Author: nina hovnanian

Wet wipes erase passport ink stamps of Armenian voters : Hovannisian
headquarter chief

YEREVAN, February 18. /ARKA/. The ink stamps in Armenian voters’
passports are erased by wet wipes, Hovsep Khurshudyan, a spokesman for
presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian’s campaign headquarter, told
Novosti-Armenia agency on Monday.

`This thing refers to all passports regardless of a polling station,’ he said.

The complaints about the ink stamps in passports were also signaled on
May 6 parliamentary elections in Armenia. At that time, the ink was of
a low-quality and was disappearing quite quickly (it should have
disappeared not earlier than 12 hours).

The spokesman also said the observers had reported on ballot stuffing
in Tashir village.

`Our representatives tried to protocol the violations, but the heads
of commissions do not allow us to do so,’ he noted and added they had
received signals some ballot stuffing would be done in other polling
stations of the republic.

Armenia’s presidential elections kicked off on February 18 at all
polling stations at 8 a.m. sharp.

Hovannisian’s headquarter disseminated a video which shows the
passport ink stamp is easily erased by hydrogen peroxide.

Candidate Claims Fraud in Armenia Presidential Poll

© RIA Novosti. Alexey Kudenko

YEREVAN, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – Mass violations have occurred
during voting in Armenia’s presidential election, a spokesman for one
of the candidates claimed on Monday, the Novosti-Armenia news agency
reported.
`Starting from 8:00 a.m., we have been receiving reports from polling
stations across Armenia of violations, in particular, of ballot
stuffing, control of the voting process,’ election candidate Raffi
Hovhannisyan’s press secretary Hovsep Khurshudyan told reporters.
Polling started at 8:00 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m. on
Monday. Seven candidates are standing for the presidency, which
according to opinion polls is likely to be won by incumbent leader
Serzh Sargsyan.
`There are also reports of disappearing stamps in citizens’
passports,’ Khurshudyan added, while showing journalists that the
stamp indicating a person has voted can easily be removed with a wet
napkin.
Khurshudyan said Hovhannisyan’s campaign headquarters has reported all
the violations it registered to the relevant law enforcement agencies,
whose officials assured him the information would be dealt with
according to the law.
Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who has already voted,
claimed the election has been going smoothly and all measures have
been taken to `rule out any doubts that the vote is free and
transparent.’
Armenian presidential candidate Paruir Hairikyan was shot in the
shoulder last month, in an apparent assassination bid. He initially
asked for a deferral of the vote, but later withdrew his appeal to the
country’s Constitutional Court to postpone the election by two weeks.

EU calls to accelerate finalizing of Association Agreements with
Georgia and Armenia

NEWS.AM
February 18, 2013 | 16:39

After the meeting in Brussels, EU Foreign Affairs Council called to
accelerate finalizing of the Association Agreements with Moldova,
Georgia and Armenia.

`The Council recalls that the European Council has called for progress
as regards the Association Agreements including DCFTAs with the
Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Armenia with a view to their
finalisation by the time of the Summit. It appreciates the launching
of work with these partners on Association Agendas to replace the ENP
Action Plans with the view to preparing for and facilitating the
implementation of the Association Agreements. The Council also
welcomes the progress underway in the Association Agreement
negotiations with Azerbaijan,’ the Council said in Conclusions on
Eastern Partnership.

`Negotiations on both the Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements
with Armenia have been swiftly concluded and the Visa Facilitation
Agreement with Armenia was signed in December 2012. The Council now
looks forward to their entry into force by the time of the Vilnius
Summit,’ the statement reads.

The Foreign Ministers also recalled the significant EU financial
support provided for partner countries’ reform efforts in the period
from 2010 to 2013 amounting to 1.9 billion.

With the view to preparing the Vilnius Summit of November 2013, the
Council looks forward to the Eastern Partnership Foreign Ministers
meeting in July of this year.

Charity concert featuring Nina Karapetyan and Genrikh Petrosyan

17:22, February 18, 2013

On February 17 the `Hayartun’ Cultural Center of the Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Georgia hosted in the Hall of
Calouste Gulbenkian another charity concert to support the Armenians
of Syria. Talented performers Nina Karapetyan and Genrikh Petrosyan
appeared in solo concert.

These two famous musicians often took part in competitions and
festivals, both in Georgia and Armenia. They were repeatedly awarded
medals, diplomas and the title of laureate.

The joint appearance on the stage is not new for these artists. On
April 23, 2011 Nina Karapetyan and Genrikh Petrosyan organized the
joint performance in Tbilisi Nodar Dumbadze State Central Children’s
Theatre, which was very successful.

Nina Karapetyan and Genrikh Petrosyan decided to take part in a
charity event in response to a call for help from the Armenians of
Syria.

The Hall of Calouste Gulbenkian at the `Hayartun’ Cultural Center of
the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Georgia was
crowded with spectators and fans. The audience greeted with stormy
applause the folk, patriotic, pop songs and rock ballads. Songs were
accompanied by elegant dances of `Jeyran’ and `Ani’ dance ensembles.

Charitable contributions were made during the concert. The entire
amount will be donated to the “Syrian Armenian Relief Fund.”

Press service of the Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia

Observer finds pile of ballot papers in separate room

05:26 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

A pile of sealed ballot papers has been found at one of the precincts
in Ararat marz.

Narek Babayan, an observer of the Europe in Law Association, found the
pile of ballots in a separate room of Precinct 17/2. The door of the
room was left open and the observer noticed the pile when he was
passing by.
“When I tried to video record the pile I was forced off the room. The
door was immediately locked after me. Later I saw the pile taken out
of the room through the window,” Narek Babayan told Media Centre.

Narine Esmayel, another observer of the Europe in Law Association,
alarmed about ballot staffing at Precinct 17/5 in Ararat marz.
However, she told the Media center that the electoral commission
refused to record the violation.

“Some 50 beasts intruded into the polling station, pressed the
observers to the wall and grasped our hands so that we could not film
the violation. Then they approached the ballot box and stuffed about
300-400 ballots into the box,” the observer told the Media Centre.

“When the group left we demanded that the electoral commission
register the incident but they refused saying, “What has happened? We
did not notice anything. they wer simply mocking at us,” said the
observer

“Election-2013”: Head of Electoral Commission is just standing and
smoking and does not control the situation

á994B80-79CE-11E2-83EBF6327207157C
Monday, February 18, 16:21

An observer from the Civil Society Institute NGO has fixed several
cases of violation at the 17/01 polling station in Artashat, where 2
people simultaneously voted in the polling booth without being
registered in accordance with the established procedure.

In one of the cases the daughter proved to help her mother to vote.
The observer was also told that at the same polling station mirrors
were fastened to the wall of the polling booth, which breaks the
secrecy of the voters’ ballot. Through the mediation of international
observers, the chairman of the commission covered the mirrors. At the
22/15 polling station, the observer noticed that some voters were
going to the polling station accompanied by a woman. After voting, the
voters, accompanied by the same woman, came up to a car parked 100m
from the polling station, where the woman made some notes and the
voters went away. At the 34/30 polling station in Gyumri, the observer
noticed that the candidates’ proxies had no identification documents.
The proxies say that they could not pierce their jackets to fasten the
badges.

The district administration of Nor Nork calls the citizens and forces
them to go to the polls. Iditord says that the citizens receive the
calls not to their home telephones but mobiles ones. At the 03/03
polling station located in the building of School No.84 in
Kanaker-Zeytun district, the school headmaster Arkady Eloyan has an
observer’s certificate though he is not authorized by any NGO. Eloyan
received CIS observers Konstantin Bannikov and Viktor Krivopuskov in
his room, gave them a treat, afterwards Krivopuskov presented the
headmaster with his book, bagratyanpresident.am says.

The observer from the Civil Society Institute NGO points out that the
1/08 polling station in Yerevan has been crowded for 20 minutes. The
chairman of the commission is standing and smoking and does not
control the situation. Two people simultaneously were voting near the
polling booth. The hotline 080 080 804 has received a signal saying
that the stamp ink in the passports evaporated 2 hours after the
voting. According to another signal, at the 8/05, 8/06 and 8/07
polling stations of Yerevan, an observer noticed that a citizen was
voting outside the polling station, in a car.

One more signal came from a citizen saying that open and multiple
voting is held in Getazat village of Ararat region. Another signal
came from an observer saying that at the 17/2 and 17/3 polling
stations the chairman of the commission isolated the observers and
cases of multiple voting were registered at the 17/7 polling station.
At one of the polling stations of Lukashin village of Armavir region
the members of the commission are standing next to the voters and
watch whom they are voting for. The observer also noticed that at the
34/27 polling station in Gyumri, a proxy is sitting very close to one
of the polling booths and trying to watch whom the voters are voting
for.

To note, the 6th presidential election in the history of independent
post-Soviet Armenia kicked off on February 18 at 8:00am local time.

Violence Against Journalist And Observer

17:07 18/02/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

According to journalist Artak Hambardzumyan, he and observer Narine
Ismaili underwent violence at the polling station 17/05.

About 25-30 young men entered the polling station, used violence
against them, stuffed the ballot box and left.

`There were policemen around but they did nothing. Everyone said they
saw them but no one confirmed they stuffed the ballot boxes,’
Hambardzumyan told Lragir.am.

Hayrikyan performs his civil duty, votes for himself

04:20 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

Presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan today attended a polling
station in Goght village in Kotayk marz, where he voted for himself.

It is still unknown whether or not the hopeful will return to
Yerevan’s Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center where he was taken
after the January 31 assassination attempt.

After performing his civic duty Mr Hayrikyan headed to Garni to pay
tribute to the victims of the 1921 February uprising.

Moscow stresses convergence with Iran – Russian official

Tehran, Feb 18, IRNA – Deputy Speaker of Russia’s State Duma Nikolai
Levichev said here Monday that Moscow attaches great importance to
convergence with Iran.

Levichev, who is also head of Iran-Russia parliamentary friendship
group, made the remarks addressing an international conference on Iran
and regional cooperation in Eurasia that opened in Tehran this
morning.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed
strengthening cooperation in Eurasia.

1483**1422

Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 1077045

TO MAINTAIN THE REVIVED FREEDOM-LOVING SPIRIT

`6:-to-maintain-the-revived-freedom-loving-spirit&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Monday, 18 February 2013 09:31

These days, the 25th anniversary of the Karabakh Movement is
celebrated in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Mass rallies took place
on February 12 in Martuni and Hadrut, on February 13 – in
Stepanakert,reminding us, the witnesses and participants of the truly
crucial events, of the cold February of 1988 … It was then that the
Movement actually came out of underground and gaining unprecedented
power covered the squares and central streets of the then district’s
towns with common people demanding restoration of the historical
justice and reunification of Artsakh with Armenia.
For the history, the past quarter of a century is just a moment.
However, it was this moment that comprised the bitterness of defeat
and the joy of victory during the heaviest tests, tragic losses and
significant achievements. But, the most important thing is that a new
generation of Artsakhtsis has grown over the years – a generation of
the citizens of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
And I must say that the program offestivities, elaborated by the
state commission on the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the
Movement, is aimed mainly, and perhaps primarily, at young Artsakhtsis
born after February 1988. That is why the pivot of almost all the
public events on marking the 25th anniversary of the Movement was the
idea of relation of generations, the necessity of preserving the
freedom-loving spirit of the people of Artsakh and the moral values
that were gained in the memorable troubled days of 1988. To prevent
the fading away of the flame of the national struggle, which is not
completed yet, but due to the geopolitical transformations has gained
other forms, an effective memory is needed. But to remember, it is
necessary to know.

The young people of Artsakh who, fortunately for them, didn’t taste
the “charms” of being in genocidal Azerbaijan, need to know what the
cost was to achieve the freedom. They must know and remember that the
current independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was achieved in
an unequal struggle against the enemy who initially tried to drown the
Movement in blood, having committed unprecedented on their cruelty
acts of mass massacres and pogroms of the peaceful Armenian
population. They should know that the people of Karabakh, who strongly
believed in the ideals of Gorbachev’s perestroika, were severely
disappointed and then had to struggle against the Soviet
totalitarianism and Azerbaijani nationalism, which directed the entire
power of the state repressive apparatus towards the people of Artsakh.
They should know that it was with the tacit consent of the then Moscow
that Baku launched an economic and communication blockade against
Nagorno-Karabakh, which has not been lifted so far. And then, after
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the proclamation of the NKR, it
unleashed a bloody and criminal war against the Republic, with the use
of banned weapons of mass destruction, which took the lives of
thousands of our countrymen and almost completely destroyed our
economy.

We remember that in due time, the Movement was rightfully called a
revolution, which radically changed the course of history of the
ancient Artsakh. However, our new generation should know that a
revolution took place also in the minds of the people of Artsakh,
changing their outlook. It should be fairly recognized that the
seventy-year stay of Nagorno-Karabakh within Soviet Azerbaijan dulled,
to a certain extent, the Karabakh people’s sense of freedom, which
they had held for millennia. But, fortunately, no one managed to kill
the spirit of freedom in us, and it was just waiting for its moment of
glory. The evolution of the Karabakh people’s outlook led to the
understanding of the indisputable truth that the essential condition
for achieving the high goal is the national unity, which allowed us to
withstand and win. We got rid of romantic illusions and realized that
we should not rely on the mercy of those powerful, but rely on our own
potential. Life taught us severe lessons. At the cost of heavy losses
and testing, we came to the conviction that people are masters of
their own fate, that in the modern world, with its harsh rules,
survives the one who has strong will and spirit, who knows how to
respect himself, to defend his rights, honor and dignity. TheMovement
became a kind of catharsis for the people of Karabakh, thanks to which
we again proved ourselves, getting rid of the feeling of hopelessness
and defeatist sentiments, which were about to cover us. We have proved
to the whole world and to ourselves that we have not lost the sense of
self-respect, that we have fully deserved the right to a worthy life,
to the creation of our own statehood.

I think one of the main challenges of nowadays is not to lose the
achievements of our 25-year struggle. Moreover, to develop and
increase them, as the people-winner has earned the right to a decent
life. A new generation has come, which wants to continue the historic
mission of building, consolidating and protecting our statehood.
Statehood, which was created thanks to the revived spirit, strong will
and courage of the people of Artsakh and at the cost of lives of many
of our countrymen.

The rallies – now festive and dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the
Karabakh Movement, have demonstrated that the youth of Artsakh
realizes its responsibility for the future of the Motherland and is
ready to preserve and defend the national values inherited from the
older generation of the people of Artsakh.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper