Hrach Keshishyan not going to shoot a film featuring Kim Kardashian

Hrach Keshishyan not going to shoot a film featuring Kim Kardashian

15:42 21.05.2013

Film director Hrach Keshisyan is not going to shoot a film about the
Armenian Genocide ahead of its 100th anniversary.

Furthermore, he has never thought of cooperation with Kim Kardashian,
Keshishyan said in comments to Public Radio of Armenia.

Kim Kardashian’s Press Secretary released a statement earlier,
refuting the recent media reports that she was going to star in Hrach
Keshishyan’s new film on the Armenian Genocide.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/05/21/hrach-keshishyan-not-going-to-shoot-a-film-featuring-kim-kardashian/

Ethics Commission refutes statement on State Revenue Committee head

Ethics Commission refutes statement on State Revenue Committee head
`illegal business activities’

14:39 – 21.05.13

Heriknaz Tigraryan of the Transparency International anti-corruption
center, who applied to the Ethics Commission for investigating
`illegal business activities’ by Head of the State Revenue Committee
Gagik Khachatryan, stated on Tuesday that the Alexserve Company, which
imports checks for cash registers to Armenia is linked to the
official.

However, the Ethics Commission refuted the statement.

`We received an answer that we expected,’ Ms Tigranyan told
journalists, pointing out that the work done by the Commission is far
from being satisfactory.

The Transparency International anti-corruption center submitted to the
Commission a list of ten companies that are linked with Gagik
Khachatryan. Among them are Aperon, Megamotors, Megafood, Megasport,
U-Com, Phonograph. The first two of them are owned by his sons, the
others are owned by his cousins.

Ms Tigranyan said that this is the only case involving a clash of
interests, and the Transparency International anti-corruption center
applied to the Commission for investigating the activities of other
high-ranking officials.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Aram Manukian: There are no grounds to trust prime minister

Aram Manukian: There are no grounds to trust prime minister

Tuesday,
May 21

`You want us to trust you, but there are no grounds to do it,’ the
deputy of Armenian National Congress (HAK) parliamentary faction Aram
Manukian said addressing Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in the
parliament today.

`You promised to fight against monopolies, but you did nothing in
recent years. You promised that oligarchs would pay their taxes and
you promised to ensure competitive conditions and combat corruption,
but you did not have such a desire,’ Aram Manukian noted.

We would remind you that the prime minister presents the Armenian
government’s new program in the parliament.

`You have now come so that we will approve the program. But you should
be punished and not approved,’ the opposition deputy said.

TODAY, 14:18
Aysor.am

Yerevan man beats mother to death

Yerevan man beats mother to death

May 21, 2013 | 01:51

YEREVAN. – Karen S., 45, entered into an argument with his mother,
Geghanush. M., at their home in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan and,
subsequently, he beat her to death.

The respective court case will be examined at the Court of First
Instance of Erebuni and Nubarashen Administrative Regions, a court
representative told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In line with the report, being under the influence of alcohol, Karen
S. started to argue with his mother, during which he pushed and threw
her into the concrete floor. Immediately afterwards, he hit her mother
with his hands and feet and killed her.

A criminal case is launched on charges of premeditated murder. Karen
S. will face eight to fifteen years in prison.

He is arrested, and the respective court hearing is set for Tuesday.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

L’Arménie doit avoir une lecture saine de la stratégie de la Turquie

PRESSE TURQUE
L’Arménie doit avoir une lecture saine de la stratégie de la Turquie
pour 2015 par Barçin Yinanç

Seriez-vous surpris si je vous disais que la Turquie est le troisième
plus grand partenaire commercial de l’Arménie ais-je demandé à mes
collègues du journal Hürriyet. « Bien sûr que non. La Turquie est l’un
des rares points de vente de l’Arménie au monde » m’ont-ils dit.

Comme journaliste vétéran Sedat Ergin m’a dit l’autre jour, nous
souffrons de temps en temps de la déformation professionnelle et
supposons que ce que nous savons est connu par tout le monde.

Il était un peu difficile d’entendre ces données statistiques, compte
tenu du fait que les deux pays n’entretiennent pas de relations
diplomatiques, que les frontières sont fermées et que l’Arménie se
plaint devant tout le monde sur la façon dont elle souffre de
l’embargo commercial turc et combien il n’est pas civilisé de garder
les frontières fermées à cette époque de mondialisation rapide.

Une rapide recherche sur Google révèle que des hommes d’affaires turcs
et arméniens se sont rencontrés à Erevan au début du mois d’avril pour
se renseigner sur les moyens d’accroître les relations commerciales.
Les agences de presse qui ont suivi cette réunion, ont souligné le
fait que le commerce turco-arménien entre janvier et février 2013
était de 24,8 millions de dollars, en hausse de 7,2 pour cent par
rapport à un an auparavant selon des données du service national de
statistique arménien.

Ces entrées sont importantes, car nous sommes encore dans cette
période de l’année où nous nous concentrons sur les relations
Turquie-Arménie, car les Arméniens se préparent à commémorer le 24
Avril jour anniversaire des massacres de 1915 qu’ils considèrent comme
équivalent à un génocide. Tout en n’excluant pas la possibilité de
surprises, le ministère turc des Affaires étrangères ne s’attend pas
cette année à une action d’envergure de la part de pays tiers qui
créerait des tensions dans les relations bilatérales. Mais les
responsables turcs sont conscients que cela pourrait être le silence
avant la tempête, car ils ont aussi conscience des activités orientés
vers 2015. Personne, bien sûr, ne doit s’attendre à ce que le
gouvernement turc demeure inactif en ce qui concerne ces activités.

Nul doute que la Turquie a une stratégie et il sera très important de
voir comment cette stratégie est lue et analysée par Erevan. Tout
d’abord, Erevan ne devrait pas voir le plan d’action de la Turquie
comme une « contre stratégie » pour neutraliser les efforts des
Arméniens pour la reconnaissance des massacres de 1915 comme un
génocide. Évidemment, les responsables turcs ne ménageront aucun
effort pour offrir leurs contre-arguments contre la thèse des
Arméniens. Mais la stratégie de la Turquie ira au-delà de simples
efforts contre-offensifs. Il faudra probablement chercher et même
forcer une fenêtre d’opportunité qui conduirait à une normalisation
des relations avec l’Arménie, en parallèle à réparer les liens entre
l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan.

Et c’est là que l’Arménie ne devrait pas tomber dans le même piège que
les grecs chypriotes. L’administration grecque chypriote a pensé et
croit toujours qu’elle pourra imposer un accord de paix à ses propres
conditions que la Turquie devra céder à la pression pour le plaisir
d’entrer dans l’UE. Alors que les relations turco-européennes sont au
point mort apparemment en raison de la question chypriote, nous savons
tous que les négociations d’adhésion ne vont pas en avant non pas à
cause de Chypre, mais à cause des grandes puissances européennes. Et
jusqu’à présent, la Turquie n’a pas changé sa politique à Chypre.

De la même façon, les Arméniens ne devraient pas s’attendre à ce que
la Turquie modifie sa politique de subordonner la normalisation de ses
relations avec Erevan à la solution au problème du Haut-Karabagh. La
dernière fois qu’Ankara a tenté un léger désengagement entre les deux,
nous savons comment cela a fini.

En bref : les efforts de la Turquie pour chercher et même forcer une
ouverture qui pourrait conduire à la fois à une normalisation
Ankara-Erevan et Erevan-Bakou

ne proviendra pas de la crainte de la stratégie de 2015 des Arméniens
; Au contraire la Turquie pourrait vouloir détourner l’attention
internationale sur un conflit gelé au Caucase, dont la suite est
seulement dans l’intérêt de grandes puissances, mais pas des états
régionaux.

23 avril 2013

Hurriyet

mardi 21 mai 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Turkish Prime Minister Visits Apple Ahead of Major Tablet Purchase

Turkish Prime Minister Visits Apple Ahead of Major Tablet Purchase

MacRumors.com
Sunday May 19, 2013 1:13 pm PDT by Eric Slivka

Anatolia News Agency reports that Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdo#an visited Apple yesterday as part of a tour of Silicon Valley
companies ahead of the country’s move to purchase 10.6 million tablets
for its schoolchildren. Erdo#an also visited Microsoft’s Bay Area
outpost and Google during his trip.

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdo#an (left) visits Apple

The meeting at Apple was just the latest of numerous interactions
between Apple executives and Turkish government officials as Apple
seeks to win the massive tablet contract. A number of Apple executives
including vice president for education John Couch traveled to Turkey
back in February to meet with Turkish president Abdullah Gul, while
Gul had visited Apple in May 2012.

Ahead of the education tablet bid, Apple is in the midst of a
significant push into the Turkish market, having launched the iTunes
Store for music and movies there last December and begun hiring for
future retail stores in the country.

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/19/turkish-prime-minister-visits-apple-ahead-of-major-tablet-purchase

Iran to Start Mass-Production of New Air Defense System Tomorrow

Iran to Start Mass-Production of New Air Defense System Tomorrow

18:17 | 2013-05-19

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran plans to start mass-production of a new air-defense
system on Monday.

The production line of the new system, Herz (Protector) 9, will be
inaugurated in a special ceremony attended by the country’s Defense
Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi tomorrow.

Last Tuesday, the Iranian defense ministry announced that Iran plans
to unveil five new defensive achievements in coming days.

Also, a senior Iranian military commander announced last month that
the country would unveil a home-made long-range air-defense missile
system similar to the Russian S-300 in the near future.

“This system, dubbed as Bavar (belief) 373, is being developed in the
country and will be officially unveiled soon,” Lieutenant Commander of
the Iranian Army’s Self-Sufficiency Jihad Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri
said.

He noted that Bavar-373 missile defense system has reached the
production stage and its subsystems have been already tested.

Earlier this year, senior military officials announced that Iran was
testing the subsystems of Bavar 373 missile defense system.

Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad
Esmayeeli said then that “laboratory tests are underway on subsystems
of the long-range Bavar 373 air-defense system”.

The Iranian Armed Forces have recently test-fired different types of
newly-developed missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of
its home-made weapons, tools and equipments, including submarines,
military ships, artillery, choppers, aircraft, UAVs and air defense
and electronic systems, during massive military drills.

Defense analysts and military observers say that Iran’s wargames and
its advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent
factor, specially at a time of heightened threats by the US.

BigCaucasus’ survey: Armenian men will protect Karabakh and will go

BigCaucasus’ survey: Armenian men will protect Karabakh and will go even further

09:20 18/05/2013 » SOCIETY

The “BigCaucasus” portal published a video survey conducted in Yerevan
with the inhabitants of the city in connection with the statement of
the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The survey was about Chechen
mercenaries who participated in NKR war. The portal also published the
comments of the NKR Foreign Ministry in this regard. The survey which
was conducted in Yerevan touched upon issues what according to the
inhabitants were the chances of starting a new war in the region, and
whether they are ready to take up arms in case if Azerbaijan attacks
Nagorno-Karabakh.

`Karabakh is an integral part of Armenia. After the collapse of the
USSR Karabakh acquired the same right to consider itself an
independent country. The Armenia men should protect Karabakh, just
like it happened in 1988-1994. I participated (in the war), and I will
participate,” said one of the respondents.

Another respondent believes that there will be no war between
Azerbaijan and Karabakh as well as between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The third of the inquired said a terrible war will occur, and the
Armenians will have to “add even more to what they had taken.”

“First of all, we need to protect ourselves, second we should think
about going further and make them understand that the problem cannot
be resolved through war. The issue should be resolved only through
peaceful negotiations. And in case of war, we will keep moving deep
into Azerbaijan,” he said.

The man added that the Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenia, and everyone knows
it. He noted that anyone familiar with the history will confirm that
the Turkic-speaking people in this region have come from Altai and the
Central Asia. “I took part in the first war. I was young then, now the
years take their toll. I also have kids, family. However, the men
should go there,” he said.

According to another participant of the survey there will be no war,
and the argument will continue for a long time.

“It’s a matter of blood. It couldn’t be otherwise. The answer is
unambiguous,” said another respondent.

The correspondent of the “BigCaucasus” appealed to the women as well:
they were mostly for the peace. “We need no war,” said one of the
respondents.

http://www.panorama.am/en/interviews/2013/05/18/bigcaucasus-1/

Germans blame Merkel’s stance in eurozone crisis for Eurovision deba

Germans blame Merkel’s stance in eurozone crisis for Eurovision debacle

May 19, 2013 – 18:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at
the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel’s tough
stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points
from 34 of the 39 countries voting, Reuters said.

Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest won the event, watched by around 125
million people across Europe, with 281 points while German act Cascada
was 21st out of 26 countries, getting just 18 points from Austria,
Israel, Spain, Albania and Switzerland.

“There’s obviously a political situation to keep in mind – I don’t
want to say ‘this was 18 points for Angela Merkel’,” said Germany’s
ARD TV network coordinator Thomas Schreiber. “But we all have to be
aware that it wasn’t just Cascada up there on stage (being judged) but
all of Germany.”

Merkel is popular in Germany for her firm position during the euro
zone crisis. But she is loathed in parts of Europe for her insisting
on painful austerity measures in countries such as Greece, Spain and
Italy in exchange for rescue packages.

“It’s unexplainable,” said ARD expert commentator Peter Urban on
Sunday after Cascada singer Natalie Horler was 21st even though German
media had touted her as a favorite. More than 8 million Germans
watched, a 44 percent market share.

“Is it that people just don’t like us?” Urban was asked on ZDF TV.
“There’s some truth to that,” he said.

“There will be two German soccer teams in the Champions League final
next week and maybe people didn’t want Germany to win Eurovision too.”

Lithuanian media expose Azeri fraud to buy Eurovision votes (video)

Lithuanian media expose Azeri fraud to buy Eurovision votes (video)

[image: Lithuanian media expose Azeri fraud to buy Eurovision votes]
May 19, 2013 – 15:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The journalists of the 15min.lt Lithuanian information
agency exposed a fraud orchestrated by Azerbaijan to take a top spot
in Eurovision
Song Contest.

The agency videotaped a meeting with two Russian-speaking men offering
money to Lithuanians for their votes in favor of a contestant. On Sunday,
May 18 morning a group of students came to the agency’s editorial office.
The students said they were approached by men who offered them 20 euro each
to vote multiple times for a contestant.

To investigate the matter, the 15min.lt journalists met the recruites armed
with hidden cameras and dictaphones. In a mere 10 minutes, the recruiters
divulged the whole `operation.’ As the journalists were told, the same
scheme worked in other countries. The goal was to recruit groups of 10
people to vote for Azerbaijan. Those recruited were given SIM-cards to vote
as many times as possible within 15 minutes.

The recruiters confessed to having found 8-10 groups. A supervisor was
assigned to every group to check the results and give the payment. To prove
the above, the recruiter pulled a wad of money from his pocket, noting he
could make the payment in lits.

As the man noted, the same scheme works in 15 countries, with Azeri victory
costing millions.

This was the way Azerbaijan got 12 points from Lithuania at Eurovision 2013.

The full conversation with the recruiters is featured in video below.

Beside Lithuania, Austria, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Ireland, Malta,
Montenegro and Russia gave Azerbaijan the highest points.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/158889/