Author: Kanayan Tamar

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 14 2013

Embassy: German government not informed about Bundestag member’s visit
to Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan, Baku, September 14 /Trend, S.Agayeva/

Bundestag member’s visit to Nagorno-Karabakh is of private character
and the federal government was not informed about it, German embassy
to Azerbaijan told Trend commenting on Bundestag member’s visit to
Azerbaijani territories under Armenian occupation.

On September 12 Jurgen Klimke, member of the German Bundestag Standing
Committee on Foreign Affairs visited the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, Armenian Media outlet reported. Within the visit he met
with the separatists of so called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”,

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

ENP Newswire
September 13, 2013 Friday

-Prometey-Support the program of reintroduction of the Caucasian Red
Deer in Armenia

ENP Newswire – 13 September 2013

Release date- 12092013 – On September 11, 2013, a joint press
conference took place with the representatives of Prometey Bank, WWF
(World Wide Fund for Nature Armenia Branch), the Ministry of Nature
Protection of RA and Orange Armenia, about the program of
reintroduction of the Caucasian Red Deer in Armenia.

The main goal of the project is to create a renewable group of the
mentioned species in ‘Dilijan’ National Park. The project is scheduled
to start at the end of September, 2013.

During the conference, each participant presented his contribution to
the project. The supporters of the program are Prometey Bank, WWF
Germany and Orange Armenia.

Giving special importance to protection of wild nature and endangered
species, the Bank has dedicated the design of the bank’s annual report
of 2012 and corporate calendar of 2014 to the protection of endangered
species, particularly pointing out the importance of the Red Deer
reintroduction project. With the aim to support the project the Bank
has opened a bank account, to which each person can donate any amount
of money having their contribution in Caucasian Red Deer project.

The annual reports and the calendars will be distributed among the
Bank’s customers, shareholders, local and foreign partners and other
private and public institutions.

You, as a part of the society can also contribute to nature
conservation in Armenia by making donation to the following account:

Bank: ‘Prometey Bank’ LLC

Beneficiary: World Wide Fund for Nature Armenian Branch

Acc. No. (AMD): 1660002306300100

Huffington Post
Sept 13 2013

America Can Aid Syrians Without Military Intervention

Alex Nowrasteh
Immigration Policy Analyst, Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty
and Prosperity

The Syrian civil war has killed over 100,000 people and displaced as
many as seven million — about one-third of Syria’s population.
Russia’s offer to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international
control may stop American military involvement, but the humanitarian
crisis remains. The good news is military involvement isn’t necessary
to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis. Instead, we can allow
Syrian emigration to the U.S.

The number of refugees grows daily. Non-Muslim Syrians, who make up
13-to-15 percent of the population, are at particular risk.
Christians, Druzes, and the non-religious face attacks from many rebel
groups who are motivated by a violent interpretation of Sunni Islam.
For instance, rebels from the extremist Jabhat al-Nusra rebel group
recently conquered the Aramaic speaking Christian town of Maaloula —
forcing most of the population to flee with only a handful of nuns and
orphans left behind.

But Muslim Syrians are in grave danger as well. A mere 13 percent of
Syrians — including President Bashar Assad and his government — are
Shiites, compared to 74 percent who are Sunnis. Sunnis form the core
of the rebellion, while Shiites generally support the government.
Warring factions drawn along sectarian lines will extend and deepen
the violence, killing non-combatants of all faiths in the cross-fire.

These conditions prompted a mass exodus from Syria, and it’s likely to
continue. As the director-general of Sweden’s Migration Board, Anders
Danielsson, has said: “The conflict in Syria has heated up, to put it
mildly… we can assume that it’s not going to be resolved in the
foreseeable future.”

Of the seven million displaced Syrians, two million have left the
country altogether. So far, neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey
have taken in more than 1.7 million of the refugees. Sweden has
announced that it will grant permanent residency to the 14,700 Syrian
refugees already there, as well as some subsequent arrivals. Germany
has also decided to take in 5,000 Syrian refugees.

In contrast, in 2011 and 2012, the U.S. allowed just 374 Syrians to
gain asylum status, while only 60 refugees were approved. The Obama
Administration has announced plans to let in 2,000 refugees — but
those are only promises. Syrians already in the U.S. are allowed to
stay and work under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — as are many
Haitians, Somalis, and others whose home countries are devastated, but
that doesn’t help those trying to flee their war-torn country.

The United States used to be the world’s safety net for refugees,
especially religious ones. The Pilgrims fled the Netherlands, Irish
Catholics escaped English oppression, Jews from Eastern Europe escaped
pogroms, and Armenians fled genocide and war to settle in California.
But then America changed its immigration laws in 1921, and the
government shamefully turned away German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and
Chinese fleeing the Japanese invasion.

The United States could help avoid an even worse humanitarian crisis
in Syria by guaranteeing TPS status to all peaceful Syrians who make
it to the U.S. It’s important to note that TPS is not a green card and
cannot lead toward citizenship. Furthermore, any war criminals or
individuals affiliated with criminal or terrorist activity would be
excluded. TPS status could be a game-changer for Syrians and it could
be done just by changing a few words in the U.S. code.

This sounds simple, but there will undoubtedly be questions about the
results of such a move. How will the Syrians fare once they are in the
United States? The answer: pretty well.

Syrian refugees would not burden the welfare state, since they would
only have access to public education for their children and Emergency
Medical Assistance. In fact, they’d likely find work, which is the
best vehicle toward cultural and economic integration. According to a
government report in 2010, 58 percent of recent adult refugees were
employed — a rate higher than the U.S. born population. In Sweden, by
contrast, only 30 percent of all immigrants are working even after
they’ve been in the country several years.

Syrians in particular have proven successful in the U.S. Americans of
Syrian descent have an average income of $56,000 and 66 percent of
Syrian adults are in the workforce – higher than the 63 percent for
U.S.-born Americans.

Allowing Syrians to get TPS upon landing in America is a cheap and
effective way for Congress to limit the scale of the humanitarian
disaster in Syria. President Obama and Congress’ interest in Syria is
likely fleeting and focused primarily on WMDs, but the violence isn’t.
TPS is already keeping some Syrians out of harm’s way. It’s time that
Congress allows TPS to save more lives.

LE PASSAGE A UN SYSTEME DE RECYCLAGE DE L’EAU SEMI-FERMEE POURRAIT CAUSER DES DOMMAGES A LA PISCICULTURE EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

Le passage a un système de recyclage de l’eau semi-ferme peut
serieusement menacer la pisciculture en Armenie, a declare Artur
Atoyan, chef de l’Association des Pisciculteurs d’Armenie.

” Le gouvernement armenien a demande a tous les eleveurs de poissons
de passer a un système de recyclage de l’eau semi-ferme dans les 18
prochains mois mais cela va causer beaucoup de prejudice a la plupart
des fermes piscicoles. En outre, seules quelques fermes piscicoles
seront en mesure de passer a ce système, cela peut donc donner lieu
a une monopolisation “, a-t-il dit.

Atoyan a precise que grâce a un système de recyclage de l’eau
semi-ferme, 70% de l’eau peut etre utilisee plusieurs fois, donc la
consommation est plus rationnel et cela reduit les depenses. Mais le
passage a un tel système coûte cher.

” Bien sûr, nous nous rejouissons de la consommation plus rationnelle
de l’eau, mais nous devons prendre en compte que cette methode
necessite l’introduction de technologies nouvelles et très coûteuses
et que 97% des pecheurs d’Armenie ne peuvent pas se le permettre “,
a-t-il dit.

Le volume de la peche et de la pisciculture a chute de 15,2% en avril
2013 sur un an a 717,2 tonnes.

samedi 14 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

SCANDAL AT THE TRIAL OF CHIEF EDITOR OF `TOLYSHI SADO` NEWSPAPER, HILAL MAMEDOV

Turan Information Agency
September 12, 2013 Thursday

Baku/11.09.13/Turan : It was an emotionally tense situation at
the September 11 hearing of Hilal Mamedov, editor of the newspaper
“Tolyshi Sado”, in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. This was brought
on by the final word of prosecutor Tural Yusifov.

The prosecutor expressed his opinion that the judicial investigation
proved the guilt of Mamedov on all three counts of treason, inciting
ethnic hatred and illegal drug trade.

According to the prosecutor, Mamedov in 1992 was recruited by Iranian
intelligence services in detriment of the independence and territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.

In the summer of 1993, according to the investigation, ” Mamedov
actively promoted the declaration of Talysh – Mugan Republic and
after the failure of this separatist movement fled to St. Petersburg.

A statement by the Attorney was accompanied by indignant remarks from
the audience such as, “it’s a lie,” and, “It ‘s not true .”

When the attorney spoke of ties, Mamedov had with the Armenian
community of Russia finally enraged supporters of the accused.

The entire audience rose to their feet, and accused the Public
Prosecutor of criminal defamation and insult of Mamedov and the
Talysh people.

“This is discrimination based on nationality,” “This is a provocation,”
” This is not respect for the memory of Talysh men, who died in
defense of Azerbaijan in the Karabakh war “.

The Indignation by Mamedov supporters was so emotional the prosecutor
was forced to retreat, followed by the judges.

Mamedov himself urged his supporters to remain calm, but his forced
withdrawal from the court caused tempers to rise even more. Judicial
guards had great difficulty in calming people down and clear the room.

In this case, the judicial officers were correct.

Later, Mamedov supporters were invited back into the room and judge
Azer Orujov urged them to remain calm and allow the prosecutor to
complete the statement.

The judge emphasized that this is a mere statement by the prosecutor
and solutions will be made by the judges.

In response to demands from the audience to “remove the Armenian
question” the judge agreed, saying “this question is removed.”

After returning to the hall, the prosecutor limited the charges to
illegal drug trade.

He asked the court to declare Mamedov guilty under articles 274
(treason ) and 283.2.2 (incitement of national, racial or religious
hatred) and 234.4.3 (illegal manufacture, production, acquisition ,
storage, transportation , transfer or sale of narcotic drugs in large
size) of the Criminal Code, which assumes a maximum penalty of 3 to
10 to 15 years in prison.

However, taking into account the mitigating circumstances, that he is
the only breadwinner in the family, and his health status and age,
the prosecutor offered to condemn Mamedov to 6 years imprisonment,
serving his sentence in a maximum security prison.

Speeches by the lawyers are set for September 25.

Lawyer Ramiz Mamedov expressed his disagreement with the prosecutor’s
statement, calling it absurd.

According to him, the prosecutor did not express his attitude to the
many arguments made by the defense, including the fact that the proof
was obtained illegally.

The lawyer believes that the court should acquit the defendant. -06D-

***

At today’s hearing of the editor of Tolyshi newspaper Sado Hilal
Mamedov the public prosecutor asked the court to sentence Mamedov to
six years in prison.

This provoked a strong reaction from the audience, after which the
prosecutor actually ran out of the courtroom.

The process will continue with speeches by advocates.

* Hilal Mamedov was arrested on June 21, 2012 on charges of illegal
possession of drugs. Then he was also charged with treason and inciting
ethnic hatred. Amnesty International has found him a “prisoner of
conscience.” -16/06D-

RENEWED DINK TRIAL UNLIKELY TO LEAD TO TRIAL OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 13 2013

13 September 2013 /YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ~^AN, Ä°STANBUL Although a new trial
is set to start on Sept. 17 in regards to the Hrant Dink murder case
after the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that
dismissed the existence of an organized criminal network in the case,
the new process is most likely to put the case at a worse standpoint
than before because the initial trial had been launched on the premise
of a terrorist organization, but the high court decision says it is
an armed organization that formed to commit a specific crime.

“When the Supreme Court of Appeals decision came out, it sounded
good because it overturned the decision of the lower court, which
found no evidence that a terrorist organization was involved in
the assassination of Dink, but the fact is that although the high
court says there is an armed organization, it limits that terrorist
organization’s scope, members and aims, putting us in a position worse
than back to square one,” said Fethiye Cetin, chief lawyer on behalf
of the family of Dink, at a press conference on Friday organized by
Hrant’s Friends, who held demonstrations before each trial demanding
justice during the five-year-long trial in the Dink case.

The 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in May overturned
the lower court ruling acquitting the suspects of forming a terrorist
organization, but it said they were guilty of forming an illegal and
armed organization to commit a crime in line with Turkish Penal Code
(TCK) Article 220.

“According to the 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, that
organization was established in 2004 by Yasin Hayal with political
motives and it consists of a few other people, including Erhan Tuncel,
and since those ultranationalist people were all angry at Dink,
who was put on trial with the accusation of ‘insulting Turkishness,’
they wanted to punish Dink,” Cetin said.

She also pointed out discrepancies in the explanation of the ruling.

One such discrepancy, she explained, is that Dink was not even
sentenced in 2004 for the crime that was attributed to him.

In addition, she said that the 14th High Criminal Court, which will
hold its first hearing on Tuesday in the new case, is most likely
to act within the limits drawn by the Supreme Court of Appeals and,
as a result, people who seek justice will suffer for a few more years.

“The verdict of the high court for us has been like living with a
bad illness rather than dying; however, somebody from the Dink family
said that this result will kill us miserably through great suffering,”
Cetin added. “The murder can never be solved unless public officials
complicit in the murder are brought to justice.”

Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was
shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007, by ultranationalist teenager Ogun Samast
outside the offices of his newspaper in Ä°stanbul in broad daylight.

The hitman Samast was tried in a juvenile court because he was a minor
at the time of the crime and sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison.

As a result of the Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court’s ruling issued
on Jan. 17 of last year, Hayal was given a life sentence for inciting
Samast to commit murder. Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the
Trabzon Police Department, was found not guilty of the murder and
was acquitted.

The judge at the time said they acquitted the suspects of organized
crime charges, but this does not mean that there was no organization
involved, rather that there was not enough evidence to prove the
actions of this organization.

Dink’s lawyers had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Appeals
arguing that the court ruling violated the TCK by acknowledging the
existence of a criminal organization but concluding it could not be
located as it remains secret, adding that the court ignored evidence
of the organization in the case.

As the verdict of the lower court was met with outrage by civil
society groups, politicians and others, tens of thousands of people
marched in protest.

Hakan Bakırcıoglu, another lawyer representing the family of Dink,
explained at the same press conference on Friday that the lawyers for
the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence
indicating that Samast was not acting alone and have documented that
the police force in Trabzon, where most of the suspects are from and
where the assassination plot was hatched, and the Ä°stanbul Police
Department knew about the murder.

The lawyers have been expressing their frustration that there may have
been attempts to protect the suspects. A lengthy list of suspicious
irregularities in the Dink murder investigation, including deleted
records and hidden files, suggestive of a police cover-up attempt,
has marred the judicial process.

Since the day of the murder, mounting evidence has indicated that the
police were tipped off about the assassination plot some months before
the actual attack. Ä°stanbul’s police chief has also acknowledged
that there was a tip-off about a possible attack on Dink, but said
its priority level was too low for his department to take it seriously.

The European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR] ruled in Sept. 2010
that Turkey had failed to investigate and prosecute those who were
responsible for Dink’s murder and this constitutes a violation of
Dink’s right to life.

There are many questions remain to be answered, Cetin said; for
example, why Zekeriya Oz, the former prosecutor conducting the
investigation into Ergenekon — the clandestine network of coup
plotters — did not merge the main Dink case with the Ergenekon case.

“Was that because the Ergenekon case was intentionally limited to
punish only coup plotters? Is there a tacit agreement to cover other
actions of Ergenekon which was likened to Gladio but no acts of it —
other than the [2007] attack at the Council of State — were brought
to light? Where are its assassinations and murders?” she asked,
adding that those questions should be answered by prosecutors.

Garo Paylan, member of the group Hrant’s Friends, said at the press
conference that they will again meet on Tuesday at the court which
will hold its new hearing on the Dink case and repeat their calls
for justice.

“Our slogan is ‘leave the fake performance, prosecute those who are
primarily liable,” he said.

ARMENIA HOPES TO RECEIVE CHEAP GAS FROM RUSSIA

The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 13 2013

By Messenger Staff
Friday, September 13

Armen Movsisyan, Armenia’s energy minister, has spoken about the
possibility of gas from Russia being subsidized. Movsisyan explained
that Russian state energy company Gazprom has decided to sell natural
gas to Armenia at $270 per thousand cubic meters. Movsisyan expressed
his hope that 30% of this amount will be subsidized. The minister
expressed his confidence that as soon as Armenia enters the Eurasian
Union the price of natural gas from Russia will fall to $189 per
thousand cubic meters.

RUSSIA WANTS ARMENIA TO JOIN BY 2015

The minister of trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrey
Slepnev has announced that Armenia may complete all the stages of
joining the Customs Union by 2015, as well as participate in the
process of forming the Eurasian Economic Commission, Itar Tass reports.

According to Slepnev, Armenia’s membership to the Customs Union will
help reconstruct the economy of Armenia which is not doing well now.

According to him, about 30 countries of the world are interested in
establishing a free trade area with the Customs Union.

17:23 13/09/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

MEETING AT THE RA NA STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

13.09.2013

On September 13 the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations of the National Assembly Artak Zakaryan met with the member
of the FRG Bundestag Jurgen Klimke and the Editor of the political
section of Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper Christian Unger.

Welcoming the guests the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations highlighted Jurgan Klimke’s visit to Nagorno Karabakh and
noted that it was a good opportunity for getting familiarized with
the problems of the region on the spot.

In the course of the meeting the sides touched upon the Armenian-German
relations, discussed issues relating to inter-parliamentary
cooperation, particularly the close work between the parliamentary
friendship groups was emphasized.

Highlighting the deepening of bilateral ties, the Chairman of the
Standing Committee on Foreign Relations deemed necessary to activate
the cooperation between the committees on Foreign Relations of the
two countries. Particularly, the circumstance that in the Bundestag
of Germany would be real and distinct information and pictures about
the external political problems and their peculiarities of Armenia
during the current period for future was highlighted. Artak Zakaryan
also emphasized the role of Germany as the EU leading state in the
processes of the further development of the RA-EU dialogue. Touching
upon the problem of Armenia’s joining to the Customs Union, the
Chairman of the NA Standing Committee substantiated the factors
decision and answered the guests’ question in detail.

The MPs also touched upon the foreign policy of Armenia and the
regional problems. Talking about the problem of Nagorno Karabakh
the member of the FRG Bundestag Jurgen Klimke has noted that Germany
highlights and supports the efforts aimed at the peaceful settlement
of the Karabakh conflict made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

ARMENIA REITERATES WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE COOPERATION WITH THE EU

10:35 13.09.2013

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met
Å tefan Fule, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European
Neighborhood Policy.

The sides continued the discussions which started in Brussels on
September 5 this year and stressed the importance of the non-official
meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Ministers of Education
of the Eastern Partnership countries before Vilnius summit.

Minister Nalbandian reaffirmed the intention of Armenia to continue
the cooperation with the European Union by all possible directions.