Author: Kalantarian Kevo

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER: INCIDENT IN HARSNAKAR RESTAURANT HAS PROVED ONCE AGAIN THAT THE JUDICIARY IN ARMENIA IS IN A DEPLORABLE STATE

arminfo
Tuesday, August 28, 11:32

The incident in Harsnakar restaurant has proved once again that the
judiciary in Armenia is in a deplorable state, Larisa Alaverdyan,
member of the Vahe Avetyan public movement, former human rights
defender of Armenia, told journalists on Monday.

She believes that privy to the murder of Vahe Avetyan (a military
doctor who was beaten in Harsnakar restaurant June 17 and died in
hospital 12 days later) are the same people who killed peaceful
demonstrators on Mar 1 2008.

“This is one more unpunished crime committed by our oligarchs and
their accomplices. And now they are doing their best to cover up
their tracks,” Alaverdyan said.

Lawyer of Avetyan’s family Tigran Yegoryan said that all of their
petitions have been declined. “We have asked the investigation
authorities to organize a repeated forensic medical examination
by chief neurosurgeons from all over Armenia so as to prove that
Avetyan’s injuries were fatal, but our petition has been declined,”
the lawyer said.

He added that five of the six suspects are security guards of Ruben
Hayrapetyan, the owner of Harsnakar. “We believe that this is an
enough ground for bringing Hayrapetyan to court,” Yegoryan said.

Alaverdyan and Yegoryan urged the population to create a public
tribunal and to express their opinion on the Harsnakar case.

ARMENIA PRESENTS FREE ECONOMIC ZONES TO ITALY

Vestnik Kavkaza
Aug 28 2012
Russia

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan has met Italian Deputy
Foreign Minister Marta Dassu and discussed bilateral relations,
Armenia Today reports.

Armenia and Italy will hold a joint business forum in September
2012 and formed a joint trade chamber this year. The two states have
agreements on forming an intergovernmental commission.

Sargsyan presented free economic zones to Dassu and invited Italian
companies developing modern technologies and innovations.

Dassu brought regards of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. She
expressed interest in improving relations with Armenia. The deputy
foreign minister noted the importance of the visit of Italian defense
minister to Armenia in October.

She added that Italian companies were interested in Armenian
infrastructure projects, digital television and road construction.

Dassu offered support in European integration of Armenia.

The sides discussed cooperation in textile industry, tourism, small
and medium business, agriculture and astrophysics.

TJSL PROFESSOR LECTURES ALONG EUROPEAN-ASIA BORDER

San Diego Source

Aug 28 2012
CA

Thomas Jefferson School of Law Professor William Slomanson, the
author of a widely used casebook on international law, traveled
this month to several countries along the East European/Southwest
Asian border known as the South Caucasus, lecturing on the topic of
“Remedial Secession in South Caucasus.”

Accompanied by TJSL Professor Chris Guzelian and third-year TJSL law
student Mike Pehlevanian, both of Armenian descent, Slomanson also
met with national dignitaries in the Armenian-held Nagorno Karabakh
enclave inside Azerbaijan.

The South Caucasus region remains one of the most complicated in the
post-Soviet area, and comprises three heavily disputed areas: Abkhazia
and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

Several wars, including the 2008 South Ossetia war, Ossetian-Georgian
conflict and the Nagorno-Karabakh war have been waged in this region,
which for centuries has experienced political, military, religious
and cultural rivalries.

The specific focus of Slomanson’s talks was the three South Caucasus
unilateral secessions, announced by South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Nagorno-Karabakh.

TURKISH OFFICIALS OPPOSE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT IN PASADENA

Pasadena Star News

Aug 28 2012
CA

PASADENA — A Turkish deputy consul general visited Pasadena City
Hall earlier this month to convey concern about a planned Armenian
Genocide Memorial in a city park.

The Pasadena Armenian American Coalition announced in April that the
community is raising funds and working with an architect to erect a
monument in Memorial Park in time for the 100th anniversary of the
genocide in 2015.

