Author: Emil Lazarian

 10:36, 13 July 2022

YEREVAN, JULY 13, ARMENPRESS. Winemaking is one of the most prospective fields in Armenia. The sector is always full of new and interesting ideas and projects aimed at attracting tourists.

The Sea Of Wine program director Ani Manaseryan shared to ARMENPRESS another interesting program which is implemented for boosting the sector.

She said that the main purpose is to develop wine tourism in Armenia, but from a comprehensive perspective to position the partner countries of the Black Sea region as an important wine travel destination and help the concerned sides of wine tourism develop common approaches.

“I would like to note that in order to achieve this goal, wine routes have been developed during the program, and they are more than the routes with linear mapping, we have developed thematic routes “Wine and Art”, “Wine and Adventures”, “Wine and Gastronomy”, etc.

We have created a website for this which presents all winemaking factories in Armenia, their history and the list of wine tourism services. Trainings were also organized for winemaking concerned sides aimed at improving the tourism services”, Ani Manaseryan said.

She informed that one more event will be held soon entitled “Let’s Talk About Wine”. During the meeting the participants will discuss opportunities of improving the service quality of wine tourism.

The project is co-funded by the European Union and is being implemented by the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education Foundation. The project involves Armenia, Georgia, Greece and Ukraine. “I want to note that Armenia is the coordinator of the project in the person of the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education Foundation. We started it in 2020 August and will end by yearend”, she stated.

ISTANBUL

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday as part of peace talks between the two South Caucasus countries.

Accompanied by their respective delegations, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan met in Tbilisi, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The top officials from Azerbaijan and Armenia also held meetings with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili.

The Georgian foreign minister welcomed the meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in a bilateral format, the statement said.

According to the statement, Georgia expressed hope for peaceful coexistence in the South Caucasus and stable development of the region.

Georgia reiterates “its commitment to contribute, through joint efforts, to peace and stability in the region,” the statement added.

“Very proud to see Tbilisi being a venue for a meeting,” Darchiashvili said on Twitter, adding: “Feel confident that our joint efforts to build peace and stability in the region will yield results.”

Meanwhile, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two “sides discussed the implementation of previously undertaken commitments and exchanged views on further possible steps.”

For its part, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two ministers discussed a wide range of issues pertinent to the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“Bayramov highlighted that based on the post-conflict realities (that) emerged after the resolution of the armed conflict between the two states, all efforts need to be directed towards making progress in building good-neighborly inter-state relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the statement added.

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

A tripartite agreement was brokered by Russia to bring an end to the war in November 2020.

 11:31,

YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan had a meeting with Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov in Nur-Sultan during his working visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan. ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure informed that issues related to bilateral cooperation in the field of energy were discussed. In particular, the possibilities and conditions for the import of oil products from Kazakhstan to Armenia were discussed.

Issues regarding the exchange of successful experiences in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency were also discussed.

 11:59,

YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in the sidelines of his working visit to Georgia, ARMENPRESS reports the Government of Georgia informs.

During the meeting, the central topic of discussion was the meeting between Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, which will take place in Tbilisi after hours. Garibashvili emphasized the importance of having a positive dialogue.

The parties also discussed the Armenian-Georgian bilateral relations and future cooperation prospects, particularly in the fields of economy and bilateral trade.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Irakli Garibashvili spoke about the latest developments in the South Caucasus, emphasizing the need to have a peaceful region.

 12:37,

YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. The meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov has started in Tbilisi, hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, ARMENPRESS reports Spokesman of MFA Armenia Vahan Hunanyan informed.

 09:58,

YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS. On June 7 the presidency of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia elected Arsen Bobokhyan Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography. Arsen Bobokhyan has been working in the Institute since 1998. He has published 208 academic articles, 9 books. In an interview to ARMENPRESS, Mr. Bobokhyan told about the future plans and shared his concerns connected with the field.

The excavation period has already started in the Republic. Bobokhyan said that excavations are carried out in monuments of all ages, starting from the Stone Age to the Middle Age. “Currently, different excavations are taking place in monuments of stone age (Aghitu), bronze and iron ages (Karnut, Solak), ancient (Artashat), medieval (Tavush, Aruch). The excavations will intensify in the second half of July and especially in August (Dvin, Dashtadem, Artanish, etc). More than 20 expeditions will work this year, most of them are international. All monuments are important and could give an unexpected result”, he said.

Arsen Bobokhyan notes that archaeology of the 21^st century is oriented not by findings, but by the excavation process. “Therefore, the excavations that are done methodically correctly are valuable. There are excavations which do not have outstanding findings, but they are carried out in such detail and care, that they could be considered highly effective. I highly value all excavations carried out by the Institute, there are just some excavations of a sensational nature. The tomb that was accidentally opened in Shahumyan village last year was like that, it dates back to 2800-2600 BC, and the bulk material with hundreds of metal objects and pottery is exclusive in its significance not only in regional context”, he said.

He informed that the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography carries out a lot of excavations, but the existing space is not enough for preserving that materials. “Now we are trying to give the findings of old excavations to museums, make a free space in the Institute, but the area is not enough again. The processing of archaeological material lasts long and archaeologists, including me, fail to do it quickly. Years are passing and we do not manage to repay our debts. But in case of existence of a space and opportunities, that process would have been gone faster. We have been promised to be provided with at least one or two floors in the building of the library of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia in order to transfer the Institute’s laboratories there. We are looking forward to that day”, he said.

As for the funding to the excavations, he said that the government provides them with respective funding, but they also have extra-budgetary programs provided by the Science Committee. “Foreign expeditions also make some investments. In particular, we have Armenian-American, Armenian-French, Armenian-Italian, Armenian-Israeli, Armenian-German and other expeditions”, he noted.

Asked how many archaeological sites of Artsakh have become under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the 2020 war, and what is the Institute going to do for them, Arsen Bobokhyan said: “There are many lost ancient sites. We have a group of Artsakh in the Institute, which has created a website about the monitoring of Karabakh monuments in cooperation with American archaeologists. The presentation of the website will take place soon in the National Academy of Sciences. Quantitative data will be presented there. The main excavations in Artsakh were in Tigranakert, however, archaeological activities were also being carried out in other sites as Azokhi and Mirik. Several new books dedicated to various issues of Artsakh’s ancient and medieval culture have been published by the Institute recently and will be published.

He also talked about the fate of the findings from Artsakh’s monuments that were saved. “The material of Tigranakert has been mostly brought to Armenia. Many materials in Shushi Museum have been left. However, it was possible to evacuate and exhibit some materials, particularly some values from Shushi were displayed at the Erebuni Museum. Of course, there has been a major loss in cultural values. But this is not something new for our history. We are like a pottery that is constantly being broken and recovered”, he added.

The full version of the interview is available in Armenian.

Interview by Ani Danielyan

Photos by Hayk Badalyan