Author: Badalian Vardan

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.

PASADENA APPROVES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL PARK

Lasentinel
Sept 20 2013

Published on Friday, 20 September 2013 20:53

Former Mayor Bill Paparian Leads Crusade

In a packed chamber that spilled over into the hallway and a viewing
room downstairs, the Pasadena City Council voted unanimously on
recently to install an Armenian Genocide Memorial at Memorial Park.

The majority of the 36 people who submitted comment cards to present
before the council spoke favorably about the project as it was
proposed. Ninety-three others in attendance who chose not to speak
signed a petition of support, joining the 1,010 other community
members who had signed an earlier petition in support of the project.

The project’s expected completion date is April 24, 2015 to mark the
100th anniversary of the genocide, in which more than 1.5 million
Armenians are said to have died under the Ottoman Turks.

Many people have no idea of the significance of April 24 because the
Turkish and U.S. governments deny that genocide occurred.

However, Former Pasadena police chief Barney Melekian, who is also
on the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, said that the
Armenian genocide was the first act of extermination in the 21st
century with significant evidence that it was the training ground
for the Holocaust that followed less than 25 years later.

“Thousands of Armenians came to Pasadena to rebuild their shattered
lives. They grew and prospered and raised their families to help make
this city what it is today. It seems imperative that all of Pasadena
learn about this event and remember that the unthinkable can happen,”
Melekian said.

Pasadena has a unique relationship with the Armenian American
community, having issued an annual proclamation commemorating the
genocide for more than 30 years as well as amending affirmative action
codes to make Armenians a protected class.

Pasadena also has a sister city in Armenia. Armenian Americans have
lived in the city since its inception, today totaling more than 20,000
according to church polls.

“I think an Armenian Genocide Memorial is vital to this community. I
think it will provide a tremendous education value on something
that is inextricably tied up in Pasadena as well as the world,”
Councilmember Terry Tornek said.

Councilmembers Tournek, Jacque Robinson and Margaret McAustin had
several questions including whether Memorial Park would have enough
room for the thousands who could come for the remembrance of the
genocide that is observed every year in Pasadena.

They also expressed concern about needing to revise the policy
detailing the approval process for future memorials.

“The greater good prevailed and nothing’s ever perfect but I think
it’s appropriate in the Memorial park,” Vice Mayor Jacque Robinson
said, who had the strongest reservations about the location.

Several military veterans expressed their concern that the Armenian
Genocide Memorial may overshadow the park that in their opinion should
be reserved for American casualties.

“If this memorial is as successful as I think we hope it is, I fear
it will come at the cost of changing the meaning of Memorial Park. The
memorial is fantastic, I think it merits its own park,” veteran David
Alexander said.

There were 36 speakers, but no one spoke negatively of the elegant
and beautiful design by Art Center College of Design student Catherine
Menard whose design was chosen in a contest with 17 submissions.

The memorial will feature a carved-stone basin of water straddled by a
tripod arrangement of three columns leaning into one another, where a
single drop of water will fall from highest point every three seconds.

Each will represent one life lost during the Armenian Genocide,
falling from the structure that was the instrument of death.

“It’s not just a tripod, the scaffold represents where the leaders of
our nation were hung by the Ottoman Turkish government at the outset
of the genocide,” PASAGMC board member and former Pasadena Mayor Bill
Paparian said.

Paparian along with Melekian and former state Assemblyman Anthony
Portantino were part of the Armenian group of leaders who came forward
to submit an application for the memorial in May of 2012. The PASAGMC
has already raised $40,000 to build the memorial and will also be
the caretakers once the project has been implemented.

OPENING CEREMONY OF ARMENIAN EMBASSY HELD IN VATICAN

Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome hosted the opening ceremony of the
Armenian Embassy in the Holy See, a reception on the occasion of the
22nd anniversary of Armenia’s independence, and the exhibition entitled
“Saint Gregory the Illuminator: Common Heritage of Christianity”.

“Today is a symbolic day. Armenia, which was the first country to
declare Christianity as its state religion, is opening its embassy
in the Holy See. When I served as Armenia’s nonresident ambassador
to the Vatican (pluralistically), I was constantly thinking of the
day when our two states would open their diplomatic missions and
appoint resident ambassadors to Yerevan and the Vatican. Today we are
proceeding along that path. I congratulate us all and wish success
to Ambassador Mikael Minasian in his mission aimed at strengthening
and deepening relations between Armenia and the Vatican,” Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated at the opening ceremony.

“Our relations have deep historical roots. Christian faith became the
basis of these special relations. Great figures such as St. Nerses
Shnorhali, Mkhitar Sebastatsi and many others made their contribution
to the deepening of our ties. It is symbolic that the official opening
of the Armenian diplomatic mission coincides with an anniversary
of Armenia’s national holiday. With the restoration of Armenia’s
independence, our relations with the Holy See have gained renewed
impetus for two decades already,” the foreign minister said.

He reminded those present that in March of this year Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II attended
the enthronement of Pope Francis. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
visited the Holy See and met with Pope Benedict XVI in December 2011.

“We keep in our memory the historical visit of Pope John Paul II to
Armenia in 2001 when Armenia marked the 1700 anniversary of adoption
of Christianity. Armenia highly appreciates the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide by the Holy See in 2000,” Edward Nalbandian said.

According to him, the opening of Armenian embassy bears evidence of
the high level of close friendly relations between Armenia and the
Holy See and of the wish to further deepen these ties.