Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIE
Des militants passent devant la justice au milieu de coups de feu

Un homme en colère a tiré des coups de feu sur la police devant un
tribunal à Erevan jeudi, alors que 14 militants étaient jugés plus de
six mois après des affrontements avec les forces de sécurité dans ce
qui a été qualifié de tentative de renverser le gouvernement
d’Arménie.

Les accusés dirigés par Shant Harutiunian, un politicien nationaliste
de premier plan, sont accusés de perturbation violente de l’ordre
public, un crime passible de 4 à 7 ans de prison. Ils ont d’abord été
inculpés de façon plus sévères après une manifestation
anti-gouvernementale qui a été organisée par Shant Harutiunian en
novembre dernier.

Armés de btons et de grenades assourdissantes, la petite foule menée
par le militant avait confronté la police anti-émeute alors qu’elle
essayait de marcher vers le btiment de l’administration
présidentielle dans la capitale arménienne. Harutiunian et 12 autres
hommes ont été arrêtés sur place. Tous, sauf un d’entre eux ont été
maintenus en détention provisoire depuis lors.

Shahe Harutiunian le fils du militant gé de 15 ans a été inculpé dans
l’affaire mais pas arrêté. Lui aussi est jugé.

Les accusés ont été accueillis par des applaudissements et des cris de
> de leurs partisans alors qu’ils entraient dans la salle
d’audience. Bien qu’elle était à moitié vide, très peu de leurs
parents ont été autorisés à regarder le procès. Ces parents en colère
se disputaient avec des dizaines de policiers et huissiers de justice
déployés dans la chambre. >
s’est plaint une femme.

La séance d’ouverture du procès a été ajournée peu de temps après son
début, le juge de l’affaire, Mnatsakan Martirosian, citant l’absence
de certains des avocats de la défense. Leurs clients ont condamné ces
absences et ont dit qu’ils ne veulent pas avoir de nouveaux
conseillers juridiques. Shant Harutiunian a exhorté les autres
prévenus à emboîter le pas. > a-t-il dit. >.

a-t-il dit au service arménien de RFE /
RL (Azatutyun.am).

Nikol Pashinian a parlé peu de temps avant qu’un jeune homme, qui
s’est identifié comme Hayk Kyureghian et qui était au-dessus d’une
voiture garée à l’extérieur du btiment a ostensiblement tiré sur des
policiers à l’aide d’un pistolet. Il a été rapidement maîtrisé par les
policiers, menotté et arrêté.

Quelques instants avant l’incident extraordinaire Hayk Kyureghian
s’était approché des journalistes et avait dit qu’il voulait perturber
ce qu’il croyait être un simulacre de procès. > avait-il dit.

Daily Sabah, Turkey
June 14 2014

US CONGRESS TO CONSIDER ANTI-TURKEY BILL UNDER SHADOW OF MOSUL CRISIS

Ragıp Soylu

WASHINGTON, D.C. ` The U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on
foreign affairs will discuss a draft bill requiring the Secretary of
State John Kerry to provide an annual report on confiscated Christian
properties in Turkey, next week. The move comes in the midst of the
abducted Turkish diplomats crisis in Mosul and the rapid escalation of
violence in Iraq led by the militant jihadist group, Islamic State in
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The current crisis necessitates a closer
Turkish-American cooperation than ever before but, the ill-timed
debate at the U.S. Congress presents a clear case of misplaced
priorities by American lawmakers. The so-called “Turkey Christian
Churches Accountability Act” is attempting to monitor the United
States’ efforts to survey and secure the unreturned Christian
properties in Turkey and northern Cyprus which the act describes as
“occupied by the Turkish military.” The sponsor of the bill is senior
member of the Republican Party Ed Royce, who is also the chairman of
the committee.

Royce has recently become more critical of the Turkish government and
he even penned a letter to the Economist magazine on Friday slamming
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an for “causing American lawmakers to question the
Turkish-American relationship.” Democrat Congressman Eliot Engel is
also pushing the bill forward by supporting the hearing and makeup
process which will take place on June 18. Sources from the Turkish
government told Daily Sabah that H.R. 347 is another initiative to
distract the American government from the crucial issues that Turkey
and the U.S. are working together on, such as the growing Syrian
catastrophe and recent Iraqi crisis.

Officials tend to blame Armenian and Greek lobbies for seeking
meaningless revenge for Turkey’s historical reminisces as the reason
for pressing this act. The Armenian National Committee of America has
already begun to conduct a campaign aimed at its followers, calling
them to urge their representatives to support the bill. “The main
inconsistency with this act is Turkey is already returning confiscated
Christian properties to their owners,” said the source. With a law
being passed in 2011, Turkey’s General Directorate for Foundations is
returning the properties belonging to Christian and Jewish minorities
that were registered with the Turkish government in 1936.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an announced last summer that Turkey
gave over $2.5 billion (TL 4.25 billion) worth of property back to
foundations belonging to Christian and Jewish minorities in two years.
Officials also stressed the importance of ongoing delicate
negotiations between Greek and Turkish parties in Cyprus and warned
Congress that any new act on this issue can change the balance and
force parties to quit. “We have been talking to congressmen for a
while and most of them are not aware what this bill means for Turkey.
Armenian and Greek lobbies are just pressuring these people by using
their base and don’t think of the major foreign implications for both
countries. They won’t stop until they get what they want,” the source
stated.

