Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Le président Sarkissian annule son discours lors d’une conférence de la FIDH

ARMENIE

vendredi9 avril 2010, par Gari/armenews

Le président arménien Serge Sarkissian a annulé sans donner aucune
raison le discours qu’il devait prononcer lors d’une conférence
organisée à Erevan par la Fédération internationale des droits de
l’homme (FIDH). La conférence de deux jours de la FIDH, qui a débuté
le 6 avril, rassemble plus de 300 militants des droits de l’homme
venus de 140 pays, dont l’Iranienne prix Nobel de la paix Shirin
Ebadi. Le président de la Cour constitutionnelle d’Arménie Gagik
Harutiunian ainsi que le ministre de la justice Gevorg Danielian
devraient quant à eux prendre la parole lors de la conférence.
Certaines associations arméniennes de défense des droits de l’homme
qui ont été invités à participer à l’événement ont menacé de le
boycotter, arguant de ce la FIDH émettait des réticences à discuter
des conséquences politiques et judiciaires de la répression qui avait
sanctionné le mouvement de contestation des élections présidentielles
du 19 février 2008 à Erevan. La présidente de la FIDH, Souhayr
Belhassen, a toutefois rendu hommage le 5 avril, aux huit manifestants
qui avaient été tués lors des violences du 1er mars 2008 à Erevan.
Elle a assuré les familles des victimes que l’organisation basée à
Paris s’efforcera de faire traduire en justice les « criminels »
responsables de leur mort. Mme Abadi a pour sa part pris publiquement
la défense des militants emprisonnés depuis lors en Arménie, en
lançant un appel aux autorités arméniennes pour qu’elles libèrent ceux
qui sont toujours détenus.

ARMENIAN, TURKISH LEADERS TO MEET IN WASHINGTON

Voice of America
April 8 2010

The president of Armenia and prime minister of Turkey will meet in
Washington next week to try to revive a reconciliation process between
the two nations.

Armenia said Thursday its president, Serzh Sarkisyan, will hold talks
with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of
a nuclear security summit. Turkish envoy Feridun Sinirlioglu requested
the meeting during a visit to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, Wednesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday Ankara hopes its
reconciliation process with Armenia will move in the right direction
in the coming weeks.

The Turkish and Armenian governments signed agreements last October
to establish diplomatic ties and open their border after decades of
hostility. But efforts to secure parliamentary approval have stalled.

Turkish-Armenian relations have been strained for a century due
a dispute about the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks
during and after World War One. Armenians insist the massacres were
genocide, but Turkey strongly rejects that label.

Turkey’s efforts to reconcile with Armenia have worried Turkish ally
Azerbaijan, a longtime foe of Yerevan.

Ankara says Turkish envoy Sinirlioglu will visit Azerbaijan Friday to
convey a message to its president, Ilham Aliyev, from Prime Minister
Erdogan. Turkey has previously reassured Azerbaijan that its ties
remain strong, despite Turkey’s new diplomatic relations with Armenia.

Azerbaijan fears the reconciliation process will lead Turkey to reduce
support for Baku’s goal of reclaiming the ethnic Armenian breakaway
region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ethnic Armenian separatists declared
independence in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988 with support from Yerevan,
sparking a six-year insurgency that claimed 35,000 lives and left
more than 1 million people homeless.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave. A cease-fire was declared in
1994, but sporadic fighting continues.

LE PRESIDENT SARKISSIAN ANNULE SON DISCOURS LORS D’UNE CONFERENCE DE LA FIDH

armenews
vendredi9 avril 2010

Le president armenien Serge Sarkissian a annule sans donner aucune
raison le discours qu’il devait prononcer lors d’une conference
organisee a Erevan par la Federation internationale des droits de
l’homme (FIDH). La conference de deux jours de la FIDH, qui a debute le
6 avril, rassemble plus de 300 militants des droits de l’homme venus
de 140 pays, dont l’Iranienne prix Nobel de la paix Shirin Ebadi. Le
president de la Cour constitutionnelle d’Armenie Gagik Harutiunian
ainsi que le ministre de la justice Gevorg Danielian devraient quant
a eux prendre la parole lors de la conference.

Certaines associations armeniennes de defense des droits de l’homme
qui ont ete invites a participer a l’evenement ont menace de le
boycotter, arguant de ce la FIDH emettait des reticences a discuter
des consequences politiques et judiciaires de la repression qui avait
sanctionne le mouvement de contestation des elections presidentielles
du 19 fevrier 2008 a Erevan. La presidente de la FIDH, Souhayr
Belhassen, a toutefois rendu hommage le 5 avril, aux huit manifestants
qui avaient ete tues lors des violences du 1er mars 2008 a Erevan.

Elle a assure les familles des victimes que l’organisation basee
a Paris s’efforcera de faire traduire en justice les " criminels "
responsables de leur mort. Mme Abadi a pour sa part pris publiquement
la defense des militants emprisonnes depuis lors en Armenie, en
lancant un appel aux autorites armeniennes pour qu’elles libèrent
ceux qui sont toujours detenus.

FINE OF DENO GOLD MINING COMPANY CUT 20 TIMES DUE TO RECHECK BY STATE ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTION

ArmInfo
2010-04-09 16:08:00

ArmInfo. "For Ensuring Ecological Safety and Developing Democracy"
NGO says Deno Gold Mining Company managed to reduce the amount of
the fine from 300 million AMD to 12 million AMD as a result of the
recheck by the State Environmental Inspection of the Ministry of
Nature Protection of RA, Ecolur NGO reports.

The written application to Alexander Sahakyan, new Head of State
Environmental Inspection of the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA
(Ø 011 dated on 08.04.2010), the NGO points out the public speeches of
Syunik Environmental State Inspection in the local press in 2008. The
representatives of Syunik Environmental State Inspection spoke about
the checkups of Deno Gold Mining in 2007 where a number of violations
in the sphere of soil management had been revealed. There is also
information about the amount of the fine imposed on the company in
the amount of over 300 million AMD equal to embezzling 550 kg of gold.

Then the letter mentions the recheck of the company assigned by the
Ministry of Nature protection of RA already in 2008. As a result of
this recheck, the amount of the fine determined in 2007 was reduced
more than 20 times and made up 12 million AMD. The statement also
mentions Expert Samvel Gasparyan’s removal from the personnel of the
recheck committee who first revealed the abovementioned violations.

Still in 2009 this NGO applied to the Ministry of Nature Protection
of RA, Syunik Territorial State Environmental Inspection and Deno
Gold Mining Company with a request to submit the results for 2007-
2008, but no reply had been received so far. "After this fuss around
Akhtala Ore Processing Combine we realized why we hadn’t received these
results," the letter says, "we learnt from the press that Director
General of Akhtala Ore Processing Combine Vladimir Ladchenko and
his deputy Levon Vardanyan were invited to the Minister of Nature
Protection of RA Aram Harutyunyan and afterwards the amount of this
fine was reduced by 20 times, i.e. from 202 million AMD to 10,141,600
AMD." The letter also says that they brought an action to the court
with demand to present information and filed a motion the Ministry
of Nature Protection of RA and Syunik Territorial State Environmental
Inspection to be involved in this process.

GUILLERMO TOLOSA: TAX COLLECTION LEVEL IN ARMENIA IS LOWER THAN IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 9, 2010 – 16:53 AMT 11:53 GMT

Mr. Guillermo Tolosa, Resident Representative of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) in RA, said that the correlation of tax collection
level against the economy’s volumes is rather low in Armenia, even
lower than in African countries.

"Unfortunately, I should note that the measures, undertaken by the
Armenian government, supported by the IMF and aimed at improving the
system of tax administration, have not yielded the expected result.

Some governmental reforms were implemented slower, than expected,"
he said.

Mr. Tolosa also stated that he shares the authorities’ concerns
related to the low level of tax collection from large businesses. "The
activity of the RA State Revenues Committee department dealing with
large tax-payers shall become more active," he said.

THE ANC GRIEVES FOR THE TRAGIC DEATH OF GAYANE BABAYAN

Aysor
April 7 2010
Armenia

"The Armenian National Congress extends its deep condolences for the
tragic death of the reporter of the "Hraparak" Armenian newspaper
Gayane Babayan. We will always remember Gayane Babayan as a citizen
who was fighting against the awful morals and manners of the society."

The Congress expresses its condolences to Gayane’s relatives, friends,
colleagues and readers," the release of the ANC reads.

KYRGYZSTAN ON THE EDGE OF REVOLUTION

Tert.am
17:46 ~U 07.04.10

Opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan have stormed the offices of
state radio and TV amid escalating unrest over rising fuel prices
and corruption.

It comes after at least five people were killed in clashes between
police and protesters outside President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s offices.

According to BBC News there are reports police fired live rounds
after failing to disperse people with tear gas and stun grenades.

President Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency in protest-hit
areas.

The unrest broke out in the provincial town of Talas on Tuesday and
spread to the capital, Bishkek and another town, Narya, on Wednesday.

In Bishkek, protesters attempted to storm the president’s office but
were held back by security forces, who reportedly fired live rounds
into the crowd.

State media and television went off air briefly after protesters
stormed their offices. It is not clear if they are still under state
control.

HRANT DINK CASE PROSECUTORS SEARCH FOR LINK TO ‘CAGE PLAN’

ArmInfo
2010-04-07 16:16:00

ArmInfo. The prosecutors in the murder trial of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink have been investigating a possible link between
the journalist’s killing and the Cage Operation Action Plan.

As Today’s Zaman reported, the co-plaintiff lawyers demanded during
the 12th hearing of the Dink trial, that the court investigate whether
Dink’s killing was part of the Cage plan, an alleged military plot to
create panic and chaos exposed by the Taraf daily late last year. The
plan mostly focused on killing non-Muslims and bombing mosques to
create turmoil that would eventually help the plotters take over
the government.

Upon the demand of the lawyers, prosecutor Selim Berna Altay,
investigating Dink’s murder, and Fikret Secen, who was also recently
assigned to the trial, have been examining the indictment into
the plot.

The Cage plan was detailed on a CD seized last year from the office of
retired Maj. Levent Bektas, who was arrested in April for suspected
links to a large cache of munitions buried in Istanbul’s Poyrazkoy
area. That discovery came as part of an investigation into Ergenekon,
a clandestine gang whose suspected members are currently standing
trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government. The CD
exposed the group’s plans to assassinate prominent Turkish non-Muslim
figures and place the blame for the killings on the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party). The desired result was an increase in
internal and external pressure on the party, leading to diminishing
public support for the government.

The Cage plan calls the killings of Dink, Catholic priest Father
Andrea Santoro and three Christians in Malatya an "operation."

According to the police report, the mastermind behind the Cage plan
was Ibrahim Sahin, the former deputy chief of the National Police
Department’s Special Operations Unit. Prosecutor Altay has also
reportedly met with Dink’s family on the issue.

The lawyers of Dink’s family think that the killing of the journalist
was the work of an organized group.

The indictment into the Cage plan was accepted by the Istanbul
12th High Criminal Court late last month. According to the 65-page
indictment, the plot team was being coordinated and led by retired
Adm. Ahmet Feyyaz Ogutcu. The indictment calls for jail sentences
of up to 15 years for three admirals on charges of membership in a
terrorist organization.

EMIL GABRIELYAN: 10-12% OF DRUGS IMPORTED TO ARMENIA COUNTERFEIT

PanARMENIAN.Net –
April 7, 2010 – 14:24 AMT 09:24 GMT

10-12 per cent of drugs imported to Armenia are counterfeit, an
Armenian scientist said.

"Yet, this is not a complete picture due to the absence of continuous
monitoring of the medicine market in Armenia," academician Emil
Gabrielyan, the head of the national laboratory for the medicine
quality control, told a news conference in Yerevan on April 7.

According to him, constant monitoring of production and import of
medicines should be conducted.

"6 to 60 per cent of medicines are faked worldwide for different
reasons. Some types of drugs may be masked by others to be illegally
imported into the country. This technique is used by drug traffickers,"
Emil Gabrielyan said.

The scientist said, 3700 names of drugs are registered in Armenia,
out of which Armenia produces only 5-7 per cent.

WE HAVEN’T COME TO ARMENIA TO DISTRIBUTE REWARDS: FIDH PRESIDENT SOUHAYR BELHASSEN

Tert.am
13:39 ~U 06.04.10

The three-day International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Forum,
entitled "JUSTICE: New Challenges – the Right to an Effective Remedy
before an Independent Tribunal," kicked off in Yerevan today.

Prior to the start of the Forum, FIDH President Souhayr Belhassen and
Executive Director Antoine Bernard met with journalists and stressed
that the Forum, within the framework of the 37th FIDH Congress, is
taking place in the region for the first time, adding that progress
has been registered in Armenia in the area of protecting human rights.

"After March 1, there were 10 victims in Armenia, and there were
individuals whose charges were presented based on police testimonies.

While all journalists who are attempting to present the truth are
under threat," said Belhassen.

"I haven’t come [here] only to shake the hands of officials. I said so
yesterday, when I was meeting family members of March 1 victims. And no
human being, no mother or father, after the things I heard yesterday,
can remain heartless and not attempt to take steps in order to resolve
these issues," said the FIDH president.

Belhassen reminded Armenia’s governing authorities that everything
must be done to uncover those incidents. "Of course, the suffering
is everlasting, but we must attempt to ease it. And of course, those
crimes musn’t remain unpunished; everything must be done to uncover
them," she said.

Turning her attention to the issue of political prisoners, Belhassen
said that FIDH would do everything possible to free them. "We
haven’t come to Armenia to distribute rewards to some people. All
those crimes must be uncovered and those guilty must be punished,"
she said, noting that FIDH leaders have met with the family members
of political prisoners.

Belhassen also met with first president of the Republic of Armenia,
Armenian National Congress leader Levon Ter-Petrossian. "He has much
hope for our visit. Both for him and for us, the primary issue is
political prisoners’ freedom," she said.