Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

One more team less in the Armenian Championship

Yeghisabet Arthur
  • 15:53 | October 13,2017 | Sports
  • Armenian:
  • Rus

The regular session of the Disciplinary Committee of the Football Federation of Armenia took place today.

As reported by the Football Federation of Armenia, R. Grigoryan, Vanadzor Football Academy Director, applied to the Federation to remove “Lori-2-04” from the Championship.

The FFA Disciplinary Committee fined the company with limited liability with AMD 50,000.

The Hrazdan children’s and youth sports school was also fined 5000 drams, because in the match of the women’s tournament “Girls Gyumri-2” and “Hrazdan AH”, Arthur Harutyunyan, the coach of the “Hrazdan” team registered 15 players in the protocol instead of mandatory 18 players.

John Malkovich presents excerpt from "Book of Lamentations": Khachaturian festival launches with unique concert

Yeghisabet Arthur
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 12 2017

The 5th Khachaturian International Festival launched with a unique concert program. Music and literature – the most powerful forms of the art were intertwined on the stage of the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall. This unity was even more influential because it was presented by the greatest actor of our days, John Malkovich, the press service of the festival reported.

Accompanied by the orchestra Malkovich performed as a narrator. “Report on the Blind” chapter from Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato’s “On Heroes and Tombs” novel (with Armenian translation on the screen) jointly performed with the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Alfred Schnittke. Pianist Anastasya Terenkova performed with the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia.

Hollywood legend surprised audience presenting English translation of an excerpt from the “Book of Lamentations” by Gregory of Narek, while the orchestra performed Symphony “Confession” by Vard Manukyan.  

The Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia Sergey Smbatyan noted that Malkovich wasn’t supposed to present Armenian literary work. The actor himself wanted to present something by Armenian writers. The organizers of the festival suggested Malkovich to present “Book of Lamentations” by Gregory of Narek, and they were surprised to find out that Malkovich is well aware of the medieval Armenian poet’s and philosopher’s art. Moreover, he knew which excerpt he wanted to present. 

According to maestro Smbatyan, the message of the concert is very important. “John believes that what happens in the format of music and text can change a person,” Sergey Smbatyan noted.

Symphony for Timpani and String Orchestra by Edward Mirzoyan (timpani solo by Eduard Papoyan) was also presented during the opening ceremony of the festival.

The official partner of John Malkovich’s exclusive concert is the legendary Ararat Armenian brandy.

The 5th Khachaturian International Festival, which is held from October 11 to December 11, is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Hovhannes Aivazovsky. The festival is held under the high patronage of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. It is implemented thanks to the joint efforts of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia (General Partner of the Orchestra – VivaCell-MTS), with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the “Khachaturian” Foundation.

Days of Armenian Culture to be held in Russia

Yeghisabet Arthur
  • 16:17 | October 9,2017 | Official
  • Armenian:
  • Rus

Today, Serzh Sargsyan received Viktor Krivopuskov, Head of the Russian Association of Friendship and Cooperation with Armenia.

During the meeting Victor Krivopuskov presented to the President of the Republic of Armenia the activities and the upcoming programs of the organization headed by him, speaking in details about the works to be done to organize the Days of Armenian Culture in Russia in the near future.

The event will be held in the field of culture, within the framework of cooperation between Armenia and Russia 2016-2018. The Head of the Russian Association of Friendship and Cooperation with Armenia informed Serzh Sargsyan that besides the capital, the Days of Armenian Culture in Russia, will be also held in Russian regions.

The President of Armenia welcomed the activity of the Russian Association aimed at deepening the Armenian-Russian relations and strengthening the friendship between the two peoples and wished them success. The President assured that the state bodies of Armenia would render all the support to the Association in the implementation of the above mentioned initiatives.

ARF Shant to Host Discussion on Western Armenian Translations

Yeghisabet Arthur
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GLENDALE – Why do we need translations of Western Armenian literature? How do we undertake the process of translation? How is the message in the original work relayed in the translation? For whom are these translations made? Please join the ARF Shant Student Association as we attempt to answer these questions during a panel discussion featuring three translators/scholars who have done extensive work in translation.

Dr. Maral Aktokmakyan specializes in modern Western Armenian literature, with a particular emphasis on the Ottoman Armenians before and after the Genocide. She received her Ph.D. in Western Languages and Literature from Boğaziçi University in 2016 and is currently a post-doc at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Dr. Talar Chahinian holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UCLA and teaches at the Department of Comparative World Literature at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Chahinian recently directed a project for the translation of Malkhas’s classic four-part work, “Zartonk” (Awakening).

Jennifer Manoukian is a graduate student at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. Manoukian’s first translation was of Zabel Yesayan’s “The Gardens of Silihdar.” Recently, she co-translated and published “The Candidate” by Zareh Vorpouni.

The event will be held on October 15, 2017 from 4pm to 6pm at the Armenian Center of Hollywood, located at 1559 N. Kenmore Ave., Los Angeles. CA 90027. Event is free and open to the public.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Shant Student Association has worked across college and university campuses as well as young Armenian professionals to bring a higher level of political and cultural awareness. ARF Shant strives to mobilize the community at large in furthering the Armenian Cause through political, academic and intellectual means.

Azerbaijani Press: Azerbaijan continues investigation into case of persons accused of spying for Armenia

Yeghisabet Arthur
APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 12 2017

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The investigation into the case of persons accused of spying for Armenia is underway, Ilgar Musayev, deputy head of the Azerbaijani State Security Service, told APA. 

 

The investigation is being conducted by the Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor’s Office, noted Musayev.

 

In a joint statement dated May 7, 2017, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security Service said they arrested a group of servicemen and civilians, who were engaged in conspiracy with the Armenian intelligence services and passed along secret military information to them for a financial reward, putting sovereignty, territorial integrity, state security and military capability of the Republic of Azerbaijan at risk.

 

“Based on the collected material, the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan launched a criminal case on treason and other facts under Article 274 of the Criminal Code. An investigative-operative group consisting of employees of the Prosecutor Office, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security Service has been set up, and an initial investigation is underway,” said a joint statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security Service.

 

The statement said that immediate investigative measures allowed to prevent provocative and terrorist acts that the Armenian intelligence and special services were planning to commit in public places in Baku. “A group of servicemen and civilians, who were engaged in conspiracy with the enemy’s intelligence services, were arrested,” the statement said.

A Generational Question

Yeghisabet Arthur
Asbarez Armenian News

Aug 22 2017


The late Marilyn Arshagouni with her grand-daughters, Ani and Marie.

BY MARIE PAPAZIAN
Barnard College of Columbia University Class of 2021
Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway Program – Summer 2017

“If you don’t speak Armenian, are you really Armenian?”

On our walk to the ANCA offices under the warm D.C. sun, my peers were debating this question loudly. Passionate exclamations ensued, involving the assertion that losing one’s ability to speak Armenian was equivalent to assimilating altogether: ignorant and morally reprehensible. I walked along quietly, pondering the various assertions of my peers. I appreciated where these arguments came from. Part of me agreed, part of me felt ashamed, and part of me began to question the validity of my Armenian-ness. Little did I know, this was the same question my grandmother, as well as many other members of my family, have faced over the years.

I am fifth generation Armenian-American on my mom’s side, and third on my dad’s. My ancestors in the U.S. all managed to find marriageable Armenians. And so, I am considered by some to be “100% Armenian,” or “full Armenian.” That is, before they learn that my knowledge of the Armenian language is introductory at best.

My maternal grandmother, Marilyn Arshagouni, was born in 1935 to one of the earliest Armenian families to settle in Los Angeles – a shocking fact, given that the current Armenian population there is almost half a million. In childhood, she didn’t know many other Armenian families, and the language, while spoken by her father’s family, was not spoken in her home. Despite this lack of knowledge of Armenian, she was smart and hardworking, becoming the first junior at UCLA to be elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, and later graduating with highest honors and a BA in English. The English language was her first love, and she went on to study English at graduate school.

When my grandmother married my grandfather in 1956, he began bringing her closer to Armenian culture. He was born and raised in the Armenian diaspora in Greece, and so he was a native speaker and had a strong sense of community. Once my grandmother met Richard Hovannisian, a graduate student of Armenian history at UCLA, she furthered her great, though untraditional, contributions to the Armenian community. She helped edit his dissertation, which would become the classic Armenia on the Road to Independence. She then went on to edit the first volumes of his four-volume History of the Republic of Armenia.

For over 25 years my grandmother taught English and history at the Holy Martyrs Ferrahian Armenian High School in Encino, CA. And she and my grandfather were on the Armenian Monument Council that established the first genocide monument on public land in California.

Given her great influence on the Armenian community, I was stunned when I learned the accusations that she bore the brunt of as an Armenian born in the U.S. It is an accusation that both of my parents have heard countless times. It is one to which I am just now being exposed.
My ancestors have lived in the U.S. for over a hundred years. Despite this, my love of Armenian culture is strong, and my yearning to give back to my community even stronger. Ours is an important history and an important story. Each of our experiences is different. Some of us grew up in the midst of an Armenian-speaking community. Others, like my grandmother and me, grew up surrounded at home by an incredible library of Armenian books and culture and friends.

Although my grandmother was never fluent in Armenian as a child, her immersion into the community led her to pick up a considerable amount of the language. It was the same with my mother. I expect that it will be the same for me. I still plan to study Armenian in college. But, as I do so, I will remember that our goal as a diaspora should be inclusiveness, as a nod to our shared, bitter, and rocky history. It is counterproductive to shun those who have not had the privilege of a strong cultural or linguistic upbringing. As Yeghishe Charents, the famous Armenian writer and poet, wrote, “Oh, Armenian people, your only salvation lies in the power of your unity.”

And so, I disagree with the assertion that one must speak Armenian to truly be Armenian. If that were the case, my grandmother would be an outcast in our greater community, despite her countless contributions. As members of a diaspora, exposure to the Armenian language isn’t all that unites us. It is our love of community, our blood, our shared history and future, and our determination to help in any way we can. I am beginning to learn that. Although I will continue to face questions by my peers about the validity of my Armenian identity, I embrace my ethnicity wholeheartedly. And as my grandmother did, I will continue to do my part, not only as an Armenian, but as an Armenian in America.

So, What Became Clear in July?

Yeghisabet Arthur
Lragir, Armenia
Aug 11 2017

Haikazn Ghahriyan, Editor-in-Chief
Politics – Friday, 11 August 2017, 18:03

The border incident that took place a month ago was a unique starting point. It was followed by escalation. Russia supplied another batch of modern weapons to Azerbaijan after which the balance of forces was clearly broken. This circumstance caused a serious concern in Armenia and Artsakh and experts started speaking about the possibility of resumption of military actions. Komandos announced that a lot will become known in July. When July ended, he told us that he was going to Artsakh for holiday and there will be no military actions. What became known in July? In answer to Azerbaijan’s statements and acquisition of new weapons, he announced that in case of a new war this country will lose territories, the “security area” will be enlarged and deepened. Armenia took part in large-scale NATO exercise in Georgia, take steps towards intensifying political and economic relations. Apparently, there is a plan or a feeling that pushed the Armenian side in that direction. It created a balance and postponed it, if not prevented. July demonstrated that a more or less tough position and commitment to one’s own interests create a new situation, and first of all remove the circumstance of predictability in the Karabakh issue, which allowed Azerbaijan to pursue its military diplomacy and claims, and on the other hand, bring Russia into its claims. The problem was that Azerbaijan’s right to war was facilitated by Armenia’s behavior. By changing the policy and approaches in the Karabakh issue, Armenia may deprive Azerbaijan of this right, especially in a situation when the interested external parties have already done this after the war in April. For its part, the new politics may free Russia of its commitments to Azerbaijan. This does not mean that Azerbaijan will give up on its policy. However, in case of a new policy on Armenia every shot of Azerbaijan will work not only against itself but also against Russia. And this changes the situation, including the right to war is passed to the Armenian side with the ensuing consequences. Currently the situation is complicated but favorable for the new politics. Armenia has paid a high price for this opportunity though it was possible to avoid most losses. Running away from the war for some suspicious “settlement” leads to even bigger losses, the establishment of the right to war reduces its probability or scope.

What’s your nuclear meltdown plan?

Yeghisabet Arthur
Stansberry Churchouse Research

Aug 10 2017


| Kim Iskyan

We never needed the nuclear meltdown survival pack. Thankfully.

When my wife and I moved to Armenia a number of years ago, the U.S. government – who had sent my diplomat wife there – issued new arrivals and their family members an unusual welcome package: A cellophane bag containing a roll of duct tape, a few surgical masks and a small bottle of iodine pills.

The U.S. government handed out these “nuclear meltdown packs” because it was concerned about potential problems at Metsamor, Armenia’s nuclear power plant. With typical Soviet attention to detail, the plant was built on an earthquake fault. So the U.S. government figured it would soothe the nerves of its employees with this baggie of anti-nuclear goodies.

At the time, Armenia was ripping a page out of Ukraine’s post-Chernobyl handbook, by demanding that the European governments that wanted to close the plant pay around US$1 billion to provide for alternate sources of energy. Though an economic minnow with fewer than 3 million people, Armenia’s dodgy nuclear power plant was at the intersection of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. And it understood first-world pressure points: The threat of a nuclear cloud drifting towards western Europe was an exceptionally effective bargaining chip.

Armenia’s approach more or less worked. Russia wound up helping Armenia (for a price, of course), and other countries also pitched in to head off a nuclear meltdown at Metsamor (so far, at least). So we didn’t need to use our nuclear meltdown kit (would it have worked? I asked an expert… see the bonus section below).

That’s a nuclear meltdown kit. What about the financial equivalent… that is, are you ready for the financial equivalent of a nuclear meltdown?

What if you lose your job… have a major expense that wipes out your savings… or the bank where you hold your money goes bust? Or there’s a more systemic meltdown like a global economic crisis… a currency crash… or a banking sector meltdown?

Just think back to the last big downturn, the global economic crisis a decade ago. Were you prepared back then?

The idea behind diversification is simple. It means putting your eggs in different baskets. That is, spreading your risk across different types of assets, so that a decline in value in any one holding isn’t so bad – because there will likely be other holdings that rise to help balance out the losses.

But diversification goes beyond just holding a number of different assets… what if you have your eggs in different baskets, but the truck that’s carrying your baskets (that is, the entire financial system) wipes out? You need to make sure that your eggs are in different trucks. This involves spreading your wealth across different markets and economies and asset classes.

Think of it this way… investing an entire portfolio in your home market (even if it’s spread across stocks, bonds, gold and cash, for example) is like having eggs in lots of different baskets… but all on the same truck. If the truck crashes, you’re in trouble. Because all of these assets are in the same country, they’re correlated.

Correlation is the relationship between two or more assets. It measures what happens to the price of one asset when the price of a different asset changes. When they are negatively correlated, their prices move in opposite directions. This evens out your overall performance when things get bumpy. But when they’re positively correlated, it can spell disaster for your portfolio.

That’s why you need to own stocks and bonds in a variety of markets. You should also spread your savings around in bank accounts in different countries. And if you don’t already own precious metals like gold, now is the time. Gold is one of the most effect hedges against market downturns because its price is negatively correlated to stock markets. That is, when markets go down, gold usually goes up.

Having a rainy-day fund can help you survive any meltdown that comes your way.

Most Chinese citizens are well-prepared for a meltdown in this regard. The average savings rate in China is over 30 percent. That means a third of total disposable household income is put into savings. And the country as a whole saves around 45 percent of its GDP.

Singaporeans also save a large chunk. The country as a whole saves around 44 percent of its GDP. And Hong Kong saves around 25 percent of its GDP.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is lagging. The U.S. saves less than 20 percent of its GDP. And according to a 2016 survey, 69 percent of Americans have less than US$1,000 in their savings accounts. And 34 percent have no savings at all.

If any of these Americans are hit with a financial meltdown, they’re at risk of very soon not having enough cash to meet basic expenses.

When I say “personal equity”, I’m not referring to how much you own of a company, which is the usual meaning of this term. I’m talking about a much more broad definition of your assets – financial and personal and professional experience and prospects and earnings power.

Equity is what’s left after you add up the value of everything you own, like stocks and stamp collections and your flat. Then you subtract what you owe (on your mortgage or to the taxman or your ex-spouse, for example). What’s left is your net worth, or your equity.

But personal equity is about more than what you own now – it’s about how you’re going to build your equity in the future.

I’m talking about where you’ll be earning your living – adding to your savings – in coming years. Where is your paycheck coming from? What other sources of income do you have? Where is your professional network – and how strong is it? How transferable are your skills? How many languages do you speak – and how easily could you work in a different country?

Asking these sorts of questions will help you understand how diversified you really are.

Most people work in the same country where they have almost all of their assets. And even if you do hold some foreign shares or own real estate in another country… when you factor in where and how you’ll be earning money in the future, you’re probably a lot less diversified than you think.

If you’re going to be living in the same place for a long time, maybe forever, it probably makes sense to have a lot of your personal equity in that country. But what if the banking sector goes bust… your home currency massively devalues… the real estate market crashes… or the government starts searching for ways to plug a massive budget deficit, and your assets are all in that country? They’re just cherries for the picking.

What does this mean for you? Think of diversification in a way that encompasses other countries and currencies… and skills and geographies and your backround. If your strategy towards investment – in financial assets as well as your personal equity – is completely diversified, you’ll be a lot better off in the long run.

Good investing,

Kim Iskyan
Publisher, Stansberry Churchouse Research

I asked my father, who worked for nearly 50 years as a nuclear power safety engineer, what he thought. He told me,

“The radioisotope [that is, the radioactive form of an element] of most concern is airborne I [iodine] 131 with a half-life of eight days. That it’s only eight days means that the danger from airborne radiation – which is the most serious in this case – will sharply decrease within a relatively short period of time. In the meantime, the safest place to be would be your own home. The ingestion of radionuclides [that is, an atom that has excess nuclear energy, which makes it unstable] can be minimised by reducing the air exchange between outside and inside air – thus the duct tape, to tape over gaps in windows and doors.  If iodine is ingested, it goes to the thyroid gland, a critical organ. However, if iodine pills (which are not radioactive) are taken before breathing the radioactive iodine, the radioactive iodine will not be absorbed in the critical thyroid, and damage to the body reduced.  The surgical masks can reduce the inhalation of radioactive iodine.)

P.S. Over the past 25 years, I’ve lived and travelled all over the world in search of investment opportunities… the type of opportunities that could lead to big – even life-changing – gains. And right now, although many stock indices are at all-time highs, I’m seeing big opportunities in markets and easy-to-buy stocks that probably aren’t on your radar.

So I’m going to be writing a lot more about investing around the globe in the coming weeks in a new supplemental e-letter, Kim’s Global Insider. I’ll be talking a lot more about global investment themes… markets around the world… where, and how, to invest internationally… what I see in Asia from Singapore (where I live)… and my boots-on-the-ground travels.

I know that not everyone is as excited about making money from investments around the world as I am. But if you are, please go here (just one click and you’re done) to automatically receive the complimentary Kim’s Global Insider.

