Armenian News... A Topalian... Alliance starts 'Revolution'

RFE/RL Report
Armenian Opposition Alliance Starts `Revolution'
Karlen Aslanian
01.12.2015

Hundreds of protesters scuffled with riot police late on Tuesday as
they marched through downtown Yerevan at the start of a nonstop
demonstration organized by an Armenian opposition alliance seeking to
topple President Serzh Sarkisian.

The New Armenian Public Salvation Front, a coalition of hardline
opposition forces, staged the march after rallying supporters in
Liberty Square. Addressing the crowd, its leaders renewed their calls
for Sarkisian to call off Sunday's referendum on his controversial
constitutional changes and step down.

"The revolution has begun," one of them, Zhirayr Sefilian, declared
before chanting "Death to the regime!" from the podium.

Sefilian and Raffi Hovannisian, another opposition leader, claimed
that Sarkisian's resignation is imminent, urging the Armenian police
not to carry out "illegal" government orders. "A new Armenia is born,"
said Hovannisian.

Armenia - Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian speaks at a rally in
Liberty Square, Yerevan, 1Dec2015.

The crowd was stopped and pushed back by riot police when it
approached the headquarters of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK). Police officers at the scene did not allow Hovannisian to lay a
bouquet of flowers at the entrance to the building, sparking angry
reactions from the protesters.

"Our pressure on the regime will be peaceful," Sefilian said there
through a megaphone. "Nobody must doubt that the regime will cave in."

"We won't go back home until we get rid of this regime," the outspoken
opposition added, urging more Armenians to join the "civil
disobedience" campaign.

The protesters again briefly clashed with security forces shortly
afterwards when the latter refused to allow a New Armenia van carrying
sound amplifiers to escort the procession.

The police issued a statement later in the evening condemning the
"provocative actions" of the oppositionists and urging Hovannisian and
Sefilian to "sober up." "The organizers of the gathering will bear
full responsibility for the consequences of such actions," warned a
police statement.

Hovannisian rejected the warning and accused the police of hampering
the protest sanctioned by municipal authorities as he walked with the
protesters back to Liberty Square.

Addressing the remaining protesters in the square shortly before
midnight, Hovannisian announced that New Armenia is beginning an
around-the-clock sit-in there and will hold more rallies on a daily
basis.

The opposition bloc apparently planned to set up a tent camp in the
square but refrained from doing so after failing to secure permission
from the municipal administration.

Hovannisian's Zharangutyun (Heritage) party is also affiliated with
the No Front, a more broad-based opposition coalition also campaigning
against Sarkisian's constitutional reform. Levon Ter-Petrosian's
Armenian National Congress (HAK), the most important No Front member,
has a less radical agenda, primarily seeking a popular vote against
the proposed amendments which it believes would effectively extend
Sarkisian's rule beyond 2018.The HAK has downplayed its "tactical"
differences with New Armenia.

No Front plans to hold its next rally in Liberty Square on
Thursday. Addressing New Armenia supporters on Tuesday, Vladimir
Karapetian, a senior HAK member, said the No Front rally "will only
reinforce this movement."


RFE/RL Report
Armenia Looks To Cash In On Russian Sanctions Against Turkey
Emil Danielyan
01.12.2015

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian urged Armenian food manufacturers on
Tuesday to increase their exports to Russia as he discussed with them
and senior government officials ways of capitalizing on Russian
economic sanctions against Turkey.

The meeting in Yerevan came as the Russian government released a list
of mostly agricultural products which Russia will no longer import
from Turkey from January 1, 2016. The import ban is part of the
sanctions imposed by Moscow in retaliation for the November 24 downing
of a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border.

An Armenian government statement said Abrahamian met with the heads of
several government agencies, leaders of business associations and
export-oriented entrepreneurs to discuss measures to "stimulate"
Armenian exports. In that regard, it said, Deputy Prime Minister Vache
Gabrielian presented "possibilities of increasing exports of Armenians
products" after the Russian ban on Turkish imports.

"The prime minister called on entrepreneurs not to miss opportunities
emerging in the current situation and to increase the volume of
exports to the Russian market," added the statement. It said
Abrahamian also instructed relevant government agencies to come up
with a "clear plan of actions" aimed at facilitating such an increase.

Armenia appears to have already benefited from a Russian ban on food
imports from the United States and Europe which was imposed last year
in retaliation for Western economic sanctions against Russia.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, exports of Armenian fruits
and vegetables soared by almost 70 percent in physical terms in the
first ten months of this year. Almost 84 percent of them went to
Russia. Ministry data shows particularly sharp year-on-year rises in
shipments of apricots, tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage.

The Russian sanctions against Turkey apply to these and other
agricultural products.

Separate data from the National Statistical Service (NSS) shows that
the monetary value of Armenian fruit and vegetable exports was up by
only 9 percent, at $32 million, in January-October. This relatively
modest gain clearly resulted from a sharp depreciation of the Russian
ruble.

The weaker ruble has hit particularly hard Armenian manufacturers of
processed foodstuffs and alcoholic beverages oriented towards the
Russian market. It also explains why overall Armenian exports to
Russia plummeted by almost 30 percent to $179 million in the ten-month
period.


armenianweekly.ca 

UNITED ARMENIAN FUND TO END OPERATIONS
November 30, 2015
In the past 26 years, the UAF has delivered to Armenia and Artsakh a
total of $720 million worth of relief supplies on board 159 airlifts
and 2,260 sea containers

GLENDALE--The Board of Directors of the United Armenian Fund announced
that the non-profit organization will end its operations on November
30, following the recent passing away of its main benefactor, Kirk
Kerkorian, preceded by the shuttering of his Lincy Foundation.

After 26 years of providing humanitarian aid to Armenia and Artsakh,
the five major Armenian-American religious and charitable organizations
that formed the UAF have decided to concentrate their attention and
resources on other projects that they sponsor and fund in Armenia
and the Diaspora.

The leaders of UAF member organizations expressed their gratitude to
Mr. Kerkorian for his generosity, who through his Lincy Foundation,
contributed tens of millions of dollars over the past quarter century
to fund the UAF's operations, including the shipment of hundreds of
millions of dollars of relief supplies to Armenia and Artsakh by air
and sea.

The UAF was formed shortly after the devastating 1988 earthquake in
Armenia to provide much needed humanitarian aid to the destitute
survivors in the earthquake zone. But, after the collapse of the
Soviet Union and the blockade of Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan,
the UAF decided to expand its mission to include the entire population
of Armenia and Artsakh.

Over the years the UAF acquired, shipped and distributed all types
of relief supplies, including medicines and medical equipment,
agricultural equipment, seeds, computers, books, toys, winter clothing
and shoes to hospitals, clinics, schools, orphanages, and hundreds
of charitable organizations throughout

The UAF Board of Directors thanked the many generous donors who
contributed large quantities of vital goods and supplies to the UAF
ever since 1989.

The Board also commended the UAF staff -- President Harut Sassounian
and Administrative Assistant Nouritza Abujamra -- for their dedicated
service to the organization and the needs of the people in Armenia
and Artsakh.

In the past 26 years, the UAF has delivered to Armenia and Artsakh a
total of $720 million worth of relief supplies on board 159 airlifts
and 2,260 sea containers

The UAF is the collective effort of the Armenian General Benevolent
Union, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Relief
Society, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and Prelacy of
the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.


tert.am
ARMENIA REPORTS DECLINE IN TOURISTS' NUMBER
30.11.15

Official statistics for the third quarter of 2015 reveals a 0.2%
decline in incoming tourists' number in comparison with the same
period of 2015.

The findings, published by the National Statistical Service of Armenia,
show that a total of 443,000 foreign guests visited the country in
the reporting period.

As for the departing tourists, their number was 781 714 - 0.4% less
than in July-September 2014.

According to reports by hotel industries, 19.2% of the tourists who
visited Armenia in the reporting period were from the Commonwealth
of Independent States (former Soviet republics); some 28.% were from
EU member states and another 52% - from other countries. 

arka.am 

BRANDY PRODUCTION IN ARMENIA IN TEN MONTHS DECREASED

BY 9% TO 13.426.4 MILLION LITERS
YEREVAN, November 30. Brandy production in Armenia in the
first ten months of 2015 decreased by 9% from the same period of 2014
to 13.426.4 million liters, according to the National Statistical
Service (NSS).

According to statistics, production of wine increased by 2% to
4.451.8 million liters. Production of vodka during the reporting
period decreased by 7.6% to 6.800.4 million liters and production of
whiskey amounted to 704,600 liters.

Production of champagne grew to 319,200 liters from 282,300 liters
from the same time span of 2014. Beer production declined by 13.7%
to 19 059.7 million liters. And production of non-alcoholic beverages
amounted to 65.728.1 million liters, a 2.1% increase from the year
before.-0-


armenianow.com
NO SARGSYAN-ALIYEV IN PARIS: ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI 

PRESIDENTS AVOID MEETING AT UN CLIMATE CHANGE

CONFERENCE
02.12.15
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan did not meet, despite some
expectations, on the sidelines of a UN conference on climate change
in Paris, France. After the incident with the Russian military plane
at the border with Turkey experts notice a sort of "time-out" in the
Karabakh talks.

Some analysts expect a meeting between Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev to be held
after the constitutional referendum in Armenia, which is scheduled
for December 6. This is also what U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group James Warlick hinted on his Twitter account recently.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandian and
Elmar Mammadyarov, have been in Brussels this week to participate in
a ministerial meeting of NATO, and from there they are expected to go
to Belgrade to attend the OSCE Ministerial Council. Neither Baku nor
Yerevan has announced a meeting of the ministers. Political analysts
believe that the "time-out" is connected with the Russian-Turkish
standoff in the wake of the November 24 downing of the Russian Su-24
bomber by Turkish air forces at the Turkish-Syrian border.

In the autumn Russia proposed a plan for the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
said recently. The first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
who currently leads a major opposition party, also wrote in his recent
article that Russia has a plan for a Karabakh conflict settlement.

This plan seems to have been agreed with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and.

Apparently, Russia was going to seek its signing simultaneously with
the signing of the agreement on joint Russian-Armenian air defense
and Azerbaijan's accession to the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union.

However, Russia's conflict with Turkey has apparently scuttled these
agreements and put them off indefinitely. Experts do not conceal that
the Karabakh issue is the subject of Russian-Turkish agreements. It is
no coincidence that Russian politicians and journalists pay attention
to the recent statement by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
that Ankara will help Baku to "liberate" Karabakh. The Russian media
compared that statement as "opening of a new front against Russia"
as if Karabakh were the territory of Russia.

The deterioration of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border is not excluded either. Azerbaijani President Aliyev on
Tuesday paid an unannounced visit to Nakhijevan, an exclave that is
part of Azerbaijan under the Russian-Turkish treaty signed about a
century ago. 100 years ago. Armenian experts believe that Nakhijevan,
which borders on Armenia, Turkey and Iran, could become an arena 

for active developments.

Thus, what threatens the Karabakh conflict settlement as well as
Armenia's security is both possible escalation of the conflict between
Turkey and Russia, and separate agreements between these two powers
on a new "division of the region".


[ a remarkably courageous speech by an Armenian mp in the 

Turkish parliament]

Paylan Confronts Fellow MPs: Unpunished Crimes Lead to 

More Crimes 

By Tsoler Aghjian 

December 1, 2015
Special for the Armenian Weekly 

Garo Paylan, the Armenian parliamentarian of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ 

 Democratic Party (HDP), started his speech in the Turkish Parliament 

 on Nov. 28 by saluting the Grand National Assembly’s president and 

 parliament members with “ Parev Tsez ” (“Hello” in Armenian). He 

offered  his sincere condolences to the families of Tahir Elçi and the 

policeman who were killed in Diyarbakir. Paylan then delivered a powerful 

speech on injustice, the crimes committed by the state, the cover-ups, 

and the lack of press freedom in Turkey. 

Below is the English translation of Paylan’s speech.

***

Tahir Elçi was a dove just like Hrant Dink. Two days before being killed, 

 as Hrant Dink was writing “I am uneasy as a dove, but I know that in this 

 country they do not hurt the doves,” this country’s security intelligence 

 and gendarme intelligence sent Ogün Samast from Trabzon to Istanbul, 

 and helped him commit the murder. Eight years have passed since that

incident and we are still doing our best to release this hidden truth to 

 the public.

A while ago, his Excellency said that he doesn’t accuse the state… 

 The state is already loaded with three layers of dirt; our job is to clean 

 that dirt and not to cover it. Because if we do not, the crimes will 

 accumulate and they will be repeated, just like what happened to 

 Hrant Dink: His murder was left unpunished and this is why another 

 dove (Tahir Elçi) who believed in peace, brotherhood, negotiation, 

 freedom of speech, and democracy was killed.

Two days ago, two reporters, Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, were 

arrested while they were trying to uncover that layer of dust.

When the state is committing a crime, who will dare to speak about it? 

 Generally, there are three organs in a democratic system—of course, 

 if there aren’t any dictatorships—which carry this responsibility. The 

 first one is the parliament, but unfortunately the majority of the members 

 raise their hands without being able to remove that dirt; if the parliament 

 couldn’t do it, then in a democracy the fourth power is given to the press. 

 Forget about the judiciary, I’m not taking it into account… I was in the 

 court when Can Dündar and Erdem Gül were being questioned; we were 

 expecting to see an independent judge, but the judge had already made 

 his decision way before we entered the room.

We have looked at the national and the international norms, including the 

 European human rights laws, the constitution, and the national laws 

concerning their case, because they were arrested in a strange manner 

 that didn’t match any other similar case. What they actually did is that 

they said the state is committing a crime; they said that the state is sending 

 weapons to Syria…

First, it was denied, and then the prime minister said that the state is 

 sending humanitarian aid. Later, the deputy prime minister, Tuğrul 

 Türkeş, swore that no weapon had been sent to the Turkmens, and 

 now they are saying that the weapons were sent to the Turkmens. 

 The president said he gave the order to send the weapons… According 

 to the constitution, the president is undutiful, so who will accuse the 

 president?

And why is it alright to send weapons to the Turkmens? Does this 

 country belong only to a certain race, or is it for all citizens? There 

 are Armenians, Assyrians, Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmens in the very 

 same region, but why are we helping only a single side? Does the 

 National Intelligence organization have the right to send weapons to 

Syria?  Surely NO… So when the state is committing a crime like 

increasing the tensions in Syria, we want the judiciary to reveal it; and 

if it is not doing so,  since it is controlled by the state…then the press 

shall do it. However,  the president is suppressing the reporters and 

obliging them to respect  the limits he has set. 

There is no democracy in a country where the press is not enjoying its 

 freedom. Even if you [the Justice and Development Party, or AKP] 

 have more than 317 members in parliament, even if you declare him 

 as president for this country, it doesn’t mean that you are practicing 

 democracy.

Today’s news says that a secret decision was taken concerning 

Tahir Elçi’s case. If there is secrecy in such decisions then there is 

a crime that is being covered up, as you did with Hrant Dink, and 

with the Ankara and Suruç bombings.

***

An AKP representative argued in defense of the secrecy surrounding 

Elçi’s case by giving the example of what the French authorities did 

during the recent Paris attacks. Paylan’s answer was: “In France, the 

prosecutor revealed the decisions of the investigations on the very 

same day the attack happened; they said it was ISIS. But you, you 

all [pointing at the AKP members] manipulated these crimes by hiding 

the truth. We will not allow you to hide the truth behind Tahir Elçi’s 

death and we will support Can Dündar and Erdem Gül to free the 

press.”