Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ARTO TUNCBOYACIYAN TO PERFORM AT PAUL WINTER SOLSTICE CONCERT

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 15, 2011 – 13:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A Paul Winter Solstice Concert will take place on
December 21 in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York.

Guests this year include Armenian vocalist/percussionist Arto
Tuncboyaciyan; gospel singer Theresa Thomason; and the drummers of
Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.

For more than a quarter-century, saxophonist Paul Winter has celebrated
the longest night of the year with a concert. Each year, members of the
Paul Winter Consort, the core performing group for the annual Winter
Solstice concerts, are joined by international musicians to celebrate
the return of the sun at the world’s largest Gothic cathedral.

RECTOR OF ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT DISAPPEARED

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 10:48:11 – 15/12/2011

Aravot Daily reported that the former Rector of the Armenian Academy of
Management Hovhannes Harutyunyan left Armenia. It has been impossible
to find out where he is and why he left the country for already two
weeks. Harutyunyan’s step is interesting because he is not just an
ordinary Armenian citizen. He has been rumored to be involved in
a number of scandals. He was accused of plagiarism and assaulting
students but he was never held responsible. Moreover, most probably
by leaving Armenia he escaped punishment.

No one knew anything about Harutyunyan in the office he headed for
years on or they just did not want to tell us the truth. We only
found out that the term for Harutyunyan’s reelection expired, and
so he ceded his post to Arsen Lokyan, the cousin of an outstanding
member of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, David Lokyan, who used to hold
different high-ranking positions, the newspaper writes.

TURKEY INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS ‘WARNED’ DINK TO BE CAREFUL: FAMILY APPEALS PROSECUTOR DECISION

epress.am
12.15.2011

The family of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has appealed a
decision by an Ankara prosecutor to dismiss proceedings regarding two
members of the National Intelligence Organization (MÝT) who allegedly
“warned” Dink to be careful in his articles prior to his assassination
in 2007, Today’s Zaman reports.

Lawyers Fethiye Cetin and Hasan Urel submitted the petition on behalf
of the family concerning the Ankara court’s Oct. 29 decision to the
Sincan High Criminal Court on Tuesday.

In 2004, Dink published an article in Agos claiming that Sabiha Gokcen,
the adopted daughter of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, and Turkey’s first female pilot, was an Armenian orphan.

The petition indicated that following the publication of Dink’s
story the Hurriyet daily reprinted it saying that “Ataturk’s adopted
daughter was an Armenian girl,” and then the General Staff issued
harsh statements against those news stories.

The lawyers also pointed out Dink’s accounts and some facts:

“After being called to the Ýstanbul Governor’s Office, where two
intelligence officers were present, Hrant Dink wrote about this
meeting because he was being warned and felt that he was being
targeted. When one of the two people, Ozel Yýlmaz, became a defendant
in the Ergenekon case, it was revealed that the intelligence officials
were high-level members of MÝT. MÝT admitted in a statement to the
court three-and-a-half years after the murder that those who attended
the meeting were intelligence officers.”

According to Dink’s account published in Agos, where he was
editor-in-chief, on Jan. 12, 2007, MÝT Marmara Regional Deputy Director
Ozel Yýlmaz and Handan Selcuk summoned Dink to the Ýstanbul Governor’s
Office and issued a warning, telling him to “be careful” about what
he writes. The meeting took place on Feb. 4, 2004, shortly after Dink
wrote the article about Gokcen. After Dink’s assassination in January
2007, one of the MÝT agents who talked to him at the governor’s office
that day was revealed to be Yýlmaz, who is currently a suspect in
the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged with
plotting to overthrow the government which prosecutors said might
also be responsible for Dink’s murder.

Lawyers for the Dink family also indicated that Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan had given permission in January of this year for the
start of a probe into the MÝT agents and that this is why the Ankara
prosecutor had opened an investigation.

“The actions of the suspects are clear. If they performed their duties
well, they would have prevented Hrant Dink’s murder, but they did not.

Therefore, they are responsible for negligent homicide,” the lawyers
stated, adding that it is not MÝT officials’ area of responsibility to
“warn” or “threaten” journalists because of their writings.

The court admitted the fact that the MÝT officials’ actions were in
line with “negligence and misconduct in office,” but since the statute
of limitations had passed, the proceedings were dismissed; however,
the lawyers said the date of the crime should have been Jan. 19,
2007, when Dink was assassinated, not 2004, when the meeting at the
governor’s office took place.

AZNAVOUR BRISTLED. ME TOO (2)
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
jeudi 15 decembre 2011

TRANSLATION

I have long railed against Aznavour. By the time he attended to the
indecency President Kocharian and now when he is willing to concede
to Turkey not to appoint as genocide the events of 1915 if the word
is an obstacle to their recognition of the facts.

But now these days, the old volcano Aznavour seems to wake from a long
sleep patriotic. As if the sacred fire of youth he was suddenly back.

Discerned. He bursts into harsh words against the Armenian mafia is
taking the country gangrene. Output that can not be more honorable if
Parker had the honesty to recognize that the mafia is bound up with
the power in that it allows itself the best share of the market and
allows the oligarchs to get rich indecency.

The President in his film, Henri Verneuil, in the words of Jean
Gabin, denounced the conflict of interest enjoyed by some members,
thus betraying the ideals of a republican politics to serve the nation.

This film is much to say to Armenia politician since the deputies to
the Assembly their interests much more than the Armenians. The social
state of Armenia today speaks volumes about the consequences of such
a practice.

The last stroke of anger Aznavour date recently. In an interview with
Russian magazine Life of Showbiz, taking the word which reach the
Armenians when they speak of a disaster, that he would have described
the emigration of the young Armenian “genocide house.” Even after his
withdrawal, the expression coming from Aznavour, Armenia’s official
representative in Switzerland, blows to the ears of both the accused
and resigned.

The defendants? The whole gang of government, starting with the
president as that prefers open consulates and travel abroad rather
than struggling with reforms to clean up the social climate of the
country. For despite the declarations of intent, Armenia, as it is
today, to shame. It shames all Armenians Democrats because it is a
country that floats on a sea of â~@~Kâ~@~Knonsense without a name. A
country at war where the soldier died by his own people killed. A
country that thinks and lives only by flight. A country where every
citizen is the victim of another as he is himself predator. A country
where children are hungry. A country that s’anémie every day. A
country in free fall, in a situation of permanent suicide while the
palaver to save going well here and there, in Armenia or in Diaspora.

L’HOMME D’AFFAIRES AMERICAIN A ETE LIBERE
Laetitia

armenews.com
jeudi 15 decembre 2011

Un homme d’affaires americain d’origine armenienne et deux de ses
employes locaux ont ete liberes mardi 13 decembre 2011 trois jours
après avoir ete arrete pour evasion fiscale.

Nareg Hartounian et des cadres superieurs de son entreprise
importatrice de produits alimentaires,” Enterprise Storage Mnatsakanian
“, Ani et Artur Galstian, n’ont cependant pas ete blanchi des
accusations.

” Le Bureau du Procureur general a demande de les liberer. Aucun
document ecrit n’a ete publie, ” a declare Ani Torosian, un de leurs
avocats.

Hartounian, Mnatsakanian et Galstian ont ete inculpes samedi pour
avoir fraude et pour ne pas avoir paye leurs impôts depuis 2009. Cela
represente 111 000 000 drams (290,000 dollars). Ils ont nie les
accusations par le biais de leurs avocats.

Les arrestations ont provoque des protestations de personnalites
de l’opposition a Erevan et des Armeniens de la Diaspora. Plus d’un
millier de personnes ont signe une petition sur Internet pour demander
la liberation immediate de Hartounian.

Torosian a suggere que la campagne a contribue a la liberation
inattendue des trois suspects.

NAIRIT PLANT EMPLOYEES STILL DEMAND THEIR SALARIES

Employees of Yerevan-based Nairit plant hope they will receive the
salaries of the past four months by the New Year.

“This mess cannot continue any longer. We have run out of run out of
patience,” said one of the staff members.

Nairit spokesperson Anush Harutyunyan said they will probably repay
the salary of one month.

The plant has stood idle for 1,5 year. The employees of the chemical
plant earlier held a series of protests, demanding their salaries of
the past few months. The plant’s debt totals $130 million.

Earlier in the year a tender was announced for the plant management in
order to surmount the grave situation. However, only the Germany-based
company C.A.C. took interest in the chemical plant.

The company representatives were to arrive in Yerevan in August
to discuss their proposals with the Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources Armen Movsisyan. However, there is no news from the German
company.

TER-PETROSYAN’S PROPOSAL NOT TO CAUSE PROSPEROUS ARMENIA TO QUIT COALITION – POLITICIAN

Tert.am
14.12.11

Armenia’s first president and current opposition leader, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s proposal for collaboration with Prosperous Armenia
will not cause the party to quit the ruling coalition, says Ruben
Hakobyan, the head of the analytical center Akunq.

“I don’t think Ter-Petrosyan’s analysis with an obvious hint for
collaboration could push Prosperous Armenia to withdraw from the
coalition and run for election with a straight ticket,” he told
Tert.am.

Hakobyan, who is the deputy chairman of the opposition Heritage party’s
board, said Prosperous Armenia had declared its intention to bid for
parliament with a straight ticket much before Ter-Petrosyan voiced
his proposal.

At the ANC’s rally on November 25, the leader of the opposition
Armenian National Congress, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, introduced a
political analysis, calling upon the Prosperous Armenia party (PAP)
to collaborate with the alliance.

FORMER TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: IF FRENCH SENATE PASSES THE LAW ENVISAGING PUNISHMENT FOR EXPRESSION OF OPINION, IT WILL HAVE NEGATIVE INFLUENCE ON TURKEY-FRANCE RELATIONS

APA
Dec 14 2011
Azerbaijan

Osman Koruturk: In stead of attempting to blame Turkey unfairly for
what happened 100 years ago, the countries of the world should pay
attention to the release of the occupied Azerbaijani territories

Ankara. Mayis Alizadeh – APA. “We will leave for Paris on Monday and
speak with the members of the French parliament about this issue.

Nicolas Sarkozy said in 2006 that historians, not politicians should
deal with the “Armenian genocide” issue. In 2008 a minister of
Sarkozy’s government also made a similar statement. Now they have
changed their positions and included this issue into the agenda
of the parliament. We will object to it and once more say that
historians should deal with these issues,” parliamentarian from
the Republican People’s Party (CHP), member of the foreign affairs
commission, Turkey’s former ambassador to France Osman Koruturk told
APA while commenting on the discussion by the French Senate of the
bill criminalizing the so-called “Armenian genocide” denial.

Koruturk mentioned the statement issued by the Turkish parliament
regarding it.

“The statement says addressing Armenia, Russia, France, Germany,
UK and US that Turkey has opened all its archives, you should also
open your archives so that objective, independent historians can
study the issue thoroughly. Turkey will obey any decision that will
be passed by the historians. But these countries refuse to do it and
politicize the issue. We will tell the French parliamentarians if they
pass the law envisaging punishment for expression of opinion, it will
have negative influence on Turkey-France relations. We will return
on Wednesday and will prepare our decision regarding Turkey-France
relations taking into account the decision that will be passed by
the French parliament. Fraternal Azerbaijan also knows these issues
very well, there are serious scientists there dealing with these
issues. Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijani territories, Khojaly
genocide was committed 20 years ago. In stead of attempting to blame
Turkey unfairly for what happened 100 years ago, the countries of the
world should pay attention to the release of the occupied Azerbaijani
territories. Turkey’s position is that no genocide was committed in
1915, any change in this position is out of the question,” he said.

BRYZA: “THE SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH THROUGH THE MILITARY WAY IS IMPOSSIBLE BUT AT THE SAME TIME THE EXISTING “STATUS-QUO” IS UNACCEPTABLE”

APA
Dec 14 2011
Azerbaijan

Astara. Agaddin Babayev – APA. “The settlement of Nagorno Karabakh
through the military way is impossible but at the same time the
existing “status-quo” is unacceptable”, US ambassador to Azerbaijan
Matthew Bryza, who was on a visit to Astara region on December 14,
told journalists, APA reports.

He also commented on the next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents: “It is up to presidents to pass difficult decisions and
bring their societies together in order to achieve final, fair and
peaceful agreement. I believe that the presidents of both countries
can reach consent on essence of the framework agreement, because we
can’t set aside the substantive basic issues”.

CIS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: “WE HOPE IN SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT”

Milaz.info
Dec 14 2011
Azerbaijan

“We hope that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be settled, because
the war condition, the confrontation between the two neighboring
states is not natural.

Everybody understands it and we want both people and countries to
live in peaceful conditions”, said CIS Executive Secretary Sergey
Lebedev in his interview to “Golos Rossii” radio.

He noted that CIS works on rendering assistance to the settlement of
this conflict: “It is our common grief. The CIS do best for solving
this problem. Some countries, for example, Russia takes efforts for
settlement of the conflict in Minsk Group’s composition, the others –
in relation with Azerbaijan and Armenian presidents and politicians”.