Author: Andres-Papazian

‘HOSTILE’ ARMENIAN DIASPORA BECOMES OBSTACLE TO TURKISH PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT TO ARGENTINA

ArmInfo
2010-05-31 14:17:00

ArmInfo. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has canceled the Argentina
leg of his Latin American tour to protest the cancellation of an event
honoring the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
under pressure from the Armenian Diaspora, Zaman reported.

Erdogan traveled to the Chilean capital of Santiago from Brazil,
skipping a planned two- day visit to Argentina.

“The reason for the cancellation of the Argentina visit is the
cancellation of written permission given earlier by the Ministry
of Environment and Public Space of the Autonomous City of Buenos
Aires for an Ataturk Monument that was to be inaugurated at the Jorge
Newbery Park, following attempts by Armenian circles who are hostile
to Turkey,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement
released on early Sunday morning.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, during a bilateral meeting on the
sidelines of the Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, held
in Rio de Janerio, told his Argentinean counterpart, Jorge Taiana,
that the Argentinean government should fulfill the promise made to
Turkey concerning the unveiling of the memorial, the statement said.

It noted that Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
called Erdogan expressing understanding but explained that the
Autonomous Buenos Aires Administration’s decision cannot be overruled
by the federal government due to Argentina’s constitution.

Following this explanation, Erdogan told her that he found this
unacceptable no matter what the reason was and cancelled the visit,
the Foreign Ministry said. During talks between the Argentinean and
Turkish sides and due the Turkish side’s firm insistence on keeping
to the original agenda of the visit, Kirchner also tried to persuade
the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires to return to the original agenda,
Today’s Zaman learned from reliable sources, yet these efforts failed.

Argentina is home to the third-largest Armenian diaspora community
following the United States and France. In the past, a monument of
Ataturk was removed after pressure by the Armenian community.

In November 2006, the lower house of Argentina’s parliament adopted
a resolution recognizing the killings of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire during World War I as “genocide.” In January 2007, in a move
that brought applause from the Armenian diaspora, then-Argentinean
President Nestor Kirchner approved a draft law proclaiming April 24
“the day of tolerance and respect.”

The inauguration of the monument was requested from Erdogan personally
by President Kirchner during correspondence between the two sides
at the planning stage of the visit, Today’s Zaman learned from
high-level sources.

The meetings held while Argentinean and Turkish officials were trying
to resolve the crisis prevented Erdogan from participating in several
scheduled programs such as the inauguration of “The Ottoman Worldview
from Piri Reis to Katip Celebi,” an exhibition of maps depicting
some of the most significant contributions to Ottoman geography and
cartography, in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition was instead opened by
Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay.

Erdogan also abandoned his plan to watch a match between Flamengo and
Gremio in the fifth round of the Brazilian championship played at
the Maracana stadium, while Chilean officials responded positively
to the Turkish delegation’s request to start the visit to Chile a
day earlier than planned.

From: A. Papazian

FOREIGN MINISTRY OF TRANSDNESTRIAN MOLDAVIAN REPUBLIC: THE JUDGEMENT SEAT ON ERNEST VARDANYAN’S CASE WILL BE OF A SECRET NATURE

ArmInfo
2010-05-31 14:19:00

ArmInfo. The judgement seat on Ernest Vardanyan’s case will be of a
secret nature, deputy foreign minister of Transdnisterian Moldavian
Republic Aleksandr Malyarchuk told South Caucasus journalists in
Tiraspol.

‘The investigators of State Security Ministry are dealing with the
case, as is accused of illegal actions directed to distraction of the
grounds of the constitutional regime of our republic’, – he said. He
also added that Vardanyan is kept in normal conditions, no violation
is used towards him, he is allowed to have regular meetings with
his relatives.

As for the investigation of Vardanyan’s case, Malyarchuk said that
‘like in any democratic state, there is an idea of procedural guilt,
which should be proved by the court’. ‘The court proceedings will
show if Ernest Vardanyan is guilty or not’, – he said and added that
the public will be informed about the course of the process but it
will be of the secret nature as the issues of the state secret are
touched on in this process.

To recall, on April 7, a group of armed agents from PMR’s Ministry
of State Security (MGB) arrested Vardanian at his home in Tiraspol,
according to local news reports. Irina Vardanian, who spoke to the
press after her husband’s arrest, said the agents told her he was
accused of committing treason against the PMR for Moldova. According
to Article 271 of the internal penal code of the unrecognized republic,
Vardanian faces from 12 to 20 years if convicted.

Vardanian, 30, works as a staff reporter and political analyst for the
Chisinau-based newspaper Puls, freelances for the Russian Internet news
agency Novy Region, and occasionally contributes for Europa Libera-the
Moldova and Romania service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty. Vasily Botnaru, Europa Libera’s chief editor
told CPJ that Vardanian is known for his independent reporting and
analysis on political and social issues. According to his Puls editors,
Vardanian lives in the Transdniester regional capital of Tiraspol
and commutes daily to the Moldovan capital of Chisinau for work.

Aleksandr Shchetinin, Novy Region’s general director, said Vardanian
had recently focused on international politics rather than Moldovan and
Transdniestrian issues. Shchetinin, who spoke with Irina Vardanian
after her husband’s arrest, told CPJ that MGB agents searched
the journalist’s home, confiscating computers, audio- and video-
reporting equipment, reporter’s notebooks, and the family’s bank and
credit cards.

Puls’s Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Kavruk told Deutsche Welle that since
the fall of 2009, the MGB in Tiraspol had been pressuring Vardanian to
stop working for Chisinau media. Tiraspol officials have been silent
since Vardanian’s arrest on April 7. Repeated attempts by various
media outlets, including Europa Libera and Novy Region, to contact
MGB for information, have been rebuffed.

From: A. Papazian

ARAZ ARTINIAN – “GOD HAS GIVEN ME THE ENERGY TO HELP AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN”
Inga Martinyan

2010/05/31 | 15:14

Feature Stories society

Canadian Filmmaker Says Diaspora is Losing Ground; Has Found New
“Calling” in Armenia

Araz is on the go all day long and thanks her shoes for wearing tough
and getting her to where she has to be. It seems that in Armenia that
aren’t enough hours in the day for all she has to do.

“It irritates me to no end to see students lazily walking by. I’m often
tempted to grab them by the arm, rip off the heels from there shoes,
and tell them that life is short; that they should be running.

What I also find upsetting is how Armenian girls get all fancied-up,
with make-up and all. They waste so much time on trivialities. There
are so many problems in this country. If all young people are
interested in are there things, then what kind of country will they
demand in the future?” says Araz Artinian, an Armenian film director
from Canada.

Araz believes that she was born to become a star. She also dreamt of
a singing career but never had the time to devote to it. But he has
polished his singing voice. Araz has yet to be regarded as a star,
but she shoots films, takes photos and creates websites.

In September, her first book of poems will be published, entitled
“Philophobia” (a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of love
and intimacy). Afterwards, she is thinking of presenting her poetry
via the medium of photography

Araz’s parents hail from Egypt and his grandparents are from western
Armenia. She is the youngest in the family. His older sister is an
attorney. She is marries and lives with her parents in Canada.

Wanted to escape the responsibilities of being Armenian

Araz’s father established the Sourp Hagop School in Canada. Her mother
worked as the director of the kindergarten. Both her parents were very
active in local Armenian community life and raised their children in
a strict Armenian atmosphere. This focus on an Armenian upbringing got
so intense that the kids started to hate being Armenian. “My father’s
main focus was on national identity and the pressure on me was great.

I had to withstand it.” Arazx’s father is an architect. He would draw
pretty maps of Armenia and the children would point out the borders
of Armenia in the past and today. Posters of the Armenian alphabet
adorned the walls of their house. The father was always fearful that
his daughters would marry non-Armenians and that they would thus
forget the language.

When she was 17, she brought home her first boyfriend, a non-Armenian.

Her father was not pleased, to say the least, and told her never to
bring him to the house again.

After graduating from Sourp Hagop’s, Araz attended the French College.

She completed her B.A. in Communication Studies at Concordia
University, specializing in film-making. During her senior year she
produced her first film. It was about the Spitak earthquake.

She was 17 when the earthquake struck. Every day, her father would
bring home newspaper clippings about the earthquake. Araz would
read the articles and save them. In 1997, Araz came to Armenia. She
tracked down twelve individuals named in those articles and made a
film about them.

Her film “The Genocide in Me” Shown at 2006 Golden Apricot

She then produced her second film, “The Genocide in Me”. Over the
course of 18 months, the film was shown in 47 cities. At the 2006
“Golden Apricot” film festival in Armenia, the film won an honorable
mention award. Araz decided to remain in Armenia. “In that film,
I explained how I no longer wished to be Armenian, because in the
diaspora the pressure is great to remain Armenian; to retain the
language, marry an Armenian, etc. I was so tired of it all that I
wanted to escape and no longer be Armenian. Then, when I came to
Armenia, I decided to stay. I felt that the future lie here. In the
diaspora, slowly but surely, we are disappearing. I want to be Armenian
and free,” says Araz. Later she worked with Atom Egoyan on the film
“Ararat” as a screenwriter and head researcher.

In 2005 she launched the website , the story of
20 survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Araz had grown tired of the word “genocide” and wanted to do something
different; but what? “I thought about creating a website through
which all the children of the world could exchange their cultures with
others. The I thought about restoring the culture of 21 centuries. I
searched for children in Yerevan. Each one represented one art form,
one culture.”

Araz has studied Armenian history and culture and has traveled to many
sites to select those that should be filmed. She will call her new
website “Zart”, her signature. It will be up and running in September.

Each photo placed in the site is a history unto itself, a branch
of culture. By pressing any pictured church on a phot, you can read
its history.

By visiting various music schools, Araz saw the condition they were in
and decided raise some charitable funds that went towards renovating
the halls, bathrooms, roofs and the purchase of instruments. She is
amazed that art schools receive no assistance.

She has raised funds to help disabled kids walk

“You walk into a school and see the kids shivering, playing the piano
wearing gloves. Why does it have to be like this. They produced
national instruments free of charge but you don’t see any in the
schools for the students to learn.”

Araz then redirected her attention on children in the boarding schools,
formerly known as orphanages.

“Can you imagine what a feeling it is to start to walk after so many
years of being bed-ridden or sitting in a wheelchair? I organized
surgical operations for these kids and now many can walk. When you
think that many of these kids might go through life without walking
and the fact that no one else is taking an interest, I decided to
do something. I am always busy with my art, but it’s such a pleasure
that I now help the kids of others. I just don’t focus on myself.”

>>From January till now, Araz has been able to organize operations
for four children. She uses facebook to get the message out and to
fund-raise. With the donations she receives, Araz buys presents for
the kids. She films it all and places it all on her facebook page.

People can thus read how the donations have been spent.

Araz tells us about the time when two sisters at the boarding school
stole $500 in donations out of her bag. However, the next day, Araz
brought the sisters some gifts. Araz says that she likes these girls
the most.

“Kids overseas are more jaded. They have everything but still want
more. Here, they are different. I go inside and the kids run out,
take off my coat and hang on to me, chanting, Araz, Araz,” she says
with emotion in her voice.

Government in Armenia lacks a conscience

Araz really doesn’t like to compare Canada with Armenia. She is
happy here. She misses regular films in English, her bike, car and,
of course, her parents. Araz believes that people in Armenia lead
very complex lives. She can’t remember a day in Canada when she went
without water. Here, it’s a struggle every minute, a war.

“People like us have to change things. We have to struggle and push
those in power up against the wall. The government has no conscience.

If they did, we wouldn’t have wound up in the spot we’re in today.

Every thing that is humane has been removed. In these conditions,
what kind of country are we talking about? If you give yourself an
aim, you will reach it. It’s just that the people are tired. If we
have no culture, then we cease to exists as well.”

Araz says that right now she is solely focused on helping the
children. Before this, if she saw building debris dumped in her yard
she would gather the neighbors and construction workers and clean
it up.

Araz already has a family here. “The seamstress is like a mother to
me, so too is the woman that cleans the house. the kids…” She has a
notebook in which she jots down what her tasks are for the following
day. The following evening she reviews what she accomplished during
the day. She finds it disgusting that people spit in the streets or
blow their noses on the sidewalks. Araz says that there is a lack of
respect here. She tells about the time when she was waiting in line at
a store and a woman cut in front of her. “It happened again last week.

In was waiting in line in a store and a woman walked in front. I
grabbed her and said “Excuse me lady but have a bit of respect. Do
you understand? I am waiting as well’. Her reply was, ‘What’s the big
deal. I’ll only be a minute?’ This is just wrong. We must understand
that you do not cut in front of someone else waiting in line.”

Laughter as a way to deal with daily annoyances

Araz sees such incidents all the time and has discovered a way to deal
with them. “You get so irritated that you start to laugh. Araz tell
about the time when she was waiting in line at Converse Bank. “There
were so many people that I was pressed upon the glass counter. The girl
sitting at the computer yelled out ‘what do you want?’ I said that
I wanted to see how much money I had in my account. The girl yelled
out my balance, $2,000. I turned around and asked ‘hey everyone, are
you happy that I have so much money in my account?’ One man looked
at me and said, ‘yes, dear girl, we are happy’.

Araz has no personal life to speak of at the moment. But she’s not
complaining. She’s says her life is much more comfortable this way and
that there are many more projects to work on. “I will buy a bicycle
for my Goharik to ride to school. They live on the border,” says Araz.

“If one is looking for a wife that will cook and clean house, I am not
that person; no, no, no. I like men who are creative, who break hearts,
who live on another imaginary plane; guys who are calm and collected,
who don’t talk but create. But right now, I’m not in the mood for
love.” This is how Araz described her ideal man. When it comes to
listing her own qualities, she notes that she is industrious, orderly,
organized, dedicated, good-natured and multi-talented. ” I don’t know
what to do – write, take photos, make a film? One life is just too
short. I can never abide those who use me and then leave. I’d really
make an awful fuss, to the point of leaving my friends in tears.”

In the end, Araz believes that her mission in life is helping as many
people as she can. She believes that this is why God has given her
an inexhaustible supply of energy.

From: A. Papazian

RUBEN HAKHVERDYAN: “THESE ARE TIMES OUT OF SYNCH”
Edik Baghdasaryan

2010/05/31 | 15:16

Feature Stories society interview

An interview with the popular Armenian song writer and performer

Why hasn’t a “spiritual” Armenia taken shape?

We must not forget that not much time has past from the battle of
Sardarabad in 1918 till today. I believe that we have recently come
to realize that “Sardarabad” continues. Let me start at the core of
the matter. What we have today is a continuation of the Soviet period,
it is not against the Soviet experience. We are still thinking using
old standards. Where does the term “mijotsarum” (event) derive from
and what does it mean? It’s a Soviet holdover and 90% of the lexicon
used by the Minister of Culture and the other government officials
are comprised of such terminology. These petrified words that should
have been tossed out a long time ago, but we hold on to them.

I have always believed that our “spiritual” Armenia existed in the
19th and 20th centuries, right up until the start of the Genocide
because the bulk of our intelligentsia was based in Western Armenia.

It seemed that there was the fertile land where the brabion flower
would blossom after Siamanto and Roupen Sevag. All our misfortunes
stem from our greatest national misfortune that occurred in the early
20th century. There was such a spiritual Armenia at the beginning of
the 20th century but they wiped it away. The second manifestation was
in the 1920’s, but that too was cut down. The third occurred in 1937,
but that too was razed. When we use the term “intellectual”, I do not
mean someone who can use a knife and fork, but rather “homo sapiens”,
a national elite.

Today, there is no such national elite. What we have are certain
individuals, personalities, but this is no basis on which to develop.

There is another paradox. Our nation gives birth to heroes at the
most crucial times. This, perhaps, is common with all people. At
these times, poets sing their words accompanied by the guitar. It is a
popular medium that best expresses our concerns. There has come a time
when people no longer read book. Singing is one of the mediums used to
preserve the Armenian language. Now they want to open Russian schools;
the greatest display of groveling before Russia, our inimical brother.

Yes, this reminds one of the Russian polygon. They have their bases
and will turn the gas on and off when they wish, or raise the price.

These are times that are quite out of synch with what is needed.

Our language is losing out to the influence of TV, a powerful medium
when it comes to consolidating a language. But in Armenia, these
shows are hosted by people who cannot speak Armenian. They might use
Armenian words but the language they speak might as well be that used
by the Eskimos. This is the fault of Russian schools. I have friends
who, after graduating from Russian schools, would write songs using
Armenian but the syntax would be in Russian. I would have to edit
their songs. We have sold everything, nothing remains. So now must
we sell off our language as well? Our greatest treasure and layer of
defense is our language, not a landscape painting of Masis.

Tragically, today we have no national leaders in politics today;
what we have our businessmen. From the first president on down to the
last, they come with their ladle to feed. They make sure to line their
pockets and take care of their relatives and close friends as well.

Then they sit back in their easy chair and see themselves as the
president of this country. But he’s no president, because rather
than serving his nation, he places the nation at his beck and call;
to serve his needs and the needs of those like him.

So, can we now say that a spiritual Armenia doesn’t exist because there
is no nation of Armenia? Levon Nersisyan told me that I shouldn’t go
searching for “a spiritual Armenia when there is no Armenian nation”.

Yes, he put it quite succinctly. There is nothing to add.

How do we resolve the situation?

The most horrible thing that is now taking place is that Armenia’s
rural residents, the villagers, are leaving the land. Our young
generation, people with something to say and contribute, are in the
midst of an internal migration. Ask any of them and they will tell
you that they would prefer to live in America or France; anywhere
but here. It reminds one of Griboyedov’s satirical work “Woe of Wit”,
‘Get out, get out of Moscow!’.

Is this a product of our mentality?

Armenia’s Republican Party, now in power, is a conformist party. It
has devalued everything. If you ask them, they will say they are a
unifying, centralizing party. They cite the Armenian activist Nzhdeh
but have not read his writings.

OK, but I asked about how we might extricate ourselves from this
situation.

An exit is also an entrance. You must first exit to see that you have
entered the wrong door. We say that you have entered the wrong door,
but they are even leading us down a certain path. Then they say that
they are correct. If you recall, all our leaders, starting with Levon
Ter-Petrosyan till now, have never apologized for their mistakes. They
have never stated that they made terrible errors, starting with
environmental issues and ending with the ecology of language, of
culture; they destroyed it. It reminds one of Pushkin’s “Three Date
Trees”. They came to drink water from the spring, spat in the water,
and continued on their journey. The children of our leaders, who have
grown rich off the people’s money, are leaving Armenia and now have
houses abroad. Their kids ask, ‘what are we doing here in Armenia? We
have the chance to live in a country that is already developed.’ So
they go and become fourth-class citizens in there new home. Because
a foreigner always remains as foreigner in a foreign land.

Why do continue to sing in this country?

I am like a machine that hasn’t yet broken down.

Are you saying that this environment is fertile ground for you?

No. If if was fertile ground, I’d be writing more songs. A song isn’t
just about rebellion. It is first a means at language preservation;
a means to show love for the nation and the language.

Why do people like your songs?

I couldn’t say.

And why don’t they like you?

Who knows. You should ask them, not me. Maybe because I am right,
because I am free and they are not.

Do you find it easy to speak during a concert?

The genre makes it easy. Name a subject and I’ve talked about it during
a concert. It’s a type of urban song, not some operatic aria. I feel
that I’ve been wasting away my life for so long. I mean, what am I
singing for? I probably could have sucked-up to the powers that be
and would have had many friends in all three Armenian governments.

But you have good relations with members of the government; no?

Yes, they like me. They like to be caressed. It offers them pleasure.

Afterwards, though, what happens is that they stop liking you. I just
keep my distance. I know not to get too close. They try to approach
me but they know that I’m not that animal that they can tame. I will
never be tamed.

I should add that during the elections you start to become active.

I always defend the weaker side. For example, the ARF requested that
I write a song. I did, with a caveat. That they don’t change the words.

The song was downloaded into many cell phones during the election
campaign.

What I mean is that all our singers make appearances during the
campaign, including Ruben Hakhverdyan.

Sure, but on the other side.

What’s the difference. They still spin you like a top. Aren’t you
being used?

If I am standing shoulder to shoulder with Hrant Khachatryan, it’s
the same. He won’t be elected and I know it.

But why are the people so captivated; do they want to lose?

Recently Vahan Hovhannisyan (ARF MP), said ‘you know, you really say
much that is correct.’ How can you have either much or less correct. I
don’t understand. It’s either black or white. When they say to back
off a bit, don’t cross the line, that too is a Soviet holdover. Who
decides where the line should be drawn?

They ask me why I criticized this or that person, don’t we get along?

In other words, if someone tortures the Armenian language when they
speak it, I shouldn’t tell the person that he or she doesn’t know
how to speak Armenian and shouldn’t have been given TV air time? Is
that right?

Let’s get real here. A national leader is one who puts aside his or
her personal interests and becomes a dedicated servant of the nation.

What we have today know nothing about dedication or serviece.

Photo by Gagik Shamshyan

From: A. Papazian

CHILDREN LIVING ON THE EDGE: WHO IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE?
Grisha Balasanyan

2010/05/31 | 15:08

Feature Stories society

26% of Armenians Under the Age of 18 Live in Poverty

On the surface, it would appear that children in Armenia are
adequately cared for given the notion of the traditional Armenian
family and the attention it devotes to the raising of kids. However,
take a closer look at reality and you will see that the rights of
children in Armenia are being violated on a constant basis. Take,
for example, the case of a child in need of medical treatment but
the parents cannot afford the cost.

Under RoA law, all individuals who have not yet turned 18 are
considered to be juveniles. However, the state limits government-funded
medical treatment to children under the age of seven. After that,
the parents must pick up the tab.

Then there is the law that states that all children must be provided
decent and adequate living conditions. But what if a family cannot
afford to do so? The law stipulates that they must. 26.5% of Armenia’s
population are children.

UNICEF statistics reveal serious shortcomings

26% of these children live under the poverty line and 3% live in
what is termed “extreme poverty”. According to UNICEF standards,
individuals with a monthly income of less that 17,232 AMD in Armenia
are regarded as “extremely poor” and those with less than 25,188 AMD
per month are regarded as just “poor”.

According to UNICEF studies, child poverty rates in Shirak Marz are
the highest at 7%. Vayots Dzor ranks the lowest with a 1% extreme
poverty rate for children. In Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, a whopping
21% of children are living in poverty and 3% in extreme poverty.

The larger the family, the greater the chances of a child growing up
in poverty. Such a risk increases if the parents have a high school
education or less and if the child grows up in a one-parent family,
especially if the head of the household is the mother. It doesn’t help,
if none of the elders of the family are out of work.

In order to combat extreme child poverty and to soften the
consequences, UNICVEF has urged the government to seek new ways to
more effectively channel state funds aimed at providing a social net
for children.

For example, it has been suggested to the government that children be
allocated a monthly allowance of 5,000 AMD. This would cut the child
poverty rate from 26% down to 10%. According to UNICEF estimates,
allocating such assistance to juveniles between the ages of 0-4
would cost the government about $30 million; or about 1% of the 2010
national budget. The practice of granting child assistance has been
successfully employed in western Europe.

9 year-old Lilit: Can the government assist the truly needy?

In last week’s edition of Hetq, we covered the issues confronting Nina
Babakhanyan’s nine member family living in the Ararat Marz village
of Sipanik. Their house collapsed due to rising underground water
and the family now lives in a makeshift hut on wheels.

There are five juveniles in the family that just aren’t getting enough
to eat on certain days. When we visited the family, 9 year-old Lilit
walked up to us, tears in her eyes, and begged us to help get them a
house. The girl has come down with a chronic cough due to the damp
conditions.

The doctors have diagnosed her with chronic bronchitis but she has
never received proper medical attention. Some physicians suspect that
she might have contracted tuberculosis.

They have sent Lilit for further testing and luckily the TB suspicions
have been ruled out. However, all the necessary pre-requisites for
contracting the disease still remain – dampness, malnutrition, etc.

Lilit is now being treated at home with various medications. Ernest
Baloyan, who heads the out-patient clinic says that other than offering
certain prophylactic care, they can do no more for the girl.

So this is the extent of the government’s care of the child. Her
parent cannot afford adequate medical attention because she is out
of work. With the money the family receives in assistance from the
government , they can barely put food on the table for half the month.

Lilit dreams of living in Yerevan where she can at lest go down into
the yard and play with friends. In Sipanik, her village, there’s not
even any dry land left to walk on, let alone play. The underground
waters have totally engulfed the rural community.

Years ago, Lilit’s family resided in Yerevan but circumstances forced
them to sell their apartment. They would up in Sipanik. The girl
showed us the only three cuddly toys she owned and a bag in which
she kept her clothes.

All these were presents received from neighbors. It’s been several
years now that Lilit and her younger brother, Felix, haven’t gotten
any new clothes. The kids have made do with hand-me-downs from others.

Lilit couldn’t speak with us for long. She was always coughing and
crying. Felix has also suffered from the unhealthy living conditions,
contracting nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys.

Do the bureaucrats actually care?

Gagik Poghosyan, Head of the Children’s Rights Protection Department
at the Ararat Regional Administration, told Hetq that most of the
cases of rights violations were socio-economic in nature and that
their number wasn’t all that large.

“The region is mainly an agriculture-based economy. People own plots
of land, so even if they have no steady work they can always raise
the kids on income derived from the land. Compared to residents of
the mountainous regions, those living in the Ararat valley are fairly
well off,” Mr. Poghosyan said.

He pointed out that during the past two years some 250 local kids from
needy families and or when one or both parents are missing, have been
sent to Tzaghkadzor or Hankavan free of chrage by the government for
their summer vacation.

“If the child has a medical issue, we get involved to see that proper
treatment is provided in order that the child fully recuperates,”
said Mr.Poghosyan.

When we told him about the plight of Lilit and Felix in the village
of Sipanik, Mr. Poghosyan said he was aware of the situation since
the mother had contacted him directly s few months ago. He directed
the children’s parent to the Health Department at the Regional
Administration.

“The mother came here so I directed her to the Health Department. I
didn’t see her again afterwards,” said Mr. Poghosyan. When we told him
that the little girl’s condition had only worsened after the visit,
he said that the Regional Governor was taking steps to solve the
family’s housing situation.

We asked Mr. Poghosyan if he wasn’t at all interested in the fact that
the children had serious medical problems. “They came here to see me,
but not with medical problems. I remember the encounter well. They had
come about a housing matter, that there was a great deal of water,”
he replied.

The fact is that the official who heads the Children’s Rights
Protection Department has never gone out to the home where these
needy children live. Neither does he understand the full scope of
their problem; nor does he display a desire to. The official seemed
to be tyrying to extricate himself from any responsibility over this
unfortunate situation. But he stumbled on his on words.

At first, he literally boasted to us that the children’s mother
had come to see him and that he directed her to the right office,
the Health Department. Later on, however, he insisted that she had
visited him with a housing matter.

Of course, the two issues, health and housing, are interrelated. But
Mr. Poghosyan would rather see one and not the other, and then only
when it’s convenient to do so.

From: A. Papazian

FEDEX: GLOBAL SHIPPER BEING USED TO SHIP DRUGS FROM ARMENIA
Kristine Aghalaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan

2010/05/31 | 15:18

Feature Stories criminal

Four individuals suspected of drug trafficking were arrested in
Glendale on March 10, 2009. Two were Armenian. 32 pounds of opium
were found in a package sent from Armenia to the home of 37 year-old
Glendale resident Razmik Alchyan. The package was sent via FedEx. The
drugs were concealed in pressure molds.

Also arrested with Alchyan were 27 year-old Lusineh Khachatryan
(Glendale), 37 y.o. Edmond Bolandi (Palmdale) and 37 y.o. Ali Nouri.

Lieutenant Bruce Fox, attached to the Special Investigations Bureau,
told Glendale News that the street value of the drugs was $500,000.

Law enforcement found that the package contained the drugs in Memphis.

Two FBI agents, disguised as mailmen delivered the package to the
address on the package. When two men left the house and attempted to
transport the package by car, they were immediately arrested.

During a search of the house, police discovered other packing
paraphernalia for metal molds and delivery receipts, which, according
to Lieutenant Fox, was additional proof that those arrested were
engaged in drug trafficking. It was the biggest drug bust in Glendale
police history.

The next day, March 11, another package containing drugs, this time
11 kilos of opium was found in a bus belonging to the “Sima-Safar”
passenger and freight company on the way to Armenia from Iran. The
drugs were hidden in similar specially made molds. This package was
also destined to be shipped to the United States via FedEx in Armenia.

It was an Iranian named Muhammad that had shipped the opium to Armenia
from Iran. He had contracted with FedEx in Armenia to send the pressure
molds to Europe and the U.S. The drugs were transported to Armenia
by drivers working for the Sima-Safar bus company. From Armenia,
the goods were divied up and sent to various individuals.

On the day of delivery, March 11, the RoA National Security Service
initiated criminal charges of organized drug trafficking and illegal
distribution and sale of hallucinogens. According to a statement we
received from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, Armenian law enforcement
arrested both the individual in whose name the package to the U.S. was
sent and the actual sender was to be.

According to findings of the preliminary investigation given us by the
Prosecutor’s Office, 28 similar molds transported from Iran were sent
to Canada from Armenia, seven were sent to the U.S. and two to France.

These findings cannot yet state whether the sent items contained
drugs or not.

Corresponding inquiries have been dispatched to prosecutors of the
countries in question requesting additional information, including
the contents of the molds sent in the past and their final destination
points.

Replies have yet to be received, except in the case of the U.S.

According to the Glendale Prosecutor’s Office, Razmik Alchyan has been
released. Four months ago, Hetq sent an e-mail to the Glendale Police
Department’s Public Affairs Department requesting further information
as to why those arrested in the case had been released. We have not
received any answer to date.

Presently, the criminal case in Armenia has been put on “hold”. Those
arrested have been released but the investigation continues.

We have not been supplied any details in the matter by Armenian law
enforcement who argue that such information is being withheld due to
the ongoing investigation.

“They have been released because the necessity of keeping tem in
custody no longer exists,” replied the Chief Prosecutor’s Press
Secretary. In the reply, they do not explain why the necessity to
detain these individuals in such a serious matter no loner exists.

Similar cases have been uncovered in FedEx branches around the world.

Criminal indictments have been handed down and people have gone to
jail. In almost all cases, FedEx employees have been found to have
been knowing accomplices.

From: A. Papazian

SNUBBED OVER ATATURK: TURKISH PM CANCELS ARGENTINA TRIP AFTER ARMENIAN LOBBY MOVE

31.05.10 | 10:52

News

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has canceled his scheduled
visit to Argentina that was due on May 30-31 as part of his South
America tour. Ankara said on Saturday the cancellation came after the
Buenos Aires Autonomous Administration halted plans for a ceremony
opening a monument to Turkish republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

News of the ceremony brought outcry from the Armenian community,
prompting officials to not go through with plans that included
Erdogan’s participation.

“Upon the developments, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had talks
with his Argentinean counterpart in the Alliance of Civilizations
Forum and asked Argentinean government to stick by their pledge
on the opening of the monument,” reported Turkish television TRT
(). “The Argentinean President called Erdogan and
said they justified Turkey’s reaction but could not exceed authority
of the Autonomous administration in accordance with the Argentinean
constitution.”

Premier Erdogan still reportedly canceled his visit to Argentina,
proceeding to Chile from Brazil, noting that he did not find the
attitude acceptable whatever the reason was.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry further said, as reported by Turkish media,
that “Argentinean authorities are expected to take required steps
to compensate the situation, which was shadowed by a wrong decision
by anti-Turkey circles-led Buenos Aires Autonomous Administration,
in the shortest time.”

From: A. Papazian

NEW OPERA?: ATTEMPTED RALLY AT RENOVATED FREEDOM SQUARE STOPPED BY POLICE
By Gayane Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
31.05.10 | 14:41

Politics

Police officers detaining an ANC representative at the Freedom Square

Six representatives of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), who had
attempted to hold a sit-in protest in the re-opened Freedom Square
(near Opera House) since Friday, on May 30 were taken into police
custody and told to make their statement anywhere in Yerevan “except
Freedom Square”.

The Square has been closed for two years while an underground parking
garage was built. Oppositionists have claimed the closure of the
site was to prevent more political rallies. The opposition had used
the square as an encampment days before the deadly raid by police on
March 1, 2008 that left 10 dead, hundreds injured and dozens arrested.

Since the square opened last week, a former political prisoner Vardges
Gaspari has tried to use the popular site as a protest point demanding
the release of others arrested during the violence two years ago.

Tigran Arakelyan, who was taken to the Police Office on Sunday, and
was kept there for three hours, says that the only complaint by the
police was against the protestors holding meetings in Freedom Square.

“They [police officers] told us nothing, they only asked, begged us,
not to gather in Freedom Square. Chief of Central Police Department
Ashot Karapetyan said, “If I personally came here to take you [to
the Police Office], if I personally talked to you, it means that
everything is quite serious, it means that the order is from above,”
member of the ANC youth wing Arakelyan told ArmeniaNow.

Police refused to comment to ArmeniaNow on the matter except RA
Police Public Relations Department officer Armen Malkhasyan who said:
“If the demonstrators were taken to the Police Office, it means that
they had violated the public order.”

The opposition insists that they do not violate any order, and add that
they are going to gather in Freedom Square every evening, at 6:00 p.m.

From: A. Papazian

ANALYSIS: THE WEST UNHAPPY WITH NEW TRANSFORMATIONS IN TURKEY’S FOREIGN POLICY
Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow
May 31, 2010

Politics

Dividing lines are emerging between Turkey and the West, marked by
Turkey’s nuclear energy deal with Iran and by its efforts this weekend
to use its ships to break Israel sea blockade of Gaza.

The process of Turkey’s disengagement from pro-Western forces was
clearly manifested when in January 2009 at the World Economic Forum
in Davos Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel
of occupying the Palestinian-administered Gaza Strip.

Then, just this weekend, Turkish vessels set off from Istanbul to break
the Israeli blockade of Gaza from the sea, ending in intervention by
the Israeli military that left at least 10 dead Monday morning.

But the main discontent of the West is connected with the initiative
of Turkey and Brazil on Iran when earlier this month Ankara announced
that it was ready to provide enrichment for Iranian uranium. U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded to that development
by saying that there are “very serious disagreements” over Iran’s
nuclear program and added that there are very serious differences
with the diplomacies of Brazil and Turkey towards Iran.

On Tuesday, June 1, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will
leave for Washington where he is expected to hold talks with the U.S.

secretary of state “to defuse the Turkish-American tensions.”

The West is not satisfied with the Turkish policy on Armenia either.

In fact, the process of the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols has come to a standstill, and Western countries have approved
of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to suspend the process.

The Turkish premier also had to cancel his trip to Argentina as
part of his Latin America tour because of the Armenian factor. The
Turkish Foreign Ministry said that although the Buenos Aires Autonomous
Administration had been granted permission to erect a monument to the
founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it was canceled due
to an “unfriendly initiative of the Armenian circles.”

Western experts think that “Turkey is becoming an immediate concern.”

In a much-talked about article in The American Thinker, Joel J.

Sprayregen writes:

“…The transformation of Turkish foreign policy increasingly presents
a clear danger to American interests. The ‘zero problems’ foreign
policy of AK Foreign Minister Davutoglu advertises friendliness with
proximate neighbors. In practice, this means allying with rogue states
Iran and Syria (whom even President Obama recently saw fit to designate
a state sponsor of terrorism). Worse, Turkey now embraces terrorist
murder squads like Hamas and Hezbollah and fetes their leaders as
honored guests. Turkey hosted Sudanese President Bashir, who is under
indictment for crimes against humanity by the International Court
of Criminal Justice. Turkey’s new alliances have left in tatters-but
not yet completely dismembered-its traditional military alliance with
Israel,” the article says. “A country with a worldview that demonizes
resistance against terrorism is a problematic member of NATO… Our
officials are hardly aware that — while Erdogan and Obama have
fulsomely flattered each other — Erdogan uses his controlled media
to incite populist hatred of the U.S.”

From: A. Papazian

1ST YEREVAN MODEL UN CONFERENCE

armradio.am
31.05.2010 14:49

The Armenian United Nations Association (AUNA) jointly with Andrea and
Vahe Keushguerians, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
with support of the RA Ministry of Education and Science and Armenian
Branch of “People in Need” Czech NGO will hold the 1st Yerevan Model
UN (MUN) Conference with participation of 60 high school pupils from
different Yerevan schools.

The Conference under the high auspices of the World Federation of UN
Associations (WFUNA) and dedicated to the International Children’s
Day will be a simulation of the United Nations General Assembly
and Security Council featuring the theme “Towards a World Fit for
Children”.

During the conference MUN participants will act as delegates of
different UN member countries to discuss and adopt a declaration
on the following issues: Education for All, Poverty of Children,
Child Trafficking.

At the opening ceremony UNICEF Representative Ms. Laylee Moshiri,
RA Minister of Education and Science Mr. Armen Ashotyan, Armenian UN
Association President Ms. Armine Podosyan and other representatives
will deliver their welcoming speeches to the delegates.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and the President
of the World Federation of UN Associations, Amb. Park Soo Gil, have
addressed their messages to the 1st Yerevan Model UN Conference.

The principals and teachers of schools will be present at the
Conference as observers, representatives of different state and
civil organizations working on children issues will also attend
the conference.

From: A. Papazian