Author: Kalantarian Kevo

NALBANDYAN WON’T BE LAVROV’S DEPUTY
Haik Aramyan

Tuesday, 06 November 2012, 11:53

The activities of the foreign minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan
arouse controversial opinions. On the one hand, he leaves on too
many business trips, and unlike the former foreign ministers,
participated in international forums. On the other hand, dangerous
political initiatives were made during his tenure, in particular,
the Armenian-Turkish protocols, the Russian bases, Medvedev’s efforts
to return Karabakh to Azerbaijan, the Budapest case etc.

However, all the above mentioned initiatives failed not due to
Armenia’s efforts but other favorable international political
circumstances.

In general, many note that the current stage of international policies
is quite beneficial for Armenia, while the Armenian government,
particularly the ministry of foreign affairs, is not consistent with
it. The reasons are different. Ineffective public administration, an
imperfect domestic policy, the anti-state nature of the oligarchic
system and other reasons have brought about the country’s foreign
dependence. It is difficult to conduct an independent policy stemming
from the interests of the country.

On the other hand, Russia’s policy to foil Armenia’s foreign political
initiatives and ignore the Armenian interests is evident.

In particular, Moscow is hindering the process of international
recognition of Karabakh and Armenia’s attempts to integrate with
Western organizations, limiting Armenia’s sovereignty with the
agreement on the deployment of its bases.

Russia’s circumstance is very important for Nalbandyan. The issue
is that he is considered to be on the Russian “orbit”, he got a
higher education and acquired diplomatic competences in Moscow and
worked in Russian diplomatic representations. When he was appointed
as foreign minister of Armenia, many people said the geopolitical
balance was changed.

The issue is that there seems to be an unwritten agreement that
the Armenian army is under the influence of Russia, and the foreign
policy is under the Western influence. Nalbandyan’s predecessors,
Raffi Hovannisian, Zhirayr Liparityan (though he was not the foreign
minister, he played an important role in the foreign policy of
Armenia), Alik Arzumanyan, Vartan Oskanian are considered pro-Western
figures. This “rule” was violated after Nalbandyan’s appointment
and the role and influence of Russia on the Armenian foreign policy
increased regarding the key issues of vital interest to Armenia.

Anyway, interesting transformations have happened. For instance, the
Armenian army which has been traditionally considered to be under the
Russian influence is having closer ties with Western structures now, in
particular NATO. Apparently, the tough steps of Russia for expansion,
specifically deployment of its bases, supply of weapon to Azerbaijan,
make the authorities review some privileges not only at the level of
public opinion but also actions by the political leadership.

As to foreign policy, Nalbandyan has a lot to think about. Although
he belongs to the Russian diplomatic school, he has faced a serious
psychological or “orientation” issue. The point is that he knows
better Moscow’s steps in regard to Armenia, for example, Medvedev’s
mediation for Karabakh when Armenia was forced to sign the resolution
on surrendering Karabakh and the Budapest case facilitated by Moscow.

And many other events will surely make Nalbandyan review his
approaches.

Armenia has been able to avoid the consequences of Moscow’s initiatives
only thanks to the favorable foreign situation. But this cannot always
be helpful. It is necessary to carry out a bold foreign policy. During
the Soviet years, the member republics had foreign ministers who were
the deputies of the Russian foreign minister.

Nalbandyan will hardly wish to become Lavrov’s deputy.

THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE CLAIMS ON THE RETURNING OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCHES FROM THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople has sent many claims to the Turkish Government to return
the Armenian churches to their true owner. The Armenian Patriarchate
of Constantinople informed “Armenpress” about this adding that the
active churches in the territory of Turkey belong to the Armenian
Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Armenian community.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople stated: “Notwithstanding,
Turkey is afraid to return the churches, as it cannot support even
those churches under the jurisdiction of the community. One should
note the circumstance that the Armenian community sacrifices a lot
for the restoration and putting in good order the churches under
the jurisdiction of the community. One of the brilliant examples of
this is the church of St. Kirakos of Tigranakert, which belongs to
the community and has been capitally restored, although it was not
possible to find enough support for this and now the parish council
has many debts.”

The mass celebration and anointment of the entire monastic complex
of the Armenian church of St. Kirakos took place in the city of
Diyarbekir in the South-Eastern part of Turkey. St. Kirakos Church
had been forsaken since 1980, but the Armenians from Diyarbekir
living in Istanbul established the “St. Kirakos” foundation for the
restoration of the church. 70 % (USD 2, 5 million) of the costs laid
on the Armenian foundation, as to the Diyarbekir Municipality it paid
the remaining 30 %.

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LA TURQUIE SE REGARDE DANS LE MIROIR OTTOMAN

Publie le : 06-11-2012

Info Collectif VAN – – Le New York Times
consacre un article au film turc La Conquete, 1453 qui a amplifie
le triomphalisme culturel en Turquie. Films, series-teles, musees,
feuilletons, la mode est, en Turquie, a la glorification de l’Empire
ottoman : ” La rehabilitation de l’empire a inspire des sentiments
mitiges parmi les critiques culturels. Le renouveau ottoman est bon
pour l’ego national et il a capture le psychisme du pays au moment
où la Turquie veut etre une grande puissance “, a declare Melis
Behlil, une professeure en cinema de l’Universite Kadir. Mais, elle
a prevenu : ” Cela me terrifie, parce que trop d’ego national n’est
pas une bonne chose. Les films comme La Conquete, 1453 s’engagent
dans le revisionnisme culturel et glorifient le passe sans regarder
l’histoire sous un angle critique. ” ” D’autres mettent en garde
contre un chauvinisme culturel dangereux a l’~uvre. Burak Bekdil,
un chroniqueur pour le Hurriyet Daily News, reflechissait dans un
article recent au fait que le temps etait venu de faire un film
appele La Conquete 1974, celebrant l’invasion turque de Chypre, ou
L’Extinction 1915, commemorant le genocide de 1,5 million d’Armeniens
pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Des menaces de mort ont suivi. ”
Le Collectif VAN vous propose la traduction d’un article en anglais
de Dan Bilefsky, paru sur le site du New York Times le 29 octobre 2012.

Legende : L’affiche d’un eventuel film “L’Extinction 1915″, commemorant
le genocide de 1,5 million d’Armeniens pendant la Première Guerre
mondiale, pourrait s’inspirer des Unes des nombreux journaux francais
et internationaux qui illustraient, au debut du XXe siècle, les
massacres des Armeniens. Ici, les massacres d’Adana en 1909…

The New York Times

Comme si la periode ottomane n’avait jamais pris fin

De DAN BILEFSKY

Publie le 29 octobre 2012

ISTANBUL – Depuis que s’est tenue cette annee la première du film La
Conquete, 1453, somptueuse epopee turque pleine de bons sentiments,
le recit de la prise de Constantinople par le jeune sultan de 21ans,
Mehmet II, est devenu le film ayant realise le plus gros chiffre
d’affaires dans l’histoire de la Turquie; il a ete distribue dans 12
pays du Moyen-Orient, ainsi qu’en Allemagne et aux Etats-Unis. Mais
son impact le plus grand est sans doute le triomphalisme culturel
qu’il a amplifie en Turquie.

La Conquete, 1453 (connu sous le nom de Fetih 1453 en turc) a engendre
une emission de television portant le meme titre et a encourage les
clubs de fiers Turcs a rejouer les batailles des jours de gloire
de l’empire, vetus comme les sultans et la noblesse ottomane. Les
producteurs de Il etait une fois les Ottomans ” Le Soulèvement
“, une serie televisee relatant l’insurrection contre le Sultan
Ahmet Khan III au 18ème siècle, ont declare qu’ils avaient prevu de
construire un parc a thème où les visiteurs pourront se promener
dans une reproduction d’Istanbul a l’epoque ottomane et regarder
des combats a l’epee realises par des cascadeurs. Au moins quatre
nouveaux films depeignent la bataille de Gallipoli, la confrontation
sanglante pendant la Première Guerre mondiale entre les Ottomans et
les forces Alliees sur le detroit des Dardanelles et l’une des plus
grandes victoires de la Turquie moderne. Le prochain In Gallipoli
inclut meme Mel Gibson, qui jouera le rôle d’un commandant britannique.

La periode ottomane – en particulier au cours des 16ème et 17ème
siècles – pendant laquelle les sultans ont revendique le leadership
spirituel du monde musulman, a ete marquee par la domination
geopolitique et la prouesse culturelle, avant que le lent declin de
l’empire ne culmine au moment de la Première Guerre mondiale. Des
annees durant, la periode a ete minimisee dans l’histoire enseignee
aux ecoliers, alors que la nouvelle Republique turque creee par Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk en 1923 cherchait a rompre avec un passe decadent.

Aujourd’hui, alors que la Turquie apparaît comme un leader au
Moyen-Orient, soutenue par une croissance economique forte, une
nouvelle fascination pour l’histoire se reflète dans tous les
domaines, de la politique etrangère au poil du visage. Dans les
arts, des exemples encadres de papiers marbres de l’epoque ottomane,
connu sous le nom de l’art de l’Ebru, associes aux motifs islamiques
geometriques ornant les mosquees, ont gagne en popularite parmi la
bourgeoisie islamique croissante du pays, ornant les murs des maisons
et des bureaux, les bijoux et meme les cartes de visite.

Le Musee Panorama ouvert il y a trois ans, qui presente un tableau
imposant d’un peu plus de 13 mètres de haut, a 360 degres, du siège
de Constantinople, avec des explosions de canon assourdissantes et
des agents de securite du musee vetus comme des janissaires, attire
des foules enormes.

Et au cours de ces dernières annees, il y a eu une proliferation de
feuilletons melo-ottomans, aucun n’ayant ete plus populaire que Le
siècle magnifique, une sorte de Sex in the City, dont l’histoire se
deroule pendant le règne de 46 ans du sultan Soliman le Magnifique. Le
spectacle turc fait la chronique des intrigues du foyer imperial et du
harem, y compris l’ascension de l’esclave de Soliman devenue reine,
Hurrem. L’annee dernière, la serie a ete diffusee dans 32 pays,
y compris au Maroc et au Kosovo. (NdT. en France aussi)

La rehabilitation de l’empire a inspire des sentiments mitiges
parmi les critiques culturels. ” Le renouveau ottoman est bon pour
l’ego national et il a capture le psychisme du pays au moment où la
Turquie veut etre une grande puissance “, a declare Melis Behlil, une
professeure en cinema de l’Universite Kadir. Mais, elle a prevenu :
” Cela me terrifie, parce que trop d’ego national n’est pas une
bonne chose. Les films comme La Conquete, 1453 s’engagent dans le
revisionnisme culturel et glorifient le passe sans regarder l’histoire
sous un angle critique. ”

Faruk Aksoy, âge de 48 ans, realisateur de La Conquete 1453, a dit que,
depuis qu’il etait arrive a l’âge de 10 ans en provenance d’Urfa, dans
le sud-est accidente de la Turquie, et qu’il avait ete hypnotise par
la splendeur imperiale d’Istanbul, il revait de faire un film sur le
conquerant d’Istanbul (NdT. de Constantinople). Mais il a dû attendre
10 ans pour realiser un film a gros budget, car le financement et la
technologie n’etaient pas disponibles.

Le budget du film de 18,2 millions de dollars a ete un record en
Turquie, mais il l’a largement amorti, en realisant un chiffre
d’affaires brut de 40 millions de dollars en Turquie et en Europe,
a declare M. Aksoy. La foule etait tellement excitee lors d’une
recente diffusion, qu’elle a hurle ” Dieu est grand ” alors que les
Ottomans maniant l’epee escaladaient les murs interdits d’Istanbul
(Ndt de Constantinople). M. Aksoy a raconte qu’un directeur de cinema
se demandait s’il devait appeler la police, craignant un combat reel.

” Nous les Turcs, nous sommes un peuple au sang chaud “, a-t-il dit. ”
Les Turcs sont fiers de la conquete, car elle a non seulement change
notre histoire, mais elle a aussi change le monde. ”

Mais d’autres mettent en garde contre un chauvinisme culturel dangereux
a l’~uvre. Burak Bekdil, un chroniqueur pour le Hurriyet Daily News,
reflechissait dans un article recent au fait que le temps etait venu de
faire un film appele La Conquete 1974, celebrant l’invasion turque de
Chypre, ou L’Extinction 1915, commemorant le genocide de 1,5 million
d’Armeniens pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Des menaces de mort
ont suivi.

Les critiques ont aussi trouve des defauts au film en raison des
inexactitudes et des hyperboles, bien que M. Aksoy ait souligne qu’il
avait employe des specialistes ottomans. Les membres de la Cour du
dernier empereur Byzantin, Constantin XI, sont depeints comme des
soûlards hedonistes entoures de danseuses nubiles – parlant le turc
plutôt que le grec ou le latin. Meme Mehmet II, le Sultan conquerant
celèbre pour son nez prodigieux, a ete relooke en beau garcon heroïque.

Alper Turgut, un important critique de film, a deplore cet univers
unidimensionnel, meme s’il il a loue les ambitions epiques du film. ”
S’ils avaient exagere juste un peu plus, ce serait une comedie absurde
“, a-t-il dit dans un entretien.

M. Aksoy s’est declare irrite qu’un film cense distraire soit
politise. ” Demanderiez-vous a Ridley Scott s’il a ete politiquement
influence ? “, a-t-il demande.

Les critiques culturels ont note que le soutien religieux du film
– il y a meme une brève apparition du prophète Mohammed predisant
que Constantinople serait conquis par les croyants – l’avait rendu
populaire auprès de la bourgeoisie islamique croissante dans un pays
qui tourne de plus en plus le dos a l’Europe en crise et regarde
de plus en plus vers l’est. (Le film a aussi ete loue par quelques
membres du parti islamique au pouvoir comme une alternative a ”
la mentalite de croises ” d’Hollywood.)

Les conservateurs religieux avaient ete marginalises pendant la
revolution culturelle laïque entreprise par Ataturk. ” Pour la
première fois, nous voyons cette nouvelle bourgeoisie islamique, ses
goût et ses m~urs, se refleter sur les petits et les grands ecrans
“, a dit M. Turgut.

Mme Behlil a note que l’apparition d’emissions de television a gros
budgets et de films depeignant l’ère ottomane doit quelque chose a
la popularite du pays dans le monde arabe*, introduisant ainsi de
nouveaux revenus pour les societes de production. L’an dernier, la
Turquie a ete le plus grand exportateur de feuilletons melo en Europe,
empochant 70 millions de dollars de revenus.

Mais c’est dans le pays meme que les series et les films ont un impact
profond, instruisant une nouvelle generation de Turcs.

Burak Temir, 24 ans, un acteur germano-turc qui a joue le rôle d’un
prince dans Il etait une fois les Ottomans ” Le Soulèvement “, a
dit qu’il avait ete intimide au debut par ce rôle, car il ne savait
pratiquement rien sur cette epoque.

Afin de le preparer a son rôle, la production lui a fait suivre
un crash-course sur les manières ottomanes, y compris apprendre a
monter a cheval, se battre a l’epee, utiliser un arc et des flèches
et gonfler sa poitrine. Meme lorsqu’il ne tourne pas, il porte la
barbe comme le sultan et des pantalons serres de style ottoman. ”
Cela me rend fier d’etre turc “, a-t-il dit.

©Traduction de l’anglais C.Gardon pour le Collectif VAN – 5 novembre
2012 – 06:30 –

*Nota CVAN : le monde arabe a beaucoup souffert du joug turc-ottoman
et n’est pas aussi enthousiaste que le laisse entendre l’article.

L’OrientLeJour nous apprend que le film Fetih 1453 a provoque au
Liban la colère de jeunes Chretiens orthodoxes qui ont lance une
violente campagne contre le film sous pretexte qu’il ” inciterait aux
dissensions sectaires et diffuserait un climat general favorable a la
discorde confessionnelle “, attisant ainsi le conflit islamo-chretien.

De fait, pour ne pas alimenter la polemique dans un pays deja trouble,
le distributeur a renonce a diffuser le film.

Lire aussi:

Un film turc bloque par la censure

“La conquete, 1453”, galvanise les Turcs… pas les historiens

Les Turcs debarquent en Egypte

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : The New York Times

DIYARBAKIR. UN CAMPANILE, UN SECOLO DOPO.

La Stampa
5 nov 2012
Italia

Il campanile della chiesa armena di Diyarbakir, nell’Anatolia
sud-orientale, distrutto durante il genocidio del 1915, è tornato a
suonare oggi.

Marco Tosatti

Quasi un secolo dopo essere stato abbattuto perche faceva ombra ai
minareti delle moschee della citta il campanile della chiesa armena
di Diyarbakir nel Kurdistan turco è stato ricostruito e la campana
dopo 97 anni di silenzio oggi ha suonato di nuovo, riferisce Hurriyet
online. La chiesa di Surp Giragos era stata pesantemente danneggiata
nel 1915, l’anno in cui ebbe inizio il genocidio degli armeni in
Turchia, tuttora non riconosciuto da Ankara. Il campanile era stato
demolito perche più alto dei minareti delle moschee vicine. Oggi
il primo rito armeno in un secolo stato celebrato dal vicepatriarca
per la Turchia, Aram Atesay nella chiesa restaurata davanti a fedeli
giunti anche da Usa, Armenia e Canada, scrive Hurriyet. Il restauro
è stato finanziato da una fondazione armena con contributi del comune
di Diyarbakir, ora guidato da un sindaco del partito pro-curdo Bdp

“AZERBAIJANI MUGHAM” CONCERT HELD IN LOS ANGELES – PHOTOSESSION

APA
Nov 5 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. The Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles
organized a Mugham concert at Schoenberg hall of the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The Consulate General told APA that the concert was organized as a
part of “The Month of Azerbaijani Mugham in California” declared on
the initiative of the Consulate General.

The concert was dedicated the 35th anniversary of space travel of
Azerbaijani Mugham included into the Voyager Golden Record sent by
NASA in 1977.

Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles Nasimi Agayev made a
keynote speech at the jubilee concert and spoke about the features
and universal importance of space travel of Mugham into the Voyager
Golden Record. Speaking about the our people’s attention to protect
and transmit Mugham’s traditions to future generations, the diplomat
noted that the first Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev
Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva has carried out many significant activities
towards the promotion of Mugham both in our country and abroad.

Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Charles Elachi, the
NASA Scientific centre located nearby Los Angeles and became popular by
sending rover to Mars, made a speech. Elachi gave detailed information
about the Voyager spacecraft and noted that inclusion of Azerbaijani
Mugham into the Voyager Golden Ring was a significant event.

Following the speeches, the concert program has started. The
performances of young Mugham singers Aytan Maharramova, Vusala
Musayeva and Ilkin Ahmedov, as well as instrumentalists Imamyar
Hasanov (kamancha), Elshan Gasimov (drum) and Rufat Hasanov (tar)
amazed the audience.

According to information, some local Armenians organizations estimated
Mugham concert at the famous UCLA University as a “political statement”
of Azerbaijan and called on Armenians to protest against it. A group
of Armenians held a protest actions outside the Schoenberg Hall and
but they faced the participants’ indifference and protest.

BREAKING THE GRIP OF THE OLIGARCHS
BY LIANA AGHAJANIAN

Foreign Policy
Nov 5 2012

How a tragic twist of fate is fueling a revolt against Armenia’s
overweening tycoons.

On a summer evening in late June, three military doctors ventured into
a lavish restaurant on the outskirts of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, to
have dinner. With its marbled beige floors and crystal chandeliers,
the restaurant, known as Harsnakar, is a favorite for weddings,
anniversaries, and friendly get-togethers.

But things didn’t go according to plan for 35-year-old Major Vahe
Avetyan, one of the army doctors accompanying his colleagues on a
night out. The man allegedly got into an argument over inappropriate
dress code with security staff from the restaurant, which is owned by
Ruben Hayrapetyan (pictured above), a business tycoon and then-member
of parliament. Avetyan was brutally beaten and hospitalized with
severe head injuries. Soon, grim photos of the doctor emerged on
social networks. Bandaged and unconscious, he lay on a bed in the same
hospital where he had worked, in critical condition. Twelve days later,
he died.

The public outrage was unprecedented. It isn’t uncommon for the
employees of business tycoons to engage in violence. But this was the
first time that someone like Avetyan — a married father of two whose
job involved caring for Armenia’s highly respected armed forces —
had inadvertently felt their wrath, and paid for it with his life.

The death of Avetyan at the hands of bodyguards employed by Hayrapetyan
has become a catalyzing event. Shocked Armenians mobilized in large
numbers throughout the summer. The frustrations with a culture of
bodyguards whose brutish behavior had become notoriously violent over
the years spilled onto the streets and social networks.

Legislation to regulate the private use of bodyguards has been
introduced in parliament: The draft law stipulates that private
security personnel will be required to don uniforms, to apply for
weapons permits, and to register their weapons with law enforcement.

The ongoing trial of those involved in Avetyan’s murder has opened
a window onto the excesses of a tiny ruling class that until now has
felt largely untouched by the law. Since the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991, Armenians — like many other inhabitants of the old
USSR — have watched as the lion’s share of the country’s wealth has
fallen under the control of a privileged elite. The leading Armenian
oligarchs, a group numbering around 40, dominate industries ranging
from banking to mining, and that economic edge has translated into
privileged political status as well. Just as in Russia and Ukraine,
tycoons here have parlayed their wealth into public office — to an
extent that it’s often hard to tell where business ends and politics
begins.

Though political apathy is widespread in Armenia, the Avetyan case has
fueled resentment and anger towards the men who have accumulated vast
wealth and influence while much of the country’s population remains
in dire poverty. But now, thanks to the criminal case surrounding the
death of the army doctor, something seems to be changing. After months
of public pressure, Hayrapetyan finally submitted his resignation from
the legislature in early September, ending his foray into politics.

Six of his bodyguards have been arrested in connection with the murder.

After two postponements, the trial formally got underway last month.

The defendants, who initially faced lesser charges, have been formally
accused on three counts of assault that could result in lengthier
prison sentences than the five to ten years of imprisonment they
previously faced. Hayrapetyan, known by the nickname “Nemets Rubo,”
has repeatedly denied responsibility for the actions of his employees.

Calls for Hayrapetyan to face trial in the case have gone nowhere.

Armenia’s search for stability and democracy since the collapse of the
Soviet Union has been difficult. The country achieved its independence
just three years after a 1988 earthquake that left upwards of 25,000
dead. No sooner had Armenians embarked upon statehood than they found
themselves locked in a debilitating war with neighboring Azerbaijan
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That war resulted in the closing of
the country’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, cutting Armenia off
from normal trade. These straitened circumstances brought hardship to
most Armenians, but to those sufficiently ruthless and well-connected
to take advantage, the war economy meant a path toward instant riches.

It was then that many of today’s tycoons began to build their fortunes.

The culture of oligarch immunity is certainly nothing new. The Avetyan
murder has struck a sensitive chord owing to its chilling resemblance
to the 2001 incident in which a bodyguard of then-President Robert
Kocharyan attacked and killed a man in a bathroom for making a
disrespectful remark to the leader. But even then, most Armenians —
whether too apathetic, too scared, or too willing to emigrate —
refrained from mounting an open challenge to the tycoon establishment.

Now, in dramatic contrast, broad swathes of society have shown the
will to stand up and resist. In the months following Avetyan’s murder,
the anti-oligarch protests began to attract attendance from regular
citizens who are rarely seen at demonstrations. A candlelight vigil
honoring the late doctor saw over 600 people surround the restaurant,
which has come to symbolize the broad web of impunity shared by
Armenia’s tycoons. Police cordoned off the restaurant and clashed
with protestors, breaking up demonstrations by force. “I only had
one bruise, but some people were beaten,” said Tsovinar Nazaryan,
an activist and journalist who attended the rally.

But the demonstrators kept coming back. They marched to the
Prosecutor’s General Office after Avetyan’s funeral, chanting “Nemets
is a murderer” and “I am Vahe Avetyan.” Then a montage of video clips
from two press conferences Hayrapetyan gave last year surfaced on
YouTube (with English subtitles), showing the tycoon threatening
reporters, claiming responsibility for beatings, and confessing to
tampering with ballots in an election. “I wouldn’t advise people to
try to punish me,” he says at one point in the video. “Whoever tried
it, something terrible happened to them.”

Anti-oligarch activism spread outside the country’s borders, where
the far-flung Armenian diaspora held protests in front of consulates.

Online petitions were organized. Street art around the capital demanded
that Hayrapetyan be tried in court.

“Many people are sick and tired of their power,” said activist
Nazaryan. “You can see how violent they are, in their business, in
their everyday actions. They’re violent to our journalists. They’re
really dangerous. They don’t care. They know they won’t be punished,
and this is the problem.”

This latest series of events represents the first small challenges to
the seemingly impregnable edifice of oligarch power that has dominated
this country since the collapse of the USSR. Functioning like early
twentieth-century robber barons, Armenia’s tycoons prefer to be
called “businessmen” (though most Armenians tend to refer to them with
cartoonish nicknames). The oligarchs drive fleets of flashy vehicles;
their Hummers and Rolls Royce’s are fitted with custom license plate
numbers to simultaneously identify their families and close associates
and deter harassment from traffic police.

Their ostentatious mansions multiply, and their business assets grow
as they hold the Armenian economy hostage by eliminating competitive
markets for everything from mineral water and asphalt to soft drinks.

The economic elite flex their power in the political sphere despite a
constitutional ban on members of parliament being involved in owning
or running businesses. The political parties that have dominated
recent elections in the country are closely associated with leading
oligarchs who enjoy parliamentary immunity and remain virtually
untouchable. According to a recent report by the International Crisis
Group, for example, the ruling Republican Party had two dozen wealthy
businessmen elected to the ranks of parliament in 2007. The same report
notes that oligarchs routinely use their charitable foundations to
sponsor concerts or hand out free potatoes in order to secure voter
support, though the businessmen deny using charity for the purposes
of political leverage.

Take Samvel “Lfik Samo” Aleksanyan, a millionaire with strong ties to
the government. A 2003 U.S. State Department cable referred to him
as a “semi-criminal” oligarch who “maintains an army of bodyguards”
and controls the import of sugar, wheat, and butter into the country.

Dubbed “the Sugar Baron” in local media, Aleksanyan’s domination of
the industry and ownership in a chain of supermarkets has created the
conditions for a series of sugar crises in which prices unpredictably
skyrocket. Aleksanyan recently bought and partially destroyed the
famed, almost century-old bazaar-style indoor market and national
treasure, “Pak Shuka,” amid widespread speculation that he intends
to turn it into part of his supermarket empire.

Other oligarchs play prominent roles in the lucrative mining industry.

Armenia is rich in molybdenum and gold, and that has led to
considerable competition among the oligarchs to grab their shares of
the resulting profits. National Assembly Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan and
member of parliament Tigran Arzakantsyan are both shareholders in one
leading mining company. One of the most prominent tycoons linked with
mining is former Minister of Environmental Protection Vardan Ayvazyan,
who was in charge of regulating large parts of the industry during
his stint in government. In September, a U.S. court ordered Ayvazyan
to pay $37.5 million in damages to a U.S. mining company that accuses
him of corruption relating to his own business interest in the sector.

(Ayvazyan has denied all the allegations and rejects the American
court’s jurisdiction over him.)

Oligarchs are also accused of tampering with elections. Armenian
elections have long been plagued by irregularities, reportedly ranging
from intimidation to ballot stuffing. Garo Yegnukian, an executive
board member at Policy Forum Armenia, a U.S.-based think tank, says
that oligarchs play an outsized role in elections: “They’re the ones
who distribute election bribes, who intimidate, who break people’s
knees, if they have to.”

A U.S. embassy cable leaked in 2009 described business elites as
“deeply intertwined with political power and vice versa,” each
having an incentive to preserve the status quo out of the fear that
a regime change could mean an economic redistribution at the “expense
of today’s oligarchs.”

Reports have linked oligarchs to assaults and murders. But their
activities have other pernicious effects as well.

The International Crisis Group report pinpointed oligarch benefits from
tax and customs advantages as a reason why the government collects only
about 19.3 percent of GDP in taxes, compared to a 40 percent average in
the European Union. A 2007 International Monetary Fund study reflected
this, arguing that despite double digit growth since the beginning
of the millennium, Armenia’s tax to GDP ratio remains very low.

Prime Minister Tigran Sarsgyan who has previously criticized several
ministries within the government for corruption, recently announced
that he will head an anti-corruption council, and extended a rare
invitation to opposition parties to participate.

“We are not satisfied with the state of the fight against corruption,”
Sargsyan said, according to local press reports. But graft in Armenia
doesn’t seem to have seen any significant decline. Over the last five
years, Armenia has sharply fallen on Transparency International’s
Corruption Index for Armenia by 30 places, from a ranking of 99 in
2007 to 129 in 2011.

Analysts predict that the path to economic success in Armenia means
eliminating monopolies and minimizing the interference of oligarchs in
policymaking; poverty and a high emigration rate (some 70,000 people
leave the country every year) compound the problem. As the fallout
from the death of an innocent army doctor continues, the Armenian
government faces critical choices when it comes to its future and how
it chooses to act, if at all, toward those enjoying immunity from
the law. But it’s clear that, even in the best of cases, reducing
the power of the country’s tycoons will be a long and arduous process.

TURKEY: ARMENIAN CHURCH BELL IN DIYARBAKIR SOUNDED TODAY

ANSA Med
Nov 5 2012
Italy

For 1st time in 97 years, since Armenian genocide

(ANSAmed) – ANKARA, NOVEMBER 5 – Almost a century after it was
demolished for overshadowing the minarets of the city’s mosques, the
bell-tower of the Armenian church in Diyarbakir, a town in Turkish
Kurdistan, has been rebuilt and its bell sounded today for the first
time in 97 years, Hurriyet daily online reported on Monday.

The Surp Giragos church was damaged heavily in 1915, the year the
genocide of Armenians in Turkey began, a fact which Ankara does not
recognize to this day. The bell-tower was demolished because it was
taller than the minarets of nearby mosques. Today the deputy patriarch
for Turkey, Aram Atesay, celebrated the first Armenian rite in the
restored church before a congregation that also included brethren
who had traveled from Armenia, Canada and the US for the occasion,
Hurriyet wrote.

The restoration was financed by an Armenian foundation and by the
town of Diyarbakir, whose mayor is from the pro-Kurdish Peace and
Democracy Party (BDP). (ANSAmed).

NATO WANTS TO INCRESE ITS PRESENCE IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 5 2012
Russia

NATO wants to increase its presence in South Caucasus, NATO Secretary
General’s Special Representative James Appathurai said in Yerevan.

Asked about the recent statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
saying they are ready to attack an Armenian facility which will
threaten Armenia’s existence, Appathurai said he had not seen the
comment and cannot comment on specific issues.

“The Secretary General visited three countries recently. He left
concerned at the tone between the two countries,” he added.

“It is very important for the two countries to get back on the right
track when it comes to security. The two foreign ministers recently
met in Paris , which is a good sign, but a meeting is not progress,
it is a step towards progress. From the NATO point of view we should
see an improvement in relations.”

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern was not aware of the threat
either.

“The U.S. is one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. At every
opportunity we are pushing to tone down the rhetoric and come back to
the table. We are pleased that ministers met and we continue to push
for a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict and improvement
of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Heffern said.

IT’S IMPORTANT THAT THE SIDES RETURN TO THE RIGHT NEGOTIATION TRACK, NATO REPRESENTATIVE SAYS

Mediamax
Nov 5 2012
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for
Southern Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai said in Yerevan
today that Armenia is an important partner for the NATO.

Speaking at a seminar held within the “NATO Week” in Yerevan, James
Appathurai especially noted Armenia’s considerable contribution to
the ISAF operation in Afghanistan, Mediamax reports.

The NATO representative also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process noting that “we are willing to see the normalization of
Armenia-Azerbaijan relations”.

“It’s extremely important that the sides return to the right
negotiation track”, said NATO Secretary General’s Special
Representative.

He noted that the latest meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministers in Paris “was a good sign yet the very fact of the
meeting is not a guarantee for progress”.

TURKISH JETS BOMBARD PKK TARGETS IN IRAQ

November 5, 2012 – 18:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – An air offensive named “Panther operation” was
launched over the weekend by the Turkish army against militants of
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the north of Iraq,
according to Hurriyet Daily News.

In the two-hour operation, Turkish F-16 jets that took off from
Diyarbakır bombarded PKK camps in northern Iraq, Kandil, Zap and
Hakurk. The targets were PKK militants who had passed to Iraqi side
of the border to find a safe place for the winter.

Several anti-aircraft batteries belonging to the PKK were eliminated,
the report says.

Additionally, five PKK militants were killed by the Turkish army in
clashes during another operation on Cudi Mountain on Saturday, Nov 3.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and
the EU.