Author: Kalantarian Kevo

TURKISH HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER WHO ACKNOWLEDGED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PRIZE

news.am
February 03, 2012 | 00:04

Several Swedish MPs have applied to the Nobel Peace Committee with
the proposal to give the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to famous Turkish
human rights defender Ragip Zarakolu.

As the Turkish Evrensel website informs, the Swedish MPs mentioned
in their proposal that Zarakolu published materials on the Armenian
Genocide and the Kurdish issue which are taboos in Turkey. He has
been sentenced for that publications several times.

One month ago Zarakolu has sent a letter to the Turkish parliament
calling them to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

“Yes, Turkey must face its history. It is not only an obligation
towards the victims but also a duty for securing healthy way of
thinking for the society. The acknowledgement of the genocide will
not belittle Turkey but will strengthen it,” Zarakolu wrote.

Ragip Zarakolu is a known human rights defender and publisher in
Turkey. Many materials on the Armenian Genocide have been published
in his Belge publishing house. On February in 2011 Zarakolu visited
Armenia.

RUSSIAN ROSTELECOM PURCHASED ARMENIAN OPERATOR GNC-ALFA

news.am
February 02, 2012 | 19:35

MOSCOW. – Russian national telecommunications operator Rostelecom
CJSC purchased 75% shares of the Armenian operator on main Internet
and data transmission GNC-Alfa for $22.5 million, Russian company’s
release reads.

Having the control over GNC-Alfa will allow Rostelecom to acquire a
well-developed basic infrastructure to offer broadband services and
digital TV in the telecommunications market in Armenia, which has a
great potential to expand.

To note, Rostelecom disclosed its intentions to purchase shares
of GNC-Alfa main internet operator in Armenia on Jan. 13. GNC-Alfa
makes 2% in the broadband market in Armenia. However, the company
intends also to purchase major independent Internet provider Ucom
(11% of broadband market), thus Rostelecom’s shares in the broadband
market in Armenia will make 13% in future.

UN APOLOGIZES INSTEAD OF AZERBAIJAN

news.am
February 02, 2012 | 18:43

It was found out on Wednesday that Azerbaijan as a regional conference
hosting state had showed a film on the state during the break at the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) annual non-official session
on Jan. 26-27 in Budapest. As a result of anti-Armenian information
in the film, the Armenian delegation has left the session room as
a protest action. Organizers of the session on behalf of the FAO
Assistant Director General and Regional Representative for Europe
and Central Asia Fernanda Guerrieiri qualified the video as improper.

FAO Assistant Director General apologized on behalf of the organization
to the Armenian delegation, which returned back to session after
consultations with Yerevan and assured no such things will happen
later. Meantime, she thanked and praised the Armenian delegation and
authorities for showing constructive approach.

YOUNG ARMENIAN COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE OF DEBTS?

news.am
February 02, 2012 | 20:46

GYUMRI. – Vladimir Karapetyan, 26, Shirak village resident, committed a
suicide in Armenia’s Gyumri city on Wednesday, Jajur community leader
Sokrat Suvaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to him, the young man has left a note before committing a
suicide claiming he takes the step for justice. He had no enemies,
Shirak community leader stated.

Whereas, Gyumri police claims that the man had large debts and
personal problems. Criminal case is instigated for committing a
suicide and keeping arms illegally, police press service informs
Armenian News-NEWS.am.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WAS NOT JUST GENOCIDE – RAFFI HOVHANNISYAN

Tert.am
03.02.12

If there is ever any reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey, it
should never be based on foreign countries’ laws, the leader of the
opposition Heritage party has said.

Addressing the French Senate’s recent decision to punish the denial
of genocides, Raffi Hovhannisyan told reporters on Friday that such
reconciliation should be based only on truth and justice.

As for the Armenian Genocide proper, the Heritage leader said its
definition could not be limited simply to an ordinary crime of genocide
as its impact went far beyond.

“The Armenian Genocide was not simply a killing of people; it is not
an ordinary genocide. It is dispossession,” he said.

Hovhannisyan further expressed their party’s respect for the French
lawmakers’ decision.

“We do respect them, and the law [i.e. the bill] which is now being
debated at the constitutional level. We also hail the Turkey based
Armenian public figures who struggle for justice,” he added.

THERE IS NO CHILD PROSTITUTION IN ARMENIA – POLICE FORCE

news.am
February 03, 2012 | 14:04

YEREVAN. – In 2011, 54 cases of sexual violence against minors were
recorded in Armenia, Police Force representative, Police Colonel
Nelli Duryan stated during a press conference on Friday.

Also, she did not agree with the assertion that most sexual violence
cases occur among needy families. “It is just that sometimes such
families are ready to speak about it. Our people’s mentality assumes
that such incidents are family affairs,” Duryan noted.

She also informed that in 2011 Armenia’s law enforcement agencies
did not record any cases of child pornography on the Internet.

With respect to the query as to strange-content websites’ accessibility
to children, the Police Colonel said this is under the parents’
responsibility. And in regard to child prostitution, Nelli Duryan
stressed: “We can say that such phenomenon virtually does not exist
in Armenia. But there is another problem linked with the girls’
conduct.” She added that such girls lead an unbridled lifestyle.

WE DO NOT HAVE OIL, BUT WE DO HAVE MORE PRECIOUS RESOURCES – ARMENIAN PM

news.am
February 03, 2012 | 13:45

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s PM Tigran Sargsyan received Jonathan James Aves
and Catherine Jane Leach, Great Britain’s newly appointed ambassadors
to Armenia. They discussed Armenian-British relations.

Sargsyan noted that Armenia is interested in deepening relations with
Great Britain. “First and foremost, it is important for the British
diplomacy to secure a balanced approach in the region. We do not have
oil, but we do have more precious and important resources. Above all,
this is the human capital. That is why Information Technology is a
priority direction for us,” Armenia’s PM said, Governmental Press
Service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He also noted that economic interests need to be discovered in Armenia
for British investors, and this would give new impetus to developing
bilateral relations.

In her turn, Ambassador Catherine Jane Leach expressed a conviction
that their activities would transfer the Armenian-British relations
to a new phase. The two ambassadors also noted that British companies
are interested in making investments in Armenia, specifically in the
mining industry and Information Technology.

The interlocutors also reflected on Armenia’s economic policy, as
well as bilateral cultural and Armenia-EU relations.

ILLEGAL TREE FELLING IN GARNI; 2.4 MILLION AMD IN DAMAGE

HETQ
12:50, February 3, 2012

On a tip from the Haynews.am news site regarding illegal tree felling
in the village of Garni, the Kotayk Regional Prosecutor directed
local police to investigate.

Cops discovered 77 cases of illegal felling and estimated the damage
to worth around 2.4 million AMD.

They have sent their findings to the Kotayk Investigative Unit
for review.

EU ACHIEVED LITTLE PROGRESS TOWARDS RESOLVING KARABAKH CONFLICT – REPORT

news.am
February 03, 2012 | 12:48

The European council on foreign relations issued European Foreign
Policy Scorecard assessing the EU’s performance on the global stage
across all 27 states.

The report says despite relatively unity, the EU has achieved little
progress towards resolving the Karabakh conflict.

“Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of
Nagorno-Karabakh continue to rise and there remains the risk of an
accidental war between them,” the report says.

“Compared to the conflicts in Transnistria or Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, the EU has even less leverage in discussions over the future
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. All member states support
peaceful resolution of the conflict, yet both they and the EU’s
institutions invest less time in this issue compared to the other
two protracted conflicts.

The EU as such is not present in the negotiating framework and is
represented by France in the OSCE’s Minsk Group, the key framework
for discussions about the conflict. France, which co-chairs the group
along with Russia and the US, is not willing to give up its seat for
a formal EU representative.

As a result, while EU member states agree in their assessments of
the conflict, they remain largely absent from the negotiations. In
2011, the Minsk Group met no less than six times. But it was Russia
that continued to play the principal role in negotiations about the
conflict settlement. The EU restricted itself to supporting Moscow’s
initiative to reach a breakthrough in negotiations via a separate
track outside the group.

However, although Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met the leaders
of Armenia and Azerbaijan in February, March and June, the meetings
yielded no progress.

The agreement on the basic framework of the future political settlement
of the conflict – the so-called Madrid Principles – remains on paper
only. Both the EU and member states in general seem determined the
isolate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from their relations with both
Armenia and Azerbaijan. For example, they did not make discussion
with the two countries on issues such as energy or trade conditional
on progress on Nagorno-Karabakh. The EU has also failed to engage
meaningfully with the other two key players, Turkey and Russia.”

SCHIFF, BERMAN DISCUSS JAVAKHK WITH SAAKASHVILI

asbarez
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Rep. Adam Schiff

Rep. Howard Berman
WASHINGTON-Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), lead sponsor of the Armenian
Genocide resolution, and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), ranking member
of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, met with Georgian president,
Mikheil Saakashvili, Thursday to discuss the bilateral relationship
between the United States and Georgia and to ask the president to
focus more attention on the Armenian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti,
which borders the Republic of Armenia.

Economic opportunity, education, and development in Samtskhe-Javakheti
have lagged behind that of predominantly Georgian areas of the country.

During the meeting in the U.S. Capitol, President Saakashvili expressed
a willingness to work with Schiff and Berman to direct more resources
to Samtskhe-Javakheti and said that he would fully support additional
American assistance to the region.

“I was very pleased with the discussion we had with President
Saakashvili,” Schiff said. “He was unhesitating in expressing support
when we asked for additional efforts to aid Armenian-Georgians.”

“I will continue to fight for the fair treatment and equal rights
for the ethnic Armenian community in Georgia,” said Howard Berman,
the Ranking Member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a
longtime champion of Armenian causes.

President Saakashvili has been in Washington for several days meeting
with a variety of senior American officials, including President Obama,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and congressional leaders.

An ongoing dialogue between the Armenian National Committee
of America and the Georgian government-both in Tbilisi and via
Georgia’s Ambassador in Washington-is exploring ways to expand the
Georgian-Armenian partnership to include broader direct Georgian and
Armenian investments and also increased U.S. assistance to promote
job-creation in the Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti (Javakhk)
region of Georgia.

“The Embassy of Georgia, in support of our government’s material
commitment to economic development for our citizens in the
Samtskhe-Javakheti region and throughout all of our Republic,
looks forward to working with our friends in the U.S. Congress
and the Administration and with all American civil society
stakeholders – including, of course, with the Armenian American
community – in encouraging the targeting of U.S. assistance to meet
Samtskhe-Javakheti’s urgent job-creation, infrastructure, technical,
and humanitarian needs,” stated Georgia Ambassador to the U.S. Temuri
Yakobashvili.

“We look forward, in cooperation with Ambassador Yakobashvili and
Georgian government officials, to broadening the longstanding ties
that have existed between the Georgian and Armenian peoples through
greater Georgian government investment in the economic development of
Samtskhe-Javakheti and by collectively supporting a robust U.S. aid
package for Georgia that includes targeted assistance to this heavily
Armenian populated region,” stated ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian.

ANCA has worked closely with members of Congress, USAID and others
in the administration to explore U.S. assistance opportunities in
Javakhk, including public-private partnerships, which would offer
material incentives for broader international investment in the region.