Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

EXPERT: THERE ARE CONTINUING DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND EU

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

Expert: There are continuing disagreements between Azerbaijan and
EUNovember 14, 2013 | 02:07 

YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan seems to be mainly interested in the bilateral
dimensions of the Eastern Partnership with a clear focus on an energy
corridor with Europe and access to the energy markets there, political
analyst Gunter Walzenbach told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

“After Russia has been pushing increasingly for its own economic
integration project Vilnius summit needs to present a robust response
by the EU. This most likely will lead to and include a further
differentiation of the EaP and respective association agreements”,
noted Walzenbach , who is a senior lecturer at the University of the
West of England, Bristol.

He emphasized that Azerbaijan has repeated its interest in the
“integration into Euro-Atlantic structures”, in particular since the
Economic community project of Russia is not very appealing to them.

“Their economy has been benefiting from energy exports and they feel
little temptation to compromise on their sovereignty as to the terms of
energy deals with the West. Apart from the focus on energy deals other
areas of the EaP seem underdeveloped at this stage”, he mentioned,
adding that an Association Agreement as implied by its name would
have to come up with more, for example, as regards visa regimes and
regional development.

The expert believes there are continuing disagreements between
Azerbaijan and the EU as to the latter’s ambition to promote democracy
in that country.

 “Both the EU High Representative on foreign policy Catherine
Ashton and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European
Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule have expressed their concern about
the presidential elections in Azerbaijan recognizing ‘significant
problems.’ At the same time they have expressed their willingness
to support Azerbaijan when implementing international commitments”,
Walzenbach emphasized.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

U.S. CO-CHAIR TO DISCUSS SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT WITHIN OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL MEETING

[ 13 November 2013 11:00 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
James Warlick will attend the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna,
APA reports.

Warlick posted on his Twitter page that he would talk about Nagorno
APA, Azerbaijan Nov 13 2013

Karabakh conflict with U.S. Representative to the OSCE Daniel Baer
and other delegations within the meeting of the Permanent Council.

The OSCE Permanent Council meetings are held weekly. Permanent Council
is one of the main structures of the organizations that is passing
decisions and carrying out consultations.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN PM CRITICIZES AZERBAIJAN FOR POLITICIZING THE STEPANAKERT AIRPORT ISSUE

ARMINFO
Wednesday, November 13, 19:16

Azerbaijan is politicizing the Stepanakert airport issue, Armenia’s
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said in the Armenian Parliament on
Wednesday.

He said that the project to open an airport in Stepanakert is a
priority for both Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities. So,
this problem will be shortly resolved.

Sargsyan hopes that the forthcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azeri
presidents will give an impulse to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs said earlier that the Armenian and
Azeri presidents might meet in Nov.

From: Baghdasarian

ABDULLAH GUL: “THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR TURKEY

ARMINFO
Wednesday, November 13, 00:35

“The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is the most important issue
for Turkey,” said President Abdullah Gul at the press conference
following the meeting with the Azerbaijani President.

APA quotes Gul as saying that they discussed bilateral relations and
regional issues with the President of Azerbaijan: “We reviewed very
important economic projects – electricity, gas, transport projects
within bilateral relations. We also discussed Azerbaijan’s national
issue – territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and liberation of the
occupied territories that is also our national issue. Surely, these
problems are most important issues for Turkey. I hope that sooner or
later this issue will be resolved. We also attach great importance
to their realization through diplomacy.”

From: Baghdasarian

FRANCE – FRANCE ‘STILL FEELING’ THE LEGACY OF WWI 100 YEARS ON

FRANCE 24 (English)
November 10, 2013 Sunday

by Tony Todd

As France prepares to mark 100 years since the beginning of the First
World War, historian Nicolas Offenstadt, one of the leaders of the
country’s official Commemoration Mission, explains why the conflict
is still significant.

France on Monday November 11 remembers the Armistice that marked the
end of the First World War in 1918 after four years of bloody conflict
that cost millions of lives.

France’s staggering casualty list included around 1.4 million killed in
a war that has left an indelible imprint on the national consciousness.

The country is now preparing for the centenary commemorations of the
First World War, to begin next year (France entered the war in August
1914), organised by the state-sponsored Centenary Mission which is
organising hundreds of events to remember and debate the devastating
legacy of the global conflict.

French historian Nicolas Offenstadt, a member of the Mission’s council,
tells FRANCE 24 why the First World War remains a crucial event in
the country’s history and that its legacy, still being felt, needs
to be tackled head on.

FRANCE 24: Why is it so important to commemorate a war that took
place so long ago?

Nicolas Offenstadt: There is a very real need for this in France. Yes,
it is an historical event, but we are still feeling the consequences
in almost every aspect of our lives. For ordinary people, memories of
the war remain strong, anchored as they are in narratives of millions
of French families.

It is also an important time to reflect on France’s experience as a
nation. The Great War was a colossal and traumatic event. Millions
were killed. It was a demographic, human and economic trauma on a
massive scale that had a profound and lasting effect on all those
countries that took part.

The questions it raises are as important today as they were then. What
is the relationship between the individual citizen and the state? Can
citizens still be called on to defend their country? What does it
mean to make a collective effort? What is the meaning of national
solidarity?

FRANCE 24: What is the paramount challenge for France in dealing with
this legacy?

Offenstadt: The Great War included a huge participation of troops
from France’s former colonies, a participation that is not nearly
as well understood as it should be. The debate will have – and must
have – a significant impact on the contentious issue of 21st century
immigration while helping France come to terms with the realities of
its colonial past.

Getting it right is vitally important. One aspect that is often
overlooked is that many of France’s colonial troops were not volunteers
– many of them were forced to fight, and there was a great deal
of resistance.

This needs to be recognised. We must be faithful to the past, and we
must never gloss over difficult issues with bland platitudes that
have no basis in reality. Talking about glorious natives of former
colonies who volunteered to fight and die for the French motherland
is both wrong and utterly counterproductive.

These elements need to be put into the public sphere so that they can
be properly debated, and this is one of the things the mission has
set out to do. It will allow us to put many of our modern problems
into a better perspective and help deal with them with greater honesty.

FRANCE 24: What is the involvement of former allies in next year’s
commemorations?

Offenstadt: The mission’s objectives are global, and hundreds
of forthcoming commemorative events are being organised with our
international partners. We have been working on these exchanges for
years, while American and British Commonwealth countries’ memorials
have been in place in France for decades.

The mission is in touch with ministers from all these countries,
including Britain, and also Canada, Australia and New Zealand for
whom, like France, the experience of the First World War remains a
central part of their national consciousness.

FRANCE 24: What about former enemies, like Germany, which is a close
partner of modern France?

Offenstadt: Germany is a big challenge. But this isn’t because of
any lasting animosity.

While the First World War did have a huge impact on German 20th century
history, it is overshadowed by later, and far more traumatic events –
the rise of Nazism, the devastation of the Second World War, national
division and eventual reunification.

Meanwhile, the mission has had a difficult time finding partners in
Germany for commemorative events, not least because it is a federal
republic that has no central culture ministry. Everything has had to
be done through the individual states (Lander).

And there is the obvious problem – that Germany lost the war. Of course
it is difficult for Germans, who are now France’s closest European
partner, to help commemorate a French military victory, a victory
that had dramatic and eventually catastrophic consequences for Germany.

And then there is the very difficult question of Turkey [Ottoman
Turkey was allied with the central powers]. This is compounded by
its refusal to accept the reality of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

France’s relationship with Turkey on this issue will be a big challenge
for the mission. Ankara was, and remains, furious with France for
passing a law in 2012 that outlawed the denial of this genocide.

From: Baghdasarian

AYF TAKES PART IN SJO CONGRESS

November 4, 2013

The AYF delegation during its presentation

Upon the invitation of the Socialist Youth Austria (Sozialistische
Jugend Osterreich, SJO), a delegation of theArmenian Youth Federation
(AYF) comprised of Garabed Chadoian (Austria) and Serj Ter Hakobyan
(Germany) took part in the SJO annual Congress which was convened in
Felden, from October 31 to November 3.

Almost 250 representatives from Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands,
the Czech Republic, Serbia and other states attended the Congress.

After the opening remarks of the Congress that were delivered by the
host organization representatives of the guest organizations took
the floor and presented themselves and their approaches.

The AYF delegates introduced the organization to the attendees and
spoke about the objectives and activities of AYF; they emphasized on
the necessity of the Armenian Genocide’s international recognition
from the human rights scope.

Referring to Artsakh people’s self-determination and their right to
live freely and independently on their own territory, the AYF members
explained the circumstances the Artsakh youth is living in and pointed
out that all the youth of Artsakh wants is to have a peaceful and
safe life, like the rest of the youth in Europe. However this is not
happening because Armenia and Artsakh have been blockaded and are
constantly under the threat of a renewal of the war.

The AYF members concluded saying “It is our generation’s obligation to
fight, so as a fairer society is established in the world, according
to the socialist ideas”.

Presentations and discussions were held about socialism, economy,
the internet, migration, education, extreme right-wing movements and
other issues.

Bilateral meetings between the AYF and representatives of other
delegations also took place. Some of the participants expressed
their willingness to visit Armenia and Artsakh. They suggested to the
Armenian side to be the organizer of an international youth conference
in Armenia.

ARF Youth Office

From: Baghdasarian

DONAIRE TOO POWERFUL FOR DARCHINYAN

BoxingNews24.com
Nov 10 2013

November 10th, 2013 |

By Alon Calinao Dy:

Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire came out victorious tonight against
Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan at the American Bank Center in Corpus
Christi, Texas.

Many observers said that Armenian fighter Vic was leading on the
score cards and Robert Garcia, Donaire’s trainer, encouraged his
prodigy to throw some combinations.

In the 9th round, the Filipino fighter listened to the advice from
his corner. And so, he hurt and caught Darchinyan with his deadly
left hooks, which sent every boxer he faced to go down. When the
brave Armenian gladiator went down and couldn’t recover anymore to
a fast flurry of punches from Donaire, referee Laurence Cole halted
the fight to save the defenseless boxer.

We have seen like this fight when Donaire, Jr. faced Rigondeaux on
April 13, 2013. The Filipino icon has always problems with a fighter
who has a little bit style of Manny Pacquiao, which is quick and
aggressive fighter. If Donaire, Jr. wants a rematch against the Cuban
boxing star, he should do much better than what he had shown tonight.

According to some Donaire’s fans, this win of Nonito Donaire, Jr. is
for the people of Samar and Leyte in the Philippines who were affected
by super typhoon Haiyan last Friday, especially for thousands of
people who have lost their lives.

Follow me in twitter @alon_dy/ htpp://

The Board of the ABAE urges members to “make their views known and
ensure their voice is heard” ahead of critical Extraordinary General
Meeting

The Board of the ABAE has urged its 18,500 members to “make their
views known and ensure their voice is heard” ahead of a critical
Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) which will be held on 24 November
2013.

The EGM will vote on whether to accept or reject new Articles of
Association and a new Board of Directors.

A decision to reject the new Articles and Board, which have been
approved by AIBA and Sport England, will lead to the re-opening of
disciplinary proceedings by AIBA against the ABAE. This is expected to
lead to the indefinite suspension of England from all international
competition as it will fail to comply with the rules and regulations
by which the sport is governed internationally.

Sport England, which has committed to invest over £5 million in
grassroots boxing over the next four years, has already confirmed
it will cease to fund the ABAE, with immediate effect, if the new
Articles and Board are rejected.

The statement by the Board of the ABAE said: “This is a critical
moment for the ABAE and it is very important that the 18,500 members
and 900 affiliated clubs that make-up the organisation fully understand
what is at stake and the ramifications of these forthcoming decisions
which have the potential to affect every member at every level.

“We believe that the votes that will be cast on the 24th November
should reflect the opinions of the membership and we urge all clubs,
coaches, boxers and volunteers to make their views known to the
Secretaries of their Regional Associations and ensure that their
voice is heard at this critically important time for the sport.”

The new Board also promised to be more “open and transparent” in its
communications with clubs and has set up a Freephone helpline 0800
023 2692 and an email enquiry address [email protected] for clubs
to contact the ABAE if they have any questions about the EGM and the
ramifications of the decision to accept or reject the new Articles
and Board.

The full statement to members by the Board of the ABAE said: “The
ABAE is moving towards a pivotal moment in its evolution following
the decision by the Board to call an Extraordinary General Meeting
(EGM) on 24 November 2013 when its members will decide on whether to
accept or reject new Articles of Association and a new Board.

“This is a critical moment for the ABAE and it is very important
that the 18,500 members and 900 affiliated clubs that make-up
the organisation fully understand what is at the stake and the
ramifications of these forthcoming decisions which have the potential
to affect every member at every level.

“As a Board, we recognise the importance and status of the whole
membership and will make every effort to communicate to all our
members in an open, transparent and consistent manner. We will also
endeavour to follow the principles of good governance and recognise
our responsibilities as the national governing body to ensure that
our members have all of the information that is relevant to them.

“To this end, we will use all available communication channels
available to ensure we provide information to all. This will
include direct communication with clubs, the ABAE website, social
media channels and boxing media and news websites. Our club support
officers that work in the field will also be hosting meetings and
visiting clubs in their regions to communicate with coaches, boxers
and volunteers face-to-face and communication materials will also be
sent to the Regional Association of the ABAE.

“Since the EGM was called, we have supplied a Briefing Note to hundreds
of clubs via email, made this available online and issued several
statements via the ABAE website which have been sent to boxing media
and websites and distributed by our social media channels (facebook
and twitter). Our club Support Officers have also hosted meetings with
clubs in a number of regions. This will continue as we work towards
to the 24th and we aim to make more open and transparent communication
a feature of our relationships with clubs and members in the future.

“This is not a one-way process and in addition to this, we have also
established a series of communications channels for clubs to contact
the ABAE including a Freephone helpline 0800 023 2692 and an email
enquiry address [email protected].

“Clubs are also encouraged to follow the ABAE on twitter @abaengland or
facebook,
where statements and circulars will be posted. Local Club Support
Officers can be contacted directly by clubs that would like a
face-to-face meeting.

“This is a critically important time for boxing in England and we
believe that the votes that will be cast on the 24th November should
reflect the opinions of the membership and we urge all clubs, coaches,
boxers and volunteers to make their views known to the Secretaries
of their Regional Associations and ensure that their voice is heard
at this critically important time for the sport.”

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN HERITAGE, CULTURE AND HISTORY BEING DISTORTED IN AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIAN FM TELLS UNESCO

20:08 11.11.2013

Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, UNESCO

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia participated in 37th session
of UNESCO General Conference which is dedicated to summarizing the
work of the Organization during the last two years and discussing
the main directions of the upcoming activities.

In his statement Minister Nalbandian particularly mentioned that
Armenia attaches great importance to the goal of UNESCO in encouraging
intercultural dialogue, understanding and tolerance. Minister
Nalbandian stated: “Since last May Armenia has assumed the Chairmanship
of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe making fight
against xenophobia, hate-speech and intolerance its key priorities.

In an era when the protection and promotion of human rights are
considered to be the underpinning concept for the civilized world,
intolerance towards the values of civilization belonging to others,
damaging or destroying cultural or religious heritage intentionally,
consistently, repeatedly, must be condemned with the same resolve
and determination as violence against people.”

