Author: Kanayan Tamar

TURQUIE
En Turquie, la contrefaçon dans le viseur des entreprises étrangères

Il y a le textile et le luxe, bien sûr, mais aussi l’automobile et
désormais la pharmacie. Derrière l’incontesté numéro un mondial
chinois, la Turquie reste une plaque tournante européenne de la
contrefaçon, au vu et au su d’un gouvernement accusé de complaisance.

La complainte est récurrente et revient en tête des préoccupations des
entreprises étrangères qui débarquent sur le sol turc. En janvier,
c’était au tour du président du comité Colbert, qui regroupe la fine
fleur des industries françaises du luxe, de profiter d’une tournée à
Istanbul pour dénoncer l’indulgence coupable des autorités face aux «
pirates » de tous poils.

« La Turquie fait partie des pays où nous rencontrons le plus de
soucis », a déploré Michel Bernardaud, le patron de la célèbre maison
de porcelaine éponyme, « nos marques dépensent beaucoup d’argent pour
la création, il n’y a rien de plus frustrant que de voir tous ces
efforts remis en cause par des copies ».

Frustrant ? Agaçant même. Car en Turquie, la contrefaçon a pignon sur
rue. Un petit tour dans les rues du grand bazar d’Istanbul suffit à
s’en convaincre. Les devantures des petites échoppes y débordent
effrontément de sacs ou de montres griffés, à des prix défiant les
catalogues officiels.

En 2011, la Chambre de commerce internationale (ICO) a évalué à près
de 11 milliards de dollars la valeur des produits copiés importés ou
produits en Turquie. Très loin de la Chine, première pirate de la
planète avec un chiffre d’affaires estimé à 8% de son produit
intérieur brut, soit plus de 550 milliards de dollars.

Mais quand même. Selon l’enquête de l’ICO, la contrefaçon amputerait
chaque année les revenus fiscaux de l’Etat turc de 2,4 milliards de
dollars et y serait responsable du chômage de 135.000 personnes.

« C’est un vrai fléau », résume Selçuk Güzenge, fondateur de
l’Association turque des marques du textile (TMD). « Ici, toutes les
grandes marques de vêtements ou de sacs sont copiées. De temps en
temps, la police fait une descente pour les caméras. Elle saisit des
marchandises et ferme des magasins mais, trois semaines plus tard, ce
commerce reprend comme si de rien n’était ».

« La contrefaçon textile concerne surtout de petits ateliers qui
s’adaptent très vite à la mode et à l’action de la police », complète
le président de l’Association turque des producteurs de textile
(TGSD), Cem Negrin, « il est très difficile de les démanteler ».

Un combat incertain

Prêt-à-porter, maroquinerie et parfumerie constituent la principale
cible des copieurs turcs. Plus étonnant, leurs activités s’étendent
aussi à la pharmacie, l’alimentation et la pièce détachée automobile.
Une véritable économie parallèle, souvent liée à des réseaux
criminels.

Pour les contrer, les entreprises étrangères mobilisent des batteries
d’avocats. Mais leur combat est très incertain. Ankara a beau avoir
signé toutes les conventions internationales protégeant la propriété
intellectuelle, la liberté d’action de ses policiers et douaniers y
est encore limitée.

« En Turquie, il faut intenter une action devant un tribunal pour
obtenir une saisie », explique Me Esra Dündar-Loiseau, du cabinet
Özdirekcan-Bilgiç-Dündar, correspondant du cabinet français
Gide-Loyrette-Nouel. « Il existe aussi des juges spécialisés mais pas
assez nombreux », ajoute-t-elle, « c’est une difficulté car les
contrefacteurs opèrent là où ces juridictions n’existent pas ».

Parfois, les plaintes aboutissent à des peines de prison ferme,
surtout en cas de récidive. Souvent, la punition se limite à des
amendes. Et la procédure est longue.

« Nous avons déposé notre première plainte en 2007 et le dossier n’a
toujours pas été tranché définitivement », déplore Arzu Soytürk, de
Renault-Mais. Le constructeur français estime à près d’un
demi-milliard d’euros le marché annuel de l’entretien de son parc
automobile en Turquie. « Une partie importante nous échappe », déplore
Mme Soytürk, « mais il faudrait une armée pour lutter ».

Plus que les failles du droit, c’est la tolérance du gouvernement qui
est pointée du doigt. « La Turquie dispose d’un bon arsenal de
protection de la propriété intellectuelle », résume un diplomate
européen, « mais sa volonté politique fait défaut ».

Sollicités par l’AFP, les ministères turcs de l’Economie et des
Douanes n’ont pas souhaité s’exprimer sur ce sujet.

« Lorsque nous l’avons rencontré, le ministre (turc) de l’Economie
Zafer Caglayan nous a dit à quel point de ce phénomène le préoccupait
», rapporte, toujours sceptique, Michel Bernardaud.

D’autres veulent croire à un changement. « C’est vrai, la contrefaçon
c’est d’abord des emplois », relève Selçuk Güzenge, « mais elle
commence à toucher des marques turques, ça va contraindre les
autorités à agir ».

dimanche 10 mars 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

USA
L’Azerbaïdjan appelle la communauté juive de ne pas manifester de
position pro-arménienne

« J’appelle les membres de American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) de répondre aux députés qui représentent leurs pays et de ne
pas tomber sous l’influence de groupes de pression pro-arméniens » a
déclaré l’ambassadeur d’Azerbaïdjan aux Etas-Unis Elin Suleymanov lors
de la réunion annuelle de l’AIPAC cité par l’agence de presse azérie
APA.

« L’Azerbaïdjan remplit ses engagements entrepris dans les relations
avec Israël. Nous aimerions que les membres de l’AIPAC représentant
les intérêts d’Israël aux États-Unis et les politiciens, qui sont
proches de nous, ne montrent pas de positions pro-arméniennes ou
anti-azerbaïdjanaises ».

A titre d’exemple, l’ambassadeur a noté les efforts déployés par le
congressiste Berman, qui est soutenu par les membres de l’AIPAC,
visant à empêcher la livraison d’équipements navals produits par les
Etats-Unis en Azerbaïdjan. Bien que, l’Azerbaïdjan n’ait pas de
frontière maritime avec l’Arménie, le représentant Berman affirme que
l’Azerbaïdjan peut utiliser les équipements mentionnés ci-dessus
contre l’Arménie. Il a également mentionné qu’en raison des tentatives
du sénateur Menendez les États-Unis n’ont pas nommé d’ambassadeur en
Azerbaïdjan durant un an et demi.

dimanche 10 mars 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

ARMENIE-VATICAN
L’Arménie va ouvrir une Ambassade au Saint Siège

L’Arménie se prépare à ouvrir une Ambassade au Saint Siège (Vatican).
Le président arménien Serge Sarkissian vient de signer le décret
validant cette ouverture. Le texte fut présenté et adopté par le
Parlement arménien le 7 mars. Les relations diplomatiques entre
l’Arménie et le Vatican étaient établis le 23 mai 1992. Le Saint Siège
avait reconnu le génocide arménien, le 9 novembre 2000 par une
déclaration commune effectuée par le Pape Jean-Paul II et le
catholicos de « tous les Arméniens » Kérékine II. Erévan considère que
le Vatican représente une place diplomatique importante. Le Saint
Siège qui dispose d’un statut d’observateur permanent auprès de l’ONU,
de l’Union européenne ainsi que de nombreuses organisations
internationales.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 9 mars 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

THE ARMENIAN CHURCH AT THE ENTHRONEMENT OF THE NEW ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX
PATRIARCH

On Sunday, 3 March 2013, Archbishop Avak Assadourian and Bishop Ashod
Menatsakanian from the Holy See of Etchmiadzin and Archbishops Gorun Babian
and Nareg Alemezian from the Holy See of Cilicia represented the Armenian
Orthodox Church at the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Abuna Mathias
in Addis Ababa.

During the ceremony, Archbishop Gorun read the message of His Holiness Aram
I, who described the long historical relationship between the two sister
churches and particularly the recent close relations with the late Patriarch
Abuna Paulos. The Catholicos said that he looked forward to working in that
same spirit with the new patriarch.

The visit to Addis Ababa was also an opportunity for the Armenian delegation
to celebrate the Holy Liturgy at the St. Gregory Armenian Church and to
greet the community.
##
Photos:

Interfax, Russia
March 6 2013

Putin to meet with Armenian President Sargsyan in Moscow on March 12

MOSCOW. March 6

Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a meeting with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan on March 12, when the latter is paying a
working visit to Russia, the Kremlin press service reported.

This will be Sargsyan’s first visit abroad after he was reelected
president on February 18.

“It is planned during the negotiations to discuss key issues of
further development of multifaceted political, trade-economic, and
humanitarian interaction and also development of integration processes
on the CIS area,” it said.

The previous meeting between Putin and Sargsyan took place in Moscow
on December 19, 2012, upon the conclusion of CSTO and EurAsEC summits
and a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting.

va jv

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 6, 2013 Wednesday 08:05 PM GMT+4

Armenian president’s visit to Moscow to become his first foreign trip
after elections of Feb 18

YEREVAN March 6

– Armenian President Serzh Sargsian will pay a working visit to Russia
on March 11 to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the
press service of the Armenian head of state said on Wednesday.

This will be the first foreign trip of the Armenian president after
the presidential election, which occurred in the republic on February
18, the press service said.

The two heads of state “will discuss a wide range of items included in
the agenda of Russian-Armenian relations, including bilateral
cooperation in the political, trade, economic and humanitarian
spheres,” the press service emphasised.

The two presidents are expected to consider development of integration
processes in the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS), the press service added.

“The Armenian-Russian strategic partnership of allies will continue
remaining the core of Armenian security. The partnership of the kind
proved its viability over 20 years of its history,” Sargsian said at
the Armenian Defence Ministry’s meeting back on January 15, 2013.

“With this in mind, we attach great importance to the role of the
Collective Security Treaty Organisation,” the president noted. “While
making a weighty contribution to the establishment of this
organisation and leaving a certain share of our national security in
the trust of this system, we consider it [CSTO] as guarantor of our
country’s security,” Sargsian said.

The previous meeting of the Russian and Armenian leaders was held in
Moscow on December 19, 2012 upon the results of the CSTO and EurAsEC
summits, as well as the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic
Council.

The Associated Press
March 7, 2013 Thursday 05:02 PM GMT

Civil war gives Syrian minorities no clear option

By BEN HUBBARD and STEVE NEGUS, Associated Press
YACOUBIYEH, Syria

During the battle over this hilltop village in northern Syria, many of
its residents fled, leaving behind empty homes, damaged churches and a
large statue of the Virgin Mary in the deserted town square all relics
of its Christian population.

Now Yacoubiyeh is one of the few minority-dominated communities
captured by Syria’s rebels in the country’s nearly 2-year-old
uprising, making it a key gauge of how the opposition fighters mainly
from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority deal with the country’s broad
patchwork of religious and ethnic minorities.

The Muslim commander of the local rebel garrison appears to be trying
to allay any fears among the around 2,500 Christian residents who
remain in the village since the fighting in January, saying he won’t
impinge on anyone’s rights. But, like many rebel leaders now in charge
of Syrian villages, he is making decisions according to a version of
Islamic law that, though not strict, Christians could find
constrictive.

“To each his freedoms,” said the commander, who goes by the nom de
guerre Hakim, suggesting that Christians could drink alcohol in their
homes, but not in public. “Personal freedom stops where the freedom of
others begins.”

As the regime of President Bashar Assad battles a rebellion capturing
increasing swaths of the country, the old order that governed
relations between the country’s myriad sects and ethnicities is
fraying.

Many of Syria’s minorities find themselves stuck in the middle, unsure
which side poses the greatest danger. While outraged by the regime’s
brutal efforts to quash the opposition, many find equally frightening
the Islamist rhetoric of many rebels, and their heavy reliance on
extremist fighters.

Christians, one of the largest religious minorities at about 10
percent of Syria’s 23 million people, have tried to stay on the
sidelines. However, the opposition’s increasingly outspoken Islamism
has kept many leaning toward the regime.

“I am not convinced that these people want freedom and democracy,”
said Fadi, a Christian civil engineer from Damascus, voicing a common
view that the rebels are led by extremists. “I sympathized with them
at the start, but after all the destruction, killing and kidnapping, I
prefer Bashar Assad.”

