Author: Kalantarian Kevo

MASS MEDIA: AMERICAN BENEFACTOR JON HUNTSMAN SCRAPS HIS PROGRAMS IN ARMENIA

by Ashot Safaryan

Wednesday, February 4, 13:18

American businessman and benefactor Jon Huntsman is scrapping his
programs in Armenia. Huntsman made that decision in 2014. The reason
is the legal action initiated against the Civilitas Foundation in
Armenia. To recall, the legal action involved Hunstman’s name.

Hraparak (Square) newspaper says that Huntsman’s image in the United
States has considerably suffered following the legal action against
the Civilitas Foundation and now the benefactor has lost confidence
in Armenian partners.

“Though Huntsman has no financial problems and though he expressed an
intention to a implement a number of projects in Armenia in the field
of education and healthcare, nevertheless, the benefactor decided to
give up the idea. The projects implied investments worth millions of
dollars”, says the newspaper.

To remind, a criminal case was instituted against ex-Foreign Minister
of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, who founded the Civilitas Foundation in
2012. He was charged with misappropriation of the funds allocated
by Huntsman for charity. Oskanian’s supporters claimed that the case
was politically charged and was connected with Oskanian’s criticism
against the incumbent authorities

ARMENIA STANDS READY TO COOPERATE WITH THE AZERBAIJANI SIDE UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE ICRC

15:50, 04 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

First Deputy Minister David Tonoyan received Head of the Delegation of
the International Committee of the Red Cross to Armenia Sarah Epprecht.

During the meeting the parties discussed possible ways of
implementation of agreements to exchange data on missing persons.

The First Deputy Minister of Defense underlined that the Armenian
side has been successfully cooperating with the ICRC since 1992 and
intends to carry on this collaboration.

The Head of the ICRC delegation to Armenia noted, on her part, that one
of the priorities of the ICRC as an impartial, neutral, and independent
organization is to find out the fate of approximately 4,500 people
who went missing in the wake of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Davit Tonoyan noted that within the scope of its authority, the
Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia stands ready to
cooperate with the Azerbaijani side under the aegis of the ICRC
in the exchange of data of missing people which will be a step in
implementation of norms of international humanitarian law.

WHAT WERE THE AUTHORITIES OF NKR AFRAID OF?

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – 04 February 2015, 14:10

On January 31, during an attempt to visit Karabakh, 160 participants
of the car march of the Founding Parliament, including women and
children, ran across a well-organized resistance, including the police
and veterans of war.

Something unprecedented happened, and one may think that the
government of Karabakh was expecting a commando rather than a peaceful
demonstration.

The “defenders” of Karabakh had a high level of organization. It
should be noted that the behavior of the Police representatives was
not unanimous. Some of them were trying to demonstrate artificial
cruelty and absolute loyalty to the government. Others could not hide
their reluctance to participate in what was going on and were even
sympathizing with the demonstrators.

In any case, this performance was intended to demonstrate power,
and the addressees were the people of Karabakh.

But what were the authorities of Karabakh afraid of? A revolution?

Apparently, there was a likelihood of an anti-Russian action in
Karabakh which would be probable, and it worried the government
of Karabakh.

Already anti-Russian actions have taken place in Yerevan and Gyumri
for different reasons, but in Karabakh it would sound especially
louder. Apparently, ahead of the prepared manipulation of the Karabakh
issue by Russia it was necessary to demonstrate that Russia has and
will have no problems in Karabakh.

ERDOGAN CONDUIT LA TURQUIE AU >, SELON SON ENNEMI L’IMAM GULEN

USA/TURQUIE

Le regime du president islamo-conservateur turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan
conduit la Turquie vers le “totalitarisme” en assimilant toute forme
de critique a une “trahison”, a deplore mardi celui qui est devenu
sa bete noire, le predicateur Fethullah Gulen.

“Les dirigeants de l’AKP (le Parti de la justice et du developpement
au pouvoir) considèrent desormais toute critique democratique comme
une attaque contre l’Etat”, ecrit M. Gulen dans une colonne publiee
dans le New York Times.

“En considerant que la moindre voix critique est celle d’un ennemi,
ou pire d’un traître, ils mènent le pays vers le totalitarisme”,
poursuit le predicateur, qui vit en Pennsylvanie (est des Etats-Unis)
depuis 1999 et s’exprime rarement dans les medias .

Longtemps son allie, M. Gulen, 73 ans, est devenu il y a plus d’un an
l’ennemi numero 1 de M. Erdogan. Ce dernier, qui règne sans partage
sur la Turquie depuis 2003, l’accuse d’avoir constitue un “Etat dans
l’Etat” pour faire tomber son regime.

Dans son article, l’imam deplore que “l’occasion historique” de faire
de la Turquie un pays democratique membre de l’Union europeenne
(UE) ait ete “gâchee” a cause d’un regime qui a, ecrit-il, “fait
marche arrière et s’en est pris a la societe civile, aux medias,
a la justice et a la libre entreprise”.

“La Turquie a atteint un point où la democratie et les droits de
l’Homme ont presque disparu”, deplore Fethullah Gulen. “J’espère qu’ils
(les electeurs turcs) exerceront leurs droits legaux et democratiques
pour reprendre en main l’avenir de leur pays”, ajoute-t-il en prevision
des elections legislatives de juin prochain.

A la suite d’un scandale de corruption qui l’a eclabousse il y a un
an, M. Erdogan a declenche des purges massives visant des milliers de
policiers, magistrats, hauts fonctionnaires ou journalistes soupconnes
d’etre proches de M. Gulen.

Istanbul, 3 fev 2015 (AFP) –

mercredi 4 fevrier 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com

L’ARMENIE DEMANDE L’EXTRADICTION DU SOLDAT RUSSE

Gumri

L’Armenie a officiellement demande a la Russie l’extradition du soldat
russe accuse du meurtre de sept membres d’une famille armenienne
de Gumri.

Le bureau du procureur general Gevorg Kostanian a annonce hier
qu’il avait envoye une lettre a son homologue russe, Iouri Tchaïka,
disant que l’affaire très mediatisee devrait etre transferee a la
juridiction armenienne.

Kostanian a invoque un traite russo-armenien de 1997 reglementant la
presence de base militaire russe en Armenie.

Le Bureau du Procureur general a revele l’existence de cette lettre
de Kostanian quelques heures après qu’un rapport russe a declare
que Valery Permyakov, le conscrit russe accuse du massacre, sera
juge par un tribunal militaire russe en Armenie. Citant une source
anonyme proche de l’enquete, l’agence de presse Interfax a declare
que le tribunal examinera les preuves recueillies non seulement par
les enqueteurs russes, mais aussi par leurs collègues armeniens.

Permyakov est maintenu en detention au siège de la base russe de Gumri
depuis son arrestation 12 heures après qu’une famille armenienne ait
ete trouvee morte dans leur maison.

La lettre de Kostanian signifie que les autorites armeniennes veulent
que Permyakov comparaisse devant un tribunal armenien et soit juge
par la loi armenienne – ce qui a ete pendant des semaines exige par
de nombreux habitants de Gumri.

Des manifestants ont exhorte Moscou a acceder a la demande de
Kostanian. “Une rebuffade russe pourrait aggraver encore la situation”,
a dit l’un deux, Karen Petrossian. “Il serait très prudent que des
autorites russes repondent a nos demandes legitimes et remettent
cette personne aux organes repressifs armeniens.”

Un autre militant, Armen Nersisian, a meme averti que les
manifestations reprendront de plus belles si les Russes restent
inflexibles.

Nersisian a ajoute que le transfert du soldat est une question non
seulement de justice mais aussi de “dignite nationale.”

mercredi 4 fevrier 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

BAKO SAHAKIAN DEMANDE UNE ENQUÊTE SUR LES VIOLENCES DU WEEKEND

Haut-Karabagh

Bako Sahakian, president du Haut-Karabagh, a ordonne hier a la police
locale d’enqueter sur leur reaction violente face aux dizaines de
militants de l’opposition d’Armenie qui ont tente d’entrer au Karabagh
le week-end dernier.

S’exprimant lors d’une reunion d’urgence avec les hauts fonctionnaires
de Stepanakert, Sahakian a en meme temps defendu l’usage de cette
force, alors que cela a attire de fortes condamnations de l’opposition
armenienne, de medias et de militants des droits de l’homme.

Samedi, un cortège de quelques 30 voitures transportant des dirigeants
et membres de l’opposition du Parlement fondateur (anciennement
pre-Parlement) a ete arrete par la police du Karabagh a la frontière
avec l’Armenie. Une video sur Internet de l’incident montre que
certains des opposants ont ete battus. La plupart des voitures ont
ete vandalisees par des policiers en uniforme et des hommes en civil
alors meme qu’elles faisaient demi-tour.

Sahakian a declare que ses forces de securite “ont dû prendre des
mesures appropriees” afin d’eviter des affrontements.

“Malheureusement, nous avons echoue a prevenir les emeutes et les
affrontements qui ont eu une resonance publique”, a t-il dit.

Selon la declaration, Sahakian a demande a son chef de la police, Kamo
Aghajanian, de lancer une “enquete interne minutieuse” sur l’incident.

Sahakian tirera par la suite les “conclusions necessaires”.

Les assurances de Sahakian ont ete rejetees par les opposants du
gouvernement a Erevan. Zaruhi Postanjian, un parlementaire du parti
Zharangutyun, a declare que les autorites de Stepanakert doivent
“presenter des excuses au peuple armenien” et punir les responsables
de ce qu’elle considère comme une repression illegale.

“Ils ont eu recours a la violence contre des citoyens qui tentaient
d’organiser une marche pacifique vers Stepanakert, la deuxième capitale
armenienne”, a dit Postanjian.

Yervand Varosian, un avocat bien connu, a declare que cette initiative
est >. >, a t-il dit. “Les images mediatisees montrent clairement qu’il y
a eu abus de pouvoir “.

mercredi 4 fevrier 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

CRIMINAL CASE MUST BE LAUNCHED AGAINST THE HEADS OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE (VIDEO)

17:58 | February 3,2015 | Politics

The speech of Rule of Law (OEK) party deputy Hovhannes Margaryan at
the National Assembly

February 3, 2015

USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian/Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943

The Armenian Genocide’s Legacy, 100 Years on
March 6-7, 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands

The University of Southern California Institute of Armenian Studies
has joined with the Centennial Project Foundation and the Netherlands
Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies to convene a two-day
conference at The Hague Institute for Global Justice, in the
Netherlands, on March 6-7, 2015.

This major interdisciplinary gathering will bring together academics
and professionals from various fields to discuss the impact of the
Genocide. Experts will examine such issues as impunity, sexual
violence, demographics, compensation, memorializing, political
discourse and media approaches.

Keynote speaker, Ronald Suny, Professor Emeritus, University of
Chicago and University of Michigan, will open the conference. He will
be followed by experts in the field of Law (Geoffrey Robertson – QC,
Susan L. Karamanian, Nolwenn Guibert, Sun Kim, Najwa Nabti, Alexis
Demirdjian, Hannibal Travis), historians Ugur Umit Ungor, Jakub Bijak,
Lorne Shirinian, experts in social sciences and humanities (Levon
Chorbajian, Seyhan Bayraktar, Nanor Kebranian, Ayda Erbal, Eugene
Sensenig-Dabbous, Anthonie Holslag), literature, media, education and
journalism scholars Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Lisa Siraganian, Esra
Elmas, Marie-Aude Baronian, Joyce Sahyouni.

Alexis Demirdjian, Director of the Centennial Project Foundation and a
trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, said, “We are pleased to
partner with the University of Southern California Dornsife Institute
of Armenian Studies.
We look forward to a conference that is significant going forward
beyond the centennial.”

Additional information and participants’ bios are available at
Contact details may be
found on the website. The conference is open to the public, free of
charge. Advance registration will open on February 6, 2015.

###

L’ARMENIE DEFEND L’UTILISATION DE > CONTRE LES FORCES AZERIES

ARMENIE

Les autorites militaires a Erevan ont reconnu la prestation de
“frappes preventives” et d’infliger des “nombreuses” victimes aux
forces azerbaïdjanaises recemment en tant que mesures de retorsion
visant a lutter contre l’agression de l’ennemi.

Le porte-parole du ministère armenien de la Defense Artsrun
Hovhannisyan a blâme les commandants militaires en Azerbaïdjan pour
la mort de plus de 15 militaires azeris qui ont ete tues dans ces
attaques.

L’Armenie et le Haut-Karabagh ont longtemps accuse l’Azerbaïdjan de
declencher une agression contre leurs forces, menacant de prendre des
mesures preventives pour arreter les violations du cessez-le-feu et
les incursions transfrontalières des unites de commandos azeris.

Dans un post sur Facebook Artsrun Hovhannisyan a exprime ses
condoleances aux familles des militaires azerbaïdjanais tues qui,
a-t-il dit, “sont tombes en victime des aventures de la part des
autorites azerbaïdjanaises.”

S’adressant aux membres superieurs des Forces armees armeniennes le
meme jour, le president Serge Sarkissian a egalement defendu le droit
de l’Armenie a faire des frappes preventives.

“Cela a ete et sera la retribution pour chaque incident contre nous.

Jusqu’a recemment nos mesures de retorsion etaient symetriques
en forme et asymetrique en termes de nombre de pertes infligees a
l’adversaire. A partir de maintenant des mesures de retorsion sous la
forme asymetrique peuvent egalement avoir lieu >>, a declare Sarkissian
lors d’un evenement tenu au ministère de la Defense a l’occasion du
23e anniversaire de la formation des forces armees armeniennes.

“Les tetes chaudes [en Azerbaïdjan] doivent s’attendre a de
nombreuses surprises. En outre, il y a une plus grande accumulation
[des forces] a nos frontières et le long de la ligne de contact
[avec le Haut-Karabagh] ce qui pose une menace pour nous, nous nous
reservons le droit de livrer des frappes preventives “.

mardi 3 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ECONOMIST SAYS SMALL BUSINESSES SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN OPTIONS FOR PAYING TURNOVER TAX

YEREVAN, February 3. / ARKA /. Small and medium businesses in Armenia
could be allowed to choose between paying a 1 percent turnover tax
and providing tax authorities with documentary evidence of their
wholesale purchase deals with suppliers or a 3.5 percent turnover
tax without providing evidence, economist Vilen Khachatryan said today.

The government-designed law on turnover tax was revised last year
lowering the turnover tax for vendors with annual sales of up to 58
million drams ($125,000) from 3.5 percent to 1 percent, but small
business owners were to provide tax authorities with documentary
evidence of their wholesale purchase deals with larger firms or face
heavy fines.

The government argues the change is meant to crack down on tax
evasion by big business, but vendors say they cannot comply with this
requirement because their suppliers usually refuse to provide them
with receipts and invoices.

The revised law was to come into force in 2014 October but after a
series of demonstrations staged by vendors in September and October
the government was forced to postpone its enforcement until February
“This is one of the possible options -to make concessions and to
maintain the principle of voluntariness,” Khachatryan said in an
interview with Sputnik-Armenia radio station”.

He said the enforcement of the law turnover tax will again be postponed
for some time by the government that will attempt to find a solution –
either through concessions or offering an alternative option.

After fresh protests this year by owners of small businesses
prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with protesters last Friday
and reportedly agreed to postpone the enforcement of the law until
July 1.-0-