Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 18 2015

G-word not so easy

GÃ`NAL KURÅ?UN
January 18, 2015, Sunday

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer, first pronounced the word
`genocide’ in his book “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe” in 1944.

He coined the term by combining `genos,’ meaning `race, people’ in
Greek, and `caedere,’ meaning `to kill’ in Latin. According to Lemkin,
the Armenian genocide was a school example of the crime. Today, most
scholars on genocide and historians share this idea.

It is still a discussion between Turkey and Armenia, including
diaspora Armenians. In recent years, we have started to see an
emphasized commemoration of the Armenian genocide on April 24. Since
2010, I’ve been involved in the commemorations. Police protected me
and the group of intellectuals with whom I organized the 2010
commemoration in Ankara from ultra-nationalist protesters. It was the
first time in my life that had happened.

Assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink said in a 2006
documentary film titled “Screamers”: `There are Turks who don’t admit
that their ancestors committed genocide. If you look at it though,
they seem to be nice people. … So why don’t they admit it? Because
they think genocide is a bad thing that they would never want to
commit, and because they can’t believe their ancestors would do such a
thing either.’

It is really not an easy word to say for an ordinary Turkish citizen,
after all the negative propaganda they receive at school. When we say
“genocide” in Turkey, `Jewish genocide” or “Holocaust’ is
automatically understood, as the Armenian genocide is non-existent
according to our official history education. Therefore, we can use the
term `G-word’ for it, as it will require some more time to let go of
the policy of denial.

I have traveled to many countries in the world and wherever I go, I
have faced this part of our history, for which I don’t want to carry
the burden. I have not done anything bad to anyone in my life and I
have no relationship with the perpetrators of this crime.

Dink believed the term had a political meaning rather than a
historical one, and he was strongly critical of the Armenian
diaspora’s strategy of pressuring Western governments into officially
recognizing the label of genocide. He believed that the diaspora
Armenians should be able to live free of the weight of historical
memory. Indicating that a show of empathy would have nothing to do
with accepting or refusing the genocide, Dink called for dialogue,
saying, “Turkish-Armenian relations should be taken out of a
1915-meter-deep well.’

Besides this view, another culturocide, meaning `cultural genocide,’
is going on. In MuÃ…?, an Armenian church in the Kale neighborhood that
had been deemed public property since 1923 was sold to the Söylemez
family in 1958. The Söylemez family kept the property until 2012.
Since there was no community to care the building, its roof was
demolished. Only four walls are standing now. In 2012, a Cabinet
decision declared the Kale neighborhood as an area of urban
transformation, and expropriated the parcel on which the church was
located. The family applied to the court and decided to suspend full
demolishment until the final decision.

In my opinion, Armenians have to stop talking about the issue. We —
Turks, Kurds and all Anatolians — have to defend their rights.
Whatever an Armenian talks about this issue, it is taken as a `victim
defending their rights’ and it has a minimal effect. I believe it
would have a greater effect if the other side were to defend their
brothers’ and sisters’ rights.

On its eighth anniversary, I once again condemn the murder of Dink,
and call on security forces to shed light on this assassination. We
all know that it was not limited to a few 17-year-olds, especially
after seeing a photograph of the assassin flaked by smiling Turkish
police and a gendarmerie officer in front of the Turkish flag.

Charles Aznavour says in his brilliant song `Ils sont tombés’ (They
Fell), `In that summer of strife, of massacre and war, their only
crime was life, their only guilt was fear.”

The Moscow Times
Jan 18 2015

In Armenia, Will Murders Bring Change to Ties With Russia?

By Marianna Grigoryan

A little over a year ago, the northwestern Armenian city of Gyumri,
home to Russia’s 102nd army base, welcomed Russian President Vladimir
Putin to town with pomp, circumstance and waving flags. Now protesters
in the town are trampling Russian flags underfoot instead.

Armenia’s inability to secure the custody of a Russian conscript
charged with the Jan. 12 murder of six members of a local family — the
youngest just two years old — contributed to this change of mood.
Although Armenian General Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanian has stated that
the defendant, Private Valery Permyakov, will face trial in Armenia,
which authority will conduct the trial remains unclear: A Russian
military tribunal at the 102nd base, where Permyakov is being held, or
an Armenian court.

The lack of a clear answer to this question is jeopardizing the strong
historical ties between Armenia, Moscow’s strongest ally in the South
Caucasus, and Russia, local analysts say.

Late on Jan. 15, hours after the Avetisian family’s funeral, clashes
with police broke out outside the Russian consulate in Gyumri as
hundreds of protesters tried to enter the building to demand that
Permyakov be handed over to Armenian law enforcement and tried in an
Armenian court.

At least 13 people reportedly were hospitalized as a result of the
scuffle, and around a dozen, including journalists and human rights
activists, were arrested.

Russia claims that it has the right to try Permyakov since he had
deserted from the Gyumri base. Armenian government representatives
have been allowed into the 102nd army base to confirm his presence in
a solitary confinement cell, RFE/RL reported. They have said that they
would pass on protesters’ concerns to Russian officials.

But many Armenians aren’t buying it. Families are arguably the most
sacred of social institutions in this tiny country of just under three
million people. That status exists elsewhere in the region too, but in
Armenia, the hard knocks survivor of war, alleged genocide and vast
migration, it exercises a particular pull.

Threats to families may come from neighboring Azerbaijan or Turkey,
the country’s traditional enemies, but are not expected to come from
Russia, Armenia’s longtime bodyguard.

For 65-year-old engineer Hrant Hambardzumian, the fact that the
Armenian government does not collect a fee from Russia for its Gyumri
base and paid it 20.5 million drams (about $50,000) in November for
incurred expenses makes the murder of the Avetisian family an insult
as well as a tragedy.

“Is this the security promised by the government, when your family is
slaughtered while sleeping at home?” scoffed Hambardzumian, a resident
of the capital, Yerevan.

“This is a fight for personal security,” commented human rights
activist Artur Sakunts, an outspoken government critic. “This is a
case when everyone feels threatened in their own homes, in their own
country.”

That sense of insecurity ultimately could lead to a change in
Armenians’ receptiveness toward a tight strategic partnership with
Russia, predicted Richard Giragosian, director of Yerevan’s Regional
Studies Center. “[I]t seems clear that this incident and the way the
Russian military handles it, may become a turning point for the
traditionally loyal and subservient Russian ally, Armenia,” he said.

The incident in Gyumri is not the first, however. In 1999, two drunken
Russian servicemen based at Gyumri, Denis Popov and Alexander Kamenev,
opened fire on random passers-by, killing at least two people and
injuring another ten. Then, the two men were tried in Armenia, where
Popov was sentenced to 14 years in prison and Kamenev to 15.

Whether or not the two served their entire terms in Armenia is
unclear. In an interview published on Jan. 16 with News.am, Popov’s
lawyer, Tamara Yailoian claimed that her former client had been
transferred to Russia “after two to three years,” and, “we later
learned, set free.”

Russian officials were not immediately available to comment on her allegations.

Russia’s ambassador to Armenia, Ivan Volynkin, has pledged an
“objective” investigation into the Avetisians’ murders, but called on
locals not to “politicize” their deaths, the state-run Russian news
agency TASS reported.

The spokesperson for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, Eduard
Sharmazanov, ducking accusations that Yerevan fears Moscow, has
implied the same.

“A tragedy has occurred, and we should not be looking for enemies
[involved] in it in our country,” Sharmazanov said, Tert.am reported.
“It does not stem from the people’s interests.”

But with officials otherwise mute (“as mute as fish,” said
Hambardzumian), some see the government’s statements as intended
primarily to serve their own interests rather than to secure a trial
for Permyakov in an Armenian court.

Anger over the Gyumri murders is building on wariness about Armenia’s
economic ties with Russia; namely, the loss of remittances from
migrants there after the sharp drop in the ruble’s value in 2014, and
the subsequent spike in retail prices in Armenia. The downturn
occurred just as Armenia was preparing to enter Moscow’s Eurasian
Economic Union on Jan. 2.

But Russian Ambassador Volynkin emphasized that Armenian-Russian ties
will survive this downturn.

Some Armenian analysts agree. “The emotional must be separated from
the military-political” in evaluating Yerevan’s relationship with
Russia, advised Sergei Minasian, head of the political studies program
at Yerevan’s Caucasus Institute.

While Russia does not pay Yerevan for use of the Gyumri base, it does
sell Armenia gas, weapons and military material at below-market
prices, Minasian noted.

That’s not enough to convince Ruben Mehrabian, an analyst at the
Armenian Center for National and International Studies. Relations
between Armenia and Russia are now so “deformed and ugly,” he
commented, that they “have to be recalibrated.”

PRESIDENT ERDOGAN WELCOMES ALIYEV WITH OTTOMAN ‘RESURRECTION ANTHEM’

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 15 2015

SENA ALKAN

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, in a press conference
with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Ankara, that the High
Level Strategic Cooperation Council between the two countries will
further relations in the fields of politics, economics, military,
education and culture.

Highlighting the strong ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan, Erdogan
said that the political relations between the countries are “flawless”
and added: “I believe that both countries have this determination
[to boost the relations in all fields].”

Aliyev arrived in Turkey on Wednesday to hold bilateral talks with
the president and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over political,
economic and cultural cooperation as well as trade volume between
the two countries and to attend the fifth meeting of the High level
Strategic Cooperation Council.

Erdogan welcomed Aliyev with an official ceremony at the Presidential
Palace in Ankara. Turkic soldiers, dressed like soldiers from the
16 Turkic empires throughout history, appeared at the ceremony. The
soldiers at the ceremony were arrayed with historical clothes such
as ornate helmets, spears, swords used by Turkic states in the history.

The 16 soldiers representing Turkic states were used for the first
time in a welcoming ceremony when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
paid an official visit to Turkey on January 12.

Another unprecedented incident happened at the ceremony when the
presidency’s band played the “Resurrection Anthem” for the first
time, which is about the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. The
anthem was played in the style of Erdogan’s popular election song
“Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” adapted from Kazahk song “Dombra” and played
during the March 30 local elections.

Deputy Prime Minister Yalcın Akdogan, Foreign Minister Mevlut
CavuÃ…~_oglu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Energy Minister Taner
Yıldız and Communication Minister Lutfu Elvan attended the ceremony.

Touching on the regional issues in the press conference, Erdogan
said that he was informed by Aliyev over the resolution process of
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“Unfortunately, the OSCE Minsk Group has not taken concrete steps
[toward the issue] and has stalled the process. It is sad that despite
the international verdicts, they still try to stall the process. I
would like to express once again that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of
Azerbaijan and we [Turkey] will continue to support Azerbaijan
to resolve the issue by protecting the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. On this issue that we continuously express our sensitivity,
Turkey’s stance is crystal clear.”

The Turkish leader said that trade volume between the countries has
reached $5 billion and the target is to reach $15 billion by 2023. “I
believe that both countries have this determination, this political
stability and we will achieve this,” Erdogan said.

The two leaders signed several agreements as part of the council to
develop the relations between the countries.

Accepted as sister countries, Turkey and Azerbaijan share the same
history and culture and the leaders reiterated in all platforms
that both countries have the utmost determination to further these
exemplary relations.

Erdogan paid his first foreign visit to Azerbaijan after he took the
presidential office on August 10 to show the unity and brotherhood
between the countries. Similarly, when the Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) won the local elections on March 30, Erdogan paid
a visit to Azerbaijan to enjoy the victory as part of a Turkish
political tradition.

TURKEY INVITES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF GALLIPOLI WAR

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 16 2015

Deniz Zeyrek
ANKARA

As part of Ankara’s charm offensive ahead of the centennial anniversary
of the mass killings of Anatolian Armenians, President Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan has taken the unprecedented diplomatic step of extending an
invitation to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to ceremonies marking
the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale in late April,
which coincides with the Armenian remembrance day.

With plans to hold massive ceremonies to mark the centenary of
the Battle of Gallipoli on April 23 and 24, Erdoðan has sent out
invitations to the leaders of 102 countries, including Armenian
President Sargsyan and U.S. President Barack Obama.

The ANZAC Troops (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps) disembarked onto
the shores of Canakkkale on April 25, 1915 in a bid to destroy Turkish
artillery units, but were defeated in bloody combat that continued
until December 1915. Ever since, Australians and New Zealanders
have commemorated the Battle of Gallipoli on April 25, on the date
of the first landing, and on Aug 6 to Aug 10, the second landing of
the ANZAC troops.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the battle for Turkey, Australia and
New Zealand, the Turkish government is set to organize ceremonies with
the participation of 8,500 Australians and 2,000 New Zealanders. The
U.K.’s Prince Charles and his two sons, and the prime ministers of
Australia and New Zealand, are expected to take part in commemorations.

A day before the April 24 ceremonies in Canakkale, the government
is planning to host a reception and a “Summit of Peace” in Istanbul
on April 23, the day when Turkey marks the 95th anniversary of the
foundation of the Turkish Parliament.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu has signed invitation letters
to his counterparts, while President Erdoðan has sent letters to the
heads of state, accompanied by the message, “We would be delighted
to have you with us on the 100th anniversary commemorations of the
Battle of Gallipoli.”

Speaking to daily Hurriyet, a government official recalled that along
with the many other ethnic groups who fought in the ranks of the
Ottoman military, the Armenians also fought at Gallipoli. “We fought
together in Gallipoli. That’s why we have extended the invitation to
Sargsyan as well,” the official added.

However, April 24, 1915 is also the date of the Ottoman government’s
signing the Deportation Law that led to the deaths of up to a million
Armenians in their long march south from eastern Anatolia. Armenia and
the Armenian diaspora mark the day as the “anniversary of genocide”
committed by the Ottoman Empire, and are planning to hold massive
ceremonies on the centenary of the mass killings of their ancestors.

Sargsyan has invited world leaders to Yerevan on the same day, and
neither Sargsyan nor Obama are expected to accept Turkey’s invitation
to attend the ceremonies in Turkey.

January/16/2015

GYUMRI PROTEST ACTION: POLICE USED SPECIAL TOOLS (PHOTO)

21:39, 15.01.2015

GYUMRI. – The police used special weapons against demonstrators at the
Russian Consulate in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri, where
a protest action continues. Information was confirmed for Armenian
News – NEWS.am by lrepresentatives of law enforcement agencies,
they but did not specify what kind of tools are applied.

The police formed a ring in front of the consulate, the demonstrators
are constantly trying to break it. Stones are thrown on the police,and
several people were injured in clashes.

Police confirmed that one person has been detained.

As reported earlier, six members of the Avetisyan family–including
a two-year-old girl–were shot dead, and a six-month-old baby boy
was wounded in their house in Gyumri on Monday. Valery Permyakov,
a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in the city, stands
accused in this crime. Permyakov was apprehended by the Russian
border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border, and he was arrested
on Wednesday. Valery Permyakov is held in custody at the Russian
military base.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS: LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS PROVOKED CLASHES IN GYUMRI

12:57 | January 16,2015 | Politics

Law enforcement officers yesterday provoked and angered protesters
who were holding solidarity rallies in Armenia, says Artak Zeynalyan,
Chairman of the Rule of Law NGO.

“The brutal murder of six people that occurred in Gyumri on January
12 has shocked people,” said Chairman of the Helsinki Committee of
Armenia Avetik Ishkanyan, who was detained on Thursday evening during
the clashes between the protesters and riot police in Gyumri.

“Residents of Gyumri doubt that Valery Permyakov, who is being kept at
the local Russian military base, will ever stand trial for the murder
of the Avetisyan family. The tragedy questionsArmenia’s sovereignty
and judicial system.” He said.

A series of protests took place in Gyumri and Yerevan on January 15,
with protesters demanding to hand over tRussian serviceman Valery
Permyakov, who is charged with murdering Avetisyan famil in Gyumri
to Armenian law-enforcement authorities. Many in Armenia think this
is a test for the sovereignty of Armenia, which has recently joined
the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, 19, who was serving at Russian
Military base N 102 in Gyumri, was detained by Russian border guards
on Monday after alleging killing six members of the Avetisyan
family in Gyumri and wounding a six-month-old infant on the same
day. The Avetisyans – two grandparents, their son and daughter,
a daughter-in-law, and young Hamsik – were found killed, when
a relative-neighbor came to the house for morning coffee. The
six-month-old infant, the only survivor of the brutal murder,
was hospitalized with severe stab wounds in his chest. Permyakov
reportedly confessed to the mass murder. He is now kept under arrest
at the Russian military base in Gyumri and has been charged with
murder and desertion.

KARABAKH PRESIDENT: AGGRESSOR SHOULD ALWAYS KNOW THAT WE ARE STRONGER

12:43 16/01/2015 ” POLITICS

Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan on Friday attended a meeting
of the Defense Army’s Military Council dedicated to summing up the
activities carried out in 2014 and the 2015 action plan.

