Armenian News - Sent by A Topalian

(Harut Sassounian’s commentary is placed at the end of the news,

But it is reference material for all of us)

Arthur Aleksanyan Olympic Games bronze medalist

22:42, 7 August, 2012

Yerevan, August 7, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Greco-Roman

style 96 kg wrestler Arthur Aleksanyan won bronze medal in

London Olympic Games defeating the Cuban Falcon Estrada in the

decisive tournament.

As“Armenpress” reports Aleksanyan gained a victory in an excellent

way in the two tornaments with the accounts of 2:0 and 1:0.

Our young wrestler had defeated the Turk Chenk Ildem in his first

tournament for the bronze medal.

This is already the second medal of the Armenian wrestlers in London.

74 kg Arsen Julfalakyan has won a silver medal. 75 kg weightlifter

Hripsime Khurshudyan has won a bronze medal.

Aleksanyan was born on October 21, 1991. His personal trainer is his

father Gevorg Aleksanyan.Aleksanyan is the world and European adults

champion

Azerbaijan Involved in Olympics Boxing Scandal

LONDON—Ishanguly Meretnyyazov was expelled after he refereed a match

between Azeri boxer Magomed Abdulhamidov and Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu.

Adbulhamidov was declared the winner of the match, despite being knocked

down six times in one round by his opponent. Meretnyyazov was also criticized

for giving the Azeri boxer too much time to recover. International amateur boxing

rules say that a fight must be stopped after three knock downs in one round.

The incident angered spectators and commentators alike, as well as the

Japanese boxer who immediately appealed the ruling.  The International Boxing

Association (AIBA) overturned the initial outcome in favor of Shimizu and expelled

Meretnyyazov.

On the same day the AIBA also expelled an Azerbaijani technical official, Aghajan

Abiyev for allegedly communicating with his home team, thus breaking his contract

with Olympic officials.

The double expulsion immediately gave way for renewed speculation that the

 boxing officials were on the take.

In 2011 the British Broadcasting Corp. aired a report about secret payments of

millions of dollars from Azerbaijan to the international boxing organization, the

World Series Boxing.

The BBC reported that the WSB chief claimed the money was paid to guarantee

that Azeri boxers would win two gold medals at the London Olympics.

AIBA is the international governing body for boxing, which is recognized by the

International Olympic Committee. World Series Boxing, a franchised league of

professional boxing, is one of the organization’s partners.

The BBC reported that WSB Chief Operating Office, Ivan Khodabakhsh, had

discussed a secret deal to secure funding from Azerbaijan in return for guarantees

that Azeri boxers would win gold medals at the Olympics.

ASALA MEMBERS TO BE COMMEMORATED IN ARMENIA'S CAPITAL

tert.am

06.08.12

On August 7, a group of people will arrive at Yerevan's Yerablur to

commemorate the martyrs of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation

of Armenia (ASALA), Arman Mkhitaryan, Chairman of the Nakhnyats

Hetqerov (In the footsteps of ancestors) NGO, told journalists

on Monday.

"Every year will hold a march in commemoration of ASALA martyrs. This

armed liberation struggle is one of the best pages of our history,

which is hardly known to the public. This organization is not mentioned

in history textbooks," he said.

"Off-the-record I asked different officials for the reasons and

they gave different answers, namely, that it was terrorism. I asked

them what the Nemesis actions were, but never received an answer,"

Mkhitaryan said.

However, Armenia's government has a certain attitude to ASALA.

Evidence thereof is that a number of ASALA members are buried at

Yerablur.

RFE/RL Report

Armenian Airline Abandons New Russian Planes

Sargis Harutyunyan

06.08.2012

Citing safety reasons, Armenia's national airline, Armavia, said on

Monday that it has decided not to add Russian-made Sukhoi SuperJet 100

aircraft to its fleet despite an existing supply contract with their

state-owned manufacturer.

Armavia was due to buy two such passenger jets in accordance with the

agreement with the Russian aviation group Sukhoi signed in Yerevan in

2007. Its top executives strongly defended the $100 million deal at

the time, downplaying the fact that the newly developed SuperJets had

not yet been tested in the air.

Armavia's owner, Mikhail Bagdasarov, is a Russian-Armenian businessman

close to Armenia's government. Sukhoi is managed by another Russian

citizen of Armenian descent, Mikhail Pogosian. The Russian company was

until then better known for its military aircraft widely used by the

air forces of Russia and many other states, including Armenia.

Armavia started using the first SuperJet 100 in April 2011. Earlier

this year, the jet was grounded due to technical reasons before being

sent to Russia for urgent repairs.

An Armavia spokesperson told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am)

that the company will not exploit it anymore. She said the fact that

the SuperJet required repairs after only one year of service testifies

to its inadequate quality and technical characteristics.

Dmitry Atbashian, a former longtime chief of Armenia's civil aviation

authority, approved of the move. `This aircraft does not correspond to

the parameters cited in its advertisements,' Atbashian told RFE/RL's

Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). `As far as I know, its engines are

not good enough and its operational costs are higher than expected.'

Armavia already announced last month that it will not take delivery of

the second Russian plane. It gave no reason for that decision.

The decision was announced two months after another SuperJet crashed

during a promotional flight in Indonesia, killing all 45 people on

board. The plane disappeared from radar screens after the crew asked

air-traffic control for permission to change course.

Sukhoi developed the SupeJet jointly with an Italian company in

2000-2004 as part of Russia's efforts to revive its aerospace industry

hit hard by the collapse of the Soviet Union. The nearly 100-seat

jet's first commercial was carried out by Armavia from Yerevan to

Moscow in April 2011.

ONLY 3% OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN ARMENIA WELL GROOMED

arminfo

Saturday, August 4, 21:05

Only 3% of historical monuments in Armenia are well groomed, Samvel

Karapetyan, Director of Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) Fund,

told media on August 4.

He said that local population absolutely does not care for the

monuments of culture and history. For instance, he said, people light

candles or leave notes on khachkars. He alarmed that contemporary

icons are nailed to the walls with ancient manuscripts in the Holy

Virgin Mary Church (Astvatsatsin) in Bzhni. Karapetyan said that

only the temples in Garni and Zvartnots are well groomed, instead

the nearby area is often used as a dump.

Arshak Zakaryan, the founder of the United Armenian Initiative, in

turn, said that after construction of the road from Khosrov to the

Avits tar Monastery, the number of tourists has significantly grown.

As a result, nearby spring was soiled. The area of the Tatev Monastery

is also full of garbage.

Zakaryan said that it is the local residents and not tourists that show

careless attitude towards monuments. To get out of the situation,

the experts offer increasing fines for throwing garbage in the

wrong places.

SIXTY FAMILIES APPLIED TO DIASPORA MINISTRY - GIRO MANOYAN

news.am

August 06, 2012 | 13:00

YEREVAN.- Both the government and Armenian citizens must create

opportunities for those coming from Syria, Armenian Cause (Hay Dat)

Office Chief Giro Manoyan told reporters.

Commenting on the remark there are no jobs for Syrian Armenians,

Manoyan said the Diaspora Ministry told there are 500 jobs for them.

As to schools, ARF Dashanktsutyun member said the experts are

undergoing trainings to provide education in Western Armenian.

Sixty families have already applied to the Diaspora Ministry and got

necessary assistance.

"One should not think that all Syrian Armenians want to come here,

while we are doing nothing to help," he emphasized.

THE ECONIMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT RESEARCH COMPANY

ESTIMATED REMITTANCES FROM RUSSIA TO ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS

6 August, 2012

YEREVAN

Yerevan, August 6, ARMENPRESS: The remittances in the four

non-exporting oil former Soviet countries are sharply reduced; as

"Armenpress" reports The Econimist Intelligence Unit Research Company

informs this.

Tajikistan, Kirgizstan, Armenia and Georgia mainly rely on the money

sent by the citizens working abroad (especially in Russia). According

to the data of the Russian Central Bank these four countries totally

received 6 billion US dollars last year.

Due to rapid growth in recent years after the fall of 2009, economic

activity in the remittances has grown. The income of the 2011

remittances in Tajikistan amounted to about 42.5%, in Kirgizstan 28%,

in Armenia 11% and in Georgia 7%.

However, the gloomy anticipations of the global economy may mean

that the rapid growth of remittances for these four countries come

to an end.

Commentary

Frequently-Asked Questions On Armenian Demands from Turkey

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

9 August 2012

The approaching Centennial of the Armenian Genocide in 2015 raises

some fundamental questions, particularly on Armenian territorial

demands from Turkey. In the weeks and months ahead, this column will

address these issues by presenting the rationale for these demands and

provide answers to frequently-asked questions.

Question 1: Is it true that all claims arising from the crime of

Genocide become invalid after one hundred years?

Answer: Not true! On November 26, 1968, the UN General Assembly

adopted =80=9CTheConvention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory

Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity,' which includes

the crime of genocide. Article 1 of this Convention states that `No

statutory limitation shall apply to [these crimes] ...irrespective of

the date of their commission.' Therefore, no matter how much time has

elapsed, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including

genocide can still be prosecuted. However, for logistical reasons, it

would be wise to refer such crimes to the courts as quickly as

possible.

Question 2: Isn't it a fantasy to expect that Armenians will ever

regain Western Armenia?

Answer: No one should be under the illusion that Turkish leaders

Would voluntarily hand over to Armenians a single inch of land, let

alone the territories of Western Armenia. Peaceful transfers of land

are extremely rare in the practice of international relations. All too often,

land is taken by force.

Since Armenia is not militarily more powerful than Turkey, and is not

expected to be so anytime soon, Armenians have to wait for unforeseen

developments to occur in and around Turkey, such as civil war, global

or regional conflict, revolution, Kurdish insurrection, natural

disaster or nuclear catastrophe, to bring about a power vacuum and

possible border changes in that part of the world. Meanwhile, Armenians

have to keep alive and transmit their territorial demands to

future generations until the opportune moment when they can claim their

lawful rights.

In the meantime, it is unwise for Armenians to make minimalist demands

from Turkey. Since Turkish leaders are not willing to make even the

smallest territorial concession, there is no point in telling them that

Armenians would be satisfied by the return of only Ararat or Ani. Armenians

should ask for nothing less than Armenia from sea to shining sea' (dsove-dsov

Hayastan)! Rather than minimizing their demands, Armenians should claim

the maximum, so that they can end up getting a portion of what is

rightfully theirs. As all good Armenian businessmen know, you don't

start negotiating from your bottom price!

Question 3: If Western Armenia is freed, wouldn't the overwhelming

majority of the population and elected officials be Kurds and Turks,

making Armenians a small minority in their own homeland?

Answer: Yes, that would be true if Western Armenia was handed to

Armenians today! However, this is not likely to happen. As explained

earlier, before Armenians have the opportunity to regain their historic

lands, calamitous events must first occur in that part of the world. No

one knows the impact of such developments on the local

population. Demographic changes resulting from

unforeseen circumstances in the region shall determine how many Kurds,

Turks or even Armenians remain in the area. One cannot simply assume

that the status quo will remain unchanged forever. Therefore, one

cannot automatically conclude that Armenians would become a minority

in Western Armenia.

Question 4: If someday Western Armenia is liberated, would Armenians be

willing to leave their comfortable homes in the West and resettle on

those inhospitable lands?

Answer: The issue here is the right of Armenians to settle in their

Historic homeland. Once these lands are returned, it is up to each

Armenian to decide whether to relocate. This should not be a Turkish

concern! Do all Jews live in Israel? Since most Lebanese, like

Armenians, live outside of their homeland, do people question the

reason for the existence of Lebanon as a state? Someday, when Western

Armenia is freed, most Armenians who live in nearby

Middle Eastern countries will probably choose to relocate

there. However, there is no problem if every single Armenian from

around the world does not head for the homeland. Those who remain in

the Diaspora will surely play a critical role in strengthening the

newly-established country economically and politically, just as

Armenians worldwide are currently assisting their compatriots in the

Republic of Armenia!