Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

168: Armenian President expects from all political forces to be guided by understanding of national security

Elizabeth Jabejian
| 10:03 | August 28 2018
Category
Politics

The press service of the President of Armenia has answered to the remarks of a number news outlets which referred to the assessments of the President to the existing political situation in the country.

“President Armen Sarkissian always follows and keeps in focus the processing going on in the country. Assessing vital the necessity for all the government branches to act in the framework of the Constitution and the powers it grants them and to display respect to each other, the President of the Republic expects from all the political forces to be guided by the understanding of national security of our country and the sustainable and stable development priorities. National interest, the country’s security and the respect towards the rights of a person and a citizen are a priority for all of us.

The President of the Republic welcomes the meeting of the PM and the Speaker of the National Assembly, positively assessing the agreements reached during the meeting. The President hopes positive results will be achieved soon.

The President of the Republic reaffirms his position that the best way to solve issues is through dialogue and negotiations, given that the sides respect the agreements by consistently taking actions to fulfill those agreements and taking lessons and recording achievements during the process. This should be made the main culture characterizing our political relations”.

Calendar of Events – 08/23/2018

Elizabeth Jabejian 
                        Armenian News's Calendar of events
                        (All times local to events)
                =========================================
What:           Help Armenia Face the Challenges of Alzheimer's Conference
When:           Oct 26 2018 9am
Where:          Yerevan State Medical University
                Koryun St 2, Yerevan Armenian
Misc:           Registration: 9am - 10am | Conference: 10am - 4pm
                As Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia become an increased
                concern, we are taking steps to help Armenia face them. Mark
                your calendars for this very important conference and help
                raise the level of care through awareness and education.
                Speakers include:
                Professor Mikhayil Aghajanov, MD, Chairman of Biochemistry,
                Yerevan State Medical University
                Topic: Understanding Alzheimer's Disease
                Professor Hovhannes M. Manvelyan, MD, Ph.D.
                Chair of Neurology Department, YSMU
                Topic: The Problem of Dementia in Armenia
                Dr. Jane L. Mahakian, Ph.D. President, Alzheimer's Care Armenia
                Topic: Memory Loss: What's Normal and What's Not
                Victor Mazmanian
                Senior Director of Faith Outreach, Silverado Mind Heart Soul 
Ministry
                Topic: Caregiving and Hope
Online Contact: [email protected]
Tel:            Dr. Jane Mahakian (949) 212-4105
Web:            
                =========================================
What:           "Toward Sis with an Eyewitness View"
                a lecture is given by Bishop Torkom Donoyan
***************************************************************************
Armenian News's calendar of events is collected and updated mostly from
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Auto race from Gyumri to Republic Square (video)

Elizabeth Jabejian
  • 17:36 | August 17,2018 | Social
  • Armenian:

From the Gyumri office of the Civil Contract Party, the citizens left for Yerevan to participate in a rally dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Nikol Pashinyan’s being prime minister. They said they would confirm their presence and say “no” to the initiators of the anti-revolutionary movement.

Details are on “Tsayg” TV footage.

Pilots protesting: The new Government does not listen to us like the old Government (video)

Elizabeth Jabejian
  • 16:30 | August 16,2018 | Social
  • Armenian:

Disabled pilots are dissatisfied with the new Government members. According to them, the new Government does not listen to them like the old Government and do not give the amount of money that they should give. So, today these pilots were complaining about this in front of the government.

Former pilots no longer receive disability pensions after the 2006 government decree.

The pilots still remember that in the past, former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan promised to solve the problem in three months.

Irrespective of age and illness, former pilots assure that they will come until they can meet Nikol Pashinyan.

View from Yerevan: Allied Russia should not have reasons for concern

Elizabeth Jabejian
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 10 2018
View from Yerevan: Allied Russia should not have reasons for concern

Yerevan August 9

David Stepanyan. There should not be any reasons for concern among our allies, in particular, Russia. In any case, the logic of the development of our allied relations testifies to this, Advisor to the Armenian Prime Minister on foreign policy issues Arsen Kharatyan expressed his opinion to ArmInfo.

In response to journalists’ request to comment on the decisions on arresting Robert Kocharyan and Yuri Khachaturov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated earlier that ” As an ally, Russia has always been interested in stability in Armenia. So recent developments are a cause for concern, including from the point of view of normal operations of the CIS organisations, of which Armenia is a participant”.

After the change of power in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan repeatedly noted that there are no dark corners in the Armenian-Russian relations, we openly and intensively communicate with our Russian counterparts, which is reflected in the frequency of mutual visits, the efforts of the new Government are aimed at ensuring consistency in the development of Armenian-Russian cooperation in a variety of sectors. Consequently, all our agreements with Russia are well known to everyone, there are no secrets, “the Advisor emphasized.

At the same time, according to him, the government is not at all inclined to ignore the fact that in the conditions of cardinal renewal of its membership, it will take some time to establish new communication channels. In the opinion of the Prime Minister’s Advisor, this issue will be jointly resolved in the very near future.

In this light, Kharatyan is not inclined to assess the situation related to the Secretary General of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as a scandal or crisis, emphasizing the fundamental point that this process is a domestic issue exclusively.

According to the Advisor’s estimation the Armenian government attaches special importance to the development of cooperation within the CSTO framework and to strengthening the Organization as an effective regional structure which is aimed to provide guaranteed security conditions for the development of the member states.

“By focusing on the task of excluding any influence of this process on the activities of the Secretariat, of which we have informed our CSTO partners, as well as the Secretariat itself, we initiated a number of steps, the first of which is the initiative to withdraw the powers of the current Secretary General “, he noted. Kharatyan also expressed confidence in the interest of all the member states of the Organization in the differentiation of internal factors in this issue from external factors, as well as in their support of the algorithm of work proposed by the Armenian government. In this light, according to his estimates, there is a quite legal process through which Armenia and the CSTO are currently passing.

Verelq: It will divide the society. CPA issued another statement regarding Kocharyan’s case

Elizabeth Jabejian
  • 30.07.2018

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The criminal prosecution against the second president of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan in the “March 1” case has nothing to do with democracy, the rule of law and will deeply harm the internal political developments of the Republic of Armenia. This is stated in the statement issued by the faction of the Republican Party of the RA National Assembly.


Prior to that, the Republican Party of Armenia made a statement regarding the criminal case against Kocharyan and his arrest within the same case, stating that the charge presented only gives the impression of political persecution, and is absurd from a legal point of view. Why after that statement the RPA decided to make another statement on the same case, but now on behalf of the NA faction, is not said.


Yerevan Court of Common Jurisdiction has satisfied the petition to detain the 2nd President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan. Kocharyan was detained for 2 months. As an accused, Kocharyan is involved in the crime of clashes following the 2008 presidential elections, which resulted in the murder of 10 people. He, AKP General Secretary Yuri Khachaturov and former Minister of Defense Mikayel Harutyunyan are accused of subverting the constitutional order.


Unlike the party’s statement published earlier, the text written on behalf of the faction refers to the issue point by point. In the statement of the RPA faction consisting of six points, it is said that in the “March 1” case Robert Kocharyan the process of impeachment has nothing to do with democracy, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.


According to the RPA faction, the raised case will deeply harm the internal political developments of the Republic of Armenia. “With such baseless accusations, the tendencies of public division are encouraged in the country, which become more dangerous in the background of the very worrying challenges formed around Armenia and Artsakh,” the statement said.


According to the deputies of the RPA faction, the initiated criminal case is problematic from the point of view of legality, especially from the point of view of constitutionality, which can lead not only to the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, but also to reduce the ranking and authority of the Republic of Armenia in international, including legal instances.


“The Special Investigative Service of the Republic of Armenia, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia and the Courts of the Republic of Armenia are obliged to properly guarantee the provisions of the Republic of Armenia and to be guided exclusively by the requirements and regulations of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the laws of the Republic of Armenia and international treaties,” the text distributed on behalf of the RPA faction states, and it is added that the deputies of the faction will also speak out about this issue and the developments surrounding it through the channels of parliamentary diplomacy, on appropriate international platforms and formats.


It is noteworthy that the statement issued on behalf of the RPA faction does not mention the attempt to silence the opponents of the government in the Artsakh issue, which is exactly half of the text of the party’s statement.


“We view the imposition of fabricated and artificial accusations that have nothing in common with the principle of legality against the former commander-in-chief, who showed unquestionable determination in the Artsakh conflict and one of the decisive actors in the victory of the Artsakh liberation war, as an attempt to silence the opponents of possible developments that are radically different from the existing approaches to the Artsakh conflict for years,” the RPA statement said.

Surprise Russian military drills cause panic in Armenia’s Panik

Elizabeth Jabejian
Public Radio of Armenia
18:24, 18 Jul 2018

Surprise military exercises by divisions of the Russian 102nd military base in Gyumri caused panic in the Armenian village of Panik on Tuesday.

Locals say gunfire and explosions could be heard in the village, heavy military vehicles were seen driving along the streets. Even residents of the neighboring Meghrashen and Nor Kyanq villages rushed to the scene.

The Russian base had not notified that the scenario of an armed attack and defense actions would be staged on the territory of the village.

The deputy commander of the base, Alexey Polyukhovich has apologized to Shirak Governor  Karen Sarukhanian.

An internal investigation into the incident is under way.

Nikol Pashinyan, Jean-Claude Juncker discuss process and prospects of Armenia-EU ties in Brussels (photos)

Elizabeth Jabejian
| 17:03 | July 12 2018
Categories
Official
World

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.

The officials discussed the Armenia-EU relations prospects in the context of the recent democratic changes in Armenia. Jean-Claude Juncker said the peaceful and democratic nature of the Armenian developments encouraged them and expressed readiness to constantly assist the reforms process taking place in Armenia.

In his turn PM Nikol Pashinyan thanked for the assistance provided during the previous years and assured that the EU’s both institutional, financial and consulting support will be used more targeted. “The continuation of anti-corruption fight that is being carried out in Armenia for already two months is among the main priorities of our government”, Nikol Pashinyan said.

Avoid the mistakes made by Saakashvili. The appeal of the former US ambassador to the RA authorities

Elizabeth Jabejian
  • 28.06.2018

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The anti-corruption fight in Armenia is being followed by the expert circles that evaluate the past and present anti-corruption fight and their features, reports “Voice of America”. 

“Armenians came out to protest against widespread corruption and inefficient economy in the country,” reports the Secretary of State by 25 US Congressmen. Mike Pompeo addressed letter. International organizations, including Transparency International, have repeatedly warned about widespread corruption in Armenia.

“We have criticized the government for many years. The former authorities did not have the political will to implement changes,” says Sona Ayvazyan, representative of the Armenia office of Transparency International.

One of the important links of corruption in Armenia is the convergence of the oligarchic economic system and the state sector, which operated in the case of about 35 percent shadow economy. The Transparency International report testifies to this. Analyst Ken Yalovitz also highlights the relevance of the problem of convergence.

“Oligarchic business circles and the government were interconnected in Armenia. This is an important issue that should be paid attention to,” says former US Ambassador to Georgia and Belarus Ken Yalovitz.

According to experts, the fight against the corruption of the former authorities was of a formal nature. A vivid example of this is the anti-corruption commission formed by the government, whose activities are considered ineffective by experts.

“The anti-corruption strategy conducted by the previous authorities was not serious. The created anti-corruption commission had a formal character. The anti-corruption body should be free from conflicts of interest,” says Stephen Gauforpe, an expert on anti-corruption.

The new government formed as a result of the Velvet Revolution declared the fight against corruption as its priority, and Prime Minister Pashinyan ruled out any tolerance for corruption. The victory of the revolution is considered as an opportunity for Armenia to establish the rule of law and eliminate corruption.

“The revolution in Armenia is a brilliant opportunity. It was unexpected, but extremely welcome, which emphasizes the will of the citizens in the establishment of democracy and the fight against corruption.”

Recently, the country was shocked by a series of corruption revelations, including developments related to General Manvel Grigoryan, the head of the former president’s security service, Vachagan Ghazaryan, and others. Many criminal cases related to abuse, embezzlement and possession of illegal weapons were initiated. Alexander Sargsyan, the brother of ex-president Sargsyan, was also among those arrested.

“The steps taken by the new authorities against corrupt generals and officials are highly commendable, but it is necessary to do more. It should not become a fight against some figures. It is necessary to carry out serious reforms in the justice and judicial systems, as well as the separation of political and economic spheres,” emphasizes Ambassador Yalovits.

According to Ambassador Yalovitz, it is important to preserve legality and protection of human rights in the fight against corruption. Drawing parallels with Georgia, he called on the new authorities of Armenia to avoid the mistakes made in Georgia.

“Saakashvili’s government began to persecute oligarchs and corrupt figures, but these actions were not accompanied by open, transparent legal processes, but only extorted money from them. They used the judicial system as a means of pressure, as a result of which many people ended up behind bars. I think it was another manifestation of corruption. I will call on the Armenian authorities to avoid it,” the former ambassador says.

He calls for a transparent fight against corruption based on free press and law. In the matter of rooting out corruption, he also attaches importance to serious public support.