.

Levesley. The U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John A. Heffern was also
present.

Under the terms of the agreement, ContourGlobal Hydro Cascade, a direct
and wholly owned subsidiary of ContourGlobal, will supply power to
the Armenian grid under a long-term power purchase agreement. It will
also invest US$ 70 million over the next six years in a refurbishment
program to modernize the plants and improve their operational
performance, safety, reliability, and efficiency.

ContourGlobal expects the modernization to create 150 near-term jobs,
in addition to the 150 long-term technicians that will be employed
at the plants.

ARMED FORCES OF ARMENIA WILL RECEIVE SUPER PRECISE MISSILE SYSTEMS IN 2014

DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 29, 2014 Wednesday

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 27, 2014, p. 7

Defense Minister of Armenia Seiran Oganian reports that in 2014
Armenian army will receive super precise long-range missile systems.

Earlier, Armenian and Russian mass media reported frequently that
Armenia received and was going to deploy Russian systems Iskander-M
soon. Oganian also adds that the process of creation of unified
Armenian-Russian air defense system will be completed soon too. He
said, “We are currently working together in some directions and
exchange information with Russian colleagues and we have a common
command point. I think that in the near future we will be able to
improve this system.”

[Translated from Russian]

ARMENIA DETERMINED TO FIGHT FOR “FREEDOM” OF AZERBAIJAN’S REBEL REGION – LEADER

Public Television of Armenia
Jan 28 2014

Armenia is determined to continue fighting for the independence
of Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagornyy Karabakh. President
Serzh Sargsyan made this statement at a ceremony to mark the 22nd
anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Armed Forces, the
Armenian Public TV Channel 1 reported on 28 January.

“The armed forces of Armenia and the Nagornyy Karabakh republic
made it clear to all, including an opponent, that freedom of Artsakh
[Karabakh] is above everything else. Freedom is not given as a present,
and we are ready to fight and win,” Sargsyan said.

“The 20th anniversary of the signing of ceasefire will be marked in May
2014. Our army and the public have been living in a no-war no-peace
situation for two decades,” Sargsyan said, adding that the army was
fulfilling its mission with honour in such difficult circumstances.

He went on to praise the army for proving that “arrogant statements
by the opponent are worthless” thanks to the Armenian military’s
determination to safeguard the border. Sargsyan said that the army
would remain at the border as long as necessary.

[Translated from Armenian]