Author: Kalantarian Kevo

No emotions should guide Armenian-Russian relations – Republican MP

09:35 * 19.01.15

Emotions should be ruled out in the Armenian Russian relations, a
former prime minister and a current lawmaker of the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia has said, commenting upon the recent tragic murder
committed by a Russian army private in Gyumri.

In an interview with Tert.am, Khosrov Harutyunyan called for a serious
approach by the Russian and Armenian law enforcement bodies to what he
called a foreign trace behind the tragic incident.

“Emotional motives should be ruled out when it comes to the
Russian-Armenian relations – sad and even tragic though they may be.
What I mean are the long-term strategic interests. And from this point
of view, this incident can never and will never be treated or become a
touchstone. I just have an understanding approach to both the concerns
and tensions that evolved in the public opinion.”

Considering the discussions in social networks not sufficiently
unbiased and comprehensive, Harutyunyan said he doesn’t think that the
political and public sentiments they develop should be preferred to
long-term policies and interests.

He said that the condolences and condemning statements issued by the
Russian Embassy to Armenia, the command of the 102nd military base in
Gyumri, the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office, and different
politicians are what really reflect the country’s official position.

“So what was the demand of the demonstrators who went to the Russian
Embassy? They are obviously looking for an occasion to provoke tension
in the Armenian-Russian relations by such approaches. Isn’t that
clear? What did they demand, for example, from the Russian Consulate
in Gyumri. What is it supposed to do?

“It is due to these steps – not quite responsible, unintentional or
perhaps intentional – that they are trying to drive a wedge in the
Russian Armenian relations. That’s all,” he said.

Asked what questions will be discussed at the National Assembly’s
closed-door meeting (set to to take place on Thursday), Harutyunyan
said he doesn’t clearly know the agenda.

“We’ll see it in the course of the discussion. We’ll try to make out
and analyze the information and draw our conclusions. I find it
difficult to say it at the moment. But the main goal is to consider
the key motives behind the crime,” he replied.

ARMENIE
L’Arménie solidaire avec le peuple ami français

Depuis le 7 janvier, l’attentat contre Charlie Hebdo et les événements
dramatiques qui ont suivi cet acte terroriste ont constitué le
principal sujet d’actualité des chaînes de télévision et des agences
de presse arméniennes (la presse écrite a interrompu sa parution
jusqu’au 13 janvier). Celles-ci ont régulièrement rendu compte des
événements en France et exprimé la solidarité avec Charlie Hebdo et le
peuple français. Le Président Sarkissian a adressé une lettre au
Président Hollande, condamnant fermement la tuerie, présentant ses
condoléances aux familles des victimes et exprimant sa solidarité avec
la France. >.
Le Ministre des AE, Edward Nalbandian, a également condamné l’attentat
terroriste à Paris : depuis quelques jours >.

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Arménie en
date du 12 janvier 2015

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Economie
Nouvelle aide de l’UE pour soutenir les réformes arméniennes

L’Union européenne a annoncé vendredi le décaissement de 77,5 millions
d’euros (91,000,000 $) d’aide financière pour l’Arménie pour appuyer
“des réformes audacieuses” promises par le gouvernement du pays.

“Ce nouveau programme d’aide confirme l’engagement de l’Arménie et de
l’UE à renforcer leur coopération bilatérale”, a déclaré la délégation
de l’UE à Erevan et le gouvernement arménien dans des déclarations
séparées.

Ils ont dit que le programme d’aide permettra de financer huit projets
concrets axés sur l’agriculture, la lutte contre la corruption, la
réforme de la fonction publique, la modernisation des infrastructures
et la sécurité nucléaire.

25 millions d’euros seront acheminés pour le développement rural. Il
s’agira particulièrement de soutenir la création de plus d’emplois
dans les zones rurales et la création de plusieurs coopératives
agricoles.

Par ailleurs, 21 millions d’euros seront consacrés à la “lutte contre
la corruption et les mesures de réforme de la fonction publique.”

