The prosecution is seeking a 15 year prison sentence for Serop Der-Boghossian, the American-Armenian businessman now being tried for paedophilia. Below, we present the views of a number of known public figures regarding the case.
According to Mustafa Edib Yilmaz, business editor of the Turkish daily Today’s Zaman, the volume of trade between Armenia and Turkey today is considered to be around 400 million dollars, which is an figure.
Turkish political analyst Mensur Akgün once said that in terms of its significance and interest for Turkey, Armenia is a “small fish”.
The Gedikpasha school now goes up to the 5th grade. Before the recent government decision, the children were not able to continue their education.
People shouldn’t find it somewhat contradictory when I state that I prefer the current situation, when the NKR isn’t a direct participant in the negotiations. Why? I believe the negotiations process isn’t following the correct path. The reason for this can be laid at the mistaken foreign policy adopted by the first leaders of the RoA.
In 2005, a new concept came into being – forests with production significance. These were forest that could be constantly culled of mature trees for reprocessing.
Davit Rstakyan, President of the "Virk" party in Georgia stated today at a press conference that schools teaching in the languages of national minorities in the country do not operate de-jure but de-facto.
"If the mine starts to operate what will happen to us and to this village that is located 4 kilometers from the border. It's as if the government has no need of us common folk."
Sebahat Tuncel is a Kurd who was elected to the Turkish parliament back in 2007. She is running to hold on to her seat in the election set for June 12 in Turkey.
Arman Melikyan, a former Artsakh foreign minister, stated at a press conference today that Levon Ter-Petrosyan will be too old to run for the presidency of Armenia in the 2013 election.
At yesterday's HAK (Armenian National Congress) rally in Yerevan's Freedom Square, Levon Zurabyan congratulated the gathered multitudes for the victory and declared that HAK would be pressing on in its drive to formulate a "legitimate" government via the constitutional process.
"The richness of Adiyaman today is a result of the wealth left behind after the Armenians were exterminated. I realized this as a young man and have always fought against those who benefited as a result of such injustices," he told me.
Ten years ago actor Aram Kostanyan moved to Istanbul, leaving the familiar stage in Yerevan for a new one waiting in Turkey. He's been teaching Armenian kids acting and staging plays ever since.
"Oh yes, they ask us if we aren't ashamed to be living in Turkey. But why should we be embarrassed? Let the government of Armenia feel ashamed. Let the government do something positive so that people don't leave. Do you think it's a pleasure for us living with these Turks?"
“If there was work to be had in Armenia I wouldn’t have left. But I couldn’t even get a cleaning job back there. They just want young girls. I want to go back and plan to after saving up some money in Turkey,” Anzhela said.
These are the neigborhoods where Armenians historically plied their trade and crafts. They are long gone, only to be replaced by scores of newcomers from the Republic of Armenia.
Pakrat Estukyan, the Armenian edition editor at Agos weekly expressed the same thought, noting that at one time Armenians in Turkey constituted a nationality, a people, but that they had been reduced to a mere "community" today; and a religious one at that.
"You are of course aware that genocides can also be perpetrated by individuals and not by governments."
Restaurants are lined up along the undercarriage of the bridge. Here, passersby, especially tourists, will be coaxed and cajoled to come inside for a bit of fish and a drink.
25 year-old Ibrahim Yunal from Turkey will be visiting Armenia next month to shoot a film about Mt. Ararat. Born in the Cilician town of Tarsus, Ibrahim has been studying in Istanbul for the past five years. I caught up with him there.
For reasons totally understandable, the Armenian community if Istanbul doesn’t commemorate the anniversary in as open a fashion as do others in the diaspora. This was born out at the Taksim Square vigil, where I saw none of the Armenians I had so far met while in Istanbul.
Today, the 96th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, commemorations took place in five Turkish cities – Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir and Bodrum.
Leaving the university, I noticed that workers had placed a giant Turkish flag on the building’s exterior. Later, an equally large banner of Ataturk appeared on the other university annex as well.
A photo exhibition entitled “We Love Your Istanbul from the 19 Century till Today”, has recently opened at the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Beyoglu.
We took the small red “nostalgic” tram at Taksim Square for the ride down Istiklal towards Beyoglu. Not to confuse readers, I should note that all this is taking place on the European side of Istanbul, which is divided by the Golden Horn into the old and new districts.
According to Fuat Keyman, Director of the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) at Sabanci University, modern Turkey has been rapidly changing in the past ten years.
We headed up to Taksim Square. My eye caught a small red tram filled with people on their way back down Istiklal towards Beyoglu and Galata. I was reminded of a scene from Henri Verneuil’s film “Mayrik” showing a tram travelling down a cobblestone street.
A CD has just been released entitled “The Child Has Rights”. It’s a collaborative effort by the group Kardes Turkuler (Songs of Fraternity) and Arto Tuncboyaciyan.
Our bus hugged the coast of the Sea of Marmara, passing the neighbourhood of Kumkapı, the seat of the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Aksaray, now a commercial neighbourhood where many traders from Armenia do their wholesale shopping.
Hetq speaks to Avetik Ishkhanyan, President of the Armenian Helsinki Committee, regarding the growing number of complaints lodged by inmates at the nation’s correctional facilities.
Overcrowding, Parole Board Rejections, Top Their Demands Hetq speaks to Avetik Ishkhanyan, President of the Armenian Helsinki Committee, regarding the growing number of complaints lodged by inmates at the nation’s correctional facilities. Inmates at ...
Vahe Grigoryan, the lawyer for Hetq reporter Grisha Balasanyan who initiated a slander suit against MP Ruben Hayrapetyan, predicted today that they won win the case if the court employed the same rationale it used in the case when Hayrapetyan and two other ...
Vahe Grigoryan, the lawyer for Hetq reporter Grisha Balasanyan who initiated a slander suit against MP Ruben Hayrapetyan, predicted today that they won win the case if the court employed the same rationale it used in the case when Hayrapetyan and two other MP’s sued the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak.
Dolphinarium Must Undergo an Environmental Impact Study Two Armenian NGO’s, the Bird Lovers’ Center and Ecotar, have filed a legal suit against the RA Ministry of Nature Protection. The plaintiffs argue that the Ministry has yet to conduct an environmental ...
In June 2010, the United Nations Yerevan Office spent $700,000 to build a twenty apartment house for refugees in the village of Kasakh just over the Yerevan city line.
U.N. Sponsored Project Hits SnagsIn June 2010, the United Nations Yerevan Office spent $700,000 to build a twenty apartment house for refugees in the village of Kasakh just over the Yerevan city line.
“At one time, Geghamyan and others were declaring the same type of rhetoric. Today, the people have matured to the point that such statements aren’t viewed as credible. This is the reason why the HAK doesn’t engage in populist politics,” said Paskevichyan.
He says that some 15% of the meat products tested showed GMO’s and that a portion of the meat could be described as genetically modified.
Vahakn Hovnanian, an American-Armenian businessman best known in Armenia for his Vahakni Community real estate holdings, told reporters today that he was totally taken aback by allegations that his longtime friend Serop Der-Boghossian was a closet pedophile.
Today, former Armenian Prime Minister and economist Hrant Bagratyan took aim at various government officials and lambasted them for their inaccurate forecasts and lack of professionalism.
We should point out that despite the decriminalization of slander and defamation, Article 344 remains in the RA Criminal Code. It deals with slander of “Judges, prosecutors, investigators, case examiners or bailiffs from the Compulsory Enforcement Service.” Given the particulars involved, one can be sentence to up to 4 years according to the Article. In effect, it remains a convenient weapon in the hands of the authorities; to be brandished...
Commenting on yesterday’s decision by Armenia’s State Radio and Television Committee that deprived his ALM TV company a digital broadcasting license, Tigran Karapetyan labelled the process “unfair”.
Armenia’s State Revenue Committee, responding to a Hetq query, stated that between 2007 and the first half of 2010, it had not uncovered any attempts to smuggle meat or meat byproducts into the country.
“Luckily, 99% of the diaspora supported those actions and the mood in Soviet Armenia was also positive. I don’t regard those actions as ‘terrorism’. That was American and European propaganda they employed after leaving us and other people no other choice with which to defend our interests. Even the judge in the trial disallowed the use of the word ‘terrorist’. But if the only way of reaching our goals is terrorism, then I have...
Today, in Yerevan, there was a press reception for a book entitled "A Trial of Armenians in Paris", that deals with the court case of four young ASALA members who took over the Turkish embassy in Paris in 1981. Two of the four "Van Operation" activists were ...
According to information supplied to Hetq by the RA Police, 49 foreigners wanted overseas were detained and extradited to law enforcement officials back in their home countries during 2007 – 2010.
According to information supplied to Hetq by the RA Police, 49 foreigners wanted overseas were detained and extradited to law enforcement officials back in their home countries during 2007 – 2010. 27 of the 49 detained were citizens of Russia, 12 from ...
According to the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4,635 citizens of Armenia were deported from foreign counties during the period January 1, 2007 to September, 2010. That works out to 103 individuals each month. 69 of them were being tracked by law enforcement. These stats were compiled by RA Consulates overseas.
Our first meeting was circumstantial. Considering my traditional sexual orientation, let me confess, I was surprised that Lilit is not like me and million others. She is bisexual. Lilit is over 40 years old. She says that for a long time she had been like the rest of us – heterosexual. “Many years ago it happened that I met a girl. She suggested it. We got friendly and started living together.”
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