Month: September 2013

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS INTO LAW BILL EXEMPTING NON-RESIDENTS FROM PROFIT TAX WHO INVEST IN EUROBONDS

YEREVAN, September 11. / ARKA /. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
signed on Tuesday into law amendments to the law on profit tax.

According to the amendments, the income derived by non-residents from
investing in the Armenian government foreign-currency denominated
bonds, will be exempt from income tax.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Finance of Armenia, Suren Karajan said
this decision is aimed at encouraging investments of non-residents
in the Armenian Eurobonds.

The first issue will be worth $500 million with a ten-year maturity
period. The government also chose Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Bank plc
and JPMorgan Securities plc as the underwriters. -0-

11:17 11.09.2013

NINE EMPLOYEES OF SERVICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATORS ARRESTED

Charges were brought against a number of employees of the Service of
Court Administrators of the Judicial Department of Armenia based on
facts of official authority abuse and property stealing in particularly
large amounts.

The Armenian police said that charges were brought under the RA
Criminal Code’s Articles 179 (fraud), 308 (abuse of official authority)
and 314 (official forgery). The investigation is being conducted by
the Grave Crime Investigation Unit of the Main Investigation Department
of the Armenian Police.

Among the nine officials charged with these crimes are the head of
the Service of Court Administrators Armen Movsisian and the deputy
head of the Service Gagik Khachatrian.

The first deputy head of the Service of Court Administrators Gegham
Grigorian is an accused person in the case. He is wanted by police.

Arrest was chosen as a measure of restraint against him.

COURT AGAIN REFUSES TO SET YOUNG OPPOSITIONIST FREE

Human rights | 11.09.13 | 09:21

Photolure

The Court of Criminal Appeals hearing the case of Tigran Arakelyan
and three other young activists of the opposition Armenian National
Congress (ANC) has again refused to release him from jail till the
end of the trial despite a petition by all non-governing factions
in parliament.

Arakelyan, who has been imprisoned for more than two years now, was
sentenced to six years in jail for hooliganism and using violence
against a police officer. He appealed the verdict and now the case
is being heard at appeals instances.

Arakelyan and his defense attorney describe the conviction and sentence
as an instance of political persecution.

At Tuesday’s court session the counsel for the defense presented a
written document from four out of the six factions in the National
Assembly (Prosperous Armenia, ANC, Dashnaktsutyun and Heritage) in
which they asked the court for Arakelyan to be released “considering
the evaluations given to this case in international documents”. They
also assured the court that while free Arakelyan would not create
obstacles to the investigation.

5 ARMENIAN CHURCHES WITH UNCERTAIN FATE TO BE REPAIRED IN GEORGIA

10:57, 11 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Church ceremonies and Sunday
Liturgies are offered in all the 46 churches of the Georgian Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Church. In a conversation with “Armenpress” the
Director of the Press Service of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church Susanna Khachatryan stated this. “There are also
“disputable” churches (5 in Tbilisi and 1 in Akhaltsikhe) along with
the churches functioning under the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church. They all are Armenian churches, but the Georgian
side admits that, for instance, Norashen has Armenian origin, but
demands some sort of scientific grounds,” the Director of the Press
Service of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Susanna Khachatryan said. In addition she noted that she is hopeful
that the activity of the trilateral committee (the Patriarchate of
Georgia, the Ministry of Culture of Georgia, and the Prelacy of the
Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church) will result in
the positive regulation of the issue.

Also she underscored that within the framework of the visit of the
Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili to Armenia, the Georgian
PM stated that as historical-cultural monuments the “disputable”
churches must be repaired.

Article by Ani Nazaryan

© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am

4 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 3 ARMENIAN CITIZENS, DROWN IN GEORGIA THIS YEAR

Four people, including three Armenian citizens, have drowned in
Georgia this summer. In the last three days alone, there have been
two drowning cases, in which two young men died.

According to the press service of Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency
Situations, the leading causes of drowning are unsupervised swimming,
lack of swimming skills, swimming while intoxicated or after dark,
and disregard for safety regulations and storm warnings.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY: ARMENIANS CELEBRATE BAPTISMS IN SYMBOLIC CHURCH

News from Elsewhere… …as found by BBC Monitoring Armenian pilgrims
travel great distances for the annual service

The first christenings in nearly a century have taken place in a
symbolically important Armenian church in Turkey, it’s been reported

A crowd of more than 1,000 pilgrims gathered at the Church of the
Holy Cross on Aghtamar Island in eastern Turkey’s Lake Van to see
two adults and three children being baptised, the Armenian Weekly
news website reported.

Among those taking part in the first baptisms in the church since 1915
was a woman whose family had been forcibly converted to Islam following
the mass expulsions and killings of Armenians during World War I by
the Ottoman authorities (see the BBC’s Armenia profile timeline).

Highlighting long-standing divisions between the communities, a small
crowd of Turkish protesters were kept away by a substantial police
presence. One pilgrim who had travelled from Australia was in no doubt
where this particular part of Turkish territory lay: “This was a dream
for us. We have all been to Armenia, but not this part of Armenia.”

While there are other Armenian religious buildings in Turkey, the
1,100-year-old church at Aghtamar is of particular historical and
cultural significance. The Turkish government restored the building
as a museum after years of vandalism and disuse, and in 2010 allowed
an annual service to be held which attracts Armenian pilgrims from
around the world.

Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

From: Baghdasarian

HEAD OF ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE VISITS HOMETOWN SILVAN IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY

21:45 11.09.13

The acting head of the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey Aram AteÅ~_yan
has visited his hometown Silvan in the southeastern Diyarbakir province
on Sept. 11, a first since he was delegated the office following the
withdrawal of Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan from his duties in 2008 due
to illness, The Hurriyet Daily News reports.

AteÅ~_yan expressed his joy at being able to make an official visit
to his homeland, but deplored the destruction of Armenian cultural
legacy in the area.

“I have returned happily to Silvan that I had left with sadness when
I was five years old,” AteÅ~_yan said, adding that he frequently
visited the district where his sister is still living.

“Once upon a time, Turks and Armenians lived together in this land.

Steps are being taken now to ensure that we can live all together
once again. We have come to consolidate love and brotherhood,”
AteÅ~_yan said.

AteÅ~_yan stressed the richness of the historic cultural heritage in
the region.

“There were eight Armenian churches in the Silvan region alone, but
most have now been destroyed. The historical monuments should be taken
under protection and the consciousness of protecting history should
be developed. The historical buildings and monuments in Silvan should
be promoted to the whole world,” he said.

Mass at Surp Giragos Church

AteÅ~_yan also paid a visit to the Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakır,
where he conducted a mass attended by Mayor Osman Baydemir and the
famous writer of Armenian origin, Mıgırdıc Margosyan.

The church was restored on Baydemir’s initiative and reopened in 2011.

AteÅ~_yan thanked the city officials and the Armenian community from
Diyarbakır for showing interest in reviving the Armenian traditions.

On Sept. 8, AteÅ~_yan had performed the first baptism in 98 years at
Akdamar Church (Akhtamar in Armenian) on Lake Van.

Turkish authorities restored the church between 2005 and 2007 before
opening it as a museum. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated there for
the first time in 95 years in 2010.

Eastern and southeastern Turkey was inhabited by a large Armenian
community before the mass massacres and deportations in 1915.

ARMENIAN AMERICANS GATHER TO PROTEST SYRIA STRIKES

September 11, 2013 – 18:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – More than 200 community members gathered Monday,
Sept 9, at the Glendale Youth Center to join the Armenian National
Committee of America, Glendale chapter, MoveOn.org Civic Action,
CREDO Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), The Martin
Luther King Coalition of Greater Los Angeles and Win Without War, in
order to voice their opposition to U.S. military strikes against Syria.

Thousands of people throughout the nation were hosting such vigils.

After a short welcome by ANCA Glendale’s Executive Director, Talar
Malakian, and a prayer, Seto Boyadjian, the Chairman of the ANCA
National Board, Caro Avanessian, the Chairman of the California
Armenian American Democrats, and Glendale Unified School District
President Nayiri Nahabedian spoke out against military intervention in
Syria by the United States. They stressed the importance of finding
diplomatic solutions while also sending more humanitarian aid to
suffering communities in need, including over 100,000 Syrians of
Armenian descent living in Syria.

Berdj Karapetyan, Chairman of the ANCA Glendale Board concluded with
final remarks and asked community members to gather around a board
filled with pictures from the Syrian crisis, in the back of the room.

After a moment of silence for the lives lost, the lit candles were
circulated and everyone was ushered out of the hall and to St. Mary’s
Apostolic Church. Many returned to write messages for peace that were
pinned to the board. Many also sent emails to their representatives
on iPads provided by ANCA Glendale.

“We are gathered to commemorate the lives lost but to also show that
we are opposed to more violence. The only way to achieve peace is
through diplomacy,” said ANCA Glendale Executive Director, Talar
Malakian. “We need to urge our representatives to remember that.”

Community members were supposed to join a delegation to Congressman
Adam Schiff’s Hollywood office Tuesday, to urge him to vote against
the authorization to strike.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN ECONOMIST WELCOMES ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION

15:29 11.09.13

A group of economists formed by the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) has for the past few months conducted research
to determine the prospects of Armenia’s integration with Europe.

Head of the group, Doctor of Mathematical Economics, Professor Ashot
Tavadyan told journalists on Wednesday that on October 18, 2011, in
Saint Petersburg, Russia, the Armenian and Russian premiers signed
a free trade area agreement. The Armenian parliament ratified the
agreement on September 11, 2012.

“The decision on accession to the Customs Union is a logical follow-up
to the initial agreement. This is an economic security agreement, which
is a general security component and deals with energy and transport
security issues. This is an agreement on unprecedented investments and
employment rise. Due to the three points, the agreement on accession
to the Customs Union is essentially different from the Association
Agreement,” Tavadyan said.

If Armenia joins the Customs Union, $470m investments in railway
construction will be made, which means one more road for Armenia.

“The European Union is not going to do it. One more important factor
is $100m investments by the Eurasian Bank. This will ensure economic
growth in our country. As regards the energy bloc, accession to the
Customs Union will allow us to operate our nuclear power plant and
even to construct a new one,” he said.

Tavadyan stressed that the EU does not allow free movement of people
which rules out free transportation of products and capital.

Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union reduces the brain drain risk,
Tavadyan said.

MEMBER OF US CONGRESS TSONGAS LISTENED TO CONCERNS OF AMERICAN-ARMENIANS ON SYRIAN ISSUE

21:36, 11 September, 2013

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian National Committee
(ANC) of Merrimack Valley took issues of importance to Armenians in
the 3rd Congressional district of Massachusetts to the office steps
of Niki Tsongas on Monday, September 9, 2013.

“Armenpress” was informed from Armenian National Committee thatthe
group included longtime ANCA activists Ara Jeknavorian, Aram
Jeknavorian, Tom Vartabedian and Stephen Dulgarian. ANCA Eastern
Region Executive Director Michelle Hagopian accompanied the group to
the meeting Monday morning.

“Tsongas has always been very attentive to our issues and our cause.

We’re glad she’s trying to become an even stronger advocate for
Armenians, and this meeting was a reminder of that,” said Ara
Jeknavorian, ANC of Merrimack Valley co-chairman.

Much of the discussion centered on the situation in Syria and the
ANCA’s stance to oppose air strikes by the United States. The ANC
leaders expressed their dire concern about the region and about
Armenians living there and those who have fled. Rep. Tsongas was
receptive and also deeply concerned about the entire situation, and
she informed the group she would keep the local ANC abreast about
what plays out in Congress this week.

Rep. Tsongas, a member of the Armed Services Committee, was informed
about Syrian rebels targeting Armenians prior to that committee’s
hearing on Syria on Tuesday, September 10.

Besides Syria, Tsongas heard concerns of the local ANC on issues
such as House Resolution 227 (the Armenian Genocide Truth and
Justice Resolution), foreign aid to Armenia and Massachusetts’ 3rd
district Armenian community. She said she is always happy meeting
with constituents as she “is only as good as the stories I hear.”

“The ANCA Eastern Region is very lucky to have such a strong voice
for Armenians in our corner with Rep. Tsongas. She has made her
presence known both locally and nationally, whether by attending
April 24 commemorations or signing on to Dear Colleague letters over
the years,” stated Hagopian.

The ANC of Merrimack Valley also brought up the dedication of a new
Armenian Genocide monument that will be erected on public land in
front of Lowell City Hall in April 2014. Both Jeknavorians, Dulgarian
and Vartabedian all serve on the Merrimack Valley Armenian Genocide
Monument Committee and encouraged Rep. Tsongas to attend the event
next spring.

© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am