Author: Badalian Vardan

Hovsep Khurshudyan. `Our security has never been so much endangered as now.’

September 21 2013

`Heritage’ party spokesman Hovsep Khurshudyan, in the interview with
Aravot.am, did not exclude that tomorrow we might celebrate the last
Independence Day. `Nothing is excluded. Putin may wake up in Russia
and decide that it’s time for Armenia to enter the zone of the ruble,
it is the time that at a larger scale offices operate here, which will
take our countrymen to work in Altay. Russia, as you know, is in need
for workforce. If everything is going to be decided in the Kremlin as
to what should happen in Armenia, how it should react in this or that
issue, it would naturally mean that the preservation of the national
flag and anthem would merely be circumstances of formal character.’
Hovsep Khurshudyan noted that all serious experts who express
objective opinion about the entry into the Customs Union rather than
trying to, in every way, justify the President’s Sept. 3 decision by
bootlicking the authorities, are saying that there would be price
increase as a result of joining the Customs Union. `Just at least with
regard to rates of customs duties, you know that it is pretty liberal
regime in Armenia, low rates of customs duties unlike the RF. If we
are going to join the CU, of course, all the products will
considerable increase. Migration will increase drastically. To
maintain their seats, these authorities, seems, they are not going to
stop before anything.’ The justification for the authorities that
entering into the Customs Union is a necessity for security reasons,
Hovsep Khurshudyan so commented.- `Our security has never been so much
endangered as now, when you give all your security tools to one
country, and there is no diversification that you will be able to at
least balance you security with the West, South, and in all
directions. You have already exposed your safety to danger. If Putin,
the Kremlin has to decide the size of your safety, I’m sure that this
person does not feel great love toward Armenia, but towards his
interests. If, tomorrow, he decides that Aghdam is not our homeland,
and say, let’s hand it over to Azerbaijan, especially when Azerbaijan,
in exchange, can buy several tens of billions of other products from
the RF at high prices, he will go for it. If he can increase the
well-being of his country on the account of Armenia, we will not be
able to do anything because we are completely given to the RF’s
expression of will. I do not think that our security, in this case, is
somehow provided. How can a country ensure our security that sells
billions of dollars of weapons to our enemy, that is not hiding the
fact that it will attack on us. I do not believe that such a country
has any interest in providing our security.’ Hripsime JEBEJYAN

Read more at:

Prosperous Armenia Party leader was absent from ceremony marking 22nd
anniversary of Armenia’s Independence

12:11 – 22.09.13

Representatives of the political wing of the Prosperous Armenia Party
(PAP) – PAP Chairman Gagik Tsarukyan, Secretary of the PAP
parliamentary group Naira Zohrabyan, Vartan Oskanian and Vahe
Hovhannisyan – were not present at the solemn ceremony on the occasion
of the 22ndanniversary of Armenia’s independence.

On the other hand, the PAP group members Gurgen Arsenyan, Bazmaser
Arakelyan, Martun Grigoryan were present at the ceremony.
According to the information at Tert.am’s disposal, the PAP chairman
is not in Armenia.

Armenian News – Tert.am

EUROVISION-EUROCORRUPTION
Après les tricheries de l’Azerbaïdjan, l’Eurovision 2014 resserre ses
contrôles du jury

Après les très nombreuses criques des méthodes peu transparentes du
jury et des tricheries de masse dont fit preuve l’Azerbaïdjan pour
acquérir les votes du jury, les organisateurs de l’Eurovision ont
finalement décidé de changer les méthodes du vote et lui donner plus
de transparence.

Ainsi dès l’édition de l’Eurovision 2014, les noms des membres du jury
ne seront publiés que le 1er mai, soit quelques jours avant l’épreuve,
ceci afin de ne pas offrir la possibilité aux pays de tricher ou tout
simplement d’acheter les votes du jury, une méthode courante de
l’Azerbaïdjan et quelques autres pays. Le vote du jury influant sur
50% des résultats du vote final.

Lors de l’Eurovision 2013 à Malmö (Suède) furent établies les preuves
flagrantes de l’achat du jury par Bakou. Ainsi selon le journal
suédois Skanska Dagbladet, l’un des responsables d’une délégation
avait ouvertement affirmé que l’Azerbaïdjan ainsi que deux autres pays
désiraient « acheter » ses voix. Bakou lui ayant proposé « une somme
colossale ». Et c’est par ces méthodes d’achats de voix du jury que
l’Azerbaïdjan avait gagné l’Eurovision 2011 permettant à Bakou
d’organiser le concours en 2012 et de réaliser une opération de
propagande de l’Azerbaïdjan et du pouvoir d’Aliev à l’échelle
européenne.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 22 septembre 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

TendersInfo
September 20, 2013 Friday

Armenia : US$ 43 million USAID aim to GOVERNMENT OF ARMENIA

Armenia is to receive financial assistance of US$ 43 million from the
United States Agency for International Development.
This was announced by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
Tigran Sargsyan during the course of the session of the Government on
September 19.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said,
Yesterday I had a meeting with the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Ambassador of the United Stated to the Republic of Armenia and we have
discussed all the issues regarding the new agreement with the United
States Agency for International Development. We shall receive
financial assistance of USD 43 million. We must be able to sign the
agreement by the end of the current month.
Ltd.

