Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

FOOTBALL
Après Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Gévorg Ghazaryan sera-t-il le 2ème
international arménien en Bundesliga ?

Après l’Arménien Henrikh Mkhitaryan, un autre international arménien
pourrait évoluer en championnat d’Allemagne. L’international arménien
Gévorg Ghazaryan milieu de terrain du « Chakhtior » Karakanda
(Kazakhstan) intéresse l’« Eintarcht » Brunswick qui évolue en
Bundesliga et qui est actuellement en dernière position au classement
à la mi-saison. Mark Arnold, le directeur sportif de l’« Eintarcht »
Brunswick a déclaré sur le site officiel du club « lors de nos
prochains entrainements, Ghazaryan se joindra à notre équipe. Lors de
ces stages d’entrainement nous verrons ses possibilités et ses
qualités collectives. C’est après cela que nous prendrons nos
décisions ». En décembre dernier, Gévorg Ghazaryan n’était pas parvenu
à un accord avec son club, le « Chakhtior » Karakanda. Il s’était
ainsi placé sur la liste des joueurs libres pour les transferts. Un
autre club kazakhe, le « Kaïrat » Alamaty avait affirmé son intérêt
pour Ghazaryan.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 4 janvier 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

MEDIAS
The Financial Times met en doute le potentiel du gaz de l’Azerbaïdjan
exporté vers l’Europe

Le périodique américain « The Financial Times » vient par un article
publié dans son dernier numéro, de mettre en doute le potentiel des
réserves en gaz de l’Azerbaïdjan. « The Financial Times » affirme
également que l’Europe a mal misé en se fondant sur le gaz azéri comme
source d’approvisionnement. La Communauté européenne a au cours de ces
dix dernières années planifié l’approvisionnement de l’Europe par le
gaz azéri en réalisant des investissements massifs. Tout cela selon «
The Financial Times » pour diminuer le poids de l’approvisionnement en
gaz russe. Selon le périodique américain, l’Europe aurait dépensé
quelque 45 milliards de dollars pour l’option d’approvisionnement en
gaz azéri. Par les gazoducs TAP et TANAP l’Europe recevra chaque année
10 milliards de mètres cubes de gaz azéri. Mais ce gaz ne couvrira
qu’à peine 2% des besoins en consommation de l’Europe. Et l’humour qui
s’empare de cette faible quantité, selon « The Financial Times » il y
a des personnes qui affirment avec humour que ce gaz azéri par son
faible volume ne suffit qu’à faire un kébab. Néanmoins le journal
écrit que « malgré ces prévisions, certaines personnes affirment que
les volumes du gaz azéri seront croissants au détriment du gaz russe.
Ainsi la Bulgarie achètera par an un milliard de mètres cubes de gaz
azéri. Plus tard, ce gaz sera dirigé vers l’Albanie, le Monténégro, la
Bosnie ou la Croatie ». Mais malgré cela, écrit « The Financial Times
», de nombreux prévisionnistes s’interrogent encore sur l’utilité du
gaz azéri pour l’Europe.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 4 janvier 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Karabakh to become trade topic for Armenian authorities – opposition MP

January 03, 2014 | 11:06

I do not want to `caw,’ but I am afraid that the Karabakh issue will
become a topic of trade for the Armenian authorities.

Opposition Armenian National Movement Chairman, Armenian National
Congress bloc National Assembly Faction Secretary Aram Manukyan told
the aforesaid toArmenian News-NEWS.am.

`That is, to maintain power, [President] Serzh Sargsyan placed a `bet’
with Karabakh, too. He has nothing to give in Armenia [any more]. He
no longer has the right to settle issues,’ Manukyan said.

In his words, `Now, Serzh Sargsyan is in the status of a subordinate.’
Therefore, as per the opposition MP, he will do what they dictate him
in the settlement of the Karabakh issue.

`He is unable to oppose because he has lied a lot, and his foreign
policy has resulted in defeat so often that no one takes him seriously
[any more],’ Aram Manukyan argued.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIE
L’Arménie peut étendre sa présence sur le marché du tourisme mondial
en diversifiant ses produits touristiques

L’Arménie pourrait étendre sa présence sur le marché mondial du
tourisme, si elle diversifie ses produits touristiques a déclaré le
vice-ministre de l’Economie Ara Petrosyan.

Il a dit que l’Arménie fait partie des destinations touristiques les
plus populaires au monde grce au succès que l’Arménie a atteint dans
le développement de nouveaux produits touristiques au cours des
dernières années. La poursuite du mouvement dans cette direction,
a-t-il dit, nous permettra d’occuper de nouveaux créneaux sur le
marché mondial du tourisme.

Ara Petrossian a déclaré que l’Arménie a accompli beaucoup dans
l’amélioration de son attractivité grce au développement de
différents types prometteurs du tourisme, tels que le tourisme du
sport d’hiver, le tourisme médical, le tourisme d’événements et le
flux de touristes en Arménie s’intensifie grce aux expositions,
festivals et autres événements .

« Maintenant Erevan jouit d’une réputation d’être une ville où l’on
peut prendre du repos et faire des loisirs ce qui assure le
développement du tourisme urbain » a dit le vice-ministre.

vendredi 3 janvier 2014,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Story of Armenian-Indian family

January 01, 2014 | 21:21

YEREVAN. – Armenia is a second home for ethnic Indian Jeysankar `Jey’
De, for whom likewise Mount Ararat is of very great importance.

`I love Ararat very much; I yearn to see Ararat every day,’ he says.

The love story of Armenian botanist and ecologist Lilit Vardanyan and
microbiologist Jeysankar De started in 2002. They first met in Goa,
India, where they worked together. But they became more intimate
during Lilit’s last week of stay in India. Lilit returned to Armenia,
but she kept in touch with Jey over the phone and via Internet.

Their second meeting was in February 2004. And in December of the same
year, Jey came to Armenia, met with Lilit’s parents, and asked for her
hand in marriage. Lilit’s parents, however, needed some time to accept
the idea of having an Indian son-in-law. Jey’s parents were not
against having an Armenian daughter-in-law.

Jeysankar and Lilit have a 7-year-old daughter, Sophie. She does not
speak Hindi, but she is very fond of Indian dances.

Sophie’s parents have decided not to force her in the matter of
choosing her religion. They will let her make that choice once she
becomes an adult.

Lilit prepares the New Year’s table according to Armenian traditions,
but she always cooks Indian food, too.

Jey notes that the New Year is celebrated much better in Armenia than in India.

From: Baghdasarian

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 1 2014

Middle East was hot potato for Turkish foreign policy in 2013

ANKARA
Sevil ErkuÅ?

2013 has been a tough period for Turkish foreign policy amid mounting
instability in the Middle East, which added new tensions with
countries such as Egypt, following Syria and Iraq.

As the Egyptian military ousted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed
Morsi, Turkey became one of the fiercest critics of the coup.

Turkey declared Egypt’s ambassador in Ankara a `persona non grata’ in
a reciprocal step after Cairo expelled its envoy over remarks made by
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, which Cairo deemed as
`provocative.’

Without any doubt, Syria, a potential fireball, was among the top
issues of 2013, with declining hopes that the al-Assad regime will
collapse in the near future, putting the extremist groups fighting in
Syria at the core of concern for the international community.

The allegations that those groups use Turkish territory for safe
houses and crossing into Syria became a common question in Turkish
foreign policy, which Turkish leaders often had to reaffirm they do
not support radical groups.

Strained ties between Turkey and Syria continued with reciprocal
military maneuvers. A Turkish F-16 jet shot down a Syrian MI-17 attack
helicopter in September, saying it made a 2 km incursion into its
airspace, ignoring warnings. Turkish war jets scramble to intercept
Syrian military planes approaching Turkish airspace almost every
second day.

The number of Syrian refugees sheltered in Turkish territory, exceeded
500,000; as nearly 300,000 of them are living in camps, yet the rest
have to survive on their own.

Two Turkish pilots Murat Akpınar and Murat AÄ?ca were kidnapped by
gunmen on Aug. 9 near the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport. A
group called Zuwwar Imam Ali al-Reda claimed responsibility for the
abduction, demanding Turkey put pressure on the Syrian opposition to
release nine Lebanese Shiite pilgrims who were kidnapped by rebels in
the conflict-hit country in May of last year.

The pilots were released after negotiations for a package including
the release of hundreds of political prisoners in Syria.

Following two years of deteriorating relations between Turkey and the
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government, Ankara and Baghdad
stepped up for rapprochement, while foreign ministers from the two
countries paid reciprocal visits.

Al-Maliki was expected to pay a visit to Turkey in December or
January; however, an energy deal between Ankara and Iraqi Kurds irked
Baghdad. The Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG) Nechirvan Barzani paid a visit to Ankara in December, and
parties agreed on some `commercial agreements’ on export of oil from
northern Iraq to Turkey. Test flows in Iraqi Kurdistan’s crude oil
pipeline to Turkey have started recently, while discussions are going
on between Iraqi Kurds, Turkey and the al-Maliki government on the
conditions of energy cooperation.

Israel apology on Mavi Marmara

Israel issued a formal apology to Turkey and agreed to pay
compensation over the Mavi Marmara killings from 2010 on March 22
after a phone conversation between the two countries’ premiers,
Benjamin Netanyahu and ErdoÄ?an, which was brokered by U.S. President
Barack Obama.

Following the apology, the two countries’ delegations held three
rounds of talks on compensation for the Mavi Marmara victims, yet the
negotiations have not finalized.

After two years of standstill in the accession negotiations with the
EU due to a blockage of negotiation chapters, France, with the new
government under President François Hollande, lifted its blockage on
Chapter 22.

On this basis, the EU General Affairs Council, during its meeting on
June 25, 2013, decided to open this chapter. Negotiations on Chapter
22 -Regional Policies- launched in November during the Lithuanian
Presidency.

The 4th Judiciary Reform Package was adopted by the Turkish Grand
National Assembly on April 12, 2013. In addition, on the basis of the
laws adopted in June 2012, Ombudsman started to receive petitions in
March 2013.

Turkey and the EU launched visa liberalization talks in exchange of
the readmission agreement in December.

In a recent visit to Yerevan for a meeting regarding the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation, Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu stepped up to
proceed normalizations between Turkey and Armenia. The `deportation’
of Armenians in 1915 was inhumane, and Turkey has never supported the
move, DavutoÄ?lu said in a press conference in Yerevan.

January/01/2014

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in Europe in 2014

January 01, 2014 | 13:03

YEREVAN. – In 2014, the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) will
head for a huge concert tour devoted the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide.

Visits to Spain and the Scandinavian countries are expected during the
tour, APO Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Eduard Topchjan told
Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, concerts will be held in Italy in August, subsequently,
in Austria and in Germany, then again in Italy, and in Slovakia.

Topchjan noted, however, that the last two years were not good for the
orchestra in terms of concert tours. According to APA artistic
director, a concert visit was planned to Japan, but this was not
brought to fruition because of the devastating earthquake that hit
this country.

`A very large tour was planned throughout Spain in November 2013,
which was put off due to the huge [economic] crisis in their country.

`But I am glad that all of these [concert] programs were not canceled,
but rather solely rescheduled,’ Eduard Topchjan stressed.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIENS-IRAN
Le président iranien Rahani offre 350 000 dollars à l’hôpital arménien
de Téhéran

Le journal arménien « Asbarez » (publié aux Etats Unis) annonce que le
président iranien Hassan Rohani a offert 10 milliards de rials
(environ 350 000 dollars) à l’hôpital arménien de Téhéran. L’un des
conseilleurs du président iranien, Hossein Fereydoun a visité
l’hôpital arménien et affirmé que la coexistence harmonieuse des
musulmans et non-musulmans en Iran était exemplaire pour l’ensemble
des pays de la région.

Le président iranien avait de son côté rendu visite à des familles
arméniennes comptant des soldats tués sur le front de la guerre
Iran-Irak. Dans l’une de ces familles arméniennes, Hassan Rohani avait
alors affirmé que les musulmans croient en Jésus Christ comme le
prophète de la gentillesse et de l’humanisme. Enfin, l’archevêque
arménien d’Ispahan, Papkén Zarian a de son côté affirmé que le droit
des minorités chrétiennes était représenté de manière merveilleuse et
que les religions en Iran étaient un exemple parfait de la
cohabitation religieuse.

Krikor Amirzayan

mercredi 1er janvier 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Armenia to Become Full-Fledged Customs Union Member in 2014 – President

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan

© PanARMENIAN Photo
14:29 01/01/2014

Related News

EU Expects Armenia to Clarify Customs Deal With Russia
Armenia Ready to Join Russia-Led Customs Union – President
Tajikistan Signals Readiness to Join Post-Soviet Customs Bloc
Customs Union in Free Trade Zone Talks With Non-EU Europe – Lavrov

Multimedia

Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

YEREVAN, January 1 (RIA Novosti) – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
said on Wednesday that his country would complete all procedures to
join the Russian-led Customs Union this year.

“I’m sure that this year we will become a full-fledged member of the
Customs Union. Armenia will create a new environment, in which it will
be better protected and more competitive, Sargsyan said in his
televised New Year speech.

Armenia decided in September to join the Moscow-led Customs Union of
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. A roadmap on Yerevan’s admission was
signed on December 24.

In early December, Russia and Armenia signed an intergovernmental
agreement to cancel export duties for supplies of natural gas, oil
products and rough diamonds to the South Caucasus nation.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenia had poor human rights records in 2013 – opinions

13:00 – 02.01.14

The Armenian Helsinki Committee’s president says the country saw a
considerable regress in the human rights protection efforts in 2013.

Speaking to Tert.am, Avetik Ishkhanyan described the human rights
situation in Armenia as something very gloomy.

`If I speak in more detail, it is not possible to improve the
situation in Armenia by every year without serious political reforms
in terms of the protection of human rights,’ he said.

If we are failing to implement serious political reforms aimed at
making the judiciary and the local self-government bodies independent,
it is more than naivety to expect the situation to change for the
better in the coming year, the activist continued.

He said the two political elections in 2013 (the presidential polls
and the Yerevan municipality elections) failed to contribute to any
positive changes in the electoral system. `The authorities managed to
replicate themselves through the use of different methods –
administrative, financial etc,’ he explained,

As for the fundamental rights, Ishkanyan said the police conduct at
different protest demonstrations and rallies (threatening and beating
activists and taking them to the police station) was not absolutely in
line with the amended legislation which was expected to be more
progressive.

According to him, the police violence against the civic activists who
protested against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Armenia
on December 2 demonstrated that the Republic of Armenia Law on
Assemblies was just a piece of paper for the ruling authorities.
`Because more than 100 young people were taken to the police during
the peaceful rally without any justification,’ Ishkanyan noted.

The activist said he didn’t observe any achievements at all, adding
that he doesn’t expect serious reforms in 2014 either.

Chairman of the Helsinki Assembly’s Vanadzor Office Artur Sakunts also
admitted that Armenia’s human rights situation saw no positive changes
last year, with the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of
assembly continuing to remain disrespected.

According to him, the systemic problems that had remain unresolved for
years found no solution last year either despite the efforts taken on
the state level. `Even the human rights strategy which had received
President Serzh Sargsyan’s approval, and the plan of actions aimed at
its implementation – for all the existing restrictions and
shortcomings – was to have been adopted in spring, but it hasn’t been
adopted so far,’ he added.

The activist said further that Armenia’s decision to join the
Russian-led Customs Union was a serious challenge to the human rights
efforts. `The September 3 decision was the most serious challenge. The
opportunities we could have had in case [of signing] the Association
Agreement, particularly in the human rights sector, came to a halt;
in just an hour’s time, they switched over to a system which fully
poses a challenge from the point of view of human rights,’ he added.

Sakunts also agreed that 2013 was a period of regress for Armenia’s
human rights protection efforts.

He said the only opportunity to change the situation is to suspend the
Customs Union membership process.

As for 2014, Sakunts said he expects it to be a year of resistance,

`The membership in the Council of Europe remains the only institute.
Our objective is to resist processes showing signs of regress, which
is of course impossible given the votes in the National Assembly,’ he
said, stressing once again the importance of demonstrating resistance
to all the problems that faced the country last year.

From: Baghdasarian