Some 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed from 1915
through 1923 in what was then the Ottoman Empire. California is among
43 states that formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide.

A prepared statement by the Consulate General of Turkey in Los
Angeles said the proposed monument “deeply offends” the Turkish people
and the Turkish American community in Pasadena and the greater Los
Angeles area.

“Our Consulate General (in Los Angeles) got in contact with Pasadena
City authorities to convey the message that the events of 1915 is
a highly debated issue by academics, historians and Turkish and
Armenian communities,” the Consulate General of Turkey said in a
prepared statement to the Star-News.

“It is clear that adapting (sic) one side’s approach and erecting a
`genocide memorial’ without paying attention to the other’s will
actually damage the ongoing efforts for a just solution to the issue
and the hope for establishing the suitable conditions for current
and future generations to live together friendly.”

While most historians assert that the mass killings of Armenians
that started in 1915 was the 20th century’s first genocide, Turkey –
a strong U.S. ally – has long denied there was a systematic campaign
to kill Armenians.

Attorney and former Mayor William Paparian, speaking on behalf of the
Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, said he considered the
recent visit of Deputy Turkish Consul General Arif Celik to City Hall
“a diplomatic intrusion by the Turkish government.”

For more than 30 years, the City Council has issued an annual
proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 24, amended
its Affirmative Action ordinance to make Armenian-Americans a protected
class and even has a sister city in Armenia, he said.

“The proposed Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial will have to
fulfill the strict requirements of the City of Pasadena in order to
win approval,” Paparian said in a statement. “No foreign government
should be allowed to intervene in that process.”

TURKEY SLAMS FRANCE FOR PROMOTING HATE SPEECH WITH GENOCIDE INITIATIVE

Today’s Zaman

Aug 27 2012
Turkey

The chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s powerful education committee
has accused the French government of planting the seeds of hate with
its move to include the so-called “Armenian genocide” in history and
geography books used in French secondary schools.

Nabi Avcı, chairman of the National Education, Culture, Youth and
Sports Commission, told Today’s Zaman in a phone interview on Monday
that “the erosion of French culture and moving to the radical right in
French politics that started with [former president Nicolas] Sarkozy
continues to have a negative impact on the French education system.”

“I just hope that sensible French intellectuals will raise their
voices against this kind of provocative move that will plant seeds
of hate into minds of young people in France,” he added.

A Turkish daily reported on Sunday that the French Education Ministry
has decided to include chapters about the so-called “Armenian genocide”
in history and geography books used in French secondary schools —
a move that could once again upset relations with Turkey, which
was hopeful about rebuilding strained ties with Paris following the
election of the new president, Francois Hollande.

French students studying world history since 1910 will also read
a chapter called “The Armenian Genocide.” Hollande said last month
that he will stand by a campaign pledge to make it illegal to deny
that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide.

Relations between Paris and Ankara had begun to thaw after a decision
in February by France’s constitutional court to strike down the
genocide denial law as contrary to free speech.

Turkey had canceled all economic, political and military meetings with
France in December after the French parliament voted in favor of the
draft law. At a joint news conference early in July, French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius said the law was unlikely to be resurrected
and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hailed the opening of
a warmer phase in relations with France.

Armenia, backed by many historians, says that about 1.5 million
Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War
I in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

Turkey says there was heavy loss of life on both sides during the
fighting, in which Armenian partisans supported invading Russian
forces. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after the war. Successive Turkish
governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide
is an insult to their nation.

Turkey hoped Hollande’s election might mean France is more open to its
joining the European Union than under his conservative predecessor
Sarkozy, but has so far received no public support for its EU bid
from Paris.

History-Geography Teachers Council Secretary-General Hubert Tison
has said the chapter in the textbooks is devoted to giving detailed
information on the so-called “Armenian genocide.”

Tison criticized as “redundant” the inclusion of the chapter, which
will explain in detail the genocide, ethnic structure of the Ottoman
Empire, rule of Talat Pasha and policies of nationalist Turks and
purported exiles. The chapter will also include the numbers of
Armenians who were killed, exiled or sent to death.

Turkish Education Ministry officials said they will first need to
examine the book and see if it includes phrases that incriminate
Turkey and they will respond in line with international law through
diplomatic channels. The officials said both countries earlier
established commissions composed of experts to remove discriminatory
phrases in textbooks and accused the French government of making what
they said is a “politically motivated” move.

MUSIQUE CLASSIQUE-PIANO
Le duo Darius Milhaud des s`urs Anaït et Arminé Sogomonyan a enchanté
le public de l’Abbaye de Beauport (Bretagne)

Lundi 2O août, dans le cadre du 13ème festival des Chapelles et
Manoirs en musique, l’association paimpolaise des amis de la culture
(APAC) organisait dans la salle comble du Duc de l’abbaye de Beauport
(Paimpol-Bretagne), le concert Le duo Darius Milhaud, composée de deux
pianistes d’origine arménienne Anaït et Arminé Sogomonyan.

Le duo Darius Milhaud des s`urs Anaït et Arminé Sogomonyan à l’Abbaye
de BeauportFace à la prestation magistrale de ces deux pianistes
originaires d’Arménie (l’une vivant en France, l’autre à Erévan), le
public réserva une très large ovation. « Salle comble pour le duo
Darius Mihaud, un triomphe » titrait le journal « Ouest-France » daté
du 24 août. « Deux pianos, quatre mains… Le concert de ce soir, qui
clôture la 13ème édition du festival « Chapelles et manoirs en musique
», s’annonce inédit. « Nous avons déjà accueilli des concerts de piano
à quatre mains, mais c’est la première fois en 40 ans que nous
présentons un concert de deux pianos : cela s’annonce spectaculaire »
affirmait Jacques Guivarc’h, président de l’association paimpolaise
des amis de la culture (APAC) peu avant le concert des deux s`urs.

« Ouest-France » écrivait qu’Arminé Sogomonyan et Anaït Serekian (née
Sogomonyan) les deux artistes, « ont été formées à la prestigieuse
Ecole russe de piano, qui figure parmi les plus réputées au monde ».
Anaît et Arminé Sogomonyan du duo Darius Milhaud ont joué à merveille,
notamment Les Préludes de Liszt et les Valses de Schubert dans la
magnifique Abbaye de Beauport (rendue célèbre par l’émission « Des
Racines et des Ailes »). Rappelons que le concert était produit par
Artmania Productions gérée par Patrick Trebor qui ne ménage pas ses
efforts pour la promotion de musiciens d’Arménie sur les scènes
françaises et qui participera prochainement à un Festival de musique à
Erévan.

Pour en savoir plus :

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 26 août 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

German-Armenian Boxer Crowned New World Super Middlweight Champion

Posted by Weekly Staff on August 25, 2012
Armenian Weekly

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Germany’s Arthur Abraham (born Avetik Abrahamyan
in
Yerevan) is the new world WBO super middleweight champion after his
unanimous win over compatriot Robert Stieglitz on Aug. 25.

German Armenian Boxer Crowned New World Super Middlweight Champion]

Arthur Abraham from Germany celebrates after defeating Robert Stieglitz
after their WBO title bout at the O2 Arena in Berlin. Abraham is the new
world WBO super middleweight champion after his unanimous win over
Stieglitz. (AFP Photo/John Macdougall)

Abraham, 32, who defended his IBF middleweight title 10 times between 2005
and 2009, is now the world champion at the heavier weight after the judges
scored the fight 116-112, 116-112, 115-113.

`This is an emotional moment for me and it’s hard to describe how I feel,’
said Abraham.

`I always wanted to be the middleweight world champion and now I am the
super middlweight champion too.’

`I trained hard for this and I had to box cleverly against such a good
champion.’

Having held the title for three years, Stieglitz was well beaten with heavy
bruising and cuts around both eyes at the end of the punishing title bout,
while Abraham was left relatively unmarked.

Abraham lived up to his `King Arthur’ moniker and the new champion now
has
a record of 27 knock-outs in 35 wins and three defeats.

Having labored to a points win over Piotr Wilczewski to defend his
European WBO title in March, Abraham was back to his best fighting for
the world title.

Abraham started the stronger of the pair, but the champion twice pinned the
challenger to the ropes in the second and started to exert his authority.

Stieglitz raised the tempo in the third and Abraham fell clearly behind on
points going into the fourth, but responded with some body-head
combinations, and one sharp hook left Stieglitz with swelling above his
left eye.

By the fifth, Stieglitz’s face was marking noticeably while Abraham started
to let his guard drop to lure the champion as he landed some punishing
shots.

Stieglitz put together some good combinations in the 7th round and kept up
his impressive work-rate, despite a cut above his right eye needing the
attention of the ring doctor in the 10th.

Abraham raised his fists to the Berlin crowd in early celebration
before the start of the 12th, and finished clearly ahead on points as
Stieglitz, 31, suffered the third defeat of his career in his 45th
fight.

Germany’s WBA super-middleweight and IBF middleweight title-holder Felix
Sturm, who fights next Saturday against Australia’s Daniel Geale, has said
he will fight the winner of Saturday’s bout.

Lurer.com, Armenia
Aug 25 2012

PM instructs to combat shadow economy

2012-08-25 17:15:20

Armenia’s PM Tigran Sargsyan chaired a consultation meeting devoted to
the country’s healthcare sector, Government’s official website
informs. PM Sargsyan noted: `We need to understand as to why the
economic growth in this sector reduced by 4.4%, as compared with the
same time period last year, even though we took very serious measures
in the healthcare sector. I believe there is one explanation here:
shadow economy has grown.’

The PM instructed Health Minister Derenik Dumanyan to launch a
monitoring system within his ministry, and to demand respective
monthly reports from Armenia’s 466 medical facilities. In his turn,
State Revenue Committee Chairman Gagik Khachatryan proposed to carry
out, jointly with the Health Ministry, precise programs to combat
shadow economy. Also, the PM stressed that the results of inspections
at the medical facilities will be finalized in September, and he
called upon the Health Minister to implement urgent personnel changes
in case of facing any obstacles.

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire, Russia
August 24, 2012 Friday 5:44 PM EET

Russia’s Rosagroleasing could open branch in Armenia soon

MOSCOW Aug 24

Russian state-controlled agricultural leasing company Rosagroleasing
can open a representative office in Armenia in the near future,
Armenian Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan said Friday, as cited
by RIA Novosti.

Rosagroleasing’s representative office would be in charge of
allocating agricultural machinery to farmers under leasing at
beneficial terms and for consultations on the creation of
cooperatives, Karapetyan also said.

Karapetyan said that Rosagroleasing has significant potential to
carrying out large investments in Armenia’s agriculture industry.

The Armenian Agriculture Ministry plans to establish about 20
cooperatives – in various fields of the agriculture industry – by the
end of 2012. There are currently 39 cattle cooperatives in Armenia,
according to Karapetyan.

Rosagroleasing was established in February 2001. The company’s charter
capital stands at 78.823 billion rubles.

(31.6830 rubles – U.S. $1)

Why does Azerbaijan need Hungarian stocks

13:55 25/08/2012 » Daily press

`Golos Armenii’ has published a material with the following title,
`Why does Azerbaijan need Hungarian stocks?’ which reads:

Azerbaijan is looking to buy Hungarian government bonds of 2 to 3 year
maturity, on a scale of EUR 2 to 3 billion, Hungarian weekly FigyelÅ`
learned from an Economy Ministry source.

The currency of the debt and issue is not clear from the article; the
bonds would be probably denominated in Azerbaijani manat. Turkey might
also involved in the deal but most likely in an intermediary role
only. The issue is seen as delivering benefits to both Hungary and
Azerbaijan. Importantly, the transaction might possibly precede an
agreement between Hungary and the EU/IMF, something that could create
uncertainty among Western investors as to whether Hungary’s government
is genuinely committed to reaching a deal with the international
organizations.

Source: Panorama.am