Author: nina hovnanian

ARMENIAN OPPOSITIONISTS DISCUSS SHADOW CABINET PLAN IN LIBERTY SQUARE (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

18:48 ~U 17.03.13

Opposition activists opened Sunday a civil council debate in Yerevan’s
Liberty Square to discuss the possibility of forming a shadow cabinet.

The meeting was conducted by Nikol Pashinyan, an MP affiliated with
opposition Armenian National Congress.

The organizers are discussing plans for forming new legislative,
executive and judicial authorities.

Addressing the crowd, Pashinyan said the cause of the popular movement
was the people’s choice in the February 18 presidential election.

Considering Raffi Hovhannisian an absolute winner, the opposition
activist said it is logical for an elected president to take steps
characterizing a real country leader.

“There has been a proposal for forming a shadow cabinet, but the
process is not definately an easy one. It is, in that respect,
important for the public to be involved in the processes. A key problem
in Armenia is to make politics public, as that is an important issue
in democratization efforts. We all must think in this period. It is
very important for us to forget the incumbent authorities and direct
our ideas to a change of government,” he said.

Pashinyan added they will try to name specific people and unveil
a list of 100-300 individuals in order to understand the crowd’s
reaction to their plan.

He further spoke of security issues, noting that the problem gains
an increasing attention at moments of a maturing coup.

“We hear opinions that the public processes in Liberty Square pose
a threat to Nagorno-Karabakh’s security. But the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic has an army and a commander-in-chief, so Liberty Square does
not question the NKR president’s legitimacy,” he said.

Pashinyan further called for properly evaluating the existing situation
in Armenia. He said Armenia saw serious political system changes this
year, with several key parties refusing to join the election race.

“The election created a kind of situation in which the Armenian
people seemed to have no a choice, being left face to face with Serzh
Sargsyan. But what happened was a different thing; the people headed
to [the polls] with a tacit agreement, and they made their choice,
surprising analysts and political figures,” he said.

Pashinyan said such circumstances demonstrate the impossibility of
maintaining the current political system.

“The political system has seen the emergence of a central force, which
is the Armenian citizen. The main parties did not guide their voters;
they made a choice on their own. This means the new government’s
formation has to belong to the civil society, not the people,”
he added.

Public Forum at Liberty Square 17.03.13

MGM Resorts Shares Climb Higher as Billionaire Kerkorian may Boost his Stake

PRNewswire
March 15, 2013

NEW YORK, March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — A new SEC filing revealed
that Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian , 95 years old, could boost his
position in MGM through his investment company Tracinda. His position
would move from 18.6% to 25%. Tracinda made the disclosure with the
Federal Trade Commission to comply with antitrust regulations,
according to a securities filing earlier this week. Shares of MGM have
already gained over 6.5% this year. The stock closed up 6.65% at
$13.24 on Thursday.

ARMENIE
24 000 tonnes de feuille d’aluminium ont été produite en Arménie

Environ 24 132 tonnes de feuilles d’aluminium ont été produites en
Arménie pendant la période entre janvier et novembre 2012 soit 4,5 %
de plus qu’à la même période un an plus tôt a annoncé le Service
National de la Statistique d’Arménie.

Environ 17,6 tonnes d’aluminium roulé ont été produites dans le pays
pendant les onze premiers mois de 2012 soit une baisse de 15,8 %
comparé à 2011.

dimanche 17 mars 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

KARABAGH
L’enlèvement des mines et des bombes dans le Karabagh

Grand Succès dans le nettoyage mais les besoins restent

Il est difficile d’imaginer devoir s’inquiéter si votre prochain pas
risque de provoquer une explosion. Pouvez-vous imaginer un enfant,
incapable de se rappeler une guerre, devenant encore sa victime ? Même
si la bataille a cessé il y a 18 ans, les gens du Nagorno Karabagh
souffrent toujours des bombes des mines anti-personnel. La guerre
entre 1992 et 1994 entre l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan a laissé des
centaines de champs de mines et de bombes non explosées. En février
dernier, Melo Babayan, un berger de la région de Lachin et père de
quatre enfants, a marché sur une mine en faisant paître ses moutons.
Il a perdu son pied gauche dans l’accident. En fait, le Karabagh est
l’un des pays les plus dangereux au vue du ration personne/taux
d’accident avec l’Afghanistan et dépassant le Cambodge. Depuis le
cessez-le-feu, l’ONG HALO a enregistré 335 accidents de guerre dans le
Karabagh entre 1995 et la fin de 2012. Plus d’un quart du total
enregistré des accidents (89) concernait des enfants, surtout des
garçons.

Les bonnes nouvelles sont que l’ONG HALO, l’organisation la plus
ancienne dans ce secteur du nettoyage de mines, établie dans le
Karabagh depuis 1995, a fait d’énormes progrès. L’ONG HALO emploie
actuellement 142 habitants du Karabagh soutenu par un simple expatrié
international. Jusqu’à présent, le personnel local a détruit plus de
65000 articles explosifs et a rendu plus de 64000 acres de terre à
l’agriculture productive. Plus de 85 % des champs de mines ont été
nettoyé dans le Karabagh et 70 % des munitions et explosifs divers. En
conséquence, les taux de causalité ont baissé annuellement depuis
1995.

Le travail de l’ONG HALO non seulement protège les victimes
potentielles mais rend la terre à la communauté locale pour une
utilisation sûre.

Les champs du fermier Seyran Aghadjanian, près du village de
Vazgenashen dans la région de Martuni, ont été minés pendant la
guerre. Les fermiers ont perdu deux tracteurs en essayant de cultiver
la terre dans le secteur avant qu’ils n’aient décidé que c’était juste
trop dangereux. L’ONG HALO a nettoyé 28 acres de terre agricole ce qui
a permis à Seyran et d’autres fermiers de cultiver la terre en
sécurité. Il a dit « Maintenant qu’HALO a nettoyé le secteur je suis
heureux – je peux cultiver la terre et soutenir ma famille ».

L’histoire de Seyran est typique. Il est estimé que la production
économique potentielle de la terre contaminée excède 5 millions de $
par an.

Norashen, dans la région d’Hadrut, est un des villages qui exigent
toujours un nettoyage. Les mines ont été mises en 1992 par des soldats
Azéris protégeant leurs positions militaires et ont depuis causé
beaucoup d’accidents. Le secteur soupçonné contenir des mines est
approximativement de 60 acres. Ce secteur inclut des champs agricoles
appartenant à cinq familles. Gohar Karapetyan est l’un des
propriétaires terriens dont la famille profiterait directement de
l’enlèvement des mines. Elle vit avec son fils, sa femme, ses quatre
enfants et trois petits-enfants restés orphelin de son dernier frère
(son mari sont morts d’une crise cardiaque il y a deux ans). Son fils
Edouard, travaille pour le département du gaz 40 000 drams (96 $) par
mois et est le seul membre de la famille qui gagne un revenu régulier.
La famille veut cultiver les 11 acres de terre qu’elle possède mais
est effrayé de le faire à cause des mines. Les ventes du blé qu’ils
pourraient cultiver sur la terre leur feraient gagner un revenu
supplémentaire de 3000 $ par an, les aidant significativement pour
soutenir leur famille.

La fin est en vue et l’ONG HALO cherche activement de l’aide de la
part de la communauté arménienne pour aider à finir le travail. Le
travail d’HALO dans le Nagorno Karabagh est actuellement soutenu par
l’Agence américaine pour le Développement International (USAID), la
fondation Reece et Grape for Humanity du Canada.

En 2013, sans nouveaux donneurs privés, l’ONG HALO fera face à un
déficit de fonds qui retarderait l’achèvement de ce travail urgent et
de sauvetage de vies. En outre, l’ONG HALO est limité dans les
secteurs dans lesquels elle peut employer le financement de l’USAID –
par exemple il ne peut pas être employé autour de Berdzor. Cela
signifie que sans une augmentation significative de donneurs privés
finançant les actions à Berdzor des secteurs vivront avec la menace de
mines pendant plusieurs années encore.

Pour soutenir HALO

online à halousa.org

ou par cheque à The HALO Trust 220 Montgomery Street, Suite 968, San
Francisco, CA 94104. Par Amy CURREN

dimanche 17 mars 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Vidéo
Potraits de voyages : le Haut Karabagh

Dans ce très court-métrage de la série Portraits de voyages proposé
par Sacrebleu productions avec Arte, un jeune couple décide d’aller
visiter le Haut-Karabagh.

Deux voyageurs se perdent sur les routes d’Arménie. Arménie,
Azerbaïdjan, Haut-Karabagh ? Petite leçon de géopolitique locale…,
dit le commentaire.

dimanche 17 mars 2013,
Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

Armenia 87th in 2013 Human Development Report

13:13 15.03.2013

Norway, Australia and the United States lead the rankings of 187
countries and territories in the latest Human Development Index (HDI),
while conflict-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo and
drought-stricken Niger have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurement
of national achievement in health, education and income, published
today in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2013 Human
Development Report.

The top ten includes also the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand,
Sweden, Ireland, Switzerland and Japan.

Armenia, together with its neighbors, is in the group of countries
with a high human development index. The report places Armenia in the
87th position 3 places above Turkey.
Georgia, which ranks the 74th, is this year a leading country in the
South Caucuses region. Iran is 76th and Azerbaijan is the 82nd
position.

The Human Development Index is an annual report featuring a
comprehensive statistics of the life expectancy, literacy level and
per capita GDP income in world’s different states. The criteria rate
countries in four general groups – very high, high, low and average.

Baltic News Service / – BNS
March 14, 2013 Thursday 12:58 PM EET

Friendship group with Nagorno Karabakh officially presented at Lithuanian parlt

VILNIUS, Mar 14, BNS – An official announcement was made at the
plenary meeting of the Lithuanian parliament on Thursday about
founding of a friendship group with the unrecognized republic of
Nagorno Karabakh.

Vytautas Gapsys of the ruling Labor Party who presided over the
meeting read a statement about formation of the group, inviting
parliamentarians to join. He also announced the planned maiden meeting
of the group.

Lithuania’s former foreign minister Audronius Azubalis of the
opposition Conservatives expressed indignation, saying the move would
affect the country’s official foreign policy. Azerbaijan’s ambassador
to Lithuania has handed a note to Lithuania over the group as a
potential threat to bilateral relations.

“The document you just read is against the Seimas board, the statute
and recommendations of the (parliamentary) Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Seimas establishes groups for interparliamentary relations with
countries, which enjoy international recognition. In this case, such
group cannot be founded in the Seimas, as such things put our
parliament and Lithuania in a very odd situation, we become the field
of games and confrontations between national minorities in the
Caucasian region,” Azubalis said.

One of the founders of the group, Dangute Mikutiene of the ruling
Labor Party, said the parliament had more groups of friendship with
unrecognized regions that include members of the Conservatives.
“Lithuania is a democratic country, a mandate of a Seimas member is
free, Seimas members are free to be friends with parliaments of other
countries, even if they haven’t been officially recognized. Should I
give you a list where members of your political group signed – Cuba,
Taiwan, Chechnya, Tibet?,” Mikutiene asked rhetorically.

With support from Armenia’s capital Yerevan, ethnic Armenian
separatists took control over Nagorno Karabakh during the war in the
last decade o0f the 20th century, which killed about 30,000 people. No
countries have recognized Nagorno Karabakh’s independence, the
international community deems the region part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to get back control over Nagorno
Karabakh by force.

Turkish minister Bagis backpedals on Assyrian Genocide `masturbation’ comment

TERT.AM
11:08 ¢ 13.03.13

Turkey EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis has apparently backing off
from comments he made to a female Swedish Parliament member comparing
the Assyrian Genocide to `masturbation,’ reported Today’s Zaman.

Bagis, who is a notorious Genocide denier, was attending an event
organized by several Assyrian organizations in the Swedish capital
earlier this year, when he turned to Swedish member of parliament
Yilmaz Gerimo and said: `What are you Assyrians looking to gain by
using the Seyfo question as masturbation and trumpeted it in the media
and the Swedish Parliament?’

According to reporter Dikran Ego, who first reported the incident,
Bagis himself broke the uncomfortable silence that ensued, by
apologizing to Turkish Ambassador to Sweden Zergun Koruturk, saying
that perhaps his remarks were inappropriate to say in the presence of
a woman’the Swedish parliament member, Gerimo. Assyrian groups in
Sweden were greatly offended by the remark.

On Monday though, BagıÅ?, who is back is Sweden accompanying Turkish
President Abdullah Gul, said he had not meant to hurt anyone and was
ready to apologize if he had. Although the statement was short of an
apology as he insisted that he did not remember making such a
reference, it was still seen as a sign of regret, Asbarez reports
citing Today’s Zaman.

Assyrian Federation of Sweden (SRF) Chairman Kenan Anter said his
organization remained upset over Basıs’s remarks.
`Firstly, he did not apologize; he only said that he was ready to
apologize if he had offended someone, implying that we, the seven or
eight [Assyrian] representatives who did not walk out of that meeting
[in January] out of respect for him and the ambassador, are liars. He
could have at least not denied having said so,’ Anter said, adding
that he was finding it hard to understand why anyone would risk
undermining the trust at a time when dialogue between Sweden’s
sizeable Assyrian community and Turkey is going well.

Another SRF leader Afram Yakoub told Today’s Zaman that he was aware
that the minister did not offer a full apology but noted that it would
have been unthinkable for a Turkish minister even a few years ago to
even offer `something which sounds like an apology’ to a Christian
minority.

ARMENIAN LAW STUDENTS ASSOCIATION PETITIONS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RE: ELECTION

11:18, March 16, 2013

Armenian Law Students Association (ALSA)

Southwestern Law School

3050 Wilshire Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90010

March 14, 2013

Samantha Rodgers

Chief Membership Mobilization Officer

Amnesty International USA

5 Penn Plaza

New York, NY 10001

Dear Ms. Rodgers:

We are a group of concerned Armenian-American law students writing
to express our deep concern regarding the reports of human rights
violations during Armenia~Rs February 18, 2013 presidential election.

We appeal to Amnesty International to assist the Armenian people
in realizing their democratic aspirations by launching a supporter
mobilization campaign.

We strongly concur with your February 28, 2013 Public Statement that
there is an urgent need for Armenian authorities to investigate
election-related human rights violations. We do not ask Amnesty
International to take a position on the outcome of the election, but to
help mobilize and organize the public in their pursuit of a meaningful
and impartial investigation into the many alleged human rights abuses.

Per your statement, ~SAmnesty International calls on the relevant
authorities to carry out prompt and impartial investigations into
all allegations of rights violations during the elections and hold
those responsible to account. The authorities must also guarantee the
safety of participants at postelection protests and public meetings.~T
These are fundamental rights which must be upheld, as protests are
ongoing and the Constitutional Court has just denied a petition
disputing official election results. Unfortunately, public trust
in the Constitutional Court~Rs impartiality is weak, so we also ask
Amnesty International to look into potential abuse of the rule of law.

Judging by the passionate reaction from Armenians to reports of
roughly 400 election irregularities, there is widespread support for
a mobilization campaign. For the past month, protests have been made
on a daily basis in Armenia, not only in Yerevan but in towns and
villages across the country. At the risk of violent reprisals and
loss of employment (and financial ruin), ordinary citizens in Armenia
have openly protested election misconduct. University students are
engaged in a brave strike that enjoys wide popular support. Diaspora
communities in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Brussels have rallied
in solidarity with native Armenians.

For many in the diaspora, the local Armenian response to what is
perceived as an undemocratic electoral process is the most encouraging
display of civic participation we have seen since Armenia became an
independent Republic in 1991. We are inspired to do our part to support
those at the forefront of the quest for a more democratic Armenia,
and we urge Amnesty International to assist in that universal cause.

Yours truly,

Tamara Shahabian Voskanian ALSA Vice President On behalf of the
ALSA Board

TURKEY READY TO ESTABLISH JOINT COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE EVENTS OF 1915

Trend, Azerbaijan
March 15 2013

Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /

Turkey is ready to establish a joint commission with Armenia consisting
of historians to investigate the events of 1915, the Haber3 newspaper
quotes Turkish President Abdullah Gul as saying on Friday.

President Gul said that the investigation of historical events is
not a matter of parliamentarians or politicians. Gul said that third
countries may also take part in the investigation of the events
of 1915.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey’s predecessor, the
Ottoman Empire committed genocide in 1915 against Armenians living in
Anadolu. Their efforts have achieved the recognition of the ‘Armenian
Genocide’ by the parliaments of several countries.