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KARABAKH WAR VETS SEEK LAW ON SOCIAL GUARANTEES, DETERMINED TO CONTINUE PROTESTS
http://armenianow.com/society/46647/armenia_karabakh_war_veterans_pensions_rise_protes t
SOCIETY | 05.06.13 | 15:24
Photolure
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN ArmeniaNow reporter
Karabakh war veterans continue their protests determined not to give
up until the government gives concrete solutions to the issues they
have put forward.
Ishkhan Sargsyan, who heads the Shushi-92 Union of Freedom Fighters
and War Veterans, says they have submitted a multi-step social package
to the government and are waiting for a reply. On Thursday, June 6,
freedom fighters will again rally in front of the government building
to voice their demands.
The freedom-fighters' standoff started around a month ago, when on
May 11 army reserve colonel Volodya Avetisyan, together with a group
of fellow veterans, declared a sit-in in Yerevan's Liberty Square,
complaining of the order of provision of pensions to servicemen.
Avetisyan, 49, says veteran pensions range between 40,000 and 80,000
drams (around $96-$192) per month; they are demanding reconsideration
of the order of provision of pensions to freedom fighters and families
of deceased freedom fighters so that they be raised to 100,000 -
200,000 drams (around $240-$481) per month.
A day after the sit-in more war veterans joined him and started a more
structured standoff. Tuesday, June 4, Avetisyan and several others,
held another sit-in at Liberty Square, stating that the government
is not giving an unambiguous response to their demands.
Karabakh war veterans say for two decades they have been silent, but
will no longer tolerate this attitude, when the state does not show
the care they deserve (there are a total of around 15,000 veterans
of the Karabakh war (1990-92 guerilla war, 1992-1994 official active
hostilities) registered in Armenia.)
"If it weren't for this impudent attitude to us, these protest actions
wouldn't have begun," says Hakob Hakobyan, who fought as part of the
legendary Arabo brigade.
Last week the defense minister received the war veterans. The Shushi-92
union leader says Minister Seyran Ohanyan, as someone who has fought in
the war, fully understands their demands and shows support, however
they want a bill to be drafted on freedom fighters and passed by
the parliament.
The submitted social package suggests their following demands be met
through certain laws and/or decrees: raise the freedom fighters'
pensions, make public transport free of charge for them, utility
bills be cut by 50 percent, those in need of housing be provided with
apartments, grant low-interest bank loans, offer discounts on tuition
fees for their children, celebrate Freedom Fighters' Day as a state
holiday, etc.
"The great respect once shown to freedom fighters is gradually
disappearing, we do not need fake toasts to our wellbeing, let them
pass laws, decrees, to make us feel that we are living a decent life.
By laying flowers here and there they show as if they care for us,
but we do not need flowers, we need laws," says Sargsyan.
Presently, certain privileges are available only to families of
deceased or wounded freedom fighters. "It is not our fault that we
survived," says Hakobyan.
"I wish I got killed, then I wouldn't have witnessed this," adds
Jivan Poghosyan, who, too, fought within the Arabo brigade.
http://armenianow.com/society/46647/armenia_karabakh_war_veterans_pensions_rise_protes t
SOCIETY | 05.06.13 | 15:24
Photolure
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN ArmeniaNow reporter
Karabakh war veterans continue their protests determined not to give
up until the government gives concrete solutions to the issues they
have put forward.
Ishkhan Sargsyan, who heads the Shushi-92 Union of Freedom Fighters
and War Veterans, says they have submitted a multi-step social package
to the government and are waiting for a reply. On Thursday, June 6,
freedom fighters will again rally in front of the government building
to voice their demands.
The freedom-fighters' standoff started around a month ago, when on
May 11 army reserve colonel Volodya Avetisyan, together with a group
of fellow veterans, declared a sit-in in Yerevan's Liberty Square,
complaining of the order of provision of pensions to servicemen.
Avetisyan, 49, says veteran pensions range between 40,000 and 80,000
drams (around $96-$192) per month; they are demanding reconsideration
of the order of provision of pensions to freedom fighters and families
of deceased freedom fighters so that they be raised to 100,000 -
200,000 drams (around $240-$481) per month.
A day after the sit-in more war veterans joined him and started a more
structured standoff. Tuesday, June 4, Avetisyan and several others,
held another sit-in at Liberty Square, stating that the government
is not giving an unambiguous response to their demands.
Karabakh war veterans say for two decades they have been silent, but
will no longer tolerate this attitude, when the state does not show
the care they deserve (there are a total of around 15,000 veterans
of the Karabakh war (1990-92 guerilla war, 1992-1994 official active
hostilities) registered in Armenia.)
"If it weren't for this impudent attitude to us, these protest actions
wouldn't have begun," says Hakob Hakobyan, who fought as part of the
legendary Arabo brigade.
Last week the defense minister received the war veterans. The Shushi-92
union leader says Minister Seyran Ohanyan, as someone who has fought in
the war, fully understands their demands and shows support, however
they want a bill to be drafted on freedom fighters and passed by
the parliament.
The submitted social package suggests their following demands be met
through certain laws and/or decrees: raise the freedom fighters'
pensions, make public transport free of charge for them, utility
bills be cut by 50 percent, those in need of housing be provided with
apartments, grant low-interest bank loans, offer discounts on tuition
fees for their children, celebrate Freedom Fighters' Day as a state
holiday, etc.
"The great respect once shown to freedom fighters is gradually
disappearing, we do not need fake toasts to our wellbeing, let them
pass laws, decrees, to make us feel that we are living a decent life.
By laying flowers here and there they show as if they care for us,
but we do not need flowers, we need laws," says Sargsyan.
Presently, certain privileges are available only to families of
deceased or wounded freedom fighters. "It is not our fault that we
survived," says Hakobyan.
"I wish I got killed, then I wouldn't have witnessed this," adds
Jivan Poghosyan, who, too, fought within the Arabo brigade.