Author: Badalian Vardan

TURQUIE : ACCORD DE PRINCIPE SUR LES MODALITES D’UNE PAIX AVEC LE PKK
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 11 janvier 2013

Les autorites turques et le chef emprisonne des rebelles kurdes
Abdullah Ocalan se sont mis d’accord au cours de recentes discussions
sur le principe d’un arret des hostilites qui durent depuis 1984,
ont rapporte mercredi les medias turcs.

Selon la chaîne de television NTV et le quotidien Radikal, qui ne
precisent pas leurs sources, cet accord a mettre en oeuvre en plusieurs
etapes prevoit la suspension des attaques du Parti des travailleurs du
Kurdistan (PKK, interdit) dès le mois de mars, en echange d’une reforme
de l’Etat turc destinee a accroître les droits de la minorite kurde.

Les services du renseignement turcs, mandates par le Premier ministre
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, mènent depuis la fin 2012 des negociations
directes avec Abdullah Ocalan qui purge depuis 1999 une peine de
prison a vie sur l’île d’Imrali (nord-ouest).

En vertu du projet d’accord revele par NTV et Radikal, les rebelles
du PKK, une fois suspendues leurs operations militaires, quitteraient
le territoire turc pour l’Irak, avant de deposer formellement les
armes si les negociations ont suffisamment progresse.

Parallèlement, le gouvernement turc procederait graduellement a la
liberation de centaines de militants kurdes, accuses de collusion
avec le PKK, et engagerait une serie de reformes reconnaissant en
particulier l’identite des Kurdes.

Toujours selon ces deux medias, Abdullah Ocalan pourrait preciser
publiquement ses intentions et sa vision d’une solution du conflit
kurde dans des lettres adressees a l’opinion publique turque et a
ses partisans.

Aucune confirmation officielle de ce projet d’accord n’a ete obtenue
auprès des autorites turques.

Au Niger où il se trouvait mercredi dans le cadre d’une tournee
africaine, M. Erdogan a de son côte exhorte les rebelles du PKK a
quitter le territoire turc.

“Nous l’avions deja dit : les cadres de l’organisation separatiste
(PKK) doivent quitter la Turquie, et comment, en deposant les armes”,
a declare M. Erdogan dont les propos ont ete retransmis par les
chaînes turques.

Interroge mardi soir sur une chaîne de television turque, Ahmet Turk,
depute influent du principal mouvement kurde legal en Turquie, le
Parti pour la paix et la democratie (BDP), s’est lui aussi refuse a
commenter ces informations.

M. Turk a rencontre la semaine dernière le chef historique du PKK
dans sa cellule, une première depuis son incarceration en 1999.

Les discussions avec Abdullah Ocalan, qui suivent une precedente
demarche qui a echoue avec le PKK en 2009, ont provoque un vent
d’optimisme prudent en Turquie où les combats entre l’armee et le
PKK ont malgre tout continue.

“Nous poursuivrons notre lutte” contre le PKK, a insiste mercredi M.

Erdogan depuis le Niger.

Lundi soir, 14 rebelles et un soldat avaient ete tues dans des combats
près de la frontière irakienne (sud-est).

La principale formation de l’opposition turque, le Parti republicain
du peuple (CHP, centre gauche), a apporte son soutien au processus
de paix.

Le mouvement nationaliste MHP, troisième force au Parlement, a en
revanche vivement denonce les discussions.

Au pouvoir depuis 2002, le gouvernement islamo-conservateur du Parti
de la justice et du developpement (AKP) a deja renforce sensiblement
les droits de la minorite kurde qui represente environ 15 a 20%
des 75 millions d’habitants de la Turquie.

M. Erdogan a toutefois expose le week-end dernier les “lignes rouges”
de son gouvernement sur les discussions en cours, excluant une remise
en liberte ou un placement en residence surveillee d’Abdullah Ocalan,
ainsi qu’une amnistie generale des rebelles.

Le conflit kurde a fait 45.000 morts depuis 1984 et coûte des centaines
de millions de dollars au tresor turc.

vendredi 11 janvier 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

GEORGIAN PM TO MEET WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

NEWS.AM
January 10, 2013 | 21:59

YEREVAN.- The Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili is to meet
with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan during his visit to Armenia.

Duirng the January 17 working visit to Armenia, Georgian PM will hold
meetings with his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan, a reliable
source told Armenian News-NEWS.am. He will also visit cultural and
historical sites of Yerevan.

In the parliamentary elections of October 1, 2012 the “Georgian Dream”
coalition, led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, won the majority of votes,
“making” Saakashvili’s party an opposition. Bidzina Ivanishvili was
appointed as the Prime Minister of Georgia on October 25, 2012,

ARMENIAN PUBLIC SERVICES REGULATORY COMMISSION APPROVES ARMROSGAZPROM’S AMD 33.98-BILLION INVESTMENT PROGRAM

YEREVAN, January 9. /ARKA/. Armenian Public Services Regulatory
Commission has approved ArmRosgazprom’s AMD 33.98-billion investment
program for 2013-2015, according to the information posted on the
commission’s website.

