Author: Kanayan Tamar

ISRAELI REPORT: RUSSIA TAKING PREEMPTIVE STEPS TO BLOCK POSSIBLE STRIKE ON IRAN

FARS News Agency
April 9, 2012 Monday
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Israeli media said Russia has made a series of rather
preemptive moves to block a possible US-Israeli strike on Iran from
the North.

Israel’s debkafile said in a report that after blocking the way
to direct Western and Arab military intervention in Syria through
the Mediterranean, Russia sent its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
last week on a round trip to the capitals of Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – an expedition designed to
secure Iran against a potential US/Israeli attack via its Northern
and Eastern neighbors.

On his return to Moscow, April 6, the Russian army let it be known
that highly-advanced mobile S-400 surface-to-air missiles had been
moved into Kaliningrad, the Baltic enclave bordered by Poland and
Lithuania, its response to US plans for an anti-Iran missile shield
system in Europe and the Middle East.

In Yerevan, the Russian minister finalized a deal for the establishment
of an advanced Russian radar station in the Armenian mountains to
counter the US radar set up at the Turkish Kurecik air base, the
Israeli website said quoting military sources.

Just as the Turkish station (notwithstanding Ankara’s denials) will
trade data on incoming Iranian missiles with the US station in the
Israeli Negev, the Russian station in Armenia will share input with
Tehran, it said.

MARAGHA: AN ‘EXAMPLE OF AZERI CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY,’ SAYS BARONESS COX
Baroness Cox

asbarez
April 10th, 2012

On the 20th anniversary of the Azeri massacres of Armenians in the
Maragha village north of Mardakert, Panorama.am interviewed Baroness
Cox, who went to the village a day later in 1992 and witnessed
first-hand what she called “cold blooded slaughter of civilians.”

Below we present this important interview, thanking our colleagues
at panorama.am.

Panorama.am: You went to Maragha village right after the mass
atrocities of April 10, 1992 – 20 years ago, when the village and its
inhabitants were wiped out by the Azeri militia and the army. Do you
have any untold memories to share?

Baroness Cox: Indeed, too many memories. We were in Stepanakert [then],
and we heard there was an attack on the village, called Maragha. We
immediately went out there on the day itself. Homes were still burning,
still smoldering. We saw the evidence of the atrocities which had
been carried out. I saw human bodies, beheaded. We had to do very
unhappy thing of asking the local villagers if they would mind us to
take photographic evidence of the bodies that they started to bury…

I have one in front of me at the moment… And I also have a photograph
in front of me of a villager holding an ear of his Armenian friend,
which had been cut off by Azeris. So the horror was there. We also
met some women, who survived, with photographs of their loved ones
taken from their smoldering homes in order to have memories of their
families who perished…

Panorama.am: I want to ask you to touch upon the international
campaign of the governments of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh to bring
in international outcry on the atrocity. What has been done so far,
and what do you think should be done in this regards?

Baroness Cox: Ever since I witnessed the atrocities of what happened
in Maragha, I have been urging the Armenian Government and [Nagorno]
Karabakh Government to get the story told to the international
community, to raise this as a really serious example of Azeri crimes
against humanity. What happened in Maragha was a serious [crime]
in terms of cold blooded slaughter of civilians with decapitation
and burning.

The Government of Nagorno Karabakh has indeed published an account
of what happened in Maragha. I think the Governments of Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh should make efforts to place it on the news screens
of international community: it was an absolutely horrendous, cold
blooded crime, a deliberate slaughter of innocent civilians in a brutal
way. And I think the Armenian Government really should be making it an
international issue, and taking Azerbaijan into international arena,
to get this horrible situation on the record, and Azerbaijan called
to international accountability.

What happened in Maragha is an untold truth, and needs to be told
both for justice and for the people of Maragha who suffered so much,
their survivors shall know that justice is served, and Azerbaijan to
be brought to account for that apparent crime against humanity.

Panorama.am: Following up on what you just said, considering there
was no “military necessity” to wage an attack on Maragha, and it was
quite far from where the war was taking place, can we claim it was
a war crime and/or a crime against humanity, as you phrased it?

Baroness Cox: It is certain that what I saw was clearly an apparent
crime against humanity, which needs investigation. I saw a bloody
slaughter against innocent civilians, innocent villagers. Armenia
really needs to make a case for recognition of that as a crime
against humanity.

Panorama.am: Few days ago when the Armenian parliament members were
visiting Baku for Euronest part session, Mr. Aliyev, the President
of Azerbaijan, called them “fascists”. In an earlier statement
he proclaimed “Armenians world over are the number one enemy of
Azerbaijan.” Judging from the current totalitarian regime of Mr.

Aliyev and his family, do you think international recognition of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the best measure toward the prevention
of new atrocities?

Baroness Cox: I think there are the “Madrid Principles,” which are on
the table, which I think is agreed by the international community as
an appropriate way forward. They would give the Armenians of Nagorno
Karabakh the right to self determination and for secession, and it
should be internationally recognized in the same way as other valid
recognitions of the right of self determination and secession have
been granted to the people that had been subjected or attempted to
ethnic cleansing. There is no doubt that Azerbaijan had the intent
upon ethnic cleansing upon the Armenians living in Nagorno Karabakh.

The President [Abdulfaz] Elchibey once said his “famous” statement
that if a single Armenian was left alive in Karabakh by next October,
then the people of Azerbaijan could take him and hang him at the
center square of Baku. This was a pretty forceful statement of ethnic
cleansing. The whole policy of the Operation “Ring” was a tacit
example of ethnic cleansing. So they have the right, I believe, for
self determination and secession, the same was as any other minority
group in a country where the regime of that country is trying to
exterminate them physically and culturally.

Panorama.am: The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI) report last year alarmed, that it’s unsafe to show Armenian
identity in Azerbaijan, as the person would risk getting into huge
troubles, to put it in a smooth way. What steps shall the international
community undertake for easing the human rights and freedoms issue
there, and eventually – for denazification of Azerbaijan?

Baroness Cox: Well, I think, Azerbaijan is a country that carries out
oppressive measures such as, as we all know, inhibitions on the freedom
of speech. I think, there has been somebody who tried to tell the truth
about Khojaly, and he had been imprisoned. Any attempt of inhibition
of telling the truth is a fundamental violation of the fundamental
human right of freedom of speech. Any country which contravenes those
fundamental human rights, as defined in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, should be called into account, and there should be
measures taken against this. So I think there need to be recognition,
and much more robust calling into account to Azerbaijan for its human
rights violations against its own people today, who are suffering an
absence of any respect toward their human rights. Azerbaijan human
rights record is extremely unsatisfactory.

ARFD PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES PROMISE TO RETURN POWER TO PEOPLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 10, 2012 – 21:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s top parliamentary candidate
delivered an opening speech at Liberty Square-hosted rally.

“We’re here to return power to people,” Vahan Hovhannisyan said.

“We’re not here to take it away or beg for it. We’re here to give it
back to you,” the candidate stressed.

Another ARFD candidate Armen Rustamyan in turn, stressed that a
presidential system of government became a misfortune to Armenian
people, with president’s immediate surrounding as the only ones to
enjoy the privileges. The candidate urged to decentralize power,
adopting a parliamentary system of government in order to prevent
use of power for achieving personal goals.

A representative of Dashnaktsutyun Bureau Hrant Margaryan stressed
a poor economic situation in the country, social unfairness, mass
emigration, noting that current authorities proved unable to resolve
those issues.

Parliamentary elections, due in Armenia on May 6, feature 8 political
parties, Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Prosperous Armenia, ARF
Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), Orinats Yerkir, Heritage, Democratic Party of
Armenia (DPA), Communist Party of Armenia and United Armenian party,
as well as one election bloc represented by opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC).

ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s candidates list is topped by Vahan Hovhannisyan,
Armen Rustamyan and Artyusha Shakhbazyan.

AREXIMBANK-GAZPROMBANK GROUP BOUGHT NEW FURNITURE FOR YEREVAN’S KINDERGARTENS

/ARKA/
APRIL 10, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, April 10. /ARKA/. Areximbank-Gazprombank Group CJSC purchased
new furniture for kindergartens in Yerevan in the framework of the
both, the city program on re-equipping pre-school establishments
carried out by Yerevan Municipality, as well as its own “Across the
country and in the interests of each child” social program, the bank’s
press service reported ARKA.

Areximbank-Gazprombank Group has a strategy of implementing social
campaigns and programs that are organized under “Across the country
and in the interest of each” slogan, the press release says.

The bank has reportedly organized the campaigns targeted at supporting
students, children from vulnerable families, children with motor
cerebral palsy, veterans of the Second World War (Great Patriotic War),
as well as city development.

Areximbank-Gazprombank Group injected over 20 million drams into
different social programs in Armenia in 2011.

Areximbank-Gazprombank Group (formerly Areximbank) was established
in 1998 to handle financial flows between Armenia and Russia. Russian
Gazprombank OJSC holds 100% stock of the bank. ($1-391.14 drams).

DANGEROUS NEIGHBORHOOD: AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS NEAR ORE MINING ENTERPRISES ARE CONTAMINATED WITH HEAVY METALS

arminfo
Tuesday, April 10, 20:35

There are no longer high-quality agricultural products near the
operating ore mining enterprises in many regions of Armenia, Armen
Saghatelyan, Head of the Center for Ecological- Noosphere Studies
of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia,
told ArmInfo.

“The contamination of the environment with heavy metals is so large
that it leads to penetration of the heavy metals into food chains.

This is being observed in almost all ore mining regions of Armenia:
at the south, at the north, as well as in Ararat Valley”, he said.

According to him, the metals have contaminated not only the land, but
also the irrigation water. “All this penetrates into the vegetables and
endangers the human health. This is a real threat to the gene pool”,
he said.

The expert pointed out that the roots of the problem are the serious
problems in the legislative field and the big corruption in this
sphere. He said that the companies are not responsible for the
infrastructure of the deposits, including the tailing dumps.

“There are no ore mining companies in Armenia, which observe the
world standards. One thing is positive: the public has actively
started to raise environmental problems. I think the government will
also start to display a more reasonable approach to these issues”,
the expert stressed.

The environmentalists have repeatedly mentioned the places, where one
can find contaminated products: the former cooperative farm “Syunik”,
where the land is contaminated with heavy metals, the river Norashenik,
polluted as a result of Deno Gold Mining activities, etc.

IRAN ENERGY: OIL IMPORTS BEGIN TO ARMENIA

Economy | 10.04.12 | 11:28

Photo:

Armenia has begun importing oil products from Iran. According to
Iranian oil executive Jalil Salari, it is cheaper for Armenia to get
oil from Iran than from Georgia.

As the Iranian news agency Mehr reports, oil products are being
imported via lories until the Iran-Armenia oil pipeline is constructed.

Armenia and Iran entered an agreement signed by their respective energy
ministers in February, by which Iran will export to Armenia gasoline,
diesel and jet fuel.

MAINE STATE SENATE RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

armradio.am
10.04.2012 17:08

Today the Maine State Senate will recognize the Armenia Genocide,
WCSH-TV reports.

There’s a joint order on the docket that recognizes that in 1915 the
Ottoman Empire launched a campaign to wipe out the Armenia people,
resulting in the death of more than 1.5 million people.

The resolution says that some survivors settled in Maine and they
want to recognize those survivors’ contributions to the State, and
express sympathy for the families of those who died.

BARONESS COX: THAT WAS A COLD BLOODED SLAUGHTER OF CIVILIANS IN MARAGHA 20 YEARS AGO

Panorama.am
10/04/2012

Panorama.am interviews Baroness Caroline Cox, who witnessed the
aftermath of mass atrocity crime in Maragha village during early
times of Nagorno Karabakh war, in April 1992

Panorama.am: My first question goes into your memories, Honorable
Baroness. You have been to Maragha village right after the mass
atrocities of April 10, 1992 – 20 years ago, when the village and its
inhabitants were wiped out by the Azeri militia and the army. Do you
have any untold memories to share?

Baroness Cox: Indeed, too many memories. We were in Stepanakert [then],
and we heard there was an attack to the village, called Maragha. We
immediately went out there on the day itself. Homes were still burning,
still smoldering. We saw the evidence of the atrocities which had
been carried out. I saw human bodies, beheaded. We had to do very
unhappy thing of asking the local villagers if they would mind us to
take photographic evidence of the bodies that they started to bury…

I have one in front of me at the moment… And I also have a photograph
in front of me of a villager holding an ear of his Armenian friend,
which had been cut off by Azeris. So the horror was there. We also
met some women, who survived, with photographs of their loved ones
taken from their smoldering homes in order to have memories of their
families who perished…

Panorama.am: I want to ask you to touch upon the international
campaign of the Governments of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh to bring
in international outcry on the atrocity. What has been done so far,
and what do you think should be done in this regards?

Baroness Cox: Ever since I witnessed the atrocities of what happened
in Maragha, I have been urging the Armenian Government and [Nagorno]
Karabakh Government to get the story told to the international
community, to raise this as a really serious example of Azeri crimes
against humanity. What happened in Maragha was a serious [crime]
in terms of cold blooded slaughter of civilians with decapitation
and burning.

The Government of Nagorno Karabakh has indeed published an account
of what happened in Maragha. I think the Governments of Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh should make efforts to place it on the news screens
of international community: it was an absolutely horrendous, cold
blooded crime, a deliberate slaughter of innocent civilians in a brutal
way. And I think the Armenian Government really should be making it an
international issue, and taking Azerbaijan into international arena,
to get this horrible situation on the record, and Azerbaijan called
to international accountability.

What happened in Maragha is an untold truth, and needs to be told
both for justice and for the people of Maragha who suffered so much,
their survivors shall know that justice is done, and Azerbaijan to
be brought to account for that apparent crime against humanity.

Panorama.am: Following up on what you just mentioned, considering
there was no any “military necessity” to wage an attack on Maragha,
and it was quite away from the war scene, can we claim it was a war
crime and/or a crime against humanity, as you phrased it?

Baroness Cox: It is certain that what I saw was clearly an apparent
crime against humanity, which needs investigation. I saw a bloody
slaughter against innocent civilians, innocent villagers. Armenia
really needs to make a case for recognition of that as a crime
against humanity.

Panorama.am: Few days ago when the Armenian MPs were visiting Baku
for Euronest part session, Mr Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan,
called them “fascists”. In an earlier statement he proclaimed “world
Armenians are the enemy number one for Azerbaijan”. Judging from
the current totalitarian regime of Mr Aliyev and his family, do you
think international recognition of NKR is a best measure towards new
atrocity prevention?

Baroness Cox: I think there are the “Madrid Principles”, which are on
the table, which I think is agreed by the international community as
an appropriate way forward. They would give the Armenians of Nagorno
Karabakh the right to self determination and for secession, and it
should be internationally recognized in the same way as other valid
recognitions of the right of self determination and secession have
been granted to the people that had been subjected or attempted to
ethnic cleansing. There is no doubt that Azerbaijan had the intent
upon ethnic cleansing upon the Armenians living in Nagorno Karabakh.

The President [Abdulfaz] Elcibey once said his “famous” statement
that if a single Armenian was left alive in Karabakh by next October,
then the people of Azerbaijan could take him and hang at the centre
square of Baku. This was a pretty forceful statement of ethnic
cleansing. The whole policy of the Operation “Ring” was a tacit
example of ethnic cleansing. So they have the right, I believe, for
self determination and secession, the same was as any other minority
group in a country where the regime of that country is trying to
exterminate them physically and culturally.

Panorama.am: The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI) report last year alarmed, that it’s unsafe to show Armenian
identity in Azerbaijan, as the person would risk getting into huge
troubles, to put it in a smooth way. What steps shall the international
community undertake for easing the human rights and freedoms issue
there, and eventually – for denazification of Azerbaijan?

Baroness Cox: Well, I think, Azerbaijan is a country that carries out
oppressive measures such as, as we all know, inhibitions on the freedom
of speech. I think, there has been somebody who tried to tell the truth
about Khojaly, and he had been imprisoned. Any attempt of inhibition
of telling the truth is a fundamental violation of the fundamental
human right of freedom of speech. Any country which contravenes those
fundamental human rights, as defined in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, should be called into account, and there should be
measures taken against this. So I think there need to be recognition,
and much more robust calling into account to Azerbaijan for its human
rights violations against its own people today, who are suffering an
absence of any respect towards their human rights. Azerbaijan human
rights record is extremely unsatisfactory.

Panorama.am: Thank you very much indeed, Baroness, for this interview.

Baroness Cox: Please pass over assurances of my thoughts and prayers
to the people of Maragha, and let them know that I will make all
possible to make the world knowing the truth.

Mine Explosion Leaves 1 Soldier Killed, 6 Injured In North Turkey

press tv
Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:59AM GMT

At least one solider has been killed and six others injured in a mine
bomb blast in Turkey’s northern province of Amasya, Press TV reports.

The explosion occurred on Zana Bridge in Cigdemli village in the
suburbs of Amasya as a police vehicle was crossing over the bridge.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. No group has claimed
responsibility for the attack yet.

However, Kurdistan’s Workers Party (PKK) has been repeatedly blamed
for violent attacks against Turkish military forces.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the
international community, including Turkey, Iran, the European Union,
and the United States.

MEASURES UNDERTAKEN FOR PARTICIPATION OF DISABLED PEOPLE IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 10, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s Central Election Commission
(CEC) is carrying out corresponding works for ensuring participation
of people with disabilities in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Chairman of the CEC Tigran Mukuchyan told Armenpress meetings were
held with relevant NGOs and the issues were discussed

The CEC has worked out a manual for people with poor eyesight. The
new web design of CEC has a separate service intended for people with
eyesight problems. It shows the web site with big letters.

The Electoral Commission is also intending to prepare ads relating to
the organization of voting. They will be translated for the people
with hearing problems. After the formation of electoral stations
the CEC will undertake works toward making them available for people
on wheelchairs.

Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for May 6.