10:59, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Three Armenian boxers advanced into the finals at the Yerevan EUBC Men’s Elite European Boxing Championships.
Featherweight Arthur Bazeyan will face Belgium’s Vasile Usturoi.
Light Welterweight Hovhannes Bachkov’s opponent in the finals will be France’s Lounes Hamraoui.
Cruiserweight Rafayel Hovhannisyan will fight Georgia’s Georgii Kushinashvili.
Georgia and Spain both have the most boxers who’ve advanced into the finals – 4 each.
11:54, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian rescuer-firefighter set a new Guinness World Record.
Zorik Poghosyan from the #2 Firefighting-Rescue Detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations lifted a 175kg barbell, placed it on his shoulders and walked for 1 meter and 90cm in the squat position, and then turned around and stood up.
This is the fifth world record set by Zorik Poghosyan, a local of Vanadzor.
[see video]
12:15, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. The International Boxing Association President Umar Kremlev will visit the fan zone at Yerevan’s Swan Lake at 14:00 on May 30 for a ceremony of presenting boxing gloves to athletes, the Boxing Federation of Armenia said in a statement.
Yerevan is hosting the EUBC Men’s Elite European Boxing Championships.
12:28, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. 24 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one week, the ministry of health said.
The total number of confirmed cases has reached 422,963.
10,307 tests were conducted within a week.
One patient has died from the disease. The death toll has risen to 8625.
The number of recoveries rose by 385, bringing the total to 412,606.
The number of active cases is 48.
12:40, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. A young environmental activist has thrown a cake at Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci's painting Gioconda (Mona Lisa) on display in the Louvre in Paris, TASS reports citing the BFM TV channel.
According to it, the incident took place on Sunday. The video footage posted on Twitter shows a young man throwing a piece of cake and smearing it on the armored glass that protects one of the world's most famous artworks. He was able to get as close as possible by disguising himself as a disabled woman; there is a special passageway in front of the painting for wheelchair users, which is closer than the corridor for regular visitors.
“Think about the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about that. Artists tell you, 'Think of the Earth.' All artists, think of the Earth. That's why I did this. Think about the planet”, he said in one of the videos, which shows him rolling a wheelchair accompanied by museum security.
The Louvre itself has not yet released any statement about the incident. According to the TV channel, employees of the Louvre washed armored glass, the painting was not damaged.
13:21, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, 30 MAY, ARMENPRESS. Anti-government protesters are demonstrating outside the #3 government building in downtown Yerevan, which houses several ministries and other government agencies.
The leader of the protests – ARF’s Ishkhan Saghatelyan, the Vice Speaker of Parliament representing the opposition Hayastan faction, said they want to enter the building and inquire from different government agencies on their position regarding the opposition’s draft resolution which is included in the agenda of the June 3 emergency session of parliament.
The June 3 emergency session of parliament will be convened at the initiative of the opposition. However, the ruling Civil Contract party announced that it won’t participate in the session. If Civil Contract doesn’t take part, there will be no quorum and the session won’t be convened.
The opposition’s draft resolution of parliament states, among others, that “Armenia will support the full exercise of the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh, Artsakh will never be part of Azerbaijan, there must be reliable land connection between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh: Artsakh will not be an exclave, the delimitation and demarcation must be carried out with the precondition of Azerbaijan withdrawing its troops from sovereign Armenian territory, Armenia is the guarantor of security and the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh, the breach of the territorial integrity of Armenia is ruled out as a result of delimitation and demarcation, any agreement in the Armenian-Turkish normalization process that would question the Armenian Genocide is ruled out, and that the unblocking of roads with Azerbaijan and Turkey cannot happen in the logic of a corridor.”
Saghatelyan said that they want two opposition MPs to enter the building and meet with Cabinet members and demand their position on the draft resolution.
Police were not allowing the MPs to enter. Officers said they must inquire whether or not the Cabinet members are ready to receive them.
The MPs argued with the police that they are entitled to freely enter the building.
A scuffle began between demonstrators and police as demonstrators attempted to breach the line.
Saghatelyan called on the crowd of supports to block the building, stating that they will not leave until they have a meeting with the ministers.
Police then reported that 5 demonstrators were detained on suspicion of hooliganism.
UPDATE:
14:09 – Demonstrators end protest near #3 government building, start marching
13:37, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Despite all the risks and the fragility, there is a chance for opening an era of peaceful development in our region, and Armenia will continue its efforts to contribute to the realization of that chance, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said in an interview to the Indian WION media outlet.
Below is the FM’s full interview:
Question: How do you see India-Armenia ties?
Answer: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and India. Although our state-to-state relations are only 30 years old, it is well known that Armenian and Indian peoples have a centuries-old rich history of close interaction that has developed into mutual sympathy and friendly relations.
The Armenians have had a strong presence in Agra, Surat, Chennai, Kolkata and other commercial centres since the 16th century. They have thrived here in the initial era of globalization and now our heritage in India coming from that era is preserved with care, which we highly appreciate.
It should be mentioned also that we have a strong community of Indian students and businessmen studying and working in Armenia. The Embassy of India and the Indian Cultural Center in Armenia are doing a great job to bring our countries, peoples, and businesses closer so that our citizens could further benefit from the development of our ties.
Our countries have tremendous potential in promoting cooperation in areas of mutual interest, particularly underlining the spheres of high technology, transportation, food production, healthcare, pharmaceutical industry, tourism, culture and defense.
Last but not the least, our countries have quite close interests regarding regional and international issues. We highly appreciate India’s continuous support towards the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.
In general, Armenia values the balanced and stabilizing position of India in these times of global turmoil. India is an important pillar of global and regional stability and a major power that rightly aspires for more role in international affairs and is perceived by many as a force for good.
Having all these factors in mind, the Government of Armenia considers further strengthening of cooperation with India, the world’s largest democracy, as one of its strategic priorities.
Question: At the end of April, you visited India. What was the key focus of your visit? Last year the Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar visited your country.
Answer: Our meeting with Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Dushanbe last year gave a new impetus to our bilateral relations. Following it, Minister Jaishankar paid a landmark visit to Armenia last fall, and a roadmap of wider engagement ranging from political dialogue to solid multidimensional collaboration was elaborated during that visit. Since then, concrete steps have been undertaken in regard of the implementation of the road map.
Accepting the invitation to participate in the “Raisina Dialogue” forum, which by the way has received special, global attention this year, gave a good opportunity to continue our dialogue and together with Minister Jaishankar evaluate the work already done and outline new ambitious milestones.
Additionally, during this visit special emphasis was made on the promotion of economic cooperation between our countries, given the fact that our delegation was accompanied by representatives from leading Armenian businesses. We participated in the Armenian-Indian business forums in New Delhi and Mumbai. Such events and continuous B2B contacts will bring our business circles closer to each other.
Now the next step will be the session of the Armenian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission which we are going to host in Armenia this summer. As one can notice this is quite an impressive dynamic.
Question: What can we expect on defense ties? This was something that was discussed during the foreign office consultations as well.
Answer: Our defense ministries have established good contacts and military-technical cooperation has been developing between them gradually. Armenia has participated in several defense expositions in India. It is without a doubt that in recent years India has made rapid advances in defense technologies and industry which is of course very interesting for the Armenian defense sector. I believe our specialists should explore the opportunities for further cooperation.
On the connectivity front, how do you see projects like the International North-South transport corridor and will you join the Chabahar port project?
We are actively discussing a number of connectivity projects. In this regard, we are interested in advancing our dialogue and cooperation within the framework of INSTC project, Chabahar port, as well as the Persian Gulf – the Black Sea international transport corridor, and we are communicating with other partners on this issue as well. Armenia considers India's potential and prospective role in this corridor to be quite significant. In this sense, we also welcome Indian companies to actively engage in infrastructure projects in Armenia.
Question: What is the situation in the South Caucasus region? How is the peace process with Azerbaijan currently going? Do you see any hope for settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the near future?
Answer: The situation in our region remains volatile and tense. Aftershocks of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 still affect Armenia and the whole region. Though large-scale hostilities were stopped after the Russian brokered ceasefire by November 9, 2020, Trilateral Statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, many issues still remain unresolved.
In blatant violation of the Trilateral Statement and international humanitarian law, and despite clear calls from the international community, Azerbaijan refuses to release Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees. Another issue is the very real danger of destruction, desecration and identity distortion of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories that fell under the Azerbaijani control after the war. Azerbaijan hinders the dispatch of the UNESCO assessment mission to the conflict-affected areas that would have helped to protect the Armenian heritage from total destruction.
There is still continuous xenophobic rhetoric against Armenians coming from the official Baku. There is still psychological terror being made on Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, like broadcasting through loudspeakers appeals to leave their homes threatening otherwise to force them to do so, or cutting gas supply during severe weather conditions. There are still violations of the ceasefire taking place around Nagorno-Karabakh. The latest case in point is the incursion of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Parukh village of Nagorno-Karabakh on March 24.
Nevertheless, we think that peace, not war, is the solution, and Armenia continues its efforts aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region. We’ve repeatedly stated that we are ready to start negotiations on comprehensive peace with Azerbaijan, which will also include the lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including the protection of all rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and its final status.
During the meeting of leaders in Brussels on May 22, it was agreed to start work towards delimitation and security of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, finalize talks on opening the transport infrastructure in the region and work on preparation for comprehensive peace talks. If Azerbaijan demonstrates a constructive approach and refrains from creating hurdles along the way like they did many times before, I think we can move forward.
Question: When it comes to the war of 2020, there were reports of Pakistani mercenaries supporting Azerbaijan. Anything on that?
Answer: Yes, we are aware of such reports. Much of the mercenaries were transported from the Middle East, which was also confirmed by the intelligence services of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries. Any involvement of mercenary force is aggravating the situation, as it brings a wider regional aspect to a local conflict and is adventurous in nature and illegal. Such actions always leave a long-lasting, negative impact on the regional situation even after it is stabilized.
Question: Pakistan has been supporting cross border terror in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and continues to occupy a certain part, which is Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. How do you see Islamabad's role in the region?
Answer: Terrorism has no place in the modern world and is condemnable in all forms. We have supported India on Jammu and Kashmir and will continue to do so.
Question: How do you see ties with Turkey? What can you tell us about the Armenia-Turkey normalization process?
Answer: The border between Armenia and Turkey was unilaterally closed by Turkey in the early 1990s and the two countries do not have diplomatic relations. As you probably know, now the Special representatives have been appointed for the normalization process and three meetings have already been held where the sides decided to move forward without any preconditions with the goal of opening the borders. To give a positive dynamic to that process I recently accepted the Turkish Foreign Minister’s invitation and travelled to Turkey to participate in the Antalya Diplomatic Forum and met with my counterpart on the margins of the Forum.
We believe that to achieve the normalization it is necessary to have a political will and readiness to undertake concrete steps. The Armenian side has repeatedly demonstrated both and we expect the same from the Turkish side.
Despite all the risks and the fragility, there is a chance for opening an era of peaceful development in our region, and Armenia will continue its efforts to contribute to the realization of that chance.
13:49, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. FLYONE Armenia will resume the Yerevan-Lyon-Yerevan and Yerevan-Paris-Yerevan regular direct flights starting June 17, the airline said in a statement.
Yerevan-Lyon-Yerevan flights will be operated from Zvartnots International Airport to Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.
Yerevan-Paris-Yerevan flights will be operated from Zvartnots International Airport to Charles de Gaulle International Airport twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
13:54, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Two demonstrators and two police officers were hospitalized after the latest anti-government protest in Yerevan.
The two demonstrators and two police officers were taken to the Heratsi #1 University Hospital where they are currently undergoing examination. “They are assessed as stable”, the Yerevan State Medical University Chief of Staff Shushan Danielyan said in a statement.
A scuffle took place outside the #3 government building in Yerevan when demonstrators attempted to breach the police line and enter the building.
UPDATED:Prosecution asks court to confiscate MP Seyran Ohanyan’s assets deemed as illegally- acquired
14:06, 30 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. The General Prosecution’s Department of Confiscation of Illegally-Acquired Assets is seeking to confiscate assets owned by former Minister of Defense, opposition Member of Parliament Seyran Ohanyan.
The motion has been lodged at the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction after being filed on April 27, 2022.
The prosecution says that the assets in question are owned by Ohanyan and three affiliated persons.
The assets deemed as illegally-acquired are 2 land areas of public significance, a house in the Vahakni district of Yerevan and 1 vehicle. In case of impossibility to confiscate the assets, the prosecution asked the court to confiscate their average market value, which stands at 1.092.538.513 drams. The prosecution says the acquisition of the mentioned assets are not substantiated by Ohanyan’s legal incomes.
UPDATES:
17:25 – Seyran Ohanyan issued a statement denying the prosecution's accusations. Furthermore, he denies ever owning the assets mentioned by the prosecution. Ohanyan claims that the proceedings launched against him are politically motivated.