Deux autres projets d’une valeur de 10,5 millions d’euros combinés
contribueront à la réhabilitation du métro et de l’approvisionnement
en eau d’Erevan.

“L’Union européenne espère que cette aide substantielle mènera à des
réformes audacieuses au cours des prochaines années”, a déclaré Traian
Hristea, le chef de la mission de l’UE à Erevan, lors d’une cérémonie
tenue dans le bureau du Premier ministre Hovik Abrahamian.

Hristea a souligné que l’Arménie reste le deuxième plus grand
bénéficiaire par habitant de l’aide de l’UE parmi les six
ex-républiques soviétiques couvertes par le programme du Partenariat
oriental avec l’UE.

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Claire (c)armenews.com

“I am not the lawyer of Valeri Permyakov anymore”: why the lawyer
refused (video)

12:28 | January 17,2015 | Social

“I am not the lawyer of Valeri Permyakov anymore”: this is the
statement made on January 16 by Tamara Yayloyan, member of the RA
Chamber of Advocates. She noted that after the events, on January 13
she took over the defense of Valeri Permyakov charged with the murder
of 6 citizens of Gyumri. During that time Permyakov didn’t have a
lawyer but Russian side needed to end the documentation activities.
During the first part of testimony Tamara Yayloyan was present and
heard about how Permyakov reached the house of the Avetisyan family
and how entered, heard noise and fired.

During the testimony, when Permyakov started speaking about the murder
of the child, the lawyer wasn’t able to keep her emotions and left the
room. Tamara Yayloyan notes that her emotional state doesn’t let her
continue her work. There are no other reasons for the refusal,”- she
announced.

The video by “Tsayg” TV- below

Newly built territory has become a reason for collapse of 5 shops:
photos (video)

14:37 | January 17,2015 | Social

The reason for collapse in the territory of former “Erebuni” market is
still unknown. According to preliminary information there has been
landslide of the foundation dug for the construction of a new building
near the territory of these shops, as a result of which 5 shops slid
into the pit (about 15 meters). There is also danger that 3 shops may
also slide.

Some of the residents claim that the owners of the shops have been
previously warned about the danger of collapse and some of them
evacuated some belongings. “I always pass this part and I have seen
that it is dangerous. Two days before I entered the shops and warned.
Yesterday many shops took out the products,”- noted a local resident,
constructor Andranik Minasyan.

MES received a call at 06:30 in the morning. “A firefighting brigade
and CMC OG immediately went on the scene. The territory has been
demarcated and safe zone has been formed on the spot,”- informed MES
Yerevan Rescue Department Erebuni department head Sargis Avetisyan.

Residents are angry. “Before the construction the project must receive
the permission of relevant institutions, but there isn’t any
permission,”- stressed local resident, engineer Nshan Avagyan.

Rumors have been spread among the residents that the newly built
territory will be a trade center and belongs to NA HHK Deputy Samvel
Aleksanyan.

Watch video later.

Big News Network
Jan 16 2015

For Armenia, Is Turkey’s Gallipoli Invite Good-Hearted Or Backhanded?

The Turkish government has reportedly issued a rare invitation to the
president of Armenia, Serzh Sarkisian, to attend a special ceremony
marking the 100th anniversary of World War I’s Gallipoli campaign.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet says President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
sent invitation letters to more than 100 global leaders, including
Sarkisian.

The gesture could be interpreted as a sign of rapprochement between
Ankara and Turkey, which have no diplomatic relations.

Many, however, may see the invite as a slight.

The two-day Turkish commemoration, scheduled for April 23-24, overlaps
with a critical anniversary of Yerevan’s own: the centenary of the
mass slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Armenians claim Ottoman troops systematically killed some 1.5 million
Armenians and deported many more from their traditional homeland in
what is now eastern Turkey.

Armenians claim Ottoman troops killed some 1.5 million Armenians and
deported many more from their traditional homeland in what is now
eastern Turkey.

Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora have traditionally commemorated the
slaughter on April 24 and often use the anniversary as an opportunity
to lobby Western governments to formally brand the massacre a
genocide.

Turkey strongly rejects the term, countering that atrocities were
committed by both Turks and Armenians during and after World War I.

The heated dispute, soured further by Armenia’s open hostility toward
Turkish ally Azerbaijan, has left many countries attempting to strike
a diplomatic balance between Ankara and Yerevan.

Twenty-two countries recognize the slaughter of Turkey’s Armenians as
genocide, including France, Russia, and Canada.

Erdogan’s invitation instantly sent a flurry of angry comments
cascading through the Armenian Twitterverse, with one user dismissing
the gesture as “denial and distraction.”

Tigran Lazarian, the chief spokesman for the Armenian Foreign
Ministry, accused Erdogan of seeking to keep foreign leaders away from
Armenian commemorations by creating an impromptu — and historically
inaccurate — anniversary of his own.

But Richard Giragosian, the director of the Regional Studies Center,
an independent Yerevan think tank, says those Armenians who support
normalization between Armenia and Turkey will see the invitation as a
welcome, if somewhat disingenuous, step.

“It is, of course, not enough, and it’s rather dubious in terms of the
timing of the Gallipoli commemoration events,” he says. “Yet, in a
situation where we do not have official diplomatic relations, this is
an important step symbolically.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (center right) talks to
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian during his inauguration in
Ankara in August 2014.

In the past year, Turkey and Armenia have taken a handful of baby
steps aimed at eventually restoring diplomatic ties. Then Prime
Minister Erdogan by offering Turkey’s “condolences” to descendants of
Armenians killed in 1915.

The two countries’ foreign ministers also exchanged visits, with
Armenia’s Eduard Nalbandian notably attending Erdogan’s inauguration
as president in August 2014.

A Turkish government official attempted to put a positive gloss on
Sarkisian’s invitation to attend the Gallipoli commemoration, saying
Armenian and Turkish troops “fought as a kind together” to repel
Allied forces seeking control of the peninsula on the Dardanelles
strait.

It is unclear whether that logic will hold sway in Yerevan, where all
eyes will be on a series of global events marking the massacre
anniversary.

It remains to be seen, meanwhile, how world leaders will react to the
prospect of dueling invitations. U.S. President Barack Obama is widely
expected to turn down the Turkish invite. The prime ministers of
Australia and New Zealand, as well as Britain’s Prince Charles —
whose countries constituted the bulk of the Allies’ Gallipoli forces
— are expected to attend.

Sarkisian himself has yet to respond to the gesture, a fact that
Giragosian attributes in part to domestic unrest over the of an
Armenian family by an armed Russian soldier in Gyumri.

If and when the Armenian leader responds, however, Giragosian says he
hopes Erdogan’s offer will be “duly noted, welcomed, and appreciated.”

“Despite the fact that Sarkisian is probably not even intending to
accept the offer, the invitation should be welcomed,” he says. “But
that’s idealistic. In reality, we should expect a deafening silence
from the Armenian side. And perhaps, in some ways, a diplomatic missed
opportunity.”

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 17 2015

Armenian soldier killed near Voskevan, Armenian Defense Ministry reports

17 January 2015 – 9:18pm

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported that an Armenian soldier was
killed today on the Armenian-Azerbaijani in the Tavush region of
Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of a conflict on the border.

A contractor was killed by the Azerbaijani side.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry have not yet given any official
comments regarding the death of the soldier.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 17 2015

Gyumri Lessons

17 January 2015 – 7:05pm

The recent events in Armenia have exposed the tensions between Russia
and Armenia, in spite of officially proclaimed strategic level of
partnership between two countries and Erevan’s joining of the
Eurasian Union. Demonstrations with requirement for fair treatment of
the killing in Gyumri grew into the protests against Russian
military presence on the territory of Armenia. Armenian leadership
does participate in number of Russian projects, but the population of
the country, being dissatisfied with the authorities, transfers the
anger to Russia.

Securing of Russian foreign policy interests requires shifting of
attention to the cooperation with the civil society, and not only with
the leadership. Deep and real reasons of the unrest in Armenia is an
economic and a political crisis in the republic. This crisis,
generated by an unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the economic
blockade of Armenia, will continue to provoke discontent among the
citizens of the republic.

Similar opinion has been expressed in an interview to “Vestnik
Kavkaza” by political analysts Mikhail Remizov and Alexander Karavaev.

“Kremlin is speaking and taking into account only those, who are
currently at the power”, as it has doubts that working with opposition
will bring the same influence as working with the authorities in
power. Till today the politics of Russia towards Armenia has been
based on the expectation of guaranteed information on further changes
in the ruling elite. This information is gathered as the result of
working with the current authorities – said Alexander Karavaev.

Mikhail Remizov emphasized the necessity to change the paradigm of
Russian foreign policy – it is obvious that Russia needs to diversify
its political contacts and build wide spectrum of relationships with
different social and political forces. Strategic task is to to build
relationships with the society.

The experts have expressed opinion that Russia’s military withdrawal
for Armenian territory is not likely to happen, since it is highly
significant and needed for Armenia. It is worthy to remember here the
example of American military presence in Japan after WWII, when in
spite of number of crimes committed by American soldiers, the military
presence are still there – noticed Remizov.

Karavaev expressed the opinion that it is hardly possible to avoid
such incidents in the situation of military presence of one country at
the territory of another. Also, according to the expert, Russian
Ministry of Defense needs to transfer its foreign military bases to
contractors entirely, but also work on the discipline in the army.
At the same time it is highly important to have just investigation of
the committed crimes. “The reaction of the Armenian society to this
murder is natural, since the society is very close, with a strong
sense of ethnic solidarity, so in the case, when Armenians is being
killed by a non-Armenian, is being perceived as ethnically tinged
violence” – said Remizov.

The experts Remizov says there are several factors that that guarantee
inter-allied relationship between Armenia and Russia, including
economic, geo-strategic and military considerations, the presence of a
considerable Armenian diaspora in Russia and Armenia’s foreign
environment.

At the same time Karavaev thinks Armania’s rejection of union with
Russia is still possible under the condition of open weakening of
Russia’s position in the South Caucasus and a very serious problems
in Russia’s economy. But as long as Russia’s military presence on
Armenian territory lasts for several decades by now, it is
questionable if Russian influence on the bilateral relationship may
vanish so easily.

Azerbaijani sniper kills an Armenian soldier

20:36, 17 Jan 2015

Armenian serviceman, the inhabitant of Voskevan village (Tavush
region), Arman Hovhannisyan, was killed as a result of ceasefire
violation on the front line on January 17, the Spokesperson of the
Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan
informed.

Armenian community in France demands publishing results of
investigation over the Gyumri tragedy

by Nana Martirosyan
Saturday, January 17, 16:51

The Armenian community in France has issued a statement. The
community demands transferring the suspect of the murder of a family
of six in Gyumri, Russian serviceman Valery Permyakov, to the Armenian
law-enforcers.

The statement demands publishing the results of investigation over the
Gyumri tragedy.

The authors of the statement also extend condolences to the relatives
of the Avetisyans’ family and express their support to the citizens
fighting for their own dignity and security.

They also consider the law- enforcers’ negligence, lack of response
and condolences by the country’s leadership and the spiritual leader
on the very first day of the tragedy to be unacceptable. The authors
of the statement also condemn the behavior of the leadership that
ignores the calls to declare mourning in the country.

To recall, a family of six was murdered in Gyumri on January 12. The
suspect, Russian serviceman Valery Permyakov, is still in the
territory of the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri. The murder of
the Armenian family by the Russian serviceman in Armenia triggered
protests following Armenian Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan’s
statement that Valery Permyakov cannot be transferred to Armenia in
accordance with the Russian legislation.

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