Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARTSAKH HEAD OF TOURISM: MINING WILL NOT IMPEDE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL TOURISM
Hayk Ghazaryan

hetq
11:04, August 1, 2012

In a conversation with Hetq, Artsakh Department of Tourism Director
Sergei Shahvedyan argues that mines now operating or planning to
be launched in Artsakh will not impeded the growth of tourism in
the country.

The Artsakh government has stated that tourism has great growth
potential given the country’s mountainous and forested landscape.

However, the mining sector serves as the biggest source of taxes for
the government. Can the two be reconciled?

Mr. Shahvedyan, what tangible successes have been registered of late
in the tourist sector?

Let’s first talk about the numbers. In the last two years we have
witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of tourists, some 42%.

In the first half of 2012, we have seen an increase of 40% over the
same period last year. Compare this with the 10-12% growth rate in
tourism in Armenia.

Such results are due to the steps taken by the government. We have
worked to present Karabakh as an attractive country in the tourism
industry at various international trade shows and exhibitions.

The second step has been to improve services and accommodations for
tourist in Karabakh. But there still is much to do in this regard.

I’d like to point to the creation of the Hounot Gorge nature reserve
and the Tigranakert Archaeological Museum of late. These are sites
that can attract tourists from abroad to Karabakh.

We have also made a number of legal reforms and have set up better
monitoring of hotels in the country.

Environmentalists say that mining impedes the development of tourism
in Karabakh. A number of new mining sites are planned in the coming
years. What impact will they have?

Today, the mines operating are quite far removed from tourist sites.

As to the environmental impact issue, that’s best left to the experts.

Naturally, mining operations must also have contingency plans for
restoring the environment when needed so that tourism isn’t negatively
impacted.

Both sectors, mining and tourism, are priorities. Presently, mining
is of vital significance for the country.

Another issue always raised is the felling of the forests. In fact,
Karabakh is often compared to Switzerland. Doesn’t logging also
threaten the development of tourism?

Such issues are not included in our legal briefs. They are matters
for the Ministry of the Environment. Nevertheless, we don’t cut down
trees in tourist areas. Had you come across the remains of logged
trees in our tourist zones, then we’d take action.

A few days ago at a consultative session you said that the Kashen
mine area had never been studied. According to our information, 110
monuments and groupings of monuments are registered in the area for
a total of 2,500 specimens. What steps are being taken to preserve
and protect such cultural and historical artefacts?

In fact, there are no such monuments or other items in the area to
be mined. Generally speaking, we still haven’t fully researched the
historical monuments in Artsakh. We only have preliminary data about
possible monuments at Kashen.

To avoid any unforeseen consequences, we have asked Base Metals,
the mining operator, to finance more comprehensive studies at the
area. We have received the company’s assurance on this point.

It remains for us to assemble a group of experts to carry out the
study. If monuments are discovered, then we’ll discuss what is to
become of them. If such items are underground they will have to be
dug up. Architectural structures will have to be relocated. And I
can assure you that this work will be conducted according to legal
procedures.

ARMENIAN, TURKISH YOUNG MUSICIANS TO GIVE CONCERT IN ISTANBUL

TERT.AM
01.08.12

Istanbul’s Bosphorus University will tonight host the Armenian-Turkish
Youth Symphony Orchestra, consisting of 56 young musicians from Turkey
and Armenia, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The concert will be conducted by the Akbank Chamber Orchestra’s
conductor Cem Mansur, with pianist Ashot Khachatourian on stage as
the soloist.

Young people from Armenia and Turkey first came together to form an
orchestra in July 2010, with the support of Bosphorus University
and the Turkish non-governmental organization Anadolu Kultur. Cem
Mansur and Nvart Andreasyan were the brains behind the orchestra,
and through it aim to contribute to peace between the two countries.

The orchestra performed three successful cztuoncerts at the Bosphorus
University, Buyukada Island and Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall in its
first year.

The orchestra, which has reunited upon the invitation of the Young
Euro Classic Festival, will also take the stage on Aug. 3 in Berlin,
one of Europe’s most lively cultural cities. Two concerts in Istanbul
and Berlin are being organized with support from theGerman and Turkish
foreign ministries, the Enka Cultural Foundation, Tower Tourism and
Fineco. Armenian conductor Andreasyan discussed the orchestra in an
interview with the Hurriyet Daily News in 2010.

“Our plan means gathering young people in an environment where there
is no chance to lose. The environment is international and it is
based in music,” she said.

Mansur said their aim was for the young musicians to become friends.

