The third Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECC) has started its work with number of new members. As the Commission reported in a released statement, Mikhail Myasnikovich has been named as the new Chairman of the Board.
Two of the three new members of the Board are from Armenia. Former Deputy Minister of Economy Artak Kamalyan has been named as the new member of the Board – minister in charge of Industry and Agroindustrial Complex, while former deputy minister of High-Tech Industry Gegham Vardanyan will act as minister in charge of Internal Markets, Information Support, Information and Communication Technologies.
To note, the Board of the Commission operates as a cabinet government, with 10 members of the Commission (“commissioners”). There are two members per member state. The Chairman of the Commission is former Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan.
13:19,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS. HSBC Armenia says the Reuters report on HSBC Group considering shrinking or selling its businesses in Armenia is “speculation”.
“We do not respond to speculations,” HSBC Armenia Department of Communications chief Diana Gaziyan told ARMENPRESS when asked to comment.
On January 29, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the matter that HSBC is seeking to sell or shrink its business in some markets, including in Armenia, Greece and Oman. According to the report HSBC is also considering exiting from Turkey.
A day after the report, the Armenian Central Bank responded with a statement.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
The 2020 European Figure Skating Championships will be held in Graz, Austria, from 20–26 January 2020. As the National Olympic Committee reported, medals will be awarded in the disciplines of men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pairs, and ice dance.
Armenia will be represented at the Championships Anastasia Galustyan competing in the ladies’ singles, Slavik Hayrapetyan in the men’s single as well as Tina Karapetyan-Simon Senekal dancing pair.
President Sarkissian meets Armenian community representatives in Sharjah, UAE
11:10,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Sharjah on the sidelines of his working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Presidential Office told Armenpress.
After a prayer the President laid flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial paying a tribute to the memory of innocent victims.
Thereafter, President Sarkissian watched the performance of kids of Ohannessian Armenian college, and then met with the representatives of the Armenian community.
“I am one of you, and you all are part of Armenia. These are not just words of gratitude and appraisal. This is reality”, he said. “Armenia is not only about our buildings, history, lands, mountains and churches. Armenia are we all together.
You are part of Armenia regardless of holding an Armenian passport or not. I am sure that every Armenian child, no matter where he is born, if he is born in an Armenian family, Armenia is born in him with his birthday. In other words, you don’t need to be born in Armenia for having Armenia inside you.
I dream that one day all Armenians will return to homeland, but want to believe that each of you today has already returned to homeland. He/she has returned because of having an Armenian passport, relatives in Armenia, loving Yerevan and being ready to serve for the homeland”, he said, adding that only the strong and powerful homeland makes all Armenians together, firm and reliable.
The President urged them to visit Armenia, Artsakh, to get acquainted with the homeland and introduced their homeland to their children because they are the future citizens of Armenia. “Armenia is the country of all of us, is the homeland and home of all of us”, he said.
Armen Sarkissian in his remarks said the world is changing quite rapidly in the 21st century, adding that all those nations who have some qualities, have preserved their national culture, identity, church, religion, language, are connected with the homeland and can succeed. “Today the power of Armenia are also you. You can connect Armenia with the world”, the Armenian President said. “All those nations who have an opportunity to develop new technologies and are stable, self-confident in this rapidly changing world, will be able to succeed”.
Talking about his visits to the UAE, the Armenian President said great success was registered in the relations of the two countries in this past one year in the form of intensification of ties and numerous programs.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Speaker Mirzoyan, Ambassador Wiktorin discuss Armenia-EU agenda
17:08, 1 November, 2019
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan on November 1 received Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, the Parliament told Armenpress.
During the meeting the Speaker expressed the firm commitment of Armenia and the Parliament to develop the relations with the EU and strengthen the partnership based on democratic values. The Speaker thanked the EU Ambassador for the support provided to the ongoing projects and democratic reforms in Armenia and introduced the directions and programs Armenia is going to implement.
Andrea Wiktorin said she is very happy to see this progress registered by Armenia, stating that the EU is ready and wants to support the ongoing reforms in Armenia. The sides discussed wide range of issues relating to the Armenia-EU agenda.
At the meeting a number of already existing and new possible programs with the Parliament’s partnership with the EU were discussed.
Andrea Wiktorin assured that the EU will continue to support Armenia in strengthening the democracy.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
An elderly woman is seen at her home in Armenia. Catholic Near East Welfare Association has launched a campaign, partnering with Caritas Armenia, to provide heat to more than 700 Armenian households. (Credit: CNS photo/Caritas Armenia, courtesy CNEWA.)
NEW YORK – Poor, elderly Armenians will receive an extra hand in staying warm during the upcoming frigid winter weather under a three-year-old program developed by two Catholic charitable agencies.
Called Warm Winter, the effort of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Caritas Armenia will open Dec. 1 and will provide fuel to more than 700 households.
Recipients will receive firewood or gas or electric heat through their local utility company. The fuel will be supplemented by food, hygienic supplies, first aid supplies and medicines.
Gagik Tarasyan, director of Caritas Armenia, said extreme weather conditions and poor housing stock make life difficult for thousands of the country’s elderly citizens.
“(To keep warm), they burn whatever is flammable, pasteboard, cardboard, garbage, paper, plastic, old clothing, shoes and young tree saplings,” Tarasyan said in a statement released by CNEWA.
Some of the materials produce toxic fumes, endangering the health of people – and at times leading to death – while damaging the environment, he said.
Social workers and volunteers have identified people most in need in 125 locations around the country. The most vulnerable people are those living in crumbling temporary housing in rural and urban regions that date to the country’s devastating 1988 earthquake, CNEWA said.
Aid agencies have determined that about 300,000 Armenians 65 years old and older – about one-third of the country’s elderly – live in poverty. CNEWA said most elderly people live alone.
Msgr. John E. Kozar, CNEWA president, said in a statement that the program is part of a broader effort to support the churches in Armenia and Georgia.
“Despite their relative obscurity and poverty,” he said, “these churches witness the Gospel in so many beautiful ways, upholding the dignity of all human life, especially in their commitment to the marginalized among them, the abandoned, the powerless, the impoverished.”
Tuesday,
Armenian High Court Chief At Risk Of Prosecution
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian (C) reads out a ruling
on an appeal lodged by former President Robert Kocharian, Yerevan, September 4,
2019.
Lawyers for Hrayr Tovmasian accused Armenia’s political leadership on Tuesday
of putting “illegal pressure” on the embattled chairman of the Constitutional
Court after a law-enforcement agency recommended criminal charges against him.
The Investigative Committee claimed to have collected sufficient evidence that
Tovmasian abused his powers when he served justice minister from 2010-2013. It
said that he colluded with a former senior Justice Ministry official, who was
arrested recently, and officials from Yerevan’s municipal administration to
effectively privatize an office in the city center.
The committee stopped short of indicting Tovmasian. It announced instead that
it has sent the case to another law-enforcement body, the Special Investigative
Service (SIS), for further investigation.
The announcement marks the latest in a series of criminal proceedings launched
against Tovmasian following the Constitutional Court’s refusal on October 15 to
oust him. The high court chairman is under growing pressure from the current
Armenian authorities accusing him of maintaining ties to the country’s former
government toppled in last year’s “Velvet Revolution.”
In a written statement, Tovmasian’s legal team categorically rejected the
Investigative Committee’s allegations, saying that he has never had any “direct
or indirect connection” to the property in question or been in a position to
influence its privatization. It described the allegations as “yet another
example of illegal pressure exerted on the chairman of the Constitutional Court
in recent months.”
The statement also alleged “blatant violations” of the due process in “the
proceedings against Hrayr Tovmasian guided by the political authorities.”
The SIS and the National Security Service (NSS) announced on October 17 other
criminal investigations related Tovmasian. Five days later, the SIS effectively
declared illegal his appointment as court chairman in March 2018, saying that
it was part of a “usurpation of power” by former state officials. One of them,
former parliament speaker Ara Babloyan, was indicted on Monday.
Armenia -- Supporters of Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian protest
outside the National Security Service headquarters in Yerevan, October 18, 2019.
Like the Investigative Committee, the NSS is also scrutinizing Tovmasian’s past
activities as justice minister. The former Armenian branch of the Soviet KGB
said late on Monday that it has detected financial abuses committed in
2011-2015 by “a number of high-ranking officials of the Justice Ministry.” It
did not mention Tovmasian by name.
The NSS raised eyebrows last week by questions his 75-year-old father and two
young daughters. It denied opposition claims that the authorities are targeting
Tovmasian’s relatives as part of their efforts to force him to resign.
Tovmasian again rejected government calls for his resignation on October 24. In
a newspaper interview, he also warned that the authorities will violate the
Armenian constitution if they arrest him without the consent of most other
Constitutional Court judges.
Critics, among them representatives of former President Serzh Sarkisian’s
Republican Party of Armenia, say that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is seeking
to purge the Constitutional Court in order to gain unlimited power. Pashinian
and his political allies deny this. The prime minister has repeatedly pledged
to establish a “truly independent” judiciary in Armenia.
Alen Simonian, a senior member of Pashinian’s My Step bloc, declined on Tuesday
to comment on the opposition claims. Simonian said he does not want to give the
critics more ammunition to allege government interference in the “legal
process.”
Gevorg Petrosian, a senior lawmaker representing the main opposition Prosperous
Armenia Party (BHK), said the criminal cases against Tovmasian smack of
political persecution ordered by the government.
“If Hrayr Tovmasian is a criminal let him be punished … But one gets the
impression that the authorities want to unseat Hrayr Tovmasian at all costs,”
Petrosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Russian Defense Chief Visits Armenia, Praises Close Ties
Armenia -- Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan (C) greets his Russian counterpart
Sergey Shoygu in Yerevan, .
Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu described Armenia as Russia’s key regional ally
and said Russian-Armenian military cooperation will continue unabated during a
visit to the South Caucasus state on Tuesday.
Shoygu met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Defense Minister Davit
Tonoyan after inspecting Russian troops stationed in Gyumri.
“Russia highly appreciates its cooperation with friendly Armenian and considers
the republic an ally and key partner in the Transcaucasus,” he told Pashinian.
“We note the Armenian side’s support for Russia’s main positions on the
international agenda,” he said, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
After their separate talks in Yerevan, Shoygu and Tonoyan signed a plan of
Russian-Armenian military cooperation for next year. It reportedly includes
more than 60 joint activities by the armed forces of the two nations.
“We are planning to continue our partnership just as intensively, without
reducing the accumulated tempo,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Shoygu as
saying during the talks with his Armenian counterpart.
Earlier in the day, Shoygu visited the Gyumri headquarters of the Russian
military base in Armenia. “The base is combat-ready and, being a guarantor of
stability, is ready to confront emerging threats and challenges jointly with
the armed forces of Armenia,” he told Pashinian.
Both Pashinian and Tonoyan also praised the current state of bilateral defense
ties and, in particular, “military-technical cooperation,” an official
euphemism for Russian arms supplies to Armenia.
Russia has always been the principal source of military hardware supplied to
the Armenian army. Membership in Russian-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) allows Armenia to acquire Russian weapons at knockdown
prices and even for free.
Russia has also trained scores of Armenian army officers and cadets at its
military academies. Shoygu said that 248 Armenians are currently studying at 25
such institutions. Moscow and Yerevan are planning to “increase this number,”
he said.
U.S. House Recognizes Armenian Genocide
• Emil Danielyan
U.S. – Capitol Building dome detail with US flag waving.
After decades of lobbying by the Armenian community in the United States, the
U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed on Tuesday evening a
landmark resolution recognizing the 1915 genocide of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey.
The resolution adopted by 405 votes to 11 calls on the U.S. government to
“commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and
remembrance” and to “reject” Turkish efforts to deny it. It says the government
should also “encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the
Armenian Genocide” and their “relevance to modern-day crimes against humanity.”
The resolution was introduced by several pro-Armenian U.S. lawmakers, including
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, in April. It reached the
House floor after being backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer. They both reaffirmed their support during an hour-long debate on
the bill that preceded the vote.
“It’s a great day for the Congress,” Pelosi said, urging a “strong vote” for
acknowledging “one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century.”
“This was genocide and it is important that we call this crime what it was,”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said as he presented the
resolution to fellow legislators. He called on them to finally “set the record
straight.”
U.S. -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam
Schiff, D-CA, speak during a press conference in the House Studio of the US
Capitol in Washington, October 2, 2019
More than a dozen other lawmakers, most of them Democrats representing
constituencies with large numbers of Armenian Americans, spoke during the
ensuing debate. They all made a case for recognizing the World War One-era
slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire as
genocide.
“This is a vote which I have waited for 19 years to cast,” declared a visibly
emotional Schiff.
"We cannot pick and choose which crimes against humanity are convenient to
speak out against,” said the prominent Democrat from California. “What we must
do is to state the fact that the Ottoman Empire committed this grotesque crime
against the Armenians."
“Genocides, whenever and wherever they occur, cannot be ignored,” said Gus
Bilirakis, a Florida Republican and a co-sponsor of the resolution.
Another Republican congressman, Christopher Smith of New Jersey, blasted Turkey
for its “well-funded aggressive campaign of genocide denial”
The two leading Armenian-American lobby groups swiftly hailed the passage of
the resolution. Bryan Ardouny, the executive director of the Armenian Assembly
of America, said it “reflects the best of America.”
“Today’s watershed vote for human rights represents the culmination of decades
of tireless work by members of Congress, the Armenian Assembly of America and
the Armenian American community from across the country,” Ardouny told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) likewise praised the U.S.
House for ending “Ankara’s gag-rule against American remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide.”
The Assembly and the ANCA have spent decades campaigning for such a measure.
Genocide resolutions drafted by pro-Armenian lawmakers have been repeatedly
approved by congressional committees in the past. But they never reached the
House or Senate floor because of opposition from former U.S. administrations
worried about their impact on U.S.-Turkish relations.
U.S. -- Demonstrators commemorating the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian
genocide rally outside the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles. April 24, 2018.
Like his predecessors, U.S. President Donald Trump avoided using the word
genocide in his annual statements on the mass killings and deportations of
Armenians. But Trump, whose relationship with the Democratic leadership of the
House is very strained, appears to have made no attempts to thwart the passage
of the latest genocide bill.
Successive Turkish governments have vehemently denied a deliberate Ottoman
government effort to exterminate the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian population.
The Turkish ambassador in Washington, Serdar Kilic, sent last week letters to
House members warning that the resolution will “considerably poison the
political environment between the United States and Turkey.” Ankara was quick
to condemn its adoption as a “meaningless political step” and “grave mistake.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry also said that it will damage U.S. interests in
the region. “On the other hand, it is also noted that the attitude of the U.S.
Administration on 1915 events remains the same,” it added in a statement.
Predictably, Armenia welcomed the U.S. recognition of the genocide, with Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian describing it as “historic.” “Resolution 296 is a bold
step towards serving truth and historical justice that also offers comfort to
millions of descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors,” Pashinian wrote on
Twitter early on Wednesday.
“Thank you, U.S. Congress,” Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian tweeted for
his part. The U.S. lawmakers have sent a “massive message” against Turkish
denial of the genocide, he said.
The resolution made rapid progress in the Congress following Turkey’s military
incursion into northern Syria largely controlled by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.
The operation was strongly condemned by many Democratic and Republican
lawmakers.
Immediately after passing the Armenian bill, the House voted overwhelmingly for
a resolution calling on Trump to impose sanctions on Turkey.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
President of Greece to arrive in Armenia on official visit
15:25,
ARMENPRESS, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS. President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos will travel to Armenia November 5-6 on an official visit.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has tasked relevant ministries and agencies to carry out the preparations for the visit, a copy of the PM’s order at e-gov.am showed.