Author: Kanayan Tamar

Minsk Group Co-Chairs met in Vienna to coordinate their program of activities

armradio.am
09.09.2011 12:17

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of
France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation, released the following statement:

“The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of
France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) met on September 7
in Vienna to discuss and coordinate their program of activities,
leading up to the Vilnius Ministerial Council of the OSCE in December.

The Co-Chairs also briefed the OSCE Minsk Group on the continued
high-level engagement with the sides by all three Co-Chair
governments, as well as on concrete efforts to strengthen the
ceasefire and to reach endorsement of the Basic Principles as a
framework for a comprehensive peace agreement. On September 8, the
Co-Chairs met with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier to further
discuss these and other aspects of the peace process.”

news.am, Armenia
Sept 10 2011

Yerevan kindergarten children play solely with good-quality toys –
Armenian experts

September 10, 2011 | 02:19

YEREVAN. – Armenian Consumers’ Association Chairman Armen Poghosyan’s
information that, during their monitoring at the kindergartens of
Yerevan’s Central and Davitashen administrative regions they had come
across out-of-date toys, is not true, Davitashen’s prefect Arthur
Gevorgyan and Central region prefect’s staff member Gayane Ohanyan
told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Arthur Gevorgyan informed that no monitoring was conducted at the
kindergartens of their administrative regions. He also assured that,
at the beginning of the year, they announce a tender for the supply of
new toys during which it is specified that the winning company must
supply good-quality toys to the kindergartens.

In her turn, Gayane Ohanyan noted that directors of all 20
kindergartens of the Central administrative region had assured that no
one, including Armen Poghosyan and is staff, had recently conducted
monitoring of toys.

Poghosyan likewise told Armenian News-NEWS.am that no monitoring was
held at kindergartens of the two aforesaid administrative regions, and
thus contradicted his statements made during a press conference on
Thursday.

news.am, Armenia
Sept 9 2011

`Aznavour’s Square’ film won at Buenos Aires International Film Festival (Video)

September 09, 2011 | 18:40

The film `Aznavour’s Square’ won at the 10th International Youth Film
Festival and received the `New approach’ nomination, given for
documentary films. The film was shot in 2010.

Authors are the students of Gyumri city Ecoclub Foundation for the
Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets. The film is about their
investigation of their city’s garbage problems.

According to them, scavenging is a big problem nowadays, not only in
Gyumri but also in Yerevan’s central streets. In the film they present
not only the polluted image of the city, but also try to understand
how the responsible figures deal with that problem. Watch the film
HERE: [tt_news]=114&cHash=cfd93a66ddac5c6c53d9fb4ab51b959e

news.am, Armenia
Sept 10 2011

After WikiLeaks disclosures Armenian opposition will not make new tension – MP

September 10, 2011 | 12:43

YEREVAN. – Leader of oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC),
former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan is in a difficult situation
because of WikiLeak’s publications and the dialogue with authorities,
and he can no longer continue his strategy, Heritage party MP Stepan
Safaryan informed to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

`Everything is revealed about ANC and Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s tactics.
He tried to worsen Serzh Sargsyan’s situation with the help of foreign
policy issues, and he used every election opportunity to generate
post-election processes. I don’t think that after such disclosure,
Levon Ter-Petrosyan will make new tension. It was also obvious from
his speech by which the leader of ANC was trying to comment on his
view of revolution, and that it’s not a revolution for him. It’s
obvious from his yesterday’s speech that he is changing his strategy,’
assumed the MP.

The WikiLeaks published American diplomats cables, a significant part
of which was about ANC and Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

news.am, Armenia
Sept 10 2011

WikiLeaks send all Armenian presidents of to retirement – MP

September 10, 2011 | 13:21

YEREVAN. – WikiLeaks send the 3 presidents of Armenia to the
retirement by publishing information showing their high degree of
vulnerability, said the MP from Heritage party Stepan Safaryan.

He noticed that WikiLeaks except referring to Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
refers to Serzh Sargsyan as well.

`It is obvious that Sargsyan is being reminded that he has some
promises to keep, like oligarchic economy, elimination of corruption,
etc. Now we are simply disappointed from Serzh Sargsyan, as he
promised to make serious steps and did nothing. In this regard,
proceeding against some oligarchs, dismissing some officials are facts
to assure that the system is `getting normal,’ mentioned MP.

Referring to head of presidential staff Karen Karapetyan’s
resignation, Stepan Safaryan mentioned that he cannot say anything
till the reasons are clear.

`There are talks that he will be appointed PM, or that he did not have
good relations with his co-workers, but nothing is concrete yet. For
example, it’s quite different thing to unleash articles in press about
the Head of Traffic Police Margar Ohanyan and other oligarchs”

Egyptian protesters break into Israeli embassy building

11:34, 10 September, 2011

ARMENPRESS:

Protesters have broken into the building housing Israel’s embassy in
Egypt’s capital, Cairo, entering consular offices, officials said.

Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters who threw stones and
petrol bombs at police vehicles. Israel’s ambassador has flown out of
Egypt.

US President Barack Obama urged Egypt to protect the embassy after
Israel asked Washington for help.

Hundreds of protesters remain near the embassy, burning tyres in the street.

Live gun shots have been heard, as riot police try to disperse the
demonstrators, says the BBC’s Bethany Bell, in Cairo.

The air is still thick with tear gas, our correspondent says.

There have been protests outside the embassy for weeks amid a downturn
in Egypt-Israel relations.

The unrest began after Friday prayers, when thousands converged on
Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand faster political reforms following the
ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Later, hundreds marched on the Israeli embassy. They destroyed a wall
around the building, before a group of about 30 broke in and threw
documents out of windows.

Reuters news agency quoted an Israeli official in Jerusalem as saying
that the documents appeared to be “pamphlets and forms kept at the
foyer”. Egypt’s state media said some of the documents were marked
confidential.

An Israeli official told the BBC the intruders had entered consular
offices, but not the main embassy.

After initially standing by, police moved against the protesters,
firing tear gas. Several vehicles were set alight.

Live TV pictures in the early hours of Saturday showed protesters
throwing petrol bombs at police vans which drove at a crowd of people
to try to scatter them.

Shots were heard in the area but it is not clear who fired them. There
are reports a police station near the embassy was raided by
protesters.

Egyptian state media said about 400 people had been injured in the unrest.

The BBC’s Hamada Abu-Qamar in Cairo says the protesters want the
embassy to be shut down.

A statement from the office of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak
said he had spoken with his US counterpart Leon Panetta and had “asked
them to protect the embassy from the demonstrators”.

President Obama appealed to Egypt to honour its international
obligations and protect the mission, the White House said in a
statement.

Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, his family and other embassy
officials have been flown out of the country on board a military
plane, Egyptian state TV reported.

However, Reuters says the Israeli consul is staying in Cairo to
maintain the mission.

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had summoned his cabinet crisis
team while the interior ministry put police forces on alert.

Expert dubs Azeri policy as banality of aggression

September 10, 2011 – 15:41 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azeri administration’s destructive policy is a
banality of aggression, a Candidate of historical sciences, adviser to
Artsakh Republic Foreign Minister said.

As Ruben Zargaryan stated in an interview to Analitika.at.ua, `urges
to shoot down civilian planes, announcements of a jihad against
Nagorno Karabakh Republic, pitting the U.S. and Russia against each
other, annexing 2 Russian frontier villages is a mere start to the
list of Azeri banalities.’

`Mortified of other countries’ disregard to its inadequate views, Baku
takes its petty revenge by blacklisting journalists,’ Zargaryan
stressed.

`Hover, an increasing number of foreigners are visiting Karabakh to
make the world aware of the Republic. NKR has long been perceived by
sensible people as part of a civilized international community,’ the
expert concluded.

Prominent Opposition Activist Nikol Pashinyan Calls for a
`Constitutional Revolution’

09.10.2011 10:22 epress.am

Armenia’s administration lasted 74 days without political prisoners,
said Armenian National Congress (HAK) senior representative, chief
editor of local opposition paper Haykakan Jamanak (`Armenian Times’)
Nikol Pashinyan at the HAK rally on Friday. Pashinyan, who himself was
imprisoned on political grounds and granted amnesty only recently, was
referring to an Aug. 9 incident involving police and HAK activists
which resulted in several youth activists being detained, one of whom
– Tigran Araqelyan – has not yet been released.

According to Pashinyan, Armenia’s authorities have no other way of
speaking other than in the language of torture.

The opposition activist said the situation in Armenia today is
revolutionary since the authorities are unable to resolve the people’s
and the country’s woes or to ensure development of the country and
democracy. Moreover, the authorities themselves are an obstacle to
this development.

If the authorities are not in a position to resolve these issues,
Pashinyan continued, then the people has to resolve them themselves.
Recall, Pashinyan was arrested in 2008 along with other opposition
activists for their role in the mass unrest following the disputed
presidential election. In a WikiLeaks cable released late last month,
a former US diplomat in Armenia said Pashinyan, `LTP’s most radical
lieutenant,’ `used extreme rhetoric to exhort protesters to fight.’

`Citizens now have to come out to the square and establish legality
and morality with their own hands. Revolution in Armenia is a vital
necessity, and I call upon each of you to prepare for constitutional
revolution,’ he said.

Accoring to Pashinyan, this revolution can become a reality if a
500,000-strong crowd is gathered in (Liberty) Square and gives the
ruling authorities 24 hours to resign.

`We will leave Liberty Square today, but the start of the velvet
revolution will be heralded at one of the rallies soon… Leave today,
[but] return as a revolutionary leader, and herald the start of the
Armenian revolution right here,’ he said.

Armenia still to decide on participation in domino championship in Abkhazia

15:00 – 10.09.11

Armenia’s National Team of Domino has dismissed reports that it will
participate in the Domino World Championship to be held in Abkhazia.

Speaking to Tert.am, Hayk Baghdasaryan, the President of Armenia’s
Domino National Federation, said that they have been invited to the
event but have not yet sent any response to the invitation.

`We have received official invitation from Abkhazia, but have not
responded yet. The decision on participation will be reached at the
September 24 board session,’ said he.

It comes after the Russian-language news agency Regnum mentioned also
Armenia as one of the countries to attend the domino championship to
be held in Abkhazia.

The decision to hold the World Domino Championship in Abkhazia was
made in 2010 in Las Vegas, during the previous championship.
Armenia’s Domino Federation was founded in 2008.

Tert.am

Armenian soldier charged with premeditated murder of co-serviceman

September 10, 2011 – 13:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On September 9, the general court of Armenia’s
Syunik province granted an arrest warrant for 2 officers detained in
the case of Armenian army soldier Aghasi Abrahamyan’s death.

The officers were charged with misuse of authority, administrative
dereliction in accordance with article 375 of Armenian Criminal Code,
stipulating for 2-13 years of imprisonment.

In the framework of investigation into Armenian soldier Hayk
Lazarian’s death, his co-serviceman Lendrush Nazlukhanyan was accused
of premeditated murder in accordance with article 104 of Armenian
Criminal Code, stipulating for 6-12 years of imprisonment.

Previously, Nazlukhanyan was charged with careless handling of weapon
resulting in a death, in accordance with article 373.3 of Armenian
Criminal Code, stipulating for 3-7 years of imprisonment.

On August 26, Aghasi Abrahamyan, born 1992, was brought unconscious to
a military hospital, where he died later. Later, medical examination
resealed marks of violence on the soldier’s body.

In the morning of September 7, Armenian serviceman Hayk Lazarian,
born 1992, died from a gunshot wound, inflicted by fellow serviceman
Lendrush Nazlukhanyan, while on military duty on the line of contact
between Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijani armed forces.