Author: Kanayan Tamar

LES ARCHIVES NATIONALES ARMENIENNES PUBLIERONT DES DOCUMENTS NUMERISES SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN SUR INTERNET
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 30 octobre 2012

Les Archives Nationales Armeniennes effectuent la numerisation
des documents des Archives et la creation d’une base de donnees
electronique.

En 2013 l’administration des Archives a l’intention de rendre les
documents importants sur le genocide disponibles sur internet. Pour
faire la connaissance du processus de travaux de numerisation et
les programmes executes par les Archives Nationales d’Armenie, le
correspondant d’Armenpress a interviewe le Directeur des Archives
Nationales Amatuni Virabyan.

En ce qui concerne les travaux de numerisation des Archives Nationales
combien de documents ont ete numerises a ce jour ?

Dans le premier semestre de l’annee 2012 54 299 pages de documents ont
ete numerisees. Au global 112 669 pages de documents ont ete numerisees
a ce jour. À propos, après la numerisation quelques documents, lies
au Genocide armenien et d’importance scientifique seront publies sur
internet. Grâce a un equipement puissant, obtenu en 2011, le processus
de numerisation des documents est devenu plus efficace. 50 370 pages
de documents ont ete numerisees. En comparaison, je voudrais mentionner
qu’en 2010 seulement 8 000 pages de documents avaient ete numerisees.

Comment la numerisation traite-t-elle des films et les photos ?

Concernant le cinema-, les photos-, des documents phoniques, grâce
a l’equipement de numerisation, obtenu de la France, nous avons deja
numerise 2013 documentaires. Le processus de numerisation des longs
metrages de production armenienne est effectue selon l’accord signe
avec le Studio de Film Armenfilm, ainsi 415 films seront numerises.

Les Archives Nationales d’Armenie ont l’intention de numeriser les
films armeniens du temps Sovietique, qui sont actuellement preserves
dans le Studio Mosfilm. À present nous pouvons annoncer que toutes les
questions des documentaires de l’Armenie Sovietiques de 1940 a 1982 ont
ete numerisees. 3742 unites de stockage de photo ont ete numerisees
a ce jour, qui etaient sur la base de verre. Le processus est très
laborieux et exige des competences professionnelles. 1519 documents
phoniques ont ete numerises, incluant les enregistrements des sessions
de l’Assemblee nationale de 1989 a 1997. Chaque annee les Archives
Nationales d’Armenie sont completees avec de nouveaux documents,
qui conditionnent la suite du processus de numerisation des documents.

Quels programmes projetez-vous d’executer l’annee suivante ?

En 2013 il est destine d’etablir le programme d’optimisation des
subdivisions territoriales des Archives et commencer son execution,
aussi bien qu’etablir un reseau d’ordinateur interne entre les Archives
et les subdivisions territoriales, publier les documents des Archives
lies au Genocide armenien pour son 100ème anniversaire, les traduire
dans des langues etrangères et continuer le processus de numerisation.

Quels problèmes les Archives armeniennes Nationales ont-elles ?

Un des problèmes des Archives Nationales, exigeant un règlement urgent,
est la modernisation de l’equipement des ordinateurs, l’installation de
système de ventilation dans les depôts des archives des subdivisions
territoriales, l’execution de travaux d’impermeabilisation dans les
depôts d’archives souterrains et d’autres mises a niveau techniques.

mardi 30 octobre 2012, Stephane ©armenews.com

WALKING Ä°STANBUL’S LAND WALLS: FROM THE SEVEN TOWERS TO PANORAMA 1453

Today’s Zaman
Oct 29 2012
Turkey

Arguably one of the greatest fortifications ever built, and without
doubt the most successful, the land walls of Constantinople, today’s
Ä°stanbul, repelled all foreign foes for more than 1,000 years.

Completed in 413, the walls stretched some six kilometers from the
Sea of Marmara to the banks of the Golden Horn, a near impregnable
barrier behind which the city could breathe relatively easily,
whilst outside the besieging hordes of the likes of Attila the Hun,
the Avars and Persians, the Arab armies of Islam, Bulgars and Russians
raged in exasperation. Cutting off the city from the rolling hills of
Thrace to the west, the land walls were linked at either end by some 16
kilometers of sea walls, which ran right around the peninsula on which
Constantinople, capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire, was built.

By the time the Ottoman Turks rolled up at the gates in 1453,
Constantinople was a shadow of its former self, its population
down from a height of half a million to around 50,000, a struggling
city-state rather than an imperial capital. Up against an empire that
was very much in the ascendency, that of the Ottoman Turks, wielding
an army of up to 200,000 led by the redoubtable Mehmet II, the fall
of the city was inevitable — not least because advances in technology
enabled the Ottomans to batter the walls with gunpowder-powered cannon
shot. Even so, it took Mehmet almost two months to break down the
resistance of the 8,000 defenders, a victory which earned the young
sultan the sobriquet “Fatih” or “Conqueror.”

Exploring the walls today

Remarkably, the land walls are still in impressively good shape today,
a testament to the men who built and rebuilt them over the centuries,
and a walk along them is one of the most satisfying outings in this
great city, particularly if you are the kind of person who likes to
get off the beaten track and keep moderately fit in the process.

Whilst it’s easy enough to walk the length of the walls in a day,
or even a few hours, if you want to make the most of the sights along
the way it’s well worth considering spreading your explorations over
a couple of days.

The most straightforward way to reach the southern end of the walls
is to take the regular banliyö (suburban) train from Sirkeci station
to the Yedikule stop. To get a flavor of the history and cosmopolitan
nature of this neighborhood, head right (east) from the station and
cut north up Halit Efendi Sokak to a building locals will know best
as the Ä°mrahor Camii.

Now sadly a mere shell, this was once one of the most important
Byzantine monastic complexes in Constantinople, and the church at its
heart, that of St. John Stoudios, is the oldest extant in the city
(463). Entry is currently not possible, but you can admire it from
the outside.

Just north is the 18th-century Greek Orthodox church of St.

Constantine, said to contain a holy relic in the form of an arm of the
Emperor Constantine himself. To the south, back near the railway line,
a skeletal metal tower heralds a church built in the 19th century
for Italian Catholics but now used by Syrian Orthodox Christians who
migrated to Ä°stanbul from the Mardin region in the 1980s and 1990s.

>>From here, take the underpass beneath the railway and descend some
steps which are actually built into the line of the Byzantine sea
walls. Here there is a fine octagonal tower complete with a Greek
inscription and, next to it, some tumbled gravestones inscribed with
a script that will be unfamiliar to many: Armenian. Tucked into the
shadow of the sea walls here is a 19th-century Armenian Apostolic
church, that of St. Hovhannes.

>>From the Marble Tower to the Seven Towers

>>From just east of the church, cross busy Kennedy Caddesi by the
pedestrian bridge and stroll for a kilometer along the shores of
the Sea of Marmara to the southern terminus of the land walls, the
Marble Tower.

A kind of imperial pavilion as well as a defensive tower at the
juncture of the sea and land walls, a peep inside the half-collapsed
tower reveals cisterns that once provided the garrison with water.

Today, one of the wall niches is home to a vagrant, so be careful
not to disturb his slumbers. Now re-cross Kennedy Caddesi at the
pedestrian lights and join the outside of the land walls proper,
which tower impressively above you, just inside a pleasant park.

The first point of interest is a gateway, known as the Gate of Christ
after the XP monogram carved in relief over the arched entrance.

Exiting the park, continue along the main road just west of the
wall, past a gas station, before cutting east again, passing a Muslim
cemetery, to another gate in the wall, Yedikule Kapı. Before entering
the portal you’ll notice a wide trench stretching away both to the
south and north. This was once a moat, some 20 meters wide by 10 deep,
the first of a triple line of defense. After a major quake in 447
the wall had to be rebuilt in a hurry, and at the same time the moat
and an outer wall, erected between the moat and the original wall,
were constructed. Today the moat is home to lovingly tended market
gardens whose produce, from spinach to squash, eggplants to potatoes,
is for sale from small stalls along the line of the walls.

