Armenian News... A Topalian 9 editorials

Arminfo, Armenia

Sept 3 2019

Marianna Mkrtchyan

Turkish President had a conversation with representatives of the  Armenian community

ArmInfo. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a reception at the presidential palace in Ankara on the occasion of Victory Day, met with the locum tenens of the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the Armenian Apostolic  Church, Bishop Sahak Mashalian and Chairman of the Board of Trustees  of the Fund of the Armenian Hospital of the Holy Savior Bedros  Sirinoglu.

According to Agos, within the framework of the event, Erdogan had a  short conversation with representatives of the Armenian community.

According to the newspaper, the Turkish leader asked the  representatives of the Armenian community how preparations are  proceeding for the election of a new patriarch. In turn, the Armenian  side informed that it was waiting for an appropriate charter for the  elections.  At the request of President Erdogan, Turkish Interior  Minister Suleyman Soilu said the document will be sent to the  patriarchy during the week.

To note, after the death of patriarch Mutafyan, the process of  electing a new patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church of  Constantinople began. By the decision of the religious meeting of the  Patriarchate of Constantinople, the election day of the locum tenens  was scheduled for June 27. However, by decision of the Istanbul  administration, the elections were postponed until July 4. Two  candidates claimed the place of locum tenens of the patriarch -  Archbishop Aram Ateshyan and Bishop Sahak Mashalian. On July 4,  Bishop Sahak Mashalian was elected locum tenens of the Patriarch of  the Constantinople Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church. 13  votes were cast for Mashalian, 11 for Ates

RFE/RL Report

U.S. ‘Understands’ Iran’s Importance For Armenia

September 02, 2019

The United States is not pressuring Armenia to curtail its relations with neighboring Iran because of the U.S. sanctions against Tehran, according to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

In an interview with the French-Armenian magazine “Nouvelles d’Armenie” publicized by his press office on Saturday, Pashinian was asked whether the sanctions are causing Armenian serious problems.

“I don’t want to make grandiose statements but our diplomats have succeeded in scoring a very important victory in this regard,” he replied. “Our American 

partners seem to have gotten a good grasp of the issue. They have started to understand that Iran is one thing for Washington and another for Armenia.”

“I can say that at the moment we are not subjected to any pressure [from the U.S.,]” added Pashinian.

Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, a close associate of Pashinian, made similar comments when he visited Washington and spoke at the Atlantic Council think-tank in July.

“We don’t want the United States to put pressure on Armenia for joining in its Iran sanctions agenda,” Mirzoyan said. He argued that Iran serves as one of his 

landlocked country’s two conduits to the outside world due to closed borders with the two other Muslim neighbors: Azerbaijan and Turkey.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed the U.S. sanctions with Pashinian during an October 2018 trip to Armenia. Bolton said traffic through the Armenian-Iranian border will become a “significant issue” because Washington will be enforcing the sanctions “very vigorously.”

Pashinian made clear afterwards that that his government will “deepen not only economic but also political relations” with Tehran. He paid an official visit 

to the Islamic Republic in February.

Pashinian reaffirmed Yerevan’s strong interest in the implementation of Iranian-Armenian energy projects in an interview with leading Iranian media outlets cited by the Armenpress news agency on Monday. He noted with satisfaction the ongoing construction of a third transmission line that will link the Armenian and Iranian power grids.

The Armenian leader also pointed out that he has invited Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union that will be held in Yerevan next month. Iran and the Russian-led trade bloc signed a preferential trade agreement last year.

RFE/RL Report

Constitutional Court Set To Rule On Kocharian’s Appeal

September 03, 2019

Naira Bulghadarian

Gayane Saribekian

Armenia’s Constitutional Court began on Tuesday final deliberations on former President Robert Kocharian’s appeal against his arrest and prosecution on coup 

charges.

Early this year, Kocharian petitioned the court to declare unconstitutional two articles of the Code of Procedural Justice used against him by law-enforcement authorities.

His lawyers maintain that the Armenian constitution gives him immunity from prosecution for his actions taken during the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. The Special Investigative Service (SIS), which indicted Kocharian shortly after last year’s “Velvet Revolution,” disputes these claims.

The court is due to announce its ruling on the appeal by Wednesday evening.

One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hayk Alumian, expressed hope that the court will accept his and his colleagues’ arguments. In that case, he said, the ex-president will have to be freed and cleared of “overthrow of the 

constitutional order” alleged by the SIS.

The SIS specifically claims that Kocharian and three retired army generals illegally used Armenian army units against opposition protesters who demonstrated in Yerevan against alleged fraud in a February 2008 presidential election. The vote was controversially won by his preferred successor, Serzh Sarkisian.

The final deliberations unfolded amid demonstrations staged by Kocharian’s supporters and detractors outside the Constitutional Court building in the city 

center. Separated by riot police, the rival protesters chanted slogans and shouted insults at each other.

“We want freedom for Robert Kocharian,” one woman told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “There are no grounds to keep Robert Kocharian in jail.” She dismissed the charges brought against him as “lies.”

“An honest person must be freed, right? It’s as simple as that,” said another Kocharian backer.

“Kocharian is a state criminal, not a hero,” countered a man who held the ex-president responsible for the deaths of ten people on March 1-2, 2008.

“I wish Kocharian a life sentence,” said another anti-Kocharian protester.

Late last week, Vahe Grigorian, the Constitutional Court’s newest member installed by the Armenian parliament in June, demanded that the court’s 

chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, and two other judges recuse themselves from the case. He said that they cannot be impartial and objective because of having 

been previously involved in controversial decisions relating to the 2008 unrest case.

The nine-member court’s official response to Grigorian’s demand is still not known.

Grigorian himself was excluded from the consideration of Kocharian’s appeal in July. Tovmasian argued that he has represented relatives of the eight protesters killed in March 2008 in other courts.

Later in July, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian signaled support for Grigorian and launched a scathing attack on Tovmasian. Pashinian accused the latter of 

cutting political deals with former President Sarkisian to “privatize” the country’s highest court. Tovmasian responded by warning the government against 

attempting to force him and his clients to resign.

Armenpress.am

2 September, 2019

Armenian doctors provide medical aid to 4870 people during humanitarian mission in Syria  

Armenian doctors, who are in Syria on humanitarian mission, have provided medical aid to 4870 people since February, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook.

“Armenian doctors who carry out humanitarian mission in Syria have provided medical assistance to 4870 people since February, as well as have also conducted 394 surgeries”, the PM said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenpress.am

3 September, 2019

Increase in money outflow from Armenia conditioned by unprecedented growth in import volumes of cars

The flow of monetary transfers from Armenia increased by almost two times in June 2019 compared to June 2018, comprising 126 million 400 thousand USD, and the volume of remittances to Armenia decreased by nearly 1.4%.

The Central Bank of Armenia released the statistics of monthly transfers to and from Armenia as of June.

In June 2019, compared to June 2018, the volume of monetary transfers to Russia increased by 7% and that to the US by 2.4 times. The CBA said the increase in flow is mainly conditioned with the unprecedented increase in import volumes of vehicles.

The inflow of monetary transfers has decreased by nearly 1.4% in the observing period.

In the first half of 2019, compared to the same period of 2018, the inflow of monetary transfers increased by 10%, and the outflow of money transferred from Armenia by 18.8%.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

ARKA, Armenia

Sept 2 2019

Sanitek accuses Yerevan municipality of failure to pay 330 million drams

Sanitek Armenia, a  branch of Sanitek International Group –a multinational waste management company headquartered in Lebanon, accused the Yerevan Municipality of failing  to pay it 330 million drams. In a letter to Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan the company says  more than 300 million drams (about $630,000) were withheld from the amounts that were to be paid to the company in return for its services.

The company quotes the mayor as saying previously that  the municipality  is only responsible for making timely payments for garbage removal. The company says that a new company  created by the municipality  collects garbage with a gross violation of the law.

For several months, residents of Yerevan have been complaining over the failure of Sanitek’s Armenian division to collect garbage throughout the city.

Earlier, Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan publicly expressed displeasure at the work of the Sanitek company, stressing that Yerevan residents will no longer tolerate its ineffective work.

In the spring of this year, Sanitek was twice fined for failing to fulfill its contractual obligations in the amount of 13 million drams (more than $26,800) and 26 million drams ($54,100). 

Sanitek Armenia, the branch of Sanitek International Group –a multinational waste management company headquartered in Lebanon, was chosen by the Yerevan Municipality to handle sanitary cleaning and waste recycling of the capital city and until recently it was a monopolist in this business. -($1 – 476.17 drams)

[British press described the move as a loan]

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 3 2019

Mkhitaryan on Roma move: 'It’s a great opportunity for me'

Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined A.S. Roma from Premier League side Arsenal until 30 June 2020, for a fixed fee of €3 million, the Italian club’s official website reported.

The agreement also includes potential additional payments that could reach a maximum of €100,000 – depending on the meeting of certain performance targets.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to begin a new chapter, with a great club,” said Mkhitaryan.

“I know what this club is all about and I am sure we can achieve great things together.”

Mkhitaryan joins the club after amassing a wealth of European experience, having previously represented the likes of Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mkhitaryan will wear the No. 77 with the Giallorossi.

Armenpress.am

3 September, 2019

Henrikh Mkhitaryan joins Armenia national team

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joint Armenia national football team, ARMENPRESS reports the Football Federation of Armenia twitted, posting a photo.

The Armenian team started trainings on September 2 ahead of games against Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mkhitaryan joined the trainings on September 3, because he was in rome to sign a contract with “Roma”.

Armenia-Italy match will take place on September 5 and Armenia- Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 8 in Armenia.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Open Democracy

Sept 2 2019

UK Foreign Office criticised for supporting controversial gold mine in Armenia

In a fierce dispute between mine owners and local people in Armenia, the UK has weighed in - on the side of the international mining company.

Thomas Rowley 

In 2018, Armenia underwent its “Velvet Revolution”, which saw a mass protest movement force a kleptocratic regime out of power.

Armenia’s revolution has had other effects, such as blockades over a flagship $400 million gold mining project run by mining company Lydian International

New documents released under Freedom of Information laws show the UK Foreign Office’s private engagement in support of Lydian International

The UK Foreign Office has been criticised by a British MP and international campaigners for its support of a controversial mining company in Armenia, openDemocracy reports today.

New information released under the Freedom of Information Act shows frequent contacts between the UK Foreign Office and Lydian International, the company behind the flagship Amulsar gold mining project in the South Caucasus state. These releases shine a light on campaigners’ concerns about the ties between the mining company and the British embassy in Armenia.

The records, obtained by openDemocracy, reveal how British embassy staff in the Armenian capital Yerevan, including ambassadors, were in regular contact with Lydian International about its Amulsar gold mine from 2013 to 2018. They arranged presentations, seminars, meetings, working groups and project updates. For example, the records list 55 contacts between January and July 2018 between Lydian International and the embassy.

An index of internal communications for 2018, also obtained by openDemocracy, shows how the embassy has followed Amulsar since Armenia’s ‘Velvet Revolution’ put the $400 million mine at the forefront of the country’s politics.

The list details document titles such as “Lydian updates draft”, “Questions for the Ambassador”, “Meeting with Acting PM Pashinyan key points” and “Readout of meeting with Lydian”, recording, for example, seven internal embassy documents relating to Lydian produced in September 2018. That month, the Armenian government ordered an assessment of the effect the gold mining operation would have on the country’s water resources, as well as an independent review of Lydian’s environmental impact assessment.

Armenian environmental campaigners have raised concerns about this relationship, writing open letters about ambassadors’ conduct to the UK Foreign Office in 2013 and 2019.

It is concerning that British government representatives in Armenia have been supporting the construction of this remarkably controversial mine, one which could have a deleterious effect on the environment, as well as the associated health and wellbeing of rural communities,” says Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle. “These documents raise questions about why the UK government would take such a political risk.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “British embassies play a positive role in helping to grow business around the world for UK companies. As such, the British embassy in Yerevan engages with British businesses active in the Armenian market.”

Lydian International did not respond to requests for comment.

“We can make Lydian go away”

Located in the southern Armenian province of Vayots Dzor, the Amulsar gold mine, owned by Jersey-incorporated Lydian International, has been in development for over a decade. In 2013, UK ambassador Katherine Leach called it “potentially the largest British investment in Armenia”. Lydian states it will provide $488 million to the Armenian state budget in tax and royalty contributions through the ten-year operation of the mine, as well as provide 770 jobs.

But after a mass protest movement pushed Armenia’s Republican Party out of power in April and May last year, the mine has become the site of a major stand-off between the Armenian government, protesters and the mining company.

 

In June 2018, local residents and activists started blockading roads to the mine, preventing the company from finishing construction and starting the full-scale extraction of gold. As a leader of a protest outside Lydian’s office put it last year: “If we managed to make Serzh Sargsyan [Armenian leader forced to resign in 2018] go away, we can make Lydian go away too.”

With the blockades remaining at Amulsar, in March 2019 Lydian notified Armenia of a potential dispute under bilateral investment treaties with the UK and Canada. The Armenian press has reported potential compensation figures up to $2 billion.

“Lydian is a company whose threat of international ‘corporate courts’ arbitration appears to have bullied the Armenian government into submission over the dangerous Amulsar mine, forcing the Armenian government to betray its own people,” comments James Angel, policy and campaign manager at Global Justice Now, which is leading a UK campaign against the mine.

"Why is the UK Embassy working so closely with this toxic company who are riding roughshod over democracy in Armenia? Instead, it should be doing all it can to support the Armenian people’s struggle for clean water and decent, sustainable jobs."

What the locals fear

Lydian calls Amulsar an “example of responsible mining in Armenia”. Successive UK ambassadors and Foreign Office officials have publicly backed the project since 2013, saying that it meets high international standards and had engaged well with local stakeholders, as well as meeting with Armenian officials concerning the project.

That year, the Save Teghut civic initiative wrote an open letter to the UK Foreign Office, calling on it to investigate UK ambassadors’ support for the Amulsar project.

“It is incomprehensible that the Ambassadors of the UK defend the private interests of a company registered in an offshore zone”

In the letter, leading environmental lawyer Artur Grigoryan claimed that UK ambassadors Katherine Leach and Jonathan Aves “continuously exert pressure on the Government of Armenia” in support of Lydian International, citing UK diplomatic staff’s meetings with Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection and their public statements.

“It is incomprehensible that the Ambassadors of the UK defend the private interests of a company registered in an offshore zone,” the letter stated.

Responding to Save Teghut, the Foreign Office said that the ambassadors’ actions were “strictly in accordance with appropriate international practice and agreements” and that it was “standard and accepted practice for the British Government and its diplomatic missions to encourage trade and investment opportunities overseas.”

At a groundbreaking ceremony in 2016, the UK ambassador at the time, Judith Farnworth, lauded Lydian International’s dialogue with project stakeholders, including “most crucially, with the local communities”.

This dialogue does not seem to have convinced residents of the villages and town near the mine. In Gndevaz, the village closest to the Amulsar mine, 210 residents made an official complaint to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a financial sponsor, in 2014. They claimed that the company was “employing any possible tool to deceive” village residents over the mine. A similar complaint was made to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, another project sponsor.

An investigation by the IFC’s compliance advisor ombudsman reported “shortcomings in the IFC’s supervision of the assessment of impacts” in Gndevaz, although increased IFC engagement with the project led to an “international standard Environmental and Social Impact Assessment”. In 2017, the IFC stopped its funding of the project.

The town of Jermuk, a nearby tourist centre noted for its hot springs, was not initially included in what Lydian considered the ‘area of influence’ for the mine, and residents were not consulted over environmental and social impact assessments in 2015 and 2016. The IFC ombudsman’s investigation in 2017 found that the “potential impacts on Jermuk’s brand as a tourist center” had not been assessed and mitigated. In late 2018, locals collected 3,000 signatures in support of banning metal mining operations in the area, and to develop a green economy for Jermuk – a position later approved unanimously by the town council.

Locals believe that the mine is already affecting local life, according to a survey of 35 households conducted by the Community Mutual Assistance NGO in October 2018.

As part of this survey of households in Gndevaz, Kechout and Jermuk, 85.7% of respondents reported illness, such as increasing asthmatic attacks, lung diseases and dry skin. As a result of construction operations and explosions, 71.4% of respondents said they had suffered nervous breakdowns, headaches and insomnia. Respondents welcomed the contribution by the company to community infrastructure and household incomes, yet 80% of them were pessimistic about their employment prospects in ten years’ time, when the mine is projected to close.

“There is a strongly held and widely shared belief that despite any short-term economic benefits, this mine will have long-term negative consequences for the environment and for people’s health and wellbeing”

More broadly, local people, environmental activists and their international allies are protesting against the damage they believe the gold mine will do to the environment, biodiversity and human health in the area. There is particular concern about the mine’s heap leach facility, which uses cyanide to separate gold from ore, as the mine is close to a reservoir that connects to Armenia’s main source of fresh water, Lake Sevan.

“There is a strongly held and widely shared belief that despite any short-term economic benefits, this mine will have long-term negative consequences for the environment and for people’s health and wellbeing,” says Armine Ishkanian, associate professor in social policy at the London School of Economics.

“There is a great deal of public skepticism in Lydian’s claims, recently repeated by Armenian government officials, that the mine poses minimal risks,” Ishkanian says.

Lydian states that Amulsar “will show the benefit of transparent and effective investment to world class standards” in Armenia and “bring tangible, direct and lasting economic benefits to the country”.

The company fights back

To protect its reputation, Lydian has brought defamation suits against activists in Armenia campaigning against the project. The International Federation on Human Rights has criticised the company’s “worrying systematic judicial harassment and defamation campaigns aiming to silence critical journalists and human rights defenders, particularly women”.

Earlier this year, 41 international environmental NGOs co-signed a letter to Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, which reported that Armenian human rights defenders believe Lydian’s “PR strategy is to humiliate and discredit [them] through real and fake users in social media, online media and television”.

In response to one of these claims of social media harassment, Lydian stated that this was “another example of clear disinformation”.

The UK Foreign Office’s support for Amulsar has drawn criticism from Armenian civil society.

In June 2018, Armenian human rights and civic activists boycotted the annual Queen’s birthday event at the UK embassy in Yerevan because it was co-sponsored by Lydian International.

Womens’ rights activist Lara Aharonian wrote that she was unable to attend because Lydian International was “exploiting our country’s resources to enrich local corrupt officials and multinationals”. Those concerns did not deter dignitaries, including Armenian president Armen Sarkissian, from attending. Sarkissian acted as a board member of Lydian International in 2013.

“It is standard practice for British embassies to invite commercial organisations with a UK connection to sponsor the Queen’s Birthday Party each year in order to deliver a high-quality celebration whilst limiting public expenditure,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

A problem for Pashinyan

The Amulsar project has now been at a standstill for over a year due to local blockades. In July 2018, Lydian filed a complaint in support of a criminal investigation against activists at the blockades, which was later upheld in court.

That same month, a criminal investigation was opened into whether Armenian public officials had withheld information regarding potential environmental damage at Amulsar. The Armenian authorities allocated nearly $400,000 for an independent review of the project’s environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) as part of this investigation. 

Although Lydian has complied with the review, the company “does not accept the need or legal basis” for it, since the Armenian government has already confirmed its compliance with environmental legislation.

“This isn’t simply about the mine. It is about the nature of governance and the future of democracy in Armenia”

This independent review was published earlier this month, and on this basis Prime Minister Pashinyan appeared to decide to permit the mine to go ahead despite protests in Jermuk and Yerevan. “The Audit Report substantiated Lydian’s prudential approach to environmental stewardship,” said Lydian CEO Edward Sellers in response.

The International Federation on Human Rights responded to the new report by pointing to the serious criticisms of Lydian’s ESIA process, such as land acquisition and public consultations, contained within. 

The organisation emphasised that the report contained “a number of worrying conclusions on the environmental assessment and monitoring plans”, as well as highlighting the report’s conclusion: “The ESIA/EIA [environmental and social impact assessment] assessments are deficient and corresponding conclusions are unreliable. Accordingly, the question of whether exploitation of the ore deposit can conclusively be considered safe cannot be answered.”

Days later, however, Pashinyan requested that Armenia’s Ministry of Environment decide whether a further environmental impact assessment (EIA) was required for the Amulsar project. Lydian called the news “disappointing”, stating that the company “had been subject to three environmental audits over the past year during which there was no suggestion that any additional EIA process would be required”.

Representatives of Armenian civil society recently called on the UK, US and Swedish embassies to withdraw their support for Amulsar. Addressing the ambassadors, the open letter cited long-standing local opposition to the mine, as well as the new review of the ESIA, which it described as “staggering in its implications”.

“Would any license to operate an open pit mine, in your backyard, ever be granted on the basis of incomplete, inaccurate and fraudulent ESIA? We know the answer to this is ‘no’ and ask that this standard be applied to the citizens of Armenia,” the letter said.

“The Amulsar case has become a test case for Nikol Pashinyan’s government,” comments Armine Ishkanian. “Many civil society activists, who were Pashinyan’s earliest and most active supporters during the protests in the spring of 2018, are very disappointed in his handling of the issue.

“This isn’t simply about the mine. It is about the nature of governance and the future of democracy in Armenia.”