Author: Kanayan Tamar

AZERBAÏDJANERIES
Bakou va créer un « Centre scientifique de recherches sur le Karabagh »

L’Azerbaïdjan ne lésine pas sur les moyens pour sa propagande
anti-arménienne. Bakou vient de créer un Centre scientifique de
recherches sur le Karabagh. Une organisation qui va bien évidemment
venir en renfort de la propagande négationniste du gouvernement azéri.
Ce « Centre scientifique » qui regroupe des personnalités du monde des
sciences et de la politique en Azerbaïdjan devra se pencher sur
l’histoire et la culture du Haut Karabagh. Sans trop nous avancer,
nous pouvons déjà entrevoir les résultats de ces « études » ! Selon
les médias azéris, ce Centre scientifique de recherches sur le
Karabagh diffusera ses travaux dans des cercles internationaux de
scientifiques et de diplomates.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 6 octobre 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Turkish PM Erdogan says would run for president if asked by party

October 4, 2013 – 16:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan would run for
president next year if his party asked him to, he said, but dismissed
suggestions of a rift with incumbent Abdullah Gul, Reuters reported.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for a decade, cannot run
again as prime minister in a general election in 2015, according to
the rules of his AK Party. He has long been expected to stand for a
new executive presidency, although his plans to establish such an
enhanced role have stalled.

“I have not made such a decision for sure yet. If I had made such a
decision for sure, I would announce it,” Erdogan said in an interview
with Turkish broadcaster A Haber late on Thursday.

“We have a system and this system is based on consultation. The most
important piece of this consultation at this moment is my party.
Whatever duty my party burdens me with, whatever it wishes of me, I
will endeavor to do it.”

With less than a year to Turkey’s first popular presidential election,
speculation has been mounting over what roles Erdogan and Gul, who
occupies what is at present a largely ceremonial post, will play.

Gul, who has emerged as a more popular candidate in opinion polls, is
allowed to run for a second term although he has not publicly
expressed any intention to do so.

The two were founding members of the AK Party in 2001 but their
relations have appeared at times strained over the last year, not
least over a police crackdown on anti-government demonstrations this
summer.

Erdogan dismissed suggestions that the two could come head to head in
a showdown for the presidency.

“I don’t believe there will be a decision that will lead to us parting
ways. What I mean is we will do the necessary consultation and
negotiation amongst ourselves if needed,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan’s brash and stern nature is a contrast to Gul’s more moderate
and soft-spoken approach, a distinction noticeable in their rhetoric
on Syria and Egypt as well as during weeks of protests over the
summer.

In a conciliatory speech at the opening of parliament this week, Gul
lauded peaceful protest as a sign of Turkey’s democratic maturity and
warned against political polarization, saying it risked damaging the
harmony of the nation.

In contrast, Erdogan has repeatedly dismissed the protesters who took
to the streets around the country in June – the biggest show of public
defiance of his 10-year rule – as “riff-raff”.

Turkish media have been speculating over Gul’s political ambitions,
with some suggesting he could return as prime minister, a role he held
briefly in 2002.

In his final speech to the opening of parliament of his current term,
Gul hinted that his political life was not over.

“All my life I have considered serving the people like I have served
God and I have never left the service of our supreme nation,” Gul
said.

“From now on, with this understanding and consciousness, I will
continue to be at the service of our nation.”

Rostelecom to invest $26 mln, launch Multimedia Center in Gyumri

October 5, 2013 – 14:01 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia’s leading long-distance telephony provider
Rostelecom plans to invest $26 million in Armenia by 2017.

At the meeting with Prime Minister Tigran Sagsyan, the company’s
president Sergey Kalugin gave high assessment to Armenia’s
communication infrastructures, also presenting Rostelecom’s investment
programs.

According to Kalugin, the company plans to extend its services to a
number of Armenian towns.

The parties further discussed Rostelecom’s possible involvement in the
venture fund and the operating free trade zone in Armenia.

The Prime Minister, in turn, hailed the company’s activities in
Armenia, expressing government’s readiness to promote Rostelecom
projects’ implementation.

On Friday, October 4, Rostelecom OJSC and Economy Ministry signed an
agreement for a launch of Multimedia Center at Gyumri Technopark.

At ArmTech Congress in Yerevan, the agreement was signed by the CEO of
“GNC-ALFA” CJSC (member of Rostelecom group of companies) Hayk
Faramazyan and Armenian Economy Minister Vahram Avanesyan.

“GNC-ALFA” CJSC was founded in 2007. The company became a member of
Rostelecom group of companies in February 2012 and from 18 of December
2012 it provides telecommunication service in the Republic of Armenia
under `Rostelecom’ brand as a subsidiary company.

As one of the leading telecommunications companies Rostelecom Armenia
already provides internet access and fixed telephony services with TV
services available soon to both physical bodies and corporate clients.

In 2012 the company invested in network development successfully
implementing `Fiber to the home’ technology in 11 cities and from
December retail sales are being made in five cities of RA. The company
plans to expand its activities in retail sales for 2013-2014 through
all cities of RA, including capital of Yerevan.

The network of Rostelecom Armenia is solely based on fiber-optic cable
(FOC) infrastructure covering 80% of the territory of RA and spreading
for over 2500km. It is connected to region’s main terrestrial networks
and largest traffic exchange nodes as well as international channels
of Iran and Georgia.

Corporate client list of the company includes not just a number of
local Banks and Corporations, but also the Government of Republic of
Armenia, State institutions and International organizations.

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
October 4, 2013 Friday

J. Gasanli : Dynastic Aliyev regime must go away

Public Television evening on October 3 once again became an arena of
insults and attacks on the presidential candidate of the National
Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Gasanli and other leaders.

Thus, during the televised debate of the presidential candidates the
head of the party Modern Musavat Hafiz Hajiyev called Gasanli
dishonest . “You swore to honor. How can you swear to what you do not
have,” Hajiyev said.

He went on to insult the other opposition leaders, calling one of them
with words that define sexual minorities.

In response Gasanli said Hajiyev offended the entire nation as the TV
is being watched by women and children.

Gasanli blamed on President Ilham Aliyev and noted that he “has led to
the Azerbaijani policy of this immorality level.” “Therefore, Ilham
Aliyev has no moral right to rule Azerbaijan,” said Gasanli .

He added that in the world there are still two ruling dynasties for
over 40 years – Kim Il Sung in North Korea and Aliyev in Azerbaijan.

” The world has changed. The Aliyev dynasty, Ilham Aliyev must leave
the power,” said Gasanli.

Then he showed a piece of paper , on which, according to him, there
was a bank account specified by Ilham Aliyev for the Virgin Islands,
recorded when he was an MP.

In response, the representative of Aliyev Siyavush Novruzov, Zahid
Oruj and others accused Gasanli of using information from Armenian
sources and slandering Aliyev.

They accused Gasanli of immorality and called Aliyev sincere, humble,
noble, and worthy of a politician.

During the debate, the representative of Ilyas Ismailov Mais Gulaliyev
accused the West of the economic colonization of Azerbaijan and called
for saving the country from the dictatorship of the West banks and the
IMF.

Faraj Guliyev, in turn, expressed the need to deepen relations with
the U.S., Israel and Turkey , and at the same time covertly accused
the leaders of the National Council of flirting with Russia and
actions against the independence of Azerbaijan. -06D

ITAR-TASS, Russia
October 4, 2013 Friday 11:17 PM GMT+4

Russian telecom company fits out national security center in Armenia

YEREVAN October 4

– A center for analysis and assessment of threats opened on Friday at
the center for national security at the headquarters of Armenia’s
National Security Council.

Russian telecommunications operator Rostelecom contributed to the
installation of equipment at the center, which is located in Yerevan.

President Serzh Sargsyan visited the center Friday and held a meeting
there with Rostelecom President, Sergei Kalugin.

“The government and other state agencies will give the necessary
assistance to Rostelecom in the effectuation of further programs,”
Sargsyan said.

“In the years through to 2017, Rostelecom will invest $ 26 million in
Armenia,” Kalugin said at a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sarkissian. “Rostelecom will offer its services not only to
the residents of Yerevan but also to the people living in other
cities.”

Armenian government members and he discussed the company’s possible
engagement in a venture fund set up in Armenia, as well as in the free
economic zone in the capital Yerevan.

“We’re interested in the expansion of Rostelecom’s activity in this
country, and we’re ready to assist the process,” National Security
Council Secretary Artur Bagdassarian said.

“Armenia and Russia have a strategic allied relationship and,
consequently, bilateral projects and programs are developing
intensively in all the areas,” he said.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #704
Oct 5 2013

Cavalier Use of Custody in Armenia

Suspects are often held for months on relatively minor charges.
By Anna Muradyan – Caucasus

The case of four men accused of minor property damage and held in jail
for about six months without trial has become a cause celebre in
Armenia. It has raised questions about the practice of detaining
suspects for lengthy periods, and more broadly about how criminal
cases are constructed.

The four young men were detained in April, accused of a number of
instances of arson that damaged hay to a total value of 36,000 drams
(90 US dollars).

Three of the suspects – Aram Mughalyan, Robert Piloyan, Gagik
Arakelyan – are charged with hooliganism and destruction of property,
which could carry seven-year sentences.

A fourth, Artur Klyan, was charged only with hooliganism. He has now
been released from pre-trial custody after collapsing in court and
spending 12 days in hospital.

It is quite normal for people to spend months in detention before
going to trial in Armenia.

This case only achieved prominence because the four were from educated
backgrounds in the capital Yerevan, and thus had contacts with the
wherewithal to campaign on their behalf. All four are university
graduates, Mughalyan from Cambridge University via a scholarship
programme.

University professors, leading academics and two members of parliament
from the ruling Republican Party added their names to an appeal for
the men to be released pending trial.

Leading Yerevan city counsellor Anahit Bakhshyan wrote to Armenia’s
chief prosecutor arguing that holding suspects for months on end was
punitive and hardly a sensible use of public funds.

`Was the punishment inflicted upon them really proportionate? What
were these young men arrested for? Who have they harmed?’ Bakhshyan
asked in the letter.

The story began when Siaband Khudoyan, from the village Norapat in the
Armavir region, phoned police on three occasions to report that
someone had set his hay on fire.

Police failed to find the culprits, but tracked the four men down from
a car number plate. They were pulled in, interrogated over 18 days,
and then formally charged and placed in pre-trial detention.

Their defence lawyers filed numerous court applications for
conditional release, but all were turned down.

Khachik Gevorgyan, the head of Armacad, a network of academic
researchers, told IWPR, that the charges did not merit prolonged
custody.

`In my opinion, and in that of many people involved in civic issues,
it is a massively disproportionate punishment for individuals to be
held in detention on such charges,’ he said.
Prosecutors have avoided commenting on the matter.

Preparations for the trial have been further delayed because the lead
prosecutor was reassigned, and his replacement needed time to study
the case files.

Their case appears to be based largely on a videoed confession by
Mughalyan, a piece of evidence that was revealed before trial when it
was shown on a popular police crime show on TV.

Mkrtich Davtyan, counsel for two other suspects, Piloyan and
Arakelyan, alleges that the confession was extracted from Mughalyan
through coercion and without a lawyer present. He told IWPR that his
own client Piloyan was beaten, and that prosecutors were refusing to
allow physical evidence of this to be presented in court.

`The only evidence is the video of Aram [Mughalyan], even though
investigators obtained his confession by pressuring him,’ Davtyan
said. `I hope that this will be made clear at the court hearing, and
that the video will not be admitted as evidence.’

Mughalyan announced a hunger strike to protest against his continued
detention. On October 2, his lawyers said he had spent 48 hours
without even drinking water.

Until the trial begins, three of the four accused look certain to
remain in custody. Some believe they might be freed under a general
amnesty introduced to mark the 22nd anniversary of Armenian
independence from the Soviet Union. The country’s parliament has
already approved the amnesty, which is expected to see 1,200 or 1,300
prisoners released by December 25. It is not yet clear, however,
whether the four accused will be included.

Anna Muradyan is a correspondent for the website in Armenia.

New Book: David of Sassoun: Critical Studies on the Armenian Epic

By MassisPost
Updated: October 4, 2013

FRESNO – David of Sassoun: Critical Studies on the Armenian Epic (The
Press at California State University, Fresno, 2013), 228 pages, a
collection of essays by the world’s foremost scholars on the great
oral epic of Armenia, edited by Dickran Kouymjian and Barlow Der
Mugrdechian, has just been published as the newest addition to the
Armenian Series of Fresno State’s Armenian Studies Program. David of
Sassoun is the fourth title in the Armenian Series established through
The Press at California State University, Fresno.

The essays, by Charles Dowsett, Dickran Kouymjian, Aram
Ter-Ghevondian, Earl R. Anderson, Chaké Der Melkonian-Minassian,
Frédéric Feydit, Arpiné Khatchadourian, Aram Tolegian, Chaké Der
Melkonian-Minassian, Vahé Oshagan, as well as an original poem on
David by Ashough Hovnani, were presented at a Symposium organized by
Dr. Kouymjian the year after he was invited to the campus to establish
a new Program devoted to Armenian Studies. He saw it as Fresno’s
contribution to the commemoration of the centennial celebration of the
discovery and publication of the epic poem, which had survived until
the 1970s orally, passed on, generation after generation, for more
than a thousand years by anonymous village bards.

Every serious scholar from Armenia, France, England, Canada, and the
United States who had published on the Armenian epic was invited to
participate in the International Symposium entitled `David of Sassoun:
The Armenian Folk Epic after a Century.’

In addition to the papers of the conference, the current volume
contains an introduction outlining the history of the epic as well as
a concise summary of all the episodes of the official version
established by a team of scholars in Erevan in 1939. The essays are as
fresh today as they were when they were written despite the decades,
which have passed.

Also included at the beginning of the volume is a new variant, the
only known version of the epic recorded anywhere in the Diaspora.
Because of the publicity generated by the Symposium, Lilyan Chooljian
of Fresno, present at the conference, who had recorded a recitation of
the variant some years earlier, brought it to the attention of Dr.
Kouymjian.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund and
the M. Victoria Karagozian Kazan and Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Fund,
and the efforts of Professor Der Mugrdechian to include the volume in
the Armenian Series of monographs the Program sponsors, the book is
now available to the general public.

The critical brilliance of many of the essays, at times challenging
traditional views held on the epic and how it should be presented and
understood, will provide much source material for scholars.

David of Sassoun: Critical Studies on the Armenian Epic is available from:
The Press at Fresno State: email- [email protected]; telephone 559-278-3056
Armenian Studies Program: email [email protected]; telephone 559-278-2669

Mass Grave found near Van likely that of the Armenians

11:38 05.10.2013

Skulls and bones, possibly from the Armenian Genocide, protrude from
the soil near a school in the district of Westan in Van, according to
a newspaper report.

The pro-Kurdish Ozgur Gundem reported that in the village of Ili in
the district of Westan (current name GevaÅ?), a mass grave believed to
be from the Armenian genocide has been unearthed during the
construction of the DaÄ?yöre Elementary School last year.

The bones remain there, protruding from the soil, to this day.
Villagers say the mass grave is likely that of the Armenians who lived
in the village a century ago, the Armenian Weekly reports.

The village, Ili (current name DaÄ?yöre), southwest of GevaÅ? (Armenian
name Vosdan), had 21 Armenian households prior to the Armenian
Genocide.

Armenian environmentalists plan to hold march in Yerevan

October 05, 2013 | 13:03

YEREVAN. – Armenian environmentalists plan to hold a march on October
10 to raise public awareness about situation in Teghut, members of the
civic initiative told reporters.

The march will start in the Republic Square and will end near the
residence of president.

Yeghia Nersisyan, member of the `Save Teghut Civic Initiative’, is
confident that the mining problems cannot be solved in international
arena, since the foreign investors `are plundering and going away.’

The environmentalists say the residents of villages located near
Teghut have numerous problems. The villages are covered with dust from
explosions, and farmers are unable to move freely. Besides, the cattle
are driven away from pastures.

One of the key problems is unemployment. The environmentalists noted
the locals either have no job or get very low salaries, which they
claim is done on purpose.

`Vallex [a company engaged in mining] is doing everything to make
people leave Teghut,’ said Nare Smbatyan, one of the members of the
initiative.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Zhoghovurd: Ex-chief of traffic police to go at large

Saturday,
October 05

Former chief of Armenian Traffic Police Margar Ohanian will be
released under the amnesty declared on the occasion of the 22nd
anniversary of Armenia’s independence.

During a talk with the correspondent of `Zhoghovurd’ daily, Margar
Ohanian’s brother Mushegh Ohanian, former police chief of Metsamor
city, said that Margar Ohanian may be released any minute now. `They
said he will be freed today, and then they said they will release him
on Monday or Tuesday. We don’t know. The prison warden decides the
date,’ he said.

TODAY, 11:49
Aysor.am