Monday 18 July 2016

Armenian News ... A Topalian... Aleppo Under rocket attack!


panarmenian.net
Aleppo Armenian district under rocket attack; 

no casualties 
registered 
July 2, 2016 

Armed militants on Saturday, July 2 launched rocket
attacks in Nor Kyugh, the Armenian district of Aleppo.

The Cilicia building in front of the church of St Gregory the
Illuminator, as well as the church itself were badly damaged.

No fatalities were registered, Kantsasar newspaper said.

Four Syrian-Armenians were killed as armed militants once again
bombarded the Armenian neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria on June 2, firing
at least 30 rockets. Three of the victims died immediately, their
charred corpses moved to the hospital.


MARCA.com
July 2 2016
Manchester United recruit a red devil of Armenia
Daniel Panero


Manchester United have spent big once again this summer, in order to
secure one of the prominent names of the summer transfer market in
Europe, Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

€42 million was enough to bring the Armenian talisman to the Premier
League for Jose Mourinho, a player who has shown a lot of ability over
the last few years, thus transforming him into one of the more
desirable targets of recent transfer windows.

Mkhitaryan had become a key figure at Borussia Dortmund, after joining
the German club back in 2013, tasked with replacing Bayern
Munich-bound Mario Gotze.

In this first year at Signal Iduna Park, Mkhitaryan made it clear that
the responsibility was not too much for him to handle, turning in
performances of real quality during the campaign.

His second season was a little deflating, but this time around
Mkhitaryan has returned to show what he is capable of with an
explosive campaign.

Under Thomas Tuchel, Mkhitaryan has become one of Dortmund's most
influential players, alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Armenian star registered 32 assists this season, with nobody else
managing to rack up a higher number across all of Europe's biggest
leagues.

His ability to pull the strings hasn't affected his goalscoring
either, with the ex-Dortmund man netting 23 times in the Bundesliga,
Europa League and DFB Pokal.

In fact, the most recent campaign has been his most profitable in
front of goal since his final season with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2012/13,
where he scored 29 times.

Mkhitaryan arrives at Manchester United at a time where signings are
being made with urgency and necessity.

Eric Bailly has already been signed for €40m, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic
being offered a huge contact and Mkhitaryan joins for the
aforementioned €42m.

With Bailly at the point of maturing in his career, and Ibrahimovic is
in the twilight of his own, Mkhitaryan is hoped to become one of the
big stars at the club, with 27 years giving him experience and time to
shine for Mourinho. 


Armenia National Basketball Team Beat Ireland to Reach 
the Finals
by MassisPost 
July 2, 2016

CIORESCU, MOLDOVA — Armenia’s men’s basketball team is in the finals
of the European Basketball Championship for small countries after
beating Ireland 74-60 in the semi-finals.

Armenia fell behind by 4 points in the first quarter 16-20, took the
lead at halftime 35-34, before dominating the second half outscoring
their opponents by 14 points.

Once again Andre Spayt Mkrtchyan was high scorer for Armenia with 24 points.

Armenia’s national team participating for the first time in a European
championship will face on Sunday the winner of Andora – San Marino
game.


RFE/RL Report
Armenia Seeks Alternative Russia Trade Routes After Mudslide
In Georgia
Sarkis Harutyunyan 

Armenia's government is scrambling to open alternative trade routes to
Russia following last week's massive mudslide in Georgia that blocked
the sole functioning crossing on the Russian-Georgian border.

The June 23 calamity washed away a nearly one-kilometer-long Georgian
section of the road near the Upper Lars crossing heavily used for
cargo shipments between Armenia and Russia. Hundreds of Armenian and
other trucks were left stranded on either side of the mountainous
checkpoint.

Many individual Armenian travelers have also been stuck there for the
past week. Armenia's Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian said on
Thursday that 96 of them were flown to Yerevan overnight on board a
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane. Another 120 Armenians
will be evacuated later in the day, Gabrielian said during a weekly
cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

The mudslide occurred during a busy season for exporters of Armenian
agricultural products, notably apricots, to Russia, their main market
abroad.

Armenia's largest cargo company, Spayka, rushed to reroute some of the
perishable food exports with an emergency ferry service between
Georgian and Russian Black Sea ports launched earlier this
week. Another cargo firm, Apaven, cautioned on Wednesday that the
ferries have a limited capacity and will increase transportation costs
by 30 percent.

In Gabrielian's words, at least 50 trucks bound for Armenia remain
stuck in the Russian North Caucasus.

Transport and Communications Minister Gagik Beglarian revealed,
meanwhile, that Yerevan has asked Tbilisi and Moscow to allow Armenian
commercial trucks to use another Russian-Georgian road passing through
Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. The road has been closed
since the 2008 Russian-Georgian war.

"Right now there is a possibility [of rerouting cargo shipments]
through South Ossetia," Beglarian told reporters after the cabinet
meeting. "The road is in a good condition. Negotiations are underway
with the two states."

"A lot doesn't depend on Armenia, but we are negotiating so that the
Georgian and Russian sides agree to let us use that road temporarily,"
he said.

Beglarian also said relevant Georgian authorities have assured Yerevan
that the blockage on the Georgian side of Upper Lars caused by the
mudslide will be cleared within two weeks.

Apaven's chief executive, Arsen Ghazarian, warned, however, that the
Upper Lars crossing could remain closed for a month.

According to government data, Armenian exports to Russia nearly
doubled in the first four months of this year. Fresh fruits and
vegetables accounted for a large part of those exports. 


RFE/RL Report 
Relatives Of Gyumri Massacre Victims Denied Russian 
Compensation
Satenik Kaghzvantsian

Armenia - The trial of Valery Permyakov, a Russian soldier accused of
murdering seven members of an Armenian family, Gyumri, 18Jan2016.

An Armenian court on Thursday refused to order Russia to pay a hefty
financial compensation to relatives of an Armenian family of seven
murdered, apparently by a Russian soldier, in Gyumri last year.

The relatives were seeking 450,000 euros ($500,000) in damages for
what their lawyers called the Russian state's responsibility for the
January 2015 killings that shocked many in Armenia and triggered angry
protests in the country's second largest city.

A middle-aged couple, their daughter, son, daughter-in-law and
2-year-old granddaughter were found shot dead in their Gyumri home in
the morning. The Avetisian family's seventh member, a 6-month-old baby
boy, died of his stab wounds a week later.

Valery Permyakov, a soldier who served at a Russian military base in
Gyumri, has confessed to murdering them shortly after deserting his
unit earlier on that day.

The two daughters of the murdered couple and the parents of the
Avetisians' slain daughter-in-law filed a civil lawsuit against Russia
during a court hearing in Permyakov's trial held in Gyumri in late
May.The presiding judge, Harutyun Movsisian, said at that hearing that
he will seek a written opinion from relevant authorities in Russia and
take it into consideration before ruling on the lawsuit.

However, Movsisian said nothing about the promised Russian response
when he rejected the compensation demand on Thursday, prompting strong
criticism from the plaintiffs' lawyers.

"It's obvious that something changed in the past month # It's obvious
that the Armenian court simply did not dare to rule against Russia,"
one of the lawyers, Lusine Sahakian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am).

"Today the court relieved the Russian side even of the burden of
giving an answer," said another lawyer, Yerem Sargsian. He said he and
his colleagues will take the civil case to the European Court of Human
Rights after exhausting all possibilities of legal action in Armenia.

a1plus.am 
Salespeople aren’t allowed to trade in Vernissage
July 2,2016 

“I have come here to earn my daily bread, but I am forced to leave. I
have no means to go to Hrazdan stadium,” complained 70-year-old Gohar
Gasparyan in Yerevan Vernissage. She has been engaged in trade in
Vernissage for 15 years.

About 300 salespeople today in the morningweren’t allowed to sell
their items. The people have been even provided money to move to
Hrazdan stadium by taxis. The salespeople note that many people were
forcibly put into taxis and sent to Hrazdan stadium.

Earlier Yerevan Municipality declared that starting from July 1st the
section of Vernissage, where clothes, household utensils and second
hand items were sold, will be closed. Ara Mkrtchyan, representative of
Department of Trade and Services of Staff of Yerevan Municipality, is
sure that the people are offered normal conditions, “There are good
conditions, there is sheeting, there are storehouses and toilets.”

The salespeople, who don’t want to leave the territory of Vernissage,
say that tomorrow they will again try to sell their items.

“We have our customers, who will never go to Hrazdan stadium,” say the
salespeople. arka.am Survey shows that Armenian citizens are negative about economic conditions of their country 


arka.am
Survey shows that Armenian citizens are negative about economic
conditions of their country

YEREVAN, July 1. The majority of Armenian citizens believe that the economic condition of their country is negative, according to the findings of a public opinion survey conducted by Gallup International Association’s representation in Armenia, which were unveiled by its director Arman Navasardyan today. 

The public opinion poll was conducted from May 13 to May 24 in the capital city of Yerevan and beyond it embracing a total of randomly selected 1,106 respondents. The error margin is ± 3%. 

According to Navasardyan, 35.6% of respondents assessed the economic situation in the country as ‘bad’ and 36.7% as ‘very bad.’ Another 24.5% described it as ‘not so bad and only 1.8% of respondents believe the economic situation in the country is ‘good’ and 0.5% is ‘very good.’ "Compared with last year’s survey the citizens' assessments of the economic situation in the country remain virtually unchanged,' said Navasardyan. 

Navasardyan said the opinion poll was carried out as a starting baseline in the run-up to the forthcoming 2017 parliamentary elections aiming to provide an overall picture of the country. Prior to the elections Gallup International Association in Armenia will conduct another 2-3 surveys, he said. 

According to the National Statistical Service, the economic activity index in January-May 2016 increased by 5.5% compared to the same period of 2015. The government’s projection of 2016 GDP growth is 2.2%. 

Incidentally, the same survey has revealed that 49.4% of Armenia's population is satisfied with their lives than the other way around, while 8% are satisfied completely. In May 2015 the figures were 43.6% and 6.7% respectively. 

Regarding the assessment of financial security of their  families, 60.5% of respondents consider it to be ‘average’ (53% in 2015), 16.9% (21.7% in 2015) rate it as ‘bad’, 13% (12.8% in 2015) as very ‘bad’ , 8.6% (11.8% in 2015) as ‘good’, and only 0.9% (0.5% in 2015) as ‘very good’. 

Asked whether they expect any change for better this year, 36.4% of respondents said nothing will change, however, 23% hope that their lives will improve somewhat, and 1.7% believe it will become much better. 

Another 30% were negative about the future, while 19.5% of citizens believe that their lives will become worse and 10.4% - much worse. 

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