Author: Kalantarian Kevo

LE RC LENS AU PURGATOIRE ENTRE LIGUE 1 ET LIGUE 2

REVUE DE PRESSE

Promu en Ligue 1 en mai dernier, le RC Lens – l’un des clubs francais
les plus populaires – a ete recale mardi par la DNCG, le gendarme
financier du foot. Un virement de 10 M d’euros n’a pas ete effectue
par le proprietaire azerbaïdjanais, placant le club dans une situation
très delicate a 3 semaines de la reprise.

La nouvelle a touche le RC Lens et toute une region en plein coeur
mardi après-midi : . En clair : le president Gervais Martel venait de
rater son oral de rattrapage aux epreuves d’admission en Ligue 1.

Où sont les 10 millions ?

Que s’est-il passe ? Le 27 juin dernier, la DNCG annoncait que le RC
Lens etait maintenu en Ligue 2 en raison d’un retard dans un virement
de 10 millions d’euros, soit une partie des 18 millions de garantie
que devait verser son actionnaire principal, l’homme d’affaire
azerbaïdjanais Hafiz Mammadov, sur un budget previsionnel de 48
millions d’euros pour la saison 2014-2015. Sur le coup, le president
Gervais Martel avait fait valoir que ce retard etait dû a des problèmes
administratifs : jour ferie en Azerbaïdjan et erreur de numeros dans
l’ordre virement, le club lensois venant de changer de compte en
banque. Problème, trois semaines plus tard, les 10 millions d’euros
promis n’ont toujours pas ete verses et la DNCG a confirme sa decision.

Revenu au club en mai 2013, Gervais Martel pense qu’un recours est
encore possible.

La solution paraissait pourtant simple, s’il l’on considère evidemment
qu’il est facile de trouver 10 millions d’euros. Il suffisait au
milliardaire de verser la somme et tout rentrait dans l’ordre. Or,
Hafiz Mammadov apparaît comme un personnage assez trouble. Deja
actionnaire a l’Atletico Madrid et au FC Porto, il s’est paye le 10
juin dernier Sheffield Wednesday, l’un des clubs les plus anciens du
monde, qui evolue actuellement en 2e division anglaise. L’achat du
club anglais et le retard de paiement a la DNCG sont-ils lies ? Meme
si Gervais Martel dit avoir toute confiance dans son proprietaire,
le manque de clarte – et de liquidites pour le moment – a incite la
DNCG a se montrer inflexible.

Sûr de son actionnaire et de son bon droit, Gervais Martel a maintenant
porte l’affaire devant le Comite National Olympique Francais (CNOSF),
organe qui n’a aucun pouvoir de decision mais qui a l’habitude de jouer
les conciliateurs dans ce type d’affaire. Si la demarche decoule d’une
certaine logique hexagonale, sert-elle vraiment a quelque chose puisque
le comite executif de la Federation francaise de football a le choix
d’accepter ou de refuser les propositions du CNOSF ? On a plutôt la
sensation que c’est encore une perte de temps a deux semaines de la
reprise en Ligue 2 (le 1er août) et a trois semaines du coup d’envoi
en Ligue 1 (le 8 août).

S’il est encore recale, Gervais Martel aura encore la possibilite
de porter l’affaire devant le tribunal administratif, mais en
sortant cette fois de la sphère sportive, avec tous les retards,
delais et recours que cela suppose. Au mieux, il n’obtiendra qu’une
contrepartie financière si les championnats de Ligue 1 et de Ligue 2
ont deja repris. Bref, en un mot comme en cent : c’est le bazar ! Des
milliers de personnes sont concernees : joueurs, staff, employes,
abonnes, supporters, sponsors, medias, sans parler des autres clubs,
a commencer par le FC Sochaux (18e de L1 en 2013-2014) qui serait,
du coup, repeche en Ligue 1 en remplacement du RC Lens, si la decision
de la DNCG etait maintenue.

Encore de l’espoir

Hesitant, l’entraîneur Antoine Kombouare, au club depuis 1 an, attend
la decision du CNOSF pour reprendre son poste car il est hors de
question pour lui de passer une saison de plus en Ligue 2. Stephane
Robert, le maire de Lens, a pour sa part exprime mercredi son > et son >>amertume >> devant la decision de la
DNCG, après >, soulignant
au passage >. a-t-il poursuivi. Quoiqu’il advienne, Gervais
Martel – figure historique du club – laisse entendre qu’il a un plan B
avec un budget revu a la baisse de 48 millions a 38 millions d’euros,
sans toucher a la masse salariale selon le quotidien La Voix du Nord.

À voir mais, en attendant, le temps presse. Et comme pour tout arranger
le RC Lens – dont le stade Felix-Bollaert est en phase de renovation
en vue de l’Euro 2016 – ne jouera aucun match a domicile cette saison,
on se dit que l’exercice 2014-2015 ne commence pas sous les meilleurs
auspices pour les Sang-et-Or. Que ce soit en L1 ou en L2.

vendredi 18 juillet 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

MEDIA WATCHDOG: MONITORING OF STATE BODIES’ WEBSITES REVEALS OVERALL FALL IN INFORMATION TRANSPARENCY LEVEL

SOCIETY | 18.07.14 | 09:54

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPFE) has reported
preliminary results of the official monitoring sites showing that
the level of information transparency of government websites has
mainly decreased.

With assistance from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, from May 2014
the CPFE conducted a regular monitoring of the official websites of 44
state bodies to evaluate the level of their information transparency.

CPFE Chairman Ashot Melikyan presented the preliminary results at a
press conference on Thursday. He said that even though such monitoring
has been conducted since 2010, since 2013 it has been implemented
according to improved methodology that was developed by the St.

Petersburg-based Institute for Information Freedom Development.

Thus, the rating list of websites of ministries, departments and
government agencies is topped by the official website of the Ministry
of Territorial Administration, whose transparency is estimated at
89.48 percent, but its transparency also decreased as compared to
last year. In 2013, the transparency of the official website of the
Ministry of Territorial Administration was assessed at 96.20 percent.

According to the monitoring data, the State Nuclear Safety Regulatory
Committee’s website has the lowest transparency level – 17.10 percent,
as compared to 19.17 percent in 2013.

According to this rating, out of 34 ministries and departments only six
have improved their website transparency: the Ministry of Agriculture
(67.74 percent instead of 44.82 percent in 2013); the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (52.48 percent, instead of 49.14 percent); the Diaspora
Ministry (48.90 percent, instead of 42.72 percent); the Ministry of
Urban Development (48.23 percent instead of 42.96 percent), etc..

Progress was also reported for the website of the Head Department of
Civil Aviation (44.75 percent, instead of 41.88 percent), the website
of the Audit Chamber (31.10 percent, instead of 30.97 percent),
the State Property Management Department’s website (27.04 percent,
instead of 25.35 percent) and the website of the National Television
and Radio Commission (24.30 percent, instead of 21.09 percent).

The rating, however, does not include the website of the National
Security Service (NSS), considering that by its essence the NSS is
a closed structure, where a lot of information is considered to be
a state secret, so it was considered that the NSS website is not
comparable to the websites of other state bodies.

According to the ratings of the websites of regional governor’s
offices, only the website of the Aragatsotn governor’s office has
improved its status – from the 45.86-percent transparency level in
2013 to 68.61 percent this year. The results of all the rest regional
administrations are lower in 2014.

The CPFE head said that 152 criteria have been used in the website
monitoring this year, instead of 146 criteria applied before. Of
them, 120 criteria concern the contents and 26 the technical aspects
of website operation. Thus, the presence or absence of information,
integrity of information, its relevance and accessibility have been
assessed.

CPFE lawyer Olga Safaryan says that during the previous monitoring
there was no criterion on the data of persons responsible for
website contents. Meanwhile, according to the government decision,
this information should be posted on websites and they also added
this to the general criteria. However, according to the lawyer, no
data of persons responsible for website contents is yet available at
any of the 44 websites that have been reviewed.

According to Melikyan, the new methodology allows the websites to
correct the shortcomings that have been revealed during the monitoring
and it is possible that during the presentation of the final results
some of the websites will improve their standing.

“Those responsible for the websites of state bodies will have an
opportunity to study in detail the evaluations of CPFE experts and
improve their sites in cooperation with them,” he said, adding that
the stage of such cooperation will begin on August 1 and will continue
until September 15, after which the final monitoring results will
be published.

ALEPPO’S FALL COULD PROVE TURNING POINT

15.07.2014

The Syrian army is advancing to retake the country’s largest city,
Aleppo, which would deliver a devastating blow to the opposition
after two years of stalemate. Doctors are preparing for the worst.

Aleppo, formerly Syria’s commercial hub, has been the target of the
conflict’s most vicious air campaign, with government barrel bombs –
oil drums packed with hundreds of kilograms of explosives and metal
fragments – killing thousands in the rebel-held areas this year.

Fears of a siege by government forces have risen after the army
made dramatic gains in the last two weeks, taking the Sheikh Naijar
industrial zone in the northeast.

The army is focused on capturing Handarat camp, an area beside Aleppo
Central prison, which, if successful, would put the government in a
position to besiege an estimated 300,000 civilians remaining in the
city and cut off the rebels’ main supply route in the countryside.

The advance follows months of slow gains by government forces as
President Bashar al-Assad prepares to be sworn in for a new seven-year
term this week.

Since the conflict in Aleppo began in mid-2012, the government has
controlled the south and west but has been unable to push rebel
fighters out of the city after they entered from the north.

Political prize

Yezid Sayigh, senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center
in Beirut, said the recapture of Aleppo would constitute a shift in
the conflict.

“The retaking of Aleppo would represent a big blow in terms of morale
and political significance,” he told DW. “For the regime to reassert
effective control of the city is a big signal of its ability to turn
the tide and fight its way back. It doesn’t represent a major military
prize, but a political one.”

Sayigh said it was likely government forces would encircle the city.

“The regime would prefer to encircle because it’s a relatively easier
task. It won’t necessarily go in but it will besiege, starve and bomb.

But taking neighborhoods and an estimated 300,000 people won’t
be easy.”

Siege preparation

The siege and potential fall of Aleppo to the Syrian army could prove
decisive in the conflict

Doctors on the ground told DW they were preparing for the worst. “The
situation is very horrible,” one doctor, who didn’t want to be named
for security reasons, said. “There is enough medicine for now but
we are working to store more to have enough for the longest time
possible. It is the same situation for food. We must try to make
something for our country.”

Another doctor added that there were no more than 20 doctors on the
ground – a far cry from the 6,000 in the city before the war.

He expressed concern about increasing barrel bombs on the city, which
had also recently targeted a few of the remaining functional hospitals.

“We have enough medical supplies for one month,” said Muhammed,
a medical supplier in Aleppo. “But we really need external fixation
and anesthesia.”

Revolution over?

Despite the situation in Aleppo deteriorating rapidly, Oubai
Shahbandar, a spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition, said
the opposition would fight the battle until the end.

“The Assad regime is dependent upon Iranian military forces and
Hezbollah militias in their attempt to encircle Aleppo,” he said.

“Syrian revolutionary forces are dug in and are fiercely fighting back
in order to protect the inhabitants of Aleppo city and the surrounding
countryside. Assad’s tanks cannot destroy a revolution.”

Anas Al-Haj from the Revolutionary Military Council of Aleppo stressed
that the opposition was not only facing government forces but also
those of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS,
which recently pushed into the Aleppo countryside.

“The regime doesn’t want to attack the city, it just wants to create
a siege. We have the regime on one side and ISIS on the other.”

Al-Haj said that rebel groups were increasingly coordinated, boosted
by a 600-strong elite force to combat the offensive.

“The problem is that we can’t see any soldiers because the whole
battle is overhead – just barrels and more barrels,” he added.

Civilians are trying to get away while they can

“Innocent people are trying to leave the city but the poor people
can’t leave Aleppo city because they have no money to get toTurkey or
to the countryside. But even if the regime makes a siege, he cannot
do what he [Assad – the ed.] thinks because we have the ability to
break the siege and we will do our best.”

But political analyst Sayigh was more skeptical. “I think the rebels
are unable to win. This is not to say that people aren’t resisting
and fighting back. But as a political set of structures that aims to
achieve battlefield results on the ground, I think they peaked already
a while back and I don’t think they’re able to deliver results.”

ONE OF TWO AZERBAIJANIS DETAINED BY ARMENIAN SOLDIERS IS RUSSIAN CITIZEN

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
July 17 2014

17 July 2014 – 2:34pm

The Armenian military identified the two Azerbaijanis detained
in Shaplar (Kelbajar District) as Dilgam Gardashkhan oglu Askerov
and Shakhbaz Jalal oglu Guliyev. The latter is a Russian citizen,
Trend reports.

Azerbaijan insists that they are civilians.

ARMENIANS BACK TURKEY’S PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGER DEMIRTAS

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

Turkish presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas

ANKARA–A Turkish-Armenian organization, Nor Zartonk (New Renaissance),
has declared its support for Selahattin Demirtas in the presidential
elections to be held on Aug. 10.

Issuing a written statement, Nor Zartonk said: “The people, workers,
and all the excluded have an alternative in these elections against
the conservative, nationalist, and statist tradition,” pointing
to Demirtas.

Nor Zartonk emphasized that the candidate of the ruling party, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, has been a person continuing to pursue a century-old
state policy of denial, adding that the joint candidate of CHP-MHP
Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoglu is “a candidate to be the new face of the
moderate Islam project”.

Nor Zartonk added:

“The people of Turkey are not condemned to these two right wing
candidates, one being an exact copy of the other despite their being
promoted in that way. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party,
Selahattin Demirtas, as ‘the candidate of the people and of change’
is the hope of all the working people in the August elections.

“Against the two self-same candidates who are in favor of the
continuation of the statist policies and the policies of denial, our
presidential candidate is Selahattin Demirtas, who marches hand in
hand with the people from Sivas to Lice, who exclaims the reality of
the Armenian genocide in parliament, has struggled against all kinds
of discrimination throughout his life and who defends the rights of
the workers, LGBTI individuals and all the oppressed.”

Nor Zartonk (Renaissance) is an Armenian organization defining itself
as the “self-organization” of the Armenian people. Having as their
point of focus the Armenian people living in Turkey, Nor Zartonk says
they struggle for the co-existence of all the peoples of Turkey and
the world in equality, peace and fraternity. Nor Zartonk also declares
that they have no hierarchical structure or administrative positions
amongst themselves.

HEAD OF NGO: “KEEPING SECRET THE INFORMATION ON GRANT AMOUNTING USD $ 2.4 MILLION BY USAID SHOWS SOME DARK NUANCES”

APA, Azerbaijan
July 16 2014

[ 15 July 2014 00:10 ]

The U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan has expressed its attitude on allocating
2.4 million dollars grant for the development of media in Azerbaijan.

Baku. Konul Kamilgizi – APA. Allocating USD $ 2.4 million grant by
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for the development
of independent media in Azerbaijan caused a wide resonance, APA
reports.

Short period (June 30 – July 7, 2014), and the lack of transparency
about delivering the advertisement to community are emphasizing on
the report spread on media.

It is noted that even the most experienced NGOs can not write project
for such an impressive sum in a week. Another important nuance is
that the media was not informed about the grant. In other words,
the United States secretly announced a grant for the development of
media in Azerbaijan.

According to the report, USAID office a month earlier had informed
several pro-Western organizations that may win, about the grant. As
for transparency of information, had published advertisement on some
site that not socialized

Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy expressed its official attitude on
the above subject. According to the press service of the Embassy,
as in worldwide, USAID is on the side of healthy competition among
attendants and transparency in these matters.

“The reports about the secret grant of USAID for the development
of media in Azerbaijan are untrue. First, the information about
the project was published on the website and it was
available to the public from May 21 to July 7, 2014”- the embassy said.

“Recently I learned that USAID has allocated 2.4 million dollars
for the development of media in Azerbaijan and especially without
advertising. Whereas the agency used to realize an extensive
advertising campaign of their projects. ”

The chairman of the “Network of freedom of speech,” Central Asia and
the Caucasus (CASCFEN) Azer Hasrat told APA.

According to him, such projects announced in advance, in NGOs in this
regard come numerous emails, etc.. “Now everything is done secretly,
quietly, and also late. In an announcement published on June 30 said
that treatment be accepted until July 7. During this time, no NGO can
prepare proposals. For the most powerful international media would
have more time for this, and for far less. I think this approach of
USAID talks about some dark nuances. Here or there is any kickbacks
or agency simply makes it possible for individual organizations. As
head of the NGO, as a journalist I also would like to compete for
this grant. Of course, if I was aware of at the right time, and
it would not be such a temporary time pressure. But, apparently,
USAID, which gave information almost secretly, deprived us of the
opportunity. This causes doubt. Here to recall two million dollars
cashed former director office of the National Democratic Institute
of USA (NDI) in Azerbaijan Alex Grigorevs. Have not forgotten the
debate about the purpose of these funds on the destabilization of
the situation in Azerbaijan before the elections. Apparently, today
USAID creates a condition for organizations that known by themselves –
“fifth column” in Azerbaijan. Another curious detail – USAID has not
called the applicants for such large sum. Similar reticence can be
seen in the activities of another American organization NED – National
Foundation for Democracy. On the foundation’s Web site names Georgian
and Armenian organizations, whom funds are allocated are listed as
Azerbaijan but not the names of who realized. Website limited to
the project name. Given all this, you can come to two conclusions:
either these American organizations, together or separately, are
engaged in money laundering or hatching some evil plans with an eye on
parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan to be held in 2015. Otherwise,
information about the grant with such an impressive amount would not be
so secretive. So there is something clean. From this perspective, the
relevant authorities in Azerbaijan should pay close attention to what
is happening. Especially considering that “democratic developments”
in the Middle East started out by similar means”.

ARMENIA’S UNREALIZABLE NUCLEAR DREAMS

Energy Monitor Worldwide
July 15, 2014 Tuesday

Armenia’s paralyzed economy is living on loans taken from other
countries and international financial organizations.

And now, the government’s wrong use of the loans has left huge debts
for its outdated Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant.

Metsamor accumulated financial liabilities at 9-9.5 billion drams
($23,3 million) but the amount rapidly increased in the past few years
as a result of ineffective management of foreign loans and credits,
Energy Minister Ervand Zakaryan told reporters.

Metsamor is a real nuclear threat for the region. Built in 1970,
it was closed down after a devastating earthquake in Spitak in 1988,
but resumed its operation in 1995 despite international outrage.

The international community and regional countries – Azerbaijan,
Turkey, and Georgia have repeatedly urged Armenia to close the
dangerous power plant immediately.

Despite its huge debts, the government intends to extend the life of
Metsamor till 2026. This needs $300 million which Armenia expects
to receive from Russia. Armenia has agreed with Russian to receive
a $300 million loan.

Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan recently held a meeting with his Russian
counterpart Dimitry Medvedev. During the talks, the sides discussed
issues related to the modernization of Metsamor and extension of its
life. There was no progress in talks over Russia’s loan.

Furthermore, the Armenian government plans to build a new nuclear
power block in 2018-2019, which will cost $4.5 billion. Zakaryan
said Russia will provide some parts of the cost in the form of goods
and equipment. The rest of cost is expected to be provided by other
countries.

Armenia has turned into an unpopular destination for Russian government
and investors as Moscow is facing economic difficulties following
its interference in Ukraine’s crisis.

Armenia’s nuclear dreams seem unrealizable in the nearest future,
as Russia is not in a hurry to allocate loans for them. On the other
hand, Armenian government is unable to realize its dreams without
foreign assistance. 2014 Global Data Point.

KARABAKH WAR MEMORIES: I WAS SEARCHING MY SON EVERYWHERE

July 17, 2014 | 01:19

YEREVAN. – A woman from Shirak Region cannot hold back tears telling
information known about the circumstances of her son’s disappearance.

Karen Oleyan went missing on October 28, 1994 during the fighting
in Nagorno-Karabakh. Karen, who was a good musician, went to
Nagorno-Karabakh when he was a fourth year student.

The woman says her son was at one of the military outposts. The
co-servicemen started worrying when Karen did not return by the
planned time. However, the search operation failed.

“I was searching my son as much as I could. I have appealed to all
international organizations. Even went to Wait For Me show [a Russian
show where people search their relatives and friends – ed.] I was
searching him in Karabakh,” Gohar says.

The woman says the son of her daughter was named Karen, too.

EMBASSIES REFRAIN FROM THE QUESTION OF ESTABLISHING FOREIGN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN ARMENIA

July 16 2014

“We want to express our satisfaction with the teaching of French
language at schools in Armenia,” such a general response was given
by French Ambassador, Henri Reynaud, again without deviating from his
“diplomatic rules,” to the question of Aravot.am of whether the French
Embassy is ready to be refrained from participating in establishment of
foreign language schools for ethnic Armenian schoolchildren in Armenia,
and in support projects. As we know, “We are against Foreign Language
Schools” initiative group issued a statement, which particularly
reads as follows, “We apply to foreign countries’ governments
and organizations to refrain from participating in establishment
of foreign language schools for ethnic Armenian schoolchildren in
Armenia, also in support projects. Instead, once again, we call on
improvement of education system in Armenian language schools. This
would be a very grateful task, because providing quality education
accessible to everyone, without any discrimination, is a prerequisite
for any developed country. No less important is the fact that it
would greatly maintain and promote the security and development of
Armenian language.” With this regard, in response to our question,
the French Embassy was amazed. The ambassador, the interpreter and
the media specialist mentioned in surprise that they are unaware of
it. Aravot.am sent given question in written to almost all embassies
in Armenia. We received the following response from Lilit Kalantaryan,
Communication Officer at the British Embassy, “For your information,
the British Embassy, in the course of its projects and activities,
has repeatedly supported and is supporting the improvement of the
educational system in Armenia. Particularly, the British Council
programs enable English language teachers from many more schools
to be trained and improve their skills. And most importantly, our
contribution over these years was the heating system repair at the
school named after Lord Byron in Gyumri, as well as continuous and
direct support to school’s educational programs.

Therefore, we inform you that the British Embassy, on behalf of the
British government, implements numerous projects in public schools
of Armenia.” Answering the question of whether the British Embassy is
ready to be refrained from participating in establishment of foreign
language schools for ethnic Armenian schoolchildren, also in support
projects, Lilith Kalantaryan mentioned. “As for the international
schools, they are private, and provide diversity in any the country’s
educational system, as well as enables people to choose.”

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

Read more at:

EXPLOSIONS CONTINUE IN ALEPPO ARMENIAN DISTRICTS

15:27 * 16.07.14

The situation continues to remain tense in Syria’s Armenian populated
city of Aleppo.

Tert.am’s sources report that mortar mines and makeshift rockets made
of gas balloons are released in different districts every day.

Several neighborhoods still remain cut off water supply, but the
problem has been resolved in most parts of the city.

Frequent outages of electric power make the situation more complicated
in conditions of the extreme heat.

No human losses were reported in the Armenian neighborhoods over
the recent days, but their population is said to have suffered huge
material damages.

Armenian News – Tert.am