Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Hraparak: Armenian parliament’s European Integration committee in
state of idleness

11:02 * 11.10.14

The Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on European
Integration is said to be in a state of idleness.

The paper says that it hasn’t convened any session or conducted any
event in the past couple of months.

It notes further that the Committee’s chairperson is Naira Zohrabyan,
the secretary of the opposition-leaning Prosperous Armenia faction
(who is also a member of Armenia’s delegation to the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly).

The committee’s last event, which the paper says was convened on July
18, was reportedly a meeting NGO representatives.

The paper says that a political analyst recently addressed the
committee’s work, proposing either closing it down or renaming it as a
committee on Eurasian integration affairs.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Arménie-Russie-Bélarus-Kazakhstan-politique-commerce
L’Arménie rejoint l’Union économique eurasiatique menée par Moscou

Minsk, 10 oct 2014 (AFP) – L’Arménie a intégré vendredi l’Union
économique eurasiatique, qui réunit déjà la Russie, le Bélarus et le
Kazakhstan, a annoncé le président bélarusse Alexandre Loukachenko à
l’issue d’un sommet de l’organisation à Minsk.

Les pays membres de l’Union économique eurasiatique, un projet cher au
président russe Vladimir Poutine qui cherche à restaurer l’influence
de Moscou auprès des ex-républiques soviétiques mais qui devra compter
sans l’Ukraine, ont tous trois signé un accord permettant à l’Arménie
d’intégrer ses rangs.

Cette Union, qui doit entrer en vigueur le 1er janvier 2015, doit
favoriser une intégration plus étroite de ces pays. Le Bélarus, le
Kazakhstan et la Russie sont déjà liés depuis 2010 au sein d’une union
douanière.

La décision de l’Arménie de se rapprocher de la Russie avait suscité
en novembre 2013 un vif débat et des manifestations dans cette
ex-république soviétique caucasienne.

Car l’Arménie, au côté de la Géorgie et de la Moldavie, était sur le
point de sceller en novembre un accord de libre-échange avec l’UE, qui
aurait constitué un premier pas vers une intégration future au bloc
européen.

Mais l’Arménie dépend beaucoup de la Russie pour ses
approvisionnements en armement, qu’elle considère comme vitaux pour
maintenir l’équilibre face à l’Azerbaïdjan voisin, riche de son
pétrole, sur la question du Nagorny-Karabakh.

Moscou avait envoyé une série de messages sans équivoque à son allié
alors qu’Erevan se rapprochait de Bruxelles, en augmentant le prix du
gaz livré à la petite république caucasienne et en annonçant un énorme
contrat de vente d’armes à Bakou, la capitale de l’Azerbaïdjan,
traditionnel rival de l’Arménie.

Le sommet de l’Union économique eurasiatique, qui s’est tenu vendredi
à Minsk pour la première depuis sa création fin mai, a eu lieu peu
après une réunion des dirigeants des pays membre de la Communauté des
Etats indépendants (CEI), à laquelle ne participait pas le président
ukrainien Petro Porochenko alors que la crise continue d’opposer Kiev
à Moscou.

Au cours de ce sommet, les membres de l’Union économique eurasiatique
ont voté la fin des activités de la Communauté économique eurasienne
(EvrAzEs), qui réunissait six des quinze ex-républiques soviétiques
(Bélarus, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Russie, Tadjikistan et
Ouzbékistan).

samedi 11 octobre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

SYRIE
Le chef du principal parti kurde de Syrie exhorte Ankara à aider Kobané

Le chef du principal parti politique kurde de Syrie a pressé vendredi
la Turquie de laisser passer sur son territoire des armes destinées
aux forces qui défendent Kobané assiégée par les jihadistes, assurant
qu’elles ne constituaient pas une “menace” pour Ankara.

“Nous avons désespérément besoin de l’aide de la Turquie”, a déclaré
Salih Muslim, président du Parti de l’union démocratique (PYD) dans un
entretien téléphonique à l’AFP, “ce serait très bien que la Turquie
ouvre le plus vite possible sa frontière au passage d’armes, pas de
soldats turcs, à destination des défenseurs de Kobané”.

M. Muslim a salué le feu vert du Parlement turc à une intervention
militaire contre le groupe Etat islamique (EI) et exhorté Ankara à
rejoindre rapidement la coalition internationale dirigée par les
Etats-Unis et à agir “avec honnêteté” en Syrie.

Malgré le vote des députés, le gouvernement islamo-conservateur au
pouvoir depuis 2002 est resté l’arme au pied, provoquant la colère des
Kurdes.

La Turquie craint qu’une intervention militaire ne renforce par
ricochet le régime du président syrien Bachar al-Assad, son principal
ennemi. Elle répugne en outre à agir aux côtés des Kurdes, en première
ligne face à l’EI, par crainte de les renforcer.

Pendant syrien des rebelles kurdes du Parti des travailleurs du
Kurdistan (PKK), le PYD est considéré par la Turquie comme une
organisation “terroriste”.

Le PKK a déclenché en 1984 en Turquie une rébellion qui a fait quelque
40.000 tués. Des pourparlers de paix, très fragiles, sont engagés
depuis la fin 2012 entre le gouvernement d’Ankara et le chef
emprisonné des rebelles Abdullah Öcalan.

Le chef kurde syrien s’est pourtant discrètement rendu la semaine
dernière à Ankara. Des responsables turcs lui ont promis que leur pays
ferait “ce qui est nécessaire pour empêcher la chute de Kobané”, a
rapporté M. Muslim à l’AFP.

Lui a indiqué avoir assuré à ses interlocuteurs que son mouvement ne
constituait pas une “menace” pour eux et souligné que les jihadistes
étaient aussi dangereux pour la Turquie qu’ils l’étaient pour les
Kurdes de Syrie.

‘Peurs sans fondement’ –

“Les Kurdes veulent prendre leur place dans une Syrie démocratique et
pluraliste, avec leur propre identité. Ils ne veulent rien d’autre”, a
répété Salih Muslim. “La Turquie a sa propre politique concernant la
région kurde, cela ne nous pose aucun problème tant que la Turquie ne
contrarie pas notre objectif”.

M. Muslim a toutefois déploré les ambiguïtés de son voisin, regrettant
qu’il ne dise pas “ouvertement” ses réticences au contrôle par les
Kurdes de la frontière syro-turque.

“Ce sont des peurs sans fondement, nous n’avons jamais constitué de
menace pour la Turquie”, s’est-il défendu. “Notre peuple est présent
des deux côtés de la frontière. Ces deux côtés doivent être bien
protégés”.

Le chef du PYD a également plaidé pour l’instauration de “bonnes
relations” avec Ankara.

“Les yeux de tous les Kurdes sont braqués sur Kobané. Si la Turquie
adopte une attitude positive, elle s’attirera la sympathie de tous les
Kurdes de Rojava (la Syrie kurde)”.

Interrogé sur le siège de Kobané, Salih Muslim s’est félicité des
frappes aériennes menées par la coalition mais a regretté qu’elles ne
soient pas assez nombreuses pour faire pencher la balance en faveur
des défenseurs de la ville.

“Les frappes aériennes sont très efficaces, elles facilitent le
travail des YPG (Unités de protection du peuple, la principale milice
kure syrienne)”, a-t-il jugé.

Mais le chef du PYD a plaidé pour des “raids aériens plus intensifs”
afin de couper les lignes de ravitaillement de l’EI avec Kobané. “Si
ces routes sont coupées, ils ne pourront plus résister”, a-t-il
estimé.

Selon lui, plus de 10.000 civls se trouvaient toujours dans la ville
assiégée, regroupés au centre de la ville avec de armes pour se
défendre des jihadistes.

samedi 11 octobre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

TIGRAN URIKHANYAN: “THEY USE EVERY THICK IN THE BOOK TO IMPEDE PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION’S RALLY”

by Ashot Safaryan

ARMINFO
Friday, October 10, 13:12

“They use every thick in the book to impede the parliamentary
opposition’s rally in the Liberty Square today, on October 10,” Tigran
Urikhanyan, MP from Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), PAP Spokesperson,
told ArmInfo.

“It is commonly known that people in power try to obstruct those who
constitute real threat to their power, those who they are afraid of.

The current situation is the best evidence of that. The absurdity of
the situation starts with the ban to install a scene for speakers in
the Liberty Square. They use every thick in the book not to allow
the rally,” the parliamentarian said. He confirmed the reports on
the attempts to block the roads linking the regions and Yerevan in
order people could not join the rally.

“Yet early in the morning today a resident of Ashtarak alarmed that
he was not allowed to arrive in Yerevan by his own car. Nevertheless,
representatives of the three parliamentary parties – PAP, Heritage,
and Armenian National Congress – accompanied by reporters drive through
the key roads leading to the capital city to prevent unlawful attempts
by the Police or others to block the roads. Anyone who will attempt
to impede our rally will be brought responsible,” Urikhanyan said.

BAKU HANDS OVER THE BODY OF ARMENIAN CIVILIAN KILLED IN AZERI CAPTIVITY

14:50, 10 Oct 2014

The body of Karen Petrosyan, an Armenian civilian killed under
Azerbaijani custody, has been handed over to Armenia, APA agency
reports.

The handover conducted by the State Commission on Prisoners of War,
Hostages and Missing People and the Defense Ministry through the
International Committee of the Red Cross in Bala Jafarli village of
Gazakh region on October 10, 2014 passed without incident.

Petrosyan, who lived in a borderland village in northeastern Armenia,
was taken captive on August 7 after mistakenly appearing in the
territory of Azerbaijan. Shocking images of him being dragged by masked
soldiers were distributed to the media by authorities in Azerbaijan,
in which he was being brutally forced to beg pardon from the president
of Azerbaijan.

The next day, the Defense Ministry announced that he had “suddenly”
died of “heart failure.”

On September 10 the Armenian side had applied to the European Court
of Human Rights. requesting intervention under Rule 39 of the Court’s
General Rules. The appeal called for Azerbaijan to immediately return
the remains of Petrosyan to his family in a dignified state.

The European Court later asked Azerbaijan to give explanation of
its “official position in connection with the repatriation of Karen
Petrosyan’s body.”

ISIS GROOMS CHECHEN FIGHTERS AGAINST PUTIN

09:20 * 10.10.14

When the Islamic State commander known as “Omar the Chechen” called
to tell his father they’d routed the Iraqi army and taken the city
of Mosul, he added a stark message: Russia would be next, Bloomberg
reported.

“He said ‘don’t worry dad, I’ll come home and show the Russians,'”
Temur Batirashvili said from his home in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge,
on the border with the Russian region of Chechnya. “I have many
thousands following me now and I’ll get more. We’ll have our revenge
against Russia.”

As the US and European countries assess the risk of home-grown
jihadists returning to stage attacks on their native countries, the
turmoil in the Middle East also reverberates in the Caucasus. The
region wedged between Russia, Iran and Turkey is an intricate web of
tensions that’s erupted into violence in the past three decades in
hot spots from Chechnya to Nagorno-Karabakh and Georgia.

Armenian News – Tert.am

FRESNO ARMENIAN COMMUNITY TO BREAK GROUND ON GENOCIDE MONUMENT

11:03, 10 Oct 2014

On Sunday, November 2, the Armenian Community of the San Joaquin Valley
will break ground on a monument dedicated to the 100th Anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. and take
place at the Fresno State Maple Mall, located south of the Satellite
Student Union, Massis Postreports.

Built from beton brut (architectural concrete) and tufa stones, the
monument will embody symbols of cultural meaning to the Armenian
people. Its principal components will be arranged in a circular
pattern and angled inwards, reminiscent of the Tzitzernagapert Armenian
Martyrs Monument in Armenia. The nine pillars that will comprise the
body of the structure represent the six provinces of historic Armenia,
Cilicia, the Diaspora, and the Republic of Armenia.

An incomplete halo will be set above the columns, signifying both
the fracture left by the Genocide and the unity of the Armenian people.

Sunday’s ceremony will mark construction of the memorial, which will
be christened on April 24th, 2015.

As many as 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the period
1915-1923 at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government. On April 24th
1915, the Young Turk regime arrested and eventually executed hundreds
of Armenian religious, academic, and political leaders-it was the first
step in its intent to exterminate an entire people. Many succumbed to
starvation and exhaustion during state-mandated deportations or “death
marches” that left Western Armenia devoid of its native inhabitants
even to this day. Others were murdered outright, often in ways that
defy all sense of humanity. According to historians, legal experts, and
more than 20 nations throughout the world, the planned and systematic
nature of these atrocities clearly constitute a genocide as defined
by the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee-Fresno is an organization
made-up of representatives from religious, educational, social,
and political organizations of the Central Valley. The group’s
goals are to commemorate the 1.5 million martyrs who perished at the
hands of the Ottoman Turkish Government; to educate others about the
Armenian Genocide and historical injustice; and to inspire people
to overcome adversity through the story of the survivors’ of the
Armenian Genocide. In addition to the monument, the AGCC-Fresno is
organizing and promoting numerous events in the coming year. For more
information, visit the AGCC-Fresno website at and
on Facebook at

CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO PRODUCE A FILM FOR 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

12:31, 10 Oct 2014

Shahen Mirakian, member of the Armenian National Committee of Canada
(ANCC), was one of the Armenians present at the formal opening
ceremonies of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg,
Manitoba. In addition to Mr. Mirakian, His Excellency Ambassador Mr.

Armen Yeganian attended the CMHR’s opening.

The ANCC has closely been collaborating with the CMHR for over 10
years to ensure that the Armenian Genocide is properly represented in
the museum alongside the other four genocides officially recognized
by the Canadian government (the Holocaust, the Holodomor, Rwanda
and Srebrenica).

