Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

PRE-PARLIAMENT BACKS RAFFI HOVANNISIAN

11:00 AM | TODAY | POLITICS

Pre-parliament in Armenia expresses its solidarity with the popular
resentment against the election fraud and confirms its participation
in the rally to be held by opposition candidate Raffi Hovannisian at
Liberty Square in Yerevan at 5.00p.m. February 20.

“On February 18, 2013, we witnessed the recurrent victory of fraud
mechanism over the Armenian people, their hopes and expectations,”
Pre-parliament said in a statement.

At the same time it calls on Armenian citizens to be guided by national
objectives in the pursuit of justice and to abandon the fruitless
efforts of seeking solution in the trap set by the regime and its
sponsors. It also urges everyone to join the difficult and hard, but
at the same time victorious struggle of creating a new quality country.

“The political potential of the electorate, that was neglected by
the criminal regime in the February 18 presidential election but is
resolute to continue its struggle against the fraudulent election,
should serve for the purpose of building a fully sovereign state. To
this end, we call on our citizens to participate in the rally due in
Mashtots Park on February 20,” reads the statement.

Pre-parliament made a statement earlier saying that “as a regular
step aimed at self-organization of the people, it is going to rally
people in Mashtots Park at 6.00 p.m. on Feb. 20.

Pre-parliament will be marking the 25th anniversary of Artsakh movement
at the park.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN HOSTAGE FREED IN SYRIA

13:07 20/02/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Hakob Tuchyan who was taken hostage by the oppositional Syrian Free
Army one month ago has been freed, the Lradou reports. Hakob was a
soldier of the Syrian army. The young man told the newspaper he has
no problems with health.

From: Baghdasarian

U.S. CALLS TO INVESTIGATE VIOLATIONS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA

2013-02-20 12:27:53

The U.S. supported the conclusions of the OSCE ODIHR observer mission
in their preliminary conclusions that the elections were generally
well administered, however, there were some serious violations that
obviously need to be investigated, the U.S. Department of State’s
Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said at a daily press briefing on Tuesday.

“ODIHR was concerned about some lack of impartiality on the part
of public administration officials and the misuse of administrative
resources that resulted in a blurred distinction between the activities
of the state and those of the ruling party. But in general, election
day was calm and orderly and it was marked by undue – that in general,
it was marked by a calm process,” Nuland said.

She said ODIHR also noted that the media fulfilled their legal
obligation to provide balanced coverage and all contestants made use
of their free air time.

Presidential elections were held in Armenia on Feb.18. Armenian
incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan won the presidential elections
scoring 58.64 per cent of the votes. First Foreign Minister of Armenia
Raffi Hovannisian ranked second scoring 36.75 per cent of the votes,
Former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan ranked third scoring 2.15
per cent.

From: Baghdasarian

THE PHENOMENON OF SHIRAK READ COUNT:

February 20 2013

Certainly, this is not about a former President of France, but about
the region of Armenia. In the whole history of independent Armenia,
people there have voted against the government, and, as a rule, that
attitude manifested itself in the officially announced numbers. The
reasons – at least in case of Gyumri – are more or less clear; the
town that had a strong industry in the Soviet period became a town
of the unemployed and homeless after the collapse of the system and
earthquake, but even in that case, there is no justification for either
the town or the central authorities’ keeping people in a “cab ghetto”
for two decades with the poverty and crimes matching it. And apartments
or even neighborhoods that have been built after the earthquake are
mostly uncomfortable and besides, they were distributed much too
unfairly. It seems to me that an important factor of discontent was
having a mayor like Vardan Ghukasyan who combined false piety with
the extreme lack of restraint shown by his relatives, his son, in
particular. Besides, Gyumri has rather old revolutionary traditions –
there were social democrat and Marxist clubs here as early as at the
beginning of the 20th century – which stem from the existence of the
labor class and the rebellious nature of the residents of Gyumri. All
those phenomena added to each other create opposition sentiment, which
manifests itself in both the voting and the ability of retaining the
votes. Certainly, strong NGOs, the Shirak center and the Asparez club,
in particular, which enjoy the earned authority among the citizens,
are modern subjective positive factors.

This is why the results of this presidential election in Gyumri, in
particular, were such. Raffi Hovhannisyan’s person or his election
campaign is of secondary importance here; if the expert in epic
poems had been the alternative candidate, they would have voted for
the expert in epic poems. However, the good qualities that describe
the residents of Gyumri can be attributed to the residents of the
other regions of Armenia too. For example, the residents of Syunik
have a proud nature, wonderful military traditions. Then why do they
basically always vote for the government or if they don’t vote so,
why can’t they retain their votes? Are they afraid of their governor?

Certainly, it is there too. However, I think there is an objective
reality, i.e. being close to the border, as a result of which they
attach more importance to security than social welfare. And it,
in turn, causes certain conservatism. What I want to say is that
one should be more understanding, so to say, toward any results,
regardless of whether we like them or not. ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

From: Baghdasarian

FILM TELLING ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DEMONSTRATED IN ATHENS

ARMINFO
Thursday, February 21, 14:56

A film ‘Sunrise over Lake Van’ telling about the Armenian Genocide
was demonstrated in Athens on February 18.

The main character is an 80-year-old Garabed, whose mother miraculously
survived the 1915 Armenian Genocide. He tries to preserve the memory
of the lost Motherland in his Americanized offspring.

That’s how he can save the family from mutual alienation and rift.

The press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reports the film
participated in the first Peloponnesian International Film Festival.

At the initiative of the Festival leadership cinema evenings dedicated
to the festival participant-states will be held in various cities in
Greece. The first evening was dedicated to Armenia. Representatives of
the legislative and executive powers of Greece, diplomats, scientists,
artists and cultural workers attended demonstration of the film Sunrise
over Lake Van. The will was demonstrated with the support of the
Armenian Embassy in Greece and the National Cinema Center of Armenia.

From: Baghdasarian

HOVANNISIAN TO SPEAK ABOUT SARGSYAN MEETING AT TOMORROW’S RALLY

15:09, February 21, 2013

After concluding his meeting with Serzh Sargsyan minutes ago, Raffi
Hovannisian told supporters and the press that he would speak about
what transpired at tomorrow’s rally scheduled for 5pm at Freedom
Square.

From: Baghdasarian

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN USED ‘SMART’ TECHNOLOGIES TO DECEIVE HIS VOTERS – ARMENIAN RULING PARTY REP

TERT.AM
15:07 ~U 21.02.13

Talking to journalists on Thursday, Vice-Chairman of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Armen Ashotyan said, although major
opposition presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian applied civilized
western technologies during the presidential race, he employed the same
“smart” technologies to deceive his voters.

Mr Hovanissian’s post-election style was expected to be within
“another culture frames” as they are really very good technologies
for creating a new political opposition culture.

“It is regrettable when post-election actions seem to be repeating
all the previous instances, whereas, according to western culture,
defeated candidates are to be the first to congratulate the winner,”
Mr Ashotyan said.

“The 58% of votes cast for Serzh Sargsyan – and all the international
observation missions state that this presidential election is the best
in our modern history – have opened a really new chapter in Armenia’s
political history. One should learn to accept one’s personal defeat,”
he said.

From: Baghdasarian

U.S. DEPARTMENT SAYS DISTINCTION BETWEEN ACTIVITIES OF STATE AND THOSE OF RULING PARTY WERE BLURRED BOTH DURING PRE-ELECTION PERIOD AND ON ELECTION DAY

ARMINFO
Thursday, February 21, 12:50

U.S. Department of State has made a statement on the Armenian
Presidential Elections of February 18.

The statement reads: “The United States congratulates the people
of Armenia on their February 18 presidential elections, which were
judged by international observers to be generally well- administered
and characterized by a respect for fundamental freedoms, including
those of assembly and expression. The Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) found that the media fulfilled its legal
obligation to provide balanced coverage, and that all contestants
made use of their free air time.

We share, however, OSCE/ODIHR’s concerns about a lack of impartiality
on the part of the public administration and the misuse of
administrative resources that resulted in a blurred distinction
between the activities of the state and those of the ruling party,
both during the pre-election period and on Election Day. We agree
with the findings that while Election Day was calm and orderly, it
was marked by undue interference in the process, mainly by proxies
representing the incumbent, and some serious violations, including
cases of pressure on voters.

The United States will continue to monitor the findings of
international and domestic election observers, as well as the
adjudication of election grievances during the post-election period.

We urge law enforcement officials to investigate and to take
appropriate action in response to credible reporting of election
violations, and we call on all parties to remain calm in this post-
election period and to exercise restraint in their actions.”

To note, by preliminary results of the election, the incumbent
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan obtained 58.64% (861,160 votes),
the leader of Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian – 36.75% (539,672),
Hrant Bagratyan – 2.15%, Paruyr Hayrikyan – 1.23%, Andreas Ghukasyan
– 0.57%, Vardan Sedrakyan – 0.42%, Arman Melikyan – 0.24%. The CIS
and European observers gave generally positive assessment of the
presidential election, calling it democratic and legitimate despite
some insignificant violations.

From: Baghdasarian

WHAT NEXT? – RAFFI HOVANNISIAN TO CONFER WITH SUPPORTERS THIS AFTERNOON
Sona Avagyan

10:28, February 21, 2013

Earlier this morning, Raffi Hovannisian said that if Mr. Serzh Sargsyan
didn’t show up at Freedom Square as requested he would present his
viewpoint to the people and ask for their support regarding what
should be done in the coming days.

When this reporter visited Freedom Square, Hovannisian and his
supporters were walking and greeting passersby braving a sudden
snow shower.

Hovannisian congratulated a group of young supporters who remained
in Freedom Square all last night holding aloft the flag of Armenia.

“This shows our struggle is not only about defending the ballot of
the majority but also the right of the public to assemble,” he said.

At yesterday’s public gathering, Hovannisian said it would be good if
Sargsyan came to Frredom Square to hand over the reins of government
to the people.

“They know full well the unprecedented situation that now exists all
over Armenia. They understand that the situation is an explosive one.

They understand that the people have won and that it isn’t merely my
issue but first and foremost it’s the people’s issue and their issue,”
Hovannisian said.

Heritage Party member Davit Sanasaryan, who spent the night at Freedom
Square, said people were coming and going during the wee hours. Many
left to go home in order to return today.

When I asked if it was realistic to expect Serzh Sargsyan to hand
over power and accept the claims of local observers that the election
results were fraudulent, Sanasaryan replied that it was sufficient
that the people of Armenia have declared that Sargsyan wasn’t elected.

“We have witnessed an electoral revolution. In this square, the
people of Armenia will consolidate their revolution and safeguard
the choice they have made. Let Sargsyan mull over what has happened,”
Sanasaryan said.

The young man said that if Sargsyan used the opportunity to transfer
power to the people, he would earn himself a page in the history books.

Sanasaryan said that the people were devising a list of possible
tactics to employ if Sargsyan went down the wrong path.

“The movement’s tactics are always changing according to developments
and the inclinations of the people.”

From: Baghdasarian

IRAN AGAINST DEPLOYMENT OF PEACEKEEPERS IN KARABAKH

ARMINFO
Thursday, February 21, 11:19

Iran’s Ambassador to Baku Mohsen Pak-Ayeen has warned against the
possible deployment of peacekeeping forces to Karabakh, emphasizing
that the move will cause new security problems in the region.

“The deployment of peacekeeping forces to the Karabakh region is
not only an ineffective measure to resolve the region’s dispute,
but will create new security problems in the region,” Pak-Ayeen told
IRNA on Wednesday.

He said that regional countries can present logical resolutions to
the conflict, adding states and organizations outside the region have
no resolve to settle the Karabakh dispute.

The Iranian envoy said, however, that the presence of peacekeeping
troops in Karabakh is unlikely at the current juncture, saying the
move requires certain grounds, which have not been prepared yet.

Pak-Ayeen expressed Iran’s readiness to help resolve the Karabakh
dispute, saying we are willing to fulfill our duties to settle the
problem if the grounds are prepared.

He added that maintaining ties with the disputed sides would be an
appropriate strategy for Iran, as the rotating president of the
Non-Aligned Movement, to help strengthen peace and security in
the region.

However, according to the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, the issue of
deploying international peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh is not on
agenda at present.

From: Baghdasarian