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All possible accomplices of MP Manvel Grigoryan must be held accountable, says Prime Minister

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YEREVAN, JUNE 18, ARMENPRESS. According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the case over MP Manvel Grigoryan is the most massive corruption discovery in the history of the third Republic of Armenia.

“Without violating any presumption of innocence, I want to say for the record that we are dealing with, perhaps, the most large-scale corruption discovery in the history of the third Republic of Armenia and this stands out with the fact that the discoveries are literally shocking, are shocking for the Armenian society,” he said at today’s Cabinet meeting. The PM said he has personally thanked the NSS director and the agents who took part in the operation.

He expressed hope that the investigation of this case will be carried out duly.

He said that all possible accomplices of the case, regardless of status or titles or any other circumstances, should be held accountable.

The investigation into the case regarding MP Manvel Grigoryan is still ongoing and the possible accomplices will be revealed in process, director of the National Security Service Arthur Vanetsyan told reporters. He said that Manvel Grigoryan will not be released from pre-trial detention.

But the parliament is yet to debate the issue of stripping the MP of immunity tomorrow.

Asked if the NSS was aware about the alleged embezzlement or it only had information about the firearms, the NSS chief said: “I don’t want to fully disclose the tactical part of our investigation, of course we were aware,” he said.

The parliament of Armenia will convene an extraordinary sitting on June 19 to debate stripping MP Manvel Grigoryan of immunity.

The decision to convene a sitting was made today at a Cabinet meeting.

The sitting will begin 11:00 Tuesday.

The National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia has released details over the arrest of Member of Parliament Manvel Grigoryan and the evidences discovered in the lawmaker’s properties.  Grigoryan was placed under arrest on June 16.

The NSS said agents searched Grigoryan’s compound in the village of Arshaluys in Armavir province on June 16, and his mansion in Ejmiatsin city (Vagharshapat) within the framework of an ongoing criminal case.

NSS said agents discovered an arsenal and a collection of dozens of both vintage and modern vehicles in Grigoryan’s Arshaluys compound. The compound was also used to store military canned food, medication and military uniforms. NSS said the boxes which were supposed to be delivered to soldiers, contained letters addressed to servicemen, which shows that it was aid sent to frontline soldiers in Artsakh during the 2016 April 4-day war days.

NSS said it is investigating how the military clothing, medicine and other discoveries have appeared in the MP’s compound.

Various kinds of foodstuffs – aid sent from kindergartens and schools to soldiers – have been discovered stored in the compound, NSS said.

NSS said it also found foodstuffs labeled “For Soldier” – a special production supplied to the defense ministry which is not available for sale or any other use.

The huge amount of weapons and ammunition found in MP Grigoryan’s compound in the village included more than a dozen anti-tank grenade launchers, 20 hand grenades, over 20,000 various caliber rounds, TNT explosives, and many other types of weapons.

Weapons have also been found in the Ejmiatsin mansion, namely 79 rifles, 39 handguns and over 12,000 rounds.

Dozens of property ownership licenses have also been found.

The collection of vehicles includes motorcycles and snowmobiles, NSS said.

The NSS said they also discovered SUVs and an ambulance vehicle which were designated to be used in the military during the 4-day war. The vehicles were donated to the Defense Army of Artsakh by representatives of the Armenian community of Russia, and Grigoryan has misappropriated them, according to the NSS.

NSS said it also discovered a private zoo in the premises of the mansion, with bears and a tiger among the animals. The mansion also has a horse track. According to information, Grigoryan has used the military food which was supposed to go to soldiers of the 4-day war to feed the animals of his private zoo.

The NSS said the investigation continues and additional information will be provided.

Two days after the arrest of Member of Parliament Manvel Grigoryan in suspicion of illegal acquisition and possession of firearms, the Prosecutor General’s office filed a motion on stripping the lawmaker of immunity on June 18, the Prosecutor General’s office said.

On June 17, Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan transferred the investigation from the national security service to the special investigations service. He also tasked to form a task force from detectives of both services.

The Prosecutor General’s office said the investigation has revealed sufficient evidence implicating Manvel Grigoryan.

Thus, the Prosecutor General applied to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to request the parliament on behalf of the government to convene an extraordinary sitting to debate the motion.

 

OH-MY-GOD Tillerson Unveils ‘New’ US Syria Plan: ‘Assad Must Go Again!’

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Written by daniel mcadams,

Confirming that the US military presence inside Syria had little to do with fighting ISIS, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson unveiled in detail today the real US strategy for Syria: overthrow of the Assad government. 

In a speech at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and introduced by President George W. Bush’s Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Secretary Tillerson vowed that the United States military would continue to occupy Syrian territory until three conditions are met:

First: ISIS must be destroyed.

This condition is made all the more problematic by the well-reported fact that it is the United States government that at every turn seems to pull ISIS chestnuts out of the fire. From handing them weapons to allowing them to escape when they are trapped in places like Raqqa, it almost seems like the US does not want to really see the end of ISIS.

Second: Assad must go. 

Tillerson’s admission that this is a sine qua non for any US military departure from Syria confirms that the Trump foreign policy is no different from that of Hillary Clinton or her former boss, President Obama. Recall that as part of his “thank you” tour, President-elect Trump reiterated promises made by candidate Trump to break with the past:

We will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the mistakes of the past. We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments. …In our dealings with other countries we will seek shared interests wherever possible…”

It is clear that he lied, as it is reported that he signed off on this new Syria strategy last month at a meeting of his National Security Council.

Secretary Tillerson said today that new elections should be held in Syria and that President Assad should lose:

The United States believes that free and transparent elections … will result in the permanent departure of Assad and his family from power… Assad’s regime is corrupt, and his methods of governance and economic development have increasingly excluded certain ethnic and religious groups… Such oppression cannot persist forever.

Tillerson’s speech reveals that the old myth about the Syrian people “rising up” to overthrow Assad is still very much viewed as Gospel truth in Washington:

…our expectation is that the desire for a return to normal life … will help rally the Syrian people and individuals within the regime to compel Assad to step down.

Translation: we are going to continue to make life miserable for you until you overthrow Assad. Then it will return to “normal.” Presumably the people of Syria understand what “normal” life after a US “liberation” looks like from examples like Libya, Iraq, and Ukraine.

Tillerson also made the bizarre assertion that US troops will remain in Syria to prevent the Syrian government from re-establishing control over the parts of Syria abandoned by a defeated ISIS. So the legitimate government of Syria will be prevented by an illegal United States military occupation from reclaiming its own territory? This is supposed to be a coherent policy?

Third: Refugees must be returned to Syria.

Secretary Tillerson said today at Stanford University:

America has an opportunity to help people who have suffered greatly. The safe and voluntary return of  refugees serves the security interests of the U.S. and our allies and partners. We must give Syrians a chance to return home and rebuild their lives.

But the one event that led to the biggest return of refugees back to Syria was violently opposed by the US government: the Syrian government’s liberation of east Aleppo from al-Qaeda control!

For additional consideration:

The US military is busy creating a 30,000-strong Kurdish militia to reportedly guard Syria’s borders with Turkey and Iraq. NATO-ally Turkey is violently opposing US moves to further arm Kurd groups that it considers terrorist.

The discredited “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) is back in Washington begging the Trump Administration to re-open the CIA weapons pipeline. The FSA is perhaps best known for immediately handing any weapons it gets from Washington directly to al-Qaeda in Syria. Will Trump’s neocon-filled ecosphere convince him to once again put some wind in al-Qaeda’s sails?

Will Congress awake from its slumber and finally dust off the part of the Constitution directing the Legislative Branch to decide on matters of war and peace? It’s probably an ill-advised bet, however there are a few whispers on Capitol Hill that a shift in US military focus from anti-ISIS to anti-Assad and anti-Iran might be slightly problematic.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has just unveiled a 100 percent neocon approved “new” US policy for Syria: No more pussyfooting around. We won’t abandon our project in Syria like Obama “abandoned” Libya (presumably, as the neocon myth goes, on the verge of becoming a new Switzerland after its “liberation” only to be thrust back into the mire by Obama’s premature withdrawal).

President Trump is set to out-neocon the neocons with this foolish and destructive policy. The showman is shown to be nothing but a fraud.

Source: http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2018/january/17/breaking-tillerson-unveils-new-us-syria-plan-assad-must-go/

 

EU says UK must not delay leaving

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eu uk must leaveEU leaders have insisted that the UK must move swiftly to negotiate leaving the organisation, saying any delay would prolong uncertainty, BBC News reports.
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker stressed the “Union of the remaining 27 members will continue”.
The UK voted by 52% to 48% to leave the EU, and David Cameron has announced he will step down as PM by October.
He has said it will be up to the new PM to invoke the article that will begin the UK’s withdrawal.
Global stock markets fell heavily on the Brexit news and the value of the pound has also fallen dramatically.

Armenia must give adequate response to Azerbaijan

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adequate-responseShooting down the MI-24 helicopter during a training flight was an act of war and provocation by Azerbaijan, political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told Tert.am.

According to him, the Armenian side must give an adequate – and even more aggressive – response to Azerbaijan.

“I am sure it was a provocation by Azerbaijan. As far as I know a fight is going on for the helicopter there. I think our side’s all steps must be serious and concrete because Azerbaijan has no right to take our helicopter, even a shot down one,” he said.

Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan finds it difficult to predict the consequences of Azerbaijan’s act of war. However, the Armenian side must retaliate, he said.

“If we do not retaliate now, we cannot be sure that they will not shoot down a civil helicopter or an airplane. This is a challenge for Armenia, Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] and the international community, including the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Azerbaijan is taking advantage of an unstable political situation in Russia and is resorting to ‘probing actions.’ Azerbaijan does not even have a right to think its provocations can ever go unpunished,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

Heritage parliamentary group member Tevan Poghosyan said that no one can say that the war is over.

“We are at war and we must always be ready to respond to such provocations.”

Faithful to its style, Azerbaijan resorts to provocations thereby showing that it not only continues ‘sniping war’, but is also ready to use their air defense forces.

“We must get accustomed to everything and be ready and, of course, respond to this all – and even more – for them to always realize,” he said.

In response to a remark that this is an unprecedented incident, Mr Poghosyan said that year by year Azerbaijan’s actions are becoming more and more “unprecedented.”

“So we must once more be convinced that our war is not over,” he said.

As regards the Armenia’s side’s response, he said that Armenian military command has repeatedly stated that no provocation will go unpunished.

“This is evidence of Azerbaijan constantly getting ready for war. It is not only damage to the Nagorno-Karabakh air forces, but also a message to the international community that Azerbaijan’s only aim is hostilities and it is prepared for that,” Mr Poghosyan said.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Literature Vardan Devrikyan, who participated in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, said that Azerbaijan’s action was a cynical provocation. The following conclusion must be made: even if an aircraft overflies Nagorno-Karabakh, it must have security guarantees.

“Azerbaijan has done it, and the international community will ‘digest’ its action, and our steps will not be effective. Effectiveness means being strong and throwing them into panic,” Mr Devrikyan said.

Azerbaijan does not miss a single chance to escalate tensions. The Armenian side must draw lessons from the incident and, besides drawing political conclusions, become invulnerable both on the land and in the air.