Author: Kalantarian Kevo

BAKO SAHAKIAN DEMANDE UNE ENQUÊTE SUR LES VIOLENCES DU WEEKEND

Haut-Karabagh

Bako Sahakian, president du Haut-Karabagh, a ordonne hier a la police
locale d’enqueter sur leur reaction violente face aux dizaines de
militants de l’opposition d’Armenie qui ont tente d’entrer au Karabagh
le week-end dernier.

S’exprimant lors d’une reunion d’urgence avec les hauts fonctionnaires
de Stepanakert, Sahakian a en meme temps defendu l’usage de cette
force, alors que cela a attire de fortes condamnations de l’opposition
armenienne, de medias et de militants des droits de l’homme.

Samedi, un cortège de quelques 30 voitures transportant des dirigeants
et membres de l’opposition du Parlement fondateur (anciennement
pre-Parlement) a ete arrete par la police du Karabagh a la frontière
avec l’Armenie. Une video sur Internet de l’incident montre que
certains des opposants ont ete battus. La plupart des voitures ont
ete vandalisees par des policiers en uniforme et des hommes en civil
alors meme qu’elles faisaient demi-tour.

Sahakian a declare que ses forces de securite “ont dû prendre des
mesures appropriees” afin d’eviter des affrontements.

“Malheureusement, nous avons echoue a prevenir les emeutes et les
affrontements qui ont eu une resonance publique”, a t-il dit.

Selon la declaration, Sahakian a demande a son chef de la police, Kamo
Aghajanian, de lancer une “enquete interne minutieuse” sur l’incident.

Sahakian tirera par la suite les “conclusions necessaires”.

Les assurances de Sahakian ont ete rejetees par les opposants du
gouvernement a Erevan. Zaruhi Postanjian, un parlementaire du parti
Zharangutyun, a declare que les autorites de Stepanakert doivent
“presenter des excuses au peuple armenien” et punir les responsables
de ce qu’elle considère comme une repression illegale.

“Ils ont eu recours a la violence contre des citoyens qui tentaient
d’organiser une marche pacifique vers Stepanakert, la deuxième capitale
armenienne”, a dit Postanjian.

Yervand Varosian, un avocat bien connu, a declare que cette initiative
est >. >, a t-il dit. “Les images mediatisees montrent clairement qu’il y
a eu abus de pouvoir “.

mercredi 4 fevrier 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

WHAT WERE THE AUTHORITIES OF NKR AFRAID OF?

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – 04 February 2015, 14:10

On January 31, during an attempt to visit Karabakh, 160 participants
of the car march of the Founding Parliament, including women and
children, ran across a well-organized resistance, including the police
and veterans of war.

Something unprecedented happened, and one may think that the
government of Karabakh was expecting a commando rather than a peaceful
demonstration.

The “defenders” of Karabakh had a high level of organization. It
should be noted that the behavior of the Police representatives was
not unanimous. Some of them were trying to demonstrate artificial
cruelty and absolute loyalty to the government. Others could not hide
their reluctance to participate in what was going on and were even
sympathizing with the demonstrators.

In any case, this performance was intended to demonstrate power,
and the addressees were the people of Karabakh.

But what were the authorities of Karabakh afraid of? A revolution?

Apparently, there was a likelihood of an anti-Russian action in
Karabakh which would be probable, and it worried the government
of Karabakh.

Already anti-Russian actions have taken place in Yerevan and Gyumri
for different reasons, but in Karabakh it would sound especially
louder. Apparently, ahead of the prepared manipulation of the Karabakh
issue by Russia it was necessary to demonstrate that Russia has and
will have no problems in Karabakh.

MASS MEDIA: AMERICAN BENEFACTOR JON HUNTSMAN SCRAPS HIS PROGRAMS IN ARMENIA

by Ashot Safaryan

Wednesday, February 4, 13:18

American businessman and benefactor Jon Huntsman is scrapping his
programs in Armenia. Huntsman made that decision in 2014. The reason
is the legal action initiated against the Civilitas Foundation in
Armenia. To recall, the legal action involved Hunstman’s name.

Hraparak (Square) newspaper says that Huntsman’s image in the United
States has considerably suffered following the legal action against
the Civilitas Foundation and now the benefactor has lost confidence
in Armenian partners.

“Though Huntsman has no financial problems and though he expressed an
intention to a implement a number of projects in Armenia in the field
of education and healthcare, nevertheless, the benefactor decided to
give up the idea. The projects implied investments worth millions of
dollars”, says the newspaper.

