Author: Arpi Talalian

The Professional Committee of the constitutional reform is known…

Arpi Talalian

The Ministry of Justice publishes the results of the selection of candidates for the members of the Professional Commission for Constitutional Reforms, who are representatives of lawyers-scientists and non-governmental organizations. Thus, the candidates selected by the Ministry of Justice are:

legal scholars: Anahit Manasyan, Artur Ghambaryan, Armen Mazmanyan, Arsen Tavadyan, Levon Gevorgyan and Tigran Markosyan.

representatives of the non-governmental organization: Karen Zadoyan, representative of the “Armenian Association of Lawyers” non-governmental organization, and Daniel Ioannisyan, representative of the “Union of Informed Citizens” consulting non-governmental organization.

The list of the above-mentioned candidates selected by the Ministry of Justice will be presented to the RA Prime Minister’s Office to address the question of their inclusion in the commission to be established by the decision of the Prime Minister.

At the same time, let us inform you that many applications were studied for the selection of candidates in the Ministry of Justice, and the unselected candidates may have the opportunity to be involved in the work of the commission as an expert or consultant.

 

RA Ministry of Health information and  

public relations department




Armenian MFA spox releases comment on implementation period following Brexit

Arpi Talalian

 16:32,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Spokeswoman of the foreign ministry of Armenia Anna Naghdalyan issued a comment on the implementation period following Brexit (the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union).

Armenpress presents the MFA spokesperson’s full comment:

“In accordance with the revised Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration agreed at the European Council on 17 October 2019, the UK and the EU concurred that existing international agreements would continue to apply for the duration of the transition period from the entry into force of the Withdrawal Agreement until the end of December 2020.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia fully supports this continuity and is ready to grant reciprocal rights to the UK during the implementation period, having in mind the need to ensure stability and certainty in relations with the UK until the end of 2020”.

Bright Armenia Party leader elected first vice-chairperson of PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Arpi Talalian
News.am, Armenia
Jan 27 2020

19:47, 27.01.2020
                  

Leader of Bright Armenia Party Edmon Marukyan has been elected First Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, one of the major committees of the PACE. This is what Edmon Marukyan wrote on his Facebook page.

The Facebook post particularly reads as follows:

“Good news from the PACE

Today I was elected First Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, one of the major committees of the PACE. The chairperson of the Committee has 3 deputies.

I was nominated by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE). The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights consists of 91 members who represent the national parliaments of 47 Council of Europe member states. The Committee has 3 sub-committees.”

CC chairman Hrayr Tovmasyan gives Armenia’s PM 20-day time to ground his statement

Arpi Talalian
Aysor, Armenia
Jan 25 2020

Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan referred in a statement to the claims of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan voiced at a press conference today, describing them as lies, having no relation to reality.

The CC chairman stated that after May 2018 he talked with Armenia’s PM Nikol Pashinyan on phone twice.

“During the first phone conversation he asked me to examine an international agreement necessary for the implementation of Armenia’s international commitments in possible shortest period of time. And the second time we talked at my initiative as I was to organize his meeting with the Chairman of Germany’s Constitutional Court Andreas Voßkuhle in the sidelines of the latter’s visit. I have never met face-to-face with Nikol Pashinyan. I have never visited the Government building and his governmental residence either, with the exception of the meeting with Voßkuhle. Pashinyan as well has neither visited the Constitutional Court, nor my office. I have never offered my services to either Pashinyan or any representative of the authorities,” Hrayr Tovmasyan said in the statement.

“I demand from the PM to publicly voice at least one trustworthy fact, one objective fact showing that at least once after May 2018 I have offered “my services” directly or in a mediated way and proposed “to undertake any step” against Pashinyan or his force’s support to me or the Constitutional Court,” Tovmasyan said.

“I tell and I claim, as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia and an Armenian man, whose honor and dignity are above everything, that lie and forgery are unacceptable and condemnable, especially if voiced by high-ranking official. Starting from this moment, I will patiently wait for 20 days for Pashinyan to publish any objective fact, any trustworthy proof grounding his words. Otherwise, I will ask my lawyers to submit a lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan for slander,” Tovmasyan said in the statement.

Speaking at a press conference earlier today, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed that CC chairman Hrayr Tovmasyan starting from May 2018 first in a daily regime, then in a weekly and then in a monthly offered his services saying “I am the authir of the text of the Constitution and can reveal all the vulnerable sides for us to do something.”
 
