Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ITAR-TASS: Russia to continue losing positions in South Caucasus
without rehabilitation of Abkhazian railway

ARMINFO
Saturday, March 16, 10:40

The recent visits of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and President
of the partially recognized republic of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab have
become a kind of parade of Russia’s allies on the threshold of
possible turbulence period, an article published on the website of
ITAR-TASS says.

The article says that at present only Armenia in the South Caucasus
casts itself as loyal to Russia (exclusive of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, which are only recognized by Russia and Nicaragua, as well as
by a number of tiny states of the Pacific – editor).

“The topic of rehabilitation of the railway has arisen right after the
Georgian Dream’s victory at the parliamentary election in Georgia in
autumn 2012 offered prospects of warming in the Russian-Georgian
relations. But the reality is that any attempt to start public
discussion causes strong resistance of certain circles in Georgia and
Azerbaijan. Such a railway would unblock Armenia, which is now
completely isolated from infrastructure schemes built in the South
Caucasus by Baku, Tbilisi and Ankara. This would automatically mean
strengthening of Armenia’s positions in its simple relations with
Azerbaijan and Turkey. Russia, in turn, would instantly retrieve most
part of economic, political and military impact in the region, which
has considerably declined since 1991. For Armenia it would be new
economic possibilities and an absolutely new status, which would allow
discussing the Karabakh peace process and the reconciliation with
Turkey more confidently”, the article says.

Even though neither of the communiques that followed Sargsyan’s and
Ankvaba’s visits mention the railway, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina
Ivanishvili hurried to comment on the issue by saying that there is a
political will to restart the road, but one must be careful lest it
might damage Georgia’s political interests.

“Considering the foreign political unanimity of the Georgian MPs, it
will be hard to make this will true, but it will certainly be a
crucial topic for Russian-Armenian relations during Sargsyan’s second
term and for Russian-Abkhazian ones following the Olympic Games in
Sochi. Not yet openly formulated by anybody, this problem is as
follows: either the railway will be restarted or Russia will continue
losing its positions in the South Caucasus,” the article says.

From: Baghdasarian

AMBASSADOR: OPENING FLIGHT TO ARMENIA BY PRIVATE COMPANY SHOULD NOT DISCREDIT TURKEY’S OFFICIAL POSITION

Trend, Azerbaijan
March 14 2013

Azerbaijan, Baku, 14 March / Trend, I. Izzet /

The opening of a flight to Armenia by a private company should
not discredit Turkey’s official position, Ambassador of Turkey to
Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Joshgun told reporters, commenting on the
opening of the Van – Yerevan flight.

“As far as I know, this flight is operated by a private Turkish
company. There are no legal restrictions on such a service in Turkey,
so its implementation is possible,” he said.

It is not correct to cast doubt on Turkey’s official position, the
ambassador stressed.

No other country supports Azerbaijan in the way Turkey does.

“Turkey’s policy provides for the closure of the border with Armenia.

Everyone is aware of the position of the Prime Minister, the President,
the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and all
officials of Turkey,” he added.

Earlier, several media outlets reported that regular
Yerevan-Van-Yerevan flights will begin on April 3.

From: Baghdasarian

WHAT’S THE LINK BETWEEN THE NEW POPE AND ARMENIA?

EurasiaNet.org, NY
March 14 2013

March 14, 2013 – 9:08am, by Giorgi Lomsadze

Now that the Roman Catholic Church has smoked out a new pope, everyone
is looking for a local angle in the news from the Vatican. Armenia
seems to have found one.

The Armenian Apostolic Church may be an introverted, exclusive club,
much smaller than the Catholic Church, but, conceivably, backing
from the Vatican could help the Armenian cause worldwide. The global,
well-organized Armenian Diaspora has pointed out that Cardinal Jorge
Bergoglio, the newly crowned Pope Francis, has been a friend of the
Armenian community in Argentina. The community hopes that the pontiff
will take this friendship to his new home in the Vatican.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Bergoglio often attended
liturgies dedicated to the ethnic Armenians massacred in Ottoman
Turkey in the early 20th century. As an archbishop, he reportedly
called on Turkey to own up to the atrocities against Armenians,
which Turkey insists was collateral damage of World War I.

Along with building support for its refusal to recognize breakaway
Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, achieving recognition of the
1915 massacre as genocide is an end that Armenia is pushing worldwide.

The Vatican is not immune to lobbying, and many ethnic Armenians,
especially those in Argentina, hope that Bergoglio will stick to his
alleged position on the massacre.

But Yerevan is not just leaving it to the Diaspora to advocate Armenian
causes in the Holy See. Earlier this month, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan appointed his son-in-law Mikael Minasian as the country’s
first-ever ambassador to the Vatican.

From: Baghdasarian

OPERA: EUGENE ONEGIN

The Times (London)
March 13, 2013 Wednesday
Edition 1; National Edition

by Neil Fisher

Royal Academy of Music, NW1 ***

There’s a precedent to the Royal Academy’s new Onegin, an opera that
was actually first performed by students of the Moscow Conservatory.

Tchaikovsky clearly trusted in the simplicity of his seven “lyrical
scenes” and their emphasis on innocence, albeit of the soon-to-be-lost
variety.

The RAM more or less takes Tchaikovsky at his word in an ambitious
show performed in Russian. John Ramster’s economical period staging –
let’s hope the only unwieldy element of Adrian Linford’s set, a weirdly
floating tree-sculpture, is fixed – mostly allows the action to speak
for itself. Jane Glover’s unpretentious conducting steers us briskly
to the big moments and when we get there she never lets us soak in
them. The band plays decently, too, with only the squealing brass
suggesting a few sectionals might be in order.

Thrillingly, the Academy’s first night Tatyana, Tereza Gevorgyan
(the run is double cast), manages to carry off both the bookish
teenager with a romantic glint in her eye and the Act III Princess
who kowtows to no one, not even newly repentant Onegin. Gevorgyan,
an Armenian singer of great potential, sings with lovely poise and
sophistication, not overmilking her Letter Scene and then ramping
up the fury in a lacerating final confrontation. Her sister Olga,
played more heartlessly than usual, is well done by Fiona Mackay,
and Anna Harvey is an effective Larina – Ramster has her sit silent
and stern, like Whistler’s mother, during the final scene, a neat
and tragic touch.

Perhaps it was the effect of cavalier wigs, mutton-chops and breeches,
but Lensky and Onegin were less comfortable in their own skins.

Stephen Aviss’s Lensky makes a decent stab at the role, hitting some
high notes a little too hard for comfort. But Ross Ramgobin’s vacant
Onegin looks like Tatyana could eat him for breakfast – there’s little
punch in his delivery and no sign of the arrogance or vulnerability
of the man. Stronger directorial support would have better propped
up both men. Good contributions, though, come from Stuart Jackson’s
Monsieur Triquet, here a preening Pierrot, and Nicholas Crawley’s
likeable Prince Gremin. Neil Fisher

Box office: 020-7873 7300, to Mar 18

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH ON POPE FRANCIS

First Things
March 14 2013

Thursday, March 14, 2013, 12:20 PM
Mark Movsesian

One of the most hopeful aspects of the ecumenical movement of the
past decades has been the growing warmth among Western and Eastern
Christians. Here is part of the letter that the Armenian Orthodox
Patriarch, or Catholicos, Karekin II, sent Pope Francis on his
election:

Dear Brother in Christ,

On the joyous occasion of Your election as successor to the Holy
See of St. Peter, we convey to Your Holiness greetings of fraternal
love and congratulations. We pray that the Lord will grant to your
Holiness a most fruitful pontificate blessed with many ever-lasting
accomplishments for the glory of God and the splendor of the Church
of Christ.

We fondly remember our meetings and prayers together with Your Holiness
in Argentina, during which we came to know you as a good shepherd, and
a courageous, wise, and just Church Leader. We are happy to avow Your
sincere love and affection shown towards the Armenian people. . . .

It is our prayer that our cooperative efforts will continue to
grow into the future and that the relations between our two sister
Churches will blossom with new achievements for the sake of meeting
the challenges facing humanity, and in promoting and fortifying the
dialogue and solidarity between nations and religions.

You can read the full letter
here.

From: Baghdasarian

KARABAKH CONFLICT CAN BE RESOLVED ONLY BY ARMENIAN, AZERI GOVTS; MEDIATORS CAN ONLY PROMOTE RESOLUTION – ANALYST

Interfax, Russia
March 13 2013

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh will have to be resolved ultimately
by the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia, says Sergei Markov,
a member of the Russian Public Chamber and a deputy head of the
inter-commission working group on international cooperation and
public diplomacy.

“This is a huge problem, and we don’t claim to be able to settle it,
but we can help create a dialogue between civil and non-governmental
organizations that are gradually forming their position. We support
the idea that people should normally talk with each other and should
gradually unfreeze some ties, including humanitarian, economic and
so on. We are willing to promote this,” Markov told journalists in
Baku on Tuesday.

Dmitry Medvedev arranged several meetings between the Azeri and
Armenian leaders during his presidency, he said.

“This is a very complicated problem. This is why our assistance is
needed. It is well known that not only Russia is a mediator, but the
U.S. and the European Union are also mediators as members of the Minsk
Group. Some are trying to interact somehow. Our goal is to make sure
there is no slide into military actions and at the same time that
there should be no stiff freezing, so that the situation move in a
positive direction toward settling this conflict,” Markov said.

Russia cannot force any party to make any steps; “we cannot hurry up
anyone or force them to do anything,” he said.

“As we know, this problem itself is a result of the excessive use
of force. We believe that the main things through which this problem
should be resolved is peace and humanitarian and economic cooperation.

It seems to me that, in order to resolve it, this problem should not be
exaggerated but, on the contrary, it would be useful even to somewhat
abstract away from it in order to develop normal relationships, create
new conditions and, based on new conditions, revert to this system,”
he said.

“On the other hand, the problem could perhaps be resolved in the future
as a result of some grave crisis. Because if some grave geopolitical
crisis erupts, this problem may be resolved very quickly,” he said.

The current model of Armenian-Azeri relations over Nagorno-Karabakh
reflects the alignment of forces between the two countries 20 years
ago, he said.

“Since then, the alignment of forces has changed very much, and
Azerbaijan has become much more powerful than Armenia. And therefore
it may seem that a new format should reflect the current alignment of
forces. However, the problem is that, as it appears to me, Azerbaijan’s
abilities to develop in a military or a peaceful way are blocked. A
military solution could destabilize the economy, while Azerbaijan’s
economy is the main instrument with which this country is consistently
changing the alignment of forces in its favor. That is, a military way
does exist in theory, but in practice it undermines itself. As for the
peaceful way, it involves the U.S. and the European Union – which is in
fact France – as mediators. These are two countries in which Armenia’s
allies are strong, because there are strong diasporas there. So it
turns out that the peaceful process is difficult. Therefore, Azerbaijan
should have a less ordinary combination. I don’t have any recipe,”
he said.

From: Baghdasarian

HAK TO RUN SEPARATELY IN ELECTIONS TO COUNCIL OF ELDERS

Friday,
March 15

The Armenian National Congress (HAK) Party will run separately in
the upcoming elections to Yerevan Council of Elders.

The head of HAK parliamentary faction Levon Zurabian told RFE/RL
Armenian Service that the negotiations between four political forces,
namely HAK, Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), Heritage Party, and
ARF-Dashnaktsutyun have not been successful and for this reason HAK
has made a decision to run separately in the elections to Yerevan
Council of Elders.

“A lot of consultations, negotiations in various formats regarding
a single list have taken place among the four political forces, but
we seem to have failed to achieve any results. Yet I believe that we
should not turn it into a tragedy as the important thing is that a
quadrilateral format has formed that aims to bring power in Yerevan
back to the people. To this end, we can cooperate on three essential
goals: first, we must agree that the authorities should become the
main target of criticism,” Zurabian noted.

“Secondly, by using resources of the four political forces such
as their representatives in election commissions and proxies, we
can establish effective control in more than 500 polling stations
of Yerevan. Thirdly, after the elections – if the Republican Party
fails to secure 40% result by means of falsifications – we can form a
coalition and elect a new mayor of Yerevan who will be a representative
of the opposition,” Zurabian said.

As regards the decision to run separately, Levon Zurabian said: “We
were the first to propose running in the elections as a single list.

We were glad to see three forces – BHK, Heritage and ARFD conducting
negotiations on this issue, and we would join their agreement if they
reached one. Unfortunately, it did not happen, but we must struggle
against the authorities even if there is no single list. HAK is
determined to run in the elections to Yerevan Council of Elders”.

According to L. Zurabian, HAK has not yet decided who will lead the
party list.

14.03.2013, 22:20

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

HASMIK POGHOSYAN: ARMENIAN CULTURE MINISTRY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL “CONFLICT AND RECONCILIATION”

ARMINFO
Thursday, March 14, 21:49

The Armenian Culture Ministry has absolutely nothing to do with
the international Film Festival “Conflict and Reconciliation in the
Central- Eastern European Cinema”, which was strongly criticized by
the Armenian Council of the Great Patriotic War and Labor Veterans
on March 14.

Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan told ArmInfo’s
correspondent that the Culture Ministry had not even been informed
that a festival would be held and what films would be shown at the
festival, which was held exclusively on a commercial basis. “They have
applied to us neither for support nor even for a cinema hall. As far
as I understand, the festival was organized privately on the basis
of a commercial agreement between the organizers and the leadership
of Moscow Cinema, which is not under jurisdiction of the Culture
Ministry”, she said.

Poghosyan added that as a citizen of Armenia, the country that lost
300,000 sons at the Great Patriotic War, she highly venerates the
memory of the deceased heroes and understands the veterans’ indignation
at some films’ different view of the years when the nations of a single
country were saving the world from the hawkish national-socialism –
elementary fascism that took dozens of millions of lives.

To recall, the international Film Festival “Conflict and Reconciliation
in the Central- Eastern European Cinema”, which started in Yerevan
on Feb 13, has been strongly criticized by the veterans of the Great
Patriotic War. The veterans got indignant at the foreign films included
in the festival, which depict the Soviet Army in unsavory light.

The film festival will last till April 10. It is being held with
the support of the UN Office in Armenia, as well as the Embassies
of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Romania
and Ukraine.

From: Baghdasarian

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTS ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

The Constitutional Court issues verdic on election fraud claims (Photolure)

YEREVAN-Armenia’s Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld the results
of the February 18 presidential elections in Armenia, rejecting claims
filed by two opposition candidates who alleged wide-spread fraud.

“The decision is to uphold the Central Election Committee’s decision
from February 25 on the results of the presidential elections from
February 18,” said Constitutional Court President Gagik Harutunian.

The decision cannot be appealed.

The CEC announced the official results late last month giving
President Sarkisian 58.6 percent of the votes and registering 37
percent for opposition candidate Raffi Hovannisian.

Claims of wide-spread elections fraud and voter-rigging resulted into
a popular movement led by Hovannisian, who is currently staging a
hunger strike at Yerevan’s Liberty Square, the site of protests of
thousands of Armenians who are propelling the movement.

“We will continue our political fight within the framework of law and
constitution until we win,” said Hovsep Khurshudyan, spokesman for
Hovannisian’s Heritage Party.

A member of Armenia’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday expressed
concern over irregularities reported during last month’s presidential
election, saying that they have fuelled public distrust in its
official results.

Kim Balayan spoke of many Armenians’ “dissatisfaction” with the
official vote results as he questioned a police representative during
a court hearing on opposition appeals to annul the February 18 vote.

He said he wants to have a “clear conscience” when deciding whether to
back the appeals lodged by Hovannisian and Andreas Ghukasian, an
election outsider.

“Whether or not those violations affected the overall [election
result] is a separate matter,” said Balayan. “But it’s obvious that
there were violations.” He wondered if law-enforcement authorities
need “additional levers” to detect fraud.

Representatives of the police and prosecutors testifying at the
hearing said the police investigated more than 250 reports of fraud
but in the vast majority of those cases presumed eyewitnesses were
unwilling to come forward when contacted by law-enforcement officers.

Zaruhi Postanjian, a representative of Hovannisian, attributed this to
an “atmosphere of fear.”

Last week, Armenian presidential election observer of OSCE and former
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ireland Dermot Ahern
sent a letter to Armenian Bar Association Chairman Garo Ghazarian
][
detailing fraud he witnessed during the February 18 election,
particularly in Precinct 26/1, where he claims a landslide for Raffi
Hovannisian was converted into a victory for the incumbent.

From: Baghdasarian

GRANDMOTHER’S BLESSING IN THE DAYS OF HUNGER STRIKE

07:55 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

Although Raffi Hovannisian was not allowed to put a tent on the
square,he does not feel the cold. Grandmother’s blessing warms him
in the form of cover in the colors of Armenian flag.

“I spend every minute with my grandfathers and grandmothers, who lost
their homeland. Our compatriots should return the motherland of their
grandfathers and grandmothers”, – Raffi Hovannisian said.

By the way, two years ago it was the same tricolor cover that heated
Raffi Hovannisian while he was on hunger strike in Freedom Square.

From: Baghdasarian