Author: Kanayan Tamar

MAYOR OF 11TH ARRONDISSEMENT: MARCEL RAJMAN’S SACRIFICE IS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT IN TODAY’S CONTEXT; COMPATRIOT: MANY OF US JEWS PARTICIPATED IN RESISTANCE, BUT “PEOPLE TEND TO FORGET.”

By RINA BASSIST
02/16/2015 21:17

NAZI HUNTER Serge Klarsfeld (right), resistance veteran Roger
Fichtenberg (center) and sculptor Denis Chetboun stand next to the
newly inaugurated statue of Marcel Rajman in Paris on Sunday.. (photo
credit:RINA BASSIST)

PARIS – Politicians, resistance veterans, Communist Party activists,
Jewish leaders and residents of Paris’s 11th Arrondissement gathered
on Sunday morning at a little city garden, not far from the Leon
Blum square. The veterans were wearing their medals and berets,
holding up flags.

They came to honor their friend, Marcel Rajman, executed by the
Germans in February 1944, together with 22 other resistance members.

The little garden was named after Rajman several years ago, but
on this gray winter morning his comrades came to unveil a statue;
inspired by his image on the last day of his life.

“When we came here last year, at the annual commemoration ceremony,
I felt that this place needed not only a name, but also a face, an
image. I vowed, in the name of all of us, sons and daughters of the
deportees, to bring the face of our friend, Marcel, back to his home
neighborhood, to bring back his soul.

One of us, who wished to stay anonymous, made a donation, and here we
are today, honoring not only Marcel Rajman, but all those who fought
with him,” Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld told The Jerusalem Post.

Rajman was one of the foreigners who tied their fate with their new
homeland; Armenians, Polish, Italians and Spanish who immigrated to
France in the early 30s and joined the French resistance, when Paris
was occupied by the German army.

There, foreigners formed up a group of their own which was named
after its leader, Armenian poet Missak Manouchian. Most of them were
young communists.

Marcel Rajman and his Polish Jewish friends initiated several audacious
and spectacular attacks against the Germans.

They attempted to assassinate the German governor of Paris, but the
attack failed. An attempt to kill another high ranking German officer,
however, succeeded.

In mid-November 1943 the French police arrested 23 members of the
communist labor movement network (FTP-MOI). The resistance members
were tortured, then put on trial by a German military court. The Nazis
turned the trial into a media circus, inviting French celebrities and
others to watch it. At the end, a firing squad executed 22 members
at Fort Mont Valerien.

The 23rd member, Olga Bancic, was later beheaded in Stuttgart.

Leon Felman, 90, one of the flag bearers, knew Marcel Rajman
personally. “His family lived at the Rue des Immeubles Industriels,
near Place de la Nation. They were poor Polish immigrants who made
their living by knitting.

When Marcel’s father was arrested, Marcel, together with his younger
brother, Simon, joined the resistance, but only Simon survived the
war. I myself also joined the resistance. I was 17 and managed to flee
the French gendarmerie when they rounded up our family. My mother told
me to run, so I ran. There were many of us Jews who participated in
the resistance, but people tend to forget that.”

Felman was decorated for his bravery with the highest French
decoration; officer of the Legion d’Honneur.

Catherine Vieu-Charier, who represented Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo at
the ceremony, told the Post that there was much symbolism to the
inauguration of the status this year in particular, a month after
the terrorist attacks in Paris.

“We are honoring Polish Jews, foreigners, who sacrificed themselves
for France, against barbarism… The world expressed solidarity
with us when human dignity and freedom were threatened here, when
anti-Semitism came back to the forefront. This anti-Semitism, has
never left French soil. The victims were not chosen haphazardly;
journalists, police officers, Jews. All of them representing the
diversity of France and its values.”

The mayor of the 11th Paris Arrondissement, Francois Vauglin, also
linked Rajman’s story to recent events.

“The sacrifice of Marcel Rajman and his friends is particularly
significant and strong in today’s context, with the massacres at
Hyper Cacher and Charlie Hebdo and the terrible attack yesterday in
Copenhagen. And also when we recall the words of hate pronounced
at a theater in this very neighborhood not long ago [a reference
to the show of French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, recently
condemned for incitement]. We must remember that words and actions
are interrelated. Words of hate will be followed by actions, and this
is the lesson we must learn and the reality we must confront.”

Denis Chetboun, the sculptor who created the statue of Rajman, said
that he considered the commission a sacred one.

“I started working on the statue last year at my new Tel Aviv studio.

I made aliya at that very same time. I feel that my statue of Marcel
Rajman in effect closes the circle. For his image to be eternalized
in Israel specifically, might be Marcel Rajman’s greatest victory.”

ROBERT KOCHARYAN: THE ATTEMPTS OF THE AUTHORITIES TO DISCREDIT GAGIK TSARUKYAN HAVE FAILED BECAUSE OF INCONCLUSIVE REASONING

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Monday, February 16, 18:38

The Armenian authorities still have resources to stop radical processes
in the political life of the country through abandoning of any active
administrative actions against the leader of Prosperous Armenia Party,
Gagik Tsarukyan and returning to the field of political confrontation
with opponents, the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, said
in an interview with the 2rd.am portal, when touching on confrontation
between the Prosperous Armenia Party and Republican Party of Armenia
after the RPA session, when

President Serzh Sargsyan sharply criticized the PAP leader Gagik
Tsarukyan.

Commenting on the internal political developments of recent days,
Kocharyan, in particular, said: “I cannot explain why the president
needed that. If the calculation was that pressure on the Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) leader Gagik Tsarukyan will disintegrate the
PAP, then this effect has not been achieved. On the contrary, there
are clear signs of consolidation in the opposition field, a sharp
radicalization of vocabulary and objectives.”

Kocharyan described the arguments of President Serzh Sargsyan voiced
in his February 12 speech as “unconvincing”. “Any action against the
PAP leader will be now regarded by everyone as political persecution,
which lacks any legitimacy. And taking into account the degree of
social tensions and discontent in the country, as well as the PAP’s
and its leader’s wide popularity, the more vigorously the government
tries to “clean up” the political field, the stronger will be the
consolidation against the government and the more so real will be the
prospect of political upheavals. It is not hard to predict how this
all will affect the economy, the situation on the Line of Contact in
Karabakh and the holding of events marking the 100th anniversary of
the Genocide,” Kocharyan said.

Answering the website’s question on whether the government has a
way-out of this situation, the former president said. “I think it
still has. To stop and not to take any administrative action against
the PAP leader, to remain solely within the limits of a verbal duel,
to return to the political dimension of dealing with opponents.”

Kocharyan also expressed the opinion that the intentions expressed
at the ruling Republican Party council meeting “do not fit into the
framework of the Constitution” and “the PAP and the opposition are
literally forced to organize mass street actions, the consequences
of which are unpredictable.”

“Our country is already overloaded with serious problems and their
solution is possible only through the greatest possible consolidation
of society, on the basis of restoring people’s faith in the future
of the country.

What has happened, unfortunately, has become a strong signal in the
opposite direction,” said Kocharyan.

TWO ACTIONS OF PROTEST SIMULTANEOUSLY HELD IN YEREVAN

Monday, February 16, 18:40

ARMINFO
Two actions of protest were simultaneously held in Yerevan. The
demonstrators demanded their salaries.

ArmInfo’s correspondent reports from the scene that the employees of
Cleanness Center CJSC gathered near the Yerevan Municipality.

Cleanness Center was liquidated in December 2014, with 315 employees
left unemployed. The demonstrators demanded their salaries.

In 2014, Cleanness Center CJSC was declared bankrupt and its whole
property was purchased by Sanitek (Lebanon). Nearly 100 employees
joined the new company, however, the issues of their registration
and wages have not been tackled yet. Sanitek needs both employees
and drivers, however, the job conditions do not satisfy the former
employees.

In the meantime, the employees fired from Nairit Plant gathered near
the Government building. They also demanded their salaries. They
handed a letter to the relevant department of the Government. The
response will be ready on Friday.

To recall, 1,700 employees of Nairit Plant were fired on Feb 6. A total
of 478 employees remain at the Plant now. Nairit Plant has been idle
since April 2010. The Plant’s shares were given as security against
the CIS InterStateBank’s 70 mln USD loan provided in 2006 for 5 years
– till late Dec 2011 – at 12.5% p.a. In 2006, 90% of Nairit Plant’s
shares were sold to Rhinoville Property Limited (UK). The latter owns
an 89,999% stake in the plant, Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources – 4,496%, Gazprom Armenia CJSC (previously ArmRusgasprom)
– 3,596%, and Yerevan Thermal Power Plant – 1,907%.

RUSSIA-BASED TYCOON SAMVEL KARAPETYAN HEADS TO YEREVAN

16:00 / 16.02.2015

In the coming hours well-known Russia-based tycoon Samvel Karapetyan
is arriving in Yerevan.

According to Nyut.am sources, Karapetyan is arriving with the mission
to reconcile Serzh Sargsyan and Gagik Tsarukyan. The tycoon is in
good relations both with the leaders of the Republican party and PAP.

Nyut.am

WHO IS HOVHANNES MANUKYAN JUDGING BY HIS CAR? – PHOTO

16:56 | February 16,2015 | Politics

The man in the photo is Hovhannes Manukyan, Minister of Justice of
the Republic of Armenia, who earlier served as Armenia’s Ambassador to
Georgia. However, the most striking in the photo is not the minister
himself, but the license number of his car.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ALLOWS TO SELL AND PURCHASE WASTES WITHOUT DOCUMENTS

02:53 February 13, 2015

EcoLur

The Armenian Government allowed selling and purchasing a number of
wastes without founding documents. For this purpose, on 12 February
the executive approved the list of secondary raw materials, which
includes the following wastes:

1. Paper and cardboard wastes

2. Ferrous and non-ferrous scrap and wastes

3. Polymeric wastes

4. Glass scrap and wastes, including used glass items

5. Textile wastes

6. Mineral and synthetic oil wastes

7. Discharged batteries

8. Electrical devices or scrap and wastes of their parts

9. Construction wastes

10. Food fuel wastes

11. Rubber wastes.

“THOSE WHO JUSTIFY THE TURKS, LET THEM SHARE THEIR MOTHERS, WIVES AND CHILDREN WITH THEM.”

February 16 2015

According to Sergey Shakaryants, no need to criticize the Declaration
On January 29, upon the completion of the session of the State
Committee coordinating the events to commemorate the Centennial of
the Armenian Genocide, the ceremony of publication of the Pan-Armenian
Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was held
at the Genocide Memorial site, which was unanimously passed during the
session of the State Committee coordinating the events to commemorate
the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The above mentioned document
was read by President Serzh Sargsyan. It was announced that the Alma
copy of the Declaration shall be given to the Armenian Genocide Museum
-Institute, one copy, as Serzh Sargsyan mentioned, will be sent to
the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and one more will be
sent to Armenia’s national archives. The adoption of the Declaration
was followed by discussions among the social, political, cultural
and other circles, which implies that there were also criticism, in
particular to the fact that the text of the Declaration is incomplete.

In this regard, the 2nd President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan
expressed his view, criticizing that it is provinciality and does
not represent the notion of unity of entire Armenians.

To the question of “Aravot” of whether the Armenian Genocide
Declaration is a successful document or not, political analyst Sergey
Shakaryants said that he does not understand the people who are
criticizing a document knowing that it is remembered in Armenia with
a sad expression, with wrong category of history. “We are realize
that the centennial of this crime should somehow be accessible and
understandable to the outside world. We understand that there should
be some thing. And whether the public is unanimous or not, that’s
another matter, the public may have different thoughts of why it had
happened. The entire Armenian people do not doubt that there was a
crime that should be condemned. To share the opinion of those saying
that this or that sentence in the document was necessary or not, I do
not agree, maybe an other, a more substantial document was necessary
and it does not matter which direction different political and social
forces are oriented. I am surprised that Turkish-people-admirers
are found in our society, and I would exile such people to Turkey,
those who love the Turks, let them love and go to live with the Turks.

Fortunately, we have not forgotten that 60 %of Turkey is Armenia,
therefore, go and live there, but do not violate the rights of other
segment of the society – to hate the Turks and remember what had
happened, the genocide.”

Sergey Shakaryants also thinks that no need to find explanations to
justify the Turks. And the people who believe that our nation has also
its share of guilt, offers to go and share everything with the Turks.

“Let them share their mothers, wives and children. If Turks were good,
the neighboring nations would not expel them….No need to diminish
the grief of the Armenians as nation. The enemy must have its place…”

Eva HAKOBYAN

Read more at:

VIGEN SARGSYAN DISCUSSES GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL EVENTS WITH NKR PRESIDENT

February 16, 2015 12:16

Yerevan /Mediamax/. President of Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) Bako
Sahakyan received the Coordinator of Events dedicated to the Armenian
Genocide Centennial, Chief of Staff of the Armenian President Vigen
Sargsyan today.

The meeting continued in an extended format with participation of
the leader of Artsakh Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan, Chairman of NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan,
Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan and other officials.

The meetings focused on issues related to the preparatory works of
events within the Armenian Genocide Centennial in Artsakh.

– See more at:

ARMENIAN DEPUTY PROSECUTOR GETS $66K APT FOR FREE AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE

Grisha Balasanyan

12:39, February 16, 2015

On October 2, 2014, in a reversal of its former decision, the Armenian
government allocated 754.8 million AMD (US$1.58 million) to upgrade
the housing of various government employees.

52.4 million dram was earmarked for those working for the country’s
Prosecutor General.

A day later, a 118.55 square meter apartment, worth 31.6 million AMD
($66,000) in a new Yerevan building was purchased for Emil Babayan,
a deputy prosecutor general.

The purchase was on the basis of a decision taken by Prosecutor
General Gevorg Kostanyan.

A 20.8 million AMD ($43,400) apartment in the same building was
purchased for Souren Khachatryan, a senior prosecutor at the Prosecutor
General’s Office.

These apartments were allocated as private property to the employees.

They were purchased from a company called Mikmetal Ltd., 75% of the
shares of which were owned in 2012 by an offshore concern called
Margo Holdings Ltd.

According to a financial disclosure statement filed by Emil Babayan,
when he assumed his post at the prosecutor general’s office he already
had an apartment

So why did Babayan get another apartment for free, at taxpayers’
expense, in a brand new building?

Hetq has sent two separate inquiries to the prosecutor general in the
past two months seeking an answer. We have yet to hear back from them.

Chief of staff of the Armenian government Davit Harutyunyan, in a
reply to our inquiry, explained that the government will continue
its policy of investing in social programs designed to make civil
service jobs that much more appealing and that resources from the
reserve fund are being used towards this end.

$66k-apt-for-free-at-taxpayer-expense.html

POLITICAL GAME? SOS GIMISHYAN SAYS TWO MAJOR FORCES ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE POLITICAL DOMAIN BETWEEN THEM

13:44 | February 16,2015 | Politics

Chairman of the Christian-Democratic Revival Party Sos Gimishyan does
not exclude that the conflict between the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) and Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK)
might be imitated.

“It is not excluded that they want to divide the political domain
between two major political parties. I do not believe them because
one of the two forces is supported by Serzh Sargsyan and the other
by Robert Kocharyan,” Mr Gimishyan said on Monday.

While Sos Gimishyan is for a change of government, he says he does
not trust the BHK.

“Political issues in Armenia are usually solved behind the scenes. The
composition of the present National Assembly was also approved behind
the sciences. The election of all MPs was agreed upon with Serzh
Sargsyan,” he says.

BHK lawmaker Nikael Melkumyan disagreed with Sos Gimishyan saying
his party has always stood beside people.

“The years of Robert Kocharyan’s presidency were marked by economic
development. Robert Kocharyan has continually expressed his concerns
about the events taking place in the country, and I do not exclude
he will make another statement now,” said the BHK representative.