“On the background of these proposals he was sent to a corresponding place as I have never had and will never have any wish to cooperate with representatives of the corrupted regime but the Republic of Armenia will have Constitutional Court,” the PM stated at the press conference.

Armenia to ban use of plastic bags from 2022

Arpi Talalian

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 15:19,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The use of plastic bags will be banned in Armenia starting from January 1, 2022, but with some exceptions.

Deputy minister of environment Irina Ghaplanyan told a press conference in Armenpress that the exceptions will include the bags for food packaging, trash bags which are made of a secondary raw material. The alternative to plastic bags is going to be the paper and cloth bags.

“At this period we are actively working with all concerned sides. We held discussions with the representatives of bag producers, restaurants, stores and NGOs. We introduced them the program details. We have started the awareness campaign two years before the launch of the ban so that the producers can revise their work and consume the production volumes”, Irina Ghaplanyan said.

Head of the department of environmental strategy programs and monitoring at the ministry Lusine Avetisyan said a large volume of plastic bags is circulated in Armenia annually. But after this ban comes into force it is expected to get 4 thousand tons of plastic bags out of circulation.

“The plastic bags, which later turn into waste, are not degraded for years which negatively affects our environment. This change is not going to be an additional burden for the consumer, as there will be an alternative to the plastic bags”, Lusine Avetisyan said.

The ministry will carry out an active awareness-raising work among the public to make them know what negative impact the plastic bags, the plastic in general have on the human health and the environment.

Getting the plastic bags out of the circulation is the first step. The ministry is also discussing other initiatives. In particular, it considers introducing the payback system. What does it mean? The bottles made of plastic, aluminum, glass are recyclable. In developed countries there are devices in shopping centers which accept these containers and give citizens a coupon which they can use in supermarkets. Currently research is underway to understand what regulations need to be carried out.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Sports: Disabled athletes take part in the national bench press competition

Arpi Talalian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 19 2019
Sport 16:30 19/10/2019 Armenia

National bench press competition kicked off in Yerevan on Saturday organized by the Powerlifting Federation of Armenia and Armenian National Federation of Disability Sport. The competition started with performances of disabled athletes. Later, professional athletes will take the floor.

Ahead of the official opening ceremony of the competition, the President of Powerlifting Federation of Armenia Levon Kocharyan talked to reporters, saying activities are underway to bring Armenian athletes to international arena.

“Athletes with best results in the Armenian championship will have the opportunity to perform abroad,” Kocharyan said, pointing to the recent success on international arena by Samvel Ghazaryan who took bronze at Arnold Classic 2019 open championship held in Barcelona in September.

Master of Sports in international powerlifting Sergey Asaturov, in turn, pointed to the growing number of disabled athletes and women participating in the tournament. In Asaturov’s words, 50 disabled athletes and 30 women applied this year to participate in the competition with figures doubled to compare with the previous years.

“Athletes with disability who received injuries while protecting the motherland demonstrate not only their spiritual but also physical strength. They also prove that disability may not be an obstacle for their future life, quite the opposite, may open up new opportunities for them. With their example they encourage and motivate others and us,” Asaturov said. 

The Armenian Patriarchate concerned with ongoing wars and chaos in the Middle East

Arpi Talalian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 12 2019
Politics 17:36 12/10/2019 Region

The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has issued a statement about the ongoing military operation launched by Turkey in Northern Syria.  The statement reads they were praying that peace and safety will be established as soon as possible in the area.

“We pray that Operation Peace Spring, which aims to end terrorism and ensure the security of the borders, will continue in accordance with its purpose and establish peace and security as soon as possible,” said Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan, head of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey’s Spiritual Council, in a statement on Friday.

Stating that as the Armenian community they always underscore the importance of people living a prosperous life in an environment of peace, Mashalyan said the ongoing wars and chaos in the Middle East, especially in Syria, worried them deeply as well.

“Unfortunately peace is not always ensured through peaceful means… May God protect our country and our people from disasters with His merciful power,” he added.

To remind, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in Syria’s north on Wednesday, targeting the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara justified its actions by claiming that the SDF are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Ankara designates as a terrorist organization.

Damascus views the operation as a violation of Syria’s territorial integrity, and this sentiment has since been echoed by Russia, and a number of Arab and Western nations.

The delegation headed by Mher Grigoryan will leave for the USA on October 16-23

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The delegation led by RA Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan will leave for the USA on October 16-23. The Prime Minister’s decision on this was made today.


The government delegation will participate there in the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund and in its framework the Human Capital Summit.


The delegation includes the Chairman of the RA Central Bank Artur Javadyan, Head of the Financial System Stability and Development Department of the RA Central Bank Andranik Grigoryan and Head of the Central Bank’s Dilijan Training Center Armen Nurbekyan.

World Congress of Information Technologies Kicks Off in Yerevan

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An concert billed as the fist-ever AI performance, kicked off Word Conference on Information Technologies in Yerevan

The much-anticipated World Congress of Information Technologies kicked off in Armenia on Sunday evening with a concert celebration in Republic Square, featuring the first-ever artificial intelligence concert. The official program for WCIT began on Monday morning at the Karen Demirchyan Sports Complex in Yerevan.

The conference, which will conclude on Wednesday, is the signature event of the World Information Technology & Services Alliance and has brought together more than 2,500 participants from 70 countries.

This year, the WCIT’s theme is “The Power of Decentralization: Promise and Peril” and will explore how information and communications technology is transforming our lives for better and for worse, and its impact on profits and prosperity, safety and security, democracy and humanity.

The Congress will feature keynote presentations and panel sessions that bring together several speakers, among them Kim Kadashian-West, Alexis Ohanian, GIPHY founder Alex Chung, VaynerMedia president Gary Vaynerchuk, renowned musician Serj Tankian, Acer founder Stan Shih, famous CNN journalist Richard Quest and many others.

Sunday night’s concert at Republic Square was led by the WCIT Orchestra, composed of 100 musicians from 15 countries who were performing together for the first time on stage in real time and featured Grammy Award-winning DJ Armin Van Buuren.

The conference kicked off on Monday with welcoming remarks by Alexandr Yesayan, President of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises and chairman of the WCIT 2019 organizing committee.

“This was a big dream to bring this conference to Armenia and specially Karen Vardanyan, CEO of UATE, has this dream for more than ten years,” he said adding that “Armenia is now uniquely positioned today to become the center for this next three days as well as to become the center in the region as IT is developing in our country.”

Deputy Prime Minister TIgran Avinyan participated in the WCIT

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who delivered introductory remarks at the event, said, “we believe we can make Armenia a paradise for talented people”

“The IT sector in our country has grown about five times in the last seven years. A steady 20% to 25% growth is recorded every year,” the PM noted.

Also speaking at the first day of the conference was Richard Clarke, National Security Expert and author, Chairman of the Middle East, Global Change, countries like Armenia can become economic powerhouses.

“Countries like Armenia, countries that train people in how to code, can become economic power houses, by tying into the knowledge economy,” he noted warning that if we do not create international norms, then the IT we are creating will become “a weapon against us”.

It is proven that those countries, such as Armenia, that make a decision to commit to ICT development benefit greatly, said the Yvonne Chiu chair of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, who added that Armenia is deservedly considered the “Silicon Valley of the former Soviet Union.”

On the margins of the WCIT conference, the opening ceremony of DigiTec Expo 2019, the largest and most anticipated event in the IT field, took place at Mergelyan Institute’s Yerevan Expo Center on Sunday.

The Executive Director of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) Karen Vardanyan and the Co-Founder and General Director of Ucom, the Platinum Sponsor of the event, Hayk Yesayan, state officials, representatives of local and international organizations, diplomats and other guests were also present at the opening ceremony of DigiTec.

On the sidelines of the annual regional exhibition of IT technologies DigiTec, Armenia and India signed an agreement on franchising of engineering ArMath laboratories.

Also, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Armenia and Ethiopia which provides for the opening of over 50 engineering laboratories for schoolchildren according to the model operating in Armenia.

According to Vardanyan, the ministers who have arrived in Armenia to participate in the WCIT forum are interested in cooperation with the Armenian side.

Armenian parliament adopts resolution to remove Constitutional Court head

Arpi Talalian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 4 2019

The Armenian National Assembly adopted on Friday a draft resolution calling on the Constitutional Court judges to replace its Chairman Hrayr Tovmasyan.

98 out of 101 lawmakers backed the measure in a secret ballot held from 11am to 12pm. Only one MP voted against the draft resolution, Chairman of the Counting Commission Vahagn Hovakimyan said, summing up the voting results.

Two ballot papers were declared invalid.

Earlier on Thursday, the Bright Armenia faction unveiled its decision to vote for the measure, while Prosperous Armenia said the faction would not take part in the vote.

The resolution is to be submitted to the Constitutional Court.