Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AFTER SHPP CONSTRUCTION ONLY SEWAGE TO BE LEFT IN THE RIVER MEGHRI, RESIDENT OF LEHVAZ

16:47 November 14, 2014

EcoLur

On November 13, 2014, in Lehvaz municipality in Syunik region, public
discussions took place on the application of the preliminary assessment
of “Meghri-1” SHPP construction presented by “Green Power” LLC.

A resident of Lehvaz community asked a question, “What will a Lehvaz
villager benefit from that construction? Do you expect us to give
our agreement?”

Khachatur Avetisyan, manager of “Green Power” LLC said, “The main
employers will be the residents of the community. We have discussed
with the governor of the community that we want to construct a
playground for the community and our work will be continued”.

“Creating a playground or doing a charity is a problem of several
years, but people have been living here for years”, responded the
resident.

Inga Zarafyan, “EcoLur” Informational NGO president, stated, “You
should introduce all the environmental risks for us to understand what
to discuss”. “The pipeline will be installed by the existing irrigation
system. That is, there will be no deforestation, no bushes will be cut,
it will have no influence on environment”, answered Edvard Lazarian,
chief engineer of projecting company “Gidepinvest” LLC.

Ecolur asked what influence the Small HPP will have on the ecosystem
of the river Meghri. Edvard Lazarian said that it would have no
negative influence, as all the RA norms would be followed. In response
to Ecolur’s question whether the river has a sanitary function for the
people, the residents answered, “All the sewage of the upper villages
fall into the river, and only the sewage will be left in the river”.

Edvard Lazarian stated that the SHPP will work for 2 months per
year during overflowing and in the rest months it will work with
small power.

Let’s state that in the application of the preliminary assessment of
“Meghri-1” SHPP construction presented to the RA Ministry of Nature
Protection it is mentioned that because of repair works the SHPP will
be exploited for 11 months or 330 days, and nothing is mentioned
about the fact that it will work for only 2 months with full power
during overflowing. It’s also mentioned in the application that the
SHPP will annually produce 10.56 million kWh of electricity which
will provide net sale of 214.2 million AMD per year.

The preliminary calculated investment money for “Meghri-1” SHPP
construction is 1022.86 million AMD not including VAT. The external
funding is 716 million AMD or 70%. It’s expected that “Meghri-1”
SHPP will be constructed and exploited from 2014 to 2021.

The exploitation will start since September, 2016.

ARMENIAN WINERIES SHOWCASED THEIR PRODUCTS AT ENOEXPO 2014 IN KRAKOW

YEREVAN, November 18. /ARKA/. Armenian wine producers showcased their
products at ENOEXPO 2014 held in Krakow on November 5-7, head of the
Association of Armenian Winemakers Avag Harutiunyan told reporters
on Monday.

“It was the first time we participated in the exhibition in Krakow. We
did our best… Armenia was represented by Yerevan Brandy Factory,
Shahnazaryan Wine-Brandy House, Edvag Group, Golden Grape ArmAs,
Maran and Armenia Wine factory”, Harutiunyan said.

Unfortunately, unlike their Georgian colleagues Armenian wine producers
had modest presentation, little advertisement and PR, Harutiunyan
said. Yet, they received medals and got foreigners interested in
their products, he said.

Such exhibitions provide a good chance for local companies to show
themselves, he said.

Some 142 producers of alcoholic drinks from Austria, Armenia, Croatia,
Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal,
Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain and Ukraine participated in
the twelfth ENOEXPO in Krakow. -0–

DEMORALIZED, SYRIAN REFUGEES RETURN HOME

17.11.2014

Many Christians, Armenians and Kurds who fled northeastern Syria in
recent years have been returning, choosing home over discrimination,
low-paying menial jobs and poor living conditions abroad. Sophie
Cousins reports.

Twenty-five-year-old Harrod Joseph just returned from patrolling a
Christian neighborhood in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli,
right near the Turkish border.

He joined the Syriac Christian security force, Sutoro, which works
to secure the inner city of the three Kurdish-dominated cantons in
northern Syria, half a year ago after he returned from eight months
in Armenia and eight months in Lebanon.

“I was so worried about the situation and I wanted to continue my
education so I went to Armenia,” he told DW.

But Armenia didn’t live up to Harrod’s expectations. He’d planned
to send money back to his family in Syria but instead had to borrow
money from them because he couldn’t find a job.

Eventually he got a job washing dishes at a cafe, but the wages were
so dismal he could barely afford to survive in a cramped, two-bedroom
apartment that he shared with seven other Syrians.

“We as Syrians got really low wages and only jobs that didn’t require
any skill or education. There wasn’t much of a warm welcome. I felt
like a stranger. Of course they were Armenian, but I’m a Syrian
Armenian and that made a big difference,” he said.

Realizing there were no education or employment opportunities on the
horizon, he travelled to Lebanon aiming to cross from there into Syria
but became stuck for eight months because the border and route home
wasn’t safe.

Harrod made it back to Qamishli, but after 16 months abroad, the city
was almost unrecognizable.

“In the early days of the revolution, there were no checkpoints and
no political parties on the streets,” he said. “When I came back the
city was completely different and new – even the people had changed. So
many people had left and so many refugees had arrived.”

Harrod said he was happy to be supporting his family but hoped to be
able to continue his education in Europe one day.

“If I leave again, I wouldn’t leave by myself, I would take my family.

I don’t want the same story to repeat itself.”

‘Fighting together’

Many people DW talked to across northeastern Syria were critical of
those who choose to leave for Europe. Kurds in particular stressed
that it was their duty to protect their land, identity and people
from the onslaught of the “Islamic State.”

A senior member of Sutoro, Aboud, who didn’t want to use his surname,
shared similar sentiments.

Many Kurds in northeastern Syria are devoted to fighting IS

“We want to stop the migration of Assyrians to Europe,” he told DW.

“We want to encourage everyone to come home and fight.

“Ethnicity and religion shouldn’t matter. We’re fighting this war
together,” Aboud said.

George, a man with a thick grey moustache and round belly, his wife
Jacqueline and their four children left Derike, a small but largely
deserted city in the Hasaka province, one year into the Syrian crisis.

While they were grateful the city had been spared the war’s most
gruesome features, the family struggled to cope with no work, rising
food prices, a lack of electricity and water and the general feeling
of instability.

They fled to the Netherlands in the hopes of better job prospects.

There George worked as a farmer, harvesting cucumbers, and tried his
best to pick up the language.

But the family struggled to live comfortably off George’s low pay
and in living conditions – they shared a one-room apartment – that
were a stark contrast to their modest family home back in Syria.

They also faced discrimination.

“I realized that I was only regarded and treated as a human being
where I come from,” George told DW, adding that he endured verbal
abuse for being Syrian. “I am Christian. Doesn’t that mean I have
rights in Holland, too?”

After two years, the family moved back to Syria.

‘Death is everywhere’

Sixty-eight-year-old Armenian priest Dajad Hagopian wears his clerical
clothing every day even though he only gives a sermon once a week to
a handful of people at the Armenian Orthodox Church in Derike. There
used to be 450 Armenians here but now only 200 remain.

Even war couldn’t keep Dajad away from home

Dajad left Syria before the war broke out because he was despondent
about the plight of Armenians. He spent four years in Germany before
returning: He missed his homeland.

“People ask what Germany was like and I tell them my house had four
walls like theirs,” he said, adding that he’s not in the position to
tell people not to leave when three of his own children recently took
off for Europe.

“God said give us our daily bread, and we get it. We may not get as
much, but we have fruit, meat and bread, and that’s all we need,”
he said.

“People think that death is just in Syria, but it’s everywhere.”

RUSSIAN WEAPON MAY HAVE BEEN USED IN DOWNING ARMENIAN HELICOPTER, SAYS KARABAKH DM

KARABAKH | 18.11.14 | 10:51

According to preliminary data, Azerbaijani forces used a Russian
weapon in shooting down the Armenian Mi-24 military helicopter on
November 12, Karabakh Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service.

Despite being Armenia’s closest political and military ally as well as
a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process, Russia is, at
the same time, one of the largest suppliers of weapons to Azerbaijan.

It is estimated that Moscow has sold modern types of weapons, including
heavy materiel, worth around $4 billion to Baku in the past few years.

“Our observations and data of Azerbaijan show that the helicopter
was shot down from a Strela anti-aircraft missile launcher. This is
Russian self-guided missiles,” Hakobyan said on Monday, at the same
time stressing that there is no agreement that would prevent Russia
from selling arms to any country.

The Karabakh minister added: “Of course, it’s a pity, because we
are strategic allies, and I think that Russia, pursuing its economic
interests, should also take into account our interests, which does
not happen,” he said.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan also voiced concern over Russian arms
supplies to Azerbaijan last summer. In an interview with Argentina’s
Clarin newspaper during his official visit to Buenos Aires in July
Sargsyan, in particular, said: “It is a very painful subject and
our people are worried that our strategic ally sells weapons to
Azerbaijan. But we are very confident that Armenia has the capability
to defend its borders…Despite the fact that Russia sells weapons
[to Azerbaijan] I have no doubts Russia will honor its commitments
to us in times of adversity.”

Russian officials describe arms supplies to Azerbaijan as “business”.

Some experts also point out that even if Russia did not sell arms
to Azerbaijan, Baku could buy similar types of weapons from other
countries.

ARF Australia condemns shooting down of Karabakh helicopter

Source: armenia.com.au | Friday, 14 November 2014

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation leadership in Australia has
released the following statement:

On Wednesday, 12th November 2014, a helicopter participating in
military drills in Nagorno Karabakh was shot down by Azerbaijan
forces, with three pilots suspected to be dead.

The ARF Australia Tro Gomide strongly condemns this unprovoked act by
Azerbaijan.

This cowardly breaking of the ceasefire agreement proves what the
Armenian side of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has been saying all
along, that Azerbaijan is not interested in a peaceful resolution in
the region.

We call on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to strongly condemn these
acts by Azerbaijan and the war-mongering of the country’s leader,
Ilham Aliyev.

Our thoughts are with the families of the fallen pilots.

ARF Australia Tro Gomide
Sydney, Australia

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN’S WORKING VISIT TO NKR CONTINUES

14.11.2014
more 51 photos

On the third day of his working visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic, the RA President and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the
RA Armed Forces, Serzh Sargsyan, in company of NKR President Bako
Sahakyan, observed the RA and NKR armed forces’ “Unity-2014” joint
operative-tactical military exercises at the Tigranakert Military
Training Center. A tank biathlon competition was demonstrated during
which the best participant in shooting and other categories were
determined. The Presidents of the two Armenian republics observed the
live-fire firing phase from the observation-tower of the same military
training center followed by an award giving ceremony dedicated to the
servicemen actively involved in the military exercise and military
service. Serzh Sargsyan congratulated the participants of the military
exercise on demonstrating courage and high fighting abilities in the
imitated battle and the successful implementation of these large-scale
military exercises.

“Honorable generals and officers,

Dear soldiers,

The biggest, the most large-scale and useful military exercises that
have been ever conducted with the cooperation of the NKR Defense Army
and the RA Armed Forces are coming to their end, and despite the
deplorable occurrence, I think that the military exercises have
succeeded. Of course, corresponding experts and executives are yet to
sum up, analyze and draw conclusions about them but we are happy for
what we saw in the imitated battle. You demonstrated high fighting
abilities, will and devotion to the Motherland. Well done, thank you.

Throughout these days, not only your proud parents, but also the
entire population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Republic of
Armenia have focused their attention on you, because your are our hope
and belief, our sword and shield, and as you know, the shield is
stronger and the sword is sharper when they are used for just
purposes. You serve the ends of justice

Thank you.

Of course, you have been followed by foreigners and, first of all, the
ones who consider us their enemies, who use indiscriminate methods and
are able to chop a sleeper, who are able to destroy a non-dangerous
helicopter that has got into a difficult situation. It is their
business. You do your work well. We all remember everything, and the
day of retribution will come. Your task is very clear: continue in the
same spirit. I have said numerous times and I am reiterating that the
war instigated by the Republic of Azerbaijan at the beginning of the
90s was also the result of underestimation, and if, God forbid, they
instigate war once again, we too will be guilty of giving them the
chance to underestimate us.

Respectable officers,

Dear soldiers,

Your behavior demonstrated in the imitated battle and the contact
line, as well as your fighting trim deserves not underestimation, but
appreciation. Your mastery already makes very many Azeri simpletons
change their opinion about war. They thought that fighting against
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia was a short and pleasant hobby, something
like a flash mob – to assemble, perform an act, be photographed and
disperse. No, there will be no flash mob and pleasant walk. I am
confident that war will not occur either, because you are strong and
are standing here.

Dear soldiers,

Remember, there has been written a lot on papers, including rights of
humans and nations, but those rights need to be protected, and you are
the guarantors of those rights. A lot of peoples of the world truly
take pride in their armies, but you are responsible for our life and
the security of our people. We believe in you and resting on that
belief, we will do everything to reach a fair solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and ensure Armenia’s and Artsakh’s security.

We are grateful to you. You are our sons, we secure your rear and you
are our defenders. Remember it. I wish all of you success. Military
exercises are not the end, but the beginning of your fighting trim,
diligence, sufferings, because both war and military exercises are
emergency situations. And an emergency situation requires emergency
actions that are full of difficulties and sufferings. But remember:
there is not holier thing than serving the Motherland’s security. You
do it very well.

I would like to thank you on behalf of our people.

I wish you good service,” said the RA President and the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief of the RA Armed Forces, Serzh Sargsyan, in his
speech to the participants of the military exercise.

Later on, a military parade took place at the Tigranakert Military
Training Center.
Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Bako Sahakyan today also attended the
opening of a newly-built military hospital in Martakert town.

800 ceasefire violations by Azeris reported Nov 9-15

November 15, 2014 – 14:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – About 800 ceasefire violations by Azeri side were
reported at the line of contact between Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijani armed forces from Nov 9-15.

Azerbaijan fired over 7000 shots from various caliber weapons towards
the positions of Karabakh defense army.

Mi-24 helicopter of the Nagorno Karabakh army was shot during a
training flight as result of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani
armed forces on Wednesday, Nov 12, at about 1pm local time. According
to the NKR Defense Ministry, the attack took place not far from the
line of contact.

The State Commission on prisoners of war, hostages and the missing
persons of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic appealed Thursday,
to the International Committee of Red Cross mission in the NKR with
regards to the fate of the crewmembers, one of whom could possibly
survive the crash.

The Azerbaijani side doesn’t stop firing at the crash site preventing
any investigation and search for the bodies.

Balakian Reads with Turkish Writers on Iowa International Program Tour
Sponsored by US State Department

ARTS | NOVEMBER 14, 2014 5:27 PM
________________________________

ISTANBUL/YEREVAN — Peter Balakian was part of a US State
Department-sponsored literary tour in Istanbul and Yerevan from
October 17 to 23 that included five American writers who were part of
the University of Iowa International Writers Program (IWP).
Christopher Merrill, poet and nonfiction writer and director of the
Program, led the group that included Balakian, novelists Maureen
Freely and Gish Jen, and poet Mary Hickman.

The tour involved readings at Bogazici University and the Beyoglu Art
Gallery in Istanbul, and American University of Armenia and Yerevan
State University in Yerevan, as well as teaching creative-writing
workshops and meeting with students at the universities.

On Saturday evening at the Beyoglu Municipality Art Gallery on
Istiklal Street, Balakian, Jen, and Freely read with young Turkish
fiction writers Tugba Doga, Yalcin Tosun and Melida Tuzunoglu. Freely
and Jen read fiction and Balakian read poetry, and nonfiction from the
chapter “Istanbul was Constantinople” in Black Dog of Fate. In
reflecting on the complex history of Istanbul through the lens of
Armenian memory and his family history, Balakian gave the audience a
brief portrait of the Balakian and Panosyan familiy pasts in Istanbul
before the Armenian genocide and discussed the historical Armenian
presence in the city and the complexity of identity that has ensued.
Following the reading there was an affirmative question and
conversation period with an engaged Turkish audience.

The next day, the US Consulate’s Public Affairs Officer Craig Dicker
hosted a party at which Turkish writers, US foreign service officers,
and American writers, academics, and journalists socialized into the
evening.

On October 20, the group flew (via Vienna because of the blockaded
Turkish-Armenian border) to Yerevan where the writers met with
Armenian university students at the American Corner — a library
sponsored by the US embassy, then went to AUA to read their work. The
tour, which was part of a program of literary cultural exchange that
Merrill organizes and directs each year with the US State Department,
was aimed in part at fostering dialogue between Armenians and Turks as
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide approaches. Balakian’s
presence as a literary bridge between the two cultures was important,
especially in Turkey, and program director and poet Christopher
Merrill noted: “It was deeply moving for me to visit Armenia on the
eve of the 100th anniversary of the genocide — the tragedy that
created the template for so much of the barbarism of the modern world,
some of which I have tried to chart in my writings. And it was no less
moving to spend time in the monastery of Geghard, where a monk sang
for us a hymn in his rich tenor, the sacred words impressing
themselves in the stone. To hold in my mind this ancient religious
tradition and the complicated political reality of this moment in
history made clear the necessity of turning the commemoration of
horror into a renewed commitment to hold the Turkish government to
account not only for the evil committed in 1915 but for a history of
attempts to evade responsibility for the crimes committed in the last
days of the Ottoman Empire.

“That was why it was so important to see Peter Balakian share a stage
with young Turkish writers in Istanbul. For what we learned at every
turn is that there are progressive men and women in both Turkey and
Armenia determined to come to terms with this tragedy — the necessary
first step in the normalization of relations between the two
countries.”

Balakian’s reading in Istanbul marked the first time in recent history
that an Armenian diasporan writer read in public with Turkish writers.
Balakian said, “It was an occasion of some symbolic significance and
a small step toward more openness.”

Azeri Report
Nov 16 2014

Azerbaijan’s Rights Activists on the Brink

By Vugar Gojayev, Eurasianet.org

BAKU. November 15, 2014: When Azerbaijan served as chair of the
Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, it scoffed at the spirit
and purpose of the organization and moved vigorously to squash all
forms of free speech at home. Now that Baku no longer holds the top
spot, civil society activists are worrying about what Azerbaijani
authorities will do next.

All civil society actors in Azerbaijan currently are grappling with a
daunting dilemma: either stop engaging in rights-related activism or
pay a high price, in particular face the prospect of criminal
prosecution. Dozens of activists and independent journalists remain
behind bars for no reason other than engaging in rights work or
tacitly promoting free speech. At the moment, the country’s jails hold
at least 90 political prisoners, almost double the number in Belarus
and Russia combined. These prisoners of conscience face a variety of
cooked-up charges, including hooliganism, drug possession, tax evasion
and treason.

Azerbaijan relinquished its Committee of Ministers chairmanship on
November 13. Far from softening its repressive behavior and cleaning
up its awful rights record during its six-month tenure, the government
stepped up its suppression of internal dissent. At least 13 activists
were arrested and at least 10 others were convicted on politically
motivated charges following flawed trials. Authorities rounded up the
country’s most senior human rights defenders and other leading
activists, including Leyla Yunus, veteran human rights defender and
director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband,
the political commentator Arif Yunus. They also detained Rasul
Jafarov, chairman of Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Club, Intigam Aliyev,
prominent lawyer and chairman of the Legal Education Society, and the
famous opposition journalist Seymur Haziyev.

Some of those detained in recent months have serious health
conditions. Yet, authorities keep them locked up, even as they fail to
provide any information to suggest that pre-trial detention is
warranted. They also have not released any credible evidence that
would support the charges against these recent detainees.

In addition to politically motivated arrests, dozens of draconian laws
regulating the operations of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
have been adopted. The offices of several local and international NGOs
were recently raided, their bank accounts frozen and staff
interrogated. As a result of increasing pressure, many groups have
felt compelled to cease operations.

While the Azerbaijani government has been ruthless in its clampdown,
it remains sensitive about its public image, a fact underscored by
Baku’s efforts to lavish money on PR in Washington and the EU. Baku’s
PR acumen needs to be kept in mind by those who mine for signs of its
intentions. Some Western partners have lauded President Ilham Aliyev’s
government for releasing four political prisoners in mid-October. The
truth is the release does not change anything, and it is certainly not
indicative of a softening of the Aliyev administration’s stance on
dissent. It is important to note that before the four were pardoned,
they were coerced into acknowledging in writing their “crime,” begging
for forgiveness, praising Aliyev, objecting to being called “political
prisoners” and denouncing the “anti-Azerbaijan or pro-Armenian
activities” of international organizations.

Aliyev’s administration has a habit of using a “revolving door”
tactic, releasing few and arresting new political prisoners. Since the
October amnesty, at least three more activists have been jailed on
bogus charges. Police accused two of them on hooliganism for “swearing
in public place,” and the other faces “narcotics” charges. They all
have rejected the accusations, insisting their arrests are retaliation
for their rights-related work.

During the Azerbaijani chairmanship, the Council of Europe chose
mostly to avert its eyes to Baku’s violations or make toothless
statements and merely symbolic criticisms. This head-in-the-sand
approach has prompted activists in Baku to question the point of the
Council of Europe.

Sadly, Azerbaijan’s refusal to release people imprisoned on
politically motivated charges and end its abuses has not affected its
relationships with the United States and European Union. Western
diplomats tend to prefer backroom diplomacy to public pressure, but,
in Azerbaijan’s case, there is absolutely no indication that private
talks have had any positive effect.

The international community’s inaction means that the end of the
Azerbaijan’s independent human rights community is nearing soon.
Unless Aliyev’s government understands that there are serious
consequences for its abuses, Baku’s free pass on human rights abuses
will continue. -0-

Armenian and Karabakh Presidents visit military divisions of Defense Army

17:50, 15 November, 2014

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. On 15 November Artsakh Republic
President Bako Sahakyan and President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan visited several military divisions of the Defense Army
located in the central and eastern parts of the republic.

The Central Information Department of the Office of the President of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic informed “Armenpress” that the
Presidents also took part at the opening ceremonies of new objects in
a set of military units, watched battalion tactical exercises in army
posts and military drills.

President Sahakyan considered the continuous modernization of the
technical equipment and raising the combat readiness of the servicemen
pivotal directions of army building, adding that those processes
highly contributed to maintenance of peace and stability in our
region.

On the same day the Presidents of the two Armenian republics partook
in the ceremony of opening a new angiography department upgraded with
modern equipments in the Republican Medical Center of capital
Stepanakert. President Sahakyan noted that consistent development of
the health care sphere was and would always be in the spotlight of the
state authorities.