Author: Kanayan Tamar

Mediamax, Armenia
Feb 21 2013

Leaders of France, Ukraine, Iran, Lithuania, Lebanon, Slovakia, Egypt
and Israel congratulate Serzh Sargsyan

Thursday 21 February 2013 19:00

Yerevan, February 21. /Mediamax/. The presidents of France, Ukraine,
the Islamic Republic of Iran, Lithuania, Lebanon, Slovakia, Egypt and
Israel congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on his reelection as Armenian
President.

The congratulatory message of French President Francois Hollande
particularly reads:

`Accept my congratulations on your victory at 18 February 2013
presidential elections. I believe it will reinforce your will to build
a democratic, stable and prosperous Armenia living in peace with all
the neighbors. I would like to reiterate France’s support to your
efforts made in this direction.’

The President of Iran Mahmud Ahmadinejad expressed the hope that
during the second term of Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency Armenia will
develop faster.

President of Israel Shimon Peres expressed confidence that the
relations and the cooperation between Armenia and Israel will continue
to expand and strengthen.

US Secretary of State invents a new country – `Kyrzakhstan’

14:51 – 22.02.2013

In his first speech after he was appointed as US Secretary of State,
John Kerry confused the Republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and
referred to a non-existent country `Kyrzakhstan’.
“Brave employees of the US State Department … work in the most
dangerous places around the globe. They fight against corruption in
Nigeria. They support the rule of law in Burma, they support
democratic reforms in Kyrzakhstan and Georgia,” John Kerry said,
speaking on February 20 at the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville.
The transcript of Kerry’s speech, including his slip of the tongue,
was posted on the websites of US embassies. It was noticed by The
Global Post journalists, who suggested that before his official visit
to Israel with President Barack Obama, the chief foreign affairs
advisor should find out where exactly this `Kyrzakhstan’ was located.
On February 22, on all the official websites of the American embassies
the word `Kyrzakhstan’ in Kerry’s speech was replaced by Kyrgyzstan.

World Economic Forum: Azerbaijan has sharply deteriorated its Rating
of Competitiveness

16:24 23/02/2013 » ECONOMY

The World Economic Forum has published a new report on global
competitiveness 2011-2012 entitled `Global Competitiveness Index
2012-2013′. Azerbaijan has sharply deteriorated its position taking
the 70th place among 144 countries. While, in the last report for the
2009-2010 Azerbaijan was on the 51st place, the Azeri news agency
Turan reports.

The traditional leaders and first places went to Norway (94.8),
Switzerland (94.1), Canada (93.1), Sweden (92.9), Finland (92.5),
Singapore (92.4), Luxembourg (91, 6), the Netherlands (90.8), Germany
(89.8), and Australia (89.7). The rating was closed by Zimbabwe which
was on 142nd place (5.3), Brunei Darussalam (0) and Puerto Rico (0).

The ratings are based on statistics with publicly available
combinations and the results of a survey of company executives, an
extensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together
with its partners (leading research institutes and companies) in the
countries covered in the Report.

The main rating in Global Competitiveness Report is the Global
Competitiveness Index (GCI) which has been developed for the World
Economic Forum by Professor Sala-i-Martin and has first been presented
in 2004. GCI includes 12 pillars of competitiveness and is a universal
assessment, a kind of “competitive landscape” of countries that are at
different stages of economic development.

Azerbaijan showed the worst rates in the following spheres: Corruption
23.4, Access to financing 14.2, Inadequate supply of infrastructure
10.0, Tax rates 9.8, Inadequately educated workforce 8.9, Tax
regulations 8.3, Inefficient government bureaucracy 7.4,Poor work
ethic in national labor force 6.8.

`Pro-governmental media called the current results of Azerbaijan a
progress, without indicating the direction of the progress,’ Turan
notes.

Source: Panorama.am

The searches of the 13-year-old boy resumed
Sat, 02/23/2013 – 13:07
News

Today at 8.30 the searches of A.Badalyan, who have fallen into Hrazdan
River, next to Khachpar village, Ararat Region, resumed.

According to the information received from the Ministry of Emergency
Situations the rescue staff of Ararat Regionis implementing the
searches in the area next to Araqsavan village, and the diver-rescuers
of Sevan, Geghraqunik region near the Khachpar village.

It should be noted that on February 18 at 15.30 the Ministry received
a call according to which Arsen Balayan, 2000, have fallen into River.

