Monday,
Armenian Mayors Warned Against Engaging In Business
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian arrives for a conference on local
government in Yerevan, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Monday warned heads of local government
bodies in Armenia to stop abusing their position to enrich themselves and their
cronies or face prosecution.
Speaking at a conference attended by hundreds of local government officials,
Pashinian complained that the mayors of many Armenian towns and villages have
long owned or benefited from lucrative businesses located in their communities.
“I want to make clear that public service cannot and must not be perceived as a
business activity by not only the prime minister, ministers and National
Assembly deputies but also the community heads and local council members,” he
said in a speech at the conference organized by the government.
“The primary and sole aim of a state official must be to multiply public,
rather than personal or parochial, enrichment,” he said. “And I want us to
again conclude that in the new Armenia there can be no such practices or their
continuation.”
Pashinian said that his government is giving such officials a chance to “change
ways in the changing reality.” “Those who don’t make use of that chance will be
dealt with by law-enforcement bodies,” he warned.
Pashinian and his political team pledged to root out widespread government
corruption in Armenia when they swept to power in May on a wave of mass
protests commonly known as the “velvet revolution.” There has been a sharp
increase in corruption investigations launched by law-enforcement authorities
since then.
Town and village mayors have been one of the main targets of these inquiries.
Investigators have alleged serious misuse and embezzlement of public funds in
dozens of communities across the country.
Pashinian said that corrupt local officials now hope that his administration’s
anti-corruption drive will lose momentum and that they will again be able to
line their pockets. “Please do not have such hopes,” he told them. “There will
be no return to the old ways. I mean it in the political, economic and all
other senses.”
“The only thing that will happen in Armenia is the elimination of corruption
and corrupt officials,” he added.
Conversely, Pashinian pledged support for those local government chiefs who
will steer clear of any corrupt practices. “We will do everything to assist and
stand by them and make their work more effective,” he said.
Official Sanguine About West's Reaction To Armenian Deployment In Syria
• Ruzanna Stepanian
SYRIA -- A picture taken on March 17, 2018, shows portraits of Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at a jewellery
shop in Aleppo.
A senior Armenian lawmaker expressed confidence on Monday that Western powers
will not rebuke Armenia for deploying military personnel to Syria with Russia’s
support.
The Armenian Defense Ministry sent 83 medics, demining experts and other
military personnel to the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday. It said they will
help civilians and clear landmines left behind from the continuing bloody
conflict in the Arab state.
The ministry attributed the deployment to “the severe humanitarian situation”
in Aleppo, “written requests from the Syrian side,” and the existence of an
Armenian community in Syria.
Andranik Kocharian, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament
committee on defense and security, said that the thousands of ethnic Armenians
in the war-ravaged city will now “feel safer.”
“Our Western partners will definitely understand this [deployment] because we
are talking first and foremost about our [ethnic Armenian] compatriots living
in Syria,” Kocharian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Armenia’s plans to send military personnel to Syria were first announced by
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in September following his talks with Russian
President Vladimir Putin held in Moscow.
John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser, discussed the issue with
Pashinian and Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan when he visited Yerevan in
October. Bolton warned them against sending combat troops to aid Syrian
government forces or their allies.
The United States and the European Union have been very critical of the Russian
military intervention in Syria which helped President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime
gain the upper hand in the brutal civil war.
The Armenian deployment came as Tonoyan held talks in Moscow with Russia’s
Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.The latter thanked Yerevan for its “humanitarian
assistance” to Syria.
Armenia - Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the parliament committee on
defense and security, January 30, 2019.
Kocharian claimed that the Armenian government itself initiated the dispatch of
the sappers, medics and other servicemen tasked with protecting them. Russia is
“naturally very happy” with their deployment, he said.
Meanwhile, a senior opposition lawmaker denounced the government for sending
the contingent to Syria without consulting with the Armenian parliament.
“The authorities constantly talk about a transparent work style and increasing
[the government’s] accountability. This action runs counter to that,” said
Gevorg Gorgisian of the Bright Armenia Party (LHK).
“Maybe [the deployment] was necessary,” said Gorgisian. “But they should have
talked about that. The National Assembly should have known why they are doing
that.”
Gorgisian also warned of the move’s possible negative “consequences” for
Armenia’s relations with the U.S. and the EU.
Ex-Minister Suspends Membership In Armenia’s Former Ruling Party
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian speaks to journalists during a
congress of the ruling Republican Party, November 26, 2016.
Former Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian said on Monday that she has
suspended her membership in the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK)
in order to start a law practice and run a new think-tank.
She indicated that she will join the ranks of those attorneys who do not
hesitate to defend presently unpopular individuals.
Hovannisian, 35, served as justice minister from 2015-2017 before becoming a
deputy speaker of the former Armenian parliament elected in April 2017. She has
been one of the most vocal HHK critics of the country’s current leadership
which ousted HHK leader Serzh Sarkisian from power last spring.
The once powerful party narrowly failed to clear the 5 percent vote threshold
to enter the new parliament elected in December. It is still headed by
Sarkisian.
In a Facebook post, Hovannisian announced that she is joining, as a partner, a
law and consulting firm that was recently founded by Davit Harutiunian, another
senior HHK figure and former justice minister.
An HHK representative told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Harutiunian remains
formally affiliated with the party. At least two other former members of
Sarkisian’s government also work for the firm called Davit and Partners.
Hovannisian, who is a lawyer by education, also revealed that she has set up a
non-governmental organization that will analyze political developments and
propose solutions to challenges facing Armenia.
“I will continue my active involvement in political and social processes, carry
out in-depth analyses of decisions made [by the authorities] and will not shy
away from voicing strong criticism if need be,” she wrote.
“It is essential that my views voiced at this stage are not viewed in the light
of a political trajectory or party affiliation. This is especially important in
the context of my decision to set up a non-governmental organization,” the
former minister added, explaining the suspension of her HHK membership.
Turkey Returns Tractor Stolen From Armenian Farmer
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
Armenia -- Gor Karapetian, a farmer from Haykavan village, shows his tractor
that was stolen on the Turkish border in September, .
Authorities in Turkey have found and transported back to neighboring Armenia a
tractor that was stolen from an Armenian farmer in September.
Gor Karapetian, who lives in a village in the northwestern Shirak province, was
cutting hay near an Armenian-Turkish border post when his tractor broke down
late in the evening. The vehicle vanished before he came back to the grass
field the next morning in hopes of repairing it.
An Armenian law-enforcement body launched a criminal investigation after
Karapetian alerted Russian border guards deployed along the closed frontier.
The investigation was suspended three months later, with no suspects identified.
The tractor was subsequently found in Turkish territory. Turkish authorities
shipped it back to Armenia on February 6.
“We towed it back to the village,” Karapetian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
“They say that the tractor was found buried under hay.”
The farmer said that the 30-year-old tractor was looted and vandalized by the
thieves. They also stole a hay rake that was attached to the tractor, he said,
adding that he did not get it back.
“[The hay rake] is worth 2.5 million drams ($5,200) and the tractor 7.2 million
drams,” claimed Karapetian. He said he does not know who could compensate him
for the damage.
Turkey has kept its border with Armenia completely closed since 1993 because of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite tight security on the Armenian side of
the frontier, residents of nearby Armenian villages have occasionally reported
cross-border theft of their livestock.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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