Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Prosperous Armenia bills failed in parliament, says MP

21:15 – 04.07.13

The latest session of Armenia’s National Assembly saw all the legal
proposals tabled by the Prosperous Armenia members torpedoed, a
lawmaker has said.

Speaking to Tert.am, the secretary of the PAP faction in parliament,
Naira Zohrabyan, noted that the drafts proposed were the initiatives
which the party had fixed in its 2012 pre-election platform as
priorities.

`They were predominantly aimed at relieving the burden for small and
medium enterprises. They focused on the problems of taxi drivers and
dentists and proposed measures for lifting the income tax, license
payments and the value added tax on fiction,’ she said.

Zohrabyan complained that none of the bills received the cabinet’s
approval to be later discussed by the legislative.

`If the government issues a negative conclusion, the parliamentary
majority follows suit, voting against [a proposal to] include our
bills into the the agenda,’ she said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

===============================================
Thursday 4 July 2013
GEORGIA: WILL POLICE PROTECT MUSLIM PRAYERS FROM MOBS?

Since late May, mobs of non-Muslims have obstructed Muslims in the eastern
Georgian village of Samtatskaro from praying freely, human rights defenders
have told Forum 18 News Service. The mob threatened to burn down the imam’s
home and drive him from the village. Guliko Nadirashvili, head of the
village, “mentioned publicly that if the majority decides that there must
not be a mosque in the village, that this is Christian land and the whole
village is against Muslims’ prayer, we won’t allow them to pray,” a human
rights defender told Forum 18. Nadirashvili claimed to Forum 18 that
Muslims have “no problems praying”. The local police chief refused to
discuss the violence and threats with Forum 18 and the Interior Ministry in
the capital Tbilisi was unable to say if anyone has been prosecuted over
this and two similar mob attacks on Muslims in late 2012.

GEORGIA: WILL POLICE PROTECT MUSLIM PRAYERS FROM MOBS?

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

Police and local authorities in the eastern Georgian village of Samtatskaro
have failed to defend the rights of local Muslims to meet for prayer
together in the face of mob violence and threats, human rights defenders
and local Muslims have complained to Forum 18 News Service. However, the
head of the village dismissed any complaints. “Christians and Muslims have
the right to pray here,” Guliko Nadirashvili, head of the village, claimed
to Forum 18 on 2 July. “The imam has no problems here.”

The local police chief refused to discuss the violence and threats with
Forum 18 and the Interior Ministry in the capital Tbilisi was unable to say
if anyone has been prosecuted over this and two similar mob attacks on
Muslims in late 2012.

One human rights defender, who visited Samtatskaro in mid-June after the
problems for the Muslims began, dismissed Nadirashvili’s remarks as
“ridiculous”. “Together with other protesters, she has given many
interviews and mentioned publicly that if the majority decides that there
must not be a mosque in the village, that this is Christian land and the
whole village is against Muslims’ prayer, we won’t allow them to pray,” the
human rights defender pointed out to Forum 18. “She was leading the
population against the Muslims, blocking the entrance to the village and to
the prayer house.”

One of the imam’s sons, Ednar Khozrevanidze, told Kavkazsky Uzel news
website on 1 July that about 40 Muslims used to meet regularly for Friday
prayers in the village, but most had stopped coming in the last few months
out of fear.

“State has a positive obligation”

Georgia’s Public Defender (Ombudperson) Ucha Nanuashvili has repeatedly
condemned the violence and threats of violence against Samtatskaro’s Muslim
community, and called for police to protect the community adequately. “The
state has a positive obligation to ensure the effective realization of
freedom of religion,” he pointed out in a 7 June statement. “The above
obligation is especially important for religious minorities.”

Nanuashvili went further in a 3 July statement, calling for disciplinary
action to be considered against village head Nadirashvili and criminal
prosecution of those who attacked or made threats against the Muslim
community.

The problems for Samtatskaro’s Muslim community – which began in May –
follow several similar instances of mob attacks on Muslim prayers in the
past year (see below).

Any prosecutions?

Human rights defenders told Forum 18 that no one has been prosecuted over
the attacks on Muslims in the three villages since October 2012.

However, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry (which oversees the
police) in Tbilisi insisted to Forum 18 on 3 July that “our Ministry is
doing much about this issue”. She was unable to say what the Ministry was
doing and asked for Forum 18 to send its questions in writing.

Forum 18 wrote on the morning of 3 July to ask how many people had been
brought to court and punished after the three sets of incidents. Forum 18
asked for the dates of any convictions, the name of the court, the article
of the administrative or criminal code they were prosecuted under and the
penalties the courts handed down. Forum 18 also asked what measures the
police had taken in the three villages to protect the rights of local
Muslims to gather for worship without fear of attack.

Despite repeated promises from Interior Ministry spokespersons during 3 and
4 July, at the end of the working day in Tbilisi on 4 July a spokesperson
told Forum 18 that “in one day it is not easy to provide all the
information you need”. The spokesperson promised to provide the information
in the following days.

Past violence

Georgia was plagued by physical attacks on non-Georgian Orthodox
communities between 1996 and 2003. Mobs inflicted physical injuries on
followers of a variety of faiths suffered, destroyed places of worship and
stole and burnt religious literature. Most of the victims were Jehovah’s
Witnesses, but Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals and True Orthodox
Christians were also attacked. The violence subsided with the ousting of
then President Eduard Shevardnadze, but few of the perpetrators were ever
brought to justice (see F18News 10 November 2006
).

More recently, Georgian Orthodox clergy and laypeople have used violence
against other groups they dislike, including at a 17 May gay rights street
demonstration in Tbilisi.

Non-Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate communities still face extra-legal
restrictions and pressure from Patriarchate representatives and Georgian
Orthodox laypeople.

Although the Armenian Apostolic Church has not faced recent attacks, some
of its historical churches confiscated during the Soviet period – including
Norashen and Surb Nshan in Tbilisi – “have not been returned to their
historical legitimate owner, which is the Armenian Diocese in Georgia”,
Levon Isakhanyan, adviser to the bishop and head of the diocesan legal
department, told Forum 18 from Tbilisi on 4 July.

Catholics too have failed to regain churches confiscated in the Soviet
period and handed to the Georgian Orthodox in the 1990s.

Isakhanyan added that only the Georgian Orthodox Church receives state
funding which, he points out, comes from taxpayers of a wide variety of
faiths and none.

Villagers protest against Muslims exercising religious freedom

Samtatskaro is a village of Dedoplistskaro Municipality in eastern Georgia,
on the border with Azerbaijan. Unlike other Muslims in eastern Georgia, who
are mainly ethnic Azeris, Samtatskaro’s Muslims are ethnic Georgians who
migrated from Adjara in western Georgia in the late 1970s.

Georgia’s Muslim Administration bought the community a house to use for
worship in early 2013. The appearance of the house was not changed to make
it look more like a mosque. However, the villagers still protested against
the Muslim community buying the house, Public Defender Nanuashvili
complained in a 7 June statement. “The Orthodox population of the village
protest [against] the exercise of freedom of religion by Muslims.”

Mob violence

Only 13 of Samtatskaro’s Muslims – Imam Suliko Khozrevanidze’s family and a
few guests – held Friday prayers on 28 June. Later that day about 200 local
residents who are not Muslims gathered in protest outside the imam’s home.

The crowd called on Imam Khozrevanidze to come out and threatened him. The
mob threatened to burn down the imam’s home and drive him from the village.
His wife Emine Surmanidze was injured on the leg, though she is not sure
whether she was kicked deliberately or not. “It was turmoil,” she told
Kavkazsky Uzel.

While the mob was protesting outside Khozrevanidze’s home, Public Defender
Nanuashvili warned that “the village is rather tense and there is a threat
of physical violence”. He publicly called on the Interior Minister Irakli
Gharibashvili “to take immediate, effective measures” to defend
Samtatskaro’s Muslims. He called for police to be mobilised to defend the
community.

“No problems praying”?

Nadirashvili, the head of Samtatskaro village administration, insisted to
Forum 18 that Muslims in the village have “no problems praying” and that no
one has interfered in their prayers. Asked if the village’s Muslims are
afraid following repeated attacks since 24 May, Nadirashvili responded: “I
don’t know if they’re afraid.” She then put the phone down.

Forum 18 tried to find out what action the police had taken to protect the
right to freedom of religion or belief of Samtatskaro’s Muslim community,
and whether any of those who attacked and threatened the community are to
face prosecution. However, reached on 2 July, Georgi Bubunashvili, head of
Dedoplistskaro Municipality Police, refused absolutely to discuss anything.
He referred Forum 18 to the Interior Ministry press office in Tbilisi.

Latest violence follows earlier violence

Trouble began for Samtatskaro’s Muslim community on Friday 24 May, Tariel
Nakaidze of the Georgian Union of Muslims told Forum 18 from Batumi on 2
July. Nadirashvili, the head of the village, and other non-Muslim villagers
went to the mosque and prevented the Muslims from holding Friday prayers.
“Prayer rugs and holy books were thrown out of their mosque”, complained
the Council of Religions attached to the Public Defender’s Office – a body
uniting Protestant, Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Jewish, Yezidi and Muslim
representatives.

Meetings for worship were similarly prevented on Friday 31 May and Friday 7
June. On 31 May, mobs did not allow the regional Muslim leader Jemal Adadze
and those accompanying him into Samtatskaro, threatening them with “bad
things” if they did. On 7 June, Imam Khozrevanidze was questioned by
police.

“We trust the local administration”

Non-Muslim villagers did allow Muslim Friday prayers to take place on 14
June, which were also attended by Georgia’s Reintegration Minister Paata
Zakareishvili. He claimed in a statement on the Ministry website that the
local administration and the Muslims had agreed that no further problems
would arise. “We trust the local administration,” the statement quoted him
as declaring.

State fails to protect victims and prosecute offenders

Tbilisi-based Georgian Democracy Initiative condemned the 28 June mob
attack in a statement the following day. “We believe that the actions of
the persons who took part in yesterday’s incident contained the signs of a
number of crimes punishable by the Georgian legislation, including threat
(Article 151 of the Criminal Code) and hooliganism (Article 239 of the
Criminal Code), which were motivated by religious affiliation.”

“The failure of the state to take adequate measures against the offenders
who were involved in the previous conflict situations has further
encouraged the part of the population that are aggressive towards the local
Muslims,” Georgian Democracy Initiative warned. “Such actions by the
population have been encouraged by the statements of the officials of the
local self-government body who justified the violation of the minority
rights by the will of the majority and democracy as a form of the majority
rule.”

Death threats by military police

Muslims have also faced other threats of violence from state officials. On
14 April, three drunk military police officers verbally assaulted
inhabitants of the village of Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti, and fired several
shots. They stopped cars, searched individuals, calling them “Tatars”, and
demanded that they show the Georgian Orthodox cross round their necks.

The Defence Ministry sacked the officers, while the Head of Senaki Military
Police Division was also dismissed, press reports said.

On 18 April, the Prosecutor’s Office said two individuals had been
arrested. According to the Prosecutor’s Office a third individual did not
appear before investigative bodies. The investigation was launched under
Criminal Code Articles 239, Parts 2a and 3 and Article 333, Parts 3b and
3c.

Public Defender Nanuashvili condemned the attacks on 19 April, describing
the military police officers’ behaviour as “unacceptable”. He welcomed the
“timely response of law enforcement bodies”. He pointed out that under
Criminal Code Article 53, responsibility should be increased if religious
intolerance is perceived as the basis of committing the crime. Article 156
(persecution on the basis of one’s confession, faith or belief) should also
be applied, he added

“The objective and adequate investigation of this case is essential for
preventing religious intolerance,” Nanuashvili declared.

Mob attacks during 2012 in other villages

The threats to Samtatskaro’s Muslim community followed similar threats
during 2012 in other villages. On 26 October and 2 November 2012,
non-Muslim residents of the village of Nigvziani in Lanchkhuti
Municipality, near Samtredia in western Georgia, demanded that Muslims stop
gathering for prayers in a private house owned by Archil Kakhadze.

Local Muslims, who moved to Nigvziani from Adjara in 1989, had earlier
travelled to a mosque in Batumi, but began praying in their village in
2011.

