Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

OBAMA EXHORTE A UN NOUVEL ELAN POUR LA PAIX AU KARABAGH

AZERBAIDJAN

Le president americain Barack Obama a appele a redoubler les efforts
afin de resoudre le conflit du Haut-Karabagh dans une lettre qui a
ete livre lundi a son homologue azerbaïdjanais Ilham Aliyev.

James Warlick, recemment nomme co-president americain du Groupe de
Minsk de l’OSCE, a remis la lettre a Aliyev lors d’une visite a Bakou.

” Il est maintenant temps de faire de nouveaux efforts pour etablir
la paix dans la region dans le cadre du compromis intervenu au cours
des negociations ” a declare Obama cite par le bureau de presse de la
presidence azerbaïdjanaise. Il a affirme qu’il encourageait Aliyev
a utiliser ” les possibilites du dialogue direct avec l’Armenie ”
dans les prochains mois afin de mettre fin a ” l’impasse actuelle’
dans les pourparlers de paix armeno-azerbaïdjanais.

Obama fait apparemment reference a une nouvelle rencontre entre Aliyev
et le President Serge Sarkissian que les mediateurs des Etats-Unis, de
Russie et francais ont essaye d’arranger ces derniers mois. Certains
observateurs s’attendent a un tel sommet qui aura lieu prochainement
après la prochaine election presidentielle en Azerbaïdjan.

jeudi 12 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY: ARMENIANS CELEBRATE BAPTISMS IN SYMBOLIC CHURCH

News from Elsewhere… …as found by BBC Monitoring Armenian pilgrims
travel great distances for the annual service

The first christenings in nearly a century have taken place in a
symbolically important Armenian church in Turkey, it’s been reported

A crowd of more than 1,000 pilgrims gathered at the Church of the
Holy Cross on Aghtamar Island in eastern Turkey’s Lake Van to see
two adults and three children being baptised, the Armenian Weekly
news website reported.

Among those taking part in the first baptisms in the church since 1915
was a woman whose family had been forcibly converted to Islam following
the mass expulsions and killings of Armenians during World War I by
the Ottoman authorities (see the BBC’s Armenia profile timeline).

Highlighting long-standing divisions between the communities, a small
crowd of Turkish protesters were kept away by a substantial police
presence. One pilgrim who had travelled from Australia was in no doubt
where this particular part of Turkish territory lay: “This was a dream
for us. We have all been to Armenia, but not this part of Armenia.”

While there are other Armenian religious buildings in Turkey, the
1,100-year-old church at Aghtamar is of particular historical and
cultural significance. The Turkish government restored the building
as a museum after years of vandalism and disuse, and in 2010 allowed
an annual service to be held which attracts Armenian pilgrims from
around the world.

Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

From: Baghdasarian

4 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 3 ARMENIAN CITIZENS, DROWN IN GEORGIA THIS YEAR

Four people, including three Armenian citizens, have drowned in
Georgia this summer. In the last three days alone, there have been
two drowning cases, in which two young men died.

According to the press service of Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency
Situations, the leading causes of drowning are unsupervised swimming,
lack of swimming skills, swimming while intoxicated or after dark,
and disregard for safety regulations and storm warnings.

From: Baghdasarian

S. SAFARIAN: CUSTOMS UNION MEMBERSHIP RESEMBLES FORCED MARRIAGE

Armenia is prepared to deepen relations with the European Union
to the extent that the Customs Union or, to be more exact, Russia
will permit, and Russia will not permit this. Secretary of Heritage
Party’s board Stepan Safarian expressed that opinion at a meeting
with reporters today.

“The Armenian authorities have brought the country to the line where
not only the degree of Armenia’s sovereignty, but also the basic
rights to implement its own policy and choose its strategic partners
is under threat. All political figures and citizens concerned about
Armenia’s future must prevent this,” Safarian stated.

In his words, entry into the Customs Union resembles a forced marriage.

“Entry into the Customs Union disturbs the balance in our foreign
policy. We start to face completely new realities. One should
not contrast association with the EU with entry into the Customs
Union. By signing an Association Agreement with the EU, Armenia
doesn’t disturb the balance – as opposed to joining the Customs
Union, ” Safarian noted.

From: Baghdasarian

CUSTOMS UNION DEBATE: Q & A LEAVES MORE QS FOR OPPOSITION MPS

SOCIETY | 11.09.13 | 14:43

Photolure

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Armenian law-makers are unhappy with the closed-door meeting with
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, during which he introduced the
reasons behind the decision to join the Customs Union with Russia. MPs
say they are not satisfied with the minister’s explanations.

Armenian National Congress faction secretary Nikol Pashinyan says the
minister did not give any definite answer to any of the questions,
nothing informative. Prosperous Armenia Party faction secretary Naira
Zohrabyan says nothing was said about what Armenia was going to gain
by trading one economic regime for another. Former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanyan stated it was just a “pro-forma meeting”, failing
to offer any clarity of the motives of joining the Customs Union (CU).

Armenian Revolutionary Federation MP Armen Rustamyan, as opposed to
the others, gave details of the Q&A with the minister.

“My first question was where Karabakh is going to be in this process.

If Karabakh is going to be part of the CU and further that of the
Eurasian Union, I am all for it, and no Armenian can say: ‘Why did we
give up Europe and have come here?’ Keeping Karabakh is a crucial issue
for us, it is also the matter of our national security. If Karabakh
is involved in this process, if it is accepted, then I support this
decision. I know that there was going to be a definite condition set
in case of signing the Association Agreement with the EU, which is to
draw a border between Armenia and Karabakh, meaning there should be a
customs post. The answer voiced by Nalbandyan claiming that Karabakh
would not suffer from this, I hope, implies that such a customs post
won’t be required if part of the CU. Then, that makes a difference,”
he says.

He also pointed out that both Armenia and Russia are members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), but different countries have entered
WTO on different terms. Rustamyan says Armenia “made rather serious
commitments” when joining WTO and it is important to understand
whether it might be facing trouble with that organization.

“The third issue is that we are currently going for initialing the
Association Agreement. Clearly, association, at its fullest, means
harmonizing all spheres – from economic to political. Naturally, that
complete association won’t be happening now, all things considered,
and we are talking about some partial association. Won’t that new
partial association need reconsideration if in the future we become
members of the Eurasian Union as a political unit? I did not receive
a satisfactory answer to that question,” he says.

In reference to the discontent with his reasoning Nalbandyan says if
somebody just wants to raise a question, but not listen to the answer,
then there is no answer:

“I have responded to all the questions raised. If someone did not
understand or thinks the answers were unsatisfactory or they disagree,
that’s their personal opinion.”

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From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: Customs Union Debate: Q & A leaves more Qs for opposition MPs

Customs Union Debate: Q & A leaves more Qs for opposition MPs

SOCIETY | 11.09.13 | 14:43

Photolure

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Armenian law-makers are unhappy with the closed-door meeting with
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, during which he introduced the
reasons behind the decision to join the Customs Union with Russia. MPs
say they are not satisfied with the minister?s explanations.

Armenian National Congress faction secretary Nikol Pashinyan says the
minister did not give any definite answer to any of the questions,
nothing informative. Prosperous Armenia Party faction secretary Naira
Zohrabyan says nothing was said about what Armenia was going to gain
by trading one economic regime for another. Former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanyan stated it was just a ?pro-forma meeting?, failing
to offer any clarity of the motives of joining the Customs Union (CU).

Armenian Revolutionary Federation MP Armen Rustamyan, as opposed to
the others, gave details of the Q&A with the minister.

?My first question was where Karabakh is going to be in this process.
If Karabakh is going to be part of the CU and further that of the
Eurasian Union, I am all for it, and no Armenian can say: ?Why did we
give up Europe and have come here?? Keeping Karabakh is a crucial
issue for us, it is also the matter of our national security. If
Karabakh is involved in this process, if it is accepted, then I
support this decision. I know that there was going to be a definite
condition set in case of signing the Association Agreement with the
EU, which is to draw a border between Armenia and Karabakh, meaning
there should be a customs post. The answer voiced by Nalbandyan
claiming that Karabakh would not suffer from this, I hope, implies
that such a customs post won?t be required if part of the CU. Then,
that makes a difference,? he says.

He also pointed out that both Armenia and Russia are members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), but different countries have entered
WTO on different terms. Rustamyan says Armenia ?made rather serious
commitments? when joining WTO and it is important to understand
whether it might be facing trouble with that organization.

?The third issue is that we are currently going for initialing the
Association Agreement. Clearly, association, at its fullest, means
harmonizing all spheres ? from economic to political. Naturally, that
complete association won?t be happening now, all things considered,
and we are talking about some partial association. Won?t that new
partial association need reconsideration if in the future we become
members of the Eurasian Union as a political unit? I did not receive a
satisfactory answer to that question,? he says.

In reference to the discontent with his reasoning Nalbandyan says if
somebody just wants to raise a question, but not listen to the answer,
then there is no answer:

?I have responded to all the questions raised. If someone did not
understand or thinks the answers were unsatisfactory or they disagree,
that?s their personal opinion.?

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA TO ATTEND JATA INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SHOWCASE IN TOKYO

14:44 11.09.2013

On September 12-15, 2013 the National Competitiveness Foundation of
Armenia, along with local travel agencies, will represent Armenia in
JATA TABIHAKU International Travel Showcase in Tokyo.

The exhibition, organized by Japanese Association of Tourist Agents,
is one of the largest tourist exhibitions in Asia where world’s
tourist organizations and companies from more than 150 countries
gather to provide the latest tourism information directly to visitors.

Armenia’s rich cultural, historical and Christian heritage will be
presented in newly developed and fully redesigned travel guides and
maps in Japanese during the exhibition.

In the framework of the exhibition, the NCFA delegation will also
participate at the JATA Tourism Forum, which will examine prospects
for tourism promotion in the East Asian market.

NCFA’s participation in this major exhibition aims to promote the
tourism of Armenia in the Asian market, identify new potential markets
for the realization of tourism products and contribute to the growth
of tourist inflows.

From: Baghdasarian

KARBAKAH REPUBLIC SUGGESTS AZERBAIJAN TO OPEN 2 ADDITIONAL “BLACK LISTS”

17:31, 11 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. The cooperation of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic with prominent international brands and companies
may serve a good reason for Azerbaijan to increase the number of its
“black lists”. In a conversation with “Armenpress” the Press Secretary
of the President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Davit Babayan
stated that the second Armenian republic makes relevant steps for the
cooperation with a number of brands and will not cease its efforts
in this direction. Among other things Davit Babayan underscored:
“We don’t want to publish the list of all those companies, as it may
break Azerbaijan’s heart. In my opinion Azerbaijan must open a new
“black list” for legal entities as well, including all those companies
and firms.” In addition Babayan suggested Azerbaijan to open another
“black list” for countries.

The funny list of “persona non grata” issued by Azerbaijan
contains 14 deputies of Russian Parliament, 5 reporters of German
ZDF TV channel, president of Berlin academy, deputies of Iranian,
Slovakian, Argentinean parliaments, famous Russian economist Victor
Sheinis, Baroness Cox, President of military academy of Denmark,
Russian political scientist Sergey Marcedonov, 14 deputies of French
parliament, Italian singer Al Bano, 8 deputies of European Parliament,
reporter of Washington Post in Moscow Will Englund, reporter of
New York Times Anastasia Taylor Wint, Phillip Kirkorov’s father –
Bedros Kirkorov, famous opera singer Montserrat Caballe, a deputy of
Canadian Parliament.

The list also includes 6 American doctors, 7 British deputies, a
Greek deputy, 3 deputies of Swiss Parliament, editor in chief of EU
foreign policy magazine, former EU special representative in South
Caucasus Peter Samnabi, 5 deputies of Uruguayan parliament, famous
Swiss cosmonaut Claudi Nikolia, 6 Australian deputies, a deputy of
German Bundestag and other famous people.

From: Baghdasarian

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN HAD A WORKING LUNCH WITH THE AMBASSADORS OF THE EU MEMBER STATES

17:55 11/09/2013 ” POLITICS

Today, at the Presidential Palace President Serzh Sargsyan had a
working lunch with the Ambassadors of the EU member states accredited
to Armenia: reports the president.am.

During the meeting held in a traditional format, the President
of Armenia spoke with the Ambassadors about the agenda items of
Armenia-EU cooperation, the ongoing process of reformation in Armenia,
and our country’s policy directions. The participants exchanged views
regarding the mentioned areas in a candid and open atmosphere.

President Serzh Sargsyan also responded to the questions raised by
the Ambassadors.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian

THIS IS NOT THE VICTORY, BUT THE BANKRUPTCY OF ARMENIA

September 11 2013

According to the expert of international studies Armen Kharazyan, the
thesis about the Russian pressures is deniable that Armenia allegedly
could not resist without endangering the country. – On September 3,
as a result of Sargsyan-Putin negotiations in Moscow it became clear
that Armenia is going to join the Customs Union. In your opinion, what
was the result driven by RA authorities to make this decision? What
inner political, regional processes could affect the decision-making
process? And the next, as a result of this decision, do you feel
rearrangements in the inner political system of Armenia possible? –
The answer to the first question is the failure of the statehood
culture in Armenia. The apologists of the Customs Union justify that
we solve not the issue of the statehood but the survival, to which the
independence may subordinate. They recall the last 700 years, saying
that it is possible to develop in stateless or quasi-state conditions,
and in the geopolitical position, like ours, being protectorate is more
preferable than the sovereign, because it is just physically safe,
while the independence is a heavy, over and above the shoulders of
Armenians. Today, this concern, unfortunately, is dominant not only in
the government of Armenia, but also in circles close to the government,
the opposition and the society, at large. It has acquired a systemic
quality, leading to over-dependence on Russia. This is evident in all
areas, military, economic, political, humanitarian, and household. The
phenomenon is a legacy of the Soviet and even earlier period. During
the independence, it was to be overcome. Unfortunately, with the
exception of the early 90s, Armenia not only did nothing to throw
off this legacy, but gradually restored and renovated it. Today,
almost all levers of influence on Armenia’s life belong to Russia,
and the pathological conviction of being dependent from external
leadership, inadequacy and own meanness is clearly displayed in
the public psychology. There is not other society in the world that
has been so indifferent and will-less towards its independence and
sovereignty as it is Armenia, today. Sargsyan’s decision on joining
the Customs Union is a logical refuge of this process. It did not
ripen in one day, but it is the result of more than a half a decade
of state-public crisis and the bankruptcy of values. The problems
absolutely are not in internal, external, or regional challenges, but
the lack of our will and ability to respond to them. Unfortunately,
this mission failed with regard to both directions. The second part
of the question whether inner political rearrangements are possible,
I think it does not matter. If Armenia should come out of this abyss,
we need new forces and new ideas, and not restoration of the old ones.

The old ones have already told their word, and the result of it is
this. Whether there will be a new force, whether a new goal will be
formulated, whether people will support it, the change will take place,
if not, the third Republic of Armenia can be considered exhausted. –
The members of Armenia’s ruling party say that the most of Europeans
approached Armenia’s decision with understanding because “it is first
of all conditioned by the issues of security, and this is more than
understandable in political circles.” Is the independence of Armenia,
sovereignty and security provided by joining the Customs Union, and
through Moscow? How do you generally feel about recent attempts of
justifying similar formulations regarding the RA “security” with this
decision? – Customs Union is a trade-economic integration mechanism,
which is to restore control of Russia over the former Soviet states
and to suspend the integration of these states to Europe. I am not
aware of a serious study on the economic impact of the membership,
and its comparative analysis with the EU perspective, and I’m not
sure that the leadership of Armenia has similar document at hand. The
problem was presented to the RA leadership, and was perceived as a
political, and a political decision was made.

Meanwhile, just in the sense of political, this Customs Union
is not supporting, but preventing the development of Armenia,
not strengthening, but disorganizing the country’s sovereignty,
accordingly, the arguments about security are absurd. Security and
independence are issues of different plane. The security is the
component of independence. In joining the Customs Union, Armenia
further deepens its dependence on Russia. How can it contribute to our
security? Maybe the RA leaders have the illusion that Russia will take
on greater responsibility for the security of Armenia. But don’t we
already have CSTO, Russian military base in Gyumri, and the Russian
troops guarding the border of Armenia. What does this Customs Union
add to the security of Armenia, which was not provided by the existing
military-political cooperation? The sober answer is obvious: nothing.

In fact, the only serious concern regarding the security is that, if
Armenia did not agree to go to the Customs Union, then Russia would
have exerted leverages to indicate that the security of Armenia is
in danger. This is quite possible. But isn’t this the most evident
evidence of the reality that in the Armenian-Russian relations Armenia
has passed all possible margins, and each such concession does not
threaten the security of Armenia, but its statehood in general. –
Recently, during the EPP Political Assembly, a resolution was adopted,
in which the pressure exerted by the RF against Armenia was condemned.

Mr. Kharazyan, can we say that Moscow with recent actions in
Armenia-Russian, Russian-Azerbaijani relations (to some extent
also with messages around Russian-Georgian relations) succeeded
in strengthening its position in the region, which, in fact, the
Europeans record it clearly indicating about the pressure. – Again,
this is not the victory of Russia, but the bankruptcy of Armenia. The
thesis about the Russian pressures is deniable that Armenia allegedly
could not resist without endangering the country, thus it obeyed them.

This is the theory that if you please the peron facing you and fulfill
its any demand, then it will get enough and will not present a new
demand. This is a delusion, the demands will not only stop, but they
will grow and become tougher, resulting in eventually deficiency of own
resources and weak-willed. This is the most serious challenges facing
Armenia today, and joining the Customs Union does not restrain, but,
unfortunately, accelerates its oncoming. The President of Armenia
stated in Moscow that he has made a decision to join the Customs
Union taking both the international community and his own society by
surprise. I think that the Armenian society has a right to request to
reveal the grounds of such decision, whether necessary constitutional,
legal and procedural requirements were maintained when making such
strategic decisions: researches, public and inter-agency discussions,
motions, opinions, parliamentary hearings. If not, then it is necessary
to examine the constitutionality of the decision, and also whether
the President has not exceeded his official powers by declaring a
decision, in which he has autocratic right to it. This is, I think,
one of the main ways, with which the Armenian community can pursue
at least partially neutralizing the effects of what happened, both
up to Vilnius and beyond, forcing that the discussion of the issue
is not considered closed, but transferred to the Parliament and the
Constitutional court. The problem so far is reversible, and, I hope
that Armenia has not yet said its last word here. Emma GABRIELYAN

Read more at:

From: Baghdasarian

L’ARMENIE CONFRONTEE A DES MENACES DE DESERTIFICATION SELON LES ECOLOGISTES

ARMENIE

L’Armenie pourrait faire face a une desertification ultime si ces
ressources en eau continuent d’etre utilises comme elles le sont
utilises aujourd’hui a dit un ecologiste.

S’adressant aux journalistes Galust Nanyan a parle en particulier des
menaces qui pèsent sur la pisciculture. Il a dit que dans la vallee
de l’Ararat 240 piscicultures utilisent chacun un total de 800 mètres
cubes d’eau.

Galust Nanyan a ajoute que presque tous les villages près d’Echmiadzin
(region d’Armavir) avait 50 a 80 puits artesiens creuses dans le
passe et que 70% d’entre eux ont maintenant disparu car ils sont a sec.

” Les gens ont meme commence a utilisert les eaux de surface et
souterraines. C’etait il y a une dizaine d’annees, mais les eaux
souterraines aussi, ont maintenant disparu ” a-t-il dit.

Ashot Khoyetsyan, geographe et ecologiste a declare que les eaux
souterraines sont maintenant utilises au travers de milliers de puits
qui ont ete creuses sans aucune permission.

” Tout le monde a creuse sur son propre territoire, sans avoir une
licence, et ils en font maintenant usage. Les gens n’ont pas les
ressources en irrigation donc ils les utilisent afin d’arroser leurs
plantes de cette manière “, a-t-il ajoute.

L’ecologiste a note que l’Armenie, qui est considere comme un centre
mondial d’eau douce, ne fait pas une utilisation rationnelle de
ses ressources.

” Nous avons le problème de Sevan, et aujourd’hui, nous pouvons dire
qu’ils ont le problème de l’eau de l’Ararat. L’Armenie doit developper
une nouvelle strategie et les politiques qui vont avec. L’Armenie
est consideree comme un pays exportateur de poisson aujourd’hui. Mais
ces poissons sont eleves au detriment de nos ressources ” dit-il.

mercredi 11 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian