Author: Kanayan Tamar

RULING REPUBLICAN PARTY COMMENTS ON COALITION PARTNER’S RECENT MOVE

news.am
February 06, 2012 | 16:59

YEREVAN. – Ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MPs consider
coalition member Prosperous Armenia Party’s (PAP) recent actions as a
PR move, violation of coalition agreements.

The ruling coalition’s Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Parliamentary
Faction did not take part in National Assembly (NA) voting on the bill
concerning limitations to financial operations, and thus PAP
“torpedoed” the passing of the bill.

“It is a violation of coalition agreements. I believe the bill was
discussed very seriously and there could be no conflict of interests.

It was an anti-corruption bill, besides, a political team releases a
statement prior to being absent from the voting,” head of RPA
parliamentary group Galust Sahakyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

SARIBEKYAN WONDERS WHAT ‘DEFENDERS OF REFORMS ARE BEING DEFEATED’ EXPRESSION MEANS

Panorama.am
06/02/2012

“Oxford Analytica” paper referred to reforms being implemented in the
Armed Forces of Armenia noting that casualties and murders recorded in
peace conditions obstruct advancement recorded in the Armenian Armed
Forces in the recent phase. The paper also mentions that defenders
of reforms in Armenian army are being defeated.

Panorama.am asked Karen Saribekyan, member of NA Standing Committee
on Defense, national security and interior affairs, to remark on the
analytic story.

According to the MP reforms being implemented in the army are
being intensively carried out. K. Saribekyan said the committee was
discussing a new Defense Ministry Code which suggests serious changes.

“I don’t understand what does it mean – “defenders of reforms are
being defeated” expressions. Pivotal reforms are important for all
the fields and they are being implemented,” he said.

Military expert Artur Petrosyan said the process of reforms is not
end in itself.

“Before remarking on the feature story it’s important to understand
what sources have been used. Army shortcomings are being transparently
discussed which is evident that serious reforms have got under way.

Nobody says there are no shortcomings in the army, but to say those
reforms are failed and slow, I think is wrong,” A. Petrosyan said.

Asked if there are senior army officials who impede process of
reforms in the army, expert said: “I don’t think so, I’m sure they
know reforms are requirements.”

Panorama.am asked Defense Ministry spokesman Davit Karapetyan to
remark on the analytical story, but D. Karapetyan said the Ministry
would issue comments later.

DIASPORA-ARMENIAN EDUCATORS~R YEARLY TRAINING PROGRAM TO BE HELD IN SUMMER

news.am
February 06, 2012 | 16:15

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Education and Science Ministry has commenced
preparations for the 2012 training program for the Armenology studies
teachers, principals, and teaching inspectors at Diaspora-Armenian
educational institutions.

The training course will be held in Armenia between July 8 and
August 7.

At the end of the program, the participants will receive corresponding
certificates, teaching manuals, textbooks, and other material. Ever
since 2000, this program is funded by Armenia’s state budget, and
so far more than 600 Diaspora-Armenian educators have taken part in
these training courses.

SWISS PROSECUTOR LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION AGAINST TURKISH MINISTER FOR DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

armradio.am
06.02.2012 17:33

A Zurich prosecutor on Monday launched an investigation into remarks by
Egemen BagıÅ~_, Turkey’s EU affairs minister and chief EU negotiator,
after he said in Zurich that there was no Armenian genocide and
that Swiss authorities could arrest him if they wanted to, Today’s
Zaman reports.

News about the prosecution’s move was published in the Swiss daily
Neue Zurcher Zeitung. The Zurich Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched
the investigation into BagıÅ~_’s remarks- which he made last month in
Zurich on his way back from the World Economic Forum at Davos – based
on a complaint filed by members of Switzerland’s Armenian community.

“There is no Armenian genocide. Let them arrest me,” BagıÅ~_ said last
week following a question from a French reporter on the 1915 killings.

Zurich State Prosecutor Christine Braunschweig was quoted by the daily
as having said: “Last week we received a petition about this issue,
informing us that Mr. BagıÅ~_ violated the anti-racism Article 261 of
the Swiss Penal Code. Our prosecutor’s office has taken this allegation
seriously and launched an investigation. We will investigate whether
Egemen BagıÅ~_ uttered words denying the Armenian genocide as asserted
in the petition. We will also see if he has diplomatic immunity. At
the end of this, we will press charges against him if there indeed
is a violation and if he cannot benefit from diplomatic immunity.”

Last week, in response to a question from a French journalist on
what he thought of a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian
genocide adopted by the French Senate in January, BagıÅ~_ said:
“Here I am in Switzerland today, and I’m saying the 1915 incidents
did not amount to genocide. Let them come arrest me.”

ONE-YEAR-OLD BABY POISONED IN YEREVAN

news.am
February 06, 2012 | 15:08

YEREVAN. – One-year-old Irina P. was poisoned and hospitalized in
Yerevan on Monday.

Her health condition is satisfactory, while nothing is available on
reasons of the poisoning Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations
informs.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS OPPOSE RESTRICTION OF CASH OPERATIONS

arminfo
Monday, February 6, 15:25

Armenian parliamentarians killed the Bill of amendments to the Law
on restriction of cash operations and a number of accompanying laws,
including amendments to the Civil Code and the Code of Administrative
Offences, Monday. The parliament speaker had twice put the bill on
voting and the parliamentarians killed it.

Vahan Hovhannisyan, parliamentarian from ARFD party faction in
the parliament, says the idea of the bill is welcomed for it is
progressive. However, he thinks that various issues and problems
emerge in the real life and there is no solution to these problems
yet. The faction made a number of suggestions and will its stance on
the bill will depend on the response to the above suggestions.

Therefore, the party abstained from voting.

Earlier in his speech, Vice Chairman of the Armenian Central Bank
Nerses Yeritsyan said that the bill regulates non-cash operation, in
particular, the transfers to the name of a recipient. The bill provides
for non-cash operations for the operations exceeding 300,000 AMD at
medical establishments, 100,000 AMD at educational establishments. In
addition, the bill sets a specific term for the non-cash operation
to avoid delay of financial receipts. Realty deals of individual’s
exceeding 3 mln drams should also be non-cash.

Earlier, such law applied to legal entities only. The bill stipulated
that starting 2014 Post-terminals will be installed at all the public
catering, trade facilities and medical establishments with an area
exceeding 200sq.m in Yerevan.

INTERESTS IN OPERA AND BALLET INCREASES

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 6, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, ARMENPRESS: Very often an opinion is being voiced
that the age of opera and ballet has already passed and the growing
generation is not interested in it. To find out the real picture,
Armenpress spoke with the director of the Al. Spendiaryan Opera and
Ballet National Academic Theatre Kamo Hovhannissyan.

– Mr Hovhannissyan, what kind of interest does exist in the Opera
and Ballet Theatre today?

– Each century has its peculiar, firm forms of art loved by the
people and during the past twenty years the Armenian people have been
attracted by the easily perceived arts. Of course it is difficult
to name them art. I prefer saying perceivable forms reaching to
preference to restaurant music. But thank’s God the situation is
controllable as there is big difference since 2006.

– There is a concrete mass visiting the opera theatre. Who are they?

– Yes, we have a clear mass visiting the theatre, but when young
people come it is more pleasant to work. For bringing people here,
we applied different measures, like organization of concerts that
raised big interest among the audience. It already proves that the
interest in these arts has increased.

– What steps are you going to undertake to attract school age children
and young people?

– During each performance we invite more than 30 schoolchildren both
from Yerevan and the provinces. We are also cooperating with the
Yerevan City Hall as a result of which a number of schoolchildren
come to see our performances. Students from Yerevan State Institute
of Theatre and Cinema, Teachers’ Training University, etc are also
our expected guests.

– What problems do you see connected with the level of education of
contemporary Armenian audience?

– I see no issues in our permanent audience. The problems are connected
with the upbringing of the newly growing generation. I mean aesthetic
upbringing. The solution of this issue is connected with time. I am
an optimist in this issue.

– Which is our place in the world culture? What do we have to show
the world?

– With “Aida”, “Spartak,” “Gayane” ballets we not once proved the whole
world our right of existence. But we must not ignore the circumstance
that we had great losses in this area and cannot be compared with
other countries. It is agreed with a number of financial difficulties,
issue of continuation of traditions that still must be solved. In
separate cases we do not concede.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBERS CONDEMN HRANT DINK CASE VERDICT

Panorama.am
06/02/2012

Members of European Parliament have declared they are disappointed
with a Turkish court verdict on Hrant Dink’s, editor-in-Chief of
“Agos” daily, murder case, Turkish “Sondakika.com” reported.

Ria Oomen-Ruijten, European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, said
in Brussels that Turkey had failed a favorable chance.

“It’s evident that Turkey’s judicial system definitely needs reforms.

European Parliament thinks that the situation is really shameful.”

English MP Andrew Duff said he knew Hrant Dink, who was a great man.

“I had a chance to meet him several times. It’s shameful after so many
years of the murder; the case hasn’t been completely investigated and
condemned. Advanced and liberal lawyers say the country’s judicial
system needs serious reforms. Ruling “Justice and development party”
is uncertain with it. They are committed to reforms but are not
committed to react quickly.”

Today’s Zaman
Feb 5 2012

OSCE’s third co-chair France to be replaced by Turkey in minsk Group?

5 February 2012 / LAMÄ°YA ADÄ°LGIZI, Ä°STANBUL
After the French Senate passed a bill penalizing denying the 1915
killings of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks constituted
genocide, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, speaking in an
interview broadcast by news channel CNN Türk on Jan. 28, denounced
France’s co-chairmanship of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s (OCSE) Minsk Group.
Although Azerbaijanis are in favor of replacing France as co-chair,
finding France biased, Armenians are satisfied with the French role as
a co-chair, claiming the country is non-aligned and impartial. Talking
to Sunday’s Zaman, Fazil Mustafa, an Azerbaijani deputy, says it
justifiable that Turkey calls into question the French
co-chairmanship, underlining that France must be replaced by Turkey.
Commenting on the French bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian
`genocide,’ Mustafa says that by passing the bill France revealed its
biased and one-sided position, and added that the argument put forward
by senior Turkish officials is reasonable. `France’s position as a
co-chair of the Minsk Group has been compromised. The country is not
neutral, a prerequisite for any mediator. France supports Armenia in
opposition to Azerbaijan, so the country must be made to give up its
position.’

Following the approval of the bill in France’s lower house, Turkish
President Abdullah Gül announced that France should withdraw from the
Minsk Group if the bill is approved by the French Senate and becomes
law as this would mean that France is no longer neutral in the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Gül’s statement was
recently restated by DavutoÄ?lu, meaning the issue of the French
co-chairmanship needs to be reconsidered.

Considering the issue political rhetoric, Sabine Freizer, the
Ä°stanbul-based director of the International Crisis Group’s Europe
Program, in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman commented on the chances
of any changes in co-chairs, saying it is unlikely that Turkey will
get France replaced. `I don’t believe that Turkey will get much
support from the OSCE states when it tries to link the problems of the
Minsk Group with the passage of legislation in France that penalizes
persons denying the genocide,’ she said.

`Turkey needs to get the support of all 56 participating states — or
at least of the country that chairs the organization at that time. It
will also need the support of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the other three
current co-chairing countries, the US, France and Russia,’ Freizer
added.

The OSCE, the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental
organization, works on the basis of consensus, so if Armenia, as a
member of the OSCE, vetoes Turkey’s co-chairmanship of the Minsk
Group, Turkey cannot become the Mink Group’s co-chair.

Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for
Regional Studies, considers the removal of France from the Minsk Group
unlikely, especially as earlier pressure from within the EU failed to
unseat the French.

Freizer also stated that when the issue of replacing France as
co-chair by another EU country was on the table, her team was in
favor, saying that `the EU would be responsible for much of the
technical [nation building] and financial support if there is ever a
peace agreement.’ Hence, the expert thinks that any kind of change in
the leadership of the Minsk Group will be difficult to pass.

Praising Turkey’s enthusiasm for the Minsk Group, Giragosian says an
active Turkey within the Minsk Group `may play a greater and more
direct role in the region through this under-used format [Minsk group
mediation].’ According to Giragosian, if Turkey truly seeks to benefit
from a new dynamic focus on the OSCE, it needs to reconsider the
reconciliation process between Armenians and Turks. `The quickest path
toward garnering diplomatic dividends would be to re-engage and
restart the normalization process with Armenia in a more sincere and
resolute manner,’ he said.

Commenting on the role of the Minsk Group in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mustafa says the Minsk Group seems to have
failed as the conflict has remained unresolved for two decades and
progress in the negotiations process has been minimal.

Mustafa notes that questioning the French position in the Minsk Group
could be a shortcut to the start of calling into question the group’s
very mandate. The Azerbaijani deputy considers the Minsk Group
ineffective as it does not follow up on its commitments. `Not only
France, but the Minsk Group in its entirety needs to be replaced. It
is better that the Minsk Group be replaced by an international
institution such as the UN so that the Minsk Group, with its biased
member states openly supporting Armenia, does not ossify and that its
impartiality does not become permanent,’ he said.

Considering the Minsk Group format in many ways outdated, Freizer
thinks that a serious discussion is needed on the value and
effectiveness of the Minsk Group format.

The Minsk Group was established in 1992 to encourage a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted in the late
`80s between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Minsk Group has been
mediating for 20 years between the conflicting sides, however, no
positive results have yet been reached, making the Minsk Group an
institution with an unfinished mission.

BUSINESS SUPPORT CENTER PRESENTS PROGRAM DESIGNED TO BOOST ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

/ARKA/
FEBRUARY 3, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, February 3. /ARKA/. Samvel Gevorkian, the chairman of the
Business Support Center (BSC), presented a program today designed
to boost entrepreneurship in rural communities. According to him,
boosting entrepreneurship in communities outside Yerevan is not very
difficult and does not require large financial investments.

“The basic idea is to encourage entrepreneurship in the regions through
identifying their top priorities. All you need to have is the desire
of the people and support of community heads,” he said.

According to Gevorkian, Armenia should adopt the Japanese method of
development – “one village – one production.”

“For example, one community has very attractive historical monuments,
the other community is known for preparing a national dish,” he said.

Gevorkian cited the example of the town of Berd in the Tavush region
where women produce teddy bears. This business has appeared very
profitable as a teddy bear is sold at 15,000 drams.

The Business Support Center was founded in 1994 as Armenian Foundation
for Small and Medium Enterprises, acting within the framework of EU
TACIS program.

In 1998 it became a private and self-financing company, and was
renamed the Business Support Center to provides consulting and training
services.