In his speech, the President touched upon the process of army building,
emphasized the achievements and existing problems. The President
assessed the activities carried out in 2014 as satisfactory.

Bako Sahakyan underlined that the tasks the Defense Army is solving
have always been among the most significant and pivotal directions
for the state.

Speaking about the action plan for this year, the President put
a special emphasis on the saturation of the 2015 political agenda
with important nationwide and state events that require additional
alertness and readiness also on the part of the armed forces, noting
that in such time periods rude ceasefire violations and attempts to
destabilize the situation had become among the basic foundations of
the enemy’s policy. According to President Sahakyan, the aggressor
should always know that we are stronger, more courageous and will
give a worthy counter back to any encroachment on our independence,
security and dignity.

The President gave instructions to the Defense Minister and the supreme
command staff of the Defense Army to solve the existing problems on
a proper level.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and other officials
participated in the consultation, the presidential press service
reported.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIA’S SOCIETY MUST BE ON ALERT – AHOT MANUCHARYAN

14:34 * 16.01.15

Public and political figure Ashot Manucharyan told reporters on Friday
that “it is symbolic that such a tragedy has inaugurated the new year
in Armenia.”

He warns of the need to be “extremely cautious in this global situation
because, in a moment, someone may make use of the tragedy for other
purposes.”

“The Gyumri tragedy is an appalling thing, especially for our people.

But strong groups are launching their activities – both inside and
outside – to cash in on the tragedy. So we must be on the alert,”
Mr Manucharyan said.

He points out the importance of the church’s call for peace, which,
however, is not enough to resolve the situation.

“The church is trying to play its role, which can be welcomed. But
since gaining independence Armenian has had mechanisms of dealing
with such incidents. It would be perfect if the government played this
role. But it is not actually doing so, and an all-Armenian structure
needs to be formed immediately because the internal potential is
not sufficient. We have different serious figures outside Armenia,
who are greatly influential and willing to serve the homeland.”

According to Manucharyan, the Gyumri atrocity may escalate the
situation in two possible ways. First, the crime was committed by an
insane person. Second, it was a premeditated crime.

“In peaceful time we could have waited until the end, but now that
a global war is on, if we consider the worst version – it had been
a planned crime – the tragedy will be used for other purposes the
next moment.”

Mr Manucharyan points out a problem of lack of confidence. Each side
fears lest the tragedy be used against it. Confidence is of paramount
importance.

AFFRONTEMENTS DEVANT LES REPRESENTATIONS RUSSE A GUMRI

FAMILLE ASSASSINEE

Des centaines de personnes en colère ont affronte la police anti-emeute
a l’exterieur du consulat russe dans la ville armenienne de Gumri jeudi
soir lors de la deuxième journee de protestations contre l’assassinat
d’une famille locale qui auraient ete commis par un soldat russe. Les
manifestants se sont rassembles devant la mission diplomatique pour
continuer a exiger que le suspect garde dans la base militaire russe
de Gyumri soit remis aux autorites de justice armenienne.

Les forces de securite en tenue antiemeutes ont tire des gaz
lacrymogènes et des grenades assourdissantes et utilise des matraques
pour les empecher de s’approcher du consulat. Les manifestants ont
repondu avec une grele de pierres lancees sur plusieurs rangees
de policiers anti-emeute. Une deputee de l’opposition armenienne,
Zaruhi Postanjian, leur a demande de s’eloigner et d’eviter de
nouvelles violences.

Un correspondant de RFE / RL a vu plusieurs personnes blessees dans
la melee. Des ambulances ont emporte certaines d’entre elles. Les
medecins de l’hôpital local ont informe le service armenien de RFE
/ RL (Azatutyun.am) que huit manifestants et trois policiers ont
ete hospitalises pour des blessures graves subies au cours des
affrontements. Plus d’une douzaine d’autres residents de Gyumri
auraient ete arretes sur place.

La grande majorite des manifestants, pour la plupart des jeunes,
a decide de marcher vers le centre-ville après s’etre adressee a un
depute, Martun Grigorian, qui represente la circonscription Gyumri
au Parlement armenien. “Ce est une impasse, mon cher peuple,” leur
dit-il. “Calmez-vous, et passez votre chemin . >>

La foule en colère a defile vers le consulat pour exiger que Valery
Permyakov, le soldat detenu qui a avoue les meurtres, soit remis aux
autorites armeniennes ou au moins jugees par un tribunal armenien.

Le Procureur general de l’Armenie Gevorg Kostanian a tente de rassurer
les manifestants : “Comme procureur general et etre humain, je vous
dis que je lancerai un appel au procureur de la Russie en ce sens >>,
a-t-il declare.

Environ 100 personnes se sont rassemblees egalement a l’exterieur du
bâtiment de l’ambassade de Russie dans le centre d’Erevan jeudi. La
police a arrete deux militants dont l’un avait tente de brûler un
drapeau russe.

Un autre rassemblement spontane a eclate dans place de la Liberte
a Erevan tard dans la soiree, peu de temps après de nouveaux
affrontements Gyumri. Plus de deux douzaines de manifestants ont ete
arretees au hasard par des policiers en civil. Ces derniers ont refuse
d’expliquer clairement les raisons de ces arrestations.

vendredi 16 janvier 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com

ANALYSIS: GYUMRI TRAGEDY RAISES QUESTIONS OVER ARMENIAN SOVEREIGNTY

Analysis | 16.01.15 | 11:16

By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent

A series of protests took place in Armenia on January 15, with
some experts trying to characterize them as “anti-Russian”. But the
protesters in Armenia and Gyumri put forward only one demand – to hand
over the Russian serviceman who is charged with butchering an Armenian
family in Gyumri to Armenian law-enforcement authorities. Many in
Armenia feel this is an acid test for the sovereignty of the country
which officially became a member of the Russian-led trade bloc at
the beginning of this year.

Russian online media are actively discussing the protests in Gyumri and
Yerevan, which resulted in late-night clashes between demonstrators and
the police. But the main subject of the Russian media is the question
on whether Armenia will demand the withdrawal of the 102nd Russian
military base from the country. The suspect, Valery Permyakov, is a
serviceman at this base and it is there that he is now being kept in
custody – under Russian law.

However, in Armenia the demands for the withdrawal of the base
are voiced only at the level of social media. As for the political
leadership of the country, no one has yet given a political assessment
of what has happened. The reaction was limited to President Serzh
Sargsyan’s convening a closed meeting, the government at its meeting
observed a minute’s silence in memory of the innocent killed people,
and Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said that the case
should be investigated by Armenian and Russian law-enforcement
agencies, but only in Armenia.

Both in Yerevan and Moscow politicians have warned against politicizing
the issue. But there was no politicization immediately after the
brutal murder. Some activists began to make political demands only
after the Russian side effectively refused to hand over the suspected
criminal to Armenian justice. Immediately the question arose as to what
territory the jurisdiction of Russia in Armenia spreads and whether
the Armenian state has the possibility of administering justice in
its own sovereign territory.

The debate about Armenia’s sovereignty became topical after September
3, 2013 when President Sargsyan unexpectedly announced that Armenia
intends to join the Eurasian Union, a Russian-led economic grouping of
several former Soviet nations, and therefore, Armenia would submit in
certain matters to supranational bodies. Then some political forces in
Armenia raised questions over that decision that they said challenged
the nation’s sovereignty.

Proponents of Eurasian integration justified the partial waiver
of sovereignty by security considerations. Now, after the tragedy
in Gyumri, it became clear to many that security has become more
vulnerable, and a Russian soldier can shoot people peacefully sleeping
at their home and Armenia cannot even try him by its laws.

Whether the tragedy in Gyumri will stir a wave of protests against
the surrender of sovereignty is a matter of interest not only to the
citizens of Armenia and Russia. NATO’s special representative to the
South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai made a surprise visit
to Armenia and on January 15 met with the leadership of the country,
expressing hope that Armenia will take the right decision over the
tragedy in Gyumri.

It is difficult to predict the further turn of events, but some
conclusions can already be drawn – in Armenia the stereotype of
Russians’ ‘inviolability’ has been cultivated for years is now broken.

Russian flags have been torn off the Consulate of Russia in Gyumri
and thousands of people were ready to break into the Russian base. An
attempt to burn a Russian flag was made at Russia’s embassy in Yerevan
and the slogan “We are the masters of our country” was put forward.