Author: Badalian Vardan

Israel Charny on Knesset and Armenian Genocide

asbarez
Friday, June 15th, 2012

Dr. Israel Charny

EDITOR’S NOTE: After Tuesday’s discussion of the Armenian Genocide
bill in the Israeli Knesset, director of the Genocide Prevention
Network, Dr. Israel Charny published an in-depth analysis of the
event, which he termed `Israel Government Officially Calls On Knesset
To Recognize The Armenian Genocide.’ Calling it an unprecedented move
by the Israeli government to endorse such recognition, Charny’s
analysis provides an eyewitness account of the proceedings. Below is
Charny’s article:

In an historic session of the Israeli Knesset, a wide ranging spectrum
of members of the Knesset, from 7 different political parties,
overwhelmingly endorsed recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The
session was led firmly and inspiringly by the Chair of the Knesset,
Reuven Rivlin , who himself spoke with profound feeling of both a
Jewish and an Israeli imperative to extend a long overdue recognition.
The issue is a moral one, he emphasized over and over again.

`We must make our voices heard when other nations are targeted for
destruction,’ Rivlin stated. `Those who drafted the Final Solution for
the Jews figured the world would be silent as they were when the
Armenians were murdered. The Knesset cannot ignore this episode that
is factual. We cannot forgive nations who ignore our disaster and we
cannot ignore the disaster of other,’ the Knesset Speaker added.

Although several speakers also reconstructed briefly familiar parts of
the traditional Israeli rhetoric of past years of realpolitik` e.g., a
chorus line that the government of Turkey in our time is not the
Ottoman Empire that perpetrated the genocide ‘ the old excuses were as
if album memories of the language that prevailed in the past to
explain and justify Israel’s failure, and in all cases but one soon
gave way to clear-cut affirmations of the validity of the Armenian
Genocide and support for its recognition by the current government of
Israel.

This reporter had to hold his breath during the beginning of the
remarks by the official spokesman of the government before it became
clear how positive the official position had become for Israel to
recognize the Armenian Genocide at long last.

There was only one notable effort at a counter-proposal by a member of
the Knesset, Robert Tiviaev, who made a disingenuous effort to call
for a commission of historians to research `what really happened,’ and
he pledged that if the commission then concluded that there had been a
genocide, `I will be the first to call for recognition.’ Knesset Chair
Rivlin made short shrift of the speaker and ruled that there was no
point in generating a formal counter proposal and voting on it because
it was obvious from all the earlier speakers that an overwhelming
majority of the Knesset adamantly confirmed the historical
authenticity of the Armenian Genocide.

Rivlin also concluded there was no point in calling for a vote on the
resolution to recognize the genocide since the Knesset already had
voted last year, unanimously, in favor of recognition. It was on the
basis of that vote that the measure had been referred to the Knesset’s
Education Committee that held a several hour session in December 2011.

Knesset Chair Rivlin also said that today’s session was a confirmation
and extension of the original full Knesset resolution to recognize the
genocide, and he then added forcefully that he now expected a
continuation of deliberations in the Education Committee and a vote on
the resolution.

The government was officially represented at the hearing by MK Gilad
Erdan, a member of the National Union Party and currently Minister of
Environmental Affairs, who is described by some press as a close
friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was Erdan’s role to
present the government’s position (that will be described shortly) and
to answer officially on behalf of the government proposed
parliamentary motion not to recognize the genocide.

Erdan said clearly that the government had decided to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, and even used what is normally the code word
`holocaust’ in his remarks to describe what was done to the Armenian
people. `I think it is definitely fitting that the Israeli government
formally recognize the holocaust perpetrated against the Armenian
people,’ Erdan, Israel’s environmental affairs minister said.

