The resistance movement is holding a procession in Yerevan.
Ishkhan Saghatelyan, representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Supreme Body and deputy speaker of Armenia’s opposition parliament, said the marchers will march through Saryan and Khorenatsi streets.
“Then we will return to France Square and lead the outcome of the day,” he added.
Parliament session kicks off – LIVE
10:00,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of Armenia convened a session today.
22 items are on agenda.
The lawmakers will debate at second hearing the bills on making amendments to the Law on Prosecution, as well as a number of other laws.
The Parliament will also debate the 2021 state budget performance annual report.
11:14,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. In an interview to Al Jazeera in Qatar, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan touched upon also the relations of Armenia with its neighbors, particularly with Iran.
“We have four neighbors, and with two of them we have very good relations, I mean Georgia and Iran. Iran is a friendly country for us, and we consider Iran as a friendly country, which also has good relations with Azerbaijan too. It isn’t our intention not to have good relations with countries which have good relations with Azerbaijan. But now we have very close ties with Iran”, he said, expressing hope that with the cooperation with Iran, Armenia will be able to enhance the bilateral trade with Qatar as well.
“And we are working on developing the communications connecting Iran with Armenia, and now we are in the process of constructing a very strategic highway named North-South, connecting our Georgian border with our Iranian border. And we hope that as a result of that project, our economic relations with Iran will increase. By the way, the Eurasian Economic Union has free trade agreement with Iran which is very important for our bilateral relations as well”, the Armenian PM said.
14:42,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Aurora’s Sunrise, a historical animated documentary film about the life of Aurora Mardiganian, will premiere at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France this week, the Zoryan Institute said in a statement.
“At only 14 years old, in 1915, Aurora faced the horrors of the Armenian Genocide. Within a year, witnessing the deaths of everyone in her family, Aurora had lost everything, and was sold into a Turkish harem. But with extraordinary courage and luck, she escaped to America, where her story became a sensation.
The Zoryan Institute’s objective with this film is to bring to life the ZI’s Oral History Testimonies onto the big screen, through animated documentary films, to relay the stories of the Genocide survivors to the younger generations, especially of girls and to empower them, and to represent their communities in the face of great adversity and violence.
In 2015, during the year of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Zoryan Institute, signed a partnership agreement with Bars Media of Armenia to produce the animated documentary based on the testimony of A. Mardiganian. Aurora’s Sunrise was made possible with the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute Armenia, based on its oral history archives (filmed by the Zoryan Institute on January 29, 1984).
The film is directed by Inna Sahakyan. It is produced by Bars Media, led by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion&ArtboxLaisvalaikioKlubas, with the financial partnership of Eurimages, the Zoryan Institute Armenia & the National Cinema Center of Armenia, and with the contributions of the Lithuanian Film Center, ZDF/ARTE, Public TV Armenia, and LRT.
The Zoryan Institute is thrilled that 40 years after the launch of the Armenian Genocide Oral History Project, which collected testimonies of survivors of the 1915 Genocide across 4 continents, the great-grandchildren of those who experienced the genocide are experiencing life before, during, and after the genocide through a film that seamlessly blends a mix of footage from the Zoryan Institute’s original live interview with Aurora and the brilliant animation of Bars Media and their German and Lithuanian co-producers, along with scenes from the 1919 silent film “Auction of Souls” (film starring Aurora Mardiganian prepared by Near East Relief).
The world premiere of Aurora’s Sunrise, is taking place at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France this week. Annecy is a week-long global festival that brings together the biggest names in animation to celebrate creative and diverse animation styles and techniques.
In addition to initial cost of the Oral History testimonies, Aurora’s Sunrise film had a budget of over USD $1,000,000.00, and is only the beginning of these invaluable stories of Armenian Genocide survivors”, the statement says.
16:14,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Board of the Central Bank of Armenia decided to keep the refinancing rate unchanged during today’s session, setting it at 9.25%, CBA Governor Martin Galstyan said at a press conference, stating that in May 2022, the 12-month inflation has increased, comprising 9.0%. The 12-month normal inflation has also increased, comprising 8.4%.
Martin Galstyan said that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict continues negatively impacting the economic and financial market developments of Armenia’s main partner countries.
“Continued disruptions of world value chains and constant increase in prices in international commodity markets lead to the expansion of global inflationary environment. The central banks of developed countries are announcing a tightening of a monetary-credit policy at relatively faster rates. Therefore, the inflationary impact from the external sector on Armenia’s economy is still maintained”, he said.
The CBA Governor said that the high activity of the Armenian economy is maintained in the second quarter of 2022. The major inflow of foreign visitors and the growth in domestic private spending contribute to the increase in services and the whole demand. This leads to the expansion of the overall inflationary environment and the increase in inflationary expectations. The major growth in export of Armenian services and the financial inflow contributes also to the devaluation of the dram in the exchange market. The latter is assessed to have a positive effect in easing the domestic inflationary environment.
“In such situation the Board finds it appropriate to keep the policy rate unchanged”, he said, adding: “It is forecast that the 12-month inflation will gradually decline and approach the targeted 4% in the medium-term horizon”.
16:23,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. On June 14, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan who is in Sofia on an official visit, held a tête-à-tête conversation with the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Teodora Genchovska which was followed by the meeting in an extended format with the participation of the delegations, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reports.
Ararat Mirzoyan and Teodora Genchovska commended the current level of Armenian-Bulgarian interstate relations based on centuries-old friendship, expressing readiness to promote the cooperation between the two countries in bilateral and multilateral formats. The importance of official reciprocal high-level visits and regular consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries was emphasized.
The sides touched upon the prospects of expanding the trade turnover and investments and emphasized the utilization of the existing great potential in these spheres. In this regard, the role of the works of the Armenian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission and the promotion of business to business contacts was underlined.
Both sides stressed the importance of the works carried out towards the establishment of the Persian Gulf-Black Sea International Transport Corridor.
The sides exchanged views on the further development of the Armenia-EU partnership.
The interlocutors touched upon the ties between Armenia and Bulgaria in the spheres of education and culture. In this regard, Minister Mirzoyan expressed gratitude to the Bulgarian authorities for their caring attitude towards the Armenian cultural heritage and for organizing the education of Armenian citizens in Bulgarian universities within the framework of a bilateral intergovernmental program.
The sides discussed a number of issues on regional and international security. Minister Mirzoyan presented to his Bulgarian counterpart the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the position of the Armenian side on the processes aimed at establishing regional peace and stability and the negotiations on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The mediating role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in promoting the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was underlined. In this regard, Ararat Mirzoyan highly valued the position of Bulgaria.
Minister Mirzoyan expressed concern over the continuous anti-Armenian and warmongering rhetoric of the Azerbaijani authorities, and provocative actions against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. He also drew his colleague’s attention to the fact that in gross violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages.
Special emphasis was given to the prevention of Azerbaijan’s policy of distortion and destruction of the identity of Armenian monuments that are part of the universal cultural heritage in the territories fallen under Azerbaijani control due to the 44-day war. In this context, Minister Mirzoyan stressed the urgency of a clear and targeted response of the international community, as well as the imperative of the involvement of relevant international organizations in Nagorno-Karabakh, especially the unimpeded implementation of UNESCO fact-finding mission.
Ararat Mirzoyan briefed his counterpart on the recent developments of the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.
Within the framework of the visit of the Foreign Minister of Armenia, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria the ceremony of signing the 2022-2025 cooperation program in the sphere of culture between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia and the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria took place. From the Armenian side the program was signed by the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, and from the Bulgarian side – the Minister of Culture Atanas Atanasov.
18:47,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Today the allocation auction of government bonds totalling AMD 25 billion has taken place on Armenian Securities Exchange.
The volume of auction allocation of government bonds (ISIN AMGN36294251) amounted to AMD 25 billion, with the demand surpassing AMD 35,3 billion (around 41%). The weighted average yield of the auction is 10.9690%, and the annual yield of the coupon is 9.25%.
You can take part in the primary auctions via primary dealers the list of which is published on the website of RA Ministry of Finance, while the secondary market government bonds can be bought via members and market participants.
You can receive additional information on auctions by visiting the “Gbond Auction” page on AMX’s website.
About AMX- Armenia Securities Exchange
Armenia Securities Exchange (AMX) is the only securities regulated market operator in Armenia. AMX offers exchange services, such as listing, trading, clearing and informational services, as well as alternative exchange solutions. The Exchange settlement is carried out by Central Depository of Armenia which is 100% owned by Armenia Securities Exchange. AMX’s mission is to foster the Exchange’s infrastructure of capital market, making it an active financial asset for the development of Armenia’s economy.
For additional information please reach us at [email protected] or +37460695555, ext. 142.
Greece is looking outward taking actions to penetrate new markets and boost the country’s tourism product, said Deputy Tourism Minister Sofia Zacharaki during her visit to Yerevan, Armenia for the 67th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe.
It is noted that Greece serves as Chair of the UNWTO Commission for Europe for the 2021-2023 period.
Zacharaki, who presided over the meeting, which included the participation of UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and UNWTO Regional Director for Europe Alessandra Priante, met with Armenian tourism sector stakeholders to discuss ways to further strengthen ties between the two countries.
Among others, she met with major Armenian tour operators and discussed specific actions to boost tourist flows, as well as with representatives from Enterprise Armenia.
The minister said there was a growing interest by Armenians to visit Greece this year.
During her visit to Erevan she visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan as well as the museum dedicated to Armenians who lost their lives during genocide. She also met with representatives of the Greek community in Armenia.
Addressing the UNWTO meeting, Zacharaki referred to the great momentum in tourism this year, adding that there were reasonable hopes for full post-Covid-19 recovery. She stressed, however, that the sector globally and particularly in Europe was faced with significant challenges including the Russia- Ukraine war and soaring prices.
On the sidelines of the event, Zacharaki had the chance together with the head of the ministry’s general directorate for Tourism Policy, Panagiota Dionysopoulou, to meet with partners from France, Portugal, Spain, and Bulgaria, to discuss cooperation in tourism and participation in activities for the UNWTO Maritime Tourism Research Center for the Mediterranean which is based in Athens.
“I had the opportunity to emphasize to our partners the impressive recovery of Greek tourism in 2021 and its even more dynamic development for 2022. We exchanged thoughts and ideas on how we can address the significant and common challenges in terms of employment, education, sustainability, but also public-private partnerships,” she said.
Addressing a special discussion on Tourism and Rural Development, Zacharaki underlined the importance of developing alternative forms of tourism “in order to obtain a better quality, balanced and sustainable tourism product”.
“In this context, we refer to the great success of the inclusion of Soufli in the ‘Best Tourism Villages’ as well as of Western Samos in the upgrade program,” she said.
Zacharaki also presented the Greek tourism ministry’s new initiatives including the launch of special seal for visitable breweries, cheese-making factories and olive mills and to efforts being made to link the primary sector with tourism through programs supporting young farmers.
The next UNWTO Commission for Europe meeting will be held in Bulgaria.
https://news.gtp.gr/2022/06/07/greece-strengthens-tourism-ties-with-armenia-at-unwto-meeting/
Tigran Abrahamyan, a lawmaker from the opposition Pativ Unem bloc, took to Facebook on Tuesday to deplore the authorities’ plans to merge the Armenian army’s General Staff with the Defense Ministry.
The General Staff chief will also serve as Armenia’s first deputy defense minister as part of the “reforms”, as a result of which the armed forces will be engaged in the defense of the country and combat training, Abrahamyan said.
“The defense minister is still unaware that prior to the “reforms” announced by him, it was the General Staff that was in charge of combat training and combat efficiency,” he wrote.
“The authorities believe that making the General Staff chief subordinate to the defense minister will prevent any disobedience, as it happened during former Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan’s tenure,” the MP said.
Abrahamyan stated that the General Staff and the Defense Ministry have divisions which perform the same functions and should be restructured.
“However, it makes no sense at all to make the General Staff chief also the first deputy defense minister. Moreover, it will cause more problems instead of solving the pending issues,” he said.
“They say that the General Staff should deal exclusively with combat training of the military, but it is subordinated to the ministry, thus mixing everything up,” Abrahamyan added.
YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Zhoghovurd daily has learned that a noteworthy situation has arisen at the Department of Investigation of Especially Important Cases of the General Military Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee. In particular, the investigative body actively summons officials of the Armed Forces for questioning.
We were informed that the former Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Onik Gasparyan, and the former Commander of the [Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)] Defense Army, Jalal Harutyunyan, as well as other former officials of the General Staff of the Armed Forces have been summoned for questioning these days.
Moreover, according to the information we received, the investigative body will also transfer former Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan from Yerevan-Kentron penitentiary to the military investigative—again for interrogation. According to the information we received, the investigative body will interrogate him in the framework of criminal cases initiated as a result of the [44-day Artsakh] war [in the fall of 2020].
By the way, according to the exclusive information of Zhoghovurd daily, Jalal Harutyunyan has already been summoned to the investigative body for questioning about 20 times, and Onik Gasparyan has been summoned for questioning about 10 times.
Noteworthy disclosures and arrests are expected in the near future.