Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Armenia Voices Solidarity With Iran After Tehran Attacks (UPDATED)
Iran -- A woman is evacuated during an attack on the Iranian
parliament in central Tehran, June 7, 2017
Armenia expressed solidarity with neighboring Iran on Wednesday as it
rushed to condemn deadly attacks on the Iranian parliament and
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's shrine in Tehran that were claimed by
the so-called Islamic State (IS).
"We strongly condemn attacks at Iran's Parliament and Mausoleum of
Ayatollah Khomeini," Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a
statement posted on his ministry's Twitter page. "In solidarity with
people of Iran."
Armenia's President Serzh Sarkisian and parliament speaker Arar
Babloyan were also quick to condemn the attacks in letters of
condolence sent to their Iranian counterparts.
"Attaching importance to security and stability in the neighboring and
friendly country, I am confident that the Iranian authorities are
taking all necessary measures to prevent such actions," Sarkisian
wrote to President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that two security guards
were killed and more than 30 other people wounded in the twin
attacks. Other reports said later in the day that as many as 12 people
were killed.
At least three attackers raided Khomeini's mausoleum in southern
Tehran and shot at visitors to the shrine, Iranian media said. One
assailant detonated a suicide vest, another was killed by security
forces, and the rest of the attackers were arrested, Tehran Governor
Hossein Hashemi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB.
Iran -- Security forces outside the Iranian parliament building
attacked by gunmen, 7Jun2017.
The extremist Sunni group IS claimed responsibility for the twin
attacks in the capital of predominantly Shi'ite Iran, according to the
IS-affiliated Amaq news agency.
Armenia's Embassy in Iran urged Armenian nationals to stay away from
the scenes of the violence as well as Tehran's underground system,
markets and other crowed places. "The Embassy is monitoring the course
of events," it said in a statement. "Additional information will be
provided if necessary."
Armenia has long maintained close relations with Iran, one of the
landlocked South Caucasus state's two commercial conduits to the
outside world. Sarkisian expressed confidence that bilateral ties will
deepen "in all areas" when he congratulated Rouhani on winning a
second term in a presidential election held last month.
Ruling Party Warns Ohanian
. Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Vahram Baghdasarian, the parliamentary leader of the ruling
Republican Party, speaks at a news briefing in Yerevan, 5Feb2016.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Wednesday warned
former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and his opposition allies
against seeking a violent overthrow of the government.
Ohanian said on Tuesday that his ORO alliance and other opposition
groups must be prepared for "developments outside the parliament that
could lead to a force majeure situation." He seemed to allude to the
possibility of future anti-government protests in Yerevan.
Commenting on those remarks, Vahram Baghdasarian, the HHK's
parliamentary leader, said: "We are ready for cooperation with the
healthy opposition, whether parliamentary or extraparliamentary, if
they come up with proposals on development of the state. But if they
have different objectives -- to achieve something through a rebellion
or a revolution -- the [April 2 parliamentary] elections showed what
they can achieve."
"No state, especially the one faced with such an external political
situation, will allow internal political upheavals," Baghdasarian told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
"Frankly, if I had no respect for that person I would not comment [on
his statements,]" he said. "But we have worked together and pursued
the same goals with that person for many years. Therefore, I will just
say: let's wait for political developments."
According to the Central of Election Commission (CEC), the ORO bloc
co-headed by Ohanian, Vartan Oskanian and Raffi Hovannisian polled
only 2 percent of the vote and failed to win any seats in Armenia's
new parliament. The bloc rejected the official vote results as
fraudulent. Ohanian insisted on Tuesday that the elections were
rigged.
Baghdasarian dismissed the claim as an excuse for ORO's poor election
performance. He said the fact that this and other opposition groups
refrained from staging post-election street protests means that
"everyone agrees with the election results."
The United States and the European Union gave largely positive
assessments of the conduct of the legislative polls, while expressing
concern at "credible information about vote-buying and pressure on
civil servants and employees of private companies" reported by Western
observers. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said
through a spokesperson on April 4 that the official vote results
"reflect the overall will of the Armenian people."
Dashnak Lawmaker Protests Against Corruption Whistleblowing
. Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia - A session of the National Assembly in Yerevan, 30May2017.
A parliament deputy representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), President Serzh Sarkisian's junior coalition
partner, denounced on Wednesday a government proposal to encourage
Armenians to report instances of corruption known to them.
Andranik Karapetian claimed that this kind of whistleblowing runs
counter to Armenian values and traditions. "European values are not
always compatible with Armenian values," he said.
The proposal is part of a package of anti-corruption government bills
which the recently elected National Assembly began debating on
Wednesday. They call for the creation of a new body tasked with
preventing and exposing corrupt practices among various state
officials. The body would scrutinize their asset and income
declarations with the aim of detecting their possible illegal
self-enrichment.
The government also wants the anti-graft commission to put in place an
online platform for anonymous corruption reports from citizens,
including those employed by government, law-enforcement and judicial
bodies. The five commission members to be appointed by the parliament
would have to look into those allegations.
"The institution of whistleblowers does not befit us, Armenians,"
declared Karapetian. "When I was reading this bill yesterday the first
thing that crossed my mind was that is an institution of, to use the
popular language, ratting on others."
The 34-year-old lawmaker claimed that the practice would not only
contradict his idea of "Armenianness" but also spread mistrust between
co-workers in the country. "Let us rat on each other," he said. "Let
us go to work and not dare to look each other in the eyes, suspecting
that we could rat on each other."
The remarks were criticized by Mane Tandilian, a deputy from the
opposition Yelk alliance. "I believe that on the contrary it is
un-Armenian to speak of people who can be whistleblowers in the fight
against corruption as informers and to claim that this is
un-Armenian," she said.
It was not immediately clear whether Karapetian's view reflects the
Dashnaktsutyun leadership's position. The party holds 7 seats in the
105-member parliament and is represented in the government by three
ministers.
More Protests Against Village Consolidation In Armenia
. Anush Muradian
Armenia - Protesting villagers in Gegharkunik province speak to
RFE/RL, 7Jun2017.
Residents of about two dozen small villages in Armenia's eastern
Gegharkunik province blocked a local highway on Wednesday in protest
against government plans to merge them into larger communities.
The Armenian government embarked on the mergers over a year ago,
saying that they will improve governance in the affected communities
and make budgetary spending on them more efficient. It also promised
that Armenia's Western donor supporting the process will provide them
with financial aid.
The government met with strong resistance from some of the first 140
villages that were incorporated into 18 administrative units later in
2016. Their residents believe that the consolidated local governments
will be less accountable and responsive to them.
Despite the controversy, the government continued the process this
year. A bill submitted by it to the Armenian parliament this month
would turn 328 other villages into 34 communities.
"We are against such a consolidation," said one of the several hundred
residents of the affected Gegharkunik villages who occupied a section
of the highway passing through the nearby town of Vartenis. He and
other protesters said it would hurt their mountainous communities,
many of them populated by former Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan.
Armenia - Protesting villagers block a road in Gegharkunik province,
7Jun2017.
The protesting villagers also complained that the government did not
consult with them before going ahead with the measure. Gegharkunik's
deputy governor, Andranik Hakobian, countered that Minister for Local
Government Davit Lokian recently met the mayors of their villages and
discussed the issue with them. "The village chiefs should have
organized discussions [with villagers,]" he told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am).
Hakobian also stood by government assurances that the administrative
restructuring will translate into infrastructure upgrades and better
public services. The villagers remained unconvinced, however.
"We want our message to reach the president," one of them told a
deputy chief of the regional police department, Tigran Petrosian, who
arrived at the scene.
The protesters agreed to unblock the road only two hours later, after
government officials told them through Petrosian to send a delegation
of their representatives to Yerevan. The delegation met with aides to
Lokian and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian later in the day.
The talks proved fruitless, with representatives of the villagers
saying that the government officials rejected their demands. They said
they will again shut down the Vartenis highway on Thursday.
Press Review
"Zhamanak" reacts to President Serzh Sarkisian's public assurances
that he has no disagreements with Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and
that the latter "has no reason to resign." The paper suggests that the
assurances may have been primarily addressed to Russian-Armenian
billionaire Samvel Karapetian (no relation), who is a strong backer of
the premier. It notes that the president made the comments the day
after attending the inauguration of a new university facility in
Yerevan that was donated by the tycoon. In any case, it says, his
statement boosted Karen Karapetian's shaky positions in the
government.
"Hayots Ashkhar" says that contrary some observers' predictions, Gagik
Tsarukian's Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) has failed to pose a
serious threat to Sarkisian and the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) since it was set up over a decade ago. "True, the BHK continues
to be considered the second strongest political force, but it cannot
have greater ambitions," argues the paper.
"Haykakan Zhamanak" claims that the government's biggest hope for
economic betterment in Armenia is not greater exports or investments
but an increase in cash remittances from Armenian migrant workers
abroad and a higher price of copper in the world markets. The paper
says that even $850 million in investments promised by Karapetian for
this year cannot improve the socioeconomic situation in the country as
rapidly as the remittances could.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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