The mob warned the Muslims that if they did not stop they would be killed
and their mosque would be burnt down. Muslim children were also threatened,
human rights defenders told Forum 18. They added that Georgian Orthodox
priests incited the population against the Muslims.

On 2 November 2012, non-Muslim villagers blocked the road to prevent
Georgia’s Chief Mufti Jemal Paksadze from joining Nigvziani’s Muslims for
Friday prayers. Neither police forces nor law enforcement bodies intervened
to prevent public disorder and numerous criminal actions, human rights
defenders complained to Forum 18. Nor did they protect the right of Muslims
to freedom of movement. Police or other security forces did not detain a
single offender participating in these events, despite the questioning of
about ten villagers at the urging of representatives of Public Defender
Nanuashvili.

“We gave them [local Muslims] one week to decide what to do,” Georgian
Orthodox deacon Saba Jgenti told Kavkazsky Uzel on 3 November 2012. “We
told them that local people will not allow minarets and mass prayers in
this village.”

The situation later calmed down after representatives of the Georgian
Orthodox Patriarchate and the mufti met in the Patriarchate in Tbilisi. No
obstruction or threats occurred as the community gathered again for Friday
prayers on 9 November 2012. However, local non-Muslims remain aggressive
towards the Muslims and insist they will not allow Muslims from outside the
village to join their fellow-Muslims for prayers, human rights defenders
complain. They also continue to oppose the building of a new mosque in the
village.

“State officials made very vague statements about these events, stating
that the interests of both sides must be taken into account and protected,”
one human rights defender lamented to Forum 18. “Officials said that in the
first place the two religious groups (Muslims and Orthodox Church) should
come to terms and only after that in case of need the law enforcement
agencies might intervene. Such a response by state and law enforcement
officials was inadequate.”

On 29 November 2012, similar threats against a local imam occurred in
another village, Tsintskaro in Tetritskaro Municipality south-west of
Tbilisi. Part of the local Orthodox population protested against the
exercise of religious freedom by the Muslim population. They confronted the
imam, Marad Gorjomelidze, assaulted him verbally and threatened that unless
he stopped the prayer, they would burn down his house and expel him from
the village. “Unfortunately the State’s response was again inappropriate,”
human rights defenders lamented to Forum 18.

However, police did prevent a mob from interrupting Muslim prayers in
Tsintskaro on 30 November 2012. (END)

Previous reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Georgia
can be found at
.

A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at
.

A printer-friendly map of Georgia is available at
.

All Forum 18 News Service material may be referred to, quoted from, or
republished in full, if Forum 18 is credited as the
source.

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.

WELCOMING WORD BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN IN THE PAN-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON “THE EUROPEAN STANDARDS ON THE RULE OF LAW AND THE SCOPE OF DISCRETION OF POWERS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE”

03.07.2013

Dear Mr. Dean Spielmann, President of the European Court of Human Rights,

Dear Mr. Gianni Buquicchio , President of the Venice Commission,

Distinguished Chairmen of Constitutional courts,

Dear participants of the conference,

Ladies and gentlemen,

May I welcome you in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

We are very happy to host the Pan-European conference on “The European
Legal Standards of Rule of Law and the Scope of Discretion of Powers
in the Member States of the Council of Europe ” in the Armenian
parliament, in Yerevan.

Holding of this event is symbolic not only in the sense that it is
taking place in the frames of the Armenian chairmanship of the
Committee of Ministers, but also attests to Armenia’s commitment to
European values and readiness to closely integrate in the big European
family.

Dear Friends,

As you might be aware, in two days Armenia will be celebrating
Constitution Day. I would like to seize this opportunity and
congratulate us all on the upcoming national event. Being a young
democracy, Armenia has rich traditions of constitutional principles –
with a successful combination of legal norms and our national value
system. In particular, this year we mark the 240th anniversary of the
18th century outstanding Armenian public figure Shahamir Shahamirian’s
work “Vorogayt Parats” (Snare of Glory). This work, published in 1773
in Madras, India, actually defined the model of a contemporary
democracy and, in fact, presented itself a constitution, inter alia,
with a rather advanced European mentality.

Dear Friends, ladies and gentlemen

The fact that high-level delegations from over 30 Council of Europe
member states are invited and attend the Yerevan conference on behalf
of parliaments, constitutional courts and judicial instances of
general jurisdiction, as well as Justice ministries, representatives
of human rights defenders’ offices attests to the topicality of the
subject matter of the conference and to the urgency of different
issues and problems placed on the agenda.

I wish to particularly mention that the European Court of Human Rights
and the Venice Commission attach great importance to the subject
matter of the Yerevan conference. Through debates, assessments and
recommendations the conference is a real opportunity to make the rule
of law more and more accessible not only to the direct actors in
Europe, but also to those states and authorities of our region, who, I
believe, have serious work ahead of them in this area. Each and every
of you has a possibility to objectively assess the situation in
conformity with the European standards and from the angle of
discretion of powers.

Dear Colleagues,

The theme of the conference is topical for many Council of Europe
states, and not only for them. I believe that in this format of direct
and multilateral discussion deep and interesting debates will take
place.

I wish successful proceedings to this Pan-European conference and I
hope that you will also have an opportunity to get a better knowledge
of our ancient country.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WARNS CITIZENS AGAINST VISITING EGYPT

12:32 03.07.2013
Armenia, Egypt

Taking into consideration the events in Egypt, the Armenian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs advises citizens of the Republic of Armenia to
refrain from visiting Egypt except in cases of extreme urgency.

The Ministry urges the Armenian citizens in Egypt to avoid places of
mass gatherings and advises to contact the Armenian Embassy in Cairo
in case of any problems (tel: +202 27374157).

PM: GEORGIA HAS LOTS OF ISSUES TO SETTLE WITH ARMENIA

July 3, 2013 – 14:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Georgia has a lot of issues to settle with Armenia,
Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said.

“This refers not only to relations with Russia but also bilateral
ties,” Mr. Ivanishvili told a news conference when commenting on
frequent visits of Georgian government members to Armenia.

Georgian Defense Minister as well as Interior Minister and Prosecutor
General have visited Armenia recently, Georgia Online reports.

WHY DOES AZERBAIJAN SPECULATE ON SARSANG RESERVOIR?

Wednesday,
July 03

At various meetings held recently, Azerbaijan has tried to present
the safety of Sarsang reservoir in the north of Artsakh as an urgent
issue, calling the reservoir a potential danger to six Azerbaijani
regions. During the latest sitting of the Euronest Parliamentary
Assembly, the Azerbaijani delegation tried to include a resolution
on the indicated issue in the agenda and held a vote on it, but the
attempt failed thanks to efforts of Armenian delegates. What is the
reason for such activity?

First, following the 2011 meeting in Kazan when Azerbaijan made ten new
proposals and torpedoed the adoption of a document on the fundamental
principles, that country was pressured by the international community
and the destructive position showed up.

In order to back out of the situation, Azerbaijan tried to imitate
an initiative side by making various proposals. In particular, after
the Kazan meeting Azerbaijan launched an initiative for evading the
drafting a document on the fundamental principles and the start of
drafting a Great Peace Agreement. Then the head of the Oil Company of
Azerbaijan began talking about the export of natural gas to Armenia
and later the Azerbaijani side began actively speaking about the
safety of the Sarsang reservoir.

Secondly, if the resolution presented at the sitting of Euronest
were of humanitarian nature and if Azerbaijan wanted to cooperate
with Nagorno Karabakh on these issues, it would not accentuate
such expressions in the resolution as “occupied territories” and
“withdrawal of Armenian troops”.

An attempt to profit from the word “humanitarian” is obvious in
the abovementioned resolution. Years ago the Karabakh side proposed
cooperating on joint use of water resources, which envisaged that
Artsakh would provide water from the Sarsang reservoir for Azerbaijani
regions adjacent to the northeast of Artsakh, while Azerbaijan was
to open the beds of the rivers which flowed to Karabakh in the past,
but in the 1990s Azerbaijan changed the riverbeds in order to deprive
Armenian villages of irrigation water.

In the same resolution, Azerbaijan tries to show that it is concerned
about the security of residents of Azerbaijani villages adjacent to
Artsakh. But if we take into account the fact that residents of that
area have been deprived of irrigation water for two decades, while
Azerbaijan rejected Artsakh’s proposal on cooperation and provision
of irrigation water to those regions, everything becomes clear.

Thirdly, by raising issues not related to the negotiating process and
presenting them as important issues, Azerbaijan is trying to stray from
the essence of the process. So an impression is created that Azerbaijan
tries to find solutions and do its best for the problem’s resolution,
but in reality it appears that Azerbaijan, while ignoring the priority
issues, raises issues which have nothing to do with the negotiating
process. It means that because of active efforts of Azerbaijan,
the sides are moving away from the opportunity to reach an agreement.

TODAY, 14:42

Aysor.am

TURKISH, AZERBAIJANI MPS’ ANTI-ARMENIAN PLAN FAILS IN ISTANBUL – MP

20:17 ~U 02.07.13

A real miracle occurred in favor of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh at
the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Artashes Geghamyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
parliamentary group and of the Armenian delegation, told Tert.am that
the session voted down an anti-Armenian initiative by the Azerbaijani
and Turkish delegations aimed at introducing amendments to the
“Helsinki plus 40” resolution by the OSCE PA Committee on Political
Affairs and Security.

“The heads of the Azerbaijani and Turkish delegations proposed
amendments to the resolution. The proposed amendments contain
unfavorable assessments of the OSCE Minsk Group’s activities and
a call for a plenary meeting of the Minsk Group, which includes a
number of states, including Turkey,” Geghamyan said.

Geghamyan, who is a member of the Committee on Political Affairs and
Security, explained that, if approved, the resolution turns into a
key document of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Geghamyan delivered a speech. “The aim was to show that approving
such a resolution would mean a vote of no confidence in the US,
French and Russian presidents. In approving their joint statement
in England, they put clear questions favorably different from their
previous statements,” Geghamyan said.

For the first time the session stressed the fact that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must only be settled on the basis of the
Helsinki Final Act – nonuse of force or threat of force, rights
to self-determination and territorial integrity. “In this case,
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be settled in favor of Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh despite the fact that Azerbaijan was strongly
insisting on the territorial integrity principle,” Geghamyan said.

“It is a miracle because the session is being held in Turkey, which
is showing unprecedented hospitality to all the delegations. So some
would have found it difficult to decline a document signed by the
head of the Turkish delegation,” he said.

Geghamyan insisted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are efficient.

“Azerbaijan is spending $3bn on arms every year, but hostilities
have not so far been resumed due to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’
activities. I would like to express my gratitude to the US, Russian
and French presidents,” Geghamyan said.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will hold its final session on
Wednesday. “I plan to make speeches today and tomorrow. One of them
will deal with the resolution on Syria proposed by Turkey. The second
deals with the Armenian-Turkish relations and possible developments,”
Geghamyan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

SHAKHTAR MANAGER TO MIDFIELDER: LIVERPOOL OR TOTTENHAM A STEP DOWN

IBTimes.co.uk
July 2 2013

Shakhtar Donestsk manager Mircea Lucescu has urged midfielder Henrikh
Mkhitaryan to reconsider his decision to leave the club this summer.

The Armenian has attracted interest from the likes of Tottenham,
Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund but Lucescu believes that he should
only move to a club which are currently better than the Ukranian
Champions.

Shakhtar Manager to Midfielder: Liverpool or Tottenham a Step Down
By IBTimes Staff Reporter: Subscribe to IBTimes’s RSS feed | July
2, 2013 12:03 PM GMT 0 2 0 Share on emailShare on printFOLLOW IBT:
YOUR ONE-STOP NEWS SITE

Shakhtar Donestsk manager Mircea Lucescu has urged midfielder Henrikh
Mkhitaryan to reconsider his decision to leave the club this summer.

The Armenian has attracted interest from the likes of Tottenham,
Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund but Lucescu believes that he should
only move to a club which are currently better than the Ukranian
Champions.

“We all helped him. Perhaps even more than all the rest. When he played
in the championship, I helped him to become the top scorer. If he is
to join a club that surpasses [Shakhtar], I would understand his wish,”
Lucescu told Terrikon.

The manager’s comments are viable given that neither Tottenham nor
Liverpool will play in the Champions League next season and are some
distance off from challenging for the title in the Premier League.

Dortmund, in spite of coming second in the Bundesliga finished 25
points behind eventual winners Bayern Munich but managed to qualify
for the finals of the Champions League where they lost to their
Bundesliga rivals.

Mkhitaryan failed to report for training in the club’s summer training
camp, fuelling rumours of the player’s distress at the club. The
23-year-old was scheduled for a medical at Liverpool but the player
failed to turn up following certain ownership issues. Shakhtar have
already rejected a £19.5m bid by Dortmund and are adamant that they
won’t be selling the player for anything less than £25m.

“I do not want to give comments. It’s his decision, his desire. I
think he is making a big mistake. Shakhtar are a strong club. And
behind you is always 50,000 fans who will support you. We play as
a team, which is fighting for the championship each year, as well
as for the cup and for the Champions League – he has to appreciate
that. The whole team helped him to show up in the penalty area and
score,” the manager explained.

“He is very well thought of. There is still time. I just encourage
him to return to the team and get to work. Nothing happened between
him and the management, between him and the other players,” he added.

ICG: SITUATION AROUND KARABAKH DETERIORATES

Mediamax, Armena
July 2 2013

Yerevan /Mediamax/. International Crisis Group (ICG) noted in its
monthly report that the situation around Nagorno Karabakh deteriorated.

According to the ICG report, tensions are running high between
Azerbaijan and Armenia with further escalation in arms race.

“Azerbaijan 19 June announced delivery of $1bn worth of sophisticated
Russian weaponry including nearly 100 top-line T-90 tanks,
sophisticated rocket launchers, self-propelled artillery units.

President Aliyev 26 June presided over huge military parade in Baku
which also featured air fighter sorties and demonstrated new drone
capabilities, pledged if necessary to re-take all lost territory as
well as Armenian lands. Unconfirmed Armenian defense ministry source
countered by claiming Armenia is guarded with long-range offensive
missile systems capable of hitting any target in Azerbaijan; unclear
if claim referred to Russian systems delivered directly to Armenian
armed forces or to Russian forces in Armenia. Also on 26 June, head of
Russian CSTO-led military bloc and Russian NSC chief visited Yerevan
to sign upgraded defense pact, pledged arms and more support. Truce
continues to be violated with sporadic clashes, shooting”, the
report notes.

– See more at:

CARNEGIE CORP. PRESIDENT VARTAN GREGORIAN CELEBRATES EDUCATION

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Vartan Gregorian with participants of Global Kids (Photo by Carnegie
Corporation of New York)

NEW YORK-At the Commencement ceremony for Brandeis University’s
Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Vartan Gregorian was
awarded an honorary degree by the University, which recognized him as a
“higher education visionary, passionate advocate for the humanities,
professor, scholar and leader [whose] legacy is promoting a deeper
appreciation of the role of higher education in society.” Delivering
the commencement address to the Heller School graduating class, Dr.

Gregorian urged students to leave the world a better place than they
found it. “What have you done to deserve your ancestors?” Gregorian
asked the graduates. “What will you do as ancestors of future
generations?”

On June 14, Dr. Gregorian and Carnegie Corporation of New York
hosted Global Kids, a nonprofit educational organization committed to
advancing global learning and youth development. Global Kids works
to ensure that urban youth have the knowledge, skills, experiences
and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in
the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities
and on the global stage. Recently, as part of the Global Kids annual
youth conference, high school students dedicated to the arts shared
their moving rendition of Vartan Gregorian’s childhood by reading
from his autobiography, The Road to Home: My Life and Times.

To join in celebrating the fifth grade class graduation at the
Vartan Gregorian Elementary School in Providence Rhode Island, on
June 18th, Dr. Gregorian spent the day with students at the school,
which is named after him. He participated in the school’s traditional
“clap-out ceremony,” in which the younger grades and their teachers
stand in the hallway and applaud as the fifth-graders walk through the
school corridors to the auditorium for their graduation ceremony. Dr.

Gregorian also visited with the school’s eNewspaper club and told them
that “Nobody like you is going to come again.” He encouraged them
to do justice to their intellect and “to learn, learn, learn.” See
photo attached.