Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH CUSTOMS UNION – JUSTICE MINISTRY

September 26, 2013 | 13:31

YEREVAN. – The ongoing activities toward constitutional reforms in
Armenia have nothing to do with the decision to enter the Customs
Union.

Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan noted the above-said Thursday during
a briefing with news reporters.

“The Committee on Constitutional Reforms has already convened several
sessions. We still have time until next April to design a concept. The
committee is an advisory body; it is not that whatever is decided
will be as such.

“The recommendations will be submitted to the President, who will
decide to [either] initiate or do nothing at all.

“At this point, the word is about a professional working group,”
Tovmasyan said.

To note, following the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow
between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir
Putin, Sargsyan had announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs
Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian
Economic Union.

ARMENIAN FAMILIES RECEIVED 10-DAY NOTICE OF EVICTION TO HOST RUSSIAN SOLDIERS

A group of Armenian families living in the 8th district of Gyumri
have informed Gala TV that they are made to move from their apartments
where families of soldiers arriving from Russia will live. “Last week
they have received notices to move from the apartments to vacate space
for Russian families. We have heard Russian servicemen living in the
neighborhood talk that 3000 families will move to Gyumri in the result
of serious recruitment for the 102nd military base,” Arman Gevorgyan
told Gala TV. Besides Russian soldiers Armenians of Russia also live
in the mentioned district of Gyumri.

The Russian consulate did not comment on this issue. The Russian
embassy said they do not have any detailed information on Moscow’s
intention to expand the 102nd military base of Gyumri.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said the ministry is going
to meet and discuss the issue of these families to make sure that
they are not left in the street. He also said he was unaware of the
reasons for Russia’s intention.

17:51 26/09/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

CONFERENCE ABOUT ISLAMIZED ARMENIANS WILL BE ORGANIZED IN TURKEY

20:05, 26 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: On November 2-4 in Istanbul will be
organized a conference dedicated to problems of Islamized Armenians
in Turkey. “Armenpress” reports that the conference is organized by
Hrant Dink foundation, Istanbul Boghazichi University and “Malatia
HayDER” organization.

Among the key issues of the discussion are those relating to
different problems of Islamized Armenians, particularly connected
with religious and national identity issues. A separate theme is the
issue of Hamshin Armenians. Attention will be paid to gender problems
of Islamized Armenians.

At the meeting will be present wife of Hrant Dink – Rakel Dink, famous
publicist, writer Fetihie Chetin, president of Boghazichi University
Gyula Barbarosoghlu, other famous scientists and researchers.

FRENCH ENVOY: WE WISH TO CONTINUE COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA IN ALL AREAS AND FORMATS

16:46 26/09/2013 ” TOPIC OF THE DAY

Of course we are aware of Armenia’s decision to join the Customs
Union. Nevertheless, we have expressed our willingness to continue
cooperation with Armenia in all areas and formats, French Ambassador
to Armenia Henri Reynaud told a press briefing today when asked how
he sees further cooperation between Armenia and the European Union
and if the Customs Union can hinder this cooperation.

The envoy said that France welcomes Armenia’s determination and
willingness not only to continue cooperation with the European Union
but also to deepen the existing partnership.

“Armenia is well aware that it can be hopeful that France will always
assist and support the realization of its wish,” Henri Reynaud said.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO BUILD AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS

YEREVAN, September 26. / ARKA /. The Armenian government will build
apartments for public servants at affordable prices, Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan said during a government session today.

He said the construction is expected to kick off in 2014.

“Very often, civil servants can not make the down payment on a mortgage
loan, and we are ready to provide state guarantees to ensure that
banks do not require it,” he explained.

The prime minister noted that the plan will contribute to a significant
increase in demand for mortgage loans. He said a working group
will be set up to be headed by the chief of government staff Vache
Gabrielyan to develop a program for the construction of affordable
housing in accordance with the lists of civil servants who want to
buy an apartment.

Sargsyan said that the current average price for 1 square meter of
housing in Yerevan is about $800.

The prime minister instructed the Yerevan Municipality to find suitable
areas that can be given to developers at low prices.

As of July of this year, the average market price per square meter
of housing in residential buildings in Yerevan was 272,100 drams,
an increase of 0.04 % compared to July last year. At the same time,
the average cost per square meter of housing in privately-owned houses
in the reporting period amounted to 286,600 from 275,600 drams in
July last year. ($ 1 – 405.86 drams). -0-

– See more at:

ASSAD SAYS HE DOESN’T DISCOUNT U.S. MILITARY ATTACK POSSIBILITY

September 26, 2013 – 09:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview
broadcast Wednesday, Sept 25, that he does not discount the possibility
of a U.S. military attack even though threatened action was forestalled
when he agreed to give up chemical weapons.

Assad also said in an interview broadcast by Venezuela’s state-run
Telesur network that his government has confessions from rebels that
they brought chemical weapons into the civil war-wracked nation.

According to the broadcast’s Spanish dubbing, Assad said all evidence
pointed to rebel responsibility for the attack.

He said that Syrian authorities had uncovered chemical arms caches
and labs and that the evidence had been turned over to Russia, which
brokered the deal that helped persuade U.S. President Barack Obama to
pull back from threatened military action over an Aug 21 gas attack
that killed civilians in a Damascus suburb.

In a speech at the UN on Tuesday, Obama said he would not use military
force to depose Assad. But Washington and Moscow remain at odds on
how to hold Syria accountable if it does not live up to its pledge
to dismantle its chemical weapons stockpile.

Assad predicted during the 40-minute interview that “terrorists would
try to block access of UN inspectors who enter Syria to secure the
government’s chemical arsenal.”

While Assad said he had evidence that countries including Saudi Arabia
were arming Syrian rebels, he said he had no proof that any particular
country had supplied them with chemical weapons.

He was also asked about the apparent thaw in relations between the
U.S. and Iran, his government’s chief patron in the region.

Assad called the development positive but added that he did not
consider it to mean that Tehran’s leaders trust Washington. He said
it was important that the U.S. stop pressuring Iran not to have
nuclear technology.

Assad also accused the Obama administration of lying to U.S. citizens
by claiming it has proof that Assad’s government was responsible for
the Aug 21 gas attack.

Interviewed by China’s state television CCTV in Damascus on Monday, the
Syrian capital, said he was not concerned about the draft resolution
and that China and Russia would “ensure any excuse for military action
against Syria will not stand.”

“I am not concerned. Since its independence, Syria has been committed
to all the treaties it has signed. We will honor everything that we
have agreed to do. And more importantly, I want to say, by submitting
the draft to the UN Security Council, or by urging the U.S. and
Russia to agree on a deal, the U.S., France, and Britain are just
trying to make themselves winners in a war against a Syria which is
their imaginary enemy,” Assad was quoted as saying.

In an interview on the Fox News television channel earlier this month,
Assad said his government would dispose of its chemical weapons arsenal
and it would take about a year. “I think it is a very complicated
operation technically and it needs a lot, a lot of money.

Some estimated about a billion for the Syrian stockpile,” he said.

He said the Syrian army was advancing in the area at the time and
had no need to fire rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin, as
the United States says it did. “The whole story doesn’t even hold
together. It’s not realistic. So, no, we didn’t. In one word, we
didn’t use any chemical weapons in Ghouta,” he said, speaking English.

UKRAINE READY TO SIGN 70 BASIC AGREEMENTS OF CUSTOMS UNION

YEREVAN, September 26. /ARKA/. Ukraine may join some 70 basic
agreements of Russia-led Customs Union (CU), Ukraine’s premier
Nikolay Azarov said at his meeting with the Russian counterpart Dmitry
Medvedev. Azarov said cooperation with the CU is not an obstacle in
signing an association agreement with the EU. “I’m supporting the
idea of finding a common language and responding to real threats,
not hypothetical ones”, Azarov said as quoted by rbc.ru. The premiers
expressed their concerns over the fact that turnover between Russia
and Ukraine dropped approximately by 19% in 2013. It happened because
Ukraine decided to reduce its purchases of the expensive Russian gas,
Azarov said. The premiers agreed about new dynamics and recovered
volumes of the turnover between the countries. Normalizing relations
will be discussed at a meeting of intergovernmental commission on
economy scheduled for mid October. Experts of the countries are
expected to analyze the current trade situation and to develop
measures to overcome contradictions ahead of the meeting. Earlier
Russian premier Medvedev said the regime of partnership will Russia
will be cancelled once Ukraine becomes an associated EU member. N.V.

-0–

– See more at:

EXPERTS: ARMENIA MAY BECOME CUSTOMS UNION’S GATES INTO MIDDLE EAST AND SOUTH ASIA

by Gayane Isahakyan

ARMINFO
Wednesday, September 25, 20:02

Russia is interested in Armenia as a transit corridor to the Middle
East and South Asia, Director of the Center for Integration Studies
at the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) Yevgeny Vinokurov said on
Wednesday during a Moscow-Yerevan video conference on the economic
advantages of the Eurasian project for Armenia.

“All the members of the Customs Union are interested in the building of
the North-South transport corridor and the reopening of the Abkhazian
railway. This project will be financed by the EDB-controlled EurasEC
Anti-Crisis Fund,” Vinokurov said.

He said that one of the issues of the joint agenda may also be the
Georgian problem. “According to surveys, 59% of the Georgians are
interested in normal relations with Russia and are well disposed
towards the Customs Union. This is a good chance for Armenia and all
the member states,” Vinokurov said.

Deputy Director of the Noravank Scientific Education Foundation
Sevak Sarukhanyan stressed the importance of railway projects in the
territory of Armenia. “Armenia may become the Customs Union’s gates
into the Middle East and South Asia,” he said.

The expert believes that the reopening of the Abkhazian railway will
foster integration in the South Caucasus. “All the transport and
energy corridors built in the region so far run from east to west
rather from north to south,” Sarukhanyan said.

He welcomes Armenia’s wish to join the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization as China may also be interested in the Iran-Armenia
railway project.

The 556 km long North-South transport corridor will give access to the
Black Sea and Europe through the territory of Armenia (Meghri-Kapan-
Goris-Yerevan-Ashtarak-Gyumri-Bavra) and Georgia.

While visiting Yerevan in Jan 2013, Georgian Prime Minister Birdzina
Ivanishvili mentioned the possibility of restarting the Abkhazian
railway stopped as a result of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict in
1992- 1993.

REVUE DE PRESSE N1 – 26/09/13 – COLLECTIF VAN

Publie le : 26-09-2013

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN [Vigilance
Armenienne contre le Negationnisme] vous propose une revue de presse
des informations parues dans la presse francophone, sur les thèmes
concernant la Turquie, le genocide armenien, la Shoah, le genocide
des Tutsi, le Darfour, le negationnisme, l’Union europeenne, Chypre,
etc… Nous vous suggerons egalement de prendre le temps de lire ou
de relire les informations et traductions mises en ligne dans notre
rubrique Par
ailleurs, certains articles en anglais, allemand, turc, etc, ne sont
disponibles que dans la newsletter Word que nous generons chaque jour.

Pour la recevoir, abonnez-vous a la Veille-Media : c’est gratuit !

Vous recevrez le document du lundi au vendredi dans votre boîte email.

Bonne lecture.

Moscou/Erevan/Diaspora : possibilites de travail en reseau Info
Collectif VAN – – ” Je reviens d’un colloque de
trois jours a Erevan : 40 activistes armeniens, des journalistes et des
representants d’organisations politiques, religieuses et culturelles
de 18 pays (Argentine, Armenie, Artsakh, Belgique, Bresil, Canada,
Danemark, Egypte, Ethiopie, France, Iran, Israël, Liban, Pays-Bas,
Russie, Syrie, Etats-Unis d’Amerique et Uruguay), ont assiste a
des reunions a huis-clos avec des responsables gouvernementaux haut
places. ” Le Collectif VAN vous propose la traduction de l’editorial
du journaliste armeno-americain Harut Sassounian, paru dans The
California Courier le 26 septembre 2013.

Darfour : la CPI demande d’arreter Omar el Bechir Info Collectif VAN –
– “En vue de la tenue de la prochaine Assemblee
generale des Nations-Unies qui se tiendra bientôt a New-York, le
president soudanais a fait benoitement une demande de visa pour les
USA. Omar el Bechir fait l’objet d’un mandat d’arret international
pour crimes de guerre, crimes contre l’humanite et genocide commis
sous ses ordres au Darfour. L’homme ne manque ni de culot ni de
cynisme. Le Collectif Urgence Darfour demande aux Etats Unis et a
tous les Etats membres de l’ONU de tout mettre en ~uvre pour arreter
Omar el Bechir.” Le Collectif VAN vous propose de lire le communique
de presse de la Cour Penale Internationale (CPI) publie sur le site
du Collectif Urgence Darfour le 21 septembre 2013.

Presse armenienne : Revue du 26 septembre 2013 Info Collectif VAN –
– “Stepanakert possède desormais un nouveau centre
medical equipe des appareils les plus modernes/ La construction de
celui-ci est devenu possible grâce aux investissements a hauteur de 22
M USD du richissime Russe d’origine armenienne,Samvel Karapetian.” Le
Collectif VAN vous presente cette Revue de Presse parue sur le site
de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie le 26 septembre 2013.

Grèce: le crepuscule des neo-nazis d’Aube doree?

Le parti neo-nazi qui multipliait violences et provocations dans une
relative impunite, depuis son entree au Parlement grec il y a un an,
est dans le collimateur du gouvernement et de la police depuis la
mort d’un rappeur antifasciste.

La securite nationale de l’Armenie en peril par la migration croissante
selon le Dashnaktsutiun La migration menace la securite nationale
du pays a declare Armen Rustamyan, le chef de la faction de la
Federation revolutionnaire armenienne a l’Assemblee nationale lors
d’une rencontre avec des journalistes pour presenter le programme
social du parti appele ” Nous allons vivre dans notre pays “.

La contestation en Turquie se poursuit Sans atteindre l’importance des
manifestations de mai-juin a Istanbul contre un projet d’urbanisation
du parc Gezi, les mouvements de protestation en Turquie se poursuivent
de facon sporadique comme la mobilisation a la mi-septembre après
la mort d’un manifestant a Antioche ou encore par des actions
visant a peindre des couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel des escaliers a
Istanbul. Nouvelle forme de manifestation que relate ” Hurriyet “,
des garcons de lycee ont recemment defile en portant des jupes dans
les rues d’Antalya (sud).

L’ambassadeur russe dit que perdre une partie de la souverainete
dans une Union economique est naturel Tout pays adherant a une
Union internationale, en particulier, une union economique, perd une
partie de sa souverainete vers un organisme supranational, a declare
l’ambassadeur russe en Armenie Ivan Volynkin lors d’une conference
de presse.

Nouvelle audience de la Cour d’Appel de Paris concernant l’extradition
du genocidaire presume, Innocent Musabyimana Soupconne d’avoir
participe au genocide de 1994, le rwandais Innocent Musabyimana
est sous le coup d’un mandat d’arret international et d’une demande
d’extradition de Kigali.

Pas de libre circulation pour les Turcs La Cour de justice de
l’Union europeenne (CJUE) a decide le 24 septembre que l’UE n’a pas
l’obligation d’accorder aux citoyens turcs le droit d’entrer sur son
territoire sans visa. La Cour a deboute une plaignante turque qui
s’etait vue refuser un visa pour rendre visite a un parent resident en
Allemagne en 2007, estimant qu’en tant que potentielle beneficiaire de
services au sein de l’UE, elle ne pouvait beneficier d’une exemption
de visa.

Direction le Rwanda dans l’edito international avec Nicolas Willems.

Voici un pays plein de contradictions. Le Rwanda, pays d’Afrique
centrale qui a connu des heures extremement sombres lors du genocide
de 1994, donne aujourd’hui l’image d’une democratie ouverte et d’un
pays dynamique en plein essor economique.

Retour a la rubrique

LE CONSEIL PUBLIC DEMANDE LE DEMANTELEMENT DU PAREMENT DE L’ENCEINTE DE GANDZASAR

ARMENIE

La Sous-commission pour la preservation des valeurs et des monuments
historiques du Conseil public d’Armenie a pris la decision d’envoyer
une lettre aux President de l’Armenie et du Nagorno Karabagh et au
Catholicos de Tous Armeniens Karekine II. La lettre contiendra une
proposition visant a demanteler les carreaux de parement de l’enceinte
du complexe du monastère de Gandzasar.

La sous-commission demande que le gouvernement prenne une decision
sur le demantèlement du parement de l’enceinte du monastère et la
pleine restauration conformement a son style historique ainsi qu’une
participation d’experts de l’organisation professionnelle du travail.

jeudi 26 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com