Powerful earthquake hits off Cyprus coast
09:43,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. A magnitude 6,4 earthquake struck near Cyprus on January 11, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.
The quakes hit 112 km north-west from the city of Limassol at a depth of 2 km.
There were no immediate reports on victims or damages.
Reports said the tremors were felt in nearby Israel, Lebanon and Turkey.
PanARMENIAN.Net – Beginning January 22, anyone aged 18 and older will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result to dine in cafes and restaurants or visit entertainment and cultural venues in Armenia.
According to fresh regulations published by the Ministry of Health, employees at such venues will also need to either be vaccinated or wear a mask and show proof of negative Covid-19 tests.
The ban also applies to museums, movie theaters and libraries.
Children under the age of 18, pregnant women and people who have a contraindication to vaccination are exempt from the requirement.
Expert in Azerbaijan Anzhela Elibegova raises questions about the reaction and possible behavior of Azerbaijan regarding the developments in Kazakhstan.
“Turkey has invested millions in the renaissance of Turkish identity in the Central Asia for decades. Even if the radicals are constrained today, they would rather go underground. The leaders of Kazakhstan would need to show necessary will and have the legitimacy to prevent that evolving network amid the total exclusion any interference from outside. Otherwise, that would come outside again in other places and times,” Elibekova commented on Facebook.
In this context, the expert questions the possible behavior of Azerbaijan. “While glorifying the idea of the Great Turan, Aliyev would hardly tolerate any uncontrollable element within his own country. Now, the time is to start the process of tightening the screw,” the expert stressed.
13:29, 7 January, 2022
YEREVAN, JANUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Armed Forces sent a peacekeeping unit (100 servicemen) to Kazakhstan as part of the CSTO peacekeeping mission, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“During the mission the Armenian peacekeeping unit will carry out functions protecting exclusively buildings and infrastructures of strategic significance”, the ministry’s statement says.
For the first time I felt the state behind me – Nishanian about his release
21:03, 7 January, 2022
YEREVAN, 7 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. Istanbul Armenian intellectual, linguist Sevan Nishanian thanked the Embassy of Armenia in Greece and Ambassador Tigran Mkrchyan for making incredible efforts in the issue of releasing him.
“The Ambassador worked day and night, he didn’t leave me alone for a minute. In my life for the first time I felt that the state is behind me without any preconditions and without any hesitation. Totally other feeling. That’s good, I didn’t know”, ARMENPRESS reports Nishanian wrote on his Facebook page.
The Armenian linguist mentioned that the court ruled to stop holding him under detention. According to Nishanian, it is possible that he will have to leave Greece for some time and probably live in Armenia.
Sevan Nishanian was sentenced to 17 years in prison in Turkey in 2014, but escaped from prison in 2017. On July 25, 2017, Nishanian applied to the Greek authorities for asylum. The Greek government has not extended the residence permit for Nishanian on the occasion of her marriage to a Greek citizen, which expired on December 29. According to the media reports, Nishanian was arrested on December 30 due to the expiration of his residence status.
13:02, 5 January, 2022
YEREVAN, JANUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Minister of Healthcare announced that she will issue an order next Monday mandating the COVID-19 health pass which would require people to produce either a recent negative test result or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate upon entering restaurants or other leisure venues.
Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan said at the Cabinet meeting that she will issue the order on January 10 but it will come into effect after 15 days.
The order will require people who want to enter restaurants, bars or cafes or cultural venues to produce either proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative PCR test results administered within the last 72 hours, or a rapid test result administered in the last 24 hours.
Turkish and Armenian diplomats will meet in Moscow soon.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said today that the first meeting between special envoys from both countries will be held in the Russian capital.
“Aside from the first meeting, we also want communication to be held directly,” said Cavusoglu, as reported by the official Anadolu Agency.
The meeting will focus on re-establishing relations between Armenia and Turkey. The Armenian side requested the meeting take place in Moscow. Cavusoglu added that flights between Turkey and Armenia will soon resume, according to Anadolu. The diplomat did not say when exactly the meeting will take place.
Turkey cut off relations and its borders with Armenia in 1993 after Armenian forces captured the city of Kalbajar from Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan. Turkey reopened its airspace to Armenia in 1995, but the land border remains closed.
Relations between Turkey and Armenia have historically been tense. During the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians were murdered in modern-day Turkey. Many scholars, as well as the US government, recognize the killings as a genocide.
More recently, Turkey backed Azerbaijan militarily in its war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020. The conflict ended in an Azerbaijani victory and a Russia-brokered cease-fire. Armenia was part of the Soviet Union and maintains a close relationship with Russia today.
Despite ongoing tensions, Turkey has worked to repair its relations with Armenia this year. As part of this endeavor, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed a regional economic cooperation platform including Armenia. Earlier this month, Turkey named its special envoy to Armenia. Many obstacles remain to normalization, however, including opposition from some political parties in Armenia.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/turkish-and-armenian-envoys-meet-moscow
The first meeting between Turkish and Armenian special envoys to discuss steps for normalising the ties between the two countries, is expected to be held next month.
“The date for the first meeting between special representatives of Turkiye and Armenia has not yet been set but it is expected to be held in January,” Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.
The envoys at the first meeting will exchange views on a roadmap on which steps can be taken, including confidence-building steps, Cavusoglu noted.
“The first meeting will be important. Afterwards, they will continue in Turkiye and Armenia via videoconference,” he added.
On December 15, Turkiye appointed Serdar Kilic, a former ambassador to the US, as the special envoy to discuss steps for normalisation with Armenia.
Three days later, Armenia appointed National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan its special representative for dialogue with Turkiye.
On December 27, Cavusoglu announced that Russia will host the first meeting between Turkish and Armenian special envoys to discuss steps for normalising the bilateral relations.
Moscow on Tuesday announced that it supports talks, noting that “the whole world will benefit from this re-establishment of neighbourly relations.”
12:52,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 31, ARMENPRESS. 104 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 344 930, the ministry of healthcare reports.
Nearly 8000 COVID-19 tests were conducted on December 30.
211 patients have recovered in one day.
The death toll has risen to 7972 (4 death cases have been registered in the past one day).
The number of active cases is 3894.
The ban on the import of goods of Turkish origin will not be extended
18:58,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Based on the results of the interdepartmental discussions in Armenia, a decision was made not to extend the embargo on Turkish goods, ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Economy of Armenia informs.
In particular, the Ministry notes that the ban on Turkish goods over the past year has had both positive and negative economic consequences.
“One of the positive consequences is a number of newly established or expanded productions in the light industry, construction materials, furniture production, as well as in agriculture, but the main negative effect of the embargo is the significant impact on inflation, which was reflected especially in a number of consumer goods. There are many requests from our businessmen to lift the ban on the import of Turkish goods”, the Ministry said.
During this year, a number of businesses have started to produce goods to replace Turkish ones. The Ministry assured that there will be consistency in ensuring the viability and competitiveness of such companies in the new conditions, assisting them with additional tools if necessary.
“By lifting the ban on the import of Turkish goods, the principle of reciprocity is expected to create more favorable conditions for the export of Armenian goods,” the Ministry said.
By the decision of October 20, 2020, the Government of the Republic of Armenia imposed a temporary ban on the import of final goods of Turkish origin. The ban was then extended until .