Author: Bedik Zaminian

Aznavour wrote his will 30 years ago to avoid ‘family disputes’

Bedik Zaminian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 5 2018

Great French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour, who passed away on Monday at 94, wrote his will still 30 years ago to avoid disagreements within his family and court disputes, Le Figaro French newspaper reports.  

At the Sept à Huit program on 16 September this year, Aznavour said ‘everything is already planned.’

“It is already 30 years that I have created my will. I don’t want them to argue for a spoon or fork. This is ridiculous, but this is sometimes the case,” the legendary singer said.

He leaves behind a fortune worth €145 million, the newspaper said.  

Aznavour was married three times – to Michelle Rugel in 1946, Evelyn Plessis in 1956 and his widow Ulla Thorsell in 1967 – and had six children – Séda, Charles, Patrick, Katia, Mischa, and Nicolas.

France paid a national tribute to the star on Friday in a special ceremony held in the courtyard of Les Invalides, a complex of buildings and monuments related to French military history, in attendance of the top French and Armenian leadership.

His funeral ceremony will take place on Saturday, 6 October.     

Sports: Artur Vanetsyan elected chairman of Armenian Football Federation

Bedik Zaminian
Aysor, Armenia
Sept 22 2018
Read Aysor.am inTelegram

Director of National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan has been elected today chairman of the Football Federation of Armenia. 

Vanetsyan, 39, was the only candidate and was elected unanimously at the extraordinary gathering of the AFF.

From 2002 the AFF was chaired by Ruben Hayrapetyan, 55, who was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2015.

‘This is a pitiful attempt to stop us, but we won’t be quelled’, SIS chief says on wiretapped recording

Bedik Zaminian
| 16:34 | September 11 2018
Category
Politics

Special Investigative Service director Sasun Khachatryan says he is sure that the wiretapped recording of a phone conversation between him and National Security Service director Arthur Vanetsyan which was disclosed online is a pitiful attempt to stop them, which won’t succeed.

“The conversation between me and the NSS director has been published, where we discussed certain issues regarding the March 1 case. Vanetsyan had concerns over the fact that whether it is true that when a person is being brought to court without being arrested, and that the court must examine a motion in conditions when the person is free. I talked about the grounds of the arrest, I presented in what conditions it is being done,” the SIS head told a press conference today.

Speaking about the part of the recording where he and Vanetsyan are discussing the arrest of CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, Sasun Khachatryan said he has simply informed the NSS director that a motion has already been submitted and that he has already told the Prime Minister about it.

“The Prime Minister has numerously mentioned that no ban will exist on arresting any given individual, which in turn was applied in the Khachaturov case. I expressed opinion that in this case the arrest can be very effective,” he said.

Khachatryan said that he cannot find words to comment the step of publishing the recording. “This is a pitiful attempt to stop us, but be certain that we won’t be quelled, we will do our job,” he said.

Theater: "Beast on the Moon" about Armenian Genocide to be staged in Greece

Bedik Zaminian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 11 2018
– 16:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Evangelos Papadakis, an actor and director working in Athens, Greece, will direct the Casus Belli theater group in a production of "Beast on the Moon", Uwosh.edu reports.

Kalinoski said the play is about vulnerable refugee people struggling to keep their hopes alive while having lost everything as a result of the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

“A century after the Armenian genocide, we are still witnessing identical ‘pictures’ of human loss. Why?” Papadakis said.

Casus Belli will run Kalinoski’s award-winning play from Nov. 19 to Jan. 29, in the Simeio Theater, in Athens. Kalinoski is an internationally renowned theatrical playwright and faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

“In such an unstable political environment where ‘refugees’ are a major political issue for Greece and for the rest of Europe, there is no better way of dealing with this theme than putting on stage, Beast on the Moon,” Papadakis said.

He speaks of the thousands of refugees from the Eastern countries that had to leave their homes, go to Istanbul and travel through the Mediterranean Sea to Greece, to Europe, to find a better life. Instead many found death.

“They were drowned. And those who survived death lost their families, lost their dignity, lost their identity,” Papadakis added. “What can be their future? How are they going to create new lives in foreign places? How can we—citizens of the Western world—show empathy for those less fortunate people?”

Portion of North-South Road Corridor to be tolled

Bedik Zaminian
| 15:46 | September 4 2018
Category
Society

A certain portion of the North-South Road Corridor will be a toll road after the project is completed. The toll will not exceed the price of gas which is spent when traveling the existing road, minister of transportation, communication and IT Ashot Hakobyan told reporters today at a press conference on his 100 days in office.

“Tolled roads aren’t only in Armenia, there are many similar [roads] in numerous countries. In this specific section the tolling is justified. It will be a toll road for everyone, both Armenian citizens and foreigners,” he said.

Hakobyan did not mention a completion date for the project, because it depends on international funding sources, the pace of the construction and the government’s financing opportunities.

Sports: Why Mkhitaryan could miss match against Qarabag & Europa League final

Bedik Zaminian 
 The Independent - Daily Edition
September 1, 2018 Saturday


Why Mkhitaryan could miss match against Qarabag & Europa League final

by  LUKE BROWN



Unai Emery faces a possible selection headache over Armenian
international Henrikh Mkhitaryan, after Arsenal were drawn in the same
Europa League group as Azerbaijani side FK Qarabag.

Mkhitaryan was forced to miss a previous European trip to the country
while at Borussia Dortmund in 2015, because of 'safety concerns'
relating to a conflict between Azerbaijan and his native Armenia.

Arsenal are due to meet Qarabag in Baku on 4 November. The 2018/19
Europa League final is also due to be staged in the city, which could
pose further problems for Arsenal should they qualify.

On Friday, Emery said he had not yet discussed the situation with
Mkhitaryan, but added that he wants to include the 29-year-old in his
squad for the match if possible. Emery has started Mkhitaryan in each
of his three Premier League matches in charge of the club so far.

"Not yet," he replied, when asked if he had met with Mkhitaryan. "But
I would like he stays with us. This problem, if we can together
arrange, I think it is better, but I have not yet spoken with him."

Arsenal later added in a statement: "Safety and security of all our
players and staff is always a top priority. We will be looking into
this situation, talk to the player and make a decision after that."

Uefa meanwhile pledged to support any visa application made on behalf
of the player.

"It is a standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to
associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visas for players
in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa
matches," a spokesperson told The Independent.

The Independent has contacted the Azerbaijan embassy for comment and
is awaiting a response.

There are currently no diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and
Armenia owing to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The region,
along with some neighbouring territory, has been under the control of
Armenian soldiers and local ethnic Armenian forces since a 1994
ceasefire ended a bloody six-year war. There have been occasional
outbreaks of violence since.

Arsenal have also been drawn alongside Sporting Lisbon and Ukrainian
side Vorskla Poltava, in a group that involves almost 10,000 miles of
travel. However Emery - who won the tournament three years in a row
while at Sevilla - has pledged to make the Europa League a priority.

"We want to go far in this competition," Emery said. "Each match is
different and each match involves a lot of travel. For some, the
travel is very long but it's like that.

"The adaptation for these three teams needs to be positive and we need
to face them with ambition and our interest to do well in the
competition."

The Arsenal manager also suggested he would be experimenting with his
line-up when Arsenal's squad return from next week's international
break.

"When you play two matches in a week, you have more time to prepare
for the matches, to prepare the players physically," he said.

"When you play three matches in a week, it's hard. There's less time
to prepare for the match and work physically, but we want it like
that. We want to play three matches in a week with the league and the
cups.

EU and Armenia Seize Momentum to Enhance Partnership and Cooperation

Bedik Zaminian
Modern Diplomacy
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2018/08/27/eu-and-armenia-seize-momentum-to-enhance-partnership-and-cooperation/
Aug 27 2018

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 Angela Amirjanyan 

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On the sidelines of recent NATO summit, the leader of Armenian “Velvet revolution”, current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had separate talks with the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and the president of the European Council Donald Tusk during which the leaders exchanged views on different issues over the further deepening of the Armenia-EU ties. The EU top officials affirmed their commitment to support Armenia’s comprehensive reform agenda. EC president Donald Tusk reaffirmed the EU’s willingness to assist in the future reforms in Armenia, promising a continued support to democracy-building efforts in the country.

