Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS TO STAGE DEMONSTRATION TO SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO ELECTORAL CODE

YEREVAN, November 20. /ARKA/. The opposition Armenian National
Congress (ANC) will stage a demonstration on Wednesday outside the
National Assembly building in support of the ANC-proposed amendments
to the Armenian electoral code, Levon Zurabyan, head of the Congress’
faction in the National Assembly, was quoted by Novosti-Armenia News
Agency as saying.

The National Assembly will convene an extraordinary session tomorrow
in response to the ANC’s request to discuss the amendments to the
electoral code and to the law on the state population registry.

“We invite all those people anxious to have the country’s electoral
code amended to gather at 14:00 outside the parliament building,
where we will try to reach our goal,” Zurabyan said.

The Armenian National Congress proposes transition from mixed system
which implies election through party lists and in individual races
to fully proportional party elections.

The Congress also proposes to tighten grip upon election campaigns to
prevent election bribery, to introduce mechanisms which live no room
for repeat voting and pressures on voters, to create equal conditions
for all the political parties’ election campaigns and to introduce
a new system for filing complaints.

The Armenian National Congress, opposition parties’ bloc established
in August 2008 is headed by the first president of independent
Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The bloc comprises 18 parties and
organizations. The Congress has seven members in the parliament.

–0—

RULING BLOC MPS DERAIL OPPOSITION BILL; CELEBRATE WITH WHISKEY TOAST
Grisha Balasanyan

hetq
12:57, November 21, 2012

MPs of the ruling Republican Party and its junior coalition partner
Country of Law, walked out of the parliament today in a move designed
to declare the session null and void.

Opposition parties had called for a special session to discuss a
draft bill to make modifications ands amendments to the country’s
electoral code.

When it appeared that the opposition had garnered enough signatures
for the session, the ruling bloc members walked out.

According to parliamentary procedure, if a quorum cannot be assembled
in three hours, the session is cancelled.

When the session was officially declared void, many members retired
to their offices to celebrate their victory with a whiskey toast.

TURKISH VICE-CONSUL CANCELS MODEL UN APPEARANCE AT UCLA

Students at the UCLA-hosted Model UN

AYF and UCLA ASA educate Conference attendees about Vice Consul’s
opposing principles

LOS ANGELES-On Saturday, November 17, the collective efforts of
the UCLA Armenian Students Association (ASA) and Armenian Youth
Federation (AYF), with the support of the Armenian National Committee
of America-Western Region (ANCA-WR) caused Tolga Arslan, Turkish
Vice Consul to cancel his appearance at the Los Angeles Model United
Nations Conference at UCLA.

The Los Angeles Model UN Conference has been hosted by BruinMUN (Bruin
Model United Nations) for the past eight consecutive years and attracts
more than 1,000 high school students from across Southern California to
gather at UCLA and participant in dialogues regarding current events,
international relations, and above all, the United Nations principles.

“The United Nations is an international organization whose mission
includes the advancement of friendly international relations, thus
emphasizing regional peace and stability, the freedom of thought and
expression, and human rights in general,” explained Stepan Keshishian,
Executive Director of the AYF, “Many of Turkey’s policies are in direct
violation of UN principles. It is therefore highly problematic to
invite the Vice Consul of Turkey to serve as the keynote speaker at
this conference, and to essentially present himself and his country
as a valid representation of UN principles.”

Arslan was invited to be the keynote speaker at the BruinMUN
conference, and was supposed to deliver an introductory speech to
the conference participants. Just as the conference began, it was
announced that Arslan had made a last minute cancellation.

“When the Vice Consul of Turkey, a country notorious for its Human
rights violations, is invited to our campus to speak to thousand
impressionable high school students on human rights, we cannot stay
silent.” said Knarik Gasparyan, Publicity Director for UCLA ASA.

“It was not only our right but also our responsibility to protest
against his presence and speech as well as to educate the students
on what the Consul and his country stand for and represent.”

During the event, as students started filing into Ackerman Grand
Ballroom, the UCLA ASA the AYF combined forces, protesting outside
and passing out informative flyers about Turkey’s complete disregard
for Human Rights and the United Nations Charter.

“It is not only important that the student participants are educated
about Turkey’s blatant violations of human rights and the UN Charter,
but that the organizers of the event are abreast of these issues as
well,” remarks ANCA-WR External Affairs Deputy, Tereza Yerimyan. “The
ANCA-WR is very pleased to have seen the youth organizations come
together on a college campus to highlight the facts of the situation.”

The Armenian Youth Federation along with the UCLA ASA would like to
thank the ANCA for their continuous support of our activities and
commend them on their work for the Armenian Cause.

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most
influential Armenian American youth organization in the United States,
working to advance the social, political, educational and cultural
awareness of Armenian-American youth.

REPUBLICAN PARTY DEMONSTRATES DISRESPECT TOWARD ARMENIA’S CONSTITUTION, ARF-D REP SAYS

tert.am
21.11.12

Head of Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D)
faction Armen Rustamyan stated today at the NA that the ruling
Republican party’s decision not to participate in the extraordinary
sitting is an irresponsible step and demonstration of indifference
toward the Constitution.

He said the ARF-D faction will apply to the Ethics Committee with
the issue. “The MPs are obliged to attend the NA sittings,” he said,
stressing that it is not their right, but obligation.

“We have prepared a letter and we will apply to the Ethics Committee.

It has been set up for the discussion of such issues. All the MPs
who should have come to the sitting but failed to do it because of
ungrounded reasons have toughly violated ethics,” the ARF-D MP said.

He said the RPA has not boycotted the sitting. “If it was so they
would have come but would have stated that they do not participate
in the voting,” he said.

VICE SPEAKER: ALIYEV’S CYNICAL REMARKS REMINISCENT OF HITLER

November 21, 2012 – 15:29 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian National Assembly vice speaker Eduard
Sharmazanov commented on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent
statement.

In conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, he dubbed Aliyev
“totalitarian leader of a totalitarian country.”

“Aliyev shows by his cynical remarks that there are still supporters
of fascism in the 21st century, and that this ideology flourishes
thanks to leaders like him,” parliament vice speaker said, adding
that Aliyev’s statement is reminiscent of the 1930s-1940s and Nazi
leader Adolf Hitler.

Aliyev made the remarks on Armenia during a meeting dedicated to the
20th anniversary of New Azerbaijan Party.

In his speech Azeri President dubbed “Armenia a country of no value,
a colony, an outpost run from abroad.” Moreover, he called Armenia
“territory artificially created on ancient Azerbaijani lands.”

“Azerbaijan grows stronger and more powerful with every passing year,
while Armenia weakens and declines every year,” Aliyev said.

PROFESSOR HAILS FOREIGN DIPLOMATS’ INTEREST IN NKR

November 21, 2012 – 15:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Professor of Political Science at Central
European University Laszlo Kemeny noted he shows great interest in
Artsakh-related issues.

“Interest in the future of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic has recently
grown in international diplomacy. OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are
expected to visit the region in late November. Representatives
of Australia’s New South Wales have recently voiced concern with
NKR-related problems, with Uruguayan high-ranking officials visiting
the republic last week. Uruguay expressed respect for NKR people’s
right to self-determination and independence building efforts. The
country’s Foreign Minister Luis Almagro’s speech at a parliamentary
meeting proved the above mentioned,” he told PanARMENIAN.Net calling
on other officials to follow Uruguay’s suit.

Professor Kemeny further voiced hope for the complicated political
process to move forward gradually.

He also hailed Uruguay’s readiness to be the first country to recognize
Artsakh independence if the initiative positively affects the problem
resolution.

HOW ENDED URUGUAY WRAPPED IN A DIPLOMATIC CONFLICT IN THE CAUCASUS
Natalio Cosoy

BBC News

1 h 25 min ago
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A soldier in Nagorno Karabakh points his gun towards the border with
Azerbaijan. (Photo by October 25, 2012.)

The region is in a state of high tension.

How did Uruguay involved in a diplomatic row with the largest
exrepública Soviet Caucasus, Azerbaijan, more than 13,000 kilometers
from Montevideo?

It all started with the visit of a delegation of parliamentarians
Uruguayan Armenia, who on 13 and 14 November and crossed into
Azerbaijan joined the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which
live just under 150,000 people of Armenian origin, and met with
local authorities.

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Upon learning of the visit, Azerbaijan, which considers the territory
of Nagorno Karabakh as their own, sent a formal complaint to the
Uruguayan foreign ministry in which he requested to investigate
what had happened. The note claimed that the visit was made without
permission of the Azerbaijani government, which was illegal, and
that could affect the negotiations and the peace process between that
country and Nagorno Karabakh.

Nagorny Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijan fears beliefs-that Uruguay
could become the first country to recognize the de facto state.

APA News Agency (Azerbaijan Press Agency, a private news distribution
Caucasus) published a part of the South American country’s response
to the complaint of Azerbaijan, where we read that the “principal
Uruguay government’s desire not is simply to make efforts to resolve
the conflict. “He adds that the behavior or Uruguayan positions
“should not be interpreted outside that framework.”

THE ROLE OF THE DIASPORA

The origin of the conflict

Map of Nagorno Karabakh in the region

In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union and in the midst of an
armed conflict between Nagorno Karabakh Armenian minority (backed by
Armenia) and Azerbaijan, the mountainous region declared independence
unilaterally. That war, which began in 1988 and lasted until 1994,
was one of the bloodiest conflicts fired after the breakup of the
Soviet bloc.Tens of thousands of people were killed and nearly one
million forced to flee their homes. Some 800,000 Azeris left Karabakh,
while around 300,000 Armenians living in the north of Azerbaijan,
took refuge in Armenia. Though 20 years ago that Karabakh declared
independence, the status of the region has not been solved yet, since
no nation the world has given recognition. far, the international
community has given almost entirely to Azerbiayan reason. Armenia not
even recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state, not least
because it could cause a problem for Russia, which is its ally but
also has ties with Azerbaijan. The only state institution that has
been recognized Karabakh, this year, Parliament of Australia’s largest
state, New South Wales. Azerbaijan considers Karabakh part of their
historic territories. And although there is an economic element in
the dispute, yes there is a cultural component. Some of the main
Azerbaijani cultural and artistic figures come from the region,
so we feel that this is one of the cradles of culture. But Armenia
and ethnic Armenians living in Karabakh say that people have a right
to self-determination .international mediation attempts led by the
U.S., France and Russia have failed to give a definitive resolution
to the conflict. 

One element that holds the hope that Uruguay recognize Karabakh
independence is the fact that in 1965 Uruguay was the first country
in the world to say that the mass killings of Armenians carried out
by the Ottoman Empire during the period of the World War I had been
a genocide.

Uruguay also was the first Latin American nation to recognize the
State of Israel in 1948. And in 2011 recognized the existence of a
Palestinian state.

To all this must be added the role of the Armenian diaspora in Uruguay,
comprised of descendants of immigrants who arrived in the 1920s,
fleeing the slaughter that the Ottoman Empire now Turkey, carried
out against the Armenians of the region in early twentieth century.

This community is small (less than 16,000 people), but it has weight
in a country with more than 3.3 million inhabitants. “Many descendants
of Armenians in Uruguay occupy important positions in different areas
of society, from politics to sports, from business to media,” he told
the BBC Felipe Arocena, Professor of Sociology at the University of
the Republic of Uruguay .

Arocena added that his country is “very sensitive to the opinion of
the Armenian diaspora.” Certainly from the Armenian community defend
their right to lobby the Government to have policies such as supporting
the cause of Nagorno Karabakh.

“What is the problem?” He told the BBC Dr Gustavo Zulaiman, president
of the Armenian General Benevolent Union of Uruguay.

“The lobbies exist at all, “he said. “We are Armenians in Uruguay,
but Uruguay are also, and it is obvious that one has interference in
the countries where they live.”

“Do not make Azerbaijan lobby elsewhere? Such is the political game
these days, “he said.

In late July of this year President of Uruguay Jose Mujica and Foreign
Minister Luis Almagro had met with Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan,
Elmar Mammadyarov, who was touring South America. They talked of
trading links and Chancellor invited Mujica to know his country.

ClickRead also: “The statue Azeri causing controversy in Mexico”

“SUPPORTERS OF THE ARMENIAN CAUSE”

In September 2011, Foreign Minister Almagro had said: “We are extremely
sympathetic to the Armenian cause.” Also had assured: “Nagorny Karabakh
understand that is closely linked to Armenia”. And finally, that “its
ties with Armenia in the future is the best way to Nagorno Karabakh.”

The case Safarov

Ramil Safarov

In 2004 the Azeri Ramil Safarov military killed a man hacked Armenian
in Hungary, for a language course sponsored by the Organization of
the North Atlantic Treaty. was in prison in the European country
until the end of August 2012, when he was extradited to Azerbaijan,
which was expected to finish his sentence to life imprisonment. But
instead he was pardoned, promoted and given an apartment to live.That
led to the Armenian Parliament formally suspended ties with his
Hungarian counterpart. was a blow to the Azeri position against the
international community and the Armenians want to take this situation. 

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BBC tried unsuccessfully to contact Almagro or other senior officials
of the Foreign Ministry to ask if Uruguay had intentions effectively
recognize the independence of the breakaway region.

For now, a member of the Uruguayan delegation that visited Karabakh
Huelmo Ruben Martinez said it is “theoretically” possible, but must
advance step by step.

ANOTHER MOLEHILL

If Uruguay were to take this decisive step, would add a grain of sand
to a mountain of conflicting elements.

Specialized analysts in the region say the area is in a high stress
situation, revived by the recent case of Azeri life sentence for
killing an Armenian in Hungary, who was pardoned after being extradited
to Azerbaijan (see box) .

In this context, recognition of the independence of Nagorno Karabakh
by Uruguay feed suspicions in a delicate situation.

However, experts believe it would not get upset the delicate regional
balance. There is too much at stake, and a new armed conflict could
spread to other countries in the region and engage Azeri oil (whose
economy is heavily dependent on oil) and transport infrastructure
in the area, including routes that take on supplies forces of the
United States and the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty
in Afghanistan.

DATE SET FOR NEXT MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI, TURKISH, IRANIAN FMS

News.Az
Wed 21 November 2012 11:00 GMT | 11:00 Local Time

The date of the next meeting of the Azerbaijani, Turkish and Iranian
foreign ministers has been announced.

The trilateral meeting is to take place on 28 November in Erzurum,
Gun.Az reports.

The traditional meeting will discuss bilateral and regional issues.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will also be in focus during the
discussions.

The first meeting of the foreign ministers was held in Urmia and the
last in Nakhchivan.

“THE TIME HAS COME FOR SAMVEL BALASANYAN TO REPAY HIS DEBT,” AN ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) MEMBER SAYS

NOVEMBER 20, 2012 11:44

Yesterday Samvel Balasanyan, the mayor of Gyumri and a member of the
Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), stated that he would endorse the
candidacy of Arman Sahakyan, a Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
candidate nominated in no. 35 electoral district of Gyumri. It is
interesting that RPA candidate Arman Sahakyan and the head of the
ANC district organization will struggle for this office vacated by S.
Balasanyan. And regardless of

the fact that the ANC and the PAP state about their cooperation in
the struggle against the regime, lo and behold, the PAP mayor endorses
not the ANC, but the RPA candidate. What does the ANC think about this?

got the ANC members’ answers to this question. Lyudmila
Sargsyan, a member of the ANC parliamentary group, noted during
a conversation with us, “Samvel Balasanyan was nominated by the
RPA, rather than the PAP. And there was nothing surprising in that
statement. Samvel Balasanyan’s statement doesn’t mean that the local
organization will endorse the RPA candidate.”

According to Zoya Tadevosyan, a member of the ANC, “The time has come
for Samvel Balasanyan to repay his debt.” Then Z. Tadevosyan explained,
“Samvel Balasanyan got the RPA go-ahead and he owed them.

The time has come to repay his debt.”

In response to our question whether this decision of Samvel Balasanyan
wouldn’t have a negative impact on further cooperation between the ANC
and the PAP, Ms. Tadevosyan said the following, “The cooperation is on
struggling against the regime with a joint candidate or struggling
jointly. The PAP bears responsibility toward the people whom it
has made promises that the current situation in the country will
be changed. It should fulfill that promise. If it doesn’t do that,
it bears responsibility toward the voters that voted for the PAP.”

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

FROM WHOM AZERBAIJAN DEFENDS PIPES?
Naira Hayrumyan

Politics – Wednesday, 21 November 2012, 13:24

Azerbaijan asked NATO to take under its custody the main export
pipelines and energy infrastructures of the country, the experts of
the Alliance told the Baku-based APA agency representative, who was
in NATO headquarters one week ago.

It is noteworthy that this happened after Armenia had threatened
Azerbaijan. Recall, in answer to the militaristic statements of Baku,
Armenia threatened to strike the energy infrastructures of Azerbaijan.

Though, Baku is more likely to expect strikes on its pipelines not
from Armenia, but from the Kurds of Iran, if Azerbaijan enters the
anti-Iran coalition.

Perhaps, Aliyev agreed to enter this coalition, and the worsening of
the relations between Azerbaijan and Russia is determined by this
reason. Recall, the second Azerbaijani Diaspora organization has
been formed in Russia with the participation of Azeri billionaires
Bagid Alekperov and others. This caused worries of the Aliyev
administration. Besides, the pro-governmental press of Azerbaijan
reports about Russia’s intention to activate the Lezghian factor
against Azerbaijan. The authorities already speak openly about
some conflict with the Kremlin. Moreover, today, it was stated that
the countries are possible to suspend the negotiations on the rent
of Gabala.

It is not ruled out that Russia learnt about Baku’s intention to
closely integrate into Western structures, including the anti-Iran
coalition. Perhaps, this is the precondition of the West to enhance oil
extraction in Azerbaijan. As we know, this year the oil extraction in
Azerbaijan, which is carried out by Western companies, reduced by 10%,
depriving the Azerbaijani regime of the only resource of income.

Anyway, Azerbaijan’s request to NATO is either a sign of final
decision of Baku to change the foreign political course, or a message
to Russia. Against this background, the statement of the French
president about his messages to the Iranian leadership to be conveyed
by Serzh Sargsyan is interesting. Perhaps, the messages included also
the information on Azerbaijan’s joining the anti-Iran coalition.