The program implies modernization and expansion of the underground
natural gas storage in Abovyan, reconstruction of the gas-distributing
system and connecting new customers to the network.

On November 19, 2012, ArmRosgazprom submitted an AMD35.91-billion
investment program to the commission. It is stipulated in the program
that the volumes of work and the amount of investments for 2014 and
2015 may change depending on the course of the program implementation
in 2013, off-schedule deviations, the amount of the investments
already made and the company’s financial and economic state.

ArmRosgazprom CJSC, established in 1997, is the sole importer and
distributor of Russian natural gas in Armenia.

Russia conveys its gas to Armenia through Georgia.

The company’s shareholders are Russia’s Gazprom and the Armenian
government. ($1- AMD 403.87).-0-

ONE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS IN ARMENIA URGES ALL THE OTHERS TO WITHDRAW THEIR CANDIDATURES TO PREVENT SERZH SARGSYAN LEGITIMATE RE-ELECTION

arminfo
Wednesday, January 9, 15:19

If no second round is required in the upcoming presidential election
in Armenia, it will mean that there is no democracy in the country,
says Paruyr Hayrikyan, candidate for president of Armenia, Leader
of the Union for National Self -Determination Party. He told media
on Wednesday that the incumbent authorities may falsify the election
outcome and some pre-election bribes have already been given to the
people with disabilities. The candidate said that he will support
the opposition candidate with the most realistic program if he fails
to reach the second round of election. As regards his serious rivals
in the presidential race, Hayrikyan said that most of the candidates
are the friends who forgot the past rather than rivals.

“Hrant Bagratyan, Raffi Hovannisian and Serzh Sargsyan, probably,
forgot that yet not so long ago they worked against me in a team under
chairmanship of Levon Ter-Petrosyan. So, speaking of their rivalry:”
Hayrikyan said.

Hayrikyan was displeased with Heritage Party Leader Raffi Hovannisian’s
statement saying that the key rivals are Serzh Sargsyan and
Raffi Hovannisian. “I think it is hard to imagine Armenia without
Hayrikyan. Armenia must become united,” Hayrikyan said.

In the meanwhile, another candidate for president Aram Haroutiunyan
doubts that the incumbent president will get 50% of the votes. He
believes that not all the votes that were given to the Republican Party
of Armenia during the past parliamentary elections will be given to
the incumbent president. The heavy socio-economic situation in the
country is another obstacle to that, he said. Haroutiunyan urged all
the candidates to reach an agreement to withdraw their candidatures a
few days become the election in order Serzh Sargsyan fails to retain
power legitimately. The politician is sure that there will be a second
round of election, but he has not yet decided whom to support.

“For me it is a priority to overthrow the corrupt and anti-national
authorities,” he said.

To recall, out of 15 presidential candidates, two are nominated by
the political parties: incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan from the
Republican Party and former prime minister Hrant Bagratyan from the
Liberty Party. All the remaining are self-nominated candidates: Leader
of the Union for National Self- Determination Party Paruyr Hayrikyan,
Leader of Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian, Advisor for Political
Issues of the Refugees and the International Law Civil Society Network,
ex-foreign minister of NKR Arman Melikyan, a member of Prosperous
Armenia Party Ruben Ayvazyan, non-party man Taron Abrahamyan, Leader
of the Progressive Socialist Party Robert Aharonyan, Director of Hay
Radio Andreas Ghukasyan, unemployed ethnographer Vardan Sedrakyan,
Head of Kashatagh NGO Robert Simonyan, pensioner Pavlik Sargsyan,
unemployed Mher Hayrapetyan, and head of the NAtional Press Club
Narine Lazarian. The elections will be held on Feb 18 2013. Seven
out of 15 candidates have not yet paid the deposit for participation
in the election and may be rejected by the CEC.

POLITICAL EXPERT: FORCES IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT REFUSE TO RUN IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS A RESULT OF SHADOW DEALS WITH AUTHORITIES

arminfo
Wednesday, January 9, 15:31

The forces in the Armenian Parliament have refused to run in the
presidential race as a result of behind-the-scene arrangements with
the authorities, Manvel Sargsyan, Director of the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies, said at today’s press conference.

He thinks it is strange that on the one hand, all the forces have
refused to take part in the race (ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Prosperous
Armenia Party, Armenian National Congress), explaining their refusal by
their reluctance to participate in the performance called “elections”,
and on the other hand, these forces have been cooperating with
the incumbent authorities for many years. “It is not clear whether
they have just understood the senselessness of these processes and
rationality has just got the best of it or there are much deeper
reasons”, he said. Sargsyan himself is inclined to consider this
boycott as a consequence of a deal.

He thinks that this deal has led to the collapse faced by the political
field of Armenia, as there is no force capable to be a counterweight
to the power. The expert believes that such a political monopoly is
a serious threat, even for the power itself. “The Armenian society
has remained face to face with the power and feels ill at ease at
the moment”, he said.

