Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) is undertaking special operations to resolve the stand-off at the patrol police regiment which was seized by an armed opposition group on Sunday.
Five policemen have been so far released in what the law enforcement bodies call an anti-terrorist operation.
One police officer was killed and two others were injured after the group calling itself “Daredevils of Sassoun” (Founding Parliament movement) burst into the building, calling for the release of Zhirayr Sefilyan, the civic movement’s leader who was detained in June.
Four policemen are still being kept hostage.
In a press release, the NSS says that they are continuing negotiations with the group’s members to reach a peaceful solution.
“The measures undertaken are special and narrowly professional; hence the individuals responsible for their organization and implementation do not need any intervention or assistance,” reads the official statement.
Reuters: Turkey removes 8,000 police across country: security official
Turkish police officers salute during a funeral ceremony for police officer Nedip Cengiz Eker in Marmaris, Turkey, July 16, 2016.
REUTERS/KENAN GURBUZ
Turkey removed 8,000 police across the country, including in Istanbul and the capital Ankara due to alleged links with Friday’s failed coup attempt, a senior security official told Reuters on Monday.
The moves come days after a failed coup attempt the government blames on a “parallel state” led by self-exiled Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
(Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay, writing by Dasha Afanasieva)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-police-idUSKCN0ZY0KT?
Turkey Coup not over yet 18,00 Police Troops Summoned in Istanbul, Ordered to Down Helicopters
Emergency measures have been taken in Turkey’s Istanbul, as 1,800 additional police troops were deployed in the city and ordered to shoot down helicopters without prior warning, local media reported on Monday, citing a police source.
Special operation troops are deployed in strategic locations of the city while military hardware is arriving to the city, Anadolu agency said. The emergency provisions are underway in response to at least three helicopters flying over Istanbul that have been hijacked away from the Erdogan government.
As Sputnik News reported earlier, there are at least 42 helicopters that have gone missing in the aftermath of the coup which left many to expect that a second attempt at an overthrow of the Erdogan government was imminent. The Erdogan government has responded by dispatching F-16s to command the airspace and assembling 2000 police officers who are ordered to shoot down the renegade helicopters without warning.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/754847322241175552
In the aftermath of the coup, authorities have rounded up 6000 people and the Turkish foreign ministry has issued statements reassuring that the government is back in complete control. The foreign ministry has raised the death toll to more than 290, including over 100 rebels, and says over 2,000 people were injured.
Many on social media are now wondering whether there is another coup attempt afoot as President Erdogan has flown out of Istanbul back to Ankara.
Armenian President Holds Security Meeting Amid Hostage Situation
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting on Sunday with the heads of law enforcement agencies amid the hostage situation in the country’s capital, the press service of the Armenian leader said.
YEREVAN (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, an armed group took six police officers hostage at a patrol police station in the capital’s district of Erebuni, killing one officer and injuring three. The hostage takers are demanding the release of Jirair Sefilian, an opposition politician and the founder of the New Armenia Public Salvation Front. Sefilian, who took part in the 1988-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, is accused of the illegal acquisition and possession of arms.
“The meeting participants reported to the President about the situation following an armed incident that took place this morning, and on the details of measures taken by the law enforcement agencies,” the press service said in a statement.
The press service added that “law enforcement officials are fully in control of the situation and are taking all the necessary measures to reach the solution.”
“They have six hostages, all of them are the members of the police. They [members of the group] are armed, and we have once again called on them to refrain from any provocations, crimes, murder and bloodshed,” deputy chief of the Armenian Police Hunan Poghosyan told reporters.
He added that the hostage takers’ demands have not change — they are demanding the release of Jirair Sefilian, an opposition politician and the founder of the New Armenia Public Salvation Front. Sefilian, who took part in the 1988-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, is accused of the illegal acquisition and possession of arms. According to Poghosyan, the police have refused to answer the demand.
Earlier, Armenian member of parliament Nikol Pashinyan told local media that seven police officers remained in the police building after one was allowed to leave due to health problems. The hostage takers told Pashinyan that they also demand the resignation of the country’s president Serzh Sargsyan.
Informed sources told Sputnik that the killed police officer has been identified as Col. Artur Vanoyan. Three more were injured, they have been identified as Col. Aram Ovannisyan, Lt. Col. Grach Hotegyan, Subaltern Gagik Mkrtchyan.
U.S.: Police Purge Underway in Baton Rouge: Three Officers Shot Dead Amid Protest
At least three officers have been shot in Baton Rouge only a week after the deadly attacks in Dallas that left five officers dead and a dozen others wounded as protests have soured into violence over the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of cops.
Baton Rouge officials confirm that seven officers have been shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — 3 have been killed and the other 4 are in critical condition at this time. Initial reports indicating that the attacker has been killed by police have been confirmed by local KTLA Channel 5 News.
The Mayor of East Baton Rouge cautioned that this is still an active shooter situation as there are some concerns that there is a second assailant still on the loose. The Mayor also said that they are still investigating the motive behind the attack.
“Right now, we are trying to get our arms around everything,” said Holden. “It’s just been on thing after another.”
The attacks come one week after the FBI issued a Situational Information Report (SIR) warning cops of a credible threat of a “police purge” in Baton Rouge. The advisory was dated for July 8 to 10, but additional warnings have been issued by the FBI that radical activists may be looking to target police with deadly force.
Baton Rouge has been ground zero for protests against police brutality by the activist group Black Lives Matter in the wake of the killing of Alton Sterling at the hands of local police. A bystander videotaped two cops holding Sterling down on the ground before one officer discharged his weapon several times at point blank range.
Less than 24-hours after the country was reeling from the unjust killing of Alton Sterling, a livestream video went viral on Facebook showing an innocent Philando Castile bleeding out after being shot by an officer while his girlfriend narrated the tape and his four year old daughter sat in the back seat of the car.
Yerevan Update: Gunmen seize police HQ in Yerevan: 1 killed, 3 wounded
A group of armed people on Sunday, July 17 stormed the patrol service of the Armenian police and took everyone inside hostage. The group are members of the Sasna Tsrer movement. One police officer was killed, and three more were wounded.
5:30 pm: President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting with representatives of the law enforcement system. The attendees briefed the President on the situation following the incident that happened in Yerevan early in the morning, as well as the measures taken by the law enforcement bodies. The latter, according to the presidential press service, continue controlling the situation and taking corresponding steps to reach a settlement of the issue.
4:45 pm: One of the members of the group said negotiations are still underway with the law enforcement authorities.
According to Pavel Manukyan, the National Security Service has offered to take the gunmen to Jirayr Sefilyan but they have refused and demand instead that Sefilian be released.
Also, Manukyan said they have required journalists but the police have refused to fulfill their demand. He said two of their gunmen were wounded during the shootout.In response to a question on whether they are going to release the hostages, Manukyan gave a negative response. Asked if they are sorry for the officer killed in the shootout, the gunman said: “We are sorry for everything.”Commenting on a possible attack which could endanger the lives of the hostages, Manukyan said: “Everything is possible.”
3:45 pm: Deputy Police Chief of Armenia Hunan Pohosyan told reporters that negotiations are still underway with the gunmen.
The gunmen have one demand, i.e. the release of Jirair Sefilian, which, according to Poghosyan, is impossible.
A police colonel, Artur Vanoyan was killed, while colonel Aram Hovhannisyan, lieutenant colonel Hrach Khosteghdyan and sub-officer Gagik Mkrtchyan were wounded.
2:20 pm: MP Nikol Pashinyan said he knows nothing about the police’s plans, but said the group members are determined and don’t intend to retreat in the event of an attack. Also, the MP said he is going to meet with Jirair Sefilian at the detention facility he is currently being kept in.
1:55 pm: One of the wounded police officers was admitted to Muratsan military hospital. He was wounded in the abdomen and has already undergone surgery.
1:45 pm: Several people, including activist Vardges Gaspari were detained at the Freedom Square near Yerevan’s Opera House. The gunmen earlier called on the public to gather at the square “for planning the next steps.”
1:30 pm: The NSS said a police officer was killed and two more were wounded in the hostage situation. Two of the hostages were set free following the National Security Service’s operative measures, the NSS said in a statement.
12:56 pm: Local residents told a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent that the operation began at around 5:30 am. A powerful explosion was first heard (probably the truck hitting the gates – editor’s note), followed by gunshot fire.
12:38 pm:Commander of the Internal Troops Levon Yeranosyan, Deputy Police Chief Hunan Poghosyan have arrived at the scene. Poghosyan urged the public to go home for their own security.
12:20 pm: MP Nikol Pashinyan who just left the police premises told reporters that the group demand resignation of [President] Serzh Sargsyan and transfer of power to the people. The armed group currenyly holds 7 people hostage. There were initially 8 hostages but one of them was hospitalized following a fluctuation of blood pressure. The incident took place early in the morning when the members of the group hit the gates of the department with a Ural truck. According to Pashinyan, one of the members has received a gunshot or shrapnel injury in the head
11:41 am: Police cars and armored vehicles have blocked the road taking to the Erebuni police department. Journalists are barred from entering the area or reporting on the inicident, RFE/RL Armenian Service says.
Head of the press service of the Armenian police Ashot Aharonyan said they will soon issue a statement.
11:15 am: The NSS reports that state authorities continue their normal operation, while law enforcement authorities are properly carrying out public safety functions.
Negotiations are currently underway with the armed militants for them to peacefully surrender to the Armenian authorities, the NSS said.
As the press service of the National Security Service (NSS) reports, their supporters use news outlets and social media platforms “to spread disinformation about starting an armed uprising, capturing buildings and premises.”
Armenia’s NSS declared that the information does not correspond to reality.
10:35: Founding Parliament member Varuzhan Avetisyan, who also from “Sasna Tsrer,” said that those seizing the building are members of the initiative too. They demand that founder of the movement Jirair Sefilian who was arrested several weeks ago, be set free.
He said that the police used an armed vehicle to attack those seizing the building, a retaliatory fire broke, injuring several people.
In an interview with Armtimes.am, Avetisyan said earlier that after Sefilian joins them from jail, they will proceed to the next stage of their demand, i.e. resignation of [President] Serzh Sargsyan and transfer of power to the people. Sefilian is the one to conduct negotiations, he said. He also added that they have Deputy Chief of Yerevan Police Valery Osipyan and deputy chief of police Vardan Yeghiazaryan.
elated links:
Turkey: Youth killed Three Turkish police officers in southeast Turkey
A file photo of Turkish police officers (by AFP)
A youth has killed three Turkish police officers before being killed himself by other officers in the city of Sanliurfa in southeast Turkey, Turkish media say.
Anadolu Agency reported on Monday that the 17-year-old youth opened fire on three police officers at a bus station in Sanliurfa as they asked people for identification papers. He then fled before opening fire on another group of police.
Three officers shot and injured in the incident later died in hospital.
The report did not specify when the shooting took place.
Anadolu cited Sanliurfa’s governor as saying that the shooting was not terrorism-related.
Governor Gungor Azim Tuna also said the attacker had psychological problems and was traveling with his family.
BREAKING NEWS: Three Dallas police officers were killed and seven others injured by gunfire at a protest over police shootings
Thursday, July 7, 2016 11:51 PM EDT
Three Dallas police officers were killed and seven others were wounded Thursday night during a demonstration protesting the police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana this week, according to Chief David O. Brown of the Dallas police.
Turkish court releases a former head of the Trabzon police, arrested in connection with the Dink case
A former head of the security department of the Trabzon police, who had been arrested for his alleged role in the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was released by decision of the Turkish court. At the request of three suspects in detention places and their lawyers at the seventh session of the trial of those responsible for this assassination, the 14th Court of Serious Crimes ordered the release of Ercan Demir, arguing that the nature of expenses.
Turkey: Local intel police officer warned of Dink murder ‘10 months in advance’
REUTERS photo
A former intelligence police officer on trial for negligence in the murder of slain journalistHrant Dink said in his defense on June 20 that he had notified the state of Dink’s imminent murder “10 months before the incident,” during the fifth hearing of a court trying some 35 suspected state officials.
A public prosecutor demanded a life sentence for Muhittin Zenit, an officer at the provincial bureau of intelligence in the Black Sea province of Trabzon at the time of Dink’s murder, for “voluntary manslaughter” by withholding intelligence information that could have prevented the assassination.In his defense in the fifth hearing of the trial, Zenit denied the allegations and said he “performed his intelligence duties in the best possible way” while he was on duty in Trabzon.
“I prepared reports stating that Yasin Hayal had a big grudge against Armenians and that he would kill Dink no matter what,” Zenit said, referring to the instigator of Dink’s murderer, Ogün Samast.
Hayal was also responsible for a 2004 bomb attack targeting a McDonald’s restaurant in Trabzon for selling food during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, accompanied by his collaborator, Erhan Tuncel, who turned out to be a “deputy intelligence officer.”
In his testimony, Zenit also referred to a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling, suggesting that Trabzon police notified Istanbul police that Hayal was capable of murdering Dink but the latter failed to take action with regards to the information.
“I notified my state of the [imminent] murder [of Dink] 10 months in advance,” Zenit said.
“In which other way could I have stated in my reports that Dink was to be murdered?” he added, before apologizing to Dink’s wife Rakel Dink for failing to protect her slain husband.
“Hrant Dink was not a person who harmed this country, that’s why he was targeted. He was chosen as a target due to something he said and he was brought to death step by step,” Zenit told the court, saying he owed an apology to only one person – Rakel Dink.
Meanwhile, a group of Hrant Dink’s colleagues and rights activists named “Hrant’s Friends” once again gathered in front of the courthouse in Istanbul’s Çağlayan neighborhood and criticized as “hardly believable” the testimony of former Trabzon Police Chief Reşat Altay during the previous hearing of the trial. Trabzon’s police chief at the time of Dink’s assassination in 2007, Altay, denied the charges against him for “negligence in public duty” and demanded his acquittal during the fourth hearing of the trial on May 26, claiming that important information was withheld from him on purpose by other members of the police organization.
Altay claimed important information was withheld from him on purpose, blaming the purported “parallel state” for allegedly keeping him in the dark.
“We demanded nine years for the trial of the public official who had a responsibility in the murder,” journalist Pınar Öğünç said, speaking on behalf of Hrant’s Friends, adding they did not consider Altay’s testimony “believable.”
Öğünç reiterated their determination to continue a legal battle against negligent state officials.
Relatives and followers of the case have claimed government officials, police, military personnel and members of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.
Turkey’s top court in July 2014 ruled that the investigation into the killing had been flawed, paving the way for the trial of the police officials.
All the names of the suspects implicated in the investigation were reported to have been on duty in police departments in Istanbul, Ankara and Trabzon at the time of Dink’s murder.
Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight outside the offices of Agos in central Istanbul on January 19, 2007.
Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed to the murder and he was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.
But the case grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the security forces had been aware of a plot to kill Dink but failed to act.
June/20/2016
Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/#panel-7
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