Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

100 FILMS TO BE SCREENED AS PART OF NON-COMPETITION PROGRAMS AT GOLDEN APRICOT YEREVAN 11TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

17:17 * 20.06.14

The Golden Apricot Yerevan 11th International Film Festival has seen
on Friday the presentation of traditional non-competition programs –
Yerevan Premieres, Retrospectives, Films Across Borders, Armenian
Panorama, as well as Cinema for Social Change, with Polish cinema
program, Ukrainian Poetic Cinema and New German Cinema as parts
thereof.

“We want to be modest, but when it comes to non-competition programs,
we think of how we can screen so many films in so few showing rooms,”
Michael Stamboltsyan, GAIFF Programme Director, told reporters.

The Ukrainian Poetic Cinema program is presented in the honor of Sergei
Parajanov, because it was Parajanov who breathed new life into this
genre in the 1960s.

“And now we want to revert to this golden age of Ukrainian cinema,”
Mr Stamboltsyan said.

Under the Yerevan Premieres program, a number of films that gained
international renown will be screened – Climates (director Nuri Bilge
Ceylan, Turkey; Cannes IFF, 2006 FIPRESCI Prize), Black Coal. Thin Ice,
as well as the Book by Vitaly Mansky.

Festival Artistic Director Susanna Harutyunyan said that a new German
film will be screened under the New German Cinema program.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

VLADIMIR KAZIMIROV: THE KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SOLVED EXCEPTIONALLY IN A PEACEFUL WAY

17:06 20.06.2014

Alisa Gevorgyan
Public Radio of Armenia

Baku is doing its best to make us forget how the ceasefire agreement
was reached. Ilham Aliyev is glorifying his father, at the same
time forgetting to implement the documents adopted with the latter’s
consent, one of which clearly states that “The Karabakh conflict should
be solved exceptionally in a peaceful way,” former Russian Co-Chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov told a press conference today.

In an article published by Moscow-based “Regnum” agency on the
20th anniversary of the ceasefire Kazimirov presented an interesting
statistics, which he introduced to reporters today. “During the war the
Azerbaijani side frustrated 20 peace initiatives, while the Armenian
parties denied only four,” he said.

According to Kazimirov, Azerbaijan’s axe-policy only harms the
process. However, the former co-chair congratulated Armenia, Artsakh
and Azerbaijan on the 20th anniversary of the ceasefire, since it
has at least managed to prevent mass bloodshed.

Kazimirov said everything should be done to resolve the conflict in
a peaceful way. “We must work towards reinforcement of peace,” he said.

The ex-mediator is confident that “we are closer to peace than war,”
despite Azerbaijan’s bellicose rhetoric and the tension at the line
of contact.

To what extent will Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic
Union affect the Artsakh conflict? According to Kazimirov, these are
two different processes.

As for the deployment of peacekeepers at the Artsakh conflict zone,
Kazimirov said the issue is not on the agenda today.

From: Baghdasarian

LAWMAKERS PASS AMENDMENTS REDUCING SIZE OF FINES FOR VIOLATIONS OF TRAFFIC RULES

NEWS | 20.06.14 | 13:15

The National Assembly on Friday voted 98 to 2, with 5 abstentions in
favor of adopting amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations
by which the size of fines for violations of traffic rules are reduced.

At least two minority factions, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir,
had announced that they would vote in favor of the amendments.

The issue of high fines for violations of traffic rules has constantly
been raised by motorists, particularly taxi drivers, in the past
several years as speed and other traffic cameras have been installed
in Yerevan.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN SERVICEMAN KILLED IN MILITARY BASE

Friday 20 June 2014 13:19
Photo: Photolure

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Grisha Khachatryan born in 1994 and called up
for military service from Sisian was killed in the military base
of one of the military units located to the south-east of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The Armenian Defense Ministry expressed condolences to the serviceman’s
family. The details of the incident are being specified.

