Author: Kajoyan Gevork

PFA’S NEW REPORT LAYS OUT A ROADMAP FOR ARMENIA’S RELATIONS WITH THE WEST

Lragir.am
Politics – 03 October 2014, 09:41

PFA’s New Report Lays out a Roadmap for Armenia’s Relations with the
West and a New Vision for the Caucasus

Policy Forum Armenia (PFA)–a Washington-based international think
tank–announces today the publication of its State of the Nation
Report on “Armenia and the West: A New Vision for the Caucasus”, an
earlier version of which was presented as a background paper during
a high-level workshop at the Atlantic Council in Washington on July
2, 2014.

The report is intended for policymakers with interest in strengthening
Armenia and its ties with the West. It offers some out-of-the-box
thinking that challenges prevailing views about Western involvement in
Armenia and the Caucasus. The report essentially sets aside a critical
handicapping factor–Armenia’s leadership and governance–and lays
out a vision for the country’s role in the region under a leadership
that would enjoy widespread support among its people; understand and
stay current with global trends; and maintain a reasonable degree
of independence from foreign interference. The report states that,
if implemented in practical terms, a leadership change of this nature
will unleash Armenia’s developmental potential and effectively lead
to the proposed foreign policy reorientation.

The report notes that, while Armenia owns its current problems, the
West has lost a valuable opportunity to steer Armenia toward more
democracy and better governance. However, recent developments in the
wider region bring new opportunities for the West to forge stronger
ties with Armenia. Yet, as argued in the report, this cannot be done
with the current ruling regime, which has squandered the country’s
economic and geopolitical potential and brought Armenia close to a
point of no-return.

The report provides a thorough review of Armenia’s bilateral relations
with all its neighbors and Russia. While it recognizes the gravity
of the current status quo that relies heavily on Russia’s meddling in
Armenia’s domestic and foreign policy choices, it proposes a way out.

The report notes that the Russia’s control of Armenia is working
against the long-run interests of both countries. This state of affairs
is not sustainable. The challenge is to convince Russia to step back
and allow Armenia to build bridges with other countries/blocks, as
dictated by its own strategic interests, while still maintaining an
exclusive relationship with Russia.

In his remarks, Armenia’s first Ambassador to the United States, Rouben
Shougarian noted that: “The report that followed the multifaceted
discussion at the Atlantic Council is both a gratifying result of
a comprehensive insight into Armenia’s foreign and security policy
and a creative after-thought to the discussion itself. It is also
a rare attempt to put Armenia’s future into strategic perspective,
which helps it to graduate beyond one-dimensional dependence on Russia
and opens the door for alternative political thinking. Foreign policy
problems and challenges are rightfully linked to better governance
and democracy building.”

While analyzing the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, the report
lays out three possible scenarios. The most attractive scenario for
Armenia–one that requires strengthening the country’s economy and
defense capabilities to retain control over Nagorno-Karabakh–is
one that would also bring stability to the region and allow the
creation of a Transcaucasian economic market for the benefit of all
players. In terms of Armenia’s attractiveness for the West, the report
lays out a vision in which Armenia plays a role of a key corridor for
de-blockading Iran, when the Western sanctions are lifted; acts as
a reliable partner for Georgia in an otherwise very volatile region;
and presents itself as a potential buffer against Turkey’s neo-Ottoman
aspirations in the region.

“I have been following the activities of Policy Forum Armenia for
some time, and find the work of this small but outstanding group
of professionals truly impressive. PFA’s ability to think outside
the established norms and cliches, its perseverance and its well
researched and thorough reports on difficult and hard-hitting subjects
have always met the highest professional standards. Their latest
report on Armenia and the West is no exception. One may or may not
agree with all its conclusions, but the report stands as one of the
most thoughtful and possibly consequential works on the subject of
Armenia’s foreign relations.” said Vahan Zanoyan, author and retired
Chairman of PFC Energy International, a global energy advising firm.

Policy Forum Armenia is a 501(c)3 non-profit think tank aimed at
strengthening discourse on Armenia’s economic development and national
security and, through that, helping to shape public policy in Armenia.

This State of the Nation report and other PFA reports, which provide
assessments of critical developments taking place in Armenia and the
Diaspora, are available via

L’ARMENIE ET L’UE DISCUTENT D’UNE NOUVELLE FORME DE COOPERATION

Diplomatie

Des representants armeniens et europeens se reuniront bientôt pour
essayer de travailler sur un nouveau cadre juridique concernant les
relations bilaterales, cadre qui ne serait pas en contradiction
avec l’adhesion de l’Armenie a l’alliance dirigee par la Russie,
ont indique des responsables hier.

