Category: 2017

ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2017
ATP Issues Statement on Monsanto: Keep Armenia Free of GMOs
In response to news of the US Embassy hosting Monsanto in Yerevan, ATP
founder Carolyn Mugar, director of Farm Aid, a US non-profit that works with
family farmers, invoked the Precautionary Principle: "When an activity
raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary
measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not
fully established scientifically." The first endorsement of the principle
was in 1982 by the United Nations General Assembly. This is a good framework
for science, innovation and public policy which the European Union has
adopted, leading it to largely reject GMO crop production.
The agribusiness event in Yerevan presents Armenians with an opportunity to
talk about the future of Armenia, its food and farming. Who benefits from
bringing this company into Armenia? What are the potential environmental,
agricultural and food effects of GMO production? Here are just a few of the
risks and considerations:
. Monsanto's seeds are a threat to biodiversity and native and organic
crops, because consolidation and corporate ownership of seeds threatens
publicly developed seed, genetic research and farmer innovation and
seed-saving.
. Monsanto's pesticides have created superweeds/super pests resulting in
increased use of even more toxic chemicals. 
. Farmers have been pushed out of business and off the land by corporations
like Monsanto due to corporate control of seeds, their required applications
of proprietary pesticides and by failure to take responsibility for the
drift of GMO seeds and pesticides. Also, GMO crops do not necessarily
improve yield or farm profitability.
. Consumer trends are toward increased transparency in our food, including
labeling of GMOs. The contamination of the US food supply with glyphosate,
the result of GMO cropping, is now widely known. Armenia's ability to retain
its agricultural heritage as a GMO-free agricultural producer could result
in important market opportunities.
. The long-term safety of utilizing GMO technology has not been fully
evaluated. Hence the framework of the Precautionary Principle is the
appropriate way for Armenia to determine the future of its farming
practices.
The issue speaks to the value of Armenia's environment. Worldwide the trend
with Monsanto and GMOs is that the harmful effects on the soil, water and
farm profitability are increasingly exposed.
With your support, ATP is working in the remote villages of Armenia for the
long-term benefit of our people. That's what we stand for. We believe in a
strong Armenia with a healthy ecological and economic infrastructure.
Let's be forward looking. Armenia--with its unique history and
character--can seize the opportunity to be a GMO-free country.

                                        Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Armenian Textbook Fees Challenged In Court
November 8, 2017
 . Anush Muradian
Armenia - High school students in Yerevan pass graduation exams,
6Jun2017.
The state human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, has asked Armenia's
highest court to stop the government from charging the parents of
public school students for textbooks provided to them.
In a 16-page appeal to the Constitutional Court filed this month,
Tatoyan challenged a clause in an Armenian law on education
stipulating that only primary school students aged 9 and younger can
use textbooks free of charge. He said it runs counter to the country's
constitution which guarantees free secondary education in "state
educational institutions."
"In our view, we have an unconstitutional provision here," Tatoyan
told a public discussion in Yerevan. "Our constitution is very clear
and does not provide for any rules # on this issue."
In his appeal, the ombudsman also pointed to the cost of textbook rent
fees which has steadily increased in recent years, saying that many
parents have trouble paying them. He said that existing government
arrangements meant to exempt low-income families from such payments
are fuzzy and open to different interpretations.
"Practical research and our interviews show that often times parents
don't speak up about the difficulty of paying for textbooks out of
shame or a desire to spare their children stigmas," he claimed.
Lusine Bilian is a mother of two schoolchildren who receives poverty
benefits from the state. She said that the administration of a Yerevan
school where the children study notified her recently that she will
have to pay half the cost of their textbooks for this academic
year. Bilian estimated it at between 3,500 and 4,000 drams ($7-8).
"I don't know how I'm going to pay that," she told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am).
The Armenian Education Ministry has not yet officially reacted to the
legal action.
Armenian Military Wants To End Conditional Amnesty For Draft Evaders
November 8, 2017
 . Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Soldiers are lined up at an Armenian military base,
21Oct2014.
Pro-government lawmakers publicly criticized on Wednesday a Defense
Ministry proposal to abolish a law allowing Armenian men who illegally
evaded compulsory military service to buy a government amnesty.
Under the law enacted in 2004, they can avoid criminal prosecution in
exchange for a hefty fee depending on the number of years they have
spent on the run. The maximum fine was set at 1.8 million drams
($3,750) per person.
The amnesty-for-cash scheme was originally applicable only to those
fugitive men who were aged 27 or older by June 2004. This age
threshold has been repeatedly raised since then.
The parliamentary factions of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) and all other political groups represented in the National
Assembly are now seeking another extension that would apply to male
citizens who have turned 27 before December 1, 2017.
The Armenian Defense Ministry has put forward an amendment to their
joint bill stipulating that there will be no further extensions of the
scheme. It also wants to drastically raise the legal cost of the final
amnesty to 9 million drams.
Lawmakers affiliated with the HHK rejected the amendment at a meeting
of the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security. Among
them was the committee chairman, Koryun Nahapetian.
Armenia -- Koryun Nahapetian chairs a meeting of the parliament
committee on defense and security, 8Nov2017.
"Our goal must be to help our compatriots who evaded military service
because they moved abroad with their families at a very young age and
now live there to return to their homeland, not to create additional
obstacles," said Nahapetian.
He argued that between 700 and 800 draft dodgers have been granted
such amnesty annually since 2004. The Defense Ministry has received a
total of 8 billion drams ($17 million) as a result, he
said. Nahapetian also revealed that almost 9,500 other men remain on
the run on draft evasion charges.
"What do we want to do? To throw those people into prison?" said
another HHK lawmaker, Felix Tsolakian.
Tsolakian also protested against the much higher amnesty fee demanded
by the ministry. "Armenians returning from Russia come back because
they don't have money. They didn't succeed there," he reasoned.
Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian insisted, however, that keeping
the conditional amnesty would only encourage more draft evasion. "We
very much want our citizens to come back but at the same time we must
not keep that door open for others to flee," said Zakarian, who is
also affiliated with the HHK.
The parliament committee will again meet on Friday to formulate its
final position on the measure that has been personally advocated by
Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian.
Minister Meets Protesting Students, Rejects Their Demands
November 8, 2017
 . Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian (R) meets with
representatives of students protesting against government plans to
scrap draft deferments, 8Nov2017.
The Armenian government will not refrain from essentially abolishing
temporary exemptions from compulsory military service, Education
Minister Levon Mkrtchian told on Wednesday university students
protesting against the planned measure.
Mkrtchian met with representatives of the students as they boycotted
classes for a second day in protest against a relevant government bill
passed by the Armenian parliament in the first reading.
Over 200 students rallied outside the main Yerevan State University
building and marched through the city center before the meeting.
"When it comes to serving the homeland, no citizen of the Republic of
Armenia will have privileges," Mkrtchian told several organizers of
the continuing protests.
The minister repeated his arguments that over 85 percent of male
students of state-run universities are already drafted to the armed
forces at the age of 18 because they pay tuition fees unlike the other
students who study for free.
Armenia - Students demonstrate outside Yerevan State University,
8Nov2017.
The latter have until now been allowed to perform the two-year service
after completing their undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate
studies. Those obtaining doctoral degrees have been exempt from
military duty altogether.
The controversial bill drafted by the Defense Ministry would grant
deferments only to those students who would agree to undergo parallel
military training and serve in the army as officers for three years
after graduation. The protesting students say that without deferments
they would find it much harder to become scientists or scholars.
Mkrtchian dismissed such assertions, arguing that only a small
percentage of Armenian students temporarily or permanently exempt from
conscription have pursued academic or scientific careers. "There is
quite strong political support behind [the bill] # I don't think that
this bill is subject to withdrawal," he said.
The protest organizers made clear, meanwhile, that they will continue
the boycott until the government meets their demands which are backed
by some Armenian opposition leaders.
The protesters on Wednesday again tried unsuccessfully to enter YSU
premises and get more students to join their campaign. Entrance doors
of those buildings remained locked from inside, with the university
administration apparently seeking to contain the boycott.
At least one YSU professor, Karen Saghatelian, condemned the shutdown
and joined the protesters.
Press Review
November 8, 2017
"Haykakan Zhamanak" says that the controversial government initiative
to essentially abolish remaining military draft deferments for
university students in Armenia is raising "many questions." "For
instance, what will happen to those who dodge draft on bogus health
grounds?" the paper asks. It says that the government bill in question
"poses no threat to them" and that more draft dodgers will now turn to
health authorities, rather than universities.
Hovannes Tokmajian, the rector of a state college in Nagorno-Karabakh,
tells "Hraparak" that the bill contains "many positive things" and
that "the idea of draft deferment has been fairly discredited" due to
various corrupt practices. "At the same time, I'm really worried that
after serving [in the armed forces] for two years many young men will
not be able to continue their studies and that we could have a vacuum
here," he says.
"Zhoghovurd" questions Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's claim that
nearly half of $850 million in investments in Armenia's economy
promised by him were carried out in the first eight months of this
year. The paper argues that figures released by the National
Statistical Service (NSS) show that foreign direct investment (FDI) in
Armenia continued to decline in the first half of 2017. "And yet data
published by the government indicated a very strong growth," it
says. "This discrepancy has been quickly explained: the government has
used a totally different methodology to calculate its indicators."
"Zhamanak" says that even Transport and Communications Minister Vahan
Martirosian does not know whether an ambitious government project to
refurbish Armenia's key highways stretching from the Iranian to the
Georgian borders can be completed in the foreseeable future. "He says
that that the [North-South] road will be built but he too doesn't know
when," writes the paper.
"Aravot" says that the Armenian community in the United States has
been "spending huge resources and time" to get various U.S. states to
recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. "We are
proudly saying that the 48th state (Indiana) has recognized the
genocide," editorializes the paper. "Another millions of dollars and
another several years will be spent on [genocide recognition by] the
49th and 50th states, and in the process they will speculate about why
the U.S. president has not uttered the word genocide."
(Elen Chilingarian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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