Author: Aram Torosian

Ahead of 2023 European Weightlifting Championships kick-off, Armenian PM meets with IWF and EWF presidents

Aram Torosian

Save

Share

 15:37,

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS. Ahead of the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships, due in Yerevan on April 15-23, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Mohammed Jalood and European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) President Antonio Conflitti.

PM Pashinyan said that Armenia is “honored” to host the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships.

“Armenia made maximum efforts to host the European Weightlifting Championships on the highest level. We expect it to be impressive and full of success,” PM Pashinyan said, adding that Armenia is ready to host the 2024 World Weightlifting Championships as well.

International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Mohammed Jalood and European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) President Antonio Conflitti thanked the Armenian government and the national Olympic committee for the massive work and expressed confidence that the championships will be held on the highest level.

Jalood said that given Armenia’s experience the country can truly contend to host the 2024 World Championships, for which it has already submitted a bid. Conflitti said cooperation with Armenia has been productive and emphasized the high level preparatory work.

The Prime Minister said that the development of sport and promotion of healthy lifestyle is a strategic direction for the Armenian government and that targeted reforms and programs are underway.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/13/2023

Aram Torosian 
                                        Thursday, 
U.S., Armenian Officials Discuss Sanctions Against Russia
U.S. - U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo mees Armenian Deputy Prime 
Minister Mher Grigorian, Washington, April 11, 2023.
Senior U.S. officials appear to have pressed the Armenian government to comply 
with U.S. sanctions against Russia during talks held in Yerevan and Washington 
this week.
The issue was on the agenda of U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo’s 
meeting on Tuesday with Armenia’s visiting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Adeyemo “discussed recent economic 
developments in Armenia” and “highlighted the United States’ global efforts to 
prevent evasion of U.S. sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia.”
An Armenian government statement on the meeting made no mention of the 
sanctions. It said the two sides discussed a “wide range of issues” relating to 
bilateral U.S.-Armenian relations.
Khachatrian was accompanied by Deputy Finance Minister Eduard Hakobian and Armen 
Nurbekian, a deputy governor of the Armenian Central Bank
U.S. Assistant Commerce Secretary Thea Kendler visited Armenia on Monday. The 
U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Kristina Kvien, tweeted that she joined Kendler in 
meeting with senior Armenian officials “to discuss Armenia’s continued 
commitment to upholding U.S. sanctions.”
Kvien said nothing about the results of the meetings with the chief of Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s staff, Arayik Harutiunian, Finance Minister Tigran 
Khachatrian and the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian. 
There was no word on the sanctions, imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, 
in official Armenian readouts of the talks.
Two other senior U.S. officials travelled to Yerevan last week for a session of 
the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue.
Last month, the U.S. departments of Justice, Treasury and Commerce issued a 
joint “compliance note” warning companies about the risk of violating the U.S. 
sanctions on Moscow. The notice said that third-party intermediaries have 
commonly used China, Armenia, Turkey and Uzbekistan as “transshipment points” to 
Russia as well as Belarus.
Armenia’s trade with Russia has skyrocketed since the outbreak of the war in 
Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions.
Armenian exports to Russia nearly tripled, to $2.4 billion, last year. Goods 
manufactured in third countries and re-exported from Armenia to Russia are 
believed to have accounted for most of that gain.
Official Armenian statistics also shows that individual cash remittances from 
Russia to Armenia quadrupled to almost $3.6 billion. The soaring trade with and 
cash flows from Russia are the main reason why the Armenian economy grew by 12.6 
percent in 2022.
Another Azeri Soldier Detained In Armenia
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - A screenshot of video of Syunik residents apprehending an Azerbaijani 
soldier, .
Armenian authorities detained on Thursday another Azerbaijani soldier who 
crossed into Armenia in unclear circumstances.
The reportedly unarmed soldier was spotted and apprehended by several men on a 
highway near Kapan, the administrative center of southeastern Syunik province. 
They handed him over to police.
“At first he claimed to be an Iranian. But he wore an Azerbaijani military 
uniform,” one of the men, Ara Sukiasian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“We tied his hands and I told my wife to call the police so that they come and 
deal with him,” he said.
Law-enforcement authorities in Yerevan did not clarify whether the soldier is 
connected to another Azerbaijani serviceman who was detained on Monday in a 
Syunik village located about 100 kilometers northwest of Kapan. According to the 
Armenian military, the latter claimed to have crossed the Armenian border with 
Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave together with another soldier.
They deserted their army unit in Nakhichevan because of “being subjected to 
hazing and humiliation by other soldiers,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
claimed on Wednesday as the Armenian authorities continued looking for the other 
presumed fugitive.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on Monday that two of its soldiers 
serving in Nakhichevan have done missing in heavy fog. It subsequently 
identified the conscripts as Akshin Bebirov and Huseyn Akhundov and asked 
international organizations to help repatriate them.
The Armenian authorities have still not released the identity of either soldier 
held by them in detention.
The second detention came one day after the killing of a security guard working 
for a Syunik-based mining company. The 56-year-old man was found shot dead 
outside a village located several kilometers from whether the second Azerbaijani 
was caught.
Another Syunik resident who apprehended him told News.am that the soldier 
possessed the murdered guard’s mobile phone. Sukiasian said, however, that he 
“did not see the phone.”
Rumors about the Azerbaijani soldier’s involvement in the murder intensified 
after the circulation later on Thursday of an Instagram video of seemingly the 
same soldier bragging about killing Armenians and saying at the same time that 
“we are not traitors of our fatherland.”
A spokesman for Armenia’s Investigative Committee said afterwards that the 
law-enforcement authorities not yet have any evidence that the detained soldier 
committed the murder.
Armenia’s Border Guard Chief Sacked
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Colonel Arman Maralchian.
Opposition leaders accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday of trying 
to dodge responsibility for continuing national security failures after he 
sacked the commander of Armenia’s Border Guard Troops.
The official, Arman Maralchian, was relieved of his duties on Wednesday one day 
after four Armenian soldiers were killed in fighting with Azerbaijani forces 
near the Armenian border village of Tegh.
Azerbaijani army units took up new positions in that area on March 30 after 
advancing into what Yerevan regards as sovereign Armenian territory. They 
completed a partial change of the route of the Lachin corridor connecting 
Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinian and the National Security Service (NSS) initially downplayed the 
Azerbaijani advance but later acknowledged the loss of a large part of 
agricultural land and pastures belonging to Tegh’s farmers.
Pashinian’s political opponents blamed him for the fresh Azerbaijani territorial 
gains, saying that the Armenian army should have taken up positions along the 
Armenian side of the border section beforehand. They said that Pashinian not 
only failed to issue such an order but also declared on March 30 that from now 
on the Tegh area will be patrolled and protected by lightly armed border guards 
subordinate to the NSS, rather than army units.
The criticism intensified following Tuesday’s border clash, which also left at 
least three Azerbaijani soldiers dead.
Pashinian claimed on Wednesday that the deadly violence occurred because 
security officials failed to execute his “concrete instructions.”
“What happened should not have happened and it is clear, at least for me, that 
we need to investigate what happened there and why it happened,” he told the 
Armenian parliament.
Maralchian’s dismissal was announced shortly after Pashinian’s remarks. Armenian 
government officials and pro-government lawmakers declined to comment on it on 
Thursday.
Tigran Abrahamian, a senior lawmaker representing the opposition Pativ Unem 
bloc, said that Pashinian’s government is seeking to scapegoat security 
officials for its inability to defend the country.
“I believe that the sacking of the commander of the Border Guard Troops 
primarily stems from the authorities’ obsession with dodging political 
responsibility and finding scapegoats whom they can blame,” Abrahamian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
France Demands Azeri Withdrawal From ‘Armenian Territory’
France -- The building of the French Foreign Ministry.
France accused Azerbaijan of occupying Armenia’s sovereign territory when it 
reacted late on Wednesday to the latest deadly clash on the border between the 
two South Caucasus states.
It said the fighting, which left at least seven soldiers from both sides dead, 
broke out Tuesday “in Armenian territory” near Tegh, a border village in 
Armenia’s Syunik province.
Azerbaijani army units took up new positions in the area on March 30 after 
advancing into what Yerevan regards as Armenian territory. Baku denies that they 
crossed the border.
“We reiterate that the delineation of the border must be achieved exclusively 
through negotiations, and we urge the Parties to continue their efforts to that 
end,” read a statement released by the French Foreign Ministry.
“Armenia’s territorial integrity must be respected and Azerbaijani forces 
occupying positions on the Armenian side of the line of contact must withdraw in 
order to prevent future incidents and preserve the foundations of a lasting 
peace in the region,” it said.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry condemned the “one-sided” statement and 
presented is as another example of France’s “biased attitude” towards Azerbaijan.
Unlike France, the European Union did not blame either side for the fighting. An 
EU foreign policy spokeswoman urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to withdraw their 
troops from the volatile border and respect each other’s territorial integrity.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian hailed the EU’s reaction on Thursday, saying that 
Yerevan has backed the idea of troop disengagement for the last two years. “Such 
a solution is hampered by Azerbaijan’s unconstructive position,” he said.
The Armenian military has said that Tuesday’s fighting erupted when its troops 
deployed just outside Tegh came under Azerbaijani fire. Baku has blamed the 
Armenian side for the escalation.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Lyon Mayor Grégory Doucet meets with father of Armenian POW illegally kept in Baku

Aram Torosian

Save

Share

 19:03,

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMENPRESS. On April 13, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Paruyr Havhannisyan received the delegation led by Lyon Mayor Grégory Doucet.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia, welcoming the guests, the Deputy Minister highlighted the special ties and effective cooperation between Yerevan and Lyon, which has its own place in the privileged Armenian-French relations. Paruyr Hovhannisyan thanked for organizing the fourth forum of Armenian-French decentralized cooperation in Lyon last year at a high level and for hosting the representatives of Armenian territorial administration bodies.

Expressing gratitude for hosting the Lyon delegation in Armenia with special warmth these days, Grégory Doucet confirmed his willingness to further deepen and strengthen the relations with Yerevan, which started in 1992.

The sides particularly highlighted the realization of joint projects between the communities of Yerevan and Lyon, Armenia and Lyon metropolis, particularly in the economic sphere.

Paruyr Hovhannisyan presented to the delegation the current challenges of the region and Armenia’s continuous efforts to establish peace. Referring to the aggressive actions of Azerbaijan, including the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor and the provocation of the Azerbaijani side near the Tegh community on April 11, he noted that Azerbaijan’s attitude is aimed at completely disrupting efforts to establish stability and peace in the South Caucasus. In this context, he emphasized the imperative of sending an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and stressed the importance of implementing the February 22 decision of the International Court of Justice.

It is noted that at the end of the meeting, on the initiative of the French side and with the mediation of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, a meeting was held with Seyran Saghatelyan, the father of Armenian prisoner of war Grigor Saghatelyan, who is illegally held in Azerbaijan, and the Mayor of Lyon.

Financing of the tourism sector from the state budget of Armenia increases by 5 times

Aram Torosian
  • Gayane Sargsyan
  • Yerevan

Tourism financing in Armenia

In 2023 1 billion drams (almost $2.6 million) was allocated from the state budget for the development and promotion of the tourism sector in Armenia, which is five times more than the amount provided in previous years. At the end of last year, a schedule and an estimate of expenses were also approved.

In response to a JAMnews request sent to the Ministry of Economy about how exactly the amount intended for the development of tourism will be spent, and whether the opinions of interested parties were taken into account when making decisions, the following response was received:

“When developing the program for 2023, the results of assistance programs implemented in the industry in recent years, the needs of the sector identified as a result of research and assessments of the current situation, as well as the results of consultations with beneficiaries were taken into account.”

But travel companies and tourism industry experts were not aware of them. They did not receive invitations to discuss from government agencies.

  • Tourism in Armenia in 2023
  • “Lake Sevan and the city of Jermuk are in danger due to mining”: Armenian environmentalists
  • Stagnant economic ties in the South Caucasus: Three stories

“I don’t know how the allocated amount will be spent. I know that the country has accepted applications for participation in various international exhibitions. Many organizations have already visited these exhibitions, but this was also the case in previous years.

In the past, cooperation and communication with the tourism committee was closer than it is now. Even if very important sectoral issues are adopted, we are not informed at all now. As a result, only after the fact we learn about the adoption of some decisions,” Gevorg Gasparyan, head of the Armenian Federation of Travelers and founder of the Arevi Hotel, said.

However, he welcomes the fact that the government has decided to pay more attention to the tourism sector:

“This is a fantastic and unheard of amount for Armenian tourism. Finally, the government invests in an industry that actually has a large impact on the country’s GDP. I’m glad the ice has broken. Before this decision, we were 10 times behind neighboring countries in terms of investment in tourism, now this gap is narrowing.”

Groups of young people are uniting and changing the situation in the most “difficult” villages of the country, using their own potential and resources

Tour guide and expert Yasha Solomonyan shares the point of view of their colleague:

“As someone who has been working in tourism for more than 10 years, I am certainly glad that the state is finally starting to pay more attention to the field.”

He believes that, taking into account the opinions and advice of industry stakeholders, government agencies will be able to carry out reforms more effectively:

“Otherwise, representatives of the sphere have to act as critics of the programs being implemented. While we are ready to be advisers, consultants. The fact is that we learn a lot after the fact, and when something has already been done, there is nothing to advise, it remains only to criticize.

An expert in the field of tourism, the founder of the tourism project Like local Gevorg Babayan also did not know the details of how the allocated amount would be spent. But he is aware that the tourism committee should organize events in different countries to make Armenia more recognizable. He knows about this, since he was also offered to take part in organizing one of these events, but refused:

“In the course of discussions with colleagues, we realized that it would be impossible to implement our ideas, since the amount allocated for these activities is not enough. And we decided not to participate just for the sake of the bird, as it is also a matter of our reputation.”

Since January of this year, the LikeLocal project has been providing an opportunity for tourists explore Armenian culture during ‘family dinners’ in Armenia

Despite the fact that the work plan has already been approved within the framework of the amount allocated from the budget, specialists working in the field suggest that the tourism committee take into account their wishes. They also look forward to the possibility of more active participation in projects and effective cooperation in the future.

Yasha Solomonyan, tourism expert: “I would like the amount allocated from the state budget to be spent, first of all, on improving the sphere, on reforms, on improving professionalism. I hope that the costs will be targeted, especially in terms of marketing and the choice of markets that can provide an influx of solvent tourists with high incomes.”

Gevorg Gasparyan, founder of the Arevi Hotel: “I really hope that as a result of investments in the country’s marketing, a large tourist flow will be provided. When developing any product, I advise you to take into account the opinion of organizations operating in the field. We have many experts with extensive experience who will help to achieve more tangible results.”

In Armenia, the number of people using solar energy has increased dramatically. A businessman, a housewife, and an energy expert explain why.

Gevorg Babayan, founder of the tourism project Like local: “I have always talked about the need to take the demographic picture of tourism seriously. Young, innovative, highly traveled and open-minded people need to be encouraged to participate in the tourism industry. It is necessary to work on attracting more young tourists who are active and connected with social media. By sharing their every move on social media, they advertise the tourist spots they visit.

We need to create new products and services that attract young people. We need to understand what are the global trends in tourism and what young people expect from us.”

Gevorg Babayan connects the gaps in various industry programs and decisions not only with insufficient coordination of the work of the committee with existing tourism organizations, but deeper problems:

“We don’t have a tourism development strategy, we don’t have a concept, we don’t know where we are going, but branding has been launched. It is clear that it was necessary to use something as a logo. But branding something that doesn’t exist yet and using the fifteen-year-old phrase “The hidden track” (hidden route) is illogical. Approaches in tourism change from time to time, and we still say “The hidden track”.

We need to keep abreast of world tourism, people employed in this area must travel several times a year. This should become a mandatory to keep up with trends.”

70 kilometers through the mountains, with crossings through rivers and gorges, and stopovers in ancient villages

Expenditures will be made in three main areas:

  1. Increasing the awareness of Armenia and the Armenian tourism product, conducting a more active marketing policy in the target tourism markets.
  2. Development of tourism in the regions, restoration of local traditions, diversification of tourism products, formation of new tourist routes, dissemination of information about them in the international and domestic markets.
  3. Improving the statistical and information system of the tourism sector.

More than half of the amount allocated from the budget, 528 million drams (about $1.4 million), is earmarked for marketing:

• participation in 4 international exhibitions,

• acquisition of marketing services of 4 international airlines,

• publication of 9 promotional articles about Armenia in prestigious international publications,

• organization of advertising campaigns in 3 target countries,

• organization of 6 international study tours.

280 million drams ($725 thousand) are planned to be spent on diversification, “packaging” and promotion of the Armenian tourism product.

63 million drams ($163,000) were allocated for the development of infrastructure and advanced training, and the organization of courses for employees employed in tourism.

The authorities will also spend 120 million drams ($310 thousand) on organizing events to ensure international cooperation.

Book: Der Matossian explores genocide denialism in the 21st century

Aram Torosian
UNIVERSITY of NEBRASKA–LINCOLN

NEBRASKA TODAY
by Deann Gayman | University Communication and Marketing

In the 21st century, where information — and disinformation — is shared at warp speed, genocide denialism has spread just as rapidly.

Bedross Der Matossian, a historian of the Armenian Genocide and professor of history at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, is aiming to help explain this phenomenon and combat it with a new volume of scholarship from fellow historians that he’s edited into the book, “Denial of Genocides in the Twenty-First Century.” It will publish May 1 with Nebraska University Press.

Through state and nonstate propaganda efforts, the weaponization of publications by pseudo-historians, and the rise of social media, genocide denialism has entered the mainstream, Der Matossian said, bringing with it a rise in racism, antisemitism, and other xenophobias.

“It’s a very timely book, I think, with the rise of right-wing governments around the globe, with the rise of white nationalism in the United States, antisemitism, and with the Turkish government’s excessive propaganda after the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide that took place in 2015,” he said.

Der Matossian said the book is an important contribution to the scholarship surrounding genocides in modern history, but it is also important because denialism is a revictimization of the those killed and the survivors, and has wide-ranging unforeseen consequences.

“Scholars argue that the last stage of a genocide is denial,” he said. “Denial is killing the dead, killing the memory of dead, and many survivors live with the denial of their own genocide. The denial of genocides emboldens people to commit additional acts of violence and genocide in the future.”

In chronological order, 12 scholars including Der Matossian write about denialism of eight genocides spanning three centuries. Der Matossian said he asked scholars to contribute based on their expertise as historians of particular genocides. Among the contributors is Der Matossian’s colleague, Gerald Steinacher, James A. Rawley Professor of History, who wrote a chapter about Holocaust denial.

Chapters cover the denialism of the Armenian genocide, genocides of the Indigenous in the United States, the Holocaust, genocides in Cambodia, Guatemala, Bosnia, Rwanda, and the genocide in Syria under the Assad regime. The final chapter is written by Israel Charney, a psychologist and genocide scholar, and explains why some engage in denialism.

“These are examples of major genocides, in order to show why the 21st century is a new phase in denialism,” Der Matossian said. “It endeavors to understand the new methods of denialism that are taking place around the globe.”

While the genocides covered in the book happened, in some cases, centuries or decades ago, Der Matossian noted that the lightning speed with which information is shared today makes is harder to overcome the disinformation.

“Both state and nonstate actors obfuscate the reality through using the medium of social networks, the most important being Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, by putting their propaganda material there, and we see an increase in Armenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism,” he said. “All of them are using the 21st century tools to operate and to reach their agenda.”

The volume also raises awareness that genocide denialism does not end, even when countries have accepted responsibility, and it demonstrates that that denialism does not only happen under authoritarian regimes.

“There is no genocide in the course of history that has gone without being denied by states and nonstate actors, often including ‘professional’ historians and pseudo-historians… In the past decade, the rise of right-wing populist governments in Europe and the United States has intensified this trend dramatically,” Der Matossian writes in the introduction.

Der Matossian also challenges his readers to ask themselves what can be done.

“In the United States, the denial of genocide is hiding behind the First Amendment,” he said. “We invite the reader also to raise a question whether denial of genocide should be termed as hate speech.”

 

AW: ARS Eastern USA invites all to regional seminar

Aram Torosian
April 3, 2023 Armenian Relief Society Eastern U.S. Nonprofit News 0

WATERTOWN, Mass. — The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Eastern USA invites community and ARS members to attend its regional seminar to be held on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at noon at the Hackensack Medical Center, 30 Prospect Ave., Hackensack, NJ. Registration is required. 

Hosted by the ARS New Jersey “Agnouni,” “Bergen County Armenouhi” and “Shakeh” Chapters, the seminar will consist of two sessions.

The first session will include two presentations, one entitled “Resonating Patterns of Cultural Destruction and Genocide” with Cynthia Ruggerio, Esq. and the second about “Women’s Health in Armenia: A view through the lifecycle” with Dr. Kim Hekimian.

Ruggerio earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Fairfield University in 1984 and a juris doctor from Rutgers Law School in 1987. In 2019, based on her interest in Armenian Genocide awareness and education, she earned a master of arts in Holocaust and genocide studies and a graduate certificate in genocide prevention from Stockton University. Her primary area of academic research is in genocide and cultural loss, with an emphasis on case studies specific to the Armenian Genocide and its aftermath. Ruggerio has also been a practicing attorney for over 25 years.

Dr. Hekimian is assistant professor of nutrition in pediatrics (gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition) at the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center. She is also the associate director of education for the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons program in education in global and population health. Previously, she was on faculty at the American University of Armenia’s School of Public Health, where she served as the associate director of the MPH program and director of the Center for Health Services Research. Dr. Hekimian received her Ph.D. in health policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health with a concentration in behavioral science and health education.

The second session of the seminar will include a presentation by ARS member Valentine Berberian about “Armenian Women’s Rights and Roles Throughout History.” Berberian, a pharmacist for over 45 years, has been a member of the ARS New York “Mayr” Chapter since 1976. She was instrumental in getting the ARS admitted as a member of the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) on May 28, 1998 and continues to represent the ARS at the UN as an internationally established non-governmental organization. Berberian has also served the ARS on regional and international boards.  

The following ARS UN interns will also present: Taleen Nigdelian, “Armenian Women in Ancient Times”; Nory Boiatchian, “Armenian Women’s Rights”; Talar Hovsepian, “Women’s Role in Armenian Traditional Family”; and Arev Ebrimian, “Social Activism and Education of Armenian Women.”

Rounding out the seminar will be a presentation about ARS parliamentary procedures by ARS of Eastern USA board member Seda Aghamianz. Aghamianz serves as administrator of The Genocide Education Project. She has a master’s degree in international relations from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian from UMass Amherst. Aghamianz has held several positions within the Armenian community, including in the office of the ARS of Eastern USA and as project manager at the Ani and Narod Memorial Fund. She has been a member of the ARS for over 35 years.

  •  Bio
  •  Latest Posts
The ARS Eastern USA has 33 chapters located throughout the New England, Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southeastern regions of the United States.


Missing soldier found alive

Aram Torosian

Save

Share

 11:03, 22 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian soldier who went missing on March 21 has been found alive Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense announced.

The serviceman went missing on Tuesday after getting lost in the terrain while delivering food supplies to an outpost, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The delegation led by Alen Simonyan will leave for Germany

Aram Torosian

Save

Share

 19:31, 23 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by the President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan will visit Berlin. The delegation will be in Berlin on March 27-30, ARMENPRESS was informed from the National Assembly.

The delegation also includes Arman Yeghoyan, Zaruhi Batoyan, Hripsime Hunanyan from the “Civil Contract” faction, Tadevos Avetisyan from the “Hayastan” faction, and Taguhi Tovmasyan from the “I have honor” faction.

Armenia and Turkey to open land border for third country citizens ahead of tourist season

Aram Torosian
By bne IntelliNews 
Armenia and Turkey have agreed to open their shared border for citizens of third countries and persons with diplomatic passports before the upcoming tourist season, according to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
 
This move is part of efforts to normalise relations between the two countries, which have had no diplomatic ties since Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 as a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan during the conflict over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
 
In July 2022, Armenia and Turkey agreed in principle to normalise their relations, including opening their shared border for third-country nationals and starting direct cargo flights. Special envoys from Ankara and Yerevan began talks in January 2022 to fully restore ties “without preconditions”. Since then, the two countries have appointed special envoys to help normalise relations and have had four meetings.
 
Armenia’s Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Minister Gnel Sanosyan announced that repairing the 29km section of the Armavir-Gyumri road bordering Turkey will be accelerated in 2023. The repair work will resume soon as soon as the weather conditions become favourable. This road connects the western regions of Armenia and passes through the Shirak region, adjacent to the Turkish border.
 
Despite being one of the first countries to recognise Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union, Turkey and Armenia have had a troubled relationship. Turkey also does not recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915-1923, which killed an estimated 1.5mn Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman government. In 2009, an agreement was reached in Zurich to establish diplomatic relations and reopen the border between Turkey and Armenia. Still, Turkey later insisted that it would not ratify the deal until Armenia withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
In 2020, Turkey supported Azerbaijan during the six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with Azerbaijan gaining control of a significant portion of the region. However, in February this year, the Margara land checkpoint on the Armenian-Turkish border was opened for the first time in 30 years to allow Armenian trucks to deliver tons of food, medicine, and other relief supplies to Turkey’s regions affected by a powerful earthquake. 
 
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Turkey on February 15 to meet with the Armenian search and rescue team operating in Adiyaman. In the wake of the recent earthquake in Adiyaman, a 27-member Armenian search and rescue team was deployed to the area after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Armenia also sent five trucks carrying 100 tonnes of food, medicine, and other relief supplies to Turkey through a border that had been closed since 1993.
 
At the beginning of his remarks, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu thanked his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan for expressing solidarity and condolences to Turkey immediately after the recent earthquake. He emphasised that the normalisation of relations in the South Caucasus continues and that cooperation in the humanitarian sphere will support this process.
 
“The progress to be made in normalising Armenia’s relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan will ensure peace and prosperity in our region. We talked with my colleague Ararat Mirzoyan about the steps to be taken in the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkey. We also received information from him about the comprehensive peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I specifically want to say from here that if these three countries take sincere steps, we will establish permanent peace in the South Caucasus; peace in this region is extremely important for economic prosperity,” said the Turkish foreign minister.