Author: Badalian Vardan

GRAZING ROW: OFFICIALS IN YEREVAN SAY SPEAKING ABOUT LEASING PASTURES TO IRANIANS INAPPROPRIATE YET

NEWS | 06.02.13 | 15:27

Photolure

By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Environmentalists and some politicians are concerned over the possible
lease of pastures in Armenia’s southern Syunik province to the
neighboring country, Iran, and point out two major objections –
potential overgrazing and national security issues.

However, while many claim that the lease of Syunik’s grazing lands to
Iran is a done deal, the Ministry of Territorial Administration of
Armenia released a statement Wednesday according to which no
“agreement implying any legal consequences” has been signed between
Iran’s Eastern Atropatene and Armenia’s Syunik provinces.

The Ecololur environmental NGO posted two documents on its site on
February 1 (these documents cannot be found on the government
website), one of which is titled “Memorandum of understanding between
Iran’s Eastern Atropatene province and RA Syunik province”. The NGO
especially highlights Point 3 in this document signed by the governors
of Syunik and Eastern Atropatene on July, 2012: “The Iranian side has
expressed its willingness to use the pastures and agricultural farming
lands.” The second document was signed on January 15, 2013, during the
Armenian delegation’s visit to the Eastern Atropatene and is called an
Agreement. In particular, it becomes clear that Iranians want to rent
50,000 hectares of grazing land for the minimum of 10 years and pay
$25 per hectare of land per month. The NGO draws a conclusion that
“the process has started, and the plan is to make it happen on a local
level to avoid undesirable publicity”.

Dashnak MP Aghvan Vardanyan voicing his concerns (related to these
documents) from the parliament rostrum on Tuesday, asked: “What’s in
this deal for our country? How does it benefit? Will the neighboring
farms win or lose? What will be the political, psychological, and
environmental consequences?”

The territorial administration ministry, however, stated today that
the two documents posted by Ecolur are merely records of the results
achieved in the meeting between the two delegations – offers,
negotiation points, the approaches to the issues discussed, etc.

“The issues registered in those documents need final solutions on
interstate level, and if necessary go through legally prescribed
procedures,” reads the statement, further saying that until respective
rent/lease agreements are signed as required by the legislation
regulating the field, it is improper to speak about the lease of
pastures in Syunik.

Remarkably, Iranian presidential candidate Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir
Kharrazi, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, made a curious statement
Monday concerning the Armenian lands. REGNUM news agency cites him
introducing the cornerstone of his election platform: he has vowed he
would return Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan to Iran without
shedding a single drop of blood.

PRESS RELEASE
RAFFI HOVANNISIAN CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]
Website:

06 February 2013

Raffi Hovannisian Presents Platform to Thousands in Yerevan

Yerevan–Raffi K. Hovannisian today addressed thousands of supporters
today who packed the Government Hall of Sessions. As the crowd erupted
in spontaneous chants of `President Raffi!’ Hovannisian described the
main policies of his presidential platform and outlined the path for a
new, fair, and democratic Armenia.

`This is not a contest between Raffi and Serzh, or between Heritage
and Republicans. This is a chance for the Armenian people to revive
their nation and become masters of their homeland for the first time
in our republic’s history,’ Hovannisian said. `I am sure that we will
celebrate our victory together on February 18.’

Following the speech, Arto Tuncboyaciyan performed a concert of moving
songs that culminated with `Ararat.’

Raffi Hovannisian Campaign Headquarters

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER CONGRATULATED THE NEW US SECRETARY OF STATE

13:17 06.02.2013

Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan
sent a congratulatory message to John Kerry on the occasion of his
appointment as US Secretary of State.

The message reads, in part: “On behalf of the people and Government
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic I would like to congratulate you on
your appointment as Secretary of State of the United States of America.

We highly appreciate the mediation efforts of the United States and
are confident that during your tenure the US, along with the Russian
Federation and France, will further contribute to the peaceful
settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
based on principles of international law, respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms.”

In his letter, the NKR Foreign Minister also expressed his gratitude
for the assistance the SA rendered to the young statehood and the
people of Artsakh.

“We are looking forward to a continued, close and good cooperation and
believe that your outstanding vision and experience will contribute
to promoting democracy, peace and stability in the region of South
Caucasus,” reads the message of the NKR Foreign Minister.

SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN FOR OPENING ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER COMPLETED

PanARMENIAN.Net – Signature campaign for the petition urging Turkey
to open the border with Armenia for Syrian Armenians is completed.

776 signatures were collected in 30 days, with 25 thous. needed for
Obama administration to discuss the issue.

As one of the campaign organizers Daniel Ionisian told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, the number of the signatures collected
didn’t justify the expectations.

“On the one hand, it’s not that easy to participate in signature
campaign. On the other hand, many in Armenia are against the opening of
the border with Turkey,” Mr Ionisian said, adding that attempts will be
taken to raise awareness on the issue following the presidential polls.

“More than 60.000 people have been killed in Syria war. 500.000
refugees have escaped from war and death…Yet many millions are
unable to do that.

Only few air companies still fly there and tickets are strongly
limited.

People mostly flee Syria by buses and cars.

There are 200.000 Syria-based ethnic Armenians; most of them willing
to escape to Armenia where they can feel safe, comfortable, with
accommodation, employment and education opportunities provided.

Тhe road from Syria to Armenia goes through Turkey which closed its
border with Armenia in 1993. It causes a big problem for Armenian
refugees.

Thus, we are kindly asking to urge Turkey to open the land border
with Armenia (at least, for refugees) without any preconditions.

There should be no closed borders in the 21 century,” the petition
read.

ILLEGAL LEASE OF ARMENIAN CHURCH IN OCCUPIED CYPRUS REVOKED

15:05 07.02.2013

Officials at Near East University in Occupied Cyprus announced that
they were backtracking from the illegal lease of the historic 14th St.
Mary’s Church and Monastery after protests from the US, Asbarez
reports quoting the Milliyet newspaper.

The 10-year lease, which was unfairly granted by an organization
for religious foundations in Occupied Cyprus to Near East University
was criticized by the United States and United Nations Development
Program-Action for Cooperation and Trust (UNDP-ACT), which had funded
the restoration of the Armenian Church.

When the leader of Occupied Cyrprus Dervish Eroglu attended the UN
General Assembly, he was pressed for an immediate resolution of the
matter, with UN officials stressing that the lease went counter to
the intent of the project.

The US Ambassador to Cyprus John Koenig also urged leaders of Occupied
Cyprus to immediately remedy the situation saying that it would be
wrong to turn the Armenian Monastery Complex into a Turkish studies
center.

In November, Vartkes Mahdessian, the Armenian representative in
parliament, said such a move goes against the project’s original
intention.

“The objective was to have a multi-communal area where communities
could come together and for the church to be used as a place of
worship by the Armenian community,” he said yesterday.

UNDP-ACT echoed Mahdessian’s concerns in a news release at the time.

Stakeholders worked “to restore the site to international standards
so that it could encourage peace and reconciliation between all of
the communities in Cyprus,” said the statement from UNDP-ACT and the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Although UNDP-ACT and USAID did not name the tender winner, they
recently said that they learned that “the site had been leased by
EVKAF through a tender process that was neither fair nor transparent.”

“We have expressed our serious concerns to EVKAF about this
unacceptable result,” the news release said.

The St. Asdvadzasin Church complex includes historic buildings
partially surrounded by a tall masonry wall and including a Gothic
masonry church and part of a monastery complex. It was in poor
condition when the decision to fix it was taken.

KARABAKH BUDGET REVENUES FROM TAXES HIT AMD 1481,1 MLN IN JANUARY

STEPANAKERT, February 7. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s budget
revenues from taxes, duties and mandatory social payments amounted
1481,1 million drams exceeding the projected revenues by 5%, according
to the preliminary data of NKR State Tax Service.

It is said to be higher from a year earlier by 0.4% or 5.7 million
drams.

Revenues from taxes and duties stood at 1134 million drams against
the forecasted 1078 million (5.2% up).

“State budget was replenished with nearly 347.2 million drams through
mandatory social payments exceeding the anticipated amount by 15.2
million drams,” the source states. ($1 – 406.03 drams). -0-

HEIDI TAGLIAVINI CONSIDERS SERZH SARGSYAN’S CAMPAIGN TO BE MOST VISIBLE

10:06, 7 February, 2013
Heidi Tagliavini considers Serzh Sargsyan’s campaign to be most visible

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. “Armenpress” had a conversation with
the Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Mission, Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini on the
presidential elections, launch of the election campaign and its
process, as well as the assassination attempt against Armenian
presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan.

– Election campaign is started at January 21. How would you evaluate
the pre-election situation in Armenia? Whether there are equal
conditions for all candidates to campaign?

The Electoral Code establishes a set of rules aimed at ensuring equal
opportunities for all candidates. State and local self-government
bodies are obliged to provide contestants with premises for campaign
events, under equal conditions and free of charge.

The official campaign period has thus far been characterized by
low-key activities. The campaign of incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan
is most visible. The overall campaign environment is partly influenced
by the decision of several parliamentary parties to not nominate
candidates.

– Armenian authorities repeatedly express willingness to hold
unprecedented presidential election. According to your monitoring,
till this point, do you see ground in Armenia for conduct of elections
in line with international standards?

Firstly, we will not speculate on how these elections will be or not
be. Our assessment with preliminary findings and conclusions will be
done only after election day on the press conference which you are
more than welcome to attend. More comprehensive assessment will be
presented in the final report that will be published some 8-weeks
after completion of the process.

Secondly, in our monitoring, we look at all aspects of the electoral
process and assess them. We are interested in the process, not in the
results of an election. We are not in the business of legitimizing
elections, or declaring them valid or invalid. It is our role to
observe and assess the election process in light of OSCE commitments,
international standards and national law. Nevertheless, it is up to
the relevant national actors to conduct elections accordingly.

– In your interim report you have mentioned RA new Electoral Code as a
solid base for conduct of democratic elections, although you have
pointed out some omissions as well. Despite the existing gaps, how do
you assess the legal framework in terms of the conduct of more
transparent elections?

As stated in our first interim report, the upcoming election is the
first presidential election that will be held under this Code that was
adopted in May 2011. The OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe’s
European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) have
assessed the Code as comprehensive and providing a sound basis for the
conduct of democratic elections.

At the same time, while the new Code addresses a number of previous
recommendations offered by the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission,
there are still areas where it could benefit from improvement. In this
respect, let me refer to the OSCE/ODIHR’s Final report on the 2012
parliamentary elections that is available in both languages at

– Does OSCE/ODIHR has enough resources for implementation of election
observation mission in Armenia?

All the activities of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR) of OSCE, including all the observation missions, are
covered by the budget that is approved annually by the OSCE Permanent
Council. In 2013, alongside Armenia, there have been observation
missions deployed also to the Czech Republic and Monaco; and very
shortly there will be a mission deployed to Montenegro.

– How would you evaluate the case that happened with Paruyr Hayrikyan?

Is there a base to announce that this will undermine the natural
process of presidential elections?

Violence is never an option. Ambassador Janez LenarÄ~MiÄ~M, Director of
the OSCE/ODIHR issued a statement condemning the attack (for more
information regarding the statement see
):

“This attack is deeply distressing in view of the electoral process
already underway, and I urge all stakeholders to refrain from any
actions that might further aggravate the situation,” said LenarÄ~MiÄ~M.

“We also urge the relevant authorities to pursue a robust
investigation of this crime and prosecution of the perpetrators.”

LenarÄ~MiÄ~M added that all concerned should ensure that the electoral
process remains peaceful.

Our Election Observation Mission is in contact with the state
authorities, as well as Mr Hayrikyan’s campaign headquarters, and
continues to follow developments in the case.

Interview by Seda Manukyan

ISSUES OF ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN MILITARY COOPERATION DISCUSSED IN GEORGIA BY TWO COUNTRIES’ DEFENSE MINISTRY REPRESENTATIVES

ARMINFO
Thursday, February 7, 12:03

Delegation of Armenian Defense Ministry led by Deputy Minister David
Tonoyan was on a working visit to Georgia, Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry of Armenia told ArmInfo the delegation had
meetings with the Georgian defense ministry leadership and discussed
issues of bilateral military cooperation. Regional security issues
and possible developments were discussed at the meetings.

The Armenian delegation also met with Defense Minister of Georgia
Irakli Alasania. The same day, members of the Armenian delegation
attended the reception on occasion of the 21st Anniversary of the
Armenian Armed Forces at the Georgian Embassy in Armenia.

POET HOVHANNES GRIGORYAN PASSED AWAY

10:48, 7 February, 2013

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. After a long illness prominent modern
Armenian writer Hovhannes Grigoryan died in the morning on February 7.

The Chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenia Levon Ananyan informed
“Armenpress” about this. According to Levon Ananyan presently they are
engaged in the formation of a governmental committee for organizing
his burial.

Hovhannes Grigoryan was born in the city of Gyumri, Armenia, on August
7, 1945. He graduated from the Yerevan State University, department of
Mathematical Linguistics. He was the editor-in-chief of WUA “Serund”
electronic magazine and “Mihr” magazine. He wrote numerous articles on
publicity and critique, translated and published in separate editions
of several works of Russian, English and Spanish writers. His own
works were translated into English, French, Russian, Spanish, Persian,
Arabian etc. Among his collected works are “Songs without Music”,
“Quite Different Autumn”, “Rain on a Sad Occasion”, and many others.

He was awarded with literary prize after Avetik Isahakyan, Movses
Khorenatsi Medal, Vahagn Prize, and the State Prize of Artsakh.

LE PARLEMENT EUROPEEN SOUTIENT LE DIALOGUE ENTRE LE PKK ET LA TURQUIE

Publie le : 07-02-2013

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
invite a lire cette information publiee sur le site du Parlement
europeen le 6 fevrier 2013.

Parlement europeen

Dialogue entre le gouvernement turc et le PKK: des resultats tangibles
attendus

Session plenière

Relations exterieures – 06-02-2013 – 18:32

Les parlementaires ont exprime mercredi leur soutien au dialogue entre
le gouvernement turc et l’ancien chef du Parti des travailleurs du
Kurdistan (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan en vue de mettre fin aux decennies de
violence en Turquie. Un dialogue en profondeur pourrait transformer
durablement les rapports de la Turquie avec sa minorite kurde, ont
insiste les deputes.

Les pourparlers en cours sont historiques vu, notamment, le soutien
de la societe civile et de l’opposition, ont reconnu les deputes.

Nombreux d’entre eux ont exhorte le PKK, qui est sur la liste des
organisations terroristes de l’UE, a deposer les armes.

Ils ont appele les autorites turques a oeuvrer d’une manière plus
resolue a la protection constitutionnelle de la minorite kurde et de
ses droits, notamment en matière de langue et d’education. De nombreux
deputes ont alerte sur l’etat des droits de l’homme en Turquie et
ont demande une interpretation et une application plus justes de la
legislation anti-terroriste.

Les deputes ont fermement condamne le meurtre de trois militantes
kurdes a Paris en janvier.

Regarder la video du debat en cliquant Ici

REF. : 20130201IPR05582

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Lire aussi:

Le Collectif VAN condamne l’execution des trois militantes kurdes

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Source/Lien : Parlement europeen