Author: nina hovnanian

Police Attitude

Janna Alexanyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:36:10 – 27/07/2012

Only after two weeks was Garnik Avetyan recognized as Vahe Avetyan’s
successor, the doctor beaten to death in Harsnakar Restaurant. The
head of the investigation group finally invited him to his office, and
he made a testimony in the presence of his advocates.

However, before getting down to the main process the head of the
investigation team Ruben Lazarian created a number of obstacles to
Garnik Avetyan and his advocates. For instance, the latter had to wait
in front of the entrance of the General Investigation Department,
Ruben Lazarian did not meet with them at the appointed hour, did not
answer phone calls, ignoring the sorrow and psychological state of the
father.

Garnik Avetyan’s state of soul interested investigator Avetyan only in
his office when he tried to persuade him for two hours that the
testimony should be postponed because the father of the victim is not
ready yet.

By the way, for about two hours advocates Lousineh Hakobyan and Tigran
Yegoryan had to wait outside because they were not allowed in together
with their constituent. They were invited in when Garnik Avetyan
insisted and declared that he wants his representatives to be involved
immediately, and he is ready to make a testimony immediately.

Lousineh Hakobyan said the purpose is to postpone the involvement of
advocates in the investigation as much as possible. Earlier on July 11
the advocates requested the General Investigation Department to
recognize their constituent as a successor but their application was
refused with the explanation that the request of the authorized
representatives is not substantial ground and the father of the
aggrieved must submit the application personally.

A week ago the advocates reported the actions of the investigating
body but this body does not hurry to answer.

Vahe Avetyan’s murder is investigated by the Police Department for
Cases of Special Importance which is headed by Vahagn Harutyunyan, the
ex-leader of the team investigating March 1. This appointment was not
approved by the public.

Now this case of public interest is against supervised by a person
whom the public does not trust and it would be ingenuous to think that
the investigator acts independently.

L’Est Républicain, France
Vendredi 27 juillet 2012
BES Edition

À vélo jusqu’en Arménie: Solidarité

Catherine CHAILLET
Besançon; Pg. 5

Marc Brunet roule pour Aventure en Solidaire, l’association soutient,
via ce parcours très physique, l’ONG Espoir pour l’Arménie.
Concrètement, il s’agit de rallier Erevan via le village de
Chirakamout, épicentre du tremblement de terre de 1988, en collectant
des fonds pour le fonctionnement de l’école. Soit 5.000 km à vélo
couché.

Chef d’une entreprise de production de musique gospel, dans la Drôme,
Séphora, la musique de la vie, l’homme a déjà quelques défis sportifs
à son actif, notamment la Diagonale des Fous qui l’a fait traverser,
en courant, l’an dernier, l’Île de la Réunion, soit 163 km sur 9.600 m
de dénivelé positif. Ajouter une dimension solidaire à l’exploit
sportif, c’est d’abord tendre la main à l’autre, c’est ensuite montrer
par l’exemple un art de vivre, volontaire et enthousiaste. Pour Marc
Brunet le partage est une évidence. « Le partage et la solidarité
c’est marcher sur deux jambes », dit-il. En l’occurrence, cette fois
le sportif roule. « Je faisais beaucoup de jogging c’est vrai mais la
compétition est arrivée tardivement, j’ai bouclé mon premier marathon
à Nashville pour mes 50 ans. Il y a trois ans, j’ai découvert le vélo
couché et finalement, j’ai choisi ce mode de locomotion, plus
confortable qu’un vélo classique ».

Confortable tout est relatif, car avec 30 kilos de bagages qui lui
assurent une autonomie totale, et une centaine de kilomètres par jour,
Marc Brunet, a une idée du confort toute personnelle.

Balise GPS, blog tenu à jour, cartographie précise, Marc Brunet se
réserve l’imprévu des rencontres et le vrai confort du recul pris sur
la vie.

« C’est la première fois que je laisse ma famille et mon entreprise
pour plus de deux mois ». Le rythme du vélo, les aléas météo et
l’effort quotidien portés par l’enjeu de sa mission offrent une
véritable fenêtre sur soi, la façon de mener sa vie et le monde
autour. Pour accompagner financièrement le projet de Marc Brunet, deux
possibilités : l’achat pour 5 (EURO) d’un kilomètre solidaire ou pour
10 (EURO), l’achat d’une carte qu’il postera pour vous du lieu de
votre envie, à choisir parmi les dix pays qu’il traverse.

5.000 km à vélo pour les enfants arméniens.

Il Manifesto, Italia
19 luglio 2012

Gigantismo sul lago Sevan

Paola Desai

2012.07.19

A prima vista sembra un dilemma irrisolvibile: la siccità ha colpito
gravemente l’Armenia e il parlamento nazionale, a Yerevan, ha
approvato a larga maggioranza la legge che permetterà di raddoppiare
il prelievo di acqua dal lago Sevan per alimentare l’irrigazione nella
valle del Ararat, la principale regione agricola del paese. Il
parlamento ha approvato la legge 93 voti favorevoli contro 12,
ignorando sia le obiezioni dei deputati dell’opposizione sia le
proteste delle organizzazioni ambientaliste: perché la decisione suona
coma una condanna per il lago Sevran, la più grande riserva di acqua
dolce nell’intera regione del Caucaso, che si è andato rimpicciolendo
dagli anni ’50.

La vicenda di questo lago è un esempio del gigantismo dei progetti di
sviluppo in particolare dell’era sovietica. Situato nella parte
centrale della repubblica dell’Armenia, provincia di Gegharkunik, a
1.900 metri d’altezza, il lago Sevan è stato drasticamente trasformato
da una serie di interventi umani nel corso del ‘900. Negli anni ’30
era profondo 95 metri, copriva una superfice di 1.360 chilometri
quadrati, aveva 260 chilometri quadrati di perimetro e un volume di 58
km cubi. Oggi è ridotto a 940 kmq di superfice e 34 km cubi di volume.
Già agli inizi del secolo ingegneri russi avevano ipotizzato di usare
quella gigantesca riserva d’acqua, in gran parte destinata a
evaporare, per progetti di irrigazione e per la produzione di energia.
Il progetto è stato realizzato più tardi dal governo sovietico sotto
Stalin, a partire dal ’33. L’unico defluente, il fiume Hrazdan, è
stato allargato ed è stato costruito un tunnel; dopo la Seconda guerra
mondiale i lavori sono ripresi nel ’49. L’acqua avrebbe alimentato
l’industrializzazione, mentre il lago (ridotto a un terzo
dell’originale) sarebbe servito per la piscicoltura. La fine dell’era
staliniana nel ’56, quando i progetti di sviluppo della regione sono
stati riconsiderati, ha evitato al lago di Sevan un disastro ecologico
simile a quello di Aral. Perché gli effetti negativi avevano
cominciato a mostrarsi: l’inquinamento industriale, la perdita di
pescosità, poi la progressiva erosione delle coste. Nel ’62 il lago si
era stabilizzato (18 metri sotto il livello originale), ma poco dopo è
cominciato un problema di proliferazione di alghe e di
eutrofizzazione.

Già in epoca sovietica erano stati formulati progetti per invertire la
tendenza; il prelievo d’acqua però è continuato, ed è anche aumentato
di intensità dopo che l’Armenia è diventata indipendente nel 1991.
Solo nell’ultimo decennio, con un finanziamento della Banca Mondiale:
nel 2003 è stato completato un tunnel sotterraneo che deve trasferire
acqua da un altro bacino (il fiume Vorotan): se tutto funzionasse il
livello del lago dovrebbe ricominciare a salire 20 centrimetri l’anno,
è tornare al livello degli anni ’50 in una trentina d’anni. Oggi il
livello del lago resta stabile a 20 metri sotto quello originale.

La legge appena approvata segna una battuta d’arresto di ogni velleità
di recupero: per questo protestano gli ambientalisti armeni. Ma non
c’è alternativa, aveva dichiarato il primo ministro Tigran Sargsya a
una riunione del governo, a metà giugno. La valle dell’Ararat è
minacciata, oltre 40mila ettari di terre coltivate rischiano di non
ricevere una goccia d’acqua. Le riserve d’acqua dolce nel paese sono
ridotte a un terzo del normale; l’inverno scorso ha visto cadere
pochissima neve e i fiumi stagnano. L’unico modo per evitare il crollo
della produzione agricola è aumentare il prelievo dal lago Sevan da
170 a 320 milioni di metricubi l’anno, sostiene il governo.

Un recente servizio di Armnews Tv suggerisce però dell’altro. La
siccità non sarebbe poi così grave, come testimonia l’abbondanza di
erba e di funghi. La vera ragione per continuare a togliere acqua al
lago Sevan è che sulle sue rive (attuali) sono sorte strade, case e
anche belle ville appartenenti all’élite politica e imprenditoriale:
la siccità è solo una scusa, sostengono alcuni, per salvare le ville
degli oligarchi.

Xinhua General News Service, China
July 28, 2012 Saturday 9:40 AM EST

Armenian students to study in China

YEREVAN July 28

The Chinese embassy in Armenia held a farewell ceremony Saturday for a
group of Armenian students who will study in Chinese universities
under an agreement between the two countries.

Armenia and China should strengthen cooperation and exchanges in the
field of science and education so as to boost all-round development of
their bilateral ties, Armenian Education Minister Armen Ashotyan said.

“This year, an unprecedented number of Armenian students, 40 students,
are going to study in Chinese universities. Also this year, Armenia
will host 15 students from China” he said.

“We intends to open a branch of the Confucius Institute in the Yerevan
State University, but the biggest project will be the opening of a
Chinese high school,” Ashotyan added.

Armenia has already opened a Confucius Institute in a state language
university. There are also courses on Chinese in other universities,
including the Russian-Armenian University.

Syrian-Armenians balance between opposition and authorities

news.am
July 29, 2012 | 09:46

DAMASCUS. – Syrian Armed Forces yielded from Damascus (political
center) to Aleppo (economical center), representative of the Armenian
community in Syria, Damascus resident Nazaret Elmadjian told Armenian
News-NEWS.am via the phone.

As for the Armenians, Elmadjian said that they are not under the
direct danger so far. Armenians support neither of the sides,
cooperate and balance with all. At the end of the conversation, the
Armenian community representative called the Armenian authorities to
set up favorable conditions for the Syrian-Armenians to move to the
homeland.

Armenian opposition unlikely to have united presidential candidate,
pollster says

tert.am
12:00 – 29.07.12

Armenian opposition is unlikely to run for presidency in 2013 with a
united candidate, director of the Sociometer social polls center
Aharon Adibekyan said speaking to Tert.am, explaining it with the
opposition figures being very `ambitious’.

At the same time the pollster said the opposition parties understand
quite well that in case of going separately, they will split up the
opposition field, resulting in the re-election of incumbent President
Serzh Sargsyan. Adibekyan said his center has already started
preparing for the upcoming presidential polls.

`Our prior issue is to decide how the parliamentary elections reformed
the electorate, learn their preferences, issues, etc,’ he said.

In any case the pollster said there is a big wave of disappointment.
`People who believed in the victory of the Prosperous Armenia party
voted for it but was disappointed with the defeat. The same is with
the ANC (Armenian National Congress), Heritage and ARF-D (Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun),’ he said, stressing that the
parties should not count on the disappointed people, relying on the
devoted ones only.

Adibekyan said their studies will be of good help to all the parties.
`Everyone knows that I am a professional, I do not lie, I do not
publicize false information,’ he stressed, adding that he is unbiased
and gives objective assessments.

The pollster said political figures have already applied to him for
finding out what results they will achieve in case of being nominated.

JEUX OLYMPIQUES DE LONDRES- TIR
Noraïr Pakhdamian se classe 16e des épreuves de tir pistolet 10
mètres, une déception

L’espoir d’une médaille olympique de l’Arménie reposait hier en partie
sur Noraïr Pakhdamian engagé dans les compétitions de tir pistolet 10
mètres. En 2004 aux J.O. d’Athènes Noraïr Pakhdamian avait frôlé le
podium en se classant 4e. Cette année lors de la Coupe du monde,
l’Arménien s’était classé également 4e. Mais Noraïr Pakhdamian (42
ans) s’est classé hier 16e des compétitions.

Un dernier espoir, le 5 août, il prendra part aux compétitions du 50
mètres pistolet. Prions qu’il puisse viser juste cette fois-ci…

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 29 juillet 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

LE THEATRE ARMENIEN EN DEUIL
Disparition d’Annie Sarkissian jeune actrice de thétre et de la
télévision arménienne

L’Arménie vient de perdre l’une de ses meilleures actrices du thétre
et de la télévision, Annie Sarkissian emporté prématurément des suites
d’une grave maladie. L’association du personnel du Thétre Gabriel
Soundoukian d’Erévan a annoncée la disparition d’Annie Sarkissian
l’une de ses plus fidèles artistes. Elle était sur les planchers du
thétre depuis près d’une dizaine d’années et réalisait parallèlement
des rôles pour la télévision arménienne. Au thétre elle avait joué de
nombreux rôles, celui d’Adèle dans « Bernarda et ses filles », celui
d’Ossanna dans « Les Quarante jours de Mussa Dagh », Nado dans «
Encore une victime » (« Eli meg zoh » en arménien). Actrice très
expressive Annie Sarkissian avait également joué dans des séries à
grand succès de la télévision arménienne dont « Yzerakdzidz ayn gohm »
(« De l’autre côté de la line » en arménien) avec le rôle d’Irna.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 29 juillet 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ARMENIE OCCUPEE PAR LA TURQUIE
Une église arménienne dans la région d’Erzeroum en ruine

Le site turc Sondakika s’alarme sur l’état de destruction avancée de
l’église arménienne du village de Kéz dans la région d’Erzeroum
(Arménie occidentale occupée par la Turquie). L’église arménienne
abandonnée par les Arméniens depuis le génocide a fait l’objet de
visites, de vandalisme par des chasseurs de trésors qui ont détruit
une partie des constructions. Les tableaux et objets de culte ont
disparu. Puis le btiment religieux fut transformé en dépôt d’ordures
puis en écurie, démontrant l’irrespect de la Turquie d’Atatürk pour la
culture et le patrimoine culturel et religieux des Arméniens. Mais
depuis quelques années, les habitants de ce village de Kéz ont
interpellé les autorités et notamment le ministère de la Culture et du
Tourisme sur l’état de dégradation avancée de cette église arménienne.
Pour l’heure Ankara n’a pas réagi et l’église arménienne continue sa
lente dégradation.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 29 juillet 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

ianyan Magazine
July 28 2012

The Women of The South Caucasus Olympic Teams

Caucasus – By Liana Aghajanian on July 28, 2012 7:12 pm

Though the South Caucasus countries have been participating in the
Olympic games since 1952, it wasn’t until the mid 90s that Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia sprung out to participate independently after
the fall of the Soviet Union. In honor of unprecedented female
representation in every single London 2012 participating team, here is
quick highlight of the women representing the South Caucasus at the
30th Olympic games.

Armenia

Hripsime Khurshudyan – Weightlifting – Khurshudyan (above) made
headlines last year after painfully dislocating her elbow during the
World Weightlifting Championships, which caused her to drop out.
Despite the injury, the 2010 Gold medal winner of the European U23
Championships retrained to represent Armenia in London 2012.

Anahit Barseghyan – Swimming – The youngest of the bunch representing
Armenia, Anahit lists reading and watching TV as her favorite
activities and belongs to the swimming club `Neptune Armenia.’

Meline Daluzyan – Weightlifting – Hailing from Gyumri, Daluzyan won a
bronze medal in the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships and took
home the winning titles in the 2007 and 2008 European Weightlifting
Championship.

Kristine Harutyunyan – Women’s Javelin Throw – In 2010, Harutyunyan
set a national record during the Armenian Championships in Athletics,
according to the Armenian Athletic Federation.

Azerbaijan

Image via elespectador.com

Aliya Garayeva – Gymnastics – a 2011 World All-around bronze medalist
and accomplished rhythmic gymnast, Garayeva (above) traces roots from
her mother’s side to the Tatar ethnic group, the majority of whom live
in the Russian Federation.

Layes Abdullayeva – Women’s 5000m – Born in Ethiopia, Abdullayeva, a
long distance runner, placed first at the 2011 European U23
Championships in the 10,000 meter event and second at the 2009
European Junior Championships.

Irada Ashumova – Women’s 10m Air Pistol/Women’s 25m Air Pistol, The
oldest participating woman from the South Caucasus, Ashumova, 54, is
an accomplished shooter whose hobbies include `talking with her
grandsons,’ according to her athlete profile on the London 2012
official site. Shooting is a family business – her husband acts as her
coach while her children have both competed in shooting competitions.

Kifayat Gasimova – Judo – Kasimova took home gold last year in the
2011 Judo Grand Prix competition which was held in Baku, securing the
win over China’s Wang Hui.

Oksana Hatamkhanova – Swimming – Hatamkhanova competed for Azerbaijan
in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, though she failed to advance to the
semifinals.

Boyanka Kostova – Weightlifting – Nicknamed `Boby,’ Kostova lists
music and movies as her interests and has an uncle, Plamen Zhelyazkov
who is a former world weightlifting champion. Bulgarian-born Kostova
was involved in an uproar this year when her and another Bulgarian
weightlifter switched to the Azerbaijani team after Baku agreed to pay
Bulgaria more than $500,000.

Georgia

Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images

Anna Tatishvili – Tatishvili (above) is the number one ranked tennis
player in Georgia. Having played tennis since she was 4-years-old, she
currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida and won the Singles competition
at the 2011 International Country Cuneo, a professional tennis
tournament played on outdoor clay courts.

Kristine Esebua – Archery – Esebua participated in both the 2004
Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics and is hoping to bring home
a medal for her native Georgia. An Olympic Profile video of her by
RFE/RL here.

Margalita Chakhnashvili – Tennis – The second-ranked tennis player in
Georgia after Tatishvili, Chakhnashvili has been given a wildcard to
represent her country in London. She has won 10 singles titles and 5
doubles titles on the International Tennis Federation circuit.

Maiko Gogoladze – Women’s Long Jump – Gogoladze won first place
earlier this year at an international tournament in Bulgaria and will
compete against Britain’s Shara Proctor.

Luba Golovina – Trampoline – Golovina gained the first license for a
Georgian sportsman in 2012 and previously participated in Beijing,
where she ranked 6th in the final round.

Nino Salukvadze – Women’s 10m Air Pistol/Women’s 25m Pistol – A
psychologist by day, Salukvadze lists embroidery and collecting small
glass figurines as hobbies.