Author: Kalantarian Kevo

SANDY HURRICANE LEFT NEW YORK ARMENIAN HELPLESS

news.am
November 01, 2012 | 00:01

Sandy hurricane began to lose steam Tuesday as it flowed across
Pennsylvania and turned to Canada. However, it did make serious
destructions, The Charlotte Observer notes.

People were shocked at the sight of a Bayliner pleasure boat that was
swept into the very end of Sheepshead Bay, crashing into the concrete
abutment. The smell of gas went off from its tank.

An Armenian woman Bella Kharajyan with her daughter, Milena Rangini,
27, had spent a long, exhausting night in their second-floor apartment
in Brighton Beach as other residents gathered to their door, knowing
that the two women from Armenia spoke English and could understand
the news reports.

Kharajyan complained of the lack of help for people who do not speak
English and Spanish, for example, their Armenian or Uzbek speaking
neighbors.

SAHAKYAN TO YACOUBIAN: EVERY CHILD SHOULD ENJOY RIGHT TO GROW UP IN FAMILY

November 1, 2012

Emil Sahakyan, communications officer at UNICEF Armenia, writes the
following in response to a Letter to the Editor by George S.

Yacoubian, Jr., the national Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief
(SOAR) president, on the article “Ending the Era of Orphanages
in Armenia: Why the Diaspora Should Help the Process of
De-Institutionalization” by Nanore Barsoumian.

Dear Mr. Yacoubian,

After re-gaining its independence in 1991, Armenia has ratified
numerous international human rights instruments, including the
widely acknowledged Convention on the Rights of the Child and its
Optional Protocols. Among other key rights of children embedded in
the convention, the latter places particular emphasis on the right
of a child to grow up in a family, and promotes the principle of the
best interests of the child.

“UNICEF fully shares this vision, which stems from the government’s
policy on de-institutionalization, and the commitment to ensure that
every child in Armenia enjoys the right to grow up in a family.”

Guided by this principle, as well as by the provisions of the
convention, the government of Armenia has embarked on the path of
child welfare reform that aims at ensuring an environment and systems
wherein all children can exercise a full range of the rights accorded
to them by the convention.

The realization of the right of a child to grow up in
a family was then further reinforced by the adoption
of the governmental policy on de-institutionalization
(see ,
, and
) and included
in the government’s top priority issues in 2011 (see
).

In 2006 UNICEF, in cooperation with the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR),
piloted foster care in two provinces of Armenia (Lori and Gegharkunik),
and placed 32 children from orphanages with foster families. Its
successful implementation and results allowed the government of Armenia
to take over the foster care program and commit state funds toward
its further implementation and expansion. To date the government
continues to allocate funds to run foster care programs. And yet,
the number of children placed under foster care has not grown. The
reason is that the Armenian Ministry of Finance refuses to allocate
state funds to run two parallel systems-orphanages (residential care
institutions) and foster care-arguing that the expansion of foster
care should be directly linked to the decrease in the number of
children in orphanages, which is a valid argument.

That being said, UNICEF would like to respond to some of the statements
you made in your response to Ms. Barsoumian’s article, “Ending the
Era of Orphanages in Armenia.”

You wrote, “While the idea of foster care is beneficial in theory,
there is no empirical evidence to suggest that foster care in Armenia
would provide any advantages over the current orphanage system.

Moreover, the short- and long-term problems are so potentially
crippling that the foster care proposal does not even merit serious
discussion.” Unfortunately, this statement does not reflect true real
state of affairs in Armenia. The government would not have accepted
the inclusion of foster care as part of its de-institutionalization
policy and child welfare reform had there not been evidence of the
program’s success. Publicly available evaluations and reports, as
well as individual testimonies from children and foster families,
demonstrate that foster care is both a feasible and beneficial option
for Armenia.

In addition to ensuring that a child grows up in a family
environment, the program also proved to be cost-effective. A
recommendation has been made to re-allocate funds provided to
maintain orphanages and other residential care institutions towards
the expansion of foster care and other alternative family-based
care services, which is in line with the recommendation
of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia (see
).

To gather further evidence, UNICEF, jointly with Save the Children,
has commissioned a new survey that will allow the generation of more
data and knowledge on the foster care program in Armenia.

In choosing between foster care and orphanages (or residential care
institutions), one must always keep in mind the best interests of
the child. It’s quite needless to say that children thrive more and
develop to their full potential in a family environment, and not in
an institution. Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that
children placed in orphanages, especially in their early years, may
stay behind in their cognitive and emotional development compared to
their peers living in families. They often lack socialization skills,
and find it difficult to integrate into society and create their
own families.

You wrote, “To begin, orphanages in Armenia are not part of some
bygone ‘era.’ The significance of orphanages in Armenia trace back to
the 1915 Armenia Genocide, where hundreds of thousands of children
found peace and security in these safe havens.” In this statement,
reference is made to circumstances and events that happened in the
last century. Today’s Armenia represents a completely different
reality. Today’s orphans are not similar to the ones that appeared
because of the 1915 genocide or the devastating 1988 earthquake. Most
of them are so-called “social orphans”; they have parents who, out of
poverty and a sheer inability to meet their children’s basic needs,
placed them in an orphanage. The Armenian media space is abundant with
stories of children whose parents simply had no other choice. Many of
them are available on the Investigative Journalists site,

Children from poor families placed in residential care institutions,
such as orphanages, get food and clothing, but they are stripped
of such important things as emotional bonding with their families,
which negatively impacts their development. Moreover, children who
grow up in an orphanage often experience stigma from their peers,
who may treat them as inferior.

You wrote, “…Tales of abuse and other malfeasance by orphanage
officials are broad generalizations made by self-serving zealots.”

Numerous reports-produced by the Office of the Human Rights
Defender of Armenia, Save the Children, the Public Monitoring
Group of the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Armenia, and
other international organizations working in Armenia in the area
of child rights-have uncovered cases of the abuse or maltreatment
of children in such institutions. Recently, the media reported
on a number of cases where children living in special education
institutions were subjected to sexual abuse or committed suicide (see
,
). The General Prosecutor’s Office
is dealing with many cases of the misappropriation of funds allocated
for orphanages and other residential care institutions. These cases
triggered public outrage, which demanded the toughest possible
sentences for perpetrators of the crime.

Last year, within the framework of the “Every Child Needs a
Family” campaign, the Armenian Public Relations Association
produced a documentary called “Hostages,” which is abundant
with testimonies by former residents of orphanages and special
education institutions, recalling their hard lives in those
institutions (see and
).

You wrote, “The solution is not ‘ending the orphanage era,’ but
rather expanding the current orphan system to allocate resources
for more intensive supervision of the existing facilities and
the establishment of housing that facilitates the transition from
orphanage to adolescence to adulthood.” The suggestion to expand the
current orphan system does not only represent the old mind set, which
is no longer acceptable, but also goes contrary to the human rights
principles-including children’s rights-that Armenia, as an independent
state, has subscribed to. It ignores the principle of the best interest
of the child and puts in jeopardy the nature of the Armenian family,
and by extension Armenian society as a whole. Today Armenia is trying
to become a part of a civilized world by implementing and re-enforcing
international standards in its social protection and social welfare
system. Diaspora-based organizations are also part of this important
process, which has many challenges. At a recent meeting organized by
the Armenian Relief Society (ARS), one of the oldest diaspora-based
Armenian organizations, participants sent a strong message on how
best to meet the interests of children deprived of parental care. The
message was to invest in alternative family-based care services
for such children and their families (including foster care); in
supporting disadvantaged families to overcome socio-economic hardship,
thus preventing children from entering residential care institutions;
and in assisting the process of transformation of residential care
institutions into resource and family support centres. UNICEF fully
shares this vision, which stems from the government’s policy on
de-institutionalization, and the commitment to ensure that every
child in Armenia enjoys the right to grow up in a family.

EU-TURKEY AND EU-ARMENIA – SUDKURIER

news.am
November 01, 2012 | 16:58

Reflecting on the EU-Turkey relations, the German Sudkurier daily
focuses on the factor of EU-Armenia ties as well.

“The EU is speaking with Armenia about the relaxation of visas, which
substantially discomforts Turkey. Certainly, Armenia’s case is
different than that of Turkey, especially [since], [and] unlike
Turkey, Armenia is not an EU membership candidate. Nonetheless,
Armenia is having advantages over Turkey in the visa facilitation
issue,” Sudkurier writes.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, Armenia’s EU Head of
Mission, Ambassador Avet Adonts, and European Commission Home Affairs
Director General Stefano Manservisi initialed, on October 18 in
Brussels, the Armenia-EU agreements on visa relaxation and
readmission. These accords are expected to be signed in December 2012
and to enter the ratification phase within the first six months of
2013.

INDIAN HELMER ON GENOCIDE FILM: I BELIEVE IN FIGHTING FOR WHAT I BELIEVE IN

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 1, 2012 – 20:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Genocide is the latest topic to catch
acclaimed Indian film director Shekhar Kapur`s fancy.

According to Zeenews, Kapur recently tweeted about his plans to visit
Yerevan to collect material on the event.

“It is a part of world history though a very shameful one,” Kapur said.

“The idea came to me based on a script sent to me by the screenwriter
of “Motorcycle Diaries”, Puerto Rican Jose Rivera. I fell in love with
the script. It is a challenging project though. It will require lots
of money, lots of passion and organization. But there are a lot of
passionate people behind this project. So it will hopefully see the
light of day. I believe in fighting for what I believe in,” he said.

However, filming of the movie will not start before another year,
says Kapur, who is yet to begin work on his long-pending movie on
water wars, ‘Paani’.

“There has been a shift in Turkish society. Nobody from that period
is alive today. The new generation believes they have to move on. They
say, ‘Why can`t we accept what happened?’,” the film director said.

ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH: MYTH OR REALITY?

12:05, October 31, 2012

In order to support economic growth Armenia needs to invest in new
methods directed at revealing the competitive industries of the
economy and the development of the trade sector.

Supporting economic growth is considered a cornerstone of economic
policy of many countries. Thus, it cannot be an end in itself; its
final purpose is to increase the prosperity of society.

Since 2000, the economy of the Republic of Armenia has been considered
one of the most rapidly developing economies according to the pace of
economical growth. According to the Interstate Statistical Committee
of the CIS, Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2003 was 8%
higher than it was before independence, while Georgia’s GDP was about
42% lower than it was before independence.

Armenia’s economic success is mainly attributed to market reforms,
particularly in fiscal and monetary policy. Remittances received from
abroad had and continue to have a significant role in the development
of the Armenian economy. During the period of 2004-2008 alone the
country received more than $5.3 billion in monetary transfers.

In general, the pace of economic growth in Armenia on average is much
higher than in developing and, especially, developed countries. Since
2000, economic growth in Armenia was approximately three times faster
compared with the world economy. The pace of Armenian economic growth
is also quite high compared with neighboring and similar countries,
yielding only to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and the Russian
Federation, which was determined by the dramatic increase of oil and
gas revenues in those countries (see Figures 1 and 2).

[eco-chart-1.jpg]

Armenia, World, Countries With High Income, Countries With Low Income

Figure 1. Combination of economic growth indexes, Armenia and the world

[eco-chart-2.jpg]

Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russian Federation, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan

Figure 2. Real growth of GDP in 2010 compared to 1999, multiplied,
Armenia and countries of the world

>From 1993 to 2008, the Armenian economy was continuously growing and
developing. After 2001, the economy recorded double-digit economic
growth, which was, on average, estimated at 13% annually for 2001-2007.

During the same period GDP per capita considerably increased as well,
which was estimated to be around $670 in 2001 and $3,689 in 2008. In
that same year, the pace of economic growth in Armenia, compared with
previous years, significantly slowed down, amounting to 6.8%.

Compared with 2008, the decline in GDP in 2009 was estimated at 14.1%.

Yet, before the crisis, as a result of stable economic growth
registered during the last decade, Armenia joined the group of
countries estimated by the average level of income, according to the
World Bank’s ranking. The economic growth led to an increase in real
salaries, a stabilized employment level and increase in funding of the
social sphere from a consolidated budget. All these, together with
the growing flow of private remittances, furthered the considerable
decrease in the level of poverty.

Thus, it is a fact that before the world financial-economic crisis,
the double-digit economic growth of Armenia was maintained by certain
non-trade sectors and money transfers received from abroad. In other
words, economic growth was maintained without the development of
effective and prospective sectors of the economy. Therefore, the
economy of the Republic of Armenia could “explode” any moment, which
happened in 2008-2009. The crisis basically stopped the non-productive
and unsustainable development stage that had lasted several years,
revealing quite serious problems within the economy.

It is obvious that the former pillars of economic growth cannot be
considered the guarantee for future development in Armenia. Thus,
it is necessary to learn their aspects and suggest ways for future
improvement. The solutions to those problems are in my next column.

Lilit Sargsyan Scientist of the Institute of Economics, National
Academy of Sciences

ARMENIA’S POP AND JAZZ MUSIC COLLEGE TO BE JOINED TO CONSERVATORY

news.am
November 01, 2012 | 12:15

YEREVAN. – The Government of Armenia adopted a decision Thursday to
reshape and reunite several vocational organizations in the country.

As a result, Yerevan State College of Culture will be joined to
Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography while Yerevan
State Pop and JazzArtCollege will be joined to Yerevan Komitas State
Conservatory.

According to the Education and Science Ministry, these unifications
will be carried out because the curricula of these education
institutions repeat one another’s yet they have different professional
levels.

UNIVERSITIES PAY MORE TAXES THAN OLIGARCHS

Thursday, 01 November 2012, 14:35

In the first half of the current year, the main taxpayers in the
education sphere have paid 4 billion 916 million taxes, 11.4% more
than same period last year, said the minister of education of Armenia,
Armen Ashotyan at the governmental meeting today. The minister noted
that this is the first time he is presenting the tax collection report
in 21 years.

39 of the high schools of Armenia pay the VAT. 12 of the universities
are considered major taxpayers in terms of the obligatory social
payments. Ashotyan underlined that universities are on the list of
100 major taxpayers of Armenia. The social payments by universities
increased this year by 15% compared to the period of 8 months last
year. As of October 8, the overpayment by the universities amounted
to 3 billion 307 million. Arrears amounted to 11 million.

Armen Ashotyan said dissatisfied with the low salaries. He noted that
the maximum school salary is 120 thousand, some teachers receive
80 thousand. The amount of paid education services decreased. The
minister of education recalled that it is related to the deficit of
students due to the introduction of the 12-year school system.

METSAMOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SECURITY IS IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

ARMENPRESS
1 November, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Nuclear Power Plant security
fully complies with IAEA standards. Armenian Nuclear Power Plant chief
director Gagik Markosyan called Taner Yıldız’s, Turkish Minister of
Energy and Natural Resources concerns absurd refer to nuclear power
plant false dangers and his announcement as if IAEA has demanded to
close down the nuclear power plant.

“International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) special mission carried out
too wide scaled and complex checking as a result of which Armenian
nuclear power plant security level was assessed positive” Markosyan
underscored. In the words of Armenian Nuclear Power Plant director,
started from the day of its establishment general repair, abandoning
of fuel and other kinds of work are being commissioned each four
year time.” In the frame of additional measures aimed at enhancing
the security of nuclear power standard 65 day suspension was exceeded
to 89″ Markosyan came forth with.

Armenia has been cooperating with IAEA to promote the peaceful use of
nuclear energy in different areas and fully fulfills its obligations
assumed under the international conventions. Metsamor nuclear power
plant produces 40 percent of Armenian electricity.

SYRIA MATTERS
by Robert Olson

Today’s Zaman
Oct 31 2012
Turkey

Two presidential debates, especially the last one on October 22 dealing
with foreign policy, stressed strongly that Syria matters. And not
just to Americans, but to Russia, China, Iran, Muslims and especially
to the peoples of the Middle East.

Syria matters because developments there over the past 20 months
indicate that much is at stake for all of the peoples and countries
mentioned above.

Syria matters to Russia and China and Iran. It matters to Russia
because Moscow wants to end the hegemonic role that the US has played
in region for the past 12 years, especially in Iran and Afghanistan.

It wants to emphasize that the era of unilateralism that the US has
exercised in the region since the end of World War II is over. Russia
also wants to assert more strongly its position in the eastern
Mediterranean and the role it seeks to play with regard to the large
deposits of oil and natural gas discovered in the economic zones of
Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. The major base that it has
to pursue these goals is in Tartus, Syria. It will pursue this policy
regardless of who rules Syria.

Syria also matters to China. China is the main supplier of arms and
weapon systems to Iran and a major trading partner. Beijing, which,
like Moscow, wants to assert that it too has a big geopolitical stake,
is demonstrating that America’s unilateral epoch in the Middle East
has passed. China has large and growing investments and trade with
East African countries to which it wants unhindered access — for
which the Arab countries are vital. Iran’s interests in Syria and in
Lebanon have been clear to anyone listening to the political debates
during the past year. Syria is vital for Iran to be able to project
its geopolitical posture into the Eastern Mediterranean and to support
its Hezbollah ally in Lebanon. Hezbollah, and the many Shiites who
support it, is the strongest political power in Lebanon and a strong
opponent of Israel’s expansionist policies both in Lebanon as well
as in the West Bank and Gaza and a strong supporter of Palestinian
claims against Israel. Syria has played a crucial role in Iran’s
affairs since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran when the Islamic
leadership attempted to consolidate its legitimacy among Muslims by
criticizing the “Zionist entity” in the eastern Mediterranean.

But what happens in Syria matters most for the Muslim countries of the
Middle East, especially Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. There
are several reasons for this. When Bashar al-Assad falls, and even
if elements of the Ba’ath regime remain, what will occur along
political sectarian lines is of vital importance for the peoples of
Syria. There are two worst case scenarios that should give pause to
all policy makers involved in the conflict. One is that the remnants
of the Assad regime will withdraw to their home base in the mountains
along the Mediterranean stretching from southern Turkey to Lebanon and
take their weapons, including chemical, with them as well as much of
their air force as they are able. This would ignite a major sectarian
war with not just the Syrian Nationalists but with the Sunni Arabs,
including Jihadists and Salafists (zealous Muslims). If this were
to occur, it would put many of the non-Sunnis at peril and possible
major ethnic cleansing.

Some 40 percent of Syria’s population are minorities of one
kind of another. The largest minorities are Christian (Greek
Orthodox-Armenian), 12 percent; Alawite (sectarian Shiites), 12
percent; Kurd (Sunni Muslim), 11 percent; Druze (Shiite sectarian),
3 percent; Ismaili (Shiite sectarian), 2 percent. The remaining 60
percent are Sunni Arabs.

The danger to the minorities, the bulk of who have supported the
Assad regime for the very reason they fear a predominately Sunni
regime coming to power. When the Ba’athist, largely Alawite, regime
came to power in 1963, it was supported by substantial numbers of
Christians, Druze, Ismailis and Kurds, although subsequently many of
them were purged.

But if the reports coming from Syria over the past several months are
correct, and they seem to be, that there is a large number of Muslim
Brothers, Jihadists and al-Qaeda elements, most of whom come from
the US-Gulf Arab allies, who have joined Syrian oppositional forces,
then their support for the Assad regime and/or neutrality of many
of the minorities is understandable and well founded. There is no
doubt that the radicalism of the oppositional forces has grown over
the past year. If the civil war continues, it is bound to grow more;
let us hope that it doesn’t.

If the Christians of Syria, especially, were to experience the same
calamities that have happened to the Christian communities in Iraq,
which have been reduced by half (400,000 to 500,000), it would lead to
the further decimation of Christians in the central Middle East. Since
many of these calamities are due to the US decision to pursue a war
of choice in Iraq, Americans are responsible for a good portion of
these sad events.

In this regard, Syria certainly matters for Turkey. If Turkey were to
invade Syria and/or establish a significant buffer region in Syria,
will it encompass much of the Kurdish regions of Syria as well as the
Armenians in Aleppo? Many of the 800,000 to 900,000 Armenians in Syria
were compelled to flee Turkey, many to Aleppo, after the genocide of
their compatriots in 1915. Does Turkey want to support the oppositional
forces in Turkey who might attempt to ethnically cleanse the region of
Armenians, as well as other Christians, in addition to Kurds? And to
carry out such actions just two years before the 100th anniversary of
the Ottoman 1915 genocide of Armenians? In addition, to what extent
would Turkey support Syrian oppositional forces against the Alawite
population? Can or will Turkey support Syrian oppositional forces
against the Alawites and, if so, how will it control the opposition
to such an action among the 400,000 to 500,000 Alawite population in
Turkey, especially in Hatay? And what of the estimated 17-18 million
Alevis in Turkey, 15 percent of whom are Kurdish, who share cultural
and religious sentiments with the Alawites of Syria?

Does Ankara expect them to remain quiescent?

An even bigger question confronting Turkey and the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) is how much of Syria and how much of the
Kurdish populated areas would they want to occupy? And if Turkey did
carry out a substantial invasion of northern Syria and incorporate
some of the Kurdish-populated areas under its military control, how
would this affect it ability to not only resolve the Kurdish question
in Turkey itself, but also to manage it without constant political
unrest and war with its own Kurdish population?

——————————————————————————–

*Robert Olson is a Middle East analyst and author of “The Ba’th and
Syria: 1947-1982.”

“THE OSCE MINSK GROUP SHOULD BE MORE ACTIVE ON THE SOLUTION TO THE CONFLICT,” ELNUR ASLANOV

APA
Oct 31 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov-APA. “The position of official Baku on Nagorno
Karabakh considers that the OSCE Minsk Group should be more active to
the solution of the conflict. We have stated this number of times”,
said Head of Department of political analysis and information provision
Elnur Aslanov, APA reports.

According to him Minsk Group should force Armenia to free Azerbaijani
territories from occupation.

“Not only the Minsk Group, but also countries in this group should be
active. We have adressed the international community repeatedly on this
issue. We must put an end to actions that contradict international law,
aggression of one state against another state, violations of the UN
Security Council resolutions and the territorial integrity. How is
it possible that in one case, the UN Security Council resolution
is executed in a few hours? Unfortunately, even a sentence of
4 resolutions of UN Security Council on Azerbaijan, has not been
carried out yet. ”

E. Aslanov also noted that some countries have passive role in the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.