Another opposition legislator resigns from position of deputy chair of parliament committee

NEWS.am
Armenia – July 1 2022

Opposition MP Artur Khachatryan on Friday submitted his resignation from the post of vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia. He wrote about this on his Facebook.

“Today, the members of the CC [i.e., the MPs of the ruling majority “Civil Contract” Faction of the NA] dealt another blow to Armenian parliamentarism, state institutions of the Republic of Armenia, and Armenian statehood. The CC majority of the parliament adopted decisions to recall NA Vice President [and opposition lawmaker] Ishkhan Saghatelyan and chair of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, [and opposition legislator] Vahe Hakobyan, from their [respective ] positions.

The decisions were adopted unanimously—in line with the most odious traditions of the Soviet Union.

 (…) the only concern of CC members is their chairs. (…).

(…). However, I consider it unacceptable to from now on hold a political position in this tragicomic political situation.

Accordingly, I hereby announce that as of today I am resigning from the position of Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs,” the opposition MP wrote, in particular.


BREAKING digest: Armenian opposition MPs announce mass resignations

NEWS.am
Armenia – July 1 2022

Armenian News – NEWS.am presents the BREAKING NEWS as of 01.07.22:

  • The Armenian opposition MPs have decided to give up their other administrative — committee chair, vice chair — positions.

The move came after ruling party MPs dismissed deputy speaker, opposition MPs Ishkhan Saghatelyan, and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on economic affairs, opposition MP Vahe Hakobyan, from their positions.

Saghatelyan noted that their colleagues will also give up other parliamentary administrative positions being held by the opposition.

  • Thus, opposition MP—and former deputy prime minister—Armen Gevorgyan on Friday submitted his resignation from the position of Chairman of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration of parliament.

Hayk Mamijanyan, secretary of the “I have honor” opposition faction, has also announced a resignation from the position of deputy chairman of the committee.

  • Meanwhile, the ruling power is also considering the possibility of depriving 10 more opposition lawmakers of their mandates for their absences from parliament sessions.

Since May 3, the opposition factions boycotted parliament sessions in connection with rallies and protests in the capital and regions.

They demanded Nikol Pashinyan to resign from the post of PM for ‘pursuing an anti-state policy’ and not ensuring the security of Armenia and Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh].


Resistance Movement to have march on Armenian Constitution Day

NEWS.am
Armenia – July 1 2022

Resistance Movement will have a march on Constitution Day in Yerevan.

In the process of regulation of the Armenian-Turkish relations, the interests of Armenia are not protected, they are trying to bring the country to capitulation, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, former vice-speaker of the National Assembly from the opposition, said during a rally on France Square in the center of Yerevan.

“The Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance, with the help and participation of the leaders in power in Armenia, is trying to bring the country to the final surrender,” he said, adding that all those who believe that only Artsakh is in danger are mistaken. “The Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance will stop at nothing, the next one will be Syunik, they will reach the Northern Avenue,” he said.

Sports: Inter signs Henrikh Mkhitaryan

PanArmenian
Armenia – July 1 2022

PanARMENIAN.Net – A busy few days in the transfer market continued for Inter Milan as the Nerazzurri completed the signing of Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Serie A rival Roma, the Associated Press reports.

Inter registered Mkhitaryan’s contract with the league’s governing body on Friday, July 1 and also did so for 26-year-old Cameroon goalkeeper André Onana, who joins from Ajax.

Both have signed as free agents.

Mkhitaryan spent the past three seasons at Roma after spells in England with Manchester United and Arsenal.

The 33-year-old Armenia midfielder made more than 100 appearances for Roma and helped it win the Europa Conference league last season.

Chess: Three Armenian team players on FIDE rating list

Panorama
Armenia – July 1 2022

SPORT 13:25 01/07/2022 ARMENIA

The FIDE July ratings of top 100 players feature three players of the Armenian chess team.

In particular, Gabriel Sargissian sits 37th, Haik Martirosyan comes 73rd and Shant Sargsyan is placed at 87th.

Magnus Carlsen leads the world rankings, followed by Ding Liren, Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana.

Levon Aronian, who is now listed as a US player, is ranked 5th on the list.

Turkish press: Türkiye, Armenia agree to allow border crossing for visiting 3rd country citizens

Handan Kazanci   |01.07.2022


ISTANBUL

Turkish and Armenian officials have agreed to open the land border for third country citizens visiting both countries as soon as possible, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Envoys for the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan “agreed to enable the crossing of the land border between Türkiye and Armenia by third country citizens visiting Türkiye and Armenia respectively at the earliest date possible and decided to initiate the necessary process to that end,” the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Armenian National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, special representatives for the normalization, held their fourth meeting in Vienna, Austria’s capital.

“They also agreed on commencing direct air cargo trade between Türkiye and Armenia at the earliest possible date and decided to initiate the necessary process to that effect,” the statement said.

The Turkish and Armenian officials also “discussed other possible concrete steps that can be undertaken towards achieving the ultimate goal of full normalization between their respective countries,” it added.

“Finally they reemphasized their agreement to continue the normalization process without preconditions,” the statement said.

The first round of normalization talks was held in Moscow on Jan. 14, where both parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second time in Vienna on Feb. 24, and the third meeting was held on May 3 in the Austrian capital.

Also, a historic bilateral meeting took place between the foreign ministers of Türkiye and Armenia on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on March 12.

As part of the efforts, Türkiye and Armenia have also resumed commercial flights as of Feb. 2 after a two-year hiatus.

The two countries have been divided on a range of issues, including Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and 1915 events during the Ottoman Empire era, and the border between the two neighboring countries has been closed since 1993.

Rep. Judy Chu reiterates calls to stop US military assistance to Azerbaijan

Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia – July 2 2022

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) reiterated her calls to stop U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, in a statement issued today expressing her disappointment in President Biden’s decision to waive Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to the racist Aliyev regime.

“Azerbaijan’s 2020 war of aggression against the peaceful people of Artsakh took thousands of lives and displaced entire communities. There is no reason for the United States to support the military of a regime that continues to pursue this violence and aggression. That is why I have called for an end to U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, and why I strongly disagree with the Administration’s decision to waive Section 907,” stated Rep. Chu.

Rep. Chu, along with Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), visited Artsakh in 2019, here they saw, first-hand, the heavy tolls of Azerbaijani aggression, the life-saving demining work of The HALO Trust, and the Artsakh people’s commitment to democracy and freedom.

Armenian opposition to hold next rally on July 8

Panorama
Armenia – July 2 2022

The Armenian opposition will hold its next rally in Yerevan on July 8, ARF Armenia chair and opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelyan said, addressing protesters in central France Square on Friday evening.

In advance of the rally, a march is scheduled for July 5 marked as Constitution Day in Armenia.

Saghatelyan reiterated the opposition movement aimed at toppling PM Nikol Pashinyan “is not dying down”.

“We are going to give fresh impetus to the movement. We are doing a great deal of work, the results of which will be visible soon. The outcome of this struggle is important for us,” the leader said.

Also, he denounced the authorities for military call-up of several dozen opposition activists being held in custody, including 2020 war participant Taron Manukyan.

Saghatelyan says the move indicates that the Armenian leadership is “terrified” by the opposition movement.

What RPA actually put into Pashinyan’s pocket?

Panorama
Armenia – July 2 2022

No matter how much Nikol Pashinyan’s teammates claim that the former authorities handed over Artsakh’s territories and “slipped it into this poor man’s pocket”, they deny it with their own statements and deeds.

An ardent love for the Turks, a long-cherished dream to make our roads serve Turkey a little bit… persistent efforts to that end and a confession that whether the incompetent commander had gone to war with Azerbaijan or not, he would have lost it anyway. Simply. this is how he lost, leaving 5,000 victims, 10,000 disabled, 25 percent of Artsakh, tattered and weak borders of Armenia, incompetent foreign policy and spineless image to us.

I’m not going to list them all, since only a weak-minded man would not realize that is happening.

And the current government has done and continues to do everything possible to make society worse than itself and thus worthy of it.

And the fact that in no way, not through the Constitutional Court, the National Assembly, by shaming or invoking their conscience… is it possible to oust the current regime, the former authorities are to blame for. The latter’s fault lies in the fact that they created or made possible such a system of government, which is in no way under the control of society.

The most trivial thing is the parliament where the ruling majority has a say and government controlled by the majority. This is what the RPA (former ruling Republican Party of Armenia) put into Pashinyan’s pocket as a gift. The rest is a consequence of that system.

By A. Voskanyan


Lawyers warn of new violation in Avetik Chalabyan’s case

Panorama
Armenia – July 2 2022

Lawyers of arrested opposition activist Avetik Chalabyan have sounded the alarm on another violation in their client’s case concerning the assignment of an appeal against his arrest.

The defense appealed against the decision of a Yerevan first instance court to reject a request for Chalabyan’s release to a higher court. The appeal was first automatically assigned to a judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, but then “manually” passed to another judge, the legal team quoted lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan as saying on social media.

According to the lawyer, on Friday the Court of Appeals said that judge Arshak Vardanyan had been appointed to the case, but today it turned out that the case had been unlawfully passed to lawyer Tigran Simonyan, who has the lowest rating on HelpCourt, a review site for judges, the legal team said in a statement.

Chalabyan was arrested on May 12 for allegedly trying to pay students of the Armenian National Agrarian University to participate in anti-government protests in Yerevan. He has denied the charges as politically motivated.

Chalabyan is a co-founder of Arar Foundation, a charity supporting the Armenian army as well as border villages in Armenia and Artsakh.