Author: nina hovnanian

Turkish journalist on Armenian Genocide

tert.am
13:26 – 30.04.12

After a recent visit to Yerevan, journalist of the Turkish Radikal
Fehim Tashtekin has shared his impressions of the April 24 Genocide
Commemoration Day.

In his author column, the publicist first refers to a meeting with
French-Armenian artist David Yerevantsi, the author of the sculpture
dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Armenian printing art.

`The statue created by the France-based ethnic Armenian was unveiled
on April 24, and the moment I met him, he was being photographed with
people who wished to have a picture with him,’ he said.

Yerevantsi’s statue, Msho Tcharyntir (Select pieces from Moush),
symbolizes a woman who rescued a book while emigrating from the
historical Armenian town of Moush.

Tashtekin says the sculptor was very much surprised to see a Turkish
journalist in Yerevan on April 24. When asked by Yerevantsi what he
thinks of the Genocide, the columnist answered, `That’s our grief
too.’

`Considering the 1915 [events] a genocide is an extremely crucial
fact. The museum dedicated to the Genocide is visible from different
parts of the city,’ he notes.

The journalist also addresses the failed normalization process between
Turkey and Armenia process.

`It is clear why the 2009 protocols between Armenia and Turkey failed;
it is necessary first of all to settle the Genocide-related disputes.
Even though it is not being officially declared, the protocols will be
never ratified unless the Genocide is acknowledged,’ he adds.
Tashketin is hopeful Turkey will take certain steps ahead of the 100th
anniversary of Genocide, but notes in the meantime that no one in
Armenia expects a reconciliation within a short period.

`Turkey has closed its border with Armenia because of Karabakh. But no
one in Yerevan hopes for a quick settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
Therefore I wish these two issues to be distinct from each other. To
be frank, 2015 is a psychological barrier for all. Armenia is as far
from the idea of ceding Karabakh as Turks are unlikely to ever visit
the Genocide Memorial with flowers. That means taboos mark the real
borders,’ he comments.

Armenian FM, Iran’s President discuss bilateral relations

armradio.am
30.04.2012 11:35

On the invitation of Iran’s FM Ali Akbar Salehi, Armenian Foreign
Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandian arrived in Tehran Sunday on an
official visit. And he was received by the Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.

Nalbandian conveyed to Ahmadinejad Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s
message, and the Iranian leader asked Armenia’s FM to extend his warm
greetings and well wishes to Sargsyan and the people of Armenia, MFA
informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Afterward they discussed the implementation of Armenian-Iranian joint
economic programs, and Iran’s President stressed the importance of
these programs.

In Tehran, Edward Nalbandian also held talks with his Iranian
counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi. They examined the avenues for further
improving the friendly ties between both countries, and the activities
of the Armenian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission. They reflected
on bilateral cooperation, and exchanged views on expanding the legal
framework.

Salehi gave details on the latest developments with respect to Iran’s
nuclear program, and Nalbandian expressed a satisfaction that a
positive trend was recorded during the last meeting in this regard.

In his turn, Armenia’s FM briefed his Iranian colleague on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement talks.

They agreed to hold their next meeting in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.

Then they held a joint news conference.

Also, Iran’s FM organized an official dinner in honor of his Armenian
counterpart.

In Tehran, Armenia’s FM was also hosted at the Iranian parliament,
where he met with the Speaker, Ali Larijani. Nalbandian underscored
the effective cooperation between the legislative bodies of Armenia
and Iran in strengthening bilateral relations.

FM Edward also met with Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran’s Supreme
National Security Council and the country’s Chief Nuclear Negotiator.

The interlocutors reflected on bilateral ties and collaboration
between the Armenian and Iranian national security councils.

Jalili gave details on the latest developments concerning Iran’s
nuclear program, and Iran’s expectations from the relative talks.

In his turn, Nalbandian spoke about the Karabakh peace talks.

On the evening of the same day, Edward Nalbandian met with Primate of
the Tehran Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the heads of
Iran’s Armenian community organizations.

Edward Nalbandian visits Iranian parliament

12:00 30/04/2012 » Politics

At the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi,
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian began an official visit to
Iran on Sunday.

Minister Nalbandian visited Iranian parliament (Majlis), where he met
with Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, Foreign Ministry’s press office
reported.

Edward Nalbandian placed a high value on efficient cooperation between
the parliaments of Armenia and Iran. The Armenian FM and Iranian
parliament Speaker discussed bilateral issues and regional
developments.

As part of his visit to Iran, Edward Nalbandian also met with Iran’s
Supreme National Security Council secretary and chief nuclear
negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Nalbandian and Jalili discussed cooperation between Armenian and
Iranian National Security Councils.

The secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council dwelt on
Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s expectations from nuclear talks.

Edward Nalbandian presented the process of negotiations for the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.

Source: Panorama.am

CULTURE-VALENCE
Soirée dédiée au 500e anniversaire de l’imprimerie arménienne à Valence
en présence de l’arménologue Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier

L’association culturelle « Arménia » fêtait samedi 28 avril au Centre
communautaire arménien le 500e anniversaire de l’imprimerie arménienne
et « Erévan, capitale mondiale du Livre-2012 » de l’Unesco.

L’invitée de la soirée était Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier, responsable
de la chaire d’arménologie à l’Université de Genève, spécialiste de la
littérature arménienne et auteur de nombreuses études et ouvrages sur
la question.

Dans le public, de nombreux responsables d’associations et des
personnalités telles que le sculpteur Toros, l’un des membres les plus
actifs de la communauté Henri Siranyan responsable de l’Eglise
arménienne Saint Sahag et le célèbre bouquiniste René Adjémian.

Le président d’« Arménia » le journaliste et caricaturiste Krikor
Amirzayan a tout d’abord présenté brièvement l’`uvre de Valentina
Calzolari-Bouvier avant de lui laisser la parole.

Durant plus d’une heure, Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier évoqua la
naissance de l’imprimerie arménienne en 1512 (ou 1511) à Venise, avec
le premier livre « Ourpatakirk » (Le livre de Vendredi) publié par
HagopMeghabard. V. Calzolari-Bouvier a également donné de nombreux
détails sur les différentes imprimeries nées en Europe occidentale et
placé cette naissance dans le contexte des relations difficiles entre
l’Eglise catholique romaine et l’Eglise arménienne. Avec des plongées
dans l’Histoire de l’Arménie depuis le Ve siècle avec la naissance de
l’alphabet arménien et le constat que les initiateurs de ce vaste
projet de l’écriture arménienne désiraient désigner les Arméniens
comme « un peuple élu ».

Après l’exposé passionnant et très riche, le public posa de nombreuses
questions. Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier apporta les réponses précises à
ces interrogations. Le public fut alors invité à la séance des
autographes du livre « Arménie-Hayastan » publié par la Fondation
Topalian et dont V. Calzolari-Bouver a cosigné avec l’historien
Raymond H. Kévorkian. Livre dédié au 500e anniversaire de l’imprimerie
arménienne.

Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier entrouée d’une partie du public
Krikor Amirzayan présente Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier
Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier
Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier
Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier grande spécialiste de la littérature arménienne
Le public à l’écoute de Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier
Le public captivé
Un public très attentif
Une soirée captivante
Dédicaces de l’album “Arménie-Hayastan”
Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier explique aux lecteurs

Valentina Calzolari-Bouvier très entourée lundi 30 avril 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

173 CIS observers to monitor Armenia’s parliament elections

April 29, 2012 – 16:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – CIS observer mission continues monitoring of
Armenian parliamentary election campaign.

Armenian Police informed the mission authorities about their work for
compiling and clarifying of voter lists.

CIS monitors also met with the officials at Foreign Ministry, Court of
Appeal, representatives of Armenian Radio and Television National
Committee to discuss the course of electoral race.

The monitors continue observation of the activities of territorial and
divisional electoral committees, with visits paid to committees of
Tavush and Gegharkunik provinces.

CIS observer mission includes 173 monitors from Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, CIS Interparliamentary
Assembly, Parliamentary Assembly of Belarus and Russia, CIS Executive
Committee, the mission told PanARMENIAN.Net

Ex defense minister on enemy suppression policies

16:12 =95 29.04.12

Armenia’s former Defense Minister Arthur Aghabekyan has expressed concerns
over the Azerbaijani armed forces’ intensive gunshots across the Line of
Contact, calling for positive action by the Foreign Ministry.

Speaking to Tert.am, Aghabekyan stressed the importance of making the enemy
suppression policies more transparent. In the meantime he considered the
Defense Ministry’s attempts to retaliate the enemy not enough.

`The Armenian Armed Forces are capable of that. We also have the necessary
tools to suppress the rival, but I have not idea to what extent they are
being used,’ he noted.

Aghabekyan who has taken part in the Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war
recommended against leaving the enemy’s gunfire unanswered.

`There is an opinion that this is not the path way to follow as the Foreign
Ministry has to be responsible for the major response. But I think the
Defense Ministry too, should organize the defense more effectively, making
the suppression policies more obvious to the rival,’ he noted.

Appealing in Ealing: Ken Livingstone and Ed Miliband woo the Labour vote

Posted by
Dave Hill
Saturday 28 April 2012 18.32 BST
guardian.co.uk

Ken Livingstone and Ed Miliband campaigning in Ealing Broadway.
Photograph: Dave Hill “Is that Boris?” cried a young female voice as
Ken Livingstone, Ed Miliband and a big bunch of red balloons
promenaded through the Ealing Broadway shopping centre.

“No, it’s not Boris,” replied her friend.

“Oh.”

I couldn’t see her but I could hear her disappointment – the sound of
what Ken is up against. By this time next week either a Labour Mayor
Livingstone will be on the eighth floor of City Hall already
implementing policies that would be good for most Londoners and London
as a whole, or a Conservative Mayor Johnson will be embarking on four
more years of doing no such thing.

Seems like a simple choice. Opinion polls, though, suggest that too
few London voters are looking at it that way and that too many see
“good old Boris” and not much else – which is, of course, exactly what
the Johnson campaign and its many press proxies have wanted all along.

Team Boris gives every impression of protecting its boy from
potentially unwelcome scrutiny in order to protect his lead: a no-show
at a recent hustings, an opt out from BBC Radio London’s breakfast
show. Tomorrow, it’s his turn to be grilled on The Sunday Politics. My
strong advice is that you shouldn’t hold your breath.

But the polls still allow for a tight outcome. Ken’s rating foot-drags
behind general support for Labour in London, but mud that sticks to
the Tories nationally is still soil in which his prospects grow.
That’s why Ed Miliband was on the trail with him this morning, not
only singing his praises as the Labour candidate (that’s “the Labour
candidate,” for pity’s sake) but also dirty up David Cameron and that
good friend of Boris and various mutual media chums, Jeremy Hunt.

If they’re fretting about Thursday’s vote, it didn’t show. Ken greeted
my arrival at Ealing Broadway station by offering me a freshly-fried
chip and saying how much he’d enjoyed my calling him “stubborn” in a
recent article.

“A ‘stubborn git,’ actually,” I pointed out. (A lot of thought went
into that “git”.)

Ken guffawed, forgivingly.

I nattered with some of his entourage – a very nice woman from Labour
HQ, another from the office of Ed Balls – and then Miliband showed up,
looking shiny and enthused. Together they sailed off through light
drizzle accompanied by Onkar Sahota, Labour’s London Assembly
candidate for the GLA constituency of Ealing and Hillingdon, which a
recent poll suggests Sahota has a chance of snatching from the Tory
incumbent Richard Barnes. A flotilla of activists framed the
politicians’ progress with “Ken’s Fare Deal” placards. Up ahead,
apparatchiks scouted shoppers for photo-op material.

This seemed in good supply, despite Ken’s utter failure to be Boris.
There were all sorts of stop-starts as Labour candidate and Labour
leader posed and bantered with assorted Ealing citizens, ignored a
passing fellow who crossly shouted, “Support the workers! Support
strikes!” and talked to Sky News, PA and the Beeb about reducing
London’s cost of living. They went into a sweet shop – Mr Simms Olde
Sweet Shoppe to be precise – and a shoe repairer’s, presumably not
drawn there by the highly intoxicating smell of glue.

Once back in the fresh air Ken was hailed by a man attending a sombre
tree-planting ceremony at the edge of Haven Green. Would he join it,
please? The gathering, I later learned, was to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide, which Ealing Council has recognised thanks to
efforts of Stephen Pound, the Labour MP for Ealing North. I was told
that there are around 10,000 people of Armenian descent in Ealing.

Ken seemed very game, and had taken several paces across the sodden
grass before he was hauled back. Miliband, you see, was already in a
car waiting across the way to whisk him to his next destination. Ken
was meant to be beside him. “We’re already 20 minutes late,” an aide
said, breathlessly.

Ken apologised and did what he was told – not something that happens
every day. He and his party’s leader have a common interest in getting
along and in being seen to do so. Expect further sightings of them in
each others’ company before 3 May.

New Europe
April 29 2012

UN nuclear chief inspects Metsamor Plant

Article | April 29, 2012 – 8:22pm

Visiting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General
Yukiya Amano was recently welcomed by Armenia’s Foreign Affairs
Minister Edward Nalbandian, Armenia Liberty.org reported.

In the course of talks, Nalbandian stressed that Armenia stress the
need to develop its ties and co-operation with the IAEA, also
considering this as the most important component of Armenia’s energy
and nuclear safety.

He also recalled President Serzh Sargsyan’s participation in the
Nuclear Safety Summit, which was held in Seoul in March. For his part,
Amano said that IAEA attach importance to co-operation with Armenia
which he expects to yield fruitful results. The interlocutors
discussed the Armenia-IAEA co-operation and nuclear safety matters. In
this context, Nalbandian noted that Armenia, as a country with nuclear
technology, has joined several international documents which regulate
this area.

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog inspected the nuclear
plant at Metsamor and discussed with Armenian leaders their plans to
delay its decommissioning.

Mediamax, Armenia
APril 28 2012

Armenia’s ruling party leads in opinion poll ahead of May election

Yerevan, 28 April. According to the poll conducted by the Gallup
Organization and Armenian Sociological Association upon the request of
ArmNews TV channel, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and the
Prosperous Armenia party are the leaders on the eve of the elections.

The poll was held among 1,015 voters on the whole territory of Armenia
on 16-22 April, Mediamax reports.

Member of the Board of Directors of Gallup Europe Rasa Alishauskene
said today that according to the results of the poll, 39 per cent of
the polled are ready to vote for the RPA and 26 per cent for the
Prosperous Armenia party.

Some 7 per cent of the polled are going to vote for the Armenian
National Congress (ANC), 5 per cent – for the Orinats Yerkir party and
Dashnaktsutyun each, 4 per cent for the Heritage party, 2 per cent for
the Communist Party, 0.5 per cent for Democratic Party of Armenia, 0.4
per cent for the United Armenians party.

Rasa Alishauskene noted that 38 per cent of the polled believe that
free and fair elections will held and 53 per cent hold the opposite
opinion.

Some 66 per cent of the polled stated that they will definitely take
part in the parliamentary elections and 23 per cent noted that they
may possible participate.

Rasa Alishauskene said that according to the results of the research,
television in Armenia is still the most important source of political
information, “oral source” is the second and internet is the third.

Chairman of the Sociological Association of Armenia Gevorg Poghosyan
noted that the results of the poll confirmed the marked European
orientation of the Armenian people. “Some 69 per cent of the polled
noted that Armenia should become an EU member in the future.
Simultaneously, 80 per cent of the polled want Armenia to remain a
part of the CIS,” said Gevorg Poghosyan.

The poll also showed that settlement of social-economic issues –
employment and living standards in the first place – is one of the
most important problems for the Armenian people.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
April 28 2012

Prosperous Armenia to record elections on video

Prosperous Armenia plans to record the parliamentary electoral process
on May 6 on video, News Armenia cites a member of the party Naira
Zograbyan.

Recording should take place at over 1980 stations starting at 8 am.

Prosperous Armenia is a liberal-conservative center-right party formed
in 2004. It got 24 seats out of 131 at the parliament of the fourth
calling on May 12, 2007. Its leader Gagik Tsarukyan is a welthy
businessman, head of the National Olympic Committee, President of the
Multy Group.

Armenia will hold parliamentary polls on May 6 with 8 parties and a
bloc running.

They include the Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia, Orinats Yerkir,
Dashnaktsutyun, Heritage, Armenian National Congress, Democratic
Party, Communist Party and United Armenians.

The parliament consists of 131 seats. 41 MPs are elected via the
majority system, 90 via the proportional system. Parties need at least
5% of votes, blocs need 7%.