Author: Kanayan Tamar

OPPOSITION ACTIVIST ASKS COURT TO INVITE PROSECUTORS FROM RUSSIA

06.25.2014 15:12 epress.am

Presiding Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan in today’s trial in the case
against political activist Shant Harutyunyan (pictured) and the 13
other men who were arrested with him in clashes with police last year
asked whether the parties wish to disqualify the judge and the court
secretary. Harutyunyan said he was already sentenced once by the same
judge (in 2008-2009, in a scandalous case known as the Case of Seven),
but he doesn’t believe the decision was made by the judge.

“If I [request] a recusal it would mean I hope that if another
judge [presides over this case] it might lead to a fair verdict,”
said Harutyunyan.

Addressing his 13 friends, Harutyunyan said they are free to make their
own decision in the matter of asking the judge to recuse himself,
but he urged them to refrain from making statements that could harm
their dignity.

“If you think that by saying something, you might [get to] go home
one day early, you can freely express yourselves. If you want, you
can say that you hit the police officer and now you regret it. But
please, don’t harm our and your dignity, though I don’t doubt you
for a minute,” he said.

83 ANIVERSARIO DE LA CREACION DEL DIARIO ARMENIA

Palermo Online, Argentina
16 junio 2014

PalermOnLine Noticias. Ciudad de Buenos Aires 16 junio, 2014 Editado
por Palermonline

HOMENAJE A DIARIO ARMENIO

La Ciudad de Buenos Aires, a traves de la Comuna 14, coloco el sabado
14 de junio un mosaico conmemorativo por el 83° aniversario de la
creacion del Diario Armenia (1931), el organo de prensa mas antiguo
de la comunidad armenia de Argentina y Sudamerica.

El mosaico estara en El Salvador 4627, lugar donde funciono en forma
diaria el periodico con una imprenta de linotipo desde 1936 hasta
1982, medio fundado por sobrevivientes del genocidio armenio. En este
contexto, Maximiliano Corach, Presidente de la Junta Comunal de la
Comuna 14, destaco la entrega de un predio para construir el Museo
del Genocidio Armenio llevada a cabo por Horacio Rodríguez Larreta la
semana pasada y afirmo que “desde la Comuna 14 buscamos preservar,
proteger y difundir el patrimonio y la identidad de nuestro querido
barrio de Palermo, barrio que cuenta con una gran presencia de la
colectividad armenia.”

Participaron del evento autoridades comunales y representantes de la
comunidad armenia, junto con el titular de la Comuna 14, Maximiliano
Corach; el embajador de Armenia, Vahagn Melikian; el Arzobispo Primado
de la Iglesia Apostolica Armenia, Kissag Mouradian; directivos del
Diario Armenia y autoridades de Instituciones de la colectividad.

THE CASPIAN CONNECTION

Silk Road Reporters
June 25 2014

by Joshua Noonan
June 25, 2014

The 826-kilometer (513-mile) Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) Railway is
expected to be completed by late 2015, according to Azerbaijani
Transportation Minister Ziya Mammadov who recently attended a
tripartite meeting of ministers from Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

It is anticipated that this railroad will transport up to 1 million
passengers after its launch, ramping up to 3 million passengers and 15
million tons of freight within the first few months of operation. The
railroad is seen as the most important strategic infrastructure project
in recent history for the region, and will have major implications
for the three partners with secondary ramifications for Armenia and
Kazakhstan as East-West energy transport routes link the Caspian
Basin to Europe.

Azerbaijan and the cities of Baku, Sumgayit, and Gance will notably
benefit as their transportation links to Georgia and Turkey develop.

The metropolitan areas of these cities comprise at least 20%
of Azerbaijan’s population and a large proportion of the economic
activity and foreign exchange earning power of the state. Although
there is already a Soviet-legacy Baku-Tbilisi passenger and freight
network, an improvement in the infrastructure from the dilapidated
Soviet legacy railroad will allow for the speedier delivery of goods
and transport of passengers.

The BTK is being coupled with the Nakhchivan-Kars Railway, which will
connect the politically important Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan
with Kars. The deepening of links with Turkey and Georgia will provide
for the further westerly economic integration that the leaders of
the country seek that started with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum oil and gas pipelines, signaling the development
of the Southern Energy Corridor.

This has continued recently with further Azerbaijan-driven investment
in the downstream distribution and sales of gasoline and diesel in
Georgia and the continued expansion of natural gas pipelines through
Turkey with TANAP and TAP, linking Greece, Albania, and Italy. These
mega-projects have been spearheaded by investors originating from
Azerbaijan, Turkey, and other partner countries. Politically, these
projects allow for the consolidation of Azerbaijani influence in
Georgia through its State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR)
service stations, while providing increased leverage over its adversary
Armenia through the deployment of its natural-resource-derived wealth
in the guise of SOCAR and State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ).

Since the Rose Revolution in November 2003, Georgia has been seeking
inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) through internal reforms,
cooperation with its neighbors, and integration into the Euro-Atlantic
Community. As the current Georgian government has prioritized and
campaigned on the promotion of rural development, market access that
will be granted through these improved transportation links if coupled
with subsequent reforms to the tariff and import regimes of Turkey
and Azerbaijan. Georgia ranked eighth in the World Bank Ease of Doing
Business Report in 2014. As labor costs increase in Turkey, Georgia
could become a source of intermediary-product production, with the
process speeded by the development of the BTK. This coupled with extant
trade links, geopolitical trends, and entrepreneurial opportunities
will assure the continued development of Georgia through this project.

Turkey will continue to develop its role as a hub-state for the
transportation of resources and a interconnector for Europe, Asia, and
the Middle East. In that role, actions involved with the development
of the BTK are quite useful. This mega-project will be paired with
the Marmaray Bosphorus Tunnel Project, which will cross the Bosphorus,
knitting the European and Asian sides of Turkey together. This action
will link the rails of the Absheron Peninsula with those in Berlin.

Continued investments in eastern Turkey, linking booming Azerbaijan
with this underdeveloped region, will allow for an accelerated
growth-path and increased market access for businesses from the
Caucasus, as well as provide additional export opportunities for this
less developed region while expanding access to cheap and reliable
natural gas, petroleum, foodstuffs, and commodities.

The last two countries are not transit countries for the BTK,
but rather adjacent countries. The first, Armenia, has protested
its exclusion from regional mega-projects. Though it would be
a shorter and cheaper route from Baku through Yerevan to Kars,
this possibility was forestalled by the over-20-year-old frozen
conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. This has led to its continued regional
marginalization, and the BTK is only the latest example. Despite the
lack of direct investment, consumers and intermediaries in Armenia will
benefit from a more developed method of importing goods from Turkey,
all of which are currently transshipped via Georgia on semi-tractor
trailers. Moreover, exports from Armenia not bound for Russia or
Iran could benefit from transshipment from Tbilisi westwards to
European markets.

Kazakhstan as a major commodity and energy exporter may be able to
benefit from the export of commodities to Turkey and from there to the
Balkans via the Caspian. Issues concerning shipments on the Caspian,
including terminals, are starting to be rectified on both shores.

Nevertheless, a deeper East-West integration across the Caspian would
take additional political capital that the respective leaders do not
seem prepared to spend.

Nevertheless, as Europe and the Caucasus are knit together,
leaders across the Caspian will start to take due notice of these
opportunities.

There are still many hurdles for the project to clear – both technical
and politcal – but when this project is finished and finally goes
online, the world will behold an important realignment of how it
interacts and trades with this once-distant region.

AZERIS SHELL ARMENIAN VILLAGE, NO CASUALTIES REPORTED

June 25, 2014 – 16:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire Wednesday,
June 25, upon the village of Movses in the Tavush province of Armenia.

As the village administration head Ararat Avalyan said, some shots
reached the local school and church. “Fortunately, no one suffered,”
he said, adding that the attack didn’t last long.

On May 23, Azeri forces have been shelling the village of Barekamavan
and Armenian defense positions for around 6 hours. Azerbaijanis
opened fire at a military vehicle heading to an outpost as well as
a ZIL civil vehicle. Some bullets damaged the roof of the house that
belongs to Hovik Gharakeshishyan, former head of the village.

On the morning of April 19, Azeri troops shelled settlements in
Armenia’s Tavush province. The village of Choratan also came under
fire; the shelling started at 9 am and lasted for almost half an hour.

As the head of the village Varuzhan Baghramyan said, “Azeri troops
targeted peaceful villagers working in the gardens. Fortunately, no one
was injured. Azeri shelling became a pretty common occurrence here.”

Border villages of Aygepar, Movses, Nerkin Karmiraghbryur in Armenia’s
Tavush province were intensively shelled in a lengthy Azeri attack
on the night of April 15.

THE DEVELOPMENTS IN MIDDLE EAST, IN UKRAINE MAY BE DESCRIBED AS WWIII – ZHIRAYR SEFILYAN

12:20 / 25.06.2014

Despite the recent tension on the line of contact coordinator of
Pre-parliament, freedom fighter Zhirayr Sefilyan considers the
resumption of war less possible.

Commenting on the recent accidents, and referring to the Nakhijevan
case he told Nyut.am that it took place in the background of
geo-political reformations. “Nakhijevan front is well known for
being calm. Even during the years of war the peace there was
randomly breached. The developments there are connected with the
geo-political events in the region,” he said, adding that he thinks
it has been provoked by relevant centers aimed at using the Armenian
side to force Azerbaijan enter Eurasian Economic Union. “It is also
an attempt to destabilize that sector in response to the statements
from Tehran about opening highway to north – Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Black
Sea-Europe. Tehran, the EU, Armenia are for the opening of the highway
and if we had good authorities we could have taken the initiative in
our hands and make Azerbaijan open the Nakhijevan border,” he said.

According to Sefilyan the possibility of resumption of wide-scale
military activities is less possible as it is known that when
war starts it is difficult to stop it. “Today the geo-political
contradictions have deepened so much that I do not think that the
instability in the region will be beneficial for anyone,” adding that
destabilizing actions have always been and will be carried out. “See
what happens in the Middle East, in Ukraine. We may say that it is
the WWIII,” he said it is not a nuclear war but a new weapon is being
used with milder mechanisms being used by the rival countries aiming
at establishing power by punishing, weakening one another.

POLITICIAN: BANKING SYSTEM THE MAIN TOOL OF DESTRUCTION IN ARMENIA

June 25, 2014 | 18:03

YEREVAN. – The banking system is the main tool of destruction in
Armenia, member of former Karabakh committee Ashot Manucharyan said.

The politician said banks are busy with giving loans at high interest
rates. As a result, being unable to repay the loans, people sell
their homes and leave the republic.

“I do not know any other post-Soviet state, except Armenia, where
population fell by half after the collapse of the Soviet Union,”
Manucharyan said.

In addition, he drew attention to the fact that a scientist receives
a salary of about $100 – 200, while the banker’s wages are much higher.

As regards the activities of the newgovernment, Manucharyan said he
does not consider this “a government”.

“Armenian oligarchy has created a system of robbery and placed their
own people in the system,” he emphasized.

Nevertheless, former member of Karabakh committee believes the new
Cabinet can to some extent improve the situation. In particular,
oligarchs, as major economic players, must return all their wealth
overseas to Armenia and develop the economy.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

THE ANAHID SOFIAN DANCE COMPANY Celebrates 35th Anniversary with Gala, 6/28

Broadway World
June 24 2014

Over 25 fabulous dancers and musicians will join Anahid Sofian Dance
Company in a rousing retrospective of signature works from the Near
and Middle East in celebration of the Company’s 35th Anniversary. The
program will present both traditional dances and those inspired
by cultures of Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Armenia, Greece and
Uzbekistan, as well as numerous renditions of Danse Orientale. The
program is a dazzling blend of different styles, both old and new,
traditional and theatrical. Two performances, June 28 & 29 at MMAC,
246 West 60th Street, NYC.

Special guests include:

Nourhan Sharif, internationally recognized as a premier performer
of the Egyptian Raqs Sharki, known in the West as belly-dancing. The
artist and her company will present both historical and contemporary
renditions of the form.

The Sera Solstice Ensemble, an innovative Tribal Fusion bellydance
troupe based on the East Coast, combining influences from modern dance,
hip-hop, and martial arts.

Carlos Fittante and Robin Gilbert of the BALAM Dance Theatre will
recreate a Sofian dance called “Ma’Na,” created to “A Prayer for the
Soul of Layla” by Jamshied Sharifi, with vocals by Mamak Khadem.

Live music will be provided by the Souren Baronian Musical Ensemble,
on clarinet, kaval, oud, kanoon, violin, and percussion instruments.

The Company will showcase 14 numbers, including a powerful tribal
dance from Morocco, a women’s dance from Armenia that reflects grace
and lyrical bautiful, a contemporary dance inspired by an old Greek
song sung by irini Pappas, and a dreamlike interpretation of “Gazli,”
written and sung by the young Uzbeki star Sevara Nazarkhan.

Anahid Sofian will perform “Garden of the Beloved,” music from the
album Mehraab by Loga Ramin Torkian;, vocals by Khosro Ansari, and
slide show by Stacey Lespinasse. The solo is inspired by the writing
that states: “Love is like the smell of a flower, something that you
cannot touch…and like the bird in love with the flower, flying and
always seeking its fragrance in the garden; we search for this eternal
love in this terrestrial world or in the work of heaven.” The work was
premiered at the New York Theatrical Belly Dance Conference in 2013.

The Anahid Sofian Dance Company, founded 35 years ago and headquartered
in New York City, has appeared in many venues in town and around
the country, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall,
Cleveland Museum of Art, the Lincoln Center Library, and many more.

ARMENIA: TONS OF CROPS WASTED DUE TO UNSCRUPULOUS MIDDLEMEN

FreshPlaza, Netherlands
June 24 2014

Tons of crops grown in Armenia’s villages are thrown out every year
because the middlemen sell them at double to triple the price in
Yerevan’s markets, says head of the central Armenian town of Aramus,
Hrayr Nikoghosyan.

The middlemen in Armenia’s produce market purchase carrots from
villagers at 100 drams (about $0.24 USD) per kilo but sell them to
consumers for 250-300 drams ($0.60-0.73), claims Nikoghosyan. Angrily
he explains that middlemen in Yerevan don’t even know whether carrots
are grown on trees or in the ground; however, they’re the ones who
make the profits.

“No such revenue exists in the world. There is [such a thing as]
market value: you buy [it] for 100 drams, sell it for 120 drams
[$0.28]. Brother, have a profit of 20%. In that case, the buyer will
buy not half a kilo, but 1-2 kilos. The value of the villager’s output
will increase automatically,” he argues.

Nikoghosyan lists villagers’ expenses in growing carrots (land tax,
water bills), but the annual income for a single family does not
exceed 600,000 AMD ($1,465) for 6 tons of carrots produced. Middlemen,
on the other hand, only have to pay for their market stall, selling
the produce they purchased at 100 AMD per kilo for at least 300 AMD/kg.

At one time, four buses would take people from the village to Yerevan
to sell their harvest, but now there are no buses. In Nikoghosyan’s
opinion, the farmers’ markets that, according to Armenia’s minister
of agriculture, shouldn’t leave anyone “poor” in the village, are just
for show. “[Only] one or two Aramus inhabitants can make use of them,”
he said. “There was a person in the village who had 6 tons of harvest,
[but] he couldn’t sell half of it. It was ruined; he threw it out.”

According to Nikoghosyan, the younger generations don’t want to
continue harvesting the arable land provided to their families when
they gained land ownership in newly independent Armenia. A three-member
family was given one plot of 630 square meters of land; a four-member
family, 2 plots; six-member family, 3 plots; and so on.

However, if the land is not providing income, it’s not in demand,
he explains.

Prensa Armenia
Armenia 1366, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: (5411) 4775-7595
Email: [email protected]
Web:

Agencia Prensa Armenia ( Link -> ) ).-

Armenian community of Argentina sent a letter to Pope Francis asking
for his intervention in the Syrian conflict, “convinced that his word
could bring peace to the conflictive area of Middle East and ensure
the return of refugees to their homes.”

The letter warns about “the sad and painful situation of Christian
minorities in Syria” and notes that “the civilian population is living
in a disturbing critical state.”

“For example, the city of Kessab, a majority Armenian populated town,
was attacked by armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda, who crossed the
border from Turkey. On March 24, after a weekend of constant attacks,
Kessab had to be evacuated to other locations like Basit and Latakia”.

“Since June 2, after the Syrian elections, the target of the attacks
has been the city of Aleppo. The same groups attacked with rockets the
neighborhood of Nor Kyugh, with also a majority of Armenian
population. Whole buildings were demolished or partially destroyed,
and the institutions of the Armenian community were completely or
partially destroyed. Authorities have declared the area a disaster
zone.”

Given this context, the Armenian community requested the intervention
of Pope Francis “to prove once again that men of different creeds,
nationalities, languages and ideas can live in harmony and
solidarity.”

YEREVAN: AZERI-ARMENIAN SUMMIT PROPOSITION DOESN’T NEED TO BE SPECIFIED

Interfax, Russia
June 23 2014

The French president’s proposal to arrange a meeting of Armenian
President Serzh Sargsian and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev was
absolutely specific, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian
stated.

“The French president made more than a specific offer during his
regional trip concerning the arrangement of a summit of the Armenian
and Azeri presidents in Paris, including its content. Baku does not
seem to like these specifics and is expecting some others,” Nalbandian
said told a press conference in Yerevan on Monday. Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov was the other speaker at the press conference.

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a joint press briefing
with Lavrov earlier Baku expected Paris to be more specific about the
initiative to organize a new meeting between the Azeri and Armenian
presidents.

“For some reason Azerbaijan does not like the proposals put forward on
behalf of the international community by co-chair countries, including
those with regard to strengthening the ceasefire regime, pulling back
snipers and creating an incident investigation mechanism. It does not
like two proposals presented as a single package in five statements
of the presidents of chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group. There is
simply no alternative to the specifics proposed by the chair countries,
which target the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict,”
the Armenian foreign minister indicated.