Author: nina hovnanian

Aram Sargsyan Will Not Run For President

13:19 21/12/2012
Story from Lragir.am News:

Leader of the Republic Party Aram Sargsyan stated at today’s congress
of the party that he will not run in the upcoming presidential
election.

Aram Sargsyan held out hope that his decision will not be considered
as lack of will, noting that he thinks the elections will not be of
high quality and will not promote the development of the country.
According to him, the election will be used for the reproduction of
government.

At the same time, Aram Sargsyan said that his party will be active in
the political life of the country and will fight against illegalities.

Interfax, Russia
Dec 20 2012

Russia-EU summit to address conflicts in Transdniestria, Georgia,
Nagorno-Karabakh – source

BRUSSELS. Dec 20

The European Union counts on Russia’s proactive role in looking for
solutions to conflicts both in former Soviet states and other
countries, a high-ranking European official told journalists on
condition of anonymity ahead of the Russia-EU summit in Brussels.

At the summit, the EU will reiterate the need to resolve the
Transdniestrian conflict because it is obvious that what is being done
there today is not enough, he said.

Following the parliamentary elections in Georgia, a chance has opened
up to improve relations between Tbilisi and Moscow and restore
stability in the Caucasus, the official said.

The EU welcomes the first contact between high-ranking officials of
Russia and Georgia, which took place last week, and calls on Russia to
continue this policy, he said.

But the EU also thinks that Georgia ought to remain a fully sovereign
country within its internationally recognized borders, the official
said.

The EU is troubled by the situation surrounding talks on
Nagorno-Karabakh and hopes that a solution could soon be found to this
conflict, he said.

Commenting on other conflicts around the world, the official
reiterated the EU’s support for the efforts of UN and Arab League
peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, urging Russia to make the most
of all the levers available to it to help resolve this crisis.

At the summit, the sides will also reaffirm their commitments as part
of the peace process between the Palestinian National Authority and
Israel and will discuss the possibility of acting both through
negotiations and sanctions to make progress in the Iranian nuclear
issue, he said.

Russia and the EU will be able to bridge the gap between their
approaches to the Syrian conflict through discussions, the official
said.

Russia and the EU see eye to eye on the goals of this process but
remain split over the means to achieve these goals, he said.

Discussions should continue because it is just the way things are done
with friends, he added.

tm jv

Number of juvenile crimes in Armenia reduced by 50% – sociologist

news.am
December 22, 2012 | 16:09

YEREVAN.- The number of crimes in Armenia reduced by about 25 percent
over the recent 10 years, Director of Sociometer center Aharon
Adibekyan said.

The number of juvenile crimes also reduced by 50 percent, he told
reporters on Saturday.

`About 170 juvenile crimes, out of 4,000 crimes in general, were
recorded last year. As compared with other CIS countries, the index of
youth crimes is low enough,’ Adibekyan said.

In Armenia, fortunately, there is a low level of alcohol and drug
addicts among minors. Adibekyan noted that much depends on a family.
The adults must follow how their children are spending money and teach
them to be responsible for their steps.

ARMENIE
Le Premier ministre dément toute liaison avec des sociétés
importatrices de viande de boeuf

Le Premier ministre arménien Tigran Sarkissian a nié tout lien avec
les sociétés importatrices de viande de boeuf et a invité les partis
politiques à arrêter de lier son nom à ces affaires.

« Des forces politiques essayent de me discréditer, liant mon nom à
des importateurs de viande de boeuf. Je n’ai pas de connexion avec des
sociétés d’importation de viande. Je n’ai aucun ami parmi eux, ni
parents, ni d’autres gens en lien avec moi » a dit le Premier ministre
lors d’une session du Cabinet.

Le Premier ministre a demandé à Abram Bakhchagulian, le chef du
Service de la Sécurité Alimentaire de fournir des informations sur ces
sociétés. Selon Bakhchagulian, en 2011 six sociétés ont importé 10300
tonnes de viande. Le plus grand importateur était Alex Group
représentant plus de 61 pour cent des importations.

Au cours des neuf premiers mois de cette année 5000 tonnes ont été
importées. Le plus grand importateur a été la Société Parkev
représentant 34,23 % des importations.

dimanche 23 décembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

Paris
Ouverture du site de la Bibliothèque de l’Église apostolique arménienne

La Bibliothèque de l’Eglise apostolique arménienne de Paris,
instrument de travail des prêtres de l’Eglise, ouvre également ses
ressources aux personnes désirant acquérir des connaissances et
consulter des ouvrages sur nombre d’aspects de la vie culturelle
arménienne.

La bibliothèque possède plus de 6 000 titres en arménien, français et
anglais. Elle détient également des périodiques, des affiches, des
cartes, des calendriers, des partitions, des documents, catalogués à
l’usage des étudiants, des chercheurs et du grand public.

Depuis 2012, le catalogage exhaustif est en cours, accompagné de sa
difffusion via le présent site internet. Pour chaque auteur, on
trouvera la liste des ouvrages disponibles et, pour chaque ouvrage,
l’enregistrement des données bibliographiques usuelles, accompagnées
de l’image de la couverture. La table des matières, des préfaces ou
introductions sont généralement reproduites. Ce travail, achevé pour
les ouvrages en français et anglais, est toujours en cours pour les
collections en arménien.

Très Révérend Père Jirayr Tashjian, Directeur de la Bibliothèque

La Bibliothèque a acquis auprès de St James Press (édiiton du
Patriarcat arménien de Jérusalem) plusieurs ouvrages, réédition
d’ouvrages anciens, parmi lesquels :

une réédition en 1990, de l’ouvrage de l’évêque Asdvazadour
Hovhannessian (1830- ?), Histoire de Jérusalem, publié en 1890 à
Jérusalem, 2 volumes

une réédition en 1993, de l’ouvrage de Krikor Datevatsi (1346-1409),
Kirk Hartsmants (Livre des Questions), publié en 1729 à Constantinople

une réédition en 1998, de l’ouvrage de Krikor Datevatsi (1346-1409),
Tsemèran et Hamaran (Homélies pour l’hiver et l’été), publié en 1740 à
Constantinople

une réédition en 1998, de l’ouvrage de Sarkis Shnorhali (1100 ?-1167
?), Interprétation de sept épitres, publié en 1828 à Constantinople

une réédition en 2012, de l’ouvrage des patriarches Krikor Barondèr
(patriarche de Jérusalem) et Hovhannes Golot (patriarche de
Constantinople), Vark harants (Vie des anachorètes), publié en 1720 à
Constantinople

Site de la Bibliothèque, voir lien plus bas

dimanche 23 décembre 2012,
Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

Phuket News, Thailand
Dec 20 2012

Phuket: Eyes on the prize at China blindfold chess contest

CHESS: Some of the world’s top chess players went eye-to-eye in China
on Wednesday in the year’s highest-level `blindfold’ chess tournament
– seen by some as the toughest challenge in the game.

Agence France-Presse
Thursday 20 December 2012, 04:37PM

Unable to physically see their own or their opponent’s past moves, the
players summoned headache-inducing levels of concentration to fight
for gold in a silent conference room, lined up in front of laptop
screens showing a blank board.

As each picked out a move, it was briefly displayed to their opponent
opposite before disappearing – although spectators outside were
allowed a full computer representation of the match.

World number two Levon Aronian of Armenia took the men’s title, while
China’s 18-year-old former women’s world champion Hou Yifan clinched
the women’s gold.

`It’s the ultimate pinnacle of the human brain,’ Beijing Sportaccord
World Mind Games organiser Geoffrey Borg told AFP, adding that the
blindfold tournament was `probably the world’s most difficult type of
chess’.

Winners would even be tested for banned substances, organisers said,
but declined to go into details of the list.

Contestants complained of aching heads after hours of intense
concentration, having to visualise the entire state of the chess board
while planning as many as 15 moves in advance.

`After playing for five or six hours, you can get terrible headaches,’
said Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko, who stormed out of the
competition room shaking his head after losing a match in a momentary
lapse of concentration.

But Hou seemed relaxed after securing her gold, which came with a cash
prize worth several thousand dollars.

`Blindfold chess is more about a player’s energy,’ said Hou, an
international relations student at a nearby university. `It makes
chess more interesting.’

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Dec 20 2012

The Gallup Organization: 40% of the polled will vote for Serzh Sargsyan

Yerevan/Mediamax/. The poll conducted by The Gallup Organization and
Armenian Sociological Association shows that on the threshold of the
presidential elections, 49% of the polled will vote for incumbent
President Serzh Sargsyan, 21% – PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan, 6%- ANC
leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

The poll was conducted on December 5-16, before the official
candidacies: in particular, it wasn’t known whether Gagik Tsarukyan
would run for presidency, Mediamax reports.

Remaining 5% of the 1020 polled across Armenia is ready to vote for
former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, 5%- “Heritage” leader
Raffi Hovhannisyan, 3%- “Dashnaktsutyun” representative Vahan
Hovhannisyan, 2% – “Orinats Yerkir” leader Artur Baghdasaryan and 1 %-
former Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.

Member of Board of Directors of Gallup Europe Rasa Alishauskene said
that 36% of those who want to vote for Gagik Tsarukyan will vote for
Serzh Sargsyan if they don’t vote for him, 13% – Robert Kocharyan, 9%-
Raffi Hovhannisyan etc.

Rasa Alishauskene informed that the voters show considerable interest
to the upcoming elections: 42% said that they are sure to vote and 36%
– “may probably vote”.

36% of those who don’t want to take part in the elections are sure
that they won’t change anything, 23% is not interested and 18% doesn’t
see a desirable candidate.

President of Armenian Sociological Association Gevorg Poghosyan said
that “the main intrigue of the elections, possible struggle between
Gagik Tsarukyan and Serzh Sargsyan. doesn’t exist any more and no big
struggle is expect”. According to his forecasts, 65% of the voters
will take part in the elections.

The Gallup Organization and Armenian Sociological Association will
conduct 2 more pre-election polls in January and on the eve of the
elections. On the election day, February 18, an exit poll will be held
throughout the whole republic and the results will be published on the
same day, at 20:00.

Conscience v Conscription: Amendments to alternative military service law

Human rights | 20.12.12 | 14:53

By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter

As the year nears its end the Armenian government has approved the
justice minister’s bill on amendments and changes to the controversial
law on Alternative Military Service.

The law in force since 2004 has, as minister Hrayr Tovmasyan says, a
number of shortcomings, hindering regulation of the order by which
alternative service should be carried out to match the legal state
demands.

`Those on alternative service are controlled by the military, which
contradicts the religious beliefs of a great number of those applying
for alternative service. Moreover military control is set not only in
case of alternative service, but also alternative labor service,’ says
Tovmasyan.

Human rights advocates believe the government took up this bill in
haste only after the European Court of Human Rights satisfied the
claim of 19 Jehovah’s witnesses `Khachatryan and others against the
Republic of Armenia’ (on November 27). Each claimant has to be paid
$6,000 euro compensation from the Armenian state, as well as $10,000
to cover the general legal expenses for filing the lawsuit, etc. This
case has caused 112,000-euro damage to the state budget.

`The law on alternative service is simply not acting in Armenia. Even
after passing that law Jehovah’s Witnesses continue serving terms in
prison for refusing army service on religious grounds. Their latest
victory made our authorities realize that the amendments have to be
introduced as quickly as possible, otherwise the state budget would
repeatedly suffer great damage,’ Helsinki Committee Armenian office
leader Avetik Ishkhanyan told ArmeniaNow.

Violin teacher Hayk Khachatryan started his alternative service on
December 29, 2004, he deserted on May 23, 2005. He was taken into
custody and spent eight months in pre-trial prison.

`The first issue is that my religious beliefs were ignored, we were
told that the service was civil, yet it turned out to be military. At
the place of service they were forced to work overtime up until 11
p.m.-12 a.m.; no proper food, expired preserves,’ Khachatryan told
ArmeniaNow. `We lived off our parent’s means and with their support.
Whenever I had health issues, they’d tell me I was faking it and
wouldn’t show me medical assistance.’

Together with Khachatryan there were 22 other Jehovah’s Witnesses who
deserted six months later;19 were put to jail, among them 15 were
convicted of defection and sentenced to 2-3 years of prison. Seven
months later they were all released, the prosecutor general suspended
their case for lack of corpus delicti.

Helsinki Citizen Assembly Vanadzor office leader Artur Sakunts told
ArmeniaNow that the law on Alternative Service is a `dead law’. By
several provisions it is breaching the criteria on alternative service
set by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

`First of all the alterative service term has been 42 months, which is
twice as much as military service, and that in itself is a violation.
The other issue is the humiliating conditions of service,’ says
Sakunts.

Helsinki’s Ishkhanyan points out another shortcoming of the law.

`Alternative service was under the defense ministry control. They were
supervised by the military police, the ministry was providing
equipment and gear. Military police officers were paying periodical
visits, during which they’d force them to line up, which was against
their religious beliefs,’ says Ishkhanyan.

The European Court of Human Rights pays attention not only to the
adoption of the law, but also to its proper application.

Sakunts says NGOs submitted a similar proposal years ago and are now
willing to assist the amendment process.

`At the time there was no political will, and only now, after the
European Court ruling, they have taken up the initiative to amend the
law which will also be enacted in practice,’ he says.

The new bill introduces differentiation between alternative military
service and alternative labor service based on the fact whether the
denomination or religious beliefs of the person in question totally
deny service at a military unit or only possessing, carrying or using
weapons.

The amendments call for cutting down the term of alternative military
service to 30 months, and alternative labor service to 36 months.

Ishkhanyan, in reference to those escaping military service, says
there is a difference between those who avoid illegally and those who
openly refuse to serve.

`Jehovah’s Witness simply refuse to serve on religious grounds. They
don’t bribe, don’t find acquaintances to avoid service illegally, they
go and declare their refusal to serve. While official data show that
since 2002 more than 10,000 men have avoided military service, there
are 444 Jehovah’s witnesses versus this huge amount,’ he says.

Sakunts says that between 1998 and 2012 by government decrees related
to the law on military service, 659 clergymen of the Armenian
Apostolic Church have been either relieved of compulsory military
service or their service has been postponed.

Vote 2013: Tradition of pay-for-vote expected to be non-issue in
presidential election

Vote 2013 | 20.12.12 | 15:40
Stepan Safaryan

By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

While some people in Armenia still look forward to election bribes,
immediate participants and experts believe it won’t be crucial for the
February election results. They point out inflated voter lists and
abuse of administrative resources as the main means of possible fraud
in the coming presidential race.

Enlarge Photo
Varuzhan Hoktanyan

Heritage party secretary Stepan Safaryan, who took part in the special
election earlier this month for a vacant place in the parliament, told
ArmeniaNow that during the pre-election campaign many people –
residents of Avan district, from where he was running, came up to him
with outright demand to give money if he wanted their votes.

`They would mostly ask for 10,000 drams ($25). I told them I did not
need such voters. They felt offended,’ says Safaryan.

There were a few ridiculous cases reported by media in the May
parliamentary elections when voters complained that they had not been
offered bribes while their neighbors had been. Despite the recent
media speculations that in the coming election bribe rates would reach
20,000 drams ($50), today, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutyn board member Vahan Hovhannisyan, for example, says that
after one of Armenia’s wealthiest people, Prosperous Armenia Party
leader Gagik Tsarukyan’s decision not to run for president, it is
quite likely that `no money will be distributed’.

`PAP did not nominate a candidate; hence there is no money expectation
from that side. Consequently, the Republicans will not be motivated to
give out bribes, either. The political forces will not have a stimulus
to encourage their potential electorates with gifts or money,’
Hovhannissyan told the press on Wednesday.

Safarayan, who lost the special election to his opponent Republican
Roberd Sargsyan, Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan’s brother-in-law, says
the outcome of the game is determined by the administrative resource
abuse in favor of one candidate.

`When people see that the schools, taxi services, the city hall,
district authorities all work for one person, they think the game is
over and don’t even bother to go out [to polling stations],’ he says.

Varuzhan Hoktanyan heading Transparency International anti-corruption
center, which has been monitoring elections in Armenia since 2003,
says by international assessments 30-40 percent among the
election-bribe recipients do not vote for the candidate or political
force they had been bribed to vote for. Besides inflated voter lists,
election bribes, bribing district election commissions, Hoktanyan
points out also the issue of civil servants.

`People say if someone else comes to power, they’ll lose their jobs.
In this case it doesn’t even necessarily take a bribe to make them
vote, people will simply elect the ruling force, and that is becoming
a serious challenge,’ says Hoktanyan.

“APOCALYPSE” MAKES ARMENIAN JOURNALIST RICH

news.am
December 20, 2012 | 13:18

Sirince village, which is within the boundaries of Izmir Province in
Turkey and which became known thanks to the efforts by controversial
Istanbul Armenian journalist Sevan Nisanyan, is getting ready for the
“end of the world.”

This touristic village is considered as one of the two spots on Earth
that will be saved from “Apocalypse,” Sabah daily of Turkey reports.

All the hotels and guesthouses in the village were booked a long time
ago, and the local villagers have made souvenirs and prepared wine
to sell to the thousands of tourists.

It is noteworthy that Sirince became recognized owing to Sevan
Nisanyan, who had built boutique-hotels there and touristic tombs
that were dug into rocks nearby the village.

In response to Sabah’s question with respect to the “end of the world,”
Nisanyan just laughed and said Sirince is a nice place and a person
simply feels good there.