STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN AT THE 69TH SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
President.am, September 24, 2014, https://www.president.am/en/
Distinguished President of the General Assembly,
Distinguished Secretary General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President,
We conduct this meeting in a symbolically significant period between the centennial of World War I and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, the two turning points in the history of humanity. The United Nations Organization was established almost seventy years ago at the end of World War II, and its mission was to form new civilizational environment and culture of preventing the repetition of the past tragic pages.
2015 bears particular significance for Armenians all over the world. On April 24 Armenians around the globe will commemorate the most tragic page of the nation’s history – the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. It was an unprecedented crime aimed at eliminating the nation and depriving it of its homeland: a crime that continues to be an unhealed scar for each Armenian. The 1915 Genocide was a crime against civilization and humanity, and its inadequate condemnation paved the way for similar crimes of mass murder in the future.
Addressing the Assembly ahead of that centennial year of the Armenian Genocide from this prominent podium, which I would call the podium of Honor and Responsibility, I declare vociferously:
Thank you Uruguay, France, and Russia!
Thank you Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden!
Thank you Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, and Cyprus!
Thank you Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, and Vatican!
Thank you for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide regardless of the format and language adopted. I thank the U.S.A., European Union, and all those personalities, state bodies, territorial units and organizations in numerous countries, who publicly called things by their proper names. That is indeed extremely important since denial is a phase of the crime of genocide.
General News on Armenia
EU Expects ‘More Clarity’ From Armenia
Azatutyun.am, September 24, 2014, https://www.azatutyun.am/
Armenia has to specify the implications of its upcoming accession to a Russian-led alliance of ex-Soviet states before it can negotiate new major agreements with the European Union, a senior official in Brussels said on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said the Armenian government has yet to detail its “new obligations stemming from membership in the Customs Union” of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The EU needs to see to what extent those obligations can “influence or limit our cooperation in certain areas where there might be issues of legal compatibility,” he said.
“For a broad and new definition or re-definition of our relations we really need to have a complete overview and idea from the Armenian side as to what they can do in the new circumstances created by Armenia’s membership in the Customs Union. This we haven’t received so far,” the official, Peter Stano, told RFE/RL in Brussels.
“We are not putting any deadlines and whenever our [Armenian] partners are ready to give us ideas on how they want to proceed with us we will be ready to respond,” he said.
Poland Sees Closer EU-Armenia Ties
Azatutyun.am, September 17, 2014, https://www.azatutyun.am/
Armenia will be able to deepen its ties with the European Union even after its planned accession to a Russian-dominated alliance of former Soviet republics, a senior Polish official said during a visit to Yerevan on Wednesday.
“In any case we are quite sure that we -- Armenia and Europe -- will be closer next year,” Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tomasz Orlowski told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in an interview.
Orlowski said in that regard that Brussels and Yerevan will likely identify “common goals” at the next EU summit on the Eastern Partnership program that will take place in Latvia’s capital Riga in 2015.
The program offers six ex-Soviet states, including Armenia, the prospect of much closer partnership with the EU, notably through wide-ranging “association agreements,” conditional on economic and political reforms.
Armenia and Georgia to expand military cooperation
News.am, September 25, 2014, https://news.am/eng/news/
Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, who is in Armenia on a working visit, was received by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan on Thursday.
They discussed military and military-technical cooperation, and regional security issues.
The interlocutors also conferred on the opportunities for increasing the level of cooperation between the MODs of Armenia and Georgia, and the prospects for their collaboration within multilateral frameworks, informed the Armenia MOD press service.
South Caucasus possible route for Iranian gas supply to Europe
Tert.am, September 25, 2014, https://www.tert.am/en/news/
South Caucasus appears to be the most convenient route for exporting the Iranian natural gas to Europe, says the coordinator of the Pre-parliament group.
Garegin Chugaszyan made the statement in comments to Tert.am, as he addressed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s recent statement that the country can be a reliable source of energy supply for Europe. The activist noted that the Islamic Republic had made similar statement repeatedly before.
“Iran’s energy minister announced several years ago that there are three routes for exporting the natural gas to Europe. One of the routes passes across Arab countries; the second goes via Turkey and the third – via Armenia,” he said, considering the former scenario unrealistic in light of the ISIS operations in Middle East.
“Turkey is Iran’s regional rival, so the Turkish route would make it dependent on the country. The second most convenient route is actually the one passing across the South Caucasus, Armenia and Georgia,” he explained.
Karen Petrosyan, Armenian Church explosion: PACE delegation agenda is full
Armenpress.am, September 25, 2014, https://armenpress.am/eng/news/
At the forthcoming session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe the Armenian delegation will raise the issues of the cruel murder of the Armenian citizen Karen Petrosyan, taken hostage in Azerbaijan, the explosion of the Armenian church in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor, devoted to the victims of the Armenian Genocide by the terrorists of the Islamic State, the subversive attacks by Azerbaijan in the Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact in July-August and other important issues as well.
The member of the PACE Armenian delegation, the Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party faction at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Naira Zohrabyan told Armenpress that the Azerbaijani delegation will try to put forward some anti-Armenian initiatives, to which the Armenian side should give a corresponding response and neutralize them, taking into account the wide lobby possibilities of Azerbaijan. “At present Azerbaijan chairs at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan is expected to deliver a speech at the forthcoming session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Our delegation is going to discuss how to work at the session and what approach to adopt”, - said Naira Zohrabyan.
Former Syunik governor Suren Khachatryan reappointed to office
Panorama.am, September 25, 2014, https://www.panorama.am/en/
Suren Khachatryan, ex-governor of Syunik province of Armenia, was reappointed to his post. The decision was made at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Khachatryan resigned in 2013 following a scandalous murder outside his house.
The position of Syunik governor became vacant after Vahe Hakobyan resigned from office recently, to be appointed head of State Water Resources Management Committee.
Armenian vendors protest tax circulation law (photo, videos)
Tert.am, September 25, 2014, https://www.tert.am/en/news/
Vendors of Yerevan trade fairs on Thursday demonstrated outside the Government while the executive was conducting its regular weekly meeting.
The crowd of over 100 protesters demanded recalling the circulation tax law which is entering into effect starting from October.
Speaking to reporters at the protest site, one of the demonstrators, Gagik Alaverdyan, said he is under the impression that the law was written with a special purpose of closing down small- and medium-sized businesses in Armenia.
Stepan Aslanyan, the president of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship (SME) Development Center, said he is afraid that the controversial measure will eventually reduce the number of SMEs to the rare species registered in the Red Book.
“There are sectors whom this law really offers advantages, but the major part of the SMEs, which depend on big businesses, cannot survive in such conditions. We urge for recalling the law and discussing the existing problems again,” he told reporters.
ArmTech Congress to start on September 26
Panorama.am, September 25, 2014, https://www.panorama.am/en/
Tomorrow, on September 26, the 7th Global Armenian High Tech Conference ArmTech Congress’14 kicks off in New York. The Congress is organized by the Armenian Government, the World Bank and the Enterprise Incubator Foundation and sponsored by Cronimet, D-Link and Fund for Armenian Relief. Congress partners include Mentor Graphics and PicsArt and it is supported by Armenian Development Agency, Armenia Fund USA, ViaSphere Technopark, Agnian, Digital Pomegranate and Fainberg.
Speakers include high level officials, heads of multinational corporations and largest technological and engineering companies, representatives of academia and others, among them Thomas Huang, Vice President of D-Link Corporation, Raffi Krikorian, Vice President of Twitter, Shadi Ashnai, Manager of Image Processing, Wolfram Research, Inc., Hovhannes Avoyan, Co-Founder of PicsArt, Chi-Foon Chan, co-CEO and President, Synopsys Inc.
Armenian Cellist among BBC Radio 3’s “New Generation Artists”
Civilnet.am, September 24, 2014, https://civilnet.am/narek-
On September 10, BBC Radio 3 announced its “New Generation Artists” of 2014-2016. BBC Radio believes that these six new artists from around the world will be stars of classical music in the future. Among the six new prodigies was young cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan.
Narek Hakhnazaryan was born in Yerevan on 1988. His early studies were at the Sayat Nova School of Music before moving on to the Moscow Conservatory under Alexey Selexynov and the late Rostropovich. He also studied at the New England Conservatory of Music where he received an Artist Diploma and had the honour of performing at Carnegie Hall after winning the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
The Radio 3 “New Generation Artists” scheme was founded in 1991 to help young talents reach the next stage in their careers. The scheme gives young musicians the opportunity to develop their skills in live and recorded performances, including broadcasts with the BBC orchestras, concerts around the UK, as well as collaboration with other musicians.
General News on Karabakh
Azeri democracy: "historic truth" at a bargain
Panarmenian.net, September 24, 2014, https://www.panarmenian.net/
Several days ago, Alberta Azerbaijani Cultural Society planted a tree in a park of Calgary, Canada, with a plaque at the bottom of it commemorating the victims of so-called “Khojaly Tragedy.” Also, a bench, carrying an identical plaque, was installed in the park.
However, according to Armenian media, the Calgary municipal authorities disallowed the anti-Armenian accusatory inscription from appearing on the plaques, with the latters simply reading “Khojaly Tragedy.”
As might be expected, the move drew fervent response among the country’s media, which hurried to dub it a victory of Azeri diplomacy.
In reality, though, the bench and the tree fall short of signaling the triumph of Azeri diplomacy – it’s much simpler: the items are a part of social program made available for private persons as well as organizations for $3500 and $500-$800 respectively. Thus, “the victory of Azeri democracy” came at a ballpark price of $4000.
Azeri propaganda continues misleading the international community and its own people by falsifying the essence and the history of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict: Baku’s sparing no money in spreading propagandist literature, releasing fake documents and photos to impose its version of the Khojalu events.
It’s public knowledge that Azeri ex-president Ayaz Mutalibov accused his political opponents with murders in Khojalu. In an interview, he stated, “Why would Armenians need to open fire after leaving a humanitarian corridor for people to escape - especially on the territory of Aghdam, where help was easily accessible. As Khojaly survivors assert, the move was orchestrated to prompt my resignation, by forces aiming to discredit the president.”
Artsakh’s Democracy Can Be Example for Azerbaijan, Says French Senator
Asbarez.com, September 24, 2014, https://asbarez.com/127259/artsakh%E2%80%99s-democracy-can-be-example-for-azerbaijan-says-french-senator/
The Republic of Artsakh, which has taken the path of democracy, could serve as a good example to Azerbaijan, Chairman of the France-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group and member of the French Senate Philippe Kaltenbach said at the Artsakh National Assembly on Wednesday.
Senator Kaltenbach, who is paying his second visit to Artsakh, says he has noticed progress in the democratic processes in the course of twelve years.
The Senator considers that the conflict with Azerbaijan should be solved exceptionally in a peaceful way and hopes that the forthcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in October will be productive.
The French lawmaker considers that the Azerbaijani President has adopted a harsh stance in the negotiations and persuading Aliyev is not an easy task. He says, however, that the idea should not be abandoned, as peaceful settlement is more important.
Armenia-Turkey
Sarkisian Slams Turkey Over Accords With Armenia
Azatuyun.am, September 25, 2014 https://www.azatutyun.am/
President Serzh Sarkisian appeared to have renewed on Wednesday his threats to annul the 2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements if Turkey continues to link their parliamentary ratification with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, Sarkisian also criticized the Turkish government for refusing to recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. He said Ankara is sending “ambiguous and ulterior messages in which the victim and the slaughterer are equated and the history falsified.”
“Armenia has never conditioned the normalization of the bilateral relations with Turkey by the recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” said Sarkisian. “In fact, Armenia was the party that initiated such a process which culminated in the signing of the Zurich Protocols in 2009.”
“Ankara declares publicly that it will ratify those protocols only if the Armenians cede Nagorno-Karabakh, the free Artsakh, to Azerbaijan. In Armenia and Artsakh ordinary people often react to such preconditions very simply, ‘To hell with you ratification,’” he said.
News from International Sources
One of the history’s dark, unfinished chapters: the First World War and the Armenian Genocide – Serzh Sargsyan
International New York Times, September 24, 2014 (Tert.am referring to the publication in the International New York Times) )https://www.tert.am/en/news/
Just hours before Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's speech at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, the International New York Times newspaper published an article by Armenia’s leader.
Below is Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s article:
This year marks the centennial of the outbreak of the First World War, a human catastrophe unprecedented in scope and savagery claiming some 14 million lives — 5 million civilians and 9 million soldiers, plus millions of wounded, prisoners of war, and displaced people forced to leave their ancestral homelands. One such group, the Armenians, were nearly wiped off the face of the earth.
Next year the Armenian people will commemorate the centennial of the events that marked the culminations of the mass deportation and killing of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. The year 1915 was the genocidal culmination of an Ottoman policy of ethnic cleansing and massacres of Armenians begun in the late 19th century and it was officially recognized as such at the time. On 24 May, 1915 the governments of Great Britain, France and Russia issued a joint statement announcing that “for about a month the Kurd and Turkish population of Armenia has been massacring Armenians with the connivance and often assistance of Ottoman authorities.” This was the first international document acknowledging these events as “ crimes of Turkey against humanity and civilization”.
The scale and scope of atrocities committed by the Young Turk government made it an unprecedented historical tragedy, aimed at the total annihilation of a whole nation and claiming one and a half million Armenian lives. It nearly succeeded in its objective. In his 1929 book, “The World Crisis”, Winston Churchill would write that, “history will search in vain for the word Armenia”.
Arrested Azerbaijani Rights Defender Reportedly Beaten In Custody
RFE/RL, September 25, 2014, https://www.rferl.org/content/
Lawyers of Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus said on September 24 that their client had been beaten in pretrial detention.
According to the lawyers, a guard in the detention center on September 23 transferred Yunus in an empty cell, pushed her to the floor and dragged her holding her hair.
Azerbaijani Justice Ministry rejected the lawyers' statement, saying that Yunus' rights are being duly respected.
Yunus, who is 57, is a fierce critic of Azerbaijan's poor rights record. She and her husband, Arif Yunus, 59, were arrested in July and August and charged with high treason, spying for Armenia, illegal business activities, documents forgery, and fraud.
Human rights organizations demanded that Azerbaijani authorities immediately release the couple, saying the charges against them are politically motivated.
News from Azerbaijani Sources
Ali Hasanov: Azerbaijan is a country committed to fundamental democratic values, where civil society is developed and all the freedoms are protected
APA.az, September 24, 2014, https://en.apa.az/xeber_ali_
"European Parliament’s resolution and the statement addressed to Azerbaijan by Obama, who was misinformed, are biased and should be regarded as an attempt to put pressure on the independent policy of our state"
APA presents Head of Political and Public Affairs Department at the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov's interview to AzerTAc.
- Mr. Hasanov, various international organizations, government officials and a number of foreign organizations made some critical statements on the state of human rights, freedom of expression and information in Azerbaijan last week. We would like to know your opinion in this regard.
- Azerbaijan is a country committed to fundamental democratic values, where civil society is developed and all the freedoms are protected. Today, hundreds of non-governmental organizations and media outlets are freely operating within the law, facing no restriction in Azerbaijan. People are freely expressing their opinions, the state is providing comprehensive support for the development of civil society institutions and media.
Therefore, such statements and documents made on the basis of information ordered by three-five persons without taking into account general opinion of the Azerbaijani society, NGOs and hundreds of media outlets about the state of human rights and freedoms are biased, groundless and subjective in nature.