Blog Archives
OCCRP names Aliyev “Person of the Year”
Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, has won the first ever Organized Crime and Corruption Person of the Year bestowed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The award is given for the person who figured prominently in 2012 on stories on crime and corruption in its coverage area. Aliyev was chosen because […]
84-Year-Old Armenian Woman Brutally Murdered in Istanbul (Update)
ISTANBUL, Turkey—On Dec. 29, an 84-year-old Armenian woman was brutally murdered in Istanbul’s Koca Mustafa Pasha neighborhood, Turkish newspapers reported. The woman, identified as Marissa Kuchuk (Küçük), lived alone. She was found dead by her daughter, Zadik Kuchuk, who was visiting her. She was stabbed seven times and her throat was slit. The perpetrator(s) carved […]
Armenia’s North-Eastern Border Terrorized
On the evening of Dec. 4, a small group of concerned Armenians assembled at the Holy Trinity Armenian Church hall in Cambridge, Mass., to listen to presentations by Der Dajad Davidian, Eva Medzorian, and others on the escalating violence on Armenia’s north-eastern border with Azerbaijan, primarily in the former Shamshadin region of the Tavoush Marz, […]
Burbank felons get 25 years for Armenian and black street-gang-aided identity theft
SANTA ANA — Two men behind a massive identity-theft conspiracy that was hatched and operated from a prison and victimized more than 500 people were sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison. The conspiracy caused at least $8 million in losses, according to federal prosecutors. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter handed down the […]
Սփյուռքահայ ներդրողը դատի կտա Հայաստանի Հանրապետությանը
Սփյուռքահայ ներդրող Էդմոնդ Խուդյանը ՀՀ-ում ԱՄՆ դեսպանին ուղղված դիմումում նշել էր, որ պատրաստվում է դատի տալ Հայաստանի Հանրապետությանը: Էդմոնդ Խուդյանը, ով խոշոր ներդրումներ է իրականացրել Հայաստանում, նշում է, որ մեծ ցավով է դիմում այդ քայլին, բայց ստիպված է, քանի որ ՀՀ օրենքներով իր նախկին հայաստանցի «գործընկերներին» պատասխանատվության ենթարկել հնարավոր չէ. վերջիններս վայելում են հովանավորչություն Հայաստանի […]
Սփյուռքահայ ներդրողի դիմումը դեսպան Հեֆերնին
Հարգարժան Պր. Ջոն Ա. Հեֆերնին, ՀՀ-ում ԱՄՆ Դեսպան Հարգարժան Պր. Դեսպան, Իմ Անունը Էդմոնդ Խուդյան է, ես ԱՄՆ քաղաքացի եմ, Արին Կապիտալ կորպորացիայի նախագահը Գլենդել, Կալիֆորնիա, ԱՄն-ում: Դեռևս 2010թ. նոյեմբերին դիմել եմ Պետական եկամուտների կոմիտեի նախագահ պարոն Գ.Խաչատրյանին և հայտնել Հայաստանում բացառապես իմ ներդրումների հիման վրա հիմնադրված և գործունեություն իրականացնող «Արին կապիտալ» ներդրումային ընկերությանը պատկանող […]
Azeri Axe-Killer to Return to Military
BAKU (RFE/RL) — Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani army officer who had hacked to death an Armenian colleague in Hungary, will return to active duty military service soon, a senior Azerbaijani military official said over the weekend. “Right now Ramil Safarov is on vacation and having a rest. He will return to service after the vacation,” […]
Members of Congress Express Outrage over Safarov Release
WASHINGTON—The Azerbaijani pardon, promotion and compensation of convicted Azerbaijani axe-murderer Ramil Safarov, and its harmful effects on the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, continue to be a source of considerable concern for members of the U.S. Congress, with new statements condemning the actions being released on nearly a daily basis, reported the Armenian National Committee of […]
European Parliament Condemns Baku for Safarov Pardon
BRUSSELS, Belgium—The European Parliament, in a vote of 58-13 with 5 abstentions, adopted a resolution Thursday, Sept. 13, deploring Azerbaijan’s decision to pardon convicted axe-murderer Ramil Safarov and the hero’s welcome he received after being extradited from Hungary to Baku. The final text of the resolution, however, relieves Hungary from any responsibility in the matter. […]
Of Chess Champions and Axe Murderers
The streets of Yerevan thundered with cheers and jubilation Monday night as throngs of residents flocked to the streets to welcome Armenia’s National Chess team which had retuned from Istanbul where it had beat the Hungarian team to win gold and clench the title of world champion. Fireworks lit up the Yerevan sky and social […]
Europe in full solidarity against Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian xenophobia – provocation to escalate Karabakh conflict should receive clever response
European Friends of Armenia (www.EuFoA.org) strongly welcomes the unprecedented condemnations of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian xenophobia by all European institutions and the international community (see list below). We are appalled that the open provocation and physical threat by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev against Armenia and Armenians around the world has put the Karabakh conflict to the next […]
Amnesty International: Baku Sends Dangerous Message by Pardoning Safarov
Amnesty International issued the following statement on Sept. 6. Amnesty International is concerned that the actions of the Azerbaijani government following the extradition of Armed Forces Lieutenant Ramil Safarov will be perceived as an endorsement of ethnically-motivated violence. The organization is concerned that these actions will ignite existing tensions between Azerbaijanis and Armenians and encourage […]
Sen. Kerry ‘Shocked and Appalled’ by Safarov Pardon
WASHINGTON—On Sept. 5, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) condemned President Ilham Aliyev’s release of Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani army lieutenant who was convicted of brutally axing to death Armenian soldier Gurgen Margaryan in his sleep, during a 2004 NATO English-language training course. “I am shocked and appalled that Azerbaijan not only welcomed […]
Ax murderer’s pardon stirs fears of war
(CNN) — An ax murder. Then, jail time. Sounds like a morbid crime story. Yet this tale has taken a sudden and unexpected twist: The killer got a pardon and a hero’s welcome. That has stirred fears of a war. The parole has exacerbated long-standing tensions over disputed land between Armenia and Azerbaijan, former Soviet […]
Armenia Suspends Ties with Hungary Over Extradition of Azeri Murderer
Ramil Safarov, the Azerbaijani army officer who was serving a life sentence in Hungary for axing to death Armenian Lt. Gurgen Markarian, was extradited to Azerbaijan earlier today and pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Official Yerevan reacted by suspending diplomatic ties with Hungary. Safarov had confessed hacking to death the 26-year old Lt. Markarian […]
Armenia’s Deadly Dress Code
Investigators of a brutal Yerevan murder that sparked a popular outcry against Armenia’s oligarchs have reduced the incident to merely an argument over fashion sense gone badly wrong. As Armenian police tell it, the June 29 death of military doctor Vahe Avetian was all about a restaurant taking its dress code very seriously . . […]
Avetyan Murder Engenders Waves of Condemnation in Armenia, Diaspora
WASHINGTON (A.W.)–The wave of condemnation, outrage, and protests over the killing of Vahe Avetyan on June 17 continues to build in Armenia and the Diaspora. Here in the U.S., the ARF Eastern Region Central Committee contacted Armenia’s ambassador to the U.S., Tatoul Markarian on July 6, to condemn the crime committed at the Harsnakar restaurant […]
