Author: nina hovnanian

Azerbaijani independent newspaper ”Zerkalo” closes after Rauf
Mirkadirov’s arrest

17:28 31/05/2014 >> REGION

One of the few independent Azerbaijani newspapers, “Zerkalo”, is now
closed for indefinite time. Editor in chief of the newspaper Elchin
Shikhli told the Azerbaijani news agency “Vesti.az.”

Elchin Shikhli also noted that he had had telephone talks with Aflatun
Amashov, the chairman of the Press Council, however the conversations
did not lead to any result.

According to the well-known journalist, even if a businessman offered
him 20,000 manats (about 20 thousand euros) today – it would not be a
solution to the problem. “From my point of view, it would be a
temporary solution to the problem, but it cannot be final. For
example, 50 thousand manats can provide me with two months issue of
the newspaper. And then what?” wonders the editor.

Editor of the famous newspaper also said that he would try to keep the
site of the newspaper working. “But frankly speaking I have no money
for it, too,” said Elchin Shikhli.

According to the editor-in-chief, now they, he and the team, need to
stop, take a breath and relax. “I’ll be looking for all sorts of
options to start all over again. There are some plans. We’ll see what
happens,” he said.

Rauf Mirkadirov, columnist of Azerbaijani newspaper “Zerkalo”, was
arrested on April 18 in Ankara on charges of expiration of documents.
On April 19 Mirkadirov was deported to Azerbaijan, where he
immediately was arrested and put in custody by the MNS on suspicion of
treason. On April 21 the court in Baku sanctioned his arrest for three
months. Mirkadirov is accused of the cooperation with special services
of Armenia; specifically he is accused of making the transfers of the
state secret information, including those about the dislocation of
Azerbaijani Armed forces to Armenia during 2008-2009.

Minister calls for cutting water for fish farms in half

YEREVAN, May 31. / ARKA /. Armenia’s nature protection minister
Aramayis Grigoryan said the volume of water used by fish farms should
be cut in half.

Speaking at a parliament discussion on 2013 budget execution, he said
most of fish farms are concentrated in the Ararat Valley, using water
from artesian wells.

A recent USAID-funded study, managed by Clean Energy and Water
Program (CEWP), has revealed that over the last 6-8 years, the level
of groundwater resources in the Ararat Valley that has the bulk of
fish farms, has significantly decreased, leaving over 30 communities
without reliable access to potable and/or irrigation water.

Last year the government gave 18 months to all fish farms in the
country to shift to semi-closed water recycling system, whereby some
70 % of the water is used several times thus contributing to its more
efficient use and reduction of costs.

The transition suggests installment of expensive new technology, the
price of which, depending on the size of farms, may range from 700,000
to 1.5 million euros.

According to the agriculture ministry, fish production last year rose
by 2,800 metric tons to 11,600 tons. ($1- 405.29 drams).

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– See more at:

Armenia pension reform opposing movement to stage awareness campaign

May 31, 2014 | 12:41

YEREVAN. – The “Dem.Am [I am against]” movement–which is a civic
initiative that opposes the mandatory component of the new funded
pension law in Armenia–on Saturday will hold an awareness campaign in
downtown capital city Yerevan.

In this way, they will urge people to write petitions to their
employers and demand from them not to make the mandatory pension
deductions from their salaries, the movement’s Facebook account
informed.
The participants in the awareness campaign will assemble outside the
Matenadaran, which is one of the world’s oldest repositories of
ancient manuscripts.

President Serzh Sargsyan on Monday signed the Law on Making an
Amendment to the Law on Funded Pensions. On May 15, the National
Assembly had approved the revisions on the Law on Funded Pensions. In
line with the revisions, the funded pension deductions will become
voluntary until the government submits the new bill that will decide
the ultimate fate of the pension reform. Starting from Thursday, the
people have begun sending respective petitions to their employers.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIE
Les exportations de poissons vivants d’Arménie ont augmenté de 46,7%

Les exportations de poissons vivants d’Arménie ont augmenté de 46,7%
de 16,9 tonnes en 2012 à 24,8 tonnes en 2013 a annoncé le comité des
recettes d’Etat de l’Arménie.

Les poissons exportés en 2013 ont rapporté 169 800 $ et ceux exportés
en 2012 194 000 $.

Les exportations de poissons vivants presque entiers ont été envoyés
en Géorgie (21,8 tonnes), et seulement 3 tonnes ont été exportées vers
la Russie.

176,1 kg de poissons vivants d’une valeur de 20 600 $ ont été importés
en Arménie en 2013 contre 515,3 kg d’une valeur de 27 300 $ en 2012.

Les principaux exportateurs de poissons vivants vers l’Arménie en 2013
étaient la Malaisie (52,5 kg), l’Indonésie (40 kg), Sri Lanka (32,7
kg), Singapour (28 kg) et la Thaïlande (22,3 kg).

Selon le ministère de l’agriculture la production de poissons en
Arménie s’est élèvé à 11 600 tonnes en 2013, après une croissance de 2
800 tonnes par rapport à 2012.

samedi 31 mai 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Zhoghovurd: Armenia’s new justice minister richer than thought

11:21 * 31.05.14

Armenia’s newly-appointed minister of justice turns out to be richer
than expected, the paper says, citing his income declaration.

In the document submitted to the Ethics Commission of High Ranking
Officials Hovhannes Manukyan reportedly mentioned that apart from his
monthly salary, he has also received an additional rent sum of 25
million Drams (approx. $60,000).

But there is no mention of any movable or immovable property,
according to Zhoghovurd.

The paper claims that the minister owns 7 million drams (approx
$7,000), 290,000 Euros and 490,000 US Dollars.

Armenian News – Tert.am

DM SPOKESMAN BLASTS AZERBAIJAN OVER MISINFORMATION ON ARMENIAN CASUALTIES

KARABAKH | 30.05.14 | 09:59

A spokesman for Armenia’s Defense Ministry has discarded as
misinformation the reports in Azerbaijan alleging that as many as 11
Armenian servicemen were killed in the most recent ceasefire violations
near Nagorno-Karabakh.

Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on his Facebook account on Thursday that
the Armenian servicemen presented by Azerbaijan as victims of the
latest clashes in fact died at different times and under different
circumstances over a long period of time.

The Karabakh side said three of its servicemen, including one
lieutenant-colonel, were killed and one soldier was wounded since
early last week. It also reported at least two major raids by Azeri
troops that were successfully repelled by Armenian soldiers, who also
inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.

At least two Azeri commandoes were killed and one was wounded in the
latest foiled attack on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Defense Ministry spokesman Hovhannisyan went on to accuse
Azerbaijan of also misleading its own citizens as military officials in
Baku claim that the attacks were launched by Armenians. In particular,
he drew the readers’ attention to the photograph of a killed Azeri
captain with a distinguishing task force badge.

“What is more logical – that a task force officer was on combat duty
in the trenches or that he was part of a sabotage group?” Hovhannisyan
wrote.

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT: “THERE WON’T BE THE SECOND ARMENIAN STATE, NO LEGAL STATUS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE SO-CALLED NAGORNO-KARABAKH”

APA, Azerbaijan
May 28 2014

[ 28 May 2014 12:23 ]

“If Armenia doesn’t want the second phase of war to start, then it
should withdraw from the occupied lands by itself”

Baku – APA. The main issue of our foreign policy is the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Unfortunately, there
has been no progress in this regard despite the OSCE Minsk group’s
activity for 20 years. The reason is that the Armenian side doesn’t
want it,” said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the official
reception on the occasion of the national holiday of Azerbaijan –
the Republic Day held at the Buta Palace, APA reports.

The Head of State noted that Armenia wants to maintain the status quo:
“Though, the presidents of the Minsk Group co-chairing countries
have repeatedly said that the status quo is unacceptable, Armenia
ignores it. Thus, the issue remains unresolved. I think that we have
already laid all the necessary diplomatic and legal grounds for the
resolution of the conflict. The conflict can be resolved only within
the norms and principles of the international law. The international
law supports and defends our position. Territorial integrity of
countries, including the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is not a
subject to controversy. Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity has never
been and will not be a subject to negotiation. The conflict should be
resolved basing on four resolutions of the UN Security Council. There
is no other option. We would not allow the second so-called Armenian
state to be established in our territories. The first Armenian state
was established in our territories – in the ancient Azerbaijani lands,
Yerevan, Goycha, Zangazur. There won’t be the second Armenian state,
no legal status will be given to the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh. There
are legal and diplomatic grounds for the resolution of this problem.

Are these grounds enough to solve the problem? No! If they were
enough, the issue would have been resolved. What else can we do for
the resolution of issue? We know it very well. The economy should
be stronger. We must further isolate Armenia as well. However, it is
not completely isolated and its doors with other countries are open.

However, we have isolated Armenia from all regional projects and
consequently mass migration is observed from Armenia. Their statistic
information shows that 80 000-90 000 people leave the country forever
each year and this process will last. As long as there is a criminal
and corrupt dictatorship in the Armenian leadership, the situation
in Armenia will worsen. Therefore, if Armenian people want to live
in peace with their neighbors, first and foremost, it should give up
criminal, bloodthirsty and illegal regime”.

The President said that Armenia should withdraw from the occupied
territories in order to take a breath. “Otherwise, the fate of this
country will be very dark. We will never accept the current situation.

We will allocate funds for strengthening our military capabilities as
much as we need and further purchase the most modern techniques. We
are frequently hearing about confidence-building measures from the
co-chairing countries. The most suitable confidence-building measure
is withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from the Azerbaijani
territories. There is no other confidence-building measure. As long as
the lands are under occupation, the war is considered unfinished. I
repeatedly said that the war is going on. The first phase of the war
ended. If Armenia doesn’t want the second phase to start, then it
should make correct conclusions and withdraw from the occupied lands
by itself. Only then it can be on the map as an independent Armenian
state,” he said.

SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT EXISTS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 28 2014

28 May 2014, 12:10 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova

There is a very simple and effective solution to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, an American expert
believes.

Frederick Starr, the professor at the Johns Hopkins University and
a founding chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, made the
remark in his interview with Day.Az.

He said the OSCE Minsk Group, which has been tasked with settling
the Nagorno-Karabakh over 20 years, has failed to solve the dispute.

“We have gained two decades of experience in the Minsk process. If you
send a child to study at school for 20 years, and during that time
he learns nothing, you have to consider whether he should continue
to go to school at all,” Starr said.

Starr believes the Minsk group has suffered an obvious fiasco in this
regard, noting that the reasons are well-known and needn’t be repeated.

“I think the only way forward is the recognition of this fiasco
and defining more practical ways for development in the future,”
Starr said.

Starr further said a completely different method of solving the
conflict should be considered.

“I never doubted that there is a very simple and effective solution
to the Karabakh conflict. It’s not a dilemma with no solution. In
fact, it’s simple. The only question is the methodology of reaching
an agreement,” the expert said.

“It is clear that the occupied territory should be returned. This is
not a subject for discussion.”

Starr believes the matter is not just finding way to resolve the
conflict, but to find out in general what should be done following
a peace agreement.

“I believe that many people in Armenia, especially the younger
generation, might one day think about the opportunities that will be
opened to them once a settlement is reached in the post-conflict period
in the South Caucasus. When they are aware of these opportunities,
they will say: ‘Yes, it is time to move forward’,” Starr said.

He said the endless study of the negotiation process should be
stopped and a broader view of the prospect at a time when a decision
is reached should be adopted.

“The world is changing. Azerbaijan is a completely different country;
it is not the same as it was at the beginning of the Minsk process.

Armenia and Russia have also changed. It’s time to find a solution
method that reflects today’s realities. Unfortunately, we are stuck
in this very primitive mechanism of the Minsk process and need an
immediate way of finding new methods,” Starr stressed.

He noted that Azerbaijan and Armenia are the two sides responsible
for settling the conflict.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a
conflict which emerged over Armenia’s territorial claims against its
South Caucasus neighbor.

Since a war in the early 1990s, the Armenian armed forces have occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven surrounding regions.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing
efforts by U.S., Russian, and French mediators have been largely
fruitless so far.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on its withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s territories.

ELIA KAHVEDJIAN: PHOTOS OFFER LOOK AT PRE-STATE ISRAEL

San Francisco Gate, CA
May 28 2014

Elia Kahvedjian: Photos ‘a remarkable record’ of life in pre-state
Israel

by Nirmala Nataraj

Elia Kahvedjian’s photographs are stunning examples of the history
that resides in the walls of Jerusalem – a history that transcends
barriers of race, ethnicity, religion and time. A new exhibition
at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco reveals some of the
works of Kahvedjian, an Armenian refugee who lived in Israel in the
early 20th century and is easily one of the region’s most influential
photographers.

Many of the black-and-white photographs paint a vivid picture of
pre-state Israel, transporting us from Christian to Muslim quarters,
Damascus Gate to the Sea of Galilee, shoe shiners to dancing Gypsies,
communal celebrations to moments of quiet prayer and reverence.

“There are lots of photos of people, seemingly unobserved, working
at their jobs,” says Lenore Naxon, a curator at the JCCSF. “They form
a remarkable record of the time and place, a real step back in time.”

When Kahvedjian’s daughter discovered thousands of negatives in his
Jerusalem shop in 1987, she realized that Kahvedjian had amassed
not only his own photos, but 1,400 images by other photographers
that dated from 1840 to 1947, which were immediately recognized as
treasures offering us a fuller picture of Kahvedjian’s life, as well
as pre-Israel Jerusalem. His Jerusalem shop, Elia Photo Services,
is still in existence as a museum.

Kahvedjian’s granddaughter Laura Dirtadian says that the exhibition
captures aspects of Israel that few people see nowadays. After the
opening of the show, “There were people coming up to me who were
crying, because of the environment which was portrayed in these
photographs. You see Palestinians and Israelis and Armenians, and
they are living among one another in peace.”

The photographs in the collection, especially the ones Kahvedjian
collected from earlier times, are also particularly poignant, given
that many reveal sites that no longer in exist.

Kahvedjian himself lived through great turmoil. Although details about
his life remain fuzzy, he is thought to have been born in eastern
Turkey around 1910. In 1915, many members of his family were killed
during the Armenian genocide. He spent a few years on the streets
in Turkey, but with the assistance of an American aid organization,
eventually moved to an orphanage in Nazareth. After an apprenticeship
with a photographer, he relocated to Jerusalem and took over the
business of a photographer he was working for. He died in 1999.

When Kahvedjian turned to photography, the majority of his work
comprised family portraits and wedding photos. However, Dirtadian
says, her grandfather had a deep appreciation for art, and much of
his attention was focused on stolen moments of beauty.

“He gravitated toward everyday life and routine, to scenes of serenity
and peace,” she says.

Although Dirtadian only saw her grandfather twice, his story has
always been a part of her.

“His photographs remind us of our past,” she said, “of our ability to
live and work with and among one another in harmony and appreciation.”

This article has been corrected since it appeared in print.

If you go

Elia Kahvedjian: Through June 21. 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday,
until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Jewish Community Center of San
Francisco, Katz Snyder Gallery, 3200 California St., S.F. (415)
292-1233.

MORE TROUBLE FOR JUSTICE SECRETARY

NL Times, The Netherlands
May 29 2014

Posted by Maxime Zech on 9:21 CEST, Thursday, 29, May, 2014 in
Netherlands

The SP and GroenLinks are very dubious about State Secretary for
Security and Justice, Fred Teeven’s humanity in the implementation
of the asylum policy. The parties want an independent investigation
to be conducted into the suicide of an Armenian asylum seeker in
April. For this, they want to submit a motion next week.

This was announced by MP for the SP, Sharon Gesthuizen, and MP
for GroenLinks Linda Voortman on Wednesday during a debate about
the treatment of asylum seekers. After Russian Aleksandr Dolmatov
committed suicide in a detention center for asylum seekers, this
issue has been a political minefield. At that time, Teeven survived
a motion of no-confidence.

The Investigative Council for Security launched an investigation into
the risks that rejected asylum seekers run in shelters and detention
centers. The Investigative Council did not, at the time, find any
evidence that asylum centers are structurally unsafe, but write in the
report that immigrants do run risks, and that a solution was needed.

Teeven promised Parliament that he would bring more “humane measures”
into the alien policy.

Since then, the leftist opposition has not had reason to doubt the
State Secretary. In April, however, Armenian Artavazd Gasparyan became
the second asylum seeker to commit suicide in the center where he was
staying, after being rejected for asylum, and was going to be sent
back to Germany by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND).

According to Gasparyan’s lawyer, Eva van den Hombergh, the IND “took
an unnecessary and dangerous risk” by deciding to send the man back.

Gasparyan had serious psychological problems. Teeven wrote a letter to
Parliament explaining the circumstances around the suicide. According
to the man’s lawyer, the information he gave was false, and that the
Asylum Seekers Health Center doctor was unfamiliar with Gasparyan’s
mental health issues.

Now, MPs Linda Voortman of GroenLinks and Sharon Gesthuizen of SP
wonder if the State Secretary is trustworthy in the execution of
asylum seekers policy. According to the Telegraaf, D66 MP Gerard
Schouw discouraged a motion of no-confidence be submitted against
Teeven. According to him, this is “overdone” and “too easy”. The
parties actually wanted Teeven to be severely reprimanded,
but Gasthuizen admitted that a motion has no use, as the rest of
Parliament will not support this. Neither will an eventual independent
investigation receive Parliament support, they believe.

According to the PvdA and D66, there have been improvements in the
treatment of asylum seekers. “D66 does give Teeven a yellow card”,
said Schouw, but he finds that the State Secretary should get the
chance to finish his work.

This is the third time that Teeven has been faced with a motion of
no-confidence by opposition parties. Last year, in a debate about
Dolatov, and two weeks ago when Teeven acknowledged the deluge of
asylum seekers entering the country from Eritrea.