Author: Kajoyan Gevork

The West has one-sided approach in Karabakh conflict settlement issue – analyst

15:05 – 21.04.13

Unlike Kosovo issue, in Nagorno Karabakh conflict issue the West has a
one-sided approach which has not promoted the settlement of the NK
conflict, political analyst Manvel Sargsyan said speaking to Tert.am,
commenting on the signing of agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on
the settlement of relations with EU’s brokering on April 19.

`The position in Karabakh issue is one-sided, uncertain that is why no
concrete field for negotiations opens. The proposals of the Minsk
group are so far from and it is impossible to continue the talks. I
think until the West and Russia do not change their approach it will
be difficult to wait for progress,’ he stressed.

Kosovo broke away in 2008. While many countries recognise it as an
independent country, Serbia does not.
Many minority ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have refused to recognise the
authority of the mainly ethnic Albanian government in Pristina, since
it unilaterally declared independence five years ago.
Manvel Sargsyan stressed that the EU’s success in Kosovo issue is
agreed with the circumstance that they have put a certain issue before
Serbia connected with the European integration.

`Serbia understood quite well why it was signing the agreement, they
knew what they would get. In our case Azerbaijan does not have any
wish to come to agreement as any such consent will mean it recognizes
the rights of Armenia, right of Karabakh people. They do not have such
wish. They do not sign any document and they do not recognize any
rights,’ he said.

The analyst said the agreement was signed on the basis of EU
proposals. From the very beginning the EU has offered concrete things
to Serbia. He said in our case the situation has become more difficult
after OSCE meeting in Astana.

`The EU has clear integration program and tries to settle this or that
conflict through it. Everyone understands what political goals are
pursued and what they get from it,’ the analyst said, adding that the
NKR seems to have been left out from EU integration program.

Sargsyan said the EU’s efforts to get involved in NK conflict
settlement fail. `We even do not imagine what will happen in case of
the EU’s interference as it is an unprecedented political direction
for the EU. It is difficult to say what it would have given to us,’
the analyst concluded.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Targeted News Service
April 19, 2013 Friday 1:08 AM EST

Victims are Remembered During 98th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide

HACKENSACK, N.J.

The Bergen County Executive issued the following news release:

Bergen County will hold a memorial for those affected by the tragic
events of the Armenian Genocide on Wednesday, April 24th.

When & Where: Wednesday, April 24th @ 12:30pm – Bergen County

Courthouse – The Lawn on Main Street (BC Courthouse Green)

Address:

10 Main Street

Hackensack, NJ 07601

This is the 98th anniversary of the events of the Armenian Genocide
where 1.5 Million innocent Armenians were massacred at the hands of
the Ottoman Turks (between 1915-1920).

Local members of the Armenian community will be present at the event,
such as The Knights and Daughters of Vartan. Speakers at the event
include Grand Vice Commander of the Knights of Vartan John Lawrence
Shahdanian, Esq.

Armenian opposition starts campaign events

April 20, 2013 | 19:11

YEREVAN.- Armenian National Congress (ANC)started Yerevan Council
election campaign in Avan district of Armenia’s capital.

Secretary of ANC faction opened the meeting with voters, presenting
proportional list of ANC. Party’s activists were carrying banners
calling on the ruling Republican Party of Armenia to leave the posts
in municipality: `Council of Elders is not a place for criminals’, `No
to criminal RPA.’

Six political parties and one bloc have submitted formal applications
to run in the Yerevan Council elections. The latter are slated for May
5, and the participating political forces will vie for 65 Council
seats. The election campaign will come to an end on May 3. The Yerevan
Council election will be held with proportional lists only.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh region left unattended

21:30 – 20.04.13

Many historical-cultural monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh’s Kashatagh
region are in a dire need of protection, an editor of a local
publication has said in Yerevan.

`Thousands of historical monuments in the region are the best evidence
that the territory is Armenian. So our demand is to have them at least
reinforced,’ Zohrap Erkoyan, the editor-in-chief of the Meran
newspaper, told a news conference on Saturday.

The best monument, he said, is the Varazgom monastery, a 9th century
construction that needs renovation.

`Besides, there are 18th century churches which also need repairs,’ he
said, adding that the region also has rock carved churches whose
repairs require very small costs.

Iran’s daily electricity exports stand at 1.74GW
Economic Desk

On Line: 20 April 2013 17:32
In Print: Sunday 21 April 2013

TEHRAN – Iran exported 1.448 gigawatts (GW) of electricity to its
neighboring countries on Friday, IRNA reported.

The country exported electricity to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan,
Armenia, and Turkey, while imported 292 megawatts (MW) of electricity
from Armenia and Turkmenistan.

Iran exported 11.054 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to its
neighboring countries in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended
on March 20.

The volume of electricity exports rose by 29 percent year on year.

Iran also imported 3.968 billion kilowatt hours of electricity last
year, showing 8 percent rise year on year.

Iran has constructed power plants twice as many as the average number
of power plants which have been constructed in the world during the
past decade, the Mehr News Agency quoted deputy energy minister
Mohammad Behzad as saying.

The power generation capacity in Iran has grown by 7 percent annually
during the past 10 years, he said, adding that the figure has averaged
3.5 percent in the world.

The country’s power generation capacity is currently at 68.38
gigawatts, he added.

Iran currently trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan,
Azerbaijan (including Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.

Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has
attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction
of three new power plants.

Language barriers limited Georgia’s ethnic minorities’ access to
information – State Department report

April 20, 2013 | 17:36

Among the most important human rights problems reported in Georgia
last year were torture and abuse of prisoners, says the State
Department’s 2012 Report on Human Rights Practices.

`Torture and abuse of prisoners, detainees, and others by government
corrections and law enforcement officials before the October change in
government, as well as dangerously substandard prison conditions,’ the
reports says.

Other problems reported during the period were shortfalls in the rule
of law, such as lack of judicial independence and a lack of objective
judicial scrutiny of executive actions, impediments to the exercise of
the fundamental freedoms of association, assembly, and expression,
particularly for members of the political opposition.

According to the report, Georgia was primarily a source country, but
also a transit country, for trafficking in persons.

Both geography and language barriers limited ethnic minorities’ access
to information. `Local government officials in Samtskhe-Javakheti
voiced concern that the lack of significant Georgian news programs in
minority languages alienated many members of national minority
communities,’ the report says.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Restrictions on civil society and corruption major human rights
problems in Armenia – US Department of State

17:04 – 20.04.13

In 2012, the most significant human rights problems in Armenia were
limitations on the right of citizens to change their government,
corruption and lack of transparency in government, and the limited
independence of the judiciary, the US Department of State says in its
2012 country report on Armenia.

The document hghlights the major flaws in the conduct of May 6
parliamentary elections and corruption at different levels of
government. It further addresses political pressures against courts
and deaths in the military. The prison problems, including
overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and unsanitary conditions have
been mentioned as a separate area of concern.

The summary of the report is presented below:

Flaws in the conduct of May 6 legislative elections included the
misuse of government resources to support the ruling party, credible
allegations of vote buying, deficiencies in the complaints and appeals
process, and continued shortcomings in the electoral code despite
improvements. Allegations of persistent corruption at all levels of
government undermined the rule of law, although the government took
limited steps to punish low- to mid-level official corruption. Courts
remained subject to political pressure from the executive branch,
which resulted in some politically motivated prosecutions and
sentencing.

Other abuses reported during the year included suspicious deaths in
the military under noncombat conditions, continued hazing and other
mistreatment of conscripts by officers and fellow soldiers, and a lack
of accountability for such actions. Police allegedly continued to
employ torture to obtain confessions and reportedly beat citizens
during arrest and interrogation. Many prisons were overcrowded,
unsanitary, and lacking in medical services for inmates. Authorities
continued to arrest and detain criminal suspects without reasonable
suspicion and to detain individuals arbitrarily. Trials were often
prolonged, and courts failed to enforce laws providing for fair
trials. Laws against government intrusion on the right to privacy and
unlawful searches were inadequately enforced. The pre-election period
was marked by diverse media coverage; however, the media continued to
lack diversity of political opinion and objective reporting outside
the campaign period. Members of religious minorities suffered from
societal discrimination. Domestic violence remained a problem but
largely went unreported to authorities. Human trafficking was a
problem, which authorities made efforts to combat.

Persons with disabilities experienced discrimination in almost all
areas of life. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons
were subjected to societal abuse and discrimination by military and
prison authorities. Workers’ rights were limited and labor laws weakly
enforced.

Although the government took some steps to punish officials in the
security forces and elsewhere who committed abuses, some members of
the security forces continued to commit human rights abuses with
impunity while under the direction of civilian leadership. The
government issued a report in December 2011 on its investigation into
the deaths of eight civilians and two police officers following the
2008 presidential election but, as of year’s end, had not held anyone
accountable made efforts to combat. Persons with disabilities
experienced discrimination in almost all areas of life. Lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons were subjected to societal
abuse and discrimination by military and prison authorities. Workers’
rights were limited and labor laws weakly enforced.

Although the government took some steps to punish officials in the
security forces and elsewhere who committed abuses, some members of
the security forces continued to commit human rights abuses with
impunity while under the direction of civilian leadership. The
government issued a report in December 2011 on its investigation into
the deaths of eight civilians and two police officers following the
2008 presidential election but, as of year’s end, had not held anyone
accountable.

The full report can be accessed here.

Heritage, Republican most active Armenian parties on Facebook – expert

13:55 – 20.04.13

A monitoring of the political forces’ Facebook activeness has revealed
that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and Heritage are the
most active parties on the popular social networking site.

At a news conference on Saturday, information security expert Tigran
Kocharyan said that a high level of activeness was particularly
observed in the period of the February presidential polls.

`Political parties decided, over the recent years, to be represented
there for conducting their campaigning. We particularly became the
eyewitness of that in the course of the recent presidential election.
The RPA and Heritage are the more active. Then comes the [Armenian
Revolutionary Federtation-] Dashnaksutyun, but not as a party but in
terms of the individual representatives,’ he said, noting that the
opposition Armenian National Congress is working in parallel with the
Prosperous Armenia party which was formerly represented in the ruling
coalition.

Official data have revealed that 400,000 Armenians are registered on
Facebook, of whom 300,000 are real users, the expert said.

Kovharyan noted that an increasing number of people seek to subscribe
to the website now in order to be better informed of the ongoing
developments around.

`[Heritage party leader] Raffi Hovhannisyan’s April 9 rally was
attended on average by 15,000 people, but more than 18,000 watched it
live. So, people turn out to prefer watching more,’ he said, adding
that the digital space makes a person feel himself or herself feel a
participant of the process without going out.

Kocharyan noted in the meantime that Facebook doesn’t reflect the
society’s opinion on the whole, as people in the village are very
often inactive on the online platform.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Expert: The parties to the Karabakh conflict are ready to negotiate
without intermediaries

ARMINFO
Saturday, April 20, 16:35

In fact, today the parties to the Karabakh conflict are already ready
to conduct a direct dialogue without intermediaries, an expert on
international issues, Hovanes Igityan, told ArmInfo correspondent.

“Today the intermediaries suppress the possibility of the battle
actions resumption”, – he said. He also added that the three key world
players which deal with the Karabakh conflict, the USA, Russia and
France, may prevent any battle action if they want, especially between
such small countries like Armenia and Azerbaijan.

At the same time, Igityan said that the wish about mediation in the
Karabakh conflict is often voiced from the side of the regional
players, which is quite natural. “When Iran says about that, it is
more or less admissible, as Iran has good relations with Armenia and
bearable relations with Azerbaijan. But when Turkey speaks about that
– it’s an outrage”, – the expert said.

Asked if Iran may be a guarantee of non-renewal of the battle actions
in the region, Igityan replied: “I think, he cannot, especially if we
take into consideration its shaky position in the world community.
Only the countries of the OSCE Minsk Group can ensure regional
stability”.

What did Prosperous Armenia Party leader and President Sargsyan
discuss? – newspaper

April 20, 2013 | 08:22

YEREVAN. – Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Chairman Gagik Tsarukyan was
at the Presidential Residence where he met with President Serzh
Sargsyan, during which he discussed, with the President, the matter of
appointing the Premier, Zhamanak daily reports.

`Yesterday [Friday], however, Sargsyan [already] signed a decree on
the appointment of the PM. According to some information, being
convinced that he was unable to remove [Tigran] Sargsyan from the
position of the PM, Tsarukyan attempted to learn the opportunities for
cooperation they would have.

That is, they discussed their [that is, the PAP’s] potential
participation in the coalition, or the government, to be formed after
the [capital city Yerevan] mayor’s election,’ Zhamanak writes.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am