Author: Kajoyan Gevork

COMMISSION LETS CITY COUNCIL DECIDE ON LOCATION OF MONUMENT COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Pasadena Weekly, CA
Aug 8 2013

Monumental decision

By Andre Coleman 08/07/2013

Although the Pasadena Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously
voted to accept the design of a monument honoring victims of the
Armenian Genocide, it left the final decision of where the memorial
should be placed up to the City Council.

The commission backed off from making a decision after a handful of
local residents voiced opposition to putting the memorial – designed
by 26-year-old Art Center College of Design student Catherine Menard –
in Memorial Park, located on the northeastern edge of Old Pasadena.

Prior to the meeting, opponents of the plan met briefly with City
Manager Michael Beck to express their concerns.

The council is expected to take up the matter on Sept. 9.

“We received a couple of emails and comments,” said Beck, who appeared
not to be swayed by the arguments. “We did look at other parks.

Ultimately, from a staff perspective, we still think Memorial Park
is the best location, but we are taking one more look to see what
other locations might exist.”

In letters and during the public comment portion of last week’s
meeting, opponents said they were against using the park because it
has traditionally been used to honor American war veterans. Located on
the corner of North Raymond Avenue and Walnut Street, Memorial Park
contains tributes to local residents that lost their lives fighting
in the Civil War and Vietnam. The Vietnam War memorial was a project
started by Paparian, a former US Marine, while he was on the City
Council in the late 1990s. That memorial was first placed in Central
Park, south of Colorado Boulevard, between South Fair Oaks and Raymond
avenues, but was later reinstalled at Memorial Park.

The roughly five-acre park also contains the Levitt Pavilion
amphitheater, which attracts hundreds of people during the summer
when concerts are held there.

Paparian, who chairs of the Pasadena Genocide Memorial Committee
(PASAGMC), which commissioned Menard’s design, did not return phone
calls seeking comment for this story.

According to Parks and Recreation Commission Member Donabed Donabedian,
a quarter of the 16 people who spoke at the meeting opposed the use
of the Memorial Park. The remaining dozen speakers at the meeting
were for the idea.

One person against the plan was Old Pasadena businesswoman Debbie
Meymarian.

“My grandparents were all genocide survivors and I couldn’t be more
proud of my family or my heritage,” Meymarian wrote to the commission.

“However, I think that the placement of the proposed memorial in
Memorial Park is perhaps short-sited and misguided. All of the
commemorations in the park have to do with United States servicemen
and women. What is to keep another ethnic group in this city from
wanting a memorial to their ancestors in Memorial Park?

Where does it stop? Surely, there is a more appropriate place to
honor our ancestors.”

Emina Darakjy, a longtime resident and a member of the city’s Urban
Forestry Advisory Committee, also opposes using Memorial Park as a
location for the memorial. Darakjy’s husband’s grandparents escaped
to the United States after witnessing the murder of several family
members during the Armenian Genocide.

“I like the design,” Darakjy wrote in an email. “I think the monument
should be built. However, I do not think the monument should be
erected in a park that has become a sacred ground for memorials for
US servicemen and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending
our nation. Besides the Vietnam memorial and the Union soldier
commemorating the Civil War, the perimeter of the park has banners
honoring the Pasadena servicemen who lost their lives during the
Iraq War.”

Darakjy said another major concern is the size of the park, which
she said is too cramped.

“The site is too small for such a monument, which will draw thousands
of people every April 24, a day of remembrance for the Armenian
community, when stores and restaurants close,” stated Darakjy. “Are
we going to have to close down Walnut, Holly and Raymond streets
every April 24 to accommodate the crowds?”

The Armenian Genocide Memorial is expected to be unveiled April 24,
2015. The memorial’s circular design features a 16-foot-tall tripod
at its center. From the apex of the three beams will fall a single
drop of water every 21 seconds, totaling 1.5 million drops – tears –
a year for each of the victims of the government-sponsored atrocity,
considered the first genocide of the 20th century.

