Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

`Let’s prevent gas tariff rise’ to demonstrate civil disobedience

14:12 – 25.05.13

`Let’s prevent gas tariff rise’ civil initiative activists Silva
Adamyan, Aram Grigoryan and Andrias Ghukasyan presenting at a news
conference today their further steps stated that in any case they are
going to demonstrate civil disobedience.

Silva Adamyan said that ArmRusgasprom tries to prove that the company
wants to work better but there is no need of upgrading at all.

She said besides the upcoming chain of price hike that will make
people appear in very bad situation, the environment protection
problem will come up. `In case of gas tariff growth we will face very
difficult environment protection issue. People in villages are not
using gas fuel. Neither of us can force them not to cut tree for using
wood fuel,’ she said, adding that the issue should be treated
seriously.

Member of the initiative Andrias Ghukasyan said that they have decided
to collapse the strategy of the authorities’ decision to raise the gas
tariff. `The authorities have presented a program that the poverty
rate is to go down, but it did not and no one has been punished, it
means that this is the way the government works,’ he said, adding that
their further step will be civil disobedience, refusal to pay gas
bill, etc.

Another member Aram Grigoryan said that what they are speaking about
will be presented to the Public Services Regulatory Commission in a
written form.

He said it is clear that the Commission is implementing an order.
Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

ANCA-WR Congratulates Eric Garcetti

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Eric Garecetti, center with Councilman Paul Krekorian, and ANCA-WR
Board and chapter memebrs

LOS ANGELES – The Armenian National Committee of America – Western
Region (ANCA-WR) and its 5 local chapters in the City of Los Angeles,
ANCA Hollywood, ANCA Crescenta Valley, ANCA San Fernando Valley East,
West and North congratulate Eric Garcetti on being elected as the next
Mayor for the great City of Los Angeles. Though the City Clerk has
not yet returned canvass for the May 21 City of Los Angeles Elections,
Garcetti stands strong with a 26,498 vote difference over Wendy
Greuel.

`The ANCA-WR congratulates Mr. Garcetti and looks forward to
continuing its strong working relationship with him,’ stated Elen
Asatryan, ANCA-WR Executive Director. `We are confident that he will
move the City of Los Angeles in the right direction as Mayor and will
continue to stand strong on issues of importance to his large
Armenian-American constituent base,’ continued Asatryan.

As the councilmember representing Little Armenia, Garcetti has always
been a great friend and a strong supporter on issues of concern to the
Armenian-American community. His many accomplishments include
consistently calling upon the U.S. Government to recognize the
independence of Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide, helping initiate
the sister-city partnership between Los Angeles and Yerevan,
advocating for city council to add Armenian language to election
ballots and materials, and providing funding to support programs and
projects of many community based organizations and projects such as
the Armenian Relief Society, Homenetmen L.A., Armenian Bone Marrow
Donor Registry, and the Armenian Youth Federation. As Mayor, Garcetti
will be representing over 150,000 Armenian-Americans that live in the
City of Los Angeles.

ANCA-WR endorsed Garcetti and Greuel in both the primary and general
elections given that each, in their own capacity, had a proven track
record on issues of importance to the Armenian-American community. In
an effort to ensure a high Armenian-American voter turnout, ANCA-WR
and its local chapters activated their grassroots efforts for the Los
Angeles elections. The long list of ANCA-WR undertakings leading up
to Election Day included heavy voter registration and community
education initiatives, GOTV efforts, and equipping each candidate’s
campaign with community volunteers.

`We thank Ms. Greuel for her commitment and support throughout the
years and congratulate her on a very well-run campaign. ANCA-WR
extends its support to Ms. Greuel in any future political endeavors
she may undertake,’ added Asatryan.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the
largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy
organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination
with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the
Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country,
the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community
on a broad range of issues.

From: Baghdasarian

Dita Von Teese wears Avakian earrings – PHOTOS

MAY 22, 19:23

The queen of burlesque Dita Von Teese wore Avakian diamond and pearl
earrings in red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival on Ma y 20.

Dita looked gorgeous in her red Dolce & Gabbana dress and Avakian
Joaillerie Marquise Ruby earrings.

She also wore Avakian diamond earrings and art deco diamond ring on
the stage of her famous burlesque show in Cannes.

NEWS.am STYLE

From: Baghdasarian

Electricity Rates to Rise by 27%
Sona Avagyan

14:11, May 23, 2013
Garegin Baghramyan, who heads the Rates Policy Unit of the Public
Services Regulatory Commission, today announced that electricity
prices would rise some 27% (7-8 AMD per 1 kilowatt hour), adding that
he couldn’t say when the rise would take effect.

Current electricity rates are 30 AMD during the day and 20 AMD at night.

Baghramyan announced that public hearings on the proposed increases
would take place in the coming days.

From: Baghdasarian

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 23 2013

Azerbaijan affirms its integrity as priority for Karabakh settlement

23 MAY 2013, 18:51 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s key principle in the settlement of its Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict with Armenia is maintaining the territorial integrity of the
country, First Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Parliament, Ziyafat
Asgarov, said on May 23.

“We have expressed our opinion in this regard and once again declare
that the main principle for us is the principle of the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of the country,” Asgarov told journalists.

He was commenting on the statement by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian that his country is ready to sign a document on the
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entitled “Six Principles”.

“I do not know what principles he was referring to,” Asgarov added.

Asgarov stressed that only after ensuring Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and sovereignty can any other principle be discussed.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the
early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian
armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s
internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven adjacent regions. Russia, France and the U.S. – co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group – have long been working to broker a solution of the
conflict, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by
the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known
as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the
territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control;
determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor
linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally
displaced persons to return home.

Director of the Institute of Political Studies of the Academy of
Public Administration under the President of Azerbaijan, political
expert Elman Nasirov told Azernews that it is impossible to accept two
of the six principles. Nasirov was speaking about the updated Madrid
principles.

He said the first one, as Nalbandian insists, implies holding a
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh region and it would have legally
binding international consequences.

“The result of ‘elections’ which rule out the participation of the
Azerbaijani community is obvious, and in fact, it would mean
separating Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan,” Nasirov said.

He said the other principle which Armenia supports is determining a
transitional legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh until a referendum and
recognition of this status by the international community.

“However, this interim status can’t be of a lower level than its
current de-facto status. At least, the current status hasn’t been
recognized by any state, even by Armenia itself. But they want to give
legal power to this (interim) status, which cannot be accepted in any
way. Therefore, the negotiations continue to remain in a deadlock,”
Nasirov says.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
told the local press that the deployment of Armenian troops in the
occupied territory of Azerbaijan is the biggest obstacle to the
resolution of the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
He said the actual presence of the armed forces of Armenia in the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan is at the core of the conflict.
According to Abdullayev, in order to advance the negotiation process,
the Armenian side must begin a withdrawal of its troops from the
occupied lands.

“This will provide an opportunity to advance the peace process and
determine the question of predictability of the situation. It will
also create conditions for establishing communications, economic
development and improving the welfare of the whole region, as well as
provide Armenia with the possibility to use the potential of
cooperation with Azerbaijan,” Abdullayev said.

From: Baghdasarian

Qatar News Agency
May 23, 2013 Thursday 6:39 PM EST

Another Round of Consultations on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Baku, May 23 (QNA) – The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, acting
as the mediators in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
had on Thursday a regular round of political consultations with the
Azerbaijani leadership, Itar-Tass reported.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev received on Thursday the
international mediators Igor Popov of Russia, Ian Kelly of the United
States, Jacques Faure of France and Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal
representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, says a report on the
Azerbaijani president’s website.

The meeting discussed the state of and prospects for the talks on
peace settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” says the report.

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are expected to leave for
Yerevan on Thursday for consultations with the Armenian leaders. (QNA)
MK,f l

From: Baghdasarian

Syria Times, Syria
April 30 2013

Syria: An Armenian Story

Created on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 07:32 | Published Date | | | Hits: 1340

She had lost a lot of weight and her eyes had a haunted look about
them. She had lost her house and everything in it. In that she was
like many Syrians, who had suffered the same fate. Her house was in
Jobar ( one of the hot spots of Damascus countryside) and in the
beginning she had seen the armed men a street away from her house
brazenly walking around brandishing guns. She had informed the
checkpoint also around the corner of her house, but they told her it
wasn’t their business to interfere !! When a bullet just missed her
brother , who was standing in his bedroom, they decided to leave the
house until the area was a bit safer. At that point she never thought
that she wouldn’t sleep another night in her house. Days later a
soldier from the same checkpoint called her to tell her that armed men
had entered her house and robbed it ! They had stolen everything worth
stealing. The accumulation of years of toil and hard work.The house it
seemed was lost even though the Syrian army helped her retain some of
her belongings . A fortnight later she heard that her house was being
used as headquarters. Now nothing remains of what was – no memories,
no comfort and no place to call home.

What makes this story particularly poignant is that the ancestors of
this women in question had fled to Syria seeking sanctuary. They had
been pursued and massacred by the Turks and had walked for endless
days over mountainous terrain until they reached Syrian soil. Syria
opened its arms wide for them and they were accepted and indeed became
an integral part of the Syrian mosaic.

They are the Armenians of Syria and the women in question is Yerado
Krikorian, a Syrian of Armenian origin , who works for Syrian Arab
Television. The Armenians had long suffered under Ottoman rule and it
was because of the Armenian massacre , systematically denied by
Turkey, that the Armenians fled to neighboring Syria. The many
Armenians who live in Syria, live in close knit societies. They are
known to be hard working and professional and they all carry the scars
of what happened to them by the Turks deep inside. Another Armenian –
Syrian Armenian – Jack , who was a university professor in Damascus
University , was never taught his language by his father, for fear
that his language, Armenian, would awaken national pride in him and
possibly a thirst for revenge . The scars left by the Turks ran too
deep for Jack’s father to take such a gamble.

And now the Armenians find themselves in a similar situation having to
flee from the country that has long hosted and loved them. Targeted by
armed groups some have little choice but to escape to Armenia .They do
so with heavy heart and all our hopeful that they will return to Syria
and soon – to the extent that the Armenian government has made an
exception for those Armenian children fleeing from the armed groups in
Syria and has allowed them to study the Syrian curriculum in Armenian
schools. They carried their Syrian textbooks from Syria to Armenia so
desperate are they not to fall behind in their school schedule when
they return to Syria. There is no ` if ` here – for they want to
return .

Hopefully , they will return and return soon to enrich once again the
Syrian mosaic and who knows , Yerado too , one day will return to her
house in Jobar with its blackened walls and its shattered windows! And
Jack too ,will feel safe enough as the shadow of menacing Turkey
diminishes, to teach his children Armenian.

Reem Haddad

From: Baghdasarian

Gas price hike Russia’s sanction against Armenia – oppositionist

16:30 – 24.05.13

The opposition Heritage party’s deputy leader finds that the Russian
side’s decision to impose higher natural gas tariffs on Armenia is a
punitive measure against the country over the poor conduct of
elections.

`If the surge in the gas tariffs is to be price of our independence, I
agree with that. But if the independence is going to cost improper
steps by the authorities after the rise in the gas bills, I do not
wish anything of the kind,’ Armen Martirosyan told a news conference
Friday.

He said the increased gas price would have no essential impact if the
authorities weren’t vulnerable. `The government is yet another time
pursuing disproportionate profit distribution policies,’ Martirosyan
noted.
Speaking of the government plan to offer a 30% subsidy, the politician
said the Europeans may lend a helping hand if that meets their
geopolitical interests, but he expressed his personal disagreement to
such policies.

`That would cause the state to secure excess profits at my property’s
expense,’ he added.

Martirosyan said the superpowers, which congratulated President Serzh
Sargsyan on re-election earlier, are now urging Armenia into a kind of
debt redemption.

`We see all this is the continuation of the presidential elections.
They are demanding a debt payoff,’ he noted.

Martirosyan said he sees only one possible solution in the current
circumstances. `Rhetoric will offer no solution to the existing
problems if there is consolidation,’ he said, referring to the
parliament’s annual budgetary debates that sees lawmakers offering a
0.4%-0.7% shadow cut every time, but realizing no reforms in practice.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

Limogeages annoncés dans l’armée après une nouvelle bavure

vendredi24 mai 2013, par Gari/armenews

Alors que les autorités militaries arméniennes se félicitaient d’avoir
pu remettre de l’ordre et de la discipline dans une armée sous le feu
des critiques pendant plusieurs années en raison du loud bilan
provoqué dans ses rangs, hors situation de combat, du fait de mauvais
traitements et autres bizutages violents, le nouvel incident survenu
le 15 mai a siuscité un profond malaise au sein de l’institution
militaire. Plusieurs officiers seraient sous le coup d’une enquête et
devraient être limogés après la mort d’un soldat arménien qui ne doit
rien aux violations du cessez-le-feu par l’armée azérie, a annoncé le
ministère arménien de la défense jeudi 23 mai.

Le soldat, Lyuks Stepanian, a été tué par balles par l’un de ses
camarades de conscription, Davit Khachatrian, dans des circonstances
qui restent à, éclaircir le 15 mai. Un autre soldat de la même unité
déployée dans la province septentrionale de Tavush a été sérieusement
blessé dans l’incident.D. Khachatrian a été mis aux arrêts et accusé
de meurtre. Il risque une longue peine d’emprisonnement s’il est
reconnu coupable. Mais peu de détails ont filtré de l’enquête en
cours. Artsrun Hovannisian, le porte-parole du ministère de la
défense, a indiqué que le ministère menait aussi une enquête de son
côté. `Quand l’enqupete interne sera finie, les personnes impliquées
seraient punies. Certains officiers ne seront pas poursuivis, mais ils
seront relevés de leurs fonctions’, a declare M. Hovannisian. Le
commandant du regiment et du bataillon dans lesquels servaient les
soldats ainsi que leurs seconds pourraient compter au nombre des
officiers impliqués, a-t-il ajouté. M.Hovannisian a ajouté que
d’autres pourraient être inculpés, notamment des officiers de grade
moins élevé, dont le chef de l’unité concernée.

Le ministre de la défense Seyran Ohanian a personellement promis des
sanctions et singulièrement des limogeages en pregnant la parole
devant une foule furieuse composée des parents et des proches de
Stepanian le samedi 18 mai. M. Ohanian les avait rencontrés après
qu’ils eurent menace d’emmener la dépouille du soldat tué à Erevan
afin de l’exposer devant le siège du gouvernement. Il n’a pas encore
éta établi avec certitude que Khachatrian a ouvert le feu sur ses
camarades. Les autorités militaries ont seulement fait savoir que les
coups de feu avaient été précédés d’une violente dispute entre le
soldat accusé et Stepanian. Des représentants de l’ombudsman Karen
Andreasian, observateur chargé du respect des droits de l’honne en
Arménie, a rendu visite dans sa cellule au soldat emprisonné quelques
jours avant. Yeranuhi Tumaniants, à l’issue de cette visite, a declare
que Khachatrian leur avait assuré qu’il ne subissait pas de mauvais
traitements dans la prison. Mais il ne serait pas expliqué sur le
geste criminal qui lui est imputé, `en raison de son état psychique, a
précisé Mme Tumaniants.

Les autorités militaires arméniennes à commencer par M. Ohanian
s’étaient engagés à moraliser l’armée et à faitre cesser les morts
hors situation de combat, afin de répondre aux demandes de l’opinion
qui a exprimé sa colère dans la rue trois ans avant. Des dizaines
d’officiers ont été limogés et poursuivis depuis. Mais les défenseurs
des droits de l’homme estiment que l’armée n’en fait pas encore assez
pour régler ce problem qui porte atteinte au crédit de l’armée.

From: Baghdasarian

There Are Doubts About Misappropriation of Taxpayer Money

Interview with deputy head of Transparency International
Anti-Corruption Center Sona Aivazyan

Certain NGOs which are not known to the public have received funding
from the government. Do you know anything about these NGOs?

None of these NGOs is known to me except Development and Integration
NGO. The latter was set up at the beginning of Serzh Sargsyan’s tenure
and obviously with his support. Having been recognized by the RA
President Decree as a partner NGO, it has awarded grants to unknown
NGOs from state funds.

How do you fight corruption now? There seems to be more concreteness,
and the methods of fight are now more concrete.

I would like to talk about corruption in the non-governmental sector.
There are innumerable suspicions on involvement of NGOs in corruption
deals, and the main solution, I think, should be transparency of NGOs.
They must be accountable to not only the donor but also the public,
publish reports on their members, funds and their outputs. This
principle must be applied more strictly by the NGOs which receive
grants on the money of Armenian taxpayers. Transparency of decision
making and financial accountability will limit significantly the
possibility of NGOs with a suspicious origin to handle and misuse
public funds.

Government bodies have an interesting tendency. They have started
`supporting’ the civil society and the impression is that the purpose
is to annihilate it. What is the reason? Are they afraid of that
movement or are there other reasons as well?

The practice of funding NGOs through a partner NGO was established
during Robert Kocharyan’s tenure. At that time the function was
performed by the Center for Policy Dialogue and Development which does
not exist anymore. In fact, the two presidents of Armenia abuse the
idea of social partnership and imitate funding of social programs by
way of titular NGOs. Not seeing results of NGOs which receive grants
and judging by the practice of kickback recognized by Serzh Sargsyan,
the money of Armenian taxpayers have been misappropriated through
partner organizations and NGOs which received grants. The heads of
these organizations are the same people and their relatives, which
narrows the scope of distribution of those funds and the risks for
their revelation.

Fake NGOs servicing the government and/or misappropriating funds are
not something new. Such NGOs participated in Millennium Challenge
Program, are now involved in different public councils which imitate
cooperation with the society and, on the other hand, block the way for
real and independent NGOs. Such are some organizations which observe
elections, namely the NGOs which deploy immense number of observers
who mainly service the government and later report free and fair
conduct of elections.

It should be noted that the Armenian government, usually following the
example of their Russian counterparts, make efforts from time to time
to counteract the activities of independent NGOs and their critical
approach. Efforts were made to limit lobbying by NGO, strengthen state
control. One of the recent efforts is the concept of development of
civil society organizations put forth by the Public Council.

Karine Ionesyan
16:13 24/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

From: Baghdasarian