Armenian News & Views, Exposing Turkish Crime Against Humanity
Watch Wally Sarkeesian goes to Yerevan municipal elections polling station in Davtashen District.
Meet “Mary Karsyan” first-time voter second-year Medicine Student and her friend Svetlana Sargsyan second time voting in charge of polling station monitor and an elderly woman that refuses to take taxi walk with Cain to vote.
Hayk Marutyan projected to win.
The preliminary results of Yerevan City Council elections show that “My step” block is the salient leader, ARMENPRESS reports the preliminary results of 40 polling stations show that “My step” block has received 82.70%.
The second is Prosperous Armenia Party with 6.43%. “Bright” block is the 3rd with 4.78%.
The other political forces receive less than 2%.
Please, follow the link to follow the preliminary results. http://www.elections.am/flash/yerevan/default.aspx
According to preliminary data, 370 thousand and 323 citizens, or 43.65% have participated in Yerevan City Council elections, reports CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan told reporters.
“I would like to note that these are preliminary data”, he said, adding that after midnight the results will start to be published according to polling stations.
He also informed that in comparison with the previous City Council elections, this time voter turnout was higher by 25 thousand and 97 citizens. Last time the voter turnout was 40.99% or 345 thousand and 226 citizens.
By Wally Sarkeesian
YEREVAN. –PM Pashinyan line up to vote for Yerevan municipal elections, an impressive voting system in place.
475 polling stations opened in Yerevan at 8:00am on Sunday, September 23 as the residents of the Armenian capital are set to elect the new members of the Council of Elders.
12 parties and blocs are running in first elections after the velvet revolution which saw the resignation of former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and the appointment as the country’s new PM of Nikol Pashinyan, a former lawmaker who led the popular movement.
Polling station will be open in the next 12 hours to allow citizens to cast their ballots.
Election campaigns began on September 10 and concluded on September 21 when Armenia was celebrating the 27th anniversary of independence.
Watch Raffi Hovhannisyan vote
Former Mayor Taron Margaryan submitted his resignation on July 9, without providing reasons for such a move.
In November 2011, Margaryan was elected the Mayor of the city by the decision of Yerevan City Council. Following elections of the Council of the Elders in May 2013 and May 2017, he was re-elected in the post.
YEREVAN.- The gates of the former presidential residence on Baghramyan 26 Ave will be open for public from now on , PM Nikol Pashinyan stated on Friday at the celebration on the occasion of 27th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence.
“Hence citizens of Armenia may freely enter the territory of the prime minister’s residence and walk and have good time here. We hope these gates will not close anymore symbolizing that in Armenia power hence irreversibly belongs to people,” Pashinyan stated.
After his speech the gates opened and the people gathered there entered inside, approached Pashinyan and took photos with him.
The Council of Europe (CoE) has demanded from Turkey to carry out the provisions of the decision which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had reached in 2010.
The CoE Committee of Ministers examined the execution of ECHR rulings, and it made a decision regarding Turkey, Gazete Duvar online newspaper of the country reported.
Accordingly, the relevant Turkish authorities are required to speed up the process of the trial into the murder of Istanbul Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, to carry out the provisions of the decision which the ECHR had reached in 2010, and to ensure results.
Hrant Dink, the founder and chief editor of Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul, was gunned down on January 19, 2007, outside the then office of this newspaper.
In 2011, the perpetrator, Ogün Samast, was sentenced by a juvenile court to 22 years and ten months for the murder.
After long court proceedings and appeals, however, a new probe was ultimately launched into this murder case, and regarding numerous former and serving senior Turkish officials’ complicity in this assassination.
By Wally Sarkeesian report from downtown Yerevan
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has visited Yerevan’s Republic Square to celebrate Independence Day with the people.
Citizens were taking selfies with the Prime Minister as he was walking in the square.
Numerous events are taking place in downtown Yerevan on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Armenian independence.
Events include concerts, exhibitions, painting events and others.
Trump congratulates Pashinyan
President of the USA Donald Trump has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the occasion of Independence Day.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the letter runs as follows,
“Honorable Mr. Prime Minister,
On behalf of the people of the USA I congratulate you and the people of Armenia on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of independence.
This year Armenia has various reasons for celebration. The peaceful, popular movement brought a new era in Armenia and we are ready to work with you to help to bring into life the will of your people to eradicate corruption, to establish representative and accountable administration based on independent judiciary, political and economic competition.
