Author: Kanayan Tamar

SELON LE HHK, LA POLICE DOIT ETRE INTRANSIGEANTE

La police antiemeutes aurait dû prendre des mesures plus sevères
contre les milliers de partisans de l’opposition qui manifestaient
contre le president Serge Sarkissian hier, a declare le vice-president
du Parti Republicain d’Armenie (HHK)mercredi 10 avril 2013.

Galust Sahakian a egalement declare que le leader de l’opposition
Raffi Hovannisian a epuise toutes les possibilites d’un accord de
compromis avec le gouvernement. ” Il n’est pas possible de cooperer “,
a-t-il declare a RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am).

Sahakian, qui dirige egalement le groupe parlementaire du HHK, a
declare que la police armenienne aurait dû disperser la foule qui
tentait d’atteindre le palais presidentiel.” Les unites de police
doivent prendre des mesures plus sevères contre ces manifestations non
autorisees “, a-t-il dit.

De hauts representants du parti Zharangutyun (patrimoine) ont condamne
les actions de la police. L’usage de la force a egalement ete decrite
comme ” disproportionnee ” par Elinar Vartanian, la presidente de la
commission parlementaire armenienne des droits de l’homme et membre du
Parti Armenie prospère (BHK). ” La societe semble etre divisee en deux
parties “, a-t-elle dit, exprimant sa preoccupation quant aux
developpements post-electoraux dans le pays.

En revanche, Artsvik Minasian, un depute de la Federation
Revolutionnaire Armenienne (FRA), un autre parti d’opposition qui a
soutenu Hovannisian, a felicite le travail de la police. ”
Contrairement au passe, la police a agi d’une manière plus organisee
et legale cette fois-ci “, a declare Minasian a RFE / RL
(Azatutyun.am).

Minassian a egalement critique Hovannisian pour avoir essaye
d’organiser un rassemblement devant le palais presidentiel. Mais
Stepan Safarian, le secretaire general du parti Zharangutyun a accuse
la FRA et d’autres forces de l’opposition de ne pas avoir participe
aux manifestations mardi.” Cette passivite est une ” tragedie ” pour
Hovannisian et la nation tout entière. Ce n’est pas Raffi Hovannisian,
qui s’est suicide politiquement. Le suicide est commis par ceux qui
prennent une voie differente “, a-t-il dit.

Hovannisian organise un rassemblement a Erevan place de la Liberte
vendredi 12 avril 2013.

jeudi 11 avril 2013,
Laetitia ©armenews.com

GUL SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC COOPERATION WITH GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN

Wed 10 April 2013 06:01 GMT | 7:01 Local Time

Turkish President Abdullah Gul stands for the strengthening of
strategic ties with Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Abdullah Gul said this in Ankara at a meeting with Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili, according to the news service for the Turkish
president, 1news.az reports.

The Turkish President drew attention to the implementation of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline,
the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) and the Trans-Anatolian pipeline, noting
that such regional initiatives have strengthened ties with Baku
and Tbilisi.

At the same time, the Turkish president said that the Marmara project,
which will establish a direct rail link from China to London will be
implemented soon. Gul added that, in this context, the BTK project
is strategic and will revitalize the traditional trade relations
between the West and the East. “BTK is a modern Iron Silk Road, and
it will make up for the missing portion of so-called Middle corridor”,
Gul said.

The Turkish President also touched on bilateral relations with
Georgia, saying that political stability in this country is of great
importance for the whole region. Gul said that in the last 10 years,
Turkey’s direct investment in the Georgian economy has exceeded a
billion dollars.

Saakashvili, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the level of
development of relations with Turkey, thanking Ankara for the steps
to support the efforts of Tbilisi’s integration into NATO.

News.Az

MOLDOVAN DEFENSE MINISTRY: “OUR COUNTRY HAS NO INTENTION OF SELLING ARMS TO ARMENIA”

APA, Azerbaijan
April 10 2013

Diana GrÄ~Cdinaru: “The Defense Minister also expressed this position
at the meeting with the Azerbaijani ambassador”

Baku. Anakhanum Hidayatova – APA. “The Republic of Moldova has no
intention of selling arms to Armenia,” said Public Affairs Officer
at the Moldovan Defense Ministry Diana GrÄ~Cdinaru.

According to her, Moldovan Defense Minister Vitalie Marinuţa has
also expressed this position at the working meeting with Azerbaijan’s
ambassador to Moldova Namig Aliyev.

The official statement of the Moldovan Defense Ministry shows that this
country is not going to sell arms to Armenia and the implementation
of the contract signed previously has been suspended.

At the meeting with Azerbaijan’s ambassador Namig Aliyev, Moldovan
Defense Minister Vitalie Marinuţa said that the recent reports
issued by pro-opposition media are not correct and aim to strain
Azerbaijan-Moldova relations.

“The leadership of Moldova has decided to stop trading with the
assets of the National Army. This is a final decision and can not
be reconsidered.”

IAEA GRANTS SIX NEW SEISMIC STATIONS TO ARMENIA

AzerNews, Azerbaijan April 10 2013

10 April 2013, 02:21 (GMT+05:00) By Sara Rajabova

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) granted new seismic stations
to Armenia for improving seismic safety around the Metsamor Nuclear
Power Plant.

IAEA, in order to increase the seismic safety of the Armenian Metsamor
nuclear power plant under a national program of technical cooperation
has granted six new seismic stations GURALP 6TD for improving the
telemetric seismic network, placed and operating around the power
plant, Armenian media reported citing the press service of the Armenian
Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Metsamor is one of the few remnants of the old Soviet nuclear reactors
built without primary containment structures. Only a few of these
first generation water-moderated reactors are still in use today,
being past or near their original retirement ages, but what sets the
Metsamor nuclear power plant apart from all the others is the fact
that it’s located in a potentially hazardous seismic zone.

Metsamor NPP was built in 1970. After the devastating earthquake
in Spitak in 1988 it was closed, but in 1995, the operation of
the station was resumed and a second reactor was launched despite
international criticism.

The lifespan of Metsamor expired in 2010, but Armenia and IAEA experts
have agreed to continue the operation of the plant until 2016.

The nuclear power plant poses a serious threat to the security of
the entire region, especially to the neighboring countries – Turkey,
Georgia and Azerbaijan. Therefore, the three countries demand immediate
shutdown of the plant in view of the danger.

According to environmentalists and scientists from all over the region,
seismic activity in the area renders Metsamor nuclear plant an extreme
risk even if a new generation reactor were to be built. Given the
large number of minor earthquakes in the area in the last ten years,
as well as the intensification of the seismic processes, scientists
predict that in the event of a major accident at Metsamor, not only
Armenia, but also other countries of the South Caucasus and Middle
East states would be severely affected.

MASS ARREST OF PROTESTORS STARTS IN ARMENIA

APA, Azerbaijan
April 10 2013

Baku – APA. Protest of the opposition in Yerevan has ended.

APA reports that police have arrested a number of protestors. Some
people were reportedly injured in the clashes outside presidential
residence. Deputy Head of Hovhannisyan’s Heritage party Armen
Martirosyan and MP Zaruhi Postanjyan were also injured. Former
Armenian presidential candidate, director of “Radio Hay” Andreas
Ghukasyan was also detained. Ghukasyan was released after a few hours.

KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS RETURN FROM ARMENIA

Topeka Capital Journal, Kansas
April 9 2013

State partnering to teach about disaster response
Posted: April 9, 2013 – 6:18pm

By Megan Hart
April 9, 2013 7:49 PM EDT

Three Kansas Army National Guard members recently returned from
Armenia as the state celebrates 10 years of its overseas partnership.

Staff Sgt. Brian Martin, of Salina, was one of three Kansas Guard
members who went overseas for five days in March to assess Armenian
soldiers’ knowledge of emergency lifesaving measures they could use in
a disaster or in any future military operations. He has been deployed
to Iraq twice, but this was his first mission in the Caucasus region.

Armenia, a small, predominantly Christian country in the mountainous
region between Russia, Turkey and Iran, gained independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991. Members of the Kansas National Guard have had
an exchange program there since 2003, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman
for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department.

The partnership began with a military focus, Watson said, but Armenia
and Kansas more recently have exchanged medical and agricultural
experts. One major area of interest is sharing ideas for disaster
response because Armenia is prone to earthquakes and Kansas is
vulnerable to tornadoes, she said.

“It’s a learning experience,” she said.

Martin said the experiences he and his fellow guardsmen had in Iraq
are helping them teach the Armenians about how to keep someone alive
long enough to get the person to medical help.

“We’re taking the lessons we learned and turning it into something
good for another country,” he said.

Martin, Staff Sgt. Kimberly Fox and Staff Sgt. Vernon Perkins got a
cultural lesson before deploying and advice not to talk about politics,
Martin said, but it wasn’t an issue.

“The people were so hospitable,” he said.

Most of their time was spent on work, Martin said, but they
were invited to a traditional Armenian dinner one night. A meal
traditionally has a “commandant” who declares when people may sit
and when they may make toasts, he said.

“You eat and eat, and you have to be careful, because that’s just
the appetizers,” he said.

States apply for partner countries in regions where the United States
would like to establish relationships, Watson said. Kansas previously
partnered with Ukraine. The exchange programs are mostly located
in eastern Europe, central Asia, southeast Asia, South America and
subsaharan Africa.

“This is a chance to build a bond and really strengthen our
relationships with these countries,” she said.

They worked at a training center for removing landmines near the
capital, Yerevan, Martin said. The mines are left over from a 1988 to
1994 war with neighboring Azerbaijan. The two have never concluded
a formal peace, but the United States has relations with both,
and National Guard members from Oklahoma have exchanges with the
Azerbaijanis.

The three Guard members will go back later this year to train a small
group of Armenians in lifesaving techniques based on what they observed
in March, Martin said. The goal isn’t to tell other countries what
they are “doing wrong,” but to give them additional ideas and tools,
he said.

“I was really amazed at how open they were to what we were there to
do,” he said. “I hope this (partnership) continues for quite a while.”

SCOUTING RUMOURED LIVERPOOL TARGET HENRIKH MKHITARYAN

Bleacher Report
April 10 2013

By Mark Jones(Featured Columnist) on April 10, 2013

Armenia doesn’t necessarily come to mind when you think about great
football.

Shakhtar Donetsk don’t immediately come to mind when you think about
the Champions League either, but that hasn’t stopped the Ukrainian
side being mainstays in the competition over the last decade, with
plenty of their players impressing over that time.

One of the latest is 24-year-old attacking midfielder Henrikh
Mkhitaryan, who has caught the eye alongside the Brazilian-born talents
Willian, Eduardo, Taison and Douglas Costa. Mkhitaryan’s name might
not roll off the tongue as easily as theirs do, but he’s been no
less impressive.

The Yerevan-born midfielder has carved out a reputation as one of
European football’s great under-appreciated talents in recent seasons.

Capable of playing both in a central striking role, in one of the
wide forward positions or running in from midfield, Mkhitaryan is a
very modern footballer who always seems to be on the move and looking
to make things happen.

Crucially, he is capable of making those things happen too, and
he can boast a record of better than a goal every three games in
over 90 appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk, whilst his 10 strikes in
36 appearances for Armenia mean that he will soon become his young
country’s all-time record goalscorer.

Mkhitaryan starred as Shakhtar qualified from the group stages of
this season’s Champions League from a section that included Juventus
and Chelsea, with the midfielder scoring his first and second goals
in the competition in the 2-0 win over FC Nordsjaelland on Matchday 1.

Such feats have, of course, attracted the interest of plenty
of European football’s heavyweights, and with Mkhitaryan himself
admitting that he would be open to a move this summer (via Sky Sports)
could cause a mad scramble for his signature.

Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers reportedly want to be at the front of
that queue (via Daily Telegraph).

With Rodgers and owners Fenway Sports Group keen to see Liverpool
further develop their stylish, entertaining attacking play, Mkhitaryan
would seem to fit into that mould with ease.

Apparently able to speak fluent English (via Ukrainian Football 1894),
it would be easy to see the Armenian slotting into the Liverpool side
alongside the creative and goalscoring talents of the likes of Luis
Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge.

Mkhitaryan wouldn’t come cheap, of course, but he isn’t likely to
command the kind of megabucks money that many of Europe’s top attacking
midfielders have over the past couple of years, and whilst that will,
of course, play into Liverpool’s hands, it will also see plenty of
competition emerge for the attacker.

Liverpool and Rodgers will have to hope that that competition isn’t
too tempting for the Armenian, but with European football of any kind
looking far from certain to be taking place at Anfield next season,
the Reds’ chances of recruiting him could be slipping.

Having made his name in the Champions League, Mkhitaryan won’t be too
keen to step outside it for an uncertain period of time, and so the
Reds are going to have to hope that it is the lure of the Premier
League and a likely starting berth that point him in the direction
of Anfield.

