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news.am, Armenia
Jan 1 2012
2011 top ten events in Armenia
January 01, 2012 | 00:27
Armenian News-NEWS.am presents 2011 top ten events in Armenia.
1. Members of the ruling coalition sign new memorandum
Leaders of the Armenian ruling forces - Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA), Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and Orintas Yerkir (the Rule of
Law), signed a new coalition memorandum on February 17.
RPA leader Serzh Sargsyan, PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan and Arthur
Baghdasaryan, leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party signed the memorandum
on Thursday. All of the coalition members agreed to support Serzh
Sargsyan's nomination during the 2013 presidential elections.
2. Hunger strike of Armenian Heritage Party leader
Leader of Heritage Party, former Armenian FM Raffi Hovannisian went on
hunger strike on March 15. He spent fifteen days in Liberty Square in
the center of Yerevan. Hovannisian said his move can be characterized
as an `ode to freedom'. He put forward fifteen demands among them:
power to people, free citizen, secure state, and `no' to injustice,
poverty, emigration, corruption and others.
3. Off-parliamentary opposition returns to Liberty Square
Many thousand people gathered to the rally of the opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC) on March 17 marked new format of relations
between the main political powers. During the rally ANC leader Levon
Ter-Petrosyan stressed dialogue with authorities is possible if three
demands of the opposition are fulfilled.
He said the authorities must release political prisoners, give the
opposition right to hold rallies in the Liberty Square and set up an
independent committee to investigate cases of those killed in the
March 1 events.
4. Amnesty declared
Armenian parliament voted for amnesty bill with 91 votes `for' and 1
abstained on May 26. The amnesty was proposed by President Serzh
Sargsyan on 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence. MP Sasun
Mikaelyan and newspaper editor Nikol Pashinyan convicted in connection
with the March 1 events were also released under an amnesty.
5. Karabakh peace process
The year marked active participation of Russia in mediating between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Two meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
leaders were held in Russia's Sochi and Kazan cities under the
mediation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Experts forecasted the Kazan meeting held on June 24 was supposed to
fix the progress in the Karabakh issue, but the meeting did not
justify hopes of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Efforts of the OSCE
Minsk Group focused on persuading the parties to finalize the basic
principles on conflict settlement.
In June Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in the region
to hand over to the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh
Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev offers of the Russian leader regarding
resolution of the conflict. However, the process did not move forward.
At the meeting in Vilnius on December 6 Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan adopted a
declaration stating that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are
ready to meet again in the near future to negotiate a settlement.
6. Political dialogue: authorities vs. off-parliamentary opposition
Working groups representing the government and off-parliamentary
opposition - Armenian National Congress (ANC) kicked off a dialogue on
July 18. The meetings hardly resulted in crucial changes but eased
tension in the society.
However, the initiative failed after the August 9 incident involving
ANC young activists and law enforcers. Seven opposition activists were
arrested. Three were arrested, while the rest were released by the
court. Later two of the arrested were released with the exception of
Tigran Arakelyan. ANC demanded immediate release of its activists but
the authorities claimed they could not press law enforcers. Finally,
opposition quitted the dialogue.
7. Dismissals of high ranking officials
2011 was marked by a number of dismissals of high ranking officials.
The first to leave his post was head of presidential staff Karen
Karapetyan. Mayor of Yerevan, also Karen Karapetyan, Chief of Police
Alik Sargsyan, parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamyan and deputy head of
presidential staff Mikael Minasyan resigned as well.
8. Armenia marks 20th anniversary of Independence
Armenia marked 20th anniversary of Independence by holding large-scale
military parade on September 21.
9. Spiritual leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Yerevan
Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB) Chairman, and spiritual leader of Caucasus
Muslims, Allahshukur Pashazade arrived in Armenia to attend CIS
(Commonwealth of Independent States) Interreligious Council Presidium
session in late November.
Spiritual leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia spoke for the
peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the OSCE
Minsk Group. The three spiritual leaders (Armenian Catholicos Karekin
II, Russian Patriarch Kirill and Head of the Caucasus Muslims
Allahshukur Pashazade) adopted a joint statement during their meeting
in Yerevan.
10. French National Assembly approves bill criminalizing Armenian
Genocide denial
France's National Assembly passed on December 22 the bill
criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.
The bill introduced by MP Valerie Boyer supposes a year in jail or
45,000 euro punishment for those who will challenge or extremely
minimize the fact of the 1915 Armenian Genocide officially recognized
by France on January 29, 2001. Later the text was changed to
`punishment for denial of legislatively recognized genocides.'
The bill will be submitted for French Senate's confirmation. In
response Turkey launched anti-French campaign recalling Ambassador and
freezing the ties.
From: Baghdasarian
Jan 1 2012
2011 top ten events in Armenia
January 01, 2012 | 00:27
Armenian News-NEWS.am presents 2011 top ten events in Armenia.
1. Members of the ruling coalition sign new memorandum
Leaders of the Armenian ruling forces - Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA), Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and Orintas Yerkir (the Rule of
Law), signed a new coalition memorandum on February 17.
RPA leader Serzh Sargsyan, PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan and Arthur
Baghdasaryan, leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party signed the memorandum
on Thursday. All of the coalition members agreed to support Serzh
Sargsyan's nomination during the 2013 presidential elections.
2. Hunger strike of Armenian Heritage Party leader
Leader of Heritage Party, former Armenian FM Raffi Hovannisian went on
hunger strike on March 15. He spent fifteen days in Liberty Square in
the center of Yerevan. Hovannisian said his move can be characterized
as an `ode to freedom'. He put forward fifteen demands among them:
power to people, free citizen, secure state, and `no' to injustice,
poverty, emigration, corruption and others.
3. Off-parliamentary opposition returns to Liberty Square
Many thousand people gathered to the rally of the opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC) on March 17 marked new format of relations
between the main political powers. During the rally ANC leader Levon
Ter-Petrosyan stressed dialogue with authorities is possible if three
demands of the opposition are fulfilled.
He said the authorities must release political prisoners, give the
opposition right to hold rallies in the Liberty Square and set up an
independent committee to investigate cases of those killed in the
March 1 events.
4. Amnesty declared
Armenian parliament voted for amnesty bill with 91 votes `for' and 1
abstained on May 26. The amnesty was proposed by President Serzh
Sargsyan on 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence. MP Sasun
Mikaelyan and newspaper editor Nikol Pashinyan convicted in connection
with the March 1 events were also released under an amnesty.
5. Karabakh peace process
The year marked active participation of Russia in mediating between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Two meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
leaders were held in Russia's Sochi and Kazan cities under the
mediation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Experts forecasted the Kazan meeting held on June 24 was supposed to
fix the progress in the Karabakh issue, but the meeting did not
justify hopes of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Efforts of the OSCE
Minsk Group focused on persuading the parties to finalize the basic
principles on conflict settlement.
In June Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in the region
to hand over to the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh
Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev offers of the Russian leader regarding
resolution of the conflict. However, the process did not move forward.
At the meeting in Vilnius on December 6 Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan adopted a
declaration stating that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are
ready to meet again in the near future to negotiate a settlement.
6. Political dialogue: authorities vs. off-parliamentary opposition
Working groups representing the government and off-parliamentary
opposition - Armenian National Congress (ANC) kicked off a dialogue on
July 18. The meetings hardly resulted in crucial changes but eased
tension in the society.
However, the initiative failed after the August 9 incident involving
ANC young activists and law enforcers. Seven opposition activists were
arrested. Three were arrested, while the rest were released by the
court. Later two of the arrested were released with the exception of
Tigran Arakelyan. ANC demanded immediate release of its activists but
the authorities claimed they could not press law enforcers. Finally,
opposition quitted the dialogue.
7. Dismissals of high ranking officials
2011 was marked by a number of dismissals of high ranking officials.
The first to leave his post was head of presidential staff Karen
Karapetyan. Mayor of Yerevan, also Karen Karapetyan, Chief of Police
Alik Sargsyan, parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamyan and deputy head of
presidential staff Mikael Minasyan resigned as well.
8. Armenia marks 20th anniversary of Independence
Armenia marked 20th anniversary of Independence by holding large-scale
military parade on September 21.
9. Spiritual leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Yerevan
Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB) Chairman, and spiritual leader of Caucasus
Muslims, Allahshukur Pashazade arrived in Armenia to attend CIS
(Commonwealth of Independent States) Interreligious Council Presidium
session in late November.
Spiritual leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia spoke for the
peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the OSCE
Minsk Group. The three spiritual leaders (Armenian Catholicos Karekin
II, Russian Patriarch Kirill and Head of the Caucasus Muslims
Allahshukur Pashazade) adopted a joint statement during their meeting
in Yerevan.
10. French National Assembly approves bill criminalizing Armenian
Genocide denial
France's National Assembly passed on December 22 the bill
criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.
The bill introduced by MP Valerie Boyer supposes a year in jail or
45,000 euro punishment for those who will challenge or extremely
minimize the fact of the 1915 Armenian Genocide officially recognized
by France on January 29, 2001. Later the text was changed to
`punishment for denial of legislatively recognized genocides.'
The bill will be submitted for French Senate's confirmation. In
response Turkey launched anti-French campaign recalling Ambassador and
freezing the ties.
From: Baghdasarian