Tuesday, July 4, 2017 Sarkisian Praises Armenia's `Strong' Ties With U.S. July 4, 2017 . Emil Danielyan Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills plant a tree at the U.S. Embassy compound in Yerevan, 4Jul2017. President Serzh Sarkisian praised Armenia's "strong partnership" with the United States on Tuesday when he congratulated his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on America's Independence Day. "Today we can unmistakably state that in the past quarter of a century, together we have succeeded in building a close and strong partnership between our nations anchored in mutual respect and trust," Sarkisian said in a congratulatory message to Trump. He expressed hope that the two countries will "enrich the agenda of Armenian-American relations with new mutually beneficial initiatives and projects." He again thanked the U.S. for its economic assistance provided to Armenia since the early 1990s and praised Washington's role in international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Throughout his nine-year rule, Sarkisian has sought closer ties with the United States, including in the area of defense, while maintaining Armenia's political and military alliance with Russia. He has repeatedly stated in recent years that U.S.-Armenian relations are now closer than ever before. He expressed confidence in November that they will "continue to develop dynamically" during Trump's presidency. The Armenian leader on Tuesday also visited the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan and met U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills on the occasion. The two men planted an apricot tree in the sprawling embassy compound symbolizing the U.S. independence anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-Armenian diplomatic ties. "We hope our relationship will grow even stronger, and we are especially keen to further deepen our trade and investment ties," Sarkisian's press office quoted Mills as saying. Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian speaks at an Independence Day reception hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, 30Jun2017. On Friday, the U.S. mission hosted an annual Independence Day reception attended by hundreds of Armenian dignitaries, including Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and several members of his cabinet. In a speech delivered at the event, Karapetian described Yerevan's relationship with Washington as "very good, businesslike, honest and sincere." "I am very happy with it and ready to continue it," he said. Karapetian also said he hopes the two governments will work together to attract more U.S. investments in the Armenian economy. Mills spoke in February of "considerable progress" in bilateral commercial ties, pointing to multimillion-dollar U.S. investments in Armenia's energy and mining sectors. Those include a $250 million acquisition of Armenia's largest hydroelectric complex. Another private company headquartered in the U.S. state of Colorado began building last year a gold mine that will significantly increase Armenian exports of gold. Mills said last month that the South Caucasus state can attract billions of dollars in investments from U.S. energy companies if it liberalizes its energy sector. According to Armenian government data, Armenia's trade with the U.S. rose by over 32 percent to $60 million in the first five months of this year. The figure is equivalent to around 3 percent of Armenia's overall foreign trade in that period. Armenian Government To Tap Vital Lake For Emergency Irrigation July 4, 2017 . Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Lake Sevan. Ignoring serious concerns voiced by environmentalists, the Armenian parliament allowed the government on Tuesday to significantly increase this year the amount of water from Lake Sevan used for irrigation. The vast mountainous lake, which is vital for Armenia's entire ecosystem, is a key source of irrigation water supplied to the fruit-growing Ararat Valley west and south of Yerevan through the Hrazdan river flowing out of it. It also fuels the country's second most important hydroelectric complex built along the river in Soviet times. An Armenian law allows the government to use no more than 170 million cubic meters of Sevan's water annually for irrigation and power generation purposes. The government asked the National Assembly to raise that cap by 100 million cubic meters for the current irrigation season, citing decreased rainfall in 2017. Presenting a relevant bill to lawmakers, the head of the State Committee on Water Resources, Arsen Harutiunian, said that around 130,000 farmers are now risking serious water shortages that could have devastating consequences for their crops. Armenia's leading environment protection groups are strongly opposed to the urgent measure sought by the government. They say that it would reverse a more than decade-long rise in Sevan's water level seen as critical for saving its endangered ecosystem. Armenia - A sailboat on Lake Sevan. Significantly, the Armenian Ministry of Environment Protection has added its voice to these concerns, formally objecting to the proposed additional use of the lake's water. It estimates that Sevan's level would fall by 8 centimeters as a result. "[The government plans] will have an impact on the ecosystem," admitted Harutiunian. "But the problem which we are highlighting is much more important," he said, referring to the struggling agricultural sector. Harutiunian also argued that Sevan's level rose by 16 centimeters in 2015 and another 18 centimeters last year mainly because of water pumped into the lake from other rivers through two underground canals. The lake will therefore have more water than it did in 2016 even after the emergency irrigation supply, the official said before the parliament approved the bill in the first reading. Only three deputies, all of them representing the opposition Yelk alliance, voted against the measure. One of them, Lena Nazarian, said that instead of seeking a heavier use of Sevan's water the government should have cut back on a continuing waste of irrigation water. She said that the irrigation networks remain highly inefficient despite large amounts of budgetary funds that have been allocated in recent years for their rehabilitation. Harutiunian acknowledged that as much as 55 percent of irrigation water is lost before reaching farmers. Defendants, Lawyers Sanctioned During High-Profile Trial July 4, 2017 . Karlen Aslanian Armenia - Zhirayr Sefilian, an arrested opposition figure, greets supporters during is trial in Yerevan, 13Jun2017. The tense trial of Zhirayr Sefilian, a radical opposition figure, and six other men accused of plotting an armed revolt against the Armenian government continued on Tuesday in the absence of most defendants and their lawyers. Sefilian, who leads the Founding Parliament opposition movement, was arrested in June 2016 for allegedly forming an armed group to seize government buildings in Yerevan. He denies the charges as politically motivated. Sefilian and the six other suspects also kept under arrest went on trial in late May. The several court hearings on the case held to date have been marred by tense verbal exchanges between defendants and their attorneys and the presiding judge, Tatevik Grigorian. At the previous hearing held last week Grigorian ordered Sefilian's and three other defendants' removal from the courtroom for contempt of court. Their lawyers walked out of the courtroom in protest. Grigorian told them on Tuesday that their lawyers will be disqualified from the trial because of their failure to attend its last three sessions. She said they must therefore hire new lawyers or be represented by state-appointed attorneys. "I won't abandon my lawyers," responded Sefilian. "Keep your lawyers for yourself," he said before being again taken away by law-enforcement officers. "The court has no right to appoint my lawyer," said Gevorg Safarian, another arrested Founding Parliament member. "I won't authorize any other lawyer to act on my behalf." The 30-year-old judge eventually ruled that Sefilian and another defendant, Nerses Poghosian, will be represented by other attorneys picked by them. The two other defendants, she said, will get public defenders against their will. Two lawyers walked out of the courtroom after bitterly arguing with the judge afterwards. "They want to silence us and stop us from decrying abuses committed in the courtroom," one of them, Ara Papikian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Sefilian's arrest came less than one month before three dozen armed men affiliated with Founding Parliament seized a police station in Yerevan. The gunmen demanded that President Serzh Sarkisian free their leader and step down. They surrendered to law-enforcement authorities following a two-week standoff which left three police officers dead. Press Review July 4, 2017 Speaking to "168 Zham," Arthur Martirosian, a Boston-based Armenian analyst, insists that Armenia's deepening relations with the European Union "does not contradict Russian interests in any way." He says that any Russian attempt to impede those ties would only whip up anti-Russian sentiment in the country. Russia should therefore take a "neutral stance" on the EU-Armenia framework agreement which is due to be signed in November, he says. "Anything that does not threaten its interests and benefits its strategic partner and ally should be approved by Moscow," adds Martirosian. "Aravot" says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's criticism of the EU's Eastern Partnership program raised more questions about Russian reaction to the upcoming EU-Armenia deal. "It remains unclear what kind of an agreement it is and what consequences it should have for Armenia in relation to our strategic ally," writes the paper. It dismisses the Russian concerns over the Eastern Partnership. "Zhoghovurd" is unconvinced by the Armenian government's pledge to considerably cut poverty and raise the national minimum wage in the next five years. "On the contrary, the experience of the previous governments shows that [government] programs remain on paper and the same fate most probably awaits this program," predicts the paper. "They could come up with dozens of excuses such as ups and downs of the global or Russian economy." Citing official statistics, "Haykakan Zhamanak" reports that real estate prices in Armenia went down sharply in May. In particular, the paper says, they hit a five-year low in Yerevan. It says that this trend is fraught with additional lending risks for Armenian commercial banks, which often use private apartments and houses as loan collaterals. (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