Friday, September 15, 2017
Ruling Party Praises Karapetian's Track Record
September 15, 2017
Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian (C) visits the Erebuni
archaeological museum in Yerevan, 17Jun2017.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has given a positive
assessment of Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's one-year tenure,
saying that his cabinet has sped up economic growth and attracted
substantial investments.
The HHK's governing board headed by President Serzh Sarkisian
discussed Karapetian's and his cabinet's track record at a weekly
meeting held late on Thursday.
"The party positively evaluates one-year activities of Karapetian's
cabinet, the coalition government of the Republicans and
Dashnaktsutyun," the HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, said after the
meeting.
Sharmazanov cited official statistics showing that the Armenian
economy grew by roughly 5 percent in the first half of this year after
all but falling into recession in 2016. He also pointed to
double-digit increases in Armenian exports and the number of foreign
tourists visiting the country.
"This dynamic shows that the government will meet [macroeconomic]
targets set in the [2017] state budget," he told reporters.
Sharmazanov further insisted that Karapetian is on track to honor his
repeated pledges to help launch business projects worth at least $830
million this year. He said the resulting investments will include
government funding but did not go into details.
Karapetian made similar arguments when he defended his yearlong
performance in the Armenian parliament on Wednesday.
Opposition politicians and other critics of the government dismiss the
improved macroeconomic figures, saying that they have had no real
tangible impact on Armenia's population. They also remain highly
skeptical about Karapetian's reform pledges.
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Karen
Karapetian arrive at an election campaign rally in Yerevan, 31Mar2017.
The 54-year-old former business executive was tasked with easing
socioeconomic hardship in the country when Sarkisian appointed him as
prime minister in September last year. He pledged to embark on
wide-ranging reforms that would improve the domestic business
environment.
Karapetian has repeatedly indicated his desire to stay on as prime
minister after Sarkisian serves out his final presidential term in
April. The president has still not clarified whether he plans to
become prime minister or replace Karapetian with someone else. He said
in late June that the premier continues to enjoy his "full trust."
Yerevan Shooting Suspects Identified By Police
September 15, 2017
. Anush Mkrtchian
. Tatev Danielian
. Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Police officers at the site of a deadly shooting in Yerevan,
14Sep2017.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities announced on Friday a nationwide
hunt for three individuals who they said were behind a brazen shooting
in downtown Yerevan which left one man dead and another gravely
wounded.
The two residents of Alaverdi, a town in Armenia's northern Lori
province, were shot just outside a hotel in broad daylight on
Thursday. One of them, the 43-year-old Gagik Mosinian, died on the
spot, while the other, the 39-year-old Vahagn Abgarian, was rushed to
hospital with serious wounds.
The gunshots shattered the hotel's entrance door and left at least a
dozen bullet holes on its walls. They were fired just meters away from
the city's Vernissage souvenir market popular with foreign
tourists. Law-enforcement officers continued to examine the crime
scene on Friday afternoon.
Armenia's Investigative Committee identified three men who it said
ambushed Mosinian, Abgarian and their companions. It said
law-enforcement bodies are now trying to track down and arrest Rafik
Khachatrian, Albert Blbulian, and Armen Karadavidov. Two of them also
live in Alaverdi, it added.
The committee said nothing about motives behind the shooting.
For their part, the Armenian police claimed that the crime has already
been solved even if the three suspects are on the run. "A crime is
considered solved when individuals [involved in it] and certain
circumstances are clear," the police, spokesman, Ashot Aharonian, told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). He declined to specify those
circumstances.
Armenia - An assault rifle left at the site of a deadly shooting in
Yerevan, 14Sep2017.
Some Armenian newspapers have attributed the shooting to a bitter feud
between two Alaverdi clans which results from mayoral elections held
in the industrial town. They have said that the shooting victims are
linked to its pro-government mayor, Karen Paremuzian.
Nikol Pashinian, an opposition leader, echoed those claims in a
statement made on the parliament floor on Friday. Pashinian linked the
ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) to what he described as two
criminal groups from Alaverdi that are continuing to settle scores.
He charged that they helped the HHK win votes in the area during the
April 2017 parliamentary elections. "They feel that they are part of
the authorities," he said.
"This has nothing to do with elections," countered Vahram
Baghdasarian, the HHK's parliamentary leader who is a native of
Lori. Baghdasarian also rejected harsh media and opposition criticism
of the Armenian police that followed the Yerevan shooting.
Media commentators point to similar shootings that have occurred in
Alaverdi and elsewhere in the country in recent months. They attribute
the deadly incidents to impunity enjoyed by government loyalists with
dubious reputations.
Sarkisian's Continued Rule `Unacceptable' To Opposition Bloc
September 15, 2017
. Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Nikol Pashinian (C) and Edmon Marukian (R), leaders o the
opposition Yelk alliance, campaign for mayoral elections in Yerevan,
21Apr2017.
The opposition Yelk alliance will spare no effort to prevent President
Serzh Sarkisian from continuing to govern Armenia after his final term
ends in April, one of its leaders, Nikol Pashinian, said on Friday.
Pashinian cautioned, however, that Yelk needs strong popular support
in order to be able to scuttle Sarkisian's possible plans to become
prime minister.
"Today we are speaking on behalf of 122,065 citizens," he said,
referring to the number of people who voted for his bloc in this
year's parliamentary elections. "When it emerges that 500,000, 600,000
or 700,000 people authorize us to speak for them then I will guarantee
that the will of those people will become political reality."
"If there are people who want regime change and if there is a
political force ready to turn the people's will into political
reality, it's much easier to do that under this constitution,"
Pashinian told a news conference. "I want to assure you that there is
such a political force."
The new constitution will transform Armenia into a parliamentary
republic. It will take effect in April 2018, immediately after
Sarkisian completes his second presidential term. The president has
not publicly ruled out the possibility of staying in power as prime
minister. He has shed little light on his political plans so far.
Other Yelk leaders have also vowed to resist Sarkisian's possible
attempt to extend his decade-long rule. But it is not yet clear
whether they would urge supporters to take to the streets in that
case.
Yelk finished third in the April general elections, winning 9 seats in
Armenia's 105-member parliament.
Freed Russian-Israeli Blogger Tells Armenians To `Hold Firm' On
Karabakh
September 15, 2017
Azerbaijan -- Russian-Israeli blogger Aleksandr Lapshin is escorted
upon his landing in Baku after being extradicted from Belarus to
Azerbaijan, February 7, 2017
Just one day after leaving Azerbaijan, a Russian-Israeli blogger who
was jailed in Baku for travelling to Nagorno-Karabakh called on Friday
for continued Armenian control over the territory.
Aleksandr Lapshin also strongly denied the Azerbaijani authorities'
claims that he tried to commit suicide the day before receiving a
pardon from President Ilham Aliyev on Monday. He said that in fact he
was brutally assaulted in his prison cell.
Lapshin, who has Israeli, Russian and Ukrainian citizenships, flew
from Baku to Tel Aviv on Thursday nine months after being detained in
Belarus on an Azerbaijani arrest warrant. He was extradited to
Azerbaijani in February.
An Azerbaijani court sentenced the 41-year-old to three years in
prison in July. It said he illegally crossed Azerbaijan's
internationally recognized borders when he visited Karabakh via
Armenia in 2011 and 2012.Lapshin gave detailed accounts of those trips
on his Russian-language travel blog.
Announcing Aliyev's decision to pardon the blogger, the authorities in
Baku said that he is receiving medical assistance after he tried to
kill himself in Azerbaijani custody.
"I categorically deny the official Azerbaijani lie about my suicide
attempt in a Baku prison," Lapshin wrote on his blog. He claimed that
in reality he was beaten unconscious by two unknown men who burst into
his prison cell on the night from Sunday to Monday.
Lapshin said he regained consciousness in a Baku hospital. He called
the alleged attack a murder attempt.
In a separate Facebook post, the blogger reflected on the Karabakh
conflict and made an emotional appeal to Armenians.
"I am ashamed of admitting that before I found myself in the
Azerbaijani prison I sincerely believed that the Karabakh conflict is
a very disputed one and should be resolved on the basis of respect for
Azerbaijan's national borders," he wrote. "What an idiot I was!
Already in 1988 Azerbaijan began [a campaign of] terror against
Armenians in [the Azerbaijani city of] Sumgait, Baku and Karabakh."
"Armenians, hold firm!" he said. "These people want to see you dead
full stop. And if you lose Karabakh as a result of negotiations or a
weakening of Armenia's position, be aware that they will come to
slaughter you. Just like the Turks did 100 years ago."
Years before his arrest, Lapshin was placed on an official Azerbaijani
blacklist of several hundred non-Armenian foreigners who visited
Karabakh without Baku's permission. Nevertheless, he was able to
travel to Azerbaijan in June 2016 and post a series of detailed blog
entries on his mixed impressions about the oil-rich country.In
particular, Lapshin suggested that the Azerbaijani authorities have
squandered their massive oil revenues.
Press Review
September 15, 2017
"Zhamanak" reacts to Thursday's deadly shooting in Yerevan which left
one man dead and another wounded, calling it a result of an
"atmosphere of impunity" in Armenia. "Attempts to solve issues through
weapons and violent manifestations of revenge have become
commonplace," writes the paper. "And armed clashes between various
crime figures go unimpeded in Armenia's cities and even in the center
of the capital." It claims that "the same criminal elements work for
the authorities during elections and get privileges in return."
According to "Haykakan Zhamanak," the shooting carried out in broad
daylight in downtown Yerevan caused outrage among many people. "Many
such cases have been reported in various Armenian cities and towns in
the last three months," says the paper. "They are the result of wars
and vendettas among various criminal groups. They are not isolated
cases. The public is demanding answers from the Armenian police about
the unprecedentedly tense situation with crime in the country." It
claims that perpetrators and even victims of these shootings are
connected with the authorities, having "served" them during elections.
"It's not clear what the police are up to," writes "Hraparak." "If
individuals with illegally owned weapons and criminal intentions for
years shoot at each other, claiming lives and creating dangers for the
public, one cannot but wonder what security services are up to # They
are busy making money and persecuting people critical of the
government."
"Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" quotes Galust Sahakian, a deputy chairman of
the ruling HHK, as saying that people who have left Armenia during
President Serzh Sarkisian's rule are themselves responsible for their
emigration because they "do not appreciate our independence." "And we
thought that people emigrate for socioeconomic reasons," the paper
comments tartly. But, it says, Armenians can be faulted for
"tolerating such authorities."
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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