Author: Kanayan Tamar

Armenia’s priority to boost relations with Russia, Europe and Iran –
political analyst

March 04, 2013 | 13:51

YEREVAN.- Armenia’s priority is to achieve boosting relations with
Russia, Europe and Iran, political analysts say.

Russian and Armenian analysts discussed political and humanitarian
relations during the Moscow-Yerevan space bridge organized on Monday.

Alexander Iskandaryan, director of Armenia-based Caucasus Institute,
recalled that Armenia is building a power plant on the border with
Iran, is holding talks on trade agreement with Europe and is boosting
defense and communication ties with Russia.

`However, Armenia is jealous about Russia-Azerbaijan relations,’ he emphasized.

Another participant of the space bridge, director of the Institute of
CIS States Konstantin Zatulin jokingly said jealousy is a
manifestation of love.

`Serzh Sargsyan has a certain position and did a lot for the
development of Armenia-Rusisa relations,’ he said.

– See more at:

International organizations attempt to restore justice to save face –
Armenian opposition member

March 04, 2013 | 13:15

YEREVAN. – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)
helped so that the presidents of France and Germany would have grounds
to congratulate Armenia’s incumbent President, Serzh Sargsyan, as a
result of the country’s presidential election. Opposition Heritage
Party member Stiopa Safaryan stated this during a press conference on
Monday.

Reflecting on the OSCE/ODIHR’s preliminary and interim reports on the
election, Safaryan noted that the interim report questions the
accuracy of the votes which the ruling Republican Party (RPA)
candidate – that is, Sargsyan – had received in several hundred precincts,
and that the observers expressed a concern about a fairly high voter
turnout and in connection with the votes Sargsyan had garnered.

`We can have a grievance that the preliminary report gave a good
assessment to the election, whereas the interim and the final reports
criticize it, and justice is being restored. At the initial phase, the
international organizations are helping them [that is, the foreign
country leaders] to send congratulatory messages and, subsequently – and
to safe face – , they are attempting to restore justice with interim and
final reports,’ Safaryan argued.

But the other speaker of the press conference, RPA MP Artak Davtyan,
noted that, perhaps, it is not necessary to think about the
international organizations’ `saving face.’ As per Davtyan, these
organizations have so much prestige and reputation that they do not
need to give an account when issuing statements.

According to the ruling party deputy, the overwhelming majority of the
149 polling precincts, which the OSCE/ODIHR has noted in its reports,
are those precincts where there are up to a maximum of 300 voters. In
his words, it would have been illogical if the ratio of the votes in
these small precincts had been just as elastic as those in the other
precincts. Davtyan also noted that, perhaps, these are the small
communities which Heritage had not visited and where the residents are
interconnected, and therefore it is only natural that a given
community votes in the same manner.

The ruling party MP added that he is not concerned by the assessments
that are made in the OSCE/ODIHR interim report, and that even if the
ballots which were cast in a given precinct were to be counted in
favor of opposition Heritage Party Chairman Raffi Hovannisian – who is
declared runner-up to the winner, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan,
as a result of the presidential election that was conducted on
February 18, but who claims to be the real winner in the vote – , this
would not change the overall picture.

Stiopa Safaryan, on the other hand, noted that if the results in these
precincts are declared invalid, Hovannisian would come out the winner.

– See more at:

NKR Foreign Minister: sniper war inadmissible

March 4, 2013 – 13:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is a unique case,
where fragile peace is being preserved by the balance of forces
between the conflicting sides, Artsakh Foreign Minister said.
`Nevertheless, the situation at the line of contact is menacing, as
Azerbaijan keeps escalating tensions in the so-called sniper war,
which is inadmissible. The positions of the Karabakh forces are fired
upon every day from various caliber weapons. This situation is
dangerous for the entire region,’ Karen Mirzoyan said.
He reminded that both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh proposed withdrawal
of snipers, which could help ease tensions at the contact line.
However, Azerbaijan rejected the idea that was profoundly supported by
the OSCE Minsk Group.
`Moreover, Azerbaijan established a school for snipers, who will
further be sent to the line of contact,’ the Foreign Minister said.

– See more at:

Letter of the Chairman of HCA Vanadzor to the President of the United States

13:54 04/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

On March 2, 2013, the Armenian media disseminated your congratulatory
message to the acting president of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh
Sargsyan on being reelected as the president of Armenia on February
18, 2013. Your congratulation came right when the OSCE/ODIHR
disseminated their post-election interim report (March 2, 2013), which
emphasized the public distrust toward the election results and
numerous facts and justifications for this distrust, including the
correlation between the high turnout and the number of votes for Serzh
Sargsyan, which duly raises concerns regarding the integrity of the
electoral process. Your congratulation was disseminated when Amnesty
International released a statement (February 28, 2013) demanding that
proper investigation be carried out on the reported human rights
violations which took place on February 18, 2012.

I and a number of colleagues and fellows received Universal Rights
Awards from the US Government on June 4, 2012, and the US Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton was present at the official ceremony. We were
excited about the support from the Government of a Democratic State to
those of us fighting for the establishment of human rights and
democracy. Although local nationalists again labeled us as traitors of
national interests, implementers of color revolutions, agents defaming
our state for foreign money and so on, but these qualifications were
not new to us. And they never lead us in our human rights activity.

However your congratulation is absolutely inappropriate for these
elections, which were accompanied by flagrant fraud and violations.

You undertook immediate responsibility for the falsifications, by
congratulating those who falsified the elections, who are directly
responsible for human rights transgressions, systemic and organized
violations, transgressions and destruction of democratic values. In
this case, we do not have any guarantee that Armenia will not turn
into another Belarus. Now I am considering if I deserve to bear the
Freedom Defender Award, which was awarded by the government of a
democratic state, which is now apparently siding with an Oppressor of
Freedom.

With this letter, I express my deepest concern about your position and
expect to hear your comments on the issues raised in the letter. I
will be able to make a final decision based on your response and
comments.

With regards,

Artur Sakunts, Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor

The Problem of the `Regions’

March 2 2013

My grandmother had studied at the Shushi Gymnasium until 1918 and she
had studied French in those adolescent years so well that she could
express her thoughts in that language all her life. My grandfather
studied at the Shushi Realschule roughly in the same period, and that
education was absolutely sufficient for him to work as an accountant
for a long time. Although born in Nukhi, my paternal grandfather’s
ancestors, the Ter-Abrahamyans, performed religious duties in Artsakh
as ordinary priests. Those three relatives of mine don’t perceive
Artsakh as a region of Azerbaijan, moreover the `Azerbaijan’
stereotype was never in the mind of any of them, and they would call
`Tartars’ the Muslims living in their neighborhood at the time, as it
was common in the Russian Empire. Artsakh was a region of that very
empire in the same way as Yerevan or, say, the region of Alexandropol
with roughly the same level of development. The Bolsheviks’ project
called `Azerbaijan’ had a rather short history, and there is no full
conception of it in the genetic memory of us, the Armenians. I am
writing this not to humiliate the neighboring people; brilliant
people, well-bred intellectuals are as many in Azerbaijan as in
Armenia. I am talking about the psychological perceptions of our
people, particularly the residents of Artsakh. In the Soviet period,
the Baltic peoples would not accept that they were a part of the
Soviet Union; it was not a political position, it was a mentality.
When one would speak to an Estonian, for example, he would say, `Your
composers, your football team,’ meaning the Soviet country and the
Soviet culture. No decision of the Central Committee `Against
Nationalism,’ no KGB, no repression could change that conviction of
the Estonians, because it was basically not nationalism, it was rather
a lifestyle. And after 1985 when an opportunity was offered that
lifestyle gained political content. The same thing applies to Artsakh.
The conception of being a part of Azerbaijan has never been and is
still not in the mentality of the people who have been living there. A
communist leader or a villager, a labor or a teacher, those people
wouldn’t accept Azerbaijan’s dominance psychologically, and when there
was a need for fighting and shedding blood to prove it they took that
step without hesitation. The term `Azeri region’ has never existed in
the minds of the people who have been living in Artsakh, particularly
those people who led the struggle of that region for independence. I
have known our beloved singer Ruben Hakhverdyan for almost 30 years,
and I am convinced that he is very far from regional or any other
chauvinism. He speaks of the real vices of our country, which,
nonetheless, have nothing to do with the origins of the leaders of
this country. Aram Abrahamyan

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

Earthquake in Iran also felt in Meghri region of Armenia

Monday,
March 04

At 01:26 am (0:59 am local time) today, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake
measuring 5-6 points on the Richter scale occurred in Iran, 26 km west
of the the city of Ahar, Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations
reports.

An earthquake that measured 3 points was felt in Armenia’s Meghri
region as well.

TODAY, 11:11
Aysor.am

Armenia and UAE strengthen interparliamentary relations

11:29, 4 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 4, ARMENRPESS. The Republic of Armenia strengthens the
interparliamentary bilateral relations with the United Arab Emirates.
As reports “Armenpress” citing Newstrack India information portal, the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of
Armenia to the United Arab Emirates Gegham Gharibjanian had a meeting
with the Chairman of the UAE’s Federal National Council Mohammed Ahmed
Al-Mur. Among other things the interlocutors discussed a number of
issues regarding the development and strengthening of the bilateral
interparliamentary relations between the two countries.

The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and United
Arab Emirates have been established since June 25, 1998. On the order
of the President of the Republic of Armenia, Gegham Gharibjanian was
appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic
of Armenia to the United Arab Emirates on March 12, 2012.

– See more at:

iSports Times
March 3 2013

Wrestling Hunger Strike: Why Is Olympic Champion Armen Nazaryan Going
On Hunger Strike?

By Melissa Siegel

Former Olympic champion wrestler Armen Nazaryan is going on a hunger strike.

According to Reuters, the Armenian native is starving himself to
protest the International Olympic Committee’s decision to drop
wrestling from the 2020 Games. Nazaryan won a gold medal for his
country in Greco-Roman wrestling during the 1996 Olympics and earned
another for Bulgaria four years later.

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“I’m protesting against the recommendation to drop wrestling from the
Olympics,” Nazaryan said on the Russian Wrestling Federation website.
“Wrestling has always been part of the Olympic program and it’s not
right to exclude it from the Games. I’m starting my hunger strike, and
from now on I will drink only syrup.”

Indeed, according to the Associated Press, wrestling was featured in
the first modern Olympics in 1896. However, the IOC chose to eliminate
the sport based on a variety of factors including ticket sales and
global popularity.

Some, including David Steele of AOL Sporting News, also feel that IOC
board member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. had a lot to do with the
decision. Samaranch Jr. is a member of the governing body for the
modern pentathlon, which many felt was going to be eliminated instead
of wrestling. His father was also the president of the IOC for two
decades, so he likely held a great deal of influence over the
committee.

But whatever the reason for the IOC’s decision, the choice to
eliminate wrestling has been criticized throughout the sport’s
community. This hunger strike is just the latest protest since the
move was announced.

In fact, as the AP noted, the choice to drop wrestling from the games
has even brought together two international enemies: America and Iran.
The two nations are working together in trying to convince the IOC to
change its mind.

Two former champions of the sport have taken their protestations a step further.

According to Inside The Games, Valentine Yordanov, the president of
the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, recently returned the gold medal
he won in the sport during the 1996 Games.

“As a sign of protest I am returning my gold medal, won at the Olympic
Games in Atlanta in 1996, to the headquarters of the International
Olympic Committee in Lausanne,” Yordanov wrote in a letter to IOC
President Jacques Rogge. “With this act I express my solidarity with
the millions of athletes and fans of our sport who are condemning the
recommendation of the IOC. Our sport is an integral part of the
Olympic Movement and one of the foundations of both the Ancient and
Modern Olympics.”

Per UPI, fellow wrestler Sagid Murtazaliev followed suit a week later.
The Russian won his gold in the heavyweight freestyle event during the
2000 Olympics in Sydney.

“The decision to return my Olympic medal was not easy for me,”
Murtazaliev said in a letter to Rogge. “But after much thinking, I
decided anyway to follow the example of the great Bulgarian wrestler
Valentin Yordanov.”

It’s unclear whether Nazaryan’s hunger strike and these other protests
will have any impact on the IOC’s decision. As ESPN noted, wrestling
and seven other sports can apply for inclusion in the 2020 Games
during the committee’s meeting in May. However, it seems unlikely that
the sport will be voted back in just months after it was cut.

MSN Now
March 3 2013

Olympic wrestler is so mad his sport got dropped, he’ll eat only syrup

Everyone is bummed out about wrestling’s harsh boot from the Olympics,
but not everyone’s drinking nothing but syrup until the sport comes
back. Then again, not everyone is the chiseled two-time Greco-Roman
gold champ Armen Nazaryan, who boldly announced he will subsist merely
on syrup until the fate of his beloved event is restored to proper
health. The dramatic hunger strike by the Armenian-born athlete, who
also competed for Bulgaria, is a protest against a recommendation by
the International Olympic Committee to remove wrestling, beginning
with the 2020 Summer Games. The committee’s executive board will next
meet in May to discuss details, which will be put to a vote in
September in Buenos Aires.

Hovhannisian’s popular movement plan experiences failure – analyst

TERT.AM
15:46 – 03.03.13

Former presidential candidate Raffi Hovhannisian’s efforts to spur a
wave of civil disobedience in the country are experiencing a failure,
according Sergey Shakaryants, an Armenian political analyst.

`People who see themselves in a different country and a different
reality have probably watched and been influenced by many video discs
featuring Arab Springs. That is why they fail to preserve the Armenian
reality’s image, seeking to provoke and drive people out of control,’
the expert told Tert.am on Saturday.

Shakaryants noted that Hovhannisian’s post-election rallies aim to
escalate into such kind of conflicts.

Referring to the election outcomes, the expert said the processes
during the voting had very little to do with elections per se. `I
don’t think the city of Gyumri, which has always voted in the
authorities’ favor, can now elect someone else, no matter who that
person is. That means certain in-depth processes are going on here,’
Shakaryants said, adding that he doesn’t think Hovhannisian or his
Heritage have a plan of actions for future.