Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

August 28, 2014

Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America
117 S. Louise St #306
Glendale, CA 91205
Contact: Vazgen Ghoogassian
Tel: 818-547-3372
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Information Technology Industry in Armenia, and Diaspora’s Involvement
presented by
Harmik Baghdasarian, Al Eisaian, and Aram Ter-Martirosyan

(Pasadena, CA) – Three entrepreneurs, Harmik Baghdasarian, Al Eisaian
and Aram Ter-Martirosyan from Los Angeles who have established various
successful Information Technology (IT) related businesses in Armenia
will present their stories, successes, and difficulties. They will
address how to be profit-driven and not philanthropy-driven, establish
and maintain high standards, how to compete and operate in Armenia,
and most importantly how to commit time and resources. This lecture
hosted by the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA),
will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 2014, at 7:30 pm at Parson
Corporation, 100 West Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91224.

`This will be a great opportunity for people who are thinking to
establish businesses in high tech in Armenia to hear how these three
entrepreneurs have succeeded’ stated AESA President Vasken Yardemian.
`It will provide us with great opportunities to learn from their
experiences and share their entrepreneurial insights on how to create
something that people want.’

Harmik Baghdasarian has a B.S. in Computer Science from London
University, England. He has been involved in implementation of large
scale ERP systems for various global organizations, such as Epson Inc,
Sony Enterprises, and Able Freight in US. Harmik has been an active
member of the community and has been actively involved in working with
Armenia in pursue of creating IT related jobs. In October of 1997
started outsourcing software development projects to Armenia and has
been continuing it since then. His current organization Ogma Inc., has
been officially working in Yerevan Armenia as a software development
company and has been able to complete a large number of successful
projects in areas of Web and mobile development.

Al Eisaian is an entrepreneur, technology investor, and advisor. He
has an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BSEE from Oklahoma State
University. His most recent company, IconApps, Inc., where he served
as founder and Chairman & CEO, was acquired by Science Inc. Al has
served as the Global Head of Product Strategy and Marketing for Opera
Solutions, a global Big-Data analytics company from 2010-2011. In 2005
Al co-founded and served as Executive Chairman of Integrien
Corporation in Armenia until its acquisition by VMWare in 2010 for
$103 million. Al co-founded and served as CEO of CreationPoint
Systems, a systems management software and services company from
2001-2005. Al served as the SVP and General Manager of LowerMyBills,
Inc. acquired by Experian Corporation (for $400 million) from
2000-2001. Al has invested and is an advisor in several technology
start-up companies.

Aram Ter-Martirosyan holds a B.S. from UCLA in Computer Science and
Engineering and M.S. in Business Administration from Pepperdine
University. He started his professional career in 1993 at Lexi
International, a telecommunications company, as a software engineer
and very rapidly advanced to senior software engineer, project
manager, and ultimately, software architect. In 1999, Aram joined
Hi-Tech Gateway, Inc. as Cofounder and CIO, which is a software
development company in Armenia involved in developing
telecommunications related programs that have extensive experience in
developing web-based and mobile applications. Since 2005, Aram
Ter-Martirosyan cofounded ConnectTo Communications, Inc., which is
providing a wide array of telecommunications services for consumers
and businesses including telephone, Internet, wireless, security and
IPTV services. The lecture series presented by the Armenian Engineers
and Scientists of America are open to the public and free of admission
charge. The space is limited, so please RSVP by e-mail so your name
will be with the guards at the entrance which will expedite your
signing in process – [email protected].

Established in 1983 in Glendale, California, AESA is a non-partisan
and non-sectarian philanthropic organization focused primarily on
addressing the professional, technical and scientific needs of fellow
Armenian engineers, scientists, industrialists, and architects
throughout the world. For more information, check AESA’s website at
, or contact them by phone (818) 547-3372, or e-mail:
[email protected].

From: Baghdasarian

La Croix, France
25 aout 2014

Les petits exercices de mémoire de Melik Ohanian

Le Centre régional d’art contemporain de Sète propose « Stuttering »,
une exposition du sculpteur Melik Ohanian

Plus d’une trentaine d’Ã…`uvres tissent entre elles de subtiles
correspondances. Une divagation poétique sur la distance temporelle ou
spatiale qui change notre appréhension du réel.

Dans la dernière salle de l’exposition de Melik Ohanian au Centre
régional d’art contemporain (Crac) de Sète, un vaste écran au sol
présente en images pixellisées une spectaculaire collision de notre
Voie lactée avec la galaxie d’Andromède. D’après la Nasa, cette
explosion de milliards d’étoiles devrait se produire dans quatre
milliards d’années. L’artiste l’a modélisée par ordinateur pour livrer
ce saut de géant dans le temps et dans l’espace au regard duquel le
destin des hommes et de leur minuscule planète paraît dérisoire.

Depuis le premier étage du Crac, les visiteurs avaient déjà été
invités à contempler cette Ã…`uvre, de haut, manière d’insister sur les
différents points de vue qui modifient la perception d’un même
phénomène.

Ce thème revient comme un leitmotiv tout le long du parcours imaginé
par l’artiste, en lien avec le commissaire indépendant Ami Barak. Par
exemple, dans ces photographies du jardin botanique de Palerme,
d’abord mises au point sur le premier plan, puis sur le lointain, qui
alternent dans des caissons lumineux à un rythme rapide. Leur
Stuttering (bégaiement) a donné son titre à l’exposition.

Petit-fils d’immigrés arméniens

Au fil des salles, plus d’une trentaine d’Ã…`uvres tissent entre elles
de subtiles correspondances. Des souvenirs personnels de l’artiste se
mêlent à la grande Histoire et à des faits divers énigmatiques. Et de
« fréquents clins d’Ã…`il à l’art cinématographique nous rappellent
qu’il est né Ã Lyon, la ville des frères Lumière », observe Noëlle
Tissier, la directrice du Crac. Petit-fils d’immigrés arméniens ayant
fui le génocide, Melik Ohanian évoque ce drame dans Concrete Tears,
3451, 3 451 larmes de béton suspendues dans l’air correspondant au
nombre de kilomètres séparant Erevan et la France.

Il a aussi glissé dans l’espace Red Memory des photographies de Rajak
Ohanian, son père, imprimées sur des films transparents rouges, comme
des filtres conditionnant encore son propre regard. Un hommage à la
lueur pourpre du laboratoire paternel qui l’impressionnait enfant.

Réflexions sur le passage du temps et la mémoire

Non loin de ces Å`uvres, les Girls of Chilwell (« Les Filles de Gilwell
») renvoient à une autre tragédie de la Première Guerre mondiale?:
l’explosion en Angleterre en 1918 d’une fabrique d’obus bourrés de
nitroglycérine qui fit 134 victimes, en majorité des ouvrières. En
s’inspirant de photographies d’époque, l’artiste a représenté trois
d’entre elles en train de manipuler les obus, figées dans un pltre
immaculé¦ Une image arrêtée juste avant la catastrophe??

Dans la salle suivante, la collision intergalactique de la Voie lactée
semble accomplir le drame, Ã l’échelle du cosmos. Un tract distribué
dans l’exposition renchérit avec ironie?: « All all things fall apart
» (toutes les choses, absolument toutes, s’effondrent). Ailleurs, les
lettres de mots sculptés en relief s’évanouissent dans le mur,
modifiant leur sens. Des récits gravés deviennent presque invisibles¦

Au-delà de ces réflexions sur le passage du temps et la mémoire,
l’exposition prend aussi parfois des accents politiques. Ainsi, dans
cette Å`uvre lumineuse, Transvariation, évoquant le réchauffement
climatique, non loin d’un fragile globe de verre posé sur un
socle-miroir. Autre exemple, Days, une vidéo réalisée en 2011 alors
que l’artiste avait été invité à exposer à la Biennale de Sharjah,
dans les Émirats.

