Author: Kalantarian Kevo

LEVON TER-PETROSYAN AND STEPAN DEMIRCHYAN HEAD THE LIST OF ANC’S CANDIDATES FOR PARLIAMENT

arminfo
Tuesday, January 31, 14:49

Leader of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan
and Leader of the People’s Party of Armenia (PPA) Stepan Demirchyan
head the ANC’s proportional list of candidates, Haykakan Zhamanak
Daily writes referring to PPA Secretary Stepan Minasyan.

Earlier on Monday ANC Coordinator Levon Zurabyan said a total of
18 parties of Armenian National Congress will participate in the
parliamentary election in Armenia with a single list. He called it
very hard to coordinate a single electoral list of 18 parties. But
at least the decision about the single participation of these parties
in the election is a great achievement.

In addition, referring to its sources in ARFD Party the paper writes
that ARFD Bureau representative Hrant Margaryan will not lead the
party’s list of the candidates. Margaryan heads the ARFD global
structure and running for the parliament in the proportional list
of his party would downgrade his status. The paper writes that Vahan
Hovhannissyan, head of the ARFD faction in the parliament, and Armen
Rustamyan, representative of the ARFD Supreme Body, head ARFD’s list.

TURCOLOGIST: FEELING OF BITTERNESS TOWARDS FRANCE MAKES TURKEY TURN TO MOSCOW FOR COMFORT

arminfo
Tuesday, January 31, 14:54

Ankara’s aspiration for rapprochement with Moscow is a peculiar
response to the French Senate’s bill criminalizing denial of genocides,
turcologist Levon Hovsepyan told media on Tuesday.

The recent meeting of the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers should
be studied in this very context, the expert said.

“Feeling of bitterness towards Europe makes Turkey search for common
ground with Russia. However, its steps are doomed to failure since
Russia experienced firsthand Ankara’s instable policy in the region,”
the Turcologist said.

He is sure that Russia will hardly forget the August war of 2008 when
Turkey supplied weapons to Georgia.

Hovsepyan said that the impulsive and unusual policy of Turkey
demanding France’s removal from the OSCE Minsk Group is like behavior
of an offended boy.

“Turkey cannot be the initiator in this issue as its possibilities
are limited and do not meet its ambitions. Both the West and Russia
are well aware of that,” Hovsepyan said.

ARMENIA-EU POLITICAL DIALOGUE ACQUIRES NEW DYNAMICS, DEPUTY FM OF ARMENIA SAYS

ARMENPRESS
JANUARY 31, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, ARMENPRESS: We are striving to create new
legal-political ground in the Armenia-EU relations, which is being
reflected at the negotiations over the Association Agreement, deputy
foreign affairs minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said at the
discussion of 2012-2013 Armenia-EU action plan January 31.

“Armenia’s cooperation with the EU is focused on the negotiations
over the signing of Association Agreement, creation of Free
and Comprehensive Free Trade Zone, facilitation of visa regime,”
Mnatsakanyan noted, adding that 22 chapters of the agreements have
already been discussed and temporarily closed.

The circle of Armenia-EU relations will continue expanding. “The new
political dialogue with the EU during the previous year acquired a
quite high dynamics. The main element of political dialogue is the
combination of interior reforms and European agenda as one united
package,” the deputy foreign minister stressed.

FRENCH COURT ASKED TO RULE ON GENOCIDE BILL
By SARAH DiLORENZO

AP
January 31st, 2012

PARIS (AP) – France’s Constitutional Council has been asked to
determine whether a bill concerning the mass killings of Armenians
a century ago violates the constitution.

The bill makes it a crime to deny that the killings of some 1.5
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide. Turkey,
which says there was no systematic campaign against Armenians, is
strongly opposed to the bill and says relations with France will
suffer as a result.

Both houses of French parliament passed the bill in recent weeks. On
Tuesday, the Constitutional Council said legislators have submitted
a formal request that the body rule on its constitutionality.

Turkish officials welcomed the move. President Abdullah Gul said,
“I hope the French court makes the right decision.”

Christian local voice challenges the transformations in the Arab World

by Harry Hagopian on

29 January 2012 – 8:26pm

A Christian-Muslim consultation on the Christian presence and witness
in the Middle East took place at the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia
in Antelias, Lebanon, from 24-28 January 2012.

The consultation dealt with issues and challenges facing the Christian
communities at this critical juncture in the history of the Arab
World. It also explored the effective ways and means of deepening
Christian-Muslim coexistence and collaboration as partners in building
democratic societies. A general report appeared on Ekklesia here:

The consultation was organised by the Geneva-based World Council of
Churches in collaboration with the Beirut-based Middle East Council of
Churches. More than fifty persons, comprising Christian and Muslim
spiritual leaders, intellectuals and actors of civil society took part
in this event. A number of ecumenical partners from Europe and the USA
also attended it in order to discuss the imperatives of
Christian-Muslim dialogue in this volatile and uncertain part of the
world (often known as the Middle East and North Africa) and to affirm
the need for a deeper sense of engagement between the two faiths.

At the opening session, His Holiness Aram I spoke powerfully about the
realities of Christians in the region as well as the way forward for
communities of faith. In challenging and contextual remarks, he
affirmed that `the Christian communities in the Arab World must engage
in dialogue with all trends of Islam which advocate democracy,
coexistence and non-violence’

Also attending the consultation were Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC
General Secretary, Dr Mohammad Sammak, General Secretary of the
Christian-Muslim Dialogue Committee, Dr Paul Rouhanna, MECC General
Secretary and HB Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah of the Latin-rite
Catholic Church. In his own intervention, the WCC General Secretary
reaffirmed churches’ commitment to justice and peace in the Middle
East, while stressing the importance of a common vision for living
together by Christians and Muslims in the Arab world.

The two You-Tube links here represent together the 16-minute opening
presentation by HH Aram I that drew the roadmap for the future of the
conference – and in one sense perhaps the region too.

*

*

———–

© Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenist and EU
political consultant. He also acts as a Middle East and inter-faith
advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales and as
Middle East consultant to ACEP (Christians in Politics) in Paris. He
is an Ekklesia associate and regular contributor
(). Formerly an Executive
Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee and Executive
Director of the Middle East Council of Churches, he is now an
international fellow, Sorbonne III University, Paris, consultant to
the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (UK) and author
of The Armenian Church in the Holy Land. Dr Hagopian’s own website is

Deathly drama in French city: elderly Armenian dies

January 29, 2012 | 00:01

LIMOGES. – A fight which took place because of a stolen car ended in a
tragedy for an Armenian family from Limoges, France, on Thursday evening, Le
Parisien writes.

A young man shot at a father and son of Armenian origin. Martunik Aslanyan,
61, was wounded at the back and fell at the parking lot. His son Gor, 26,
received a light injury. Both injured were taken to the hospital, where the
father died because of his wounds.

The reason of the incident was a conflict around a stolen car. A Citroen C3
belonging to an Aslanyan family member was stolen on January 16. On
Wednesday two strangers approached the Aslanyans and offered to sell them
two cars as one of them is a manager of a garage. As it turned, out one of
the cars they offered was the stolen Citroen C3. The owner of the car
demanded it back threatening to inform the police. A meeting was scheduled
on the nest day.

A whole gang was expecting the Aslanyans. The son, Gor, tried to come upon
an agreement. Suddenly the youngest member of the gang shot in the air.
Martunik Aslanyan thinking his son got injured approached them. Then
another gang member opened fire and the two men got injured.
The man who had stolen the car was taken into custody on Friday evening.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

RUSSIE
Pour Poutine, les nationalistes cherchent à détruire la Russie multiethnique

Le Premier ministre russe, Vladimir Poutine, a dénoncé lundi la
mouvance nationaliste russe qui cherche à détruire la base
multiethnique du pays, faisant un parallèle avec les nationalismes qui
ont abouti en 1991 à l’implosion de l’URSS.

`Je suis profondément convaincu que les tentatives de professer un
+nationalisme russe+ dans un Etat multiethnique sont en contradiction
avec notre histoire millénaire`, souligne-t-il dans une longue tribune
publiée sur le site de sa campagne pour la présidentielle de mars
(putin2012.ru) et dans le journal Nezavissimaïa Gazeta.

`Des provocateurs de toutes sortes et nos adversaires cherchent à
arracher à la Russie cette base (multiethnique) avançant des argument
entièrement faux comme le droit des Russes à l’autodétermination, la
+pureté de la race+`.

M. Poutine, qui a récemment affirmé que l’URSS, un empire composé de
15 républiques incluant aussi bien les pays baltes que le Caucase et
l’Asie centrale, était pour lui `la grande Russie`, estime que la
diversité devait être sauvegardée à tout prix.

`Nous sommes une société multiethnique, mais un seul peuple`, écrit-il.

Le racisme et la xénophobie gagnent du terrain en Russie depuis la
chute de l’URSS. Des centaines de milliers de personnes originaires du
Caucase russe et d’Asie centrale vivent et travaillent dans les
grandes villes russes pour échapper à la misère dans leur région
d’origine.

La Russie a connu une vague de manifestations nationalistes et de
heurts xénophobes à la fin de 2010, déclenchées par le meurtre d’un
jeune supporteur de football dans une rixe à Moscou avec des
Caucasiens.

Revenant sur ces heurts, Vladimir Poutine dit comprendre ceux qui
s’inquiètent de la multiplication des crimes commis, selon eux, par
les non-Russes.

`Lorsqu’on dit qu’en Russie (…) les droits des Russes sont violés,
cela veut dire que les structures de l’Etat ne remplissent pas leurs
fonctions, ne défendent pas la vie, les droits et la sécurité des
citoyens`, souligne-t-il.

dimanche 29 janvier 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

AZERBAIDJAN
Azerbaïdjan : deux hommes soupçonnés de préparer des assassinats interpellés

Le ministère de la Sécurité nationale d’Azerbaïdjan a annoncé jeudi
l’interpellation de deux de ses ressortissants, soupçonnés de préparer
des assassinats de personnalités étrangères pour le compte d’un
troisième homme, lié aux services iraniens de renseignement.

Ces deux citoyens azerbaïdjanais, Rassim Aliev et Ali Houseïnov,
`préparaient l’assassinat de personnalités étrangères (…)
c’est-à-dire préparaient un attentat`, a indiqué le ministère dans un
communiqué, sans révéler l’identité de ces personnalités.

Selon cette même source, les deux hommes travaillaient pour le compte
d’un certain Balagardach Dadachov, habitant à Ardabil (nord-ouest de
l’Iran), qui a `des contacts avec les agences de renseignement
iraniennes`.

Le ministère de cette ancienne république soviétique précise également
qu’un `nombre important` de pistolets, de munitions et d’explosifs ont
été clandestinement introduits en Azerbaïdjan à partir de l’Iran, pays
voisin, pour permettre aux deux exécutants de commettre ces
assassinats.

L’Azerbaïdjan, pays laïc en majorité musulman, entretient des
relations difficiles avec l’Iran, accusant son voisin de chercher à
exporter une vision radicale de l’islam sur son territoire.

dimanche 29 janvier 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

BOXE
Les championnats d’Arménie de boxe amateur
Arminée Sinapian la vice-championne d’Europe remporte le titre

Les championnats d’Arménie de boxe amateur viennent de se dérouler à
Erévan. Chez les femmes 9 boxeuses avaient pris part à la compétition.
Dans la catégorie des 60 kg, la vice-championne d’Europe, Arminée
Sinapian a remporté le titre. Les autres championnes d’Arménie sont
Kristiné Sarkissian (51 kg), Liana Ghoughassian (57 kg) et Achkhéne
Simonian (75 kg). Chez les hommes les champions d’Arménie sont Goriun
Soghomonian (49 kg), Radig Tamoyan (52 kg), Aram Avakian (56 kg),
Vladimir Saroukhanian (60 kg), Ara Boulouzian (64 kg), Hraïr
Matevossian (69 kg), Antranig Hagopian (75 kg) qualifié pour les J.O.
de Londres, Arthur Khatchatrian (81 kg), Alexandre Karagozian (91 kg)
et Serko Boghossian (+ 91 kg).

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 29 janvier 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.

FORUM INTERNATIONAL DE DAVOS
L’Azerbaïdjan achète Davos avec du chocolat

Jusqu’où ira le lobbying azéri ? Lors du Forum économique
international de Davos, chaque participant s’est vu offrir une
plaquette de chocolat offert par la Fondation Heydar Aliev. Sur la
table de chaque chambre était déposé un coffret offert par la
Fondation Heydar Aliev avec un cd-Rom et un livret de propagande azéri
sous couvert de la Fondation Heydar Aliev qui est l’un des sponsors
des rencontres de Davos. La Fondation est gérée par la première dame
d’Azerbaïdjan, Mehriban Aliev. Par ce sponsoring, l’Azerbaïdjan
obtient de nombreuses complaisances diplomatico-économiques ainsi que
des articles avenants dans la presse internationale.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 29 janvier 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com