Author: Badalian Vardan

MARCH IN DEFENSE OF ZHOGHOVURD DAILY IN ARMENIA’S CAPITAL

30.01.13

A protest march in defense of the Zhoghovurd (People) daily has
started in Abovyan Str.

More than 100 participants crying out “justice” are marching toward
the Kentron and Nork Marash minor court. They demand that the court
reverse the attachment of the newspaper’s AMD 3m worth property.

Most of the participants are journalists, but some political figures
are participating as well. Among the participants are also Sasun
Mikaelyan, the commander of the Sasun detachment, Chairman of the
Freedom party, Armenia’s ex-premier and one of the presidential
candidates Hrant Bagratyan, Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, a member of the
opposition bloc Armenian National Congress (ANC), as well as Styopa
Safaryan, a member of the Heritage party, political scientist Hmayak
Hovhannisyan and others.

The protesters are carrying posters, reading: “People are with
‘People'”, “No mister selling rotten eggs will rule the court” and
so on.

On January 24, the Zhoghovurd daily received a court verdict returned
by Judge Ruben Apinyan. The verdict attached the newspaper’s AMD 3m
worth property. Thus the court upheld a claim lodged by Mr Khachik
Khachatryan, the owner of the Yerevan Poultry Factory OJSC.

THE KARABAKH PROGRAM OF THE HALO TRUST ORGANIZATION WILL BE INTENSIFIED

Monday, 28 January 2013 09:58

Program Manager Nick Smart denies the Azerbaijani propaganda machine’s
lie on donors.

Thanks to the 13-year mine clearing activity of The Halo Trust British
non-governmental organization in Karabakh, the number of accidents has
considerably reduced, and according to the 2011-2012 data, no death
was registered in the entire territory of the republic. In 2013, it is
planned to complete the mine clearing in two sections of the Martuni
region, as a result of which the entire region will be mine cleared.

Mine clearing will be actively continued in the Hadrut and Martakert
regions.

Sappers have not completed mine clearing in the Askeran region, since
this process is carried out step by step. According to the schedule,
soon this area will be also cleared of unexploded mines and other
ammunitions. This was informed to the Azat Artsakh by manager of the
Nagorno-Karabakh program of The HALO Trust organization Nick Smart
who started his office in June 2011.

Last year, 5 cases of civilians’ blowing up by landmines and other
ammunition were fixed; 6 people were injured, among them – two
children. The most severe case was fixed in Kubatlu: the victim lost
his limbs. In 2011, there were four accidents caused by explosions on
anti-personnel mines and other ammunitions, resulting in the injury
of 5 people. The victims, including two children got different-degree
injuries. Deaths were not reported.

The works on neutralization of the territories in Karabakh started
in 1995. According to the statistics, in the period between 1995 and
2012, there were 270 accidents caused by explosion of mines and other
ordnance; 346 people were injured, among them 91 children. 74 deaths
were registered. It should be noted that through the implementation of
its humanitarian mission in our republic The HALO Trust organization
was invaluable in ensuring the security of the NKR citizens, as well
as training sappers.

Are there any problems with funding the Karabakh program? According to
N. Smart, to date, two basic donors continue providing their financial
assistance. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
provided about $ 1 million as of September 2012. The second donor –
the UK private organization Reece Foundation and Grapes for Humanity
donated $ 300.000 to the NKR in May 2012. The contract with this
organization expires in April 2013. According to our interlocutor,
other funds are also interested in providing humanitarian assistance
to Nagorno Karabakh and, in particular, one of them (Mr. Smart didn’t
note the source) expressed readiness to conduct wide-scale works on
mine clearing in Kashatagh. The program manager is going to present
the annual budget to this fund.

He gave another example testifying to the organization’s concern about
the Karabakh sappers. The additional grant from the USAID was not
enough for paying the entire staff’s salaries. In last August, staff
reduction in 20 sappers was planned, but the talks of the Karabakh
program manager with Director of the organization Guy Willoughby
resulted in the Director’s decision to sponsor the 20 sappers through
the domestic resources of The HALO Trust. “In this September, the
USAID funds will run out, but our joint work will not complete thus.

We hope for continuing the cooperation with the United States, which
will allow to increase the works’ volume”, said the program manager.

