On June 16, 1983, ASALA carried out one of its most famous operations, the “Hakob Hakobyan” operation. As part of the operation, an attack is being carried out in the market of Istanbul. ASALA fighter Mkrtich Mataryan was martyred by a bomb explosion.

As a result of the operation, 3 people were killed and 22 were injured. Days later, on June 23, 1983, the US Central Intelligence Agency publishes a report in which, among a number of global terrorist events, it also presents the actions that took place in Istanbul.

Terrorism Review, June 23, 1983, N GI TR 83-013, Secret.

US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): Office of Global Issues (OGI).

On June 16, 1983, the terrorist killed two and injured 23 people as a result of an attack with a grenade and a machine gun in the market of Istanbul. A person who called the Agence France-Presse (AFP) agency in Paris attributed the responsibility to the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).

This would be ASALA’s first attack in Turkey since the Ankara airport attack in August last year. In our assessment, the Istanbul attack is revenge by the Turkish authorities for the execution of an ASALA member who was arrested during the ASALA attack last August.” (See: TERRORISM REVIEW):

 

In addition to presenting the Istanbul operation, the CIA devotes a large chapter to ASALA in its secret report, where it presents the organization, recent events, and also gives a political assessment.

Below we present that chapter included in the report in its entirety.

«Radical Armenian groups create a new political organization

The groups that provided support to the Armenian radical terrorists have united in a new political organization. According to “Armenian Reporter”, “Democratic Front” was created during the conference of Armenian radical groups from USA, Canada and Europe in Los Angeles in April.

This organization includes the British and Canadian People’s Movements of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), as well as the Armenian National Movement operating in France, which is often called “Combat Armenien”. The conference statement claimed that traditional, nationalist Armenian political parties had failed to advance the Armenian cause effectively, and declared that the only way to “liberate” Armenian territories was through popular, armed struggle.

 

The “Democratic Front” has declared that it is independent of any existing group or political party. We hypothesize that one of the reasons for the realignment of these radical support groups was, in part, their isolation from the activities of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). ASALA’s leadership expelled French, British and Canadian support groups in December 1982, following deepening divisions between the terrorist core and popular movements. The latter provided some support to ASALA.

We hypothesize that these support groups may have refused to support ASALA’s erratic and indiscriminate bombing campaigns, preferring to improve the international image of Armenia, which had been damaged by terrorism, and achieve this goal through more moderate political activity.

We also note that in the May-June issue of the Hayastan Kaytzer periodical, it was mentioned that the “Democratic Front” stopped its unconditional support to ASALA. The new organization will probably try to create a broad political base in order to support the Armenian struggle for the homeland.

Longstanding close ties with the Palestinians appear to have encouraged Armenians to emulate the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) use of political organizations as a means of bolstering its legitimacy as a representative of the Palestinian people.

We note the efforts of the most powerful Armenian political organization, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (also known as the Dashnaktsutyun Party), to return to the Socialist International and establish closer relations with socialist parties in order to gain support for the Armenian cause.

The Second Armenian International Congress, scheduled to be held on July 20-24, 1983 in Lausanne, Switzerland, plans to draft a constitution for a permanent organization to govern the Armenian diaspora. Although the fledgling Democratic Front appears to have rejected terrorism, we speculate that its success as a political force may affect its future relationship with ASALA, which lacks a pillar of political support.

The five terrorist attacks carried out by ASALA after abandoning its support groups show that it can operate on its own. However, we believe that ASALA can be seen as a valuable ally.” (Ibid.).

The Istanbul operation not only became one of the most famous episodes of ASALA’s activity, but also refocused the attention of international structures on the organization’s strategy, structure and external relations. The CIA report shows that during that period, ASALA was gradually losing some of its former political support while continuing the path of armed struggle and trying to maintain its influence in Armenian radical circles.

Z. Sh:i was late

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Andranik Harutyunov, member of the board of the Association of Real Estate Agencies After analyzing the statistics of the State Cadastre Committee for the last period, he says that there is a dynamic growth in the primary real estate market, both in Yerevan and in the regions.

“One of the circumstances here is that the developers and banks with various financial institutions managed to find such mechanisms, in which case the buyers are offered products with installments, phased payments, not mortgages, which are without bank interest.

For example, we have many developer partners who offer the purchase of an apartment with a 5-10 year installment payment option. This tool has had a very good effect on the real estate market, for example, the activity in the primary market has increased. The activity in the primary market has increased a lot in the marzes, because this year is the last year when the law on the return of income tax is in force and will be withdrawn in the case of the marzes adjacent to Yerevan. 168.am–Andranik Harutyunov said in a conversation with , talking about the processes and trends taking place in the real estate market.

According to our interlocutor, those citizens who planned to buy property even next year are trying to buy an apartment this year with a mortgage, which is already subsidized by the state, because they get the interest back in the form of income tax.

“Let’s take into account that now there is a big trend, for example, in the secondary market, where there are apartments and other areas for sale, they are mostly bought by Armenians living in Russia. It is obvious that there is a bit of a war situation there, there are financial and logistical problems. Many Armenians from Russia come to Armenia and buy real estate.

At the moment, our company is mainly active in the primary market, and there is an increase in our buyers from our compatriots coming from Russia, who want to purchase real estate in Armenia,” Andranik Harutyunov added.

Regarding the trends in the rental market, our interlocutor said that now is the tourist season, and in this season, apart from hotels, properties that people have bought for investment purposes are being rented out, especially for daily rent. If in the past real estate was handed over mainly in the Center, in particular in Arabkir, now there is this movement in almost all parts of the capital.

Andranik Harutyunov answered the question: are there certain statistics that foreigners buy a lot of real estate in Armenia, that foreigners make up a small percentage in statistics.

“Some of our compatriots have 2 or 3 citizenships, we will see in the statistics of the Cadastre Committee that, for example, 50 Russian citizens or Italian citizens alienated an apartment in Armenia this year, most of them are Armenians who also have the citizenship of another country. Unfortunately, our real estate market is not the same as in Georgia or other developed countries, which brand their market in order to bring a flow of investors from international markets to their market, to bring money to their state. We do not have this at the moment, but we all want to make our market more international.

The higher the demand for real estate, the higher the prices, and this is true in any market. If I’m not mistaken, even the Central Bank noted risks in its last year’s report, but this year the opposite happened, the number of transactions was more than last year, and interest is increasing every year. There are several features that we have a diaspora outside of the population living in our state, and they are very connected to Armenia,” our interlocutor mentioned and reminded the return of Syrian Armenians to Armenia during the war caught in Syria, some of whom bought real estate in Armenia.

The same process is taking place due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

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Ara Zaryani, a rehabilitative architect within the framework of the “People” program we talked with the author of the book “Fortresses of the World of Syunyants”, St. About the fixing and cleaning of the mural painting (13th century) in the upper part of the entrance of the Astvatsatsin Church.

– Recently, the book “Fortresses of the World of Syunyan” was published, which summarizes your work done in your youth. How did you finally decide to bring it to life?

– After I graduated from the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute, on the advice of my father, I entered the post-graduate course of the History and Theory of Architecture Department of the Art Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. I had to choose a topic, my father insisted that I deal with the fortresses of the Syunyat world, because there were very few studies.

I knew that going to fortresses is not a joke. You have to go down somewhere and then climb, especially since at that time many forts had no paths and were not accessible at all. Fortresses are generally impregnable, defensive buildings and mostly use rocks, and you can climb from some places, and some parts are inaccessible.

During three years, I visited different regions of Syunik and collected a lot of material. I passed the minimums, all that was left was to collect the text, drawings, schemes, and present them to get the title, but that was actually the end of my study, because the USSR collapsed, before that there was an earthquake, and then the first Artsakh war. I lost my job because the institution, the Monuments Preservation Department, was dissolved, and since I was in the Armenian-Italian study group with my father, we were studying architecture, so it turned out that the center for the study and documentation of Armenian culture moved from Milan to Venice, I got a job offer and moved.

That’s how the years passed. Then, quite by chance, when I was bringing a group of Italians to Armenia, I met Christine Lamoureux, a Belgian fresco restoration specialist. We went to Vorotnavank, where there were traces of frescoes, and he offered to restore them. And a new world of murals opened up for me. When he found out that I was working on fortresses, he told me to show him, and again I had the desire to summarize everything I had collected. I decided to finish my post-graduate studies, but don’t tell me, they don’t even apply to the Art Institute of the National Academy of Sciences, everything has been transferred to YSU. It turned out that I have to enroll in graduate school again, take exams, go to classes, pay, I said, thank you very much, it doesn’t make sense at my age, I will summarize my work.

– Since your father, architect Armen Zaryan, advised you to deal with Syunik fortresses, why did he focus on Syunik?

– There were materials, documentaries, but there was no complete study. Dad wanted me to collect the materials and make a book. Of course, it is not a 100 percent job, I did this alone, but it is a huge area, from the Sevan Basin to Meghri, a part of Artsakh and Nakhichevan. The importance of the work is that all the material has been collected, on the basis of which studies should be continued.

When you go, you find with historical data that there was such and such a defense structure next to such and such a settlement, but you don’t have satellite photos, they didn’t do archeological excavations, they didn’t find objects to explain the history.

For the second year, Baghaberd has been excavated and many interesting things have been found. Studies have also been started in Berdkunk, and all this should be filled in this book. Now there are drones that do excellent measurements. And I did everything by hand at that time.

– How are the fortresses of Syunik different from the fortresses of other regions of Armenia?

– The question is good, but it is impossible to answer 100 percent. For example, the fortresses of Cilicia have not been excavated, but they are well preserved. Robert Edwards in 1970 published a large book. He himself measured by hand, but he measured much better preserved castles, so you can talk about the technical nature of the structures of the fortress building schools of Cilician castles, how they processed the stone, how they chose the place for the castle, but in my case it was like this: I saw the stones, I was measuring them, I understood that they are a part of the castle, but the rest is not visible, it must be excavated.

Excavating is an expensive pleasure. A benefactor will be found to build or restore a new church, but I don’t think there will be one to excavate the castle, because that is a completely different way of thinking. State funds are being invested, excavations are being made, but it will take a long time until we get the correct answer to your question.

– Is there a fortress that surprised you?

– Baghaberd. It is a wonderful castle and, fortunately, it is well preserved. And why is it well preserved, because we had the kingdom of Kapan? 970-1120 there was a kingdom in Syunik. It’s not a joke. It was a fortified area. Baghaberd formed the main military defense link through which Syunik was defended. It was the guardian fortress. And when the Mongols came and destroyed Kapan, the kingdom moved all its possessions to Baghaberd.

In other words, they choose a fortress that was already part of the defense system. Now they are excavating, and I expect that they will find things. For example, Stepanos Orbelyan says: when Kapan fell, 11,000 manuscripts were moved from there to Baghaberd Castle. They seized it, burned it, but didn’t they keep and hide some part? It is on a rock, and from a military point of view, the place is very interestingly chosen.

– Your book will help many specialists, starting with archaeologists, but who or what helped you then, what kind of difficulties did you face or find yourself in adventurous situations?

– There were some adventurous situations in the beginning, but they helped when measuring, because someone had to be there to hold the meter, to measure and write. By the way, I put a big map in the book. when I went on a hike and came back, I marked it on the map. In the end, it turned out that there are 112 castle locations and names. Everything is there, you just have to go and explore the place little by little. They have to form a group, go and check it.

– Did you talk to the residents?

– Definitely, I especially asked the children, sometimes they accompanied me and showed me the places.

– What was the attitude towards monuments then and how is it today?

– During the USSR, there was no problem of funds. It was an atheistic country and the churches were considered as historical monuments, not the house of God. The money was there, but the goal was different. If the monument was destroyed or not well preserved, they had to rebuild it. Now the nature has changed. going, we are rebuilding our temple, the house of God.

For example, a benefactor appears and says: I want to restore this church. You look at the church and say, “Okay, but it doesn’t have that much material, stone, that you want to restore.” But the money is there. However, if the material is not available, it should not be restored, it should be conserved. The canning culture is very developed in Italy.

It is a good thing that the Zvartnots Cathedral was not rebuilt, instead it was conserved in European style.

– To restore our fortresses, there is a need for restoration architects. Are you included in those works?

– No, because we have to follow the excavations, I am not physically in Armenia either, but there are good architects with whom I am in contact. For example, next year I have to go to Baghaberd to see the new works. I participate from a distance, in a consultative manner.

– Let’s also talk about the mural restoration works in Harichivank, as well as how you go and find the churches where the murals need restoration.

– The richest and most important material is located in the vaults of the History Museum of Armenia, which Lidya Durnovo made. He was a specialist in icons. He was sent to Siberia for views. Then the art critic Ruben Drambyan invited her to Armenia, and it was Lydia who noticed that there are wall paintings in Armenian churches, but no one has worked with them. There is a hall of frescoes in the National Gallery and there are copies collected from different churches. That is his grace.

He went and looked, but there was no way to clean or restore it. He thinks about how it can be useful, and he found a way to preserve the mural. He taught artists how to copy a mural, and they continued after his death. They made boards, put cardboard on it, plastered it, and the artists painted with gouache.

We went to study, we compared, and there are pieces that are on the copy, but in reality are no longer there. In other words, the information is already there. He had a notebook where he described everything. And he took a piece of plaster in the match boxes to analyze. Everything is in the archive. All that material should be turned into a book and be accessible, read and understood by the restorers.

Kristin and I followed those footsteps. the frescoes are very poorly preserved and difficult to understand. One day we went to Saint John the Baptist Church in Mastara. It was a liturgy. We asked the Lord Father if there were any traces of a mural in Mastara, he answered that there had never been. We started walking around the church. there were different pieces of plaster on the walls. There was a wooden lodge where the Russian choir stood and sang. Christine had climbed up there, called one more. “Come on, come on, I found something.” He said there is a part of the mural.

I approached. Fingers were visible. We took some cotton and distilled water, cleaned the sides and saw that something was painted. We took the measurements, sent an application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, received a permit, and presented the project. We restored it, but you should see what condition the mural was in. During the Soviet period, it belonged to the Kolkhoz, everything was bleached and wheat and barley were stored. It served as a warehouse. Before whitewashing, they plastered well, using a lot of sand and a little lime, using cement. And that plaster covered the traces of frescoes (7th century). When the USSR collapses, the believers go to clean it and with whatever tool they seem to destroy that thick plaster, not knowing that there are traces of the mural.

We restored the mural and it depicted a horseman with a sword and the wind carrying the dress… it is very interesting. The head is missing. That one piece of the mural, the horse’s head and reins, remained under the log of the lodge. I said, let’s open that one step, let’s continue, but it didn’t happen that way. This was a revelation because we discovered a mural in the church that no one knew about. And in the corner of the southern half-tabern, traces of three icons came out.

– Harichivank Monastery St․ The mural of the Astvatsatsin Church? how did you find it?

– There was no historical information. It was in the dark, very badly preserved. It was under the arch and we found it 5-6 years ago. We tried to solve the problem of moisture in the roof. There are such rains and mudslides that you are afraid, you say the world has collapsed. It is raining, wind, hail at a huge speed. Harichivank is at an altitude of 1830 m. This year we were able to fix the preserved pieces of the mural, give color shades. There is something important there. There are two red lines in the lower part of the mural. the mural was about 8 square meters, now about 3 square meters have been preserved. Between the lines is a signed Armenian text in beautiful handwriting. The first and last parts have been preserved. in the first part, a cross is drawn, then there are two dots, then it is written: OZ, two dots: D. It was the turn of the century. ODZ in 1235 is. In 1201 The Church of the Virgin Mary was built by the Zakaryan brothers in 1219. the vestibule is finished, in 1235 – the frescoes. It is very interesting. there is a historical part.

– Is there one or several images?

– It is one picture. It is under the arch, the composition is moon-shaped. Virgin Mary with child. The face of the Virgin Mary has not been preserved, but the upper part of the halo and a small part of the hair are there. The baby Christ is in the arms, placed on the left knee. One hand is placed on the child’s shoulder, the other shows that the savior has come. There is also part of the side of the throne. Apparently, the archangels Michael and Gabriel should be on the right and left. A part of one hand holding an orb has been preserved, the other should hold a scepter.

– What is needed for final recovery?

– I want to restore the entire iconography with the help of artificial intelligence or artists. Show it on the spot, on the wall with spotlights, then color it and have an imaginary image of how the mural could have been in a completely preserved state. There should be a 4-5 minute show, then the lights will be turned off and what is left of the mural will remain.

– Has the mural appeared in this state over the centuries or is there a human factor?

– Both of them. The first is the climatic conditions, over the centuries, rainwater seeped through the wall, the mural fell off. Second, there were small pits of stones. We think that in the Soviet period, children played and hit with stones.

– Your grandfather, the writer Kostan Zaryan, tried to save or transform the Armenian spirit with his works. You are trying to do the same work with a stone, a mural. Can we say that you are able to honor what was assigned to you by fate?

– Apparently, it is not accidental. I followed the activities of my grandfather, Kostan Zaryan, and my father, Armen Zaryan, and inherited my love for the Motherland and culture. I tried to do what I loved. I am continuing the work that my grandfather and father have been doing all their lives.

– You saw your grandfather when he was young, and I remember you said in our previous conversation that when he was walking on Abovyan Street, everyone turned and looked at him. Was he also at home with that royal attitude, or was he changing completely?

– He always dressed neatly, because at that time he came to Armenia from the USA. He wore a bow tie, a hat, and had a cane. In that period, he was not the only one who dressed like that. When he had to work, he dressed well, his hair was always done. In general, he always followed his appearance.

I think this has been transmitted to all members of our family, we always want to be neat. How you present yourself to society matters.

– Did you talk about any topics?

– No, I was very young, and then I didn’t understand what kind of grandfather I had. When we came to Armenia from Italy, I didn’t know Armenian, I only knew Italian, and I started communicating with my grandfather in Italian. He also knew English, German, Spanish, Turkish, French, but he wrote in Armenian all his life. He wrote his main works in Armenian and for Armenians. I remember well, he helped me learn Armenian, but we communicated in Italian.

– What is the next church, mural that is in the center of your attention?

– Years pass, our enthusiasm has not faded, but to be honest, it is already difficult to climb the deck. We think that we can summarize all this work of ours. It is a documentary in our books. We consulted with an Italian specialist and decided to prepare a book related to Armenian mural painting, because we do not know if there is an Armenian mural painting, a mural school. Are the murals that we studied and preserved painted by Armenian painters or not? We don’t know about all of them yet. We know one thing. all frescoes are in Armenian churches.

– You can say that you do these jobs for free, but what do you expect in return?

– Pleasure, satisfaction, happiness. Are you happy that you are leaving something for your nation?

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According to various reports, Arusyak Julhakyan, a member of the KP board fighting for the post of NA vice-president and then secretary of the NA “Civil Agreement” faction, received around 20 million drams in income in 2025 and acquired new securities.

We learn about the “achievements” of this representative of the Civil Contract Party from the annual declaration, which we will present in more detail.

Thus, the deputy did not mention any real estate in the declaration, but in the tables of the declaration: “delivered and returned loans”, and also “the balance of principal amount of received loans and loans as of December 31 of the reporting year”, he mentioned about the developer, “Ord Development” LLC, and the purchase of an apartment and a parking lot from the apartment building under construction. The amount of the principal amount of the loan is 25 million 807,345 drams.

Arusyak Julhakyan bought 7 bonds in different currencies from “Inecobank” PJSC, “Armswissbank” PJSC, and “Armeconombank” JSC. the total value of the portfolio as of the end of the year was AMD 37,790,000.

The CP has also declared bank account balances, again in different currencies: euro, dollar, dram, the dynamics of which during the year were as follows:  1,343.51 euros increased to 3,361.06 euros at the end of the year, 1,383.04 dollars decreased to 360 dollars at the end of the year, the balances of bank accounts in drams almost doubled, from 2,632,636.31 drams to 5,282,500 drams.

According to the declaration, the MP hardly used any cash. mentioned 3000 drams at the beginning of the year and 45 thousand drams at the end of the year.

Julhakyan’s income of 19,868,730.4 drams for the reporting year of 2025 was generated from loans received from “Inecobank” CJSC – 483,800 drams, from interest received from the same bank for loans/deposits – 105,287.5 drams, from the same income received from “Armswissbank” CJSC – 3604 dollars. 1,255 euros, 1,925,000 drams, from the similar income received from “Armeconombank” OJSC: 1,314,720.1 drams, 262.58 dollars, from the income tax refund received from the Ministry of Finance of the RA: 2,253,562 drams, and also from the salary received from the RA National Assembly and/or payments equal to it, 13,503,580 drams.

During the year, the deputy of the government directed 3,120,000 drams to repay the loan.

What was declared by Avet Poghosyan, an adult living together with Arusyak Julhakyan, who after the velvet events held the position of the head of the Kentron administrative district of Yerevan, then the deputy minister of high-tech industry of the RA, and from 2024, the position of a member of the Television and Radio Commission (TRC). By the way, his candidacy for that position was nominated by the ruling “Civil Agreement” faction.

In his 2025 declaration, which he submitted on the last day of May 2026, Avet Poghosyan mentioned 2 real estates, an apartment and a parking lot in the capital, which he bought in 2024 and manages alone. This year, he also mentioned the 2019 Kia car he bought in 2023.

The balance of Poghosyan’s foreign currency bank account, 1000 USD, remained the same at the end of the year, and the dram balance increased by 200 thousand, making 1.2 million drams.

Unlike Julhakyan, he declared a fairly large amount of cash: 10,000 US dollars.

Avet Poghosyan’s income of 11,170,814 drams for the reporting year was generated from 100,000 drams of other income received from the Ministry of Finance and 2,143,018 drams from income tax refunds and 8,927,796 drams from wages and/or other payments equal to it, received from the state body of the Television and Radio Commission.

As of December 31 of the reporting year, the Commission’s balance of the principal amount of loans and borrowings was 33,630,000 drams, of which 31,730,000 drams was the subject of a mortgage, an apartment in an apartment building.

Poghosyan, who lives together with Julhakyan, spent 4,284,000 drams to pay off the loan during the year.

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Israel, under pressure from Azerbaijan, removed the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide from the Knesset agenda. As Haaretz learned, Israeli officials assured their Azerbaijani counterparts that this issue will be removed from the Knesset agenda.

An Israeli source said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally blocked the vote after a senior political adviser to the Azerbaijani president (Azerbaijani President Aliyev’s adviser Hikmet Hajiyev) contacted his office.

The source said that the Israeli government’s decision on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, which was approved last month, was not put to a vote in the Knesset due to pressure exerted by Azerbaijan on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s Cabinet of Ministers unanimously recognized the Armenian Genocide on June 28, 2026, but the subsequent Knesset vote needed to make it official state policy was dropped from the agenda under pressure from Azerbaijan. Due to Knesset holidays and the October 27 election, the issue is unlikely to be resolved in the near future, remaining more of a reversible government formula than established policy.

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“Pressing” in the program Former First Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, former Advisor to the President of the Supreme Court, “Justice through law” legal advisory of the company founder-director Grigor Muradyan: once again referring to the never-ending topic of the Constitution, he said.

“If Nikol Pashinyan was the president of the republic, in a semi-presidential or presidential system of government, how would he rule in your opinion?” Is he doing it differently than now? It is obvious, isn’t it, that he would have a majority in the parliament as well.

What is the peculiarity of the semi-presidential form of government? if the president has his own majority in the parliament (slightly simplified wording), he gets super-powerful, super-presidential powers and is practically not controlled by the parliament. In other words, an environment of complete permissiveness would be created.

It is enough to look directly at the current practice of France, where the current president, even without a parliamentary majority, still tries to dominate the legislative body. Such is the semi-presidential system. And if the president has that majority, then there are no obstacles in his way. This is in contrast to a full presidential system, where the parliament has clear control over the government, which is headed by the president himself.”

He also added that we would have a purely technical prime minister, who should be controlled by the parliament, while the president, who makes real decisions, would be out of this control. This was our previous practice and that is why we abandoned that system. Instead, we tried to introduce the model of full parliamentary control over the government, the highest body of executive power.

“Some so-called oppositionists complain about this, and I ask them the following questions.

First, if Pashinyan was the president of the republic within the framework of the semi-presidential system, what would you do?

“If you think that you would have been in power by assuming the position of Prime Minister and getting a parliamentary majority, don’t you think that the presidential elections would have been simply rigged,” said the former adviser to the President of the Constitutional Court.

He also appealed to the opposition parties dissatisfied with the existing Constitution.

“Dear oppositionists, get a constitutional majority in regular or special elections, develop your concept of amending the Constitution, change the Constitution, if, of course, you get the appropriate votes for it.
But today you second the ruling power, albeit with a different reason. Moreover, sometimes you join them with completely fictitious and even absurd justifications and become an advocate of changing the Constitution, trying to delegitimize our Mother Law, just like the ruling power is doing. You are simply repeating their steps, and here your motives have absolutely nothing to do with it. If the issue of transition to the semi-presidential system is of such central importance to you, then join the government and change the Constitution together.

Talks about that “super-prime ministerial” model are actually lies and do not correspond to reality. There is no super-prime ministerial model, there is unconstitutional governance. Yes, he made himself the super prime minister. But that does not mean that the management model is like that. Why are you talking about him passing illegal laws or violating the Constitution? Isn’t everything he is doing now written in the Mother Law? This is the problem.

Allow me to ask a few questions to those presenting such arguments. if we had a legitimate Constitutional Court, how would things be arranged in our country?

I mean such a Constitutional Court, which is guaranteed by this Constitution. Of course, the Constitutional Court in its previous composition was legitimate, but if the Constitutional Court, which was formed especially by virtue of this Constitution and gained complete independence, was preserved, would these authorities be able to establish dominance through illegalities, or, as you say, build a dictatorship? Of course not.
Then what are you complaining about? After all, these institutions were formed as a result of gross violations of the Constitution,” said Grigor Muradyan.

According to him: if we had not a sham, but a real president of the Republic, who used the powers assigned to him by the Constitution and carried out his unifying function, he could change a lot.

“Therefore, if you are against this model of governance, speak objectively, and not ascribe your imaginary ideas to the Constitution,” concluded Grigor Muradyan.

Details in the video.

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Satik Seyranyan’s “Lessons” program guest “Virtus” Law Group lawyer Yerem Sargsyan, founder and director of the law office is.

The main theses of the interview are below.

• Representatives of the state government, especially the representatives of the law enforcement system, should never be vindictive. All possible state structures, including the law enforcement system, are today focused on Gagik Tsarukyan. We all saw who started it all. If any oppositionist used 10% of Nikol Pashinyan’s vocabulary, they would have been arrested a long time ago:

• Before the elections, Nikol Pashinyan told 3 specific people, including Gagik Tsarukyan, that they would dream of leaving the country, but they would not be able to, they would not be able to. On June 8, Gagik Tsarukyan was not allowed to travel abroad without an absence ban and a court decision. This is a crime. MP candidate Gagik Tsarukyan was illegally charged without the CEC’s consent. They are working with the whole apparatus to fulfill the wishes of Nikol Pashinyan.

To remind: During the NA election campaign, in particular, on May 15, during the CP rally in Armavir, he announced in his speech that the day after the elections, after June 7, some people will dream about the possibility of escaping from Armenia and will not have that opportunity. “They will feel the taste of the Republic of Armenia for a very long time, the taste of the state will remain in their mouths for a long time. They will dream about the possibility of escaping from Armenia and they will not have that possibility,” he declared.

On May 18, he threatened Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, Samvel Karapetyan, Gagik Tsarukyan. 

“If you’re Robb, we’re going to kill you. I will make Rob, Kaluga, Gago, and Serge. me Robin I’ll take it, knee I will bring and i will kill, to Kaluga email I’ll take it and i will kill…“, he shouted hysterically.

• On June 23, the superior prosecutor makes a decision to cancel the charge and ban on absence, but Gagik Tsarukyan was not given that decision until July 5, when a new charge was brought and he was arrested. This is another crime:

• The thesis that the bearer of the information is the owner of the information should be removed from circulation and will publish it whenever he wants. It’s a crime, a legal security issue.

To remind: it specifically refers to the cases when the law enforcement officers at the “Zvartnots” international airport did not allow the second president of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, and the businessman, leader of the PAP, Gagik Tsarukyan, to leave the territory of the Republic of Armenia, allegedly due to the restrictions applied to them and the criminal proceedings initiated against them. At the airport, at the passport checkpoint, Gagik Tsarukyan and Robert Kocharyan were told that they had to clarify something, and then the National Security Service video recordings with false titles, “look, they are fleeing the country”, were distributed by the Pashinyan media, which they had no right to do. Gagik Tsarukyan had a 2-3-day visit planned in advance with the lady, for strictly personal and family purposes.

R. Kocharyan’s office, responding on June 14 Regarding Kocharyan’s exit ban, Robert Kocharyan announced earlier on his social media page that he was leaving the country on a three-day visit. “We have never provided information about the many previous visits of the President due to their private nature. However, taking into account the recent lies spread by the authorities regarding the visits of representatives of the opposition, we consider it necessary to protect the public from the expected dose of government lies.”

The NSS confirmed that Kocharyan’s personnel was provided by the structure to the government mass media, was not intended to reveal. Well, wouldn’t they say that this was done on the orders of Nikol Pashinyan? Even more so, if the mass media, in particular: Factor TV’s written request by NSS on July 3 before the answer, Pashinyan about that leak on June 18 had already announced.  “What is there? The NSS employee can decide to leak or not leak anything. What is the problem here?” In other words, the information he possesses is what he wants to leak, whether he wants to or not. What is the problem there?’ The instruction was obvious.

• When I was not allowed to enter Gagik Tsarukyan’s house, I reported the crime and called the hotline of the Human Rights Watch. After some time, my entrance to Gagik Tsarukyan’s mansion was secured. After that, the search was conducted, the arrest report was made at 19:15, while he was arrested at 7 in the morning. He was then knocked to the ground. Another crime was committed at that time. Absolutely illegal violence was used against Gagik Tsarukyan. After being attacked by several people, they dragged him by the leg, and then managed to throw him to the ground. What did they want to show with this, that the state is strong? Yes, any state with its power structures, with law enforcement agencies, is strong against the citizen, but the function of the state is to show the citizen that I am your protector both inside and outside the country. 

• We learned from the news that “Araratcement” was transferred to the state, that a manager was appointed. Or that they say that the building of the “Multi Wellness” sports and health complex was transferred to the Yerevan Municipality… I ask the Yerevan Municipality, do you have a penny on that building?

• When you destroy the rich inside, what do you think, don’t outside investors follow the news before they come here, don’t they know what’s going on here? Won’t the foreign investor think that he can come, make large investments, get a permit, build a building, set up a business, and then they say: we are nationalizing your building, we are taking away your business… Who will come and invest here after what happened with the businesses of HET and Gagik Tsarukyan?:

• Gagik Tsarukyan knew, he warned the family, he also told his elderly mother not to interfere, something like this would happen. After throwing Gagik Tsarukyan to the ground, those who threw him to the ground calmly sat next to Gagik Tsarukyan for hours and carried out the search.…

• They had no right to publish that video. We objected to publishing anything we drew at home because that too is protected by privacy. they had no right to it.

• During the search process, Ruben Rubinyan published a video in which he said that Gagik Tsarukyan must have thought that we were joking when we said that these processes would begin.․ now we do what we say. In other words, they speak for political dividends. Rubinyan clearly states: we gave the order, now we are doing it. 

• If even a small part of this situation had happened during the previous government, now all the European institutions and the whole world would be shocked by this.

• The judge in Tsarukyan’s case did not ask us any questions about the arrest, then he came and said that the arrest was legal. If you did not ask the investigator and defense attorneys a question, how did you write in your decision when the arrest took place?:

• What the court in Armenia considered fraud, the court of the 2nd instance in Iran did not consider it either fraud or embezzlement.

• If you read Judge Garik Abelyan’s decision regarding Gagik Tsarukyan, there is not even one word of the facts we mentioned for hours. Now I’m supposed to consider that a legal decision?

• The Supreme Judicial Council (SCJC) announces that the courts mostly detain those arrested for bribery during the pre-election period. BDH, what are they doing to you? Did you want to make excuses to someone, “Look, are we detaining you?”:

• They make the victim Gagik Tsarukyan the accused, the accused Iranians the victim, but they don’t want to see the facts of the real crime.

• At least you would initiate formal proceedings, for example, with the fact of the lion falling. Those animals were legally imported and documented. If you see the condition of the animals in the zoo, you will imagine that they cannot keep and feed Gagik Tsarukyan’s animals normally.

• The hotel doesn’t work, the restaurant doesn’t work, “Multi Wellness”, the cognac factory, other businesses are closed, they don’t work, they don’t produce, there is no money, how will they pay their employees… These actions directly hit the country’s economy. You are depriving people of their jobs, businesses – of their competitive opportunity. if you don’t work for an hour, you will be out of competition and it will take years to recover:

• Will they be able to operate “Araratcement”? Unfortunately, the state is a bad manager. The appointed official will not have a personal interest in that factory, he will have one for himself, no matter what happens. You have to be a good businessman to run a business like this. At least they should understand soon that they will not be able to work, as long as they have not reached bankruptcy. In that case, they will sell it to someone else.

• The prosecutor’s office allegedly presented the victims as Iranian investors to make it sound. Just ask those Iranian businessmen, have they invested 1 dram? They introduced themselves as persons connected with the state apparatus, money was invested exclusively by Gagik Tsarukyan. The Iranian side appreciated Tsarukyan’s contribution very highly. After all this, the Iranian side saw that their side committed abuses, they gave the license to another company to carry out the activity.:

• I did not ask Gagik Tsarukyan whether he was offered a deal or not, but I am sure that if he had not interfered in politics in any way, nothing would have happened to him.

• Tsarukyan is a very strong person, he understands very well what is happening, he also understands that he is currently in a penitentiary, his mood is very adequate. Gagik Tsarukyan is not broken:

• What was done was demonstrative, nothing legal was done. Made for show. It is with this that adaptation does not happen.

• We understand very well that we are dealing with a wall within the state. We understand that there is an order, and within its framework, the law is on one side, and the execution of the order is on the other side. For that, we will collect all the facts and present them to the international courts, and we will continue the struggle internally. And, yes, this cannot go on forever. There must be an unrelenting struggle against the encroachment on the rights of every human being. It cannot be decided from above who is right and who is wrong, and only punchers can be below.

• In the middle of the day, the PAP was deprived of its mandates, and they say that there is a decision of the Constitutional Court. How was it that before the decisions of the Constitutional Court were not acceptable, now they are acceptable?:

Details in the video.

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