Author: nina hovnanian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 14 2012

Ruben Akopyan: `Armenian people deserve their authorities’

14 December 2012 – 11:24am

Interview by David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusive to Vestnik Kavkaza

The head of the parliamentary faction of the opposition party
Heritage, Ruben Akopyan, told Vestnik Kavkaza about prospects in the
presidential elections in Armenia.

– Heritage together with Dashnaktsutyun, Prosperous Armenia, and the
Armenian National Congress voted against the law on the state budget
2013 adopted by the parliament on December 5th. Why doesn’t the
opposition like the main financial document of the country?

– The presented project of the budget doesn’t reflect the real
economic situation in Armenia. While the level of shadow economy is
about 30-60%, the government states that there are no resources for
increasing the minimum monthly wage and the wage of state sponsored
workers. The state has resources, but the current authorities don’t
show the political will for reducing the shadow economy.

This state budget doesn’t consider previous mistakes; thus, it
contains the same corruption risks which the budget 2012 contained.
The government defines its priorities, but they are formal and have
nothing in common with reality. For example, the scientific sphere is
considered to be a priority in Armenia, but scientists earn tiny sums
and it is not beneficial to deal with science. The state budget 2013
is not protected against corruption. To correct the situation, members
of our faction presented a packet of amendments which includes 74
issues, but the government rejected it of course. That is why we voted
against the budget.

– Prosperous Armenia supported the opposition parties in voting
against the budget. Can it be considered within the consultations
conducted by PA with other political forces in Armenia?

– The results of our consultations with PA will certainly be discussed
by the administration of our party, and its decision will be presented
to the society. In general we treated PA’s initiative positively, but
some of our members doubt the sincerity of our colleagues from
Prosperous Armenia. It is significant that the political program of
Prosperous Armenia still has no issue on the changing of the power in
Armenia or at least on shifting to a complete proportional election
system. We still expect that these important changes in the political
course of the party which claims to be a leader of the opposition will
be voiced by the administration of the party. The party of Gagik
Tsarukyan speaks a lot about systemic changes, but it appears that all
these talks are aimed at gaining the position of prime minister.

At the same time, systemic developments require wide-scale radical
changes. It is difficult to say what the result of the consultations
on shifting to the parliamentary system will be, but I don’t see that
PA wants to change the regime.

– Do you see a political force in Armenia along with Prosperous
Armenia, which is able to unite other political parties pround its
leader?

– One of the most important conditions of establishing the political
space of Armenia should be the ability of a party to consolidate
around a certain idea rather than force. Even though PA states that
during the consultation the problem of a candidate to the president
position is not discussed, the key topic of the consultations is
consolidation around certain people. Exaggeration initiated by the
mass media over these consultations is artificial. It is a waste of
time. The society can’t hope for any practical results. The
consultations are caused by the political situation, while their aim
is to gain certain benefits from the presidential election campaign.

Our party and Dashnaktsutyun suggested shifting to the proportional
election system long before Prosperous Armenia. We addressed numerous
institutes with his proposal. Unfortunately, quantity didn’t turn into
quality.

– What is your prediction for the coming presidential elections in Armenia?

– I don’t see people who can give point to the pre-election of
post-election situation like it was in March 2008. I also do not
expect that the coming presidential elections will be more transparent
or fair than in 2008. Of course time influences the quality of
political processes, including elections, despite the desire and
readiness of the authorities to these changes. But it is naïve to
expect radical changes in the presidential election in the sphere of
quality and democracy. It was confirmed by the parliamentary elections
in May. Our society and the power have to realize the necessity of
holding normal elections without blackmail, administrative resources,
and bribes. The power has to make a breakthrough.

– Is it in its interests?

– I don’t expect that in these elections the current president Serge
Sargsyan will be reelected. We are ready to congratulate him in case
of his victory in transparent elections. Throughout 20 years the
authorities have always opposed the interests of the state.
Consequences of this weird situation could be seen in almost all
elections. Interests of the authorities always prevailed over
interests of the state. It means their victory is a failure for the
society and the country.

– What is the way out? Can we use the example of Latin America’s
countries for the elimination of the oligarchic regime?

– I don’t see forces in Armenia, which are able to change the
situation. Armenian people deserve their authorities. The majority of
the protest part of the Armenian society left the country. After the
tragic March events this harsh outflow of population took away people
who were able to fight. Today Armenia has a gap of opposing the
authorities: people are indifferent to the country’s fate. Armenia has
no organized civil society which could be able to fight for its rights
till the end.

Interfax, Russia
Dec 15 2012

Armenian president: likelihood of armed clashes great in region

YEREVAN. Dec 15

The termination of an arms race and the unblocking of Armenia’s
borders are priorities of Armenia’s political agenda, President Serzh
Sargsyan said.

“Some countries in certain cases question the Armenians’ right to live
on their historical land. The likelihood of armed clashes is great in
our region,” Sargsyan said at the 14th extraordinary session of the
Republican Party, which he leads.

Considering Armenia’s isolation, regional projects pursued there
cannot be carried out perfectly and hamper regional stability, he
said.

Sargsyan said also that Armenia attaches great significance to its
membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

“Compliance with the obligations Armenia has undertaken within the
framework of the organization remains a priority. Armenia is also
continuing to strengthen its partnership with NATO aimed at improving
its armed forces’ combat preparedness and reforming its defense
system,” he said.

“The military-political situation that has taken shape around Armenia
requires that we have more combat-ready armed forces, which should be
improved regularly. The Armenian armed forces will not only be focused
on passive defense but will also be capable of spreading security over
the entire region. The provision of the armed forces with contemporary
types of weapons and hardware, including domestically-manufactured
ones, will be continued,” he said.

Armenia will also continue to strengthen allied and strategic
partnership with Russia and expand friendly partnership with the U.S.,
the European counties, Georgia, and Iran, he said.

“We will also be focused on expanding cooperation with China, India,
Japan, Middle Eastern, Asian, and African countries,” he said.

va

Armenian oppositionist meets secretly with ex-FM

tert.am
14:48 – 16.12.12

The record of a secret conversation between a senior opposition MP,
Levon Zurabyan, and an ex-foreign minister of Armenia, Vartan
Oskanyan, has appeared on the Internet.

The footage posted on the video hosting site YouTube shows the two
politicians discuss tactical steps towards nominating a united
presidential candidate. No details as to the date and place of the
record are available, but the meeting apparently took place in a café.

Zurabyan, who is the head of the opposition Armenian National Congress
faction in parliament, explains the meaning of `alternative’ to the
ex-minster. `The alternative is to propose candidate to just ensure
our team’s work … You see if Levon [Ter-Petrosyan] is not any of them
… I say theoretically, receiving seven to ten percents is not a
disgrace,’ he says.

Two lawmakers of the opposition alliance, Nikol Pashinyan (the
editor-in-chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper who was jailed over
the March 2008 post-election unrest) and Hrant Bagratyan, a former
prime minister, were referred to as possible presidential runners at
the meeting.

Zurabyan then addressed other tactical issues. `The [Armenian
National] Congress managed to retain … say in a way that such deals
with the PAP are possible as it is tactics,’ he says, considering the
first president’s decision not stand as a candidate in the upcoming
election a major problem.

Why Nations Fail

The New York Times
The Opinion Pages
March 31, 2012

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

I’M reading a fascinating new book called `Why Nations Fail.’ The more
you read it, the more you appreciate what a fool’s errand we’re on in
Afghanistan and how much we need to totally revamp our whole foreign
aid strategy. But most intriguing are the warning flares the authors
put up about both America and China.

Co-authored by the M.I.T. economist Daron Acemoglu and the Harvard
political scientist James A. Robinson, `Why Nations Fail’ argues that
the key differentiator between countries is `institutions.’ Nations
thrive when they develop `inclusive’ political and economic
institutions, and they fail when those institutions become
`extractive’ and concentrate power and opportunity in the hands of
only a few.

`Inclusive economic institutions that enforce property rights, create
a level playing field, and encourage investments in new technologies
and skills are more conducive to economic growth than extractive
economic institutions that are structured to extract resources from
the many by the few,’ they write.

`Inclusive economic institutions, are in turn supported by, and
support, inclusive political institutions,’ which `distribute
political power widely in a pluralistic manner and are able to achieve
some amount of political centralization so as to establish law and
order, the foundations of secure property rights, and an inclusive
market economy.’ Conversely, extractive political institutions that
concentrate power in the hands of a few reinforce extractive economic
institutions to hold power.

Acemoglu explained in an interview that their core point is that
countries thrive when they build political and economic institutions
that `unleash,’ empower and protect the full potential of each citizen
to innovate, invest and develop. Compare how well Eastern Europe has
done since the fall of communism with post-Soviet states like Georgia
or Uzbekistan, or Israel versus the Arab states, or Kurdistan versus
the rest of Iraq. It’s all in the institutions.
The lesson of history, the authors argue, is that you can’t get your
economics right if you don’t get your politics right, which is why
they don’t buy the notion that China has found the magic formula for
combining political control and economic growth.

`Our analysis,’ says Acemoglu, `is that China is experiencing growth
under extractive institutions – under the authoritarian grip of the
Communist Party, which has been able to monopolize power and mobilize
resources at a scale that has allowed for a burst of economic growth
starting from a very low base,’ but it’s not sustainable because it
doesn’t foster the degree of `creative destruction’ that is so vital
for innovation and higher incomes.

`Sustained economic growth requires innovation,’ the authors write,
`and innovation cannot be decoupled from creative destruction, which
replaces the old with the new in the economic realm and also
destabilizes established power relations in politics.’

`Unless China makes the transition to an economy based on creative
destruction, its growth will not last,’ argues Acemoglu. But can you
imagine a 20-year-old college dropout in China being allowed to start
a company that challenges a whole sector of state-owned Chinese
companies funded by state-owned banks? he asks.

The post-9/11 view that what ailed the Arab world and Afghanistan was
a lack of democracy was not wrong, said Acemoglu. What was wrong was
thinking that we could easily export it. Democratic change, to be
sustainable, has to emerge from grassroots movements, `but that does
not mean there is nothing we can do,’ he adds.

For instance, we should be transitioning away from military aid to
regimes like Egypt and focusing instead on enabling more sectors of
that society to have a say in politics. Right now, I’d argue, our
foreign aid to Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan is really a ransom we
pay their elites not to engage in bad behavior. We need to turn it
into bait.

Acemoglu suggests that instead of giving Cairo another $1.3 billion in
military aid that only reinforces part of the elite, we should insist
that Egypt establish a committee representing all sectors of its
society that would tell us which institutions – schools, hospitals –
they want foreign aid to go to, and have to develop appropriate
proposals.
If we’re going to give money, `let’s use it to force them to open up
the table and to strengthen the grass-roots,’ says Acemoglu.

We can only be a force multiplier. Where you have grass-roots
movements that want to build inclusive institutions, we can enhance
them. But we can’t create or substitute for them. Worse, in
Afghanistan and many Arab states, our policies have often discouraged
grass-roots from emerging by our siding with convenient strongmen. So
there’s nothing to multiply. If you multiply zero by 100, you still
get zero.

And America? Acemoglu worries that our huge growth in economic
inequality is undermining the inclusiveness of America’s institutions,
too. `The real problem is that economic inequality, when it becomes
this large, translates into political inequality.’ When one person can
write a check to finance your whole campaign, how inclusive will you
be as an elected official to listen to competing voices?

French-Armenian jazz musician Andre Manoukian to perform in Yerevan

DECEMBER 15, 13:55

YEREVAN.- World famous French jazzman, composer, producer and
benefactor of Armenian origin Andre Manoukian has arrived in Yerevan
at the invitation of MEZZO production and Mayor Taron Margaryan to
give a concert on Sunday.

