Author: Kanayan Tamar

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
May 25 2013

Insulting Muslimness

by Mustafa Akyol

This week, yet another court decision underlined the limits of free
speech in Turkey. Sevan NiÅ?anyan, a Turkish citizen of Armenian
identity, was sentenced for `openly denigrating the religious values
held by a certain portion of the population.’ According to the court,
NiÅ?anyan had committed this `crime,’ by the following statement he put
on his Internet blog while commenting on a similar `denigrating
religious values’ case opened against pianist Fazıl Say:

`It is not a `hate crime’ to poke fun at some Arab leader who, many
hundred years ago, claimed to have established contact with the Deity
and gained political, economic and sexual profit as a result. It is
almost a kindergarten-level case of what we call freedom of
expression.’

However, the court did not agree that this was `kindergarten-level of
freedom of expression’ and decided that NiÅ?anyan should serve 13
months in prison. He is not in jail yet, but he might be.

Before commenting on this, it might be worthwhile to note who NiÅ?anyan
is. He is, by most definitions, a radical liberal who minces no words
against any political camp in Turkey. He in fact made his fame partly
by condemning Turkey’s Kemalist heritage, a stance which had gained
him some sympathy among religious conservatives. In his 2009 book,
`The Wrong Republic,’ he defined Kemalism as the Turkish version of
fascism, and was soon sued by a Kemalist lawyer for `insulting
Atatürk.’ He survived that, but now he is being targeted by the very
religious conservatives he once defended against the Kemalists.

I was against NiÅ?anyan’s prosecution then, and I am against his
prosecution now. In fact, as a Muslim, I also found his words about
the Prophet Muhammad a bit distasteful and disrespectful. Yet I think
he did not even explicitly insult the Prophet, but only voiced the
third of these three possible views one can have about the Prophet of
Islam:

1) A true messenger of God who indeed received divine revelation.

2) A mystic who genuinely imagined that he received divine revelation.

3) A charlatan who dishonestly claimed that he had received divine revelation.

It is obvious that only religious believers, particularly Muslims,
will believe in the first option. Others have to choose between the
second and the third. In my book, `Islam without Extremes: A Muslim
Case for Liberty,’ I argue that the second option ` that Muhammad was
honest in his convictions ` is a much more credible theory even when
viewed with secular eyes. But one can certainly assert the third
option as well, and NiÅ?anyan did in blunt, if not crude, language.

The question that pious Muslims need to think, in Turkey and
elsewhere, is what they will achieve by banning (or getting infuriated
at) such expressions of infidelity. Nothing really, I must say,
besides their own mental comfort. Plus, there will be some big losses:
Muslim societies will prove to be fundamentally at odds with freedom
of speech, a cornerstone of democracy. Moreover, the same societies
will be devoid of one of the greatest blessings of freedom of speech:
The development of a rational, refined and nuanced discourse.

That is the case, because failing to counter the criticisms against
Islam with argumentation, and rather resorting to bans on blasphemy or
`insulting Muslimness,’ has a downside: You will end up becoming
intellectually feeble. It is sad to see these days that even in
Turkey, the home of an arguably more liberal-leaning Islamic
tradition, many believers fail to see that.
May/25/2013

Concert in honor of Prince Charles

04:24 pm | Today | Social

State youth orchestra of Armenia will have a concert in national
academic theatre of opera and ballet on May 29. Prince Charles of
Wales will be present at the concert. The concert will be dedicated to
the activity of the charity fund “Yerevan my love”.

The concert will be followed by a gala dinner in honor of the
benevolents of the “Yerevan my love” program, among whose is Prince
Charles.

Pieces by Alexander Harutyunyan, Pyotr Tchaykovski, Giuseppe Verdi,
Sergey Rakhmaninov, Aram Khachatryan and other composers will be in
the program of the concert.

More people visit Night of Museums in Armenia

May 25, 2013 | 11:33

YEREVAN. – The Night of Museums was held in Armenia on May 18, and it
coincided with the International Museum Day.

Five museums from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) joined this
year’s event for the first time, the Armenian Culture Ministry press
service informs.

A total of 89 museums from Armenia and NKR took part in this year’s
Night of Museums. Furthermore, the number of museum visitors grew by
34,614, as compared to the year past, and comprised 169,614 people.

Along the lines of the International Museum Day, Armenia also hosted,
on Wednesday and Thursday, the first ever symposium of young museum
specialists, during which twenty participants from Armenia’s and NKR’s
museums delivered presentations. The event also allowed for meetings,
exchange of experience, and arrangements on holding future seminars.
The symposium will be permanent, and the synopses of the delivered
presentations will be posted on the Internet.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIE
L’exploitation des mines en Arménie crée de la pauvreté selon une étude

Le secteur minier a contribué à la croissance économique en Arménie
entre 2004-2010, tout en créant des inégalités de revenus et de la
pauvreté selon une récente étude du Centre Acopian pour
l’environnement de l’Université Américaine d’Arménie (AUA) menée en
collaboration avec le Collège Business and Economics de l’AUA.

Chercheur principal et auteur de l’étude, le Dr Aleksandr Grigoryan,
s’est penché sur les données et les rapports qui indiquent que
l’exploitation minière a eu un impact positif sur la croissance de
l’économie au niveau régional.

« Cela soutient la demande souvent répétée par les promoteurs de
l’exploitation minière est nécessaire à la croissance économique de
l’Arménie » a déclaré le Dr Grigoryan, professeur assistant d’économie
à l’AUA.

L’exploitation minière et la pauvreté

L’analyse de M. Grigoryan, cependant, montre aussi que le secteur
minier contribue à une plus grande pauvreté et une plus grande
inégalité des revenus. « Notre analyse montre que le secteur minier
est susceptible d’accroître les inégalités de revenus et aggrave la
pauvreté dans les régions de l’Arménie dans lesquels il opère », a
déclaré M.Grigoryan.

Cela va à l’encontre des réclamations par les promoteurs miniers que
le secteur crée des emplois qui auront à moyen et long terme un impact
sur le développement sur les régions et le pays.

Ces réalités contradictoires peuvent s’expliquer par un certain nombre
de facteurs qui prévalent dans l’économie arménienne, selon
M.Grigoryan.

« L’exploitation minière a augmenté en proportion dans l’économie
arménienne depuis plusieurs années maintenant, mais avec la crise
économique et la hausse des prix mondiaux des métaux, l’exploitation
minière a joué un rôle plus important dans la croissance de notre PIB
» a-t-il expliqué, notant que cette tendance devrait continuer si
aucun autre secteur de l’économie n’accélère.

L’exploitation minière et l’inégalité des revenus

Une augmentation de la pauvreté est un autre effet observé de
l’exploitation minière, une relation que le Dr Grigoryan demande à ce
qu’elle soit étudiée davantage. D’autres recherches sur l’impact de
l’exploitation minière menée par l’École de la santé publique et le
centre Acopian de l’AUA montrent que certains propriétaires sont
obligés de vendre leurs propriétés à des prix très bas. Ces
événements, s’ils ont eu lieu, priveraient les villageois d’un atout
essentiel à la création de richesse, selon le Dr Grigoryan.

En outre, les travailleurs dans les industries de transformation
minières ou minérales n’ont pas d’assurance maladie, ce qui fait que
le coût de la santé est un fardeau pour ces familles et que la
productivité est plus faible.

Le rôle de la politique

« Si nous voulons faire de l’exploitation minière un secteur clé de
l’économie arménienne, nous devons aussi développer les politiques
socio-économiques pour que les communautés proches et le pays
bénéficient d’avantages au maximum » a déclaré Alen Amirkhanian,
directeur du centre Acopian de l’AUA.

Les industries minières et d’extractions ont joué un rôle important
pour assurer la croissance à long terme et équitable dans plusieurs
pays, notamment la Norvège, l’Australie et le Botswana. « Ces pays ont
utilisé avec succès l’exploitation minière afin d’élever le niveau de
vie de la grande majorité de leur population parce qu’ils ont conçu et
mis en `uvre une bonne politique publique », a souligné Amirkhanian,
qui a organisé une conférence internationale en novembre dernier sur
le sujet.

En l’absence de politiques appropriées visant à réglementer et tirer
parti de l’exploitation minière, l’Arménie va continuer sur le chemin
du modèle d’exploration qui enrichit quelques-uns tout en privant le
plus grand nombre de générations actuelles et futures de la
possibilité de bénéficier de leur patrimoine, a ajouté Amirkhanian.

Selon le Service statistique d’Arménie, en 2011, l’industrie minière
d’Arménie a employé 15500 travailleurs, soit environ un pour cent de
l’emploi total du pays et a contribué à environ 3 pour cent du PIB.

ASBAREZ

samedi 25 mai 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Trend, Azerbaijan
May 23 2013

Expert: Turkey needs to be given important role in Minsk Group

Azerbaijan, Baku, 23 May / Trend, I. Izzet /
Turkey is ready to expand its role in the Minsk Group, and it is
necessary to assign a major role to the country. Despite the fact that
Turkey is one of 11 members of the Minsk Group, it is not yet a
co-chairman. Turkey must therefore either become one of the co-chair
countries or find another way to increase its responsibility, Director
of the Center for Eurasian Studies of Turkey (AVÄ°M), former Turkish
ambassador to various countries, diplomat Alev Kilic told Trend.

According to Kilic, the current situation with the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories are
unacceptable.

“It has been 20 years and this conflict has not been solved and is now
referred to as a “frozen conflict”. However, it is clear that the OSCE
Minsk Group has failed to resolve the matter, and it is necessary to
return to work on the issue. For Turkey, it is clear that the events
can not go on this way. We think on how to increase effectiveness of
the Minsk Group. This problem hinders the development of cooperation
in the South Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin and Central Asia region,”
the expert said.

Amnesty International: Azerbaijani authorities continue to intimidate
and arrest those who criticize government

22:49 23/05/2013 » LAW

The Azerbaijani government continues to intimidate and imprison people
and groups who criticizes the government. Peaceful protests in the
centre of the city were banned and dispersed by the police with
excessive use of force. Torture, especially in police custody, was
frequently reported, the annual report of the international human
rights organization Amnesty International reads.

“The government targeted human rights defenders and journalists for
their work and subjected them to intimidation, harassment and arrest.
The authorities use arrests and spurious charges to clamp down on
activists and protestors,” the document said.

The organization reminds about the case of threatening of Khadija
Ismayilova, investigative journalist with Radio Free Europe, as well
as the arrests of Hilal Mamedov, editor of The Voice of Talysh
newspaper, Zaur Gurbanli, pro-democracy campaign activist and chair of
the opposition youth movement Nida and a number of other cases of
violation of expression freedom.

Besides, according to the report, the NGOs working on human rights and
democracy issues faced pressure and harassment and found it difficult
to hold meetings or operate freely, especially outside Baku.

“Public protests continued to be banned in the centre of Baku. In
November, amendments to the Criminal Code increased the maximum
punishment for those organizing and participating in “unauthorized” or
“banned” protests. The new sentence could be up to three years in
prison and a fine of US$10,000,” the AI writes.

Peaceful assemblies were regularly dispersed with excessive force by
police and those who attempted to take part in peaceful rallies faced
harassment, beatings and arrest.

Source: Panorama.am

Criminal case opened after incident in military unit in Martuni

Thursday,
May 23

An incident occurred in a military unit in Martuni, Gegharkunik
province. Shots were fired after a dispute began between conscript
Misha Khudaverdian and contract serviceman Kamo Avagian. No one was
wounded.

Aysor.am was informed by senior officer of the Defense Ministry’s
Investigation Service Ms. Mary Sargsyan that in connection with the
incident, a criminal case was opened under Articles 34 and 104
(attempt to commit a murder) of the Criminal Code. Misha Khudaverdian
was arrested.

Khudaverdian became enraged that Kamo Avagian informed the commander
in writing that he did not observe orderliness while on duty. For that
reason Misha Khudaverdian opened fire from his automatic rifle at K.
Avagian and another soldier.

22.05.2013, 18:16
Aysor.am

Boston Globe, MA
May 24 2013

Koutoujian will run for US House if Markey wins Senate bid

By Jim O’Sullivan

Middlesex County Sheriff – Peter J. Koutoujian said Thursday that he
will run to succeed US Representative Edward J. Markey if the Malden
Democrat defeats Republican Gabriel E. Gomez in the US Senate race.

Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat appointed sheriff in 2011 after 14
years as a state representative, would enter a thickening field that
is banking on a Markey victory opening the US House seat.

`This is the right decision for me,’ Koutoujian said. `This is
something that I’ve looked at in the past. It is something about which
I feel very strongly, and I think I can bring over 20 years’
experience as a prosecutor, state lawmaker, and sheriff.’

A former prosecutor, Koutoujian won the sheriff’s job outright in
November. On Thursday, a public relations firm said Koutoujian had
opened a federal campaign committee account, allowing him to raise
money and hire campaign staff `when appropriate.’

`I believe my stances on the issues are in line with what the people
of the Fifth Congressional District are looking for,’ Koutoujian said.

If Markey beats Gomez, a special election to fill his US House seat
would take place in the fall, state officials said. The potential
field also includes state Senators William Brownsberger of Belmont,
Katherine Clark of Melrose, and Karen Spilka of Ashland and state
Representative Carl Sciortino of Medford, all Democrats.

Tallin hearing on frozen conflicts
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i=”4.87,739,1363158000″;
d=”scan’208″;a=”215560217″
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

Armenian MPs comment on European experts? pro-Azerbaijani position at
Tallin hearing on frozen conflicts

21:10 ? 24.05.13

The speeches by Sabine Freizer, Director of the Europe Program,
International Crisis Group, as well as by other European experts, at
the hearing on frozen conflicts in Tallin, Estonia, showed clear
tendencies to present the OSCE Minsk Group as a failed format for the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the
Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) parliamentary group, who represented
Armenia at the hearing, told Tert.am.

Moreover, Sabine Freizer voiced an opinion challenging the viability
of the negotiated principles.

?She spoke of the need to think of not only changing the OSCE Minsk
Group?s mandate, but also the fundamental principles that have proved
viable,? Zohrabyan said.

She noted that the speeches were delivered during the discussion of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The point is that, aware of the anti-Russian atmosphere, the Russian
side boycotted the discussions of the Abkhazian and Ossetian
conflicts. The discussion proved to be rather calm, whereas the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue ?had to bear the whole burden.?

Sabine Freizer also stated that both Armenia and Azerbaijan make
bellicose statements.

Both Naira Zohrabyan and Armen Rustamyan (Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutyun ? ARF-D), both of whom participated in the
hearing, presented the Armenian side?s position.

?[Sabine Freizer] distorted the facts, and I could not but tell Ms
Freizer that she, to put it mildly, was not right,? Zohrabyan said.

In her speech she stated that Armenia?s leaders have never made any
bellicose statements or resorted to militant rhetoric. Armenia does
not want war. Azerbaijan is on the wrong way if they think they can
frighten Armenia.

?I stated that we had seen Azerbaijani soldiers? morale when a brute
murdered a sleeping Armenian officer in Budapest,? Zohrabyan said.
Despite the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs? efforts, the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process has not shown progress because Azerbaijan keeps on
rejecting the mediators? proposals.

As regards Azerbaijan?s efforts to get the OSCE Minsk Group format of
the Nagorno-Karabakh peace replaced with a new one, Zohrabyan stressed
that Armenia accepts the fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter
and is willing to continue peaceful negotiations within the OSCE Minsk
Group.

Zohrabyan invited the participants in the hearing to visit Nagorno-Karabakh.

?Go there and, I assure you, you will see peaceable people building up
their democratic future,? she said.

Pro-Azerbaijani speeches are not a surprise for Armenia.

?Once more, Azerbaijan preferred using its lobbyists to acting on its
own behalf. We are well aware of the position held by the
aforementioned deputies that are part of Azerbaijani lobby and by
their Europe-based international protégés experts,? Zohrabyan said.

Armen Rustamyan, in turn, drew parallels between Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo.

He wonders why the declaration of Kosovo?s independence is considered
to be in conformity with international principles, whereas
Nagorno-Karabakh?s independence is not considered to be such.

PACE Co-Rapporteur on Azerbaijan Pedro Agramunt and ?the notorious
lobbyist Ilyinsky? made pro-Azerbaijani speeches.

On the other hand, Co-Rapporteur on Armenia John Prescott criticized
Azerbaijan for the lack of democracy.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Old terminal ‘hinders Zvartnots airport further development’

May 24, 2013 – 17:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia International Airports CJSC is against the
demolition of the old terminal of Zvartnots airport, deputy manager
said.

“Both the new and the old terminals of the airport are owned by the
Republic of Armenia,” Andranik Shkhyan said, adding, however, that an
airport infrastructure development plan was offered.

“The old terminal is located in the site of the planned expansion of
the building,” he said, noting it as an impediment to the further
development of the airport.
Mr. Shkhyan noted that the municipality responded to the airport’s
letter noting the demolition of the old terminal building as
unfounded.

In this context, he said the airport management offered to build a
railway in the framework of the infrastructure’s development program.

On May 4, 2012, Director General of South Caucasus Railways Victor
Rebets, the then Minister of Transport and Communications Manuk
Vardanyan and General Manager of Armenia International Airports CJSC
Marcelo Wende signed a memorandum on the construction of a railway to
Zvartnots airport.