“To imagine that there would be a permanent exhibit on the Armenian
Genocide in such a unique architectural marvel was truly moving. The
grandeur of the place attests to how important it is to remember these
instances of horror and insanity that humanity has gone through in
the past century,” Shahen Mirakian said in an interview with Horizon
Weekly.

He said the museum has a very modern approach to its displays. “Rather
than present enormous amounts of information or have exhibits
based around a particular artifact or document as you would see
in a traditional museum, CMHR’s exhibits are designed to start
a discussion and to convey an impression. The Armenian Genocide
display like the display of the other genocides is presented from a
Canadian perspective. The gallery where the most information about
the Armenian Genocide is contained is called “Breaking the Silence”
and discusses the work involved in overcoming Turkey’s denial in
order for Canada to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The traditional
Armenian Genocide display is accompanied by information in digital
form both on an interactive table and through computer terminals,”
Shahen Mirakian said.

“There are pictures, including a large one of a famished woman and
children (of the sort that we have come to associate so closely with
the Armenian Genocide). There are also five smaller pictures, one of
Canadian nurse Sara Corning who worked in Armenia to save orphans,
one of Atom Egoyan promoting his film “Ararat”, one of a Montreal
demonstration for genocide recognition from La Presse, another from an
Ottawa demonstration from 2004 from Horizon’s archives and yet another
depicting the unveiling of the Georgetown Boys farm plaque. There
are also supposed to be two physical artifacts exhibited (these were
not yet present when I attended) a replica of Armin Wenger’s camera
and a copy of his book of photographs of the Armenian Genocide,”
Mirakian said.

He informed that there is also going to be a film produced by CMHR
for the 100thanniversary of the Armenian Genocide which will be
shown in a theatre in the Breaking the Silence gallery. We will be
working together with the museum over the next year to assist with
the preparation of this film.

“There is a separate gallery on the Holocaust and in that gallery
there is a feature on Raphael Lemkin and the definition of genocide.

In that particular exhibit, the Armenian Genocide is used to discuss
the biological aspects of genocide particularly on Armenian women (how
women were kidnapped and forced to take on a Muslim identity). There
are pictures of Armenian women marked with tattoos according to
Turkish tradition,” Shahen Mirakian added.

He said “this museum is a testament to the fact that the Armenian
Genocide has now become common knowledge for any Canadian.” “We have
reached the public through non Armenian institutions and the museum
will stand for many years and educated many generations of Canadians.

We would like to see a more prominent role for the Armenian Genocide
as a prototype for all the genocides which followed and as an example
of the consequences when justice is not served for a genocide. We
will work with CMHR to make sure this happens,” he concluded.

CONSUMER PRICES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH ROSE BY 0.6 PERCENT IN SEPTEMBER

YEREVAN, October 10. / ARKA /. Consumer prices in Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) rose by 0.6 percent in September from the previous
month, NKR Statistical Service said.

It said prices for foodstuff (including alcoholic beverages and tobacco
products) rose by 0.7%, prices of non-food products rose by 0.6%,
while service prices grew by 0.4%.

The consumer price index in NKR in September 2014 was 3.4 percent
compared to the same period in 2013. Prices for food products
(including alcoholic beverages and tobacco) grew by 4.3% year-on-year,
prices of non-food products by 3 4%, while prices for services by 1.9%.

Consumer price index in Karabakh in September 2014 was 25.4 percent
compared with 2010. -0-

RUSSIAN RUBLE’S BEHAVIOR IMPACTS ARMENIAN ECONOMY, RUBEN VARDANYAN

YEREVAN, October 10. / ARKA /. The behavior of the Russian ruble
which is losing rapidly its value against USD and Euro will have a
negative impact on the Armenian market, Ruben Vardanyan, Ameriabank
Board member, told a news conference in Yerevan Thursday.

“Russia is Armenia’s largest trade partner. The bulk of Armenian
exports go to Russia as well as thousands of labor migrants, and
everything that happens at the Russian market, impacts Armenia quite
strongly, but this dependence is not direct,” Vardanyan said.

Andrei Lazarian, chairman of Ameriabank Board, said sharp fluctuations
of any major economy’s currency, including Russian, have impact on the
world economy, and if these processes are long, the consequences will
affect strongly especially the linked economies, including Armenian.

Russian ruble has lost 17 percent of its value this year hitting
the record low of 40 rubles on October 6. In Armenia it has lost 15%
from the beginning of the year against the dram. Today it traded at
10.32 drams.

The ruble has been pressured for months by a plunge in prices for oil,
one of Russia’s chief exports, as well as Western sanctions over the
Ukraine crisis and dollar strength linked to speculation over a rate
hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. ($ 1 – 411.94 drams). -0–