Author: Kanayan Tamar

LA LOI SUR LA JOURNEE DE LA COMMEMORATION DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN SERA DISCUTEE AUJOURD’HUI EN SEANCE PLENIERE A LA KNESSET
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 22 juin 2011

La communaute armenienne d’Israël et l’office Hay Dat de Jerusalem
ont mis de grands espoirs sur la discussion d’un projet de loi sur
la Journee de commemoration du genocide armenien en Israël.

Selon Georgetta Avakian, chef du bureau Hay Dat de Jerusalem le
projet de loi devrait etre discute a la Knesset en seance plenière
le 22 Juin. ” Nous avons pris contact avec les parlementaires pour
les inciter a l’adopter. Nous sommes reconnaissants a l’initiateur
du projet de loi Aryeh Eldad et avons l’espoir qu’Israël devra tôt
ou tard reconnaître le genocide armenien ” a-t-elle dit.

Le comite legislatif israelien a rejete le projet de loi il y a
quelques jours.

Le depute Aryeh Eldad a suggere que le genocide armenien devrait etre
inclus dans le cursus scolaire et enseigne et que tous les 24 avril
devraient etre declares Journee du Souvenir du genocide armenien. Il
a appele le gouvernement a ” ne pas avoir peur de la Turquie.”

Eldad est persuade que ” les parlementaires soutiennent son initiative,
mais ont peur de voter en sa faveur.”

“Malheureusement, je n’etais pas present a la discussion, mais je
ne vais pas abandonner et vait poser la question lors de la session
plenière de la Knesset” a-t-il dit.

GEORGIAN CHURCH FOLLOWS LOGIC OF MARKET RELATIONS – ARMENIAN ARCHBISHOP

news.am
June 21 2011
Armenia

ECHMIADZIN. – In response to the demand of Armenian Apostolic Church
(AAC) to grant Armenian historical churches, which were under Georgian
diocese, the Georgian church, following the logic of market relations,
put forward its claims on several churches in Armenia calling them
Georgian. Moreover, Georgian side demanded to build Georgian church
in Armenia, Archbishop of Holy Echmiazdin Arshak Khachatryan told at
a press conference on Tuesday.

“Number of Georgians living in Armenia is700-800 compared to 250,000
Armenians in Georgia. Besides, there is a Georgian church in Yerevan.

At the same time, Georgian side does not cooperate on this issue,”
Archbishop told.

Georgian church demands to register legally Georgian Orthodox church
without having large population of Georgians in Armenia. Armenian
Apostolic Church does not oppose this as it does not confront
Armenia’s legislation. AAC, however, demands Georgia to grant legal
status to Armenian churches of Georgian diocese to hold liturgy for
the church visitors.

The Georgians also offered to form two-sided commission on
differentiating belongings of churches.

“Armenian side doe not oppose the idea of commission. However,
it should not have the goal of stretching time or carry official
character,” chairman of the Armenian Bible Society, Archbishop Yeznik
Petrosyan told.

He added that it would be better to collect and present documents that
will prove what churches or temples are Georgian in the territory of
Armenia and then, if necessary, commission will be formed.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TO MAKE A SPEECH AT PACE PLENARY SITTING

armradio.am
20.06.2011 17:28

President Serzh Sargsyan will leave for Strasbourg on June 21 to
participate in the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE), President’s Press Office reported.

President Sargsyan will make a speech at the plenary sitting of the
Parliamentary Assembly.

Within the framework of the visit President Serzh Sargsyan will have
meetings with a number of high-ranking officials of the Council of
Europe and the President of the European Court of Human Rights.

LET TER-PETROSYAN AND SARGSYAN THINK
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:56:07 – 20/06/2011

Recently I have met an acquaintance of mine who is not a political
or civil activist, works in service, and he is interested in politics
accordingly. “Hakob, soon we will wish Kocharyan were back,” he said
unexpectedly for me.

It was unexpected because in 2008 my acquaintance was excited about
the civil movement, the possibility of change of government, he was
furious about the clampdown by Kocharyan, and after the lift of the
state of emergency he was excited about the possibility of a new wave
of the civil movement.

