Friday, February 2, 2017

Armenia Defends French President Against Turkish Criticism


FRANCE -- French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian before a meeting at the Elysee Palace in
Paris, January 23, 2018

Armenia on Friday denounced Turkey's angry reaction to French
President Emmanuel Macron's latest statement on the 1915 Armenian
genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Addressing prominent members of the influential Armenian community in
France earlier this week, Macron pledged to assign an official day of
commemoration for some 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman
Turks during the First World War. France formally recognized the
massacres as genocide with a special law passed in 2001.

Macron also signaled support for another French law that would
criminalize public denials of the genocide. The French-Armenian
community has been actively campaigning for such a measure.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, described Macron's remarks
as "populist." "Genocide is a legal, not political term # If France is
committed to the law it must not bring up such issues," he said.

Ankara has always denied a premeditated government effort to
exterminate Ottoman Turkey's Armenian population.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian rejected the Turkish
criticism of Macron in written comments to RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am).

"Instead of labelling those who recognize the Armenian Genocide as
populists Ankara needs to abandon the dangerous populism of its
denialist policy and have the courage to face its own past," he said.


France - French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L) meets with his
Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Paris, 22Dec2017.

Nalbandian argued than among the two dozen nations that have
officially recognized the genocide are Germany and Austria, the
Ottoman Empire's allies during the 1914-1918 war. He also cited the
position on the subject of the International Association of Genocide
Scholars.

"The historical record on the Armenian Genocide is unambiguous and
documented by overwhelming evidence," the association said in 2007.

Macron made his comments just days after meeting with Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian in Paris. "France will always be alongside
Armenia," the French leader said after the talks, citing "profound
links" between the two nations.



Media Groups Concerned Over Government Transparency


 . Sargis Harutyunyan


Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian chairs a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan, 25May2017.

Armenian media associations expressed concern on Friday about
government plans to reduce the transparency of weekly cabinet meetings
in Yerevan after Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic in April.

Under a new bill on the Armenian government's structure and powers
approved by ministers on Thursday, journalists will no longer be able
to watch those meetings live. The prime minister could only make "a
part of a meeting" open to the press, it says. The bill also bars
government members from publicizing details of any issue discussed by
the government without the premier's permission.

The chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, Boris Navasardian, described
the proposed legislation as "yet another step" towards withholding
more information about the government's activities from the media.

"I don't exclude that it is connected with the transformation of the
government system because obviously when the prime minister's powers
increase and essentially equal the current president's authority more
serious issues will be discussed and solved at government meetings,"
said Navasardian. "In that regard, they find the presence of
journalists unnecessary."

"I wouldn't say that this is an extraordinary development," he
added. "It's just a continuation of a general trend, inertia."

"In essence, not much is going to change," Satik Seyranian, the head
of the Armenian Journalists Union, said for her part. Seyranian, who
is also the editor of the "168 Zham" newspaper, argued that many
cabinet meetings watched live by reporters have often been mere
"formalities" that rubber-stamped government decisions made prior to
them.

"I am more concerned about the fact that government members will not
be allowed to release any information without the prime minister's
permission," she told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "It
means that there will be censorship within the government and the work
of journalists will get harder."

Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian defended the planned restrictions
on Thursday. He said he does not know of any other country where
cabinet meetings are open to the media. This openness has discouraged
Armenian ministers from voicing critical opinions about decisions or
policies proposed by their colleagues, claimed Harutiunian.



Armenian Mining Giant Announces Mass Layoffs


Armenia - A newly constructed ore-processing plant at the Teghut
copper mine, 20Dec2014.

Three weeks after suspending production operations at a massive copper
mine in Armenia's northern Lori province, an Armenian mining company
said on Friday that it has decided to lay off hundreds of workers.

The company, Vallex Group, sent many of its 1,215 employees working at
the Teghut deposit on indefinite leave on January 12. It attributed
the move to "planned prophylactic repairs" of the mine's waste
disposal facilities.

In its latest statement to the press, Vallex said it will fire most of
the workers due to what it expects to be a "prolonged stoppage" of
mining and ore processing at Teghut. The company claimed that the
stoppage is necessary for the realization of its plans to
significantly increase its output.

It said it needs to hire Armenian and foreign consultants for
"scientific research" to be conducted for that purpose. That will take
some time, the statement added without elaborating.

The Armenian government did not immediately react to the
announcement. Nor had government officials in Yerevan commented on the
recent suspension of mining at Teghut.

The Teghut mine is one of the largest employers in the
unemployment-stricken region. The mass layoffs will therefore deal a
major socioeconomic blow to the local population.

Vallex said almost all employees of the mine will receive notices
about the impending termination of their contracts. It promised to
provide some of those workers with jobs at other enterprises owned by
the mining giant. They include a copper smelter in the nearby town of
Alaverdi and metal mines in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Liechtenstein-registered company resorted to the layoffs despite
reporting a 32 percent surge in its combined operating revenue, which
totaled $358 million last year thanks to increased international
prices of copper and other non-ferrous metals. The Teghut mine
generated over 42 percent of that revenue.

The Teghut operator already announced in August plans to increase
copper ore extraction at Teghut. These plans met with strong
resistance from some residents of two villages close to the mining
site. They said that higher pollution levels have had negative effects
on their fruit orchards.

In recent months, environment protection groups have repeatedly
reported toxic leaks from Teghut's waste disposal dump contaminating a
nearby river. The company has denied those reports.



Saakashvili Book Presentations Cancelled In Yerevan


 . Marine Khachatrian


UKRAINE -- Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili gives a press
conference before the appeal hearing regarding the Kiev district court
that ruled to release him from custody at a courthouse in Kiev on
January 19, 2018.

A bookstore in Yerevan has cancelled a planned presentation of the
Armenian translation of a memoir written by Mikheil Saakashvili,
Georgia's former president who is now an outspoken opposition figure
in Ukraine.

The book recounting Saakashvili's political activities in Georgia and
Ukraine was due to be officially released in Armenia on February 7
with the event planned at the Noyan Tapan bookstore.

The shop manager, Luiza Berberian, said on Friday that she called off
the presentation because she does not want to see any "political
material" on sale at Noyan Tapan in principle.

"Anyone can come here and offer books to our employees," said
Berberian. "[One of the shop assistants] didn't realize what he is
doing. A copy of the book accidentally ended up on my desk and I
thought it's interesting material. But when I flipped through it I
thought `sorry but this is not for our bookstore.'"

"Nobody put pressure on me," she added.

The book presentation was originally planned at the state-run literary
Museum of Yeghishe Charents. The museum director also cancelled it,
citing "technical reasons." She denied receiving any orders from the
Armenian Culture Ministry.

The book's Armenian translator, Mikael Nahapetian, believes, however,
that the Armenian authorities are behind the cancellations. "It's
evident that there was pressure," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am).

An Armenian human rights activist, Vartan Harutiunian, also saw
political motives, saying that the authorities in Yerevan do not to
displease the Russian government which has long been extremely hostile
to Saakashvili.

Saakashvili, who governed Georgia from 2004-2013, likewise alleged
"Moscow's intervention" when he reacted to the event cancellations on
Facebook. "Interestingly, in Georgia Russian agents spread rumors that
I am an ethnic Armenian while in Armenia they say that I am
anti-Armenian," he wrote.

Saakashvili t is also at loggerheads with the current governments of
both Georgia and Ukraine. On January 5, a court in Tbilisi found him
guilty of abuse of power in connection with a 2006 murder case and
sentenced him in absentia to three years in prison. The ex-president
rejects the charges as politically motivated.

In Ukraine, prosecutors have accused Saakashvili of abetting an
alleged "criminal group" led by Ukraine's pro-Russia former President
Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after his ouster in February
2014. Ukrainian authorities also claim that protests led by
Saakashvili in Ukraine are part of a Russian plot against the
government in Kyiv.

Saakashvili on January 3 accused Russia's Federal Security Service
(FSB) of being involved in the fabrication evidence presented against
him by Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv's ongoing criminal trial against
him.



Press Review



"Haykakan Zhamanak" reacts to reported cancellations by public and
private institutions in Yerevan of an official presentation of a book
written by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and
translated to Armenian. "Is Russia's intervention the reason for that,
given the high degree of Russian influence on various segments of
Armenia's population?" asks the paper. It goes on to suggest that
Moscow was not behind the cancellation. "Saakashvili's image is deeply
unbearable for our government elite," it claims. "Having become
Georgia's president only 12-13 years ago, Saakashvili managed to
radically transform Georgia # And that was happening in front of our
eyes. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Armenians visiting Georgia
could see that a whole country can be reformed in a very short period
of time."

"Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" brands President Serzh Sarkisian a political
"juggler" who skillfully manipulates Armenia's government institutions
and political system to extend his rule. The paper claims that he is
making sure that Armenia's police and National Security Service are
"removed from parliament control and directly subordinated to the
prime minister." It also argues that despite Armenia's transformation
into a parliamentary republic the parliament speaker will no longer
sit on the national Security Council. "This is a real magic," it says
scornfully. The pro-opposition daily also blasts a government bill
that will prevent journalists from watching cabinet meetings live.

"Meetings of the next government to be formed in April will be held
behind the closed doors," writes"Zhoghovurd." The paper ridicules the
official rationale for this measure which was given by Justice
Minister Davit Harutiunian on Thursday. "In this country journalists
are to blame for everything," it says tartly.

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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