Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIAN MINISTER MAY DISCUSS TRANSIT OF GAS IN TEHRAN

YEREVAN, July 18. / ARKA /. Armenia’s minister of energy and natural
resources Yervand Zakarian will travel to Iran before a regular
session of the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission, Iranian
ambassador to Armenia, Mohammed Reisi, said today, but he declined
to say when the session could take place or when the minister may go
to Tehran.

According to the ambassador, the Armenian minister may discuss in
Tehran among other things also a possible transit of gas through the
territory of Armenia.

He stressed that Iran has repeatedly declared its readiness to
cooperate with Armenia in all areas, however, before starting transit
of gas through the territory of Armenia an appropriate infrastructure
must be built, more precisely, a new pipeline with wider diameter.

“If a necessary infrastructure is created, and a new pipeline with
wider diameter is built for the transit of gas through the territory
of Armenia, we do not see any problems in the organization of this
process,” said the ambassador said.

However, according to him, creation of such infrastructure requires
huge investment. He said construction of a railroad alone requires
an investment of $4 billion.

‘The same can be said about the gas pipeline – it requires huge
investments and time,” he said. -0 –

TURKISH COURT RULES DINK CASE AS ‘INEFFECTIVE INQUIRY’

Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey
July 17, 2014 Thursday

The court decided unanimously that the rights of the Dink family were
violated due to an “ineffective investigation.”

Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled the 2007 murder case of Turkish
Armenian writer, Hrant Dink, an “ineffective investigation” on
Thursday.

Ogun Samast murdered Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January
2007 claiming Dink insulted “Turkishness”. Dink was editor-in-chief
of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos and was considered
among the most prominent Armenian voices in Turkey.

The court decided unanimously that the rights of the Dink family were
violated due to an “ineffective investigation.”

The wife of Dink, Rakel, the deceased’s brother Orhan, and his children
Delal, Arat, and Sera appealed individually to the Constitutional
Court, showing reason they were not keep up to date with the progress
of the legal investigation.

Dink’s killer, Samast, was jailed for 22 years in 2011. Police
investigations following his capture, however, revealed a possible
link to an ultra-nationalist organization.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

[ Part 2.1.2: “Attached Text” ]

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 17, 2014

Contact: Taniel Koushakjian

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (202) 393-3434

Web:

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Church Calls on President Obama, Congress to Recognize and Condemn
Armenian Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – During the annual Presbyterian Church (USA) General
Assembly, held last month in Detroit, Michigan, a resolution was
adopted officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the
Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). The resolution also urges
Presbyterian congregations to commemorate the Armenian Genocide
centennial in 2015, and directs Church leadership to “call on the
President and the Congress of the United States of America to recognize
and condemn the death and expulsion of the Armenians.”

During the 1915-1923 Armenian Genocide the Presbyterian Church
directed relief funds to Armenians, and its General Assemblies
vehemently protested the “atrocities,” according to a statement on
the PCUSA website.

Over the last 50 years, Presbyterian support to struggling Armenian
communities has come through the Jinishian Memorial Program (JMP)
which operates relief, development and spiritual missions through
inter-church partnerships in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jerusalem,
and Armenia.

“The late Vartan Jinishian established his endowment as a direct
response to the needs of the Armenian orphans of the genocide,” stated
former Assembly Board of Directors Chairman Michael Haratunian. “He
was a Presbyterian and entrusted the Presbyterian Church of America to
manage his foundation for the benefit of needy Armenian families. As
a member of its advisory committee, my colleagues and I worked to
ask the church to reassert its long history of support for Armenian
Genocide recognition and they did so this year with this unanimously
adopted resolution,” Haratunian said.

This historic resolution – the first of its kind for a major American
church body – was adopted by the 1.8 million-member Church in response
to overtures from three of its regional presbyteries: Chicago, Los
Ranchos (southern California), and Palisades (New Jersey). Other
major religious institutions have passed resolutions recognizing the
Armenian Genocide, such as the National Council of Churches in 2007,
the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1989, and the World
Council of Churches in 1983.

Rev. Dr. Christine Chakoian, Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian
Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Rev. Dr. Vartkes Kassouni,
a retired pastor in Southern California currently serving as Parish
Associate in Tustin Presbyterian Church, were the overture advocates.

Also lending his testimony as an ecumenical partner was the Rev. Fr.

Garabed Kochakian, Pastor of St. John’s Armenian Church in Southfield,
Michigan.

The Jinishian Memorial Program leadership played a key role in
initiating and supporting the process. JMP director Eliza Minasyan
says the JMP global team feels encouraged by the acknowledgement this
action brings to the communities served by the Jinishian program:
“Especially for our colleagues in Syria right now – these are genocide
survivors of great faith and courage who are helping children and the
sick and displaced in a time of great danger – this brings them hope
that they are not abandoned.”

In summary, this resolution takes four key actions:

First, urges member congregations to recognize the Armenian genocide;
to express deep sympathy to the Armenian people and designate April
24 every year as the day of remembrance; and to honor the provisions
of American and international law to prevent recurrence of such crimes.

Second, supports the designation of genocide for the death of 1.5
million Armenians and the expulsion of one million more from the
Ottoman Empire in the years 1915-1923.

Third, directs the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly to call
on the President and the Congress of the United States of America
to recognize and condemn the death and expulsion of the Armenians;
to communicate this resolution to our ecumenical partners nationally
and internationally.

Fourth, encourage official observance of the 100th Anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in worship services on Sunday, April 26, 2015
in all PC (USA) churches.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the
largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public
understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a
501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

###

NR: # 2014-040

Available online:

[ Part 2.2, Image/JPEG 33KB. ]
[ Unable to print this part. ]

APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS RULING IN WASHINGTON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM CASE

Published: Thursday July 17, 2014

The former National Bank of Washington and adjacent properties in
downtown Washington. Courtesy image

Related Articles

Cafesjian Foundation prevails in Genocide Museum lawsuit

Court sets deadline for property transfer in Armenian Genocide
museum case

Hirair Hovnanian continues to block Genocide memorial & museum in DC

MINNEAPOLIS – In a July 15 ruling U.S. Court of Appeals upheld
an earlier federal court’s decision that returned a series of
Washington properties to the Cafesjian Family Foundation. The appeal
was launched by the Armenian Assembly of America almost three years
ago, in September 2011.

The panel that included Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland, Circuit
Judge Robert L. Wilkins and Senior Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg
considered the parties’ arguments and ruled to affirm judgments of the
District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued in January and May
2011. The judges concluded their 37-page opinion by expressing hope
that their decision could “serve as the last word on this dispute’s
protracted journey through the courts.”

“We are both happy and relieved that this lengthy legal process has
finally come to an end,” said Kathleen Cafesjian Baradaran, chair of
the Cafesjian Family Foundation. “I just wish my father was alive to
see this day.”

Mr. Cafesjian passed away in September 2013.

6 ARMENIA CITIZENS KILLED IN RUSSIA ACCIDENT ARE IDENTIFIED

00:00, 01.01.1970

The new data said six citizens of Armenia were killed in a car accident
in Uralsk Oblast of Russia on Thursday.

The citizens of Armenia have been identified as Ani (born in 1991),
Arsen (1957), Hamayak (1989), Azat (1988) Tovmasyans and Azokik
Avanesyan (born in 1959).

The injured – Hasmik (born in 1996), Arsen (2011), Armen (2012)
Tovmasyans and Hasmik Avanesyan (1994) – have taken to Nikolayev
hospital where Hasmik Avanesyan died.

Three cars collided in Nikolayev region of Uralsk Oblast at around
6:30p.m..

MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS WIFE ASKS FOR LIGHTER SENTENCE BECAUSE CLAIMS WIFE CHEATED ON HIM

07.17.2014 17:14 epress.am

Volodya Muradyan, the husband of 35-year-old Diana Nahapetyan, accused
of fatally stabbing his wife 21 times, in court today filed a motion to
amend the charges. Muradyan is charged with RA Criminal Code Article
104 Section 1 Paragraph 5: “murder with particular cruelty”.

If convicted, he faces 12-20 years or life in prison. He petitioned
for a milder sentence — 6-12 years’ imprisonment. The Court of
First Instance of Ararat and Vayots Dzor Districts, however, refused
the motion.

Recall, the charge against Muradyan was changed once already —
to a graver charge.

Trying to prove that he is worthy of a lighter sentence, the defendant
in court today said that his wife was cheating on him and disgracing
him. As told to Epress.am by Women’s Resource Center of Armenia
Executive Director Lara Aharonian, who was present in court, the
prosecutor responded to this statement by saying, “If your wife was
cheating on you, you [should’ve] divorced her, not killed her.” The
accused countered that his wife’s lovers were police officers,
assistants to former Prosecutor General of Armenia Aghvan Hovsepyan,
who would kill him if he divorced his wife.

Thus, today’s court hearing ended, with the next session scheduled
for July 31.

Recall, during the course of the investigation, the court found that
Muradyan was not under “cumulative effect,” that is, an unstable
mental state resulting from a series of incidents, and though he was
in a “highly emotional state,” his consciousness was not completely
clouded over when he committed the crime. That is, he was sane and
of sound mind when the crime was committed.

LEVON HAYRAPETYAN’S HEALTH WORSENS

19:31 * 17.07.14

The health of Armenian businessman and public figure Levon Hayrapetyan
has worsened.

He needs insulin.

According to a Facebook message his friend Matsak Poladyan has talked
to Hayrapetyan’s lawyer on Thurday. He is going to appeal the Basman
court’s decision to get the restraint changed.

“Levon Hayrapetyan’s lawyer has said his health has worsened. He
has pancreatic diabetes. He needs insulin and is psychologically
depressed. He recently suffered a cerebral stroke and may not endure
the current conditions.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

ALAVERDYAN: ARMENIA SHOULD APPLY TO ECHR OVER SMBAT TSAKANYAN CASE

Wednesday,
July
16

Armenia should apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over
the case of 17-year-old Smbat Tsakanyan killed in Karvachar region
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the first Armenian Ombudsperson,
chairwoman of Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO Larisa Alaverdyan told
the correspondent of Aysor.am.

Besides, legal proceedings should start in the case under the laws
of Armenia and Artsakh, after which a suit may be filed to ECHR, Ms.

Alaverdyan said.

“Legal procedures should be initiated and then Armenia may apply
to the ECHR. It is hard to predict who will be held accountable and
if Azerbaijan’s representatives will appear in court so it will be
necessary to apply to European Court of Human Rights. The Armenian
side has that right because there were killed and wounded persons,” L.

Alaverdyan noted.

In her words, Armenia should do its best to file a lawsuit to ECHR –
Armenia has no other option to bring those guilty to account.

“Otherwise Azerbaijan will go unpunished,” Larisa Alaverdyan said.

TODAY, 21:10

Aysor.am

RUSSIA AGREES TO REVISE EACH ARMENIAN CITIZEN’S CASE – GAGIK YEGANYAN

19:19 * 16.07.14

The 2,200 Armenian citizens that were not allowed to enter Russia
have applied to the Migration Service of Armenia.

Head of the Service Gagik Yeganyan told Tert.am that each application
is thoroughly considered and sent to the Russian side through
diplomatic channels.

“It is people who broke the Russian laws. As a result, they were
prohibited from entering Russia. However, the Russian side showed its
willingness to revise each individual case. It is up to the Russian
side to give a positive or negative answer,” Yeganyan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

YEREVAN 187TH IN THE LIST OF MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES

July 16, 2014

Yerevan is ranked 187th among 211 cities in 2014 Mercer Cost of
Living survey.

[]

The survey covers 211 cities across five continents and measures the
comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing,
transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

The capital of Armenia went up by eight points as compared with
last year.

The most expensive city for expats is Luanda, the capital of Angola,
followed by N’Djamena (Chad) and Hing Kong. Top ten includes Singapore,
Zurich, Geneva, Tokyo, Bern and Shanghai.

As to the neighboring states, Baku is ranked 46th, Tbilisi is 194th
and Tehran is 77th.

The cheapest city for expats is Karachi, Pakistan.