Author: Kalantarian Kevo

A Letter from Asm. Matt Dababneh

Tuesday, May 27th, 2014

California State Assemblymember Matt Dababneh

As the month of April has passed, and we remembered the tragedies of
genocide, let May reinforce the triumphs and victories of the Armenian
people. The first independence of Armenia was won on May 28, 1918, and
almost a century later, halfway across the world, the Armenian people
have many reasons to celebrate continued victory.

On April 7th, I met with a delegation of over 350 Armenian community
members visiting the capitol to have their voices heard on issues of
importance to them. They went door to door and urged their state
representatives to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. That same
day on the Assembly Floor, I rose in support of AJR 35, a resolution
that designated April 20th-26th as California Week of Remembrance for
the Armenian Genocide. The resolution passed unanimously. A victory.

There are several other important resolutions and bills that I
strongly support and advocate for, including AB 1915, that once passed
will mandate all California public schools to include the Armenian
Genocide in their curriculum. This would result in future generations
learning the truth about world history in the hopes of creating a more
tolerant and understanding future. A victory.

On May 8th, one day before the commemoration of Shushi’s liberation, I
took part in an unprecedented vote, to support the efforts of
self-determination and democracy in Nagorno-Karabakh. Only 20 years
after the cease-fire, the Permanent Representative of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was present in our state capitol to witness
AJR 32 pass with an overwhelming 72 votes. A victory.

Earlier this month, I met with many of you during my Armenian
Community Town Hall and heard firsthand what interests and concerns
you have. During the town hall, I was inspired to see so many in the
audience were students from our local Armenian High Schools, actively
and intelligently participating in the legislative discussion. A
victory.

The transition from the month of April to May is representative of the
fortitude that allowed for the Armenian people to rise from the
difficulties of genocide to freedom and democracy.

As descendants of that resilient generation, the hard work and
dedication that has led you to such successes in our state is not
surprising.

Over the past six months as your Assemblymember, I have worked
diligently to ensure your issues are heard and addressed. Yet the work
I do on behalf of your community is important not only for you but for
all Californians, because they underscore American principles of
respect for historical truth and human rights. The spirit of triumph
demonstrated by the Armenian people is inspiring, and I am eager to
work together in pursuit of even greater victories to come.

Sargissian takes first prize in Chicago

19:42 27/05/2014 » SPORT

Three-time Olympic champion GM Gabriel Sargissian suffered no defeat,
scored 7 points out of 9 and took first place at the open chess
tournament in Chicago.

IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (India) had the same result, but he was
behind the Armenian chess player with additional points, according to
armchess.am.

Source: Panorama.am

Japan plans to open embassy in Armenia next year

May 27, 2014 | 01:05

YEREVAN. – The government of Japan plans to open an embassy in
Armenia, head of the information department of Armenian Embassy
(residence in Moscow) told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Kotaro Otsuki said the opening is planned for early 2015, and
preparations are underway.

The opening of an embassy will become an additional step to intensify
bilateral relations. The Armenian Embassy in Japan opened in 2010.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

‘Is not Konstantin Zatulin ashamed of desire for Customs Union?’ –
Nagorno-Karabakh MP to Russian politician

11:28 * 27.05.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Vahan Badasyan, a crossbencher at the
parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), commented on a
statement by ex-member of the Russian State Duma Konstantin Zatulin
who said that “[they are] shamelessly raising the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem to torpedo their accession to the Customs Union.”

“But is not Zatulin ashamed of his desire to create a Customs Union in
Russia? It is because Russians do not care about either Armenia or
Armenia’s interests. I remember uninformed Russians would say in 1988
that ‘Armenian and Azerbaijani cannot not gather together and give the
Karabakhis a hard time!’ This is a matter of unawareness and of
Zatulin exposing Russia’s intention to give Nagorno-Karabakh back to
Azerbaijan.”

“Zatulin wants to be considered Karabakh’s friend. He is Karabakh’s
friend, but he wants it to be given [to Azerbaijan]. Is not Zatulin
shamelessly speaking of it thus declaring Russia’s program.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

Bundesliga – official website, Germany
May 25 2014

More to come from Mkhitaryan

Dortmund – “When I received the ball from Marco Reus, I thought to
myself, ‘Right this is it: if I don’t score this, I may as well pack
up and go home.’ And when it went in, I said to myself, ‘Why can I
score here but not against Real Madrid?'”

It was a period of four days in April that goes a long way to summing
up Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first season in the Bundesliga. Bearing the
guilt of missing three good opportunities to take Borussia Dortmund’s
UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg to extra time, he
recovered to score the opening goal in a 3-0 win away at Bundesliga
champions FC Bayern München in the Allianz Arena on Matchday 30.

Campaign of contrasts

>From agony to ecstasy in a short space of time, the two episodes were
the clearest examples of the range of emotions Mkhitaryan has
experienced in 2013/14, a season peppered with peaks and troughs for
the 25-year-old. There were his debut strikes at Eintracht Frankfurt,
a period of eight games between November and January when he wasn’t
involved in a single goal, that stunning win in Munich, and finally
the
DFB Cup final on May 17, when he was substituted after 60 minutes in
an eventual 2-0 loss to Bayern after extra time.

The Armenian international admits it is the Madrid game that still
haunts him, however. After losing their last eight first leg in the
Spanish capital 3-0, a Reus double had Real rocking, but the Spaniards
scraped through to the last four with the help of some ill-timed
profligacy from Mkhitaryan. “It was an unhappy moment in my life,” he
told newspaper welt.de reflectively. “People watching must have
thought I was trying to miss, when in fact I was the guy on the pitch
who wanted to score most. Sometimes life is like that, though.”

Back on the horse

Despite the pain of that evening, he managed to pick himself back up
through a combination of his own will-power and some encouraging words
from those around him. “We have a saying in Armenia: Sometimes God
lets you fall, so that you learn to appreciate things when they
eventually improve”, to which his coach Jürgen Klopp was also able to
add some of his wisdom after warmly embracing the Yerevan-born star in
the aftermath of the defeat to the eventual 2014 Champions League
winners. “He told me to keep my head up and not feel down, that there
would be moments like this in my career and that I’d come back
stronger for it.”

Indeed, as acute as his disappointment may have been, Mkhitaryan
succeeded in regaining his belief that the skills which convinced BVB
to sign him in the first place would eventually assert themselves once
more. As well as helping the club reach Berlin with a goal in the Cup
semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg, he also netted three times and
assisted once in the final five games of the season to finish with
nine goals and ten assists, an impressive record indeed for a player
new to the rigours of Germany’s top flight.

Adaptation required

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mkhitaryan, who joined from Ukrainian side FC
Shakhtar Donetsk, readily admits that becoming accustomed to football
in Germany has been his most daunting challenge, and one that he is
still some way off fully mastering. “The biggest problem I had was
that I came from a league which you can’t compare with the Bundesliga.
At Shakhtar, matches often panned out the same way: the opposition
defended deep, we always had the ball and if we scored first, the game
was practically decided. In Germany that’s not how it is. The teams
are more evenly matched and even sides in the bottom half can put you
under a lot of pressure.

“And then there’s our own system that changes, sometimes even during
matches,” Mkhitaryan continues. “Sometimes we’ll dominate games with
possession and aggressive pressing high up the pitch, other times
we’ll play on the counter-attack, so I have to be 100 per cent alert
all the time. Sometimes I’m able to score or assist goals, sometimes
not, but the important thing is that I keep working on improving
myself. In life you have to be ready to learn new things every day,
and that applies to me especially.”

Managing expectations

Mkhitaryan has played a unique role in the Borussia team this season.
Recruited as the club’s flagship signing last summer, he was given the
unofficial task of replacing Mario Götze, who left the Schwarz-Gelben
for Bayern in the same transfer window. That he would fill the void
left by perhaps Germany’s most talented player in a generation was
never certain, but the 2012/13 Ukrainian league’s top goalscorer
speaks positively on how he has fared in doing so.

“I spoke a lot with Jürgen Klopp and my team-mates [about dealing with
the expectations], and they all said to me, ‘We know the talent you
have and what you can do. All you need to do is free yourself of what
people say.’ Right from the first day they gave me the feeling that
they trusted in me, and that was a massive help for me when it came to
dealing with difficult situations. The togetherness I have with my
team-mates has been incredible.”

At home in Dortmund

Looking back on his first season in Dortmund, there is much for
Mkhitaryan to ponder over with pride, yet you sense that there will be
no resting on his laurels. Reading his comments after the Real Madrid
game, the pats on the back he has received from his coach and
teammates, the rises and dips in his form in 2013/14 and the touching
personal story of how his father’s untimely death inspired him to
become a footballer, Mkhitaryan junior would probably agree he is a
sensitive character, ruled by his emotions and a desire to constantly
prove himself.

In a city, then, “whose unique and unbelievable fans” live and breathe
football, in a stadium like the Signal Iduna Park that feeds off
emotion unlike anywhere else and under a coach famed for his
incredible man-management, he appears to be a perfect fit for
Borussia. It is not unrealistic to believe he could render Götze’s
name completely forgotten in the seasons to come.

Bernie Reeves

Terra incognita: Holding Lebanon hostage (again)

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
05/25/2014 21:30

What has happened in Lebanon is that the vacuum left by the withdrawal
over the years of foreign powers (Syria, Israel and briefly a
US-backed multi-national force) has resulted in Hezbollah dominating
the country’s politics. Syrian children at refugee camp in Tyre,
southern Lebanon
Syrian children at refugee camp in Tyre, southern Lebanon Photo:
REUTERS/Ali Hashisho On Saturday, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman
reviewed his last honor guard at the Baabda palace near Beirut. His
wife wore a modest blue dress as they made their way through well
wishers. And then he was gone, chauffeured away in a sleek black car.
His term technically ended Sunday, and the country has now been
plunged into yet another political crisis with a presidential vacuum.
Once again Hezbollah holds all the cards and has been boycotting the
presidential election process in parliament.

Lebanon’s political system is a byzantine blend of democracy and
confessionalism that took root with the National Pact of 1943 that
enshrined a system whereby the president had to be a Maronite
Christian, the prime-minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of
parliament a Shi’ite Muslim. In 1989 the Taif agreement expanded the
number of legislators in parliament to 128 (from 99) and ensured that
half the seats in parliament would be held by Muslims (as opposed to
before 1989 when 54 percent had to be Christian). The elections are
immensely complicated in this respect with 19 parties competing in two
alliances.

In the 2009 elections, for instance, the March 8 alliance was composed
of two large Shi’ite parties, Hezbollah and Amal, as well as their
Christian allies in the Free Patriotic Movement. It was opposed by the
March 14 Alliance, whose largest party is the Sunni-based Future
Movement, and which also consists of two Christian parties, the
Lebanese Forces and Kataeb (Phalange). Each faction has a constituent
Armenian party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (March 8) and
the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party. Similarly, the Druse, who make
up a sizable minority in Lebanon and are guaranteed eight seats in the
parliament, have a party in each faction: the Lebanese Democratic
Party (March 8) of Emir Talal Arsalan and Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive
Socialist Party.

The fancy names, which appear to espouse socialism or democracy, are
in fact very sectarian and contradictory, since both political
alliances seem to have “socialists” in them.

Lebanon underwent a brutal civil war in the 1970s and ’80s and
afterward was occupied (in its southern half) by Israel until 2000 and
by Syria until 2005. Its politics are partially an outgrowth of those
three events. Former soldiers Samir Geagea and Michael Aoun played key
roles in the civil war and both opposed Syria’s involvement in the
country. Amine Gemayel’s son and brother were both assassinated, the
former probably by Hezbollah and the later at the behest of Syria.
Similarly March 14 leader and current Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri’s
father Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005 by Hezbollah.

What has happened in Lebanon is that the vacuum left by the withdrawal
over the years of foreign powers (Syria, Israel and briefly a
US-backed multi-national force) has resulted in Hezbollah dominating
the country’s politics. This isn’t readily apparent, since Hezbollah
is strongest primarily in south Beirut and southern Lebanon, where it
maintains an armed terrorist force, while Hezbollah only obtained 13
seats (of the 27 reserved for Shi’ites) in the 2009 election. How can
such a paltry showing hold a whole country hostage? ON MAY 18 Lebanese
politicians seemed to have agreed to elect a president before May 25.
Sa’ad Hariri and Samir Geagea sat down with Fouad Siniora, the former
Sunni prime minister, in Paris.

According to The Daily Star they wanted a consensus candidate who
would be amenable to the March 8 opposition. Geagea reached out to the
Saudis as well, because of their history in brokering the Taif
agreement. Saudi Arabia supports the Sunnis in Lebanon and worries
about Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s power.

However, a two-thirds quorum is needed in parliament to elect the
president, and Hezbollah and some other opposition politicians have
been boycotting sessions. Al-Arabiya reported that when Michel
Suleiman left the presidential palace, Hezbollah did not send a
representative. “The party has demanded a future president be
sympathetic to the mititia’s intervention [in Syria],” it reported.

Sami Nader, writing at Al-Monitor, noted that these recent actions
“revealed the excessive power of Hezbollah, which exceeds the state in
terms of role and weight.”

President Suleiman had attempted, since 2012, to keep Lebanon out of
the Syrian civil war. However in June 2013 Hezbollah sent its fighters
streaming into Syria, helping to turn the tide in the battle for
Qusair. Some estimates have Hezbollah committing as many as 12,000 men
to the conflict, and it is training more in the Bekaa Valley in
Lebanon.

Hezbollah knows it can get away with this because of events in 2008
when it sent its fighters into the streets of Beirut. An agreement
signed in Doha seemed to give Hezbollah and its allies a veto over
cabinet decisions and postponed the disarming of the organization.
Thus, instead of disarming, Hezbollah learned that it could use its
arms to force itself on Lebanon; its invasion of Syria to aid the
Syrian government has shown that it can dictate the country’s foreign
policy as well. Attempts to curtail its independent communications
network or even prevent it from maintaining its own security cameras
at the airport were neutered.

The failure to elect a president by the stroke of midnight on the 24th
was a serious blow. Sa’ad Hariri said it is “a serious risk that
threatens the safety of the democratic system and turns the presidency
into a target for permanent [political] blackmail.”

He wants to see a president in office who will back Suleiman’s “Baabda
declaration” of non-involvement in Syria. Wassim Mrough, writing at
the Daily Star, asked whether the vacuum would “again lead to an
abyss.”

Lebanese often talk in dark parables about civil war, using terms like
“abyss” as code for the day after fighting breaks out. But in the end
it is just talk. The non-Hezbollah factions are not well armed. In
November 2013 two suicide bombers struck the Iranian embassy in Beirut
and in January of 2014 someone blew themself up in a Shi’ite
neighborhood, showing that Sunni extremists, allied to the rebels in
Syria, can strike at Hezbollah and its backers. In Sidon and Tripoli
Sunni radicals, led by clerics like Ahmed Assir, have taken root; but
the army has often arrested them (prosecutors are seeking the death
penalty for Assir). The arrest of al-Qaeda linked Sheikh Omar Bakri
yesterday was part of this trend whereby radical Sunnis are
incarcerated but Shia extremists do as they please.

The real lesson the Hezbollah opposition has once again learned is
that it can whittle away at Christian power in Lebanon. By having a
vacuum the traditional Christian leader is absent. Maronite Patriarch
Beshara Rai was cognizant of that in mid- May when he devoted energy
to finding a compromise candidate, warning President Suleiman that the
interests of Christians would be harmed. In the end Rai left the
country to attend the Pope’s visit in Jordan and Israel while
Hezbollah threatened the Christian cleric with “negative
repercussions” for visiting Israel.

Currently the discussions on a candidate for president sit with the
Christian leaders: Geagea, Gemayel, Aoun and Suleiman Franghieh (the
son of Tony Franghieh who was assassinated in 1978 during the Civil
War). But the power behind the throne is Hezbollah and the
Iranian-Syrian axis. It is an unfortunate story that Lebanon, whose
beaches overflow with frolicking beauties (a photo on Facebook this
week shows bikini-clad women sitting on top of a classy car careening
around Beirut), is home to one of the most reactionary, savage
religious-terrorist movements in the world.

And that movement, despite representing a minority of the population,
has come to hold the country hostage.

Follow the writer on Twitter @sfrantzman

ARMENIE
Le Parlement supprime la taxe sur les voitures de luxe en Arménie

L’Assemblée nationale d’Arménie a adopté en première lecture un projet
de loi envisageant la suppression de la taxe sur les voitures de luxe.

Le projet de loi a été rédigé par le Parti Républicain d’Arménie.

Les Factions non-majoritaires – Arménie prospère, Dashnaktsutiun, le
Congrès national arménien, Héritage et Orinats Yerkir – n’ont pas
participé au vote.

dimanche 25 mai 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

EQUIPE D’AREMENIE DE FOOTBALL
Première sélection avec l’Arménie pour l’arméno-uruguayen Mauro
Guevgeozian le buteur d’> Lima

L’arméno-uruguayen Mauro Guevgeozian est appelé par le nouveau
sélectionneur arménien le Suisse Bernard Challandes à intégrer
l’équipe d’Arménie pour ses trois rencontres amicales, le 27 mai à
Genève contre les Emirats arabes unis, le 31 mai à Sion contre
l’Algérie et le 6 juin à Mayence contre l’Allemagne. Le joueur qui
évolue à > de Lima (Pérou) est aussi l’un des meilleurs
buteurs. Surnommé >, Mauro Guevgeozian (28 ans) né en
1986 à Montevideo (Uruguay) a joué au sein de l’équipe de >
Yerevan. Puis il fut l’un des meilleurs du championnat d’Uruguay avec
> Montévidéo. Il y a un an il était transféré à >
Lima qui fut à 23 reprises champion du Pérou.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 25 mai 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

James Warlick: Success of peace over Karabakh depends on sides, not co-chairs

13:06 * 24.05.14

The success or failure of the peace process over Nagorno-Karabakh
depends on the political will of the sides, not on any one member of
the Minsk Group, according to the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

James Warlick made the statement in an interview with the the
Azerbaijani news agency APA, as he addressed the future of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement talks.

The diplomat said he would look forward to working with his Russian
and French colleagues to continue bringing new ideas to the table and
helping the sides find their way into real negotiations on a peace
agreement.

Asked about his Twitter post suggesting the joint use of the Sarsang
reservoir’s water resources, Mr Warlick replied,

“The Sarsang reservoir represents an opportunity: people on both sides
of the Line of Contact could work together to have an immediate,
positive impact on those living in areas affected by this conflict. A
mutually acceptable solution would address demand for reliable
electricity and irrigation water, just as it did before the conflict
began. We continue to support any measures that could reduce tensions
and begin restoring trust between the sides.”

The OSCE Minsk Group, composed of US, French and Russian co-chairs,
has been spearheading the peace efforts over Nagorno-Karabakh since
1992.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Hovik Abrahamyan: From now on, Samvel Aleksanyan will work without a hitch

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Saturday, May 24, 13:10

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan told journalists before the 15th
congress of RPA that a businessman-deputy from the Republican Party of
Armenia, Samvel Alekdanyan, promised him from now on to work in the
tax field,

He also added that during the meeting with Armenian businessmen,
Aleksanyan said that he is ready to work without a hitch and join the
tax field only in case if all the businessmen do the same. “I don’t
care what was before that, I am interested in what will be in future,
that is to say, all the businessmen should work in the tax field”, –
the premier said.

Deputy of the National Assembly Nikol Pashinyan said in the parliament
on 16 May that according to the official data, in Q1 2014, Armenia,
i.e. the Akhuryan Sugar Plant owned by Samvel Alexanyan, MP from the
ruling Republican Party of Armenia, produced 0 kg of sugar. Instead,
30 thsd of raw sugar was imported to Armenia. “This means that the
businessman-parliamentarian Alexanyan and his plant have made a deal
with the Government and import sugar to Armenia under the guise of raw
sugar, because a 10% customs duty is imposed on sugar and 0% on raw
sugar. What has happened? It has turned out that with a subtle motion
of the hand the Government and the oligarchs close to the Government
have earned 2.9 mln USD at the expense of the state budget. No one
minds Samvel Alexanyan, Serzh Sargsyan and Hovik Abrahamyan’s being so
subtle to earn millions in this manner. The problem is that they are
doing it at the expense of the citizens. We are against such criminal
practices against the citizens”, said Pashinyan. Pashinyan believes
that if the Government strives to combat shadow economy, it must not
create shadow economy itself.

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