Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

2015 : CENT ANS DU GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS

La Règle du Jeu, France
4 fev 2014

Ara Toranian

Le dîner annuel du CCAF (Conseil de coordinations des organisations
armeniennes de France) s’est deroule le 29 janvier, date anniversaire
de la loi francaise reconnaissant le genocide des Armeniens en
2001, en presence de ses invites d’honneur : Christiane Taubira,
Garde des Sceaux, Bernard-Henri Levy, philosophe, Charles Aznavour,
ambassadeur itinerant de l’Armenie,Viguen Tchitetchian, ambassadeur
de la Republique d’Armenie, entre autres. Ce rendez-vous annuel a
ete l’occasion de remettre la medaille du courage, la plus haute
distinction du CCAF, a Bernard-Henri Levy ainsi que d’annoncer le
programme qui presidera aux commemorations du centième anniversaire du
genocide armenien : >. Ara Toranian,
directeur des Nouvelles d’Armenie, a ouvert l’evenement. Retrouvez
son discours et les photos de la soiree.

En preparant avec nos camarades du CCAF cette belle soiree, m’est
revenu en memoire le discours de notre regrette Henri Verneuil le jour
où on lui a remis les palmes academiques et qui, dans un zoom arrière
sur sa vie, avait commence son discours d’intronisation par ces mots
: >, du quai de la Joliette a Marseille,
où les premiers rescapes du pays de l’epouvante ont debarque, jusqu’a
des evenements comme celui-ci, qui les amènent a partager leur table
avec la ministre de la Justice – quel beau symbole.

Oui, qu’il a ete long et difficile ce chemin qui a conduit le peuple
armenien des marches forcees vers la mort a
From: Baghdasarian

MELKONIAN ED. INSTITUTE FOR SYRIAN-ARMENIAN STUDENTS

For the Armenian text click here

January 19, 2014

Berj Setrakian, Esq., President Honorable Members
A.G.B.U. Central Board
New York

Dear Mr. Setrakian:

With this Appeal – Open Letter we appeal to you to reopen The Melkonian
Educational Institute, especially for Armenian students from Syria.

As you are aware, a terrible civil war has been taking place in
Syria for the last 3 years. Factions from all sides are shooting and
bombing each other without distinction. Armenians living in Aleppo,
Damascus, Kamishly, Kessab, and other regions of Syria are falling
victims to this terrible situation. Surly, you are privy to more
detailed accounts of the devastation and slayings that Armenians in
Syria, namely Armenian youth, are suffering. Armenian schools remain
partially open, but are in constant danger of attacks. Thousands
of Syrian-Armenians have been forced to leave their homes and seek
residence in Armenia and Artsakh, Jordan, Lebanon, or elsewhere.

Today, the Armenian youth who attend schools in Syria live in constant
fear and anxiety of getting killed. They are also exposed to the other
psychological and emotional traumas of living through war. There is
no safety, and living conditions are unbearable. In parts of Aleppo,
food and water are scarce. It is crucial, that we act now to lend a
helping hand and move these youth to safety.

In light of the horrific and volatile state of Syrian affairs, we
urge The Honorable Central Board to retract its decision to close
the Melkonian Institute, particularly since this motion would free
Armenian students from their daily struggles in Syria. We believe that
financial considerations run secondary to the need to execute this
philanthropic initiative. For the past eight years after the closure
of the Melkonian Institute, the accumulated funds to the Benefactors’
huge Bequest have significantly multiplied due to income generated by
commercial structures built on Melkonian property. Also, because these
students are technically refugees, various international organizations,
the United Nations, American Red Cross, and others would be willing to
assist. We are sure that your legal and public relations advisors could
find the financial means necessary to reopen the Melkonian Institute.

The reestablishment of the Melkonian Institute would provide a
safe haven in which approximately 1000 students would receive a
high-quality education right away. In addition, it will build upon
Melkonian’s mission as a major center for educating Armenian youth and
preventing the loss of the western Armenian dialect. This should be at
the forefront of A.G.B.U’s objectives. No other Armenian organization,
not even the Armenian Church, can accomplish this mission.

Considering the severity and seriousness of the above-mentioned set
of circumstances, we formally propose that you withdraw your decision
to close The Melkonian Educational Institute, and reopen it without
delay. While A.G.B.U’s ongoing efforts to help Syrian Armenians are
widely appreciated, we believe the venture to reopen The Melkonian
Institute will offer invaluable benefits to this community of Armenians
and inevitably build upon the merits of the A.G.B.U’s organization.

