Author: Hambardsumian Paul

Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s Telethon-2023 preliminary results announced

Hambardsumian Paul

 14:40,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. The Hayastan All Armenian Fund on Nov. 23 held its 26th annual Telethon under the slogan “For You Armenia”, which raised around USD 8,4 million as of today.

 The Fund’s worldwide fundraising events are still ongoing, and the results will be finalized and announced at the end of the year, the Fund said in a statement.

 The donations received for the Telethon-2023 are as follows: Armenia – 552,372 USD, France – 3,250,000 USD, the USA – 3,100,000 USD, Toronto (Canada) – 500,000 USD, Great Britain – 450,000 USD, Argentina – 160,690 USD, the Netherlands – 100,000 USD, Brazil- 92,000 USD, Germany- 66,400 USD, Switzerland- 50,000 USD, Australia – 27,000 USD, Austria- 25,900 USD and Romania- 4,360 USD.

 The amounts raised during “For You Armenia” Telethon will be used for enhancing the living conditions of our displaced compatriots from Artsakh and fostering development of the border communities.

Russian MFA says Armenian decision to skip CSTO events doesn’t meet national interests

Hambardsumian Paul
TASS, Russia
Nov 22 2023
Maria Zakharova said Armenia is not going to stymie the work of the CSTO's statutory bodies or prevent the approval of documents that have already been agreed

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Yerevan's decision to skip the events of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Minsk from November 22-23 does not meet the interests of the Armenian people, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"The decision of the Armenian leadership not to participate in the joint session of the abovementioned organizations, we are talking about the formats of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers, the Committee of Security Councils Secretaries on November 22 and the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council on November 23, is certainly regrettable. We do not believe that it meets the long-term interests of the Armenian people and will contribute to the strengthening of security and stability of this friendly country," she said at a news conference.

Zakharova said Armenia is not going to stymie the work of the CSTO's statutory bodies or prevent the approval of documents that have already been agreed.

"This essentially leaves the door open for Yerevan and allows it to join the work in the future, and we hope that Armenian allies will use this opportunity in the not too distant future," she went on to say.

"The enclaves may become a pretext for Baku’s next attack" – Armenian political scientist

Hambardsumian Paul
Nov 13 2023
  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

Consequences of the termination of negotiations

“If the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks are frozen, i.e. the process stops on both Western and Russian platforms, Azerbaijan will have a window of new opportunities for a military attack on Armenia,” political analyst Beniamin Poghosyan believes.

He warns that the Azerbaijani side may launch military actions not only on the pretext of obtaining the so-called “Zangezur corridor”, i.e. a road uncontrolled by Armenia to connect with Nakhichevan, but also “enclaves”. In his opinion, this is a more realistic scenario of Baku’s actions, for which the Azerbaijani authorities are now preparing grounds.

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Given the weather conditions and the terrain, the political analyst suggests that military action is unlikely in winter. They could start in spring, and the reason for them could be, in Baku’s terminology, “Armenian-occupied villages or enclaves”.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly publicly stated that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity of 86,600 square kilometers. But he has not received reciprocal recognition by Azerbaijan of Armenia’s territorial integrity. At a press conference organized in late May, Pashinyan also stated that Armenia’s 29,800 square kilometers of territorial integrity does not include the village of Tigranashen in Ararat province and six villages in Tavush province.

And now, according to the political analyst, it is important to understand whether the enclaves fall within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, which the Armenian prime minister has recognized:

“If Armenia recognizes that there is a territory under its control that it considers part of Azerbaijan, I am afraid that we may have the same situation here as on September 19, 2023 [referring to the military actions of the Azerbaijani army on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, after which the entire Armenian population moved to Armenia].”

Poghosyan explains that Azerbaijan could resort to military action and present it as “liberating its territories, exercising the right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.”

“I don’t rule out that we will have a situation where the Russian president will say, ‘What should I do?’ Armenia has said that these enclaves are Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan is returning its territories. And there will be no special reaction from the West,” he said.

Areg Kochinyan proposes to engage an American private military company to solve Armenia’s security problems until the completion of defense reforms

Poghosyan emphasizes that Baku has already received the maximum from its Western partners, “namely, it conducted ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh with zero reaction to it from the West”. In addition, within the framework of the Western negotiating platform, the Azerbaijani side achieved

  • “an agreement to recognize territorial integrity within the Soviet administrative boundaries,
  • Armenia’s recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, as well as the rejection of the demand for autonomy”

He recalls that Armenia made concessions and “lowered the bar on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh”, expecting to receive guarantees of rights and security of Armenians of the unrecognized republic, but received nothing. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan used the concessions of the Armenian side as a “legitimate basis for attacking Artsakh”.

According to the analyst, Baku has nothing more to gain from the Western platform, so it is “saying goodbye to it and trying to return to the Russian negotiating platform”.

Military expert Leonid Nersisyan believes that “Baku will not occupy, for example, the southern region of Armenia, Syunik, but will resort to a new escalation”

The analyst says that Armenia is disappointed with the Western platform, as it did not get anything there, but also does not want to return to the Russian platform. He notes that given strained Armenian-Russian relations, Azerbaijan has “started flirting” with Russia and Iran:

“Azerbaijan is trying to make Armenia look like a state that is constantly trying to ensure the presence of ‘enemy forces’ here for Russia and Iran — the EU and the US.”

In addition, Baku supports the Russian and Iranian position that regional problems should be solved by regional countries and the presence of extra-regional powers only harms the process of normalization of relations.

“If we continue to avoid the Russian platform, Azerbaijan will further toughen this rhetoric of its, saying to Russia and Iran: look, Armenia wants to bring your enemies to the South Caucasus,” he said.

In this case, according to the political analyst, there will be “additional problems not only in Armenian-Russian, but also in Armenian-Iranian relations, which is not in Armenia’s interests.”


Letters to Artsakh

Hambardsumian Paul
Daily Sundial, CSUN
Nov 6 2023
Brandon Balayan, Reporter • November 5, 2023

Founder and Director of the Hidden Road Initiative Nanor Balabanian received text messages from her students asking her to save them from Azerbaijan’s bombardment of Artsakh.

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic, also known as Artsakh, is a self-determined state recognized internationally as a part of Azerbaijan. A majority of its population is Armenian. On Sept. 19, Azerbaijan launched an attack on the republic, which displaced over 100,000 people and ended with the agreement to dismantle all government institutions by Jan. 1, 2024.

Among these displaced were 42 English students of the Hidden Road
Initiative (HRI). To show support to their students, CSUN’s HRI chapter held their event at the East Conference Center on Oct. 12, sending personalized letters to the forcibly displaced students.

HRI is a charitable non-profit organization that aims to provide educational and leadership opportunities for students living in remote villages in Armenia through annual educational summer camps, scholarship opportunities, and development projects. HRI has chapters at CSUN, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSB and UCSD.

The CSUN and UCLA chapters divided up the students and are both writing letters. CSUN’s members are writing to 13 students, some of which are a part of the same family.

Lily Chakrian, President of CSUN HRI, said the goal of the event was to show their students that they have advocates from across the world while also fundraising for the Artsakh Family Fund. Chakrian said she is one of the few executive members who has not been to Artsakh.

“It’s really hard because I haven’t been able to see and I don’t– can’t imagine what they’re going through and what they’re experiencing,” Chakrian said.

This fund was created by HRI in response to the displacement of Armenians from Artsakh. There is a $300 minimum donation which would sponsor a displaced family and would help cover living expenses for their initial months in Armenia. The organization has currently raised about $18,000, according to documents provided by HRI. The letters will be delivered by a HRI executive board member to Armenia in November.

Balabanian said although the scale of the displacement is unprecedented, she has experienced this in the past.

“I experienced the 2020 war and I was in Artsakh when we were all deported,” Balabanian said. “I [also] had to help students flee from Akhpradzor from the Sept. 2022 attacks.”

It is a persistent cycle of displacement that has not ended.

Nana Grigoryan, a former HRI student from Kolkhozashen, was in Artsakh while Azerbaijan was imposing its blockade. She applied and was admitted to an international baccalaureate in Israel, and had her tuition covered with the help of a fundraiser by Kooyrigs NGO, a nonprofit that “provides resources to the global Armenian network through launching community projects, implementing educational initiatives and amplifying marginalized voices.”

She was able to reach Armenia from Artsakh with the help of the Red Cross, and prepared to leave for university. Grigoryan began attending the university but was displaced due to the recent Israeli-Palestinian war, and has returned to Armenia.

Balabanian said the most they can do right now is to create communities so they can speak with one another, and these virtual English classes have been a space for this.

Every Saturday, HRI holds its English classes through Zoom. Students first go through a 30-minute thematic lesson and then break off into Zoom rooms with their personal teachers. This past Saturday, the class focused on words associated with fall, and started their class with an Armenian nursery rhyme, “My dear, it is fall!”

Balabanian said HRI currently has between 80-100 teachers, who are mostly from the U.S., and they teach about 120 students a week.

All of HRI’s students from Artsakh have been displaced and are receiving support from HRI’s Artsakh Family Fund for housing and immediate aid.

For now, these students can learn and live in peace and not under bombardment.

https://sundial.csun.edu/176746/news/letters-to-artsakh/

Armenia to further strengthen cooperation with France

Hambardsumian Paul

 11:25, 3 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will continue multisectoral cooperation with France, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has said.

“We will certainly continue our multisectoral cooperation with the rest of our friends, such as France. Mutual visits of high-ranking officials are taking place constantly. The conversation is continuous and will remain that way,” Mirzoyan told lawmakers during a parliamentary committee hearing on the 2024 state budget draft.

Armenia will continue to deepen ties with the EU.

FM Mirzoyan stressed the role of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) in border stability and security. “We, so to say, are revealing new platforms of cooperation with the EU, new directions, such as political and security dialogue,” FM Mirzoyan said.

CEPA stipulates commitments and obligations that both Armenia and the EU must implement. In this context, FM Mirzoyan noted the launch of the visa liberalization dialogue.

Mirzoyan said Armenia highly values its relations with the US and its traditional partners such as Russia.

Armenia expects €17,9 million in grant support from EU in 2024

Hambardsumian Paul

 13:58, 3 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenia expects to receive €17,9 million in grant funds from the EU in 2024, Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan has said.

Three main directions are envisaged.

“The first is the implementation of reforms in the judiciary, which is a budgetary support grant. We had this project in 2023 as well in the amount of 2,7 million euros, while for 2024 it is envisaged to provide 5,4 million euros, the next is the second phase of the support program for Armenia’s judiciary reforms with an additional 2,5 million euros,” the finance minister told lawmakers during a parliamentary committee discussion on the 2024 budget.

In 2024, a 10-million-euro EU support project for the education sector is also planned. The total worth of the project is 32 million euros, 29,3 of which is direct budgetary support, while the rest is technical.

 Speaking about loans, the finance minister said that in 2024 the loans amount to 21 billion drams, from which 153 million are current spending and 21 billion 62 million are capital spending.

Economic growth potential is assessed to be 5,5% – finance minister

Hambardsumian Paul

 11:02,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. The potential of Armenia’s economic growth is assessed to be 5,5%, Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan has said.

“We usually assess Armenia’s economic potential to be 5,5%,” he said at a parliamentary committee hearing on the 2024 state budget when asked by MP Artur Khachatryan how much the growth would’ve been in the past five years if the external economic conditions are averaged.

“At this moment, the potential of Armenia’s economic growth is assessed to be 5,5%. The capital investments which we are carrying out depend on this potential. The size of that potential depends on the investments, the diversification of our economy and the reforms which we are implementing,” Hovhannisyan added.

He said that the main effort of the government should be directed at increasing this potential.

The government of Armenia earlier said it expects 7% economic growth in 2023. 7% is also the target for 2024.




Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 30-10-23

Hambardsumian Paul

 17:02,

YEREVAN, 30 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 30 October, USD exchange rate down by 0.29 drams to 402.26 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.70 drams to 425.47 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 4.32 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.15 drams to 487.78 drams.

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

Gold price up by 83.75 drams to 25644.76 drams. Silver price down by 2.99 drams to 294.29 drams.

Iran kicks off massive military drills

Hambardsumian Paul

 19:23,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Iranian Army's Ground Force has begun a massive military exercise in the central region of the country with the objective of assessing combat capabilities of various military units and testing new weaponry.

The drills started in the Nasrabad region of Isfahan on Friday..

A spokesperson for the drills provided details about the exercise, stating that it involves various units of the Army, including infantry, armored, missile, artillery, aviation, drones, as well as electronic, modern and cyber warfare units, IRNA reports.

Signing of EEU-Iran free trade agreement planned by yearend

Hambardsumian Paul

 11:53,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran is planned to be signed by the end of 2023, Interfax reported citing a statement by the Belarusian government.

“The work around the draft free trade agreement between EEU and Iran has been completed. It is planned to sign the document this year,” reads the statement.