Author: Badalian Vardan

5 THOUSAND PEOPLE IN JAVAKHETI SECRETLY BECOME CITIZENS OF ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 10 2015

10 February 2015 – 12:41pm

In Georgia, 5 thousand inhabitants of Javakheti of Armenian descent
have acquired Armenian citizenship, hiding this fact from the
authorities.

They took this decision in order to simplify entry to Russia as
labor migrants.

“We decided to acquire Armenian citizenship to be able to freely
travel to Russia and get work,” haqqin.az cited the new citizens of
Armenia with reference to the TV channel ‘Rustavi 2’.

However, everyone who acqired Armenian citizenship lost their
citizenship of Georgia, as the country’s constitution allows dual
citizenship, but it’s forbidden to have two citizenships.

EGYPT REACHES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION

18:11, 10 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Egypt has reached a free trade zone agreement with the Eurasian
Economic Union (EEU), Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi said
Tuesday, RIA Novosti reports.

“We have reached an agreement to establish a free trade zone between
Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union,” Sisi said.

There was more than $4.5 billion of trade between Russia and Egypt
in 2014, a more than 80 percent increase on the year before, said
President Putin.

THE TERM “EASTERN ANATOLIA” DOESN’T EXIST: TURKOLOGIST

17:38, 10 February, 2015

YEREVAN, 10 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Associate professor of the Faculty
of Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University, Turkologist Lusine
Sahakyan says Armenians should be very active on the Internet and
be able to give adequate responses to the false propaganda spread by
circles of Turkologists. According to her, Turkish bloggers are working
very actively on distorting Armenian toponyms and presenting Armenian
words as words of Turkish origin on the Internet. In an interview with
“Armenpress”, Lusine Sahakyan mentioned that there are especially
several blogs and websites that the Turks have created ahead of the
100thanniversary of the Armenian Genocide and where they engage in
heated debates over Armenian words and falsify Armenian history.

In addition, Sahakyan emphasized that Armenia needs to address
Western countries and the media to stop using the term “Eastern
Anatolia”. “Eastern Anatolia doesn’t exist. It’s an artificial word.

It’s absurd. Translated, it means “east of the east”. Armenia has a
lot of work to do in this regard so that not only the real history
is presented, but also the real toponyms are not distorted,” Lusine
Sahakyan said.

LE LIVRE DE KADIR MISIROGLU > EST UN LIVRE NEGATIONNISTE DE PLUS

TURQUIE-NEGATIONNISME

La Turquie n’epargne pas ses efforts en moyens financiers importants et
ouvertement negationnistes pour contrer > en cette annee du 100ème anniversaire du genocide. Le dernier
element de cette campagne orchestree par Ankara est la sortie du livre
de Kadir Misiroglu > (La question
armenienne et les violences de l’histoire jusqu’a nos jours).

L’auteur dedie l’ouvrage a president turc Recep Erdogan. Le livre
reserve l’un de ses chapitres aux combats de l’Artsakh et des
evènements de Khodjali. Bien evidemment K. Misiroglu nie l’existence
du genocide armenien mais affirme que ce sont les Armeniens qui ont
commis des actes violents contre les Turcs et les Azeris. En somme,
un livre qui traduit une nouvelle fois la position officielle de
la Turquie qui est encore loin de revisiter serieusement les pages
sombres de son histoire, un siècle après les crimes.

Krikor Amirzayan

mardi 10 fevrier 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

ARAM I: THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE

February 10, 2015

By Dania Ohanian

The international conference on the Armenian Genocide: from recognition
to reparation, took place at the Catholicosate of Cilicia, in
Antelias, Lebanon, from February 23-25, 2012. The philosophy of such
a thought-provoking conference flew academicians from around the world
and was organized by His Holiness Aram I, a visionary church leader.

The objective of the conference was to bring experts from around
the world to cogitate the legal dimensions of reparations for the
Armenian Genocide. Why a religious institution was to organize a
conference with a topic on reparations? His Holiness Aram I wrote
in the International Criminal Law Review[1] “Human rights are not
optional; they are integral to Christianity. What is more, human
rights are essential to the vocation of church institutions. Human
rights in general and the Armenian Genocide in particular are part of
the missionary calling of the Armenian Church and occupy, therefore,
an important place on its agenda.”

The conference on “Recognition to Reparation” validated that this
indispensable issue is crucial to collectively be addressed in the
circles of scholars and specialists.

Armenian Communities around the world are preparing to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24,
2015. The sobering experience of the Genocide, the profound shock
will reverberate and hundred years of continued denial will yield on
into the future.

In September 2014, His Holiness Aram I shocked the world during his
dynamic and courageous speech at the Fifth Armenia-Diaspora Conference
in the capital city Yerevan, Armenia. “The Great House of Cilicia will
soon petition to Turkey’s Constitutional Court to demand the return
of Sis Catholicosate to its owner, namely the Armenian Church and
Armenian people. We can not remain indifferent to the violated rights
of our nation, as indifference is treason,” His Holiness said. The
Catholicos gave the Armenian Nation a hope for the future by bravely
announcing that He has chosen to embark on a new challenge with an
extraordinary resilience.

The idealistic church leader writes in the International Criminal Law
Review “Church properties represent a central and unique place in any
reparative process. Both spiritually and culturally, the church has
for almost two millennia been at the center of Armenian existence and
identity. Thus, the return of church lands and buildings, particularly
consecrated churches, is perhaps the most meaningful starting point
for the restoration of Armenian identity.”

Far from cause for satisfaction, this claim only highlights the tragedy
of a Nation and seeks justice beyond retribution. Is retribution
included in Transitional Justice?[2] This petition will make wider
claims about the mechanisms of Transitional Justice and will intend
to integrate researchers who concentrate on issues of legal transition
and institutions and mechanisms of “dealing with the past”.

It is indisputable, that His Holiness Aram I will warmly welcome and
encourage any assistance by policy makers addressing decision making
and legitimacy issues.

[1] International Criminal Law Review, Volume 14, No. 2, 2014,
Special Issue, Armenian Genocide Reparations

[2] Transitional Justice has become an increasing field of research
and academic discussion during the decades after World War II. What
originally was a subject mainly for historians and lawyers has now
become a field for sociologists and political scientists.

ARMENIA FACES SERIOUS NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE

16:00 / 10.02.2015

We should have seriously thought about the national security and the
development of the country, director Tigran Khzmalyan said, speaking
at a news conference today.

“I am not speaking about the simple North-West contradiction but of
course it has its core significance and our political and economic
election will show whether we will enter the 21st century as a country
or as a nation as till now we had not done it,” Khzmalyan said.

The other speaker of the news conference, leader of National Security
party Garnik Isagulyan agreed that unfortunately Armenia does not
have the place and the role it could really have.

“I have many times stated my opinion, I had been thinking that after
the collapse of the Soviet Union Armenia was to appear in the most
difficult and desperate situation. But our people and our generation
having left the disastrous earthquake behind managed to overcome
this tragedy and win in the imposed Karabakh war. It seemed that
after all it the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
cannot only say what they want but have a serious role in the region
and the world,” he said, stressing that best example for Armenia is
Israel which being smaller country and having less potential declared
its independence in 1948 and in 1967 in 6-day war won five Arab state
surrounding it and enlarged its territory more than thrice. “We too
had such opportunity, Armenia could have bigger chances than Israel.

But after 19 years of our independence in 2013 we signed the agreement
on accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, which of course is a
tragedy,” he said.

The party’s leader said that it was very important for Armenia to be
able to keep balanced stance with the West, East, North, South and
have same level relations with all.

“Unfortunately, in all times, the Armenian authorities have not viewed
the national and state interest as a prior issue,” Isagulyan stressed,
adding that unfortunately Armenia’s national security issue is in
desperate situation and if it continues in this way it is a big
question whether we will be able to keep our state or not.

HAUSSE DES DEMANDES D’INFORMATIONS PAR LES GOUVERNEMENTS SUR LES INTERNAUTES, SELON TWITTER

USA/TURQUIE/RUSSIE

Washington, 9 fev 2015 (AFP) – Le reseau social Twitter a constate
fin 2014 une hausse de 40% des requetes emanant de gouvernements et
d’autorites pour obtenir des informations concernant des internautes,
particulièrement en Turquie et en Russie.

Le “rapport sur la transparence” de Twitter publie lundi montre que
les Etats-Unis restent les plus actifs en la matière, avec 1.622
demandes d’informations au dernier semestre de l’an dernier (+29%)
sur les 2.871 adressees a Twitter dans le monde entier (2.058 sur la
meme periode de 2013).

Twitter s’est execute dans 80% des demandes americaines. La Turquie,
qui avait bloque l’accès a Twitter ainsi qu’a d’autres reseaux sociaux
l’an dernier dans un contexte de fuites sur la corruption au sein du
gouvernement, arrive en deuxième position avec 356 requetes, soit un
bond de 150% en un an.

“Nous n’avons fourni aucune information a la suite de ces demandes”, a
precise Jeremy Kessel, l’un des responsables de Twitter dans un billet.

En Russie, où les autorites avaient demande l’an dernier a Twitter de
bloquer les comptes d'”extremistes”, M. Kessel a note que le reseau
social avait recu plus d’une centaine de demandes sur les six derniers
mois de 2014 alors qu’il n’en avait jamais recues auparavant.

Aucune information n’a ete transmise, selon le responsable de Twitter.

Ces requetes russes font suite a l’adoption d’une loi stipulant
que les blogueurs ayant plus de 3.000 lecteurs quotidiens soient
enregistres et soient soumis a une reglementation plus stricte,
faute de quoi ils s’exposent a des amendes importantes.

Le Japon s’est place en troisième position, derrière les Etats-Unis
et la Turquie, avec 288 demandes qui ont ete satisfaites dans 36%
des cas. En ce qui concerne les demandes de suppression de contenus,
la Turquie est arrivee très largement en tete avec 328 requetes
ordonnees par des tribunaux sur un total mondial de 376.

A cela s’ajoutent 149 demandes provenant d’agences gouvernementales
arguant “de violations des droits de la personne, de diffamation de
citoyens et/ou de responsables du gouvernement”. Dans plus de 50%
des cas, Twitter a ete contraint in fine par la justice de retirer
du contenu. Au niveau mondial, il a dû en retirer dans 13% des cas.

rl/elm/are

mardi 10 fevrier 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com

UNE ONG PROPOSE DE MODIFIER LA LOI ANTI-TABAC EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

Une organisation non gouvernementale armenienne, > a propose de modifier la legislation
anti-tabac en Armenie, a declare l’avocat Tatevik Gharibyan qui a
redige le projet de loi.

L’ONG a etudie les lois internationales anti-tabac des autres pays et
elabore des amendements dans le cadre de leur programme intitule

NORIKIAN, CINQUANTE ANS D’EXPRESSION DE TOUTES LES DOULEURS ARMENIENNES…

REVUE DE PRESSE

Retrospective

Cinquante ans de peinture quasi exclusivement dediee a l’expression
de l’âme armenienne, marquee au fer rouge du genocide et de
l’exode…C’est ce que celèbre Krikor Norikian a la galerie Surface
libre, jusqu’au 14 fevrier.

Zena ZALZAL | OLJ

06/02/2015

(dixit Joseph Tarrab).

L’oeuvre d’une vie

Pour celebrer le cinquantenaire de sa pratique picturale, qui
coïncide d’ailleurs avec le centenaire du genocide armenien, Norikian
a choisi de devoiler, a la galerie Surface libre*, quelques-unes de
ses oeuvres dont il n’a jamais pu se separer et qui constituent donc
sa collection privee.

Des peintures, realisees entre 1976 et 2013, representant,
obsessionnellement, des groupements de femmes, de vieillards
et d’enfants aux faces angulaires et emaciees, aux regards a la
fois lointains et interieurs, mais toujours voiles d’une profonde
tristesse. Des processions de silhouettes resignees, tournant le dos
a des eglises en ruine, a une terre brulee, a des paysages parfois
indefinis…, mais desquelles se detache toujours un personnage
qui semble interpeller le spectateur de la toile. Un enfant, le
plus souvent, que l’artiste place a l’avant-plan de la composition
lui donnant, a la fois, le rôle d’ultime temoin de l’horreur et de
porteur d’esperance…

Et une palette de couleurs chaudes orangees, conjuguees aux froides
tonalites des bleus. Lesquelles, dans un juste rapport entre leur
violence et leur harmonie, embrasent les scènes representees d’une
vibrante charge emotionnelle et les nimbent d’une atmosphère aux
confins du realisme et de l’onirisme.

Une quarantaine de tableaux, majoritairement des huiles et quelques
estampes, qu’il presente au public, jusqu’au 14 fevrier, dans un
accrochage d’esprit retrospectif et non commercial. >, dit-il simplement. Un souhait
parfaitement comprehensible pour cet artiste dont l’oeuvre est > de memoire. Celle particulière d’un peuple tragiquement jete
sur les chemins de l’exil. Et qui devient, aujourd’hui, emblematique
des drames et des errances de toutes les populations, irakiennes,
syriennes, yazidies qui, elles aussi, ont rendez-vous avec la barbarie
de l’histoire.

Parcours de l’artiste

Forme, dans un premier temps, a l’Institut italien des beaux-arts
a Beyrouth, sous la direction de Fernando Mannetti et Jean Khalife,
puis a l’Ecole d’art de Guvder, Krikor Norikian s’envole pour l’Italie
en 1965 où il frequente l’academie Pietro Vanucci a Perouse. Après
un bref retour au Liban, il part en France en 1968, où il intègre
l’Ecole nationale superieure des beaux-arts. Il s’y installera,
par la suite, durant plusieurs decennies, au cours desquelles il
exposera son travail aussi bien a Paris, qu’a Montreal, Ottawa, Los
Angeles ou Beyrouth. Quelques-unes de ses oeuvres seront acquises
par des collections privees et publiques, dont le Musee Sursock,
le Musee national d’Armenie et le Musee d’art moderne de Erevan. De
retour au Liban en 2003, Norikian a amorce un leger changement dans sa
composition, moins academique classique, mais son art reste toujours
impregne d’une vision tragique de la condition humaine…

*Jal-el-Dib, jardin Dadour. Du lundi au samedi, de 10h a 19h. Tel. :
04/715500 – 716600.

mardi 10 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT HINTING ABOUT LACK OF WATER

17:47 February 09, 2015

EcoLur

Though Haypethydromet Service stated that it’s too early to speak
about the lack of water, but the Armenian Government already makes
hints about lack of water. Under the official website of the Armenian
Government, on the session of February 5, the government made a
reference the problem of water lack in the country. In this regard,
the website particularly says, “…under the specialists, this year
we will also experience lack of water, and the PM said that the
preparation to spring agricultural works were discussed with the
competent bodies at the meeting with the Armenian President. It was
arranged to discuss this issue also next week, as there is a matter
of 3 billion AMD subsiding and organizing mechanical irrigation.”

Reminder: 2014 was announced as a year of water lack and 270 million
cum water was let out of Lake Sevan to irrigate Ararat Valley.