Category: 2018

The official welcoming ceremony of the President of the Republic of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, who arrived in the Republic of Armenia on an official visit, was held at the residence of the President of the Republic, which was followed by the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Lebanon with a small group.

“We are deeply interested in deepening our relations with Lebanon in all areas. I fondly remember my visit to Lebanon back in 2012, which was a good impetus for the development of our relations. I am sure that your visit will open a new page in our relations. Our interstate relations have a history of only 25 years, but the friendship between our peoples is counted for centuries. Of course, the Armenian community plays a very important role in strengthening the friendship between our two peoples. We are deeply grateful to the Lebanese people and authorities for the care shown to our compatriots for attitude. They became full Lebanese citizens over time, keeping their national identity. And, of course, we are grateful to the Lebanese authorities, including the parliament, for recognizing the fact of the Armenian Genocide. This is a very important investment,” said the RA President.

President Michel Aoun noted that there are representatives of the Lebanese Armenian community in his delegation: the Minister of Tourism, as well as the head of the Dashnaktsutyun Party. He noted that the Armenian community made a great contribution to the development and prosperity of Lebanon. They work quite seriously in all spheres of their activity, in responsible circles.

“We ourselves rely heavily on them in all areas. We are a broad society, and the Armenian community has managed to preserve its culture and identity in Lebanon. Of course, we value and are proud of that pluralism and cultural diversity, because we are able to take full advantage of them and develop Lebanon,” he said.

The President of Lebanon noted that his visit is aimed at further strengthening the relations between Armenia and Lebanon.

“We hope that the relations between Armenia and Lebanon will expand and deepen much more. There are many areas in which we can work, and it will be for the benefit of our two countries,” added Michel Aoun.

Today, the press wrote that PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan has decided to get rid of the services of speaker Iveta Tsarukyan and, accordingly, first of all, from the position of the director of the media department of Kentron TV, and the fate of the parliamentary mandate is still in question.

First of all, let’s note that Iveta Tonoyan has not held the position of director of the “Epicenter” news service of the TV company for a year, after receiving the mandate of the deputy, she is no longer a member of the board of directors of the Center TV company.

In a conversation with VERELQ, a member of the “Tsarukyan” faction Naira Zohrabyan denied those rumors. according to him, a journalist should understand what he is writing about. “After being elected deputy, Iveta Tonoyan could not do other paid work, we are also talking about the news director of the “Kentron” TV station,” he said.

As for the issue of depriving Tonoyan of his mandate, Naira Zohrabyan considered it simply nonsense. 

“I know few people who would be able to do the enormous work that Iveta Tonoyan does as Gagik Tsarukyan’s spokesperson and MP with such efficiency and responsibility,” he emphasized.

Iveta Tonoyan also made a statement.

“Thank you to all my colleagues for the concern, some also for spreading dishonest and untrue information with great diligence. I officially declare that Gagik Tsarukyan did not release me from any position and did not dismiss me. And this is for the simple reason that on June 1, 2017, as soon as I assumed the powers of a member of the National Assembly, I stopped being the head of the news department of Kentron TV. I am sure that everyone is aware of what kind of work a deputy of the RA National Assembly can perform according to the law, and the functions of the head of the news department in a TV company are not among those. About that I announced the date of receiving the mandate.

During this period, the Epicenter news program had and still has a chief editor, Baghdasar Mheryan, who performed those functions. And my cooperation with Kentron TV, as Gagik Tsarukyan’s spokesperson, was on a daily basis and will continue. In order not to end up in a purely ridiculous situation, I would advise you not to use any more futile tricks to force the desired into reality.”

Karo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament, a member of the pro-Kurdish opposition “People’s Democratic Party” (PDP-HDP), asked Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu about the situation in the Istanbul Patriarchate.

According to Ermenihaber, in his questioning to Soylu, Paylan described in detail the situation in the patriarchate, stressing that when the Armenian community wants to elect a new patriarch, the state’s interference in this election is nothing but a violation of the rights of the Armenian community.

“Does the state participate in the election of the patriarch of the Armenian community on what grounds?” The current patriarch, Mesrop Mutafyan, with this disease, can survive for many years with the help of medicine. In that case, when you declare that there will be no election until the patriarch dies, do you mean that the patriarchate will be ruled by your appointed ruler for many years?

In addition, after the referendum held on April 16, President Erdoğan demanded that the election of the patriarch be organized as soon as possible. Did anything change after that and why did he try to obstruct the election process?

During his visit to Greece, President Erdogan criticized that mufti elections are not held in Western Thrace. In that case, how would you evaluate the obstruction of the election of an Armenian patriarch in Turkey for many years, disregarding church traditions, appointing someone as a ruler by the state and imposing those decisions on the Armenian community?

On February 5, the Istanbul Governorate sent a letter to the Patriarchate, by which the election of Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan as the deputy of the Patriarchate and the decisions he made during that time was considered invalid, and Aram Ateshyan was recognized as the head of the Patriarchate. The letter emphasizes that patriarchal elections cannot be held while Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan is alive.

On February 9, the religious meeting convened in the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul decided to meet the demands of the state and restore Aram Ateshyan to the position of the patriarch’s vicar.

On February 22, at around 09:40, in the security area of ​​one of the military units located in the north-eastern direction of the Armed Forces, a soldier of the Armed Forces was mortally wounded by a shot fired by the enemy. born Grigor Karapet Yeghoyan.

An investigation is underway to find out the details of the incident.

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Artsakh shares the heavy grief of the loss and expresses its support to the family members, relatives and fellow soldiers of the deceased serviceman.

The studies carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office of Ararat Marz of RA show that the crimes committed in the area of ​​”Khor Virap” monastic complex have increased significantly recently. This was reported by the press service of the General Prosecutor’s Office.

In particular, in 2017 On October 1, a case of sexual violence against a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who visited the “Khor Virap” monastery complex in the area called “Wild Animal Rescue Center” in the administrative area of ​​Urtsadzor village of Ararat marz was recorded. A criminal case was initiated under Article 139, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. In 2017, with the combination of sufficient evidence obtained as a result of other investigative and judicial activities during the preliminary investigation. On October 5, RA citizen K.T. was charged under Article 139, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code for committing acts of a sexual nature by using violence against a citizen of the People’s Republic of China against her will. The criminal case is currently under trial.

In addition, in 2018 on February 12, cases of attempted robbery of foreign tourists were also recorded. In particular, citizen A. D. approached two citizens of the UAE separately in the territory of the “Khor Virap” monastic complex, with the intention of committing an open theft of someone else’s property, showing them his Armenian-Russian Cossack unification certificate, and presented himself as a police officer. Making it clear by gestures that he wanted to subject the tourists to a personal search, he accompanied them in one case to the wall of the church, in the other case to the toilet on the territory of the church, after examining them, he took out considerable sums of money from their pockets and wallets, then, adjusting the moment, he tried to openly steal all the money and ran away. However, in both cases, he did not complete the crimes due to reasons beyond his control. in one case the tourist managed to catch him and took all the money back and left, in the other case the citizen was caught by church visitors.

On 12.02.2018, in Vedi’s investigative department, According to part 1 of Article 34-176 of the RA Criminal Code, two criminal cases were initiated, which were joined in one proceeding. On the same day, A.D. was arrested and gave a confession during interrogation as a suspect. 2018 on February 15, he was charged with 2 counts under Article 34-176, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code, and on the same day, detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him. On February 20, the prosecutor’s office of the Ararat region of RA received the criminal case with an indictment.

Taking into account the fact that the commission of such criminal acts in spiritual centers representing tourist attraction causes significant damage to the tourist reputation of RA and may lead to a decrease in the flow of tourists, therefore there is an urgent need to exclude crimes committed against visitors and tourists, to take measures to eliminate the circumstances contributing to the commission of crimes, Prosecutor of Ararat Marz, RA Sevak Hovhannisyan submitted a petition to the head of the Ararat Regional Department of the RA Police.

The prosecutor of the region, in particular, noted the need to provide a sufficient number of police officers to deploy a permanent police base in the area of ​​the complex, which is one of the important stops on the southern tourist route of RA, and to carry out proper surveillance.