We thank you for your resolve partnership on various platforms, particularly your participation in NATO activities and for generously accepting Syrian refugees.
In the upcoming months opportunities will emerge for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which can open new opportunities for the Armenian-American partnership. As a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, the USA is ready to work with you for finding a lasting and peaceful settlement to the conflict.
This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the first Armenian republic and the centennial of Armenian-American friendship. I hope our partnership that started 100 years ago will further strengthen. On the occasion of this unique jubilee year I extent my best wishes to you and the Armenian people”.
More than 5 million children are at risk of famine in war-torn Yemen, according to charity Save the Children. Renewed attacks on the key port city of Hodeida could further disrupt food, fuel and aid supplies.
Disruption to supplies coming through Hodeida could “cause starvation on an unprecedented scale,” UK-based NGO Save the Children has said in a new report.
Renewed attacks on the Red Sea city by the Saudi-led coalition could temporarily shut down the key port, putting 5.2 million children at risk of famine as food and fuel prices soar.
“Even the smallest disruption to food, fuel and aid supplies through its vital port could mean death for hundreds of thousands of malnourished children unable to get the food they need to stay alive,” said Yemen representative Tamer Kirolos on Wednesday.
Around 80 percent of food, fuel and humanitarian aid enters the impoverished country through Hodeida, which has been under control of Houthi rebels since 2014.
The report said rising food and transportation prices were already endangering families across Yemen.
The Yemeni army, pro-government militias and the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition relaunched a bid to retake Hodeida earlier this month after nearly two months of UN mediated peace talks collapsed.
The UN has warned an assault on the city of 600,000 people could impact food distribution to 8 million people dependent on humanitarian aid for survival.
‘Babies too weak to cry’
“Millions of children don’t know when or if their next meal will come,” said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of Save the Children International. “In one hospital I visited in north Yemen, the babies were too weak to cry, their bodies exhausted by hunger.
“This war risks killing an entire generation of Yemen’s children who face multiple threats, from bombs to hunger to preventable diseases like cholera,” she added.
Nearly 10,000 people have been killed by the Yemen conflict and 3 million have been displaced. Thousands more have died from malnutrition and disease.
Houthi rebels overran parts of the north and took control of the capital, Saana, in 2014.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to support the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
They have imposed a partial blockade of Hodeida to thwart what they say are Iranian arms shipments to the Houthis, charges the Houthis and Iran have denied.
Rights groups have accused both warring parties of potential war crimes.
Western governments have come under criticism for selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States provides intelligence and air refueling to Saudi jets, which have been accused of repeatedly bombing civilian targets. cw/cmk (AFP, Reuters)
The latest US salvo against China threatens to escalate a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. China has vowed to retaliate against the latest punitive duties on its goods.
The United States has announced fresh tariffs on $200 billion (€171 billion) of Chinese goods, spooking markets worried about an escalating tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s largest economies.
The Trump administration said Monday that tariffs would start at 10 percent next week and increase to 25 percent starting January 1.
Washington has already imposed 25 percent duties on $50 billion of Chinese goods over what it alleges are unfair trade practices. With the new tariffs, about half of China’s imports to the United States are covered by punitive trade measures.
‘China will have to take countermeasures’
Beijing has vowed to retaliate on a range of US products valued at around $60 billion.
“If the US launches any new tariff measures, China will have to take countermeasures to firmly ensure our legitimate rights and interests,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters ahead of the expected announcement.
China has already imposed retaliatory tariffs on $50 billion worth of US goods in response to Washington’s previous measures. However, because China exports more to the US than it imports there are limits on the amount of tariffs Beijing can impose on American goods. This has raised concerns that China could retaliate with non-tariff trade measures.
In a statement announcing the new round of tariffs, President Donald Trump said if China retaliates the United States “will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports.”
‘US in a very strong bargaining position’: Trump
Earlier Monday, Trump praised his aggressive trade policy that has also damaged ties with Canada, Mexico, Asian allies and the European Union.
“Tariffs have put the US in a very strong bargaining position, with billions of dollars, and jobs, flowing into our country — and yet cost increases have thus far been almost unnoticeable,” Trump said on Twitter.
US industries have generally opposed tariffs, arguing they increase prices for consumers and could hurt economic growth.
Officials from the US and China have met several times to address trade issues, most recently in August, but were unable to make much progress.
cw/cmk (AFP, AP, Reuters)
