Author: nina hovnanian

GREEN ACTIVISTS TO HOLD AN ALTERNATIVE CONFERENCE ON MINING ON MARCH 25

by Karina Manukyan

Monday, March 24, 13:52

On March 25 the green activists will hold an alternative conference on
mining. The event will be the response to the March 25-26 international
conference titled “Responsible Mining in Armenia: Opportunities
and Challenges”.

At the March 24 conference green activist Lena Nazaryan said that
the title of the international conference demonstrates that its
participants and organizers are going to voice the current problems
in the mining sector. Meanwhile, the environmentalists have repeatedly
tried to draw attention to the fact that the mining industry in Armenia
inflicts serious damage to the environment and has a negative impact on
the health of the residents of the communities adjacent to the mines.

In this light, the green activists have decided to hold an alternative
event in order to point at the imperfection of the current legislation,
negative impact of mine development on human health, as well as the
negative effect of mine exploitation near the resort zones.

The event will be titled “Irresponsible Mining in Armenia” and will be
held outside near the venue of the international conference. Thus, the
green activists hope to get their message across to the international
organizations supporting the mining industry. Nazaryan hopes that
the police will not disturb the alternative conference of the green
activists.

The March 25-26 international conference titled “Responsible Mining in
Armenia: Opportunities and Challenges” will in Yerevan is organized
by the World Bank and the Armenian Government, with the support
of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),
International Finance Corporation (IFC), Embassy of the United States,
German Embassy in Yerevan, British Embassy and Canadian Government.

To recall, experts have repeatedly pointed out the negative impact of
the mining industry development in Armenia. Earlier Armen Saghatelyan,
Head of the Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies of the National
Academy of Sciences of Armenia, told ArmInfo that heavy metals
penetrate into food chains in all regions of Armenia, where there is
mining industry.

Head of the Green Union of Armenia Hakob Sanasaryan, in turn, pointed
out that the tails (waste of the mining industry) are very often
thrown to the forestry. The height of the waste in the forests of
Kajaran and Agarak, for instance, is several meters.

The biggest blow on protection of the environment was the new
“Code on Natural Resources” adopted in autumn 2011. The Code gives
the companies an opportunity to considerably reduce the tax base. In
addition, it is the state, not the companies, that will be responsible
for the tails after development of the deposits.

CIS ECONOMIES ARE IN UNCERTAINTY – EXPERT

YEREVAN, March 24. / ARKA /. Professor Ashot Tavadyan, head of a
department at the State Economic University of Armenia, said the
economies of several former Soviet republics making the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS) are experiencing a period of uncertainty
with extending intervals.

Speaking at a video news conference between Yerevan and Moscow on
modern Russia’s economic policy, Tavadyan said their major problem
is the gap between monetary and fiscal policies with domination of
the monetary policy.

According to him, the CIS countries tacitly adhere to the Maastricht
Treaty, according to which inflation should not exceed 3 %.

“And why not 5 %?. Who said that 3% is the best figure?” he asked.

In this regard, he noted that the Maastricht agreements were designed
for European countries and can not be applied by transitional
economies.

He argued that CIS countries need to dramatically increase their
exports and take also dominant position within domestic markets and
reduce imports.

The Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992 in Maastricht (Netherlands),
laying the foundations of the European Union. Member countries approved
a number of criteria that must be fulfilled by countries which join
the European Monetary Union. In particular, according to the document,
government deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP, while public debt should
be less than 60% of GDP. –

– See more at:

KESSAB EVENTS SIGNAL 3RD GENOCIDE AGAINST ARMENIANS (VIDEO)

19:44 | March 24,2014 | Interview

The attacks in the densely Armenian-populated town of Kessab [in
northwest Syria] can be considered the 3rd genocide against the
Armenians, says Turkologist Gevorg Petrosyan.

He says Turkey is trying to ‘clear’ the region off Armenians and strike
a blow to [President] Bashar Assad and the local Armenian community.

It would be much better if the Syrian government forces controlled
the entire country and seized the power. Time will favour Turkey and
its allies, said the Turkologist.

The armed incursion began on Friday, March 21, 2014, at 5:45a.m.,
with rebels associated with Al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam
and Ansar al-Sham crossing the Turkish border and attacking the
Armenian civilian population of Kessab. The attackers immediately
seized two guard posts overlooking Kessab, including a strategic hill
known as Observatory 45 and later took over the border crossing point
with Turkey. Snipers targeted the civilian population and launched
mortar attacks on the town and the surrounding villages. Many Armenian
families, the majority of the population of Kessab, were evacuated by
the local Armenian community leadership to safer areas in neighboring
Basit and Latakia. On Sunday, March 23, the extremist groups once
again entered the town of Kessab, took the remaining Armenian families
hostage, desecrated the town’s three Armenian churches, pillaging
local residences and occupying the town and surrounding villages.

ARMENIAN MPS CALL ON ARMENIANS OF THE WORLD TO UNITE EFFORTS AND ASSIST IN THE PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF SYRIAN ARMENIANS

14:16 | March 24,2014 | Politics

Several members of Armenian parliament have issued a statement,
urging to send international observers to Kessab amid the ongoing
tension in Syria.

“Armenians around the world are shocked by the latest developments
in the Syrian town of Kesab and the neighbouring settlements. They
have resulted in the evacuation of the local Armenians – almost a
century after the Genocide, they are forced to migrate.

We assess the occurrence as an extraordinary violation of human
rights, not just as a domestic affair of Turkey and Syria, and strongly
condemn the operations of the Turkish armed forces viewing it as a new
challenge against the against the Armenian Diaspora in the Middle East.

We call on the authorities of Syria and Turkey to conduct an unbiased
investigation into the incidents and demand that the world community
give its unequivocal assessment on the heinous violation of human
rights by sending UN observers to the Armenian-populated settlements
of Kessab to document the massive violations of human rights. We also
call on the Government of the Republic of Armenia to take necessary
measures and ask the Armenians around the world to unite efforts,
to assist in the protection of rights of Syrian Armenians,” reads
the statement.

The call is signed by Samvel Farmanyan, Edmon Marukyan, Arman Sahakyan,
Tevan Poghosyan, Naira Karapetyan and Levon Martirosyan.

HAY DAT CENTRAL COUNCIL CONDEMNS KESSAB ATTACKS

15:21 | March 24,2014 | Politics

Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s (ARF)Hay Dat Central Council
condemns attacks on the Armenian-populated city of Kessab [in Syrian]
by gunmen who crossed the border from Turkey.

“A few months ago we warned the international community that foreign
militants in Syria may pose a greater threat to the country’s Christian
population. The armed attack on Kessab is plain evidence of it.

We call on all countries that have weighty influence on the conflict
in Syria, to use all means to put an end to attacks on the residents
of Kessab and ensure their safe return to their homes,” the Council
said in a statement.

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I FOLLOWS CLOSELY THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE KESSAB REGION

14:24 24.03.2014

Aram I, Kessab, Syrian Armenians

On Friday, 21 March, early in the morning, His Holiness Aram I was
informed of the assault and bombardment of the radical rebel forces
from Turkey on Kessab, the historical Armenian region near the Turkish
border. After consultation with the Armenian clergy and community
leaders in Latakia, Aleppo, Damascus and Lebanon, the Catholicos
demanded that the Syrian authorities protect the Armenian population
of the region.

On Saturday evening, the Ambassador of Syria to Lebanon visited the
Catholicos, accompanied by Hagop Pakradouni, Member of Parliament,
and Hagop Khatcherian, member of the Bureau of the Tashnak Party. The
Ambassador assured the Catholicos that the state will do its utmost to
restore security in Kessab. The Ambassador also informed the Catholicos
that the army had moved the population of Kessab to safety in Latakia,
because the militants, who had been armed by the Turkish authorities,
have already penetrated tents in Kessab.

On Sunday, during the Holy Liturgy, His Holiness invited the faithful
to pray for the Armenian population of Kessab, who 100 years after the
genocide had become refugees by an action instigated by Turkey. He
then sent a delegation consisting of priests to assess the needs of
the refugees.

APRES AVOIR RAPPELE SON AMBASSADEUR, L’UKRAINE MET EN GARDE L’ARMENIE

Crise ukrainienne

L’Ukraine a rappele son ambassadeur en Armenie, Ivan Kukhta,
vendredi, exigeant une explication officielle de l’Armenie concernant
l’acceptation par le President Serge Sarkissian du referendum conteste
en Crimee qui a conduit a son annexion par la Russie.

Le ministre adjoint des Affaires etrangères, Danilo Lubkivsky, a
annonce plus tôt dans la journee que l’ambassadeur armenien a Kiev,
Andranik Manoukian, a ete appele a deux reprises par le ministre
ukrainien des Affaires etrangères et qu’on lui a remis une note
officielle.

” Nous avons fait appel a l’Armenie pour qu’elle dise officiellement et
publiquement qu’elle ne reconnaît pas l’annexion de la Crimee “, aurait
dit les autorites ukrainiennes. ” Nous nous attendons la reponse. ”

” En cas de declarations ou actions que nous pourrions interpreter
comme inamicales, il y aura des consequences negatives pour nos
relations bilaterales”, a averti Lubkivsky. Il n’a pas precise les
consequences, en disant seulement que la partie ukrainienne envisage
de prendre ” un large eventail de mesures ” contre Erevan.

Le porte-parole du ministère des Affaires etrangères Tigran Balayan
a dit :

Tasnim News Agency, Iran
March 23 2014

Iran, Armenia to Discuss Energy Supply in May

March 23, 2014 – 12:58

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Senior Iranian and Armenian officials plan to
discuss the issue of exports of two billion cubic meters of natural
gas from Iran to Armenia per annum in their joint meeting in May.

The issue was raise by the Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources, Armen Movsisyan, on Saturday.

The minister said his country will soon start negotiations with Iran
on increasing gas imports.

Armenia is willing to buy two billion cubic meters of gas from Iran
per annum, he stated.

The issue will be raised in a joint intergovernmental commission
meeting between the two countries in Tehran in May.

Earlier in February, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan had
underlined the importance of relations with Iran, saying that his
country is seeking to improve ties with Tehran.

Speaking in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to Armenia Mohammad
Raeisi at the time, Sargsyan added that development of ties with the
Islamic Republic is a priority of Yerevan’s foreign policy.

He referred to the 12th session of the Iranian-Armenian
intergovernmental commission, due in Tehran later this year, and said
the session would be an opportunity for the two countries to boot
cooperation in different areas.

Raeisi, for his part, highlighted Iran’s resolve for boosting
cooperation with Armenia in various fields, especially energy and
transportation.

Fresno Bee, CA
March 23 2014

Armenian Bitlis exhibit to open at Fresno State

By Brianna Vaccari

The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State will open a new exhibit,
“Remembering the Armenians of Bitlis,” in the Henry Madden Library
with a reception March 30.

The exhibit will highlight rare photos, documents and maps from the
Bitlis area and will be open until April 30.

The reception will be from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the second floor the
the library and is free and open to the public. At 4 p.m. Ara
Sarafian, an archival historian specializing on late Ottoman history,
will present a talk regarding the exhibit in the library, Room 2206.

Parking is free on Sundays in Lots P30 and P31 near Shaw and Barton avenues.

Armenia-US Relations: Unfulfilled Promise

By Kate Nahapetian // March 21, 2014

The Armenian Weekly March 2014 Magazine:
Armenia’s Foreign Policy in Focus

Armenia has, since the rebirth of her independent state in 1991,
pursued a forward-leaning policy to strengthen ties with the United
States and NATO. Unfortunately, Armenia’s outreach and initiatives to
bolster support and investment from the United States have largely not
been reciprocated by the Obama Administration.

Kerry and Davutoglu address reporters after their meeting in
Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2013. (State Department Photo)

Strengthening ties with NATO

Armenia has been a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program
since 1994 and currently has troops stationed as part of NATO forces
in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Armenia also supported U.S.-led efforts in
the Iraq war.

In June 2011, as countries were pulling out of Afghanistan, Armenia
actually tripled its troop deployment there. Armenia has 4 times more
troops in Afghanistan per capita than Turkey and 10 times more per
capita than either Canada or France. In February of this year, Armenia
pledged to keep its military contingent in Afghanistan even after
NATO’s mission is concluded in order to support the U.S.-led alliance
to train and assist the Afghan army. Armenian Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanian stated that Armenia is committed to “continuous contribution
to coalition efforts to establish lasting security in Afghanistan.”

Despite regional pressures related to Armenia’s relationship with
NATO, Armenia’s First Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan, during a
visit from U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Evelyn Farkas in
December 2013, explained that “joining one or another economic bloc
does not inhibit Armenia. On the contrary, our defense cooperation
with the United States will develop and deepen further.” Farkas in
turn thanked Armenia for being a “net exporter of security” and noted
that “Armenia is a significant partner to the United States in many
ways.”

It is important to note that after the 2008 Georgian-Russian war,
Armenia was the first country to host NATO exercises in the Caucasus.
Armenia announced then that it was going to increase its ties with
NATO, and it has done so ever since.

Remaining an actor in the protocols farce

Perhaps the U.S.’s most significant initiative in the region has been
its effort to end Turkey’s blockade of Armenia through the protocols.
The protocols provided President Barack Obama the cover he needed to
dodge his pledge to end U.S. complicity in Armenian Genocide denial.
It was the excuse he used in his first April 24th statement to not
recognize the genocide, even though he assured Armenian Americans that
his “view of that history has not changed.”

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian with Armenian troops in
Afghanistan in 2010 (Photo: official website of the Defense Ministry
of Armenia)

Although there was strong opposition to the protocols within both
Armenia and the diaspora, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian has
continued to support this U.S.-led initiative, even though Turkey made
it clear, within a day of its signing, that it had no intention of
abiding by the agreement.

Now, more than four years later, Armenia still has not withdrawn its
signature from the protocols–this, despite the fact that they are
being used by Ankara to undermine legitimate Armenian claims, and have
helped forces who wish to turn the Armenian Genocide from a crime to
be internationally condemned into a simple bilateral disagreement
between Turkey and Armenia.

The protocols have helped shield Turkey from outside pressure
concerning the Armenian Genocide. As a result, Turkey has taken an
even more aggressive posture against Armenia, including more vocally
supporting Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policies, threatening to deport
Armenians in Turkey, accusing Armenia of committing
atrocities–allegedly the “greatest tragedy of the 20th century”–in the
Karabagh War, and demolishing a statue to Armenian-Turkish friendship,
all of which have happened since the protocols were signed.

Despite Turkey making a mockery of the process and the U.S.’s
unwillingness to pressure Turkey beyond the occasional empty rhetoric
that the “ball is in Turkey’s court,” Armenia continues to keep its
signature on the protocols. Armenia has made it clear that it has done
so out of deference to foreign powers, such as the United States.

What has been the US response?

Armenia is small in size, but big in terms of America’s strategic
interests in the world. It sits in the middle of Washington’s top
foreign policy priorities–Iran, Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and
Syria–where it can play an important role. Although the second largest
U.S. embassy in the world sits not in Baghdad or Berlin, but in
Yerevan, the United States does not have much to show for its efforts
to promote trade or investment or reciprocate Armenia’s efforts to
strengthen the partnership.

Its signature diplomatic initiative in Armenia was the protocols,
which garnered the intense attention of Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and President Obama before Armenia and Turkey agreed to sign
the accord. Since Turkey quickly made it clear that it was not going
to abide by that agreement, the United States’ willingness to pour
political capital into realizing the agreement dramatically decreased.

The U.S. has not made Turkey pay a price for its failure to ratify the
protocols and end its blockade. Instead, it has rewarded Turkey by
publicly saying it could have a role to play in the Karabakh peace
process, whereas previous administrations made it clear that Turkey
would only have a negative impact on the peace process. For instance,
in November 2013 at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Secretary of State John Kerry discussed
consultations with Turkey over Nagorno-Karabagh without even
mentioning the protocols or Turkey’s need to end its blockade of
Armenia. Davutoglu felt comfortable claiming, “Today I am happy to see
that John and me and Turkey and the United States look to
[Nagorno-Karabagh] from the same perspective.”

Not only did President Obama fail to honor his pledge to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, but his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton,
questioned the veracity of the Armenian Genocide–a move no other
former Secretary of State in recent memory has made. In addition,
Obama’s Solicitor General filed a brief in opposition to a California
statute that allowed for Armenian Genocide-era property claims to be
brought in U.S. courts. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case and
the California law was struck down, denying justice to Armenian
Americans.

Even on issues that would not risk the unreasonable wrath of Turkey,
and even though numerous Members of Congress and U.S. corporations
(such as Microsoft, NASDAQ, and Fed Ex) have urged the administration
to immediately negotiate a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
(TIFA) with Armenia, the Obama Administration hasn’t pursued U.S.
interests in promoting trade with Armenia.

After a near continuous four years of Armenia extending its hand
towards NATO and continuing to support the failed U.S.-backed
protocols with Turkey, Armenian Americans cannot point to any
meaningful benefit to U.S.-Armenia relations or trade. In fact, as the
examples above illustrate, there were actually steps that undermined a
strengthening of the partnership. What did, it seems, finally get the
attention of the Obama Administration was not Armenia’s continued
support for the protocols and other U.S. policies, but rather
Armenia’s decision to move toward Russia’s Custom’s Union. Soon after
the United States announced an over $250 million investment by the
U.S. firm ContourGlobal in hydroelectric power plants in Armenia.

The announcement of a major U.S. investment in Armenia is a welcome
first step in promoting greater U.S.-Armenia ties. Despite the many
regional challenges, most notably the hostile neighbors it faces in
both Turkey and Azerbaijan, Armenia is determined to strengthen its
ties with the United States and Europe. The United States should do
more to strengthen this partnership. Doing so will provide the United
States with greater options to pursue its interests and promote
stability in a geostrategic region. Moreover, the Obama Administration
should stop compromising our values as a country to placate the most
radical elements in Turkey, especially when it concerns confronting
Turkey’s state-sponsored denial of the Armenian Genocide, which is at
the root of instability between Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. As
Americans, we are, in our relations with Armenia and all nations, at
our best when we align our policies with our values.