Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIE-PATRIMOINE
20 000 Jeunes Arméniens demandent le retour de la statue d’Anahid en Arménie

Les membres du Fonds de la Jeunesse arménienne vont manifester devant
l’Ambassade de Grande Bretagne en Arménie pour demander le retour en
Arménie de la statue de la déesse arménienne Anahid, détenue par le
British Museum. Une pétition sera alors adressée à l’Ambassadeur de
Grande Bretagne. Du 20 au 27 février ces jeunes Arménien avaient lancé
une campagne de pétition, recueillant 20 000 signatures. « Nous
exigeons le retour en Arménie de la tête de bronze et des mains de la
déesse arménienne Anahid (…) car les éléments du patrimoine de l’art
et de l’histoire doivent être exposés dans leur pays d’origine »
précise le texte de la pétition.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 10 mars 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

MEETING WITH JOURNALISTS

Wednesday, 07 March 2012 10:18

After their meeting with NKR President Bako Sahakian the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairmen answered journalists’ questions. This was the first
visit to the region of the updated-format co-chairs.

Welcome remarks were addressed to the OSCE Minsk Group French
Co-Chairman who was on his first visit to Artsakh. `This means that
although I’ve read a lot about Karabakh, I do not know anything yet.
So, I should learn and, if I can, be useful to you’, said Jacques
Faure with diplomatic sincerity.

And Jacques Faure’s experienced colleagues presented the details of
their contributions. Surely, in addition to the welcome remarks, other
issues were discussed during the two-hour meeting with the Artsakh
President. Robert Bradtke estimated the discussions as useful and
fruitful. `During all the meetings, we discussed the co-chairs’ recent
activities and the statements issued after the Sochi, January 23
meeting. We also discussed the situation on the contact-line with
President Sahakian’.

«We also told Bako Sahakian about the discussions in Sochi on carrying
out investigations on the contact-line. We informed that the
Presidents took into consideration the co-chairs’ works conducted and
instructed the corresponding structures to elaborate the
proposed-by-us mechanisms on carrying out the investigations», said
Russian Co-Chairman Igor Popov. The prepared sample was submitted to
the OSCE military experts, and their respond is expected in the
nearest future.

The journalists were interested in the impact of the coming elections
in the region on the negotiation process. Robert Bradtke is very
optimistic about this issue. «Elections will take place not only in
your states, but also in ours. In parallel to this, the negotiation
process and our activities will go on».

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Minsk Group creation, the
co-chairs gave also some general evaluations. Since 1994, the greatest
achievement has been the cease-fire. Though, there is still much to be
done for achieving the final solution to the conflict. And works are
ongoing in this direction.

Norayr Hovsepian

Greek Reporter
March 7 2012

Greek-Armenian Guitarist To Perform In Watertown
By Fani Toli on March 7, 2012

On March 30, the Boston chapter of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational
and Cultural Society presents Greek-Armenian classical guitar virtuoso
Iakovos Kolanian in concert at the First Parish of Watertown, The
Armenian Weekly reported.

Based in Athens, Greece, Kolanian is considered one of the leading
classical guitarists of his generation. Born to an Armenian father and
Greek mother, Kolanian is best known for having expertly transcribed
folk songs from both sides of his unique ethnic heritage. Of his
recent album `Iakovos Kolanian Plays Mikis Theodorakis’ (Legend
Classics), Theodorakis raved that Kolanian `achives technical and
expressive perfection.’ In Soundboard Magazine, Albert Kunze said `his
tone is beautiful, his playing sensitive’ when describing Kolanian’s
`Shoror’ (Pomegranate Music), a collection of Armenian folk music
transcribed for classical guitar. Other recordings include collections
by J.S. Bach (Legend Classics) and masterworks by Agustin Barrios
(Pomegranate Music).

Iakovos Kolanian has performed with every major orchestra in Greece
and Armenia, and has made select appearances in Europe, North America,
and the Middle East. He currently lives in Athens, where he balances a
busy schedule of teaching, transcribing, and teaching with his various
performance engagements around the world. In 2011, he was awarded the
Komitas Medal in Yerevan for his ongoing contributions to Armenian
culture. In his spare time, Kolanian gives gratis master classes in
Armenia to underprivileged youth.

He currently holds the post of guitar department director at the
Contemporary Music Education Conservatory of Athens. During the March
2012 tour, Iakovos Kolanian will be performing the works of Komitas,
J.S Bach, Agustin Barrios, Mario Guiliani, Leo Brower, Antonio Lauro,
and his own transcriptions of Armenian folk music.

Hamazkayin-Boston aims to uphold the ethnic identity and cultural
heritage of the Armenian community in the Greater Boston area by
cultivating and promoting local, national, and international Armenian
arts; celebrating important educational and cultural milestones in our
history; and engaging the youth and the young professionals in our
community to raise interest and awareness toward educational and
cultural issues of importance to the Armenian community and cultivate
the next generation of local and national community leaders.

More Kiosks Confusion: Some owners of stalls not happy with settlement

Society | 07.03.12 | 15:11

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

The issue of dismantled shopping stalls in underpasses located along
Yerevan’s central Abovyan and Isahakyan streets, caused anxiety among
the owners of those kiosks, who do not agree with the conditions
offered by Yerevan Municipality and refuse to leave their areas.

One of the kiosk owners Gevorg Manukyan, director of `Hrashk Jin’
subway stall, who since 1999 owns the area, which will probably be
dismantled, too, told ArmeniaNow that the relations between the kiosk
owners and Yerevan Municipality have become tense since 2010, when
under the municipality’s decision (Gagik Beglaryan was Yerevan’s Mayor
then) the area for about 16 kiosks was given to Great Victoria
Company.

Ten out of 16 kiosks are already dismantled; their owners have agreed
to take the offered 140,000 drams (about $370) compensation per each
square meter of their area.

`I own a pavilion which was given to me legally. I signed contracts
with the community administration office every year. I worked
normally, however my contract with the community administration had
not been expired yet when in 2010 the municipality put my territory up
at auction,’ says 37-year-old Manukyan, whose only income is obtained
from the kiosk, which covers 20 square meters.

`All of us [kiosk owners] are aware that a substantial project will be
realized, there will be big investments, and a luxurious trade center
will be constructed, and we also want to participate in it,’ says
Manukyan, adding that they have a priority right in the contract,
under which they were supposed to get assistance from the
municipality.

On Tuesday, head of opposition Heritage parliamentary faction Styopa
Safaryan, who has earlier visited the owners of the subway stalls,
sent an official letter to Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan, offering to
organize a discussion over the kiosks (under Moskovyan-Isahakyan
streets) issue.

`I have offered both the six kiosk owners [who are not satisfied with
the municipality’s decision] and the municipality representatives to
discuss the issue with mayor [Margaryan] in order to get acquainted
with the positions and suggestions of the sides, urging to restrain
taking any compulsory measures,’ Safaryan says.

The press service of Yerevan municipality has not given any response
or explanations over Safaryan’s letter yet.

Serzh Sargsyan: European integration one of key priorities of
Armenia’s foreign policy

arminfo
Wednesday, March 7, 22:38

European integration is one of the key priorities of our foreign
policy, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said at the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation in Brussels, on March 6, the press-service of the
Armenia president told ArmInfo.

In his speech President Sargsyan said that EU’s presence in Armenia
and South Caucasus important not only because of EU’s being global
actor, but also because the European model of peaceful, safe and
sustainable coexistence of peoples is fully applicable to the South
Caucasus.

“Our vision of full development of the South Caucasus is based on the
values and conscience that made Europe’s success possible. I am sure
that it is only thanks to the common system of values that we can
build a safe and developing region. Our region really needs
understanding of common values, development of a security agenda,
formation of integrated economy reckoning with the peculiarities and
diversity of challenges in our region,” the president said.

Sargsyan said that Armenia is for settlement of all the problems
through political negotiations, mutual understanding and respect for
the rights of all the parties. “We are ready to do our best to prevent
conflict, new dividing lines, and we prove seriousness of our
intention in practice,” he said.

In this context, the president said that irrespective of the regional
problems, Armenia has chosen the way of democratic state building with
respect for human rights, independent judicial system, equal terms of
competition in the political and economic spheres, where democracy is
not a shape but content.

Hairikyan Did Job of Republicans and Prosperous Armenia

YEGHISHEH CHARENTS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:12:44 – 07/03/2012

The leader of the National Self-Determination Union Paruir Hairikyan
stated that he will not take part in the parliamentary election
because he has studied public opinion and noted that the NSDU does not
have sufficient support.

The leader of the NSDU displayed exemplary political realism. No doubt
the scope of forces which do not have enough public support is quite
large but the realism of their leadership is not adequate.

These forces are pushed into the lists of more influential political
units and arrange their parliamentary seats. At best, they present
their own lists.

Hairikyan’s example will be singular, and many people will even say
that he did not find a place in the political list, so he said he will
not run in the elections.

It is possible. But the fact is that the NSDU has made a decision, and
Hairikyan justified and explained this decision thoroughly – there is
no public support.

On the other hand, Hairikyan’s step is a confession that there is no
political competition in Armenia because if there were competition,
the party would not waive the political struggle and will try to boost
the insufficient number of its supporters during the election
campaign.

However, it is something useless in Armenia because the effectiveness
of the election campaign is measured by subjective circumstances
rather than objective factors.

Otherwise, the Republican Party, the Prosperous Armenia, the Country
of Law and marginal parties settled somewhere between the ruling
parties and their leaders would announce not to run in the election
and feel ashamed of announcing about it.

Meaningless to Spend Money on Educating Armenian Women: Sociologist

03.07.2012 14:57 epress.am

The 21st century requires women to be equal to men in strength and
ability, said sociologist Aharon Adibekyan, speaking in the Armenian
capital today about the 21st century Armenian woman.

Adibekyan said that his research has showen that Armenians are
`bearers of Aryan culture and men have a dominant role in our
society.’

`We were studying whether a woman’s role can change after
transitioning from a totalitarian system. The role of women in our
country didn’t change after independence. Though more than half of
voters are women, there was a modest number of women in the
majoritarian [single-mandate] constituencies. OnlyHranush Hakobyan had
the opportunity of winning in the elections, being an exceptional
figure, when a woman can overcome gender issues,’ he said.

Money spent on women’s education is an unnecessary expense, Adibekyan
continued, since a large portion of the unemployed are highly educated
women.

According to the sociologist, women are actively engaged in neither
politics nor business. He said that only 18% of owners of businesses
registered in Armenia are women – not to mention that a portion of
these women are owners in name only, since their husbands, who are
members of parliament and cannot own businesses, register their
businesses in their wives’ names.

Adibekyan believes that women’s lower role in society is due to the
fact that they don’t value themselves and are used to answering to
men.

`When we say become a director, they have an aversion to being a
leader, to the responsibility. We have only two female ministers.
Among village mayors there are only a few women. There are relatively
more [women] In the judiciary since women accept bribes less,’ he
said.

In the sociologist’s opinion, women are more conservative, explaining
that 40% of Armenian men but only 30% of Armenian women place
importance on having sexual experience before marriage.

`We’re not as liberal as we could’ve been at our level of democracy.
But if we become a European country, we will disappear faster than we
are disappearing. If we remain [an] Asiatic [country], we will remain
backward and emigration [from the country] will increase,’ he said,
expressing hope that `the public will find the golden middle.’

EBRD representative hails Armenian government’s efforts towards
improving the investment climate

armradio.am
07.03.2012 16:41

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received Olivier Descamps, EBRD
Business Director for Turkey, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central
Asia.

Olivier Descamps noted that the EBRD investment programs in Armenia
reflect the steps targeted at the improvement of the investment
climate in our country. He said the EBRD intends to implement a new
strategy, which will pay special attention to the expansion of
cooperation with the private sector.

`I have been periodically visiting Armenia in the course of the past
14 years and I see considerable changes in your country. I
congratulate you and your team for overcoming the crisis. Now you are
stronger and have a stronger and wiser fiscal policy,’ Olivier
Descamps noted, praising the government’s efforts in improving the
investment climate in the country.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the reforms in the tax
and customs fields, improvement of the business climate, development
of the small and medium-sized business.

During the meeting reference was made to the government’s
export-oriented industrial policy and the possible cooperation with
the EBRD within that framework.

Caucasian ‘Great Game’ over gas and oil remains unresolvedby Francesco
Guarascio

07 March 2012

The frozen conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mountainous
region of Nagorno-Karabakh shows no signs of thawing despite the danger it
poses to Europe’s strategic southern corridor for energy supplies

Almost 20 years of war is a long period of conflict even by Russian
standards, but since the first shots were fired between Armenian and Azeri
troops in 1988 and a ceasefire was agreed in 1994 – very little has
effectively changed in the relations between the two southern Caucasian
countries. They remain irreconcilable enemies divided by heavily armed
borders. Without the powerful lid of the Soviet Union, the long-running
grudge between these two nations erupted into war. Going on the offensive,
Armenia’s troops were able to conquer the ethnically Armenian territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan. In order to do so, the
Armenian army also took control of the strip of land dividing the region
from Armenia and other surrounding territories further inside Azerbaijan’s
land.

Nearly 30.000 people were killed during the conflict with Azerbaijan
bearing the heaviest burden. It has since been flooded by nearly one
million refugees and has lost around 20 per cent of its territory. The
mainly ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh has repeatedly and
overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence, yet no country in the world
has so far recognised the breakaway region. “I have never heard of the
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, it is Azeri territory; it cannot be
independent, it will never be independent,” Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime
Minister Ali Hasanov tells PublicServiceEurope.com.

The United Nations and other international bodies have repeatedly condemned
the situation and asked Armenia to withdraw its troops from the occupied
territories. The international organisations “should insist on the
implementation of their own decisions, but they do not,” adds Hasanov.
“After the UN resolution on Libya last year, it took two hours for NATO to
implement it. We are still waiting for the implementations of decisions
taken in 1993.” Meanwhile, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan said
yesterday, during a press conference in Brussels with the President of the
European Commission José Manuel Barroso: “Nagorno-Karabakh is part of the
European family.” Armenia’s line remains firmly in favour of independence
for the region.

There seems to be little room for compromise left for the negotiators. The
last meeting between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Sargsyan in
the Russian city of Kazan in June, ended in failure. “There will be other
high-level meetings for sure, but nothing is foreseen for the moment,”
acknowledges Hasanov. The European Union has dealt with the crisis in its
usual light-touch and indecisive manner. It is not a part of the
international council of negotiators called the Minsk Group, which since
1992, is trying to find a compromised solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute. The group is co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France.
“Nobody in the group seems interested in finding a solution,” claims
Hasanov. Certainly not Russia, who can only profit from the instability of
a region where huge western interests are at stake.

Three special representatives for the Southern Caucasus have been appointed
by the European Union since 2003, but they have largely remained anonymous.
A French diplomat Philippe Lefort is the latest to be appointed and has
been in charge since September. “It is too early to appreciate his
contribution to the resolution of the crisis,” says Hasanov diplomatically,
when asked to give an assessment of Lefort’s progress to date. Of course,
six months is not so short a period to deliver results – but judging by the
region’s standards, it certainly may be. Europe’s proverbial lack of
resoluteness in foreign affairs might be particularly harmful in this case,
since Nagorno-Karabakh lies on the route between the oil and gas-rich
Caspian basin and Europe.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia pushed investors to take a
significant detour when laying down the gas and oil pipelines which connect
the Caspian Sea to Turkey. Instead of crossing Armenia, the existing
infrastructure goes around it with a deviation of over 100 kilometres. And
existing pipelines actually run a few kilometers away from
Nagorno-Karabakh’s border – a comfortable shell distance from those
interested in causing trouble. “During the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, a
few Russian bombs fell very close to the Georgian end of the pipelines,”
says a European expert on the South Caucasus, who prefers to remain
anonymous.

Europe’s ambitions to diversify its energy supplies and decrease the
dependency on Russian gas rely on a steady, direct flow of Azeri gas and
possibly at some point in the future on Turkmen and Kazakh gas. Therefore,
solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not only a moral obligation for
the EU, but also a strategic priority and a crucial test for the embryonic
European diplomatic corps. Although it has slightly revised the script,
Europe is still playing its “Great Game” in the Caucasus – as Britain did
in Afghanistan in the 19th century. The theatre has changed, but the
players and the aims remain surprisingly familiar as Russia and the west
compete for influence in a strategic region.

Off-parliament and parliament oppositions have various viewpoints on
woman presidential candidate

news.am
March 07, 2012 | 15:25

YEREVAN. – Off-parliament opposition Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
head Lyudmila Sargsyan does not see a proper women candidate for
Armenia’s president, she said at a press conference on Wednesday
adding a woman can rule better.

The other participant of the conference parliament opposition ARF
Dashnaktsuyun party MP Lilit Galstyan said that it has a reason.

`Very often our political field is clashed with the fact of not seeing
individuals. While politicans should be raised in political
institutes, which the society lacks,’ Galstyan said adding she does
not rule out women candidates.

Asked to provide names, Galstyan mentioned Lyudmila Sargsyan. Besides,
there are good women activists in the parliament as well, however, she
does not see them as a presidential candidate.