Category: 2018

Lt. Gen. Levon Yeranosyan, the former commander of Armenia’s police troops, also known as the Interior Troops, who also served as Deputy Chief of Police of Armenia, has been charged with misconduct, the Special Investigative Service (SIS) reoported

According to the indictment, Yeranosyan allegedly illegally deployed stun grenades during the 2018 April mass demonstrations in Yerevan. The stun grenades injured more than 40 people, according to the charges. Yeranosyan is suspected in violating the rules of deploying the special measures and lacked qualification for similar orders.

Yeranosyan has been banned from leaving the country.

The SIS said that an investigation is ongoing.

It could take the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) approximately two years to be granted an observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC),  the executive body of the EEU, Tigran Sargsyan said in an interview to TASS.

“First of all we must get the agreement of our countries, and then we will submit this proposal to the heads of states. After they will give consent, we will address the World Trade Organization. I believe this will take maximum two years,” he said.

Sargsyan emphasized that four of the five members of the EEU are full members of the WTO. This means that whenever there is a debate at the WTO on customs tariffs or any issues relating to mutual trade obstacles, these countries cannot undertake such negotiations on their own because this authority is vested in the EEC.

“Our countries, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, also invite us to take part in those debates for the EEU’s general stance to be presented, because now they cannot make decisions on decrease or increase of tariffs. And because both Kyrgyzstan and Armenia have initially been members of the WTO, and then became participants of the EEU, certain issues arise here which require agreed decisions with all countries. And from this perspective, certainly, our participation in WTO debates will be productive and useful for all,” Sargsyan said.

Preparations works for a meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and US President Donald Trump continue, Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan told a news conference today.

“During Nikol Pashinyan’s USA visit there was a goal from both our side and the American side on organizing a meeting. It did not take place due to busy agendas of both sides. At this moment preparation works continue, there will still be occasions to meet with not only the leader of America, but also leaders of other countries,” he said.

Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Ruben Melikyan has resigned.

“Yesterday we released the special reports of the Ombudsman about facts on Armenophobia in Azerbaijan, with this basically completing our fact finding function which was launched on the 2016 April War,” he said.

He said that he had decided to resign about two months ago, and noted it to be a “personal decision”. “I currently imagine myself outside the state system, in the dimension of human rights protection functions. I have always attached importance to this mission,” he said, describing it as an “unbiased and righteous” activity.

He thanked everyone for trusting him the “honor and cross” of being Artsakh’s Ombudsman, and expressed gratitude to his staff.

The 16-year-old Turkish boy who was arrested by Armenian authorities for illegally crossing the Armenian-Turkish border has been released, foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan told ARMENPRESS.

“We had announced this yesterday also, and I confirmed at today’s briefing that the father had arrived to take the boy,” he said.

Earlier the foreign ministry had said that the criminal case against Umur Ali Uzmen, 16, was dropped on humanitarian grounds. The foreign ministry had notified Turkey about the development through diplomatic channels. “Umut Ali Ozmen’s return to Turkey will be arranged upon receiving a respective reaction,” the ministry had said.

Specific details weren’t immediately clear.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin will soon arrive to Armenia on an official visit, Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan told a news conference today.

“Discussions about the Russian president’s visit continue, the date is not specified. I can only say that both the Russian side and we have confirmed that this visit is planned soon,” he said, adding that it will be an official visit.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan participated in the reception on behalf of the U.S. President Donald Trump in honor of the Heads of State of the countries participating in the 73th session of the UN General Assembly in New York,  press secretary of the Prime Minister Arman Yeghoyan informed, posting a photo and a note on his Facebook page.

The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Artsakh has issued a special report on anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan: Organized Hate Speech and Hostility Against Armenians.

Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan told a news conference today in Artsakh that the report comprehensively presents the incidents related to Armenophobia, or Anti-Armenian Sentiment.

“This report is unique by the fact that it presents anti-Armenian sentiment examples in the legal context. This is an issue relating exclusively to human rights, we have presented legal assessments addressing the issues from the perspectives of international law, conventions and precedents. Our main goal is to present the issues of anti-Armenian sentiment to the international community,” Melikyan said.

Executive director of the Tufenkian Charitable Foundation Raffi Dudaklyan noted that the facts prove that Armenophobia is organized in Azerbaijan, it doesn’t have a one-day or one-month manifestation, it is continuous is nature.

“There are times when this issue [Armenophobia] escalates, sometimes it de-escalates, but it keeps on getting implemented in a constant way,” he said.

Turkish-born American lobbyist Kevin (Kemal) Oksuz, the man who was arrested in Armenia in pursuance of an international arrest warrant issued by the United States, has been charged in an indictment unsealed September 24 for his role in a scheme to conceal the fact that a 2013 Congressional trip to Azerbaijan was funded by the Azerbaijan government, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia, and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Kemal Oksuz, aka Kevin Oksuz, 48, previously a resident of Arlington, Virginia, allegedly lied on disclosure forms filed with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics prior to, and following, a privately sponsored Congressional trip to Azerbaijan.  According to the indictment, Oksuz allegedly falsely represented and certified on required disclosure forms that the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasions (TCAE), the Houston non-profit for which Oksuz was president, had not accepted funding for the Congressional trip from any outside sources.  According to the charges, Oksuz in truth orchestrated a scheme to funnel money to fund the trip from the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the wholly state-owned national oil and gas company of Azerbaijan, and allegedly concealed the true source of funding, which is alleged to violate House travel regulations.

The five-count indictment was returned earlier this year in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and ordered unsealed today. It charges Oksuz with one count of devising a scheme to falsify, conceal, and cover up material facts from the Ethics Committee and four counts of making false statements to Congress.

Oksuz is considered a fugitive. A warrant for his arrest was issued earlier this year and remains outstanding, the Department of Justice said.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Marco Palmieri of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler of the District of Columbia.

After being arrested in Yerevan, Oksuz has appeared under investigation of Armenian law enforcement agencies in suspicion of tax evasion.