For this reporter, Erdan’s remarks also reflected the struggles of the
long-since denialist Israeli government that is now coming around
dramatically in a welcome move to recognize the Armenian Genocide. At
first, Erdan made at least one totally inaccurate remark in defense of
the State of Israel when he said, `The State of Israel has never
denied the [Armenian Genocide]. On the contrary, we deplore the
genocide.’ Erdan also temporized briefly about the meaning of the word
`genocide’ when he noted that, `Not everyone uses the same dictionary
when they refer to `genocide’¦’ Yet in the end ` though this reporter
thought somewhat nervously and hurriedly ` Erdan announced
unambiguously that he was conveying the government’s official
position. First of all, he said on behalf of the government that, `One
must support full open discussion of the issue.’ He also went on to
refer to a deeper meaning of the Armenian Genocide for mankind and to
link the meaning of the Armenian Genocide to the Holocaust of the
Jewish people: `The government notes that mankind has not learned the
full meanings of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.’ And finally
Erdan announced the Israeli government calls for formal recognition of
the Armenian Genocide which, as noted earlier, Erdan now characterized
with the word `holocaust:’

GPN Explanation and Analysis
Unlike the procedure in the US Congress, the Israel legislative
sequence calls first for a vote in the plenum, and given a positive
vote then the proposed resolution is referred for a hearing in one of
the Knesset committees. Now, given a further positive vote in the
committee, the measure returns once again to the plenum for three
readings and a vote on each reading. At the successful conclusion of
this process, the resolution becomes a legal decision of the Knesset.

In the case of the bill to recognize the Armenian Genocide, it is
known that if the government maneuvers to send the bill to the
secretive Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security, the bill will
most likely be killed ` and no information on who said what and `who
done it’ may ever be forthcoming. When the present resolution was sent
last Fall to the Education Committee, whose hearings are public, it
was a major step toward a possible recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. The December hearing in the Education Committee was widely
hailed in Israel as the first-ever extended consideration of the
genocide in Israel’s legislature.

However ` a very big however ` as reported by GPN at the time, after
several hours of a rich and quite moving session, the Chair of the
Education Committee at the time, Alex Miller, a member of Knesset for
the Yisrael Beitenu Party that is headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman (the Foreign Ministry continued in its traditional
opposition to recognize the genocide) as if broke the spell of the
session that overall would clearly have produced a vote for
recognition, and announced preemptively that the session was over.
Bang! Miller then promised that there would be a continuation session
in the future, but in fact has never made a move to schedule such a
session, and GPN has learned privately over these months from the
leaders of the Armenian community in Israel that Miller has said that
he refuses to convene such a session.

It now remains to be seen whether the government will act on its newly
announced support of the recognition by working to have the Knesset
send the measure once again to the Education Committee for a
continuation of the hearing ` there will be a new Chair of the
Education Committee in the coming weeks.

What is clear is that Knesset Chair Reuven Rivlin will do everything
in his power in the behind-the-scene decision-making process to have
the bill referred back to the Education Committee, but we do not know
how to evaluate the range of his influence.

If the government arranges for the bill to go to the secretive
committee where it is likely to be killed or in any other way stops
the unfolding of the full process, we will know that the statement
made by the government’s spokesman on June 12 was still another
maneuver in the history of Israeli realpolitik ` notwithstanding the
fact the even this statement itself represents a major precedent in
the tortured process that has taken place in Israel over so many
years.

One puzzle for this reporter in the day following the hearing is that
so much of the press in Israel and in the U.S. too failed to report
loudly and clearly what for us is the very big news ` and therefore
GPN’s headline. The Government of Israel did state officially that it
supports recognition. Wow. As I reviewed press today, I discovered to
my amazement that most missed the point. Haaretz in Hebrew didn’t even
report the story of the hearing. The English edition of Haaretz this
morning featured the hearing as its lead Page One story but still
didn’t convey the main point of the victory. Neither did the Jerusalem
Post or the Los Angeles Times in their fairly full stories. One minor
new service in israel, Arutz Sheva, did publish a small statement that
the Minister Erdan `spoke for the government¦’ and quoted him saying
in the first person (which could be one source of the confusion that
has been showing up as to who he represented), `I believe it would be
appropriate for the government to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.’
In Istanbul, the newspaper Today’s Zaman got it more correctly than
some of the major Israeli papers and quoted the minister basically
correctly, BUT added that he said Israel’s government had not changed
its policy, and in general erred very badly in saying the hearing was
initiated in response to this minister’s remark rather than that the
minister came as the official government representative to the hearing
initiated by the Knesset. The one source we have found so far that got
it really right was the Chicago Tribune which clearly credited Erdan
as speaking for the government.

