Author: Badalian Vardan

MONEY POLITICS IN ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND “HOOLIGANISM” IN AZERBAIJAN
by Giorgi Lomsadze

EurasiaNet.org
June 13 2012
NY

Political money is the most precarious kind of money in the Caucasus
these days. Whether they spend or earn, opposition figures are finding
that state auditors and security services have suddenly developed
an active interest in keeping them au courant with campaign-finance
regulations

Shortly after speculation picked up that Armenia’s second-largest
party, Prosperous Armenia, a former government coalition member,
may go into opposition against the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
ahead of next February’s presidential elections, a money-laundering
investigation was launched against senior Prosperous Armenia member
Vartan Oskanian, who served as foreign minister from 1998 to 2008.

“Money, laundering, Oskanian… are words that just don’t go together,”
fumed Oskanian, who described the probe as political retaliation.

Government officials, in turn, instructed the angry ex-cabinet-minister
not to jump to conclusions. Do not immediately allege “a political
subtext,” Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian was quoted by RFE/RL as
saying. “We are only clearing up some circumstances.”

And the circumstances are that a Yerevan think-tank founded by
Oskanian, Civilitas, allegedly received a $2-million donation from two
US companies, Polymer Materials and Huntsman International. Armenia’s
National Security Service claimed that Oskanian failed to disclose
the donation to the tax authorities and that there are suspicions of
legalizing a large amount of money obtained by criminal means.

To launder money, money must be dirty to start with, countered
Oskanian, underlining that “the source of the money is known, the
buyer is known.”

As this pre-presidential-election battle is going on in Armenia, to
the north, in Georgia, a pre-parliamentary-election battle is also
focused on the provenance of political money.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, now the country’s main opposition
figure heading into October’s parliamentary vote, is appealing a
court ruling that he pay a whopping 148.64-million-lari (just over
$91 million) worth of fines for allegedly bribing voters. Amidst the
appeal, he could face a judgment lien on his property in Georgia.

In the third South Caucasus country, Azerbaijan, where a presidential
vote is more than a year away, officials appear to have other concerns
at hand — protecting the First Family, and, opposition activists say,
cleaning up shop after Eurovision.

On June 12, photographer Mehyman Huseynov, an activist in the Sing
for Democracy protest movement, was taken in for questioning by Baku
police, who are keeping him in detention. He reportedly faces charges
of hooliganism at a May 21 protest where, human rights activists say,
his camera was seized and broken by police when they moved in to crack
down on the demonstration. If convicted, he faces a year in prison.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH ELECTIONS FREE, NOT FAIR – EXPERT

tert.am
13.06.12

All the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh were free, but not absolutely
fair, Gegham Baghdasaryan, an ex-member of the Nagorno-Karabakh
parliament and expert, told Tert.am.

“They are free in that no one is forcing the Artsakh people into
anything. Bludgeon is not a political instrument, not shots or arrests
or even local underworld leaders. On the other hand, the elections are
not completely fair because the entire administrative system is working
in favor of the government-backed candidate,” Baghdasaryan said.

Four candidates are running for presidency in Nagorno-Karabakh:
incumbent President Bako Sahakyan, the NKR parliament member Vitaly
Balasanyan, Vice-Chancellor of Stepanakert branch of State Agrarian
University of Armenia Arkady Soghonomyan and 65-old Valeri Khachatryan,
who is unemployed now.

PAPER SAYS TSARUKYAN NOT INVITED TO SASHIK SARGSYAN’S SON’S WEDDING

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 12, 2012 – 10:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – According to Hraparak daily, Prosperous Armenia
leader Gagik Tsarukyan not only saw off but also met President Serzh
Sargsyan when returning from Vietnam.

Prosperous Armenia conditions it by Tsarukyan’s being RA National
Security Council member.

Sources say, the party head will retain membership of both National
Olympic Committee of Armenia (ARMNOC) and Security Council.

In contrast to ARF Dashnaktutyun, which will announce its being
opposition at parliament sitting on June 20, Prosperous Armenia won’t
issue such a statement, the paper says.

Constructive opposition leader didn’t attend the wedding of Sashik
Sargsyan’s son, either. They say, he was not invited, the daily says.

Karabala statue moved back to Yerevan’s Abovian street

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 13, 2012 – 20:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – One of Yerevan’s symbols, the statue of the
flower-selling old man (more commonly known as Karabala) has been
moved back to Abovian street.

“A public demand to move the statue was issued to Yerevan mayor,
who submitted the question to the urban planning council.

The latter resolved to move the statue back to Abovyan street,” head
of Information and Public Relations Department of Yerevan municipality
Arthur Gevorgyan said.

According to him, the choice of the site was made by chief architect of
Yerevan Narek Sargsyan and the sculptor of the statue Levon Tokmajyan.

NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING: A TRAVELER VISITS KUGHI
Betty Apigian-Kessel

June 13, 2012

I’m sitting in front of the computer; one drawer of the desk also
harbors my make-up. I begin to paint my face, mirror in hand,
thinking to myself as I spy a reappearing patch of gray in my hair,
“What startling physical changes will the next decade bring?”