As with all of Liverpool’s potential signings, there is an awful
lot that needs to go right for any deal to even be close to being
completed, but Mkhitaryan would certainly add an awful lot to the
squad were he to be added.

Armenia might not come to mind when you think about football, but
Liverpool fans could be thinking a lot about one of their players
very soon.

SYMPOSIUM TO FOCUS ON UNDERSTUDIED GENOCIDES

Newsroom, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
April 10 2013

UNL’s Harris Center for Judaic Studies will present “Forgotten
Genocides: New Perspectives on a Less Known History” on April 10 in
the Nebraska Union Auditorium, 14th and R streets.

The symposium welcomes eight scholars to discuss new perspectives and
information on some of the lesser-known genocides and mass atrocities
of the 20th century. The goal of the symposium is to add to the broader
discussion regarding understudied genocides, which may foster more
communication and greater understanding among different disciplines
and specialists.

David Forsythe, professor emeritus of political science at UNL,
will give the opening lecture. He will discuss the well-developed
body of international law prohibiting atrocities and actions that
may be taken to oppose genocide, crimes against humanity, and war
crimes. Forsythe will speak about how these norms are implemented by
states that calculate various costs based on their self-interest.

“Even at the United Nations, it is states that take the key decisions
and decide — or not — to loan power to that organization,”
Forsythe said. “So norms and standards have changed a great deal,
but calculations of national self-interest, not so much. The result
is great inconsistency in responding to atrocities, as per Libya
and Syria.”

Two panels follow the lecture. The schedule of events is:

9-10 a.m.: Opening Remarks by Jean Cahan, director of the Harris
Center for Judaic Studies, followed by Forsythe’s opening lecture.

10 a.m.-noon: Talks by the following UNL scholars: Suping Lu,
professor of libraries, “Unearthing the Nanjing Massacre through
American Diplomatic Channel”; Gerald Steinacher, assistant professor
of history, “Mussolini in Africa: Italy’s War of Aggression against
Ethiopia, 1935-41”; and Bedross Der Matossian, assistant professor of
history, “Revisiting the Debate about the Concentration Camps during
the Armenian Genocide.”

2-4 p.m.: Talks by the following scholars: Hannibal Travis, associate
professor of law at Florida International University, “Not Yet
Forgotten: Genocide in Darfur and Sudan’s Peripheral States”; Patrice
McMahon, associate professor of political science and global studies
at UNL, “Reconciliation after War and Genocide in Bosnia”; and Chantal
Kalisa, associate professor of modern languages and literatures at UNL,
“We Are Rwandan: Performing Trauma and Memory Transnationally.”

The symposium is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by
the Harris Center for Judaic Studies, with additional support from
the Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Program and the Department
of History.

— Deann Gayman, University Communications

More details at:

ARMENIANS HOLD COMPETING PRESIDENTIAL SWEARING-IN CEREMONIES

Transitions online, Czech Rep.

April 10 2013

Continuing to question the results of the 18 February election
that gave Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan another term in office,
former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian held his own “alternative”
inauguration in Freedom Square in the capital, Yerevan, on 9 April,
The Armenian Weekly reports.

The fight against what he and his supporters allege were fixed
elections, leaving Hovannisian a distant second to the president,
“does not end today,” he said, referring to Sargsyan’s official
inauguration across town.

But the president’s swearing-in went off without a hitch in spite of
the opposition protesters who attempted to march near the presidential
administration building, according to Reuters. Police stopped the
demonstrators, who then returned to Freedom Square.

For the actual inauguration, Sargsyan said he would focus his new
term on building Armenia’s economy, improving its system of justice,
bolstering democracy, and seeking an end to the long-running conflict
with Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Reuters reports.

KARABAKH PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT REMAINS FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY OF ARMENIA-PRESIDENT

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 9, 2013 Tuesday 07:34 PM GMT+4

– Peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict remains Armenia’s
foreign policy priority, President Serzh Sargsyan said at his
inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. “The peaceful resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the foreign policy arena and will remain
a priority until we attain the final settlement,” the president
pointed out.

“However, we will continuously work to improve our security level,”
Sargsyan said. “We are grateful to everyone who contributes
to stability in the region, but must primarily rely on our own
resources,” the head of state noted. “In the event of possible negative
developments the importance of containing the enemy and preserving
peace is not a subject for debate,” he said. “We do not want war,
but at the same time we are ready to counter any challenges,”
Sargsyan warned.