Author: Emil Lazarian

 13:20,

BEIJING, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. Reporter of international department at China Daily, Yang Ran, sees the future of classical journalism and social networks in a balanced development.

Yang Ran delivered a lecture for reporters who are participating in the program organized by China International Press Communication Center, touching upon the Chinese social platforms. She said that Chinese social platforms have two main directions, they are means of entertainment and development.

Cultural peculiarities and relevant trends are one of the main directions of Chinese social platforms.

“Currently, the traditional media outlets are facing a serious problem how to keep the balance between the classical journalism and social platforms. The future of classical journalism and social networks is in the joint, balanced development of both”, China Daily’s reporter said.

According to the study made by China International Press Communication Center, 1,32 billion people in China are connected to the internet. 90.5% of the internet users mainly use those social platforms where short videos are posted.

Now, social platforms considered to be entertainment platforms are more popular in China, they pass the Chinese Wechat, which is quite widespread across the country.

Wechat is not only a social platform for exchanging messages, but also serves for monetary payments and other programs.

There are also the Chinese versions of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook in China.

Reporting by Varvara Hayrapetyan

 13:22,

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Artur Martirosyan received Ambassador of Albania to Armenia Luela Hajdaraga (residence in Athens, Greece), the ministry said.

Congratulating the Ambassador on appointment, the Armenian Deputy Minister wished her a productive work for the benefit of the development of the Armenian-Albanian ties. He expressed confidence that the Ambassador will contribute to further strengthening and deepening the relations between Armenia and Albania.

The Ambassador of Albania thanked for the reception and stated that there are many commonalities between Armenia and Albania, and the close cooperation in educational, cultural and a number of other directions has a very big potential.

Deputy Minister Martirosyan in turn noted that the cooperation with Albania is also special in a sense that being a transitional country it has significant achievements that could be taken into consideration in the context of developing Armenia’s education, cultural, science and other sectors.

The sides discussed the bilateral and multilateral cooperation prospects in education, culture and youth spheres and expressed readiness to encourage the agencies operating in these areas to expand the partnership. As a first step they highlighted the opportunity of inter-university cooperation within Erasmus+, Horizon Europe programs, the cultural mutual visits and the partnership between youth structures.

The Deputy Minister of Culture drew the attention of the Ambassador to the issue of preservation of Armenian cultural heritage in the territories under the Azerbaijani control, stating that the Armenian side is expecting the support of the international community, including Albania, so that Azerbaijan refrains from destroying and distorting the Armenian cultural heritage.

In response the Ambassador said that the government of Albania is well aware of the current situation and expressed readiness to convey these concerns to the Albanian government.

Artur Martirosyan invited the Ambassador to attend the STARMUS VI festival in Armenia on September 5-10.

 18:08,

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. On July 21, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to Armenia Lukas Rosenkranz presented his credentials to the President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the President, Vahagn Khachaturyan congratulated the Ambassador, wished him productive work and expressed confidence that he will use his long-term professional abilities in the best way to further strengthen and develop the relations between our two countries.

The President noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Switzerland, and during these three decades, Armenian-Swiss relations have been distinguished by high-level political dialogue and close cooperation in many fields. According to the President, since the independence of Armenia, in difficult moments for our country, the Armenian people have always felt the support and help of Switzerland. The President also highly appreciated the work of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which implements various programs in Armenia, particularly in the fields of agriculture and fight against corruption.

Ambassador Lukas Rosenkranz noted that it is a great honor to represent his country in Armenia and during his tenure he will do his best to further strengthen and expand the already existing high-level relations. According to the Ambassador, there is great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of trade, high technologies, science, and education, and Switzerland is ready to double the number of existing programs, particularly aimed at the development of agriculture and the fight against climate change.

 10:10,

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender Kristinne Grigoryan held a meeting with the Vice President of Bundestag – Germany’s parliament – Katrin Göring-Eckardt, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the German Embassy in Armenia Markus Tschan, Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus Regional Director Sonja Schiffers and Armenia project coordinator Evia Hovhannisyan.

Upon Katrin Göring-Eckardt’s request, the Human Rights Defender presented the main challenges in the human rights area, especially the humanitarian issues in the post-war period, including the issues of repatriating the PoWs who are still held in Azerbaijan, social protection and psychological assistance to the families of the PoWs and those missing, security of border towns and other issues, as well as issues related to fighting discrimination and the political and economic empowerment of women. Katrin Göring-Eckardt also inquired on the guarantees of the Human Rights Defender’s independence, issues of cooperation between the Human Rights Defender and the Government, international organizations. Grigoryan presented the cooperation mechanisms with the government and the main directions and joint programs implemented with international organizations.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation representatives addressed the programs they are implementing in Armenia and in the region, main directions of their work and their priorities in Armenia.

 10:48,

YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with Speaker of the Senate (upper house of parliament) of Poland Tomasz Grodzki on the sidelines of his official visit in Warsaw, the Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

During the meeting the sides agreed that the close parliamentary cooperation plays an important role in enriching the agenda of the Armenian-Polish inter-state relations and further deepening the friendly ties. In this respect the importance of maintaining active mutual visits and contacts at different levels was emphasized.

FM Mirzoyan presented the ongoing reforms of the Armenian government aimed at strengthening democracy, protecting human rights and ensuring rule of law.

In his turn Tomasz Grodzki said that he fully supports Armenia on the path to democratic progress.

During the meeting FM Mirzoyan introduced Tomasz Grodzki on the current situation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone and the position of the Armenian side over the settlement of the NK conflict and the normalization of the relations with Azerbaijan. Ararat Mirzoyan said that Azerbaijan’s maximalist rhetoric distorts the efforts aimed at establishing regional stability and peace.

Touching upon the post-war humanitarian problems, the Armenian FM stressed the necessity of the urgent release and repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in Azerbaijan, as well as the preservation of Armenian historical-cultural and religious heritage in the territories that have come under the Azerbaijani control.

It was stated that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict must be solved peacefully around a negotiation table.

Tomasz Grodzki expressed readiness to support the efforts of achieving peace.

 13:27,

YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. 5 Armenian school-children participated in the 2022 International Physics Olympiad which was held online from July 10 to 17, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport said.

3 of them captured bronze medals, and the other two – certificates of honor.

More than 300 students from 79 countries participated in the Olympiad.

The Olympiad was held in two rounds – experimental and theoretical.

At last year’s Olympiad, which was also held online, the team of Armenia captured 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.

 14:30,

GYUMRI, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. Gyumri Vice Mayor Davit Arushanyan and the Mayor of the Russian city of Tver Alexey Ogonkov signed a cooperation agreement on July 20.

Under the agreement, Gyumri and Tver became sister cities.

Arushanyan presented to Ogonkov Gyumri’s potential and resources in culture, sport, IT, tourism and light industry.

He said that the agreement is “the first step” in strengthening the friendly relations between Gyumri and Tver.

“Meetings and mutual-visits of delegations will be organized to coordinate partnership and exchange opinions on issues of mutual interest, consultations and negotiations will be held and if necessary working groups will be launched to cooperate in various areas,” Arushanyan said, adding that they agreed to contribute to creating business ties between the two cities.

Mayor Ogonkov noted that the Armenian community has its contribution in the development of a number of areas in Tver, in person of the locals of Gyumri living in Tver.

 15:03,

YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Embassy of the United States in Armenia released a clarification over the recent publication in its website titled “Message for U.S Citizens” seeking Community Liaison Volunteers.

“U.S. Embassies worldwide regularly recruit Citizen Liaison Volunteers to help share information with and render assistance to U.S. citizens living and traveling abroad. This is a routine consular matter”, the Embassy said.

U.S. Embassy Yerevan recently published a Message for U.S. Citizens seeking Community Liaison Volunteers (https://am.usembassy.gov/clo-message-us-citizens/)