As the Minister noted the destruction by Azerbaijanis in Nakhijevan of
thousands of delicately carved cross stones by the Armenian masters,
dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries, is a vivid manifestation of
such crime. “Several thousands of these giant medieval sculptures were
bulldozed under the Azerbaijani government’s watchful eyes and this
area was turned into a military ground in a government sanctioned
operation. The 16th International Council on Monuments and Sites
(ICOMOS) General Assembly resolution regretfully stated with regard to
this vandalism: “this heritage that once enjoyed its worthy place among
the treasures of the world’s heritage can no longer be transmitted
today to future generations.

Our numerous calls for sending international fact-finding missions
to Nakhijevan, as well as attempts by a number of international
organizations and countries have been either ignored or rejected
by the Azerbaijani side.”- Minister Nalbandian stressed. “The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UNESCO Convention
against Discrimination in Education state that “Education shall
promote understanding,

tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious
groups”. Taking into consideration UNESCO’s unique role in the sphere
of education, we call upon the Organization to create within its
educational programs some sort of an overview mechanism that will
examine and evaluate the textbooks of the member-states, especially
history and social sciences textbooks, with a special emphasis on
exclusion of racism or xenophobia.

The Armenian heritage, culture and history, after lasting continuously
for more than thirty centuries are nowadays being distorted and
altered in Azerbaijan. In this country the rewriting of its history is
continued by means of misappropriation or annihilation of the traces
of other cultures on their territory, or even more, by privatizing the
cultural heritage of the neighboring nations. A country that appeared
on the political map of the world less than a hundred years ago has
territorial and cultural claims towards a country and a people the
several millenniums’ history of which is recorded from the ancient
times,”- the Foreign Minister stated.

From: Baghdasarian

Saturday, November 09, 2013

Shots were recently fired at the Iranian-Azerbaijani border, as a result of
which Iran warned Azerbaijan that a fitting response will be given to such
steps. Iran then closed the Julfa checkpoint.

Expert on Iran Rudik Yaralian said that the checkpoint’s closing was not
advantageous to Iran. `The recent border incident was more advantageous to
Azerbaijan that tries to prevent contacts on the Iranian-Azerbaijani
border, particularly the contacts of Talyshs with Iran,’ Yaralian said.

In his words, Talyshs’ contacts with Iran cause panic of the Azerbaijani
leadership. R. Yaralian expressed an opinion that Azerbaijan continues to
take an anti-Iranian position in the South Caucasus and that anti-Iranian
forces may rely on Azerbaijan.

From: Baghdasarian

Nikoyan: Infected potato shipment was not from Armenia

Sunday, November 10, 2013

The potato shipment, samples of which were sent for laboratory testing
in Georgia, was not exported from Armenia, the head of Phyto-Sanitary
Inspection of Armenia’s State Food Safety Service (SFSS) Arthur
Nikoyan told reporters today.

Nikoyan said that he together with the SFSS head A. Bakhchagulian went
to Georgia to discuss and solve the problem on the spot. An agreement
was reached that in case of a new problem, samples will be tested
jointly with the Armenian side.

He assured those present that Georgian laboratories have modern
equipment and qualified experts so any mistake is ruled out: the point
is that samples of contaminated potatoes were taken not from a
shipment from Armenia.

Asked by Aysor.am if the Armenian side intends to file a complaint as
both Armenia and Georgia are members of WTO and Armenia has such a
right, Nikoyan replied that the Armenian side tries to deal with the
problem through negotiations.

Let us remind you that Agregator.pro and several other media outlets
reported earlier that Georgia was going to return over 470 thousand
kilograms of potatoes to Armenia. According to the Revenue Service of
Georgian Finance Ministry, during the primary inspection of a cargo at
the Sadakhlo checkpoint, signs of potato contamination with brown rot
and É Synchytrium endobioticum microorganisms were revealed. The SFSS
spokeswoman Armine Sukiasian said the information was not true and
Armenian potato samples didn’t undergo laboratory testing in Georgia.

08.11.2013, 18:41
Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian