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Armenpress.am
24 June, 2019
“Autocracy has collapsed” – Garo Paylan on Istanbul election
Ethnic Armenian Member of Parliament of Turkey Garo Paylan has called upon the citizens of Istanbul to “build democracy on the collapsed autocracy”.
Paylan, representing Istanbul at Parliament from the HDP, made the remarks after poll results showed that politician Ekrem Imamoglu from the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) won the mayoral election in Istanbul.
“What mattered most in this election was that the autocracy collapsed,” Paylan told Bianet.
“Now, all of us together must hand in hand fight for democracy. We must leave aside inter-party problems, being Kurd, Turk or Armenian, and once again build democracy upon the collapse of autocracy for all citizens of Turkey,” Paylan said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
ARKA, Armenia
June 25 2019
Armenian foreign ministry slams Elmar Mammadyarov for making ‘destructive’ statements
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry slammed today Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov for making ‘destructive’ statements, saying also that this kind of approach is devaluating the seriousness of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
A spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Anna Naghdalyan said Mammadyarov’s statements came after he and his Armenian opposite number Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met in Washington. Following the meeting Mammadyarov said that the situation along the line of contact should not be regarded as an obstacle to substantive negotiations on a political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
He also called for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the regions surrounding the administrative borders of the former autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh and deployment of peacekeepers. Naghdalyan recalled that in Washington, the ministers discussed what could be done to stabilize the situation aggravated because of the Azerbaijani side. She said the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs called for immediate steps to restore the atmosphere conducive to establishing peace and preserving the cease-fire, and made clear proposals regarding humanitarian sphere and risk reduction.
“The disinformation of the Azerbaijani side on issues beyond these frameworks suggests that Azerbaijan does not intend to implement these proposals and the calls of the co-chairs. Moreover, the allegations that the negotiations can be successfully conducted under conditions of regular violation of the cease-fire regime cause significant damage to the peace efforts disrupting the peace process," said Naghdalyan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been
under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached.
Armenpress.am
25 June, 2019
Azerbaijan fails to lead OSCE mission its frontline positions during monitoring
On June 25, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the ceasefire regime on the border of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, in the north-east direction of Akna, the foreign ministry of Artsakh told Armenpress.
From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), as well as staff member of the Office of the CiO Personal Representative Martin Schuster (Germany) and representative of the OSCE High-Level Planning Group (HLPG) Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Bosshard (Switzerland).
From the opposite side of the border, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the OSCE CiO Personal Representative Ognjen Jovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative Simon Tiller (Great Britain), as well as representative of the OSCE HLPG Lieutenant-Colonel Harry O’Connor (Ireland).
The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. However, the Azerbaijani side did not lead the OSCE mission to its frontline positions.
From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the Republic of Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.
News.am, Armenia
June 27 2019
Azerbaijan President: War with Armenia is not over
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has declared that the war with Armenia is not over and this is the reason why Azerbaijan will continue increasing its military capacity, reports Interfax-Azerbaijan.
“We are living in conditions of war. The war is not over yet, and we have to be ready to liberate the native lands from occupation at any moment. I believe that day will come, and Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity,” Aliyev said during a meeting with the cadets and lecturers of Azerbaijan’s military lyceum.
June 25 2019
Former Armenian president Kocharyan arrested for the third time
Ani Mejlumyan
The country’s Constitutional Court will rule in August whether, under the constitution, the charges under which Kocharyan is being prosecuted are valid.
An Armenian court has ordered Robert Kocharyan to be re-arrested ahead of his trial on charges related to the violent breakup of protests in 2008, when he was president.
Kocharyan had been released on bail seven weeks earlier, a move that led Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Kocharyan’s longtime nemesis – to launch an attack on the country’s judicial system.
The Court of Appeals ruled on June 25 in favor of the prosecutors’ demand that Kocharyan continue to be held in jail while he awaits trial on charges of “overthrowing the constitutional order” for his role in what have become known as the “March 1 events” in Armenia. He first faced the charges last July, but has been released twice since then.
After the hearing, Kocharyan was driven to penitentiary in a black sedan, and stopped briefly at the gate to get out of the car and wave at a jeering crowd. One journalist asked him if he had anything to say. “Oh, I have so many things to say,” he replied, but did not elaborate.
The day before the verdict Kocharyan gave an interview to “5th Channel,” a television station belonging to his friend, Armen Tavadyan. The wide-ranging interview covered his trial, his self-described successes as president, and Nagorno-Karabakh, where he was de facto president before taking on that role in Armenia.
He described the ongoing trial as a political vendetta against him. “They have concluded that I have somehow been endangering their political success today,” he said. He complained that the trial has been biased against him, that the judge had not allowed his lawyers to speak but has given a prominent platform to the families of the victims. Ten people died during the crackdown – eight protesters and two police officers.
As he has repeatedly done, he blamed the March 1 violence on Pashinyan, who was an opposition politician at the time and helped organized the protests. “Today’s prime minister is directly responsible for the March 1, 2008, mass disorders and of course he is trying to rewrite history.”
Before the case goes to trial, Armenia’s Constitutional Court has to rule on the legality of the charges. On June 21, the court issued a statement saying it was considering a request from Kocharyan’s legal team to rule on whether, under the constitution, the charges under which Kocharyan is being prosecuted are valid. That hearing was set for August 29.
Adding a wrinkle to those proceedings will be the fact that the Constitutional Court now appears to be headed – for now – by a former lawyer for the March 1 victims’ families.
Vahe Grigoryan, who made a name representing the March 1 victims in the European Court of Human Rights, was confirmed to be the newest member of the Constitutional Court on June 18. Two days later, during his inauguration at parliament, he announced that he would be the chairman of the court, trying to exploit a semantic difference between the current constitution, adopted in 2017, in which those who sit on the court are “judges,” and the former one, in which they are “members.” The constitution says “judges” can determine the chair, and Grigoryan – only one of two to be put on the court since the new constitution was adopted – said that means he calls the shots.
Members of the ruling My Step alliance applauded Grigoryan’s announcement. But it was received dimly by many legal experts. “I even find it pointless to comment on such a statement. It doesn’t fit into any logic and is absurd,” said one constitutional law expert, who told the news website panorama.am that the self-election was “absurd, anti-constitutional and unlawful.”
Vazgen Manuyan, president of the Public Council of Armenia, a government body that aims to bring together civil society and the government, agreed. “This is the first time I am hearing a person declare himself president of the Constitutional Court. I am concerned about the fact that there are such people in our society,” he told the news site ankakh.com.
It remained unclear whether Grigoryan’s gambit would succeed, and other members/judges of the court have yet to weigh in. Hovhannes Khudoyan, one of Kocharyan’s attorneys, told RFE/RL that the verdict will be appealed in the Court of Cassation.
Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.
Armenpress.am
26 June, 2019
Armenia tax privileges for startups attracts IT experts from around the world
Around 100 tech companies have already applied to the Armenian Ministry of High Tech Industry to be granted tax privileges after the new law has enabled new opportunities for startups.
The 2019 April amendments in the law on State Support for Information Technologies Sector, effective since May 18th, is aimed at the development and progress of a knowledge-based economy.
The ministry said the number of applicants is growing daily and 41 startups have already been granted tax privileges during the first and second sessions of the certification commission.
The applicants are startups engaged in various directions: engineering, e-shopping, web-design, mobile applications, payment systems, e-testing etc.
200-240 workplaces will be created as a result of the operations of these 41 companies alone.
“First of all this law gives faith, hope and also vigor to new, beginning companies that the government is maximally supporting, in person of our minister’s great efforts, the development of this sector,” said DataArt Director Arsen Baghdasaryan. He noted
that the privileges support the companies in the initial period, which otherwise would be rather expensive.
The new law has also attracted repatriates.
Months earlier two Armenian brothers participated in the Dilijan Startup Innovative Technologies Conference where they found out about the tax privilege law. They then decided to return to Armenia, leaving behind their own business in France. They now have 10 employees working in their startup and are certain that the governmental support program will ensure progress.
Another repatriate who returned to her homeland is Diana, a data processing expert who together with her Austrian husband decided to settle in Armenia. Now they are in the process of hiring employees.
Lusine Mnatsakanyan from the Netherlands has also already established a logistic shipment startup in Armenia and is employing 5 people.
The new law is granting 0% profit tax and only 10% income tax to startups.
At the same time, there are certain requirements to be eligible to apply, for example the number of employees of the given startup should not exceed 30 and the companies should not be established as a result of the re-organization of another business.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenpress.am
24 June, 2019
Three Armenian airlines to operate more flights to Russia and Georgia
Three Armenian carriers – Armenia Aircompany, Taron Avia and Atlantis European – will increase the number of passenger flights to Russia and Georgia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s adviser Hakob Tchagharyan said on Facebook.
He said he asked all Armenian carriers about their readiness and opportunities in participating in the passenger transportations from Russia to Georgia and vice-versa immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order on suspending Russian flights to Georgia from July 8. He said three carriers responded.
“I am glad to note that three airlines – Armenia, Taron Avia and Atlantis European – are ready to participate in settling the crisis that has emerged between brotherly peoples, with five designated aircraft, the number of which can grow with another two. The Prime Minister has been briefed on the results,” Tchagharyan wrote.
On June 20, protesters began rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi against the participation of Russian parliamentarians in the General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodox.
Georgia’s opposition joined the demonstrators and called for the resignation of the government and the parliament speaker. More than 200 people, including police officers and reporters, were injured.
The protests eventually forced the Speaker of Parliament of Georgia to step down.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili blamed Russia for the protests, to which Russia’s PM Dmitry Medvedev reacted by saying that the accusations are non-professional and that blaming Russia distorts the situation.
On June 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian airlines to suspend flights to Georgia effective July 8.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
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