Why so much clouding of information? At the moment GPN’s analysis is
that it’s a whopper of a correction for Israel to make after so many
years and its hard to believe. As we reported, even the minister
seemed nervously unsure!

In spite of the clear risks of being very wrong, GPN’s editor-reporter
now predicts that this bill to recognize the Armenian Genocide will go
the full route and will be approved by the Israeli Knesset.

Turkey Fails to Implement European Court Ruling, Dink Lawyer Says
ISTANBUL’Dink family’s lawyer Fethiye Ã?etin wrote a letter to the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, arguing that the
Turkish government had failed to implement any serious, concrete or
frank steps to execute the verdict issued by the European Court of
Human Rights and that it rewarded the responsible parties by promoting
rather than trying them in a court of law, bianet.org reported.

The Turkish government updated its action plan of June 27, 2011 once
again on Oct. 19, 2011 due to the finalization of the European Court’s
verdict on Dec. 14, 2010, she said, adding that both action plans
included contemporary developments under the titles of independent and
general measures and ongoing trials rather than the verdict’s
execution.

`The written contents of the government’s action plan clearly indicate
they took no concrete or serious steps to execute the verdict. The
government did not attempt anything positive since the time of the
last action plan either,’ Fethiye Ã?etin said.

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the chief editor of the
Armenian weekly Agos, was shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007 in broad daylight
before his office in Istanbul’s Å?iÅ?li district.

`The[action plan elucidated at length over measures allegedly taken,
ongoing trials and investigations not yet complete, but it divulged no
concrete information over the execution of the European Court’s
verdict on Dink or a renewal of the trial,’ Ã?etin said in her letter.

`The government did not choose to opt for remission to execute the
verdict, failed to bring those responsible before justice and
continued its rhetoric and actions intended to pave the way for new
violations by reproducing the same structure that spawned the
violations in the first place,’ she said.

The ECHR had convicted Turkey of violating the second article of the
European Convention on Human Rights over the right to life, the 10th
article on the freedom of speech and the 13th article over the right
to an effective remedy in the lawsuit filed by the Dink family.

A court had sentenced Dink’s murderer Ogün Samast to a total of 22
years and 10 months in prison on charges of `premeditated murder’ and
`possession of unlicensed weapons.’Instigator Yasin Hayal also
received a life sentence, while Erhan Tuncel was acquitted. All the
defendants, however, were acquitted of charges of membership in an
illegal organization due to lack of evidence, and a number of
officials implicated in the affair also received promotions.

Kviris Palitra, Georgia
June 11 2012

Nadiradze’s missile made people in Tbilisi worry

by Irakli Aladashvili
[translated from Georgian]

People in South Caucasus, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Iran saw flight
of Aleksandre Nadiradze’s Topol in night sky

The majority of Tbilisi’s residents (and not just them) stared at the
night sky 7 June, trying to determine what that strange illumination
was: A bright spot was advancing in the sky, leaving a trail behind
it. Then there was a flash, it started to spiral, and finally the
light disappeared.

What could this strange “celestial object” possibly have been?
Multiple theories were proposed, starting with the explosion of a
comet and ending with an alien spaceship crash. Meanwhile, the cause
of the strange illumination in the night sky was completely ordinary:
These were the final seconds of the operation of a stage engine of a
missile launched from earth….[ellipsis as published]

The command of the Russian Defence Ministry’s Strategic Missile Forces
issued an official report the next day, stating that a Topol
intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar
test site in Astrakhan Oblast at 2139 hours Moscow time [1739 GMT].
Its dummy warhead hit a hypothetical target at the Sary-Shagan test
range in Kazakhstan.

According to Russian generals, the main goal of the test was to
examine the flight performance of this type of missile after multiple
years of storage.

The Soviet Union began deploying the Topol mobile intercontinental
ballistic missiles in 1985 and Russia still had 360 Topol mobile
complexes in its arsenal by 1996.

The Georgian president [Enhanced Coverage LinkingGeorgian president [
-Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 DaysMikheil
Saakashvili] Enhanced Coverage LinkingMikheil Saakashvili] -Search
using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Dayssaid in one of his
recent speeches that, during the August 2008 war, the Russians fired
into Georgian territory Iskander [missiles] designed by our compatriot
Nadirashvili.

