Author: Kajoyan Gevork

CITIZEN AGAINST POLICE: THE CONSEQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO ARMENIA

03.16.2015 18:18 epress.am

The Police demand that the court recognize that citizen Anna
Shahnazaryan (pictured) disobeyed a police officer’s lawfull order and
for her to pay 50,000 AMD in compensation as an administrative fine.

Shahnazaryan filed a counter suit against the police, demanding that
the court recognize the actions implemented by representatives of
the police as violation of her constitutional rights. Shahnazaryan
is also asking for financial compensation to cover her legal fees.

Today, the first court hearing took place at the Administrative Court.

Police representative Sona Melikyan answered Anna Shahnazaryan’s
representative, lawyer Tigran Yegoryan’s questions in court.

Tigran Yegoryan’s assistant Hasmik Petrosyan told Epress.am that
during the hearing Melikyan justified the detention of the citizens,
stating that it was done to prevent the creation of obstacles for the
event taking place at Mashtots Park with the participation of French
President Francois Hollande and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

According to the Police representative, those taken into custody
were carrying dangerous tools, for example, tea kettles. The Police
representative admitted that Anna Shahnazaryan was holding nothing
and was only taken into custody for wishing to cross a no pass zone
delineated by police.

While answering the question, as to why the standard protocol at the
police station took so long, 3 hours, to write, Melikyan said that
“the police had nowhere to hurry.”

Today’s hearing ended with the police representative’s testimony;
the court decided the next hearing would be convened on April 17th.

The case under review is related to an incident that took place in May
of last year when a group of citizens organized a protest during the
name-change ceremony of Mashtots Park. The group was against the name
change to Missak Manouchian Park. The ceremony was attended by French
President Francois Hollande and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

The citizens had sent a letter to the the French President before
his visit, which stated that the Yerevan City Council had conducted
a secret meeting when deciding the name change, while citizens were
against the decision because Mashtots Park was considered a symbol
of Armenia’s civic movement and there was no need to change the name
of the park after Missak Manouchian.

EDUARD SHARMAZANOV AND LATVIAN STATE SECRETARY OF THE FOREIGN MINISTRY DISCUSS KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS

by Nana Martirosyan

Monday, March 16, 12:05

On March 13, Vice President of the RA National Assembly Eduard
Sharmazaniv met with Andrejs Pildegovics, the State Secretary of
the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Latvia, the parliament press
office said.

The sides discussed a wide scope of issues on agenda of the two
countries. They highly assessed the current level of the regular
political dialogue and the second sitting of the Armenian-Latvian
Inter-Parliamentary Committee in Yerevan in the second half of
the year.

The parties also discussed the further deepening of Armenia-European
Union relations, emphasizing the importance of the Eastern Summit
within the framework of the EU Presidency of Latvia to be held on
21-22 May.

The RA NA Vice President and the State Secretary of the Foreign
Ministry of Latvia exchanged thoughts over a number of issues
regarding the regional and international security. The NA Vice
President presented the current phase of the NK peace process. During
his official visit to the Republic of Latvia, Eduard Sharmazanov
visited the Saint Gregory Enlightener Church of Riga and met with the
representatives of the Armenian community in Riga. The RA Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Baltic countries Ara Ayvazyan,
spiritual leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Baltic States,
Father Khosrov Stepanyan attended the meeting.

The participants highlighted the role of Armenia-Diaspora-Artsakh
triple unity, the NA Vice President expressed his gratitude to the
representatives of the Armenian community for supporting the opening
of the exhibition dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial
in Riga. “Our unity should be the pledge of our people’s success,”
the NA Vice President noted.

ECONOMIC DECLINE NOT RULED OUT IN ARMENIA IN 2015, ACCORDING TO MINISTRY OF FINANCE – NEWSPAPER

YEREVAN, March 16. /ARKA/. Armenia’s ministry of finance has not
ruled out the economy may decline in the country in 2015, first deputy
minister of finance Pavel Safryan said in his interview to Zhamanak
(Time) newspaper.

For comparison, a 4.1% growth is set the country’s budget for 2015.

The deputy minister refrained from giving concrete figures and said
the experts are currently engaged in the respective calculations.

The situation should be also discussed with international organizations
as these indicators influencing the GDP depend mainly on countries
with which Armenia has close economic relations.

International financial institutions can finalize and assess the
impact for each country, he said.

Some assessments are already available but the recent dynamics of
growth in all close partner countries, Russia and European countries
in particular, needs to be incorporated, the deputy minister said.

At the same time, there are no grounds to agree with the two-digit
decline projections that some experts suggest, Safaryan said. -0–

POLITICAL ANALYST: ARMENIA AND ARTSAKH ARE NOT INSURED AGAINST EXTERNAL THREATS

13:20 | March 16,2015 | Politics

It is important and useful for us to remember that the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the topic of old and
bloody wrinkles existing in Armenian-Turkish relations today serve
as effective political and diplomatic tools used by others in
international relations, says political analyst Arman Melikyan.

“Not wanting to belittle the practical steps of Moscow and Paris to
recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide I cannot hide that they
were dictated by their political interests. If for France and the
European Union, the denial of the Armenia Genocide by Turkey served
as a strong argument to pose insurmountable obstacles for Ankara on
the path to EU membership, for Russia, the hostile relations between
Armenia and Turkey, are good opportunities to maintain and increase
its military presence in Asia Minor and the Caucasus region.

Unfortunately, as a result of the constant rivalry between Russia
and Turkey, the vast area of land stretching from Constantinople to
Baku was deprived of its native Armenian inhabitants. The Republic of
Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh are not fully insured against
formidable threats coming from the outside world and we should
seriously contemplate over this fact, and recalling the bitter lessons
of the past, we should strive to find the political formula that will
ensure peaceful and sustainable future for our country and its people,”
Arman Melikyan said.

‘IT’S BORING WITHOUT RUMORS’: PUTIN APPEARS IN PUBLIC AFTER WEEK OF MSM HYSTERIA

Published time: March 16, 2015 11:14

Life would be boring without rumors, Vladimir Putin said after
appearing on public in St Petersburg on Monday.

Earlier, western media succumbed to hysteria, asking “Where is Putin?”

and suggesting that the Russian president might have fallen ill.

Putin met his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev on Monday in his
first public meeting open to the press since March 5.

Earlier social media were boiling with tweets and blogposts about the
mysterious alleged disappearance of the Russian leader. After Putin
canceled a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel on March 11,
sympathetic users suggested he may have been ill. This theory was
denied by the Kremlin.

Other users who joined the ‘Russian-invasion-is-coming’ mood wrote
that Putin was preparing for a full-scale war.

LETA, Latvia
March 14, 2015 Saturday

Latvia and Armenia have much economic cooperation potential – Foreign
Ministry state secretary

RIGA, March 14 (LETA) – On Friday, Latvian Foreign Ministry State
Secretary Andrejs Pildegovics met with the Deputy President of the
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov, LETA
was informed by the Foreign Ministry.

oth officials discussed bilateral relations between Latvia and Armenia
and concurred that economic and trade cooperation should be developed
between the two countries. They pointed out that Latvia and Armenia
still has vast potential for the promotion of economic contacts. It is
important that work be continued within the framework of the
Latvia-Armenia Intergovernmental Commission.

During the meeting, Pildegovics outlined preparations for the upcoming
Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga and the related events the Eastern
Partnership Business Forum, the Civil Society Forum, and the Media
Conference. The state secretary emphasized that Latvia expects Armenia
to be represented at the highest level in the Riga Eastern Partnership
Summit this May. Meanwhile, Sharmazanov commended Latvia’s
contribution to the strengthening of EU-Armenian relations and
highlighted Armenia’s interest in fostering relations with the
European Union.

The meeting with the deputy president of the Armenian National
Assembly also dealt with developments in the South Caucasus Region and
Ukraine.

Interfax, Russia
March 14 2015

Russian-Armenian friendship stood test of time – foreign minister

YEREVAN. March 14

The sale of weapons by Russia to Azerbaijan does not influence the
friendly relations between Armenia and Russia, Armenian Foreign
Minister Edvard Nalbandyan said.

“We would prefer it if Russia didn’t sell weapons to Azerbaijan.
However, we are not asking countries that are friendly to us, our
partners to do anything to Armenia that could hurt others. As regards
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, our expectations are reduced
to the support of the position of the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk
Group, which expresses the approach of the international community,
not support of one side to the detriment of the other side,”
Nalbandyan said in an interview with the Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik,
the Foreign Ministry press service has reported.

Nalbandyan said Russia and Armenia are allies. “The word ‘ally’ has a
deep meaning. It means more than just a good friend, friendship. We
have close historical ties with Russia. Our friendship has stood the
test of time,” Nalbandyan said.

av

Ouest-France
samedi 14 mars 2015

Le centenaire du génocide des Arméniens

Il y a cent ans, d’avril 1915 à juillet 1916, était perpétré le
génocide du peuple arménien par les nationalistes jeunes-turcs.
L’Empire ottoman, alors en guerre au côté des puissances centrales,
les accuse d’avoir pactisé avec les Russes et de se rebeller contre
Constantinople, trouvant là l’occasion de régler la « question
arménienne ». Sous prétexte de déplacer la population arménienne loin
du front, commencent des opérations de déportation et de massacre
systématique : plus d’un million d’êtres exterminés, les deux tiers
des Arméniens de Turquie.

Ce n’est qu’en 1984, après un demi-siècle de silence, que ce crime
imprescriptible était porté à la connaissance de l’opinion mondiale
par le Tribunal des peuples, à Paris. Reconnu par les Nations unies
l’année suivante, puis par le Conseil de l’Europe, le génocide des
Arméniens ne l’est pas par la Turquie, et demeure un sujet de friction
entre Istanbul et l’Europe. Ce livre reprend les contributions au
colloque, signées des plus grands spécialistes de la question.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 14 2015

Turkey slams European Parliament’s call to recognize `Armenian genocide’

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Ministry on March 14 slammed the human rights report
adopted by the European Parliament, saying that the report lacked
historical reality and legal basis.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said in a written statement
that the report interpreted the event with a one-sided approach and
disregarded Turkey’s realistic and constructive initiatives relating
to the matter.

The European Parliament adopted on March 12 the Annual Report on Human
Rights and Democracy in the World in 2013.

Article 77 of the report called “ahead of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, on all the member states to legally acknowledge it,
and encourages the member states and the EU institutions to contribute
further to its recognition.”

“We find the statements remarkably problematic in every aspect and
regret them,” Bilgiç said, adding that the report also raised
“illogical and unlawful” demands.

“These steps, which were taken by those who do not know this
historical event, damage Turkey-EU relations and make it difficult for
Turks and Armenians to build their future together,” said Bilgiç.

He added that, “We expect our European partners not to deepen the
problem further, but rather to find constructive contributions to the
solution and encourage the Armenian side towards dialogue and
reconciliation.”

Armenia says up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were killed in a
genocide starting in 1915. Turkey denies that the deaths amounted to
genocide, saying the death toll of Armenians killed during mass
deportations has been inflated and that those killed in 1915 and 1916
were victims of general unrest during World War I.

The latest report is approved by a majority of votes at the European
Parliament, which had recognized the events as genocide in 1987.
Around 20 countries have taken a similar position on the issue so far.

The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and far-rightists,
including the French politician Marine Le Pen, have recently been
calling on member states to recognize the 1915 events as genocide.

In January, the Turkish president sent invitation letters to more than
100 leaders, including Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, to
participate in ceremonies on April 24 marking the centenary of the
Battle of Gallipoli in Çanakkale. The ceremonies in Çanakkale were
rearranged this year to coincide with Armenia’s traditional day of
remembrance for the Armenian victims of 1915.

Sargsyan reportedly denounced ErdoÄ?an’s invitation as a
`short-sighted’ attempt to overshadow the 100th anniversary the 1915
events.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 15 2015

`Wealthy Armenians had to stay in Turkey to survive, deportation would
result in death’

Scholars presented their projects during a conference held by the
Hrant Dink Foundation on Saturday. (Photo: Today’s Zaman, Zeynep
KarataÃ…?)

March 15, 2015, Sunday/ 18:21:28/ ZEYNEP KARATAÃ…? / ISTANBUL

It was necessary for wealthy families to remain in Anatolia during the
Armenian genocide of 1915 as deportation would have resulted in death,
Armenian-American professor Armen Marsoobian said during a conference
held by the Hrant Dink Foundation in Ä°stanbul on Saturday.

Professor Marsoobian was sharing his presentation on his project `The
Struggle for Survival of the Armenians of Marsovan (Merzifon),
1915-1921′ during the Conscience and Responsibility in the Armenian
Genocide: New Research on Survivors conference in Ä°stanbul.

`Little is written about those who avoided deportation,’ shared
Marsoobian. He explained that those Armenian families who were able to
stay in the crumbling Ottoman Empire were most often the ones who
belonged to higher economic classes. Those wealthy families that were
able to stay were the ones that had good relations with the local
district governor.

`Merzifon stands out because of its extensive documentation done by
American missionaries,’ Marsoobian also noted. The Anatolia College in
Merzifon, established and directed by American missionaries between
1886 and 1924, played a large role in Marsoobian’s research for he
uses their accounts as well as the photographs that Marsoobian’s own
grandfather, a photographer, took to weave his understanding of the
Armenians who survived 1915.

When asked why wealthy Armenian families would want to continue living
under the Ottoman Empire when their Turkish neighbors were
slaughtering Armenians and there were few Armenian families left, the
scholar explained how deportation was almost equal to death.

Marsoobian also shared how his own family converted from Christianity
to Islam on Aug. 10, 1915 in an act of assimilation for survival.

Boom in Kurdish literature

In another presentation given during the conference, Ã-zlem Galip gave
a talk on her research on Kurdish literature in a project titled `The
Politics of Remembering.’ The faculty associate in Kurdish and
Armenian studies at the University of Oxford explained how there is a
new wave for Kurdish literature that gained momentum after 2000 as
there was a large void and Kurds felt a need to preserve their
stories.

`It is always with the same intention to preserve the collective
memory,’ shared Galip. `If we don’t write this, the stories will be
forgotten,’ she added.

This is a particularly important milestone considering Turkey’s record
of banning the use of Kurdish in the public sphere, similar to the
Turkification of minorities in which Armenians were not able to
practice their faith or speak their language.

Furthermore, when explaining her project, Dr. Galip also described the
structure of the stories that are being written. `It is always with
phrases such as `When my grandmother told me’,’ she shared,
highlighting that the stories are not only still alive but also belong
to a collective history.