Our next question to Mr. Smart related to another disinformation of
the Azeris, according to which The HALO Trust failed to find new
donors, which will lead to the termination of the organization’s
activity. The program manager denied this misinformation, stating that
the organization would continue its activities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

About how long it will take to complete the mine clearance throughout
Karabakh? According to N. Smart, it all depends on the available
resources and opportunities. With the current number of employees it
will take about five years. 13 teams participate in the mine clearing
works. According to the Karabakh office, the number of employees
makes 140 people, 120 of them belong to the operational staff and
are directly involved in the field works. For 13 years, the Karabakh
sappers have worked with the British non-governmental organization
within the humanitarian program for removing the consequences of the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh war. According to N. Smart, the Nagorno-Karabakh
sappers’ staff is one of the best among the other staffs of The
HALO Trust worldwide. “The management team, which has worked in
the organization since 2000, i.e. since the start of the program in
Nagorno-Karabakh, is quite professional. Their knowledge of the works
in mined areas is invaluable. The collaboration of the management team
with field engineers is on the highest level. Without such employees,
the program would not be successful. Of the 140 employees, I am the
only foreigner”. According to N. Smart, the organization is just
represented here; this is a Karabakh program and it is managed by
Karabakh specialists. He can only note the directions of works.

Everything is done by the local staff’s efforts and the country can
be proud of them, he said.

The organization has offices in Washington and San Francisco, which
mainly deal with financial issues.

This year, one of the senior employees of the Karabakh office will
be sent to the United States for arranging the issues related to
the funding.

At the end, Mr. Smart noted that this year the UK is celebrating
the 25th anniversary of The HALO Trust’s foundation. Since 1988,
it has realized humanitarian mission in different parts of the world
(the first country was Afghanistan). During the year, the mass media
will widely highlight the humanitarian mission of the organization in
all directions. He also noted that in 2013, the son of Lady Diana,
Prince Harry, following the example of his mother, would become a
sponsor of the organization.

Ruzan ISHKHANIAN

KARVACHAR CITY WILL HAVE OPPORTUNITY TO USE INTERNET SERVICE BY “KARABAKH TELECOM”

“Karabakh Telecom is pleased to announce that effective 28.01.2013
Karvachar City in Shahumyan Region (Artsakh) and Shosh Village in
Askeran Region will have full internet service.

At the same time Karabakh Telecom in also pleased to announce that
customers in Karvachar City, as well as Haterk and Drmbon villages
in the Shahumyan Region can be fully serviced in its newly renoved
and fully operational Service Centers.

Expect more exciting news and innovations from Karabakh Telecom in
the near future”, press release by Karabakh Telecom informs about this.

Note that this is really good and exciting news for the residents of
Karvachar city.

30.01.13, 13:18

ARMENIA’S NATIONAL WRESTLING TEAM CAPTURES FIRST PLACE IN DENMARK

January 30

YEREVAN. – The Greco-Roman wrestling national team of Armenia took
part in an A-class international tournament in Denmark, where it
competed against Hungary, Germany, France, Norway, Finland, and the
host nation.

The Armenian wrestles won a total of seven medals and captured first
place in overall team standings. Sasun Ghambaryan, Artur Shahinyan,
and London Olympics bronze-medalist Artur Aleksanyan won gold; Tigran
Torosyan and Sargis Tonoyan took silver; and Aram Julfalakyan and
Maksim Manukyan received bronze medals at the event.

Next, the national team athletes will take part in a training camp
that will get underway Sunday in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan, the
Sport and Youth Affairs Ministry website informs.

NEWS.am Sport

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN ESPERE QUE L’ELECTION PRESIDENTIELLE SERA DEMOCRATIQUE
Laetitia

armenews.com
mercredi 30 janvier 2013

Raffi Hovannisian, un candidat de l’opposition, a indique mardi qu’il
se tiendrait a l’ecart de toute manifestation violente, en cas de
contestation des resultats officiels de l’election du 18 fevrier.

Dans une longue interview accordee a RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am), Raffi
Hovannisian a de nouveau remis en question l’engagement exprime par
le president Serge Sarkissian concernant la tenue d’une election ”
democratique “. Il a insiste sur le fait que les employes du secteur
public demeurent sous la pression du gouvernement. ” Si les choses
continuent comme cela, je ne tolèrerai aucune fraude. Je crois en une
eventuelle revolution electorale. Je crois que le peuple armenien
peut proceder a une revolution electorale “, a-t-il dit. Interroge
sur son action en cas de fraude, il a declare qu’il fera tout ce que
la constitution et les lois lui permettent de faire.

