Author: Kalantarian Kevo

RUSSIAN EXPERT SAYS ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN TALKS OVER KARABAKH UNPREDICTABLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 10, 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net – The editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza information
analytical agency Alexei Vlasov believes it too early to summarize
the results of Sochi-hosted meeting between Russian and Azerbaijani
Presidents, the tone of Baku and Moscow -issued statements being
rather restrained.

“We have to wait until August 12 for the meeting between Russian and
Armenian Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan at the CSTO
summit to clarify the actual situation,” Trend News cited Vlasov
as saying.

However, the expert refused to give specific forecasts, comparing
the course of the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks to the unstable and
unpredictable state of the international markets.

The meeting between Russian President and his Azerbaijani counterpart
was held on August 9 in Sochi.

As the Russian leader noted, Karabakh settlement was the main issue
on agenda. “I’d like to have a sincere conversation to determine
further steps, based on results of trilateral meeting in Kazan,
as well as previous talks,” Medvedev said.

Azerbaijan President, in turn, thanked the Russian leader for efforts
towards Karabakh conflict settlement and providing regional security.

“Previous talks on Karabakh considerably approximated the conflicting
sides’ positions. Azerbaijan takes major interest in conflict
settlement,” Aliyev said.

The Russian leader is expected to meet Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan on the sidelines of August 12 informal OSCE summit.

During the June 24 meeting in Kazan, the Presidents of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Russia failed to sign an agreement on basic principles
of Karabakh conflict settlement.

As Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian noted later, despite
the OSCE MG co-chairs’ efforts, Azerbaijan was not ready to accept
the final version of basic principles, presenting ten new amendments
at the last moment.

On July 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov handed over a
personal message and proposals of RF President Dmitry Medvedev to
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, who have already offered replies.

IREX MAKES POSITIVE ESTIMATES FOR MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
10.08.11

In its 2011 Media Sustainability report for Europe and Eurasia,
the International Research Exchange Board (IREX) has given positive
estimates to Armenia’s media sector.

The authors of the document focus on three major developments which
they say significantly impacted the country’s media sector in 2010.

They particularly refer to the decriminalization of defamation, PM
Tigran Sargsyan’s move to launch a Livejournal blog in late 2009 and
the increased number and influence of online periodicals, citizen
journalists, and social networking platform.

They say the overall score for Armenia showed solid improvement,
driven by increases in most of the objectives.

With 2.09 scores Armenia appeared to have the best results in the list
of the countries concerned. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with 0.35 and
0.59 scores, respectively, were considered the worst countries in terms
of ensuring media freedoms. Georgia had significantly lower scores
despite the progress that followed colored revolutions in the country.

Commenting on the situation in Georgia, Anahit Mirzoyants, the
manager of the Intermedia project, said that though the country is
capable of guaranteeing the freedom of media, such guarantees are
very often violated by the authorities which resort to different
methods to ensure that they are capable of controlling the content
of information released.

The full report is available here.

KASSAKHIAN TO SPEAK ON CHALLENGES FACING COMMUNITY IN GLENDALE
Ardashes Kassakhian

asbarez
August 9th, 2011

LA CRESCENTA-Glendale City Clerk, Ardashes Kassakhian will be the
honorary guest speaker on ” Challenges Facing the Armenian Community
in the City of Glendale ” at Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta
Valley, located at Western Prelacy’s ” Dikran and Zarouhi Der Ghazarian
” Hall, at 6252 Honolulu Ave., in La Crescenta, California on Sunday,
August 21, 2011 at 1pm, following the church service.

Kassakhian will speak about his experiences serving as the elected
city clerk of Glendale, CA. Having served as City Clerk for over 6
years, Kassakhian has gained unique insight into Glendale’s political
system. His prior experience as the Governmental Relations Director
and Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America –
Western United States, have helped shape his deep understanding of
the intersection of Armenian-American political affairs and local
government. As the city’s Election Official, he has led the effort
to raise participation and awareness of municipal elections and has
introduced the expansion of video streaming of city council meetings
and other proceedings. His presentation will focus on issues of voter
participation and turnout, public engagement and city council meetings,
as well as the importance of civic participation including the results
of the last two municipal elections.

At a young age, Ardashes “Ardy” Kassakhian was already at the
forefront of many grassroots battles from being a leading voice for
voters’ rights and civic responsibility in his hometown of Glendale,
California to fighting for Genocide recognition in Washington, D.C.

and beyond.

Born in Boston, Kassakhian’s family moved to Glendale 20 years ago.

Kassakhian’s family is originally from Smyrna (present day Izmir,
Turkey) and the region of Caisaria (Gesaryah). After escaping the
Genocide, Kassakhian’s family settled in Athens, Greece and Jerusalem,
Palestine respectively.

As a student at University of California, Los Angeles where he studied
and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History, Kassakhian
participated in the University’s Center for American Politics and
Public Policy Program in Washington, D.C.

While in Washington, Kassakhian interned in Congress for both
Republican and Democratic members’ offices. His thesis focused on
the successes and failures of the Armenian-American lobby in securing
proper reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide from U.S. Congress and
the White House.

In 2000 Kassakhian joined the public relations firm of Stoorza,
Ziegaus & Metzger, one of California’s largest firms which specialized
in government relations and public affairs. At Stoorza Kassakhian
worked on a variety of issues for both public and private sector
clients including Fortune 500 companies and employee unions. During
his professional career, Kassakhian has run a number of local, state
and federal campaigns to register voters and Get Out The Vote efforts
as well as campaigns for numerous candidates seeking public office.

Most recently, Kassakhian was Executive Director of Western U.S.

offices of a local non-profit which specializes in voters’ rights,
advocacy and public policy (Armenian National Committee of America
– Western Region). He has worked closely with members of the state
legislature and members of the U.S. Senate and Congress on policy
issues affecting Armenians throughout the United States. Kassakhian
is the only Glendale resident representing a grassroots organization
on the Los Angeles County Clerk’s Community Voter Outreach Committee,
which was created by the County Clerk to look for different methods
to raise voter participation in county, state and federal elections.

Through his efforts, the County Clerk’s office now provides information
in numerous languages on how to vote on their website and is the only
in the country to offer this information in Armenian.

During the last six years, Kassakhian has helped educate non-English
speaking citizens in Glendale about the voting process. He has
been a poll worker in Glendale and has helped register hundreds of
voters in Glendale and surrounding areas. He has taken his passion
for public service and enthusiasm for the political process into the
classroom as well lecturing on the importance of civic responsibility
to numerous college campus groups and teaching a class in Government
and Political History at Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in
Hollywood, California.

On April 5, 2005, Kassakhian became the first person ever to be
elected City Clerk in an open election in Glendale in 75 years. His
landslide victory in a field of 9 candidates made him the youngest
Armenian-American elected official in the U.S. as well the youngest
person to ever hold public office in Glendale.

In 2009, Kassakhian completed a summer program at the John F. Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University for State and Local
officials. In 2011, Kassakhian graduated from the Coro Executive
Fellowship Program in Public Affairs. He is currently working on
developing a long range strategic plan for reforming election processes
in Glendale and raising voter participation in municipal elections.

Kassakhian lives in Glendale with his wife, Courtney, and continues
to lecture around the country on political organizing and grassroots
politics, Armenian-American lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.,
and career development for youth interested in politics.

The general public is invited to this interesting, very informative
presentation and public service program. The attendants will be
encouraged to ask questions from the guest speaker and or share their
own experiences about the subject matter. The event is open to the
public. There will be a reception before the start of the program. The
event is sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Arshag and Nevear Koulajian.

ARMENIA MIGRATION: THE VILLAGES OF WOMEN LEFT BEHIND
Damien McGuinness

BBC News

August 10, 2011
Dzoragyugh

Women in the village of Dzoragyugh Women in Dzoragyugh can be seen
herding cattle or on their way to work in the fields

In many rural areas of the former Soviet Union, poverty and
unemployment are forcing people to leave. But in Armenia it is men who
are going, leaving whole villages almost entirely populated by women.

Here in the Armenian village of Dzoragyugh, it is often only women
and children you will see working in the fields.

That is because the only way for men to earn enough money to support
their families is to go to Russia.

One of those left behind is Milena Kazaryan, a mother-of-two in
her twenties.

As she tills the land behind her house, she tells me that her husband
is working in Moscow – as are her father, her grandfather and all
her brothers. In fact, all the men in her family have left.

Fears of second families

Ms Kazaryan smiles a lot. But she says what worries her and her
friends, is that their husbands will set up second families in
Russia. Something which happens a lot, she says.

Milena Kazaryan

All we want is jobs in Armenia so that our families can stay together
and so that fathers can see their children grow up”

Milena Kazaryan Dzoragyugh resident

“All of the women are really scared. We phone every morning and every
evening, to find out what our husbands are up to.

“It’s always really stressful wondering whether he’ll come back or
not. A lot of the women here worry because they think that in Russia
all the girls are beautiful. And the problem is that the men work very
hard so of course they also want to relax. That’s why they’re scared.”

Ms Kazaryan says the husbands of many of her friends now have second
families in Russia.

“Even if they have little children, men leave their wives and get
Russian girlfriends but when they are old and they can’t work anymore,
they come back here,” she says.

Ms Kazaryan and her husband married five years ago. Since then he has
spent most of the year working in Russia. Like many Armenians there,
he comes back for Christmas, and leaves again in March.

So it is hard to keep the family together.

Transfer of HIV

Women here say that almost all of the men from this village have
gone to work in Russia. Leaving women to do everything – including
the heavy labour, usually seen as men’s work.

And certainly when you walk round the villages in this region, it is
women you see herding cattle, on their way to the fields with tools
in their hands or carrying bales of hay on their backs – there are
very few men.

But the burden is also psychological, says Ilona Ter-Minasyan, the head
of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Armenia’s
capital Yerevan. Women have to also now make all the decisions –
a source of conflict in this rural, patriarchal society.

“Eventually it leads to shifted gender roles because, while he’s out
for eight or nine months, she’s head of the household.”

There are also other more fatal issues, says Ms Ter-Minasyan.

“Armenia has a very small population of people who are HIV-positive.

But recent surveys show that very often, large percentages of them are
labour migrants who go to the Russian Federation, become HIV-positive,
come back, and then transfer the disease to their wives. This is the
worst-case scenario.”

Birthrates ‘too low’

Human rights groups accuse the government of not doing enough to
tackle the problem of emigration.

But Gagik Yeganyan, head of the Armenian government’s department for
migration, says the only solution is to increase the number of jobs,
rather than set up any specific programme. And that this is something
not just the government, but the whole of society, including the media,
should work towards.

Women in the village of Dzoragyugh Human rights activists have called
emigration a national disaster

Officially unemployment is around 7% but the IOM says benefits are
so low that most people do not register as unemployed. So the real
figure is estimated to be around 30%.

According to human rights groups and opposition parties this means
that every year almost 100,000 people leave – most of them men, who
go to neighbouring Russia to work in the construction industry there.

The government denies that the figures are so high. But there is
general agreement that around a million Armenians are now living in
Russia – leaving only three million still in Armenia.

This is a fall of 25% since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,
when around four million people lived in Armenia.

There are now calls for the Armenian authorities to act: in July
human rights activists sent an open letter to the government, calling
emigration a national disaster.

One of the authors of the letter is Karine Danelyan. She says that
the lack of men is starting to be felt throughout society.

“It’s a really serious problem. There’s a new generation of girls
growing up who have no chance of getting married because all the boys
are leaving the country. So birthrates here in Armenia are now too
low to keep the population stable.”

But back in the village of Dzoragyugh, Ms Kazaryan’s concerns are
more immediate.

“It’s really tough because the whole family is just waiting and
waiting for the men to come back. All we want is jobs in Armenia
so that our families can stay together and so that fathers can see
their children grow up. A family is more than just the mum. We need
the dads here too.”

ARMEN MARTIROSYAN. “THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE GOVERNMENT, BUT THE SYSTEMIC CHANGE.”

armradio.am
09.08.2011 16:08

The issue of the electoral territorial commissions is not solved
yet and the parliament member tries to reach the participation of
an oppositional representative. He made a call to consolidate and
do big changes in their country. He can imagine the following: “The
problem is not the government, the change of sum members names within
the government, but the general change of the governmental system,
which means the accepting of a new statute and of new playing rules”.

To make the parliamentary elections earlier, according to Armen
Martirosyan, the authorities will agree only if they ensure that they
have an obvious advantage as, in his words, to have bigger privileges.

In addition, according to Gidachyan, the tales of the Khnko Aper,
Ghazaros Aghayan will also be translated: “Also the modern tale
writers’ will not be forgotten,” said Richard Giadachyan.

Beside the book, the manual includes a CD, which lets the children
can listen to the audio version of the book. The price of the book
is with CD is 2000 drams.

GETIK: A VISIT TO A SHRINKING COMMUNITY
ArmeniaNow

08.08.11 | 09:50

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN

By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter

Life in Getak village, 120 km from Yerevan, is not easy..

A warm sun gathers young and old men in the center of Getik village
where they discuss their problems: lack of potatoes and wheat, they
burn dried manure instead of gas, animals give little milk, they
cannot pay off credits, and they haven’t received their pensions yet…

Getik is one of the villages of Jambarak region, Gegharkunik province.

Peasants of the village, some 120 km north of Yerevan, are desperate.

Each spring, a few families lock the doors of their houses and leave
the village.

Enlarge Photo “We are not from the same house, but we are in the
same situation”, says Saribekyan. (Photo: Arayik Saribekyan (right),
Samvel Saribekyan (left)).Head of Getik village Ashot Dalakyan says
that his village has shrunk year by year, and that migration has
naturally slowed, but has not stopped.

Of its official 130 families (with 530 residents), 30 houses have
been locked shut. Last year Getik had six births; one child went to
the first grade.

The roads leading to Getik are not in good order. It takes an hour
and ten minutes to drive from Yerevan to Jambarak, then one hour –
from Jambarak to Getik a distance of only 12 kilometers.

“The roads are very bad; factories make no investments here,
considering the region to be risky, close to the border. I want to
say at least something good, but I cannot find it to say. We keep
two animals for a whole year to slaughter and sell them in the end
in order to buy a pair of shoes and macaroni,” says Getik resident
Arayik Saribekyan.

Being inspired with the winter warm sun, Arayik laid a table in the
yard of his house. There are only home-made vodka, pickles, bread
and cheese on the table. Glasses are being filled and emptied. And
then the famous Armenian ‘anush lini’ is pronounced. Cheers.

“Look at our village this way and you will understand yourself how
people live here. Houses are in poor condition, roofs are destroyed,
worn out… There are villages which at least have a good appearance,
whereas our village looks very poor, too. Nobody knows where we live,”
Arayik says.

Samvel Saribekyan, who visited Arayik from the neighboring village
of Ttu Jur, says that the situation is the same in all villages of
the region, the problems are identical.

“As the Armenian saying goes, “we are not from the same house, but we
are in a common situation.” This happens to us now,” Saribekyan says.

Arayik’s wife, 43-year-old Siranush Ohanyan, who joins the conversation
with a tray full of coffee cups, says that a peasant’s work is a
thankless task. And if a year is unfavorable (in terms of weather),
then they become completely helpless.

“This year we sowed hectares of fields with wheat, we spent 200,000
drams ($560) on it, but we hardly got 50 kg wheat. And one kilo costs
100 drams, so we will get only 5,000 drams ($13) for our wheat crop,
and that’s it. How can villagers live then? Those who leave Armenia
searching for migrant work do not come back. Two more years, and all
doors of Getik village’s houses will be locked,” Siranush says.

Cattle-breeding is the main business in Getik. Some of the village’s
men are contract-based employees in the military units near their
village, some three kilometers from the Armenian-Azeri border (Getik
is not considered to be a border village, however).

Many detachments from the village participated in the Karabakh war.

“If we pass that hill, we will see the Azeri’s post. During those years
[Karabakh war years] we kept thoseposts’,” Arayik says.

Siranush interrupts her husband, “During the war they kept it [the
village] at the expense of their lives, they were awarded with medals,
but now nobody cares how these people live. It is a pity that one
day we also will leave Getik.”

“If it were necessary even now, we would defend [our village] again,”
Arayik says.

Only 120 hectares of 336 hectares of Getik’s arable lands is being
cultivated.

“These people fight with the weather every year, they are tired; the
cost of the crop does not correspond to the market price. (She says
that last year it cost villagers 80 drams per kilo to grow potatoes
for which they got only 25 drams per kilo for the crop). And this
year our villagers did not plant potato, and its price reached 180
drams per kilo,” Dalakyan says.

The number of people, who deal with cattle-breeding, decreases in
the village. ‘Ashtarak Kat’ major dairy company buys milk from the
villagers. It has a large dairy workshop in Jambarak.

“There is a concern that the workshop may be closed, because people
have quit cattle-breeding. They get rid of the animals due to their
poor social conditions. For example, they have four cows, their
debts increase, therefore they slaughter one of the cows [to pay off
the debt]; and this happens every year. Those who had ten cows ten
years ago, now they have only three,” says driver of ‘Ashtarak Kat’
Karo Yavriyan.

Getik’s residents are desperate of their situation. Their present
is sad, their future indefinite. Head of the village Dalakyan says
that the government must support community development programs in
the village, that they cannot do anything all alone by themselves.

And Arayik Saribekyan, addressing the journalists who visited the
village, said, “It is good that you have come, at least, you have
remembered the residents of this village, and at least you have come
and asked us how we are…”

SERGEY SHAKARYANTS: TURKEY TRIES TO READDRESS KURDISH ISSUE AGAINST IRAN THOUGH SYRIA

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 9, 2011
YEREVAN

It is not the first time that Turkey interferes in home affairs of
other countries, political specialist Sergey Shakaryants said today
at a meeting with journalists, referring to Turkish Prime Minister’s
statement, according to which he is fed up to see the violence
committed in Syria. He said that Turkey has already proved that it
is not an independent state and its every step must be considered
within the policy of other states.

According to Mr. Shakaryants, Turkey’s independence starts only when
the speech is about the Turkish Cyprus or Azerbaijan, in other issue
it is not an independent state. “Turkey tries to readdress the Kurdish
issue against Iran through Syria,” the political specialist said,
adding that the game is quite complicated within the framework of
the Kurdish issue.

LUCIA MOON TO REPRESENT ARMENIA IN EUROVISION

Tert.am
09.08.11

A Los-Angeles based Armenian singer, Lucia Moon, has expressed
willingness to represent Armenia in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest
in Azerbaijan.

Moon’s representative in Armenia has told Aravot newspaper that the
singer is currently working on her new song Deir ez-Zor and has said
she’ll feel no pressure to perform it during promo tours.

Lusia has reportedly lived in Baku with her parents for about
eight years and settled in Los Angeles after the Armenian pogroms
in Azerbaijan.

ARMENIAN-AMERICAN DEMOCRATS PARTY ORGANIZATION REGISTERED IN CALIFORNIA

news.am
Aug 8 2011
Armenia

GLENDALE. – After a year and a half of work, the California Armenian
American Democrats has received provisional ratification as the first
organization chartered by the executive board of the state Democratic
Party, reports Glendale News Press.

The chairman of the organization Caro Avanessian attempted to form the
caucus, after he visited the forum of Democrats in California a few
years ago and saw a number of organizations of this kind, bringing
together the most diverse groups of people. Caro Avanessian is the
president of Glendale Democratic Club.

When Avanessian approached the state Democratic Party on forming a
caucus, he was told caucuses were no longer being approved because
they had lost much their authority due to recent federal legislation.

A party representative suggested Avanessian to form an Armenian
American charter group, which can collect money and endorse candidates.

ARMENIAN MINISTRY OF FINANCE TO IMPROVE ARMENIA’S RATING IN DOING BUSINESS PROJECT

news.am
Aug 8 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenian Ministry of Agriculture set the following
priorities: to increase agricultural productivity and add farmers’
income, the Minister Sergo Karapetyan told on Monday when representing
the report on the first term of this year.

Armenian Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan presented his report as
well. According to it, the Ministry set the following priorities:
to clarify the policy of social-economical long-term development and
to improve Armenia’s ranking in Doing Business World Bank project.

Armenian PM advised the heads of the two ministries to take direct
control over solutions of some issues and complete them in time.