Tuesday 8 December 2015

Armenian News... A Topalian 4.12.15


tert.am
ARMENIA SEEKS TO FILL NICHE OF TURKISH PRODUCTS ON 

RUSSIAN MARKET - GARNIK PETROSYAN
04.12.15


Pursuant to a proposal by Armenia's Minister of Agriculture Sergo
Karapetyan companies exporting fruit and vegetables, processing
milk and agricultural produce have upgraded their export programs in
conformity with the situation developed following Russian economic
sanctions on Turkish products.

Armenia's Ministry of Agriculture has short- and long-term programs
envisaging export of Armenian agricultural produce to Russia. A novelty
is that exporters will order specific products from agricultural
producers.

"In recent days we have held discussions and meetings at the ministry
of agriculture. We discussed the problems and the minister proposed
developing short- and long-term programs," Deputy Minister of
Agriculture Garnik Petrosyan told Tert.am.

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan chaired a meeting on 
November 30, which discussed measures to promote export of domestic 
products.

Representatives of government agencies and businessmen and took part
in the meeting. 


arka.am 
NALBANDIAN: BAKU HAS ILLUSION THAT IT CAN GAIN BY 
NEGOTIATING WITH GUNS
4 December 2015

YEREVAN, December 4. /ARKA/. Baku has an illusion that it can gain
by negotiating with guns, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
said Thursday in Belgrade at the 22nd Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial
Council.

"The blatant defiance to the proposals of the Co-chairs is not the
only path through which Baku tries to undermine the peace process. It
boasts about solving the conflict through the military buildup pumped
by oil revenues and continues provocations on the line of contact
with Nagorno-Karabakh and the borders with Armenia," he said.

"The cease-fire violations by Baku have reached alarming levels. Baku
uses heavy weaponry and deliberately targets civilians, which resulted
in high numbers of casualties. Azerbaijan has an illusion that it
can gain by negotiating with guns."

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated
by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result,
Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions
adjacent to it.

Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million
people fled their homes.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the
military operations.

Тalks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over peaceful
settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia
and France. 


tert.am
TURKEY MUST STAND ALOOF FROM KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS 
- FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON
04.12.15


If Turkey really is really interested in promoting a progress in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement talks, it must stand aloof from
the process, says a spokesperson for Armenia's Foreign Ministry.

"We stick to the belief that if Turkey wishes to contribute to
a solution, it must maximum keep away from the process," Tigran
Balayan told Tert.am, commenting on the statement made by Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier today.

As part of his visit to Azerbaijan, the Turkish official pledged his
country's support to the country in achieving a solution to the land
dispute, reiterating his traditional thesis demanding the Armenians'
withdrawal from the liberated regions. 


epress.am 
SOLDIER SHOT DEAD IN KARABAKH ON HIS DEMOBILIZATION DAY
04.2015 


At around 5 am on December 4 Azerbaijani forces made an attempt to
cross the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh
and Azerbaijan in the southeast (Talish) direction, reports the press
service of the NKR defense ministry.

The opponent, as stated by Karabakh authorities, was forced to retreat,
having suffered "significant losses." As a result of the exchange of
fire between the two military forces, 20-year-old NKR Defense Army
soldier Erik E Grigoryan received a fatal gunshot wound reportedly
shot by the opponent.

Grigoryan was a resident of the Shaki village in Armenia's southern
Syunik province. Shaki village head Vahan Ghazaryan told News.am that
the soldier's family was expecting him home today since Ghazaryan
was to have been demobilized on December 4. 


RFE/RL Report 
Fighting Again Escalates In Karabakh
Ruzanna Gishian
04.12.2015


An Armenian soldier was killed by Azerbaijani forces in
Nagorno-Karabakh early on Friday just hours after the United States,
Russia and France urged the conflicting parties "in the strongest
possible terms" to avoid ceasefire violations.

The Karabakh Defense Army said the 20-year-old soldier, Erik
Grigorian, was shot dead in an overnight Azerbaijani commando attack
on its frontline positions in Karabakh's north. It said Azerbaijani
forces also violated the ceasefire regime by firing 240 mortar shells
and several rockets at various sections of "the line of contact"
around Karabakh.

In a statement, the Armenian-backed army added that its frontline
troops are taking "punitive actions to suppress the aggressive enemy
activity."

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry claimed the opposite, however, saying
that Armenian forces themselves attacked Azerbaijani positions and
suffered "big losses" as a result. It said one of its servicemen, a
warrant officer, was lightly wounded in the firefight.

According to news reports from Baku, two Azerbaijani soldiers were
killed on the Karabakh frontline earlier this week. The Azerbaijani
military confirmed only one of those combat casualties: Fariz
Novruzov. He too was a warrant officer serving on a contractual basis.

Armenian and Azerbaijani commando units mainly consist of contract
soldiers.

Late on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov and a senior French official issued a joint
statement expressing serious concern at this year's "significant
escalation in violence" on the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontlines. "We
appeal to the sides in the strongest possible terms to reduce tensions
and protect lives," they said.

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian condemned the ensuing deadly
incident in Karabakh as "Baku's response" to the mediating powers. He
insisted that Kerry's and Lavrov's appeal was primarily addressed to
the Azerbaijani side.

"Who is threatening to use force and restart war? Armenia? We've never
done that," Nalbandian told reporters in Belgrade. He argued that Baku
also continues to reject the mediators' proposal to set up a mechanism
for international investigations into truce violations in the conflict
zone.

Nalbandian further announced that the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan will meet later this month. But he gave no specific dates
or venues for the meeting which the mediators hope will revive the
Karabakh peace process.


armenpress.am
MINISTRY OF INTERIOR OF TURKEY TO PAY COMPENSATION 
TO HRANT DINK'S FAMILY
4 December, 2015

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Ministry of Interior of Turkey will
pay compensation to previous editor-in-chief of "Agos" periodical
Hrant Dink's family for incomplete service. "Armenpress" reports
"Agos" periodical informs about this.

Ervend Dink and Khosrov Dink had demanded compensation for the
incomplete service rendered by the Ministry of Interior. The Istanbul
10th Administrative Court had made a decision on October 27, 2010,
according to which the Ministry of Interior had to pay compensation
worth 100 thousand Turkish Liras (over 34 thousand USD).

The Ministry of Interior was against the decision and had appealed the
decision of Istanbul 10th Administrative Court, but the application
of the Ministry had been declined. 

[what next?!?!]

RFE/RL Report
Top Azeri Cleric Blames Armenia For Islamist Violence
4.12.2015

Azerbaijan's government-linked Shi'ite Muslim leader has suggested
that Armenia was behind violence in a traditional Shi'ite stronghold
near Baku which left two police officers and five alleged Islamists
dead last week.

Azerbaijani interior troops and other police units raided the village
of Nardaran on Tuesday in a sweeping security operation which they
said is aimed at "protecting citizens' legal rights and freedoms" and
confiscating weapons and explosives from "criminals." The operation
came just days after a deadly clash between police and local
supporters of Taleh Bagirzade, the Iranian-educated leader of a group
called the Movement for Muslim Unity.

Bagirzade, who is highly critical of Azerbaijan's leadership, and at
least 13 other men were arrested during the clash for allegedly
plotting religiously motivated "terrorist acts and mass disturbances."
The November 26 arrests prompted hundreds of angry Nardaran residents
to take to the streets and build barricades.

Some pro-government Azerbaijani politicians and media accused Iran of
fomenting the unrest in one of Azerbaijan's most conservative
communities. But Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, the head of
the Baku-based Caucasus Board of Muslims, pointed the finger at
Armenia when he spoke to journalists on Thursday.

"The roots of the events in Nardaran lie abroad," Pashazade said,
according to the APA news agency. "By that many mean neighboring
states. But neither Turkey nor Iran support disturbances in
Azerbaijan."

Azerbaijan's number enemy, Pashazade went on, is Armenia. "They may
also want to organize disturbances here," he claimed. "The tattoos on
the bodies of arrested individuals are symbols of the Armenians."

The clergyman, who is a staunch backer of Azerbaijan's ruling family,
did not elaborate on the tattoos. The Azerbaijani government has not
echoed his allegations that are certain to be laughed off by Yerevan.

Nardaran has long been seen as a bastion of Iranian-influenced
fundamentalists in Azerbaijan. Many women in the village wear the full
Islamic veil and girls wear the hijab, or head scarf, to school
despite a national ban. Local residents have repeatedly burned U.S.,
Israeli and Armenian flags during anti-Western demonstrations staged
in recent years.


tert.am
Haykakan Zhamanak: Bread production drops to 2% in Armenia
December 2015
Citing recent findings released by the National Statistical Service,
the paper says that the figure is commensurate to the consumption
volumes.

The paper adds that official statistics never before revealed any
changes the production volumes. Noting that the bread and salt
production and consumption volumes are treated as an alternative
method of registering the population dynamics, the paper says that the
Armenian authorities had a political decision to never unveil the real
change in figures in official reports. But the decline in the
population turns out to be so significant that the official statistics
can no longer cover that up, adds the paper. 


Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series
Vera R.C.
Armenian CommunitiesDepartment


The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation is launching a translation series, which aims to make
seminal texts in the humanities and the social sciences available in
Armenian, as well as to make significant Armenian texts accessible in
other languages.

The "Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series" will focus on texts from
the late 19th century to the contemporary period. It will cover four
areas of translations:
 
.        Foreign Languages into Armenian, the focus will be on translating
canonical social science/humanities texts which have not been
translated into Armenian, primarily from European languages. A wide
range of fields will be considered based on their (inter)disciplinary
impact.

.        Armenian into Foreign Languages, the focus will be on translating
texts from current significant debates within the Armenian world, once
again primarily into European languages.

.        Turkish into Armenian, the focus will be on translating a
selection of contemporary Turkish social and political thought,
preferably in the form of edited anthologies.
 
.        Armenian into Turkish, the same approach as above will be employed,
providing translations of major debates within Armenia and the
diaspora.

The translations may be in Eastern or Western Armenian, depending on
the availability of translators. Through this initiative we aim to
make texts available to scholars and students principally in Armenia,
with the aim of facilitating the advancement of intellectual
discourse.

This initiative will also contribute to the modernisation of the
Armenian language, incorporating into it new vocabulary, and increase
the pool of translators into and out of Armenian. We will develop and
disseminate tools and resources, as well as consider supporting
training schemes for translators.

An internationally based committee of experts has been established to
recommend the texts for translation. The committee members are:

.        Shushan Avagyan - Literary translator and lecturer, Translation
Certificate Program, College of Humanities and Social Sciences,
American University of Armenia.

.        Vardan Azatyan - Associate Professor, Yerevan State Academy of Fine
Arts; Lecturer, Institute of Contemporary Art, Yerevan; President, The
Ashot Johanissyan Research Institute in the Humanities, Armenia.

.        Hagop Gulludjian - Lecturer in Armenian Studies, Department of Near
Eastern Languages & Cultures, UCLA, USA.

.        Smbat Hovhannisyan - Lecturer at the Chair of World History,
Department of History, Yerevan State University, Armenia.

.        Armine Ishkanian - Assistant Professor and Programme Director of the
MSc in Social Policy and Development, London School of Economics and
Political Science, UK.

.        Raymond Kévorkian - Directeur émérite de recherche, Institut
Français de Géopolitique, Université Paris VIII, Saint-Denis.

.        Ardashes Margosyan - Formerly of Aras Yayýncýlýk Publishing,
Istanbul.

.        Ara Sanjian - Associate Professor in Armenian and Middle Eastern
History, Director of the Armenian Research Center, University of
Michigan at Dearborn, USA.

The "Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series" will launch a dedicated
webpage that will offer electronic versions of the translations
(wherever possible), translations of new terminologies, discussions of
translational issues, resources and opportunities for translators and
publishers, as well as regular news about the development of the
initiative.

The official launch of the "Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series"
will be in February 2016, at that point we will announce the initial
list of texts to be translated and published. In early 2016, we will
also begin to select a pool of translators and publishers to
collaborate with through a mixed process of tendering and direct
commissioning.

For further information please contact the Armenian Communities
Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation on
carmenias@gulbenkian.pt, +351 21 782 3347.

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