Enter the gateway and swing south to the Yedikule Muzesi (Seven Towers
Museum) fortification (open daily except Mondays; 9 a.m.-6 p.m.;
TL 10). This massive and fascinating structure has evolved over the
centuries to take the form you see today. Originally it was just the
so-called Golden Gate, a three-arched ceremonial gateway through which
emperors approached the city after a successful military campaign.

Erected as a free-standing structure in the reign of Theodosius
I in 390, it was incorporated into the line of the land walls in
413. Then, following the capture of the city by Mehmet II in 1453,
a fortress was made by adding three towers, linked by curtain walls,
to the line of the land walls, which themselves included four towers,
thus giving rise to its Turkish name.

Ascend the southern of the twin towers which once flanked the Golden
Gate (watch your footing, it’s dark and the steps uneven) for great
views down to the Sea of Marmara and along the line of the walls.

Unfortunately, the four bronze elephants pulling a chariot which
adorned the triumphal gateway in the Byzantine period are long gone.

Gateways, cemeteries and holy waters

If you’re in need of a drink, the Son Durak (Last Stop), a
couple of hundred meters west of Yedikule Kapı, is one of those
salt-of-the-earth cayhanes where you can still get a refreshing
glass of tea for half a lira. Back outside the gateway, turn north
and follow a well-preserved stretch of wall towards Belgrat Kapı
(Belgrade Gate). Here you get a real impression of the strength of
the fortification, especially if you scramble down into the market
gardens filling the moat and stare up at the walls towering above
you — first the outer wall, which was some eight meters tall and
two-and-a-half thick, and then, rearing impressively behind it,
the inner wall, a more substantial 12 meters high by five meters thick.

Continuing north on the sidewalk beside the moat, the drone of traffic
on the busy highway paralleling the line of the walls ever present,
you reach Belgrat Kapı. The wall here is well preserved, and you can
cross the bridge across the moat, walk through the gateways through
both the outer and inner walls and inside ascend steps up to the
parapet walkway and, further up, to the towers flanking the entryway.

There were over 90 such towers on the line of the inner wall and the
same again on the outer wall, many of which have survived.

The next gate along is the well-preserved Silivri Kapı, known as
the Gate of the Spring in Byzantine times. Here it’s worth deviating
from the line of the walls and heading into the beautifully maintained
and forested cemeteries west of the highway. Follow the signs for the
Gasilhane (the washing place for Muslim burials) and turn right past
an Ottoman-era ceÅ~_me (spring), then left between Muslim cemeteries
to the shrine-church of Zoodochus Pege, set between Armenian and
Greek Orthodox burial grounds.

There has been a shrine here since the early Byzantine period, built
above an ayazma or holy spring, though the present church dates back
only to 1833. It’s a beautifully maintained Greek Orthodox structure,
very much in the neoclassical style, with a lovely courtyard, the
floor of which comprises old tombstones. The main point of interest,
however, is the sacred spring, reached by steps from the courtyard.

The fish that swim lazily in the subterranean waters are said to be
descended from miraculous fish of legend. Apparently a Greek monk,
told that Constantinople had just fallen to the Turks, retorted that
that was just as likely as the fish he was frying up for lunch coming
back to life. At his words, the fish apparently leapt from the pan
and into the spring, where they swam around quite happily.

There is a cafe here, as the shrine receives a fair few pilgrims
from Greece who stock up on the holy waters, but it’s better to head
back to the line of walls and continue north to Mevlana Kapı. This
well-preserved gateway, named after a Mevlevi dervish lodge which
once existed outside the walls here, leads into a traditional quarter
of the old city and, a couple of hundred or so meters in, two cheap
and cheerful lunch stops. On the right, Ozer KardeÅ~_ler dishes up
excellent steam tray (sulu yemek) food to local workers for around TL 4
a portion, whilst opposite Mevlana Kapı Merkezefendi Köftecisi offers
tender grilled meatballs with white bean salad for not that much more.

Assuming you’ve visited all the places mentioned here you’ll likely
have walked around 10 kilometers, so by the time you reach the next
stop, the Panorama 1453 Museum, just short of the famous Topkapı
gateway, you might be ready to hop on the T1 tram at the handy Topkapı
stop and head back to the city center. Next up I’ll describe walking
the walls from the 1453 museum, which pays homage to the Ottoman
capture of the city on May 29 of that year, to the wall’s end on the
shores of the Golden Horn.