From: Baghdasarian

The key is in Armenia

June 21 2014

My contact with Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan was very inspiring in
several terms. First, I like when the officials display modesty and
restraint in dealing with journalists. Or else, I remembered a head of
the department at the Yerevan municipality, who in response to a
journalists’ question has said, “since I am the Head of the
Department, I can only get in contact with the heads, in other words,
with the editors.” Secondly, of course, it was pleasant that the
American city is ruled by an Armenian-origin young man, who in 1988,
at the age of 14 left Soviet Armenia, and has gone through thanks to
his personal merits by becoming a City Council member and then a
mayor. Anyway, most importantly is his healthy attitude to
Armenia-Diaspora relations. In the Diaspora, as I see, there are two
extremes. “Traditional” Diaspora, if they are interested in Armenia,
then only in the context of national problems the way they are
perceiving these problems: the Armenian Cause, genocide, and demands.
>From this perspective it seems to them that is does not so matter what
kind of state Armenia is and what regime is here, just all of us
pursue these problems. Our these countrymen do not consider it
appropriate to talk about Armenia’s political and economic
development, about legitimacy and controlability of authorities. Those
who have gone from here after 1990 (again, if they are interested in
the homeland), they are talking about these very issues. But, the
problem is that many of these “new Diaspora” are addressing our too
painful issues with malice, as if subconsciously trying to justify
their absence. “Build a good homeland, and I will return”, is often
sounded “in-between the lines” of what they say. We, Armenians,
sometimes do not want to understand both the “traditional” and
“non-traditional ones”, on the contrary, in the mind or even in the
public, we tend to blame them of why you were not and are not sharing
our sufferings. The bases of such reproach is purely emotional, they
must be eliminated. Zareh Sinanyan is free from all of these extremes,
and his point is that we, Armenians, should once be genuinely
“explained,” but the explanation should not last for years. After
accepting each other’s sins and confessing of own sins, we need to
move forward, having the undeniable provision in front of our eyes
that the key to solving all kinds of national problems is here, in the
Republic of Armenia.

ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
Read more at:

From: Baghdasarian

Kremlin’s Next Target In The Region

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – Saturday, 21 June 2014, 15:34

The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov who was in Azerbaijan a few
days ago is coming to Yerevan. After Lavrov Azerbaijan announced that
Russia may benefit a lot if it supports Azerbaijan with the settlement
of the Artsakh issue. This statement is symptomatic provided
Azerbaijan’s dissatisfaction with the U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group
James Warlick, accusing him of a pro-Armenian stance.

Apparently, though with difficulty but Warlick has succeeded saving
the viability of the Minks Group, and Russia is not able to keep his
promise to Turkey and Azerbaijan and withdraw the settlement of the
Karabakh issue from the Minsk Group. Lavrov spoke about this in Baku,
saying that pushing the Minsk Group back failed, and the best that can
be done at the moment is to prevent a new Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting.

And the proposal of this meeting came from the French president
Francois Hollande who visited Azerbaijan and Armenia in May.

Ahead of Lavrov’s visit Serzh Sargsyan went to Georgia . Serzh
Sargsyan’s statement in Georgia regarding the Abkhazian railway is
notable. Sargsyan announced that the opening of the railway depends
not only on Armenia and Georgia, and there are other factors as well.
No doubt the other key factor is Russia.

However, the point is not only about the Abkhazian railway. There is
no such issue on the agenda. The point is that in Georgia Serzh
Sargsyan hints at common vision and common hindrances between Yerevan
and Tbilisi in the regional context when the Russian foreign minister
visiting Baku is trying to achieve the next agreement with Azerbaijan,
including on sale of another batch of weapon.

What Russia is currently weaving in the Caucasus will inevitably reach
Georgia. Russia will set to divide Georgia after successfully dividing
Armenia and Artsakh with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In this respect, the relationship between Georgia and Europe has
become a crucial security matter for Armenia. The Armenian government
must be aware that surrender to Russia will not ensure their personal
security, let alone the national security. At the same time, even with
this awareness the Armenian government does not have a practical will,
capacity and qualities to run a state policy, and the maximum thing
that it can do is to rely on Georgia which will soon appear under the
NATO umbrella.

Currently this umbrella is the last chance to maintain regional
balance. NATO presence in Turkey is not sufficient because NATO’s
strategic priority is containment of Turkish presence. It will be done
through presence either in the Black Sea or in Georgia.

Serzh Sargsyan “honestly” admits that on September 3 he did something
that staked not only Armenia and Artsakh but also Georgia. At the same
time, he confesses with equal honesty that while it is meaningless to
rely on him, Georgia can still save him and us all.

