Author: Kalantarian Kevo

MiG Signs Attack Drone R&D Contract

Skat drone
© RIA Novosti. Anton Denisov
18:58 31/05/2013

LUKHOVITSY, May 31 (RIA Novosti) – Russian military aircraft maker MiG
is to go ahead with a research-and-development project for an unmanned
combat air vehicle (UCAV) based on its Skat prototype, after signing a
deal with the Industry and Trade Ministry earlier this month, the firm
said Friday.

“We signed an R&D contract for UCAVs on May 15,” said MiG’s head,
Sergei Korotkov. “The contract requirements include a mock-up for a
future UCAV for the Defense Ministry. We are already ahead on this,
based on our Skat program.”

MiG unveiled a demonstrator model of its Skat drone at the MAKS
airshow near Moscow in 2007. Skat is designed to carry out strike
missions on stationary targets, especially air defense systems in
high-threat areas, as well as mobile land and sea targets.

Skat will operate in autonomous modes as well as in conjunction with
other manned systems, MiG says.

A “flying wing” design, Skat has a projected weight of 10 tons, a
two-ton payload, a range of 2,500 miles (4,000 km), a speed of 500 mph
(800 km/h) and a ceiling of 36,000 feet (12,000 m).
MiG also plans to sign a contract in June with the Defense Ministry
for 37 MiG-35 multirole fighter jets, Korotkov said, with delivery of
24 of them to take place in “the near future.”
The new fighters will include the Zhuk-A radar system, he said.

Geography Lesson Needed

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

The organizers of the Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival put on
their fourth show two weeks ago in Orange County. These seem to be
occurring roughly once every year-and-a-half. You may recall I’d
written about this in `Occupation, Liberation.’ The organizers still
don’t seem to have learned geography since then.

While the `cultures’ represented cover all of Asia Minor, Anatolia is
only part of that area. The eastern part is the `Armenian Plateau’ or
`Armenian highlands’ which I suppose is inconvenient for the
organizers since using such a term means they’d have to account for
the absence of Armenians on the land, and for the most part, in their
festival, too, though their website refers to `The Urartu State
(Armenians),’ in the information provided about the festival.

The set-up was much as in October of 2011. A few cities were added and
some removed. But Akhtamar was showcased again, complete with its name
being rendered as `Akdamar’ as well. Armenians had rented booths and
were present as participants as well (based on overhearing
conversation in Armenian).

The main reason I went this year was to observe what the reaction
would be to the lecture titled `Roadmap to a Meaningful Armeno-Turkish
Reconciliation’ being presented by Levon Marashlian. I knew that he
wouldn’t be pulling punches, and he didn’t.

The audience was very mixed. Perhaps a dozen Armenians were present,
but the remainder of the 100 or so listeners were not overwhelmingly
Turkish. Quite surprisingly, the questions were not antagonistic. In
fact, only one was somewhat so. A young Turkish man asked why the
Ottomans would all of a sudden kill their subjects. I spoke to him
afterwards, and he did seem to be sincerely looking into figuring out
for himself what really happened. The sense I got is that he, as we
hear about many Turks, is having difficulty believing his ancestors
could have committed such a heinous crime. Interestingly, he was also
not offended when I told him his origins were probably Armenian, given
his appearance. He looked like some Armenian friends of mine. I also
checked with the person (who was also there), whose lecture on an
Armenian topic was featured at the previous event, about attendance
and learned that the numbers were similar, but a little lower.

Afterwards, I took a quick tour of the festival grounds and met some
of the organizers. The lead person was a Kurd. Another gentleman whom
I met was from Marash. I even exchanged contact information with a
reporter from Turkey, though what will become of that contact, I
really can’t say. Everyone was very polite and conversations were calm
with references to the Genocide not engendering harsh responses.

What makes all this particularly intriguing is that the festival is
organized by the Pacifica Institute, one of the Gulen organizations in
the U.S. You’ll remember Gulen is the very prolific Turkish cleric who
is holed up in a huge estate in the Poconos (mountains in
Pennsylvania) whose following is quite large and at least tenuously
associated with the current Islam-based party that governs Turkey.
I’ve heard it argued that the path to Genocide recognition by Turkish
society and government may be found in this segment of Turkey’s
population. Conversely, these are also the people who, through various
non-profit entities, have succeeded in establishing some 120 charter
schools throughout the U.S. (and many more schools of respectable
caliber throughout the world, especially in developing countries) that
serve, among other things, the cause of Turkish propaganda. This makes
for an interesting dilemma as Armenians proceed in our struggle for
justice.

Be alert to such powerful image-building events organized by the
growing Turkish community in the U.S. They constitute one of the
arenas we will be vying in over the coming decades, and may provide an
avenue to just resolution of the long-standing Armenian Question in
its current form.

AL Monitor
June 1 2013

Who Are Turkey’s Protesters? The View From Taksim Square

By: Amberin Zaman for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse Posted on June 1.

An eyewitness report from Taksim Square in Istanbul.

I was, in my capacity as a reporter, among the thousands of citizens
who thronged the streets of central Istanbul on May 31 in what some
are labeling `A Turkish Spring’ and `A Turkish Occupy’ movement. Other
commentators have resorted to the lazy old clichés of `secularists
versus Islamists.’ Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
insists they are “provocateurs.”
None of these capture the nature of protests that have engulfed the
country. These began when police staged a predawn operation on May 31
to disperse citizens who were demonstrating peacefully against a
government-backed development project that would uproot dozens of
trees in Taksim Square. The diversity of the protesters defies any
such neat categorization.
Destination Taksim

It was close to 8 p.m. as I inched my way along Istiklal Avenue, one
of the main commercial arteries leading up to the square. When I hit
the historic Francophone Galatasaray Lycee, the crowds grew. I could
barely move. Amid all the clapping and chanting, there was one common
refrain, `Erdogan resign! Government resign!’ Early on, I encountered
a group of young men and women who were all wearing the same white and
yellow masks to shield themselves from the acrid stench of tear gas
that pierced the air. They said they worked for an advertising
company. “Our boss printed special T-shirts for us and gave us the
masks; he encouraged us to be here,’ Selin Bayraktar told Al-Monitor.

`Why would he do that?’ I asked.

`We initially joined the demonstrators to protect our trees, nothing
political,’ explained Bayraktar. But when Erdogan, `imperiously’ waved
aside their objections, declaring that the project would proceed,
`something snapped,’ she said. `We are not for or against any
political party, we are against dictatorship, Erdogan is a dictator,
write this if you dare.’

Farther on, members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) linked arms to form a human chain. There may have been around
50-60 of them. I couldn’t quite tell, but they were a minority. Ilhan
Cihaner, a CHP lawmaker, nodded at me bleary-eyed. `Pepper gas,’ he
said. `The protests will continue until the park is saved. But it’s
not just about the park, it’s about this repressive regime: People are
fed up. They have to go.’ Never mind that CHP members on the city
council voted in favor of the project. Time to move on.

As I get closer to Taksim, the smoke thickens. I feel dizzy and my
lungs begin to burn.

The scenes are increasingly chaotic. Water cannons spray the crowd.
Police in riot gear are dragging a man toward an armored van.

`For me, it’s only about the trees, nothing else. I voted for
Erdogan,’ piped up an unfazed 30-something housewife, her hair covered
Islamic-style. `Destroying all the green space, where will my kids
play? It’s not right.’ And her name? `No need,’ she responded as a
youth with a pierced nose and tattooed arms sprayed a milky liquid on
her face.

`It’s for the tear gas,’ he explained. His name was Mert and he was in
his final year at the nearby German Lycee. Were his parents worried
about him? `No, they support me. Look, we are talking about one and a
half million trees.’ What? Had he seen the park? It couldn’t even fit
a hundred, let alone a million. Disinformation, it seemed, was flowing
as fast as the gas. He shrugged and continued to spray.

Above the din, one slogan sounds awfully familiar: `Azatutyun,’ the
word for `freedom’ in Armenian. It’s being chanted by a handful of
Istanbul Armenians who say they are taking part because they are
opposed to the destruction of the park. `The park and all those hotels
on top of an Armenian graveyard,’ says a young woman I know called
Melis Tantan.

A slender girl with a headscarf and a knee length raincoat catches my
attention. Her name is Busra Guney. The 17-year-old is in her final
year at the nearby Kagithane clerical training school. `It’s always
about money, cutting trees for money, its not Islamic,’ she says.

Her words remind me that an Islamic group called Anti-Capitalist
Muslims is also among the protesters, though I did not run into any.
Their presence ought to worry Erdogan more than any other because, as
they see things, AKP’s embrace of cowboy capitalism runs roughshod not
just over the environment but over Islamic principles as well.

My overall impression, and it’s commonly shared, is that the Taksim
Park project has morphed into a vehicle for popular resentment against
Erdogan’s increasingly dismissive and authoritarian ways. Under a
decade of AKP rule, Turkey has become the world’s top jailer of
journalists. Its interventionist policy in Syria is causing alarm. The
systematic and disproportionate use of force against the slightest
display of dissent obscures that the AKP was democratically elected
and remains the most popular government in modern Turkish history.
Yet, egged on by the slavishly self-censoring Turkish media, Erdogan
seems increasingly out of touch.

Be it through restrictions on alcohol or disregard for the
environment, people who do not share Erdogan’s worldview are being
made to feel like second-class citizens. The sentiment is especially
strong among the country’s large Muslim Alevi minority whose
long-running demands for recognition continue to be spurned much as
they were by past governments.

Hard-core secularists who massed in the district of Kadikoy, a CHP
stronghold on the Asian side are keen to paint the protests as a
backlash against the `Islamist’ AKP. It’s not just CHP supporters who
feel their lifestyles are being infringed upon. Conscientious
objectors, atheists and gays, almost anyone who falls outside the
AKP’S conservative base is feeling squeezed. The majority, however,
are sick of old-style politicians and their tired ideas. So where will
they go? The question is growing ever more pressing in the run-up to
nationwide local elections that are to be held next year.

Erdogan’s political fortunes hinge on how the government handles the
crisis. Pulling back the police and allowing the crowds to gather on
the second day was a step in the right direction.

Turkey is not on the brink of a revolution. A Turkish Spring is not
afoot. Erdogan is no dictator. He is a democratically elected leader
who has been acting in an increasingly undemocratic way. And as
Erdogan himself acknowledged, his fate will be decided at the ballot
box, not in the streets.

Amberin Zaman is an Istanbul-based writer who has covered Turkey for
The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Telegraph and
the Voice of America. A frequent commentator on Turkish television,
she is currently Turkey correspondent for The Economist, a position
she has retained since 1999. On Twitter: @amberinzaman

Culture of poverty is being formed in Armenia

Sat, 06/01/2013 – 15:45

“From year to year along with the social, political and economic crisis
children are becoming more vulnerable’ today, on International Children’s
Day, First Human Rights Defender Larisa Alaverdyan told the reporters.

According to the latter, children in Armenia continue to remain vulnerable;
despite the fact that the family kept the child worship, which often has an
adverse effect on the upbringing.
“Social inequality affect the children a lot, especially in rural areas the
situation becoming worse with every year,” says first human rights defender
and adds that, according to her, this is a signal, because alongside with
this the negative social habit is formatting. Society is getting used to
seeing a begging child in the street or a child not going to school due to
the lack of appropriate clothing and with this the culture of poverty comes
to us.

Larissa Alaverdyan also mentioned with regret that there are cases in
Armenia when father gets in sexual conduct with the child. “Today it seems
that it is propagated that the notion of morality is also relative.”

According to the speaker, the courts are quite forgiving to those cases and
according to her there is a need for legislative change.

Author:
Factinfo

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 31, 2013 Friday 09:50 PM GMT+4

Medvedev, Armenian prime minister meet in Minsk

MINSK May 31

– Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sarkisyan at a bilateral meeting in Minsk on Friday that
Armenia’s desire to integrate into the Customs Union was important for
Russia.

“Armenia wants to participate in this process, which we consider
important. We should only find a proper format for this cooperation,”
Medvedev went on to say. He suggested discussing the aforesaid issues
as well as the state of trade and economic cooperation between the two
countries.

The Armenian prime minister said in turn that Yerevan had a clear-cut
stance on integration with the Customs Union. “We have no doubts,”
Sarkisyan said. “We should start solving technical issues already now,
namely what steps we should take and in what pace we should move
forward,” the Armenian premier added.

Sarkisyan said he had met Viktor Khristenko, the head of the Eurasian
Economic Commission, in Minsk earlier on Friday to discuss a
Memorandum of Integration into the Customs Union.

“We understand that we should urgently prepare this memorandum, get
the president’s approval for it and sign the document,” Sarkisyan went
on to say.

The Armenian prime minister also told Medvedev about his talks with
Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of the Russian State Corporation for Atomic
Energy (Rosatom) on financing the construction of a new unit of the
Armenian nuclear power station. The sides discussed the possibility
for Armenia to enter financial markets to find resources for the
station.

ARS Eastern Region Holds Regional Seminar in New York

May 30, 2013

On March 18, the `Erebouni’ and `Mayr’ Chapters of the Armenian Relief
Society (ARS) hosted the ARS Eastern Region seminar at the St.
Illuminator’s Cathedral Hall in New York. More than 85 members from
the `Agnouni,’ `Ani,’ `Artemis,’ `Bergen County,’ `Erebouni,’
`Lousintak,’ `Mayr,’ `Shakeh,’ `Soseh,’ and `Spitak’ Chapters
participated in the seminar.

Seminar group photo
His Holiness, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, has
declared 2013 `The Year of the Armenian Mother.’ The ARS Eastern
Regional Executive Board dedicated the seminar to the Armenian Mother,
who is the pillar of our national existence, having sacrificed herself
throughout our history.

ARS Eastern USA Board member Sevan Kolejian welcomed the guests and
gave opening remarks, during which she spoke about the important role
that Armenian women, our mothers, have played in strengthening and
preserving our cultural identity. She thanked St. Illuminator’s
Armenian Cathedral Pastor, Father Mesrob Lakissian, who generously
donated the use of the hall for the seminar.

ARS Eastern USA chairwoman Ani Attar addressed the attendees and
thanked them for making the effort to participate in the seminar,
contributing greatly to its success. Attar quoted from Hovhannes
Shiraz’s `Mayr-s’ poem:

Mer houysi toorn eh mayrs / Mer dan madurn eh mayrs / Mer hatsn ou
choorn eh mayrs / Mer teghn ou jarn eh mayrs / Mer dan jerakn eh mayrs

We salute and honor our Armenian mothers for the heroes they are and
their continual dedication to the needs of the Armenian people in
Armenia and the diaspora, she said.

Attar then introduced Dr. Chris Garo Sassouni, the son of Vicken
Sassouni, and grandson of Garo and Leola Sassouni, who made a
presentation on the life of Leola Sassouni.

Chris Sassouni was unaware of the importance his grandparents had
played in shaping Armenian history. His grandmother, Leola (who
changed her name from Hripsime), was a fedayee who fought alongside
her male counterparts as an equal. She was an excellent horsewoman and
marksman. Leola fought at the crucial battle of Sardarabad; she had
given birth to her first child just two months prior. In addition to
her fighting skills, she was instrumental in navigating to safety
10,000 Armenian orphans of the genocide. She instituted the `Benag me
geragoor’ program and was a founder of the Armenian Red Cross, which
was later renamed the Armenian Relief Society. Garo Sassouni was a
Minister in the first Republic of Armenia. When the family later
immigrated to the United States, Leola remained active in the ARS. The
Watertown `Leola Sassouni’ Chapter was named after her.

Chris Sassouni received a standing ovation from the attendees, not
just in gratitude for his informative presentation, but in honor of
his grandmother. Leola Sassouni was a true Ungerouhi of the highest
order.
Seminar participants were then treated to a delicious lunch, prepared
by the host chapters. After lunch, Attar introduced the second guest
speaker, Bared Maronian, a documentary filmmaker and four-time
regional Emmy Award winner who has produced four Armenian films. His
latest work is `Orphans of the Genocide,’ which contains original
footage of the genocide, taken from mostly German archives. It depicts
the tragedy as it played out, especially for the children.

Maronian is currently working on another documentary film, entitled
`Women of 1915.’ This project is in its beginning stages but will
bring to life the lives of the many courageous women who sacrificed
their own comfort and safety for that of others.
In appreciation, both Sassouni and Maronian were presented with the
most recent edition of the `Atlas of Historical Armenia,’ published by
the Armenian National Education Committee.
Father Lakissian offered his inspiring words and commended the ARS for
its work. He blessed the attendees with a closing prayer.

The ARS Regional Board of Directors thanked the organizers of this
very successful seminar, and also thanked the 80 members who made the
effort to attend, many traveling for hours to participate. It was a
wonderful day of camaraderie, reinforcing the purpose of the ARS, and
honoring those who came before us.

PACE President: Turkey should accept Armenian Genocide and face reality

15:27, 1 June, 2013

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS: Turkey should recognize the Armenian
Genocide to face its own history and make a significant step towards
the membership in the European Union. This was stated to Armenpress by
the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Jean-Claude Mignon.

`I think that Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide. That
would be one of the most important steps towards its membership in the
European Union. Turkey should accept the committed genocide and face
the own history and reality’, – said Jean-Claude Mignon. The President
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stated that
there were quite many victims and human tragedies committed by
Turkey. `The Armenian Genocide is a global tragedy, which should be
recognized’, – said the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon.

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Jean-Claude Mignon visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial on June 1 to
commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The high-ranking
guest laid a wreath to the Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of
the innocent victims of the Genocide and flowers to the Eternal Fire.

Jean-Claude Mignon made a note in the record book of the Genocide
Museum Institute: `Thank you for this touching visit to the Memorial
perpetuating the sad memory of the innocent victims of the Armenia
Genocide. Every day the European Council struggles not to allow the
repetition of such a tragedy’.

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Jean-Claude Mignon arrived in Armenia to participate in the sessions
of the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe, launched in Yerevan on May 31.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a
declaration on the Armenian Genocide on April 24 of the years of 1998
and 2001. `Today we commemorate the anniversary of the first genocide
of the 20th century and pay tribute to the memory of the innocent
Armenians fell in the massacre directed against the humanity’, – says
the PACE Resolution of April 24 1998.

300 instances of Azeri ceasefire violation reported May 26-June 1

June 1, 2013 – 18:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – 300 instances of ceasefire violation by Azeri armed
forces were reported at the line of contact between Nagorno Karabakh
and Azerbaijan from May 26-June 1.
Azerbaijan fired over 1200 shots from various caliber weapons towards
Karabakh positions, NKR defense army’s press service reports.
Artsakh defense army forces continued with their military duty in line
with ceasefire principles, taking necessary steps to protect the
frontline.

Most of job seekers In armenia are women : Labor Ministry

YEREVAN, June 1./ARKA/. As of 1 May, women make up most of those
individuals who are looking for a job in Armenia, said Tadevos
Avetisya, head of labor and employment department at Labor and Social
Affairs Ministry.

`Women account for 49, 800 out of 70, 200 job seekers in Armenia.
Young people account to 18, 200,’ he told reporters in Novosti
International Press Center on Saturday.

As of 1 May 2013, there are 60,200 unemployed individuals. Some 10,683
people receive an unemployment allowance

Avetisyan added nearly 3,760 had been employed in terms of the state
program from January to May , which was 6.4% higher from the same
period a year earlier. Of them 1,100 are young people.

`As to the vacancies, they account to 3,250 as of 1 May, which is by
93% higher from a year earlier. The blue-collar vacancies account to
1,850, and white-collar ones -to 1,400,’ he said.

According to him, till the end of the year nearly 1,500 individuals
will have been included into the training program for the disabled and
unemployed.
In addition, four career fairs have been already held in Armenian
regions to ease an unemployment, he noted.

`We anticipate to hold another seven career fairs next year in the
capital and the regions in terms of the state program,’ he responded
to ARKA. -0-

Iskander-M missile systems already in Armenia

18:47 =95 02.06.13

Iskander-M mobile theater ballistic missile systems produced and deployed
by the Russian Federation are in Armenia. The Defense Ministry source has
confirmed the information to RFE/RL.

The Russian Iskander-M cruises at hypersonic speed of 2100-2600 m/s (Mach
6-7) at a height of 50 km. The Iskander-M weighs 4615 kg, carries a warhead
of 710-800 kg, has a range of 400-480 km, and achieves a CEP (Circular
error probable) of 5-7 meters. During flight it can maneuver at different
altitudes and trajectories and can pull up to 20 to 30 G to evade
anti-ballistic missiles. For example, in one of the trajectory modes it can
dive at the target at 90 degrees at the rate of 700-800 m/s performing
anti-ABM maneuvers.