Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR YOUNG FAMILIES PROGRAM TO OFFER BETTER CONDITIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 17, 2010 – 14:10 AMT 09:10 GMT

Armenian Deputy Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Arsen Karamyan
said that the Affordable Housing for Young Families program will
offer better conditions within a month.

Specifically, they will refer to age restrictions, initial payment
and loan terms, Mr. Karamyan told a press conference in Yerevan.

"The program has faced some problems in practice, and the Armenian
government voiced willingness to amend it to make it more flexible
and affordable," he said.

According to the Deputy Minister, the changes will make the mortgage
loan more affordable; however, the state cannot imperatively make
various suggestions at the real estate and financial markets, as it
would be an incorrect step under market economy. "But one should
understand that we deal with vulnerable groups of population, and
the state should secure some assistance to them," said Karamyan,
adding that this is also a task of demographic security.

Besides, from August-September, programs on social construction will
kick off in Syunik and Tavush regions of Armenia under the government’s
concept on equal development of the country’s regions.

These programs aim to provide young families with the opportunity to
purchase dwelling.

"I consider social construction in regions to be of keen importance,
as such projects have not been implemented in the regions since
Armenia regained independence, except for the 1988 earthquake zone,"
the Deputy Minister said.

20 young families received apartments under the Affordable Housing
to Young Families program as of today, while 60 applications are
currently being considered by banks.

The Affordable Housing for Young Families program was approved by
the January 29, 2010, sitting of the RA government. All the families
wishing to get a loan should meet certain requirements: family’s gross
income should amount to approximately AMD 300-350 thousand, including
incomes of all family members. Besides, the "young family" definition
means family, where the spouses’ cumulative age doesn’t exceed 60 and
none of the spouses is over 35. The definition also covers families,
where the age of the only parent does not exceed 30. The maximum amount
of loan under the program totals AMD 16mln with 15-year payment term.

THE PROTOCOLS: WHOSE "WISHFUL THINKING"?

Hurriyet
May 16 2010
Turkey

The Western world, the U.S. in particular, has been keen to
express criticism of Turkey concerning the current deadlock in the
normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Last Monday,
for instance, American expert David Phillips was reported to have
admonished Turkey, saying the country should not have signed the
protocols based on "wishful thinking." Supposedly, "there was no
linkage between the protocols and the Nagorno-Karabakh problem."

Obviously, this line of thinking is particularly prevalent among
members of the U.S. administration. American authorities, as a very
close aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told me, on
nearly every occasion raise what they describe as the "disappointment"
felt by President Barrack Obama regarding the current state of affairs
on the normalization talks. Given that U.S. promises made prior to the
protocols on the resolution of the Karabakh problem have not been held
either, it is surprising that these figures have failed to understand
that Erdogan is equally disappointed. This raises the question of whose
"wishful thinking" is responsible for the current deadlock.

The reasons that Turkey cannot ratify the protocols without
a solution to the Karabakh problem being found are very simple:
First, for the sake of regional stability, the Karabakh issue should,
without hesitation be bound to the normalization of relations between
Yerevan and Ankara. If Turkey were to open its border with Armenia
unilaterally the Azeri authorities, as they keep reminding their
Turkish counterparts, would have no option left other than resorting
to force. Secondly, the protocols, under current circumstances,
cannot pass ratification in the Turkish Parliament. This is a bitter
reality which has been underlined by Erdogan on a couple occasions
in the recent past as well.

Since the Armenian Constitutional Court’s decision of last January,
voices expressing skepticism among members of the Turkish Parliament
have grown louder than ever. Everyone questions whether the Armenian
side is indeed sincere in keeping its obligations with regard to the
commission of historians envisaged in the protocols. Last, but not
least, those who criticize Turkey’s "love affair" with Azerbaijan
seem to have underestimated key factors in the relationship between
these two countries. An enlightening comparison can be made between
Turkish ties with Azerbaijan and those of the U.S. and Israel. I
have encountered many U.S. authorities who lamented their country’s
unquestioned attachment to Israel which sometimes, in their words,
acquires an "irrational or self-detrimental" character. Given the
complex nature of their relations with Israel (and also the Jewish
people), I wonder if they might envisage it being easy to change this
state of affairs. Thus, they must understand that the same is valid
for Turks as far as Azerbaijan is concerned.

Despite this, however, Ankara is still determined to keep on track.

What Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has suggested in
referring to the conduct of a "parallel diplomacy" in the following
days is an unambiguous sign of Turkey’s goodwill and sincerity in
that regard. More importantly, Ankara has exercised great effort
to persuade Baku to accept a step-by-step solution, which first and
foremost requires Armenian forces’ immediate withdrawal from five of
seven Azerbaijani rayons still under occupation. What Ankara in turn
expects from the Minsk Group, its co-chair the U.S. in particular,
is to exercise a similar effort to persuade Yerevan and the diaspora
to seek a compromise, which would be beneficial for all the parties
concerned.

It is in this milieu that Erdogan goes to Baku. Particularly since
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Turkey last week, there
are things to share and new standpoints to be discussed between the two
allies. Energy issues will be another subject of the meetings. But I
must remind our Azeri friends that Erdogan has a serious expectation
which he is rightly very keen to see realized: the abolishment of
the visa regime between the two countries. At a time when great
achievements have even been accomplished between Turkey and Greece,
arch adversaries of the recent past, neither Erdogan nor the average
Turk on the street can understand why a visa is needed to set foot
on Azeri soil, a land for which they have made so many sacrifices
throughout history.

Hurriyet, Turkey
May 15 2010

Assyrian-Armenian musician aims to put Turkey on metal music map

Saturday, May 15, 2010
Ã-ZGÃ`R Ã-Ä?RET
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Ashmedi, founder and front man for the metal band Melechesh, is
recording his new album in Istanbul with his band. Moreover, he lives
in the city part time thanks to his girlfriend. The Assyrian-Armenian
musician says the band is metal with Eastern sounds. The way they play
their instruments is rather different than one would expect

Ashmedi would be an interesting person in many respects even if he
were not an internationally known musician recording his next album in
Istanbul.

`I am the embodiment of an identity crisis,’ he said. `I’ve got an
Assyrian-Armenian father. I got a mother who is Armenian, born in
Syria. My father was born in Turkey.’ His father was actually from
Istanbul and lived not too far from the studio in BeyoÄ?lu where the
Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review interviewed him.

`My father flew from here to Jerusalem, married my mother, who back
then lived in Allepo, Syria.’ That was in the late 60s.

His father and older brother used to visit Turkey every summer,
according to Ashmedi, but his father died in a car accident when he
was five months old. So, before last summer, all he knew about Turkey
was a passport he used to have and a small statue they had in their
house. `My father came [to Israel] from here with no animosity [about
Turkey]. We actually had a small statue of Atatürk [the founder of the
Republic of Turkey] in my house because he thought he was a great
man,’ he said.

The non-Israeli band from Israel

Melechesh, originally from east Jerusalem, is one of the first
internationally signed metal bands from the Middle East and perhaps
the first band of non-Israelis to come out of Israel as well. `We
never had Israeli passports. We had Jerusalem IDs as permanent
residents. However, they are systematically being confiscated. Ours
got confiscated too,’ he said, adding that the music was not the
reason. It was `demographic.’

The band left Israel in 1998 for France and then the Netherlands,
mainly because of the `second-rate citizen’ status they had there.
`There is no infrastructure there for you [as a non-Israeli] for a
fair and proper life,’ he said, adding that many youths of similar
status leave for education in Europe and the U.S. and stay – not to
mention Israelis who do not approve of the status quo and don’t want
to serve as soldiers. The other major reason was to be able to advance
in their music careers.

Northern Europe has circles of extreme-right, black metal circles that
were infamous for murders and church burnings in the 90s, but
Melechesh did not have any problems with those. They are sometimes
confused for being Arabs, Jews or `Arabic Jews’ even, which portrays
their IQ level, according to Ashmedi. `What they do not understand is,
being national socialist or Nazi is against everything they stand for
in metal because they would have to cut their hair, wear a uniform and
be royal,’ he said.

A fan of Istanbul

`Last year I met a wonderful [Turkish] lady from Amsterdam, who was a
fan of the band. I fell in love with her, and she changed me for the
better,’ Ashmedi said when asked how he started to share his time
between Amsterdam and Istanbul. He first came to Istanbul in July 2009
and kept coming back to the city.

When asked of expectations he had before, `I knew what to expect
because I come from a country with more or less the same lifestyle.
Some things I experience and see here are more liberal, but it changes
accordingly,’ he said, adding that he only has seen Istanbul and not
the rest of the country.

`The thing that shocked me most is the amount of people. I have never
seen this many people in my life,’ he said. Having lived in small
cities like Jerusalem and Amsterdam actually surprised Ashmedi when he
first set foot on Ä°stiklal Avenue. `I held my girlfriend’s hand and
said let us walk by the wall. There are way too many people here,’ he
laughed. `That was what I did not expect.’

Ashmedi has `a mission to put [Istanbul] on the world metal music map’
more than it already is. `Vibrant, alive, about to explode with
energy,’ he described the European side of the city, and how he always
enjoy visiting Kadıköy on the Asian side to relax on Sundays.

Here, where there is a 24-hour economy allowing you can purchase
alcohol or go out to eat 3 a.m., also fascinates him – although paying
50 Turkish Liras for a wine he would buy for 20 in Europe, does not.

Apart from music and Turkey, he is also interested in talking about
the Palestine and the Armenian-Turkish issues, but off the record
because, although he is very politically aware, Ashmedi prefers not to
go into those subjects during interviews.

`We are a mystical band, not a political band. But our political view
is, we count the dead and we care about so many people getting
slaughtered,’ he said. `We have so much more in common than we have in
difference. I might sound like a new age hippie, but, mind you, this
is after years of soul searching and evolution,’ he said.

The music, lyrics and beyond

Melechesh does not like to be labeled as `Oriental metal.’ Ashmedi
explained why: `[Oriental] is a term that was used in the colonial
days to just say `the East.’ That is as far as China. Are Chinese and
Japanese bands Oriental metal? Is a Viking metal band or Metallica
Occidental metal?’ The band themselves prefer the term `Sumerian
thrashing black metal,’ which Ashmedi has come up with. `In the end,
we are a metal band with Eastern sounds, however, done in its own way
as well. The way we play the drums, the way we pick the guitar is
different.’

`Melechesh lyrics deal with Middle Eastern mythology and the occult,’
he said. When asked what those mean ` a discreet way to ask if the
band is Satanist, Ashmedi said, `In daily life, I try to be as normal
as I can be just like everyone else – that is if you can define
`normal.’ On a spiritual level, I am a person who tries to learn a lot
and be spiritually enhanced by any means necessary – by looking at any
corner of the world and any subject.’

`A large portion of philosophies, theologies and mystical beliefs are
stamped from the Near East or the Middle East,’ he said. Sufism,
Kabala, Sumerian and Mesopotamian mythology all inspire Ashmedi. He
described the Occult as `being in touch with yourself and realizing
the whole world is energy,’ not necessarily performing rituals. In
short, Melechesh is not a Satanic band.

Recording in Istanbul

Their last album `Emissaries’ did very well worldwide, selling over
25,000 copies – no small feat for an extreme metal band in the age of
mp3.

It has been four years since `Emissaries’ because the band chose not
to rush their next release. The next album will likely appear more
quickly, though, since they have more material than they are recording
at the moment. Ashmedi said they chose to record in Turkey because
they want to practice what they preach as a band with both Western and
Eastern influences. Cahit Berkay from MoÄ?ollar and new age pop
musician Harun Kolçak are likely to perform as guests on the album as
well.

Armenia may exploit genocide issue as geopolitical factor: expert

YEREVAN, May 14, /ARKA/. A prominent Armenian expert in Turkish
studies said today the official Yerevan may exploit the issue of
Genocide committed against Armenians by the Ottoman Turkey during WWI
as a geopolitical factor.

Speaking at a news conference Ruben Safrastian, director of Oriental
Studies Institute, an affiliation of Armenian Academy of Sciences,
said by using the genocide as a geopolitical factor when contacting
with Turkey Armenia may achieve success.

He said now is a good time for official Yerevan to step up efforts for
international recognition of the genocide, but admitted this is going
to be a very difficult job, adding that from the geopolitical
perspective now is the best time for doing so.

Safrastian downplayed concerns in Armenia that the warming
Turkish-Russian relations, supported by several key agreements, signed
this week during Russian president Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Turkey,
may affect the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.

`The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have repeatedly said they do not wish
to see Turkey as a fourth co-chair and besides, Turkey’s involvement
in the peace process does not stem from Russia’s interests, since it
is Russia’s main rival in the region. I think we can be calm in this
regard,’ Safrastian said. -0-

HAY DAT EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OFFICE OPENS IN TBILISI

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 13, 2010 – 21:32 AMT 16:32 GMT

Tbilisi hosted official opening of Hay Dat European Committee office,
headed by Gevorg Harutyunyan.

Newly-opened Hay Dat office will be responsible for the study of
Georgian Armenians’ issues.

Representatives of Georgian Integration Ministry, US Embassy, Georgian
Eparchy of Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian NGOs were invited
to participate in the opening ceremony.

GETTING THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD IN TUNE

Times Online
May 14, 2010
UK

The elegant and eclectic musician Jordi Savall is on a mission of
peaceGeoff Brown

The cat, Nemo, black as the night, gives me a haughty stare from
its position on top of the sofa. But everything else speaks words
of welcome: the rows of books documenting Man’s every thought and
achievement in the arts, religion and the sciences; the stringed
instruments of immense age hanging high on the walls; the fragrance
of burning incense sticks, spreading balm through the rambling and
commodious office lair of Jordi Savall, early-music supremo and the
world’s foremost viola da gamba player.

We meet at his home in Bellaterra, a sleepy nook outside Barcelona.

For Savall, it’s a rare day at home: the man is forever globe-hopping
with his instrumental group Hespèrion XXI, his choir La Capella
Reial de Catalunya, his wife the singer Montserrat Figueras, or any
other musicians engaged in trademark cross- cultural blockbusters
such as Jerusalem, which he’s bringing to the Norfolk & Norwich
Festival tomorrow. Spectacles perched halfway down his nose, the
voice pianissimo, the beard shapely, he emanates the gentle charm of
a humane and scholarly Catalan seigneur.

A force in the field since the 1970s, Savall has always been
industrious and alert to the play of different world cultures. He first
achieved international fame as an exponent of the French Baroque art of
Marin Marais, featured in the popular art-house film Tous les Matins
du Monde (1991); Savall’s viol was the soundtrack’s star. But since
2005 his fame has shifted, and his industry has become monumental.

That was the year when the first of his celebrated CD books dazed
the world. The Jerusalem book documents the city’s turbulent passage
through Jewish, Christian, Arab and Ottoman rule, through peace, war,
human folly and spiritual wisdom, with the aid of two discs, an art
museum of illustrations, texts in eight languages and 436 pages. He
shows me another book, due shortly, exploring the time of the Borgias;
it’s even bigger.

In 2008 such culturally diverse projects earned Savall and Figueras
the title of Unesco "Artists for Peace". I ask him if the Iraq war
had anything to do with his heightened cross-cultural activities. "As
Catalans," he whispers, "we have from our history, our genetics,
a special sensitivity to the music of different cultures. But in
the evolution I think the important moment was not Iraq, it was
the invasion of Afghanistan. That was when we really felt the
responsibility to show through music the possibility of dialogue
across different faiths and cultures."

In Jerusalem, conceived by Savall and Manuel Forcano, history’s
tapestry is unfurled with specially invited israeli and Palestinian
musicians and others from Armenia, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, even
Afghanistan. There are fanfares, battle music, Jewish chants, Muslim
prayers to Allah. Historical texts, too – "terrible texts," Savall
calls them, such as Pope Urban II summoning the first crusade against
Muslim Turks or, in another project, Pope Innocent III in the 13th
century sharpening swords against the Cathars.

I mention Daniel Barenboim, another ambassador of conflict resolution
through music. "He approaches the problem through classical music, but
the spirit is the same, bringing musicians from all cultures together.

Playing this programme in Jerusalem itself was a very important moment
because we had a very positive audience reaction. But it’s hard to
imagine a project like this being played in Gaza."

Are his multinational players happy together? "Now, yes. At the
beginning it was complicated sometimes. When I asked Armenian musicians
to record a Turkish march with Turkish musicians, they said, ‘We cannot
possibly play this, it would be like accepting the Armenian genocide’
[in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War]. You have to be
very careful of the sensitivities. Also, we still have problems with
getting visas or problems over security."

Whatever the performers enlisted, Savall’s blockbuster projects still
contain regular ingredients: the impassioned soprano of Figueras,
Savall’s throbbing viol or lyre, the colourful pipings of the ney and
shofar, the twang of the oud – sounds sometimes plaintive, sometimes
clamorous, and with much improvisation. "With this type of musician,
you never know when they’re going to finish!"

It’s hard to imagine this scholarly gent getting shook up about Elvis
Presley, but it happened in the 1950s. He formed a group with his
teenage friends, playing guitars, percussion, harmonicas. In the
1970s, after studying at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, he joined
the harpsichordist William Christie and others in the Five Centuries
Ensemble, a group that mixed Monteverdi with the latest pieces from
Berio or Morton Feldman. Serial or atonal music doesn’t scare him,
he says. "I love Berg, I love Schoenberg, but in some ways the
modern revolution in music is early music – we have created a real
renaissance, and it’s our responsibility to make it live again."

Borgias apart, future projects include a three-part epic on the topic
that never disappears, Peace and War. Savall promises 1,800 years of
musical reverberations from the end of the Pax Romana to the Madrid
train bombings of 2004.

I suggest that to mount such multicultural, interfaith projects he
needs to be an optimist. "An optimist who’s also a realist. My idea
is that if you resolve a problem on the small scale, you can find
the solution on the bigger scale. But the problem is you have to
be able to convince people to work at things, to say no to war or
the atomic bomb. There’s also the distraction of bread and circuses,
as in ancient times. Today it’s cinema, technology, television: they
make us feel good, but they divert us from the things that threaten
our entire civilisation.

"You see," he says, laughing, "I am not so optimistic." But I look
at his sparkling eyes, and I don’t believe him.

Jerusalem receives its British premiere at the Theatre Royal, Norwich
(01603 766400), tomorrow.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RECEIVES PACE PRESIDENT MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU

Panorama.am
18:33 12/05/2010

Politics

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan hosted Wednesday the President of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mevlut
Cavusoglu, President’s press office reported.

Greeting the guest, the Armenian President voiced hope that the visit
of the delegation headed by the PACE President will help them get
acquainted and make a more objective idea on the challenges existing
in Armenia and the region.

"The visit will also provide opportunity to discuss agenda issues
and I’m sure, it’ll contribute to further deepening of cooperation
between Armenia and the Council of Europe, particularly between the
PACE and the Armenian National Assembly. We want and are ready to
intensify relations and cooperation," President Sargsyan said.

Mevlut CavuÅ~_oglu said, as a PACE newly elected President, he
considers deepening of relations between the PACE and the member
states, ruling out of the implementation of double principles with
the member states among the priorities of his commitments, to ensure
objective and balanced position to all of them.

The PACE President said PACE intensively cooperates with the Armenian
delegation. He highly assessed Armenia’s progress in the processes
of the democratic reforms and the anti-corruption struggle.

INANTS WAN AGAIN, WHILE PTEROSYAN LOST

Aysor
May 12 2010
Armenia

In the open taking place in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
after 7 rounds Aghasi Inants received 13 point from the possible 21,
grandmaster Davit Petrosyan received 11 points. In the 7th round too
Inants had a victory, while Pterosyan lost the game.

As the Armenian Chess Federation informs the tournament list is headed
by the Russian grandmaster Artyom Timofeev with 19 points.

FIRST LOT OF EXAMINATION TESTS TO BE DELIVERED TO YEREVAN TILL MAY 20

ArmInfo
2010-05-11 13:09:00

ArmInfo. The first lot of examination tests will be delivered to
Yerevan till May 20, Gayane Manukyan, Spokesperson of the Armenian
Center for Assessment and Testing told ArmInfo.

By tradition the examination tests were printed at Stephen Austin
(UK), which is a guarantee of safety conditions. All the lots of the
tests will be delivered to Armenia in mid May. Afterwards, accompanied
by Armincashment cars the tests will be delivered to one of the local
banks. A day before the state exams, the tests will be distributed to
the regional branches of the given bank and on the day of exams they
will be delivered to Examination Centers. G. Manukyan said that the
Center for Assessment and Testing has ordered the tests for the first
time. In previous years it was the responsibility of the Minister of
Education and Science.

The state examinations will start in Armenia on June 1 with the
examinations on biology, geography and general history.

ARGISHTI KIVIRYAN – "EVEN CRIMES UNCOVERED IN ARMENIA REMAIN COVERED"
Ararat Davtyan

/
2010/05/10 | 15:14

Is there a Javakhk connection to the attempted murder?

Reporter and lawyer Argishti Kiviryan says that even crimes that have
been uncovered in Armenia remain uncovered; referring to the crime
he was subject to.

Mr. Kiviryan, director of the "Armenia Today" and "Bagin.info" news
websites was the subject of an attempted murder on April 30, 2009. His
wife heard on the attackers say, "It’s all the same, we will kill you".

The attackers left numerous clues at the site – a wooden club, used to
hit Kiviryan in the head, and fired bullet casings. Police inspecting
the crime scene never discovered the bullet shells.

Furthermore, one of the police officials tried to convince Kiviryan
family members that they had been mistaken, that no shots had been
fired. Kicking their door with his shoe, the officer suggested that
this was the sound they had heard the night of the attack.

Just a half hour after the attack, photo-journalist Gagik Shamshyan
arrived on the scene before the police. In addition to taking photos
of the bloodied club, he took shots of the bullet casings.

Later, Kiviryan also claimed that shots had been fired and that he
was lucky enough to wrest the gun away at the last moment.

At first, criminal charges of "premeditated light bodily damage"
were initiated, but according to the law, such charges can only be
brought if the injured party presses such charges. Kiviryan never did.

Ruben Sahakyan, President of the Chamber of Advocates said, "How is
it that a member of the professional services couldn’t understand
that a person’s head is a vital organ made of skin and containing
bones and a brain." He added that attempted murder should have been
the charge brought.

The examination of the case was transferred to the National Security
Service (NSS). A few days later, the charge was changed to "attempted
murder by a group".

Law enforcement still hasn’t explained how the bullet casings
disappeared. "We came across no casings. If someone picked them up
they should return them," declared Hovhannes Tamamyan, Chief of the
Police Crime Investigations Unit.

Gagik Shamshyan was also questioned and he expressed concerns regarding
the unprofessional manner with which the police investigated the
crime scene. He noted that one of the officers, hands in his pocket,
had kicked the bloody club with his foot.

Different theories regarding the probable cause of the attack
immediately began to circulate. Some groups even claimed that it
couldn’t be ruled out that the "puppet authorities in Javakhk" were
behind it given Kiviryan’s position of the Javakhk issue.

In July, the court executed a detention order against two individuals –
Vladik Serobyan and Gurgen Kilikyan.

This year, the pre-trial investigative unit made several requests to
the court asking that their detention be prolonged. Soon afterwards,
the petition was rescinded at the two individuals were releases on
March 8.

"This case, in essence, was the first time in Armenia’s history when
individuals involved in an attempted murder had been arrested. We had
hopes that at least in this case the perpetrators would be punished,
as a lesson to all, and that it would show that assaults against
reporters wouldn’t go unpunished. But we saw that in just a few months
the perpetrators walk free. How did this happen? We cannot understand
this and find this approach towards reporters and the media to be
unacceptable," declared Armineh Ohanyan, Chief Editor of the daily
"Hraparak".

The NSS hasn’t explained why it rescinded its petition to hold Serobyan
and Kilikyan. NSS Press spokesman Artzvin Baghramyan says it has to
do with pre-trial confidentiality.

Argishti Kiviryan says that at face to face session, he recognized
one of the two men as one of those who assaulted him during another
incident. Kiviryan says that ten days before the April 30th attack,
he was also assaulted.

"When I left the office to go home I opened the door and saw three
individuals dressed in sport attire with truncheons. It was just by
accident that I hadn’t closed the outer door to the office behind me.

When I saw them approaching me I went back inside and shut the door,"
recounted A. Kiviryan.

According to verified information obtained by Kiviryan, one or two
days prior to the two incidents, these individuals travelled to
Akhalkalak and met with Samvel Petrosyan.

Ever since his appointment as Akhalkalak Police Chief, Samvel Petrosyan
has for years been engaged in demolishing all Armenian structures in
Akhalkalak. It has been constantly noted in the Armenian press that
the Georgian authorities are carrying out various searches in Javakhk,
and this is true. But these searches and harassment are being conducted
by this individual."

He pointed out that it was due to the work of the Police Chief that
"United Javakhk" activist Vahagn Chakhalyan is today behind bars and
that Gurgen Shirinyan is on the run and that many young people have
been forced to flee Javakhk.

When we interviewed Petrosyan he responded, Threats? No. I called him
a ‘con artist’. He really doesn’t know what he’s writing about. It’s
all made-up stuff. There were never any threats. Samvel Petrosyan,
I mean myself, isn’t the sort of person to stoop to the same low
level as someone who writes lies. I don’t lower myself to that and
make threats. I really never pay much attention to all that. I don’t
find what he writes of any interests. Who cares if four people read
what he writes and get a bad impression of me. The other 96, who
recognize me, know the sort of person I am."

Petrosyan did verify that Vladik Serobyan, one of those arrested,
was a relative.

"Yes, he is a relation. But I am not stupid enough to tell him to
go assault someone or attempt murder, or some such thing. He’s not a
close relative, but we are related," stated Petrosyan, adding that,
given the arrested is a relative; he might have seen him a few days
before the incident.

Petrosyan also says that while he doesn’t know Kiviryan personally,
it is just possible they he met with him as well before the attack

"But, I can’t tell you that. Every day I meet with 1,000 people,
1,000. If one of them then goes and meets with another, it doesn’t
mean that I organized it," Petrosyan stated, adding, "I know with 100%
certainty that the day will come when the organizers of the attempted
murder will be exposed. When that time comes, let Argishti Kiviryan
publicly write that he was wrong and apologize to Samvel Petrosyan.

Petrosyan also denied rumors that the two suspects were released
because of his ties to certain circles in Armenia.

According to our information Chief Petrosyan has close links with
Hovhannes Tamamyan, Chief of the Police Crime Investigations Unit.

Mr. Kiviryan believes that a after some time passes the criminal case
will "be dropped and the file will wind up in some office drawer",
despite the fact that the presidential spokesperson has declared that
the president is closely monitoring the case.

"If the case is being closely monitored, would they go and release
these two individuals," asks Kiviryan, adding, "Until the time when
the state prosecutor doesn’t take the case file under his arm and
run up Baghramyan Avenue and once there, come to some agreement,
then no other verdict can be expected."

Days after the attack on Kiviryan, Mesrop Harutyunyan, a specialist
with the Committee for the Dense of Free Speech, declared that it
is clear from the facts that we can conclude that President Sargsyan
has directed that assaults against reporters be exposed in order that
they not directly be exposed.