Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

APA, Azerbaijan
June 15 2012

Azerbaijan State Commission: Azerbaijani captive in Armenia junior
sergeant Mammadbagir Akhundzadeh surrendered to third country

[ 15 Jun 2012 15:05 ]

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva – APA. Azerbaijani captive in Armenia junior
sergeant Mammadbagir Akhundzadeh surrendered to the third country,
Armenian media reported.

Head of the Working Group of the state Commission of Azerbaijan on
Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People Firudin Sadigov
confirmed the fact and noted that, Azerbaijani side was officially
informed about it: `He was captivated and refused own country and
chose other country’.

Captive’s father Talib Akhunzadeh said that, he was not informed about
it: `My son’s last letter was brought a few days ago. But we could not
receive that letter’.

From: Baghdasarian

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 14, 2012 Thursday 08:21 PM GMT+4

Bank of Armenia issues new silver coin

YEREVAN June 14

The Bank of Armenia has issued a memorial silver coin devoted to film
director Sergei Paradzhanov (1924-1990), the bank’s press service said
on Thursday.

The coin is rectangular-shaped and has a nominal value of 100 Armenian
drams. It’s made of silver 925 sample and has a size of 28 by 40 mm.
The coin weighs 28.28 grams. It was minted at the Polish Mint with a
circulation of up to 5,500 copies.

The coin was designed by Polish designer Ursula Valezak.

From: Baghdasarian

The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs received the representatives
of the Soka Gakkai Movement

15.06.2012

On June 15, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Kenji Yoshigo,
the Vice President of the Japanese Soka Gakkai Movement and member
Eiji Ouchi who arrived in Armenia on the occasion of the opening of
photo exhibition of long-term President of the Movement Daisaku Ikeda.

During the meeting Minister Nalbandian stressed the achievements of
Japanese people. Edward Nalbandian added that Japanese people’s
contribution to the development of human civilization is valuable, and
the Armenian people is grateful to Japan for the support provided for
Armenia’s development by Japan in various spheres.

Minister Nalbandian mentioned that the Armenian delegation keeps the
warmest memories on the meeting with the students and professors of
the Soka University in the frames of the RA President’s visit to
Japan, as well as on the solemn ceremony of awarding honorable
doctoral degree to the Armenian President.

Soka Gakkai Vice President Kenji Yoshigo noted that he was pleased to
be in Armenia and expressed gratitude for the warm reception. Mr.
Yoshigo recalled that the visit of the RA President Serzh Sargsyan to
Japan and the President’s speech delivered at the Soka University, as
well as the awarding of doctoral degree to the Armenian President were
a great event for them. Vice President Soka Gakkai added that the main
goals of the Movement are the promotion of education, as the highest
value, scientific progress, cultural exchange and sustainable
development around the world.

In the course of the meeting various issues related to the
Armenian-Japanese cooperation were discussed as well.

From: Baghdasarian

Presentation of Smooth Vodka Nemiroff Delikat held in Armenia

tert.am
18:56 – 15.06.12

Smooth Vodka Nemiroff Delikat from the world famous Ukrainian producer
was presented in Armenia.

On June 3, at the Best Western hotel in Sevan, Armenia, a tournament
was held by the Nemiroff Company and the Sovrano Company, its
representative in Armenia. The winner received boxing gloves signed by
Vitali Klitschko. The contestant who was the fastest to drink 200ml of
Nemiroff Delikat vodka has got the prize. Besides the said tournament,
other interesting events were held within the presentation of Nemiroff
Delikat vodka.

The numerous guests, the representatives of Sovrano Company’s partners
and trade network, had the opportunity to go sailing on Sevan Lake.
One of the sailboats had the Nemiroff logo on its hull, and another
one was the legendary `Cilicia’ sailboat, which found its haven on
Lake Sevan after a world cruise.

The purpose of event was presentation of Nemiroff Delikat vodka with
its special features. Women’s team of synchronized swimmers, as well
as dancers from the `Crazy’ club performed during the event.

Nemiroff Company experts invited from Kiev for the Nemiroff Delikat
vodka presentation have specially noted a delicate taste of the vodka
made of de luxe spirits and the artesian water from the wells owned by
the Nemiroff Company. Purified with silver filters and flavoured with
ginger, the vodka gets its special taste. Natural ginger supplement
makes extra-smooth Nemiroff Delikat product. Water for all Nemiroff
products has four degrees of purification according to production
requirements. The Nemiroff products are made of natural ingredients
only and do not contain GMO.

Later, DJ Serjo entertained the guests. There were many competitions
and raffles during the party, and the guests got different presents,
including the boxing gloves signed by Klitschko as the major prize.

The Sovrano Company is mainly importing food products, drinks, coffee,
and tea. The company was founded in 1997 and now it is one of the
Armenian major taxpayers. Since 2001, the Sovrano Company has been
cooperating with the Nemiroff Company, one of Ukraine’s largest world
producers of alcoholic products, which is exporting its products to 72
countries around the world.

The brand portfolio of products produced under the international brand
Nemiroff consists of 29 items. The main trademarks are Nemiroff
Original, Ukrainian Honey with Pepper, Nemiroff Original, Ukrainian
Birch Special, Nemiroff Premium and Nemiroff LEX.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenia’s bus stations may be given for concession

June 15, 2012 – 17:26 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia’s bus stations involved in both intra and
international transportation may be given for concession, acting
Minister of Transport and Communications said.

According to Manuk Vardanyan, though a number of foreign companies
have expressed interest, the choice of the concessionaire will be
based on the contest outcomes.

`The project will be probably submitted for government’s consideration
within the coming 2-3 months,’ he said.

The Minister noted introduction of online ticket sales system to
become one of he conditions of giving for concession.

From: Baghdasarian

Taner Akcam urges Obama to encourage Turkey to acknowledge Armenian Genocide

ARMRADIO.AM
15.06.2012 15:57

Taner Akcam, Professor of History at Clark University, has urged
President Obama and his European allies to encourage “Turkey to
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, and to follow the post-Holocaust
example of Germany by making appropriate compensation for lives and
property,” the Sacramento Bee informs.

Dr. Akcam made this plea last week while contributing to Christian
Solidarity International’s (CSI) spring 2012 conference series on The
Future of Religious Minorities in the Middle East.

Akcam said Turkey’s willingness to recognize the Genocide, in which
approximately 1.5 million Christians – mainly Armenians and Assyrians
– perished, and to provide compensation, is a litmus test of its
fitness to fulfill its aspiration for Great Power status and
leadership in shaping the destiny of the Middle East. Turkey’s Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu calls for the “reintegration” of territories
in Syria, Greece, Bulgaria, and Georgia with Turkey – a policy often
referred to by political commentators as New Ottomanism.

Launching his new book, The Young Turks’ Crime against Humanity: The
Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire,
(Princeton, 2012), Akcam noted that “under the Islamic law of the
Ottoman Empire, Christians were not allowed to become fully equal,”
and that “it was, in fact, impossible for equality to be realized
under the Islamic law of the Empire.” The Turkish Republic, Akcam
maintains, has to break decisively from the tradition of Turkish and
Islamic supremacism if it is going to gain the confidence of
non-Muslim minorities and non-Turkish communities and become a source
of regional democratic stability, rather than repression.

`Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister, Recep Tayyib Erdogan, persists in
denying the Genocide process, which has reduced the country’s
Christian population from approximately 30% in 1914 to less than 1%
today. He has furthermore sought to use religion as a last line of
defense with the claim that “it is not possible for a Muslim to commit
genocide,” Professor Akcam said.

From: Baghdasarian

Constitutional Court cancels hearings on Armenian opposition member’s lawsuit

news.am
June 15, 2012 | 12:54

YEREVAN.- Armenia’s Constitutional Court suspended the hearings on a
lawsuit filed by MP from the opposition Armenian National Congress
bloc Nikol Pashinyan.

The Court reasoned its decision by a necessity to get additional
materials from the state agencies.

The Constitutional Court will address the Prosecutor Genera’s office
and Central Electoral Commission for explanations.

Nikol Pashinyan has appealed to the Constitutional Court with the
demand that the May 6 parliamentary elections in #7 precinct should be
recognized invalid.

From: Baghdasarian

Russia’s Paternity

Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:20:12 – 15/06/2012

Unlike the previous elections in Armenia the upcoming presidential
elections in Armenia will be marked by influence. So far there have
been no doubts that Armenia is a zone of Russia’s influence which was
believed eligible to designate or at least affirm candidates to
government in Armenia.

This time the situation is different. The West has an equal
psychological right with Russia to support this or that candidate.

Russia would hardly agree to this so most probably it has some other
plans relating to Armenia. Most probably, the substitution of
Kocharyan with Sargsyan in 2008 copied the Russian developments in
2007, when Medvedev was appointed Putin’s `locum tenens’ for one term.
It was expected that after one term Kocharyan would also return to the
presidential office.

But something went wrong. Either Serzh Sargsyan broke the `agreement’
and demanded 2 terms, or the March 1, 2008 events hindered the plans,
in the result of which Kocharyan didn’t become Prime Minister; or
everything was planned before the elections, but, anyway, after Serzh
Sargsyan had assumed the office, he suddenly turned towards the
Western direction.

This was demonstrated as an important step: in spite of the fact that
Serzh Sargsyan announced about the football diplomacy with Turkey
being in Moscow, just after some time the Americans took the
initiative in their hands and didn’t allow the already decided act
happen, according to which, in exchange of opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border, Armenians would have to make concessions on
Karabakh.

After it became known that the Russian plan on the `normalization’ of
relations between Armenia and Turkey and Azerbaijan contradicts
Armenia’s interests, Russia’s undoubted `paternity’ in Armenia was
already disputed. Always more people started shifting their views to
the West, understanding that both sides pursue their interests, but
now, the Western ones at least match with the Armenian interests.

The West noticed these changes in Armenia best of all and made an
unprecedented step: it decided not to support the opposition
candidate, like it did in other post-soviet countries, but to bid on
the acting president. Now Russia, if it wants to have its candidate,
will have to fight not only against the West, but also the
administrative machine of Armenia, which may define the outcome of any
elections.

Changed the moods in the Armenia society, Russia got deprived of its
unchanged instrument of neutralization of `other’ players. Earlier, it
was enough to leak that this or another politician is an agent of
influence of the West, when that figure lost weight and became almost
a renegade. Just recall Artur Baghdasaryan, who was `charged with’ a
meeting with the British ambassador prior to the elections.

Now, the pro-Western position is not accepted as `criminal’, moreover,
right the agents of influence of Russia appear in an unbeneficial
situation because now the society thinks from the citizen’s position
that the Russian agents of influence lead Armenia to the
`underdeveloped’ Eurasia, while the `Westerns’ offer comfort and
well-being of Europe.

The legitimization by the West of Serzh Sargsyan’s with to go for a
second term has complicated the situation of other candidates even
more. Moreover, it has been legitimized by the equidistance of Armenia
from the West and Russia.

This trend may develop in one direction or another. If the Americans,
along with political support to Serzh Sargsyan provide inflow of
Western investment to the country and neutralize the dominant Russian
capital in Armenia, Armenia may finally and `peacefully’ get out of
the post-Soviet imperial space. The trend could turn back only in case
of force majeure – unless, God forbid, bloody events happen, a state
of emergency is declared and `emergency’ power is established.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian Diaspora ready to finance city-building on NKR liberated territories

June 15, 2012 – 14:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan want to build a
city to be populated by 100000 on Zangelan-adjacent liberated
territories.

`The city will be named Bagharan,’ Azerbaijan’s Armenian Refugees
Assembly board member Mariam Avagyan told a news conference in
Yerevan.

`The city must be given a status of a free economic zone, with talks
as to Bagharan construction in progress with NKR authorities,’ she
noted.

According to Ms Avagyan, U.S.-based Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan
are ready to finance the project.

Another representative of the Assembly, Eduard Poladov, in turn,
expressed hope the newly-built city will be in no way inferior to
Baku, which they were forced to leave.

`Bagaran will become a symbol of friendship between the nations in the
region,’ he stressed.

From: Baghdasarian

Commentary: Turkey ready to accomplish another dirty job in the region

June 15, 2012 – 13:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s hawkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
entered the foreign policy arena disguised as a dove, advocating a new
foreign policy for his country that would reduce to zero all the
problems with its neighbors, Edmond Y. Azadian says in a commentary on
The Armenian-Mirror Spectator.

`Since Mr. Davutoglu prefers to define his country’s foreign policy in
mathematical terms, the results or the sums of that policy can be
measured in the same mathematical terms. Mr. Davutoglu’s zero was
multiplied with many zeros to give a zero result as appraised by
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. The protocols with
Armenia yielded a zero. Negotiations with Cyprus regressed, rather
than progressed, when Turkey refused to abide by the European Union’s
demand to open up its ports and airports for Cypriot transport. Next,
after kissing and hugging President Bashar al Assad of Syria, Turkey
emerged as the vanguard in undermining that country’s sovereignty.
Turkey engineered a stand off with Israel, and finally, after signing
a $20-billion energy agreement with Iran, and thumbing the warnings
from the West, relations between the two nations are frosty,’ he said.

`Today arms and money are pouring into Syria, mostly through the
Turkish border and raising the level of violence to such an atrocious
level where it will be convenient to blame the government forces,
which are trying to bring order and save the lives of citizens caught
in the crossfire of the army and foreign intruders. Turkey has been
enhancing its power by efficiently executing assignments from the West
and as compensation, it is allowed even to bully the European Union,’
Azadian emphasizes.

`All indications are there to conclude that Turkey is ready to
accomplish another dirty job in the region, when pressure on Iran
heats up, after the collapse of the regime in Syria. That will add
another zero to Mr. Davutoglu’s `peaceful’ foreign policy,’ he
concludes.

From: Baghdasarian