PEOPLE’S ARTIST OF ARMENIA AND ITALIAN CONDUCTOR TO PERFORM IN ARAM KHACHATRYAN CONCERT HALL
Panorama.am
04/05/2012
People’s Artist of Armenia Svetlana Navasardyan will perform Brahms’
piano concert No1 today in Aram Khachatryan concert hall.
Renowned Italian conductor Aldo Sisillo will perform with State
Philharmonic Orchestra Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” symphony.
FRENCH COLLEGE ASKS TURKISH PARENTS “NOT TO EXAGGERATE” CARICATURE LINKED WITH TURKEY, ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
news.am
May 04, 2012 | 05:37
The administration of Anatole France School in Montbeliard, France,
asked the School’s Turkish parents “not to exaggerate” the story of the
caricature linked with the Armenian Genocide issue, Nouvelles d’Armenie
magazine of France informs, referring to Anadolu News Agency of Turkey.
During their meeting with the parents and the members from the Turkish
COJEP International Association, the college’s administration advised
the parents to “not look for evil intentions,” and stated that the
crisis was caused by the teacher’s unprofessionalism, who had selected
a caricature for the class.
According to the School administration, the teacher had simply printed
that caricature from the Internet, distributed it to the students,
and assigned them to interpret the caricature and conclude why Turkey
cannot become an EU member.
To note, the aforesaid teacher showed a caricature which depicted
a mustached man-representing Turkey-carrying a sack full of human
skulls. The sack symbolizes Turkey carrying the skulls and with
the inscription: “Armenian Genocide.” The person standing nearby
represents France. The man with the sack is climbing the mountain
with an EU flag atop.
As a result, the Turkish students’ parents had filed a complaint with
the French Education Ministry and the organization for the protection
of the rights of foreigners.
KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL HARDLY BE RESOLVED WITHIN NEXT DECADE – EUROPEAN ANALYSTS
news.am
May 04, 2012 | 12:26
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not likely to be settled within the
next decade, the European Union analysts stated in a report entitled
Global Trends 2030, RFE/RL informs.
The experts noted that the deepening of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s
ties with the EU and the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations
could pave the way for resolving the Karabakh issue.
“The Karabakh issue is more difficult than South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
because several regional players are engaged here,” the analysts
said and added: “Russia manifests a great will to resolve it, but the
bilaterally growing unprecedented radicalization shows that the outside
powers’ efforts are limited in terms of advancing the settlement.”
At the same time, the EU experts stress that the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict could have an enormous positive impact on the
political and economic growth in the Caucasus.
And with respect to the likely developments in the next twenty years,
the EU analysts predict that Turkey could have a greater impact on
the international scene, but it must first meet several challenges,
including a response to the demands and rights of the Armenians and
the Kurds.
LA PARTIE AZERBAIDJANAISE DEVIENT DE PLUS EN PLUS AGRESSIVE
Stephane
armenews.com
vendredi 4 mai 2012
Un communique du ” Ministère ” de la Defense du HK fait savoir
qu’au cours des dernières journees, les forces azerbaïdjanaises
ont intensifie les violations de la treve, tirant en direction des
positions armeniennes plus de 2000 fois. En particulier, le 24 avril,
les forces azerbaïdjanaises ont tire en direction d’un vehicule
sanitaire armenien, blessant deux soldats. / Rapporte par l’ensemble
de la presse
Rappelons que le 25 avril, les forces azerbaïdjanaises avaient bombarde
un village frontalier dans la region du Tavouch (cf. la revue du
26.04). A propos de cet incident, le porte-parole du MAE a indique
que le bureau du representant special du President en exercice de
l’OSCE a ete informe. Celui-ci a assure que les lieux du bombardement
seraient examines. / Hayots Achkhar
Hayots Achkhar et Hayastani Hanrapetoutioun relayent l’avis de
l’expert militaire, David Jamalian, selon lequel, si l’agression
de l’Azerbaïdjan se poursuit, les forces armeniennes auront toutes
les raisons, du point de vue du droit international, d’aneantir les
positions a partir desquelles l’ennemi ouvre le feu.
Ambassade de France en Armenie
Service de presse
AVRANCHES ” REFLETS D’ARMENIE ” : DERNIERS JOURS
Jean Eckian
armenews.com
vendredi 4 mai 2012
Ouest-France rappelle a ses lecteurs que le 6 mai au soir, Scriptorial
ferme son exposition temporaire ” Reflets d’Armenie “. Unique en
France, elle permet aux visiteurs d’admirer des manuscrits et des
objets religieux pretes par le musee armenien de Paris, ferme au
grand public, qui possède plus de 1 200 objets.
Entre Orient et Occident, l’Armenie est terre chretienne depuis 17
siècles. Terre de foi, elle est aussi terre de culture et de l’ecrit,
du manuscrit sur parchemin au manuscrit sur papier. Un art cultive
depuis toujours et encore aujourd’hui.
Dix manuscrits de grande valeur sont pretes par le musee armenien
de Paris et huit par la Bibliothèque nationale de France qui en
possède 350.
Jusqu’au 6 mai inclus, ” Reflets d’Armenie “, Scriptorial, place
d’Estouteville, Avranches, tel. 02 33 79 57 00. Ouvert de 10 h a 12
h 30 et de 14 h a 18 h vendredi, samedi et dimanche. Dimanche 6 mai
a 10 h 30 : petit-dejeuner philosophique : ” Sort-on toujours grandi
des revers de la vie ? ”
EX-FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS PAP CONCERNED OVER VOTE RIGGING
tert.am
03.05.12
The Prosperous Armenia party (PAP) has concerns that the upcoming
parliamentary election may be rigged, according to Vardan Oskanyan,
Armenia’s ex foreign minister.
In an interview with RFE/RL, the politician, who recently joined
the coalition party, stressed the need of considering process in the
context of Armenia’s past history.
“[Prosperous Armenia] does certainly have concerns. This is shown by
our past history which adds to today’s voter lists and the general
rumors on activities in different districts,” he said, adding that
the levers to rig elections are always in the authorities’ hand.
“It will not be a big discovery to say, for instance, that the
authorities should feel the entire burden of responsibility for
conducting a free and fair election or failing to do so. That’s what
our legislation and the structure of our political system require,”
he added.
WAR VETERAN: KARABAKH BELONGS TO ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 3, 2012 – 15:13 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Veteran of the Great Patriotic War Zhora Tunyan
spoke at Yerevan-Moscow-Kyiv- Astana space bridge on May 3.
He told about his participation in hostilities from Russian Rostov
city to Poland saying Armenian soldiers fought bravely together with
others because they shared a common motherland.
Tunyan urged to develop patriotism in the youth through cultivating
love for homeland and the need to protect it.
Armenians should fight in Karabakh as boldly as they fought back
in 1940s, because Karabakh belongs to Armenia, and Karabakh is our
motherland, war veteran said.
SARKOZY’S FAVORITE SONG IS CHARLES AZNAVOUR’S “THEY HAVE FALLEN”
ARMENPRESS
3 May, 2012
PARIS
PARIS, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS: President of France Nicolas Sarkozy confessed
at French radio RTL that his favorite musical performance is Charles
Aznavour’s song of 1975 “They have fallen” about Armenian genocide.
Armenpress informs that during the interview given to radio RTL Nicolas
Sarkozy also confessed that he had no idea and does not understand
anything in computers.
“When my wife is not at home I can’t switch on the computer, I have
difficulties even in ruling the TV set” mentioned French President
adding that he had never liked computer technologies in his life.
A DEFEATIST NATION
BY CHRISTIAN GARBIS
asbarez
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
Nearly everyone has told me the same thing: The laws don’t work or
there are no laws, and the judicial system is corrupted. They are
desperate, hopeless, and dwell in a self-imposed realm of defeatism,
each playing the role of the eternal victim.
With the Armenian National Assembly elections slated for May 6, I
am obliged to reflect upon the political situation of the last four
years and contemplate where Armenia is headed. These elections will
be the most important in this republic’s brief history as a test for
the functioning of democracy, yet most people don’t realize it.
Nearly everyone has told me the same thing: The laws don’t work or
there are no laws, and the judicial system is corrupted. They are
desperate, hopeless, and dwell in a self-imposed realm of defeatism,
each playing the role of the eternal victim.
Whenever I meet someone for the first time in Armenia, a minute doesn’t
pass before politics comes up. For the last seven or eight years,
I have heard countless people express their disgust in the Armenian
government and authorities, that the country is not a country,
there is no justice, the oligarchs do whatever they want and take
advantage, and so forth. Indeed, not once have I met anyone who has
told me that they approve of the regime in power-either backed (in
Robert Kocharian’s case) or fully controlled by the Republican Party
(along with its coalition partner parties).
They expect governmental reform without having to work for it, as
if the authorities will one day magically realize that they should
no longer lie to and cheat their citizens. They want justice and good
governance, but no one can agree on how it will be achieved or who will
lead that reform movement. Meanwhile, the Armenian Diaspora remains
silent, continuing to turn a blind eye to the lack of democracy and
governmental irresponsibility.
Given the negative mindset in the motherland, one should come to the
logical conclusion that the Republican Party will win less votes
than it has in the past-despite election fraud that is bound to
occur-making way for a new National Assembly controlled by a union
of parties, albeit fragile, that have been in opposition. This ideal
union would likely be comprised of the Armenian National Congress,
ARF-Dashnaktsutyun, the Heritage Party, and Free Democrats alliance,
and the Prosperous Armenia Party, which has been keen to distance
itself from the authorities in recent weeks, although it refuses
to officially break away from the pro-government coalition. This
fresh National Assembly will also signal a new era in government,
one where the demands of the people will conceivably be met and,
as Raffi Hovannisian put it in his interview with me, emigration is
reversed so that a wave of immigration displaces it. Nevertheless,
the Republican Party’s notorious pre-election terror campaign of
intimidation and harassment that has already been unleashed is bound
to coerce many voters to cast ballots in their favor. The authorities
are also counting on disenchanted citizens to sell them their votes
for 20 bucks apiece.
The issues plaguing Armenia are too numerous to list. But the most
relevant points to tackle, in random order, are the following: a
reformed, competent, and properly trained police force; an independent
judicial system; a substantial increase in funding for social services,
including doubling the minimum wage and pensions (which all contending
opposition parties are pushing); the renovation of schools and
hospitals nationwide, starting with the most remote areas first; the
reconstruction of roads and infrastructure, again with the most remote
villages a priority; encouragement for civil society to flourish; the
break up of the trade monopolies, especially on staple foodstuffs,
to promote competition in the marketplace; incentives for small-
and medium-sized business ventures to start up; a four-fold increase
in efforts to encourage foreign investment in the thriving Armenian
IT sector; additional investments in the tourism industry; and the
immediate cancellation of long-term environmentally devastating mining
projects that would only benefit foreign investors (the local economy
would not be positively affected by any means). The list can go on and
on, but tacking the aforementioned issues is a good start to getting
things on track in Armenia and reversing the trends of narcissism
and greed that have been strangling this country for far too long.
Some argue that it will take decades and several generations to pass
before the aforementioned issues even begin to be properly addressed.
Unfortunately, we don’t have that long to wait. It’s been nearly 21
years since Armenia declared independence, and most citizens are no
better off than they were then. Unofficial population estimates in
Armenia are between 2-2.5 million. Entire villages have picked up and
moved to remote parts of Russia where they have been provided housing
and employment as part of a rural colonization scheme. The talented,
technology-savvy youth are leaving for the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere
(I personally know five software engineers who have emigrated during
the last three years). And Artsakh is continuously being emptied of
its populace: Only around 2,700 people are left in Shushi alone.
The new wealth and economic growth that is noticeable to foreigners
and Armenians from the Diaspora is concentrated in central Yerevan-it
is a mirage, a smokescreen obscuring what things are really like here.
The sooner the diaspora comprehends this and puts pressure on the
Armenian government to get its act together, the more secure and, yes,
entrepreneurial Armenian citizens will become. But that reshaping
cannot happen on its own. It needs stimulus. It requires motivation
and dedicated hard work. It is dependent upon foresight and ingenuity.
And it has to start right now.
Christian Garbis is a freelance writer based in Yerevan, where he has
been living for four years. He has been a regular contributor to the
Armenian Weekly since 1994. He has served as an assistant editor for
the paper as well as in several other capacities. Christian has also
written articles for Hetq Online. Accounts of his personal experiences
and social critiques of life in Armenia can be read on his blog Notes
LE PARTI HERITAGE SERAIT-IL FINANCE PAR LA TURQUIE ?
Stephane
armenews.com
jeudi 3 mai 2012
Hayots Achkhar et Haykakan Jamanak citent des articles parus dans
des blogs et reseaux sociaux, indiquant qu’a l’initiative du MAE
britannique, les leaders des partis Heritage et Democrates libres,
Raffi Hovhannissian et Khatchadour Kokobelian (celui-ci serait le N°2
de la liste du parti Heritage) auraient discute a Londres, pendant
deux jours, en mars dernier, avec des diplomates turcs des perspectives
de cooperation. En particulier, Raffi Hovhannissian se serait engage,
en cas de soutien a sa candidature lors des elections presidentielles
de 2013, d’~uvrer en faveur de la ratification par l’Armenie des
protocoles armeno-turcs. Les diplomates turcs se seraient, de leur
côte, engages a ce que la Turquie investisse de 5 a 7 milliards de
dollars dans l’economie armenienne au cours des 10 prochaines annees,
si les protocoles etaient ratifies. Ceux-ci auraient par ailleurs
octroye un soutien financier a Heritage pour l’organisation de sa
campagne electorale.
Le leader des Democrates libres, Khatchadour Kokobelian, a dementi
s’etre rendu a Londres avec Raffi Hovhannissian, indiquant qu’au cours
des deux dernières annees, il n’avait pas quitte le pays. L’apparition
d’un tel article sur Internet n’est, selon lui, qu’une propagande
destinee a noircir l’image des deux partis d’opposition a quelques
jours de l’echeance electorale. / Haykakan Jamanak
Ambassade de France en Armenie