Author: Kalantarian Kevo

SOAR Seeks Urgent Sponsorship For Mushegh Mashinyan

SOCIETY FOR ORPHANED ARMENIAN RELIEF (SOAR)
1060 First Avenue, Suite 400, King of Prussia, PA 19406
Office: 610.213.3452 Fax: 610.229.5168
Email: [email protected] Web:

The Sponsorship Program is the primary mechanism through which SOAR
provides support to specific orphaned Armenians. We are seeking
sponsorship funds ($600/year) that will be used entirely and
exclusively for Mushegh Mashinyan (picture and profile below).

Mushegh Mashinyan

Name: Mushegh Mashinyan

Facility: Gyumri Social Childcare Center

Gender: Male

DOB: November 16, 2001

Father’s name/Occupation: Melik Mashinyan/Unknown

Mother’s name/Occupation: Lilit/Unemployed

Sibling(s): None

Family history: The family used to live in the Shnogh Village
of the Lori Region. After Musheg’s birth, the mother’s health
deteriorated. The father left for Russia and has had no contact with
the family. In 2012, Lilit and Mushegh moved to Gyumri, where they
currently live in very harsh conditions.

Health history and current medical conditions: Mushegh was born with
a maxillofacial defect, but because of the family’s dire financial
situation, he rarely gets medical attention. The sponsorship funds
would be used for Mushegh’s medical issues.

Special interests, talents, and hobbies: Mushegh loves outdoor activities.

We offer two types of sponsorships: a Full Sponsorship ar $600/yr.

($50/mo. payment plan available) or a Special Occasion Package ($150
annually). If you would like to sponsor Arsen, please contact George
S. Yacoubian, Jr., at [email protected] or select Arsen through
the Sponsorship Program.

Thank you in advance for your support!

The Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian relief to
orphaned Armenian children and adults. Working with a loyal donor base
and a trusted network of partners, SOAR distributes clothing,
educational supplies, medicine, and other essential resources to
orphaned Armenians throughout the world.

LA RUSSIE PREVOIT LA MODERNISATION DE SA BASE EN ARMENIE

La Russie considère sa base militaire en Armenie vitale pour la
securite nationale du pays et va continuer a la renforcer avec des
armes modernes, un haut responsable du Kremlin lundi.

“Je pense que la presence de militaires russes constitue une garantie
pour qu’il n’y ait pas d’evolution negative concernant l’Armenie,”
a declare Nikolay Patrouchev, secretaire du Conseil de securite de
la Russie, au siège de la base de Gyumri situee dans le nord-ouest
de l’Armenie.

” C’est une bonne base militaire très moderne qui continuera d’etre
modernisee “, a-t-il declare a des journalistes sur place.

Interroge sur les formes concrètes que prendra la modernisation,
Patrouchev a declare : ” Les ministres de la Defense [russe et
armenien] sont confrontes a cette question. Ils ont un plan. La base
militaire va evoluer et se moderniser. Je dois souligner, cependant,
qu’elle est deja prete au combat et capable d’accomplir n’importe
quelle tâche. ”

Moscou a deja renforce l’installation datant de l’ère sovietique avec
du nouveau materiel militaire depuis la signature en 2010 d’un accord
avec Erevan qui a etendu la presence militaire russe en Armenie jusqu’a
2044. L’accord a egalement mis a jour la mission de securite de la
base, les principaux responsables armeniens laissant entendre que les
quelque 5000 soldats russes qui s’y trouvent pourraient intervenir
en cas de nouvelle guerre avec l’Azerbaïdjan.

Cependant parallèlement a son aide a l’armee armenienne et au
renforcement de sa base militaire, la Russie a vendu des armes
a l’Azerbaïdjan. Patrouchev a effectivement confirme la vente a
l’Azerbaïdjan de chars russes, de systèmes d’artillerie et d’autres
armes pour un montant d’un milliard de dollars, une information revelee
par les medias russes la semaine dernière. “La Russie fait du commerce
avec tous les pays et tous les pays peuvent acheter legalement des
armes de la Russie”, a-t-il dit, interroge sur cette question.

Les fournitures d’armes russes a l’Azerbaïdjan ont suscite des
inquietudes parmi les analystes armeniens et des personnalites de
l’opposition. Certains d’entre eux ont accuse Moscou d’avoir trahi
l’Armenie, son principal allie dans la region. Le gouvernement armenien
a rejete ces preoccupations, affirmant que ces ventes ne changeront
pas l’equilibre des forces dans le conflit du Haut-Karabakh.

Patrouchev est alle a Gyumri, au deuxième jour de sa visite en Armenie
qui a commence par une rencontre avec le president Serge Sarkissian.

Selon une declaration faite par le bureau de presse de Sarkissian,
les deux hommes ont discute des ” defis de developpements regionaux
” et du processus de paix au Karabakh.

L’homologue armenien de Patrouchev, Artur Baghdassarian, a indique au
service armenien de RFE / RL vendredi que la visite de ce responsable
russe se traduira par un nouvel accord russo-armenien en matière de
defense et de securite. Sans donner d’autres explications.

mardi 25 juin 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

PACE PRESIDENT: “WE WISH TO INVITE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS OR ONE OF THEM TO PACE AND HEAR THEM”

APA, Azerbaijan
June 24 2013

Jean-Claude Mignon says he will meet with the members of Azerbaijani
and Armenian delegations

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli – APA. “We considered the settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict at the meetings of PACE Bureau and Standing
Committee in Armenia,” said President of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) Jean-Claude Mignon at the press
conference on the first day of the summer session while responding to
APA’s question about the possible inclusion of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict in the session agenda as a current issue.

Jean-Claude Mignon said that these discussions took place as a
continuation of his visit to the South Caucasus: “I held a lot of
interesting meetings in all three countries, especially, we held
interesting discussions with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and Foreign Minister. As far as I understand Azerbaijan is ready to
fully accept the six terms of the Madrid principles developed and
put forward by OSCE Minsk Group. This is very important. Moreover,
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister called me to inform Armenian Foreign
Minister about it and encourage him in this issue. The resolution of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict should not be necessarily discussed in our
assembly as a current issue. We should specify another format for it.

We wish to invite Minsk Group co-chairs or one of them to PACE and
hear them,” he said.

PACE President said he will meet with the members of Azerbaijani and
Armenian delegations on the third day of the session.

“We will discuss the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I see a
real desire to move forward the issue. Armenia’s chairmanship of the
Council of Europe Committee of Ministers should be benefited from,”
he said.

Larisa Alaverdyan. `There would not be trafficking in Armenia if it
was not concealed by law enforcement agencies.’

June 21 2013

In the U.S. State Department report, Armenia appeared in the 30th
group among 180 countries in terms of fight against human trafficking,
which means that the country signifies the importance of fight against
human trafficking, the government is executing serious projects in
this direction, and in this regard everything is perfect in the
country. In a talk with Aravot.am the former defender of Human Rights,
the chairwoman of `Against the Law’ NGO Larisa Alaveryan said this
should not encourage us. `Now I do not have the figures, but I have a
concern about this issue. I’ve dealt with it a few years ago and it
was my belief that the trafficking would not happen in Armenia if it
was not concealed by law enforcement agencies then. It’s hard to
imagine Armenia a country of many ways out. I can not imagine that it
can be done without criminal cooperation, but what tools and forms of
combat are available now, I do not know. At the time I had an opinion
formed that our judicial authorities do not work properly with both
trafficking victims and the accused and culprits. We should not get
encouraged with this report s, because we are talking about a
struggle, and not a phenomenon. If we have shown that we have changed
the law, or the principle of punishment acted a little more, these are
evidences that talk not about the fact that there is no trafficking
but about the fact that we are fighting against it.’ Eva HAKOBYAN

Read more at:

ARMENIE
Le Premier ministre dans l’oeil du cyclone

Plusieurs scandales politiques intérieures lourds de démissions de
grande envergure se posent en Arménie. Malgré le fait que le pays n’a
pas de tradition de démissions fondées sur des violations ou des
violations présumées des règles et normes éthiques et juridiques, les
récentes révélations des médias sur des comptes offshore pourraient
coûter au Premier ministre Tigran Sarkissian son poste compte tenu
d’autres processus.

Le journal en ligne Hetq a mené une enquête et le mois dernier a
publié un article suggérant que Tigran Sarkissian est partie prenante
d’une société chypriote impliquée dans certaines « relations troubles
». Alors que le premier ministre tente de prouver qu’il n’était pas au
courant que la société était immatriculée à son nom, l’homme
d’affaires Ashot Sukiasyan, dont le nom figurait également dans
l’article en lien avec ce dossier, a admis qu’il a enregistré la
société au nom de Tigran Sarkissian à l’insu du premier ministre.
Auparavant, Tigran Sarkissian a demandé au Bureau du procureur général
d’enquêter sur qui avait inscrit Wlispera Holdings Limited et comment
son nom est apparu dans la liste de ses actionnaires. Récemment, une
enquête a été ouverte contre Ashot Sukiasyan, dont le sort n’est
apparemment pas connu, et il a été mis sur la liste « des personnes
recherchées ».

Cependant, les partis politiques de l’opposition, en particulier le
Congrès national arménien et la Fédération Révolutionnaire Arménienne,
se posent des questions et doutent de l’innocence du Premier ministre.
Les autorités répressives sont silencieux. Le président Serge
Sarkissian ne s’est pas exprimé non plus.

Alors que le scandale offshore se déroulait, un autre est apparu quand
la Chambre de contrôle a publié son rapport sur les violations et les
abus des fonds publics révélés en 2012. En particulier, elle a déclaré
que les organisations publiques en charge des constructions ont
souvent dépenser des fonds budgétaires de façon inappropriée, parfois
en payant les matériaux dix fois plus chère que le prix du marché. Le
président du Parlement Hovik Abrahamian, un membre éminent du Parti
républicain du président Serge Sarkissian, a été prompt à blmer le
gouvernement et, s’en prendre aux « pillards » de l’argent public.

Les médias arméniens ont déjà marqué ce processus comme une campagne
contre le Premier ministre. Malgré la validité des charges et
l’absence de contre-arguments de la part de Tigran Sarkissian, le
cours des scandales suggère qu’il pourrait y avoir des forces qui
travaillent constamment à la démission de Tigran Sarkissian. Il
pourrait y avoir beaucoup de forces intéressées qui sont en jeu, tout
d’abord les partisans de la voie pro-russe en Arménie, ainsi que les
forces qui constestent « le leadership » de Tigran Sarkissian au sein
du Parti républicain.

Le premier ministre actuel est considéré comme peut-être le seul
apologiste de la formation d’un développement pro-européen de
l’Arménie et de la signature d’un accord d’association avec l’Union
européenne. Il agit également comme porte-parole quand il s’agit de
rejeter les offres persistantes de Russie sur l’adhésion à l’Union
douanière et l’Union eurasienne – projets d’intégration préconisés par
le Kremlin pour les Etats ex-soviétiques. Depuis novembre, lorsque
l’Arménie s’est lancée dans son premier accord d’association avec
l’UE, la pression est devenue plus forte sur le premier ministre.

Ajoutez à cela le fait que le technocrate Sarkissian est réputé pour
être le candidat le plus probable à la présidence en Arménie en 2018.
La Constitution actuelle empêche le président Serge Sarkissian de
briguer un troisième mandat consécutif et les successeurs se
bousculent déjà au sein du parti au pouvoir. À cet égard, l’aile «
conservatrice » ou plutôt « oligarchique » du Parti républicain dirigé
par Hovik Abrahamian semble avoir lancé une croisade contre Tigran
Sarkissian.

Il est peu probable que cela soit une coïncidence que les articles
récemment apparus dans les médias affirment que le Parti Arménie
prospère pourrait à nouveau faire partie de la coalition
gouvernementale et que son leader, le magnat Gagik Tsarukyan, qui est
de la belle-famille avec Abrahamian, pourrait être nommé Premier
ministre.

Considérant cela, la perspective de la démission du Premier ministre
Tigran Sarkissian devient réel, et maintenant tout le monde attend la
parole du Président Serge Sarkissian. Mais tout le monde a bien
compris que la question n’est pas seulement celle Tigran Sarkissian
mais plutôt celle de la future orientation géopolitique et du
président de l’Arménie.

Par Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow

dimanche 23 juin 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

ORGANIZATIONAL PHASE OF ESTABLISHMENT OF AZERBAIJANI DIASPORA COMPLETED IN EUROPE

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 21 2013

The organizational phase of the establishment of the Azerbaijani
Diaspora in Europe has been completed, and steps are taken towards
lobbying, Benelux Azerbaijanis Congress president, vice-president of
the Congress of European Azerbaijanis Sahil Gasimov told reporters
in Baku.

According to him, one of the main problems now is the lobbying.

“Lobbying is diplomacy, which is different from traditional and
people’s diplomacy. Benelux Azerbaijanis Congress is accredited by
the EU, and European diplomats have been informed on the subject. The
studies on Azerbaijan are currently underway. Lobbying begins to
acquire a wider scope. We have a lobby, like the Greek, Armenian,
Jewish lobbies. More serious steps will be taken in this direction,”
he said.

In December last year, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was raised at the
Dutch Parliament, the president of the congress said.

“We need to increase the number of such events, as we have to move
beyond the traditional Diaspora issues. There are a lot of painful
issues for us, and we need to gather strength together to be able to
solve it,” Gasimov said.

He also appreciated the importance of the I Forum of Diaspora
Organizations of Member Countries of the Cooperation Council of
Turkic-Speaking Countries held in Baku.

Azerbaijan’s President: “The Right To Self-Determination Should Not Run Contrary To The Principle Of Territorial Integrity”

MilAz.info, Azerbaijan
June 21 2013

“We highly appreciate the statement issued by the leaders of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states as a part of G-8 summit and
thank them for focusing attention on the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict”.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said this at the joint press
conference with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy,
APA’s Europe correspondent reports from Brussels.

He stated that the Azerbaijani side fully supports the statements on
the necessity of proper steps for finding a solution of the conflict.”

According to the Head of State, it is important that the statement
refers to the principles of Helsinki Final Act as the basis of the
solution of the conflict.

“The right to self-determination should not run contrary to the
principle of territorial integrity. Armenians have already achieved
self-determination, they have the state of Armenia,” he said.

Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan is interested in the soonest solution
of the conflict basing on the international law and principles,
as well as UN resolutions.

EU CALLS FOR FAIR RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AGREED PRINCIPLES

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 21 2013

The European Commission calls for a fair resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the agreed principles,
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at a
press-conference in Brussels on Friday on the results of the meeting
with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Barroso’s statement is posted on the European Union’s official website.

“We know well that for countries in the region to realize their full
potential they need to be secure and at peace with their neighbors,”
he said.

According to Barroso, the EU supports the international mediation
efforts through the OSCE Minsk Group and stands ready to play its
part for a lasting and peaceful settlement.

Barroso said that broader issues were discussed during the meeting
with the Azerbaijani President.

“Azerbaijan is an important partner with whom we cooperate closely
on a number of regional and global issues. We also looked ahead to
Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Council of Europe next year,” he said.

“We also shared our views on key domestic issues for Azerbaijan. The
Presidential elections are high on the list. We expressed our hope
that these can take place according to the highest standards, with
the support of international observers including from OSCE-ODIHR,”
Barroso said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

FEATURED VIDEO: RARE SYRIAN BROWN BEAR CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Mongabay.com
June 19 2013

By: Phyllis Sena
June 19, 2013

New camera-trap footage from the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge in Armenia,
has captured rare footage of a Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos
syriacus), a subspecies of Brown Bear native to Eurasia. This is an
important recording as there may be just one or two bears in this
reserve and the animals are listed as vulnerable in Armenia. The exact
population of this subspecies is unknown and likely to be declining
due to poaching, habitat destruction and diminishing sources of food
in the wild.

Agriculture, mining and quarrying are some of the reasons for their
habitat destruction, and bears damaging bee hives and orchards is
the main cause of conflict with local farmers. According to the
Foundation for Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets Program
Director Barbara Siebert, “CWR is so important because we provide
an area free from conflict for wildlife such as bears. We also plant
wild fruit and nut trees to encourage bears to use the protected area
rather than farmland.”

FPWC uses camera-trap images to assess population numbers of wildlife,
and numbers are compared year to year to show if they are increasing.

Additionally, images of injured animals may be a sign of poaching
and will prompt greater security in a particular area of the refuge.

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
June 21, 2013 Friday

Iran exported over 1.5 billion cub.m. of gas to Armenia during 6 years

Baku/20.06.13/Turan: From 207 to 2012 export of Iranian gas to Armenia
exceeded 1.5 billion cub.m., reads the report of the National Gas
Company of Iran.

According to the report, Iran exported 1,558 billion cub.m. of gas in
exchange for power from Armenia. In 212 export of Iranian gas totaled
481 million cub.m, reported Iranian FARS agency.

Last week Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Reisi said that Iran
is ready to help Armenia with gas. He said it is up to Armenia to
decide if it wants to use Iranian gas as an alternative to Russian
gas, reported Iran.ru.-0—