DEATHS IN PENITENTIARIES ARE DUE TO LACK OF MEDICAL CARE

14:12 09/01/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

“Most deaths, including the so-called “suicides” in penitentiary
institutions are due to health problems,” says the head of Vanadzor
office of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Artur Sakunts.

Sakunts notes with pain that the relatives of most convicts do not
demand investigation of the circumstances of death of their relatives,
which is a serious issue. “The fact that prisoners die due to health
problems does not mean the problem is their illnesses,” said Sakunts.

He is convinced the reason is the lack of proper medical services. The
question occurs whether prisoners are provided with due medical care
not to let them die.

“Investigation would reveal that most deaths are due to lack of medical
care,” says Artur Sakunts adding that since 2010 the penitentiary
institutions have been overcrowded, which also affects the rate of
death and suicide among inmates.

According to statistics provided by Sakunts, 35 deaths were reported
in 2010 and 37 in 2011.

AZERBAIJAN’S ADVANTAGE MAY HEIGHTEN RISK OF WAR – ARMENIAN EXPERT

tert.am
09.01.13

If Azerbaijan is able to gain stronger political support from the
international and military community, it may pose rather higher
risks of war, the political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told
reporters.

The Nagorno-Karabakh problem is impossible by means of negotiations,
and preserving the present situation is the best thing that can be
sought now.

“The preventive measures Armenia is taking suggest that there is no
threat of war at least in the foreseeable future. At present, the
best hope is to somehow defuse tension,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

Last year’s processes showed that the negotiations reached a stalemate.

“There are no grounds for seeing any positive process in the
negotiations. At present, both the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides,
and even the mediators, are trying to lay the responsibility for the
failure on each other,” the expert said.

With respect to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s New Year message,
Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan voiced the opinion that the Azerbaijani leader
is thus trying to “adapt his society to the complication of a warlike
situation.”

“Building up tension somehow causes Azerbaijan’s society to unite
round the authorities. Aliyev will try to create permanent tension
over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – at least until the presidential
election thereby diverting public attention from more serious domestic
political problems,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

On the other hand, the expert believes that rather interesting
developments should be expected this year, the presidential election
in Armenia and Azerbaijan being the reason.

“DO YOU DOUBT SERZH SARGSYAN WILL WIN?”

13:21 10/01/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Republican minister of health Derenik Dumanyan predicts that the most
transparent and just elections will be held in Armenia on February 18.

He added that the election will correspond to international
measurements.

According to him, Paruyr Hayrikyan, Hrant Bagratyan and Raffi
Hovannisian are very experienced figures, but it is not enough for
victory. “We should see how they carry out the election campaign, what
slogans they choose, what program they present to our nation.

Naturally, each voter should assess the candidates and vote in accord
with their assessment”, he said.

Dwelling on the statements of different Republican figures that Serzh
Sargsyan is the favorite and the other candidates should fight for the
second place, Derenik Dumanyan says that hardly anyone, including the
candidates, doubts Serzh Sargsyan will win. We are sure he is the
favorite and he will win, said Dumanyan.

At the same time, he noted that the election will be competitive since
it is up to the voters to decide whom to vote.

THREE KURDISH WOMEN ACTIVISTS ‘KILLED IN PARIS’

10.01.13

Three Kurdish women activists have been found dead with gunshot wounds
to the head in Paris, French media say, citing police sources.

One of the women is said to be a co-founder of the militant Kurdish
separatist movement, the PKK, BBC reports.

The bodies were discovered near the Kurdish Institute of Paris.

It is not clear what the motive is. Turkey has begun talks with the
jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, aimed at convincing the
PKK to disarm.

Some 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the
Turkish state and the PKK.

“The scene [of the crime] could give rise to the idea that this
was an execution, but the investigation will have to establish the
exact circumstances of this incident,” a police source told the AFP
news agency.

A Kurdish news website in France identifies one of the women as
Sakine Cansiz, a founder of the PKK, while another is said to be a
representative of the Brussels-based National Congress of Kurdistan
and the third is a young activist.

SPORT-EXPRESS NAMES MKHITARYAN THE TOP PLAYER ON POST-SOVIET SPACE

13:36 10.01.2013

Sport-Express, a leading sport publication in Russia, has recognized
Armenia and FC Shakhtar midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan the winner of
its annual contest Zvezda (Star).

The prize is awarded to the best player on post-Soviet space. The
23-year-old Armenian was voted the best by 22 out of 45 journalists
taking part in the survey.

“I don’t feel a star,” Mkhitaryan said in an interview with
Sport-Express. He said was pleased to accept the award, but added
that it was impossible to achieve anything alone. “Any individual
prize is the achievement of the whole team,” he said, thanking all
his teammates.

Yura Movsisyan, another Armenian national team player who joined
Moscow’s Spartak in December, was ranked 12th in the survey.