Author: Kanayan Tamar

TEGHOUT RESIDENTS UNBLOCK ROAD AFTER VISIT BY REGIONAL GOVERNOR
Larisa Paremuzyan

hetq
14:03, April 17, 2012

Teghout village residents have lifted their blockade of the main road
going into town as reported earlier today in Hetq.

Residents blocked the road in force after an incident took place
yesterday in which security staff of the Armenian Copper Programme’s
subsidiary Teghout Ltd. had beat up several villagers.

Residents demanded that Lori Regional Governor Artur Nalbandyan come
to Teghout and hear their complaints. They wanted those responsible
to be fired from their jobs.

Toumanyan Police Chief Artur Haroutyunyan told Hetq that those
responsible had been detained for questioning and that charges would
be filed.

ARMENIA TO LIKEWISE MARK INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MONUMENTS AND SITES

news.am
April 17, 2012 | 16:31

YEREVAN. – The International Day for Monuments and Sites and the 40th
anniversary of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage will be jointly observed on Wednesday.

The event will be marked under the name “World Heritage.”

And on this occasion, Armenia’s Culture Ministry will organize
educational and cultural events aimed at the preservation and
popularization of monuments.

ARMENIA’S MILITARY PREFERENCES ARE CONNECTED WITH CSTO, PM RECONFIRMS

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 16, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS: The presence of Russian military
bases in the territory of Armenia already speaks about our country’s
military preferences, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said
in an interview given to Russian “Nezavisimaja Gazeta”.

“We stand up for establishment of good relations with NATO, but we
do not pursue deep and long-range purposes. Armenia prefers CSTO,”
said the PM, Armenpress reports.

He also stressed that Armenia-NATO and Armenia-CSTO relations are in
different levels of integration.

Referring to the international strained situation created over Iran,
Tigran Sargsyan noted that the possible military activities can pose
a serious threat to Armenia’s economy.

In response to the question whether it is intended to strengthen
Russia’s presence in Armenia this or that way, Tigran Sargsyan said the
deployment of Russian military bases in our country by the agreement
signed between Armenia and Russia in 2010 has been prolonged to 2044,
no more steps are intended.

PM also referred to the reforms implemented in Armenia in military
sphere. “Armenia’s budget is 1 trillion Drams, 14% of which is the
military budget. The first round of the reforms of the army suggests
change of infrastructures and regulation of some organizational issues,
which almost do not require any financial means,” said Tigran Sargsyan.

He added that the next round intends replenishment of the army with
new professionals and contractual workers. As a result, the salary
of the servicemen will increase, the social state will improve,”
stressed the PM.

Referring to development of the military industry, Tigran Sargsyan
noted there are already distinct military as well as industrial
enterprises and scientific and research institutes, which get a
state order for creating weapons. He stressed that Armenia intends
to release and put into operation its own unmanned aerial vehicle.

ICELANDIC MPS PROPOSE GENOCIDE RECOGNITION INITIATIVE

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 16, 2012 – 22:01 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Icelandic parliamentarians submitted a proposal
urging the country’s government for official recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. According to Iceland’s media, the initiative was
proposed by MargrÊt TryggvadÕttir, a member of The Movement party.

The initiative was supported by two members of The Movement – aÕr Saari
and Birgitta JÕnsdÕttir as well as Lilja MÕsesdÕttir and GuÒmundur
SteingrÎmsson, chairs of Solidarity and Bright Future parties.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing a 45,000 euro fine and
a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against
humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill adopted
by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide
was anti-constitutional.

In a statement the Council said the bill adopted by parliament on
January 23 represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice
of freedom of expression and communication.”

Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara
halted political and military cooperation with France and was
threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took
effect.

Immediately after French Constitutional Council ruling, President
Nicolas Sarkozy instructed the government to submit a new draft law
punishing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

CRIMINAL CASE LAUNCHED BASED ON GAYANE ARUSTAMYAN’S REPORT

hetq
16:19, April 16, 2012

A criminal case was launched in the Police Malatia Division based on
the report made by the candidate Gayane Arustamyan.

In particular, according to G. Arustamyan’s report, on 15 April,
2012 at about 06:40 p.m. a group of unknown young man beat her and ANC
proportional list candidate Babken Garoyan in the entrance of Svatsyan
44 building. B. Garoyan got injuries on the nose and different parts
of the body.

The criminal case was initiated according to the Article 117 of the
Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. The preliminary investigation
is underway.

Prosecutor General’s Office of RoA

CORNELIA PIEPER: ARMENIAN-GERMAN RELATIONS ARE ON HIGH LEVEL

16.04.12, 17:50

On April 16 Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan
hosted deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Cornelia Pieper.

Press and information department of Armenian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs informs about this.

Armenian Minister welcomed the guest and underlined that
Armenian-German relations on political, economical and cultural
spheres had been expanded significantly and the opening of the German
language center in Yerevan would give a new stimulus to the bilateral
relations.

Deputy Minister Pieper underlined that Armenian visits of German MFA
and state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a month
proved the high level of the relations between two countries.

Both sides spoke in details about the Armenian-German issues which
were on agenda and referred to the regional processes as well.

Nalbandyan and Pieper discussed Armenia-EU relations and expressed
satisfaction towards the progress.

