Author: Kanayan Tamar

LEASING LANDS TO IRAN POSES RISK TO ARMENIA – EXPERT

TERT.AM
21:43 ~U 05.02.13

Hrach Berberyan, Chairman of the Armenian Agrarian Peasants Union NGO,
cannot claim that the program of leasing lands of the Syunik region
of Armenia to Iran will inevitably cause damage to Armenia.

The Ecolur NGO reported some details of the agreement with Iran here:

However, he sees numerous risks.

Talking to Tert.am, Mr Berberyan said that the land needs inventory and
rating, and the work must be done by independent international experts.

“Experts must scrutinize any interstate agreement and determine
possible benefit and damage of each project. Yes, I see a very serious
risk in this agreement,” Mr Berberyan said.

His major concern is that the animals from Iran be under constant
veterinary control.

Talking to Tert.am, Chief Veterinary Surgeon of Syunik Kamo Sargsyan
said that animal health is properly controlled. Irrespective of
the documents the Iranian side may provide, the Armenian side will
exercise necessary control, he said.

“The program has both strong and weak points. The weak point is a
higher risk of diseases and infections, but the strong point is new
jobs, easier sale of our dairy products. The Iranian side promised
help with agricultural equipment,” he said.

During the question hour at the Armenian parliament’s meeting on
Wednesday, Aghvan Vardanyan, Secretary of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), intends to get an answer to the
following question: “What does leasing part of the country to Iran
mean?”

Talking to Tert.am, Mr Vardanyan expressed the confidence that the
decision was made by the Syunik regional administration.

OFFICIAL: TURKISH TIRADES REVEAL ‘BRAZEN HYPOCRISY’
By HERB KEINON

02/05/2013 04:24

Israeli official says Turkey’s leaders have become “laughingstock of
the international community with their self-righteous discourse.”

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Greece Photo: REUTERS

Turkey’s leaders have become the “laughingstock of the international
community with their self-righteous discourse,” an Israeli official
said on Monday in response to yet another anti- Israel tirade by
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkey’s anti-Israel bashing continued unabated for a third-straight
day on Monday, with Davutoglu thrashing Israel for its settlements
policy and declaring that Israel was now a “pariah state.”

The Turkish foreign minister, addressing a ministerial meeting of
the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Cairo, said that
“Israel has now been rendered by the international community a ‘pariah’
status for its expanding illegal settlements.”

Referring to the recent United Nations Human Rights Council report
calling on Israel to evacuate all settlements, Davutoglu said,
“Time and again Israel has proven that it fails to read the change
happening not only around it, but also in the way its actions are
perceived by the international community.”

The Israeli official dismissed the Turkish foreign minister’s comments
as “brazen hypocrisy.”

“It is rather quaint to be lectured about settlements from the
representative of a country which has ethnically cleansed the northern
part of Cyprus and illegally settled 200,000 Turks in that territory,”
he said.

The recent high-profile spate of Turkish Israel-bashing began Saturday
with Davutoglu publicly chiding Syria for not responding to Israel’s
purported operation in Syria, and Erdogan on Sunday saying Israel has
“a mentality of waging state terrorism.”

“Turkey’s double standard” has reached new heights, the Israeli
official said of the Turkish condemnation, noting that Ankara has
repeatedly carried out military action in Iraqi and Syrian territory,
is involved in the continued occupation of Cyprus and is “brutally
muzzling journalists who dare to displease the powers that be.”

Iran, meanwhile, ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric following the
alleged action in Syria, saying Israel would rue its air strikes.

“They will regret this recent aggression,” Saeed Jalili, Secretary of
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told a news conference in
Damascus a day after holding talks there with President Bashar Assad.

One Israeli official in the Prime Minister’s Office responded to the
threats by saying that Israel had no illusions “about Iranian hostile
intentions, and they don’t need an excuse to target Israel.”

Jalili likened Israel’s attack to previous conflicts, including the
34-day Second Lebanon War in 2006, all battles that he said Israel
had lived to regret.

“Today, too, both the people and the government of Syria are serious
regarding the issue. And also the Islamic community is supporting
Syria,” he said.

Jalili said Iran, in its current role as head of the Non- Aligned
Movement, would work on Syria’s behalf on the international stage in
response to the attack.

The New York Times on Monday, citing American officials sorting through
intelligence reports, said SA-17 Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles
and their launchers on transport trucks were hit in Wednesday’s raid,
as well as the country’s main research center for work on chemical
and biological weapons.

The center, the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, is –
according to the report – a training site for engineers working on
chemical and biological weapons and is part of a military complex
protected by Russian anti-aircraft defense systems.

Reuters contributed to this report.

NATIONALIST LEADER BAHCELI: KIRKUK WILL REMAIN ‘TURKISH’ FOREVER

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli speaks at
parliamentary group meeting. DAILY NEWS photo / Selahattin SONMEZ The
Turkish government has abandoned the Turkmen minority in Kirkuk for the
sake of energy deals with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),
but the city will remain Turkish forever, Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said today.

While noting that the Turkish government’s relations with the Iraqi
Kurdish administration had improved in recent years, Bahceli accused
“the Peshmarga administration” of conducting secret operations against
Turkmen people and called on the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) to take rapid action in order to protect Turkmens’ rights.

“Kirkuk is Turkish and will remain Turkish forever,” Bahceli said
during his parliamentary group meeting. “Kirkuk is love, passion to
us,” Bahceli said, adding that he considered Kirkuk to be no different
than Istanbul and Ankara.

Bahceli also extended condolences to Turkmens following a recent
coordinated attack on Kirkuk’s police headquarters – a suicide car
bomb followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen – that killed
30 people and wounded 88 others.

Recalling messages of solidarity given to Turkmens by Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoðlu during an August 2012 visit to Kirkuk, the MHP leader
said the AKP government had failed to display this solidarity in
practice. Instead, the government has been “inconsistent, insincere
and exploitative,” he said.

He also suggested that the energy deals signed by the Turkish
government and the Iraqi Kurdish administration have turned into an
issue of priority for the AKP instead of the situation of the Turkmens.

Kirkuk, a multiethnic city of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen 240 kilometers
north of Baghdad, lies at the heart of a dispute between Iraq’s
central government and the autonomous Kurdistan region.

February/05/2013

WE WILL STRUGGLE FOR THE RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS LONG AS NEEDED. SERZH SARGSYAN

20:03, 5 February, 2013

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS: 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide
is an important event which mustn’t be the end of the efforts aimed
at the recognition of it. Armenpress reports this was noted by
presidential candidate Serzh Sargsyan during his meeting with the
voters of Malatia-Sebastia district, which took place in frames of
his pre-election campaign of February 5.

“100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is just a harbor,
important and crucial one. We will struggle for the recognition of
Armenian Genocide as long as needed,” Sargsyan said. ” Words “genocide”
and “eghern” are the same, and even not pronouncing word “genocide”
USA President has said everything,” presidential candidate stressed,
highlighting we would be grateful to every nation recognizing Armenian
Genocide.

Sargsyan has assured that comparison of 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide with a tsunami made by Turkish press is nonsense.

Recognition of Genocide is not just a moral issue but also issue of
the security, as denying genocide Turkey is endangering our national
security.

Presidential candidate informed that new committee headed by Armenian
President had been formed for organizing events dedicated to 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

STREET TO BE NAMED AFTER SLAIN JOURNALIST DINK

MALATYA – Anatolia News Agency

Hurriyet photo
The name of assassinated Turkish journalist of Armenian origin Hrant
Dink will be given to the street of his childhood home in the eastern
city of Malatya.

Around 2,400 streets in Malatya are currently undergoing name changes,
with Dink’s childhood street in the CavuÅ~_oglu neighborhood being
one of them.

Dink was murdered in broad daylight by 17-year-old Turkish nationalist
Ogun Samast on Jan. 19, 2007, in front of the office building of
daily newspaper Agos. After a two year trial, Samast was convicted of
premeditated murder and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison.

However, to the dismay of Dink’s family and supporters the court also
ruled that the murder was not an “organized” crime, despite serious
claims that a number of civil servants linked to the “deep state” were
“indirectly” involved. This court decision was recently challenged
in an appeal, with the prosecutor’s office of the Supreme Court of
Appeals requesting that the top court overturn the ruling in the case
on Jan. 10, arguing that there were enough elements to conclude that
the assassination was indeed organized.

February/05/2013

STEPAN SAFARYAN: THE PURPOSE OF THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON HAYRIKYAN WAS TO DISTRACT ATTENTION OF CANDIDATES FROM IMPORTANT ELECTORAL PROCESSES

ARMINFO
Tuesday, February 5, 16:23

The purpose of the assassination attempt on the candidate for president
Paruyr Hayrikyan was to distract attention of candidates from important
electoral processes, political expert Stepan Safaryan said at today’s
press-conference.

He said that before the attempt, three candidates – Raffi Hovannisian,
Paruyr Hayrikyan and Hrant Bagratyan, applied to Central Electoral
Commission with a request to publish the list of the voters which are
outside the country, but the process has not been completed yet. “I
cannot say who organized the attempt, but its purpose is clear”, –
he said and added that he expected that Hayrikyan will not appeal
to the Constitutional Court to postpone the date of the election,
as at present his rating has grown.

In this context, Safaryan thinks that it is necessary to adopt a law
“On lustration” and, in particular, to publish the names of the former
KGB servicemen and the people connected with secret services. “The
incident with Hayrikyan, and in particular, his suspension about
secret services, proves the necessity of the given draft law drawn
out by Raffi Hovannisian, by the way”, – the expert concluded.

ARMENIA RECORDED PROGRESS IN FIGHTING AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING: CENTRAL BANK

15:48, 5 February, 2013

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. “Armenpress” had a conversation with
the Head of the Center of Financial Monitoring of the Central Bank of
the Republic of Armenia Daniel Azatyan regarding the progress Armenia
has recorded in fighting against money laundering/terrorism financing
in the spheres of legislative reforms and judicial practice.

– What are the recent developments in regulating the sphere of fighting
against money laundering/terrorism financing? To what extent Armenia
has implemented the international standards in this sphere?

– In 2009 the experts of the International Monetary Fund have rated
the stage of the Armenian system of fighting against money laundering
and terrorism financing, and the MANIVAL Committee of the Council of
Europe approved the report. In accordance with the aforesaid report the
Republic of Armenia has recorded essential progress in the financial,
judiciary, and legal spheres.

– What comments have the courts rendered regarding the implementation
of the theses of the law on fighting against money laundering in
practice?

– The practice tells us about the progress our country has recorded
in the sphere of fighting against money laundering and terrorism
financing during the recent years. In my opinion our way of fighting
against these all is quiet efficient and it must be supplied with
new means and mechanisms. In this regard I would like to mention
the decision of the Court of Appeals dated to 24.02.2011. (THE FULL
VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE IN ARMENIAN)

WOUNDED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PLAYING AUTHORITIES’ GAME – ARMENIAN WRITER

15:45 ~U 05.02.13

By his statement Paruir Hairikyan suggested he had no intention to
win the 2013 presidential election, the writer Vahram Martirosyan
told journalists on Tuesday.

“Recalling his brave activities in the Soviet times, he shattered
people’s confidence and is now, whether he likes it or not, playing
the authorities’ game” Mr Martirosyan said.

According to him, Mr Hairikyan’s decision was a strong blow on the
election process.

“That would be a big present to the three other candidates – a
fortnight to sum up the previous fortnight and think of further plans.

Since they come from ‘obscurity’, each day had effect on their
ratings,” Mr Martirosyan said.

According to him, the ratings of Hrant Bargaryan and Raffi Hovannisian
are getting higher.

The assassination attempt against Mr Hairikyan has not affected
Armenia’s international reputation. Such incidents may happen in
any country.

After the incident, Mr Hairikyan has “radically changed his campaign
language” given the fact that he was harshly critical of the current
situation on Monday.

Opposition Rep Of Armenia’s Constitution: ‘Insuperable Obstacle’ Needs Complementary Concept Of ‘Unexpected Impetus’

TERT.AM
16:06 ~U 05.02.13

The concept of “insuperable obstacle” in Armenia’s Constitution needs a
complement, “an unexpected impetus,” Aghvan Vardanyan, Secretary of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), told Tert.am.

With respect to the presidential candidate Paruir Hairikyan’s final
decision against applying to Armenia’s Constitutional Court for
postponing the presidential election, Mr Vardanyan said: “We have
expressed our opinion of the upcoming election. Nothing will change
regardless of whether they are postponed or not.”

SAAKASHVILI CRITICIZES IVANISHVILI FOR “ARMENIZATION” OF THE FOREIGN POLICY
Gita Elibekyan

“Radiolur”
14:59 05.02.2013
Tbilisi

The issue of the possible change of Georgia’s political course is
widely discussed in the country today. From the very first day of its
activity, the new government headed by Bidzina Ivanishvili has been
declaring about the willingness to normalize relations with Russia,
at the same time maintaining good relations with the West. President
Mikhail Saakashvili and his supporters criticize the new government
for deviating from the European path of development and “Armenization”
of the foreign policy.

A few days ago President Saakashvili came forth with a proposal
to incorporate the Georgian political course in the country’s
Constitution.

“After coming to power, the government has made a number of significant
statements. The statement of “Armenization” of the country’s foreign
policy, particularly the one saying that we should keep an equal
distance with NATO and Russia, was one of the main ones.

It has not been the course of the Georgian foreign policy before,”
Saakashvili said.

Bidzina Ivanishvili was criticized for the “Armenization” of the
foreign policy after the statements he made in Yerevan. He declared
in Yerevan that Armenia is a good example for Georgia of how to keep
good relations with both Russia and NATO.

“The political priorities of Armenia and Georgia are different. Maybe
Armenia has build those priorities very correctly, but taking an
example from Armenia would mean an abrupt change of the foreign
policy course,” political analyst Gia Nodia says. He assesses these
statements either as a confession or a result of lack of experience.

According to him, Ivanishvili’s statements on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
railway also stem from lack of experience. The Prime Minister had
questioned the expediency of that railway bypassing Armenia.

Actually it’s hard to say what Saakashvili wants today, Nodia says.

“It’s clear that he has vague ideas of what NATO and European Union
are, how they work, and what’s the values system in the West,” the
political analyst said.