Author: Hagop Kamalian

Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.

Sincerely,
Media and PR Department
(+374 10) 585601, internal 805

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Հարգանքով`
Մամուլի և հասարակայնության հետ կապերի վարչություն

(+374 10) 585601, ներքին 805

232. Քայլ դեպի տուն.docx
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                                        Monday, 

Russia In Rare Diplomatic Spat With Armenia

        • Emil Danielyan
        • Sisak Gabrielian

RUSSIA -- A view of the Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow, April 6, 
2018

Russia has criticized Armenia, its main regional ally, in unusually blunt terms 
following criminal charges brought by law-enforcement authorities in Yerevan 
against Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian secretary general of the Russian-led 
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Khachaturov was charged on Thursday with involvement in what an Armenian 
law-enforcement agency now considers an “overthrow of the constitutional order” 
that followed a disputed presidential election held in February 2008.

The vote sparked opposition demonstrations in Yerevan which were quelled by 
security forces on March 1-2, 2008. Eight protesters and two police personnel 
died as a result. Khachaturov was Armenia’s deputy defense minister at the time.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) levelled the same criminal charges 
against former President Robert Kocharian. He was arrested late on Friday after 
angrily denying the charges as politically motivated.

Khachaturov served as chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff from 
2008-2016. Russia, Armenia and four other ex-Soviet states making up the CSTO 
appointed him as secretary general of the Russian-led defense pact in April 
2017.

A spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that it has 
formally asked the other CSTO members to “start a process of replacing the 
secretary general.”


Armenia -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) meets CSTO chief Yuri 
Khachaturov, Yerevan, 17May2018

The move seems to have irked Russia. The official Russian TASS news agency 
quoted an unnamed “high-ranking diplomatic source in Moscow” as calling it 
“amazingly unprofessional.”

“It is all the more strange to hear such statements given that the changes that 
occurred in Armenia did not reflect on the staff of the [Armenian] foreign 
ministry which only recently submitted Khachaturov’s candidacy to the CSTO,” 
the source said, adding that Yerevan must formally “recall” the Armenian head 
of the alliance before asking the other members to replace him.

In a separate report, TASS said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the 
same point in a phone call with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanian on 
Thursday. “In particular, it was pointed out that in accordance with CSTO rules 
and procedures, the Armenian side must officially recall its citizen from the 
post of CSTO secretary general if such a decision was made in Yerevan,” it 
cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.

The Armenian side dismissed the criticism later on Saturday. The Interfax news 
agency quoted “a highly placed source in Yerevan” as saying: “We regard as 
ineffective public discussions and explanations regarding the statutes, 
procedures and other documents of the CSTO which we know well.”

“We are committed to and respect the provisions of the CSTO statutes,” the 
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tigran Balayan, insisted on Monday. “And 
during our presidency of the CSTO we have done everything to strengthen the 
CSTO.”

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyum.am), Balayan would not be 
drawn on who could replace Khachaturov. “We have to wait for the decision on 
replacing him,” he said.


Armenia - General Yuri Khachaturov, chief of the Armenian army's General Staff, 
salutes troops from CSTO member states holding exercises at Marshal Bagramian 
shooting range, 30Sep2015.

Russia has rarely made public statements critical of Armenia in the past. The 
two nations have maintained close political, military and economic ties ever 
since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly pledged to maintain this 
“special” relationship since he swept to power in a wave of mass protests in 
May. But he criticized it when he was in opposition to Armenia’s former 
leadership.

Moscow signaled its concerns shortly after the SIS charged Khachaturov and 
asked a court in Yerevan for a permission to arrest him. “We are closely 
monitoring what is happening on this issue,” Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory 
Karasin told TASS on Friday.

The district court agreed to grant Khachaturov bail a few hours later.

The SIS bases its case against Kocharian, Khachaturov as well as for Defense 
Minister Harutiunian on a secret order that was issued to the Armenian military 
during the post-election demonstrations organized by Levon Ter-Petrosian, the 
main opposition candidate in the 2008 ballot. It says that military units were 
told to move into Yerevan before Kocharian declared a state of emergency late 
on March 1, 2008. According to the law-enforcement agency, that violated 
constitutional provisions guaranteeing the political neutrality of the Armenian 
armed forces.

Kocharian insisted on Thursday that the army was simply put on high alert in 
order to prevent some of its soldiers and officers from heeding Ter-Petrosian’s 
repeated calls for top military officials to join his opposition movement. The 
ex-president also argued that army units were not involved in vicious clashes 
between security forces and protesters which were followed by the introduction 
of emergency rule.

Pashinian, who played a key role in the Ter-Petrosian-led movement, was the 
main speaker at a March 1, 2008 rally held several hundred meters from the 
scene of the deadly violence. Pashinian subsequently spent nearly two years in 
prison for organizing “mass disturbances” in the Armenian capital. He denied 
the accusations as politically motivated.




TV Comedian Picked As Pashinian Party’s Candidate For Yerevan Mayor

        • Marine Khachatrian
        • Anush Muradian

Armenia - Comedian Hayk Marutian speaks to journalists in Yerevan, 

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party has chosen a prominent 
Armenian comedian as its candidate for the vacant post of Yerevan’s mayor.

The city’s previous mayor, Taron Markarian, resigned on July 9 under apparent 
pressure from Armenia’s new government.

Markarian, who had been in office since 2011, is a senior member of former 
President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). He was reelected 
by the current city council in May 2017.

The HHK-controlled council deliberately failed to select a new mayor on July 
16, paving the way for pre-term elections of a new municipal council.

Civil Contract is the first Armenian party to field a mayoral candidate. Its 
nominee, Hayk Marutian, is a 41-year-old actor famous for his performances in 
popular comedy shows aired by Armenian TV channels. He has also produced his 
own shows and films in the past several years.

A strong backer of Pashinian, Marutian actively participated in mass protests 
in April and May that brought down Armenia’s former government. He joined Civil 
Contract shortly after Pashinian became prime minister on May 8.

“If we win the elections I will be one of your and will be looking at city with 
your eyes,” Marutian told reporters late after most members of the party’s 
governing board backed his candidacy late on Sunday.

The popular comedian dismissed critics claims’ that his entertainment industry 
background does not make him fit to run the Armenian capital. “Acting has made 
up only 20 percent of my professional life for the last six years,” he said. 
“The remaining 80 percent has been my organizational and managerial work in our 
production company as well as … my political and civic activism.”

Marutian was one of four Civil Contract members vying for the party’s 
nomination for Yerevan mayor. The three other hopefuls were parliament deputy 
Alen Simonian, Deputy Labor Minister Zaruhi Batoyan and an aide to Pashinian, 
Srbuhi Ghazarian.

Meanwhile, Pashinian’s government remains in no rush to dissolve the current 
city council and call snap municipal elections. Minister for Local Government 
Suren Papikian said on Monday that it wants to make sure that the Central 
Election Commission has enough time to organize the polls.

“Yerevan is home to about half of the country’s population and we need to 
properly prepare [for the elections,]” Papikian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service 
(Azatutyun.am). He indicated that they will he held in September.




Kocharian To Appeal Against Arrest

        • Artak Hambardzumian
        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Lawyers and other representatives of former President Robert 
Kocharian hold a news conference in Yerevan, .

Lawyers for Robert Kocharian said on Monday that they will appeal on Tuesday 
against a Yerevan district court’s decision to allow law-enforcement 
authorities to arrest the former Armenian president on coup charges which he 
denies as politically motivated.

One of them, Aram Orbelian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that 
they expect Armenia’s Court of Appeals to start considering their petition 
already this week.

Kocharian was arrested late on Friday one day after being charged with 
“overthrowing the constitutional order” in the wake of a disputed presidential 
election held in February 2008 two months before he completed his second and 
final term. The accusation stems from the use of deadly force on March 1-2, 
2008 against opposition supporters demonstrating against alleged vote rigging.

Kocharian angrily rejected the accusations in televised remarks on Thursday. He 
defended the legality of his decision to declare a state of emergency and order 
Armenian army units into central Yerevan late on March 1, 2008. He also said 
that the coup charges ran counter to the decisions of Armenia’s Central 
Election Commission and the Constitutional Court that validated the official 
election outcome.

Orbelian and the other defense lawyer, Ruben Sahakian, echoed that denial at a 
joint news conference with Kocharian’s spokesman, Victor Soghomonian, held on 
Saturday. They also condemned his pre-trial arrest as illegal, saying that the 
Special Investigative Service (SIS) did not present any compelling evidence to 
the lower court.

“This is a [political] order and they are going to execute it,” charged 
Sahakian.

The lawyers also insisted that Kocharian enjoys immunity from prosecution in 
line with Article 140 of the Armenian constitution. The article says: “During 
the term of his or her powers and thereafter, the President of the Republic may 
not be prosecuted and subjected to liability for actions deriving from his or 
her status.”

Kocharian’s arrest was condemned as politically motivated by the former ruling 
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) of Serzh Sarkisian, who succeeded him as 
president following the 2008 election and the ensuing unrest. The Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), a political party represented in the 
current Armenian government, also expressed serious concern about it.

By contrast, the arrest was hailed as a triumph of justice by political allies 
of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who 
led the 2008 protest movement, as well as some human rights activists and 
relatives of protesters killed in the post-election violence. They have for 
years accused the Sarkisian administration of covering up the killings.




 Press Justice


(Saturday, July 28)

“Zhamanak” says that if the coup charges levelled against former President 
Robert Kocharian are backed by Armenian courts it will mean that his successor 
Serzh Sarkisian’s decade-long rule was illegal. “This logic makes Serzh 
Sarkisian’s involved in this criminal case almost inevitable,” writes the paper.

“Haykakan Zhamanak” likewise says that the 2008 post-election violence occurred 
“in order for power to be transferred to Serzh Sarkisian.” “He was ready to 
hold on to power at any cost, including by using the army against protesting 
citizens,” claims. “Had he not wanted the blood of ten people to be linked to 
him he would have resigned after March 1 [2008.]”

The paper close to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian also hits out at another 
former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian, who did not leave his home to join his 
supporters demonstrating in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008. “Only Ter-Petrosian’s 
presence could have mitigated the bloody clash between security forces and 
demonstrators,” it says. The paper goes on to assert that the three 
ex-presidents must get together and publicly give answers about the events of 
March 2008.

“Sometimes sticking to the letter of the law is more important that delivering 
justice,” writes “Hraparak.” “The March 2008 case must definitely be solved,” 
it says. “We need to understand who did what, who ordered what, how people got 
killed. But that must not be done by wrecking the law and being guided by a 
pre-election logic. And it’s not good when that is done by someone who was 
imprisoned and endured other sufferings as a result of March 1: Nikol 
Pashinian, whose personal interest may also be playing a role and indirectly 
influencing courts in this case.”

(Tatev Danielian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Website: www.agbu.org

PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, 

CREATIVE ARMENIA AND AGBU LAUNCH FELLOWSHIPS TO CHAMPION INNOVATIVE TALENTS

Creative Armenia and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) are delighted 
to announce the launch of the Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowships, which will 
discover, nourish and promote creative talents across the arts. Through a 
year-long program of funding,  mentorship and tailored promotion strategies, 
Creative Armenia and AGBU will empower innovative artists to achieve a career 
breakthrough, both locally and globally.
 
“As a nation, we take great pride in a heritage of visionary writers, 
musicians, filmmakers, and artists. But what are we actually doing to discover 
and empower our future creative visionaries?” said filmmaker and writer Garin 
Hovannisian, founding director  of Creative Armenia. “The Creative Armenia-AGBU 
Fellowships are our answer to this question.”
 
The Fellowships represent the first collaboration of AGBU and Creative Armenia, 
which entered into a strategic partnership in May. Creative Armenia, a global 
arts foundation for the Armenian people, pursues a mandate to discover, 
develop, promote, and produce  innovative talent. A trusted bedrock of the 
Armenian diaspora, AGBU has been creating opportunities for Armenian artists 
for decades to extend their education and showcase their talents to diverse 
audiences across the globe. The organization formalized its  support for the 
arts with the establishment of the Performing Arts Departments in the United 
States (in 2012) and France (in 2016).
 
“The synergy of this partnership opens up unprecedented opportunities for 
artists to expand their reach and make their work known locally and 
internationally,” said producer Eric Esrailian, who is a member of the AGBU 
Central Board and a founding member of  Creative Armenia’s Board of Advisors. 
“This fellowship will help advance Armenian arts and culture on the global 
stage.”
 
The Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowships are open to innovative talents in all 
creative fields—including film, music, literature, visual arts, theater, 
design, and photography. During the course of one year, fellows will gain 
access to industry connections and  tailored strategies to develop, pitch and 
promote their projects through one-on-one mentorship meetings and workshops. A 
$5,000 grant will also be provided. The fellowships are open to artists of 
Armenian origin and those who have a demonstrated interest in  Armenian 
culture. The presence of fellows in Armenia is not required. 
 
Applications are accepted now through September 15 on 
creativearmenia.org/fellowships and agbu.org/creativearmenia.

For inquiries, please contact Alec Mouhibian at [email protected] and 
Hayk Arsenyan at [email protected].

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__youtu.be_dG-5F1wswpHv8&d=DwIF-g&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=j4Q7DXV1LUXziS2bW_SvRzomYOJLnSaJiEKvAcAk5Pk&s=SWavnVqUMa7CxCULhS0JdMhQgJgrmjSuVFzbm2kZiNw&e=
 
Founded in 2017, Creative Armenia is an innovative arts foundation that 
develops – and realizes – the strategies of a cultural awakening. Its founding 
advisory board includes Serj Tankian, Eric Esrailian, Arsinée Khanjian, Eric 
Bogosian, Carla Garapedian, Simon  Abkarian and Michael Aram. For more 
information, please visit  www.creativearmenia.org.
 
Established in 1906, AGBU is the world's largest non-profit Armenian 
organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the 
Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian 
programs, annually touching the  lives of some 500,000 Armenians around the 
world. For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit 
www.agbu.org.