Author: Hunanian Jack

A Grieving Mother’s Lament: `He didn’t listen to me…He went away’
2009/05/09 | 16:05

important society
Lilit Nurijanyan

Today, May 9, is Shushi Liberation Day. There were more crowds than
usual at the `Yerablur’ memorial for fallen soldiers. Black-clad women
could be seen sitting at various grave sites.

For Mrs. Pirouz it’s just another Saturday. She comes here every
Saturday and Sunday where the grave of her son who died in the Artsakh
is located. The white-haired women, dressed in black, was tending to
flowers and brushing away the dust from the grave of her son,
Edvard. As she sat at the grave, looking into the eyes of her son’s
face sculpted on the grave stone, she let out a huge sigh. For 17
years, this 61 year-old woman has opened her eyes every morning
knowing that her son is no longer here with her. Edvard Kamsari
Gharabaghtsyan was only 21 when he died in the war.

`His war buddies say that he fought on till the end even with injured
hands. I told him not to go, nut to no use. He told me that if he
didn’t go, who would. He said all of us must go,’ Mrs. Pirouz noted.

Edvard’s mother went on, `He’d always be playing with his toy
soldiers. He was a different sort of child, never going outside. But
he didn’t listen to me when I told him not to go. They tell me I
should be proud. But why? Because he left me in such torment? I was an
orphan from the age of two. My sister and I grew upo alone. We went
hungry and slept on the streets. I raised three kids by myself. I’ve
seen my share of hard times but the longing for my son has broken
me. It’s easier to grow up without parents then to grow old without
your son. Yes, I have another son but Edvard was special, not like the
others.’

`I want to leave early so that I don’t see the government leaders. It
was the birthday of Ashot Navasartyan. They had come and brought tons
of flowers. No one approached me; no one offered me a flower. Not even
a hello.

I don’t see any sign of respect. They now sit at their high posts
because of the blood shed by the sons and husbands of mothers and
wives like us. One day Vazgen Sargsyan saw me sitting at my son’s
grave. He approached me and said, `Is he your son?’ I answered that he
was my son. He then turned to me and said, `Mother, always hold your
head up high with pride in the knowledge that you riased such a son.”
In a low voice Mrs. Pirouz told me, `Leave me child. Leave me here to
bake in my misery. Nothing makes sense. My heart is breaking…He
didn’t listen to me. He went away.’

The black-clad woman was kneeling with difficulty as she removed some
weeds from between the roses. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and the
same words were uttered from her lips. `You didn’t listen to me…you
went away…’

MOSCOW SAYS NATO TIES OK, DESPITE EXPULSIONS
DAVID NOWAK

Associated Press Writer
Wednesday May 6 2009

MOSCOW- Russia and NATO sought to limit damage to their relationship
Wednesday, after expelling each other’s envoys and despite Moscow’s
criticism of military exercises in former Soviet Georgia.

Russia had said NATO’s war games amounted to Western meddling in its
sphere of influence, and called NATO’s expulsion of Russian diplomats
from alliance headquarters last week a provocation. On Wednesday,
Russia kicked out two Canadians who were working for NATO in Moscow.

"We naturally were forced to react," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov said in televised comments, adding that Russia was just playing
by the "rules of the game."

But he took pains to emphasize that Moscow wanted normal relations
with the Western alliance, despite objections over NATO expansion
into former Soviet republics.

"We want a normal partnership with the North Atlantic alliance,
based on mutual respect and mutual benefit," Lavrov said.

Russia’s relations with NATO have been fraught with tension for years
over the alliance’s eastward expansion. Tiny Georgia and its aim of
joining NATO have become a major irritation.

On April 29, NATO and Russia resumed formal contacts suspended
over Russia’s five-day war with Georgia in August. Russia and NATO
âÂ~@Â" which have cooperated in recent months on=2 0matters including
shipments to Afghanistan âÂ~@Â" planned a meeting of foreign ministers
later this month.

A day later, however, NATO revoked the accreditation of two Russian
envoys to alliance headquarters in Brussels. NATO did not give details,
but Russia suggested the move was tied to a February espionage scandal
in which Moscow was accused of accepting NATO secrets from a spy.

Russia responded Wednesday by expelling Isabelle Francois, the head
of NATO’s Information Office in Moscow, and her deputy. The two were
the office’s only foreign staff, the alliance said.

NATO called the move "counterproductive to our efforts to restore
our dialogue and cooperation with Russia," but it said its decision
to re-engage with Russia "stands."

Canada, however, demanded an explanation from the Russian
ambassador. "We’re greatly concerned, given that fact that there is
this reengagement that is taking place," Canadian Foreign Minister
Lawrence Cannon said.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper justified NATO’s expelling the
Russians, saying NATO would take whatever action necessary "when it
comes to spying."

"It’s true at NATO we talked of reconciliation, but … we are
concerned about Russian behavior on a number of fronts," Harper said
during a visit to Prague. "I don’t want to say this is a Cold War,
but it’s not an ideal situation."

But analysts suggested the retaliatory expulsions amounted to diplomacy
as20usual for Moscow, and said they would likely have little lasting
impact on Russia’s relations with the West. During the Cold War,
expulsions of Soviet and NATO alliance diplomats were routine.

"We have seen several expulsions in the past," said Alexander
Konovalov, head of Moscow’s Institute for Strategic Assessment. "It’s
normal practice, more or less."

Russia’s NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said the two sides should put
the dispute behind them and "consider this issue closed," according
to Interfax.

Russia has also loudly complained about NATO military exercises that
began Wednesday in Georgia, though NATO has encouraged Russia to join
the war games and says they pose no threat.

Russia has said it is inappropriate to hold the monthlong military
exercises in a country that recently fought and lost a war.

Exacerbating tensions, hundreds of Georgian troops staged a daylong
mutiny Tuesday at a tank battalion headquarters near Tbilisi. The
rebellion ended with the soldiers surrendering without incident. Russia
angrily denied Georgia’s initial claims that Moscow orchestrated the
mutiny in hopes of overthrowing the government.

Georgia quickly backtracked and said the mutiny was aimed at disrupting
the NATO exercises. Some Georgian opposition members called the mutiny
a charade cooked up by Saakashvili to rally support after weeks of
opposition protests.

"We are an established state and showed it yesterday, and we won’t let
0Aanyone act this way," Saakashvili said Wednesday in an address to
military officers. He said a former Georgian envoy to NATO was charged
Tuesday with spying for Russia and allegedly passed information about
Georgian military movements to Russia during the war.

Russia has dismissed the idea of taking part in the NATO exercises
in Georgia. Participants were holding meetings until at least May
11, after which battlefield maneuvers would begin, Georgian Defense
Ministry spokesman David Dzhokhadze said. Some 15 countries were
taking part, after Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Serbia and
Armenia bowed out.

ACCOUNTING CENTER ESTABLISHED FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.05.2009 14:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Thanks to support of Armenia’s ministry of economy
a new accounting center was established to assist small and medium
enterprises in their accounting business, chief executive of the
National Center for small-to-medium business development (NCSMBD)
of Armenia Ishkhan Karapetyan said.

"146 legal entities attended the newly established Accounting Center
between January 26 and May 4," he said.

According to Karapetyan, in the fringes of the 2009 state support
program, 11 entities have already received consultation services,
which have been co-financed by NCSMBD. 9 training programs were
carried out by the center within March-April, attracting 213 entities
of small-to-medium business. As he also mentioned, the trainings were
free of charge.

The purpose of trainings is to familiarize with changes in the
legislative area, political and economical rights, basis of accounting.

PUBLIC COUNCIL COMMITTEE HAS NOT YET MADE DECISION ON DISPUTABLE ISSUES

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.05.2009 19:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In its session to be held on May 7, Public Council
Committee on Religion, Diaspora and Integration will hold session
to elect Chairman, Committee Coordinator Karen Bekaryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent. Not giving details on agenda issues,
Mr. Bekaryan said that the session will focus on voting procedures. He
also added that the decision on second round or repeated voting will
be made during the May 7 discussion.

The Committee held its previous session on April 22. Of the 192
registered members, 156 were present. Under Committee Regulations,
one of the 12 Public Council members automatically became Committee
Chairman.

After vote count, Gagik Minasyan, associate professor of Pedagogical
University, appeared on top (71 votes). Rouben Safrastyan (39 votes)
and Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan came next. During vote tabulation,
one of voting bulletins appeared invalid, resulting in an incident
between Gagik Manasyan and Rouben Safrastyan.

WE’LL SEE

AZG Armenian Daily
01/05/2009

Armenian Genocide

Ambassador John Marshall Evans spoke at our commemoration last night
(all 5 Armenian churches participated), as well as at our "Genocide
Walk" today on the Phila. Art Museum steps. We had several hundred
people at each of the events. Al Momjian was instrumental in arranging
his visit to Philadelphia (from which both sets of his grandparents
originated, incidentally).

Having read the actual text of Pres. Obama’s statement, Evans indicated
that although it was a compromise statement, it was still more hopeful
than previous U.S. presidents have made. To him it was clear that
this statement was made by a committee, and not the heartfelt words
of Obama. Using a term that only Armenians know ("Medz Yeghern"), and
twice at that, seemed a bit out of place, even condescending, when the
purpose of the proclamation is to let those who don’t know about the
history become informed. He feels that Rahm Emanuel (AIPAC’s "Man in
the White House") probably had a strong hand in altering the language
of the statement to eliminate the word "genocide". On the hopeful side,
Obama said, as he did in Turkey, "my views have not changed". And
he talked about pushing for "acknowledgment", not the equivocating
"examination" of previous presidents.We’ll see.The Genocide Walk today
was also to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur. Ibrahim
Hamid, a Darfurian, and the treasurer of the Philadelphia-based Darfur
Alert Coalition, also spoke at this program. I had an opportunity to
speak as well, at the end, before the Requiem ceremony.

PHOTO BY ARA SHAKARJIAN – DSCN3062L to R: Fr. Nerses Manoogian
(St. Gregory – Antelias), Amb. John Evans, Abp. Yeghishe Gizirian
(ret. – Etchmiadzin), Mrs. Donna Evans, Very Rev. Fr. Mkrtich Proshyan
(Ss. Sahag & Mesrob – Etchmiadzin), Rev. Fr. Armenag Bedrosian
(St. Mark Arm. Cath.), Rev. Nishan Bakalian (Armenian Martyrs’
Congl.). Taken at the altar of Ss. Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Apostolic
Church, Wynnewood, Pa. (April 24, 2009)

ARMENIAN LEADER DENIES ACCORD WITH TURKEY TO STOP GENOCIDE RECOGNITION DRIVE

Public Television
April 25 2009
Armenia

[Presenter] Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan convened a session of
the Armenian National Security Council today. The main issue put
on the agenda was the latest developments in the Armenian-Turkish
relationship. Touching on a statement made by the Swiss, Armenian and
Turkish foreign ministries three days ago, Sargsyan said that the
document reflects the efforts aimed at improving relations between
Armenia and Turkey.

[Correspondent] The Armenian president said that the document which is
currently being discussed by Armenia will also be publicized in the
near future and he is convinced that the provisions of the document
will be welcomed by the public. The president said that Armenia’s
position is clear and well-defined, borders cannot be closed in
Europe in the 21st century. Expansion of transport corridors, energy
sources and the geography of economic ties is required in order to
be an efficient state.

[Sargsyan] In the recent period, it is speculated that allegedly
Armenian-Turkish relations have been made conditional on relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, or [Armenia’s] concession in the
Karabakh issue is a precondition for normalizing Armenian-Turkish
relations. I once again reiterate that the subject of Azerbaijan
and Nagornyy Karabakh [conflict] has never been discussed during the
negotiations with Turks. The expansion of relations between Armenia
and Turkey would probably have a positive influence on solution of
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, but it cannot be a precondition.

[Correspondent] The president also touched on circulated reports
that the issuing of a joint statement [by Swiss, Armenian and Turkish
foreign ministries] in the run-up to the commemorative ceremony of the
genocide victims can affect the international process of recognition
of the genocide.

[Sargsyan] I do not think so. On the contrary, I think all those
who have carefully followed the international media should confirm
this. All leading international media started their news with this
topic and noted that the genocide has actually happened. They were
reporting that the Armenian president has repeatedly noted that the
establishment of relations does not mean rejection or questioning the
genocide. The establishment of relations with Turks will not affect
the international recognition of the genocide. The international
recognition of the genocide is the only way to prevent it from
happening in the future.

RUSSIAN GAS SUPPLIES TO ARMENIA THROUGH GEORGIA RESTORED

Interfax
April 26 2009
Russia

Tbilisi, 26 April: The flow of Russian gas to Armenia [through
Georgia], which had been halted on 23 April in connection with repair
works on the North-South trunk gas pipeline, resumed on Sunday morning
[26 April], the head of the public relations department of the Georgian
Oil and Gas Corporation, Tamar Shoshiashvili, has told Interfax.

She said that nearly four kilometres of corroded parts of the pipeline
had been reinforced near the village of Gldanula in Gardabani District.

quot;Repairs on this section were carried out as part of the
second phase of restoration works on the North-South pipeline,quot;
Shoshiashvili said. The North-South gas pipeline, which supplies
Armenia with Russian gas through Georgia, was built in the 1970s.

Georgia receives 10 per cent of the gas supplied through the pipeline
as a transit fee.

PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV: "AZERBAIJAN WILL NEVER GIVE INDEPENDENCE TO NAGORNY KARABAKH"

APA
April 29 2009
Azerbaijan

Brussels – APA. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had a meeting with
the representatives of European Policy Center on the theme "Azerbaijan:
an increasingly important partner for the EU" in Brussels on April 28,
APA reports quoting AzerTAC state agency. Making a keynote speech
at the meeting, head of the center Hans Martens said Azerbaijan’s
relations with the European organizations and the European Union were
extending successfully. He said Azerbaijan actively participated in
the European Neighborhood Policy, was a reliable energy partner of
the European Union and underlined Azerbaijan’s special role in the
energy security of Europe.

President Ilham Aliyev briefed the participants about the economic
reforms carried out in Azerbaijan and indicators of the economic
growth.

"Share of private sector has increased in economy, there is favorable
business environment, reforms are being carried out in the field of
democratization and rule of law. Measures are taken in Azerbaijan to
turn over oil revenues to human capital, much attention is paid to the
implementation of transnational energy projects. It is not accidental
that now Azerbaijan plays an important role in ensuring energy security
of Europe. Successful economic policy is highly assessed by the
international financial organizations. According to the World Bank’s
report "Doing Business" Azerbaijan is the top reformer," he said.

Ilham Aliyev said oil production was increasing in Azerbaijan and
highly assessed the country’s transit opportunities.

"Azerbaijan’s attaches great importance to the regional
cooperation. Despite this, there still are unsolved problems in the
region. Armenia has been occupying a part of Azerbaijani territories
for 20 years. Over 1 million Azerbaijanis have been displaced. Though
international organizations adopted resolutions condemning this
occupation, Armenia ignores these documents. Azerbaijan’s position
is firm – the occupied territories should be emptied, IDPs should
return to their native lands and Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
should be restored," he said.

The head of state said Armenia occupied not only Nagorny Karabakh,
but seven nearby regions as well and destroyed infrastructure in those
territories. Nagorny Karabakh is a historic land of Azerbaijan and
Azerbaijan will never give independence to Nagorny Karabakh, said
President Ilham Aliyev. "The only solution to the conflict is the
Armenia’s withdrawal from the occupied territories. Then Azerbaijan can
give a highest status of self-determination to Nagorny Karabakh. There
are no prospects for the invader’s policy".

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan had large transit opportunities
in the Caspian region and shared these opportunities with all its
partners. The president said Azerbaijan followed the goal to become one
of the most developed countries in the world. As a result of economic
development more than 700 thousand new job places were created in
recent years in the country, which improved welfare of the people
and opened new financial opportunities for the country. "Recently
Azerbaijan was a gas importer, but now our country became one of the
main gas exporters. Azerbaijan is exporting its natural gas to Georgia,
Turkey and to the EU market".

President Ilham Aliyev said both Azerbaijan and EU would benefit
from the cooperation within the framework of Eastern Partnership
Program. Answering the question about the Turkey-Armenia relations,
President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan doesn’t interfere in the
policy of any country. "It is clear that Armenia-Turkey borders were
closed because of occupation of Azerbaijani lands. This occupation
is still continuing".

IN THE NEGOTIATING ROOM AND OUT OF IT
HAKOB BADALYAN

LRAGIR.AM
11:21:49 – 28/04/2009

A very interesting situation is created in the Armenian and
Turkish relations. The Armenian government is trying to persuade
its citizens of being right. And, the there is no precondition for
the normalization of the Armenian and Turkish relations, but the
great part of the society, reading and watching the governmental
media which is overwhelmed with references to the Turkish sources,
seems to believe more the statements of the Turkish government,
which state that until the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not settled,
the Armenian and Turkish border will not be open.

In theory, it could not be ruled out that the Armenian and
Turkish negotiations do not have any precondition. Perhaps, Turkey
negotiates with Armenia without any precondition, then, going out of
the negotiating room, it announces that unless the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue is settled, it will not open its border. Naturally, it becomes
more interesting to know what Turkey does in the negotiating room,
when it stays alone with the Armenian government, or the U.S., Russia
or Switzerland are also present there.

No one knows. Why the Armenian government does not make this
circumstance public is not known either.

Consequently, either no one tells anything in the room, or Turkey says
what it states while coming out of the negotiating room, which is the
reason why the Armenian government does not want to make it public
and goes on stating that there is no question of precondition. In
other words, either nothing is spoken about in the negotiating room,
or what is spoken out of it, is spoken inside it too. Subsequently,
there is a precondition.

But, let us not forget that the Armenian government says that there
is no precondition. However, an essential question occurs: what is
there? What the negotiating process includes. It is not enough to state
"don’t believe" or "believe us" for persuading the public, moreover,
when it does such a government which was formed as a result of such
an election and of a post electoral situation which took place in
February and March 2008.

If the Armenian government does not voice its version of the Armenian
and Turkish negotiations, the society is natural to believe to the
other side which speaks of some version and which is the Turkish
one. The same goes for the Nagorno-Karabakh question. Only the
Azerbaijani party voices any version of the settlement of the conflict,
as well as the co-chairs and Armenia only says "do not believe",
"believe us".

But nothing precise is said. Why it is not stated at least something
which would make pleasure to the public. The point is not that the
sweet lie is better than the bitter truth. But the point is that
the Armenian and Turkish negotiations are not conducted around the
negotiating tables but on the level of public statements.

The negotiating rooms serve only for the statements out of them. That
is why it brings more pleasurable to hear Serge Sargsyan’s statements
that due to the wrong calculation Armenian may leave the negotiating
process, very surprisingly become stronger than the statement which
calls to believe them, that there are no preconditions. At least, the
only exact thought of the Armenian government during the whole period
of the negotiations, almost one year, was that if its calculations
come out to be wrong Armenia will give up the negotiations. The rest
of the precise thoughts, unfortunately, were authored by Turkey.

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE FOR THE WORLD YOUTH BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON MAY 23-30 MET AT THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT, CHAIRED BY COMMITTEE HEAD, RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN.

The meeting discussed and approved the action plan presented by the
preparations task force.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stressed the need for proper
organization of the first-ever world boxing championship to be held
in Armenia.

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Armen Grigoryan advised that bids
have already been received from Russia, the USA, Australia, Germany,
Cuba, Great Britain, China and about forty other countries. 300 young
boxers are expected to contend for the championship.

The Organizing Committee approved the samples of winners’ medals, the
world cup, the crystal glove-souvenir, commemorative medals, badges,
the world cup logo and other requisites. It was noted that 2 Olympic
boxing rings and other supplies have been ordered with Moscow-based
firms, with a video-clip being in process of preparation.

In conclusion, specific tasks were set for the ministries and agencies
concerned.