On the night of February 23, a young woman died in the Armenian mountain village of Koutakan while waiting for an ambulance that never came.
The Nazaryan family has replaced its old windows with newer double-glazed windows so, once and for all, they can block the noise caused by the small hydroelectric station next to them. The couple's small child is put to sleep in the room at the back so he doesn't wake from the noise. Hayk says that the new windows didn't solve the problem; the noise can still be heard, especially when all 3 generators of the station are in operation.
In Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Georgia, Henzel Mkoyan, the current MP from the Ninotzminda District won re-election with 83.5% of the vote in his single mandate race.
Viktoria Shourkova, a resident of the Gegharkouniq village of Tretouk, has only one dream – to have a home of her own.
Earlier this morning a fire damaged a small section of the roof atop the new Republican Party office annex under construction in downtown Yerevan.
According to police, the village of Kakhakn, in Gegharkounik, was rocked by the terrible crime of patricide yesterday.Cops state that Rouben Tsankanyan beat his father Mikhayel with a hunting rifle repeatedly on the head and killed him.
Voghjaberd is a village without much of a future. Sitting on an area subject to frequent land slippage, and at risk from rocks tumbling down from higher ground, the houses here seem destined to collapse sooner or later.
Papak Mkhitaryan, the former mayor of the village of Tzilkar who was convicted of abuse of official power, will be running in the mayoral election scheduled for September 23.
“Hey, we’re Armenians but Javakhk is losing its Armenian residents. They are leaving because many communities have no gas. People have to burn dung to cook and warm their homes in the winter. No wonder they are leaving where conditions are better,” explains Igityan.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s Technical Plant Experimental Station wants to evict two families who have been living in one of its buildings. Family members used to work at the Station. The large families have stayed put since they have nowhere else to go. In response the Station cut off electricity a week ago and the gas was shut earlier this month.
Summertime visitors to Meghradzor, a hamlet in Kotayk Marz, will be hard-pressed to take a cool dip in the local Tezh River.
Readers won’t be surprised to learn that in the past two years the RA Environmental Inspectorate has only managed to inspect two of the small scale hydro-plants that are popping up like mushrooms in Armenia.
Controversy has erupted over plans to build a new National Theater next to the Children’s Railway in Mashtots Park.
Real estate prices in the tiny Vayots Dzor village of Saravan are on the rise. A house that went for $1,500-$2,000 just a few years ago now goes for $10,000. So what’s behind the sudden “gold rush” in Saravan? That’s right; it’s the yellow metal itself.
In 2007, the Armenian government changed the zoning status of a 118 hectare section of the reserve known as the Gilan section. This allowed for the commercial leasing of the site and the construction of the building in question. At the time, many were concerned that the building was to be used as a restaurant.
It seems that many local residents use the sprawling 24,000 hectare reserve in Ararat Marz as a convenient spot to prepare matagh; a pagan/Christian ritual of animal sacrifice. The slaughtered animal is then prepared and eaten.
When I first wrote about Bishop Abraham Mkrtchyan’s link to the three hydro-electric power stations in the village of Hermon, Hetq was besieged with comments.
During court today, Davit Toumasyan, attorney for the plaintiff Margarita Khachatryan, said that his client was withdrawing her compensation demand of 2 million AMD in her slander suit against the Hraparak newspaper.
When Hetq asked Minister Harutyunyan why no one was sent to Hungary and why he had made changes to the list of names, we received the following reply from the Ministry’s Chief of Administration Edgar Pirumyan:
When we asked Taron who the hydro-electric plant belongs to he answered – His Holiness. He was referring to Bishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Primate of the Vayots Dzor Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Shirak Torosyan is an Armenian MP form the ruling Republican Party and President of the Javakhk Patriotic Union. Torosyan, who was born in Georgia, still cannot enter Georgia and calls this decision by Tbilisi authorities as incorrect and absurd.
Unlike residents of the neighboring village of Tzav, where residents expect jobs from the gold mine at Mazra, Shikahogh locals are concerned that the mine will damage the tourist projects that have already begun.
During our recent trip through Syunik, we spotted smoke rising from the former Micro-Engine Factory in Goris. But it wasn’t smoke from the factory’s assembly line. An elderly couple, Roma and Larisa Ishkhanyan, were busy distilling mulberry vodka
Yesterday, Georgian authorities arrested Javakhk Armenian activist Georgy Mkhchyan, who had recently aligned himself with Georgia’s opposition Dream Party, charging him with real estate fraud.
This is why the village is split on whether the Bardzradir (Mazra) gold mine should be allowed to operate. Some want the prospect of new jobs while others want to keep the clean air and water of the countryside
Last year, a group of Swiss tourists stopped at the roadside stand and one of them took her picture. It’s now won a photo contest and the photographer has returned to obtain the consent of the girl’s parents to include it in a photo album to be published.
The busy roadside market near the village of Arpi on the Yerevan-Syunik stretch of highway has fallen victim to a recent change in the law regarding the payment of permit fees.
During her one day stop in Armenia today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that, “The United States and I believe that Armenia can have a bright future where all the desires and work of the people can be achieved.”
“In order to acquire agricultural machinery you must go to the bank. There they tell you to put an apartment in Yerevan as collateral. If I had an apartment in Yerevan, what would I be doing here?”, says the mayor.
Armenian police have detained two environmental activists for unfurling banners about the need to save the Teghout forest at the recent concert rally for the Republican Party in Republic Square – where the balloons burst into flame.
Garo Ghazarian, Vice Chair of the Armenian Bar Association in the United States, has stated that the May 6 parliamentary elections in Armenia were not free and fair.
A female reporter for Radio Liberty, Elina Chilingaryan, says that one of a group of young men outside the Erebuni 12/33 polling station attacked her as she was taking pictures.
Hetq has been informed that the ink stamp used on passports of citizens who have voted, is “mysteriously disappearing” even before they leave the 6/01 polling station in Yerevan’s Ajapnyak district.
Avdoyan was born in the U.S. “I’m half Armenian and half American. I am not able to help Armenians if I’m not a good American,” he says.
In the opening session of the slander trial pitting the Word of Life religious organization against the newspaper Iravunk, the attorney for the group again maintained that the word “sect” was defamatory.
The issue of Javakhk autonomy within a federal Georgia was raised by local Armenian representatives in talks they recently had in Europe with members of the Council of Europe.
School Principal Avetik Avetisyan told Hetq that village parents had sent a letter to RA President Sargsyan, informing him that work on the new building had been suddenly stopped.
Interview with Dmitry Muratov, Editor of "Novaya Gazeta"
Hetq Chief Editor Edik Baghdasaryan said,"It all centers on the watch factory, in which the Hartounian family is the second largest shareholder.The shares are worth $8-10 million."
Today, Hartounian repeated that the tax officials should be going after the directors of GH Storage Enterprise who managed the company before he came on board in 2010 after they embezzled funds from the company.
On February 24, a special live TV link-up between Armenia and the U.S. brought together diaspora investors, lawyers and tax authorities from Armenia to take a look at the issues involved regarding doing business in Armenia.
“The case of Nareg Hartounian, in typical Armenian fashion, is one in which Armenia is regarded as a source of profits and, tragically, evasion of taxes goes hand in hand,” Alaverdyan said.
The Karakhanyan family lives in this trailer alongside the Tbilisi Highway on the outskirts of Yerevan. Four children are being raised inside. They range from 3 to 12 years old.
“This country will not issue me a passport since I have no birth certificate. But ever since I opened my eyes, I have seen only Armenia. I have served in this country’s military. All I want is a piece of paper so I can keep my job,” Igor says.
A fire broke out in the 18th century Saint Nshan Armenian Apostolic Church in Tbilisi on January 9, causing a column supporting the already damaged dome to topple.
MP Bakhshyan argued that the children were being “tossed out” with nowhere to go despite legal guarantees that the state must provide for their social needs, including housing.
“Beglaryan tricked us. After being paid he ducked out of sight and was hard to reach. The paperwork for the store remained in limbo,” says Marina Sardaryan.
Zatik Orphanage Director Ashot Mnatsakanyan says that they are allowed to keep the children until the age of 18.
The municipalities of Berqarat and Gegharot also signed as loan guarantors for their residents and for those in Tzilqar as well.
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