Month: February 2015

GROUP TO DEAL WITH ARMENIAN POGROMS IN SUMGAIT NEEDED – LARISA ALAVERDYAN

13:44 * 24.02.15

The Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan, are ready material
for drafting a package similar to the one by the Commission for
Coordination of events on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, Larisa Alaverdyan, Executive Director of the Foundation
against the Violation of Law, told reporters on Tuesday as she spoke
of the 27th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait.

“Armenians in Azerbaijan were not a national minority. They were a
people that built up Azerbaijan,” she said.

Ms Alaverdyan pointed out the need for government’s involvement.

“We have to apply to relevant bodies for both funds and experts.

Enthusiasm alone is not enough now.”

ECONOMIC INTERESTS SUBORDINATED TO POLITICAL AMBITIONS – OPINIONS ON ABKHAZIAN RAILWAY PROJECT

11:36 * 24.02.15

The new Georgian authorities, unlike former President Mikheil
Saakashvili’s administration, are willing to offer a realistic
solution to the controversial Abkhazian railway project, a lawmaker
from Georgia’s Armenian populated region of Jabakh said, commenting
on President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s call for a dialogue with Russia.

“While under the former government, it was absolutely pointless
to address the topic, the mutual statements made on the level of
high-ranking officials now allow for optimism in terms of bringing
the Abkhazian railway issue to the negotiations’ agenda,” Shirak
Torosyan of the ruling Republican faction in parliament told Tert.am.

According to him, the Georgian leader’s statement falls within the
logic of the country’s new policies towards Russia.

Torosyan noted that statements of the kind are very frequently made
by the Georgian authorities despite the fact that the country also
simultaneously keeps insisting on its territorial integrity demand.

“This gives us a ground to assume that the Georgians will not, in
any case, chose toughened policies or a confrontation with Russia,”
he said, admitting in the meantime that that a solution is not likely
to be achieved in the near future.

“The question is complicated but not impossible to solve. The Abkhazian
railway’s launch will offer benefits to both Georgia and Abkhazia,
and Russia and Armenia. The railroad’s stoppage today is due purely
to political motives, because if we consider the economic factor a
priority, it [the railway] would definitely open right tomorrow. But
since the political factor is in the forefront, it doesn’t operate,”
the Republican lawmaker explained.

He said he expects the railway’s launch to cut to the minimum the
freight transportation costs from Russia to Armenia and Georgia.

“As a result, Abkhazia’s economy will develop very rapidly, as it
will become a transit country. Georgia will carry out the freight
transportation with Russia via the railway, cheaply and comfortably,
and that will contribute to the economy’s growth. And Armenia will
have the chance to communicate with the external world through the
railway,” he added.

Torosyan said he finds the railway opening plan not only realistic
but also absolutely logical. “It has to after all open one day. So
it is important to overcome all the political ambitions,” he said,
agreeing in the meantime that the process will require long efforts.

Speaking to Tert.am, an expert in Georgian affairs, Alik Eroyants,
noted that the Georgian-Russian relations have been somewhat pushed to
the background against the backdrop of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine

“Seeing very well Russia’s influence on the region, the Georgian
side naturally wishes to at least avoid tense relations with such
a superpower. Perhaps, that’s the reason that the Georgian side
repeatedly voices its willingness to keep the dialogue going,” he said,
admitting at the same time the existing difficulties that slow down
the process.

The expert said he sees that despite its promises to re-establish
relations with Georgia, the Russian authorities seem to be leading
the process to a deadlock by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

According to him, the statements are more aimed at preserving what
now exists rather than moving towards a progress.

Eroyants particularly referred to the Georgian authorities’ recent
statement that they no longer treat the reconciliation with Russia
as a priority.

He further stressed the need of considering the political and economic
implications of the railway’s launch. “A question which remains open
is what country will deal with the project’s funding, because we will
need considerably serious resources for that. But the political will
– as to who will break the stereotype that the Abkhazian railway is
nonetheless economically important for all countries – has a big role
in any case,” he said, noting that the question’s political aspect
is now under focus.

Turkey and Azerbaijan too, are obstacles for the Abkhazian railway’s
operation in this case, because it isn’t in their countries’ interest.

They are implementing bilateral projects with Georgia and see
a counterbalance to those projects, as the operation will be a
blow to Turkey and Azerbaijan both economically and politically,”
Eroyants said, addign that he doesn’t expect the project to ever
become realistic in future.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“TURKEY IS NOT INTERESTED IN THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS”: TURKOLOGIST (VIDEO)

14:04 | February 24,2015 | Politics

“The statements on cancelling Centennial commemorations of the
Gallipoli Battle and then rejecting it were steps against the Turkish
authorities,” is sure Turkologist Andranik Ispiryan.

Turkologist thinks that the news on cancelling the commemorations was
written by an Azerbaijani journalist. The news was written in English
and that news agency belongs to Fethullah Gulen, who is considered
an adversary of present Turkish authorities and an American agent
in Turkey.

What relates to recalling the Armenian-Turkish protocols by the
Republic of Armenia, Turkologist noted, “It didn’t get much attention
in Turkey. Foreign Ministry of Turkey made such a neutral statement
that it once more proved that Turkey is not interested in those
protocols and once they were signed for demonstration purposes.”

A FAMILY AFFAIR: BUSINESS INTERESTS OF PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Grisha Balasanyan

12:32, February 24, 2015

While Armenia’s National Assembly President Galust Sahakyan has
consistently declared that he isn’t engaged in business, he has
conveniently hidden the fact that his wife and sons (also in
government) are.

It would be the apex of naiveté to believe that Sahakyan lives merely
off his government salary or that his family members, due to sheer
due diligence alone and without abusing their personal contacts in
government, have become owners of various companies.

Ever since 2011, Sahakyan (who was appointed speaker of the parliament
in April 2014, has only listed as revenue his government wages and
pensions when filling out the financial disclosure forms he’s mandated
to file.

Combined, these have hovered around 3.6 million AMD annually
(US$7,500).

Galust Sahakyan’s wife Zhanna Aghababyan has also declared her
dividends in addition to her cash holdings. Most of her revenues are
derived from dividends and the rest from wages and pensions.

Zhanna Aghababyan – Financial Disclosures

2011

2012

2013

Cash holdings

AMD

29,530,000

60,785,765

75,785,765

USD

0

0

0

Revenues (AMD)

31,961,036

31,255,765

30,488,000

Of which dividends amount to:

30,660,000

29,606,400

28,500,000

Hetq contacted the National Assembly’s Press and Public Affairs
Department to find out what companies are the sources of these
dividends. The department replied that the parliament isn’t privy to
such information.

Naturally, Galust Sahakyan knows the companies issuing dividends to
his wife. It’s another question whether it’s in his best interest to
divulge their names.

The Business of Zhanna Aghababyan and the Family of the Deputy Minister
of Health

Aroghj Apaga Bzhshkakan Kentron Ltd. (Healthy Future Medical Center)
was established in 2006. Zhanna Aghababyan and Lilit Gasparyan own 50%
apiece. Gasparyan is the director of the Vagharshabat Polyclinic and
the wife of Deputy Health Minister Vahan Poghosyan. The company is
managed by Vahan Poghosyan’s son Edgar.

The corporate address is registered in Etchmiadzin.

Medipriz Ltd., established in 2006, is equally owned by two
shareholders – Zhanna Harutyunyan and Vahram Harutyunyan. In fact,
Zhanna Harutyunyan is none other than Hovik Abrahamyan’s wife Zhanna
Aghababyan. (For some inexplicable reason her last name appears as
Harutyunyan in the state corporate registry). She also serves as
company director.

Zhanna Aghababyan and Sons

There isn’t much information regarding the business activities of
the parliament speaker’s wife and two sons.

What we do know is that a company called J.D.A.S. Ltd. is registered
to Zhanna Aghababyan (34%) and her son Tigran Sahakyan (66%). Tigran
serves as a Deputy Minister of Health.

Taking a look at Tigran Sahakyan’s financial disclosures, we are
struck by his large cash holdings and the fact that rental fees make
up the bulk of his revenues.

Tigran Sahakyan’s Financial Disclosures

2011

2012

2013

Cash holdings

AMD

43,740,000

84,445,517

85,831,617

USD

0

0

0

Revenues (AMD)

29,728,202

51,033,548

7,386,100

Of which rents amount to:

26,917,710

48,600,000

4,929,750

Hayr yev vordi Sahakyanner CJSC, established in 2009, is another
company owned by the Sahakyan family.

NAREK 84 Ltd., of which 50% is owned by Galust Sahakyan’s son Tigran,
is involved in the trade of textiles, foodstuffs, shoes, clothes and
construction materials.

Transportation routes owned by the Sahakyans and their close friends

Bus route 57 in Yerevan is serviced by Ardini Studio CJSC which owned
by Galust Sahakyan’s son Arman Sahakyan, who heads the State Property
Management Department.

Arman Sahakyan also owns a 50% stake in SA-GHA TRANS, a company that
operates the #64 minivan route in Yerevan.

We see from his financial disclosures below that Arman Sahakyan only
started to list dividends from these companies in 2013. Prior to that,
most of his declared revenues derived from property rentals.

Arman Sahakyan’s Financial Disclosures

2011Õ©.

2012Õ©.

2013Õ©.

Cash holdings

AMD

95,000,000

101,500,000

144,000,000

USD

0

0

0

Revenues (AMD)

24,394,409

25,926,253

23,098,775

Of which rents amount to:

22,200,000

16,650,000

20,682,268 (dividends)

Arman Sahakyan also owned 45% in a company called Rich Friends Ltd.

which sells cigarettes in the CIS. He sold his shares in 2013.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITALIAN RESEARCHER: ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI MIGRANTS IN TURKEY BOTH WANT TO MAKE MONEY

Anna Muradyan

09:42, February 23, 2015

Hetq talks to Italian sociologist Fabio Salomoni, a faculty member
at Koc University’s Social Sciences and Humanities, who began to take
an interest in Turkey in the 1990s.

Salomoni has also focused on the plight of Armenian and Azerbaijan
migrants in Turkey and his latest paper on the issue is entitled
“Just Beyond the Border: Azerbaijani and Armenian Migrants in Turkey.”

Referring to the southern Caucasus, Salomoni argues that the only
reason the world is interested in the area was the Karabakh War,
despite the fact that some one million migrants left Armenia during
those years and probably an equal number from Azerbaijan.

What are the differences, if any, between Armenian and Azerbaijan
migrants residing in Turkey?

One difference is that the bulk of Armenians are located in Istanbul,
whereas Azerbaijanis are scattered throughout the country. Of course,
there are Armenians in Antalya, Izmir and Ankara, but very few. On
the other hand, while there are many Azerbaijanis in Istanbul, there
are also many in Izmir and especially Igdir and Kars.

It’s difficult to compare these two communities. Sometimes they
express this difference in the most unexpected manner. Yes, one can
say that Armenia and Turkey are enemies and that Armenians should
have big issues with Turkey, but sometimes the opposite occurs.

Armenian migrants have the same issues with Turkish employers as any
other migrant group.

Azerbaijanis shouldn’t have problems in Turkey, but if you ask an
average Turk about their opinion regarding Azerbaijanis the only
thing they know is that they speak a laughable and strange sort of
Turkish and that their accent is different.

But there is also a sub-context to the ridicule – of communism, soviets
and atheism. Sure the Azerbaijanis are Muslims, but not real Muslims,
because they do not think about religion much.

Perhaps the biggest difference is in regards to expectations. When
Azerbaijanis come to Turkey, they believe that they are going to
see their brothers and will work besides them. But this isn’t how it
works out. They are still migrants. That myth about brotherhood is
pure rhetoric.

What relations exist, if any, between Armenian and Azerbaijani
migrants?

There are places where both sides come into contact; whether they
like to or not. Take the police station for example. Since most are
illegal migrants, that’s where they end up if detained. They are also
side by side when working as street vendors.

As to how they communicate with one another mainly depends on their
age. The older ones have a history of living together and thus they get
along better. The younger ones do not mingle because they lack such a
history. It’s much harder for them to compose a positive picture of
the other. Nevertheless, there are times when they must get along;
say when they work in a factory together.

But ultimately, the one trait they share is that they have come to
Turkey to make money. This main issue pushes the national context
aside. Both communities understand that it’s best if they avoid
confrontation.

Of course, if certain Azerbaijani have links to nationalist Turkish
groups they may display greater aggression towards Armenians but,
in the main, that’s not the case.

How do these two communities feel in Turkey?

First, I’d like to stress that while most Armenians from Armenia in
Turkey are women, there are also many young people and seniors; also
children. The Azerbaijani community is more balanced in terms of sex.

Many Azerbaijanis are disillusioned because the majority of them want
settle in Turkey. They see Turkey as a country where they can receive
easy citizenship. But that’s not the case, even for them.

Most Armenians, on the other hand, do not plan to live the rest of
their lives in Turkey. They cannot picture themselves as part of
Turkish society. However, there are many Armenian migrants who have
lived there for ten or more years.

In reality, in a way, it is easier for Armenians because most migrants
work as house cleaners. Such jobs are regarded as good and easy.

That’s to say such work isn’t the worst kind to find. The men, in
the main, work in factories where the pay is less and the work harder.

Have you tried to ascertain how many Armenian migrants there are
in Istanbul?

It’s an impossible task because statistics on migrants in Turkey aren’t
kept. However, I was once told by the Azerbaijani embassy that some
50,000 Azerbaijani migrants were in Turkey. They are five times more
Azerbaijanis than Armenians.

Is the number of Armenian migrants growing or getting smaller?

I have the feeling that the flow of migrants from Armenia has decreased
over the past three years. The same holds true for Armenians going
to Turkey on business.

What’s the reason?

Large numbers of Armenians came to Istanbul in the late 1990s. Even
though Russia at the time was the most attractive for Armenian migrants
overall, Turkey was more attractive for middle aged Armenian women
who couldn’t overcome the economic problems facing them in Armenia
after independence. They had to make a living somehow and the most
immediate solution was in Turkey. It was inexpensive and nearby,
and there were jobs for women.

Azerbaijanis started coming to Turkey in the late 1980s, a decade or
so before the Armenians.

Around two years ago, Turkey adopted a new law regarding visas and
residency status. How has it affected the Armenian migrant community?

I believe it made things tougher for illegal migrants. Prior to the
new law, they could enter Turkey with a three month tourist visa,
leave the country, and then receive another three month visa. The
new law stipulates they can only stay in Turkey for six months in a
one year period. It’s limited their mobility and forces them to apply
for legal residency status.

Illegal migrants have no rights in Turkey when something happens to
them and they have issues to resolve. However, if these people are
in Turkey, it would appear that the country has a need of them and
must come to grips with their existence. What is Turkey doing in
this direction?

For a long time, Turkey was a labor exporter. During the past ten
years, it has witnessed a return of migrants and has become a final
destination country. In reality, people come to Turkey for work. This
is something new for the country and is forcing Turkey to change. This
is a big challenge. This law was the first step in the process.

There’s an idea that it would be good to create a resource center
in Kumkapi or another place with many Armenians for the Armenian
migrants; a center where they could go to get assistance legally. What
do you think?

In the past 3-5 years, a number of organizations have started to get
involved in migration issues. When I first arrived in Turkey no one
was interested in the plight of migrants. Such assistance centers are
needed not only for Armenians but for all migrants since they share
the same issues.

For example, migrants from Armenia have been able to get a school for
their kids opened. Other migrant groups still don’t have such a school.

Many Azerbaijani migrants pay to send their children to local Turkish
schools. But not all can afford to do so. Turkey must think of ways
to solve the education issue of migrant children.

However, no one in the education system is focusing attention on where
migrant children must go to school or for medical help. Sometimes,
Armenian migrants can go to Armenian community hospitals.

If you go to Europe, you’ll see that the migration issue is a top
concern in all respects. But at the moment, in Turkey, there hasn’t
been any political solution to the problem. It’s all left to the
communities to handle in their own way.

If one cannot enter the Turkish education system, the migrant community
then builds its own school, just like the Armenians have done. Who
knows how long this approach will last.

ARMENIA’S LATEST STAGED SHOW – YET ANOTHER ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE

Armen Arakelyan

21:24, February 20, 2015

Corruption and the struggle against it haven’t been topics of
discussion in Armenia for a while now, and that’s not unintentional.

Only serious issues and problems needing solving are discussed in
Armenia. The public doesn’t talk about corruption any more because
it’s pointless, and the leadership isn’t talking about it because it
believes corruption barely exists in Armenia.

Well, to be correct, the leadership says it exists but in the form
of bribery, and not on the governmental level, but within society.

It was Armenia’s National Assembly President Galust Sahakyan who
exposed this to be the reality in Armenia.

At a press conference held during Vice President of Uruguay Danilo
Astori’s visit last December to Armenia, Sahakyan was quoted as saying
the following:

It’s difficult to prove where bribery exists, where corruption exists.

Of course, corruption exists in Armenia, and there’s a struggle against
it, but it’s not a nationwide struggle, because any given structure
in Armenia that plays a part in the public sphere that isn’t focused
on corruption is certainly focused on bribery. That relates to public
organizations and journalists.”

Whether corruption under the guise of bribery exists in only this
sector is proven by work. Recently, thanks to journalism, mostly
doctors, lecturers and rarely inspectors, have been arrested and
detained for corruption. The same applies to judges in isolated cases
as well.

But the government is clearly not ready to deal with that trivial
amount of corruption. To prevent the last grains of corruption to take
root, the government decided to set up an Anti-Corruption Council. And
since it’s only logical that the ones who must get rid of corruption
are those whose hands aren’t dirty and who have made money by the
honest sweat of their brow, it was decided that Prime Minister Hovik
Abrahamyan should head the council.

In addition to two civil society representatives and one member
of each political opposition faction in the National Assembly, the
council will be composed of Minister – Chief of Government Staff Davit
Harutyunyan, Justice Minister Hovhannes Manukyan, Finance Minister
Gagik Khachatryan, and Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan.

It’s a bit upsetting that that the individual best versed about
corruption in Armenia, Galust Sahakyan, will not serve. That this
council is really serious about rooting out the last grains of bribery
and corruption is evidenced by the fact that a committee of experts,
attached to the council, will also be created.

All the anti-corruption initiatives made in Armenia by the council and
committees, including their programs, strategies, piles of concepts,
communications, meetings and round-table discussions conducted with
serious faces and clenched fists are nothing new.

An initiative with practically the same name was introduced in 2004,
and that was also headed by the Prime Minister. After several years
of diligent work, not only did the council draft and approve a
strategy for tackling corruption, but it also drafted reforms for
two generations. And the National Assembly president’s position
that corruption exists only in the public sector comes from that
painstaking work.

Another similar body formed in the early 2000s by the Armenian
President was called the Anti-Corruption Strategy Implementation
Monitoring Commission. Just how that commission concluded its
undertakings is, perhaps, not important. That the work was done is all
that matters. It should go without saying that with this new initiative
led by Hovik Abrahamyan (apparently the previous programs weren’t
well-planned), corruption is condemned and will finally be weeded out.

To achieve those results, the ministers on the council under
Abrahamyan’s leadership, with a wave of the magic wand, will suddenly
start to amicably declare the sources of their billions of accumulated
wealth along with the methods implemented. And they’ll finally explain
how they managed to stack up so many accomplishments with their modest
salaries. They won’t have any choice, because the Chairman of the
Armenian Committee on Ethics is also on the council.

In case you aren’t informed, there is such a committee in Armenia. The
offshore affair, which was tied to former Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan, will finally be disclosed.

And the Minister of Justice will reveal what was the “misunderstanding”
that resulted in freeing from jail, after two or three years behind
bars, high ranking police officials found guilty of embezzlement and
other serious criminal offences.

And the Prosecutor General will explain how officials charged with
swindling the Artsakh Army out of millions in a meat provision scam
walked away free after being charged.

In all likelihood, the creation of the new council will also have
an effect on the local oligarchs. They won’t wait any longer for
the president to order the prime minister to examine their tax
liabilities. Of their own accord and feeling their responsibility
as citizens, they will begin to document their real sales numbers,
faithfully pay their taxes, break up their monopolies to encourage
competition and completely stay out of politics. They also won’t
pay out bribes during elections and won’t appear on political party
proportionate lists of candidates.

So things aren’t really as bad as they might seem. We can consider
all of Armenia’s issues with corruption solved with the formation of
the Anti-Corruption Council. We can even start thinking about setting
a non-working holiday marking the victory of the end to corruption.

Now all we have to do is anticipate the beginning of this new show.

Happy viewing.

RELATIVES OF MURDERED GYUMRI FAMILY GIVE PROSECUTOR GENERAL 4 DAYS TO ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS

02.24.2015 11:53 epress.am

The relatives of the Avetisyan family that was massacred in Gyumri
on January 12, gathered in front of the Shirak Marz (Province)
prosecutor’s office yesterday, February 23, demanding that RA General
Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan meet with them. Avetsiyan’s relatives
noted that they wanted answers to their questions from the Prosecutor:
“We will not leave here until our questions are answered. We’ve waited
for 42 days, we have no where else to go.”

The relatives of the murdered family wanted to know, in particular, how
the Russian soldier Valery Permyakov charged with the murders was found
on the Armenian-Turkish border and taken to the Russian military base,
and whether the clothes he was wearing had actually belonged to the
Avetisyans. The relatives also demanded that the content of Kostanyan’s
letter to the Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Chayka be published
so it could be clear, whether the General Prosecutor had actually
demanded that the case be transferred to Armenian law enforcement.

Shirak Marz Prosecutor Raffi Aslanyan told the relatives in his
office that the Provincial Prosecutor had no authority over the issue,
because the investigation of the case is being carried out by Special
Investigative Service and is supervised by the RA General Prosecutor.

The Avetisyans’ successors stated that they would not leave the
prosecutor’s office until Kostanyan came and met them. However,
Aslanyan told them that waiting would be in vain because the General
Prosecutor would not arrive in Gyumri.

Some time later, the relatives left the prosecutor’s building and
decided to give Kostanyan until Thursday, in case the latter does
not respond they will organize a protest on Friday. The relatives
were confident that if they protested all of Gyumri would join
them. They stressed that the incidents on January 15 could repeat,
where thousands of people protested demanding that Valery Permyakov
be transferred to Armenian law enforcement.

“We’ve waited for 42 days, we can tolerate being ignored these 3
days also. If [Kostanyan] respected our grief, he would be here,”
said one of the Avetisyans’ relatives.

Six members of the Avetisyan family were murdered on January 12 in
their Gyumri home. The family’s seventh member, 6-month-old Seryozha
Avetisyan, who had serious injuries, was transferred to the hospital
and died 7 days later. Russian soldier Valery Permyakov is the central
murder suspect of the case. Currently, Russian officials are not
transferring Permyakov to Armenian law enforcement, although Russia
is supposed to under an agreement signed between Armenia and Russia.

RUSSIAN GENERAL PROSECUTOR RECEIVES KOSTANYAN’S LETTER: CONTENT NOT REVEALED

02.24.2015 16:01 epress.am

Armenian General Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan’s petition sent to
Russian General Prosecutor’s office is currently being discussed by
the Russian colleagues, reported a statement by Armenia’s General
Prosecutor. Kostanyan had petitioned for the criminal case of the
murder of a 7-member Gyumri family be transferred to Armenian law
enforcement.

“As to statements about the publication of the content of the RA
General Prosecutor’s petition, according to the Article 1.3 of the
Law on Freedom of Information, the letter contains materials related
to the preliminary investigation that is not subject to publication,
hence in the interest of safeguarding the case’s pluralistic side and
its objectivity, at this moment, the content of the petition can not
be revealed.

The General Prosecutor calls for Armenian citizens to refrain from
making ungrounded, non-professional opinions around this issue,”
said the General Prosecutor’s statement.

Note, that the Union of Informed Citizens NGO demanded that the
Administrative Court provided a copy of Gevorg Kostanyan’s petition
addressed to his Russian colleague.

Recall, six members of the Avetisyan family were murdered on January
12 in their Gyumri home. The family’s seventh member, 6-month-old
Seryozha Avetisyan, who had serious injuries, was transferred to the
hospital and died 7 days later. Russian soldier Valery Permyakov is the
central murder suspect of the case. Currently, Russian officials are
not transferring Permyakov to Armenian law enforcement, although Russia
is supposed to under an agreement signed between Armenia and Russia.

DISAPPEARED SOLDIER IN GYUMRI STILL NOT FOUND

02.24.2015 12:12 epress.am

Gyumri’s Mush District Police Department is still looking for Gyurmi
102-nd Russian Military Base soldier, Lance Corporal 25-year old
Artur Afyan. According to a police statement, Afyan left home around
2AM on February 21 and never returned.

Asparez paper reports that according to word circulating in Gyumri,
Afyan had debts which could be the reason for his disappearance.

However, Tavush province’s Hovk village mayor Grigor Gevorgyan
toldHaykakan Zhamanak daily that Afyan would not disappear because
of some debt.

“He is a very organized, hard working young man, and respected in the
village. Who doesn’t have debt today, I don’t think it is due to debt,”
said Gevorgyan.

Artur Afyan resides in Gyumri, is married and has a 2-month-old baby.

ARTSAKH AND THE UNITED STATES CAN JOINTLY INVESTIGATE AZERBAIJANI SUBVERSIVES’ ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO VICTORIA NULAND

February 24 2015

“Ms. Nuland’s visit to the regions was important especially from
the perspective that this was the first trip by this level American
official to Armenia after imposing sanctions against Russia by
the West, and presentation of the vision of the USA administration
pertaining to prospective of bipartite relations by her under the new
geopolitical situation was expected”, said former Foreign Minister of
Nagorno-Karabakh Arman Melikyan in the conversation with “Aravot”,
summing up the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland’s visit. Our interlocutor appraises
the fact that the American side had expressed its readiness to deepen
cooperation in a number of key spheres. At the same time, we gave
a greater attention to the views expressed by Ms. Nuland regarding
the possibility of extradition of the subversives to the Azerbaijani
side convicted for teenager’s murder and a number of other crimes in
Artsakh, as well as the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process. “With
regard to the future of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process,
she had expressed her joy that Armenia has not suspended her
participation in it, and this high-level official’s statement seemed
strange to many people which was made right after Mr. Serzh Sargsyan
recalled the infamous Armenian-Turkish Protocols. I think that Ms.

Nuland is right that Armenia will be a part of this process as long
as it has not canceled the signature by its official representative
underneath the protocols. Pertaining to the subversives, Ms. Nuland’s
humanitarian approaches upset many people, it is hard to understand
the assassins, in fact, the offer to grant liberty and a hero of
Azerbaijan. I think that this issue should be considered in the
political context by putting the words about humanitarian aspirations
aside,” said Arman Melikyan, adding that the United States, as well
as the Republic of Armenia do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an
independent state, and as long as the issue has not acquired its legal
solution, we view Artsakh as a territory of Azerbaijan, which is under
the Baku court’s jurisdiction domain. “Thus, the NKR court instances’
activities cannot be considered legal. The Artsakh court decisions
will be considered legitimate by the countries that will recognize
the NKR state independence. Here’s what the political and governmental
circles of Armenia should think about. On the other hand, it is worth
remembering, too, that if I’m not mistaken, the Russian foreign
minister was the first who raised the possibility of extradition
of subversives to Azerbaijan via mediation of Russia, this means
that the American official has simply restored the balance,” opines
our interlocutor adding that under this situation, the Armenian side
gains the opportunity to make some actions. “If Armenia along with the
Russian relevant authorities carries out joint investigation regarding
the brutal murder in Gyumri, then Artsakh can offer the American side
to carry out a joint investigation for this kind of crimes, as well
as prior to the final resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
to provide legal assistance to Azerbaijani citizens at the NKR courts
and to the people of Artsakh at the Azerbaijani court instances,
it is possible to find mutually acceptable forms for this kind of
partnership.”

N. GRIGORYAN

Read more at: