Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIA’S STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM’S SECTION RELATING TO POVERTY REDUCTION NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. Armenia’s strategic development program’s
section relating to poverty reduction needs improvement, the sectoral
group of the Civil Society Network of the Sustainable Development
Program/ the Strategic Program of Prospective Development for
2012-2025 says.

The aims of the strategic program are to create new jobs, develop human
resources, reform the social security system and ensure institutional
improvement to governing institutions.

Veronika Melikyan, coordinator of the Civil Society Network’s social
group, said yesterday that the planned poverty reduction projects
are based on demographic figures of 2004, while the figures of the
latest census are not mentioned here.

Participants of yesterday’s discussion also pointed out that there
are no allusions to any independent social study, i.e. no alterative
approaches have been included in the strategy.

“The strategy’s social section contains very few social programs,
and the system is not flexible – all the social projects planned to
be implemented are alike,” Melikyan said.

Poverty and abject penury criteria are not taken into account in the
strategic program.

“For example, the subsistence system meets basic requirements and this
in mind the government plans to reduce abject poverty, but living
standards remain unchanged and estimation mechanisms and criteria
are wrong here,” she said.

Aram Grigoryan, a member of the of the Civil Society Network’s council,
the social section of the strategy contains no step-by-step measures
to be taken to achieve goals – there are the list of wishes instead.

Besides, he said, the objectives of the program don’t comport with
inside and outside risks, particularly corruption risks. –0–

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA’S HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX POSITIONS THE COUNTRY AT 87 OUT OF 187 COUNTRIES

16:54, March 19, 2013

The Armenian Office of UNDP reports that Armenia’s Human Development
Index (HDI) value for 2012 is 0.729 – in the high human development
category – positioning the country at 87 out of 187 countries and
territories. As the underlying data and methods for calculation of
HDIs have changed, it does not allow to compare values and rankings
related to Armenia with those of previously published human development
reports.

Between 1990 and 2012, Armenia’s HDI value increased from 0.628 to
0.729, an increase of 16 percent or average annual increase of about
0.7 percent.

Between 1980 and 2012, Armenia’s life expectancy at birth increased
by 3.5 years, mean years of schooling increased by 1.6 years and
expected years of schooling increased by 2.3 years. Armenia’s GNI
per capita increased by about 96 percent between 1990 and 2012.

Armenia’s 2012 HDI of 0.729 is below the average of 0.758 for countries
in the high human development group and below the average of 0.771 for
countries in Europe and Central Asia. From Europe and Central Asia,
countries which are close to Armenia in 2012 HDI rank and population
size are Georgia and Azerbaijan, which have HDIs ranked 72 and 82
respectively.

The 2010 HDR introduced the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI),
which identifies multiple deprivations in the same households in
education, health and standard of living. Armenia’s MPI value,
which is the share of the population that is multi-dimensionally
poor adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, was 0.001 and
is slightly ahead of Georgia and Azerbaijan, which had MPI values of
0.003 and 0.021 respectively.

From: Baghdasarian

ROBERT AVETISYAN: KARABAKH DESERVES REUNION WITH ARMENIA

19:09 19.03.2013

Fresno Bee publishes Op/Ed from Nagorno Karabakh’s Ambassador Robert
Avetisyan:

“Feb. 20, 1988 was the day when Soviet authorities in Moscow saw the
first real signs of what was soon to become the first truly democratic
movement in the Soviet Empire.

A full quarter of a century ago, the Council of People’s Deputies,
the legislative body for Nagorno Karabakh, sent a formal appeal to
the authorities in Soviet Azerbaijan and Armenia and to Moscow as
well, to reunite Artsakh (as Nagorno Karabakh is known in Armenian)
with Armenia.

In making this request, they sought to reverse the arbitrary 1921
decision by dictator Joseph Stalin to carve Artsakh out of Armenia
and place it under the administration of the newly created Soviet
Azerbaijan Republic.

The citizens of Karabakh had never accepted Stalin’s actions and
when the Soviet system began opening up in the late 1980s, under
Gorbachev’s Perestroyka and Glasnost, they moved quickly to realize
their long-held democratic aspirations.

When the 180,000 people of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
(or NKAO) raised their voice for freedom, the Communist leadership in
Moscow and Baku pushed back hard, but could not suppress the legitimate
right of the people of this land to freedom and self-determination.

Moscow sought to ignore these democratic appeals and deployed troops
to instill fear and crack down on Artsakh. Baku’s response was even
worse: During Feb. 26-28, 1988, hundreds of Armenians were subjected to
torture and murdered simply for being Armenian. Organized mobs armed
with knives and sharpened rods attacked apartments that belonged to
Armenian families and conducted targeted atrocities with the full
support of law-enforcement authorities in the large industrial city
of Sumgait.

Seeing no condemnation, Soviet Azerbaijani authorities spread their
attacks into cities that included Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku,
Kirovabad. These attacks, too, claimed the lives of innocent people
whose only “crime” was being Armenian.

By end of 1991, the people of Artsakh, having endured violence and
aggression, acted under existing laws, to declare the formation of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR). Azerbaijan’s reaction was as
predictable as it was aggressive. Emboldened by the impunity of their
previous attacks, they launched a full-scale military attack against
the newly-formed NKR, threatening the existence of local Armenians,
Russians, Greeks, Azerbaijanis, Jews and others. The war lasted
until 1994, when Azerbaijan relented and signed a cease-fire with
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenia. Over the course of this war,
Azerbaijani attacks ruined almost the entire social and economic
infrastructure of Artsakh, killing and maiming tens of thousands and
causing large flows of refugees on both sides.

Since the 1994 cease-fire, Artsakh has developed a fully-functioning
democracy with an effective government, fledging market economy,
vibrant civil society and capable armed forces. The process of
democratic development is irreversible, as illustrated by the series
of parliamentary and presidential elections that have been described
as free and fair by international observers. Freedom House, the
human-rights watchdog, has rated Nagorno Karabakh as a partly free
nation, marking the country’s democratic advantage over many of its
regional neighbors, particularly totalitarian Azerbaijan.

While there is still much to do to solve the consequences of
Azerbaijan’s devastating aggression, and despite all existing regional
challenges, the Karabakh government is determined to strive toward a
safer, stronger and more prosperous republic for its people. Artsakh
is a viable state – ready and capable to assume its international
responsibilities. The people of Artsakh deserve the same rights and
freedoms as everyone else. The world community should welcome our new
democracy into the family of nations by recognizing the independence
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.”

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian Museum of Fresno
(A California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation)
550 E. Shaw Ave, Suite 240
Fresno, CA 93710
P.O. Box 5921
Fresno, CA 93755-5921
Tel: 559-224-1001
FAX: 559-224-1002

Repatriation and Deception:

Post World War II Soviet Armenia

Painting and Drawings by
Hazel Antaramian Hofman

Opening Night: Thursday, March 21, 2013
ArtHop Reception from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Multimedia Presentation by the Artist begins at 6:00pm

At the Armenian Museum of Fresno

550 E Shaw Ave, Fresno, CA 93710
[UC Center Bldg; Across from Fashion Fair Mall]

Click Here
()
to read the artist’s interview

===========================================================
FREE Admission and Parking
Copyright © 2013 Armenian Museum of Fresno, All rights reserved.

From: Baghdasarian

HOW MANY MILLIONS WAS THE PRESENT OF SASHIK SARGSYAN~RS SON WORTH?

March 19 2013

Sashik Sargsyan’s son, Narek, who had been married to the daughter of
Gagik Hayrapetyan, the owner of the stucco factory, and, according to
reliable information, has been divorced in recent months installed a
huge floral composition, whose arrow was directed to the door of his
wife’s home, on 10th Street, Aygestan. Many people were interested in
the floral composition on the street; cars driving along the street
would stop and photograph Narek’s expensive present. The flowers were
already gone this morning. According to our information, only one
florist shop, where compositions are worth from 500 thousand drams
to 50 million drams, makes such compositions. Eva HAKOBYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

From: Baghdasarian

RELOCATION WITH A REASON: SOME SYRIAN-ARMENIAN FAMILIES FIND ADVANTAGES TO RESETTLE IN KARABAKH

FEATURES | 20.03.13 | 15:47

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

Kashatagh region capital Berdzor
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Numerous Syrian-Armenians have moved to Armenia because of the war
in Syria, many among them further moved and have settled in the
internationally unrecognized Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s Kashatagh
region.

This southwestern part of Karabakh has now 23 Syrian families totaling
71 people. The first family moved there much earlier, in 2008, even
before the war broke out. The majority of families migrated from
northeastern Syrian Qamishli city on the border with Turkey.

Enlarge Photo Vardan Poghosyan with his wife

Vardan Poghosyan’s family is one of them. He moved to Kashatagh
together with his wife and 18 month-old daughter. They live in the
region’s capital Berdzor. Both are accountants and have jobs, and
soon will be allotted an apartment.

“It was my decision to come directly to Karabakh. Rather than going to
Europe or America, why not come and live in our homeland. Of course,
there are many difficulties, but we have to endure. After all, we
have lived in a foreign country more than enough,” Vardan, 29, told
ArmeniaNow, adding that following their example his brother Serob,
too, moved there with his family, in-laws and relatives.

Some of the Syrian-Armenian families live in Kovsakan, the second
largest city, and Ishkanadzor of Kashatagh region. Robert Matevosyan,
head of the re-settlement department of Kashatagh administrative
district, says the first families who had moved to Kovsakan now
have private houses, for the others a multi-storey building has been
renovated and apartments have been allotted.

“In Berdzor they still live in the guesthouse, soon will have their
own apartments provided to them free of charge with an ownership
right. Those families that will adapt and stay, will later be given
the property ownership certificate,” Matevosyan told ArmeniaNow.

“People with professions are now employed, rural families have been
given land lots. The state has granted agricultural loans with zero
interest rate. People have sown wheat, oats, and will return the
money when they harvest the crops.”

In 1992 (during the war) Armenian forces took control over Berdzor
(Lachin) town and the Lachin corridor, which was also called the
“road of life”, since it was the only land communication between
Karabakh and Armenia. Zangelan, Kubatlu and part of Lachin (which are
among the seven disputed regions around former Autonomous Republic
of Nagorno Karabakh have been re-arranged into Kashatagh region with
3,376 sq.km total area, and the re-settlement of this area is of
strategic importance. By the 2011 data of the NKR labor and social
affairs ministry, 8,500 people reside in Kashatagh.

Matevosyan says they are expecting another stream of people to
Kashatagh.

“We got the applications a while ago. Some 4-5 families have come
to learn the terms. In any case we are ready to accept everybody. We
continue building new houses and repairing the old ones. They adapt,
live overcoming the challenges. There are language issues, but they
are being overcome as well,” says Matevosyan.

Not only the NKR authorities, but also Kashatagh, the Tufenkian
Foundation, Assistance to Self-Determined Artsakh charitable
foundations are supporting the Syrian Armenians to settle in Karabakh,
as well as Help Your Brother relief initiative for Syrian-Armenians.

According to Diaspora ministry data, some 6,000 families have moved
to Armenia forced out by the military actions in Syria, 300 among
them reside in the provinces of Armenia.

From: Baghdasarian

KARABAKH’S RECOGNITION ISSUE CANNOT BE DISCUSSED IN CONTEXT OF WAR – FORMER FM

NEWS.AM
March 20, 2013 | 14:10

YEREVAN. – Incumbent Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s view on
Nagorno-Karabakh is more convincing than the statements that it
is indispensable to immediately recognize the independence of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). Armenia’s ex-presidential candidate,
NKR former FM Arman Melikyan said this during a press conference
on Wednesday.

In Melikyan’s words, however, Sargsyan’s view is not so clear.

“He says we [that is, Armenia] will recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic if war breaks out and Azerbaijan launches military
operations. That is, Karabakh’s independence turns into something
that depends on war; this is a wrong approach,” Melikyan noted.

In his view, a parallel process needs to be started toward the
recognition of NKR.

“And this process will convert NKR’s recognition into a political
agenda matter, not into an issue of war,” Melikyan stressed, and added
that there exist diplomatic and political methods, by whose assistance
a de facto independence can be turned into a de jure independence.

From: Baghdasarian

GOING ASTRAY: TWO ARMENIANS BECOME CAPTIVES IN AZERBAIJAN AFTER CROSSING BORDER

NEWS | 20.03.13 | 15:25

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Negotiations are underway over the repatriation of two Armenian
citizens who crossed the border into Azerbaijan a few days ago and
were apprehended by Azerbaijani armed forces.

The incident happened in the borderlands of the northeastern province
of Tavush last weekend.

Armen Kaprielyan, who heads the working group affiliated with the
Commission on Captives, Hostages and Missing Persons, told ArmeniaNow
that on March 19 the Azerbaijani side officially confirmed that two
Armenian citizens, identified as resident of the Noyemberyan area
Durmush Karyan and resident of the village of Aygehovit, Ijevan area,
Anahit Arakelyan – crossed the border on March 16 and 17, respectively,
and were now being held in Azerbaijan.

“They are ordinary villagers. I can confidently say that both of
them lost their way by mistaking the path. The man, according to
preliminary information, was going after his stray cattle, which is the
most frequent reason for which residents of borderlands inadvertently
cross the border,” said Kaprielyan, adding that the Armenian side at
this point has taken all measures for the safe return of the citizens.

According to Azeri media reports, the Baku office of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released information according
to which the state commission that deals with captives and missing
persons in Azerbaijan had turned to the organization suggesting that
the two persons be repatriated to Armenia. The ICRC Office in Armenia
could not verify and confirm this information to ArmeniaNow as of
Wednesday afternoon.

This is not the first case when citizens of Armenia cross the
militarized but sparsely protected border in northeastern Armenia and
become hostages in Azerbaijan. Kaprielyan reminds of the 2009 case of
Artur Badalyan, who went astray while picking mushrooms. The Armenian
side suspected a kidnapping by Azeri commandoes, but Baku for more
than a year denied holding the man before admitting it in late 2010.

Badalyan was returned to Armenia in March 2011.

Another incident involving an Armenian captive had a tragic end. In
September 2010, 20-year-old resident of Ttujur village in the
Gegharkunik province of Armenia Manvel Saribekyan, while looking for
his stray cattle, himself strayed into Azerbaijani territory and was
taken prisoner by Azeri forces and accused of being a saboteur planning
to blow up a school in Azerbaijan. According to the Defense Ministry of
Azerbaijan, Saribekyan committed suicide in a Baku jail a month later.

Authorities in Yerevan, however, insisted that Saribekyan wasn’t
a trained saboteur and did not commit suicide in anticipation of
repatriation but was murdered in jail. An expert examination conducted
on Saribekyan’s body returned to the Armenian side reportedly revealed
injuries that could have been caused by torture. Saribekyan’s family
are going to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights soon.

Kaprielyan said that according to their information at this point
there are 90 Armenians kept in Azerbaijan as captives. But Azerbaijan
confirms only the presence of a five-member Armenian family that
deliberately crossed the border into Nakhijevan in 2010.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA-TURKEY: ANOTHER CASE OF OUTRAGE FROM AZERBAIJAN AS YEREVAN-VAN FLIGHT SET FOR COMMENCEMENT

NEWS | 20.03.13 | 15:21

Photolure

By GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Another initiative in Armenian-Turkish relations has caused a fit of
jealousy in Azerbaijan that has accused its ethnic cousin of supporting
an enemy state.

After negotiations that lasted more than four years, April 3 will see
the commencement of the first flight from Yerevan to the historical
Armenian city of Van, which is located in the territory of modern-day
Turkey.

Officials in Azerbaijan have already slammed Turkey for allowing such
a project that they said will only benefit Armenia, which is seen by
Baku as an aggressor country.

Commercial flights between Yerevan and Van indeed are supposed to
result in greater activity on Armenia’s tourist market, as well as
in the adjacent province in Turkey, considering the great interest
that exists among Armenians towards their historical monuments and
other sights in and around Van.

The flight will be carried out on a 68-seat European-make aircraft
designed for short-distance flights belonging to the Turkish airline,
Borajet, and will be operated by the Armenian Narekavank Tour travel
company.

Narekavank Tour company co-founder Armen Hovhannisyan told ArmeniaNow
that every year hundreds of Armenians visit Van and the availability
of a direct Yerevan-Van flight is likely to increase this tourist
flow, as many now are reluctant to go because of the long and tiring
journey that it currently involves.

Hovhannisyan says that reaching Van from Yerevan by a land route
(considering that the Turkish-Armenian border is closed) takes 18-20
hours and costs approximately 25,000-30,000 drams (about $60-75),
while the flight, although more expensive (in April and May a roundtrip
ticket will cost $200, and $250 for other months), but will take only
40 minutes to reach the place. Flights will be available twice a week,
Wednesdays and Sundays.

“This flight has nothing to do with politics, this is pure tourism.

The main goal of the flight is to organize trips and pilgrimages
for Armenians to their historical homeland. This is the best chance
for them to go there,” said the travel agent, adding that at this
moment only 10 people have actually booked air tickets to Van, but
expectations are that the flights will sell well.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
regional ally Azerbaijan that was suffering heavy defeats in the
Karabakh war waged against ethnic Armenians.

Armenia and Turkey, which also have different perspectives on history,
including the 1915 massacres of Armenian nationals of the Ottoman
Empire, which Ankara refuses to recognize as genocide, have not had
diplomatic relations since then. Attempts to achieve rapprochement
in 2008-2009 suffered a setback against the backdrop of protests from
Baku about a possible Turkish-Armenian normalization.

And in the most recent manifestation of Azeri “jealousy” over
communications between Yerevan and Ankara, a number of Baku officials
raised questions about Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s congratulations
sent to his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on his reelection last
month, causing the Turkish Foreign Ministry to provide a clarification
in this regard.

In an article late last month California Courier publisher Harut
Sassounian examined the trend. He also cited another instance of an
Azeri reaction. “No sooner had Turkish Airlines announced that it
would distribute a copy of Agos, a bilingual Armenian-Turkish weekly
newspaper, to its international passengers, that Fikret Sadikov, an
Azeri professor and political analyst, objected to its dissemination,
calling it an ‘absolutely absurd and irresponsible gesture’,” wrote
Sassounian.

And despite the fact that a few days ago Turkish Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Joshkun gave assurances that the operation
of the Yerevan-Van flight is a private commercial project and that
Turkey’s stance on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has not changed,
the Azerbaijani party continues to oppose the commencement of the
flight.

Ali Hasanov, Head of the Department on Social Political Issues of
the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, claimed late last week
that the flight between Yerevan and Van supports a country that is
an enemy of Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan has stated on many occasions that we are sensitive to
any contact with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, particularly when
these contacts are made by friendly countries,” said Hasanov. “We
are twice as hurt when it is done by countries we share strategic
interests with.”

Deputy Director of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan
told ArmeniaNow that such seemingly ‘irrational scenes’ of jealousy
towards the ‘elder brother’ Turkey from Azerbaijan are, in fact,
a display of some ‘rational fear’ that sooner or later these small
steps will lead to some improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations
and removal of the current blockade of Armenia’s communications.

“One should not expect the Yerevan-Van project to become a really big
event, but it will certainly become an additional means for Ankara and
partly for Yerevan to at least maintain the level of their existing
relationships and wait for the domestic or regional political
situations to enable them to attempt to restore or resume their
diplomatic steps towards rapprochement,” said the political analyst.

From: Baghdasarian

PERSONNEL RESHUFFLE IN ARMENIA: ALMOST NOTHING WILL CHANGE

ARMINFO
Wednesday, March 20, 09:40

The ruling circles of Armenia are currently discussing the forthcoming
personnel reshuffle expected right after the April 9 swear-in ceremony
of Serzh Sargsyan.

ArmInfo’s sources close to the authorities say that one should expect
no special personnel reshuffle. Rotation of 4 or 5 ministers may
occur. But in general, the key members of the executive power headed
by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan will retain their portfolios.

According to the sources, despite certain political circles’ discontent
with Tigran Sargsyan’s activity, his long stay at the premier’s post
is mostly due to the impact of Europe, which considers him to be
“committed to the key values and principles” and promoter of European
interests in Armenia.

As a measure of pressure on the republic, the EU has chosen the method
of harsh statements concerning the impossibility of simultaneous
Armenia’s Association membership in EU and the country’s membership in
the Customs and Eurasian Unions. It is in this light that one should
also consider the stay of Armen Gevorgyan in the Vice Premier’s post.

Europe also considers him to be its representative in the Armenian
Government. Moreover, the same sources say that it is Armen Gevorgyan
who will hold the talks on approval of the next European grant or loan.

Following the logic, if Tigran Sargsyan remains a premier, Economy
Minister Tigran Davtyan and Finance Minister Vache Gabrielyan,
as well as Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan
will retain their portfolios. Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan will
not lose his portfolio either. Head of the State Revenue Committee,
oligarch Gagik Khachatryan is most likely to lose his position.

There is no information yet about the ministers of force structures,
but the power circles do not rule out possible rotation. The issue
of the foreign minister’s position is not being discussed either.

Personnel reshuffle will occur in the President’s Administration
either. In particular, Spokesperson of Armenian President Armen
Arzumanyan will apparently lose his post and become the head of one
of the pseudo-opposition TV channels. Artak Alexanyan, Head of the
ArmNews TV channel, and Gevorg Altunyan, Head of the information and
analytical programs of the Public TV and Radio Company, are considered
as possible nominees for the post of the President’s Spokesperson.

From: Baghdasarian