`When I am walking down the streets in France, many French, knowing
that I am Armenian tell me `Barev’ [`hello’ in Armenian]. Although my
first words were uttered in Armenian, now I almost cannot speak
Armenian,’ Manoukian told reporters.

Once composer was asked to play an Armenian song but he did not know
what to play and remembered a song his granny used to sign.

`I sat down at the piano and played it in a jazz style. This is how I
discovered the colorful world of Armenian folk music and decided to
continue my work in this direction,’ he said.

Andre Manoukian founded Horn Stuff jazz band, he produced the albums
of Charles Aznavour and Gilbert Becaud. He has worked with such stars
as Michel Petrucciani and Richard Galliano.

NEWS.am STYLE

PACE CO-RAPPORTEURS POINT OUT THE TOUGHENING OF THE AZERBAIJANI LEGISLATION

Wednesday, 12 December 2012 16:39

And the Lezgins and Avars held the First International Conference in Moscow
The Summit of the European People’s Party held in Yerevan within the
Eastern Partnership program, the RA achievements towards European
integration, as well as the recent speeches of the delegation of the
RA NA Armenia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Brussels
caused the neighboring country’s concern.

But, this is only what concerns Armenia; the Azerbaijanis living
outside Azerbaijan continue sending obviously warning signals to
President Aliyev that the old methods of governance in the country is
no longer possible, since Azerbaijan has no proper rating at the
international arena.

Official Baku’s anxiety increased when an international conference was
held two weeks ago in Moscow to discuss the Lezgin and Avar people’s
problems and the ways of their solution.

Before recalling the above mentioned developments, it should be noted
that diametrically opposite views on the international image of
Armenia and Azerbaijan are formed at international platforms, which
cannot be separated from the process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
peaceful settlement. In the context of democratic institutions
development, Armenia’s achievements are hailed by the international
community, while Azerbaijan is definitely seen as an Eastern
tyrannical state, which causes the complaints of not only the people
of other nationalities living within that country, but, first and
foremost, of its own citizens. The steps taken by the Aliyev clan for
keeping its power at any cost give rise to negative responds,
especially by the Azerbaijani community of the Russian Federation. One
of the recent notable events was the resignation of deputy chairman of
the Azerbaijanis’ AzerRus National-Cultural Federal Autonomy Mirashraf
Fatiyev. The differences between the latter and the organization’s
chairman Soyun Sadikov related to the policy of the Azerbaijani
authorities. In an interview to the Azerbaijani mass media, Fatiyev
said, `I cannot tolerate that the organization’s chairman Soyun
Sadikov can afford to sit side by side with Fahraddin Aboszade and
Arif Kerimov at the events. The Kremlin accepts Soyun Sadikov as one
of their people’. To remind, F. Aboszade is the leader of the Talish
National Movement and Arif Kerimov is the chairman of the Lezgins’
National-Cultural Federal Autonomy. In the noted interview, Fatiyev
informed that he was also the chairman of the Azerbaijanis’ World
Congress, which, in his opinion, is a greater organization, therefore,
the works should be focused on this important direction, especially
that the relations with the AzerRos are completely severed.

However, another event took place in Moscow, which caused the
indignation of the Azerbaijani authorities. In mid-November, an
international conference was held in one of the large halls of the
President-Hotel in Moscow to discuss the Lezgin and Avar people’s
problems and the ways of their solution. The conference was paid a
great interest in the sense that those in Moscow started to discuss
the issues of national identity of the peoples subjected to ethnic
pressure in Azerbaijan. The event was attended by representatives of
the President’s Office and the Foreign Ministry. One can imagine the
reaction of official Baku: the Azerbaijani media presented Fahraddin
Aboszade as an ideologist of the Talish-Mughan Republic, who was
invited to Moscow for special initiatives. Baku started accusing
Moscow of destabilizing the situation in Azerbaijan. Ilham Aliyev,
surely, takes all this as an intention to overthrow his power.

In addition to all this, the Council of Europe gave its regular
assessment to Ilham Aliyev’s regime. The statement of the PACE
monitoring group co-rapporteurs indicated that the increase in fines
for unauthorized rallies and the strict ban against the protest
demonstrations in Baku represent a threat to the freedom of speech and
to holding rallies in the country. This was stated by co-rapporteurs
Pedro Agramunt de Moran and Joseph Greh. They visited Azerbaijan to
assess official Baku’s commitments assumed before the Council of
Europe. They were concerned about the recent changes introduced in the
Criminal and Administrative Codes. The co-rapportuers stressed that
`the changes will have an additional negative impact on the freedom of
speech and assembly’. The penalties against organizers of protest
demonstrations have become more severe: depending on the role a person
played in organizing the demonstrations, the size of the penalty will
be up to $38.265. The penalty envisaged for organizers have increased
6 times, compared to the previous size.

The co-rapporteurs stressed that the national survey held in the
country had indicated that 60% of the population supported the protest
demonstrations organized for protecting the citizens’ rights. They
emphasized that special attention should be paid to the issues of
political prisoners, as well as to the violence used against
organizers of protest demonstrations and against journalists. These
are signals directed to the Azerbaijani President. And it is quite
clear that while the international warning signals addressed to the
Azerbaijani authorities are ignored by Aliyev, they cannot be ignored
by the Azerbaijanis living outside Azerbaijan, in the countries with a
democratic system of values.

The way of getting out of the shame was found by head of the
presidential administration Ramiz Mehtiyev. To disperse the unpleasant
atmosphere, an international conference titled `Azerbaijan 2020 – a
look to the future’ was convened on December 3 in Baku. The main
emphasis in Mehtiyev’s speech was as follows: `By signing the European
Convention on Human Rights, Azerbaijan has become an integral member
of the European democratic family, raising the human factor, human
rights and fundamental freedoms to the degree of the state policy’s
basic standard’. Here we should recall the discussions held at the
PACE autumn session around Safarov’s extradition, during which a
lawmaker from the Netherlands said that the fact of the issue’s
discussion at the European Parliament was in itself a violation of
European values. The lawmaker gave his colleagues to understand the
absurdity of joining the Council of Europe by a country, which has
nothing common with the European values.

While Chairman of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso pointed
out in Yerevan the achievements of the Republic of Armenia towards the
European integration, while the Azerbaijanis living in the RF and the
USA voiced open statements on the inefficiency of the Azerbaijani
ruling regime, while the Lezgins and Avars raised their national
problems in Moscow, the mehtiyevs had nothing else to do than to
praise their own country’s «virtues» and «achievements», which are
admired only by them. It doesn’t matter that the European institutions
address their calls and statements to the Azerbaijani authorities for
respecting human rights and freedoms. However, since the essence of
these calls and statements are hard to reach the ruling elite, the
structures are sometimes forced to organize seminars on the noted
topics to make the explanations clearer and more substantial for the
Azerbaijani party.

The events taking place in Azerbaijan and outside it indicate that a
hot struggle is expected in the coming presidential elections, which
cannot be ignored by Ilham Aliyev. And the European co-rapporteurs can
still limit with placing their report at the official website of the
Council of Europe, thus, at least, excluding the possibility of
falsifying them and inventing fresh lies by the Azeri propagandists.

Ruzan ISHKHANIAN

Azerbaijani authorities get further from Russia

NEWS.AM
December 15, 2012 | 01:41

MOSCOW. – It is hardly necessary to say that Russia has more
opportunities to influence on Azerbaijan than vice versa, Russian
expert Eduard Popov told Armenia News-NEWS.am commenting on the
situation around the Gabala Radar Station in Azerbaijan.

Rejection by Azerbaijan to allow Russia prolonging the exploitation
period, carries a pressing character. Azerbaijani MFA informs that
Russia and Azerbaijan ran intensive talks on the station. However, the
sides did not come to an agreement on the rental price.

`Here the strategic meaning of the object is not accounted,’ the expert added.

According to Popov, when the parties find themselves in the opposite
side of the barricade, chances to clash increases sharply.

For Azerbaijan the attack on Iran will have catastrophic results. For
Russia as well, as it is not interested in turning the region into a
conflicting zone. However, the Gabala situation even indirectly
confirms the possibility of a military conflict.

2015 A landmark in international recognition of Armenian Genocide –
President Sargsyan

NEWS.AM
December 15, 2012 | 14:13

YEREVAN.- 2015 will be a landmark in condemnation and recognition of
the Armenian Genocide for all Armenians worldwide and all progressive
mankind, President Serzh Sargsyan said.

Armenians will consolidate their efforts to take Genocide recognition
to a new dimension, he said addressing the delegates of Republican
Party’s special congress.

President Sargsyan noted that Armenia’s involvement in the
international processes is more expansive, dynamic and interdependent
than ever.

`Multilateral and bilateral cooperation is developing. Armenia is
developing relationship with almost all leading world states, the
centers and the regions of power,’ he emphasized.

He pointed out the key problems Armenia will focus on, among them new
momentum to international recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
development of partner relations with Russia, development and
expansion of friendly partnership with the U.S., continuation of the
policy of European integration, strengthening of relations with the
European countries.

‘We are carrying out a foreign policy in a way that any citizen of
Armenia must feel protected anywhere in the world,’ Sargsyan said.

Armenian trade with Belarus grows 14 times over 11 years: ambassador

YEREVAN, December 14. / ARKA /. Over the past 11 years the trade
turnover between Armenia and Belarus increased by more than 14 times –
from about $2 million to $35 million, Byelorussian ambassador to
Armenia, Stepan Sukhorenko, told a news conference today.

“Despite the growth the trade with Belarus accounts for only about 2%
of Armenia’s overall foreign trade. This is not the figure that would
satisfy us today, given close ties between the two countries, «he
said.

According to Sukhorenko, the Armenian-Belarusian trade and economic
cooperation is hindered by several factors, like the blockade of
Armenia, problems with logistics and saturation of the Armenian
market.

“However, we are determined to boost our ties. We made a detailed
analysis of the problems and the opportunities that can be used today
to build our trade and economic cooperation “, he said.

The trade between Armenia and Belarus in January – August 2012 totaled
$28.4 million, an increase of 60 percent over the same period of 2011;
imports amounted to $24.1 million (up 57.2%), and exports – $ 4.3
million (up 82.5%).
Belarus sells to Armenia trucks (16%), tires (13.4%), tractors (5.2%),
butter (3.3%), paper and cardboard (3, 2%), drugs (3%), synthetic
fibers (2.8%), skin (2.3%) and plywood (2.1%).

Armenia sells to Belarus strong alcoholic drinks (56.1%), petroleum
products (4.3%), siliceous earth (3.4%), glass (2.8%), equipment for
the production of paper and cardboard (2.4%), paper containers and
paperboard (2.4%), drugs (2.3%), colloidal precious metals (1.6%), and
mineral water (1.4%). -0-

Azerbaijani `ax perpetrator’ appeared in the public

13:34, 15 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: After a long period of hiding from
society Ramil Safarov, Azerbaijani officer who killed Armenian
serviceman with an ax when asleep and was extradited from Hungary to
Azerbaijan and proclaimed there as a hero, appeared in the public
place, Baku’s Central Clinical Hospital. As reports Armenpress,
gafgazinfro.az reported that the reason of his visit to hospital was
the death of his friend. He was accompanied by two bodyguards. The web
site informs that the `hero’ who is surrounded with the bodyguards is
working in Azerbaijani military school. Probably Azerbaijani `hero’ is
teaching the younger generation how to kill people when asleep.