Author: Kajoyan Gevork

THE POLICE FINALLY CONFIRMED THE VISIT OF THE FORMER GYUMRI MAYOR TO DISTRICT 3 DAYS AGO

January 17 2014

As we have informed, on January 13, the staff of Department #6 of
RA Police combating crime, visited the former Gyumri Mayor Vardan
Ghukasyan’s district, Slabodka. The police, including the Police chief
of Shirak marz, Karen Babakekhyan, who, in fact, was on vacation at
the time, flatly denied through all media the fact of searching the
house of former mayor of Gyumri. Today, one of local police officials
(after so noisy denial of the police, we do not consider appropriate
to announce his name to avoid him getting into problems), conveyed
certain details to Aravot.am about the visit of the police. As said by
the official, the police visited the Slabodka district for the fact of
beating up the former police chief of Ani district, Samvel Sargsyan,
by Vardan Ghukasyan’s teammates, in the hallway of Shirak marz Court
of General Jurisdiction, on July 2013. Recall that Harutyun Sargsyan,
son of former police chief of Ani district, is accused of murdering
27-year-old Karen Yesayan, fiancee of Vardan Ghukasyan’s daughter. The
former police chief of Ani district was beaten up the day when Vardan
Ghukasyan was invited to the court as a witness. In this respect, a
criminal case was instituted. The police as a suspect in this case,
as a person beating up Samvel Sargsyan, tried to apprehend Gagik
Ghukasyan’s son, the late uncle of former Mayor of Gyumri, Vardan
Ghukasyan. He also lives in Slabodka district. Upon hearing this
news, Vardan Ghukasyan, almost returning home for from his owned
“Alexsandrapol” hotel, has got angry and has advised the police to
find “their murderers” with the same responsiveness. Shortly before,
Ashot Aharonyan, head of RA media and PR department, in the phone
conversation with Aravot.am, did not deny this information by providing
no other details. In fact, our question of whether there is a person
detained for beating up Samvel Sargsyan, remained unanswered.

Nune AREVSHATYAN

Read more at:

‘SISTER’ BATTLE CONTINUES

Highland Community News , CA
Jan 17 2014

By Charles Roberts

Published: Thursday, January 16, 2014 8:05 PM PST The controversy
over Highland’s choice for a sister city was raised again Tuesday
night when Councilwoman Jody Scott presented a three-page letter to
the Council asking for reconsideration of its choice.

The breakaway republic of Nagorno Karabakh and its capitol, Berdzor,
got special recognition from the city Council in November with the
naming of Berdzor as a sister city.

This is recognition that even the U.S. government has not given.

In her letter, Scott notes the sister city resolution states that the
city of Highland “… encourages and supports the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic’s continuing efforts to develop as a free and independent
nation …”

The minutes say the vote was unanimous, but Scott says the vote was
3-1 with one absent.

She adds that the city received a letter on Dec. 3 from the Consul
General of Azerbaijan stating that the U.S. “supports the U.S.

supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and does not recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.”

The small republic was a part of Azerbaijan before declaring
independence and getting support from next-door Armenia.

Scott’s previous attempt to bring up the subject of reconsideration
was unsuccessful with support only from Councilwoman Penny Lilburn.

Scott contends there has been no discussion of the issue, and want
it put on the agenda for reconsideration. She also complains that she
did not even see the resolution until after the initial vote was taken.

Initially, Mayor Sam Racadio rejected Scott’s reconsideration
suggestion.

“Why not at least have a discussion about it?” asked Lilburn, who
was absent for the initial vote.

The issue lay dormant through the rest of the City council meeting
until the end, about two hours later, after City Manager Joe Hughes
conferred with the city attorney and Racadio, and announced that the
issue will be on the agenda for the net City Council meeting.

The City Council also considered an increase in development impact
fees, the money paid to offset impacts of development. The 9.8 percent
increase in Regional Circulation System fees were postponed to January,
2015 to encourage contractors to get in on the lower fees before they
go up, a move suggested by Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of the Baldy View
Chapter of the Building Industry association.

Fees were actually reduced through the recession years of 2010-2015,
so developers could get a real bargain with building in 2014.

City Manager Joe Hughes warned that postponing the increase could
mean a major increase next January, but the City Council unanimously
endorsed the postponement.

The City Council discussed a new sign for the police department.

People have complained that the small monument sign does not show
up enough.

Scott suggested larger letters on the rotunda, and that suggestion
was endorsed by Police chief Captain Rod Torres. The issue will be
brought back to the City Council with new examples.

IRAQ VOWS TO PUNISH TURKEY, KURDS OVER ‘SMUGGLED’ OIL

January 17, 2014 – 20:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Iraq will seek legal redress and take other measures
to punish Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as foreign companies,
for any involvement in Kurdish exports of “smuggled” oil without
Baghdad’s consent, Iraq’s oil minister said on Friday, Jan 17,
according to Reuters.

Abdul Kareem Luaibi told reporters the government was preparing legal
action against Ankara and would blacklist any companies dealing with
oil piped to Turkey from Iraq’s autonomous northern region without
permission from Baghdad.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said last week that crude
had begun to flow through the pipeline, and exports were on track to
start at the end of January. It invited bidders to register with the
Kurdistan Oil Marketing Organization.

Luaibi said it was not in Turkey’s interest to jeopardize bilateral
trade worth $12 billion (7.2 billion pounds) a year, saying Baghdad
would consider boycotting all Turkish companies and cancelling all
contracts with Turkish firms if the oil exports went ahead.

“Turkey must consider its commercial ties and its interests in Iraq,”
he said. “Turkey should know this issue is dangerous. It touches the
independence and unity of Iraq. If Turkey allows the export of oil
from the region, it is meddling in the division of Iraq, and this is
a red line.”

Baghdad has already blacklisted some companies for signing contracts
with the KRG and last year threatened to sue Anglo-Turkish energy
company Genel, the first firm to export oil directly from Kurdistan.

That threat has not yet materialized.

Luaibi said the Finance Ministry had been told to calculate how
much should be deducted from Iraqi Kurdistan’s 17 percent share of
the federal budget if the region failed to meet a government-set
target for authorised crude exports via Iraq’s State Oil Marketing
Organization this year of 400,000 barrels per day.

This target is well beyond Kurdistan’s current export capacity of
around 255,000 bpd. Kurdish ministers walked out of a federal cabinet
session on Wednesday in protest at the draft state 2014 budget,
which contains the target.

Industry sources do not expect Kurdistan’s oil exports to reach
400,000 bpd until the end of this year or early 2015, Reuters says.

Luaibi said preparations are under way to sue the Turkish government
for allowing Kurdistan to pump oil through the export pipeline without
the approval of Baghdad.

He called this “a clear violation of the agreement signed between the
two countries … governing the export of Iraqi oil through Turkey.”

“All companies…were notified not to deal with the (Kurdish) region
to buy any quantity of oil which is considered as smuggled,” he said.

Any firms which did so risked legal action and an Iraqi government
boycott.

“The Ministry of Oil will never deal with them at all,” he said,
according to Reuters.

Luaibi reiterated Baghdad’s stance that it has sole rights to manage
energy resources, saying this was vital to Iraq’s stability and that
any breach would have “dire ramifications”.

Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani had been due to visit Baghdad
for talks on the dispute, rooted in disagreement over how to exploit
Iraq’s vast oil resources and share the proceeds. It was not clear
whether his visit would go ahead.

Kurdistan used to export crude to Turkey through a pipeline
controlled by Baghdad, but stopped the flow a year ago after the
central government withheld payments to oil companies operating in
the northern enclave. Baghdad said it would not pay as the KRG had
not met its previous export target of 250,000 bpd.

Since then, the Kurds have been trucking smaller quantities of crude
to Turkey and collecting the revenues directly, while laying their
own pipeline, which was completed late last year.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that Kurdistan’s missed export
targets had cost Iraq $9 billion in lost revenue in recent years.

ESQUIRE: ARMENIA LEADS IN CHESS LITERACY IN THE WORLD, AND AZERBAIJAN BY SOFTWARE PIRACY LEVEL

21:17 17/01/2014 ” SOCIETY

American Esquire magazine found out what 150 countries have achieved
a global leadership in. In addition not in all cases we are talking
about leadership in a positive sense.

It turned out that Armenia is leading in chess literacy. Azerbaijan
is the first in the world in software piracy. Georgia has succeeded
in easy business registration sphere.

Turkey is in the first place in the world in gathering apricots.

Russia has achievements in gathering raspberries and in having
big number of nuclear warheads. The United States is the first in
the number of Nobel laureates and in the mortality rate caused by
lawnmowers.

Hong Kong is the first in the world in population IQ; Greece is the
first in the number of illegal migrants, Italy – in the big amount of
mobile phones. The greatest number of gorillas is detected in Congo;
Lithuania is leading by the amount of white storks. Kuwait leads in
high value of the national currency, and Vietnam – for its low prices.

ARMENIAN VILLAGE HEAD PROMISES TO RESTORE DESTROYED YEZIDI GRAVES

01.17.2014 16:24 epress.am

Andranik Petrosyan, head of the village of Myasnikyan of Armavir marz
(province), promised to restore the Yezidi cemetery once the weather
is warmer, representative of the Sinjar Yazidi National Union Boris
Tamoyan informed Epress.am. According to him, villagers, as well as
the entire Yazidi community,will be monitoring the situation so the
cemetery is restored.

