Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIA’S BUDGET PROVES THE COUNTRY IS IN DEEP CRISIS – VAHAGN KHACHATRYAN

Tert.am
25.11.11

Armenia’s 2012 budget proves that the country is in a deep crisis
and that it is not a social budget at all, activist of the opposition
Armenian National Congress (HAK) Vahagn Khachatryan has said.

Speaking at a HAK rally on Liberty Square late on Friday, Khachatryan
called next year’s budget a “show”.

“One looks into the budget and wants to understand what they
[government] are doing. Nothing! It is just a show,” said he.

“The 101 billion [dram] budget is planned at the expense of increased
prices, inflation. That is to say, they do nothing. The 2012 budget
is not a social one; it does not ensure our well-being,” Khachatryan
explained.

Further, he said that instead Armenia’s foreign debt is on the
increase.

“Do you want the country to go bankrupt? Do you want the country
to reach the situation in Greece?” Khachatryan addressed a question
to government.

He also said that the ruling authorities backtracked on their campaign
pledges as poverty has not been reduced; it has rather been tripled,
while medical services are not affordable for ordinary citizens.

EXPERT: KARABAKH CONFLICT PUSHED TO BACKGROUND

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 25, 2011 – 16:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – No significant progress will be observed in Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement in the nearest future, Research Director
of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute said.

According to Svante Cornell, the conflict has been pushed to the
background with mediators taking no serious steps towards its
resolution.

“Co-chairs have different views. Russia is interested in maintaining
its leadership in the Caucasus. As for French and U.S. position
regarding the issue, no partiality is observed by their side,” the
expert noted dwelling on OSCE MG co-chairs’ stance on the negotiation
process.

Most Important Evidence in Non-Combat Army Death Case is Missing

11.23.2011 17:50 epress.am

The most important evidence in the case of Tigran Ohanjanyan who died
while serving in the army during peacetime on Aug. 30, 2007, the
radio-relay station, is missing, Tigran’s mother, Gohar Sargsyan, told
Epress.am today.

Recall, according to a Jan. 13, 2010 court ruling, Tigran got in
contact with a wire that was hanging from an antenna mast of the
aforementioned station and died from electroshock.

As a result of complaints by Tigran’s parents, the case was re-opened
and a decision was made to again examine the evidence.

`They say my child was supposedly struck by an electric current from
the wire from the relay station which is now missing. I would say this
undermines the prosecution, four years of the investigation is ruined.
The evidence has disappeared and the version of death by electroshock
is eliminated.

`Now they were to start a new investigation on another person without
pursuing the electroshock theory. But since our judicial system is
interconnected, how can a brother sue his brother? One prosecutor has
committed a crime by getting the investigation on the wrong track,
gathering the testimonies together with the investigator – how can one
sue the other?’

Sargsyan said that during the new preliminary inquiry, the relay
station was to have been inspected, but the process was dragging on.

`A couple of days ago I called our investigator to ask when we’ll move
toward examination; he said there won’t be an examination. I said how
can that be; he said, the relay station is missing. How am I supposed
to take it, when an investigation is going on for 4 years and their
only proof is missing. Who ate the station? I promise to reward the
person who finds the relay station,’ Tigran’s mother told Epress.am.

According to her, the parents will consult their lawyer in order to
decide who to give an announcement to and where they can find the
station.

`I was with two of the experts the day before yesterday. If there’s no
relay station, then you can’t examine it, you can’t write up a
conclusion. What conclusion are you going to write? The expert and the
investigator said they will examine a similar radio station, or they
already have… I didn’t even want to hear it,’ she said, comparing the
situation with a case in which a vehicle runs over a pedestrian and
then is missing, then another car is brought in its place which has
left no trace on that man’s injuries.

Le Monde , France
21 nov 2011

Alain Juppé en Turquie: « pleinement solidaires »

Le ministre français des Affaires étrangères Alain Juppé a effectué
vendredi 18 novembre une visite à Ankara et Istanbul, où il a
rencontré le président Abdullah Gül, le premier ministre Erdogan, le
ministre des affaires étrangères Ahmet Davutoglu et le négociateur
européen Egemen Bagis, ainsi que le patriarche oecuménique orthodoxe
Bartholomée 1er.

