The interlocutor of “Hraparak” is Tovmas Arakelyan, youth bearer of Tavush Diocese, blogger.

• As much as the authorities are trying to discredit the Armenian Apostolic Church, it is obvious that the church’s role in society has increased even more today. It has become active, it has come to the fore, the clergy is speaking, they are next to the people. People place their hopes on the church and church members. What causes this?
• According to me, the role of the church has not increased, but people’s attention has come to the church. There is a common thing among our people: when they get sick, they turn to doctors, then to fortune-tellers, then to charlatans, they spend money calling for help from all kinds of false and correct anti-scientific circles, and finally they come to the church. Today we are on the same path, just nationwide. This is a nationwide issue. We have fallen into the hands of various charlatans and traitors and like a prodigal son we have understood that our country has one mother and that is the church. The motherland has one mother, the mother church, and there is no need to look for salvation elsewhere. Only in this way can we return the truth, getting rid of lies and falsehood. The Church is not doing anything artificial today, it is doing what it has done for millennia.
• Doesn’t official propaganda hinder and constrain the church and its members?
• It doesn’t bother us because we have great immunity. The church is able to stand firm in the face of it all. The church characterizes its class as a congregation, we are a congregation, if you notice, all the ministers of the church – Saint Mikael, Saint Bagrat, Saint Arshak, they are all very united, they are in the same ideological lines. Today, when clergymen are targeted, they know that they are not being targeted, but the idea, but we are not alone in our ideology, because our ideology is the ideology of the Armenian Apostolic Church. No one can target Christ and Christ’s church. Who are they now against, the church of Christ?
• And how would you characterize today’s activity of the church? At least during the newly independent history, the apostolic church did not fight against handing over to the country. There was no occasion. And today… some say that churchmen have become involved in politics. What description would you give?
• It is our millennial work – to preach the truth, to keep the truth alive against lies. All this is not new for us. We have a patristic, biblical heritage, and the church’s struggle has always been against lies. Now, what face, image and name the lie is standing in front of us is not important anymore. The satellite of lies is the devil. The same devil that the church has always fought against. The difference is that today there is the Internet, the latest technologies, but what Elder Ghevond did, His Holiness Bagrat does, what Father Khrimyan did, His Holiness does today, I don’t see any difference. The church also shows that one can be independent. What attacks there were by the Russian Empire, the USSR, the Persian and Muslim caliphates, but the Armenian Apostolic Church remained independent with its own agenda, having normal relations with the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, not going to extremes.
• What do you think, will the public trust the church to the end, will the church be able to unite the public? Will there be a result?
• People are always unpredictable, you have to fight and not give up. The Tavush world, as declared by His Holiness Bagrat, is a world of hope. It is necessary to live and fight in the world of hope. We are children of hope. If we have the patience of hope – many have hope but not patience – everything will be fine.

You can read the full article here: https://hraparak.am/post/b76e34195b058e631ac4581ad7cd70ba

US State Department report: Human rights organizations report an increase in police abuse in Armenia

In 2023, the local NGO community noted an increased number of reports of police abuse, including in police stations, which, unlike prisons and police detention facilities, were not subject to public monitoring. This is stated in the 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Armenia annual report of the US Department of State.

“On July 3, more than 30 NGOs issued a statement noting “unprecedented violence and instances of torture in police departments and other law enforcement agencies” in recent months, characterizing the violence as becoming systemic and revealing what they viewed as ineffective police and judicial reforms. The organizations noted that violence against attorneys was unprecedented and that additional cases indicated a growing trend of police impunity. They stated the government’s failure to promptly investigate reports and bring perpetrators to justice resulted in impunity and decreased public trust in the law enforcement system. According to the July 25 report by the Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor on monitoring of police reform, there were 199 reports of human rights violation by police during 2022, a 20 percent increase compared with 2021 and 54 percent increase compared with 2019,” the aforesaid report noted.

“Criminal justice bodies continued to rely on confessions and information obtained during questioning to secure convictions. According to human rights lawyers, procedural safeguards against mistreatment during police questioning, such as inadmissibility of evidence obtained through force or procedural violations, were insufficient, as was a video surveillance system that was installed in only a few police stations and had not yet been used in police mistreatment cases. According to human rights lawyers, while many cases occurred in Yerevan, the situation in regional police stations was worse,” added the US State Department report.

Nikol Pashinyan and members of the ruling “Civil Contract” party in general often become the heroes of the Azerbaijani media thanks to the “jewels” of their thoughts. Before 2018, the Armenian people often compared Baku’s dictator Ilham with a sheep, a gorilla that escaped from the forest, ridiculed and made jokes. Now the situation has changed: Azerbaijani mass media are writing mocking materials about Pashinyan, inventing songs: “Noldu Pashinyan”. And they watch with a magnifying glass what Nikol Pashinyan says, how poor he has become and became their “ambassador”, how he convinces his people to give Azerbaijan what it wants, not to attack us, etc.

They pay particular attention to the statements made by Nikol Pashinyan from the country’s number one podium and during government meetings. Even language slips and errors become the topic of Azerbaijani press publications. For example, when Pashinyan announced in the National Assembly on April 10, “What is Azeri should be under the control of Azerbaijan, what is Armenian should be under the control of Azerbaijan”, obviously missing it, then he asked, surprised by the reaction of the hall. “What did I say?” even this statement appeared in the Azerbaijani press.

Haqqin.az was so impressed by the leap of thought of Nikol Pashinyan that Azeri websites spread the video and made fun of the RA Prime Minister.

Almost all the statements of the leader of Armenia find a place in the Azerbaijani press as exceptional truth. Referring to Nikol Pashinyan’s statement, Haqqin.az writes:

“Armenia is not against starting the demarcation process from the four villages of the Tavush region, which were captured by Armenia during the first Karabakh war. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this in the parliament,” writes the Azerbaijani website, complaining that Armenia is left alone and Russia is left out of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

“CSTO observers will be present in Armenia as peacekeepers, not as allies,” Pashinyan said.

Bishops and diocesan primates of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia have accused the Pashinyan government of pursuing a “defeatist” foreign policy vis-à-vis Azerbaijan.

The church leaders, in a statement today, point to the Armenian government’s readiness to return several villages in the country’s Tavush Province to Azerbaijan.

They say Pashinyan’s government is giving in to threats made by Baku regarding these villages.

The Armenian prime minister, last month, said Armenia risks a new war with Azerbaijan if it doesn’t return the four villages it’s held since the early 1990s.

“With this defeatist approach, with successive painful territorial concessions, in fact, Azerbaijan’s false claims and reprehensible ambitions regarding the territories of Armenia are legitimized by the international community,” the clerics write.

They describe the Pashinyan government’s policy of creating an “era of peace” based on unilateral concessions as a pipe dream rife with danger.

Source: https://hetq.am/en/article/165620

Armenia made decisions regarding Nagorno-Karabakh under the influence of NATO, and the statements that Russia and the CSTO did not help Armenia during the escalation of the situation in the region are lies. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Maria Zakharova, stated this on the air of Zvezda television.

“I accuse all those who believe and propagate that idea of lying. It is not true; it is a lie. Yerevan made the decision after consulting with the West. I accuse all those who propagate and spread the idea of Russia and the CSTO’s guilt for the decisions that Yerevan made regarding Karabakh of lying,” said Zakharova.

According to her, Western countries have brought forward the topic of Armenia’s official abandoning of Nagorno-Karabakh. The rights of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh were in no way included or guaranteed in the documents that were signed at the behest of the NATO members.

Zakharova added that the new escalation of tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan depends only on the extent to which Armenia will allow the EU, US, and the UK to destructively influence the situation in the region and the country.

The famous Russian-based media manager Aram Gabrelyanov has published a sensational post on his social media channel, where he talks about the “interview” given by Araik Harutyunyan, the fourth president of Artsakh, who was taken hostage in Baku.

Gabrelyanov, in particular, referring to the Russian special services, says that Nikol Pashinyan is in the hands of Aliyev, “in chains”. The point is that, as a result of the testimony taken from Arayik Harutyunyan, the Azerbaijani forces found out the huge corruption schemes in which both Arayik Harutyunyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Serzh Sargsyan and the latter’s son-in-law Mikael Minasyan are involved.

Araik Harutyunyan’s testimony is actually completely presented in his “interview” that he gave to AzTV, but the TV channel has not yet published the video of the conversation.

The reason for not publishing, according to Aram Gabrelyanov, is Aliyev’s understanding that immediately after the video is made public, the image of Nikol Pashinyan, the pioneer of the fight against “corruption” and Serzh Sargsyan, will be on the air.

“Arayik gives facts that Nikoli was brought to power by Serzh Sargsyan out of fear of Western threats against his and his son-in-law’s accounts kept in Italy. Arayik tells about the facts of frauds related to trade in gold (apparently, the mining industry in the territory of Artsakh – ed.), timber and grain. Anna Hakobyan, Nikol Pashinyan’s wife, played the main role in that trade, who demanded to transfer the proceeds of the stolen and realized goods to the accounts of her personal fund (apparently, the “My Step” fund is meant – ed.).

Gabrelyanov reports that Arayik Harutyunyan also told about Anna Hakobyan’s sexual adventures, which were initially discovered by the Azerbaijani special bodies, but later it became clear that Pashinyan was aware of the woman’s behavior, which he likes.

“So, Aliyev’s main weapon, discovering that Pashinyan is corrupt, worked, and he (meaning Nikol Pashinyan – ed.) is ready to hand over Armenian villages and lands due to the fear of being exposed. And all the horror spread by Nikol, “land or war”, is done to cover up his corruption once again”, Aram Gabrelyanov concluded.

ORAGIR.NEWS https://oragir.news/hy/material/2024/04/01/112089?fbclid=IwAR19w-L7G8Rhqsc9J4QqZHvwSbf3_U23TyRRa0M77GLAsGqU3b6pOIcLFuk_aem_ASA5Cg3HzTVezzIRmbS77MsBjnQa2Xwz7NsrMBKbtyhPug tzeuIr8XGjp9ffm0J1wrSB7H-29pApDhFEUDHTuo6e

Six months after the formation of Artsakh’s government-in-exile, Pashinyan deemed the move a threat to Armenia’s national security and urged Armenia’s National Security Service to take action. Following the forced displacement of the Artsakh people in 2023, the Artsakh government reorganized itself in Armenia as a government-in-exile due to persecution and ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan.

In an indirect response to Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan’s recent interview with the French newspaper “Le Figaro,” where he discussed the government-in-exile, Pashinyan called for Armenia’s NSS to intervene against the Artsakh government during a government meeting.

“I cannot overlook the fact that some circles among the forcibly displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh [Artsakh] are taking actions and steps that pose a threat to Armenia’s national security by claiming to be exiled governments.” “In case of necessity, steps should also be taken to prevent foreign powers from using them to threaten the Republic of Armenia.

This is a question that requires an answer. I am not ready to draw any conclusions on this topic today, but I want to clearly state that in the Republic of Armenia, there can be no government other than the Republic of Armenia government. If any individual attempts to present themselves as a government, it becomes an issue for the National Security Service of Armenia, and I hope that the existence of this issue is not due to the failure of our governmental bodies to carry out their work.”

She’s not just an immensely successful daughter of a Chinese immigrant (her mother worked as a maid), but also an active figure within the Democratic Party and a significant contributor. With powerful political ties that could greatly benefit RFK Jr., she’s poised to resonate strongly with young voters, and crucially, she possesses a deep understanding of the workings of Big Tech.

The more I reflect on RFK Jr.’s decision to choose her as his running mate, the more I’m convinced of its brilliance. Securing a former Democrat who is female, a person of color, exceptionally accomplished, affluent, and ready to fiercely advocate for his core principles and agenda is a political masterstroke that will unsettle both Republicans and Democrats, particularly the entrenched interests of corporate America, including Big Pharma, Big Food, the military-industrial complex, and K Street lobbyists.

Shanahan embodies a flawless and inspirational American success narrative, defying the odds and emerging from poverty—a true embodiment of the American dream.

In these times, Americans yearn for bold dreams about what America could and should become for all its citizens.

“Zhoghovurd” daily writes: “National Assembly President Alen Simonyan arranged for his son’s godfather, who is a big businessman, to take him to Paris for a job in the lowest echelon of the National Assembly. “Zhoghovurd” daily made another sensational revelation.

Before going into the details, let’s note that corruption haunts Alen Simonyan. In many episodes of his activity, there are glaring examples of corruption, which Alen Simonyan himself previously criticized as unacceptable.

And so, “Zhoghovurd” daily newspaper learned that in 2021, when Alen Simonyan was in a sour period of his career, he was newly appointed as the Speaker of the National Assembly, using his official position, accepted the millionaire Kavori to work under him in the National Assembly, included him in the work delegation, which were sent to Paris.

Examining the order of the Speaker of the National Assembly, at first glance, everything is in order, it seems that all of them are employees of the National Assembly, some of whom are covered by the RA state budget, some of them traveled with their own funds, but after studying the list, we noticed that Edgar Avagyan is mentioned in the last places of the list. the name, which is presented by the junior specialist of the passport service department of the protocol department of the staff of the National Assembly, and the junior specialists almost never go to any country with the speaker of the National Assembly.

“Zhoghovurd” daily found out that the above-mentioned person is the godfather of Alen Simonyan’s son. Yes, it is the same Edgar Avagyan, who is one of the owners of the “Pallada Tsaghkadzor” residential complex in Tsaghkadzor, the owner of “Freenews” television company, where the director is Alen Simonyan’s wife.

“Zhoghovurd” daily turned to the Public Relations and Communication Department of the RA National Assembly, where they officially confirmed the information we had.

It turned out that the godfather of Alen Simonyan’s son, Edgar Avagyan, really started working at the National Assembly on November 5, 2021 and worked there for almost 3 months, until January 17, 2022.

It turns out that Alen Simonyan has found an easy way to travel with the sponsor under his authority. The strange thing is, of course, that Edgar Avagyan, posing as an oligarch, agreed to go to France or other countries as part of the NA delegation, to be met “under” the plane by special cars, and taken to a high-class hotel.”

Details in today’s issue of “Zhoghovurd” daily.