Author: Babajanian Karo

“HASMIK POGHOSYAN CAN NO LONGER VISIT SHIRAK”

07:17 pm | Today | Social

“The Armenian government is doing business under the pretext of saving
the frescoes of famous artist Minas Avetisyan,” public figures from
Gyumri (a city in the north-west of Armenia) told journalists in
Yerevan on Monday.

By a government decision, two frescos of Minas Avetisyan were
given to “Armenia International Airport with the right of limitless
and gratuitous usage. Another two frescos were transferred to the
government building. The decision aroused dissatisfaction among Gyumri
citizens who demand to return the frescos to Avetisyan’s hometown.

“On June 17, the Minister of Culture [Hasmik Poghosyan] said she had
received no letter from the Gyumri Municipality in connection with the
return of the disputed frescos,” Levon Barseghyan, founding chairman of
“Asparez” Journalists Club NGO, said when commenting on the decision
of the Culture Minister.

“This document shows that Poghosyan was lying. Last year, the Gyumri
Municipality applied to the Minister with the same request. The
Ministry sent a response letter in December 2010. It is interesting
to know whether Poghosyan reported the Prime Minister about her talks
with the Gyumri authorities,” said Barseghyan.

Hasmik Melkonyan, member of the Committee for the Protection of
Gyumri’s Historical-Cultural Immovable Monuments and Movable Values,
says the Minister disseminated another misinformation saying that
Minas has 16 murals in Gyumri.

“Only two of the aforesaid frescos remain in Gyumri which, according
to our information, are also sold,” she said.

Gyumri citizens are determined to return the artist’s works. They
have launched a collection of signature which will be presented to
the government.

“Should Poghosyan ever visit Shirak Marz, we shall thwart her
meetings,” promised Barseghyan.

MONUMENT TO FRIDTJOF NANSEN TO BE SET IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 20, 2011 – 18:42 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On June 20, a committee in charge of organisation
of festive events to mark of Fridtjof Nansen’s 150th anniversary,
confirmed construction of a monument to the great humanitarian in
the center of Yerevan.

Armenian Ministry of Culture was instructed to announce a tender
for monument construction project, with the results to be analyzed
till August 1. The commitee will also consult with the Yerevan
Municipality’s arts concil concering the choice of the monument
project.

Fridtjof Nansen (10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian
explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel laureate. From
1925 onwards he spent much time trying to help Armenian refugees,
victims of Armenian Genocide and further ill-treatment thereafter.

CROSS-STONES CHANGE UNESCO’S POSITION

Aysor.am
Monday,June 20

On June 15 in Paris on the photo exhibition titled Khachkar
Craftsmanship within the framework of conferences initiated by UNESCO
the exhibition attendees were embarrassed to see that the quotations
indicating the place of origin of each khachkhar (cross-stone)
were removed.

Ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan touched upon the monuments as refugees,
as she called them, stressing that UNESCO found enough force to
violate its own norms.

“The names of the regions were absent from all the cross-stones,
it was not clear whether this or that stone is from Van, and Van is
in Turkey today, from Nakhijevan, is it an Armenian, Azernbaijani
cross-stone or has another origin.”

The Ethnographer reminding the cultural massacre, when in front
of the whole world the Armenian cross-stones were being destroyed,
is not being surprised anymore for the attitude of the UN towards
the refugees.

DAVIT BABAYAN: PEACEKEEPERS MAY BE DEPLOYED IN THE LINES OF INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED BORDERS OF NKR AND AZERBAIJAN

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

The deployment of peacekeeping forces in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
zone is possible only in case of settlement of preconditions, head
of the office of the central information department of the office
of the NKR president Davit Babayan told Armenpress referring to the
statement of the Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov that
a decision has already been made that the countries cannot carry out
peacekeeping mission in the NK conflict zone.

“As an idea we do not have an accentuated negative position over
deployment of peacekeeping forces. If necessary let them be deployed
but there are a number of preconditions that must be met, without it,
it will be impossible to speak about such scenario”, Babayan said.

According to him, before the deployment of peacekeeping forces the
NK conflict must be regulated in a comprehensive way. “There must
not be any unsettled issue between Azerbaijan and Artsakh before
the deployment of peacekeepers. Azerbaijan must recognize NKR’s
independence, and we the Azerbaijan’s. That is to say the state borders
of the two states must be internationally recognized, all the issues
of the conflict settlement be solved, only after this, it may be
spoken about the deployment of peacekeeping forces, across the line
of internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan and NKR”, he said.

At the same time, in his opinion, the deployment of peacekeepers is
a symbolizing step, with it the international community may put its
signature under the NK conflict settlement peace treaty.

“In other words, I do not see any necessity of deployment of
peacekeepers as the Azerbaijani-Karabakhi conflict is the only one in
the world where peace and stability is being maintained between the
parties without mediation of third forces for 18 years. It shows that
as compared with others the parties can live maintaining stability
and peace without harming each other. The international community may
use this experience in other regions as well. Peacekeepers are usually
being deployed in the places where it is impossible to maintain peace
and stability between the parties”, Babayan said.

DAMTEW DESSALEGNE: WE WELCOME EFFORTS OF THE ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DIRECTED TOWARD THE SOLUTION OF THE ISSUES OF REFUGEES

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 20, 2011
YEREVAN

People of Armenia and government solved the issue of integration
of refugees into the society with dignity, Damtew Dessalegne, the
representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
in Armenia said at a news conference today, stressing that in late 80s
and early 90s when the issue of refugees was more urgent in Armenia,
the government exerted all its efforts for the settlement of the
issue and continue doing it till now. “At that time the government
invited the UNHCRR representatives to assist the refugees and from
1994 till 2010 we have provided 32 million USD equivalent assistance
to the refugees in Armenia”, he said, adding that the second biggest
issue of refugees rose after the Iraqi war when more than 1000 Iraqi
Armenians left the country and arrived in Armenia. The government
managed to effectively solve the issue of granting citizenship to the
refugees and now there are 3000 refugees who do not have citizenship
while according to the UNHCR more than 365 thousand ethnic Armenians
migrated from Azerbaijan to Armenia.

“In this respect if we compare the situation in Armenia with other
countries, I must note that currently there are no inner displaced
in Armenia and the number of refugees has noticeably decreased”,
Damtew Dessalegne said.

“We welcome and encourage the efforts of the Armenian government
directed toward the solution of the issues of refugees”, he said.

Iran launches 2d satellite into orbit

10:51 – 16.06.11

Iran said it launched a satellite into orbit yesterday that Western
aerospace analysts said could be used for limited military
reconnaissance and also to monitor crops and track damage from
earthquakes, flooding, and other natural disasters, the New York Times
reported.

It was the second time that an Iranian rocket has carried a satellite
into orbit and took place more than two years after Iran joined the
international space club by launching its first satellite.

Iran released few details about the satellite, which it calls Rasad-1,
or Observation-1. Western analysts said it weighed about 100 pounds –
meaning that the light payload and the modest rocket carrying it bear
little resemblance to an intercontinental missile and its heavy
warhead.

`It’s a significant step forward for the Iranians,” said Charles P.
Vick, an expert on Iranian rockets at GlobalSecurity.org, a private
research group in Alexandria, Va.

Vick noted that the Iranians had announced that Rasad-1 would be
lofted last summer, but the mission was delayed.

`It’s taken them far longer than they advertised,” Vick said in an
interview. The reason, he added, appeared to be managerial failures
and `sanctions that have been having a significant impact on their
getting foreign technology and hardware.”

He described the Iranian satellite as an experimental craft designed
mainly for tracking the Earth’s resources from space. But the
spacecraft, he said, `could also be used for low-resolution
reconnaissance.”

Tert.am

168 Zham, Armenia
June 14 2011

Armenian opposition official cautious about Kazan meeting on Karabakh

[translated from Armenian]

An Armenian opposition official has said that there are risks involved
for Armenia in the signing of a document on Nagornyy Karabakh
settlement at the 25 June tripartite meeting of the Armenian,
Azerbaijani and Russian presidents in Kazan.

The head of the opposition Heritage faction, Stepan Safaryan, told the
Armenian pro-opposition 168 Zham newspaper that Yerevan should make
sure that the document does not refer to giving preliminary consent to
the Madrid principles of settlement.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rarely been so optimistic
on the settlement, 168 Zham said commenting on the ministry’s
statement that it was possible to bring closer positions on a few key
issues in the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement during the 11 June
tripartite meeting of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian foreign
ministers in Moscow.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are making optimistic statements on the
settlement, but their true positions differ from their statements,
Safaryan told the paper. At present, the two sides can do nothing but
make such ungrounded optimistic statements – simply to show that they
agree upon some things while having totally different intentions deep
in their minds, Safaryan said.

A representative of the opposition Armenian National Congress,
Vladimir Karapetyan, told the paper that he did not rule out that a
document on the fundamental principles of the settlement might be
signed in Kazan. “I believe that in Kazan, [Russian President Dmitriy]
Medvedev will try to eliminate the last existing disagreements between
the sides and have a document signed. There are no doubts anymore.
Taking into consideration that the sides have drawn their positions
closer, it is very likely that Medvedev will succeed in this and the
document [on the fundamental principles of settlement] will be
signed,” the paper quoted Karapetyan as saying.

Russian parliament to review the use of military base in Armenia

MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian parliament will review on Friday a protocol extending
Russia’s use of a military base in Armenia.

Russia and Armenia signed amendments to a 1995 bilateral treaty
extending Russia’s use of the 102nd Military Base in Gyumri near
Armenia’s border with Turkey through 2044.

The amendments stipulate that the term will be automatically extended
every five years unless one of the sides notifies the other about the
annulment of the treaty six months in advance.

The base is under command of Russia’s North Caucasus Military District
and is part of the CIS integrated air defense system.

There are around 5,000 personnel at the base, as well as S-300
surface-to-air missile systems and MiG-29 fighters.

Russia has repeatedly said that the presence of its base in the
Central Asian republic does not violate any international agreements
or upset the balance of forces in the region.

REVUE DE PRESSE
Une nounou d’Arménie…

Pierre Anhoury, auteur d’un livre documentaire sur l’incroyable destin
de Virginie-Jija Mesropian et Philippe Der Khatchadourian, accueillera
le public afin de parler du génocide arménien.

Lorsqu’elle avait 94 ans, Pierre Anhoury a eu l’idée d’aller visiter
sa nounou, Virginie-Jija, alors à Montréal dans la famille de sa
tante. Caméra en main, il a filmé en continue ce récit du passé, les
souvenirs aussi vifs que d’antan. Deux ans plus tard, le livre et le
CD sortaient après de minutieuses recherches historiques menées par
Claire Mouradian, directrice de recherches au CNRS et spécialiste de
la question.

L’illustration a été confiée au dessinateur Charles Berbérian, ami
d’enfance de pierre. Virginie -Jija avait 6 ans en 1915, lors du
génocide arménien. Elle vivait à Erzeroum, dans une maison confortable
auprès de ses parents, Mesrop et Hanam et de ses trois frères. Après
avoir été chassés, avec pour seul biens ce qu’ils ont pu charger sur
un cheval, Virginie assistera au massacre des siens.

« La grande vie »

Virginie revit au présent ce terrible instant. Sa vie ensuite
inspirerait tout cinéaste. Recueillie par un Turc, gouverneur, elle
suivra la famille dans ses pérégrinations. Au Liban, alors qu’elle
commence à prendre ses repères, elle est séparée de sa famille
d’accueil par un soldat en permission qui se doute qu’elle est
Arménienne.

Amenée dans un grand collège français, réquisitionné pour les
orphelins de guerre, Virginie continuera son chemin jusqu’au jour de
1935 où elle sera embauchée dans la famille Anhoury, les
grands-parents de Pierre. « C’était la grande vie pour moi, j’avais
été embauchée pour deux mois en Egypte… Je devais rester
soixante-huit ans chez les Anhoury » précise Virginie. Pierre ajoutera
: « Je lui voue une reconnaissance immense, elle m’a toujours
encouragé. Elle a marqué mon enfance par sa gentillesse et sa
confiance. » Virginie est décédée le 24 octobre 2003.

L’entrée est gratuite.

dimanche 19 juin 2011,
Sté[email protected]

ARMENIE-DEFENSE
L’Arménie maitrise la technologie de la fabrication des drones
selon le responsable-adjoint des forces aériennes d’Arménie

Le vice-responsable des forces armées aériennes de l’Arménie, le
colonel Armen Mkrdtchian a réalisé hier une déclaration
sensationnelle. A. Mkrdtchian a affirmé que l’Arménie s’était dotée
d’une unité de fabrication de drones à usage militaire. Selon le
responsable arménien, les drones de fabrication arménienne sont
aujourd’hui capables de « mener des opération très loin sur le
territoire ennemi ». Ainsi l’Azerbaïdjan qui se vantait de maîtriser
de la technologie de fabrication de drones est rattrapée -voir
dépassée- par l’Arménie. « Nous n’excluons pas également d’acquérir
d’autres drones de fabrication étrangère, afin de compléter notre
arsenal stratégique » dit A. Mkrdtchian. Le spécialiste militaire
Ardzroun Hovhannissian évoquant les forces armées de l’Azerbaïdjan a
dit « nous ne pouvons comparer les forces armées aériennes de
l’Azerbaïdjan avec celles de l’Arménie. L’arsenal militaire aérien est
doté d’une technologie avancée…mais que les spécialistes Azéris ne
maîtrisent pas (…) de plus ces forces aériennes ne sont pas adaptées
au combat en relief montagneux. Et si les pilotes Azéris s’entraînent
en Turquie, au retour il doivent piloter sur des avions qui sont
différents de ceux de Turquie ».

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 19 juin 2011,
Krikor [email protected]