Author:
Factinfo

La Voix du Nord, France
mercredi 20 février 2013

Matthieu pour le sourire d’un enfant a aidé Lilita, originaire d’Arménie

Saint-Omer – Une délégation de l’association Matthieu pour le sourire
d’un enfant s’est rendue au centre Oscar-Lambret de Lille. Le
rendez-vous était pris avec le service pédiatrie mais surtout avec
Lilita et Sushan, sa maman. Lilita est une enfant arménienne,
originaire d’Erevan, qui, durant deux mois, est soignée dans notre
région pour un cancer. L’association est intervenue suite aux
difficultés rencontrées par cette famille. Les premiers contacts se
sont déroulés dans un langage particulier fait d’un mélange de
français, d’arménien et d’anglais. Mais force est de constater que
dans un tel moment, tout le monde se comprend.

Charles Aznavour

Sushan réussissait ainsi à parler de Charles Aznavour, chanteur
d’origine lui aussi arménienne, qu’elle adore. Puis ce fut le moment
des cadeaux : Lilita a reçu avec émerveillement la grosse peluche
qu’elle attendait pour ses cinq ans. Quant à sa maman, elle s’est vu
remettre une tablette électronique pour lui permettre de dialoguer
directement en vidéo avec le papa, resté en Arménie. Emotion,
remerciements et échange d’adresses ont clos la rencontre avant que
Lilita et Sushan ne rejoignent leur hôtel d’accueil. « Nous ne
pouvions rester insensibles car c’est la vocation de notre association
», déclarait Martine Huguet, présidente de Matthieu pour le sourire
d’un enfant, prouvant par ailleurs que la solidarité n’a pas de
frontière. L’association se tient à la disposition de toute famille
qui se trouve dans une situation similaire. Elle accueille également
toute personne qui souhaite s’investir bénévolement suivant les
objectifs définis par ses statuts. Enfin, l’association étant reconnue
d’intérêt public, particuliers et entreprises peuvent bénéficier
d’exonération fiscale. Pour plus de renseignements sur nos activités
ou nous contacter, consulter le site :

PENTAGON GROUNDS F-35 FIGHTERS OVER ENGINE PROBLEM

02:40 23/02/2013

WASHINGTON, February 22 (RIA Novosti) – All flight operations of the
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter planes have been suspended
over an engine problem discovered on one of the aircraft, the US
Department of Defense (DoD) said on Friday.

According to the DoD, a routine engine inspection on Tuesday revealed
a crack on an engine blade of the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine installed
in F-35A aircraft operating at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

“As a precautionary measure, all F-35 flight operations have been
suspended until the investigation is complete,” the DoD said in a
statement on its website.

The suspension involves 17 aircraft undergoing testing and 34 in use
for training in Florida and Arizona, and marks another setback for
the Pentagon’s most troubled and expensive weapons program.

In January, the Pentagon grounded 25 F-35B planes, the Marine Corps
variant with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability, due to
a manufacturing defect on one of the aircraft.

F-35s have been grounded before over electrical system problems.

The F-35 is currently still being tested, but low-rate initial
production is already underway, with full-rate production due to begin
around 2016. The Pentagon wants to procure a total of 2,443 F-35s.

According to the latest Government Accountability Office report,
the F-35’s per unit cost has almost doubled since the inception of
the Joint Strike Fighter program in 2001

ANALYST: DISSEMINATION OF ARMENIAN NEWSPAPER BY TURKISH AIR CARRIER IS AN ILLEGITIMATE AND IRRESPONSIBLE GESTURE

Trend, Azerbaijan
Feb 22 2013

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 22 / Trend /

Dissemination of an Armenian newspaper by Turkish Airlines to
its passengers is a continuation of the absolutely absurd and
irresponsible gesture from President Gul to Serzh Sargsyan hastily
congratulating him on his re-election to the Armenian presideny,
Trend Expert Council member, Western University professor, political
analyst Fikret Sadikhov said.

“Certain circles in Turkey have decided to go further and demonstrate
that they care about national minorities, particularly Armenians living
in the country, and have begun distributing this newspaper in flight,”
the politician told Trend on Friday.

Turkish Airlines (THY) began distribution of the Agos Armenian daily
newspaper on board of its flight to passengers, Turkish media reported.