“In Kocharyan’s time, people at least had some income. People were
able to work and achieve something. Now everyone is leaving Armenia,”
he said.

I didn’t know what to say. In such cases one can repeat what both the
government and the opposition say that under Kocharyan the economic
growth was a bubble, and it is impossible to develop and maintain an
economy on construction or buying capacity based on remittances, and
this wrong structure and the statistics which was an end in itself
has led to the present situation, and the clan-oligarchic economy
would sooner or later lead to a crisis which was facilitated by the
global financial and economic crisis, and so on.

To me who track the economic and political processes, talk to experts,
and have an idea of the economy at a level which is a little higher
than the everyday perception, it is clear that these evaluations are
relevant, and the two-digit economic growth in Armenia was the result
of the favorable international economic and political conjuncture
rather than the wise economic policy, and Robert Kocharyan’s role
was his ability to orient and enable some money to flow to Armenia
and produce an economic effect under this conjuncture.

However, all this is not essential today, and evidence to this is my
short talk to my acquaintance. People assess political and economic
processes and government with the life they live. The majority of the
society does not care about the structure and content of the economic
policy. People know that under Kocharyan they lived better than now
and now they can hardly make both ends meet.

For people, the goal of the political force should be creating
better living conditions, and the force which makes people’s life
better is supported by the society, or this is the principle by
which people choose the least of all troubles. This is the way, it
cannot be otherwise, the rest is political babbling that politicians
occasionally do.

The fact is that a person who was set against Kocharyan and was
excited about the possibility of change of government in 2008 now
says we will wish Kocharyan were back.

This is evidence to the utter failure of both the government, Serzh
Sargsyan, and the opposition, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. This man doesn’t
care when there will be change of government. He already says it was
better under Kocharyan.

Let Serzh Sargsyan and Ter-Petrosyan think about it. And they had
better not say that people think with their stomachs, Kocharyan was
a monster, and these “thoughtless” people are nostalgic about this
monster for a piece of bread.

First of all, in all countries the most important indicator for the
society is its social situation, exercise of its civil freedoms and
predictability of this situation in time.

The decline of social security is more than obvious. In terms of
protection of rights and freedoms, there is no major change from
Kocharyan’s time. Moreover, were there a difference in terms of rights
and freedoms, the social effect would be felt, because at present
the only reliable way for economic development is to ensure liberal
economy, legal protection of property, an independent judicial system,
and an environment to ensure creative freedom for people to speak,
express opinions, listen to opinions and act.

And let the government and opposition not think that those who
bring up this issue are busy advertising Kocharyan. Of course,
there are people who do this bluntly or implicitly. For instance,
websites are set up which campaign for Robert Kocharyan. However,
they are simply the consequence of the situation because in reality in
Armenia the current situation itself advertises Kocharyan, in terms
of both internal and external policies. Both the government and the
opposition must think about it rather than think that by labeling those
who speak about this as pro-Kocharyan they will solve this problem.

After all, there are things about which we can keep quiet but which
cannot be forgotten or not taken into account. When Levon Ter-Petrosyan
resigned in 1998, most people were satisfied and happy about it. Robert
Kocharyan enabled Levon Ter-Petrosyan to return with a triumph.

Perhaps, thanks to the fruitless effort of dialogue between Serzh
Sargsyan and Ter-Petrosyan Kocharyan will stand the chance of
triumphant return, which seems impossible now. Most people believe
that Kocharyan is tied to March 1. In fact, he is. Leaving his office,
he left killed people behind him. It is not important whether he
ordered the clampdown, others did, or the situation went out of
control. The society’s perception is that people were killed during
the clampdown which was perpetrated under his leadership. However,
years pass, and Kocharyan’s responsibility does not get a legal
verification. Meanwhile, responsibility requires verification as
public perception cannot be manipulated endlessly.

And there is no need to accuse the society of short memory, thinking
with their stomachs, or the like, to say that the society deserves but
Kocharyan. The societies are made worth something by political elites.

The societies live according to the values shaped by elites. Elites are
responsible for the vector of the public and social life, and neither
government nor the opposition should try to shake responsibility off
their shoulders through reference to the society’s unworthiness.

ARMENIAN YOUTH IN RUSSIA GET ACQUAINTED WITH ARTSAKH HISTORY

Noyan Tapan

20.06.2011

(Noyan Tapan – 20.06.2011) 70 Armenian youth living in Voronezh city
of Russia yesterday participated in the readings of Raffi “Melikdoms
of Khamsa” investigation. The event was organized by the representative
office of Armenian International Youth Center of Voronezh.

It is pity that Armenian young people in Russia are unaware of the
history of Armenia and Artsakh, which causes a serious concern.

“Melikdoms of Khamsa ” investigation about Artsakh carried out by
Raffi in 19th century is of great historical and political value
nowadays. The famous translator-publicist during the period of Artsakh
battle Levon Ghazaryan translated in into Russian.

According to Moscow representative office of Armenian International
Youth Center, the readings “Melikdoms of Khamsa” will be held in all
12 representative offices of Armenian International Youth Center in
Russia during the next few days.

TURKEY CRACKS DOWN ON NON-ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY PROJECTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 20, 2011 – 11:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey has launched a crackdown on university
projects that do not meet Islamic standards.

University professors have accused the government of Prime Minister
Recep Erdogan of blocking academic freedom at the nation’s institutions
of higher education. They said Erdogan, re-elected on June 12, has
ordered the Interior Ministry and security forces to raid universities
suspected of un-Islamic behavior, World Tribune says.

“Erdogan is turning out the light – not all at once, but very slowly,”
Bedri Baykam, a leading Turkish artist, said. “He is dimming it until
one day it will be completely dark.”

In January, Turkish security forces raided Istanbul’s Bilgi University
amid reports that a student had produced a pornographic film for his
dissertation. At least three university lecturers were dismissed amid
pressure by Turkish prosecutors.

Critics said Erdogan has launched a crackdown on university freedom
as well as the arts. In a recent visit to the Armenian border, the
Prime Minister called for the destruction of a monument that depicted
friendship between Ankara and Yerevan, the report reminds.

So far, authorities have not released any evidence that the student
film was pornographic. The 53-year-old Baykam said this marked the
latest evidence of official harassment of non-Islamic university
professors and students.

“Our government is trying, step by step, to turn our community
inside out,” Baykam told the German weekly Der Spiegel. “Professors
are being intimidated, and university rectors are being brought into
line ideologically. Things that ostensibly do not fit with Islam are
being eradicated.”

The government this year also moved to restrict alcohol sales and
consumption. Erdogan has maintained that the new regulations were
meant to protect youngsters from alcohol.

“I might have a certain attitude against alcohol in my personal life
and within my family,” Erdogan told a business group on Jan. 20. “But
as we are democratic, in addition to conservative, we are very
sensitive about not imposing our personal judgments on society.”

FAMILIES LIVING IN MORTGAGED HOMES DEPRIVED OF CHILDREN’S ALLOWANCE IN ARMENIA

epress.am
06.20.2011 17:25

A young family in Armenia is deprived of the 18,000 AMD (about $48
USD) monthly child benefit (or children’s allowance) provided to each
family as defined by law if the family lives in a mortgaged home.

Yerevan resident Mary, 28, described to Epress.am the problems that
her family has been experiencing after their second child was born.

“I received the stipulated amount for my first child [though] I was
registered at my parents’ house, but living somewhere else. The second
child was born January of this year and we stand before a problem.

They say, there’s been a change in the law, and they won’t be providing
me the amount since I don’t physically live in the place where I am
registered,” said Mary, noting that her and her husband have bought
a home by acquiring a mortgage and Armenian citizens are unable to
officially register in their mortgaged home until they have paid off
their mortgage.

“They’re now urging me either live at your parents’ house or write
yourself off from there [i.e. remove yourself as being registered at
that address], but after that, I’ll be in a situation of hanging in
mid-air,” she said, meaning then she wouldn’t be officially registered
at any address in the country.

Mary told Epress.am how she heard from her acquaintances of incidents
whereby suggestions were made to parents to first pay the 18,000
AMD they are to receive to the corresponding agency after which the
problem will be “solved,” indicating they will receive their monthly
child benefit if they put down 18,000 AMD first.

The young mom was convinced that the problem could be resolved through
“friends-contacts,” but many don’t have this option and are left out
in the cold.

Speaking to Epress.am, a representative with the RA Ministry of Labor
and Social Affairs’ Public Relations Department said that according
to the RA Law on State Registration of Population, mothers in Armenia
are deprived of receiving the children’s allowance for their newborn
if they are not registered at the address where they live and live
in a mortgaged apartment.

“In my case, the issue is not about the 18,000 drams, but the fact
that this problem exists – many other families today need that money,”
said Mary.

Return of Captives Hindered by Azerbaijan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 19:17:06 – 17/06/2011

The minister of defense Seyran Ohanyan held a meeting of the
Commission for Captives, POWs and the Missing on June 17. The
activities in the first half of 2011 and the future programs were
discussed.

The members of the commission stated that the return of captives to
their homes is slow because the Azerbaijani side does not display
equal readiness and commitment.

The members of the commission said the international organizations
should pay attention to the attempts of the Azerbaijani government to
limit the activities of the Baku office of the International Committee
of the Red Cross and improve the activities to return captives and
POWs home.

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND KURDS

16.06.2011

Artashes Ter-Harutyunyan

The Arab revolutions and developments conditioned by them sidelined a
number of factors which have played an important role in the Middle
East politics. However, the wave of revolutions in the Arab world
seems to be on the decrease and the aforementioned factors make
themselves felt.

The Kurdish issue is one of such issues and though in the
international expert observations concerning the Middle East the topic
of the Arab revolutions still prevails but there are already signs
that that in the time to come the Kurdish issue will acquire a
considerable place in the political developments in the Middle East.
At the same time this issue acquires new meaning in a consequence of
recent regional developments, in particular against the background of
situation in Syria, Turkey and Iraq and the events expected there.

Instability in Syria
Though the Syrian authorities do everything to prevent the leakage of
information about the events in the country, but the picture we have
is enough to form an opinion about the situation there. E.g. Bashar
al-Assad’s decision to draw in troops to suppress the disorders all
over the country proves that police failed to handle the situation. In
other words in the cities enveloped by the disturbances police has
either been dismissed or it is close to that. On the other hand the
decision of the government to involve heavy armoured units in
suppression of disorders proves the seriousness of the situation. If
all this is supplemented by information received over the last two
months that the number of the deceased reaches several dozens every
week, the picture seems to be clear.

But the significance of the developments in Syria gradually goes
beyond the borders of the country and acquires the status of the
factor of the Middle East politics. And here two circumstances are
distinguished.

The first refers to the Syrian state, correspondingly to the viability
of the borders of Syria. This issue has become especially topical
after overthrowing of Saddam Hussein’s regime in neghbouring Iraq,
when it turned out that the Iraqi state established in the 20th
century has serious viability problems, and by its weakness and the
lack of integrity it provides fertile ground for new redrawing of the
borders in the Middle East. The same can be said about Syria. Only if
in case with Iraq the collapse of the state formation was initiated in
2003 by the intrusion of the American troops, in case with Syria the
current disturbances may become the beginning of such a process.

Developments in Syria, of course, are in the context of the
revolutionary wave in the Arab world. And in this aspect the most
probable scenario seems to be the weakening of the al-Assads’ regime
and its overthrowing in the future. But the regime is not the point.
The weakness of the system of the Syrian state which was established
in 1946 within the borders of the former French colony (within the
artificially drawn borders after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire),
is proved by both many coups which took place there in 1946-1970 and
authoritarian system which has been established there since 1970s. The
fact is that today’s Syria has spent the 2/3 of its existence under
the authoritarian regime of the al-Assads. Thus, the weakening and
overthrowing of the regime will affect the state and in this aspect
parallels can be drawn with neigbouring Iraq.

The second factor is the regions populated by the Kurds (about 2
million)1. Unlike Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain (where the
disturbances brought either to overthrowing of the regimes which had
ruled for decades or seriously shook the ruling system) public
disturbances in Syria may urge seriously the independence movement
among Kurds (which is the main conclusion drawn by the American,
British and Turkish experts dealing with the Syrian issue).

Though, there is scares information about exclusively Kurdish protest
actions (and according to the available information the number of
people who participated in those action is very restricted, i.e. about
several hundred) against the background of the disturbances which has
been continuing since the February, the executive order of the
president for April 7th, according to which he granted a citizenship
to about 300 thousand Kurds who were born and lived in Syria2 draws
attention.

This step by al-Assad has been the most serious concession made by the
official Damascus to the Kurds for recent decades3, which comes to
prove that in Damascus they are concerned with the possible
independence of the Kurds.

Ankara is also concerned by the situation in Syria and it should be
supposed that this concern is also caused by the Kurdish issue or it
is at least one of the main reasons.

Turkey and Kurds
On June 12 the parliamentary elections will be held in Turkey: the
ruling Justice and Development party (JDP) intends not only to win the
majority of places in the parliament but also to win constitutional
majority.

Today it is the accepted opinion that the JDP has no serious political
competitors on its way to this goal4, and the consequences of the
global financial and economic crisis are overcome in Turkish economy.

The only problem for the JPD is the Kurdish issue and the rivals of
the party try to take advantage of that.

Taking into consideration this circumstance, the Erdogan government
has changed its approach to the Kurds and even initiated a dialogue
with the leader of the KWP Abdullah Ocalan. In consequence an
armistice was concluded between Ankara and KWP. The armistice played
into the hands of the JDP as it provide opportunity to this political
power headed by Erdogan to win votes in both regions populated by
Kurds5 (as they promised that the issues worrying Kurds would be
solved), and Turkish nationalists (as it was presented to the Turkish
electorate that the Erdogan government managed to suppress
`separatist’ claims of the Kurds).

Meanwhile, the confrontation with the Kurds deprives the JDP of those
two big segments of electorate (the Kurds will vote for the Kurdish
candidate and the kemalists and nationalists will win even more votes
thus speculating on the failed Kurdish policy of Erdogan).

The developments went on in accordance with the later variant, i.e.
they were unfavourable for the JDP and on February 28 KWP stated about
the unilateral termination of the armistice (as it has already been
mentioned the JDP did not redeem the promises given to the Kurds).

At present there are no grounds for speaking about any kind of accord
between the JDP and the Kurds. Even more, the responsibility for the
attack on the column of the prime-minister Recep Tayip Erdogan was
assumed by the KWP. If this is a truth, it proves that on the eve of
the elections the Kurds try to expert pressure on the Erdogan
government in order to force him to make concessions. Only time will
show to what it will bring, but if till the elections the sides do not
compromise the action, this may mean only one thing – after the
elections the Kurdish issue will again come forward on the agenda of
the domestic political life in Turkey, and in this context the
developments in the neighbourng Syria and Iraq will be an additional
headache for the Turks6.

Iraq after the withdrawal of the US troops
According to the preliminary agreement the American troops must leave
Iraq till the end of this year. If Americans really withdraw from Iraq
or reduce their military presence to the degree when they cannot
seriously influence the domestic developments there, this new
situation cannot but affect the Iraqi Kurdistan.

Today there are no military encounters between the central government
in Baghdad and the authorities of the Iraqi Kurdistan (connected with
the territorial disputes (over Kirkuk and other disputable areas),
issues concerning the energy carriers (oil and gas fields in the Iraqi
Kurdistan) and the authority in the sphere of security) only because
of the presence of the American troops. And as for the prospects both
parties have apprehensions and they are preparing for the worst
scenario. This is clearly proved by the recent measures taken by the
government of the Iraqi Kurdistan when in November 2010 and in
February 2011 Kurdish military units, without the consent of the
central government in Baghdad, located in Kirkuk and neigbouring
areas.

Under such circumstances the withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq
most probably will bring to the furthers separation of the Iraqi
Kurdistan from Baghdad as the absence of mechanisms of settling acute
problems with the central government of Iraq (and the recent movements
of the Kurdish units are the evidence of that) allows assuming that
the Iraqi Kurdistan will lay stress rather on strengthening its own
authority than coming to terms with Baghdad.

1 According to different international estimations there are about 2
million Kurds living in Syria, i.e. almost 10% of the whole
population.

2 The issue of the rights of the Kurdish minority in Syria, which
constitutes almost 2 million, has been on the political agenda for 2
decades. According to some estimates up to half a million Kurds have
no citizenship in Syria.

3 This step was, of course, welcomed by the Kurdish leaders in Syria,
but immediately statements were made that the Kurds will stop
struggling for their rights. E.g. on the next day after the decision
of Bashar al-Assad one of the Kurdish leaders – Habib Ibrahim, stated
that his `people will continue its non-violent struggle for civil
rights and democracy’ and one of the leader of the Kurdish Workers
Party Murad Garilan called al-Assad to take real measures to protect
the rights of the Kurds in Syria, `otherwise the Kurdish rebel will be
even stronger than the Arab one’.

4 Since 2003 as a result of a successive policy implemented by the JDP
its two main rivals – the army and People’s Republican Party, have
been weakened.

5 According to the recent data, 1 of four citizens of Turkey is an
ethnic Kurd. I.e. In Turkey which population is 74 million, there are
more than 18 million Kurds.

6 It is not a mere chance that against the background of the
disturbances in Syria, the head the national intelligence of Turkey
(MIT) Hakan Fidan visited Syria twice in April. After his second visit
on April 28, the National Security Council of Turkey after the session
which had lasted for 6 hours made a statement calling Syrian
authorities to carry out reforms in the country and thus offered the
assistance of Ankara in this issue.

—————————————————————-
Another materials of author

-CRISIS IN LIBYA AND REGIONAL DIPLOMACY OF TURKEY[28.04.2011]
-FUTURE OF THE MUSLIM POPULATION ON THE PLANET [24.02.2011]
-SOUTHERN SUDAN: NEW STATE IN THE WORLD[25.01.2011]
-ON THE CYBER-SECURITY[17.01.2011]
-TURKEY-CHINA INTERRELATIONS[29.11.2010]

Iran to launch 3 more satellites

23:38 – 16.06.11

Head of Iranian Space Agency (ISA) said Iran will launch three more
satellites in space by the end of Iranian calendar year, ending on
March 20, the state IRIB TV website said on Thursday.

Iran, on Wednesday, announced that it “successfully” put the Rasad
(surveillance) satellite in the orbit to render images to the stations
in the country.

Three satellites will be put in the space in August, in October and in
February respectively, said ISA Head Hamid Fazeli.

He also added that Iran plans to launch its domestically-built
satellite carrier, Kavoshgar 5 (Explorer5), into space in two months,
the English language satellite Press TV reported on Thursday.

Kavoshgar 5 weighs 285 kg and will be launched at an altitude of 120
kilometres suborbital, he was quoted as saying.

Iran’s Defense Minister, General Ahmad Vahidi, said Thursday that Iran
plans to construct bigger and heavier satellites and satellite
carriers in the future, semi-official Mehr agency reported.

The Rasad satellite launched on Wednesday weighs 15.3 kilograms and
has been designed to be launched at 260 kilometers above the earth and
will circle the earth 15 times in every 24 hours.

The Rasad satellite project was the result of cooperation between the
aerospace organization and Malek Ashtar University both affiliated to
Iran’s ministry of defense and Iranian Space Agency, Press TV said.

The Rasad, the country’s first imaging satellite, has all the features
of big satellite despite its small dimensions under the category of
micro-satellites.

Tert.am