Author: Andres-Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
MEDIA CENTER in YEREVAN
30 Saryan str.
Tel: +37460 505 898
+37499 755 898
Email: [email protected]
Web:

The Public Protests and Authorities’ Response after the Outrageous
Murder in Gyumri

Media Center, January 19, 2015: Those who demanded the 2015 Gyumri
murder to be investigated in Armenia were labeled as opposition, with
their position being described as anti-Russian whilst the events grew
into a hot-button issue. Such opinion was expressed by the speakers
today at the Media Center hosted press conference. The speakers
included: Hranush Kharatyan, ethnographer; Zaruhi Muradyan, artist;
and Karine Danielyan, head of the Association for Human Sustainable
Development.

`The Armenian President’s first response to the outrageous murder in
Gyumri was adequate but social networks were flooded with statements
calling for people not to stir Russophobia as the national identity of
a criminal is not decisive. Yet, his national identity and the Russian
military base in Gyumri are objective reality. These statements have
shaped the further events,’ said Hranush Kharatyan.

With respect to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement on
January 18, Kharatyan commented that the statement suggests suspect
Valery Permyakov, soldier at the 102th Russian Military Base, will be
tried according to Russian law.

`Putin’s statement that Permyakov will be tried and punished by the
full extent of the law means the soldier will be tried in Russia
because Putin can issue such statements only for Russia and never for
Armenia,’ added Kharatyan.

The public, speakers believe, have reacted more prudently to the
recent events, without any demand which might be out of Armenia’s
jurisdiction.

The Armenian officials chose an ostrich policy, as Karine Danielyan
described, which had a reverse effect and sparked protests.

`The protestors in Gyumri and rallies in Yerevan, with their proper
response, saved the repute of Armenian authorities who seemed to have
slipped into a coma.

The official response is likely to be their counteraction to the
rallies. Moreover, detaining protestors was absolutely inadequate,’
said Zaruhi Muradyan.

Earlier, over thirty protestors were detained at the rallies in
Yerevan.

The statement made by Gevorg Kostanyan, General Prosecutor of Armenia,
suggests that suspect Valery Permyakov may be tried inside the
geographical borders of Armenia but never according to terms of
Armenian law and investigation, Kharatyan said.

`Kostanyan’s words poured oil on the flames …. I must admit that our
authorities have betrayed the public in two ways: first, they
disgraced protests and riots, and secondly, what we have is nothing
but an outrageous crime and people want to know the motivation,’ added
Kharatyan.

Please follow the link to watch the full video
()
of the discussion.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIE
3500 stations anti-grêle sont nécessaires en Arménie

3 500 stations anti-grêle devraient être installées en Arménie a
déclaré le ministre des situations d’urgence Armen Yeritsyan.

Les 465 stations existantes ne représentent que 9% de ce qui est
nécessaire, a-t-il dit. Un total d’environ 4000 stations devraient
exister à travers l’Arménie, selon le ministre.

Il faudrait 15 millions de dollars qui ne sont pas inclus dans le
budget 2015, a-t-il dit.

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

Dink murder 8th anniversary commemorated in Istanbul

January 19, 2015 – 17:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Sisli District Organization of the Turkey’s
opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) commemorated Hrant Dink
with a rally on the 8th anniversary of his assassination in Istanbul.

The HDP also released a press statement underlying Cizre police chief
Ercan Demir’s connection with the Dink murder. Several recent murders
and disappearances in Cizre have been linked to police.

Agos, the Armenian weekly newspaper reports, that a petition was
launched for the name of Ergenekon Street to be changed to Hrant Dink
Street. As in previous years, a `Hrant Dink Street’ sticker was placed
on the `Ergenekon Street’ sign. The campaign for the name change will
remain open to signatures until April 24, the day of commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide.

A group of around fifty people unfurled a banner stating “Time to face
Hrant, time to face the Genocide’, and chanted the slogans, `Kurd,
Turk, Armenian / Long live the fraternity of peoples’, `We are all
Hrant / We are all Armenian’.

Xunav Altun, District Co-President of the HDP Sisli District
Organization, reminded that the 8th anniversary of Dink’s murder also
corresponded to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide, adding, `The
Genocide continues¦ Those who claimed that Sevag Balıkcı, who was
murdered for being an Armenian while fulfilling his military duty,
died because of a joke that went wrong; those who claim that Maritsa
Kucuk, who was taken from us at her home in Samatya, was killed during
a crime of petty larceny, in fact want to murder the truth itself. Our
response to those who perceive Armenians as `remnants of the sword’ is
to broaden our sisterhood and brotherhood, and to cry out the truth.
We demand true justice for Hrant, Sevag and Maritsa, the most recent
rings in the chain of the Armenian Genocide. We hold light to this
darkness that transforms babies into murderers.’

Agos founder and editor-in-chief, Hrant Dink, was also commemorated at
his graveside with a ceremony attended by his family and friends. The
commemoration event was attended by MP from the Republican People’s
Party Sezgin Tanrikulu, who reminded that other than a few gunmen, the
real organizers of the murder were not unearthed.

From: A. Papazian

Funeral and march held for murdered French-Armenian teenager

17:27 19/01/2015 >> SOCIETY

Funeral services were held this week at the Armenian Cathedral of
Marseille for Michaël Assaturyan, a 16-year-old French-Armenian
student who was murdered on Jan. 12, reported Nouvelles d’Armenie,
according to The Armenian Weekly.

An estimated 2,500 people gathered on Jan. 16 to march and mourn the
loss of the teenager; sources put the number at as high as 4,000.

Among those present were Mayor of Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin, along
with Deputies Didier Parakian and Martine Vassel, Parliamentarian
Valerie Boyer, Senators Jean-Noel Guerini and Bruno Gilles, Member of
the French National Assembly Dominique Tian, and Councilman Garo
Hovsepian, as well as leaders of the Armenian community–from clergy to
political activists.

Assaturyan, who attended high school in Marseille, was killed on Jan.
12 just outside school grounds. The suspects are two brothers–17 and
18 years old–who attacked Assaturyan after their sister had an
argument with him during a basketball game in gym class. Assaturyan
was stabbed four times, cutting a main artery, revealed French police.

Both brothers surrendered to police. According to sources, the younger
brother has a violent record that includes robbery and assault, for
which he was imprisoned in 2013. Police also have the sister in
custody, reported Nouvelles d’Armenie.

The march was in response to a call by the Coordination Council of
Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF).

Marching down Marseille’s historic La Canebière in the old quarter of
Marseille, mourners gathered at the Old Port around a large chalk
drawing of an Armenian cross encircled with flowers, and the words,
“Je suis Michaël” (“I am Michael”) above it. White roses in hand, some
wore shirts that read “Misha,” short for Michaël; others held signs
that read, “I am Michaël.”

From: A. Papazian

Sécurité ? : La nouvelle adhésion de l’Arménie à l’UEE fera-t-elle la
différence sur la ligne de front de la bataille et de l’économie ?

Malgré les affirmations du gouvernement arménien que l’adhésion de
l’Arménie dans l’Union économique eurasienne (UEE) fournira de la
sécurité au pays, la situation à la frontière arméno-azerbaïdjanaise,
ainsi que le long de la ligne de contact du Haut-Karabagkh a été
tendue depuis le début de l’année .

L’adhésion de l’Arménie dans l’Union douanière de l’UEE a débuté le 2
Janvier, depuis que l’Arménie a adhéré à l’Union créée par la Russie,
la Biélorussie et le Kazakhstan.

Anush Sedrakyan le vice-président du parti Démocrates a déclaré aux
journalistes que l’adhésion à l’UEE est une perte de sécurité.

“Cela prive l’Arménie de la possibilité de négocier avec des camps
altératifs, et nous sommes immédiatement apparus dans un camp turc où
le Kazakhstan, la Turquie et l’Azerbaïdjan se soutiennent
mutuellement, ces derniers sont liés les uns aux autres par des liens
politiques et diplomatiques, naturellement la pression est et
continuera à être implicite pour l’Arménie, ” a dit Anush Sedrakyan et
a ajouté que dans ce cas, l’Arménie n’a aucune chance de se tourner
vers le public international.

Selon le député du parti Héritage Tevan Poghosyan, l’idée d’une
sécurité n’est pas seulement la question de la ligne de front et de
l’armée, c’est à la fois la sécurité économique et politique et
social.

“Considérant que le problème est la ligne de front (la frontière avec
l’Azerbaïdjan), alors le problème de la sécurité ne ferait aucune
différence dans ce cas. La nation arménienne doit se rendre compte que
les intérêts de tout autre pays ne doivent pas être préférés davantage
à la sienne ” a dit Tevan Poghosyan qui a ajouté que l’Arménie doit
être capable de protéger son propre pays par ses propres moyens.

Selon le ministère de la Défense du Haut-Karabagh et de l’Arménie, la
frontière arméno-azerbaïdjanais a été mal à mal récemment. La partie
azerbaïdjanaise a essayé de franchir plusieurs fois la frontière
samedi et dimanche ; toutes les tentatives ont été empêchées.

Alina Nikoghosyan

ArmeniaNow

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 19 2015

Hrant Dink commemorated on eighth anniversary of murder

ISTANBUL

Mourners have marched in Istanbul to commemorate Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, on the eighth anniversary of his killing.

The march started 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 from Taksim Square and ended
with a homage to Dink in front of the Armenian weekly Agos newspaper’s
office building in the Pangaltı neighborhood of Å?iÅ?li district.

The marchers observed one minute of silence and then chanted slogans
in front of the Agos office.

Writer and poet Murathan Mungan gave a speech to the gathered crowd
from the window of the office.

`This country not only lost a precious son, but also a prominent
journalist. The absence of him and journalists like him is felt more
in a period when journalism is suffering a huge loss of dignity. Even
if only for this reason, we must look after Agos, which is Hrant
Dink’s fourth child and his legacy,” Mungan said.

People have been waiting for justice for 12 years in a country ruled
by a party that includes `justice’ in its name, Mungan added.

`Hrant Dink spoke in the language of peace, as a person who had
believed in the equality and brotherhood of all nations,’ he said,
adding that Dink was the 62nd person in Turkey who had paid the price
of his words with his life.

`He was not the spokesperson of Armenians but the voice of all people
of Turkey who were oppressed, excluded and exploited. His fight and
the fight of those like him is not a fight that can be interrupted by
their deaths. The crowds gathered on these squares show this,’ Mungan
said.

The parents of Berkin Elvan, who died in March 2014 after spending 269
days in a coma after being hit by a tear gas canister during a police
crackdown during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, also attended the
ceremony.

A small group of Trabzonspor supporters also came to pay their
respects, drawing applause from the crowd. The plot against Dink was
hatched in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, a bastion of
ultranationalism. Members of the Revolutionaries of Trabzon, a
supporters’ group for Trabzonspor, marched with a banner of Dink,
while shouting, “Trabzon is here, where are the murderers?”

While commemorations in Istanbul were peaceful, police in Ankara
attacked a memorial for Dink, detaining 20 people, according to daily
BirGün.

Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was
murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper’s building on
Jan. 19, 2007, by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.

The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and
sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two-year trial.

The trial into the murder resumed Sept. 17, 2013, after the Supreme
Court of Appeals ruled that all suspects in the case had acted as part
of a criminal organization, rather than individually.

Istanbul’s 5th High Criminal Court, which is overseeing the case,
announced on Oct. 30, 2014, that it will focus on the `criminal
organization’ allegations against suspects, a move that lawyers
representing the victim’s family have demanded since the start of the
retrial.

Yusuf Hayal and Erhan Tuncel are accused of convincing Samast in
Trabzon to shoot Dink.

Civil servants and institutions allegedly implicated in the murder of
Dink should be investigated, Turkey’s Constitutional Court stated in
its detailed ruling on the case on Nov. 12, 2014. The court had
earlier stated that the case had not been probed efficiently and the
victim’s rights were violated, in a ruling issued in July 2014.

The ruling became a milestone in the case that has been lingering
since the killing in 2007. It came after the Justice Ministry cleared
the path for investigations into nine civil servants, including senior
police officers occupying key posts at the time of the murder. The
officials have been accused of negligence and threatening Dink before
his death.

Before his killing, Dink had been called to a police department and
warned about a possible plot against him. It is therefore thought that
the murder plot was known within some state institutions before it
happened.

In a recent development, Muhittin Zenit and Ã-zkan Mumcu, two police
officers on duty at the police department in Trabzon when Dink was
killed in Istanbul, were arrested.

Former Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Trabzon police
chief ReÃ…?at Altay, former Trabzon Police Intelligence Chief Faruk
Sarı, former Istanbul Deputy Governor Ergun Güngör and former Istanbul
Police Intelligence Chief Ahmet Ä°lhan Güler have also testified as
suspects in the case.

January/19/2015

From: A. Papazian

Armenians of Turkey angered with Erdogan’s invitation to Armenian President

12:31, 17 January, 2015

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The invitation of the President of
Turkey Recep ErdoÄ?an sent to the President of the Republic of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan to take part in the events commemorating the centenary
of the Battle of Gallipoli to be held on the 24th of April this year
has angered the online network users and, particularly, the Armenians
living in Turkey.

As reports `Armenpress’ citing Agos periodical, the progressive
society of Turkey, including the Armenians, criticized this
initiative, which was described as `political strategy’ by Turkey’s
official circles. Agos talked to a group of Armenians residing in
Turkey, which characterized that initiative as `a dishonest step of an
uneducated person.’

Previously it was reported that in response to Turkish President Recep
ErdoÄ?an’s invitation to take part in the events commemorating the
centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli to be held on the 24th of April
this year President Serzh Sargsyan has sent a letter that particularly
reads as follows:

`Indeed, World War I is one of the terrific chapters of history of
humanity, claiming millions of innocent lives and aborting destinies.

An artilleryman of Armenian descent, Captain Sargis Torosyan also
joined the troops of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Gallipoli. He
was an officer, dedicated to the defense and security of the Empire,
who was decorated with Ottoman military awards for his loyalty and
heroism. Nevertheless, in that same year, marking the culmination of
mass killing and forced deportation, preliminary planned and
perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, the wave of massacres did not
bypass even Sargis Torosyan. His parents, brutally killed, and sister,
perished in the Syrian Desert, were among 1.5 million Armenian victims
of Genocide.

It was as a result of this very unprecedented massacre that Raphael
Lemkin coined the term `genocide’. And impunity thereof paved a path
to Holoucaust and genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia and Darfur.

Alas, Turkey continues its traditional policy of denialism. Year by
year, `improving’ its tools of history distortion, this time Turkey
marks the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24 for the
first time, while it began on March 18, 1915 and lasted till late
January, 1916. Furthermore, allies’ land campaign- Gallipoli land
battle- took place on April 25, 1915. What purpose does it serve if
not a simple-minded goal to distract the attention of the
international community from the events dedicated to the centennial of
the Armenian Genocide? Whereas, before organizing a commemorative
event, Turkey has much more important obligation towards its own
people and the entire humanity, namely the recognition and
condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.

Hence, when calling for international peace I would advise you not to
forget sending a message to the world to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, thus paying a tribute to the memory of 1.5 million innocent
victims.

P.S. Your Excellency, a few months ago I invited you to join us in
commemoration of memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian
Genocide in Yerevan on the 24th of April. It is not a common practice
for us to be hosted at the invitee’s, without receiving a response to
our invitation.’

From: A. Papazian

TURQUIE
La réunion du Conseil de coopération stratégique de haut niveau
Turquie-Azerbaïdjan a eu lieu à Ankara

La rencontre en tête-à-tête des Présidents azerbaïdjanais et turc
Ilham Aliyev et Recep Tayyip Erdogan s’est tenue le 15 janvier après
la cérémonie d’accueil officiel.

Le développement des relations bilatérales dans les domaines
politique, économique, énergétique entre les deux pays a été souligné
lors de cette rencontre.

Pendant l’entretien, l’importance de l’accueil par la Turquie de la
réunion prochaine de G-20 a été pointée.

Le président Ilham Aliyev a présenté sa gratitude à son homologue turc
Recep Tayyip Erdogan pour l’avoir invité à cette réunion et a
considéré cette invitation comme un exemple des relations amicales
entre l’Azerbaïdjan et la Turquie.

Les deux parties ont souligné l’importance d’une solution au conflit
au Haut Karabagh sur la base “des normes et principes du droit
international, d’une manière équitable et dans le cadre de l’intégrité
territoriale de l’Azerbaïdjan”. Les Présidents ont exprimé leur
confiance que les relations azerbaïdjano-Turques seraient développées
davantage.

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

Head of the Russian Investigative Committee to arrive in Armenia today

13:29, 19 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin
will arrive in Armenia today.

The agreement was reached during a phone conversation between the
Heads of Armenian and Russian Investigative Committees Aghvan
Hovsepyan and Alexander Bastrykin.

The parties discussed issues pertaining to the killing of the family
of six in Gyumri by private of the Russian Military Base #102 Valery
Permyakov.

Taking into consideration the peculiarities of the criminal case,
Aghvan Hovsepyan decided to invite his Russian counterpart to Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

Regional issues should be discussed with Armenia’s participation, Tedo
Japaridze thinks

January 19, 2015 10:43
Tedo Japaridze
Photo:

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Georgian Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili
called development of relations with Armenia “dynamic”.

The Minister said this addressing a speech for foreign diplomats,
Mediamax’s correspondent from Tbilisi reports. Speaking about regional
cooperation and its prospects, Tamar Beruchashvili said that the
Georgia-Azerbaijan-Turkey trilateral format of communication will
continue.

Tedo Japaridze, Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee of the
Georgian parliament also commented on Armenia-Georgia relations in the
context of regional cooperation.

“We should think of a mechanism for regular discussion of regional
problems with participation of Armenia and Iran. Armenia is the most
isolated state in South Caucasus and the most dependant one from
Russia. Instead of letting conflicts grow and spread, our states
should work out a South Caucasus strategy”, said Tedo Japaridze in
hisinterview to “Russia in Global Politics” magazine.

He also touched upon NK settlement.

“Resumption of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict (God forbid!) is among the
toughest challenges for us. What can Georgia do? For instance, we can
offer space for talks and discussions. Azerbaijani and Armenian
leaders may value a venue which won’t depend on Europeans, Americans
or Russians. In their turn, U.S. and Europe, will probably assess
Georgia’s support to this end and our desire to improve the regional
environment positively”, said Tedo Japaridze.

From: A. Papazian