To remind, a criminal case was instituted against ex-Foreign Minister
of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, who founded the Civilitas Foundation in
2012. He was charged with misappropriation of the funds allocated
by Huntsman for charity. Oskanian’s supporters claimed that the case
was politically charged and was connected with Oskanian’s criticism
against the incumbent authorities

ERDOGAN CONDUIT LA TURQUIE AU >, SELON SON ENNEMI L’IMAM GULEN

USA/TURQUIE

Le regime du president islamo-conservateur turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan
conduit la Turquie vers le “totalitarisme” en assimilant toute forme
de critique a une “trahison”, a deplore mardi celui qui est devenu
sa bete noire, le predicateur Fethullah Gulen.

“Les dirigeants de l’AKP (le Parti de la justice et du developpement
au pouvoir) considèrent desormais toute critique democratique comme
une attaque contre l’Etat”, ecrit M. Gulen dans une colonne publiee
dans le New York Times.

“En considerant que la moindre voix critique est celle d’un ennemi,
ou pire d’un traître, ils mènent le pays vers le totalitarisme”,
poursuit le predicateur, qui vit en Pennsylvanie (est des Etats-Unis)
depuis 1999 et s’exprime rarement dans les medias .

Longtemps son allie, M. Gulen, 73 ans, est devenu il y a plus d’un an
l’ennemi numero 1 de M. Erdogan. Ce dernier, qui règne sans partage
sur la Turquie depuis 2003, l’accuse d’avoir constitue un “Etat dans
l’Etat” pour faire tomber son regime.

Dans son article, l’imam deplore que “l’occasion historique” de faire
de la Turquie un pays democratique membre de l’Union europeenne
(UE) ait ete “gâchee” a cause d’un regime qui a, ecrit-il, “fait
marche arrière et s’en est pris a la societe civile, aux medias,
a la justice et a la libre entreprise”.

“La Turquie a atteint un point où la democratie et les droits de
l’Homme ont presque disparu”, deplore Fethullah Gulen. “J’espère qu’ils
(les electeurs turcs) exerceront leurs droits legaux et democratiques
pour reprendre en main l’avenir de leur pays”, ajoute-t-il en prevision
des elections legislatives de juin prochain.

A la suite d’un scandale de corruption qui l’a eclabousse il y a un
an, M. Erdogan a declenche des purges massives visant des milliers de
policiers, magistrats, hauts fonctionnaires ou journalistes soupconnes
d’etre proches de M. Gulen.

Istanbul, 3 fev 2015 (AFP) –

mercredi 4 fevrier 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com

February 3, 2015

USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian/Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943

The Armenian Genocide’s Legacy, 100 Years on
March 6-7, 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands

The University of Southern California Institute of Armenian Studies
has joined with the Centennial Project Foundation and the Netherlands
Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies to convene a two-day
conference at The Hague Institute for Global Justice, in the
Netherlands, on March 6-7, 2015.

This major interdisciplinary gathering will bring together academics
and professionals from various fields to discuss the impact of the
Genocide. Experts will examine such issues as impunity, sexual
violence, demographics, compensation, memorializing, political
discourse and media approaches.

Keynote speaker, Ronald Suny, Professor Emeritus, University of
Chicago and University of Michigan, will open the conference. He will
be followed by experts in the field of Law (Geoffrey Robertson – QC,
Susan L. Karamanian, Nolwenn Guibert, Sun Kim, Najwa Nabti, Alexis
Demirdjian, Hannibal Travis), historians Ugur Umit Ungor, Jakub Bijak,
Lorne Shirinian, experts in social sciences and humanities (Levon
Chorbajian, Seyhan Bayraktar, Nanor Kebranian, Ayda Erbal, Eugene
Sensenig-Dabbous, Anthonie Holslag), literature, media, education and
journalism scholars Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Lisa Siraganian, Esra
Elmas, Marie-Aude Baronian, Joyce Sahyouni.

Alexis Demirdjian, Director of the Centennial Project Foundation and a
trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, said, “We are pleased to
partner with the University of Southern California Dornsife Institute
of Armenian Studies.
We look forward to a conference that is significant going forward
beyond the centennial.”

Additional information and participants’ bios are available at
Contact details may be
found on the website. The conference is open to the public, free of
charge. Advance registration will open on February 6, 2015.

###

AMERICAN EXPERT: STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF AZERBAIJAN FOR UNITED STATES IS REDUCED

18:41 03/02/2015 >> POLITICS

The strategic importance of Azerbaijan for the United States
is reduced, and the official Baku does not show much interest in
strengthening relations with the United States, Wayne Merry, the Senior
Fellow for Europe and Eurasia at the American Foreign Policy Council,
stated during an interview with the “Voice of America,” Azerbaijani
information agency “Turan” reports.

“From the side it is difficult to characterize the motives of those
who determine the policy in Baku. But the fact is that in recent
months Azerbaijan has more and more refused to show even minimal
respect for the feelings of America and has resorted to such steps
that irritate not only the US government and President Obama, but
also important people in Congress. Maybe in Baku they do not attach
importance to this, because they are always talking about how important
Azerbaijan is, etc. But for such power as the United States discontent
accumulates, and at some point it’s time to “off the account.” The
United States attaches great importance to Azerbaijan as a transit
point in the northern transportation network to Afghanistan.

However, due to the reduction of America’s role in Afghanistan the
role of Azerbaijan is also reducing. Amid growing tensions in the US
relations with Russia, the value of what is happening in the regions
of the Black Sea, the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea is moving to the
background for Washington.

In my opinion, the day will come when the US will see less importance
of Azerbaijan for Washington than it now seems,” the expert noted
answering the question whether there was a link between the crackdowns
on the civil society activists in Azerbaijan and the US-funded
offices in Baku, and the possible reorientation of Baku’s foreign
policy towards rapprochement with Russia.

As a response to the question about the importance of the West for
Azerbaijan, Merry said that the growing oil revenues in Azerbaijan
in recent years have opened the way for large-scale corruption and
corrosion, the article states. On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev and his entourage deal with the internal
situation and increasingly lose their view of the outside world.

“Finally, at the global level Azerbaijan considers itself an extremely
important player, though, in the priorities of the West and the US,
it has no such significance. US should clarify to Azerbaijan that,
in comparison with what was 5-10 years ago, the role of Azerbaijan
in the priorities of America is not so great. The changing energy
market and reduction of America’s military presence in Afghanistan
belittle its role. This trend will probably continue to fall and the
importance of Azerbaijan will fall, too,” he stressed.

The expert also noted that if Azerbaijan wants to withdraw from
a course on authoritarianism based on the power of oil, then yes,
it needs the West. It is for this reason that the West reached out
to Azerbaijan after the collapse of the USSR. But if the political
leaders of Azerbaijan believe that they are so rich and independent
and there is no need to consider the interests of the West and America,
then they can go their own way.

“However, this is a relatively small country caught in the midst
between Iran and Russia, and there may come a time when it will have
a need for strong friends. And then it will turn out that it does
not have such friends,” concluded Merry.

ANCA’S ARAM HAMPARIAN INTERVIEWED BY JOURNALIST ARIS NALCI OF TURKEY’S T24

02/02/2015 ANC-NEWS

Question #1) What is the Armenian lobby in the US?

Hamparian: The Armenian lobby is – at its heart – an American lobby,
driven by US citizens of Armenian heritage and supported by our fellow
citizens who believe that US interests and American values are advanced
by policies that prevent genocide, promote human rights, advance
self-determination, and strengthen bilateral ties with Armenia. The
Armenian Lobby is, conceptually, a concerted effort to leverage our
community’s civic resources, within our democratic system, to align
US policy with shared American and Armenian values.

Question #2) Why are Armenians lobbying? Why is this lobbying needed?

Hamparian: The North Star of the Armenian Lobby is the survival and
long-term viability of the Armenian nation. We provide a 360 degree
defense against regional interests threatening our homeland, while
a the same time building up Armenia and Artsakh.

Question #3) Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Cavusoglu and
others often mention that the Armenian lobby cooperates with the
Gulen movement in US? Is this true? If so, at which levels?

Hamparian: We frequently find ourselves fighting against the Gulen
movement’s anti-Armenian attacks, including their efforts to block
truth and justice for the Armenian Genocide or to oppose freedom
for Karabakh.

Question #4) Do you have contacts and relations with Turkish and
Kurdish politicians? If yes, What are your demands from them?

Hamparian: We have meaningful ties with the HDP, including with
their Washington, DC office. We have a productive discourse on a
broad range of issues, including efforts toward a just resolution –
in Turkey and internationally – for the Armenian Genocide.

Ermeni lobisi yoneticisi: Sýk sýk Gulen hareketinin anti-Ermeni
saldýrýlarýyla karþýlaþýyoruz Ermeni lobisi Turkiye dýþ politikasýnýn
korkulu ruyalarýndan biri.

Belki de en buyuðu. 2015’te Turkiye’nin dýþ politikasýnda attýðý
adýmlara bakýlýrsa da hukumetin en gozde hedeflerinden biri. Son
donemlerde de ‘paralel yapýyla’ baðladýlar iliþkileri.

“Hepimiz Hrant’ýz hepimiz Ermeniyiz” sloganý icin “Bizim milliyetcilik
damarýmýza dokunmasýnlar” diyen Deniz Baykal, AÝHM’ye giden Ermeni
vakýflarý icin “Yargý yolu kapanmýþsa yolunuz AÝHM’dir” diyen
yolsuzluktan ‘temizlenen’ Egemen Baðýþ’ýn her fýrsatta Ermenileri
hedef gosterircesine saldýran Doðu Perincek’in arkasýnda Strazburg’da
sýralarýný almalarý Turkiye’nin de en az diðer lobiler kadar lobiciliði
sevdiðini anlatýyor bir yandan da.

Peki kim bu Ermeni lobisi?

Ne iþ yapar?

Gulen Cemaati ile gercekten de bu kadar icli dýþlý mýdýr?

Sorularýmýzýn cevaplarýný en basit þekilde ve doðrudan ABD’deki
‘Ermeni lobi’si “Armenian National Comitee of America” (ANCA)
yoneticisi Aram Hamparian verdi.

Ermeni lobisi?

Ermeni lobisi deyince akla ilk olarak ‘ocu’ geliyor Turkiye’de.

1960’lardan bugune ic siyasette korkutucu bir oðe olarak kullanýlan
lobiler aslýnda Turkiye’de olmasa da dunyada siyaset yapan/satan
þirketler.

– Ermeni lobisi – adý da ustunde- bir Amerikan lobisidir. Ermeni
mirasýna sahip olan ABD vatandaþlarý tarafýndan yurutulen, Bileþik
Devletler’in ve Amerikan deðerlerinin soykýrýmcý politikalara engel
olmasý, insan haklarýna desteklemesi, oz yonetime sahip cýkmasý ve
Ermenistan’la ikili iliþkilerin kurulmasýný amaclayan bir Amerikan
lobisidir.

Ermeni lobisi, kavramsal olarak, toplumumuzun sivil
kaynaklarýný,demokratik sistemimiz icerisinde, bir kaldýrac olarak
kullanmaya cabalayan, paylaþýlan Amerikan ve Ermeni kulturleri ýþýðýnda
ABD siyasetine yon vermeye calýþan bir kurum Ermeniler neden lobi
yapýyor? Neden gerekli?

– Ermeni lobisinin Kuzey Yýldýzý, Ermeni ulusunun uzun vadede
hayatta kalmasýný ve yaþayabilirliðini artýrmak. Anayurdumuzu
cevreleyen bolgesel tehditlerle ilgili 360 derece savunma ihtiyacýný
karþýlýyoruz. Ayný zamanda da Ermenistan ve Artsakh’ta (Daðlýk Karabað)
gelecek inþâsýný destekliyoruz.

Dýþiþleri Bakaný Mevlut Cavuþoðlu ve bircok Turkiyeli siyasetci Ermeni
lobilerinin Gulen hareketi ile baðlantýsý uzerine vurgu yapýyor sýk
sýk. Bu konuda ne duþunuyorsunuz? Baðlantýnýz var mý? Varsa hangi
boyutta?

– Sýk sýk kendimizi Gulen Hareketi’nin anti-Ermeni saldýrýlarýyla
karþýlaþýyoruz.

Ermeni soykýrýmý konusunda adaletin saðlanmasýna engel olmak ve
Karabað’ýn baðýmsýzlýðýna karþý cýktýklarý zamanlarda ozellikle.

Turk ve Kurt siyasetcilerle goruþuyor musunuz?

– HDP ile, Ermeni soykýrýmý ile ilgili konularda ve onlarýn cabalarý
ile ilgili uretken bir soylem icerisinde bazý konularda temasýmýz var.

Aris Nalcý

L’ARMENIE DEFEND L’UTILISATION DE > CONTRE LES FORCES AZERIES

ARMENIE

Les autorites militaires a Erevan ont reconnu la prestation de
“frappes preventives” et d’infliger des “nombreuses” victimes aux
forces azerbaïdjanaises recemment en tant que mesures de retorsion
visant a lutter contre l’agression de l’ennemi.

Le porte-parole du ministère armenien de la Defense Artsrun
Hovhannisyan a blâme les commandants militaires en Azerbaïdjan pour
la mort de plus de 15 militaires azeris qui ont ete tues dans ces
attaques.

L’Armenie et le Haut-Karabagh ont longtemps accuse l’Azerbaïdjan de
declencher une agression contre leurs forces, menacant de prendre des
mesures preventives pour arreter les violations du cessez-le-feu et
les incursions transfrontalières des unites de commandos azeris.

Dans un post sur Facebook Artsrun Hovhannisyan a exprime ses
condoleances aux familles des militaires azerbaïdjanais tues qui,
a-t-il dit, “sont tombes en victime des aventures de la part des
autorites azerbaïdjanaises.”

S’adressant aux membres superieurs des Forces armees armeniennes le
meme jour, le president Serge Sarkissian a egalement defendu le droit
de l’Armenie a faire des frappes preventives.

“Cela a ete et sera la retribution pour chaque incident contre nous.

Jusqu’a recemment nos mesures de retorsion etaient symetriques
en forme et asymetrique en termes de nombre de pertes infligees a
l’adversaire. A partir de maintenant des mesures de retorsion sous la
forme asymetrique peuvent egalement avoir lieu >>, a declare Sarkissian
lors d’un evenement tenu au ministère de la Defense a l’occasion du
23e anniversaire de la formation des forces armees armeniennes.

“Les tetes chaudes [en Azerbaïdjan] doivent s’attendre a de
nombreuses surprises. En outre, il y a une plus grande accumulation
[des forces] a nos frontières et le long de la ligne de contact
[avec le Haut-Karabagh] ce qui pose une menace pour nous, nous nous
reservons le droit de livrer des frappes preventives “.

mardi 3 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ECONOMIST SAYS SMALL BUSINESSES SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN OPTIONS FOR PAYING TURNOVER TAX

YEREVAN, February 3. / ARKA /. Small and medium businesses in Armenia
could be allowed to choose between paying a 1 percent turnover tax
and providing tax authorities with documentary evidence of their
wholesale purchase deals with suppliers or a 3.5 percent turnover
tax without providing evidence, economist Vilen Khachatryan said today.

The government-designed law on turnover tax was revised last year
lowering the turnover tax for vendors with annual sales of up to 58
million drams ($125,000) from 3.5 percent to 1 percent, but small
business owners were to provide tax authorities with documentary
evidence of their wholesale purchase deals with larger firms or face
heavy fines.

The government argues the change is meant to crack down on tax
evasion by big business, but vendors say they cannot comply with this
requirement because their suppliers usually refuse to provide them
with receipts and invoices.

The revised law was to come into force in 2014 October but after a
series of demonstrations staged by vendors in September and October
the government was forced to postpone its enforcement until February
“This is one of the possible options -to make concessions and to
maintain the principle of voluntariness,” Khachatryan said in an
interview with Sputnik-Armenia radio station”.

He said the enforcement of the law turnover tax will again be postponed
for some time by the government that will attempt to find a solution –
either through concessions or offering an alternative option.

After fresh protests this year by owners of small businesses
prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with protesters last Friday
and reportedly agreed to postpone the enforcement of the law until
July 1.-0-

EXPERT: THE LINK USA-TURKEY-ISRAEL IS THE KEY THREAT TO ARMENIA’S SECURITY

by Ashot Safaryan

Tuesday, February 3, 16:57

The link USA-Turkey-Israel is the key threat to Armenia’s
security, political expert, Sergey Shakaryants, said at today’s
press-conference. He also added that just the above mentioned “three”
is trying at present at any cost to level significance and influence of
the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

‘And the statement by Israel’s foreign minister, that Israel does
not recognize the Armenian genocide, was not accidental. If Tel-Aviv
makes such sharp anti-Armenian statements, it expresses not only its
own position, but also the position of its key sponsor and strategical
partner – Washington. These two countries are not going to recognize
the genocide, as it is not beneficial to them”, – Shakaryants said.

He also added that he will not be surprised if the leadership of
the USA as well as the leaders of the other Western countries will
not arrive in Armenia to take part in the memorial events, but will
visit Turkey to celebrate the so-called “Gallipoli victory”.

The expert thinks that the rumors on worsening of relations between
Tel-Aviv and Ankara are a myth, as a true level and quality of
relations is determined not by the diplomatic rhetoric, but economic
cooperation. “Look, what huge investments Israel is making in the
Turkish economy, agriculture, defense industry and many other key
sectors. Against the background of such a close cooperation, all
the rest political statements simply lose their relevance”, – the
expert said.

To recall, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide will be
marked on 24 April 2015. Official Ankara does not recognize the
genocide which was recognized in 24 countries of the world. There
are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey and the 330
km long border between these countries has been shut down since 1993
according to Ankara’s initiative.