If those involved in this action aim to mitigate the situation or
attract some Armenian Diaspora organizations or persuade Armenia to
abandon the 1915 issue or renounce territorial claims against Turkey,
these attempts are futile, the analyst said.

Such methods and steps don’t garner political capital and important
political issues are not solved in this way, he said.

According to Sadikhov, such steps cause great sorrow both in Turkey and
Azerbaijan, Surely, Turkey will not be able to achieve some positive
results by such actions.

“Turkey should not have been so quickly in its recognition of Sargsyan
as president. Officials in Turkey are now talking about forms of public
civility, but it could have been done later and in a different form,
there was no need for a hasty congratulation to the man, whose hands
are stained with the blood of Azerbaijanis, on the eve of the 21st
anniversary of Khojaly events,” the analyst said.

President Abdullah Gul congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on his presidential
reelection.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING OSCE, SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEIR ASSESSMENT OF ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA

Trend, Azerbaijan
Feb 22 2013

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 22 / Trend, I. Izzet /

International organizations, including the OSCE, that stated that
elections in Armenia were held in accordance with international
standards, should be ashamed. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister,
Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov
at an event at the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan, commemorating the
Khojaly genocide, held on Friday.

“They have been deceiving us for 20 years. What kind of statement is
this: “Nothing happened! The elections went well”? “Is that really
true?” Hasanov said.

The Committee Chairman reminded that according to the CEC of Armenia,
there are allegedly 2.5 million voters in the country.

“Throughout the world, the number of people entitled to vote
constitutes 50-54 per cent of the total population. In that case,
Armenia has 2.5 million voters? OSCE is busy making good-sounding
statements. The U.S. State Department has also supported the
statement,” Hasanov said.

Presidential elections were held in Armenia on Feb.18. Incumbent
President Serzh Sargsyan won the presidential elections with 58.64
per cent of the vote. The First Foreign Minister of Armenia Raffi
Hovannisian ranked second winning 36.75 per cent, while former Prime
Minister Hrant Bagratyan ranked third after receiving 2.15 per cent
of the vote.

NEW TRIAL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM NIXED

Courthouse News
Feb 22 2013

By MATT REYNOLDS

(CN) – The protracted dispute over an Armenian Genocide museum and
memorial project that never got off the ground should not face a new
trial, a federal judge ruled.

The consolidated complaint had pitted the Armenian Assembly of America
and the Armenian Genocide Museum & Memorial against two former board
members, Gerard Cafesjian and John Waters, and the Cafesjian Family
Foundation.

Their struggle for control of the museum, and allegations over its
demise, stemmed from rising tensions between Cafesjian and Hirair
Hovnanian, both of whom collaborated on the project in the late 1990s.

“The parties, through the three consolidated actions pending before the
court, have spent as much if not more time litigating who is to blame
for the museum’s failure as they spent attempting to make the museum
a reality,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Wednesday.

Cafesjian, a founding member of the museum’s board of trustees, helped
purchase the museum site, a vacant National Bank building at 14th and G
Street in downtown Washington, D.C. He stepped back, however, after the
board later failed to reach consensus on how to complete the museum.

The Brooklyn-born philanthropist handpicked Waters, his right-hand
man, to succeed him, but the board excluded Waters from further
participation in the project after Cafesjian sued the assembly for
payment of an unpaid promissory note.

Kollar-Kotelly largely dismissed the series of claims and counterclaims
after a 12-day bench trial in November 2010.

In that January 2011 final judgment, Kollar-Kotelly found that
neither Cafesijan nor Waters had breached their fiduciary duties to
the assembly. She also cleared Cafesijian of bad faith claims and
said neither he nor Waters had misappropriated the trade secrets of
the assembly.

Nearly a year later, the assembly and the museum moved for a new trial
based on the alleged perjury of Waters. They said Waters had never
mentioned that Cafesjian agreed to award him a bonus and reimburse
his expenses if Cafesjian prevailed in the litigation.

The motion relied on claims and counterclaims pending before a federal
judge in Minnesota where Waters sued Cafesjian for more than $4.3
million in deferred compensation, $1.2 million in bonuses and more
than $500,000 in legal costs.

Cafesjian countered that Waters had embezzled several million dollars
from him over a period spanning more than a decade.

Refusing to order a new trial in Washington this week, Judge
Kollar-Kotelly said the assembly had a “full and fair opportunity to
present their case during the bench trial.”

“The plaintiffs fail to show by clear and convincing evidence that
Waters committed perjury or otherwise committed fraud or misconduct
by not disclosing the compensation purportedly owed and/or promised
by Cafesjian,” the 33-page opinion states. “The court did not rely
on Waters’ credibility in rejecting the plaintiffs’ claims at trial,
meaning the plaintiffs cannot show actual prejudice from any alleged
perjury or other misconduct by Waters,” wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

“The plaintiffs fail to show by clear and convincing evidence that
Cafesjian actually promised Waters the litigation bonus, and in
any case the existence of the agreement would not alter the legal
conclusion that the defendants did not breach any duty by filing the
initial suit in this litigation.”

In Minnesota, Waters alleged that Cafesijan had destroyed documents
from Waters’ former office at Cafesijan’s GLC Enterprises.

Though the assembly claimed “without elaboration” that the allegations
directly impacted the trial, it failed “to show by clear and convincing
evidence that the defendants destroyed documents relevant to this
litigation or otherwise engaged in discovery misconduct sufficient
to set aside the final judgment,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

By some estimates 1.5 million minority Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman government during and after World War I. Regarded by some as
the first genocide of modern times, male Armenians were slaughtered
in what is now the Republic of Turkey, while women, children, the
elderly and sick were deported or forced on “death marches” through
the Syrian Desert.

HOVANNISIAN VOWS TO CONTINUE POPULAR MOVEMENT

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

by Ara Khachatourian

Thousands gather at Liberty Square Friday at a rally, which has
grown into a popular movement (photo by Khatchig Mouradian, The
Armenian Weekly)

ARF Joins the Movement

YEREVAN-“This popular struggle will not die down. We will achieve
victory,” said opposition presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian
on Firday as he addressed thousands of supporters who had gathered
at Liberty Square to hear a briefing on his meeting Thursday with
Serzh Sarkisian at the Presidential Palace.

Hovannisian, who addressed the crowd that has been multiplying
exponentially since Monday’s elections, reported that Sarkisian
rejected all of his proposals, which aimed to satisfy the aspirations
of Armenia’s citizens following the presidential polls.

Raffi Hovannisian beriefs protesters on his meeting with Serzh
Sarkisian Thursday (photo by Khatchig Mouradian, The Armenian Weekly)

Hovannisian said that among the points discussed with Sarkisian was
holding of repeat elections, the response to which was a “No.” He
then proposed snap parliamentary elections based on a representative
system. “What do you think was the answer? No,” said Hovannisian.

“I have nothing to say to these de facto leaders anymore,” added
Hovannisian, who announced that he would be expanding this movement
to regions outside of Yerevan with rallies in Vanadzor, Gyumri and
elsewhere. He asked the people to reconvene at Liberty Square at 3
p.m. Sunday to further the movement.

ARF Joins the Movement The Armenian Revolutionary Federation joined
the thousands upon thousands of Armenian citizens gathered at
Freedom Square Friday, with the party’s Supreme Council of Armenia
representative Armen Rustamian delivering a powerful message of
solidarity with the people.

After a series of speeches by Raffi Hovannisian’s Heritage Party
leaders, other opposition leaders, civil society activists, and
artists, Hovannisian introduced Rustamian, saying: “Today we are
joined by a political figure whose party, our party, the party of
my ancestors, in the name of the fatherland, unity, our national
interests, the rights of the citizen, and our state’s sovereignty,
wages a struggle wherever it is necessary, from Strasbourg to Ankara
to Moscow to Washington…. Please welcome the representative of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Armen Rustamyan.”

ARF Supreme Council representative Armen Rustamian says the “Movement
is unstoppable” (photo by Khatchig Mouradian, The Armenian Weekly)

Rustamian first spoke of the ARF decision to come to Freedom Square.

“For a few days now, Freedom Square was waiting for-and wanted to
see-the ARF. And we are now here! We have come here, to this rally,
because as we announced earlier, the ARF stands with you, with the
people,” he said.

Rustamian noted that the Armenian people proved on Feb. 18 that
it’s impossible to kill justice and freedom. He said, “The people
does not tolerate the rotten political, social, economic, and moral
environment.”

Rustamian joined other opposition leaders at the rally in their
criticism of the statements of international observers, who deemed the
elections fair. “Regardless of what the international observers say,
it is you who took part in the election, and you know all too well
what really happened,” Rustamian said.

“This is an unstoppable movement to establish the rule of the people,”
argued Rustamian.