Author: Kalantarian Kevo

SPOKESMAN: PAP HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH AUTHORITIES

April 23, 2013 – 16:59 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Prosperous Armenia leader has nothing in common
with the ruling authorities, the party’s spokesman said.

“Gagik Tsarukyan met President Serzh Sargsyan a couple of days ago,
with Prosperous Armenia leader briefing on the political majority’s
decision,” Tigran Urikhanyan said.

Dwelling on former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian’s statement
offering Prosperous Armenia to proclaim themselves opposition during
the fall session, he said, “Prosperous Armenia parliamentary group
secretary Naira Zohrabyan has already expressed the party’s readiness
to hold discussions.”

TURKEY PAYS $5000 FOR EACH KILLED ARMENIAN

An old friend of mine visited Armenia a few days ago on personal
business. He had lived in Armenia for several years but he returned to
his family after the war broke out in Syria. He told interesting things
about the life of Armenians of Aleppo as a witness and participant of
the self-defense of the Armenian neighborhood. Here is what he told me.

The Armenians mostly live in 3-4 districts Aleppo. 80% of Aleppo
Armenians are in Nor Gyukh, others in Suleymanie side by side with
Arab Christians, as well as in Vilaner and Sheik Taha where they live
with Arab Christians and Muslims. As of recently, Armenian districts
are quiet, the free opposition army of Syria wants to enter the
Armenian neighborhoods but the Armenians, the army (government forces)
resist. Once they took advantage for 2 or 3 days but were pushed back.

The neighborhood [Nor Gyukh] is often shelled because government troops
are there. People, Armenian churches, schools, buildings are destroyed.

Armenians fight within the government force and the army leadership
is satisfied with the Armenians. Armenians fear that Islamists may
come to power, like in Egypt, and the Armenian community and cultural
heritage will be destroyed.

Turkey is a participant of all this which wants to perpetrate the
second genocide in Aleppo. Once I went to bring food and fuel from
Aleppo with another guy. We were warned to leave Aleppo with the ID
card of a Christian or Muslim Arab. We found a Christian Arab who was
a little like me, and I took his ID. The car was stopped and checked
by the rebels several times on the way to the neighboring villages of
Aleppo. They asked us if there are army soldiers or Armenians in the
car. We certainly said no. Being asked the same question for several
times we asked why they ask this question. One of the rebels said
Turkey promised to pay 1000 dollars for each killed army soldier and
5000 dollars for each killed Armenian.

The Armenian district is the target of snipers therefore some central
streets are closed. The street of the high school is closed. Karen
Epeh, Sahakyan Schools, St Gregory Illuminator Church are closed. The
main street where most shops are is closed. Sometimes the army is
able to catch snipers. The first was an Austrian girl, a former
biathlonist. She said she was paid 50,000 dollars a month plus a fee
for each victim. Before she was caught she had killed an Armenian
young man.

A few days ago rebels intervened in the Kurdish neighborhood
called Sheik Makhsud which is beside the Armenian neighborhood and
is situated higher. First the Kurds defended their neighborhoods,
the government promised to help them to defend themselves but Kurds
were split by controversies and some of them agreed to yield. Some
twenty days ago they yielded to the rebels in return for some money,
which exposed the Armenian neighborhood to risk. The army felt that
this neighborhood could not be yielded so it intervened and took the
Kurdish neighborhood.

There are also funny incidents. We were on duty one night, and two guys
were walking towards our neighborhood shooting every now and then. The
Armenians wounded them. The gunmen (who were from Afghanistan) asked
if we could see them. They said we were given some substance and told
that we it would make us invisible. A few days later we caught someone
else with a sword who also said he had been given some medicine which
would make him invisible.

There are lots of foreigners among the rebels. Mostly Afghans and
Chechens are sent to the front line, there are also Tunisians,
Europeans, Filipinos, Yemeni, Saudis, Nigerians.

The rebels are keen on the Armenian districts because it will give
them a big advantage. Besides, they believe that the government forces
will not raze Armenian buildings to the ground. On the contrary, the
government tells the residents of different districts to keep their
districts and promises to help them in every way. The government
warns a day before the surrender to leave their homes and deploys
artillery and air force to destroy entire districts controlled by
the rebels. If the rebels are able take a district, the government
considers it betrayal by residents of the district.

What allows for hope is that the Armenians have united at this hard
time independent from their party affiliation. Armenians abroad
send money, food, so Armenians always have food for a month. Half
of Armenians of Aleppo have left the country. Most of them moved to
Armenia and Lebanon hoping to return as soon as everything ends. Most
of them prefer to stay, noting that Syria is their home, and they will
live both good days and hard days and will not abandon their homes.

Mushegh Ghahriyan 16:35 23/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

NEW WAR OF ARMENIA

A few years after the bloody war in Artsakh Armenians are facing a
new war which may be even more severe and may have worse consequences.

This war is for Armenia’s natural resources. Hundreds of mines
have been licensed in our country, and the Internet is flooded
with videos voicing complaints of rural people. Cyanide processing,
open-pit mining, destruction of the ecosystem, pitmen exploitation,
irreversible damage to health, displacement of border villages,
deep water intoxication, tailing leakage…

Mines are opened throughout the whole country that will eventually
result in displacement of local population. Rural people become miners,
picturesque places are turning into toxic tailings.

This economic war goes unheeded because the most loyal ally of
mine owners is the state and government officials. Marring the
landscape with wastes, mining business pays little taxes and does
not do anything to improve the social situation and quality of life
in those regions. This struggle for Armenia’s resources modifies the
structure of the economy the most direct consequence of which is the
growing rate of emigration.

Mine owners are the only beneficiary of Armenia’s integration and
development programs that receive low interest loans from international
financial organizations and forces the government to simplify their
business and conditions. The loser is the Armenian people. The ongoing
redistribution of national wealth worth tens of billions of dollars
does not go with social justice in any way.

First the government kneels down the villagers, then, together with
the companies, forces them to accept exploitation of mines. On the
other hand, the lack of legal awareness and frequent health problems
completely strip local people of any hope. Only small contributions
are made to meet community needs.

Active players have nothing to do with the concept of national
capital because their business style does not imply any development,
and money is kept in the offshore. This is a “locust capitalism”
model when one finishes one source and moves on to another. Mines
generate large amounts of laundered dollars into the country, causing
the Dutch syndrome when one’s own currency becomes more expensive,
preventing the development of other industries and increasing labor
and business costs. A vulnerable country like Armenia slowly but
steadily falls under the curse of resources.

This is also a war because without the rule of law the mine business
uses the most brutal instruments, ranging from mass media and bribing
communities to violation of human dignity. Everything is permissible
because development of the mining sector is a priority in Armenia’s
national strategy. For its part, the Communist-Republican nomenclature
treats “predatory capitalism” as a taboo, explaining this by degrading
comments about poverty and unemployment.

In this war of mineral resources the only advocates of the Armenian
people are the small civic groups of environmental activists who
are not grown into the nomenclature and corrupt elites. Those people
represent the only organized and public force and oppose the mining
giants that spend millions on PR and lobby. On one side is the mining
lobby intertwined with the state policy, on the other side is the
civic activists without a defined political agenda. The political
system can be changed only through a political alternative.

Having ridded of the Soviet dictatorship, Armenia may lose its chance
to use its democratic and civic potential and risks and drown in a
tailing swamp generated by severe exploitation of mineral resources.

Thus, Armenia has almost unconditional support of the old political
elite. Industrial countries need raw materials and minerals. Not
every country can protect its own interests against exploitation of
natural resources. Will Armenia be that country? Replacement of one
capital with another more organized foreign capital will not change
anything in Armenia’s declared war.

While hiding under the veil of liberalism, young career hunters are
signing loan agreements with the state authorities, and conservative
businessmen-officials do not see anything apart from a mine-based
economy, one with good sense can understand that mines cannot ensure
long-term development for Armenia. Armenia’s future leads it in other
direction rather, notably organic products, a lot of sustainable SMEs,
industries based on intellectual capacity, as well as strong regions
and rural communities. But the villages simply disappear because
of the mineral-mania. The mine fever destroys the country’s most
valuable resource – the people. However, the Republic of Armenia has
not crossed the Rubicon yet, after which the economic developments can
proceed in a dramatic way. And perhaps now it is time to think about
change as long as the country has not lost its most crucial war –
the war waged for our natural resources.

That is why it is time for revolt for social justice. The capital will
not give up for any reason. Only a new social movement that will put
in place the rule of law and political strategy of economic justice
will be able to win the victory. The war for mines already reaches
Artsakh and exploitation of Kashen and other mines threatens to ruin
everything, the country, health and safety of people.

Vahan Meliksetyan 15:32 23/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

KURT STRAIF: CANCER RATE WILL DOUBLE

Kurt Straif, International Agency for Research on Cancer, said during
the International Scientific Symposium on Emerging Issues in
Environmental and Occupational Health at the American University to
Armenia said the rate of cancer is growing all over the world. In 2030
the rate of cancer is expected to grow twice. The bulk will be in low
and medium income countries.

Prevention is the key to tackle this challenge, identification and
reduction of the cause of cancer, the expert advises low income
countries. He reminded that miners die at an early age. Studies have
revealed that the cause is radon and its derivatives which expose
miners to a high risk.

In regard to Armenia Kurt Straif said arsenic discovered in Armenia
causes cancer of urinary organs and skin. Chrome VI derivatives causes
lung cancer, cadmium causes kidney and lung cancer.

Varduhi Petrosyan, head of Health Service Study and Development Center
of AUA, presented results of studies in Armenia. In Akhtala, the level
of pollution with arsenic, lead and chrome are higher than the
international allowable level. Studies of 19 communities situated
close to mines showed that the level of chrome was 65%, cadmium was 5%
and arsenic was 52% higher than the allowable level.

Studies also revealed problems with tails, notably there are no
warning signs, regular monitoring, in some communities materials were
taken from tails to use as building material. Besides, soil pollution
exposes children to heavy metals, there are tailings reservoirs near
schools.

12:34 23/04/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

ARMENIAN OLIGARCHS LOST MONEY IN CYPRUS

Interview with Yeran Kouyoumdjian, editor of the Azad Khosk E-Magazine
based in Cyprus

Ms. Kouyoumdjian, is there any statistics on Armenian capital in
Cyprus banks?

There is no information how much Armenian money is left in the Cypriot
banks. The Armenian community of Cyprus is a conservative and closed
community but I know that most of them have big sums in banks and the
bulk of this money is risked. Armenians of Cyprus save money in banks.

I have learned that some people have lost a lot of money after they
sold their land and deposited the money in banks. They say some
Armenians of Russia and other countries also had big sums. However,
Cypriot banks hide their creditors and their deposits. Being a
financial center, it is an attractive place for big money.

Fortunately, our national organizations, schools, church, have not
lost any money.

The EU has lent 10 billion euro to Cyprus. Will it help overcome
the crisis?

It will help relieve the situation only partly. The economic crisis
persists, every day shops close, and people lose their jobs. A lot
of people are on the verge of poverty, charities offer free dinners
to poor families. The upcoming few years will be hard for the people
of Cyprus.

Ms. Kouyoumdjian, did any Armenian oligarchs lose money in Cyprus?

I learned from my acquaintance that most Armenian oligarchs kept
money in Cypriot banks and they certainly lost money there. I could
not learn names but they are many.

Ms. Kouyoumdjian, the Orthodox Church of Cyprus is ready to donate its
property to the state if it will help overcome the crisis in Cyprus.

Will it increase the reputation of the church?

I don’t know if it will help the country to overcome the economic and
financial crisis. However, the church expressed its support to the
state. In Cyprus the Orthodox Church is very popular, unlike Armenia
where the church, as I have noticed, is with the Armenian government.

When citizens took to streets for the sake of their civil rights,
justice and dignity, our religious leader was unable to communicate
with his pasture, understand and share their concerns, inspire them
with hope and faith.

Do you see your future in Cyprus?

Cyprus has a historical importance to us, Armenians have lived there
since the 6th century. The people and government of Cyprus have been
honest and hospitable to the Armenians, both after the genocide when
they opened their doors and accepted the Armenians saved from the
genocide and now when they fund Armenian schools, help the Armenian
Church. Western Armenian is the officially recognized language of
minority. Cyprus is our second home. It is reliable home. Hard times
will come and go like winter.

Siranuysh Papyan 12:02 23/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

OVER 20 U.S. REPRESENTATIVES SUPPORT AID FOR ARMENIA, ARTSAKH, JAVAKHK AND AT-RISK MIDDLE EAST ARMENIANS

12:02, 23 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS: Congressional Armenian Caucus
Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Michael Grimm (R-NY) were joined
by over twenty of their colleagues in calling on leading House foreign
aid appropriators to increase aid to Armenia, expand assistance for
Nagorno Karabakh, target allocations for Javakhk, and support refugee
resettlement funding for displaced Christian Armenian populations in
the Middle East, as they advance the Fiscal Year 2014 foreign aid bill,
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) informed Armenpress.

In a letter sent today to the leadership of the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations, Chairwoman Kay Granger
(R-TX) and Ranking Democrat Nita Lowey (D-NY), a bipartisan group of
legislators made the case for supporting the U.S.-Armenia strategic
relationship through economic development and security assistance.

Their key requests were as follows:

-At least $5 million in U.S. humanitarian and developmental aid to
Nagorno Karabakh.

-At least 10% of U.S. assistance to Georgia to be earmarked for job
creation programs in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of that country.

-At least $50 million in U.S. economic aid to Armenia.

-Funds for humanitarian and resettlement assistance specifically
targeted to Armenian and other Christian populations as well as other
minority communities affected by the recent unrest in the Middle East.

-Language strengthening Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to
Azerbaijan.

-Removal of barriers to contact and communication with representatives
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

-Language calling for the participation of Nagorno Karabakh leaders
in the OSCE Minsk Group negotiations”

“All friends of Armenia join in expressing our appreciation to each and
every legislator supporting this initiative to advance our interests
and values in a vitally important region of the world,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “We look forward to working
in partnership with these friends, and others, as we continue to
support Armenia’s growth, Artsakh’s security, Javakhk’s development,
and the welfare of at-risk Armenians and other Christians in the
Middle East.”

LE PROGRAMME ” AVEC NOS SOLDATS ” CONTINUE D’AIDER LES ANCIENS COMBATTANTS D’ARTSAKH

La Federation de la jeunesse armenienne (AYF) aux Etats-Unis poursuit
ses efforts pour apporter une assistance medicale aux veterans de la
lutte de liberation de l’Artsakh. Depuis le lancement du programme ”
avec nos soldats ” l’annee dernière, l’AYF a fourni une assistance
medicale a plus de 40 combattants de la liberte de la patrie et a
pour objectif d’aider davantage de heros dans les mois a venir.

Depuis ses debuts, la campagne a mis au point une serie de procedures
afin de bien verifier l’identite des anciens combattants ainsi que
de s’assurer que chaque patient recoit des soins appropries. Par
consequent, tous les patients ont ete pries de soumettre leurs
documents militaires officiels qui prouvent leur service pendant la
lutte de liberation de l’Artsakh, et leur dossier medical complet a
l’hôpital. Ces documents sont d’abord examinees par les reponsables
du programme aux Etats-Unis et plus tard par les medecins de
l’hôpital en Armenie. Après approbation, les examens initiaux et
les examens medicaux sont effectues afin d’assurer un diagnostic
precis des patients. Par la suite, le groupe de travail examine les
recommandations du Centre medical d’Erevan, approuve meticuleusement
le traitement prescrit a chaque patient et distribue des fonds a
l’hôpital de facon appropriee.

” Ce que nous faisons pour nos anciens combattants par le biais de
cette campagne n’est pas seulement une aide ou un acte de charite “,
a declare David Arakelyan, President du groupe de travail du programme.

” Nous sommes tout simplement en train de rembourser nos dettes envers
ces heros pour les sacrifices qu’ils ont faits pour nous donner une
Artsakh libre et independante “.

Le soutien medical ne se limite pas aux seuls combattants de la
liberte, dans certains cas, la campagne a aide les membres de
la famille des anciens combattants. Alvina Azaryan, l’epouse du
combattant de la liberte Edik Azarian de la province de Kotayk, avait
un problème cardiaque grave necessitant une intervention chirurgicale
que la famille de l’ancien combattant ne pouvait pas se permettre. Le
programme a finance la chirurgie et après une procedure difficile,
mais couronnee de succès, la vie de l’epouse d’Edik 55 ans n’etait
plus en danger Depuis son lancement en 2012, la campagne a recu un
fort soutien de membres de la communaute armenienne. À ce jour, plus
de 60000$ ont ete souleves par des dons individuels et les efforts
des groupes de l’ AYF region occidentale.

mardi 23 avril 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

IS TURKEY OVERCOMING THE ARMENIAN TABOO?

Al-Monitor
April 22 2013

It was impossible to carry out a reasonable debate that went beyond
the official state narrative – that the Armenians were deported in
1915 because of the circumstances of World War I.

In 2005, when Bogazici University attempted to organize a Conference
on Armenians to debate the official narrative, the country shook. For
days, Turkish nationalists organized angry protests in front of
the university. The minister of justice of the time, Cemil Cicek,
referred to organizers of the conference when he said, “They are
stabbing us in the back.” When a group protesting the conference took
the matter to the court, the conference was banned. The organizers
were forced to hold the conference in a tense atmosphere at Bilgi
University, a private institution, instead of at a state university
as originally planned.

Also that year, Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s only Nobel Prize-winning
novelist, told the Swiss periodical Das Magazin: “On this soil, 30,000
Kurds and one million Armenians were killed.” He was threatened with
charges based on article 301 of the Penal Code, which bans denigrating
Turkism. A short time later, largely because of the court case and
threats he received, Pamuk left the country.

Another world-famous Turkish novelist, Elif Safak, was also prosecuted
under article 301 following a dialogue on the Armenian question
in her novel Baba ve Pic [“Father and Bastard”]. In 2006 and 2007,
many intellectuals were investigated for their views on the Armenian
question, all under the notorious penal code article. One of those
trials ended with a tragedy. Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the
Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos was tried under article 301 because of
his articles on the Armenian question. That trial made him a target
of Turkish nationalists, and on Jan. 19, 2007, he was shot and killed
in front of the Agos offices in Istanbul.

Those who filed complaints against intellectuals were the same people
who congregated in front of the courts to insult the defendants when
the cases were brought to trial. Many of these people were eventually
detained and imprisoned, starting in 2008 with the Ergenekon case
that tried those accused of planning coups against the government.

Prosecutors charge that these people collaborated with military
personnel planning coups. Although the Ergenekon trials are heavily
criticized, it is generally agreed that threats and assaults have
declined against religious minorities and intellectuals who express
views challenging official narratives.

Three factors have contributed to ending the Armenian taboo and
ushering Turkey into its current environment of free debate. The first
was the serious blow inflicted on “deep state” structures with military
personnel at their cores. The second was the emotional rupture caused
by Dink’s murder. Protests with hundreds of thousands of marchers
carrying placards reading “We are all Armenians” illustrated that a
sizable segment of the population didn’t subscribe to official state
narratives. The third important factor was the government decision in
2008 to amend the infamous article 301 of the Penal Code, to require
permission from the Ministry of Justice for court cases under this
article. This “filter” has made it difficult to try people under
that article.

Because of these changes, the serious taboo on the Armenian issue no
longer exists, and changes that were impossible to dream of a decade
ago have become a reality. Since 2010, on each April 24, those who
lost their lives in Turkey in 1915 are remembered in public meetings
held in the streets and halls.

The change of language of the announcement used by the Dur De [“Say
Stop to Racism and Nationalism”] initiative, which organizes these
meetings, helps demonstrate the gradual erasing of the Armenian taboo
in Turkey. In 2010, the announcement of the commemorative events began
with the words, “This pain is our pain.” In the text, the events of
1915 were described as “the great disaster,” the Turkish equivalent
of the phrase “Meds Yegem” used by Armenians. Cengiz Algan, spokesman
for Dur De, says they received many threatening messages despite that
“soft terminology.” The language became “clearer” over the years,
and the number of threats declined. On the 2011 announcement, the
title said only “April 24, 1915.” The text read, “This is the date
when the extermination of the Armenians began.” The title of last
year’s announcement read, “This is a pain of all of us,” while the
text spoke of the tragedy of the Armenian people at length. The
text of this year’s announcement is even more daring. It begins,
“We are remembering the victims of genocide,” and it continues,
“With the campaign of extermination that began on April 24, 1915,
the Armenian people were eradicated en masse.”

Algan provides interesting statistics about these commemorative
meetings. In 2010, the only meeting was in Istanbul, and between 700
and 800 people participated. In 2011, meetings were also organized in
Ankara and Izmir, and roughly 2000 people participated in the Istanbul
meeting. Last year, Bodrum and Diyarbakir were added as locations,
and the number of participants in Istanbul rose to 3000. Algan
notes that initially Armenians living in Istanbul were reluctant
to participate, but they are increasingly coming. Every year, these
meetings are protested by right-wing and left-wing nationalists. Algan
says this year they expect an even larger attendance at the meeting,
including participation of Armenians from abroad, and they expect the
usual protests. The police will provide a human buffer between the
protestors and participants in the meeting. Algan says each year his
organization gets in touch with state officials during their planning
process, and every year they get a better reception.

Turkey is changing from a country where the very term “the Armenian
question” couldn’t be uttered, to a country where groups are marching
in the streets referring to the “Armenian genocide.” We’ll have to wait
to see whether these changes will radically alter the state’s official
policies – for example, resulting in an apology and compensation to
the Armenians for 1915. But until then, it will be interesting to
observe the commemorative meeting on April 24 in Istanbul.

Orhan Kemal Cengiz is a human-rights lawyer, columnist and former
president of the Human Rights Agenda Association, a Turkish NGO that
works on human-rights issues ranging from the prevention of torture
to the rights of the mentally disabled.

FULE: EU-ARMENIA READMISSION AGREEMENT KEY TO INCREASED MOBILITY

ENPI Info Centre
April 22 2013

Successful implementation of the EU-Armenia Readmission Agreement is
“key to moving towards further enhancement of mobility,” Commissioner
for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule told
Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandian after the
signature ceremony of the Agreement last Friday in Brussels.

The Commissioner welcomed the improved conduct during the presidential
elections in February, as reported by OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation
Mission, but underlined the need to implement its remaining
recommendations, including in view of the forthcoming elections to
the Yerevan City Council on 5 May.

Fule and Nalbandian also discussed the state of play of the Association
Agreement negotiations, noting substantial progress since the beginning
of the year. On Nagorno-Karabakh, they stressed the need for restraint
on both sides.

Finally the Commissioner called for a thorough preparation “through
an inclusive process” by the Armenian side of the donors’ conference
later this year, which is “meant to help Armenia implement its reform
priorities to the benefit of Armenian citizens.” (EU Neighbourhood
Info)

LONG LIVE THE GOVERNMENT OF ARMENIA: LET’S PROMOTE TOURISM – PHOTOS

20:25, April 22, 2013

Saro Baghdasaryan

This is the road leading from Yerevan’s Shengavit District to Masis.

The road, which stretches for several kilometers, has turned into a
garbage dump. The Ararat Regional Governor is busy with everything
but his job. The same goes for the mayor of Masis. The police, the
State Environmental Inspectorate, the heads of adjacent communities
and citizens of Armenia – all have the same attitude towards the
environment. Many of these same officials and citizens are amazed
at the mounds of garbage that are growing daily and, of course,
the mountain of Masis in the distance.

Long Live the Government of Armenia: Let’s Promote Tourism.