Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Interfax, Russia
Sept 22 2012

Aliyev tells Azeri ambassadors to be active fighters against “Armenian lobby”

BAKU. Sept 22

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has urged diplomats to resist actively
the “Armenian lobby” worldwide.

“The Armenian lobby is our biggest enemy. The Armenian lobby, the
world Armenians, has chosen Azerbaijan to be their prime target. We
must fight them constantly,” Aliyev said at the fourth meeting of
high-ranking Azeri diplomats. The Azeri official media published the
president’s speech.

The president complained about “articles full of false information
aimed against Azerbaijan.” “These circles want to blacken the positive
image of our country. So our ambassadors, embassy staff members should
always stay in touch with the media and explain the erroneousness of
that policy,” he said.

He offered diplomats to be more active in contacts with the foreign
media and to supply fuller information about Azerbaijan, its
development, the solution of economic and social problems and the
provision of freedoms.

Aliyev said, in particular, that the Internet was a territory of
freedom in Azerbaijan.

“Far from all countries have the unrestricted Internet. Some countries
are considering Internet restrictions or censorship. We have the
unrestricted Internet. Sixty-five percent of people in Azerbaijan are
Internet users. How can we limit the media if Internet services are
unrestricted here and the number of users is growing? All of our media
outlets are free,” the president stressed.

Azerbaijan “ensures full freedom of assembly,” he said. “Any political
force is free to hold its events in designated places. There have been
such cases in the recent past. It is just that no one attends them.”

The president also stressed that Azerbaijan provided full freedom of
conscience. “Some countries should learn from Azerbaijan. The states,
which artificially inflate Islamophobic trends, should come here and
see how inter-religious relations should develop,” Aliyev said.

From: Baghdasarian

Mher Lazarian’s finger glued into place

07:14 pm | September 22, 2012 | Social

Monument to Mher Lazarian, which was erected in Yerevan’s Aznavour
Square two days ago, has already been damaged. After noticing that a
thumb came off, Yerevan Municipality employees glued the thumb back
into place. On hearing the news, the sculptor Suren Melkonyan rushed
to the «scene».
In his opinion, it was not someone’s malicious intent. The sculptor
did not rule out that all this happened by accident

Monuments to Mher Makrtchyan and Eghishe Charents in Aznavour Square
are made of ceramic, but they look like bronze ones. `”They will
withstand exposure to rain, wind, and cold for a hundred years,” Suren
Melkonyan assured us.
The project to set up monuments to famous geniuses in Yerevan has not
yet been completed. Another seven monuments will be erected right in
the city center in the near future.

From: Baghdasarian

Karabakh ready to discuss anything with Azerbaijan – president

tert.am
17:44 – 23.09.12

The president of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic has expressed
his country’s readiness to discuss any kind of political, military and
humanitarian issue with Azerbaijan.

At a meeting with the country’s Foreign Ministry staff, Bako Sahakyan
said that the conflict with Azerbaijan is among their foreign policy
priorities.

`The settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict is one of the key
foreign policy trends . The official Stepanakert’s stance on the issue
is very clear: any disputable issue has to be resolved exclusively
through peaceful methods, based on a direct dialogue,’ Regnum news
agency has quoted him as saying.

Sahakyan added that Artsakh has to take part in all the rounds of the
peace talks. In the meantime, he ruled out any possibility of
weakening the country’s independence or security.

`They are absolute values for our nation and are not subject to any
bargaining,’ he said.

The president simultaneously stressed the importance of the country’s
international recognition, considering it another key
aspect of their foreign policy.

From: Baghdasarian

Akhakalak Protest: Free Vahagn Chakhalyan

hetq
15:48, September 23, 2012

Hundreds of Armenians took to the streets of Akhalkalak today,
demanding the release of Javakhk-Armenian activist Vahagn Chakhalyan.

The protestors assembled in the town’s central Mashtots Square and
condemned what they described as the beating of inmates in Georgian
correctional facilities.

United Javakhk, the group which organized the protest, stated that
similar demonstrations would continue if Georgian authorities didn’t
heed their calls for Chakhalyan’s release.

From: Baghdasarian

Difference between Armenia’s and Georgia’s penitentiaries according to
Larisa Alaverdyan

2012-09-22 19:38:35

Recently cadres showing tortures of Georgian prisoners in Tbilisi’s
Gldan prison appeared on the internet.
The video shows how the prison watchers subject prisoners to sexual
assault with rubber truncheons and even with a broom. There were also
cadres, how about 20 prison watchers beat prisoners by hands and feet.
These cadres were provided to oppositional TVs in Belgium by a Gldan
prisoner employee, which had been shooting for months.
Lurer.com talked to former human rights defender Larisa Alaverdyan to
find out what’s the situation like in Armenia’s prisons.

For years I’ve been dealing with this issue, many times I and the
monitoring group talked on cruel attitude, severe beatings, we also
notice phenomena discrediting their dignity, but never as a member of
NGOs, as a human right defender and as an MP we didn’t come across
complaints like those of Gldan prison. I’m very sorry that such
phenomena still exist.

Is it possible that our cameras just didn’t shot such cadres?

In all cases, monitoring group has worked in prisons for many years
and I can only say one thing: if the sufferer doesn’t speak on it,
we’re just to guess. Many different organizations defending human
rights have entered and went out. If such things occurred, they would
inform somehow. People were busy with it, shots have been made, Edik
Baghdasaryan, Avetik Ishkhanyan, Mikael Baghdasaryan spoke on it, but
not a single organization busy with monitoring didn’t have such data,
there weren’t likewise complaints.

What kind of complaints do they receive?

There are mainly complaints on rooms being overcrowded, when there are
more people than beds in cells, lack of natural light, day-and-night
electrical light is on, but anyway, what refers to cruel attitude and
beating, unfortunately there were cases when we and NGOs noticed and
controlled, particularly Mher Yenokyan was subjected to severe beating
which tried to escape (Lurer.com: Mher Yenokyan studied in Yerevan’s
Medical Institute. On his third year of studies he was accused of
murdering his fellow student and was sentenced death penalty, which
later was transformed into life in prison. Mher Yenokyan didn’t
confess his crime, and it’s ten years he’s been fighting for verdict
change.) Discussion was held on Yenokyan’s beating in Ministry of
Justice. I want to note, that no matter how much we fix those
phenomena, we’ll fail to eradicate them. Right, such cases are
unavoidable, but if they can reveal somehow, they’ll proceed.

Can we conclude from Your speech that prisoners’ state in our country
is better than those of Georgia?

We talked on it long ago. At the end of the 90s HRD organizations of
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia had a joint program, within the
framework of which monitoring have been realized in prisons: at that
time we have also gone to central prison in Tbilisi, where the
condition was horrible, it was so bad that when international
organizations asked whom they should help first to improve conditions,
we said: central Tbilisi prison. I saw the horrible situation with my
own eyes, we were terrified, it was as though we were watching films
about prisons of previous era.

Nelly Avetisyan

From: Baghdasarian

PARTIMOINE ARMENIEN-MUSIQUE
Le musée et complexe musical dédié à Komitas sera inauguré à Erévan en 2013

Au parc Komitas à Erévan sera inauguré dans près de dix mois le
musée-centre musical et culturel consacré au Père Komitas le plus
grand musicologue arménien. Le président arménien Serge Sarkissian,
assistait à la présentation des plans de la future construction. S.
Sarkissian avait soumis ce projet lors d’une réunion du Fonds arménien
Hayastan (Hayastan Himnatram). « Le musée Komitas sera également un
complexe culturel avec une salle de concert, c’est notre dette à cet
homme exceptionnel » dit Arthur Mezdjian l’architecte et affirme que «
ce n’est pas un simple musée consacré à l’`uvre de Komitas. Le
complexe doit intégrer une vie culturelle ». Les responsables du
projet désirent également réunir un nombre important d’`uvres ayant
appartenu à Komitas et aujourd’hui disséminés à travers le monde. La
musique liturgique arménienne aura également sa place dans cette salle
de concert de 200 places selon le musicologue Dikran Mansourian qui
affirme que « Komitas est notre Mesrob Machdots de la musique, nous
devons dans ce centre continuer à diffuser le patrimoine musical et
culturel laissé par Komitas ». Inauguration en 2013.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 23 septembre 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

Baki Xabar, Azerbaijan
sept 18 2012

Mixed reaction to joint statement by Azeri ruling, opposition parties

The decision of some opposition parties to join the government’s
statement with regard to the recent resolution by the European
Parliament has generated mixed reaction in Azerbaijan.

According to the resolution, Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov’s
pardon is considered as a breach of diplomatic assurances by the
Hungarian authorities that Ramil Safarov could be released only after
serving 25 years of punishment.

The Baki Xabar private newspaper interviewed on 18 September several
opposition politicians on what they think about the statement signed
jointly by the ruling and the opposition parties on 14 September.

Musavat Party

The chairman of the major opposition Musavat Party, Isa Qambar, said
that the party decided to sign the statement following consultations
within the party and with its allies. “I am certain that our decision
is correct both tactically and strategically and within a short period
of time everybody will see this,” Qambar said. He added that the party
is ready to discuss this matter with those who left the party because
of this meeting.

Qambar also said that the media did not carry the final text of the
statement. “The text published by newspapers is a draft, some of our
suggestions were accepted during the discussion and probably there
will be some corrections in the final text,” the party leader said.

The deputy chairman of the party, Gulaga Aslanli, who represented the
Musavat Party during the meeting, said that this was a national issue.
“Considering that Armenians are conducting a mass campaign on the
matter of Ramil Safarov in their favour, the activation of ASALA and
several other issues that are not revealed, the Musavat Party believes
that the provision of the European Parliament’s resolution concerning
the Azerbaijani officer is not right,” he said.

Hope Party

However, the Hope Party declined the invitation to the meeting and did
not sign the declaration. In comments to Baki Xabar Nasimi Mammadli,
head of the party’s executive body, said they declined because the
statement contained assertions that the Azerbaijani authorities comply
with their commitments to international organizations. “It would be a
very wrong step for us to sign this document and therefore we did not
attend the meeting,” he said.

Mammadli also disagreed with the notion that this was a dialogue
between the authorities and the opposition. “This cannot be viewed as
authorities-opposition dialogue. This opinion was made because of a
rush,” he said.

Democratic Party of Azerbaijan

Hasrat Rustamov, who represented the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan at
the meeting, pointed out that parties did not send their leaders.
“Neither NAP [ruling New Azerbaijan Party], nor other parties were
represented by their chairmen. What matters is that the authorities
and the opposition managed to come together. We believe it is
unacceptable that international organizations are using this
opportunity to put any pressure or threats against the Azerbaijani
state,” he said.

“This meeting can be viewed as dialogue. I believe that when domestic
problems are put on the table in this fashion, this can be regarded as
dialogue,” Rustamov said.

Government

The government is ready for dialogue with the opposition, the APA news
agency quoted Ali Hasanov, head of the presidential administration’s
department for public and political affairs as saying on 18 September.
Hasanov said that the contacts will be strengthened ahead of the 2013
presidential election.

Baki Xabar’s comments

It turns out that implementing the dialogue was not difficult, the
report said. “As they announced before, by accepting the invitation of
the NAP functionaries concerning Ramil Safarov, the opposition showed
that they are ready to take a united position with the authorities on
national matters. That is, it shows that the authorities can realize
dialogue with the opposition on Nagornyy Karabakh and other topics and
thus help reduce the tension in society,” it added.

“However, different approaches to this issue emerged within the
opposition. Some members of the opposition camp believe that the
opposition should not have joined the event, that the People’s Front
of Azerbaijan Party and the Musavat Party made a wrong move by going
to the NAP and so on. Some members of the Musavat Party even left the
party in protest over this matter,” Baki Xabar reported.

[translated from Azeri]

From: Baghdasarian

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 21 2012

SAM representative: `Despite the Turkish government has stopped the
normalization process of the relations with Armenia, NGOs are
continuing to relate’

PHOTOSESSION

[ 21 Sep 2012 15:20 ]

Baku. Anakhanum Hidayatova – APA. A briefing with the participation of
ambassadors and media representatives has been held in the Center for
Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
(SAM). APA reports that SAM director Farhad Mammadov made a speech on
theme of `The pre-election situation in Armenia’.

Vusal Gasimli, the acting director of Economic Analysis and Global
Affairs Department of SAM made a speech on the Development Conception
project `Azerbaijan-2020: view to the future’ and said that the
formation of an efficient and competitive, knowledge-based and export
oriented, as well as strong and sustainable economy responding to the
political and strategic interests of the country and ensuring the
highest level of prosperity will be improved in Azerbaijan.

Mesiagha Mohammedi, the senior research fellow of the Foreign Policy
Analysis Department of SAM spoke about the `2013 presidential election
in Iran’ and recalled that according to the Constitution of the
country, the same person is not allowed to be a president for more
than two times: `The substitutive of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has
already elected for two times, is theme of interest and discussion in
both Iran and international arena.’

Javid Valieyv, the leading research fellow of the Foreign Policy
Analysis Department of SAM made a speech on theme of `Opening of
Turkish-Armenian borders’: Turkish side calls the process of `Opening
of Turkish-Armenian borders and the establishment of diplomatic
relations’ as `Normalization of Armenian policy of the country’. The
normalization process is being carried out in two directions: The
normalization with Armenians living in Turkey and with Armenia. The
normalization process with inside Armenians is being considered as a
part of Turkish democratization. The reasons of the normalization
process with Armenia are following: First, the Turkish diplomacy
thinks that closing the borders with Armenia narrows the sphere of
influence of Turkey in the Southern Caucasus and this sphere will
widen by opening the borders. Second, Turkey thinks that closing the
borders justifies Armenia on 1915 events’.

Javid Valiyev said that at present the normalization of relations with
Armenia has stopped in Turkey at the state level, but it is continuing
by NGOs. The US, groups in Turkey under patronage of the US, some
liberal forces, businessmen living in cross-border regions of Turkey
with Armenia, Armenians with Turkish origin and Armenia support the
normalization process.

From: Baghdasarian

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Sept 21 2012

Turkish FM: Turkey a central country rather than a bridge

LENGTH: 754 words

Turkish FM: Turkey is a central country where Chechens, Bosnians,
Kosovars and Kurds were also living. TORONTO (AA) – September 21, 2012
– Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey was a
central country rather than a bridge. Davutoglu, who is visiting
Canada, delivered a conference titled “Changing Turkey in a Changing
World” at the Atlantic Council of Canada in Toronto on Thursday.

Turkey was a central country where Chechens, Bosnians, Kosovars and
Kurds were also living, he said.

Turkey was a country in the middle of all political quakes which
changed the course of the world history, he said.

A human tragedy has been taking place in Syria, he said. “We told
Assad that whole nation cannot be terrorist and what he has done is
wrong. However Assad continues killing people,” he said. Replying to
a question on relations between Turkey and Canada, Davutoglu said that
Turkey was eager to have good and sound relations with Canada based on
respect and dignity. “We signed a protocol with Armenia and we
announced that we are ready to discuss all historical events. I hope
that one day the relations between Turkey and Armenia would reach a
perfect level and Turks and Armenians would be good friends. We have
very good relations with Canada as well,” he said.

Answering another question on Turkey-EU relations, Davutoglu said that
Turkey was a key country, not a burden for the EU. Turkey was a
country which can find solutions to all problems of the EU especially
economic crisis, he said. In 2011, 2 million Europeans lost their
jobs, but in Turkey 2 million people were employed in the same year,
he added. FM Davutoglu inaugurates Monument for Martyred Turkish
Diplomats in Canada OTTAWA (AA) – September 21, 2012 – Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday said that the Turkish nation will
never forget its diplomats assassinated by Armenian terrorists while
on duty.

Davutoglu inaugurated a Monument for Martyred Turkish Diplomats and
the late Turkish Military Attache Colonel Atilla Altikat who was
killed by the Armenian terror organization ASALA in 1982 in Ottowa.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird was also present during the
inauguration of the monument.

Speaking at the monument, Davutoglu said that the monument was made in
memory of all Turkish diplomats who became victims of terror.

“During the days the monument was getting completed, the U.S.
Ambassador in Tripoli lost his life. August 27, the day when Colonel
Altikat was assassinated, is a day when the Canadian nation met with
international terror for the first time,” Davutoglu stressed.

“This monument here is one that condemns terror. We thank all those
who made this monument possible,” Davutoglu said.

Addressing Colonel Altikat’s spouse Ayla Altikat and children Goker
and Zeynep, Davutoglu said he wished his deep condolences to the
Altikat family.

“I do hope that God’s mercy is with Colonel Altikat. Martyrs never die
in our culture. I am sure that Colonel Altikat’s spirit is with us. I
would like to thank you for letting us share your pain. On behalf of
the Turkish nation, I would like to thank you for your strong posture
throughout the years. Our martyrs, who have lost lives in different
corners of the world, will never be forgotten,” Davutoglu underlined.

Minister Baird, in his part, said that the assassination of Colonel
Atilla Altikat was a very sad incident.

The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) is an
Armenian terrorist organization which killed 46 Turkish citizens and
other nationals, including Turkish diplomats and their family members,
since the mid-1970s. The stated intention of ASALA was “to compel the
Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the
incidents in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian
homeland”. -Memorial at Turkish Embassy- Proceeding to the Turkish
Embassy following the inauguration of the monument, Ahmet Davutoglu
attended a memorial to remember Colonel Altikat.

The memorial began with the Turkish national anthem. Verses from the
Holy Koran were read and prayers made for all martyrs of Turkey.

Davutoglu had a chance to speak with representatives of the Turkish
community in Canada at the Turkish Embassy.

Following the memorial, Davutoglu met with his Canadian counterpart
Baird over a working meal.

Davutoglu and Baird discussed the issues of Syria and Iran and took a
decision to boost bilateral relations, including commercial ones.

Davutoglu and his delegation later proceeded to New York from Canada.

From: Baghdasarian

US Fed News
September 21, 2012 Friday 3:59 PM EST

REP. SCHIFF ISSUES STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

LENGTH: 236 words

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 — Rep. Adam Schiff issued the following statement:

Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) released the following statement on
the 21st anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia:

“I rejoice with the dynamic Armenian community that I represent and
proudly say ‘Oorakh Angakhootyan Or.’ Congratulations to the people of
Armenia, to Armenians in America and around the world on this joyous
day. The road to independence has not always been easy for this
nation, but time has proven that Armenians are survivors-survivors of
foreign domination and survivors of the first genocide of the 20th
century. And to this day, Armenian-Americans continue to illustrate
what a valuable asset they are to our society, breaking new ground
economically, socially and politically in California and across the
nation.

“Over the years, I have been privileged to work with many individuals
in the Armenian community to end our government’s tragic failure to
recognize the Armenian genocide, ensure the victims receive just
compensation, and secure aid for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. As a
friend to the Armenian community, I am honored to join you in
commemorating this momentous anniversary. Congratulations to the
government of Armenia and to the global Armenian community.”

From: Baghdasarian