Author: Babajanian Karo

Opposition Struggles Against Ruben Hayrapetyan and Not to Rule out
Cases Like That of Harsnakar

July 6, 2012 15:07

`After the well-known events of March 1, 2008, many activists of the
national movement, including my brother and I, were arrested. On the
other hand, many leaders of the national movement, including Levon
Zurabyan and Levon Ter-Petrossian, were not arrested. So what…? Should
we have demanded to arrest them as the leaders of the movement too?’
Suren Sirunyan, the former head of Minister of Domestic Affairs Vano
Siradeghyan’s security and a former member of the Armenian National
Congress (ANC), said during a conversation with , drawing
parallels between the tragic events that had taken place at Harsnakar
Restaurant and the socio-political movement caused by it.

Our interlocutor severely condemns the attitude of the Harsnakar
Restaurant security, but at the same time, he thinks that political
forces try to benefit from that tragedy and get dividends from it,
struggling against Ruben Hayrapetyan himself and not to rule out such
incidents in Armenia.

Read other details of the conversation in an Aravot newspaper issue in
the short run.

Nelly GRIGORYAN

Car falls into water channel near Armenian regional motorway

news.am
July 07, 2012 | 14:33

An accident occurred at the Marmarashen village section of Armenia’s
Yerevan-Artashat Highway, on Saturday at around 5:30am.

A BMW X5-model jeep, with driver R. Zohrabyan, 32, hit a GAZ 24,
Ararat Police Precinct informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

As a result, the GAZ 24 fell into the nearby water channel, whereas
the four injured were taken to hospital.

TRANSPORTS
La compagnie « Armavia » est-elle à vendre ?
la direction de la compagnie aérienne réfute ces informations

Le site russe gazeta.ru avait annoncé la vente le la compagnie
aérienne arménienne « Armavia » à l’homme d’affaires arméniens établi
en Russie Haroutioun Pamboukian pour une valeur de 55 millions de
dollars. Mais la nouvelle avait été aussitôt fermement démentie par «
Armavia ». Haroutioun Pamboukian, le propriétaire de « Max group »
avec Khatchik Manoukian est un ancien député au Parlement arménien.
Ses activités professionnelles sont depuis 2011 totalement transférées
à Moscou. Gazeta.ru affirmait que Haroutioun Pamboukian avait réalisé
une proposition à Mikhaïl Baghdassarov le propriétaire d’« Armavia ».
Des rumeurs faisant étant des difficultés financières rencontrées par
la compagnie aérienne. Le site indique également qu’en 2013 se termine
l’accord entre « Armavia » et le gouvernement arménien qui avait donné
le statut de « compagnie nationale » à « Armavia ».

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 7 juillet 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Artsakh Agro Minister Calls for Creation of Food Safety Agency

hetq
14:41, July 6, 2012

Artsakh Agricultural Minister Sergo Karapetyan has called for the
establishment of a food safety agency in Stepanakert to be located in
premises corresponding to the highest European standards.

Karapetyan’s statement came after a meeting he had with Artsakh Deputy
Prime Minister Spartak Tevosyan, who also serves as Finance Minister.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 4 2012

DavutoÄ?lu visits France to renew long strained ties

4 July 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu is visiting Paris on Thursday
as part of Ankara’s plan to bury hostilities between the two
countries.

DavutoÄ?lu’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that he is
visiting Paris at the invitation of his French counterpart, Laurent
Fabius. The statement said the visit is also planned to reciprocate
former French foreign ministers Bernard Kouchner and Alain Juppe’s
trips to Turkey in October 2010 and November 2011 respectively.

DavutoÄ?lu’s visit is aimed at what the statement said to discuss
bilateral relations with all its dimensions to make new understanding
prevail in Turkish-French relations long strained after the French
Assembly endorsed a controversial bill on so-called Armenian genocide
denial.

The bill was overturned by the French Constitutional Council for
violating the French Constitution.

The statement said DavutoÄ?lu is also expected to exchange views on
regional and international affairs with his counterpart.

Turkish foreign minister is also scheduled to attend the “Friends of
Syria” meeting in Paris on Friday. Paris will host about 100
delegations and organizations in Paris on Friday, including US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and DavutoÄ?lu, the latest effort to
ramp up pressure on Damascus.

Meeting of ARF-D Armenia Supreme Body starts in Vanadzor

14:36 . 06/07

The meeting of ARF-D Armenia Supreme Body has started in Vanadzor. It
takes place once in every two years.

ARF-D Supreme Body member Spartak Seyranyan says during the meeting
the supreme body will report on the party’s activity in the past two
years, as well as will take decisions on what they will do in future.
A new supreme body will also be elected at the meeting.

20-year-old Armenian tries leaving country after stabbing someone

news.am
July 06, 2012 | 16:57

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Police had received a call, on June 25 at
12:15am, informing of an argument at the courtyard of a capital city
Yerevan building.

And a call was received from hospital at 1:15am informing that Levon
G., 17, who had cut wounds, had come to the hospital for medical
assistance, and stated he had fallen on a pipe at the aforesaid
courtyard.

According to doctor’s report, Levon G. was unable to give an account.

And a forensic medical examination was commissioned.

But it was found out that, in actuality, Levon G. had received the
wound as a result of being stabbed by Styopa G., 20, the Police press
service informs.

And law enforcement officers found Styopa G. at the Bagratashen
Customs Checkpoint, on Thursday at 5:30pm, and detained him.

Styopa G. confessed to having stabbed Levon G. and, now, he is placed
under arrest.

A criminal case is opened and an investigation is launched.

Armenians in Glendale held a protest action for Vahe Avetyan’s death

Outrage over the fatal beating of a military doctor in Armenia spread
to Glendale Thursday, with nearly 100 people descending on the
Armenian consulate to demand the perpetrators be held accountable.
Glendale News Press writes about this.

33-year-old army doctor Vahe Avetyan and three colleagues were
brutally beaten on June 17 at a restaurant in Armenia’s capital,
Yerevan. Avetyan, a father of two children, died 12 days later, and
his funeral took place this week.

The alleged perpetrators are security guards for Ruben Hayrapteyan – a
member of Parliament who is counted among Armenia’s oligarchs. A
prominent businessman, Hayrapteyan also serves as president of the
Armenian soccer federation.

Protesters in Glendale Thursday said there have been other beatings,
but this one was particularly shocking because Avetyan served in the
military and is believed to be an innocent victim. They described
Hayrapteyan as a thug infamous for his alleged ties to organized
crime.

`He is terrorizing people,’ said Armen Barsegyan, who lives in Van
Nuys and works in Glendale. `We want to stop all terror in Armenian.’

Protesters hoped to deliver a letter to Armenia’s Consul General
Grigor Hovhannissian, whose consulate is on Central Avenue in
Glendale, demanding the prosecution of those involved, as well as the
resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan.

With the office closed, they had to make do with taping a photo of the
murdered military doctor to the gates.

`We came here to say to our government to do the punishment [mandated]
by law,’ said Gayana Manukyan. `If we don’t do this protest, it could
happen again and again. Each of us could be in this situation.”

06.07.12, 11:52

Let’s Get Rid of Oligarchs
Editorial

July 5, 2012 13:08

Yesterday I read on that it was not ruled out that Ruben
Hayrapetyan would `have a change of heart’ and would decide not to
resign the office giving in to his friend Samvel Alexanyan’s
pleadings. It seems unlikely to me, moreover, the opposite is possible
that he would persuade his colleague to resign from the parliament. If
such a thing took place, it would do credit to both of them. By the
way, I think one should distinguish between the political and social
lives of oligarchs. In the first case, it is clear that they should
leave that field. In the second case, as far as, for example, the
Football Federation or the Olympic Committee is concerned, people
involved in that field – in this case, sportsmen, coaches – should
decide whether they want the head of the organization to change or
not.

As for politics and parliamentarianism, it is absolutely clear why
oligarchs have squeezed themselves into it. In Russia, which we copy
in many respects, it is already history – Usmanov, Lisin or Mordashov
are not members of the Duma anymore and now they don’t seem to have a
particular wish to regain that status. Certainly, it would be naïve to
think that they don’t have an influence on the political stage; they
just have found more civilized ways, including media, for that. The
financial means of our rich people are at least 20 times less than
those of the mentioned oligarchs and perhaps that is the reason for
their mistrust of tomorrow and longing for a political `cover.’ On the
other hand, the cultural level of Russian oligarchs is much higher
than of their Armenian counterparts and today it doesn’t occur to them
to surprise the society with their fierce, unbridled bodyguards. Our
folks are those very people who have remained at the level of mobsters
and nouveau riches of the 1990s.

All those circumstances of ours are naturally not conditional on our
national traits or even differences in regimes; on the contrary, the
current regime in our country is even a bit more liberal than that of
Russia. I am rather inclined to attribute it to the extreme situation
in our country in the first half of the 1990s, when the state system –
with its positive and negative sides – was being built by
law-enforcement bodies.

But let bygones be bygones – it is high time to switch to normal
`civic’ life. The first step toward it could be not letting oligarchs
into the parliament. However, most probably the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA) couldn’t do that, since it was in a severe competition
with the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), where there are big and small
oligarchs too. Now, taking into account Ruben Hayrapetyan’s move,
perhaps there is a possibility that the oligarchs of the
above-mentioned parties will resign their offices. Why do you need to
be a target of criticism and mockery all the time? Go to your
mansions, be engaged in charity. If you want to morally or financially
support the current president, no problem. If you want to endorse any
of the two former presidents, it is your business. However, let
legislative activities alone, it is not for the likes of you.

ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Genocide issues are examined in Geneva

news.am
July 06, 2012 | 10:30

Within the framework of the 20th UN Human Rights Council session held
in Geneva, Switzerland, and event was organized on June 19 to study
the Council’s important role in the use of the principle of the
responsibility to protect.

During the discussions Armenia’s delegation made a statement, whereby
it underscored this principle in the human security system.

It noted that the Armenian people survived the 20th century’s first
genocide, which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians, and this
is why Armenia salutes any effort toward preventing crimes against
humanity. And as a positive example for such effort, the Armenian
delegation pointed to the Armenian Genocide’s recognition by dozens of
countries, which is as a result of cooperation between Armenia and the
Armenian diaspora.

Also, the delegation noted that massacring of 1.5 million Armenians is
a failure of a state’s principle to protect its own population while
the surviving of 2.5 million Armenians and the existence of Armenia,
Armenian diaspora, and Armenian people are a success of the
international community’s commitment to protect.

An on June 20, a working discussion was held devoted to the memory of
Raphael Lemkin, who had coined the word `genocide.’

Armenia’s delegation made a statement during these discussions, too,
and pointed to Lemkin’s invaluable role in genocide prevention.

Also, Lemkin’s following words were recalled: `We forget too quickly.
Yesterday, the victims were `only’ Armenians; today, `only’ the
Jews – but also Poles and other European peoples. And who will be
tomorrow?’

Armenia’s delegation noted that the country’s president bestows awards
to those who have contributed to genocide prevention, and the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute allocates scholarships for Armenian Genocide
studies.

In response, the Turkish delegation voiced its approach which,
however, was accepted negatively by those present, who assessed it as
a response to Raphael Lemkin, and not to the Armenian delegation.