Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Saakashvili Regards Release Of Armenian Prisoner Vahagn Chakhalyan As ‘A Rough Mistake’

GEORGIA ONLINE
18:51 – 25 JANUARY ’13

President Mikheil Saakashvili says the release of Armenian prisoner
Vahagn Chakhalyan was Bidzina Ivanishvili’s personal decision,
calling it ‘a rough mistake’.

“I want to make a statement about release of the criminal Chakhalyan,
who is an enemy of Georgian statehood. As it turns out this person
was released at the request of the Armenian patriarch. I listened to
the PM’s explanations and I regard them utterly unsatisfactory.

Ivanishvili undertook the heaviest responsibility towards Georgia’s
national security. I think he made the toughest mistake, the results
of which will be clear in the nearest weeks and years”, Mikheil
Saakashvili said.

According to him, Chakhalyan represents the Russian special services
in Georgia.

“I don’t want to emphasize his ethnicity as it does not matter. We have
many Armenians in Georgia who were protecting Georgian independence
with arms in their hands but this person represents not Armenia but
Russian special services. He broke up the Georgian church eparchy, as
well as Georgian university, police and municipality in Akhalkalaki. He
was against withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia territories. The
new government was aware of all this. We provided them with the
above-mentioned information. This was a personal decision by the PM,
which, I presume, was aimed at pleasing a certain foreign force. He
should remember that he is Georgia’s Prime Minister and should act
in Georgian interests”, Saakashvili said.

“I define neither release nor detention of prisoners”, PM Bidzina
Ivanishvili told journalists in Davos while commenting on Mikheil
Saakashvili’s statement, which said release of the Armenian prisoner
was the PM’s personal decision.

“I define neither release nor detention of prisoners. I don’t interfere
into affairs of the Prosecutor’s Office”, Ivanishvili said.

According to him, the situation has changed in Georgia and decisions
are not made by just one person as it was earlier.

Rapporteur On Azerbaijan In PACE Becomes Main Lobbyist For Aliyev Regime – El Pais

NEWS.AM
January 25, 2013 | 18:57

The European Stability Initiative (ESI) independent think tank has
requested the resignation of Spanish Pedro Agramunt, a member of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the senator from
the People’s Party, representing the autonomous region of Valencia,
a journalist Jose Ignacio Torreblanca wrote in an article “Caviar
diplomacy from Valencia to Azerbaijan” in the Spanish El Pais.

Translation of the article is published in InoSMI.

Explaining what exactly Senator Agramunt is being accused of, the
journalist wrote:

“In order to see the complete picture, it is better to read the
following two reports: ‘Caviar diplomacy, or how Azerbaijan has
silenced the Council of Europe’, presented in May 2012, and ‘Portrait
of Deception: how Azerbaijan was monitored or why Agramunt must
leave office’, on January 22, 2013. When it comes to essentials,
the ESI suggests that Senator Agramunt being Rapporteur on democracy
and human rights in Azerbaijan, for which he was appointed by the
European public, became one of the main lobbyists of the Aliyev regime
in Europe.”

Further, the author of the article points that all international
organizations consider Azerbaijan not free country:

“After independence, it was headed by Heydar Aliyev. When Heyday
Aliyev died, the post was occupied by his son, Ilham Aliyev, who won
the 2003 election with ‘with absolutely no doubts’ getting 88.73% of
the vote. When his second term came to an end in March 2009, Aliyev
Jr. called a referendum on changes to the Constitution, in which 92%
of voters said they will be glad to review the Constitution in order
for Ilham Aliyev to remain in power as he wishes.”

ESI accuses Agramunt of manipulating the reports of the observers from
the field, cover-ups of violations of civil rights, the continued
support of the regime, for inventing tales about a “progress of
democracy,” justifying repression by linking it to the Islamist
threat. Finally, Agramunt is accused in lobbying the Aliyev regime,
by blocking sanctions against Azerbaijan.

PARIS HOSTS PRESENTATION OF “ARMENIAN HISTORY” BOOK

January 25, 2013 – 19:36 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – France hosted presentation of “History of Armenia
from Old Times until Present Days” book by prominent experts in
Armenian studies Annie and Jean-Pierre Mahe, under the auspices of
Armenian ambassador to Paris Vigen Chitechyan.

In his speech, Ambassador Chitechyan highly assessed the implementation
of the program by French authors, whishing them good luck in their
further initiatives.

Armenian community representatives, journalists, cultural workers
and NGO representatives attended the event, MFA press service reported.

IF ELECTED, ARMAN MELIKYAN WILL RECOGNIZE THE INDEPENDENCE OF NAGORNO KARABAKH
Artak Barseghyan

“Radiolur”
18:10 25.01.2013

If elected, Arman Melikyan will recognize the independence of NKR
parallel to the negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE
Minsk Group. The presidential candidate answered the questions of
Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists in an on-line interview today.

Having suspended the election campaign, Arman Melikyan has now
concentrated on ensuring the legality of the elections.

Melikyan is confident that no post-election developments will follow
the voting day as it was the case in 2008.

AGOS EDITOR CALLS FOR LARGE-SCALE INVESTIGATION OF ISTANBUL ATTACKS

14:25, January 25, 2013

Aris Nalcı, an editor of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, has
called on Turkish authorities to launch a large-scale investigation
into the recent spate of attacks against Armenian women in Istanbul.

An article in yesterday’s Today’s Zaman states that Nalcı doesn’t
think these successive assaults in Samatya are isolated incidents at
all; adding that he believes they are organized.

“The Police Department states these incidents are unrelated, but
they generally say such things in similar incidents in order not to
unsettle people. I think a climate of fear is being created in the
neighborhood,” Nalcı noted.

Four attacks against elderly Armenian women in the Samatya neighborhood
of Ä°stanbul’s Fatih district have occurred within the past two months.
One of the woman, 85 year-old Maritsa Kucuk, was attacked in her
apartment on Dec. 28, 2012. She was brutally killed after being
stabbed seven times.

Today’s Zaman reports that it spoke with Antranik Yontan, an Armenian
living in the Samatya neighbourhood. Yontan told the newspaper that
Armenians have stopped speaking Armenian and that elderly Armenian
women are now afraid of going to the local Armenian church.

“A climate of fear is prevalent around the neighborhood among the
Armenian communities,” Yontan said.

CANDIDATE RAFFI HOVANNISIAN DEMANDS PRESIDENTS’ ANSWERS

news.am
January 25, 2013 | 13:13

YEREVAN.- Presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian said authorities
have already started instructing people to vote for Serzh Sargsyan.

Head of the state agencies, municipalities and mayors have launched
meetings with the participation of school and college principles
giving instructions to vote for the incumbent president, he told
reporters on Friday.

He does not believe that Serzh Sargsyan is unaware of the campaign
held, for example in the Yerevan State University.

“I would like incumbent president either to confirm or dismiss the
reports. Serzh Sargsyan must answer the question publicly,” he noted.

SEN KERRY HAS ‘DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES FACING ARMENIA’

January 25, 2013 – 14:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a
confirmation hearing to consider the nomination of Senator John Kerry
(D-MA) to serve as the next Secretary of State.

With the hearing, which was chaired by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
concluded, it is widely anticipated that Senator Kerry will be
expeditiously confirmed by the Senate. Additionally, according to the
Armenian Assembly of America, questions on Armenian issues will be
submitted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and others for Senator Kerry
to answer on the record.

“Senator Kerry is a long-time supporter of Armenian issues and a
staunch promoter of America’s fundamental values in the area of human
rights and minority rights,” said Assembly Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny. “Senator Kerry through his 29 years of service in the United
States Senate has a deep understanding of the issues facing Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, and we expect that as Secretary of State that he
will remain true to his extensive record,” added Ardouny.

During his tenure in the United States Senate, Kerry cosponsored
numerous resolutions on the Armenian Genocide, was instrumental in the
adoption of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricted
U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan until it takes “demonstrable steps to
cease all blockades against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh,” supported
the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, the establishment of permanent
normal trade relations between the United States and Armenia, as well
as legislation regarding Hrant Dink.

In April of 2005, Senator Kerry, along with 31 of his colleagues sent
a letter to George W. Bush urging the president to reaffirm “the
United States record on the Armenian Genocide…”

In April of 2004, Senator Kerry released a statement on the
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which read in part: “I join
Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims of
the Armenian Genocide and I call on governments and people everywhere
to formally recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark
period of history and working to prevent future genocides can we truly
honor the memories of those Armenians who suffered so unjustly.”

In addition, in January of 2004, Senator Kerry urged President George
W. Bush to call upon Turkey to comply with the Administration’s
long-standing position “that in order to restore economic, political
and cultural links with Armenia, Turkey should immediately lift its
ongoing blockade of Armenia.”

In April of 1996, Senator Kerry joined with 21 of his colleagues in
sending a letter to President Bill Clinton, which read in part: “the
Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were subjected to a ruthless,
systematic and well-organized policy of deportation, confiscation of
property, slave labor, denial of basic rights and, ultimately,
murder…The world recognized at the time that a crime against
humanity had been committed. The United States condemned the brutal
treatment of the Armenians and rendered humanitarian assistance to
many of the survivors in the largest relief effort ever organized by
this country.”

In a 1993 April 21st floor statement, Senator Kerry stated: “Elie
Wiesel, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Council, has said that Adolf
Hitler had the Armenian example very much in mind when conceiving his
own sick plan for exterminating the Jews. Hitler was confident that no
one would care: ‘Who, after all, remembers the Armenians,’ he asked.
Sadly, the answer to that question in Hitler’s day was silence. But
the answer today is we do; we remember the Armenians. We remember both
those who survived and those who perished and we will not allow the
truth of their suffering to be obscured by distortions of history or
the passage of time.”

In December of 1992, Senator Kerry sent a letter to then-Secretary of
State Lawrence Eagleburger urging that “high priority be given to
providing emergency humanitarian and economic aid to the Republic of
Armenia….” as “the people of Armenia are facing a grim winter as a
result of the continued economic blockade imposed by neighboring
Azerbaijan…”

In an April 1991 floor statement, Senator Kerry said in part:
“Ignoring the Armenian Genocide, extraordinary evidence of man’s
capacity for inhumanity, can open a Pandora’s box of selective
morality a virtual guarantee that similar tragedy will touch other
people in the future. Selective morality only leads to selective
genocide. We must never ignore the persecution and slaughter of any
people…” and make “a solemn vow that we must prevent genocide from
ever happening again, to anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

In February 1990, Senator Kerry expressed his support for enactment of
S.J.Res. 212, designating April 24, 1990 as a “National Day of
Remembrance of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915-1923.” Kerry specifically stated that it “is imperative for us
to be guided by our collective consciences, rather than a sense of
political expediency…President Bush stated in 1988 that ‘the
American people, our government and certainly the Bush administration
will never allow political pressure to prevent our denunciation of
crimes against humanity….I would join Congress in commemorating the
victims.'”

Also in February of 1990, Senator Kerry joined a bipartisan group of
Senators in writing to then Secretary of Defense, Richard Cheney to
express concern “about the pogroms and evacuation of Armenians from
Azerbaijan.”

“ARMENPRESS” INTRODUCES BESTSELLER BOOKS LIST

10:21, 25 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANAURY 25, ARMENPRESS. In accordance with the inquiry made
by “Armenpress” News Agency in the bookstores of Yerevan, “Tales”
by Hovhannes Toumanyan tops the rating of the bestseller books. Also
“Tales” by Hans Christian Andersen occupies the second position of the
rating. The children still enjoy reading the Russian national tales;
therefore “Roly-Poly” takes the third position of the bestseller
books rating.

Aram Pachyan’s “Farewell Tsit” occupies the fourth position of the
list. This time “Tropic of Cancer” by prominent American author Henry
Miller occupies the fifth position.

Alongside with Hovhannes Toumanyan’s tales, works by Hans Christian
Andersen and Russian national tales, the kids also enjoy reading
collected works by Ghazaros Aghayan entitled “Tales”. This book
occupies the sixth position of our rating. Fable in novella “Jonathan
Livingston Seagull”, written by American writer Richard Bach, also
appeared in the centre of attention in the bookstores of Yerevan.

Richard Bach’s book occupies the seventh position of the bestseller
rating. “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” is followed by “The Book of
Lamentations” written by outstanding Armenian writer St. Gregory of
Narek. “The Final Word” by Levon Nersisyan occupies the ninth position
in the rating. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, which remains in the
orbit of interest of the Armenian public alongside with the renowned
classics and authors of fairy tales, occupies the final tenth position
of the top ten bestseller books rating.

TURQUIE : LA SOCIOLOGUE PINAR SELEK CONDAMNEE A LA PRISON A VIE POUR TERRORISME
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 25 janvier 2013

Un tribunal d’Istanbul a condamne jeudi la sociologue turque
Pinar Selek, qui etait rejugee pour la quatrième fois après trois
acquittements, a la prison a vie pour sa participation a un attentat
commis il y a quatorze ans.

Après en avoir delibere pendant plus d’une heure, la cour a reconnu
l’universitaire, qui vit en exil en France et n’assistait pas a
son procès, coupable d’avoir aide des rebelles kurdes a commettre
un attentat a l’explosif contre un site touristique d’Istanbul,
le marche des epices sur la Corne d’or, qui a fait sept morts en 1998.

Le verdict de la justice a provoque des reactions indignees parmi
les nombreux soutiens de la sociologue, connue pour ses recherches
sur les minorites marginalisees comme les transsexuels ou les Kurdes,
venus assister a cette audience.

Des militantes feministes italiennes ont lance “fascistes, fascistes”
aux magistrats, a constate un journaliste de l’AFP.

Arretee et incarceree a l’âge de 27 ans, Pinar Selek a ete impliquee
dans cette affaire après avoir refuse de donner a la police les noms
de rebelles qu’elle avait rencontres dans le cadre de ses recherches.

Elle a ete liberee en 2000 après la publication d’un rapport attribuant
l’explosion a une fuite de gaz.

Les tribunaux turcs, estimant que le caractère criminel de l’explosion
n’etait pas etabli et prenant en compte la retractation du principal
temoin a charge, ont acquitte Pinar Selek a trois reprises, mais a
chaque fois la Cour de cassation a invalide le verdict.

A l’ouverture de cette nouvelle audience, les avocats de Pinar Selek
ont denonce jeudi la tenue de ce quatrième procès, arguant notamment
le fait qu’une procedure d’appel, normalement suspensive, etait en
cours quand le tribunal s’est saisi du dossier.

Devant le refus des juges d’accepter leurs demandes, ils ont suspendu
jeudi leur participation au procès.

vendredi 25 janvier 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

ARMENIA-GEORGIA CHURCH COUNCIL HOLDS FIRST SESSION

24.01.13

An Armenian-Georgian council dealing with five disputable churches
on Georgia’s territory held its first session earlier on Thursday,
Georgian Online reported.

A decision on setting up the Council was made in the course of Georgian
PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s visit to Yerevan.

The commission includes representatives and experts from both
countries’ Ministries of Culture, the Georgian Orthodox Church
and NGOs.

The working discussion focused on the five churches – St Nicossoa-St
Nshan, St Georgia-St Gevord, St. Minas and Karmir Avetaran (Church of
the Red Gospel) – for which both the Georgian and Armenian religious
authorities have made claims.

President of the 21st Century Organization Paata Gachechladze, who
is also a commission member, has said the churches’ origin is not on
their agenda yet. According to him, the activities are now focused
on the constructions’ maintenance.