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RFE/RL Armenian Report – 08/08/2017

Yeghisabet Arthur 
                                        Tuesday, August 8, 2017
European Investors Renew Interest In Armenian Chemical Giant
 . Ruzanna Gishian
Armenia - The Nairit chemical plant in Yerevan.
Representatives of a Slovakian-based investment company announced on
Tuesday that they have held fresh negotiations with the Armenian
government on their proposals to revive Armenia's largest chemical
plant that was declared bankrupt late last year.
They said the company called the EU-Asia Business Finance Center still
stands ready to invest $100 million in the troubled Nairit plant
located on the southern outskirts of Yerevan.
The chemical giant manufacturing synthetic rubber employed several
thousand people in Soviet times. It has struggled to remain afloat
since the early 1990s, repeatedly changing foreign owners and
operators in murky deals overseen by successive Armenian governments.
Nairit has had only 250 or so employees since the government, which
now controls the debt-ridden plant, laid off 1,700 of its remaining
workers in January 2016. In November, a Yerevan court declared the
company bankrupt because of its failure to pay electricity bills
totaling $2.6 million.
The court ruling came shortly after EU-Asia Business Finance Center
executives led by Ashot Grigorian, the company's Armenian-born
chairman, presented Prime Minister Karen Karapetian with a plan to
reactivate the moribund factory. Karapetian effectively rejected the
plan, saying that it is not convincing enough.
Armenia - Representatives of the EU-Asia Business Finance Center
company hold a news conference in Yerevan, 8Aug2017.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Karen Israelian, Nairit's former
executive director, and two senior executives of the company
registered in the Slovak capital Bratislava revealed that they have
held more talks on the matter with Armenia's Deputy Prime Minister
Vache Gabrielian. Israelian seemed satisfied with the talks. "I
quickly understood one thing: the government wants Nairit to operate
but has no solutions," he said.
Israelian also said the European investors could relaunch
large-production operations at Nairit and create at least 1,500 jobs
there if the government grants it tax breaks and assumes the plant's
debts totaling around $100 million. They also need to audit the
company's books before making a final decision, he added.
Gary Neville, another EU-Asia Business Finance Center representative,
cautioned that Nairit's reactivation would be a "long and difficult
process." "But I hope that we will sign this week an agreement [with
the government] that will be the first step in that long process," he
said.
The government has so far made no public statements on the renewed
negotiations with the investors interested in Nairit. The latter
relies heavily on natural gas in its production operations. Karapetian
managed Armenia's gas distribution network from 2001-2010.
The World Bank argued against attempts to revive Nairit as a result of
an audit conducted last year.
Armenian Village Chief Resigns After Protests Against Gold Mining
 . Karine Simonian
Armenia - Samvel Kirakosian, the mayor of Ardvi village.
The mayor of a village in Armenia's northern Lori province has stepped
down after the local council and residents rejected an obscure
company's plans to mine gold near their community.
Many in the village of Ardvi believe that open-pit mining operations
would wreak havoc on the local ecosystem by contaminating water
sources, forests and pastures. Dozens of them blocked the entrance to
Ardvi on July 26 to disrupt a supposedly public discussion on the
controversial project mandated by Armenian law. Most members of the
village council sided with the protesters.
The little-known company called Miram has so far divulged few details
of its plans to develop a gold deposit located in the mountainous
area. It was registered in Armenia just three months ago.
Miram's shareholders included at least until this month a man linked
to Vahram Baghdasarian, the parliamentary leader of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). This fact has fueled media
speculation that Baghdasarian is involved in the controversial
project. The influential politician, who is a native of Lori, has not
commented on the issue yet.
Armenia - Residents of Ardvi village protest against a gold mining
project, 26 July, 2017.
Members of the Ardvi council said on Tuesday that the village mayor,
Samvel Kirakosian, tendered his resignation on the same day that the
local government body rejected his proposal to allow Miriam to conduct
a geological survey on 150 hectares of community land. They told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that the resignation was not
accepted by the council.
"He was probably upset with something," said Suren Veranian, one of
the council members. "We told him that we are not accepting his
resignation and the guy agreed with us, saying that he will withdraw
the resignation."
Another councilor, Vaghinak Varosian, said the village chief was "very
offended" by some locals' accusations that he is ready to "sell out
and ruin the village." He described Kirakosian as a man who "really
cares about the village."
Kirakosian, who has run Ardvi for the last seven years, refused to
comment when RFE/RL's Armenian contacted him by phone. His office was
closed on Tuesday.
The villagers insisted, meanwhile, that they will continue to strongly
oppose any gold mining in or around Ardvi.
Jailed Opposition Gunmen On Hunger Strike
 . Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- The Nubarashen prison in Yerevan.
Two of the arrested members of an armed opposition group that seized a
police station in Yerevan last year have been on a hunger strike for
more than two weeks.
One of them, Vartan Geravetian, started refusing food on July 21 to
demand that the Armenian authorities recognize him, his comrades as
well as their jailed sympathizers as political prisoners. He is also
demanding that he and the other gunmen kept in Yerevan's Nubarashen
prison be separated from other inmates for security reasons.
Geravetian claims that the authorities are deliberately causing
tension between the two groups of prisoners to intimidate the radical
oppositionists. The other arrested man, Tigran Manukian, joined the
hunger strike on July 24 in a show of solidarity with Geravetian.
Geravetian's lawyer, Davit Gyurjian, said on Tuesday that both men are
determined to continue the hunger strike. "I have no idea when this
hunger strike will end," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am).
Gyurjian expressed concern about his client's health condition, saying
that the latter has been seriously weakened by the 18-day protest.
The Armenian Justice Ministry's prison management made clear that it
will not meet any of those demands, calling them "illegal." A
department official also said that both men are now kept in special
prisons cells for hunger strikers and regularly inspected by doctors.
Gyurjian insisted that the oppositionists must at least be moved to
separate cells. "This is a very legitimate demand and it must be
fulfilled by the state," the lawyer said. "These people are citing the
kind of danger which the state is obliged to neutralize."
The gunmen seized the police base in Yerevan's Erebuni district in
July 2016 to demand that President Serzh Sarkisian free the jailed
leader of their Founding Parliament movement, Zhirayr Sefilian, and
step down. They laid down their arms after a two-week standoff with
security forces, which left three police officers dead.
A total of 32 persons went on two separate trials earlier this summer
on charges stemming from the deadly standoff.
Opposition Bloc Said To Keep Fighting For `Regime Change'
 . Hovannes Movsisian
Armenia - Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian (C) and former
Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian (L) and Raffi Hovannisian set up an
opposition alliance in Yerevan, 13Feb2017.
An aide to opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian said on Tuesday that
he, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and former Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian will continue to jointly challenge the government
despite their alliance's poor showing in Armenia's recent
parliamentary elections.
"I will say this because I'm more or less informed. I know that both
Seyran Ohanian and Vartan Oskanian stand with Raffi Hovannisian," said
Susanna Muradian, a senior member of Hovannisian's Zharangutyun
(Heritage) party.
The three men teamed up in the run-up to the April 2 elections won by
President Serzh Sarkisian's Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK). According to the official election results, their ORO alliance
polled only 2 percent of the vote, falling well short of a 7 percent
threshold for having seats in the new National Assembly. ORO rejected
the official vote results as fraudulent but refrained from urging
supporters to take to the streets.
Ohanian stated in early June that he will not quit politics and will
remain in opposition to the Sarkisian administration. He hinted at
anti-government protests that could be organized by ORO and other
opposition groups.
Muradian said that Hovannisian and other Zharangutyun figures have
been negotiating with other opposition forces for the purpose of
holding such street protests to ensure that Sarkisian does not stay in
power after completing his final presidential term in April 2018. She
declined to give details of those negotiations.
The opposition Yelk alliance, which won 9 seats in the 105-member
parliament, has also threatened to hold rallies if Sarkisian decides
to become prime minister next year. Still, its leaders have so far
been cool towards Hovannisian's calls for an anti-government "velvet
revolution."
With the end of Sarkisian's presidency, Armenia will complete its
transition to a parliamentary system of government, meaning that its
next president will have largely ceremonial powers. Sarkisian has
still not clarified what he plans to do after April 2018.
Press Review
"Aravot" comments on President Serzh Sarkisian's weekend talks in
Tehran with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. The two men discussed,
among other things, the creation of transport corridors that would
connect the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea via Georgia and Armenia. The
paper says that Iranian leaders have repeatedly voiced support for
this idea. "Official Tehran thereby regards Armenia as one of the
crucial elements of that corridor," it says, adding that Rouhani
reaffirmed this stance at the meeting with Sarkisian.
As "Zhoghovurd" points out, Rouhani also called for a "solely
political" resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and said
regional security and stability is essential for Iran. "A spokesman
for the Iranian Foreign Ministry made a statement on this subject
later on Sunday, saying that they are closely monitoring developments
in the region and will not allow the Karabakh conflict to affect the
security of the population of Iran's border regions [close to the
conflict zone,]" writes the paper. It criticizes pro-government
pundits in Yerevan for drawing "far-reaching conclusions" from those
statements and describing them as a stern warning to Azerbaijan.
"Zhoghovurd" cautions that Iranian leaders have repeatedly made such
statements before."So nothing extraordinary was said at the meeting
with Serzh Sarkisian," it says. "Iran is trying to display a balanced
and neutral position towards the two neighboring states in line with
its national interests and diplomatic etiquette and this euphoria is
not comprehensible."
Lragir.am reacts to the opposition Yelk alliance's plans to organize
public discussions on the wisdom of Armenia's membership in the
Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The pro-Western publication
says that economic arguments against that membership, made by some
Yelk leaders, are totally meaningless because "being or not being part
of the EEU is a military-political issue for Armenia." It is therefore
highly skeptical about the Yelk initiative.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

ANKARA:Four released in Hrant Dink murder trial

Yeghisabet Arthur
Daily Sabah, Turkey

Aug 3 2017

n Istanbul court Thursday ordered the release of four men, all gendarmerie officers, in a trial into the 2007 murder of prominent Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The officials were arrested as part of an investigation into controversial images of the murderer, Ogün Samast, posing with gendarmes.

Atilla Güçlüoğlu, Murat Bayrak, Birol Ustaoğlu and Yüksel Avan were officers at a gendarmerie headquarters in the northern city of Samsun where Samast, then 17 years old, went after assassinating Dink in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. Soon after, Samast was taken into custody in Samsun and media outlets released images of the murderer posing with the gendarmes while holding a Turkish flag. The images caused outrage as both the gendarmes and Samast apparently boasted about the murder which was then blamed on having nationalist motives.

The court said in its verdict that the defendants had no links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), whose infiltrators in the police and judiciary are accused of covering up intelligence on the murder, and that their testimony showed they did not intend to portray Samast as a nationalist hero. The defendants had claimed they were ordered by their superiors to give the flag to Samast while they were simply taking photos to “make the gendarmerie unit’s success in aiding the capture of Samast evident.” The hearing was adjourned to October.

Eighty-five defendants are being tried in the case, including 10 who remain at large, and 25 defendants who have been jailed pending trial. FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, fugitive FETÖ-linked prosecutor Zekeriya Öz and former police chiefs linked to the terrorist group are among the defendants.

FETÖ used the murder to “incite chaos” in Turkey, where the thorny Armenian genocide issue strains Turkish-Armenian relations, according to prosecutors. FETÖ supporters had blamed several prominent figures from military officers to academics of having a role in the murder, and tried to tie it to Ergenekon, a gang concocted by FETÖ-linked prosecutors to imprison its critics.