L’occasion pour la France et la Turquie de faire le point sur
l’évolution de la situation en Syrie : un terrain d’entente pour les
deux diplomaties (voir le Monde du 20-21 nov.). Après l’avoir
administré (l’empire ottoman et le mandat français), après avoir été
l’un et l’autre proches du régime Assad, les deux pays se montrent en
première ligne sur le dossier syrien. Et après s’être opposés sur
l’intervention en Libye, l’heure pourrait cette fois être à la
coopération. La Turquie a toutefois des raisons de se méfier, estime
Beril Dedeoglu, de l’université Galatasaray. L’université francophone
d’Istanbul dont Alain Juppé a longuement salué la réussite vendredi.

Pour convaincre de ses bonnes intentions, le chef de la diplomatie
française a insisté sur la coopération entre les deux pays et
notamment sur la “coopération antiterroriste”. “Nous sommes
pleinement solidaires de l’action de la Turquie dans la lutte contre
le terrorisme et nous soutenons ces efforts” a-t-il affirmé au cours
de la conférence de presse à Ankara. Une déclaration qui survient au
moment où la Turquie se livre, au nom de la lutte antiterroriste, à
une vague de répression sans précédent dans les milieux politiques pro
kurdes et intellectuels. Plus de 9.000 personnes ont été arrêtées dans
l’enquête sur le KCK (Union des communautés du Kurdistan) depuis 2009.
A en croire ces déclarations, la France se montre donc “pleinement
solidaire” de l’emprisonnement de 68 journalistes, dans l’attente
d’être jugés pour “appartenance à une organisation terroriste”. Et
“pleinement solidaire” de l’incarcération de Ragip Zarakolu,
intellectuel, éditeur, à la pointe de tous les combats démocratiques
depuis 40 ans. Ragip Zarakolu a reçu, en 2005, la médaille du courage
de la Ville de Paris, et la France pourrait, par exemple, lui
remettre une Légion d’honneur. Non, Alain Juppé, comme Claude Guéant
quelques semaines plus tôt, soutient “l’action de la Turquie dans la
lutte contre le terrorisme”. Le syndrome MAM n’est pas loin. La France
aurait pu proposer son fameux “savoir faire” en matière de police?
Mais la police turque a, il est vrai, une certaine expertise.

La deuxième victime de cette visite est arménienne. Après les
déclarations de Nicolas Sarkozy en Arménie, début octobre (il avait
appelé la Turquie à reconnaître ses responsabilités), Alain Juppé a
pris l’exact contrepied. “Concernant les événements de 1915 – ce que
le Parlement français a reconnu comme le génocide contre les Arméniens
-, c’est une question extrêmement difficile, j’en ai bien conscience.
(…) Nous savons que cette période est très douloureuse pour la
Turquie, pour les Turcs, mais aussi pour les Arméniens”. Dans cette
tirade, une étrange précaution oratoire : “ce que le parlement
français a reconnu comme le génocide” et une franche maladresse sur
1915. “Un génocide peut aussi être douloureux pour les victimes”,
ironise le Collectif VAN.
Mais ce n’est pas tout. Alain Juppé a déclaré : “J’ai donc pris bonne
note de la disponibilité de la Turquie à participer à ce travail de
mémoire dans une commission qui serait bien sûr élargie aux Arméniens.
Je soumettrai cette proposition au président de la République
française. Si Paris pouvait accueillir une telle réunion pour
commencer au moins ce dialogue, je pense que ce serait une avancée
extrêmement importante.” A Paris ou à Sèvres? Une commission politisée
qui opposerait la position officielle de l’Etat turc aux “allégations
arméniennes de génocide” serait évidemment tout sauf constructive.

Le ministère des Affaires étrangères aurait été bien inspiré, pour
tenter d’y voir plus clair dans cette Histoire, d’envoyer l’une de
ses oreilles à la conférence passionnante qui s’est tenue quelques
jours plus tôt dans la ville de Diyarbakir. Diyarbekir, aujourd’hui
fief kurde de Turquie, était l’un des vilayet arméniens de l’empire
ottoman. Organisée par la Fondation Hrant Dink du 11 au 13 novembre,
ce colloque organisé par Cengiz Aktar (programme et vidéos en ligne),
dont les articles vont être traduits en anglais et en français, a
rassemblé de nombreux universitaires arméniens, turcs mais aussi
français (Raymond Kevorkian), américains, anglais (David Gaunt),
allemands (Hilmar Kaiser), suisses (Hans Lukas Kieser), spécialistes
de l’histoire de la région. Il a largement été question du génocide
arménien, de son contexte, de ses racines, de ses conséquences sur le
cours de l’histoire. Ayhan Aktar a révélé le contenu d’une série de
télégrammes écrits par Talat Pacha, l’architecte du génocide,
retrouvés dans un fond d’archives ouvert tout récemment.

Des réunions d’historiens spécialistes du génocide arménien ont déjà
lieu en Turquie. Sauf lorsqu’ils sont menacés de prison au nom de la
lutte antiterroriste, avec laquelle la France est “pleinement
solidaire”. Les historiens turcs, eux-mêmes, sont de plus en plus
nombreux à travailler sur les archives ottomanes et lèvent peu à peu
le voile sur 90 ans de déni. Mais ce ne seront sans doute pas ceux-là
qui seraient envoyés pour représenter les positions officielles dans
une conférence telle que la propose le ministre français.

TURQUIE
Abdullah Gul portera-t-il un frac arménien au palais de Buckingham ?

A l’invitation de la Reine Elisabeth II, la Président turc Abdullah
Gul va se rendre deux jours à Londres avec sa femme Hayrunnisa Gul.

Le Ministre turc des Affaires Etrangères Ahmet Davutohlu et le Premier
ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan accompagneront le président pendant sa
visite.

Le journal turc Radikal a dit qu’avant de se rendre au Royaume-Uni
Abdullah Gul s’est rendu chez un tailleur arménien à Istanbul pour
commander un frac.

Mais Abdullah Gul ne sera pas la seule personne au Palais de
Buckingham portant un article d’un maître arménien. Sa femme
Hayrunnisa n’est pas indifférente à l’art des maîtres arméniens.

Au cours de sa visite à Strasburg l’année dernière, la première dame
de Turquie portait un anneau fait le célèbre bijoutier arménien
d’Istanbul Sevak Bicakri.

Questionné par des journalistes sur le merveilleux anneau à son doigt
Mme Gul a déclaré avec fierté que son auteur était un arménien.

« Nos artisans sont des arméniens et des grecs. C’est notre diversité,
notre attraction. Je porte cet anneau particulièrement pendant mes
voyages à l’étranger » avait-elle dit.

mardi 22 novembre 2011,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Yerevan hosts 20th Armenian Football Championship award ceremony

November 26, 2011 – 16:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On November 26, Yerevan hosted an award ceremony for
the 20th Armenian Football Championship.

For the first time in team’s history, Ulysses won the championship
gold, followed by silver and bronze medalists, Pyunik and Gandzasar.

Banants’ player Bruno Correa was announced as top scorer with 16
goals; Pyunik fullback Varazdat Aroyan was named as the most
prospective player.

The winner of Armenia’s First League, Shengavit and Futsal champion
Erebuni were also awarded accordingly.

Armenian Embassy opens in Lithuania

November 26, 2011 – 18:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On November 26, Vilnius hosted a ceremonial opening
of the Armenian Embassy in Lithuania.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, his Lithuanian
counterpart Audronius Azubalis, parliamentarians and representatives
of the Armenian community attended the event.

As Nalbandian stated during the ceremony, Lithuania became the fist
Baltic state to open Armenian Embassy, which testifies to intention of
the two countries to further bilateral ties.

Azubalis, in turn, noted the opening of the Embassy to signal a new
stage in Yerevan-Vilnius relations.

The opening was followed by a meeting with Armenia-Lithuania
cooperation in the framework of international organizations on
discussion agenda.

Also, Armenian Foreign Minister briefed his Lithuanian counterpart on
recent developments in Karabakh issue as well as OSCE Mink Group
co-chairs proposals for settlement to be discussed during their
regional visit next week, Armenian Foreign Ministry press service
reported.

SAMVEL TER-SAHAKYAN REMAINS UNDEFEATED

Panorama
Nov 24 2011
Armenia

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan remains undefeated with six wins in a row in U18
tournament at the World Youth Chess Championships in Caldas Novas,
Brazil. Ter-Sahakyan is one point ahead of Fedoseev. In the sixth
round, Robert Aghasaryan lost to Cori and is currently 27th with
3.5 points.

In U16 tournament, Hovhannes Gabuzyan beat Ynojosa. Gabuzyan is 3rd
with 5 points. Karen H. Grigoryan drew with Mons. He is 23rd with
4 points.

ARMENIANS EXPRESS HOPE OVER APOLOGY

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 24 2011
Turkey

Sept. 6-7, 1955 events resulted in pogroms throughout Istanbul against
the minorities.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan’s apology on behalf of the Turkish
state on Nov. 24 over the killings in Dersim in 1938 has created a
stir among Armenians both in Turkey and abroad.

“It looks as if Erdoðan is ready to discuss official history in
Turkey. I hope he presents this attitude for the Armenian genocide
as well. Recognizing the genocide would gain Turkey prestige and
make it possible for her to face up to its history,” Ara Sarafyan,
director of the London-based Gomidas Institute, told the Hurriyet
Daily News yesterday.

Sarafyan said they were ready for a commission of historians to tackle
the issue, but he called for the disclosure of Turkey’s confidential
archives as well.

Hayk Demoyan, the director of the Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan,
also said the prime minister was indirectly referring to what Armenians
claim is a genocide.

“The Young Turks committed genocide against the Armenians in 1915. The
Kemalists, who shared the same mindset with the Young Turks, then
subjected the remaining Armenian survivors in Dersim to genocide. As
such, Dersim was the follow up to the genocide,” Demoyan told the
Daily News via a phone interview yesterday.

Dersim, which is in eastern Turkey, was renamed Tunceli in the 1930s.

Demoyan said they were ready for a commission of historians to work
on the issue but expressed skepticism that Turkey could reciprocate
the move.

“We are ready to take part in the commission. But are you ready
to disclose the secret archives of the [Turkish] General Staff and
speak of the genocide in an objective manner? How are your academics
supposed to discuss this problem freely when there is a threat hanging
over your country’s intellectuals, such as Article 301 [of the Turkish
Penal Code]? Turkey has a problem about confronting its past,” Demoyan
said in reference to an infamous legal article that has been used to
criminalize “insults to Turkishness.”

But Mihalis Vasiliadis, the chief editor of the Istanbul-based daily
Greek newspaper Apoyevmatini, said the prime minister’s speech was
a political maneuver.

“So, will he also apologize for the events of Sept. 6-7, 1955, as
in the many painful events that occurred throughout the history of
the Republic? I highly doubt that,” Vasiliadis told the Daily News
in reference to pogroms against members of the country’s minority
communities.

“I cried during the prime minister’s speech. I believe in him. His
attitude will lead all the way to a facing off with the events of 1915;
the state will apologize to us,” Arev Cebeci, a Turkish-Armenian who
ran as a deputy candidate nominee for the opposition CHP during the
last elections, told the Daily News.

But Cebeci, whose deputyship bid received much criticism from
Istanbul’s Armenian community, said CHP leader Kemal Kýlýcdaroðlu’s
statements regarding the issue did not befit a left-wing party.

Cebeci also told the Daily News that he had decided to resign from
his active duties in the CHP Assembly.

“The prime minister’s mental map is identical to that of the Armenian
diaspora. Erdoðan will soon recognize the Armenian genocide, too,”
Kýlýcdaroðlu had said in connection with the ongoing public spat over
the Dersim killings.

The prime minister’s response, in turn, was no less furious: “You dare
to put me in the same place with the Armenian diaspora? Shame on you.

I defy anyone who places Turkish Prime Minister Erdoðan in the
same spot as the Armenian diaspora. Know your place,” Erdoðan told
Kýlýcdaroðlu.

In the late 1930s, the military launched an operation to suppress
tribes in Dersim, whose population was largely made up of Alevi Kurds.

Thousands were killed while many survivors were sent into internal
exile.

PROPOSES TO REPLACE BENTLEY WITH NAREKATSI

November 24, 2011

Former national security advisor to the RA President Ashot Manucharyan
says he is not a member of the ANC because the latter is not proposing
a complete change.

Manucharyan says he sees “sectors that want complete change”.

In response to the question of whether he wants change of power or
not, Manucharyan said he wants to see a change of the value system
in the country.

“If Narekatsi lived with today’s psychology, he would go for a
Bentley. But since back then people traveled by donkeys, the Bentley
back then would be a donkey with a golden tail. Narekatsi didn’t go
for taking a photo on that donkey and leave that donkey as heritage,
but left us the “Book of Prayer”, and that is a matter of system of
values,” Manucharyan said.

According to Manucharyan, Armenians are more perfect than Narekatsi,
and they go for the donkey with a golden tail, that is, Bentleys and
buildings. This is a matter of power. If importance is attached to
the donkey with a golden tail, we are going toward that. If importance
is attached to the “Book of Prayer”, we are going for that.

“Change of power is only the change of the value system. All other
change of power is change of images that is not important,” Ashot
Manucharyan says.