Author: Kanayan Tamar

Kuwait Times, Kuwait
May 27 2012

Sweden sweeps Azerbaijan’s contentious Eurovision

Swedish star Loreen yesterday celebrated victory over rivals including
Russian pensioners in a spectacular Eurovision Song Contest that host
Azerbaijan hoped would banish qualms over its rights record. Loreen,
28, the daughter of Berber immigrants from Morocco, wowed voters with
a catchy dance number called `Euphoria’ featuring an exultant chorus
accompanied by a high-kicking dance duet and a storm of artificial
snow. The slick four-hour show late Saturday was the biggest event
ever hosted by energy-rich Azerbaijan as it seeks to present a glitzy
image despite concerns over rights violations under the autocratic
rule of the Aliyev dynasty.

Loreen’s victory was the fifth by Sweden in the contest and followed
in the footsteps of its most famous band Abba who won the contest in
1974 with `Waterloo’-for many the song that defined the kitschy
contest for all time. `It’s just a question of taste. This year it
happened to me,’ was how Loreen, whose real name is Lorine Zineb Noka
Talhaoui, modestly explained her victory. Swedish Foreign Minister
Carl Bildt tweeted: `Yes, Loreen certainly lived up to high
expectations.’ Second place on Saturday went to Russia’s heartwarming
Buranovskiye Babushki, a choir of elderly village women aged up to 76
who performed a disco song `Party for Everybody’ in English and their
local Finno-Ugric language.

`There are tears of joy. The Babushki are so happy with their
success,’ band administrator Maria Tolstukhina told Interfax, adding
their earnings would be spent on building a new church in their native
village of Buranovo. Third was Serbian Eurovision veteran Zelijko
Joksimovic who had already competed in three previous contests, once
as a singer and twice as a composer. The show included the usual range
of the weird and exotic including a Norwegian rapper of Iranian origin
who came last, half-naked French gymnasts and Irish duo Jedward who
ended the routine by getting drenched by a fountain. There was
disappointment for Britain after veteran crooner Engelbert
Humperdinck-brought in to revive its notoriously bad Eurovision
fortunes-scored just 12 points and came second last with his ballad
`Love Will Set You Free’.

Sweden’s victory with 372 points with an uplifting song tailor made
for the contest was never in doubt, although voting was marked by the
usual backslapping patterns with the Greeks voting for the Cypriots
and vice versa. The final’s 26 acts lit up the spectacular Crystal
Hall built to host the contest in barely half a year on the Caspian
Sea, with an audience of some 20,000 inside the venue and 100 million
television viewers. The host entry Sabina Babayeva was not all that
far from securing a repeat of Azerbaijan’s 2011 success that earned
the nation the right to host the contest with her `When the Music
Dies’ coming in fourth.

Loreen ran into controversy during the contest by meeting local rights
activists who briefed her on the lack of democratic freedoms in the
tightly controlled ex-Soviet state. However at the post-contest news
conference she sidestepped a question about how she would support the
people of Azerbaijan further, saying simply that: `I will support the
Azerbaijan people from my heart.’ In Baku the festive atmosphere had
been clouded by the detentions of dozens of opposition activists who
attempted to hold several peaceful demonstrations calling for
democratic freedoms in the tightly-controlled state.

Azerbaijan is run by strongman President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded
his late father Heidar Aliyev in 2003. His wife Mehriban Aliyeva
headed the organising committee of Eurovision and his son-in-law, Emin
Agalarov, a Moscow-based businessman with a budding pop career, sang
in a black leather jacket in a musical interlude after the voting. The
event was also far beyond the reach of ordinary Azerbaijanis, with
tickets for the final starting at 160 manat ($204), half the monthly
income of the average Azeri, according to World Bank statistics. With
political sensitivities never far from this Eurovision, the
promotional videos shown included landscapes from Nagorny Karabakh,
which Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized from Azerbaijan in
a war in the 1990s. Armenia had pulled out of the contest saying it
feared hostile treatment and Azerbaijan barred those who had visited
Nagorny Karabakh from travelling to the contest. – AFP

Human rights record in Armenia on agenda of Clinton’s visit – Armenian expert

news.am
May 27, 2012 | 18:02

YEREVAN. – The 2011 Annual Human Rights Reports on Armenia issued by
the State Department will be discussed during Hillary Clinton’s visit,
Richard Giragosian, director of Regional Studies Center, told Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

This year’s report, just like others, mentions about weaknesses and
problems with state of human rights in Armenia.

`Armenia has already passed the test of elections. The elections could
have been and should have been much better,’ Giragosian said.

The expert is confident that during her visit Clinton will speak about
the need to deepen reforms.

`The timing of the visit is interesting, we will already have a new
parliament and see what the new coalition will look like,’ he added.

According to him, human rights in Azerbaijan will be discussed
especially in the context of recent arrests of demonstrators during
the Eurovision.

`Azerbaijan has already embarrassed itself,’ Giragosian emphasized.

He said Azerbaijan is the only trap to regional security and
stability. The visit will deliver a message that Baku should not
threaten with war and must improve.

The annual human rights report on Armenia said the most significant
human rights problems were limitations on citizens’ right to change
their government, freedom of speech and press, and the independence of
the judiciary, State Department said in its annual report.

ARMENIE
Arménie : les élections législatives ont été truquées, selon le Parti communiste

Le Parti communiste arménien a déclaré vendredi que les élections
législatives qui ont eu lieu le 6 mai dans ce pays avaient été
`truquées`.

`Nous sommes certains que notre parti a reçu plusieurs fois plus de
suffrages que le nombre officiellement annoncé de 16 000 voix`, a
déclaré lors d’une conférence de presse le premier secrétaire du Parti
communiste d’Arménie Ruben Tovmasyan.

D’après les résultats des élections publiés le 7 mai par la Commission
électorale centrale d’Arménie (CEC), le Parti républicain du président
Serge Sarkissian a remporté la majorité absolue, soit au moins 68 des
131 sièges de l’Assemblée nationale, tandis que son partenaire de
coalition le Parti pour une Arménie prospère a recueilli 30,2 % des
voix.

Par contraste, le Parti communiste d’Arménie n’a été crédité que de
1,5 % des suffrages.

dimanche 27 mai 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

ENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE SUPPORTS CONTINUED ASSISTANCE FOR NAGORNO KARABAKH

armradio.am
26.05.2012 12:04

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version
of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations
Bill outlining U.S. funding and policy priorities abroad, including
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, reported the Armenian Assembly of America
(Assembly).

The Appropriations Committee recommended “assistance for victims
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in amounts consistent with prior
years, and for ongoing needs related to the conflict.” In addition,
the Committee urged “a peaceful resolution to the conflict” and the
Bill itself made funds available for “confidence-building measures
and other activities in furtherance of the peaceful resolution of
conflicts, including in Nagorno Karabakh.”

“The Senate Appropriations Committee’s inclusion of assistance to
Nagorno Karabakh advances important US foreign policy and humanitarian
priorities in the region and will provide for those most affected by
this conflict,” said a spokesperson for Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL).

Sources familiar with the Bill noted that funding for Armenia in
terms of economic and military assistance mirrors the President’s
request, which included the following: $27.22 million in Economic
Support Funds, $2.5 million in Global Health Programs, and $2.82
million in International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement. The
Administration’s request also called for $2.7 million in Foreign
Military Financing (FMF) for Armenia and allocates $600,000 each in
International Military Education Training (IMET).

The Bill also restated the six customary exemptions for humanitarian
and other assistance to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.

Section 907 was enacted in 1992 and requires the Government of
Azerbaijan to take “demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and
other offensive uses of force” against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the State, Foreign Operations
Appropriations Subcommittee noted that while overall funding in this
“bipartisan bill” is “$2.6 billion below the President’s budget
request, and $1.2 billow below the Fiscal Year 2012 level” at the
same time still “addresses the priorities of Senators of both parties.”

Further action on this Bill and its counterpart in the House of
Representatives has not been scheduled.

ARMENIA’S LAWYERS ARE PREPARED TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES – NEWSPAPER

news.am
May 26, 2012 | 07:13

YEREVAN. – A group of attorneys from the Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia,
who are displeased by the actions of the Court of Appeals, are ready to
take drastic measures, even a strike, lawyer Gevorg Gyozalyan stated,
Hayots Ashkharh daily writes.

“The attorney expressed a concern that ‘the lesser courts might no
longer examine the evidence, and this could never be considered a
violation of the procedural norm.’

The cause for [such] concern was the Court of Appeals ruling on
returning the lawyer’s cassation appeal,” Hayots Ashkharh writes.

BAKOU AURAIT DEPENSE 3 MILLIARDS DE DOLLARS POUR L'” EUOVISION-2012 ”
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 26 mai 2012

Vrai ou faux. Toujours est-il que la chaine de television
turque Sky360 affirme que l’Azerbaïdjan a depense 3 milliards de
dollars pour la preparation et la communication liee au concours
de l’Eurovision-2012. Information reprise par le journal azeri ”
Azadlek “. Selon Sky360 les autorites azeries donnent une très grande
importance au concours de l’Eurovision et la personne chargee de la
programmation artistique liee a cet evènement qui se deroule a Bakou
n’est autre que Mehriban Aliev, la première dame du pays. Sky360
affirme egalement que John Bonomo, le chanteur qui representera la
Turquie, est d’origine juive.

L’EUROVISION A BAKOU SUR FOND DE CRITIQUES SUR LES DROITS DE L’HOMME
Stephane

armenews.com
samedi 26 mai 2012

La finale de l’Eurovision va se derouler samedi a Bakou, capitale de
l’Azerbaïdjan, qui a mis les bouches doubles pour montrer a plus de
100 millions de telespectateurs une image resplendissante de ce pays
très critique a l’etranger pour ses violations des droits de l’homme.

Samedi soir, 26 finalistes vont s’affronter dans le Crystal Hall, un
palais flambant neuf, erige a Bakou en un temps record pour accueillir
le concours.

Les “Bouranovskie Babouchki”, un groupe de grands-mères russes
d’un petit village de la Volga, qui va melanger dans sa chanson des
paroles en anglais, en russe et en oudmourte (langue locale qui se
rattache au groupe finno-ougrien) et une chanteuse suedoise Loreen,
qui interpretera une chanson techno-pop avec une danse proche du
Kung-Fu, sont parmi les favoris de cette 57e edition.

Un crooner britannique de 76 ans, Engelbert Humperdinck, semble aussi
bien place, de meme que les jumeaux irlandais Jedward a la coupe de
cheveux verticale, et l’excentrique Rambo Amadeus representant le
Montenegro avec une chanson sur la crise economique.

Meme si les tickets sont a un tarif inaccessible pour la plupart
des locaux, le sentiment de fierte est tout a fait palpable dans
la capitale.

“C’est merveilleux. Nous avons des invites qui viennent nous voir et
tout le monde voit quelle ville nous avons, quel pays nous avons”,
declare Soyamaz, un professeur de russe.

L’evenement est cependant avant tout une vitrine pour le president
Ilham Aliev, qui a succede a son père Heydar Aliev en 2003.

Sa femme Mehriban Alieva dirige le comite d’organisation du spectacle
et son gendre Emin Agalarov, interpretera des chansons pendant le show.

La journaliste Khadija Ismaïlova de Radio Liberty a par ailleurs mis
a jour ce qui semble etre un conflit d’interet entre la famille Aliev
et une compagnie impliquee dans la construction du Crystal Hall.

Droits de l’Homme ou (a)politique ?

Par ailleurs, le concours a ete terni par les accusations d’ONG qui
denoncent des violations des droits de l’homme dans cette ancienne
republique sovietique.

Plusieurs dizaines d’opposants ont ete interpelles par la police jeudi
a Bakou lors d’une manifestation. La police les a ensuite relâches,
mais huit d’entre eux ont ete condamnes a des amendes.

“Une manifestation pacifique en Azerbaïdjan est aujourd’hui en effet
criminalisee”, estime Max Tucker d’Amnesty International, qui recense
17 prisonniers politiques dans le pays.

“D’un côte, on est content de cet evènement, mais d’un autre côte on
parle aux journalistes, a nos invites, afin qu’ils sachent toute la
verite sur la situation en Azerbaïdjan”, rencherit le chef du parti
d’opposition Musavat Isa Gambar.

Le pouvoir, lui, declare que l’opposition est autorisee a s’exprimer
du moment qu’elle n’enfreint pas la loi.

Et l’Union europeenne de radio-television, qui organise l’Eurovison,
martèle de son côte qu’il s’agit d’un evènement apolitique.

La representante de la Suède, Loreen, a neanmoins rencontre cette
semaine des militants, qui lui ont demande de parler des droits de
l’Homme quand elle montera sur scène avec sa chanson “Euphoria”.

Interrogee a ce sujet lors d’une conference de presse, elle s’est
cependant refusee a tout commentaire.

Neanmoins, Rasul Jafarov, du mouvement “Chante pour la democratie !”,
qui a rencontre Loreen et organise une marche silencieuse dans la
ville mercredi, a qualifie l’Eurovision d’evènement sans precedent
pour le pays, etant donne la manière dont les militants l’ont utilise
pour defendre leur cause.

“Cela n’a pas change la situation, mais cela pourrait la changer a
l’avenir”, a-t-il estime.

PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION OF AZERBAIJAN: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S RESOLUTION HAS FRIVOLOUS AND SLANDEROUS CHARACTER

APA
May 25 2012
Azerbaijan

Fuad Alasgarov: “Such resolutions could bring the issue of expedience
of cooperation with this organization to agenda and affect the adoption
of decision on associative membership”

Baku – APA. “The European Parliament’s resolution on Azerbaijan adopted
on May 24 has frivolous and slanderous character. Most of the issues
reflected in this document were distorted”, head of the department
of the Presidential Administration for work with law-enforcement
agencies Fuad Alasgarov said.

He said the date of adoption also showed that the resolution was
ordered by some forces. “Intensive anti-Azerbaijan campaign in European
mass media, manner of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International
and our neighbors, as well as synchronized activity of Azerbaijan’s
radical opposition and some NGO’s toward this confirm it.

Quotation of “Azerbaijani human rights defenders’ 10-month campaign
started before the Eurovision song contest” also confirms it”.

Fuad Alasgarov said the resolution was adopted during 30-minute hasty
hearing and it contains many inaccurate and unverified clauses. “I
consider that the European Parliament takes wrong position. Azerbaijan
is located on southern border of Europe. It is alternative energy
source for Europe and one of the main components of Europe’s
economic independence and security. Azerbaijan follows the course of
integration into Europe and fulfills its commitments. Unfortunately
contributing to parochial political interests they show biased
attitude to Azerbaijan. For example, member of the European People’s
Party from Germany Bernd Posselt have same position with the German
mass media. Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe and
Central Asia John Dalhuisen, whose attitude toward Azerbaijan was
formed under the influence of his Armenian childhood friends, also
has too subjective ideas”.

The resolution claims that May 15 rally was broken up by police and
calls for peaceful protest actions. “This clause doesn’t reflect the
realities. First, there was no rally on May 15. Only 20-30 people
picketed on May 14 and those meetings were unauthorized. Radical
opposition represented in so-called Public Chamber refused to hold
rally in the places offered by Baku City’s Executive Power. Though the
representatives of radical opposition held several authorized meetings
earlier. But they saw that those meetings didn’t have resonance abroad
and chose the tactic of pickets to draw attention of the foreign
journalists arrived in our country to cover Eurovision song contest.

So they joined the anti-Azerbaijan campaign started by the pro-Armenian
forces”.

Fuad Alasgarov said that holding of rallies on the eve of or during the
international events are restricted temporarily and even prohibited for
security: “Security forces cracked down the actions of anti-globalists
during NATO’s Chicago Summit, some of the participants of the actions
were injured. 60 people were detained. The relevant security measures
are taken during the song contest in Azerbaijan. As I noted in my
previous interviews, holding of unauthorized rallies in such moment
creates tension. Regarding the use of force, police only performed
its duties for ensuring public order. No act of violence was committed
against the rally participants and no one of them was arrested. Police
stayed calm even in those cases when it was offended by some forces.”

PA official said that the clause in the resolution on blackmail
of correspondent of Radio Liberty’s Baku Bureau Khadija Ismayilova
is based on fictitious conclusions which don’t have a legal base:
“Self-respecting reliable international organization must have a
reasonable position from the legal standpoint. The investigation of
Khadija Ismayilova’s case has not been finished yet. In this case,
any unproved fictitious charges are nothing but preconceived position”.

Fuad Alasgarov also commented on resolution’s call to issue a visa for
Christoph Straesser to visit Azerbaijan for implementing its mandate:
“However, Azerbaijan invited the rapporteur to Azerbaijan late
March within its mandate for discussing the criteria for determining
“political prisoner” concept. But he refused to visit, and stayed
indifferent to his mandate. PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights adopted a decision on bipartition of rapporteur’s report on
March 21. The first part will concern the determination of universal
criteria that will be implemented for the European countries and
the second part of the report will be prepared later. Evidently,
the European Parliament is unaware of these issues, including
PACE Committee’s decision adopted three days ago. However, both
organizations are situated in neighboring buildings in Strasbourg.

PA official said that the resolution calls the government of Azerbaijan
to fulfill all decisions of the European Court: “Such abstract call can
be made to all member countries of the Council of Europe. Azerbaijan
takes all necessary measures on fulfillment of these decisions. Indeed
the number of unfulfilled decisions in many countries of Europe is
much more than Azerbaijan. The resolution read that the journalists
were arrested on political charges. On the one hand, the resolution
condemned the threats of radical Muslim organizations and the other
hand, demanded to release two persons, who spread these threats. These
clauses are completely contradictory and absurd.”

Speaking about the impact of this resolution on the relations with
the European Parliament Fuad Alasgarov noted that Europe is in the
economic crisis, even faces threat of division: “This is a foolish
decision based on envy and emotions. It can lead the EU Neighborhood
and Eastern Partnership policy to crisis. Such resolutions could
bring the issue of expedience of cooperation with this organization to
agenda and affect the adoption of decision on associative membership”.

PA official considers that people, who voted for the resolution, have
no strategic sense: “It will affect the ascendancy of the European
Parliament. The European Parliament, which “protects” democratic
values, must think about its ascendancy, carry out investigation on
the basis of objective sources, but not thoughts of some quasi human
right activists and non-objective reports. I would say that no one
and no international organization could affect the policy of the
President of Azerbaijan pursued for the welfare of the people.”

U.S. CONGRESSIONAL SUBCOMMITTEE RECOMMENDS PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend
May 25 2012
Azerbaijan

Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the U.S. Congress Appropriations
Committee despite the efforts of the Armenian lobby has recommended
providing financial assistance to the victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict for the 2013 fiscal year, a diplomatic source in Washington
told Trend on Friday.

During the discussion of the draft budget for 2013 the Committee
recommended Senate to provide financial assistance to the victims of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – refugees and internally displaced
people, exiled from their land. The Committee also called for a
peaceful solution to the territorial dispute.

Armenians of the world acted strongly against the inclusion of a
paragraph on assistance to victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The inclusion of this paragraph in the draft budget shows that
the U.S. recognizes presence of victims of the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh and urges the Senate to give them financial
assistance.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

ARMENIAN WOLF-HOUND TO BE PRESENTED IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION-CONTEST OF DOGS

19:00 . 25/05

As a national dog breed, the Armenian wolf-hound will participate in
the international exhibition-contest of dogs in Tbilisi, Georgia on
May 27.

“The wealth of Armenia must be presented outside the country, this
is a national issue, which not only refers to animals but to other
spheres, too,” the chairwoman of the Cynological Union of Armenia
Violetta Gabrielyan said in a news conference on May 25. According
to her, in the future Van Cat and Karabakh horse will also present
Armenia in international competitions.

“The Russian representatives wished to call the wolf-hound an “Armenian
shepherd dog” in the competition, but we were against as this breed
is not a shepherd dog but a wolf dog,” Gabrielyan said.

On May 27, a delegation will leave Armenia for Tbilisi to participate
in the exhibition.

“We participate in the competition with the expectation to win
presenting our wolf dog,” Gabrielyan underscored.

According to her, though the wolf-hound exists in the world’s two
countries-Armenia and Ireland, it was first found in Armenia.