I was in this casual mode of needless worry when I spied a new
e-mail labeled “Kughi.” I was not prepared for the news and photos
that unfolded before my unbelieving eyes. It was like a direct
communication from old Armenia that jolted me with such euphoric
emotion that it had to be read several times to sink in.

It gave me chills to think that your grandparents might have been
baptized in that church, that they may have run and played in these
fields.” (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian) It was from the Armenian Weekly
editor, Khatchig Mouradian. I furrowed my brow in curiosity as I read
the message that told me what he had been up to in his travels.

I was shaken to the bone. After being my editor for many years, he knew
me better than I realized. My reputation had preceded me in a nice way.

Mouradian, a Ph.D candidate, had just returned from a trip to western
Armenia, this time traveling the genocide-ravaged regions of Kharpert
and Kughi. These travels to what is now referred to as eastern Turkey
are vital to scholars who search a thorough understanding of the
topography of the land and the attitudes of the now mostly Kurds who
occupy it.

Although a picture is worth a thousand words, nothing can take the
place of being an actual traveler to the confiscated lands of your
ancestors and seeing it for yourself. Mouradian has done just that. I
was the beneficiary.

He knows my father was from Kughi and, as he says, “When we left the
car to walk into the village there, I visited the church ruins and
I said the ‘Hayr Mer’ for the soul of your grandparents who hailed
from that village. It gave me chills to think that your grandparents
might have been baptized in that church, that they may have run and
played in these fields.”

This is what connects all Armenians together, our common history of
exile, deportation, and the death march.

Mouradian sent me photos of the stream my father often spoke of,
fondly describing the water that came flowing down from the mountain
and rippled over the rocks “as cold, clear, and anoush.” Now I could
see it with my own eyes, just like Dad always said it was.

The Ottoman-Turks decided the fate for all Armenians when they planned
the Armenian Genocide. I was born much later than my three siblings
but the scars of what the Turks did were imbedded in my genes even
before my conception.

No one with a sense of humanity about them can account for the
brutality and senseless mass killings the Turks inflicted on their
Armenian population.

“I wonder how many Armenian children washed their faces, bathed,
and played in its waters, and later, the tears of how many Armenian
mothers mixed with them.” (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian) Kindness and
sensitivity will always remain in style, and Mouradian demonstrated he
has these qualities when he thought of my family. He wondered if it was
in that same church that my grandparents were baptized and later wed.

“How much love, faith, and dedication have these church walls
witnessed,” the young editor pondered.

Evidence of using stones and pillars from the old churches were
visible in the repairs of the Kurds’ homes. They have no connection
to the land like the Armenians do.

He continued, “The stream that runs through Kughi is just beautiful.

The closer it gets to the village, though, the more garbage bags and
trash you’d see in it. I wonder how many Armenian children washed
their faces, bathed, and played in its waters, and later, the tears
of how many Armenian mothers mixed with them.”

Mouradian said one of the two destroyed churches had walls, but they
were so open to the elements that a garden had been planted inside it.

The Kurds also told him the Armenians always picked the most attractive
places to build their homes and villages.

It was comforting to know my Kughi, the place of my roots, the region
that gave me the father I adore, the man who was my finest teacher,
was a lovely place to live.

My treasures and gifts come in many ways. This was by far the most
special and unexpected. They say you never know what tomorrow will
bring and I, the analyzer and jaded, still have lessons to learn. Stay
open, receptive, and positive to the unknown future.

The photos of Kughi’s houses, churches, and the stream for me are
priceless gems but the words of my editor are engraved in my heart.

“Kughi’s stream sings the song of all its Armenian children scattered
around the world. I could hear it. And Kughi is lucky, really lucky,
despite the sad shape it is in today. It is lucky because its children
have not forgotten its stream, its churches, and its houses. Because
its children, living across the Atlantic, still sign their emails
‘Betty from Kughi.'”

It’s not the end, my fellow Hyes-it is the beginning. Stay strong
and never give up the fight for justice.

SCHOOL OF YOUNG ASTRONOMERS TO TAKE PLACE IN BYURAKAN

ARMENPRESS
13 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS: International school of young
astronomers will take place in Byurakan observatory on September
15-23 which will already be the 4-th. Armenpress was informed from
Armenian Astronomical Company that this time the school is held in
the framework of events dedicated to 1400th anniversary of Anania
Shirakatsi. The school is organized by Byurakan observatory and
Armenian Astronomical Company. Lecturers from USA, India, Spain Ervand
Terzyan and Richard Lovelas from US Corneli University are among the
guests of the guests. In the school will take part 30 students from
Armenia, Middle East, Europe and CIS member states. The lectures will
be about land and space observatories, studies on planets, stars and
galaxies. Besides lectures workshops, observations will be organized
for the participants. They will get acquainted with the works of
Byurakan observatory and travel in Armenia. The participants of the
school will have opportunity to take part in the award ceremony after
Victor Hambardzumyan on September 18. The series of international
schools of Byurakan began in 2006 and is held once in two years. In
the last schools (in 2006, 2008, 2010) more than 100 students from 21
countries took part. Among the lecturers were significant scientists
from USA, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium.

NEARLY 200 HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI SCORED HIGHEST ON ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN ARMENIA AND NKR

/ARKA/
12 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. Nearly 200 applicants and high school alumni
scored the highest 20 points on Native Language and Literature subject,
spokesman for Evaluating and Testing Center Gayane Manukyan told the
journalists on Tuesday.

The alumni in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh republic took the united
state exam on Armenian Language and Literature on June 5.

Some 11,419 alumni and applicants from Armenia and NKR out of 11,795
who have submitted applications for taking the united state exam were
present on June 5, according to Manukyan.

“The alumni and applicants got the highest score on Armenian Language
and Literature, and scored not high on other subjects. There was just
one highest score on Biology and Geography, and two- on World History,”
Manukyan said.

Some 1,862 alumni and applicants from Armenia and NKR were taking the
united state exam on Biology, 379- on World History, 382- on Geography.

The united state exams started in Armenia and NKR on June 1. On
Tuesday, June 12, alumni and applicants are taking the united state
exam on Math. The next exam is on Foreign Languages, scheduled for
June 15, on Physics- June 19, History of Armenia and Chemistry- June
22. The list of admitted to universities applicants will be unveiled
on July 15, and some additional united state exams will be available
for taking on July 2-8.

Total of 18,105 applicants from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh will be
taking united state exams this year in 40 exam centers in Armenia,
and 8 exam centers in NKR.

FIRED UNIVERSITY RECTOR SAYS NEW ELECTIONS AT BRUSOV ILLEGAL
By Gayane Lazarian

ArmeniaNow
13.06.12 | 15:03

Former rector of the Brusov State Linguistic University believes
that the elections for a new rector of the university are the
continuation of the illegal actions taken by the minister of science
and education, and the participants of the elections are accomplices
of the illegality.

“Ten people did not have the right to participate in the elections,
because they are officials, whereas, they were supposed to be
scholars. A rector’s candidacy is being confirmed by the prime
minister, and he must stop the illegalities. The prime minister has to
hold the minister accountable and not become an accomplice instead,”
says Suren Zolyan, the former Rector of the Brusov State Linguistic
University.

On April 17, under Minister of Science of Education Armen Ashotyan’s
decree Zolyan was dismissed, based on two strict reprimands that
Zolayan got from the minister.

“The minister had no right to dismiss me, because there is a contract
signed with me. Only the prime minister was empowered to dismiss me.

We have appealed to the prime minister in this respect, however,
we have not got any answer from him yet,” Zolyan said.

The administrative court of the first instance of Armenia has refused
to accept Zolyan’s claim against the minister of science and education,
therefore Zolyan filed his claim against Ashotyan at the Yerevan’s
Kentron and Nork Marash Court of General Jurisdiction, which will
hold the first trial related to the case tomorrow.

The former rector claims that Ashotyan has violated several terms of
the Constitution, and therefore he must answer for all his deeds in
the court, which he believes to be less possible, because as of now
there is no reply from the respondent – the Ministry of Science and
Education – as to whether they will be present at the court session.

TRCHKAN WATERFALL AGAIN IN THE HIGHLIGHT

ARMINFO
Thursday, June 14, 11:30

Trchkan Waterfall again in the highlight

In a letter to Armenia’s Environment Protection Minister Aram
Harutyunyan the Trchkan Initiative says that Nov 3 2011 the Government
proclaimed Trchkan Waterfall as a specially protected area and was
going to give it a passport of hydrological monument within two months,
i.e. by Jan 24 2012.

The deadline has long expired, with no passport issued so far. So,
the environmentalists urge the Ministry to inform them what has been
done to this end and whether it has assessed the damages caused to
the waterfall by the Robshin company.

Trchkan became widely known in the autumn 2011, following the greens’
actions of protest against the project to build a water power plant
near the waterfall.

The conflict between the greens and the contractor of the project,
Robshin, ended in the Prime Minister’s decision to give Trchkan the
status of a specially protected area.

36.9 PERCENT OF ARABLE LAND IN ARMENIA IS NOT USED OR IS MISUSED

news.am
June 12, 2012 | 20:55

36.9 percent of Armenia’s arable land is not used or is misused.

Despite the fact that in 2011 about 1500 hectares have been involved
in agriculture, land is not being used properly in Armenia.

According to the report of 2011, unused areas of land in Armenian
regions are as follows:

Aragatsotn region 39.8 percent or 21.48 thousand ha,

Ararat region 17.6 percent, or 4.52 thousand ha,

Armavir region 32.6 percent, or 13.52 thousand ha,

Gegharkunik region 11.6 percent or 9.52 thousand ha,

Lori region 46.9 percent or 19.70 thousand ha,

Kotayk region 64.5 percent or 24.50 thousand ha,

Shirak region 34.9 percent or 27.80 thousand ha,

Syunik region 43.5 percent or 19.08 thousand ha,

Vayots Dzor region 72.2 percent or 11.71 thousand ha,

Tavush region 44.3 percent or 11, thousand ha,

Yerevan 83.3 percent or 0.82 thousand ha.