Author: nina hovnanian

RPA GETS 42 SEATS IN YEREVAN CITY COUNCIL

May 12, 2013 – 19:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Central Election Commission (CEC) of Armenia drafted
a protocol on the results of May 5 Yerevan city council elections, in
consideration with the reports on the voting and recount results, as
well as the court decisions.

According to the CEC decision, Prosperous Armenia party will get 17
seats in the city council, Barev Yerevan bloc – 6, the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) – 42.

“The violations reported on the polling day didn’t affect the election
results,” the CEC press service reported.

9 TURKISH CITIZENS DETAINED OVER CAR BOMBINGS

May 12, 2013 – 15:28 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Authorities detained nine Turkish citizens believed
to have links to the Syrian intelligence agency in connection with
two car bombs that left 46 people dead in a Turkish border town,
officials said Sunday, May 12, as Syria rejected allegations the
country was behind the attack, Associated Press reported.

The bombings marked the biggest incident of cross-border violence
since the start of Syria’s bloody civil war and have raised fear
of Turkey being pulled deeper into the conflict. Harsh accusations
from both sides signaled a sharp escalation of already high tensions
between the two former allies.

“This incident was carried out by an organization which is in close
contact to pro-regime groups in Syria and I say this very clearly,
with the Syrian mukhabarat,” said Interior Minister Muammer Guler.

Among the nine people detained overnight was the mastermind of the
attack and more were expected, Guler said.

“We have determined that some of them were involved in the planning,
in the exploration and in the hiding of the vehicles,” he said.

Saturday’s twin bombings fifteen minutes apart in the Turkish town
of Reyhanli, a hub for Syrian refugees and rebels close to Syria,
also wounded dozens of people, including 50 who remained hospitalized
Sunday.

POPE FRANCIS GIVES CATHOLIC CHURCH NEW SAINTS

Pope Francis gives Catholic church new saints May 12, 2013 – 15:56
AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net- Pope Francis on Sunday, May 12 gave the Catholic
church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who
were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first
canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter’s Square,
Associated Press reported.

The “Martyrs of Otranto” were 813 Italians who were slain in the
southern Italian city in 1480 for defying demands by Turkish invaders
who overran the citadel to renounce Christianity.

Their approval for sainthood was decided upon by Francis’
predecessor, Benedict XVI, in a decree read at the ceremony in
February where the former pontiff announced his retirement.

Shortly after his election in March, Francis called for more dialogue
with Islam, and it was unclear how the granting of sainthood to the
martyrs would be received. Islam is a sensitive subject for the
church, and Benedict stumbled significantly in his relations with
Muslims.

The first pontiff from South America also gave Colombia its first
saint: a nun who toiled as a teacher and spiritual guide to
indigenous people in the 20th century.

With Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos among the VIPS, the
Argentine pope held out Laura of St. Catherine of Siena Montoya y
Upegui as a potential source of inspiration to the country’s peace
process, attempted after decades-long conflict between rebels and
government forces.

Francis prayed that “Colombia’s beloved children continue to work for
peace and just development of the country.”

TURQUIE. LE SPECTRE DU GENOCIDE

20 avril 2013

par Anne Dastakian

Publie a la veille du 98e anniversaire du genocide des Armeniens,
le 24 avril, La Turquie et le fantôme armenien, temoignage vif et
passionnant de Laure Marchand et Guillaume Perrier, respectivement
correspondants du Figaro et du Monde en Turquie depuis 2005, montre
combien la question armenienne, frenetiquement refoulee et niee
par les autorites, hante ce pays. Installes en Turquie au moment où
une courageuse conference d’historiens osait pour la première fois
publiquement employer le mot de “genocide”, les deux reporters ont
vu cet episode officiellement inexistant progressivement remonter a
la surface. Ce qu’illustrent d’emouvants portraits de descendants
de rescapes, toujours ostracises a ce jour, revendiquant de facon
parfois insolite ce fragment de leur identite. Egalement frappant,
le recit des spoliations et du “genocide de la pierre”, qui effaca
les 2 538 eglises et 451 monastères en activite a la veille de la
Première Guerre dans l’Empire ottoman, un chiffre qui a fondu a six
eglises en Anatolie aujourd’hui. Un ouvrage a la fois accablant et
porteur d’espoir.

La Turquie et le fantôme armenien, de Laure Marchand et Guillaume
Perrier,

Actes Sud, 220 p., 23 (EURO).

dimanche 12 mai 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

ROUDOLPH GRIGORYAN, CHAMPION DE FRANCE DES ECHECS DES – 18 ANS

Lors des championnats de France d’echecs de jeunes, a
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Drôme) qui se tenaient du 28 avril au
5 mai, Roudolph Grigoryan remporta le titre de champion de France
des moins de 18 ans. Roudolph Grigoryan a remporte le titre avec 7,9
points sur un maximum possible de 9 points. Gary Jiroyan avec 7 points
partageait avec trois autres joueurs la 2e a la 4e place sur les 83
joueurs qui prirent part a la competition. Finalement Gary Jiroyan
devait au terme de parties complementaires occuper la 4e place.

Informations site Armchess.am

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 12 mai 2013, Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ISTANBUL : UN ATTENTAT CONTRE LE PATRIARCHE ORTHODOXE DEJOUE

La presse turque a rapporte l’arrestation d’un suspect originaire
de Kayseri (centre). Selon les medias, il aurait ete arrete sur
la base d’une denonciation l’accusant d’avoir projete d’assassiner
Bartholomee Ier le 29 mai, a l’occasion du 560e anniversaire de la
prise de Constantinople par les Turcs.

Le porte-parole du patriarcat a confirme l’arrestation d’un suspect,
precisant que les autorites policières poursuivaient leur enquete :
“La police nous a fait part hier matin (vendredi) de la situation.

Elle nous a dit qu’on avait arrete une personne et qu’on en recherchait
deux autres”, a affirme le père Dositheos Anagnostopoulos.

“La securite du patriarcat a ete renforcee par la police”, a-t-il
ajoute.

Le porte-parole a toutefois indique que Bartholomee Ier ne prenait pas
très au serieux cet eventuel projet d’attentat. “Sa Saintete ne croit
pas que ce soit quelque chose de grave”, a-t-il souligne. Inquietude
chez les chretiens

Ce developpement intervient alors que plusieurs incidents ont seme
l’inquietude au sein de la minorite chretienne de Turquie, forte
d’environ 100 000 personnes. Le 5 mai, un homme a tire des cartouches
a blanc devant une eglise armenienne d’Istanbul, semant la panique
parmi les fidèles venus feter Pâques, et un jeune Armenien a ete roue
de coups par un petit groupe d’individus devant une autre eglise. Le
28 avril, une eglise grecque orthodoxe a ete vandalisee par un groupe
d’une dizaine d’adolescents, qui ont brise quelques meubles et tente
de piller un tronc. La veille, un groupe de 30 a 40 personnes a brise
les vitres d’une eglise evangelique en jetant des pierres.

Plusieurs attaques de chretiens ont eu lieu ces dernières annees en
Turquie, pays a une ecrasante majorite musulmane. En 2006, un pretre
catholique italien, Andrea Santoro, 61 ans, a ete assassine par balles
dans la ville de Trabzon (nord-est). Son jeune meurtrier turc purge
une peine de 19 ans de prison.

dimanche 12 mai 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

Dying With Friend Is A Wedding

This photo of news.am depicting May 9 celebrations is rather symbolic.
Against the happy faces of the minister of defense, Seyran Ohanyan,
and prime minister Tigran Sargsyan we can see Hovik Abrahamyan’s
gloomy or worried face. Sure, it is difficult to tell what expressions
they had on their faces a few seconds later but this second is very
symbolic on the victory day.

It is also symbolic in the context of the new government. Tigran
Sargsyan and Seyran Ohanyan are probably the members of the new
government with the most stability since they have been reappointed
immediately and without any discussions. Instead, Hovik Abrahamyan
again did not get a placement in the government whereas it is the most
familiar place to him. The point is that Abrahamyan, by nature, is an
`economist’ and the important thing for him is not the constitutional
ranks but the essence of work. In this sense, he prefers the executive
since there financial and economic resources circulate.

Hovik Abrahamyan stated that one does not need brains in politics but
in business where, as we know, brains are necessary to earn money
which he used as an implant replacing brains in politics. Hovik
Abrahamyan was deprived of direct ties with financial and economic
resources and started losing political weight.

In this sense, Tigran Sargsyan’s happiness and Hovik Abrahamyan’s
sadness are symbolic.

By and large, these faces shot at the right moment and at the right
place on the right holiday are the summery of the Armenian internal
governmental system. The system is approaching the internal
extremities of victory and defeat. It is approaching unwillingly as
time dictates it and it can’t but move closer.

The system, of course, is trying to achieve a compromise between the
two extremities trying to survive in a mixed mode as long as possible
but it realizes that global tendencies rule out mixes both in short-
and long-term perspectives. But this does not mean that solutions of
extremities will be achieved through time, and rotation has been
predefined so it is only necessary to wait.

Only major collapse and collective failure are predefined in time
according to the Armenian `dying with friends is a wedding’ option if
there is no understanding of the exceptional chance of carrying out
the historic mission as a `remission of sins’. Instead, life is
perceived as just a formula of `who wants to be a millionaire’.

James Hakobyan
11:36 11/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Dorians’ concert in Copenhagen accepted warmly

16:12, 11 May, 2013

YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS: Towards the Eurovision 2013, the concert
of Dorians rock band took place at the Amager Bio Club in Copenhagen
on May 10. As Armenpress was reported by the band’s press service, in
the first part of the concert Dorians presented the well-known and
popular songs, concluded by `Es kulam’ (I am crying) song, during
which the boys were accompanied by the violoncellist Arpenik Hakobyan,
who arrived from Brussels.

After the first part of the concert the band was leaving to the
backstage with calls `We want more’.

In the second part of the concert Dorians performed several songs,
concluding the evening with the `Lonely Planet’ to be presented at the
2nd semifinals of the Eurovision 2013 on May 16.

Goals of Henrikh Mkhitaryan are among Shakhtar’s best goals for April

15:44, 11 May, 2013

YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS: The two goals, stroked at the gates of
Dinamo Kyiv, by the midfielder of the Armenian Football Team Henrikh
Mkhitaryan were acknowledged among the best goals of Shakhtar for
April and are placed the second and the third. As reported by
Armenpress, quoting the official website of the FC Shakhtar Donetsk,
by the results of the survey the author of the best goal in the month
of April is Luis Adriano.

695 fans out of 1968 surveyed people voted for him. The second place
is occupied by Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal having the votes of 550 fans
and 240 votes for the third goal.

The midfielder of the Armenian Football Team and the best forward in
the Ukraine Championship Henrikh Mkhitaryan has stroked 22 goals. One
goal is left to be stroked by our football player to establish a new
record in Ukraine by the quantity of stroked goals during one season.

Power of Republicans Is Shrinking Gradually

After the election Serzh Sargsyan announced that the government has
successfully organized three important electoral campaigns. He meant
the lack of unpredictable turns during elections which would burden
Serzh Sargsyan with responsibility for death of people, which is a
success indeed. However, all these elections marked the beginning of
the end of the RPA, and it is already obvious that in the upcoming 5
years this party will be losing power.

It has already lost its social platform. The presidential election
demonstrated that the main weapon of the RPA – intimidation – is not
operable any more. Ten big towns and hundreds of villages, including
Gyumri, voted not for the Republican candidate. They demonstrated that
they are not afraid of sanctions. They have nothing to lose but in
addition to this the power of Republicans does not get to the
capillaries.

The election of the Council of Elders made this more vivid. Only half
of the people of Yerevan voted, and half of them voted for the RPA.
One quarter of the voters of Yerevan voted for the Republicans.

Three or four years ago the power of Republicans spread through the
entire vascular system of the citizen of Armenia. There was a way of
pressure on everyone – some people ran businesses, others were public
servants, someone’s son was in the army. Now the power of Republicans
covers a handful of people. First, the government has stopped
`feeding’ everyone and has limited itself to a small circle of people.
Second, as the chief of police Vova Gasparyan put it, they are not
paid so much as to control every citizen.

For the time being, this narrow circle supports the operation of the
electoral machine. However, it is already hard to operate it. An
example is the village of Martz where people rolled the pipes brought
there to build a water power plant into the gorge. Notably, the
government did not punish those people and did not use sanctions
against them because its power does not cover them.

Armenia has been divided to two unequal parts: people who still obey
the ruling group and the majority which no longer is fed by the system
of blood vessels. The marginal government has to take into account
those who have got out of their control. It knows that each decision
it makes will run into powerful resistance. Most decisions are not
accepted due to this.

It is not visible because people, as a rule, notice unlawful decisions
which are enforced despite public opinion. For example, the covered
market reconstruction. However, nobody can count how many more
decisions were not made because the government was sure that the
society would rebel.

One thing is obvious that the vascular system has failed. The body has
found other sources of blood and does not depend on the government.

Naira Hayrumyan
15:25 11/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News: