Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway plan faces stagnation

13:04 – 26.05.13

The railway project expected to connect Baku, Tbilisi and Kars
(Turkey) remains idle to date despite earlier promises to resume its
constriction this month.

The activities, designed to be completed in 2014, receive
contradictory reports due to existing problems in the ptocess,
Contact.az reports, citing the government change in Georgia (at the
end of 2012) as a major cause. According to the Azerbaijani website,
the new Georgian cabinet, led by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili,
has questioned the thrice increase of the project costs (from $220m to
$775m).

The question was raised at a late 2012 meeting between the new
Georgian premier and the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev.

Since 2007, Azerbaijan has been planning to allocate $775 from its oil
funds to assist in the construction of the pipeline’s Georgian
section. But only part of the amount, $431,13, had been paid before
Ivanishvili-led Georgian Dream coalition came to power.

The project envisages the construction of a 124 km. railway expected
to cross the territories of Turkey (92km) and Georgia (32km).

Despite such a difference in lengths and the complicated relief,
Turkey has left the preliminary price unchanged ($200m from each
side).

According to the Georgian sources, the new government has warned that
it is ready to cover only the return sums that were really spent on
the project.

Azerbaijan provided loans for pipeline construction on Georgia’s
territory after the two countries’ leaders mutually agreed over
project details, particularly the plan for raising the costs.

Those circumstances are said to have driven Georgian President
Saakashvili to a state of nervous tension. He has several times
visited Azerbaijan (the latest visit being on May 7) to settle
financial issues that stemmed from Ivanishvili’s policies.

The project costs on the Turkish territory have also reportedly rised,
causing the country’s opposition to voice its anger.

The side links the higher project costs to the relief difficulties as
though neither were aware of the fact while projecting the
construction, reports the Azerbaijani website.

Ensar Ogut of Turkey’s opposition Democratic-Republican Party has said
that the process has experienced a failure, adding that it is unlikely
to be completed even in 2014 or 2015.

Armenian News – Tert.am

ARMENIE-ECONOMIE
La société « Bière de Gumri » s’apprête à exporter sa production de
Bière vers la Syrie

L’usine de fabrication de bière de Gumri va exporter une partie de sa
production vers la Syrie. Le directeur commercial de « Gumri
kérétchour » (bière de Gumri), Narég Badirian a affirmé qu’un
entrepreneur syrien s’intéresse par l’importation de la bière de Gumri
en Syrie. « Nous sommes dans la phase des négociations mais nous avons
espoir d’exporter une partie de notre production vers la Syrie. Nous
connaissons néanmoins les difficultés administratives liées à ce
marché syrien mais nous avons espoir de trouver des accords et
d’arriver à exporter notre bière vers la Syrie » dit Narég Badirian
dont la société exporter actuellement une partie de sa production vers
la Russie, l’Ukraine, les Etats-Unis et la France.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 26 mai 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

CULTURE
169 614 entrées en Arménie et au Haut Karabagh lors de la Nuit des
Musées samedi dernier

La Nuit des Musées le 18 mai journée européenne à laquelle
participèrent 84 musées d’Arménie et 5 du Haut Karabagh fut un succès.
Selon le ministère arménien de la Culture cette année le musée
Paradjanov y participa également pour la première fois et compta 1 500
visiteurs pour cette Nuit des Musées. Au total les 89 musées d’Arménie
et du Haut Karabagh ont enregistré 169 614 visiteurs lors de cette
opération, en hausse de 34 614 par rapport à l’an dernier. Du 22 au 23
mai s’est également déroulée à Erévan une conférence regroupant une
vingtaine de spécialistes des musées d’Arménie et du Haut Karabagh, à
l’occasion de la Journée internationale des Musées.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 26 mai 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

CINEMA
Charles Aznavour annoncé au 10e Festival international du cinéma
arménien « Voské Dziran » (Golden Apricot) à Erévan en juillet

Charles Aznavour sera présent à l’inauguration du son « étoile » lors
du 10e Festival international du cinéma « Voské Dziran » (Golden
Apricot-Abricot d’Or) à Erévan du 7 au 14 juillet. La manifestation
sera soutenue par le ministère arménien de la Culture et sponsorisée
par « VivaCell-MTS ». Les organisateurs de « Voské Dziran » ont reçu
de 94 pays près de 1100 films. L’an dernier, 67 pays avaient participé
au « Voské Dziran » (Golden Apricot) démontrant l’intérêt du cinéma
international pour cette manifestation à Erévan. Lors de cette 10e
édition de « Voské Dziran » un coup de projecteur sera donné au 110e
anniversaire d’Aram Khatchatourian, et les 75 ans des cinéastes
Ardavazdt Péléchian et Nercés Hovhannissian.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 26 mai 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

No cattle, no loan

01:23 pm | Today | Social

Banks do not give loans to the residents of the village of Artanish
of Gegharkunik region. Banks give loans only to those people who have
cattle, so Artanish is not attractive for them.
“People work, yet most do not have money to buy cattle. Banks do not
take houses in the security for the loan sum. People face a problem so
they leave the country”, deputy head of Artanish community Romela
Ghulyan said.

It is an expensive pleasure to be engaged in agriculture for Artanish
residents. There is no machinery and hail and drought create
additional problems.

Fresno Bee, CA
May 24 2013

Armenians unite for Memorial Day service

By Ron Orozco – The Fresno Bee
Friday, May. 24, 2013 | 06:38 PM

The Armenian faith community is coming together for Armenian
Hokehankist Memorial services on Monday, which is Memorial Day.

The services are at 10 a.m. at Ararat Armenian Cemetery, which is at
1925 W. Belmont Ave., and 10:30 a.m. at Masis Ararat Armenian
Cemetery, which is nearby at 250 N. Hughes Ave.

Clergy members from Armenian churches in the Valley will conduct the
Hokehankist services, which remember the men and women who have fallen
while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

Members of Armenian church youth groups are placing American flags at
the grave sites of U.S. veterans.

Hokehankist services also remember deceased members of the Armenian
community in the area, as well as those who died in the Armenian
Genocide of 1915.

The public is welcome at the services. The Ararat Armenian Cemetery
Association oversees both cemeteries. Details: (559) 292-2415.

DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
May 24, 2013 Friday

BAKU AND MOSCOW DID NOT WISH TO REACH AN AGREEMENT

by Sokhbet Mamedov
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, May 21, 2013, p. 1

GABALA RADAR STATION IS CLOSED NOT ONLY DUE TO FINANCIAL REASONS;
Russia will give up the radar station in Azerbaijani Gabala.

Completion of activity of the Azerbaijani-Russian state commissions
created because of expiry of the time of rent of the Gabala radar
station in December of 2012 is planned in the near future. Head of the
Azerbaijani state commission, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan
Khalaf Khalafov, reported this. According to him, the entire necessary
organizational work is completed.
Khalafov adds, “It is necessary only to complete the process of
withdrawal of movable property of Russia from Azerbaijan. For this
purpose we have organized special flights of cargo airplanes that fly
directly to Gabala.” Along with this, he emphasized that agreements
about all issues were achieved with the Russian party.

A source in the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan says that the process
of withdrawal of movable property of Russia from Gabala should be
fully completed by August of 2013.

The information analytical center was operated by the Russian party
only for information analysis purposes. The staff of the station did
not exceed 1,500 people. Its air defense was provided by the air
defense forces of Azerbaijan. Moscow paid $7 million per year for the
leased real estate and movable property.

A long time before expiry of the rent period the parties organized a
bilateral commission for the purpose of prolongation of the agreement
signed in January of 2002 in Moscow. Some issues remained the stepping
stone at these negotiations. The most important thing was that Baku
demanded rental rate a few hundreds of percents bigger than the
initial amount. As a result, the parties failed to reach an agreement
and the Gabala radar station stopped its operations since December 10
of 2012.

Various estimates of the reasons of stopping of rent of the Gabala
radar station sound now including the size of the rental rate are
voiced now. However, the expert community of Azerbaijan is not
inclined to think that the reason is so commonplace. According to
analyst Emin Abdullayev, “Time when tens or even hundreds of millions
of dollars have been considered some astronomic amount for Azerbaijan
is gone.” So, in this case this is most likely a matter of principle.
Due to understandable reasons Baku could not look at the regime of
most favored partner granted by Moscow to Yerevan in military
cooperation indifferently.

Emin Abdullayev asks, “If Armenia can receive air defense missile
systems S-300 from Russia free of charge in exchange for free rent of
the territory under the 102nd base by Russia, which is a kind of
barter, why cannot Azerbaijan that has bought the same systems from
Russia for $300 million compensate for its expenses leasing its Gabala
radar station to Russia for the same price?”
In any case, this thought is not new. In a recent interview to
television channel Russia-24 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
pointed at two reasons that persuaded Baku to increase the rental rate
of the Gabala radar station.

The President said that to some extent this would be a compensation
for the past ten years because during that time “Azerbaijan never
raised the issue of revision of the price although everyone and I
think people in Russia too understood that the price was, to put this
mild, symbolic.”

Aliyev remarked, “Simultaneously with this, the wish to increase the
rental rate was also substantiated by the fact that huge process began
in the military technological cooperation between Azerbaijan and
Russia in the last five to six years and these purchases were counted
in billions of dollars. We buy Russian military hardware at an
international price. We think that if we buy at an international price
and if we do all other payments at the international price the rental
rate should correspond or be very close to this.”

[translated from Russian]

Lawyers to declare strike against Court of Cassation

15:52 – 25.05.13

Some 50 lawyers will declare strike on June 10-11 to express their
protest against the Court of Cassation, lawyer Hayk Alumyan told the
reporters on Saturday.

They complain of the court’s principles guided by which they decide
either to take or refuse the cases. The lawyers claim the Court’s
decision is always `unpredictable.’

`The Court of Cassation decides to take or refuse the case
self-willingly. They even do not ground their decision,’ he said.

In June 2012 about 550 lawyers conducted a protest action and refused
to attend trials complaining against self-willingness applied against
them.

`A year has passed but the unpredictability of taking or not taking
the cases still remains. The cases which the Court of Cassation
refuses to take are being accepted by the European Court of Human
Rights which finds mistakes and rules against Armenia. Or is the Court
of Cassation more serious establishment than the European Court? The
Court of Cassation should give a little trouble to it and go down of
its pedestal,’ he said.

Lawyer Gevorg Davtyan stressed that the Court of Cassation must be
responsible for each court violation thus the secondary courts will be
sober and make less mistakes.

`Very often the Court of Cassation makes contradicting rulings.
Besides, very often the judges are copy-pasting the rulings. Once, one
of the names of the person engaged was written wrong,’ he said.

`Very often the judges are demonstrating biased approaches which may
be a result of corruption or relatives or in-laws relations,’ the
lawyer said, adding that the Court of Cassation is to correct these
mistakes.

Another lawyer Ara Zakaryan said very often the Court of Cassation
sends the case back, saying it is not formulated in a right way. He
stressed that till now the Court of Cassation has not given the clear
model guided by which the lawyers may send the case to the court and
not be rejected.

Exceptional photos of orphans that survived the Armenian Genocide on
display in Yerevan

18:11 25.05.2013

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John A. Heffern opened the photo exhibition
`Along the Trails of the Armenian Orphans’ at the National Gallery of
Armenia.

The exhibition is a joint project of the Naregatsi Art Institute
(NAI), the Near East Foundation (NEF), and the U.S. Embassy. The
exhibition illustrates the amazing story of Near East Relief: an
American-led humanitarian mission that saved hundreds of thousands of
Armenian orphans following the 1915 atrocities in the Ottoman Empire.

Ambassador Heffern, NAI Founder Nareg Hartounian, NEF Chairman Shant
Mardirossian, and the Director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute, Hayk Demoyan, spoke at the exhibition opening and
shed light on this important chapter in U.S.-Armenia relations.

In addition, the opening featured the screening of a documentary film,
`Lest They Perish,’ by Zareh Tjeknavorian, and a musical tribute to
Near East Relief performed by the Naregatsi Folk Instruments Ensemble.

The Embassy, NAI, and NEF will open similar exhibitions at the
Naregatsi Art Institute in Yerevan on Sunday, May 26 and the
Terchoonian Home Orphanage in Gyumri on Monday, May 27. All three
exhibitions will be open, free of charge, until June 8.

Speaker Abrahamyan: What other proofs are necessary to recognize
Armenian Genocide?

May 25, 2013 | 18:22

YEREVAN. – Speaker of the Armenian parliament is hopeful that the U.S.
will once recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire.

On Saturday, Abrahamyan visited the opening of `Along the Trails of
the Armenian Orphans’ exhibition at the National Gallery of Armenia.

`I do not understand what other grounds and proofs are necessary for
acknowledgement and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide,’ he told
reporters.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, Abrahamyan expressed gratitude
to the American nation for rescuing 132,000 orphans who managed to
build their life in the U.S.

He stressed that it is a tragic chapter of the Armenian history that
will be never forgotten.

A photo exhibition `Along the Trails of the Armenian Orphans’ opened
in Yerevan at the imitative of Naregatsi Art Institute and with the
support of the Near East Relief and the U.S. Embassy in Armenia.
Similar exhibitions will open in Naregatsi Art Institute and
`Trchunyan Tun’ orphanage in Gyumri on May 26.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am