Author: nina hovnanian

ARMENIANS IN HUNGARY PLAN TO FILE LEGAL CLAIM OVER BRIBERY IN SAFAROV CASE

ARMRADIO.AM
18.09.2012 18:48

The national council of ethnic Armenians in Hungary plans to file a
legal claim against the Hungarian government~Rs controversial decision
to transfer convicted Azeri murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan,
Blikk reported on Tuesday.

The tabloid quoted council head Szeván Sarkisian (left) as saying
the charges include abuse of power and bribery.

There are an estimated 3,500 to 30,000 ethnic Armenians living in
Hungary, half of whom speak Armenian as their native language, and
there are currently 31 Armenian ~Sself-governments~T operating in
the country.

FATHER FORCED HIS ONE-YEAR-OLD CHILD TO SMOKE IN ARMENIA

news.am
September 18, 2012 | 01:02

YEREVAN. – A young woman tells that she was forcefully married at
a younger age without taking into account her opinion. Days later
she realized that she has appeared in a hell, she told Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

“I have a daughter. My husband and his brother were making her smoke a
cigarette at the age of one, due to which her health got deteriorated,”
she said.

However, one day she could not bear it anymore, took her child and
went away from her husband. But she appeared in a difficult situation
and turned to the Center for Women’s Rights. The Center helped her
to become independent.

P.S. All those women who are subjected to physical, economic, or
psychological violence may call the center for free.

DIASPORA MINISTER MEETS ARMENIAN-SYRIAN BUSINESS COUNCIL LEADERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 18, 2012 – 15:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On September 17, Armenian Minister of Diaspora
Hranush Hakobyan met with Syria’s Chamber of Commerce member, chairman
of Armenian-Syrian Business Council Levon Zaki Yetalian and RA consul
to Deir ez-Zor, deputy head of the council Suren Vardanian.

Issues related to Syrian Armenians topped the agenda.

The guests briefed Minister Hakobyan on their vision offering
solution to a number of social issues, including Syrian Armenians’
employment problem.

Ms. Hakobyan, in turn, noted that all issues regarding the Syrian
Armenians are in the focus of RA ministries.

TURKS WANT TO RENAME LAKE VAN

12:20 | 2012-09-18 | Region | Politics |

TRT haber news agency reports that citizens of Bitlis region, Turkey,
want to change the name of Lake Van, into “Datvan see “, based on
the archives of Osmanian Empire.

Mayor of Bitlis, Fahmi Allaidin also is for the decision of changing
the name of the lake. According to him, the 65 percent of the area of
Lake Van belongs to Bitlis region. Citizens of Bitlis also said that
if the name is not changed into “Datvan” then at least it should be
changed into “Bitlis-Van ” or “Van-bitlis”.

BROTHER OF UKRAINE-BASED ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN GUNNED DOWN

tert.am
18.09.12

A 25-year old Armenian has been shot to death on September 16 in
Ukrainian town of Kharkov. Another person has been wounded and managed
to escape, Analitika.at.ua reported.

According to the source, the Armenian young man received 13 gun wounds
and died on site.

According to the initial information, he is brother of Ukrainian
businessman of Armenian descent Armen Alexanyan.

The attackers used 2 guns of Hungarian production.

The wounded person told the police he has seen the murderer. According
to his testimony, the Armenian young man was speaking with a person
who was driving a Prado car.

The wounded man managed to escape while the dead body of the Armenian
was found on street. According to preliminary hypothesis, the murder
is related to business.

CRIMINAL GOVERNMENT
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:18:14 – 18/09/2012

The concept of development of economy in Armenia has never been
discussed publicly. It is defined by the government and now, according
to this concept, the economy of our country is built on the sale of
mines and banking and finance. It is possible that there are some
priorities laid down on a piece of paper which involve development
of agriculture and other but in reality the other branches of economy
hardly survive. According to official statistics, the most profitable
businesses are banks and insurance companies, while export is sustained
by precious metals.

Do the people of Armenia want such a strategy of economic development?

Does it have any advantages as the government claims or is it only
disadvantages for the citizens?

The subsoil of Armenia, which is national wealth, is exploited by some
private persons. The state does not even have a small share. Hence,
all the profit from mines goes to a handful of people who get licenses
unlawfully while the government gets some miserable taxes. In addition,
the international organizations point that most tax avoidance is
in mining. Besides, license is granted without consideration of
ecological issues.

Hence, ordinary citizens of Armenia get nothing except environmental
problems.

As to banks which are the pride of the prime minister, devour half of
the real income of people through legal methods. They use the exchange
rate, charge for every transaction, set monstrous interest on loan,
sign agreements which always end in prejudice for the client.

If in a country where banks get steady high income while the income
of the population shrinks, it means that they grab the income of
ordinary citizens.

In fact, by declaring mines and banks priorities, the government
confesses that the economy develops in prejudice, not in favor of
ordinary citizens.

The concept of economic development in a social state is built up on
branches of economy which boost the income of the majority. It can be
agriculture, as Serj Tangian says, IT which has an unlimited market
and its products are easy to transport.

Modern economic philosophy supposes juxtaposition of material security
and intellectual industry. Armenia can be a developed agricultural
country with its own Silicon Valley.

The United States has understood this and already supports IT and food
processing in Armenia. The U.S. ambassador said so in an interview with
Lragir.am. However, they expect political participation of the Armenian
authorities. The economy of Armenia must be opened for investments,
they must award preferences and nit hinder people to work.

When a government develops the branches of economy which enrich only
some people at the expense of the whole society, it is called criminal
and is forced to resign. This is what Serzh Sargsyan should ask the
government because kickback and other things are crimes that derive
from the main problem.

ARMENIAN FOOD FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND

Richmond.com
Sept 18 2012

What started as two ladies cooking cheese boregs and Armenian pastries
for church has turned into a 54 year tradition with the Armenian
Food Festival which returns this Thursday, Sept. 20 for four days of
Armenian food, drinks and dancing.

Now more than 35 ladies from St. James Armenian church spend the summer
whipping up authentic Armenian dishes like stuffed grape leaves,
bulghur salad and Armenian green beans, as well as their signature
Armenian pastries such as simit (a tea cookie), bourma (rolled philo
filled with walnuts) and khourabia (a sweet cookie).

“Everything that you get here [at the Armenian Food Festival] is
hand-made,” says organizer Chuck Ashjian. “You can buy grape leaves
at Whole Foods, but they don’t taste like this. Everything is homemade.

Each strand of our cheese boregs has a whisk of butter on it. And
our stuffed grape leaves – I just tried them – they’re fantastic.”

Beside cheese and spinach boregs, the Armenian Food Festival also
serves up chicken and pork kebabs, Armenian rice pilaf, lamajoon (an
Armenian meat pie that also has a vegetarian option), plus hummus,
pita and the infamous hye burger – a blend of beef, lamb, onions,
parsley and various spices that was recently named one of the Top
Five Best Burgers by Richmond Magazine.

There will also be Armenian beer and wine, plus music and dancing –
both of the rock and roll variety, as well as traditional Armenian
dance.

“It’s just a party atmosphere,” Ashjian says. “It’s a great chance
for friends, family, everybody to come out and relax.”

The festival was held indoors for years – with lines snaking outside
down the block. But eight years ago, organizers decided to move the
event outside, adding a stage for music, tables with umbrellas and
a festive atmosphere.

The festival raises roughly $90,000 for the church every year –
which has an 80 member congregation.

“Our people rally around it,” Ashjian says. “It creates a real
camaraderie for our church. Everybody’s here working.”

Including John Boranian, an 87-year-old church member whose mother
was one of the two women who began cooking for the first Armenian
Food Festival over 54 years ago.

“He’s amazing. He’s right here with us, getting ready for the festival,
lifting boxes of canned tomatoes,” Ashijian says.

The festival opens Thursday, Sept. 20 at 11:30 a.m. – just in time
for lunch – and keeps going through Sunday, Sept. 23.

Armenian Food Festival Thursday through Sunday St. James Armenian
Church on Pepper Avenue.

Thursday to Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday noon to 7 p.m.

Free entry.

SERJ TANKIAN ON HIS MUSICAL FIRSTS AND LEARNING TO LOVE IRON MAIDEN

The A.V.Club
Sept 18 2012

by Marah Eakin September 18, 2012

No matter how successful entertainers become, they’ll always remember
the first gig-whether it was disastrous, wonderful, or strange. Gotta
Start Somewhere embraces these nostalgic moments by asking established
entertainers to tell the story of the first time they graced a stage,
as well as their memories of other musical firsts, from the first
record they ever bought to the first concert they ever saw. In this
edition, The A.V. Club talks to System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian
about growing up Armenian and seeing Iron Maiden.

First show: Serj Tankian: Technically the first show I ever played,
I played keyboards with this band that I used to be in called Forever
Young. It was an Armenian alternative band, and we played our first
show in Hollywood at the Armenian Center. I was in my early 20s.

The A.V. Club: Do you remember how you got the gig?

ST: A couple of us were in this organization called the Armenian Youth
Federation, and so we were having, like, a social event, and we said,
“Hey, can we play?” I don’t remember exactly how it happened, to be
honest, I’m just making this up. Well, I’m not making it up, but I’m
thinking that’s how it happened because it was 25 years ago. [Laughs.]

AVC: Do you remember what kind of songs you guys played?

ST: Mostly originals, I would say.

AVC: Do you remember anything else about the show, like if it drew
a good crowd or if people were into you guys?

ST: I don’t remember any of it. I honestly don’t remember much about
it at all. The next time I played was with a band called Soil where I
was, for the first time, the lead vocalist, and that was a precursor
to System Of A Down, and we only ever played one show. And that was at
a blues club in Los Angeles. [Laughs.] I remember playing progressive
metal, and I just remember they had really good soul food, and that
was the important thing about that show. And then the next time I
played live was as the lead singer of System Of A Down, I guess. The
first show we ever played was at the Roxy in ’95, I remember a little
more about that than the others.

First System Of A Down show: AVC: That one was probably a big deal.

ST: Yeah, total big deal. God, we were supporting this other band
from out of town, this industrial band called, I don’t fucking know-

AVC: They totally remember you, probably.

ST: [Laughs.] I can’t remember, but it was our first show and it was
at a club, and I remember that Shavo [Odadijan] made some calls to
some promoter, and he wanted us to sell some tickets. I think we were
supposed to sell 60 tickets or something like that. It was pay-to-play
in Hollywood at the time, still is. And I think we sold 75 tickets,
so we oversold on our first show. That was cool.

AVC: It was probably a supportive crowd, because you sold all those
tickets to all your family and friends.

ST: Yeah, mostly friends. But at the time, we also had this kind of
industrial warehouse I was renting where the band rehearsed, and so
friends would come by, we’d have gigs on the weekends and friends
would come by and have drinks and listen to us, so we had kind of
like our own little venue in North Hollywood, in L.A. So I think we
built kind of a following through friends from there, and then took
it to the clubs and then that grew into what it is today.

First solo show: ST: I remember feeling really comfortable,
surprisingly comfortable, getting onstage with The F.C.C. guys and
playing my first solo show.

[The Flying Cunts Of Chaos were Tankian’s backing band until 2009.

-ed.] And I thought, “Wow, I thought I was going to be a little more
nervous than this, since this is my first show outside of System Of A
Down. But I feel very, extremely comfortable.” In some ways, it may
have been even more comfortable, since it was kind of like my own
gig and I don’t have to worry about anything else and all that. It
was invigorating, definitely.

