Author: nina hovnanian

RECONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TO BEGIN IN 2017

YEREVAN, January 14. / ARKA /. The reconstruction of the Armenian NPP
will begin in the spring of 2017 and will last for about six months,
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakaryan told a news
conference today.

The minister recalled that in late December 2014 Russia’s government
confirmed its intention to extend a $270-million loan and a $30 million
grant to Armenia for extending the service life of the second unit
of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant until 2016.

He said also the loan will be provided with a 3 percent interest rate
and will be repayable in 15 years.

The minister said the program will be implemented in three stages. The
first preparatory stage has already begun by Russian nuclear agency
Rosatomservice on the basis of an agreement signed by the sides in
late December. The financial agreement will be signed in late February
by finance ministers of the two countries, he said.

The minister said the preparatory work will be carried out in 2015-2016
to get prepared for starting the reconstruction in 2017 spring.

“According to preliminary estimates, the reconstruction will last
for about six months, but more specific terms will be known after
the completion of the preparatory work and specification of the real
amount of planned activities,” said Zakaryan.

He said also that the construction of a new power unit is scheduled
to begin in 2018 and be over in 2026 that will allow to shut down
the operating unit.

The Metsamor plant located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan, was
built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake
in 1988 that killed some 25,000 people and devastated much of northern
Armenia.

One of the plant’s two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was
reactivated in 1995. The government wants to build a new facility that
is supposed to operate at twice the capacity of the Soviet-constructed
facility. Metsamor currently generates some 40 percent of Armenia’s
electricity. But the government has yet to attract funding for the
project that was estimated as much as $5 billion.-0-

VARDGES GASPARI CONTINUES HAYK KYUREGHYAN’S PROTEST IN COURT

01.14.2015 16:51 epress.am

Today, the court hearing of the adherent of political prisoners Shant
Harutyunyan and his friends Hayk Kyureghyan (pictured left) convened
at the Kentron and Nork Marash Districts Universal Court without his
presence. On December 17, Kyureghyan was removed from the courtroom
for 10 court hours because of “his lack of respect toward the court”
– the defendant refused to rise for the judge.

While Kyureghyan was absent from the court, political activist
Vardges Gaspari (pictured right) carried on Kyuregyan’s protest by
also not rising when the court arrived. “You are not a judge, you are
a minion of the ruling authorities. The European Court has found 48
out of 51 of your verdicts illegal. You should be ashamed of that,”
said Gaspari to Judge Armen Bektashyan.

The judge removed Gaspari from the courtroom, who responded by laying
down in the court hallway in protest.

Public defender Angela Hebosyan represented Kyureghyan in the court.

Initially, Kyureghyan had refused help for his defense, however, the
court found Hebosyan’s presence vital due to the defendant’s absence.

Hebosyan motioned that Kyureghyan arrive at the court and express
his compliance to the defender. However, Bektashyan stated that
Kyureghyan’s presence is not mandatory. He postponed the hearing,
in order for the public defender to meet with Hayk Kyureghyan and
conclude the issue of his compliance.

FALLOUT: GYUMRI FAMILY MASSACRE RAISES QUESTIONS OVER RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE

Analysis | 14.01.15 | 11:01

By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent

related news

Shock and Questions: Gyumri mourns murders as it looks for reasons

One day after the French unity march in Paris held in solidarity
with the victims of Islamist terror attacks, including the editors
and staffers of the satirical magazine, Charlie Ebdo, Armenia saw a
shocking mass murder of a large family in its second largest city of
Gyumri. Six members of the Avetisyan family were shot dead. The only
survivor of what looked like a shooting rampage was a six-month-old
baby. The suspect is Valeri Permyakov, a soldier of the 102nd Russian
military base stationed in Gyumri. He has already confessed to
the crime.

The brutal multiple murders caused a shock in Armenia. At the same
time, many have questioned the role of the Russian military base
in ensuring Armenia’s security. Some have argued that its presence
on Armenian soil only raises the level of threats. This question has
popped up in social media debates as well as in private conversations,
but it has never made to the political level.

Almost all officials, politicians and public figures, including Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanyan, have spoken against politicizing the issue
not to spoil the Russian-Armenian relations, especially that the
crime may have been committed by a man with mental health issues,
as some say, and ethnicity would not matter in this case.

There has been no increase in anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia,
but this latest incident has also evoked the memories of other tragic
events that took place because of what appeared to be negligence
at the Russian military base in Gyumri. For example, in 1999 two
drunken Russian officers opened random gunfire at the city market,
killing two and wounding dozens of innocent citizens. And in 2013,
two boys were blown up by explosive devices that had carelessly been
left by the Russians on the firing ground.

The Russian base in Armenia was established in 1995, a year after a
Russian-mediated ceasefire agreement was signed in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In Armenia, it is regarded as a deterrent on the border with Turkey,
with which Armenia has a troubled past and no diplomatic relations
at present. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Shoigu says that the
Russian military bases are there “to ensure the security of the CIS
countries.” There is also an opinion that the Russian base is a kind
of guarantor that Russia will not take hostile actions against Armenia.

Now Russia has only four military bases abroad – in Armenia, Belarus,
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2006, the Russian bases were withdrawn
from Georgia, and a year after that a war in South Ossetia started. In
2012, the Russian military base was withdrawn from Uzbekistan and in
2013 Russia withdrew from the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan. In
order to keep its Black Sea fleet in Ukraine, after the change of
government in Kyiv in February 2014, Moscow, in fact, established its
military present in the Crimea, where an internationally unrecognized
referendum was held in March to support the peninsula’s unification
with Russia.

Originally the lease agreement for the base in Armenia was to end
in 2020, but in 2010 then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived
in Yerevan and signed an agreement on extending the lease term until
2044. Then some experts wrote that Armenia had intended to refuse to
prolong the term of the agreement in 2020 and Russia decided not to
wait until then and take measures in advance.

While there are some calls for the withdrawal of the Russian military
base from Armenia made through social media (a corresponding Facebook
group has been created), many are wary of such calls, recalling
the events in Georgia and Ukraine, where Russia, according to many
experts, has acted under the threat of losing its military presence,
which resulted in territorial losses in both former Soviet countries.

Armenia is unlikely to withstand such pressure, having two hostile
neighbors like Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Furthermore, Armenia even officially pays the utilities and other
expenses of the Russian military base that it hosts. For example,
only at the end of 2014, 20 billion drams (approx. $42 million) were
allocated from the state budget of Armenia for covering expenses
related to the Russian military presence in Armenia.

HRAPARAK: GYUMRI RESIDENTS DISPLEASED WITH EX-MAYOR’S STATEMENT

‘Hraparak’ says that Gyumri ex-mayor Vardan Ghukasyan’s statement to
the effect that he is prepared to adopt the little child who survived
the attack on his family has caused discontent in the city. Some
residents of Gyumri believe that the mayor wants to raise a criminal –
everyone knows that the nephew Vahe Ghukasyan fostered by the mayor
was sentenced to 17 years in prison for murder. Others say that Vardan
Ghukasyan’s words should not be taken seriously because he likes to
profit by the occasion and his statement is just for show.

14.01.15, 11:01

TURKEY THREATENS TO BAN TWITTER, FACEBOOK AGAIN

January 14, 2015 – 17:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish authorities have warned that all websites
publishing records allegedly related to Syrian-bound trucks belonging
to the Turkish intelligence agency that were stopped by a prosecutor
last year will be banned, presaging a possible new ban on Twitter
and Facebook.

Twitter has quickly removed the content, while many other websites
have not yet complied, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

On Jan 2, 2014, two Syria-bound trucks belonging to Turkey’s National
Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) were stopped by a prosecutor who
sought to have the gendarmerie search the vehicles. The following
month, a Turkish court issued a ban on the publication of news related
to the incident.

A number of documents were leaked online on Jan 13 this year. The
proceedings related to the search allegedly show that arms belonging
to MÄ°T were found in the trucks. Speculation has been rife that the
arms were destined for jihadists in Syria.

Turkish officials, now equipped with the authority to block websites
even without a court ruling, warned that the gag order would be
strictly imposed on the Internet. Any website, including Facebook and
Twitter, will be blocked if they do not remove the leaked documents.

Twitter quickly withheld the sanctioned content Wednesday, Jan 14,
dodging the possible Turkish ban. Facebook, on the other hand,
has not yet complied with the decision, Turkish authorities said,
noting that the talks were continuing.

“There are several court decisions against the websites that published
the signed proceedings,” a Turkish official told daily Hurriyet,
stressing that the “procedure is ongoing.”

Turkey blocked access to Twitter, hours after then-Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to close down the social media platform
in March 2014.

YouTube was banned in Turkey the same month, after a top-secret
government meeting on Syria was leaked allegedly depicting government
officials discussing a possible false-flag operation on Turkey in an
effort to drag Turkey into Syria’s war.

The Constitutional Court unblocked Twitter on April 2, 2014, and
YouTube on May 29, 2014, citing freedom of expression, but the ruling
drew the ire of the government.

LAWYER: “FAMILY MURDER IN GYUMRI IS SUBJECT TO INVESTIGATION WITHIN LIMITS OF ARMENIA’S LEGISLATION ONLY”

by Mariam Lazarian

Wednesday, January 14, 14:36

The murder of Avetisyans family in Gyumri is subject to investigation
within limits of Armenia’s legislation only, lawyer Norayr Norikyan
told reporters, Wednesday.

The lawyer qualifies Russia’s refusal to hand the common soldier of
the 102nd Russian military base Valery Permyakov – suspect of the
family murder – to the Armenian law-enforcement as groundless and
contradicting the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. He claims
that Russian frontier guards were to hand Permyakov to the Armenian
law-enforcers immediately after detention. He lawyer is against any
reference to Article 61 of the RF Constitution in the given case, as
the RF Constitution does not apply to the territory of Armenia. Crimes
committed in the territory of Armenia are subject to investigation
by the law-enforcement of Armenia, the lawyer said.

Article 14.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia stipulates that a person
who commits a crime in the territory of the Republic of Armenia must
be brought responsible within limits of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

Armenia and Russia have an international agreement on repatriation of
citizens committing crimes in their territories, but the given crime
does not fit into the given agreement. The lawyer thinks that there
could be even accomplices in the Gyumri murder.

Norikyan recalled that soldiers of the 102nd Russian military base in
Armenia had been brought responsible in line with the legislation of
Armenia also before. The lawyer believes that the given case is not
only of social and legal nature, but also of political importance,
as it endangers Armenia’s sovereignty.

As was reported earlier, a family of 6 persons was viciously murdered
in Gyumri. On Jan 12 in Gyumri, the soldier of the 102nd Russian
military base in Gyumri, V.Permyakov, left his post. He penetrated
into the house of Avetisyans and shot all the 6 members of the family
dead. Only their 6-month-old baby has survived. The soldier left his
uniform and gun on the spot. He escaped wearing casual clothing.

After a daylong search, he was detained on the border with Turkey by
the frontier guards. Permyakov has already admitted to the murder.

On January 14, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia announced
that Permyakov’s transfer to Armenia is not discussed.

FRANCOIS ROCHEBLOINE WRITING TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL

HAENEL CASE

Francois Rochebloine, MP of the Loire, wrote on January 6 letter to
Jean-Louis Debre, President of the Constitutional Council for expressed
“amazement”, reading news reports on “allegedly maintained close
relations Monseiur Hubert Haenel, member of the Board Constitionnuel
,, with a former Turkish foreign minister, when the Council was
considering the draft law to al repression of denial of the Armenian
genocide.

For Francois Rochebloine, “if true, the alleged conduct Mr. Haenel
(…) lead to question, in accordance with the most established legal
principles, the validity of the deliberation” on Boyer law and “would
any event, likely to cast a damaging confidence in the independence
of the Board in this particular dispute. ”

Wednesday, January 14, 2015, Ara © armenews.com

RUBEN VARDANYAN INSPIRES AT AUA – PHOTOS

DECEMBER 7, 2014 in UNIVERSITY

YEREVAN, Armenia – On December 6, 2014, the American University of
Armenia (AUA) welcomed Ruben Vardanyan for an inspiring presentation
on “Armenia and the Armenian World.” He discussed the present state
of Armenia, possibilities for the future of the country, and the role
that both local and diasporan Armenians can play in its development
and success.

Vardanyan’s presentation began with his optimistic vision for the
future, which emphasized philanthropy and development as the key
factors for a prosperous Armenia. “Philanthropy is important only
if it serves its ultimate purpose: to initiate positive changes and
improvements at the systemic level,” he said.

To achieve this, Armenians around the world should be active
participants and knowledgeable citizens in their quest for an even
greater independent republic. He stated, “It is our responsibility
to do something for our nation.” Vardanyan also discussed the need
for Armenians to have a respectable and recognizable modern-day
figure that can aid in the development of the Armenian “brand” and
the marketing of Armenia as a desirable place to live and visit.

One important theme throughout Vardanyan’s presentation was how
Armenians can become global citizens without losing their national
identity. He emphasized the importance of traveling the world,
interacting with different people and cultures, and learning several
languages. He cited education, research, and the development of higher
education institutions like AUA as key factors to achieving an Armenia
in which its citizens think globally and act locally.

Vardanyan is involved in many projects for the sustainable development
of Armenia, one of which being the “Armenia 2020” project, which he
discussed during the presentation. The project brings together key
individuals of the Armenian diaspora to address and find solutions to
the major problems that Armenia faces. It encourages dialogue among
the diaspora as well as investment in a vision for the future of
the country. He encouraged audience members to make their own small
investments in the country, not just financially, but practically
and sustainably.

Ruben Vardanyan, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, is Co-Founder
of the IDeA Foundation, an organization which implements strategic
charitable initiatives for Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian diaspora,
and a Founding Partner of the UWC Dilijan College. He serves as Advisor
to the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sberbank of Russia. He is
a Founding Partner and Vice-Chairman of the International Advisory
Board of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, as well as Chairman
of the SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies. Vardanyan
graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University and has completed
post-graduate courses and programs at INSEAD, Harvard Business School,
Yale University, and Stanford University.

Following his presentation, Vardanyan answered questions from
the audience on topics such as his involvement with educational
institutions, his experiences as an entrepreneur, his personal and
professional plans for the future, and more.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a
private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and
affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global
education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate
and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting
public service and democratic values.

CITY IN MOURNING: GYUMRI GRIEVES FOR AVETISYAN FAMILY

SOCIETY | 14.01.15 | 15:07

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow intern

“They were a good, hard-working family,” neighbors and relatives say
of the Avetisyan family, victims of murder Monday in their home at
188 Myasnikyan Street in Gyumri.

Early in the morning six members of the seven-member family, including
a small little child were brutally murdered. A six-month old boy is
recovering from stab wounds inflicted in the attack carried out by
19-year-old Valeri Permyakov, a Russian soldier stationed at nearby
base in Gyumri, who confessed to the crimes.

According to Permyakov’s confession, the teenage soldier “left the
base for a walk, entered the house of the Avetisyan for a glass of
water” and murdered the family.

Seryozha Avetisyan, 53, his wife Hasmik, 55, daughter Aida, 35,
son Armen, 33, daughter-in-law Araksya, 24, and three-year-old
granddaughter Hasmik, were found killed, and a six-month-old infant
with severe stab wounds, were found hours after the incident, when
a relative-neighbor came to the house for morning coffee.

This shocking news was spread in the whole country and for hours
Gyumri became the center of attention as a manhunt was underway for
the killer.

Now, no one has answers for why such a brutal attack was taken on
this family.

Neighbors say that the Avetisyans lived in that address for a long
time and they say that the family did not always lock the gate and
that night it was open again.

Neighbors and relatives confirm that the family had no enemies
and they never had any problems with anyone, ‘a common family with
nothing special.’

The father of the family, Seryozha Avetisyan earned the living of
the family by migrant labor in Russia. He would take his son, Armen
Avetisyan with him as well. Neighbors say that the father and the son
had recently returned to Gyumri to celebrate New Year with the family.

The mother and the daughter-in-law were housewives. The daughter of
Seryozha, Aida, worked in a flower-shop.

The salesman at a store nearby the Avetisyans’ house said that they
were a family of common means, their son was not very communicative,
but had clever friends. According to the neighbors, soldiers never
visited their house.

“They were people earning their own bread, never bothered anyone,
they were not wealthy for us to think they were murdered for money,
they did not even fight with the neighbors,” a cousin of Seryozha
Avetisyan, Sirekan Nersisyan told NEWS.am.

The sealed house has become a point of vigil as people throughout
Gyumri come to place candles. Candle-lighting ceremonies have been
held in different cities of the country in commemoration and honor.

Funerals will be held from 14 to 17 of January, in Gyumri St. Nshan
Church, and the burial – on January 15, at 1pm starting from the
same church.

Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Public Relations of the
Ministry of Health said that the condition of the only remaining
member of the family, six-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan remains in
grave but stable condition.

The infant was transferred from Gyumri Austrian Child Clinic to
Yerevan St. Holy Mother Medical Center on Tuesday morning.

DEUX POLICIERS ECROUES DANS L’AFFAIRE DU MEURTRE DU JOURNALISTE HRANT DINK

TURQUIE

Un tribunal d’Istanbul a inculpe et place en detention mardi deux
policiers turcs accuses de n’avoir rien fait pour empecher l’assassinat
du celèbre journaliste turc d’origine armenienne Hrant Dink en 2007,
ont rapporte les medias turcs.

Les deux policiers, Muhittin Zenit et Ozkan Mumcu, ont ete notamment
inculpes de “negligence” et “abus de pouvoir” et ecroues, a precise
l’agence de presse Dogan.

Le 19 janvier 2007, Hrant Dink, 52 ans, une figure celèbre de la petite
communaute armenienne de Turquie, etait abattu de deux balles dans
la tete devant le siège d’Agos, le journal bilingue turco-armenien
qu’il dirigeait.

Hrant Dink oeuvrait a la reconciliation entre Turcs et Armeniens mais
etait haï par les nationalistes turcs pour avoir qualifie de genocide
les massacres dont les Armeniens ont ete victimes pendant la Première
guerre mondiale.

Mineur au moment des faits, un jeune nationaliste, Ogun Samast, a
avoue le meurtre du journaliste et a ete condamne en juillet 2011 a
23 ans de prison.

Mais lors d’un autre procès, un des instigateurs presumes de
l’assassinat, Erhan Tuncel, a revele qu’il avait informe la police
d’un complot ourdi contre Hrant Dink, mais que ses avertissements
n’avaient pas ete entendus.

La justice turque a jusque-la ecarte la thèse du complot, suscitant
de nombreuses critiques de la part des partisans de Hrant Dink. Mais
en 2013, la Cour de Cassation a ordonne la reouverture du dossier.

Sept responsables turcs, dont l’ancien chef de la police d’Istanbul,
font actuellement l’objet de poursuites pour les memes chefs de
negligence reprochees aux policiers ecroues mardi.

Istanbul, 13 jan 2015 (AFP) –

mercredi 14 janvier 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com