INCREASE IN PRICES FOR ELECTRIC POWER IN ARMENIA MAY DRIVE FOOD PRICES UP

YEREVAN, June 13. /ARKA/. Babken Pipoyan, the head of Informed and
Protected Consumer NGO, commenting today on the Public Services
Regulatory Commission’s intention to raise electric power prices,
said this increase may drive food prices up.

“Stores’ expenses will grow and they will be left with no option but
to raise prices for goods,” he said.

Speaking about frequent increases in electric power prices, Pipoyans
said that not a single increase had been justified and not a single
problem had been solved by raising electricity prices.

“Every time when power prices rise, either voltage fluctuations or
unexpected power disconnection remain and thing are not put right,”
he said.

The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia is going to raise
consumer prices for electric power by 3.8 – 4.3 drams per one kWh
(including VAT) on August 1, 2014.

The Commission has already raised consumer prices for electric power
just one year ago from 30 drams to 38 drams per one KWh (including VAT)
for daytime consumption and from 25 drams to 28 drams for nighttime
consumption. The then decision took force on July 7, 2013.

($1 – AMD 412). –0—-

– See more at:

ARMENIAN OLIGARCH MP TO OPEN NEW MALL – NEWSPAPER

June 14, 2014 | 08:44

YEREVAN. – In all likelihood, oligarch and Armenia National Assembly
member Samvel Aleksanyan has found it difficult to cope with the
fact that larger malls have opened in capital city Yerevanthan the
YerevanCity supermarkets which he owns, Aravot daily reported.

“So, he decided to be the largest among the malls, too.

“The Malatia Mall will open in 2016; it will be a huge five-story
building whose two stories will be underground.

“[But] this mall definitely will not have empty kiosks, since the
[current] Malatia mart is planned to be disassembled in the near future
and the local merchants will move to Malatia Mall,” Aravot wrote.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

IRAQI ARCHBISHOP, PRIESTS FLEE TO VILLAGES AMID JIHADIST ADVANCE

Assyrian International News Agency AINA
June 13 2014

Posted 2014-06-13 20:03 GMT

Mosul — “Now in Mosul jihadist militants control the city and the
situation is calm. But we do not know who they are and what they want
to do now”. His Excellency Amel Shamon Nona, Chaldean Archbishop of
Mosul, describes to Fides Agency the climate that now reigns in Iraq’s
second largest city, which was captured two days ago by the rebels
of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Jihadist
faction also active in the Syrian conflict. The Chaldean Archbishop
confirms that the vast majority of the 1,200 Christian families have
left the city.

He himself and his priests have found shelter in villages in the
Nineveh Plain such as Kramles and Tilkif, a few tens of kilometers
from Mosul. At the same time, His Excellency Ninth denies rumors of
attacks on churches operated by men of the ISIL. “Our church dedicated
to the Holy Spirit”, the Archbishop refers to Fides, “was depradated
by gangs of robbers yesterday and the day before yesterday, while
the city was captured by the ISIL. But Muslim families living in the
surrounding area have called their Islamist militants, who intervened,
putting an end to the looting. The same Muslim families phoned us to
let us know that they themselves are controlling the church, and will
not allow the jackals to return”.

The construction site of an Armenian church still under construction
was involved in the clashes and damaged just because it was next to
an army base attacked by jihadists. After their entry in the city,
Islamist militias manifest the intention to maintain public order under
strict control. Archbishop Nona does not confirm the rumors about the
alleged imposition of the Islamic veil on Christian women made by the
jihadists and points out that Christians in Mosul, locked up in their
own homes, are mostly elderly unable to escape because of their age
and health conditions. He also points out that, among the hundreds of
thousands of residents who fled Mosul, the vast majority are Muslims.

Mgr. Nona’s doubts regard the pliancy shown by the Iraqi army and
police forces before the arrival of the Islamists: “What I can say”,
said the Archbishop, “is that what has happened is a mystery. It is
not known how soldiers and police managed to leave the city in less
than an hour, leaving weapons and means of transport. All this raises
many questions”.

The Chaldean church in Mosul dedicated to the Holy Spirit is where
Father Ragheed Ganni was killed along with three deacons on June 3,
2007 and where Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, was abducted, whose
lifeless body was found on March 13, 2008.

ARFD: THE STATEMENT MADE BY KISELEV ABOUT THE LINK BETWEEN THE STATUS OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN ARMENIA AND RUSSIAN SECURITY GUARANTEES IS A BLACKMAIL

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Friday, June 13, 16:34

The statement made by the head of the Russian International Agency
“Russia Today”, Dmitri Kiselev, about the link between the status
of the Russian language in Armenia and Russian security guarantees
is a direct blackmail, secretary of the ARFD parliamentary faction,
Aghvan Vardanyan, said at today’s briefing in the parliament.

He said that Russia always had such a position, but it has never made
such a sharp statement. “I have got an impression that the relations
between Armenia and Russia do not have a nature of the strategical
partnership and are not regulated by the inter-state agreements. They
remind us of the relations between a master and his vassal”, –
Vardanyan said and added that such statements are inadmissible and
high ranked officials of Armenia should make adequate conclusions.

For his part, secretary of the Armenian National Congress parliamentary
faction, Aram Manukyan, said that Kiselev’s statement is a response
at the humiliating policy conducted by the authorities of Armenia.

To note, during yesterday’s regular meeting of the Armenian-Russian
Friendship Club in the Armenian parliament, a remarkable conversation
took place between Director General of Russia Today news agency
Dmitry Kiselev and a member of the parliament from the ruling RPA,
Hayk Babukhanyan. When Babukhanyan hinted that Russia should recognize
the independence of Nagorno Karabakh, Kiselev replied: “Start with
yourself”. He then touched upon the problem of the Russian language
in Armenia, saying that there are no Russian schools, people are not
fluent in Russian and he could not even communicate with a taxi driver
in Russian. He also added that direct meddling of Russia with the
Karabakh conflict will automatically result in the war. He said that
if Armenia wants security guarantees from Russia, it should stimulate
much spreading of the Russian language in Armenia. “When declaring
about Armenia’s desire to join the Eurasian Union, President of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan said that the integration should be implemented taking
into consideration the political component and security component. But
integration in the context of security is impossible without the
cultural component. They are inter-related”, – Kiselev said. For his
part, former ambassador of Russia to Armenia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko,
added that Armenia should determine its political priorities, and
if it has chosen Russia, in that case the Russian language should
be disseminated in Armenia, though it causes displeasure in the
Armenian society.

VTB BANK (ARMENIA) FINANCING CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN GUEST COMPLEX IN DOWNTOWN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 13. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) said today it is
financing the construction of a modern guest complex in downtown
Yerevan that will comprise apartments, office space, retail trade
outlets, restaurants and a fitness center.

“The amount of funding is 8 billion drams. The construction company
is D&H Group. The project is scheduled for completion in 2016,”
the bank said in a press release.

Bank VTB (Armenia) CEO Yuri Gusev was quoted as saying that the
construction of the new guest complex will create new jobs during
the construction and during the complex’s operation.

D&H Group was established in 2007 to implement Dalma Plaza project. In
2013 the company was acquired by a group of companies Logicon.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is owned fully by Russian VTB Bank. It runs 67
branches across Armenia. -0-

– See more at:

TOURISM MAY START DEVELOPING IN ARMENIA ONLY AFTER ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL CADASTRE – EXPERT

YEREVAN, June 13. /ARKA/. Tourism may start developing in Armenia
only after establishment of a special cadastre, Robert Minasyan,
the head of the Armenian Tourism Institute, said on Friday.

He said this agency will identify problems in tourism grounding on
analyses. “It is impossible to develop tourism with closed eyes,
it is necessary to think over creation of a cadastre that will be
taking stock of tourism, the amount of its revenues, paid taxes and
the number of people employed by the industry,” he said.

Minasyan said that first of all human factor is important for
development of tourism. It means specialists here should be skilled
and the interests of the tourists traveling to Armenian should be
known very well.

“Many hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities appeared in the
country in a few years, which are very important for tourists, but
human factor shouldn’t be forgotten …” he said.

In recent days, Economy Minister Karen Chshmaritsyan said that
957,240 tourists have visited Armenia in 2013 and that this is
13.5% more than in 2012 (843,330). In his words, AMD 46 million of
the planned AMD 50 million was spent in 2013 on ensuring Armenian
and Nagorno-Karabakh travel agencies’ participation in tourist
expositions in Madrid, Berlin and London. .-0—- – See more at:

RELATIVE OF ARMENIAN POLICE OFFICIAL STILL WANTED BY POLICE

June 13, 2014 | 14:50

YEREVAN. – A criminal case involving relative of Armenian police
official will be considered by Erebuni investigation department,
the lawyer of defendant toldArmenian News-NEWS.am.

As reported earlier Sedrak Osipyan, a nephew of Yerevan deputy police
chief Valery Osipyan, was charged with causing severe bodily injuries.

He may face up to seven years in jail.

“The case will be considered by Erebuni investigation department. I
have no update,” lawyer Kromvel Grigoryan said, adding that Osipyan
is on wanted list.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Hraparak: Mika Cement employees demand unpaid salaries

11:55 14/06/2014 » DAILY PRESS

Mika Cement plant was declared bankrupt in 2013 and its employees have
not received salaries for 7 months. One of the employees told Hraparak
that the management promised to pay wage arrears by June 15, but in
reality hopes are scarce.

Source: Panorama.am