Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Price rise inevitable – expert

13:59 – 10.05.13

Armen Poghosyan, Chairman of the National Association of Consumers,
told journalists on Friday that a rise in food prices is expected in
Armenia, which is a direct result of the latest elections in Armenia.

Specially, the bread, sugar and milk product prices are expected to rise.

`A price rise is evitable. But prices are more often raised in a
criminal way – an identical price is set for products of lesser
weight,’ Poghosyan said.

A month ago the Association addressed a letter to the Armenian
president for ordering an inspection, particularly to check the weight
and quality of bread and sugar.

`We addressed the letter on April 11, but have not so far received an
answer. I learnt that the letter had been forwarded to the Food Safety
Inspection. But we would have addressed the letter there if we had
wanted to,’ he said.

Poghosyan forecasts a rise in the gas, water and electric power prices as well.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Iran Unveils New Domestically-Built UAV

`This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the
enemy,’ Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said.

MOSCOW, May 10 (RIA Novosti) – Iran has unveiled a radar-evading
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of carrying out both
surveillance and attack missions, the Press TV channel reported on
Thursday.

`This drone has been built by defense industry experts and is
simultaneously capable of surveillance, reconnaissance and missile and
rocket attacks,’ said Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad
Vahidi, who attended a ceremony to unveil the aircraft.

`This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the
enemy,’ he said.

Press TV gave no exact technical parameters of the aircraft, but said
the two distinguishing features of the new UAV, dubbed Hamaseh, are
`high altitude and long flight range.’

Azerbaijani expert refuted intelligence officer’s statement about 40
thousand Armenians living in Baku

A senior intelligence officer of Azerbaijan who preferred to remain
anonymous told the website `Gunxeber.com’ that around 40,000 Armenians
supposedly live in Baku. “They are not registered, they do not have
documents. They do not work, do not get a pension, but live well. And
this is a serious threat to Azerbaijan, and in particular for its
capital, especially in such a sensitive period, before the
presidential election. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies
should undertake serious steps concerning this issue,” said the
anonymous source.

As the site notes, it was 10 years ago when the government of
Azerbaijan officially stated that 30,000 Armenians reside in Baku. It
turns out that the number of Armenians in the city increased by 10,000
during 10 years. Commenting on this information in an interview with
the website, the head of Migrant Centre Aliovsat Aliyev noted that
currently 20,000 Armenians are registered in Baku. According to him
this figure could only go down due to deaths and migration out of the
country.

“There are Armenians who have problems and live without documents.
They live here giving themselves either as Azerbaijanis, or by other
names, or take the surnames of Azerbaijani fathers. A number of
problems arise in this regard. Now there are a number of cases in the
courts related to the Armenians”, the expert says, noting that it is
impossible to have incensement in the number of Armenians in Baku as
most of them live alone, without family.

The head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of
Azerbaijan Orhan Mansurzade refused to disclose the number of
Armenians “living” in Baku. He advised to refer to the State
Statistics Committee for this information. As the site says, the
census in 1999 showed that only 400 people identified themselves as
Armenians, and 100 people in 2009. “It is interesting, what kind of
documents do the rest of Armenians use in Baku? How do they live in
Baku endangering their lives? ” inquire the site.

Pilots of Russian military base in Armenia conducted about 500 flights in winter

May 11, 2013 | 15:06

The pilots of the Russian Federation (RF) aviation base in Armenia
continue to carry out their military turn of duty within the CIS
united air defense system.

The pilots of the aviation unit conducted about 500 flights during the
winter training period, press service of the Southern Military Okrug
(District) of the RF Armed Forces informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The MiG-29 jet fighter aircraft pilots conducted over 300 training
maneuver dogfights, and more than 150 such dogfights were conducted
under limited visibility.

To note, based on an intergovernmental agreement, the aforesaid
aviation unit carries out military turn of duty in the CIS united air
defense system ever since 1994.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Deadly blasts hit Turkey border town of Reyhanli

16:43 – 11.05.13

Four people have been killed and another 18 wounded in explosions in a
Turkish town close to the Syrian border, officials say.

The blasts were reported in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province,
The interior minister told Turkish media they were caused by car
bombs, BBC reports.

Thousands of refugees have fled Syria across the Reyhanli border.

Five people were killed last October when a mortar round hit the
Turkish border town of Akcakale.

As many has four explosions were reported at around 13:45 local time
(10:45 GMT), causing panic in the town, Turkish media said.

Reyhanli mayor Huseyin Sanverdi said a municipal building and a post
office were hit. The municipal offices were badly damaged, reports
said.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler promised a government investigation.

The border area of Reyhanli has itself been attacked in recent months.
In February, 13 people were killed and more than 20 others wounded
when a mortar round landed close to a border gate.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Rule Of The Mob

Armen Yeritsyan, candidate for mayor of the Rule of Law Party could
not help calling heads of communities of Yerevan and their people
deployed on the election day as `whelps’. The member of the government
told the truth in an outburst of frankness.

The mob is the `third’ column of the government of Armenia. The first
is the oligarchy, the second is the so-called political parties and
statesmen and the third is the mob. During previous elections, this
hierarchy was preserved with the help of conveying some `seriousness’
to the processes, but at Yerevan Mayoral elections, the mob was pushed
to the first plane. The power did it in order to decide the latter’s
role in the future processes.

The series of `absolute victories’ has marginalized the Republicans
and the bigger the invented number of votes received at elections, the
more people turn their back to the ruling party. The Republican Party
and the oligarchy are losing their supporters even within the
government. Besides, in the result of `absolute victory’, the
governmental oligarchy and RPA have also lost an important thing which
used to be the political veil for processes -the political parties.
These used to be signboard to eliminate the rights and lawful claims
of the society. Even the RPA has stopped being a signboard. Galust
Sahakyan of the RPA said that RPA will rule as long as the country is
at war.

Due to historical circumstances, Armenia has always been and will be
at war. Actually, Galust Sahakyan applied for an eternal term. For
this purpose they need resources and support.

Resources are available and in order to keep them the government will
resort to all kinds of things. It will boost taxes, establish
monopolies etc. As to supporters, the mob and the whelps have been
tried out to replace political parties and other legitimate layers,
through which the regime keeps its power.

Armenia has never had a government as such. Elites that replace each
other are unable to come up with effective solutions to challenges to
state building and to regulate public affairs. Instead, the issue of
occupying power and controlling public wealth has been solved somehow.
The role of state and political institutions has been reduced to
serving the interests of small governmental groups.

As a result, a pseudo-state has been formed where democratic
mechanisms, mechanism of forming government and constitutional basis
of government have been eliminated. Parallel to this, the qualities of
government degraded.

The first government of intellectuals educated in the empire failed to
resist the ambitions of the internal military-feudalistic circles and
the `fascination of initial accumulation of capital’.

The `second column’ of the empire eliminated the rule of
military-feudalistic groups and formed the `kleptocracy’, the rule of
criminal oligarchy with a clearly defined hierarchy and quotas which
managed to take the system down to the ordinary citizen involving
everyone in the philosophy of `contract’.

The `third column’ is coming to replace the kleptocracy, the mob,
which enhances the status it had in under the kleptocracy.

Unlike the first and second columns of the empire, the third one does
not preserve the external veil of propriety. Even those who were
called to maintain the veil are unable to do it. Degradation is so
visible and deep that it is impossible to impart the processes with
`seriousness’.

Relying on the mob can’t last long.

Haik Aramyan
13:33 11/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

SCPEC to submit air transportation model preferable for Armenia

Saturday,
May 11

The State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition will
soon release the results of a study in the air transportation market,
Aysor.am was informed by SCPEC spokeswoman Gayane Sahakian.

She said SCPEC has been examining the sphere of air transportation
since Arrmavia airline stopped operating flights and air ticket prices
started to change.

`Detailed examination of price changes and the air transportation
market is underway. Possible competition-related problems are
discussed,’ she noted.

Besides, SCPEC will submit an air transportation model preferable for
Armenia to the head of the government.

The commission has held discussions with representatives of foreign
airlines in Armenia who expressed their opinions about the current
problems in the sector. Discussions will continue.
TODAY, 15:29

Aysor.am

Armenian architect building bridges between religions

14:44 11.05.2013

Kevork Ã-zkaragöz, an Armenian architect who has designed many
religious monuments for different religions, refers to the opinions of
the religious communities when developing his projects.

A member of an Armenian family renowned for their stonemasonry,
Ã-zkaragöz moved from Malatya to Istanbul with his family when he was 6
years old.

The structures built by Ã-zkaragöz in recent years include Mahmut
Å?evket PaÅ?a Hacı BektaÅ? Cemevi (an Alevi house of worship) in
Istanbul’s Okmeydanı district, Plevne Mosque in Balıkesir’s Gönen
district and the final prayer chapel in his hometown, Malatya, the
Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Last year, the final prayer chapel ` in a historical Armenian cemetery
in Malatya ` was demolished by municipal teams, which stirred a lot of
debate in society. Due to the objections, the chapel was rebuilt on
the grounds that the teams had `misunderstood the order.’

`While designing the Cemevi, I obtained the opinions of elderly
persons in the Alevi community. I obtained data on Alevi culture and
beliefs from studies published on the subject. And when designing the
mosque, I tried to get to know the functions of a mosque by chatting
with imams. I especially observed Istanbul’s mosques from the
perspective of a designer. I refreshed my knowledge of mosques by
examining mosques’ stages of development in art history books. I also
examined Vedat Dalokay Islamabad Mosque and Behruz Çinici TCMM mosque,
which were built in the Republican period,’ he said.

`Existence, oneness and love of God form the basis of religions, while
they center upon human beings. I believe each faith has a different
form of worship and different needs. I can develop my designs by
taking all these [differences] into account with the aid of my
cultural background. I am very pleased when a religious structure
comes into being and people can worship in them,’ Ã-zkaragöz said.

Severe disease threatens lives of two Armenian children (VIDEO)

May 11, 2013 | 10:33

YEREVAN. – Armenian capital city Yerevan resident Diana Karapetyan
petitioned to the “Give Me Life” initiative and informed that two of
his six children suffer from Retinoblastoma (Rb).

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rapidly developing cancer that develops in
the cells of retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye.

To save the lives of these children, the latter will have to undergo a
surgery abroad, and this operation costs 70,000 euros.

To be able to collect this amount, the mother of these children seeks
the support of all kind people.

Diana Karapetyan can be contacted with this telephone number: (+37477) 17 80 82.

In addition, and to provide assistance to the children, these accounts
are opened at ARMECONOMBANK, in Diana Karapetyan’s name:

In Armenian drams (AMD):

“ARABKIR” BRANCH of “ARMECONOMBANK” OJSC ARMENIA

AH0254216; 18/10/06,012

AMD account number: 163058016748

In Russian rubles (RUR):

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áäòåó òåóðõìéëá áòíåîéñ

óåòåçáôåìøîùê áîë òïóóéêóëïê æåäåòáãéé

117997;òïóóéñ ç. íïóë÷á õì.÷á÷éìï÷á 19

ë/ó 30101810400000000225 ÷ ïðåòõ íïóëï÷óëïçï çôõ áîëá òïóóéé

éë 044525225, éîî 7707083893

S.W.I.F.T. SABRRUMM

ëïòòåóðïîäåîôóëéê óþåô ïáï áòíüëïíáîë ÷ òõìñè òæ No.30111810000000000501

ðïìõþáôåìø äéáîá ëáòáðåôñî áî0254216 18/10/06 012

No. óþ³ôá ðïìõþáôåìñ: 163058016755

In Euros (EUR):

Beneficiary’s bank: “ARABKIR” BRANCH of “ARMECONOMBANK” OJSC ARMENIA

RA, YEREVAN, KOMITAS str.57

Swift: ARECAM22

Bank corresp: DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Taunusanlange 12,d-60325,Frankfurt am Main

Swift: DEUT DE FF

Account N DE85500700100947163200 of “ARMECONOMBANK” OJSC /EUR/

Beneficiary: KARAPETYAN, DIANA

AH0254216,18/10/06,012

Beneficiary’s EUR account No: 163058009644

In US dollars (USD):

Beneficiary’s bank: “ARABKIR” BRANCH of “ARMECONOMBANK” OJSC ARMENIA

Address: Republic of Armenia,

RA, Yerevan, Komitas str.57

Swift: ARECAM 22

Intermediary bank: COMMERZBANK AG

Kaiserplatz, 60261Frankfurt am Main

S.W.I.F.T.: COBADEFF

USD account No 400886849900 of “ARMECONOMBANK” OJSC

Beneficiary: KARAPETYAN, DIANA

AH0254216 18/10/06,012

Beneficiary’s USD account No 163058009636

Press TV, Iran
May 10 2013
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Voter fraud plagues LA district City Council race

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into allegations that fraud
tainted the election at a Los Angeles City Council district, where two
contestants are vying with each other to become mayor.

They are looking into a number of irregularities and indications that
supporters of one candidate illegally filled out mail-in ballots for
dozens of voters in Little Armenia.

In a letter of complaint submitted to the office of Los Angeles County
District Attorney Jackie Lacey, an attorney for candidate John Choi
protested against `widespread voter fraud and illegal electioneering
activities.’

The complaint alleges that backers of Choi’s opponent, Mitch
O’Farrell, filled out voters’ ballots for their contender while
telling voters that they were voting for Sam Kbushyan — a candidate
of Armenian descent who ran and was out during the primary election.

Kbushyan’s name is not on the list of candidates, but he and many of
his former campaign workers are now siding with O’Farrell.

The O’Farrell campaign strongly rejects the allegations, arguing that
it was Choi backers who unlawfully filled out and took ballots from
voters.

“These are Choi people who are doing this,” O’Farrell spokeswoman
Renee Nahum said.

Nahum said the campaign plans to lodge its own complaint with the
district attorney’s office.

She added that the motion will include testimony from voters, who said
they gave their ballots to Choi campaign workers who falsely claimed
that they were representing Kbushyan.

Raffik Hambardzumyan, 82, said an Armenian-speaking woman showed up at
his residence, and helped him and his wife fill out their vote-by-mail
ballots about a week ago.

The senior citizen said the woman told them they were voting for Kbushyan.

Hambardzumyan was later taken aback when he discovered Kbushyan wasn’t
on the ballot.

`Why, what happened that he can’t get elected ?’ he said.

Sixty-five-year-old Galust Khachatryan said he was recently visited by
the same young man and woman, who stopped by his home on behalf of
Kbushyan in the primary campaign.

Khachatryan said they didn’t help him vote, but took his ballot.

MP/NN