Developments of the cultural and science spheres were on agenda as well.

On the request of the guest Edward Nalbandyan presented the last
developments of the Nagorno Karabakh issue settlement process.

SIRUSHO AUTHORED THE HYMN OF PROCLAMATION OF YEREVAN WORLD BOOK CAPITAL 2012

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 16, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS: Yerevan, which has been proclaimed
World Book Capital 2012 by UNESCO, will have a special hymn written
for the celebrations. The author of the hymn is singer Sirusho.

“I was entrusted the idea of writing the music of the hymn, it will
be a choral song, but the title is not decided yet,” the singer said
in an interview with Armenpress. She conditionally called the song
“Book”. It will be preformed by Armenian singers to the accompaniment
of the orchestra. Avet Barseghyan is the author of the words.

Referring to Armenian National Music Awards 2012, Sirusho said the
award in the nomination of the year’s best clip was a surprise for her.

“I was focused on the performance. I always get happy with the awards
I get, but I never wait for them,” explained the singer. She noted
the awarding ceremony is a happy musical holiday, where important
are not the awards but the positive mood.

Though in general she does not like speaking of programs for future,
she told us that she writes different songs, including for foreign
artists.

In 10 days Sirusho will leave for tours in Saint Petersburg. The singer
has no intention of giving a solo concert in near future, but also
thinks “Never Say Never” expression can be common in this case too.

To remind, Sirusho borrowed the fourth place with Qele qele song in
Eurovision Song Concert 2008 in Belgrade, the highest position ever
for Armenia.

“POLITICIZED” MURDER?: GYUMRI MAYOR CONNECTS DEATH OF WOULD-BE SON-IN-LAW TO ELECTION CAMPAIGN
By Gohar Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow
16.04.12 | 16:05

Photo:

The controversial murder which took place in Gyumri a few days ago,
which at first was believed to be motivated by jealousy, now is
being politicized.

On Thursday evening, Karen Yesayan, 27, the fiance of Gyumri Mayor
Vardan Ghukasyan’s daughter, was found dead of a gunshot wound.(On
Saturday, Harutyun Sargsyan, who is the son of Samvel Sargsyan,
former chief of police for the town of Ani, was detained, accused of
the murder.)

Friday evening, Ghukasyan told online daily that the
murder case of his daughter’s fiance was politically motivated.

“It was not a matter of jealousy. All the detainees are prominent
members of the electoral headquarters of Prosperous Armenia Party
[PAP] in Gyumri,” said Ghukasyan, who is a member of the Republican
Party of Armenia.

Representatives of PAP headquarters in Gyumri told ArmeniaNow that
the detainee is not a PAP member.

“Making such a statement during this pre-election period is absolutely
absurd. We all understand that currently we are in political processes,
we are getting prepared for the elections, and each smart person
understands that he or she does not need such things these days,”
says a PAP member who preferred remaining unknown.

HERITAGE AND FREE DEMOCRATS ALLIANCE: “IT IS TIME TO STOP BEING AFRAID AND DECEIVED”
By Gayane Lazarian

ArmeniaNow
16.04.12 | 14:25

Unlike the crowded campaign meetings of Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) held in Echmiadzin’s main
square the meeting of Heritage Party-Free Democrats alliance, gathered
only about 70 people Sunday.

Representative of Free Democrats, former Foreign Minister Alexander
Arzumanyan, was surprised that in a town which is only some 20
kilometers from capital Yerevan, people live in fear and they are
afraid to attend their meeting.

“Come and listen [to us], we have not come here to preach. We do not
plan to give you election bribes like other parties do. We do not
bring you rice, jam and tell you that we give you a subtle percentage
of what we have stolen within five years in order to get your votes;
and that we will deceive you during the upcoming five years. It is
high time to stop being deceived,” Arzumanyan said.

He called on Echmiadzin residents not to be afraid and not to allow
their rights to be violated everywhere, regardless of who commits
those violations.

“It is impossible to have a stainless reputation for ten years and
then to oppress people, no matter who does it – a war hero or a
local official,” Arzumanyan said, evidently implying generals Manvel
Grigoryan and Seyran Saroyan, who enjoy RPA support, and Grigoryan’s
son – Karen Grigoryan, mayor of Echmiadzin.

Member of Heritage Party and head of Heritage faction Styopa Safaryan
urged people to attend May 6 elections according to their conscience
and belief.

He introduced three main sources which, his party believes, will
allow replenishing the State Budget, creating jobs, raising salaries
and pension.

“They are foreign investments which must be made in a country of
justice and legitimacy and not in a country where people are deceived.

It is necessary to bring the shadow economy, which is full of
monopolist businessmen, most of whom are at the National Assembly,
to the legal field. And eventually, the mining industry must be
properly and efficiently used,” Safaryan concluded.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV BESTOWS ORDER OF HONOR ON AGHVAN HOVSEPYAN

Panorama.am
16/04/2012

Under Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s decree dated April 14, 2012,
RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan has been awarded Order of Honor.

“Aghvan Hovsepyan has been honored with the Order of Honor for his
great contribution to expansion of Armenian-Russian cooperation in
law and order as well as in the strengthening of legality,” Prosecutor
General’s Office said in a report released today.