Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AZERI, HUNGARIAN OFFICIALS RILED OVER STUDENTS’ VISIT TO KARABAKH

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

Dr. Balint Kovacs appearing on Artsakh TV

BAKU-The Hungarian Embassy in Azerbaijan is investigating reports that
a group of Hungarian students led by professor of Armenian studies,
Dr. Balint Kovacs, visited Armenia, and then the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic, APA reports.

Karabakh-Open.info reported earlier on a meeting between Hungarian
and Armenian students at Artsakh State University. Professor of
Armenian studies Dr. Balint Kovacs said after the meeting that
Armenian-Hungarian relations have a long history; that a strong
Armenian community has existed in Hungary since the late Middle Ages
and that there have been four Armenian cities in Transylvania. He
mentioned that these Armenian cities contributed to the development
of the region.

“The issue of Ramil Safarov is a subject of broad discussions in
Hungary. This is the disposition of our government, not Hungarians in
general. I hope this would not become a stumbling block in our further
relations,” the Hungarian professor told reporters in Stepanakert.

“I am a lecturer and, of course, I cannot make political decisions,
but I hope that our politicians will find a way to resolve the
situation. This issue is evidence of the fact that the Armenians and
Hungarians are friends, and their friendship must go on,” he said,
continuing the topic of Ramil Safarov’s extradition from Hungary to
Azerbaijan. Kovacs noted that the extradition of Safarov was not the
right step, and that it should be corrected.

“Karabakh is an integral part of Armenian culture. I believe
Christianity unites Armenians and Hungarians, and my students,
whether Catholic or Orthodox, are here by the traces of faith. To
get acquainted with Armenian culture, we found it appropriate to
visit not only Armenia, Tatev, but also Artsakh – Gandzasar and
Shushi. We will continue the study of Armenian history in Hungary,
and in the future, I am sure our students will choose as a topic for
their research works the history of Armenia, Artsakh and Nakhichevan,
which is part of Armenia,” concluded the Hungarian Professor.

EU WAS UNAWARE OF ARMENIAN TEAM FOR ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION – PETER STANO

17:01 17.10.13

The European Union (EU) was not informed of the team formed last
December to study the possibility of Armenia’s accession to the Customs
Union, Peter Stano, Spokesperson of Å tefan Fule, European Commissioner
for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, told ilur.am.

The team was formed under Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s
Decision #1204 of December 4, 2012.

The EU was informed of the Armenian government considering ways of
establishing more active cooperation with the Customs Union, which
would not imply membership. Armenia continued negotiations over the
Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area
Agreement (AA/DSFTA), which were successfully completed this summer,
Mr Stano said.

As to the possibility of the EU mistrusting Armenia’s authorities in
future, he said that the EU respects its partner’s decisions.

ETHNIC AZERI MAN RELEASED AFTER BEING HELD FOR 2 MONTHS IN ARMENIA

10.17.2013 18:25 epress.am

Armenia has released Allahverdi Pelengov, an ethnic Azeri and a
citizen of the Republic of Georgia, who was held for two months by
the RA National Security Service. The Public Council for the Defense
of Pelengov had repeatedly stated that Pelengov’s rights were being
violated, noting that the Georgian citizen had been picked up in a
place where there is no border as such.

The 44-year-old resident of the village of Burma was detained by
Armenian border guards on Aug. 17. Pelengov’s release and return home
was announced by the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives
(CCPMI), which coordinates the work of the Public Council for the
Defense of Pelengov in Armenia, citing the defense attorney in this
case, Tigran Sinoyan. According to Sinoyan, Pelengov was released
under the general amnesty declared to mark the independence of the
Republic of Armenia (on Sept. 21).

The criminal case against him was quashed. However, CCPMI notes
that human rights violations and the authorities’ inaction on the
Armenia-Georgia border continue to remain current issues.

Earlier, in conversation with Epress.am, Pelengov’s attorney Rafik
Safaryan said that Georgian media reports that Pelengov was tortured
in Armenia are untrue. “He is in good health. He has pleaded guilty
for committing the act for which he is being charged. An investigation
is underway,” the attorney had said.

Defending the Georgian citizen was the Public Council for the Defense
of Pelengov, which was established in the village of Tekali, Georgia,
from a discussion among locals, human rights defenders, activists, and
journalists on Sept. 14. This council was not so optimistic regarding
the state of the detainee, as Pelengov was deprived of the right to
receive information. The council had appealed to the NSS on several
occasions, asking for a meeting with Pelengov but had been refused.

As the Public Council for the Defense of Pelengov’s Armenian
coordinator, human rights defender Georgy Vanyan had told Epress.am,
the council appealed also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Ministry of Justice of both Armenia and Georgia, but it had not yet
received a response from any of these government bodies.

On Aug. 22, Vanyan also appealed to the RA Human Rights Defender’s
Office, asking that a rapid response team of human rights defenders
be sent to visit Pelengov. “The only thing the Ombudsman’s office
did is to call and verify the detainee’s nationality,” he said.

According to Vanyan, arresting Pelengov indicates an attempt
to place the Armenia-Georgia border within the context of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and Armenian security services do not
have the autonomy to prevent this process.

Photo: Baku-APA news agency, taken from Azerbaijan Islamic news
site Deyerler.org

ARMENIA CAN SUCCESSFULLY COMPETE WITH US ON PERLITE PRODUCTION – MANUFACTURER

October 17, 2013 | 16:57

YEREVAN. – Armenia can successfully compete with the U.S. on perlite
production, said co-owner of the Karakert stone moulding plant.

Suren Gevorgyan said the Aragats perlite deposit is one of the largest
in the world, and several enterprises could work on the raw material
of the deposit.

“The confirmed reserves total 150 million cubic meters, while the
forecasted reserves of high purity reach 3 billion,” he told reporters.

During the Soviet times, perlite from Armenia was used as raw material
by a number of plants.

“Nowadays we can not export not only perlite itself, but the final
production,” Grigoryan emphasized.

The co-owner of the plant recalled that in 1998, during the presidency
of Robert Kocharyan, Aragats perlite min was sold for a ridiculous
$1.5 million to an American company Corning. The Americans did not
exploit the deposit and thus solved the problem of competition.

Nowadays Americans, along with Greece and Turkey, are expoting their
perlite to many states.

The insulating materials and other goods produced from perlite cost
around $800 per cubic meter. Armenia is able to produce the goods
for $250.

“We can produce around million cubic meters a year. Imagine what profit
it would bring to our country. But state officials are unwilling
to support the economy. The desire to act arises only when there is
benefit,” Gevorgyan resumed.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTRY RECEIVES NATO OFFICIAL

October 17, 2013 | 18:02

YEREVAN. – Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonyan on Thursday
received NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for South
Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai.

The sides discussed issues related to Armenia-NATO cooperation and
further prospects as well as issues on implementation of Armenia-NATO
Individual Partnership Action Plan, the Ministry’s press service
reported.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

FRENCH SCHOOLCHILDREN MARCH IN ANGER OVER EXPULSIONS

17 October 2013 Last updated at 14:44

The BBC’s Christian Fraser says 14 schools have been blockaded in Paris

Thousands of schoolchildren in Paris and other parts of France
have been demonstrating in anger over the expulsion of two foreign
teenagers.

Twenty secondary schools in the French capital were disrupted as
children joined a march, clenching fists in solidarity with the
expelled pupils.

Some demanded the sacking of the Interior Minister, Manuel Valls.

In one case, a Roma schoolgirl was sent back to Kosovo and in the
other, a student was repatriated to Armenia.

There has been widespread indignation at the manner in which border
police picked up schoolgirl Leonarda Dibrani, whose family had lost
its bid for asylum in France after five years in the country.

Leonarda, 15, was escorted from her school bus by a teacher, in front
of other children, in the eastern region of Doubs on 9 October.

The row has caused strains within the government of Socialist President
Francois Hollande, whose most popular minister with the wider public
is Mr Valls, according to recent opinion polls.

Mr Valls has drawn protests over his hard line on Roma immigrants,
which is reminiscent of Mr Hollande’s conservative predecessor,
Nicolas Sarkozy.

‘Arrested for theft’

Schoolchildren left class to show solidarity both with Leonarda and
Khatchik Kachatryan, a 19-year-old student in Paris who was expelled
on Saturday to Armenia.

Mr Kachatryan was arrested for shoplifting in September, at which
point police discovered he had entered France illegally, the French
daily Le Figaro reports.

Leonarda says she faces discrimination back in Kosovo

Reports suggest that he was detained on his return to the former
Soviet republic for seeking to escape doing military service.

“Bring back Khatchik and Leonarda, they belong here,” marching pupils
chanted on Thursday, holding up signs calling for Mr Valls to resign.

The president of France’s National High School Students’ Union, Ivan
Dementhon, said students were angry at the way the Dibrani family
had been treated.

“The expulsion of the young Leonarda is particularly shocking because
it was done in a school environment,” he said.

“It’s not tolerable that students with or without documents are
expelled. Everybody should have a right to education, and that is
why all high school students are here.”

Journalists who visited the Dibrani family in Kosovo on Wednesday
found them living in a house in the northern town of Mitrovica,
despite earlier suggestions that they were homeless.

It has also emerged that the father, Resat, was investigated by the
French authorities for allegedly beating his family.

Mr Valls insists that the deportation of Leonarda and the rest of
her family was carried out in line with established procedure.

“It is of course a difficult subject but any immigration policy
requires respect for the law, respect for individuals and great
firmness,” he said this week. “I am accountable for that to the
French people.”

Amnesty International recently reported that more than 10,000 Roma
had been evicted from temporary camps in France in the first half of
the year.

Some 20,000 Roma have settled in France, coming mainly from Romania,
Bulgaria and parts of the former Yugoslavia like Kosovo.

ARONOFSKY’S “NOAH” SPARKS CONTROVERSY AMONG CHRISTIAN, JEWISH AUDIENCES

October 17, 2013 – 16:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Darren Aronofsky’s Noah has sparked controversy
among test audiences, Digital Spy said.

The upcoming biblical epic, which stars Russell Crowe as Noah and Emma
Watson as his adopted daughter Ila, has been screened to “key groups”
with an interest in the subject matter, including a largely Jewish
audience in New York, a largely Christian audience in Arizona and a
general screening in California.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, all three screenings have
generated “troubling reactions”, prompting Paramount to request
changes from Aronofsky.

It is unclear whether Aronofsky has retained his right to final cut
on the film, or whether this has been removed in light of the poor
feedback, but the director is reportedly resistant to the changes
suggested.

Among the studio’s reported concerns are the film’s extensive use of
visual effects, and the challenge of creating a third act that will
not alienate Christian audiences.

Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said that the preview process is
standard and that the studio had intentionally allowed for “a very long
post-production period, which allowed for a lot of test screenings”.

Moore is also quoted as saying that Aronofsky wants “some level of
independence” but “also wants a hit movie”, concluding: “We’re getting
to a very good place, and we’re getting there with Darren.”

Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Douglas Booth, Logan Lerman and
Ray Winstone are also among the cast of Noah, which will be released
on March 28, 2014.

AZERI HOTHEADS SHELL NKR POSITIONS DURING OSCE MONITORING

October 17, 2013 – 19:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – “Impunity begets lawlessness” is a phrase which
best reflects current Azeri worldview. Azeri side is losing sense of
reality – mostly due to lack of international community’s response
to its provocations as well as Baku’s rather successful attempts to
undermine the Karabakh conflict settlement.

The monitoring of the contact line between Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijani armed forces was suspended Thursday, Oct 17, due to shots
fired from the Azeri side.

The violations were registered by the monitoring group on both sides.

Personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, ambassador
Andrzey Kasprzyk decided to stop the monitoring over security reasons,
the NKR Foreign Ministry’s press service said.

Azeri behavior here is a result of the international community’s
permissiveness. For already several years Azerbaijan has been
orchestrating diversions, violating ceasefire, shelling Armenian
villages.

Over 14000 ceasefire violations by Azeri armed forces were reported
at the contact line in 2012 only. Azeri leadership never misses a
chance to express their aggressive moods, ignoring the OSCE Minsk
Group’s urges to cooperate in the peaceful settlement of Karabakh
conflict on all levels – from presidents to mediators. Baku is the one
overtly purchasing and manufacturing inordinate amounts of weaponry,
in violation of all international quotas.

Though in full knowledge of the facts above, the international
community continues turning a blind eye to Azeri lawlessness, with
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs restricting themselves to statements
urging to “observe ceasefire,” “develop mechanisms for promoting trust
between the conflicting parties.” Also, no reaction was given to Azeri
statement suggesting Baku won’t be pulling snipers from contact line
before the end of the war. Despite having their demands blatantly
ignored, international organizations don’t show any concern, their
indifference further prompting Azeris to shell Karabakh positions –
this time, completely undisturbed by the OSCE mission’s presence.

LE MONDE: EVERYONE IN KARABAKH IS READY FOR WAR, AND IF IT STARTS MANY ARMENIAN VOLUNTEERS WILL ARRIVE FROM ABROAD

18:56 17/10/2013 ” SOCIETY

There is still tension existing between Armenia and Azerbaijan though
a quarter century has passed after the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
the French newspaper article “Le Monde” says.

The author notes that the personal freedoms in Azerbaijan were limited
on the eve of the presidential elections held in the country.

“The authorities have become extremely sensitive and aggressive,”
the young people sitting in the terrace of one of Baku’s cafe say.

One of them told that he had returned to Baku after studying abroad.

“In my opinion, the authorities look at the young people who have
studied abroad with suspicion: they probably think that seeing
democracy in action, they will demand it here as well. All of these
beautiful buildings and “Mercedes” that you see here is just the
facade, Azerbaijan is completely mired into corruption, lack of freedom
and justice, and it prevents many citizens to live suitably,” he noted.

The author continues that in Armenia freedom of speech allows young
people to criticize the situation existing in the country. Varsik,
25-year-old student, who was born in Gyumri shares this opinion.

The article says that migrant workers from Nagorno-Karabakh mainly
leave for Russia. Suren, 29 years old, said he plans to sell his
home and leave for Russia together with his family. In the same time,
Suren noted that he was proud of being Armenian.

The young people in Azerbaijan are also proud of their country, in
spite of the hostility they feel towards the President Aliyev’s regime,
the author writes. Teimur, a young lawyer, says: “I would like to go
abroad, but to work always for Azerbaijan and to help my country.”

At the same time, Teimur called for a peaceful solution of the
Karabakh conflict, “I do not want war. It has lasted for 4 years,
that’s enough! It is violence, it is an economic chaos. ”

In Azerbaijan, few people believe in the peaceful settlement of the
conflict, the article says. Ani, a young Armenian from Yerevan says:
“Nagorno-Karabakh is our territory, and if we will have to give up
even one inch of land, I’ll go to war. This is our history. ”

Memories in Nagorno-Karabakh are still too fresh to think about
opening the border, writes the reporter. Everyone in Karabakh is
ready for war. “If the war ever starts, many young people will come as
volunteers, just like Suren, who wants to leave for Russia, but says:
“I’ll be back to fight. I must do this,” the article reads.

Source: Panorama.am

UNTIMELY TO SPEAK ABOUT TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO THE EU, EXPERT SAYS

17:00 17.10.2013

Anna Nazaryan

The European Commission has released the annual progress report on
Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. According to expert of Turkish
studies Vahram Ter-Matevosyan, the report is generally positive for
Turkey. Instead, the Armenian side has what to think about.

If before 2009 the European Commission was accusing Turkey for
keeping the Armenia border closed, it has been making reference to
the Armenian-Turkish protocols ever since.

Vahram Ter-Tadevosyan says Armenia should take certain steps to present
the picture from a different viewpoint. “The protocols helped soften
the reports on Turkey. It’s necessary to work to restore the previous
wording,” he says. Besides, this year the report fails to mention
about hidden Armenians.

The European Commission criticizes the disproportionate reaction of
the Turkish authorities to the events in Gezi Park. There is also
sharp criticism related to the Cyprus issue.

Although the report makes no mention of the Armenian Genocide,
Ankara is doing work in this direction. On the threshold of 2015
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu calls Turkish Ambassadors
in different countries to give special directives on how to prepare
for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

In general, it’s still untimely to speak about Turkey’s accession to
the EU, Vahram Ter-Sahakyan says.