Category: 2017

Agence France Presse
 Friday 4:27 AM GMT


This Christmas, Raqa's churches demined but deserted

Raqa, Syria, Dec 22 2017

Two historic churches in Syria's Raqa will be declared free of
explosives just in time for Christmas, but the devastation in the city
has left no one to celebrate in them.

As its three-year reign over Raqa came to an end in October, the
Islamic State group planted bobby traps all across the city, including
in the two main cathedrals.

Deminers are now giving the houses of worship one last sweep to make
them safe, but they remain in a terrible state and church officials
say will not hold traditional Christmas services this year.

The Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs in Raqa's city centre is
barely recognisable, the cross atop its clock tower destroyed by
jihadists years ago.

After IS took over Raqa in 2014, it used the church as a prison,
digging an underground tunnel to travel undetected beneath an adjacent
park.

Now, a six-person team from the Roj Mine Control Organisation -- a
non-governmental organisation working in Kurdish-held areas -- use
handheld detectors to track down the last of the mines in the church.

"With the holidays coming up, our aim is for our Christian brothers to
come back to practice their traditions," said technician Abdulhamid
Ayo, 33.

He and his colleagues were dressed in khaki uniforms, a red band on
their arm emblazoned with a skull.

"There are thousands of mines in the city. We've been able to clear
half of Raqa and have removed 1,300 mines so far," Ayo said.

- 'Nothing but ruins' -

A US-backed offensive ousted IS from Raqa in October but the city has
been left ravaged by fighting, and only a small percentage of its
pre-war population has returned as the year draws to a close.

"There's absolutely nothing planned in Raqa," said Boutros Mariati of
the Armenian Catholic diocese in Aleppo, which oversees the Church of
the Martyrs.

"The church is in ruins. Christians are going to visit, but there is
no one living there."

Messages scrawled on walls around the city warn of "Danger! Mines!",
and hidden explosives claim the lives of civilians nearly every day.

Behind Martyrs' Church, 65-year-old Nayef al-Madfaa, a Muslim, is one
of the few people to have returned -- taking the risk to check on his
property.

"They destroyed the church, and we no longer find happiness in
anything," said Madfaa.

"There never used to be a difference in Raqa between Muslims and
Christians. We lived all together, happy."

Gesturing to the deserted homes of his Christian neighbours, he sighed.

"All the Christians fled Raqa."

Thousands of Armenians and Syriac Christians once lived in Raqa,
making up around one percent of the city's predominantly Sunni Arab
population.

"They used to put the Christmas tree on this corner here, and all the
kids would enter the church with their parents," Madfaa recalled,
saying his grandchildren would get gifts from the church on Christmas.

"There was joy everywhere -- but we were all kicked out. Everyone was
displaced," he added.

"When I look out and see nothing but ruins and destruction, I get sad."

When IS seized Raqa in 2014, Christians and other minorities fled,
fearing the choice between converting to Islam, paying a tax called
jizya, or being put to death.

- 'No more Christians' -

After finishing work at the Church of the Martyrs, the demining team
began sweeping the famed Greek Catholic Church of the Annunciation in
the Thakana district.

An empty alcove on the side of the church that once housed a statue of
the Virgin Mary is now marked with Islamist graffiti reading "God is
Great, Glory to God."

In 2013, jihadists entered the church and torched the interior,
daubing their extremist slogans over the now partially-destroyed
walls.

"Daesh (IS) made this church a weapons warehouse during the clashes.
It burned all the books and Bibles that were inside," said Mahmoud
al-Jumaa, 23.

The Thakana resident riding by on his motorcycle with a friend stopped
to look at the damaged church.

"When the clashes got intense, they blew it up and yelled, 'God is
greater than all the infidels, and we will blow up this church so that
(US President Donald) Trump cannot pray in it,'" Jumaa said.

He, too, has pleasant memories of living alongside Raqa's Christians.

"We were the church's neighbours and used to celebrate with our
Christian brothers during their holidays, and they did the same for
us," he told AFP.

"But now, there are no more Christians. They all left, and with them
the celebrations and beautiful Christmas holidays."

Agriculture Monitor Worldwide
 Friday


Armenia's Farmers to be Provided Insurance



The Armenian government announced on Tuesday plans to start gradually
introducing next year a national system of agricultural insurance
increasingly seen as a vital necessity for struggling farmers across
the country.

Thousands of low-income villagers lose their crops each year due to
hailstorms, droughts and other natural disasters. They receive little
compensation from the cash-strapped government.

According to Deputy Agriculture Minister Armen Harutiunyan, the
government will launch at the end of 2018 a pilot project that will
insure some farmers growing fruits, vegetables or cereals against one
or two types of risks. The government will subsidize insurance
premiums with a special 10 million-euro ($11.8 million) fund set up
for that purpose, he said.

Germanys state-owned development bank KfW will contribute half of that
money through a grant allocated to the Armenian Finance Ministry. The
two sides signed a relevant agreement in Yerevan on Monday at a
ceremony attended by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.

During the first year the [agricultural insurance] bureau will select
the main risks and the main crops for the pilot project, Harutiunyan
told a news conference. In the first phase there will be [insurance
coverage for] maybe one or two risks and several crops: vegetables or
cereals. We will test the system within that framework and see which
model works best.

Harutiunyan said that the government is inclined to prioritize
hailstorms as the number one natural risk. He also announced that the
Central Bank of Armenia, which is also involved in the effort, is
already working with private insurance firms. The latter are
interested in the scheme despite the high risks involved, added the
official.

Harutiunyan could not say which rural areas will be first covered by
the agricultural insurance program and whether it will be mandatory or
optional for local farmers. The insurance bureau will work out these
and other details in the coming months, he explained.

Some farmers cautiously welcomed the government plans while warning
that agricultural insurance will not work if it places a heavy
financial burden on them. They also said that it must not be
mandatory.

It all depends on the amount of premiums, Haykaz Asatryan, a grape
farmer from the southeastern Vayots Dzor province, told RFE/RLs
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Right now villagers finance 90
percent of their agricultural work with loans [extended by commercial
banks.] If they had cash they would already be able to buy insurance.
2017 Global Data Point.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday


Former Armenian Ambassador to Egypt: The Reduction of the Armenian
community in Jerusalem is our main problem

Yerevan December 22

Ani Mshetsyan. "The problem of the reduction of the Armenian community
in Israel, and in particular in Jerusalem, is our main problem." On
December 22, the former Armenian Ambassador to Egypt Ruben Karapetyan
stated at a roundtable organized by the Ramkavar Azatakan Party and
dedicated to the fate of Armenian Jerusalem in the light of the latest
statement by US President Donald Trump.

He noted that it would certainly be right to send delegations both to
Israel and Palestine in order to listen to both sides and understand
the problem, but the Armenian Foreign Ministry was late with these
steps.

"Trump understands that his main ally in the Middle East is Israel,
and he supports it in every way against the background of the Middle
East crisis." concluded Karapetyan, stressing that the most important
thing for the Armenian community in this situation is to preserve its
independence in Israel.

Bishop Nathan, responsible for external affairs of the Holy
Echmiadzin, said that the fate of the Armenian Jerusalem in the light
of recent events is of concern to the church, but not for political
reasons. Anxiety is connected with the fate of the Armenian community
in Jerusalem.

He said that the church is very concerned about the fact that the
number of the Armenian community in Jerusalem is getting smaller and
smaller, in addition, Trump's statement does not say a word about what
will happen to the church communities that are in Jerusalem. "I am
very worried by the fact that Jerusalem can eventually become a closed
city like Bethlehem, which is walled and does not get there without
passport control, which complicates the lives of its residents. Almost
all the Armenians of Bethlehem have already moved, and I'm afraid ,
that the same fate will befall the Armenians of Jerusalem," the bishop
stressed.

He also noted that the church, in fact, is worried about the unknown.
"What will happen if the Israeli authorities do not recognize the
status quo of the church communities, what will happen to the
community itself and the lands, schools and Armenian families that are
in Jerusalem?".

On December 21, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling
not to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday


Expert: Education is the weakest link in the Armenian economy

Yerevan December 22

David Stepanyan. Education in 2017 continues to be the weakest link in
the Armenian economy. Such an opinion was expressed by the Chairman of
the Union of Employers of Armenia Gagik Makaryan during the
discussions organized by the Armenian Institute for International
Affairs and Security AIISA "Real Armenia 2017 and expected in 2018, An
inertia of the past or the start of changes".

"I also note the quality of public services for which we pay a fairly
high cost in terms of the economic indicators of the republic, in
order to correct the situation we need not to do something, but rather
not to do concrete things. For example, elections like the last ones,
take bribes", he remarked.

According to the economist, everything that is mentioned in the
five-year development program of Armenia should be done, or rather
implemented. At the same time, in general, Makaryan predicts the
coming year as a year of conservatism.

Political analyst Ruben Mehrabyan estimated 2017 as a dramatic year,
noting that Armenia as a result of the Russia-West clash turned out to
be between them. The 2018th political analyst assesses as the year
when many things will be called by their names. In this light, he sees
the need for a correct diagnosis in order to establish the differences
between reality and propaganda.

The former head of the National Security Service of Armenia, analyst
David Shahnazaryan highlighted the year 2017 as the year of increasing
geopolitical value and Armenia's importance for Russia. In this light,
the analyst appreciated the signing by Armenia and the EU of the
Agreement on an expanded and comprehensive partnership as a good
opportunity, providing the Armenian people with a little more
security.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday


 Artsrun Hovhannisyan: Armenia is developing space intelligence

Yerevan December 22

Naira Badalyan. The funds allocated by the Armenian government on the
eve, amounting 300 million AMD will be directed to the development of
space exploration assets. Artsrun Hovhannisyan, press secretary of the
Armenian Defense Ministry, told ArmInfo correspondent.

According to him, all other information is secret and not subject to publicity.

On the eve, the Cabinet of Ministers of Armenia made a decision that
from the reserve fund of the government about 300 million AMD will be
transferred to "Geokosmos". As stated in the certificate of
substantiation to the document, the company Geokosmos was founded on
November 16, 2017 by the decision of the Armenian government. "The
value of the property transferred to the authorized capital of
Geokosmos CJSC is set at 419 000 000 AMD, including 300 087 340 AMD in
cash, and 118 912 660 - property," the document says. The goal is to
provide the conditions for bringing into operation, upgrading and
operating the software and hardware complex of the Geokosmos CJSC.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday


President: Adventurers should realize that attempts to shake the
state's foundations in Armenia are doomed to failure, no issue will be
resolved through violence and weapons

Yerevan December 22

Tatevik Shahunyan. In the activity of the National Security Service of
Armenia, the priority was and remains the preservation of the
constitutional order in the country, said at a solemn meeting
dedicated to the Day of an employee of the national security,
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

"Adventurers should realize that attempts to shake the state's
foundations in Armenia are doomed to failure.In Armenia, no issue will
be resolved through violence and weapons.The monopoly on the
legitimate use of force belongs to the Republic of Armenia.All issues
should be resolved in accordance with the laws and the Constitution" ,
Sargsyan stated, stressing that there is no doubt that the National
Security Service of Armenia is capable of stopping all attempts at
encroachment on the statehood. "The evidence of my words is your
effective actions during the July events in Yerevan (the capture by
the Sasna Tsrer group of the Polka Patrol Police Service)," the head
of state said, advising all those who plan to bypass the Constitution
to achieve the personal ambitions and ambitions of individual groups
,refrain from such plans, because law enforcement agencies of the
republic within the law can easily neutralize these attempts.

Further, the president praised the staff of the National Security
Service for effective struggle against transnational and intra-state
crimes.

He also focused on the effective fight against corruption. According
to him, during the last year, high- profile corruption crimes were
revealed. "This is a good signal both for the society and for
high-ranking officials," the president said, stressing that the fight
against corruption is on serious lines, but more work is needed. "In
your structure I must stress that the fight against such corrosive
phenomena must be more acute and tough, and my expectations in this
area are very large from you. I am sure that you will have enough
experience and skills to effectively combat this evil. It is necessary
to work actively in all state structures, especially in the judicial
and legal system, "the president said.

The head of state drew the attention of the sphere's employees and
reports of international organizations on fighting corruption.
"Armenia should not deviate from its positions in these reports, for
this purpose it is necessary to identify and remove all the
shortcomings," Sargsyan said, stressing that positive dynamics is
needed in the fight against Armenia's corruption. "We did it and do it
not for international structures, but for ourselves, our fellow
citizens are waiting for us, and we can not retreat in this
direction." I will not accept any justifications, "he said.

The President highly appreciated the work of the special services
during all-republican events, including during the elections. At the
same time he reminded that in 2018 three major events are expected in
Armenia, the proper and safe conduct of which is a matter of honor.
"And the lion's share of responsibility for this will fall on your
shoulders: the festivities in honor of the 100th anniversary of the
Republic of Armenia and the May victories, the 2800th anniversary of
Yerevan and the Francophonie summit." My instruction is to prepare
very seriously for these events, "he said. He added that these events
open new horizons for presenting Armenia to the world. Summarizing his
speech, the President stressed that his main goal is to form the best
service of national security not only in the region, but also on the
international arena. To this end, Sargsyan focused on the need to
improve the level of training of NSS officers and the technical
re-equipment of the structure. He also did not ignore the social
problems of the NSS staff.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday


Sharmazanov sent a letter to the head of Paraguayan parliament in
connection with the declaration on "the genocide in Khojaly"

Yerevan December 22

Ani Mshetsyan. On December 22, the Vice Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov sent a letter to Paraguay Pedro Lorenzo
Aliana Rodriguez, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament
of Paraguay, where he expressed his concern over the unilateral
declaration on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue adopted by the legislative
body of this country.

Sharmazanov in the letter, in particular, noted that such documents
distort the reality and reflect the false position of Azerbaijan on
the Karabakh problem, in particular, regarding the events in Khojaly
in 1992.

The Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly stressed: "This is a biased
and anti-Armenian document, which damages the peace process." The
Armenian forces did not and could not have anything to do with the
events in Khojaly. "The ex-president of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov said
on April 2, 1992 in one of his an interview with the Russian media
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta), that the Khojaly tragedy was organized by the
Azerbaijani opposition to overthrow it, and Armenians have nothing to
do with it. "

Eduard Sharmazanov expressed the hope that in the future everything
possible will be done to bring the position of Armenia and the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs to the Paraguayan legislators on the Karabakh
settlement, which will henceforth avoid the adoption of such documents
that distort reality.