Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree, dismissing Gevorg Kostanyan from the post of Adviser to President.
According to Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan’s decision, Kostanyan has also been relieved of the duties of Armenia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights.
Gevorg Kostanyan has been elected to the National Assembly, which is set to hold its first session Thursday.
A reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election has pulled out to smooth the path for the moderate incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, the BBC reports.
The withdrawal of Mr Rouhani’s ally, Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, from Friday’s poll had been expected.
On Monday, Tehran’s mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf withdrew his candidacy and urged his supporters to back conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.
He is now seen as the main threat to Mr Rouhani, who is seeking a second term.
A recent poll had put support for the two hardliners at 52% and for Mr Rouhani at about 42%. Another had Mr Rouhani at 29%, Mr Qalibaf at 12% and Mr Raisi at 11%, with 28% respondents undecided and 20% declining to answer.
If none of the four candidates remaining wins more than 50% of the vote, a run-off will be held on 26 May.
Mr Jahangiri, 60, announced his withdrawal in a speech to several thousand people gathered in the southern city of Shiraz on Tuesday, saying he had run as a candidate to “make the voice of reformists heard”.
“I have completed my historic duty and, together with you, I will vote for Rouhani to help continue on the path to progress for this country,” he said.
“Vote for Rouhani because he is the man for difficult situations,” he added.
The Russian court has recognized the verdict of the Shirak Court of General Jurisdiction on Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, who killed a family of 7 in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri.
The Russian side guarantees the unconditional and full implementation of the verdict under a procedure defined by an international agreement between Armenia and Russia.
Valery Permyakov from Russia’s military base was sentenced to life for killing a family of 7 in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri.
The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015.
Permyakov was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.
On August 12, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.
On October 13, Permyakov was found sane. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime. He also could recognize the consequences of his actions.
On October 16, Permyakov was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.
Artsakh has dismissed Azeri reports claiming that the Armenian side tried to down a helicopter carrying the country’s Defense Minister.
“This unserious misinformation that has nothing to do with reality aims to solve two issues – justify the attack on Defense Ministry’s military objects and improve Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov’s image among the public, to show the “dangerous” conditions Hasanov works in,” Senor Hasratyan, Spokesman for the Artsakh Defense Ministry, said in a Facebook post.
“There is no need to down the helicopter carrying the Defense Minister, at least for now,” Hasratyan said.
Armenian Weekly – A group of peaceful demonstrators protesting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to the United States, were attacked by pro-Erdogan groups at the Sheridan Circle near the residence of the Turkish Ambassador to the U.S.
“[This was] the type of violence you would never expect to see in America’s capital. It was the type of violence you’d expect to see in Erdogan’s Turkey and in other dictatorships,” said Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian, who captured parts of the attack and streamed the aftermath live on the ANCA’s Facebook page. “This is the very type of intolerance that has come to predominate in Turkey and it has now been exported here,” he added.
The demonstration, which began at Lafayette Square at noon, was organized by a coalition of organizations, including the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the American Hellenic Council. Several different groups, which included representatives from the Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, and Assyrian communities, participated in the protest, while President Erdogan met with U.S. President Donald Trump a the White House.
“I saw a group of peaceful protesters in Sheridan Circle—a grassy area across from the Turkish Ambassador’s residence—who were protesting and exercising their constitutional right to speak their minds, to hold signs, to share their opinions, and express their views get rushed from across the street by a group of a pro-Erdogan [demonstrators], who broke through the police lines and attacked literally anybody within their reach with their fists and anything else they could get a hold of,” Hamparian said in the live video moments after the attack. Hamparian went on to explain that the crowd of Erdogan supporters beat as many people as they could and that many were bloodied and had to be taken to the hospital.
“This is exactly the type of violence you see in Ankara and they are exporting it here. It’s one thing for the Turkish government to do that to its own citizens—[which is] a terrible thing. It is another thing for us, as Americans, to see that exported to the United States,” Hamparian said.
The Armenia Aircompany carried the first passengers from Yerevan to Tel Aviv today.
The maiden flight was preceded by a presentation at Zvartnots Airport.
Attending the event were Sergey Avetisyan, Chief of the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia, Andranik Shkhyan, Deputy General Manager of Armenia International Airports and Robert Oganesyan, CEO of Armenia Aircompany, directors of tourism agencies and others.
Sergey Avetisyan emphasized the importance of Yerevan-Tel Aviv flights and wished the Air Company safe and effective flights.
The Yerevan-Tel Aviv flights will be run twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays.
A 10 member electoral assessment team from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe – headed by Liisa Ansala (Finland, ILDG) and including two representatives from the EU Committee of the Regions – concluded yesterday its mission to observe the elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan which were held on Sunday in the Armenian capital. During this vote, held on the basis of the amended 2016 Electoral Code, Voter Authentication Devices (VADs) were in use for the second time, after the Parliamentary elections of 2 April, which allowed the Congress delegation to assess the implementation of both the new legal framework and the new electronic system to identify voters and prevent fraud.
On Election Day, four Congress’ teams visited some 100 polling stations in the different administrative districts of Yerevan(Kentron, Nork-Marash, Avan, Qanaqer-Zeyt’un, Nor-Nork’, Erebuni, Nubarashen, Malatia-Sebastia, Schengavit’, Davt’ashen, Achapnyak and Arabkir) where the VADs (which contained electronic copy of the voters’ lists and provided for the electronic registration, the printing of a voting pass and the scanning of the fingerprints) were functioning smoothly throughout the whole voting procedure. In addition to the VADs, web cameras were installed in all polling stations in order to prevent electoral fraud, notably multiple voting and family voting, and to ensure transparency during the opening of the polling stations and the counting of the ballots at the end of the E-Day. The amended Electoral Code provides also for the publication of the signed voters lists after the elections, since the accuracy of the voters’ lists and voter impersonation were among the long-standing challenges of the electoral management in Armenia.
In addition to the new technologies, the Congress observers were able to assess the quality of the election administration at the level of the Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) whose members, including the IT specialists in charge of processing the VADs, all received training by the Central Election Commission which was overall positively evaluated. In general, the Election Day was calm and orderly in Yerevan, with the exception of some incidents which were reported to the Congress’ members and include also allegations of vote-buying and double-voting.
“The amended Electoral Code and the new technical measures have certainly improved the situation inside the polling stations. However, there is further democratic consolidation needed also outside. As it was the case during the 2 April Parliamentary elections, also during the Yerevan elections our delegation heard allegations of vote-buying and bribes as a systemic problem in Armenia. In addition, there is the issue of pressure on public service employees and misuse of administrative resources. In the majority of places visited by our observers on Sunday there were groups of people loitering around outside the polling stations creating an overall atmosphere of controlled voting. This is also relevant with regard to the busses bringing groups of voters to polling stations which we have observed. All these issues need to be taken seriously by the authorities in order to increase the trust in elections and in the administration in general”, stated Congress’ Vice-President Liisa Ansala.
“The fact that on Sunday only some 40 percent of the voters participated in the Yerevan elections is an alarming sign and shows the high level of political apathy and mistrust in the political system. The improved electoral framework and the new technologies to prevent fraud on E-Day are very welcome by the Congress and have increased transparency. Nonetheless, much more needs to be done to address the root cause of apathy and frustration about politics in Armenia”, Liisa Ansala concluded.
Further to the electoral assessment mission of the Congress, a report will be prepared and discussed at the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee on 27 June 2017 in Kharkiv (Ukraine).
US soldier Chelsea Manning has been released from prison after serving seven years for leaking thousands of diplomatic cables and military files to Wikileaks, the BBC reports.
She has left Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas.
Most of what remained of her 35-year sentence was commuted by then-US President Barack Obama in January.
Her lawyer earlier said she was excited but likely “anxious”.
“She’s ready to finally be able to live as the woman that she is,” Nancy Hollander told the BBC. The 29-year-old soldier was born Bradley Manning.
Chelsea Manning was convicted of 20 charges in connection with the leaks, including espionage. She was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy.
She defended the leaking by saying she had wanted to spark a public debate in the US about the role of the military and US foreign policy, but later apologised for “hurting the US”, saying she had mistakenly believed she could “change the world for the better”.
Chelsea Manning will remain on active army duty while her military court conviction remains under appeal. She will have healthcare benefits but will be unpaid, the army says.
If the appeal is denied, she could be dishonourably discharged from the army, US media say.
Nikol Pashinyan will head Yelk bloc’s parliamentary faction, the bloc said in a statement today.
Gevorg Gorgisyan will be the secretary of the faction.
The National Assembly of 6th convocation is expected to convene its first session on May 18.
Four political forces will be represented in the Parliament –Republican Party of Armenia, Tsarukyan alliance, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun and Yelk bloc.
The Manchester United Legends will be back in action this summer with a trip to Barcelona to take on the Catalan giants, according to Man United’s official website.
The charity clash at the Nou Camp takes place on Friday 30 June, kicking off at 19:00 local time, and is sure to bring back plenty of memories for both sets of players.
“Barcelona is a special place to go and play,” commented ex-Reds star Paul Scholes. “I had some great nights there but also had some difficult nights there to be honest with you.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be nice to spend a weekend with the other players and the football is always the key part of it but I’ll tell you after the game if it’s enjoyable or not!”
Scholes is likely to be joined by former colleagues such as Jesper Blomqvist, Ronny Johnsen and Dwight Yorke in the showpiece occasion. Barcelona will be coached by Jose Mari Bakero and could include Miguel Angel Nadal, Ludovic Giuly and Juliano Belletti in their line-up.