He took part in a similar project in 2008 and 2009 in South Africa,
adding, “In South Africa I conducted an orchestra with youth of
different races and saw the power of music. Before the project
those young people in South Africa hated each other because of the
misunderstandings that their races had gone through. By the end of
our project, those young people hugged each other. Through the power
of music, hatred left and in its place came love.”

SEVERAL QUESTIONS TO MARTIN VARDAZARYAN

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 1, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS: They say that there is not more amazing
thing than follow the changes of people’s dreams and predilections. Of
course, it refers to childhood dreams and as a rule professional
education which is not connected with them. A few people know that
such “destiny” had pianist, composer, honorable citizen of Yerevan and
simply talented person Martin Vardazaryan who tried to become sailor
than boxer and in a result it turned it rather different thing. He
talked about his childhood dreams and nowadays present with Armenpress.

– Mr. Vardazaryan, what made you to chose the way which is your life
companion till today?

People become musicians not in their will – the will of parents has
a great role. If the parents of Paganini and Bethoven were not so
consistent they would not become the ones what they became. But there
is an important circumstance: the child should have if not talent but
capability. It turned so that I was born in a family of musicians and
had an important role. My father was a bugler. He graduated from State
Conservatory of Moscow. One day I began to play piano by two fingers
and my father thought that I would become a pianist. He did not saw my
way of becoming musician because he died from car accident. At that
time I understood that most important people for me besides parents
are teachers.

– Can you remember when your first acquaintance with music was?

Music world is a sphere which is like drug and very wonderful. When
for the first time I heard the adagio of fifth symphony of Maler
and cried. During the final of sixth symphony there was a feeling
of cleaning and now every time I have the same feeling. Then I heard
Shostakovich and Prokofev, Aram Khachatryan.

I like speaking about music and if there is not an interlocutor from
whom I can learn something I talk to myself and make interesting
conclusions.

– How would you describe Yerevan Jazz atmosphere?

In Armenia jazz has always been allowed. We have performers of high
quality, very talented jazzmen but I am a little afraid. The attitude
of society became consumer towards jazz in result of which the group of
real estimators has increased. But the group of lovers has increased.

THE OFFICIAL PAYMENTS FOR OBSTETRIC AID SERVICES REDUCED IN ARMENIA BY TEN TIMES

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 1, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUAST 1, ARMENPRESS: The application of free of charge
payments system for obstetric aid services is compulsory for all
stratum of women.

In the briefing with Armenpress, the head of Division of Maternal
and Reproductive health, Ministry of Health Gayane Avagyan informed ,
the child delivery official payments have been reduced by ten times,
which is reflected in the Armenia Demographic and Health survey 2010
report published in April 2012.

If before the introduction of certificate by 2008 July 1 the rate of
payment for obstetric aid services was 82.4, 76.9 in urban areas,
and 89.4 in rural places, yet after the after the application the
rate has declined reaching 7.9, out of which 9.5 in urban areas and
5.8 in rural places. In the words of Avagyan regardless the fact
that mostly men mange the financial resources and the obstetric aid
services is affordable for them, the researches come to prove that
women also stand the payments.

There are 614 medical-obstetrical centers, 255 outpatient medical
organizations and 80 outpatient polyclinics, 101 women consultations
, 50 medical centers , 11 independent maternity hospitals operating
in the Republic of Armenia: 4 out of which in capital Yerevan,
7 in provinces.

LE DASHNAKTSUTYUN NOMME UN CANDIDAT POUR L’ELECTION MUNICIPALE DE GYUMRI
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 1er aout 2

La Federation Revolutionnaire Armenienne (Dashnaktsutyun) est devenue
lundi le premier parti de l’opposition a nommer un candidat pour
l’election du prochain maire dans la ville de Gyumri.

Le candidat, Hovsep Simonian, a ete presente lors d’une conference
de presse tenue par les chefs du Dashnaktsutyun de Gyumri et de la
province de Shirak.

Hovsep Simonian travaille actuellement comme directeur adjoint du
departement des finances et de l’economie dans l’administration
provinciale.

Le maire actuel de la ville, Vartan Ghukasian devrait se representer
le 9 septembre. Cependant, le parti Republicain d’Armenie (HHK),
dont Ghukasian est un membre, a appele a soutenir un autre candidat
representant le parti Armenie Prospère (BHK). Ghukasian a depuis ete
silencieux sur ses plans de reelection.

Les representants du Dashnaktsutyun dans Gyumri ont dit que la
decision de nommer Simonian a ete amorcee la section locale du pendant
une conference. ” Nous nous battrons jusqu’a la fin ” a dit Hovsep
Simonian. ” Rien ne peut nous inhiber ou nous retenir pendant cette
periode. ”

Le candidat Dashnaktsutyun s’est plaint de ce qu’il a appele
une connexion entre le vote de Gyumri et la prochaine election
presidentielle en Armenie en fevrier 2013.

Quelques observateurs ont suggere qu’en supportant un candidat du
BHK dans Gyumri la direction du HHK espère reparer les liens avec
le BHK et garantir son endossement pour la reelection du President
Serge Sarkissian.

US REPORT CRITICIZES TURKEY

Hurriyet
Aug 1 2012
Turkey

The Turkish Government has continued to impose limitations on Muslims
and other religious groups through, for example, a headscarf ban in
government offices for the stated purpose of preserving the “secular
state,” the U.S. State Department has said in its annual report on
religious freedom.

The report emphasized problematic issues in Turkey, such as the
reopening of the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary, the headscarf ban
in government offices, conscientious objection to military service,
compulsory religious education and difficulties faced by Alevis in
creating suitable places for worship.

“There were reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on
religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Threats against non-Muslims
created an atmosphere of pressure and diminished freedom for some
non-Muslim communities. Many Christians, Baha’is, Jews, and Alevis
faced societal suspicion and mistrust, and some elements of society
continued to express anti-Semitic sentiments,” the report read.

Wearing headscarves in gov’t offices

The report pointed out that Turkish authorities have continued their
ban on wearing religious Muslim headscarves in government offices
and public primary schools, although the ban was not enforced in
universities and is often ignored in some workplaces.

In its report, the U.S. State Department criticized the Turkish
government’s policy regarding the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary. The
report claimed the seminary “could be reopened after being closed
for 40 years.”

Some positive developments in religious freedoms were also noted in
the U.S. State Department’s report, including the Turkish government
recently permitting the forming of new religious community foundations
and allowing religious community foundations to regain property which
had in previous decades been confiscated.

“The government again permitted annual religious worship services to
be held in religiously significant sites that had previously been
converted to state museums, such as Sumela Monastery near Trabzon,
Akdamar Church near Van, St. Peter’s Church in Antakya, St. Nicholas’
Church near Demre, and the House of the Virgin Mary near Selcuk,”
the report stated.

The report also mentioned positive steps made toward decreasing
prejudice against graduates and applicants of imam hatip schools.

Applicants no longer encountered an automatic minimal reduction
in their university entrance examination grades when applying for
programs outside of the theology department, allowing for greater
academic freedom.

In its report the U.S. State Department criticized Turkey’s failure
to recognize conscientious objection to the country’s mandatory
military service. It also underlined the punishment of opposing
military service due to religious beliefs with charges in military
and civilian courts and possible prison sentences as a limitation of
religious freedom. However, the report also denounced the clouds of
suspicion hanging over the Sevag Balıkcı case, an Armenian citizen
who was killed during his army service.

August/01/2012

NEVER AGAIN TO GENOCIDE TRIALS

Today’s Zaman
July 31 2012
Turkey

HEIDELBERG — Rarely does one read such hopeful news: In late June,
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
acquitted former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžic of genocide.

That might sound like a bad thing: Karadžic, who once warned Bosnia’s
Muslims that war would lead them down the road to hell, surely deserves
to be sentenced for the acts of which he was just acquitted — murder,
siege and slaughter almost beyond naming. But for genocide?

Better not.

In fact, we would be better off getting rid of genocide as a crime
altogether. The legal concept of genocide is so incoherent, so harmful
to the purposes that international law serves, that it would be better
if we had never invented it. Karadžic’s acquittal — precisely because
he is still on trial on other counts related to the same atrocities —
is an opportunity to move toward the sensible goal of retiring it.

This was not just any acquittal. The ICTY decided that, after a
two-year trial, the prosecution had not presented enough evidence for
any judge to find Karadžic guilty of genocide early in the Bosnian War
(he faces a separate count for the July 1995 massacre at Srebrenica,
and the prosecution is appealing the acquittal). The court has been
consistent: With just a few trials left, it has issued no convictions
for genocide apart from Srebrenica.

The broader charge was always risky, but, for many advocates, it is
an article of faith that genocide was Bosnia-wide. Still, the problem
with genocide is not narrow judging, but that the crime itself is
doubly irredeemable: It is defective in its definition and troubling
in its moral and political effects.

Genocide requires “special intent.” A genocidaire must intend both to
commit a defined crime and to destroy the victim’s group. In domestic
law, the motive behind a crime is usually irrelevant — and for good
reason. People have complex reasons for acting illegally. War — a
collective enterprise in which killing your enemies can be legal —
increases that complexity.

Trying to prove genocidal intent has drawn prosecutors into thickets
of interpretation — such as giving lessons on the history of Greater
Serbia — that distract from trials’ forensic core and encourage their
politicization, as defendants “hijack” proceedings with their own
justificatory glosses. But the alternative — relaxing evidentiary
standards — would undermine values such as legality and reasonable
doubt, which are essential to a fair trial. Genocide’s stringent
requirements mean that it is — and should be — difficult to convict
a defendant.

That is consistent with our intuition that genocide is unique. But,
while granting supreme status to the “crime of crimes” may seem
morally attractive, the gravitational effect of genocide distorts
international law and politics.

Genocide makes other crimes seem less important. When Goran Jelisic
— a camp guard in Bosnia who called himself “the Serb Adolf” —
was acquitted of genocide in 1999, one might have concluded from the
prosecution’s stunned reaction that Jelisic had walked free. In fact,
he confessed to 31 other counts covering the same underlying acts,
and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Likewise, reactions to the Karadžic decision show how inflated the
perceived stakes are. Some say that acquitting him denies his victims’
suffering — as if only genocide mattered. But it is only because
acknowledgement of suffering has become identified so dogmatically
with one crime that anything else seems inadequate.

The problem extends beyond Bosnia. Asking “Was it genocide?” does
little to illuminate what was done to which Armenians by which
Ottomans during World War I. Today, Turks willing to discuss or even
apologize for the massacres refuse to confess to the “supreme crime,”
but Armenians can accept no other label. Any group whose suffering
is not called “genocide” feels like a second-class victim.

This is morally perverse. It is not more wrong to kill people because
of their ethnicity than it is to kill them because of their political
beliefs, gender, or for the sheer pleasure of watching them die. Yet
this is precisely what elevating genocide presupposes.

The political cost is high. Genocide’s status eases the pressure to
intervene in crises that are “only murderous.” Yet crying genocide too
liberally quickly cheapens its value, entangling efforts to respond
to ongoing exterminations in debates about their precise legal nature.

Despite these problems, prosecuting genocide might be worthwhile if
it were the only way to hold mass murderers accountable. But it is not.

Buried beneath the headlines about Karadžic’s acquittal are those
other charges: He will be tried for the same acts, but classified as
crimes against humanity and war crimes. If the prosecution produces
enough evidence, Karadžic will be sentenced for the same shelling
and sniping, the same killings and rape. All that will be lost is
the opportunity to label those acts “genocide.”

This is the real reason to drop “the crime of crimes”: its redundancy.

There is no act of genocide that is not also another crime. Genocide
is a crime of characterization, an interpretation. Rather than parse
killers’ motives, we better affirm our own values by denying that
any reasons could ever justify such acts.

Genocide is a socially meaningful way to describe a species of
annihilation; it is the legal category that we must question. We need
international crimes that are minimally characterized — commonsensical
analogues of domestic crimes — with as little room for interpretation
as possible. In court, we need not know why men slaughter to condemn
them for it.

So let us end genocide as we know it — by stopping genocides, but
also by abandoning the crime of genocide. Let us call its constituent
evils by their ancient names. That will do for Karadžic, when judgment
comes: He is still on trial, and we can still name his crimes.

*Timothy William Waters , a professor at Indiana University Maurer
School of Law and a Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for
Comparative Public Law and International Law, worked at the ICTY on
the trial of Slobodan Miloševic, on which he is editing a forthcoming
book. © Project Syndicate 2012

TURKS, ARMENIANS GATHER AT IFTAR IN KASTAMONU

Today’s Zaman
July 31 2012
Turkey

Armenian and Turkish locals came together on Monday at a traditional
iftar (fast-breaking dinner) in TaÅ~_köpru, a district of Kastamonu
province.

The iftar was initiated four years ago by Osman Å~^enel, the mukhtar
of TaÅ~_köpru’s Harmancık neighborhood. Speaking to the Anatolia
news agency, Å~^enel said they decided to hold an iftar for Turks
and Armenians living in the area to strengthen unity, fraternity and
solidarity between them.

“Turks and Armenians have been living together for centuries in this
neighborhood in peace and unity,” Å~^enel said, adding that at the
iftars Armenians distribute meals to their Turkish neighbors and
Turks give food to their Armenian neighbors.

Ramadan provides a great opportunity for people of different ethnic,
social and religious backgrounds to come together at the same iftar
table. These iftars not only contribute to social peace but also
strengthen the bonds between different groups living within the
borders of Turkey.

FEUDALISM RETURNS TO ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza

July 31 2012
Russia

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to VK

For many centuries Armenia was a feudal country ruled by a main
feudal-tsar and feudal princes. In fact, the country stopped being
feudal only after becoming Soviet. However, since 1998, i.e. after
Robert Kocharyan became president, feudalism revived. As a result of a
division of interests and parts of economy between members of the team
of the second president, Armenia became divided into regions ruled
by feudal prince-governors appointed by Kocharyan and his successor
Sargsyan. But in recent times the medieval feudal system has failed
in Armenia. Feudal governors and mayors felt too much freedom and
decided to act against their patrons’ will. One such presumptuous
prince is the self-perpetuating mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Gukasyan.

On 9 September, Gyumri, the second city of Armenia, will hold the
elections for mayor. The city is gripped by election fever. The main
question is whether the current Gyumri mayor, Vardan Gukasyan, will
take part in the polls. It is the most discussed question not only in
the city, but in the whole republic. According to Gukasyan’s team,
the mayor hasn’t decided on the issue yet. But he has stated that
“the people make him, even force him to take part in the polls.” The
situation around Gyumri’s mayor became tense after Gukasyan asked
for the resignation of the head of the territorial party structure
of the Republican Party of Armenia in the Shirak region on July 21:
see VK It
seems Gukasyan wants to prove that he can leave the party at any
moment and become an independent candidate.

First and foremost, the reason for Gukasyan’s deed is dissatisfaction
with the results of the parliamentary elections in Gyumri by the top
administration of the party and President Sargsyan. The authorities
accuse the mayor of lack of passion and initiatives during the
parliamentary elections. The Republican candidate gained 14.5 thousand
votes, while the candidate from Prosperous Armenia gained 2 thousand
votes. However, the only real reason for failure in the elections in
Gyumri is that for many years the authorities didn’t want to deal
with the problems of Gyumri’s citizens. More than 6000 families
are homeless in the city, the poverty level has reached 40%. Thus,
Gukasyan should be blamed for ignoring the peculiarities of the local
residents’ character, so he made overstated promises.

An MP from Prosperous Armenia, Samvel Balasanyan, is thought to be
a possible successor to the self-perpetuating mayor of Gyumri. The
PPA has decided to adopt Balasanyan in the mayoral elections. A
businessman and the owner of the major brewery enterprise in Gyumri,
Balasanyan is thought to be one of the traditional representatives
of the Armenia political field, considering his ties to the past
and present. But even he seems to be preferable to Gukasyan. RPA
supports Balasyan as well, as he has commercial interests with
top state officials. Moreover, support for the PPA candidate makes
the authorities cooperate with the party, despite its efforts to
demonstrate its opposition character. Therefore, the opposition PPA
stands together with the ruling party in the mayoral elections.

The second reason for eliminating Gukasyan from politics is the
general policy of renewing the list of those in power. The current
mayor and his relatives have been involved many times in scandals
and criminal affairs. In this sense, the developments in Gyumri
should worry other Armenian feudalists who have ruled their cities
for several terms. Gyumri is full of rumors at the moment. Some say
that Gusakyan is trying to attain his next “re-election” by means of
the Russian president.

The residents of Gyumri are indifferent to the top-level struggle and
to the prospect of replacing the self-perpetuating mayor, because it
wouldn’t affect their everyday problems.

ISSUES OF ORGANIZING THE EDUCATION FOR SYRIAN ARMENIANS DISCUSSED IN YEREVAN

Mediamax
July 27 2012
Armenia

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Issues of ensuring education for Syrian Armenians
were discussed in the Armenian Ministry of Education today.

“We should do our best to create favorable conditions and demonstrate
an individual approach to our compatriots who found themselves in
a difficult situation”, said Armenian Minister of Education Armen
Ashotyan.

He informed that accelerated education will be organized for Syrian
Armenians in specially selected schools with the support of the Yerevan
Mayor’s Office. The Minister assigned the head of the Department of
the Secondary Education of the Yerevan Mayor’s Office to select three
high schools taking into account the same regime.

Speaking on higher education, Armen Ashotyan said that the process
of entrance exams for applicants from Syria should be objective but
at the same time they should be conducted by a simplified order.

The Minister said that he will request the universities to reduce the
tuition fee for Syrian Armenians in the preparatory departments by 50%.