Thursday, November 06, 2008

Endangered Species.

A few days ago there was an article in Haykakan Zhamanak (see the English translation here) where Sargis Hatspanian revealed that there are plans to assassinate the self-declared president of Armenia Serj Sargsian. He mentioned a few possibilities - an airplane 'malfunction', a group of 'former' Dashnaktsakans like the assassinations of October 27, or a patriot from Nagorno Karabakh. Shortly after that the National Security officers arrived at the Haykakan Zhamanak offices and made a few attempts to take the interviewer downtown for an interview. The few attempts were made because each time they were missing documents - according to Armenian law, law enforcement agencies need to have a warrant to take people to their offices for an interview. Since it's a banditocracy, the law enforcement officers are not aware of such things so it took them a few attempts to figure out how to get a valid warrant...

But the issue still remains. Will S.S. be whacked? If he does, I will not shed a tear. The danger is that just like October 27, the planner of the assassination is reportedly Kocharian. He is a far worse butcher than what I think S.S. is.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Assassinations of political leaders are wrong way of solving countries problems.

Anonymous said...

More info about Hatspanian.

Varouzhan Karapetyan was the person in charge of military affairs in the European office of ASALA. In 1983, he was arrested in France after the terrorist act organized in the French airport “Aurles” and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Eighteen years after serving his sentence in France, V. Karapetyan was released. On April 24, 2001 he came to Armenia, settled in his homeland, and now lives in Dilijan, in a house he has built on his own.

“My patience is exhausted. Those who rob others of their glory have increased in number, and they abuse the human sacrifice. It’s now time to speak and tell the truth,” VAROUZHAN KARAPETYAN said in an exclusive interview to “Hayots Ashkharh”.


“Mr. Karapetyan, you have never had an interview with the Armenian journalists although you have been living in Armenia for more than 7 years now. What has made you so indignant that you decided to express your opinion in the press?”

“When the ox ploughs the field, the wooden plough pulls it from behind and the animal sweats. The sweat attracts the lice which never miss the chance to say at the end that they have ploughed the field on their own. This is the philosophy of our life.

The best guys sacrificed their lives, while the time-servers are now using their merit. We initiated the operation of “Aurles” airport ourselves, as a sign of protest against Levon Ekmedjyan’s being hanged in Istanbul in 1982. We had planned to blow up the plane belonging to the “Turkish Airlines” company, which was transporting high-ranking officials, Generals and diplomats of the Turkish intelligence service. Our target was definitely clear. During the operation, 10 Turks were killed and other 60 were injured.

I was arrested, served my sentence and then was released, and, as a representative of the third generation of an Armenian emigrant, I returned to my homeland. In the course of the past 7 years, I never displayed any kind of political orientation.

When, in the 1970’s, we founded the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, our struggle was not class-oriented, and it didn’t bear a political character; our principal goal was to liberate the occupied lands of Armenia. In 1991, Armenia regained its independence. Therefore, the issue of the Armenian Cause is to be resolved by the Armenian statehood, and it should never be adjusted to the mentality of a certain group or party. The state mentality is the pledge of the existence of our statehood. In the 1990’s, when the existence of our motherland was at stake, the consolidation of the power of Armenians in Artsakh had become an imperative.

When the war or battle is over, the freedom fighter who was ready to become a martyr should realize that his mission is over, and he should be able to take a halt and cease the struggle. A freedom fighter must be able to keep his name high; he must never stagnate, never appear on the political arena and spot his reputation. And this is exactly what many friends of mine and many freedom fighters did.

However, it turns out that when the lion is missing, the foxes begin dancing in the forest. And one of such foxes is the criminal who introduces himself as Sargis Hatspanyan.”

“Who is, after all, Sargis Hatspanyan who currently acts as a ‘pro-Levon activist’”? What does he have to do with the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia?”

“When we were arrested, Sargis Hatspanyan was one of the time-servers who took advantage of our status. He came to the independent state of Armenia, introduced himself as a fighter and even the leader of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia and speculated the most sacred patriotic sentiments of our people.

Hatspanyan was a mysterious nature. His real surname was Ekmedjyan. When living in France, he speculated the fact of bearing the same surname as martyr hero Levon Ekmekdjyan but as a matter of fact, he had no relationship with either Levon or our army. In this way, he managed to organize several donations in the Diaspora. He extorted and realized the sums that were collected with the purpose of providing aid to the arrested freedom fighters as well as assisting in the war of Artsakh.

He didn’t have a house in France; in that sense, he was a vagabond. But he managed to amass a fortune due to his charity organization. Now, Sargis Ekmedjyan has translated his surname from Turkish and become Hatspanyan; he now has a luxurious shop in the Northern Avenue and a house in Toumanyan Street.

