Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S FOREIGN VISITS COST DEARLY TO CITIZENS’ POCKETS – NEWSPAPER

May 08, 2013 | 07:01

YEREVAN. – President Serzh Sargsyan’s trips abroad cost quite dearly
to the pockets of the citizens of Armenia, Zhoghovurd daily reports.

“Zhoghovurd’s well-informed sources inform that the Presidential
Residence signed a contract recently with Air Armenia Company, so the
latter may serve the flights of Serzh Sargsyan’s A319 EK RA-01[-type]
aircraft; that is, his foreign visits.

[And] the value of the contract, according to the same sources,
was about 240,000 dollars,” Zhoghovurd writes.

From: Baghdasarian

YOUNG GIRL, 22, FOUND IN APARTMENT WITH CUT THROAT

12:18 ~U 08.05.13

Body of 22-year-old young girl with cut throat was found in the
apartment on Arzumanyan street, in Yerevan Ajapnyak administrative
region, Police press service reports.

The body was discovered after a fire was extinguished in the apartment.

An unknown person called Yerevan city department operative management
center shortly after midnight reporting about the fire from the
apartment.

The body of Mariam Hunanyan was found in the bed under the wall.

Criminal case has been filed. Investigation is under way.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA TO PAY EUROPEAN COURT FINE TO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

12:17 ~U 08.05.13

The fine of 112,000 Euros, which the European European Court of
Human Rights (ECtHR) imposed on Armenia earlier this year over a
ruling against Jehovah’s Witnesses, was on the cabinet’s agenda on
Wednesday morning.

The sum is to be paid from the Government’s reserve fund.

In the case, Khachatryan and others vs. Armenia, the ECthR urged
the Armenian Government to pay an equivalent of 6,000 Euros to each
claimant for the compensation of non-material damage. The sum is
subject to payment within three months after the ruling’s publication.

The court further ruled that all applicants receive a total of 10,000
Euros in compensation for judicial costs and expenses.

The ECtHR ruling entered into force on February 27 last year. The
deadline for paying the fine is May 27.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

LA FUTURE PRESIDENCE DE L’ARMENIE AU CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE SUSCITE L’INQUIETUDE DE L’AZERBAÏDJAN

L’Azerbaïdjan a remis en cause la decision d’attribuer la presidence
du Comite des Ministres du Conseil de l’Europe a son voisin armenien.

L’Armenie assurera pendant six mois a compter de juillet la presidence
du Comite des Ministres, ce qui a incite le representant de la
delegation azerbaïdjanaise auprès de l’Assemblee parlementaire du
Conseil de l’Europe (APCE), Elkhan Suleymanov, a remettre en cause
cette initiative dans une lettre adressee a l’APCE qui a depuis lors
ete rendue publique.

” Comment juger la presidence d’un pays qui occupe militairement les
territoires d’un autre Etat membre “, demande-t-il dans sa lettre.

Elkhan Suleymanov a egalement souleve la question du retour au pouvoir,
a la suite des elections presidentielles armeniennes de cette annee,
de Serzh Sargsyan, un ancien commandant militaire implique dans le
massacre de civils dans la ville azerbaïdjanaise de Khojaly le 26
fevrier 1992.

L’equipe d’observateurs de l’APCE depechee pour suivre les elections et
emmenee par une femme politique norvegienne, Karn Woldseth, a decrete
que les elections etaient regulières tout en soulignant dans son
rapport le fait que l’Armenie occupe militairement des territoires
azerbaïdjanais. Ceci est en contradictoin avec les notions de ”
democratie, liberte d’expression et Etat de droit ” a indique M.

Suleymanov dans sa lettre.

En reponse au rapport de Karn Woldset, Elkhan Suleymanov a depose une
motion de rejet avec l’appui de 24 deputes de cinq pays, qualifiant
de non democratiques les elections presidentielles en Armenie.

La controverse autour de ce problème a eclate le mois dernier
lorsqu’Elkhan Suleymanov a ete chahute avant d’etre reduit au silence
alors qu’il intervenait lors d’une reunion de l’APCE a Paris au
lendemain des elections presidentielles en Armenie.

Le president de la Commission de suivi de l’APCE, Andres Herkel, a
par la suite avoue avoir interrompu M. Suleymanov pour des questions
de gestion du temps, un motif rejete par la delegation azerbaïdjanaise.

Suite a cet incident, M. Suleymanov a declare que ses doleances
etaient pour la plupart ignorees. Il espère cette fois renouer le
dialogue avec ses collègues de l’APCE avant la presidence du Comite
des Ministres par l’Armenie en juillet.

SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor

mercredi 8 mai 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

RICHARD MORNINGSTAR: “THE US SECRETARY OF STATE IS INTERESTED IN THE RESOLUTION OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT”

APA, Azerbaijan
May 7 2013

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. “The US Secretary of State is
interested in the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and we
hope that progress will be achieved in this issue,” US ambassador to
Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar told journalists when asked about the
appointment of the US co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group. Stating that the
process is going on within Minsk Group, the ambassador hopes that
the mediators will be able to achieve progress.

The diplomat also said that the talks on the activity of the National
Democratic Institute in Azerbaijan are being continued: “This is an
ongoing process and we hope for the successful solution of this issue.”

From: Baghdasarian

THREE POLITICAL PARTIES ENTER YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERS

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
May 6 2013

The Republican Party of Armenia entered the Yerevan Council of Elders
with 58,51% of votes (100,400), Prosperous Armenia with 19.27%
(33,073), Hello,Yerevan with 8.74% (14,996) after calculations of
votes at 198 out of 464 polling stations.

Dashnaktsutyun, Orinats Yerkir and Arakelutyun have not entered
the council.

Parties need at least 6% of votes to enter, blocs need 8%.

The Council of Elders has 65 seats for parties only. A party with
over 50% of votes chooses the mayor of Yerevan.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA’S RULING PARTY WINS YEREVAN MAYOR RACE AMID TENSIONS

Tengri News, Kazakhstan
May 6 2013

Armenia’s ruling party has comfortably won a mayoral election in the
capital Yerevan, preliminary results showed Monday, but the opposition
claimed the vote was marred by irregularities, echoing complaints
from this year’s presidential polls, AFP reports.

President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican party picked up 55.86 percent
of the vote in Sunday’s polls, far outstripping its nearest rival
Prosperous Armenia on just over 23 percent, Armenia’s electoral
commission said.

Opposition parties lashed out at the results, with some alleging
violations — including voter-bribery and the use of disappearing
ink to allow multiple voting — and called for protests.

The claims echoed accusations levelled against presidential polls in
February that saw the opposition refuse to accept Sarkisian’s crushing
victory to win reelection.

“These elections were another crime committed by the current regime
against democracy and the people of Armenia,” said a statement from
the Armenian National Congress opposition bloc led by former president
Levon Ter-Petrosian.

Armenia’s weakened opposition had hoped to use Sunday’s vote to claw
back momentum from Sarkisian after a spate of street protests against
his February victory fizzled out.

Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer in power since 2008, won
the presidential poll in the small country nestled in the Caucasus
mountains between Turkey and Iran with more than 58 percent of
the vote.

That election was seen as an improvement on past polls, even though
it lacked genuine competition, after the vote that brought Sarkisian
to power in 2008 ended in clashes between police and supporters of
the defeated opposition candidate that left 10 people dead.

From: Baghdasarian

RAFFI AND HERITAGE WERE VOLUNTARILY CAUGHT IN GOVERNMENT’S TRAP

The political scientist Hmayak Hovhannisyan says his forecasts of
the mayoral election came true.

“I warned that the participation of the Heritage Party in the election
and Raffi Hovannisian’s involvement in the campaign would legitimize
the results of the presidential election. Meanwhile, it is an important
issue for the government because none of Serzh Sargsyan’s competitors
recognized the return of the presidential election. Raffi and Heritage
were voluntarily caught in the government’s trap,” Hmayak Hovannisyan
said.

The political scientist explains the failure of the ARF, ANC and PAP
by the failure of these forces to explain to their voters why they
did not run in the presidential election which was a faster way of
achieving a change of government.

Generally, Hmayak Hovannisian thinks nothing strange happened on May 5,
and it is the usual conduct of elections in Armenia.

He says the mechanisms predefining results of elections is reinforced
at every election.

Hmayak Hovannisian says the opposition should have appealed to people
to do two things: first, join and run in the election in an alliance,
second, vote for the opposition. Hmayak Hovhannisyan thinks such
appeals could mobilize people.

“People did not have a motivator; nobody believed that it is possible
to change the government through this election. People understood that
there could be dual power at best which is not a change of government,”
he says.

At the same time, Hmayak Hovhannisyan states that the opposition did
not keep its promise to control the electoral process.

17:42 06/05/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: Baghdasarian

ARFD: AUTHORITIES RECEIVED OPPORTUNITY TO RULE COUNTRY SINGLE-HANDEDLY

Monday,
May 06

“We attempted to give reasons for the necessity to eliminate the
political monopoly of the ruling party and presented a program
for efficient management of the capital city. But once again the
identification of the state and the ruling party, the unlimited use
of administrative resource, and widespread election bribes did their
part,” ARF-Dashnaktsutyun Party said today in a statement regarding
the outcome of the May 5 elections to Yerevan Council of Elders.

“The monopoly of the authorities has strengthened even more. They
already have an opportunity to single-handedly rule the country and
Yerevan. Unfortunately, we failed once again to form the consciousness
of a free citizen among the public,” the statement reads.

ARFD expressed its gratitude to those who voted for the party. “We
promise that we will not abandon our principled position. We will
continue our daily activities aimed at brining about drastic changes
in the country,” the ARFD said.

TODAY, 17:07

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: MIRZOYAN FAILED TO DO TASK SET BEFORE HIM

Monday,
May 06

President Serzh Sargsyan today went to the Special Investigation
Service of Armenia where he introduced the new head of the Service,
Vahram Shahinian, to the staff. According to the presidential press
service, Serzh Sargsyan informed the employees of SIS about the
reasons for dismissing the former head Andranik Mirzoyan.

“The illegalities related to a criminal case became the cause of
Mirzoyan’s dismissal, but the reasons were different. The reason is
that Andranik Mirzoyan failed to do the task set before him. I had
set the task of doing everything possible for the establishment of
the Special Investigation Service. The Special Investigation Service
should be established as an institutionally independent participant
in administering criminal justice. Unfortunately, it has not yet
happened. The Special Investigation Service should be composed
of highly dedicated, independent, well-qualified and objectively
thinking people. It should not be an executor of someone’s will,”
the president said.

In his words, when speaking about law enforcement agencies, he
understands that employees of the Special Investigation Service are in
a most awkward position because in many cases, they have to investigate
criminal cases, in which their colleagues are involved. On the other
hand, according to the president, they should understand that it is
their calling, while those who are not prepared for this should not
work in the system.

“People, experts ready to face the truth are needed here, and if they
notice that the actions of their colleagues, relatives, or friends
hinder the course of our country and government bodies, they must
take measures,” S. Sargsyan noted.

He underlined the importance of improving professional knowledge
and skills of employees of the preliminary investigation body. The
president expressed confidence that under the direction of the new
head Vahram Shahinian, the Special Investigation Service will become
an efficient establishment soon. According to S. Sargsyan, Vahram
Shahinian and any employee of the SIS may count on assistance of the
president and government.

TODAY, 17:48

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian