Month: September 2013

ARMENIAN POLITICIANS’ VIEWS SPLIT OVER FUTURE PROSECUTOR GENERAL

11:34 18.09.13

The opposition and the ruling circles vary in their opinions on
the former prosecutor general’s work and the plans for appointing a
new successor.

Members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia share President
Serzh Sargsyan’s views, while those in the opposition say they do
not have any positive expectations.

An opposition representative speaking to Tert.am expressed a negative
opinion on Aghvan Hovsepyan’s tenure, condemning him for the presence
of political prisoners in the country.

“He is responsible for the presence of political prisoners in Armenia
as he failed to exercise a proper control over the institutions that
bring charges against innocent people.

“He actually contributed to the persecutions against innocent people
and their long-term imprisonment. So my opinion is strongly negative
in that respect,” said the source.

Meantime, Hovhannes Sahakyan of the ruling Republic faction in
parliament said he has no reason to disagree with the president.

“If Aghvan Hovsepyan has met with the country’s president, and the
president clearly expressed his opinion, we unquestioningly agree
with him and share his opinion,” he told our correspondent.

At a meeting with Hovsepyan on Thursday, the president thanked him
for his long-time service in the system and his efforts towards
strengthening law and order in the country.

Asked what features he expects the new prosecutor general to have,
Sahakyan answered, “Sharing and agreeing to the president’s view, it
is necessary to say that we are in for new challenges, new demands
and reforms. So I believe that the most important things under
the circumstances have to be the high professionalism and the very
principled character.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

ZHOGHOVURD: ARMENIA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY SPENDS OVER ~@5,000 ON LAMINATION DEVICE

11:14 18.09.13

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is said to have spent recently an
equivalent of 5,300 Euros for purchasing just one lamination device.

The paper says it has gained access to the sale-purchase documents
which clearly show that the Ministry acquired the latest model of
the device from the German company Dilleta.

“What the agency led by [FM] Edward Nalbandian actually lacked
for conducting balanced foreign policies, gaining the reputation
of a reliable partner on the international arena and reaching a
pro-Armenian settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict turns out
to be this device. Its absence was thus the cause behind the failures
for so many years,” the paper says, commenting on the deal.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Absence of Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue complicates POW’s return

13:17 18.09.13

A major obstacle in Armenia’s efforts to return Hakob Injighulyan, the
army conscript who was held hostage in Azerbaijan after accidentally
crossing into the country, is the absence of a state dialogue between
the two countries, according to the defense minister.

“We are making great efforts today to return him to Armenia; as to
what situation we’ll face, we’ll see that in the course of time,”
Seyran Ohanyan told a news conference on Wednesday.

The minister reiterated the earlier assurances that the serviceman
will not face a prosecution upon being returned to Armenia. “To date,
we have no idea about pressures he is facing, but we know roughly
what kind of pressures the Azerbaijani side can exert,” he added.

Armenian News – Tert.am

IN EXCHANGE FOR GIVING UP CHEMICAL WEAPONS SYRIAN AUTHORITIES MUST DEMAND NO HELP TO REBELS

September 18, 2013 | 12:45

YEREVAN. – In exchange for giving up chemical weapons Syrian
authorities must demand that the West should not help the armed
opposition groups, expert on Arabic studies Sargis Grigoryan.

Despite the fact that media circulated videos showing armed rebels
who are using chemical weapons wearing masks, no one is any longer
interested who exactly was using it, as official Damascus declared
intention to give up the chemical weapons, the expert said.

Russia has repeatedly spoken about rebels’ involvement in chemical
attacks in Syria, presenting relevant evidence. However, the Western
countries do not take them into account.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

U.S. AMBASSADOR: ARMENIA’S PLANNED ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION WILL HAVE NO FUNDAMENTAL IMPACT ON ITS RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES

by Marianna Lazarian

ARMINFO
Wednesday, September 18, 11:34

Armenia’s planned accession to a Russian-led customs union will
have no fundamental impact on its relations with the United States
and Washington’s security agenda in the region, U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia John Heffern said on Tuesday.

According to Asbarez, in an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am), Heffern was cautious about the implications of
President Serzh Sarkisian’s surprise foreign policy U-turn, echoing
the U.S. State Department’s muted reaction to the development.

“U.S.-Armenian relations are based on our mutual interest in Armenia’s
success,” he said. “We also have other interests in the region: a
peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, [Armenia’s]
normalization and reconciliation with Turkey. Iran is another
interest. I don’t see how this affects any of those regional issues.

The biggest question is the possible impact on the domestic reforms.”

Heffern stressed in that regard that the Armenian government has
assured both the U.S. and the European Union that it will carry on
with promised economic and political reforms after joining the Customs
Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

“Leaders of Armenia have publicly and privately assured us and the EU
that they intend to continue with the reform process,” he said. “We
are going to continue to push and promote and encourage and support
that process in any way we can.

“The path that Armenia chooses as a sovereign country is its choice.

So we are going to continue to do what we’ve been doing.”

The governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have poor human
rights records that have been strongly criticized by Washington.

Armenian civil society activists believe that membership in their
union therefore does not bode well for Armenia’s democratization.

Heffern insisted that the Sarkisian government is implementing “real
reforms in some key sectors” such as state procurements. But he said
more needs to be done to combat corruption, boost the rule of law and
improve the country’s flawed business environment. “There needs to be
a level playing field for international and local investors,” he said.

Heffern welcomed Yerevan’s plans to finalize an Association Agreement
with the EU as recently as on September 2, the day before Sarkisian
effectively thwarted that deal with his unexpected statement on
joining the customs union.

“I have felt and I still believe that … the EU track was a
good magnet to pull Armenia in the direction of democracy and good
governance,” the envoy said on Tuesday. “But Armenia will choose its
own path, and there is nothing in the customs union that is going
to prevent Armenia from taking the necessary internal steps that the
president, the prime minister and everybody have publicly committed
to take in terms of reform in all key sectors.”

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: AGHVAN HOVSEPYAN LEAVES COUNTRY FOLLOWING RESIGNATION

11:05 18/09/2013 ” DAILY PRESS

Former Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan left Armenia
straight after his resignation several days ago. According to Haykakan
Zhamanak, he will be away for a few days only.

Hovsepyan’s relatives say that he has left for a short rest with his
family. Other reports say the former prosecutor is in Moscow.

According to the paper’s sources, he is in condition of waiting for
a possible appointment in some department, with rumors saying that
in the coming days, President Serzh Sargsyan will sign a decree to
appoint him to some post.

Source: Panorama.a

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA TO HAVE CLOSE TIES WITH EU, BUT NOT AT EXPENSE OF TIES WITH RUSSIA

Wednesday,
September
18

During the meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
yesterday, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, while speaking
about Armenia’s relationship with Russia, said exactly what is stated
in the release issued by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry concerning the
results of the meeting. This is said in a release of the Foreign
Ministry’s spokesman Tigran Balayan.

“From the very beginning of the Eastern Partnership initiative, even
prior to it, Armenia said and continues to say that it is prepared
to have as close and wide ties with the European Union as possible
and to be as close to the European Union as it is possible for the
EU, but not to the detriment and not at the expense of its allied
relations with Russia. Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union
should also be viewed in this context,” Tigran Balayan said.

TODAY, 13:04

Aysor.am

GEORGIANS APPROPRIATING MORE ARMENIAN MONUMENTS IN SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHK

Kristine Aghalaryan

00:22, September 18, 2013

Father Hakob Sahakyan, who serves as the Spiritual Director of the
Armenian Apostolic Church in Akhaltskha, has told Hetq that the
Georgian Orthodox Church has appropriated an Armenian church in the
village of Damala as one of its own.

Damala is an Armenian populated village in the region of Aspintza,
Georgia.

Father Hakob adds that the Georgian Church has also appropriated two
Armenian chapels, locally known as the Brother and Sister Chapels,
located in the south-western corner of Akhaltskha.

Brother and Sister Chapels

Local Armenians have contacted Hetq, claiming that Georgian priests
have started to organize pilgrimages to the two chapels where religious
rites are held.

“Up till now, only Armenians visited these chapels, never Georgians. I
don’t know how they are claiming the chapels as their own,” Father
Hakob told Hetq.

The priest says there are many artifacts remaining in the chapels
attesting to their Armenian origins.

Father Hakob says that Armenians always visit the Damala Monastery
to celebrate the holiday of their village.

Photos of the Damala Church and stone sculptures courtesy of S,
Karapetyan’s Javakhk book

In his book dedicated to Armenian architectural monuments in Javakhk,
Samvel Karapetyan writes that the Damala Monastery dates to the
10th and 11th centuries and that the area is dotted with gravestones
typical of the 15th-17th centuries.

Father Hakob has written to the Armenian Ministry of Culture on the
matter, and proposes that a research team be sent to the area.

He has also written to the Georgian government but has received
no response.

Hakob Simonyan, who heads the Armenian Ministry of Culture’s
Historical-Cultural Inheritance Research Center, confesses that they
have no archival evidence as to whether the two chapels are Armenian
or not.

“We have to go to the site and examine the structures to see what
similarities or differences exist between Armenian and Georgian
churches,” noted Simonyan.

NO ARMENIANS INJURED IN BOMBING OF ARMENIAN CATHOLIC PRELACY OF DAMASCUS

13:03 18/09/2013 ” SOCIETY

The Armenian Catholic Prelacy of Damascus became a target of bombing
on September 17, Nazaret Elmajian, a resident of Damascus, told
Armenpress. The building’s third floor as well as the “Luys” and
“Paros” colleges were damaged, he said.

No casualties are reported, he added.

Bombings also occurred in nearby Arab districts, leaving 5 dead. There
are no Armenians among those killed in the bombings.

Source: Panorama.am

AZERBAIJAN PURCHASES ARMS TO TAKE BACK KARABAKH – RUSSIAN ANALYST

September 18, 2013 | 00:15

Azerbaijan is acquiring arms in every way so as to take back
Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian political scientist Alexander Khramchikhin
told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Khramchikhin reflected on the order of eighteen self-propelled
artillery equipment, which Azerbaijan has placed to Russia.

In his words, if the there is the order, the equipment will be
manufactured.

“Azerbaijan is acquiring arms of every type so as to take back
Nagorno-Karabakh. This country does not pursue any other objective,”
Khramchikhin added.

To note, a Russian company has started manufacturing self-propelled
artillery equipment for Azerbaijan.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian