94 ans de déni : ça suffit !

Medieval Armenian Church in Georgia Collapses

By Asbarez Staff on Nov 19th, 2009

TBILISI (Combined Sources)—A major section of a 14th century Armenian church in Tbilisi collapsed Wednesday evening, after years of neglect by the authorities to repair the historic structure, reported the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church on Thursday.

The St. Gevorg of Mughni Church, built in 1356, had been entirely rebuilt in 1756. It is made of brick and its architectural typology is that of a cross within a rectangular perimeter, with four free-standing supports. The church had been closed for years, owing to the structures deteriorating condition. Locals say the recent rains further exacerbated the damage to the church.

The medieval church had been operating as a museum of folk art until the mid-1980s. By 1990 it was no longer a museum and its interior lay in ruin. The vestibule attached to the western facade of the church was destroyed in May, 1991.

“The Georgian Ministry of Culture, Monuments Protection and Sports should bear the responsibility,” the Diocese said in a statement Thursday. “All this creates an impression that by failing to solve the issue of returning the churches to the Armenian Diocese, the Georgian Patriarchate and authorities do not pay proper attention to the preservation of Armenian churches, and intentionally destroy important monuments of Armenian culture.”

Georgian authorities had pointed to large cracks in the church’s walls as an excuse to demolish the church instead of repair it. The district governor in Tbilisi Thursday promised to allocate funds for reconstruction of the church.

http://www.asbarez.com/2009/11/19/medieval-armenian-church-in-georgia-collapses/

Construction Credit Guarantees ‘Mostly Unused’

By Asbarez Staff on Nov 19th, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Armenia’s crisis-hit construction firms have received only a fraction of 20 billion drams ($52 million) in loan guarantees promised by the government in April, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said on Thursday.

The government set aside the assistance in an effort to shore up the construction sector that has born the brunt of the recession after expanding massively in recent years. It was specifically meant for those builders that lack cash to complete housing and other projects.

According to Sargsyan, the government has since guaranteed the repayment of only 3.5 billion drams in loans borrowed by four construction firms from commercial banks. One of his advisers, David Harutiunian, came up with different figures in September.

Harutiunian said only six of out of two dozen companies interested in the scheme have been granted 5 billion drams worth of guarantees. “The criteria used in the selection process are very strict,” he explained.

The Armenian authorities have also sought to boost the construction industry by setting up a special state fund that is supposed to make mortgage loans cheaper and more accessible to Armenians. The government has already channeled 17 billion drams into the fund. Of that, 12 billion drams was drawn from a $500 million anti-crisis loan allocated to Armenia by Russia.

The government assistance did not prevent the sector from collapsing by over 50 percent in the first nine months of this year. That was the main factor behind Armenia’s overall 18.3 percent economic contraction registered during that period.

Speaking at a weekly meeting of his cabinet, Sargsyan dismissed opposition criticism of the credit guarantee scheme. “If we foster the development of the mortgage market with 12 billion drams, naturally there must be apartments that our citizens could buy,” he said. “And this allocated sums are negligible and do not correspond to critics’ arguments that we are wasting the credit resources provided by the Russian Federation.”

http://www.asbarez.com/2009/11/19/construction-credit-guarantees-%E2%80%98mostly-unused%E2%80%99/

Coalition Partner Threatens To Quit Yerevan Council

By Asbarez Staff on Nov 19th, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–A junior partner in Armenia’s governing coalition reaffirmed on Thursday its threats to walk out of Yerevan’s municipal council if its pro-presidential majority and Mayor Gagik Beglarian continue to run the city “single-handedly.”

The Prosperous Armenia Party, the country’s second pro-establishment force, issued such a warning after President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party pushed through a controversial legal amendment through the council over its objections on Wednesday. The amendment lowered from 33 to 17 the minimum number of councilors allowing the assembly to make a quorum.

Arman Vartanian, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia faction in the 65-member Council of Elders, described that as the latest example of the Republican Party ignoring the opinion of its coalition partner in municipal affairs. He said the party led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian will give up its 17 council seats if the Republicans carry on with their “crude political approach.”

“We have certainly talked to Mr. Tsarukian about these issues,” Vartanian told RFE/RL. “Mr. Tsarukian’s position is that we should work as effectively as possible, try to reach common denominators with our partners but if they don’t attempt to understand that adequately, then we will make a decision.

“That is, we will ask the party to discuss the issue of our working or not working [in the council.] None of us is clinging to their mandates and posts.”

The leader of the 35-strong Republican faction in the Yerevan legislature insisted earlier on Thursday that Tsarukian’s party has no “well-founded grounds” to quit the council. “At least our faction has given them no reason to do that. Nor has the mayor,” Derenik Dumanian told a news conference.

“Prosperous Armenia is our coalition partner, and I think that we will remain coalition partners until the next parliamentary elections,” said Dumanian.

The council’s credibility and legitimacy was already damaged by the opposition Armenian National Congress’s decision to spurn the remaining 13 mandates allotted to it as a result of the May 31 elections. The opposition bloc rejected the official vote results as fraudulent.

http://www.asbarez.com/2009/11/19/coalition-partner-threatens-to-quit-yerevan-council/