RFE/RL Armenian Report – 07/19/2017

                                        Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Karabakh Leader Reelected
July 19, 2017

 . Hovannes Movsisian


Czech Republic - Karabakh President Bako Sahakian gives an interview
to RFE/RL's Armenian service in Prague, 12Jun2016.

Lawmakers in Nagorno-Karabakh voted on Wednesday to extend the
decade-long rule of its president, Bako Sahakian, by three years, a
move criticized by his political opponents.

Sahakian, 56, was reelected at the end of his second five-year term in
office. He was not allowed to stay in power longer before Karabakh
enacted a new constitution in a referendum held in February.

The new constitution calls for the Armenian-populated region's
transition by 2020 to a fully presidential system of government which
will lead to the abolition of the post of prime minister. The
authorities in Stepanakert say this change will put Karabakh in a
better position to cope with the unresolved conflict with
Azerbaijan. Their opponents maintain, however, Sahakian is simply keen
to cling to power.

Karabakh will be governed by an interim president until
2020. Sahakian's candidacy for that post was backed by 28 of the 33
members of the local parliament representing three political parties
allied to him. His sole challenger, former Stepanakert Mayor Eduard
Aghabekian, got four votes.

Addressing the legislature before the vote, Sahakian said that
Karabakh will need continued "stability" during the three-year
transition period. He also defended his track record, saying that his
administration has strengthened democracy and sped up economic growth
in the last ten years.

By contrast, Aghabekian made a case for a leadership change in
Stepanakert, saying that countries stagnate when they are ruled by the
same person or government for too long. The opposition candidate, who
leads a party called Movement-88, also said that the current
authorities have for years ignored his calls for strengthening the
Karabakh Armenian military in the face of a growing military threat
from Azerbaijan. Accordingly, he criticized their handling of the
April 2016 heavy fighting with Azerbaijani forces.

Sahakian countered that Azerbaijani offensives launched at two
sections of the Karabakh "line of contact" last year failed to achieve
their main objectives. He also said that the Karabakh government is
now addressing "problems" exposed by the four-day hostilities and will
continue to strengthen Karabakh's armed forces.

Incidentally, Sahakian met with Armenia's Defense Minister Vigen
Sargsian in Stepanakert on Monday. His press office said that they
discussed "issues related to army building and cooperation between the
two Armenian states in this sphere."



Yerevan Market Bulldozed To Make Way For Luxury Properties
July 19, 2017

 . Sisak Gabrielian


Armenia -- The Table-top Sale in Firdousi street in downtown Yerevan
in beeing demolished. 19July, 2017

Authorities in Yerevan began demolishing an open-air market on
Wednesday as part of a planned redevelopment of a surrounding old
neighborhood in the city center strongly resisted by local residents
and traders.

The market located just a few hundred meters from Yerevan's central
Republic Square has functioned since the early 1990s. Hundreds of
people have sold cheap clothing and other consumer goods on the narrow
Firdousi Street that cuts through the neighborhood made up of mostly
old houses.

In 2007, the Armenian government allowed a private company to tear
down the entire area and construct expensive office and apartment
buildings there. The ensuing global financial crisis, which hit
Armenia's construction sector particularly hard, put those plans on
hold. And the company called Glendale Hills went bankrupt two years
ago.

Last year, the Yerevan Mayor's Office announced that another private
developer is now interested in the project and began preparations for
the demolitions, sparking street protests from the owners of several
dozen local houses. Market traders also joined the protests, saying
that the municipality is depriving them of their livelihood.

The municipality offered the traders commercial space in other markets
in Yerevan. Most of them rejected that offer, saying that they would
have to pay higher rent and earn less revenue.

Municipality officials and workers sent by the still unknown developer
met with fierce resistance from the traders on Wednesday morning when
they arrived at the Firdousi Street market to start the
demolitions. They overcame the resistance only after bringing in heavy
machinery.

The traders protested angrily as their market stalls and small
warehouses were bulldozed in the following hours. "Thank you for
leaving our children's parents without work," cried one woman.

The Firdousi Street houses have been spared demolition for the time
being. Their owners fear that the authorities are preparing the ground
for forcing them to sell their homes at a fraction of their market
value."They are getting to us step by step," one of them told RFE/RL's
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Some locals also complained that representatives of the construction
company have still not visited them to discuss the amount of
compensations that could be paid to them. The municipality has not
even disclosed the company's name so far.

Later on Wednesday, Armenia's human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan,
asked the municipality to suspend the demolitions until the traders
are relocated to other markets.



Opposition Gunmen's Trial Still In Turmoil
July 19, 2017

 . Naira Bulghadarian


Armenia - A chaotic scene at the trial of arrested radical opposition
members in Yerevan, 28Jun2017.

The trial of the key members of an armed opposition that seized a
police station in Yerevan last year remained effectively paralyzed on
Wednesday by continuing wrangling between the presiding judge and
defense lawyers.

Two of the lawyers, Arayik Papikian and Mushegh Shushanian, were
unable to attend the latest court hearing in the high-profile trial
after refusing to let court bailiffs check the content of their bags
on security grounds. They and their colleagues say that this amounts
to a search not allowed by Armenian law.

The judge, Artur Gabrielian, sanctioned Papikian and Shushanian and
said he will also ask Armenia's Chamber of Advocates to take
disciplinary action against them for what he considers contempt of
court. Three other attorneys walked out of the courtroom in protest,
leading Gabrielian to again cut short the proceedings.

The judge has regularly clashed with these and other lawyers for
similar reasons since the start of the trial in early June. He has
also barred most of the 14 defendants from the courtroom because of
their refusal stand up and thus show respect for the district
court. The lawyers claim that the authorities deliberately provoked
the turmoil to hold the trial in their and their clients' absence.

Papikian and Shushanian are already facing disciplinary proceedings
launched by the Chamber of Advocates at the request of law-enforcement
authorities. They stem, in part, from Shushanian's characterization of
the Armenian police as an "armed gang" ready to execute "any criminal
order."

Adding to the tensions was the alleged beating by police officers of
four of the arrested gunmen following a court hearing on June
28. Armenia's Special Investigative Service (SIS) pledged to
investigate the incident condemned by local and international human
rights group.

The opposition group seized the police base in Yerevan's Erebuni
district in June 2016. It demanded that President Serzh Sarkisian free
its jailed leader Zhirayr Sefilian and step down. The gunmen laid down
their arms following a two-week standoff with Armenian security forces
which left three police officers dead.



Russia Told To Scrap Ban On Armenian Driving Licenses
July 19, 2017

 . Lusine Musayelian


Russia -- A road police officer blocks off the traffic on the Moscow
Ring Automobile Road (MKAD) on the suburbs of Moscow, December 4, 2015

The executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has reportedly
told Russia to reverse its controversial decision to stop recognizing
the validity of driving licenses issued by Armenia, a member of the
Russian-led trade bloc.

A Russian law which took effect on June 1 banned foreign nationals
with driving licenses issued by their home countries from working as
drivers in Russia. The State Duma, the Russian lower house of
parliament, passed last week another law which waived the restriction
for citizens of those countries, including EEU members Kyrgyzstan and
Belarus, where the Russian language has an official legal status.

Armenia is not one of those countries, meaning that a large number of
its migrant workers driving trucks, taxis and other vehicles in Russia
now risk losing their jobs. Some of them are said to have already been
forced to return home.

The Armenian parliament speaker, Ara Babloyan, raised the matter with
his Russian counterpart, Vyacheslav Volodin, when they met in Moscow
on Monday. Volodin responded by suggesting that Armenia adopt Russian
as its second official language in order to circumvent the ban.

Volodin's remark caused outrage in Yerevan, with local opposition
politicians, media commentators and intellectuals accusing Moscow of
meddling in Armenia's internal affairs. Armen Ashotian, a senior
lawmaker who accompanied Babloyan on the trip to the Russian capital,
rushed to assure them that Armenian authorities have no intention to
change a constitutional provision stipulating that Armenia is the
country's sole official language.

The Moscow daily "Kommersant" reported afterwards that the Eurasian
Economic Commission, the EEU's executive body, has urged the Russian
government to ensure that the ban on foreign driving licenses does not
apply to any EEU member state, including Armenia. It quoted the head
of the commission, Oleg Pankratov, as saying that it runs counter to
EEU regulations on a common labor market set up by Russia, Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.



Press Review
July 19, 2017


"Hraparak" reports on controversy sparked by Russian State Duma
speaker Vyacheslav Volodin's calls for Armenia's to give Russian the
status of a second official language in return for Moscow continuing
to recognize Armenian driver licenses. The paper quotes Viktor
Katvalian, director of the Language Institute of Armenian National
Academy of Sciences, as criticizing the suggestion. He says that an
ethnically homogenous country like Armenia does not need a second
official language. It is enough to continue teaching the Russian
language in Armenian schools, says Katvalian. He goes on to denounce
Volodin's proposal as an "inroad on our sovereignty, our language and
our statehood."

"Haykakan Zhamanak" reports, meanwhile, that the executive body of the
Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), has told Moscow to amend
the new Russian law stipulating that driver licenses issued by EEU
member states where Russian is not an official language are no longer
valid in Russia. Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Pankratov,
who also holds a senior position in the Eurasian Economic Commission,
reportedly said that the law runs counter to the EEU's labor
regulations mandatory for Russia and other member states.

According to Lragir.am, Vazgen Manukian, chairman of Armenia's
presidential Public Council, has added his voice to the criticism of
Volodin's statement. "English has spread and become an international
language," Manukian is quoted as saying. "In India, for example, it's
a second official language. But nobody has imposed that. Life has led
to that. It is very ridiculous when one country tries to impose its
language on another with artificial methods, using driver licenses as
an excuse. But although that [statement] was made by a high-ranking
official, it's hard to consider it Russia's official view."

Interviewed by "Hayots Ashkhar," Vazgen Safarian of Armenia's Union of
Domestic Manufacturers, comments on a sharp rise Armenia's imports
from Turkey recorded by the National Statistical Service in the first
five months of this year. "Officially, we have no trade with Turkey
but imports from Turkey are quite large: more than $200 million," says
Safarian. "Why? Because Turkish goods, especially agricultural
products, are cheap." He calls on the Armenian government to impose
additional customs duties on "those imported goods that are also
manufactured in Armenia."

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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