Hetq first published an article about Oliver Rakedjian (Armen) a French-Armenian living in Shushi in its January 7th edition. The story of this young man had its repercussions both in Karabakh and outside that country’s borders. Commentary addressed to the Hetq Forum regarding the matter was fast and furious in coming.

A debate raged regarding Diaspora-Armenia relations and who in fact was a “true” Armenian, one living in the ROA or in various parts of the Diaspora. As we promised, below is the continuation of Armen’s saga.

As previously mentioned Armen relocated to Shushi from Paris in 2004. There he purchased three properties with the permission of the regional administration and Mayor’s Office. In turn he opened a computer service, a real estate agency and souvenir shop. As Armen reports, serious roadblocks were gradually placed before him and the authorities began to confiscate his holdings. After a long period of consultations with the authorities in charge Armen petitioned the courts to protect his interests. This process too proved futile. The Review Division attached to the NKR’s Prime Minister’s Office soon became involved after a series of Armen’s protestations went public and after he dispatched a letter to Bako Sahakyan, the President of the NKR. Hovik Djivanyan, the Chief of the Review Agency, provided the following explanations to Hetq.

 There has been a property rights dispute amongst the shareholders of the “Antaram” cooperative, a 121 square meter property located on the first floor at Proshyan Street #1 in Shushi. There also has been a disagreement between Armen and the tax authorities linked to the audit performed by tax officials of the Shushi Group Ltd., a company owned by Armen. According to the Review Division’s memo, Armen can apply to the courts regarding the two issues, even though the Court of First Instance and the Supreme Court have passed sentence in the first matter.

As we’ve mentioned before, Armen informed us that he had been invited to appear before the Mayor’s Office where it was suggested that he write two applications to have his property at Azryan Street #6 reregistered. One application would state his refusal of the original contract, the other to reregister. The first was accepted, the second one was denied. In a word, what automatically happened was that Armen voluntarily forfeited his rights to a property that had been allocated to him for 99 years.

In this process, according to the Chief of the Review Division, Mayor Felix Hakobyan of Shushi violated the official procedure for citizens registering applications and complaints when he failed to inform Oliver in writing regarding their judgment, namely their refusal of the second application.

On January 18, 2008 Armen petitioned the Mayor to return the property in question and to register it in his name. However the Mayor’s Office replied that the property had already been allocated to the “Kardman” CSJC. Armen really doesn’t understand what will happen to the property after this mistake by the Mayor.

Hovik Djivanyan of the Review Division, during his conversation with us at Hetq agreed that, “the community leader shares a part of the blame in all this. Appropriate measures will definitely be taken in this context. These measures will be enacted in regards to the local community, the notary, the ‘kadastra’ (property registrar) and other involved bodies that permitted such violations.”

The Review Division’s memo also speaks to the matter of Armen’s apartment that was allocated to him in 2004. In part the memo reads, “As to the property right’s disagreement regarding the apartment at A. Manukyan Street #9 that was allocated by the decision of the Shushi Mayor’s Office to the Shushi Group with the intent of operating an agency, it appears that You have to date failed to apply to the Mayor’s Office of Shushi in writing.”

In the memo it’s also noted that such transactions are undertaken in writing. But Armen has not applied to the Mayor’s Office regarding this matter simply because there’s a host of other unexpected sticking points involved as well. To take possession of the apartment, according to the regulations, one must provide certificates that there are no outstanding liens on the property in question.

Armen states with a large dose of bewilderment that, “Wherever I go to obtain such certificates attesting to the fact that there are no outstanding debts, I’m told that I’m not registered. All the payments I’ve made for electricity, water and the phone were made in my name. They refuse to provide me with any certificates.”
Presently, Armen owns no property in Shushi. He tells us he has no intention of leaving Karabakh. Rather, he’s preparing to go to the courts in order that various official responsible for this mess are “called to account”. He’s also getting his paperwork in order to apply for NKR citizenship.

This is not the end of the story however. A criminal investigation regarding Armen is now proceeding. According to Armen, a resident of Shushi named Armen Beglaryan, from whom he had purchased the Internet cafe and with whom he had financial problems, for a long time was slandering his name in Shushi by calling him a cheat and swindler. “This took place after we had resolved all our financial issues. He continued to slander me and I remained silent. But my patience reached its limit last December 11th when he again spoke such words. I just turned around and hit him.”

The investigation continues and it’s not clear if the prosecutor will seek a criminal case. Perhaps it will depend on the degree to which Armen (Oliver) agrees to submissively submit to his fate.

Stepanakert