Author: Kajoyan Gevork

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS DO NOT TRUST EACH OTHER – MATTHEW BRYZA

11:53 ~U 07.06.13

Former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza speaking to
Azerbaijani reporters said that he thinks that there is no progress in
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, however, it doesn’t
mean that OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are not making efforts.

According to APA news agency, he said that Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents do not trust each other: “This trust should be created.

Barack Obama’s administration or U.S Secretary of State John Kerry may
create this trust. US may increase efforts in the settlement process
by appointing permanent co-chair to Minsk Group. John Kerry can play
a more important role in the settlement of the conflict from now on”.

The diplomat said he doesn’t expect any progress in the settlement
of the conflict till the elections. Speaking about the upcoming
presidential elections in Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza said that he
hopes the expectations of Azerbaijani voters will be justified.

“I hope that the OSCE and other international organizations will
declare presidential elections in Azerbaijan the most democratic and
transparent,” he said.

GIMISHIAN: HHK HAS MANY CADRES LIKE SYUNIK GOVERNOR

Wednesday,June 05

“The stability that the Armenian authorities are talking about is
very dangerous. It should be disturbed either by the authorities or
by the people. Authorities don’t like changes, but they will have to
make changes, otherwise they will encounter serious consequences,”
Chairman of Christian Democratic Rebirth Party Sos Gimishain said at
a meeting with journalists today.

In his words, the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has many cadres
like the Syunik regional governor Suren Khachatrian and they can
replace him in that post.

“It is necessary to change the situation in the country. People will
be glad to see that at least one person was punished. The authorities
solve only their personal problems, while the situation is Armenian
continues to be difficult,” Gimishian noted.

In his words, the current authorities proved that they are neither
able nor ready to implement changes in the country.

“During the term of the current minister of energy, the electricity
tariff has doubled, but we hear only fairy tales about oil prospecting
in Armenia, construction of a new nuclear power plant and two
hydropower plants in Meghri. Meanwhile, the tariffs continue to
rise. Russia has its own political and economic interests, but it is
possible to have another tariff in the case of that price. Yet the
energy ministry conducts a policy in the interests of ArmRosGazprom
company and not the people,” Gimishian said.

CRIME WITHOUT PUNISHMENT?: ‘POST-WAR SYNDROME’ SEEN BEHIND DEADLY SHOOTING IN GORIS

SOCIETY | 05.06.13 | 15:18

Photolure

Vahan Artsruni, Ruben Babayan
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

A string of recent high-profile crimes in the country, ‘unmasking’
certain politicians, better known to public as “neighborhood
authorities or oligarchs”, are the results of a postwar syndrome,
representatives of Armenian intelligentsia think.

Director of puppet theatre, film director Ruben Babayan says in
reference to the weekend gunshots fired in the vicinity of Syunik
governor Suren Khachatryan’s mansion, leaving former Goris mayoral
candidate Avetik Bughadyan dead, while his brother Artak Bughadyan,
commander at a military unit in Nagorno Karabakh, along with one
of Khachatryan’s bodyguards got heavily wounded and hospitalized:
“Both very decent people and criminals enjoying killing people take
part in the war, then both return back to normal life. I believe it
is obvious which category the governor of Syunik belongs to”. (The
reference is to the Nagorno Karabakh war, 1992-1994, and Suren
Khachatryan’s participation in it.)

Drawing parallels between the Goris incident and the “Harsnakar
affair”, he says one is the logical continuation of the other. To
remind, last summer former people believed to be MP Ruben Hayrapetyan’s
bodyguards beat to death young military doctor, army officer
Vahe Avetyan at the Harsnakar restaurant complex belonging to the
Hayrapetyan family.

Composer, songwriter Vahan Artsruni is convinced that a crisis has
begun among the ruling top brass, and all methods are good to keep
the reign.

Criminologist Sergey Galoyan recalls the April 23 shooting incident
in Gyumri, with its former mayor Vardan Ghukasyan’s son and nephew
as accomplices: Artyom Karapetyan was killed, Harutyun Khachatryan
was wounded and hospitalized.

“Where is the honor and dignity of the police? Why won’t they solve
these crimes?” asks Galoyan.

After the Gyumri incident, chief of police Vladimir Gasparyan said
no longer issues would be solved by bloodshed in the country. Now he
insists that if “certain blockheads don’t get it, they will”.

Meanwhile, the Goris incident appears to prove the opposite.

Heritage faction member Zaruhi Postanjyan wrote on her Facebook page:
“Almost a year has passed since Vahe Avetyan’s murder, and now again
an officer of the armed forces is killed and again a high-ranking
official is involved; what an unfair and brutal reality!

Almost every week we hear about a death of a conscript, feel deep
regret for their lost lives. We are witnesses of not simply impunity of
high-ranking officials guilty of murder, but also their encouragement
with state awards. The chief employer and sponsor of the high-ranking
officials committing crimes, which have become a common thing, is
[President] Serzh Sargsyan.”

Babayan believes people in Armenia come to power not to draft laws,
but to find ways to bypass them.

“Armenia is founded on the basis of criminals rather than qualified
professionals. The political fight has started from within, among
themselves [the criminal elite]. The criminal world has started
destroying itself, guided by the mafia rules,” says the film director
with conviction.

YEREVAN REPUBLICAN SQUARE RECONSTRUCTION INOPPORTUNE: ARMENIA’S UNION OF ARCHITECTS

YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. Reconstruction of Yerevan’s Republican Square
is risky as it may destroy the downtown architectural concept, head
of Armenia’s Union of Architects Mkrtich Minasyan said.

Yerevan Mayor’s Office announced an open contest of concepts for
the Republican Square reconstruction. The proposals should be
submitted before August 29. Best design proposals will be selected
for modernizing the square situated in the center of the capital. The
proposals should take into account the heavy traffic on the square
and its negative consequences.

“As the contest terms are not formulated clearly and no limitations
are set for how far the changes to the square may go, large-scale
reconstruction proposals may also be brought up”, Minasyan told a
press conference Wednesday. But this kind of changes, according to
the architect, may cause irreversible harm to the square concept.

Speaking about possible construction of underground parking area
on the square, Minasyan said that the place should be studied by
archeologists first.

Holding this competition now when there are still lots of streets in
poor condition is inopportune, the architect said. According to him,
the heavy traffic could be eased by improvements toward the square,
not touching the square itself. -0-

TODAY IS ARAM KHACHATURIAN’S 110TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY

Aram Khachaturian

YEREVAN (ArmRadio)-June 6 is 110th birth anniversary of world-famous
composer Aram Khachaturian. On this occasion an inauguration ceremony
of the 9th Aram Khachaturian competition will take place at Aram
Khachaturian Concert Hall. The concert will feature the State Youth
Orchestra of Armenia and famous cellist Gautier Capucon from France.

This year the competition will seek to identify talented cellists. The
contest will be conducted in three stages and will continue through
June 13. The gala concert and award ceremony will take place on June
14. The prizes will range from 2 to 15 thousand USD.

People gathered at Komitas Pantheon this morning to pay tribute to the
memory of the great composer.

Born in 1903 Aram Khachaturian showed early signs of a love of music,
but his formal training did not begin until 1922, when he was admitted
to the famous Gnessin Institute in Moscow and continued at the Moscow
Conservatory with the eminent composer Myaskovsky.

The first major work of Khachaturian to be performed was his Symphony
No. 1 (1934). International acclaim greeted his 1936 Piano Concerto,
the success of which was quickly duplicated with the 1940 Violin
Concerto, and throughout the 1940s Khachaturian composed many
successful works, such as the Gayane ballet with its famous Saber
Dance (1942), his Symphony No. 2 (1943) and Cello Concerto (1946).

In 1954 he composed the Spartacus ballet, the Suite from which is
probably his best-known work, not least because of its stunning adagio
movement, popularized as the theme for the 1970s British television
series The Onedin Line.

Although remembered primarily as a composer who was most successful in
dealing with pictorial subjects such as ballets, films and incidental
music to plays, Khachaturian was quite active in his later years as a
conductor, especially of his own works.

Khachaturian died in Moscow on May 1, 1978, just short of his 75th
birthday. He was buried in the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan, along with
other distinguished Armenians who made Armenian art accessible for the
world.

DAVIT SANASARYAN: THEY WILL NOT SACRIFICE KHACHATRYAN

05:38 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

A group of activists today held a protest action in front of the
government building, demanding criminal punishment for former governor
of Syunik province, Surik Khachatryan.

“They can sacrifice Khachatryan’s son and his bodyguards but since
Khachatryan has been a public official and a prominent representative
of the ruling Republican party in the province, they want to cleanse
him of the crime so that it will not tarnish the authorities,” said
activist Davit Sanasaryan, a member of “Barev Yerevan” alliance.

The Armenian government decided today to releive Surik Khachatryan
from the post of Syunik Governor in accordance with his resignation
paper submitted earlier this week.

The move comes following public clamour over a June 1 shootout near
Khachatryan’s house in Goris that left a former mayoral candidate
dead and his brother wounded.

RUSSIA HAS COME TO TERMS WITH ARMENIA’S CHOICE

Peter Stano, spokesman for Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighborhood, told the Armenian service of
RFE/RL that the observer status at the Customs Union or Eurasian
Union or the memoranda of cooperation with these organizations by
Armenia will not contradict the signing of the Association Agreement
with the European Union.

At the same time, the European official noted that everything depends
on the content of the memorandum. He stressed that Armenia should
be able to define the customs procedures, while the members of the
Customs Union are supposed to set down common procedures which is in
disaccord with the Association Agreement with Europe.

The issue of the partnership memorandum with the Customs Union has
been discussed widely. During the CIS prime ministers’ meeting in
Minsk on May 31 Tigran Sargsyan met with his Russian counterpart
Medvedev. Tigran Sargsyan dwelt on the format of Armenia’s integration
with the Customs Union and on signing of the memorandum.

This was perceived in Armenia as the country’s capitulation to Russia’s
demand to join the Customs Union but Europe’s response suggests that
the Armenian perception was not right. The spokesman for Stefan Fule
noted that they are willing to initialize the Association Agreement
with Armenia in November in Vilnius. Peter Stano said that the
government of Armenia is also willing to sign it and is aware of how
far the negotiations with other partners may go.

Europe hints that Armenia’s relations with the Customs Union are
still controllable.

Armenia already has one memorandum which defines Armenia’s cooperation
with the Eurasian Union. The document implies that the parties have
no legal obligations. Most probably, this is the point that interests
Europe. If the same point is set out in the memorandum of cooperation
with the Customs Union, Brussels will be satisfied. Moreover, the
Western political centers understand the inevitability of Armenia’s
maneuvers with Russia.

The memoranda with the Customs Union and Eurasian Union are Armenia’s
steps in this direction. Harsh refusal to Russia would be beyond
Armenia’s powers independently from the authorities, and especially
after two decades of the government’s anti-constitutional practice.

Europe understands this too giving Armenia the opportunity to mark
time until November.

Of course, Russia is also well-aware of the situation and it has
come to terms with the idea that Armenia is choosing the association
agreement and the free trade area with Europe while the signed
memoranda are just a means of keeping up Russia’s reputation.

Although, by and large, it is clear that Moscow is dissatisfied with
Armenia’s choice, and having no levers to resolve this issue, it is
creating trouble for Armenia by boosting the gas price, flirting with
Azerbaijan etc.

Anyway, Russia has been exercising this approach for years, when
still there was no Association Agreement, and Armenia used to give
away everything to Russia.

James Hakobyan 16:34 06/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

ACTIVISTS DEMAND CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT FOR EX SYUNIK GOVERNOR (VIDEO)

14:37 ~U 06.06.13

A group of activists among them members of Barev Yerevan alliance
conducted today a protest action in front of government building,
demanding criminal punishment for former Syunik governor Surik
Khachatryan.

Speaking to Tert.am, member of Barev Yerevan alliance Davit Sanasaryan
said that they are not satisfied with the removal of the governor
from the office. “It appears that Suren Khachatryan has felt a little
pain for what has happened and asked to remove him from the office
and the government has satisfied his request,” he said, adding that
it is necessary to sack him and convict.

On June 1 as a result of shooting near governor’s house former mayoral
candidate of Goris Avetik Budaghyan was murdered, his brother Artak
Budaghyan was wounded.

The activists conducted a discussion near the government building
during which a proposal was voiced to go to Syunik province and try
to gather facts about illegalities of the governor.

HRAPARAK: GRENADE FOUND IN MICROBUS IN ARARAT

10:32 06/06/2013 ” DAILY PRESS

On May 20, Armenian Emergency Ministry received a call that a grenade
was found in microbus No. 54 in the village of Dashtavan, Ararat
province. Specialists crews arrived at the scene. The grenade was
rendered harmless within one hour, Hraparak daily reports.

Source: Panorama.am

PROTESTERS DEDICATE A STREET TO SLAIN JOURNALIST HRANT DINK IN GEZI PARK

Hurriyet, Turkey
June 6 2013

The demonstrators now freely occupying Istanbul’s Gezi Park for the
last few days opened June 5 a symbolic street dedicated to the
murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Hundreds of activists had also opened “the peace square” a day earlier
by singing songs and chanting in Turkish and Kurdish. The Hrant Dink
Street connects the Peace Square with the children’s playground.

Activists have brandished banners reading “Buradayız Ahparig!” (We are
here, brother), the slogan chosen for the commemoration of the 6th
anniversary of Dink’s murder earlier this year.

Dink was murdered on Jan. 19, 2007, in broad daylight in front of the
Agos building by Ogun Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. His
death lead to a long period of mass protests during which
demonstrations famously chanted “We are all Armenians.”

June/06/2013