Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER MEETS US AMBASSADOR

November 28, 2012 | 20:20

YEREVAN. – The U. S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern met on
Wednesday the Armenian parliament opposition Heritage party leader
Raffi Hovannisian.

The sides discussed issues on domestic and foreign policy of Armenia,
as well as touched upon the upcoming presidential elections, which are
going to be held next February, Heritage press service informs.

U.S. Embassy Yerevan representative Brian Roraff as well as Heritage
party representative Hovsep Khurshudyan also took part in the meeting.

To note, earlier Armenian News-NEWS.am informed that Hovannisian will
run in next year’s presidential elections and he will be happy to
receive the support of a variety of political parties and powers.

ILHAM ALIYEV IS IN PANIC – THE DOMESTIC TENSION IS SUPPLEMENTED BY EXTERNAL THREATS

Wednesday, 28 November 2012 09:57

The past week events in Azerbaijan – the protest action taken by
opposition parties and the Azerbaijani police’s brutal beating of
the rally participants, the ongoing arrests, the violence against
independent media journalists, as well as the dissatisfaction and
threats addressed to Ilham Aliyev by the Azerbaijani intelligentsia
abroad – testify to the crisis of the ruling political regime.

It can be concluded from the suppression actions of the security
structures against the antigovernment public moods that President
Ilham Aliyev is in panic.

First of all, it should be stated that the panic started with the
visit of the delegation of the Republic of Uruguay to Artsakh: the
statements made by Speaker of the House of Representatives Jorge
Orrico in Stepanakert and Yerevan, which demonstrated the state’s
commitment to the Declaration of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms
and high morality, had a hammer-blow impact on Ilham Aliyev. On his
instruction, high- and low- level officials issued idle statements
based on heartbreaking yells on “Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity”.

Oh, won’t you say, an illegal visit was paid to “occupied
territories”. Being not satisfied with a diplomatic note, they also
started to discuss the issue of breaking the diplomatic relations with
Uruguay. And at a session of the Milli Majlis, one of the lawmakers
made a proposal on funding Nagorno-Karabakh. In short, the paranoia
reached its peak.

Besides the Karabakh news, Aliyev became furious at the protest rally
organized by the youth wing of Musavat Party, Azerbaijani People’s
Front, and the Democratic Party against the ruling regime. The police
brutally beat the rally participants marching along the streets with
the slogan “No to the Formal Parliament!” In this country, it is no
longer a secret for conscious people that the Milli Majlis deputies
are “appointed” by the Presidential Administration’s previously
prepared list. The Baku police took acts of violence against not
only the party-protesters, but also against journalists: Yeni Musavat
newspaper’s reporter was beaten with a truncheon, and other journalists
covering the demonstration, according to Turan information agency,
were threatened by the police hampering their work.

Outstanding representative of the ruling party Mubariz Gurbanly,
expressing his opinion on the rally, said that the Musavat and
Democratic Party of Azerbaijan deviate the youth from the true way.

The opposition stressed that the recent rally of the youth, compared to
the October 20 rally, was suppressed with special cruelty. By the way,
it is also noteworthy that the Azerbaijani Popular Front activists were
subjected to 7-day detention, and the Democratic and Musavat Parties’
representatives – 5-day detention, which testifies to the parties’
degree of impact on the society.

And about two weeks ago, the naive Europeans tried to give lessons
to official Baku: during their visit to Azerbaijan, representatives
of the Council of Europe, OSCE and EU called upon the country’s
authorities to release journalists and civic activists from prisons.

At the same time, an admonition was issued to conduct impartial and
transparent investigation of the cases on the attacks on journalists.

On Aliyev’s instruction, a workshop was held, but it was not what the
international institutions demanded. Aliyev had no time to spend with
them – the presidential elections are approaching and it is not the
time to play in democracy.

It should be also noted that the protests’ dose was stronger this time:
the domestic disorders in Azerbaijan were accompanied by protests
of the Azerbaijani intellectuals, living abroad, against Aliyev’s
regime. Member of the Coordination Council of the Union of Azerbaijani
Organization of Russia, screenwriter Rustam Ibrahimbekov, who is also
one of the founders of this union, stated that if the Azerbaijani
President did not want to reckon with him, then he was not going to
reckon with him either. According to Turan Azerbaijani news agency,
Rustam Ibrahimbekov reminded of the bargain for a deputy mandate
between former deputy of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Gyulyar Ahmedova
and former Rector of the International University of Azerbaijan
Elshad Abdullayev and said that he was well aware of this story:
the deputy requiring 1 million Euros from the Rector represented
Yeni Azerbaijan ruling party. “It’s terrible. If it’s true, then
the Parliament is illegitimate and cannot be taken seriously”. If
the Azeri intellectuals, living in Russia, voice on the illegitimate
Parliament, then everything is clear. By the way, Rustam Ibrahimbekov
sent a warning to Ilham Aliyev: “The organization created by the
Azerbaijanis in Russia can once get involved in politics”. Such a
statement is a serious blow to Aliyev’s head: the Azeri intellectuals
living abroad can interfere with the domestic political processes. They
are not the protest rally of the opposition youth, against whom the
President can enable the police, subjecting them to violence.

In this case, Aliyev had only to demonstrate his power. He decided
to mark, November 16, the 20th anniversary of Yeni Azerbaijan Party,
to give a response to his opponents during a banquet, and to glorify
once again his “national leader” father. According to the leader’s
heir, in November 1992, Heydar Aliyev consolidated the country’s
authoritative forces and convened the party’s constituent meeting in
Nachijevan in order “to restore the political stability in the country
and to lead the people out of the severe psychological crisis”. For
grounding the Aliyevs clan’s aspirations to stay in power, he would
have said that only Heydar Aliyev, who came to power in 1993 by
people’s alleged requirement, managed to get the country out of the
desperate situation. Who else if not Ilham could say that through his
father’s efforts Azerbaijan has become one of the world countries with
the most developed economy and political stability. This twaddle’s
afterword is already clear: Ilham Aliyev, summarizing his ideas,
stressed that there was no force in the political arena of Azerbaijan,
which could compete with them. And the end was more than sensational:
“The Yeni Azerbaijan is the largest political force in the South
Caucasus, the role of which is to grow more in the future”. This is,
surely, a speech for his opponents: it is difficult “to show teeth”
from Baku to Moscow, so Aliyev gave them to understand that he wasn’t
going to hand the power over to anybody else in the nearest future,
therefore, he was ready to counteract to all his opponents, including
the members of the Union of Azerbaijani Organizations of Russia.

While Ilham Aliyev’s assessments can somehow be digested by the
living-abroad intellectuals, who are dissatisfied with the ruling
regime, for the rebelling part of the society, the President’s
statement that he is strongly supported by the people in the country
is not worth a dime. The people’s protest and intolerance during
the recent years unambiguously prove that the country has come to
a domestic political crisis, and its logical solution can be the
overthrow of the sultan social system, which will allow, first of all,
to eradicate the Nazi moods in the Azerbaijani society disseminated
by the Aliyevs clan.

Ruzan ISHKHANIAN

ECTHR IMPOSES ~@112,000 FINE ON ARMENIA OVER JEHOVA’S WITNESSES’ CASE

21:21 ~U 28.11.12

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has imposed a fine
of ~@112,000 on the Armenian authorities over a ruling against
conscientious objectors.

According to the Court’s official website, the applicants in
Khachatryan and Others v. Armenia are 19 Armenian nationals who are
Jehovah’s Witnesses. Having applied to the authorities to perform
alternative labor service instead of military service on religious
grounds under the 2004 Alternative Service Act, they were each assigned
to perform the service in various institutions such as hospitals,
nursing homes and dispensaries. In May and June 2005, they respectively
informed those institutions that, since the alternative service was
under the control of the military, they could not continue to serve
in good conscience, and subsequently left their places of service.

Placed in detention for several months following criminal proceedings
brought against them for abandoning their service institutions – which
had eventually been discontinued – 17 of the applicants complained
that they had been detained for an act which had not constituted an
offence at the time, in breach of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and
security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Further relying
in particular on Article 5 § 5 (right to compensation for unlawful
detention) they complained that they had been denied compensation
for their unlawful detention.

Under the ruling, the authorities are to pay ~@ 6,000 (non-pecuniary
damage) to each of the 17applicants and EUR 10,000 (costs and expenses)
jointly to the 17 applicants.

Commenting on the decision, Armenian military expert Arkadi Grigoryan
said the Court’s ruling, which actually encourages those evading the
military, places the issue on a different platform.

“I am very sorry that those adhering to European values do not
perceive our situation, and encourage representatives of dissident
organizations,” he told Tert.am.

Speaking to our reporter, a spokesperson for Armenia’s Ministry of
Defense, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, expressed concerns that people in
Armenia may resort to such steps, abandoning their role in Armenia’s
security.

Since January 2007, the ECtHR ruling have caused the Armenian
Government to pay a total of over ~@200,000 to claimants at the expanse
of the taxpaers. Another ~@40,000, imposed on the authorities under
recent rulings, has yet to be paid.

MINING AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: ARMENIA’S CHOICES

8:23 28/11/2012 ” ECONOMY

International and local experts will gather in Yerevan on November 30
for a one-day conference examining mining and socio-economic policy
in Armenia, the American University of Armenia reports.

AUA is organizing an event that aims to assess the choices available
to Armenia as it seeks to balance economic gains with that of social
equity and environmental health. The conference will be held in AUA’s
Manoogian Hall, from 9:30am-5:30pm (Yerevan time). It will livestream
online at

Over the past decade, the Armenian Government has made mining a
priority for Armenia’s economic growth. However, no serious public
debate has occurred to examine policy choices available to Armenia
regarding mining. With this conference, AUA hopes to begin such a
critical public discourse, bringing together experts from across the
world to present their analyses and discuss socio-economic policy
choices available to Armenia.

The day-long conference will begin with the keynote speaker Dr. Saleem
Ali, Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining at
the University of Queensland, Australia. Dr. Ali will talk about
international experience in the role of mining in economic growth
and social development. Following this presentation, experts will
briefly present a statistical overview of mining in Armenia. The event
will then hold three panel discussions focused on Armenia. The first
panel will examine whether mining can play a key role in Armenia’s
economic growth, while the second panel will focus on mining’s impact
on Armenia’s environmental and public health. The third and last panel
will explore whether Armenia’s legal and institutional framework on
mining fosters socio-economic development.

These issues will be discussed against the larger backdrop of a growing
unease in and outside Armenia on the potential benefits and risks of
mining to the country’s socio-economic and environmental future. Thus
far, the social, environmental and public health concerns have been
overshadowed by the argument that Armenia does not have many choices
and mining will be the growth engine of its emerging economy.

In the past two decades, however, there have been many constructive
developments around mining in the international arena. The industry as
a whole has improved its practices, while international organizations
and governments have adopted standards for environmentally cleaner
and socially more equitable mining.

This conference aims to become a model for a constructive and
high-impact way in which AUA can contribute to public-policy
debates in Armenia. The day-long event is open to the public. The
presentations and discussions of the conference will also be made
available on YouTube post event. For more information and updates
visit

Source: Panorama.am

AZAD LETTER SUPPORTS THE REMOVAL OF HEYDAR ALIYEV STATUE FROM MEXICO CITY

WASHINGTON. November 28, 2012. Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy
(AZAD) has sent a new letter on November 27 to the government of
Mexico City, supporting the decision of the committee of Mexican
intellectuals that the giant broze statue of the Azerbaijani dictator
Heydar Aliyev be removed from the city’s public park.

In his letter, AZAD’s chairman Elmar Chakhtakhtinski says that he was
“dismayed” by the Azerbaijani government’s response to the Mexico
City committee’s removal recommendation. The Azerbaijani authorities
publicly threatened Mexico with closing down the Azerbaijani embassy
there and canceling oil industry investments. The letter calls these
threats “bullying tactics” and expresses hope that the Mexican side
will not allow the Azerbaijani regime to dictate the residents of
Mexico City what they can do in their own parks.

The letter identifies Heydar Aliyev an “enemy of democracy” responsible
for human rights violations and says those who value freedom will
appreciate “a speedy removal of this statue from your beautiful city”.

This is the second letter from AZAD to the Mexico City officials. The
first letter was sent on October 3rd.

Below is the full text of the letter: Dear Head of Government Ebrard,
Dear Secretary Leal, Dear Members of the Government of Mexico City,
On behalf of my organization and all like-minded people, I would like
to applaud the principled and honorable decision of the committee
formed by the Mexico City government, recommending the removal of
the Azerbaijani dictator Heydar Aliyev’s statue from your city’s park.

I am dismayed that the Azerbaijani government responded to your
committee’s decision by publicly trying to threaten Mexico with taking
back the money spent on park renovations, closing down Azerbaijani
embassy and canceling oil industry investments.

Fortunately, the sympathy and goodwill of the world’s free people is
much stronger, both morally and materially, than the power and money
of all the corrupt dictatorships combined.

I am confident that the government of Mexico City will not be
intimidated by such bullying tactics of the Azerbaijani authorities,
and the proud residents of your city will not allow a foreign regime
to dictate whose monuments they should keep in their parks.

As I mentioned in my previous letter, Heydar Aliyev was not a noble
man that deserves to be honored in public parks and squares. He was an
enemy of democracy and responsible for rampant corruption and severe
violations of human rights and freedoms of the Azerbaijani people.

As someone who grew up in Azerbaijan and also was lucky to learn
about Mexico and its people first-hand, I humbly suggest that the
good people in both Mexico and Azerbaijan, who value liberties and
rights of fellow human beings, would appreciate a speedy removal of
this statue from your beautiful city.

Sincerely, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski Chairman Azerbaijani-Americans for
Democracy (AZAD)

EXPERT PROPOSES TO BUILD $1.5-BILLION CHEMICAL AND ORE-SMELTING PLANT IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, November 28. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Union of Domestic Producers
intends to submit a proposal to the government of construction of a
chemical and metallurgical plant in Syunik province for recycling
mining industry’s wastes, Vazgen Safaryan, chairman of the union,
said Wednesday at a news conference.

In his words, the construction of the plant is estimated to cost
about $1.5 billion.

Safaryan stressed that within two or three years the plant will get
back the money invested in construction and earn $2 billion in profits.

“It would be possible to recycle 1.5 billion tons of ore wastes from
tailing dump, and may be possible to extract additional 170 tons of
selenium, 3.6 tons of gold, 140 tons of silver, iron and other metals
and chemicals from them,” he said.

Safaryan said that it would be possible to export final products
to China, for example, where such products are demanded. He said
the plant will be able to export three to four tons of iron to this
country every year.

He added, however, that these investments will be justified only
if Iran-Armenia railway is constructed and in the event of the
government’s participation in this project.

Safaryan said that the plant will be able to employ 12,000 people.

According to the National Statistical Service, metallic minerals
worth AMD 140 billion have been mined in Armenia for three quarters
of this year – 16.2% year-on-year growth.

Non precious metals and articles of them worth $253.7 million were
exported in Jan-Sept 2012.

Three ore mining and processing plants – Zangezur Copper Molybdenum
Combine (Kajaran), Kapan Ore-dressing Plant and Agarak Copper
Molybdenum Plant – operate in Syunik province now. -0-

MUNICIPALITY OFFICIAL: LET IT CRUMBLE (VIDEO)

2012-11-27 14:55:44

The inhabitants of the 3rd building of Halabyan Street complain
because of inconsolable conditions of their flats.

One of the inhabitants, Lala Abrahamyan thinks it’s impossible to
live in her 4th type accident-risky flat any longer.

She and other inhabitants of the building many times appealed for help
to relevant authorities, they sent letters to MES and Municipality,
and received answer that their building is included in the medium-term
expenditure program of 2013-2015 of the financing application project
of the Ministry of Urban Planning of RA. But the inhabitants can’t live
in such conditions and ask to solve the problem as soon as possible,
as the cracks become larger day by day, the capacity walls weakened,
and the danger of collapsing increased , further more the inhabitants
find snake and scorpion in the yard.

Municipality insures the inhabitants that it’s possible that they
will be allotted flats in the newly built building at Markaryan 37
address, but the inhabitants ask for signing a document consolidating
this fact, as previously they promised to allot flats but didn’t keep
their promise.

Here we present the video showing the conditions our citizens live
in their flats.

ACCUMULATION OF TRUCKS ON THE ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN BORDER HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

17:36, 28 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The problem of accumulation of the
Armenian vehicles on the Armenian-Georgian border is already solved.

The Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Armenia Tigran Balayan informed “Armenpress” about this. At the
present moment there are only three trucks left on the border and they
are in the process of registeration of all necessary documents now.

Before this Tigran Balayan had announced that the Embassy of the
Republic of Armenia is actively engaged in the issue of accumulation
of the Armenian trucks on the Armenian-Georgian border. In accordance
with the information about 50 Armenian trucks accumulated on the
Armenian-Georgian border in the evening of November 17.

EURASIANET.ORG SPREADS MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN NAKHICHEVAN

14:47, 28 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian church built in the 19th
century in Nakhichevan has not been merely turned into a cattle shed,
but also was introduced as an “Albanian sacred place.” The Chairman
of a fund studying Armenian architecture Samvel Karapetyan referred
to the misinformation published in Eurasianet.org website in his
videoblog. As reports “Armenpress” Samvel Karapetyan stated that in
the picture of the Eurasianet article is depicted St. Gevorg Church
of Dashbulag village, which was entirely Armenian populated before
1918. The church was built in 1823, when “the Albanians” had left
the stage 1000 years ago.

Samvel Karapetyan states: “Azerbaijan paid USD 4, 5 million to import
cows from Germany and Austria, the photographer took the picture of
these cows in Dashbulag, which was entirely Armenian populated before
1918. During Musafat administration the Turkish army massacred all the
Armenians of the aforementioned village on their road to Baku. One
can clearly see in the picture that the church became a cattle shed
without doors. Under the picture there is an inscription saying that
this is an Albanian church. According to Azerbaijani fabrication the
Albanians are their ancestors. Hence, it becomes a monument constructed
by the Turkish Christians, which is being treated as a cattle shed.

But the fact is that the church in Dashbulag was called after St.

Gevorg, built in 1828. Among other things it is noteworthy that there
had been records about the construction works. There is information
about the aforesaid church in “the Albanian Country and its Neighbors”
by Bishop Makar Barkhudaryants.”

MORNINGSTAR DENOUNCES AZERI PRESS REPORTS

Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 | Posted by Contributor

US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar

US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar has denounced the
Azeri state-run media for distorting his comments and alleging that he
praised Azerbaijan’s democratic developments, reported James Morrison
in The Washington Times’ Embassy Row column on Sunday.

After visiting Nakhichevan and not being allowed to visit Djulfa, the
Azeri state media attributed comments to Morningstar where he praised
democratic development in Azerbaijan.

In fact, Morrison reported that the US Embassy in Baku “issued a blunt
statement last week, accusing state media of distorting reports on Mr.

Morningstar’s visit to the Nakhchivan [sic] region on Oct. 31 and Nov.

1.”

“The ambassador did not make such comments to anyone, and any reports
claiming that he did so are not true,” the embassy said of state media
coverage that said he praised the progress of democracy during his
trip to Nakhchivan, reported Morrison.

According to the Embassy Row report, the embassy said that contrary to
state media, Mr. Morningstar used the visit to highlight the poor
quality of democracy and human rights in Nakhchivan and made a point
of meeting with human rights activist Malahat Nasibova, the embassy
said.

“Ambassador Morningstar met with a wide range of leading governmental
and nongovernmental figures during his visit, including human rights
activist Malahat Nasibova, whose office he visited in a show of
support, and whose important work he praised during his public
comments. Ambassador Morningstar also called publicly and privately
for an open dialogue between local authorities and human rights
defenders such as Ms. Nasibova,” the embassy said.

Read the entire Embassy Row article.

In a US Embassy statement on November 5, Morningstar stated that, when
he was recently in Nakhchivan, he “discussed at length with local
authorities one such site in Julfa, where, according to evidence from
credible sources, an ancient Armenian cemetery was desecrated or
destroyed. I regret that the authorities, citing security reasons,
made it impossible for me to visit the site and personally see what is
there.”

“Ambassador Morningstar cannot take no for an answer,” said Armenian
National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian at the
time. “He can either keep knocking on the Ilham Aliyev’s door until
this baseless ban is lifted, or simply travel to the site of the
Djulfa cemetery on his own. Either way, it’s clear that, as Americans,
we should neither sell arms to an Azerbaijani military that destroys
cemeteries, nor send any aid to a government in Baku that blocks U.S.

ambassadors from visiting sites of peace-time cultural desecration.”