Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AZERBAIJAN’S OIL MONEY IS FOR PR NOW

17:35, 10 October, 2013

Within the recent decades Armenian-American community in the United
States has achieved considerable success in gaining political and
material support from the Congress. Meanwhile In spite of oil money and
support of Turkey and Jewish community, Azerbaijan is still losing “PR
war” with Armenia in the United States. Alongside with various cultural
events organizing by different Azerbaijani organizations in the USA,
Azeri policy-makers also are trying to use professional American
PR companies in order to overcoming Armenian lobby and improving
Azerbaijan’s image within the American public and the USA government.

So far we can see that this intention is going beyond the theory
and assuming more practical sense year by year. Azerbaijan pays more
attention to the building of the relations with the USA government
and media thus exerting all possible effort to push Azeri interests
in the USA.

Since 2010 Azerbaijan signed a contract with one of the American law
firms Patton Boggs which provides legal services in every major facet
of government advocacy. The services of the company include counseling
and assisting of Azerbaijan with regard to US-Azerbaijan bilateral
relations. For this Azerbaijani government pays 35.000$ per month.

Another American lobbying firm The Livingston Group recognized as
one of the most respected bipartisan government relations firms
in Washington, received approximately 672.000$ in 2007-2008 for
organizing political consultations with the members of the US
Congress from Azerbaijani MFA through Embassy of Azerbaijan in the
USA and also for carrying out various actions on the actions on the
subject of building American-Azerbaijan relations, freedom of speech
in Azerbaijan and assistance in organizing visits of Azerbaijani MFA
representatives in the USA.

Jefferson Waterman International which has represented governments,
political interests, and leading international corporations, helping
them achieve objectives in the U.S. and worldwide for 15 years,
received from the International Bank of Azerbaijan about 108.100$
for the operations on lobbying the legislation in the interest of
the pledge. The same company received 26.000$ from the Azerbaijani
President for the similar operations in working out the strategy on
the relations with the press.

Currently Azerbaijan America Alliance assumes the main lobbying and
PR role in the United States. According to Center for Responsive
Politics total lobbying expenditures for 2012 were $2,920,000, and
the Alliance signed $2,4 million yearlong contract with the lobby
firm Fabian&Co. to conduct outreach in the United States.

Azerbaijan America Alliance was founded in 2010 by Anar Mammadov, a son
of the Azerbaijan’s corrupt transport minister Ziya Mammadov. Before
founding Azerbaijan America Alliance, Anar Mammadov was known for
suing a newspaper that published a story about him paying $1 million
dollars at a restaurant to grill a live bear from the venue’s small
zoo. His father, Ziya Mammadov, is mentioned in Wikileaks cables and
OCCRP reports as one of the top corrupt Azeri oligarchs. According to
FARA records, Azerbaijan America Alliance ‘s funding comes mainly from
“ZQAN Holding” and “Bank of Azerbaijan” — entities that form Mammadov
family’s shadowy business empire.

One of the latest great PR and lobbing event organizing by the
Azerbaijan America Alliance in Washington, D.C was a gala dinner.

Nearly 700 were invited guests from the Obama Administration, Capitol
Hill, the Diplomatic Corps and the think tank and academic communities.

Rep. Dan Burton, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee
on Europe and Eurasia, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Senator Richard Burr
and House Speaker John Boehner among the guests.

Along with the big projects Azerbaijani diplomatic missions to the
United States themselves initiating various PR activities with the
assistance of American communication and law firms to carry out media
campaigns, building media contacts organizing events, etc. For example,
Melwood Global Company received from the Embassy of Azerbaijan an
unspecified sum for carrying out media-strategy in the interests of
the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Co-Founder of the Company is John Boit,
who has a huge experience of working in Azerbaijan.

In 2000, he became Azerbaijan country director of Internews.

The Azerbaijani General Consulate transferred about 8.900$ to Sitrick
and Company, the staff of which includes former editors and reporters
from such news organizations as The Wall Street Journal, The New York
Times , Bloomberg News,Los Angeles Times, and NBC and CBS Television
news, for the assistance in building contacts with the Los Angeles
media. After one year Sitrick and Company replaced with Toolshed
Group, founded by Jason Katz, former Director of Public Affairs for
the American Jewish Committee.

National Center of Young Researchers

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION INITIATIVE PLANS TO SUBMIT NEW STRATEGIC CONCEPT PLAN

October 10, 2013 | 12:52

YEREVAN. – The Pre-Parliament initiative has tasked itself to submit,
before the collapse of this government, a strategic concept plan for
forming and developing a new quality Armenian state.

The said opposition initiative’s coordinator Garegin Chugaszyan stated
the abovementioned during a press conference on Thursday.

In his words, they have decided to launch their public discussions
from the international relations section of their concept plan.

“Armenia needs to orientate and specify its policy. Armenia’s
peculiarity is the [country’s] ethnic and religious homogeneity,
which can bridge numerous conflicting interests.

“Armenia’s traditional background grows against the backdrop of
the innovations in the region. Before that, however, changes need
to happen within ourselves, [and] in terms of state formation,”
Chugaszyan maintained.

In addition, the Pre-Parliament members noted that their strategic
concept plan comprises general provisions.

WHY ARE SO MANY IN ARMENIA REFUSED PAINKILLERS? NEW CAMPAIGN TO ‘STOP THE PAIN’ LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA

10.09.2013 23:43 epress.am

Thousands of people in Armenia suffer from life-limiting and chronic
illness. The lack of access to oral morphine for pain relief puts
those patients in unnecessary pain.

Pain and death are unavoidable, but it is a person’s right to have
access to pain relief or palliative care. The public is obliged to
respect and ensure the right of a person in need of palliative care
and to give him the opportunity to live a dignified life, according
to a statement issued by an alliance of individuals and experts and
Armenian and international organizations, which, supported by the
Open Society Foundation-Armenia, has planned several events as part
of a campaign called Stop the Pain, organized to mark World Hospice
and Palliative Care Day on Oct. 6.

According to the campaign website: “The question of why patients
are not properly treated and continue to suffer, persists. The main
problem is likely not a doctor’s mercilessness or lack of knowledge
and experience. The problem is the stereotype against narcotic drugs
and the fear that the quantity of people using the drugs can increase
because of prescription for these means. Opiophobia has developed in
our society. This is one important explanation, but nothing compared
to the huge quantity of drug trafficking. This is exactly why power
structures check medical institutions and healthcare workers.

“Additionally, one must fill out a number of registration forms and
health certificates for a single injection in postoperative period.

Such an injection can be made only in the presence of physician. After
that, many notes are taken in different documents, committees
convene to destroy vials while people using drugs still have access
to narcotic drugs. A patient suffering from severe pains remains
without a painkiller. It is not acceptable.”

The events planned are as follows:

Oct. 11: press conference in Yerevan, Media Center, 12 pm, and
a televised segment in Vanadzor where various experts will speak
and present the importance of the issue and future tasks Oct. 12:
film screening and discussion, 2 pm, Congress Hotel. The film is
fictional, describing an elderly couple’s love story and is on the
issue of palliative care. In Russian with English subtitles.

Oct. 15: an informational event from 4 to 6 pm at the corner of
Abovyan and Sayat-Nova streets in Yerevan, where brochures will be
distributed to passers-by; a choir will perform classical music; and
as a symbol of pain and torture a “chair of pain” will be on display.

Organizations who’ve joined the campaign are the International
Palliative Care Initiative; Pain Management and Palliative Care
Association; Women’s Resource Center of Armenia; Real World, Real
People NGO; Armenian Center for Health Initiatives NGO; and Public
Information and Need of Knowledge (PINK Armenia) NGO.

LEVON ZURABYAN: CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN ARMENIA AS A KEY TO ENSURE ‘POWER FOR LIFE’ FOR SERZH SARGSYAN?

Interview of the head of the Armenian National Congress parliamentary
faction Levon Zurabyan with Arminfo news agency

by Ashot Safaryan

Thursday, October 10, 11:22

Mr Zurabyan, the authorities of Armenia reiterate many times about
their readiness to sign the association Agreement in Vilnius, whereas
the Europeans do not support such passion saying it is impossible to
separate the political component of the Association Agreement from
the economical one – DCFTA. What are the possible scenarios of the
process? Will any document be signed in Vilnius?

In the wake of unhealthy secrecy of negotiations with EU, it is
difficult to forecast anything ahead of Vilnius Summit. The ruling
regime in Armenia keeps in secrecy the content of the negotiations with
the European Union. In the wake of such unhealthy confidentiality,
it is very difficult to forecasts if any document will be signed
in Vilnius or not. The genuine efforts had been made to prepare the
country for signing the Association Agreement with the EU, including
DCFTA, for 3.5 years. All this paled into insignificance overnight,
after Serzh Sargsyan adopted a decision to access the Customs Union. I
do not think it normal that such decisions are not discussed with the
Armenian public and political forces. Serzh Sargsyan has entered some
secret deals, which has shattered confidence of European partners
in Armenia. Sargsyan said one thing in Moscow and another thing in
Brussels. He negotiated with the EU concealing the key elements of
that process from Moscow. Now, it has turned out that he negotiated
also for accession to the Customs Union and concealed it from Brussels.

But the Europeans said nothing about the points of this document…

I am sure that this would never happen in a democratic country. The
president and the foreign minister of a democratic country would
inform the people at least of the basic provisions of the document
to be signed and the country’s course for the coming years.

How much realistic is Armenia’s joining the Customs Union taking into
consideration the absence of the common border?

The Armenian public knows nothing about what is the Customs Union, how
they will settle the key problems, including absence of borders with
other Customs Union member-states. Actually, two factors determined
the decision to access the Customs Union – security of Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh and Serzh Sargsyan’s vulnerability to external
pressure, including from Russia, because of his illegitimate power.

Did the president adopt a decision on setting up of the commission for
constitution reforms as a step towards the parliamentary government
system?

The goal of the Constitutional reform in Armenia is to ensure ‘power
for life’ for Serzh Sargsyan. The president of Armenia is approaching
the end of his tenure and is gradually losing his influence. That
is why he has recently adopted a decision to set up a Commission
for Constitutional Reform to change the system of government in the
country from the presidential to the parliamentary one.Sargsyan’s
team is extremely concerned about who will come to replace Sargsyan
on the post of the president. Discrepancies inside the ruling party
will keep growing. Such situation is called a ‘lame duck syndrome’
in the US political science. Serzh Sargsyan’s evident failures have
even more exacerbated that syndrome and increase overall nervousness
in the Republican Party. Therefore, they pulled that gimmick with
transition to the parliamentary system of government. It was a peculiar
alarm to Sargsyan’s team, which means that the president will retain
his power in a new status of the prime minister. The decision to set
up the Commission for Constitutional Reforms has become a peculiar
lifebelt for the ‘lame duck'”. I am confident that the public must
realize the danger of that step by the RPA leader. In a parliamentary
republic, a party can participate in the parliamentary elections
without any restrictions and terms. I recommend those who support
the parliamentary system of government to think well before helping
Serzh Sargsyan to get “power for life”.

Let’s talk about the role of the opposition in this situation. Will
it going to confront such attempts?

Everybody noticed that the entrance of the Armenian National Congress
in the National Assembly promoted much the consolidation of all
the opposition factions on the key issues. The four factions – ANC,
Prosperous Armenia, Heritage and ARF Dashnaktiutyun voted against the
programme of the government, against adoption of the budget in the form
submitted by the government. These factions voted for adoption of the
draft law on setting up of the commission to investigate tragic events
in March 2008. They also voted for adoption of the new Electoral Code
which would make it possible to reduce the possibility of the election
fraud much. They also voted for the draft law on de-monopolization
of economy. Actually, the opposition is ready to take more radical
measures up to expressing impeachment to president Serzh Sargsyan. Of
course, we still see not enough political conditions for raising of
this problem, as we need a situation when even the people from the
ruling majority will join the opposition. I do not rule out such a
situation in future.

Is Prosperous Armenia Party also ready to raise the presidential
impeachment?

Of course, it is still early to speak about the accord of all the
opposition factions. I mean not only the PAP. Even we are not ready
to that today. We think that the moment has not ripened yet. But in
general we manage to find contact point with the PAP and the rest
forces on many issues.

ARMENIA RECEIVES RIGHT TO EXPORT HONEY TO EU

October 10, 2013 | 07:31

YEREVAN. – Armenia has been included in the list of countries that
are eligible to export honey to European Union (EU) countries.

The Armenian Agriculture Ministry State Service on Food Safety informed
the aforesaid citing the EU official monthly.

The EU Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) has
approved Armenia’s “Plan on the Quantity of Residue in Honey and
Beekeeping Products,” which is a prerequisite for honey exports.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

LES TRANSFERTS PRIVES EN PROVENANCE DE RUSSIE VERS L’ARMENIE ONT BONDI DE 11,2%

ARMENIE

Le montant des envois de fonds prives en provenance de la Russie vers
l’Armenie entre janvier et mai 2013 par les banques a des fins non
commerciales a augmente de 11,2% compare a 2012 soit 475,1 millions
de $ selon la Banque centrale.

Comme d’habitude, la plus grande partie des envois de fonds de
l’etranger provenaient de Russie – près de 84,5%.

Le montant net des transferts de fonds de la Russie vers l’Armenie
a atteint 404,5 millions soit une hausse de 10,7%.

jeudi 10 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

L’ADHESION DE L’ARMENIE DANS L’UNION DOUANIÈRE AUGMENTERA SA PROSPERITE ET RENFORCERA SA POSITION SELON L’ANCIEN AMBASSADEUR DE RUSSIE EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

La volonte de l’Armenie d’adherer a l’Union douanière repond a ses
interets nationaux, et ouvre des perspectives pour son developpement,
cela permettra d’accroître sa prosperite et de renforcer sa position
et son prestige dans la region et dans le monde a declare l’ancien
ambassadeur de Russie en Armenie Vyacheslav Kovalenko lors d’une
videoconference Moscou-Erevan.

” C’est elementaire, et on ne sait pas sur quoi est fondee l’aspiration
de l’Armenie a signer un accord d’association avec l’Union europeenne
or cela bloquerait, a mon avis, la seule option possible pour Erevan
de consolider ses relations d’alliance avec la Russie dans le processus
eurasien ” a dit Kovalenko.

Le diplomate a dit qu’il n’a jamais doute que l’Armenie finalement
choisirait l’integration eurasienne, notant que les relations
d’alliance entre l’Armenie et la Russie sont fondees non seulement
sur les secteurs militaro-technique, commerciaux et economiques,
mais aussi sur la cooperation humanitaire.

” La cooperation humanitaire implique le developpement des relations
humaines etroites : c’est la langue russe, l’enrichissement mutuel
entre les deux cultures, c’est l’ouverture prevue de la branche de
l’Universite d’Etat de Moscou en Armenie ” a declare Kovalenko.

jeudi 10 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

NOUVELLE GALERIE DES MANUSCRITS ET DES EXPOSITIONS AU SAINT SIÈGE D’ETCHMIADZINE

ARMENIE

Le 30 septembre, a 14h00, dans la maison des Tresors Alex et Marie
Manoogian au Saint Siège d’Etchmiadzine Sa Saintete Karekine II,
Patriarche supreme et Catholicos de tous les Armeniens, a preside la
ceremonie d’ouverture de la Galerie des manuscrits de M. et Mme Carl
et Emma Soghoyan.

M. et Mme Soghoyan, bienfaiteurs du Saint Siège, ont fait don de près
de deux douzaines de manuscrits ecrits et de la première Bible imprimee
en armenien (Amsterdam, vers 1666), au Saint Siège d’Etchmiadzine.

Les manuscrits seront exposees de facon permanente a côte de ceux du
Saint Siège. Certains documents exceptionnels provenant des archives
du Saint Siège y sont egalement affiches, y compris les documents
secrets par le patriarche d’Istanbul, Mgr Zaven Yeghiayan, concernant
le genocide armenien ainsi que sa lettre au Catholicos Gevorg V,
qui a declare le 24 Avril, comme le jour de la commemoration du
genocide armenien.

jeudi 10 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

LE PRESIDENT SORTANT ILLHAM ALIEV REMPORTE LA PRESIDENTIELLE

AZERBAÏDJAN

BAKOU, 9 oct 2013 (AFP) – Le president sortant d’Azerbaidjan, Ilham
Aliev, etait sur le point mercredi de remporter aisement les elections
lui assurant un troisième mandat a l’issue d’un scrutin entache de
fraudes selon l’opposition marginalisee.

Le president etait assure de remporter le scrutin totalisant 84,7%
des voix, selon des resultats partiels fournis par la Commission
electorale centrale sur la base du depouillement de 36% des bulletins.

Son principal adversaire de l’opposition, Jamil Hasanli ne totalisait
que moins de 5% des voix, selon ces resultats.

Plus d’un milliers de partisans du president Aliev, âge de 51 ans,
s’etaient rassembles dans la soiree en dansant et chantant lors d’un
concert pop dans le centre de la capitale Bakou, celebrant la victoire
avant meme l’annonce du score final de leur president.

“Nous pouvons dire que Aliev a ete elu president pour cinq autres
annees”, a declare Ali Ahmedov, le secretaire executif du Nouveau
parti azerbaidjanais d’Ilham Aliev.

Mais l’opposition derrière son candidat Jamil Hasanli a d’ores et
deja denonce “des fraudes massives” durant ces elections dans un pays
riche en gaz et en petrole et a averti qu’elle ne reconnaîtrait pas
les resultats definitifs du scrutin.

M. Aliev a succede a son père en 2003 et a ete reelu en 2008 pour
un deuxième quinquennat, avant d’obtenir par referendum en 2009 la
levee de la limitation a deux mandats presidentiels consecutifs. Avant
lui, son père Heydar Aliev, ancien du KGB (Securite d’Etat du temps
de l’URSS) et membre du Politburo du Parti communiste de l’Union
sovietique, avait dirige le pays presque sans interruption de 1969
a 2003.

jeudi 10 octobre 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

ACTIVISTS, POLICE AND SAMVEL ALEKSANYAN’S SUPPORTERS GATHER NEAR CLOSED MARKET

October 09, 2013 | 16:22

YEREVAN. – The members of “Let’s liberate monument from an oligarch”
initiative have reached the Closed Market (photo).

The demonstrators calling to boycott “Yerevan City” supermarket chain
belonging to MP Samvel Aleksanyan gathered on the left. Aleksanyan’s
supporters are standing on the right with police and journalists
between the rows.

Those supporting Aleksanyan are chanting “Go away”, “You are enemies”
slogans.

A group of police officers headed by deputy chief of police Valery
Osipyan are trying to resist Aleksanyan’s “people” who are making
attempts to get through the police line.

Earlier, speaking during the meeting in Mashtots Park, the activists
did not rule out the possibility of clashes.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am