Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Armenian parliament halves the size of penalty for lack of car insurance policy

Ekmekjian Janet
July 7 2022

07.07.2022 14:54

YEREVAN, July 6. /ARKA/. By a vote of 55 the Armenian parliament amended the country’s Code of Administrative Offences on July 6, slashing the size of penalty for lack of mandatory car insurance from 100,000 drams to 50,000 drams.

The mandatory insurance against physical damage caused to other cars and individuals became mandatory in the country on January 1, 2011.

However, due to the state of emergency declared in the country in connection with the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in  September  2020, the government suspended the application of five thousand dram penalties (about $ 10) for every 10 days of delayed renewal or absence of car insurance policy. On July6, 2022 the suspension was removed and the law became effective again.

“We think that the fine of 100 thousand drams is disproportionate to the nature and the degree of danger of the offense. A fine of 100 thousand drams is quite a heavy social burden today and if we take into consideration that the main reason for the offense is the financial situation of the person, we have to admit that the fine is disproportionate to the violation,” said MP Armen Khachatryan, an author of the amendment. ($1 – 408.2 drams). -0-

http://www.armbanks.am/en/2022/07/07/140873/

Turkey must face international court for complicity in acts of genocide against Yazidis

Ekmekjian Janet
NEWS.am
Armenia – July 6 2022
18:14, 06.07.2022

Turkey should face an international court for complicity in acts of genocide against the Yazidis, while Syria and Iraq failed in their duty to prevent killings, according to an investigation endorsed by British human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy, The Guardian reported.

The report, written by a group of prominent human rights lawyers, attempts to underscore the imperative responsibility of states to prevent genocide on their soil, even if it is carried out by a third party, the Islamic State (IS).

Lawyers, United by the Yezidi Justice Committee (YJC), said that under international law, states have a responsibility to prevent the crime of genocide in accordance with the Genocide Convention. Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, chairman of the YJC, described the Yazidi genocide as “insanity”.

Since 2013, it is acknowledged that there have been genocide attempts against the Yezidis, a religious minority, in Iraq and Syria. The report, prepared after a three-year investigation into the behavior of 13 countries, concluded that three of them had failed in their duty to prevent genocide.

In the case of Turkey, the committee went even further, accusing the leaders of complicity in the massacres, arguing that they had not established control over their borders to stop the free flow of IS fighters, including a significant number of Turkish citizens.

The committee said that since April 2014, Turkish officials have turned a blind eye to the sale, transfer and enslavement of Yazidi women and children and have helped train ISIS-linked fighters to fight the Kurds in Syria, thus strengthening the perpetrators of the genocide.

“Turkish officials knew and/or deliberately turned a blind eye to evidence that these individuals would use this training to carry out prohibited acts against the Yazidis,” the report says.

The report notes that similar allegations have been made against some Gulf states, including Qatar, but insufficient evidence has been provided.

Azerbaijanis completely destroyed Shushi’s Armenian church, Artsakh warns

Ekmekjian Janet
Panorama
Armenia – July 4 2022

CULTURE 15:35 04/07/2022 ARMENIA

The Saint Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist) Armenian church, also known as Kanach Zham/Green Church, in Shushi has been completely destroyed by the Azerbaijanis, Artsakh’s State Service for the Protection of Historical Environment sounded the alarm on Facebook on Monday.

Now it is being converted into an Orthodox church under the name of renovation, it said.

Among the monuments of Shushi, the church of St. John the Baptist in the Upper District is of particular interest. It is called “Green Church” because the dome of the church used to be green.

There is an inscription on the year of construction above the entrance to the bell tower of the church, which says: “Babayan Stepanos Hovhannes. In memory of his deceased brother Mkrtich, 1847.” 

“Recently, a social media user, Elnur Allahverdiev, returned to the thankless work of Russification of the Green Church. It should be noted that the rush of Russification of the church is not a new phenomenon for Azerbaijan. At one time, Fuad Akhundov unjustifiably considered the church Russian Orthodox. In the mid-1960s, a decision was made in Baku to expand the Armenian part of the city in order to expand the “living space” for Azerbaijani settlers, and, obviously, to remove the Armenian traces of Shushi. During this time, three surviving Armenian churches and one Russian church were destroyed, as well as several Armenian cemeteries with beautiful khachkars and monuments. The Green Church, which Fuad Akhundov considers “Russian Orthodox” without reason, has turned into a gallery,” the service said.

Artsakh emergency service: 53 Armenians still considered missing after 44-day war

Ekmekjian Janet
NEWS.am
Armenia – June 29 2022
13:45, 29.06.2022

Chairman of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Commission on Captives, Hostages and Missing Persons, Minister of Internal Affairs Karen Sargsyan met Wednesday with the relatives of the servicemen who are still considered missing, the Artsakh State Service of Emergency Situations informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

From November 13, 2020 to the first half of 2022, the search found 1,711 Armenian bodies and remains.

To date, 53 Armenians are considered missing, 33 of them are servicemen, and 20—civilians.

Sargsyan noted that negotiations are underway with the Russian and Azerbaijani sides to resume the search for the remains of the rest of the fallen Armenian servicemen.

Head of Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council resigns

Ekmekjian Janet
July 1 2022
 1 July 2022

ByAni Avetisyan
Gagik Jhangiryan. Photo via parliament.am.

Two weeks after a recording in which acting Supreme Judicial Council head Gagik Jhangiryan could be heard apparently threatening his predecessor and pressuring him to resign, the Council has announced Jhangiryan’s resignation citing a ‘health condition’. 

The Supreme Judicial Council is Armenia’s highest judicial body and is authorised to appoint and dismiss judges. 

In the tape published on 20 June by the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council Ruben Vardazaryan, Jhangiryan — still a regular member of the Council at the time of the recording — appeared to threaten Vardazaryan, saying he might face criminal charges if refused to resign as head of the Council.

Ruben Vardazaryan too was ultimately dismissed from his post on 23 June, only three days after he released the recording and a year after being suspended by the council members over criminal cases he was involved in.

Vardazaryan was elected head of the council in July 2019 and was suspended after a criminal case on charges of obstruction of justice was launched against him in April 2021.  Since then, Jhangiryan, a close ally of  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,  has been the acting head of the council. Until his formal dismissal as head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Vardazaryan technically still remained in his position, despite the suspension.

In the recording, Jhangiryan uses profane language and says he would never allow Robert Kocharyan, Armenia’s Second President and a vociferous opponent of Pashinyan, to return to power — apparently implying that Kocharyan exercised influence over Vardazaryan and other members of the Supreme Judicial Council.

During the Kocharyan administration, Jhangiryan who had been serving as a deputy prosecutor general was himself arrested on charges of obstruction of justice.

Despite the public outcry regarding the tape and Jhangiryan’s statements, the Armenian government remained silent on any plans to initiate a criminal case against Jhangiryan for what many have called an ‘apparent crime’ and a stark example of undue government influence on the judicial system.

Jhangiryan gave an interview to the Public Broadcaster one day after the tape was published, justifying his claims and stating that he was misinterpreted and misunderstood. He said he was aware that he was being recorded.

Other members of the Supreme Judicial Council have refused to bring any disciplinary actions against Jhangiryan.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan broke his government’s silence about the case a week after the tape was published, stating that the scandal ‘overshadows’ the process of ‘judicial and legal reforms’. 

He also acknowledged problems about his administration’s lack of real ‘successes’ in judicial reform and said that they are his government’s ‘biggest problem’. 

Armenian law enforcement, meanwhile, have said they are ‘looking into’ the case.


Asbarez: Armenia Doesn’t See Much Progress in Talks with Turkey

Ekmekjian Janet
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

The Armenia-Turkey border


Armenia does not see much progress in the negotiation process with Ankara, Armenia’s special envoy for talks to normalize relations with Turkey, Ruben Rubinyan, told reporters at the National Assembly Thursday.

“Since the beginning of the process, Armenia has been very constructive,” Rubinyan added. “Armenia has the political will, and the success of this process depends on whether Turkey has the political will. As you can see, up to this point there has not been much progress.”

Rubinyan explained that there is no specific document on the table and reiterated that there is no issue of “re-delimitation” of borders on the agenda.

Rubinyan, who is also a deputy speaker of parliament, noted that Ankara’s proposal to hold one of the meetings in Yerevan implies that “our Turkish colleagues consider the process to be two-sided.”

“But in this context, the statements of some Turkish officials that they coordinate or have coordinated the process with Azerbaijan are a bit strange. But I repeat that the main thing in the process is political will, if there is a will, the rest is easy to solve,” Rubinyan stated.

He added that the lack of progress so far does not mean there cannot be any in the future.

He and Serdar Kilic, Turkey’s special envoy for the talks, are scheduled to meet on Friday in Vienna.

Rubinyan also address questions regarding the so-called “Zangezur Corridor.” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, last week, said that Ankara was anticipating for the opening of the “corridor”—a scheme being advanced by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who wants a land route to connect mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan.

“These statements in no way contribute to the Armenia-Turkey normalization process, perhaps, they have the opposite effect—they hinder that process,” Rubinyan said in response to a question about Cavusoglu’s and other Turkish officials statements.

“There is no term ‘Zangezur corridor’ on our agenda. Armenia has not discussed it, is not discussing it and will not discuss any project in a corridor logic,” emphasized Rubinyan.

Armenia’s National Security Chief Armen Grigoryan also stressed that such a “corridor” is not part of Armenia’s policy agenda, adding that any road going through Armenia that is deemed to be a “corridor” is ruled out.

“This is our policy: when we announce that our positions are closer, it means we moved forward with the logic that there will be a border control. Any road with ‘corridor’ logic is ruled out in Armenia,” Grigoryan said at Thursday’s cabinet meeting.

He informed that the topic of opening transit routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been discussed both in Moscow and Brussels.

“For a long time Azerbaijan has been stating that a corridor is being discussed. If I am not mistaken, on November 6, when Russian Deputy Prime Minister [Alexey] Overchuk was in Yerevan, he announced that no issue with corridor logic is being discussed. The same happened after the Brussels talks. The spokesperson to [Charles] Michel publicly stated that no corridor has ever been discussed. This shows that our approach in the negotiations has been this and continues to be this,” Grigoryan explained.

Discussions on the issue of depriving opposition MPs of their parliamentary mandate continue in the Armenian parliament- Speaker

Ekmekjian Janet
ARMINFO
Armenia –
Alexandr Avanesov

ArmInfo. The discussions on the issue of depriving the opposition MPs of their parliamentary mandate continue in the Armenian parliament. On June 30, NA President Alen Simonyan told journalists.

He welcomed the decision of head of the “I have honor” parliamentary  faction Artur Vanetsyan to step down as a MP. “He said that he would  not return to parliament and resigned,” Simonyan noted, pointing to  MP from the opposition “Armenia” faction Ishkhan Saghatelyan. “He  should not give interviews with statements that they will come to the  National Assembly with their agenda, he just has to admit defeat and  resign,” the Speaker said, adding that by doing so, Saghatelyan would  confirm that the political process , started by him, is not a  struggle for positions.

In fact, according to Alen Simonyan, this is a struggle for  positions, since it is about maintaining the immunity status and  receiving a salary.

It should be noted that the parliamentary opposition has been  boycotting the work of the parliament for several months, holding  rallies, demonstrations and marches. Over the past few weeks, the  opposition has not carried out active actions, announcing a  regrouping of forces, and, at the same time, refusing to return to  parliament.  

Fallen servicemen’s 10 parents enter Armenia Prosecutor General’s Office building

Ekmekjian Janet
NEWS.am
Armenia –
Fallen servicemen’s 10 parents enter Armenia Prosecutor General’s Office building
13:15, 30.06.2022

Ten of the fallen servicemen’s parents, who are protesting in front of the building of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia, have entered the building for the expected meeting with Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office proposed that only two of them enter the building for this talk, but the parents rejected this proposal, and demanded the presence of at least eight parents.

Later, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated that ten parents could enter the building—but without the presence of the media and smartphones.

According to the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter at the scene, these parents have entered the building of the Prosecutor General’s Office without smartphones, but demanded the presence of the media.

As reported earlier, a group of relatives of the fallen servicemen are staging a protest in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia. They want to meet with Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan.

Their demand is that the criminal case filed with the Investigative Committee—and under the Criminal Code article on “abuse of official power, which has caused serious consequences”—be transferred to the National Security Service.

Also, they demand that this criminal case be investigated under the Criminal Code article on “apparent high treason,” and that PM Nikol Pashinyan be summoned for questioning under this article.

The newly appointed Ambassador of Israel to Armenia presents credentials to President Vahagn Khachaturyan

Ekmekjian Janet

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 18:07,

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. On June 29, the newly appointed Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Armenia Joel Lion (residence in Jerusalem) presented his credentials to President Vahagn Khachaturyan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, the President of Armenia congratulated the Ambassador, wishing him success in his responsible mission.

Ambassador Joel Lion noted that he will make maximum efforts for expanding and deepening the Armenian-Israeli cooperation.

The sides stressed that there is a great potential for expanding the cooperation between the two countries; it is necessary to take steps to give qualitatively new content to the bilateral agenda.