Author: Badalian Vardan

THE AMERICAN DREAM HITS AN ARMENIAN ROCK ARTIST

iloubnan.info, Lebanon
March 6 2013

BEIRUT, by Louise Wernvik | iloubnan.info – March 06, 2013, 12h42

New doors are opening up for Armenian rock singer Eileen
Khatchadourian, from Beirut, who will soon be performing for an
American audience outside of Los Angeles. Little by little she is
realizing her dream and going out of Lebanon.

“I have high expectations. It´s making me feel anxious and stressed
but I guess this is the price I have to pay and I´m ready to pay it,”
she said.

In December, 2009, Eileen Khatchadourian received an award for best
rock album at the Armenian Music Awards, in LA. Now, four years later,
she will be doing her first concert in the states. In San Gabriel,
outside of LA, a festival for Armenian artists called Mosaic V, will
be hosting Eileen Khatchadourian as their main artist of the event,
on March 16.

“It´s the first time they will see me on stage. Now I have to show
them why I got this award.”

Mostly Armenians are expected to fill up the 2000 seats of the venue.

But Eileen Khatchadourian has also gained many fans who are strangers
to her mother tongue. By singing only in Armenian, turning old folk
songs into rock, she succeeded in communicating her cultural identity
onto an international crowd.

“I´m the first female Armenian artist in rock, this is interesting to
them. The energy I give on stage goes further than only to Armenians.

Whenever I perform I give a resume of each song, so they don’t become
stranger and I don’t become stranger to them. They love the music,
the production, and probably my voice as well.”

America has left a star shaped mark on Eileen Khatchadourian. Her big
wish for this concert is that it will generate in more opportunities,
helping her leave Lebanon and establish herself as musician in other
places of the world. By this time next year, she hopes to be in the
states again.

“I love the states. This country really gives you the tools to succeed
and if you´re smart and lucky enough you can get somewhere. It´s a
country you can only admire.”

After her concert in California, Eileen Khatchadourian will be
continuing her travels to Europe, where she will be screening for
a movie in Berlin, which features two of her songs. She will also
be travelling to Barcelona to shoot a music video. Though Eileen
Khatchadourian has a busy spring in front of her, her Lebanese fans
will not be forgotten. When she returns home in the middle of April,
she is hoping to have a concert, in Beirut, which will be her first
within the last two years.

ROCK LEGEND BEHIND ARMENIA’S EUROVISION BID

ESC Today, EU
March 6 2013

Tony Iommi, guitarist of the legendary rock band Black Sabbath is
the composer of Lonely planet, the song the Armenian public and jury
chose for Gor Sujyan and the Dorians to represent them in the 2013
Eurovision Song Contest.

Tony Iommi writes on his official website:

Well here’s something different, one of my demo ideas has been chosen
as the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest! It went on
a short list and Saturday night was voted as the winner. I did the
music and the performing band Dorians wrote the lyrics, it’s called
‘Lonely Planet’. They’re a good band, the singer has a really good
voice and the lyrics they’ve written are in English. It now goes to
the semi-final on May 16th in Malmo, Sweden.

Glad to be able to be involved with Armenia again, the school is
coming along fine, they’ve got the furniture sorted and it will be
opened late summer.

This isn’t the first time the 65 year old rocker is involved with
Armenia. After the devastating earthquake which hit the country in
1988, he took part in the Rock Aid Armenia to raise funds for the
victims. In 2009, Tony Iommi flew to Armenia where he took part in
the Armenia Grateful 2 Rock celebrations and received Armenia’s Order
of Honour.

Later, in 2011, together with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple they recorded
two songs, Holy water and Out of my mind. The proceeds from the sales
of the songs were used to build a music school in Gyumri.

“A NEW WAVE OF MIGRATION WILL APPEAR IN THE POST-ELECTION PERIOD”

Vetsnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 6 2013

Interview by David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

Arutyun Mesropyan, the management expert, told Vestnik Kavkaza
about his views on the Armenian economy in the post-election period,
prospects of power changing, and possible changes in internal political
processes.

– How will Armenian economy develop in the post-election period?

– The authorities of Armenia will have to define how the republic’s
economy will look in 5-10 years, and develop an economic course,
according to this. Today, the economy is not developing. We can only
speak about a growth and a drop, while any normal economic program
should strive for providing quality, rather than quantity.

Foreign investments won’t come to an economy which relies on power of
monopolists and oligarchs jointed with the authorities. Even inflation
is impossible in such an economic model.

After presidential elections Armenia will see a traditional growth of
inflation. Powerful influence of political processes on price forming
in the republic is connected with monopolization of the market. The
countries with economic models which are similar to Armenian one cannot
experience inflation conditioned by market processes only. A bright
example is absence of a correlation between sugar price fluctuations at
international markets and in Armenia. The current scheme of inflation
calculation should be reconsidered in Armenia.

– By the way, the post-election period is said to be marked by a new
wave of capital outflow in Armenia…

– It is notable that that capital outflow from Armenia improved last
year. Today the annual volume of private transfers into Armenia
surpasses $2 billion – these are interest-free investments into
economy. However, it flows out more than flows in. There are several
reasons for this. The fact that Armenia imports more than exports
explains the difference between capital outflow and capital inflow. I
think these tendencies will only improve in the post-election period.

– The leader of the protest movement which was formed after the
presidential elections, Raffi Ovannisyan, stated about his intention
to fight for a reconsideration of the results. What are prospects of
the current protest movement?

– It is self-evident that Armenian people don’t want to see party
activists among them. Considering the general character of Ovanisyan’s
statements, he is perceived separately from the party aspect – not as
a leader of the opposition party Heritage, but as a man from common
people. Today everything depends on the fact whether the situation
will pass the point of no return or not, according to Ovanisyan’s
statements. If his ideas begin to be implemented, we will register
a start of serious changes in the management system of Armenia. For
determination of this point of no return there is a simple and reliable
way. It is determined by a team which will be formed by a leader of a
protest movement. Professional skills of certain members of this team
will define results of the movement. If people who took key positions
since 1991, who got used to work in an ineffective system are involved
in his team, it will mean absence of prospects for the movement. Till
Ovanisyan’s team is not composed, it is early to estimate prospects
of recent protest processes.

– What are prospects of “Revolution of Greetings” by Ovannisyan?

– I can see two interesting features in the current protest
movement, which haven’t been used before. Firstly, it is a low
level of aggression or even its absence. We haven’t seen it since
1996 when people headed by the officially lost candidate – Vazgen
Manukyan – attacked the parliament. The second feature is that in the
post-election period Ovannisyan doesn’t overshadow Armenian regions.

It is an interesting step, considering the net decentralized models
of the protest movement are more effective and viable. Centralized
structures are vulnerable. The low level of aggression creates
a problem for the authorities as they miss an opportunity to use
repressions. The authorities have no reason for aggression in return.

– The West supported Serge Sargsyan who is thought to be pro-Russian
and turned away from Ovannisyan. Do you think it is logical?

– It doesn’t mean there is no behind-the-scenes struggle.

Armenia is surrounded by many painful points of humanity: the Middle
East, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Israel. If Armenia was an insignificant
factor in the geopolitics, the USA, Russia, the EU, and China would
hardly act in Armenia directly or indirectly. Armenia takes a rather
important geographic and strategic space. It would be ridiculous to
think that there is no foreign influence on Armenian elections. The
question is whether this influence is important for development of
the post-election situation.

– Officially Ovannisyan was supported by 40% of voters which means
significant indignation of citizens. What are the reasons for it?

– The Armenian society expresses indignation since 1991. It is caused
by a drop of justice level, ruining of a bond between the authorities
and the society. The first burst of the dissatisfaction took place in
1996 after the presidential elections. The fact that all presidential
elections are ended by social dissatisfaction means that the society
is dissatisfied with the administrating system of Armenia from the
independence day. The society and the power have no feedback.

It leads to destabilization and self-destruction of the management
system. However, the socio-economic aspect is not the only component of
social dissatisfaction. I am sure we will see a new wave of migration
in the post-election period, and all candidates will be guilty of
this. They performed a show, and some people believed them, but in
the end they will see only disappointment.

PRESIDENT OF BUNDESTAG HAILS ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS’ SERVICE IN AFGHANISTAN

Mediamax, Armenia
March 6 2013

Yerevan/Mediamax/. President of German Bundestag Norbert Lammert
hailed the service of Armenian peacekeepers within the German troops
in Afghanistan.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with President of
German Bundestag in the morning today.

The sides expressed their content with the high level of
Armenian-German relations.

The meeting also focused on opinion exchange on Armenia-EU relations,
implemented programs and talks within Eastern Partnership.

Upon the request of the President of Bundestag, Edward Nalbandian
presented the efforts made by Armenia and international community
toward settling the NK conflict.

RICHARD KIRAKOSYAN: “ROBERT KOCHARYAN IS THE POLITICAL GHOST AND THE PAP IS THE POLITICAL CORPSE

Mediamax, Armenia
March 5 2013

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Richard Kirakosyan, Director of Center for Regional
Studies, said today that the Armenian presidential elections held on
February 18 “were a lost opportunity for the Armenian democracy”.

Answering Mediamax’s question during his meeting with journalists,
Richard Kirakosyan said that on February 18, Armenia “took the exam
of elections but lost its opportunity”.

“The elections weren’t as good as they should have been. Of course,
Armenia managed to retain its positions on the international level
in terms of lack of cases of violation and mass frauds, but it was
a lost opportunity from the standpoint of democracy”, the expert said.

Assessing the pre-election phase, Richard Kirakosyan said that the
elections were “the most non-competitive ones in the history of
independent Armenia”.

Besides, the expert believes that the elections revealed the ghosts
and corpses of the Armenian political field as well.

“Second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is the political ghost
while “Prosperous Armenia” party is the political corpse. We saw the
weakening of the PAP. In the post-election phase, the PAP’s statement
showed the whole despair of this political force”, said the political
scientist.

Speaking about the post-election situation, he noted that the
situation reflects the crisis of trust both to the authorities and
opposition. According to him, the opposition now faces 2 important
challenges – not to lose the initiative and present a clear action
plan.

EBRD: ARMENIA NEEDS SUBSTANTIAL REFORMATION OF ITS BUSINESS CLIMATE

YEREVAN, March 6. /ARKA/. Armenia, which has no access to sea and
limited access to neighboring markets, needs substantial reformation
of its business climate, enhancement of competition and improvement
of physical infrastructures, the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) said in its transition report for 2012.

According to the report, long-term growth prospects remain uncertain.

The country’s economy, which is singled out for relatively high degree
of monopolization, remains reliant on export of raw materials with
low added value, which makes it vulnerable to shocks experiences by
its trade partners.

The EBRD stressed in the report that economic prospects for the
nearest future are overshadowed by uncertainty across the world,
and to retain economic growth close to 4% in 2012 and 2013, it will
be necessary that amounts of money transfers remain large and demand
from foreign partners, particularly Russia, as well as prices for
exported raw materials remain high.

The EBRD experts say in the report that recovery of Armenia’s economy
after the recession has already speeded up and that the growth is
mainly propelled by mining and processing industries.

The country’s unreformed agriculture recovered after the 2010 decline
thanks to a better weather and growth in money transfers.

Construction rallied as well after flagging in 2009.

The EBRD says in its report that the government continues efforts to
consolidate the budget for retaining the state debt at an acceptable
level under the IMF-supported program.

Growth in lending was considerable and it reflected a low level of
financial mediation.

External imbalances were downed, but current account adverse balance
remains high standing at 11% of GDP.

The EBRD experts single out the necessity of a breakthrough in
improvement of business climate among the 2013 top-priority objectives.

It is also necessary to stimulate domestic and foreign trade by
modernizing transportation and communication infrastructures, which
will spur development of export-oriented segments of the national
economy and will reduce implicit costs in dealings.

The EBRD also recommends the government to continue efforts for
development local capital markets.

The large-scale objective to de-dollarization of the economy should
be accompanied by a consistent transition of monetary policy from
actual conjunction with foreign exchange rate to inflation targeting.

The pension reform to be implemented by the government should
open strategic opportunities for development of domestic markets
of securities, bank deposits and equities thanks to institutional
investors’ base, which ensures sustainable demand for long-term
investments. -0-

NORTH CAUCASUS CAUCUS ABOUT FIGHTERS FROM AZERBAIJAN IN SYRIA

19:31 06/03/2013 ” SOCIETY

There appears to be a great deal of interest in Caucasian fighters
in Syria. Occasionally Azerbaijani fighters are also mentioned in
random reports, the North Caucasus Caucus says. The author said that
it is a bit more difficult to follow Azeri jihadi activity since
milleti-ibrahim.info was shut down last year.

“In Mid-August 2012 the first report of an Azerbaijani fighter in
Syria I saw was from French journalist, Jean-Marc Mojon, reporting
from Aleppo. He reportedly spoke to a young Azeri fighter in a clinic
in Saif al-Dawla neighborhood. The young man said he had seen images
of the war on television and had decided to come fight in Syria,”
the article says.

The author notes that on 9 September 2012, Shabka al-Mujahideen
(Mujahideen Suppoters Network), an Arabic language jihadi forum posted
a photo of “Abu Hanifa (Warning:graphic),” an Azeri fighter allegedly
killed in Aleppo. Abu Hanifa was later identified as Zaur Islamov.

“Islamov is probably the best known Azeri fighter as his driver’s
license was photographed and spread on social media.

Islamov’s name was also included on a list of “foreign terrorists”
killed in various battles posted by pro-Assad Facebook groups.

Reportedly Islamov had told hold his family that he was going to
Turkey to work. According to his documents posted online, he was from
the northern district of Qusar, close to the border with Dagestan,”
the author writes.

According to the article on 19 October 2012 SANA, Syrian state media,
reported that a citizen of Azerbaijan by the name of “Hasin Kazli” was
killed in al-Atareb in the Aleppo province in a fighting group led by
Uybaid al-Mansi. Kazli’s name also appeared on a list of 142 foreign
fighters released by the Syrian government. The story was published
in some Azeri online media but not picked up by any of the big outlets.

On 22 October 2012, Jihadi social media posted post-mortem photos of
“Ibrahim al-Azeri,” a fighter allegedly killed in Idlib in October.

The author says that on 30 November 2012, the Azerbaijan Press Agency
(APA), one of Azerbaijan’s leading state media outlets, published
a lengthy article about Araz Kangarli. The article reported that
Kangarli had been killed some time in September 2012. In November,
Kangarli’s mother, Larisa, said she had received a phone call informing
her that her son had died.

Larisa Kangarli reported that her son had left for Syria in mid-2012
with a group of other young men. Kangarli was one of the few fighters
that had some background information available. The border guards
arrested Kangarli and several other men at the Azeri-Iranian border
in 2008. The group was allegedly returning from Afghanistan/Pakistan
where they freely admitted they had been fighting ISAF forces since
2005. After being sentenced to several years in prison for illegally
crossing the border, Kangarli was released early in 2009 after
an appeal.

“On 11 January 2013, Yara Bayoumy reported from Aleppo on foreign
fighters for Reuters. During his interviews at the Karm al-Jabal rebel
base, Bayoumy spoke to a “Abu al-Harith, a stocky, fair, 27-year-old
from Azerbaijan. He said “This is my first time to embark on a Jihad
because … there was no one worse than Bashar. Even Stalin was
merciful compared with him,” the article says.

On 12 February 2013 the website, Gunxeber, reported that a group of
Azeri fighters had travelled to Turkey on their way to Syria. The
article did not provide many details.

“And on 25 February 2013, the Turkish language fan page for
Jabhar al-Nusra, Nusrat Cephesi, posted on Facebook two photos of
“Abdurrazzak al-Azeri. He was only identified as being martyred but
no other information was given in the post. Some of the comments to
the post suggest that the young man was from Sumqayit, Azerbaijan’s
third largest city. According to a local news website, Sumqayit Xeber,
the city was home to several other Azeri jihadis who fought in the
North Caucasus and Afghanistan/Pakistan. The article even names an
Azeri citizen wanted by INTERPOL for terrorism, Cabir Mustafayev,
who was reportedly killed in Syria,” the author says.

Recall that the relationship between international terrorist groups and
Azerbaijan originated in the early 1990s. That time, the Azerbaijani
army, having failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR), retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation,
the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev attracted to the
war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists
and members of radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar), Turkey (“Grey Wolves”, etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev
and Raduyev etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement in of thousands of foreign mercenaries and
terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani
aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku
authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia.

However, international terrorists found ties in Azerbaijan, and used
them in the future. Recruitment was conducted among Azerbaijanis,
who then were sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where
participated in the battles against the forces of the international
coalition and Russian organizations.

In recent years, the citizens of Azerbaijan are actively involved in
terrorist and extremist activities in Russia, Afghanistan and Syria.

In Azerbaijan the citizens are brought to criminal liability for
participating in “illegal armed groups” in Afghanistan, sentenced to
minor terms of imprisonment.

Source: Panorama.am

SERZH SARGSYAN IS GOING TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER IN PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC
Naira Hayrumyan

17:04 05/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Today Hovik Abrahamyan said that Raffi Hovannisian will be proposed
to head the Commission on Constitutional Reforms. Perhaps Hovannisian
will announce about his decision to accept or refute the proposal at
today’s rally.

Apparently, Prosperous Armenia will join the signature collection
initiative to hold an extraordinary parliamentary session, and it will
take place. If the PAP joins the initiative, it may help the party to
save its reputation. It may also help the RPA to save its reputation.

It will be unable to dismiss the initiative without a reason.

But the RPA and PAP will hardly want to discuss early parliamentary
elections. As a “compromise”, they will agree to discuss constitutional
reforms. PAP representatives have already stated that they will
agree with the option of snap parliamentary elections only after a
shift to proportional representation system. The PAP will advocate
constitutional reforms.

As to the Republican Party, then it is likely to welcome constitution
reforms. Along with the proposals that come from the opposition
about transition to parliamentary governance and proportional
representation, as well as provision of the opposition with some key
control mechanisms, there can be other proposals from the Republican
Party. Furthermore, supporting the amendments, Republican leader
Serzh Sargsyan will be able to run for the post of prime minister
in the parliamentary republic in 4-5 years. Finally, last year, the
Republican Party said that it is not against parliamentary governance
but “not now, later”. It seems time has already come.

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN KILLED IN CRIMEA

11:59 ~U 05.03.13

The Russian-Armenian businessman Bagrat Varagyan was killed in Crimea
last month, RIA Novosti reported, citing the Crimean Interior Ministry.

The 49-year-old businessman was shot to death on February 19, but
the incident was reported to the police on Monday. Varagyan was in
Saki for temporary residence.

Law enforcers have asked the district’s population to assist in
the probe.

The person reporting the incident had said that an unknown man gunned
down Varagyan after he got out of his car.

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA CAPABLE OF CAUSING RADICAL CHANGES IN ARMENIA’S POLITICS

TERT.AM
15:12 ~U 05.03.13

No one doubts that the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) is a force
capable of causing drastic changes in Armenia’s domestic political
developments, no matter who makes absurd analyses of the PAP’s
role, Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the PAP parliamentary group,
told Tert.am.

She commented on expert Richard Giragosian’s statement that the PAP is
a political corpse. “It is obvious that contacts with pseudo-analysts
had their consequences for Richard Giragosian,” she said.