Author: Kanayan Tamar

D. Apinyan. About Aliyev’s statement: `They are just campaign stupidities.’

June 28 2013

`Do not pay attention to these statements, they are just campaign
stupidities, and to connect this prate with RA foreign policy,
generally, does not make sense.’,- so replied the expert of the `East’
strategic analytical center David Apinyan to the question of Aravot.am
whether the statement of the President of Azerbaijan made during the
military parade held in Baku is a result of some gaps in the field of
RA foreign policy. We should note that Aliyev, in particular, has
announced that the Azerbaijani flag will again be waved in
Nagorno-Karabakh, that as if their military capacity will play its
role in the fair resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh issue and in restoring
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Continuing the conversation,
the expert said,- `There is no need to refer to the subject, in
general, it is a campaign stupidity that is aimed at domestic
audience. And connecting it with our policy is a damage to us from the
viewpoint of our patriotism. Why should we become cheaper to comment
these stupidities?’ To the question whether these statements are
viewed as a threat, D. Apinyan answered in this way,- `Threat by
content has a two-part approach. Threat by words and threat that has a
practical significance. I urge not to refer to Aliyev’s stupidity at
all.’ As for selling weapons to Azerbaijan by RF for the parade, Mr.
Apinyan thinks,- `The process of selling upgraded weapons to
Azerbaijan by Russia generates from is logic of pragmatism and from
tactical and strategic objectives appropriate to a big country. The
buy and sale of arms has a feature that enables the supplier to be
dependent from the supplied. Officially Moscow due to the latter tends
to keep Azerbaijan in the orbit of its influence which is gradually
coming out it, and the processes of routing maintenance of military
equipment, recruitment of their stock, further modernization, as well
as learning process of the service and maintenance personnel provide a
certain chance to RF to strengthen its influence over the official
Baku.’ In this context, he noted that the inflow of oil-dollars to
official Baku has enabled to act independently, one of the brightest
evidences is shutting down of `Daryal’ type of radar station, which
was located in Gabala and leased to Moscow, in response to which
Moscow stopped the export of Azerbaijani raw oil running through
Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline. Referring to the moral side of the fact of
selling weapons to Azerbaijan by the strategic alley of the official
Yerevan, Russia, to threaten the Republic of Armenia and the Republic
of Nagorno-Karabakh, D. Apinyan said we should not look at Russia with
offended eyes, but as an example, emphasized that the United States
never sells any attacking weapon to countries, who openly threaten its
confederate country Israel. The expert did not exclude that these
weapons might one day be directed to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
Republics, however, assured that the armed forces of Armenia are
adequately equipped and have a high level of battlefield training,
which enables to respond to the enemy deservedly. Tatev HARUTIUNIAN

Read more at:
© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

ARMENIE-ENERGIE
Arrivée d’une troisième société de prospection pétrolière en Arménie

Une troisième société de recherches pétrolières s’est déclarée en
Arménie. « Armoil » a obtenu du gouvernement arménien l’autorisation
d’effectuer des prospections pétrolières en Arménie. Cette
autorisation porte sur une période de cinq années. « Blackstairs
Energy Armenia » et « Integral Petrolium » avaient également obtenu en
2012 l’autorisation de prospections pétrolières dans le sous-sol
arménien. Rappelons que les prospections pétrolières ainsi que du gaz
dans les années 1990 n’avaient abouti à aucun résultat.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 29 juin 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

IF ISRAEL RECOGNIZES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IT WON’T BE THE END OF THE WORLD, ARMENIAN PATRIARCH SAYS

13:10 28.06.2013
Armenian Genocide, Israel

‘If Israel recognizes the Armenian genocide it won’t be the end of the
world,” Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Nourhan Manougian
said in an interview with Haaretz.

Elected the 97th Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem in January, Manougian
is now one of the top Armenian Christian leaders worldwide, in a
community scattered over the globe. In Jerusalem, where the Armenian
Christian presence dates back almost 1,700 years, he is also one of
the most powerful Christian clerics. The Armenian patriarch shares
oversight at the ancient Christian holy sites with the Greek Orthodox
and Latin (Roman Catholic) patriarchs.

But despite the historical presence, the tiny Old City Armenian
community often feels sidelined, Manougian told Haaretz. As the number
of community members relentlessly shrinks, and is now only a few
hundred, he worries if there will be future generations. Day-to-day
life, he says, is also a balancing act, finding a place between the
powerful Jewish Israeli and Muslim Palestinian communities. Israeli
scholars echo the same concerns.

At the core of Armenian insecurities are successive Israeli
governments that have ruled over them since 1967 but never officially
acknowledged the 1915 Armenian genocide or its estimated 1.5 million
deaths by Ottoman Turkish forces.

Many of Jerusalem’s Armenians, including Manougian, are the children
and grandchildren of the survivors of the genocide. His father fled
Armenia through the desert that became known as the “death fields,” as
he headed to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Born in Aleppo in
1948 and orphaned by age 5, Manougian grew up in that city, with poor
relatives and the stories of the survivors around him. After seminary
and ordination, serving Armenian Christians took him from Lebanon,
across Europe and the United States, and to Haifa, Jaffa and finally
in 1998, to Jerusalem.

Here, Armenians believe that Israel’s silence on the events of 1915 is
based on maintaining favor with Turkey. “If you ask me, [recognizing
the genocide] is what they have to do,” said Manougian of Israel.

“What if they accept it? It won’t be the end of the world.”

Manougian also felt marginalized by Israel, while waiting five months
for the state to officially recognize his title. Manougian was elected
after the 2012 death of Patriarch Torkom Manoogian. Palestinian and
Jordanian leaders recognized him days after the January election.

Israel did not do so until June 23.

Initially, the patriarchate postponed Manougian’s inauguration,
waiting for Israel to reorganize the government following its January
22 elections. But as months passed and the recognition application
continued to be ignored, the patriarchate on June 4 held the
inauguration anyway.

There is no law requiring it, but sending a formal letter of
recognition is a Holy Land tradition dating to the Ottoman era,
Manougian said. “The first [Israeli] letter was signed by Ben-Gurion.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson did not give a reason for the delay.

But Dr. Amnon Ramon, a HebrewUniversity and Jerusalem Institute for
Israel Studies expert on local Christians, said that his impression
was that the delay was caused by bureaucracy and lack of priority. In
researching his 2012 book, “Christians and Christianity in the Jewish
State” (in Hebrew, published by the JIIS), he found that Israel’s
relations with Christians and church institutions are among the lowest
priorities in policy and practice of the local and national government
bodies, he said.

While Ramon works on improving government relations with Christians,
he also encourages Christians, including Armenians, not to allow
caution to stop them from lobbying for their own needs. Christians
“have to look at the Israeli side, the Palestinian side, be very
cautious, and sometimes this leads them to inaction.”

OldCity Armenians live more closely with the Palestinians and say
their relations with them are better than with official Israel or some
of their Jewish neighbors. Bishop Aris Shirvanian says that “they
don’t spit on us,” referring to a phenomenon sometimes encountered by
Christian clergy in the OldCity.

“We have no legal problems with them,” said Bishop Aris Shirvanian.

But the Palestinians have also not recognized the Armenian genocide.

“The whole of the Islamic countries do not recognize the genocide
because Turks are Muslims,” he said.

Being Christian in Jerusalem is complicated, he added. “When you are
dealing with two sides [Israelis and Palestinians], you have to not
take one side against the other.”

L’INFLATION EN ARMENIE DEVRAIT SE SITUER ENTRE 6% ET 7% A LA FIN DE CETTE ANNEE

Vardan Bostanjyan, economiste, a declare que l’inflation en Armenie
est susceptible d’etre entre 6% et 7% d’ici la fin de cette annee,
depassant les 4% prevu dans le budget de l’Etat.

Vardan Bostanjyan a dit qu’il n’a pas ete pris en compte en 2012,
lorsque le budget pour l’annee 2013 a ete presente, que les prix
pouvaient monter en 2013 en raison de la hausse des prix du gaz
naturel et de la hausse de l’energie electrique.

” Si les prix montent, alors, je pense, il sera impossible de maintenir
l’inflation dans les previsions ” a-t-il dit.

vendredi 28 juin 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

LA RUSSIE POURRAIT VOLER AU SECOURS DE LA MODESTE FLOTTE AERIENNE ARMENIENNE

Après le choc cause en Armenie par la signature d’accords portant sur
la livraison de materiel militaire russe a l’Azerbaïdjan, les autorites
russes se sont employees a rassurer leur ” partenaire strategique
” armenien, en expliquant que ces contrats n’etaient pas de nature
a rompre l’equilibre des forces dans la region et encore moins a
remettre en cause les liens militaires etroits qui unissent la Russie a
l’Armenie, qui abrite la seule base militaire russe au sud du Caucase.

C’est dans ce contexte pour le moins tendu que des responsables de
la defense de l’Armenie et de la Russie ont annonce jeudi 27 juin
que la Russie aiderait l’Armenie a moderniser ses forces aeriennes
relativement modestes dans le cadre de l’Organisation du Traite de
securite collective (CSTO), une alliance militaire dirigee par la
Russie et reunissant six ex-Republiques sovietiques, dont l’Armenie.

Une annonce qui est censee mettre un terme aux speculations et attenuer
les craintes de l’Armenie, que la Russie de Poutine a peut-etre
deliberement suscitees, moins d’un mois après la reunion de la CSTO du
28 mai où le president armenien Serge Sarkissian avait brille par une
absence percue comme un affront par le Kremlin. Le secretaire general
de la CSTO Nikolaï Bordyuja et Artur Baghdasarian, le secretaire du
Conseil national de la security d’Armenie, ont annonce les projets
d’aide russe a l’aviation armenienne a l’issue de discussions a Erevan
qui se sont conclues par la signature d’un memorandum.

Le document concerne la mise en ~uvre de la recente decision des
presidents des six ex-Republiques sovietiques composant la CSTO
d’unir leurs effectifs au sein d’une force commune sous la bannière
de l’alliance militaire dirigee par la Russie. Selon MM. Bordyuja et
Baghdasarian, cette force commune comprendrait aussi des unites des
armees de l’air des Etats associes au sein de cette alliance. “Les
forces de la Securite collective sont en voie de formation dans la
region du Sud Caucase où l’Armenie est le seul Etat membre de la CSTO.

Des forces aeriennes communes y seront egalement creees”, a indique
M.Baghdasarian. “L’armee de l’air de l’Armenie s’en verra renforcee”,
a ajoute le responsable armenien lors de la conference de presse
qu’il a donnee aux côtes de M.Bordyuja dans la capitale armenienne,
en precisant : “pas seulement l’armee de l’air, mais le système
de defense aerienne en general, qui seront modernises et equipe de
nouveaux materiels.

La base militaire russe [en Armenie] setra aussi reequipee. Pour ce
qui concerne ce processus de modernisation, 2014 sera une annee très
importante”, a poursuivi le responsable armenien. M. Baghdasarian
ne s’est pourtant pas etendus sur les details de la modernisation
annoncee. Il s’est contente d’indiquer que la base aerienne armenienne
de Gyumri pourrait etre modernisee avec l’aide de la compagnie russe
Vertolety Rossii, qui construit des helicoptères de combat. L’armee
de l’air armenienne n’est equipee actuellement que de quelques
dizaines d’avions de combat russes de type Su-25, Mi-9 ainsi que des
helicoptères de coimbat Mi-25 qui contribuent a proteger l’espace
aerien armenien. Celui-ci peut aussi compter sur la vingtaine de
chasseurs MiG-29 stationnes dans la base militaire russe de Gumri,
et qui pourraient intervenir en cas d’attaque, confirmement aux
accords de defense liant les deux pays.

Au cours des dernières annees, l’Azerbaïdjan a utilise les rentes
de son petrole pour acheter des dizaines de MiG-29s, ainsi que
des helicoptères de combat russes de la dernière generation. Le
president azerbaïdjanais Ilham Aliyev declarait la veille encore, e
mercredi 26 juin, que la modernisation de l’armee pourrait permettre a
l’Azerbaïdjan de reconquerir le Haut-Karabakh. Des menaces qui irritent
d’autant plus l’Armenie que des armements russes sont mis au service
des projets de reconquete de l’Azerbaïdjan, pays qui n’est pas membres
de la CSTO et qui a rompu ses derniers liens militaires avec la Russie
en mettant un terme, il y a peu a la location, de la station de radar
de Gabala, que les Russes avaient conservee depuis l’epoque sovietique.

Commentant les derniers propos de M.Aliev, M. Bordyuja a mis en garde
contre toute tentative visant a regler le conflit du Karabagh par la
force. “Il n’y a pas de solution militaire au problem du Karabagh “,
a martele le reponsable russe de la defense. Le secretaire general de
la CSTO a par ailleurs salue les capacites de defense de l’Armenie. “La
cooperation militaire et technique accrue [avec la Russie] et les
livraisons de materiels militaries au titre de l’aide … tout cela
contribue au haut degre de securite dans la Republique d’Armenie”,
a conclu M. Bordyuja.

vendredi 28 juin 2013, Gari ©armenews.com

AZERBAIJAN TO BUILD UP MILITARY MIGHT UNTIL KARABAKH PROBLEM IS SOLVED – PRESIDENT

Interfax, Russia
June 26 2013

Azerbaijan will continue to enlarge the output of military products
and import newest weaponry until the final settlement of the Karabakh
problem, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said while inspecting a military
parade dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Azeri Armed Forces
on Wednesday.

“We had a $163 million defense budget in 2003. The budget grew to $3.6
billion last year and it is $3.7 billion now. This is a proof that the
Armed Forces development is a primary objective and the biggest budget
allocations go to the army, which is only natural,” the president said.

“For comparison, the entire budget of needy Armenia is only about
$2 billion. Even our defense budget is twice bigger than Armenia’s
total spending,” he remarked.

“Strong Azerbaijan can speak any language to weak Armenia. For now,
we prefer negotiations in order to preserve regional stability, as
Azerbaijan is the country stabilizing the region. Azerbaijan enjoys
enormous authority in its region. Not a single regional initiative or
project can come true without Azerbaijan’s consent. For this reason,
we so far prefer political ways to keep stability and to achieve a
peaceful solution,” he emphasized.

“But it is not a secret that Azerbaijan is growing stronger day
after day while Armenia is weakening. The scope of growth of our
economic might is beyond comparison. We outdo the enemy manifold in
any sector or by more than ten times in particular fields. That gap
will be growing further. Because we have a clear future, prospects
and development ways,” he added.

The president said he was certain that historical and political
factors, international legal norms and the military-economic might
would play a role in the fair settlement of the Armenian-Azeri
conflict. “Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity in
Karabakh and on other occupied lands. The Azeri flag will be flying
in Khankendi (Stepanakert) and Shusha,” he said.

Te

ARMENIA TO DEFEND KARABAKH IN CASE OF AGGRESSION – DEFENSE MINISTER

Interfax, Russia
June 26 2013

Yerevan remains the security guarantor of Nagorny Karabakh, Armenian
Defense Minister Seyran Oganyan said.

“In case of possible resumption of military actions against Nagorny
Karabakh, Armenia will be completely engaged in them and will make
an enemy to give up his intentions,” Oganyan said at the second forum
Political and Security Guidelines for Formation of Collective Security
Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Military Element being held in Yerevan.

“Armenia has to be ready to resist all aggressive intentions of
an enemy, especially taking into account that namely Armenia is the
guarantor of the Physical security of the people of Nagorny Karabakh,”
Oganyan said.

The situation in South Caucasus remains difficult and potentially
volatile, Oganyan said.

“The geopolitical situation in the zone of the CSTO responsibility is
complex. Despite the fact that the majority of the CSTO member-states
are in Central Asia, South Caucasus still remains in the focus of the
CSTO attention. Not sharing borders with the CSTO partners, Armenia
is more than interested in eliminating the tension in the region and
introducing stability,” Oganyan said.

The Nagorny Karabakh conflict settlement is a priority for Armenia,
Oganyan said.

“We are definitely committed to the peaceful way of resolving the
issue, however Armenia has been involved into arms race Azerbaijan
had begun. This country has said openly that it intended to achieve
reconsideration of the status quo with military means, which makes
us to spend considerable part of state funds on improving defense
systems,” Oganyan said.

ez

KOMOROWSKI AND SARGSYAN ATTEND FORUM IN WARSAW

Polish News Bulletin, Poland
June 26, 2013 Wednesday

25-06-2013; gazeta.pl

On Tuesday, President Bronislaw Komorowski and his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sargsyan attended the Polish-Armenian economic forum in
Warsaw. At the event, Komorowski announced that he expected the
EU-Armenian association agreement to be signed during the November
Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. He also encouraged Armenian
businesspeople to learn from the experiences of the Polish capital
market and expressed hope that thanks to the forum more Armenian
products would be found in Polish stores in the future. Both officials
pointed at the common historical experiences of the two nations,
with Sargsyan stressing that in the past his people had contributed
to a large extent to Poland’s development. The Armenian leader also
praised the Polish economy while at the same time expressing regret
that the economic relations between Poland and his country remained
largely underdeveloped.

INTERSECTIONS: AN EXPLOSIVE REMINDER OF INTOLERANCE

Glendale News Press, CA
June 26 2013

By Liana Aghajanian
June 26, 2013 | 3:42 p.m.

When I lived in Armenia during the summer of 2011, there was a new
bar down the street from my apartment. I found myself there most
nights when I stayed within the confines of the capital.

On those warm, sweltering evenings, it acted as one of the only places
in the city that gave refuge to and brought together a wide array
of people. With its local beer, bands and sandwiches bused in from a
nearby cafe, it was an open, comfortable space, where intellectuals,
music-loving youth, diplomats, journalists and activists mingled into
the early morning hours.

New friendships were formed, old friends christened it as their new
meeting place. The owners of the bar doubled as musicians who stood
in to provide the soundtrack for the night.

The conversations and connections that I formed in that bar were
unforgettable but they all seem slightly bittersweet now.

Roughly a year after I left, the bar was bombed in the middle of
the night by two youth who belonged to a nationalist right-wing
group. The bar was destroyed, and so was the spirit of those who
sought its sanctuary during those warm months.

The bombing, which sparked a national conversation, was carried
out as an act of revenge against the gay and lesbian community –
a group that frequented the bar and is still very much subject to
discrimination in Armenia.

It was a message to say, “We not only don’t want your kind around,
but we certainly don’t want your kind out in the open, mingling and
having a good time.”

It left a big impression on me. It was the first time I had had a
physical, adult connection to a place that was impacted by violence.

Looking at the blackened insides of a place where I once sat, enjoyed
a few drinks and, by chance, met fascinating people was surreal. The
windows were blown out, the air conditioner was a mangled mess,
a calculator that had been left on the counter was completely melted.

I felt an indirect connection to intolerance. What if people had
been there? What if my friends had been hurt? What if the boys who
carried out their hate crime hadn’t waited an entire year and I had
been caught in the middle of it?

Another year has passed since the bombing and the bar no longer
exists. Its owners, from what I can tell, have left, too. Of course,
there are still so many places to spend those warm Yerevan summer
nights – places I remember and places I’ll get to explore when I make
my way back this year.

But that special bar was on my mind this week as Supreme Court rulings
delivered landmark decisions that bolstered the gay marriage movement.

The news took me back to it, transporting me to a better time when
the bar’s walls were painted with reproductions of Lichtenstein pop
art, its bathroom that had no mirror but had a painted square outline
above the sink that said, “You are beautiful,” and its comfortable
atmosphere full of people who were able to treat each other with
mutual respect despite different lifestyles, outlooks and preferences.

—

LIANA AGHAJANIAN is a Los Angeles-based journalist whose work has
appeared in L.A. Weekly, Eurasianet and The Atlantic. She may be
reached at [email protected].

,0,7515681.story

ARMENIA, RUSSIA SIGN PACKAGE OF AGREEMENTS

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 25, 2013 Tuesday 06:19 PM GMT+4

– Russia and Armenia signed a large package of agreements following
talks between Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev
and the Armenian leadership on Tuesday. The parties signed a treaty
on developing military cooperation, an agreement between the federal
agency on developing the state border of the Russian Federation and
the office of Armenia’s Security Council on interaction in information
exchange in developing the infrastructure of the state border and
border passes, a plan of joint actions to develop the Russia-Armenian
humanitarian response center and the protocol of conference between the
geophysical service of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the seismic
protection service of the Armenian emergency situations ministry.

“Russia and Armenia have strategic relations, it’s the highest level
of relations,” Patrushev said. The security councils of both countries
are working very actively.

“We work according to plans; we draw a cooperation plan every two
years,” he reminded.

“The current cooperation plan ends this year, and we issued
instructions to draw the next one for 2014-2015, to address the issues
of interest to us,” the Russian Security Council secretary said,
“we set the task for the departments that ensure security in this
or that area to actively and effectively cooperate; we need proper
legislative groundwork for that.”

“Departments have had consultations and signed agreements. Military
cooperation is entering a new level. We have strategic relations
with Armenia. During this visit, we visited Russia’s 102nd military
base and saw that our military – the army, the borderguards and over
services — reliably ensure Armenia’s safety. Armenia should have no
worries on this account,” Patrushev assured noting that “there are
enough assets to provide security here – we’ve checked it together.”

Speaking about supplies of armaments to the neighboring Azerbaijan,
the Russian Security Council secretary stressed that “Russia, when
it sells arms, meets all the existing international obligations and
requirements, as well as all Russian laws.”