Author: nina hovnanian

I see more people from Diaspora coming and living in Armenia – James Tufenkian

July 14, 2013 | 13:15
By Maria Asatryan

YEREVAN. -`Tufenkian Historic Yerevan’ hotel, the fourth hotel of
Tufenkian chain, opened in Yerevan on Friday. Armenian News-NEWS.am
presents an interview with famous Armenian-American businessman James
Tufenkian.

Mr. Tufenkian, you first came to Armenia in 1993. What changes have
been observed in terms of doing business since then? Is it easier to
do business here?

The differences are enormous. In 1993 there was a complete chaos in
the country. The government organizations were not established. There
was no trade with outside, except for chewing gum. That was the
character of the environment. Now it is basically an organized system
for doing business. It has its rules, its peculiarities. The risk
assessment for 1993 and 2013 is night and day.

What made you come to Armenia in 1993 when you were aware of the risks
you may be faced with? Was it about patriotism?

All my businesses from the beginning have been about making money, but
doing something good to the world. In 1993, I shifted on making money
and doing something good in Armenia.

Three hotels of your chain are located in picturesque places. Why did
you choose these areas in Armenia?

It was based first on the idea of locating hotels in important tourist
areas in the country. So we thought it was Sevan, Dilijan, Lori and
Yeghegnadzor along with Yerevan. After the general selection of the
region it was a matter of finding spectacular sites. The idea was
always to locate the hotels inside the villages.

Which of your projects is most successful: carpet production or hotels?

Obviously, my efforts are mostly in hotel industry right now. I like
carpet production, but it just cannot be a business like hotels.

What about the pricing of Tufenkian hotels. Are they available to the
locals and foreign tourists?

As for the locals, we are obviously targeting the upper-middle class
and up. But they are very attractive for foreigners.

How do you assess interaction between Armenia and Diaspora within last
ten years?

I think it is getting better in a lot of ways. I see more people from
Diaspora coming and living here. I see the conditions here are
becoming more and more attractive for representatives of Diaspora to
live here. I always tell Diaspora that it is an atractive country for
them.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

FOOTBALL-TRANSFERTS
L’A.S. Monaco serait intéressé par l’international arménien Araz Ozbiliz

Le milieu de terrain du « Kouban » Krasnodar, l’international arménien
Araz Ozbiliz affirme qu’il est contacté par les dirigeants du club
A.S. Monaco qui seraient intéressés par ses services. « L’A.S. Monaco
me demande. Des clubs moscovites, ukrainiens et turcs s’intéressent
également à moi. Mais pour l’heure, je joue au « Kouban », demain, je
ne sais pas ! Le reste, il faut demander aux dirigeants du « Kouban »
qui répondront à vos questions » dit Araz Ozbiliz aux journalistes du
journal russe « Sport Express » venus l’interroger sur la nouvelle du
contact avec le club monégasque A.S. Monaco.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 14 juillet 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ARMENIE
Le manque de fonds compromet deux refuges pour femmes battues en Arménie

Dans la foulée de la réussite en octobre 2012 de sa campagne pour
rénover une école maternelle dans le nord du Haut-Karabagh, l’ONG
ONEArmenia a annoncé une nouvelle campagne de collecte de 21000 $ pour
combler le déficit budgétaire d’une maison d’hébergement géré par un
centre d’assistance aux femmes en Erevan.

Selon une étude menée par Amnesty International, près de 60% des
femmes arméniennes sont victimes de violence physique régulièrement.
Seule 29% des femmes demandent de l’aide. L’UNICEF a rapporté que 31%
des hommes arméniens et 22% des femmes arméniennes justifient cette
violence. « Nous avons commencé l’hébergement en 2012 parce que le
besoin était si grande », a déclaré Maro Matosian directrice du centre
Women Support. « Chaque fois que nous renvoyons une personne dans un
abri existant, elle a été refoulée parce qu’il n’y avait pas d’espace
».

Le Centre fournit des services aux victimes de violence familiale
depuis 2009. Le Centre s’est également engagé dans la formation de
travailleurs sociaux municipaux à Erevan et a mené des tables rondes
dans les régions d’Arménie avec des jeunes pour les sensibiliser sur
les saines relations et l’impact négatif des stéréotypes sexistes et
les valeurs patriarcales sur la société arménienne.

Le WSC est un des deux seuls espaces qui fonctionnent actuellement en
Arménie. En raison de questions de sécurités le lieu précis de la
maison est gardé de façon confidentielle et n’a pas été révélé au
public.

Elle a la capacité de loger et de nourrir jusqu’à 5 femmes et leurs
enfants à un moment donné, avec une incidence moyenne annuelle de 30
femmes et de 60 enfants. En plus d’offrir un espace sûr où les femmes
peuvent trouver un réconfort et un sursis face à leurs expériences
atroces, le centre emploie des travailleurs sociaux, des conseillers
juridiques et des psychologues qui travaillent avec les femmes pour
construire lentement un sentiment d’indépendance.

Les fonds amassés par ONEArmenia permettrait de couvrir le loyer,
l’achat de fournitures médicales et le transport et les coûts des
aliments pour l’année prochaine.

Visitez la page de campagne IndieGoGo pour en savoir plus et apporter
votre contribution :

dimanche 14 juillet 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

THE US WILL DO ITS BEST TO INCREASE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINAL SOLUTION OF NK CONFLICT

APA, Azerbaijan
July 12 2013

Baku. Shamil Alibeyli – APA. “The US will strengthen its activity in
the OSCE Minsk Group and do its best to increase the opportunities
for final solution of this conflict,” US Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Richard Morningstar said while commenting on the upcoming meeting
of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov with Minsk Group
co-chairs and his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Vienna,
APA reports.

Ambassador said Nagorno Karabakh conflict is a painful and important
problem for the Azerbaijani people.

Sharing his views on the threat and pursuit faced by Moldovan Ombudsman
Aurelia Grigoriu after making a speech on Khojaly genocide at the
Armenian parliament, Richard Morningstar said he was aware of it.

“Taking into account my position, it would be better for me not to
comment on this issue. It would be more advisable if it is solved by
Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.

NORMALCY, BUT HOW?

Today’S Zaman, Turkey
July 12 2013

MARKAR ESAYAN

Turkey fell into crisis right at a moment when no one was expecting it.

While it was clear that the run-up to local, general and presidential
elections might see some political turbulence, no one thought the
country would boil over so thoroughly, moving a hair’s breadth from
civil war.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government must also have
been unprepared; it was seriously shaken by the crisis. What’s clear
now is that Turkey can no longer shoulder the politics of
polarization, and that the manipulation of said polarization has
become riskier than ever. Many say — and it’s apparent — that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tends to handle the politics of
polarization with mastery. This is true.

At the same time, claiming that this polarization is what Erdogan
wants is skewing the truth. Since the end of 2002, when the AK Party
came to power, the party has been the focus of constant harassment,
its agenda the target of endless attempts to raise tension. The years
2003-04 saw a series of coup plans that were known to both the
military’s General Staff headquarters and the government. The generals
behind these coup plans used military and civilian tools to keep the
national agenda as infused with tension as possible and to try to
portray the AK Party as opposed to secularism.

As for the years 2006-07, they were a complete nightmare. Father
Andrea Santoro was murdered, and Ankara’s Council of State — a symbol
of secularism — was attacked by a man yelling “freedom for the
headscarf!” who wound up killing one of the high court’s judges. It
was to emerge later that attacker Alparslan Aslan had ties to the
Ergenekon organization, but by that time, the entire incident had
already been presented to the world as “Islamists killing secularists
and Christians.”

The funeral for Council of State Judge Mustafa Ozbilgin turned into an
anti-government protest, and there were attempts to get people to fill
the streets. At the start of 2007, Hrant Dink was killed, and three
Christians in Malatya were murdered in another incident. After this
came the military e-memorandum intervention, as well as the infamous
“367 decision” from the Constitutional Court on the possible election
of Abdullah Gul as president. Cumhuriyet (Republic) rallies took place
in large cities like Ä°stanbul, Ä°zmir and Ankara. All of these were
operations aimed at increasing polarization throughout Turkey, making
it impossible for the government to lead.

Challenges

The government, in other words, made its way through countless crises
in a very short period of time. There was even an attempt to shut down
the AK Party. Efforts to draft a new constitution failed in 2007. Coup
attempts went on and on. The Balyoz coup planning continued all the
way up to 2009. Just imagine, you’ve been in power for seven years,
and your country’s military General Staff headquarters is still
planning coups against you. In fact, 12 plans were drawn up to
assassinate Erdogan. Plans to assassinate President Abdullah Gul,
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınc and Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II
Mutafyan have also been uncovered.

Do you think this was really a healthy foundation for good politics?

Let’s also remember the fact that a constitutional bill to which any
reasonable person would have said “yes” had to be presented as a
referendum, and that there were attempts to turn this as well into a
crisis for the regime. Some of us, democratic supporters of the bill
who didn’t come from religious factions of society, were targeted
within our own secular circles. Our meetings were interrupted, eggs
were thrown at us and we were accused of colluding with “religious
ignoramuses,” when all along this bill contained critical measures
that eliminated some of the military and justice system’s guardian
tutelage and opened the way to put the generals behind the Sept. 12,
1980 coup on trial.

All some people could see wasn’t what this bill contained but who had
proposed it and who would benefit from it. And as they saw it, the
only ones to benefit from it would be those in government.

It could never have been expected that people coming from such a
narrow political viewpoint could actually engage in politics. And in
fact, they were unable to. They invested all their energy in constant
efforts to increase chaos and polarization, or to foment some new
economic crisis. As for Erdogan, he has spent his 10.5 years in power
trying to either navigate or transcend some enormous new crisis. On
the way, he got used to extraordinary situations, even learning how to
turn them into a political advantage. Using his social and moral
legitimacy, he turned nearly every aspect of these different and new
crises into votes for him and his party. As time passed, he became
more powerful. It is not true that polarization was ever Erdogan’s
personal choice; but it is true that he learned to deal with it well,
even forgetting along the way what normal politics are actually like.

In fact, the AK Party never experienced the luxury of doing politics
in a normal country.

Government’s responsibilities

The Gezi Park crisis also supports this perspective. A return to
normal levels of tension can be a shock after a long period of high
tension, and Turkey has a serious need for a real opposition party so
that Erdogan can choose normalcy over polarization. We are at the
point where even the most basic reforms are turned into opportunities
to spark leadership crises. It is our right to expect a calm style
aimed at normalization from Erdogan and the government.

But if we expect this from the government, will we continue to see it
as a democratic right when extreme secular factions of society and
other political elements call on people to increase polarization? Yes,
it is true that democracy is not limited to elections, but at the same
time, do the responsibilities of doing politics and the
democratization of the country lie only with the government?

No one supports police violence and the use of excessive force. What’s
more, there needs to be urgent justice in the case of the five people
killed in protests.

The government needs to speed up its reforms and show renewed
determination in the writing of the new constitution. All this is
true. But at the same time, will we continue to see incidents like the
attempts to take over Erdogan’s offices in Dolmabahce Palace, or his
residence in Ankara, or attacks on covered women — or, before all
that, the bombing of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of
Justice with rocket-propelled grenades — as exercises of democratic
rights?

All segments of society must support democratization, normalization
and reforms. Also, more pious members of society must be allowed to be
viewed and accepted as equal and respected members of the community.

In a country that has come to the edge of civil war over a city park,
a covered woman still cannot legally work in a state office, but no
one is made uncomfortable by this fact.

It is true that Erdogan and his government should have transitioned to
a new style of politics following the Sept. 12, 2010 referendum, and
brought down national tensions in the process. But the fact that this
didn’t happen is not an excuse for invoking a civil war situation in
the country or aiming to bring down a government.

We all need a new era of unification, where tolerance and
understanding are supported by a new way of speaking. Interpreting the
problem as being rooted in the government isn’t enough. Because if
that’s the way it really was, we would have a strong alternative party
before us today. But everyone knows that the alternative, opposition
parties we have are lacking when it comes to leading this country and
carrying out new reforms. There is no alternative to the AK Party, and
it’s ridiculous to blame the ruling party for this fact.

Like a body having a heart attack, Turkey is having an attack of
insufficient democracy. And in this, it’s not just the elected
government but everyone in society who has a role to play and duties
to shoulder.

QZEEN ARMENIAN DELI & CAFE

Mail Tribune
July 12 2013

Great Armenian fare can be found at Qzeen, a small deli and cafe
tucked inside Medford’s Cobblestone Village.

Look for fresh tabbouleh, hummus, dolma, falafel, shirazi and other
traditional dishes, along with a deli case offering mortadella,
pre-cooked beef cutlets, prosciutto and other cold cuts. There’s
also tasty olovia salad – a style of potato salad made with chopped
chicken breast.

Partners – and cousins – Savak Hakaordian and Walter Thoomickian run
the Armenian eatery located at the north end of the commercial and
office-space complex.

To get there, walk past the west side of Hannah’s Restaurant (the
old Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant) and follow your nose to Qzeen.

Armenian cuisine is world cuisine. It’s not exclusive to the small
republic tucked into the mountains between the Black and Caspian seas
in Eurasia. Armenian communities have thrived around the globe since
World War I.

Hakaordian was born in Iran, and Thoomickian was born in India. The
men lived in Southern California for many years.

Their new cafe looks a bit sparse with its clean, white walls, deli
and cold drink cases, a counter and a few aluminum chairs and tables.

There is plenty of sunshine beaming through the windows, though, and
aromas wafting from the kitchen are proof that something delicious
is cooking.

Orders are packaged for takeout. Customers are welcome to eat at
a table.

My dining partner’s mortadella sandwich ($4.95) was a hoagie-style
sub touting a generous portion of the Italian sausage garnished with
tomato and pickle. Onion is optional; add cheese for $1.

I let out a little cry of delight when I opened my sandwich and
discovered five perfect falafel balls drizzled with a creamy sauce and
wrapped in soft pita bread. The falafel sandwich ($6.50) is served with
a juicy, herbaceous shirazi salad made with cucumbers and tomatoes, and
hummus garnished with olive oil and a spicy variety of paprika. Toss
these on top of the falafel sandwich, and you’ve got an outstanding
combination of flavors.

I was offered a sample of olovia, the chicken and potato salad made
with hard-cooked eggs, peas and carrots. One bite told me I had to
order an eight-ounce package ($4.50) to share. A sample of tabbouleh –
a salad made of bulgur, tomatoes, cucumbers and finely chopped herbs –
also was brought to our table. It was the freshest I’ve tasted.

The flavor of Hakaordian’s and Thoomickian’s food relies more on
the freshness of its ingredients than excessive use of salt or heavy
spices. Fresh herbs are used extensively.

We chose nazook – flaky pastry with a sweet filling – for dessert
(75 cents). There’s also baklava and other Eurasian pastries.

Cobblestone Village is at 1263 N. Riverside Ave. Qzeen is No. 4 in
the complex.

The deli and cafe is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through
Saturday.

I’ve only been to Qzeen’s once and already I’m a regular.

– Laurie Heuston

NKR LEADER HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO RECOVER HAIL-DAMAGED SOILS

17:49 12/07/2013 ” ECONOMY

On July 12, Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited Askeran
regional center, where he held a consultation meeting on elimination
of the consequences of the recent hailstorm in the region.

Minister of Agriculture Andranik Khachatryan, head of Askeran regional
administration Sergey Grigoryan and representatives of the respective
structures delivered reports.

The President underlined the importance of organizing works towards the
elimination of the natural disaster’s consequences at a proper level,
adding that it was necessary to do everything possible to recover
the soils as soon as possible. He issued instructions to the heads
of the concerned structures.

Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Aghabekyan and other officials attended the meeting, reported the
Central Information Department at the Artsakh President’s Office.

Source: Panorama.am

FINDING THE MIDDLE: THE REMARKABLE TALE OF THE TASHJIANS

SOCIETY | 12.07.13 | 15:40

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Ani, Peto and Arin have the same smile, same tears, same eyes. When
one starts crying, the others follow, and the small apartment gets
really noisy.

The triplets were born the same day, same hour, bringing great joy to
the Tashjian family.

Enlarge Photo

“First came Ani, she weighed 2.25 kilos, then 2.35 kg weighing Peto,
and last came Arin – 1.8 kilos. We say our children are true
Armenians, offspring of the Armenian water and soil,” says 40-year-old
mother of the three Tamar Tashjian.

To the praise “you are a hero”, Tamar responds: “It is the Lord’s
will, I am so happy it all happened in Armenia!”

The proud father, Levon Tashjian lulls Peto and says “it is the name
of the brave”.

The Tashjians are from Lebanon, their roots go back to Musa Ler’s
Kheder Beg (Iddeir) village. Like many of the Musa Ler people, their
ancestors too found refuge in Anjar in 1939 and settled there.

“In 2008 we got married and that very year I paid my first visit to
Armenia and was overwhelmed with impressions. During the next four
years we kept coming and going, then finally decided to settle in our
motherland. The sound of Syrian bombs can be heard in the border town
of Anjar,” tells Tamar.

Tamar has motion issues, she spends most of the time sitting; her
wheelchair stands in the corner of the room. Her husband assists her
to look after the triplets: he feeds and nurses them, and in general
is of great help to his physically challenged wife.

“Tamar’s family and I were very close. When her brother died I started
paying frequent visits. Then her sister, mother and father died, and
Tamar was left all alone,” recalls Levon. “One day I went to their
place, Tamar made coffee for me, and I told her: ‘Tamar, if I asked
you to marry me, would you?’ And she asked whether she could have
really been my choice. I said ‘yes, you are a fine girl, and to me
your mind is what matters. I like you, so there it is!'”

Tamar interferes and continues the story: “Well, I am sorry to say,
but I was limping, so I could never have imagined he would propose…”

Levon, now 60, is a professional runner. In 1974 he won the Lebanon
championship. For years he represented Lebanon in many countries.

Tamar says her husband has won 69 cups and 150 medallions.

The unbreakable spirit of a Musa Ler native brought Levon to Karabakh
in 1992 (during the war), where he joined the Shushi battalion. After
the war, in 1994 he undertook a year of voluntary service in the
military, but because of lack of residency he soon returned to
Lebanon. In 1996 he traveled to Western Armenia (Eastern Turkey).

“I would wander around the cities, towns and villages, take photos of
historic Armenian monuments. Back then it was not an easy task, it was
forbidden, but I somehow found a way. When leaving [the ruins of
ancient Armenian capital] Ani I threw my camera into the River
Akhuryan and had the film hidden in my sock , when passing the
soldiers on guard,” recalls Levon.

After his return, Levon held photo-exhibitions in Lebanon, Canada, the
USA, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, featuring the Armenian monuments in
the territory of modern day Turkey.

“During the exhibition in the United States Congressman Adam Schiff
came up to me (he represents the Armenian Cause at the US Congress)
and said that he was going to make the best use of my photos. For
seven seconds the photos were demonstrated to the Congress with one
purpose – to show the poor state the Armenian churches, bridges and
cross-stones were in Turkey,” says Levon.

In 1999 in the morning of the ill-fated 27th of October, Levon visited
then parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan and gave him as a gift the
photos of Akhtamar’s Surb Khach (Holy Cross) church and Ani’s
Katoghikeh St. Astvatsatsin (St Mary Mother of God) cathedral. In the
evening he learnt with shock that Demirchyan had been killed (in the
armed attack at the parliament).

In 2005 Levon vowed to walk from Anjar to Musa Ler as a pilgrimage. In
ten days he crossed 750 kilometers. On the tip of Musa Ler (Moses
Mountain) he found the monument to the 18 heroes who died in the Musa
Dagh resistance (during the Armenian Genocide) in complete ruins.

“I decided to transfer the relics of the heroes to Lebanon. Taking
them across the Turkish border was a real challenge, because by that
country’ law one would have to serve 25 years in prison for digging
out a grave and a special permission was required. But who would have
granted me a permission to transfer the remnants of those heroes?” he
says.

Today part of the relics are kept at Surb Poghos (St. Paul) church in
Anjar, some parts are buried in Armenia, next to the Musa Ler
monument, and the third part is in Canada’s Cambridge city, where
natives of Musa Ler have built a monument, too.

Tamar tells with pride that Levon took her to see all of Western
Armenia, Syria and Armenia, in her wheelchair.

“When we were about to get engaged, the Lebanon leader [the Catholicos
of the Great House of Cilicia] asked me this: ‘Levon is an athlete,
running so fast, and you are so slow,’ he did not want to say
‘limping’. How will that work out in life?’ For a split of a second I
stood too shocked to speak, then said: ‘Your holiness, we will find
the middle, in between fast and slow.’ He responded: ‘May God keep you
in peace, you will be a very good couple. Levon, I knew you were
crazy, but I did not know you were a brave crazy’,” recalls Tamar.

They have decided to take a trip for a month to Anjar so that their
relatives get to know the children. It is hard to live in Yerevan,
Levon has employment issues, nonetheless that’s where they are
planning to build their future.

“We will settle here, this is our country. Even if it’s hard, if it is
Armenian, it is precious,” says Tamar.

NKR VICE-PRIME MINISTER: WEAPON SALE TO AZERBAIJAN IS A TREACHEROUS DEAL

NKR vice-prime minister Artur Aghabekyan dwelt on the Russian sale
of weapons to Azerbaijan in an interview to Panorama.am.

Mr. Aghabekyan, on the one hand you are trying to solve the
repopulation issue of NKR regions and ensure demographic growth,
on the other the Russian-Azerbaijani military deal creates a new
situation in the region. Is the behavior of the Armenian authorities
adequate to these events?

I have a clear position in this relation. The weapons sold by Russia
to Azerbaijan are against peace population. This is a very serious
issue for us and this treacherous deal of our strategic partner
should have become the number one topic of discussion. All political
figures and analysts should have given their assessment of this deal,
but they are passive.

Does the arms race break the balance of sides? Do Armenians have a
reason to worry after the sale of Smerch to Azerbaijan?

The Republic of Armenia can’t allow misbalance in the region giving new
possibilities of arming to the enemy. I shall officially announce that
the sale of Smerch didn’t break the balance of parties, but it makes
us allot more resources to the construction of our defense complexes.

15:37 12/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: NEW BOUTIQUES IN ABOVYAN STREET?

09:59 12/07/2013 ” DAILY PRESS

Iron constructions were being installed yesterday in the place of the
boutiques in Abovyan Street dismantled by order of Yerevan Mayor’s
Office last year, with some people in expensive cars with “gold”
numbers controlling the construction works, Haykakan Zhamanak reports.

The construction was stopped when representatives of Mayor’s Office
arrived at the site in the evening, the paper adds.

Source: Panorama.am