Author: Kanayan Tamar

DELIVERY OF RUSSIAN GAS TO ARMENIA HALTED BECAUSE OF LANDSLIDE

YEREVAN, February 12. / ARKA /. Shipment of Russian natural gas to
Armenia through Georgia was halted temporarily today at 13 pm because
of a landslide in Kazbegi region of Georgia, Armenia’s national gas
distributor company Gazprom Armenia said today. A crash crew has been
sent from Tbilisi to the area to fix the problem as soon as possible,
it said.

Gazprom Armenia (owned fully by Russian Gazprom) said despite the
breakdown both enterprises and households in the country will continue
getting gas from the Abovyan underground storage facilities.

Gazprom Armenia, owned fully by Russian Gazprom, deals with supply of
natural gas to Armenia. The company is also engaged in transportation,
storage, distribution and sale of natural gas, reconstruction and
expansion of the gas transmission system and underground gas storage
facilities.-0-

ARMENIAN NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE FOILS DRUG TRANSIT ATTEMPT

YEREVAN, February 12. / ARKA /. Armenia’s National Security Service
(NSS) said today it had tracked down a transnational group involved
in illegal drug trafficking through the territory of Armenia.

“As a result of a string of operative measures it was revealed that
citizens of Peru and Argentina brought to Armenia drugs from Latin
America by transit flights in special caches made in their luggage
and then handed them to a gang members comprising citizens of Bulgaria
and Lebanon, who tried to take drugs to Turkey by land or air routes,”
NSS said in a statement.

In particular, on January 27, the National Security Service officers
discovered and foiled an attempt to bring in to Armenia 2.7 kg of
cocaine by the flight San Paolo- Abu Dhabi- Yerevan. According to
the NSS, the attempt was made by citizens of Peru – Cordoba Alexander
and Maria Flores Alvardo Mirza.

“An Argentinean citizen Alejandro Joel Torres tried to bring in another
2.6 kg of cocaine to Armenia by the same flight on February 12. On
the same day two citizens of Bulgaria (Arabs by nationality) – Malik
Abbas Gharib and Al Shaher Hasan Abdo tried to take 4.8 kilograms of
cocaine to Turkey aboard the Yerevan – Istanbul flight,” according
to the statement

NSS has opened a criminal case. The investigation is being handled
by the investigation department of the National Security Service.-0–

ERDOGAN NO LONGER BELIEVES IN HIS OWN WORDS – ARMENIAN EXPERT

10:43 â~@¢ 12.02.15

Though Armenia and the Armenian diaspora have been unanimous on
issues of pan-national importance, their efforts to rebuff the
Turkish authorities and propaganda have been always met a failure,
a Turkologist has said, commenting on a recent statement made by
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking to Tert.am, Ruben Melkonyan, a deputy dean at the Yerevan
State University’s Oriental StudiesÕ~[ Department, particularly
focused on the Turkish leader’s words saying that “… our peace hand
has always been rejected by the influence of Armenian Diaspora” .

“I don’t think Erdogan any longer believes in his words deep in his
heart; if there had been a desire between Turkey and Armenia to embark
on building normal relations, there were the 2009 Zurich protocols
for that,” he noted.

Melkonyan said he doesn’t find that a politician seeking to establish
relations with a neighboring state should choose lyric digressions for
doing so, leaving aside a process that requires diplomatic procedures
and corresponding documents.

“As for the other invitations, sentimental, emotional and sensual
statements and propaganda based on fabrications – about lending a hand
and getting no reply, – they are all from a different genre that has
nothing to do with the truth, reality and logic,” said the Turkologist.

He described Erdogan’s apparent attempts to split Armenia and the
Diaspora as yet another failure, noting that any address to Armenia
is a message to a 10 million community (not just the a population of
3 million) which has fair demands anchored on universal human values.

“So Erdogan keeps playing the old music, with no single line in his
statement reflecting any norm or sound logic,” he added.

In his statement issued Wednesday, Erdogan also referred to the
invitation sent earlier to different world leaders, asking them to
visit Turkey on April 24 to join the Gallipoli Campaign’s centenary
events.

“We would like them to come and be in Canakkale on April 24, to
breathe in that atmosphere and try to understand that happened among
our hundreds of thousands of martyrs. But they didn’t do that,”
the Turkish leader said.

Commenting on the message, Melkonyan said he sees that it is absolutely
unrelated to either politics or ethics. “The Turkish officials and
presidential spokesperson made statements far beyond the limits of
politeness; secondly, Erdogan’s rhetoric was replete in terms unrelated
to politeness, and his discourse is known with its ill-bred nature,”
he noted.

Melkonyan said at the end that he doesn’t find Erdogan to be the
right person to demand respect for rules of politeness.

KARABAKH MOVEMENT FIRST-EVER ‘ANTHROPOCENTRIC’ MOVEMENT IN WORLD – ASHOT MANUCHARYAN

16:03 * 12.02.15

Something that had never occurred in the world before happened in
Armenia 27 years ago – an “anthropocentric movement,” which was
appreciated 5-6 years later, after the war ended in 1994, public and
political figure Ashot Manucharyan told reporters on Thursday.

The Artsakh movement accounts for many other phenomena in Armenia.

First, it was the first-ever congress of democratic forces in the
post-soviet area, first-ever alternative elections in the post-soviet
area and in Eastern Europe.

PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNTS OF HIGH-RANKING CLERGY MEMBERS NEED TO BE RELEASED, SAYS EXPERT

02.12.2015 12:59 epress.am

The Armenian Apostolic Church is not working transparently: the church,
or it would be more correct to say the Catholicos, does not present
financial reports neither to the society, nor to his congregates,
said Partnership for Democracy director and human rights defender
Stepan Danielyan in an interview with Asparez paper.

“To my knowledge, there is a document regarding the church’s budget,
however if that was presented to the public, then multiple questions
would be raised and a demand for clarifications. Apparently, that is
the reason the document is not released. Due to the latest incident,
where Karekin II’s account was disclosed, personal accounts need
to be released as well, because it is unclear whether the personal
accounts are serving only them or the church as well. That is why it’s
important to also release high ranking clergymen’s bank accounts,”
said Danielyan.

To the journalist’s remark that if the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists did not release the information about the
$1.1 million dollars on Karekin II’s HSBC account, then the public
would not have been aware of its existence, the human rights defender
responded, “Despite everything, there are a lot of things we aren’t
aware of. This is a systemic issue and doesn’t only relate to the
church. It is related to all of us. There isn’t just the church
and the Catholicos’s money. That money is ours as well, however,
the society is unaware of that.”

EUROVISION – L’ARMENIE VA ETRE REPRESENTEE PAR GENEALOGY !

ARMENIE

L’Armenie a eu une nouvelle et innovante idee pour le Concours
Eurovision de la chanson 2015 : Le pays sera represente par des
artistes des cinq continents ! Le projet sera appele Genealogy et la
chanson s’intitulera ” ne nier pas”.

La paix, l’unite et la tolerance – ce sera le message cle de l’entree
armenienne a l’Eurovision 2015. Inspiree par le symbole d’une fleur
le myosotis et aussi de jeter des ponts.

Compte tenu des nombreuses demandes de la diaspora armenienne, cinq
musiciens d’Europe, d’Asie, d’Amerique, d’Afrique et d’Australie,
tous d’origine armenienne, feront partie du groupe Geneeology. L’idee
est de reunir une nouvelle generation d’Armeniens sur scène dont les
familles ont ete reparties dans le monde entier en l’an 1915.

jeudi 12 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LE 13/2 – 14H45 A L’ULB : CENTENAIRE DU GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS

BELGIQUE

Invitation

La Communaute armenienne de Belgique et, plus particulièrement,
les descendants d’Armeniens qui ont survecu au genocide et a qui la
Belgique a accorde, avec coeur et chaleur, asile en 1915, souhaitent
commemorer le centenaire de ce genocide en se tournant vers l’horizon.

Ils tiennent a rendre hommage aux hommes et femmes au sein de l’Empire
ottoman qui ont, dans l’ombre ou la lumière, essaye de sauver ou
qui ont pu sauver en 1915 des Armeniens de manière desinteressee,
souvent au peril de leur propre vie.

Certains ont refuse d’executer des ordres officiels.

D’autres ont accueilli chez eux des malheureux en fuite. Le temps
est venu de rendre justice a ces heros, qu’ils soient des Justes ou
des etres de grande et lumineuse conscience mais egalement a tous
les Justes en general, a travers le temps et les pays.

Cette commemoration n’aura de sens que si elle est humaniste et
ouverte aux autres genocides egalement.

La Communaute armenienne de Belgique est dès lors heureuse d’organiser
un colloque scientifique consacre au courage humaniste.

Mais le temps est egalement venu de tendre la main vers l’Autre.

La Communaute armenienne de Belgique est emue de rencontrer les
heritiers d’un Turc exceptionnellement courageux, Huseyin Nesimi Bey,
sous-prefet assassine de Lice, et de lui rendre hommage.

Programme

14h45 : Accès

15h15 : Discours de bienvenue : Gregoire Jakhian

15h30 : Introduction par le Professeur Yves Ternon (Universite Paul
Valery – Montpellier)

16h :

Professeur A. Aktar (Universite Bilgi – Istanbul) :

TER-PETROSIAN CRITIQUE SARKISSIAN ET LA DIASPORA ARMENIENNE

Opposition

Le leader de l’opposition, Levon Ter-Petrosian, a hier vivement
critique le president Serge Sarkissian et les dirigeants des
organisations de la diaspora armenienne qui poussent la Turquie a
reconnaître le genocide armenien de 1915 dans l’Empire ottoman.

Ter-Petrosian a egalement affirme que leur “declaration pan-armenienne”
publiee a la fin du mois dernier engage officiellement Erevan a
revendiquer de vastes etendues de terres dans l’est de la Turquie.

Cette declaration que Ter-Petrosian critique a ete adoptee par une
commission de coordination des commemorations a venir pour le 100e
anniversaire du genocide. La commission est dirigee par Sarkissian
et comprend d’autres fonctionnaires de l’Etat armenien, les meilleurs
clercs des dirigeants de l’Eglise apostolique armenienne et une partie
de la diaspora. Sarkissian a personnellement lu une declaration au
memorial du genocide a Erevan le 29 janvier.

Le document appelle l’Etat turc a “faire face a sa propre histoire
et son passe” en mettant fin a la negation du genocide.

Dans un long article publie dans le quotidien d’opposition “Chorrord
Ishkhanutyun,” Ter-Petrosian a decrit cet appel comme un > qui n’est pas sans consequences negatives pour Ankara. “Combien de
fois va-t-il etre dit que la reconnaissance du genocide armenien est
une question pour les Turcs, plus que pour nous, les Armeniens ?”,
s’est demande l’ancien president.

“D’autres Etats peuvent appeler et demander a la Turquie de faire face
a sa propre histoire. Mais l’Armenie doit en aucun cas faire la meme
chose parce que ce serait nuire a sa dignite et cela ne contribuera pas
du tout a la normalisation des relations turco-armeniennes”, a declare
Ter-Petrossian. Selon lui, Ankara ne reconnaitra le genocide qu’après
une normalisation des rapports suivi d’un “climat de confiance”
entre l’Armenie et la Turquie.

L’ex-president etait encore plus critique au sujet d’un autre passage
de la declaration qui dit que l’Armenie et sa diaspora a travers le
monde s’efforcent non seulement d’obtenir que plus de pays condamnent
le massacre de 1,5 million d’Armeniens ottomans, mais aussi de
“surmonter les consequences du genocide.” Dans ce contexte, il se
refère au traite de Sèvres de 1920, qui prevoyait le contrôle armenien
sur une grande partie de ce qui est maintenant la Turquie orientale.

Ter-Petrosian a affirme que cela revient a faire des revendications
territoriales a la Turquie, ce que les gouvernements successifs
armeniens ont evite jusqu’a present, malgre les pressions de
groupes nationalistes. Cela rend la normalisation des relations
turco-armeniennes encore plus improbable dans un proche avenir.

La declaration en question dit que les experts de la commission
travaillent actuellement sur un “paquet d’exigences legales” a adresser
au gouvernement turc. Mais il ne precise pas si cela comprendra des
revendications territoriales.

jeudi 12 fevrier 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

ARMENIAN PRODUCTS ENJOY DEMAND IN IRAQ

Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
Business – 11 February 2015, 16:05

Trade between Armenia and Iraq increased thanks to the high demand
of Armenian products in the Iraqi market, the Armenian ambassador to
Iraq Karen Grigoryan told Lragir.am.

According to the National Statistics Service, Armenia-Iraq trade
increased by 3.5% last year. In addition, exports from Armenia to
Iraq increased by 66.5% and imports decreased by 9.6% in 2014.

Lragir.am inquired which Armenian products enjoy high demand in Iraq.

Ambassador Grigoryan said Armenian agricultural products and strong
drinks have growing demand in Iraq.

“Armenia exports to Iraq agricultural products and alcoholic drinks.

Armenia imports mostly oil from Iraq. Trade levels increase because
Armenian produce and preserves are increasingly demanded on the Iraqi
market,” the ambassador said.

Karen Grigoryan noted that at this stage he cannot reveal the projects
they are working on now.

In answer to the question on possible investments, the ambassador said
some investors have expressed interest in the Armenian market but he
cannot state that there is likelihood of major investments in Armenia.

Karen Grigoryan held out hope that direct flights between Iraq and
Armenia will boost trade between the two countries. He has information
that from February 26 direct flights Yerevan-Baghdad and Yerevan-Erbil
will be operated by the national carrier of Iraq.

“It will lead to development of tourism, it may have a positive impact
on strengthening trade,” the ambassador stated.

RESPONSIBILITY 2015 CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE HELD IN NEW YORK

15:31, 11 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. “Responsibility 2015” the
international conference marking the Centennial of the Armenian
Genocide will be held on March 13-15, 2015, at New York’s Marriott
Marquis Hotel at Times Square. Registration can be done either on
the conference website, or the conference registration page.

As reports “Armenpress” citing Armenian Weekly, the conference
will feature 12 concurrent panels, lectures, and photography and
art exhibits. Evening sessions bringing together policymakers,
political leaders, artists, and celebrities known for their activism
and humanitarian work will highlight the theme of responsibility to
confront past injustices and struggle towards preventing new ones.

Speakers include jurist Geoffrey Robertson, actor and playwright Eric
Bogosian, screenwriter and playwright Alex Dinelaris, photojournalist
Scout Tufankjian, novelists Chris Bohjalian and Nancy Kricorian,
journalists Robert Fisk, Guillaume Perrier, Laure Marchand, and
David Barsamian, scholars Richard Hovannisian, Deborah Dwork, Raymond
Kevorkian, Roy L. Brooks, Elisa Von Joeden-Forgey, Janna Thompson,
Jermaine McCalpin, Israel Charny, Roger Smith, David Gaunt, Seyhan
Bayraktar, Bilgin Ayata, Marc Mamigonian, Ruken Sengul, Umit Kurt,
Kori Street, Elyse Semerdjian, and Hannibal Travis, human rights
activist Sarah Leah Whitson, educator Sara Cohan, among others.

Photography and art exhibits with the theme of survival will be held
at the same venue for the duration of the conference.

The “Responsibility 2015” conference is being organized by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Eastern U.S. Centennial Committee,
under the auspices of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of
America, Eastern Region.

The organizing committee is comprised of the following scholars and
activists: Khatchig Mouradian and Hayg Oshagan, co-chairs; George
Aghjayan, Kim Hekimian, Antranig Kasbarian, Sarkis Balkhian, and
Henry Theriault.