Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Almagro Should Have Been Invited To Karabakh

Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:28:49 – 05/05/2012

Yesterday, during the campaign, minister of foreign affairs of Uruguay
Luis Almagro arrived in Armenia who reiterated the position of his
country on the settlement of the Karabakh issue.

Uruguay supports the peace settlement of the NKR issue based on the
right to self-determination, said Almagro. `Nagorno Karabakh is
strongly connected with Armenia; it is the future of Karabakh which it
can choose for itself choosing the right to self-determination,’ said
the minister.

This is a very important statement. Note that last year the foreign
minister of Uruguay, the country, which recognized the Armenian
genocide in 1965, made this sensational statement. At least, it was
important such for Azerbaijan and Turkey which sent their diplomats to
South America trying to influence the position of Uruguay. Moreover,
they stated that they did. But, as it turns out, Uruguay is firm on
its position without fears that Azerbaijan will cut oil or gas supply.

For other countries, Uruguay’s statement was probation not only for
Azerbaijan’s potential regarding the recognition of Karabakh but also
Armenia’s recognition, whether it would continue efforts for the
international recognition of Karabakh.

Unfortunately, the result of the probation was unpleasant for Armenia.
In addition, not only the weakness of Azerbaijan’s potential was
revealed, which does not oppose to this process except for diplomatic
noise, but also Armenia’s lack of interest in the process either.

The feeling is that the statement by the Uruguayan foreign minister is
the merit of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun which, by the way, hosted Almagro
in Yerevan. Official Yerevan welcomes such statements but does not
encourage them much.

Although the international recognition of NKP is declared a priority
for Armenia and Karabakh, no visible step has been taken so far to
fulfill this priority. Otherwise, the Foreign Minister of Uruguay
would be honored with a better reception, while the leadership in
Karabakh should invite Almagro to Karabakh to make sure that Armenians
live there.

AZERBAIDJAN
Le Montreux Jazz demande des explications à son sponsor SOCAR

Le Festival de Jazz de Montreux a demandé à son sponsor SOCAR
d’enquêter sur les critiques à propos de son comportement en
Azerbaïdjan, en réponse à une lettre envoyée par Amnesty International
Suisse. Dimanche, Amnesty International Suisse dénonçait les
agissements du groupe gazier Socar en Azerbaïdjan. L’entreprise est le
sponsor principal du Festival de Jazz de Montreux, qui lui a demandé
mercredi d’enquêter sur les critiques à propos de son comportement en
Azerbaïdjan.

`Nous remercions le festival de sa réaction rapide`, a déclaré Nadia
Boehlen, porte-parole d’Amnesty. Dans sa lettre, Claude Nobs,
directeur de la manifestation, indique qu’il a demandé à l’entreprise
nationale pétrolière d’Azerbaïdjan (SOCAR) de faire la lumière sur les
accusations dont elle est l’objet.

Expulsion forcée

Selon les informations d’Amnesty International, des employés de SOCAR
ont activement pris part le 18 avril à une expulsion forcée et à la
destruction de nombreuses maisons à Sulutepe, dans la banlieue de la
capitale Bakou. Des journalistes ont également été violemment agressés
lorsqu’ils ont tenté de filmer les événements.

Outre des violations des droits de l’homme commises par la compagnie
SOCAR, Amnesty a souligné auprès du Festival de Montreux `les
restrictions massives` en matière de liberté d’expression en
Azerbaïdjan. De nombreuses personnes sont emprisonnées pour avoir
manifesté en faveur de plus de liberté sur les réseaux sociaux et sur
internet.

Enquêtes véritables ?

`Nous allons vérifier par nos propres canaux` que les enquêtes
demandées par Claude Nobs se réalisent effectivement sur le terrain, a
souligné Nadia Boehlen. Amnesty a exigé également des dédommagements
pour les victimes des violences.

SOCAR est l’un des six sponsors principaux du Festival de Jazz de
Montreux, dont la 46e édition va se dérouler du 29 juin au 14 juillet.
Dans un communiqué diffusé le 11 avril, l’entreprise soulignait sa
volonté de s’engager ainsi pour la culture, via un festival qui a une
excellente réputation dans le monde entier. Elle a racheté fin 2011
Esso Suisse à ExxonMobil.

samedi 5 mai 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
May 4 2012

Catholic Armenians fight to regain school

by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Photo: `We paid for the building’s purchase, but we are paying rent
nonetheless, says Rita Nurnur, head of an Istanbul Catholic Armenian
school’s foundation. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÃ`REL

Turkey’s Catholic Armenians are waging a legal battle to retrieve the
property rights for an Armenian Catholic school that was confiscated
by the Foundations Directorate General, despite the fact that it had
not been proclaimed under the 1936 Declaration.

`We paid for the building’s purchase, and we are in possession of its
title deed. We also have the document [showing] the back-then Istanbul
governor’s approval for the purchase, but we are paying rent
nonetheless,’ Rita Nurnur, head of the Armenian school’s foundation,
told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Meeting with Charter Commission

Nurnur said that they had already met with European Union (EU)
Minister Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? over the matter and that Parliament’s
Constitution Commission had also taken up the issue at the start of
this week. The number of students attending the school fell to as low
as 35 due to the fear that it would be shut down.

Adnan Ertem, the head of the Foundations Directorate General, has
provided much support for their cause, according to Rita Nurnur. `He
encouraged us to file a new suit as the foundation, [and] the process
is still underway.’

`The process is quite thorny even if the Foundations Directorate
General does its best, as the [foundation] was not registered on the
1936 Declaration. The [decision] to return [the property] has been
overturned for now. It is clear the foundation is facing a rights
violation. It needs to push forward with its legal battle,’ Laki
Vingas, a representative for all minority foundations in the
Foundations Directorate General, told Daily News.

Turkey’s minorities declared their properties in 1936 upon the
government’s request, but many of those properties did not remain
registered under the names of minority foundations, and many were even
sold to third parties in the following years.
May/04/2012

Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
May 6 2012

Armenia parliament speaker urges expansion of Tehran-Yerevan ties

Yerevan, May 6, IRNA – Iran’s outgoing Ambassador to Armenia Ali
Saqaiyan conferred on Sunday with Armenian Parliament Speaker Samvel
Nikoyan on issues of mutual interests.

In the meeting, the Armenian parliament speaker voiced satisfaction
with the current level of relations and cooperation between the two
countries.

Cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics,
economy, science and culture are growing, he said.

There is no problem between the two counties as both sides now enjoy
deeply rooted ties and extensive cooperation, he said.

The two sides should endeavor to upgrade the current level of mutual
relations and cooperation, underlined the Armenian parliament speaker.

He lauded Iran’s wise stance on the issue of Karabakh.

He also lauded the Iranian people for their friendly behavior towards
their Armenian compatriots.

The outgoing Iranian ambassador, for his part, highlighted the two
sides’ growing relations and called for further consolidation of
bilateral ties.

The Armenian community in Iran has played a significant role in
broadening friendly ties between the two countries.

The two sides also reviewed broadening of cooperation at mutual,
regional and international levels.

They also called for expansion of economic, cultural and tourism
cooperation between the two states.

Iran has appointed Mohammad Reisi as its new ambassador to Yerevan.

Novinite, Bulgaria
May 6 2012

Armenia’s Ruling Party Wins Elections – Exit Poll

Armenia’s ruling Republican Party has gathered a total of 44.4 % of
all votes in Sunday’s parliamentry elections, according to an exit
poll conducted by Gallup International Association.

Prosperous Armenia Party got 28.91%, followed by the Armenian National
Congress opposition bloc with 6.33% Bloomberg has informed.

Ninety seats in the 131-member National Assembly are being contested
in a proportional vote by nine political forces, including eight
parties and one bloc.

Another 41 parliament seats are up for grabs in single-mandate
elections in as many constituencies contested by a total of 139
candidates on the first-past-the-post basis.

Chicago Tribune, IL
May 6 2012

Armenia’s ruling parties set to keep grip on power

Margarita Antidze and Hasmik Lazarian
Reuters
9:37 a.m. CDT, May 6, 2012

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Armenians looked set to return the two biggest
parties in the ruling coalition to power on Sunday, in an election
they hope will be free of the fraud and violence that marred the South
Caucasus country’s last national election in 2007.

President Serzh Sarksyan’s Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia,
led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, were expected to remain in charge
of the former Soviet republic, and the poll is seen as a test of
strength between the two parties.

More than 300 international observers from the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are monitoring voting. One
observer said privately there had been violations.

Ink stamps on the passports of people who had already voted had
disappeared within 15 minutes, giving them the chance to vote again,
the observer said.

There were no reports of violence, an encouraging sign for the country
of 3.3 million that wants stability to boost the economy, devastated
by a war with neighboring Azerbaijan in the 1990s and then the
2008-2009 global financial crisis.

“I hope everything will be calm and peaceful, and everything
transpires lawfully – today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,”
Sarksyan said after voting with his wife at the 9/11 polling station
in the centre of the capital Yerevan.

Voters trickling to the polls in bright sunshine also hoped the
election would be a landmark for democracy after criticism by
international observers over Armenia’s elections since the end of
communist rule.

“I hope that not one or two, but several parties will be elected. It
will help there to be discussions in the new parliament and laws
adopted for the sake of people,” Gohar Karapetyan, a 48-year-old
teacher, said after voting at a school built in the Soviet-era and
decorated with the national flag.

Voting was due end at 8.00 p.m. (1600 GMT) and an exit poll was due to
be released shortly afterwards.

Eight parties and one party bloc were running for seats in parliament
and 155 candidates were registered in 41 single-mandate
constituencies.

The government previously included two other parties, but one pulled
out in 2009, citing differences over foreign policy. The other
coalition partner, Country of Law, may struggle to cross the five
percent of votes threshold to enter parliament.

The parties have made social problems and economic issues the main
slogans of an election campaign that has been unusually active for
Armenia, Russia’s main ally in the region.

There are no major differences in their economic programs, which call
for more active development of domestic industry and continuation in
cooperation with Russia as well as international financial
organizations.

Analysts say the Armenian National Congress, a coalition of opposition
groups led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, could make it into
parliament after leading street protests since he lost the 2008
presidential poll to Sarksyan.

“I’ll accept any results if elections are held without violations,”
Ter-Petrosyan told reporters after casting his ballot at the same
polling station as Sarksyan two hours later.

A blast at a campaign rally injured about 150 people on Friday,
raising fears of a repeat of the violence that killed 10 people after
the 2008 presidential election, but emergency officials said it was
caused by gas-filled balloons exploding.

Armenia nestles high in the mountains of a region that is emerging as
an important transit route for oil and gas exports from the Caspian
Sea to energy-hungry world markets, although it has no pipelines of
its own.

Although a ceasefire was reached in 1994, its conflict with Azerbaijan
over the tiny Nagorno-Karabakh region remains unresolved and a threat
to stability.

Relations with another of its neighbors, Turkey, are also fraught
because Ankara does not recognize the killing of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey during World War One as genocide.

,0,4287376.story

Deccan Herald, Bangalore
May 6 2012

Ruling parties set to stay on in Armenia

YEREVAN, May 6, 2012, Reuters:

Armenians looked set to return the two biggest parties in the ruling
coalition to power on Sunday, in an election they hope will be free of
the fraud and violence that marred the South Caucasus country’s last
national election in 2007.

President Serzh Sarksyan’s Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia,
led by businessman
Gagik Tsarukyan, were expected to remain in charge of the former
Soviet republic, and the poll is seen as a test of strength between
the two parties. More than 300 international observers from the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe are monitoring
voting. One observer said privately there had been violations.

Ink stamps on the passports of people who had already voted
disappeared within 15 minutes, giving them the chance to vote again,
the observer said. There were no reports of violence.

Eight parties and one party bloc were running for seats in parliament
and 155 candidates were registered in 41 single-mandate
constituencies.

Vote 2012: PAP facing bribery charges, no police action against RPA
despite multiple complaints

Election Day | 06.05.12 | 18:19

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

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The Armenian Prosecutor-General’s Office reports that three criminal
cases have been filed for election bribes distribution.

Details of two of the cases were reported on the website of that office.

According to spokeswoman of the Prosecutor-General’s Office Sona
Truzyan, one case has been filed based on reports received from
electoral precinct No. 12 in the Shengavit district. Since morning
single-mandate candidate of the district, journalist Gohar Veziryan,
had been complaining that the supporters of her rival, Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP)-backed Lyova Khachatryan were distributing
election bribes.

Another case was filed in Arabkir administrative district, where Armen
Matevosyan, being accused of distributing bribes for PAP at polling
precinct 4/27, was detained. A notebook with voters’ names and 380,000
drams (a bit less than $1,000) was found with him.

Despite different public and party allegations on election bribes
given for Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), as of now the Police have
not reported any action against the party. PAP representatives allege
that the lack of investigation into those charges `is a specially
oriented attitude.’

`These are ill-natured actions against us. We will clarify everything
and will prove that there are no such things,’ head of PAP
headquarters Naira Zohrabyan told ArmeniaNow.

The criminal cases are filed under the `Breaching the Confidentiality
of Ballot’ article of the Criminal Code of Armenia, punishable with a
fine in the amount of 200,000 drams (more than $500), or imprisonment
for 3-5 years.

According to mass media reports, an extraordinary incident has been
registered in the town of Masis, Ararat province, where a woman
received 500,000 drams (about $510) from a party headquarters to
distribute the money among people asking to vote for the party.
However, she refused to distribute the sum, and people started to
rough her up and demand the election bribe as promised before.

ArmeniaNow journalist reports from two polling stations of electoral
district #12, which includes Erebuni and Shengavit administrative
districts, that the situation there is rather tense.

Cars with no license plates parked at polling precincts 12/34 and
12/37, as drivers of the vehicles watched who was coming and going in
a way that might be seen as intimidating. Meanwhile, a few women went
walking in the polling station, giving instructions to voters: `On the
white paper you must choose number 7 [RPA’s number] and on the colored
paper you must choose number 4 [a single-mandate candidate].’

Emma Hovhannisyan, the proxy of Heritage Party’s candidate Anahit
Bakhshyan, who is nominated in the same electoral district, says that
`the pressures made by the instruction-giving women and the turf guys
are rather disturbing.’

The Hot Line of the Human Rights Defender’s Office received 151 calls
about election violations.

9 Turkish security officials get administrative punishment in Dink case

May 6, 2012 – 19:41 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Interior Minister Ä°dris Naim Å?ahin has said nine
security officials were given administrative punishments for
negligence in failing to prevent the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, Today’s Zaman reported.

Responding to parliamentary questions from Turgut Dibek, a deputy from
the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), about Dink’s
murder, Å?ahin said five officials were sentenced to forfeiture of
monthly salary, three were given motions of censure and one was given
a warning. He said no investigation was allowed for eight officials,
prosecution was decided against for 31 and two were acquitted by a
court.

Dink, the late editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot dead by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
broad daylight in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. A juvenile court
sentenced Dink’s assassin, Ogün Samast, to 22 years and 10 months in
jail last July. He was 17 when the killing took place.

In January, an Istanbul court sentenced one man to life in prison for
involvement in Dink’s murder but acquitted 17 other defendants,
sparking large protests and criticism from rights groups and angering
lawyers who said the trial failed to clarify whether there were
connections between the suspects and state officials.

A report commissioned by the Turkish president found negligence by
Turkish state officials in the killing of Dink.

Security officials failed to protect Dink despite warnings of a plot
to kill him, and the subsequent trial exposed widespread structural
problems in the legal system and the need for reforms, the report
said.

The report also revealed that the flawed murder investigation
undermined public trust in the security services.

Spiegel: Are talks with Aliyev-kind person possible?

17:04 02/05/2012 » Politics

On the threshold of the Eurovision 2012 international song contest
Germany condemned state backed persecutions in Azerbaijan against its
citizens, Spiegel.de news site said.

Referring to its sources, the paper says German Foreign Ministry
secret report is about Azerbaijan. It’s reported that the prisoners
are maltreated, parliamentary debates are impossible, opposition holds
`extremely limited’ activities, they are being even persecuted.

`When Azerbaijan is targeted by the European countries, the first
thing being highlighted there is the violation of human rights,’ said
the report.

In February 2012 Azerbaijan and Israel signed arms supply agreement
worth $1.6 billion, and the European states became more concerned
about this deal than about political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

`In a message sent to the U.S. State Department in 2009 from U.S.
Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan’s president was compared with mafia head
in `Godfather.’ Hence, is it possible to negotiate with Aliyev-kind
person for the sake of a song contest,’ said the story.

Source: Panorama.am