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Kure Beach couple returns home after Peace Corps stint

Dave and Judy Smith get ready to board the world’s longest cable car at
Tatev Monastery in Armenia. Photo courtesy of Dave and Judy Smith

By Judy Smith
Special to the StarNews

Published: Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 20, 2013 at 12:54 p.m.

Our service has provided us the opportunity to experience life in a country
of which we knew little. In return, David and I hope to have left a positive
impression of what people from the United States are like. We also hope to
have improved the lives and outlooks of at least a few individuals through
our interactions and work.

Our Peace Corps service began in Niger, Africa, in late 2010. That
assignment ended when we were evacuated due to nearby terrorist activity.
With reassignment to Armenia, we were able to experience two totally
different ways of life as well as needs. We feel enriched by having these
diverse opportunities to live in countries that are so different.

So what’s next for us – and for other volunteers who devoted more than two
years to Peace Corps work? Of course, reconnecting with family and friends
in the U.S. is primary for a majority of us, including David and me. After
that, we intend to seek further chances to travel and possibly other ways to
carry out meaningful volunteer activities in areas of interest to us.

Within our group of 40 volunteers, many were young university graduates who
chose to do Peace Corps service prior to graduate school or starting paying
jobs. Law school awaits one of the brightest young women in our group, while
international studies in Monterey, Calif., is the choice of another. Several
volunteers have accepted or are seeking positions in Washington, D.C., where
they will build their resumes to move into foreign service or other
government careers.

A few are rejoining their parents, as many in the Millennial Generation must
do. They hope to figure out what they want to do with their lives, or plan
to further their studies so they can support themselves in the current
economy. Two years in the Peace Corps can be a time for contemplation and
decision-making while helping others, but it’s not always long enough for a
person’s desires to be met with realistic approaches to reaching personal
goals.

Within the group of older volunteers similar to David and me, a few will
resume work in their former fields of employment while another will seek new
horizons in the international arena.

In our exit interview, our Peace Corps country director asked what we
thought was our greatest accomplishment during the two years in Armenia. For
me, it was neither the transfer of skills, which is goal No. 1 for the Peace
Corps, nor was it the fact that I was able to obtain English textbooks for
my students when they’d never had them before. Rather, it was the cultural
exchange that took place between Americans and Armenians, the sharing of
what life is like for each other.

A related accomplishment for me was the chance to encourage young people to
study and improve their English, to continue on an educational path and to
travel to see the world outside of Armenia.

A few of my English students and other acquaintances will do this and will
be successful. Furthermore, help with personal businesses, including
development of a bed and breakfast, an outdoor sports company and a small
sewing business are directly related to consistent interactions David had
with individual Armenians with dreams to fulfill.

Service in the U.S. Peace Corps, which is now more than 50 years old and
known worldwide, is difficult yet rewarding. We are pleased to have had the
chance to be volunteers and now to be classified as RPCVs – returned Peace
Corps volunteers – for the second time. Our experiences cannot be replicated
but they can be shared. From day one of our service we regularly heard, “A
volunteer determines his or her own experiences.” That is what we did. As
David says, “We do not think anyone is worse off from our service in
Armenia.”

6 TERRORISTES AZERBAÏDJANAIS TUES EN SYRIE

SYRIE

Plus de 30 terroristes de pays etrangers ont ete tues en Syrie au
cours de combats contre les forces gouvernementales ces derniers jours.

Les terroristes elimines ont combattu avec le “Front Al Nusra.” Il y
avait 6 citoyens de l’Azerbaïdjan, 4 de la Turquie, 5 de la Jordanie,
9 de l’Arabie Saoudite, ainsi que des citoyens de l’Afghanistan et
du Pakistan parmi les tues.

Un citoyen azerbaïdjanais surnomme “Abu Yahya” a ete elimine lors
des combats dans la ville syrienne d’Hama le 13 Septembre.

samedi 21 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

L’OPERA D’ANDREY BABAYEV EN PREMIERE A CHOUCHI

KARABAGH

La première de l’Opera d’Andrey Babayev ” Artsvaberd ” (la forteresse
de l’Aigle), a eu lieu Chouchi dans la Republique du Haut-Karabagh
le 1er septembre.

Le projet a grande echelle a implique des solistes de l’Opera National
d’Armenie et la chambre des ch~urs de la Republique du Haut-Karabagh
ainsi la troupe de Danse de la Republique du Haut-Karabagh.

