Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ANCA-ER PARTNERS WITH INVESTORS AGAINST GENOCIDE TO ENCOURAGE GENOCIDE-FREE INVESTING AT FIDELITY

12:33 20.06.2013

The Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA-ER)
joined with Investors Against Genocide (IAG) on Tuesday in urging
mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments to avoid investments in
companies with ties to genocidal regimes worldwide.

Michelle Hagopian, ANCA Eastern Region Executive Director, and ANC of
Eastern Massachusetts activist Dikran Kaligian represented the ANCA
at Fidelity’s June 18th shareholder meeting as part of an outspoken
group of anti-genocide advocates.

Six mutual funds recorded votes at Fidelity’s shareholder meeting on
the proposal presented by Investors Against Genocide, which states
“Shareholders request that the Board institute transparent procedures
to prevent holding investments in companies that, in management’s
judgment, substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against
humanity, the most egregious violations of human rights.” These funds
bring to 40 the number of Fidelity funds that have had “genocide-free
investing” on their proxy ballot.

Tuesday’s preliminary voting results in favor of the proposal ranged
from a high of 29.19% to a low of 24.13%, which are comparable to
results on similar proposals at Fidelity in 2008 and 2009.

“Fidelity continues to own large positions in PetroChina, a company
widely recognized as the largest business partner of the government
of Sudan which is currently bombing, starving and displacing massive
numbers of its own civilians in several regions,” said Eric Cohen,
chairperson of Investors Against Genocide.

“This year marks 10 years of the genocide in Darfur, and it is the
fifth year that Fidelity has opposed genocide-free investing. As a
result, people investing with Fidelity are still inadvertently linked
to companies tied to the atrocities in Sudan,” he said.

Fidelity’s website claims, “We are sensitive to the ongoing tragedy
occurring in Darfur and, like most others in the world, we are repulsed
by genocide and all other crimes against humanity. … That said,
we have concluded that when it is appropriate to remain actively
invested in a company, we will do so, thus retaining the ability to
oppose company practices that we do not condone.”

“Fidelity’s anti-genocide statements need to be backed up by concrete
action,” said Hagopian. “Tuesday’s shareholder meeting showed that
millions of Americans want their investments to be genocide-free.

Mutual funds are the most common investment vehicle for family savings
and retirement plans in America. The ANCA and IAG will continue to
speak out at these shareholder meetings as part of an international
campaign to end all financial support for genocidal regimes.”

Although federal law prevents U.S. oil companies (and most other U.S.

companies) from operating in Sudan, Fidelity and other American
financial institutions are major investors in the foreign oil
companies involved in Sudan that are helping to fund that government’s
continued genocide and crimes against humanity. As a result, ordinary
investors, through their mutual funds, family savings, and pension
plans entrusted to these financial institutions, are inadvertently
investing in genocide.

IAG, a Boston-based nonprofit organization coordinating the
anti-genocide shareholder action at Fidelity and other financial
institutions, including Vanguard, JPMorgan Chase, and Franklin
Resources, is engaged in an effort to encourage legislation and
regulatory changes to address investments in companies that help to
fund genocide.

In March, the ANCA San Francisco-Bay Area teamed up with IAG to advance
a similar anti-genocide proposal to shareholders at Franklin Resources,
the parent company of Franklin Templeton mutual funds.

JEWISH VOICE: HIGH TIME FOR ERDOGAN TO FACE THE MUSIC

13:38, 20 June, 2013

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS: The Jewish Voice is calling on the
International Olympic Committee to take a hard look at the current
situation in Turkey, and think deeply about whether that country is
the appropriate venue for a world sporting event that is supposed to
send a message of freedom and the value of individual human enterprise,
reports Armenpress.

Istanbul is one of the primary contenders to host the 2020 Summer
Olympics, stimulating Erdogan to try marketing the city as a connecting
force between civilizations. Yet despite such hopes, the leader of
Turkey is not hesitant to foster an atmosphere at home that reeks
with authoritarianism and rapidly creeping tyranny.

“We are also calling on the good, inherently human rights-loving people
of Turkey to continue to set aside their fears – however justified –
and mount a full-scale uprising against the Erdogan regime. Unmitigated
justice and true democracy must ultimately prevail in Turkey,” says
Jewish Voice.

The newspaper notes that like other Middle Eastern leaders before him,
Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has sadly not been able to
leave well enough alone. For quite a while, his country was more in
tune with Western values, allowing its citizenry to enjoy a decent
amount of freedom as per democratic tenets and keeping the region’s
prevailing spirit of hard-line Islamism within controlled boundaries
of influence.

More recently, however, Erdogan has increasingly sought to institute
reforms that clamp down on individual rights and impose various
aspects of Sharia – read fundamentalist Muslim – law. His latest
attempts to outlaw public consumption of alcohol during late evening
hours, along with similar harsh measures, were apparently the straw
that broke the camel’s (pardon the Middle East pun) back. Intense,
boisterous riots ensued, with the common folk rising up to declare
that they would not take these socially stifling measures lying down.

Unsurprisingly, the obstinate Prime Minister reacted in a
manner of regressive defiance, directing Turkey’s riot police to
unleash every weapon in their arsenal against the protestors. In
addition to volleying rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas at the
“had-it-up-to-here” citizens, the police arrested 70 lawyers who were
marching in sympathy with the demonstrators. As the Wall Street Journal
noted, this is all in sync with his troubling crackdowns of late. “The
Prime Minister and his political allies have gone after media magnates,
military officers, judges and journalists,” the respected newspaper
stated, “many of whom are behind bars on trumped-up terrorism and
conspiracy charges.”

Moreover, it has been reliably reported that – rather than take
hard-earned taxpayer dollars and use them to build cultural
institutions that broaden the people’s intellectual and artistic
horizons – Erdogan has overseen the construction of approximately
1700 mosques throughout the country. It seems he is willing to do
anything to defy the people’s wishes and shove as much hard-line
Islamism down their throats as he possibly can.

PROTESTS CONTINUE ALL NIGHT LONG IN TURKEY’S ESKISEHIR

15:48 19/06/2013 ” SOCIETY

Nearly 5,000 protesters’ all-night action ended with a police
intervention with gas bombs and water cannons in the Turkish province
of Eskisehir, leaving three protesters, a journalist and a police
officer injured, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Slogans like “everywhere Taksim, everywhere resistance” and “government
resign” were chanted by the crowd in front of a mall called Espark
in the city’s Eskibaglar neighborhood.

The police’s heavy crackdown managed to disperse the group; however
a group of 500 people stayed in the mall and blocked the way in front
of it.

Eskisehir has been one of the most remarkable provinces in Turkey,
attending Gezi Park protests across the country from the very beginning
following the Occupy Taksim movement.

ARAVOT: MP SAMVEL ALEXANYAN MONOPOLIZES PIG-BREEDING

09:35 ~U 20.06.13

Talking to the newspaper residents of the Amasia neighborhood
complained about Samvel Alexanyan, an MP from the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA), who, they say, has monopolized pig-breeding.

People who borrowed high-interest loans to purchase swine and expensive
fodder had to sell meat at a low price and accumulate new debts.

The newspaper turned to Ashot Agababyan, an MP from the constituency
in question. “I am not informed. I will talk to Samvel Alexanyan,”
he said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

ARMENIA AMONG THE THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL COUNTRIES IN CONFRONTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

12:23 20.06.2013
Armenia, trafficking

On June 19, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry released the 2013
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, in which Armenia’s status
improved from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Thanks to effective on-going
efforts of the Armenian government, led by Deputy Prime Minister
Armen Gevorgian’s Anti-TIP Ministerial Council, Armenia has attained
Tier 1 status, meaning it is now considered among the world’s most
successful countries in confronting the international scourge of
human trafficking. U.S. Ambassador John Heffern has released a video
statement on this announcement.

The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Government’s
principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human
trafficking. It represents an updated, global look at the nature and
scope of trafficking in persons and the broad range of government
actions to confront and eliminate it. The U.S. Government uses the
TIP Report to engage other governments around the world in dialogues
to advance anti-trafficking reforms, to combat trafficking, and to
target resources on prevention, protection and prosecution programs.

Worldwide, the report is used by international organizations,
foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations alike as a
tool to examine where resources are most needed. Freeing victims,
preventing trafficking, and bringing traffickers to justice are the
ultimate goals of the report and of the U.S Government’s anti-human
trafficking policy.

In the TIP Report, the Department of State places each country
onto one of three tiers based on the extent of its government’s
efforts to comply with the “minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking.” For the fifth year in a row, the Government of Armenia
continued its sustained efforts to combat trafficking in persons,
both at the policy and implementation levels. With strong support
from Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan – who chairs the anti-TIP
Ministerial Council – and the inter-agency working group, the Armenian
Government reinforced its vigorous and close working ties with anti-TIP
NGOs, donor organizations, media, and regional partners. In 2012,
there was an increase in investigations and rigorous prosecution of
trafficking criminal cases with stiff punishment of perpetrators,
and no suspended sentences handed down.

While Tier 1 is the highest ranking, it does not mean that a country
has no human trafficking problem. On the contrary, a Tier 1 ranking
indicates that a government has acknowledged the existence of
human trafficking, made significant efforts to address the problem,
and complies with certain standards. Each year, governments need to
demonstrate appreciable progress in combating trafficking to maintain
a Tier 1 ranking. A country is never finished with the job of fighting
trafficking.

UNE COMPAGNIE D’ENERGIE AMERICAINE EST SUSCEPTIBLE D’ACQUERIR TROIS GRANDES CENTRALES HYDROELECTRIQUES EN ARMENIE

La societe ContourGlobal basee a New York a declare qu’elle etait
en train de negocier avec le Gouvernement armenien la reprise des
centrales construites le long de la rivière Vorotan dans la region
du Siounik. Selon elle, cet investissement est urgent compte tenu
de l’âge des centrales. Selon RFE/RL, il s’agit de la plus grande
installation de production d’energie avec une capacite operationnelle
de 400 megawatts, presque aussi importante que celle de la centrale
nucleaire de Medzamor qui fournit environ 40% de la production
d’electricite armenienne. RFE/RL relève que le Ministère armenien
de l’Energie a refuse de commenter la future prise de contrôle des
centrales par ContourGlobal. Le Ministre Armen Movsisian n’a toutefois
pas nie la privatisation imminente des centrales. / RFE/RL

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 13 juin 2013

jeudi 20 juin 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

BAKU WELCOMES STATEMENT OF MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIR COUNTRIES’ LEADERS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 19 2013

By Sara Rajabova

The statement made by the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing
countries on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict reflects Azerbaijan’s
position, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
said at a news briefing on June 19.

The presidents of France, Russia and the United States on June 18
issued a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict expressing
deep regret that the parties have not been able to find a solution
of the problem in the course of negotiations.

According to Abdullayev, Baku’s position is characterized by
pragmatism. Azerbaijan has repeatedly stressed the need for a just
solution to the conflict that respects the country’s territorial
integrity, he said.

Abdullayev noted that the restoration of justice means a return of the
Armenia-occupied territories and a return of refugees to their homes.

“The presidents of the co-chairing countries rightly noted that the
use of military force becomes the reason for the rise of instability
and confrontation. In order to prevent this, the Azerbaijani lands
must be returned and the Armenian armed forces must be withdrawn
from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Armenia has violated
the principle of non-use of force, which resulted in the occupation
of Azerbaijani lands,” the Foreign Ministry official said.

Speaking about the failure to hold a meeting of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents, Abdullayev said that due to Armenia’s failure to
accept the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the updated
Madrid principles, it has became impossible to organize high-level
meetings.

According to Abdullayev, for a peaceful future of the region Armenia
should give up its expansionist policy.

“The current policy of Armenia puts the security of the region at
risk. Azerbaijan has repeatedly demanded a solution based on the
‘road map’, which is reflected in the negotiations. Unfortunately,
Armenia rejects the proposal made by Azerbaijan and the co-chairs
and the main evidence of this is that Armenia has not accepted for a
long time the updated Madrid principles proposed by the co-chairs,”
Abdullayev said.

Azerbaijan immediately considered the updated Madrid principles
proposed by the co-chairs and accepted them, the Foreign Ministry
official noted.

“Despite the activity of the co-chairs, the conflict has not yet been
resolved. In order to resolve the conflict the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group should exert more pressure over Armenia,” he said.

The rights of the Azerbaijani people have been violated, as nearly
a million people became refugees, and as long as Armenia fails to
relinquish its aggressive policy, security of the region will be
under threat, Abdullayev said.

Presidents of France, Russia and the United States Francois Hollande,
Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama said in the mentioned joint statement
that as the leaders of the Minsk Group co-chair countries they
“remain committed to helping the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict reach a lasting and peaceful settlement”.

“We express our deep regret that, rather than trying to find a solution
based upon mutual interests, the parties have continued to seek
one-sided advantage in the negotiation process,” the statement said.

The three presidents reiterated that only a negotiated settlement can
lead to peace, stability and reconciliation, opening opportunities
for regional development and cooperation, and the use of military
force that has already caused the current situation of confrontation
and instability will not resolve the conflict.

“A renewal of hostilities would be disastrous for the population of
the region, resulting in loss of life, more destruction, additional
refugees, and enormous financial costs. We strongly urge the leaders
of all the sides to recommit to the Helsinki principles, particularly
those relating to the non-use of force or the threat of force,
territorial integrity, and equal rights and self-determination of
peoples. We also appeal to them to refrain from any actions or rhetoric
that could raise tension in the region and lead to escalation of the
conflict. The leaders should prepare their people for peace, not war,”
the statement reads.

The presidents also expressed readiness to assist the sides, but said
“the responsibility for putting an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
remains with them.”

They also expressed strong belief that further delay in reaching a
balanced agreement on the framework for a comprehensive peace is
unacceptable, and urged the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to
focus with renewed energy on the issues that remain unresolved.

Commenting on the issue, deputy chairman of the ruling Yeni (New)
Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov told media that the presidents of the
co-chairing countries have made statements voicing concern over
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and as a whole this can
be assessed positively. According to him, this can be considered as
the fact that the large Minsk Group co-chairing countries have not
forgotten about the settlement of the conflict.

But he emphasized that more importantly, the conflict has not been
resolved yet though more than 20 years have passed.

“The situation with more than one million Azerbaijani refugees and
IDPs has not changed. They are still unable to return home. Therefore,
the historical truth has not been restored.”

The Minsk Group, which has undertaken such a responsible mission as
the conflict settlement, cannot cope with the problem, he said.

“I cannot imagine that anyone could be blamed by the Minsk Group, which
has taken on the conflict settlement mission and has not fulfilled the
task for 20 years,” he said. “It is simply impossible to understand
this logic. Since the aggressor has not been named and the Minsk Group
co-chairmen have not set forth specific requirements to liberate the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan, it will be impossible to promote
the conflict settlement. I believe that it would be better if the
Minsk Group co-chairing countries expressed a particular attitude
to this issue and it would be possible to achieve more significant
action for the conflict settlement,” Ahmadov said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against the neighboring country. Since a lengthy
war between the two South Caucasus countries that displaced over
a million Azerbaijanis and ended with the signing of a precarious
cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent
of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on a pullout from the occupied territories.

Peace talks brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have been
largely fruitless so far.

The negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also
known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the
territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control;
determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor
linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally
displaced persons to return home.

LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD

Ekklesia, UK
June 19 2013

Submitted by Simon Barrow on 19 June 2013 – 11:56am Crime
and JusticeEconomy and PoliticsReligion and SocietyNews
BriefarmeniaarmenianArmenian genocidegenocideharry
hagopianTurkeyBlogLooking back to look forward

Every year Ekklesia contributors, and especially our associate Dr Harry
Hagopian, reflect on the historical crime of the 1915-23 Armenian
genocide, a tragedy which illustrates all-too-well the contemporary
resonance and impact of difficult history.

These events, if not exactly hidden from history, has been overlooked
(deliberately so) in the catalogue of horrors that make up a
significant portion of the twentieth century.

The philosopher Peter Singer has recently argued that, demographically
and statistically, war and conflict has been declining in the world
on modern times. That may be true in terms of numbers, and for the
portion of the planet who live in comparative affluence. As an overall
judgement, it raises many questions, however – not least ones about
who makes such judgments, what weight history carries, what prospects
exist for a more meaningfully peaceful future, and how the stories
of those like the Armenians (and millions who have lost their lives
in a stunning 500+ conflagrations since World War 2) feature in –
and beyond – our arithmetic.

In 2013 we are a little behind with our marking of the Armenian
Genocide. But we are extremely grateful to Harry for providing the
opportunity to publish a moving, personal, profoundly Christian
(yet also politically aware) piece by Ara Iskanderian, entitled
‘Remembrance, forgiveness, transformation: the Armenian Genocide’. You
can read it in full here:

——–

© Simon Barrow is co-director of Ekklesia.

WHISTLE BLOWERS, DEEP STATES, AND SUNLIGHT

Monday, June 17th, 2013 | Posted by Garen Yegparian

Garen Yegparian

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Daniel Ellsberg (The Pentagon Papaers), Sibel Edmonds (Turkish money
in U.S. politics), Julian Assange/Bradley Manning (Wikileaks), and
now Ed Snowden (NSA-phone-gate [that’s my invented term]).

These are among the best known of the leakers who reveal government
secrets when their consciences, civic awareness, and sense of duty
drive them to realize the government is doing WRONG. They are on the
front lines of American democracy and citizenship that have built
what liberties citizens of the U.S. now enjoy (often without realizing
how precious and fragile they are).

Without this kind of check on the actions of government, any government
of any country of any era will tend to grow more and more powerful
and intrusive. It is the nature of large entities to do so.

Corporations and religious institutions are no different. In fact,
the only way to check the latter two is through government, which is
the only entity that is subject to the control of citizens. Of course
citizens have to be alert, ever vigilant, to keep government in their
service, instead of becoming government servants. That’s where the
heroes named above come in.

But we must also understand what drives the particular big entity
called “government” into the misbehaviors that citizens must check.

Government is charged with securing the lives and rights of its
citizens. It is also an entity, a being of sorts. Both of these
motivations impel it to perpetuate and secure itself. But periodically,
the people, employees, actually doing the work lose sight of the
necessary and appropriate bounds they must honor, and that’s what
produces the scandalous behaviors that require citizens’ oversight
and action.

Part of how that “need” to persist manifests itself appears in the
form of what has been described as the “deep state” that governments
create as a means of saving themselves in case of a very serious
threat. In Turkey, it is connected to the “Ergenekon” grouping that
has been undergoing prosecution by the current government because
these two factions represent different sectors and mentalities of
Turkish society. In the U.S., it’s easy to argue that the NSA, with
its uber-secret operations is a part of the country’s “deep state”
institutions.

I brought up Ergenekon because in the process of restraining the
activities of deep-states, it is possible to abuse the process of
remediation. In Turkey, the Islamist government has been using the
opportunity to weaken its secularist/Ataturkist/military opposition.

All of this leads us to the necessity of sunshine, open government,
transparent processes that citizens can watch over. It also makes
emphatic the need for alert and engaged citizens, not passive ones who
are too busy with reality television or the (artificially worsened)
struggle to earn a living.

So where are the leakers of our homeland? Ironically, on the
Turkish occupied, Western Armenian, side of the border, there must
have been some, otherwise, the Ergenekon prosecutions might never
have succeeded! Had we had just one courageous soul come forward,
the infamous Protocols signed by Yerevan and Ankara might never
have gotten far enough to become the dangerous legal document now
threatening the Republic of Armenia’s future.

We must overcome our fear of (usually imaginary) immediate harm
or embarrassment at revealing hidden misbehaviors so that Armenian
statehood, whether it is one country or multiple, is strengthened.

THREE ARMENIAN AIRLINES: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS

14:34 ~U 18.06.13

Levon Ghazaryan of the Public Council of Armenia held a meeting
with journalists on Tuesday and addressed the positive and negative
aspects of the Armenian government’s decision on creating more than
one airline in Armenia.

He noted that the Armavia airline was the only air carrier, which
precluded the reduction in ticket prices.

“However, the existence of an Armenian air carrier is of high
importance to prevent other air carriers from raising their prices,”
Ghazaryan said. The creation of three airlines is on the agenda now,
he added.

“With a total number of passengers being 2 million, one million should
be considered as international air carriers’ clients. The rest divided
by three, each national air carrier will serve 300,000 passengers.

This means a high cost of transportation, which will not allow us to
compete with other air carriers,” he said.