Des ouvrières de Chilwell aux forçats de Dubaï

Souhaitant filmer la condition d’ouvriers construisant Dubaï et
relégués dans un camp en plein désert, l’artiste a imaginé de se
mettre comme eux au travail et de btir chaque jour 100 mètres de
rails de travelling grce auxquels sa caméra s’introduirait peu à peu
au milieu des baraquements. Une façon de tenter de réduire la distance
entre l’artiste et son sujet, de chercher à approcher au plus près le
réel, via l’expérience directe du corps, comme dans une autre Ã…`uvre,
Earth Partitions¦

Des ouvrières de Chilwell aux forçats de Dubaï, le destin de la classe
ouvrière et ses luttes réapparaît encore dans une sculpture ironique
en aluminium montrant un mégaphone littéralement soudé Ã un grand
socle cubique, comme définitivement réduit au silence. Dans les images
« rouges » du père de Melik Ohanian, prises au cÅ`ur des années 1960,
semble enfouie aussi une certaine nostalgie de révoltes passées¦

Melik Ohanian se refuse cependant à tout discours militant. La seule
invitation subversive de l’artiste tient dans son mystérieux Datcha
Project, présenté au cÅ`ur du parcours. Cette résidence en Arménie,
dont l’artiste ne nous livre qu’une maquette dans un paysage désolé et
une photographie de la vue sur une majestueuse colline, a été définie
par ses soins comme une forteresse qui résiste à notre époque?: une «
zone de non-production ». L’artiste prévoit d’y inviter des personnes
de cultures et d’horizons différents à partager un moment, sans
programme établi. Existe-t-elle vraiment, est-ce une pure utopie?? Ã
chacun d’habiter en rêve cet espace et ce temps ouverts¦

—————————–

Repères biographiques

1969. Naissance à Lyon. Son père, Rajak Ohanian, est photographe. Son
frère aîné, Vartan, réalise des films documentaires sur des groupes de
rock ou de punk. Melik l’assiste parfois à la caméra.

1988-1994. Il étudie à l’École des beaux-arts de Montpellier, puis de Lyon.

2001. Première exposition à la galerie Chantal Crousel à Paris.

2002. Son installation « Island of an Island » sur une île apparue
au large de l’Islande est exposée pour l’inauguration du Palais de
Tokyo, Ã Paris.

2004. Il représente la France à la Biennale de Sao Paulo, avec «
Seven minutes before », sept écrans montrant simultanément, avec
différents points de vue, les minutes précédant l’explosion d’un
camping-car dans le Vercors.

2007. Il expose à la 52e Biennale de Venise.

2008. « From the Voice to the Hand », exposition dans quinze lieux
d’ÃŽle-de-France.

2014. « Stuttering », expostion à Sète jusqu’au 21 septembre.

Sabine Gignoux (Ã Sète)

From: Baghdasarian

Gulf Times, Qatar
Aug 26 2014

Venice film fest focuses on love, war, literature and black comedy

By Alvise Armellini, DPA/Venice

A mixed-bag of literary adaptations, war dramas, tales of lost loves,
remote villages and black comedies make up the 20-strong line-up
competing for the top Golden Lion award in the 71st edition of the
Venice Film Festival, which starts today.

Birdman, on the attempt by a washed-up actor (played by Michael
Keaton) to relaunch his career by staging a Broadway play, is due to
open the 11-day event.

It is directed by Mexico-born Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu and also
stars Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts.

Xavier Beauvois’ la Rancon de la Gloire, telling the true story of the
botched attempt to steal Charlie Chaplin’s coffin, and A Pigeon Sat on
a Branch Reflecting on Existence, by oddball Swedish writer/director
Roy Andersson, are the two other black comedies in competition.

Hollywood legend Al Pacino is expected in the lagoon city to promote
Manglehorn, in which he plays an ex-con pining for a long-lost love.

The movie is directed by David Gordon Green, who impressed Venice film
festival-goers last year with the Nicholas Cage drama Joe.

Good Kill, with Ethan Hawke as a US drone pilot; The Cut by
Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, on the Armenian genocide; The Look
of Silence, a documentary on mass killings in Indonesia; and the
Algeria-set Loin des Hommes (Far from Men), with Viggo Mortensen, are
among the war-themed offerings.

Italians are pinning their victory hopes on Il Giovane Favoloso, about
19th century poet Giacomo Leopardi, and are anxiously expecting
Pasolini, a biopic on the influential writer-director Pier Paolo
Pasolini killed in 1975 starring William Defoe and directed by Abel
Ferrara.

The other films in the main lineup are 99 Homes, with Spiderman star
Andrew Garfield; 3 Coeurs, starring French divas Catherine Deneuve and
Charlotte Gainsbourg; and other works from Iran, Russia, Turkey,
Japan, China and host nation Italy.

“You have to trust me: the films are of very high quality,” festival
director Alberto Barbera said last month, as he unveiled the
programme.

Top awards will be decided by a nine-member jury headed by French film
composer Alexandre Desplat, who wrote soundtracks for Grand Budapest
Hotel, The King’s Speech and Godzilla.

Chinese actress Joan Chen and British actor Tim Roth sit on the panel.

A slew of other A-list celebrities, such as Owen Wilson, Jennifer
Aniston and James Franco, star in out-of-competition films to be
screened alongside world cinema offerings such as the short film The
Old Man of Belem (O Velho do Restelo) by 105-year-old Portuguese
master Manoel de Oliveira.

The Golden Era, an out-of-competition biopic of radical Chinese female
writer Xiao Hong, will close the festival on September 6. It is
directed by Hong Kong’s Ann Hui, who also heads the jury for
Orizzonti, a section dedicated to more experimental cinema.

Running alongside the official festival, the independently-run Venice
Days chapter will screen 20 more films.

One on One, by cult South Korean director Kim Ki-duk, and a docudrama
on Argentine football star Lionel Messi, are among the highlights.

,-war,-literature-and-black-comedy

From: Baghdasarian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 26 2014

Armenian economy to grow by 3.9% in 2014

26 August 2014 – 2:44pm

The Armenian Central Bank predicts economic growth of 3.9% this year,
EPress reports.

The budget is based on growth of 5.2%, governmental programs on 5%,
ex-Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s government on 5-7%. The declining
economic growth is a result of economic repercussions in Russia.

From: Baghdasarian

Cihan News Agency, Turkey
Aug 25 2014

Never-before-seen images of Topkapý Palace in new book

ISTANBUL – 25.08.2014 18:39:25

More than 100 previously unseen images of Ýstanbul’s Topkapý Palace
Museum have recently been compiled in a new book, published by the
Ýstanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s cultural body Kültür A.Þ.

A total of 118 miniatures, engravings and photos have been brought
together in the book “Resimli Belgelerde Topkapý Sarayý” (Topkapý
Palace in Visual Documents), written by Hilmi Aydýn, who served the
museum in various positions between 1990 and 2005.

Aydýn mostly focused on the changes the palace went through between
the 16th and 19th centuries in compiling the photos of the palace,
which was home to the Ottoman sultans and their harem.

Most of the photos in the book were taken by the Ottoman-Armenian
photographers the Abdullah Frères (brothers) — Viçen Abdullahyan,
Hovsep Abdullahyan and Kevork Abdullahyan — and by the studio of
Pascal Sébah and Polycarpe Joaillier at the end of the 19th century
and the beginning of the 20th century.

The miniatures provide a comparison between the former and later
periods of some locations in the palace such as the pavilions, the
garden and the doors. Some of the engravings depict now non-existent
parts of the palace, including seaside mansions and kiosks. The oldest
engraving in the book was made by Guillaume-Joseph Grelot in 1680 and
depicts the Sepetçiler Kasrý, which was wrongly named the Sinan
Pavilion by the artist.

(Cihan/Today’s Zaman)

From: Baghdasarian

Armenia has good potentials to secure economic growth – opinions

17:45 * 26.08.14

The Russian economy’s slowdown, caused by the sanctions of the West,
may objectively impact Armenia’s economic growth, an economist has
said, commenting on thereport about the Central Bank’s lowered
forecast for the country.

“I think there are objective reasons, but I do not rule out the
possibility that Armenia will manage to record a higher economic
growth, as the incumbent government’s program reflects the necessary
pre-requisites,” Tatul Manaseryan told Tert.am, saying that he really
sees a considerable potential in the country.

As for the forecasts about reduced money transfers to Armenia, the
economist said he does not rule out such a possibility. “Over the past
years, we have traditionally observed a kind of dependence on
individual money transfers which help mitigate the social conditions,
leaving their positive impact on the population’s purchasibility. We
now observe such trends,” he noted.

Manaseryan said he believes that it is possible to record a
double-digit economic growth in Armenia. “These are not just our
personal forecasts, but clear-cut estimates. So if those responsible
for the economic sector have a real interest, we are ready to have our
participation,” he added.

Addressing the report, the opposition Heritage party’s deputy leader,
Armen Martirosyan, considered the estimates well-grounded and
predictable.

“They are actually attempting to make Russia the only economic
partner, without proposing any diversification. We said in the past
that should anything happen to Russia, it would directly impact
Armenia’s economy. So the Central Bank has now given that estimate.
The transfers which come from Russia are a considerable injection into
our economy. There aren’t basically injections in Armenia today, with
European organization proposing no more grants. So we need transfers
in the amounts we used to have to secure a financial flow to Armenia,”
he said.

Martirosyan added that he expects the sanctions against Russia to have
a boomerang effect on Armenia’s economy. He cited emigration, distrust
in the government and corruption as major reasons preventing an
economic growth. “Even if we record a 7% economic growth, it will
offer us no advantages at all. Our citizen would feel a change only in
case of a 10%-11% growth, but only an open economic system can secure
that,” he added.

The politician said he thinks that Armenia’s EU association would
offer good opportunities of diversification, adding that higher-level
relations with Iran and China would also be positive steps in such
efforts.

Asked whether a political will would help develop such relations to
mitigate the situation, Martirosyan replied, “Political will in
Armenia suffices only for electoral frauds and [attempts] to make
state resources serve private interests.”

Gagik Minasyan, a Republican lawmaker who chairs the National
Assembly’s Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary
Affairs, said it isn’t possible to make absolutely trustworthy
forecasts in the changing world. “A very serious working meeting is
going to take place in Minsk [Belarus] today with the participation of
Russian, Ukrainian and CU [Eurasian Customs Union] member states’
leaders. The first ever meeting between Ukrainian and Russian top
officials is expected. Hence those discussions may drastically change
the situation. But they may also leave the things unchanged,” he
noted.

From: Baghdasarian

Cory Welt: Azerbaijan’s military success is unlikely, which prevents
escalation to full-scale war

18:14 26/08/2014 >> INTERVIEWS

On Azerbaijani recent military aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic and the RA, the security issue of the people of Nagorno
Karabakh as well as the prospects of the Customs Union Panorama.am has
spoken to Associate Director and Associate Research Professor of
International Affairs at the Institute for European, Russian and
Eurasian StudiesDr. Cory Welt.

– Dr. Welt, recently there has been a marked escalation of hostilities
in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone while Azerbaijan’s president has
openly threatened Armenia with war. What do you think this is
preconditioned by?

– It is always difficult to say exactly why a new outbreak of
hostilities occurs along the line of contact. With each summer’s
violence worse than the last, the risk of escalation spinning out of
control is very high. Unfortunately, as hostilities die down each
year, we tend to forget this risk.

It is also hard to understand exactly what the intentions of President
Aliyev are, but his speech about war did not seem to be a direct
threat. It sounded more like a warning that Azerbaijan has not given
up on its lost territories and does not intend to, while serving as a
rhetorical way for Aliyev to end this latest round of hostilities.

At the same time, Aliyev saw this summer how much the West supported
Ukraine in its efforts to fight externally-supported separatism in the
Donbas, as well as Israel’s use of force in Gaza. He is surely
convinced that Azerbaijan, too, has the legitimate right to use force;
it is only a question of whether he can succeed. For now, Azerbaijan’s
military success remains a very big question mark, which fortunately
helps put a brake on escalation to full-scale war.

