Author: Ekmekjian Janet

 17:33,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Pia Kauma.

The Prime Minister emphasized the fact that the OSCE PA session will be held in Yerevan for the first time and expressed hope that effective discussions and active dialogue will take place within the framework of the session, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

Pia Kauma thanked for organizing and hosting the OSCE PA session at a high level, adding that the processes taking place in the South Caucasus and the international arena will be discussed.

The sides referred to the humanitarian problems of more than 100,000 forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing policy, as well as to the steps taken by the Armenian government to overcome them. The support of the international community in solving the existing problems was emphasized.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the process of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. The importance of continuing the peace process based on the principles agreed upon in the trilateral meetings held in Brussels on May 14 and July 15, 2023 was emphasized.

Nikol Pashinyan and Pia Kauma exchanged views on regional peace and stability, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

 18:33, 7 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Kimmo Kiljunen and Boriana Åberg, Co-Rapporteurs on Armenia of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout.

The Prime Minister welcomed the visit of the co-rapporteurs to Armenia and emphasized the close cooperation of the Armenian government and the Council of Europe, particularly in the effective promotion of democratic reforms and other directions. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the development of democracy and the reforms agenda is the strategy of the Armenian government and that consistent work in that direction will be continuous. The Prime Minister presented the steps implemented and planned by the government within the framework of the anti-corruption policy. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the reforms have also contributed to the formation of a level playing field in the economy and the economic growth in our country.

Nikol Pashinyan referred to the forced deportation of more than 100,000 of our compatriots from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing policy and the resulting humanitarian situation, as well as the steps taken by the Armenian government to overcome it. The assistance of the international community in solving the existing problems was emphasized. The Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of the resolutions adopted by PACE regarding the rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

 15:32, 6 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. On November 1-3, at the invitation of the U.S. European Command, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, First Deputy Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Edward Asryan visited the U․S․ European Command Center in Stuttgart.
On November 3, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan held a meeting with the Deputy Commander for U.S. European Command Lieutenant General Stephen Basham.
During the meeting issues related to the development of the Armenian-American military cooperation were discussed, the Ministry of Defense said in a readout.
Lieutenant General Edward Asryan briefed on the details of the ongoing reforms in the Armed Forces of Armenia and the support expected from the US.
Lieutenant General Stephen Basham expressed the willingness of the US to continue supporting current cooperation programs in the following areas: professionalization of Armed Forces, professional sergeant staff's strengthening, modernization of the management system, peacekeeping, military medicine, military education, combat readiness, trainings, etc.
Issues related to regional security were also discussed.
On the sidelines of the visit, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan also visited the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre of the U.S. Ground Forces in Europe and the NCO Academy located in Hohenfels.

 15:58, 6 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The investor who sought to buy some 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem has ignored a letter by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem cancelling the controversial real estate deal and has started demolition works, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem warned Monday.

The party relevant to the cancelled contract, instead of giving a legal response, reacted with the demolition of walls and a parking lot, scraping of asphalt pavements and even threatened to cause more harm, the Chancellery of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.

“Yesterday they even brought security guards armed with high powered rifles and tactically trained dogs demanding an evacuation of the Armenian presence in the parking lot. As a reaction to this, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, members of the St. James Brotherhood, and members of the Armenian community, gathered in the Armenian Gardens and peacefully expressed their discontent. After a few hours, the two sides agreed to disperse until the Patriarchate receives an answer to their sent cancellation letter,” the Chancellery of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem added in a communique.

FROM AFP NEWS

Armenia PM Hopes For Azerbaijan Peace Deal 'In Coming Months'

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By Irakli METREVELI

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday he hoped to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the coming months, after Baku recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic-Armenian separatists in September.

Yerevan and Baku have been locked in a decades-long conflict for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh.

Baku reclaimed the mountainous enclave in late September in a 24-hour offensive that ended decades of Armenian separatist rule.

"We are currently working on the draft agreement with Azerbaijan on peace and the normalisation of relations, and I hope this process will successfully conclude in the coming months," said Pashinyan.

The future peace treaty would be based on the mutual recognition of the Caucasus neighbours' Soviet-era borders, he told an international economic forum in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said a peace treaty with Yerevan could be signed by the end of the year.

Yerevan had expressed fears that energy-rich Baku might try to press its advantage.
Its concern is that it might – with the help of ally Turkey — seek to forcibly connect its Nakhichevan exclave with Azerbaijan proper by capturing lands in southern Armenia, the so-called Zangezur corridor along the Iranian border.

It has also accused Baku of "ethnic cleansing" as almost all of Karabakh's ethnic Armenian population — some 100,000 people — fled for Armenia after Baku's lightning offensive, sparking a refugee crisis.

Pashinyan said Armenia was ready "to open, reopen, rebuild, build all regional communications" if its sovereignty over the area is not questioned.

Baku has vowed to ensure the rights of Karabakh's Armenians are protected. It has denied having any territorial claims to Armenia, saying it could set up a land link with Nakhichevan via Iran instead of Armenia.

Pashinyan also said Thursday that he hoped the border between Armenia and Turkey could be opened for citizens of third countries and diplomats "in the near future".

Ankara closed its border with Armenia in the 1990s in solidarity with ally Azerbaijan.

In 2020 and in the 1990s, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars for control of Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but home — at least until recently — to a majority ethnic-Armenian population.

With the traditional regional power broker Russia bogged down in its Ukraine war, the European Union and United States have taken a lead role in brokering an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.

But the talks have so far failed to produce a breakthrough and Aliyev has recently expressed scepticism about Western mediation efforts.

Citing France's "biased position," he refused to attend another round of peace talks with Pashinyan in Spain earlier in October. They had been due to take place under the mediation of the EU chief Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Aliyev said peace talks with Yerevan could be held in Georgia "if Yerevan agrees", but Pashinyan — who is keen on Western mediation — rejected the idea.

On Monday, Iran and Russia denounced Western "interference" in tensions between Yerevan and Baku at a foreign ministers' meeting in Tehran that also included top diplomats from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.

 17:15,

SOFIA, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS/BTA. Following a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov on Thursday in Brussels, the non-governmental organisation Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) welcomed his willingness and commitment to strengthening media freedom and the right to information in Bulgaria, RSF said on Friday. The organisation assured that it will continue to monitor the implementation of these goals in Bulgaria.

In the course of the conversation on the sidelines of the European Council meeting in Brussels Denkov responded positively to the RSF's call to take action in support of press freedom and the right of Bulgarian citizens to have access to reliable news and information.

Denkov expressed particular concern about the "misinformation and strong pressure journalists are subjected to in Bulgaria" and pointed out that his government is ready to use the experience of RSF to implement the necessary reforms at national and European level.

Denkov and RSF agreed to cooperate to guarantee press freedom and the right to information, using the experience and initiatives of RSF. 

"We welcome Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov's willingness to implement the necessary reforms to guarantee press freedom and the right to reliable information. We will remain vigilant in this difficult context and will be available to contribute to concrete results," RSF said in a statement.

According to the Reporters Without Borders' 2023 global media freedom index, Bulgaria is ranked 71st out of 180 countries, climbing 41 places in the ranking for the past two years.

(This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.)

 15:09,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Tbilisi.

Pashinyan and Garibashvili discussed “issues related to the Armenian-Georgian cooperation agenda, including bilateral economic relations”, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

The processes taking place in the region were also discussed.

The Armenian and Georgian prime ministers attached importance to the implementation of sustained steps in the direction of peace and stability, the Prime Minister’s Office said.