Author: nina hovnanian

DEIR EZ ZOR
1915 : Les femmes sont crucifiées entièrement nues

Le site d’information Ninawa Media en langue arabe édité à Toronto
(Canada), présente une photographie inédite prise lors du génocide des
arméniens en Turquie ottomane en 1915.

La photo, actuellement conservée aux archives du Vatican, qui en
détient plusieurs centaines d’autres, a été prise par un journaliste
allemand. Elle montre la cruauté des génocidaires, qui soit-disant
déplaçaient les populations arméniennes et assyro-chaldéennes pour
leur sécurité.

En crucifiant ces femmes innocentes entièrement nues on ne peut
s’empêcher de penser que les bourreaux stigmatisaient la religion
chrétienne comme c’était également le cas lorsque les habitants de
villages entiers étaient enfermés dans les églises auxquelles on
mettait le feu. Oui il s’agit d’un génocide messieurs les
négationnistes !

Selon la légende qui accompagne la photo du journaliste, celle-ci
aurait été prise dans le désert de Deir ez Zor.

L’article de Ninawa Media précise que les habitants de Der ez Zor ont
sauvé de nombreux enfants en les cachant des gendarmes turcs,
affirmant qu’ils étaient leurs propres enfants.

Les Arméniens de Deir ez Zor représentent actuellement une communauté
de 25 000 personnes, indique le média.

samedi 5 mai 2012,
Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

TRUBUNE-ELECTIONS LEGISLATIVES EN ARMENIE
Les élections sont un moyen avant d’être une fin : aux urnes citoyens
arméniens !
par Michèle Rivasi députée européenne EELV

Ci-dessous une Tribune qui nous est confiée par la députée européenne
Michèle Rivasi qui s’est rendue à plusieurs reprises en Arménie et au
Haut Karabagh. Krikor Amirzayan

`Alors que la France vit une période électorale trépidante, qui mènera
sûrement à une alternance attendue depuis longtemps…d’autres
élections bien loin d’ici revêtiront un caractère aussi important. En
effet, le 6 mai alors qu’aura lieu le deuxième tour des élections
présidentielles françaises, les Arméniens se rendront dans leurs
bureaux de vote pour élire une nouvelle assemblée.

La jeune démocratie arménienne a encore beaucoup de preuves à faire et
tous les observateurs – arménophiles ou non – s’accordent à dire que
ces élections n’auront pas seulement pour but d’élire des députés au
Parlement. Non, il y a bien plus à espérer car l’avenir du pays, tout
comme son intégrité, sont en jeu.

Dans le fond comme dans la forme, ces élections reflèteront la
position que l’Arménie souhaitera adopter tant dans ses affaires
intérieures qu’à l’international. C’est pourquoi l’organisation de ce
scrutin doit être irréprochable, afin de faire taire les mauvaises
langues qui fustigent le manque de démocratie et la corruption en
Arménie.

Les progrès accomplis ces dernières années sont remarqués et
remarquables, ils ne doivent pour autant être une simple façade du
changement en cours dans la société arménienne. La crise politique de
mars 2008 reste dans les mémoires de tout un chacun. En suivant les
recommandations européennes, la pays a montré une responsabilité qui
peut et doit faire plir ses voisins de honte. Amnisties, dialogue
avec l’opposition extra-parlementaire, modification du code électoral,
liberté de réunion sont autant de progrès qui seront gravés dans le
marbre à l’issue des prochaines élections.

Ces changements honorent l’Arménie et sa diaspora. Ils sont une
double-récompense pour le peuple puisqu’ils aboutiront aussi à
l’établissement d’un partenariat durable avec l’Union européenne.
Preuves en sont la progression rapide des négociations en vue d’un
accord de partenariat UE-Arménie, la future facilitation de
l’attribution des visas mais aussi l’émergence d’un véritable accord
de libre-échange. A terme, l’Arménie rejoindrait la Suisse, l’Islande
et la Norvège dans le club prestigieux des pays démocratiques faisant
partie de l’association européenne de libre-échange (AELE). Voilà pour
les aspects économiques, fondamentaux même si ils ne sont que la
partie d’un ensemble qui demande toujours plus de cohérence et de
sérieux. Ces enjeux sont d’autant plus importants en période de crise
car il est impératif de lutter contre l’isolement économique du pays.

La politique étrangère de l’Arménie elle aussi démontre la maturité
acquise au gré d’évènements tragiques. Les menaces de guerre avec
l’Azerbaïdjan restent bien heureusement lettre morte dans les échanges
de télégrammes diplomatiques. Les tensions constantes du conflit au
Nagorno-Karabakh, où je me suis rendu en tant qu’observatrice en 2010,
font grincer les dents du groupe de Minsk en charge de sa résolution.
Pour autant ce conflit larvé peut et doit être résolu de manière
pacifique, la France comme l’UE s’y emploieront. N’oublions pas que la
guerre est synonyme de perte même lorsqu’elle mène à la victoire.
L’Arménie a déjà assez souffert et les générations futures méritent un
avenir apaisé sans quoi la haine et la ranc`ur seront leur seul
horizon. Aussi, et malheureusement, les relations avec la Turquie ne
s’améliorent pas vraiment, mais l’Arménie a fortement gagné en
crédibilité en faisant les premiers pas : la balle est dorénavant dans
le camp turc. C’est au regard de ces avancées que je tiens à rappeler
une vérité aussi banale qu’importante : l’Union européenne favorisera
toujours les pays qui justifient la confiance qu’elle leur a accordée.

Vous l’avez compris, les défis sont nombreux. Et pour les dépasser
avec succès, il faut élire ceux qui penseront à l’avenir du pays
entier plutôt qu’à leur propre situation et à celle de leur famille,
ceux qui auront les compétences nécessaires. Je ne fais pas de procès
d’intention, je ne fais pas la morale : ces critiques je les adresse à
l’ensemble des pays démocratiques, la France comprise. En tout cas,
ceux qui ne voteront pas ou voteront mal n’auront plus d’excuses
lorsqu’ils se lamenteront du délabrement de leur pays et de la
corruption de leurs élites. Les bénéfices du vote n’existeront que
s’ils sanctionnent les irresponsables et donnent leurs chances aux
braves : seuls de bons élus parviendront à renforcer l’Arménie dans
ses convictions démocratiques.

Avec un peu de chance et beaucoup de diplomatie, la contagion
s’étendra aux pays voisins et démontrera que la fatalité n’est ni
cocasse, ni caucasienne. Cette chance aussi infime soit-elle, les
Arméniens l’auront entre leurs mains : c’est leur bulletin de vote.`

Michèle RIVASI, députée européenne EELV

samedi 5 mai 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

MSNBC
May 4 2012

Armenians see election bringing stability at most

By Margarita Antidze and Hasmik Lazarian

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Gurgen Badasyan has struggled to live on his
Armenian state pension for years and holds out little hope that a
parliamentary election on Sunday will improve his life in the
mountainous South Caucasus state.

The government raised his monthly teacher’s pension in January by a
few dollars, to $82 from $75, but Badasyan says it is still almost
impossible to get by.

“If not for my son and my daughter, I would not survive,” the
68-year-old said, sipping his drink in a cafe in the landlocked former
Soviet republic’s busy capital, Yerevan.

Like many other Armenians, the most Badasyan is hoping for is a calm
election that will reinforce stability in the tiny country of 3.3
million squeezed between Iran and Turkey.

Above all he wants no repeat of the fraud and violence that marred a
presidential election in 2008, when eight protesters and two police
were killed in clashes.

“My life will be the same after the election, but I don’t want to see
blood and fighting in the street again,” he said.

Isolated and in chaos after the collapse of the Soviet Union, things
got so bad in the 1990s that people cut down all the trees in Yerevan
to use as firewood. The trees have been replanted but the capital,
overlooked by Mount Ararat, is still dominated by Soviet-era apartment
blocks on its outskirts, with homes near the centre built of a local
pink-grey stone.

Armenia nestles in a region that is emerging as a vital transit route
for oil and gas exports from the Caspian Sea to energy-hungry world
markets, but has no pipelines of its own.

Instability is a constant threat as Armenia is locked in a dispute
with neighboring Azerbaijan over the tiny region of Nagorno-Karabakh,
over which they fought a war in the 1990s.

Armenia also has fraught relations with Turkey, in part because Ankara
does not recognize as genocide the killing of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey during World War One.

TEST FOR DEMOCRACY

Sunday’s election is widely seen as a test of democracy and a
potential challenge for President Serzh Sarksyan, the winner of the
2008 election.

The parties involved have made social problems and economic issues the
main slogans of an election campaign that has been unusually active
for Armenia, Russia’s main ally in the region.

Girls and boys have been handing out posters and white balloons to
people in the streets of Yerevan, urging them to vote for Sarksyan’s
Republican Party.

Prosperous Armenia, a party led by wealthy businessman Gagik Tsarukyan
that is also in the governing coalition, has posted huge campaign
adverts on billboards across much of the country.

Armenia has been gradually recovering from the 2008-09 global economic
crisis although the average nominal monthly salary is still under
$300.

After a sharp economic contraction of 14.2 percent in 2009, growth was
4.6 percent in 2011 and the International Monetary Fund expects 3.8
percent growth in 2012. Inflation was trimmed to 4.7 percent in 2011.

Opinion polls show the Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia will
amass more than 60 percent of the votes between them, signaling little
or no change in government.

The policies of the coalition, which currently also includes the
Country of Law Party, are unlikely to change.

For the first time in Armenia’s post-Soviet history, the election is
less of a traditional conflict between the government and opposition
than a battle for supremacy between members of the governing
coalition.

“What we do see is both a test and an opportunity for the Armenian
president and the government, a test of their own credibility and
personal honor, and also an opportunity for the Armenian president to
move beyond the legacy of March 2008 once and for all,” said Richard
Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Centre in Yerevan.

Guillermo Tolosa, the International Monetary Fund’s chief
representative in Armenia, said: “We don’t expect any major shifts in
basic macroeconomic policies and regarding relations with us.”

A newcomer to the parliament could be the Armenian National Congress,
a diverse coalition of radical opposition groups led by former
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, staging a comeback after his defeat in
the 2008 presidential election.

(Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Louise Ireland)

Arutz Sheva, Israel
May 6 2012

Elections Sunday in France, Greece, Armenia

Elections are taking place in France and Greece on Sunday. Both
elections are seen as key to the future of the European Union. In
France, voters will be choosing between incumbent Nicholas Sarkozy,
and Socialist challenger Francois Hollande. Polls show Hollande ahead
of Sarkozy by between 4 and 10 points. In Greece, voters will be
electing a new government, with voters likely to reject policies that
the two largest parties have imposed in order to comply with demands
by the European Union, cutting budgets and benefits in exchange for a
bailout of the Greek economy.

Elections for parliament are also taking place in Armenia, with
officials hoping that the elections reinforce stability in the
country.

Voice of Russia
May 6 2012

Armenia votes in parliamentary election

Armenia votes in a parliamentary election on Sunday, in an event that
may see the participation of 2,5 million voters casting ballots at
23,000 polling stations.

Earlier this year, the Central Elections Commission registered eight
political parties and one more party faction which will fight for 90
parliamentary seats during Sunday’s vote, due to be followed by the
formation of a new government.

Interfax

The Voice of Russia
May 6 2012

Armenia close to forming new Parliament

People in Armenia have ended casting ballots in elections to
Parliament. The turnout amounted to 51%

Nine pro-government and opposition parties and blocs were in the
contest. The threshold to winning parliamentary seats is 5% for a
party and 7% for a bloc.

Some 31 thousand local and 650 foreign observers were at work. More
than 170 had been deployed by the Commonwealth of Independent States.

TASS

CNN.com
May 5, 2012 Saturday 11:38 AM EST

Scores remain hospitalized after Armenian rally explosion

Nearly half of those injured by exploding gas-filled balloons during a
political campaign rally in Armenia’s capital remained hospitalized on
Saturday, according to state media.

The incident occurred Friday in city of Yerevan, two days before
parliamentary elections. The balloons erupted in flames, forcing at
least 154 people to be hospitalized.

By Saturday, medical personnel had still not discharged 76 of the
victims, according to the official Armenpress.

President Serzh Sargsyan reported that there were no fatalities as a
result of the explosion, saying law enforcement has initiated an
investigation, the agency said.

“All those who are guilty will be revealed and punished in accordance
with the law,” Sargsyan said. “I urge everyone to keep calm. Let us
pray for the injured and wish everyone fast recovery.”

The type of gas that filled the balloons is unclear.

HAK Leader: “These elections were worse than the previous ones”

06:32 pm | May 06, 2012 | Politics

These elections were even worse than the previous ones, leader of the
opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) said at the joint
inter-party center for public oversight of elections.

“All political parties included in the headquarters – Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun, the Armenian National
Congress (HAK) and Prosperous Armenia (BHK)” – have understood that
things cannot continue in this way. Today, we are not deciding the
fate of the HAK, ARF or BHK. We are deciding the fate of Armenia. Why
should our country be the most prostrated in political, economic,
social and educational fields? It is really shameful. The reason is
that the government in Armenia is not formed by people. I would like
to be optimistic but unfortunately every election turns out to be
worse than the previous one.

Something terrible occurred today. We seized our last chance to
prevent double voting as the `vanishing’ ink stamp put an end to
everything. I let you draw your own conclusions about these
authorities. Whom are they trying to fool – me, BHK or ARF? No, they
are trying to fool our people. They are trying to take a victory over
these people. I feel pity that the authorities are sparing no effort
to keep power. I think that before 8 o’clock we shall have a thick
volume of election fraud at our hand,” said Levon Ter Petrosyan.

Our concerns came true – Naira Zohrabyan on vanishing stamps

tert.am
10:14 – 06.05.12

Naira Zohrabyan, head of Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) election
headquarters, said the party will release a statement after a while
relating to the oxidizing stamps in voters’ passports.

`Our concerns came true,’ Zohrabyan said, stressing that the stamps
vanish in 3-4 minutes affording a wide opportunity for double voting.
The PAP has received such calls from all the polling stations.

`We assess it as an initially designed scenario for double voting. It
is not the way to build democracy,’ Naira Zohrabyan stated, adding
that the falsifiers will not be pardoned.

The PAP representatives have videotaped the oxidation process and
informed the OSCE/ODIHR and PACE observers who are due to the PAP
headquarters after a while. Before it, they will visit Ajapnyak
polling stations to get convinced personally of oxidation of the
stamps.

Central Election Commission (CEC) chairman Tigran Mukuchyan has also
been informed about vanishing stamps, saying that he is aware of the
issue and offered mixing a common ink.

Tigran Mukuchyan has warned the election commissions about the issue,
though Naira Zohrabyan said the commission members refuse to take
common ink and mix it, saying `we do not know what ink it is’.

Manushak Petrosyan’s proxy taken to hospital

17:11 06/05/2012 » Politics

Hovhannes Grigoryan, the proxy of the ANC candidate Manushak Petrosyan
in N13/09 poll station, felt bad and was hospitalized, Manushak
Petrosyan informed in the interview with panorama.am. She said
Hovhannisyan has lost his conciseness, `I am not informed about the
reasons yet,’ Mrs. Petrosyan said.

Assessing the election process the ANC candidate mentioned that
`…there is anarchy in N13 poll station. Election bribes are
distributed, there is atmosphere of fear and permissiveness. I can say
this much for this moment,’ Petrosyan added.

Two candidates are in struggle at N13 poll station, Manushak
Petrosyan, Mher Sedrakyan.

Source: Panorama.am