Author: nina hovnanian

ARAM MUGHALYAN’S ATTORNEY INSISTS HIS IMPRISONED CLIENT NEEDS TO BE HOSPITALIZED

0.02.2013 15:56 epress.am

Aram Mughalyan, in pre-trial detention under charges of “hooliganism”
and attempt to intentionally damage another’s property, has been on
a hunger strike for one week; two days ago he announced he would not
be drinking water. His health has rapidly deteriorated.

Speaking to Epress.am this morning, Mughalyan’s attorney Vahe
Gabrielyan said his client’s blood pressure has dropped, he’s
experiencing dizziness, and he basically needs to be hospitalized.

Mughalyan is in the Armavir prison, where, according to Gabrielyan,
conditions are bad. Today, Mughadalyan will be transferred to the
Nubarashen penitentiary.

“Today too we spoke with Aram; he is in a bad state; I think he should
be taken to a hospital, but it’s unlikely that will happen.

Nevertheless, Aram does not intend to stop his hunger- and
water-strike,” he said.

Recall, Mughalyan went on a hunger strike to protest violations in
the criminal case against him and his friends, their arbitrary arrest,
and fraud in the preliminary investigation.

Earlier, Epress.am spoke with the attorneys of Robert Pilosoyan,
who is also accused in this case,. They outlined the violations and
the torture their client experienced in prison.

ARMENIAN RESIDENTS OF 8TH MILITARY TOWN IN GYUMRI TO BE EVICTED

Spokesman for Armenian Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovhannisian commented
on the information about eviction of dozens of Armenian families
residing in 8th military town of the city of Gyumri within ten days.

‘The Defense Ministry has examined the issue. Under an interstate
agreement between Armenia and Russia, the issue comes within the
competence of the commanders of the Russian 102nd military base and the
administrators of Gyumri. At the time the given area was transferred
to the Russian side under an agreement,” A. Hovhannisian told the
correspondent of Aysor.am.

A SIGH OF RELIEF

News | October 1, 2013 5:21 pm

By Edmond Y. Azadian

Against the backdrop of bloodbaths raging in Syria and Iraq, the
drumbeat of a looming new war was too much for the international
community to bear. Finally the United Nations Security Council’s
unanimous vote on September 27 arrived just in time to bring a sigh
of relief to the war-weary world.

The UN vote was the work of responsible leadership on all fronts to
avert another disaster in the Middle East.

All of the participants – from the east and west – will enjoy the
peace dividends of that historic vote. Armenia being in the proximity
of that region will also become one of the beneficiaries of this
new development.

What has come to be known as the Arab Spring is a sinister process
of dismantling stable and prosperous countries in the Middle East to
eliminate all real and presumed threats to Israel. Iraq and Libya
were destroyed under the false pretenses of bringing democracy to
those countries. The aftermath of those debacles is too obvious for
any statesman to draw the right conclusions.

During the trigger-happy administration of Bush-Cheney, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not need too much arm-twisting in
Washington to draw the US into disastrous adventures.

After $3 trillion was wasted on war and the sacrifice of 4,500 of the
bravest of the brave in the US military, with 50,000-plus maimed and
wounded, President Obama paused for a moment before committing the
US to another war.

Contrary to news media fabrications, the war in Syria is far from
being a civil war, since foreign mercenaries are engaged to establish
another Islamist state in the Middle East. The US and the West had
been contributing to that goal inadvertently by helping fundamentalist
mercenaries.

The bloodshed already afflicting the region and the prospect of
another Al Qaeda regime sobered up the statesmen on all fronts to
seek a diplomatic solution to the artificial Syrian problem.

Despite the fact that President Obama was elected on the premise and
promise of bringing peace to the world, he was pushed into a corner,
threatening to attack Syria with Tomahawk missiles.

The budget debate and other domestic concerns forced the White
House to reach out across the aisle to garner votes, and hawkish
legislators like John McCain raised the price of that support by
illegally entering the Syrian territory, ushered by hired guns,
to sort out the good terrorists from the bad.

Thus Obama hypothetically drew the red line in the sand, making use of
chemical weapons as casus belli. That proviso provided the opportunity
to Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, master of international intrigue,
Turkey’s Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli intelligence to
stage the August 21 chemical weapons attack to justify US retaliation.

It took the creative diplomacy of US Secretary of State John Kerry
and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to craft a consensus deal
at the UN to save the day.

The UN resolution calls for dismantling all of Syria’s chemical
weapons under its supervision.

The resolution blames no particular party for the August 21 incident,
meaning that the Russians, as well as the West, had presented
strong evidence to cancel each other out. The resolution does not
automatically activate Article 7 of the UN Charter, which calls for
military action in case of non-compliance.

These two cases are considered victories for Lavrov’s diplomatic
skills, at the same time, providing a face-saving device for President
Obama, a reluctant warrior.

The 68th UN General Assembly brought another breakthrough when Obama
had a 15-minute phone conversation with the newly-elected President
of Iran Hassan Rouhani. The standoff between the US and Iran over
the latter’s nuclear ambitions, was dramatically eased.

Against a negotiated settlement of the issue, Iran is seeking the
removal of international sanctions which had crippled its economy.

Iran being Armenia’s important trading partner, its relations were
frowned on by the West, while Pakistan, a staunch US ally challenged
the sanctions entering into an energy deal with Tehran. Not only
Armenia will breathe easily in trading with Iran, but a danger of
war on its borders will be averted.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian welcomed the breakthrough and congratulated his Iranian
counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif for the resumption of GST+1
negotiations.

All of the member representatives of the UN Security Council profusely
praised the diplomatic efforts of Kerry and Lavrov for making the
prospect of peace a real deal.

Kerry gave credit to Lavrov who took up his challenge of eliminating
chemical weapons and worked out the agreement with the Syrian
government.

The Middle East correspondent of London’s Independent, Robert Fiske,
reported that during their negotiations in Moscow, when Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem complained that Syria would be
giving away its most potent deterrent against Israel, Lavrov assured
him by stating: “We are your deterrent.”

Keeping all the components of the Syrian crisis in perspective, it
reminds us of the Cuban Missile Crisis which had pushed the world to
the brink of nuclear war.

Reviewing the Cuban Missile crisis, here is what Wikipedia says about
it: “Khrushchev told Mikoyan of his idea of shipping Soviet missiles
to Cuba. Mikoyan was opposed to the idea, and was even more opposed to
giving the Cubans control over the Soviet missiles. In early November
1962, at the height of Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet leadership
dispatched Mikoyan to Havana to help persuade Castro to cooperate
in the removal of the nuclear missiles and bombers the Soviet Union
had placed on the island. Just prior to beginning negotiations with
Castro, Mikoyan was informed about the death of his wife, Ashkhen,
in Moscow; rather than return there for the funeral, Mikoyan opted
to stay and sent his son Sergo there instead.

Castro was adamant that the missiles remain but Mikoyan, seeking to
avoid a full-fledged confrontation with the United States, attempted
to convince him otherwise. He told Castro, ‘You know that not only
in these letters but today also, we hold to the position that you
will keep all the weapons and all the military specialists with the
exception of the ‘offensive’ weapons and associated service personnel,
which were promised to be withdrawn in Khrushchev’s letter [of October
27.]’ Castro balked at the idea of further concessions, namely the
removal of the Il-28 bombers and tactical nuclear weapons still left
in Cuba. But after several tense and grueling weeks of negotiations,
he finally relented and the missiles and the bombers were removed in
December of that year.”

The same Wikipedia article says about Lavrov: “Lavrov was born in
Moscow on March 21, 1950 to an Armenian father from Tbilisi and a
Russian mother from Georgia.”

It turns out that two Armenians emerge as peacemakers at the verge
of international crises.

The world will benefit from the skills of these two diplomats. In
the case of the UN vote, the prospect of a Geneva 2 Conference is
becoming reality.

At this time there are more than 10,000 Armenians from Syria living in
Armenia, hoping to return to that prosperous community once normality
is restored in that country.

Very few people have realized, and will realize in this case, that
the diplomatic genius of two Armenians has come to save the world
from catastrophe.

On the other hand, the sad commentary is that Armenians excel when
they are in the service of foreign powers.

Yet at this point the peace prospect is the most redeeming factor
giving a chance to the world to enjoy a sigh of relief.

ONE PRIEST’S INEXHAUSTIBLE MISSION IN ARMENIA

By Tom Vartabedian // October 1, 2013

WHITINSVILLE, Mass.-When it comes to performing mission work in
Armenia, look no further than Rev. Archpriest Aram Stepanian. In fact,
look again, and maybe several other times.

Rev. Archpriest Aram Stepanian and Yeretsgin Margaret perform a surplus
of missionary work in Armenia each year in addition to their duties
in Whitinsville, Mass.

The affable pastor of Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church has made the country
his second home and embraces the population he serves so religiously
and profoundly in the name of salvation. He visits it three to four
times a year, often with his wife Margaret and family by his side.

If it isn’t operating a summer camp for orphans in July, it’s taking
feeble tin shacks and turning them into respectable dwellings for
the indigent. Over the past 15 years, 175 homes have either been
constructed or refurbished.

“Lately, we’ve been purchasing flats and turning them into comfortable
living quarters to meet the pressing need,” he says. “Donations are
often slow and volunteers are not easy to find but we somehow manage
through God’s help.”

Greenhouses are also built to supply resources and a livable standard
of life. His mantra may be “the Voice of the Armenian Church.” In
reality, it’s the actions of an individual who cares enough to do
his very best.

“The greenhouses were a complement,” he concluded. “If you build a
resource, people will benefit.”

And let’s not forget the Agape meal in Etchmiadzin that he’s been
serving up to the elderly for the past six years. The guest list ranges
from 70-75 and here again, volunteers kick in. More appropriately,
they call it the “love meal.”

In the end, it’s creating a better world for those who need it most.

“It’s been a desperate calling to which I have answered as a
conscientious Armenian priest,” says the 76-year-old. “Some people
might call it a mission. I refer to it as a labor of love.”

The summer camp for orphans was organized four years ago. Each
July, the priest and his corps of volunteers take to a place called
Tsaghkadzor. Translated, it means “valley of flowers.” It’s located
50 kilometers north of Yerevan on the southern slope of the Teghenis
Mountains near Lake Sevan.

Rev. Archpriest Aram Stepanian (center) poses with 50 orphaned children
he directs each year at a summer camp in Armenia.

The area is known for its skiing prowess, a place where Olympic
athletes train and refine their skills. Somewhere in the miasma is
this camp operated by the University of Yerevan where 50 destitute
children arrive each year to spend a week of solidarity and comfort.

Their director is a guy who’s affectionately called “Brother Aram.” He
prefers the informality. To him, they’re like his own kids.

The children range in age from 10-16 and more than half differ
from year to year. They are chosen by the Eastern Prelacy and are
desperately in need of care. Fun complements their enrollment.

The $10,000 it takes to fund the project annually is raised diligently
through the sister churches, private contributions, and businesses. No
shortfall is so big that it cannot be met through persistence.

“Because the children are coming from broken homes, with no father or
mother, we’re able to create a big family atmosphere for them where
they would experience comfort, love, compassion, and care,” he says.

“At the same time, we spread the word of God, teach them the Scriptures
and history of the church. Baptizing 15 children is only one of my
highlights. The gratitude shown is another,” Der Aram adds.

Sixteen members of the Zartarian family of Boxboro, MA who helped
build a home in Armenia in memory of a loved one.

Two counselors were literally taken off the streets, served their
younger counterparts, and wound up becoming public accountants. Others
served with the military in Artsakh.

“I find myself getting motivated when I see lives being changed
drastically,” he says. “They come to us under dire circumstances and
we get them back on track in God’s world. The tears we shed are often
tears of joy and comfort.”

One year, the good deed took a bad toll, sending him to the hospital.

Recovery was imminent and he was back on the job with barehanded
initiative.

They tell him there are no funds available. So he goes out and raises
his own. The cost of building supplies have soared over the years. No
matter. The priest finds a way.

It’s only been 14 years before he was assigned a church out of
desperation. Since then, Soorp Asdvadzadzin has been his home. Prior
to that, he was a preaching deacon, traveling the world-yes,
universally-giving sermons and spreading the word of Christ.

Only when the hierarchy approached him with the need to take over a
pastor-less church did he relent.

One year, Der Aram took 22 volunteers from his community to Armenia.

Sixteen of them were from one family-the Zartarians of Boxboro. They
came with their grandmother, aunt, children, grandchildren, and in-laws
to personally help build the home, which was dedicated to the memory
of Garbis Zartarian.

“For 14 days, these energetic people worked diligently in the
oppressive 105-degree heat,” he recalled. “So many times, I tried to
pull them aside to protect them from heat stroke. They wanted to be
left alone to finish their work.”

One day, a hiatus had been scheduled from work. Instead of sightseeing
or relaxing, Der Aram’s troops were mobilized on their own free will
and reported for duty.

The house they built was in memory of Peter Felegian. A third was
dedicated to the late Roy Talanian. Another was a condo purchased
for a single mother with two sons and an adopted niece.

The Stepanians are a year away from celebrating their golden
anniversary. They are parents to two children, Seta Mammola and Ara
Stepanian, and have two granddaughters.

It was at St. Stephen’s Church in Watertown that Der Aram spent
37 years as a deacon and Sunday School superintendent before being
ordained in 1999 by Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, prelate.

Prior to that, his deacon years were shared with a working life. The
cleric worked as a car dealer and auto body mechanic. He sold cars
and ran a rental business. There was the electronics side and a dry
cleaning establishment.

The entrepreneur in him took a condemned building in Watertown and
transposed it into a state-of-the-art enterprise with seven employees.

It’s been 14 years since he first arrived in Whitinsville, leading
a flock of 160 members best known for its eclectic picnics that
attract over 1,000. It’s a parish that sponsors some 15 students
abroad through adulthood.

Much of his time is also rendered to the Northbridge Association
of Churches, working with 11 non-Armenian parishes. Together, they
perform all phases of charity work for a better community.

He was born in Der Zor, raised in Aleppo, and educated in Lebanon
and England before arriving here in 1961 and securing a degree from
Gordon-Conwell Theological School in Wenham.

“I remember bringing earthquake victims here for treatment and caring
for their needs,” he recalled. “It’s left an indelible image with me.”

Not all has been bread and roses for Der Aram. Much as he hates to
admit it, the loyalty often gets put aside in favor of expatriation.

“I see talented people leaving Armenia and going to places like
Belgium, France, and Russia,” he notes. “It’s demoralizing the
population.”

You never know what may transpire at customs. One day, he approached
the gate with bags of clothing and wares for the orphans when the
unthinkable occurred.

“They took all my packages away,” he groaned. “I told them they
were for the orphans and they didn’t care. Twenty-two children were
instantly deprived by callous individuals over-exercising their
authority. “It wasn’t until I hooked up with an orphanage that I was
allowed free access.”

Were there any other repercussions?

“Sometimes, you pay out of your pocket to customs,” he reluctantly
admitted. “Whatever it takes, we manage to get the provisions through.”

DR. ALINA DORIAN TO KEYNOTE ANNUAL KZV BANQUET

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

Dr. Alina Dorian

SAN FRANCISCO-The Krouzian-Zakarian Vasbouragan School Administration
and School Board announced that the 33rd annual KZV Banquet will take
place on November 2 at 6:30pm at Khatchaturian Armenian Community
Center- Saroyan Hall. The banquet will highlight the school’s
accomplishments over the past year and present its vision for the
future. The keynote speaker for the evening is Dr. Alina Dorian,
Principal at Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian High School in Los
Angeles. Entertainment will be provided by Element Band.

Dr. Dorian received her Bachelors of Science degree from the University
of California, Los Angeles in Biology, with an emphasis in Botanical
Sciences and her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene
and Public Health in International Health, Health Systems Management.

Dr. Alina Dorian has spent a good part of her professional career as an
educator, as a director for numerous grants and as a project manager
for full-scale systems restructuring and development. For the past
ten years, Dr. Dorian has been a professor and the Assistant Director
of the Center for Public Health and Disasters at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Dr. Dorian also serves as a lecturer for the
Loma Linda University and is a trainer to the State and Local Public
Health Departments and other governmental agencies.

Apart from her professional career, Dr. Dorian has been an active
member of our community. She has received her pre-school and
elementary education at the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School and
then continued her middle and high school education at Holy Martyrs
Ferrahian Armenian School. As a youth, she was an active member of
both the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) as well as Homenetmen. Dr.

Dorian has been working in Armenia and in particular, Karabakh, for
the past 16 years. She authored Karabakh’s first National Health Plan
in 1996 and was later conferred a medal from the Honorable Arkady
Ghoukassian for her substantial contribution in the development of
the social sector in Nagorno Karabakh.

Dr. Dorian has worked closely with Prelacy Armenian Schools in their
emergency preparedness and response programs. For the past 2 years,
she has served as the Principal at Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian
School propelling the school into the 21st century with innovative
ideas and implementing new academic measures of excellence.

To purchase tickets or to make a donation, please use one of the
following options: ONLINE: PHONE:
415-586-8686 EMAIL: [email protected]

ANOTHER EXPOSé ON GULEN MOVEMEN

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen

Erdogan Is Not Turkey’s Only Problem

BY DANI RODRIK
>From Project Syndicate

PRINCETON – Turkan Saylan was a trailblazing physician, one of
Turkey’s first female dermatologists and a leading campaigner
against leprosy. She was also a staunch secularist who established a
foundation to provide scholarships to young girls so they could attend
school. In 2009, police raided her house and confiscated documents
in an investigation that linked her to an alleged terrorist group,
called “Ergenekon,” supposedly bent on destabilizing Turkey in order
to precipitate a military coup.

Saylan was terminally ill with cancer at the time and died shortly
thereafter. But the case against her associates continued and became
part of a vast wave of trials directed against opponents of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies in the powerful Gulen
movement, made up of the followers of the Islamic preacher Fethullah
Gulen.

The evidence in this case, as in so many others, consists of
Microsoft Word documents found on a computer that belonged to Saylan’s
foundation. When American experts recently examined the forensic image
of the hard drive, they made a startling – but for Turkey all too
familiar – discovery. The incriminating files had been placed on the
hard drive sometime after the computer’s last use at the foundation.

Because the computer had been seized by the police, the finding
pointed rather directly to official malfeasance.

Fabricated evidence, secret witnesses, and flights of investigative
fancy are the foundation of the show trials that Turkish police and
prosecutors have mounted since 2007. In the infamous Sledgehammer
case, a military-coup plot was found to contain glaring anachronisms,
including the use of Microsoft Office 2007 in documents supposedly
last saved in 2003. (My father-in-law is among the more than 300
officers who were locked up, and my wife and I have been active in
documenting the case’s fabrications.)

The list of revelations and absurdities goes on and on. In one case,
a document describing a plot directed against Christian minorities
turned out to have been in police possession before the authorities
claimed to have recovered it from a suspect. In another, police
“discovered” the evidence that they were seeking, despite going to
the wrong address and raiding the home of a naval officer whose name
sounded similar to that of the target.

Yet none of the trials has yet been derailed. Most have had the support
and blessing of Erdogan, who has exploited them to discredit the old
secular guard and cement his rule. Even more important, the trials
have had the strong backing of the Gulen movement.

Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, where he presides
over a huge informal network of schools, think tanks, businesses, and
media across five continents. His devotees have established roughly
100 charter schools in the United States alone, and the movement has
gained traction in Europe since the first Gulen school was founded
in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1995.

Back home, Gulen’s followers have created what is effectively a state
within the Turkish state, gaining a strong foothold in the police
force, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy. Gulenists deny that they
control the Turkish police, but, as a US ambassador to Turkey put it
in 2009, “we have found no one who disputes it.”

The movement’s influence within the judiciary ensures that its members’
transgressions remain unchallenged. In one well-documented case,
a non-commissioned officer at a military base, acting on behalf
of the Gulen movement, was caught planting documents in order to
embarrass military officials. The military prosecutor investigating
the case soon found himself in jail on trumped-up charges, while the
perpetrator was reinstated. A senior police commissioner who had been
close to the movement and wrote an exposé about its activities was
accused of collaborating with the far-left groups that he had spent
much of his career pursuing; he, too, ended up in jail.

The Gulen movement uses these trials to lock up critics and replace
opponents in important state posts. The ultimate goal seems to be to
reshape Turkish society in the movement’s own conservative-religious
image. Gulenist media have been particularly active in this cause,
spewing a continuous stream of disinformation about defendants in
Gulen-mounted trials while covering up police misdeeds.

But relations between Erdogan and the Gulenists have soured. Once
their common enemy, the secularists, were out of the way, Erdogan had
less need for the movement. The breaking point came in February 2012,
when Gulenists tried to bring down his intelligence chief, a close
confidant, reaching perilously close to Erdogan himself. Erdogan
responded by removing many Gulenists from their positions in the
police and judiciary.

But Erdogan’s ability to take on the Gulen movement is limited.

Bugging devices were recently found in Erdogan’s office, planted,
his close associates said, by the police. Yet Erdogan, known for his
brash style, responded with remarkable equanimity. If he harbored any
doubt that the movement sits on troves of embarrassing – and possibly
far worse – intelligence, the bugging revelation must surely have
removed it.

The foreign media have focused mainly on Erdogan’s behavior in
recent months. But if Turkey has turned into a Kafkaesque quagmire,
a republic of dirty tricks and surreal conspiracies, it is Gulenists
who must shoulder much of the blame. This is worth remembering in
view of the movement’s efforts to dress up its current opposition to
Erdogan in the garb of democracy and pluralism.

Gulenist commentators preach about the rule of law and human rights,
even as Gulenist media champion flagrant show trials. The movement
showcases Fethullah Gulen as a beacon of moderation and tolerance,
while his Turkish-language Web site peddles his anti-Semitic,
anti-Western sermons. Such double talk seems to have become second
nature to Gulenist leaders.

The good news is that the rest of the world has started to see
Erdogan’s republic for what it is: an increasingly authoritarian
regime built around a popular but deeply flawed leader. Indeed,
his government’s crackdown on dissent may well have cost Istanbul
the 2020 Olympics. What has yet to be recognized is the separate,
and quite disturbing, role that the Gulen movement has played in
bringing Turkey to its current impasse. As Americans and Europeans
debate the Gulen movement’s role in their own societies, they should
examine Turkey’s experience more closely.

Dani Rodrik is Professor of Social Science at the Institute for
Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey. He is the author of One
Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic
Growth and, most recently, The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and
the Future of the World Economy.

ARMENIA’S MAIN LINKS WITH EU INCLUDE EDUCATION, SCIENCE, CULTURE – LITHUANIAN EDU MINISTER

Baltic News Service / – BNS
October 1, 2013 Tuesday 1:33 PM EET

VILNIUS, Oct 01, BNS – After turning to Russia’s Customs Union,
Armenia will share cooperation in areas, such as education, science
and culture, with the European Union (EU), Lithuania’s Education and
Science Minister Dainius Pavalkis says.

Armenia’s plans announced last month to join the Customs Union would
prevent its signing of the Association and Free Trade Agreement with
the EU. It was earlier expected that the agreement could be initialed
during the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in late November.

“We acknowledge that Armenia’s relations with the European Union
will be maintained through education, science and probably culture,
as other types of cooperation will probably be impossible, therefore,
this will remain the main connecting thread,” Pavalkis told journalists
on Tuesday.

The minister attended an international conference in Vilnius on
Europe’s international cooperation and strengthening of Eastern
Partnership in fields of research, experimental development and
innovations. The conference focused on cooperation with Eastern
Partnership countries.

After the event, Pavalkis assured that cooperation with the countries
will be continued in these fields.

“We will cooperate with Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the
framework of Horizon 2020 and Erasmus Plus,” the minister said.

In his words, the conference resulted in the so-called Vilnius
declaration, which envisaged EU cooperation with Eastern partners in
the domains.

The Eastern Partnership program, which involves Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, is among the priorities of
the Lithuanian EU Council presidency.

Vilnius newsroom, [email protected], +370 5 205 8510

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SLAMS TURKEY FOR ‘BRUTAL’ GEZI PARK PROTEST ABUSE

15:39 ~U 02.10.13

Turkish authorities committed human rights abuses “on a massive scale”
while trying to quell anti-government protests over the summer,
Amnesty International has found.

BBC News has citied the group as saying that live ammunition was used,
killing one protester, while some women protesters were sexually
abused.

It has claimed that other demonstrators were badly beaten, resulting
in one death.

The unrest began in May as a protest to stop the redevelopment of
Istanbul’s Taksim Square and Gezi Park.

But after a harsh crackdown by riot police, it snowballed into
nationwide anti-government demonstrations that lasted for weeks.

Amnesty International’s report has said that investigators interviewed
scores of people who were injured, unlawfully detained, beaten or
sexually assaulted during detention.

Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s expert on Turkey, said: “The
attempt to smash the Gezi Park protest movement involved a string of
human rights violations on a huge scale.

“They include the wholesale denial of the right to peaceful assembly
and violations of the rights to life, liberty and the freedom from
torture and ill-treatment.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

RUSSIA HAS NEVER GUARANTEED OUR SECURITY, PARUYR HAYRIKYAN SAYS

15:48 02.10.2013

Karen Ghazaryan
Public Radio of Armenia

Seeking an alternative to the European Union and finding a refuge
in the Customs Union means having health problems, leader of the
National Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan told a press
conference today. According to him, for Moscow the Customs Union
means restoration of the USSR and improvement of Russia’s image.

Paruyr Hayrikyan’s opinion about the Customs Union is definitely
negative. He believes that the EU will once expand its borders
involving both Russia and Armenia. However, Armenia will then join
the EU as an annex.

Hayrikyan considers that the Customs Union will not exist long,
as it has been created artificially to raise Russia’s price.

The explanations that Armenia chose the Customs Union because of
security consideration are also unacceptable to Paruyr Hayrikyan.

Referring to some historic events, he noted that Russia has never
ensured our security and added that NATO is the main guarantor of
security.

RUSSIAN PM APPROVES PROGRAM ON IMPROVING BORDER CONTROL WITH CUSTOMS UNION COUNTRIES

October 01, 2013 | 08:34

MOSCOW. – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on
making changes in the road map, to improve the customs administration
at Russia’s borders with the other Customs Union countries, informs
the Russian government official website.

It is noted that the editing of the road map is set with new measures.

The expected results and the types of the noted legal acts, which are
necessary to carry out the measures, are clarified, too, Gazeta.ru
reports.

The document was prepared by government order, and to improve the
investment climate in Russia.

To note, following the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow
between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir
Putin, Sargsyan had announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs
Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian
Economic Union.