Armenian Ambassador, Greek Deputy PM discuss economic cooperation

Politics20:01, 16 April 2026
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Armenia’s ambassador to Greece Tigran Mkrtchyan met with Greek Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis to discuss ways to deepen bilateral ties and expand economic cooperation.

According to the Armenian embassy in Athens, Mkrtchyan outlined the current agenda of Armenia–Greece relations, highlighting priorities for strengthening cooperation and noting recent high-level visits between the two countries.

The two officials also exchanged views on regional developments and efforts to reopen transport links. Mkrtchyan presented Armenia’s initiatives aimed at boosting regional connectivity, including the TRIPP route project, which he described as a key driver for expanding trade and investment opportunities.

Economic cooperation featured prominently in the talks. The ambassador emphasized the importance of closer business ties and proposed a visit by a Greek business delegation to Armenia, bringing together representatives of the construction, IT, renewable energy, and agriculture sectors.

The discussion also touched on upcoming international events, including the European Political Community summit in Yerevan and the COP17 UN biodiversity conference set to take place in Armenia this autumn. Mkrtchyan briefed his counterpart on preparations for both events.

Hatzidakis welcomed the prospects for deepening bilateral relations, stressing the need to elevate cooperation further and expressing readiness to support that process. 

He also expressed interest in visiting Armenia and exploring opportunities to expand economic ties.

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Armenpress: Armenian delegations to attend major events in Kazakhstan

Culture20:47, 16 April 2026
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Armenian delegations are expected to take part in several international events in Kazakhstan this year, as the two countries look to deepen cultural and broader cooperation.

The announcement came during the Artexpo exhibition held near the Agarak Cultural Centre, where delegations from CIS countries showcased traditional crafts, cultural items and products in national pavilions.

Speaking to Armenpress, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Information, Aibek Sydykov, said Armenia and Kazakhstan have long-standing ties across multiple sectors, including culture and humanitarian cooperation.

He noted that Kazakhstan hosted Days of Kazakh Culture in Yerevan last year, while an Armenian delegation visited Astana in 2024 as part of ongoing exchanges.

“There are various formats of cooperation, including on international platforms. We regularly take part in joint festivals and conferences, and we intend to further expand this cooperation,” Sydykov said.

He added that Armenia, along with other CIS partners, has already been invited to participate in a number of international events in Kazakhstan this year, including one dedicated to Turkic cultural heritage.

Sydykov, who is visiting Armenia for the first time, described the decision to designate the town of Meghri as a CIS cultural capital as a historic step.

During his visit, he toured several Armenian cultural landmarks and highlighted the significance of preserving them.

“Sites such as the Surb Hovhannes Church in Meghri could be considered for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The church is unique for its valuable medieval frescoes,” he said.

Sydykov also stressed the broader importance of Armenia–Kazakhstan relations, noting that cooperation between Central Asia and the South Caucasus carries growing geopolitical significance.

“Our countries should make full use of this potential, both to strengthen bilateral ties and to promote regional cooperation,” he added.

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Verelq: RA should be the axis and center of gravity of Armenian life. Pasha


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended “Arshil Gorky. New York – Yerevan. at the opening of the exhibition entitled “new achievement”. The government acquired the graphic work “Untitled” (1944) by the world-famous American-Armenian artist from the international auction, which is an important contribution to the addition of the national collection.


The event was attended by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, Director of the National Gallery of Armenia Marina Hakobyan, representatives of the executive power, artists, guests.


The Prime Minister delivered a speech, congratulated everyone on the occasion of this day, noted that Arshil Gorky is one of the significant figures of world fine arts and fine arts of Armenian origin. “Today’s event and the Government’s decision have several meanings and all these meanings are, of course, related to the following. we talk a lot about the fact that the state, the statehood, the Republic of Armenia should be the core and center of gravity of Armenian life. Our people have had different pages of history: sometimes the center of Armenian reality was Madras, sometimes, at some time the center of Armenian reality was Istanbul, sometimes at some time the center of Armenian reality was Tbilisi, at some time the center of Armenian reality was Venice, etc. We say that the center of Armenian reality and life is the Republic of Armenia in all aspects: cultural, ideological, ideological. And this situation, which exists and must develop, must be permanent and not temporary.”


According to Nikol Pashinyan, the critical mass of Armenian art and cultural heritage should be in the Republic of Armenia. According to the head of the country, this is not an isolated event, because recently a similar important event took place in the history museum, such an event has already been celebrated twice in Matenadaran. Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized that this is a policy adopted by the Government and all opportunities will be used to bring the heritage of Armenian origin of art and culture to the Republic of Armenia and make it a lasting haven for these values.


In this context, the Prime Minister thanked all the citizens of Armenia who work, create results, and pay the taxes prescribed by law, because Arshil Gorky’s canvas appeared in the Republic of Armenia thanks to thousands of tax-paying citizens.


Summarizing his speech, Nikol Pashinyan also thanked the people who initiated and initiated this process and brought it to a logical end.


* * *


Within the framework of the program of replenishment of the museum collections of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia implemented in 2025 with state funds, the “Culture Development” Foundation conducted inspections of the lists of values ​​presented for sale by international auction houses and private galleries.


As a result of observations, it was found that the graphic work “Untitled” (1944) by the world-famous American-Armenian artist Arshil Gorku (paper, pencil, 45.4 × 55.5 cm) is presented at Sotheby’s auction house operating in London. The starting price of the auction was 45,000 euros, and the expected maximum price was 70,000 euros.


During the auction held on December 3, 2025, the Government purchased the given work for 30,978,000 (thirty million nine hundred and seventy-eight thousand) drams and it was placed in the National Gallery of Armenia.

Is Nikol Pashinyan giving a “turn” to the “Western” forces?

“We have not argued with Russia, we do not argue, we will not argue. Attempts to involve us in all contradictions, be it economic or political, are futile. No one will succeed in doing this. Those who want to undermine the friendship and brotherhood between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation, those people are just foreign agents.” This is announced by Nikol Pashinyan in the parliament.


Is Nikol Pashinyan giving a “turn” so to speak to the “Western” forces? But aren’t those forces his allies, because they are fighting against the opposition forces, those forces are described as “pro-Russian”, “old Russian”, “Russian subject”. It’s not that the “Westerners” or so called “pro-Westerners” help Nikol Pashinyan in that way. Now, in fact, he declares that those who want an Armenian-Russian confrontation are “innoagents”.


I repeat, it is enough to listen to the political and, so to speak, civil subjects, and it is obvious who expresses himself with an anti-Russian emphasis. Accordingly, it is clear that what Pashinyan says refers to pro-Westerners, who are his allies in the fight against the opposition. So the question arises, why does Nikol Pashinyan declare his allies “innoagents”?


But, at first glance, this surprising circumstance is not so surprising in practice. Nikol Pashinyan needs a lot of votes, every vote is important, because there is a serious rating problem. Therefore, he also needs the votes of “allies”.


It will not even be surprising if in the near future certain compromising materials will appear in the field regarding many of them.


Analyst Hakob Badalyan




CP is advancing its “black business” under noise

“Hraparak” daily writes:


Yesterday, the members of the Communist Party carried out a fierce campaign against the two women of the “Strong Armenia” party, who were detained the previous day, in order to discredit them as much as possible and to present the force founded by Samvel Karapetyan as distributing electoral bribes. They were live and taking notes, making announcements from the NA podium.


And although the opposition women’s lawyers declare that it is a fabricated proceeding, there are reports that the government deliberately made such a noise and is going to repeat it in the near future, so that it can create grounds for not registering “Strong Armenia”.


Article 19 of the Electoral Code prohibits during pre-election campaigns, as well as before and on the day of the election, candidates, parties participating in the elections… to promise drams, food, securities, goods or to provide services. The Electoral Code has established a clear procedure that in case of reports of electoral bribery, the CEC can apply to the court to reject the registration of the given party.


Therefore, they decided to make noise so that Pashinyan’s henchman Vahagn Hovakimyan would have grounds to appeal to the court.

The Russian Embassy thanked the RA authorities

Another group of employees of the “Busher” nuclear power plant, about 94 citizens of the Russian Federation, was evacuated from Iran to the territory of Armenia.


The Russian Embassy in Armenia informs that along with the Russian citizens who left for Moscow on a special flight from Yerevan, there were also Belarusian citizens.


The Russian Embassy thanked the RA authorities for their responsibility and support in organizing the comfortable transit of Rosatom employees.

Azerbaijan has started importing goods from Armenia

Azerbaijani media, referring to the State Customs Committee, report that Azerbaijan has started importing goods from Armenia.


According to the source, in the first quarter of this year, Azerbaijan exported $5,757,480 worth of goods to Armenia.


During the reporting period, the value of goods imported from Armenia to Azerbaijan was 960 dollars.


Let’s remind that oil product supplies from Azerbaijan to Armenia started last year.

The “South Caucasian Railway” company has promoted the employee foreman

The “South Caucasian Railway” company informs that it has increased the salaries of employees from April 1, 2026.


“The wages of employees in the company’s depots and production departments will increase by 15%. The salary increase for the employees of the management apparatus (except for the management staff) will be 10%.


Salary review in the company is regular in nature and is due to the need for appropriate indexation of inflationary processes. This mechanism is fixed in the Collective Agreement signed between the company and the trade union. The document envisages extended social guarantees for employees.


The current Collective Agreement also includes a number of social support measures for employees, including the organization of summer vacations for employees and their children, support for first-graders, the possibility of free travel by train, material support in the event of a child, as well as other social guarantees. Every year, trade unions allocate around 250 million drams for the implementation of these programs.


The current decision, which was made as a result of a constructive dialogue between the company’s management and employees, envisages a greater degree of indexation than the official inflation in 2025. This made it possible to significantly increase the income level of employees.


The company will continue to implement its social policy within the framework of the Collective Agreement and develop effective cooperation with the employees,” the South Caucasus Railway company said in a statement.

Members of the “Strong Armenia” party, as well as a female candidate, were detained

My colleagues, including the female candidate of the “Strong Armenia” party, and our supporters were arrested. This was reported by Gohar Meloyan, a lawyer and a member of the “Strong Armenia” party.

“They have been blocking the entry of lawyers since the morning.

We are going to the Anti-Corruption Committee (address: Moskovyan 1).
You motivate people more to fight to live in a normal legal country,” Meloyan wrote.

Davit Khachatry was elected a member of the Information Systems Regulation Commission

The National Assembly elected Davit Khachatryan as a member of the Information Systems Regulation Commission.


Out of 61 deputies who participated in the voting, 61 deputies voted for Davit Khachatryan’s candidacy, 0 against.


Davit Khachatryan’s candidacy for the position of a member of the Information Systems Regulation Commission was nominated by the “Civil Agreement” faction.