Author: Kalantarian Kevo

SITUATION IN THE ARMENIAN DISTRICTS OF DAMASCUS IS QUIET

Mediamax
Aug 1 2012
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Situation in the Christian districts of Damascus
is quiet, there are no armed clashes there.

Representative of the Armenian community of Damascus, member of the
Union of Arab Writers Nora Arisyan told this Mediamax’s correspondent.

She denied the information of a number of media outlets according to
which there are currently clashes in the Christian districts of Bab
Touma and Bab Shark of the capital.

“That’s not true. There are no clashes in these districts which are
mainly inhabited by Armenians”, said Nora Arisyan.

She also said that the Armenian churches located in the districts
are not currently threatened.

EASTERN ARMENIAN CLASSES FOR SYRIAN-ARMENIANS

tert.am
31.07.12

The Ministry of Diaspora, in collaboration with the General Education
Department of the Yerevan City Hall, has launched classes of Eastern
Armenian for young compatriots from Syria.

According to the Ministry’s press office, the first group (involving
10 children) commenced its lessons on Monday.

The classes are organized at Yerevan’s St. Shahumyan school every
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

They are run by Susanna Abazyan, an experienced Armenian language
and literature teacher and researcher and a senior instructor at the
Yerevan State Linguistic University.

The classes for the second group will open in August.

Potential participants are reuested to apply to the Ministry’s
Pan-Armenian Programs Department or call +37410 585601 117.

RUBEN SAFRASTYAN: BASHAR ASSAD PLAYS KURDISH CARD AGAINST TURKEY
by David Stepanyan

arminfo
Tuesday, July 31, 16:56

ArmInfo’s interview with Ruben Safrastyan, Ph.D, Director of the
Institute of Oriental Studies, Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

What are the key internal and external factors that have the current
instability in Syria?

This instability certainly has internal reasons. Over the last
decades, a middle-class has emerged in Syria, which is, naturally,
discontented at concentration of economy in the hands of the family
of the Assads. There is also certain discontent at the level of
political freedoms in the country. All these are objective reasons
and the many thousand strong demonstrations in Syria since the spring
of the last year stemmed from those very reasons. At a certain stage
external forces joined those protest actions and began to manipulate
on inability of Assad’s government to carry out economic and political
reforms to reduce the domestic discontent. Eventually, those external
forces began to openly seek to overthrow Assad’s power. Therefore,
analyzing the reasons of the current chaos in Syria, one should not
neglect the objective reasons of that. Together with the desire of
external forces to overthrow Assad those objective reasons have led
to the present-day situation in Syria. Nevertheless, Assad’s power
is still enlisting support of the population of Syria, while the
opposition is quite patchy.

If Assad is overthrown, who will replace him, can it be the Muslim
Brotherhood?

Speaking of Asad’s replacement by Muslim Brotherhood is untimely in the
light of certain balance of forces of the opposition and authorities
in Syria, which implies rather a long fight.

You mean that the scale of the Syrian events is being exaggerated?

Yes. Bashar Assad is still controlling the situation. But should
it continue for a long time, the Syrian President may be overthrown
or even annihilated. I expect that there will be some intermediary
period when the key actors will be Assad and the opposition. If this
happens, the political system of the post-Assad Syria will embrace
all major forces: the Muslim Brotherhood, the Liberals, Ba’ath and
Al Qaeda-related forces.

Why is the United States willing to replace predictable Europe-oriented
Assad by unpredictable Islamists?

The key reason why the United States is so eager to replace predictable
Europe-oriented Assad by unpredictable Islamists is that Assad’s Syria
is partner to Iran and Russia. Consequently, Assad’s overthrow will
weaken those countries’ positions in the Middle East.

The other reason is that the Americans are willing to improve their
relations with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Kurds living in the north of the country have faced no resistance
to their attempt to gain control over the region. Is Assad weak or
is he shrewd?

Assad made another tactical step withdrawing the Syrian army from the
northwestern regions of Syria and opening the Syrian border with Iraq
and Turkey. Hence, Assad plays the Kurdish card against Turkey. On
the other hand, the Kurdish organizations in the territory of Syria
have rather close ties with the Iraqi Kurdistan led by Barzani. By the
way, the Kurdish population is not very large – nearly 1.5 million,
which is less then 10% of the 20 million population of Syria.

Those organizations strive to create autonomy as part of Syria so
far and may seek independence in future.

Turkey was very much worried to know that the north-western part of
Syria had been seized by the Kurds. What consequences the appearance
of Syrian Kurdistan may have for Turkey?

It is a very serious threat to Turkey, which will find itself in a
nightmare if another Kurdish quasi-country appears on its border. In
the meanwhile, there are Kurdish PKK fighters operating against Turkey
from inside Syria. The example of the Iraqi Kurdistan where PKK camps
are located confirms that after withdrawal of Syrian troops from
the Turkish-Syrian border, PKK fighters will get an opportunity to
easily penetrate into the territory of Turkey from Syria and double
the capacity of PKK in the fight against Turks. PKK had camps in
Syria yet before that, but starting 90s president of Syria closed his
country for the Kurdish fighters thanks to cooperation of the Turkish
AKP and Assad’s Baas Party. Now, due to the tough stance of Ankara,
Assad has again given the go-ahead for the PKK’s fight against Turkey
from inside Syria. Thus, it was a very rash decision from the Turkish
government to oppose Assad. I am disposed to think that Ankara’s
policy towards Syria is “adventurous”. That policy is not based
on the current geopolitical and political situation. Consequently,
Ankara’s attempt to gain weight in the region is adventurous. This
has not only intensified the Kurdish factor, but also began to arouse
discontent of the West and the USA, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and
other Arab states. All these actors believe that it does not behoove
Turkey to play too big role in the developments in the Arab world.

Can Turkey come out of the deadlock it has put itself in by starting
the military expansion of the north-western Syria?

That issue has been discussed in Turkey for long. There were
suggestions to create a buffer zone on the border with Syria, or
humanitarian corridors in the territory of Syria. In both cases, they
were suggesting to use the Turkish army in the territory of Syria
against the government troops. However, over the last few months,
Turkey has been displaying rather a restrained policy in the given
issue due to the discontent of the USA and Arab states at Ankara’s
agility. In addition, there are forces opposing Turkey’s military
intervention in Syria also inside Turkey e.g. Turkish Armed Forces
General Staff. But situation is changing very rapidly and the position
of Turkey as well. Now, that country bursts to Syria under pretext of
neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons. So far, one cannot fully rule
out Turkey’s attempts to take preventive measures against Syria under
pretence of striking the PKK camps in the territory of Syria. Thus,
Turkey has at least two pretexts for military intervention in Syria

Will Russia, China and Iran be consistent in defending Assad?

The role of Russia and China in all this is also significant. These
countries are the key factor preventing military intervention in Syria
in case of relevant voting at the UN Security Council. Obviously,
the West and some Arab countries will receive no right to interfere
with the situation in Syria on some pretext of other.

If the Syrian regime falls, Iran will find itself surrounded by
unfriendly regimes. Can this mean an end to the rule of ayatollahs
in Iran?

The U.S. contributes to exacerbating the situation in Syria mainly
to overthrow the power of Ayatollahs. Therefore, I think, possible
overthrow of Syria will greatly help isolating Iran. For that purpose,
other tactical and strategic mechanisms will be used as well. The
major goal of the current information war against Iran is to create
relevant conditions for a change of power in Iran through weakening
it. Washington will hardly dare to intervene in Iran unless there is
a direct threat of accretion of nuclear weapons by Iran.

The key pretext for the American invasion of Iraq was also the search
for a nuclear weapon. But they did not find anything, did they?

Iran is not Iraq and plays a tangible geopolitical role as a regional
superpower. Tehran makes independent foreign political decisions,
and the USA is not happy about that, indeed.

IRANIAN GENERAL: REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN HAS TURNED INTO REGIONAL TERRORISM CENTER

Panorama.am
31/07/2012

The Republic of Azerbaijan has turned into a center for regional
terrorism and Western intelligence, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC) Deputy Commander for Political Affairs, Ali Ashraf Nour was
quoted by Arannews.ir as saying.

Touching upon Israel-Azerbaijan and West-Azerbaijan ties, the Iranian
general noted that Tehran will never allow the corrupt authorities
to endanger Iran’s interests.

Read also: Iranian media outlet concerned about Azerbaijan funding
terrorists

WHY BE PRESIDENT AND NOT EARN BILLION IN 10 DAYS?
Siranuysh Papyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 17:57:48 – 31/07/2012

Interview with Armen Hovhanisyan, blogger

Armen, recent developments relating to the mayor of Gyumri are
perceived by many as signs of the collapse of the system. Do you have
such an impression?

I agree that the system is moving towards sunset, while the case of
Vardan Ghukasyan must be evaluated clearly. There is an unwritten
rule: wherever the opposition or the PAP won in the latest elections,
the head of the municipality changes. See the example of the head
of Nor Nork community. 99 out of 100 obey the internal oligarchic
consensus-based discipline and move on. As to Gyumri, I know well,
also from my relatives who live there, that Vardanik has always
perceived himself as a head of the Russian colony, a man of straw,
and for him the capital is Moscow, not Yerevan. The reason of his riot
is that some Yerevan which is to him a provincial town of an empire,
is trying to remove Moscow’s man. He may be right because if we want
to imagine what will happen after full colonization of Armenia by
Russia, we should live in Gyumri for a week. The air there is stale
and foul, there is a shortage of positive national aspirations,
customs and traditions are too imposing, the law is not observed,
and Gyumri is a city with a negative atmosphere.

Does the RPA surrender in all those places where the PAP won?

No, other Republicans were appointed in all those places. The question
occurs why Vardan Ghukasyan is not reappointed. It is possible that
the PAP is a perceived pro-Russian force and this border city must
be ruled by a pro-Russian force.

There is a different reality along with the reality of these
politicians. The citizens take initiatives. What will be the final
result?

All the victories of the civil movements are mere fragmental battles
which were won or lost. These fragmental battles will continue
unless Armenia establishes constitutional order, the rule of law,
a civil state. But the civil forces must feel their potential and
self-organize to establish constitutional rule in Armenia because
all the problems come from the absence of a state. The Republic of
Armenia is not a state, it is an enterprise, an LLC which generates
profits for its shareholders at the expense of the population. It is
necessary to build a state.

Armen, our society is multi-layered, how can the society be brought
together on this issue when we know that if the issue is put forth,
not enough people may follow it up.

Earlier I came to a conclusion. The initiative against reopening
foreign language schools first put forth local issues, then the
amplitude was broadened. Some people understood that this is a systemic
issue, and the lack of a state enables to sell the education system
by auction. I think many people must pass this way. The core which
is often seen during different actions must understand this, and as
soon as there is understanding, we will achieve something.

Do you see change of system by way of change of government or is it
possible to have this government work to achieve change?

The meaning of a civil movement is to fight for the mechanism of
control, not for government or against a person. So, from the point of
view of a civil movement it makes no difference whether Serzh Sargsyan
is the president or the shoemaker. He must carry out some actions and
be controllable. But the issue is that the ruling class is not ready
to be controllable and is not ready to work in this manner. These
conditions are not acceptable to them because it is tough to make a
profit in these conditions, and it is meaningless to be at the top
of government.

Believe me, as soon as constitutional rule is established, and the
officials do not undergo repression, and they feel free to join that
life, most of our prominent figures would not run in the elections.

“Why become president and not earn a billion in 10 days?” they
will think.

Gagik Tsarukyan says he does not care for his property and he cares
for change and welfare in the country.

The society calls every leader, every official, gives some money and
an assignment. There will be no real change unless it is done this way.

The worst thing in this whirl is depopulation of Armenia. Armenia is
being emptied. I don’t want to cause a panic but it is a fact to face.

Go see the indices, our country is losing its population. It is
possible that Serzh Sargsyan also wants welfare but the mechanisms of
his vision are not advisable in this situation. Some communist leaders
of Eastern Europe understood this in much tougher situations and
retrieved their country from that plight. Will our leaders understand,
it will be OK, if not, there are other options…

However, the experience of these years shows that they will hardly
follow other tracks.

When only those people are left in Armenia who do not leave because
they cannot afford a ticket or they do not know where they could go,
everything will be possible. We are getting closer to that line, this
will be a hungry riot which is absolutely destructive, and something
terrible may happen. As long as there is a community which is ready
for a positive riot, this community must be pushed forward. Soon only
people may be left who know that something is wrong in the world but
do not know what exactly.

What mechanisms, norms, form of governance will come to replace
the oligarchy?

There is a principle which cannot be discussed. The RA has a state,
independence, I deny any form of federation with any country because
it will exist at the expense of the interests of future generations,
I deny territorial concessions, no friendship with any neighboring
country at the expense of our historical rights. But it does not
mean that we must wage a war. We must follow our interest. Equal
constitutional rule and rights for everyone. Garegin Nezhdeh said
“everyone is equal before death and law”. As to the rest, the laws
must be passed by representatives elected in free elections, the
principles must always be at the basis. This is the only way out.

EXPERT PREDICTS 25 PERCENT DROP IN ARMENIAN WHEAT OUTPUT

/ARKA/
31 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, July 31. /ARKA/. An expert in agriculture predicted today a
20-25 percent drop in this year’s Armenian wheat output saying one of
the reasons was that elite wheat seeds brought in by the government
from Russia and distributed to farmers appeared to mismatch with
local climatic conditions.

Speaking at a news conference, Hrachya Berberian, who is chairman
of a non-governmental organization called Association of Farmers,
said because of low wheat spike farmers can not use harvesters on
around 8,000 hectares of land under wheat.

He further argued that before importing thousands of tons of Russian
wheat seeds the authorities should have tested it for three years in
Armenia, which was not done.

“It was a professional error, and the ‘perpetrators’ must be punished,”
said Berberian, calling for setting up an ad hoc commission that
must include also farmers who have appeared in a hopeless situation
to make an inquiry into this problem.

He also said that his organization has asked the president to help
exempt farmers from paying for irrigation water, and provide them
with free seeds next year.

Earlier, agriculture minister Sergo Karapetyan said the government
expected that by 2014 the country would achieve self-sufficiency in
grain and abandon imports. Officials said at that time that Armenian
farmers should be able to meet more than half of the demand already in
2013, when domestic wheat production was expected to rise to 350,000
tons. According to official data, grain output last year was 35%
higher than in 2010 securing a 39 percent self-sufficiency.

Armenia annually consumes up to 650,000 tons of food grains and relies
on import for nearly two thirds of its grain consumption.

DIASPORA-ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS VISIT UN

news.am
July 31, 2012 | 14:57

YEREVAN. – This is the third year that Armenia’s diplomatic
representation at the United Nations (UN) is conducting a special
summer internship for the Diaspora-Armenian university students.

The objective of this internship is to familiarize the Armenian
graduate-year students from the universities of a variety of countries
with Armenia’s priorities in the UN, the Armenian delegations’
activities, UN programs in Armenia, and the activities of the
organization’s primary agencies.

By way of the lectures delivered by Armenia’s Ambassador to UN, Karen
Nazaryan, and the practical courses, these interns are acquiring a
better understanding of urgent international matters, are preparing
reports, visiting the UN and attending the sessions of its bodies,
and meeting with UN Secretariat representatives and foreign diplomatic
mission chiefs, Armenian MFA press service informs.

The summer internship also includes visits to vastly-Armenian-populated
centers of the US East Coast, and meetings with representatives from
the local Armenian community.

This year’s interns were from the US, Canada, Great Britain, and
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

YEREVAN COURT REJECTS SLANDER SUIT FILED BY “WORD OF LIFE”
Tatevik Shaljyan

hetq
17:36, July 31, 2012

A Yerevan court today rejected the slander suit filed by the Word of
Life religious organization against the newspaper Iravunk.

The presiding judge has ordered that the religious group and its
president each pay the newspaper 150,000 AMD for incurred legal fees.

Word of Life had sued the paper for an article that appeared last
October showing a collage of photos implicating the organization in a
sex scandal involving a well-known Armenian show business personality
who is said to be a member.

Word of Life argued that the article is libelous and defamatory and
that it incites religious hatred. It wants the newspaper to retract
the article and publish an apology on the front page. The attorney
for the group had maintained that the word “sect” was defamatory.

As to financial compensation, the organization was seeking 8,000 AMD
it has spent for various court fees and 15,000 for translation and
notary services.

TRAVEL OPERATORS: ARMENIA FAVORITE COUNTRY OF ITALIAN TOURISTS

arminfo
Tuesday, July 31, 14:23

Armenia enjoys great popularity among Italian tourists who say that
the Armenian cultural heritage is very similar to the Italian one.

Anahit Dabinyan, operator at Imega Tour and Travel Agency, made such
statement to ArmInfo.

She said that the cultural heritage of Armenia is very interesting
also to the tourists from Australia, Canada and the USA. Armenia
very often receives tourists from California, she said, and the top
popular sights in Armenia are the resort towns of Dilijan and Jermuk.

Tigranuhi Aleksanyan, operator at Sirov Travel Agency, confirms
that Armenia is very popular among Italian tourists. Armenia enjoys
popularity also among Ukrainian, English and Japanese tourists. The
favorite region of tourists is Lori, as all the tourists express
desire to visit it.

Gegham Aghouzuntsyan, Director of Gamo Tour Agency, said, in turn,
that tourists often complain about too high prices at hotels in
Armenia. In this light, the inflow of tourists in the country fell
versus the previous years. He said that trips of the country rose in
price by 10%-15%. Most of the tourists in Armenia are Russians who
often rest in Dilijan, Hankavan where prices are relatively low.

SYRIAN AND LEBANESE REFUGEES NOT TO SAVE ARMENIAN DEMOGRAPHY

News.Az
Tue 31 July 2012 05:01 GMT | 6:01 Local Time

News.Az interviews Hadi Rajabli, chairman of the parliamentary
committee for social policy of Milli Majlis.

Armenian government has decided to ease the procedure of issue of
Armenian citizenship by countrymen from Syria and Lebanon. Can such
measures allow Armenia avoid demographic problems?

Different countries of the world, especially European countries,
have used such methods. In particular, such methods are widely used
by Germany. However, all these measures and methods do not play any
role in the regulation of the demographic situation. In other words,
migration does not justify the hopes of addressing the demographic
situation in a particular country. That is, Armenia will not be able
to fix the deepening hole in their demographic sphere. Therefore,
even if a certain number of Armenians come from Syria and Lebanon,
it would not save it from a demographic crisis.

In addition, the contingent of Armenians, who might agree to move
from Syria and Lebanon to Armenia is doubtful. It is possible that
the Armenians living in Syria will move to Armenia due to the outbreak
of war in the region. However, the situation in Armenia is even worse
than in Syria. Therefore, I doubt that Armenians in Syria and Lebanon
will ever come to Armenia for permanent residence.

What is the possibility that Armenian authorities will start settling
refugees from Syria and Lebanon to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan?

Naturally, Armenian authorities will try to place Armenians from
Syria and Lebanon to occupied lands of Azerbaijan. However, this will
not give the effect that would help overcome demographic crisis. In
addition, even if some of the Armenians from Syria and Lebanon come
to Armenia for permanent residence, they would not agree to settle in
Nagorno Karabakh. Armenian refugees are convinced that Karabakh is
not their land and they would not want to change one unstable place
for another.

What problems can the growing demographic problems create for the
countries of the region?

Full integration of nations and peoples of the region and the overall
world is hampered by differences in language, mentality, religion and
culture. But the situation is that the world is walking towards full
integration and this process is intensifying with time. All countries
of the world become connected with each other by any means. The common
European space is a real example. Problems connected with the growth
in population can be overcome through integration with the countries
of the region. And instead of occupying someone’s lands Armenia should
also integrate with them.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev considers it necessary to raise
the country’s population. Why should the state pay so much attention
to this in the absence of any demographic problems in the country?

Azerbaijan lacks any signs of problems related to demography. However,
the growth in population can be useful for the comprehensive
development of the country, since Azerbaijan is an economically
developing country and is able to provide its citizens even with
the double and triple rise in their number, especially that the
stable demographic situation will become a factor that conditions
the development of any state in the nearest future. Therefore, the
population of Azerbaijan must undoubtedly grow.