Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN CRITICIZED ARMENIA’S ELECTORAL LAW

news.am
March 26, 2012 | 15:26

YEREVAN. – Head of parliament opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun group
Vahan Hovhannisyan criticized Armenia’s electoral law.

Foreign states allow voting for citizens living in other states,
the opposition MP said at a press conference on Monday.

First Armenia first opposed to dual citizenship, later allowing it,
banned the citizens to vote beyond if they are outside the country.

Another negative side is extremely high election bail for the parties
participating in the elections.

As for the necessity of merging political powers, Hovhannisyan said
that it is not always positive. There are small parties, which bring
forth larger number of population to participate in the elections.

“Population wants small parties,” he stressed adding despair is
useful for the authorities. It will give them more opportunity for
falsifications as voters become indifferent for the elections.

In general, the new electoral law is likely to keep the voters away
from being interested in the elections.

From: Baghdasarian

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SARGSYAN AND OBAMA
JAMES HAKOBYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:43:25 – 26/03/2012

When Serzh Sargsyan presented the slogan “Trust to Change” and
the Republicans set on the quest for the public justification of
this slogan, they also had to face the necessity to find another
explanation.

The point is that the society noticed the similarity of the slogans
of Serzh Sargsyan and Barack Obama. In his election campaign, the U.S.

President adopted the slogan change we can believe in.

The Republicans responded to public remarks on plagiarism that it is
logical when the slogans and leaders outline changes if the country
needs them, regardless the country.

In fact, Obama’s slogan is logical, whereas Serzh Sargsyan’s slogan is
not. Logic is not based on the qualities, characteristics, credibility
of a person and other circumstances but first of all the status.

Barack Obama declared his slogan on change when he was just going to
be a president. Moreover, his party was not majority then. He came to
replace the Republican administration. And since the country was facing
a devastating financial crisis with systemic risks, as Obama was headed
for the White House, he declared the slogan a change we can believe in.

And now if Barack Obama declares such a slogan ahead of his second
term, the Americans will at least ask him Mr. President what were
you doing in the past four years if now you assure us that you can
change or we can change.

Serzh Sargsyan was the president of Armenia for four years, earlier
he was the prime minister of Armenia for a year and the leader of the
parliamentary majority. In other words, it’s been 5-6 years since
Serzh Sargsyan is the key personality of the government, and the
Republican Party he leads for over 10 years is the ruling party.

Hence, the slogan believe to change is illogical because if Serzh
Sargsyan and the Republicans were capable of change, in the past 6,
5 or 4 years, the society would have seen and felt change, essential
change or a real process of change, and there would be no need for
a slogan because the society would have seen the actions and would
have believed in the ability of this force to change the country.

The force or activist can declare slogans on trust and change which
has never been in power and has not been part of one systemic process
of another, who is a new personality, a discovery for the society.

Since there are no new personalities in the coalition parties, the
usage of “trust” in the slogans of parties is absolutely unnecessary
and ungrounded.

From: Baghdasarian

VAHAN HOVHANNISSYAN SAYS AZERBAIJAN’S ISSUE IS ORGANIZE APPROPRIATE RECEPTION OF ARMENIAN DELEGATION

ARMENPRESS
MARCH 26, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has commitments in front
of Brussels and must stay committed to its assurances, member of the
ARF Bureau Vahan Hovhannissyan said referring to the statements of
Azerbaijan to suspend the participation of Armenia”s delegation in
Euronest sitting in Baku.

“It is their issue how they will organize our visit, how our work
will proceed,” Vahan Hovhannissyan said, adding that the Armenian
delegation is ready to leave at its full staff and implement its work.

Asked whether the visit of the Armenian delegation to Baku may be
impeded, the head of the delegation said he cannot answer the question
as of this moment. The plenary sitting of the Euronest is scheduled
for April 2-4 in Baku.

From: Baghdasarian

OLIGARCH VS. REVOLUTIONIST
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:23:35 – 26/03/2012

Leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisyan withdraw his candidacy
from Constituency N7 where he was running under the majority system.

ANC member, Editor-in-Chief of Haykakan Zhamanak daily Nikol Pashinyan
is also nominated in the same constituency, whom Raffi Hovhannisyan
actually ceded his place.

The argument between the opposition forces has been now solved, but
the main opponent remained ~V oligarch, monopolist-importer Samvel
Alexanyan is also running in this constituency.

He, of course, is not better than other oligarchs, but his name is
pronounced more often. Every time the government voices intention
not to allow oligarchs into the parliament, everyone remembers Samvel
Alexanyan. He seems to have become a symbol of oligarchy and resistance
to reforms.

In this context, the fight between Alexanyan and Nikol Pashinyan will
symbolize the fight between the oligarchic system and freedom. The
general image from the elections will depend largely on the outcome
of elections at the Constituency N7.

If Samvel Alexanyan activates the traditional potential ~V bribe,
terror, frauds and enters the parliament, it will mean that nothing
will change in Armenia and that the oligarchy is as strong as before
and the authorities support it.

But if Nikol Pashinyan succeeds to win, it will mean that the public
opinion in Armenia is strengthening and displacing the rough oligarchic
force.

Nikol Pashinyan managed to get a little ambiguous image of
disinterested revolutionist, ready to make sacrifices for the sake
of freedom. And now, this image is contrasted with the image of an
oligarch, who crawls all day in everyone~Rs pocket.

From: Baghdasarian

CITY OF CORRUPTION
JAMES HAKOBYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:02:09 – 27/03/2012

On the eve, another act of logging was reported in Ajapnyak county
of Yerevan. Over ten big trees were cut in one night.

The city hall condemned this act, at the same time informing that
the land with the trees was a private property.

The boutiques installed in Mashtots Park were also private property
which earlier rested on the pavement of Abovyan Street. By the way,
Mayor Margaryan carelessly tried to remind the active citizens fighting
for Mashtots Park about the fundamental importance of the right to
property in the life of the state.

However, they reminded Taron Margaryan that during the tenure of his
diseased father, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, the residents
of Yerevan downtown were evicted forcefully from their homes where
later the government built the empty buildings of North Avenue.

Most buildings which were built by way of outrageous violations of
urban planning and environmental rules are private property. The
ownership of this property was issued, drafted, established in one
government agency or another.

The question is who issued, in return for what, how. How did some
people get the right to property on the pavement of Abovyan Street,
others to the trees in Ajapnyak, some people invaded the orchards
of Yerevan.

Which mayor issued the right to property with violations of urban
and environmental regulations? Which chief architect, which minister,
prime minister, president permitted the mutation of Yerevan, dividing
it into estates of several economic and ruling clans?

Why doesn’t the present government of Armenia try to disclose the
chain of former decisions? Why does the prosecutor’s office and police
inquire into this issue?

The answer is in the mind of the citizens of Yerevan who believe that
these structures will not inquire into this chain because they are also
part of this chain, and the tail of one is under the foot of the other.

Therefore, the question remains open who will investigate and disclose
that Yerevan already stands for corruption, and it is necessary to
count the age of corruption rather than the city because the city
disappeared back in the Soviet years during the “golden age” of
Demirchyan’s rule when the mutation of Yerevan started and reached
its culmination in the past decade.

From: Baghdasarian

A JUBILEE SERIES OF CRITICAL REMARKS
Leonid Martirossian

Azat Artsakh newspaper

Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:38

March 24 marked 20 years of the official request for mediation in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. On this day in 1992, the
Foreign Ministers of the states – participants of the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, which in 1994 was reorganized
into Organization – OSCE) decided to convene a Conference under its
auspices in Minsk for the issue’s peaceful resolution.

Convening of the Minsk Conference has not taken place so far, but the
capital of Belarus became a kind of “godfather”, giving its name both
to the entire settlement process and the international cooperation of
mediators from 11 states that went down in history as the OSCE Minsk
Group. In 1994, an institute of the Minsk Group co-chairmanship was
set up, currently represented by Russia, the USA, and France.

This is what concerns the form. Now let’s turn to the content. It
is quite natural that the Minsk process jubilee leads to certain
reflections, which, however, are far from being jubilee. And the
matter is not that the subject of study and discussion of the OSCE
Minsk Group is bleak in itself – that is an ethno-political conflict,
which has not been exhausted yet and continues to bring sufferings
to the people involved in it. The thing is that even after 20 years
there is no “light at the end of the tunnel”.

If we analyze the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group for the past
20 years, its assets, perhaps, can include the maintenance of the
cease-fire, which is known to have been achieved in May of 1994,
primarily with the efforts of Russia. Since then, the mediators have
offered to the parties various proposals to achieve a final settlement
of the conflict, but they have not been realized so far. But, can we
blame the co-chairmanship of the Minsk Group for this? We hardly can.

It cannot be accused of the lack of efforts for bringing closer
the positions of the parties to the Karabakh conflict and ensuring
a breakthrough in the settlement process. The main reason is that
these positions are diametrically opposite, mainly because of the
destructiveness of Azerbaijan, which does not give up the policy of a
military solution to the problem, openly disregards international law,
and avoids direct negotiations with representatives of the NKR.

It should be noted that the differences between Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh on the one hand, and Azerbaijan – on the other hand
are also in the estimation of the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group
itself. It can be noted that, despite some criticism, the Armenian
party evaluates its activities as generally positive, which cannot be
said about the Azerbaijani party, which has repeatedly exposed the
OSCE MG co-chairs to obstruction, accusing them of the lack of any
results, and admitted the possibility of changing the negotiations’
format. The irony is that official Baku, which initiated the military
aggression against Nagorno Karabakh and is responsible both for its
impact and for the current situation in the settlement process,
tries to blame the Armenian party for all the wrongs and to gain
international pressure on it.

Due to the similar behavior of Azerbaijan, or more precisely, the
tolerant attitude to it by the OSCE Minsk Group, we’d also like
to express some claims to it within the above-mentioned “critical
remarks”. First, it appears that the co-chairs do not want to notice
the counterproductive actions of Azerbaijan, in particular, the
permanent threats to resume the war, which clearly demonstrate its
unwillingness to resolve the conflict, basing on the international
principles, and continue the non-binding calls for peace.

Second, also, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the Minsk
process, the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair-states
made â~@~Kâ~@~Ka statement on March 22, urging the conflicting
parties to display political will for achieving a lasting and peaceful
settlement. There is nothing new in it, imperatively demanding that
Azerbaijan, as the carrier of the threat to regional stability,
abandons its harsh rhetoric and preparations for a war. Meanwhile,
the co-chairmanship of the Minsk Group, taking into account the
stubborn intractability of official Baku, which actually torpedoes the
negotiation process and has driven it into a hopeless deadlock, has to
reconsider its approaches to the conflict resolution and to transfer
the settlement from the current political arena to the legal one.

Finally, the mediators should recognize that the so-called Madrid
Principles, proposed by them, are anachronistic in a sense and far from
the reality, because they do not fully reflect either the legal aspects
of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict or the current trends of the world
development. In other words, there is a need to raise and resolve the
issue of international recognition of the NKR independence. Only in
this case a glimmer of light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.

From: Baghdasarian

EXPERTS: EQUAL PARTNER STATUS WITH U.S. REMAINS DREAM FOR TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 27, 2012 – 13:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey strives to gain the status of an equal
and independent partner in relations with the U.S., according to
turkologist Hakob Chakryan and Noravank foundation expert Aristakes
Simavoryan.

As they told a press conference, for this reason Turkey, trying to get
rid of all possible factors of external pressure at any cost, needs
to show it has zero problems related to human rights violations,
national minorities and absence of tolerance. Despite this, the
latest monitoring by the U.S. disclosed a large number of violations
in various fields.

“The fact that only 120 000 Christians currently reside in Turkey
proves the Turks’ policy aimed at ousting this religious group from
the country. Only a couple of decades ago Turkey masterminded the
persecution of Alawis, while the Kurds are even in harsher state.

Thus, no matter how much it tries to acquire a status of an equal
partner with the U.S., Russia and even France, it remains a sole
dream for the country,” the Armenian experts noted.

From: Baghdasarian

INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE PARK TO BE FOUNDED ON IRANIAN-ARMENIAN BORDER

Panorama.am
27/03/2012

International Wildlife Park will be founded in Norduz located in
Armenian-Iranian border, Iranian official news agency IRNA reported.

International Wildlife Park, to be founded in the territories of
Iran and Armenia, is aimed at protecting local fauna and flora,
executive director of Eastern Atrpatakan-based (Eastern Azerbaijan)
organization for environmental protection is quoted as saying.

The Iranian official emphasized the programme targets presentation
of ecotourism of the both countries.

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIDJAN
La société azérie choquée de savoir qu’Haydar Aliyev a reconnu le
Nagorno-Karabakh

En réponse à la déclaration du Président Azeri Ilham Aliyev que
l’Azerbaïdjan ne reconnaîtra jamais l’indépendance du
Nagorno-Karabakh, le vice-ministre des Affaires Etrangères d’Arménie
Shavarsh Kocharyan a montré et a lu à haute voix un document officiel
disant que le père d’Ilham Aliyev et ancien Président d’Azerbaïdjan
Heydar Aliyev a reconnu la République du Nagorno-Karabakh.

Le journal Azadlig a annonce que les Azéris ont été choqué d’apprendre
que leur ancien Président a reconnu le Nagorno-Karabakh et a rencontré
le président du Karabagh de l’époque Robert Kocharyan à Moscou
ensuite.

Shavarsh Kocharyan a montré le document en parlant sur la chaîne MIR
Canal. On a clairement vu la signature d’Aliyev.

« Si ce document est authentique, les autorités azéries devront
expliquer ce que cela signifie » affirme Azadlig demandant comment
alors le leader azéri peut garantir que l’indépendance du
Nagorno-Karabakh ne sera pas reconnue.

dimanche 25 mars 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 24 2012

Armenian President will visit Korea for summit on nuclear security

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will go to South Korea on Sunday for
a summit on nuclear security, which will be held March 26-27 in Seoul,
Novosti-Armenia reports, referring to the press service of the
Armenian President.

Heads of state and experts from 52 countries of the world are expected
to participate in the summit.

On March 27-29, Sargsyan will visit Singapore, where he will meet with
the President and the Prime minister of this country, as well as with
business representatives.

From: Baghdasarian