Author: Kanayan Tamar

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
July 23 2012

Tension with Armenia affects airing of TV show
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Armenian Shant TV has purchased script rights to Turkish TV show
`Ezel’, and produced its own TV series due to alleged fears about the
audience response. The TV channel is allegedly hiding the origin of
the show

As Turkish dramas gain a greater audience in neighboring countries,
complications arise due to broadcasters’ fears of possible reactions
from locals, especially in countries with which Turkey has a history
of political tension.

Similar fears have affected the airing of the Turkish show `Ezel’ in
Armenia, although the Turkish TV show is known to enjoy huge
popularity throughout the Arab world, particularly in the United Arab
Emirates. Armenia’s leading TV channel, Shant TV, has purchased the
script rights to the show and produced its own TV series featuring
local actors and actresses who are striking for their similarity to
their Turkish peers, namely Kenan Ä°mirzalioÄ?lu and Cansu Dere.

This is the very first Turkish TV show to be broadcast in Armenia, and
the first episode reportedly broke ratings records. The reason the
producers did not simply purchase the broadcasting rights and save
themselves the trouble of producing the show from the scratch was due
to fears about the unpredictable nature of the potential audience
response to the show’s Turkish origin, reports say. The TV channel’s
owners were allegedly hiding the fact that the show was originally a
Turkish production because they feared it would not receive a good
audience response if the audience was informed of the truth.

Ay Yapım is known to have sold the script rights to another of its
widely praised TV shows, `AÅ?k-ı Memnu’ (Forbidden Love), to an
American channel, which is known to have recently begun airing its
production based on the script.

Actress slams Turkish shows

As if to justify Shant TV’s secrecy about the origins of their version
of `Ezel,’ an unemployed Greek TV actress, Nikoleta Karra, recently
slammed Greek channels for airing Turkish shows instead of Greek
Cypriot ones, daily Hürriyet reported.

The Turkish TV series `Sıla’ particularly drew Karra’s ire, sending
her to Twitter to complain. `’Sıla’ in the morning, `Sıla’ in the
afternoon. `Sıla’ 24 hours a day. Enough! We’ve made so many shows in
Greek Cyprus. Why won’t the Greek channels air Greek Cypriot shows?’
the actress tweeted. Greek actors have been working for Greek Cypriot
channels for some time now due to the difficult financial situation in
Greece.

Turkish shows are among the most popular TV programs in Greece, and
presently five Turkish TV shows are aired in the country, including
`Sıla.’ Another Turkish show entitled `Lale Devri’ (Tulip Era) is set
to hit Greek screens on July 25. k HDN
July/23/2012

LIBAN
Le quotidien Azdak a 85 ans

Le quotidien Azdak a d’abord été publié à Beyrouth le 5 mars 1927. Au
début tous les deux jours puis tous les trois jours. Maintenant, les
arméniens dans le monde entier ont l’occasion de lire les publications
d’Azdak chaque jour.

Depuis 85 ans Azdak est le journal officiel du comité central de la
FRA au Liban, mais ce n’est pas seulement le journal du parti. Le
correspondant en Arménie du journal Tatul Hakopyan, qui collabore avec
le quotidien depuis 2005, dit qu’Azdak est un pont pour les arméniens
dans le monde entier : « Azdak est un des rares journaux qui fournit
assez de place dans ses publications pour les questions politiques et
de l’autre les relations religieuses, l’Église Apostolique, l’Église
catholique et l’Église Évangélique ».

Azdak est publié 6 jours chaque semaine. Il inclut 10 pages. Il est
aussi publié en arabe et a des annexes. Deux fois par an, au Nouvel An
et le 24 avril, des suppléments sont publiées.

Le quotidien est publié en 3000 exemplaires. 10 exemplaires atteignent
à peine Erevan.

dimanche 22 juillet 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

HAUT KARABAGH
L’Azerbaïdjan a violé à prés de 300 reprises le cessez-le-feu à sa
frontière avec la République du Haut Karabagh

La semaine écoulée sur la frontière entre la République du Haut
Karabagh et l’Azerbaïdjan fut une nouvelle fois marquée par le
non-respect par Bakou du cessez-le-feu. Du 15 au 21 juillet, les
positions azéries ont rompu à près de 300 reprises le régime du
cessez-le-feu. Plus de 1 500 projectiles furent tirés en direction des
positions arméniennes. Les Arméniens n’ont pas répliqué afin de
respecter le cessez-le-feu. L’armée de la République du Haut Karabagh
contrôle intégralement et durablement la situation sur le terrain. Ces
tirs azéris étant d’ailleurs davantage par provocation que par
conviction de conquérir une quelconque nouvelle position sur le
terrain.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 22 juillet 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ARMENIAN CULTURAL DAYS TO BE HELD IN BULGARIA THIS YEAR

news.am
July 20, 2012 | 16:21

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s PM Tigran Sargsyan received Bulgaria’s
newly-appointed Ambassador to Armenia, Georgi Karastamatov.

The Premier congratulated the Ambassador for assuming office and
wished him success in his future activities.

“The Government of Armenia will do everything so you may successfully
carry out your mission,” said Tigran Sargsyan.

And in the context of developing the relations and trade and economic
ties between the two friendly countries, the interlocutors underscored
holding of the Armenian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission’s
regular session, which will be convened in Sofia this year.

Georgi Karastamatov presented to Tigran Sargsyan the invitation
extended to him from his Bulgarian counterpart, PM Boyko Borisov,
for a visit to Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian ambassador also informed that Armenian Cultural Days
will be organized in Bulgaria this year.

EUFOA WELCOMED THE ELECTIONS IN ARTSAKH

ARMENPRESS
20 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS: “European friends of Armenia” group
welcomed presidential elections in NKR on July 19. EuFoA mentions
in the massage given to Armenpress that it the wish of de-facto
authorities to organize local governance based on democratic
principles. In the massage is said:

“Our observation mission was a short-term observation and included
the Election Day, parts of the electoral counting procedures and
interviews with candidates and other observers. Our mission did
not include media monitoring, long-term observation before or after
Election Day, monitoring of the complaints procedure and follow-up. To
cover these important aspects of election observation, we recommend
full OSCE-ODIHR missions for the future. Our mission included 23 of
the 245 polling stations, stretching from Hadrout in the south to
Mardakert in the north, covering polling stations sizing from 1932
voters in Hadrout to 18 voters in the mountainous village of Mehmana.

We strongly commend the local authorities for allowing us to move
absolutely freely around Nagorno-Karabakh (including the scarcely
populated buffer zone around) and to question anyone directly or
indirectly connected to the elections. The efforts made to allow
us and other observer teams to gain full insights and transparency
were considerable and we call upon the international community to
appreciate these efforts.

The solidarity of democrats’ demands that we prefer and promote
the basic human right of democratic self-governance and it is in
this context that our group carried out our mission here. We call
in particular upon the OSCE ODIHR to provide technical assistance
and election observation for future local-election, as part of a
humanitarian development aid, even if this is done while underlining
the non-recognition of the local state entity. This will provide for
a real boost in local democratic culture and help prepare the local
population for the time after the resolution of the so-called frozen
conflict, as envisaged by the OSCE Minsk Group”.

The group recorded several positive sides among which:

Proxies of at least two of the three candidates were present in all
polling stations; all proxies questioned reported no violations of
the electoral code, at the time of asking, in line with the electoral
code, educational posters were visible in all polling stations and
many others.

VITALY BALASANYAN THANKED HIS VOTERS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:09:51 – 20/07/2012

Vitaly Balasanyan, the run-up presidential candidate in NKR,
congratulated the people of Artsakh for the national awakening. The
people of Artsakh proved ready to decide its destiny. The number of
votes for me shows that the problems we brought up are urgent and need
solutions. Together we will fight for the solution of these problems
and we will form the political agenda of our country together, stated
the main opponent of the incumbent president of NKR.

“In my open letter to the president I expressed concerns over the
processes marring the elections. Unfortunately, they were not taken
into account. I was ready to congratulate the winner of fair elections
but now I will only accept the results with reservations.”

“The election indicated that at least one third of our population
disagrees with the policies and demands changes. The authorities must
review their policy, and it will be done under our demands,” Mr.
Balasanyan stated.

Mr. Balasanyan states that the voters underwent pressure,
the administrative resource was deployed to collect votes for the
incumbent president, and the worst pressure was in the regions of
Kashatagh and Shahumyan. “The votes I received under these conditions
are a good result and a good reason to establish a new political
organization. One of the primary goals of this organization will be
advocacy of the interests of our citizens.”

Vitaly Balasanyan thanked everyone who voted for him and for their
courage to do so, his campaign headquarters, proxies, the mass media
and the observers who carried out their duties honestly, and all the
individuals and organizations of the Diaspora who supported him.

KARABAKH ELECTIONS COMPLIED WITH PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW – ICES

news.am
July 20, 2012 | 12:58

The official international observer mission of the International expert
Center for Electoral Systems (ICES) considers the presidential election
process in Nagorno-Karabakh-or Artsakh-as an established democratic
act of expression of will by the republic’s citizens, an act which
is consistent with international norms, the aforesaid mission’s chief
Alexander Tsinker stated during a press conference on Friday.

The observers also noted that falsification of election results was
not recorded at the polling stations and when the records were being
submitted to the Central Electoral Commission. The international
observers visited 52 polling stations.

In addition, the ICES mission expressed its satisfaction with the fact
that there were no disturbances during the electoral process, and no
one tried to disrupt the voting process and summing up of the results.

ICES’ statement notes that, overall, the elections were held
democratically, with a competition among the presidential candidates,
and with a high voter turnout.

According to them, Artsakh’s elections have complied with the
principles and requirements of the international right to vote.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, incumbent NKR President
Bako Sahakyan won the elections by receiving a great majority of the
votes. According to preliminary figures, Sahakyan received 47,085 votes
(66.7%), NKR National Assembly MP Vitali Balasanyan received 22,966
votes (32.5%), and Deputy Director Arkadi Soghomonyan of Academic
Activities at the NKR capital Stepanakert Branch of State Agrarian
University of Armenia received 594 votes (0.8%).

THE FUTURE OF ARMENIAN ECONOMY IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH THE EXPORT: MINISTER

ARMENPRESS
20 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS: On July 20, the EU Advisory group jointly
with the Armenian Ministry of Economy, held a seminar dedicated
to the formation of a negotiation process between Armenia and the
EU on the opportunities regarding the deep and comprehensive free
trade. According to Armenpress, the main goal of the seminar is to
familiarize the public and show all the possibilities and advantages
which will be opened for Armenia with the help of this process.

“It is very important to imagine clearly what kind of anticipations
we shall have from this negotiations. The internal market of Armenia
is limited enough, and this process will give us an opportunity to
enlarge the export volume”- mentioned the Minister of Economy Tigran
Davtyan. According to him, the future of Armenian economy is directly
connected with the export to CIS and EU countries, and now there is
an active collaboration with them.

According to Onno Simons, the head of the EU delegation’s political,
economic and information department, the agreement on Deep and
comprehensive free trade between Armenia and the EU cannot be remained
on the paper. The agreement supposed the integration of Armenia to
the internal markets of the EU, as a result of which the volume of
Armenia`s economy can be increased to 30%.

The agreement includes 15 chapters about the modernization of customs,
the protection of intellectual property, the trade facilitation,
the solving of government procurement and other area`s issues ,
and the rise of efficiency.

The negotiating process will launch on February 19, 2012,by the
confirmation of the EU trade policy committee. The first phase of
the negotiations will be held in Brussels from July 19-20. The other
2 phases are intended to be held on October and December of 2012.

RUSSIAN OBSERVER MISSION BACKS NKR LEADER’S INVOLVEMENT IN KARABAKH TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
July 20, 2012 – 13:29 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russian observer mission of 16 monitored July 19
presidential polls in Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

According to the mission’s statement, “NKR presidential polls were
held in the environment of intensive political competitiveness, with
equal media access provided to all candidates. Certain shortcomings in
the work of electoral committees were of technical and organizational
character and couldn’t affect the results of the vote.”

In their statement, the observers urge for the attention of the OSCE
Minsk Group and the international community to the efforts aimed at
creation of a democratic electoral system. The observers called for
rapid settlement of Karbakh conflict to promote establishment of
stability on the region.

In this context, Russian MP Alexander Balaberov noted the importance
of NKR presidential polls in Karabakh settlement talks, adding that
negotiations without Artsakh president’s involvement are doomed
to failure.

According to preliminary results of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh)
Republic’s Central Election Commission, the incumbent leader, Bako
Sahakyan, gained 47 085 (66,7%) of the votes to win the presidential
race.

His major rival Vitaly Balasanyan garnered 22 966 (32,5%) of votes
while Arkady Soghomonyan received 594 (0,8%) of votes.

THE STRUGGLE IN DAMASCUS IS IN ITS FINAL STAGE

ARMENPRESS
19 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS: After the terrorist attack near Syrian
National Security building on July 18 the situation in Damascus
continues to stay tense. Armenpress was informed from representative
of Armenian community in Syria Nazareth Elmajyan that the control
in Damascus has more strengthened but during the whole day voices of
continuing clashes, explosions are heard from the suburbs of the city.

In Elmajyan’s words the current struggle is in its definitive and
final stage and during a day or two the situation will be clearer.

What refers to the information spread by various Medias that the
presidential residence is in siege does not correspond to reality.

In result of clashes the terrorists had significant losses; there
are many arrested people who are not Syrians.

The situation became tenser after the strong explosion on July
18 because of which Defense Minister of Syria and other high-rank
officials died.