ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT OKS AMENDMENTS TO TAX CIRCULATION LAW
12:29 * 19.11.14
Armenia’s National Assembly passed the proposed amendments to the law
“On Tax Circulation” in a special session held Wednesday.
The bill was adopted in the second reading, with 89 lawmakers voting
for and another six – against; four people abstained from voting.
In the first reading, the parliament further gave the green light to
the amended draft law “On Temporary Unemployability”.
Armenian News – Tert.am
HAVE WE FORGOTTEN? GALLIPOLI AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
12:39 * 19.11.14
By Robert Kaplan
Re-published from Abcnet.au
A century ago, in a misconceived encounter on the history-soaked
precipices of Asia Minor, the sons of Anzac received their battle
initiation against the German-trained forces of the Ottoman Empire.
Now, in an annual event that grows in mythology and status in
proportion to the passing of the years, is celebrated the shared
combat ordeal of gallant “Johnny Turk” and the Bronzed Anzac.
And why not? The Turkish forces, well prepared behind excellent
defences, used their tactics to good effect, ably led by a professional
officer who was to go on to bigger things, such as the fire destruction
of Smyrna – namely, Kemal Ataturk.
But, pause for one moment to consider a slightly different scenario.
Let us suspend historical reality for the purposes of this exercise.
What if, say, instead of Gallipoli, the Anzac forces were going into
combat with an SS Battalion somewhere in Poland during the Second
World War? Would we then, decades later, be joining up with our
comrades in battle to celebrate what both sides had gone through,
our enmities forgotten? Can one commemorate the shared experiences
with enemy forces who acted as the military arm of a state carrying
out a terrible genocide at the same time?
For it was the night before the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915
in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, then called Constantinople,
when occurred the arrest, detention and subsequent liquidation of
625 intellectuals, priests and leading figures of the Armenian Empire.
This event is widely held to signal the onset of the first major
genocide of the twentieth century, the most blood-drenched period in
human history.
What followed was a mass murder of an entirely innocent group of
citizens in the Ottoman Empire by means that are still horrifying to
contemplate. By the time Turkey sued for peace in 1918, up to 1.5
million Armenians had been slaughtered, decimating the population
of a group of people who had lived in the Fertile Crescent since the
dawn of human settlement.
And it did not stop there. The Assyrian people suffered at least 75,000
victims, three-quarters of their population; the numbers have not been
made up to this day. Later the Greeks in Asia Minor, in some of the
bloodiest scenes of city sacking since the fall of Nineveh and Tyre,
were driven out of ancient homelands, never to return. And, largely
lost in the high tide of bloodletting at the time, there were pogroms
of Jewish settlements in Anatolia.
We have made our peace with the genocidal German and Japanese foes
of the Second World War (there is no way the unrestrained butchery of
the inhabitants of Manchuria, to say nothing of the Rape of Nanking,
would not constitute a genocide). They have (at least partially,
in the case of the Japanese) acknowledged their roles as aggressors
and in the genocide (at least in the German case; the Austrians are
still hoping their role will be forgotten). But we still would not
ask the SS battalions to join us on Anzac Day parades.
This is right and the way it should be.
Yet these qualms do not trouble us in fostering our war links with
the Turkish people – still led by the political descendants of
the Ittihadist Party that planned, organised and carried out the
Anatolian genocides.
Part of the reason for this is wilful ignorance. The Turkish government
vigorously enforces an official policy of denial, maintaining it as
the duty of their diplomatic staff abroad to engage in a well-funded
campaign of disinformation and protest should anyone publically state
anything to the contrary.
Genocide denied is an extension of the genocide perpetuated and an
ongoing crime against human rights.
Turkish nationalism, which runs coeval with its policy of genocide
denial, remains the last outpost of unreconstructed pre-Second World
War racial nationalism.
Johnny Turk, by all accounts, was a brave fighter when well led and
supported (which was often not the case), but can we separate the
soldiers from their officers, leaders, politicians and bureaucrats
who at the same time were engaged in exterminating an entire group of
people – especially when that same state, a century later, continues
to defile the memory of these victims by refusing to admit that the
slaughter even occurred?
So when we celebrate the Anzac spirit, let us remember that they were
fighting for freedom, pure and simple, and a nation that insists on
covering up, if not extinguishing history, to escape its culpability
for genocide is not a nation with whom we can associate as equals. And
nor should we until they desist from their deceitful denial of the
awful truth of what their forces did to several million innocent and
unprotected peoples under their sway after that day in April 1915.
Let the Anzac ceremonies proceed with Johnny Turk – but be sure to
let them know what we know, will not forget and will not deny until
they face up to their culpability and can then re-join the ranks of
enemies of honour, if not the nations of the world.
EEU MEMBERSHIP TO EXPAND ARMENIA’S OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION WITH CHINA – AMBASSADOR
YEREVAN, November 19. /ARKA/. Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian
Economic Union will open up new opportunities for expanding
cooperation with other countries, including China, newly appointed
Chinese ambassador to Armenia Tien Erlong told Armenia’s president
Serzh Sargsyan while presenting his credentials.
Erlong said he will do his best to successfully carry out his mission
in a country with long centuries’ history and culture and hardworking
people.
China sees a great potential and prospects for development of bilateral
relations, the ambassador said as quoted by the presidential press
office.
Sargsyan congratulated Erlong on the appointment and expressed hopes he
will make every effort to further develop ties between the countries.
Armenia-China relations have been rapidly developing and covering
new fields from one year to another since diplomatic relations were
established, Sargsyan said.
The sides stressed the importance of deepening links in trade,
economy, education, science and other fields, along with intense
political dialogue.
Sargsyan and Erlong said they are satisfied Chinese language advanced
studies are launched under a special school project. -0–
WHITE HOUSE AVOIDS MENTION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN ARMENIAN ORPHAN RUG DESCRIPTION
10:46, 19 Nov 2014
The White House, in its caption describing the Armenian Orphan Rug,
not only avoided mention of the Armenian Genocide, it failed to even
touch upon basic historical aspects of this artwork’s origins, the
Armenian National Committee of America reports.
No explanation of who these orphans were, where they were from,
why were they orphaned, who made them orphans, or what was done
(or not done) to set things right.
Only the prepositional phrase: “Orphaned during World War I…” is
used to define the era in which they lost their parents.
“What would an average visitor learn from this, what lessons could he
or she learn and apply in trying to prevent renewed genocides around
the world? Perhaps that, with enough geopolitical leverage, even
the American White House can be conscripted into genocide denial,”
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said.
RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION BACKS BILL ON ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO EEU
YEREVAN, November 18. /ARKA/. The Russian government commission on
lawmaking approved the bill about ratification of the agreement on
Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the cabinet
website reported on Tuesday.
The bill was proposed by the foreign ministry and the ministry of
economic development and is expected to be considered at a government
sitting.
The entry of the treaty into force will ensure Armenia’s involvement
in the EEU as from January 2, 2015, and will allow reducing list
of exceptions and limitations to mutual access to member-countries’
markets, says the report cited by Novosti-Armenia referring to RIA
Novosti.
Hence, the foundation is laid for further development of trade and
economic ties, for improving competitiveness of local producers and
strengthening EEU member-countries’ positions on global markets,
according to the report.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have already ratified the EEU treaty.
Armenia signed the document about joining the EEU in Minsk on October
10. -0–
ARMENIAN EXPERT RULES OUT LARGE-SCALE HOSTILITIES
13:45 * 18.11.14
Director of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan commented
on the incidents on the Line of Contact at a meeting with reporters
on Tuesday.
As regards the probability of resumed war after the Nagorno-Karabakh
helicopter was shot down, the expert rules out the possibility of
large-scale hostilities, without ruling out tensions.
“This all was a nervous reaction by Baku rather than by Azerbaijani
sergeants. That is, the crisis will enter a new stage of sniping and
encounters. But a large-scale war is impossible. It requires entirely
different conditions,” Mr Iskandaryan said.
No one wants war in the region – neither the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
nor the regional countries.
The Armenian side is sure to respond.
“The Armenian side has always shown a much sharper reaction, and it
is going to do so this time as well. Azerbaijan had been unable to
digest the August events and had to do something,” Mr Iskandaryan said.
As regards Russian analysts’ statements that it was “a shot fired
at Russia,” while western analysts’ opinions are entirely different,
the expert said:
“It was not a shot fired at Russia, it was a shot fired at a
Nagorno-Karabakh helicopter.”
Armenian News – Tert.am
THREE TO TANGO?: OPPOSITION BLOC SIGNALS ‘COMMON AGENDA’ DESPITE DIFFERENCES ON STRATEGIES
POLITICS | 18.11.14 | 12:15
By SARA KHOJOYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Members of the three parties making up the so-called “non-governing”
trio say their differences over strategies and terms of anti-government
struggle do not prevent them from having a common agenda and calling a
special session of parliament to discuss their proposal for amendments
to Armenia’s Electoral Code.
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the Armenian National Congress
(ANC) and Heritage demand that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) agree to amending the Electoral Code in a way that would abolish
the current mixed system of representation, including elections
by party lists and from single-member constituencies, in favor of a
100-percent party-list ballot. The non-governing forces also want lists
of voters who go to the polls to be published after the vote, something
that the government insists violates the principle of secret ballot.
According to the trio parties, a special session on the matter and
the RPA vote will show how far sincere was President Serzh Sargsyan
when he called on the government to “take a fresh look” at the 12
demands of the opposition.
“If they honor their word, the RPA majority should attend
the discussion…Serzh Sargsyan has two options: to reject the
proposals by another boycott of the majority or finally accept it,”
ANC parliamentary leader Levon Zurabyan said, according to RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service.
The ANC believe that more active steps are necessary for the
opposition bloc today while the government has been “knocked down”,
while the PAP advocates a different approach: to solve institutional
problems and only then resume public rallies. But political analyst
Armen Grigoryan does not consider this difference to be a major rift
between the two parties.
“If the demand of the opposition [reforms of the Electoral Code] is
met by Serzh Sargsyan, it will be possible to organize transparent
and competitive elections, which meets the interests of the trio,”
the analysts told ArmeniaNow.
Single-seat or majoritarian ballots have long been a target of
criticism by Armenia’s main opposition parties that regard this type
of election as an impediment to the true political process as campaigns
in single-mandate constituencies rarely follow political patterns. They
also regard them as a tool for the ruling party to ensure its majority
even if it fails to win one through party-list elections. Supporters
of majoritarian ballots, on the contrary, argue that in the absence
of a bicameral parliament in Armenia elections from single-seat
constituencies ensure representation of all voters and regions and
a direct link between voters and their elected representatives.
Meanwhile, expert in political and electoral technologies Armen
Badalyan does not condition changes by internal political developments.
“When the trio parties raise the issue, their argument is that
pro-establishment candidates mainly win in single-seat constituencies.
But the situation is not completely like this and the Yerevan
elections (a 100-percent party list ballot) showed it, as there were
falsifications again and the Republicans won an outright majority,”
Badalyan told ArmeniaNow. (No opposition party challenged the outcome
of the 2013 elections in courts).
“For holding free and fair elections one has to solve other issues that
are on the geopolitical level rather than on the level of domestic
politics,” the expert added, claiming that it is rather Moscow that
decides who will be president in Armenia.
“If the trio works well, shows that it is an ally of Moscow, it is
possible that it receives Moscow’s OK to come to power.”
Political analyst Armen Grigoryan, on the contrary, connects the
developments to internal political processes and the activity of the
trio itself.
“Serzh Sargsyan will give up his plans for constitutional changes if
the trio makes him to do so, otherwise Sargsyan will try to go ahead
with these changes. In fact, whether there will be constitutional
changes or not completely depends on the trio: the greater pressure
it exerts the more likely it will be that Sargsyan will finally give
up the plans,” Grigoryan said.
Representatives of the trio also believe that their 12 demands mainly
regarding social and economic issues that they say because of the
indifference of the government have already become more political
demands, also dictate the agenda.
“If the current government fails to meet these demands, a new
government will do that,” PAP lawmaker Stepan Margaryan said.
METAL ORE PRODUCTION OUTPUT FELL 8.8 PERCENT IN ARMENIA IN NINE MONTHS
YEREVAN, November 18. /ARKA/. Metal ore production output dropped
by 8.8% to 132.2 billion drams in Armenia in January-September 2014,
according to the ministry of economy information.
The report says metal ore exports fell by 0.7% to 85.5 billion drams
in the period. There are currently 9 mining companies in the country
with staffs totaling 7,048 people.
Alkali metals production rose by 11.2% to 134.7 billion drams in
Armenia in the first nine months of this year; exports of these metals
hiked by 4.6% to 115.6bln drams in the period. Some 15 companies with
total staff of 4,306 people are engaged in the sector.
At the same time, a total of 143,500 tons of copper concentrate was
produced in the country in the reporting period (5.4% increase). Zinc
concentrate production totaled 10,400 tons (13.7% reduction).
The country manufactured 4,800 tons of ferromolybdenum (2.9% decrease),
12,900 tons of steel castings (16.8% increase), 21,700 tons of rolled
aluminum (6.2% increase) and gold alloys worth 25.7 billion drams
(6.8% increase) in the period.
The ministry of economy says the global nonferrous metal and gold
price variations have impact on domestic operations in the field that
is, in turn, reflected in Armenian companies’ financial performance
indicators.
Industry accounted for 18.2% of Armenian GDP as of the end of the
second quarter. Ore production and surface mining was 2.8% of the
gross domestic product, according to the ministry of economy.
ArmStat reports industrial output amounted to 918.9 billion drams in
January-September, an increase of 1.7% compared to the same period
of 2013.
Processing industry output totaled over 599.2bln drams and accounted
for about 65.2% of this volume. Mining industry and development of
surface mines fell by 8.8% to 144.4 billion drams. Mining exports
were $288.6 million in the period, a reduction of 7.2% against
January-September 2013; imports were $587.4 million (4.1% decrease).
($1 – 415.7 drams). -0-
ANOTHER NGO CLOSED IN AZERBAIJAN: “IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO WORK HERE ANYMORE”
20:09 17/11/2014 >> LAW
“I have to declare with a great regret that due to the tightening of
the Azerbaijani legislation it has become almost impossible for our
organization to carry out its activites. Therefore, the office of the
“Positive Changes” youth movement closes indefinitely,” the head of
this organization, blogger Bakhtiyar Hajiyev wrote on his Facebook
page, as the Azerbaijani portal “Haqqin.az” reported.
According to him, his organization has carried out a number of
activities in recent years aimed at developing the youth education
in the country.
“However, the amendments introduced in the legislation and related
to the activities of the NGOs, made the realization of our projects,
which have been approved by our international donors, impossible. I
hope that the obstacles created for the operation of the NGOs’ will
be removed very soon,” he noted.
“Haqqin.az” also reports that yesterday radio “Liberty” employee
Kiamran Mahmudov was questioned in the Directorate General Prosecutor’s
office for Grave Crimes.
According to him, the interrogation lasted several hours. “The
investigators were questioning me on the so-called “NGOs’ Case.” I
answered to all their questions. I also gave a subscription for
non-disclosure and therefore cannot report all the details,” he said.
They also note that the Prosecutor General’s Office had earlier
started the financial audits of a number of local NGOs.
Interfax, Russia
Nov 15 2014
Armenian president praises joint exercises with Nagorno-Karabakh
YEREVAN. Nov 15
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has praised the operational tactical
exercises Unity 2014 ongoing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The largest and most extensive exercises that have ever been
conducted within the framework of cooperation between the Armenian
armed forces and the defense army of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic are
nearing their end. Despite the sad incident, I believe the exercises
passed successfully,” Sargsyan said in addressing participants in the
exercises at the Tigranakert range in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday,
referring to the loss of a helicopter shot down by Azeri forces.
The exercises were closely followed not only by Armenia and the
unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic but also by “outsiders,
primarily those who call us enemies and who can destroy a helicopter
that is in a difficult situation and does not pose any danger,” he
said.
“This is their business. You do your job well. We remember everything,
and a day of retribution will come. Your duty is simple: keep on doing
this. I have said repeatedly that the war started by Azerbaijan in the
early 1990s was a result of the fact that they underestimated us, and
if, God forbid, they start another war, we would only be to blame for
making them underestimate us,” Sargsyan said.
“They thought that fighting Karabakh and Armenia was a quick and
pleasant occupation, something like a flash mob: get together, do
something, take pictures and go home. No, there’s not going to be any
flash mob. There’s not going to be any pleasantry and fun. And I am
sure that there’s not going to be a war, because you are here, and you
are strong,” Sargsyan said.
The Armenian president insisted that human rights and the rights of
nations need to be defended. “You are guarantors of these rights. You
are responsible for our lives, for our people’s security. We trust
you, and, relying on this trust, we will do all we can so that the
problem of Nagorno-Karabakh be settled fairly and so that Armenia’s
and Nagorno-Karabakh’s security be ensured,” he said.
The Unity 2014 operational tactical exercises have been conducted in
the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic from November 6 to 15
under a 2014 program of military cooperation between Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian official sources reported earlier that the Azeri armed forces
had shot down a Mi-24 helicopter belonging to the Nagorno-Karabakh
armed forces while the latter was on a training flight on Wednesday.
Preliminary findings indicate that three crewmembers had died.
Armenian rescuers were unable to approach the crash site as Azeri
armed forces kept shelling the area.
According to the Azeri Defense Ministry, an Armenian military
helicopter Mi-24 had taken an attack course and tried to attack Azeri
armed forces’ positions 1,700 meters northeast of the village of
Kengerli, the Agdam district, on November 12, after which Azeri forces
had to return fire and destroyed the helicopter.
va