Author: Kalantarian Kevo

LE BHK AFFIRME SUBIR DES PRESSIONS
Laetitia

armenews.com
jeudi 1er decembre 2011

Apres une serie de recentes arrestations de ses partisans liees a
des accusations de trafic de drogue, un parti cle de la coalition au
pouvoir, le BHK, a decide de rompre les retributions.

Malgre quelques soupcons sur l’ origine de ces arrestations, le parti
Armenie prospère (BHK) ne veut pas tirer de conclusions tant qu’il
n’y aura pas de preuves claires.

Selon un rapport de police, Armen Hovannisian, le leader local du BHK
de Jermuk, a ete arrete le 28 novembre. La police a declare avoir
trouve dans sa voiture personnelle 12,6 grammes (environ 0,4 oz)
de marijuana.

Plus tôt, les medias armeniens ont rapporte deux autres arrestations
de trafiquants de drogue, alleguant qu’ils etaient membres du BHK.

L’un des suspects arretes, Armen Muradian, surnomme Shlam, travaille
en etroite collaboration avec une usine de ciment qui appartient a
Gagik Tsarukian, un magnat qui dirige le BHK.

Le porte-parole de Gagik Tsarukian, Khachik Galstian,n’a pas exclu
que les arrestations soient une forme de pression sur le parti du
BHK, parti en competition avec celui du President Serge Sarkissian
(HHK)pour les elections parlementaires prevues en mai prochain.

Les speculations sur le possible dechirement des deux partenaires de
la coalition se sont intensifiees après que Levon Ter-Petrossian,
le chef du Congrès national armenien (HAK, a exprime sa volonte la
semaine dernière de cooperer avec le BHK.

Tsarukian, qui est parti en vacances la semaine dernière, est reste
jusqu’ici evasif a propos de cette proposition. Son porte-parole,
Galstian, a annonce que le BHK ne pouvait pas donner une reponse
formelle en l’absence du leader.

Les autres membres eminents du parti n’ont laisse aucune indication
concernant une eventuelle rupture du BHK avec le HHK.

Le porte-parole a declare que cette question sera aborde après le
retour de Tsarukian en Armenie. Pour l’instant, le chef du BHK est
en vacances aux Emirats arabes unis.

Lors d’une interview accordee a RFE/RL, Zohrabian a annonce qu’il y
avait un motif specifique dans les recentes arrestations de personnes
affiliees au BHK.

” Il y a eu tellement de cas similaires que nous pouvons parler de
coïncidences, mais aussi d’une sorte de modèle “, a declare Zohrabian.

En attendant, le chef adjoint du HHK, Galust Sahakian, a meprise
les discours du BHK qui affilient les recentes arrestations avec la
politique. Dans une interview accordee a RFE/RL, Sahakian a declare
que ” le crime ne connaît pas de parti ” et personne – quelle que
soit son appartenance politique- n’est a l’abri de poursuites.

DERSIM: LA TURQUIE SUR LE CHEMIN DE LA REPENTANCE

Le Monde

29 Nov 2011
France

“S’il y a des excuses a présenter au nom de l’Etat, alors je présente
mes excuses”. Par ces mots, le premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip
Erdogan a reconnu officiellement les massacres du Dersim commis par
l’armée turque en 1937-38, au cours d’une campagne de répression
particulièrement sanglante. “L’incident le plus tragique de notre
passé récent”, selon Erdogan, qui répondait a une demande de son
opposant Kemal Kilicdaroglu, qui demandait que “la Turquie affronte
son passé”. Ces déclarations de M. Erdogan, la semaine dernière,
au Parlement, documents a la main (voir la vidéo), ont fait couler
beaucoup d’encre. Mais c’est surtout la polémique politicienne qui
occupe les commentateurs, prenant le pas sur la dimension historique
de cet acte de repentance, même incomplet.

Les réactions ont d’abord été sceptiques. Ses détracteurs et le
parti kémaliste CHP, taxent M. Erdogan d'”hypocrisie”. Le premier
ministre a bien sÔr son propre agenda. Et cette reconnaissance
surprise lui permet de discréditer un peu plus le CHP, son principal
parti d’opposition, empêtré dans ses contradictions, incapable de
solder un héritage encombrant. Le CHP, parti fondé par Ataturk
et parti unique jusqu’en 1945… A la fin des années 30, sous la
présidence d’Ataturk, les chefs du gouvernement, Ismet Inönu puis
Celal Bayar, ont eux-même supervisé les opérations du Dersim.

Des opérations planifiées depuis la fin des années 20 pour écraser
dans le sang cette région rebelle, peuplée de Kurdes et de Zazas,
alévis, mais aussi d’Arméniens, islamisés ou non, qui y avaient
trouvé refuge au moment du génocide de 1915. La petite ville de
Dersim est alors rebaptisée Tunceli, la main de bronze, du nom
de l’opération militaire. Le nom d’usage jusqu’a aujourd’hui pour
cette province.

Erdogan s’est en fait engouffré dans une brèche ouverte par le CHP
lui-même. Le 9 novembre, le député CHP de Tunceli, Huseyin Aygun,
(photo) brise la glace et met en cause une politique d’Etat. “Pas
vraiment un scoop, écrit Jean Marcou sur le blog de l’Ovipot. “Mais
venant d’un député du CHP, même de Tunceli, il surprend, bien
sÔr, et fait l’événement”. Ces déclarations ont provoqué des
remous jusqu’au sein du parti. Un groupe de députés a demandé
l’exclusion d’Aygun. Le président du CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu est
lui-même originaire de Nazimiye, dans la région de Tunceli et des
membres de sa propre famille ont été victimes des massacres et
des déportations. En novembre 2009, le vice président du CHP de
l’époque, le diplomate Onur Oymen, avait soulevé la réprobation
après une sortie, justifiant les massacres de 1937-38.

A trop se laisser distraire par cette polémique, on en aurait
presque oublié que ce n’est pas seulement M. Erdogan qui a reconnu
les massacres, mais, fait beaucoup plus signifiant, a travers lui, la
République turque. “La portée d’un tel geste dépasse très largement
son auteur : il est difficile de refermer la boîte de Pandore, une
fois qu’on l’a ouverte…”, écrit encore Jean Marcou. Bien sÔr, cette
reconnaissance a minima, validant les chiffres officiels de 13.806
morts, recensés par la gendarmerie, la où selon les historiens,
on pourrait plutôt parler de 30.000 a 50.000 morts, est largement
insuffisante. Bien sÔr il faudra encore d’autres étapes pour parvenir
a la vérité historique: sur l’emploi d’armes chimiques contre des
civils, gazés dans les grottes. Ou sur le rôle, par exemple de
Sabiha Gökcen, fille adoptive d’Ataturk et première femme pilote
de l’armée turque, qui fut envoyée pour arroser la région de bombes.

Mais un processus est enclenché et il dépasse très probablement
les intentions du premier ministre. Le journal Radikal et le reste
de la presse pro gouvernementale (Sabah, Zaman, etc) publient depuis
deux semaines documents et articles sur les massacres du Dersim. Les
librairies débordent d’ouvrages abordant la question et les chercheurs
se lancent dans l’étude des documents d’archives.

Les éditorialistes s’emballent, questionnent, critiquent : quelques
exemples avec Mehmet Ali Birand, pour qui il faut maintenant affronter
le tabou de 1915, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, ou encore Koray Caliskan.

D’autres, comme Pinar Ogunc, dans Radikal, font remarquer que c’est
l’AKP qui avait fait interdire un documentaire sur le Dersim.

L’universitaire Bilgin Ayata souligne que la politique de l’Etat turc,
sous Erdogan, reste peu différente de celle de ses prédécesseurs,
prenant pour exemple le projet de 10 barrages autour du Dersim…

Le génocide arménien de 1915, après les massacres des années 30
que les Dersimis qualifient volontiers de “jenosid”, peut-il être la
prochaine étape de ce travail de mémoire? Les réactions a courte
vue de Tayyip Erdogan peuvent laisser penser le contraire. Mais c’est
la République qui parle.

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI: “THE MOST PAINFUL PROBLEM FOR THE CAUCASUS IS THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN”

APA
Nov 30 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. “At present the most painful problem for us is the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan”, said Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili at Georgia-Armenia business forum held in Tbilisi, APA
reports referring to Georgia Online news portal. Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan also attended the forum.

Saakashvili said that this conflict was the pain of both Caucasus and
Georgia. In his opinion, the only way of development for the Caucasus
is the integration: “I consider that the economies of the Caucasian
countries must be integrated in the future too”.

GEORGIA’S FOREIGN TRADE BALANCE

The Messenger
Nov 30 2011
Georgia

Out of the ten biggest trade partners, Georgia has a positive trade
balance only with Armenia. Georgia’s exports to Armenia products worth
USD 186 mln whereas it imports from Armenia products worth around
USD 48 mln. In terms of the trade balance, after Armenia is Turkey,
then Azerbaijan, followed by Ukraine. All together in 2011, foreign
trade turnover for Georgia reached USD 7.322 bln. It is interesting
that trade turnover in Georgia with CIS countries (2.393 bln USD)
is higher than with EU countries (USD 1.933 bln).

SCANDAL: ARMENIAN MP CALLED COLLEAGUE ‘CATTLE’ IN PARLIAMENT AND CONVERTED TO DRIVER

news.am
Nov 30 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – After an incident at the Armenian Parliament Session,
when MP from ruling Republican Party Arakel Movsisyan (aka Shmays)
called MP from oppositional Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan “cattle”,
Armenian News-NEWS.am tried to reach Arakel Movsisyan to ask for
comments on the incidents.

After introducing ourselves and getting confirmation that we are
speaking to Mr. Movsisyan, we asked for his comments. But upon hearing
the question, the man refused to be Arakel Movsisyan any more and
reintroduced himself first as MP’s driver and then as his brother.

Hereby we offer the text of the conversation:

Did you offend your colleague? If affirmative, would you explain
the reasons?

The problem is, you are speaking to Movsisyan’s driver.

Then why did you first present yourself as Movsisyan?

He is not here at the moment, he went out. I am his brother.

Since you are his brother and driver, didn’t he by chance talk to
you about today’s incident in the Parliament?

If I was an MP, I would say. He left the phone here. He is in Galust
Sahakyan’s [head of Republican Party Faction] office.

Are you aware as of the purpose of his visit? Did Galust Sahakyan
invite him to discuss the incident?

He is a Republican Party member. I have no idea about any incident,
what incident?

Earlier Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that another notorious incident
occurred at Armenia’s National Assembly (Parliament) on Wednesday,
when MPs were examining the credit loan agreement, whereby Armenia
will receive $18 million credit to hold consultations. During Heritage
MP Armen Martirosyan’s address infuriated MP Arakel Movsisyan (aka
Shmays) yelled from his seat: “I am here not to listen to cattle
like you!” And Armen Martirosyan retorted: “No, you are cattle;
speak calmly! What kind of tone it is?”

ISRAELI ENVOY HOPES ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR WILL SOON APPEAR IN TEL-AVIV

news.am
Nov 30 2011
Armenia

Appointment of Armenian Ambassador to Israel will definitely have
good impact on relations between the two states, Israeli Ambassador
to Armenia Shmuel Meirom said in a conversation with the Armenian
News-NEWS.am correspondent.

“Now I am working with one arm but if we have an ambassador here I will
be working with two arms and the relationship will get even warmer than
today,” he said expressing hope that the envoy will be appointed soon.

GEORGIAN-ARMENIAN BORDER TO BE EASY CROSSING FOR MOTORISTS – GEORGIAN PRESIDENT

People’s Daily Onlinem
Nov 30 2011
China

(Xinhua)10:09, November 30, 2011 TBILISI, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — The
president of the South Caucasus country of Georgia on Tuesday promised
that his country’s border crossing with neighboring Armenia will be
as transparent as that in between Switzerland and France.

“Passengers will be checked in their cars just once,” said Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili after meeting his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sargsyan, “The Georgian-Armenian border will be as transparent
as the Swiss-French border in the nearest future.”

Sargsyan arrived in Tbilisi on Tuesday for a two-day official visit.

The Georgian president described the bilateral relations as
unparalleled. As many as 600,000 Armenians had crossed the Georgian
border so far this year.

President Saakashvili told the media that negotiations between the
two countries on simplifying border crossing would soon be over.

Sargsyan thanked the Georgian president for the warm reception.

“Armenia and Georgia are building their cooperation on the basis
of brotherly relations,” he said. “All this is aimed at making our
peoples’ lives more secure.

“We will be able to diffuse the tension and take steps toward conflict
solution in the region,” the Armenian president added.

Sargsyan told the media that trade between Armenia and Georgia had
increased by 20 percent this year.

BORAT CATAPULTED HIM TO FAME, BUT KEN DAVITIAN IS NOT AZAMAT

Huffington Post

Nov 29 2011

Ken Davitian believes that things work out the way they are supposed
to. That’s why, when his rubbish business collapsed, it made possible
one of this century’s most unforgettable movie scenes: a rotund and
naked Davitian wrestling with Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat. First, let’s
dispel a few misconceptions: Ken Davitian, a.k.a. Azamat, is a native
of Los Angeles who speaks without an accent. Secondly, he does not
eschew clothes in normal life. During this phone interview, he claims
to have been sitting on his bed clad in boxers and a Raiders shirt.

Wrestling naked onscreen at multiplexes across the nation was not the
actor’s idea. In fact, he actively fought against it. “A short fat
guy in boxers would be hilarious,” he recalls saying to the producers.

While he lost the battle, he has no regrets. “It worked. I realized
that if you’re committed to a project, you go all the way. And it
was a life-changer for me.”

Borat catapulted Davitian into the big leagues, though his portrayal
convinced most people that he was a foreigner. Subsequent roles
in Get Smart and Meet the Spartans have done little to change that
perception. Now he has a small role in the buzzworthy The Artist —
a silent film — so audiences will not hear his west coast accent.

Kenneth Davitian, now 58, was born into an Armenian-American family in
East Los Angeles. His father had served in the Russian Army in World
War II, been captured by the Germans, and eventually found his way
to Los Angeles with its sizable Armenian community. Both Davitian’s
father and grandfather were in the waste removal business. His
mother’s mother, on the other hand, was part of an Armenian acting
troupe that traveled throughout California. After watching her perform
onstage when he was 13, Ken says, “I thought, ‘Okay, this would be
easier than dealing with rubbish.'” He went to college, and began
an acting career that included stints on such shows as Boston Legal,
The Closer, Six Feet Under, and The Gilmore Girls, often as characters
with foreign names.

But there was also rubbish. In between acting gigs, he says, “I had
up to six garbage trucks and had the contract for the city of Malibu.”

Under NAFTA, he spent the early 1990s attempting to “bring modern
and clean waste removal to Mexico.” Due to circumstances beyond
his control, he returned to California in 1995 broke. “But I didn’t
want ‘Rubbish Man’ on my tombstone,” he says. “I know many who are
multi-millionaires in the business but I really wanted to be in a
film. Rubbish had to go bad for me in order for the acting to work.”

In case the rubbish and film businesses both failed, the actor has
also opened several restaurants In the LA area. Today one is still
operational — a hot dog stand called Infield in Sherman Oaks. But
he’s also not waiting around for next perfect role. He and his two
adult sons — Robert and Aaron — have a production company through
which they are pitching some sitcoms and a reality show. “When I leave
this world, I want to leave a production company that my children
are involved in,” Davitian says. He speaks with pride of his two sons
and of Ellen, his wife of more than 30 years.

Ken Davitian is involved in numerous charities, most benefiting
children. “It started with a sick child, my youngest,” he recalls,
“He had a lot of health problems when he was born, but now he’s a
mountain, he’s my muse. He doesn’t remember when he was sick, but I
do.” Davitian has hosted the Children of Armenia Fund’s annual event,
and sends his poker winnings to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Poker? It turns out that’s another thing Armenians do well. “Armenians
were in the garbage business and then went into the poker business. I
like playing, and I believe that anything you can do to make one kid
step further into life is worth doing. If you’re blessed, bless back,”
Davitian explains.

Ken Davitian will appear in two upcoming films — Melvin Smarty and
You May Not Kiss the Bride with Rob Schneider, Mena Suvari and Kathy
Bates. But if this acting thing doesn’t work out, he’s extremely
knowledgeable about the hydraulics of garbage trucks and seems to
have a promising career as a poker player or as a restaurateur. And
what does he want his tombstone to say one day? “Never gave up.”

HOLDING OF FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IS IMPORTANT FOR ARMENIA, NATO OFFICIAL STATES

Mediamax
Nov 29 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. NATO Special Representative for the South Caucasus
and Central Asia James Appathurai said today that holding of free
and fair elections is important for Armenia.

Speaking at the videoconference organized by Information Center on
NATO in Armenia for the students of YSU Center for European Studies
today, James Appathurai said that holding of free and fair elections
is important for Armenia in the first place and NATO may only support
it in this endeavor, Mediamax reports.

Speaking on Georgia’s intention to joint NATO, James Appathurai
noted that “they make great efforts and have already made substantial
success”. At the same time, he noted that holding of parliamentary
and presidential elections on the proper level in Georgia will be
one of the key factors in the process of making a decision whether
or not it will join the Alliance.

AZERBAIJANI MEDIA ONCE AGAIN DISTORTS WORDS OF ISRAELI DEPUTY FM

news.am
Nov 29 2011
Armenia

Ahead of debates on the Armenian Genocide in Israel’s Knesset,
Azerbaijani media outlets once again distorted words of Deputy Foreign
Minister Danny Ayalon.

Azerbaijani press reported that Danny Ayalon allegedly said “There
is no chance that the Knesset will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

In a phone conversation with the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent,
Israeli Ambassador to Armenia Shmuel Meirom said Danny Ayalon never
said such things.

“This article appeared some months ago in Azeri newspapers. I do not
know why they are repeating the same thing,” he added.

Commenting on a possibility that the Armenian Genocide can be
recognized by Knesset in December, Meirom said, “Everything is
possible. I cannot speak in the name of the Knesset. They will decide.

I cannot predict anything now.”

He stressed that there are many politicians in the parliament and
everyone decides according to his interests and political science.