Author: nina hovnanian

NATIONAL SUICIDE IN PROGRESS
By Ara K. Manoogian

I asked a provocative question at the Armenian National Committee
(ANC) Grassroots conference, on November 25, 2011, regarding the
catastrophic proportions of emigration from Armenia, calling it “the
white genocide of 2011”. I made sure to emphasize the controversy of
the wording, over which members of the Diaspora community appear to
be divided. I wanted to get more opinions.

“White genocide”, as defined in Wikipedia, is the term Western
Armenians use to describe assimilation in the West. Until the first
years of Armenia’s independence, it has been referred exclusively to
the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.

However, the mass emigration that followed Armenia’s independence was
often associated with ‘white genocide’ by the public at large. What
Eastern Armenians are going to face in the future outside their
homeland is most probably gradual assimilation. The reality is that
today about half of the Armenian citizens prefer the prospect of
non-violent assimilation over a life doomed to poverty, humiliation,
and injustice in their homeland at the hands of their own government.

Of all panelists, I directed my question first and foremost to Serj
Tankian, who has been outspoken about the Genocide of 1915. Below is
Tankian’s answer:

What’s going on in Armenia is not a genocide. But it’s very
tragic. “Genocide” is a very specific term that we have to take
seriously, otherwise, you know, a lot of people, Genocide scholars
who know of what’s going on… It’s a very specific thing. But what’s
going on in Armenia is sad: with people leaving, the corruption,
the injustice, economic imbalance, which exists in a lot of the
former Soviet republics that have gained their independence. (Ara
K. Manoogian’s personal archive)

Even at the metaphorical level, Tankian doesn’t appear to see any
genocidal tendencies in the history of Armenian people beyond the
Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. Tankian then began giving excuses
for the current situation in Armenia: “Armenia is not the only. You
have to view things in a geopolitical perspective, not just from the
eyes of an Armenian, obviously.” Then he indicated an achievement:
“The greatest thing about Armenia is there is no fear of speaking the
truth. You know, that’s one thing on our side, which doesn’t exist in
some other post-Soviet republics.” Exactly, ‘some’ other republics,
but not ‘all’ the others. So, why not compare Armenia with the other
republics that have done much better since the fall of the USSR?

Another panelist also wanted to answer my question regarding the white
Genocide. Award winning filmmaker, Eric Nazarian, as he justly noted
in advance, practically echoed whatever Tankian had to say about
the mass emigration: “You know, it’s a schizophrenic time for all
post-Soviet republics.”

To put it simply, their response means that whatever happens in Armenia
is normal. All you have to do is look at it from the geopolitical
perspective.

When Serj Tankian or Eric Nazarian speak of Armenia’s geopolitical
region, I wonder if they understand all sides of the geopolitical
perspective themselves. Situated to the north of Armenia, Georgia
was a lot worse off in 2003 than Armenia and any other former Soviet
republic. However, this country was able to consolidate its potential
and get rid of its corrupt regime. Since then, war-torn Georgia has
made such essential democratic reforms that it has stepped into the
European Union with one foot. Armenia has Turkey and Azerbaijan as
enemies; Georgia has the gigantic Russia. Armenia won a war with
Azerbaijan; Georgia lost three wars: to Abkhazia, South Ossetia
and, more recently, to Russia. I wonder if Georgians would achieve
anything had they simply adhered to the convenient excuse of a troubled
geopolitical region.

Such opinions are very convenient for the corrupt Armenian
authorities. Knowing Serj Tankian as an outspoken activist who has
made critical statements — no matter how mild and general they were–
about the Armenian government back in Armenia, it is sad to observe
that his viewpoint has similarities with that of the traditional
Armenian Diaspora, which tends to forgive the ills of the Armenian
authorities, thus giving them a green light for further abuses.

While Tankian’s position could also be viewed not so much as forgiving,
but rather optimistic about the future, there is a whole army of
influential Diaspora Armenians advocating forgiveness. Here is a very
typical statement by Berj Setrakian, President of the AGBU, made at
the birthday party of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II in New
York, on October 12, 2011:

Comparing to the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union, we are
the only one, which had three presidential elections. None of the
presidents tried to stay beyond his term. We had parliamentary
elections. It’s not a perfect system, but it is a better democracy
which works than in any other Soviet republic. And we should be proud
of it. There is no doubt that there is corruption.

Unfortunately, after the fall of the Soviet Union, today corruption
is something spread all over the world. . So let’s
be a little compassionate. Let’s not always be critical of what we
have. We have a little country; we have our independence.

I am sure, we can do better. I am sure that our governors can do
better. But let’s take the positive side, because otherwise we’ll
never build a country.

()

Again the remedy is in looking at Armenia from a geopolitical
perspective. However, in this particular example the speaker is so
incompetent as to compare Armenia to all the post-Soviet republics,
three of which, the Baltic states, are already full members of
the European Union. Furthermore, Setrakian lowers the bar to such
a degree that we should be proud of merely having had presidential
and parliamentary elections. It no longer matters how fraudulent or
deadly they have been.

The slogan for such policy could be ‘Don’t criticize Armenia, or
else the enemy will benefit.’ It is not criticism that the enemy
benefits from, but the consequences of the target of that very
criticism. The enemy benefits from Armenia’s bad governance that
depopulates Armenia, rather than the desperate outbursts of criticism
intended for preventing mass emigration.

This policy of forgiveness is a grave punishment for the people of
Armenia, who do not have the comforts of these Diaspora Armenians to
sit and patiently wait for the geopolitical climate to improve and
democratic reforms to evolve.

That is exactly what another well-known Diaspora Armenian preaches
in a recent article. In “Excessive Negativism and Constant Attacks
Jeopardize Armenia’s Development,” Benon Sevan, former Head of the
United Nations Oil-for-Food Program, writes:

Regardless of our impatience and desire to witness a truly democratic
state of Armenia, we have no alternative to being patient, because
it takes time to develop democracy, economic and social development,
and civil society, as well as true democratic reforms.

(California Courier Online, October 13, 2011. Also, click to read:
“Response to Benon Sevan’s Call to Shut Up”)

How many more years is this standpoint going to dominate over the
Armenian Diaspora? The average number of schoolchildren in Armenia
per school was 399 in 2000; it dropped by 35% to 256 in 2010,
as reported by CivilNet.com. The Prime Minister rejoices over the
increase in emigration of the Armenian people who might otherwise
stay and protest. Vardan Ayvazyan, former Minister of Ecology, Head
of the Armenian parliament’s standing committee on economic issues,
member of the ruling Republican party of Armenia, has characterized
the mass emigration as Armenia’s economic benefit.

“A migrant is a type of product,” he said on December 16, 2011, as
reported by Regnum, a migrant Armenia exports and gets paid in the
form of remittances.

Denis Donikian is a French-Armenian writer, known for his highly
critical views about both the Armenian government and the Diaspora.

And this is what he wrote about this conformist variety of Diaspora
Armenians:

When Serj Sarkissian instituted himself at the head of the country
under fraudulent conditions which we knew about, when he threw his
opponents in jail, when he continues to incarcerate Diasporans who
have fought for Karabakh, and even denies them Armenian citizenship,
the representatives of this same Diaspora were never so furious
and menacing as they are today, when it is “their” Genocide that is
at stake. As if the dead were more alive for them than the actual
living. By not supporting the democratic opposition which has been
screaming all year-long against the absurdities and deafness of
the Sarkissian regime, by leaving to their fate a countryside that
has been willingly abandoned, by not denouncing firmly the white
genocide of economic emigration, the Diaspora should have expected to
one day receive back the “fair” change for its coin. (“The Armenian
Diaspora and the Cuckolds of Armenia,” by Denis Donikian, October 11,
2009. Translated from French by Viken Attarian.

Available at: , and quoted by
PFA in “Armenia-Diaspora Relations: 20 Years Since Independence”)

But things are changing. About two weeks after the ANC Grassroots
Conference I learnt about Charles Aznavour’s latest attack against the
corrupt Armenian regime on December 12, 2011. In a press conference
in Moscow, Charles Aznavour was quoted by Lifeshowbiz.ru as saying:

My country is now facing an internal genocide. I consider it
politically unacceptable. Not letting Armenia breathe, the government
is depriving its own country of youth. They leave. And in that respect,
the issue has become not just political, but universal.

It needs urgent solution. (“ШеÑ~@Ñ~Hе ДÑ~O ШаÑ~@ДÑ~L” at
Lifeshowbiz.ru)

This was Aznavour’s second resounding blow to the Armenian government
following his scandalous interview to Nouvelles d’Arménie published
about two months ago (in English at Hetq.am). This time he enraged
the authorities with the taboo word of ‘genocide.’ It is noteworthy
that in his interview to Nouvelles d’Arménie, Aznavour advised not
to concentrate too much on using the word ‘genocide’ to describe the
massacres perpetrated by the Turkish government, whereas he chose to
use that very term to describe the actions of the Armenian government.

These statements made by Aznavour are especially strong in the context
of the honors the same authorities had been paying him for many years,
including the recently opened museum in one of the best locations
in Yerevan.

For many years, Charles Aznavour had been the target of Denis
Donikian’s poisonous attacks, because of his loyalty to the
authorities. What made Aznavour, generally believed to be in bed with
the authorities, speak about problems created by these very men of
power? Charles Aznavour, who had turned a blind eye to the brutal
murder of Poghos Poghosyan, a Georgian citizen of Armenian descent,
by Robert Kocharyan’s security agents back in 2001, now speaks against
the authorities.

In any case, I am glad that the honors from the government have
failed to silence Charles Aznavour’s conscience. And I hope other
celebrities will reconsider their priorities. But before they do,
a number of Diaspora Armenian intellectuals, such as Ara Toranian,
editor-in-chief of Nouvelles d’Arménie (Paris), Yeran Kouyoumdjian of
Azat Khosk, an electronic publication (Nicosia), according to 1in.am,
have echoed Charles Aznavour’s harsh assessments.

At the ANC Grassroots Conference, I also asked Serj Tankian to
comment on accepting the Prime Minister’s Memorial Order medal for
his contribution to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide from
Tigran Sargsyan, whose poor performance has its significant share of
responsibility for the present-day massive exodus of Armenians from
their homeland. Tankian said the following:

The medal that I received for Genocide awareness… I thought about
it before receiving it, before getting it. And I had two notions that
came to mind. First, that he represents the Armenian people. He’s
not just a Prime Minister, as, you know, tattooed on the table.

Number two: it was a great opportunity to actually get involved and
speak truth about… (Ara K. Manoogian’s personal archive)

I strongly believe that this honor, like all those conferred upon
Charles Aznavour, will not prevent Serj Tankian from speaking the
truth about the authorities for all to hear.

What the Armenian government does might not be “white
genocide”. However, the mechanism is strikingly similar. The
authorities’ unpopular policies eventually lead people to emigrate
from Armenia. Settling outside Armenia, they run the risk of being
subject to whatever the Western Armenians are doomed to, white
Genocide, a gradual assimilation as the final stage of the Genocide
of 1915-1923. It sounds more like national suicide.

For comfort, Serj Tankian advises us to look at the disastrous
developments in Armenia “not just from the eyes of an Armenian.” But
as long as I fiercely resist the white Genocide that persists in the
Diaspora, such ability is unattainable for me.

Ara K. Manoogian is a human rights activist representing the
Shahan Natalie Family Foundation in Artsakh and Armenia; a Fellow
of the Washington-based Policy Forum Armenia (PFA); creator of
and author of the white paper “To Donate Or
Not To Donate”, an in depth study on the activities of the “Hayastan”
All-Armenian Fund.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : LES AUTORITES FRANCAISES TENTENT DE DEMINER LA BOMBE
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 22 decembre 2011

A la veille de la discussion, a l’Assemblee, de la proposition
penalisant la negation de tout genocide et devant les menaces
grandissantes brandies par la Turquie, les autorites francaises
tentaient mercredi de deminer la bombe armenienne.

La deputee UMP Valerie Boyer defendra jeudi matin un texte
d’initiative parlementaire, mis a l’ordre du jour de l’Assemblee par
le gouvernement, visant a “reprimer la contestation ou la minimisation
grossière” de tout genocide, dont celui perpetre en 1915 contre les
Armeniens dans l’Empire ottoman.

Cette initiative a dechaîne la fureur des autorites turques qui
accusent le president Nicolas Sarkozy de vouloir instrumentaliser le
genocide armenien a quelques mois du scrutin presidentiel en France.

La proposition de loi a toutes les chances d’etre adoptee jeudi a
l’Assemblee, a l’issue du debat, tous les groupes politiques ayant
donne leur aval.

Face au dechaînement des menaces brandies par Ankara, le gouvernement,
par la voix de sa porte-parole Valerie Pecresse, a conteste qu’on
puisse voir dans ce texte une “attaque contre la Turquie”. “Le
gouvernement y voit simplement la reaffirmation d’un principe universel
qui est que chaque pays doit avoir le courage de faire son travail de
memoire et de regarder son histoire avec lucidite”, a-t-elle declare.

Le president de l’Assemblee nationale, Bernard Accoyer, qui avait
deja affirme la veille n’etre “pas favorable au texte”, en a minimise
mercredi la portee en jugeant que son adoption definitive par le
Parlement etait peu probable d’ici la fin de la legislature en 2012.

En effet, le gouvernement n’ayant pas mis “l’urgence” sur ce texte
(une seule lecture par assemblee), il faudrait probablement plusieurs
mois de navette avant un vote definitif, un delai incompatible avec
la fin des travaux du Parlement pour la legislature actuelle, prevue
fin fevrier en raison de l’election presidentielle du printemps.

Gerard Larcher, l’ancien president UMP du Senat, a assure de son côte
qu’il ne voterait pas la proposition de loi, jugeant qu’il fallait
“laisser aux historiens le soin de determiner ce qu’a ete la realite
de l’histoire”.

C’est au nom de ce refus des lois “memorielles” que le Senat avait
rejete, le 4 mai dernier, une proposition de loi PS, similaire a celle
de Valerie Boyer, adoptee le 12 octobre 2006 par l’Assemblee nationale.

Des senateurs de tous bords, comme Robert Badinter (PS) ou Jean-Jacques
Hyest (UMP) avaient invoque cet argument comme motif d’irrecevabilite
d’une telle proposition, au grand dam de nombreux elus des departements
où vit une forte communaute armenienne.

Dans la majorite, deux deputes, Michel Piron et Patrice Martin-Lalande
ont estime a leur tour qu’il n’appartenait pas au Parlement de definir
la verite historique et ont signale qu’ils ne voteraient pas la
proposition, rejoignant ainsi plusieurs deputes de la Droite populaire.

Les deputes socialistes qui n’ont pas cache leur soutien a la
proposition de Valerie Boyer, pointaient mercredi “l’electoralisme”
de son inscription a l’ordre du jour de l’Assemblee.

“Le groupe socialiste fera son devoir et votera le texte. En meme
temps, c’est la responsabilite de l’UMP, du gouvernement et la volonte
personnelle de Nicolas Sarkozy que de le faire maintenant”, a souligne
Pierre Moscovici (PS), directeur de campagne de Francois Hollande.

Un senateur PS, Philippe Kaltenbach, avait lui-meme depose en
novembre une proposition de loi visant a reprimer la contestation de
lexistence du genocide armenien, une initiative prise de vitesse par
Valerie Boyer.

ARMENIA ENTERS 2012 WITH HEAVY POLITICAL BURDEN – ARF-D REP

Tert.am
21.12.11

Armenia is turning off the year with a heavy political burden,
Lilit Galstyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D), has said.

“We have reached an edge that promises nothing good for Armenia’s
future,” she said, pointing out to the country’s large foreign debt,
regress in anti-corruption and democracy policies, poverty rate and
growing emigration.

Galstyan expressed doubts that the authorities will demonstrate a
political will to hold free and transparent elections.

“The authorities’ political conduct already demonstrates that the
election results will be falsified, with the active vote-catching
already in process,” she said, calling upon the political forces to
join their efforts to hold transparent polls.

CONGRESS APPROVES $ 40 MILLION FOR ARMENIA; MAINTAINS KARABAKH AID; KEEPS MILITARY ASSISTANCE PARITY IN FY2012 FOREIGN AID BILL

noyan tapan
2011-12-21 11:00:23

WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate and House finalized the Fiscal Year 2012
(FY12) U.S. foreign assistance package this past weekend, approving $
40 million in U.S. assistance to Armenia, maintaining current funding
levels for Nagorno Karabakh, and calling for military assistance
parity for Armenia and Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

“Armenian Americans want to thank all our friends among the memberships
of the appropriating committees on both the House and Senate sides
for enforcing military aid parity and for holding the line on aid to
Armenia and Artsakh in the face of across the board cuts in America’s
foreign aid spending,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the
ANCA. “We will, in the coming months, work to materially help families
in the homeland, through increased aid to Armenia and a clear mandate
for an expanded developmental aid program for Karabakh in the FY13
foreign aid bill, as well as, the granting of a second Millennium
Challenge package to Armenia, and the negotiation of bilateral
U.S.-Armenia economic accords to expand trade and foster job-creation.”

In terms of U.S. aid to the Caucasus, Congress approved President
Obama’s proposed economic assistance levels, including $ 40 million
for Armenia, $ 16.6 million for Azerbaijan, and $ 66 million for
Georgia. In a report accompanying the foreign aid bill, Senate and
House conferees made specific mention that there should be parity
in both Foreign Military Finance (FMF) and International Military
Education and Training (IMET) levels to Armenia and Azerbaijan. While
President Obama had requested $ 3 million in FMF funding for each
country, the IMET funds he had proposed for Azerbaijan ($ 900,000)
were twice that for Armenia.

Congress also agreed to provide assistance for Nagorno Karabakh “at
levels consistent with prior years, and for ongoing needs related to
the conflict,” while urging a “peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

U.S. assistance spending levels to Karabakh have been approximately $
2 million a year, despite higher Congressional recommendations.

ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian had outlined key
community foreign aid priorities in testimony submitted to the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations earlier this year.

The full text of her testimony is available at:

The foreign assistance package was part of an “omnibus” bill which set
funding levels for nine critical areas including Defense, Energy and
Water, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Interior/Environment,
Labor/Health and Human Services/Education, the Legislative Branch,
Military Construction/Veterans Affairs, and State/Foreign Operations.

Congress will begin consideration of the FY13 foreign aid levels as
early as March of 2013.

‘HE SHOULD SERVE 10 YEARS IN PRISON’: PARENTS OF SOLDIER WHO LOST HIS EYE INDIGNANT AT CHARGES

epress.am
12.21.2011

The court on Monday chose a two-month detention as a precautionary
measure for junior officer Armen Tovmasyan, who was recently arrested
in connection with an incident that occurred on Dec. 14 in the mess
hall of the “Yeghnikner” military unit in Nagorno Karabakh. He was
charged to abuse of authority and abuse of power, reports RFE/RL’s
Armenian service.

Though the Investigative Service of the RA Ministry of Defense from
the beginning had confirmed that Tovmasyan had slapped and hit
rank-and-file soldier Narek Avetisyan’s face with a metal chain,
breaking his right eyeball, but in the article with which Tovmasyan
was charged on Monday there was no mention of causing bodily injury.

Article 375 Section 1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code reads: “Abuse of
power, transgression of authority or administrative dereliction, if
these acts were committed for mercenary or group-interest motives,
by a commander or official, and if these inflicted essential damage,
is punished with imprisonment for 2-5 years.”

Narek Avetisyan’s parents, who at the Ophthalmological Center named
after S. Malayan are caring for their 18-year-old son who lost his
right eye, are extremely indignant at the charges.

“I protest, this is not what he did,” Narek’s mother told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service.

“It’s very little – as if he killed a chicken, this is punishment
for someone who killed a chicken,” added Narek’s father, Andranik
Avetisyan.

“There was no corrupt reason; he is just a man who behaves arrogantly.

It’s a form of punishment, to keep a chain in his pocket, to hit,
to deprive people of their vision. He should sit [in prison] for at
least 10 years, so others see, become afraid, not do it again. Today,
they knock out an eye; tomorrow, they’ll break a neck,” said the
boy’s father.

Recall, the incident occurred after Narek, after 14 days of duty in
the field, was assigned to duty in the mess hall. Head of the dining
room Armen Tovmasyan gave him an assignment, but the soldier refused
to do it, after which, according to preliminary data, the junior
officer struck Narek with a chain and the boy’s eye spilled out on
the spot. He initially was taken to the hospital in Stepanakert,
then moved to Yerevan.

Georgy Grigoryan, head of the Vascular Disease Department at the
Ophthalmological Center named after S. Malayan, speaking to Epress.am
earlier, said it was impossible to save the young boy’s eye because
“there was no longer an eye,” the blow was that strong. Doctors
removed Avetisyan’s right eye, placing a temporary prosthetic instead
so that in future, he might try to undergo plastic surgery and have
a permanent prosthetic in place. It will move, but of course, the
young man will never be able to see from that eye.

The Investigative Service of the RA Ministry of Defense informed
RFE/RL’s Armenian service that after obtaining the results of the
forensic examination, the charges against Armen Tovmasyan might change.

VALERIE BOYER SAYS TURKEY’S THREATS ONLY TO REINFORCE DETERMINATION OF FRENCH MPS TO ADOPT THE ARMENIAN BILL

ARMENPRESS
DECEMBER 21, 2011
YEREVAN

The bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide is addressed
toward protection of human rights and not against any country, MP
Valerie Boyer who presented the bill to the Senate told Nouvelles
d’Armenie periodical, Armenpress reports. “I am shocked with the
activities of the Turkish side over the bill. Today the basis of
Turkey’s diplomacy is threat which is already an outdated practice in
diplomacy. The recent steps of Turkey are being viewed as an attempt
to interfere into France’s policy. They can only reinforce the opinion
and determination of the MPs to adopt the bill,” she said.

If adopted the bill envisages 1 year of imprisonment and 45 thousand
euros’ fine in case of denial of the Armenian Genocide. It will be
put for voting in the Senate December 22.

During the recent days Turkish authorities are threatening France
with the suspension of all the joint economic programs and projects
in case of the adoption of the bill.

HRAPARAK: CHIEF OF JOINT STAFF BEHIND ACTION GROUP?

Tert.am
21.12.11

A campaign has been launched against the No Silence youth action group.

Its rivals claimed that Holy See of Echmiadzin is sponsoring the
action group. A few days ago they even tried to hold an action in
Echmiadzin, but too few people gathered. The organizer of the action,
Future is Ours action group, which, as reliable sources say, is “not
uncontrolled.” The newspaper’s source notes that Chief of the Joint
Staff, RA Armed Forces, Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov is behind
the group.

General Khachaturov is known to have serious disagreements with
Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan.

LE MAIRE DE KAJARAN DEMISSIONNE EN SIGNE DE PROTESTATION CONTRE LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES ACTIVITES MINIERES
Gari

armenews.com
mercredi 21 decembre 2011

Le maire de Kajaran, une cite minière nichee dans les montagnes du
Zanguezour, au sud de l’Armenie, a demissionne de ses fonctions le
jeudi 15 decembre après un vain combat contre les compagnies mnières
soutenues par le gouvernement. Il reagissait ainsi a la decision du
gouvernement d’accorder de vastes terrains appartenant a la commune
en concession a une compagnie allemande exploitant le cuivre et le
molybdène dans la region. Le maire, Rafik Atayan, a aussi annonce
qu’il rendait sa carte de membre du Parti republicain du president
Serge Sarkisian (HHK), en signe de protestation contre ce qu’il
a designe comme une entreprise de “destruction” de la localite de
Kajaran. Le gouvernement avait decide au printemps dernier d’accorder
quelque 181 hectares de terres appartenant a Kajaran et aux autres
localites voisines situees dans la province de Syunik au combinat
minier Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC). Ce dernier prevoit
en effet d’exploiter sa zone d’extraction minière a ciel ouvert plus
au sud, dans une region proche de la frontière avec l’Iran. Atayan,
a la tete d’autres habitants de Kajaran soutenus par des associatioons
de defense de l’environment de Erevan ont jusqu’a ce jour resiste a
de tels projets d’expansion, en faisant valoir que ZCMC ruinerait
leurs moyens de subsistance par la pollution occasionnee par ses
activites dans les rivières et les sources d’eau et dans les terrains
encore voues aux travaux agricoles. Le maire avait ainsi refuse
de signer un accord avec le gouvernrment visant a officialisation
la concession de terrains au combinat en depit de fortes pressions
auxquelles il dit avoir ete soumis par les autorites centrales et
locales ainsi que par la direction de ZCMC. “Je n’ai pas signe cet
accord et je ne le signerai pas. J’ai remis ma demission “, a declare
M. Atayan sur les ondes du service armenien de RFE/RL en ajoutant :
“J’en ai appele au president, au premier ministre et au president
du Parlement. J’ai ete membre du parti pendant 15 ans et ils le
savent très bien. Mon parti est aujourd’hui en train de detruire ma
commune”, expliquant ainsi sa decision de quitter du meme coup le
HHK au pouvoir. Le maire a souligne que les operations minières dans
cette zone auraient des incidences desastreuses sur l’environnement,
une veritable catastrophe ecologique qui provoquerait selon lui
un exode massif de la population. Les representants du pouvoir a
Erevan se sont gardes de commenter cette fronde plutôt inhabituelle
de la part des responsables regionaux generalement plus dociles,
surtout dans cette region contrôlee par le parti au pouvoir dont le
gouverneur controverse a ete au c~ur d’une polemique recemment pour
avoir malmene une chef d’entreprise en raison d’un differend lie a
leurs activites economiques. “Je m’exprimerai après que nous aurons
discute la question. Je n’ai pas le droit de faire de commentaires
maintenant”, a declare le ministre de l’Energy et des ressources
naturelles Armen Movsisian. Edouard Sharmazanov, le porte-parole du
HHK et vice-president du Parlement, a ete tout aussi vague dans ses
commentaires. Il s’est contente de dire que tout citoyen a le droit
de choisir son affiliation a un parti politique. Le groupe allemand
Cronimet detient la majorite des parts de ZCMC, qui est l’une des
principales entreprises metallurgiques d’Armenie. Deux obscures
compagnies armeniennes lui sont associees en tant qu’actionnaires
minoritaires. L’une d’entre elles appartiendrait a Maxim Hakobian,
le directeur de ZCMC, qui a une influence politique et economique
considerable dans la province de Syounik. Dans un communique publie
par le quotidian de Erevan “Orakarg” dans son edition du mercredi
14 decembre, Cronimet avait fait savoir que la direction du groupe
prenait en consideration les preoccupations des habitants de Kajaran
et qu’elle etait disposee a leur proposer des “solutions avantageuses
et acceptables”. Le groupe n’a pas donne plus de precision quant a
la teneur de ces ” solutions “. Le groupe allemand a insiste sur le
fait que l’expansion prevue des operations de ZCMC s’appuyait sur un
certain “nombre d’accords” avec le gouvernement armenien. Elle a aussi
vocation a relancer les exportations armeniennes et encourager la
“stabilite economique ” du pays, indique le texte du communique.

Cronimet a aussi souligne le fait que sa filiale armenienne emploie
plus de 3 000 personnes, ce qui en fait le premier contribuable du pays
; le combinat a ainsi verse a l’Etat armenien quelque 22,5 milliards
de drams (59 millions de dollars) sous formes de taxes diverses dans
les 9 premiers mois de l’annee en cours. Le ZCMC a largement beneficie
de l’envolee des cours internationaux de metaux non-ferreux depuis
2009. Les taxes et impôts verses par groupe au budget de l’Etat ont
presque triple dans la première moitie de l’annee 2011. Les projets
d’expansion de la compagnie ont suscite une levee de boucliers dans les
milieux ecologistes armeniens. Selon Inga Zarafian, de l’ONG Ecolur,
un “immense territoire” exploite par ZCMC serait deja contamine
par des metaux lourds très polluants. S’exprimant sur les ondes du
service armenien de RFE/RL, Mme Zarafian a affirme que le geant minier
allait mettre en peril les ecosystemes deja fragiles de Kajaran et
des localites voisines si on lui permettait de s’en approcher. Ecolur
et d’autres organisations ecologistes ont engage un bras de fer avec
les industries minières et metallurgiques d’Armenie, les accusant
de ne pas respecter les normes environnementales. Ces organisations
ont pris pour cible notamment une autre compagnie minière privee,
qui developpe ses activites a Teghut, dans la province septentrionale
de Lori, dont le sous-sol renferme un important gisement de cuivre
et de molybdène. Le projet soutenu par le gouvernement, s’il est mis
en ~uvre, entraînera la destruction de 357 hectares d’une foret qui
fait la richesse de la region. Une usine de traitement de minerai d’or
a Zodk, au sud-est du lac Sevan, a aussi suscite un tolle dans les
milieux ecologistes. Les produits de la metallurgie et de l’industrie
aurifère ont ete en tete des exportations de l’Armenie ces dernières
annees. Selon les chiffres officiels, ils representaient environ 60 %
des exportations armeniennes en janvier-octobre 2011.

TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
by Anustup Roy

Press TV
Dec 21 2011
Iran

A debate over an Ottoman past is haunting Franco-Turkish relations
again.

This week, the French Parliament’s lower house, Assemblee Nationale,
is ready to vote on the Armenian Genocide bill.

If it becomes a law, deniers could face up to a year in prison and
a fine of 45,000 Euros.

The ruling party which is behind the bill has not changed its position
since 2006 when a similar law without punishments came into effect.

But for the opposition parties, the ruling party is high-jacking a
much bigger topic of different genocides around the world.

Ankara says there’s been no genocide but admits: the 500,000 who died
between 1915 and 1917 were casualties of the 1st world war.

However, Armenia insists: the Ottomans deliberately perpetrated
genocide and killed 3 times more the figure, i.e. 1.5 million.

France officially supports the Armenian version, and recognizes the
killings as genocide.

>From the Turkish point of view, a lot is at stake, particularly in
terms of business and economic ties with France.

Turkey has warned it may pull out of a joint Turkish-French economic
co-operation meeting in January.

And the Turkish Foreign Minister himself has warned, his country may
take up the matter of French colonialism.

This Turkish delegation is trying its best to make French officials
see Ankara’s point of view.

But how successful it will be in changing the position of the French
ruling party…remains to be seen.

Watch the video of this show at

ARMENIAN WOMEN STILL HAVE AVERAGE OF 8 AND AS HIGH AS 20 ABORTIONS IN LIFETIME
by Ben Johnson

Life Site

Dec 20 2011

YEREVAN, ARMENIA, December 20, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The practice
of sex-selective abortion has become so deeply ingrained in the former
Soviet republic of Armenia that the nation will soon face “a deficit
of women,” according to a United Nations health official.

A new report produced by the United Nations Population Fund, the
Armenian ministry of health, and the Institute of Perinatology found
that 7,000 Armenian women – or 0.8 percent of all Armenian women of
child-bearing age – had elected to have sex-selective abortions since
2006. Armenia has the world’s second worst ratio of boys-to-girls in
the world, second only to China, according to a World Economic Forum
report. The average nation has a ratio of 106 boys to 100 girls;
Armenia’s average is 112 to 100.

The study, “Prevalence and Reasons of Sex-Selective Abortions in
Armenia,” estimated a loss of 1,400 future mothers. UNFPA Armenia
Assistant Representative Garik Hayrapetyan told reporters Monday, “In
ten to 20 years,” he said,” we will face a deficit of women.”

He was surprised to learn that “highly educated women” with a
comfortable salary were the most likely to choose to abort unborn
female children.

Dr. Vigen Guroian, professor of Religious Studies at the University of
Virginia told LifeSiteNews.com, “I cannot understand why the Armenian
people are committing genocide against themselves now, when they’ve
endured it.” During the Armenian genocide (1915-1923), 1.5 million of
the Ottoman Empire’s 2 million Armenian Christians were exterminated
by Muslim Turks.

“What’s even more sad is that the news comes out at this time of the
year, at Advent and at the time of the birth of the Lord,” he said.

“If the Virgin Mary had been in Armenia at this time, she probably
would have been encouraged to have an abortion.”

Dr. Guroian, who is of Armenian descent, said the debate became
personal for him after the birth of his granddaughter five months ago,
when he realized she may never have been born in her family’s
homeland.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, (PACE) passed a
resolution in October stating that aborting unborn girls “reinforces a
climate of violence against women,” and the coercion young mothers
undergo constitutes “a form of psychological violence.” It
particularly highlighted Armenia’s situation. However, the resolution
deemed the practice “justified for the prevention of serious
sex-linked genetic diseases.” Its author, Doris Stump, instructed, “We
should be careful, however, not to use prenatal sex selection as a
pretext to limit legal abortion.”

Armenia’s abortion rate, although lower than it was in the 1990s and
only one-third the rate of the 1980s, remains staggeringly high. The
median number of abortions for women over 40 is eight, and some women
have as many as 20 abortions in a lifetime.

Experts attribute this to the lingering influence of the Soviet Union,
when abortion became the nation’s primary means of birth control.

Similar rates persist in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and
Azerbaijan. “This is now a deeply culturally set pattern. I don’t
think the church could solve the problem tomorrow by speaking up,” Dr.

Guroian said.

“I’ve voiced my anguish at the church’s reticence to address this in
the past,” he said. “Perhaps it had an excuse during the period of
Soviet rule, but it’s had no excuse for the past 20 years.”

A spokesperson for the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of North America declined to comment on this story.

Representatives from the Eastern Diocese were not immediately
available by deadline.

However, some voices within Armenia have articulated the Christian
Church’s opposition to abortion. Fr. Kyuregh Talyan, a parish priest
in the Kotayk Diocese, held a press conference last month to say, “A
human being begins life from the moment of conception. To me, an
emotionless concept like ‘artificial termination of pregnancy’ is
nothing more than homicide.” Its widespread tolerance “comes from a
new religion prevailing in Europe – the religion of ‘human rights.'”

The conscious decision to abort unborn girls now pervades the globe.

The British medical journal The Lancet estimated some 12 million
sex-selection abortions had taken place in India from 1980 to 2010.

The shortage of women has become so acute it has led to
“wife-sharing.” A study of the sex imbalance in India, China, and
South Korea links the absence of potential wives to increased
aggression, violence, and criminal behavior among men. The Parental
Non-Discrimination Act aims to end the practice in the United States.

Armenian legislators have proposed a law forbidding doctors from
disclosing the child’s sex until after the cut-off time when abortions
are forbidden under law. Like much of Europe, Armenia restricts
abortions to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. However, many later
abortions take place, often chemical abortions induced at home without
a doctor’s supervision.

Yet some within Armenia emphasize the real danger is not “gendercide,”
but abortion itself. The head of the Department of Gynecology at the
Armenian-American Wellness Center, Dr. Marina Voskanyan, warned,
“Women have to know that discontinuing any pregnancy…will lead to
serious health issues. An abortion is a very negative phenomenon.”

Dr. Vahe Ter-Minasyan, an ob-gyn in Armenia, agreed: “To opt for an
abortion is merely a question of ignorance. If women and their
husbands knew how much damage an abortion causes to a woman’s health,
they would never choose it.”