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Trump: Three US detainees released from North Korea

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US President Donald Trump has announced that three American citizens detained in North Korea have been released and are on their way back to the US along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had successfully secured the released of three American citizens detained in North Korea.

The president tweeted that Pompeo was on his way back to the US from Pyongyang with the three released prisoners. “I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting,” he tweeted, adding the former detainees appeared “to be in good health.”

Who are three US citizens released by North Korea?

  • Kim Hak-song, who is in his mid-50s, was working at Pyongyang’s University of Science and Technology (PUST), specializing in agricultural development, during the time of his arrest. Born in Jilin, China, Kim went to university in California and continued to live in the US for 10 years. He subsequently moved back to China before going on to work in Pyongyang. He was arrested in May 2017 on suspicion of planning to commit “hostile acts” against the government, according to the North.
  • Kim Sang-duk, who also goes by the name Tony Kim, is a former professor at China’s Yanbian University of Science and Technology, close to the Korean border. The university website lists his speciality as accounting. South Korea media reported that Kim, who is reportedly in his 50s, had taken part in relief work in North Korea’s rural parts and also taught at PUST. He was arrested in Pyongyang although the reason for his arrest remains unclear.
  • Kim Dong-chulis a South Korea-born American businessman and pastor in his 60s. He was arrested in October 2015 after allegedly receiving a USB stick containing confidential military information and nuclear secrets from a North Korea soldier. He was charged by North Korean authorities in April 2016 with subversion and espionage, and sentenced to 10 years’ hard  In a January 2016 interview with CNN, Kim said he was a naturalized American living in Fairfax, Virginia. He also said that he had previously run a hotel services company in North Korea’s special economic zone of Rason, located near the border with China and Russia.
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Hostage Taking new #Erdogan venture: Former #Greek Armed Forces Chief says officers’ arrest was a Turkish “set up”

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by Aggelos Skordas

Greece’s former Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff Manousos Paragioudakis expressed his belief that the two Greek army officers currently imprisoned in Edirne were ambushed rather than captured after crossing the borders with Turkey in the Evros region. As he said on Thursday during an interview with Skai TV, the arrest of the second lieutenant and the sergeant was a “set up”, orchestrated by the Turkish special forces.

Moreover, the honorary Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff underlined that such incidents are significantly frequent at the frontier, as patrols from both sides unintentionally cross the borders but the incidents are “resolved on the spot”, after direct communication between the local Greek and Turkish military commanders. As he said, there have never been arrests in the past after such incidents.

In addition, Paragioudakis questions the Turkish scenario that the two Greek army officers walked for 250 meters into Turkish soil. “From the moment the two officers did not return immediately, the case becomes complicated. Since the incident was not resolved within the first hours, we have become entangled… It is impossible they have been captured by simple Turkish soldiers. It must have been another force, trained to do this, special units which had been prepared to capture Greek military men. They were acting on orders”, Paragioudakis characteristically explained.

Comparing the incident with other “hot” encounters between the two countries’ forces at sea Paragioudakis pointed out that “at sea, it is easy to ram a ship, in Evros, it is not easy”. As he said, “there is an informal practice that you do not proceed with arrests”, thus, he concluded, “I believe the incident was set up”. Finally, he said that the fact that the servicemen were not returned within the first hours of their detention serious complications might occur.

The two Greek army officers arrested and imprisoned last Thursday after crossing borders with Turkey remain in custody in Edirne as the court rejected the appeal for their release submitted by their lawyers on Monday. The decision on the fate of the second lieutenant and the sergeant of the Greek army will be postponed the Turkish court announced.

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Yerevan court convicts 3 opposition activists over hostage standoff

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A Yerevan district court on Thursday sentenced three opposition activists to three years in prison, confirming the charges that they used force against law enforcement officers during the patrol police regiment’s armed occupation last year.
All the three – Arsen Mkrtumyan, Gagik Mikaeklyan and Soso Margaryan – are members of the armed Sasna Tsrer group which held the compound under a fortnight’s seizure in July.
The lawyers of two said they are planning to file claims with the Court of Appeals.

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VIDEO: U.S. Amb. Evans Sacrificing diplomatic Career by telling the truth, Armenian Genocide

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Ambassador John Evans’s Truth Held Hostage

Ambassador John Evans’s Truth Held Hostage

Truth Held Hostage: America and the Armenian Genocide – What Then? What Now? To order please contact books@gomidas.org

By Dr. Dickran Kouymjian,

Ambassador John Evans’s Truth Held Hostage is the most important work about the Armenian genocide by a US diplomat since Henry Morgenthau’s groundbreaking Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story in 1918. Evans writes with an elegant clarity that allows us to experience his journey into a major personal and political ethical dilemma concerning the truth of history and the untruth of US government protocol in the name of foreign policy politics.
…This is a must read with implications for all histories of mass violence and trauma.”
—PETER BALAKIAN, author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response”Evans is a remarkable man who was an unusual American diplomat. A principled man steeped in history, he wrestled with the moral issue of whether to defy his own government’s increasingly awkward position on the Armenian Genocide. Evans’ tale of how he came to be involved in Armenia, his term as ambassador in Yerevan and his decision to break the US government’s genocide taboo is a compelling, page-turning read. It is fascinating not just for anyone interested in Armenian issues but as an inside story of international diplomacy and politics of recent times.”
—THOMAS DE WAAL, Senior Associate at Carnegie Europe and author of Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War”This is a book from which one learns a great deal about the Armenian Genocide. It is also a poignant and uplifting book by and about an American ambassador, John Evans, who bravely placed ethical principles over the requirements of a diplomatic post.”
—ISRAEL W. CHARNY, Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, a co-founder and past-president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
“An informative, even-handed account of a matter of international importance.”
—PAUL IGNATIUS, former Secretary of the Navy
John Evans, formerly U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, gained notoriety in 2005 by publicly dissenting from the stated policy of the Bush and previous Administrations on the 90-year-old issue of the Armenian Genocide. A veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Evans had no Armenian ancestors or family connections, but over the course of his historical studies and diplomatic career, became convinced that a gross  injustice was being perpetrated against the Armenians through the denialist policies of the Turkish Government and the U.S. Government’s tacit acceptance of them. He decided to take a measured public stand, but then paid for his “heresy” by being dismissed from his post and forced into early retirement, although not without a fight over the issue in the U.S. Congress.
Over the course of his thirty-five-year career, Ambassador Evans  served with distinction in diplomatic posts in Tehran, Prague, Moscow, Brussels (NATO), St. Petersburg and Washington, reaching the rank of Minister-Counselor. A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, educated at Yale and Columbia, he is an avid student of Russian history who devoted a sabbatical year to investigating the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the setting in which the tragic events of 1915 occurred.
Now retired from the Foreign Service, Mr. Evans makes his home in  Washington with his wife, the former Donna Chamberlain.
Order Book:
London: Gomidas Institute, 2016,
xxx + 170 pages, maps, photos, index,
ISBN 978-1-909382-26-8, hardback,
Price: UK£22.00 / US$32.00
To order please contact books@gomidas.org
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Yerevan: The point of the situation on the 14th day by Séda Mavian

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seta mavian articleCHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS Saturday, July 30

In the morning release of Albert Baghdasarian (member of the coordinating council of the movement to support Sasna Tzrèr) and Armenak GUREGHIAN (father of two members of the commando): They were detained yesterday near the metro station Bd Baghramian around 17h, which prevented Baghdasaryan to participate in the Friday night parade which had ended with the violence that is known (see exclusive interview Albert Baghdasarian broadcast yesterday on Armenews).

Decapitation of the coordinating council of the movement to support Sasna Tzrèr David Sanassarian, Armen Martirosyan, Andreas Ghukasyan and Yeghishe Petrosyan were placed in custody on the night of Friday to Saturday. They are suspected of organizing mass disorders. Yeghishe Petrosyan who have discomfort during his arrest in the early morning at his home, was hospitalized in a private clinic where he is under strict police surveillance. Alec Yènicomèhian, who was indicted for assistance to armed groups and whose legal period of custody was ending yesterday (he was held on July 27) was remanded in custody for two months in prison Armavir. Asked why a long investment of capital (which is not without inconvenience to the accused) and his lawyer Nikolay Baghdasaryan said that the prison Armavir is the only offering accommodation conditions decent for a disabled. Recall Alec Yènicomèchian performed in custody (72h) in the premises of National Security (former KGB premises on Avenue Nalbandian) in conditions incompatible with his disability, which was highly criticized by his lawyer who demanded his release. Moreover, it has not had access to date with the Braille method and therefore denied the opportunity to examine the documents in his file.
The Coordination Council now is therefore reduced to two members, Albert Baghdasarian (newly released on the same day) and another that is not reported but could be Saro Saroyan (political scientist), which no longer appears in public.

Statement of the Coordination Council broadcast in the morning by Garegin Tchougaszian, currently at large (leading member of Nor Hayastan), on his Facebook page After reviewing the facts of the night, it is said: “All this is clear proof that ‘Armenia, the power was seized by a criminal group practicing a massive state terrorism and which we can not break free by anti-terrorist operations. Thus, it becomes obvious to everyone, that the action of the group Sasna Tzrèr was a necessity imposed as the ultimate way to overthrow the dictatorship.
We appeal to Serzh Sargsyan: If you do not want to deserve the fate that was once reserved for Ceausescu, you only have one thing to do, you should immediately submit to the popular will and initiate a transfer process peaceful of power, the first step is to begin negotiations with the insurgents of the Sasna Tzrèr group. This is the last chance that is offered to you and to our people to achieve political change without convulsion. “.

Publication of two posts Jirair Sefilian
Recall that Jirair Sefilian is incarcerated at Vardachèn prison since June 10 on suspicion of having prepared the organization of an armed coup. His first post was published yesterday in the early afternoon (14h) by Gala (multimedia Gyumri)
“Dear people,
I inform you that during the last three to four days, intermediate I know and whom I respect, visited me after meeting with Serzh Sargsyan. They made me visit twice and called me once on the phone, telling me that Serzh Sargsyan has not changed its position and continues to think that guys have to go after which only he and I could us meet.
I reported them I left for my equally faithful to my position that my prior meeting with the guys is the best decision median.
I must first meet before meeting with Serzh Sargsyan. This is the only way to imagine they can get. I continue to share this view.
If Serzh Sargsyan does not agree to this proposal, this could have serious consequences for our people, which I deeply regret. The entire nation vogue on a boat that Sarkisian wants to sink.
From this demonstrates is refusal of the agreement and the use of ruthless methods against the population. Despite this, and despite the tricks used by the regime against the Sasna Tzrèr and the Armenian people, I remain open to collaboration in order to stop the earlier bloodshed. “.
In this message from the early afternoon, Jirair Sefilian renews its proposal to meet members of the armed commando before meeting with Serzh Sargsyan, while the latter could hear him through intermediaries, it would first make the commando after which only a meeting could take place between him and Jirair Sefilian.

His second message was posted by another media evening (around 22:30)

“Dear people,
Today, it makes fourteen days my friends and companions with whom we share the same ideas, the Sasna Tzrèr group continues to resist the price of his life, with the aim and hope of rallying the people to insurrection. It should be clear to everyone that the guys have sacrificed for our country and our people, in the name of a free Armenian state, fair, democratic and sovereign. It was very difficult to remain silent to date, and to refrain from launching various calls for our people. I behaved that way to prevent bloodshed and not to create obstacles in the process of a possible negotiation, but the reality is that Serzh Sargsyan does not intend to resolve this complex case by political negotiations. He unfortunately chose the bloody path and strategy of morally exhausting and physically eliminate the guys that people already cherishes.
This time, it no longer has the right to be wrong, we must assess the situation correctly and take the opportunity created at the sacrifice of our guys to do the right thing. Also, to stop the bloodshed and prevent bloody tragedy looming in hours or in the coming days, I propose the following solution: using its right to peaceful assembly, our people do so form a living wall (pat-patvar) between the police and the perimeter of the PPTz garrison.
Taking into account the polarization deeper each day of the company during the last two weeks, by this I first called on our people and the international community, so that an effective solution is found for avoid bloodshed, based on my proposal or another. If applicable, the bloodshed will lead inexorably to greater polarization of society. Obviously the choice of my proposal involves the implementation of large efforts and multiplication by two or three the number of people who have so far mobilized to support the group. In the middle My solution, which includes neither victors nor vanquished and a solution to the sole benefit of our people and our country, the regime will be forced to choose a civilized way to resolve the crisis and to sit at the table negotiations to meet the popular demand (note: the phrase being extremely poorly constructed, translation is a recomposition).
Congratulating and highly finding people who are out in the street to support the uprising began on July 17, I appeal to that part of our people has not so far involved in this. I particularly address to the people of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh, Armenians of Javakhk, as well as Armenians living abroad, asking them to join as soon as the Khorenatsi Street, became the center of the political will of national rebirth.
Dear compatriots, the moment is historic, people Sasna Tzrèr fulfilled their mission and our duty to give meaning to their sacrifice. “

Note that these messages have had almost no echo (also no evening gathering of the speakers at the Opera, there will reference and allusion same). Note also that the idea that the population is in “living wall” for Sasna Tzrèr is not new since the purpose of the meetings that were held on Khorenatsi street until July 27, was precisely to prevent their elimination bloody physical ensuring a popular presence at the entrance of the perimeter of the garrison. The thing was no longer possible, since July 27, when the Khorenatsi street was closed to the public. And after the violent night of Friday 29 to Saturday 30, the proposal is totally unreal.

The output of the three ambulance garrison. There are only two doctors, now in garrison, presented as hostages by the police, but as volunteers by the commando.

The death of a policeman on the street Khorenatsi Around 17h (or 15h French time), a police garrison PPTz part of the monitoring service Erebuni on Khorenatsi street, Tèpanossian Youra, 30, father of three children, was killed while sitting in a military vehicle. Police said the shot is that of a sniper stationed at a distance of 350 or 400 meters. Note that it is the police who had hitherto made shots like this wounding several members of the commando. If the news was broadcast that is right, it would be the first time that Sasna Tzrèr have done so. The death brings to two the number of victims of police action of the armed commando (Colonel Vanoyan was killed July 17 when the assault on the garrison by police in unclear conditions).

The end of the ultimatum police. The death of the policeman intervened at a time when almost ended the day before the deadline set by the police for the commandos go either 17h, considerate and beyond, more no precautions will be taken to spare their lives, and it will draw on them without warning. the rally on Freedom square at 20h Despite an absolutely dramatic context (the violence of the night, setting the judgments of almost all Member of the coordinating Council, the end of the ultimatum police and the death of a policeman), people are still gathered in numbers on Saturday night on the Freedom square. A lot of young people.

The gathering lasts from 8:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.. Speaking: actress Tamar Hovhannisian, the politician Albert Baghdasarian, the singer Rouben Haghvèrdian and two young strangers.
Tamar Hovhannisian attacks the Catholicos of an extremely virulent: “Listen to me, you, Garegin II, who so loves watches and luxury waitresses, where listening is the people! If you do not you dresses between the people and the power surrounded by your rogues dressed in mourning clothes is that you’re not a Catholicos! Armenia has never had Catholicos like you and do will not! Enriched by selling candles of our churches, you’re a beggar! “Etc. It announces a parade and asked the director of the Yerevan police Valery Ossipian (former hostage Commando, released July 23), to ensure safety of demonstrators. Referring to the police violence of the previous night (from 29 to 30 July), she said: “The pill of what happened that night will not pass! “.
Commenting on the silence and invisibility of the authorities of the country (President, Prime Minister, ministers, National Assembly), she said: “This country is deprived of political leadership facto! The power belongs to us! If we do not divide into two fronts, we can not break us! Please, be calm and quiet! “.

Albert Baghdasaryan began his speech by declaring “responsible for all those who are here at all levels.” He asks those who follow the events on the internet to get to Opera, addressing not only the population but also to the members. He asked the people gathered to wait half an hour, the time to see if members answer the call to come and join the court as representatives of the nation. He explained that the Coordinating Council is being reduced to two, the responsibility they bear is very heavy. It defines the choices available to the public about the show: return on Khorenatsi street or take another route. He asked the population the opportunity to think to make the right decision, giving voice to Rouben Haghverdian pending.
MHM0106594-2.jpg After the intervention of the latter, Albert Baghdasaryan speaks again to acknowledge the fact that no member has joined the court: “If members do not come is that they are not not the nation’s representatives! “. He reiterated the two proposals: back to Khoènatsi with the risk that a repeat of the violence of the night before, or along a route in the city center, which would be repeated each day and allow the gradual rallying of a growing number of people “up ‘to reach the goal. “ In the crowd, people cry occasionally “Khorenatsi: Khorenatsi! “. “Dear people, we must decide together. That tomorrow we do not accuse me of having decided alone! There were three solutions: 1 / That the parliamentarians to the direction of movement. We have seen that they have not answered the call. 2 / paralyze the city center to show that we are not afraid, even after what happened in the night, and to ensure that the crowd from growing within days 3 / return on Khorenatsi Street. Our only issue is to support Sasna Tzrèr! “. It gives voice to a young unknown who advocates the parade in the city center. His eloquent speech quite reduced, it seems, the number of supporters of return on Khorenatsi street, which is derived from the progressive drying up of scansions “Khorenatsi! Khorenatsi! “. Another young unknown is expressed in the same direction. Albert Baghdasaryan speaks again: “I endorse all the responsibility for what we do! “. He announced a parade in the city center to the Republic Square where it will be decided following the route. “If we are wrong, we deceive together! “. He announced: “Tomorrow we will be more numerous. And if I’m not here tomorrow, young people will replace me! We have seen that they can do, “he said, referring to the intervention of two young people.

Sunday, July 31, 2016,
Ara © armenews.com

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Armenia’s national security service urges armed group to surrender by 5pm

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ANS surrenderYEREVAN. – Armenia’s national security service issued a statement concerning the Friday clashes in Yerevan.

The statement says shots from different weapons were heard from the building of seized police compound. The shooters targeted police officers who were on duty in Sari Tagh area.

“In addition, the armed group detonated a grenade in the territory of the regiment, and then tried to set on fire a bus parked near police regiment, throwing burning objects under it.

Thanks to adequate response of law enforcement agencies all firing points were suppressed, and the aggressive actions of the armed groups prevented. According to preliminary data, a policeman and members of the armed group were wounded in a shootout,” the statement reads.

Armenia’s national security service said these actions couldn’t continue any longer.

“Please be informed that after the events of late July 29, all existing reasonable possibilities of a peaceful solution have been exhausted. Provided by the Constitution of Armenia and justified under the circumstances, the use of force is absolutely necessary to protect the citizens from an attack dangerous to their life and health,” the statement reads.

“Therefore, members of the armed group are given time until 5p.m.  in order to lay down arms and to surrender without resistance. Otherwise, special units of law enforcement agencies are authorized to open fire without warning and disarm any armed person in the territory of police regiment or beyond.

Any attempt to penetrate into the territory without the authorization of the regiment will be is considered as aiding terrorism and the perpetrators, regardless of their status, will be held accountable. All attempts to break through the police cordon by force will be prevented by measures under the law,” the

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Jagland: I am following with concern the events taking place in Armenia

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Fire-hostageSecretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland is following with concern the events taking place in our member state of Armenia, where for several days already, an armed group has taken hostages in a police station in Yerevan.

“I would like to recall that in states governed by the rule of law, all conflicts should be resolved through political dialogue with a respect for democratic norms and standards. I therefore call on all those concerned to put an end to this dangerous situation without delay, and to return to the use of democratic means. Democracy, human rights and the rule of law must prevail. The freedom of assembly must be fully respected,” Jagland said in a statement released on Friday.

 

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Armenian Health Ministry calls for medical personnel’s release from seized police headquarters

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Yerevan stadoff-2Armenia’s Ministry of Health has issued a statement urging the armed opposition group which keeps the patrol police regiment under control to release the detained ambulance crew from the building.
The paramedics were held in the seized headquarters on Wednesday after heading there to provide medical aid to people. One nurse was released hours later. Two doctors, Salvador Khechoyan and Norayr  Tevanyan, and another nurse, Malina Margaryan, are still being held hostage.
Condemning the armed group’s move, the Ministry urges its members to demonstrate common sense and free first of all the nurse, who is the only woman in the crew.
“Such an act, alien to all kinds written and unwritten laws all over the world, never brings honor to you or your ideas,” reads the statement.
The group, calling itself Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun), stormed into the police building last Sunday, keeping several police officers hostage under the threat of violence.
The regiment’s deputy commander, Colonel Artur Vanoyan, was reported dead hours later.
The group demands the resignation of the ruling authorities in Armenia and the release of all the political prisoners, including Zhirayr Sefilyan, a veteran of the Nagorno-Karabakh war and an opposition activist who was detained last month over the illegal purchase, transportation and storage of weapons.

 

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France At least one dead in French church hostage taking

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france-church-hostageSeveral people were taken hostage by two men with knives in a Catholic church in the Normandy region of France. A priest was killed and another hostage badly wounded. The assailants had since been “neutralized.”

Two men armed with knives took several people hostage during a church service in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France on Tuesday.

One of the hostages – named by the Catholic Church as an 84-year-old priest – was killed while another hostage was reported to be in a critical condition. It has been reported that nuns were also among those taken hostage.

The identities of the hostage-takers or what had motivated them was not immediately clear. Both were killed in the police operation which ended the assalt.

Five people had been held in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, which is near the city of Rouen in France’s northern Normandy region. Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen named the slain priest as Father Jacques Hamel.

France 3, a regional news outlet, reported that the incident began between 9 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. local time (between 0700 and 0745 UTC).

French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve traveled to the scene. The country’s anti-terrorism prosecution unit has taken over the investigation.

Hollande told reporters he had met with survivors and first responders. He said the attack was carried out by two “terrorists” who had “claimed to be from Daesh,” using the Arabic name for the “Islamic State” group. He labeled the attack “cowardly.”

Pope Francis has expressed his “pain and horror” at the violence, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

“We are particularly struck because this horrible violence has taken place in a church, a sacred place where the love of God is announced, with the brutal killing of a priest,” Lombardi added.

France is on high alert and under a state of emergency following a series of deadly attacks on civilians including the Bastille Day attack which killed 84 people in the southern city of Nice.

One person has been detained in the investigation into the attack, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The prosecutor’s office spokeswoman gave no details on the identity or location.

se/rc (Reuters, dpa, AFP, AP, KNA)

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Armenia’s authorities are digging their own grave – Hayk Martirosyan

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expertIn an interview with Tert.am, Doctor of Political Science Hayk Martirosyan spoke of the July 17 armed attack on a police building in Yerevan, resultant domestic political changes in Armenia, relations between political forces and society and public demand issued in Yerevan’s Khorenatsi street and other issues.

Mr Martirosyan, Armenia’s political forces were preparing for parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. Political parties were established, and political propaganda was under way. How much has the Sasna Tsrer group’s activities changed the game for political forces?

The group’s actions have complicated the situation for Armenia’s authorities. Society is now demonstrating string trends to tension, and political parties have proved their actual absence. The so called intellectuals moving in the ruling circles have shown their true worth as well. Armenia’s political arena is empty, while the only ruling political force is deeply hated. In the previous state of affair, Armenia’s authorities had to spare no effort to rig elections, whereas now they have to resort to reprisals. With discontent with you growing, and you lacking intellect and hardly tolerated, overtly doing what you once tried to conceal. And then you are overthrown because no one is going to tolerate more.

Political forces have a task of coming to or approaching power. How have the Sasna Tserer group’s actions influenced the authorities? What changes will authorities make?

We should realize that one either has intellect and knowledge or has not any. If the former, you can be capable of making right assessments and changes. Since it lacks in this particular case, no favorable expectations should be held. Armenia’s authorities are digging their own grave, and Sasna Tsrer is only of help to them.

What trends were observed in the public-political forces relations after July 17?

A total break, revelation and mutual exclusion. The political scene is exhausted, discredited and destroyed. What we see in Armenia is, as a matter of fact, the Communist-style one party model.

Mr Martirosyan, in the run-up to July 17, there was public discontent in the social media and on other platforms over the absence of a [political] force or leader ruling the crowd. [The Civil Contract party’s leader,] Nikol Pashinyan, made such attempt, but the society wouldn’t accept anyone. What public demand is after all being sketched now?

I find it hard to give an answer. If the [political forces] having adherents are dispersed and driven out of square, the street, which isn’t crowded as it is, will look even emptier. Pashinyan enjoys publicity, at least at the moment, so he is still able to attract people despite his party-backed agenda. Evidently, people reject this government, but they do not take to the streets for now to raise their voice. So to disperse the [political forces] at the moment would mean keeping the squares empty. Political analysts cannot fill the existing vacuum. Whether analysts or politicians, if people follow all this through computers at home their demands too, will be heard from their bedrooms.

How and to what extent did they manage or fail to make the situation work to their own advantage?

All political forces guide themselves by their own interests. What matters is to what extent the interests of the nation and the people are present there. What we hear in the Khorenatsi [street] is the interest of the people’s complaint. But the political forces aren’t there – just as they are absent from everywhere else. Whenever people just take to the streets to raise their demand, real changes become possible. Political forces then follow the people instead of proposing agendas.  We do not have situations like this in Armenia. It may be possible sometime in the future, but today, we simply don’t have it.

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