Author: Kanayan Tamar

VERDICT LEFT UNCHANGED: VOLODYA AVETISYAN WILL STAY IN PRISON

18:43 | February 18,2015 | Social

The Court of Cassation has refused to start review proceedings
in the case of retired army colonel Volodya Avetisyan, datalex.am
reports. In July 2014, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Arabkir
and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative districts sentenced the Karabakh
war veteran to six years in prison for fraud. The court ruled that
Volodya Avetisyan must pay $2000 to the state budget.

The Court of Appeals later upheld the verdict of the lower court.

Avetisyan did not admit to the charges levied against him.

UAE SEEKS TO ADOPT ARMENIA’S CHESS TEACHING METHODS

17:35 18/02/2015 >> SPORT

The UAE is interested in Armenia’s chess teaching curriculum, Saeed
Al Meqbali, President of the UAE Chess Federation, said during a
meeting with Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan.

Saeed Al Meqbali is paying a working visit to Armenia.

The guests said they consider Armenia’s experience successful, and
therefore they want to introduce Chess in School program in the UAE,
the press service of the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science
reported.

They added that they expect the Armenian side’s assistance in this
matter.

Armen Ashotyan said for his part that Armenia’s Ministry of Education
and Science is ready to pass the country’s experience in chess teaching
to any country and is open to cooperation.

HISTORIAN: WE SHOULD RECALL ARMENIA’S SIGNATURE AND SPEAK FROM EQUAL POSITIONS (VIDEO)

09:47 | February 18,2015 | Interview

A1+ Company has interviewed historian Artur Yeghiazaryan.

While the historian welcomes Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to withdraw the
Armenian-Turkish protocols from the parliament agenda, he says it is
not enough and calls for recalling Armenia’s signature from the accord.

“We were not ready for the establishment of any relations with Turkey.

Our legislature did not allow us to normalize relations and we were not
to have signed the documents. Now we should recall Armenia’s signature
from the protocols and take the relations to the point from where we
can speak from equal positions,” he said.

DASHNAKTSUTYUN INITIATES PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS

14:26 | February 18,2015 | Politics

The Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutyun has initiated public discussions with
representatives of different social groups to discuss the current
political, social and economic situation in the country.

Dashnaktsutyun wants to hear people’s opinion on the issue and involve
them in the solution of the existing problems.

On Tuesday evening, members of the ARF-D representatives Armen
Rustamyan, Spartan Seyranyan, Aghvan Vardanyan and Lilit Galstyan
met with aboyt 20 intellectuals at the Simon Vratsyan centre. The
parties welcomed the initiative and expressed hope that the meetings
will continue in the future, says the party’s press service.

AMULSAR: EVEN “RESPONSIBLE” MINING IS DESTRUCTIVE – DR. ANAHID SHIRINIAN-ORLANDO

17:00 February 17, 2015

Pan-Armenian Environmental Front

Lydian International Limited company, registered in an offshore zone,
presented a document entitled “Amulsar Project, November 2014” to
Armenians in the Diaspora. This document is superficial, misleading
and incomplete. This is what thinks Anahit Shirinian-Orlando, an
environmental scientist-engineer living in Los Angeles, who says No
to mining at Amulsar.

There is a complete absence of any hydrological study. For example,
there is no assessment of how the mining operation will affect the
quantity and quality of the water of Vorotan River, of Arpa River, all
the small streams on the slopes, as well as the Spandarian Reservoir.

In particular, I found the claim on page 9, “zero discharge into
environment” to be completely misleading. For one thing, the explosions
at the mine will cause earthquake tremors in the surrounding villages,
such that the houses will shake, and immense clouds of dust from these
explosions, as well as from rock crushing operations, (containing
toxic heavy metals, such as Arsenic, Cadmium, radioactive Uranium,
and many other heavy metals), will fill the air and the lungs of
the inhabitants, as well as settle on pastures, on streams, on all
surfaces, poisoning and killing slowly every living organism. (Just
look a little further, at Kajaran mine, and see how these explosions
are affecting the health and lives (shortening the life spans) of
the locals.

Heap-leach pad technology is nothing new (look here). The pad’s
integrity fails in time (cracks, etc.) and the cyanide leachate
contaminates the ground below and around the pad, thus, the
groundwater and/or nearby streams become contaminated with cyanides
and heavy metals (no one can guarantee that the 3mm geomembrane
layer placed at the bottom of the platform will not erase after a
few decades). Besides, the heap itself is subject to landslides.

Amulsar mountain formation has a water tunnel running along on one
side and a gas pipeline on the other, both will be compromised by
earthquake tremors from mine explosions.

Reading the document, it is not clear how much tax Lydian will pay
to the local government, as well as to the central government. For
example, Lydian should pay royalties to the government of Armenia,
as well as taxes and waste dumping fees. Furthermore, it is not clear
how much money will be allocated to reclamation after the mining ends.

Since reclamation is a capital-intensive operation, there should be
guarantees to the government that it will be performed at the end. One
such guarantee will be to deposit the capital allocated for reclamation
in a separate account to be used only for land reclamation after the
mining is over.

I can write more comments on the documernt. I just wish to remind
Lydian, that many members of the village communities of Gendevaz and
Jermuk are strongly opposed to mining. Also, there are profitable
alternatives to digging for gold and silver, such as constructing
a cheese producing factory and exporting delicious cheeses from the
pastures and grasslands of Amulsar.

It is the hope of people living in Armenia, as well as all Armenians,
that instead of mining, investors will shift their interest to
non-destructive enterprises, because even “responsible” mining is
destructive (even though it’s less destructive compared to previous
methods).

TSARUKYAN CALLS FOR POLITICAL CALM: “PRESENT DIRECTION LEADS TO NO GOOD”

11:55, February 18, 2015

In a public statement released today, embattled Prosperous Armenian
Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukyan called for an end to the recent
fighting, both verbal and physical, between the regime and the
opposition in the name of national salvation.

Tsarukyan expressed regret that developments in Armenia over the past
few days had taken a direction that “would lead to no good.”

This was undoubtedly a reference to President Sargsyan’s verbal assault
on Tsarukyan as a politician, to the point of calling him an “evil”
for the country.

In response, on February 15 Tsarukyan’s BHP and two other opposition
parties (Armenian National Congress and Heritage) called for a mass
political rally this Friday in Yerevan after a meeting of the party
heads.

Since then, the regime is reported to have launched a crack-down on
various BHP officials for a variety of tax and other violations.

Tsarukyan is said to have met with President Sargsyan the other day
in an attempt to resolve the escalating political and personal feud
between them.

Today, coincidentally, the BHP has declared that it will not
participate in this Friday’s rally.

“The life and honor of each citizen are dear to me. There is no
objective that can justify the shedding of blood by even one innocent
person. It is incumbent on the regime and opposition not to cross
the boundary of commonsense. All outstanding issues must be resolved
peacefully and along legal political avenues,” Tsarukyan’s statement
concludes.

LES MEDIATEURS INTERNATIONAUX EN ARMENIE ET EN AZERBAIDJAN

Conflit du Haut-Karabagh

Les mediateurs internationaux de l’Organisation pour la securite et
la cooperation en Europe (OSCE) poursuivent leurs efforts visant a
promouvoir une solution pacifique au conflit du Haut-Karabagh. Cette
semaine, ils effectuent une nouvelle serie de visites en Azerbaïdjan
et en Armenie.

Hier, a Erevan, les co-presidents americain, francais et russe
du Groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE ont rencontre la direction du pays,
y compris le president Serge Sarkissian et le ministre des Affaires
etrangères, Edouard Nalbandian.

Alors que les mediateurs semblent avoir apporte avec eux aucune
nouvelle proposition, l’ambassadeur James Warlick, le representant
americain au sein du groupe, a dit que cette visite etait “une nouvelle
occasion de parler”.

Un communique publie par le ministère armenien des Affaires etrangères
a declare que, lors de la reunion avec les mediateurs, le ministre
Edouard Nalbandian a attire leur attention sur “la poursuite des
violations flagrantes du regime de cessez-le-feu par l’Azerbaïdjan”.

Il a egalement accuse Bakou de torpiller le processus de paix.

“Lorsqu’un accord sera signe sur les principes fondamentaux de
la colonisation alors, a ce moment, il sera possible d’entamer des
negociations entre l’Azerbaïdjan, l’Artsakh et l’Armenie sur un accord
de paix global”, a declare Nalbandian.

Le ministre armenien a egalement insiste sur la culpabilite des deux
citoyens azerbaïdjanais qui ont essaye l’an dernier de penetrer dans
le Haut-Karabagh et qui ont condamne par un tribunal local, accuses
d’avoir voulu commettre des assassinats.

L’Azerbaïdjan ne reconnaît pas la legalite du procès dans lequel
ses citoyens, Dilham Askerov et Shahbaz Quliyev, ont ete condamnes
respectivement a la detention a perpetuite et a 22 ans de prison.

L’affaire a egalement ete abordee a Bakou lors de la visite du
Secretaire d’Etat adjoint americain pour les affaires europeennes
et eurasiennes, Victoria Nuland. Lors d’une conference de presse
hier, elle a dit qu’elle allait parler de la liberation des deux
Azerbaïdjanais detenus dans le Haut-Karabagh lors de ses rencontres
avec des responsables armeniens a Erevan aujourd’hui.

mercredi 18 fevrier 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

ZHAMANAK: GRIBOYEDOV CLUB TO HOST ARTHUR CHILINGAROV

11:59 18/02/2015 >> DAILY PRESS

Citing sources, Zhamanak newspaper writes that on February 24
Yerevan’s Griboyedov Club will host Arthur Chilingarov, former member
of Russian State Duma, hero of Soviet Union and Russian Federation,
Doctor of Geographical Sciences, corresponding member of Russian
Academy of Sciences, President of State Polar Academy, statesman and
public figure.

Source: Panorama.am

LEVON TER-PETROSYAN THINKS THAT THE CHANCE FOR RECOVERY OF ARMENIA’S POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE HAS BEEN MISSED

by Ashot Safaryan

Wednesday, February 18, 09:08

The first President of Armenia, leader of the Armenian National
Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan has addressed an open letter to
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

Ter-Petrosyan points out that the text of the letter was prepared on
Feb 12, but it was not published because of Serzh Sargsyan’s harsh
criticism against Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Gagik Tsarukyan. A
few days later, however, the ANC leader arrived at the conclusion that
he has no right to conceal the problem related to the interests of
Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenians worldwide. So, Ter-Petrosyan
has finally decided to make his letter public. Ter-Petrosyan says that
one of the reasons that made him address an open letter to Sargsyan
is the serious political discrepancies between him and Sargsyan. A
confidential letter would cause a lot of idle talk and rumors in
the public. The next reason is the nationwide problem – presenting
the Armenian Genocide problem to the international community at a
proper level is a priority and it matters more than all political
discrepancies.

Ter-Petrosyan displays his negative attitude to the Pan-Armenian
Declaration on the Armenian Genocide Centenary, which he thinks not
only fails to foster the process of international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide but also turns even the friendly countries against
Armenia. The first president of Armenia even suggests meeting with
Serzh Sargsyan to discuss creation of an advisory commission that will
finally clarify Armenia’s stand on the Armenian genocide problem. He
stresses the need to prepare a new statement on the centenary of
the Armenian Genocide, which should be addressed to the UN Secretary
General, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, President of the …uropean Union
and the heads of all states.

“The address 1) should fully meet the UN Charter, Declaration of
Helsinki and Armenia’s commitments to international conventions; 2)
should not run counter to the Constitution of Armenia; 3) should not
reflect the old approaches typical to the people having no statehood;
4) should by no means damage settlement of important problems of
Armenia, specifically, the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and
normalization of the Armenian- Turkish relations”, the letter says.

According to Ter-Petrosyan, the new commission should include persons
who have proved their capability of being above stereotypes and looking
at things through the prism of Armenia’s interests and principles of
the contemporary world. He names such as persons as Babken Ararktsyan,
Vazgen Manukyan, Gagik Harutyunyan, Vano Siradeghyan, Vartan Oskanian,
Stepan Demirchyan, Arman Grigoryan, Ruben Shugaryan, Alexander
Arzumanyan, Ashot Voskanyan, Ara Sahakyan, Ruben Vardanyan, Ashot
Sargsyan, Hrant Ter-Abrahamyan, Ktrich Sardaryan. He also suggests
including Zhirayr Liparityan, Khachik Tololyan, Ruben Adalyan, Ara
Sanjyan, Hambik Sarafyan, Raffi Urfalyan from the United States;
Arman Saryan, Zhirayr Malkhasyan, Michel Maryan, Raffi Galfayan from
France; Levon Zekiyan from Turkey and Ruben Mozyan from Argentina.

Ter-Petrosyan points out that Serzh Sargsyan can suggest new names.

The ANC leader also expresses willingness to personally take part in
the commission’s work despite the opinions of the “frienemies”.

“Next time I may give you such a surprise in case of complication of
the Karabakh peace talks. When the future of my people and the state
is in danger, I cannot sit on my hands”, says Ter-Petrosyan.

At the moment, however, the ANC leader regrets over the fact that
it is impossible to bring the specified idea to life amid the wild
persecution against Gagik Tsarukyan, the Prosperous Armenia Party
and the opposition in general.

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: ARMENIA’S CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX FALLS

11:26 18/02/2015 >> DAILY PRESS

The Central Bank of Armenia has calculated the consumer confidence
index in the country, based on a survey of 1,811 households, Haykakan
Zhamanak writes.

According to the respondents, the current conditions in the country
have never been so bad.

“The consumer confidence index is published quarterly, since 2005. In
the fourth quarter of 2014 the index of current conditions was 30.5,
whereas even during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, that index did
not drop below 35,” the newspaper writes.