ARCHIVE DOCUMENTS ON ARMENIANS’ RESETTLEMENT TO AZERBAIJAN TO BE PUBLISHED

APA
Oct 29 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. The next scientific assembly has been held at the Institute
of History of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, APA reports.

Reports about delivery of the materials on the history of Azerbaijan
collected from the state archives of foreign countries and their
preparation for publication were made at the assembly chaired by
director of the Institute, correspondent member of ANAS, Professor
Yagub Mahmudov.

It was noted that 6 collections were published in 2012 basing on the
documents brought from abroad and other documents are being prepared
for publication. These documents are planned to be published in
a collection.

Moreover, the archive documents on Armenians’ resettlement to
Azerbaijan will be published in a separate volume. Decision was made
on systematic study of the past of the historical Azerbaijani lands.

ENGLAND CAN’T EVEN MATCH ARMENIA’S BEST PLAYER – MARTIN SAMUEL
By Martin Samuel

Daily Mail
Oct 29 2012
UK

Thinking football? I fear for England when we’re always dumbing down

How does the standard inquest into the state of English football go
again? We haven’t got a player like Andres Iniesta. We haven’t got
an Andrea Pirlo. Oh, woe is us.

Did you see the Chelsea and Manchester City games last week? We
haven’t got Christian Eriksen of Denmark, either. We haven’t got the
best player in Armenia.

His name is Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Armenian player of the year for
2009, Shakhtar Donetsk’s player of the year last season. UEFA rate
him among the top 100 footballers in Europe. He was leading scorer
in qualifying Group B for the 2012 European Championship, in which
Armenia finished third and won 4-0 in Slovakia. He would walk into
Roy Hodgson’s England team.

It was a sobering week for English football, as much as for English
clubs. The technique on display in Donetsk and Amsterdam was so far in
advance of our own that it is possible to fear not just for England’s
fate at the 2014 World Cup, but for the prospect of even getting there.

We kid ourselves with these searches for football’s El Dorado, the
hope that we will pass like Barcelona if we could only keep Jack
Wilshere fit. Watching Mkhitaryan pull the strings for Shakhtar on
Tuesday was to marvel at how far we have fallen. Wilshere did not
waste a pass in the first 45 minutes of his return to the Arsenal
side on Saturday but he cannot do it alone.

Mkhitaryan was surrounded by nimble, technically able players such as
Brazil’s Willian, who is not even a regular in his national team. Then
it was on to Amsterdam where Eriksen destroyed the Premier League
champions. At the end, Micah Richards, an England international, blamed
the defeat in part on being required to play an unfamiliar system.

Do you think Eriksen, Mkhitaryan or Willian would worry about that?

Shakhtar’s second goal was taken beautifully by Fernandinho, ostensibly
a defensive midfield player, who also can’t secure a place for
Brazil. He stuck doggedly to his duties but, given one opportunity,
knew exactly when and how to break. That’s football.

Thinking football. Could Fernandinho be wrong-footed by a tweak to
Shakhtar’s system?

Richards is meant to be one of our new wave, too. He came through the
Simon Clifford futebol de salao schools, a form of football education
credited with producing many of Brazil’s greatest footballers,
including Ronaldinho. Yet Richards’s international career has stagnated
because his defensive thinking and strategy are poor. His admission
that a simple switch to a back three left him puzzled is startling.

Roberto Mancini was right to say that the next time Manchester City
played that way, Richards could watch from the bench. It is probably a
moot point after his unfortunate knee injury on Saturday, but Richards
is under increasing pressure from Pablo Zabaleta and Maicon, players
from South America who do not balk at the thought of modification.

Neither is fit right now but, when that changes, whom will Mancini
turn to if he desires flexibility?

Why do English players find it so hard to adapt? Steve McClaren was as
good as run out of town for playing three centre halves in Croatia. He
was never brave enough to try it again. Yet Holland, Brazil and
Germany all do it, or can if necessary. And clubs throughout Europe,
including Barcelona, freely switch between three and four defenders
without everybody getting the vapours.

