Author: nina hovnanian

KOUTOUJIAN LOOKS BACK ON CAMPAIGN, HOPES COMMUNITY ACTIVISM CONTINUES

NEWS | OCTOBER 24, 2013 1:03 PM

By Alin K. Gregorian

Mirror-Spectator Staff

BOSTON – It was a primary campaign that was launched when Sen. John
Kerry was named secretary of state by Present Barack Obama and then
Rep. Edward Markey won the special election in June to become the
state’s junior senator.

On October 15, the intense campaign by seven Democrats and three
Republicans seeking to win the special primary in their respective
parties to replace Markey ended, and state Sen. Katherine Clark of
Melrose topped the Democratic side with 32 percent of the votes in
the 24 cities and towns making up the Fifth Congressional District.

In second place was Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian with
22 percent of the vote. He won Watertown and Waltham handily.

For many in the Armenian-American community, this special primary
became a personal mission. Though the result was not the one he had
sought, in an interview on Monday, Koutoujian sounded upbeat and
hopeful about the future.

“What was wonderful was that there were so many people that
participated,” he said. “We ran the smartest, most organized, best
financed campaign in the entire field.”

Koutoujian raised almost $1 million, more than any other candidate,
all on the strength of his grassroots organization.

“It was the best field organization out there. I am very proud,”
he said. “When I look back and speak with others with expertise
on politics, I think there was nothing much we could have done
differently.”

“We did phenomenally well and came in a very solid second place,”
he said.

Exact numbers of Armenian-American voters are hard to find, but
according to Koutoujian, there are about 3,000-4,000 Armenian-American
registered voters in the district.

Turnout on election day was very low in the 243 precincts in total
that form the district.

The Democratic candidates were, in addition to Clark and Koutoujian,
state Senators Karen Spilka of Ashland, Will Brownsberger of Belmont;
state Rep. Carl Sciortino of Medford; Martin Long, an Arlington
author, and Stoneham resident Paul John Maisano, who works in the
construction industry.

The three Republicans running for their party’s nomination were:
actuary Tom Tierney of Framingham, Harvard nanophysics researcher Mike
Stopa of Holliston and businessman and lawyer Frank J. Addivinola Jr.

of Boston, who won the primary.

He said he was thrilled by the number of volunteers and their activism
on his behalf.

Koutoujian said during the last weekend before the election, his
volunteers and field workers had knocked on 16,000 doors. “I want
this to continue. I don’t want this [defeat] to be the end of our
community’s activism,” he said. He said he was particularly touched
to see all ages involved, including teens working alongside volunteers
in their 70s and 80s in pounding the pavement and making calls.

“Our community needs to engage in that manner,” he said. “We need to
continue this momentum to maintain the same organization” for future
races, he said.

“The Armenian community was very much there. It was wonderful to see
my Armenian family and non-Armenian family come together,” he said.

Because of the race, he said, many of his traditional, non-Armenian
constituents have became familiar with the special type of frenetic
energy that the community can bring.

While he certainly seems to have an appetite for it, he said it was
hard spending the bulk of the day on the go, attending fundraisers
and introducing himself to potential voters, while still being sheriff.

Koutoujian did not specify what his plans are for the future. He
noted that right now, he is happy to be sheriff, where his staff has
welcomed him back happily.

He said, “To a person, all the corrections officers said they were
sorry for my loss but that they were happy for themselves” for having
their boss back.

He added he was especially happy to spend time with his children,
attending soccer and hockey practice and playing with his daughter.

“I am very happy being with my family. I am embracing these moments
with them,” he said.

The special general election will take place on December 10.

– See more at:

SAMVEL FARMANYAN: NAGORNO-KARABAKH SHOULD NOT SUFFER FROM THE EU’S DISCONTENT WITH ARMENIA’S POLICY

by Ashot Safaryan

Thursday, October 24, 16:57

Nagorno-Karabakh should not suffer from the EU’s discontent with
Armenia’s policy, Samvel Farmanyan, MP from the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia, Co-chairman of the Commission for Armenia-EU
Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, told ArmInfo when commenting on the
European Parliament’s resolution on the European Neighborhood.

Farmanyan said that the document’s provisions run counter to the
European Union’s official stance on the Karabakh conflict, as well
as to the whole logic of the Karabakh peace process in the OSCE Minsk
Group format.

“I remember no other resolution to contain so rough and unilateral
assessments divorced from the reality. Certainly, here we cannot
neglect the circumstance that the adoption of this resolution reflects
the situational approach in relation to the latest developments
(Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union – editor’s note). I
think our partners in the European Parliament are guided by wrong
considerations”, he said.

The MP said that the Karabakh peace process has its own peculiar
format. Moreover, when Azerbaijan displays a non-constructive stance,
torpedoes all the initiatives to enhance confidence, undermines the
efforts to prevent the incidents on the Line of Contact and fails to
implement its commitments, the adoption of such a unilateral resolution
hampers the peace process.

Farmanyan is also concerned about the fact that the resolution
directly links the signing of the Association Agreement by Armenia
and Azerbaijan with the Karabakh conflict settlement. “I think
it is necessary to actively work with the European Parliament, to
present the specificity of the situation in the conflict zone and
to make Europe understand that even in case of certain discontent
and unjustified hopes connected with the Armenia-EU relations, one
should never direct the discontent against Nagorno-Karabakh”, he said.

To recall, at the plenary session of the European Parliament on 23
October, a draft resolution on the European Neighborhood was adopted.

Azerbaijani media outlets report that in the paragraph #16, the
resolution “denounces the occupation by one country of the Eastern
Partnership of the territory of another and states that the settlement
of Armenian Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh Conflict should comply with
UN Security Council Resolutions.”

The document “recalls its position that the occupation by one country
of the Eastern Partnership of the territory of another violates the
fundamental principles and objectives of the Eastern Partnership
and that the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should
comply with UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884
of 1993 and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Minsk Group Basic Principles, enshrined in the L’Aquila joint
statement of 10 July 2009”.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN’S SALARY TO TRIPLE IF GOVERNMENT BILL IS PASSED: MP PASHINYAN SAYS “NO WAY”

Grisha Balasanyan

17:05, October 24, 2013

It appears that the Armenian government believes that paying state
employees more money translates into better functioning employees.

The government also believes that higher wages to state employees will
cut down on corruption risks and increase the overall productivity
of the bureaucracy.

At least that is the argument the government has been using to support
it’s a bill that the National Assembly has been debating for the past
three days.

Take President Serzh Sargsyan for example. He now gets a monthly
income of 436,460 AMD ($1,075).

If the government sponsored bill passes, his monthly income would
shoot up to 1,322,800 AMD ($3,258) as of July 1, 2014. That’s a
whopping 200% increase.

National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan and Armenian Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan now get 373,540 AMD ($920) per month. This
would rise to 1,190,520 AMD ($2,932) if the bill is adopted.

Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister now gets 357,810 AMD ($881) monthly.

This will increase to 992,100 AMD ($2,444). Also getting the same
wage will be the Prosecutor General, President of the Cassation Court,
President of the Control Chamber and the Human Rights Defender.

Under the new law, Members of Parliament, Provincial Governors
(Marzpet), and First Deputy Ministers will receive 661,400 AMD ($1,692)
across the board. MPs now make 331,595 AMD and Marzpets, 258,190.

The Police Chief of Armenia, who now takes home 402,810 AMD ($992),
will be getting 793,680 AMD ($1,955). This is the new salary that
Ministers and the Chiefs of Staff of the Government and President
will receive as well.

The government says it wants to implement a more unified wage scale
system that would gradually do away with the salary discrepancies
among various departments that have accumulated over time.

Since the proposed pay raises directly impact on their pocketbooks, MPs
actually have followed the debates with greater than usual interest.

Many didn’t understand how the government calculated their new wage
rate, given that the same wages would also be received by Provincial
Governors and First Deputy Ministers.

All government Chief of Staff Vache Gabrielyan could say in this
regard was that the calculations were based on professional studies
and interviews conducted with various officials, including MPs.

This seems a bit suspicious since I couldn’t find one MP who said
they had been interviewed.

Some MPs demanded that the names of their colleagues who had been
interviewed, and asked to evaluate their work, be made known.

Gabrielyan promised to publish their names but they haven’t been
so far.

For example, MP Arpineh Hovhannisyan wanted to know who had evaluated
the work productivity of the Presidential Chief Advisor, who will be
getting paid 727,540 AMD if the bill passes. That’s 66,140 more than
the MPs will get, so I guess many in parliament felt somehow slighted.

Opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan rhetorically asked if the government
was doing such a great job to warrant these raises.

He declared that he would vote against any raises for President
Sargsyan, National Assembly Speaker Abrahamyan and other officials.

“These are people under whose watch poverty has jumped from 27.6%
to 37%,” Pashinyan said.

TIGRAN HAMASYAN, THE PIANIST GIVING JAZZ AN ARMENIAN TWIST

He’s the hottest pianist in jazz and he likes to mix things up,
whether it’s bebop, thrash metal or dubstep. But his heart is in the
folk music of his native land

John Lewis The Guardian, Thursday 24 October 2013 15.59 BST Jump to
comments (0)

Tigran Hamasyan: ‘I get into different types of music and really
immerse myself in each one.’

Somewhere, there’s home-movie footage of a three-year-old Tigran
Hamasyan at his childhood home in rural Armenia. He is listening to
Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and freaking out on a toy guitar. “That was my
childhood ambition,” he laughs. “Still, to this day, if I could become
a killer guitar player in a couple of years, I’d quit playing the
piano and start learning now. I’d love to front a thrash metal band!”

Thankfully, thrash metal’s loss has been jazz’s gain. At the age of 26,
this tiny, impish Armenian-American is the hottest pianist in jazz,
selling out arenas and earning fervent praise from the likes of Chick
Corea, Brad Mehldau and Herbie Hancock (the latter declared: “Tigran,
you are my teacher now!”). But Hamasyan isn’t even sure if he makes
jazz music. “I suppose it’s jazz in the sense that I’m improvising,”
he says. “But the language I try to use when I’m improvising is not
bebop but Armenian folk music.”

Hamasyan has an omnivorous musical diet. He devours traditional songs
from Armenia, Scandinavia and India, and has studied classical music
to a high level (he has suggested a budding jazz pianist would be
better off playing Bach or Chopin than studying bebop), while his
iPod playlist is that of the twentysomething hipster – J Dilla, Flying
Lotus, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Skrillex and a heavy dose of thrash metal.

But the music he makes doesn’t really sound like any of the above. We
meet after he’s played to a sold-out 2,000-seat theatre in Toulouse,
where his 90-minute set lurches from delicate, impressionistic
versions of eastern orthodox hymns to bursts of electronica; from
Keith Jarrett-like meditations to full-on jazz-rock.

“I get into different types of music and really immerse myself in each
one and then move on,” he says. “But I try to retain that intensity
whenever I revisit any particular music.” In the past 18 months
alone he has collaborated with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu,
Tunisian oud playerDhafer Youssef, dubstep collective LV, oddball
hip-hop producer Prefuse 73, along with fellow Armenian-American Serj
Tankian from prog-metal outfit System of a Down.

Hamasyan was born in Gyumri, near Armenia’s border with Turkey.

Neither of his parents were musicians (his father was a jeweller, his
mother a clothes designer), and he grew up listening to his father’s
heavy rock collection – Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and
Queen. By three, he was picking out pop melodies on the family piano;
from six he attended a specialist music school. “We can be grateful
to the old Soviet Union that we had classical education systems
in place,” he says. “Everybody had a piano in their house, whether
they were musicians or not.” By the age of nine he began to immerse
himself in jazz, and even guested as a singer with a local big band
(“I was this weird, talented kid who sang a couple of standards and
a Beatles song, Oh Darling”).

As a young teenager, he moved on from bebop to experiment with Armenian
folk music. “My idea was to try to weave these folk melodies into
jazz improvisations,” he says. “My first attempts were terrible!

The challenge is that folk music is modal, with no chord changes. So
you are trying to find harmonies for a music that’s not supposed
to have harmonies. That’s tough.” Few Armenian jazz musicians had
tried this; instead Tigran was inspired by classical composers Avet
Terterian andArno Babajanian, who “took Armenian folk music into
insane territory”.

At 16, he left to study in California (“there are probably more
Armenians there than in Armenia,” he jokes), where he has lived ever
since. He quickly made connections on the LA jazz scene, recording his
first album when he was only 18. His fifth and latest, Shadow Theatre,
features a varied lineup, mixing Hamasyan’s piano and wordless vocals
with touches of baroque, jazz-rock and electronica. One Armenian folk
song (Drip) is transformed into juddering dubstep, another (Pagan
Lullaby) resembles Sigur Ros. But, if the settings are expansive,
the melodies are simple and direct.

“I’ve been stripping away layers of complexity with each album,”
he says. “You can play a bunch of fast stuff or write a complicated
melody, but the musical part of that is to make it flow naturally.” He
will often do that by singing along with himself as he solos, in the
style of Keith Jarrett or Glenn Gould. “Singing along can help to make
your improvisation sound natural,” he says. Sometimes you can hear him
beatboxing while he plays, or singing rhythmic patterns in the style
of an Indian tabla player. He will often deliberately restrict himself
to a small range, soloing within the space of a single octave. “When
I solo I tend not to think of myself as a pianist. In my head, I’m
playing a violin or a guitar, say. Often it’s all about just finding
a sound and sticking in that register.”

Hamasyan has spent much of the past year back in Armenia, which has
made him all the more fascinated by its traditional music. “Folk is
like the first form of expression. Nowadays, if you’re a musician,
you’re supposed to be cool or special or something,” he says. “But,
back in the day, everybody was a musician. Every action, every
ceremony, was accompanied by music. You watch women churning butter
and there’s a folk song that accompanies each movement in that
process. You go to parts of rural Armenia and you see people singing
and harmonising, spontaneously. It’s amazing, like watching the birth
of music itself.”

Shadow Theatre is released on 4 November on Verve. Hamasyan plays
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, on 19 November as part of the London
jazz festival.

ARMENIA STANDS OUT FOR ITS POLICY IN PROTECTION OF FOREIGN INVESTORS

17:43, 24 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenia stands out in the region
from the other countries of the CIS for its capacity to cooperate
with the foreign investors. Statistics show that in the policy of
protection of foreign investors, fewer legal proceedings have been
instituted against the Government of the Republic of Armenia than
against Azerbaijan or Georgia. In a conversation with Armenpress the
Managing Partner of the law firm GPartners Sargis Grigoryan stated:
“There were only two legal proceedings instituted against Armenia’s
Government.

While Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine have to face with 3-5 cases
annually. It is encouraging that the Government of the Republic of
Armenia tries to solve the disputes with the foreign investors via
negotiations and does not let the case come to court. This approach
the Government has adopted is beneficial for the both sides.”

As part of British Days in Armenia and to promote the British-Armenian
business relations, the British Embassy to Yerevan hosted a Conference
on Protecting Investment Flows between the UK and Armenia conducted
by the world-known London-based Freshfields Law Firm. The event
supported by the Armenian-British Business Chamber (ABBC) was a big
success with local businesses, state authorities and international
investors’ present and showing big interest and involvement into
the topic. Jonathan Aves, the British Ambassador to Armenia, said:
“London is the place to go for international legal services. It is
great to see a firm of the caliber of Freshfields in Yerevan. I am
sure this event will encourage closer business links between Britain
and Armenia.” The Embassy is planning more activities in the near
future on further promoting trade and commercial relations between
the UK and Armenia.

“The elimination or reduction of political risks attract the foreign
investors; notwithstanding, in Armenia it has not entered the stage,
the foreign investor expects for. According to the Freshfields
Law Firm, the legal norms regulating the field are far from their
implementation, which has more artificial character. That is, the
business has the ability to function, but lacks opportunities”, –
said Sargis Grigoryan.

The investments protection policy issues between the two countries
are regulated by the Armenia-UK bilateral agreement, signed in 1993.

Armenia has signed investments protection agreements with about
40 countries.

The bilateral agreements are good mechanisms for the regulation of
the possible risks and may serve as a tool for the foreign investors,
if the state system violates their rights. In case of the violation
of the investors’ rights by the state, the investor has the right to
appeal to the International Court of Arbitration, which functions in
the framework of the World Bank.

Taking into account the latest developments in the foreign policy
of the Republic of Armenia, it should be noted that the protection
of the foreign investment flows should be regulated in accordance
with the international norms both in case of signing the Association
Agreement and joining the Customs Union.

ARMENIAN SUBDIVISION TO PARTICIPATE IN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN LEBANON

20:59, 23 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Defense of the
Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan within the framework of his visit
to Brussels, from October 21 to 23 held bilateral meetings with the
partners of a number of countries.

The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan met
his counterpart in Italy Mario Mauro. During the meetingg the sights
discussed both the bilateral cooperation and issues regarding the
preparatory activities of the Armenian troops of joining the cover of
Italian subdivision to UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon under
the auspices of UNO.

The sights made an agreement to complete in a short period the legal
procedures upon Armenian peacekeepers involvement in UNIFIL and to
launch activities related to the implementation of the mission.

As Armenpress was reported by the Information and Public Relations
Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia,
within the framework of the visit, First Deputy Minister of Defense
of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan held a meeting with Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Evelyn
Farkas during which they discussed issues relating to Armenian-American
cooperation in the field of defense.

REVUE DE PRESSE N1 – 24/10/13 – COLLECTIF VAN

Publie le : 24-10-2013

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN [Vigilance
Armenienne contre le Negationnisme] vous propose une revue de presse
des informations parues dans la presse francophone, sur les thèmes
concernant la Turquie, le genocide armenien, la Shoah, le genocide
des Tutsi, le Darfour, le negationnisme, l’Union europeenne, Chypre,
etc… Nous vous suggerons egalement de prendre le temps de lire ou
de relire les informations et traductions mises en ligne dans notre
rubrique Par
ailleurs, certains articles en anglais, allemand, turc, etc, ne sont
disponibles que dans la newsletter Word que nous generons chaque jour.

Pour la recevoir, abonnez-vous a la Veille-Media : c’est gratuit !

Vous recevrez le document du lundi au vendredi dans votre boîte email.

Bonne lecture.

Azerbaïdjan : Rapport sur les violations de la liberte d’expression –
II Info Collectif VAN – – ” Outre le contrôle de
l’Etat sur les principaux medias, le regime azeri ne cesse de supprimer
les voix dissidentes en intentant des procès pour diffamation. Selon
Rashid Hajili du Media Rights Institute, au cours des six premiers
mois de 2013, 36 procès pour diffamation ont ete intentes [en
Azerbaïdjan] contre des medias ou des journalistes, quatre d’entre
eux pour diffamation criminelle. En juin 2012, une Cour a ordonne au
journal Azadliq de payer une amende de 30 000 manat (36 000 dollars)
au president du Baku Metro Service, pour un article publie le 8 avril
2012 portant sur une augmentation des tarifs du metro. […] Le 26
janvier 2013, l’Assemblee parlementaire du Conseil de l’Europe (APCE)
n’a pas reussi a faire adopter une resolution sur les prisonniers
politiques. L’inaction de l’APCE a donne confiance a l’Azerbaïdjan
et depuis cet echec a l’APCE, l’Azerbaïdjan s’est senti libre
d’arreter encore plus de journalistes et d’activistes. […] Alors que
l’Azerbaïdjan se prepare a assumer la presidence du COE [juillet 2014],
il est d’une importance capitale pour le Conseil de l’Europe d’adopter
une attitude plus dure envers la repression exercee par l’Azerbaïdjan
sur les droits fondamentaux et les libertes “. Le Collectif VAN vous
propose la seconde partie de la traduction du rapport d’octobre 2013
d’Index, paru sur le site Xindex.

Hommage a un journaliste armenien des Etats-Unis Info Collectif VAN –
– ” Cet article est consacre a Serge Samoniantz
qui fut pendant 10 ans l’editeur anglais du journal Asbarez, et qui
est depuis 25 ans l’editeur de The California Courier.

L’occasion d’honorer Serge fut le banquet celebrant le 105e
anniversaire d’Asbarez, l’un des plus vieux journaux armeniens du
monde. La publication d’Asbarez a debute en 1908 a Fresno, Californie,
puis a continue a Los Angeles où le journal a demenage dans les annees
1970. ” Le Collectif VAN vous propose la traduction de l’editorial
du journaliste armeno-americain Harut Sassounian, paru dans The
California Courier le 24 octobre 2013.

Presse armenienne : Revue du 23 octobre 2013 Info Collectif VAN –
– “L’ensemble de la presse relève que le 22
octobre, entre 13h et 14h, la partie azerbaïdjanaise a ouvert le
feu a la frontière armenienne en direction de la route Berd-Idjevan
(region du Tavouch), visant des vehicules civils et militaires. Un
camion militaire transportant des soldats a ete touche.

Un soldat de 19 ans a ete tue, trois autres soldats ont ete blesses
et transportes a l’hôpital. Le Ministère de la Defense a souligne dans
un communique que ” cet acte criminel de l’ennemi ne restera pas sans
reponse et que ceux qui ont declenche cette provocation devront en
payer les consequences “. Les quotidiens relèvent que cet incident
s’est produit au jour où le copresident americain du Groupe de Minsk
effectuait une visite a Bakou.” Le Collectif VAN vous presente cette
Revue de Presse parue sur le site de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie
le 23 octobre 2013.

50 000 chretiens syriens demandent la nationalite russe Environ 50 000
chretiens syriens se sont adresses au ministère russe des Affaires
etrangères pour solliciter la nationalite russe. N’ayant pas envie
d’abandonner leur patrie, les auteurs de la demande sont ainsi sûrs
d’etre sous la protection de la Russie en cas de menace d’extermination
provenant des terroristes. Moscou examinera cette demande, bien que
sa realisation presente certains risques, avancent les experts.

Ahmet Abakay revèle que sa mère etait armenienne Le chef d’une
association de journalistes en Turquie, a revele que sa mère etait
un Armenien, qui a ete abandonnee ” en face de la porte d’une famille
Alevie “par les Armeniens pendant les evenements de 1915 dans son livre
recemment publie, ajoutant que ses parents avaient reagi fortement
a cette revelation.

L’insoutenable solitude de l’opposition syrienne Americains et
Russes s’efforcent, mollement, de convoquer a nouveau une conference
de paix sur la Syrie. Parallèlement au demantèlement de l’arsenal
chimique du regime de Bachar Al-Assad, “Genève 2 ” pourrait se tenir
fin novembre. Cette perspective etait au menu des conversations de
Londres, mardi 22 octobre. Elles reunissent la dizaine de pays formant
le groupe dit des “Amis de la Syrie”, ceux qui entendent favoriser
une transition politique dans ce pays.

Aram 1er ” La Turquie doit retourner les eglises armeniennes a leurs
proprietaires legitimes ” Dans son allocution d’ouverture de la 3ème
Convention des Armeniens d’Europe, Sa Saintete Aram I a exhorte la
Turquie a ” retourner les eglises armeniennes a leurs proprietaires
legitimes , le peuple armenien “.

Un centre de la memoire armenienne a Decines “N’oublions jamais ce
qui s’est produit en 1915.” C’est ces termes que la ministre de la
Culture Aurelie Filipetti est venue inaugurer dimanche le centre
national de la memoire armenienne a Decines, dont la construction
avait debute en 2010.

Missiles chinois en Turquie : le ton monte entre Ankara et l’OTAN
L’OTAN demande a la Turquie de tenir compte de son appartenance
a l’Alliance dans le cadre d’un achat d’un système de missiles
antimissiles chinois. Le Premier ministre turc a rappele que
“personne n’a le droit d’intervenir dans les decisions independantes”
de la Turquie.

Adhesion de la Turquie a l’Union europeenne: où en est le dossier ?

L’adhesion de la Turquie a l’Union europeenne, c’est un euphemisme,
traîne en longueur. La Turquie est officiellement candidate depuis
1999, et le processus de negociations engage en 2005 s’eternise.

Depuis 3 ans, ces negociations etaient au point mort. Elles vont
reprendre le 5 novembre, a annonce la presidence lituanienne de l’Union
europeenne (UE). Sur les 35 chapitres de negociation a aborder, le
chapitre numero 22 va donc etre ouvert, et porte sur la politique
regionale.

Retour a la rubrique

ZHARANGUTYUN : LE PARTI D’OPPOSITION DEPOUILLE DE SIEGE A L’APCE

Politique

Le president du Parlement Hovik Abrahamian a retire un depute de
l’opposition de la delegation armenienne a l’Assemblee du Conseil de
l’Europe (APCE).

La deputee Zaruhi Postanjian, du parti Zharangutyun, a ete remplacee
par un representant du gouvernement.

Postanjian a condamne cette mesure punitive, la considerant comme
illegale. Elle a affirme qu’elle se plaindra a la direction de l’APCE.

” Des moments difficiles vous attendent “, a-t-elle adresse a
Abrahamian. ” Vous ne serez pas pardonne de vos actions “.

” Nous avons si peur “, a commente ironiquement le leader parlementaire
du Parti republicain, Galust Sahakian.

Abrahamian avait annonce son intention de retirer Postanjian de
son siège de l’APCE immediatement après son discours controverse
de Strasbourg.

Postanjian a condamne les deputes des autres partis d’opposition
representes a l’Assemblee nationale, qui ne se sont pas opposes a
son eviction. ” Ces individus qui pretendent etre dans l’opposition
soutiennent en fait le gouvernement “, a-t-elle dit, designant
directement Levon Zurabian du Congrès national armenien.

Ce dernier a declare : ” Nous savons tous que les dernières elections
ont ete truquees et je pense que cela n’a aucun sens de parler d’une
formation equitable des delegations du Parlement après cela “.

Armen Rustamian, de l’opposition Federation revolutionnaire armenienne,
a egalement evite toute critique du renvoi d’Abrahamian, disant
seulement qu’il regrettait cette eviction. Il a declare que le
president a le droit de decider de la composition des delegations
parlementaires.

Naira Zohrabian, un autre membre de l’APCE et representant le courant
neutre du parti Prospère d’Armenie, a defendu les actions de l’orateur
en des termes plus explicites. Elle a dit qu’ils n’ont pas viole les
statuts de l’APCE.

jeudi 24 octobre 2013, Claire ©armenews.com

WHITE HOUSE WON’T LEND SMITHSONIAN A 1925 RUG WOVEN BY ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ORPHANS

In the Air, Art+Auction’s Gossip Column
Oct 22 2013

A special book launch event at the Smithsonian has been cancelled
due to the White House’s refusal to lend out the Armenian Orphan
Rug, according to the Washington Post. The book, “President Calvin
Coolidge and the Armenian Orphan Rug,” by Dr. Hapog Martin Deranian,
looks at the history surrounding the creation of the rug and the
Near East Foundation – a U.S.-sponsored program to help orphans of
the 1915 genocide of the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire. The
efforts of the Near East Relief Organization raised over $100 million
between 1915 and 1930, and saved over one million refugees, including
100,000 orphans.

The October 20th release of the book was meant to include the
Smithsonian event and the display of the rug – woven by refugee
orphans who were aided by the United States. The rug was presented
to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House in 1925.

It remains there, in storage, though no explanation has been provided
as to why the White House curators are refusing to lend it out for the
occasion. In a statement they offered little insight into the decision:
“The Ghazir rug is a reminder of the close relationship between the
peoples of Armenia and the United States. We regret that it is not
possible to loan it out at this time.”

– Meredith Caraher

(Image: Detail from the cover of “President Calvin Coolidge and the
Armenian Orphan Rug.”)

YEREVAN DISMISSES BAKU’S CLAIMS ON DRUG TRAFFICKING THROUGH NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Interfax, Russia
Oct 22 2013

YEREVAN. Oct 22

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian has called on the UN Office
for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to conduct a survey in Nagorno-Karabakh
to find out drug trafficking routes, the Armenian governmental press
service told Interfax.

Meeting with Yury Fedotov, a UN under-secretary-general,
director-general of the UN Office in Vienna (UNOV) and UNODC executive
director, Sarkisian said Azerbaijan is disseminating untrue information
on the trafficking of drugs through Nagorno-Karabakh, it said.

“The prime minister said that these allegations are groundless and
proposed conducting a survey that should confirm that Azerbaijan is
spreading deceitful propaganda,” the governmental press service said.

va mk