Author: Kanayan Tamar

FUNERAL PROCESSION FOR VAHE AVETYAN

12:06 pm | Today | Social

The funeral of Major Vahe Avetyan, an officer of the Armenian Armed
Forces, who was severely beaten on June 17 at Harsnakar Restaurant
owned by Ruben Hayrapetyan (a.k.a. Nemets Rubo), an MP of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), is due at 2:00 June 2.

The procession will start from 83 Dro str. and head to the cemetery in
Zeitun district. After the funeral, the participants of the procession
will head for the Office of the Prosecutor General.

“We, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, are no longer going
to tolerate the atmosphere of lawlessness and impunity and call upon
everyone concerned about the issue to join our move. We are the owners
of this country,” said a public committee in charge of the funeral.

Vahe Avetyan was beaten to death by a large group of restaurant
employees and Hayrapetyan’s personal bodyguards during a June 17
incident at the restaurant. He died in hospital 12 days later without
regaining consciousness.

ARMENIA’S POLICE CHIEF PROMISES MAXIMUM INTEGRITY ON CASE OF BEATING MILITARY PHYSICIANS

news.am
July 02, 2012 | 15:14

YEREVAN. – Armenian Chief of Police, Vladimir Gasparyan, promised to
manifest maximum integrity with respect to the case launched on the
beating of military doctors, at a capital city Yerevan restaurant,
and the death of one of them.

Responding to the query as to whether the case could be altered,
Gasparyan said during a press conference that he understands the
public demand and he ruled out nothing, but he stressed that an
investigation is underway.

And to the question as whether Ruben Hayrapetyan likewise bears
responsibility for what happened, Vladimir Gasparyan replied:

“The investigation will answer all questions and it will be absolutely
transparent. No one can maneuver the investigation.”

Also, he assured that the Police intend on manifesting maximum
integrity over the course of the examination of this case.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, an incident occurred at
capital city Yerevan’s Harsnaqar Restaurant on June 17, where several
military doctors including Edgar Mikoyan, Arkadi Aghajanyan, Garik
Soghomonyan, Artak Bayadyan and Vahe Avetyan were brutally beaten by
the restaurant employees.

And Vahe Avetyan died in hospital on June 29.

A criminal case is launched, and the Police have detained six people.

The Restaurant’s owner is senior ruling party MP, head of the Armenian
Football Federation, and businessman Ruben Hayrapetyan.

And a candlelight vigil in memory of Vahe Avetyan was held in front
of the Restaurant on June 30.

Le procès de 193 personnes dont Zarakolu et Ersanli se tiendra le 2 juillet

Le procès de 193 personnes dont l’éditeur Ragýp Zarakolu, défenseur de la
liberté d’expression, pressenti pour le Prix Nobel de la Paix 2012, et la
sociologue Busra Ersanli se tiendra le 2 juillet à Silivri.

L’éditeur Zarakolu et la sociologue Ersanli ont été arrêtés le 28 octobre
2011 et inculpés le 1er novembre 2011 d’> pour les conférences qu’ils avaient données à l’Académie
Politique du Parti de la Paix et de la Démocratie (BDP), principal parti
kurde visé systématiquement par le régime répressif.

Tous deux ont été incarcérés en prison de haute sécurité, comme des
milliers d’autres prisonniers politiques. Zarakolu a bénéficié depuis le 10
avril dernier d’une libération conditionnelle dans l’attente de son
jugement. Le plus jeune de ses fils, Cihan Deniz Zarakolu, avait également
été arrêté à la mi-octobre 2011 pour les mêmes motifs. Ce dernier reste
toujours en prison.

Le Procureur public d’Istanbul, Adnan Çimen, avait requis 7,5 à 15 ans
de
prison contre Ragýp Zarakolu et 15 à 22,5 ans d’emprisonnement contre Büþra
Ersanlý.

Fondateur de l’Association des droits de l’homme [IHD], Ragýp Zarakolu est
le précurseur, en Turquie, d’un courageux travail de mémoire sur le
génocide arménien. Il est aussi un écrivain du journal kurde Özgür Gündem
qui est dans la ligne de mire du gouvernement.

L’usage abusif de la loi anti-terroriste et la campagne de répression
lancée en 2009 sous le nom d’ > permettent à l’Etat turc
de museler ceux qui luttent pacifiquement pour les droits des Kurdes, pour
la reconnaissance officielle du génocide arménien, ou pour dénoncer
l’emprise de la confrérie islamiste de Fethullah Gülen sur le gouvernement
AKP.

Plus de 8 mille membres actifs du BDP dont 35 maires et six députés sont
actuellement en prison dans le cadre de cette affaire. Chaque semaine des
dizaines d’autres personnes s’ajoutent à cette liste.

Le BDP appelle à participer massivement au procès qui se tiendra le 2
juillet pour >.

> a dit Asiye Kolcak, une responsable du parti
kurde.

a-t-elle
ajouté Sebahat Tuncel, députée BDP, lors d’une conférence à Istanbul.

Le Collectif VAN (Vigilance Arménienne contre le Négationnisme) rappelle de
son coté que Ragýp Zarakolu est l’un des partenaires turcs des Journées
annuelles de sensibilisation aux génocides et à leur négation, organisées
par l’association chaque mois d’avril sur le Parvis de Notre-Dame de Paris.

Interfax, Russia
June 29 2012

Stepanakert should take part in Karabakh settlement talks – Yerevan

YEREVAN. June 29

The question of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict cannot be
resolved without the involvement of Stepanakert (the capital of
self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh) in the process, Armenian Foreign
Minister Edvard Nalbandian has said.

“There can be no settlement of the problem without the involvement of
Nagorno Karabakh. A year ago, before the summit in Kazan we said that
the fundamental principles of the settlement cannot be considered
fully agreed without the approval of Nagorno Karabakh. And the
development of a peace agreement after the coordination of fundamental
principles is impossible without the involvement of Nagorno Karabakh,”
the Foreign Ministry press service quoted Nalbandian as saying to
Interfax.

Nalbandian said he discussed the negotiating process last Thursday at
a meeting with Karabakh President Bako Saakian.

“Cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are also conducting regular
consultations with the leadership of Nagorno Karabakh. Soon, in 10
days mediators will again travel to the region. There will also be a
visit to Stepanakert,” the minister said.

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Armenian IT field to receive $24 million loans

news.am
July 01, 2012 | 00:12

YEREVAN. – The World Bank (WB) will grant $24 million loans to use it
for the Armenian IT field, Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan
said at a meeting in Armenian City of Aghveran. The loan has already
been confirmed by the WB.

According to the Minister, it is the second loan for the IT field. The
first loan in the amount of $5 million has mainly served for the
establishment of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation.

Davtyan also presented other sources of financing, except for loans.
The field received $80 million annually from exhibitions, information
materials, conference organization and participation.

Besides, over $170 million is granted to Gyumri city techno-park.
Moreover, tourism and IT get direct investments from the state
budget.USAID also makes investments.

REGION SUD-CAUCASE
La présence des Turcs en Adjarie inquiète les Adjares

A Batoumi, capitale de la République autonome d’Adjarie (Géorgie) les
Turcs ne sont plus être les bienvenus. Le député géorgien Zondi
Baghadouria a réalisé le 30 juin à Batoumi, une marche de protestation
contre la présence croissante des Turcs dans la région. « Notre action
est politique, nous sensibilisons les forces politiques d’Adjarie et
affirmons que ce territoire ne sera pas utilisé par les Turcs et
certains Géorgiens pour des objectifs qui ne sont pas de notre intérêt
» dit Z. Baghadouria. Ce dernier s’inquiète qu’au rythme actuel de
l’immigration turque, les Turcs qui sont aujourd’hui au nombre de 25
000 deviendront très rapidement la première population de la
République autonome d’Adjarie. Z. Baghadouria s’inquiète également de
la revendication de la Turquie qui considère que le territoire
d’Adjarie appartient à la Turquie arrachée par la Géorgie il y a un
siècle. « Nous devons être vigilants car la Turquie sous prétexte de
défendre ses citoyens turcs d’Adjarie pourrait bien occuper ce pays en
envoyant son armée » s’alarme Baghadouria.

D’une superficie de quelque 2 900 km², l’Adjarie compte environ 400
000 habitants. Située dans le sud-ouest de la Géorgie, elle dispose
d’une frontière commune avec la Turquie et une façade maritime sur la
mer Noire. L’Adjarie et notamment sa capitale Batoumi (ex-Batoum)
compte une forte communauté arménienne. L’Adjarie étant également la
destination estivale favorite des Arméniens d’Arménie dont plus de 100
000 se rendent chaque année sur les plages de la mer Noire. Enfin, le
port de Batoumi est l’un des axes principaux du transit de fret
maritime vers l’Arménie, les autorités arméniennes et géorgiennes
envisageant une autoroute reliant Erévan à Batoumi.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 1er juillet 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

European Demagogy

Igor Muradyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 17:15:09 – 29/06/2012

According to the mass media, on 28 June 2012 sixteen ministers of
foreign affairs of the EU member states released an open letter called
`EU and Turkey: Stronger Together’ appealing to accept Turkey into the
European Union soon. However, it was not a sensation since the Turkish
mass media took this event in a very reserved manner but also
critically. This can be seen from the opinion of four leading and most
respectable newspapers but apparently there are more radical views of
the Turkish media.

Such a statement has been issued by the European Union more than once.
Why do they need one more statement if there is the Copenhagen
agreement, and many other similar agreements? We should pay attention
to the fact that along with the most common theses this statement
contains also good but very tough demands for Turkey. For example,
they speak more definitely about `freedom of travel’ to Europe, not
`freedom of entry’, while adding the requirement of the rules and
control of immigration.

The Europeans still bring up the Cyprus issue which is a key one in
the improvement of the European-Turkish relations at this moment, and
which Turkey is not going to solve. Turkey is reminded about its
unacceptability for the EU policy in the Western Balkans, taking into
account the unilateral position of Turkey to support Muslim states and
communities; about its issues in the Caucasus which are deepening;
about the Kurdish issue, adding also terrorism which is viewed this
time as the production of the Kurdish issue.

Turkey’s participation in democratization of the Central and Eastern
Europe (I wonder how) looks sarcastic. It is absolutely clear that the
Europeans pursue only one goal to `encourage’ Turkey for its
participation in the decision of the Near East issues, in accordance
with the interests of the Western community, while in a broader range
to shift responsibility for further issues on Turkey and list it among
the unsolvable issues of the region, forcing it to clash with the
regional competitors.

Besides, the question occurs where the other members of the European
Union are, and most importantly, where France is, what its position on
this issue is, as well as the position of Denmark, Netherland, Belgium
and other EU members. It is clear that Germany’s joining to this
statement was a forced step, since without it the statement would be
just a fake.

Europe once again is showing its demagogic relation to the European
project of Turkey, which is a clear signal for many political forces
in the European and Near East countries.

Businessman MP declines to comment on restaurant incident

tert.am
18:54 – 30.06.12

The owner of Harsnaqar resaurant, Ruben Hayrapetyan, who represents
the ruling Republican Party faction in Armenia’s National Assembly,
has declined to comment on the deadly incident in his establishment.

A major scuffle with the security guards of Harsnaqar earlier this
month left three military doctors seriously injured. One of them, Vahe
Avetyan, was hospitalized with skull injuries. After remaining
unconscious for about a fortnight, he died on Friday evening.

`Do you want me to say that the culprits will be punished? They
certainly will. But what’s the use of that? Will we return Vahe? Of
course, not. What am I to tell his family? You have no idea of my
sufferings,’ the businessman politician said, when contacted by
Tert.am for an interview.

The newspapers said earlier today that one of the men involved in the
scuffle is Hayrapetyan’s personal bodyguard.

YERKIR: SILENT FIGHT FOR POSITIONS OF HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS

Panorama.am
30/06/2012

Despite assertions of newly appointed Orinats Yerkir and RPA ministers,
in particular, ministers of health and urban development, that no
major cadre changes are expected in the ministries, nevertheless,
cadre changes are inevitable, Yerkir reports.

A serious, yet silent fight goes on in these ministries for positions
of heads of departments.

“Republicans are holding serious talks with ministers and their close
people. It’s noteworthy that their main argument is that the person
for whom they intercede has done much for RPA in the election period
and now it’s time to compensate him,” the paper says.

WHICH OFFICIAL WILL DARE?
YEGHISHEH METSARENTS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 11:49:04 – 30/06/2012

Army officer, military doctor Vahe Avetyan is dead. Republican Ruben
Hairapetyan’s bodyguards beat him cruelly in the restaurant belonging
to the member of parliament. Vahe Avetyan died after several days
in coma.

After the incident the ministry of defense issued a spotty statement
to pursue revelation and punishment of those guilty.

So who will dare attend the funeral of the killed officer – the
president, the minister, deputy ministers, chief of staff of the Army?

Perhaps nobody because Ruben Hairapetyan may be offended.

Besides, the ministry of defense does not have a tradition to bury
killed or murdered soldiers, attend their funerals at a high level and
thus establish a culture of respect for the army uniform and status.

There is no culture of dignified state protection of families of killed
or murdered soldiers because otherwise they will run out of money for
expensive cars for the minister, deputy ministers and other officials,
as well as fuel and maintenance costs.

When human life, tragedy, two orphaned kids are concerned, discussion
of funerals and high-level attendance become impertinent. But this
state should at least have a spot beyond which it will be demonstrated
that human life is the highest value for the state,

On the other hand, government officials are honest. For them human life
has no value. For them a restaurant, a bodyguard, luxury at home and
work are values. Their reaction to Vahe Avetyan’s case is not the first
and unfortunately there is little probability that it will be the last.

So, at least in this sense they are honest to the state and the
society and do not pretend.