Author: Badalian Vardan

Zhoghovurd: Vartan Oskanian to launch his campain with publication of
serious documents

09:26 – 09.04.13

Citing its sources Zhoghovurd paper writes that ex foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian who heads the Prosperous Armenia party’s City Council
election list is going to start his election campaign with the
publication of very serious documents.

The paper’s sources claim that these documents relate to the recent
activity of Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan. Oskanian is going to reveal
with the usage of what financial means Margaryan `has built a good
Yerevan’.

The paper says members of the Yerevan City Council assisted PAP in the
issue. Commenting on the information, Vartan Oskanian, speaking to
paper’s correspondent said, `what you say is very far from reality.’

Armenian News – Tert.am

APA, Azerbaijan
April 8 2013

Pascal Meunier: `France does not recognize Nagorno Karabakh’s
independence, Nagorno Karabakh is a sovereign part of Azerbaijan’

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. `France does not recognize Nagorno
Karabakh’s independence, Nagorno Karabakh is a sovereign part of
Azerbaijan.

Our policy remained unchanged on this issue,’ French ambassador to
Azerbaijan Pascal Meunier told journalists, APA reports.

Asked about the establishment of friendship group at the French
parliament, the ambassador said that this information is false: `Some
parliamentarians have put forward such an initiative. This is a
personal initiative of some MPs, not of an official group. France does
not recognize Nagorno Karabakh’s independence, Nagorno Karabakh is a
sovereign part of Azerbaijan. Our policy has not changed on this
issue.’

Ambassador said that there is freedom of expression in France, but
this initiative does not reflect the official position of the state.

`French parliament has interparliamentary friendship groups with
Azerbaijan and Armenia,’ he said.

Some Armenia media outlets have reported that friendship group with
Nagorno Karabakh has been established at the French parliament.

Trend, Azerbaijan
April 8 2013

Iran’s FM to visit Yerevan

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will visit Yerevan on April
8-9 to participate in the inauguration ceremony of Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia Today reported.

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the Iranian Minister will
meet President Sargsyan. This will be followed by a meeting of Iranian
and Armenian foreign ministers.

Presidential elections were held in Armenia on February 18. According
to the official results, the incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan won
the presidential elections with 58.64 per cent of the votes.

Fars News Agency, Iran
April 8 2013

FM Off to Yerevan to Attend Armenian President’s Inauguration Ceremony

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi left Tehran
for Yerevan on Monday to attend the inauguration ceremony of President
Serzh Sargsian and also discuss the latest bilateral and regional
developments with Armenian officials.

On 14 March 2013, Armenia’s Constitutional Court confirmed the victory
of President Sargsian who won the presidential election on February
18.

The Iranian foreign minister, heading a high-ranking delegation,
departed for the Armenian capital on Monday afternoon.

Salehi is slated to hold talks with Armenian officials on the
sidelines of the inauguration ceremony to be held for President
Sargsian in Yerevan.

Earlier this year, President Sargsian appreciated Tehran for its
effective mutual cooperation with Yerevan, and underlined his
country’s enthusiasm for the further expansion of ties with Iran.

Sargsian appreciated Tehran for its effective bilateral cooperation
with Yerevan during the past years.

He said that his country “attaches great importance to expansion of
relations with Iran” despite efforts made by the US-led western states
to reduce Tehran-Yerevan ties.

Addressing people in the Armenian city of Meghri, President Sargsian
said “Armenia will continue efforts” to promote bilateral cooperation
with Iran.

In recent years, Iran and its Northern neighbor Armenia have signed
agreements on energy cooperation and agreed to cooperate in technology
and research and to enhance ties in commerce and economy.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Sargsian pledged
in December 2011 to further expand “high-level relations” between
their nations and, in particular, give new impetus to the
implementation of joint energy projects that have fallen behind
schedule.

Winnipeg Free Press, Canada
April 8 2013

CMHR won’t flip on Armenian genocide

Will stick with designation despite Turkish objections

By: Carol Sanders

Calling the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a genocide may hurt
lucrative trade between Canada and Turkey but the Canadian Museum for
Human Rights is not about to call the slaughter of an estimated 1.5
million people anything other than genocide.

When the museum opens in Winnipeg next year, information about the
Armenian genocide will be included in its galleries, and it will be
called “genocide,” the museum’s head of stakeholder relations said
Sunday.

Clint Curle was responding to reports that Turkish Ambassador Tuncay
Babali said the Harper government’s decision to brand the First World
War-era killing of Armenians as genocide may be hindering a
potentially lucrative trading relationship with Turkey.
“I’m a true believer in the potential of our two nations,” Babali told
The Canadian Press. “Canada has a lot to offer Turkey and Turkey in
return has a lot to offer Canada,” said Babali in the interview,
noting Canada’s internal Foreign Policy Plan has identified Turkey as
a key country of focus.

“It cannot be business as usual while accusing a nation of genocide.
It’s a serious allegation. It needs to be substantiated legally,
historically.”

Babali said he suspects Canada is not engaging as quickly as Turkey
would like because the genocide issue is still hanging over relations.
The $2.5 billion in two-way trade between the countries “is far from
the potential” of what Turkey predicts would result from deeper
economic ties: $10 billion to $15 billion within five years, he said.

On the genocide question, Babali said Turkey would like to see a
gesture from Canada that the government is “trying to leave this
behind us.”

The Armenian genocide will not be left behind when the Canadian Museum
for Human Rights opens, Curle said by email when reached out of town
Sunday.

“Human rights lessons from the Armenian genocide will be explored in a
number of ways in the CMHR, including in an exhibit exploring Raphael
Lemkim’s work (he coined the term genocide), an exhibit examining the
1948 Genocide Convention, and in a gallery that will explore a
cross-section of global mass atrocities, including the five atrocities
that the Canadian Parliament has recognized as genocides,” said Curle.

“This gallery will include survivor testimony, primary-source evidence
and an exhibit that explores the diaspora community struggles that led
to the Parliamentary recognition of the Armenian genocide.”

In April 2004, Parliament passed a resolution acknowledging the
Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemning it as a crime against
humanity.

In a museum blog posted last week, Curle said it’s a timely human rights issue.

“Ongoing denial of this historic atrocity, waged in the name of ethnic
homogeneity, makes it a contemporary human rights concern.” He
recently visited Yerevan in Armenia to see the genocide museum there
and will be working to develop links between it and the human rights
museum in Winnipeg.

On Sunday, he said the museum doesn’t take a position on issues
surrounding trade and diplomacy.

“Our role is to promote and advance education about the importance of
human rights, and to encourage and facilitate dialogue and reflection
about human rights.”

— with files from The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 8, 2013 A6

Albany Herald, NY
April 8 2013

Clarinettist to perform at symphony finale

ALBANY, Ga. — The Albany Symphony Orchestra will feature young
Armenian-American clarinettist Narek Arutyunian, winner of the 2010
Young Concert Artist International Auditions in New York, at its
2012-13 season finale on Saturday at 7:30 pm in the Albany Municipal
Auditorium.

#Arutyunian will perform the Clarinet Concerto by French composer Jean
Francaix. The orchestra will also play Debussy’s Impressionistic
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Bizet’s Symphony in C Major and
Ravel’s ever-popular masterpiece Bolero.

#”I was present to hear Narek when he won the Young Concert Artists
auditions. Not only was he an overwhelming talent, his rapport with
the audience was exceptional,” said ASO Music Director Claire Fox
Hillard.

#Arutyunian is a player who “reaches passionate depths with seemingly
effortless technical prowess and beguiling sensitivity” (The
Washington Post). He recently performed as a soloist with the Boston
Pops and has appeared in recitals and residencies at the Washington
Center for the Performing Arts, Music for Youth and the Buffalo (NY)
Chamber Music Society.

#Arutyunian has also performed at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris and
at the Pallazzo del Principe in Genoa. He has appeared as soloist with
the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic, and in
Russia with the Kaliningrad Philharmonic, the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber
Orchestra and the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.

#Arutyunian’s clarinet is a personal gift from the conductor and
violinist Vladimir Spivakov and he receives general support for his
career from the Guzik Foundation in California.

#He won first prize at age 16 in the International Young Musicians
Competition in Prague and at 15 in the Musical Youth of the Planet
Competition in Moscow. In addition, he was awarded a prize by renowned
violinist and conductor Yuri Bashmet to perform concerts and record
the Weber Concertino for clarinet with the State Symphony Orchestra of
New Russia.

#Born in 1992 in Gyumri, Armenia, Arutyunian’s family moved to Moscow
when he was three. He graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory. He
currently lives in New York and works with Charles Neidich at The
Julliard School.

#Admission is $35 or $25, depending on seat location, and $20 for
military personnel and senior citizens 65 and older. Tickets are
available by calling the Symphony office at 229.430.8933, on-line at
AlbanySymphony.org or at the box office one hour before the concert.

#Pre-concert notes will be provided by Hillard and Arutyunian from the
stage at 6:30 pm. Following the concert, the Conductor’s Circle
reception is held at the Carnegie Library, now the Albany Area Arts
Council, next door to the Auditorium. Members and others who may pay
at the door ($15) can enjoy refreshments and greet Hillard and the
guest artist.

#The symphony is a fully professional per service orchestra serving
the Southwest Georgia region with classical, pops, educational and
special concerts. The orchestra celebrates its 50th season in 2014.
Recognized for its innovative audience developmental efforts and
diverse programming, the orchestra has received the League of American
Orchestras and American Society of Composers Authors Publishers
(ASCAP) awards on multiple occasions.

American Hellenic Institute
April 7 2013

AHI, ANCA: Future Trade Measures with Turkey Must Require End of
Turkey’s Military Occupation of Cyprus, Blockade of Armenia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Georgea Polizos
March 29, 2013 – No. 24 (202) 785-8430

AHI, ANCA: Future Trade Measures with Turkey Must Require End of
Turkey’s Military Occupation of Cyprus, Blockade of Armenia

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) and the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) sent a joint letter to
the acting head of the Office of the United States Trade
Representative, Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, to encourage the Obama
Administration to ensure that any future trade measures involving the
Republic of Turkey, including both bilateral and European
Union-related agreements, require, as a statutory precondition, that
Turkey end its illegal economic blockade of Armenia and its unlawful
military occupation of Cyprus.

`We welcome your leadership on the expansion of U.S. trade and
investment based on a fair playing field and respect for the rule of
law,’ wrote the signatories of the letter, AHI President Nick
Larigakis and ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

The American Hellenic Institute is an independent non-profit Greek
American public policy center that works to strengthen relations
between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek
American community.

The Letter:

March 26, 2013

The Honorable Demetrios Marantis
Acting United States Trade Representative
Office of the United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20508

Dear Ambassador Marantis:

On behalf of our respective communities, we are writing to encourage
the Obama Administration to ensure
that any future trade measures involving the Republic of Turkey,
including both bilateral and European
Union-related agreements, require, as a statutory precondition, that
Turkey end its illegal economic
blockade of Armenia and its unlawful military occupation of Cyprus.

We raise this concern in connection to the White House’s March 20,
2013 notification to Congress of its
intent to negotiate a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
with the European Union, and the
Turkish government’s own stated interest in joining this agreement and
also in reaching its own Free Trade
Agreement with the United States.

We welcome your leadership on the expansion of U.S. trade and
investment based on a fair playing field
and respect for the rule of law. In the case of Turkey, however, it is
clear that the United States would not
advance our national interests, our economic welfare, or our core
values in any meaningful or enduring
manner by rewarding a nation that so egregiously and flagrantly
undermines the integrity of the global trading
system by occupying a European Union member state and maintaining the
last closed border in Europe.
We appreciate your attention to this matter, and would very much
welcome both a written response to our
concerns and the opportunity to meet with you and your staff to
discuss these and other reservations in
greater detail.

Sincerely,

Nick Larigakis
President Executive Director
AMERICAN HELLENIC INSTITUTE
1220 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Aram Hamparian
Executive Director
ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

CMHR won’t flip on Armenian genocide

21:50, 8 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, ARMENPRESS: Calling the killing of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks a genocide may hurt lucrative trade between Canada and
Turkey but the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is not about to call
the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million people anything other than
genocide, reports Armenpress citing Winnipeg Free Press.

When the museum opens in Winnipeg next year, information about the
Armenian genocide will be included in its galleries, and it will be
called “genocide,” the museum’s head of stakeholder relations said
Sunday.

Clint Curle was responding to reports that Turkish Ambassador Tuncay
Babali said the Harper government’s decision to brand the First World
War-era killing of Armenians as genocide may be hindering a
potentially lucrative trading relationship with Turkey.

“I’m a true believer in the potential of our two nations,” Babali told
The Canadian Press. “Canada has a lot to offer Turkey and Turkey in
return has a lot to offer Canada,” said Babali in the interview,
noting Canada’s internal Foreign Policy Plan has identified Turkey as
a key country of focus.

“It cannot be business as usual while accusing a nation of genocide.
It’s a serious allegation. It needs to be substantiated legally,
historically.”

Babali said he suspects Canada is not engaging as quickly as Turkey
would like because the genocide issue is still hanging over relations.
The $2.5 billion in two-way trade between the countries “is far from
the potential” of what Turkey predicts would result from deeper
economic ties: $10 billion to $15 billion within five years, he said.

On the genocide question, Babali said Turkey would like to see a
gesture from Canada that the government is “trying to leave this
behind us.”

The Armenian genocide will not be left behind when the Canadian Museum
for Human Rights opens, Curle said by email when reached out of town
Sunday.

“Human rights lessons from the Armenian genocide will be explored in a
number of ways in the CMHR, including in an exhibit exploring Raphael
Lemkim’s work (he coined the term genocide), an exhibit examining the
1948 Genocide Convention, and in a gallery that will explore a
cross-section of global mass atrocities, including the five atrocities
that the Canadian Parliament has recognized as genocides,” said Curle.

“This gallery will include survivor testimony, primary-source evidence
and an exhibit that explores the diaspora community struggles that led
to the Parliamentary recognition of the Armenian genocide.”

In April 2004, Parliament passed a resolution acknowledging the
Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemning it as a crime against
humanity.

In a museum blog posted last week, Curle said it’s a timely human rights issue.

“Ongoing denial of this historic atrocity, waged in the name of ethnic
homogeneity, makes it a contemporary human rights concern.” He
recently visited Yerevan in Armenia to see the genocide museum there
and will be working to develop links between it and the human rights
museum in Winnipeg.

On Sunday, he said the museum doesn’t take a position on issues
surrounding trade and diplomacy.

“Our role is to promote and advance education about the importance of
human rights, and to encourage and facilitate dialogue and reflection
about human rights.”

Foreign Ministry hosts Armenian-Polish political consultation

April 8, 2013 – 22:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Foreign Ministry hosted political
consultation, with Deputy Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian meeting
the Undersecretary of State at Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Katarzyna Pe³czyñska-Na³êcz.

At the meeting, the parties hailed the current level of political
dialogue between the two countries, also giving high assessment to
trade and economic ties as well as humanitarian exchange.

Armenia-EU relations, activities within Eastern Partnership initiative
framework were discussed, along with a number of regional and
international issues.

In conclusion, Mnatsakanian briefed Ms Pe³czyñska-Na³êcz on Armenia
and international community’s efforts for peaceful settlement of
Karabakh conflict.

Oskanyan mentioned two reasons of failure
Mon, 04/08/2013 – 17:41
News

`We will participate with the aim of victory and with that we will
give start to deeper changes in the country’- the MP of National
Assembly, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the leader of the
`Prosperous Armenia’ election list Vardan Oskanyan said during the
meeting with the voters of May 7 elections.

According to him, the elections of the Yerevan Council of Alderman are
very important. In the formal manner they are municipal elections, but
in the essence they are republican, taking into account the weight of
Yerevan in the republic. Yerevan with its power and abilities is a
state in the state.

`On April 9, the president will fulfill his oath on the Constitution
and the Bible, but it will not console the doubt over the election
results, which in the next years will cause problems of legality for
the executive, obscuring its activities.

Depending on who will be appointed a prime-minister and the
construction of the Government its program, it will become clear
whether the authorities heard and understood the statement of the
people and are ready to satisfy the needs of the society. It will
also show what kinds of agreements were made between the authorities
and various political forces’- Oskanyan mentioned.

According to V.Oskanyan the reasons of the current problems and
shortcoming are 2: political monopoly is the performance of both
authorities and the state. `State bodies instead of serving to the
nation serve to the protection of the authorities and its
reproduction’-the former Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned adding
`The closest possibility of abolishing the political monopoly and
permissiveness in the country is the upcoming May election of Yerevan
Council of Alderman’.

`Prosperous Armenia’ chooses two slogans: `We will change’ and `Start
from Yerevan’: both of them are multifaceted and are about our
everyday life, city, citizen, development and dignity of the
individual. This will be possible only it with the active
participation of the citizens in the elections. This is really
possible for the change in our state and the lives of the people
-Oskanyan announced.

Author:
Factinfo