Author: Kanayan Tamar

CONCERNS LINGER ABOUT SEXUAL MINORITY RIGHTS IN GEORGIA

Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Italy
May 30 2014

Onnik Krikorian | Tbilisi

Following last year’s rampage by conservatives targeting LGBT activists
intent on marking 17 May as the International Day Against Homophobia
and Transphobia (IDAHOT), the Georgian Orthodox Church this year
instead declared the day as one celebrating family unity. And while
civil society did not take the attempt to hijack IDAHOT lying down,
some are concerned that this is just the start

In yet another blow to gay rights in Georgia, there was no marking
of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT)
in Tbilisi this year. In a statement released by IDENTOBA, an NGO
working on LGBT issues in the country, the environment was considered
too dangerous to hold any events following the violence that erupted a
year earlier. Instead, in what activists saw as an implied threat of
additional violence and confrontation, the Georgian Orthodox Church
declared 17 May to be the “Day of Families and Parents.”

“Unfortunately, LGBT activists are unable to organise or plan any
counter protest to this absurd situation due to security reasons and
state’s inability to ensure their safety,” IDENTOBA’s statement read.

“Until now, neither we, nor other human rights actors, have been able
to meet with the representatives of the police to discuss security
concerns for that day. It is expected that not only the streets of
Tbilisi will be dangerous for LGBT individuals […]”

Meanwhile, the premier of a gay comedy film made in Georgia originally
planned for the same day as IDAHOT was postponed. “We took the very
painful and adverse decision not to present ‘We Are Mad’ on May 17,
2014,” Democracy & Freedom Watch quoted the director, Otar MIkeladze,
as saying. “The premiere will be held when Georgia becomes an European
country.”

National values

In neighbouring Azerbaijan, the situation was different with the Nefes
Azerbaijan Alliance holding a LGBT ‘rainbow flag’ flashmob, although
the head of the nationalist Karabakh Liberation Organisation, Akif
Tagi, did accuse the group, as well as the Embassy of the Netherlands,
of ‘enmity’ against the country. Meanwhile, In Armenia, leading LGBT
organisation PINK Armenia held no events, but did issue a statement
alleging ‘state sponsored intolerance and discrimination.’ However,
the situation in Georgia is of most concern especially with the
signing of its EU Association Agreement set for 27 June.

The counter-event, announced by Georgian Patriarch Ilia II and
attended by many hundreds of believers, was also used to protest the
recent passage of anti-discrimination legislation required as part
of Georgia’s Visa Liberalisation Action Plan with the European Union.

Ironically, gay rights activists already consider the law, which was
adopted on 2 May and came into effect five days later, as watered
down in its second reading following criticism from the Church. “The
legalisation of illegality is a very serious sin,” the Patriarch
declared. “There are issues which can not be allowed.”

A petition to call for the removal of references to sexual orientation
and gender identity in the law was also launched on 17 May, something
that could resonate positively among a large number of Georgians.

According to the results of an opinion poll released by the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) earlier this month, while 73 and 79 percent
of respondents said that they believed the protection of religious
and ethnic minority rights was important, only 24 percent said the
same for sexual minorities.

And in a survey held by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC)
following the violence on 17 May last year, 50 percent of respondents
felt “physical violence can be acceptable towards those people or
groups who endanger national values.” Only 46 percent disagreed,
with 57 percent believing that a “successful, peaceful celebration
of IDAHOT would have endangered Georgia.”

The invisibles

But if the Church’s influence in a highly traditional society
appears to have achieved its aim, civil society did not shy away
from counter-actions. The next day, for example, 100 pairs of shoes
appeared on the street adjacent to Tbilisi’s Freedom Square ‘on behalf
of the invisible and against invisibility.’

“Today, these empty shoes stand instead of those humans, who dared,
one year ago, to stand up against the invisibility of one social group,
the LGBTQ community, those who tried to unmask how merciless we are
[…],” the organisers of the action wrote. “This is a protest for the
invisible and against invisibility. Despite that fact that we couldn’t
yet manage to recognise and appreciate each other, we still exist,
with our desire to speak […]. Turning a blind eye and covering
our ears won’t erase our existence, won’t smooth over our wounds,
and won’t take away our ability to feel empathy and love.”

And on 19 May, in a flashmob staged in the early hours of the morning,
steps next to the Freedom Square metro station were painted in the
colours of the LGBT rainbow flag while posters appeared throughout
the city. “I am here against homophobia,” they read. “I cannot find
a reason to justify your hatred.”

Hysteria

But despite the ‘hit and run’ tactics to protest homophobia in
society, the trend remains negative. Just days before IDAHOT,
the manager of the gay-friendly ‘Cafe Gallery’ posted an update on
Facebook alleging that police had visited the venue’s premises to
demand the names, addresses, and phone numbers of staff members who
were members of Tbilisi’s LGBT community. Meanwhile, on IDAHOT itself,
at the demonstration organised by the Church, believers openly accused
and displayed aggression towards anyone they suspected on appearance
alone of being gay or even ‘different.’

As evidence of the hysteria emerging among some traditionally minded
Georgians, a scuffle even erupted between two homophobic males who
accused each other of being homosexual.

In such an environment, IDENTOBA’s Irakli Vacharadze sees new threats
emerging in the future if the government does not adequately respond
to the potential dangers now. “The church is flexing its muscles and
sees the anti-discrimination law as taking away their right to freely
attack minorities,” he told Osservatorio. “The danger is that this
rhetoric could give birth to independent — even Neo-Nazi — groups
that the church can’t control. We have already seen anti-immigrant
groups emerge, but that could be just the beginning. The worst might
yet be to come.”

And this could prove to be a major obstacle to the country’s gradual
integration with Europe.

“It should be understood that the issue is not about so-called
propaganda for a certain lifestyle but about ensuring basic
rights to all human beings,” Thomas Hammarberg, EU Special Adviser
on Constitutional and Legal Reform and Human Rights in Georgia,
wrote in a September 2013 report. But civil society activists such
as Vacharadze argue that the government is still not ready to tackle
this issue in earnest. The rainbow flag painted on the steps close
to the Liberty Square metro station is another example of that.

A week after it appeared, it was removed in what ostensibly appeared
to be construction work. IDENTOBA, along with many Georgian Facebook
users, remain unconvinced.

CALIF. ASSEMBLY ADOPTS MEASURE MANDATING GENOCIDE EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Thursday, May 29th, 2014

Assemblymembers Adrin Nazarian (right) and Khatcho Achadjian

SACRAMENTO–On Wednesday, May 28, the California State Assembly
unanimously passed the Armenian Genocide Education Act (AB 1915)
with a sweeping vote of 77-0, requiring the inclusion of the Armenian
Genocide in the list of studied subject areas for the adopted courses
of study in Social Science for 7-12 reported the Armenian National
Committee of America Western Region.

AB 1915, which received unanimous support in the California State
Assembly Appropriation Committee just last week as well as in the
California State Assembly Education Committee in early April has now
moved to the Calif. Senate Rules Committee for consideration.

“This landslide victory is yet another testament of what grassroots in
action can achieve. The ANCA WR applauds the California State Assembly
for taking such a strong stance on this critical education bill and
Assemblymembers Nazarian and Achadjian for their leadership,” stated
Elen Asatryan, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR. “We look forward
to continuing our work alongside our elected officials on the senate
side and our grassroots to ensure that future generations learn about
the atrocities that took place during the Armenian Genocide of 1915,”
added Asatryan.

In his introductory remarks, lead author of AB 1915 Assemblymember
Adrin Nazarian, discussed the importance of the bill and stated “It
is imperative that the Armenian Genocide be added into the teaching of
human rights issues because it set the stage for subsequent genocides
of the 20th century,”while Principal Co-Author Assemblymember Katcho
Achadjian noted “We cannot change what has happened in the past,
but we can choose how we move forward. This bill represent a step
forward in the healing process. AB 1915 will increase awareness of
the Armenian Genocide among our youth in hopes that such tragic acts
will not repeat themselves.”

Specifically, AB 1915: 1. Requires each school district to include
instruction on the inhumanity of the Armenian Genocide as a part of
its social science course of study in grades 7 through 12, inclusive.

2. Encourages the California Department of Education to incorporate
into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for
teacher use those materials developed by publishers of nonfiction,
trade books, and primary sources, or other public or private
organizations, that are age-appropriate and consistent with the subject
frameworks on history and social science that deal with the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan Genocides.

3. Encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and
witness testimony into the teaching of the Holocaust, and Genocide,
including, but not limited to, the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur,
and Rwandan Genocides.

4. Encourages all state and local professional development activities
to provide teachers with content background and resources to assist
in teaching about the Armenian Genocide.

5. Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC), when the
history-social science curriculum is revised as required by law,
to consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan
genocides in the history-social science curriculum framework.

6. Defines the Armenian Genocide as “the torture, starvation, and
murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which included death marches into the
Syrian desert, by the rulers of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and exile
of more than 500,000 innocent people during the period from 1915 to
1923, inclusive.

Last week, ANCA Western Region Executive Director Elen Asatryan
submitted a strongly worded letter in support of AB 1915 on behalf
of the organization noting “Despite the existence of the provision
within the framework (pursuant to AB 1273 which was enacted in 1985),
the Armenian Genocide is not taught in the overwhelming majority of
our public schools. The State Assembly recently passed AB 659 which
encourages inclusion of oral history components in the instruction of
human rights issues, including the Armenian Genocide. This law is a
step in the right direction, but not enough to achieve the objective
of instruction across all public schools across the state. What is
necessary is enactment of AB 1915 which would mandate such instruction
while providing teachers with the tools that they need”.

In the weeks leading up to State Assembly consideration of the measure,
the ANCA Western Region worked closely with legislators to ensure
they learned of the broad, enthusiastic support for the measure,
especially during the organization’s 2014 Advocacy Day when over
350 activists from California including a group of students from San
Marino High School who have taken up the Genocide Education as their
senior project, met with over 70 California legislators.

On Wednesday April 9th, ANCA Western Region Education Committee Chair
Alice Petrossian and ANCA Western Region Education Committee Executive
Member and writer Kay Mouradian testified in front of the California
State Assembly Education Committee in support of the bill along with
joint author of AB 1915 Assemblymember Katcho Achadjian. Assembly
Education Committee members, Chair Joan Buchanan and Assemblymember
Rocky J. Chavez offered supportive remarks prior to its unanimous
passed.

Earlier this year, the State Assembly Education and Appropriations
Committees unanimously adopted AB 659, another bill introduced by
Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian. The bill, which is on its way to the
California State Senate, encourages schools to use oral histories when
teaching about the Armenian Genocide and other acts against humanity.

AB 659 set the stage for the presentation of AB 1915.

Once adopted by the State Senate and signed into law by the Governor,
AB 1915 would codify the Armenian Genocide into the curriculum of
7th to 12th grade Social Science and History classes. It would also
recommend publication about the Armenian Genocide and other genocides
including Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur in instructional materials
provided to instructors about crimes against humanity.

Currently, California is one of 11 states, including Georgia, Illinois,
Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode
Island, and Virginia, which have the Armenian Genocide included
in their curriculum. The California Model Curriculum developed
by the Department of Education, includes the Armenian Genocide as
a recommended topic to teach. However, schools aren’t required to
follow this Model Curriculum.

Co-authors of AB 1915 on the Assembly side include Assembly Members
Ammiano, Ian Calderon, Fox, Gatto, Hall, Holden, Nestande, Patterson,
and Wilk. Co-authors on the Senate side include Senators Berryhill,
Lara, Vidak, and Yee.

Legislators who voted in support of the bill included Achadjian, Alejo,
Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford,
Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chavez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong,
Fox, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernandez, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen,
Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Quirk-Silva,
Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the
largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy
organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination
with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the
Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country,
the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community
on a broad range of issues.

MELIK-SHAHNAZARYAN: SYRIA IS IN THE SAME SITUATION AS ARTSAKH WAS IN 1993-94

14:49 30/05/2014 >> POLITICS

Currently, Syria is in the same situation as Artsakh was in 1993-94,
political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan said at a conference
titled “Syria: Terrorism, Armenians, Elections” organized by Voskanapat
analytical center.

“The Syria crisis is not a civil war. There is no classical opposition
and the rebel forces, the extremist Islamic organizations have mostly
been sent from other countries to fight against the legal authorities
in Syria,” the expert noted.

According to Melik-Shahnazaryan, Azerbaijan tries to get rid of
Islamists and sends them to fight in Syria. He stressed that we must
admit that Saudi Arabia is the most powerful force in Syria.

The expert also said that Turkish troops directly participated in
the military operations in Latakia.

Source: Panorama.am

NAZARBAYEV IS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE OF PAN-TURKIST IDEOLOGY

19:07 | May 30,2014 | Politics

Nazarbayev’s statement was expected, political analyst Levon
Melik-Shahnazaryan said, commenting on the precondition Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Astana-hosted meeting of
the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council where it was suggested that
Armenia establish a customs border with Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
(NKR) to join the Eurasian Economic Union.

The political analyst says this is not the first time Nazarbayev speaks
about the precondition and he wants everyone to know that Kazakhstan
President is an outspoken advocate of Pan-Turkist ideology although
he tries to conceal it.

“Aliyev had addressed his letter to three presidents – Nursultan
Nazarbayev, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko and Nazarbaev
made the statement in reply to Aliyev. He had two reasosn for it:
first Kazakhstan was a host country where the meeting was being held,
second, he is in the same team with Aliyev.

“Nazarbayev wanted Aliyev to understand that he did what Aliyev
expected him to do, everything else was not his business,” said Levon
Melik-Shahnazaryan.

For more details visit Aravot.am

ABOUT 40 % OF ARMENIA’S EMPLOYED POPULATION IS INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE

YEREVAN, May 30. / ARKA /. About 40% of Armenia’s employed population
is involved in agriculture, agriculture minister Sergo Karapetyan
said today. He added that in rural areas the figure is about 80 %.

Speaking at a workshop in Yerevan titled From Stability to Development,
he said the share of agriculture in the overall GDP is more than 20 %;
together with agro-processing products it constitutes 25%.

According to the National Statistical Service, the agricultural GDP
in January- March 2014 amounted to about 68.5 billion drams in current
prices, an increase of 5.2 percent from the same time span of 2013.

The minister said also that one of the most important problems of
the agriculture today is to ensure a decent standard of living for
rural population in order to keep young people from emigrating to
other countries in search of work . He also noted that at the moment
Armenia has about 340,000 farming households.

According to the National Statistical Service, the number of
economically active population in 2013 was about 1.384 million, of
whom 1.164 million were employed and 224,600 were unemployed. ($ 1 –
413.37 drams). -0-

– See more at:

EAU INTEGRATION IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT KARABAKH – ARMENIAN MP

16:45 * 30.05.14

An Armenian opposition MP said Friday that he doesn’t expect any
government to agree to country’s integration into the Eurasian Economic
Union (EaU) without Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armen Rustamyan of the ARF-D (Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaksutyun) parliamentary faction made the remark as
he addressed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s letter (which
Kazakhstan’s president read out at the Supreme Eurasian Economic
Council’s meeting on Thursday) that ruled out the possibility of
Karabakh’s membership in the common economic area.

Rustamyan said he is under the impression that Norsultan Nazarbaev
made his speech on behalf of someone else, without expressing his
personal position. “When the membership issue is solved, there will be
an occasion not to avoid or ignore the questions raised by Nazarbaev.

If you have opened [the topic], be kind enough to delve deep into it;
it is a good opportunity for us to be able to protect interests,”
he told reporters.

The opposition MP said he doesn’t find Nazarbaev’s speech a surprise
move, adding that the Kazakh leader has always backed the interests
of Turkey and Azerbaijan. “It was originally clear that Kazakhstan
was carrying out their lobbying. The more Armenia’s full membership
is discussed, the tenser the agenda, because Azerbaijan, which is
withdrawing from the process, will do everything possible to prevent
the Eurasian Union from strengthening its positions. Azerbaijan
will do all its best to seek favorable formulations on the Karabakh
[conflict] settlement through the membership,” he noted.

Asked whether he expects Armenia to abandon the Eurasian Union
membership plans, Rustamyan said he thinks that a demand for the
Karabakh recognition could be the only decisive factor. “If it is
stated that we are ready not to join the Eurasian Union at such a price
– I mean not joining with Karabakh – I don’t think any authorities
will agree to that,” he said.

Troy Record, NY
May 31 2014

Five Questions for Rafi Topalian: May 31

Rafi Topalian: 46, is the owner of Top Custom Jewelry Inc. in
Watervliet, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Rafi
is also known as “The Singing Jeweler” and he will be performing the
National Anthem, “God Bless America” and other songs at the Albany
Metro Mallers home games this season.

1 How have you managed to stay in business for so long?

I’ve managed to stay in business for so long because of my faith in
God and the support of my wife and family. As a business, I have a low
overhead, high buying power and I’m not a greedy person. The customers
want quality work at a quality price. They want everything, so we are
able to do that for them. We don’t do a lot of advertising, a lot of
business is done through word of mouth. Customers bring their friends
and families and we have grown. It’s all about networking.

2 How did you get into singing at sports games?

I came to this country when I was eight from Turkey. I remember
studying the National Anthem and I always had confidence in my
singing. I’ve been singing my whole life and now I sing at different
events for Veterans Day, Flag Day and different 9/11 events and I
started performing for the ValleyCats about nine or 10 years ago. They
have an audition once a year and I went and they liked what they heard
and they invited me back. I take it very seriously and I also have a
lot of fun with it. I never say no to any performance, it’s great
publicity for my store and my church, the St. Peter’s Armenian
Apostolic Church in Watervliet and it also helps the sports teams
advertise as well.

3 What do you believe in your biggest accomplishment in life?

I’m very proud of my marriage. I’ve been married to Marianna for seven
years now. I also have a step-daughter named Sarah.

4 How do feel about your nickname, “The Singing Jeweler?”

It just came together one day. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve
been singing and I just happened to be in the jewelry business. It was
like peanut butter and chocolate in Reese’s, it just happened. You
won’t forget “The Singing Jeweler.”

5 If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it
make a sound?

I believe yes, absolutely yes. I believe in the Omnipresence of God.

— Kevin Leibach

DigitalJournal.com
May 31 2014

A year after Turkey’s Gezi Park protests, freedom elusive

By Lonna Lisa Williams

Istanbul – A year ago, I covered Turkey’s Gezi Park protests
first-hand. I took photos, videos, interviewed protesters, got
attacked by the Turkish police, and was almost arrested for a photo
I’d published. As Turkey prepares new protests, is freedom possible?
I spent 2.5 years teaching English in Turkey, at private language
schools and universities. I traveled around that beautiful country and
saw historic sights, amazing landscapes, and interesting people. I did
award-winning photo essays about Turkey for Digital Journal and put
those essays into a Kindle eBook. I married a Turkish man who has a
Muslim mother and an Armenian Christian-descended father. I visited
active Christian churches in Istanbul, Izmit, and Antalya and heard
about more congregations in other cities. I learned about Muslim
minorities like the Alevi who are persecuted by the Sunni majority
controlled by Islamist Prime Minister Erdogan and his Ak Party. I
covered the Gezi Park freedom protests first-hand, beginning on May
31, 2013. I took photos, videos, and interviewed protesters. On a
Sunday afternoon, along with a group of Istanbul tourists, I was
attacked by the Turkish police.

At least 7 of the 8 civilians killed during the Gezi Park protests
were Alevis, including a 15-year-old boy police shot in the head with
a tear gas canister as he was on his way to buy bread for his family.
The boy was in a coma for several months before he died, and his death
sparked new protests. One Turkish police officer also died during the
Gezi Park protests when he fell off a ledge.
I saw fear in everyone’s eyes when I lived in Turkey. People knew that
they could be arrested (like so many protesters were, including
doctors and lawyers who helped the protesters). Hundreds of people
were injured, and several were blinded. Yet the protests continued,
blocked out by state-controlled Turkish media and barely covered by
the world after the first Istanbul protests stretched into follow-up
protests. Then scandal hit Turkey’s Ak Party elite (even Erdogan’s own
son Bilal was implicated), and Turks again took to the streets in
January, calling Erdogan a thief and demanding, again, his
resignation. He survived a debated election in which the Ak Party held
a 42% “majority.” Now he has his eyes on running for President, with
more power given by a new constitution.
Ironically, on the eve of the One Year Gezi Park Protests anniversary,
Erdogan announced that he plans to convert the famous Haggia Sophia
into a mosque. Ayasofya, as it’s called in Turkish, was build in the
5th Century and stood for nearly a thousand years as the world’s
tallest Christian cathedral. When an Ottoman sultan conquered Istanbul
in 1453, it was defaced and changed into a mosque. When Ataturk
disbanded the Ottoman Empire in favor of a modern Turkish secular
democracy in the 20th Century, Ayasofya was, wisely, turned into a
museum. After all, the majestic Blue Mosque is just a few steps across
a park from Ayasofya, and there are over 3000 mosques in Istanbul with
expensive new ones being built every day.
There are over 80,000 mosques in Turkey, and only a handful of
Christian churches. Erdogan has converted many ancient churches and
monasteries into mosques. Erdogan does not recognize Christians as
being part of Turkey, although their history there dates back to the
1st Century travels of Paul the Apostle, and the Seven Churches
mentioned in the Book of Revelation were all located in Turkey.
Recently, Erdogan refused to give permission to a Christian group to
build a church in Ankara, the capital, which has no Christian churches
except on the grounds of foreign embassies.
Erdogan also does not recognize the right for Turks to be atheist or
gay. He passed recent laws that target women’s rights and everyday
freedoms like when you can drink alcohol or how bakers make bread.
Like all dictators, Erdogan sees himself as all-powerful, a sultan.
This attitude cost him dearly when he slapped a mine worker and his
aide kicked a protester after the recent tragic mine explosion that
killed 301 Turkish miners, the worst mining incident in Turkish
history. Erdogan had to take refuge in a supermarket as grieving
families and minors protested his insensitive arrogance.
I received a warning email from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, advising
all Americans to stay away from the Gezi Park Anniversary Protests
that will occur throughout Turkey later today. You see, I am writing
this from northeast China where I now teach English, and our time is
earlier than in Turkey. My Turkish husband and I had to leave Turkey
because he was tortured by police who threatened me, his “Christian
wife.” A few days after I arrived in China, I found out that police
had gone to my old apartment near Istanbul to arrest me for a photo
I’d published.
Turkey has more journalists in prison than any other country. After
the January scandal, thousands of police officers and judges were
relocated, fired, or arrested. How long can Erdogan maintain
dictatorship over Turkey? Turks are resilient people who love freedom.
They will not be restricted forever. It will be interesting to see how
much media coverage the new protests receive and if the world cares
about the future of Turkey, which Ataturk established as a modern
secular democracy, and which Erdogan wants to return to a medieval
Islamist state.
“There have been so many protests all over Turkey,” a Turkish man told
me recently on the telephone. “People remember what has been happening
this past year, starting with Gezi Park. I don’t see how Erdogan can
keep ignoring the people’s pleas for freedom. The media barely covers
what’s been happening. Please get the word out for us.”
The latest news to come out of Turkey is that Erdogan has deployed
tens of thousands of police to prevent any Gezi Park Anniversary
protests. We will see what happens.

Khachatryan: We should reduce use of Sevan water for irrigation

Sunday, June 01, 2014

“Over a third of Lake Sevan’s water is used for agricultural needs of
the country. The level of artesian water has declined both in Ararat
Valley and in Kotayk and Aragatsotn provinces. We will face shortages
of drinking and irrigation water unless urgent measures are taken,”
the deputy of Prosperous Armenia (BHK) faction Lyova Khachatryan told
Nature Protection Minister Aramais Grigoryan today during discussions
of the 2013 state budget execution report in the Armenian parliament
today.

The minister agreed that it is an urgent problem, noting that the
ministry is taking the necessary measures which have already produced
results.

“An interdepartmental commission will be set up soon. We will involve
deputies as well. On the prime minister’s instruction, checks are now
underway in fish farms to reduce water consumption,” Grigoryan said.

In his words, they also plan to create a scientific council that will
consist of NGO representatives and experts.

31.05.2014, 16:59
Aysor.am

“Nazarbayev is one of the leaders of Pan-Turkism ideology.”

May 31 2014

“This statement was expected,” announced political scientist Levon
Melik-Shahnazaryan, in the conversation with Aravot.am, on May 29,
referring to the condition put forward by the President of Kazakhstan
Nursultan Nazarbayev at the panel session of the Supreme Eurasian
Economic Council in Astana. He said that this is not the first time
that Nazarbayev had spoken about it, and we need to know that
Nazarbayev is one of the leaders of Pan-Turkism ideology, and he
himself does not hide it. “What he said yesterday, he did not say to
our president, he has said it to Aliyev, i.e., Aliyev, who yesterday
has turned to President Lukashenko and Putin, one should have
responded. Nazarbayev took it on himself for two reasons, the first
one is that he is the host of the house (the meeting took place in
Astana), secondly, he is in the same organization with Aliyev. He had
answered him, i.e., “I did what you said, what will happen next? I
have made a cock-a-doodle-doo, whether the dawn will come or not, it’s
not my business.” Mr. Melik-Shahnazaryan believes that Nazarbayev
demonstrated his contempt to Aliyev by saying that some neighbors are
filled with indignation. He believes that if this word has
continuation, then it would not be Armenia’s problem. “Let Putin
resolves this problem with Nazarbayev, because we, our people, and I
also hope our government, are not so helpless, in other words, we have
another choice, let those who need us think. We also need them, I do
now argue, but we know our importance and we know our importance not
only for the East but also the West.” To our question of how Serzh
Sargsyan’s silence is conditioned by, Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan replied
that it was unexpected for the president. “This kind of thing,
usually, are not said before the cameras, when the cameras are turned
off, then such kind of conversations are held, but since Nazarbayev
has said these words to Ilham Aliyev, Nazarbayev has preferred saying
this in the presence of cameras, which are beyond diplomatic etudes.”
Referring to Nazarbayev’s suggestion to join the Eurasian Union by the
UN-recognized borders, Mr. Melik-Shahnazaryan thinks that there is a
misunderstanding in the sentence. “The UN does not draw state border,
the UN does not approve state borders, and when the UN accepts a
state, it does not look whether the border passes by this village or
by that mountain, it accepts the state in general. Any country has the
right to draw it customs borders, Armenia is entitled to withdraw a
large segment from the customs border and create a custom border-free
zone, if the neighboring state allows it.”

Ami CHICHAKYAN
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