Month: February 2015

OPPOSITION IN SHAMBLES?: ANALYSTS SAY PAP “BREAKDOWN” LEAVES ARMENIA WITH NO MAJOR FORCE OPPOSED TO GOVERNMENT

POLITICS | 26.02.15 | 10:17

By SARA KHOJOYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Following the dramatic developments of recent days around the
Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) many analysts say there is no major
opposition force left in Armenia and no political party will be able
to rise up to that level in the near future.

The PAP led by tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan tried to mount a challenge to
President Serzh Sargsyan, but quickly backed off amid a government
crackdown that included detentions of its members who own businesses
as well as threats to prosecute Tsarukyan himself over tax evasion.

The PAP is preparing for its “extraordinary” convention that will be
held on March 5. Meanwhile, five members of its parliamentary faction
have already quit it. And some of the party lawmakers also recently
met with Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan to discuss issues related to
“small and medium-sized enterprises”.

The opposition, if not has been destroyed, then it is has been
considerably weakened, political analyst Sergey Minasyan said at a
press conference on Wednesday.

“We understand how the events will develop within the PAP, but it
cannot have any positive impact on Armenia’s political life. The
political career of Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukyan,
if not ended, then has been frozen,” the political analyst said.

Tsarukyan angered the current administration by an apparent “ultimatum”
to give up the constitutional reform or face a campaign of sustained
street protests demanding early presidential and parliamentary
elections. The PAP leader made those statements at a conference of
“non-governing” forces on February 5.

On February 12, President Serzh Sargsyan, the leader of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia, lashed out at Tsarukyan and effectively
called on his party to oust the PAP leader from Armenian politics. On
February 15, Tsarukyan’s PAP and its two opposition allies, the
Armenian National Congress (ANC) and Heritage met to discuss their
response and scheduled a joint rally for February 20, but the PAP
called it off after Tsarukyan’s conciliatory remarks several days
later.

It is remarkable that Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian and his
supporters did turn out for the rally not attended by the PAP and the
ANC. Then Hovannisian declared that the troika effectively did not
exist any longer. He said that they no longer “play these games” and
that the ANC rally scheduled for March 1 will provide a “breakthrough”.

The actions against Tsarukyan were an attempt to put an end to
the situation created in February and the authorities did it by
decapitating one of the leading organizing forces, ANC parliamentary
leader Levon Zurabyan said.

“At this moment the PAP is out of the game. Now the PAP itself should
say where it stands. After coming under an intimidation campaign the
PAP has said nothing,” Zurabyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Now
the March 1 rally will be a test for the forces that continue their
struggle in the name of Armenia no matter what terror they have been
subjected to by the regime.”

Pressure on the PAP leader appears to continue. While Tsarukyan
has not yet been stripped of his parliamentary seat over “chronic
absenteeism”, Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan said that the current
RPA position is not different from that expressed by President Sargsyan
on February 12.

“I think that the PAP should come up with a new strategy. As for who
will lead this new party strategy is not known to me,” he said.

ARMENIA SLAMS TURKISH PRECONDITIONS, ACCUSES ANKARA OF SPREADING “FALSE INFORMATION”

NEWS | 26.02.15 | 09:59

RELATED NEWS

President Sargsyan withdraws Armenian-Turkish protocols from parliament

Armenia has rejected the latest Turkish call for ending “the occupation
of Azerbaijan” as a precondition for the ratification of the diplomatic
protocols signed between the two countries in 2009.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu repeated that precondition
during his visit to Baku on Wednesday.

At a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart,
Cavusoglu claimed that “the whole world knows about the precondition to
Armenia”. He also accused Yerevan of failing “the test of sincerity”
and said that the decision by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to
withdrawal the protocols from the parliament, therefore, was “of
no importance”.

Asked by Tert.am to comment on these statements, Armenia’s Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said: “It is at least perplexing
that the Turkish delegation that conducted the negotiations around
the protocols, according to Cavusoglu, did not know about the Turkish
preconditions “known to the whole world”. To speak about sincerity
by spreading the kind of false information is at least strange,
but at the same time it is typical of Turkish authorities.”

The Armenian diplomat stressed that the international community has
also favored Yerevan’s position that Armenian-Turkish relations should
be normalized without preconditions.

On February 16, the Armenian president recalled the protocols on the
normalization of ties and the establishment of diplomatic relations
with Turkey from parliament. He said “the Turkish government has
no political will, distorts the spirit and letter of the protocols,
and continues its policy of setting preconditions.”

Sarkisian also said that on the eve of commemorating the centennial
of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey during World War I,
“the policy of denial and rewriting history” is getting a renewed
impulse in Ankara.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVE CONTINUES PUBLICATION OF GENOCIDE-RELATED DOCUMENTS, DIRECTOR SAYS

GENOCIDE | 26.02.15 | 10:49

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Toward the centennial of the Genocide Armenian, the National Archive
director says that their primary problem is the publication of
corresponding documents, at the same time adding that National Archive
materials are open for everyone, as well as for Turkish historians
and reporters.

National Archive director Amatuni Virabyan continues the publication
of documents in the form of books. Still in 2012 the book “Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire” was published in three volumes, this
year its 4th and 5th volumes will be published. In 2013, the English
version of the book was published, and last year the Turkish-language
version – in Istanbul.

“Within several days the Russian version will be published in Moscow –
in 1,000 copies, by April we will have the Spanish version as well. In
Moscow we will publish the collection of documents “about the economic
losses of the Armenian nation in 1915″ in Russian and English,”
Virabyan said.

The National Archive continues forming a nominal database of the
Genocide victims which was launched still last fall. By January 1
they had already 33,000 names. According to the director, the program
continues and it will take years.

With the support of benefactor Ruben Vardanyan a book telling about 100
famous Armenians will be published; the latter survived the Genocide
with a miracle and in different countries they or their successors
succeeded in the world. Virabyan mentions the name of one of them –
Armenian-American Arshile Gorky.

“We want to show that, despite the Turkish desire – to leave only
one Armenian and that in a museum, we still live, we exist, although
spread across the world,” Virabyan said.

Addressing the Turkish plans for the celebration of the 100th
anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, which the Turkish government
had proposed to hold on April 24, on the same commemoration day of
the Armenian Genocide, Virabyan said that they have no documents on
the battle, but there is an interesting fact: “The Turkish divisions
that won in Gallipoli defeating the British, were devastated in the
battle of Sardarapat [in 2018] and were forced to retreat by the
Armenian Army. This is a big and an important fact.”

The director of the National Archive gave assurances that works
devoted to the centennial will continue throughout the year: “The
order to arrest the Armenian scholars was issued on April 24, 1915,
but most of the massacres continued throughout the summer months;
thus if some commemoration events take place in summer it is no delay.”

Among many other events devoted to the centennial of the Genocide
a joint Armenian-French virtual gallery will be held, including
different materials showing Armenian-French cooperation during World
War One years.

From: Baghdasarian

IRAQI AIRWAYS TO MAKE FIRST BAGHDAD-YEREVAN-ERBIL FLIGHT

by Alexandr Avanesov

Thursday, February 26, 13:10

On February 26, 2015, the Iraqi Airways will make the first
Baghdad-Yerevan-Erbil flight, Ruben Grdzelyan, Spokesperson for the
Chief Civil Aviation Department of Armenia, told ArmInfo. The flight
is available on Thursdays and Sundays by CRJ900 ³ Boeing 737. The
first flight will bring to Armenia the members of the Iraq Government
and the heads of 50 travel agencies.

Iraq Airways is a state-owned company. Avia Service is the company’s
official representative in Armenia.

The flight has become possible thanks to the open sky policy
announced by the Government of Armenia on Oct 23 2013 by endorsing
the conception of the programme on providing competitive and stable
air traffic in the republic. Many specialists say that Armenia should
go the way of liberalization, which will stimulate the GDP growth,
ensure opening of the new job places and will make the passenger
traffic more comfortable and the prices lower.

From: A. Papazian

INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL ANTRANIK WITH A CORRESPONDENT OF THE GUARDIAN (UK) IN 1919

February 25, 2015

ARMENIA’S NEED OF PROTECTION

ANTRANIK AND THE WORLD’S INDIFFERENCE

Mr. Scotland Liddell, the correspondent of the British press, in a
dispatch from Gerusi, Caucasus, dated February 1, says:-

Following on my visit to the Mussulman villages in the Zangezurski
Province, I rode here last night, crossing in the dark from the Tartar
district into country inhabited by Armenians. I came alone without
an escort, and as is usual when crossing such boundary lines at the
present time, I was fired on. The darkness was fortunate.

To-day I had lunch and an interview with General Antranik at his
headquarters in the town. Antranik, a handsome man of 53, has
personality. The Mussulman with whom I have been living these past
ten days declared him to be a bandit. But much has been done in
Antranik’s name of which he is quite innocent. My meeting with him
has strengthened this belief.

For thirty-three years Antranik has fought against the Turk. On one
occasion he and 49 men were besieged in a monastery at Arakelots. They
held out for twenty-two days against 4,000 Turks, and escaped in
safety. In the Balkan War of 1912 Antranik went with his small band
of warriors and fought with the Bulgarians against Turkey. In 1914
he was at Varna. On August 25 of that year he left for the Caucasus,
where he raised a volunteer army of Armenians. In the two years
1914-1916 he and his men marched nearly 5,000 miles and fought 39
battles, but it was not until 1917 that the Russians gave him the
rank of officer in their army.

It is difficult to write briefly of Antranik’s doing in the past
two years. Bolshevism ruined the once splendid Russian army and the
Russian soldiers left the front. Antranik remained to carry on his
great struggle against his country’s oppressors. He fought against
cruel odds. He had no artillery and no machine-guns, there was little
bread, and many of his men deserted. There were thousands of Armenians
refugee women and children who had to be protected. Antranik held
out, and even when Armenia made peace with the Turks last year he
did not cease to fight. It was, he told me, a shameful peace, and
to that he would not agree. Finally, when the armistice was signed,
he returned to Gerusi.

Antranik is the one great Armenian national hero. They have a
superstition that nothing can harm him, and it is certainly a very
remarkable fact that in all his long years of fighting he has never
once been wounded.

All this information as to his career I received by frequent
questioning. Antranik himself talked only of the present and the future
state of Armenia. Some of the figures he gave me were appalling. Nearly
1,000,000 Armenians have been massacred during the war by the Turks. In
the Caucasus alone there are over 250,000 Armenian refugees at the
present time. At Erivan there are upwards of 8,000 orphans. In the
Crimean and in the Southern Russian Black Sea districts there are
at least another 35,000 refugees who fled from Armenia. If no help
is given immediately, the Armenian refugees in the Caucasus will
die of hunger. They must be sent back to their former holdings, and
they must have the necessary agricultural machinery to enable them
to raise their crops. Unless help is forthcoming before the spring
most of the people will be lost.

Race Threatened with Extinction.

“I am shocked,” said Antranik, “at the indifference of the whole
world to the sufferings of Armenia. Not only the Allies but also
all the European countries are heartless and without pity. I am not
referring to the present time nor even to the past four years, but I
speak now of the past thirty or forty years, when the whole world has
been shockingly callous and indifferent to our sufferings. The Allies
have done nothing. All the Armenian intellectuals have either been
murdered or they have emigrated. We are in need of leaders for the
poor people. Unless we have help, and unless Armenians will come from
Europe and America to assist us, our whole race will die out. Those who
have the means will themselves emigrate, and the poorer folk will die.

“The great question of the future, as far as we are concerned, is
who will be master here. Without the protection of another country
Armenia cannot exist. She cannot rule herself. There would always be
unrest and little combats with the Tartars over racial matters.”

Antranik defended himself against the charges of having wantonly
destroyed Tartar villages. The fault, he said, lay with the Tartar
leaders, who chose to sympathise with the Turk instead of with the
Allies. They opposed him in every way, so he was compelled to combat
against them. Incidentally he told me this: “I believe that there was
a German Turkish scheme to raise 300,000 men in the Caucasus last
year, and to send these men through Persia to threaten India.” In
that case it was Antranik’s intention to work his way down to Persia
and to join the British forces there. The collapse of Turkey put an
end to the scheme.

Antranik is shortly going to retire. He has travelled in Europe before
– Paris, Antwerp, Berlin, Rome, and he has been in England. He tells
me he has already got a future home in view – Manchester.-Press
Association War Special.

The Manchester Guardian (aka The Guardian now)

Thursday, March 13, 1919 Page 8

(This article was posted By Katia M. Peltekian)

WEDDING ATTENDED BY SERZH SARGSYAN MAY LEAD TO ECTHR CASE

02.26.2015 13:42 epress.am

Information circulating in the media about RA President Serzh Sargsyan,
Minister of Justice Hovhannes Manukyan and PM Hovik Abrahamyan possibly
attending Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan’s son’s wedding could be
reason to apply to the ECtHR.

As 168 Zham daily reported, Avetik Budaghyan’s, who was murdered
near Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan’s home on June 1, 2013, family
lawyerHayk Alumyan has petitioned the President, Minister of Justice,
and PM to confirm or deny the fact of their presence at the wedding.

In an interview with the daily on February 25, Alumyan stated that
he currently has a response by only the Minister of Justice stating
“that I don’t have the right to be provided such information.”

However, according to the lawyer, the response from the Ministry
of Justice is clearly groundless; “With such a response, they don’t
prevent me from doing what I’m going to do: to apply to the European
Court of Human Rights without exhausting the national court. I sent
those letters only so they don’t tell me, why didn’t you attempt to
receive that information from your national courts. I made an attempt
and I hope, receiving such a response, would give me an advantage at
the European Court.”

When asked by the paper if he would wait for the answers of the
other two parties or apply for European Court of Human Rights without
receiving them, the lawyer answered; “In all honesty, they still have
2-3 days, I’ll wait because my complaint to the European Court is not
completely ready yet, it will likely be ready in 2-3 days. During
those days, I’ll either receive the response or if not, I’ll just
write that I haven’t received the responses in my complaint.”

Hayk Alumyan said that in the complaint to the EctHR it will be
written, that if certain officials, who have authority over the
judicial system, are considered so close [to Khachatryan] that they
participate in their weddings, then for him the national courts are
considered ineffective.

Recall, that in the evening of June 1st, 2013 near Syunik Governor
Surik Khachatryan’s home former Goris mayoral candidate Avetik
Budaghyan was killed and his brother Artak Budaghyan injured. In the
frame of the initiated criminal case Surik Khachatryan’s son Tigran
and security guard Zarzand Nikoghosyan was arrested. Subsequently,
the two were later released because the investigative bodies claimed
they were acting in self-defense.

LAW ON INCOME TAX TO BE AMENDED FOR THE INTERESTS OF CEMENT MANUFACTURERS

02.26.2015 11:22 epress.am

The Armenian Government has initiatied the amendment of the Law on
Income Tax in the interest of Armenian cement companies, writes 168
Zhamdaily, citing their confidential sources. Note, that the government
has proposed to the National Assembly to amend the Law on Income Tax,
having the tax rate for those exporters with incomes of 50 trillion
AMD ($104,450,000+/-) or higher reduced to 2% amount of the taxpayers’
gross income, in stead of the previous 10%.

According to 168 Zham’s information, the Armenian authorities have come
to an agreement with a wealthy Russian businessman over consolidating
their forces in the construction sector and exporting 50 trillion
AMD worth of products.

“For that exact purpose the Law on Income Tax is to be amended. Most
probably, it refers to cement manufacturers. The two cement exporters
in Armenia, the Hrazdan cement factory and Ararat Cement, are mostly
idle due to the lack of demand. And now, the Russian businessman will
assume the right to administer the two factories and secure their
products’ export,” writes the paper.

Note, that the Hrazdan cement factory is owned by businessman Mikhail
Baghdasarov, while Ararat Cement’s owner is Prosperous Armenia Party
leader, MP Gagik Tsarukyan.

AVETISYAN RELATIVES DEMAND TO ADD TO PERMYAKOV’S ACCUSATION

02.26.2015 16:00 epress.am

The representatives of Andranik Poghosyan, father ofAraks Avetisyan
killed on January 12 in Gyumri, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor
office director Artur Sakunts and human rights defender of the same
office Arayik Zalyan, have applied to the Investigative Committee
make additions to the charges against the murder suspect, Russian
soldier Valery Permyakov, said Zalyan in an interview with Epress.am.

The petitioners noted that not charging Valery Permyakov with illegally
attempting to cross the Armenian state border demonstrates inaction
by RA law enforcement.

“On January 13, 2015 at around 12:15 AM, the Russian Federation’s
border guards soldiers, at the official Armenian-Turkish state border,
arrested an unknown person for attempting to illegally cross the state
border, who was later known to be Valery Permyakov. In any incident
of an illegal border crossing the representatives of Russia’s border
guards are responsible to implement the actions under the article 5
of the September 30, 1992 agreement “On the status of Russian border
troops installed on the territory of the Republic of Armenia and the
conditions of their operations,” which rules out the possibility of
the representatives of the Russian Federation border troops to conduct
investigations unilaterally and defines cooperation in investigations
and urgent action with the RA National Security Service and law
enforcement, according to the Armenian criminal and judicial codes.

On January 13, at approximately 12:15AM, Russian border guards did
not pass an information the National Security Service (NSS) and
law enforcement about a person illegally attempting to cross the
Armenian-Turkish border, while the NSS and law enforcement did not
demand the information either. Valery Permyakov’s action, the illegal
attempt of crossing of the RA State border consists of article 329
of the RA Criminal Code as a premeditated act of illegally crossing
the state border,” said the petition.

POTATO IS LIKE A MINISTER

Lragir.am
Country – 26 February 2015, 14:57

A group of women went on protest against yesterday’s pronouncement
by Sergo Karapetyan, the minister of agriculture. Yesterday Sergo
Karapetyan told farmers in Shirak Marz that potato is like a daughter,
you should give her to the first one who will ask for her hand.

“You keep it, keep it, keep it, when you finally want, you say come
and take it. And they say I don’t want it, you have brought it and let
it rot. You must sell the product when the buyer comes. If one comes
after your daughter, you must give her to him, as the saying is,”
the minister said.

Demonstrators are holding posters reading “Minister, were your children
brought up by a potato?”, “Minister, can’t you tell a potato from
a girl?” and demand that Sergo Karapetyan publicly apologize to all
women. They have put potatoes in front of the building of government.

ARTS PERSONALITIES LIKELY TO REQUEST SERZH SARGSYAN TO PARDON VARDAN PETROSYAN

Lragir.am
Law – 26 February 2015, 15:52

The Haykakan Zhamanak writes: “HZh has learned that some arts
personalities are considering to address Serzh Sargsyan with a request
to pardon the famous actor Vardan Petrosyan sentenced to 5 years.

After the sentence had been pronounced, one of his advocates Nikolay
Baghdasaryan announced that considering that the crime was committed
by negligence, if he is sentenced to five years, he will be amnestied.

Inmates of different penitentiaries are also expecting Serzh Sargsyan
to announce an amnesty on the centenary of the genocide.

However, at the higher levels of the government they claim that
there are no such preparations now, and nothing like this is expected
until April 24. Hence, the arts personalities who will be probably
joined by some famous public personalities are discussing the option
of holding out a request to Serzh Sargsyan. The higher levels of the
government are speaking that soon Serzh Sargsyan will, most probably,
pardon some other people as well.”