Month: February 2015

Congressional Documents and Publications
February 12, 2015

House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging
Threats Hearing: “Azerbaijan: U.S. Energy, Security and Human Rights
Interests.”

Testimony by Richard Kauzlarich, Adjunct Professor, School of Public
Policy, George Mason University, (Former American Ambassador to
Azerbaijan)

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS

Introduction

Mr. Chairman, I thank the Subcommittee for the opportunity to comment
on Azerbaijan. I have had over two decades of experience with the
South Caucasus — as a senor Foreign Service Officer and Ambassador, a
think tank and intelligence analyst, and an academic teaching at the
graduate level on the geopolitics of energy security. I was U.S.
Ambassador in Azerbaijan for three years and have been back several
times to observe elections and to train local non-government
organization (NGO) representatives in conflict resolution skills.

I commend the Committee for holding these hearings. Azerbaijan and US
relations are at a critical point because of human rights violations
and the conflict with Armenia regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.

Background

The period of engagement with Azerbaijan since the breakup of the
Soviet Union has been a remarkable success for US diplomacy. From my
first visit to Baku in 1992 until today, many positive changes in our
relations have taken place. This despite the unfair limits imposed on
US Government (USG) assistance by Section 907 of the Freedom Support
Act of 1992 (FSA907), and the intense conflict with Armenia over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Both Azerbaijani officials and some US-based analysts argue that the
US lacks a coherent policy toward Azerbaijan. I disagree. For two
decades, the United States has pursued the following bipartisan policy
objectives in Azerbaijan.

. Support the Government of Azerbaijan in maintaining its independence
and territorial integrity.

. End the military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding
Nagorno-Karabakh and, through the Minsk Group process of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), support
Azerbaijan and Armenia in achieving a peaceful, negotiated settlement.

. Encourage US commercial interests in the production and
transportation of Azerbaijan’s substantial energy resources to global
markets.

. Work for closer Azerbaijani relations with transatlantic
institutions such as the OSCE and North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO); and stronger economic relationships with the European Union
(EU).

. Strengthen the commitment of Azerbaijan to (1) implementing
internationally recognized principles of democracy and human rights;
while (2) adopting transparent approaches to governance that minimize
corruption.

Azerbaijan and its people have benefited from this US policy and those
similar policies of our European allies including Turkey.

. Thanks to USG political support and US energy companies pursuing
their commercial interests, the Azerbaijan energy sector has enjoyed
enormous success. From the signing of the Contract of the Century in
1994 to the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in
2005, US leadership has been critical. Azerbaijan has earned tens of
billions of dollars from these energy resources.

. The OSCE Minsk Group process has provided a venue for mediating
direct contacts between Baku and Yerevan to conclude peacefully this
tragic and painful conflict regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.

. Increased Azerbaijani engagement since the September 11 attack on
the US in the international community’s priorities of dealing with
international terrorism, and participating in NATO-led peace making
activities in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

This progress was not easy. FSA 907 prohibited direct USG assistance
to the Government of Azerbaijan — unlike its neighbors Armenia and
Georgia — in those early days when institutions and attitudes toward
good governance, democracy, and human rights were being developed.
Azerbaijanis saw this as unfair treatment of Azerbaijan especially
compared to Armenia.

Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as the Minsk Group process
produced no results favorable to Azerbaijan, USG positions on
resolving the conflict were contrasted with USG positions vis-a-vis
the Balkans and more recently Ukraine/Crimea.

Finally US pressure to hold more democratic elections and observe
international human rights standards clashed with leadership desires
to preserve stability – as they saw it — and political power.

Times are Changing

Many observers have noticed deterioration in the tone and, in some
respects, the substance of US – Azerbaijan relations, especially since
the flawed Azerbaijani presidential elections in the fall of 2013.
Part of this reflects fundamental shifts in the global and regional
political and economic environment.

. The global energy markets have changed profoundly over the past two
decades. Global oil and gas production especially in North America has
reduced the significance of gas and oil from the Caspian region, and
in particular Azerbaijan. The potential energy resources in Azerbaijan
are not as great as they appeared in 1994. Gas has replaced oil as the
high demand (for energy security reasons) hydrocarbon. Unlike in the
1990s, energy development is being determined more on commercial terms
than political priorities as applied when the BTC pipeline was
developed.

. Despite the dedication of talented US Minsk Group negotiators,
neither Baku nor Yerevan has negotiated directly in a manner leading
to a peaceful settlement of this conflict. The leadership in Yerevan
and Baku has not prepared their respective publics to accept the
compromises that must accompany a negotiated settlement. Further there
have been attempts to hold the Minsk Group responsible for finding a
solution acceptable to one side and imposing it on the other side. The
longer the impasse in the Minsk Group continues the greater the risk
of resumed armed conflict. We are at such a point today.

. As the US and NATO drawdown in Afghanistan continues, the importance
of Azerbaijan and its neighbors in securing the northern supply route
to Afghanistan diminishes. Also Iran’s greater engagement in its quest
for a nuclear agreement with the West has reduced the security
priority accorded to Azerbaijan in that context.

. International support for the observance of human rights and
promotion of democracy in Azerbaijan has increased in recent years. At
the same time, Azerbaijani support for its international obligations
in this area has waned. From the US and Europe, private and official
voices have been raised about why after two decades of prosperous
stability in Azerbaijan, elections still are not conducted in a free
and fair manner, the number of political prisoners has increased,
religious freedom is restricted, and freedom of expression shut down.

While such external factors play a role in this deterioration, the
most critical factors flow from choices the Baku regime is making for
its own reasons, including:

. Frustration over the lack of Western support for the Azerbaijani
position on return of Nagorno-Karabakh to Baku’s full sovereign
control, while supporting Ukraine’s position on the return of Crimea
to Ukraine.

. Unfairness of FSA 907 while the USG provides economic assistance to
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh

. With the extraordinary growth of Azerbaijan’s energy revenue,
Azerbaijan now has the resources including financing and access to
technology that it depended on Western companies and governments to
provide in the 1990s. It no longer “needs” US and Western political
support in the energy arena.

. Lack of respect for Azerbaijan’s support for US/NATO efforts
especially in Afghanistan, the global fight against terror, and
standing up to Iran. Failure of the US to provide lethal capabilities
that Azerbaijan could use in its confrontation with Armenia.

. Concern about internal political instability and the imagined role
of US assistance and foreign NGOs and media outlets in supporting the
political opposition. Anti-regime demonstrations in Baku and elsewhere
in the country in 2013 called attention to corruption, mistreatment of
draftees in the Azerbaijani military, and unlawful detention and
arrest of opposition politicians, NGO representatives and reporters.

. In particular following the flawed Presidential elections in 2013,
the regime began attacking US officials for promoting anti-regime
activities. The persons targeted included congressional staffers, US
ambassadors (bilateral and Minsk Group co-chair), and finally the
President of the United States.

. The shutdown of US NGOs such as IREX and the National Democratic
Institute (NDI), and information services including Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

This culminated with the December 3, 2014 polemic by Chief of the
Presidential Apparatus, Ramiz Mehdiyev. This document accuses the USG
of fomenting a color revolution in Azerbaijan through “fifth columns”
created by USG assistance to US NGOs and affiliated local NGOs.

End of the Heydar Aliyev Era

I have written elsewhere that I believe the Mehdiyev attack on the US
represents the end of the Heydar Aliyev (the current President’s
father) era – an almost two decade long effort by both the United
States and Azerbaijan to improve relations despite differences. During
that period there was a public profession from the Azerbaijani side of
cooperation with the US and support for internationally recognized
standards for democracy and observance of human rights.

More than anything else, the many USG statements about flawed
elections and human rights abuses, and critical assessments from some
European partners pushed official Baku over the top. I believe that
the Azerbaijani decision not to follow Georgia on an explicit path
toward closer association with the EU reflected official Baku’s
assessment that closer engagement with the EU would mean a brighter
spotlight on its unacceptable treatment of opposition figures and
independent media.

The regime is walking a line between being forced to join Russia’s
Eurasian Economic Union or rejecting the EU – Azerbaijan’s largest
market for natural gas exports. Yet, it appears that either Europe or
Russia is a more acceptable strategic partner for Azerbaijan than the
US as long as Washington advocates on behalf of the 90 plus political
prisoners, the NGOs, RFE/RL, and an independent Azerbaijani media.

What Can the US Do?

The US and Azerbaijan are in a different place than just five years
ago. There are new global and regional geopolitical realities. The
global energy picture in particular has changed making Azerbaijan and
the Caspian region less critical to US energy security needs.

Rather than trying to construct an abstract “strategic partnership,”
we need to establish a limited set of attainable goals. Progress on
these goals would determine whether a strategic partnership between
the US and Azerbaijan is realistic. These could be:

. Serious engagement between Armenia and Azerbaijan by a specific date
leading to a peaceful settlement of the dispute regarding
Nagorno-Karabakh, and resumed Track-II unofficial contacts between
Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

. Support for stability in Azerbaijan based on Baku’s movement toward
greater democracy and observance of internationally recognized human
rights standards.

. Freedom for the over 90 political prisoners.

Without progress in each of these areas, I fear:

. Resumption of armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

. Further internal suppression of the remaining liberal democratic
elements in the run-up to the 2015 Parliamentary elections in
Azerbaijan.

The US cannot allow that to happen. On the human rights front, there
are more political prisoners in Azerbaijan than in Belarus and Russia
combined. That is unacceptable. Years of diplomatic engagement have
not improved the situation. Recently it has become markedly worse than
anything I have observed in my experience with Azerbaijan.

If there is no progress toward release of all these prisoners then the
USG should consider imposing travel and other sanctions on those
officials responsible for the arrest and continued detention of NGO
activists and journalists.

I also believe that as long as there is a risk of surveillance and
possible detention or arrest of American citizens in Azerbaijan, the
Department of State should issue a travel warning for all Americans
planning to travel to Azerbaijan.

Why Should the USG Care about Human Rights in Azerbaijan?

Lately Azerbaijani officials have questioned why the US pays attention
to “minor issues” like abuses of human rights when there are far more
important areas of concern (e.g. European energy security, Iran,
Russia, cooperation on anti-terrorism) that the US should be
addressing.

Let’s set aside for the moment the obligations Azerbaijan has freely
undertaken in the UN, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE.

Human rights are a major US security concern. We support, as we have
for two decades, the independence and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. We are limited in what we can do, however, when the regime
in Baku suppresses liberal democratic institutions, arrests those who
peacefully oppose the lack of democracy and human rights in
Azerbaijan, and creates political and social space for other forces
that are more dangerous to real stability in Azerbaijan. Make no
mistake: radical Islamists are quickly filling the void. They not only
burn American and Israeli flags but also send recruits to fight in
Syria. When these fighters return to Azerbaijan they represent not
only a threat to Azerbaijan but to US security interests as well. That
is why human rights are not minor issues.

Thank you.

Read this original document at:

Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
Feb 12 2015

The renaissance of an Ottoman Armenian feminist

William Armstrong – [email protected]

‘The Gardens of Silihdar’ by Zabel Yessayan (AIWA Press, 163 pages)

The late 19th century witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of
Ottoman Armenian culture that has since been described as an “Armenian
renaissance.” The rapid growth of schools, social organizations,
periodicals and European trends led to a transformation in the
language and intellectual landscape of the Ottoman Armenian community
– similar to elsewhere in the empire.

Along with this cultural ferment was a new emphasis on the advancement
of women in Armenian society, and a number of women intellectuals
reached positions of prominence previously unheard of in a rigidly
hierarchical community. Although her name was almost forgotten in the
decades after her death in the 1940s, Zabel Yessayan is currently
experiencing something of a mini-renaissance of her own thanks to a
couple of new translations of her work by Jennifer Manoukian,
commissioned by the Armenian International Women’s Association.
Yessayan’s pioneering proto-feminism and her descriptions of the
social details of a fascinating period make “The Gardens of Silihdar,”
her memoir of growing up in late 19th century Ottoman Istanbul, a
fascinating artefact.

Born in the Silihdar neighborhood of Üsküdar, on the Asian side of
Istanbul, Yessayan provides a vivid portrait of an introverted, deeply
conservative Armenian community and its characters. What starts as a
fairly unremarkable memoir develops into a more sophisticated portrait
of the artist as a young woman, describing her coming of age from a
restless and tempestuous child to a melancholy, talented young woman.
French and American schools were proliferating at the time, and new
fashions and ideas were shaking traditional life in metropolitan areas
across the Ottoman Empire. Yessayan’s father was himself influenced,
keen not to create obstacles for his daughter, open-minded and
encouraging Zabel to develop her interests and get a sound education.
Her portrait of him is as sympathetic as anyone in the book (there
aren’t many sympathetic portraits), although his spendthriftiness
meant that the household was wracked by financial instability. “The
days my father needed to repay his debts did not just arrive; they
exploded like bombs,” Yessayan writes.

As for communal relations, she draws a familiar picture of a guarded
tolerance being gradually, inexorably overtaken by political tension.
At one point her family temporarily moves to a Turkish village a few
miles away for her mother’s health, and she reflects: “A few years
later, it would have been impossible for an Armenian family to live
safely in an entirely Turkish village, but in those days there were
still no traces of ethnic tension between Armenians and Turks, and the
two peoples treated each other with a calm sense of shared humanity.”

Yessayan was born in 1878, and came of age at a troubled time. A
cultural renaissance may have been going on, but it was also an era of
accelerating social turmoil, and there are plenty of references in
this book to the plight of suffering Armenians in Anatolia. Her
growing up was simultaneously a process of awakening and
disillusionment. Reflecting on her time at one of the Armenian high
schools, she gloomily describes it as “just a miniature version of the
adult world that I would come to know, complete with its dirty
dealings, narcissism, hypocrisy, lies and selfishness.” It was, she
writes, “as if there were a courtroom in my mind where the people I
encountered and the things I experienced were subject to harsh,
endless judgment.”

Yessayan’s developing feminism was sharpened by the stultifying
conservatism of the community. “Those young women could not leave the
house by themselves,” she writes angrily, “some were even forced to
marry men they despised. They were not free to dress as they pleased
or behave as they saw fit. Essentially, they were deprived of their
most basic freedoms and feared that, sooner or later, they would be
constrained by motherhood – a fate they wished to escape in order to
create the lives they had envisioned for themselves.” Dismissive of
these tendencies, she had no time as a writer for the “sentimental
romanticism” that was the literary fashion of the day, and her own
memoir formally remains quite straightforward and undemonstrative.

Years after the events described in “The Gardens of Silihdar,”
Yessayan was included as the only woman on the list of Istanbul
Armenian intellectuals targeted for arrest and deportation by the
Young Turk regime on April 24, 1915. She managed to flee the empire
and almost two decades later ended up in Soviet Armenia, where this
book was published in 1935. Despite Yessayan’s prominence in late
Ottoman Istanbul, her work was essentially ignored after her death in
a Siberian labor camp, as a victim of Stalin’s Great Purge. Hopefully
it is now beginning to attract the attention that it deserves once
again.

February/12/2015

From: Baghdasarian

MondoGreco-
12 feb 2015

Passa alla Camera il ddl contro il negazionismo

Scritto da Redazione on 12 Febbraio 2015. Postato in Politikì

Una buona notizia anche per chi da anni in solitario si batte per il
dramma degli armeni. Passa al Senato il ddl contro il negazionismo
grazie a 234, 8 gli astenuti e 3 no. Per cui sarà reato negare la
shoah, i crimini contro l’umanità e i crimini di guerra. La relatrice
Capacchione, nella seduta di martedì 10 febbraio, ha dato conto del
nuovo testo proposto dalla Commissione, che ha introdotto modifiche
per tutelare la libertà di espressione e di studio.
Al fine di evitare l’introduzione di un reato di opinione si prevede,
attraverso un intervento sulla legge Reale, un’aggravante di pena di
tre anni se la propaganda, la pubblica istigazione e il pubblico
incitamento a commettere atti di discriminazione razziale si fondano
in tutto o in parte sulla negazione della Shoah ovvero dei crimini
contro l’umanità e dei crimini di guerra, come definiti dallo statuto
della Corte penale internazionale.

Serviceman dies in Karabakh military base

09:50, 14 February, 2015

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS: The serviceman Arman S. Osipyan,
born in 1995, got a deadly wound at 04:40 on February 14 at one of the
military bases, located in the northeastern direction of the Defense
Army. The press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic informed Armenpress that investigation is being
carried out to determine the details of the incident.
The Ministry of Defense of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic shares the
deep grief of loss and expresses its condolences to the dead soldier’s
family, friends and colleagues.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Newspaper: Armenia ex-official gives advice to diaspora businessman

10:38, 12.02.2015

YEREVAN. – Former governor of Armenia’s Lori Region, ex-Minister of
Transport Henrik Kochinyan has a new position, Hraparak daily
reported.

“He, several months ago, started working at the Hovnanian
International organization belonging to prominent [Diaspora-Armenian]
businessman and philanthropist Vahakn Hovnanian. This is a large, very
rich company; it has about 400 employees, and it is known in Armenia
as the Ltd. that has designed and built the Vahakni [Residential
Community] district [in the outskirts of capital city Yerevan].

“Henrik Kochinyan works there [, at Hovnanian International,] as
adviser, and he gets a pretty big salary.

“To the question as to specifically what projects he is involved in at
Hovnanian’s organization, Kochinyan responded: ‘With whatever,'”
Hraparak wrote.

Armenian Missionary Association of America
Louisa Janbazian, PR/Communications Coordinator
31 West Century Road
Paramus, NJ 07652

Cell: 201.745.7496

AMAA/HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY Friendship Dinner at Season’s Banquet Hall
Hosted by Serge and Anita Buchakjian

By Gilda Buchakjian (Kupelian)

Paramus, NJ – The Seasons banquet hall was abuzz with guests at the
AMAA/HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY FRIENDSHIP DINNER graciously hosted by Serge
and Anita Buchakjian on February 7, 2015. Armenian Missionary
Association of America (AMAA) Board members from near and far,
Haigazian University (HU)Trustees, alumni, and friends were delighted
to help celebrate the only Armenian University in the Diaspora in high
spirits, camaraderie, and philanthropy.

In his welcome address and words of thanks to the attendees, Serge
Buchakjian, member of the Haigazian Board of Trustees offered a few
heartfelt words about his first alma mater on the occasion of its 60th
anniversary this year. How fortuitous that Haigazian University was
the launching pad for his education and career in the aerospace
industry, only two decades after the production of the first rocket
ever in the Mideast led by Manoug Manougian and his Haigazian
University team. Buchakjian underscored the fact that in addition to
preserving the Armenian heritage, Haigazian University `impacts lives
beyond just education. It teaches tolerance and fosters a culture of
understanding through the open exchange of ideas across ethnic and
religious backgrounds.’ He was proud to call Haigazian University `a
jewel of a university’ hoping that it will prosper well over its 60th
anniversary.

Rev. Berj Gulleyan, pastor of the Armenian Presbyterian Church of
Paramus, NJ was invited to say grace, with an inspirational
invocation.

The new Executive Director and CEO of the AMAA, Zaven Khanjian was
pleased to ascertain that education was the legacy contributed by the
Armenian Evangelical Community to the nation and our people. Khanjian
spoke of the pioneering work in creating ‘a colossal network of
educational institutions from kindergartens to elementary and
secondary schools, institutions of higher education – colleges and
schools of theology. We have pioneered in the education of women,
introduced music and physical education and raised the level of
literacy, education, enlightenment and culture within our people.’ The
Genocide `severed the trunk of our existence. It wiped out innumerable
dreams and the unlimited potential of a nation.’ Still, continued
Khanjian `out of the ashes the Phoenix rose again, the AMAA was born
in 1918. Education took precedence. Schools were built again and
spread wherever our remnants took refuge. Visionaries were active
again and so in collaboration with the AMAA, Haigazian was born.’
Mr. Khanjian concluded his remarks by praising the spirit of
philanthropy that has supported the efforts of all those who stood
steadfast behind this institution.

As a token of appreciation, Mr. Khanjian offered the hosts, Serge and
Anita Buchakjian, whose wedding anniversary coincided on that day, a
sculptural artifact of the ark on Mt. Ararat, by Michael Aram,
symbolizing overcoming adversity and reaching new heights.

The dynamic president of Haigazian University, Rev. Dr. Paul
Haidotsian thanked the hosts, the AMAA, and its Board members for
their support. Dr. Haidotsian pointed out that `2015 coincides with
the 60th anniversary of Haigazian University and that many events and
celebrations will be planned in Beirut, Dubai, and the USA. But more
meaningfully, our institution is named after a famous educator,
Armenag Haigazian, who fell victim to the Genocide, and we are
honoring and paying homage to his legacy as well.’

From: Baghdasarian

168 Zham: Moscow was last drop for Serzh Sargsyan, says Russian expert

10:07 * 14.02.15

Commenting on President Serzh Sargsyan’s recent speeches, particularly
his critical remarks voiced against the Prosperous Armenia party’s
leader, a Russian expert said the address, apparently prepared in
advance, was delivered much earlier than scheduled.

Speaking to the paper, Vadim Dubnov said he sees that Gagik
Tsarukyan’s recent trip to Moscow was the last drop that exhausted the
president’s patience.

“By and large, this is the moment that requires the authorities to
start strengthening their positions if they wish to maintain power,”
he said, considering the developments absolutely logical.

Commenting on second President Robert Kocharyan’s possible return to
politics, Dubmov said he doesn’t feel that such rumors are credible.
“I think it is mainly he that creates such an impression. In my
conviction this impression largely a myth, though I don’t rule out the
possibility that Kocharyan has his lobbyist group, as well as
resources, in the Kremlin,” he replied.

Event dedicated to the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide held in Aleppo

17:39, 13 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On February 12, a meeting on the recognition, condemnation and
elimination of consequences of acts of genocide was held in Aleppo, in
the framework of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. Representatives of number of organizations of
Armenian community in Aleppo, journalists and priests participated at
the event.

Armenia’s Consul General to Aleppo Tigran Gevorgyan gave a lecture,
titled “Issue of the Armenian Genocide on the agenda of Foreign Policy
of the Republic of Armenia”.

In his speech he, particularly, mentioned that international
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is one of the
priorities of RA Foreign Policy, and that Armenia, as Homeland of
nation, survived Genocide, has great responsibility in the efforts of
international community to prevent acts of genocide in the future.
Tigran Gevorgyan indicated the Resolution on Prevention of Genocide
initiated by Armenia in Human Rights Council , adopted by consensus,
as the very example of that. He also mentioned, that Armenia on
numerous occasions voiced the importance of the recognition,
condemnation and elimination of consequences of the crimes of genocide
from major international platforms.

Attaching great significance to the holding of the events dedicated to
the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide, Consul General mentioned, that
thus the fight of Armenia and Armenians of Diaspora is not over,
adding that events, held under slogan “Remember and Demand” is the
start of new stage. In this context, he placed great importance to
Armenia-Diaspora strong ties and coordinated cooperation.

Once the lecture was over, Consul General answered questions raised by
the attendees.

From: A. Papazian

UIC Applies to Court Claiming Copy of Prosecutor General’s Letter

Lragir.am
Law – 14 February 2015, 11:52

On February 4 the Union of Informed Citizens requested a copy of the
letter of the prosecutor general. On February 3 Prosecutor General
Kostanyan announced sending a letter to his Russian counterpart
Chayka, requesting to hand Valeriy Permyakov’s case to the Armenian
side for investigation. However, the content of the letter was not
published.

The Union of Informed Citizens states that despite the requirement of
the RA Law on Freedom of Information to provide requested information
within 5 days, the Prosecutor General’s Office has not responded. The
Union of Informed Citizens has subsequently applied to the RA
Administrative Court claiming to obligate the Prosecutor General’s
Office to provide a copy of Kostanyan’s letter to the Russian
prosecutor general Chayka.

How much money do companies owned by Gagik Tsarukyan pay in taxes?

11:49 | February 14,2015 | Politics

The companies owned by Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) Leader Gagik
Tsarukyan, paid 7 billion 742 million drams in taxes in 2014,
armtimes.com.

These companies include Multi Group, Multi Leon, Yerevan Ararat
Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory, Ararat Cement and Onira Club. The taxes
paid by these enterprises in 2014 were twice as much as the taxes paid
in 2013.