Author: Kanayan Tamar

Lyon Mag, France
22 juillet 2014

Charles Aznavour, une superstar à l’inauguration du consulat d’Arménie à Lyon

LyonMag

Lunettes noires, manteau de pluie et accueil digne d’un chef d’Etat,
l’arrivée à Lyon de Charles Aznavour fut remarquée.

Le chanteur franco-arménien était convié lundi soir à couper le ruban
rouge pour l’inauguration du consulat arménien du 2 passage Feuillat
dans le 3e arrondissement.
Mais celui qui représente son pays d’origine auprès de l’UNESCO depuis
vingt ans n’était pas le seul invité de marque, le ministre arménien
des Affaires Etrangères et le gotha politique lyonnais étaient
présents.

Gérard Collomb, maire de Lyon, a d’ailleurs pris la parole, expliquant
que “la ville de Lyon et le Grand Lyon se sont mobilisés pour la
reconnaissance du génocide arménien” et qu’il espère “des cérémonies
exceptionnelles” pour le centenaire du génocide arménien.

Le consulat arménien de Lyon s’occupe des Arméniens ou Arméniens
d’origine habitant Rhône-Alpes, l’Auvergne, le Limousin,
Poitou-Charentes et l’Aquitaine.

Minsk Group Co-Chairs urge the parties to avoid casualties

22:48 23.07.2014

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and
Pierre Andrieu of France) met separately with the Foreign Minister of
Armenia, Mr. Edward Nalbandian, and the Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan, Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, on July 22 in Brussels. The
Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador
Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings.

The Co-Chairs expressed their serious concern about the increase in
tensions and violence, including the targeted killings of civilians,
along the Line of Contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. They
urged the parties to commit themselves to avoiding casualties and
rejected the deliberate targeting of villages and the civilian
population. They called on the Foreign Ministers to defuse tensions
and adhere to the terms of the ceasefire.

The Co-Chairs and Foreign Ministers also discussed possible agenda
items for a presidential summit, underscoring the importance of a
meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan for achieving
progress in peace negotiations. They also discussed meetings which
could take place in New York on the margins of the UN General
Assembly.

The Co-Chairs continue to review possible security confidence building
measures and people-to-people programs with the parties. They believe
that such programs build the trust and confidence necessary for a
lasting peace.

In Vienna, the Co-Chairs briefed the countries of the Minsk Group
about the status of peace negotiations.

Vladimir Karapetyan: It is not surprising that Republicans say they do
not have such information (video)

20:10 | July 21,2014 | Politics

“Our party is one of the most active political forces and we have a
lot of sources that provide us with information, Vladimir Karapetyan,
a senior representative of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), told
A1+ when commenting on HAK leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s statement in
which the first President said Armenia will not join the Eurasian
Economic Union.

“We have information that the disagreement is not connected with the
documents. The question then arises – what is the problem and where is
the obstacle? The last public statement was made by [Kazakhstan
President] Nazarbayev who dwelt on the factor of Karabakh. I think
everything is clear,” said Mr Karapetyan.

Speaking about the ‘surprise’ of some Republicans following the
statement who said they do not possess such information, the HAK
member says the reaction was expected. “It is not surprising that a
representative of the ruling Republican Party says he has no
information, I am confident that Serzh Sargsyan does not discuss
issues with his party members.”

Three-to-five-percent price hike expected in Armenia – expert

YEREVAN, July 23. /ARKA/. Consumer commodities in Armenia are believed
to go 3% up because of the increase in electricity prices, Babken
Pipoyan, chairman of the Informed and Protected Consumer NGO, said
Wednesday at a news conference.

On June 7, Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission approved
almost a 10 percent rise in electricity prices for households allowing
the Electrical Networks of Armenia distributor to charge 41.85 drams
per 1 kWh of electricity during daylight hours (from 7:00 to 23:00),
up from current 38 drams and 31.5 drams for night hours (from 23:00 to
7:00), up from current 28 drams. The decisions come into force on 1
August 2014.

“Prices for consumer goods will jump 3%, and those for first-priority
goods may leap even 5% as a result of disguised increase,” Pipoyan
said.

He explained what he meant by saying “disguised”. The thing is that
the producers reduce weight of some products leaving the price
unchanged. Very often containers, packs and even labels of such
products remain unchanged as well, and weight is written in very small
and almost invisible characters, and therefore consumers don’t guess
that the prices have been increased.

The expert said that in developed countries a ten-percent increase in
electricity prices drive prices for consumer prices 1-1.5% up, while
in Armenia the power price rise triggers incommensurable price hikes.

“This happens in Armenia, since not a single economic entity has ever
been punished for inadequate increase of prices,” Pipoyan said.

In his opinion, electric power price rise may have also another
adverse effect – owners of stores, especially small, will start saving
electric energy for paying less money for that, and this may affect
the temperature regime necessary for preserving foods posing threat to
consumers’ health. ($1 – AMD 406.84). –0—

– See more at:

Each Armenian has a right to make judgments relating to Karabakh –
Armen Martirosyan

15:00 / 23.07.2014

The recent interview of the first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan has
raised a big wave of discussions in the political field.

Nyut.am spoke with deputy leader of the Heritage party Armen
Martirosyan who said that some evaluations the first president voiced
cannot be rejected though it is obvious that the interview is
politically motivated.

Speaking about the part relating to the Constitution Armen Martirosyan
said that it is obvious that the incumbent authorities raise the issue
of constitutional reforms for their benefit. “It is just for their
reproduction. We refuse to conduct discussions with this authorities
over Constitution as only legitimate authorities who have not rigged
elections may implement reforms,” he said.
Speaking about Ter-Petrosyan’s statement about Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Martirosyan said, “We have a bit other approach toward the
situation connected with Karabakh. We are for recognition of Artsakh
Republic, we are against Madrid Principles but it is obvious that the
incumbent authorities have created a shameful situation in Karabakh
issue.”

Asked to comment on Sharmazanov’s response to Ter-Petrosyan’s
interview that the person who wanted to sell Karabakh tries to protect
from them now, Martirosyan said, “I do not agree. Each Armenian has a
right to make judgments relating to Karabakh and let’s not forget that
Levon Ter-Petrosyan was a member of Karabakh Committee and besides
many negative things that happened during his presidency, positive
changes have also been registered.”

Nyut.am

Armavia Pays Overdue Wages Only to Those Employees Who Didn’t Sue
Company: Zhoghovurd

07.23.2014 13:33 epress.am

The now defunct Armavia Armenian airline carrier owned by businessman
Mikhail Baghdasarov has begun the process of paying the overdue wages
of its former employees; however, receiving their wages are only those
employees who didn’t sue the company. This news was conveyed to local
dailyZhoghovurd by former employees of the company.

“Not everyone has received their wages. There are people whose final
payment [owing] has not been calculated. None of the pilots have
received [their overdue wages] — only the flight attendants and
engineers,” said the paper’s source.

The newspaper attempted to find out from the company’s financial
director, Hrayr Sahakyan, at whose expense former employees’ salaries
were paid. “Those wages were paid through the company’s owner’s funds.
As for the others, I don’t know when and how much they’ll get paid,”
he said.

Eurasian Development Bank: Armenia’s GDP growth may reach 4.8% in 2014

YEREVAN, July 23. /ARKA/. Armenia’s GDP growth may reach 4.8% in 2014,
Eurasian Economic Union analysts say in a fresh issue of Eurasian
Development Bank’s CIS Macromonitoring.

They say the increase in macroeconomic assistance from international
donors and expansion of the country’s cooperation with the Customs
Union will contribute a great deal to this growth.

At the same time, GDP growth in Armenia slowed down 3.1% in the first
quarter of this year, compared with the same period a year earlier,
because of the weakening of domestic demand and the adverse outside
developments, particularly fallen prices for exported raw materials.

A low economic activity was seen especially in the mining industry’s
1.3% decline and construction’s 3.3% downturn.

Instead, the agriculture sector and processing industry showed good
results (+6.0% and +4.5%).

According to the analysts, CIS countries’ average GDP growth slowed
down 1.2% in the 1st Q 2014, compared with the same period a year
before.

This decline was first of all due to the fallen investment activity in
Russia and some slowdown in investment activity in Kazakhstan.

Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial
organization established by Russia and Kazakhstan in 2006 to help
develop market economies and boost mutual trade ties in member states.
The bank’s authorized stock is over 1.5bln US dollars. The
member-states are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and
Tajikistan. -0—–

– See more at:

At meeting with sportsmen president of Iran speaks with Armenian
football player Andranik Teymuryan

12:25 23/07/2014 >> SPORT

According to the official site of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has
had meetings with presidents of different kinds of sport federation,
with trainers and sportsmen who have participated in different matches
in Iran.

In one of the photos published in IRI president’s official site Hassan
Rouhani is having talk with a football player of Armenian origin, the
60th Capitan of Iran’s National Football Team, Andranik Teymuryan.

Iran’s National Football Team was taking part in the World Cup this
year: Iranian team left the Cup losing to Argentine and Bosnia and
Herzegovina.

Politique
Le bilan du Premier ministre après 100 jours d’exercice

L’opposition a critiqué le Premier ministre Hovik Abrahamian pour ne
pas avoir à apporter des modifications importantes au cours de ses 100
premiers jours au pouvoir, mais les représentants du parti républicain
considèrent que la période est trop courte pour tirer des conclusions
définitives.

Abrahamian a assumé le poste de 13e Premier ministre de l’Arménie
indépendante en avril dernier, succédant à Tigran Sarkissian qui avait
dirigé le gouvernement pendant six ans et qui, bien souvent, était la
cible des critiques acerbes de l’opposition l’accusant de mauvaise
gestion de l’économie du pays et de ne pas résoudre ses nombreux
problèmes sociaux.

Une centaine de jours après le changement, les premières critiques
déplorent le manque de changement significatif de la situation. Ils
affirment que cette absence de progrès prouve que les changements
politiques systémiques ne peuvent pas conduire à des changements
réels.

Vahagn Khachatrian (HAK) estime que l’expérience du gouvernement
Abrahamian prouve que les solutions aux problèmes en Arménie doivent
être recherchées dans le domaine politique plutôt qu’économique.

Le représentant du HAK a dit que des mesures concrètes, telles que la
position du nouveau gouvernement sur la réforme des retraites et son
incapacité à honorer sa promesse que l’élément de contrainte serait
supprimée, montrent qu’aucun changement n’a eu lieu dans la manière
dont fonctionne l’exécutif. ” La population et la communauté
d’affaires sont déçus”, selon le député de l’opposition.

Lors de la nomination du nouveau Premier ministre, le président Serge
Sarkissian a mentionné “la restauration de la confiance des gens”
comme l’une des principales exigences du nouveau gouvernement.

Le chef du comité permanent de Crédit financier et des affaires
budgétaires, Gagik Minassian a, quant à lui, estimé que 100 jours est
une période trop courte pour évaluer les activités du nouveau
gouvernement.

” Les programmes du gouvernement ne sont pas mis en oeuvre en seulement
100 jours, ils exigent plus de temps “, a déclaré Minassian(HHK). “En
ce qui concerne les mesures qui ont été faites au cours de cette
période de 100 jours, je pense qu’elles inspirent de grands espoirs.”

Il a ajouté : “Nous ne séparons pas les problèmes politiques de ceux
économiques. Des mesures sont prises en vue de résoudre les problèmes
politiques internes, et en ce sens nous sommes toujours ouverts à des
consultations et prêts à discuter de toute proposition. ”

Pendant ce temps, le premier ministre lui-même a parlé aujourd’hui de
succès des efforts de son gouvernement pour encourager les grandes
entreprises à mettre fin à la pratique de sous-estimer les revenus et
de payer moins d’impôts.

Les citoyens ordinaires ont différentes évaluations sur Abrahamian jusqu’ici.

“Les marchandises sont de même plus en plus chères. Voyons ce qui se
passe à côté “, a dit une femme, ajoutant qu’elle n’a pas encore vu
tous les changements essentiels.

Mais un homme à Erevan approché par un correspondant du service
arménien de RFE / RL a dit : ” Je n’aime pas les trop grandes éloges,
mais je dois dire que je suis satisfait du travail du Premier ministre
“.

mercredi 23 juillet 2014,
Claire (c)armenews.com

The NKR Minister of Foreign Affairs received the Head of the ICRC
Mission in Nagorno-Karabakh

by Nana Martirosyan

arminfo
Wednesday, July 23, 11:41

On July 22, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic Karen Mirzoyan received Head of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) Mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, Thomas Hallier.

As press-service of the Ministry reported, during the meeting, the
parties discussed a number of issues related to the activities of the
ICRC Office in the NKR. In this context, the parties also touched upon
the issue of the neutralized Azeri subversive group in the territory
of the NKR, and the cooperation established in this regard between the
ICRC Office in Nagorno Karabakh and the NKR appropriate structures, in
particular, the NKR State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and
Missing Persons.

To remind, Azeris made new attempts to mount a sabotage attack on the
Armenian-NKR section of the border (near Karvachar) last week. The
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry has told ArmInfo that they revealed
and neutralized all members of the Azerbaijani subversive group. Some
members of the group were captured, and others escaped. As reported
earlier, the Nagorno- Karabakh Defense Army released a photo of Gyulin
Shahbaz Jalaloghlu (born in 1968), the captured member of the
Azerbaijani sabotage and intelligence team. Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan informed on Saturday that the Armenian soldiers killed an
Azerbaijani saboteur while neutralizing the subversive group on
Friday. But an Armenian officer, major Sarkis Abrahamyan (born in
1972) was killed and an Armenian woman, Karina Davtyan (born in 1977)
was wounded. The NKR Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a lawsuit
regarding Azerbaijani raiders Gyulin Shahbaz Jalaloghlu (born in 1968)
and Dilham Ahmedov (born in 1960) for illegal crossing of the border.