Selon Traian Hristea, chef de la delegation de l’UE a Erevan, les deux
parties prevoient des sessions de “remue-meninges” sur les nouveaux
formats de leur cooperation dans le nouvel environnement geopolitique.

“Les discussions en sont au stade preparatoire, et nous travaillons
avec nos partenaires armeniens”, a declare Hristea aux journalistes.

“Très bientôt, nous aurons une reunion bilaterale en vue de preparer
de nouvelles propositions.”

Le representant de l’UE a refuse de donner des dates precises pour
ces pourparlers. “Je pense que la chose la plus importante sera leur
substance, plutôt que la date limite”, a t-il dit.

Le premier vice-ministre de l’Economie, Garegin Melkonian, a confirme
qu’Erevan et Bruxelles tentent de tracer une nouvelle voie, un an
après l’effondrement d’un accord d’association negocie par eux. Il
a dit qu’ils vont ouvrir des negociations sur la question avant la
fin de l’annee.

“Sans entrer dans les details pour le moment, je veux simplement noter
que nous allons travailler et tenir des discussions a ce sujet dans
les prochains mois”, a declare Melkonian.

Le vice-ministre, qui a ete personnellement implique dans les
negociations de trois ans sur l’accord d’association, n’a pas nie
que le gouvernement armenien espère terminer son adhesion a l’Union
economique eurasienne dirigee par la Russie avant de proposer des
offres concrètes a l’UE.

“Je ne voudrais pas lier les deux choses directement”, a t-il dit.

jeudi 2 octobre 2014, Claire (c)armenews.com

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: SPEAKER UNHAPPY WITH SAROYAN’S POSITION

Thursday,
October
02

Speaker of the Armenian parliament Galust Sahakyan considers
yesterday’s conduct of the deputy of Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) faction Seyran Saroyan as unacceptable. When asked by ‘Haykakan
Zhamanak’ daily if Saroyan will be punished or expelled from the
faction, Galust Sahakyan said: “This is not the opinion of our
political team. He will not be expelled from the faction. HHK is the
only team that acts in unity, but it is unacceptable to us”.

Saroyan declared earlier he would have no problems related to his
opinion: “What problems? Can any problems arise because of the truth?”

TODAY, 10:55

Aysor.am

UN CERTIFICAT POUR LES FEMMES ENCEINTES AU KARABAGH

KARABAGH

Un programme de certificats pour les femmes enceintes a ete lance
dans le Haut-Karabagh (RHK) rapporte le site Web du ministère de la
sante du Karabagh.

Les certificats seront delivres aux femmes enceintes par les
institutions medicales dans lesquelles elles sont inscrites a partir
de 22 semaines de grossesse a precise la coordinatrice du service
d’aide medicale du ministère Karine Alexanyan.

Le debut de ce programme signifie que des soins de sante seront
fournis a chaque femme enceinte afin de reduire les complications
pendant la grossesse et resoudre rapidement les problèmes s’ils se
produisent a dit le ministre de la sante Harutiun Kushkyan.

Le certificat devrait etre accessible a toutes les femmes enceintes,
sans exception, a declare le ministre.

Le certificat couvre l’aide medicale gratuite dans le cadre du
programme finance par l’Etat.

mercredi 1er octobre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LES PREOCCUPATIONS DE LA POPULATION : LE TAUX DE CROISSANCE 2014 EN LEGERE HAUSSE PAR RAPPORT AUX DEUX ANNEES PRECEDENTES

ARMENIE

Le chef du departement Demographie et Recensement du service national
de la statistique Karine Kuyumjyan a declare aux journalistes que
dans le premier trimestre de 2014 plus les enfants sont nes en Armenie
que durant la meme periode au cours des deux dernières annees.

Une croissance de 0,6 pour cent a ete enregistree par rapport au
premier trimestre de 2012, et de 3,2 pour cent – par rapport au
premier semestre de 2013 a mentionne Karine Kuyumjyan ajoutant que
normalement plus de naissances sont enregistrees pendant les mois
d’automne, ce qui donne des esperances quant a la croissance de la
natalite pour l’ensemble de l’annee .

L’Armenie a enregistre une baisse de la natalite depuis l’independance,
depuis les annees 1990 le taux de natalite a diminue de 2,5 fois,
en 2001 l’enregistrement a ete de 32000 naissances par rapport aux
81 000 de 1986. Les tentatives de l’Etat de resoudre le problème ont
donne des resultats positifs dans le debut des annees 2000 permettant
un peu de croissance annuelle. Mais la tendance s’est estompee au
cours des dernières annees.

Cet indice en Armenie aujourd’hui est de 1,6, ce qui signifie que la
population ne se reproduit pas pratiquement.

ARMENIA ABLE TO INCREASE TAX COLLECTION AT EXPENSE OF LARGE BUSINESSES – IMF

YEREVAN, October 1. /ARKA/. Armenia can increase its tax receipts at
the expense of large businesses, head of IMF mission in Armenia Mark
Horton told reporters on Tuesday.

Horton said the Armenian government gave a renewed impetus to measures
against “black” economy, but they could not be considered “Draconian”
as some entrepreneurs call them.

The measures will not lead to increased profits as economy growth is
slowing down, and no increase of tax rates is anticipated, Horton said.

In this respect, increasing the share of tax collection from large
businesses will be the best, he said.

According to ArmStat, tax receipts amounted to 684.6 billion drams
in January-August, a 4.2% increase compared to the same period of 2013.

Armenia’s premier Hovik Abrahamyan said soon after his appointment
in April that the government will support domestic production, but
will punish toughly on “black” turnover. July the 1st was set as a
deadline for legalizing businesses. The deadline was then extended,
but the taxation policy has been toughened, and marking of goods
manufactured in Armenia became binding in particular.

According to Armenian ombudsman’s report, ‘shadow’ economy accounts
for about 35-40%. -0–

ZHAMANAK: GOVERNMENT DID NOT FULFILL DEMANDS OF FOUR NON-GOVERNMENT FORCES

12:35 01/10/2014 >> DAILY PRESS

On Tuesday, the deadline expired for fulfillment of the four
non-government parliamentary factions’ demands to the government,
Zhamanak writes. The newspaper notes that the four factions submitted
a 12-point document to the authorities, with September 30 indicated
as the deadline.

Asked by Zhamanak’s correspondent whether the authorities fulfilled
their demands, Prosperous Armenia MP Stepan Margaryan said, “In short,
they didn’t. Some points have been fulfilled to some extent, but on
the whole, the demands remain on paper.”

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN BAR ASSOCIATION STANDS STRONG FOR KESSAB’S RECOVERY

Monday, September 29th, 2014

The Armenian Bar Association

On the evening of August 27, 2014, a large audience of concerned
community members gathered in Glendale, California to attend a town
hall meeting which focused on the plight of the Armenian community
in Kessab, Syria. Co-sponsored by the Armenian Bar Association, the
event featured as keynote speakers Garo Ghazarian, Chairman Ex-Officio
of the Association and Stepan Apelian, a resident, business owner,
and community leader of Kessab.

Kessab is a town located in the northwest corner of Syria, nestled
in the mountains which rise above the Mediterranean Sea. The town’s
inhabitants are almost entirely made up of Armenians. Kessab is one of
the few Armenian villages that survived the Genocide and was able to
continue as a vibrant community. In March, 2014, the historic town was
invaded by heavily-armed militia who entered Syria from the Republic
of Turkey. Engrained with the collective memory of the Genocide, most
of the residents of Kessab fled to the neighboring city of Latakia,
Syria. The insurgents inflicted violence upon the community and,
in the process, looted and destroyed Armenian churches, schools,
homes and businesses.

Ghazarian, who co-chairs the Armenian Genocide Centennial
Committee-Western United States, was the first speaker. He explained
to the audience that hearing of the violence that was being wrought
upon his ancestral home of Kessab, he decided to travel as close
as possible to Kessab so as to get a first-hand assessment of the
situation and determine the immediate needs of the refugees. In an
interview conducted by the Los Angeles Times Beirut Bureau Chief,
Patrick McDonnell, on April 9, 2014, Ghazarian explained his reasoning
as follows: “The preservation of this village and its people is of
utmost importance to the Armenian people.” Through the efforts of
Ghazarian, refugees from Kessab who had reached Beirut were interviewed
by McDonnell. He wrote of their harrowing stories and the Los Angeles
Times brought their tragic situation to world attention by publishing
the Kessab community’s plight in the first section of the newspaper.

Ghazarian further explained to the town hall participants that he
could not stay home in Los Angeles, while the residents of his
family’s hometown were in peril. In an interview following the
lecture, Ghazarian, drawing from his eye-witness observations,
added: “I witnessed the emotional and individualized recountings
of the Kessabtsis’ exodus from their sacred ground. We must insist
that the international community as well as Turkey’s own ally, the
United States, stop paying lip service to Armenians, and to start
an investigation of Turkey at all levels. We must demand more than
mere utterances of ‘concern.’ We must demand action to not only halt
Turkey’s continued disregard of the rights and liberties of Armenians,
but also the undertaking of sustainable efforts to remedy what will
no doubt become an irreversible reality on the ground for our fellow
Armenians of Kessab.”

With the shock and awe of dozens of pictures, Apelian was able to
convey to the audience a sense of the terror and destruction which the
Armenian community faced by the invading forces. He explained that
several churches, schools and businesses were gutted of everything
that was contained within them. Sparing nothing in their ruinous wake,
the aggressors went as far as to desecrate the crosses of our Armenian
churches. Apelian emphasized that Kessab poses an opportunity and
challenge to the world-wide Armenian nation to galvanize itself in
aid of its fellow Armenians and to help rebuild our collective past
and future.

RESISTE PAR VALERIE TORANIAN

REVUE DE PRESSE

Tekoshin est kurde, elle a 27 ans et se bat dans les montagnes du
nord de l’Irak, aux côtes de ses frères d’armes (PKK) pour deloger
les barbares de Daesh, l’Etat islamique qui fait regner la terreur en
Irak et en Syrie*. De loin, rien ne la distingue de ses compagnons
masculins : meme uniforme, meme silhouette musclee et aguerrie,
meme fusil d’assaut. Seuls ses cheveux longs, tires en arrière par
une queue-de-cheval, attestent de sa feminite. Ces femmes kurdes
ont commence a se battre pour la creation d’un Etat kurde autonome
dans l’est de la Turquie dans les annees 90. Aujourd’hui, elles ont
conscience que leur combat est celui de la liberte des femmes. De
toutes les femmes de la region. Qu’elles soient kurdes, syriennes,
irakiennes, musulmanes, chretiennes, yezidis. Elles ne veulent pas
rompre devant un ennemi qui a resolu de les condamner a une alienation
medievale et a l’esclavage sexuel.

Narin a 14 ans, elle est yezidi, elle habitait le nord de l’Irak. Elle
a ete capturee alors qu’elle fuyait devant l’avancee des djihadistes,
dont la folie radicale menace de mort les femmes non musulmanes
qui ne se convertiraient pas. Les hommes ont ete separes des femmes
et executes. Les jeunes filles vierges ont ete separees des femmes
mariees et offertes en butin a des membres de l’Etat islamique pour
leur servir d’epouses ou de concubines. Narin et sa cousine ont reussi
a dissimuler un couteau de cuisine sous leur abaya, a faire sauter
les verrous de leur geôle et a fuir, pour finalement regagner Erbil,
au Kurdistan, au bout d’un long periple.

Contre la malediction des femmes qui doivent choisir entre la
disparition et l’invisibilite, Tekoshin, Narin et tant d’autres se
battent avec un courage qui force le respect. En Syrie a la frontière
irakienne, les femmes kurdes representent pas moins de 40 % des
Unites de defense du peuple. Un chiffre phenomenal qui affole meme
les djihadistes qui pensent qu’ils iront en enfer s’ils sont tues
par une femme.

Ces femmes en armes ne representent pas seulement un atout militaire
dans la lutte antidjihadiste. Elles forgent la legitimite qui leur
permettra au sortir de la guerre de faire respecter leurs droits. Du
moins on l’espère.

Messieurs les Presidents Hollande et Obama, il faut soutenir les
resistantes en Irak mais aussi en Syrie. Elles meritent doublement
l’aide des democraties. Parce qu’elles combattent la barbarie a
l’instar des hommes. Parce qu’elles sont debout pour dire que rien
n’est jamais ecrit dans l’histoire des femmes. Et que la longue et
chaotique bataille pour leur liberte partout sur la planète ne fait
que commencer. C’est l’honneur de l’ensemble du monde libre de ne
pas l’oublier.

La marche des femmes ne s’arretera jamais.

* Source

LES COMMERCANTS PROTESTENT CONTRE LES CHANGEMENTS IMMINENTS DANS LES LOIS FISCALES

ARMENIE

Des centaines de commercants de plusieurs foires d’Erevan ont
defile devant le bâtiment du gouvernement pour protester contre des
changements dans les lois fiscales qui devraient entrer en vigueur
le 1er Octobre.

Les changements impliquent la reduction de l’impôt sur le chiffre
d’affaires pour les petites entreprises et les entrepreneurs ce que
le gouvernement fait valoir que cela devrait inciter le developpement
des PME en Armenie.

Mais de nombreux hommes d’affaires font valoir que certains des termes
et dispositions de la loi, au contraire, rendront leur travail plus
difficile.

Les commercants des foires du marche de l’or, de Rossia, de Hrazdan,
de Malatia et Nork ont demande une rencontre avec le Premier ministre
Hovik Abrahamyan, qui plus tard a recu un groupe d’entre eux pour
discuter de leurs plaintes.

Dans le meme temps, certains des manifestants ont bloque temporairement
l’avenue Mets Tigran. Le trafic a ete retabli après l’intervention
de la police.

mardi 30 septembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com