Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

EuFoA calls for common EU-Armenia efforts to stop waste of gas

14:20, May 24, 2013

The announcement of sharply increased gas prices for Armenia have
sparked many questions about social and geo-political consequences.
Discussions on the exact extent, the timing and the handling of the
price increase are still on-going and will hopefully lead to a
feasible solution. Meanwhile, it is worth looking at the large
potential for helping Armenian citizens based on similar experiences
made in other European countries. In this context, EuFoA
() calls upon the Armenian government and the EU to
redouble their common efforts to reduce avoidable gas consumption and
waste in Armenia in mainly two areas:

1. In Armenia until today, most housing relies on old style heating
systems and lacks basic insulation, wasting up to 50% of the energy.
The government should therefore focus most of its subsidies on
renovation projects which tackle these issues and seek the EU’s advice
with similar programmes in the EU, including the new EU energy
passports for buildings. Finally, the EU should provide financial
assistance for energy-efficiency related administrative reforms and in
part also for renovation funds. If the USA joins the latter, they can
more credibly insist on the continued low reliance on Iranian gas in
Armenia.

2. Currently 30-40% of Armenia’s electricity is produced by thermal
power plants based on gas. Meanwhile, Armenia continues to
underexploit its large potentials in solar, wind and hydraulic energy.
These renewable sources would also increase Armenia’s energy
independence and decentralise the strategic risks of Armenia’s energy
production in times of natural disasters or conflicts. Germany,
amongst others, has offered Armenia a renewable energy programme,
which should be implemented quickly and possibly widened.

We believe that the problem needs to be resolved primarily in Armenia,
which undergoes energy market changes similar to those in Central
European countries in the 1990s and will continue to do so over the
coming 10 to 20 years. The consequences of price increases can be
compensated, even over-compensated, by falling prices in other areas
and a reduction of the average gas consumption by families in Armenia.
For this, all the measures described here need to be applied together.
Armenians should also be reassured that the EU-Armenia Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) will help increase the market
efficiency and reduce prices of every-day goods in Armenia in the
coming years.

On the same issue, our Secretary General gave this interview to Armnews TV:

ARG has increased the prices for gas in Armenia. Do you think it was a
geopolitical decision or an economic decision?

So far we don’t have indications that it was a geopolitical decision,
also because the overall prices in Armenia are still below
international standards. But of course we need to watch this over the
coming years, how the long term development will be.

The price increase causes many problems in Armenia. Do you think
Armenia can expect any help from the EU?

I think the key thing is to now keep the inflation down, especially
for the poor people in the country this is the biggest problem. The
best contribution that the EU is making is through the Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union. Why? Because
this makes the Armenian market more competitive and with this increase
in competition and effectiveness the prices in the country for
everyday products will go down. So if for example, a poor pensioner
will pay less on his everyday consumption food in the supermarket or
when he has to replace his broken television or his broken washing
machine, it will be a bit easier for him to handle the higher gas
prices so the one can level out the other.

And how do you think the Armenian government should react to reduce
the effect of this price increase?

I hope the announcements of the Prime Minister to subside gas for the
poorest families are really serious because this is needed.
Especially, attention should be given not so much to subsidising the
gas but to the insulation of houses. If you give money to a family
this year, during the winter, for the gas, you will also have to do
that next year and the year after that. If you give money for
insulating a house, that family can save up to 50% of its gas and they
would do that every coming year, and you have to pay, as a state, only
one time. So this is much more efficient and I hope that they will
seriously implement it like that.

From: Baghdasarian

News | 24.05.13 | 10:56
Baku official says Armenian may bid to be registered as candidate in
Azerbaijan’s presidential elections
[image: Baku official says Armenian may bid to be registered as candidate
in Azerbaijan’s presidential elections]

Photolure
Baku-born Grigori Ayvazyan, who currently heads the Azerbaijani
Armenians’ Assembly in Yerevan, will be granted the right to stand for
president in Azerbaijan if he proves his citizenship of the country and
produces other required documents, an election body representative in Baku
said on Thursday.

Last week Ayvazyan revealed his plans to participate in the upcoming
presidential elections in Azerbaijan, with which Armenia warred in the
early 1990s and is now locked in a bitter dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ayvazyan, whose organization advances the interests of refugees from
Azerbaijan, said that Azerbaijani Armenians had nominated his candidacy and
that he was ready to accept their will. He also argued that if given an
opportunity and provided with security guarantees he would sweep the
elections in Azerbaijan with 60 percent of the vote.

`But if I am not registered as a candidate, Azerbaijan will once again
prove that it is a fascist state,’ Ayvazyan said at a press conference in
Yerevan on May 17.

Azer Saryev, a spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission, told
1news.az yesterday that Ayvazyan may pass
registrationfor
participation in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan if the
process of submission of documents by him is executed correctly, in
accordance with relevant legislative norms.

Presidential elections are due in Azerbaijan in October. The country’s
incumbent autocratic president Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his late father
Heydar Aliyev as head of state in 2003, will run for a third successive term
inoffice
and in conditions of an oppressed opposition and stifled dissent is
expected to win the ballot by a large margin.

From: Baghdasarian

Congressmen seek release of kidnapped Syria archbishops

11:01 24.05.2013

72 Members of Congress, led by Representatives Brad Sherman (D-CA),
Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), John Sarbanes (D-MD),
Trent Franks (R-AZ), and Mike Pompeo (R-KS), urged the State
Department to prioritize the release of two kidnapped Archbishops in a
letter to Secretary Kerry, the Armenian Reporter informs.

Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo,
and Metropolitan Yohanna Ibrahim, the Syriac Archbishop of Aleppo,
were abducted by unknown assailants while carrying out humanitarian
work in the northern province of Aleppo on April 22, 2013. Their
driver, Fatha’Allah Kabboud, a deacon in the Syriac Orthodox Church,
was shot dead. Pope Francis has called for the release of these
Archbishops.

`I am pleased that 72 bipartisan Representatives in the House joined
together in urging the Secretary of State to make this issue a
priority,’ said Rep. Sherman, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs
Committee and a member of the International Religious Freedom Caucus.
`We must do everything we can to ensure that Christians and other
religious minorities have a safe future in Syria. I am deeply alarmed
about the safety of the Archbishops and call for their immediate and
safe release.’

`It has been almost a month since Metropolitan Ibrahim and
Metropolitan Yazigi were kidnapped,’ said Rep. Bilirakis. `I am deeply
concerned about their safety and demand their immediate return. These
men of God faithfully served the Orthodox community during the ongoing
conflict in Syria and their kidnapping highlights the troubling rise
in abductions.

`I am deeply concerned for the safety of Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi,
the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, and Metropolitan Yohanna
Ibrahim, the Syriac Archbishop of Aleppo, who were kidnapped as they
carried out humanitarian work near the Turkish border of Syria,’ said
Rep. Maloney. `Not only were these religious leaders abducted, but
their driver, an innocent victim, was murdered by these armed
individuals. It is a travesty that weeks have gone by since the
Archbishops were initially captured, and we have still heard nothing
on their release. These Archbishops have nothing to do with the Syrian
civil war, and I call on their immediate and safe release.’

`The kidnapping of Metropolitan Ibrahim and Metropolitan Yazigi is
part of an alarming trend of violence directed at religious
minorities, especially Christians,’ said Rep. Pompeo. `I am glad to be
joined by 71 Members of the House of Representatives to demand the
release of the Archbishops and to reaffirm our commitment to religious
freedom around the world.’

`We urge the State Department to make Metropolitan Yazigi and
Metropolitan Ibrahim’s immediate release and safe return to Aleppo a
priority in our efforts in the region,’ said the Members in the
letter. `As Members of Congress committed to religious freedom in the
Middle East and around the world, we believe the United States must do
everything it can to ensure that all the diverse religions and
ethnicities of Syria have a safe future.’

From: Baghdasarian

ONG-droitsHomme-Turquie
La Turquie hôte et cible du 38e congrès de la Fédération
internationale des droits de l’Homme

(AFP) – La Fédération internationale des droits de l’Homme (FIDH) a
ouvert jeudi à Istanbul son 38e congrès en déplorant la situation
`préoccupante` de certains de ses militants turcs emprisonnés ou
poursuivis par la justice en Turquie.

`Nous restons très préoccupés par ce que nous considérons être des
violations systématiques et récurrentes de la liberté d’expression`, a
lancé la présidente de la FIDH, Souhayr Belhassen en évoquant le
vice-président de la Association turque des droits de l’Homme (IHD)
Muharrem Erbey, détenu depuis 2009.

`Vous connaissez notre espoir de voir Muharrem Erbey libéré sans
délai, c’est la demande pressante que je réitère en cet instant au
gouvernement de votre pays`, a poursuivi Mme Belhassen en s’adressant
au vice-Premier ministre turc Besir Atalay, présent au congrès.

`Beaucoup de choses ont changé en Turquie depuis dix ans, nous savons
que le gouvernement fait des efforts mais nous ne pouvons pas accepter
que des gens continuent à mourir dans nos prisons`, a-t-elle renchéri.

Interrogé en marge du congrès par la presse sur les détenus malades
obligés de purger leurs peines en prison, M. Atalay a déploré
`certaines lacunes dans l’application des lois adoptées par le
gouvernement en faveur de ces détenus`.

Lors d’un discours prononcé plus tôt devant la FIDH, le vice-Premier
ministre turc a souligné les `efforts` accomplis en matière de
protection des droits de l’Homme depuis l’arrivée au pouvoir de son
gouvernement islamo-conservateur en 2002.

`La Turquie a été souvent condamnée par la Cour européenne des droits
de l’Homme, nous avons été beaucoup critiqués à l’étranger`, a-t-il
concédé, `nous ne voulons pas vous faire croire que tout ce qui était
à faire a été fait mais il y a des progrès`.

Des milliers de personnes, dont des dizaines d’avocats ou
journalistes, sont actuellement détenues en Turquie pour leurs liens
supposés avec des organisations clandestines et `terroristes`, surtout
les rebelles kurdes du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

Après avoir engagé des discussions avec le chef emprisonné du PKK
Abdullah Öcalan pour tenter de mettre un terme au conflit kurde, le
gouvernement turc a récemment modifié sa législation antiterroriste.
Mais cette réforme a été jugée largement insuffisante par les ONG et
la société civile.

Le Congrès de la FIDH doit s’achever lundi soir à Istanbul par la
désignation d’un nouveau président.

vendredi 24 mai 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Building 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel:? +(3741) 56 01 06? ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Yerevan, May 24, 2013

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund holds opening ceremonies
for Karmir Shuka water network and Martuni hospital

Within the framework of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Board of Trustees
annual meeting, held in Yerevan, a delegation led by Executive Director Ara
Vardanyan and comprising benefactors, trustees, and representatives of
affiliates worldwide has begun a string of project-reporting visits in
Armenia and Artsakh.

The delegation, which includes close to 40 members, has also started to hold
opening ceremonies for recently completed projects.

Prior to traveling to Artsakh, the delegation visited the Goris Cardiology
Center, which was built with the co-sponsorship of the fund’s French
affiliate, the French-Armenian Doctors’ Association, the department of
Bouches-du-Rhone (a large administrative area in the south of France), and
former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri.

On May 23, the delegation officially unveiled two major infrastructure
projects in the Martuni Region: the potable-water network of Karmir Shuka
Village, and the Martuni Hospital. The construction of both projects was
sponsored by Armenia Fund USA, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Eastern US
affiliate.

Dignitaries and guests participating in the opening ceremonies included Rev.
Shahe Ananyan, representative of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin; Karen
Shahramanyan, Urban Planning minister of NKR; Khoren Bandazian and Irina
Lazaryan, chairman and executive director, respectively, of the fund’s
Eastern US affiliate; and local-community representatives. The festive
events were attended by large numbers of local residents.

“I thank you all for your devotion to your village,” said Ara Vardanyan in
his opening remarks during the Karmir Shuka opening ceremony, as he
addressed the residents. “I am hopeful that your bond with your village will
always remain strong, that the ranks of children standing here today will
increase, and that this land will prosper well into the future.”

The 270 households of Karmir Shuka, comprising 1,050 residents, now enjoy
around-the-clock access to potable water, which reaches them from area
springs thanks to the recently built distribution network. The network,
whose construction was co-sponsored by the government of NKR, includes an
11-kilometer pipeline and two regulation reservoirs.

The opening ceremony for the Martuni Hospital was equally jubilant. A highly
anticipated project since its start in 2011, the construction of the
hospital was co-sponsored by the government of Artsakh, the fund’s Eastern
US affiliate, and the Armenian Medical Fund.

In his opening remarks, Martuni mayor Mher Khachatryan spoke of the critical
importance of the state-of-the-art facility. With a total area of 2,470
square meters and fully equipped to provide a broad range of health
services, the Martuni Hospital is one of the largest establishments of its
kind to be built by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The two-story complex
comprises a polyclinic, a maternity ward, an emergency room, an
intensive-care unit, and departments of gynecology, diagnostics, surgery,
and physical therapy. The hospital also features an advanced
infectious-diseases department, with its own entrance.

The hospital’s amenities include a large elevator, a boiler room, a power
substation, and central heating and air-conditioning. The facility can serve
close to 1,000 stationery and 1,400 ambulatory patients a year.

In his welcome speech at the opening ceremony, Khoren Bandazian said, “We
are extremely happy that ongoing collaboration between the diaspora and the
government of Artsakh has resulted in the establishment of yet another
modern medical center in the republic. The Martuni Hospital, whose
construction was made possible by the support of the Armenian Medical Fund,
our partner, will provide local communities with quality healthcare. It
remains to hope that this major initiative will be followed by many others,
toward the continued development of the strategically significant Martuni
Region.”

The Martuni Hospital is the second major medical facility in Artsakh to be
built through the support of the Armenian community of the Eastern US. The
first was the Stepanakert Polyclinic, a landmark complex which was built in
2006.

From: Baghdasarian

ARF MP to Ministers: “The people would beat you up in the streets”
Grisha Balasanyan

16:15, May 22, 2013

ARF MP Vahan Hovhannisyan labelled the recent attempts by the
government to defend its platform for the next five years as a `circus
performance’.

Hovhannisyan took the podium at the National Assembly and declared
that it wasn’t correct to deceive the people since the country `was on
the brink’ in terms of survivability.

The MP personally addressed a number of government ministers present
in the parliament and said that standing on their own merits, without
the backing of the president, the police and the prosecutor’s office,
they would never get elected to any office in the land.

`The people would beat you so badly in the streets that not only would
you never appear in the parliament but that you would emigrate. You
have merely created a system whereby you reproduce and declare that
you have won,’ Hovhannisyan said.

From: Baghdasarian

Was Chechen Man Shot by FBI in Florida a Suspect in 2011 Waltham Triple Murder?

Posted on | May 22, 2013

The news that Ibragim Todashev was shot to death by an FBI agent in
Orlando last night has gotten widespread attention because of the
connection between Todashev, a Chechen immigrant, and Boston marathon
bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev:

The FBI spent three hours Tuesday interviewing both Todashev and a
friend, Khusen Taramov, who told Orlando’s WESH-TV that agents had
taken Todashev to be interviewed separately. Taramov said: `They were
talking to us, both of us, right? And they said they need him for a
little more, for a couple more hours, and I left, and they told me
they’re going to bring him back. They never brought him back. . . . I
told him, `Everything is going to be fine, don’t worry about it.’ He
said, `I have a really bad feeling.”
The shooting occurred in an apartment complex off Peregrine Avenue in
Orlando, according to Central Florida News 13, which also interviewed
Taramov, who said FBI agents `started following us, watching us’ after
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokar were identified as suspects
in the April 15 bombing of the Boston Marathon, which killed three
people and wounded more than 170 others.
Todashev had reportedly been planning Tuesday to fly back to Chechnya,
Taramov said: `He cancelled the tickets because, the FBI had been
like, I don’t know, they’ve been pushing him, you know what I’m
saying. They’ve been pushing him they say `don’t leave, don’t leave’
so he decided to stay.’

You can read the rest at Viral Read, but what caught my eye was
thereport by NBC News that Todashev was being questioned by the FBI in
connection with a 2011 triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts, in
which Tamerlan Tsarnaev was reportedly also a suspect.

What do we know about that crime? And how was the possible involvement
of Tsarnaev and Todashev significant?

On Sept. 12, 2011, police found the bodies of three men – Brendan
Mess, 25, Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Teken, 37 – in a
second-floor apartment on a dead-end street in Waltham.

All three men had been stabbed in the neck, and their bodies were
reportedly `covered in marijuana.’ Neighbors reported that one of the
victims drove a Mercedes and there were frequent comings and goings
from the apartment, which would lead to the obvious suspicion that the
murders were drug-related. And police said from the start that they
believed the victims knew their killer or killers. Two weeks ago,
Michele McPhee of ABC News reported:

Massachusetts investigators have developed what they call `mounting
evidence,’ bolstered by `forensic hits,’ that point to the possible
involvement of both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother Dzhokhar
in a gruesome, unsolved triple homicide in 2011 . . .
In the wake of the Marathon bombings, Middlesex County began to probe
a link between the elder Tsarnaev and Brendan Mess, one of the three
men killed in the gruesome slaying on Sept. 11, 2011. . . . Tamerlan
and Mess were once roommates and did boxing and martial arts training
together. . . .
Now law enforcement officials tell ABC News that some crime scene
forensic evidence provided a match to the two Tsarnaev brothers. The
officials also said records of cell phones used by the Tsarnaevs
appears to put them in the area of the murders on that date. . . .
Roughly seven pounds of marijuana was dumped on the bodies and $5,000
in cash was left behind. Neighbors said they did not hear any signs of
trouble – even with open windows – and there was no forced entry. In a
2011 interview, Leone said investigators theorized there had been more
than one person at the scene of the murders based on `many factors,’
but no suspects were identified.
>From there the case went cold, until photos of the Boston Marathon
suspects were released and family and friends of the Waltham victims
recognized them and remembered Tamerlan’s strange behavior after the
murders. He did not attend his friend’s funeral and vanished from the
martial arts gyms where the men had sparred together.

If the killers left behind seven pounds of marijuana and $5,000,
obviously the motive for the crime was not robbery.

So the question quite naturally arises, what inspired this triple
murder on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks?

We have reports of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s `strange behavior’ after the
Waltham murders, we have his involvement in the Boston Marathon
bombings, we have reports of forensic evidence connecting the Tsarnaev
brothers to the murders, and now we have the report of Tamerlan
Tsarnaev’s Chechen buddy who had bought a ticket on a flight out of
the country and who was shot after attacking an FBI agent during an
interrogation.

Yeah, the 2011 Waltham murder case now looks very significant.

`Keep an eye on this one,’ says Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey catches something I missed:

The officials say Todashev had some connections with radical Chechen
rebels, but they say it’s not clear whether he had any role in
radicalizing Tsarnaev.

A month ago, Michael Rezendes of the Boston Globe reported:

Previously, investigators had said that Brendan Mess, 25, along with
Erik Weissman, 25, and Raphael Teken, 37, were killed on Sept. 12,
2011 . . .
But the relative interviewed by the Globe said the murders took place
the evening before, on Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The relative said he knew
this because he was texting one of the victims about a Sunday night
football game between the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys when
communication with the victims suddenly stopped at about 8:15 that
evening.
`The three of them were definitely killed on Sept. 11,’ the relative
said. `They all stopped using their cellphones at about eight o’clock
that night.’

The puzzle pieces seem to be forming a pattern. But if phone records
of the victims showed they were killed on the 10th anniversary of
9/11, why did investigators tell the public otherwise?

From: Baghdasarian

Sergo Karapetian’s speech puts ARFD deputy Vardanian out of temper

Thursday,
May 23

During the `question & answer hour’ in Armenian parliament, the deputy
of ARF-Dashnaktsutyun parliamentary faction Aghvan Vardanian asked
Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetian to say what steps were taken
to help farmers of Armavir province hit by a powerful hailstorm on May
12.

The minister replied that he had prepared a speech in advance and
began to read out the text of his speech, which was related to work
done by the ministry and had nothing to do with Armavir farmers.

The speech aroused indignation of Aghvan Vardanian who interrupted the
agriculture minister, saying: `Why aren’t you answering my question? I
advise you to dismiss the employee who wrote this text. I asked you a
concrete question and expect you to give a concrete answer. Why are
you reading this?’

22.05.2013, 21:35
Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

“You will be beaten up in breezeways…” Video

06:54 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

Vahan Hovhannisyan, a lawmaker of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnaktsutyun is shocked to see the `circus tricks
demonstrated’ at the National Assembly in the past two days.

There are people here who take delight in the opposition split and the
downfall of the first republic. I want to ask [Justice Minister] Hrayr
Tovmasyan, and other Cabinet ministers. How many votes will you poll
if you are nominated in a constituency where neither president, nor
[National Assembly] Speaker Hovik Argamich (Abrahamyan), Chief of the
Armenian Police Vladimir Gasparyan, Prosecutor General Aghvan
Hovsepyan can support you? You will be beaten in the breezeways so
badly that you will not want to show up at the National Assembly.
Moreover, you will want to emigrate from Armenia. Guys, you will not
get a single vote,” Hovhannisyan said in his speech.

From: Baghdasarian

U.S. Embassy Conference Findings: Armenia is Still Energy Insecure

11:01, May 22, 2013

On May 22, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia hosted the conference `The
Future of Energy in Armenia: A Conference on Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency in Armenia’.

The conference explored opportunities for Armenia to further diversify
energy sources and improve energy efficiency. The performance of the
energy sector and the quality of services have improved as a result of
the Armenian Government’s legal and regulatory reforms, new
institutional developments, and privatization as supported by the U.S.
government and other donors.

However, Armenia is still energy insecure and remains one of the most
energy-import dependent countries in the region. The primary
challenges to Armenia’s energy security are reliance on oil and
natural gas import, and the resultant vulnerability to price
fluctuations of these imports, ensuring the continued safe operation
of the Metsamor nuclear power plant, and the limited development of
alternative and renewable sources of energy. Inefficient energy usage
intensifies the impact of rising energy prices on the economy,
especially for low income and vulnerable households.

Resolution of these issues will further promote sustainability and
contribute to development of Armenia’s energy sector.

U.S. Ambassador John A. Heffern and Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources Armen Movsisian gave opening remarks, and panelists included
Areg Galstyan, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Vahan
Sargsyan, Director of Energy Strategy Center of the Scientific
Research Institute of Energy, representatives from the Public Service
Regulatory Commission, the Water Resource Management Agency of the
Ministry of Nature Protection, NGOs, the private sector and donor
organizations.

In October 2012, the U.S. Embassy and thegovernment of Armenia signed
a Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Sector Cooperation. U.S.
Government-funded projects continue to enhance the Government of
Armenia’s capacity to diversify energy sources, develop renewable
energy and improve energy efficiency. This conference was a part of
the implementation of the U.S. – Armenian Memorandum of Understanding
on energy sector designed to foster dialogue on issues related to
energy efficiency and renewable energy between the government, the
private sector, NGOs, and the donor community.

From: Baghdasarian