Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

THE COURT HAS RECOGNIZED THE FACT OF VIOLATIONS OF LEVON BARSEGHYAN’S RIGHTS BY POLICE

August 29 2013

Levon Barseghyan, Chairman of the Journalists’ Club “Asparez” in
Gyumri, on the day of the military parade in 2011 organized on the
occasion of the 20th anniversary of independence in Yerevan, learning
from the Facebook that foreign troops and flags will be participating
in the parade joined the spontaneous organized protest against the
presence of foreign troops and flags in our parade of independence.

During the protest, an incident happened with the police officers
headed by famous Arayik Petrossyan, who, at the time, was the deputy
head of the Kentron Police Department. Levon Barseghyan and Arno Kuri
were taken to the police by force, 3 hours illegally kept, and were
released only after the completion of the parade. Levon Barseghyan
has sued the police to court winning the trial after 1.5-year-long
hearing. In a conversation with Aravot.am, Levon Barseghyan presented
the incident as follows: “On September 21, 2011, in the morning of the
Independence Day, as soon s we started our demonstrators and protest
march near the statue of Saryan, the police officers, headed by the
same infamous Arayik Petrosyan, at that time he was the Deputy Head
of the Kentron Police Department, warned that if we begin to march
they would catch us, and take to the police station, and we said
that we are exercising our rights, you do your job, if you think that
you are going to take, take. The grabbed a couple of posters from us
with “Free, independent Armenia”, “Armenia is not a part of Russia,”
and so on. Then, when we raised the flag and began to chant “Free,
independent Armenia”, they caught me and Arno Kuri, made us get into
the car, took us to the Kentron department, kept us for 3 hours, when
the parade ended, they released us. In the meantime, the police, in
response to the news that we were apprehended to police, rumors were
spread that we were not apprehended to the police station, two people
were invited to the police station to identify their personality. Of
course, the man knew who we are, we have talked. Nothing was clarified
from us in the police department. When my lawyer came, we asked for
the protocol on arrest, etc., they said,- “we haven’t apprehended you,
what protocol, what such a thing”. In short, they began to pretend
innocent. After leaving we decided that we should sue the police
officers to call to order. The judicial process lasted 1.5 years,
we had invited witnesses to the trial. They decided to call 4 police
officers to protect them, in the result of which they were absolutely
disgraced. They began to lie, as if I had asked the police to apprehend
me, and the judge during the trial asked that he did not understand
“if anyone in anywhere asks you to take him to the police department,
would you do it”, he said, “yes, what’s wrong with that”.

The judge says “why do you use the means of the state for taking the
citizen to police department, let him come by his own means, if he
wanted. In short, answers of stupid character. They began to tell that
I was drinking coffee and smoking in the police department, he was
telling that we were smoking, and talking for 3 hours. Ultimately,
the court acknowledged and received our claim as a whole. The
requirements of the appeal were following: to recognize violation
of my rights to freedom of speech, freedom of movement and freedom
of rallies. To recognize the fact and compensate the amount of the
state duty. Now, the police officer owes me 8 thousand drams. We
were waiting for them to present an appeal to the Court of Appeals,
a month passed, they have not yet presented the appeal. On the 4th, we
have a press conference at the “Media” center with my good friend and
lawyer Artak Zeynalyan, he was my representative. We will present the
circumstances of the case, we will present a series of amusing passages
from interrogation of witnesses as to what kind of nonsense answers
can be given by a police captain, by one of them who apprehended
me, and so on.” According to Levon Barseghyan, there were two ways,
one of them was to present a report against the police, the other to
apply to an administrative court. But since Levon Barseghyan during
restriction of the rights to mobile freely on a car along Sayat-Nova
street in Gyumri with Georgian license plates, submitted a report to
the police at the request of filing a criminal case, and making sure
that “the police officer does not eat meat of another police officer,”
and “the prosecutor’s office can no way eat the meat of a police
officer”, this time he applied to the Administrative Court. And the
Administrative Court has recognized the fact of violation of Levon
Barseghyan’s constitutional rights to freedom of mobility, freedom
of speech, and freedom of rallies by the police. Nune AREVSHATYAN

Read more at:

From: Baghdasarian

NKR CRITICIZES BAKU’S POLICY OF BLACKLISTING VISITORS TO ARTSAKH

12:30 30.08.2013

On August 28 the statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic of August 14, 2013, was circulated as a
document of the General Assembly and Security Council in the United
Nations Organization, Press Service of the NKR Ministry of Foreign
Affairs reports.

In its statement the NKR MFA expresses grave concern over the
fraudulent campaign by Azerbaijan the most recent examples of which
were the circulation of the letter in the UN calling upon its Member
States to warn their citizens against visiting the NKR “without
the prior authorization of the government of Azerbaijan” as well as
publication of a list of people declared personae non gratae by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan because of their visits to
the NKR.

The MFA statement particularly reads that deluded by its language of
threats and hostility, Azerbaijan has made a step forward in a wrong
direction, and threatens with sanctions against the third countries
nationals visiting the NKR. Such a policy of Azerbaijan fits perfectly
into the logic of its domestic human rights record that it is striving
to impose upon foreign citizens.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the NKR welcomes and encourages
the visits of foreign nationals, both officials and tourists, to the
NKR. Such visits and people to people contacts in general contribute
to the creation of an atmosphere of confidence and co-operation in
the region and are essential for the international community to get
truthful and objective information about the NKR.

From: Baghdasarian

DOES OBAMA KNOW HE’S FIGHTING ON AL-QA’IDA’S SIDE?

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

ROBERT FISK

Tuesday 27 August 2013

‘All for one and one for all’ should be the battle cry if the West
goes to war against Assad’s Syrian regime

If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured –
for the very first time in history – that the United States will be
on the same side as al-Qa’ida.

Quite an alliance! Was it not the Three Musketeers who shouted “All
for one and one for all” each time they sought combat? This really
should be the new battle cry if – or when – the statesmen of the
Western world go to war against Bashar al-Assad.

The men who destroyed so many thousands on 9/11 will then be fighting
alongside the very nation whose innocents they so cruelly murdered
almost exactly 12 years ago. Quite an achievement for Obama, Cameron,
Hollande and the rest of the miniature warlords.

This, of course, will not be trumpeted by the Pentagon or the White
House – nor, I suppose, by al-Qa’ida – though they are both trying
to destroy Bashar. So are the Nusra front, one of al-Qa’ida’s
affiliates. But it does raise some interesting possibilities.

Maybe the Americans should ask al-Qa’ida for intelligence help –
after all, this is the group with “boots on the ground”, something
the Americans have no interest in doing. And maybe al-Qa’ida could
offer some target information facilities to the country which usually
claims that the supporters of al-Qa’ida, rather than the Syrians,
are the most wanted men in the world.

There will be some ironies, of course. While the Americans drone
al-Qa’ida to death in Yemen and Pakistan – along, of course, with the
usual flock of civilians – they will be giving them, with the help
of Messrs Cameron, Hollande and the other Little General-politicians,
material assistance in Syria by hitting al-Qa’ida’s enemies. Indeed,
you can bet your bottom dollar that the one target the Americans will
not strike in Syria will be al-Qa’ida or the Nusra front.

And our own Prime Minister will applaud whatever the Americans do,
thus allying himself with al-Qa’ida, whose London bombings may have
slipped his mind. Perhaps – since there is no institutional memory left
among modern governments – Cameron has forgotten how similar are the
sentiments being uttered by Obama and himself to those uttered by Bush
 and Blair a decade ago, the same bland assurances, uttered with such
self-confidence but without quite  enough evidence to make it stick.

In Iraq, we went to war on the basis of lies originally uttered by
fakers and conmen. Now it’s war by YouTube. This doesn’t mean that
the terrible images of the gassed and dying Syrian civilians are
false. It does mean that any evidence to the contrary is going to have
to be suppressed. For example, no-one is going to be interested in
persistent reports in Beirut that three Hezbollah members – fighting
alongside government troops in Damascus – were apparently struck down
by the same gas on the same day, supposedly in tunnels.

They are now said to be undergoing treatment in a Beirut hospital. So
if Syrian government forces used gas, how come Hezbollah men might
have been stricken too? Blowback?

And while we’re talking about institutional memory, hands up which
of our jolly statesmen know what happened last time the Americans
took on the Syrian government army? I bet they can’t remember. Well
it happened in Lebanon when the US Air Force decided to bomb Syrian
missiles in the Bekaa Valley on 4 December 1983. I recall this very
well because I was here in Lebanon. An American A-6 fighter bomber
was hit by a Syrian Strela missile – Russian made, naturally – and
crash-landed in the Bekaa; its pilot, Mark Lange, was killed, its
co-pilot, Robert Goodman, taken prisoner and freighted off to jail
in Damascus. Jesse Jackson had to travel to Syria to get him back
after almost a month amid many cliches about “ending the cycle of
violence”. Another American plane – this time an A-7 – was also hit
by Syrian fire but the pilot managed to eject over the Mediterranean
where he was plucked from the water by a Lebanese fishing boat. His
plane was also destroyed.

Sure, we are told that it will be a short strike on Syria, in and
out, a couple of days. That’s what Obama likes to think. But think
Iran. Think Hezbollah. I rather suspect – if Obama does go ahead –
that this one will run and run.

From: Baghdasarian

‘HAI TAHD’ DOWN UNDER: KAHRAMANIAN OFFERS A GLIMPSE INTO COMMUNITY LIFE AND EXPANDING ADVOCACY EFFORTS

By Lilly Torosyan // August 29, 2013

The Armenian community in Australia is fairly young, but as its numbers
grow, so does its activism. Last October, the parliament of New South
Wales became the third state in the world to officially recognize
the independence of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic. This summer,
the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANCA) accompanied
a group of Australian politicians on a weeklong visit to Armenia
and Karabagh. ANCA Executive Director Vache Kahramanian spoke with
the Armenian Weekly about this trip, as well as other facets of
Armenian-Australian life.

Kahramanian (R) with Torosyan

Lilly Torosyan: Talk about the Armenian community in Australia.

Vache Kahramanian: The Armenian community in Australia was founded in
the early 1960’s. The first wave of immigrants arrived predominantly
from Egypt, fleeing the social unrest that had started to occur there.

The main wave of immigration occurred in the 1970’s when many Armenians
came from Lebanon during the Civil War, and also from Syria, Iran,
and other countries throughout the Middle East. The community at
present numbers around the 50,000 mark, and is predominantly based
in the Sydney metropolitan area, with small pockets of communities
in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and other Australian cities.

Like most diasporan communities, there exists a wide range of community
organizations, including the Armenian National Committee, the Armenian
Relief Society, Hamazkayin, Homenetmen, the AGBU. And of course the
church plays an important role in the community, as well.

The ANC of Australia was formed many decades ago to carry on
the role of advancing the Armenian Cause within the context of
the Australian political environment-that is, to promote genocide
recognition; recognition of the independence of Artsakh; a strong,
free, and united Armenia; and economic aid and security to Armenia and
Artsakh. Those four pillars are the driving force behind what the ANC
does in Australia, and of course, what it does all around the world
through its offices, whether in Washington, D.C., Brussels, London,
or the Middle East.

L.T.: You recently visited Armenia with a group of Australian
politicians. How was that experience?

V.K.: We had a group of Australian state legislators from the state
of New South Wales, which is the largest, most populated state in the
country. Australia has a population of 22 million people, 7 million
of which live in New South Wales. That state became the first in 1997
to recognize the Armenian Genocide by passing a unanimous motion in
both houses of parliament. In 1998, the parliament passed a motion to
erect a khachkar [Armenian cross-stone] memorial in its peace garden
to honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and to
mark April 24th each year as a day of remembrance in that state.

In 2012, that state again became the first in Australia-the third
internationally-to recognize the right to self-determination by the
Republic of Nagorno Karabagh. It came only behind Rhode Island and
Mass., which were the first two states in the world to pass similar
motions.

In New South Wales, there is multi-partisan support for all issues
of importance to the Armenian community, whether that is Artsakh
[Karabagh], genocide recognition, or a strong and secure Armenia. So
we had the opportunity to take seven members of parliament on an
official visit to the Republic of Armenia, whereby they had the
opportunity to meet with the president, His Holiness Karekin II, and
other high-ranking government officials, including the speaker of the
House and various members of parliament within the National Assembly.

In a broader context, they had the opportunity to see Armenia with
their own eyes-a country of descendants of the genocide-and to see
what the modern-day implications of genocide recognition mean, not
only to the people, but to the national security of Armenia…

The members of parliament also had the opportunity to make a historic
visit to the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, and what that allowed them
was to experience first-hand the brutality of Azerbaijan. They saw
the destruction and also the hope that had come out of the Armenian
people to rebuild Stepanakert to the wonderful and majestic city it
is today, only 25-odd years after it was ravaged by war. They had
the experience to address a special sitting of the National Assembly,
where they conveyed a message of hope and solidarity with the people
of Nagorno-Karabagh.

They also had the opportunity to meet with everyday people on the
street, to realize the hardship and difficulties they went through,
and the massive loss of life that Armenian families experienced during
the war. But they also witnessed the hope and optimism of the people
who were living there on the ground, and the work they have done to
rebuild society in a truly democratic fashion.

They left Nagorno-Karabagh with the viewpoint that it is a land of
great optimism, and that the motion they passed in 2012 was the right
thing to do. By recognizing the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, they
expressed their solidarity and continued support to ensure further
recognition, throughout Australia and on an international level. What
was most interesting to see with this foreign delegation visiting
Armenia, and in particular Artsakh, was that they were expecting a
war-torn ravaged country, but what they saw was the complete opposite.

They saw the resilience of the people, where almost 100 years ago,
they experienced the genocide; 20 years ago, they experienced the
brutality of the Azeri armed forces. And through all of the struggles
the Armenian nation has lived through, they were able to see the
hope and prosperity of the people to create what is today a free and
independent Armenia and a free and independent Artsakh.

L.T.: How strong are the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities in
Australia? Are they a growing community?

V.K.: The Turkish lobby that exists in Australia is very similar
to what we have seen across the world. The empty threats and,
in particular, the blackmail that they use against legislators,
threatening all sorts of actions, including severed economic ties
and so forth, is a common thing that we have seen Turkey portray over
the last three or four decades on an international level. That is no
different to what has occurred in Australia. Thankfully, there are
members of parliament who have stood steadfast in the face of this
blackmail to ensure that such issues are not politicized or used for
political advantage. At the end of the day, we’re playing with human
lives and human emotions, and these issues trump all forms of party
politics, and are common to each and every person. We are grateful
that there are many members of parliament all across the nation who
have stood firm against the continued empty threats of the Republic of
Turkey and the Azerbaijani lobby, whether it be on recognition of the
genocide or Artsakh. It is a continuing battle, and we have to stay
steadfast because it is very easy to one day have this conversation
and not be talking about a free and independent Armenia, and a free
and independent Artsakh.

L.T.: What is left on the agenda for ANC-Australia?

V.K.: We never rule out anything in terms of future strategy or action
plans. We will continue to remain entrenched on the front lines,
advocating for all issues of importance not only for the Armenian
community in Australia, but for the people living in Armenia and
all around the world in diasporan communities. The Hai Tahd team is
a brotherhood all around the world that lives shoulder-to-shoulder
with one common interest: a free, strong, and united Armenia. All the
actions and plans that we have in place continue to serve that noble
goal. We do everything on this very distant and far away island known
as Australia to help ensure that we can continue to add our voice to
this important Cause.

The wonderful strength of our diaspora is our grassroots support
and the success of Armenian professionals in all walks of life who
are ready to step up to the plate to continue to advance the common
goals of Hai Tahd.

From: Baghdasarian

POLITICAL EXPERT: WHEN DARK-HAIRED MIGRANTS ARE BEATEN IN RUSSIA, THEY ARE NOT ASKED TO SHOW THEIR PASSPORTS OR CROSS ON THE CHAIN
by David Stepanyan

ARMINFO
Thursday, August 29, 18:07

“The problem of migrants is used during the campaign of mayoral
elections in Moscow, because that problem is extremely popular in
Russia”, Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus Institute,
said during the Aug 29 debates entitled “The Migrants in Russia:
Legislation, Discourses and Political Practice”. Iskandaryan thinks
that xenophobia and interethnic scuffles will keep on growing in
Russia.

“Though Russia displays a more or less loyal attitude to Georgians
and Armenians, that loyalty is displayed by a certain part of Russian
people. The aggressive part of the Russian society does not take into
account the nationality of the migrants. When the dark-haired migrants
are beaten in Russia, they are not asked to show their passports or
cross on the chain”, stressed the expert. He said that the negative
attitude to the migrants in Russia is nothing new but it is not a
general phobia, because Russian people display a negative attitude
to certain groups of migrants.

From: Baghdasarian

BRUSSELS HAS NO MECHANISMS TO ENSURE SECURITY IN CAUCASUS – ANALYST

14:29 29/08/2013 ” POLITICS

By signing the Free Trade Agreement, Armenia would become a partner to
the EU countries, which would allow to determine the economic policy
in Yerevan, while by joining the Customs Union, Armenia would not
have that independence, political scientist Alexander Markarov told
reporters on Thursday.

Regarding Armenia’s security policy in case of initialing the
Association Agreement with the EU and joining the Customs Union, the
analyst said that Brussels has no mechanisms to ensure security in
the Caucasus, while having practice with Russia (cooperation within
the framework of CSTO), Armenia is ready to continue its security
policy within that practice.

So, the expert did not rule out that there can be contradictions
between these two vectors over the above mentioned issues.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian

NEW INITIATIVE LAUNCHED TO SAVE CLOSED MARKET IN YEREVAN – PHOTOS

August 29, 2013 | 16:35

YEREVAN. – “Let’s liberate monument from an oligarch” initiative
will use all legal methods to save the Closed Market in the center
of Armenian capital.

One of the initiators of the group Garegin Chugaszyan said their aim
is to hold the owner accountable, force him to compensate the damage
inflicted to the monument, make the owner restore the previous style
of the building. If the mentioned demands are not met, they will work
to deprive the owner from right to property.

“We have been witnessing how the monument has been destroyed for
already two years,” he said during the Thursday media conference.

Over last two years citizens and initiative groups have repeatedly
addressed state agencies on illegal actions. The owner was fined two
times, but the construction work continued.

The initiative group will stage numerous protest actions and pickets
to achieve its goals, Chugaszyan concluded.

From: Baghdasarian

SERIOUS CONCERN AT SHENGAVIT HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE PRESERVE IN YEREVAN

Nor Or Weekly – Thursday August 29, 2013

My involvement for three years to help support the Shengavit Historical
and Archaeological Culture Preserve in Yerevan, from 2012 – 2013 the
Cambridge Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA) adopted a program to
support Shengavit’s director in making disparately needed maintenance
to the 6000 year old late stone-age site in Yerevan. Higher level
officials (the director of the Erebuni museum and preserve) prevented
the continuation of this program.

Some of Shengavit’s land was improperly privatized but Shengavit’s
director got the owners of the privatized land to agree to return
the land. But Erebuni’s director who has authority over Shengavit has
not officially incorporated this land back into the Shengavit preserve.

There are other issues of corruption with Erebuni’s director as well.

Please note that this report is my report alone, and not CYSCA’s
report. CYSCA is involved in other programs in Yerevan and while
I can not speak on CYSCA’s behalf on this matter, apparently CYSCA
does not want to jeopardize other programs which are in progress. I
feel the information in my article, from a moral point, needs to be
revealed and discussed.

We will not make changes in Armenia unless issues of corruption are
openly discussed. That is hard to do here in Armenia, but nothing is
holding back us in the Diaspora.

I’ve always been reluctant to write negatively about Armenia, but in
this case I have a moral responsibility to relate my experience. I
promise subsequent articles will be more positive, and there are many
positive things to relate about this place.

Please feel free to contact me at the above two email addresses,
or after Aug 20 at 978 772-9417 in the US.. If you wish to contact
Mr. Vladimir Tshagharyan, the former director of the Shengavit
Historical and Archaeological Culture Preserve, please let me know
and I will facilitate it.

Mr. Tshagharyan does not know English. Thank you for your contributions
to the Armenian community and Armenia,

JOSEPH DAGDIGIAN Harvard, MA, USA Yerevan, Armenia

From: Baghdasarian

ZHOGHOVURD: NEW ANM IN STAGE OF FORMATION

11:21 29/08/2013 ” DAILY PRESS

Former members of Armenian National Movement (ANM) Ararat Zurabyan,
Alexander Arzumanyan, Karapet Rubinyan and Hovhannes Igityan announced
that they are going to form a new ANM party following the ANM’s
reorganization into ANC (Armenian National Congress). However, the
new party is slow to be formed, Zhoghovurd daily says.

“The process is underway, a founding convention is being prepared. We
will inform you as soon as its date, timing and place are determined,
I am assuring you that we will not meet secretly,” MP Alexander
Arzumanyan told Zhoghovurd in an interview.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian

SAFRASTYAN: MIDDLE EAST IS ON THRESHOLD OF GEOPOLITICAL CHANGES

13:26 29/08/2013 ” POLITICS

The use of chemical weapons in Syria is a grave crime from point of
view of international law, and the punishment should be within the
framework of international law, Ruben Safrastyan, Turkish studies
expert, Director of the Oriental Studies Institute of the Armenian
National Academy of Sciences, told a news conference in Yerevan.

The expert believes that what is taking place in Syria could be
a provocation by those extremist forces that are carrying out the
policy of changes in the Middle East and are guiding the rebels.

“I do not rule out that Turkey is also behind this provocation,” he
said, adding that the provocation aimed to involve the United States
in those events.

“The Middle East is on the threshold of geopolitical changes. These
are complicated and dangerous developments. I am not sure that the
states are ready for those developments,” Safrastyan said.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian