Author: Kajoyan Gevork

TEACHING US – ARMENIAN – TO BE TOLERANT IS AT LEAST IMMORAL
Lusine Vasilyan

“Radiolur”
13.04.2012 18:23

Teaching us – Armenian – to be tolerant is at least immoral,
information security experts said during a meeting with reporters
today. Experts Tigran Kocharyan and Vahram Marutyan referred to
the initiative of Georgy Vanyan, Chairman of the Caucasus Center
of Peace-Making Initiatives, to hold an Azerbaijani Film Festival
in Gyumri.

“Two years after his initiatives failed in Yerevan and Vanadzor,
Vanyan again tries to hold an Azerbaijani Film Festival in Gyumri,”
Tigran Kocharyan said.

According to him, the Chairman of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making
Initiatives has turned the topic of Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue
into a matter of bargaining and makes money on it. It’s the task of
any of us not to allow this.

Georgy Vanyan says his initiative is aimed at propagating tolerance
and establishing dialogue between the two countries. The experts
are not against the ideas of tolerance and dialogue, but they are
assured that there is greater need for it in Azerbaijan, where the
anti-Armenian hysteria has exceeded all limits.

Tigran Kocharyan considers that the conduct of such a festival in
Armenia is possible in one case, i.e. if Azerbaijan holds a festival of
Armenian films. “Dialogue means that both parties should demonstrate
willingness, while we do not see it on the part of Azerbaijan,”
he said.

Tigran Kocharayan refuted the information that the conduct of the
festival was financed by the US and British Embassies in Armenia.

FARMER SHOULD BELIEVE IN LAND: IT MAY FEED EVERYONE – ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT SAYS

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 13, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of the
parliamentary election campaign President of Armenia, leader of
the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Serzh Sargsyan met with the
residents of the Massis town of Ararat region.

Armenpress reports that speaking to the residents, the President
stressed that the coming changes are aimed at ensuring contemporary
conditions and creation of infrastructures in the whole territory of
the republic.

“Roads, schools, renovated kinder-gartens, upgraded hospitals all this
will be in Massis town as well,” President said, expressing conviction
that for reaching the aim it is necessary to believe to own strength,
own vote, own future.

After meeting with Massis residents the RPA leader visited the nearby
Hayanist community. “In every community I visit, I say that your
salvation is in the land. Our issue will be to ensure all conditions
for developing agriculture in rural areas. I convince you that the
government has conducted serious work in this direction and will still
double the efforts in this direction. Farmer should believe in land:
it may feed everyone,” the President said.

ARMENIAN VILLAGE RAPE VICTIM TO BE QUESTIONED – NEWSPAPER

news.am
April 13, 2012 | 09:00

YEREVAN. – As it is known, prefect Azat Ghukasyan of Hartashen village
of Armenia’s Syunik Region is under custody on charges of raping a
14-year-old schoolgirl in the village, Zhamanak daily writes.

“The raped minor girl will undergo forensic psychological and
psychiatric examination. The questionings are continuing. The
investigation is in progress.

Incidentally, Azat Ghukasyan, who was born in 1962, used to be the
[village] school’s principal, and, according to the rumors, he was
dismissed because of sexually harassing the schoolgirls,” Zhamanak
writes.

PROBE LAUNCHED INTO HRANT DINK MURDER CASE JUDGE, PROSECUTOR

news.am
April 13, 2012 | 11:19

The Turkish High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) Vice
President Ahmet Hamsici informed that a disciplinary investigation is
launched into Rustem Eryilmaz, the Istanbul court judge who examined
the murder case of Hrant Dink-the founder and former chief editor
of Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly, who was gunned down in
2007 in front of his office building-and the case’s state prosecutor
Hikmet Usta, Haberturk of Turkey informs.

The HSYK Vice President stressed that the probe was launched on the
basis of their media statements.

Ahmet Hamsici recalled the judge’s following words: “I cannot say
whether there is no criminal group in Dink’s murder, but…” He also
reminded these words by the prosecutor: “There is a criminal group,
facts, and even more. It is just that the court did not examine them.”

BAKO SAHAKYAN RECEIVED ARF REPRESENTATIVES

Aysor.am
April 13, 2012

On 13 April President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan received
member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsoutyun)
Bureau Levon Lazarian and Director of the International Secretariat
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau and head of Armenian
Cause Office Kiro Manoyan.

The Head of the State welcomed the organization of event dedicated to
the Armenian Cause issues and activities carried out in this direction
qualifying it as an important foreign and domestic policy aspect.

Member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau, consultant
of the NKR President’s Office Georgy Petrosyan and representative
of the Artsakh central committee of the Dashnaktsutyun Party David
Ishkhanyan partook at the meeting.

TURQUIE : RAFLE VISANT LES AUTEURS DU COUP D’ETAT DE 1997
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 13 avril 2012

La police turque a arrete jeudi plusieurs anciens officiers soupconnes
d’implication dans une intervention de l’armee qui avait chasse en
1997 le premier gouvernement islamiste de l’histoire turque, dont
l’un des cerveaux presumes de ce coup de force, selon les medias.

L’ex general quatre etoiles Cevik Bir, la personnalite militaire la
plus saillante de cette intervention des generaux ainsi que plusieurs
autres militaires a la retraite ont ete interpelles a Istanbul,
precise l’agence de presse Anatolie.

Les procureurs ont emis 31 mandats d’arret et des perquisitions ont
ete faites a Istanbul et Ankara notamment.

Les personnes arretees seront conduites a Ankara pour etre traduites
devant un tribunal qui pourrait decider de les placer en detention
preventive, ajoute Anatolie.

Le general Bir, brillant officier aujourd’hui a la retraite, etait a
l’epoque le numero 2 de l’etat-major des armees, charge des questions
strategiques.

L’armee, qui se considère comme la garante des principes de la
Republique turque, a commencer par celui de la laïcite, a renverse
trois gouvernements en 1960, 1971 et 1980.

Les evenements de 1997 sont souvent qualifies en Turquie de coup
d’Etat postmoderne car les generaux ont chasse le gouvernement sans
faire intervenir la troupe et n’ont pas remplace l’administration
civile par un regime militaire.

Le Premier ministre de l’epoque, Necmettin Erbakan, etait le mentor
politique de l’actuel Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, qui
affirme avoir renonce a l’islam politique.

Le ministre de la Justice Sadullah Engin a salue l’operation et
souligne : la Turquie devait confronter les faits qui ont marque son
histoire recente et qui ont contrarie sa democratie. C’est cela qui
se produit.

Cette nouvelle offensive judiciaire contre d’anciens militaires
s’inscrit dans une lutte de pouvoir entre le gouvernement
islamo-conservateur et l’armee, autrefois toute puissante, qui a vu
ses prerogatives reduites par le pouvoir civil.

Le procès historique de l’auteur du coup d’Etat de 1980, l’ex general
Kenan Evren, s’est ouvert le 4 avril a Ankara.

Des dizaines d’officiers d’active et a la retraite sont par ailleurs
actuellement en prison, inculpes dans divers complots presumes visant
a renverser le regime, au pouvoir depuis 2002.

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA WILL SIGN A NEW MILITARY AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT

Trend
April 12 2012
Azerbaijan

Artur Baghdasaryan, Secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council,
told journalists that the agreement will afford ample opportunities
for expanding Armenian-Russian military cooperation, Tert.am reported.

Artur Baghdasaryan participated in an enlarged meeting of the Armenian
and Russian delegations to the Military Economy Cooperation Commission,
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Belarus has so far been the only nation Russia has a similar agreement
with, he stressed.

The agreement will enhance Armenia’s military security. On Friday,
Armenia’s National Security Council is to hold a discussion on regular
military maneuvers.

PLA CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF MEETS WITH ARMENIAN GUESTS

Defense Professionals

April 12 2012

13:18 GMT, April 12, 2012 Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff
of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), met with Evajan,
the visiting director of the Defense Policy Bureau of the Ministry
of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, on the morning of April 10,
2012 in Beijing.

Ma Xiaotian pointed out that there is profound traditional friendship
between China and Armenia and between the two peoples. Since the
beginning of the new century, the relations between the two countries
have achieved new development. The Chinese side highly commends the
Armenian side for its solid support on the Taiwan and Tibet issues,
etc. In recent years, the relations between the two militaries have
been well developed. The Chinese military attaches importance to the
development of friendly relations with the Armenian military and it
hopes to make joint efforts with the Armenian side to promote the
pragmatic exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries.

Evajan said that the Armenian side is satisfied with the achievements
made in the development of the relations between the two militaries in
recent years, thanks the Chinese side for its support and help in the
building of the Armenian armed forces and is willing to constantly
deepen and push forward further pragmatic cooperation between the
two militaries in various fields.

Ci Guowei, deputy director-general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the
Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People’s Republic of China
(PRC), and Sargsyan Vaghinak, Armenian military attache to China,
were present at the meeting.

DASHNAKTSUTYUN CLAIMS ANOTHER REASON FOR GOVERNMENT EXIT
Astghik Bedevian

12.04.2012

Armenia – Armen Rustamian, a leader of the opposition Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, addresses a campaign rally in Yerevan,
10 Apr 2012.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) pulled out of
the ruling coalition in 2009 not only because of strong objections
to President Serzh Sarkisian’s policy of rapprochement with Turkey,
a leader of the opposition party claimed on Thursday.

Armen Rustamian, the de facto head of its governing body in Armenia,
said Dashnaktsutyun was also frustrated with the Sarkisian
administration’s failure to carry out sweeping political and
socioeconomic reforms.

Dashnaktsutyun cited only “insurmountable fundamental disagreements”
with Sarkisian on Turkish-Armenian relations when it quit the
government in April 2009. The move came four days after the Armenian
and Turkish governments announced a “roadmap” to gradually normalizing
bilateral ties.

That announcement was in turn made one day before the annual April 24
remembrance of some 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman
Turks during World War One. Dashnaktsutyun and other critics of the
ill-fated normalization process believe that the timing was meant to
make it easier for U.S. President Barack Obama to backtrack on his
2008 pledges to recognize the massacres as genocide.

“[Turkey] was only one of the reasons [for Dashnaktsutyun’s
withdrawal,]” Rustamian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

“Seeing that despite being part of [ruling] coalitions we were
incompletely solving problems important to us, we decided to quit
the coalition.”

Rustamian argued that his party therefore has a moral right
to criticize Sarkisian’s track record in office during ongoing
parliamentary election campaign. “We are not dodging responsibility,”
he said. “We just want our detractors to be fair.”

“After all, we had only 12-13 percent [of the vote] and we did many
things commensurate with that [share,]” added the Dashnaktsutyun
leader. “But we did not succeed because … the dominant force, the
[coalition] majority did not accept approaches and arguments advanced
by us. They did not accept the need for changes because they did
not want to abandon the system which unfortunately remains our main
scourge to this day.”

Dashnaktsutyun entered into a power-sharing deal with Sarkisian’s
Republican Party and two other parties following the February 2008
presidential election and the ensuing deadly government crackdown
on the opposition. It received three ministerial portfolios in
Sarkisian’s cabinet.

The party was also represented in the executive branch during much
of former President Robert Kocharian’s 1998-2008 rule.

FOR SALE: RESPONDENTS SAY VOTES DON’T MATTER EXCEPT IN HOW MUCH THEY ARE WORTH IN BRIBES
Gohar Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
Vote 2012 | 13.04.12 | 15:48

A survey conducted by Exit Poll non-governmental organization (NGO)
showed that a great number of voters in Armenia are ready to sell
their votes to the highest bidder.

The survey was commissioned by Public Opinion Institute of Political
and Social Researches of Black Sea Caucasian Region and asked
participants who they would vote for.

A total of 2,710 participated and the survey results showed the
two main political forces – Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) together received 50 percent of
the votes.

“About 13.2 percent of the survey participants do not know whom
to vote for, and to the question why they are planning to vote for
this or that political force 20.3 percent could not answer,” Levon
Andriasyan, director of The Public Opinion Institute of Political
and Social Researches of Black Sea Caucasian Region said at a press
conference on Friday.

“Most of the survey participants say that their votes have no value
and their votes will not be counted anyway, therefore they will
vote for those who give them more money,” Andriasyan says, adding
that during the past elections these kinds of answers were rare,
“whereas now people even do not hide it.”