We also propose that the humanitarian aid being provided by A.G.B.U.

to Armenia be primarily allocated to the cause of Armenian refugees
from Syria, who are settling in Armenia and Artsakh.

We trust that your consideration of this plight will be fueled by
benevolence and logicality.

Thanking you in advance,

A group of Melkonian Graduates

Note: All those Armenians who are in agreement to reopen the Melkonian
Educational Institute mainly for the Syrian-Armenian students, please
complete and sign the provided e-mail form and send it to the assigned
e-mail address.

Visit Melkonian Forever Main Page and send your support by e-mail
[email protected] or via Feedback.

Thank You

From: Baghdasarian

RUSSIA’S CABINET OKAYS MILITARY BASE DEPLOYMENT IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, February 4. /ARKA/. Russia’s government has approved a draft
protocol implying deployment of Russia’s military base in Armenia. The
document is available on the appropriate portal of legal information.

The document instructs the Russian defense and foreign affairs
ministries to conduct talks with Armenia and upon receiving necessary
consent from the Armenian side to sign the mentioned protocol on the
behalf of the Russian government, Novosti-Armenia reports referring
to RIA Novosti.

Under the protocol, Russia will return a military compound in Hatsik
village, and Armenia will provide two other military compounds to
Russia. The Russian military base will be deployed on 21 compounds’
territories. -0—

– See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH : HARCELEMENT DES ELECTEURS, ACHAT DE VOIX, UTILISATION ABUSIVE DES RESSOURCES ONT ENTACHE LES ELECTIONS PRESIDENTIELLES ET MUNICIPALES EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

Selon le Rapport mondial 2014, publie par Human Rights Watch (HRW),
le president Serge Sarkissian a ete reelu en Fevrier et le Parti
Republicain a domine les elections municipales a Erevan en mai au
milieu de rapports sur des
From: Baghdasarian

RENCONTRE NALBANDIAN-MAMMEDIAROV A PARIS

ARMENIE

Les agences de presse rendent compte de la rencontre des Ministres
des AE d’Armenie et d’Azerbaïdjan a Paris, le 24 janvier. Les
Ministres ont eu des reunions separees avec les mediateurs, avant de
s’entretenir sous leur egide. Un accord a ete obtenu pour une visite
des copresidents dans la region au debut du mois prochain. Selon le
communique du MAE armenien, le Ministre Nalbandian a attire l’attention
des copresidents sur l’escalade des tensions sur la ligne de contact,
les graves violations de la treve par l’Azerbaïdjan et les declarations
de Bakou faites au plus haut niveau sur des pretentions territoriales
vis-a-vis de l’Armenie. Selon lui, ces actions de Bakou sapaient les
perspectives de parvenir a une paix durable et constituaient un defi
aux appels des copresidents de s’abstenir de l’usage de la force.

Dans une declaration publiee au terme des negociations de Paris,
les copresidents ont exprime leur profonde preoccupation devant
la poursuite des violences dans la region, et ont souligne que les
recents incidents sapent les negociations et diminuent les perspectives
de paix. Ils ont appele les parties a respecter pleinement et sans
condition les termes de l’accord de cessez-le feu.

Par ailleurs, les quotidiens relèvent que le 23 janvier, une fille
de 16 ans a ete blessee dans le village d’Ayguepar dans la region
du Tavouch suite aux tirs azeris. / Hayots Achkhar, RFE/RL, Haykakan
Jamanak

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 27 janvier 2014

lundi 3 fevrier 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

ANCA KICKS OF TELETHON 2014

Monday, February 3rd, 2014

ANCA-WR interns unveil Telethon 2014 logo

Launches National Grassroots Fundraising Campaign

Telethon 2014

GLENDALE–Armenian-American leaders from across America gathered
in Southern California Friday to launch ANCA Telethon 2014 – a
community-wide fundraising campaign to empower Armenian Americans,
protect Armenia, and promote the Armenian Cause.

This grassroots campaign, featuring community events and broad-based
social media, will lead up to the June 1st 6-hour nationwide broadcast,
6 p.m. to midnight EDT (3 p.m. to 9 p.m. PDT), in support of the
ANCA Endowment Fund. The telethon will be available on a variety
of broadcast, cable and digital channels and showcased online at

ANCA Endowment President Ken Hachikian was joined by Telethon 2014
Chairman Steve Artinian, Eastern U.S. Board Member Joshua Tevekelian
and ANCA Western Region Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian, Esq. in presenting
the vision for ANCA Telethon 2014 at the kick-off reception, held at
the Krikor and Mariam Karamanoukian Glendale Youth Center. Speakers
discussed details about its broadcast reach and programming, and
insights into innovative new ideas to engage an unprecedented level
of community participation in this fundraising and community-building
drive.

“With Ankara ramping up its denials during the approach to 2015
and Baku escalating its attacks on Artsakh and Armenia, it’s more
vital than ever for Armenian Americans to stand in solidarity with
the people of our homeland. We are, as I’ve said before, the second
army of the Armenian nation, and, in many ways, our homeland’s first
line of defense against an antagonistic Turkey and an increasingly
aggressive Azerbaijan,” said ANCA Endowment President Ken Hachikian.

Telethon 2014 chairman Steve Artinian addresses the gathering

“We’re encouraged by the energetic turnout for today’s ANCA Telethon
2014 launch by so many Armenians, from across our community – united
in a common commitment to our homeland and heritage and devoted to the
strengthening of the ANCA as the voice of our community and cause,”
said Telethon Committee Chairman Steve Artinian. “In the coming days
and weeks, we look forward to engaging activists and supporters
throughout all fifty states as we expand the grassroots power of
our community in the nation’s capital and in hometowns across our
great country.”

The ANCA Endowment Fund supports a broad range of educational,
youth, and civic programs that give voice to the views and values
of the Armenian American community, strengthening our presence in
the American civic arena, and empowering pro-Armenian stakeholders
with the information and resources they need to take on the powerful
forces aligned against the Armenian nation.

The first three ANCA Endowment Fund telethons, held in 2006, 2009 and
2012, raised over $6.5 million for Armenian American educational,
youth, and civic programs. Each program touched a common emotional
chord, speaking directly to the devotion to the Armenian Cause that
rests in the hearts of Armenians from across the U.S., regardless of
organizational or political affiliations.

Countless organizations, volunteers, churches, community leaders,
local ANCAs, performing artists, Members of Congress, and state
legislators from across the nation participated in the telethons,
contributing to their enormous success. Both telethons featured
several documentaries that highlighted various ANCA programs and
numerous results the ANCA Endowment has achieved over the years,
largely through its volunteer and grassroots network.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA: KEY SUSPECT ARRESTED IN DIAMOND SCANDAL LINKED TO PM, ARCHBISHOP

EurasiaNet.org
Feb 3 2014

February 3, 2014 – 12:43pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze

So what do the Armenian government, the Armenian Apostolic Church
and Sierra Leone all have in common? The answer is businessman Ashot
Sukiasian, who was arrested in Tbilisi on February 1 in connection
with an alleged $10.7-million con-job.

Several years back, Sukiasian borrowed that sum from AmeriaBank,
an Armenian concern of uncertain ownership, to invest in importing
raw diamonds from Sierra Leone for refining in Armenia, the Hetq.am
investigative service reported last May. Diamond-refining is one of
the few booming businesses in Armenia, and a key source of exports.

Documents unearthed by Hetq.am revealed that Sukiasian borrowed the
money for his own diamond venture in the name of Wlispera Holdings,
a Cyprus-based company allegedly co-owned by Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sarkisian and former Archbishop Navasard Kjoian.

Prime Minister Sarkisian and Kjoian have denied being Sukiasian’s
business partners, but the ownership documents for Wlispera Holdings
have their signatures, Hetq reported.

Sukiasian allegedly deposited the money for this company in a separate
bank account he held, and, according to police, failed “to abide by
the loan agreement conditions and the business plan he presented,”
according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project,
which cooperated with Hetq.am on the investigation. In what is
described as a joint Armenian-Georgian operation, he was intercepted
in the Tbilisi airport on Saturday after reportedly flying there from
Istanbul, Armenian news outlets reported. (Sukiasian’s name could not
be found on Interpol’s online list of wanted Armenians, however.) His
extradition to Armenia is now in the works, Georgian media say.

Among those, no doubt, eager to hear what comes of any interrogation
is fellow businessman Paylak Hayrapetian, who reportedly provided
the collateral for Sukiasian’s loan, and who has seen AmeriaBank sell
off his assets to recoup the loan.

Hayrapetian, who claims he doesn’t know Sukiasian from Adam, asserted
in a February 3 interview with Aravot.am that he actually was in
business with Prime Minister Sarkisian.

The prime minister and Kjoian “and the owners of AmeriaBank are
involved in this business,” he told the site. Whether or not Sukiasian
agrees, “does not matter,” he continued, “because there is a document”
showing their stakes in Wlispera Holdings.

Prosecutors have yet to interview either Sarkisian or Kjoian,
reportedly.

For Armenians familiar with Prime Minister Sarkisian’s earlier calls
for a serious crackdown on corruption, the irony of these allegations
is hard to miss. For those who have watched the Church become, as IWPR
reported, “intertwined with the political and business groupings that
run Armenia,” the scandal provides additional cause for concern.

But how will it all turn out? Part of the potential answer to that
question may well be sitting in a cell in Tbilisi.

—– –EurasiaNet.org’s South Caucasus news editor, Elizabeth Owen,
added reporting to this post.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA PUBLISHES ACCESSION ROADMAP TO RUSSIA-LED UNION

(c) Fotolia/ Regisser.com
00:47 04/02/2014
Tags: Soviet Union, Customs Union, Serzh Sargsyan, Vladimir Putin,
Vagram Avanesyan, Armenia,Yerevan, Turkey, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan,
Russia

Related News

Armenia to Become Full-Fledged Customs Union Member in 2014 – President
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Armenia to Clarify Customs Deal With Russia Customs Union in Free
Trade Zone Talks With Non-EU Europe – Lavrov

Multimedia

Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

YEREVAN, February 3 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia on Monday published a
roadmap for accession to the Russia-led Customs Union, which Yerevan
has pledged to join as Moscow seeks to deepen economic ties across
the former Soviet Union.

The document contains 150 different conditions that must be fulfilled
before Armenia can join the economic alliance of Russia, Belarus
and Kazakhstan, Armenian Economy Minister Vagram Avanesyan told a
government meeting.

Moscow is currently pushing to expand its economic influence in
former Soviet republics. Russian pressure has appeared to backfire
in Ukraine, however, where large street protests erupted in November
as Kiev backed off from economic integration with Europe and instead
signed off on closer ties with Russia.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan announced in September that his
country would join the Customs Union after a meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

(c) oollage by RIA Novosti

Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

While the two countries are not contiguous, Russia is the largest
trading partner and biggest foreign investor in landlocked Armenia,
which shares a border with Iran and Turkey.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENTEL CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER ARCHIL MAGRADZE FOUND DEAD IN TSAGHKADZOR

by Nana Martirosyan

Monday, February 3, 16:52

ArmenTel Chief Commercial Officer Archil Magradze was found dead in
the resort town of Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, on February 3.

The press service of the Armenian Police has told ArmInfo that
the body of Magradze, 35, was found not far from the sport base of
Tsaghkadzor. Magradze’s car was found on the highway.

To note, on Feb 2 the Police was told that Magradze had disappeared.

He did not answer the phone and nobody knew where he was.

Anush Beghloyan, Spokesperson for ArmenTel CJSC, has told ArmInfo
that the matter apparently concerns a casualty.

To note, Archil Magradze was appointed Chief Commercial Officer at
Beeline Armenia (ArmenTel CJSC) on 11 July 2013. Magradze’s career in
telecommunications started in 1999 at MegaCom Ltd, the first mobile
provider of Georgia. In 2006 he joined Mobitel (Georgia) and took an
active part in the launch of the Beeline brand in Georgia. In 2007-2008
he headed the company’s Batumi branch and in 2008 he became the Chief
Commercial Office at Beeline Georgia.

In 2010 Magradze was appointed Director of Tashkent regional branch
at Beeline Uzbekistan, where he managed to secure two-digit growth in
sales and proceeds. In 2012 he was appointed Chief Commercial Officer
at Beeline Cambodia. Magradze was married and had 4 children.

From: Baghdasarian

PARLIAMENT EMPLOYEES JOIN ‘I AM AGAINST’ CIVIL INITIATIVE

16:04 03/02/2014 >> SOCIETY

About 60 employees of Armenia’s National Assembly organized a
signature campaign against the introduction of the compulsory
accumulative pension system on Saturday, thus joining ‘I am against’
civil initiative.

One of them told Panorama.am that they were taken aback to find that
their salaries for January were cut, while they hoped that the latest
decision of the Constitutional Court had changed the situation.

On January 24, the Constitutional Court of Armenia made a decision
to suspend the implementation of the Law on Compulsory Accumulative
Pension System until the issue of its compliance with the Constitution
has been considered by the Court. The Constitutional Court decided
to suspend the implementation of Article 76 and Article 86 part 3
of the Law on Accumulative Pensions until the legal proceedings on
compliance with the Constitution of Articles 5, 7, 8, 37, 38, 45,
49 and 86 of the Law on Accumulative Pensions are completed.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian