Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN LEADS MOVEMENT OF NATIONAL TASKS – HELLO REVOLUTION REP

TERT.AM
20:11 ~U 27.03.13

Izabella Abgaryan, a member of the Barev Heghapokhutyun (Hello
Revolution), made a speech at the 9th meeting of the public council in
Freedom Square in Yerevan.

Addressing the talks about an end to the struggle, she said: “We
should realize that we should not link this movement to Raffi
Hovannisian alone. During the very first days he forbade us to cry out
his name, but told us to cry out Armenia.”

“They can cry down Raffi Hovannisian or the Heritage party, but they
cannot cry down the whole people,” Ms Abragyan said.

She noted the importance of individual involvement in the struggle.

People must realize that this movement is not “for a month or a year.”

The movement will be in effect during Raffi Hovannisian’s presidency
as well.

“This movement has important national tasks – not just allowing one to
fill the post of president, but building a really new Armenia.

Even if this square gets empty, we must be sure that we will gather in
any of Yerevan’s streets should any injustice be done,” she said.

With respect to other civil societies, Ms Abgaryan said that people
there do not normally expect their leader to call on them to defend
their rights.

“You can see strikes and demonstrations and other actions people
organize. What about us? We stage protests once in five years. Any
real changes are impossible to achieve in this case, because we must
protest whenever rights are violated,” she said.

With respect to Mr Hovannisian’s proposals sent to Armenia’s President
Serzh Sargsyan, Ms Abgaryan noted they caused “political retrading” in
social networks.

“You should not measure others against your own yardstick. If Mr
Hovannsian were seeking ‘uproars’ he would have created such an
‘uproar’ back on February 19, and you would have never know anything
about that. Many political figures did so, did not they?”

From: Baghdasarian

L’OPPOSITION SE RASSEMBLE POUR LES PROCHAINES ELECTIONS

Un membre eminent de la Federation revolutionnaire armenienne (FRA)
a confirme que plusieurs partis de l’opposition pourraient former
une coalition après les elections municipales de mai pour tenter de
prendre le pouvoir dans la capitale armenienne d’Erevan.

Le Parti Dashnaktsutuyn, ainsi que le Parti Armenie prospère (BHK),
et le Congrès national armenien (HAK) ont discute pour se mettre
d’accord sur une liste commune de candidats pour le 5 mai.

Armen Rustamian, qui dirige la liste de candidats du Dashnaktsutuyn,
a devoile quelques details : ” Nous avons dit que nous etions prets
a tout faire pour remporter la victoire, mais, malheureusement,
cela n’a pas reellement fonctionne. Nous n’avons pas reussi a former
un bloc pre-electoral, nous allons essayer de former une alliance
post-electorale “.

D’autres groupes d’opposition, y compris le HAK, le BHK et le parti
Barev, Erevan (Bonjour, Erevan), se sont egalement prononces en faveur
d’une cooperation pour faire barrage au HHK. Le parti dirige par le
president Serge Sarkissian se dit confiant et sûr de remporter les
prochaines elections.

jeudi 28 mars 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

LES AMBASSADEURS SOUTIENNENT LE THINK TANK CIVILITAS

De hauts fonctionnaires occidentaux soutiennent le groupe de
reflexion local, Civilitas, qui est au centre d’une enquete sur
le blanchiment d’argent ces derniers temps. Lors d’un evenement
organise par l’organisation basee a Erevan mercredi 27 mars 2013,
les ambassadeurs des Etats-Unis, d’Allemagne et de la Suisse, ainsi
que le consul honoraire de la Norvège et de la Finlande ont fait
l’eloge de la Fondation Civilitas et de son media Civilnet.

Le National Security Service (NSS) a lance l’an dernier une enquete
sur le blanchiment d’argent presume par l’ancien ministre des Affaires
etrangères Vartan Oskanian, qui a fonde Civilitas peu après avoir
quitte la fonction publique en 2008.

Le debut de l’enquete criminelle controversee a coïncide avec la
decision du Parti Armenie prospère qui s’est retire de la coalition
après les elections legislatives de mai 2012.

Oskanian a perdu son immunite parlementaire et a ete inculpe pour
avoir detourne 1,4 million de dollars a la Fondation Civilitas en
2010. Oskanian a nie les accusations, les qualifiant de ” politiquement
motivees “.

Salpi Ghazarian, le directeur de la Fondation Civilitas s’est plaint
des interrogatoires menes auprès de ses employes par le SNRS dans
une affaire qu’il considère close.

L’avocat Vahe Grigorian, quant a lui, soupconne que l’enquete continue
pour restreindre la liberte d’expression au media Civilnet, un site d’
informations qui possède egalement une television sur Internet.

L’ambassadeur americain John Heffern a declare : ” Pour nous, Les
Etats-Unis, pour l’ambassade americaine, ainsi que pour la communaute
internationale, Civilitas et Civilnet sont des partenaires très
importants. Nous pensons que Civilnet et Civilitas sont vraiment d’une
importance cruciale pour la democratie en Armenie et c’est pourquoi
nous travaillons avec eux. ”

L’ambassadeur americain a souligne que son ambassade n’a pas de
preoccupations sur la facon dont les projets sont menes a Civilitas. ”
Nous n’avons pas de questions sur la facon dont l’argent des
contribuables americains a ete depense dans le cadre de ces trois
projets sur la liste du NSS. Et nous croyons vraiment qu’il n’y a
aucun victime ici. Nous pensons que rien ne doit etre etudie par le
SNRS et surtout rien de nature criminelle “, a-t-il dit.

L’ambassadeur d’Allemagne en Armenie Reiner Morell a partage l’avis de
son homologue americain, soulignant que Civilitas ” fait la difference
” en Armenie.” Son travail est très important et c’est pourquoi
nous sommes impliques dans le financement de ce think tank. Il n’y
a pas de mal a financer une organisation qui respecte la loi “,
a declare Morell.

jeudi 28 mars 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

AKHALKALAK REGIONAL ASSEMBLY’S DECISION CAUSES MUCH NOISE IN GEORGIA

March 18, 2013

(akhaltskha.net, March 18) – The decision of Akhalkalak Regional
Assembly to apply to Georgia’s Parliament for the latter to ratify
the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and therefore
give the status of a regional language to Armenian has caused much
noise in that country.

Yesterday in reference to this matter, President Saakashvili stated
that the ratification of the Charter poses a menace to national
security and accused Armenians of nationalism.

United National Movement Secretary and former Internal Affairs
Minister, Vano Merabishvili said that during his nine-year in office
has done everything within his power to exclude the language issue
from being part of the agenda. “Davit Rsdakyan who was a member of the
Akhalkalak Sacrebulo (Regional Assembly) was always trying to raise
this issue and that is why we, along with the rest of the political
forces did everything so that he and other extremists like him don’t
get in the Akhalkalak Sacrebulo” revealed Merabishivili.

In the words of Eka Beselia, Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament’s
Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, the granting of regional
language status to the Armenian language is not on the Parliament’s
agenda. Beselia said that this matter hasn’t come out of the political
council yet and that the Parliament hasn’t received any application
and therefore it hasn’t discussed about it.

Tinatin Khidasheli, MP and leading figure of the Republicans thinks
that this is an issue for the Georgian people to consider. “If we are
moving in Europe’s direction then we should fulfil this obligation and
it shouldn’t matter who raised it because we undertook this obligation
in 1999” he said.

Georgia’s First Deputy Foreign Minister, Davit Zalkaliani believes
that to be integrated in the Council of Europe, ratifying the Charter
is not necessary; moreover a negative decision from the Parliament
wouldn’t affect the visa facilitation process with the CoE. “The
Parliament must make its decision by taking national interests under
consideration” Zalkaliani stated.

Circles close to the Georgian government are pointing that in 1999,
Saakashvili who was in favor of the approval of the Charter because
he wanted to accelerate Georgia’s membmership in the Council of Europe.

The calls to ratify the Charter have also echoed in Akhalkalak.

Regional Assembly Chairperson Hamlet Movsisyan stated: “We insist
that the Parliament ratifies the Charter, which Georgia has joined
in 1999” and he stressed that the initiative belongs to “The Georgian
Dream” MPs.

The historic session

The members of the Assembly considered the March 14 session a
historic one, sknews.am reports (March 14). It lasted almost two
hours and was attended by Assembly members, civic organization
and media representatives. It was an initiative of the “Georgian
Dream-Republicans” coalition for the Assembly to discuss and then
apply to the Parliament for granting the Armenian language the status
of regional language. On February 25, the coalition fraction had
submitted a relative application to the Assembly and the Republicans
assumed that it would be discussed on the 27th but since it was not
properly evaluated it hadn’t been included in that day’s agenda.

From: Baghdasarian

FAMILY OF TURKISH ARMENIAN PRIVATE TO APPEAL COURT’S DECISION ON SON’S DEATH

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 27 2013

The family of a Turkish private of Armenian descent, Sevag Å~^ahin
Balıkcı, has said they will appeal a court ruling which said the
2011 death of their son was an accident and sentenced the man who
shot him to four years, five months in prison.

Pvt. Balıkcı was killed on April 24, 2011, the date the Armenian
diaspora has chosen to commemorate the incidents of 1915, when
hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in the Ottoman Empire
during World War I. Officers and other privates in Balıkcı’s unit,
which was stationed in Batman province, testified that he was shot
accidentally while “joking around” with a close friend, Kıvanc
Agaoglu. The two were serving at the Kozluk GumuÅ~_göru Gendarmerie
Station at the time of the incident.

Earlier this month, a military prosecutor demanded up to two years,
six months’ imprisonment for Agaoglu, accusing him of accidentally
shooting Balıkcı during their military service as privates. But
Balıkcı’s family and lawyers believe the young man being an ethnic
Armenian might have been the motive for the fatal shooting.

On Tuesday, the Diyarbakır Second Air Forces Command Military Court
ruled for a lengthier four years and five months of prison time for
Agaoglu, finding him guilty of involuntarily causing the death of
Balıkcı. Subtracting time served, he will be staying in prison for
the next three years.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Ä°smail Cem Halavurt, a lawyer
representing the Balıkcı family, said they will file an appeal at
the Supreme Court of Appeals seeking the reversal of the decision.

“We believe the killing was deliberate,” Halavurt said, demanding
a lengthier prison term for Agaoglu. He also accused the prosecutor
involved in the case of being reckless in saying Balıkcı was shot
“accidentally.”

Also speaking to the press, Ani Balıkcı, the mother of the private,
said her son was killed because of his ethnic background as a person
of Armenian origin.

A reaction against the court ruling came from the Association of
Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER), whose
Diyarbakır Branch President Abdurrahim Ay said, “We think the court
ruling regarding Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı was given without a thorough
and adequate investigation.”

Ay noted that during the course of the trial, several witnesses had
testified that the private was shot on purpose, not by accident, adding
that the ruling “has disappointed Balıkcı’s family and everyone
following this trial.” He also said that in many similar cases in the
military, the victims tended to be Kurdish or of some other ethnicity.

“This alarming truth is that people are being discriminated against
on the basis of their race or religion even when they are performing
a duty that is compulsory in this country and this discrimination is
proving to be deadly,” he said, underlining that the court’s decision
was a major disappointment given this situation.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Ä°stanbul deputy Sebahat Tuncel, who
held a press conference in the Parliament building on Wednesday, said:
“It is no coincidence that those who die in accidents in the army are
Kurds, Alevis or Armenians. We are seeing the consequences of racism
and nationalism.” She continued: “This country hasn’t forgotten Hrant
Dink. What happened to Sevag Balıkcı is a different manifestation
of the same thing. Turkey has to establish social peace.”

From: Baghdasarian

CZECHS BEAT ARMENIA 3:0 TO KEEP WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION HOPES ALIVE

Radio Prague, Czech Rep.

March 27 2013

The Czech Republic’s footballers beat Armenia 3:0 away in a World
Cup qualifier on Tuesday evening. The goals came from 20-year-old
MatÄ~[j Vydra (who was named English Championship Player of the Year
on Sunday) with a second-half brace and Daniel KoláÅ~Y, who found
the net in the dying seconds. The Czechs now have eight points from
five games and still have a mountain to climb if they are to reach
the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

[parts omitted]

From: Baghdasarian

EU TO SUPPORT EDUCATION IN ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 27 2013

Armenian minister of education and science Armen Ashotyan has just
visited Brussels and met with the head of the European Commission’s
directorate for higher education, Jordi Curel Gotor.

The parties discussed cooperation between the EU and Armenia in the
sphere of education.

The parties also stressed that they agreed that the European Commission
will continue to support the Armenian system of education.

.

From: Baghdasarian

POLITICAL EXPERTS SPEAK OF INTERFERENCE IN ARMENIA’S DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

TERT.AM
16:30 ~U 28.03.13

In any other country but Armenia a foreign ambassador’s statement
would be viewed as interference in the country’s domestic affairs,
the political engineer Armen Badalyan told Tert.am as he commented
on a statement by a number of ambassadors made at a press conference
the Civilitas Foundation hosted on Wednesday.

They particularly stated that there was no need for criminal
proceedings involving the Civilitas Foundation.

“Why? It is because after the elections Armenia’s authorities have
been asking the nations in question to recognize their legitimacy;
the budget lacks funds because of their economic policy and they
have to ask the West and Russia for money. So they cannot say this
is interference in the country’s domestic affairs,” Mr Badalyan said.

He advises against attempts to view the ambassadors’ statement in
the context of the processes in Freedom Square. According to him,
the foreign ambassadors only warned Armenia’s authorities against
misrepresenting political persecution of the Civilitas Foundation
and its leader Vartan Oskanian as a legal case.

Expert Manvel Sargsyan shares Mr Badalyan’s opinion: foreign
ambassadors can make statements if Armenia’s authorities themselves
turn to foreign nations for political and financial assistance.

“Our society has repeatedly raised the problem of election frauds. But
any time we have situations when the West defends Serzh Sargsyan,”
he said. Mr Sargsyan noted that Armenia’s authorities cannot explain
this situation in any way.

It is no coincidence that, after the Feb. 18 presidential election,
Armenia’s social circles have openly stated that the western
observation missions are biased.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMAVIA DOES NOT HAVE FINANCIAL MEANS TO KEEP NATIONAL AIR CARRIER STATUS: ARTYOM MOVSISYAN

14:50, 28 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 28, ARMENPRESS: “Armavia” air company currently does not
possess necessary financial means to postpone and commit obligations
undertaken by the state. As Armenpress reports, Artyom Movsisyan, Head
of Armenia’s General Department of Civil Aviation told the reporters,
“I think, a final decision will be made in the nearest future. The
agreement expires on April 22 and let us hope a final decision will
be made by that scheduled time. Currently an intensive discussion
is ongoing in the Government; civil aviation is not the single body
responsible to make a decision”.

As Armenpress reports, Head of Armenia’s General Department of Civil
Aviation, does not rule out “Armavia” will not be declared “bankrupt”
due to the debts. Talks are already underway for a few months refer to
“Armavia” purchase. The company has declared negotiations are being
launched with Italian and foreign organizations.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT UNLIKELY TO MAKE EFFECTIVE STEPS – HERITAGE PARTY

NEWS.AM
March 28, 2013 | 13:09

YEREVAN.- Heritage party representative said President Serzh Sargsyan
is more likely to make acceptable offers than parliament agrees to
hold special session to discuss internal political situation.

Armen Martirosyan, deputy chairman of Heritage party, is confident
that Armenian society does not trust the parliament. He said one
should not expect that parliament will make effective steps.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian