JULY 22, 2017 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXVIII, NO. 1, Issue 4495 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF Two Armenians Injured ‘The Bird Has Flown’ In Egypt Attack CAIRO (Public Radio of Armenia) — Two about the Prophet Mohammed in a Armenian nationals were injured on July 14 in Sevan Nisanyan September 2012 blog post. stabbings at a hotel in the popular Red Sea Escapes From Prison “For anyone familiar with the workings resort of Hurghada that left two tourists killed, of the Turkish legal system, it is obvious reports the Armenian Embassy in Egypt. ISTANBUL (Rudaw) — A Turkish- that the construction charges are a smoke- The injuries are not life-threatening, the Armenian intellectual out on a temporary screen, and that Nisanyan is being pun- Embassy said. pass from prison did not return at the ished for his political and religious imperti- Two tourists, reported to be women, were appointed time, instead taking to social nence, made all the more serious by the killed in the incident, the BBC quotes Egyptian media to announce he had escaped. fact that he is an ethnic Armenian,” his medical officials as saying. “The bird has flown,” Sevan Nisanyan website states. At least four other people were injured and a tweeted on Friday, July 14, changing his In interviews man has been arrested. The attacker was neu- profile picture to an image of a bird. “The with Turkish tralized thanks to efforts of one of the same wishes for the remaining 80 million.” media outlets, Armenians, Spokesman for the Armenian N i s a n y a n Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan said Nisanyan, 61, is a linguist and writer. He Sevan Nisanyan taught linguistic history at Istanbul’s Bilgi declined to in a Twitter post. University. In his writings, “his targets have reveal where he The suspect is being questioned by police to included Ataturk and Islam, two ‘untouch- was or how he Turkey has come under fire determine his motives, the Interior Ministry said. ables’ of Turkish public discourse,” it states had escaped for increased arrests of intel- from prison, on his website. Sevan Nisanyan changed his profile lectuals, journalists, and Istanbul’s Patriarchal He was jailed in January 2014 on nine promising to tell photo on Twitter and Facebook to this political opponents. charges related to illegal construction of a the full story at a image after escaping a Turkish prison. Rights monitor Freedom Election May Take Place house in a heritage site in the town of later date. He Photo: Sevan Nisanyan House said in its 2017 report Sirince, Izmir. He was sentenced to 11 told Haberturk on the country that “the gov- In Late Fall that the three years and six months, according to Hurriyet ernment has been able to YEREVAN (Public Radio of Armenia) — The and a half years he had served of his prison Daily News. influence judges through appointments, election of the Armenian patriarch of Istanbul sentence “were enough” and it was time “to On his website, Nisanyan said he was promotions, and financing.” can be held in late November or early December take a bit of a breath.” jailed after using “mocking language” of 2017, Sepuh Aslangil, spokesperson of the Initiative group dealing with organization of the process of the election of patriarch, told Agos Rep. Trott’s Measure to Stop Gun Sale to Turkey Cleared for House Vote daily. The spokesperson said they are going to form and release the voter lists, after which time WASHINGTON — US House Committee Rohrabacher (R-CA) set for consideration our NATO allies take extraordinary steps is needed to examine all possible appeals. on Rules has cleared Congressional by the panel. against Turkey, and it’s time for the State The same process will take place after releas- Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Dave Trott’s (R- The Trott Amendment opposes the $1.2 Department to do the same,” said Trott. ing the names of candidates of patriarch. “All MI) Turkey sanctions amendment for vote million sale of US semi-automatic hand- “We need to block this arms sale and once these processes are of course time-consuming. this week by the full House of guns to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security and for all point a finger in Erdogan’s chest And if there are no obstacles as a result of large Representatives, with three more measures, detail, in response to their May 16 attack and tell him that a strategic location does number of appeals during this process, I think it presented by Representatives Don Beyer on peaceful protesters in Washington, DC. not place Turkey above the law.” will be possible to hold the election of a patri- (D-VA), David Cicilline (D-RI) and Dana “Over the past few months, we’ve seen Trott went on to note that, “just two arch in late November or early December,” months ago, Erdogan’s henchmen, with Aslangil said. him complacently observing just feet away, launched a brutal attack on peaceful pro- testers exercising their first amendment Syria President rights. A notorious oppressor of basic Appoints New human rights and freedom, Erdogan imported his nefarious attitudes to our Ambassador to nation’s capital. While Erdogan’s thugs may run unchecked in Ankara, this is the Armenia United States of America and this is totally YEREVAN (Armenpress) — President of Syria unacceptable.” Bashar al-Assad hosted the newly appointed see GUNS, page 5 ambassadors of Syria to Armenia, South Africa and Cuba, Sana reports. Mohammad Ahmad Haj Ibrahim has Georges Kepenekian been appointed smbassador of Syria to Armenia. After the swearing-in ceremony, President al- Elected 35th Mayor Assad received the ambassadors separately, gave respective tasks and wished success in their Of Lyon future activities. Seated, from the left, Dr. Armen Demerdjian, Edmond Y. Azadian, Apet Torosian, Ani Torikian; standing, Vartan Ilanjian, Shoghig Tutundjian, Kevork Marashlian, LYON, France Kevork Tutundjian, Hratch Torikian, and Hagop Alexanian. Maro Bedrosian is miss- (Armenpress) — ing from the picture. The city council of the city of Lyon has elected 67- INSIDE year-old Georges ADL District Committee of Eastern Kepenekian as the 35th mayor of the US and Canada Meets in Boston city during the Gariné July 17 session, Le WATERTOWN — On Saturday July 7, the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Figaro reports. His (ADL) District Committee of the Eastern United States and Canada held a regular candidacy was pro- Cocktail meeting at its headquarters in Boston in the Baikar Building and reaffirmed its posed by former Georges Kepenekian loyalty to the ADL Central Executive based in Armenia and the Supreme Council Lyon Mayor Page 16 created through the latter body. Gerard Collomb. The participants discussed the District Committee’s reports on financial and Georges Kepenekian received 49 out of political activities and took decisions concerning forthcoming political plans. This 70 city council votes. year the English-language weekly newspaper founded by the Committee, the “I leave this post to you with strong emo- INDEX Armenian Mirror-Spectator, is commemorating the 85th anniversary of its found- tions,” Gerard Collomb said. He continues Arts and Living . 13 ing on November 2 and 3 in Boston. to remain a member of the city council. Armenia . 2,3 The committee members thanked Edmond Y. Azadian for his decades of dedi- Previously Kepenekian was the First Community News. 6 cated labor and wise leadership. They then unanimously elected Kevork Deputy Mayor of Lyon on cultural affairs. Editorial . 18 Marashlian as his successor as chairman. Azadian will continue to serve as the liai- He is a son of Armenian emigrants. International . .. 4,5 son with the English-language weekly on behalf of the District Committee. Kepenkian is a urological surgeon. He will remain in office until 2020. 2 S ATURDAY, J ULY 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Russian-Armenian Investors Said to Sale of Russian Weapons Finance First Projects in Armenia To Azerbaijan Pains YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — An invest- According to one of Karayan’s megawatt facility would cost roughly ment fund set up recently by three deputies, Hovannes Azizian, the ICO $150 million. Armenia dozen wealthy Russian entrepreneurs will likely launch its first investment Azizian would not be drawn on the of Armenian descent will start financ- projects in October or November. “The amount of funding which the ICA has YEREVAN (Public Radio of Armenia) — The sale of ing business projects in Armenia this projects to be implemented by the Club set aside for its first projects. “When Russian weapons to Azerbaijan is the most painful autumn, a senior government official in will mainly target the areas of energy the projects are finalized we will give issue in Armenian-Russian friendship, in the Yerevan said on Tuesday. and renewable energy,” he told a news information about the investment pack- Armenian-Russian strategic partnership, and shad- The fund called the Investors Club of conference. “Now discussions are age,” he said. ows many things, Armenian President Serzh Armenia (ICA) was officially set up in underway on the possibility of the Foreign direct investment in the Sargsyan said in an interview with R-Evolution pro- March at a ceremony in Yerevan attend- Club’s involvement in some manufac- Armenian economy has rapidly gram of Armenia TV. He added, however, that noth- declined in recent years. Government ing serious has happened yet. data shows that it stood at a modest “We can condemn Russia if there are serious con- $130 million in 2016. sequences. If not, we have to consider that it’s a long- Prime Minister Karapetian has term policy of Russia aimed at stabilizing the situa- repeatedly promised to attract more tion in the region,” President Sargsyan said.