The so-called Hatspanyan now introduces himself as a freedom fighter of the detachment which was led by hero of the Artsakh war Leonid Azgaldyan and a former member of ASALA, although he had never had anything in common with the secret army; neither had he been in the battlefields of Artsakh, at least for an hour.

I have met him only once. During our conversation, he refused to confess that he had ever introduced himself as a member of ASALA, but he insisted that he had been put to prison in France in 1983, in the frameworks of the “Aurles” case. I thought I might not have recognized him or be unaware of his involvement. However, I learnt from Rene Levonyan, honored priest of the Armenian Evangelistic Church, that the so-called Hatspanyan was not only an obscene liar but also a robber of the glory gained at the price of the sufferings of others. That wretched creature who poses danger to society reminds me of one story.

Two prisoners were close friends. When the time of their release drew near, one of them asked the other what he was going to do after being released from prison. And he reminded his prison mate that he had been put to prison for killing one of the two villains of their village and wouldn’t be able to live in peace unless he squared accounts with the other. The other said that he was going to build a private house on the top of the mountain and live there in peace with his family. Years later, the former visits his friend, sees that he has translated his desires into reality and feels happy for him. Then he confesses that he hasn’t put his plans into practice because the villains in the village had increased in number while he was serving his sentence in prison.

The same I can say about myself. When I was released from prison, I saw that the villains had increased in number. It is very hard to put up with the idea that the villains enjoy the products of your sacrifice. But what to do when there are a lot of such villains. You can’t kill them all. So, it is necessary to reveal their essence. The people have a wise proverb which says what is done by night appears by day, and the truth has to be disclosed.

I just dread when the time-servers and immoral creatures start expressing concerns over the Artsakh issue. For such kind of people, Armenia is the beautiful lady they want to rape. This is why I decided to interrupt my silence.

GEVORG HAROUTYUNYAN
http://www.armtown.com/news/en/has/20081101/302996105/

Ankakh_Hayastan said...

spm, I agree. These same leaders should create ways of more legitimate ways of transferring leadership. Something like democracy or elections. S.S., unfortunately, doesn't seem to believe that so leaves very little room for change.

Tigran, thanks for posting Mr. Karapetyan's opinion of Mr. Hatspanian. That still doesn't mean that there are no sinister plans to bring back Mr. Kocharian.

Ani said...

Well, if Sargsyan suddenly offers to make the presidency a six-year term for the next guy (like Medvedev did this week), we'll know he's decided to play ball with Kocharian. Whatever Vlad the Impaler does in Russia, Kocharian is sure to follow, no?

Anonymous said...

I really don't know what the motives of V.Karapetian are, but there are a lot of war veterans alive who can testify to Hatspanian's active participation in the Karabagh war. One more thing, a freedom fighter must never cease his struggle for his country, be it on the battlefield or on the political arena.

Anonymous said...

To my knowledge Hatspanian never claimed to be an ASALA member even if he did so ASALA has been a very complex organization for any individual to fully know the roles of others. As for Hatspanian fighting in Artsakh or his efforts in Artsakh war Varouzhan Karapetyan can not provide first hand evidence. The most he can do is base his words on rumors.

Most of all it is unfortunate that a patriot like Varouzhan Karapetyan broke his silence after so many years only to be made a tool for the Dashnaktsakan slender and play along with the banditocracy in tarnishing the good name of Sargis Hatspanian.
Maybe not much choice was given to Varouzhan?

Anonymous said...

People,why you defend peple like Hatspanian? What's a reason?
If he is so honest,where is his explanation? To do histerical acclamation he can,but just to reply to Varuzhan-where is his voice.
Hopefully now he is arrested and will answer for his lie.

Anonymous said...

There are over 70 other people like Hatspanian held in Armenian jails for no proven reason. It is based on Soviet principles that you are guilty if not proven innocent. Basically everybody is a potential criminal in the eyes of the State. The only difference in Armenia is that the opposite applies to actual criminals. At least 10 people were killed and many more injured on March 1st but so far nobody was arrested for committed crimes.
As for Kocharyan he is responsible for Oct 27 and March 1st, these things happened during his "watch" but he was never called to be accountable. Kocharyan is a Criminal capable in doing anything, hence the reason people trust and sympathize with Hatspanyan.

Anonymous said...

Tigran,
you miss the point, this is not about Hatspanian, it's the plans to bring down Serzh. You might not believe it, but one week before October 27 nobody would have believed that there was a plan to kill Vazgen Sargsyan and Demirchyan.

As for Hayots Ashkarh, I don't have any reason to trust that newspaper: I live in Yerevan, and what I have seen with my own two eyes is enough to say that HAyots Ashkharh lies constantly.

If I know for sure that they have lied about many things, why should I believe what they say Hatspanian.

Barsegh

Ani said...

Tigran, when I read the story you posted (everywhere!) I saw the invisible headline "Hatspanian Pals Around with Terrorists". Sorry, but we just went through this here, and hooray, we defeated the fearmongers.

I don't know whether Hatspanian is speaking the truth about the assassination plot, but the source you are using to discredit him is a daily published pack of lies. So do you have other more trustworthy sources to back up the allegations?

You see, that's why Armenia needs real journalists and a free media--it could investigate both Hatspanian's story and Hayots Ashkarh's as well. Right now, anybody can simply spin fabulist tales and nobody can separate them from fact. That's no way to run a country and it keeps Armenia stuck in the Middle Ages, not the Enlightenment. Witchburning, anyone?

Anonymous said...

I like this part

"Right now, anybody can simply spin fabulist tales and nobody can separate them from fact."

Now another part from the comments:

"Kocharyan is responsible for Oct 27 and March 1st, these things happened during his "watch" but he was never called to be accountable. Kocharyan is a Criminal capable in doing anything..."

incumbent and opposition are the same but with opposite sign ...
I wish wisdom to followers of both camps.

Anonymous said...

FACTS OUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AS SUCH, TO BEGIN WITH.IF VAROUZHAN KARAPETIAN-AN EX COMBATANT-HAYASTANI AZADAGRUTYAN GAGHDNI BANAGI-AZADAMARDIK DECIDES NOW TO INTERVEN RE HATSPANIAN OR ANY OTHER...THAT IS HIS CHOICE.WHY ALL THE FUSS ABOUT IT!!!
THEIR FIGHT WAS WTH A RESULT!!! OUR NATIONAL DAH'D -CASE-WAS HALF DEAD, NONE OF OUR TRADITIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES HAD SUCCEEDED TO MAKE OUR -CASE-DAHT KNOWN.BUT ONCE THESE SELF-LESS KIDS THREW THEMSELVES IN...ALL WORLD T.V.'S WERE ALIVE BLASTING THE NEWS OF AN ARMENIAN ISSUE????
it was finally on the int'l political SCENE...
then arf tried to duplicate it with its JUSTICE COMANDOS..HOWERVER THEIR 3/4 STRIKES WERE DESTINED TO FAILURE...WEREAS ASALA'S WERE EAR ALL SUCCESSFULL, EXCEPT ONE ORLY AND ANOTHER MADRID ONES THAT THE BULELTS WENT ASTRAY KILLING NON-TURKISH PEOPLE(ther targets being turk diplomats or concerns and or foreign siding w/latter..
so STOP PLEASE DOWNGRADING OR EVEN AS MUCH AS HINTING TAT THEY SHOULD NOT DO THIS THAT.THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES....
SINGED
SHANTAGIZOUM

Anonymous said...

FACTS OUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AS SUCH, TO BEGIN WITH.IF VAROUZHAN KARAPETIAN-AN EX COMBATANT-HAYASTANI AZADAGRUTYAN GAGHDNI BANAGI-AZADAMARDIK DECIDES NOW TO INTERVEN RE HATSPANIAN OR ANY OTHER...THAT IS HIS CHOICE.WHY ALL THE FUSS ABOUT IT!!!
THEIR FIGHT WAS WTH A RESULT!!! OUR NATIONAL DAH'D -CASE-WAS HALF DEAD, NONE OF OUR TRADITIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES HAD SUCCEEDED TO MAKE OUR -CASE-DAHT KNOWN.BUT ONCE THESE SELF-LESS KIDS THREW THEMSELVES IN...ALL WORLD T.V.'S WERE ALIVE BLASTING THE NEWS OF AN ARMENIAN ISSUE????
it was finally on the int'l political SCENE...
then arf tried to duplicate it with its JUSTICE COMANDOS..HOWERVER THEIR 3/4 STRIKES WERE DESTINED TO FAILURE...WEREAS ASALA'S WERE EAR ALL SUCCESSFULL, EXCEPT ONE ORLY AND ANOTHER MADRID ONES THAT THE BULELTS WENT ASTRAY KILLING NON-TURKISH PEOPLE(ther targets being turk diplomats or concerns and or foreign siding w/latter..
so STOP PLEASE DOWNGRADING OR EVEN AS MUCH AS HINTING TAT THEY SHOULD NOT DO THIS THAT.THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES....
SINGED
SHANTAGIZOUM