Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Yerevan subway hosts photo exhibition dedicated to Armenian capital

October 12, 2013 | 12:51

YEREVAN. – A photo exhibition `Old Yerevan: Glimpse from the Future’
has opened in Yerevan subway on the occasion of the 2795th anniversary
of the Armenian capital.

Photos from the archive of the Museum of History of Yerevan were
hanged in the subway stations as silent chronicle of the city . The
photos are depicting how the city changed next to the subway stations
over the 20th century. The exhibition is a historical essay that
compares the past and today’s Yerevan.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

NKR President visits France

11:37 12.10.2013

On October 11 President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
partook in Lyon in a solemn ceremony dedicated to the 20th anniversary
of the `Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund’s French affiliate.

In his speech President Sahakyan noted that this organization was one
of the most important institutions of the Armenian Community in
France, which since the first day of its foundation actively
participated in the process of supporting the Motherland,
strengthening and developing Artsakh.

For the service rendered to the NagornoKarabaghRepublic and in
connection with the 20th anniversary of patriotic activity the Head of
the State rewarded the `Hayastan’ all-Armenian Fund French branch with
`The Gratitude’ medal, Central Information Department of the Office of
the NKR President reported.

Jivan Gasparyan awarded NA Medal of Honor

14:17 12/10/2013 » CULTURE

Armenian National Assembly speaker Hovik Abrahamyan awarded People’s
Artist of Armenia, duduk player Jivan Gasparyan the Medal of Honor of
the National Assembly on the occasion of his 85th birthday and for his
considerable contribution in the field of culture, Armenian
parliament’s press service reported.

In his remarks, Mr Abrahamyan highly appreciated the merited
musician’s contribution to the development and popularization of
Armenian art and wished him good health, longevity and further
professional success. Jivan Gasparyan thanked the NA speaker for the
high award and appreciation.

Source: Panorama.am

POLEMIQUE AUTOUR DU DECOLLETE UN PEU TROP PLONGEANT D’UNE PRESENTATRICE TELE

TURQUIE

ANKARA, 10 oct 2013 (AFP) – Le licenciement d’une presentatrice
d’une chaîne de television privee dont le decollete avait ete juge
un peu trop plongeant par un vice-Premier ministre du gouvernement
islamo-conservateur au pouvoir a Ankara fait des vagues en Turquie.

Dans un entretien accorde jeudi au quotidien Hurriyet, la jeune femme,
Gozde Kansu, a accuse son employeur, la chaîne ATV, d’avoir cede aux
pressions des autorites. “C’est ridicule, c’est pathetique (…) j’en
ai assez de ces debats sur le corps des femmes. Me sacrifier etait
la chose la plus facile a faire et ils l’ont faite”, s’est indignee
l’ex-presentatrice.

Dimanche, le vice-Premier ministre Huseyin Celik, egalement
porte-parole du Parti de la justice et du developpement (AKP) au
pouvoir, s’etait publiquement emu de la robe très echancree portee
par Gozde Kansu la veille. “L’animatrice d’un jeu hier (samedi)
portait une robe qui n’etait pas acceptable”, avait juge M. Celik,
sans nommer Gozde Kansu. “Nous ne nous melons pas de la vie des gens
mais c’etait trop”, avait-il poursuivi.

Deux jours plus tard, les medias turcs ont rapporte que la jeune femme
avait ete licenciee par le producteur de son emission, suscitant une
avalanche de reactions indignees.

Dans un communique publie mercredi, les producteurs de l’emission ont
affirme que la fin du contrat de Gozde Kansu n’avait “absolument rien
a voir avec la controverse des deux derniers jours”. “Son style et sa
facon de presenter ne correspondaient pas au projet” de l’emission,
ont-ils justifie.

“S’ils n’avaient pas apprecie ma facon de presenter, ils me l’auraient
dit, non ?”, a reagi Gozde Kansu jeudi. “Tout ceci n’est qu’une
excuse. Les audiences (de l’emission) n’etaient pas mauvaises. Mais
personne n’a voulu contredire la volonte politique qui a denonce mon
decollete. C’est evident”, a-t-elle souligne.

Pendant la fronde antigouvernementale de juin, les manifestants ont
accuse les autorites, au pouvoir depuis 2002, de vouloir “islamiser”
la societe turque.

Sur decision de M. Erdogan, les femmes sont autorisees depuis mardi
a porter le foulard islamique dans la fonction publique, ce qui etait
formellement interdit auparavant.

vendredi 11 octobre 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

ANCIENS V COUR : DES PARTISANS DEMANDENT LA LIBERATION D’UN COLONEL A LA RETRAITE

ARMENIE

Des compagnons d’armes et amis d’un colonel a la retraite de l’armee
Volodia Avetisyan, en garde a vue pour ” tricherie et le detournement
de l’argent “, ont fait circuler une petition pour faire appel de
la decision generale du tribunal de la Cour d’appel, par laquelle le
veteran de la guerre s’est vu refuse une liberation sous caution. Plus
de 350 personnes ont signe la petition.

Le Conseil des veterans de la guerre indique qu’il n’est pas defait
par l’arrestation d’Avetisyan qui a initie et mene une serie de
grèves et de protestations civiles exigeant l’amelioration des
conditions sociales et des modifications legislatives pour les
anciens combattants.

” Nous voulons informer les autorites que nous ne prendrons pas la
voie qu’ils choisissent pour nous. Parallèlement a soutenir Volodia
Avetisyan nous continuerons notre lutte pour des conditions sociales
decentes pour nos camarades anciens combattants, leurs familles et
les familles des combattants de la liberte decedes ” ont declare
les membres du conseil des veterans qui se sont rallies Place de
la Republique.

Volodia Avetisyan avec un groupe de camarades anciens combattants
avaient organise un sit-in place de la Liberte a Erevan en mai dernier,
qui a grandi plus tard en un mouvement plus structure et uni en vue
de l’amelioration de leurs conditions sociales et des modifications
legislatives. Le 20 Septembre, le ministère de la Defense a indique
que ” par tricherie et abus de confiance Volodia Avetisyan a detourne
2000 $ sous pretexte de soutien au citoyen H.

Zakaryan en liberant son petit-fils de la conscription militaire
obligatoire “.

Le chef de l’ONG Khachakir, Gagik Sarukhanyan a souleve la question
de ceux qui ont donne et pris un pot de vin, après avoir declare que
le cas d’Avetisyan etait ” truque “.

” Meme si l’accusation est exacte, que nous ne croyons pas, il y
a quelqu’un qui a donne un pot de vin et il y a un mediateur – ils
tentent de faire de Volodia Avetisyan les deux a la fois et qui est
la personne qui a pris le pot de vin pour liberer ce jeune homme du
service dans l’armee ? Maintenant, comment se fait-il que ceux qui
soudoye et a obtenu la corruption soient libres et Volodia Avetisyan
est en etat d’arrestation “a-t-il dit, ajoutant : ‘L’affaire est
clairement liee aux questions soulevees par Avetisyan, qui, avec
son bras de fer a demontre le vrai visage des autorites incapables
de resoudre meme les petits problèmes. Il a frappe un point faible,
donc il etait logique de le neutraliser “.

Il est a noter que le lieutenant-colonel a la retraite Samvel Lazarian
et le secretaire du groupe ” pre-Parlement ” commandant de la division
speciale de Chouchi Zhirayr Sefilyan affirment tous deux que, pendant
les quatre mois des activites des anciens combattants Volodia Avetisyan
a recu plusieurs offres a plusieurs reprises de pot de vin par diverses
personnes afin d’arreter ses activites civiles.

Sefilyan a dit : ” si la persecution d’Avetisyan continue “, il va
valoir nommer ceux qui ont offert des pots de vin.

Avetisyan a refuse de dire quoi que ce soit a l’organisme d’enquete
et son avocat a dit qu’il va bientôt faire une declaration publique.

Par Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow

vendredi 11 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

LES ETATS-UNIS ” TROUBLES ” PAR LE RESULTAT DE LA PRESIDENTIELLE EN AZERBAIDJAN

AZERBAÏDJAN

WASHINGTON, 10 oct 2013 (AFP) – Les Etats-Unis ont fait part jeudi
de leur “trouble” quant aux resultats de l’election presidentielle
en Azerbaïdjan qui a vu la victoire ecrasante du sortant Ilham Aliev,
mais a ete marquee par d'”importants problèmes”, selon l’OSCE.

“Nous avons maintes fois appele le gouvernement d’Azerbaïdjan a
faire en sorte que le processus electoral soit libre et juste,
et nous regrettons que ce scrutin n’ait pas repondu aux normes
internationales”, a declare Marie Harf, une porte-parole du departement
d’Etat.

Selon les derniers resultats partiels annonces par la Commission
electorale centrale, le president sortant Ilham Aliev a recueilli
environ 84,6% des voix, tandis que son principal adversaire de
l’opposition, Jamil Hasanli, a totalise 5,5% des suffrages.

Mais la mission d’observateurs de l’Organisation pour la securite et la
cooperation en Europe (OSCE) a fait etat d'”importants problèmes” et de
“manquements qui doivent etre regles pour permettre a l’Azerbaïdjan de
respecter entièrement ses engagements devant l’OSCE sur de veritables
elections democratiques”. Parmi ces “problèmes”, l’OSCE a notamment
releve des “manipulations des listes electorales”.

“Nous sommes troubles par ces manquements”, a dit Mme Harf. Les
Etats-Unis, a-t-elle poursuivi, appellent l’Azerbaïdjan a “respecter
les droits de reunion, d’association et a la libre expression”.

vendredi 11 octobre 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

ARARAT-73: 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF YEREVAN CLUB’S ASCENT IN USSR MARKED IN ARMENIA

Soccer | 10.10.13 | 10:58

Photolure

By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Forty years ago today Armenians celebrated their first major soccer
success in the USSR as Yerevan’s Ararat team beat rivals from Ukraine
in a dramatic Cup final in Moscow.

The match against Dynamo Kiev played in the Luzhniki Stadium on
October 10, 1973, ended 2-1 to Ararat that later that month also won
the championship trophy becoming a “double” winning team.

Enlarge Photo

Eyewitnesses of the event say that the victory was followed by
unprecedented celebration as Armenians played ethnic folk instruments,
sang and danced kochari at the stadium and beyond.

Young or old, everyone was aware of the course of the game, the score,
the names of the players participating in the match that didn’t bode
well for Armenians in the beginning.

Ararat were a goal down when Levon Ishtoyan scored an equalizer in
the dying seconds of the second half, taking the match into overtime
during which he scored the winner becoming an all-time legend in
Armenian soccer.

Rafik Petrosyan, a 63-year-old member of the National Assembly who
taught at the university in 1973, remembers that he was in the Russian
resort city of Sochi on business on that glorious day.

“Along with other Armenians there I watched the game in my hotel room.

Our joy was infinite when we watched Ararat win the Cup,” he says. “I
was a faithful Ararat fan, it was a great pride that uplifted our
spirits and made Armenians known all over the Soviet Union and
the world.”

Petrosyan says loudly rooting for your favorite team was frowned
upon during Soviet times, but nothing could stop Armenian fans from
expressing their emotions during the matches of their favorite team.

Fan slogans are common nowadays but back then they were a new thing in
Soviet Armenian reality. It was in the 1970s when Armenian fans first
began to chant “A-ra-rat”, “A-ra-rat H’up T’ur”, “Ha-yer”, etc. during
Ararat games, slogans that have survived, with some modifications,
till our own days and are heard during national team matches.

Meanwhile, in the times of taboos in the Soviet Union, a soccer game
was a real oasis of freedom for many.

“We took a little vodka with ourselves and had a shot every time
our guys scored a goal. We cried and shouted, enjoying ourselves
immensely,” says Petrosyan.

Soccer in Armenia in the 70’s reminded of a special protocol. On match
days huge queues formed at box offices, but most people as loyal fans
had season tickets.

Coming to the stadium even ten minutes before the start of the game was
considered being late, as people usually came well before the kickoff
in order to have time to discuss the lineups, the match officials,
make predictions for the game, etc..

Fifty-six-year-old lawmaker Aram Manukyan remembers that when they
watched Ararat games on TV back then they preferred gathering in large
groups, including friends, families, to root for the favorite team.

“Soccer was a national spirit. I remember two episodes when sports
provided that – first when Tigran Petrosyan became the world champion
in chess and then when Ararat scored victories in 1973. We had
only the feeling of pride, dignity, and soccer was the topic of all
conversations,” says Manukyan.

It was the large following that Ararat began to have that made the
republic’s authorities decided to build the large stadium in the
Hrazdan gorge. The arena could seat up to 73,000 spectators and only
during the 1973 season it was visited by more than 853,000 soccer fans.

Sports commentator Slava Sargsyan, who was 25 in 1973, had a chance
to be a commentator at Ararat games back then. He says the Yerevan
team played soccer that couldn’t but be admired.

“The entire nation was busy with soccer then. Ararat demonstrated high
qualities, great team play, great techniques and tactics. Individually
all were great players, but they were also great as a team,” remembers
the commentator.

Less then three weeks after beating Kiev in the Cup final,
on October 29, Ararat beat Leningrad’s Zenit 3-2 at Hrazdan to
become the champions of the USSR in the golden year for Armenian
soccer. That success opened the way for the Yerevan team to perform at
the international arena and two years later, in 1975, in a memorable
match in Yerevan Ararat beat Bayern Munich 1-0. The German team then
had many world champions playing, including one of the best defenders
of all times Franz Beckenbauer.

As years passed Ararat somewhat lost its winning ways to turn into a
mediocre side in the USSR championships in the 1980s playing mostly
to avoid relegation, but the winning spirit of the 70’s remained in
Armenians and occasionally wakes up during national team games today.

Writer, film critic, Honored Art Worker of Armenia, Professor David
Muradyan, who chairs the Armenian National Film Academy, thinks that
it was during the 1970s that the spirited play by Ararat prepared
Armenians for the national-liberation movement in 1988.

“It was that same generation that held their fists up celebrating
Ararat victories in the stadium that stood in Opera Square years
later… and then managed to resist and prove victorious in the
Karabakh war,” says Muradyan.

For Soviet-era dissident Paruyr Hayrikyan Ararat also symbolized the
national-liberation struggle.

In 1973, Hayrikyan had just been released from prison after serving
a four-year term for his political views. The 64-year-old politician
says that upon returning to Armenia he had an opportunity to watch
Ararat play.

“That was the year of the awakening of our national-liberation
struggle. It was at that time that the strategy for independence
through a referendum was adopted. I do see parallels between the
successes of Ararat and the national-liberation struggle,” says
Hayrikyan.

The winning Ararat team included: coach Nikita Simonyan, goalkeeper
Alyosha Abrahamyan, defenders Alexander Kovalenko, Norayr Mesropyan,
Armen Sargsyan, Sanasar Gevorgyan, Suren Martirosyan, Arkady
Harutyunyan, midfielders Arkady Andreasyan, Sergey Bondarenko,
Hovhannes Zanazanyan, Sergey Poghosyan, forwards Eduard Markarov,
Levon Ishtoyan, Nikolay Ghazaryan, Nazar Petrosyan.

ARA ABRAHAMYAN ABOUT ZARUHI POSTANJYAN: A PERSON MUST NOT BE SO NARROW-MINDED

by Marianna Lazarian
Thursday, October 10, 13:52

A person must not be so narrow-minded. Do you really think that Armenia
has no other problems? President of the Union of Armenians of Russia
and the World Armenian Congress Ara Abrahamyan in a press conference,
Thursday, commenting on oppositionist MP Zaruhi Postanjyan’s question
addressed to Serzh Sargsyan at PACE.

To recall, Postanjyan asked the president how he was going to pay the
70 million EUR he allegedly lost in a casino. “Under no circumstances
should one dishonor the country’s president on the international
arena. If there are problems, settle them inside the country, and
not tell the world about those problems,” he said.

Postanjyan has been harshly criticized for her question also by local
political forces. Nevertheless, she enlisted the support of some
political forces, public organizations and citizens, who welcomed
her at the airport as “a national hero.”

POLISH ENVOY: EU SEEKING FOR NEW COOPERATION PLATFORM WITH ARMENIA

October 10, 2013 – 19:30 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – EU is seeking for a new platform of cooperation with
Armenia in the light of the country’s decision to join the Russia-led
Customs Union, a Polish envoy said.

As ZdzisÅ~Baw RaczyÅ~Dski told a news conference, Armenia remains
the EU partner in the Eastern Partnership program framework. However,
he noted, in view of Armenia’s decision, the association with the EU
in the manner planed became impossible, with EU searching for a new
cooperation platform.

Dwelling on the oncoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius,
the ambassador noted that Armenia is likely to join the memorandum
to be issued based on the summit results. The envoy, however, ruled
out the initialing of the association agreement without the deep and
comprehensive free trade agreement, Armenia Today said.

FUGITIVE SUSPECT IN DINK MURDER IS INNOCENT, SAYS LAWYER

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 11 2013

ISTANBUL – Hurriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioglu

The lawyer of a fugitive suspect in Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrank
Dink’s murder case has revealed that his missing client, Erhan Tuncel,
is in Turkey working on his defense also defending that Tuncel is
innocent, shown as key suspect by media

The lawyer of a key suspect in Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrank
Dink’s murder has revealed that his missing client, Erhan Tuncel,
is in Turkey working on his defense and that it was the latter’s
decision whether or not to surrender.

Erdogan Soruklu, the lawyer of Tuncel, for whom an arrest warrant was
issued after he was ordered to stand in a retrial, told the Hurriyet
Daily News on Oct. 8 that his client was innocent and was working on
his defense somewhere in an unknown location in Turkey.

“[Tuncel] is in Turkey working on his defense; he will go more into
details in his defense. He calls me [on the phone]; I cannot call him,
as I do not know where he is. It is his decision whether or not to
surrender,” said Soruklu.

Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was
shot dead in broad daylight in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.

Soruklu said they did not expect Tuncel to receive a long-term sentence
but if that was the case, they would appeal to the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR), as his client’s rights that derived from the
European Convention of Human Rights were being violated.

“The ECHR is not going to judge Tuncel; it will evaluate whether his
rights have been breached. The ECHR had previously punished Turkey
for Turkish authorities’ insufficient acts to protect Dink’s right to
life. Therefore, this decision also vindicates Tuncel,” said Soruklu.

Tuncel, the suspected instigator of the murder, was an informant in
the Black Sea province of Trabzon before the murder of Dink.

Soruklu also said Tuncel was not a stooge in Dink’s murder. “Erhan
is not a person that was used by others. He was a university student
in Trabzon, who was delivering intelligence about illegal groups. He
was brought to this position in 2004 and was discharged from it one
month before the Dink murder but it was not communicated to him. It
is still a mystery why he was discharged from this post,” said Soruklu.

Soruklu said he did not believe that Tuncel was the “key person”
in the trial and thus his life was not in danger.

“Even though some media outlets and the public opinion are trying to
depict Erhan [as the key person], he is not the black box in the case.

The public opinion that has been created against Tuncel does not rest
on concrete evidence. Punishing Erhan will not make a difference in
shedding light on the case. If all the evidence had pointed Tuncel,
he would not have been acquitted. Tuncel is being set up as the ‘Big
Brother’ but he is the person who reported the murder [to authorities
before it took place],” said Soruklu.

Commenting on the accusations of the convicted Yasin Hayal, Soruklu
said there was an attempt to cast his client as an instigator. “There
is someone who looks like Osman Hayal [the brother of Yasin Hayal] at
the crime scene. Yasin Hayal accused Tuncel of being the instigator of
the murder just to prevent the truths from coming out,” said Soruklu.

Yasin Hayal was convicted of being the instigator of the assassination
and the “leader of a terrorist organization.” Hayal is also among
the suspects who are being retried as part of the murder case.

Stating that he was not hopeful about the trial process, Soruklu
said that though the court had good intentions, some of the public
institutions had not provided the necessary support for the case to
proceed. Soruklu said he felt for the Dink family and their loss and
that he was not against the Dink family’s struggle but was merely
defending his client’s rights.

“My position is not against the Dink family; I share the same
intentions as them. I respect their sorrow. I wish with all my heart
that the truth will be revealed, but I defend the rights of Erhan
Tuncel as a lawyer and believe that he is innocent,” Soruklu said.

Former governor: I wasn’t informed

Former Trabzon Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir said Hrant Dink would
not have been murdered if he had been informed. “If I was informed
by the police or gendarmerie, I would warn Istanbul Governor Muammer
Guler that a there was a plot against Hrant Dink and this [attacker]
person lives in Istanbul; take the necessary measures,” he told local
daily Karadeniz.

October/10/2013