Author: nina hovnanian

Turkey’s parliamentary elections in progress

June 12, 2011 – 17:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turks went to the polls on Sunday June 12 in
parliamentary elections, with the Islamist-rooted Justice and
Development Party (AKP) seeking to win a third straight term in
office.

Pollsters mainly expect the AKP, bolstered by economic stability in
the country, to grab an easy victory with a minor loss of votes
compared to its 47 per cent showing in the 2007 elections.

Among a population of some 73 million, more than 50 million voters
were eligible to cast their ballots on Sunday in almost 200,000
polling stations nationwide, to renew the 550-seat parliament.

The last polling station closes at 1400 GMT and preliminary results
are expected after 1800 GMT, although the authorities generally allow
the media to announce estimated results earlier, AFP reported.

Mkhitaryan can be compared to Arshavin, Berezovsky says

June 12, 2011 – 17:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia and Shakhtar midfielder Henrik Mkhitaryan
can be compared to Russia and Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin,
according to Armenia goalkeeper.

`Henrik can be compared with Arshavin, although they play in different
positions. Maybe, Arshavin is stronger from a certain point of view
but Henrik is a more useful team-mate,’ Roman Berezovsky said in an
interview with St. Petersburg’s branch of Moskovsky Komsomolets
newspaper.

Commenting on how Armenia managed to fix considerable progress
recently, Berezovsky said, `It may sound like boasting, but our team
is like Barcelona. Most of the team members have played together since
childhood and now strive to show beautiful football.’

Karapet Rubinyan pondering over joining Free Democrats party

13:18 – 12.06.11

A veteran member of the Armenian Pan-National Movement party (HHSh),
who recently quit it, has been offered to join a newly-launched
political party Free Democrats and is pondering over the offer.

Speaking to Tert.am, Karapet Rubinyan dismissed rumors that he too
personally was involved in the launching of the Free Democrats party.

`As far as we are informed from the press the party is not formed yet,
it is in the making of it; I had zero participation in it,’ said
Rubinyan. `I was simply offered a membership and am now pondering
whether or not to accept that offer.’

Free Democrats party has been launched by a group of former HHSh party
members, including the party’s former board chairman Khachatur
Kokobelyan.

US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch visited the party office recently. The
visit kicked up media reports saying several former HHSh members are
going to join the new party, including former Foreign Minister Alik
Arzumanyan and former HHSh board chairman Ararat Zurabyan.

`As long as I am informed, the latter too, like me, are pondering over
their membership to the party,’ said Karapet Rubinyan.

Further, he explained that he would join the Free Democrats if he is
convinced they are really a progressive party. While rejection of the
offer would be substantiated by the fact that he recently quit HHSh,
the party Rubinyan has ever belonged to.

`And I feel very good as a politically fully free person. My dilemma
is between around these two poles’

Tert.am

ARMENIE
Un duty free va ouvrir dans le terminal douanier du sud de l’Arménie

Un duty free ouvrira bientôt ses portes dans le terminal douanier du
check-point Meghri, dans le sud de l’Arménie, a déclaré le vice chef
de la Commission des recettes d’Arménie Armen Alaverdyan lors d’une
réunion du gouvernement.

“Le gouvernement d’Arménie a autorisé la commission des recettes de
l’État d’Arménie d’allouer un terrain de 800 m² pour 49 ans sans appel
d’offres pour Alliance Duty free Ltd

“Il est prévu de construire une boutique hors taxes sur ce terrain et
des btiments pour les magasins », a-t-il dit.

La construction des magasins permettra d’augmenter la qualité des
services des passagers à la frontière arméno-iranienne et de
promouvoir le processus d’organisation du commerce sur le territoire
d’Arménie.

dimanche 12 juin 2011,
Sté[email protected]

SERZH SARGSYAN’S PROBLEMS MULTIPLY
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 17:18:26 – 10/06/2011

The process of political dialogue has stopped, this time running into
the wall of uncertainty rather than the wall of misunderstanding. The
uncertainty is about Serzh Sargsyan’s intention to meet the
opposition’s expectations of a response, and about his response in
case he meets the expectation.

Apparently, the response will not be negative, if it is there. In
other words, if Serzh Sargsyan responds, he will hardly refuse the
opposition the way Galust Sahakyan, Karen Karapetyan or the others
did. Serzh Sargsyan will hardly claim the responsibility for refusing.

Either he will not respond at all or he will suggest something else
to the opposition.

Perhaps Serzh Sargsyan is thinking on this suggestion. Either he is
thinking about an alternative to the delegation or he is thinking on
his agenda. On May 31 Levon Ter-Petrosyan announced that their agenda
is the snap elections but the opposition cannot ignore the agenda of
the other party.

Perhaps Serzh Sargsyan is now thinking on the agenda. There is
an opinion that Sargsyan need not think rapidly because the more
he procrastinates, the weaker the opposition will grow. However,
it is difficult to agree to this because Serzh Sargsyan is not in a
better situation. Obviously, he can hardly keep the situation under
his control, or perhaps he does not control the situation any longer.

The foreign debt of Armenia is already half of the country’s GDP
but the country needs more borrowing and would not survive without
it. The results announced in May and June are being late, the hail
destroyed crops, destroying the government’s hope for tiny improvement
of economy and to have prices a little lower.

It means that Serzh Sargsyan has to ask the oligarchs more heartily
or to force them to reduce their profits a little. In both cases
he appears in a difficult situation. Either his dependence on the
oligarchs increases or he has a conflict with the oligarchs.

On the other hand, there is a problem inside the government. Robert
Kocharyan is not going to give up the political scramble for his
destiny and leave it up to Serzh Sargsyan’s and Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s
joint or individual “mercy”. A considerable contingent inside the
government used to feel more comfortable and protected during Robert
Kocharyan’s office, while Serzh Sargsyan has failed to compensate
for the loss of their comfort and has increased pressure.

On the other hand, there is also the external factor. The Western
societies and European organizations voice distinct expectations
for the continuation of the dialogue. In the pre-election period,
the attitude of these states and organizations has an economic and
political importance. Relying on Russia in this case may be risky
because Russia will be occupied with its own government issues. In
addition, both Putin and Medvedev seem likely to compete in convincing
the west of their necessity to the West each.

In this situation, waiting long may simply aggravate the problems for
Serzh Sargsyan, even if it deepens the society’s dissatisfaction with
the opposition.

After all, long waiting will cause dissatisfaction with the process
rather than the opposition. Moreover, it will aggravate allegations
that the entire process was intended to meet the external demands
regarding Karabakh rather than to improve the state of the country.

The establishment and disclosure of this consciousness, this mindset,
this opinion may essentially change the home political picture in
Armenia and cause new configurations to emerge, multiplying Serzh
Sargsyan’s problems. Consequently, dispersing this mindset through
definite results in systemic improvement of life becomes a vital
necessity for Serzh Sargsyan, otherwise the waiting may become fatal
hesitation.

Eventually, Serzh Sargsyan and his team need to step up to refuse
political group and party interests and acknowledge that it is not the
Armenian National Congress but it is the society waiting for him. In
addition, the society is not waiting for dialogue. It is waiting for
fundamental systemic changes or departure.

MP: ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES, ANC READY FOR CONCESSIONS IN KARABAKH ISSUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 10, 2011 – 16:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The authorities as well as opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC) are ready to make concessions in Karabakh
issue, according to ARF Dashnaktsutyun parliamentary group member.

“During the May 31 rally, ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrossian stressed,
“it’s either concessions or a war”, which proves Ter-Petrossian’s
position remained unchanged since 1998, when it wasn’t accepted by
the Armenian community,” Artsvik Minasyan told a news conference
in Yerevan.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) member Artak Zakaryan, in
turn, noted that there are no premises suggesting Armenian authorities
are ready for concessions. As he reminded, RPA, similarly to ARFD,
are parties based on national ideology.

ARTSAKH’S RESERVATIONS CONCERNING MADRID PRINCIPLES REMAIN IN FORCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 10, 2011 – 17:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Speaker of the Nagorno Karabakh National Assembly
Ashot Ghulyan said the republic’s parliament has certain reservations
with respect to the Madrid Principles for the Karabakh conflict
settlement.

He recalled that political forces of the NKR parliament adopted a
statement earlier, presenting the provisions, with which Artsakh does
not agree.

“These offers keep changing, and it is difficult to describe their
current state; but our reservations remain in force,” Ghulyan told
journalists in Yerevan.

GENOCIDE MAY SOUND TOO RADICAL AS A POLITICAL TERM, BUT HISTORICAL FACT SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED – GEORGIAN POLITICIAN

Tert.am
10.06.11

On April 19, just a few days before the Armenian Genocide Remembrance
Day, Free Georgia political movement released a statement on the
Armenian Genocide, expressing support to what it called the final
establishment of historical truth.

Speaking to Tert.am, the leader of the movement, Kakha Kukava,
stresssed the importance of viewing the issue in the humanistic rather
than the political light. Nevrtheless, he expressed willingness to
raise the issue of the Armenian nation’s tragedy in the Georgian
society, though he was concernted that such approach night meet the
incumbent authorities’ unwelcome response.

“What are your expectations of the recent opposition rallies in
Georgia? Do you think opposition forces have chances of a significant
progress (early parliamentery or presidential elections)”?

“I think it’s too early to discuss the possibility of early elections.

A top priority right now is to prevent violence. Tens of our supporters
are still missing, hundreds are detained. The rest are intimidated
every day by different formal or informal units. So for us, a priority
is to prevent this process with international support and to conduct
independent investigation of May 26, 2011. After that could be raised
issue of elections as a solution to current crisis.

“Do you think the recent developments in Georgia can in any way affect
neighboring countries, and if so, how?”

“I don’t think the domestic developments will have any impact
on Armenia or Azerbaijan, as our countries are politically very
detached from each other. But I think the United States support for
Saakashvili’s regime will finally discredit American values in this
region. if former Bush administration had motivation to establish
control over whole post-Soviet area. The incumbent administration
does not have such motivation and I think it will have an impact on
all of us.”

“What is your opinion on the Armenian Government’s plan to open a
General Consulate in Javakhk? What do you think is the reason behind
Sakashvili administration’s failure to approve that idea?”

“I hail the idea; that’s very good. There are certainly problems in
Javakhk, and those problems require modern, European-style political
solutions (including Armenian consulate), as opposed to terror
or separatism. Unfortunately, Saakashvili does not understand the
Georgian majority’s interest in this country, and no wonder he cannot
understand interests of Armenian or any other minority. By the way,
the majority of local Armenians voted for him in January 2008.”

Are the demands of Javakhk Armenians for an internal autonomy
justified, and why?

“Autonomy is a very broad notion. Our party does not support idea of,
and demand for, political autonomy. We express support of: 1) local
self-government of the Samtskhe – Javakheti region, as well as other
regions of Georgia. Governors should be elected, not appointed. 2)
cultural rights, e.g. Georgian government should finance bilingual
education in the regions, media etc. We cooperate with the Armenian
community, but unfortunately that makes Saakashvili (e.g. Rustavi 2
TV) consider our party Russian-inspired. Anyway, I am sure we will
succeed in our efforts to involve the Armenian in Georgia’s public
life without any obstacle.”

“Do you think the statements by the political parties “Free Georgia”
and “Industry will save Georgia” received any response by the Georgian
society?”

“No, because all the government controlled all the media outlets,
preventing such news from beinmade public. Journalists were not event
allowed to attend the session in Tbilisi. But we are going to lobby
this issue to attract the Georgian society’s attention. By the way,
the discussion was attended by diplomats from European countries.”

“Do you think the recognition of the Armenian Genocide conflicts
with the interests of Georgia, given that Turkey is the country’s
key economic partner?”

“Sure. Georgia is a small country, and we do not want to have any
problems with Turkey. So may be the concept of Genocide is too radical
(politically), but the historical fact should not be ignored.

“What do you think of the Georgian Parliament’s recognition of the
Circassians Genocide?”

“The Saakashvili regime became interested in the history of North
Caucasians only after the 2008 Russian-Georgian war. Before that,
Saakashvili never remembered anything about the Circassians or any
other North Caucasian etnic group. What’s even more, despite protests
of the oposition and human rights defenders in 2004-05, he successfully
carried out the displacemnt of Georgia’s Chechen resdidents to Russia,
publicly declaring them “Chechen outlaws”. It’s noteworthy that
this decision had no public or scientific justification, and had
received no support by the opposition or the public at large. It’s
not that easy to interpret such discriminatory approach to what is
termed as genocide, given that the Georgian parliament continuously
rejected similar requests by the Armenian society. Such decision
re-affirmed yet another time Saakashvili’s goal to increase the
tension with Russia. In addition, provocations may serve as a cause or
pretext, for a new series of political escalation between Russia and
Georgia. This calls for comparison with the party’s steps to restore
Georgian exports to Russia.”

GAGIK MINASYAN: BASIC DOCUMENT UNLIKELY TO BE SIGNED IN KAZAN
Lusine Vasilyan

“Radiolur”
10.06.2011 18:36

The parties will hardly sign a basic document during the upcoming
meeting in Kazan, Republican MP Gagik Minasyan told a press conference
today.

However, according to the MP, some provisions of the Deauville
statement make us think about change in the position of the co-chairing
countries. Logic suggests that approaches close to the position of
the Armenian side will prevail in the next statement.

As for the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition, it
should involve all political forces and refer to all internal and
external challenges, Gagik Melikyan said.

WE ARE PEOPLE, NOT ANIMALS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:41:04 – 10/06/2011

Today morning, the employees of Nairit chemical plant of Yerevan,
about 100 people, held a protest in front of the plant. Their action
ignored by the director of the plant Vahan Melkonyan, they walked to
the Office of the President. They have not been paid their salary for
4 months. In addition, they have learned that they are made redundant,
some of them since last year, others since the beginning of June.

Employees note that the employees who get high salaries are kept,
while others are released.

The protesters note they have not been paid even the promised bonus.

They demand from the president to pay their salaries. They say we
are people and not animals. We cannot live and support our families
without being paid for 4 months.

They say they cannot even borrow money because as soon as people
learn they are Nairit plant workers, they refuse to lend them.

Today, the head of Control Service of the president of Armenia
Hovhannes Hovsepyan received the protesters instead of the head of
president staff Karen Karapetyan, who was attending the meeting of
government, and said they will be paid within the upcoming 15 days. He
also promised that the re-operation of the plant will be discussed too.

Last November Nairit employees held protests at the office of the
president. They met with the head of president staff Karen Karapetyan
who called them “strappers”. Later on, Nairit employees were promised
to be paid but the promise was only partially fulfilled.

There are rumors that the government of Armenia is going to give the
plant to the Russians.