Category: 2017

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
October 31, 2017 Tuesday
Armenian patriarchal locum tenens Archbishop Bekchyan to clarify
upcoming steps – Bagrat Estukyan
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. Istanbul’s Armenian patriarchal locum
tenens Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan will make certain clarifications
over his future steps today, in the evening of October 31.
Bagrat Estukyan, editor-in-chief of the Armenian language department
of Istanbul’s Agos newspaper, told ARMENPRESS, that Bekchyan is
already in Istanbul, he returned from Germany on October 30.
“As you know, while Bekchyan was not in Istanbul, three members of the
Initiative group engaged in organizing the election of the Armenian
patriarch, have resigned. Archbishop Bekchyan arrived in Istanbul
yesterday evening, but at the moment there is no clarification over
the upcoming steps. Later today Agos colleagues will meet with him in
order to understand what is he thinking about and what steps he will
take”, Bagrat Estukyan said.
While in Germany Archbishop Bekchyan said he wants to personally meet
with the Istanbul Governor to present his views on the process. Asked
whether this still will take place, Estukian said it perhaps will not.

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
October 31, 2017 Tuesday
No one wants to be grandson of murderer – Turkish journalist speaks
about Armenian Genocide recognition process
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. Turkish journalist Serdar Koroglu
highlights the role of the Turkish and Armenian civil societies in the
peace building process between the two peoples, Koroglu told the
reporters in Etchmiadzin, where he participated in an international
conference on seeking ways for establishing peace in the region. “I
think that civil societies have a great role here. You know that there
are political and historical troubles between our countries, but the
establishment of social peace is above all”, ARMENPRESS reports Serdar
Koroglu saying.
The Turkish journalist thinks that the day when the Turkish people
will say “Yes, the Genocide took place”, is not still near, because
it’s a long process. “Following the assassination of Hrant Dink, some
awakening occurred. Many started to speak about those realities. Now
many people know that the Genocide took place, but acknowledging it is
a more complicated process. No one wants to know that his grandfather
or grandmother was a murderer. No one wants to be a grandson of a
murderer”, the journalist said. According to him, coming to Armenia is
as hard for Turks, including him, as it is for Germans to go to
Jerusalem.
Speaking about his vision on normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations,
Serdar Koroglu highlighted the continuation of tete-a-tete dialogue.
“The football diplomacy was a very good opportunity for normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations. I think such measures at the official
level are of key importance, since issues cannot be solved with closed
doors. We need new and new measures, we have to open our doors and
have to speak to each other more. I see the solution in this way”, he
concluded.

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
October 31, 2017 Tuesday
Pressures on supporters of dissent and peace in Turkey become severe –
expert on Turkish studies
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. Ruben Melkonyan, dean of the faculty
of Oriental Studies at the Yerevan State University, says the state
and public pressure against supporters of dissent and peace in Turkey
is becoming increasingly severe, reports Armenpress.
Presenting his report on regional diversity in the example of Turkey
during the international conference on ‘Realities and prospects of
regional peace’, Ruben Melkonyan said if the Ottoman period is
accepted among the professionals to be called as a mosaic society
where there were different peoples and cultures, after that the
adoption of extremist policy resulted in creation of monolithic
Turkey. “My report is about the formation of Turkey from mosaic to
monolithic where different nationalities and cultures are denied or
embezzled”, he said.
He said in case of Turkey there is a very little place for optimism
since the current xenophobic policy continues at the highest level.
“The Turkish president with different extremist dogmas does not
contribute to establishment of peace, he further deepens the dividing
lines, ethnic conflicts, discrimination which reached a high level in
Turkey”, Ruben Melkonyan said.
In these circumstances, according to him, the opportunities for
dialogue are small, but it is necessary to continue the works with the
Turkish public, scientific circles, the small circles of civil society
that today exist and can hold discussions and strengthen the idea of
peaceful co-existence among the wide circles of the public.
“The Turkish participants of the conference are representatives of
Turkish civil society who are well aware of the issue of the Armenian
Genocide and different aspects of the Armenian-Turkish relations, they
are among those figures who form broader public opinion in Turkey
based on objective realities”, Melkonyan said.
According to the expert in Turkish studies, this participation can be
considered as courage since it is a courageous step in terms of
dictatorial trends gradually deepening in Turkey.
Ruben Melkonyan said the regional peace cannot have religious and
sectarian dividing lines, quite the contrary, they need to serve for
establishment of peace.
The international conference on regional peace was held in the Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin on October 31 which has been organized by the
Armenian Round Table Foundation of the World Council of Churches. The
conference was attended by speakers from Armenia, Georgia, Russia,
Iran and Turkey.

                                        Friday, November 3, 2017
Armenia, Azerbaijan Set For More Peace Talks After Summit
 . Tatevik Lazarian
Switzerland - Presidents Serzh Sarkisian (R) of Armenia and Ilham
Aliyev of Azerbaijan begin negotiations in Geneva, 16Oct2017.
A senior official in Yerevan said on Friday that Armenia's and
Azerbaijan's foreign ministers are planning to hold fresh talks on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to try to build on understandings reportedly
reached by their presidents last month.
Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev pledged to intensify the
peace process and bolster the ceasefire regime in the conflict zone
when they met in Geneva on October 16. The U.S., Russian and French
mediators announced in the Swiss city that they will soon hold
follow-up "working sessions" with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.
Mammadyarov said earlier this week that he may meet with Nalbandian in
Moscow on November 16. The Azerbaijani minister is scheduled to meet
with the mediators there on that day. Nalbandian will accompany
Sarkisian on a trip to the Russian capital expected next week.
SWITZERLAND -- Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian
and Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian pose next to OSCE
delegates at the opening of talks in Geneva, October 16.
Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian confirmed that a
meeting of the two foreign ministers is "planned." "It will be
announced as soon as there is an agreement [on its conduct,]" he told
reporters.
Asked about the possible date and venue of the talks, Kocharian said:
"I can't tell that as long as there is no concrete agreement."
Meeting with young members and supporters of his ruling Republican
Party of Armenia (HHK) last week, Sarkisian said that a peaceful
resolution of the Karabakh dispute could only be "painful" to both
conflicting sides.
Commenting on that remark, Kocharian stressed that the Armenian
president referred to a Karabakh settlement based on mutual
concessions. "If Azerbaijan comes to its senses and if there is really
a compromise solution, then it's only natural that it will be painful
to the parties," he said. "There are no signs of that today, however."
"I will refuse to talk about any compromise because if one side not
only avoids talking about concessions but is also raising the bar,
then it's a grave mistake to talk about Armenian concessions," added
the diplomat.
Speaking right after the Geneva summit, Sarkisian again ruled out any
peace deal that would lead to the restoration of Azerbaijani control
over Karabakh. That statement angered Azerbaijani officials. They
accused the Armenian president of breaching understandings reached
with Aliyev.
Sarkisian shrugged off those accusations. "I have not uttered even
half a word about our conversation [with Aliyev] to anyone," he said
on October 26.
Armenian Ministry Working On `Repatriation' Plan
 . Ruzanna Stepanian
U.S. - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Diaspora Minister
Hranush Hakobian (L) meet with members of the Armenian community in
Massachussetts, 31Mar2016.
Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobian said on Friday that her ministry
will propose next year a set of government measures to encourage many
ethnic Armenians living abroad to relocate to Armenia.
"We plan preparatory works on repatriation in 2018," Hakobian told
journalists. "We are going to draw up a policy concept, look into
other countries' experience and draft a law on repatriation."
"We have to be able to present Armenia's opportunities: what we can
offer them, what kind of specialists we need to invite," she said. "If
they are the kind of specialists that are needed by Armenia # we have
to think about paying them appropriate wages and creating other
conditions that would attract them. I don't think that patriotism
alone can drive repatriation."
President Serzh Sarkisian made a case for such mass immigration in a
speech delivered at an Armenia-Diaspora conference held in Yerevan in
September. He said it would help the country address its grave
demographic problems and increase its population to 4 million by 2040.
There are an estimated 8 million to 9 million ethnic Armenians around
the world. Only up to 3 million of them live in Armenia. Most of the
others reside in Russia, the United States, Europe and the Middle
East.
Throughout Sarkisian's decade-long rule, scores of Armenia's citizens
have continued to leave their country for primarily economic
reasons. Opposition politicians and other critics of the Armenian
government blame the emigration on what they see as the Sarkisian
administration's failed economic policies and unwillingness to enforce
the rule of law. Not surprisingly, they have dismissed his demographic
target for 2040 as a gimmick.
Hakobian suggested that the extremely ambitious target is based on
"appropriate calculations." She also said that thousands of Armenian
nationals as well as Diaspora Armenians immigrate to Armenia each
year. She further argued that more than 20,000 Syrian nationals of
Armenian origin have taken refuge in their ancestral homeland in the
last few years.
"A few months ago I invited repats to our ministry and 120 of them
came over," the minister said. "I expected to hear criticism and
complaints from them, but to my surprise they all have adapted [to
Armenia] well."
"They were emphasizing that the main advantage of the homeland is that
it's safe here, that their children do not risk drug addiction,
debauchery and other things in our schools," she added.
As well as announcing the planned launch of the immigration promotion
effort, Hakobian noted that she does not know yet whether she will be
reappointed to a new Armenian government that will be formed after
Sarkisian's final presidential term ends in April 2018.
Another Parliament Attack Convict Dies In Armenian Jail
 . Hovannes Movsisian
Armenia - A screenshot of TV footage of gunmen opening fire in the
Armenian parliament on 27 October, 1999.
A fourth person jailed in connection with a deadly 1999 attack on the
Armenian parliament, which plunged the country into a serious
political crisis, has died in prison.
The Armenian Justice Ministry said on Friday that, Eduard Grigorian,
who was serving a life sentence in Yerevan's Nubarashen prison,
complained of chest pains before being rushed to a nearby hospital and
pronounced dead there early in the morning.
Gor Ghlechian, the spokesman for a ministry division managing
Armenia's prisons, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that
relevant authorities will conduct forensic tests to ascertain the
cause of Grigorian's death.
A doctor by training, Grigorian was one of the five gunmen who burst
into the National Assembly and sprayed it with bullets on October 27,
1999. Then Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, parliament speaker Karen
Demirchian and six other officials were killed in the shooting spree
that thrust Armenia's government into turmoil.
The gunmen were led by Nairi Hunanian, an obscure former journalist
who accused the government of corruption and misrule and called for
regime change. They surrendered to police after overnight negotiations
with then President Robert Kocharian.
Several other men were also arrested in the following days. One of
them, Norayr Yeghiazarian, was charged with supplying weapons to the
armed group, which also comprised Hunanian's younger brother Karen and
uncle Vram Galstian.
Yeghiazarian was found dead in pre-trial detention in
2000. Law-enforcement authorities said at the time that Yeghiazarian,
an electrician by profession, accidentally electrocuted himself to
death while using a heating stove in his cell.
Galstian was found hanged in his Nubarashen prison cell in 2004 just
months after an Armenian court sentenced him, the Hunanian brothers
and the two other gunmen to life imprisonment. The prison
administration claimed that he committed suicide.
Another man, Hamlet Stepanian, was sentenced in December 2003 to 14
years in prison on charges of helping the gunmen enter the
parliament. Stepanian suddenly died in prison in 2010 of what
officials called a heart attack.
Armenia -- Former Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian (L) and parliament
speaker Karen Demirchian assassinated in the 1999 attack on
parliament.
Those prison deaths fueled more allegations of a high-level cover-up
of the parliament shootings. Some relatives and supporters of the
assassinated officials still suspect Kocharian and the current
President Serzh Sarkisian (no relation to Vazgen), who was Armenia's
national security minister in October 1999, of masterminding the
killings to eliminate increasingly powerful rivals.
Hunanian insisted throughout his marathon trial that he himself had
decided to seize the parliament and try to topple the government
without anybody's orders. But many in Armenia believe that the
ringleader and his accomplices had powerful sponsors outside the
parliament building.
Ruzan Minasian, a journalist for the "Aravot" daily who covered the
parliament attack trial, described Grigorian as the "ideological
leader" of Hunanian's group. She suggested that the former
pediatrician, who died on Friday, could have shed more light on the
shootings.
"According to the prosecution, Edik Grigorian's role was the same as
Nairi Hunanian's," Minasian said. "But he looked more composed. You
could probably call him their gray cardinal."
A Facebook account opened in Eduard Grigorian's name in 2014 promised
major "revelations" regarding the October 1999 attack. It was disabled
just as mysteriously shortly after attracting Armenian media
attention.
"Maybe he wanted to say something," Minasian told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). "Or maybe he wanted to test our mood. Why
not?"
Armenian, Indian Leaders Discuss Closer Ties
India - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian in New Delhi, 3Nov2017.
President Serzh Sarkisian called for greater Indian investments in
Armenia's economy when he met with India's Prime Minister Narendra
Modi during a visit to New Delhi on Friday.
He was also reported to tell Modi that Armenia is "strongly interested
in deepening relations with India in all areas" and giving new impetus
to "centuries Indian-Armenian friendship."
A statement by Sarkisian's press office also quoted him as saying that
the Armenian government is ready to create "favorable conditions" for
Indian investors. He suggested that they take advantage of a free
economic zone which is due to be created on Armenia's border with Iran
by the end of this year. Indian firms setting up shop there would have
duty-free access to the "huge market" of Russia and other Eurasian
Economic Union (EEU) member states, added Sarkisian.
According to the statement, Modi and Sarkisian discussed possibilities
of "active cooperation" between the two nations in various sectors
such as agriculture, food processing, information technology, tourism
and diamond processing.
On Wednesday, Modi's cabinet approved a draft Indian-Armenian
agreement on "cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters."
"The Agreement will help in the availability of relevant information
for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences," it said in
a statement. "It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure
efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries."
The volume of Armenian-Indian trade is very modest at present.
The Indian ambassador in Yerevan, Yogeshwar Sangwan, described
political ties between the two countries as "excellent" when he spoke
to RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in June. "Even in the area
of defense, we are open to cooperation with Armenia," he said.
An Armenian Defense Ministry delegation visited India in May for talks
with senior Indian defense officials. The ministry said afterwards
that the two sides reached unspecified agreements on
"military-technical" cooperation and joint training programs between
the two militaries.
Modi was cited by the Armenian presidential press office as calling
Armenia India's "reliable and important partner in the Eurasian
region."
India's arch-foe Pakistan staunchly supports Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, refusing to not only establish diplomatic
relations with Armenia but also formally recognize the latter as an
independent state.
Press Review
"Zhamanak" is unconvinced by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's
assurances that his government's draft budget for next year will help
to improve the macroeconomic situation in Armenia. The paper says that
Karapetian's predecessors also made such statements. "Everyone
submitted `development budgets' to the parliament," it says. "It's
just that so far we have only seen economic setbacks or, at best,
stagnation as a result of that `development.'"
"Prime Minister Karen Karapetian agrees with the assertion that Serzh
Sarkisian is irreplaceable as a guarantor of national security,"
writes "Haykakan Zhamanak." "Also, Karen Karapetian aspires to
[retaining] the post of prime minister after April 2018. He made such
statements at his news conference held yesterday. If Karapetian really
thinks that Serzh Sarkisian is irreplaceable as security guarantor,
then he must also say that Sarkisian must be Armenia's next prime
minister. Or else, it would mean that with his readiness to hold on to
the post of prime minister Karapetian puts Armenia's security at
risk."
"Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" reacts to a statement adopted by the
leadership of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
at its latest meeting held in Armenia. "The approximate gist of the
statement was as follows: they are not that happy with the
socioeconomic situation in the country, they will act in an
independent and pro-active manner, and they will not necessarily enter
into [another governing] coalition in April 2018," says the paper. "In
other words, horse trading has begun. True, the emphasis is put on
economic problems, but that is obviously a smokescreen."
Dashnaktsutyun, the paper speculates, is simply setting a very high
price for its acceptance of a possible compromise solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that could be agreed by Sarkisian and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"Zhoghovurd" notes Sarkisian's remark, made in an interview with a
Russian radio station, that he had "greater expectations" from
Armenia's membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union
(EEU). The paper says neither Sarkisian nor any other Armenian leader
has publicly made such statements before.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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