Author: nina hovnanian

ARAM MANUKYAN: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT WILL PASS A VERDICT THAT NOBODY WILL UNDERSTAND

by Ashot Safaryan

Friday, March 28, 13:50

The Constitutional Court will pass a verdict that nobody will
understand, the secretary of the parliamentary group of the Armenian
National Congress Aram Manukyan told journalists on Friday, when asked
to comment on the CC’s hearing on the constitutionality of compulsory
accumulative pension system in Armenia.

“The Court will not pass any verdict today. It will wait till the
dust settles and people stop their rallies,” Manukyan said.

The head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia Galust Sahakyan refrained from forecasts. He just said
that the authorities and people will have to accept any verdict.

An I Am Against action is taking place in front of Armenia’s
Constitutional Court while the Court is considering the appeal of
four opposition parliamentary forces (the Armenian National Congress,
the ARFD, Heritage and Prosperous Armenia) against the Government’s
decision to introduce a compulsory accumulative pension system in
Armenia. The protesters are standing there blindfolded and silent,
which is an allusion to blind and silent government.

CRIMEA REFERENDUM’S LEGITIMACY IS BEYOND DOUBT – ARF

March 28, 2014 | 15:03

YEREVAN. – The Armenians of both Crimea and Ukraine must respect the
choice of these people.

Armenia’s opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party National Assembly
(NA) Faction head Armen Rustamyan stated the aforesaid at Friday’s
NA briefings.

According to him, since the Armenians always follow the above-said
principle, diametrically opposite countries have a normal view toward
the Armenian community.

Rustamyan noted that an attention should be paid to not solely to
those countries that voted against, but those that abstained from
voting on the UN General Assembly resolution on Crimea.

“There weren’t [a] small [number]; 58. And abstention is the same as
voting against. Had the resolution been definitely fair, the vast
majority [of the countries] would have supported it, whereas the
opposite occurred,” the ARF MP said.

In his view, the countries’ stance can also change over time.

He added that the legitimacy of the March 16 referendum in Crimea is
beyond doubt.

“At least 75 percent of the peninsula’s population is Russians. Does
anyone doubt what choice they were to make?” Armen Rustamyan stressed.

Armenia was among the eleven countries that on Thursday voted
against the UN General Assembly resolution which declares invalid
Crimea’s recent referendum calling for joining Russia. In addition,
58 countries abstained from voting on this resolution, whereas 100
countries voted in its favor. The UN General Assembly resolutions,
however, are merely consultative.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIA’S VOTE AGAINST UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S RESOLUTION ON UKRAINE RIGHT – ARMEN RUSTAMYAN

14:22 * 28.03.14

Armenia’s vote “against” the US General Assembly’s resolution on
Ukraine was right, Head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) group Armen Rustamyan told reporters on Friday.

According to him, there is no difference between “against” and
“abstaining from voting.”Moreover, by voting “against” Armenia clearly
demonstrated its position on double standards.

“Abstaining from voting is the same. So I prefer ‘against,” he said.

The 58 countries that abstained from voting actually showed they were
against the resolution.

“I do not forget about the 100 countries that voted for the resolution
as well. The point is that a referendum did take place, and we have
nothing to do with other issues. But Armenia cannot be against the
referendum that expressed popular will. No one doubts that Russians
constitute 75% of the Crimea population. Do not they want to join
Russia?”

Rustamyan is sure that the countries will change their opinion later,
which was the case in the Russian-Georgian war.

“The rest was the political interests that resulted in the application
of double standards. How can the 100 countries that voted against
explain their voting for Kosovo’s self-determination? Because it was
in their interests?”

“We have our specific features, other conflicts theirs. I am against
identifying Nagorno-Karabakh with the Crimea, but we cannot say that
the right to self-determination and expression of free will is wrong,”
Rustamyan said.

GROUP OF ARMENIA CITIZENS READY TO DEFEND SYRIA’S ARMENIAN-POPULATED AREAS (PHOTOS)

March 26, 2014 | 15:13

YEREVAN. – There are volunteers in Armenia who have expressed a wish
to set up a volunteer detachment and head to Syria to protect the
Armenian-populated areas (PHOTOS).

Several dozens of Armenian citizens, who on Wednesday staged
a demonstration in front of the UN Office in Armenia, told the
aforementioned to reporters.

“We want to form a 20-30 member detachment. We will inform the
[Armenian] government about this idea.

“[But] for the most part, this detachment can help the Syrian Armenians
emotionally, so they sense that their compatriots stand with them,
and they will be with them at the moment of need,” initiative member
Arman Mkhitaryan told Armenian-NEWS.am.

In his words, however, the UN’s silence on this matter is strange.

“We want to remind this organization the objectives it is called
to serve. We condemn the UN’s silence; this is a crime, a silent
acquiescence to Turkey’s actions,” Mkhitaryan added.

Subsequently, the protestors handed a respective letter to the UN
Office in Armenia.

In the early morning on March 21, armed militants from the Jabhat
al-Nusra Islamic terrorist group infiltrated into northern Syria’s
Latakia Governorate, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians
and Alawites, from four directions. Two large groups of terrorists had
launched the attack fromTurkey. About 600 Kessab-Armenian families are
currently sheltered in Latakia city. On March 23, Turkish fighter
planes downed a Syrian military aircraft that was conducting a
mission against the Islamic terrorists in Kessab. On Monday, a group
of Armenian parliament members headed to Latakia.

Armenia citizens demand corresponding response from UN on Kessab
events

ATTACK ON KESSAB NOT ONLY SYRIANS’ AND ARMENIANS’ MATTER – ORINATS YERKIR

March 28, 2014 | 14:25

YEREVAN. – The attack on Syria’s predominantly Armenian-populated
town of Kessab is not solely a matter of the Armenians and the Syrians.

Armenia coalition government’s junior member Orinats Yerkir (Rule of
Law) Party (RLP) Vice-Chairman Mher Shahgeldyan, who is also Secretary
of the RLP National Assembly (NA) Faction, stated the aforesaid at
Friday’s NA briefings.

“There is a risk of the physical extermination of the residents of
that town, and this makes us follow the situation, especially since
more than 100,000 refugees from Syria are in Armenia [at present],”
he added.

In Shahgeldyan’s words, the Armenian leadership already expressed
its concern over the existing situation.

“The international power centers need to enable, by diplomatic and
other means, the refugees to return to their native places,” the RLP
MP concluded.

In the early morning on March 21, armed militants from the Jabhat
al-Nusra Islamic terrorist group infiltrated into northern Syria’s
Latakia Governorate, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians
and Alawites, from four directions. Two large groups of terrorists
had launched the attack from Turkey. About 600 Kessab-Armenian
families are currently sheltered in Latakia city. On March 23, Turkish
fighter planes downed a Syrian military aircraft that was conducting a
mission against the Islamic terrorists in Kessab. On Monday, a group
of Armenia parliament members headed to Syria to assess the situation
in the country.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

UKRAINE : L’ASSEMBLEE GENERALE DENONCE LE RATTACHEMENT DE LA CRIMEE A LA RUSSIE, L’ARMENIE VOTE CONTRE

ONU-Ukraine-crise-Crimee-Russie-Assemblee

(AFP) – L’Assemblee generale de l’ONU a adopte jeudi une resolution non
contraignante qui denonce le referendum en Crimee et le rattachement
de cette peninsule a la Russie, mais 58 pays se sont abstenus et une
vingtaine n’ont pas pris part au vote.

La resolution a recueilli 100 voix pour, 11 contre et 58 abstentions
sur les 193 membres de l’Assemblee.

Cette resolution proposee par l’Ukraine et co-parrainee par les
Occidentaux, est pourtant redigee en des termes très moderes et ne
critique pas explicitement Moscou. Le texte devait recueillir une
majorite simple des suffrages exprimes pour etre adopte.

Parmi les pays qui ont vote non figurent outre la Russie, le Belarus,
la Coree du Nord, l’Armenie, Cuba, le Nicaragua, le Venezuela, la
Bolivie, le Zimbabwe, le Soudan et la Syrie.

Parmi les abstentionnistes figurent la Chine, l’Argentine, le Bresil,
l’Inde, le Pakistan, l’Egypte, le Senegal, le Gabon ou encore l’Afrique
du Sud.

Les Etats-Unis et leurs allies europeens, arabes et asiatiques ont
vote massivement pour.

Avant le scrutin, le ministre ukrainien des affaires etrangtères
Andrii Dechtchitsa a appele les Etats membres a voter massivement
afin de dissuader la Russie de continuer son “agression”, faisant
implicitement reference a la menace d’une invasion de l’Ukraine par
les troupes russes massees a ses frontières.

L’ambassadeur russe a l’ONU Vitali Tchourkine a defendu la legitimite
de “la reunification entre la Crimee et la Federation de Russie”
tandis que l’ambassadrice americaine affirmait que “l’Ukraine merite
(leur) plein soutien”.

La Russie a mene “une intense campagne de lobbying et d’intimidation”,
a explique un diplomate occidental. “Certains pays pensent qu’il
s’agit d’un problème europeen ou d’un affrontement Est-Ouest qui ne
les concerne pas, ou ils ne veulent pas mecontenter la Russie”.

Lors de la crise entre la Russie et la Georgie en 2008-2009, une
resolution de l’Assemblee en septembre 2009 n’avait recueilli que 48
voix contre 19 et 78 abstentions.

Le texte adopte jeudi est similaire a celui qui avait ete bloque par
un veto russe au Conseil de securite le 19 mars. Moscou avait par
avance averti mercredi que l’adoption d’une resolution par l’Assemblee
n’aurait “aucun effet” sur lui.

La resolution “souligne que le referendum du 16 mars (en Crimee),
n’ayant aucune validite, ne peut pas justifier un quelconque changement
du statut” de la Crimee. Elle demande a tous les Etats et organisations
internationales “de ne reconnaître aucun changement de (ce) statut”.

Elle “affirme l’engagement (de l’Assemblee) envers la souverainete,
l’independance politique, l’unite et l’integrite territoriale de
l’Ukraine dans ses frontières internationalement reconnues”.

Elle appelle “tous les Etats a s’abstenir de toute action visant a
remettre en cause de manière partielle ou totale l’unite nationale
et l’integrite territoriale de l’Ukraine, y compris toute tentative
de modifier les frontières de l’Ukraine par la menace ou l’usage de
la force ou par d’autres moyens illegaux”.

Elle invite enfin “toutes les parties a chercher une issue pacifique”
a cette crise par un “dialogue politique direct”.

La Russie avait mis son veto le 19 mars au Conseil de securite a une
resolution occidentale denoncant le referendum en Crimee tandis que
la Chine s’etait abstenue. Les 13 autres membres du Conseil avait
vote en faveur du texte, redige par les Etats-Unis.

En tant que membre permanent du Conseil, la Russie peut bloquer toute
prise de position de cette instance mais cette procedure ne s’applique
pas a l’Assemblee generale.

vendredi 28 mars 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

Members of Congress condemn Kessab attacks

13:54 29.03.2014

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was
joined by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
and Michael Grimm (R-NY), Armenian Genocide Resolution Lead Sponsors
David Valadao (R-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Representatives Brad
Sherman (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA) and James McGovern (D-MA) in
condemning the recent attacks against the historically Armenian city
of Kessab, Syria, urging the State Department to investigate the
incursion and take immediate action to safeguard the vulnerable
population, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).

“We would like to thank Chairman Menendez and the many other
Congressional defenders of human rights who have stepped forward to
call the world’s urgent attention to the attacks against the
predominantly Armenian population of Kessab,” said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. “We look forward to working with each of
them to ensure that Turkey’s role is explicitly condemned by our
government, as we continue efforts to secure the safety and return of
Kessab’s civilian residents to their ancestral homes.”

In a letter to constituents, Chairman Menendez stated, “Like you, I am
gravely concerned by reports of a March 21, 2014 attack on the
predominantly Syrian Armenian town of Kessab, near the Turkish border,
by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists based in Turkey. Attacks of this nature
are another example of a dangerous new chapter in the violence now
engulfing Syria; one where Syrian minorities are actively targeted by
Islamic extremists because of their religion and ethnicity. I condemn
all such attacks, including those on Armenian Christians.”

In a joint letter to President Obama, Representatives Pallone, Grimm,
Valadao and Schiff echoed these concerns, noting “When coupled with a
mass exodus of the Armenian community, these events are far too
reminiscent of the early days of the Armenian Genocide, which took
place nearly 100 years ago in Ottoman Turkey under the cover of World
War I.” The letter goes on to state, “With the Christian Armenian
community being uprooted from its homeland, yet again, we strongly
urge you to take all necessary measures without delay to safeguard the
Christian Armenian community of Kessab. We also believe that now is
the time to redouble America’s efforts to ensure that all minority
communities at risk in the Middle East are afforded greater
protection.”

Senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Brad Sherman stated
that he has “been in contact with the State Department and have urged
them to take the necessary actions to assist the Armenians in Syria.
Turkey must take immediate action to help prevent extremist attacks on
Armenian civilians.”

Rep. James McGovern, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission, explained, “I strongly condemn the brutal attacks on the
Armenian-populated town of Kessab by al-Qaeda affiliated armed bands.”
He went on to note that he is “deeply concerned by the reports that
these attacks allegedly originated in Turkey and demand that the
United States and international community conduct a thorough and
critical investigation of these claims.”

Central California Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), in a letter to his
constituents, wrote, “As you may know, al Qaeda-linked terrorists
attacked Armenians and other Christians in the Syrian town of Kessab,
Syria six days ago. These attacks are deplorable, and I have made
clear to the State Department that we must determine exactly what
happened and continue to work with our allies to prevent such
atrocities from happening again.”

Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime 350 times in the past week

15:21 29.03.2014

According to the data of the NKR Defense Army, about 350 cases of
ceasefire violation were registered at the line of contact between the
armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan from March 23 to 29.

The rival fired more than 2,000 shots from weapons of different
caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army remained committed to the
maintenance of the ceasefire regime and confidently continued with
their military duty all along the line of contact.

Turkey president breaks law

March 29, 2014 | 16:34

President Abdullah Gul brokeTurkey’s law on banning YouTube in the
country, and posted a video on YouTube.

Gul posted on YouTube the video recording of the interview he had
given to reporters, thus he broke the law, Sozcu daily of
Turkeyreported.

Earlier, the Turkish president had tweeted about the banning of
Twitter inTurkey, criticized this decision, and expressed the hope
that the ban will be lifted soon.

On PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s instruction, access to Twitter and
YouTube has been blocked inTurkey.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Armenian FM to attend genocide conference in Brussels

16:12 29.03.2014

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will leave for Brussels on
April 1st at the invitation of his Belgian counterpart Didier
Reynders.

Minister Nalbandian will participate in an international conference on
the prevention of Genocide titled “The Responsibility to Defend.”