Author: Kalantarian Kevo

THE ONLY ISSUE OF THESE AUTHORITIES IS TO GATHER MONEY FROM CITIZENS – ANC MP

16:40 / 24.06.2014

The only issue of these authorities is to gather money, they even
do not take into consideration that the citizens are not able to
pay, secretary of the ANC faction Aram Manukyan told the reporters
on Tuesday.

He said no project that may bring money, create industry is being
implemented in Armenia.

“Nevertheless, the authorities need money and they have chosen
the method of gathering money – red lines, cameras, pension fund,
raise of electricity, gas tariffs. Authorities are moving with the
psychology of butterfly as a result Armenia will not have even the
mass that will pay taxes. This is the flaw of the system,” he said.

Speaking about the protest action against electricity price hike and
its consequences, Manukyan said that he has no words to describe the
actions of police. “Currently the issue of Armenia’s democratization
process is being discussed in Strasburg while they are exerting
violence against the citizens.”

Manukyan said that a political crisis is growing in Armenia. “I do
not want the situation reach the pick as our country is vulnerable. It
is not strong enough to combat both internal and external issues. The
Ukraine’s example is in front of our eyes. The opposition believes that
Armenia must regulate its issues from inside while the authorities
abuse it and crosses the allowed boundaries,” he said, referring to
the price hike and pension fund.

“The whole public speaks against this law but they do not care, they
increase the tension,” he said, adding that the law will illegally
act until September and now they are discussing issues on making it
correspond to the Constitution.

“In autumn the four political forces will conduct a big rally to
specify the activity. We are much stronger today than a year or two
years ago. Now the four have 53 votes and in fall these 53 votes will
become stronger,” he said, voicing hope that the citizen will finally
wake among many of the Republican party members. “Currently the final,
maximal resources are 66-68 votes,” he said.

OVER 200 ACTIVISTS HOLD A PROTEST ACTION IN FRONT OF AFRIKYANS’ CLUB BUILDING

by Karina Manukyan

Wednesday, June 25, 07:11

Over 200 activists of the “SOS! Save Afrikyans’ Club Building!” public
interest group are holding a protest action against dismantling of
the building.

ArmInfo’s correspondent reports from the scene that the activists
are chanting “We won’t let you destroy!” and despite the Police’s
resistance the activists are hitting the iron shields the building
is fenced by. The tension is escalating with every passing hour, the
police have joined hands and are trying to make a wall in front of
the building. The activists are drumming and preparing for retaliatory
measures. The situation is developing into clashes.

To note, today world famous jazz musician Tigran Hamasyan gave a
concert near the Afrikyans’ Club Building to support the “SOS! Save
Afrikyans’ Club Building!” public interest group.

The Afrikyan building, located on 11 Teryan Street, was built at the
end of the 19th century. Based on a Government decision in 2004, the
building was included in the state list of historical and cultural
immovable monuments of the city of Yerevan as a national monument.

According to a new Government decision the Afrikyan building will
be dismantled and rebuilt at another location in order to broaden
the roadway. The building is included in the “Old Yerevan” program,
which will be designed and implemented in the neighboring streets of
Abovyan, Byuzand, Koghbatsi and Aram.

The activists reported earlier that the Armenian Parliament ratified
the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological
Heritage. According to the Convention, each of the parties shall ban
the full or partial relocation of the protected monument except when
this step is made for the protection of the monument.

In early XX century, before the revolution, the Afrikyans’ building
was an urban club visited by well- known politicians, entrepreneurs,
artists and foreign guests. In 2004 the building was sold to a private
company by the Municipality. Industrialists Arakel and Tigran Afrikyan
allocated big funds for schools and for road construction. Moreover,
they built a water pipeline in Yerevan, which supplied the residents
of Yerevan with drinking water.

OCTOGENARIAN BRIDE OF DIYARBAKIR’S TINY ARMENIAN COMMUNITY PASSES AWAY TWO MONTHS AFTER MARRYING

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 24 2014

DÄ°YARBAKIR

Beyzar Alata, who had been revered as “Diyarbakır’s last Armenian”
and who finally married her life partner Sarkis only two months ago
at the age of 87, passed away June 23.

The marriage, which took place at the end of April in Diyarbakır’s
newly restored Surp Giragos Church – with the attendance of Diyarbakır
Mayor Gultan KıÅ~_anak and other prominent guests including renowned
local oud master musician Yervant Bostancı – had drawn attention to
the discrimination that Armenians faced over the years.

“I did not want to die unmarried,” said Beyzar after the marriage.

At the ceremony, KıÅ~_anak stressed the significance of the wedding
ceremony and praised the couple’s “struggle” against the odds.

Beyzar’s funeral will also be held in Diyarbakır.

June/24/2014

ARMENIA: AUTHORITIES AND OPPOSITION ARE ALMOST 50/50

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
June 24 2014

24 June 2014 – 10:52am

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

New tendencies on a slight equalizing of the influence of the
authorities and the opposition on the situation in the National
Assembly, which has always been the most important lever of the power,
are appearing in Armenia. It is confirmed by events over another
session of the National Assembly which took place last week. The
parliamentary majority approved a packet of draft bills, including
an amended draft on funding pensions.

Representatives of four opposition parties (Dashnaktsutyun, the
Armenian National Congress, Heritage and Prosperous Armenia) took
advantage of the situation on June 18th when only 63 MPs of the
majority party were present at the session, didn’t register, and
the session failed due to the lack of a quorum. The same situation
occurred on June 19th.

Only on June 20th did the National Assembly manage to adopt the amended
draft on funding pensions, with 67 MPs voting for it. On June 21st it
was adopted in the second reading. The opposition boycotted the vote,
as in the new draft obligatory payments are not cancelled, they are
simply transformed into social payments. Moreover, the opposition
accused MPs of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia of voting on
behalf of absent MPs. According to the opposition, only 64 MPs from
the RPA were present at the session, rather than 67.

Representatives of the opposition quartet say that the procedure of
adoption of the draft and the absence of sufficient public discussion
of it give them grounds to address the Constitutional Court. The
parliamentary majority accused the quartet of blackmail and attempting
to break up a session of the National Assembly. The reason for the
problems the authorities are facing is that the number of RPA MPs in
the parliament is 70, which is almost equal to the minimum number of
votes which are necessary for decision-making – 66.

Despite official propaganda from the authorities, the invincibility
of the RPA and the weakness of the opposition, real processes are
becoming more and more clear. The grounds for the processes are the
adoption of several unpopular decisions by the authorities and their
unprofessionalism in settling urgent socio-economic problems. The
difficult socio-economic situation influences many RPA members who
own businesses. It leads to the occurrence of problems inside the
power structures. Some observers speak about an upcoming crisis inside
the RPA.

A new internal political situation is being formed for various
reasons. The balance between the authorities and the opposition is
drawing close to 50/50.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT FAVORABLE FOR REGION, AZERBAIJAN FM SAYS

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
June 24 2014

24 June 2014 – 9:55am

The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mamedyarov, devoted
his speech at the PACE session to frozen conflicts, including
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mamedyarov stressed that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had only one interpretation – Azerbaijan
lost its territories.

“We believe that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
can contribute to establishing peace in the region. As the Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan who is involved in talks with the Armenian
side, I should say that there is a plan of settlement of the conflict:
the resolutions of the UN Security Council and international law,”
Mamedyarov said.

He thinks that the resolutions should be fulfilled. If the settlement
moves in this way, it will be favorable for the region. The sooner
it will happen, the better it will be for the people who live there,
the minister says.

At the moment Azerbaijan chairs the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe.

ARMENIA: AZERBAIJAN WAITING FOR ‘DIFFERENT CONCRETENESS’ IN FRENCH PROPOSAL ON KARABAKH

KARABAKH | 24.06.14 | 10:48

During his recent visit to the region French President Francois
Hollande made a very concrete proposal, also in terms of substance with
regard to organizing a summit meeting of the presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan in Paris, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
reaffirmed on Monday.

Speaking at a joint press conference, in Yerevan, with his visiting
Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Nalbandian was asked to comment
on top Azeri diplomat Elmar Mammadyarov’s statement that “Baku is
waiting for concreteness.”

“It seems this concreteness [in Hollande’s proposal] is not to the
liking of Baku, as it is waiting for some different concreteness,”
said Nalbandian.

“For some reasons all the proposals made by the Co-Chairs on behalf
of the international community, are not to the liking of Azerbaijan,
including those on the consolidation of ceasefire, withdrawal of
snipers, creation of a mechanism on investigation of incidents, not
to the liking of Azerbaijan are the proposals which are presented
as an integrated whole and included in the five statements of the
Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries,” the Armenian
minister continued.

“There is simply no alternative to the concreteness of what is proposed
by the Co-Chair countries and which is directed at exclusively peaceful
settlement of the conflict.”

EDUARD NALBANDYAN: ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS HAVE TO BE NORMALIZED WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 23 2014

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was ready to help
normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey

YEREVAN, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Relations between Armenia and Turkey
have to be normalized without preconditions, Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan stated on Monday, June 23.

“The stance of Russia and other countries, which support the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, was that these protocols
had to be ratified without preconditions,” the minister said replying
to a question about Moscow’s possible assistance following the
improvement of relations with Ankara.

Nalbandyan said Moscow’s stance was reflected in numerous statements.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was ready to help
normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey. “Both before and
after the signing of the protocols we called for the Armenian-Turkish
dialogue to continue,” he said.

However, he believes that the final say belongs to Armenia and Turkey.

MARIA MEHRANIAN JOINS THE DEAN’S LEADERSHIP BOARD AT CAL POLY POMONA’S COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Business Wire
June 22, 2014 Sunday 12:41 AM GMT

LOS ANGELES

Cordoba Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment of its
Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Maria Mehranian, to the
Dean’s Leadership Board of the College of Engineering at California
Polytechnic State University, Pomona. The College of Engineering at Cal
Poly Pomona is a leader of practical and relevant engineering education
in California and throughout the nation. US News & World Report ranks
the school as the 3rd best public undergraduate engineering program in
the nation and approximately 1 out of every 14 engineers in California
come from Cal Poly Pomona.

Ms. Mehranian will draw on her expertise in water engineering,
planning, and policy that she has gained over 27 years at Cordoba
Corp. and at the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board,
where she has served since 2008. She served as the chair of the Board
from February 2012 to February 2014. Ms. Mehranian’s appointment to
the Dean’s Leadership Board represents the College of Engineering’s
efforts to involve leading industry professionals in the education
of its students.

According to Dr. Mahyar Amouzegar, Dean of the College of Engineering,
“Maria’s appointment demonstrates our commitment to a holistic and
relevant engineering education that positions our students to succeed
professionally. We are pleased to have a leader with her depth and
breadth of experience representing the College.”

Ms. Mehranian received her Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the
University of California, Los Angeles in 1986. Three California state
legislators honored Ms. Mehranian in 2004 with the Corporate Woman of
the Year award, demonstrating outstanding leadership and professional
skills. In 2008, Ms. Mehranian was awarded the prestigious Ellis
Island Medal of Honor for her vast accomplishments to her community
as an Armenian immigrant. She has also been a featured lecturer on
a range of policy and planning topics at the UCLA Luskin School of
Public Affairs and USC Price School of Public Policy.

CORDOBA CORPORATION is a civil engineering, construction management,
program management, and planning firm specializing in education and
facilities, transportation, and water and energy. The firm delivers
solutions to complex environmental and engineering challenges by
applying proven engineering and management expertise from project
conception to completion.

Raffi Hovhannisyan came to support the Afrikyans activists (video)

15:41 | June 21,2014 | Social

Today the Afrikyans building was again being dismantled. Dozens of
activists gathered in front of the building, demanding to stop the
dismantling activities and Policemen urged them not to interfere
workers’ activities.

Action participant, architect Sarhat Petrosyan noted that they turned
to the RA Administrative Court with the issue of the Afrikyans house
dismantling, they are waiting for an answer.

Raffi Hovhannisyan was also at the Afrikyans house. He noted that he
regrets for our authorities, “I regret that we have such a state and
authorities, who can destroy historical monuments. Ask the rest the
young people, who are on the first line. I just came to support them.”

HAUT KARABAGH
L’Azerbaïdjan viole à 700 reprises le cessez-le-feu durant la semaine
écoulé au Haut Karabagh

La semaine écoulée, du 15 au 21 juin l’Azerbaïdjan a violé à près de
700 reprises le régime du cessez-le-feu à la frontière avec le Haut
Karabagh. Selon le service de presse du ministère de la Défense de la
République du Haut Karabagh, l’ennemi a tiré plus de 6 500 projectiles
en direction des positions arméniennes. Les postes avancées de l’armée
arménienne > selon le
ministère de la Défense. En plus de ces réponses par des tirs, l’armée
arménienne aurait renforcé ses positions frontalières.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 22 juin 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com