Author: Badalian Vardan

VICTORIA NULAND TO VISIT ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN

18:19, 16 February, 2015

On February 16, Assistant Secretary Nuland will travel to Baku,
Azerbaijan, to meet with senior government officials to work to
strengthen bilateral relations on trade and investment, energy
diversification, security and counter-terrorism, and democracy
and civil society, as well as toward advancing a just and lasting
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. She will also meet with
representatives from civil society groups.

As reports “Armenpress” citing the official site of U.S. Department
of State, assistant Secretary Nuland will travel to Tbilisi, Georgia,
on February 17 for meetings with senior Georgian government officials,
opposition political figures, and civil society representatives to
discuss a broad range of bilateral and regional issues, including
Georgia’s path toward European integration and Georgia’s efforts to
defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

On February 18, Assistant Secretary Nuland will travel to Yerevan,
Armenia, where she will meet with senior government officials, civil
society groups, and youth representatives to discuss strengthening
our political, economic, and people-to-people ties with Armenia
and advancing a just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

ARMENIANS IN ANATOLIA WAIT FOR CLERGY

Vartan Estukyan 01.26.2015 09:46 SOCIETY

Although there are Armenian churches in Diyarbakýr, Van and Kayseri,
regular mass cannot be held because religious clergy is not appointed
by the Patriarchate. There are no permanent religious officials in
churches in Turkey apart from the churches in Istanbul and the church
in Ýskenderun.

Although the Islamised Armenians in Anatolia face various difficulties
in retaining their identity, they continue to make an effort to return
to their roots and keep the culture of their forefathers alive. One of
the most significant obstacles they encounter is access to a church,
since most churches in Anatolia have been damaged. On the other hand,
although there are Armenian churches in Diyarbakýr, Van and Kayseri,
regular mass cannot be held because religious clergy is not appointed
by the Patriarchate.

At the moment, the only religious official who serves on a permanent
basis is Father Avedis Tabaþyan, the religious official of the Karasun
Manuk Church in Ýskenderun and the Surp Asdvadzadzin Church in Vakýflý
Koy. In addition to Tabaþyan, Father Krikor Damatyan and Deacon Artun
Damatyan visit churches across Anatolia in weeks following important
feasts and hold Badarak Mass with the local Armenian congregation.

Damatyan is actually a religious official of the Kadýkoy Church in
Istanbul, and is in Anatolia at the moment. However, the need for
permanent religious officials in Anatolia continues. Archbishop Ateþyan
responded to our question on the issue: “We cannot say that mass is
not held in Anatolia. Father Krikor Damatyan was in Elazýð last week,
and will be in Sivas this week. And Father Avedis Tabaþyan serves in
Ýskenderun.” However, Anatolian Armenians believe that there should
be permanent religious officials at their churches.

Diyarbakýr is the centre

Armen Galustyan, the President of the Daron Muþ Armenians Solidarity
Social Tourism Association, criticized the Patriarchate and argued
that there should be a religious official in a church in Anatolia:
“Diyarbakýr has a very central location, it is only an hour’s distance
to many cities in Anatolia. Not only Diyarbakýr, there could also be
a religious official in Van, but there should be a permanent religious
official at least in Diyarbakýr. And mass should be held at least twice
a month. There are Armenians living in many cities from Muþ to Batman
to Kayseri. These people have reverted to their identity, and they
want to keep it alive. The church is of paramount importance for that.”

Galustyan also states that the church for him has a cultural rather
than religious significance: “For me the Church is my culture. I want
my funeral to be held there, I want to get married in church. But
no one in Istanbul cares about this. The community here will never
become active if a representative is not sent from Istanbul.”

‘No churches have been left standing!’

Hikmet Bakýrcý, a resident of Adýyaman, states that the Armenians
in Adýyaman attend mass held at the Syriac Church. Bakýrcý says
that the majority of the congregation attending mass at the Ancient
Syriac Church are Armenians, and that since there are no Armenian
churches in good conditions to hold service in surrounding cities,
they are forced to hold their religious ceremonies in other churches:
“All the Armenian churches in this area have been destroyed. The church
in the best condition in this area is in Diyarbakýr, but that is quite
a distance. We can only go there on religious feast. The only church
we can hold mass in Adýyaman is the Ancient Syriac Church. We hold
mass once every two weeks, and sometimes three times a month. 80%
of those who attend are Armenians.”

‘Armenians have become Syriacized’

The circumstances in Diyarbakýr are different. Melike Dara Gunal, a
resident of Diyarbakýr, says that Armenians in Anatolia were either
Islamised over time, or lost their beliefs, whereas some Diyarbakýr
Armenians have adapted to Syriac culture. “Most Diyarbakýr Armenians,
for social and political reasons, have become Islamised or lost
their beliefs. Therefore, the appointment of a permanent religious
official to the church would have no affect on that group. The number
of Christian Armenians is sadly no more than a few. And they have
been influenced by Syriac theology, and have adapted to the culture
of the Syriac Church.”

Gunal adds that there are also some Armenians who want a permanent
religious official to be appointed to the Surp Giragos Church:
“Albeit a few, there are still some who want the appointment of a
religious official so that Christianity, a fundamental element of
Armenian culture, can be learned. The very few remaining Anatolian
Armenians are trying to keep their faith alive. However, the younger
generation of Armenians lose their identity, as they are detached from
the church; they either become Syriacized, Kurdified or Turkified. The
presence of a religious official is of great importance for the sake
of keeping Anatolian Armenians together.”

Armenian prime minister orders scrutiny of Tsarukyan’s charitable activity

YEREVAN, February 16. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan
ordered today a scrutiny of the charitable activity of Gagik Tsarukyan,
leader of Prosperous Armenia party.

The order was prompted by rumors going around that Tsarukyan evades
taxes under color of charity.

David Harutyunyan, minister-head of the government staff, sent an
appropriate message to Gagik Khachatryan, finance minister, Gohar
Poghosyan, press secretary of the prime minister, told ARKA News
Agency on Monday.

Speaking at a Thursday meeting of the executive board of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia President Sargsyan lashed out at his
former coalition partner describing him as ‘a scourge for the country
who lacks intelligence, skills and education to govern Armenia.’

Sargsyan told Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan to instruct corresponding
bodies to thoroughly investigate the veracity of “unverified reports”
implicating Tsarukyan in large-scale tax evasion.

In retaliation to Sargsyan’s crackdown, the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party said the following day that the current situation in
the country requires solution and ‘the only solution is a complete
change of power through extraordinary presidential elections.’

Gagik Tsarukyan said also he was offered the post of president of
the country but only after constitutional reforms that would turn
Armenia into a parliamentary republic.

He claimed that the reform is aimed at enabling Sargsyan to stay in
power after the end of his second and final presidential term in 2018.

Tsarukyan said he declined the offer causing Sargsyan’s anger.

Prosperous Armenia is the second largest force in the parliament
controlling 36 seats. It was part of coalition governments from 2007
to 2012. According to some estimates, Tsarukyan is the third-richest
person of Armenia. On February 20, the party and its key allies,
the Armenian National Congress and Heritage, plan to hold a joint
rally in Yerevan to press for Sargsyan’s ouster. —0—-

ARMENIA-IMF TALKS FOCUS ON GROWTH, AID PROSPECTS

CISTran Finance
Feb 16 2015

February 16, 2015 5:00 AM
By CISTran Finance Reports

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with a delegation from
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday to discuss the
current state of the economy and future collaborative efforts.

Mark Horton led the IMF delegation, stressing that projects aimed at
increasing growth should be considered a priority so the country can
meet the changing international economic climate.

Abrahamyan said economic activity grew 3.9 percent in 2014, fueled
by the agriculture, service and industrial sectors. He also said the
government plans to implement reforms that allow for a healthier
business environment that facilitates growth. He also called for
measures to promote exports and investment opportunities.

During the meeting, both sides also discussed the potential for future
support from the IMF through the fund’s Extended Fund Facility and
Extended Credit Facility programs. Other changes and enhancements on
taxes, customs and other cooperative possibilities also were discussed.

RUSSIA HAS EXPERIENCE IN SETTLING INTERETHNIC CONFLICTS

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 16 2015

16 February 2015 – 8:36pm

Veronika Krasheninnikova, the head of the Russia Today Center
of International Journalism and Studies, the director general of
the Institute of Foreign Political Studies and Initiatives, deputy
head of the Presidential Council Committee for Social Support of the
Population of the Southeast of Ukraine, a member of the Russian Public
Chamber, has visited Vestnik Kavkaza today. She gave an insight into
the Russian position on conflicts in the post-Soviet space and the
world and relations with the South Caucasus states.

Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Krasheninnikova
emphasized that it was one of the most tragic pages in the history
of the USSR, independent Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. She
called Yugoslavia an analogy of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
where interethnic tensions had sparked the tragedy. In her words,
Russian history has unique experience in solving such problems. The
USSR consisted of 200 ethnicities, according to the expert. She urged
the modern generation to use the experience to build a future.

Krasheninnikova pointed out the progress of Russia in developing
relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia, their reaching a new level in
2014. The analyst reminded about the meeting in Astrakhan and progress
in the settlement of Caspian problems. In her opinion, the authorities
of Azerbaijan have the political wisdom to make the right decisions.

Armenia, says Krasheninnikova, made the right choice by joining
the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. She
reminded that the Baltic states had joined the EU in May 2004,
their population had decreased by about a quarter or a third, their
economies entered a deep crisis. The expert noted that the U.S. and
NATO members continued paying special attention to the countries of
the South Caucasus. Not a week went by without NATO drills, visits
of defense ministers and of other military officials in July-August.

Krasheninnikova added that the Ukrainian crisis had made the region
even more topical. Russia Today prepared a report “The Trans-Caucasus
in the strategic plans of the U.S. and NATO” with “a very deep”
study of the actions of the Americans and their allies in the Caucasus.

TENSE STAND-OFF AS HAKAN HARMAN, CHIEF OF RACIAL HARMONY, ADMITS INFLAMING ETHNIC ANGER

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Feb 16 2015

Date February 16, 2015 – 7:17PM
Rick Feneley

Hakan Harman, apologised for issuing guidelines without consultation.

Ethnic leaders demand sacking of Multicultural NSW boss

The chief executive of the state body created to promote racial harmony
has apologised for inflaming anger among ethnic communities when he
issued guidelines that could have curtailed public memorials to war
crimes and atrocities.

But the Minister for Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello,
has drawn fire from rival sides in the bitter debate – both for
refusing to sack the head of Multicultural NSW, Hakan Harman, but
also for forcing him to withdraw the guidelines.

The Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance, which had joined with a
Japanese group to urge Mr Harman to adopt the guidelines, claims
Mr Dominello “is clearly under the immense pressure of some of the
powerful lobby groups, including the Armenian lobby, and in fear of
nothing but losing votes in an election year”.

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The alliance rejects the word “genocide” to describe the deaths
of Armenian, Assyrians and Greeks under the Ottoman Empire. And it
rejects the assertion by leaders from these and the Cypriot and Korean
communities that it was seeking to “airbrush” history by restricting
public memorials in NSW.

Mr Dominello refused to sack Mr Harman, a Turkish Australian, on
Monday afternoon when he met leaders of the Armenian, Assyrian and
Greek communities. He invoked Anzac Day and said he did not want the
controversy to overwhelm the centenary commemorations, according to
the chief executive of the Armenian National Committee of Australia,
Vache Kahramanian.

Mr Dominello told them to lodge their complaint and that due process
must be followed.

Mr Harman, a Turkish Australian, admitted he should have conducted
extensive community consultation before issuing the guidelines.

“This did not occur and for that I sincerely apologise,” he said in
a statement. “The guidelines were intended to provide advice and
guidance on issues relating to historical commemoration of events
and not to inflame concerns or upset anyone.”

He would invite the angered communities to meet him.

But the Turkish alliance said: “We have seen in recent years that some
lobby groups, which are trademarked with their anti-Turkey causes,
are damaging the multicultural harmony exists in NSW by bringing some
unresolved political conficts with them.”

It said one of its roles was to “advocate against turning foreign
historical conflicts into a political football in Australia”.

The guidelines it and the Japanese Community Network proposed to Mr
Harman had “aimed to prevent these powerful lobby groups to use their
political power to waste public funds by using the government funds
or land for their political aims”.

The alliance claimed it had the support of the Indian community and
the previous leadership of the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW –
an assertion denied by the ECC late on Monday.

The Labor spokesman for citizenship and communities, Guy Zangari, said:
“It’s time for Mr Dominello to come out of the shadows and clean up
this mess.”

The chairman of the Multicultural NSW advisory board, Harry Harinath,
said it was determined to promote “peace and harmony” and welcomed
the move to wider consultation with communities.

A spokesman for Mr Dominello said: “The purpose of today’s meeting
was to consult with relevant community leaders, hear their concerns
and resolve a way forward that will ensure community harmony.”

LES ARMENIENS EN FRANCE

La Croix, France
16 fevr 2015

Retrouvez notre carte de la communauté arménienne en France.

La communauté arménienne en France compte environ 600 000
personnes, dont 400 000 sont nées en France (3e et 4e générations
actuellement). Ces chiffres ne tiennent pas compte de l’immigration
récente d’Arméniens en provenance d’Arménie.

La communauté est surtout regroupée autour de trois zones
géographiquesâ~@~I: la région parisienne (plus de 200 000 personnes),
la région marseillaise (plus de 150 000) et la région lyonnaise
(environ 150 000).

La ville d’Alfortville (Val-de-Marne), surnommée la ” petite Arménie
”, est l’une des plus représentatives, avec 7 000 a 9 000 membres
parmi plus de 45 000 habitants.

D’autres villes comptent également une forte concentration, comme
Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine), Lyon, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse,
Grenoble, Montpellier, etc.

La communauté arménienne compte de nombreuses associations, au
moins six établissements scolaires arméniens (dont un lycée a
Marseille), et une centaine ” d’écoles du samedi ou du dimanche ”
pour l’enseignement de la langue arménienne.

RALLY CRY OR CRYING “FOUL”?: OPPOSITION AWAITS CITY HALL DECISION

POLITICS | 16.02.15 | 15:07

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By SARA KHOJOYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

If Yerevan City Hall denies Armenia’s political opposition a rally
permit, the decision will be politically-motivated, Heritage Party
representative Armen Martirosyan told ArmeniaNow.

Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukyan has called an “urgent”
rally for Friday.

Heritage, Prosperous Armenia (PAP) and Armenian National Congress (ANC)
parties on Monday notified Yerevan authorities and the police that
on February 20 they will hold an emergency rally in Freedom Square.

According to Martirosyan, the term emergency was selected because in
the law about “Freedom of rallies” notification can be sent less than
seven days in advance only in case of emergency rallies.

“The law also says that the situation must be such that it is
impossible to postpone and it must be discussed immediately, and
indeed, important events are taking place these days in our country
and we must discuss it with the people.”

The decision about holding an emergency rally was made by the troika
on Sunday referring to the law on “Freedom of Rallies”; the second
point of Article 26 says “urgent” is a rally which is organized in
order to immediately react to a situation, otherwise that purpose is
impossible to be achieved if the notification deadline is met.

The second point of Article 27 of the same law defines that the
organizer of the rally has to keep the authorized body and the police
aware of all the activities taken toward the rally in advance.

“The decision to accept the notification of the rally is exceptionally
in the legal dimension. And if the City Hall does not accept it,
it will be a direct persecution against the opposition, carried
out by executive tools which is illegal and anti-constitutional,”
Martirosyan said.

Yerevan City Hall posts its decisions about rallies on its website
where there is still no information about Friday’s rally.

LICENSE NEEDED TO EXPORT PRECIOUS METALS AND THEIR ORES FROM ARMENIA

11:35 February 16, 2015

EcoLur

>From now on single-use license will be needed to export precious metal,
precious metal scrap and wastes, ore and concentrates from Armenia
to any other country. Under the governmental resolution dated on 30
January, Economy Ministry is in charge of issuing these licenses.

The requirement of issuing licenses is conditioned with the legal
acts of accession of Armenia to the Eurasian Economic Union.

ARMENIA HAS NO RIGHT TO SCRAP COOPERATION WITH WEST – OPPOSITION MP

12:51 * 16.02.15

In an interview with Tert.am, the opposition Free Democrats party’s
leader commented on a recent Yerevan-hosted scientific conference
on the priorities of the Lithuanian presidency in the European Union
and possibilities with cooperation with Armenia.

Khachatur Kokobelyan said he sees that the question on possible
cooperation between the EU and Armenia still remains on the agenda
after scrapping the Eastern Partnership Agreement.

“Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Trajan Hristea said recently
that the EU is not going to leave Armenia. Over the past 15 days, we
have been hearing statements of the kind from western diplomats who
find that the Russian armed forces’ presence and the Armenia-Russia
relations should not be an obstacle to developing the EU-Armenia
relations,” the politician said, adding that the West understands
that Armenia’s choice to join the Eurasian Economic Union was a
situational solution.

“I share that approach and believe that we should build and move ahead
with our relations considering that fact. I am confident that Armenia
simply has no other alternative; so it has to turn to the West . It
directly stems from a sovereign state’s interests.”

Considering Armenia’s Eurasian choice a forced decision, Kokobelyan
said he doesn’t accept the national security arguments proposed by
proponents of the policy line. He said he doesn’t think that Russia,
which sells weapons to Azerbaijan, can be Armenia’s security guarantor.

“Clearly, Armenia’s membership in the EEU was not the decision of the
Armenian citizens. But it is important, in the current situation, to
properly react to the political ‘messages’ adopted by the civilized
world,” he added.

Asked what factors pose constraints to Armenia, the politician pointed
out to Russian policies.

Asked about the framework of Armenia’s possible cooperation with the
European Union, Mr Kokobelyan said:

“It is in Armenia’s interests that Vilnius Summit sign documents that
would prove to be preconditions for essential practical progress in
Armenia-EU relations. Our government officials should think of making
practical progress.

“The west has made clear statements on political and security issues.

I would like to recall a statement by Eric Rubin, US Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. He
spoke of both developing economic cooperation with Armenia and
consolidating military cooperation and security component. He
noted the US understood the reason for Russian military presence
was the situation, which, however, would not impede the development
of relations. I consider it the greatest achievement for Armenia,
which is in a serious situation.”

As to the possibility of developments similar to the Ukraine crisis
in Armenia, in the context of the Russia-West confrontation, if
Armenia should start cooperating with the West, Mr Kokobelyan said
that Armenia should act prudently.

“In terms of security Armenia needs to progressively build up practical
relations with the EU and the West because in the modern world Armenia
has no right to decline the proposals by the West – in terms of both
economy and security.”