Thursday,
Armenia Invited To More NATO Drills In Georgia
• Sargis Harutyunyan
GEORGIA -- U.S. servicemen attend a drill during the multinational military
exercises "Noble Partner 2018" at Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi, August
6, 2018
Georgia’s Defense Minister Levan Izoria expressed hope that Armenia will
continue to participate in NATO-led military exercises held in his country each
year as he visited Yerevan on Thursday.
Izoria met with his Armenian counterpart Davit Tonoyan for talks which he
described as productive.
Both men called for closer military ties between the two neighboring states at
a joint news conference held after the meeting. They also signed a plan of
joint activities by their ministries for this year.
“I agree with Mr. Izoria on the need to expand our cooperation in the area of
defense and to include new elements in it,” said Tonoyan. He cited
“millennia-old friendship between the two peoples” in that context.
Izoria voiced appreciation for the participation of Armenian army officers in
the “Noble Partner 2018” exercise held near Tbilisi in August. “And I hope that
the Armenian side will continue to be actively involved in such exercises held
in Georgia under the NATO aegis,” he said.
Armenia - Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan (R) and his Georgian
counterpart Levan Izoria meet in Yerevan, .
The “Noble Partner” drills involved 3,000 soldiers from Georgia, the United
States and a dozen other nations, including Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The Armenian military did not participate in another NATO-led exercise,
codenamed “Agile Spirit,” which took place elsewhere in Georgia in September.
Yerevan controversially dropped out of the previous “Agile Spirit” war games
held in 2017. Armenian officials denied that the decision was made under
pressure from Russia, Armenia’s main military ally. Moscow has repeatedly
denounced the annual exercises organized by NATO or the U.S. military in
Georgia.
Yerevan University Head Under Mounting Pressure To Resign
• Marine Khachatrian
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Aram Simonian, the Yerevan State University rector, holds a news
conference in his office, 29 May 2018.
Education Minister Arayik Harutiunian on Thursday called for the resignation of
the long-serving rector of Armenia’s largest university who is facing
corruption allegations denied by him as politically motivated.
Aram Simonian, who has run Yerevan State University since 2006, came under
pressure to resign following last spring’s “velvet revolution” that toppled the
country’s previous government headed by Serzh Sarkisian. A member of
Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) since 1997, Simonian had long been accused
by his detractors of suppressing student activism and placing YSU under a
strong HHK influence.
The pressure on Simonian grew in December after the State Oversight Service
subordinate to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian implicated the YSU administration
in financial irregularities which it said had cost the state at least 800
million drams ($1.65 million). The 63-year-old rector angrily denied the
allegations, linking them to his continuing membership in the former ruling
party.
On Wednesday, the Armenian police claimed that an unnamed “managing official of
the university” has embezzled YSU funds and engaged in other corrupt practices
over the past decade. In particular, a police statement said that in 2015 a
private firm remodeled the official’s apartment and separate house in return
for being granted a 400 million-dram construction contract by the YSU
administration.
The police did not formally charge anyone. Instead, they sent the case to
another law-enforcement body for further investigation.
Speaking to journalists later on Wednesday, Simonian acknowledged that the
police statement most probably referred to him. “I see political motives behind
that,” he said.
Accordingly, Simonian rejected the “ridiculous” allegations, saying that they
are part of the current government’s efforts to force him out of YSU. He said
he will not step down before serving out his current term in office in 2020.
Meanwhile, Harutiunian made a case for Simonian’s resignation after a weekly
cabinet meeting in Yerevan. The education minister said that the YSU head
should go because he is widely “associated with many negative practices that
have existed in YSU and the sphere of higher education in general.”
Harutiunian, who taught at YSU before being appointed to Pashinian’s government
in May, went on to accuse Simonian of trying to “politicize” the corruption
inquiries and “using many deans and scholars as a shield
Armenian Authorities Confirm Hefty Payout From Sarkisian’s Brother
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia -- President Serzh Sarkisian's brother Aleksandr (L) is seen outside
the parliament building in Yerevan, June 10, 2010.
The National Security Service (NSS) said on Thursday that an indicted brother
of Armenia’s former President Serzh Sarkisian has paid the state $30 million
from a bank account that was frozen last summer.
It emerged earlier this week that the NSS is pressing fraud charges against
Aleksandr “Sashik” Sarkisian. Also, Armenian media reports said that he has
donated $18.5 million from his frozen account to the government.
The NSS director, Artur Vanetsian, confirmed the reports. He said that
Sarkisian has also agreed to settle a back tax debt by transferring the
remaining $11.5 million the state treasury.
“The criminal investigation is continuing and its results will be made public,”
Vanetsian told reporters.
The NSS chief declined to comment on reasons for the hefty donation made by
Sarkisian. He denied striking any deals with the ex-president’s brother.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian publicly demanded in September that Aleksandr
Sarkisian “return the money to the state budget.” Sarkisian rejected
Pashinian’s demand as illegal but later offered to donate a part of the $30
million account if his and his family members’ assets are unblocked.
Armenia - An armed officer of the National Security Service guards an entrance
to the Yerevan house of former President Serzh Sarkisian's brother Aleksandr
searched by investigators, 4 July 2018.
Sarkisian’s lawyer on Tuesday dismissed the fraud charges brought against his
client. He said they stem from over a dozen drawings by the 20th century
Armenian painter Martiros Saryan which were found in Sarkisian’s Yerevan house
in July. The NSS confiscated the drawings, saying that his fugitive son Narek
had fraudulently obtained them from Saryan’s descendants.
The 62-year-old Sarkisian, whose brother was overthrown in last spring’s
“velvet revolution” led by Pashinian, is thought to have made a big fortune in
the past two decades. He held a parliament seat from 2003-2011.
Also facing prosecution are another former Armenian president, Robert
Kocharian, and his elder son Sedrak. The NSS said on Tuesday that it has
charged the latter with evading nearly $2 million in taxes and laundering an
even larger amount of money. Sedrak Kocharian rejected the accusations as
“fabricated,” saying that they are part of the current authorities’ persecution
of his arrested father and broader family.
Vanetsian denied any political motives behind the high-profile case. He noted
in that regard that Robert Kocharian had also accomplished “many positive
things” while in power.
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and his predecessor Robert Kocharian
visit Gyumri, 7 December 2008.
Vanetsian announced in September that his agency is scrutinizing what he
described as hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets belonging to
Kocharian’s family. A few weeks later, the NSS launched a corruption
investigation into Armen Avetisian, who ran Armenia’s customs service during
Kocharian’s rule. It said that Avetisian is suspected of illegal involvement in
entrepreneurial activity and money laundering.
In particular, it said, he financed the construction of a luxury hotel in
Yerevan through an obscure company registered in Cyprus. It remains unclear
whether Avetisian has been formally charged.
Vanetsian confirmed on Thursday that the former customs chief’s son has offered
to donate another five-star hotel, located in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor,
to the state. “That process is now in progress,” he said.
During Avetisian’s tenure in 2001-2008, the customs service solidified its
reputation as one of Armenia’s most corrupt government agencies.
Press Review
“Haykakan Zhamanak” also comments on a $18.5 million donation to the state
reportedly made by former President Serzh Sarkisian’s controversial brother
Aleksandr. The latter at the same denies fraud accusations brought against him.
“This naturally raises the following question: if he doesn’t admit his guilt
and maintains that he became rich by honest means why did he donate $18.5
million to the state? Does hope to save his fortune by sacrificing a part of
it?”
For his part, Robert Kocharian’s son Sedrak is facing similar charges and
strongly denying them. “Whether or not the law-enforcers will succeed in
proving those accusations in court is a different question,” says “Haykakan
Zhamanak.” The pro-government paper say that through “propaganda manipulations”
Sedrak Kocharian and Aleksandr Sarkisian are trying to make Armenians believe
that they became millionaire businessmen without benefiting from government
corruption.
“Zhoghovurd” reports that the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group will not visit Stepanakert during their latest tour of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. A senior Karabakh official, Davit Babayan, is
quoted as playing down this fact, saying that “such exceptions happen
sometimes.” Babayan also argues that the main purpose of the co-chairs’ trip is
to organize another meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The paper notes that an official press
release on Pashinian’s meeting with the mediators held on Wednesday made no
mention of the next Armenian-Azerbaijani summit.
“Zhamanak” comments on Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria’s visit to
Armenia which begins on Thursday. “Armenia and Georgia are on different
security vectors,” writes the paper. Nevertheless, it says that they have
“common interests” and are in a position to jointly contribute to regional
security. “These are vital interests as they involve issues conditioning the
continued existence of the Armenian and Georgian states,” it says.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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