ANC parliamentary faction leader Levon Zurabyan described the ruling coalition’s call for an ad-hoc committee to investigate Armenia’s natural gas issue as an attempt to conceal the truth.
CCTV cameras have been installed in the corridors of Armenia's National Assembly.
A petition in defense of political prisoners, demanding the release of demonstrators arrested on Mashtots Ave. on November 5, 2013, organized in Kapan from February 3–7, 2014, collected 1,538 signatures, one of the organizers, Gevorg Gasparyan, informed Hetq.
What has angered workers is the fact that despite promises made by plant executive director Maxim Hakobyan that the company would raise wages to offset the pension withdrawals. No such raises have been enacted.
Manoukyan was referring to National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan addressing Robert Nazaryan (President of Armenia’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission) as “Robert Nikolayevich”.
Shaboyan pointed out the high cost of poultry feed in the cost equation, noting that feed is mostly imported. If the price of feed pushes up the price of eggs, it sometimes more cost effective to just import the eggs as well, Shaboyan argued.
Minutes ago, ruling Republican Party MP Gagik Minasyan declared that his party would vote against an initiative proposed by minority parliamnetary factions calling for the creation of an ad-hoc committtee to study Armenia's natural gas supply agreements and pricing.
Hakobyan said it was wrong not to include the country’s US$300 million gas debt in the budget> He argued that such a policy violated the law. Hakobyan added that many in the majority
“According to the information reaching me, Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan is involved in the scheme and a former official from the Ministry of Justice,” Hakobyan stated, adding that he’s certain that President Sargsyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan have given the go- ahead.
Now, perhaps, the EU simply wishes to diplomatically show the Armenian authorities that their decision was wrong. No one will punish Armenia. The EU is presently engulfed in the problems of Moldova and Ukraine and is satisfied with cooperation with Georgia.
The man also claims that only 25% of the money being spent to send assistance (foodstuffs and clothing) to Syria from Armenia actually translates into tangible goods. The rest is squandered along the way.
Hetq speaks to Ayse Gunaysu, a reporter for the Turkish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem and a columnist for the Boston-based Armenian Weekly.
Everything is more than obvious. Back during the last presidential elections Kocharian sent a brief public message to [current president] Serzh Sargsyan, which overtly stated that he is preparing to become president after Sargsyan.
"There exists a diaspora which doesn't belong to Armenia: it was created before the independence of Armenia, mostly from the late 19th century up till 1915 and after. It is the diaspora of western Armenians."
The parliamentary Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs received 215 appeals in 2013, said committee chair, Prosperous Armenia faction MP Elinar Vardanyan, in a telephone conversation with Hetq.
Of the 131 deputies in Armenia’s National Assembly, 65 have not uttered a word in the legislative chamber since September.
Several hundred young people marched through the streets of the southern Armenian town of Kapan in opposition to the mandatory pension system that goes into effect as of January 1.
Prosperous Armenia faction leader Naira Zohrabyan has just declared that the party will boycott today’s vote to ratify a number of energy treaties with Russia.
Prosperous Armenia MP Naira Zohrabyan lambasted the government’s decision to sell its remaining 20% share in HayRusGazArd to Russia’s Gazprom as the policy of a ‘serf’.
At today’s special session, Armenia’s National Assembly is debating the ratification of a number of international treaties including a controversial treaty signed on December 2 in Yerevan between the governments of Armenia and Russia on future natural gas imports and the sale of remaining Armenian government shares in HayRusGazArd to Russia.
Heritage Party MP today pointedly asked Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan if the sale of the government’s remaining 20% in HayRusGazArd to Russia’s Gazprom wasn't in violation of the country’s constitution.
Hetq has just learnt that ten NGOs in Kapan have written to Armenia’s Prime Minister and the National Assembly President voicing their opposition to the mandatory nature of the individual pension system set to take effect on January 1, 2014.
Arto had purchased some land in the Martouni village of Zolakar to build a house. He forked up $17,000 and his friend Nareg Hartunian, president of the Naregatsi Art Union, put another $7,000 in the pot.
We must rule out the notion of prophets and the cult of personality. There are no saviors. This approach doesn't work.
It was more important for Putin to stop Armenia signing an Association Agreement and to send a message to Ukraine than it was to get a real economic deal with Armenia. And I believe there are many in Yerevan who are hoping that the Customs Union project will collapse and they can eventually and quietly get back on the EU path.
Psychologists say that people use 3-5 % of their brain potential. The reason is that stresses and strains prevent total brain functioning, which results in wrong decisions and wrong actions causing suffering. The nature of life, however, is not suffering. The nature of life is to grow in happiness. Stresses, tiredness, strains, anxiety prevent us from enjoying the full value of life in ever-increasing fulfillment.
During the so-called debate, ARF MP Artzvik Minasyan called on his colleagues to vote against the pension system, labeling it a violation of the citizens’ trust.
HAK MP Hrant Bagratyan today said his parliamentary faction would approve the 2014 draft budget introduced by the government, albeit with reservations.
I would equate Shant’s act with the Pussy Riot incident in Moscow. A group of girls entered the church and danced for 40 minutes.
At a news brief today, National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan told reporters that there indeed were government expenditure abuses that needed to be addresse
While recent debate on a government sponsored bill to significantly raise the salaries of government employees (president, prime minister, ministers, MPs, police chief, top civil servants, etc) raged hot and heavy in the halls of parliament, a government sponsored bill on employment was discussed to a half empty parliament chamber.
To immediately resign from office and to hand over the position to another individual or team capable of drafting an overall plan of action, both in terms of foreign affairs and domestic governance, that will stabilize the overall processes now ruining the country.
Yesterday, the Regional Research Center organized an online interview with Anar Mamedli, Chairman of Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, a Baku-based nonpartisan, NGO promoting meaningful elections and the development of democratic institutions.
Kapuyt really lies off the beaten track.
If things continue like this, I do not hold out much hope. I have hope within me, but I have no intention of fighting dirty like they do; of putting my gun in my pocket, go out and kill, and then sit and eat pasta. Such ideas remain fantasy. The most dangerous thing is a hungry man without hope.
On the sidelines of the Bishops Synod taking place in Etchmiadzin, Hetq asked Archbisop Nareg Alemezian, Director of the Ecumenical Relations Department for the Great House of Cilicia, whether he thought that church authority was being undermined due to the affluent lifestyle of certain top clergymen.
Hetq speaks with Archbishop Varujan Hergelian about the challenges facing Armenia and the role of the Church in resolving them.
Inspectorate Head Levon Petrosyan told Hetq that they were investigating the incident, taking water samples of the outflow, and would be publishing their results in a few days.
I never liked the word activist. There are people who really love their country and take its concerns to heart when they see things that are wrong.
Residents of the Meghri Tashtun village have launched a petition drive to halt the construction of a mine by a Russian-Armenian company called AT Metals Ltd.
When the woman entering the Meghri store owned by Mrs. Alvard noticed my tape recorder, she immediately exclaimed, "While Meghri has become the most cut-off town in Armenia, it is also the most important. Who understands this?"