While it is true that two Iskander tactical missiles hit our territory
during the August war (one in downtown Gori and the other near
Vaziani), they were not designed by our compatriot.

There is no one named Nadirashvili among the constructors of missile
systems. However, Aleksandre Nadiradze, a great constructor and our
compatriot, is frequently mentioned in Soviet and world rocket
scientist circles along with [late Soviet rocket engineer Sergey]
Korolev and [late German rocket scientist Werner] von Braun.

In 1977, as the chief constructor of the Moscow Thermotechnical
Institute, Aleksandre Nadiradze began designing a solid-fuel
intercontinental ballistic missile that would be deployed on a wheeled
chassis and would therefore be mobile. Unlike the ballistic missiles
placed inside silos, whose location coordinates were traceable by US
satellites with a margin of error of a mere couple of meters,
Nadiradze’s wheeled missiles would “hide” in Russia’s vast taiga and
be launched towards the United States from the least likely locations.

The new mobile missile system was dubbed Topol. It became the most
modern and dangerous nuclear weapon. US presidents still take account
of it, and this will continue for another 10-15 years.

Preparing the Topol for launch only takes a couple of minutes. The
chassis that has seven axes stops and the missile container moves into
a vertical position. The missile moves several meters above the
container and then the rocket engine of the 45-ton three-stage
ballistic missile’s first stage starts. Once the solid fuel burns out
in each of the stages, [the stage] detaches from the missile’s body.
What the residents of Tbilisi saw on the night of 7 June was probably
the last seconds of the operation of a rocket engine from a stage that
had detached from the missile.

Once all three stages detach, the nuclear warhead that weighs about a
ton continues to fly towards the target. Its power is the equivalent
of 0.55 megatons of TNT.

It is noteworthy that the Topol designed by Aleksandre Nadiradze
carried a nuclear warhead created by Armenian constructor Samvel
Kocharyants. It was capable of wiping a provincial US town off the
map.

[translated from Georgian]

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 15 2012

Saudi Foreign Ministry: It is necessary to increase pressure on
Armenia to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 14 /Trend A.Taghiyeva/

The international community should increase pressure on Armenia to
abandon its occupation policy, Saudi Arabian Prince Ben Khaled Saud
Ben Khaled told Trend.

“Azerbaijan has made everything possible for the solution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Ben Khaled said.

According to the prince, Saudi Arabia has always supported Azerbaijan
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as justice and truth are on the side
of Azerbaijan. The whole world knows and acknowledges that Azerbaijani
lands are occupied by Armenia, and this injustice must be stopped, he
said.

Ben Khaled also said Saudi Arabia believes the most acceptable way of
resolving the conflict is diplomacy.

“It is necessary to explain to Armenia that as long as it continues
its aggression against Azerbaijan, it will be isolated from many
Muslim countries,” he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

Sex-selective abortion in Armenia will lead to migration – demographic expert

NEWS.AM
June 15, 2012 | 14:30

YEREVAN.- Spreading of gynecologic ultrasonography enabling parents to
know the sex of their child led to lack of women in Asia, demographic
expert Christophe Guilmoto said in Yerevan on Friday.

The most problematic countries remain Pakistan and India but Armenia
is likely to face the same problem in 25 years.

In some Asian countries girl/boy ratio has changed significantly
within the last 25 years because of sex-selective abortions. Thus, in
China the sex ratio is 118.1 boys to 100 girls, in India 110.6 boys,
in Azerbaijan – 117.6, in Georgia – 119.9 and in Armenia – 115.8.

The expert said even if the situation improves in coming 10 years,
Chinese and Indian men will all the same face difficulties with
finding wives.

`In 15 years Armenian men will experience difficulty in finding wives
as well. By that time the number of men will considerably increase.
Therefore, the part of men will not get married, while others will
seek wives abroad. It will lead to migration and decrease in
population,’ he emphasized.

Moreover, it will lead to prostitution growth, increase in gender
violence cases. However, the expert believes there is no rapid
solution to the problem, it cannot be corrected only by one decision
of the government.

`It is possible for instance prohibit the doctors from telling parents
sex of the child or give allowances to families having daughters, as
it is done in India, but it will hardly work until people’s way of
thinking changes,’ he said.

The Prime Minister promised to envisage suggestion on Innovation Ministry

14:40, 15 June, 2012

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS: There are both pro and against opinions
concerning the establishment of Innovation Ministry. The Prime
Minister of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan had a briefing
with the journalists on June 15.

`The issue should be envisaged with the partners. It is necessary not
to ponder on the creation of the new ministries but to think about
optimilization of the existing ones in order the functions will not
coincide’ Prime Minister came forth with.

In the words of Sargsyan the suggestion about creation of Innovation
Ministry will be envisaged taking into consideration what kind of
effective management system will be in Armenia ten years later.

As Armenpress has reported earlier Prime Minister Sargsyan
participated in `Digitech’forum. Two-day -business-forum is aimed at
promoting innovation economy and presentation of ICT products and
services. Current year forum has recorded 48 % growth participation,
overall 59 local organizations and 21 foreign companies participated
in the forum.

ATP Opens Michael and Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental
Studies in Northern Armenia

hetq
13:43, June 15, 2012

By Armine Tokhmakhyan

The board and staff of Armenia Tree Project (ATP) together with
Ohanian family members hosted the ceremonial opening of the new
Michael and Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies in
Margahovit. Vice Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan and Lori Governor
Arthur Nalbandyan were the guests of honor at the ceremonial opening.

Following its successful model of the environmental education center
in Karin Village, ATP will host students, eco clubs, teachers,
farmers, and professionals from Armenia and abroad at the new Ohanian
Center in northern Armenia. The first beneficiaries of the center will
be the population of Lori and Tavush provinces. The educational
facility is located close to ATP’s Mirak Reforestation Nursery, which
will allow theory and practice to be combined.

In his opening remarks ATP Managing Director Tom Garabedian stated,
`To construct a Center like this, you need a strong sense of mission
and purpose; you need the financial means for which we thank Mrs.
Virginia Ohanian and her family, and you need the cooperation of a
community which values learning and the importance of environmental
conservation. We fully expect that all of these elements are present
here.’

Commenting on the site, he added, `As it matures, the Center’s
landscape will both beautify Margahovit and provide a hands-on
learning experience for the children of Armenia. We all want the youth
of Armenia to care for their environment, and this Center will play an
important role in educating them.’

During her speech at the opening, ATP Founder Carolyn Mugar recalled
the difficult years of the energy crisis when ATP was established. `In
the early 1990’s, those terrible years of the blockade, when everyone
suffered from shortages of heat and energy, people had to cut down
trees to survive, stay warm, and cook. Tree stumps were everywhere.
ATP was born in the midst of those difficult times. People asked me,
`How can you plant trees when people need kerosene and milk?’ It was
just at this low moment that we decided that now was the time to
invest in the future of Armenia!’

`Today we are opening the Michael and Virginia Ohanian Center for
Environmental Studies,’ added Ms. Mugar. `In this center, children and
students will learn that wood is a renewable resource if grown and
cared for responsibly. They can learn how crucial a sustainable
environment is to the future of a secure and thriving Armenia. We can
even ask, `Is the long term risk of mining which destroys forests and
pollutes rivers worth the cost?”

Ms. Mugar closed her remarks by extending her gratitude to Mrs.
Ohanian and her late husband Michael, who have been leading
benefactors of ATP since its founding. `I hope that their gift will
inspire others to give to ensure the viability and vibrancy of
Armenia,’ she emphasized.

Governor Nalbandyan remarked that he greatly valued ATP’s programs in
Armenia. `I would like to thank ATP for their hard work in Armenia,
especially in the Lori region. Their existence in Lori is of utmost
importance as Lori is otherwise a center of industrial mining,’ he
explained. `I would personally like to thank the donors of ATP for
their support of sustainable development in Armenia.’

Father Dajad Davidian then performed a traditional blessing ceremony
for the new educational center. Schoolchildren from Margahovit
accompanied Der Dajad in the blessing ceremony by singing sharagans
and also drew pictures of the beautiful mountains nearby for the
guests.

Family members Gail O’Reilly and Charles Talanian, the niece and
nephew of Mrs. Virginia Ohanian, then unveiled the Center’s plaque
with Carolyn Mugar to signal the official opening.

This year ATP celebrates its 18th anniversary. Through ATP’s community
tree planting and reforestation efforts, more than 4,000,000 trees
have been planted throughout the country. ATP’s environmental
education program extends to hundreds of teachers and thousands of
students in all regions of Armenia.

ATP’s mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to
improve their standard of living and protect the environment, guided
by the desire to promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the fewest
resources first, and conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP’s three
major programs are tree planting, environmental education, and
sustainable development initiatives. For more information, please
visit the web site

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French socialists reconfirm their intention to criminalize denial of
Armenian genocide

12:24, 15 June, 2012

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS: Socialist representative of French
senate Philippe Kaltenbach held a meeting with ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to France
Vigen Chitechyan. Armenpress reports citing Nouvelles d’Armenie that
during the meeting Kaltenbach reconfirmed his commitment to defend the
memory of Armenian genocide victims from denial encroachments. `The
newly elected French President also shares this commitment, which will
soon turn to legislative initiative. The denial must never take place
in the territory of our Republic’ mentioned Philippe Kaltenbach. The
socialist senator also declared that he and his colleagues would host
with pleasure their Armenian partners from Armenia-France friendship
group in November of current year.

OH! FAMILIAR FACES! FAMILIAR CALLS!

Thursday, 14 June 2012 12:26

On June 11-12, in the framework of a regional visit, OSCE Chairman,
Foreign Minister of Ireland Eamon Gilmore visited Yerevan. Since he
arrived in the capital of Armenia almost a week after the tragic
incidents at the contact-line between the armed forces of the parties
to the Karabakh conflict, which was the result of Azerbaijan’s
military provocations, surely, the sharp escalation of tension was one
of the basic issues of the OSCE Chairman’s Yerevan meetings.

We can say that against the background of the extremely aggravated
situation, the issue of resolving the conflict itself receded, giving
way to the strengthening of the ceasefire. So, it is natural that we
expected for objective assessments and actions by Mr. Gilmore.

What was the reaction of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to the latest
developments? It was quite predictable, that is seasoned in the spirit
of traditional diplomatic statements of a general character. «I
strongly condemn the recent cases of violence. This conflict will not
be resolved by force», said Mr. Gilmore to journalists after a meeting
with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and urged the parties
to renounce the use of force or threat of force. As we can see, the
actions committed by Azerbaijan got… a generalized and “unified”
assessment. It is noteworthy that in response to the question of
whether it is not the time to indicate the specific committers of the
ceasefire violations, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office advised “not to
blame for the past mistakes and, looking to the future, to achieve
peace and stability.” To be frank, the advice is a little bit strange.
First, such a position contradicts the very idea of ??the mediators’
proposed mechanism for investigating the incidents and simply
discredits it. Second, for establishing lasting peace and stability it
is necessary to prevent a recurrence of the bloody incidents that Mr.
Gilmore somehow delicately calls “mistakes”. And to prevent a
recurrence, one should, first of all, objectively investigate each
incident, to identify the specific culprit and to take corresponding
measures against him. Otherwise, the prospect of stable peace will be
vague, which is confirmed by the long-standing practice of the
conflict settlement. It is evident that the advice “not to blame”
fully meets the interests of Azerbaijan, which does not want to stop
the sniper war and sabotages, allowing it to continue creating, with
impunity, a situation teetering on the brink of war.

One should pay tribute to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office – it did not
limit with “condemning the violence” and suggested an algorithm for
solving the security issue: to remove the snipers from the line of
contact and to agree on the mechanism of investigating the incidents
at the forefront. Are these familiar proposals? To let us a pun, “old
familiar”. Indeed, there is no novelty in them, and the package of
proposals is not the first one, as if the baton passes from one head
of the OSCE to another. Note that in December 2011, when Ireland was
going to assume the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2012, the same Eamon
Gilmore also spoke about the need to create the notorious
investigation mechanism. Since then, six months have passed and the
mechanism has not been formed yet, despite the fact that the incidents
initiated by Azerbaijan do not stop.

The reason for the OSCE slowness is known and even commonplace in a
sense, but it isn’t removed so far ` it is the tough position of
Azerbaijan. Moreover, it should be noted that the policy of official
Baku, which had never been flexible, was extremely radicalized after
the election of Azerbaijan a non-permanent member of the UN Security
Council. It seems that the Baku authorities regarded it as a kind of
carte blanche giving them freedom of actions. Meanwhile, these actions
of Azerbaijan are a direct blow to the humanitarian law and an open
challenge to the international community. At the first glance, they
are contrary to sound logic, because the main objectives of the UN are
just peace and security. However, it is time for the international
community in general and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in particular to
get used to the illogical actions of the Azerbaijani leadership. But,
are they so deprived of logic?

Indeed, at first glance it is difficult to find any logic in the
actions of Baku, when it declares for an exclusively peaceful solution
to the issue, but, in fact, rejects the proposals of the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs to withdraw the snipers and to strengthen the
ceasefire. Or, at a meeting of the Presidents of Russia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan in Sochi signed an agreement on the establishment of a
mechanism for investigating the violations of the cease-fire, but when
discussing the OSCE Unified Budget rejects the proposal to allocate
additional funds provided for the creation of such a mechanism. Today,
Azerbaijan is continuing its “illogical” policy, which has
well-defined goals – through permanent armed provocations and military
blackmail of the international community, to change the existing
status quo in their favor.

There is no doubt that despite the calls of the international
mediators for peace, Azerbaijan will continue its dangerous game. It
will do it until the OSCE seriously deals with the creation of an
investigation mechanism and with the implementation of a corresponding
plan on putting it into operation. With the participation of all the
three parties to the Karabakh conflict and in accordance with the
spirit and letter of the OSCE Budapest Summit.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper

Armenian MP establishes contacts with India’s largest wealthy – newspaper

news.am
June 15, 2012 | 07:47

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s National Assembly (NA) member Vardan Ayvazyan is
preparing to head for India on a practical visit, Chorrord
Inknishkhanutyun daily writes.

`Ayvazyan, who has a mere one iron mine in Armenia, succeeded in
establishing contacts in India with the largest local rich, who
expressed a readiness to invest large amounts in Armenia’s mining
industry.

But those who are somewhat familiar with Ayvazyan’s affairs note that
Ayvazyan is still slow in finalizing the previous agreements.

First, Ayvazyan is awaiting the formation of the final makeup of
Armenia’s Government. Second, Ayvazyan’s long-range plans could have
gone much more smoothly if [NA Speaker] Hovik Abrahamyan had been
appointed PM. But it is possible that Ayvazyan would be able to reach
common grounds with the current Government, too,’ Chorrord
Inknishkhanutyun writes.

ARMENIE
L’inflation arménienne continue à baisser

Les prix à la consommation ont chuté en Arménie mettant les autorités
en bonne position pour atteindre leurs projections pour 2012, selon
les données officielles.

Le Service National de la Statistique (NSS) a enregistré un taux
d’inflation d’année à année de juste 0,5 pour cent en mai. Le ministre
des Finances Vache Gabrielian a cité ce chiffre « tout à fait bas »
pendant une session du cabinet présidée par le Premier ministre Tigran
Sarkisian.

Le taux cible du gouvernement arménien pour cette année est de 4 pour cent.

Les données du NSS montrent que l’inflation a chuté sinificativement
en mai à cause d’une baisse de 1,3 pour cent de l’indice des prix à la
consommation. Le prix moyen des produits alimentaires était en baisse
de 2,4 pour cent par rapport au niveau d’avril. Une hausse saisonnière
de la production agricole semble être le facteur principal derrière
cette diminution.

« Je ne pense pas que cette déflation saisonnière est lejuste critère
pour décrire l’économie » a déclaré Ara Galoyan, un analyste
économique, au service arménien de RFE/RL (Azatutyun.am). Il a aussi
mis en question la crédibilité du chiffre officiel de l’inflation
disant que le coût réel de la vie dans le pays est probablement plus
élevé que ce que les chiffres du NSS indiquent.

Ara Galoyan a prévu que l’inflation montera de nouveau ce mois à cause
de la dépréciation du dram.

La monnaie nationale a perdu plus de 4 pour cent de sa valeur nominale
contre le dollar américain ces dernières semaines. Cela devrait faire
monter le coût des produits alimentaires importés comme le blé et le
sucre.

vendredi 15 juin 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com