Representatives of the organization a few days ago went to the village,
spoke with the villagers, and the son of the businessman, Seryozha
Grigoryan, who caused damage to the cemetery, and they saw the state
of the cemetery itself.

According to Tamoyan, the businessman’s family denies they destroyed
the cemetery. According to Grigoryan’s son, while reinstating the
vineyard, a few stone slabs were broken, but unintentionally. The
Grigoryans denied also that they’re relatives of Republican Party
of Armenia MP Hrant Grigoryan, a relation that villagers had earlier
claimed.

The 22 graves were destroyed 6 months ago, which Sinjar reported at
the start of this year.

ARMENIA PAYS MORE THAN OTHER CUSTOMS UNION MEMBER COUNTRIES FOR GAS

01.17.2014 12:07 epress.am

Gas is several times more expensive for citizens of the Republic of
Armenia than for the inhabitants of the other member countries of
the Customs Union, reports local daily Haykakan Zhamanak.

Residents of Russia pay $126 USD per 1000 cubic meters of gas; in
Belarus, the cost is $84 per 1000 cubic meters of gas; in Kazakhstan,
$69; and in Armenia, $380.

“Basically, it turns out that Armenia’s population pays 3 times as
much for gas than Russia; 4.5 times as much as Belarus, and 5.5 times
as much as Kazakhstan.

“That is, if you went to pay the gas bill and found that that you will
be paying, say, 60,000 AMD [about $150], recalculating this amount
according to Russia’s domestic prices, it would be 20,000 AMD [about
$50]; in Belarus, 13,000 AMD [about $32]; and in Kazakhstan, 11,000
AMD [about $27]. The cost of supplying gas to Armenia from Russia’s
largest gas fields, for example, Urengoy or Yamburg, is only 10-15%
higher than supplying the same gas to, say, Pskov or Krasnodar. The
resulting gas price might change by only 1-2%.

“As a result of Russian gas passing through the territory of Georgia,
the gas price increases only by 10%, not more. In other words, all
the calculations show that the objective price of gas sold to of
a member of the Customs Union, that is, the population of Armenia,
which forms part of the same area, cannot exceed $140-150, but now
we are paying $380,” reports the paper.

GEVORGYAN, GASPARIAN, SARGSYAN IN LEAD AT ARMENIAN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

15:32 17/01/2014 ” SPORT

Tigran Kotanjyan drew with Karen Grigoryan in the 5th round of Highest
League tournament of 74th Armenian Chess Championship in Yerevan. He
remains in the lead with 4 points. Karen Grigoryan, Avetik Grigoryan
and Arman Pashikian share 2nd-4th places.

Maria Gevorgyan, Narine Gasparian and Shushanna Sargsyan are in the
lead with 4 points each in the women’s tournament. Armine Babayan is
0.5 points behind them, according to armchess.am.

Men

Grigoryan Avetik – Babujian Levon 1-0 Hovhannisyan Robert – Petrosian
Tigran L. ½-½ Grigoryan Karen – Kotanjian Tigran ½-½ Melkumyan Hrant –
Andriasian Zaven 0-1 Pashikian Arman – Ter-Sahakyan Samvel 1-0

Standing Rk. Name Pts. TB1 1. Kotanjian Tigran 4 9.75 2. Grigoryan
Karen 3 8.25 3. Grigoryan Avetik 3 5.75 4. Pashikian Arman
3 5.5 5. Hovhannisyan Robert 2.5 6 6. Andriasian Zaven 2.5 5.5
7. Ter-Sahakyan Samvel 2 4.25 8. Petrosian Tigran L. 2 4 9. Melkumyan
Hrant 1.5 4.5 10. Babujian Levon 1.5 3.5

Women

Hairapetian Anna – Ghukasyan Siranush 0-1 Gevorgyan Anahit – Gasparian
Narine 0-1 Babayan Armine – Gevorgyan Maria ½-½ Gaboyan Susanna –
Mirzabekyan Svetlana 1-0 Sargsyan Shushanna – Ghambaryan Hasmik 1-0

Standing Rk. Name Pts. TB1 1. Gevorgyan Maria 4 11 2. Gasparian
Narine 4 7.5 3. Sargsyan Shushanna 4 6.5 4. Babayan Armine 3.5 5
5. Ghukasyan Siranush 3 8.5 6. Hairapetian Anna 2.5 3 7. Gaboyan
Susanna 2 1 8. Mirzabekyan Svetlana 1 1 9. Gevorgyan Anahit 1 0
10. Ghambaryan Hasmik 0 0

Source: Panorama.am

MINISTER PROPOSES RENAMING REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

January 17, 2014 | 13:50

YEREVAN. – Ruling Republican Party of Armenia Vice-Chairman, Education
and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan has suggested renaming the Republic
of Armenia.

“Public discussions have focused more on the changes in the
political and the governance systems of Armenia. But, in my view, the
constitutional reforms enable a very spectacular and an interesting
opportunity in foreign policy, too.

“Specifically, I propose to discuss the matter of renaming our state,
from the perspective of restoration of historical justice, possession
of the homeland, and claimancy.

“I believe it would be more correct to name the state, which is being
built on this part of the Armenian Plateau, the Republic of Eastern
Armenia. The Armenian Genocide’s 100th anniversary is drawing near.

“I will be grateful for the opinions,” the minister specifically
wrote on his Facebook account.

FRANCESCO GUIDOLIN MAY HEAD ARMENIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

Friday 17 January 2014 09:41
Photo: zimbio.com

Francesco Guidolin

Head coach of Italian Udinese Francesco Guidolin may lead the Armenian
national football team.

Chief Editor of Sport-express.ru Artur Petrosyan wrote on his Twitter
account that the Armenian Football Federation is holding negotiations
with the 58-year-old Italian specialist and the contract may be signed
within upcoming days.

Francesco Guidolin started his career in 1986 as the head coach of
Giorgione FC.

Over the following years, he worked with teams playing in Italian
Serie A – Udinese, Bologna, Palermo and Parma. In 2005-2006, he headed
French Monaco.

If the Armenian Football Federation reaches an agreement with Guidolin,
it will become his first practice as a chief coach of a national
football team.

REVUE DE PRESSE
Le Havre : hommage à Robert Guédiguian

Il termine une fantaisie marseillaise avec sa bande intitulée « Au fil
d’Ariane », avant de se lancer dans un deuxième film très sérieux sur
l’Arménie, le pays de ses parents. Mais ce week-end, le cinéma Le
Studio au Havre rend hommage à Robert Guédiguian qui sera présent ce
samedi soir pour une rencontre avec le public. Au bout du fil, le
réalisateur de « Marius et Jeannette », « Le promeneur du champ de
mars » et « L’Armée du crime », avec l’accent…

Quel est votre lien avec Le Havre et Christian Zarifian (disparu en
2012), fondateur du Studio ?

« Sur mon premier film en 1980, « Dernier été » qui était difficile à
faire, j’ai bénéficié de l’aide de la Maison de la culture du Havre
qui a coproduit. C’est là que j’ai rencontré Christian Zarifian et
Vincent Pinel. Le montage du film a été entièrement réalisé au Havre
où je venais toutes les semaines. Il y a donc des raisons affectives
pour cette visite. J’ai suivi le travail de Christian Zarifian en tant
que cinéaste engagé dans sa ville mais on n’a jamais vraiment parlé de
nos origines arméniennes communes. Nos rapprochements à l’époque du
communisme étaient idéologiques et politiques. Il a fait des
documentaires et moi, des fictions, mais qui toutes auraient pu être
des documentaires. J’en produis beaucoup. Truffaut disait : tout grand
film est un documentaire. »

Parmi les films diffusés au Havre, de la première époque marseillaise,
où vous étiez moins connu, lequel vous est le plus cher ?

« Je n’ai fait que des films que j’ai voulu faire… Quand je les
revois, je focalise sur les défauts, l’endroit où je me dis que ça
aurait pu être mieux. Cela dit dans chaque film il y a aussi une
séquence que j’aime beaucoup, c’est quelque chose de mystérieux, ce
moment que je revendique et que je juge très bien. Lors d’une
rétrospective, je n’interviens jamais sur le choix qui est fait. Là ce
sont des films moins connus : c’est intéressant pour le public qui a
vu les autres. »

Gardez-vous une certaine nostalgie de vos débuts ?

« C’était à la fois difficile de faire des films et en même temps il y
avait à chaque fois la satisfaction au tournage de se dire avec les
amis, on y est arrivé une fois encore… Depuis « Marius et Jeannette
» je ne connais plus du tout ce type de situation, dès l’écriture d’un
film, je sais qu’il ira à son terme. » Avez-vous eu l’occasion de
tourner au Havre ou dans la région ? « Non, vous savez il y a deux
ports en France qui ont servi de décor au cinéma c’est Marseille et Le
Havre et moi j’ai Marseille. Mais j’ai produit « 38 témoins » de Lucas
Belvaux. »

Sur quels projets travaillez-vous actuellement ?

« Le 18 juin va sortir « Au fil d’Ariane », un film tourné à Marseille
qui est une fantaisie, un rêve réjouissant et ludique avec ma bande
habituelle et puis aussi la nouvelle, celle des jeunes, avec Anaïs
Demoustier et Lola Naymark. Ensuite je vais préparer dès cet été un
nouveau film sur la cause arménienne depuis le génocide jusqu’aux
années 80. Ce sera une fiction qui sortira en avril 2015, date
anniversaire du génocide. »

Paris Normandie

samedi 18 janvier 2014,
Stéphane ©armenews.com