“We are certainly sensitive to the feeling that the park is not the
right location,” said former Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian,
a member of the PASAGMC. “But it is equally important to note we have
gone through the entire city process and the memorial fits the use of
what was intended for the park. We’re comfortable with that part of it
and a number of Armenian veterans, myself and Bill Paparian included,
are going to speak to why we think it is important to put it there. We
are memorializing one of the defining events in the 20th century.”

Since the US Census does not classify Armenian as a race and many
Armenians register as white, it is difficult to estimate how many
Armenians live in Pasadena. However, according to church membership
rolls, there are about 20,000 Armenian Americans living locally.

Neighboring Glendale has the highest percentage of residents of
Armenian descent in the United States. That city commemorates the
genocide every year on April 24 in front of City Hall with a resolution
acknowledging the Great Crime, which began in 1915 and ended in 1923,
killing 1.5 million Armenians, who had been hanged, poisoned, drowned
or marched into the desert to die at the hands of soldiers from the
Turkish Ottoman Empire. The Pasadena City Council has been issuing
an annual proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April
24 for more than 30 years.

Along with the Jewish Holocaust and the enslavement of African
Americans, it remains one of the darkest episodes in human history,
and one which the Turkish government denies to this day.

Turkish Deputy Consul General Arif Celik voiced his opposition to
the project on an Aug. 9 visit to Pasadena Deputy City Manager Julie
Gutierrez.

Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) renewed his longstanding calls
this year for the United States to formally acknowledge the genocide.

During the 2008 election, then-candidate Barack Obama promised that
he would recognize the genocide if elected, but later went back on
his word.

“I urge you to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide in your statement this
year, to call genocide genocide and to stand with the ever-dwindling
number of survivors, as well as the descendants of those who were lost,
and who must otherwise continue to suffer the indignity, injury and
pain of denial,” wrote Schiff in a letter to the president.

Meanwhile, members of the Armenian Community Coalition (ACC) an
alternative group led by former City Council candidate Chris Chahanian,
which broke off from the PASAGMC, presented the city with an update
on its separate plans for a memorial.

“It was a meet and greet,” said Pasadena Public Information Officer
William Boyer. “They wanted to update us with their plans. So far,
nothing has been submitted.”

* Due to incorrect information provided by a Park and Recreation
Commissioner, the Weekly reported that the commission voted against
placing the monument in Memorial Park. The commissioners suggested
that the city look for an alternative site, but voted to allow the
City Council to make the final decision.

WIPO PUBLISHES PATENT OF DIDIER GUILLONNET AND SUREN MARTIROSYAN FOR “ELECTRICALLY RECHARGEABLE METAL-AIR ALKALINE BATTERY AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAID BATTERY” (ARMENIAN INVENTOR)

US Fed News
August 6, 2013 Tuesday 4:35 PM EST

GENEVA

GENEVA, Aug. 6 — Publication No. WO/2013/110097 was published on Aug. 1.

Title of the invention: “ELECTRICALLY RECHARGEABLE METAL-AIR ALKALINE
BATTERY, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAID BATTERY.” Applicants:
Suren Martirosyan (AM) and Didier Guillonnet (FR). Inventors: Suren
Martirosyan (AM). According to the abstract* posted by the World
Intellectual Property Organization: “The invention concerns metal-air
battery cell for the use in electrically rechargeable batteries. More
particularly, the invention relates to battery cell with alkaline
aqueous electrolyte, comprising a first reversible electrode and an
air electrode forming a first galvanic cell, wherein said battery cell
comprises also a second reversible electrode (i) forming a second
galvanic cell with the first reversible metal electrode, and (ii)
acting as second cathode during discharging and anode during charging
of the said battery second galvanic cell, whereby the total specific
energy is increased, and dendrites formation are lowered.” The patent
was filed on Nov. 29, 2012 under Application No. PCT/AM2012/000006.

*For further information, including images, charts and tables,
please visit:

KEEPING TRACK OF “OTHER”S: SURVEILLANCE OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES FROM TURKEY TO THE U.S.

The Faculty Lounge
August 4, 2013 Sunday 2:37 PM EST

On my last day in Istanbul, I remembered that a colleague had asked
whether I could bring him back a copy of the Turkish newspaper, Å~^alom
(Turkish spelling for Shalom). To my knowledge, the weekly Å~^alom
is one of two regularly published Ladino publications in the world,
along with the monthly El Amaneser, also published in Istanbul. I was
also looking for a copy of Agos, the Armenian-Turkish weekly. Because
Jewish and Armenian communities are primarily centered in a few larger
cities, I knew that my best chance of finding print copies of these
papers would be in Istanbul. After visiting a few newsstands and
bookstores, I learnt that it was not easy to find either paper even
in the heart of Istanbul, and was told by a bookstore owner that both
papers operated primarily through individual subscribership. I finally
found the papers in a small bookstore with a newsstand, complete
with papers in various other languages, primarily from Europe. When
I told the shopkeeper that I had a hard time finding the newspapers,
he told me, “You’re lucky. Today is the first day they came in!”

The previous day, the Turkish daily Radikal reported that the Turkish
government is categorizing its non-Muslim citizens by a numbers system:
1 for Greeks, 2 for Armenians, 3 for Jews, 4 for Assyrian Christians,
and 5 for all other non-Muslims. It remains unclear for how long this
system has been in effect. The categorization came to light when
an Armenian woman who was raised as Muslim decided to reclaim her
Armenian identity. She was baptized, converted to Christianity, and
in an effort to assure her child would grow up aware of her Armenian
identity, wanted to enroll her child in an Armenian pre-school. Her
husband did not change the official records indicating his religion
as Islam. As a result, the Armenian school asked the mother to
obtain official records proving she is Armenian, since to enroll in
a minority school in Turkey, the child’s parent must prove that she
is indeed of that minority. The school official’s letter requesting
proof of Armenian identity explicitly stated that Armenian citizens
were categorized as category 2, and he needed proof that the mother’s
“family or descent code” was 2.

The school official’s letter written in the most matter-of-fact tone
has caused much discussion in the last few days. Government officials
have tried to downplay the significance of the categorization saying
that it is a mere administrative tool to ensure that religious
minorities’ rights are fulfilled while others have argued that the
practice violates the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, which ended the
war between the Turkish Republic and the occupying powers at the end
of World War I. Articles 37 through 45 of Part I Section III of the
Treaty sets out the rights of religious minorities in Turkey. When
the first 3 categories of the ancestral coding system were revealed,
the government’s initial response was that the numbers merely helped
fulfill the mandates of Section III, by ensuring that the students
going to minority schools indeed belonged to the respective minority
community. However, since the information about categories 4 for
Assyrians and 5 for all other non-Muslims has come to light, the
government’s explanation no longer makes sense because Assyrians (or
other non-Muslims who would fall under category 5) do not have schools
for which such “administrative convenience” would be necessary. It
remains unclear whether the practice has been in place since the
founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 (which the government claim
of administrative efficiency might imply) or if it is a more recent
surveillance method. It is also unclear whether it is only religious
minorities whose ancestry is “coded” or if there are other codes for
ethnic and linguistic minorities and perhaps even political outsiders
such as communists.

As I expressed in my previous post, vulnerability exists in every
society and some communities are particularly vulnerable in the face
of State practices, including facially neutral laws. Reading about
Turkish government’s ancestral coding system and talking to friends and
family about it, I cannot refrain from drawing parallels between this
appalling practice and the kind of invasive and still mostly-unknown
surveillance of Muslim communities in the U.S.- from the placement
of undercover agents in mosques trying to convince innocent Muslims
to participate in violent plots to collection of private data by
the government. (On surveillance in mosques and profiling in Muslim
communities see here and here, and on reactions to the reported end
to surveillance in the mosques after 2011, see here).

Religious identity as a basis of vulnerability is nothing new. From
Native Americans to Jews, Mormons and Quakers, many before Muslims have
known religious persecution in the U.S. When compared to its Western
European counterparts, the Ottoman Empire may have been a relatively
gentler place with its millet system, but it was still not a land of
egalitarianism for religious minorities. Thus, the current problematic
and appalling ancestral coding system should not be a surprise to any
of us familiar with world histories, though the attendant nausea is
hard to hold back. From an unwitting school official in Turkey to
courageous individuals like Bradley Manning imprisoned and Edward
Snowden forced into self-exile, one cannot help but hope that the
unearthing of government surveillance of private citizens will continue
across the globe. Despite the disappointing and infuriating outcome of
the Manning case and the forced exile of Snowden, it is important that
we know through which means our governments continue to monitor our
private lives, our bodies and our beliefs. With increasing intrusive
technologies including drones over our backyards, computerized census
records, and the monitoring of our e-mails and cellular phones,
Turkey and the U.S. have outdone even the worst examples of Michel
Foucault’s surveillance society where the State constantly watches,
surveys, orders and disciplines its citizens.

POLITICAL SCIENTIST NOTICES HARSHNESS IN IRANIAN POLICY TOWARDS ARMENIA

18:17, 8 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, ARMENPRESS: The statement of Iranian side according
to which Karabakh conflict has second project of settlement is
contrary to Minsk Group position that there is only one project –
Madrid Principles. Such opinion expressed political scientist Sergey
Shakaryanc during press conference on August 8.

In his words realizing that Serzh Sargsyan will take part in
inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Iranian ambassador spoke
about second project of conflict settlement. From the other side
“Azerbaijani ambassador in Tehran announced that Azerbaijan and Iran
develop new projects for opening road from Horadiz. And the existence
of “second Iranian project” proves that Karabkh conflict has been
discussed in high levels and Armenian President needs to know about
it in Iran,” said Shakaryanc, reports “Armenpress”. He is sure that
newly elected Iranian President will hold tougher policy than the
former president.

Speaking about Armenia-Iran relations after pre-signing of Association
agreement between Armenia and European Union he mentioned that EU
can demand from Armenia to implement antiIranian steps which concerns
Iran. “Iran shows signs of activation in political field.

Its new tough policy towards Western world has the aim to show t
international society that the hypothesis that he is pro-Western
politician does not correspond to reality. Armenia sometimes
forgets that besides Russia and Western World there is already
Iran. If Armenian President does not answer Iranian statements than
it is possible that Iran will reviews several economic projects with
Armenia,” said Shakaryanc. In his opinion Iran has concerns that after
signing Association agreement ties with Armenia will be suspended.

In framework of working visit to Islamic Republic of Iran President
Serzh Sargsyan on August 5 held a meeting in Tehran with newly
elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. They discussed issues
relating to bilateral and multilateral relations. The interlocutors
also reverberated to regional issues particularly to current situation
of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict negotiation process.

ASSEMBLY REITERATES CONCERNS OVER AZERBAIJAN’S INCREASED WAR-RHETORIC

August 8, 2013 – 10:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Upon the appointment of Ambassador James Warlick
to serve as the next U.S. Co-Chair of the Organization for Security
& Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group for the Nagorno Karabakh
peace process, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) reiterates
its concerns with respect to Azerbaijan’s increased war-rhetoric,
ongoing militarization and continued ceasefire violations.

“The Armenian Assembly hopes Ambassador Warlick and his OSCE Co-Chair
counterparts will reintegrate the democratically elected government
of Nagorno Karabakh into the peace negotiations. Only with their
participation and the support of the citizens of Karabakh, who
valiantly defended their homeland, can a lasting peace be achieved,”
said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his confidence in Ambassador
Warlick, calling him a “first-rate diplomat,” when he announced the
appointment. Secretary Kerry also reiterated that the “United States
remains firmly committed to helping the sides reach a lasting and
peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.”

