Author: Kajoyan Gevork

‘ARMENIAN ATTEMPTS TO RECOGNIZE KARABAKH SEPARATIST NOTHING BUT PROVOCATION’

News.Az
Wed 31 October 2012 10:37 GMT | 10:37 Local Time

Official Baku regards Armenia’s attempts aimed at the recognition of
the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, as yet another adventure
that will not bring any results.

According to head of the foreign relations department of the
Presidential Administration Novruz Mammadov, it is not known for what
purpose the Armenian side plays such a ‘hoax’ in the media.

“So it would be wrong to react to them. But I will say that his next
provocation of Armenians will not achieve any results. Armenians are
trying to behave as spoiled children at the talks. Unfortunately, there
are circles in the West, who indulge their whims. But if Armenians take
attempts for recognition of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh,
they will challenge not only the international community but also by
the community that backs them.

All countries, including Armenia itself, to date, do not recognize
such a formation as Nagorno Karabakh. If Armenia still launches a
provocative campaign, it will strengthen the position of Azerbaijan in
the international arena and in the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. For 20 years, Azerbaijan showed constructivism in the
negotiations, and did their best to resolve this issue peacefully,
for the return of refugees to their homes, while Armenian’s steps
negate the gains made during this period, and again show the world
the aggressiveness of occupation”, Mammadov said.

According to him, the latest achievements of Azerbaijani diplomacy
led the Armenian side into complete confusion.

“Its latest chaotic actions again evidence the strength of blow
that we dealt to them in the international arena. Therefore, the
Armenian diplomacy has ultimately lost head and stopped show cold
blooded reaction to the ongoing processes. Since the start of this
year Azerbaijan has developed strong diplomatic activity in the
countries of Latin America and Armenia saw our achievements in the
South American continent and also rushed to this continent. Latin
American countries have recently been visited by Armenian Foreign
Ministry. But Armenians do not understand that they look ridiculous.

Azerbaijan has turned into the place of different international
conferences, forms and symposiums and, certainly, Armenia cannot but
envy. Our achievements in the international arena make Armenia take
adventurist steps. Look what the Armenian leadership has resorted to
by trading the buildings of their ministries and structures. Instead
of spending the received money to the welfare of the Armenian people
and come to an agreement with Azerbaijan in the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict, the Armenian leadership is doing every sort of
provocation”, Mammadov said.

He noted that the Armenian leadership is trying to draw a parallel
between Nagorno Karabakh and Kosovo in order to meet the demands of
the inner audience.

“Elections are approaching in Armenia and they need to deceive people
that is why they speculate on this issue.

In addition, the United States, France and Russia repeatedly stated
that the Kosovo precedent cannot be applied to other conflicts.

Armenian leadership knows it well but makes provocations to mislead
public. But their steps will fail anyway, like previous ones. The
world recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan while
Armenia is trying to attain the support of such microscopic states
and Vanuatu and Palau. It is unserious and the more steps they take,
the more ridiculous they look”, Mammadov said.

KARABAKH PRESIDENT APPOINTS NEW COURT OF APPEAL CHAIRMAN

news.am
October 31, 2012 | 12:58

STEPANAKERT.- President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
signed a decree on Wednesday appointing Karen Gharayan head of the
NKR Court of Appeal.

By the same decree he left the office of the judge of NKR Supreme
Court.

CONSOLIDATION IS AN IMPORTANT CONDITION FOR THE IRREVERSIBILITY OF THE PROCESS OF THE NKR RECOGNITION

Monday, 29 October 2012 15:49

On October 25, an event took place, the information about which
immediately appeared on the front pages of news agencies. On this day,
the Legislative Council, or the Upper House of the Parliament of the
largest state of Australia – New South Wales – unanimously adopted
a resolution recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the right
of the Karabakh people to self-determination.

As informed by the Armenian National Committee of Australia, the
resolution also called on the Australian Government “to officially
recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and to
intensify the relations of Australia with Nagorno-Karabakh and its
citizens.”

The paper emphasizes the efforts of Nagorno-Karabakh to establish a
free and democratic society through legitimate elections, supports the
involvement of Nagorno-Karabakh in the international community. The
resolution also calls for cooperation with the international community
to address the regional issues and to establish peace and stability,
for continuation of the humanitarian and economic assistance to
Karabakh.

Perhaps, it is needless to say that the resolution was a very
important event for Artsakh towards the achievement of the
international recognition of its de facto independence. The event
is not really ordinary, but it should be noted that it was logical
continuation of the started process of recognition of the right of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s people to independent determination of their own
political future. We can say that we are witnessing revision by the
diplomacies of Armenia and the NKR of their foreign policy priorities
in the Karabakh settlement. As known, a long time both Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh focused their efforts primarily on the negotiation
process, on the search of a compromise solution to the Karabakh issue.

Moreover, the possibility of achieving legal recognition of the
NKR independence was considered by both Armenian parties only as
an alternative in case of Azerbaijan’s destructive behavior and its
breakdown of the negotiations.

In fact, the hard, frankly speaking, divorced from the reality
maximalist position of Azerbaijan at the negotiations within the
OSCE Minsk Group, which cannot achieve an objective solution to the
problem for two decades, “thanks to” Azerbaijan, did not leave any
room for optimism. The situation has, as they say, matured, and in the
existing conditions, the two Armenian states are increasingly talking
at different levels about the need of opening the second track, i.e.

along with the negotiations under the auspices of the Minsk Group
to conduct active diplomatic and lobbing works on achieving the
recognition of the NKR independence. Judging by the recent events,
the process has started. As you know, this year the legislative
bodies of two U.S. states – Rhode Island and Massachusetts – have
adopted resolutions calling on the U.S. President and Congress
to recognize the NKR independence. And now is the resolution of
the Legislative Council of New South Wales. It is noteworthy that
while the first two resolutions, though imperatively called on the
U.S. authorities to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh,
were of a recommendation character, the resolution of Wales, along
with a similar appeal to the Australian Government, in fact, recognized
the NKR independence.

It should be noted that the appearance of all of the resolutions
were facilitated by several factors. First of all, perhaps, we can
talk about the tendencies of development of the world processes of
formation of new independent states, as we have already written. The
world seems to begin to recognize the priority of the right of peoples
to self-determination, fairly considering its implementation as a key
element in maintaining stability in any region. Surely, in some cases,
as in ours, the notorious principle of double standards is acting,
but in general, we think it cannot significantly affect the objective
course of development of the above-mentioned processes.

A very important factor for supporting the NKR independence is the
Republic’s commitment to the democratic path of development, which is
noted in the Australian resolution. Adherence to democratic principles
and norms of public life arrangement, which has been confirmed
repeatedly by numerous different-level nationwide elections, could not
but be noticed and appreciated by the international community. The
contrast between Nagorno-Karabakh, which, in fact, has proved its
respect for democratic values, and Azerbaijan, with its image of a
non-free and utterly corrupt state, is too large. The international
scandal, caused by the pardon and glorification of night-slayer
Safarov, has convincingly proved that Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be
driven into criminal Azerbaijan, which is akin to a crime.

And the main thing I would like to stress is the diplomatic efforts
of Armenia and the NKR and the use of the political potential of the
Diaspora. Life has shown that skilful combination of all these factors
pays off. The petrodollar lobbying of Azerbaijan, which is nothing but
outright bribery, should be opposed to the Armenian lobbying based
on the truth about Nagorno-Karabakh and the requirement to respect
the people’s choice. To summarize, we should note the necessity of
conducting more intensive foreign policy by Armenia and the NKR in the
Karabakh direction, as well as effective use of the enormous political
resources of the Diaspora, which should ensure the irreversibility
of the started process of the international recognition of the NKR
independence.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper

ARMENIANS DIE IN GEORGIAN ROAD ACCIDENT

news.am
October 31, 2012 | 12:18

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) received
a call, on Tuesday at 9:09pm, informing that a traffic accident had
occurred in Georgia’s Marneuli District, and, as a result, citizens
of Armenia had died and sustained injuries.

It was found out that a Lexus had gone off road, under yet undetermined
circumstances, and rolled over at Georgia’s Merneuli-Sadakhlo Highway
at around 10am. As a result, the driver, namely, Rep. of Armenia
citizen Artur Tonoyan-who was born in 1986-and the passenger, who was
a citizen of Georgia, died en route to the Marneuli city hospital,
MES press service informs.

The other passengers, specifically, Armenian citizen Hayk Pasyan-who
is born in 1975-and Georgian citizen Zamir Takhmazis-who is born in
1982-, were transferred to the aforesaid hospital.

WHEAT DEFECIT: BREAD PRICES JUMP IN LORI
Larisa Paremuzyan

hetq
11:57, October 31, 2012

In Armenia’s Lori Region, planting cereal grains for bread and other
staples has ground to a halt.

Grigor Hakobyan, Chief of the Agricultural and Environmental Department
at the Lori Regional Authority, told Hetq that only 6,000 hectares of
the 42,000 registered as “arable land” has received a fall planting
of wheat.

“The state government allocated 294 tons of wheat seed for planting
and we distributed it through all the villages,” said HakO…byan. The
fall planting continues until November 10 and he hopes the planted
acreage will increase.

Last year, 8,700 hectares got a fall plating of wheat.

In 2011, the wheat harvest in Lori was 22,500 tons. It dropped to
20,500 tons this year. Hakobyan said that poor weather conditions
caused the drop in production. Whatever the excuses, the fact that
some 36,000 out of 42,000 remain uncultivated raises concerns.

Prices for 600 grams of bread produced by Alaverdi’s Bread Factory
LLC have risen from 190 AMD to 230 in the last three months. Other
cereal products have also risen in price.

Bread Factory Director Kamo Varosyan points to the rise in the price
of flour as the culprit.

Bread prices have also gone up in the town of Vanadzor.

“People are buying a 400 gram loaf for 200 AMD. It’s terrible but
what can you do? We constantly have to get used to these things,”
said Margarita Gevorgyan, an accountant from Vanadzor.

Painter Gevorg Arakelyan also expressed his disgust over the rising
prices.

“We’re angry. They say the wheat is coming from Canada, Russia the
Far East and it’s getting more expensive. What can we poor folk do?”

Hetq also asked Lori Deputy regional Governor Arsen Darbinyan to
weigh in on the price rise.

“It’s the international market price,” was his reply. He added that
Lori’s wheat production only covers 20% of local demand and added
that the region doesn’t have the vast tracts of arable land needed
to meet total demand.

When I reminded him about the 1,200 hectares not being cultivated
near Odzoun, Darbinyan shrugged his shoulders and exclaimed, “Hey,
it’s because the villagers don’t want to work.”

A MOTHER’S HEART: FEELINGS OF PATRIOTISM AND FEAR FOR HER TEENAGE SON ACCOMPANY REPORTER ON KARABAKH TRIP
By Gayane Lazarian

ArmeniaNow
31.10.12 | 13:09

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic greets its visitors with a big sign
reading: “Free Artsakh Welcomes You”. This brief sentence is the
quintessence of the two-decade-long fight for independence of this
tiny country – an easternmost 11,458-sq.-km part of the Armenian land
defended by an ethnic Armenian army.

Last week was my first time visiting military outposts along
the frontline in Karabakh as part of a trip by a larger group of
journalists invited by the military authorities. During that journey
I was having some mixed feelings about the whole thing as my son, now
16, will reach the call-up age in two years’ time. On the one hand I
indulged in the feeling of rising patriotism inside me, on the other
hand I kept asking myself: “Would I mind Hakob’s serving in Artsakh,
going up to combat outposts near frontline positions dug only a few
hundred meters from enemy trenches and under a close watch of enemy
troops keeping their fingers on the trigger?” Am I that brave and
patriotic parent to let my son to be taken to serve in a place where
risks are not only potential, but very, very real?

The NKR Minister of Defense and Commander of the Defense Army Movses
Hakobyan told us, the visiting reporters, that last year nine Karabakh
servicemen were killed by Azeri snipers. This year that number has
decreased, but instead the number of suicides is on the rise. The
authorities do not yet provide figures for that. But even without this
terse statistic it is clear that a single soldier’s death is too many
to us. I felt confused for a moment, with a journalist talking inside
me: why should a healthy teenager commit suicide and why should the
number of such suicides be on the rise? Maybe deaths are disguised
as suicides?

Then I looked at things as a parent would view it, convincing myself
that the causes of death were sniper shots or hazing in the ranks. As
a journalist I often had to report on crimes in the army. I remember
writing five years ago about a soldier, Tigran Ohanjanyan, who was
killed in a unit in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province. His mother,
Gohar Ohanjanyan, told me: “Don’t you let your son go to the army,
do something to get him released of this duty, get him out of the
country.” According to the criminal case files, Tigran left his
military unit, was killed by accident after he touched an electric
wire on an antenna and got electrocuted. Little evidence has been
brought so far to substantiate this official version of the events.

In July 2010, Tsovinar Nazaryan, the sister of lieutenant Artak
Nazaryan, who was found dead in one of the combat positions of
Armenia’s Tavush province, said: “My mother and I can’t bring Artak
back, but at least we can prevent other similar deaths.” The official
version of the military investigators is that Artak committed suicide.

Cases are many and my heart is squeezed by these mixed feelings –
the lofty ideas about my homeland, independence, and the fear for my
son’s life and future.

My company on the trip included older journalists. The son of one of
them, Gohar, was serving in one of the military units that we visited.

The mother and her son had warm and long hugs and embraces upon their
first meeting and seeing that I was swallowing hard as I got tearful
and overwhelmed with emotions. Gohar’s son said he was satisfied with
how his service proceeds in the military unit. The son of another
reporter, Anush, served in Mataghis. We did not get that far, so
Anush was trying to spend more time with other soldiers, which made
her missing her son more bearable. And I got the feeling that all of
them were our children, all were from one big family. What murder,
what suicide? Why wouldn’t an officer treat his soldiers like his sons?

There, at the frontline positions, it was our soldiers, our brave
guys who guarded our whole land and secured our peaceful life.

Suddenly I remembered the words of Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman
Artsrun Hovhannisyan: “Every time you visit the frontlines and then
go back to Yerevan, you feel you’ve become a little bit more Armenian.”

Gohar, who had gone strong for two days, eventually was overwhelmed,
seeing her son in every soldier she met and living entirely by their
cares. I was no less emotional and have to confess that the trip has
changed a lot inside me. As a parent I started to get rid of the
stereotypes about the army, but as a reporter I was still on the
outlook for some wrongdoing or abuse. I don’t want to think that
our visit was the reason why everything in the unit and otherwise
was shipshape…

The young soldiers in the unit sang patriotic songs during their
evening walk and those seemed the songs that fed the Artsakh mountains
overlooking them. My patriotic feelings were rising again as I heard
them sing, and I remembered my neighbor Mkhitar, who was killed in
the war in the early 1990s. He was only 20, a year older than me…

How can I not send my son to the army now?… The idea of your
homeland is the most elevated thing that a person could have, and
I don’t want this idea to break down in my son as it is from there
that betrayal starts… Hakob now is proud of the Armenian victories
and I don’t want him to get disillusioned. And when he goes to the
assembly point to be sent to an army unit I want my son to see sons
of rich businessmen and senior officials next to him ready to take
up rifles and do a two-year duty.

Shahen Navasardyan, an officer at a military unit in Martuni,
introduces a serviceman: “Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan’s son.” I
am trying to think of other examples, but I can’t think of any. This
is a country of all of us and all should serve in the army, even the
sons of the highest ranked officials.

“Like in a family a parent is raising a child in the hope that one
day he can rely on him, so is this trench duty that is one of the
first things that a son can do for his parents,” said Navasardyan.

Armenia begins in the Karabakh trenches and my son could, too, be
one of those guarding his country there.

PILIBOS STUDENTS RALLY TO HELP SYRIAN ARMENIANS
BY KHAJAG BORNAZYAN

asbarez
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

Pilibos students work together to promote assistance to Syrian
Armenians

In an ongoing effort to help our fellow Armenians in Syria, Rose
and Alex Pilibos Armenian School is taking an active role to raise
awareness and much needed funds for those in need. Three Pilibos
students, George Kekejian, Manuk Karapetyan, and Khajag Bornazyan
created a Power Point presentation about the ongoing conflict that
occurs in Syria today. Syria is experiencing a Civil War in which the
nation is divided between supporters of President Bashar al-Assad and
those opposed to his rule. This turmoil has created massive bloodshed
leaving the country in complete disarray and chaos. We were shaken
to learn of these events for many of us, along with our parents and
grandparents migrated from Syria. As such, we felt obligated to take
immediate action. In the presentation, we discussed what the Armenian
community is experiencing in that region and what we can do to help.

Our goal was to inform our fellow students about the struggles facing
Armenians around the world and educate them about Syria’s ongoing
battle. We felt an urge to raise awareness about this conflict in
an effort to aid those in need. We strongly believe that in order to
take action, we must first become enlightened.

The Dove: A symbol of peace and unity The presentation was organized
with the help of our fellow teacher, Sona Madarian, and with ANCA
Western Region Executive, William Bayramian. We discussed the efforts
of the Armenian Syrian Relief Fund (SARF) along with the various
other support organizations available in sending much needed aid
and assistance. As a part of our preparation, we conducted extensive
research detailing all the facts of the conflict in Syria. Throughout
the process, we became so immersed in the details that it deeply
affected each one of us to our core.

This effort launched a fund-raising campaign on campus centered on
the theme of “Peace and Unity”. Three eleventh grade students, Alice
Khachmanyan, Harout Klian, and Andre Ksajikian, worked tirelessly to
create bookmarks that will be disturbed to the student body in return
for a donation. The money raised will be donated to Syrian Armenian
Relief Fund (SARF) which aids Armenian families in need. The students
also created cut outs of peace doves that created the Wall of Peace
and Unity on campus.

As educated students of Pilibos and future leaders of our community,
we felt it necessary to shine a light on the conflict in Syria as
an initiative to raise awareness. In addition, we wanted to instill
the sense of urgency to take action, raise funds, and to unite as a
community to help the Armenians of Syria.

As Allen Ginserg said: “The only thing that can save the world is
the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That’s what poetry does.”

IRNA: ARMENIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENTS HAVE PHONE CONVERSATION

Panorama.am
31/10/2012

The Armenian and Iranian Presidents have had a phone conversation,
Iranian state-run news agency IRNA said.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, assessing as positive the work
of the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on economic
cooperation that met in Yerevan recently, stressed that such meetings
boost expansion of relations between the two countries in all fields,
said the report.

In return, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted that the holding
of the meeting of the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission
confirms the strength of old and deep friendly relations between the
two countries and is evidence that Armenia and Tehran are determined
to further raise the level of bilateral relations.

Related articles: Serzh Sargsyan: Examples of Armenian-Iranian
cooperation will be augmented by Meghri HPP’s groundbreaking ceremony

Foundation laying ceremony of joint Armenian-Iranian HPP over Arax
River on Nov.18

DOZENS OF PEOPLE LIVE IN OLD RAMSHACKLE LODGING IN GYUMRI

31.10.12

The Shirak Kentron NGO reports that dozens of people are living in
a ramshackle building in Gyumri.

“27-year-old Liana, a single mother with five children, has never
had a flat. She, as well as her children, was born and grew up in a
hostel of the Lentextile factory, which was damaged by the earthquake
on December 7, 1988. Since them, the building has been falling into
ruin, but dozens of people are still living there.

“The building is located in central Gyumri, not far from the Shirak
regional administration and police department, and belongs to an
individual.

“About half of the 20 families living the in tumbledown building once
came from different republics of the USSR and are of different ethnic
origin. Most of them are not on the housing list,” says the report.

Also, the building has no water-supply or sewerage. The shaky
staircases pose a threat to the residents any moment.

THE PRESIDENTS SARKISYAN AND AHMADINEJAD HAD A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION

ARMENPRESS
31 October, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS: In telephone conversation his
Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisyan, termed recent meeting of
the two countries’ Joint Economic Cooperation Commission held in
Yerevan as successful. The meeting was an emphasis on consolidating
the ancient ties and attests the fact that Tehran and Yerevan are
determined to make great strides in line with promoting bilateral
ties, he said. Sarkisyan, for his part, said that holding the
commission meeting served as an incentive for promoting economic
cooperaion. Iranian companies’ participation in the Armenian projects
serve as a great step in line with deepening friendship between the two
nations, he said. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that expansion
of economic cooperation will help strengthen Iran-Armenia ancient
and friendly ties. Ahmadinejad also pointed out that Iran considers
full implementation of the two countries’ agreements a measure in
line with promoting friendship of the two nations.