Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

THIS SUNDAY: JUDGE ARMAND ARABIAN TO PRESENT HIS NEW BOOK “FROM GRAVEL TO GAVEL” AT ARARAT-ESKIJIAN MUSEUM

January 11, 2012

Judge Armand Arabian is scheduled to speak on his new book “From
the Gravel to the Gavel” Judge Armand Arabian is scheduled to speak
on his new book “From Gravel to Gavel” at Ararat-Eskijian Museum,
Sunday January 15th 2012, at 4pm “From “Gravel to Gavel” chronicles
Judge Arabian’s life and his Armenian background.

Justice Arabian was raised in New York; he was the first born son of
Armenian immigrants who came to America after surviving the Armenian
Genocide of 1915. He received a Juris Doctor Degree in 1961 from Boston
University’s School of Law and became a deputy district attorney of
Los Angeles County. In 1972, Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him
judge of the Municipal Court, and then in 1973, he was appointed to
the Superior Court. In 1983 he was appointed as an Associate justice
of the Court of Appeal, and in 1990, Judge Arabian was appointed as
the 105th associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He authored 104
majority opinions and retired in 1996.

After his career on the bench, Judge Arabian became president of ARMS
Providers, Inc., which is engaged in alternative dispute resolution
such as arbitration and mediation in all areas of law.

His honors are extensive. He received the St. Gregory the Illuminator
Medal of Honor in 2004 by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholics of all Armenians, and the Albert Einstein Gold Medal
of Honor and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences award in 2003.

In 2005, the Justice Armand Arabian Judicial Reception Hall was
dedicated at the Constitutional Court in Yerevan, Armenia, and in
2006, the County Board of Supervisors dedicated the Justice Armand
Arabian Reception Hall at the Chatsworth Superior Court Building.

“From the Gravel to the Gavel” will be on sale and available for
signing by the author after the event.

For more information about Judge Arabian’s book presentation,
please contact the Ararat-Eskijian Museum at 818-838-4862 or
[email protected]

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA BREACHED AARHUS DECLARATION

January 12, 2012

Armenian lawyers today said the Armenian government has breached
the demands in the Aarhus Declaration when making decisions on the
Teghut mine.

We inform that Armenia signed the Aarhus Declaration “On Access to
Information in relation to the Environment, Public Participation
in the Decision-Making Process and the Appropriateness of Justice”
in June 1998 and ratified it in May 2001.

“The society wasn’t aware that the government had the goal of making
a decision on the exploitation of the Teghut mine and didn’t have
the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process,”
Hayk Alumyan said.

Member of the NA “Heritage” faction Zaruhi Postanjyan assures that the
society will be able to make the government fulfill its obligations.

“We cal on the society to be consistent in the decision made and
eliminate all flaws of the government,” Zaruhi Postanjyan said.

In 2007, the government decided to grant Teghut and the surrounding
environment to the ACP Company under the name “Supreme Interest”
for mining.

The Aarhus Declaration’s Compatibility Committee has given Armenia
the condition to fix the flaws in the decision by 12 April 2012.

From: Baghdasarian

HERITAGE AND ARF FACTIONS PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ELECTION CODE ON PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 20:23:26 – 12/01/2012

Today the parliamentary groups of the Heritage Party and the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation proposed a package of draft amendments to
the Election Code, the Statutes of the National Assembly, the Law
on the Constitutional Court to replace mixed election system with
proportional representation.

On December 27, 2011 the parliamentary opposition made a joint
statement on their proposal. The proposal was supported by the
Armenian National Congress, the Free Democrats, the People’s Party,
the Armenian Liberal Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party,
the United Labor Party, the Democratic Party of Armenia, different
political and civil groups and the intelligentsia.

Earlier on August 4, 2010, on the eve of the adoption of amendments to
the Election Code, the ARF and the Heritage Party, made ten proposals,
including the proposal on the proportional representation which were
sent to the Committee of Venice for opinion.

The same proposal was presented by the two parties during the
discussion of the new Election Code adopted on May 26, 2011.

From: Baghdasarian

IMPORTED CHINESE BUSES DO NOT CORRESPOND TO THE TRAFFIC DEMANDS OF ARMENIA’S CAPITAL YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
JANUARY 12, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS: The small and medium-sized busses of
Chinese production do not correspond to the traffic demands of capital,
chairman of the “Consumers’ Association” NGO Armen Poghosyan stated
today, assuring that the donated 249 Chinese busses may be inexpedient
for Armenia and particularly for Yerevan.

“They are intended for inter-community traffic in the territory of the
republic and not for active urban work. The conditions in the busses
for people do not correspond to either of European or international
standards,” Armen Poghosyan noted, stressing that it will be more
beneficial and right to acquire buses from a European state, in our
case vehicles of French production.

From: Baghdasarian

HRANT DINK’S FRIENDS CALL FOR FAIR TRIAL

Tert.am
12.01.12

The friends of Hrant Dink, the assassinated editor-in-chief of the
Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos, are going to hold a march to the Agos
editorial office on January 19 to commemorate the fifth anniversary
of his death.

They have issued a statement in this connection, calling for a fair
punishment of those who plotted and committed Dink’s murder.|

“Hrant Dink was killed on January 19, 2007. Five years have passed
since then, yet the fact that two people actually plotted and
perpetrated his assassination will never convince us. Those who
threatened Dink and ordered his murder, and set a trap against him
ridding themselves of the affair are making a mock of our grief. We
do not want a predetermined trial that would punish only those who
shoot a bullet at Dink … We still have a lot to do. People who
have conscience have been suffering from an aggravating pain for
five years. If we forget all this we’ll once again kill our friend,
leaving a handle to new murders,” reads the statement.

From: Baghdasarian

HERITAGE PARTY MP POSTANJYAN – TEGHOUT MINE MUST BE STOPPED
Mаry Mamyan

hetq
14:45, January 12, 2012

At a press conference today, Sona Ayvazyan, President of the
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, claimed that the
mining operation now underway at Teghout, in Armenia’s Lori Province,
has not undergone an expert environmental assessment.

The copper and molybdenum mine, operated by the Armenian Copper
Programme (ACP), has been a target for environmentalists and
concerned citizens since plans were unveiled to the public in 2006,
even though the Armenian government granted an operating license five
years earlier.

Ayvazyan told reporters that ACP substantially modified its mining
plan after its original draft was positively assessed.

She noted that while the impact assessment was for an eight year
period, the real environmental threats from the mining operation will
surface years later.

A number of Armenian NGO’s have tried, but failed, to get ACP’s
operating license revoked in the courts.

They have now taken their case to the Aarhus Convention Compliance
Committee since many provisions of the Aarhus Convention have been
violated, in their estimation.

The Aarhus Convention grants the public rights regarding access
to information, public participation and access to justice, in
governmental decision-making processes on matters concerning the local,
national and trans-boundary environment.

Heritage Party MP Zarouhie Postanjyan stated that mining at Teghout
must be stopped at all costs given that Armenia cannot afford to have
yet another dangerous tailing dam on its soil.

She added that the Armenian government, a signatory to the Aarhus
Convention, neither fully understands its meaning nor takes its
implementation seriously.

From: Baghdasarian

SENATOR: MATTHEW BRYZA SHOULD BE RE-NOMINATED AS AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN

Trend
Jan 11 2012
Azerbaijan

Matthew Bryza should be re-nominated by the U.S. President Barack
Obama as ambassador to Azerbaijan so that the Senate was able to
again consider his candidacy, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg said in his
response to the question of Pax Turcica (Research Center, established
by Azerbaijani and Turkish Diasporas).

“I view my constitutional responsibility to both advise and consent
regarding the President’s nominations as one of my most important
duties. I evaluate each presidential nominee to ensure he or she has
the experience and intellectual capacity for the position and will
responsibly fulfill their duties,” Lautenberg said in his response
to the question regarding Bryza, Azerbaijani-American Council said.

U.S. President Barack Obama appointed a career diplomat, former U.S.
Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Bryza as ambassador to Azerbaijan
bypass the Senate on Dec.29, 2010, which a few months blocked his
nomination under pressure of pro-Armenian senators Barbara Boxer and
Robert Menendez.

In late December Bryza ended his mission in Azerbaijan and left for
the U.S.

From: Baghdasarian

ANKARA URGES PARIS NOT TO TAKE DANGEROUS STEP

Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 11 2012
Turkey

Turkey called on France yesterday to refrain from taking a dangerous
step in a fresh warning ahead of a vote at the French Senate on the
bill outlawing the denial of Armenian “genocide.”

“I hope France will not take a dangerous step,” said Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu to a group of reporters at Parliament. The French
Senate is set to discuss Jan. 23 the bill which was earlier approved by
French Parliament. The Senate will either drop the bill from the agenda
or will pave the way for a vote before its recess in late February.

The Turkish government has launched fresh efforts to kill the bill
at the Senate as in 2006. Turkish Ambassador Tahsin Burcuoglu was
recalled for consultations after the initial approval of the bill,
which stipulates a one year jail sentence and a 45,000 euro fine for
those who deny the 1915 events amounted to genocide.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government will
communicate with French investors based in Turkey to discuss ways to
stop the process in France. In addition to eight sanctions Turkey has
imposed against France, Turkey is planning to issue more measures,
including economic and trade measures.

The government and Foreign Ministry will increase their pressure on the
French government to kill the bill at Senate. However, it is believed
the bill will much more likely be approved by the Senate this time as
both the ruling and oppositional parties cannot dare oppose the bill.

In the meantime, the Ankara Municipality’s assembly has approved a
proposal to rename Paris Street, where the French Embassy is located,
to Algeria Street. It will also rename De Gaulle Street after an
Algerian national hero and erect a monument dedicated to the Algerian
“genocide” near the French Embassy.

Erdogan yesterday responded to a recent warning from the Algerian
prime minister that Turkey should not use the French colonial era
of Algeria as political capital. Erdogan said he has no intention
of launching a polemic with the Algerian government. “The Algerian
people know very well what Turkey means. And the Algerian opposition
expressed this very well. What is appropriate for a government is to
listen to its people’s sentiments.”

From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY PLEDGES MORE SANCTIONS AGAINST FRANCE

The Voice of Russia

Jan 11 2012

Turkey will impose more sanctions against France if the latter adopts
a law envisaging punishment for denying the genocide of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks.

In late December the lower chamber of France’s parliament approved
a draft law in this respect which envisages a 45,00 euro-fine for
those who deny the genocide of 1,5 mln Armenians in 1915.

The upper Chamber is to consider the bill on January 23.

Turkey says that the Armenians were killed in war.

From: Baghdasarian

CLEANSING OR COMPROMISING COMMITTEE?
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:52:56 – 11/01/2012

The creation of the Committee of Ethics of senior officials should
be seen primarily in the context of Serzh Sargsyan’s preparations
for the upcoming parliamentary elections in May.

Since Serzh Sargsyan needs to do everything to force the criminal
oligarchs from parliament whom he owes his election, as well as prevent
Robert Kocharyan’s team from parliament, we should admit that the
creation of the Committee can be instrumental for the solution of
these tasks.

The analyses and reports of the Committee on the income and property of
senior officials may not match the declarations presented by officials
themselves, and this can be the necessary reason for eliminating them
from party lists. One can object that Serzh Sargsyan can simply not
include the people on the Republican ticket who are undesirable for
him without resorting to the services of the Committee but there is
an opinion that Sargsyan will not have enough power for this. It is
not clear that the greater part of oligarchs would not like to leave
the political platform willingly.

The Committee of Ethics will hardly be used exceptionally against
those Republican members of parliament who are not loyal to Serzh
Sargsyan. It can be an instrumental against the Prosperous Armenia
Party the leader of which is believed to be one of the richest people
in Armenia. And if the tax service reveals financial breaches in
Tsarukyan’s companies, the Committee can find this a “breach of
ethics”.

In other words, the Committee can be a public instrument for collection
of compromising materials. By and large, independent from who will
use the collected information in the initial stage, it is evident
that Armenia needs a structure controlling the income and behavior
of officials.

Armenia is among those few countries where no lists of rich people
are released. No one knows what everyone owns and how much money the
people referring to themselves as millionaires have and how much tax
they must pay.

The lack of public “inventory” is not accidental. This has become the
favorable ground for the shadow economy. Hardly anyone will assess the
level of shadow economy in Armenia because the businessmen-officials
will decide themselves what amounts to “declare” to hide their
immense profits.

The government carries out a non-official inventory but with the
growing power of public opinion, the disclosure of information is the
most powerful political instrument. Considering these processes in
a wider context of political modernization, it is necessary to note
that the Committee on Ethics has an opportunity to play a catalytic
role to the “cleansing” process.

From: Baghdasarian