Like other Syrians interviewed for this article, he spoke on condition
that only his first name be published for fear of retribution.

Syria’s population hails from a mix of ethnic and religious groups, a
diversity reflecting their position at the crossroads of the Levant.

Some three-fourths of Syrians are Sunni Muslims, but the country is
also home to other Muslim groups like Shiites, Druze and Alawites, as
well as Christians and ethnic communities of Kurds, Armenians and
others.

All coexisted with varying degrees of ease under Assad’s regime,
founded more than four decades ago by his father, Hafez, and inherited
by Bashar in 2000. The Assad family is Alawite, a Shiite offshoot sect
that makes up about 13 percent of the population, and the community is
the backbone of his regime, holding many senior posts. But the Assads
also made sure to bring Sunnis and members of other groups into some
prominent positions in the government and military, and let them carve
out lucrative sectors of trade.

But the uprising against Bashar Assad’s rule that began in March 2011
quickly became an outlet for long-suppressed grievances, mostly by
poor Sunnis from marginalized areas. It has since escalated into an
outright civil war.

So far, rebels have mainly taken control in Sunni majority areas.
There, most commanders do not appear to be aggressively imposing
religious puritanism, as insurgents in Afghanistan or Iraq have.
Still, they fall back on Islamic law as the default way of resolving
disputes and keeping order.

Sectarian violence is increasingly common. Recent weeks have seen
clashes between Sunni and Shiite villages in central Syria, hundreds
of sectarian kidnappings in the north and damage to Christian and
Shiite religious sites after their capture by rebels.

Many rebels increasingly describe their cause in religious terms.
Calls for freedom have been replaced by chants declaring Islam’s
Prophet Muhammad “our leader forever.” Online videos have shown rebels
smashing truckloads of alcohol bottles and mocking executed government
soldiers as “rafideen,” a derogatory term for Shiites and Alawites.
Many hardline Sunnis consider Shiites infidels.

In Taftanaz, a Sunni town near two government-held Shiite enclaves in
a rebel-dominated region, graffiti on a wall shows an ayatollah with a
Grim Reaper’s head, labeled “The Truth of Shiism.”

Further stoking minority fears, Islamic extremists have risen in the
rebel ranks. Jabhat al-Nusra, which the United States considers a
terrorist group, has been at the forefront of most recent rebel
victories.

Activists from minority sects who support the uprising have found
themselves sidelined, sometimes by both the opposition and their own
communities.

An activist from the city of Salamiyeh, where most residents belong to
the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam, said he had been organizing and
filming anti-regime protests since early in the uprising but found
that rebel websites preferred videos featuring the black flags
associated with militant Sunni Islam.

Instead of joining the armed opposition, he and other activists struck
deals with local officials to allow protests as long as they remained
peaceful, he said. That worked well until Jan. 22, when a bomb attack
on a carpet factory killed 36 people. Two weeks later, a second blast
struck a military factory nearby, killing some 50 Salamiyeh residents,
he said.

Jabhat al-Nusra claimed the first bombing, though many suspected that
the regime planned the bombings to turn the Ismailis against the
uprising. Indeed, many residents blamed the local activists for
bringing the war to what had been a peaceful city, he said.

The activist still supports the uprising. But, he said, “I’m afraid
that in the future we could get rid of Alawite dictatorship and get a
Sunni dictatorship.” He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of
retribution.

The Kurds, Syria’s largest ethnic minority, have tried to use the
security vacuum to increase their independence, often clashing with
rebels who seek to “liberate” their areas.

The opposition’s political leadership, the Syrian National Coalition,
has failed to build ties with minorities. It has few minority members,
and those it does have are not considered leaders in their
communities. The group also has no control over fighters on the
ground.

“To Syria’s Christians, Assad is no savior, but he is seen by many as
the gatekeeper holding back the floodwaters of sectarian retribution
and religious persecution by Sunni militants,” said Ramzy Mardini,
Middle East analyst at the Jamestown Foundation.

“For minorities, life after Assad looks gloomier and the political
opposition is neither strong nor credible enough to make any genuine
reassurances to them,” he said.

Rebels moved in to capture Yacoubiyeh and two neighboring villages,
Judeida and Quniya which together are home to several thousand
Christians in part because regime forces were shelling rebel-held
areas from the communities. Those who fled appear to have done so
mainly to escape the battle, though worries over the approaching
rebels may have played a role.

Last month, residents met with Muslim clerics to discuss the status of
Christians under the Islamic courts that rebels have organized. One
villager said he didn’t want to be a “dhimmi” a second-class citizen
under Islamic law but a Syrian with equal rights, said Mouaz Moustafa
of the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force, who organized the
meeting.

The clerics responded that the courts were a “service” they provide in
the absence of any other government, Moustafa said. They said stricter
Shariah punishments, like amputation of hands and stoning, have been
suspended during wartime, and the courts would try to enlist civil
judges to partner with the clerics. Democratic elections after the
regime’s fall, the clerics said, would ultimately determine the laws.

Analyst Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Middle East Center cautioned
against assuming that all members of sectarian groups think alike.
Even among Sunnis and Alawites, there is a range of views: Many want
what they see as best for Syria not just for their own sect whether
that means Assad or the rebellion. It is also premature to talk of a
Sunni takeover in Syria, he said, noting that many Sunnis don’t follow
the extreme views held by some rebel fighters.

What is more likely, he said, is national fragmentation that leaves no
structure able to handle tasks like rebuilding the economy and
repatriating refugees.

“These are going to be massive issues,” he said.

Hubbard reported from Beirut. A Syrian reporter in Damascus, Syria,
contributed reporting.

Landmines: Karabakh’s deadly legacy of war decreasing, but still a fact of life

KARABAKH 25: BUILDING A REPUBLIC | 07.03.13 | 22:01

Photo:

A HALO manual deminer working in Khtsaberd, Hadrut Region.
By JULIA HAKOBYAN
ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor

Gurgen Arustamian, a carpenter in Hadrut, tells with irony about the
day his life was changed by a landmine.

`I fought on the frontline for two years and was not even scratched,’
he says, laughing, as if yet amazed that he survived the bloody
fighting of 1991-94. `Then, eventually I was blown apart in peace
time.’

Enlarge Photo
Arkadi Zakarian, a 40-year old Karabakh war veteran and HALO Trust supervisor

Enlarge Photo
Davit Simonyan with family

In 1997, at that time 26-year-old Arustamian with his 10 year old
brother were collecting wood not far from the town of Hadrut (in the
southern province of the same name). Arustamian was walking ahead of
his brother . . .

`I only remember that I was in pain and shock, but was yelling to my
brother `Freeze! Stay where you are!’,’ Arustamian recalls. `He wanted
to come to me but I kept telling him to stay away. Then I crawled back
to him and then guided him on how to reach the road and call for
help’.

The unlucky war veteran had stepped on a land mine the locals call
`frog’ because when you step on it, it jumps up before exploding.

The `frog’ damage caused Arustamian’s to lose his leg below the knee.
He says he was `lucky’, considering that that same year landmine
incidents killed several people.

For 18 years – since the ceasefire – Karabakhis haven’t heard the
sounds of exploding missiles, but the occasional blasts from landmines
is a reminder that the remains of war are a present and deadly danger.

Mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) continue to cause disabilities and
human and animal casualties almost every month in Karabakh – one of
the most heavily mined areas in all the former Soviet Union. Sappers
say that despite the mines and UXO were laid in the earth many years
ago, they are still as good as new and will still be deadly 50 years
from now.

Mines were laid through the duration of the war by both Azerbaijani
and Armenian troops. Many areas were mined by one side, then when that
area was taken by the enemy, that side mined it, too. Some areas were
taken and re-taken several times, with more mines laid each time.

According to different estimations by international organization, the
number of landmines left after the fighting ceased ranged from
50,000-100,000 – enough to take out more than half of Karabakh’s
population. Added to that number were thousands (estimated) of UXO –
bombs that had landed without exploding, yet remaining `live’ and
likely to explode if struck.

Apart from death and injury, landmines led to large patches of fertile
land becoming unsafe for farming. At one point, as much as 30 percent
of farmland was unusable because of mine fields. The Ministry of
Agriculture estimates that Karabakh has lost up to $10 million per
year in potential revenue because farmlands were unsafe for
cultivation.

The official statistic says 74 civilians were killed by mines and 270
were injured since 1994. But there is no exact number of people
injured or killed by landmines, since there was no record kept of
civilian landmine casualties during the war itself, as well as no
complete information available until 2000, when HALO Trust, a UK based
demining agency, started its work in Karabakh. This year four citizens
were injured in land mine explosions, including two children – one by
cluster bomb and one by UXO. One farmer was injured when his tractor
ran over an anti-tank mine. One person was injured by anti-personnel
mine.

(Through 1995-96 HALO Trust conducted an 18-month long program in
Karabakh that established a mine clearance capacity for the local
authorities. In 2000 it returned for the ongoing de-mining.)

Twelve years of clearing

HALO Trust, the world’s largest humanitarian de-mining organization is
the only agency that conducts minefield surveys and clearance in
Karabakh. The cleared areas are handed over and are now being used by
farmers. Suspected areas are marked with signs `Danger! Mines!’.

Since 2000, HALO Trust has cleared about 10,700 mines, in addition to
43,000 explosive devises and cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are listed
internationally as a prohibited weapon and Azerbaijan claims it did
not use such bombs in the war. But according to a HALO Trust statement
`evidence found on the ground speaks to the contrary — the Azeri
forces had significant air capability, which involved the use of
cluster munition bombing’.

Over the past 12 years, HALO has cleared a territory of about 27
square miles from mines, and 126 square miles from cluster bombs,
which is nearly 90 percent of all minefields and 75 percent of areas
affected by cluster bombs.

So far this year sappers of HALO Trust have found 183 cluster bombs in
addition to 125 mines and 555 UXO.

Major Arthur Arushanian lost his left foot when he stepped on a land
mine last year while on patrol along the southern border.

Now, the reserve major, who served, as he proudly says, `20 years, six
months and 19 days’, is becoming a high school math teacher.

`I graduated from university, but the war started and I never had a
chance to do civilian work . Now it is the right time,’ says 41-year
old Arushanian, father of three. He says that in his curriculum he
will certainly include lessons on landmine danger.

More people are injured by UXO than by mines, and more than half of
all victims are children.

Lyuda Grigorian, director of the secondary school in Nor Maragha
village (Mardakert) says each year HALO Trust staff provide lessons
for the school children throughout Karabakh and teaches them what to
do if they see unexploded ordnance.

`This year the children in our school got books (that teach about land
mine danger) and also HALO Trust provided the schools with posters
with the images of mines, cluster bombs and other kind of ordnance,’
says Grigorian, whose school is attended by 71 students.

Grigorian recalls the last time a mine exploded in their village.

`Two years ago the villages wanted to build a pool for fish farming.
During the digging, a land mine exploded. Several people got wounded,
luckily no fatal injuries.’

HALO NK currently has 140 employees, 120 of which are sappers; all are
from Karabakh. A sapper makes around $365 a month – about $120 more
than the average national salary. All of them undergo `Mine Risk
Education Program’ training which lasts several weeks. Besides
de-mining, HALO conducts mapping and marking of the areas.

`The HALO Trust’s work is hard to overestimate,’ says Arkadi Zakarian,
a 40-year old Karabakh war veteran and HALO Trust supervisor. `These
territories should be cleared of mines once and forever. Our people go
to the fields, our children play there. Accidents happen all the
time.’

Zakarian was 19, when Azerbaijan began shelling Stepanakert by
`Alazan’, the modified `anti-grad’ jet missiles. Weapons used against
the civilian population included also military jet missile launchers
BM-21 Grad, which supposedly had been internationally banned for use
against civilian settlements.

Zakarian joined the `freedom fighters’ in 1991 (the Army of Nagorno
Karabakh was formed later) which launched offensives to regain control
of Karabakh. Zakarian stayed three years at the front line, was
wounded several times and spent several months in hospital.

He joined HALO Trust in 2001 and says he would work as long as he can,
despite the danger he and his colleagues face every day.

`If you do everything right, the risk is low, but it always exists.
During the years I’ve worked, no sapper died, though several got
injured. Every day when I go to work, my family wishes me good luck.
And when I am late they worry and start calling me,’ says Zakarian, a
father of two daughters.

Zakarian’s work as a supervisor is to check the cleared area after it
is cleaned by the sapper and by the team leader. All of them wear
shields and enforced waistcoats – the outfit, Zakarian says, saved
many lives.

Tragedy mixed with surprise

Being a sapper cost Stepanakert citizen David Simonian serious neck
wounds, but also due to the work, Simonian accidentally became the
owner of unique artifacts, some of them dating to the Stone Age.

Simonian, now a taxi driver, keeps a collection in his home, which he
proudly shows to guests or tourists – ancient arrowheads and
spearheads, stone knives, obsidian arrowheads, in all 350 pieces,
found across Karabakh.

Simonian found the first arrowhead soon after he joined HALO Trust in 2003.

`I was at the so called `Norashen-5′ field. The mine detector beeped,
I thought it was a mine. But then, looked closely and realized it was
a small piece of iron. I took it from the ground and saw it was an
arrowhead,’ says Simonian, 35.

Since then Simonian has found many arrowheads and his collection
quickly grew. As Simonian was told by scientists from Armenia`s
Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, a bronze blade in his
collection is unique for its kind in Armenia. Some of the exhibits go
back to the Stone Age and others are of Scythian, Arab, Mongolian
origin.

Simonian worked in HALO Trust until December 2005, when he was wounded
in the Mardakert province. A landmine exploded and nearly took his
head off. He was in a coma for a week, and emerged from it from a
serious neck injury. When he recovered, he got a $4,500 insurance
payment from HALO, but realized he would never again be a sapper.

Simonian, himself a historian, says he decided to become a sapper to
financially secure his family. Before joining HALO Trust he was
working in the Museum of History in Stepanakert, but the salary was
only $66. At HALO, his salary was $175, `good money for that time’, he
says.

Before the blast, Simonian neutralized more than 250 mines.

`History shows that as soon as man learned to kill, he started to make
deadly weapons. The consequences of war are as terrible as the war
itself,’ says Simonian.

His collection of ancient weapons, and a scarred neck are Simonian’s
personal history with weaponry. They also remind him that a war that
ceased 18 years ago continues to cause fatal blows. Such echoes of war
will continue in Karabakh for years to come.

HALO Trust NK is funded by the United States Agency for International
Development ($1 million) and the REECE Foundation (a UK private
foundation, $300,000). In 2011 the organization’s budget for Karabakh
was cut by $400,000, resulting in 60 staff layoffs.

HALO says it is looking for additional funding and estimates that if
at least current funding levels are maintained, all de-mining work in
Karabakh can be finished within 5-6 years.

One of Georgian priorities is to develop strategic relations with
friendly Armenia. Irakli Alasania

19:36, 7 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS: President Serzh Sargsyan hosted Georgian
Defence Minister Irakli Alasania who arrived in Armenia with an
official visit.

As Armenpress has been informed from public relations and media
department of President’s Office, President has greeted the guest and
underlined that Armenia is interested in the development of relations
with Georgia, noting that different mutual visits promote it.

Minister Irakli Alasania informed President Sargsyan about the results
of the meeting with his Armenian counterpart.

Referring to the approaches and policy of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s
government Irakli Alasania has stressed that one of Georgian
priorities is to develop strategic relations with friendly Armenia.

News 12, Long Island, NY
March 6 2013

Thousands of paintings by artist Arthur Pinajian rescued in Bellport cottage

Published: March 6, 2013 6:50 PM

BELLPORT – Thousands of paintings by little-known artist Arthur
Pinajian are on display in Bellport after a near miss with the trash
heap.

When he died, Pinajian left instructions to dump the entire collection
in the Brookhaven landfill. However, his family never followed
through. When Thomas Schultz and investor Lawrence Joseph bought the
artist’s cottage in 2007, they found the paintings in the attic and
decided to keep the art.

Schultz and Joseph bought the paintings with the house for $2,500, and
proceeded to restore, frame and catalogue the artwork. After having it
appraised, Schultz opened his own gallery in Bellport where most of
Pinajian’s works is being stored.

Schultz still lives in the Bellport cottage with his family.