Author: Kajoyan Gevork

GENOCIDE : LE PRESIDENT HOLLANDE CONFIRME SON ENGAGEMENT
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 17 juillet 2012

Suite a la declaration du Ministre des AE Laurent Fabius, selon
laquelle le Gouvernement francais ne remettrait pas sur le metier
la loi penalisant la negation du genocide armenien, le President
Hollande a, lors d’une conversation telephonique avec Franck Papazian,
copresident du Conseil de coordination des organisations armeniennes
de France (CCAF), confirme son engagement de penaliser la negation
du genocide armenien. Franck Papazian, a, quant a lui, affirme qu’un
projet de loi penalisant la negation du genocide serait presente a
l’automne par le Gouvernement francais.

Selon Aravot, le Ministre turc des relations europeennes,
Egemen Bagýþ, a vu dans l’affirmation du President francais une ”
motivation politique ” et a indique que la Turquie suivrait de près
les initiatives qui seront prises par la France.

Haykakan Jamanak relève que nombreux sont ceux qui sont restes
sceptiques quant a la mise en ~uvre de l’engagement du President
francais, qui, de toute evidence, ne prendra pas le risque de mettre
en peril les relations ” a peine rechauffees ” avec Ankara. D’après
ce quotidien, suite aux propos de M. Fabius, le President Hollande,
en prenant l’initiative de s’entretenir avec le copresident du CCAF,
a voulu calmer la communaute armenienne.

Jamanak donne la parole a deux anciens Ambassadeurs d’Armenie, Ara
Papian (ancien Ambassadeur au Canada) et Arman Navassardian (ancien
Ambassadeur au Liban, en Autriche et en Hongrie), selon lesquels
l’Armenie doit tirer les lecons des erreurs de sa politique etrangère
et ne pas s’enthousiasmer chaque fois qu’un pays reconnaît le genocide
armenien. ” La France, de meme que toute autre grande puissance, ne
prendra jamais d’initiatives qui iraient a l’encontre de ses interets
politiques, economiques et militaires “, relève Arman Navassarian. Il
invite a faire preuve de sang-froid [en ce qui concerne l’adoption
d’une nouvelle loi en France] et a etudier la politique etrangère de
la France, ” grand maître en matière de jeux diplomatiques “.

Golos Armenii se montre egalement sceptique quand a l’engagement du
President Hollande et intitule son article ” Qui vivra verra “.

Ambassade de France en Armenie

LES SECTES RELIGIEUSES CONSTITUENT UN DANGER POUR LA SECURITE NATIONALE DE L’ARMENIE
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 17 juillet 2012

Les sectes religieuses constituent un danger pour la securite nationale
de l’Armenie a declare le Pretre de l’eglise St Sarkis dans le district
de Nor Nork a Erevan, le Père Karapet Karapetyan.

” Les sectes religieuses sont deja devenu la raison de nos divisions.

Nous devons les combattre avec toutes nos forces ” a dit le Père
Karapetyan.

Pour sa part, le chef du Centre d’aide et de readaptation des victimes
de cultes destructifs, Aleksandr Amaryan, ont ajoute que les sectes
religieuses ont implose en Armenie après le tremblement de terre de
Spitak en 1988 et ont employe des pressions physiques sur les gens.

” Pas d’idees religieuses ici mais le pouvoir et les affaires sont
les bases des sectes religieuses ” a declare Aleksandr Amaryan qui
a ajoute que la societe ne doit pas combattre les gens qui ont joint
des sectes, mais proteger coûte que coûte les gens et faire tout son
possible pour que les membres des sectes redeviennent des chetiens.

PREVENIR LE TRAFIC D’ARMES DE DESTRUCTION MASSIVE
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
mardi 17 juillet 2012

L’Armenie et la Georgie souhaitent ameliorer leur capacite a prevenir
le trafic illegal des armes de destruction massive a travers leurs
territoires.

L’Ambassade americaine a Erevan a fait savoir, vendredi 13 juillet,
que l’Armenie et la Georgie, en concertation avec les departements
americains de la Defense et de l’Energie et de l’Union europeenne,
ont participe a des exercices qui ont eu lieu du 9 au 12 juillet. ”
Lors de ces exercices, des scenarios realistes ont ete imagines afin
de renforcer les procedures de notification et d’intervention en cas
de circulation illicite des armes de destruction massive “, a declare
l’Ambassade des Etats-Unis dans un communique. Celui-ci ne precise
pas le lieu des exercices, ni ne donne d’autres details. Il s’agit
du deuxième exercice armeno-georgien dans le meme but, le premier
remontant au mois de fevrier 2012. / Jamanak

L’ARMENIE ET L’IRAN VONT CREER UNE ZONE FRANCHE
Gari

armenews.com
mardi 17 juillet 2012

Un responsable iranien a annonce qu’un projet etait en cours, visant a
amenager une zone franche entre l’Iran et l’Armenie afin de dynamiser
les relations commerciales entre les deux pays. Le responsible
iranien de la “Zone commerciale franche de l’Araxe “, Sadeq Najafi,
a evoque ce projet lors d’une rencontre avec le gouverneur de la
province armenienne de Syunik, frontalière de l’Iran, a l’issue de
laquelle les deux parties ont signe un protocole d’accord portant
sur le developpement de la cooperation et des investissements, dans
les secteurs du commerce et de l’environnement. “Dans ce protocole,
il a ete convenu qu’une zone de libre echange irano-armenienne
serait mise en place en vue de gerer des investissements communs
par la ” Zone franche de l’Araxe ” et la province de Syunik”, a
declare M. Najafi dans un entretien accorde a la presse en Armenie
le dimanche 15 juillet. Les deux parties ont aussi convenu de creer
un marche frontalier commun au niveau du poste frontière de Nordouz,
au c~ur de la Zone franche de l’Araxe.

ARMENIA’S RULING PARTY TO CONVENE MEETING THIS WEEK

news.am
July 16, 2012 | 12:58

YEREVAN.- The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is likely to convene
an executive body meeting this week, a reliable source told Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

The party members will discuss the issues related to RPA’s activities.

The meeting will take place in one of the RPA offices in the center
of Yerevan.

RPA is a ruling conservative party in Armenia founded on 2 April, 1990,
and registered on 14 May, 1991, being the first officially registered
socio-political organization in the independent Republic of Armenia.

The founder of the party was Ashot Navasardyan. After his death the
party was headed by former Armenian prime minister, very influential
political figure, Vazgen Sargsyan, who was killed in 1999 terrorist
attack in the parliament. He was replaced by another Armenian Premier
Andranik Margaryan. After Margaryan’s death, the incumbent Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan took the office of the chairman of RPA board.

As a result of May 6 parliamentary elections RPA got 69 seats in the
National Assembly.

ONE DAY ARMENIA WILL HAVE TO
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:45:21 – 16/07/2012

On July 14, the Georgian foreign minister Grigol Vashadze arrived in
Armenia for a working visit at the invitation of the Armenian minister
of foreign affairs.

The visit of the Georgian minister did not receive much attention in
Armenia. What is the reason? The weekend or the conditional that if
the country is not famous or a global actor, then no one cares for
the visit of the foreign minister of that country.

Meanwhile, Georgia is a country of strategic importance for Armenia,
especially taking into account the Armenian-Georgian issues and
disagreements. Moreover, the visit takes place amid interesting
regional developments.

Being neighbors and having Javakhk as an important region in terms
of influence on our relations, Armenia and Georgia should be specific
and clear toward each other, avoiding double games or double standards.

Both countries state they have no issues that couldn’t be solved
through negotiations. This is a statement that does not tell anything
because it proves the mutable relations between Armenia and Georgia
when stability and strategic predictability are on a very low level.

The feeling is that in their interaction both countries keep in mind
a third, fourth or even fifth country.

Georgia is never present on the political agenda of Armenia. For
example, there can be important positions on the Armenian-Turkish,
Armenian-Russian, Armenian-Iranian, Armenian-U.S. relations but the
Armenian-Georgian relations never appear on the foreign political
agenda in conceptual terms.

Not because everything is fine but because the political class of
Armenia forms its agenda on the basis of the national interests of
Armenia and its responsibility for the national interests but out
of conventionalities, cliches, and the provincial urge not to stay
behind the geopolitical fashion.

The same is for Georgia. But it is not important for Armenia what
moods there are in Georgia. However, Armenia could dictate a relevant
behavior to Georgia by changing its own attitude.

It seems that there is some mutual inner prompting or even agreement
to keep the Armenian-Georgian relations far from the public not to
be affected or manipulated.

But this is not a good tactics of defense because the possibilities
of the modern policy and information technologies enable learning
even the most backstage realities, and in this case the chances and
risks of manipulation increase.

Meanwhile, Armenia and Georgia have a number of issues to address,
permanent issues. Anyway, Armenia needs to be in this process and deal
with the Armenia-Georgia issues starting from the issues of Javakhk
and finishing with the whole package of the Georgian-Armenian issues
of organizational, social, cultural and regional character.

Georgia has no alternative to supporting Armenia or to maneuver under
the illusion of transit territory becoming a Turkish-Azerbaijani
“plot of land” which will sooner or later be rented by Russia.

It is meaningless of Georgia to rely on the West because the main
regional axis for the West is Armenia, while Georgia is a backup
option. The past 7-8 years have proved that it is ineffective to
solve issues without the main axis.

CELEBRITY ARMENIAN BEAR ‘GLEN BEARIAN’ TRANQUILIZED AND RELOCATED

ARMENPRESS
13:38, 16 July, 2012

A celebrity black bear who frequented the trash cans of Los Angeles
suburbs in search of food has been tranquilized and relocated,
officials said, ending the debate over whether he should be euthanized
or allowed to roam the streets. The Glendale population, home to one of
the largest Armenian communities outside of Armenia, has affectionately
named the bear “Glen Berian,” following the Armenian custom of ending
names in “ian.” The California Fish and Game Department tweeted
that Glen Bearian is “safe and sound asleep in a DFG truck, on his
way back to forest.” Glen Bearian was spotted at least a half dozen
times last week alone, most recently on Sunday morning, according to
The Los Angeles Times. He had been shipped at least 25 miles into
the Angeles National Forest, but managed to make it back to town,
which the California Fish and Game Department spokesman Andrew Hughan
called an “Olympic feat.

CONCERT TRES REMARQUE DE LA VIRTUOSE ASTRIG SIRANOSSIAN A EREVAN
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
lundi 16 juillet 2012

La virtuose Astrig Siranossian a donne un concert en soliste
(violoncelle) avec l’ Armenian Philarmonic Orchestra le 13 juillet
2012 dans la legendaire salle Aram Katchatourian a Erevan. L’orchestre
etait dirige par le chef Autrichien Ernest Hoetzel. Le programme
etait compose de la Symphonie Numero 1 de Dimitri Chostakovitch, et
de deux pièces avec violoncelle soliste : les redoutables variations
Roccoco de P.I. Tchaïkovski et le Poème pour violoncelle et orchestre
a cordes d’Edouard Mirzoyan.

Le grand compositeur âge de 91 ans et dernier survivant du celèbre
” groupe des cinq ” (Arno Babadjanian, Alexandre Haroutounian,
Lazare Sarian et Adam Khudoyan) etait present au concert et a tenu
a feliciter Astrig Siranossian qu’il a connu depuis son enfance. Un
public nombreux assistait au concert, et parmi le public le grand
pianiste et chef d’orchestre Vahan Mardirossian, installe en France
mais chef de l’Orchestre National de chambre d’Armenie. Astrig
Siranossian qui est la fille d’Alexandre Siranossian (directeur durant
plus de 40 ans du Conservatoire de musique de Romans, dans la Drôme)
etait très heureuse de se retrouver en Armenie et participer ainsi
a la vie musicale intense du pays.

Edouard Miirzoyan felicite Astrig Siranossian Astrig Siranossian devant
l’affiche a Erevanlundi 16 juillet 2012, Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

DANCING ON A SHARK’S FIN
by BURAK BEKDÄ°L

Hurriyet
July 13 2012
Turkey

A couple of light years ago Turkey was proudly spearheading efforts
to build what this column said would become “The Middle Eastern Steel
and Coal Community,” with (almost) founding members Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon and Jordan. Today, Jordan is the weakest and silent link
in Turkey’s new pastime, deposing neighboring dictators; Turkey has
declared Syria a “hostile country;” while Iraq has declared Turkey a
“hostile country.” It’s as if time runs at a much faster pace in this
part of the world.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest fans
in the Middle East until recently, the (Lebanese) Hezbollah and the
Palestinian liberation groups, have threatened to fight should the
Turks intended to interfere in Syria.

Fortunately, everyone sighed with relief when the top Turkish military
commander, Gen. Necdet Ozel, said Turkey did not intend to declare
war on Syria. Gen. Ozel is a lucky commander, for his remarks, if they
had been made a couple of years previously, could have been perceived
as a military intervention in politics and, therefore, he could have
been taken to court for plotting to overthrow an elected government.

Despite every visible failure, the illusions of grandeur in Ankara
are still as visible as these failures. All that may bring about
an additional workload to personnel at the Foreign Ministry as the
number of news articles the staff must now hide from Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu’s attention is sharply increasing.

Most recently, Reuters started to play with fire. In an analysis on
Turkey’s foreign policy, Reuters argued that “Turkey’s bark seems worse
than its bite.” The wire service also wrote that: “Ask the Syrians,
who shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet on June 22 and got away
with it. … Ask the Israelis, who killed nine pro-Palestine Turkish
activists on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara aid ship and got away with
it.” The danger for Turkey, Reuters commented, is that [Turkey’s]
truculence … begins to look toothless.”

The potential sixth member of the Middle Eastern Union, Iran, no
longer views Ankara as a Middle Eastern Brussels. Instead, for the
Persians, the paint on the Trojan Horse has faded and now reveals the
Crescent and Star. News reports say tourist arrivals in Turkey from
Iran fell by 37 percent in the first four months of 2012 compared to
the corresponding period of last year, and Tehran has not denied that
it prompted Iranian travel agencies to avoid Turkey.

Mr. Davutoglu may still think that it is a pure coincidence that
only six days after Syrians (Syrians?) shot down the Turkish RF-4E,
the Russian government’s food and quarantine authorities announced
that they had detected 33 cases of infestation in Turkish fruit and
vegetable exports to Russia. Mr. Davutoglu better take the Russian
threat of a trade embargo seriously since Russia is Turkey’s third
biggest export market and fruits and vegetables account for one-fifth
of all exports to that country.

If you add to this picture the fact that “football diplomacy
with Armenia” now resembles a deserted stadium; that a casus belli
against Greece remains hanging in the Aegean skies; that EU accession
negotiations look like negotiations between two deaf and mute men;
that the violent Kurdish conflict is now older than any Turk over 27
years of age but is still killing and that the joint Cypriot-Israeli
efforts to explore for hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean risks
a second Turkish casus belli, you can see how successfully Turkey
has isolated Israel and pushed the Jewish state into complete solitude.

MINISTER: ARMENIA TO SOON END TALKS ON PRICE OF RUSSIAN GAS

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
July 12, 2012 Thursday 4:17 PM EET

Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and Armenia’s Energy and Natural
Resources Ministry plan to complete negotiations over the price
of short-term natural gas supplies from Russia, Armenia’s Energy
and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan said Thursday, RIA
Novosti reported.

“The negotiations are well under way… There will be no clandestine
increase in gas prices. The talks will end soon, and everything will
be revealed,” Movsisyan told reporters.

Movsisyan’s statement followed media speculations that the price of
Russian gas to Armenia had already been increased, but it was not
publicly revealed.

It was previously expected that the price of Russian gas supplies to
Armenia would increase on April 1, 2012, but no official reports on
the increase have been made.

According to Armenian mass media’s earlier reports, the price of
Russian gas is expected to climb up to U.S. $280 per 1,000 cubic
meters starting from October 1. At present, Armenia pays $180 per
1,000 cubic meters for Russian gas. The gas price for Armenia is seen
to stand at $320 per 1,000 cubic meters starting from January 1, 2013.

Established in 1997, ArmRusGasProm is the monopolist in the sphere
of supply and distribution of Russian gas on Armenia’s domestic market.

Gas is pumped to Armenia via Georgia.

Nowadays, Gazprom holds 80% in ArmRusGasProm with the remaining 20%
in the company owned by the Armenian government.