First big-deal moment: AVC: Do you remember the show where you thought,
“There are a lot of people at our show. This is going to work.”

ST: I still feel that way every time we play, actually. I’m like,
“Wow, these people are here to see us, and they’re really excited,
and wow, they really like this crazy blend of metal and punk music,”
and I still kind of find it interesting.

First song learned: ST: I think the first song I figured out on
acoustic guitar was an Alice In Chains song.

AVC: Do you know which one?

ST: No, I don’t. Because I don’t remember it.

AVC: You were a fan of Alice In Chains.

ST: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I was very heavily into the whole
Seattle music movement and grunge and whatnot at the time, so yeah.

First concert: ST: 1984, Iron Maiden, at Irvine [Meadows] Amphitheater,
which is now the Verizon [Wireless] Amphitheater in Orange County,
California. I went with my girlfriend at the time. She took me,
actually. She was an Iron Maiden fan.

I thought it was one of the craziest things I’d ever seen. [Laughs.]
I’m like, “This is madness! What is this? Everyone hide!” At the
time I wasn’t actually a metal fan at all. I thought, “Wow, this
is really noisy music, I don’t get it.” To be completely honest,
I wasn’t in love with it. And now I’m a huge Iron Maiden fan, and I
know Bruce Dickinson and see the guys on tour and whatnot. But time
changes, it’s interesting. But at the time, I wasn’t a metal or even
a rock fan, to be honest.

AVC: What were you into?

ST: I was into different types of music, but I didn’t really go to
shows. I think over time, the exposure to rock and metal obviously
changed my mind. And it’s funny, years ago I saw that ex-girlfriend.

She was my first girlfriend, like, my high-school love and stuff.

Years ago, I saw her and she was like, “Do you remember Iron Maiden?”

And I’m like, “Shut up.” [Laughs.] She’s like, “You didn’t really like
it at the time and now everyone knows you’re the metal singer-how
funny.” I’m like, “Life is funny, you know, it’s true.” That’s how
life is.

First favorite band: ST: I’m trying to think back to 1984 what I was
into. I was into some alternative music at the time, from Seattle,
I was into New Order and Depeche Mode and some of those ’80s bands. A
little new wave, a little goth. At the time, I was kind of more into
that. Armenian music, I was definitely heavily into Armenian music.

AVC: How much do you think Armenian music has influenced what you’re
doing today?

ST: I’m Armenian, but I was born in Beirut. Grew up in Los Angeles;
we moved when I was 7 years old, and so grew up here. But at the time,
yeah, growing up I listened to a lot of Armenian music. I listened to
French music, Greek music, Arabic music. You know, kind of like a lot
of different musical influences growing up, and in the ’70s, obviously,
we were all listening to ABBA and the Bee Gees. And a lot of soul
music, Stevie Wonder, Rick James. All sorts of stuff. Michael Jackson.

AVC: This year alone, you’re putting out four totally different
albums: a jazz record, an electronic record, a classical symphony,
and a solo rock record. Do you think liking different things growing
up has made you able to do that?

ST: Yeah, I’ve never been into just one type of music. In fact, I
went through my 20s binging on different types of music, binging and
purging, I would say. Every two months I would just pick one, specific,
narrow focus of music. Like, for two months or three months I’d listen
to death metal. For two, three months I’d listen to hip-hop. For two,
three months I’d listen to world. Two, three months I’d listen to
experimental. Everything great in that genre I would buy up and just
eat it up. So that was kind of an interesting music education for me,
and you know, I still listen to all sorts of music.

My influences are all over the place, as you can tell through my music,
and I like doing different types of music.

I think there is no such thing as just one genre. I think it’s
something we just made to define it. You change the instrumentation
and arrangements, you have a different genre. It could be the same
influence, you could write and produce the same song in 20 different
formats. They’ll call it different things. It’s the same inspiration;
it’s the same song, for me.

First music lessons: ST: I never had any classical-music training. I
started playing music while in college. I started playing a little
Casio keyboard. That was my first instrument-with the mini keys, you
know, not the regular-sized keys. So while I was going to college,
I had the keyboard. It was a nice meditative late-night thing to do,
to get my mind off of studies in the day, and that turned into a
professional career. Kind of funny. It wasn’t until my early 20s that
I actually realized that was my calling and my vision. Once I did,
I kind of dedicated everything to that path.

,85050/

POST-SOVIET MILITARY ALLIANCE HOLD DRILLS

United Press International UPI
Sept 18 2012

The post-Soviet Collective Security Treaty Organization this is week
is conducting joint military exercises in Armenia at a time when
Russia is advocating its recognition by NATO.

YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 16 (UPI) — The post-Soviet Collective Security
Treaty Organization this week is conducting military exercises in
Armenia at a time when Russia is advocating its recognition by NATO.

The CSTO military alliance includes former Soviet Union members
Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and
has been established to bolster international security in the volatile
regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The exercises, dubbed Cooperation-2012, are meant help hone the CSTO’s
rapid reaction commando force, which has been set up to be sent in
should one of the alliance’s members be attacked by outside forces.

The exercises began Saturday at the Marshal Baghramyan training
grounds of the Armenian armed forces with welcoming remarks from
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and are scheduled to run
through Wednesday, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Some 2,000 soldiers and commando squad members were expected to be
involved in the military exercises this year, which are focused on
carrying out swift and effective defensive maneuvers with small forces.

That fits the threats Armenia sees to its own security, Russian
military editor Viktor Baranets told the Voice of Russia.

“It is not a secret that the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
remain unsettled, and the reason for this is the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem,” he said. “Azerbaijan insists that it is necessary to resolve
the Karabakh problem once and for all. In view of the above-mentioned,
Armenia would strategically benefit from the CSTO military exercises
with the participation of many countries.”

He told the broadcaster the training would include work with infantry
fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, tanks, warplanes, MiG-29 jet
fighters and air defense missile.

CSTO military security department adviser Anatoly Timoshenkov told
the Armenian News Agency the exercises will help to strengthen bonds
within the 20-year-old alliance.

“This is a peculiarity and importance of our military brotherhood,” he
said. “The military exercises help to develop organizational skills.”

CSTO Press Secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov told the Belarusian Telegraph
Agency the International Committee of the Red Cross will take part
in the exercises, as will international observers from the United
Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and
the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Armenian exercises came one day after another CSTO special forces
training operation held outside Moscow — this one concentrating on
stemming the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, where NATO is battling
Taliban insurgents who are profiting from the drug trade. Those efforts
were headed by the CSTO and the Russian Federal Drug Control Service.

The government-run Voice of Russia pointed out last month anti-drug
operations are one of several areas of common interest between the
Russian-lead alliance and the United States-led NATO, which has
announced a 2015 pull-out date from Afghanistan.

But NATO has so far refused to cooperate with the CSTO as an
organization.

“We don’t think we need new institutional frameworks, but … NATO
very often meets with individual members of CSTO and we cooperate with
individual members of CSTO also when it comes to counter-narcotics,
which I think is a very important project,” NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Moscow this year.

“So we cooperate with individual nations. We don’t think it’s necessary
to build new institutional structures between NATO and CSTO as an
organization.”

EU INTERESTED IN PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Vestnik Kavkaza
Sept 18 2012
Russia

British Minister of State for Europe David Lidington said at a
meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan
on September 18 that Europe was interested in peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, NEWS.am reports.

He said that Britain wanted the OSCE Minsk Group to help Armenia and
Azerbaijan reach peace.

The minister noted that presence of British capital in Azerbaijan
demonstrated interest in peaceful processes and stability in South
Caucasus.

Lidington noted that the right of people for self-determination should
be considered together with other principles of the OSCE MG.