Mkhitaryan is not a defender, nor is Eriksen, but they come from
football cultures in which thought and expression is expected, from
the front to the back. English football continues to dumb down.

Glenn Hoddle got Swindon Town playing three defenders 20 years ago,
with Paul Bodin and Nicky Summerbee as wing backs. Try it now with
the best players in the land and see what happens. Any deviation from
military straight lines is considered heresy and the current England
manager is hardly the type to cry revolution.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world catches up and speeds past. We
flatter ourselves by yearning for the English Iniesta: Brazilian
reserves, the best young player in Denmark, the pride of Yerevan,
capital of Armenia, this is what we haven’t got.

Get over it, Bhoys

It was not heartbreaking that Celtic lost at the Nou Camp last week.

It would have been heartbreaking if Barcelona, with 82 per cent of
possession, leading 10-1 on shots on target, 10-3 on shots off target
and 15-1 on corners forced, had not earned more than a point.

Defensive football is purely result-driven: the end justifies the
means.

Nobody would have felt sorry for Chelsea had they lost to Barcelona
last season, because Barcelona were the better team. By drawing and
going through to the Champions League final, however, an awe-inspiring,
rearguard action with 10 men was vindicated. Celtic were not good
enough to pull it off, that’s all. Dry your eyes.

Sky’s policy on the right track

When Juventus were stripped of the 2005-06 Serie A title over the
Calciopoli scandal, the Italian federation had a simple decision to
make. As second-placed AC Milan were also implicated, they gave the
trophy to Inter Milan, who came third. It is not as simple for the
International Cycling Union.

They have decided to leave the seven years in which Lance Armstrong
won the Tour de France blank, as a warning against doping. Rubbish.

The roll of honour stays empty because cheating was so rife that in
two editions, 2000 and 2002, the first clean finisher came 10th and
in another, 2004, eighth. The UCI cannot revisit the podium without
writing the extent of their complacency in bold letters across it.

This is why Team Sky’s zero-tolerance policy is so vital. Some believe,
with at least one key team member already gone for admitting a doping
past, the stance will leave them impossibly weakened. Yet it is the
only way they can establish credibility in the eyes of the British
public.

The alternative is to look at those seven blank columns and consign
the sport to history.

Black faces need to be in the boardroom

For the sake of argument, let’s say Sir Alex Ferguson quits next week.

Manchester United executives go to the drawer in which they keep the
big ideas, and inspect the name on top of the pile: Pep Guardiola.

They call and ask him to be their manager. ‘Can you start on
Saturday?’ they plead. And he can.

‘Oh, but wait,’ says David Gill. ‘We can’t do it just yet. First,
we’ve got to interview Chris Hughton. It’s the law.’

So they telephone Chris Hughton and he drives to Manchester for a
meeting. And there is nothing he can say in that interview that will
place him ahead of Guardiola but he goes anyway.

It doesn’t do him any favours with the fans of Norwich City, who now
believe he is disloyal and will ditch them at the first opportunity,
but that isn’t the point. A box must be ticked and Manchester United
are ticking it.

But now Chelsea have got wind of United’s interest in Guardiola and
Roman Abramovich doesn’t wish to miss out. So he pays off Roberto Di
Matteo and puts in a call. And Guardiola fancies living in London even
more than Manchester. But Abramovich knows what he must do first. So
he phones Chris Hughton.

And that is why the Rooney Rule does not work. We all know that
black managers are under-represented in English football but there
are better ways of affording opportunity than mere quotas at interview.

Black faces are most urgently needed in boardrooms because this is
about employers more than employees.

If every club had to have an ex-player responsible for diversity,
with non-executive status on the board of directors, the influence
of black footballers would grow. The implication of the Rooney Rule
is that black candidates are being overlooked, but a lone name on a
shortlist won’t change that. A senior presence, with a direct line
to the men doing the appointing, might.

It is not unthinkable to consider Paul Elliott in such a role at
Charlton Athletic, Patrick Vieira at Manchester City, John Barnes at
Liverpool, Marcel Desailly at Chelsea.

Every club, from top to bottom, would have more than one candidate for
the position, a former player who could be, not just an ambassador,
but a positive influence, making it laughable that a serious black
contender for a coaching role would not be considered.

The power is with the employers: it is there that the change must
be made.

Fans could ditch ESPN

The best two sports events I watched on television last week were the
World Series baseball, and Atletico Mineiro’s 3-2 win over Fluminense
in Brazil’s Campeonato. Both were on ESPN. Major League Baseball has
signed with them for seven years.

Yet from next season, ESPN will have no Premier League football, and
soon no Premiership rugby. They are also losing coverage of Italy’s
Serie A, Ligue 1 in France, Brazilian domestic matches and Major
League Soccer. This leaves them with the FA Cup, Europa League and
Bundesliga to appease football fans. It is not much. They will surely
have to drop subscriptions from next season, but even that might not be
enough as subscribers switch to Premier League football on BT Vision.

At a time when every sport is looking to expand its global awareness
one wonders whether baseball, for instance, regrets entering a
long-term contract with an increasingly lame-duck broadcaster. The FA,
too, tied in until 2015.

The need for competition, far from being a boon to armchair sports
fans, has only meant bigger bills as the rights become fragmented.

Sports writers must have all bases covered: but you don’t, and probably
won’t, once you see the spiralling cost.

Authorities must get to bottom of Croft race case

Lee Croft of Oldham Athletic will face no police action over
allegations he racially abused a ball boy at a match with Sheffield
United. Croft strongly denied the accusation and an investigation by
South Yorkshire police found no evidence such an event had taken place.

Not good enough. What actually happened that day? The complaint was
made by some Sheffield United fans. Was it fabrication or simple
misunderstanding? The club must take steps to discover the reality
here.

If instances of racism are to receive lengthy statutory bans, as is
correct and likely, then all aspects of the procedure must be regarded
seriously. Victims should never be made reluctant to come forward,
but nor should the accusation itself be taken lightly, if found to
be false.

Andy for SPOTY

Andy Murray will not be present at the Sports Personality of the
Year Awards in December. He has opted to remain in training in Miami
instead. I want him to win it even more now.

Chips are down (and so pricey) at Arsenal

The economic strategy at Arsenal is plain. Instead of a very rich
man investing his money, in return for excitement and glory, the
fans are squeezed until the pips squeak. A club can only spend what
it can generate, without external financing, so it’s £13.90 for fish
and chips and the dearest season-ticket prices in the land.

There is a term to describe this phenomenon. It’s called financial
fair play. Enjoy the future, everybody.

The problem with QPR

Stephane Mbia, who let Queens Park Rangers down so badly on Saturday,
says he thought he was signing for a Scottish club and that manager
Mark Hughes had barely seen him play. And there is QPR’s problem in
a capsule: too much, too soon, and too many just passing through.

The bottom line

The Manchester City team that lost to Ajax last week cost
£175.1million. What a waste of money. Apparently, you can get spanked
in Amsterdam for a lot less than that.

Steve Evans

Further to last week’s column, Paul Douglas, chief executive of
Rotherham United, has asked me to make clear that while manager
Steve Evans was banned for six matches and fined £3,000 for using
insulting words and behaviour with reference to gender, the part of
the Football Association charge that referred to exposing himself to
a female official of Bradford City was rejected.

ARMENIA: ANTI-GAY PROTESTS BLOCK FILM SCREENING

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #663
Oct 29 2012
UK

Public opinion sharply divided, but at least issues are now being
talked about openly.

By Sara Khojoyan – Caucasus

CRS Issue 663,

29 Oct 12

The Armenian government has been criticised for failing to ensure
that a film about gay rights could be shown, despite hostility from
nationalist groups.

The European Union mission in Armenia, together with the German
embassy, was hoping to show an award-winning Serbian film called “The
Parade” at venues in Yerevan, to raise awareness about human rights.

The film is about attempts to organise a gay pride parade in the
Serbian capital Belgrade in the face of fierce opposition.

The plan had to be shelved after nationalist demonstrations halted
three separate attempts to screen the film in October.

“The EU delegation and the German embassy are concerned by the abrupt
refusal of several venues to show the film, given that they initially
agreed to host the screenings. This highlights the need for further
awareness on tolerance in Armenia,” a joint statement from the two
missions said after the last failed attempt to show the films, on
October 17-18 in the Congress Hotel.

The statement added that local organisers had promised to show the
films at a later date.

It also referred to a statement by EU delegation chief Traian Hristea
on October 9 which noted that some people were concerned that a film
on this subject would be shown.

“I would like to underline in response that the EU aim is to spread
information and encourage awareness in Armenia, thus challenging
stereotypes. One of art’s important functions is to open discussions
and confront prejudice and preconceived opinions,” Hristea said.

More than 20 non-government organisations joined forces to criticise
the government for failing to protect screenings, which was part of
a series of EU events to mark Human Rights Day 2012.

“As part of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership, Armenia has
accepted an obligation to reinforce respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms,” the NGOs said in a joint letter. “Armenia
receives support from the European Union, including financial support,
to implement these reforms.”

Davit Harutyunyan, a member of the ruling Republican Party and chairman
of parliament’s legal affairs committee, said the government was not
currently taking specific action to protect homosexuals.

“Of course society needs to be kept informed of these issues. However,
the government thinks that although important, this is not a problem
of major significance,” he said.

Opponents of the film said it was the organisers’ own fault that
demonstrations took place.

“For some incomprehensible reason, the German embassy, the EU
delegation, and a few local organisations took to organising this
film with huge enthusiasm, as if no other opinion could exist. It was
deliberate provocation,” Tigran Kocharyan, chairman of the Armenian
Association of Experts, said. “There are sections of society in
Armenia that have more serious problems, but for some reason these
get forgotten while these secondary, invented issues are publicised.”

Kocharyan attacked “local NGOs sustained solely by financial support
from abroad, which claim to speak on behalf of Armenian society
and portray anyone who holds a different opinion as a pawn of the
authorities. They think that civil society belongs only to them,
and they cannot accept that society also includes many young people
who oppose attempts to pervert our national values.”

Mamikon Hovsepyan, head of the Public Information and Need for
Knowledge (PINK) group, which works with Armenia’s gay community,
said this kind of opposition was only to be expected.

“If you look at the experience of other countries, you see that
whenever groups fight for their rights, they face indifference at
first, then a negative reaction, and then serious opposition. Looked
at in this light, protests and opposition are fine,” he said.

Hovsepyan said the lack of support from the government was more
troubling than any protests.

“The problem is that officials are keeping quiet and not doing
anything. In a situation like this, you can only assume that’s how
they prefer things,” he said.

This is not the first time Yerevan’s gay community has come under
pressure. The DIY Club, known as a gay hangout, was firebombed on
May 8. In a second incident on May 15, swastikas were sprayed on the
bar’s walls (See Gay Rights Under Attack in Armenia.)

Two men arrested after the firebombing were later released on bail.

Leading politicians from both opposition and the ruling Republican
Party spoke out in defence of the two suspects.

According to Hovsepyan, “When something like the attack on the DIY
Club is praised in parliament, young people are going to get wound
up even further.”

“That aside, the authorities must protect everyone’s constitutional
rights,” he added.

Tsovinar Nazaryan, an expert on media and human rights, said events in
both May and October at least showed that public awareness of issues
around homosexuality was growing.

“The government does not give legal equality to the gay community. But
I’m convinced that awareness of the law is constantly growing and
that while the number of violations is increasing, so is opposition
to this from people with legal knowledge,” she said. “A year ago,
this film would have been shown quietly in some hall, and the matter
would have ended there. Today it’s being talked about openly, and
that is a positive development.”

Sara Khojoyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.

PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS ON THE RA DRAFT LAW “ON AMENDING THE FAMILY CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA”

29.10.2012

On October 29 the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human
Rights and Public Affairs organized parliamentary hearings on the RA
draft law “On Amending the Family Code of the Republic of Armenia”
The age difference determined for women and men during the marriage
registration is removed by the draft law, and 18 years is determined
as a minimum threshold of the marriage age.

Presenting the necessity of convening parliamentary hearings,
the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee Margarit Yesayan noted that
after presenting the draft law by the Government within the different
circles of the society, especially among the national minorities,
a wave of anxiety rose, which became a signal that there was a need
to additionally debate the problem of the marriage age.

The RA Deputy Minister of Justice Aram Orbelyan clarified the essence
of the bill among the raised problems. The latter said that taking
into account the problems, the Ministry had prepared the edited
version of the draft law, by which 18 years could be determined as a
marriage minimum age, by the consent of the parents and the trustees
17 years could be determined, for exceptional cases judicial order
is envisaged for the marriage in 16 years.

Touching upon the part of the health care of the amendment, the
Chief Obstetrician-Gynecologist of the RA Health Care Ministry
Razmik Abrahamyan noticed that it was justified from the view of
women’s health maintenance, as 18 years is the optimal threshold of
becoming mother.

In their speeches the representatives of the state organizations,
NGOs, national minorities mainly considered the amended version
complete and admissible.

——————————————————————————–

HAK MEMBER FINED FOR CALLING ALIK SARGSYAN ‘HOOLIGAN’

11:00 am | Today | Social

A member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) today
was fined in the amount of 30 fold of the minimum wage after he was
found guilty of hooliganism.

Judge Mkhitar Papoyan said the litigation costs were already covered.

He said ‘the decision will come into effect within a month after it
has been announced.

According to the indictment, in October 2011 HAK member Vardges
Gaspari deliberately and flagrantly violated the public order in the
vicinity of government building, expressing contempt for the people
surrounding him. He reportedly cursed and roared for 15 minutes,
disturbing the rest of passersby.

Gaspari also named the former head of the Armenian police, Alik
Sargsyan, a ‘hooligan.’

Vardges Gaspari is going to appeal the verdict.

ARMENIAN COMPANIES TO ATTEND IT EVENT IN GEORGIA

news.am
October 29, 2012 | 16:42

YEREVAN. – The solutions by Armenia’s Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) sector will be introduced at GITI 2012, the Georgian
ICT Development and Cyber Security Event, which will be held in Tbilisi
from November 15 to 17, the Armenian Union of Information Technology
Enterprises informs.

The Armenian delegation to attend the event is expected to comprise
around 35 representatives, and Monday is the deadline for submitting
applications to participate at the event.

The purpose of the GITI conference is to describe the significance
of Information Technology in terms of creating an engine of growth
for socioeconomic development of the region.

The motto of the GITI 2012 is “IT for the future.” Its key objective is
to establish and promote effective partnerships among the public and
the private sectors, associations, and other IT&T industry-related
organizations in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic States,
Caucasus, and in the Central Asian region to promote competitiveness,
innovation, and security.

Interfax, Russia
Oct 26 2012

Strength of Russian military base in Armenia won’t change after
rotation – military

MOSCOW. Oct 26

About 3,000 servicemen will be replaced in a scheduled rotation at the
Russian military base in Armenia.

“The first group of about 150 conscript servicemen, among them
soldiers and sergeants who have undergone training as snipers,
mechanics, sight gunners, grenade throwers and reconnaissance
officers, have arrived in Yerevan today to replace servicemen sent to
the reserve. In all, about 3,000 men will be replaced,” the Southern
Military District said in a statement received by Interfax-AVN on
Friday.

The rotation will last until the end of November when the regular
training period begins. “The military base’s numerical strength will
remain the same,” the statement says.

“The replenishments will spend the first 15 days getting adjusted to
the high-altitude conditions and will be freed from service. When
candidates were being selected, preference was given to those who had
volunteered to serve abroad in mountainous conditions. Their physical
fitness was taken into account, the statement says.

Armenian election violators spent no day in prison – paper

October 27, 2012 – 19:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – According to Haykakan Zhamanak daily, Armenian
lawmen received 213 notices related to May 6 parliamentary elections,
with criminal cases instigated by 15 of them.

`As of October 25, 2 cases were filed to the court over election
violation charges, with 2 persons getting suspended sentences. The
violators didn’t spend even a day in prison,’ the paper says.