Author: Arsine Chaltikian

Verelq: Կներառվի արդյոք Բեռլինի դպրոցների դասագրքերում Հայոց ցեղասպանության մասին նյութ․ հանդիպում

Arsine Chaltikian
  • 19.03.2019

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  • Հայաստան

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  • arm

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ՀՀ Ազգային ժողովի նախագահ Արարատ Միրզոյանի ղեկավարած պատվիրակությունը, որը պաշտոնական այցով մարտի 18-21-ը գտնվում է Գերմանիայում, մարտի 18-ի առավոտյան հանդիպում է ունեցել Բեռլինի Ներկայացուցիչների պալատի փոխնախագահի և անդամների հետ։


Ինչպես հայտնում են ՀՀ ԱԺ լրատվության և հանրության հետ կապերի վարչությունից, հանդիպման ընթացքում Արարատ Միրզոյանը ևս մեկ անգամ ներկայացրել է Հայաստանում տեղի ունեցած փոփոխությունները և սպասվող բարեփոխումների օրակարգը։ Պատվիրակությունների անդամները տեղեկատվություն են փոխանակել օրենսդիրների աշխատանքին վերաբերող մի շարք ոլորտների վերաբերյալ։


Ի թիվս այլ հարցերի՝ Արարատ Միրզոյանը գործընկերների հետ քննարկել է նաև Բեռլինի դպրոցների դասագրքերում Հայոց ցեղասպանությանն անդրադարձող դիդակտիկ նյութերի ներառման հարցը։


Հայկական պատվիրակությունն աշխատանքային ճաշի շրջանակում հանդիպել է Բունդեսթագի Գերմանիա-Հարավային Կովկաս խմբի ղեկավար Յոհաննես Կարսի, խմբի անդամներ Ալբերթ Վայլերի, Շտեֆան Կոտնեի, Հելին Եվրիմ Զոմերի, Մարկ Հայնրիխմանի, Անտոն Ֆրիզենի և Վալդեմար Հերդթի հետ։ Գերմանական կողմի ներկայացուցիչները նշել են, որ Թավշյա հեղափոխությունից հետո Բունդեսթագի պատգամավորների շրջանում մեծացել է հետաքրքրությունը Հայաստանի նկատմամբ, ինչին նպաստել է նաև Գերմանիայի կանցլեր Անգելա Մերկելի այցը Հայաստան։


Զրույցի ընթացքում Արարատ Միրզոյանը ևս մեկ անգամ վերահաստատել է Հայաստանի արտաքին քաղաքական առաջնահերթությունները՝ նշելով, որ Եվրոպական Միության հետ հարաբերությունների խորացման համատեքստում կարևոր դեր ունի ՀՀ-ԵՄ Համապարփակ և ընդլայնված գործընկերության համաձայնագրի վավերացումը ԵՄ անդամ երկրների կողմից, որը ապրիլի 4-ին երկրորդ ընթերցմամբ պիտի քննարկվի Գերմանիայի խորհրդարանում։


Պատվիրակության անդամ Ռուբեն Ռուբինյանն անդրադարձ է կատարել Ղարաբաղյան հիմնախնդրին՝ ներկայացնելով Հայաստանի Հանրապետության դիրքորոշումը ստեղծված իրավիճակի առնչությամբ և վերահաստատելով հակամարտությունը խաղաղ ճանապարհով կարգավորելու ՀՀ դիրքորոշումը ՝ ԵԱՀԿ Մինսկի խմբի համանախագահության շրջանակներում։


Խոսելով հակամարտության կարգավորման վեաբերյալ՝ ԱԺ պատգամավոր Էդմոն Մարուքյանն ընդգծել է Հարավային Կովկասում ժողովրդավարացման գործընթացների կարևորությունը՝ հույս հայտնելով, որ գերմանացի գործընկերները առավել ուշադիր կգտնվեն Ադրբեջանում մարդու իրավունքների խախտման դրսևորումների նկատմամբ։


Անդրադառնալով երկու երկրների տնտեսական հարաբերությունների խորացման հնարավորություններին՝ գերմանացի գործընկերներին ներկայացվել են Հայաստանում սպասվող տնտեսական բարեփոխումները, որոնք կբարձրացնեն մեր երկրի տնտեսական գրավչությունը։


Աշխատանքային ճաշից հետո Արարատ Միրզոյանի գլխավորած պատվիրակությունը ծաղիկներ է տեղադրել Հայոց ցեղասպանության զոհերի հիշատակին նվիրված հուշակոթողի մոտ։

How repressive does a country have to be before it becomes a guilt trip for tourists?

Arsine Chaltikian
The Guardian, UK
March 9 2019

Catherine Bennett

Turkey’s latest attack on free speech is unlikely to affect its appeal to British sunseekers

Go on, visit Turkey. For “fun, joy, happiness and neverending journey”. Women are allowed – to judge by the country’s tourism website – to laugh there now. Will it be safe? One hears these stories. Be reassured, says the useful tips section, this is one of the safest countries in the world: “You’ll find the police helpful and friendly.” Well, the ones who are left since the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, dismissed a further 6,000 officers in last year’s purge.

There’s no section, as yet, dealing with the latest from the land of fun, joy and happiness: last week’s warning, by the minister of interior, Suleyman Soylu, to the effect that certain tourists could find themselves staying indefinitely. “Let them come and go to prison directly from the airport.”

But, to potential visitors whose question is now, “Does Mr Suleyman want to imprison me?”, the answer is probably no, not unless you’re a German Turk who opposes Erdoğan’s government. Or someone who has publicly approved or associated with those critics. Last year, Germany’s foreign office spokesperson, Maria Adebahr, warned the public: “Statements that are covered in Germany by freedom of _expression_ can lead to prosecution in Turkey.” She calls Suleyman’s current threat “not helpful”. German reports of Suleyman’s statement have since been rubbished by a Turkish spokesman, as “deliberately taken out of context and distorted”.

For safety’s sake, it might still be advisable for aspiring tourists not to go on social media and call Erdoğan a brutal enemy of free speech, even in a country that had pretty much succeeded, before he came along, in keeping its genocidal history – the murder of a third of the population of Armenia – out of the public eye. “Who, after all,” Hitler asked in 1939, “speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Not the British government, which still, unforgivably, prefers the daintier “massacre”.

For most tourists, then, there is no compelling reason not to holiday in Turkey, whether out of caution or principle, since German-level freedom of speech is also threatened in a variety of popular, reliably hot resorts around the world. Supposing tourism confers respectability, Turkey’s buoyant figures suggest exceptional decency. If the country is also, following Erdoğan’s sustained assault on freedom of _expression_, bidding to become a world leader in the persecution of journalists – and, it follows, in undermining the judiciary – it is still, at 157 out of 180 in last year’s Press Freedom Index, ranked above Vietnam and China, both as popular with tourists as they are hostile to the free exchange of information.

For further travel whataboutery, recall the Trump-scarred US press (no 45). It is a principle dear to many adventurous travellers that, since no government is perfect, no government, even those famed for exceptional tyranny, should be subject to a tourism boycott. Or hardly ever. After Aung San Suu Kyi’s intervention, in 1996, asking tourists to shun “Visit Myanmar Year”, with which the military junta hoped to sanitise its reputation, visitors, with encouragement from NGOs, complied. Instead of 500,000 visitors, only 251,000 arrived.

Since then, with her silence on the purging and murders of the Rohingyapeople, Aung San Suu Kyi’s example may have become more useful to the visitors and tourism organisers who argue that – given an ethical approach – tourism can always be justified.

While dictators and juntas come and go, the case for visiting their lands has barely changed since Aung San Suu Kyi did, in fact, thwart the junta, despite additional resistance from, among others, Lonely Planet. The liberating benefits of international tourism to the oppressed include, it is argued, conversations, as well as, sometimes, cash. An ethical contributor to Condé Nast Traveller has made a persuasive case for “travelling with a conscience”. In Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines, she writes: “I attended the public funeral of a man who’d been killed by police, and talked with mourners as they walked behind the hearse through the congested, sweltering streets of Manila.” Not an obvious bucket-list item, perhaps, but they used to say the same about bungee-jumping.

Assuming that compassionate funeral-crashing does transform routine into ethical tourism, you can still foresee problems of scale. Not merely because the supply of street funerals of innocent victims of authoritarian murderers is probably limited – although you could try Venezuela – but in pure organisational terms. How many coachloads of foreigners can reasonably attend one funeral? Plus, pressure of time. Is this, or indeed, any other extended form of anthropological exposure, how city-worn escapees to the sun would prefer to use the time designated “at leisure”? But either way, you can see how the justifications of individual guilt-tripped travellers to various autocracies can also be deployed by the organisers of industrial-scale all-inclusive tourism to morally indefensible dictatorships – that is, exactly the sort worth boycotting.

That Turkey combines the current terrors and imprisonings and arrests, its secular reversals and authoritarianism with a role as the UK’s third-favourite holiday destination, arguably owes much to the mind-broadening thinking that features ethical funeral-going. “Holidays to Turkey won’t break the bank,” chirped Thomas Cook last April, “and you’ll get incredible value for money with top quality All Inclusive hotels.” It is surely a further tribute to the destination that Erdoğan had enough confidence in these attractions, or their insulation from his state of emergency, to purge a further 18,632 state employees at the start of the season, including police officers, the military, teachers, academics.

As much as he is turning away from the west, it’s hard to believe that Erdoğan, presiding over a sagging economy, would be entirely content with the loss of legitimacy, as well as cash, if the hotels emptied, pending some restoration of democratic norms. What if these tourists chose, since boycotts can bring results, to go elsewhere?

All the more so if they went instead – as I warmly recommend – to Armenia.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/10/turkey-how-repressive-does-a-country-have-to-be-before-it-becomes-a-guilt-trip-for-tourists








Armenpress: Artsakh President, OSCE’s Andrzej Kasprzyk meet to discuss LoC situation

Arsine Chaltikian

Artsakh President, OSCE’s Andrzej Kasprzyk meet to discuss LoC situation

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20:14, 8 March, 2019

YEREVAN, MARCH 8, ARMENPRESS. On 8 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. 

The meeting addressed a range of issues related to the situation along the contact line between the Artsakh and Azerbaijan armed forces, Sahakyan's office reported.

Սերժ Սարգսյանի եղբորը՝ Ալեքսանդր Սարգսյանին մեղադրանք է առաջադրվել

Arsine Chaltikian
  • 01.03.2019

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  • Հայաստան

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  • arm

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  • rus

1
 102

Հայաստանի երրորդ նախագահ Սերժ Սարգսյանի եղբորը՝ Ալեքսանդր Սարգսյանին մեղադրանք է առաջադրվել առանձնապես խոշոր չափերով խարդախություն կատարելու համար: Այս մասին Իրավաբան․net-ին հայտնել են Ազգային անվտանգության ծառայությունից:


Մեղադրանքն առաջադրված է ԱԱԾ-ում հարուցված քրեական գործով՝ Քրեական օրենսգրքի 178-րդ հոդվածի 3-րդ մասի 1-ին կետով:


Աղբյուրը նշում է, որ գործը դատարան հասնելու և մեղադրական դատավճռի դեպքում Ալեքսանդր Սարգսյանին սպառնում է 4-8 տարվա ազատազրկում՝ գույքի բռնագրավմամբ կամ առանց դրա՝ համաձայն՝ Քրեական օրենսգրքի հիշյալ հոդվածի:

RusHydro plans to decide on sales of hydropower plants cascade in Armenia in 3-4 months – First Deputy CEO

Arsine Chaltikian
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Wednesday 12:24 PM GMT
RusHydro plans to decide on sales of hydropower plants cascade in Armenia in 3-4 months – First Deputy CEO
 
MOSCOW February 27
 
The management of the Russian power generating company RusHydro will finally decide on the opportunity of selling the Sevan-Razdan cascade of hydropower plants in Armenia in three-four months, First Deputy CEO of RusHydro George Rizhinashvili told reporters on Wednesday.
 
 
 
MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The management of the Russian power generating company RusHydro will finally decide on the opportunity of selling the Sevan-Razdan cascade of hydropower plants in Armenia in three-four months, First Deputy CEO of RusHydro George Rizhinashvili told reporters on Wednesday.
 
"We will decide in three-four coming months on the opportunity of having found a certain investor, a priority one and the one indeed desirous to purchase, or with the understanding that this is not possible," the top manager said.
 
Talks with investors are underway and due diligence is implemented, Rizhinashvili noted. "I regret saying that the macroeconomic situation in Armenia, being not highly stable, discourage investors from standing in a queue to buy the asset. Therefore, we have to find ourselves and justify the possibility of achieving certain positive results in future," he said.
 
RusHydro announced plans to sell the Sevan-Razdan cascade of hydropower plants in April 2017. It was reported earlier that the deal was planned to be closed in 2018 but the company did not yet decide on a potential buyer.
 
The Sevan-Razdan cascade consists of seven derivation hydropower plants on the Razdan River in Armenia. The plants comprise 21 hydropower units with the total installed capacity of 561 MW. The average annual output of cascade plants is 501 mln kWh.

International military experts highly appreciate Armenian production displayed at IDEX-2019

Arsine Chaltikian

International military experts highly appreciate Armenian production displayed at IDEX-2019

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09:15,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. International military experts have highly appreciated the Armenian military production displayed at the IDEX-2019 International Defense Exhibition and Conference in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, Armenian defense ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan, who was in the Armenian delegation during the recent visit to the UAE, told ARMENPRESS.

“IDEX-2019 is a global exhibition that is being held in Adu Dhabi every two years demonstrating arms-ammunition, military industry and military production in general. It has two profile directions – land and sea. Armenia was not only participating in the event for the first time, but for the first time was presenting a certain military production at an international exhibition. I want to state that several international experts have already fixed and highly valued that Armenia presented such interesting new products”, Hovhannisyan said.

The defense ministry spokesperson informed that the new products of the Armenian military industry have been displayed.

“There were a number of new products especially in the field of radio electronics by Armenian military industry enterprises. The event has just ended, and we will have the opportunity to sum up who have shown an interest soon”, he said.

Artsrun Hovhannisyan added that by participating in such international platforms Armenia can establish serious ties which will be useful if not today, than in the future.

Nearly 95 countries are participating in the IDEX international exhibition.

Armenia has presented the following military products at the event:

-Electro-optic countermeasure system 3K01

-Sniper Rifle K-8

-Thermal imaging gunner sight for T72A tank

-Inductive mine detector RIA-1

-Bulletproof vest GS-47/0717

-Various types of reconnaissance UAVs, all in final stages of development, with proven technologies

-Military and tactical boots

-Pancratic sniper sight 3*9

-Microwave transistor amplifier for target detection HFAS-75G

The brilliant performance of the Armenian defense ministry’s Military Orchestra and the Guards of Honor has also been highly appreciated. “In recent years a good cooperation tradition has been formed between the Yerevan Drums musical group and the Guards of Honor of the Armenian Armed Forces during the events taking place in Armenia and abroad. This has already become a type of culture. These groups visited the UAE at the invitation of the hosting country, and I want to state that they have not returned yet because they are just kept there. They have been loved so much. Almost every day they continue performing for the guests and visitors. They already have invitations for participating in other events”, Hovhannisyan said.

Interview by Norayr Shoghikyan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Arthur Vanetsyan: During his presidency, Robert Kocharyan made a lot of positive

Arsine Chaltikian
Arminfo, Armenia
Feb 21 2019
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo.Director of the National Security Service Arthur Vanetsyan assures that he has no personal problems with the family of the second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. Vanetsyan stated this on February 21 to journalists.

 "I ask you not to concentrate on the Kocharyan family, since I have  no personal problems with it. I personally did not do anything to  cause any problems with this family. Robert Kocharyan was the second  president of Armenia, during his activities, of course, there were  also many positive results, I was the President of Artsakh, and I, as  an officer, as an officer of the National Security Service, who  served during his presidency, cannot have any personal and other  problems with this family, " Vanetsyan said. According to him, the  initiated criminal cases are the result of voluminous operational and  investigative work, the circumstances have been revealed, the  synthesis of which led to the fact that there is a corpus delicti and  a criminal case has been initiated. "Please do not personify the  issue, since there is no personal vendetta.  Only one case connected  with Kocharyan is being investigated in the National Security  Service," he stressed.  

Culture: Tumanyan’s bronze statue unveiled in his Tbilisi house

Arsine Chaltikian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 20 2019

A bronze statue of Armenian poet and publicist Hovhannes Tumanyan was installed yesterday in the balcony of Tumanyan scientific and cultural center in Tbilisi. The gift was made by a Georgian MP Dato Chichinadze on the occasion of the 150th birthday anniversary of the great Armenian poet.

The cultural center after Hovhannes Tumanyan is located on Amagleba street, 18 (former Davitashvili St.) in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Tumanyan lived in the house from 1904 to 1923. In 1952 the writer’s personal belongings were taken to Yerevan. 4 rooms out of 6 where turned into a library. The rest belonged to heirs. After Georgia’s independence, the City Hall of Tbilisi has transferred the ownership of the part of the library to a Georgian citizen.

In a critical condition, that part later had was acquired again at the initiative of Levon Ananyan, the former chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenia thanks to the financial support provided by then Mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Ghukasyan. After the acquisition of the building by the Diocese, Jinishian Memorial and IDeA Foundation along with the Armenian Church initiated the full renovation and furnishing of the building.

Tumanyan is usually regarded in Armenian circles as "All-Armenian poet". Tumanyan wrote poems, quatrains, ballads, novels, fables, critical and journalistic articles. His work is simple, natural and poetically inspired at the same time. It is not by mere chance that dozens of phrases and expressions from Tumanyan's works have become a natural part of people's everyday language, their sayings, adages, and maxims.

Photos from the Facebook page of Armenia’s Embassy to Georgia and Arsen Kharatyan’s account

ANCA launches Raphael Lemkin Policy Series on genocide

Arsine Chaltikian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 14 2019
Politics 12:19 14/02/2019 World

The President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Dr. Henry Theriault, will headline the inaugural February 27 lecture of the Raphael Lemkin Policy Series, an ongoing Capitol Hill conversation about legal and political challenges and opportunities related to the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said in a press release.

Dr. Theriault, who serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Worcester State University, will speak at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, February 27th, in Room 2456 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Lunch will be provided.

The Lemkin series is made possible by the ANCA Endowment Fund and the generosity of the Aramian Family – led by sisters Sue, the late Margo, and the late Martha – long-time benefactors of educational and charitable projects in the Armenian homeland and the diaspora. The lecture will be hosted by Congressional Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA), a principled and powerful Congressional advocate for a truthful and just U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide.

“We look forward to Dr. Theriault’s inaugural lecture and to an ongoing, justice-oriented exploration by Congressional and foreign policy community stakeholders of a core challenge of our time – the punishment and prevention of genocide, two core principles at the heart of the Rafael Lemkin’s life work, the UN Genocide Convention,” said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “This is a particularly timely program – coming so soon after the enactment of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, and amid renewed atrocities against vulnerable populations around the world.”

The series is named after Raphael Lemkin, the lawyer who first coined the term “genocide” after learning about the Armenian Genocide. He led the global movement to adopt the “UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”, which was adopted by the United Nations in December 1948. A landmark of international law, the Convention defines genocide as an international crime. 

Armenian, Iranian FMs discuss bilateral cooperation issues, refer to Karabakh conflict settlement

Arsine Chaltikian
Aysor, Armenia
Feb 16 2019

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met in Munich with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The interlocutors referred to the wide-range of issues on Armenian-Iranian relations, outlining trade-economic, energy, transport and tourism sectors.

The parties stressed the readiness to undertake steps toward further development of bilateral relations.

The two ministers attached significance to the necessity of regular contacts and meetings, highlighting the upcoming visit of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Iran which they described as a good opportunity to refer to bilateral agenda and outline key cooperation sectors.

During the meeting the ministers referred to a number of regional and international issues.

Minister Mnatsakanyan briefed to his Iranian counterpart on the Armenia’s approaches over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.