Author: nina hovnanian

ARMENIENS DE SYRIE
Un Arménien tué et ses deux filles blessées suite aux bombardements
dans le quartier > à Alep

Suite aux bombardements intensifs vendredi 30 janvier sur le quartier
> à Alep (Syrie), un Arménien trouva la mort près de
l’hôpital >. Selon le journal arménien paraissant en Syrie,
>, suite aux tirs de roquettes de la part des rebelles,
trois Arméniens furent blessés, dont Kevork Halladjian (50 ans) et ses
deux filles. Ils furent transportés vers un hôpital mais Kévork
Halladjian ne survécut pas à ses blessures. L’état de ses deux filles
est toutefois jugé >. Les bombardements sur ce quartier d’> à Alep où vivent de nombreuses familles arméniennes ont
occasionné des dégts matériels importants.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 1er février 2015,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

Agence France Presse
28 janvier 2015 mercredi 10:18 PM GMT

Génocide arménien: Hollande appelle la Turquie à poursuivre “l’effort de vérité”

Paris 28 jan 2015

Le président François Hollande a appelé mercredi soir la Turquie à
poursuivre son “effort de vérité” à propos du génocide arménien
perpétré un siècle plus tôt, estimant qu'”il est temps de briser les
tabous”.

“L’effort de vérité doit se poursuivre et je suis convaincu que cette
année du centenaire verra de nouveaux gestes, de nouvelles étapes sur
le chemin de la reconnaissance”, a-t-il déclaré lors du dîner annuel
du Conseil de coordination des organisations arméniennes de France,
réuni dans un grand hôtel parisien.

Rappelant que les autorités turques avaient voulu un an plus tôt
“s’associer à la commémoration et aux souffrances vécues par le peuple
arménien”, le chef de l’Etat a cependant estimé qu’il ne s’agissait
que “d’un premier mouvement” qui “ne peut s’arrêter là“.

François Hollande a rappelé qu’il avait déjà “salué ce signe” un an
plus tôt lors d’un déplacement à Erevan mais qu’il avait alors
“souligné qu’il ne pouvait pas être suffisant”.

“Il est temps de briser les tabous et que les deux nations, Arménie et
Turquie, inventent un nouveau départ”, a-t-il dit.

Un an plus tôt, le président turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, alors Premier
ministre, avait fait un geste inattendu, présentant les condoléances
de son pays “aux petits-enfants des Arméniens tués en 1915”. Mais
l’Arménie avait rejeté ces condoléances, réclamant reconnaissance du
génocide et “repentir”.

La Turquie a toujours refusé d’admettre toute élimination planifiée,
évoquant la mort d’environ 500.000 Arméniens alors qu’Erevan chiffre
le nombre des victimes à 1,5 million.

Pour François Hollande aussi, la loi sur la reconnaissance du génocide
arménien votée le 29 janvier 2001 par le Parlement français “n’est pas
une accusation à l’égard des vivants, c’est un devoir à l’égard des
morts et un apaisement à l’égard des descendants” qui rend la négation
du génocide “insupportable car elle est une insulte”.

“La liberté d’expression que nous voulons à tout prix préserver, n’est
pas et ne sera jamais (l’occasion d’)une falsification” et “ne
permettra jamais une apologie” d’un “crime contre l’humanité”, a-t-il
encore déclaré.

François Hollande a confirmé qu’il se rendrait de nouveau à Erevan le
24 avril 2015 pour la commémoration du centenaire du génocide arménien
sous les applaudissements et notamment ceux de Charles Aznavour, icône
de la communauté arménienne, présent aux côtés du maire PS de Paris,
Anne Hidalgo, ou du député UMP Patrick Devedjian.

Il a par ailleurs assuré que la France poursuivrait, sans se
“résigner”, ses efforts en faveur de la résolution du conflit qui
empoisonne depuis 20 ans les relations entre l’Arménie et
l’Azerbaïdjan autour de la région du Nagorny-Karabakh.

Cette enclave en territoire azerbaïdjanais est passée sous l’autorité
de séparatistes arméniens soutenus par Erevan dans les années 1990
après une guerre qui a fait près de 30.000 morts, Bakou souhaitant
toujours en reprendre le contrôle.

S&P outlook for Azerbaijan revised to Negative
Friday, 30 January 2015

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Republic
of Azerbaijan to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed
the ‘BBB-/A-3′ long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on
Azerbaijan. The change is based on the view that the country’s fiscal
and external balances will be hurt by the substantial drop in oil
prices, though government debt levels remain very low.

The outlook revision reflects S&P’s view that Azerbaijan’s government
might draw down its currently substantial fiscal buffers or accumulate
general government debt more rapidly than what we had previously
expected in order to compensate for significantly lower oil prices.
`We affirmed the ratings because Azerbaijan’s strong external and
government balance sheets continue to support the ratings,’ says S&P.

The ratings are constrained by Azerbaijan’s modest economic wealth
levels, generally weak institutional and governance effectiveness, and
limited monetary flexibility. Azerbaijan’s economy and general
government revenues depend on the hydrocarbons sector, which we
estimate contributed about 44% of GDP and 95% of merchandise exports
in 2013-2014. Since our last review, we have significantly lowered our
expectations on oil prices for 2015-2018. `We now forecast that the
oil price will decrease to $55/barrel in 2015 and will modestly
recover to an average $75/barrel in 2016-2018. Deteriorating terms of
trade will depress Azerbaijan’s economic growth and hurt its external
and fiscal balances,’ says S&P.

S&P notes that: `Azerbaijan’s wealth levels are in the midrange for
rated sovereigns, with estimated GDP per capita of about $7,800 in
2014. In 2014, Azerbaijan’s real GDP growth slowed to 2.8%, from 5.8%
in 2013. This was due to decreasing oil production, which was affected
by maintenance works at the key Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field, and
because of decelerating growth in the non-oil sector’.

The ratings agency thinks that this year the economy will grow by only
1.9%, because oil production and exports will continue to shrink, and
the non-oil sector, especially construction, will be affected by lower
public-sector capital investment. We expect nominal GDP, on the other
hand, to contract by over 10% this year due to the sharply lower oil
prices.

Over the long term, economic growth will be supported by gas
production at new gas fields, which should compensate for stagnating
oil production, suggests S&P. `In 2018, the major Shah Deniz II field,
which will bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, is expected to come on
stream. Gas will be transported via the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and
Trans-Adriatic (TAP) pipelines. A consortium of the State Oil Company
of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), international oil and gas
corporations, and the newly created Southern Gas Corridor CJSC are
planning to construct the pipelines over the coming years. In late
2013, the final route of both pipelines was determined, and
construction is set to begin in 2015′.

Essentially, any risks stemming from high economic concentration are
mitigated by the government’s large liquid fiscal assets. `We estimate
that, in 2015, Azerbaijan will be in a net asset position equivalent
to about 51% of GDP. However, beyond 2015, this ratio might decline,
following a deterioration in the country’s government finances’.

The government’s liquid assets are mainly accumulated in the State Oil
Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), a fiscal reserve fund
which is invested externally and are estimated to be worth some 50%
of GDP.

However, S& P thinks that over the next two years, `SOFAZ’s liquid
financial assets will likely gradually decline both in nominal terms
and as a proportion of GDP. The fund will no longer accumulate surplus
oil-related revenues, and will spend a portion of funds to finance the
general government deficit. It will also likely continue to invest in
the construction of gas pipelines.

SDA – Suisse
mercredi 28 janvier 2015 12:40 PM CET

La norme suisse protège la paix publique, pas la vérité historique

Strasbourg

La Suisse a défendu son point de vue mercredi à Strasbourg dans
l’affaire Perinçek. Elle a souligné que la norme antiraciste utilisée
contre le Turc Dogu Perinçek vise à protéger la paix publique et non
pas la vérité historique.

Aux propos de Dogu Perinçek, qui a qualifié en 2005 en Suisse le
génocide arménien de “mensonge international”, il faut ajouter
“l’intention haineuse”, a relevé la délégation helvétique en rappelant
l’arrêt du Tribunal fédéral.

Si la marge de manoeuvre de la Suisse est “étroite” dans l’application
de l’article 261 bis du Code pénal, le cas de Dogu Perinçek est
approprié. Il y avait bien atteinte à la dignité dans les paroles
tenues lors de ses conférences.

“Aucun des propos (de Dogu Perinçek) n’a étayé le débat juridique”, a
plaidé Frank Schürmann, l’agent de la Confédération à la Cour
européenne des droits de l’homme (CEDH). Il a invité à relire certains
passages “pertinents” des déclarations du nationaliste turc. Surtout
quand il a dit: “Le génocide c’est une chose, le massacre de quelques
Arméniens, c’en est une autre”.

Ou lorsque Dogu Perinçek a affirmé que le peuple arménien était “le
véritable agresseur”, a poursuivi Frank Schürmann. Il a souligné la
gravité de l’accusation envers les Arméniens qui falsifieraient
l’histoire avec ce “mensonge” La volonté du nationaliste n’a jamais
été faire avancer la recherche historique, a martelé le responsable
suisse.

Kirkus Reviews (Print)
February 1, 2015, Sunday

ORHAN’S INHERITANCE

FICTION

In Ohanesian’s debut novel, a Turkish man confronts secrets about his
family and his country’s history and is faced with an impossible
choice: Should the past remain in the past, or should all stories,
even the most painful, come to light? When his grandfather dies, Orhan
returns from Istanbul to the small village where he grew up and the
contentious relationship he shares with his father; the tension is
exacerbated when his grandfather’s will reveals that he has left the
family dye business to Orhan and the family house to a strange woman
in an Armenian-American nursing home. While the rest of the nursing
home prepares for an exhibit called “Bearing Witness: An Exhibit About
Memory and Identity,” Seda at first refuses to talk to Orhan about her
connection to his grandfather.

When she finally unburdens herself, giving voice to a harrowing tale
of unimaginable sacrifice, he must decide what to do with this new
information about his family and about the horrors of his country’s
history. In a complex balance, Ohanesian often condemns language as
insufficient to convey these stories of loss and pain, while at the
same time recognizing that telling the story can be cathartic and even
universally necessary. The heart of the novel seems to suggest that
“[t]here is only what is, what happened. The words come much later,
corrupting everything with meaning.” There are deep reflections on
guilt, both collective and individual, and the power of memory to
destroy or to heal. By rejecting the power of the written word but
also, in writing a novel, relying on it to be powerful, Ohanesian
explores both sides of this argument about bearing witness to Turkey’s
terrible legacy. A novel that delves into the darkest corners of human
history and emerges with a tenuous sense of hope.

Publication Date: 2015-04-07
Publisher: Algonquin
Stage: Adult
ISBN: 978-1-61620-374-0
Price: $25.95
Author: Ohanesian, Aline

COURT OF APPEALS REJECTS SHANT HARUTYUNYAN AND FRIENDS’ APPEAL AND LEAVES THE SENTENCE UNCHANGED.

02.02.2015 17:18 epress.am

The Court of Appeals rejected the Tseghakron Party leader Shant
Harutyunyan and his friends’ appeal and left the verdict by the Court
of First Instance in power.

On October 17, 2014, the Kentron and Nork Marash District Universal
Court found Shant Harutyunyan and his friends guilty for acts of
hooliganism during aNovember 5, 2013 protest.

Both Albert Margaryan and Vahe Lazarian were also found guilty for
using violence against a representative of the authorities. 3 of them,
Mkrtich Hovhannisyan, Albert Margaryan, Vahe Lazarian are also accused
of violence toward a representative of the authorities, which foresaw 5
to 10 years imprisonment. Hayk Harutyunyan is accused of hooliganism,
unlawful possession of psychotropic substances without the purpose of
sale. The prosecutor had demanded that defendant Vahe Lazarian be
sentenced to 8.5 years imprisonment, Albert Margaryan with 8 years,
Vardan Vardanyan, Liparit Petrosyan, Avetis Avetisyan with 6.5 years,
Alek Poghosyan and Hayk Harutyunyan with 6 years, Mkrtich Hovhannesyan
5.5 years, Misak Mnatsakanyan, Armen Hovhannisyan and Tigran Petrosyan
with 4 years. Gevork Gevorkyan has motioned that Misak Arakelyan be
fined 50,000 AMD.

The Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan officially sentenced Shant Harutyunyan
to 6 years imprisonment, Albert Margaryan also received 6 years,
Vahe Lazarian 7 years, Liparit Poghosyan 5 years, Vardan Vardanyan
5 years, Hayk Harutyunyan 4 years 6 months, Alek Poghosyan 4 years,
Mkrtich Hovhannisyan 4 years, Armen Hovhannisyan 2 years, Sevak
Mnatsakanyan 1 years 6 months, Tigran Petrosyan 1 year, and Misak
Arakellyan was fined fifty times the minimum salary.

The defendants do not admit their guilt, noting that there
were provocateurs and plainclothes police officers incited the
conflict during the rally. Several local human rights activists and
international organizations consider the men political prisoners.

NINE MONTHS AND COUNTING: DECORATED ARTSAKH WAR VET STILL WAITING FOR MILITARY PENSION

Larisa Paremuzyan

13:15, February 2, 2015

The only chair in the one room home of Ararat Kirakosyan in the Lori
village of Akori is a wheelchair that the Artskah War vet uses.

Mr. Kirakosyan fought in the war from the early days until the
ceasefire. He was ultimately wounded in the right leg and it was
finally amputated in April 2014.

He still hasn’t received a military pension and the family, the father
and four kids, gets by on 45,000 AMD per month (US$94).

The room is cluttered with four old metal beds, a table, and a
wood stove.

After returning home from the war, Mr. Kirakosyan married and had
four children. He worked the land to make a living.

“I had a patch of land that I cultivated, along with a cow, a horse
and a few sheep. It’s all gone now. I had to sell it off to pay off
debts. I recently purchased four sheep. The kids look after them,” Mr.

Kirakosyan told me.

Ararat was the youngest member, at 22, in the first volunteer unit
formed in Akori in late 1988.

“I fought in the battle for Shahoumyan, for the villages of Bouzloukh
and Ghazanch, and at Martakert. I also participated in the defense
of the Noyemberyan village of Voskepar,” he says.

Mr. Kirakosyan was wounded on June 13, 1992 during the fierce battles
ranging near the Shahoumyan village of Bouzloukh.

“Before being wounded, Ararat destroyed an enemy BMP-2 tank. Another
tank tried to outflank us and fire from below. He went down in an
attempt to hit the tank. Ararat was wounded in the wrist and the
blood flowing from his artery wouldn’t stop. I pulled him from the
line of fire,” recounts fellow war vet Rafik Ghazinyan.

Ararat and several other wounded soldiers were then transferred to
the Shahoumyan hospital.

“There were a few fragment wounds to his right leg. He was wounded
elsewhere as well. Ararat was airlifted by helicopter to Yerevan,”
Ghazinyan continues.

“Ararat Kirakosyan is a courageous man. He actively participated in
the “Yeghnik” partisan unit that fought in Artsakh,” says war buddy
Daniel Grigoryan.

Ghazinyan, Grigoryan, and another war buddy, Hrachya Voskanyan,
have been trying to resolve the military pension problem faced by
Kirakosyan who, for evident reasons, cannot pursue the matter himself.

They’ve been at it for the past nine months with no result.It appears
that some relevant documents are missing.

Surprisingly, Kirakosyan was awarded the Artsakh Medal of Bravery
in 2008. The disabled war vet also was issued a permit by Armenia’s
Ministry of Defense to avail himself of all the privileges granted
to those who participated in the war.

“The amputation of Ararat Kirakosyan’s leg was a consequence of
the war. For two years, he was receiving treatment on a walk-in and
in-patient basis,” says Dr. Aghounik Hakobyan, a general practitioner
who heads the Akori health clinic.

NOUVEAU PROGRAMME D’EMISSION D’EURO-OBLIGATIONS

Economie

Le gouvernement armenien a annonce vendredi qu’il prevoit de vendre
plus d’euro-obligations sur les marches internationaux de la dette
cette annee afin de financer son deficit budgetaire et de reduire
les retombees de la recession economique en Russie.

“Un environnement favorable a maintenant emerge sur les marches
financiers internationaux pour l’emission d’obligations en devises
fortes”, pouvait-on lire dans un communique du gouvernement publie a
l’issue d’une reunion hebdomadaire du cabinet a Erevan. Il annoncait
que le produit des Eurobonds seront utilises non seulement pour
couvrir le deficit du budget 2015, mais aussi pour >
les effets externes negatifs sur l’economie armenienne.

Ni les etats, ni les hauts fonctionnaires qui se sont exprimes lors
de la reunion au cabinet du Premier ministre Hovik Abrahamian
n’ont precise le volume de ce qui sera la deuxième emission
d’euro-obligations dans l’histoire de l’Armenie.

Le gouvernement a vendu des obligations libellees en dollars d’une
valeur d’environ 700 millions de dollars en septembre 2013 avec un
rendement relativement eleve d’au moins 6 %. Il a utilise la majeure
partie de cet argent pour rembourser un pret russe de 500 000 000 $
avec dix annees d’avance.

Le budget de l’Etat armenien pour cette annee prevoit un deficit de
120 milliards de drams (252,000,000 $), qui devrait etre equivalent
a moins de 3 % du produit interieur brut.

lundi 2 fevrier 2015, Claire (c)armenews.com

UKRAINE’S AMBASSADOR SAYS ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA ARE ‘SUCCESSFUL

YEREVAN, February 2. / ARKA /. Ukraine’s ambassador to Armenia,
Ivan Kukhta, has praised today his country’s economic relations with
Armenia describing them as ‘successful.’

Speaking to reporters he said the countries did not have high-level
political contacts last year focusing instead of enhancing their
economic relations, however, the bilateral trade fell last year to
$223 million.

He said Ukraine respects Armenia’s decision to join the Russia-led
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and despite the fact that Ukraine
signed an Association Agreement with the European Union, the economic
relations between the two countries continue to develop.

“I met last year with many government officials and businessmen in both
countries and can state that both Ukraine and Armenia are interested
in the development of bilateral economic relations because it benefits
all,” said the ambassador.

According to Kuhkta, despite some problems in bilateral political
relations, caused by Armenia’s vote against a UN resolution on
Ukraine’s territorial integrity, cultural and humanitarian ties were
not affected.

On March 27 Armenia voted against a UN resolution reaffirming Ukraine’s
territorial integrity and calling the referendum in Crimea that led
to its annexation by Moscow illegal. The resolution was approved by
a vote of 100 to 11, with 58 nations abstaining. Among the countries
that also voted against the resolution were Belarus, Venezuela, Sudan,
Syria, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Bolivia.

Ukraine’s government protested by withdrawing its ambassador to
Armenia. The ambassador was sent back to Yerevan after Armenia
recognized the presidential election in Ukraine.

“The president of Armenia was one of the first to recognize the
presidential election in Ukraine congratulating the new president on
his victory,’ said Kuhkta. -0-

APRIL 24 TO BE GOOD TEST TO WORLD’S LEADING COUNTRIES – ARMENIAN EXPERTS

14:47 * 02.02.15

“Interests or values” is the dilemma whose outcome highly depends on
the world leaders’ decision between visiting Yerevan on April 24 to
join the Genocide centennial commemoration events or go to Turkey
to celebrate the anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign, says an
orientalist.

Speaking to Tert.am, Head of the Institute of Oriental Studies Ruben
Safrastyan said he doesn’t expect world countries’ common interests
with Turkey to hold their leaders back from making the moral choice.

“In my opinion, the absolute imperative has to work here,” he said,
considering acceptance of the Turkish president’s invitation immoral.

Safrastyan said he knows that Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s message, sent
to over 100 country leaders, has already received a positive reply
by Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, and the prime ministers
of Australia and New Zealand. But he said he still has positive
expectations. “I am hopeful morality will take the lead anyway,”
noted the expert.

He said he is more than confident that Turkey’s move to reschedule
the Gallipoli Campaign remembrance to April 24 is aimed at derailing
the Genocide condemnation process in every possible way.

“I see an element of panic,” Safrastyan noted. “They are doing
everything possible and impossible to have the reality on the Armenian
Genocide produce a counter effect.”

Safrastyan said he feels that the European Court of Human Rights’
recent ruling over the Perincek case also raised panic in the Turkish
society.

“The expression ‘Armenian Genocide’ is among the top search items
today, so I think the reaction by the world’s leading [news] agencies
and the press will be even more, and it will have its positive impact,”
he added.

Karen Bekaryan, who heads the Yerevan-based NGO European Integration,
also agreed that world leaders’ choice between visiting Yerevan or
Turkey would be a test as to their real preferences.

“It is a good topic: whether values or interests, and it’s no surprise
that many countries have now begun preferring the values to interests,”
he added.

Asked whether he expects the world to share views or focus attention
on the two topics, Bekaryan replied, “It has to turn [attention]
to countries which we were confident would be next to in Yerevan on
April 24. But I do not see any such country,” he added.