Russian soldier accused of slaughtering family to be tried in Armenia

January 20, 2015 By administrator

A Russian soldier suspected of slaying a family in Armenia after going AWOL will be tried in Armenia. The two countries will jointly investigate the grizzly crime that provoked mass demonstrations.

Valery Permyakov, who served at a Russian military base in Armenia, is suspected of murdering a family in Gyumri, Armenia’s second-largest city, on January 12.

Six people were shot dead in the house while the seventh victim, a six-month-old baby boy, died days later from a stab wound.

The AWOL soldier is believed to have been trying to desert. He broke into a random house to get food and went on a killing rampage after being found by the owners, according to media reports.

“At a meeting in Yerevan, representatives from the Armenian and Russian investigations… agreed on a coordinated effort to conduct a comprehensive investigation,” Sona Tryzyan, spokeswoman for the Armenian Investigative Committee, announced on Tuesday.

Aleksandr Bastrykin, who heads the Russian Investigative Committee, assured that both the prosecution and trial of the suspect would be held in Armenia, in accordance with international law and bilateral agreements between the two countries. The Russian official is currently visiting Armenia to tackle the fallout following the tragic incident.

The high-profile crime caused uproar in Armenia and a massive rally gathered in front of the Russian Consulatelast Thursday. The protesters demanded that Permyakov be handed over and brought to justice in Armenia.

The rally became violent when demonstrators started pelting police officers guarding the base with stones and other projectiles. In the ensuing clash, 26 people, most of them police officers, were injured.

Permyakov was arrested the day after the massacre as he was trying to cross the border with Turkey. Russian border guards, who are helping their Armenian colleagues to patrol its borders, captured the man and handed him over to the base, where he is currently being held in custody.

Armenian-Russian film to center on devastating Spitak quake of 1988

October 20, 2014 By administrator

A film based on the 1988 devastating earthquake in Armenia will launch production in January 2015, Kavkaz-uzel.ru reported.

The Yerevan, Gyumri and Moscow-set Armenian-Russian film titled “11:41” will star Armen Jigarkhanyan, Yevgeni Sidikhin, Chulpan Hamatova, Rafael Kotanjyan, Mkrtich Arzumanyan and Sos Janibekyan.

The film, budgeted at $2,5 million was produced and scripted by Cinema Concept Production founder Alik Shahbazyan.

The film centers at a young woman (Hamatova) buried under the quake debris with her 1,5-year-old baby daughter who she keeps alive by biting through her fingers to feed the child with her own blood.

“These characters were based on real-life events, with the actual mother and daughter to be consulted during the film-making,” Shakhbazyan said.

The filmmakers hope to premiere the movie December 7, 2015 at 11: 41 through the assistance of World Armenian Congress.

On December 7, 1988, at 11:41 a.m. local time, magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook northwestern Armenia and was followed four minutes later by a magnitude 5.8 aftershock. In the epicenter, the village of Nalband, the tremors were reported to measure 10 on the Richter scale.

The earthquake leveled the cities of Spitak and Gyumri and left about 25,000 people dead, 100,000 injured and 500 000 homeless.

The Ministry of Defence may authorize population Karvadjar to carry weapons

July 18, 2014 By administrator

The military commander of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is currently considering the possibility of allowing the carrying of weapons from the population Karvadjar who was the target last week of the infiltration of Azerbaijani commando who was killed two Armenians. Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, in a statement said that “this area is special because of its population is composed of members who are all armed. Currently the Department of Defense is studying the possibility of allowing the soldiers to carry weapons with them into their homes so they can respond quickly in case of necessity.

“Note that the region Karvadjar, heavily wooded and mountainous with Mount Mrav the highest peak of Nagorno-Karabakh is sparsely populated. About 2 500 people inhabit. The authorities of Nagorno Karabakh, the expectation that this mountain was almost impassable Mrav natural border had lightened to the extreme presence of his soldiers to the border. Azeris took the opportunity to send a commando that has infiltrated and committed crimes before being neutralized by Armenian forces.

Krikor Amirzayan

ATP Plants Another 230,000 Trees Throughout Armenia in 2013

January 3, 2014 By administrator

YEREVAN—Armenia Tree Project (ATP) has recently completed its ninth year of reforestation with the planting of another 174,267 tree seedlings in Northern Armenia. This brings the total number of trees planted to 230,451 in 2013. The additional 56,000 trees were planted by ATP’s flagship Community Tree Planting program.

ATP was founded by Armenian-American philanthropist Carolyn Mugar, and the organization has now planted a total of 4,455,869 trees since 1994.

“We’re extremely proud of this result,” noted ATP Yerevan Director Areg Maghakian. “Our work is planting trees and we’ve done that with more than four million in the ground, but it’s also about people. ATP is creating green jobs in Armenia and connecting our programs with supporters all over the world. It’s a truly grassroots effort that will pay huge dividends in the future.”

With help from a substantial grant from Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012, ATP began planting a new 20 hectare forest site in the town of Koghes in Lori. This spring, several thousand pine seedlings were added to the existing oak, ash, apple, and pear trees to finalize the forest planting.

In the summer, seasonal workers were hired to maintain the sites reforested by ATP. “Because it was such a fertile year, some sites had to be maintained twice as the grass had been growing so quickly,” Maghakian emphasized.

In the fall, dozens of local villagers helped replant tree seedlings in a new forest being established in Tsaghkaber. The planting of this site in Lori was supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) of the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW as part of its International Climate Protection Initiative. The project was implemented by WWF Germany, WWF Caucasus, and WWF Armenia in cooperation with the Ministry of Nature Protection, the Ministry of Agriculture, and ATP.

ATP has collaborated with a number of other organizations over the past year. This summer, ATP organized a special tour for local media and organizations in the environmental sector. The tour included ATP’s Mirak Family Reforestation Nursery where more than half a million tree seedlings are being nurtured, along with the nearby Hrant Dink Memorial Forest and a new forest being established in the town of Katnajur. Yerevan-based Deem Communications participated in several events with ATP this year, including planting trees at a kindergarten in Margahovit.

ATP has also collaborated with the Homeland Development Initiative Foundation (HDIF), an organization which aims to nurture sustainable development initiatives in rural parts of Armenia. ATP employees in Margahovit discovered Samvel, a talented woodworker who was unemployed because he is wheelchair-bound, and introduced him to HDIF, which now sells his unique, handmade crafts.

ATP’s newest initiative, announced this fall in collaboration with Sosé and Allen’s Legacy Foundation, is the Sosé Thomassian and Allen Yekikian Memorial Forest. The young couple, who had strong ties both in Armenia and the diaspora, lost their lives in a tragic car accident in May 2013.

“Our goal is to create a living tribute to our dear friends. We’re also incorporating social media into this campaign,” explained Maghakian. “For every new ‘like’ of ATP’s Facebook page, five trees will be planted in the memorial forest. We hope the effort will attract at least 10,000 ‘likes’ in order to plant 50,000 trees and raise awareness of ATP’s mission.”

The municipality of Stepanavan has agreed to lease 73 hectares of land to ATP for 25 years and 25 percent of that land will be allocated to the Sosé and Allen Memorial Forest, where planting will commence in the spring of 2014.

ATP’s mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve their standard of living and protect the environment, guided by the desire to promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the fewest resources first, and conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP’s three major programs are tree planting, environmental education, and sustainable development initiatives. For more information, please visit the website www.armeniatree.org.