Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Interfax, Russia
Jan 26 2015

Three Azeri soldiers killed, two wounded in a day – Nagorno-Karabakh
defense ministry

YEREVAN. Jan 26

The defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
said on Monday that the Azeri armed forces violated the ceasefire
about 800 times on January 24 and 25.

The Azeri forces used weapons of various caliber, including mortars
and grenade launchers, firing over 14,000 shots at Armenian positions
on these days, the defense ministry’s press service told Interfax.

“The forward combat units of the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh
retaliated, inflicting losses on the enemy: three servicemen were
killed and two others wounded. The Armenian side did not sustain
losses,” the defense ministry said.

No comments on this report from the Azeri side are available to Interfax.

Interfax, Russia
Jan 26 2015

Russian military man charged with mass killing in Armenia could have
had accomplices – police official

YEREVAN. Jan 26

Valery Permyakov, a soldier from the Russian military base in Gyumri
in northern Armenia, who is charged with mass murder, could have had
accomplices, Lieutenant-General Unan Pogosyan, first deputy head of
the Armenian police, said.

“The investigators believe Russian military man Valery Pogosyan could
have accomplices. They are studying all theories, but clarity will
come after the preliminary investigation is completed,” Pogosyan told
a press conference on Monday.

According to earlier reports, a family of six people, including a
two-year old child, were killed in Gyumri on January 12. Sergei
Avetisyan, who was only six months old, survived the attack and was
hospitalized with a stab wound. He died on January 19.

Permyakov has admitted his guilt.

Expert: Armenian law-enforcers are not involved in Permyakov case
investigation to full extent

by Karina Manukyan
Tuesday, January 27, 21:51

“I am not sure that Armenian law enforcers are involved in the
Permyakov case investigation to the full extent”, Stepan Grigoryan,
Head of the Council of the Analytical Centre on Globalization and
Regional Cooperation, said at today’s press conference.

He said that some questions about the murder of the Avetisyans’ family
in Gyumri remain without answers. It remains unclear how Permyakov
was able to shoot 6 people dead all by himself given that those people
were in different rooms. In this light, Grigoryan does not rule out
that other people may be behind the crime.

In addition, it is not clear yet who exactly caught Permyakov on the
Armenian-Turkish border. “If he was caught by the Armenian
law-enforcers, why did they give him to the Russian 102nd military
base in Gyumri? If Permyakov was caught by the Russian frontier
guards, why didn’t they transfer him to the relevant bodies?” said
Grigoryan. He added that the given issue is not even being discussed
officially.

The expert recalled that the Russian 102nd base in Gyumri is not the
territory of the Russian Federation de jure. So, the talks about the
need to transfer Permyakov to the Armenian side sound at least
strange, because he is all the same in the territory of Armenia. “I do
not see that Armenia’s relevant bodies display a serious approach to
the full investigation of the crime committed in Gyumri”, he said.

On Jan 12, 6 members of the Avetisyans’ family were murdered in
Gyumri. Though 2 weeks have passed since the day of the murder, the
investigation has not yet reasonably explained the reasons why Valery
Permyakov could commit that horrible crime. At the moment, the
criminal is staying in the territory of the Russian 102nd military
base and the residents of Gyumri still demand transferring Permyakov
to Armenian law-enforcers. The only survivor of the Jan 12 tragedy,
6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan, died of stab wounds on Jan 19.

Henry Theriault to Discuss Issue of Genocide Reparations at NAASR

By Contributor on January 26, 2015

BELMONT, Mass.–Prof. Henry Theriault of Worcester State University
will present a talk entitled, “‘Resolution with Justice’: Reparations
for the Armenian Genocide Considered,” on Thurs., Feb. 12, at the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center
in Belmont.

Henry Theriault

In recent years, the issue of reparations for the Armenian Genocide
has gone from being a marginal concern to a central focus in popular
and academic circles. Most of the efforts to date have been in the
form of piecemeal individual reparation cases. But what are the
possibilities and limitations of pursuing broader reparations?

Theriault chaired the Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group that
in fall 2014 published its report, “Resolution with Justice:
Reparations for the Armenian Genocide.” The report attempts to provide
an analysis and recommendations that would lead to a larger process of
reparations for the extensive outstanding damages of the genocide than
has previously been undertaken. At the Centenary of the Armenian
Genocide, with a gradual increase in genuine, non-denialist engagement
with the genocide in Turkey, and with the emergence of a global
reparations movement involving numerous human rights violations and
victim groups, it is an appropriate time to take a serious look at a
long-neglected topic.

Henry Theriault is professor in and chair of the Philosophy Department
at Worcester State. His research focuses on reparations,
victim-perpetrator relations, genocide denial, genocide prevention,
and mass violence against women and girls. He has published numerous
journal articles and chapters in the area of genocide studies, and was
recently named co-editor of Transaction Publishers’ Genocide: A
Critical Bibliographic Review book series. From 2007-12, he served as
co-editor of Genocide Studies and Prevention, and was guest editor of
the International Criminal Law Review special issue on “Armenian
Genocide Reparations” (2014), and the Armenian Reviewspecial issue on
the “New Global Reparations Movement” (2012). His autobiographical
article, “Out of the Shadow of War and Genocide,” is one of 15
featured in the forthcoming Scholars of Genocide Studies: New
Generations.

The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. at NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., in
Belmont. Copies of the report”Resolution with Justice: Reparations for
the Armenian Genocide” will be available. For more information about
Theriault’s talk, contact NAASR by calling (617) 489-1610 or e-mailing
[email protected].

Yerevan Entrepreneurs Will Protest Everyday Against Turnover Tax Law:
Gyumri Also Joins In

01.27.2015 18:21 epress.am

Small and medium-sized business owners and entrepreneurs protested for
the second day this year in front of the Armenian government building,
which again concluded with no result. Like yesterday, the protesters
demanded, to no avail, that the PM Hovik Abrahamyan meet them outside
the building. Yesterday, the PM agreed to meet with a delegation of 10
people to discuss the issues around the Law on Turnover Tax inside the
the government building but was rejected by the protesters. However,
the Government’s Reception of Citizens and Appeals department head
Aleksander Ghazaryan told the protesters that Abrahamyan was not at
work today.

The demonstrators have decided to protest until the nullification of the law.

“We are going to come here everyday, except for tomorrow because it’s
a holiday (the anniversary of the formation of Armenian Army). We will
be in front of the Government building from morning to 3PM, until the
issue is resolved,” said entrepreneur Samson Grigoryan.

He underlined that the new law will increase the risk of corruption
and force entrepreneurs to give bribes in order to solve issues with
the tax services.

During yesterday’s demonstration, protesters spread information that
their colleagues from the provinces, specifically from Shirak, would
join them in their protest in front of the government building today.

Today, however, a few of the protesters told an Epress.am journalist
that the roads from various provinces had been closed. The Gyumri
based Journalists Club Asparez representative and journalist Sona
Arakelyan told Epress.am that a few Gyumri residents came with their
personal cars to Yerevan, while the protest against the Law on
Turnover Tax took place near Gyumri’s clothing bazaar. Other merchants
in other marketplaces closed their booths and joined the protest.

The entrepreneurs restarted their fast growing protests from last
September-October, which were halted after the government promised to
delay the compulsory inventorization of products until February 1st of
2015. The protest restarted yesterday, because the government refused
to include other amendments to the law.

Last year, the protesters against the Law on Turnover Tax stated that
they do not have possibility of inventorizing their products, because
large distributors often do not give them invoices. In addition, in
the case of inventorizing, their turnover would be over the legal
minimum threshold of 58.3 million AMD ($126,000), so they would be
forced to pay VAT, which would be impossible for small and medium
sized businesses. Among the business owners, some demand that they
sharply increase the threshold, while others demand the law be
nullified.

Those who work in the gold trade have stressed that once the new law
comes into effect they would be forced to immediately halt their work.
Certain experts have noted that the inclusion of the Law on Turnover
Tax would entirely wipe out small and medium sized businesses, while
the members of government claim that the purpose is to fight against
the illegal practices in large businesses and that they are not
prepared to consider the law void.

During last year’s protest, the merchants received backlash from the
owners of large marketplaces they rent space from. A few large
marketplaces threatened to fire (or cancel rent contracts) those
merchants who did not show up to work and protested. The most covered
case was that of Vosku Shuka owner Vagharsh Abrahamyan who broke
tables and showcases of those merchants who participated in the
protests. the destructive behavior of Abrahamyan was not dealt with
by the police.

Victims of the Holocaust remembered in Armenia

17:21, 27 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of
the Victims of the Holocaust UN Armenia Office, together with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jewish Community participated in a
solemn ceremonyto pay tribute to the memory of the victims. The UN
Resident Coordinator Bradley Busetto and the Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sergey Manassarianplaced a wreath at the Holocaust
Memorial in Aragast Park followed by prayers and a candlelight vigil.

The event continued in the National Library of Armenia with an
exhibition of posters featuring documentary fragments of the history
of the Holocaust and the WWII, award winning posters on the topic, as
well as publications from the UN Reference Library and the National
Library stocks. In the events hall of the National Library where media
and a youth audience from schools and universities of Yerevan was
gathered, UN, MFA and Jewish community representatives spoke about the
mass killings of primarily Jews, political prisoners, Soviet prisoners
of war, Sintiand Roma, homosexuals, disabled persons and Jehovah’s
witnesses.

In his speech, UN Resident Coordinator Bradley Busetto stated: “While
honoring the memory of the victims, this international day of
commemoration is our opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the
international community to taking action against anti-semitism,
racism, and intolerance, and to preventing similar violence in the
future.”

Seventy years have passed since the liberation of the Auschwitz
Birkenau, the German NaziConcentration and Extermination Camp, a place
where the Nazis introduced the monstrous concept of “industrialized
murder”.While speaking about these tragic events and crimes against
humanitythe Rabbi Gershon Meir Burshtein, and the Chairwoman of the
Jewish Community RimmaVarzhapetyan-Feller highlighted the lessons of
tolerance that especially the youth should learn. Speaking and telling
about these inhuman acts of genocide and annihilation can prevent the
modern day crimes and attempts of genocide, hatred, discrimination and
xenophobia.

As the theme of this year’s observance was “Liberty, Life and the
Legacy of the Holocaust Survivors”UN HQ films onliberation of
Auschwitz Birkenauthrough testimonies of survivors and veterans, as
well as on the 10th anniversary of the Holocaust and UN Outreach
Programme were also screened. Information materials on Holocaust were
available for media and youth.The whole event was concluded by Willy
Weiner’s somber music (a prominent Jewish composer in Armenia,
chairman of the Jewish Cultural Center Menora).

UN Department of Public Information Yerevan Office jointly with the UN
Depository Library located in the National Library of Armenia were the
main organizers of the day. To mark this observance through education
outreach activity had a goal to instill the memory of the tragedy in
future generationspreventing genocides from occurring again.

Trade and economic cooperation between Armenia and Iran needs further
development

YEREVAN, January 27. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan
and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rated
Armenian-Iranian relations highly as met Tuesday in Yerevan, the press
office of Armenia’s government reports.

Abrahamyan and Zarif discussed a wide range of issues related to
cooperation between the two countries.

In particular, they discussed the programs being implemented now and
outlined new projects that would spur trade and economic relations
between the countries.

They stressed the importance of the activity of the Armenian-Iranian
intergovernmental commission saying that the arrangements made in
December 2014 at its session will be put into practice.

Speaking about Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, the
Iranian foreign minister said that Armenia’s membership in the union
will be favorable for Armenian-Iranian economic ties. Regional and
global issues were discussed at the meeting as well. —0—–

Iranian nuclear program to be continued – foreign minister

YEREVAN, January 27. /ARKA/. The Iranian nuclear program will be
continued, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday
in Yerevan at a joint news conference with his Armenian counterpart
Edward Nalbandyan.

he said.

In his words, Tehran has repeatedly said that the nuclear program is
being implemented only for peaceful purposes.

he said.

Zarif stressed that Tehran has already obtained the international
community’s trust. he
said.

Speaking about sanctions against Iran, the minister stressed that . —0—-

Armenia Searching for Donors of Renewable Energy

16:13 January 26, 2015
EcoLur

The World Future Energy Summit by International Renewable Energy
Agency was held in Abu Dhabi from 17 to 18 January. The summit was
participated by the representatives of 150 countries and 115
international organizations. The aim of this summit is to accelerate
the expansion of the renewable energy directing it to the solution to
such problems such as climate change, energy accessibility and energy
safety.

Armenia, which is a member of IRENA, participated in the summit with
the delegation headed by Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister
Hayk Harutyunyan. Under the official website of the Energy and Natural
Resources Ministry, the members of the Armenian delegation had
meetings with the director of IRENA Adnan Z. Amin, the representatives
of the different delegations and international financial institutions.
The fifth summit is very suitable for negotiating with the
representatives of donor countries and investing companies and to
attract funds for developing renewable energy projects in Armenia.

“The material was developed in the frames of “Supporting reforms in
the sector of small hydro power plants through enabling a dialogue
between civil society and the Ministry of Nature Protection for
sustainable use of river ecosystems” supported by UNDP/GEF Small
Grants Programme”.

Karabakh FM thanks Uruguayan counterpart for resolute stance

16:30, 27.01.2015

STEPANAKERT. – Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen
Mirzoyan sent a letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Oriental
Republic of Uruguay Luis Leonardo Almagro Lemes.

In his letter Karen Mirzoyan thanked Luis Leonardo Almagro Lemes for
his resolute stance on the future of the people of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic.

“Your efforts towards bringing peace and stability in our region based
on the recognition of Artsakh people’s right to self-determination are
highly appreciated, encouraging us to move forward on our chosen path
to live in peace and security, in free and democratic state”, – the
letter reads.

The NKR Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed confidence that the
visit of NKR President Bako Sahakyan to Uruguay in 2011 and that of
the parliamentary delegation led by President of the House of
Representatives Jorge Omar Orrico Miraldi to the NKR in 2012 have
significantly contributed to the enhancement of the friendship between
two countries. Karen Mirzoyan also invited his colleague to visit
Artsakh.

Armenia News – NEWS.am