Wednesday, July 19, 2017 Karabakh Leader Reelected July 19, 2017 . Hovannes Movsisian Czech Republic - Karabakh President Bako Sahakian gives an interview to RFE/RL's Armenian service in Prague, 12Jun2016. Lawmakers in Nagorno-Karabakh voted on Wednesday to extend the decade-long rule of its president, Bako Sahakian, by three years, a move criticized by his political opponents. Sahakian, 56, was reelected at the end of his second five-year term in office. He was not allowed to stay in power longer before Karabakh enacted a new constitution in a referendum held in February. The new constitution calls for the Armenian-populated region's transition by 2020 to a fully presidential system of government which will lead to the abolition of the post of prime minister. The authorities in Stepanakert say this change will put Karabakh in a better position to cope with the unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan. Their opponents maintain, however, Sahakian is simply keen to cling to power. Karabakh will be governed by an interim president until 2020. Sahakian's candidacy for that post was backed by 28 of the 33 members of the local parliament representing three political parties allied to him. His sole challenger, former Stepanakert Mayor Eduard Aghabekian, got four votes. Addressing the legislature before the vote, Sahakian said that Karabakh will need continued "stability" during the three-year transition period. He also defended his track record, saying that his administration has strengthened democracy and sped up economic growth in the last ten years. By contrast, Aghabekian made a case for a leadership change in Stepanakert, saying that countries stagnate when they are ruled by the same person or government for too long. The opposition candidate, who leads a party called Movement-88, also said that the current authorities have for years ignored his calls for strengthening the Karabakh Armenian military in the face of a growing military threat from Azerbaijan. Accordingly, he criticized their handling of the April 2016 heavy fighting with Azerbaijani forces. Sahakian countered that Azerbaijani offensives launched at two sections of the Karabakh "line of contact" last year failed to achieve their main objectives. He also said that the Karabakh government is now addressing "problems" exposed by the four-day hostilities and will continue to strengthen Karabakh's armed forces. Incidentally, Sahakian met with Armenia's Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian in Stepanakert on Monday. His press office said that they discussed "issues related to army building and cooperation between the two Armenian states in this sphere." Yerevan Market Bulldozed To Make Way For Luxury Properties July 19, 2017 . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia -- The Table-top Sale in Firdousi street in downtown Yerevan in beeing demolished. 19July, 2017 Authorities in Yerevan began demolishing an open-air market on Wednesday as part of a planned redevelopment of a surrounding old neighborhood in the city center strongly resisted by local residents and traders. The market located just a few hundred meters from Yerevan's central Republic Square has functioned since the early 1990s. Hundreds of people have sold cheap clothing and other consumer goods on the narrow Firdousi Street that cuts through the neighborhood made up of mostly old houses. In 2007, the Armenian government allowed a private company to tear down the entire area and construct expensive office and apartment buildings there. The ensuing global financial crisis, which hit Armenia's construction sector particularly hard, put those plans on hold. And the company called Glendale Hills went bankrupt two years ago. Last year, the Yerevan Mayor's Office announced that another private developer is now interested in the project and began preparations for the demolitions, sparking street protests from the owners of several dozen local houses. Market traders also joined the protests, saying that the municipality is depriving them of their livelihood. The municipality offered the traders commercial space in other markets in Yerevan. Most of them rejected that offer, saying that they would have to pay higher rent and earn less revenue. Municipality officials and workers sent by the still unknown developer met with fierce resistance from the traders on Wednesday morning when they arrived at the Firdousi Street market to start the demolitions. They overcame the resistance only after bringing in heavy machinery. The traders protested angrily as their market stalls and small warehouses were bulldozed in the following hours. "Thank you for leaving our children's parents without work," cried one woman. The Firdousi Street houses have been spared demolition for the time being. Their owners fear that the authorities are preparing the ground for forcing them to sell their homes at a fraction of their market value."They are getting to us step by step," one of them told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Some locals also complained that representatives of the construction company have still not visited them to discuss the amount of compensations that could be paid to them. The municipality has not even disclosed the company's name so far. Later on Wednesday, Armenia's human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, asked the municipality to suspend the demolitions until the traders are relocated to other markets. Opposition Gunmen's Trial Still In Turmoil July 19, 2017 . Naira Bulghadarian Armenia - A chaotic scene at the trial of arrested radical opposition members in Yerevan, 28Jun2017. The trial of the key members of an armed opposition that seized a police station in Yerevan last year remained effectively paralyzed on Wednesday by continuing wrangling between the presiding judge and defense lawyers. Two of the lawyers, Arayik Papikian and Mushegh Shushanian, were unable to attend the latest court hearing in the high-profile trial after refusing to let court bailiffs check the content of their bags on security grounds. They and their colleagues say that this amounts to a search not allowed by Armenian law. The judge, Artur Gabrielian, sanctioned Papikian and Shushanian and said he will also ask Armenia's Chamber of Advocates to take disciplinary action against them for what he considers contempt of court. Three other attorneys walked out of the courtroom in protest, leading Gabrielian to again cut short the proceedings. The judge has regularly clashed with these and other lawyers for similar reasons since the start of the trial in early June. He has also barred most of the 14 defendants from the courtroom because of their refusal stand up and thus show respect for the district court. The lawyers claim that the authorities deliberately provoked the turmoil to hold the trial in their and their clients' absence. Papikian and Shushanian are already facing disciplinary proceedings launched by the Chamber of Advocates at the request of law-enforcement authorities. They stem, in part, from Shushanian's characterization of the Armenian police as an "armed gang" ready to execute "any criminal order." Adding to the tensions was the alleged beating by police officers of four of the arrested gunmen following a court hearing on June 28. Armenia's Special Investigative Service (SIS) pledged to investigate the incident condemned by local and international human rights group. The opposition group seized the police base in Yerevan's Erebuni district in June 2016. It demanded that President Serzh Sarkisian free its jailed leader Zhirayr Sefilian and step down. The gunmen laid down their arms following a two-week standoff with Armenian security forces which left three police officers dead. Russia Told To Scrap Ban On Armenian Driving Licenses July 19, 2017 . Lusine Musayelian Russia -- A road police officer blocks off the traffic on the Moscow Ring Automobile Road (MKAD) on the suburbs of Moscow, December 4, 2015 The executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has reportedly told Russia to reverse its controversial decision to stop recognizing the validity of driving licenses issued by Armenia, a member of the Russian-led trade bloc. A Russian law which took effect on June 1 banned foreign nationals with driving licenses issued by their home countries from working as drivers in Russia. The State Duma, the Russian lower house of parliament, passed last week another law which waived the restriction for citizens of those countries, including EEU members Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, where the Russian language has an official legal status. Armenia is not one of those countries, meaning that a large number of its migrant workers driving trucks, taxis and other vehicles in Russia now risk losing their jobs. Some of them are said to have already been forced to return home. The Armenian parliament speaker, Ara Babloyan, raised the matter with his Russian counterpart, Vyacheslav Volodin, when they met in Moscow on Monday. Volodin responded by suggesting that Armenia adopt Russian as its second official language in order to circumvent the ban. Volodin's remark caused outrage in Yerevan, with local opposition politicians, media commentators and intellectuals accusing Moscow of meddling in Armenia's internal affairs. Armen Ashotian, a senior lawmaker who accompanied Babloyan on the trip to the Russian capital, rushed to assure them that Armenian authorities have no intention to change a constitutional provision stipulating that Armenia is the country's sole official language. The Moscow daily "Kommersant" reported afterwards that the Eurasian Economic Commission, the EEU's executive body, has urged the Russian government to ensure that the ban on foreign driving licenses does not apply to any EEU member state, including Armenia. It quoted the head of the commission, Oleg Pankratov, as saying that it runs counter to EEU regulations on a common labor market set up by Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Press Review July 19, 2017 "Hraparak" reports on controversy sparked by Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin's calls for Armenia's to give Russian the status of a second official language in return for Moscow continuing to recognize Armenian driver licenses. The paper quotes Viktor Katvalian, director of the Language Institute of Armenian National Academy of Sciences, as criticizing the suggestion. He says that an ethnically homogenous country like Armenia does not need a second official language. It is enough to continue teaching the Russian language in Armenian schools, says Katvalian. He goes on to denounce Volodin's proposal as an "inroad on our sovereignty, our language and our statehood." "Haykakan Zhamanak" reports, meanwhile, that the executive body of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), has told Moscow to amend the new Russian law stipulating that driver licenses issued by EEU member states where Russian is not an official language are no longer valid in Russia. Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Pankratov, who also holds a senior position in the Eurasian Economic Commission, reportedly said that the law runs counter to the EEU's labor regulations mandatory for Russia and other member states. According to Lragir.am, Vazgen Manukian, chairman of Armenia's presidential Public Council, has added his voice to the criticism of Volodin's statement. "English has spread and become an international language," Manukian is quoted as saying. "In India, for example, it's a second official language. But nobody has imposed that. Life has led to that. It is very ridiculous when one country tries to impose its language on another with artificial methods, using driver licenses as an excuse. But although that [statement] was made by a high-ranking official, it's hard to consider it Russia's official view." Interviewed by "Hayots Ashkhar," Vazgen Safarian of Armenia's Union of Domestic Manufacturers, comments on a sharp rise Armenia's imports from Turkey recorded by the National Statistical Service in the first five months of this year. "Officially, we have no trade with Turkey but imports from Turkey are quite large: more than $200 million," says Safarian. "Why? Because Turkish goods, especially agricultural products, are cheap." He calls on the Armenian government to impose additional customs duties on "those imported goods that are also manufactured in Armenia." (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