La performance etait dediee a la fete de l’Independance de l’Artsakh.

samedi 21 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

245 PROSTITUEES OFFICIELLEMENT RECENSEES PAR LA POLICE ARMENIENNE

ARMENIE-SOCIAL

Selon les donnees policières l’Armenie compterait aujourd’hui 245
prostituees contre 259 l’an dernier. Au 1er semestre 2013 la police
armenienne a contrôle 80 prostituees -dont 70 a Erevan- exercant leur
activite, alors que durant les six premiers mois de l’an dernier,
leur nombre etait de 160. Ces contrôles etat pour s’assurer de l’etat
de sante de ces ” travailleuses “. Selon le ministère de la Sante, 38
de ces prostituees presentaient des maladies veneriennes. En 2012 ce
nombre etant de 122. En dehors d’Erevan, les prostituees sont les plus
nombreuses dans la region de Lori (63 cas), puis viennent Armavir (40),
Syunik (19) et Kegharkounik (10). Avec 245 prostituees officiellement
recensees pour un pays de 3 millions d’habitants, l’Armenie est l’un
des pays au monde où le taux de prostitution reste très bas.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 21 septembre 2013, Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

TURKISH AMBASSADOR: “UNFORTUNATELY, ARMENIA’S STATE IDEOLOGY IS BASED ON FALSIFICATION OF THE EVENTS OF 1915”

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 20 2013

[ 20 September 2013 14:56 ]

Baku. Shamil Alibeyli – APA. “Such conferences are important to recall
that the Ottoman Empire extended a helping hand to Azerbaijan in its
most difficult period despite the problems,” Turkish Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Ismayil Alper Coskun told journalists after international
conference “Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan and the Caucasian Islam
Army”, APA reports.

The ambassador said that the Armenians are going to mark the 100th
anniversary of the so-called genocide after two years and Turkey would
take all necessary measures to prevent the steps of Armenia and its
diaspora in this regard: “Turkey will mark the 100th anniversary
of Gallipoli Campaign after 2 years. This is not falsification,
but anniversary of the events that really happened. Armenians have
previously brought up false claims and they are expected to do so
in the future. Unfortunately, Armenia’s state ideology is based on
falsification of the events of 1915. I hope that all historical facts
will be investigated basing on the archival materials as proposed by
Azerbaijan and Turkey.”

ARMENIA: A GO-SLOW INVESTIGATION OF ACTIVIST ATTACKS?

EurasiaNet.org
Sept 20 2013

September 20, 2013 – 10:39am, by Gayane Abrahamyan

Heated differences of opinion are nothing new in the South Caucasus,
but when they come with sluggish police investigations into violence
against protesters, locals expect answers. So far, in Armenia, there
have been none.

Over the past month, civil activists speaking out against Armenia’s
surprise September 3 decision to join the Russia-led Customs Union
and against past plans for a public transportation fare hike have
suffered attacks in the capital, Yerevan, that left them with numerous
injuries. One of the attacked, Haykak Arshamian, a 42-year-old project
coordinator at the Yerevan Press Club who took part in September 4
protests against the Customs Union, claims that the Yerevan rally,
attended by hundreds, “alarmed” the Armenian government and “this is
the consequence.”

“This is a warning message not only to me, but to all those who
might attempt certain activities and object to the new stage of
Armenian-Russian relations, which have brought to nothing the efforts
of building economic relations with Europe,” he told Asbarez.am.

Arshamian suffered rib fractures and heavy injuries to his jaw and
facial tissue from a September 5 attack by male youths dressed in
black. Another protester, 43-year-old Suren Saghatelian, a board member
of the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center and project
manager for the Christian charity World Vision Armenia, received a
head injury and a nose fracture, for which he had to undergo surgery.

Officials have offered no official comments on the violence against
the Customs-Union protesters. The police launched a preliminary
investigation, but filed criminal cases only nine days later. The
action came the day after a September 12 statement from the US embassy
condemning the assaults.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed deep
concern that “the attacks appear to be a concerted effort to intimidate
the protestors, prevent them from exercising their rights to freedom
of assembly and expression, and send a chilling message to others.”

The decision to sign onto the Customs Union, a proposed trade bloc
made up of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, jeopardized Armenia’s
plans for closer ties with the European Union, and, to many locals,
was an unwelcome reminder of the country’s dependence – in military
and economic matters – on Russia. Aside from its strategic presence
in Armenia’s mining, telecommunications and transportation sectors,
the gas-rich country, a prime destination for Armenian labor migrants,
holds a 49-year lease on a base near the northern city of Gyumri,
and also supplies most of Armenia’s energy.

But the violence has not been limited to the Customs Union. In late
August, five protesters who had opposed plans for a hike in Yerevan’s
public transportation fares also were assaulted in Yerevan.

Protesters in June staged a citywide boycott that forced a reversal
on the fare policy, and summoned worries about further unrest against
the government.

To date, progress has been made in only two of the five cases
concerning the transportation activists, one of which involved a US
citizen, Babken Ter-Grigorian. Exactly two days after the embassy
statement, the alleged assailants, according to the police report,
turned themselves in and admitted their guilt.

Anti-Customs-Union activist Arshamian believes those who assaulted
him also could be identified, by looking at footage from surveillance
cameras, which scan the area where the attack took place. But he
doubts the cameras will be consulted.

“The dynamics of such cases show that they never get solved,” he
told 1in.am.