Armenian News... A Topalian... Trail Building in Vayots Dzor

HIKE

Armenia Trail Building Update! 

The Hills Are Alive! 

Trail Building in Vayots Dzor

With the intense summer heat behind us, our trail building is back in full swing!

40+ kilometers of exciting new hiking trails are getting built and marked to get hikers between the villages of Gomk and Artavan. This trail network will provide opportunities to explore a truly unique area of Southern Vayots Dzor, complete with breathtaking views, ancient pathways, authentic accommodations, and amazing local hospitality. If you want to experience this hike for yourself, keep an eye out on HIKEArmenia.org to access travel, hiking guide and BnB recommendations along with maps and GPS tracks.    

A1+

North-South Road Corridor project under criminal investigation for misconduct and fraud

September 5,2018 

 

The Prosecutor General’s Office has received the report of the ministry of transportation, communication and information technologies about the North-South Road Corridor.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said that studies into the project revealed that officials who were involved in the development and implementation process of the North-South Road Corridor have made unnecessary changes in the contracts numerous times in 2009-2018, and have included in the contracts ineffective and ungrounded works and have implemented design and calculation documents with obvious errors.

The officials involved have also agreed to extend the construction and consulting services deadlines without charging the damages, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Misconduct also includes changing the costs in the contracts, which led to overpayment to consulting companies.

The Prosecutor General’s office also said that the officials have failed to conduct monitoring on the works and as a result the Tranche 1 Yerevan-Artashat and Yerevan-Ashtarak sections have been commissioned despite poor quality.

Damages caused to the state by misconduct exceed 23 billion drams.

A criminal case has been initiated.

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 6 2018

Turkish court seeks Interpol Red Notice for prominent intellectual

 

A Turkish court has decided to seek an Interpol Red Notice for Ragıp Zarakolu, a publisher, writer and one of the few Turkish intellectuals, who had recognized the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide, Ermenihaber reported, citing local sources.

 

The decision for an Interpol Red Notice and extradition to Turkey on terrorism charges was made by a high criminal court in İstanbul six years after Zarakolu’s release from prison, the source said.

 

As noted, in 2011, a case was launched against the publisher on charges of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization due to a speech he made at the Politics Academy of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). He was arrested in October 2011 and released pending trial in April 2012.

 

Zarakolu, who has been living in Switzerland since 2013, called Turkey’s arrest warrant “harassment.” “Apparently, some were disturbed as I have continued to advocate human rights, minority rights, and the freedom of speech, supported peace, and expressed my opinions,” Ahvalnews quoted Zarakolu as saying.

 

To add, Zarakolu is a well-known political activist who has been fighting for freedom of _expression_ in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues such as minority and human rights. In 2011, Zarakolu was awarded with Hakob Meghapart medal by the State Library of Armenia for his professional activity and the books and materials donated to the Library.

Public Radio of Armenia

Sept 5 2018

Jailed Turkish novelist working on Armenian Genocide book

Turkish and novelist Ahmet Altan, who was jailed last February and sentenced to life imprisonment for their alleged involvement in a 2016 coup attempt, is working on the untitled final volume of his Ottoman Quartet series, Publisher Weekly reports.

The final volume of the Ottoman Quartet is set in 1915 and “tells the tales of the Battle of Gallipoli and the Armenian Genocide.”

The Ottoman Quartet, launched in 1998 with the publication of Like a Sword Wound, was always intended to be a longterm project. “I planned this as a tetralogy to show the cultural diversification and inner conflicts within a family as the years passed, while at the same time telling the story of the step-by-step collapse of an empire. Such novels take time to write, because one needs to do serious historical research.”

Altan is already well-known for his public statements about the genocide, a subject so taboo in Turkey that anyone who mentions it risks jail for “insulting Turkishness.”

“I think the best narration of the dark and bloody face of history is found in literature,” he said. “Literature doesn’t only give us the historical truth, it also enables us to form emotional linkage to what happened in history, it enables us to carry inside the marks of the events of the past. The mental tremor one feels while reading the feelings of a woman watching her child being killed is more profound than one’s reaction to the factual statement that ‘one million people were killed.’ The former helps you much better appreciate the truth of it all.”

Daily Sabah, Turkey

Sept 6 2018

With religious services in Akdamar Church resuming soon, Armenians hail 'new Turkey'

 The church on Akdamar island last hosted an annual religious service in 2014. Acting Armenian Patriarch Aram Ateşyan says there is huge interest in the service. 

Akdamar, an Armenian Orthodox church on an island in a lake in eastern Turkey, will open its doors on Sunday for the first religious service in four years as acting Armenian Patriarch Aram Ateşyan says Turkey is ‘not the old Turkey and gives rights to minorities'

Preparations are underway for Sunday's religious service at Akdamar, an Armenian orthodox church situated in a scenic island in Lake Van in eastern Turkey. The service, the first in four years, marks a new chapter for religious freedoms. The annual mass was first held in 2010, after a restoration of the church named after the island. It had to be canceled in 2015 and the following years due to a campaign of violence by the PKK terrorist group active in the region.

Speaking on the upcoming mass, Aram Ateşyan, the acting Armenian Patriarch, said Turkey was "changing." "It is not the old Turkey. We have a stronger state, a state giving rights to minorities," he told Anadolu Agency.

A large turnout is expected both from the Orthodox faithful in Turkey and abroad for the mass in small island. Ateşyan says the island is distinguished by its church, which was originally named Surp Haç but came to be known as Akdamar church. He noted that the church was closed for a long time to religious services but "many things changed" after the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power. 

"The church was repaired in 2007 and we were granted a right to hold an annual mass by the Culture and Tourism Ministry," he pointed out.

The ministry officials will also attend Sunday's service that will host Armenians of Orthodox faith whose population is concentrated in Istanbul. More participation is anticipated from Armenia.

"We had about 7,000 people attending the service in 2011. We don't expect such a high number this year but it will be huge even if only 2,000 people show up," Ateşyan said, adding that the interest in the service was "clear" as almost all hotels in Van were fully booked.

"This is a historic city both for Armenians and the world. It is a special place for us. We should promote it more, promote its historic places," Ateşyan said.

The church is open to visitors as a museum but crowded events were barred as acts of terrorism escalated in Turkey's east and southeast where the PKK was active. After a brief lull, the PKK, which has conducted a campaign of terror in the region since the 1980s, had resumed its attacks in 2015. 

Counterterrorism operations since have reinstated safety in the region, which is dotted with prominent sites for Christianity and Islam.

Added to the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage in 2015, the church was built between 915 and 921 A.D. by architect Bishop Manuel, under the supervision of Gagik I Artsruni, an Armenian king. Believed to be constructed to house a piece of the "True Cross," which was used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the church was restored in 2005 and opened in 2007. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism approved a TL 4 billion (around $3 billion in 2005) budget for the project, which lasted two years and included several architects, engineers and archaeologists.

Ateşyan says minorities faced "taboos" in the past and were worried about their existence but it changed with the AK Party. "We are able to repair our churches and some minorities are approved to build new ones," he said, referring to past restrictions on non-Muslim communities in the country. "We feel like we exist again."

RFE/RL Report

Armenia Sets Stricter Punishment For Incentives To Voters

September 06, 2018

Armenian lawmakers on Thursday voted unanimously to set a stricter criminal 

punishment for giving people various incentives to vote for a particular candidate, party or programs with the offer of cash or somehow else during 

elections and referendums.

Sixty-six members of the 101-seat National Assembly, who attended the special session, backed, in the first reading, the government-drafted bill amending a number of laws, including the Criminal Code, to that effect.

Deputy Justice Minister Artur Hovannisian, who presented the bill in parliament, called for measures to be taken to exclude pressure, vote buying and other illegal influences on citizens’ expression of will during electoral processes.

“We really need to make sure that citizens make their choices freely,” he said.

The bill envisages criminalization of electoral bribes in any form - be it a promise of cash or provision of cash on preferential terms, provision of food, 

services or other incentives under the guise of charity – during campaigning periods.

“Today it is also considered illegal, but now only administrative responsibility is envisaged for that, with the highest penalty set at 2.5 million drams (about $5,150). We find that such deeds amount to vote buying. And today vote buying is criminally punishable,” Hovannisian explained.

Under the amendments, the violation may land the offender in prison for up to six years.

The vote on the amendments in the second and final reading is due on September 7.

RFE/RL

Pashinian Government Mulls Flat Income Tax

September 06, 2018

Suren Musayelyan

Describing the current levels of taxes as “heavy” for citizens and the tax legislation as “bad and encouraging tax evasion”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday suggested at least two options to tackle the issue.

In a live Facebook broadcast following today’s government session Pashinian advocated a flat income tax system that he said would be fair to all and would close loopholes for employers to evade taxes, while stimulating the growth of salaries.

Currently Armenia has a three-tier income tax system, implying that workers who get a monthly salary of up to 150,000 drams (about $310) pay an income tax at the level of 23 percent, those whose monthly salaries are in the range between 150,000 and 2 million (about 4,100) drams pay a 25-percent tax and those whose salaries are higher than that are taxed 36 percent on anything that is above 2 million drams.

According to Pashinian, the government initially considered about a dozen variants of reforming the tax legislation, but eventually arrived at just two 

options, with the first being the introduction of a two-tier income tax system. Under this system, citizens receiving a monthly salary of up to 250,000 drams (about $515) would be taxed 23 percent, while those receiving higher salaries would be taxed 25 percent of their income.

“This system has its logic, which is social justice. Those who will get more will pay more. On the other hand, in that case employers would still not be 

interested in raising salaries of their employees,” Pashinian said.

In contrast, according to the prime minister, the introduction of a flat income tax of 23 percent for all, given that it is equivalent to the sum of the profit 

tax and dividend tax, would help solve several problems, including simplification of tax laws for potential foreign investors.

Pashinian said that the government hopes the additional revenues of citizens enabled by this reform would return to the country’s economy and will, in particular, help develop small and medium-sized business.

At the same time, Pashinian said that he also backed the idea of the income tax being cut by at least 0.5 percentage points every year. “In five years or so 

our income tax rate would be at 20 percent,” said the prime minister, adding that in his opinion this would provide an additional impetus to economic growth.

The prime minister also announced plans to lower profit and dividend taxes for non-resident investors to make them equal to those paid by local investors. “We think that we should not discriminate between resident and non-resident investors for the simple reason that among non-resident entrepreneurs there are many Diaspora Armenians… Besides, we think that such discrimination between foreign and local investors is not a good message in terms of improving the investment environment,” he said.

Pashinian said his government is ready to hear proposals from all stakeholders 

and promised to continue to present to the public all ideas that his cabinet has in terms of tax reforms.

JAM News

Sept 6 2018

Armenian grape farmers shut down highway, demand raise in purchase prices

After a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, protestors have temporarily stopped their demonstration 

Armenian grape farmers in Armavir have been protesting the low purchase price of their product for the second day in a row.

Yesterday they gathered by the Ararat cognac factory in Armavir and later closed off the highway connecting the city with Yerevan.

There were several run-ins between drivers and protestors. Movement along the road was restored only towards the evening.

The farmers are demanding 160 drams (less than 30 US cents) per kilogram, a price they were promised earlier. As of now, they only receive 140 drams. Buyers in turn say that they have already raised the purchase price by 10 drams, and that they cannot afford to raise it further.

Demonstrators say that it is unprofitable for them to sell their produce to buyers at the current price.

The Armenian Minister of Agriculture Artur Khachatryan met with the protesters today, and promised to discuss the issue with grape purchasers and solve the problem. Afterwards, the farmers temporarily halted their demonstration.

RFE/RL Report

Armenian Judokas To Miss International Competition In Azerbaijan

September 05, 2018

An Armenian judo team will not travel to Baku which hosts world championships later this month, Armenia’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs said on Wednesday.

According to Armenian sport officials, Azerbaijan has refused to formally provide the necessary guarantees for the security of the Armenian delegation.

The World Judo Championships are due to be held in the capital of Azerbaijan on September 20-27.

Despite the lingering conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh athletes from Armenia and Azerbaijan traveled to their neighboring country on several occasions to take part in major international competitions before 2016 April clashes in the 

disputed region in which dozens of soldiers were killed on both sides.

Thus, more than two dozen Armenians took part in the first European Games held in Baku in 2015.

Azerbaijani athletes also attended a number of major international competitions in Armenia, including judo, boxing and archery events.

In all those cases security guarantees to athletes were provided by the authorities of the host nation.