“What happened in Armenia was extraordinary and, I must say,very European.The example you set was very promising, and you can expect the European Union’s support in the process of implementing reforms,” Tusk said.

Apparently, branding the “Velvet revolution” in Armenia as European-style movement wasn’t an empty statement rather than a gentle hint about the contribution that EU had in civil society development in Armenia and the investment in the youth through mobility projects in the field of education and training to encourage democratic engagement and civic participation. Undeniably, youth activists and civil society were at the core of the recent revolutionary struggle in Armenia. In this regard, the “Velvet revolution”in Armenia was unique and historic as it involved mainly youth, including schoolchildren and students, who moved to streets to challenge adult society.

After holding the talks with EU leaders, Armenian PM Nikol Pahinyan in his turn voiced sharp criticism of EU for not increasing its financial assistance to Armenia following mass protests that led to change in government which is now committed to zero tolerance approach towards corruption.

“I am surprised that certain officials in the EU haven’t noticed the ongoing changes in Armenia,” he stressed at news conference.

The EU most probably incurred Pashinyan’s reproach for providing financial aid to previous leadership, which haven’t made much progress towards democracy and economic growth, and which often vowed zero tolerance for corruption, but  its anti-corruption rhetoric was more likely an aspiration for the future rather than a practical political agenda.

Indeed, it would be unwise to dispute the veracity of the statements expressed by the EU leaders and Armenian PM, given the EU’s profound impact on Armenia’s democratization, rule of law and good governance, and Armenia’s need to diversify its foreign policy having channels open with the West,and the need for financial support to modernize itself.

To deepen understanding of the vital role EU plays in the transformation of Armenian society, we should delve into the EU’s financial support schemes Armenia benefits from.

Article 8 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that ‘‘the Union shall develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries, aiming to establish an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union and characterised by close and peaceful relations based on cooperation’’. The EU distributes its development assistance through its external financing instruments.These are the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (ISP), European Instrument for Democracy & Human Rights (EIDHR), the Partnership Instrument (PI) and the three relevant geographic instruments-the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II (IPA), the European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI).

As known, EU cooperates with Armenia in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy and its eastern regional dimension, the Eastern Partnership. The European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) is the key financial instrument established in 2014 to fund the European Neighborhood Policy for the period 2014-2020. It replaces the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) of 2007-2013. The ENI is designed to promote integration by partner countries into the EU market; economic development; good relations and bilateral and multilateral collaboration; institution and capacity building; democracy, the rule of law and human rights; and orderly and legal movement of people across the EU’s external borders.

Support through the ENI is programmed and given in three different ways:

  1. Bilateral programmes covering Union support to one partner country;
  2. Multi-country programmes which address challenges common to all or a number of partner countries, and regional and sub-regional cooperation between two or more partner countries;
  3. Cross-Border Cooperation programmes between Member States and partner countries taking place along their shared part of the external border of the EU (including Russia).

Armenia participates also in regional programmes funded under the ENI (mainly in environment, energy, transport, culture and youth), in the Eastern Partnership Flagship Initiatives, and in initiatives open to all Neighbour countries: Erasmus+, TAIEX, SIGMA, and the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF). The NIF in Armenia targets primarily investment projects in energy and transport infrastructure projects. It does so by pooling EU and Member State funds to leverage loans from European financial institutions and contributors in the ENP partner countries.

In addition to the ENI, Armenia is eligible for financial support under the EU thematic programmes: the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace, Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities, Human Development and Migration & Asylum.

The priorities and indicative allocations for financial assistance to Armenia are set out in the Single Support Framework (SSF). For the programming period 2017-2020 the indicative allocation is EUR 144,000,000 to EUR 176,000,000.

Under the Support Framework the priority sectors selected for support are:

  • Economic development and market opportunities (indicatively 35% of total budget);
  • Strengthening institutions and good governance (indicatively 15% of total budget);
  • Connectivity, energy efficiency, environment and climate change (indicatively 15% of total budget);
  • Mobility and people-to-people contacts (indicatively 15% of total budget);

A key complementary support also will be provided through regional and multi-country programmes for

  • capacity development/institution building and strategic communication
  • ( indicatively 15% of total budget)
  • civil society development (indicatively 5% of total budget).

While analyzing the Programming of the European Neighbourhood Instrument’s Single Support Framework for EU support to Armenia-2017-2020, we see that the main risks to achieving progress vis-à-vis the above-mentioned priority sector objectives are mainly the lack of the promotion and coordination of the relevant policy measures, especially concerning business environment and fair play; government commitment to the reforms in public administration, but especially in the judicial sector, fighting corruption and promoting human rights; governance, in particular   the strategy and prioritization of investments; and political will.

The latter is believed to be sine qua non of any successful anti-corruption policy. Apparently, the new Armenian government has taken a route of intense fight against corruption by making a number of scandalous disclosures, involving high-ranking officials. Other above-mentioned risks can be mitigated through investor-friendly and development-oriented policies to be carried out by the new government. Hence, the future progress towards reform objectives will justify more EU support and investments. New agreement with Armenia, known as the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) initiated by previous authorities, which promises financial assistance and trade opportunities, can become an impetus for further domestic reforms.

So, the new Armenian government should seize the momentum to strengthen the relations with EU to support the democratic aspirations of the Armenians. The EU, in its turn, should make correct use of conditionality and align its approach with Armenia’s strategic objectives.

Medical students claim not giving them title of lieutenant is violation of law (video)

Bedik Zaminian
  • 20:05 | August 22,2018 | Social
  • Հայ

Medical students will apply to the court, if the Ministry of Defense does not make a decision according to the law.

Students have been protesting for two months because they are unable to continue their education in the residency. With the abolition of the deferment in December 2017, they will no longer need to be drafted into the army as ordinary. Students think that the law is violated because they should be drafted as lieutenants.

“It is a duty for us to serve as a lieutenant,” says Vardan Shahinyan and adds that it is also their right because the Defense Ministry has granted that.

The Defense Ministry offers a one-year military internship option where they will be ordinary soldiers, and then a year after, the title of lieutenant will be given to them.

Instead, students advise to finish the residency and go to army as lieutenants.

168: PM Pashinyan highlights strengthening institute of referendum, compares Armenian model of democracy with Athenian democracy

Bedik Zaminian
| 20:09 | August 17 2018
Category
Politics

The Government established in the Republican Square is accountable in front of that square, PM Pashinyan announced about this during the rally dedicated to the first 100 days of his tenure at the Republican Square.

“Roughly 100 days ago your united will triumphed when I was elected Armenia’s PM and I came here and told you that you won and your victory is not that I was elected Prime Minister, but that you decided who will be at that position and thereafter only you are to decide who will be Armenia Prime Minister”, Pashinyan said.

According to him 100 days ago the will of the people won and the international community till now cannot understand what happened in Armenia and how it happened. “No analytic center in the world had predicted that such a popular awakening could happen in the Republic of Armenia. Everybody had the presumption that Armenia has surrendered to disappointment and it is also for this reason that our revolution is exceptional”, Pashinyan said.

According to him, the velvet revolution is exceptional not only in its shape but also content, because some might not noticed that the Prime Minister is not a representative of a parliamentary party, but he is the direct representative of the will of the Armenian people. “This is the reason why we call this a revolution, because a de-facto change of the governance model has happened in Armenia and a governance model, which is called a direct democracy, is established in Armenia”, Pashinyan said, adding that there is no coalition or parliamentary majority in Armenia. “There are people in Armenia, and the highest power belongs directly to the people, and the people carry out the direct governance. This is the logic of the revolution. In fact it means that the revolutionary Republican Square is declared the top body of people’s power. This means that as the Government was established in this square, it will be accountable in front of this square. When making Armenia’s most important political or economic decisions, we must gather in this square and you will authorize or prohibit the Government to take this or that action”, the PM emphasized.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, it’s necessary to strengthen institute of referendum. “The Government and the people must make joint decisions over key issues through referendums – this is the second phase of our revolution. In this context, what happened in this square can have a historical significance I the future, like the establishment of democracy in Old Athens. The Republican Square can become the Agora of the 21st century”, Pashinyan underlined.