Armenia expected to declare largest amnesty ever, says Justice Minister

October 13, 2018 By administrator

Justice Minister of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan has said that the bill on granting amnesty to convicts will be submitted for parliamentary debates on October 23.

Speaking to reporters today at Yerevan City Hall where the minister attended Hayk Marutyan’s inauguration as the new mayor of the Armenian capital, Zeynalyan said that it will be the largest amnesty ever.

He said that discussions are closed prior to parliamentary debates.

The bill was approved by the Cabinet earlier.

Armenia assumes chairmanship of La Francophonie summit

October 11, 2018 By administrator

Armenia has assumed the chairmanship of the La Francophonie summit from Madagascar.

Rivo Rakotovao, President of Madagascar, announced transferring the chairmanship during today’s summit.

Armenia will chair the summit until the next summit takes place in two years.

“Mr. President, your transferring of the Francophonie summit chairmanship to me is certainly an emotional moment.

We fully realize the responsibility which from now on Armenia is assuming for ensuring this chairmanship for the coming two years. I would like to once again thank all member states and governments of La Francophonie for confidence,” the Armenian PM said, thanking Madagascar for its important contribution and achievements since the Antananarivo summit.

Six provincial governors dismissed in Armenia

October 4, 2018 By administrator

The Armenian government dismissed today six provincial governors from Tsarukyan bloc and the Armenian Revolutionary Federatioin/Dashnaktsutiun.

On Tuesday, after three parties’ lawmakers in a bid to retain their seats in the National Assembly passed a bill hobbling dismissal of the parliament, Armenian Prime Minster Nikol Pashinyan called on people to come to the area outside the parliament building.

At this rally, the premier informed people about the dismissal of the ministers. The dismissed persons are Aragatsotn province governor Ashot Simonyan, Lori province governor Hrant Margaryan, Vayots Dzor Aragats Saghatelyan, Armavir Gagik Mirijanyan, Gegharkunik Ishkhan Saghatelyan and Syunik Karen Hambardzumyan were dismissed.

At today’s Cabinet session, Nikol Pashinyan said that this is a political decision.

“You know what it connects to,” he said. “The latest political events were going on publicly and, as a result, some ministers were dismissed. I want to express gratitude to them for their work and say that this decision was due to political developments.”

October 6 declared day of mourning in Armenia

October 4, 2018 By administrator

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed on Thursday a decree declaring the day of funeral of Charles Aznavour day of mourning in Armenia.

“I have signed today a decree declaring October 6, the funeral day of Armenia’s National Hero Charles Aznavour day of mourning in Armenia,” the PM wrote in his Facebook page.

Armenia Needs Both Charity & Investments, Not Only Investments!

October 2, 2018 By administrator

By Harut Sassounian,

Throughout the years, since Armenia’s independence in 1991, I have had the unique opportunity of spending hundreds of hours with the country’s three previous Presidents, discussing privately with them Armenia’s many problems. I offered them my professional assessments and frequently my criticisms of the way they were running the country. Although the Presidents were not pleased that I was pointing out their shortcomings and mistakes, they understood that my intent was not to disparage them, but to help them improve the living conditions of the population.

Ever since the earthquake of 1988, I have been doing charitable work in Armenia and Artsakh, initially as President of the United Armenian Fund (UAF), subsequently the Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF), and as Vice Chairman of Kirk Kerkorian’s Lincy Foundation, delivering over $800 million of humanitarian aid to Armenia and Artsakh by the UAF and AAF, and managing $242 million of infrastructure projects funded by Lincy. Despite all the corruption prevailing in Armenia during those years, I fought hard to protect the humanitarian supplies and funds, persistently bringing to the attention of the Presidents the abuses by high-rankling officials, and demanding that they be disciplined or fired.

During my 58 trips to Armenia and Artsakh, I saw firsthand the miserable conditions of most people in our homeland, deprived of money, food, medicines, clothing and other basic needs. Seeing the Presidents’ neglect of the people’s deprivations, I frequently and forcefully brought their dismal situation to the attention of the country’s leadership.

I was particularly upset when I heard government officials speaking about Armenia needing investments, not charity. I found such remarks to be callous of the people’s suffering. After each such pronouncement, I confronted these officials explaining the negative effect of their statements.

Consequently, I was surprised when Armenia’s new Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, a man of the people, during his remarks in New York on September 23, 2018, announced that in the context of Armenia-Diaspora relations, work must be encouraged, not charity: “Armenians can assist Armenia only with one option: carry out economic activity in Armenia, establish any business, and work. Today, Armenia’s understanding is the following: It is a country where it is possible to carry out economic activity, establish a business, earn profits, get rich and enrich. Our message to all of you is the following: get rich and enrich. We want Armenia to be known as such a country. Not charitable, but developmental projects must be implemented in Armenia….”

To be fair to the Prime Minister, in his speech, he also spoke about many other topics which I agree with whole-heartedly. He has tremendous support both in Armenia and around the world! He has practically eliminated corruption in Armenian society and has represented the voice of the people who had remained voiceless for more than a quarter of a century since independence. However, just as I have told the previous Presidents, I would like to provide the following explanations to the new Prime Minister:

1) I fully support the Prime Minister’s initiative that Armenia needs economic investments in order to create jobs and expand exports. By creating jobs, not only the people will have the income to pay for their daily expenses, but the government will also have the tax revenues to support the country’s and population’s multiple needs.

2) However, the Prime Minister’s urging that “work must be encouraged, not charity,” would deprive hundreds of thousands of poor people of their basic necessities. Investments take time to trickle down to the people and produce results. In the meantime, if charitable efforts are discouraged, many poor people will not survive!

3) Not all Diaspora Armenians can invest in the Armenian Republic. There are dozens of charitable organizations which by law cannot get involved in economic activities, as they can only do charity. Since the earthquake and Armenia’s independence, Armenian and international charities have provided a large amount of aid to Armenia and Artsakh. If it were not for this humanitarian assistance, the standard of living would have been even lower, jeopardizing the survival of many Armenians. By discouraging charity, we are simply asking charitable organizations not to help the needy people of Armenia.

4) Armenian governments so far have been unable to meet the many needs of their population due to lack of money. Diaspora’s charitable organizations have provided the aid that the government could not. If there were no charitable assistance in Armenia ever since independence, the people’s many needs would not have been taken care of and Armenia would have been a poorer country!

5) Even if the Diaspora would start investing in Armenia today, that does not mean that the influx of new funds would take care of all the needs of the people overnight. Certainly, a large number of people would eventually be employed, but many others, such as the elderly, would still be left with hardly any income from their negligible pensions. Those who are unaware of the extent of appalling poverty in Armenia should read the Guardian newspaper’s Sept. 29, 2018 article by Nick Danziger, titled: “‘It’s better to die’: the struggle to survive poverty in Armenia.”

6) There is the mistaken notion that if there were many investments in Armenia, there would be no need for charity. In almost all countries, even in the most advanced ones, there are hundreds of charitable organizations that tend to the needs of the poor people. In the United States alone, billions of dollars are provided annually to needy individuals and families by charitable organizations. If the Americans require charity, Armenians would certainly need charitable assistance for a long time to come!

Paradoxically, Prime Minister Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakopyan, recently launched her own charitable organization “My Step Foundation” to support educational, healthcare, social and cultural projects. She is doing what’s absolutely necessary because the people of Armenia desperately need help!

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Armenia, China sign air communication agreement

September 18, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN. – Tatevik Revazian, Chair of the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia, was in Guangzhou, China, within the framework of the 2018 World Routes.

Revazian attended the official opening of this event. Subsequently, she had a brief meeting with deputy director Wang Huijun of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and they signed an agreement on air communication between Armenia and China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

At the talk, they expressed a view that this agreement will become a legal basis for launching direct air communication between the two countries.

Armenia, Switzerland will cooperate on return of illegal assets

September 14, 2018 By administrator

Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan and his Swiss counterpart Michael Lauber have agreed to cooperate on the return of illegal assets.

Given the fight against corruption in the country, Davtyan stressed the importance of a most intense and close cooperation with the Swiss law enforcement agencies

At a meeting with Lauber, the Armenian prosecutor said it’s necessary to boost the practice of information exchange when it comes to investigating money laundering cases and the transfer of illegally obtained funds to offshore zones.

The Swiss prosecutor general, in turn, expressed readiness to support the Armenian law enforcement agencies in such issues.

As a result, the two agreed to cooperate on the identification and return of assets obtained illegally.

Armenia, Georgia plan to increase trade turnover to $1 billion

September 10, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN. – Armenia and Georgia plan to increase trade turnover volume to $1 billion, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said after his meeting with Georgian counterpart Mamuka Bakhtadze who is on an official visit to Yerevan.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, they had a very important discussion and the parties set very ambitious goals.

“The relations between Armenia and Georgia are brilliant. The task is to bring the economic component in line with the level of political relations and relations between the two nations,” Pashinyan said.

During the meeting, the sides discussed a range of issues related to transportation, economy and politics. As a result of the visit, the sides are going to give a new impetus to the relations in different areas.

“Georgian PM presented an ambitious program, and we fully support it, namely to increase trade turnover to $1 billion,” Pashinyan said, adding that a meeting of Armenian-Georgian interstate commission will be held in the near future.

During the meeting the sides will have to set a task to draw a roadmap for the development of economic, political, humanitarian and cultural ties.

“We can state that with each visit the relations are rising to a new level,” Pashinyan said, recalling that personal relations between cabinet members are no less important from the point of view of strengthening interstate relations.

Belgian King shares holiday videos with the world from Armenia

August 26, 2018 By administrator

The royal palace has released – according to tradition – a video of the King on holiday. In the video the king is seen kite-surfing in Armenia.

The choice of holiday destination is unusual for the royals, more often opting for traditional holiday destinations like France and Italy.

However according to a report in De Standaard, the family – King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and their four children – already spent some time on the French island Île d’Yeu before heading on to Armenia – an arrival which made headline news in the country.

According to protocol, the family arrived on two flights into the capital, Yerevan: the monarch and the heir to the throne – his daughter Elisabeth – may not travel on the same flight.

Armenia’s isolation is almost complete: its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed. Only since last year has Brussels Airlines laid on one flight a week, rising to two in the summer months.

According to local reports, the royals have been impressed with the local cuisine and especially the country’s wine, spending five hours on a tasting tour of one of the largest producers Armas. The country’s speciality is the blending of wine made with local grapes unobtainable elsewhere, together with more common varieties imported from other countries.

King Philippe’s sporting tendencies often form part of the royal holiday picture package, and according to those who know, the latest video of him kite-surfing shows that, at the age of 58, his skills are only improving, compared to previous footage from an outing on the North Sea last year.

Alan Hope
The Brussels Times

Angela Merkel in Azerbaijan calls for peace with Armenia

August 25, 2018 By administrator

Angela Merkel has offered Germany’s help in forging a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Baku is the chancellor’s last stop on a three-day visit to the South Caucasus.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that Berlin could help mediate between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia to resolve a long-running territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Germany wants to help find peaceful solutions,” the chancellor told journalists in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, adding that the conflict was a major burden on the region.

Merkel called for stronger economic cooperation with Azerbaijan as she sat down for talks with the South Caucasian country’s president, Ilham Aliyev. The pair discussed the domestic human rights situation, the possibility of expanding energy markets to avoid dependency on Russian gas, and efforts to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan is Merkel’s final stop on a three-day tour that has already taken her to Georgia and Armenia.

Frozen conflict

Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous border region, officially belongs to Azerbaijan but was seized by local Armenian forces during a war in the early 1990s following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

For more than 20 years, the two countries have been locked in a bitter dispute, with occasional flares in violence along the border. Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to take the region back by force, while Armenia says it will crush any military intervention.

Germany is a member of the Minsk group, which for years has been attempting to negotiate peace under the leadership of the US, Russia and France.

Merkel was expected to return to Berlin later Saturday.

nm/aw (Reuters, AFP, dpa)