Author: Kalantarian Kevo

EU representatives’ entrance into NKR not to be problematic

14:15 . 04/07

EU representatives can freely enter the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said about this during
his speech at the National Assembly today. The representatives of
several parliamentary forces considered this important noting this
proves so far Europe in fact has given way to Azerbaijan’s threats.

Touching upon the problems of the region, particularly the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, as well as the process of the
Armenian-Turkish relations, the European diplomat gave generalized
assessments and stated the relations must be normalized without
preconditions.

He also spoke about the necessity to develop democracy in Armenia,
expressed his satisfaction with the May parliamentary elections, but
noted there are still problems which need to be settled. He expressed
hope that the newly elected parliament will be able to ensure
development of democracy, contribute to the freedom of press, and
promote to respecting human rights in our country.

`EU and Armenia continue their work on bilateral agreements on the
Association and creation of Deep and Comprehensive Trade Area. Visa
regime facilitation is one of the most important issues. Patience and
coordinated work are needed.

I am calling on Armenia to follow the path to democratization and
strengthen the role of law and democratic institutions,’ Rompuy has
said.

There were no questions and answers, as it was announced beforehand.
The procedure of addressing written questions was also changed, which
brought about a number of questions among the parliamentary opposition
forces.

`Generalized evaluations were given, which he can present in the other
countries of the region and he will have no problem. But we had
numerous questions, for example, on the border incidents, which was
also touched upon with a very generalized approach without addressing
any message to Azerbaijan,’ the ARF-D faction leader Armen Rustamyan
said.

Armenia expects support from EU in order to avoid economic tensions

14:17, 4 July, 2012

YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS: Negotiations in various directions
between Armenia and European Union are held productively. Armenpress
reports that about his mentioned President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
during the briefing with the President of European Council Herman Van
Rompuy. `We intend to finish in near future Armenia-EU negotiations on
Associative Agreement and in a short period finish negotiations on
creation Deep and Comprehensive Trade Area’ mentioned the leader of
the President adding that negotiations on Visa facilitation agreement.

`Our wish is to finish them as soon as possible creating wide
opportunities for activation of contacts between youth, scientists. We
are grateful to our European partners for supporting the reforms in
Armenia’ highlighted Serzh Sargsyan. In his words Armenia stresses the
importance of the quick and productive implementation of the reforms.

Armenian President and Herman Van Rompuy also exchanged opinions in
new possible ways of support to Armenia. `Recently being in Brussels I
took part in EPP summit and the main discussions were about the
created financial tensions. The economies of little countries are
especially vulnerable during those tensions and we as an Eastern
Partner expect that we will receive our part of support for overcoming
those difficulties’ stressed Serzh Sargsyan. In his words in this
process Armenia considers EU as a reliable partner and supporter.

Investigation launched against Turkish city mayor for
Armenian-language road signs

news.am
July 04, 2012 | 10:01

Turkey’s Ministry of Internal Affairs opened an inquiry against Mayor
Abdullah Demirbas of Diyarbakir Province’s Sur city, for posting road
signs which read `Welcome’ in several languages.

Demirbas harshly reacted to the launching of this investigation and
stressed that this is a setback for peace, democracy, friendship and
liberty, Radikal daily of Turkey informs.

Also, the Diyarbakir Provincial Hall recently opened an inquest
against Abdullah Demirbas for launching three-month Armenian-language
courses.

To note, the Mayor of Sur had also published several Armenian tales in
Turkish and Armenian. Demirbas also launched the Armenian-language
tourist guide for Diyarbakir. And the signs placed on the roads
entering Sur include `Welcome’ in Armenian.

Cafesjian Center launches Art Family new educational program

13:06, 4 July, 2012

YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS: Cafesjian Center for the Arts will
launch Art Family new educational program on July 7. Each session of
the program will host 3-4 families, with at least 3 members (with
children ages 12+).

As Center’s public relations and marketing responsible Lilit
Sokhakyan brifed Armenpress, the session consists of two parts. In the
first part, the participant families will have a guided tour in the
corresponding gallery. Further, the competition will take place in
CCA’s Creative Hall. For each correct answer the family will get
points. The family with the maximum number of points will take the
first prize and automatically win the opportunity to participate in
the final round. The second and third place winners will receive
encouraging gifts.The winner of the Final competition will receive a
family membership card for the Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

The program is a wonderful opportunity for families to
intercommunicate through art, acquire new knowledge and simply have
fun.The program will be held every Saturday.

Armenian Defense Ministry: Azerbaijan reconfirms that Azeri army is
instigator of ceasefire violations

13:59 04/07/2012 » Society

`The absurd statement by Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman Eldar
Sabiroglu contains a contradiction. In his remarks, Mr. Sabiroglu
reconfirms that it is the Azeri army that instigates ceasefire
violation incidents,’ Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun
Hovhannisyan told Panorama.am, when asked to comment on Sabiroglu’s
statement that Yerevan is seriously concerned over Armenian side’s
failure as the ceasefire regime was violated recently.

`To have a better idea of the Azeri army’s `strength’ and alleged
failures of the Armenian army, I advise Mr. Sabiroglu to monitor the
indicators of qualitative development of the Azeri army, which
allegedly has USD 3bn budget, not through idle talks but with
statistical records. There are exact records of frontline incidents,
successful and failed diversions and casualties,’ said Hovhannisyan.

Source: Panorama.am

Hraparak: Protestors demand Ruben Hairapetyan’s removal from post of
FFA president

tert.am
10:04 – 04.07.12

Although Ruben Hairapetyan announced his intention to resign from
Armenia’s parliament, an action of protest has started in front of
Armenia’s NA at 10:00am.

The participants are demanding prosecution against Ruben Hairapetyan.
They are also collecting signatures for removal of Ruben Hairapetyan
from the post of President of the Football Federation of Armenia.

Just ARFD Statutes

Igor Muradyan
Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:13:46 – 04/07/2012

The current de facto leader of the ARF Hrant Margaryan gave a large
interview in which he argues the attempts of party members and their
friends to reconsider party policies, priorities and to try to restore the
revolutionary functioning of the party organization.

Thus, the head of the ARF provides the following arguments: there are
attempts to remove the current leadership and elect a new party leadership,
revive the revolutionary party, subordinate the party to the U.S. policy,
impose on the party certain preferences in the presidential elections in
Nagorno Karabakh. All this is presented by H. Margaryan as political crime,
or even perhaps not political but just crime, and he and his associates and
followers intend to fight against this state of things vigorously.

It should be noted that all the arguments by H. Margaryan are substantial
and reflect the current moods and doubts of most members of the party,
since actually these and some other proposals by other people who try to
help the ARF to rise against as a national liberation party are a
possibility for further development of the party’s political program.

However, it is not clear, what the leadership of the party opposes to, the
party statutes or the general character of the revolutionary party? Maybe
it is necessary to resolve the question of making fundamental changes to
the Party’s Statutes, excluding such provisions as the revolutionary and
national liberation character of `Dashnaktsutyun’? Just to shake off all
responsibility for the death of the party’s principles and to reserve a
place for a `regular’ party of parliamentary type in the rest of life just
with one step. It is comfortable, legitimate and principled.

Presently, regional meetings of the party are held with a view to holding a
meeting to elect the Supreme Body in Armenia. Apparently, opinions and
positions are different, and this is alright, most of us have longed for a
lively and informative political discussion. The ARF will hardly manage to
bring order in the party’s life immediately, to define the goals and tasks.
But there is no need to try to conceal the problems and their own mistakes
and stupidity of his party fellows behind misunderstanding and
inexperience.

What has been done over the past 13 years to recruit skilled politicians
for the party fully understanding the essence of the party’s tasks? All the
same, `the King’s Men’ fooled everyone. For 13 years, no proper statement
has been made relating to any of the crucial issues, including the Karabakh
issue. In regard to `normalization’ of the Turkish-Armenian relations,
the
position and actions of the party were ridiculous to the extent of the
`artificialness’ and `deceitfulness’ of the Party’s protests sewn with
`white thread’.

Perhaps the most blatant and senseless thing is the desire to enter into
total agreement and compromise with the authorities, which was simply an
end in itself. The party began to use during the election campaign the same
methods as all other power-oligarchic parties. And perhaps, the most
sacramental question is whether the party members have forgotten how to
shoot a gun?

But this is only criticisms. The revolutionary party has many important
tasks, and to approach them it is necessary to understand and develop a new
program. H. Margaryan has announced four tasks but there are still several
issues that perhaps do not need to be disclosed. All these issues will be
worked out in detail, let no one doubt. Actually, this is done if you try
to be more attentive.

Now the main thing is not to try to impose on their party fellows
artificially freedom of will, as this is the most important thing in the
activities of national liberation organizations. Some top figures of the
party are trying to condemn attempts to update the policy. In this way they
distinguished and distanced themselves from the more functional part of the
party. Actually, now any attempt to freeze the process of radicalization of
the party can and should be considered as anti-party activities that splits
the party. You have to understand and remember that the renewal of the
Armenian society depends largely on the renewal of the ARF.

Why Hairapetyan Resigned

Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:31:30 – 04/07/2012

Yesterday evening MP Ruben Hairapetyan noted that those guilty for
Harsnakar tragedy will be punished by law. `But it is not even a
matter of law,’ continued Ruben Hairapetyan, shifting the question to
the moral field.

In fact, the problem is the law. Merely, our half-criminal community
thinks law is the Criminal Code. Many think that law is crime and
punishment.

In the meantime, there is a general law that is the Constitution which
defines all the general principles of social life, duties and rights,
including the right to government. The Constitution runs clearly that
people engaged in business cannot be elected Member of Parliament and
occupy state positions.

Violations of the Constitution and anti-national policy are not
considered a violation because the Criminal Code does not prescribe
punishment for failure of economy, falsification of elections unless
they influence the final return of elections, obviously criminal
businessmen in parliament, disinformation on television.

These matters, though they are more legal than murder and theft, are
usually considered in the moral domain. For example, to find out the
income of members of parliament and their compliance with the law the
Commission of Ethics has been established, apparently, to make an
`ethics’ authority rather than legal, in order to consider a violation
of the Constitution not as a crime but a breach of ethical standards.

In this sense, Ruben Hairapetyan’s resignation means respect for law,
the Constitution which bans people like him from parliament.
Apparently, Serzh Sargsyan warned him that in case he does not resign,
the Commission on Ethics will consider his issue.

Vice-chairman of this commission was Nikol Pashinyan but he resigned
yesterday though he stated that he will remain a member of the
commission. We think the first case the commission needs to deal with
is to enlarge its powers vesting it with not only `ethical’ but also
legal functions, up to the right to appeal to the Constitutional
Court.

Perhaps, it is up to this commission to free the Armenian parliament
of oligarchs and criminals. The first step has already been made. One
of the most odious oligarchs has been removed from the parliament, he
is crushed and scared. The situation of the rest is no better.

Oligarchy is a Bone in Armenians’ Throat

Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:15:15 – 04/07/2012

The Armenian Diaspora, which does not intervene in the home life of
Armenia that often has shown amazing solidarity this time. Protests in
memory of Vahe Avetyan with the same anti-oligarchic demands were held
in Iran, Los-Angeles, Berlin and other cities.

What is this solidarity determined by? There are many factors, but the
most important is that it has become evident that the oligarchy is a
bone in the throat of not only Armenia but also the Diaspora and the
whole nation.

Despite the attempts of the Ministry of Diaspora to invite Armenians
`home’, they prefer having holidays, investing, working and living out
of Armenia. Even the Armenians, who are leaving Syria, come to Armenia
very rarely. The reason is that Armenia is divided into several clans,
which don’t allow `others’ in, lead dilettante foreign policy, plunge
Armenia into the debt hole and maneuver between the West and the
North.

The Diaspora’s support may enable the Armenian opposition and the
civil society to achieve big victories. There are many small ones –
the Moscow cinema, the Trchkan waterfall and the Mashtots Park, as
well as Ruben Hairapetyan’s resignation. But now it is necessary to
raise certain issues, more global such as the recognition of the
parliamentary elections as void, formation of an independent CEC and
free elections.

The ground for such claims has matured both in the sense of the
mobilization of the civil society and the readiness of the authorities
to concessions and the position of the world community. If, we add the
Diaspora factor, the task won’t seem unreal.

The current parliament should be dissolved and first of all, the
parliamentary forces, which hardly passed the election limit, should
be interested in fair elections to have many more mandates.

The Diaspora too should be interested in this, which does not have
levers of influence on Armenia’s policy. The ministry of Diaspora was
created to give a ghetto status to the Diaspora Armenians, to isolate
them from the state issues and to limit their presence in Armenia up
to `coming home for holidays’.

It is necessary to provide quotas in the parliament for the Diaspora
too. But the most important is that it is necessary to remove the
oligarchic bone from out throat, and then, the Diaspora and Armenia
will become parts of a single organism.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

“OUR CLERGY ARE WHOLLY COMMITTED TO SERVE OUR CHURCH AND PEOPLE”, said Aram
I on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of his election and consecration

On Sunday, 1 July 2012, during the Holy Liturgy, special thanksgiving
prayers were offered to thank the Almighty for the 17 years of Spiritual
guidance, leadership and service of His Holiness Aram I as Catholicos of
Cilicia.

At the end of the Holy Liturgy, the Catholicos received the members of the
clergy and the faithful at his residence. In his message, he said, “The
locus of the vocation of our clergy, irrespective of clerical ranking, has
been to serve our people. In my 17 years as Catholicos, while serving our
church as spiritual leader, I have sought to encourage all initiatives that
would prepare the next generation of clergy to serve our church, our people
and our homeland. I have observed with great satisfaction the growing
numbers of our clergy and their effective outreach to our community.” His
Holiness then thanked all those people who had contributed to the
fulfillment of the vision and mission of the Catholicosate.

The thanksgiving celebration came to a close with the seminary choir singing
the Cilicia anthem of the Catholicoste and spiritual songs marking the
occasion, and the clergy and laity personally wishing His Holiness Aram I
long life.
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