In 1991, Azerbaijan launched a war against the Armenian people of
Nagorno Karabakh. A Russian brokered cease-fire agreement was signed
in 1994 ending the hostilities; however, no peace agreement was ever
realized. For almost 20 years, the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the
United States, Russia and France, has sought a peaceful resolution to
the conflict. In recent years, cease-fire violations along the line of
contact have increased exponentially. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has begun
stockpiling massive offensive military armaments to the tune of over
$6 billion dollars between Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012. Last month,
it was reported that Azerbaijan begun receiving another $1 billion
dollar arms package from Russia, whereas the United States Congress
is in the process of providing an additional $3.3 million dollars to
Azerbaijan’s military. The Armenian Assembly raised these concerns,
among others, in testimony submitted last month to the Commission on
Security & Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) briefing
entitled “Troubled Partner: Growing Authoritarianism in Azerbaijan.”

Warlick recently served as Deputy Special Representative for
Afghanistan and Pakistan and lead negotiator for the Bilateral Security
Agreement with Afghanistan. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria
from 2009-2012, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in
the Bureau of International Organization Affairs from 2006 to 2009,
and Director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs
from 2005 to 2006.

CONSCRIPTS, WATCH OUT!

Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree on extending the term of military
service of the chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia.

His term has been extended from 30 July 2013 to 1 January 2017.

So, Yuri Khachaturov will not retire and will continue to hold this
key position of the army for another four years. And it means that the
Armenian army will remain stuck in the bog of Russian and criminal
relations where murders and suicides occur with a cruel and tragic
regularity and in this context Yuri Khachaturov who is responsible
for direct management of the army will continue to successfully avoid
responsibility for inefficient governance.

To say that Khachaturov is the cause of the plight in the army and
if he leaves they will be eliminated immediately will be wrong but
judging by the past term, it is hard to believe that there will be
changes if he stays.

10:56 08/08/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

L’OPPOSITION CONTESTE LES DECISIONS PRISES PAR LE MAIRE D’EREVAN

Armenie

Au conseil municipal d’Erevan, un parti de l’opposition a conteste
les mesures prises par le maire Taron Markarian concernant la hausse
des tarifs des transports publics.

Le parti Barev Erevan affilie au parti Zharangutyun de Raffi
Hovannisian a depose plainte demandant au tribunal de declarer
illegales les directives donnees par le maire. L’augmentation du
coût des transports en commun a declenche des manifestations le mois
dernier qui ont force Markarian a mettre en suspens ces mesures
impopulaires. La municipalite doit reexaminer la question. Stepan
Safarian, un membre de l’opposition, a affirme que les decisions de
Markarian contenaient d’innombrables ” erreurs ” que lui-meme et un
autre conseiller, Anahit Bakhshian, jugent contestables. Safarian
a egalement declare que l’augmentation des tarifs a commence a etre
appliquee plusieurs jours avant d’etre rendu publique.” Ceci, a-t-il
dit, constitue une violation grave de la loi armenienne. ”

Le bureau du maire n’a pas reagi a cette poursuite.

jeudi 8 août 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

AZERBAIJAN ABLE TO LIBERATE ITS TERRITORIES BY ANY MEANS – TOP OFFICIAL

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Aug 7 2013

7 August 2013, 10:14 (GMT+05:00)

Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister, chairman of the State Committee
on Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov met vice-president of the Iranian
Red Crescent Society for health, treatment and rehabilitation Afshin
Alikhani on August 6, AzerTag state news agency reported.

They discussed prospects for development of bilateral relations
between Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Hasanov hailed expansion of religious, historic and cultural relations
between the two countries.

He said the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran
implements various humanitarian projects in Azerbaijan.

Hasanov has also briefed Afshin Alikhani on the history of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as work done in
the country towards settlement of social problems of refugees and IDPs.

He noted as a result of Armenia`s military aggression, Azerbaijan
has lost 20% of its territories, including the Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven surrounding regions, and more than million Azerbaijanis became
refugees and IDPs.

“Today Azerbaijan is able to liberate its territories by any means,”
he added.

The Committee chairman also spoke of work done by President Ilham
Aliyev and international organizations to improve social and living
conditions of refugees and IDPs.

“82 modern settlements have been laid for refugees and IDPs. 160.000
refugees and IDPs have been accommodated in these settlements. These
works are intensively continuing,” he said, noting that President
Ilham Aliyev has determined the strategic directions of the country
until 2020. “The Development Concept “Azerbaijan 2020: A Look into the
Future” intends liquidation of poverty, pulling down the dependence of
economy from oil, carrying out protection of human rights in Azerbaijan
to international standards, maximum strengthening of combat against
corruption and other issues.”

Hasanov noted Azerbaijan, which has more than a million refugees now
is in a period of development, as well as hosts international events
and forums. Azerbaijan became a tolerant country in the world.

There is a tolerant approach between the representatives of various
nations and religions living in Azerbaijan.

Alikhani, in turn, hailed existing relations between the two countries.

He said Iran was very glad with Azerbaijan`s achievements.

The Iranian delegation was presented with video CDs and books
reflecting ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis in Armenia
and hard results of occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian
armed forces.

The Iranian delegation, then, visited hostel of the Baku College of
management and technology. They met with refugees from Aghdam region,
members of martyr`s family Zumrud Guliyeva and Gandab Samadova. The
refugees said they always wish to return their homeland.

The delegation, led by Afshin Alikhani has also visited new block
for 1440 refugee families laid at the Mushfigabad settlement of the
Garadagh region.

Here, they have visited refugee from Aghdam region Nazila Taghiyeva`s
apartment. Taghiyeva expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani President
for created condition for them.

The Iranian delegation has also visited secondary school of Aghdam
region. They were informed that the 1300-man school was equipped with
modern educational technologies.

The delegation hailed work done in Azerbaijan to improve living
conditions of refugees and IDPs.

THE KREMLIN TRIES CHARM TO COUNTER EU

Carnegie Europe
Aug 7 2013

Judy Dempsey Op-Ed August 5, 2013 New York Times

When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia visited Ukraine last month,
he said the historical ties between both countries mattered as much
today as they had in the past.

“Our forebears lived for centuries together, worked together, defended
their common homeland and made it strong, great and invincible,” Mr.

Putin told Russian and Ukrainian naval forces in the port of
Sevastopol. “Our blood and spiritual ties are unbreakable.”

He suggested that the armed forces of both countries be integrated.

Ukraine’s president, Viktor F. Yanukovich, was less than noncommittal.

He said there was scope for cooperating in modernizing the armed
forces.

Mr. Putin’s comments reflect ever more urgent attempts to woo Ukraine
into Russia’s Common Economic Space, an economic bloc that Belarus
and Kazakhstan have already joined and that Russia uses to consolidate
its influence in the region.

These attempts come at a time of intense competition between Russia
and the European Union for influence over the new Eastern Europe,
analysts say, including Belarus and Ukraine as well as Moldova,
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

These countries belong to the European Union’s Eastern Partnership,
known as the EaP, whose goal is to integrate them within the bloc
through democratization and free market economies. In return, the
European Union will expand trade, liberalize the visa systems and
give financial assistance.

Russia, however, opposes these countries’ moving closer to the
European Union. “Moscow clearly fears losing influence over this
region. But is the EaP so great that it can counter the pull of the
Kremlin?” said Eugeniusz Smolar, a regional expert at the Polish
Institute of International Affairs in Warsaw.

So far, the Eastern Partnership’s record concerning political and
economic liberalization has been mixed. Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine
and Armenia are partly democratic, while Belarus and Azerbaijan are
authoritarian, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“The Eastern Partnership has turned out to be a predominately
bureaucratic instrument with limited political significance,” said
Rafal Sadowski, an Eastern Partnership expert at the Center for Eastern
Studies in Warsaw. “This shows the limits of the E.U.’s ability to
influence its eastern neighborhood,” he added in a new report.

Despite that, Lithuania, which last month took over the European
Union’s rotating presidency, is doing everything possible to draw these
countries closer to Europe. Vilnius has invited the six countries to
an Eastern Partnership summit meeting next November.

For Lithuania, and its neighbor Poland, which has pushed hard for
a closer relationship between the European Union and the Eastern
Partnership countries, the crowning moment of the summit meeting would
be the signing of an association agreement between the European Union
and Ukraine, the Eastern Partnership’s biggest member.

Such an agreement would bring economic and political advantages to both
sides. It would also encourage Ukraine’s reformers and pro-Western
political movements to pursue the modernization of its economy and
strengthen the rule of law.

The association agreement with Ukraine is “not just technical
negotiations with just another partner; it is a geopolitical process,”
said Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas A. Linkevicius.

The European Union and Ukraine initialed the agreement more than a
year ago, but it has not been signed. Ukraine still has to introduce
more reforms.

The German government has been the most vocal in insisting that
Ukraine release from prison the former prime minister Yulia V.

Tymoshenko, who is ill. She was sentenced in 2011 for abuse of office.

On a visit to Ukraine last June, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of
Germany said that Ms. Tymoshenko had not been given a fair trial. He
offered to transfer her to Germany for medical help.

“Mrs. Tymoshenko, in our opinion, has the right to a fair trial and
appropriate medical assistance,” Mr. Westerwelle said. Germany was
expected to veto signing the association agreement unless Ukraine
introduced reforms that included dealing fairly with political
detainees like Ms. Tymoshenko.

Mr. Yanukovich’s failure to resolve Ms. Tymoshenko’s status is not
the only sticking point between the European Union and Ukraine. The
other is Ukraine’s lack of commitment.

Over the past several years, Mr. Yanukovich has repeatedly played
the European Union and Russia against each other in order to extract
concessions from both: better trade access in the case of the European
Union; and access to cheaper energy from Russia.

Ukrainian public opinion by a small margin supports the country
moving closer to the European Union. A survey carried out last May
by the International Republican Institute, an American nonprofit,
nonpartisan organization that promotes democracy, showed that 40
percent of Ukrainian respondents wanted an “international economic
union” with the European Union, while 37 percent favored Russia’s
Customs Union.

With such a divide, Mr. Yanukovich will have to weigh the political
costs of taking a stance before 2015, when the next presidential
elections are planned.

Ukraine’s decision – and what happens politically and economically to
the other Eastern Partnership countries – matters to Europe. It is not
just about countering Russia’s influence. It is about whether these
countries are prepared to embrace democracy, which Russia has little
interest in. Mr. Smolar says the European Union’s offer of better
trade access and closer political contacts is helpful, but not enough.

During the 1990s, the countries of Eastern Europe were motivated to
introduce reforms because they had the prospect of E.U. membership.

That was the most important catalyst for reform. Eastern Partnership
countries, however, are denied that promise.

Because of that, many of the region’s elites and oligarchs see no
need for reform, and reformers are frustrated, said Mr. Sadowski of
the Center for Eastern Studies. In the competition over the Eastern
Partnership countries, that could benefit Russia. It could also lead
to instability if the European Union allowed the new Eastern Europe
to drift.

This article was originally published in the New York Times.

ARMENIANS PREPARE FOR GRAPE BLESSING

KSEE, Fresno
Aug 7 2013

By KSEE News

August 6, 2013Updated Aug 6, 2013 at 10:07 PM PDT

The Blessing of the Grapes is a traditional and meaningful ceremony
for the Armenian Community worldwide. Locally, at the Holy Trinity
Armenian Apostolic Church in Fresno, it is a service that has been
performed for 100 years! The grape blessing will be held Sunday,
August 11th and will be followed by an outdoor picnic with music,
food, and fun. Everyone is invited to attend.