Author: nina hovnanian

HASMIG BOGHOSSIAN LA MINISTRE DE LA CULTURE VA-T-ELLE QUITTER SON POSTE ?
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 10 decembre 2011

Selon le journal armenien ” Joghovourt ” (Peuple), Hasmig Boghossian la
ministre de la Culture serait sur le point d’etre ” demissionnee ” et
remplacee. ” On dit qu’elle pourrait etre remplacee par Armen Amirian
le directeur de la Radio publique d’Armenie ” ecrit ” Joghovourt
“. Le journal a interroge Armen Amirian, mais ce dernier a affirme
qu’il n’avait pour l’instant recu aucune invitation pour remplacer
la ministre de la Culture. Un poste qu’il dit ne pas l’interesser. ”
Je travaille a la Radio publique d’Armenie et je suis très satisfait
de mon travail ” a ajoute Armen Amirian. Les rumeurs sur un eventuel
changement de l’actuelle ministre de la Culture circulent deja depuis
quelques mois mais Hasmig Boghossian est toujours a son poste.

LE BUDGET DES 5AME JEUX PANARMENIENS EST EXCEDENTAIRE
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 10 decembre 2011

Ichkhan Zakarian vient d’etre elu a la presidence du Comite
d’organisation des Jeux Panarmeniens. Albert Boyadjian et Stepan Der
Bedrossian sont vice-presidents. Pakrad Bournazian est secretaire. Le
Comite a egalement examine le projet de jeux d’hiver et a prepare la
prochaine assemblee generale qui se deroulera en mai 2012 a Vienne
(Autriche). I. Zakarian a egalement donne quelques elements chiffres
sur les 5èmes Jeux Panarmeniens de l’ete dernier qui avait vu a Erevan
la presence de 3 244 sportifs venus de 125 villes d’Armenie et de
la diaspora. Ces Jeux Panarmeniens auront connu une recette totale
de quelque 206 millions de drams dont 80 millions venant de l’Etat
et le reste par les sponsors. Les depenses n’etant finalement que de
145 millions de drams -dont 31 millions du budget de l’Etat sur les
80 millions- le Comite organisateur des Jeux Panarmeniens rendra a
l’Etat 49 millions de drams. 20 millions de drams restant des sponsors
etant utilises pour le budget de fonctionnement des Jeux Panarmeniens.

L’ENSEMBLE D’ETAT DES DANSES TRADITIONNELLES D’ARMENIE REMARQUE AUX EMIRATS ARABES UNIS
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 10 decembre 2011

Succes pour la tournee du 29 novembre au 3 decembre de l’Ensemble
d’Etat de danses traditionnelles d’Armenie aux Emirats Arabes
Unis. A l’occasion du 40ième anniversaire de la fete nationale des
Emirats Arabes Unis, la troupe de danses traditionnelles d’Armenie
a donne des spectacles dans les emirats d’Abou Dhabi, de Dubaï,
d’Al Ayn et d’Oum al Kouveyn. Lors des ces spectacles a l’occasion
de la fete nationale des Emirats Arabes Unis, l’Ensemble d’Etat de
danses traditionnelles d’Armenie a ete considere par les officiels et
les spectateurs comme la meilleure troupe parmi une trentaine qui se
produisaient. Le spectacle etait transmis par la chaîne de television
Dubaï TV et les medias locaux ont largement fait echo de la qualite
des danses de la troupe d’Armenie.

OCCUPY WALL STREET : THE ARMENIAN CONNECTION / LE LIEN AVEC L’ARMENIE
Stephane

armenews.com
samedi 10 decembre 2011

A Occupy Wall Street (OWS), j’arborais un tee-shirt que j’avais realise
où il etait ecrit ” La Turquie Orientale occupe l’Armenie Occidentale
“, lorsque quelqu’un vint me voir et me demanda : ” Est-ce que ton
tee-shirt concerne Thanksgiving ? ” J’ai alors decide de camper a OWS
et d’installer une table d’information sur l’Armenie. Je fabriquai
un prospectus disant que des multinationales de la machine de guerre
des Etats-Unis, comme Godrich, Chevron, Raytheon, Exxon, United
Technologies et Northrop Grumman, depensent plus de 7 milliards
de dollars en ventes vers la Turquie et des millions de dollars en
soutien aux membres du Congrès des Etats-Unis, afin qu’ils ne votent
pas de resolution sur la reconnaissance du genocide armenien.

Un pretre armenien eut la gentillesse de m’aider a imprimer les
prospectus. Lorsque je lui ai demande si nous pouvions avoir des
Armeniens, des Grecs et d’autres pour monter un groupe de prières a
OWS, comme le faisaient les musulmans, il m’a dit : ” Je n’ai pas le
temps. Je suis seul a rendre visite dans des hôpitaux et des familles.

” Lorsque j’ai appele une de mes amies armeniennes pour lui demander de
venir et de nous aider a notre table, elle me dit : ” Ne vont-ils pas
nous reprocher d’etre la ? ” J’ai parle aussi a l’une des responsables
de la Federation de la Jeunesse Armenienne (AYF) de New York, qui m’a
dit : ” Ne seront-ils pas vexes, si nous venons ? ” Malheureusement,
ces Armeniens ont perdu le contact avec certains des ideaux et des
objectifs qui presidaient a Occupy Wall Street – dont celui de donner
a la population une chance de s’exprimer contre l’injustice sociale.

Alors que beaucoup d’Armeniens s’etaient deja exprimes a titre
personnel a OWS, il n’y avait aucune presence d’organisations ou de
collectifs armeniens, pouvant aider a eduquer l’opinion americaine
sur des problematiques armeniennes. J’ai appele l’ANCA pour obtenir
une liste de multinationales, comme Coca Cola, Pfizer, Frito Lay et
Motorola, qui soutiennent la politique negationniste de la Turquie,
mais ils n’avaient aucun delegue a New York pouvant aider a faire
passer l’information ou faire signer des petitions armeniennes. Alors
qu’il y avait chaque jour des manifestations a OWS par des groupes
representant les enseignants, les medecins et les infirmières, les
syndicats et les ecologistes, certains Armeniens furent apparemment
trop conservateurs pour s’associer a OWS. Peut-etre craignaient-ils
d’etre pris dans une arrestation en masse ou bien n’apprecient-ils
pas cette revolution a la base ?

Après avoir passe neuf annees dans la zone de guerre en Artsakh, j’ai
contacte beaucoup de gens dans les medias, a mon retour aux Etats-Unis,
mais il est très difficile d’obtenir une couverture par la presse de
questions touchant l’Armenie. Je vis alors OWS comme une opportunite
ideale en relations publiques. Ma table et mes pancartes armeniennes
ont ete photographiees par des centaines de gens et circulent beaucoup
sur Facebook et Twitter. J’ai ete interviewee par des journalistes
de televisions et de radios du monde entier. J’ai aussi pu parler
a des tas de gens, qui voulaient en savoir plus sur le genocide. Un
jeune Armenien de 14 ans s’est approche et m’a dit que sa grand-mère
l’emmenait parfois a l’eglise, mais que, comme les gens parlaient
armenien, il ne comprenait rien. Il ne savait pas grand chose sur le
genocide, mais il m’a pose un tas de questions. Un jeune Irlandais
est venu a ma table et a explique le genocide a ses amis, qui n’en
avaient jamais entendu parler. Chaque jour, plus d’un millier de gens
visitaient OWS et beaucoup n’avaient aucune idee de l’endroit où se
trouve l’Armenie.

RUSSIAN DEPUTY FM, OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH IN CONTEXT OF OSCE MINISTERIAL COUNCIL

Trend
Dec 9 2011
Azerbaijan

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has today met with the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution,
ambassadors from France, Russia and the United States, Bernard Fassier,
Igor Popov and Robert Bradtke, the ministry’s website reported.

The meeting was also attended by the Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and Ambassador
Jacques Faure, who will succeed Fassier as the Minsk Group co-chair.

The sides discussed joint work on the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict given the outcome of the OSCE Ministerial
Council’s meeting held in Vilnius on Dec.6-7.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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 the 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.

INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AROUND NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
by ZAUR SHIRIYEV

Today’s Zaman
Dec 9 2011
Turkey

International media have a long history of presenting political events
in terms of their religious context.

Reports on the recent Egyptian elections, for example, cast the
election results as an “Islamist win”; political commentary was shaped
by the parties’ religious backgrounds. Similar tendencies were seen in
the Caucasus during the 1990s, where ethnic conflicts were portrayed
as religious divisions.

Recently, a meeting of the presidium of the Inter-Religious Council
of the Commonwealth Independent States was held in Yerevan, Armenia,
on Nov. 29-30. Catholicos Garegin II (head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church), Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade (grand mufti of the
Caucasus) and Russian Patriarch Kirill II all attended the presidium
meeting in Yerevan, and held a trilateral meeting.

Some international observers were surprised that Pashazade visited
Yerevan, especially given that there were debates in both Azerbaijan
and Armenia about what the meeting would offer on the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. After the meeting, Garegin II sent a letter
to Pashazade in which he emphasized the importance of discussions
between regional religious leaders with regard to resolving key
regional issues, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Pashazade
proposed during the meeting that the spiritual leaders should also
meet at the front line between the Azerbaijan and Armenian armies,
a proposal that was accepted by the Armenian church.

Over the past year and a half, there appears to have been renewed
interest in engaging Armenia and Azerbaijan’s religious leaders in the
peace process, even if only on a symbolic level. On April 26, 2010,
Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II attended a meeting of world
religious leaders in Azerbaijan upon the invitation of Azerbaijani
Shiite leader Sheikh al-Islam Pashazade. During his visit, Catholicos
Garegin II met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and went to
pray in an abandoned Armenian church in Baku. Garegin II’s visit to
the Armenian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator in central Baku also
raised an important direction of potential collaboration and mutually
beneficial confidence-building measures: the joint preservation of
cultural monuments and heritage.

During my recent conversation with Onnik Krikorian, an Armenian
journalist, he suggested that this inter-religious dialogue has the
potential to ease bilateral relations, especially if it receives
greater publicity. “Pashazade’s visit to Yerevan is of course
important and will hopefully result in more high-level exchanges, or
even discussion between civil society activists and journalists. But
few people in Armenia seemed to know about the visit, and even then,
the wife of a major opposition figure I spoke with who did [know],
didn’t know that the Catholicos had visited Baku and conducted a
service in the Armenian church in April of last year. Nonetheless,
the two visits at least serve to underscore that the Karabakh conflict
is not a religious dispute.”

The Caucasus region is extremely diverse in terms of both religion and
ethnicity, a true mosaic of cultures. Perceptions of this diversity
have suffered as a consequence of misleading and reductive commentary
in the Western media. During the 1990s, Western reporters often framed
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as “the conflict between Christian
Armenians and Muslim Azerbaijanis.” As a result, theorists such as
Samuel Huntington have happily used the Caucasus, and especially
Nagorno-Karabakh, to demonstrate the concept of “fault lines” between
“civilizations,” where the risk of violent clashes is greater. There
is a tendency to assume that when there are religious differences,
these differences must be at the heart of the conflict, but such
an explanation is often incomplete. In the case of the Karabakh
conflict, it is misplaced and misleading. While it is the case that the
Catholicos of all Armenians, Vazgen I, wrote to Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev in February 1988, asking him to accept the demands of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, and even went on Armenian television
to speak about his request, it is also true that spiritual leaders
were never at the forefront of the respective movements and their
behavior was driven more by desire for peace. In 1994, Vazgen I,
Pashazade and the Russian Orthodox Church jointly encouraged the
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to work together for peace.

It is interesting, then, that following the signing of a cease-fire
agreement in 1994, religious discourse has not played a bigger role
in conflict resolution. During the war, Armenia destroyed many of
Azerbaijan’s unique cultural, historical and religious sites. The
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) — now known as the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation — has on several occasions raised
the importance of the Azerbaijani history, culture, archaeology and
ethnography that is located in the territories occupied by Armenia,
naming these sites and artifacts an integral part of Islamic heritage,
and noting the damage wrought upon the Islamic heritage in the occupied
territories. Azerbaijan is currently supporting inter-religious and
inter-cultural dialogue and cooperation between various nations,
the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, for example, as well as
the restoration of the Udi Church, with the aim of preserving the
rich cultural heritage of the South Caucasus.

Given the emotional intensity of this deeply entrenched conflict,
there will be many who urge caution in heralding these meetings as
signs of a new, more positive phase in the negotiating process. These
types of interactions are valuable for Track 2 diplomacy (non-state
actors), though ultimately they are subordinate to Track 1 (state
actors). Azerbaijani society in general recognizes the importance of
Track 2 diplomacy, but there are more than 1 million displaced persons
from the occupied territories who need to see political developments.

Rather than seeing greater civil society interaction as a potential
catalyst for confidence building, given the massive highs and
lows of expectation and disappointment brought by the Minsk Group
negotiations, Armenia seems to be taking a hard line, ignoring civil
society initiatives.

Officials from the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region
recently tried to meet with Karabakh Armenians, but the meeting was
never held. At the same time, deaths at the front line have risen. For
both sides, increased contact at community levels will create a pool
of experience informing each side’s choices in the peace process,
and can contribute to Track 1 diplomacy. First, Armenia must recognize
that Nagorno-Karabakh has two communities, Azerbaijanis and Armenians.

Second, pursuing Track 2 diplomacy could increase confidence building
measures, and demonstrate that political will can be supported by
other conflict resolution methods. Finally, the Armenian government
must understand that the prolongation of the status quo will help
no one — on the contrary, it will amplify the mistrust between the
parties to the conflict.

DOCTOR FINDS INSPIRATION IN ARMENIA
By Daniel Siegal

Valley Sun
,0,4041830.story
Dec 9 2011
CA

La Canada Flintridge resident Armond Kotikian, DDS, MD, used to plying
his trade as an oral maxillofacial surgeon in the cushy operation
rooms of Glendale Adventist and Glendale Memorial hospitals, got
a lesson in improvisation while performing pro bono surgeries in
Armenia this past summer.

In his first-person account, “Tools of the Trade Across Borders,” an
article published online at hetq.am, Kotikian describes the hospital
in the Armenian province of Karabagh in which he performed dozens of
surgeries over a five-day period:

“There was no air conditioning in the hospital and the temperature
would reach the low 90s at noon. The nurses had special sterile
instruments to dab our foreheads so we wouldn’t contaminate the
field with our sweat. The hospital water occasionally ran out and the
operating nurses had to rinse our arms and hands with small buckets of
water after we scrubbed. I was operating with instruments I thought
didn’t exist anymore. Despite all this, things went as smoothly as
they do in our pampered operating rooms in the United States.”

Now back at home, Kotikian said his time in Karabagh was an
inspirational experience.

“What I learned was that, regardless of the conditions, if you have
the surgical training you’ll get by with whatever they have, to get
the best outcome on the patient,” he said.

Kotikian was in Armenia for the Armenian Medical International
Congress, an event held every four years that draws Armenian physicians
from all over the globe. He said he had been asked to lecture at the
congress, and at the time he accepted the invitation he decided to
reach out to provide his services to an area in need.

“I’m about two years out of residency, and I’ve been meaning to do
this for a very a long time,” he said. “It was a good way to go back,
and give back to my country.”

It was especially gratifying, Kotikian said, to work in Karabagh,
an area in dire need of oral surgical care.

“It’s close to 130,000 people, and there’s only one individual there
who is an oral-maxillofacial surgeon, just like me,” he said.

In addition to working with that surgeon, Dr. Sasun Vahanyan, to
repair cleft lips and palates, remove oral and neck tumors and even
remove a set of wisdom teeth, Kotikian worked to educated the local
professionals in the newest techniques.

“It was a good way of giving back and educating them, and teaching
them the American standards,” Kotkian said, “because they’re mostly
trained with Russian techniques, which are very old school.”

Technical education wasn’t the only teaching Kotikian did, however. He
said that in the more rural parts of Armenia, like Karabagh, there
is a stigma attached to children born with cleft palates or lips.

“When these kids are born with cleft lip or palates, or any other
facial defect, they think the kid is abnormal,” he said “What they
do there, unfortunately, is when these kids are born with these cleft
lips they give them up for adoption.”

Kotkian said he worked to teach the local populace that cleft lips
and palates were common issues that could be fixed.

“It’s the second most common anomaly after clubfoot, and it could
be corrected…it doesn’t mean the patient has any mental issues or
anything else,” he said. “It’s a simple defect that can be repaired,
and it happens.”

Still, said Kotikian, plenty of work remains, which is why he’s
working with the Armenian-American Medical Society, based in Glendale,
to establish a bi-yearly mission to the area.

“What I would do is try to spend more time there, No. 1, because the
more time there, the greater the opportunities,” he said. “Second of
all, I’d want to take my instruments and actually donate them…so
they’d actually have them and be able to use them on future patients.”

Ultimately, Kotikian said he’s hoping his efforts manage to touch
more than just the people of Karabagh.

“The biggest reason I wrote [the article] was to encourage people to
volunteer their time,” he said. “Everyone can make time if they want.”

IRAN EXPANDS ELECTRICITY GRID TO EU

HispanicBusiness.com

Dec 9 2011

A new electricity line from Iran to Armenia and Georgia will send
Iran’s electricity through to Europe, said Iran’s Deputy Energy
Minister Mohammad Behzad, Pana news reports.

The completion of a 230 KW electric cable from Iran to Armenia will
provide the possibility of connecting Iran’s and Georgia’s electricity
network, whilst increasing the overall capacity to trade energy
with Iran’s neighbours to 400 KW, the minister told Pana. Currently
Georgia’s electricity is routed through Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s minister of energy welcomed the project last week and said
it would triple the electricity exchanged between Armenia and Georgia,
Pana reported.

Iran and Azerbaijan are currently discussing a project to connect
Iran’s electricity network to Russia while talks are also under way
with Turkey to connect Iran’s grid to Lebanon in addition to plans
to connect its network to Persian Gulf countries. If these talks are
successful, Iran will be a strong electricity hub in the region.

Turkmenistan, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will all buy
electricity from Iran.

Iran’s capacity to export electricity has increase 24 per cent since
the implementation of its targeted subsidies program and is expected
to earn $1 billion by the end of this year (Iran’s solar year ends
in March), according to Pana.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN IN MARSEILLE MET WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

Office of the President of the Republic of Armenia

Dec 8 2011

Last night, the Mayor of Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin gave a reception
in honor President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Marseille on a working
visit. The reception was attended also by the representatives of the
Armenian community.

***

Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan at the meeting with the
representatives of the Armenian community of Marseille

Ladies and Gentlemen, Delegates, Members of the City Council, Dear
Compatriots,

I thank the Mayor of Marseille and a great friend of the Armenian
people Jean-Claude Gaudin for this warm reception and wonderful
gathering. Moreover, I am also thankful to him for his undying devotion
to the Armenian people and Armenia cause.

During each visit to the Armenian communities abroad, I am overwhelmed
with pride because I see the measure of success that our compatriots
have achieved.

Marseille truly has a special role not only in the history of the
Armenian Diaspora but also in the history of the Armenian nation. One
of the greatest seaports of the Mediterranean, Marseille had accepted
the exiles, the people who had gone through humane privations but
had not lost their faith in humanity and creation.

Many of those, who had survived the Genocide, established themselves
in Marseille. Today, their descendants live here. Lives of your
parents and ancestors were documented and presented artistically
by Anri Vernoy in his movie “Mother”. The first episode of the
movie shows how destitute Armenians, who didn’t have shelter above
their heads, follow in Marseille the court proceedings over Soghomon
Tehlirian. Every piece of news from the process in Berlin reverberated
with the Armenians gathered at the Marseille port. And those people
rejoiced when the news of Tehlirian’s acquittal reached them. It was
not a rapture of revenge but the rapture of justice.

Every Armenian, no matter where he or she is – Armenia, Artsakh, or
Spyurk, demand justice. We preach neither hatred nor revenge regardless
of how those who deny the Armenian Genocide have been trying to lead
us toward and compel to do that. They simply underestimate us.

We were strong enough to survive the Great Eghern, and now, we are
strong enough to demand justice. After the elimination of our ancestors
in their homeland, elimination of the memories of the Armenian Genocide
is the last phase of that horrendous crime. But we are united, and
will never allow that.

The progressive world is with us and the Mayor’s speech, as well as
the most recent events, has demonstrated quite clearly the position
of France and her people regarding this issue. I would like to
assure my compatriots that the recent visit of President Nicolas
Sarkozy to Yerevan was a historic visit indeed, and no other state
leader have spoken the words about our nation’s pains, related to
the Armenian-Turkish relations and the Genocide, and we should be
grateful to the wise President of this glorious country.

We have no doubt that Turkey will repent. It is neither a
precondition, nor an attempt to fire revenge. Turkey must face its
own history. Sometime, the Turkish leadership will find strength and
will reevaluate its approaches toward the Armenian Genocide.

Our position has not altered and it is precise: We are ready to have
normal relations with Turkey as it befits neighboring states.

Neighboring states such as, for instance, Poland and Germany, whose
Chancellor Willi Brandt, realizing the crimes of his own country,
went down on his knees in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Sooner of later, Turkey, which views itself as a European country,
will have a leadership which will be worthy of being called European
and which will bow head at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial. The sooner,
the better, however it’s a prerogative of the people of Turkey. We
don’t obligate them; they should do it for the benefit of the Turkish
people, just as Willi Brandt did for the German people.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

As Mr. Mayor has said, my delegation has arrived to Marseille to
participate at the convention of the European People’s Party.

Regardless of the anticipated and attained results, this is a
considerable achievement on Armenia’s road toward Europe. I would
like to tell my compatriots that today the President of the European
People’s Party in the Great Hall while handing me a EPP badge said that
we are members of the European family. It is a substantial achievement
for us. It is also important for us that such a momentous event has
taken place in Marseille – a city which is very dear to us.

We have stated more than once that European direction is our priority.

In recent years, we have registered considerable success in that area.

European Union has not only become one of our most important partners
in the world but also plays a significant role inside Armenia,
assisting us in the implementation of the reforms and in strengthening
economic and overall stability of the country.

We are also working hard to ensure Armenia’s worthy place and role
in the pan-European structures, and it is true from the viewpoint
of the entire political structure. Today, the political field of
Armenia also becomes European, adopting European values, and I hope,
the work style too.

And with this regard also, I would like to express special thanks to
our European partners and, particularly, to the President of France –
a great friend of the Armenian people, for supporting our efforts.

Who, if not the Armenians of Europe, can help us, the Motherland in
fulfilling this task? Today, the institute of dual citizenship is
really working. In fact, a psychological barrier, which was impeding
many in the Diaspora, has been eliminated. I am stating with pleasure
that many of the Diaspora Armenians are having a vivid and direct
participation in Armenia’s life. I have a little problem to articulate
this word – Diaspora Armenian – because its sounds uncanny to me. You
see, Armenians are Armenians, not matter where they live.

Of course, it is not easy. It is not easy to leave familiar places
and start something new in the native but also unfamiliar Motherland.

Thus, it is necessary to freely and openly discuss the existing
problems so that European rules of the game prevail in Armenia. To
point out the faults is only half of the job. We have registered
considerable progress but we also have well-known problems, issues. It
is necessary to look jointly for the ways to solve them and to share
the honor of success and of responsibility.

We invite you all to participate in the noble work of solving
Armenia’s problems. We address our relatives in Spyurk as our family
members. And by the right of blood we should discuss the existing
problems together. We should discuss the problems and not shy away from
our share of responsibility. And I am, of course, the first person,
who’s responsible for these faults. But I want you all to take part,
to share with us the responsibility and, as I have already said,
the honor of success.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to share joyous news with you. I am sure
many of you know, but maybe not all of you: on the eve of this visit,
I signed a decree on the establishment of the Consulate General
of the Republic of Armenia in Marseille. From now on, Yerevan and
Marseille will be linked by another strong brotherly bond and along
with the traditional Armenian establishments you will have also the
Consulate General of our country. And, I certainly thank Mr. Sirmakes
for his participation.

Establishment of the Consulate General in the context of close
Armenian-French relations and versatile cooperation will make rendering
of consular services more efficient. I would like to conclude by once
again expressing gratitude to France and the Armenian-French community,
residents of Marseille and, particularly, to the Armenians of Marseille
for their attitude, their fervor and for their success because any
Armenian, anywhere in the world, who has become successful makes
Armenia even more recognizable. Thank you very much. I would like to
express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Jean-Claude Gaudin for everything
he has done and I am truly pleased to invite him to conduct a visit
to Yerevan.

SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT WITHIN OSCE COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS AND MINSK GROUP DISCUSSED

Vestnik Kavkaza
Dec 9 2011
Russia

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met the co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
– Bernard Fassier (France), Igor Popov (Russia) and Robert Bradtke
(USA) – on December 9, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.

Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE chairman for
Nagorno-Karabakh, and Jacques Faure, a French Ambassador who will
soon replace Fassier, were at the meeting.

The sides discussed the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
taking into account the session of the OSCE Council of Foreign
Ministers in Vilnius on December 6-7.