Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIA TO RECEIVE NECESSARY AID IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT, CSTO

Trend
Feb 21 2012
Azerbaijan

21 February 2012, 15:13 (GMT+04:00) “Armenia is a full CSTO member. It
is obliged to present its capabilities to ensure the collective
security of another country and has the right to receive the same
support from its allies,” Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said today at a news
conference in RIA Novosti.

He said it is impossible to envisage a crisis situation in CSTO
member states.

“There are scenarios similar to those in Kyrgyzstan,” he said. “There
are scenarios for how a crisis could develop in Belarus, Russia or
Kazakhstan. Everything depends on the particular format of actiona
and in which country the situation arises.”

Bordyuzha said besides the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces, the
CSTO has the political and peacekeeping potential of influencing
the environment.

“We have potential associated with the use of operational units to
combat terrorism and the drug mafia, as well as criminal gangs in
the area of information security and migration,” Bordyuzha said.

“However, I reiterate that Armenia will receive all necessary
assistance as a full member,” he concluded.

The 20th anniversary of signing the Treaty on Collective Security
Treaty (CST) and the 10th anniversary of the CSTO establishment, which
includes such countries as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are marked this year.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

AZERBAIJANI MPS TO VISIT YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 20, 2012 – 21:01 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – From February 21-23, Azerbaijani MPs Rovshan
Rzayev, Faraj Guliyev and Azay Guliyev will pay a visit to Armenia
to participate in the meeting of Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
social committee.

Discussion of issues related to civil society development in
partner-countries, poverty reduction strategy, boosting the role of
women and youth in civil society and parliament is planned to be on
meeting agenda, according to Azerbaijani media outlets.

THE HRAYR MAROUKHIAN FOUNDATION IS ACTIVELY PURSUING ITS AIMS

February 16, 2012

In its continuous efforts to disseminate information about social
democracy in Armenia, the Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation, in cooperation
with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, has begun translating the FES
Academy of Social Democracy’s “Economics and Social Democracy,”
(Simon Vaut et al.).

Last year the Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation, in cooperation with the
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, launched this series of translations with the
first reader titled “Foundations of Social Democracy,” which discussed
the basic values, goals and meanings of social democracy. A thousand
copies of the book were printed and passed out to academicians,
economists, politicians, youth groups, and students.

This year, the second volume will provide a more detailed analysis
of how economic systems and policies can work to espouse social
democratic principles. The translation of “Economics and Social
Democracy” will be available in April, 2012.

The Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation has begun the second phase of “Social
Reforms in Armenia” policy papers. Last year, the HMF successfully
prepared and presented recommendations to improve the healthcare,
housing and employment sectors in Armenia. This year, the Hrayr
Maroukhian Foundation’s new working groups are undertaking three new
sectors in need of reforms; Agriculture, Mining and Education. Experts
will be examining the current state of these areas and recommending
alternative, original and applicable solutions from a social democratic
perspective. The final studies will be published by mid-June.

L to R: Panelists for Women in Politics. Anahit Harutunyan (ARF),
Marta Simonyan (Republican), Nona Otaryan (Prosperous), Margarit
Hakobyan (Heritage).

Late last year, in cooperation with Yerkir Media, and funded by the
Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation produced
six television episodes about the challenges and achievements of women
in Armenia. The segments highlighted the difficulties encountered
by women in private and public life, while showcasing the positive
impact they have had in the development of Armenian society.

Through this documentary, HMF was able to recognize some of the most
resilient and influential women of Armenia who have broken barriers
and who are charting a new course for future generations.

NINE ARMENIANS AMONG INJURED IN RUSSIA’S BAKERY BLAST

news.am
February 20, 2012 | 18:27

The Russian LifeNews website issued the list of injured in the fire
in Moscow Region. The list includes nine Armenian names.

The list is as follows:

V. Sargsyan (22)

Sargsyan (46)

Khamatyan (43)

A. Grigoryan (54)

R. Saroyan (44)

D. Melkonyan (44)

Karen Hakobyan (30)

Mavlodatov (29)

Mirzakarimov (18)

Zhulakyan (28)

M. Simonyan (25)

The bodies of two dead people have not been identified yet. The
doctors say five out of 11 injured are critical.

The accident occurred on Feb. 19 in a bakery where workers from CIS
states worked.

FLAWS IN INVESTIGATING OFFICIALS’ NEGLIGENCE IN DINK MURDER CASE

armradio.am
21.02.2012 14:52

The summary of a report prepared by the State Audit Institution
(DDK) regarding the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
has revealed that mistakes were made in the investigation of public
officials who were suspected to have acted negligently in preventing
the murder, Today’s Zaman reports.

The investigation that followed Dink’s death revealed that the police
had been tipped off to the plans for the murder of the journalist;
however, the police failed to intervene. The summary of the DDK
report said the sequence of negligent acts by public officials was
not examined as a whole and no investigation was launched separately
into different state institutions.

It said the method adopted during the investigation of public officials
led to the failure of not investigating all allegations about public
officials as a whole.

The report noted that as a result of this failure, the seriousness of
the actions of public officials in the run up to the murder has not
been understood and the link between their actions and the murder could
not be established, leading to the failure of all of the investigations
into public officials.

The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court issued its final ruling in the
Dink trial last month, which failed to please those expecting justice
to be served. During the process, lawyers for the Dink family and the
co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence indicating that hitman
Ogun Samast did not act alone. Samast stood trial in a juvenile
court because he was a minor at the time of the murder. He was
recently sentenced to 22 years, 10 months in prison by the court. In
a separate trial, two gendarmerie officers were convicted on charges
of dereliction of duty in the run-up to the Dink murder.

Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting
Samast to murder. However, Erhan Tuncel, who worked as an informant for
the Trabzon Police Department, was found not guilty of masterminding
the murder. The prosecution believes the killers are affiliated with
the Ergenekon network, a shadowy criminal network that has alleged
links within the state and whose suspected members are currently
standing trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.

MAYOR FAILS TO FULFILL PLEDGE

12:30 pm | Today | Social

“We have been here since morning. There are nearly 40-50 police
officers following up on the construction. They promised that they
wouldn’t let the builders do anything until morning, but now they are
following up to make sure the construction continues. The workers are
currently placing the windows of the stands,” environmentalist-activist
Vahram Soghomonyan told “A1+”.

Last evening, environmentalists in Yerevan managed to stop the
construction of stands, but construction restarted at 12 a.m. last
night.

The environmentalists have been fighting against the placement of the
trade stands demolished on Abovyan Street and for the preservation
of the public park at Mashtots Avenue for the past eleven days.

We remind that Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan had pledged to take
the environmentalists’ proposals into account to preserve the park,
but yesterday he announced that the park was not a green zone.

CONSTRUCTION AT MASHTOTS AVENUE AT NIGHT

11:03 am | Today | Social

Rigorous construction of a stand is underway at Mashtots Park where
environmentalists had gathered and had stood until 19:00 last night.

Builders came to the park nearly half an hour ago and are now placing
the roofs, doors and windows of the stands.

Nearly 40 police officers are overseeing the construction. A bus that
transported the police officers is parked at the street near the park.

Neither the police officers nor the builders wished to comment on
the reason why there was so much commotion at night.

Nearly ten environmentalists arrived at the scene as soon as they heard
the news regarding the construction. They didn’t expect to see this
because they still hoped that Yerevan Municipality would hear what they
had to say and would refrain from placing trade stands at the park.

Before leaving the park, the environmentalists declared that they
were leaving the supervision of the park up to the police officers
and that they would gather there at 10 in the morning.

NKR PRESIDENT SURRENDERS HIS CHAIR
Igor Muradyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:41:20 – 21/02/2012

This story is such a shameful one that the first decision was not to
react to this “legitimate” idiocy. However, “official” Stepanakert
has already made some remarks regarding this.

After 20 years of independence it turns out that the NKR president
still has something to say about independence, territories of our
homeland, and generally the compromise. It became known that the head
of the general information department of the NKR President’s office,
Davit Babayan, knows the problems of Karabakh policy much better,
and he would even conduct the policy of the second Armenian republic
better.

There are things which, despite a lot of enjoyment that power brings,
need to be stated and uttered clearly, precisely, without arousing
doubt. Otherwise, the efforts and heroism of thousands of people are
tossed into the garbage box the puppetry of the policy of Stepanakert
has turned into.

Ostensibly, Davit Babayan’s functions have been enlarged, and the
Karabakh president cannot even make a speech without a prompter. So
why not to shift the reshuffle experience of Armenia to Stepanakert
and review the competencies of the person who acts as president of
NKR and elect or appoint another president which might as well be
Davit Babayan. This would be a logical conclusion for the protracted
discussion of most provisions laid down in the NKR Constitution.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS BEEN TURNING A BLIND EYE TO REPRESSION IN AZERBAIJAN

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS: Ahead of the 2012 Eurovision singing
competition in Baku, Amnesty International is urging host Azerbaijan
to address the unsavoury truth of its record on human rights and
release 16 prisoners of conscience held since April 2011 in the wake
of anti-government protests, Armenpress reports citing the document
of the organization.

“Azerbaijan will no doubt offer an opulent stage to voices from
across Europe, but outside the concert hall, few critical voices are
tolerated. Opposition protests have effectively been criminalised.

Peaceful protesters have been detained, while journalists and NGOs
have faced threats and harassment,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and
Central Asia Deputy Programme Director.

Amnesty International’s briefing, Azerbaijan: No more running scared:
2012 EUROVISION host country Azerbaijan must allow all voices to
be heard , summarizes the organization’s human rights concerns in
the country.

“Corruption and forced evictions, torture and ill-treatment, unfair
trials and harassment – these all go unpunished, while restrictions
on freedom of expression tie the hands of civil society activists,”
John Dalhuisen said.

“For much too long the international community has been turning a blind
eye to repression in Azerbaijan. The 2012 EUROVISION song contest
should lift the glitzy curtains and expose human rights abuses to
millions of people,” the document of the Amnesty International runs.

UN JOURNALISTE D’UNE TV IRANIENNE ARRETE EN AZERBAIDJAN
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 21 fevrier 2012

Un journaliste azerbaïdjanais travaillant pour une chaîne de television
iranienne a ete arrete en Azerbaïdjan pour possession de drogue,
a indique dimanche son frère, alors que les relations entre les deux
pays voisins sont particulièrement tendues.

Anar Bayramli, citoyen azerbaïdjanais, a ete arrete par la police a
son domicile a Bakou vendredi, a dit a l’AFP son frère Eldar Bayramli.

“Ils ont dit que mon frère avait ete interpelle pour des raisons
liees a la drogue ce qui n’est pas logique. Il ne fume meme pas de
cigarettes”, a-t-il ajoute.

Selon la police citee par l’agence Interfax, les forces de
l’ordre ont decouvert 0,378 grammes d’heroïne sur lui au moment
de l’interpellation. Le journaliste travaille pour la television
iranienne Sahar qui est accusee par le gouvernement azerbaïdjanais
de se livrer a de la propagande sur son territoire.

Selon son frère, le journaliste avait ete convoque a plusieurs reprises
a la police et interroge sur la politique de la chaîne.

L’Azerbaïdjan, pays laïc a majorite musulmane, entretient des relations
difficiles avec son voisin iranien, qu’il accuse de chercher a exporter
une vision radicale de l’islam sur son territoire.

L’Iran avait accuse la semaine dernière l’Azerbaïdjan d’avoir
collabore avec les services de renseignements israeliens et facilite
les assassinats de scientifiques nucleaires iraniens ces dernières
annees, des accusations qualifiees de “calomnie” par Bakou.