R. Hovannisian a critique Ter-Petrosian (Congrès national armenien
(HAK)), l’opposition Federation revolutionnaire armenienne (FRA)
et le Parti Armenie prospère (BHK) concernant leur decision de
boycotter la prochaine election. Il semblait decu que le HAK et la
FRA ne soutiennent pas sa candidature. ” Je respecte leur decision
… mais je crois que leur non-participation n’est pas efficace. Il
ne faut pas le voir comme une fatalite. Où est la poursuite du combat
qui avait commence en 2008 ? “, a-t-il demande.

mercredi 30 janvier 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

COACH SAYS ARMENIA VS CZECH REPUBLIC MATCH WILL BE CRUCIAL

January 29, 2013 – 15:09 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia national football team will address a number
of problems during the upcoming team practice session, head coach said.

“We will offer a solution to the problem of the defensive midfielder.

4 players will miss the match; two due to disqualification, and other
two due to injuries,” Vardan Minasyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

“I attach special importance to human relations rather than playing
techniques,” the head coach said.

Armenia will face off against Czech Republic on March 26 World Cup
Qualification.

“Armenian team has been characterized by aspiration for victory and
devotion. The match against Czechia will be crucial,” the coach said.

The squad will depart for France on Feb 3 to face Luxemburg in a
friendly match.

CHESS: ARONIAN SATISFIED WITH HIS PERFORMANCE AT TATA STEEL

Chess | 29.01.13 | 10:12

Photo:

Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian believes his second place at a
prestigious international tournament in the Netherlands that ended
on Sunday is a ‘good result’ despite several missed opportunities.

Tata Steel’s Group A tournament in Wijk aan Zee, bringing together 14
grandmasters, ended in the victory by FIDE’s number one player Magnus
Carlsen from Norway. Finishing second, Aronian, currently the world’s
number three player, outdid reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand
from India.

“Remembering the positions I would have [during some of the games]
at the tournament, I can’t say that I’m much satisfied with my
performance. Though I really missed several important moments, second
place is quite good result,” concluded the Armenian chess ace after
the completion of the tournament in the Dutch town.

Meanwhile, in Tata Steel’s Tournaments B and C, Sergei Movsesian
representing Armenia and Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian, an ethnic Armenian
player from Brazil, finished fourth in their respective sections,
in each of which 14 players were competing.

All results and the final standings from Tata Steel are available on
the tournament’s official website at

CARREFOUR TO OPEN SUPERMARKET IN ARMENIA?

news.am
January 29, 2013 | 18:15

Carrefour Group plans to enter Armenian market within a year, press
service of French hypermarket chain told Mediamax agency.

Earlier banners on earliest opening of Carrefour store were hung in
Dalma Garden Mall in Yerevan.

Carrefour is the second largest retail group in the world. It has 15
thousand stores in 32 states. The first Carrefour hypermarket in the
region was opened in Tbilisi.

The group was announced to enter the Armenian market in 2012. However,
press reports suggested it would not open a hypermarket in Armenia.

According to some sources, Carrefour demands preferences to import
organic food but has not come to an agreement with the Armenian
government.

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN MEMBERS VISIT THE HUNGER-STRIKER

NEWS.AM
January 29, 2013 | 17:59

YEREVAN.- Members of ARF Dashnaktsutyun visited presidential candidate
who is holding a hunger strike in the center of Yerevan.

MPs Aghvan Vardanyan and Armen Rustamyan visited Andreas Ghukasyan
who is holding a strike under “Stop Fake Elections” motto.

As reported earlier, on January 21 Armenian presidential contender
Andreas Ghukasyan declared a hunger strike for an indefinite time. He
was also joined by chairman of Tseghakron nationalist party Shant
Harutyunyan, and another presidential contender Paruyr Hayrikyan who
declared a three-day “dry” hunger strike.

CENTERS FOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO BE SET UP IN ARMENIA

Tuesday 29 January 2013 12:10

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Issues related to establishment of certified
service center for maintenance and repair of armored and engineering
equipment, anti-aircraft warfare units and helicopters of “MI” model,
vehicle equipment of Russian production and options of organization
of assembly production of vehicles based on “KAMAZ” chassis are to be
discussed at a joint session of Russian and Armenian national units
of the Interstate Commission for Military-Economic Cooperation.

The agenda also includes issues of establishing communication and
equipment system of new generation (complex gym systems) for educating
personal staff of force structures of Armenia, Mediamax was informed
in the CSTO press service.

CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha and Chairman of CSTO
Interstate Commission, State Secretary Deputy Minister of Industry
and Trade of Russia Igor Karavayev will take part in the session.

Within the event, a memorandum of understanding on establishment of
“CSTO Academy” foundation in Armenia will be signed between the CSTO
Secretariat and staff of the National Security Council of Armenia.