Author: Kanayan Tamar

NEWSPAPER: SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT WANTS TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER

ARMINFO
Thursday, February 21, 12:53

Expectations from staff reshuffles and the conflicts over the positions
between the two wings of the Republican Party of Armenia have come
to a boil, Hraparak newspaper writes.

The source reported that after the presidential election of Feb 18
the wing of the old politics of the Republican Party do their best to
take advantage of the election result. The scenario of the ‘veterans’
is as follows: Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan – prime minister, Head of
RPA faction Galust Sahakyan – parliament speaker, Karen Karapetyan,
ex-head of the presidential administration, parliamentarian –
Secretary of the National Security Council, Minister of Transport and
Communication Garik Beglaryan – back to mayor’s office, parliamentarian
David Haroutiunyan – back to justice minister’s office, Head of the
Parliament Commission for Economic Issues Vardan Ayvazyan – minister
of ecology.

The Republican ‘veterans’ have decided to bring Prosperous Armenia
Party back to the coalition. For his part, the youth wing unlike the
older party-men has little ambitions and takes no visible actions,
as it “was told to wait.” The paper writes that President Serzh
Sargsyan does not want to take any radical measures before the upcoming
elections to the Elder’s Council of Yerevan.

To note, by preliminary results of the election, the incumbent
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan obtained 58.64% (861,160 votes),
the leader of Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian – 36.75% (539,672),
Hrant Bagratyan – 2.15%, Paruyr Hayrikyan – 1.23%, Andreas Ghukasyan
– 0.57%, Vardan Sedrakyan – 0.42%, Arman Melikyan – 0.24%. The CIS
and European observers gave generally positive assessment of the
presidential election, calling it democratic and legitimate despite
some insignificant violations.

HRAPARAK: RAFFI HOVHANNISYAN MEETS OPPOSITION LEADERS AFTER RALLY

TERT.AM
11:11 ~U 21.02.13

Raffi Hovhannisyan, President Serzh Sargsyan’s second-placed rival in
the Monday election, had a meeting with leaders of opposition party’s
after his Thursday rally, the paper has learned.

Before finishing the event, the leader of the opposition Heritage
party told his crowd of supporters in Yerevan’s Liberty Square about
his decision to spend the night there and meet the representatives
of the ruling Republican Armenia in the afternoon.

The Republican had earlier notified the Yerevan City Hall about the
plan to hold a public event in Liberty Square at 2:00 pm local time
on Thursday, says the paper, adding that it is still very difficult
to predict anything as to the meeting’s scenario.

ITALIAN-ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN WILLING TO DEVELOP SEWING INDUSTRIES IN KARABAKH

TERT.AM
14:29 ~U 21.02.13

An Italian businessman of Armenian descent expressed willingness to
develop sewing industries in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic
at a meeting with the country’s president earlier today.

According to a press release by the NKR Presidential Office, Gagik
Saroukhanyan and Bako Sahakyan have particularly discussed the
possibility of developing clothing manufacturing in the country.

The president hailed the businessman’s proposal for making investments
in the sector, cloth-making a key branch in the country’s economy.

The meeting was also attended by NKR Vice Prime Minister Arthur
Aghabekyan.

ARMENIA, ARTSAKH TO BE REPRESENTED AT LOS ANGELES TIMES TRAVEL SHOW

12:38 21.02.2013

Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will be represented at the
Los Angeles Times Travel Show, which will take place in Los Angeles,
USA from February 22-24, 2013.

The event is co-sponsored by the National Competitiveness Foundation
of Armenia. Armenia and Artsakh will share a joint booth.

With the aim of formulating the attractive and multifaceted tourism
image of Armenia and Artsakh, visitors will be offered guidebooks,
films and videos. Armenian folk dances and national culinary delights
will also be featured during the exhibition.

Yerevan, the sister-city of Los Angeles, will be presented at the
booth with its artistic and cultural diversity.

Matthew Karanian and Robert Kurkjian, the authors of Armenia’s
best-selling travel guidebook, “The Stone Garden Travel Guide: Armenia
and Karabakh”, will present and sign the new edition, Public Relations
Office of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia informs.

LE PARLEMENT TCHEQUE DECIDE DE REECRIRE L’HISTOIRE

Publie le : 20-02-2013

Info Collectif VAN – – Le site de presse officiel
de la presidence azerbaïdjanaise a publie le communique suivant :
“La Republique tchèque est devenue le premier membre de l’UE a
avoir officiellement condamne l’Armenie pour le massacre de civils
a Khodjali, et l’avoir reconnu comme un crime contre l’humanite. Le
7 fevrier, la Commission des Affaires etrangères de la Chambre des
deputes du Parlement tchèque a adopte a l’unanimite un document
condamnant l’Armenie pour le meurtre brutal par l’armee armenienne
de 613 civils sans defense dans la ville occupee de Khojaly il y a 21
ans.” Si l’information etait confirmee (nos recherches sur le site du
Parlement tchèque n’ont rien donne), elle serait un exemple terrifiant
du pouvoir de propagande (et de persuasion “sonnante et trebuchante”)
de la dictature azerbaïdjanaise. Mais ne nous affolons pas : nous
pourrons sans nul doute compter sur les plus hautes personnalites
francaises qui combattent dans notre pays les resolutions historiques
de cette nature et qui ne vont pas tarder a exprimer leur reprobation
de voir le parlement d’un Etat europeen reecrire l’histoire de ces
20 dernières annees… L’article Khojaly : les terribles mensonges
azeris leur donnera de quoi alimenter leur argumentation. Le Collectif
VAN vous propose la traduction d’un article de l’anglais de Parvana
Garayeva publie le 19 fevrier 2013 sur le site azeri AzerTAc.

Le Parlement tchèque adopte une resolution condamnant l’Armenie pour
crimes contre l’humanite

19/02/2013 [10:23]

Prague, fevrier 19 (AzerTAc). La Republique tchèque est devenue le
premier membre de l’UE a avoir officiellement condamne l’Armenie pour
le massacre de civils a Khodjali, et l’avoir reconnu comme un crime
contre l’humanite.

Le 7 fevrier, la Commission des Affaires etrangères de la Chambre
des deputes du Parlement tchèque a adopte a l’unanimite un document
condamnant l’Armenie pour le meurtre brutal par l’armee armenienne de
613 civils sans defense dans la ville occupee de Khojaly il y a 21 ans.

La resolution dit: “Le massacre a ete rapporte par de nombreux organes
de presse et a ete declare par Human Rights Watch / Helsinki comme
une violation par des unites militaires armeniennes du droit coutumier
concernant le traitement des civils dans les zones de guerre. C’etait
un crime contre l’humanite condamne par de nombreux gouvernements a
travers le monde. ”

“Enfin, les resolutions du Conseil de securite de l’ONU 822 (1993),
853 (1993), 874 (1993) et 884 (1993), qui ont fait appel aux unites
militaires armeniennes pour mettre fin a l’occupation du territoire
de l’Azerbaïdjan, sont restees lettre morte. L’Assemblee generale
des Nations Unies, le Parlement europeen, le Conseil de l’Europe
et les assemblees parlementaires de l’OSCE, par leurs resolutions
respectives, ont soutenu la souverainete et l’integrite territoriale
de la Republique d’Azerbaïdjan, incluant le Haut-Karabakh.”

Le dernier paragraphe du document dit: : “La Commission des Affaires
etrangères de la Chambre des deputes du Parlement de la Republique
tchèque condamne toutes les instances responsables de nettoyage
ethnique, de massacres et de genocide contre des civils sans defense,
quel que soit le lieu et le moment de leur perpetration. Nous appelons
a adopter pleinement les resolutions qui condamnent toutes sortes
d’actes de cette nature. Dans ce contexte, nous reconnaissons donc
le massacre de Khodjali comme un crime contre l’humanite, que nous
condamnons et que nous rejetons. Par la presente, nous commemorons
le 21e anniversaire de ce tragique evenement et offrons nos sincères
condoleances au peuple d’Azerbaïdjan.”

Le parlement tchèque est devenu le premier corps legislatif de
l’UE a avoir officiellement condamne l’Armenie pour le massacre de
civils a Khodjali! Avec cette resolution, la Republique tchèque a
reaffirme sa reconnaissance de la region du Haut-Karabakh comme une
partie integrante de la Republique de l’Azerbaïdjan, l’Armenie est
reconnue comme un envahisseur du territoire et comme responsable de
l’accomplissement a Khojaly du crime le plus grave.

Parvana Garayeva, Prague

Traduction Collectif VAN – 20 fevrier 2013 – 14:30 –

—————————-

Lire aussi:

Khojaly : les terribles mensonges azeris

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : AzerTAc

LE CONGRES NATIONAL ARMENIEN EXHORTE LA COMMUNAUTE INTERNATIONALE A CESSER DE ” MATERNER ” LES AUTORITES

Le Congrès National Armenien (CNA) a fait une declaration mardi
exhortant la communaute internationale et les missions d’observation
en particulier d’arreter de ” materner les autorites armeniennes
delinquantes “.

” Il est maintenant temps de comprendre que les failles dans les
elections armeniennes ne sont pas dues aux lacunes de la loi, de
diverses violations et irregularites, mais de mecanismes systematisees
tels que l’inclusion d’environ 700000 personnes qui ne vivent pas en
Armenie sur les listes electorales et la reticence des autorites a
prendre des mesures efficaces contre le vote repete ” dit la
declaration de l’ANC.

Le document a egalement souligne un certain nombre de violations lors
des elections presidentielles telles que la corruption des elections,
les listes electorales inexactes, l’utilisation de la force contre les
journalistes et des mandataires, des tampons encreur qui disparaissent
des passeports des electeurs.

jeudi 21 fevrier 2013,
Stephane ©armenews.com

RAFFI HOVANISSIAN RASSEMBLE DES MILLIERS DE PARTISANS A EREVAN

Raffi Hovannisian, le candidat de l’opposition a l’election
presidentielle, a rassemble des milliers de partisans a Erevan mercredi
20 fevrier 2013. Il a de nouveau demande la demission du president
Serge Sarkissian.

Raffi Hovannisian souhaite rencontrer Serge Sarkissian pour parler
du transfert du pouvoir. Il a reitere cette demande alors qu’il
s’adressait a la foule, scandant ” Victoire ! ” et ” President ! “.

Le service de presse du president, Armen Arzoumanian, a declare
que Serge Sarkissian est pret a recevoir le chef de l’opposition a
tout moment. ” Le president de la republique a toujours ete pret a
rencontrer les dirigeants de toutes les forces politiques en cas de
necessite “, a declare Arzumanian.

” Toutes les missions d’observation internationales ont conclu que
l’ election presidentielle de 2013 a ete la plus democratique de
l’histoire du pays… Dans un tel contexte, les declarations de M.

Hovannisian sont confuses “, a ajoute Arzumanian. Hovannisian
a exhorte les partisans a se preparer a une ” longue lutte “. ”
Nous allons attendre ici, Place de la Liberte, jusqu’a 14 heures
demain pour rencontrer Serge Sarkissian et organiser une ceremonie
de passation de pouvoir “, a declare Hovannisian.

Ruben Tadevosian, un membre du HHK, a declare a RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am)
que le rassemblement organise par Serge Sarkissian pourrait etre
annule en raison des declarations de Raffi Hovannisian.

Lors de son discours, Hovannisian a egalement fait appel a d’autres
forces de l’opposition pour qu’elles rejoignent son mouvement.

Certaines personnalites ont exprime leur soutien, notamment Nikol
Pashinian, un depute du parlement qui a joue un rôle majeur lors
des manifestations de 2008 et un autre chef de l’opposition, Levon
Ter-Petrossian.

N. Pashinian a signale que le succès du mouvement dependra de la
determinantion d’Hovannisian. Pashinian est membre dissident du Congrès
national armenien (HAK). Le HAK et un autre parti d’opposition, la
Federation Revolutionnaire Armenienne (FRA) ont tous deux denonce la
fraude des autorites armeniennes lors de l’election.

jeudi 21 fevrier 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SARKSYAN PROMISES STABILITY AFTER ELECTION VICTORY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 19 2013

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan promised on Tuesday to make the
country secure and stable after cruising to victory in an election
which international vote monitors said lacked real competition.

But Sarksyan faces a challenge in his second five-year term to prevent
tensions increasing with Azerbaijan over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh that could lead to a new war in the South Caucasus,
where pipelines carry Caspian oil and gas to Europe.

Preliminary results showed Sarksyan won 58.6 percent of the votes cast
in Monday’s election, enough to avoid a second-round run-off. His
closest rival, US-born former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian,
trailed on nearly 37 percent.

“Armenia chose the path towards a safe Armenia and I am happy and
proud of the fact that every resident of Armenia will be on that
path,” Sarksyan, 58, told celebrating supporters.

International observers said the vote was an improvement on recent
elections in the former Soviet republic, including the 2008
presidential ballot in which 10 people were killed.

“However, the limited field of candidates meant that the election was
not genuinely competitive,” representatives of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
said in a statement.

“The candidates who did run were able to campaign in a free atmosphere
and to present their views to voters, but the campaign overall failed
to engage the public’s interest.”

Several of Sarksyan’s potential rivals, most notably former President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, decided not to run because they feared the
election would be skewed in the president’s favor.

A minor candidate was shot and wounded during campaigning, and police
received 70 complaints of voting violations. The result was in line
with opinion polls, however.

One group, the opposition Heritage Party, alleged some ballots cast
for Sarksyan’s opponents had been thrown out and said it planned a
protest in the capital Yerevan later on Tuesday. It was not clear if
other parties would take part.

Armenians had expected Sarksyan to win and there was little
celebrating. “I expect that things will get better in the next five
years. And after that of course we will need to change [the
president]. That’s all,” said Yerevan resident Roza Atovyan.

Another woman in Yerevan, Elana Akapova, said: “The president has a
lot of administrative power. Therefore it’s natural that he received
the majority of the vote.”

The result strengthens Sarksyan’s hold on Armenia, which borders Iran,
Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, after his Republican Party won a
parliamentary election last year.

Sarksyan’s promises of economic recovery went down well with voters in
the country of 3.2 million, where more than 30 percent live below the
poverty line. The average monthly wage is about $300 and unemployment
was 16 percent last year.

Armenia is an important potential ally for the West which is trying to
ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, although tightening
international economic sanctions on its neighbors could affect
Armenia’s trade and economy.

Sarksyan has outlined no big policy changes and investors and foreign
governments are worried by Armenia’s fraught relations with
Azerbaijan.

About 30,000 people were killed in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in
the 1990s and Azerbaijan uses its diplomatic and economic muscle to
isolate Yerevan. It has vastly increased military spending in the last
few years.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian-majority enclave inside
Azerbaijan, which Armenia-backed rebels wrested from Azeri troops.

Firefights along the border still kill troops on both sides and
experts say a wider conflict is possible.

Sarksyan has accused Azerbaijan of threatening a new conflict.

Azerbaijan denies it is the aggressor and says Armenians should hand
back control of the mountainous enclave.

“In terms of domestic policy, we should expect a continuation of
deepening ties with the West and the European Union,” said Richard
Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center think tank in
Yerevan.

He ruled out a breakthrough over Nagorno-Karabakh, saying: “Both sides
remain too far apart.”

Without a shift in regional politics, durable economic growth will be
difficult for Armenia while its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey
remain closed. Turkey shut the border in 1993 in solidarity with its
ethnic kin in Azerbaijan.

Most regional pipeline projects between growing regional power Turkey
and the oil and gas-producing Azerbaijan isolate Armenia, making
Yerevan more dependent on ties with its Soviet-era master Moscow,
which has a military base on Armenian soil.

TURKISH AIRLINES STARTS FREE DISTRIBUTION OF ARMENIAN WEEKLY

Hurriyet Daily News
Feb 20 2013

Turkish Airlines (THY) has officially started distributing the
bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, several weeks after the
announcement was first made, Dogan news agency reported.

Passengers set to board international flights will be able to receive
the publication for free after providing officials with their boarding
tickets.

Agos announced the deal on its website. The weekly’s deal with the
airline will soon extend to on-flight publications for international
flights.

February/20/2013

RUSSIAN EXPERT: “THE UNITED STATES IS INTERESTED IN THE OPENING OF KHOJALY AIRPORT”

APA, Azerbaijan
Feb 20 2013

“If interested, Moscow would have started a war in Nagorno Karabakh long ago”

Moscow. Farid Akberov – APA. “Russia may join the Nagorno Karabakh war
on the part of Armenia within special agreements,” said Russian
political scientist, Director General of the Institute for Caspian
Cooperation Sergey Mikheyev in his interview to APA’s Moscow
correspondent. He said Russia should have ground to join the war, in
case of military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh: “However, Moscow has
repeatedly stated that Russia is interested in a peaceful settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

The political scientist said that by increasing military power in
Armenia, Russia is ensuring its geopolitical interests in the region:
“Today Russia is arming not only Armenia. Armenia is not the only
country possessing Russian military base and purchasing its weapons.

Russia is also arming Tajikistan in the Central Asia. This plan is an
integral part of Russia’s geopolitical interests.”

The expert considers that war in Nagorno-Karabakh would be a disaster
for the South Caucasus region. This war can also upset the long-term
energy and transport projects: “Russia is not interested in a war in
Nagorno-Karabakh. If interested, it would have started a war in
Nagorno Karabakh long ago. To start a war in Nagorno-Karabakh is not
difficult for the Moscow. Today the priority for Russia is the absence
of wars and conflicts along its borders.”

Sergey Mikheyev said Russia has nothing to do with Armenia’s intention
to open Khojaly airport. “The US is more interested in the opening of
this airport. Russia considers that Azerbaijan and Armenia must avoid
the steps that will cause a war in Nagorno Karabakh. Russia does not
regard as right the opening of Khojaly airport, while the US is
strongly interested in the operation of the airport. This interest
arises from the possible military operations against Iran. If the war
starts with Iran, Khojaly airport will be favorable for the US,” he
said.

Asked if something new can be expected in the resolution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during Serzh Sargsyan’s second term, Sergey
Mikheyev said: “Sargsyan’s re-election will have no impact on the
resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The state of the negotiations
on the conflict will remain unchanged. Not a step forward has been
made in the past 20 years, because the positions of the parties are
quite the contrary. The negotiations on the resolution of the conflict
have reached a deadlock. I do not believe there will be an improvement
in the near future,” he said.