Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ANALYST: SHOULD ISRAEL DEMAND ANKARA TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE?

February 12, 2014 – 18:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Israeli-Turkish ties became practically frozen after
the 2010 incident with Mavi Marmara, aboard which Israel’s raid on
a Gaza-bound flotilla resulted in the deaths of 9 Turkish activists
and injuries of Israeli soldiers.

As Israeli political analyst Alexander Tsinker toldPanARMENIAN.Net
immediately after the incident, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan demanded for apologies and compensation from Jerusalem.

Despite the international investigation committee’s announcing Israeli
actions to have been legally acceptable, the country’s Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu offered official apologies, accepted by Erdogan.

“Though the issue of compensations hasn’t been quite finalized,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a local television
station that Israel and Turkey are closer than ever to normalizing
relations. He noted that there has recently been momentum and a new
approach in compensation talks and that most of the differences have
been recently removed in these discussions,” the analyst said.

“It would only be logical to infer that a rapprochement is in progress;
yet, several days ago, Erdogan demanded a “written protocol” from
Israel pledging it will lift the siege over the Gaza Strip as a
condition for signing a reconciliation agreement and normalizing
relations between the two countries.

The question here is why Turkey would meddle with the internal
Palestinian-Israeli problems. According to the Turkish principle
for settlement of bilateral ties, Israel should demand the Erdogan
government for an agreement to form an independent Kurdish republic
in the eastern Turkey, and, above all, written recognition of the
1915 Armenian Genocide,” the analyst stressed.

CHYPRE : NEGOCIATIONS SUR LA REUNIFICATION

Publie le : 12-02-2014

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
invite a lire cette information publiee sur le site de l’ONU le 11
fevrier 2014.

Legende photo : Des Casques bleus de l’UNFICYP patrouillent dans le
secteur 1 a Chypre. Photo: UNFICYP

ONU

Ban salue la reprise des negociations sur la reunification de Chypre

11 fevrier 2014 – Le Secretaire general des Nations Unies, Ban Ki-moon
s’est felicite mardi de la publication d’un communique conjoint du
dirigeant chypriote grec, Nicos Anastasiades et de son homologue
chypriote turc Dervis Eroglu annoncant la reprise de negociations
formelles sur la reunification de l’île de Chypre avec pour objectif
de conclure un accord sur une solution definitive a cette question.

>,
a affirme M. Ban.

>, a-t-il ajoute.

Le Secretaire general a souligne que l’ONU continuerait de soutenir
les Chypriotes turcs et grecs dans leurs efforts pour reunifier l’île
et pour mettre fin au chapitre de plusieurs decennies de separation.

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : ONU

TURQUIE : LES CODES RACIAUX TOUJOURS UTILISES A L’ECOLE

Publie le : 12-02-2014

Info Collectif VAN – : rapport

Le ministère turc de l’Education a refuse a deux etudiants etrangers
le droit de s’inscrire dans une ecole grecque (Rum) a Istanbul, car ils
n’avaient pas la bonne origine ethnique, a rapporte le journal Taraf.

Une ecole grecque d’Istanbul, qui n’a pas ete nommee dans le rapport,
a accepte un etudiant roumain et un etudiant bulgare l’an dernier,
mais le ministère de l’Education a dit qu’ils n’appartenaient pas au
bon groupe des minorites ethniques et ne pouvaient donc pas etudier la.

Un document officiel redige par la Direction regionale de
l’Education d’Istanbul, decouvert l’an dernier, a revele que le
système d’administration de la population en Turquie enregistrait
les citoyens qui avaient une origine armenienne, juive ou grecque
anatolienne avec un >.

Les citoyens d’origine grecque auraient le code >, mais les
deux etudiants a qui l’on a refuse de s’inscrire dans l’ecole grecque
tombaient dans la categorie > correspondant a >, selon Taraf.

Le rapport suggerait qu’en depit des critiques exprimees suite a la
revelation l’an dernier de l’existence du document de la Direction
de l’Education, l’Etat turc continue de classifier les minorites avec
des codes raciaux.

L’ecole a demande au ministère de trouver une solution afin de ne
pas interrompre le cursus des deux etudiants et il lui aurait ete
conseille de mettre en place un programme de e-learning pour eux.

29 janvier 2014

(c)Traduction de l’anglais C.Gardon pour le Collectif VAN – 11 fevrier
2014 –

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : Hurriyet Daily News

L’ARMENIE ALLOUE UN ESPACE SUPPLEMENTAIRE POUR L’ESCADRON AERIENNE RUSSE A L’AERODROME EREBUNI A EREVAN

ARMENIE

Un porte-parole du ministère de la defense d’Armenie a confirme que
l’Armenie va allouer un l’espace supplementaire a un escadron aerien
russe deployee a l’aerodrome d’Erebuni a Erevan. Le porte-parole,
Artsrun Hovhanesyan a dit que l’escadron russe a besoin d’espace
supplementaire pour ameliorer son installation.

Il a ajoute que le nouvel espace sera utilise par l’escadron comme
heliport et pour un depôt de carburant et de lubrifiants. Il a
declare que le gouvernement armenien a approuve un accord relatif
avec la Russie.

Artsrun Hovhanesyan a dit que dans l’accord la piste de l’aerodrome
Erebuni sera utilise a la fois par les parties armenienne et russe.

mercredi 12 fevrier 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

L’OPPOSITION VEUT DES REPONSES SUR LA DETTE GAZIERE

ARMENIE

Le “mysterieux” accord sur le gaz continue d’etre le principal
sujet de discussions pendant la legislature de quatre jours lancee
cette semaine. La hausse des prix du gaz naturel ont rendu presque
impossible pour les habitants d’Armenie de payer leurs factures suite
au rigoureux hiver de cette annee.

Les quatre factions du parlement dans l’opposition Armenie prospère
(PAP), Heritage, le Congrès National Armenien (ANC), et la Federation
revolutionnaire armenienne (FRA) ont propose a la majorite qu’une
commission temporaire soit formee pour etudier le terrain et obtenir
des reponses , mais aujourd’hui 58 legislateurs ont vote contre l’idee
par rapport aux 44 voix qui la soutiennent.

La question principale est de la dette de l’Etat de 300 millions de $
accumulee depuis 2001pour la fourniture de gaz russe qui a pousse
le gouvernement armenien a remettre les 20 pour cent restants des
actions d’Armrusgazprom a la partie russe. Pourquoi le carburant
bleu, coûtant 159$ a la frontière, est-il vendu a la population 380$
? Et enfin, pourquoi le gouvernement a garantit les droits exclusifs
d’acheter du gaz a Gazprom pendant 30 ans, jusqu’en 2044 ?

Le Chef de la faction de la FRA Armen Rustamyan a dit que les
motifs sont purement politiques : le pays etait sur le seuil de
deux evenements politiques importants – les elections legislatives
et presidentielles.

> a dit Rustamyan.

Le chef de la faction Heritage Ruben Hakobyan partage l’avis de sa
faction qu’il est impossible d’avoir une dette de 300 millions de $
sans une reflexion sur le budget de l’Etat.

MEDIA CENTER
30 Saryan str., Yerevan
Tel: +37460 505 898
+37499 755 898
Email: [email protected]
Web:

On February 12 at 12:00, the Media Center will host a discussion
entitled `Reforms to the Conscription Law: Restriction of Deferment or
Educational Right?’

The discussion is initiated by Institute for War and Peace Reporting
(IWPR).

The guest speakers are:

Tigran Sahakyan, head of Department of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora at
Ministry of Education and Science,

Ashot Bleyan, director of Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex,

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, doctor of Historical Sciences.

On January 23, the Armenian government approved the draft law on the
amendments to the Conscription law proposed by the Ministry of
Education and Science.

The law will require the PhD and Master’s degree students who travel
abroad to study on state order, interstate and interdepartmental
agreements to pay 8.5 million drams (20,000 US dollars) as security
that they will return.

HALLELUJAH! ABE FOXMAN FINALLY ‘RETIRES’ FROM THE ADL

Pamela Geller.com
Feb 11 2014

JEWISH LAY LEADERSHIP: NEO KAPOS

Oh, happy day. Abe Foxman is resigning after more than 50 years at
the increasingly damaging ADL. I thought that Foxman was going to go
out feet first. And in a way, he is. Lord knows the man is brain dead.

He took a once-vital organization and turned it hard left, going
relentlessly after fierce proud Jews like me. And more than any other,
Jew-haters loved to flaunt the ADL’s condemnation of my work. Foxman’s
ADL freely criticized Israel. He attacked my lawyer, David Yerushalmi,
an orthodox Jew. Foxman even went after Joan Rivers ( I kid you not).

But he walked on eggshells with anti-semitic Muslim groups.

Of course, his successor could be worse, but let’s not think about
that now. Foxman is gone; perhaps the ADL will finally recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

One Jewicidal leader down, legions to go. I nominate Charles Jacobs
to replace Foxman.

“Abraham Foxman retiring from ADL,” JTA, February 10, 2014

NEW YORK (JTA) — Abraham Foxman, the national director of
the Anti-Defamation League, and one of the longest-serving and
highest-profile American Jewish organizational leaders, is retiring
from his post.

Foxman will step down on July 20, 2015, according to an announcement
Monday by the ADL.

“For almost five decades, ADL offered me the perfect vehicle to live
a life of purpose both in standing up on behalf of the Jewish people
to ensure that what happened during World War II would never happen
again and in fighting bigotry and all forms of oppression,” Foxman,
73, said in an ADL news release. “My years at ADL, particularly the
27 spent as National Director, could not have been more rewarding.”

Foxman announced his retirement at the ADL’s annual National Executive
Committee meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. The organization said its search
for Foxman’s successor will be conducted by the executive search firm
BoardWalk Consulting and will be guided by ADL leadership.

A lawyer by training, Foxman, a child survivor of the Holocaust,
started at the ADL in 1965 and became its national director in 1987.

Under his leadership, ADL has expanded to 30 regional offices across
the United States and an office in Israel.

In 2011, the last year for which data is available, the ADL reported
nearly $54 million in revenue. The organization monitors anti-Semitic
activity, offers discrimination-sensitivity training and runs
anti-bigotry programs.

But it is Foxman’s personage for which the ADL may best be known. Seen
as a spokesman for the Jewish people, Foxman has used his position
as a bully pulpit to advocate for Israel, warn against discrimination
and, perhaps most often, issue declamations of what does or does not
constitute anti-Semitism.

Whether they be condemnations of foreign leaders or pardons of
celebrities who have made ill-considered utterances, Foxman’s has
been the authoritative voice on what is or is not acceptable to Jews.

After he steps down, Foxman will serve as a part-time consultant to
ADL and sit on the organization’s national commission and national
executive committee, the organization said.

ARMENIA-BASED RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE LAUNCHES TACTICAL MANEUVERS

February 11, 2014 | 13:32

YEREVAN. – Russian military unit of the Southern Military District has
launched tactical maneuvers at Kamhud and Alagyaz training complexes
in Armenia.

Over 600 troops and around 200 pieces of equipment participate in
the exercise. The main objective is to teach servicemen to fulfill
their task effectively in any weather conditions, improve skills of
modern weapons and equipment.

During winter time Russian troops plan to hold more than 20 tactical
maneuvers, including those held at nighttime.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

AN OUTLOOK FOR IRANIAN GAS IN ARMENIA

06.02.2014

Sevak Sarukhanyan
Head of the Centre for the Political Studies of the Noravank Foundation

In December 2013, after the Armenian-Russian gas agreement was signed,
there have been some intense discussions on importing gas from Iran to
Armenia. The main discussion topics are the price of the Iranian gas
and the nature of the Armenian-Russian gas agreement, which allegedly
might prevent Armenia from increasing volumes of the imported gas
from Iran.

The price of the Iranian gas

For discussions on the Iranian gas price, one may consider the price
of gas exported from Iran to Turkey and Nakhichevan, as well as the
Iranian experiences with exporting gas to Pakistan and Georgia.

Since 2001 Iran, Pakistan and India constantly negotiate over a gas
pipeline construction project and the main issue in these negotiations
is the gas price. Tehran refuses to set the price below international
market price levels, arguing that the gas price is something like
the oil price, to be calculated by a formula and not to be otherwise
changed. And this is stated under circumstances, where construction and
operation of the pipeline is a matter of a vital economic importance
for Tehran. In addition, as in case with Iran and Armenia, Iran,
India and Pakistan also have some common values (regardless of the
political situation).

However, since 2001 Iran did everything to dissuade Pakistan of any
false assumptions that Tehran might export gas Pakistan at prices lower
than the international ones. It has to be noted though, that Iranian
officials have stated on numerous occasions that cooperation between
the countries should develop not only based on economic categories,
but also under a priority of friendship values.

In 2012 Pakistan made the last attempt to get cheap gas from Iran:
taking advantage of the international sanctions against Iran and
realizing well that Tehran needs additional revenue sources, Islamabad
offered a long-term gas agreement to Iran, with a price somewhat
lower than the international level. However, this tactical offer was
again turned down by Iran, apparently due to the consideration that
sanctions will eventually come to an end, while long-term contractual
obligations for energy supply would remain.

The Iran-Georgia negotiations on gas trade are another good example.

Since 2004, former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili made several
attempts to make an Iran-Georgia gas agreement. Hardly anyone remembers
that pro-Western former Georgian president M. Saakashvili twice held
high-level negotiations on exports of Iranian gas to Georgia with
M. Ahmadinejad, who had a negative image in the West.

Both times Iran expressed interest, but negotiations ended with no
specific agreement due to the very reason of high price for the Iranian
gas. This circumstance is often ignored in discussions taking place
in Armenia, during which an opinion is expressed that had there been
no pressures from Russia, Armenia could have become a transit country
for the Iranian gas. It can be said in this case that Moscow is not and
has never been interested in the seeing Iranian gas enter international
markets, although in practical terms there also has never been a real
opportunity for its transit through Armenia, since the Iranian gas
had no buyers anyway. This is because of its high price and Tehran’s
negative response to the idea of selling it below international levels.

The same price issue was subject to Iran-Ukraine negotiations that
ended with no positive outcome, regardless of what Russia and Gazprom
thought about it.

In this context it seems dubious that all of a sudden Iran would
significantly lower the gas price for Armenia, thus giving a pretext
to India, Georgia, Turkey, Europe and Pakistan to discuss the natural
gas pricing mechanism. As for the Iranian ambassador’s remark that
gas can be sold for $400 to one buyer, and for $100 to another one,
it is just a classic diplomatic statement, which again, has not been
confirmed in any way.

Is it possible to increase the imports of Iranian gas?

As far as this story is concerned, it does gave some objective
grounds. To date Armenia and Iran have not held actual negotiations
over the price. Despite this, the issue whether Armenia would
be able purchase natural gas from Iran after concluding the
new Armenian-Russian energy agreement has become a subject for
discussions. Moreover, even some opinions are voiced that Armenia
assumes obligation to buy only Russian gas.

In reality, the agreement does not imply Russian gas monopoly in
domestic market of Armenia, but rather, Russian monopoly in gas
transportation system. The system and market are quite different things
and equating them would be the same as, for example, equating airport
and airline company. Although an airport receives aircrafts flying into
the country, it may not regulate who and for what purpose arrives. The
same goes for the gas system: the Armenian-Russian agreement regulates
cooperation in gas infrastructure, but not gas sources.

Under these circumstances increase of the Iranian gas imports to
Armenia may not encounter any difficulties. In fact, if there is a
buyer, then the ArmRusGazprom-owned Iran-Armenia gas main have to
be used, for which either the buyer or seller would have to pay for
transit, which in case of a small country like Armenia would have a
negligible impact on the natural gas price.

However, it has to be realized that an increase of the Iranian gas
imports to Armenia may happen only in case of significant economic
development rates, especially in the quite energy-consuming industrial
sector. In absence of such prospect import volumes of gas will remain
low and natural gas imports from two sources will hardly be worthwhile
in economic terms.

“Globus” analytical journal, #1, 2014

________________________________ Another materials of author

JOINING OF ARMENIA TO THE CUSTOMS UNION WILL ALLOW PROVIDING LOW GAS
RATES – EXPERT[13.09.2013] CSTO AND COMMUNICATION SECURITY[01.08.2013]
IRAN AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS[01.07.2013] “IRANIAN GAS
CAN REPLACE RUSSIAN BUT IT IS MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE”[10.06.2013]
KARS-AKHLKALAKI-TBILISI RAILWAY AND ITS REGIONAL PROSPECTS
[25.04.2013] QAZVIN-RASHT-ASTARA OR IRAN-ARMENIA? [21.02.2013] IRAN
AND SANCTIONS[10.12.2012] SIGNIFICANCE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY FOR ARMENIA
[27.09.2012] ON THE REGIONAL POLICY OF IRAN[28.06.2012] TURKISH FACTOR
IN “LEVIATHAN” AND “APHRODITE” ENERGY “WARS”[03.05.2012]

DISAGREEMENT OVER ARMENIA-EU JOINT STATEMENT WITHIN EU-ARMENIA PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION COMMITTEE

21:11 * 11.02.14

There is a disagreement within the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation
Committee.

Aghvan Vardanyan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), Stepan Margaryan of the Prosperous Armenia
Party (PAP) and Nikol Pashinyan of the Armenian National Congress
(ANC) party told a press conference on Tuesday that an Armenia-EU
agreement, which was not signed at the final, 14th, meeting, should
have necessarily been approved by consensus. However, Committee
Co-Chair Samvel Farmanyan does not agree.

A lukewarm atmosphere has prevailed in the Armenia-EU relations since
September 3, which is the reason for Brussels and Yerevan missing a
chance to approve a joint document, which might have been approved
through negotiations.

“Armenia was unwilling to issue a statement so as not to provide
explanations to Russia,” Pashinyan said. According to him, the process
was orchestrated from Yerevan.

“We were in Strasbourg, but found out that [Parliament Speaker]
Hovik Abrahamyan and [FM] Edward Nalbandian were negotiating.”

Samvel Farmanyan stated that he was solely responsible for the document
not having been signed as he believed a joint statement should be
the result of combined opinions of two sides with equal rights.

“We could not reach an agreement on the final text. I completely
disagree with media reports claiming it to be a failure,” Farmanyan
said.

According to him, a disagreement over the final text does not at all
mean a stalemate in the Armenia-EU relations. The fact should neither
be exaggerated nor played down.

The matter concerns the European Parliament’s proposals relating to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which have suddenly turned unfavorable
for the Armenian side after the statement made in 2012 and not approved
at that time.

Another proposal implies the EU’s greater role in the negotiation
process.

Aghvan Vardanyan said that he would support negotiations “for the
sake of signing the document and of Armenia’s present-day policy
toward the European Union.”

As to what is unacceptable to the Armenian members of the EU-Armenia
Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, Farmanyan said that all the
statements on Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia refer to the fundamental
international documents on people’s right to self-determination as
a fundamental principle of settlement of conflicts.

“This is an answer to the question about the difference between the
previous documents and the document, which refers to the Helsinki
final act,” Farmanyan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am