Meanwhile, he can tell Lavrov in Yerevan that he had gone to Georgia
to make sure it has not occurred to Georgia to save the region.

– See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

Communiqué de Presse
La FRA Nor Seround appelle à manifester samedi 21 juin à 12 h Place
Carnot à Lyon contre la visite d’Erdogan

La FRA Nor Seround appelle à manifester samedi 21 juin à 12 h Place
Carnot à Lyon contre la visite d’Erdogan.

Le Premier Ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan sera à Lyon pour tenir
un meeting concernant les élections présidentielles en Turquie.

Il était en visite ce vendredi 20 Juin à Paris pour une rencontre avec
le Président de la République François Hollande afin de traiter de
l’adhésion de la Turquie dans l’Union Européenne et de la guerre en
Syrie. Une série de rencontres est également prévue avec les
représentants de la communauté turque de France.

La FRA Nor Seround dénonce avec fermeté la venue, sur le territoire de
la République des droits de l’homme, du représentant d’un Etat
fascisant, xénophobe, liberticide et négationniste. L’Etat Turc bafoue
les droits de l’homme, emprisonne sur son sol étudiants, journalistes
et intellectuels, opprime les minorités, censure la liberté
d’expression de sa société civile et continue sa politique génocidaire
contre les Arméniens. Il s’agit bien là d’une stratégie de la part du
Premier ministre turc consistant à organiser sa diaspora pour contrer
la communauté arménienne dans ses revendications de justice et de
réparations du génocide de 1915.

Le Nor Seround souligne la nécessité de la mobilisation des militants
de la Cause arménienne, des droits de l’homme et tous les citoyens
épris de justice et appelle à manifester aux côtés du Front de Gauche
samedi à 12 h Place Carnot à Lyon.

Les militants du Nor Seround seront présents pendant la manifestation
avec des panneaux “Justice et Réparations”, “Etat turc hors de nos
terres”, “Erdogan assassin”.

Portons haut et fort nos légitimes revendications de justice.

Soyons nombreux samedi à Lyon capitale de la résistance.

Le Bureau National de la FRA Nor Seround – France

samedi 21 juin 2014,
Jean Eckian (c)armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJAN’S ENTRANCE TO EURASIAN UNION TO BE BENEFICIAL FOR ARMENIA – ARAM KARAPETYAN

17:20 / 18.06.2014

In July Armenia will sign the agreement on membership into Eurasian
Union if no issues are created with Azerbaijan, leader of New Times
party Aram Karapetyan told the reporters on Wednesday.

“Today Lavrov met with the leadership of Azerbaijan but I personally
consider the entrance of Azerbaijan to Eurasian Union less possible,”
he said.

Karapetyan said if Azerbaijan agrees to be in the Eurasian Union a
wonderful situation will be created for Armenia. “A general border will
be created and Azerbaijan will have to lift our blockade,” he said.

“Azerbaijan’s biggest military suppliers are Israel and Ukraine. And
now according to the recent agreement signed with Russia the latter
has become the third supplier. The Armenian diplomacy and all the
political forces must do everything to make this cooperation fail
and not become strategic,” Karapetyan said.

Nyut.am

From: Baghdasarian

ETHICS COMMITTEE FOR SENIOR OFFICIALS SET UP IN NKR

NEWS | 20.06.14 | 11:05

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

On June 19, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) President Bako Sahakyan
signed a decree appointing members of the ethics committee set up to
look into complaints against high ranking officials.

The same day, the committee held its first session. Deputy head of
the Office of the NKR President Arayik Lazaryan and deputy justice
minister Karen Danielyan were elected head and deputy head of the
committee, respectively, the NKR president’s press office reports.

A similar committee has been operating in Armenia since 2012, but
the country’s opposition has been skeptical about the efficiency of
the body, considering it to be another “imitational” structure.

From: Baghdasarian

ZHOGHOVURD: GAS PRICE TO RISE IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH?

10:19 * 20.06.14

According to the newspaper, gas supply was cut in Nagorno-Karabakh
last night.

A failure occurred on the Goris section of the gas pipeline, and
Nagorno-Karabakh will not be supplied with gas for a couple of days.

Stepanakert residents told the newspaper that gas-filling stations
do not operate, and very few taxies are serving passengers.

They also say that the gas price may rise soon, which was the case
after the gas supply was once suspended.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian