Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Armenia Voices Solidarity With Iran After Tehran Attacks (UPDATED) Iran -- A woman is evacuated during an attack on the Iranian parliament in central Tehran, June 7, 2017 Armenia expressed solidarity with neighboring Iran on Wednesday as it rushed to condemn deadly attacks on the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's shrine in Tehran that were claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS). "We strongly condemn attacks at Iran's Parliament and Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini," Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a statement posted on his ministry's Twitter page. "In solidarity with people of Iran." Armenia's President Serzh Sarkisian and parliament speaker Arar Babloyan were also quick to condemn the attacks in letters of condolence sent to their Iranian counterparts. "Attaching importance to security and stability in the neighboring and friendly country, I am confident that the Iranian authorities are taking all necessary measures to prevent such actions," Sarkisian wrote to President Hassan Rouhani. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that two security guards were killed and more than 30 other people wounded in the twin attacks. Other reports said later in the day that as many as 12 people were killed. At least three attackers raided Khomeini's mausoleum in southern Tehran and shot at visitors to the shrine, Iranian media said. One assailant detonated a suicide vest, another was killed by security forces, and the rest of the attackers were arrested, Tehran Governor Hossein Hashemi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB. Iran -- Security forces outside the Iranian parliament building attacked by gunmen, 7Jun2017. The extremist Sunni group IS claimed responsibility for the twin attacks in the capital of predominantly Shi'ite Iran, according to the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency. Armenia's Embassy in Iran urged Armenian nationals to stay away from the scenes of the violence as well as Tehran's underground system, markets and other crowed places. "The Embassy is monitoring the course of events," it said in a statement. "Additional information will be provided if necessary." Armenia has long maintained close relations with Iran, one of the landlocked South Caucasus state's two commercial conduits to the outside world. Sarkisian expressed confidence that bilateral ties will deepen "in all areas" when he congratulated Rouhani on winning a second term in a presidential election held last month. Ruling Party Warns Ohanian . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - Vahram Baghdasarian, the parliamentary leader of the ruling Republican Party, speaks at a news briefing in Yerevan, 5Feb2016. The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Wednesday warned former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and his opposition allies against seeking a violent overthrow of the government. Ohanian said on Tuesday that his ORO alliance and other opposition groups must be prepared for "developments outside the parliament that could lead to a force majeure situation." He seemed to allude to the possibility of future anti-government protests in Yerevan. Commenting on those remarks, Vahram Baghdasarian, the HHK's parliamentary leader, said: "We are ready for cooperation with the healthy opposition, whether parliamentary or extraparliamentary, if they come up with proposals on development of the state. But if they have different objectives -- to achieve something through a rebellion or a revolution -- the [April 2 parliamentary] elections showed what they can achieve." "No state, especially the one faced with such an external political situation, will allow internal political upheavals," Baghdasarian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Frankly, if I had no respect for that person I would not comment [on his statements,]" he said. "But we have worked together and pursued the same goals with that person for many years. Therefore, I will just say: let's wait for political developments." According to the Central of Election Commission (CEC), the ORO bloc co-headed by Ohanian, Vartan Oskanian and Raffi Hovannisian polled only 2 percent of the vote and failed to win any seats in Armenia's new parliament. The bloc rejected the official vote results as fraudulent. Ohanian insisted on Tuesday that the elections were rigged. Baghdasarian dismissed the claim as an excuse for ORO's poor election performance. He said the fact that this and other opposition groups refrained from staging post-election street protests means that "everyone agrees with the election results." The United States and the European Union gave largely positive assessments of the conduct of the legislative polls, while expressing concern at "credible information about vote-buying and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies" reported by Western observers. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said through a spokesperson on April 4 that the official vote results "reflect the overall will of the Armenian people." Dashnak Lawmaker Protests Against Corruption Whistleblowing . Tatevik Lazarian Armenia - A session of the National Assembly in Yerevan, 30May2017. A parliament deputy representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), President Serzh Sarkisian's junior coalition partner, denounced on Wednesday a government proposal to encourage Armenians to report instances of corruption known to them. Andranik Karapetian claimed that this kind of whistleblowing runs counter to Armenian values and traditions. "European values are not always compatible with Armenian values," he said. The proposal is part of a package of anti-corruption government bills which the recently elected National Assembly began debating on Wednesday. They call for the creation of a new body tasked with preventing and exposing corrupt practices among various state officials. The body would scrutinize their asset and income declarations with the aim of detecting their possible illegal self-enrichment. The government also wants the anti-graft commission to put in place an online platform for anonymous corruption reports from citizens, including those employed by government, law-enforcement and judicial bodies. The five commission members to be appointed by the parliament would have to look into those allegations. "The institution of whistleblowers does not befit us, Armenians," declared Karapetian. "When I was reading this bill yesterday the first thing that crossed my mind was that is an institution of, to use the popular language, ratting on others." The 34-year-old lawmaker claimed that the practice would not only contradict his idea of "Armenianness" but also spread mistrust between co-workers in the country. "Let us rat on each other," he said. "Let us go to work and not dare to look each other in the eyes, suspecting that we could rat on each other." The remarks were criticized by Mane Tandilian, a deputy from the opposition Yelk alliance. "I believe that on the contrary it is un-Armenian to speak of people who can be whistleblowers in the fight against corruption as informers and to claim that this is un-Armenian," she said. It was not immediately clear whether Karapetian's view reflects the Dashnaktsutyun leadership's position. The party holds 7 seats in the 105-member parliament and is represented in the government by three ministers. More Protests Against Village Consolidation In Armenia . Anush Muradian Armenia - Protesting villagers in Gegharkunik province speak to RFE/RL, 7Jun2017. Residents of about two dozen small villages in Armenia's eastern Gegharkunik province blocked a local highway on Wednesday in protest against government plans to merge them into larger communities. The Armenian government embarked on the mergers over a year ago, saying that they will improve governance in the affected communities and make budgetary spending on them more efficient. It also promised that Armenia's Western donor supporting the process will provide them with financial aid. The government met with strong resistance from some of the first 140 villages that were incorporated into 18 administrative units later in 2016. Their residents believe that the consolidated local governments will be less accountable and responsive to them. Despite the controversy, the government continued the process this year. A bill submitted by it to the Armenian parliament this month would turn 328 other villages into 34 communities. "We are against such a consolidation," said one of the several hundred residents of the affected Gegharkunik villages who occupied a section of the highway passing through the nearby town of Vartenis. He and other protesters said it would hurt their mountainous communities, many of them populated by former Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan. Armenia - Protesting villagers block a road in Gegharkunik province, 7Jun2017. The protesting villagers also complained that the government did not consult with them before going ahead with the measure. Gegharkunik's deputy governor, Andranik Hakobian, countered that Minister for Local Government Davit Lokian recently met the mayors of their villages and discussed the issue with them. "The village chiefs should have organized discussions [with villagers,]" he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Hakobian also stood by government assurances that the administrative restructuring will translate into infrastructure upgrades and better public services. The villagers remained unconvinced, however. "We want our message to reach the president," one of them told a deputy chief of the regional police department, Tigran Petrosian, who arrived at the scene. The protesters agreed to unblock the road only two hours later, after government officials told them through Petrosian to send a delegation of their representatives to Yerevan. The delegation met with aides to Lokian and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian later in the day. The talks proved fruitless, with representatives of the villagers saying that the government officials rejected their demands. They said they will again shut down the Vartenis highway on Thursday. Press Review "Zhamanak" reacts to President Serzh Sarkisian's public assurances that he has no disagreements with Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and that the latter "has no reason to resign." The paper suggests that the assurances may have been primarily addressed to Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian (no relation), who is a strong backer of the premier. It notes that the president made the comments the day after attending the inauguration of a new university facility in Yerevan that was donated by the tycoon. In any case, it says, his statement boosted Karen Karapetian's shaky positions in the government. "Hayots Ashkhar" says that contrary some observers' predictions, Gagik Tsarukian's Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) has failed to pose a serious threat to Sarkisian and the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) since it was set up over a decade ago. "True, the BHK continues to be considered the second strongest political force, but it cannot have greater ambitions," argues the paper. "Haykakan Zhamanak" claims that the government's biggest hope for economic betterment in Armenia is not greater exports or investments but an increase in cash remittances from Armenian migrant workers abroad and a higher price of copper in the world markets. The paper says that even $850 million in investments promised by Karapetian for this year cannot improve the socioeconomic situation in the country as rapidly as the remittances could. (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org