Author: Emil Karabekian

President Khachaturyan meets with Armenian community representatives in Germany

Emil Karabekian

 11:04,

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has met with members of the Armenian community of Germany during his visit to the country.

During the meeting the Armenian President presented details on the regional realities and the current general situation of the Karabakh conflict.

President Khachaturyan emphasized that Armenia has adopted a political line of establishing peace in the region and normalizing relations with neighbors.

The President also discussed domestic social-political developments in Armenia, the activeness in the Armenian economic life and ongoing reforms. A Q&A with the participants also took place.

[see video]

Armenian Embassy announces launch of direct flights between Kuwait and Armenia

Emil Karabekian
June 11 2023

By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: Armenian Ambassador Sarmen Baghdasaryan announced at a press conference on Sunday the launch of direct flights between Armenia and Kuwait from June 22, with two weekly flights by Armenian national carrier Fly Arna. He also announced exempting Kuwaiti citizens from visas and e-visas (or visa on arrival) for foreigners residing in Kuwait (depending on their nationality).

The launch of the direct flights coincides with the Eid al-Adha holiday. Baghdasaryan pointed out this is another example of the developing relationship between Armenia and Kuwait, which are built on mutual trust and respect. He added the direct flights will enhance existing relations and enrich them, especially when it comes to economic ties and people-to-people contacts. “Armenia has many advantages to offer to holiday travelers. It is a nearby destination, with a 2-hour flight.

It is a family-friendly destination with activities suitable for all the members of the family, especially children. The capital Yerevan is considered one of the top 20 safest and secure cities in the world,” he said. “Armenia has also turned into a destination for foodies, given the sensational tastes and variety of cuisines and fusions offered. Young people can also enjoy adventure tourism like mountain climbing, diving, surfing and skiing,” Baghdasaryan added.

The ambassador also mentioned the social values and culture are very similar between Arabs and Armenians, saying Armenia is looking forward to welcoming Kuwaitis to the country. He added the number of foreign tourists who visited Armenia between January to April 2023 increased by more than 700,000 compared to the same period in 2019. Baghdasaryan concluded by pointing out that the number of visitors from the UAE to Armenia is around 10,000, with 36 daily flights between GCC countries and Armenia.

https://www.kuwaittimes.com/armenian-embassy-announces-launch-of-direct-flights-between-kuwait-and-armenia/

Iran-Armenia Trade Exchanges to Reach $3 Billion: Envoy

Emil Karabekian
TASNIM News Agency

Iran –


TEHRAN (Tasnim) –Iran’s trade exchanges with neighboring Armenia currently reached $700 million, Iran’s newly-appointed ambassador to Armenia said, adding that the volume of bilateral trade is targeted to reach $3 billion.

Speaking in a meeting with the governor general of Zanjan province on Thursday, Mehdi Sobhani stated that the expansion of relations with neighboring states is among the main foreign policy agendas of the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi.

Provinces can play a leading role in boosting the country’s economy, he emphasized.

Sobhani put the value of Iran’s exchanges of trade with Armenia at more than $700 million and reiterated that it is targeted to increase to $3 billion in the future.

Armenia is the gateway for Iran to enter a lucrative market of a 200-million population due to its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Iran’s new envoy stated, calling on Iranian producers to take advantage of opportunities created for them to get the lion’s share at this profitable market.  

Stressing the need to organize an exhibition of showcasing products of this province, Sobhani said that flourishing foreign trade will help boom production and generate employment in the country.

Philos Project Leads Delegation to Armenia Amid Crisis

Emil Karabekian
1:08 PM EDT

WASHINGTON,  /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Philos Project concluded a three-day trip that introduced American Christian and Jewish thought leaders to Armenia’s rich history and the existential threats that face this Christian country from its neighbors. The trip, which comes nearly six months after Azerbaijan initiated a blockade of Armenian Christians in the adjacent Nagorno-Karabakh region was led by Philos Project President Robert Nicholson and former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

Participants included leaders of Christian advocacy groups, like David Curry, President and CEO of Global Christian Relief; Carlos Duran, Founder and President of the National Association of Hispanic Pastors of America; Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at Family Research Council; and Denise Bubeck, Deputy Director of the Church Ambassador Network at THE FAMiLY LEADER, among others. They were joined by Jewish leaders and experts from several think tanks, including Michael Ruben, Greg Schaller, and Gregg Roman, as well as journalists from both secular and religious publications.

Since December 12th, Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor has cut the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, largely Armenian Christians, off from the outside world. The siege has created a humanitarian disaster that may soon become untenable for the 120,000 residents, precipitating what some have warned may be a Second Armenian Genocide. Constant, aggressive rhetoric from Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev, a self-proclaimed ally of the United States, seems to lend credence to such warnings. 

That same month Nicholson began examining the challenges Armenians face in an in-depth series on his podcast, The Deep Map. In January he stepped up his advocacy, sending a letter to President Bidenurging his administration to help lift the blockade, provide humanitarian aid, and work toward a lasting and just resolution of the long-standing dispute. In May, he appealed to the House Committee for Foreign Affairs, yet the blockade remains.

Nicholson and Brownback co-led this trip to help American thought leaders better understand the crisis in the region and consider how Christian and Jewish communities might contribute to potential solutions. Participants visited medieval monasteries, conversed with local residents affected by Azerbaijani aggression in the city of Jermuk, and met with Armenia’s President, Vahagn Khachaturyan. In a video statement, Ambassador Brownback expressed his gratitude to the president for spending “a huge amount of time” with the delegation discussing the “breadth of the issues,” confiding that “central to all of this is the building of the relationship” between Armenia and American Christians that so far “hasn’t been fully actualized.”

“We cannot allow the crisis in Armenia to be dismissed as a simple territorial dispute,” said Philos Project Founder Robert Nicholson. “This is a dispute about values.” Adding further, Nicholson said. “Advocates for human rights, Christians concerned about preserving their historic roots, and Jews who know all too well the struggle against genocidal forces, all have a stake in advocating for Armenia’s Christians. “

 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philos-project-leads-delegation-to-armenia-amid-crisis-301853298.html

https://www.streetinsider.com/PRNewswire/Philos+Project+Leads+Delegation+to+Armenia+Amid+Crisis/21809484.html

The construction boom in Armenia will continue for a long time. Pashinyan

Emil Karabekian

 18:47,

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. There is a construction boom in Armenia and it will continue for a long time, because the government is making a new decision, ARMENPRESS reports, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during the discussion of the bill on approving the annual report on the implementation of the 2022 state budget of the Republic of Armenia in the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister noted that the opposition thinks what the Armenian government has to do with the 12 percent economic growth of 2022.

“I have to disappoint, don’t I? There is a big construction boom in Armenia today. How did that happen? It is related to a very specific program of the government, when we decided that we will continue to return the income tax for the mortgage loan and after January 1, 2025, this system will not work in Yerevan. And all those investors, who knew that there is a huge demand for housing in Yerevan, rushed to invest, because in 2022, the 35 billion drams were not going to be invested in that project. That construction boom will continue for a long time, because we are now making the next decision,” said Pashinyan.

“In 2025, the program will leave Yerevan, in the next phase, most likely, from January 1, 2028, it will be closed for regions near Yerevan. And the program will be available for all other regions.

And this construction boom, saturating Yerevan and the regions near Yerevan, will reach the most remote settlements of Armenia. Today we see its phenomena. We have newly built buildings in Kapan, we also support with state programs to increase purchasing power and competitiveness in the market,” said the Prime Minister.

According to him, in those constructions, equipment is being used that has not been in Armenia for 30 years. According to the Prime Minister, it was also due to the state program for the modernization of the economy, by which the state subsidizes the interest on the loans taken by the companies for purchasing equipment.

The updated report of Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender published, with the data of six months of blockade

Emil Karabekian

 18:24,

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. On June 12, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh published an updated version of the ad hoc trilingual report on the violations of individual and collective human rights as a result of the 6 months (182-day) blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh.

The report comprehensively and in detail presents data on the violations of 7 individual rights, 5 rights of vulnerable groups and 4 collective rights, which reflect the deepening humanitarian crisis and the genocidal policy of Azerbaijan towards the people of Artsakh.

Below are presented some basic data reflected in the Report on human rights violations as a result of the 182-day blockade:

  • The movement of people passing through the Stepanakert-Goris highway (along the Lachin corridor) has decreased by about 198 times (2246 entries and departures instead of 445,900);
  • Almost 58 times less car traffic was recorded on the road compared to what should have been in case of no blockade (2,867 car entries and departures, performed only by the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers, instead of 167,440);
  • Approximately 13 times less vital cargo was imported compared to what should have been in case of no blockade (5,574 tons instead of 72,800 tons);
  • Due to the suspension of the pre-planned operations, about 1400 citizens lost the opportunity to solve their health problems via operations;
  • Azerbaijan has completely or partially interrupted the gas supply from Armenia to Artsakh for a total of 117 days;
  • The electricity supply from Armenia to Artsakh has been completely cut for 154 days now, which led to the introduction of rolling blackouts followed by numerous accidents;
  • According to preliminary estimates, about 11,000 people have actually lost their jobs and sources of income (including cases of job retention)
  • The country’s economy suffered loss in the amount of about USD 346 million;
  • A number of violations of rights are more pronounced in case of vulnerable groups, in particular 30,000 children, 9,000 people with disabilities, 20,000 older people, 60,000 women (women and girls) and 15,000 displaced persons.

In addition to the continuous and multiple violations of the provisions of the Tripartite Statement of November 9, 2020, the mandatory execution of the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations (UN) on ensuring unhindered entry and departure of people, cars and cargo along the Lachin corridor has not been implemented by Azerbaijan, which once again tramples on the highest international values and principles. Moreover, after that the Azerbaijani side resorted to new aggressive actions which resulted in human losses and new sufferings among Artsakh people. Since April 23, the Azerbaijani side has installed an illegal checkpoint near the Hakari bridge. Consequently, the international community has not only the right, but also an indisputable obligation to implement the decision of the Supreme International Court of Justice by practical means as soon as possible and to prevent future Azerbaijani crimes, including the new planned and brutal crime against humanity.

All the violations of Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh are carried out within the framework of its state policy of racial discrimination (Armenophobia) and are deeply directed against their right to self-determination and the fact of its realisation, aimed at finally resolving the conflict to their advantage via ethnic cleansing based on the “no people, no rights” logic.

The systematic and consistent policy of ethnic hatred pursued by Azerbaijan, which manifested itself both during the aggression against the people of Artsakh in 2020 and after the establishment of the ceasefire regime, indisputably proves that any status of Artsakh within Azerbaijan is tantamount to ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and the genocide of the Armenians of Artsakh. Therefore, in the context of the Artsakh conflict, the right to self-determination is equal to the right of people to live in their homeland.

The fundamental right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh, as well as the Azerbaijani encroachments and threats against their physical existence on the basis of racial discrimination are more than sufficient grounds for the protection of the people of Artsakh by the international community, as well as the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh based on the principle of “remedial recognition”.

The report is available at the following link: https://artsakhombuds.am/en/document/1028.

 





Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 09-06-23

Emil Karabekian

 16:48, 9 June 2023

YEREVAN, 9 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 9 June, USD exchange rate down by 0.86 drams to 386.18 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.28 drams to 415.57 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.05 drams to 4.67 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.02 drams to 484.54 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 66.19 drams to 24414.77 drams. Silver price up by 0.41 drams to 293.89 drams.

Moscow attacked by drones – says mayor

Emil Karabekian

 09:58, 30 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Several unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the Russian capital on Tuesday morning, damaging several buildings, RT reported citing a statement from Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

Two drones struck residential buildings, according to local news reports.

Sobyanin, citing data from the city medical services, said that no residents of the buildings hit by the UAVs were seriously hurt. He added that two people requested medical assistance at the scene.

Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a statement that “several drones” bound for Moscow were shot down by air defenses. 

“This morning, residents of some districts in the Moscow Region could hear the sounds of explosions – it was our air defense in operation. Several drones were downed on their course to Moscow,” TASS news agency quoted Vorobyov as saying.

Emergency services are clarifying the circumstances of the incident, Moscow authorities added.

[see video]

The attack comes after two drones – claimed by Russia to have been Ukrainian – attempted to strike the Kremlin earlier this month. Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President of Russia Vladimir Putin and vowed retaliation, but Kiev denied responsibility.

Points of agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan: View from Baku

Emil Karabekian
June 1 2023
  • JAMnews
  • Baku

Similarities between Azerbaijan and Armenia

“We are sharpened on the contradictions between Azerbaijan and Armenia and we understand what topics are related to the contradictions,” political observer Farkhad Mammadov says. In his latest analysis, he outlines the points on which the interests of Azerbaijan and Armenia are concordant. “The list of topics includes those on which there is already agreement, and those on which there are no discussions, but the positions of Baku and Yerevan are similar,” he says.

Mammadov said that “in this process Azerbaijan takes unilateral actions, after which Armenia opposes them to the detriment of its own interests, but after a certain time accepts reality and tries to take steps in accordance with its interests on its territory.”

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“For two and a half years Azerbaijan and Armenia have discussed this topic up and down. There seemed to be no fundamental differences, but the parties tried to use the time to implement their own agenda to the detriment of the other. The principle of sovereignty over roads became irreversible after the establishment of a checkpoint on the conditional border of the Lachin road. That is, a step was taken after which the principle of sovereignty over roads took shape and content.”

“Armenia was not going to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as it has become accustomed for 30 years not to respect this fundamental principle. The Armenian leadership came to the conclusion that it is necessary to recognize Azerbaijan’s 29,800 thousand square kilometers. Today there is an understanding that a clear mutual recognition of territorial integrity is a condition for normalization.”

“Just as in Armenia they believe Azerbaijan an instrument of punishment for Armenia, so in Azerbaijan they believe that Armenia is used to limit the independence of Azerbaijan.

Baku took action when Pecres with Iranian saboteurs penetrated the territory of Armenia in Karabakh, forcing Armenia to abandon the idea of using its territory against Azerbaijan.

Today the leadership of Azerbaijan and Armenia has the opportunity to create at least some predictability in relations. The peace treaty is an important predictability mechanism.”

Political scientist Elkhan Shahinoglu commented on the meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow through the mediation of the President of Russia

“Azerbaijan and Armenia are not interested in the theme of the conflict being used in domestic politics.

Each of the countries has external players who can use the topic of conflict in domestic politics, stimulating the “fifth columns” and influencing the information component of domestic politics.”

“The previous theme is personified in the person of Vardanyan, who appeared in Karabakh as an envoy of Russia and had to achieve success there in order to develop success in Armenia. Both Baku and Yerevan were interested in the failure of the “Vardanyan project”, but Armenia nevertheless allowed its territory to be used for Vardanyan’s appearance in Karabakh.

The leadership of Azerbaijan set a condition, which the leadership of Armenia accepted and fulfilled – Vardanyan was removed.

The “Vardanyan Project” has increased contradictions in the already complicated relations between Armenia and Russia,” Farhad Mammadov believes

Thus, “Azerbaijan’s unilateral actions allow Armenia to get out of the shackles of the loss of sovereignty and become subject, to act in accordance with the objective, natural interests of the country in the realities that President Ilham Aliyev is shaping. Since only the renunciation of the territorial claim to Azerbaijan is a condition for the restoration of the lost sovereignty of Armenia.”

https://jam-news.net/points-of-agreement-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan-view-from-baku/

Aliyev thanks Putin for efforts to normalize Baku-Yerevan relations

Emil Karabekian
 TASS 
Russia – May 25 2023
Vladimir Putin is holding two separate meetings on Thursday with Aliyev and Pashinyan

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for Moscow’s efforts to normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the Russian side for its efforts to normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We highly appreciate these efforts,” Aliyev said on Thursday at the opening of talks with Putin in Moscow.

Aliyev pointed out that the Russian president’s participation in Thursday’s planned trilateral meeting with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow shows that Russia attaches great importance to ensuring that Baku and Yerevan come to a peace agreement.

Putin is holding two separate meetings on Thursday with Aliyev and Pashinyan. The leaders will then hold trilateral talks, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters.