Author: Badalian Vardan

TARON MARGARYAN IS NOT GOING TO IMPLEMENT DEMANDS OF ACTIVISTS PICKETING YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY BUILDING
by Tatevik Shahunyan

ARMINFO
Tuesday, August 6, 17:15

It is unreasonable to dismiss the state officials at the request of
several people, Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan told Radio Azatutyun
when commenting on the demands of the Let’s Pay 100 AMD movement
activists that have been picketing the Yerevan Municipality building
for 11 days.

“If an official works badly, he should be dismissed without waiting
for the relevant request, but if he works well, he should not be
dismissed only because one or two people demand that, especially as
the wide public strata do not support this demand”, said Margaryan.

As regards the public transport fare rise, the mayor stressed that the
fare will be raised following the relevant conclusion of the newly
created commission, which is considering this issue. “If we want to
have a normal transport system, if we want to have a transport system
in general, we should raise the fare”, he said.

To note, the decision on the 50% rise in the public transport fare
caused a wave of protest in Armenia, and Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan
suspended his decision. However, the activists have not stopped their
protests and now they demand resignation of some officials of the
Municipality and cancellation of the mayor’s decision.

NEW IRANIAN PRESIDENT TO CONTRIBUTE TO PROSPERITY OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

YEREVAN, August 6. / ARKA /. The new president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani,
will contribute to the prosperity of the Iranian Armenian community,
Roudik Yaralyan, an Armenian expert in Iranian affairs, said today.

“Rouhani will do everything for the prosperity of the Armenian
community and ensure that it continues to come out as an active factor
in the Armenian-Iranian relations”, he said to ARKA.

Noting that Iran’s leadership has always been positive towards the
Armenian community, Yaralyan expressed confidence that during the
presidency of Rouhani this position will not undergo drastic changes.

“As for the dwindling Armenian population of Iran, in my opinion,
it should be blamed on the Armenian mentality rather than on Western
sanctions against Iran and the rising inflation.

Armenians usually choose the countries where conditions are most
favorable for living,” he said.

In the late 20th century, the Armenian community of Iran had about
180,000 people. Today, according to many estimates, it has dwindled
to about 70 thousand people. -0-

– See more at:

KARABAKH PM DISCUSSES RAISING LIVESTOCK

August 06, 2013 | 11:35

STEPANAKERT. – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Prime Minister Ara
Harutyunyan on Tuesday received Gagik Sardaryan, Chairman of the
Board of the “Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development” (CARD)
Foundation.

They discussed the avenues for increasing the number of pedigree
livestock in NKR and establishing livestock farms that meet modern
requirements, and the prospect for milk processing in the country,
informs the NKR Government press service.

Harutyunyan presented his vision for what needs to be done, and noted
that appropriate preparations are needed to ensure the effectiveness
of the respective measures.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

DEFENSE MINISTRY: ARMENIAN OFFICER INJURED BY AZERI BULLET

12:40 06/08/2013 ” SOCIETY

An Armenian serviceman was injured as Azerbaijan violated the
ceasefire at the contact line, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman
Artsrun Hovhannisyan told Panorama.am.

The Defense Ministry said it will release the details later.

Source: Panorama.am

ZHOGHOVURD: AZERBAIJAN SPENDS $43,500 ON PROTOCOL VISITS

10:13 06.08.13

Russia, which is considered a strategic ally for our country, turns
out to be quite an expensive partner for the Azerbaijani government,
the paper says, referring to Russian officials’ recent visits to
the country.

Citing its sources, the paper claims that the country spent an
equivalent of 43,500 US Dollars in the past two months for organizing
the visits of three delegation headed by the secretary and deputy
secretary generals of the Russian National Security Council and the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The sum has been
reportedly spent from the country’s budget by the prime minister’s
decision.

But the paper says that the country spent the largest sum – $14.6
million – on arranging the visit of the CSTO Secretary General,
Nikolay Borduzha. The paper claims further that none of the visits
had any significance for Armenia as they all were limited only to
protocol procedure.

Armenian News – Tert.am

NEW US CO-CHAIR APPOINTED TO OSCE MINSK GROUP

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Monday announced the
appointment of Ambassador James Warlick as the next U.S. Co-Chair
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Minsk Group.

“Ambassador Warlick brings extensive experience in Europe and
Eurasia to this position. He most recently served as Deputy Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and lead negotiator
for the Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan. He served as
Ambassador to Bulgaria from 2009-2012, Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs
from 2006 to 2009, and Director of the Office of European Security
and Political Affairs from 2005 to 2006. He is a first-rate diplomat,
and I am confident that he will do a tremendous job in this critical
post,” Secretary John Kerry said.

“The United States remains firmly committed to helping the sides reach
a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In
their joint statement on June 18, Presidents Obama, Putin, and Hollande
called on the sides to focus with renewed energy on the issues that
remain unresolved, and noted that the leaders should prepare their
people for peace, not war. Ambassador Warlick has the wisdom, judgment,
and expertise to help the sides achieve that goal.

We have informed the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the
OSCE of Ambassador Warlick’s appointment,” Mr. Kerry said.

10:56 06/08/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM NOURHAN MANOUGIAN CRITICIZES H. H. GAREGIN II

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

 
 August 5, 2013  Posted by Ara K. Manoogian at 4:18 pm  

Arbp. Nourhan Manougian and H.H. Garegin II (courtesy
armenianchurch.org and armenian-patriarchate.com) Arbp. Nourhan
Manougian and H.H. Garegin II (courtesy armenianchurch.org and
armenian-patriarchate.com)

Below is a letter from Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nourhan
Manougian to H.H. Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians:

August 3, 2013

His Holiness Karekin II Catholicos of All Armenians Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin Armenia

Your Holiness,

By chance, I obtained the news release about yesterday’s meeting of
the Supreme Spiritual Council, whose participating members “after
examination have accepted the resignation of Abp. Norvan Zakarian
and […] they have submitted a petition to Your Holiness to confirm
that.” It is under the heavy and unpleasant impression left upon me
as a result of the decision made during that meeting regarding His
Eminence Archbishop Norvan that I am writing this letter – simply
compelled by the benefits of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Mother
See and the person of Your Holiness. The participants of the infamous
July 31 meeting knew Norvan Srpazan as a dedicated clergyman, a kind
and humble personage; therefore, what compelled them to make that
fateful mistake?

I believe, when at the airport – the presence of others is not
important – you demanded that Norvan Srpazan reinstate the so-named
Father Vatche to his position, twice repeating: “If until July 1 you
don’t reinstate him to his position, then you have no business with
the Mother See,” you had already decided his destiny.

Your Holiness, if you allow it, I would say in a brotherly way, that a
threat is not becoming for a clergyman, especially a high-ranking one,
the “Supreme Patriarch of all Armenians,” from whom it is expected as
from a genuine FATHER and forgiving SUPERIOR to relate with love and
forgiving spirit toward his children or toward and in regard to his
subordinates. How is it possible to ignore a church authority for the
benefit of a simple priest; even if he is an individual endowed with
certain merits, it was advisable that he serve the Mother See. Just as
the beautiful nature needs free breath and light, while in closed and
dark places its life becomes unhealthy and consequently suffocating
and confining, the same is also the condition of social life, of
organizations and religious institutions.

If I am not mistaken, the diocesan term of Archbishop Norvan was
coming to an end this coming November, and that is when the members
of the Supreme Spiritual Council could “accept” his resignation.

Perhaps, do You truly want to eradicate your renown as “Constructive
Catholicos” by extending the file of those declared as defrocked?

In any event, what has occurred was an unacceptable and great
injustice coming from Holy Etchmiadzin, from the Armenian people’s
Holiness of the Holy, and only the Lord knows how much the file is
going to extend. Your Holiness, if you remember a few years ago, when
with great pride – and justly so – you were showing me the beautiful
buildings You had erected within the enclave of the Mother See, I said
to You, that equal to and more important than physical buildings is
reinforcing the spiritual building; and You reassured me that this
would also happen. Nevertheless, the time has come to prove that it
is the external and the financial that is essential and interesting
to You. And two years ago, when you attempted to convince our ailing
Patriarch Torkom to have a “co-adjutor” elected, and he refused
your proposal; afterwards, You threatened Abp. Aris Shirvanian, who
had said to You: “We did not have such an article in our by-laws,”
and your threat was, “I will strip all of you of your ranks”. You
repeated the same to me, and my response was: “Your Holiness, where
are you going? Don’t you know anything else?” It is impossible that
healthy generations mature in an environment of fear and threats,
something which will cause our people and Mother Church to suffer,
who more than ever have the need for puritan, civilized and true
clergymen, and not toadies.

Consequently, with this writing I declare to Your Holiness that,
having in mind the present tension within our church life, I have
decided not to participate in the upcoming episcopal meeting to take
place from September 21 to 28. Although Abp. Aris Shirvanian will be
present, he does not represent the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Kissing the consecrated right hand,

Abp. Nourhan Manougian Patriarch of Armenian Jerusalem

UN JUGEMENT RECONNAIT LE CARACTERE CULTUEL DE L’EGLISE STE MARIE

COMMUNIQUE NICE

Nous portons a votre connaissance l’arrete prefectoral du 2 août 2013
confirmant le renouvellement du caractère CULTUEL de notre association
” Paroisse de l’Eglise Apostolique Armenienne de Nice-Côte d’Azur “.

En depit de toutes les vicissitudes que nous avons connues, des
obstacles de toutes natures qui ont ete mis sur notre chemin et
des actions violentes que nous avons subies pour nous faire plier,
nous continuons, grâce au courage et au devouement de nos genereux
benevoles, la poursuite de notre mission au service des Armeniens
apostoliques afin de leur permettre de pratiquer leur religion dans
la seule eglise apostolique armenienne de la Côte d’Azur.

Eglise Apostolique Armenienne Sainte-Marie de Nice

PDF – 401 ko mardi 6 août 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED WITH COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 6 2013

MURAT YETKÄ°N

There was little room for a surprise anyway; the Istanbul Specially
Authorized 13th Criminal Court ruled on August 5 for life imprisonment
of 17 people, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s former Chief
of General Staff, retired general Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug, on charges of
attempting to overthrow the government through an illegal organization
called “Ergenekon.” Among those who are sentenced for life there are
other retired generals like BaÅ~_bug’s Deputy Hasan Igsız, former
Gendarmerie Commander Å~^ener Eruygur and former (Istanbul based)
First Army Commander HurÅ~_it Tolon. And among civilian figures who
get life imprisonment there are political figures like Workers’ Party
(Ä°P) leader Dogu Perincek and (former journalist) Yeni Party (YP)
leader Tuncay Ozkan, nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz (who had lead
opening of numerous cases against Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink before his murder in 2007 and Alparslan Arslan the murderer of
Council of State member Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin in 2006.

There are prominent figures who were sentenced to heavy penalties by
the court like journalist Mustafa Balbay (34 years), scholar and writer
Yalcın Kucuk (22 years), former head of Turkey’s Supreme Education
Board Kemal Guruz (13 years) and internationally renowned surgeon
Mehmat Haberal (12 years) for participating in the conspiracy against
the Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government.

Haberal was released since he already served a part of his sentence
in the trials which had started in 2008. Haberal had been elected as a
member of parliament on the main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) list when he was in prison; so he can take his oath and begin
his political career. But Balbay, who had also been elected as a CHP
MP will stay inside. Another CHP deputy, Sinan Aygun, the former
head of the Chamber of Commerce of Ankara, who is currently free,
was sentenced to 13 years by the court.

The ruling of the court added more to controversy during the trials
because of long and extended detention periods and restrictions on
the defense rights of the accusers.

On the other hand it reflects the determination of Erdogan and his
government against any intentions to undermine a democratically elected
administration which had cost three military coups in Turkey in the
Cold War times between 1960 and 1980, plus a psychological operation
in 1997 causing the government of the tine to resign.

In a way, Erdogan accomplished his mission to deter the military
from intervening into politics and anyone who would see a place for
military in Turkish political system. It started with a government
statement on April 28, 2007 against a military statement a day before,
telling military to mind their own business, for the first time in
Turkish politics, then declaring early elections to endorse his power,
opening up the Ergenekon probe the same year and strengthening the
Criminal Code regarding attempts against the political system. The
violations of rights of defenders in Ergenekon case, could be regarded
as collateral damage for this firm deterrence operation and government
added an article to the 2010 referendum which put a Constitutional
Court stage in front of Turkish citizens’ application to European
Court of Human Rights, like a preemptive move against the possibility
of most of the cases yesterday would end up in Strasbourg.

The Ergenekon trials indeed changed at least a part of Turkish
society’s views on the abnormality of military involvement in politics;
there was the collateral damage which it seems Erdogan was ready to
pay the price for which he might have thought it would be worth.

The ruling of the Court is likely to be a turning point in Turkish
political life.

August/06/2013

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 4 2013

Yezidis return to hometown, build guesthouse in Mardin

4 August 2013 /TODAY’S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL

European Yezidis have collected donations and financed the building of
a guest and culture house in the province of Mardin in Turkey’s
Southeast region in a bid to maintain their ties with their homeland,
the Taraf daily reported on Sunday.

There are only 500 Yezidis, a Kurdish religious group, in Turkey but
they have many relatives living in Europe. Some 6,000 Yezidis stepped
forward to help with the construction of the premises in Mardin, where
they can stay and worship according to their faith. The facilities
cost about TL 1 million lira.

The facility is scheduled to open on Aug. 14 and the inauguration
ceremony will host the governors of Mardin and Midyat, a district in
Mardin. It will mark the first Yezidi event with the participation of
state authorities.

The two-story guest and culture house, called Güven or Bacide, has 12
rooms for Yezidis to stay in during their visits to Mardin. In the
bottom floor, there are two large halls for worship, which Yezidis do
at sunrise and sunset. It took two years to finish the building of the
facility. In the coming years, a dome will be built on the house
similar to that of their main holy site in Lalish, which is in the
northeast of Mosul, Iraq.

A former Die Linke party deputy in Germany, Ali Atalan, also a Yezidi,
told the Taraf daily that the Yezidis, who moved to Europe 30 years
ago, have begun to fix their villages. `Following decades-long
migration in Europe, a historic guest and culture house was built in a
totally evacuated village. Never in history has the Yezidi community
been allowed to open their own culture and worship houses. The
existing culture and worship houses were either damaged or destroyed.
Therefore this house is priceless, symbolically,’ he was quoted as
saying.

`The Yezidi faith is still not officially recognized in Turkey. The
identity card part about religion still reads `0′ or `X’ or simply has
a full stop. This [is] evidence that the citizens are not treated
equally because of their religion.

`I hope such insulting treatments that also violate human rights are
removed and the state stands in an equal [position with] all
religions. It is an important step that the [Mardin] governor has
announced he will attend the opening. If peace is aimed [for], it can
only be possible through a permanent democracy that serves everybody,’
Atalan continued to say.

The Yezidi faith is a religious sect linked to Zoroastrianism and
Sufism. The members of this faith commonly live in northern Iraq and
there are Yezidi communities in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria and
parts of Europe.