Author: Kajoyan Gevork

KURDISH PKK CO-FOUNDER SAKINE CANSIZ SHOT DEAD IN PARIS

10 January 2013 Last updated at 15:48 GMT

The BBC’s Christian Fraser: “Apparently the doors of the institute
had been locked – when police forced their way in at 2am they found
the bodies”

Three Kurdish women activists – including a co-founder of the militant
nationalist PKK – have been found dead with gunshot wounds in a
Kurdish information centre in Paris.

The bodies of Sakine Cansiz and two others were found on Thursday.

France and Turkey both condemned the killings.

The motive for the shootings is unclear. Some 40,000 people have died
in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK.

However, Turkey has recently begun talks with the jailed PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan, with the aim of persuading the group to disarm.

Analysis

Guney Yildiz BBC Turkish It is the first time that such a senior
member of the PKK has been killed in Europe. There has been a tacit
agreement between the PKK and the Turkish government that no such
high-profile attacks would be carried out against either senior PKK
members or senior members of the government.

During the 1980s, there were some attacks believed to be from within
the Turkish state against members of the militant Armenian group Asala,
but there have been no political assassinations targeting the PKK.

The Paris killings come against the backdrop of fresh peace talks
between jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Turkish government.

Those talks have not been easy and have opponents on both sides.

The Turkish government says the previous round of peace talks was
derailed because of a clash between Turkish soldiers and the PKK in
June 2011.

Thursday’s killings will make the current negotiations even more
difficult, no matter who might be behind the attack.

French President Francois Hollande described the killings as
“horrible”, while Interior Minister Manuel Valls said they were
“surely an execution”.

“Rest assured that French authorities are determined to get to the
bottom of these intolerable acts,” he said.

“I condemn this violence,” Turkish government spokesman Bulent Arinc
told reporters. “This is utterly wrong. I express my condolences.”

The BBC’s James Reynolds in Turkey says two rival theories have
emerged about the killings.

The deputy chairman of the ruling party, Husein Celik, said that the
killings appeared to be the result of an internal Kurdish feud.

The theory was later picked up by other officials and commentators
in the Turkish media, who suggested that PKK factions opposed to the
talks were to blame.

But Kurdish activists said the killings were carried out by forces
in the Turkish state itself who wanted to derail the talks.

Our correspondent says that in Turkey many believe that there is a
so-called “deep state” – a powerful nationalistic establishment which
seeks to undermine the work of democratic governments and activists.

Locked doors The three women were last seen inside the information
centre on Wednesday afternoon. Later, a member of the Kurdish community
tried to visit the centre but found the doors were locked.

Hundreds demonstrated outside the scene of the killings Their bodies
– all three bearing gunshot wounds – were found in the early hours
on Thursday.

One of them was Sakine Cansiz, who was detained and tortured in Turkey
in the 1980s, and was close to Ocalan.

A second woman has been named as Fidan Dogan, 32, who worked in the
information centre. She was also the Paris representative of the
Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress.

The third, named as Leyla Soylemez, was a young activist.

Who were the victims?

Sakine Cansiz: Founding member of the PKK, and first senior female
member of the organisation; while jailed, led Kurdish protest movement
out of Diyarbakir prison in Turkey in 1980s; after being released,
worked with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Syria; was a commander
of the women’s guerrilla movement in Kurdish areas of northern
Iraq; later took a lower profile and became responsible for the PKK
women’s movement in Europe Fidan Dogan: Paris representative of the
Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress (KNC) political group;
responsible for lobbying the EU and diplomats on behalf of the PKK
via the KNC Leyla Soylemez: Junior activist working on diplomatic
relations and as a women’s representative on behalf of the PKK
Hundreds of members of the Kurdish community demonstrated outside
the information centre as Mr Valls arrived.

Mr Valls said the French authorities were determined to “shed light
on this act”.

“In this neighbourhood, in this Kurdish information centre, in the
10th arrondissement [district] where many Kurds live, I also came
to express my sympathy to the relatives and close friends of these
three women,” he said.

A representative of the Federation of Kurdish Assocations in France
(Feyka), Leon Edart, told the French BFM news channel that there were
no CCTV cameras in the office.

The PKK took up arms in 1984, and demands greater autonomy for Turkey’s
Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population.

It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist
organisation, because of its attacks on Turkish security forces
and civilians.

In 2012 it stepped up its attacks, leading to the fiercest fighting
in decades, but violence has subsided during the winter.

64-YEAR-OLD MAN CRIES FOR HELP

10.01.13

Gevorg Asatryan, a 64-year-old man, has been homeless for ten years.

He has been living in the underground passage between Koryun and
Abovyan streets for the last six years.

He has turned to the relevant bodies for help in giving him room in
a nursing home.

“My parents died and I found myself outside. I want to be taken to
a nursing home or some other shelter,” Gevorg Asatryan says.

He says he is not a drinker, and the local workers confirm his words.

Gevorg says he has never had any mental problems. But he told Tert.am
that he was discharged from the Nubarashen mental hospital 20 days
ago. He had fainted, and paramedics took him to the mental hospital.

“They kept me there for 40 days, and I returned 20 days ago,” he says.

He does not receive a pension and says his passport is at the
Nubarashen mental hospital.

Marnela Vardanyan, one of the local residents, is indignant at such an
in human treatment of the homeless old man. She is more accusing the
“philanthropist oligarchs” than the relevant bodies. “I can help as
much as I can, but my earnest request that they pay attention to the
poor people,” she says.

Artur Gevorgyan, a Yerevan Municipality official, informed Tert.am
that the Yerevan Municipality continues implementing its homeless
shelter program.

“We respond to any application and provide people with rooms at the
homeless shelter,” he said.

Mr Gevorgyan promised help to Gevorg Asatryan.

ARMEN YEGHIAZARYAN: THE NATION’S ELITE SHOULD BE EMPLOYED IN THE STATE GOVERNANCE SYSTEM
by Emmanuil Lazarian

Thursday, January 10, 21:52

ArmInfo’s interview with ex-minister of economy of Armenia Armen
Yeghiazaryan

The National Center for Legislative Regulation under the Government
of Armenia started taking shape in the second half of 2012 and has
already come out with a number of serious initiatives on reduction
of administrative barriers and improvement of the business environment.

The first topic of 2012 was the sphere of information and
communication, where the “regulatory guillotine” studied the situation
in the market and offered the Government to seriously reform the
license system and to cancel the licenses for internet provision,
voice communication and network construction. Below is ArmInfo News
Agency’s interview with Armen Yeghiazaryan, Head of the National
Center for Legislative Regulation, ex-minister of economy of Armenia.

Mr. Yeghiazaryan, when will a governmental decision on the sphere of
telecommunications be taken?

It has already been taken. As a result, the economic entities will no
longer receive licenses authorizing them to provide data transmission
services and voice communication services. There are also licenses
authorizing entities to build networks, but it is planned to cancel
them in a year, after relevant amendments to the by-laws. The matter
also concerns regulation of the services quality.

Can one suppose that the Center is inclined to depart from the
licensing processes in the sphere of information and communication?

We advocate giving up this practice. For instance, in the case of
Beeline we deal with the license for provision of fixed telephony
services. I think it is inexpedient to license this activity. While
the advocates of licensing think that licensing is needed for creation
of premises for telephone penetration into remote villages, we believe
that this problem is quite resolvable by means of mobile communication:
now the number of subscribers of various mobile operators is higher
in Armenia than the population of the country.

Only the usable radio frequencies and the initial codes of the
operators’ phone communication numbers are to be subject to licensing.

Do the departments cling to the regulation?

Certainly, there may be a disputed situation. However, in this case we
have reached almost full mutual understanding with the Public Services
Regulatory Commission and all our decisions were coordinated with it.

So, our experience of work with the Public Services Regulatory
Commission shows that it will be possible to avoid a conflict, even
if the departments are deprived of power levers.

What other structures do you want to “offend”?

The next sphere is electric power supply. Here the construction and
exploitation of generating capacities and water consumption should
be licensed.

But it is the field of natural monopolies, isn’t it?

It is not so, as a matter of fact. Only the distribution and
transportation networks are the objects of monopolies. As regards
the licensing of electric power generation activity, it will remain,
but here it is necessary to reduce “bureaucratism”, as one and the
same entity is to receive the license for construction of a power
plant, then for its exploitation and then it is to apply to the Public
Services Regulatory Commission to approve the tariff of the generated
electric power within 15 years of payback period. Afterwards this
tariff is to be reduced. The companies exploiting small hydropower
plants are to prolong the license upon expiry of 15 years. It
is necessary to relieve the license burden for power generating
companies with due regard for the fact that now nearly 120 projects on
construction of small HPPs are underway. Another task in the sphere
of power engineering regulation is to connect new subscribers to the
network: by this indicator Armenia ranked the 150th in Doing Business
2012, and has now risen to the 100th position. On the other hand, if
we compare the average price of this connection in Armenia with that
in other countries, it is quite moderate in our country. As regards
the period of connection, the Center has worked out proposals to
reduce that period, but it cannot be considerably reduced. The Public
Services Regulatory Commission representatives agreed that besides
the Electric Networks of Armenia, other companies can also connect
subscribers to the network. The matter concerns the subscribers, who
will be supplied with electric power via a line with the voltage of no
less than 6.35 KV. Now the Electric Networks of Armenia is doing now
such work, it is holding tenders for subcontracting. The idea is to
accelerate the connection of enterprises, large corporate subscribers,
who will no longer wait for their turn for months or even for a year.

This novelty may further cover small and medium businesses as well.

What about water supply?

Such practice is already active in the sphere of water supply:
a subscriber is provided with a point of connection and involves a
specialized company to the process at his/her own wish, but the issue
of connection in this field is not regulated.

Should the organizations engaged in construction activities for
connection to water and electric power supply networks be licensed?

The contractors are provided with a so-called “general” license for
construction, but they receive allowance if they have a relevant
experience and specialists. It should be noted that there are also
problems with regulation in the gas supply field and the Center has
outlined the principles of reforms in the gas supply system. The thing
is that the current regulations have been worked out by ArmRusgasprom
for the gas distribution network development project in the country.

The project is mostly completed and by the gasification level Armenia
holds one of the leading positions in the world.

I would also like to mention that the Center will study the price
formation mechanisms in this sphere. Here the monopolist ArmRusgasprom
imposes some services on the business and the population. We have
suggested canceling this practice and we hope that this problem
will be solved. Certainly, the company should ensure the security
of gas consumption, but it should include its “price” in the gas
tariffs, but not “invent” services and fix prices for them. And we
have revealed many such services I call “Armenian outsourcing”. The
Center suggests that the Public Services Regulatory Commission should
approve these prices.

In general, we have revealed many cases in various spheres, when the
regulatory bodies and monopolistic economic entities provide fanciful
services at uncontrolled prices, and the business and citizens have to
pay for them. A vivid example of it is the services of notary officers,
who united into self-regulated associations and fixed prices for
their compulsory services. But the state has blocked this activity
by means of canceling the obligatoriness of notary certification. I
think the optimal solution is that the state must fix the prices for
all those services that are considered to compulsory.

What other activities is the Center carrying out to study regulation
in the sphere of public services?

First of all, the Center will once again consider the price formation
mechanisms in these spheres and will present its suggestions to the
Public Services Regulatory Commission. In general, the Center is
studying the regulation in the spheres of healthcare, education,
entrepreneurship, financial relations, tax and customs administration.

Healthcare is an interesting, complicated but urgent topic.

We have almost completed the surveys in the sphere of healthcare. The
situation is rather poor in terms regulation, and the reason is also
the healthcare system itself, as this sphere provides 3 or 4 types
of various services. For instance, a patient comes to a hospital,
hoping to get treatment within the frames of the state-guaranteed
order, but he/she is told that the state-guaranteed order funds
are over. The patient may also be told at the polyclinic that the
free X-ray examination may have low quality, and if she/he wants to
receive a high quality service, he/she should pay for the service or
go to the nearby hospital.

I think, the regulation problems are best of all settled in the
British healthcare system, which has free, insured and paid healthcare
simultaneously, but one can receive any medical assistance there
free of charge. I hope a political decision on similar division of
healthcare services will be taken in Armenia as well.

What about education?

The sphere of education also faces some problems, but they are
fewer than the problems in healthcare. In the sphere of education,
particularly, at schools 10-15% of the pupils or students really
study and get knowledge regardless of the quality of the educational
establishments. By the way, this index was almost similar in the
Soviet times.

It is hard to agree with this index. A personnel is trained in
families, at schools and higher educational establishments. I think
the latter has completely decayed.

It is the epoch of internet now, and students educate themselves
if the universities give them nothing. The system does not make the
students get knowledge, because it is commercialized, and I think it
is an absolutely wrong approach.

Is there a chance to cross the 15% limit you have mentioned?

It directly depends on the quality of education. The education system
is directly connected with teachers and lecturers and it is hard to
reform it without taking into account the personnel problem. I think
it is impossible to simply change the education system at the Armenian
higher educational establishments, as the system is connected with
people. It is simply necessary to build the system anew.

And what regulation-related problems does this system have?

The pre-school and school education systems do not need much regulation
as we have few private schools and kindergartens. I think we must
minimize the profit-making element in the education and health care
systems. Profit must not be the goal here. When you commercialize the
higher education system, you get lower social mobility and need to
support your students – as they in the United States do. In Armenia
we have the problem of young people entering university for the only
purpose of dodging the draft. I think we can solve this problem by
making education free of charge for the students that have served in
the army.

Are you considering applying the “regulatory guillotine” in the
transport sector?

Yes, the government has already considered a package of relevant
proposals. We believe that we need public transport of higher passenger
capacity, that is, buses and electric vehicles as well as subway. Most
of our transport problems concern Yerevan. As regards route taxies,
we are suggesting making relevant tenders more transparent and
effective. We also need to regulate the operation of non-scheduled
transport. I mean transportation of tourists and international bus
services. We are also trying to regulate the cargo traffic. Here we
don’t have strong contradictions with the regulators.

There are also questions concerning railway services.

You have been doing this work for half a year already. Are you still
optimistic?

I didn’t expect things to be as complicated as they proved to be,
but this is an interesting work and it makes me enthusiastic. We are
already beginning to find solutions and we hope that our efforts will
give results.

Did your Center make a contribution to Armenia’s going up from 50th
to 32nd rank in Doing Business 2013?

We had no time for making any contribution to this as we started up in
May 2012. This is all thanks to the government and its hard work. On
the other hand, you must not overestimate the 9th rank of Georgia –
for ease of doing business is not the only factor ensuring the high
quality of business. There are also factors that have nothing to
do with regulations. The same is for Armenia: no matter how well
computerized we are and how helpful high-speed internet may be in
working with foreign partners, we are still far from being leaders
in terms of economic development.

Can one say that our progress in Doing Business was due to our
e-governance system?

Not only. Before our center was set up our authorities had already
made it much easier for users to connect to electronic networks
and had improved tax administration. In 2009, when asked about the
key factors preventing companies from being efficient, people named
tax burden, corruption and stealing, while in 2005 stealing was not
mentioned. On the other hand, registration and licensing were no
longer called an obstacle.

Is it easy for you, as former Economy Minister, to look at this all
from aside, especially the problems concerning our state administration
system and the professionalism of our state administrators?

I would not say that I am looking from aside, better say, it is a
look from below, while in the past it was a look from above…

Still what do you think about our state administration system? The
few professionals that are holding high positions in the government
are complaining that most of the people there cannot realize even
elementary decisions.

I think that this is why the government is simplifying the regulations:
they are seeking to minimize the human factor and to replace it with
more efficient electronic systems. I regret to say that the quality
of government services is still low because of numerous blunders and
breaches, with those guilty being still unpunished.

Experts believe that this all comes from the absence of a normal
personnel selection system. In Armenia everything is based on nepotism
and corruption. Here even a schoolteacher vacancy costs $2,000-5,000
depending on where the school is located, let alone the office of a
civil servant – a position implying access to resources.

You never know, but the fact is that we have few professionals who
would like to work in the government system as this is a hard work:
of course, if you are a civil servant there is a chance that once a
year you may be sent abroad for some training course, but, on the other
hard, you are not very popular and do not earn big money. Still loyal
to this system are only people who love their work and know how to do
it – and sometimes they achieve quite interesting and serious results.

I think that only the best must work in a government system – for it
is the government that sets the pace of a country.

Armenia’s state administration system is very like Soviet research
institutes, where two employees worked and eighteen more just drank
coffee, isn’t it?

But sometimes when you drink coffee you may think up quite interesting
things… Of course, you are right: when control is weak some people
may work less than the others. This is why in ministries they sometimes
approve documents that must not be approved as they are simply bad for
the government’s policies. We must start to put things in order here,
at least, to prevent contradictions between laws and their bylaws. In
Armenia this mechanism is not proper yet. On the other hand, today
this system is much more efficient than it was some 15 years ago. At
least we have an electronic workflow here.

We must also cancel superfluous regulations. For example, why do we
still have candidates and doctors of sciences, while almost everybody
in the world, including those who are part of the Bologna Process –
just like us – have only PhD, according to the International Standard
Classification of Education. I am sure that if we suggest leaving
just one degree, there will be a big row. But this problem is not
vital for our future, is it? Georgia has granted PhD to all of its
candidates and doctors, Azerbaijan only to doctors.

It must be hard to push this all, isn’t it?

We are lucky – we just suggest solutions, while to put them into
practice is the government’s business.

SERZH SARGSYAN HAD A FAREWELL MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR OF TURKMENISTAN

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to Armenia Ata
Serdarov who is concluding his diplomatic mission in our country.

Press service of Armenian President informs about this.

The President of Armenia hailed nearly three-year long activities
of Ambassador Serdarov in the strengthening and development of the
Armenian-Turkmen relations and underscored that during his tenure
there were organized high-level reciprocal visits, agreements were
reached in a number of areas aimed at the elevation of the political
relations and cooperation of the two friendly countries to a new level,
noting that all necessary prerequisites for it are in place.

President Serzh Sargsyan wished all the best to Ata Serdarov in his
future activities.

10.01.13, 17:00

A TASTE OF ARMENIA

01/10/2013 16:06

By FAYE AND YAKIR LEVY

Lahmajun, flatbread with a light meat topping, is a common specialty
though there is some debate over its origin.

Photo by: Wikimedia Commons Day-long trips to Glendale, a southern
California city known as the center of Armenian American life, have
given us opportunities to feast on the favorite foods of Armenians.

“Food and its preparation are one of the cornerstones of Armenian
culture,” writes Sonia Uvezian in The Cuisine of Armenia. This seems
evident from the number of bakeries and food markets in Glendale.

According to the city of Glendale’s website, most of the Armenians who
live there today were born in Iran, followed by those from Armenia
and, finally, those from Lebanon. Just about every bakery we have
visited is proud of its lahmajun, sometimes called “Armenian pizza,”
a very thin flatbread with a light meat topping.

Interestingly, when we ask Armenians where to get the best lahmajun,
the response varies. Some enthusiastically recommend their favorite
bakery, while others simply shrug and say “that’s not an Armenian dish;
it’s Lebanese.”

In Beirut, lahmajun is made to order at Armenian neighborhood bakeries,
writes Joumana Accad of the Tasteofbeirut.com blog. We had excellent
lahmajun in northern Israel as well as in Gaziantep, a city in Turkey
near the Syrian border, where it was presented as a Turkish specialty.

Unlike the lahmajun we enjoyed in Turkey, which was usually made with
lamb, the lahmajun at the Armenian bakeries we visited in Glendale
were topped with beef. For Lent, Armenian bakeries offer meatless
lahmajun, with sauteed eggplant or other vegetables replacing the meat.

ARMENIANS HAVE a lot in common with Jews; their culinary culture has
been impacted by many cuisines, especially Middle Eastern and Eastern
European. We have met Armenians from Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Israel,
as well as from Armenia. Uvezian notes that today’s Armenia is “barely
one-tenth the size of historical Armenia (the rest is divided among
Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan) and many Armenians are dispersed
the world over. Some half a million live in the Middle East… and
a somewhat larger number reside in North America.”

Another Armenian specialty we enjoy at Glendale bakeries is burek
(also spelled borek, boereg or byorek).

Our favorite is spicy cheese burek, a long, boat-shaped turnover with
a feta cheese filling seasoned with semihot red pepper flakes. As
with Israeli burekas, you can also find meat bureks and potato bureks.

There is even a burek filled with spinach and tahini, sometimes
characterized as “Lenten burek,” presumably developed during
Armenian Church “fast days” when dairy neither dairy foods nor meat
are allowed. The spinach bureks we ate were often flavored with
sumac and were triangular in shape; to us they looked like large,
flattened hamentashen.

There was a major difference between the bureks we sampled in Glendale
and those we know from Israel. The Armenian bureks were made with
a yeast dough that resembled a rich bread dough and reminded us of
piroshki. Perhaps this is a legacy from the period when Armenia was
part of the Soviet Union.

Indeed, some say that even the words “piroshki” and “burek” are
related.

Like Turks and Israelis, Armenians make bureks with filo dough
and puff pastry. Armenians who prepare these classic bureks use a
different name when referring to bureks made with bread dough. Indeed,
the names of all these pastries vary widely according to the origin
of the person who made them.

To us, they are all variations of burekas and, most importantly,
they are all delicious.

Faye Levy is the author of Feast from the Mideast.

LAHMAJUN – THIN FLATBREADS WITH MEAT TOPPING

Serve these thin pizzas as a main course or a party snack, or in
wedges as an appetizer.

Some top the pizza with shredded lettuce or thin sticks of cucumber
and fold the pizza around the vegetables. For a quicker option,
you can use prepared pizza dough or bread dough.

Makes 4 servings

Pizza Dough (see Note below) or 450 to 500 gr. (1 pound) purchased
pizza dough 225 gr. (1â~A~D2 pound) lean ground lamb or beef (1 cup)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste 1 medium onion, minced 3 large garlic cloves,
minced 1â~A~D2 tsp. salt, or to taste 1â~A~D2 tsp freshly ground black
pepper, or to taste 1â~A~D2 tsp. ground allspice, or to taste 1â~A~D2
tsp. semi-hot ground red pepper or pinch of cayenne (optional) 225
gr. (1â~A~D2 pound) ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped,
or a 225-gr. (8-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained and chopped smaller
1â~A~D3 cup finely chopped parsley 1â~A~D3 cup pine nuts (optional)
1 to 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Make dough and let rise.

To make topping: In a bowl, thoroughly mix meat with tomato paste,
onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, spice blend and red pepper.

Add tomatoes, parsley and pine nuts and mix well. Broil a teaspoon
of the mixture on a piece of foil until cooked through and taste it
for seasoning. Add more salt, pepper and spice to mixture if needed
Lightly oil 2 baking sheets. Divide dough in 4 pieces. Roll each to
an 18- or 20-cm.

(7- or 8-inch) round slightly over 3 mm. (1â~A~D8 inch) thick. Put
on baking sheets. Spread topping evenly but gently over pizza with
back of spoon, leaving a 1-cm. (1â~A~D2-inch) border. Press lightly
so topping adheres and sprinkle it with oil.

Preheat oven to 205ºC (400ºF). Let pastries rise for about 15
minutes.

Bake for 18 minutes or until dough is golden brown and firm and meat
is cooked through. Serve hot.

Note: Pizza Dough: Sprinkle 7 gr. (1â~A~D4 ounce) dry yeast over
1â~A~D4 cup lukewarm water in a cup and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir
until smooth. In food processor, process 2 cups bread flour or
all-purpose flour and 1 tsp. salt briefly to mix them. Add 1â~A~D2
cup water and 11â~A~D2 Tbsp olive oil to yeast mixture. With blades
of processor turning, gradually pour yeast-liquid mixture into flour
mixture. Process until mixture becomes a dough. If dough is too dry
to come together, add 1 Tbsp. water and process again. Process about
1 minute to knead dough.

Place dough in a lightly oiled medium-sized bowl. Turn dough over to
coat entire surface. Cover with plastic wrap or a lightly dampened
towel. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area about 1 hour or
until doubled in volume.

CHEESE BUREK

This recipe is adapted from The Cuisine of Armenia. Author Sonia
Uvezian serves these pastries as appetizers or as accompaniments for
light soups or salads.

Such cheese turnovers made with bread dough might also be called
“banerov hahts,” “banirov pide” or” peynirlee.” If an Armenian family
came from Lebanon, they might call their savory turnovers “fatayers.”

If you’d like to make the filling a little spicy, mix 1â~A~D4 tsp. hot
red pepper flakes or ground semi-hot red pepper with the cheese,
or more to taste. Makes about 15 pastries

1 egg 1â~A~D4 cup milk 110 gr. (4 ounces or 1â~A~D2 cup) melted
butter 1â~A~D4 tsp. sugar 1â~A~D2 tsp. salt 1â~A~D2 tsp. dried yeast
1 1â~A~D2 tsp. cold water 1 1â~A~D2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose
flour Cheese Filling (see Note below) Melted butter (for brushing
the shaped pastries)

In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add the milk, half the butter, the
sugar and the salt and blend well. Dissolve the yeast in the water
and add. Gradually add the flour. Place the dough on a lightly floured
surface and knead until smooth.

Divide into 15 portions and shape each into a small ball. Roll out
each ball into a circle 15 cm. (6 inches) in diameter.

Brush with some of the remaining melted butter. Fold the lower third
of each circle over the middle and brush with the butter. Bring
the top third over this and brush it with the butter. Fold the left
third over the center and brush with the butter. Finally, fold the
right third over that, making a 5- to 6-cm. (2- to 2 1â~A~D4-inch)
square. Cover and place in the refrigerator. Repeat with the remaining
dough and butter, refrigerating each burek as it is folded.

After 1 hour, remove the bureks one at a time, as needed, and roll out
into a 41â~A~D2- inch square. Place a spoonful of the filling in the
center. Dip a finger in cold water and moisten the edges. Fold the
dough over into a triangle. Press the edges together to seal. Prick
the top in three places with the point of a small, sharp knife. Brush
with the melted butter and place on a baking sheet. Leave in a warm
place for 3 to 31â~A~D2 hours.

Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF). Bake pastries for 20 minutes or
until golden brown. Serve hot.

Cheese Filling: Beat 2 eggs slightly in a mixing bowl. Drain 225 gr.

(8 ounces) cottage cheese and add to eggs. Add 110 gr. (4 ounces)
grated feta cheese and blend well. Add 1â~A~D4 cup finely chopped
parsley.

Add salt if needed, taking into account the saltiness of the feta
cheese. Makes about 2 cups filling.

“ZURABYAN-OSKANYAN”, “EDIK MINASYAN” “OPERATIONS”: THE CONSTITUTIONAL NORM IS VIOLATED IN BOTH CASES

2013-01-10 17:11:25

A few days ago a record was widely used in the press, which was made
in the post-election period, when the Dean of YSU History Faculty
Edik Minasyan told the students that if one of them or the lecturers
participated in the demonstrations, he would be removed from the
university.

And to the question of one of the students: “Is it my constitutional
right?” Minasyan said: “What is a constitutional right?”.

Lurer.com talked about this with Edik Minasyan, who described the
record as an organized provocation.

Intense discussions around the record began in Facebook,too. All
accused Dean of articulated thoughts and described it as a restriction
of freedom of rights and violation of constitutional order.

If even consider the fact that the sounded words in the record is
really a gross violation of the Constitution, however, it is a gross
violation of the collection, storage and dissemination of information
without the knowledge or consent individual, if it is inconsistent
with the objective of collecting information or required by law.

Just a month ago, when the Internet added wiretapping private meeting
of the Parliamentary Leader of the Armenian National Congress Levon
Zurabyan and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, the deputy from the
party of “Prosperous Armenia” Oskanyan, everyone started talking about
it taht it was a violation of the constitutional and criminal law,
refused to comment on the main conversation and turned to tapping.

Nevertheless, the Dean’s record is on the Internet, and discussions
are ongoing. Merely clear: in both cases there was a gross violation
of constitutional norms. Let us, and this time do not apply to ideas
voiced in the record, thus showing respect for the Constitution.

Note that the 23rd article of the Constitution states: “The collection,
storage, use and dissemination of information about the private life
of a person without his or her consent is not permitted.”

And the 142nd article of the Criminal Code provides: “Everyone has
the right of privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations,
postal, telegraph and other messages. A limitation of this right can
be allowed only by court order. ”

Gayane Hambardzumyan

VAST PROGRAM DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE INTRODUCED

15:56, 10 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. Advancing the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide various Armenian administrations and organizations
will introduce wide range of events. In this respect the Ministry
of Culture of the Republic of Armenia has a lot of work to do. It’s
necessary to introduce to the world that one century ago not only
the Armenian people, but the Armenian culture as well fell victims
of the genocide organized by the Turks.

In a conversation with “Armenpress” the Minister of Culture of
the Republic of Armenia Hasmik Poghosyan stated that the Ministry
of Culture of the Republic of Armenia will organize a number of
exhibitions, which will be introduced in different countries. Hasmik
Poghosyan stated: “We must spare no effort to organize everything
so that wherever you look, you could see exquisite pieces of the
Armenian culture.”

On the order of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan a special state
committee has been formed to support the procedure of international
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and coordination
of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan took
over the chairmanship of the aforementioned committee.

“AS ARAM SARGSYAN WOULD SAY, THE REGIME WILL SURELY BE TOPPLED IN 4 DAYS”

JANUARY 9, 2013 17:04

“After the events of March, the Armenian National Congress (ANC)
has always promised Armenian society change and radical solution.

Moreover, as Aram Sargsyan would say, the regime will surely be
toppled in 4 days. Levon Ter-Petrossian would say they would topple
the regime. What do they say now? I would say at the time that nothing
could be ‘sure,’ as far as society is concerned,” political scientist
Levon Shirinyan made this comment on the Congress members’ criticism
of Hrant Bagratyan during a conversation with According
to their opinion, those who announce their candidacies legitimize
the Serzh Sargsyan regime.

According to the political scientist, “We should be realists. There
is a revolutionary path, which is the same around the world. Armenia
doesn’t have the necessary resources. There are no human resources. If
you want to carry out a revolution, you should have at least 100 drams
in your pocket to take public transport. In that case, money may come
from abroad, because a revolution needs financing and all. Presently,
the Congress is not a party to raise an issue of party discipline and
to criticize Bagratyan. Now both Bagratyan and I are free citizens. I
don’t share those ideas of theirs. They call everyone a traitor, but
they have betrayed the people, as far as treachery is concerned. No
one has betrayed the ANC; they just couldn’t do anything.”

The political scientist singled out a line from Hrant Bagratyan’s
speech, “He said a brilliant thing. He said they had made a mistake by
not populating the liberated territories. Which of former government
officials has said something like that? This one is independent from
Serzh Sargsyan and Levon Ter-Petrossian, as well as many others. If
these nominees bring about something positive for our society, they
should remain. Those who shot at the people outside the National
Assembly in 1996 and said that there wouldn’t be any change of power
caused the current situation, there is no denying.”

As for what will happen to the ANC, the political scientist thinks
that its destiny is already predetermined. “The ANC is not a party.

They rallied to topple the ruling regime, they were unsuccessful,
now they should disperse, what is the problem? The ANC should recover
and establish a party. Let them establish a liberal party, hold a
founding congress. Armenia will only benefit from that. The rest,
who is a traitor and who is not… if Bagratyan can play Franklin
Roosevelt’s role, fine, let him do that.”

SAMVEL KARAPETYAN: ARMENIAN PRODUCERS SEEM TO PREFER RUSSIAN/ENGLISH LABELS

13:31, January 10, 2013

Samvel Karapetyan, who heads the Yerevan branch of the Research on
Armenian Architecture NGO, speaks out about the proliferation of
labelling on Armenian products that give precedence to Russian and
English over Armenian.

He recounts an incident last year when he noticed that garlic produced
in Azerbaijan was being sold in stores throughout Armenia. Each clove,
he says, was like a bullet fired from Baku.

Karapetyan points to this incident as forcing him to pay more attention
to what is being sold in Armenian markets and how Armenia made products
are labelled.

HELP LILIT

12:03, January 10, 2013

In September 2012 four year old Lilit was diagnosed to have a cancer of
the kidney. Now Lilit is in a hospital in Lill, France. A great part
of money for treatment is already transfered, but the full treatment
will last at least 1 year, and more than 30.000$ is needed.

Each amount of money you donate will help Lilit. Please, help to save
her life. Thank you all.

For transfers in USD Armeconombank, Armenia Beneficiary: Araqelyan
Shushanik Account no:163288028158 tel: +37491210213 Kamo (Lilit`s
father)