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Armenian Assembly of America News
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Azerbaijan Attacks on Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh Raised During State
Department Daily Press Briefing

By Taniel Koushakjian
AAANews Blog

July 8, 2014

On Wednesday, July 2nd, a member of Armenia’s press service in Washington,
D.C. raised the issue of Azerbaijan military attacks on Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh during the U.S. State Department’s daily press briefing.

`There is a noticeable escalation of anti-Armenian rhetoric in Azerbaijan
recently,’ stated Haykaram Nahapetyan, Armenian Public Television’s
Washington correspondent. Azerbaijan violated the fragile ceasefire
agreement `not only in line of contact with Karabakh, but also across the
state border with Armenia, severely shelling civilian rural settlements in
northeastern part of Armenia,’ Nahapetyan said.

Referring to the U.S. role as a co-chair of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, Nahapetyan asked State
Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki if she was following the situation and if
the U.S. had `put any efforts to restrain Azerbaijan from belligerent
statements and action?’

Psaki reiterated that the U.S. is `committed to helping both sides
reach a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It’s
our hope that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will accept
French President Hollande’s invitation to hold a summit in Paris as
soon as possible, and that they will agree to structured negotiations
that will lead to a peace agreement.’ She also called on the
President’s of Armenia and Azerbaijan to `redouble their efforts at
the negotiation table.’

Psaki recognized the vitriolic statements emanating from Baku. `Obviously,
inflammatory rhetoric and statements run counter to the principle of
reducing tensions,’ she said, acknowledging that such provocation
`damages
the peace process.’

Days after the Azerbaijan attacks were raised in Washington the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic (NKR) Defense Ministry reported that approximately 600
ceasefire violations had occurred between June 25-July 5. One of the
incidents resulted in the death of NKR soldier Armen Avetisyan, 19, who was
killed along the NKR-Azerbaijan line of contact. The Azerbaijan Defense
Ministry denied the reports and accused the Armenian side of violating the
ceasefire.

At least 17 soldiers on both sides have died from cross border violations
to date this year.

A transcript of the question and answer exchange between Nahapetyan and
Psaki is available below.

###

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

Wednesday July 2, 2014

QUESTION: Yeah, thank you. There is a noticeable escalation of
anti-Armenian rhetoric in Azerbaijan recently. Ilham Aliyev personally
called Armenia a historic Azerbaijan land this time, which analysts
qualified as territorial claim. The main question is about the violation
of ceasefire recent weeks. Azerbaijan violated ceasefire not only in line
of contact with Karabakh, but also across the state border with Armenia,
severely shelling civilian rural settlements in northeastern part of
Armenia. Some local authorities already have reported that full-scale war
has already broken out.

So as a co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, do you follow the situation and any
do you put any efforts to restrain Azerbaijan from belligerent statements
and action? Thank you.

MS. PSAKI: Well, we are committed – as a co-chair, we’re committed to
helping both sides reach a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. It’s our hope that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will
accept French President Hollande’s invitation to hold a summit in Paris as
soon as possible, and that they will agree to structured negotiations that
will lead to a peace agreement. And we call on both sides to redouble
their efforts at the negotiation table and to focus on the benefits that
peace will bring to people across the region. Obviously, inflammatory
rhetoric and statements run counter to the principle of reducing tensions,
and so we certainly think that that damages the peace process, and that’s
why we’re encouraging them to redouble their efforts.

QUESTION: Jen, have you seen the reports that (inaudible) civilian
settlements this time has been bombarded by Azerbaijan in Armenia?

MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any confirmation of those specific reports, but
clearly, a peaceful settlement is in the interests of both countries.

Available online at:

APRICOT EXPORTS TO TOTAL 600 TONS IN 2014 AGAINST 23,800 LAST YEAR – MINISTER

YEREVAN, July 8. / ARKA /. Armenia will export a total of 500-600
tons of apricots this year as compared to 23,800 tons last year,
the country’s minister of agriculture Sergo Karapetyan said.

Most of apricot crops suffered from the end of March frost and snow,
he told ARKA.

As of today, apricot exports totaled 250 tons.

Karapetyan did not agree the hail damaged the crops substantially and
said agriculture growth is, for the first time, 5.5% in the first 5
months, compared to the same period of 2013.

Some 220-250 communities suffer from hail every year, but it has no
substantial impact on agriculture, the minister said.

The ministry of agriculture projections says apricots crops will
total 8,000 tons only, compared to 88,800 last year. -0–

– See more at:

The Denver Post, CO
July 6 2014

Cafesjian gem collection worth more than $1M to be sold in Denver

By Thad Moore

Before he died in September at age 88, Gerard Cafesjian amassed a huge
collection of art, jewelry and gems. Much of the fine art now is
housed in the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Armenia, and more than
900 pieces of jewelry were auctioned in Chicago in April, a collection
worth $1.8 million . But his huge collection of lapidary art, minerals
and gems — valued at at least $1 million — is now in Denver, being
prepared for sale in September by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

The collection of more than 700 pieces arrived last month in a pair of
box trucks from the West Publishing Co. executive’s Florida home.

An agate carving of a falcon on a copper base. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Cafesjian had a staff dedicated to crating and shipping his valuable
objects, and so they arrived immaculately packed, said Alexander
Eblen, the auction house’s natural history director.

Cafesjian began his career as a legal editor for West Publishing and
rose through the ranks. He retired in 1996, when the legal publishing
and research company was sold to Thompson Publishing.

Eblen spent more than a week unpacking and assessing the objects,
which include gems and minerals from places like South Africa, Brazil
and Colorado, and elements of what he described as a “pretty
stupendous” menagerie of stone carvings.

Managing and sorting such a large and diverse collection is chaotic.
Packing materials mingle with photo equipment in the Chicago-based
auction house’s Cherokee Street office. Boxes are stacked along nearly
every wall, from its front entrance to the loading dock.

In one crate, there’s an eagle carved from a single piece of ruby
weighing some 50 pounds. Elsewhere, there’s a realistic falcon made
from agate and perched on a copper base, and a pink morganite sea
turtle mounted on a piece of clear quartz.

Detail of a small portion of a large, 500 pound purple amethyst. (Andy
Cross, The Denver Post)

There are about 200 pieces like them, Eblen said, including a large
number of works by some of the world’s best lapidary artists in
Idar-Oberstein, Germany.

“What’s so interesting is just the quantity of the single-owner
collection, the diversity of it, some of the crazy, fantasy pieces
that can be made from these pieces,” said Annie McLagan, one of two
auctioneers handling the sale. “It’s startling.”

The collection includes unusual raw gem specimens, some collected from
Colorado, and a 500-pound amethyst geode cut to serve as a coffee
table.

A fine rhodochrosite crystal from the “Corner Pocket”, Sweet Home
Mine, Alma, Colorado. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post file)

The auction — held in person and online Sept. 15 — will be previewed
during the Denver Gem & Mineral Show Sept. 12-14. The show is one of
the world’s largest, said James Hagadorn, geology curator for the
Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Between 5,000 and 10,000 come to the show at Denver Mart each year,
inspiring a pair of secondary shows and other sales, Hagadorn said.
Each year, sellers convert hotel rooms into makeshift showrooms,
making it a week-long event. The size of the show — one of the three
largest in the world, Hagadorn said — speaks to the size of Colorado’s
collecting community.

Metro Denver alone has eight gem and mineral clubs, and it’s one of
the largest such communities in the world, Hagadorn said.

“It’s grown and grown and grown,” Hagadorn said. “It’s not as big as
the Stock Show, but in 10 more years, it might be.”

Colorado ranked No. 8 in the nation for gemstone mining in 2011, worth
$440,000, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Foreign stones are
brought here, too, to be processed, Hagadorn said.

And, he said, mining is embedded in the state’s history: It led to
Denver’s founding, helped lead Colorado to statehood and drove people
to the mountains.

“They’re full of minerals, they’re full of rocks and they’re full of
fossils,” Hagadorn said. “There are phenomenal specimens that have
been coming out of these mountains for 100 years.”

No political reasons for delay in Armenia’s accession to Eurasian
Union – analyst

14:36 * 06.07.14

Political analyst Sergey Shakaryan believes that the reasons for the
delay in Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union are not
political ones.

Specifically, it is not the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

“With respect to Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] Armenia should amend its
Constitution and designate Artsakh as part of Armenia. Thus, Armenia
should state it is a member of all organizations only with Artsakh as
its part. Otherwise, Armenia has nothing in common with the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic because Nagorno-Karabakh has its own
Constitution and is supposed to apply for the membership in any
organization as an independent entity,” Shakaryan told Tert.am.

He does not believe that Azerbaijan will join the Customs Union
because Turkey will prevent it.

“By negotiating with Russia and Kazakhstan Turkey shows it claims to
be the first, followed by Azerbaijan because Azerbaijan is a card for
Turkey,” he said.

As to Kazakhstan’s position, Shakaryan believes that Kazakhstan has
always been seeking to be a center of the Turkic world rather than of
the Eurasian world.

We should create our peace relying on our own force

14:37 06.07.2014

Artak Barseghyan
“Radiolur”

The tension registered recently at several parts of
Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact is an evidence for the fact that
the ceasefire regime, which came into force 20 years ago, does not
serve as a guarantee of stability and peace.

Strengthening the position of Armenian Armed Forces on the border near
Nakhichevan is a serious achievement for us, especially taking into
consideration the fact that the strategic summit is in Armenian
territory.

The former military emissary Vova Vardanov spoke about this with
pride, as, according to him, that summit allows to keep a considerably
large area under control and to follow all the movements of
adversary’s armed forces. The existence of tension is not a surprise
for the former military. Moreover, he thinks that creating an
atmosphere of fright will be the key tool for the counteraction, which
will become possible through little but quite reasonable military
actions.

In addition to this, the politologist Sergey Shakatyants mentioned in
turn that the current situation dictates its strict rules which cannot
be left out of attention. He added that very often the peace is
reached through pressure and obligations, rather than through peaceful
negotiations.

In any case we should rely on our own potential, as the military
allies, supplying the adversary with military arsenal, seem not to be
very trustworthy.

Israel to host Days of Armenian culture

July 05, 2014 | 21:44

YEREVAN. – Israel will host the Days of Armenian Culture on July 4 -17.

The concerts of Armenian dance ensembles and Armenian singers will be
held in Tel Aviv and Haifa. An exhibition of photos and handicrafts
will open.

The Armenian delegation will be headed by Culture Minister Hasmik
Poghosyan. The delegation members are expected to hold meetings with
Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, the lawmakers, Culture and Sports
Minister Limor Livnat, mayors of Tel Aviv and Nazareth.

They will also visit Armenian patriarchate of Jerusalem and will meet
with the local Armenian community.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

FOOTBALL
L’arméno-uruguayen Joaquin Boghossian au > de Montevideo

Joaquín Antonio Boghossián (27 ans, 1m97), le géant attaquant
arméno-uruguayen, né le 19 juin 1987 à Montevideo va sans doute finir
sa carrière en Uruguay au > Montevideo, nous
rapporte la presse uruguayenne.

Celui qui évoluait cette saison au Quilmes AC (Argentine) et avait
décliné l’invitation de l’équipe d’Arménie an espérant une sélection
dans l’équipe nationale de l’Uruguay a un palmarès élogieux. Avec le
Nacional de Montevideo il devenait champion d’Uruguay en 2012 puis en
2013 avec le Cercle Bruges, il était finaliste de la Coupe de
Belgique. Mais en Europe, notamment au Red Bull de Salzbourg
(Autriche) où il avait évolué deux saisons en 2010 et 2012, les
performances de Joaquin Boghossian ne furent pas à la hauteur des
espérances. L’arméno-uruguayen sera ainsi la saison prochaine au > de Montevideo, quatre fois championne d’Uruguay et
qui fut ces dernières années dans le haut du classement du championnat
uruguayen.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 6 juillet 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

Analyst: Constitutional changes serve interests of one person

July 05, 2014 | 19:06

YEREVAN. – President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan is willing to carry out
constitutional reforms to reproduce his power, analyst Yervand Bozoyan
toldArmenian News-NEWS.am.

The current system was adopted in 1995 as it was the most unbiased
system for transition to semi-presidential government.

“According to the changes in 2005, the essence of this system has not
changed, only the Government and the National Assembly received more
powers. Today Armenia is experiencing regression rather than progress.
Constitutional reforms are necessary, but we need to change the
guidelines of the country,” Bozoyan said.

He believes the constitutional reforms can be carried out in 5-10
years. However, this should not be done amid destroyed economic
system.

“The real motivation for constitutional reforms is that the incumbent
president can not reproduce his power, but will be able to in case of
transition to a parliamentary form of government. All is done in the
interests of one person,” the analyst added.

Armenia marks Constitution Day on July 5.

Heritage Party for constitutional reform, but under new leadership of Armenia

by Tatevik Shahunyan

ARMINFO
Saturday, July 5, 15:27

Heritage Party sees the need for a constitutional reform in Armenia,
Armen Martirosyan, a member of Heritage Party Board, told ArmInfo.

According to him, the constitutional reform must be carried out by
new, legitimately elected power, not the incumbent authorities that
just seek to retain power through amending the Basic Law. Martirosyan
said the Heritage Party seeks to change the model of government in the
country form the semi-presidential to the parliamentary one, where the
opposition would have more supervisory powers.

As for the effective Constitution of Armenia, Martirosyan said that it
was adopted 1995 with violations and is still enforced with
violations. “The Constitution has failed to build a socially-oriented
legal state,” he said.

To recall, the President initiated a project of constitutional reforms
that feature transition to the parliamentary system of government in
Armenia. The document, particularly, calls to expand the parliament’s
supervisory powers, authorize the legislative body to elect the
president for a 7-year term. Sargsyan assures he does not seek the
prime minister’s post.

On July 5 Armenia celebrates the Constitution Day. The Constitution
was adopted in 1995. On 27 November 2005, the document underwent
certain amendments under president Robert Kocharyan.

PAREGAMOUTYOUN
Prêts pour le feu d’artifice à Marseille samedi soir au Palais des Congrès

Ils étaient attendus, ils sont bien arrivés en France et ont réussi
leur pari. Après les premiers succès à Paris, devant 1 300 spectateurs
au Casino de Paris, et à Lyon, avec près de 800 spectateurs à la
Bourse du Travail, c’est à Marseille qu’ils vont mettre un point final
à cette tournée exclusive. > comme le souligne Pascal
Chamassian, Directeur artistique de l’ensemble Araxe-Sassoun de la JAF
Marseille.

“Il y a là l’me arménienne et son si grand pouvoir attractif. Son
mystère, mêlée de mélancolie, mais qui s’éveille si promptement à
l’appel de la vie que rien ni personne ne pourrait y résister. Entre
joie et émotion, il est impossible de demeurer insensible à un tel
élan de vitalité et de fraîcheur qui fleurent bon l’avenir de la
culture arménienne. En trois mots, franchement ça fait du bien ! A
recommander aux amis français. Ils ne le regretteront à aucun moment”

Après 2 premières représentations de très haut niveau à Paris et à
Lyon, Parégamoutyoun sera à Marseille samedi soir, pour embraser un
Palais des Congrès archi-comble…

samedi 5 juillet 2014,
Ara (c)armenews.com