Author: Garnik Zakarian

                                        Tuesday, 
Armenia To Compensate Victims Of 2008 Violence
Armenia -- Opposition supporters pay tribute to victims of March 1, 2008 
violence in Yerevan, 01Mar2013
The Armenian parliament unanimously passed on Tuesday a bill requiring the 
government to compensate the families of ten people killed in the 2008 
post-election violence in Yerevan.
The bill drafted by two senior pro-government lawmakers also calls for 
compensations to be paid to dozens of other protesters and security personnel 
who were seriously injured at the time.
It makes clear, however, that police officers who are under investigation or 
have already been convicted of using excessive force against anti-government 
protesters will not be eligible for any aid. The amount and form of the 
compensation will be determined by the Armenian government.
According to official data provided by law-enforcement authorities, 63 
protesters and police officers sustained “injuries of medium and severe 
gravity” during the forcible dispersal of opposition demonstrations held in the 
wake of the February 2008 presidential election.
Levon Ter-Petrosian, the main opposition presidential candidate, rejected as 
fraudulent official election results which give victory to Serzh Sarkisian, 
outgoing President Robert Kocharian’s preferred successor. Ter-Petrosian and 
his allies rallied supporters on a daily basis to demand a rerun of the vote.
Security forces broke up those protests on March 1-2, 2008. Eight protesters 
and two police servicemen died as a result.
The former Armenian authorities accused the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition of 
organizing the “mass disturbances” in a bid to seize power. They jailed dozens 
of opposition figures, including Nikol Pashinian, on corresponding charges 
denied by the latter.
Investigators radically changed the official version of events shortly after 
last year’s “velvet revolution” which brought Pashinian to power. They charged 
Kocharian and three retired army generals with illegally using the Armenian 
armed forces against the protesters and thus overthrowing the constitutional 
order in February-March 2008. All four men, who went on trial last month, deny 
the accusations.
Jailed General ‘Denied Adequate Medical Aid’
        • Marine Khachatrian
Armenia -- Retired General Manvel Grigorian appears before a court in Yerevan, 
May 13, 2019.
Manvel Grigorian, a retired Armenian army general facing various criminal 
charges, failed to appear before a Yerevan court on Tuesday after being forced 
to leave a civilian hospital.
Grigorian’s absence led the court to adjourn the latest session of his and 
wife’s high-profile trial which began last month.
Grigorian, who suffers from multiple diseases, was hospitalized in February one 
month after being arrested again. Investigators transferred him from the 
private Nairi Medical Center to a prison hospital in Yerevan against his will 
on Monday.
“We met him this morning,” Grigorian’s lawyer Levon Baghdasarian told the 
presiding judge. “He is refusing to undergo treatment there, and I want to let 
you know that he is being held there illegally and that his life is in danger.”
“A person diagnosed with over a dozen diseases has not received treatment for 
about 12 hours and this is the reason why Mr. Grigorian is not present at the 
court session today,” said Baghdasarian.
The trial prosecutor, Vahe Dolmazian, dismissed the lawyer’s protests, saying 
that arrested criminal suspects cannot decide whether they should be held.
Grigorian, who had served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 2000-2008, 
was first arrested in June last year following searches conducted at his 
properties in and around the town of Echmiadzin. Investigators found there many 
weapons, ammunition, medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the 
Armenian Defense Ministry.
They also discovered canned food and several vehicles donated by Armenians at 
one of Grigorian’s mansions. An official video of the searches conducted by the 
National Security Service (NSS) caused shock and indignation in the country.
Grigorian was also charged with tax evasion and extortion in February. His 
wife, Nazik Amirian, was indicted on some of these charges but not arrested.
Both Grigorian and Amirian pleaded not guilty to the accusations when they went 
on trial on May 13.
Armenia, Cyprus, Greece Agree On ‘Trilateral Partnership’
Cyprus -- Foreign Ministers Nikos Christodoulides (C) of Cyprus, George 
Katrougalos of Greece (R) and Zohrab Mnatsakanian of Armenia shake hands after 
talks held in Nicosia, June 4, 2019.
The foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Armenia pledged to deepen relations 
between their countries at a first-ever trilateral meeting held in the Cypriot 
capital Nicosia on Tuesday.
“The purpose of the trilateral cooperation between our countries … is the 
promotion of peace, stability and prosperity through enhanced political 
dialogue and cooperation among the three countries,” Cyprus’s Foreign Minister 
Nikos Christodoulides said after the talks.
“Today’s meeting reflects very clearly our joint determination to further 
expand and deepen our cooperation and to develop synergies that will benefit 
our countries and our peoples,” he told a joint news conference with Foreign 
Ministers George Katrougalos of Greece and Zohrab Mnatsakanian of Armenia.
Christodoulides said they agreed to “explore opportunities for cooperation” in 
a wide range of areas, including trade, agriculture and tourism. The three 
nations will also step up their cooperation in international organizations and 
coordinate “the action of our diasporas in important decision-making centers 
worldwide,” he said.
“Our three countries are very like-minded, peace-loving countries and believe 
that international law and respect for multilateralism form the basis of 
international relations,” Katrougalos said for his part. “And, of course, we 
share a long history together.”
“The next step is going to be the trilateral summit among the leaders of our 
countries,” he added.
The Greek and Cypriot ministers also voiced strong support for Armenia’s 
efforts to forge closer ties with the European Union. “We intend to help, as 
much as we can, Armenia in its European perspectives,” said Katrougalos.
The three countries share a long history of mutual animosity with Turkey. 
Meeting in 2016 with then Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, Greece’s Prime 
Minister Alexis Tsipras said the Armenian and Greek peoples were both victims 
of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during World War One. Ankara 
condemned that statement.
Turkey refuses to establish diplomatic relations and open its borders with 
Armenia because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Karabakh issue was also 
on the agenda of the Nicosia meeting, according to Christodoulides.
Christodoulides said he also briefed his Greek and Armenian counterparts on 
“Turkey’s escalated illegal activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the 
Republic of Cyprus.” In that regard, Katrougalos condemned Turkish 
“provocations” against the east Mediterranean island partly occupied by Turkish 
troops.
Press Review
“Aravot” says the pro-government majority in Armenia’s parliament should not be 
blamed for “stubbornly rejecting apolitical specialists” nominated by President 
Armen Sarkissian for the Constitutional Court and planning to install instead a 
“political ally” as a member of the court. “The problem lies in the 
constitution, which essentially enables the ruling political force to have a 
Constitutional Court subordinate to it,” explains the paper. It is surprised 
that former officials who enacted that constitution as recently as in 2015 are 
now complaining about the ruling My Step alliance’s partisanship.
“Zhoghovurd” says that the Constitutional Court chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, has 
defied the government following former President Robert Kocharian’s release 
from jail and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resulting harsh criticism of the 
Armenian judiciary. The paper points to Tovmasian’s trip to Nagorno-Karabakh 
and a media interview in which he hinted that he has no intention to resign and 
criticized Pashinian’s critical statements on the judicial system. “In other 
words, he is openly resisting,” it says. “It will be interesting to see how 
long this resistance will last.”
“The former authorities and their paid and ‘ideological’ supporters are clearly 
buoyed by ‘velvet’ methods of the revolution and think that with their 
aggressive propaganda they can erase the people’s memory and even go on a 
counteroffensive,” writes “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “They think that the closure of 
streets and the rallies attended by hundreds of thousands of people are the 
only things that remain in the people’s memory of the April [2018] revolution. 
They have already forgotten what led the hundreds of thousands of people to 
take to the streets. Actually they have not. It’s just that the [current] 
authorities are now busy with more important things and do not remind them of 
that.”
“Zhamanak” reports that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) has 
interrogated Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian in 
connection with the events of March 2008 in Yerevan. The paper says that an SIS 
spokeswoman refused to comment on this information. It cites other, unnamed 
sources saying that Tsarukian’s interrogation lasted for several hours and that 
he was mainly questioned about his bodyguards’ alleged involvement in the 2008 
crackdown.
(Tatevik Lazarian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

                                        Wednesday, 
Communists See No Major Changes In Armenia
        • Susan Badalian
Armenia -- The Communist Party of Armenia holds a May Day demonstration in 
Yerevan, May 1, 2019.
The leader of the Communist Party of Armenia (HKK) said little has changed in 
the country since last year’s “velvet revolution” as he led a traditional May 
Day demonstration in Yerevan on Wednesday.
The HKK was again the only Armenian political group that rallied supporters in 
the capital to mark the public holiday officially called Labor Day. Hundreds of 
them marched through the city center, waving red flags and holding big banners.
The crowd included not only elderly people nostalgic about the Soviet past, the 
HKK’s core support base, but also young Armenians and even schoolchildren. Some 
of them came from the country’s regions.
Radik Harutiunian, the head of the HKK chapter in the northeastern town of 
Martuni, said he tapped his modest pension to cover the travel expenses of 
local young Communists.
Harutiunian proudly sported a hammer-and-sickle insignia on his chest. “This 
symbol had given me free education, free healthcare and guaranteed employment,” 
he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
“Our ideology is the most progressive in the world. Humanity has not managed to 
create anything better than that,” said Yerjanik Ghazarian, the HKK’s acting 
first secretary.
Ghazarian was unimpressed with last year’s mass protests that toppled the 
former Armenian government opposed by his party. He said it was mere “regime 
change,” rather than a revolution.
“The system has remained the same, only individuals [in government] have 
changed,” Ghazarian told reporters. He argued that just like its predecessors 
the current government opposes “socialism.”
Still, Ghazarian said his party stands ready to help Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian make Armenia’s relations with Russia “spotless.” Pashinian should get 
rid of his associates hostile to Moscow, added the HKK leader.
Pashinian congratulated Armenians on May Day in a written statement. He said 
his government is committed to protecting worker rights while carrying out an 
“economic revolution” promised by him.
The Communists were a major political force in Armenia in the 1990s, winning 
roughly 10 percent of the vote in various national elections. However, their 
influence has since declined significantly.
The HKK, which claims to have 20,000 members, has not been represented in the 
Armenian parliament since 2003. It won less than 1 percent of the vote in the 
April 2017 parliamentary elections and did not run in snap polls held in 
December 2018.
‘Oligarch’ Questioned Over Kidnapping Claim
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Businessman Samvel Aleksanian attends a parliament session in 
Yerevan, September 10, 2018.
Samvel Aleksanian, one of Armenia’s wealthiest and most influential 
businesspeople, has been questioned by law-enforcement authorities on suspicion 
of kidnapping a once prominent journalist.
The veteran journalist, Hamlet Ghushchian, alleged in March that he was forced 
into Aleksanian’s car and driven away “year ago.” “He then got me out of his 
jeep and put a gun to my neck,” said Ghushchian, who was a well-known sports 
reporter in Soviet times and hosted TV talk shows in the 1990s and early 2000s.
He claimed that Aleksanian unjustly accused him of airing slanderous 
information about vodka produced by of the tycoon’s firms.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation into 
Ghushchian’s allegations early this month. Aleksanian confirmed on Wednesday 
that the law-enforcement agency has interrogated him as part of the inquiry.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service by phone, he strongly denied kidnapping 
the journalist and insisted that he had never even met the latter.
“I’m not a kidnapper, my dear,” said Aleksanian. “I hope you guys don’t kidnap 
me. How can I kidnap others?”
Ghushchian stood by his allegations, however. He said he is outraged by the 
fact that Aleksanian was questioned as a witness and not charged.
Aleksanian, who is commonly known as “Lfik Samo,” owns some of Armenia’s most 
lucrative firms, including the ones that have long controlled imports of sugar 
and other foodstuffs.He was a member of the Armenian parliament from 2003-2018, 
a fact that highlighted his close ties with the country’s former leaders.
The 50-year-old “oligarch” quit former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican 
Party (HHK) in June 2018 more than a month after the latter resigned amid mass 
protests against his continued rule. Aleksanian has kept a very low profile 
since then. According to media reports, the 2018 “velvet revolution” has not 
had a serious impact on his businesses.
Man Told To Retract ‘False’ Claims About Armenian Security Chief
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Garegin Miskarian, a member of the Citizen's Decision party, speaks 
to RFE/RL in Yerevan, May 1, 2019.
Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) has told a member of a small 
political party to retract his allegations that the NSS director, Artur 
Vanetsian, is engaged in illegal entrepreneurial activity.
Garegin Miskarian of the Citizen’s Decision party attacked Vanetsian in a 
recent Facebook post. Miskarian claimed that Vanetsian and his family had 
smuggled diesel from Iran and have continued fuel imports after last year’s 
“velvet revolution.”
The security service categorically denied that in a letter to Miskarian which 
was signed by an NSS official, Vahe Yengibarian. The latter demanded that the 
activist retract his “article” in writing.
Miskarian accepted the demand but defended his post on Wednesday, saying that 
it was based on media reports. He also objected to the fact that the retraction 
was demanded by the NSS, rather than Vanetsian. “I did not mention the NSS in 
that status,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Yengibarian insisted, meanwhile, that Vanetsian did not abuse his 
administrative resources to protect his reputation. Nor did the NSS chief seek 
to restrict freedom of speech in the country, the official said.
Vanetsian, 38, was appointed as NSS director shortly after the 2018 revolution. 
He is widely regarded as an influential member of Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s entourage. Over the past year the NSS has launched high-profile 
corruption investigations into some former senior government officials as well 
as their relatives and cronies.
Press Review
Armenia -- Newspapers for press review illustration, Yerevan, 12Jul2016
“Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on Tuesday’s meeting in Yerevan of the prime 
ministers of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member states. The 
pro-government paper condemns media outlets sympathetic to Armenia’s former 
leadership of using the occasion to “remind” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry 
Medvedev of his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinian’s 2017 criticism of the 
EEU and anti-Russian rallies organized by some of his associates in the past. 
It says that the former regime, which constantly advocates Armenia’s continued 
alliance with Russia, is now trying to “spoil” Russian-Armenian relations.
Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on 
defense and security, tells “Zhamanak” that the upcoming trial of former 
President Robert Kocharian (no relation), his former chief of staff Armen 
Gevorgian and three retired army generals promises to be “very difficult.” “For 
us, it will be the same as the Nuremberg trial held after the [Second World] 
war,” he says. “The March 1 case has such a resonance. Fully solving the March 
1 case means understanding as a result of what decisions the March 1 [violence] 
occurred. It’s not just about the ten victims [of the March 2008 clashes in 
Yerevan.] The trial will ascertain the political aims of the gunshots that were 
fired at people.”
“Zhoghovurd” dismisses Dashnaktsutyun’s strong criticism of the current 
Armenian government voiced in a statement adopted at a party conference held 
this week. The paper compares the opposition party’s claims that the government 
has failed to achieve “tangible results in any area of public life” and is 
undermining “traditional and spiritual values” to “fake news.” It also deplores 
Dashnaktsutyun’s claim that Pashinian’s policy towards the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict is “evasive.”
(Sargis Harutyunyan)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org