16:46, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Russia welcomes the meeting of the border delimitation commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan and is ready to support the process, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova has said.
“We welcome the meeting of the representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the border,” Zakharova said at a press briefing.
“We are ready to provide any kind of support during the delimitation process,” she added.
20:08, 7 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Grandmaster Manuel Petrosyan has become the winner of the Kazakhstan Cup.
The Kazakhstan Cup was held using the knockout system. Among the 16 participating chess players, Petrosyan competed with Iranian chess player Bardia Daneshvar in the final and won with a score of 1:5-0:5.
Manuel Petrosyan had the highest rating at the tournament held in Almaty.
TEHRAN – Arrival in Iran has been facilitated for Armenians willing to visit the neighboring country in their own cars.
Based on the recent agreement that the Touring & Automobile Club of Iran inked with its Armenian counterpart, they agreed to facilitate land traffic with personal and commercial vehicles for passport holders of the landlocked country.
The agreement relies on the Carnet de Passages en Douane, or CPD, which is the international customs document covering the temporary admission of motor vehicles.
Such assistance has previously been provided for Turkish and Iraqi drivers willing to visit the Islamic Republic.
Pursuing a border-easing scheme, the Iranian government mulls abolishing visa requirements for passport holders from 68 countries. The country seeks to encourage overseas travelers, though available evidence suggests it will not be finalized shortly.
Asghar Shalbafian, the deputy tourism minister, says the visa waiver incentive will mostly be granted to neighboring countries as well as those considered emerging markets with considerable population and per capita income.
The tentative list includes Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia, Jordan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ecuador, Algeria, UAE, Bahrain, Bolivia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Brazil, Belarus, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Paraguay, Peru, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Turkmenistan.
Tunisia, Czech Republic, Russia, Romania, Japan, Ivory Coast, Singapore, Senegal, Sudan, Seychelles, Chile, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Finland, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Cameroon, Croatia, South Korea, Colombia, Comoros, Kuwait, Guinea, Poland, Luxembourg, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Hungary, Macedonia, Mexico, Mauritius, Mali, Madagascar, Niger, Vietnam, Yemen, Greece, and India constitute other states whose nationals may be granted visa-free access.
According to available data, foreign arrivals to Iran during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (started March 21) were up 40% compared to the same period last year, the deputy tourism minister said. “In the first seven months of this year, the arrival of overseas tourists to the country increased by 40% compared to the same period last year,” Ali- said.
The number of tourist arrivals is estimated to reach six million by the end of the current year (March 19, 2024), Shalbafian said last month. “With the [steady] increase in the arrival of foreign tourists, it is expected that the number of international arrivals will reach about 6 million by year-end.”
AFM
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/491711/Carnet-de-Passages-en-Douane-travel-facilitated-for-Armenians
The program was developed with the World Bank, which has provided a parallel loan of €92.3 million (US$100 million equivalent) for its implementation
The OPEC Fund for International Development (The OPEC Fund) is supporting green, inclusive and sustainable development in Armenia with a €50 million loan through its program lending instrument.
This program aims to support the government’s developmental efforts to foster climate change mitigation and adaptation, improve environmental management and energy efficiency, enhance equity, promote human capital development and strengthen governance. The program was developed with the World Bank, which has provided a parallel loan of €92.3 million (US$100 million equivalent) for its implementation.
OPEC Fund Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “We are pleased to partner with the government of Armenia and the World Bank to support this ambitious program, investing in the development of human capital and improving climate change resilience. The program will support Armenia’s long-term development ambitions and national plans, while helping it to achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals.”
Armenia’s Green Inclusive and Sustainable Development Program is in line with the government’s five-year development plan (2021-2026) and includes fundamental steps such as a reform of the public investment management framework, a review of the justice system and relevant environmental legislation, an overhaul of the social assistance system and a modernization of the national curriculum strengthening Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
-Ends-
About the OPEC Fund
The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The OPEC Fund was established in 1976 with a distinct purpose: to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people. Our work is people-centered, focusing on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$24 billion to development projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total project cost of US$190 billion. The OPEC Fund is rated AA+/Outlook Stable by Fitch and AA, Outlook Positive by S&P. Our vision is a world where sustainable development is a reality for all.
https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/opec-fund-supports-armenias-green-inclusive-and-sustainable-development-with-50mln-loan-dq1e4g70
21:37,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. On November 20, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan had a meeting with Maka Bochorishvili, the Chair of the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Georgia, who is in Armenia to participate in the autumn session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
''The discussion revolved around the current level of dialogue between the two countries and the European Union, ongoing cooperation within the Eastern Partnership and other format as well as further steps.
At Bochorishvili's request, Deputy Minister Hovhannisyan provided updates on the security situation around Armenia, steps taken to normalize relations with Azerbaijan, efforts to unblock regional communication channels, and the activity and the importance of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia,'' reads the statement.
14:00,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Russia, Azerbaijan and Türkiye are not participating in the OSCE PA Autumn Meeting held in Yerevan.
Armenian MP Sargis Khandanyan, the Head of the Armenian Delegation to the OSCE PA, told reporters that the three countries have not revealed the reason for their decision to not attend the event.
Invitations to attend the event are sent by the organization’s international secretariat. All OSCE member states, as well as the 11 partner states were invited.
Khandanyan said that Russia informed the OSCE PA President that it won’t participate a day before the event.
“Regarding the Azerbaijani delegation, for several times, in various formats, they had raised an issue related to their security in Armenia. The National Assembly of Armenia informed the OSCE PA President that the National Assembly is ready to guarantee the security of the delegates, but as you can see, the Azerbaijani delegates did not come,” Khandanyan told reporters.
Last year, however, when Armenia hosted the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly meeting, Azerbaijan’s delegates did participate.
“There are security protocols and we are ready to implement it, but they didn’t come,” the MP said.
There’s been no explanation from Türkiye regarding its non-participation.
The Israeli Occupation police in Jerusalem issued an evacuation order to local Armenians in the Armenian Quarter area, also known as the Cows' Garden in the Old City.
They accused them of property misappropriation, as reported by several Armenian news sources.
Residents expressed their resilience and said that the Armenian community of Jerusalem is resisting and will remain in the area.
The Israeli Occupation police are enforcing the directives of the Israeli Occupation settlers in the Armenian Quarter, demanding residents leave the area so that the besiegers can take control over it, he explained.
Since Nov. 12, a significant number of Jerusalemite Armenians, in collaboration with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, have been protesting in the area.
Wednesday, the page Save the ArQ, went live from the are reporting on the gravity of the situation and calling on those who can join them in the protest to head to the area.
Residents have blocked access to the wall using vehicles and fences to prevent further unauthorized and illegal construction on Armenian property.
-Armenian Patriarchate-
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced that it is facing the "greatest existential threat," according to Armen Press.
It explained that a development company called Xana sought to buy around 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter and ignored a letter by the patriarchate canceling the controversial real estate deal
The Armenian Patriarch, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, had in the past leased the "Cows' Garden" to a Jewish businessman for 99 years; a decision that was deemed controversial and was eventually canceled.
The government of Armenia is still unclear when it will be possible for citizens to obtain biometric passports without long queues and obstacles.
The country is in the process of procuring a new system for issuing biometric passports and ID cards which is due to be completed through a public-private partnership (PPP). Right now, however, it is still unclear which company will be chosen and how long it will take to technically implement the system, Armen Ghazaryan, head of the Migration Service, said on Monday at the National Assembly of Armenia.
Ghazaryan added that the country’s passport system has been lacking investment for years.
“The fact that this system has survived so far with a minimal investment was thanks to the enthusiasm of the employees,” he said, according to a machine translation from the Armenian news website Tert.am.
Armenia first rolled out its biometric passports in 2021. The following year, however, the government suspended their issuing till early 2024, citing a need for improvements. In April, the country announced it would implement a new system for issuing passports and ID cards, replacing outdated IT systems and standards.
A public statement from the National Assembly issued on Monday promises that the new system will be introduced in “the near future.” The country has been working on introducing legal amendments to support the system in the Law on Citizen’s Passport and Law on Identification Cards.
The government is also pursuing more comprehensive reforms of its biometric document system which will include digital services to citizens and has selected international consultants to conduct studies, the government stated.
Armenia’s previous biometric passport and ID card system supplier was Polish Security Printing Works/ Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciowych (PWPW). Its contract expired on January 1, 2017.
https://www.biometricupdate.com/202311/still-no-date-for-armenian-biometric-passport-introduction
A group of former officials from Nagorno-Karabakh as well as president Samvel Shahramanyan have gathered in Yerevan to discuss ‘preserving the statehood’ of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Wednesday’s meeting was closed to the public and few details of the discussions have been revealed.
In addition to Shahramanyan, it included MPs from the region’s parliament as well as other public and political figures from Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
The discussion was initiated by the Committee for the Preservation of Artsakh Statehood, founded by Suren Petrosyan, an Armenian opposition figure.
Petrosyan previously announced that the committee’s priorities were to preserve Nagorno-Karabakh’s institutions while promoting recognition of the right to self-determination for Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population and ensuring their safe return to their homeland.
Practically the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia following the Azerbaijani attack on the region on 19 September and the region’s surrender the following day.
As part of the surrender agreement mediated by Russia, Shahramanyan signed a decree ordering the dissolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by 1 January 2024.
One of the attendees of Wednesday’s meeting, Ara Zohrabyan, a right-wing Armenian opposition figure, said the decree had no legal force and that the president could not dissolve a state that ‘became independent by referendum’.
Zohrabyan did not disclose the content of the discussion but expressed hope that ‘Artsakh will be returned’ without clarifying by whom and how.
Shahramanyan did not answer journalists’ questions, while Suren Petrosyan, who initiated the meeting, announced that the processes would continue.
‘The state has two components — land and people. At the moment, Artsakh is occupied, but our compatriots of Artsakh are here. The community exists, and there is also their legitimately elected government. And if we want to preserve our ambitions and our rights towards Artsakh, we must be able to preserve this second component,’ said Petrosyan.
However, concern has been raised in some quarters that a government in exile based in Armenia could put the country at risk from attack by Azerbaijan.
Petrosyan dismissed such concerns, stating the process was ‘not organised by the authorities’.
In late October, Shahramanyan also, claimed that ‘a republic created by the people cannot be dissolved by any document’.
In response, Tigran Grigoryan, the head of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security, a Yerevan-based think tank, told CivilNet such initiatives could pose a threat to Armenia.
‘In the long term, I think this will be quite dangerous for the Armenian authorities because there will be pressure from Azerbaijan to dissolve all those bodies’, he said. ‘The Armenian authorities, if a peace agreement is signed, will not allow it to continue to exist in Armenia, at least at the level that all that exists now’, he added.
Grigoryan, who is himself from Stepanakert, also said it was unrealistic to hope that revoking any document or intervention by the international community could bring any fundamental change on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh.
He also said that as there was no official initiative from Yerevan to create a government for Nagorno-Karabakh in exile, any group claiming to represent the region’s former Armeian population would likely face competition from other such groups and would thus not be taken seriously.