Author: nina hovnanian

Novinite. Bulgaria
May 5 2012

Armenian Police Investigate Mystery Yerevan Explosion

Armenian police are inquiring Saturday into the causes behind an
uncanny explosion of decorative balloons at a rally in capital Yerevan
Friday that left more than 140 people injured.

All off the injured people, including at least two children, have
sustained burns and have been hospitalized in various hospitals.

At present, 94 people are still hospitalized, with 25 of them in
intensive care units, according to ITAR-TASS. The lives of all of them
are fortunately out of danger.

The balloons, initially believed to be simply filled with helium,
exploded at a rally of the ruling Republican Party ahead of
parliamentary elections Sunday.

According to initial information, the balloons went off when a man lit
a cigarette nearby.

Police nevertheless investigate other scenarios for the accident,
including the possibility that the balloons were full of another gas.

“This is a severe blow for all of us. Perpetrators will be found and
brought to justice,” stated Armenian President Serj Sargsyan.

EurasiaNet.org, NY
May 5 2012

Azerbaijani Government Awarded Gold-Field Rights To President’s Family

May 5, 2012 – 1:10pm, by Nushabe Fatullayeva and Khadija Ismayilova, Azerbaijan

A EurasiaNet Partner Post from: RFE/RL

BAKU — Novruz Allahverdiyev, 40, lives in a mud house in the village
of Chovdar, a small mining town in the mountainous region near the
border with Armenia. He is one of 800,000 internally displaced persons
from the war with Armenia that battered his native Nagorno-Karabakh
region in the early 1990s.

Allahverdiyev and members of 60 other displaced families found shelter
and a place to farm in the mountains around Chovdar. Like many in his
predicament, Allahverdiyev is patriotic, and the walls of his poor
home are plastered with pages from an aging calendar featuring
portraits of President Ilham Aliyev and his late father, former
President Heydar Aliyev.

Allahverdiyev’s family now faces yet another problem. A British mining
company has taken over some of his land and has blocked one of the two
streams his village relies on for water. Allahverdiyev is sure
President Aliyev will help him and his community.

But his faith may be misplaced. What Allahverdiyev doesn’t know is
that the president and his family own a stake in the new mine. The
U.K. company is actually a front for the first family.

In two 2007 decrees, the state assigned the right to develop the
Chovdar gold field and five other sites to a company called Azerbaijan
International Mineral Resources Operating Company, Ltd. (AIMROC).
AIMROC — which controls a 70 percent stake in the mines, while the
Azerbaijan government controls 30 percent — has been building the
infrastructure for the Chovdar mine and is expected to begin
production this year.

Panamanian Trail

But sorting out AIMROC’s structure is a daunting task. While Chovdar
locals blame the “ingilis” (English) for their woes, the truth is
quite different. AIMROC is a joint venture of four companies: Londex
Resources, S.A, Willy and Meyris S.A., Fargate Mining Corporation, and
Globex International LLP. All four are shell companies that, according
to Azerbaijani officials, were set up specifically for this deal. It
is unclear if any of them have any mining experience or other mining
projects.

??A fifth company — Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co Ltd
(MINDECO), a mining-engineering company owned by Japan’s Mitsui Mining
and Smelting Company — is listed as the official project supervisor,
but has no ownership.

??Of the four AIMROC owners, the only U.K.-based company is Globex
International, which has an 11 percent stake, worth about $200
million. But Globex is actually owned by three companies registered in
Panama: Hising Management SA, Lynden Management Group, Inc., and
Arblos Management Corporation. According to Panamanian registration
records, all three firms list President Aliyev’s two daughters —
Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva — and Swiss businessman Olivier Mestelan as
senior managers.

Mestelan has long had close ties to the Aliyev family. He has
organized artistic events with them and, together with Leyla and Arzu,
appears in the records of other Panamanian companies being used as
fronts for businesses in Azerbaijan, including the Azerfon
cellular-services provider. Mestelan declined to be interviewed for
this story.

Aliyev’s office refused to answer questions about his family’s
business interests in the gold fields. Presidential spokesman Azer
Gasimov did not return phone calls and did not respond to questions
submitted in writing.

Opaque Decisions

AIMROC has been controversial from its beginning. The consortium was
formed by a 2006 presidential decree that identified Globex as part of
the consortium. In 2007, AIMROC was awarded 30-year leases on the
mineral fields.

Chovdar alone is a lucrative parcel. According to the Azerbaijani
Environment Ministry, it contains reserves of 44 tons of gold and 164
tons of silver, worth about $2.5 billion at current prices.

The contracts were awarded to AIMROC hastily and over the objections
expressed by many members of parliament during hearings held in June
2007. Lawmakers complained that the consortium’s ownership was opaque;
that the contract was awarded in violation of bidding procedures; that
none of the companies had any history of mining; and that the deal was
contrary to Azerbaijan’s national interests.

??During the hearings, deputy Valeh Aleskerov, chairman of the
parliamentary Natural Resources Committee, defended the deal. He said
the creation of offshore companies was “a common practice around the
world” and that no tender was issued because of the uncertainty about
how much mineral wealth there was. Instead, he said, the government
held talks directly with potential investors.

The Environment Ministry’s chief geologist, Agamahmud Samedov, told
RFE/RL that the estimates of the other five fields are classified. He
also declined to comment on AIMROC’s ownership or its lack of mining
experience.

When asked last month about AIMROC’s ownership, Aleskerov said, “Do
you think the Azerbaijani government would contract with someone
unknown, with just anyone from the street?” When asked if the Aliyev
family has any financial interest in the project, Aleskerov said only
“Shame on you!” and hung up.

Professional Proxies

Parsing the rest of AIMROC’s structure is more difficult. Londex
Resources and Fargate Mining are registered in Panama, according to
documents obtained from the Panama Registry of Companies.

The documents indicate that the companies are interrelated through a
complicated chain of company directorships. All three are or were at
one time owned by two companies registered at the same address on the
tiny Caribbean island of Nevis: Casal Management and Tagiva
Management.

Casal and Tagiva act or acted as the director for at least 20
companies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Panama. It is
likely that the companies are professional proxies used to hide actual
ownership.

According to a document of the Tax Registry of Azerbaijan, Willy and
Meyris S.A. (listed in some documents as Will & Meyris S.A.) is
represented by a Czech geologist, Mirko Vanecek, the executive editor
of “The Journal of Geosciences” in Prague.

‘The President Is A Good Person’

Meanwhile, back in Chovdar, locals are looking forward to a rumored
visit by President Aliyev to mark the opening of an ore refinery the
consortium has built.

“We have heard that president will come to the opening ceremony of
this factory,” villager Paneh Huseynov says. “Please tell our
president to come and visit us. Tell him we support his policies. We
will not be allowed to approach him. Please, we ask him to come and
ask about our living conditions. Then he’ll see how we live and how we
suffer.”

??Villagers had no idea that the president’s family owns part of the
mine operator. “How can the president be benefiting from this
production? … All of the companies here are foreign. Englishmen are
running the business here,” says one local who refuses to give his
name.

Teacher Nureddin Ramazanov lost some land to AIMROC. With a salary of
just $130 per month, Ramazanov says his family is starving.

“The company destroyed our road,” he says. “Geologists took our land.
They paid us only 2,000 manats [$2,500] per hectare.¦ Now I don’t know
how we’ll survive.”

Meanwhile, Karabakh exile Allahverdiyev says he is hoping to get a job
at the mine. Locals say mining jobs pay the equivalent of $12 a day.
So far, the mining site has hired very few locals.

Despite grinding poverty and the problems with the mine, most locals
remain firm in their faith in Aliyev, whose omnipresent portrait gazes
out over the people of Chovdar from the walls of shops and schools.

“The president knows nothing about this,” says teacher Ramazanov.
“Local officials say the president ordered that our land be taken, but
I don’t believe it. He is a good person.”

Editor’s note: This report was produced by the Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in cooperation with RFE/RL’s
Azerbaijani Service. OCCRP project coordinator Paul Cristian Radu
contributed from Bucharest, and RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson
contributed from Prague

Some 600 Blackhawks to be `made in Turkey’

May 5, 2012 – 20:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey and the U.S. are seeking to sell some 600
`made in Turkey’ Blackhawk helicopters to third countries, according
to Francis J. Ricciardone, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara.

`We will see over 600 Blackhawk helicopters, very high technology
helicopters, produced here in Turkey. The great majority of these
helicopters will go to third markets, third countries,’ Hürriyet Daily
News quoted Ricciardone as saying during a Turkish-American business
council lunch in Istanbul on May 4.

Around one hundred of these helicopters will be used by the Turkish
Armed Forces, the ambassador confirmed.

U.S. firm Sikorsky Aircraft won a $3.5 billion competition in April
2011 to lead the production of more than 100 large utility helicopters
for Turkey over Italy’s AgustaWestland. The defense firm is mainly set
to cooperate with local Alp Aviation in production. Along with Alp,
Ricciardone said some other important firms would also contribute to
the making of the utility helicopters.

Sikorsky also became the first major international company to formally
announce it would also seek to win the light utility helicopter
contest in May last year. However, no exact date had been decided for
the production of Blackhawks, said an Alp Aviation spokesperson.

Possible buyers were also not clear yet, public relations
representative Melek AkdoÄ?an told the HDN during a phone interview on
May 4.

Riccardione also said that the U.S. `supported Turkey’s ambitious 2023
target to become one of the world’s largest 10 economies.’

`Yesterday I met with the representatives of Turkey’s Economy Ministry
and we had talks with more than 70 firms,’ he said during his speech.

`The ministry found a chance to show them all the opportunities in
Turkey,’ he said.

Ex-principal of university in Armenia not to participate in contest again

news.am
May 05, 2012 | 13:23

YEREVAN. – The former principal of Yerevan State Linguistic University
(YSLU) Suren Zolyan will not participate in the contest for the
principal post from which he was fired recently, Zolyan announced at a
press conference on Saturday stating that he still considers himself
the principal of YSLU.

`The development of education in Armenia is deficient – the Bologna
Principle does not work here but a feudalistic one where the minister
is always right and everybody must obey him,’ he said adding that the
issue is not the Ashotyan – Zolyan misunderstanding but the further
development of education in Armenia.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, Yerevan State Linguistic
University Principal Suren Zolyan was dismissed from his post recently
under the order of Armenia’s Minister of Education and Science Armen
Ashotyan.

Elaborate Genocide Memorial Planned for Lowell

by Tom Vartabedian

May 5, 2012

LOWELL, Mass. – A mother’s hands weaving the history of her people.

Displaying an artist’s rendition of genocide memorial for Lowell (L-R)
Mayor Patrick Murphy; Daniel Varoujan-Hejinian, artist/designer; and
Armen Jeknavorian, committee chairman.
Such is the theme of an elaborate genocide memorial approved by city
officials during a meeting with organizers from the Merrimack Valley
Armenian community.

Plans for the structure were announced during the 97th anniversary
commemoration in front of City Hall; the monument will be situated
there, to the right of a flagpole that flies the Armenian tricolor
every April 24th.

The estimated cost for the project runs $25,000, which will be
collected through an aggressive fundraising campaign.

The announcement followed six months of plenary work by a pan-Armenian
committee headed by activist Armen Jeknavorian with members of various
church and civic organizations. Middlesex County Sheriff Peter
Koutoujian is also lending insight as honorary chairman.

A three-dimensional motif featuring a mother’s hands protruding from
the khatchkar (Armenian cross-stone) serves as an immediate
eye-catcher. At the base are the Armenian words `Ee Heeshadag’ (or `In
Remembrance’). The stone measures six feet in height and three feet in
width.

`The delicacy of the crochet integrated into the cross-stone
symbolizes the steadfast richness of the Armenian heritage that has
sustained our ancient people for centuries,’ said Hejinian. `Knot by
knot, the Armenian people everywhere weave their hopes and dream as
they grow and prosper. This expression of `weaving’ echoes the
Armenian national anthem.’

The theme of weaving a lace cloth into stone appears connected to
Lowell’s history, known for its prominent textile industry.

`Lowell accepted immigrants from throughout the world to work the
mills,’ added Hejinian. `It is here in which a community of Armenians
was established and flourished from the late 19th century. Just as
this genocide is imprinted in the collective memory of every Armenian,
this cross-stone is the permanent reminder that the ultimate crime
against humanity will never be forgotten or repeated.’

The project was conceived under Mayor James Milinazzo, who lobbied for
a piece of prime land abutting City Hall. He has since been replaced
by Mayor Patrick Murphy, who remains just as enamored of such an
endeavor.

The Armenian memorial will share company with markers from other
nationality groups inside an area known as Monument Park, which
attracts some 100,000 folks each July during an ethnic folk festival.
Its visibility would be profound.

`It’ll certainly create an attractive yet meaningful presence,’ said
Murphy. `We have a very sizable Armenian presence in the city and this
is a tribute to them. Armenians have overcome extreme adversity.
Together, we’ll all share in the human experience – that being peace and
harmony throughout the world.’

Armenians began settling in Lowell before the 1900’s as immigrants
came searching for honest work and a safe haven in which to raise
their families, practice their religion, and educate their children.

`The Armenian community became an asset to the growth of Lowell’s
economic and social fabric through their industrious spirit, strong
family values, and their devotion to a free society, healthy religious
values, and strong civic pride,’ added Murphy.

The Merrimack Valley currently houses three genocide survivors and
each was invited to serve as an honorary member of the committee.
Their names grace all formal correspondence and will be mentioned in
conjunction with every nuance of the project, which is expected to be
dedicated next April.

They are Nellie Nazarian, Thomas Magarian, and Ojen Fantazian.

`Through their sacrifice and vision, generations have prospered here
and made our heritage and culture one to be admired,’ said
Jeknavorian. `It’s a meaningful gesture of gratitude for all they’ve
done to preserve and advance our history.’

ARMENIAN ELECTION: “STAKES COULD NOT BE HIGHER”
By Richard Giragosian

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 639
May 4, 2012
UK

Politicians must restore slipping public confidence through fair
elections and commitment to reform.

As Armenians prepare to go to the polls on May 6 to elect a new
parliament, the stakes could hardly be higher. This election is one
of the biggest challenges the current government has faced, for two
main reasons.

First, the public as a whole has become noticeably less apathetic,
and expects this election to be run significantly better than previous
ones. This does not necessarily mean people believe the government’s
pledge of a free and fair vote, but it is clear that most want to
hold officials to that promise.

This election is also subject to a higher degree of international
scrutiny than before, as it is seen as test of the credibility of
President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration, in terms both of his stated
commitment to democracy, and of his sincerity about delivering on
pledges he has made.

Another factor that makes this ballot particularly important is that
it is the first election since the February 2008 presidential contest,
which resulted in clashes between police and opposition supporters
that left at least ten people dead and many more injured.

So the forthcoming election offers an important opportunity for the
authorities to overcome the legacy of mistrust and of perceived lack
of legitimacy that has hung over Sargsyan’s administration ever since
the crisis.

Unfortunately, however, neither the recent local elections nor
the statements coming from officials indicate that the government
realises how important this poll is. There are in fact few grounds
for confidence that the vote will meet people’s expectations.

Nonetheless, the election reflects a major shift in Armenian politics.

Specifically, the traditional political model, defined by a conflict
between government and opposition, has changed, and the main dynamic is
the serious and deepening rivalry within the ruling coalition. This
unprecedented rift has even led to violence in the run-up to the
election.

The confrontation pits the ruling Republican Party, the country’s
largest political party led by President Sargsyan, against its
erstwhile allies from Prosperous Armenia, a junior partner in the
governing coalition. Prosperous Armenia is led by businessman Gagik
Tsarukyan, a supporter and close associate of former President Robert
Kocharyan.

As the Republican Party attempts to weaken Prosperous Armenia during
campaigning, the conflict is escalating. The Republicans may still
hold the initiative and enjoy the incumbent’s advantage of having
“administrative resources” at its disposal, but they are made
vulnerable by their over-confidence, exacerbated by a tendency to
underestimate their opponents.

Prosperous Armenia has yet to fight back or counter these moves. That
suggests that either its leadership has not yet decided on an effective
strategy for doing so, or that it is simply unable to respond.

The ruling elite will be further endangered if it ignores popular
demands for lasting change and real reforms.

If this election is not run better than previous flawed ballots, there
will be a price to pay. The potential consequences are not restricted
to international pressure and censure – there will be a reaction from
within Armenian society, which is displaying a more dynamic level
of civic activism on matters ranging from the environment to broader
issues of social inequality. Society has changed, and people are no
longer content to witness yet another round of flawed, fixed elections.

This simmering sense of frustration and discontent is rooted in more
than the denial of a real choice or voice in political life; it also
stems from years of widening wealth disparities and a pronounced lack
of economic opportunity for the average Armenian.

This undercurrent of discontent is increasing, especially as the
government can no longer claim to be presiding over the kind of
economic growth that it used in the past to justify shortcomings in
reform and democratisation. The true face of Armenia’s economy has
been exposed – years of double-digit growth have resulted only in
glaringly obvious socioeconomic inequalities.

As well as creating divisions along social and economic lines,
the wealth and income disparities are geographic, as well. Economic
activity and opportunity are over-concentrated in the capital Yeravan
and other urban centres, creating an urban-rural divide and significant
regional imbalances. This is underlined by the wide variance in the
quality and accessibility of essential public services like health,
education and welfare.

Within this broader context, the more fundamental challenge to
stability in Armenia is the need for economic change and reform. But
unless this election is a great improvement on its predecessors,
the government that emerges from it will lack both a firm mandate to
lead and the political will to address these economic problems.

To achieve lasting stability and genuine legitimacy, this election
must be an opportunity for politicians to learn to govern and not
simply rule. If they miss that opportunity, what is now a crisis of
confidence could slide into a dangerously explosive situation.

Richard Giragosian is director of the Regional Studies Centre, an
independent think tank in Yerevan, Armenia

ELBRECHT TO EXPLORE NEW YORK TIMES GENOCIDE COVERAGE

Armenian Weekly
May 4, 2012

On Thurs., May 17, Anne Elbrecht of Davis, Calif., will give a
lecture entitled “Telling the Story: The Armenian Genocide in The
New York Times and Missionary Herald,” at the National Association
for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center in Belmont, Mass.

Elbrecht’s Telling the Story: The Armenian Genocide in The New York
Times and Missionary Herald, 1914-1918 (Taderon Press, 2012) focuses
on two important journals to see how news of the Armenian Genocide
filtered through to the United States between 1914-18. It also looks
at how the American public reacted to such news with a humanitarian
intervention program.

There were undoubted differences between the two journals, as The New
York Times was a leading news organization while Missionary Herald
was part of an institution (the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions) with vested interests in Turkey. However, the
flow of information to the outside world was clear and compelling,
especially as many reports were actually written by United States
officials in Turkey and leaked to the press by the State Department
in Washington, D.C.

Elbrecht is a graduate of Wheaton College, University of California,
Berkeley, School of Library Studies, and McGeorge School of Law.

Telling the Story is based on her MA thesis at California State
University, Sacramento. With her late husband Richard A. Elbrecht
she traveled throughout Turkey photographing Armenian churches, a
visual archive now part of the Armenian Studies Program at California
State University, Fresno. She has been a member of NAASR’s Board of
Directors since 2007.

Telling the Story will be available for purchase and signing the
night of the lecture. Admission to the event is free (donations
appreciated). The NAASR Center is located on 395 Concord Ave. in
Belmont, opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post
Office. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.

For more information, call (617) 489-1610 or e-mail [email protected].

SCORES INJURED AS BALLOON BLASTS SPARK CHAOS AT ARMENIAN ELECTION RALLY

04.05.2012

Armenia – Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party’s pre-eleciton
rally in Yerevan’s Republic square, Yerevan, 0 4May 2012 Ruzanna
Stepanian, Hovannes Shoghikian

At least 144 people were hospitalized with burns after mass explosions
of campaign balloons during a pre-election concert and rally held
in Yerevan’s main square by President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican
Party of Armenia (HHK) late on Friday.

Eyewitnesses, including an RFE/RL cameraman, Sevak Grigorian, said
hundreds of gas-filled balloons held up by young HHK activists at
Republic Square exploded, sparking a massive firewall and injuring
dozens of them. Grigorian described cries in the crowd and chaotic
scenes resulting in a brief stampede that nearly caused him to lose
his camera.

“It was a huge blaze,” said one woman at the scene.

Armenia – Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party’s pre-election
rally in Yerevan’s Republic square, Yerevan, 04May2012xArmenia –
Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party’s pre-election rally in
Yerevan’s Republic square, Yerevan, 04May2012 â~@~Kâ~@~KAbout two
dozen ambulances were rushed to the scene shortly after the blasts. An
ambulance doctor told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that
some 50 mostly young people required hospitalization.

Citing “preliminary data,” the Armenian Ministry of Emergency
Situations put the total number of injured and hospitalized people
at 144. In a written statement, the ministry said they are receiving
urgent treatment at eight Yerevan hospitals.

â~@~Kâ~@~KAn RFE/RL correspondent saw many of them outside a Yerevan
hospital specializing in treatment of burns. Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisian visited the hospital later in the evening. He spoke of only
about 50 persons injured in the blasts.

“These are mostly light burns,” the premier told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service outside the hospital. “Some of the victims have already
received first assistance and gone home.”

The Armenian police were quick to launch an investigation. The chief
of Yerevan’s police department, General Nerses Nazarian, suggested
that the explosions were most probably triggered by a cigarette or
a lighter. Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Nazarian all but
ruled out the possibility of deliberate arson. “It was apparently an
accident,” he said.

Armenia – Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party’s
pre-eleciton rally in Yerevan’s Republic square, Yerevan,
04May2012xArmenia – Gas-baloons blow up during Republican party’s
pre-eleciton rally in Yerevan’s Republic square, Yerevan, 04May2012
â~@~Kâ~@~Kâ~@~Kâ~@~KDespite the chaos and mass injuries, the HHK
campaign event was interrupted by only several minutes, with the show
moderator downplaying the accident and urging thousands of people
standing in the sprawling square to stay on.

President Sarkisian addressed the crowd shortly afterwards. He did
not mention the unprecedented emergency in his speech. The concert
continued after the speech.

HUNDREDS OF ARMENIANS INJURED AS BALLOONS EXPLODE

Associated Press
Published May 04, 2012

YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenia’s Emergency Ministry says hundreds of
people have been injured after clusters of balloons exploded on the
central square of the ex-Soviet nation’s capital.

It also said 104 of them had to be hospitalized with burns after
Friday’s explosion in Yerevan, which it said was caused by a smoker
who lit a cigarette near the balloons.

The balloons were supposed to be flown at the Republican Party’s
rally that drew tens of thousands of Armenians. Despite the accident,
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian addressed the rally with a speech.

The Republican Party dominates the parliament of this impoverished
Caucasus nation.

Read
more:
ns-explode-1184141548/#ixzz1tvPEIhVe

THERE WILL BE ALTERNATIVE AUTHORITIES

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:56:26 – 04/05/2012

Today, member of Sardarapat initiative Zhirayr Sefilyan dwelt on
the victory in Mashtots Park. Congratulating the young activists,
he said this is not only the victory of the environmentalists but of
the public interests.

Zhirayr Sefilyan thinks the youth is on the right path. “I would
suggest not to worry that Serzh Sargsyan came and ordered the
dismantlement of the boutiques, the important thing is that the
task has been achieved, initiating the start of dismantlement of the
criminal-oligarchic system,” Sefilyan said.

Besides, he noted that Mashtots Park had a manifold effect and the
developments in Yerevan State Linguistic University after Brusov are
also related to this.

According to Zhirayr Sefilyan, this is the first time in the past 18
years the society won a battle with the ruling regime. After this,
we can see choice thanks to the young people because their political,
ideological and fighting methods are right.

Dwelling on the parliamentary elections May 6, he noted that we
will witness falsified elections and read out the slogan of Artavazd
Vardanyan on hunger strike who says “Without revelation of March 1
the return of May 6 election will be predetermined.” There is only
one director – Serzh Sargsyan – so let’s not waste time and find
alternatives to the elections. Sardarapat is thinking about it,
Zhirayr Sefilyan said, adding that in the second half of this month
we will witness formation of alternative authorities.