– Can we say that Europe would be more interested to stop Azerbaijan
from waging a war now than it was in 1991 (when no one stopped the
Azeri aggression), given the fact that Azerbaijan is now an exporter
of gas and oil to Europe, with BP having big shares in the Caspian,
which will be endangered in case of the resumption of military
hostilities? To what extent can this factor actually constitute a
deterrent against possible Azerbaijani aggression?

– I would like to think that Europeans worry more about the human cost
of a full-scale war in the Caucasus than they do about the potential
risk to the pipelines, which for now supply relatively little energy
to Europe and would, in the worst case, only be down temporarily. I
also don’t think the potential European reaction to an attack on the
pipeline is a deterrent to Azerbaijan, if it was truly determined to
wage war. Those concerned about the fate of the pipeline would likely
blame whichever side directly attacked the pipeline, not who started
the conflict.

– The recent Azerbaijani attacks on Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia,
growing anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan (most vividly demonstrated by
the Safarov case), complete refusal to accept NKR as a reality as well
as official statements to use of force to retake the NK constitute
direct existential threats to the population of Nagorno Karabakh.
Under these circumstances, how should the security of the population
of NK be guaranteed even if a peace agreement is signed between the
sides? What confidence building measures should Azerbaijan undertake
to reassure that it poses no threat to Armenians?

– Regrettably, we’re not at a moment in time when Azerbaijan is able
to credibly offer security guarantees to the population of
Nagorno-Karabakh. This is one of the major obstacles to a resolution
of the conflict, together with the unwillingness of Nagorno-Karabakh
to relinquish occupied territories around the former NKAO. If there
were a peace agreement, it would have to include an international
peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh that Azerbaijan would not
have the right to evict, as well as at least unarmed observers in
neighbouring territories that would themselves have to constitute a
demilitarized zone. We are far away from such a solution, however. In
the meantime, confidence-building measures that could be implemented
are simple, on both sides, if there were only political will – a
lessening of war rhetoric, a drawdown of snipers, safe treatment and
return of detainees, and at least partial demining.

– Dr. Welt, what future do you see for the Russia-led Customs Union
and the Eurasian Union? How can the current confrontation between
Russia and the West over Ukraine impact this project and its members?

– I suspect that these integration projects will ultimately be
successful only to the extent that they reflect the genuine interests
of their members and prospective members. We have already seen
significant signs of pushback from Kazakhstan and Belarus against the
most ambitious forms of these projects, which their leaders do not
view to be in their national interests.

The current confrontation in Ukraine is not between Russia and the
West. It is between Moscow and Kyiv. I do not think this confrontation
itself is key to the success of failure of Moscow-led integration
projects. You’ll notice that it really hasn’t changed any country’s
position, even Ukraine’s – those opposed to membership continue to
oppose, those who supported membership continue to support (even if
they are unhappy about it). Unless Moscow genuinely has the power to
force integration on its neighbours, Soviet-style (which I doubt), the
fate of these projects depends on their economic attractiveness as
compared to the attractiveness of alternative models such as those the
EU offers. The greatest opportunity for the Customs Union/Eurasian
Union is if greater integration with the EU fails to provide the
anticipated economic benefits. Disillusionment in Moldova, Georgia,
and Ukraine would be the greatest stimulus for the success of these
Russia-led projects.

From: Baghdasarian

General: Even Turkish instructors admit low combat effectiveness of Azeri army

by Ashot Safaryan

ARMINFO
Tuesday, August 26, 15:28

The Azeri army has low combat effectiveness and the Armenian public
has made sure of it following the recent Azeri sabotage attacks that
took lives of dozens of Azeri soldiers, Major-General Arkady
Ter-Tadevosyan (Kommandos), hero of Artsakh war, said at today’s press
conference in Yerevan.

Ter-Tadevosyan said that besides numerous experts, NATO specialists
and Turkish instructors also admit the low combat effectiveness of the
Azeri army. “The Armenian and Karabakh contract soldiers were able to
repel the sabotage attacks of the Azeri special groups, which were
trained in Turkey. Baku cannot create an impression that it can fight
against Armenia”, he said.

He added that Armenia, in turn, should choose correct tactics,
including the tactics in the mass media. “It is necessary to
understand that the Azeri people want no war. Moreover, the Azeri army
consists of not only Azeris but also Talishes, Lezgins, Tats and other
nationalities. I do not think that the state with numerous interethnic
problems can really unleash war and win it”, he stressed.

From: Baghdasarian

Members of the Armenia-Canada Friendship Group Meet with Canadian
Parliamentarians

26.08.2014

On August 26 the Parliamentary Delegation of Canada met with the
members of the RA NA Armenia-Canada Friendship Group in the National
Assembly.

Welcoming the guest, the Head of the Delegation Hovhannes Sahakyan
noted that the Armenian-Canadian relations share a long history and
are characterized as warm, friendly and cooperative. By the guests’
request Hovhannes Sahakyan touched upon the protocols aimed at the
rapprochement of the Armenian-Turkish relations andTurkey’s policy of
denial. He has underscored that in the rapprochement process of the
Armenian-Turkish relations Turkey sets preconditions, which are
unacceptable for Armenia. Touching upon the issue of international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Head of the Delegation
highlighted the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide,
which will give an opportunity to exclude the perpetration of new
genocides. The members of the Friendship Group mentioned that the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols 2009 had been frozen by the Turkish
leadership. The Group members, touching upon the Armenia’s blockade,
expressed a view that there shouldn’t be close borders in the 21st
century. Hovhannes Sahakyan touched upon the recent multiple
violations of ceasefire regime along Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan
contact line and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and the growth of
provocative and subversive activities by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

At the meeting the process of Armenia ‘s membership to the Eurasian
Economic Union, necessity of developing the Armenian-EU further
cooperation, regional and geopolitical issues were also touched upon.

On the same day the Parliamentary Delegation of Canada visited the
Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex of Tsitsernakaberd.

The Canadian MPs laid flowers at the Memorial of the 1915 Armenian
Genocide, and bowed and honored with silencethe memory of one and a
half million innocent victims. The guest visited the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute, watched the exhibits.

From: Baghdasarian

Yezidis face murder, slavery threats in Iraq – Armenian NGO chief

14:42 * 26.08.14

The head of an Armenian NGO of Yezidis on Tuesday voiced his strong
concerns about the situation of their Iraqi compatriots.

Commenting on the ISIS militants’ operations against the Yezidis’ in
northern Iraq, Sayid Avdalyan, the president of the Association of
Young Yezidis, said he believes that the terrorist group has set a
real goal to exterminate those people. He said that thousands of
Yezidis are now hiding in refugee camps whose whereabouts are known
also to the Islamists.

“The Yezidis are forced to either accept Islam or be subjected to
pogroms. This is the 74th genocide of Yezidis” Avdalyan told a news
conference, noting that the choice of methods is comparable to what
happened during the Armenians Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

“Yezidi men are killed immediately. while women are kidnapped to be
sold on the black market,” he said.

Sargis Grigoryan, an orientalist also attending the news conference,
noted that the ISIS group, which has declared an Islamic state, is now
heading to Iraq’s north to make that country powerful. He said the
Islamist militants are apparently carrying out a pre-arranged plan
which may cause the situation to go beyond control.

Avdalyan said he thinks that the organization was created by the
United States as a result of what he described as a policy of double
standards. “They arm people on the one hand and carry out bombings on
the other,” he said, noting that ISIS is the richest terrorist
organization, which sells oil for almost next to nothing with Turkey’s
help and the West’s permission.

“The group receives its profit from different places, and the money
comes from the US,” he said.

Avdalyan added that the Yezidis too, have their share of
responsibility for the massacres that left over 400,000 killed in the
community of 1-1.5 million.

Disagreeing with the remark that the United States arms the Islamist
group, Grigoryan said he is under the impression that ISIS derives its
profit from the sale of oil. “The organization has become a factor,
and it manages to solve different problems, sending a challenge to
Syria and Iraq,” he added.

As for the Islamists’ plan to create a Kurdish state, the expert said
he thinks the idea inevitable but not feasible in the nearest future.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian