Category: 2020

Property tax to increase mostly for lavish palaces, says PM

Badalian Vardan

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 15:24,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The state budget is the gross national pocket and it must be treated as one treats the family budget, PM Nikol Pashinyan said on the planned amendments in the property tax area.

“There are two attitudes towards the state budget – when the state system finds it to be its own, and the society finds every penny paid to the budget to be lost money. This is our gross national pocket and we must treat the state budget like we treat our family budget. Yes, property tax will increase, but it will mostly increase on the kind of property which we conditionally call palaces or castles. Today if we look how much property taxes these huge villas are paying, it’s basically symbolic taxes. There is a component of lavish tax also here.

Now people are building houses without taking into account any adjacent factor, the bigger, the higher, the more inconvenient for others the better. If so, then the owners of such properties must pay,” the PM said.

He said the property tax for nearly 500,000 beneficiaries will drop in the first year and then it will gradually increase. “Meaning 2021 will be in the logic of post-crisis, then the increases will take place according to the situation”.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Asbarez: Lessons from #ForestSummit19

Emma Jilavian

Deputy Minister of Environment Irina Ghaplanyan (center) was the first speaker on the panel on “Financing Mechanisms for Forest Conservation, Restoration, and Afforestation” at the inaugural “Forest Summit: Global Action and Armenia”

Experts Discuss Strategies for Accessing Large-Scale Funding for Forest Conservation, Restoration, and Afforestation

BY JASON SOHIGIAN

Armenia has made an ambitious commitment to double its forest cover by 2050, as part of its pledge to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Aside from the policy and technical challenges, one major hurdle is how to fund such a major undertaking. Given the scope of this issue, AUA Acopian Center for the Environment and Armenia Tree Project convened a panel on financing mechanisms on day two of the inaugural “Forest Summit: Global Action and Armenia” held in October 2019.

The speakers were Irina Ghaplanyan, Deputy Minister of Environment, Carmen Arguello Lopez, Green Climate Fund Advisor for FAO’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, Diana Harutyunyan, UNDP Climate Change Program Coordinator, and Glenn Bush, Assistant Scientist at Woods Hole Research Center. This panel was moderated by UNDP Impact Investment Advisor Vahagn Voskanyan.

Deputy Minister of Environment Irina Ghaplanyan set the stage for this important topic by outlining the issues around Armenia’s goal to double the forest cover. She announced that more than 250,000 hectares of land may be needed to expand the forest at this scale, at a cost of nearly $800,000,000. She acknowledged that Hayantar does not have a large nursery capacity to grow the seedlings needed, but that ATP has several tree nurseries and greenhouses in operation and MyForest, a new NGO, is establishing its first nursery. All of these nurseries will help to support the government’s effort to double the tree cover, explained Dr. Ghaplanyan, and the government is partnering with FAST Foundation to create tools to monitor the work and utilize new technology.

Turning to financing, Dr. Ghaplanyan pointed out that Armenia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement and there is an expectation that developed countries will fund programs like this as part of the fight against climate change. The funds available are expected to be $100 billion worldwide annually starting in 2020. There is a shortage of global programs which can effectively mobilize funding at this scale. Armenia has been developing a climate finance mechanism around debt for nature swaps. For example, Armenia has $1 billion in bilateral debt. Negotiations are underway with France, which will help developed countries meet their commitment under the Paris Agreement. If the mechanism works between Armenia and France, it can possibly be scaled up for other developing countries.

Carmen Arguello Lopez provided several recommendations to help Armenia access climate finance. These include the need for strong in-country coordination, discussions with in-country stakeholders to develop transformational projects, and understanding all types of financial instruments available in addition to grants. She cautioned that working with the Green Climate Fund can be a long process, with two years for a project to be approved and implementation over a period of 8-10 years. Short term thinking can be a limiting factor.

Next, climate change expert Diana Harutyunyan highlighted other conservation finance mechanisms which can be better utilized in Armenia, including environmental taxes since forests provide valuable ecosystem service benefits including soil and water protection. The opportunity exists to monetize the biodiversity value of Armenia’s forests by attracting funding from private sector companies doing business in Armenia that receive benefits from the environment including the beverage industry and the mining industry. She noted an issue around financing that is often overlooked in Armenia. In addition to planting new forests, there is a need to protect existing forests, because protection and sustainable forest management is usually more cost-effective than replanting new forests.

Glenn Bush, an environmental economist at Woods Hole Research Center, rounded out this panel with additional insights on financing mechanisms. He pointed out that good data is necessary for projects to be successful, both in terms of project management and measurement of impact. The funds mentioned in this panel are highly oriented toward having a large-scale impact.

“The challenge in Armenia for the next 30 years is to define how much forest and what type is needed, and where they need to be planted. By going through this process and evaluating if forests are needed for production, for fuelwood, for ecosystem service benefits, you can start to identify the impact and performance framework that needs to be monitored,” explained Dr. Bush.

Reflecting on his experiences in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Dr. Bush pointed out that many of the climate funds are looking for “payments for performance” frameworks, where disbursements are made after an agreed upon set of impacts to unlock the next tranche of funding. He cautioned that this requires strategic planning and management, and an impact assessment to measure if the projects actually achieved what they set out to do.

He explained that many of the funds go beyond measuring carbon reductions from planting new forests. Often it’s necessary to measure social and economic metrics, he said. Recognizing the challenge of measuring and monitoring when resources and capacity are limited, he recommended developing a set of measurements that allow you to “measure once and report twice” to the various funders as a way of keeping costs down. Many of the performance metrics are the kinds of data that Armenia may already be collecting, like government metrics on social impacts, and standard of living.

Internationally, programs exist to provide debt-for-nature swaps and carbon offsets. As discussed in this panel, in order to become eligible for participation in such programs Armenia must conduct a thorough inventory of existing forests and develop detailed mechanisms to track new plantings and monitor survival rates. Many of the participants at the Forest Summit have successfully assisted other countries in achieving eligibility, and Armenia should consult with them as plans evolve.

“This panel provided recommendations that many organizations and policymakers can follow. ATP, for example, is always interested in accessing funds to scale up our work,” noted Executive Director Jeanmarie Papelian.

Asbarez: Yerevan Says Safarov Ruling Shines Light on Baku’s Anti-Armenian Policies

Khondkarian Raffi

A protester holds a banner demanding justice for Gurgen Markaryan

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday welcomed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which faulted Azerbaijan for glorifying and endorsing Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani soldier who murdered Armenian soldier Gurgen Markaryan with an axe during a 2004 military retreat in Budapest, Hungary.

In its statement, the foreign ministry said that ECHR ruling was a rebuke of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian and Armenophobia policies, and should serve as an impetus to condemn and prevent hate crimes.

Below is the text of the foreign ministry announcement released by its press service.

On May 26, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of “Makuchyan and Minasyan vs Azerbaijan and Hungary,” which is related to the release and glorification by Azerbaijan of Ramil Safarov, who brutally killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.

In 2004, in Budapest the Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, who was participating in a training course within the framework “Partnership for Peace” programme, murdered Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan while he was asleep by axing him to death and attacked another Armenian officer Hayk Makuchyan. Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hungarian court, was transferred to Azerbaijan, where enforcement of the sentence should have been continued. However, immediately after the transfer Ramil Safarov was pardoned and glorified. In this regard the ruling stated: “The court is particularly struck by the fact that, in addition to immediate release, upon his return to Azerbaijan R.S. was granted a number of other benefits, such as salary arrears for the period spent in prison, a flat in Baku and a promotion in military rank awarded at a public ceremony.

The court has found violations of the 2nd (right to life) and 14th (non- discrimination) articles of the European Convention on Human rights by Azerbaijan.
It’s noteworthy that the ruling determined that the violation of those articles was interrelated, thus establishing that the impunity and glorification granted by the  highest leadership of Azerbaijan to Ramil Safarov, who was convicted in the brutal murder on the grounds of hatred, had a causing link to the ethnicity of the victims.

This ECHR decision is a ruling against Azerbaijan’s policy of Armenophobia. It not only recognizes, but also adjudicates on the inadmissibility of the promotion on the state level of hate crimes committed against the Armenians by Azerbaijan.

The ruling imposes a legal obligation to Azerbaijan to undertake such actions which will put an end to those violations of the European Convention of Human Rights and redress the effects.
The Republic of Armenia views this ruling of the ECHR as a demand addressed to the authorities of Azerbaijan to restore justice in the dreadful murder of Gurgen Margaryan and end its racist policy toward Armenians. To this end, the Republic of Armenia will make consistent efforts in the relevant international bodies.

The release of convicted murderer Ramil Safarov by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan and his glorification is a disrespect and affront to the standard of civilization and human dignity. Today, when those actions received their legal assessment, we more than ever are determined to prevent hate crimes and protect the security of the Armenian people in the region.

We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve a peaceful and secure region free of hatred.

Asbarez: Pashinyan Says COVID-19 Cases are Double the Official Statistics

George Mamian

Number of Coronavirus cases in Armenia is rapidly growing

YEREAN (Azatutyun.am)—The number of people in Armenia infected with coronavirus is twice higher than official statistics indicate, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday.

The Armenian health authorities have reported 7,774 coronavirus cases so far. About 5 percent of them were registered on Tuesday, a further indication that the virus is continuing to spread rapidly in the country of about 3 million following the recent lifting of a nationwide lockdown.

The Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday morning that seven more people died from COVID-19 in the past day, raising the official death toll to 98. It said five other infected citizens died as a result of other, chronic illnesses. The number of such fatalities thus rose to 44.

“There are now thousands of people in the country infected with coronavirus who do not even know that they are carriers of the virus,” Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting held later in the day.

Pashinyan said that countries around the world are able to register less than half of COVID-19 infections. “Therefore, if there are 7,000 confirmed cases in Armenia now, it means that there are 14,000 carriers of the virus [in reality,]” he said, adding that the vast majority of them are asymptomatic and unaware of being infected.

The daily numbers of new COVID-19 infections and deaths have increased steadily and significantly since the Armenian government began lifting in mid-April lockdown restrictions imposed in late March. All sectors of the Armenian economy were allowed to resume their work by May 10.

Despite what Pashinyan described as a “quite severe situation,” the government has signaled no plans to again restrict people’s movements and shut down much of the economy.

The prime minister again insisted on Wednesday that the spread of the virus can be halted if Armenians frequently wash hands, wear face masks and practice social distancing. He reiterated that “individual responsibility” of citizens remains the government’s “principal tool” for tackling the disease.

Pashinyan also reaffirmed his pledges to toughen the enforcement of safety rules set by the authorities for people, businesses and other entities.

A senior official attending the cabinet meeting told him that Armenia’s Health and Labor Inspectorate has already ordered this week one-day closures of some 290 cafes, restaurants and other business not complying with the rules. For their part, the Armenian police claimed to have fined or reprimanded hundreds of people who did not wear masks on buses and other enclosed spaces.

Critics of the government are skeptical about the effectiveness of the government strategy of defeating the virus. They say that the authorities lifted the lockdown too soon and never enforced it properly in the first place.


RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/27/2020

Toneyan Mark 
                                        Wednesday, 
Arrest Warrant Sought For Former ‘Oligarch’
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Ruben Hayrapetian, chairman of the Football Federation of Armenia, 
speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, 12Jan2018.
A law-enforcement body has asked a Yerevan court to allow it to arrest Ruben 
Hayrapetian, a wealthy businessman linked to Armenia’s former leadership, on 
kidnapping and assault charges.
The Investigative Committee indicted Hayrapetian, his son Rafik and four other 
persons earlier this month. It claimed tha in 2016 they kidnapped and 
systematically beat up the chief manager of a Hayrapetian-owned resort who 
allegedly misused more than 52 million drams ($108,000) borrowed from a 
commercial bank controlled by the feared tycoon.
A statement released by the committee said the manager, Hayk Shahnazarian, was 
held in captivity for three weeks before handing over about $50,000 worth of 
cash, cars and jewelry items to his kidnappers. It said the latter also forced 
him to give up a house belonging to his grandmother.
A lawyer for Hayrapetian, Amram Makinian, denied the accusations when he spoke 
to RFE/RL’s Armenian service on May 19. He claimed said his client is a victim 
of the “apparent crime” committed by Shahnazarian.
Hayrapetian left Armenia in March and, according to the Investigative Committee, 
is currently in Moscow. A spokeswoman for the committee, Rima Yeganian, said on 
Wednesday that during a recent phone conversation with an investigator he 
claimed to be unable to return to Yerevan because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Yeganian dismissed that explanation, saying that the Armenian Embassy in Russia 
expressed readiness to help repatriate the suspect on a special Moscow-Yerevan 
flight carried out on Monday but that he did not accept the offer. Investigators 
therefore believe that he simply fled prosecution, said the official.
Hayrapetian, 56, has long supported former President Serzh Sarkisian and remains 
affiliated with the latter’s Republican Party. He used to represent the party in 
the Armenian parliament.
The once influential tycoon, who was notorious for violent conduct, accused the 
current authorities of harassing him for political reasons after being briefly 
detained by the Armenian police in February. The police claimed he was taken in 
for questioning on suspicion of illegal arms possession.
The detention came one day after Hayrapetian was questioned as a witness in a 
criminal investigation into alleged corruption in the Football Federation of 
Armenia (FFA) which he headed from 2002-2018. Masked police officers searched 
his Yerevan villa in December as part of the same probe. He was not charged as a 
result.
Armenian Government Moves To Raise Property Taxes
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- A new apartment block in Yerevan.
The Armenian government announced on Wednesday plans to sharply increase the 
presently modest taxes collected from homeowners.
A bill approved by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s cabinet calls for 
particularly drastic increases in property taxes paid by rich or affluent 
Armenians.
“Today, there are luxury villas which, for example, pay 800,000 drams [in 
property tax] each year,” said Pashinian. “They will have to pay 15 million 
drams after we change the law. It’s obvious that for such homeowners 15 million 
drams is not a big deal.”
According to the International Monetary Fund, proceeds from these taxes are 
currently equivalent to just 0.2 percent of Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product, a 
very low proportion not only by Western but also ex-Soviet standards.
The government expects to significantly increase them without changing the 
existing progressive tax rates ranging from 0.05 percent to 1 percent. It wants 
to change instead the methodology of calculating the value of properties, which 
is currently based on their cadastral valuation by a government agency. Under 
the government bill, the Cadaster Committee would determine it on the basis of 
their market value.
The head of the committee, Suren Tovmasian, said that to his the agency will 
launch an electronic database that will enable every homeowner to see the price 
of their property and the calculated amount of their tax obligations.
The bill would introduce a complex progressive scale of taxation. For example, 
the owners of small apartments worth an estimated 23 million drams ($48,000) 
would pay 18,000 drams, while ownership of larger properties that cost 58 
million drams would translate into 108,000 drams in annual taxes.
Tax authorities would levy at least 326,000 drams from luxury apartments worth 
100 million drams or more. The owners of large and expensive houses would have 
to pay even more.
Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian estimated that Armenia’s property tax 
revenue, most of it directly channeled into local community budgets, would more 
than quadruple as a result. He said local communities would therefore be the 
main beneficiaries of the bill approved by the government.
The government was quick to send the bill to the Armenian parliament for urgent 
debate. If passed, the proposed changes to the national tax legislation would be 
introduced gradually over the next three years.
Thousands Of COVID-19 Cases Unaccounted For, Says Pashinian
Armenia -- Masked police officers patrol streets of Yerevan, May 25, 2020.
The number of people in Armenia infected with coronavirus is twice higher than 
official statistics indicate, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday.
The Armenian health authorities have reported 7,774 coronavirus cases so far. 
About 5 percent of them were registered on Tuesday, a further indication that 
the virus is continuing to spread rapidly in the country of about 3 million 
following the recent lifting of a nationwide lockdown.
The Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday morning that seven more people died 
from COVID-19 in the past day, raising the official death toll to 98. It said 
five other infected citizens died as a result of other, chronic illnesses. The 
number of such fatalities thus rose to 44.
“There are now thousands of people in the country infected with coronavirus who 
do not even know that they are carriers of the virus,” Pashinian told a cabinet 
meeting held later in the day.
Pashinian said that countries around the world are able to register less than 
half of COVID-19 infections. “Therefore, if there are 7,000 confirmed cases in 
Armenia now, it means that there are 14,000 carriers of the virus [in reality,]” 
he said, adding that the vast majority of them are asymptomatic and unaware of 
being infected.
The daily numbers of new COVID-19 infections and deaths have increased steadily 
and significantly since the Armenian government began lifting in mid-April 
lockdown restrictions imposed in late March. All sectors of the Armenian economy 
were allowed to resume their work by May 10.
Despite what Pashinian described as a “quite severe situation,” the government 
has signaled no plans to again restrict people’s movements and shut down much of 
the economy.
The prime minister again insisted on Wednesday that the spread of the virus can 
be halted if Armenians frequently wash hands, wear face masks and practice 
social distancing. He reiterated that “individual responsibility” of citizens 
remains the government’s “principal tool” for tackling the disease.
Pashinian also reaffirmed his pledges to toughen the enforcement of safety rules 
set by the authorities for people, businesses and other entities.
A senior official attending the cabinet meeting told him that Armenia’s Health 
and Labor Inspectorate has already ordered this week one-day closures of some 
290 cafes, restaurants and other business not complying with the rules. For 
their part, the Armenian police claimed to have fined or reprimanded hundreds of 
people who did not wear masks on buses and other enclosed spaces.
Critics of the government are skeptical about the effectiveness of the 
government strategy of defeating the virus. They say that the authorities lifted 
the lockdown too soon and never enforced it properly in the first place.
Parliament Majority Seeks Power To Cancel Constitutional Referendum
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- A session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, May 25, 2020.
The pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament has moved to enact 
legislation that will allow it to formally cancel a planned referendum on 
ousting most members of the country’s Constitutional Court.
Armenians were scheduled to vote on April 5 on government-drafted constitutional 
amendments ending the powers of seven of the nine Constitutional Court judges 
who had for months been under strong government pressure to resign.
The referendum was postponed on March 16 when the Armenian government declared a 
state of emergency to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in the country. Earlier 
this month the government extended it by another month, until June 14. Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed on May 17 that due to the pandemic the vote 
will not be held anytime soon.
Under Armenian law, no elections or referendums can take place during the state 
of emergency. But the authorities must hold a planned vote 50 to 65 days after 
the end of emergency rule.
A bill drafted by Vahagn Hovakimian, a senior lawmaker from Pashinian’s My Step 
bloc, would not only abolish this requirement but also allow the parliament 
cancel a referendum altogether.
As the National Assembly began debating the bill on Wednesday Hovakimian and 
other pro-government deputies insisted that it does not mean Armenia’s political 
leadership will necessarily call off the controversial referendum. They said 
their initiative is only aimed at eliminating ambiguities in the existing 
legislation regulating the conduct of referendums.
Opposition deputies were unconvinced. One of them, Naira Zohrabian, questioned 
the bill’s conformity with the Armenian constitution. She also claimed that the 
authorities are afraid of not garnering a sufficient number of votes in the 
referendum and are trying to get rid of the Constitutional Court judges through 
the parliament controlled by them.
Parliament majority leaders indicated last week that the Pashinian 
administration no longer insists on replacing all seven judges and is ready to 
settle for a less radical change in the court’s composition. They said this is 
why the government asked the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe this 
month to help end its standoff with the high court.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Armenian police force creates brand-new patrol service

Emil Lazarian

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 12:35,

YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. As part of law enforcement reforms, the Armenian police will soon have a brand-new patrol service, the Justice Ministry said in a news release.

“It will be the first wave of modern police, with high salaries, new functions, new equipment, new education and skills and most importantly new mentality. The steps aimed at developing these new values will be implemented during 5 months (September-January) of training at the Police Academy”, it said.

The service will include foot patrol and police cruisers.

The new patrol will be launched from Q1 2021 in Yerevan.

Interested candidates (18-35 years of age with military service, physically fit who meet the requirements of law to become an officer) can apply when the recruitment will be launched next week.

Cadets will receive 68,000 drams stipends during the training course. Enlisted officers’ minimum salary will be 320,000 drams before taxes.

The patrol service will feature new uniforms, new equipment and new police cruisers.

Interested candidates can contact the Justice Ministry at +37410 594028;  or the Police Academy at +37410 770981; [email protected] for more details.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Articles about Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian and aggressive policy published in The Washington Times

Antranik Varosian

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 12:54,

YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Artcile by Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), titled “Azerbaijan Stands In Way Of Peace”, has been published in The Washington Times on May 24.

On May 25 the American newspaper published another article, this time by American-Armenian public figure, human rights advocate Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, which was titled “Azerbaijan Tramples Human Rights”.

In his article, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian says the Armenian side fully backs the Royce-Engel peace proposal, a bipartisan U.S. congressional initiative to deploy internationally monitored gunfire locators and add international observers along the line of contact. “It is Azerbaijan — and Azerbaijan alone — that is blocking these common-sense measures to promote transparency, precisely because it fears facing accountability for its ceasefire violations. It’s simple logic: Only the party initiating attacks would oppose the use of technology that identifies the ceasefire violator”, Hamparian said, adding: “Azerbaijan’s rejection of the Royce-Engel peace proposal represents the height of irresponsibility, raising the risk of a regional war amid a global pandemic”.

Let us remind that back to October 26, 2015 Chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Edward Royce and 85 members of various parties addressed a letter to US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick, proposing to place OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact.

Commenting on the propaganda article published by the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte in her article says she was born in Azerbaijan, and states that “Mr. Suleymanov does not write about Azerbaijan as we both know it, because he is a mouthpiece for a dictator”.

“Thirty years ago 350,000 Armenians lived in Azerbaijan, and many of them were murdered, maimed and/or raped. All were exiled. As a proud American and an elected official in the great state of Maine, I live and breathe the ideals of this country, and with those I vehemently reject Mr. Suleymanov’s blatant lies, anti-Armenianism and shameless propaganda.

The truth is that in today’s Azerbaijan there is no evidence of Armenian culture due to the systematic policy of ethnic cleansing and history erasure. In response to the Artsakh’s democratic movement of self-determination, everyone I knew was exiled, if not killed. My grandparents’ graves in Baku were destroyed, as were all Armenian cemeteries in Azerbaijan. My neighbors were killed, my relatives beaten. I was physically attacked at age 11”, the human rights advocate says.

She added that the lone Armenian church in Baku is a stark reminder of Azerbaijan’s true face. The Christian crosses of the church were removed.

The guise of a tolerant Azerbaijan is contradicted by U.S. State Department warning against any Armenians — even American citizens — visiting Azerbaijan. The newly released 2020 report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends that Azerbaijan be added to the State Department’s special watchlist for severe violations of religious liberty.

The main obstacle to peace in the region is Azerbaijan. The ambassador’s op-ed is a desperate effort to distract attention from Azerbaijan’s continued gross human-rights violations towards Artsakh, Armenia and its own people. It is a confirmation for the people of Artsakh that the path of freedom and self-determination has no alternative. It is simply self-preservation”, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte said.

Asbarez: Pandora’s Box for Istanbul Armenians

Liana Toganian

Raffi Bedrosyan

BY RAFFI BEDOROSYAN

Only a few months after the long delayed election and appointment of Archbishop Sahag Mashalian as the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) in December 2019, the Istanbul Armenian community is again in crisis. The latest turn of events brought forth the unpleasant realities in the leadership of the Istanbul Armenian community, or the lack of it.

It all started on May 15, 2020 by the firing of two long-serving and popular principals of Esayan high school and Esayan middle school by the Director of the charitable foundation in charge of Esayan. Esayan School in Taksim, Istanbul was founded in 1895 by two brothers, Mgrditch and Hovhannes Esayan, and is one of 17 Armenian schools left in Turkey, all of them in Istanbul, compared to more than 800 schools in Ottoman Turkey prior to the 1915 Armenian Genocide. This historic and prestigious institution has a primary school for boys and girls, a middle and high school for girls only.  Both my wife and I are graduates of Esayan primary school. Every Armenian school in Istanbul, as well as every Armenian church, is directed and controlled by an Armenian charitable foundation, accountable to the General Directorate of Charitable Foundations of Turkey.

And now, time to review the contents of Pandora’s Box. Esayan School is controlled by the Holy Trinity (Surp Yerrortutyun) Charitable Foundation, which also controls the church of the same name. It is one of the wealthiest charitable foundations, with significant real estate assets, including 26 office buildings, numerous apartments and more significantly, the historic Tokatliyan Hotel which at present operates as an office building. The monthly revenue of the charitable foundation is estimated to be over a million dollars, even with the mismanagement and inability to utilize the real potential of the assets. Although the foundation is supposed to have a Board of Directors of at least seven members to be elected every four years, the Turkish government has not allowed elections for the past seven years and due to deaths and resignations, there are only two Directors left in control of this vast real estate empire, school and church, accountable to no one. And the senior of these two Directors, a lawyer by profession, unilaterally decided two weeks ago that the two dedicated and popular principals of Esayan School had to go.

The Esayan School in Istanbul

The dismissal of these two ladies caused a huge uproar and massive protest within the Istanbul Armenian community, as well as among the thousands of Esayan alumni scattered around the world. The Toronto branch of Esayan Alumni, along with other alumni and community leaders, immediately called upon the Istanbul Patriarchate to use its moral and legal authority to intervene and to have the two Holy Trinity Foundation directors reconsider and revoke the dismissal decision, and if they resist, to ask for their resignation. The Patriarch did call upon the two directors, as well as the two principals to come together and discuss the issues face to face – but only after the government relaxes the covid virus related restrictions some time in June. It is disappointing that the Patriarchate did not consider to make use of technology by inviting both sides to an immediate video conference via Skype or Zoom, as time is of essence in this issue.

This incident also brought to the forefront the issue of elections for the Armenian charitable foundations and why the government prevents them for the past seven years. This situation is similar to the Patriarchate elections which were prevented from the time the previous Patriarch was incapacitated ten years ago until last year, during which an acting Patriarch ran the affairs of the patriarchate, in complete obedience to the government, perhaps not always in the best interests of the Armenian community and the church. The directors of the charitable foundations also run their affairs, individually and unilaterally, unaccountable and perhaps not in the best interests of the Armenian community overall. The wealthy charitable foundations with significant assets are supposed to assist the schools and churches of charitable foundations with limited revenues. But this rarely happens. The directors of most of the wealthy charitable foundations run their empires, hire or help their buddies, buy and sell assets without the advice of professionals, and of course, they like their chairs and are content with the lack of elections. Some foundations have become extremely wealthy in recent years and have received significant compensation as they have won several lawsuits against the government which had illegally expropriated assets in the past. These assets should be put to use for the good of the entire community, for schools, bursaries, social services and employment, by regularly elected, competent, responsible and accountable members of the community. Unfortunately, this is not the case at present, except for a few directors with good intentions.

The dismissal of the two Esayan principals triggered another scandal. The self-appointed spokesperson for the Istanbul Armenian community, the head of the Holy Saviour (Surp Prgitch) Hospital Foundation, took it upon himself to send a letter to the General Directorate of Charitable Foundations of Turkey, recommending that the control of Esayan School be taken away from the Holy Trinity Armenian Church Foundation and transferred to his Hospital Charitable Foundation – a completely unilateral and outrageous act, without consulting and discussing with anyone. Instead of advocating for the legal and democratic process of election of directors, he further suggested that appropriate people be ‘appointed’ to run the school. Although one should give the benefit of doubt and hope that this act has good intentions, it is difficult not to speculate about ulterior motives. This person has publicly suggested in the past that if Esayan School is losing money, it should be closed and merged with another high school named Getronagan (Central) School.  This person is also on record stating that Getronagan School is run badly and ‘is raising militants’. Getronagan School is situated at the commercial centre of the city, sitting on a very valuable plot of land. Perhaps merging the two schools on the Esayan School plot, and selling the Getronagan School property could be the end game in this person’s mind. As in many other Armenian communities, schools are now deemed dispensable by charitable organizations if they lose money. Unfortunately this reality is further exacerbated in the Istanbul Armenian community, where there is no election and accountability of the charitable foundation directors, no unity and cooperation between the ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ charitable foundations, no moral and legal authority of the Patriarchate, and the result is the loss of historic institutions and valuable individuals.




Asbarez: AESA to Partner With Hero House Glendale, Winner of Glendale Start-Up Tech Accelerator

Ani Kharatian

Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America

GLENDALE—On Tuesday, May 19, the Glendale City Council voted to contract with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (KidsX Digital Health Accelerator) and Hero House Glendale for the Start-Up Tech Accelerator in Glendale. The Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA) has partnered up with Hero House Glendale, a rising star in the tech accelerator scene, to implement various scientific and technical activities and programs for the local community.

“AESA has formed a strategic alliance with Hero House to transform Glendale into a STEM hub incorporating AESA’s resources and network. This alliance is in line with AESA’s mission of enabling the Armenian STEM community to address global challenges through innovative solutions,” said Richard Ohanian, president of AESA.

AESA has established various programs for the local community and Armenia. These include an annual Science Olympiad aimed to attract youth to careers in science and technology, a Science and Tech Expo and STEM Conference, scholarships for graduate and undergraduate students, free monthly lectures, and networking and mentorship opportunities. With this partnership, AESA will work with Hero House Glendale to stimulate more interest in science and technology and create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and STEM professionals to address problems of world-wide importance.

As part of Glendale Tech Strategy, the City of Glendale has worked diligently to develop the accelerator program to further help the city’s start-up culture grow, and to promote a science and technology ecosystem in a city that already has numerous successful tech start-ups such as ServiceTitan and DISQO. The efforts led by the Glendale City to grow and expand its tech culture has made a big, positive impact in the local community. Each year, Glendale Tech Week has outshined the previous year, attracting thousands of participants and companies, and further strengthening Glendale in its role as an emerging tech hub. Now, more start-ups, co-working companies like WeWork, as well as other top companies are expanding to Glendale. This has been a source of pride and excitement for the local community.

The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) – KidsX Digital Health Accelerator will be the first health accelerator in the world to focus on Pediatric services and was awarded $500,000 over three years. Hero House Glendale was also awarded $500,000 over three years and will be focusing on companies from California, and globally, aiming to expand to Los Angeles.

Hero House Glendale will be established by SmartGateVC and backed by both Draper University of Heroes and Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America. Fall 2020 is the anticipated launch for the Hero House Accelerator. Learn more about this program at GlendaleTechWeek.com/accelerator.

The Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, and non-profit organization with a mission to enable and empower the Armenian STEM community worldwide to reach its fullest potential and facilitate global progress through STEM education, collaboration and humanitarian initiatives.

Asbarez: ARF Will Not Take Part in Artsakh Government

Emil Karabekian

Armenian Revolutionary Federation

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee of Artsakh on Monday issued an announcement, in which it explained that the party did not find it suitable to take part in the government being formed by the new president of the Artsakh Republic.

Below is a translation of the announcement published in the Stepanakert-based ARF publication Aparaj.

Based on the results of the first-ever simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections in Artsakh, the executive and judicial branches of the government are being formed.

In the April 9, 2020 statement we announced our assessment of the Artsakh National Assembly elections and delineated our position on the run-off presidential elections.

Taking into consideration the outcome of the state elections, as well as the results of our consultations with the elected president, we do not find it suitable to take part in the government that is being formed.

Based on the priorities and pre-election plans of the ARF’s political unity agenda publicized on on July 7 and August 30, 2019, we will develop our relations with the authorities of the Artsakh Republic in the same manner as we will with political forces.

It is our hope that the new leadership will spare no effort in advancing the points that we emphasized the most during our political consultations: strengthening of [Artsakh’s] statehood, guaranteeing security, the international recognition of Artsakh, constitutional reforms, the signing of a military-strategic partnership agreement with the Republic of Armenia, economic development, establishment of social justice, repopulation and population growth.

With its global structure, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation steadfastly will continue to have input in advancement of the homeland. The ARF’s fundamental aspirations have been and remain the strengthening of freedom, justice, national and human values, as well as securing national accord.