19:52, 7 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he is ready for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ARMENPRESS reports TASS said, citing Zelensky’s statement.
“I am determined to hold direct talks with President Putin if we are ready to seriously discuss ending this war,” Zelensky told the Financial Times.
ArmInfo. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and the delegation headed by him, the press service of the RA PM reports. According to the source, in his welcoming remarks, Prime Minister Pashinyan, in particular, said, “Dear Sergey Viktorovich, Welcome to the Republic of Armenia. I am very glad to see you.
Russia and Armenia are strategic partners and allies and, of course, this assumes that the intensity of bilateral visits and contacts should be quite high, and we witness it. The agenda of our relations is very wide and multifaceted. These are related to both bilateral issues, and regional and international issues. I am glad that today we will have the opportunity to discuss a wide scope of issues related to our relations.
At the moment, the main issue on our agenda is related to the regional situation, security, and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Of course, we are discussing this issue with Russia quite intensively, and other issues as well. For example, the opening of regional communications. The meeting of the trilateral working group headed by the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan took place recently in Moscow. I hope that in the near future we will be able to reach concrete agreements to resolve this issue of strategic importance for the benefit of the whole region, for the sake of stability and peace.
The agenda of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan is also very important. You know that the first meeting of the bilateral working commission on demarcation and delimitation of the border between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan took place recently. The second meeting is already planned to be held in Moscow, the third meeting will take place in Brussels. In this context, we expect the support of the Russian Federation for this process to take place and proceed in a normal way and to be effective.
I would also like to mention the issue of the return of prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees who are still in Azerbaijan, contrary to the November 9, 2020 trilateral declaration. We expect the support of the Russian Federation in this matter as well, so that this humanitarian issue can finally be fully resolved. Welcome once again, I am sure we will have fruitful negotiations today”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, “Dear Nikol Vovaevich, Thank you very much for the opportunity to meet with you during our full-up visit to the Republic of Armenia. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin conveys to you his warmest greetings and best wishes and reaffirms the commitment to all the agreements reached during your contacts, especially during your official visit to the Russian Federation in April this year. You also met in Moscow within the framework of the informal CSTO summit, you had many telephone conversations.
We are committed to all the decisions aimed at deepening our strategic partnership, allied cooperation, and the strengthening of our bilateral relations in general. Today we discussed in detail with Ararat Samvelovich the tasks you have set for us at the highest level, I know that this work is one of the priorities within the Intergovernmental Economic Commission.
But, undoubtedly, dear Nikol Vovaevich, as you mentioned, regional issues deserve special attention now. Implementation of the trilateral statements of November 2020, January and November 2021 is our priority. We interested that all the directions and actions set out there, aimed at the complete normalization of the situation in the region, the settlement of all issues, including humanitarian ones, to be resolved as soon as possible. As you mentioned, the trilateral working group on unblocking transport and economic communications at the level of Deputy Prime Ministers is in the advanced stage of agreeing on specific aspects of the final agreements. We have discussed what additional steps need to be taken, and we will report to you.
The same goes for delimitation. We welcome the start of the work of the two commissions from your and Azerbaijani sides. The first session, meeting took place, we consider it very important. We will start preparing for the meeting in Moscow with the participation of Russian representatives, who, in accordance with the agreements of the leaders, will provide consulting services, including cartographic materials. In general, we are interested in the full normalization of relations between our neighbors, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Of course, we are familiar with the proposals presented by Azerbaijan in that context, we are also familiar with your positions, which you have presented in written, Russia is ready to do everything possible to reach a mutual agreement. And, as I said, we are committed to the full implementation of all agreements without exception. It is especially important for us to have the opportunity to hear your assessments today. Once again, thank you for this meeting.”
Nikol Pashinyan and Sergey Lavrov discussed issues related to the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership, the regional stability and peace agenda, the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and the process of normalization of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
In the context of the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Prime Minister of Armenia stressed the important role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The interlocutors also exchanged views on the development of scientific, educational and cultural ties. Sergey Lavrov praised the attitude and hospitality of the Armenian side towards the Russian citizens who have recently moved to Armenia.
The National Assembly of Armenia is hosting a joint session of standing parliamentary commissions on Tuesday.
The agenda includes a preliminary discussion of the implementation of the state budget for 2021.
The meeting is attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic Nikol Pashinyan, NA Speaker Alen Simonyan, deputies, members of the government.
13:59, 2 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. Any escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border negatively affects all processes, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan told reporters today.
“This was the reason that before the delimitation and demarcation processes we were proposing the withdrawal of troops in a mirrored fashion so that there will be stability in the border”, Armen Grigoryan said.
He stated that the border security remains on the agenda.
“We will discuss, and I hope we will find solutions so that there won’t be border escalations”.
11:57,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. No road or transport route in the logic of a corridor can function in the territory of Armenia, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said in response to a question from ARMENPRESS.
ARMENPRESS: During a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed that on May 22 in Brussels (EU-mediated Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting) the sides reached an agreement on the opening of a corridor through Armenian territory, including the construction of both railways and highways. How would you comment on this statement?
Grigoryan: There have been no changes in the positions of the Republic of Armenia. No road or transport route in the logic of a corridor can function in the territory of Armenia. All agreements reached in Brussels relate to the opening of regional connections, which I talked about yesterday in response to your questions. All agreements reached in Brussels fit in the framework of the public statements made previously by representatives of Armenia. You can see in the statement of the President of the European Council that the agreements in the context of opening of regional connections relate to the border and customs control, road fees and organizing international transit. These are important issues for realizing the Armenian Crossroads project and the Government of Armenia will consistently move in this direction.
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In the context of the opening of regional connections the Armenian government re-formulated the North-South project and is terming it “North-South, East-West” Project, or “Armenian Crossroads”, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said earlier at the February 17 Cabinet meeting.
16:43,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that the Russian economy in the new conditions will remain open, reports TASS.
“Under the new conditions, the Russian economy will certainly be open”, he said at a meeting on Tuesday.
“Moreover, we will expand cooperation with those countries that are interested in mutually beneficial partnership”, Putin stressed.
According to him, “a whole range of issues is important here”. “This is organizing convenient payment infrastructure in national currencies, establishing scientific and technological ties and, of course, increasing the capacity of logistics chains, increasing their efficiency, and creating new routes for cargo transportation”, the president listed.
“In recent months, the strategic significance of this work has increased significantly”, Putin emphasized. He noted the necessity of diversifying transport flows due to some countries’ wishes to “close for Russia”.
“The actions of some countries, their wish to close for Russia, not to close Russia, but particularly to close for Russia even to their disadvantage, have shown how important it is to promptly diversify transport flows nowadays, to expand corridors towards predictable, responsible partners”, he said.
17:51,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRES. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the event dedicated to the presentation of the report of the 3 years of activities, 2019-2021, of the State Interests Fund of Armenia (ANIF), during which all the programs implemented by ANIF during the reporting period were summarized, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office f the Prime Minister.
In his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan reminded that ANIF was established three years ago, during this period the Government has had great expectations from it and continues to have. “But we must emphasize that there are many skeptics, critics, and events that ensure accountability for what has been done during this period are very important.
I want to also say what was the reason behind the decision to establish the foundation. Because both in the system of public administration and in the economy, we see that the most important thing is to have the determination to overcome inertia. Because if we do not show that determination, political will, we will just have to follow like an observer what is happening with our economy, what are the effects, and just collect data. But ANIF was created with the sole purpose of overcoming that inertia, trying to provide a new course for our economy, a new logic, a new mood. I hope we have already approached the line after which we will see results,” the Prime Minister said.
Taking the opportunity, Nikol Pashinyan referred to the impact of several previously adopted decisions on the economy. “For example, in 2018 we made a political decision to introduce a flat income tax in the Republic of Armenia. Do you remember there was a lot of criticism then, a lot of pessimism, but I must say that, for example, according to the data for April, we have a new absolute record in the Armenian labor market. In other words, the absolute number of jobs registered in the Republic of Armenia as of April is greater than ever before. Usually, we consider the last such record to be in December 2021, which is traditionally the month with the highest number of jobs, but already in April we surpassed the previous record by more than 5,000 jobs, and compared to 2018, the number of jobs in the Republic of Armenia has increased by 123.310. I am talking not only about registered jobs, but also about paid jobs, because there are jobs from which no income tax is generated,” Nikol Pashinyan said.
Referring to the next important result, the Prime Minister said, “Once we were discussing, it was widely accepted, we were warned that we have risks, we may lose budget revenues, but in terms of income tax, in 2021 we collected by 120 billion AMD more than in 2018. This is very important to show why we need to overcome inertia, why we need to go beyond standards. There are examples that have been applied in other countries – we need to be very careful and take a creative approach in terms of localization, because fortunately there are various models of economic development tested in the world. Of course, we need to be careful, but on the other hand, we should introduce our own handwriting in the process.
In spite of everything, it seems that the economic mood in our country is not bad, because according to the data of the first quarter, we have a real GDP growth of 8.6%, and in Armenia, while according to the data of the first 4 months, we have an additional trade turnover of 574 billion AMD against last year. This shows that there is a certain mood. In the near future we are expecting a number of interesting investment programs of the Armenian Government, ie the launch of the new airline founded by ANIF. We hope that the presence of ANIF in the Armenian economy will become more and more visible, of course, with positive and bright indicators.”
In general, ANIF invests $ 214 million in various sectors of the Armenian economy through joint projects with partners, of which 91% – by partners, 9% – by ANIF.
During the 2.5 years of activity, ANIF has signed more than a dozen memoranda of cooperation and documents with internationally recognized companies.
Thanks to ANIF, two major investment projects of strategic importance for the country have been launched.
– Construction of a 200 MW solar power plant “Ayg-1” in cooperation with Masdar company in the territory of Talin and Dashtadem communities of Aragatsotn Province.
– Establishment of “Fly Arna” Armenian National Airlines jointly with Air Arabia.
ANIF’s subsidiary “Entrepreneur + State” Investment Fund continues to support local companies through investments. To date, the fund has implemented an investment program of about $ 10 million in 6 companies, as a result of which more than 170 jobs have been and will be created together with “Father and Son Yeremyans”, “Amber Capital”, “Food Republic”, “Apaga Projects” “, “Global Connect” companies.
The purpose of the Fund is to foster the inflow of private capital into the economy, thereby ensuring sustainable long-term capital growth.
In order to promote the development of the investment environment in Armenia, the ARFI (Armenian Financed) program will be launched this year, which aims to spread investment activities on the online platform as well, increasing the scope of potential investments.
ArmInfo.The rapid reaction groups of the Human Rights Defender’s Office are visiting police stations to protect the detainees’ rights, reports the RA Human Rights Defender’s Office.
The office reports cases of police detaining citizens that have nothing to do with the protests. Human Rights Defender Kristinne Grigoryan points out the inadmissibility of restricting freedom at the venues of mass actions. On the other hand, she stressed that protesters must obey law-enforcers’ legal demands.
As of 11:00am Yerevan time, the police detained 277 members of the Resistance Movement, Edgar Janoyan, Deputy Head of the Public Relations Department of the Armenian Police, told ArmInfo.
By Vugar Khalilov
On May 14, the members of the Organization of Turkic States met in Istanbul, Turkey, to explore the expansion of media cooperation in the fight against fake news propaganda.
The 4th meeting of the ministers and high officials in charge of the media and information of the Organization of the Turkic States (OTS) was co-hosted by Turkey’s Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and OTS Secretary-General Baghdad Amreyev.
The meeting, which brought together government officials from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, as well as observer countries Hungary and Turkmenistan, aimed to promote media and communication cooperation between the Turkic speaking states.
Addressing the event, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation, presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev stressed that the Turkic world is facing ongoing misinformation and false news propaganda.
“We have been under such attacks from the first days of Azerbaijan’s independence. Especially during the 44-day Karabakh war, we faced all the elements of a hybrid psychological war. We have managed to deliver the truth and justice to the world thanks to the interaction and joint efforts of the Azerbaijani and Turkic media, like in all other areas,” Hajiyev emphasized.
The presidential aide described 2021 as a significant year when the major transformation occurred in the history of the Organization of the Turkic States at the Istanbul Summit.
“At that summit, the Turkic World Vision 2040 document was adopted, which identified very serious responsibilities and tasks for cooperation between our countries in the area of information and media like in other fields,” Hajiyev recalled.
Stressing that the group, which was established within the organization to carry out joint work in a more systemic and coordinated way, would provide support for improving the interaction between member states, Hikmat Hajiyev said that especially the decisions made by the Azerbaijani and Turkish leaders at the 7th Baku Summit in 2019 set cooperation in such areas as media and TV as a target.
Hajiyev recalled the previous year’s media forum, which, he said was successful in terms of not just bringing together media leaders from both nations, but also fostering collaboration between relevant authorities.
He underlined the need for media collaboration, identifying it as one of the most essential tools for competition and struggle between countries.
Hajiyev reminded the meeting that Azerbaijan faced injustice in information warfare during the occupation of 20 percent of its historical lands by Armenia, as well as during the 44-day war in 2020.
He added that after the war with the participation of about 30 media representatives from OTS countries a special media tour was organized to Azerbaijan’s liberated territories to effectively inform the world media about the devastation carried out by Armenia for 30 years in these lands. Within the framework of the media tour, the guests visited Baku and Ganja and the liberated regions such as Shusha, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, and Aghdam.
He also thanked the Turkish media for their support in preventing the Armenian lobby’s provocations against Azerbaijan in the information field, fighting false news, and conveying Azerbaijan’s just position during the war.
Moreover, the presidential aide said that Azerbaijan is interested in developing cooperation in the field of information and media with other fraternal and friendly countries within the OTS.
“It is important to coordinate our cooperation and activities in this area to prevent the spread of negative trends, information provocations, and false information against our countries on social media platforms. In this sense, it would be useful to create effective and flexible mechanisms for coordinating our joint activities on social media,” Hajiyev added.
Speaking at the meeting, Altun noted that the solidarity between Azerbaijan and Turkey during the Karabakh war, which resulted in the glorious victory, was also reflected on social media.
“We fought together with Azerbaijan on the information front. As a result, we contributed to the glorious victory,” he stressed.
Altun added that the OTS has improved and become an international organization within a 13-year-long existence and that this event will further enhance the current relationship.
“The leaders have taken important steps towards the development and unity of this organization. We must contribute to further strengthening the unity of our countries. The development of the media is in the hands of those who represent it,” he underlined.
In his video address, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the fight against disinformation is vital in terms of ensuring the safety of political and social life.
“The lies and slanders we witnessed during the Second Karabakh War reminded us once again of the importance of this issue and showed how important it is for us to unite. The war was fought not only on the battlefield but in areas, from written and visual media to social media during the 44 days,” Erdogan stressed.
The meeting, which brought together government officials from OTS member states – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, as well as observer members Hungary and Turkmenistan – aimed at improving cooperation between the Turkic states in the field of media and communication.
The meeting featured panels session on “The rising power of public diplomacy in the Turkic world: series-film sector”; “The digital future of the Turkic world: metaverse”; “The possibilities for cooperation in public broadcasting in light of the Turkic world’s common future vision”, and “Combating disinformation in the post-truth era”.
On the sidelines of the event, Hajiyev met with Kazakh Information Minister Askar Umarov.
At the meeting, Umarov proposed to broadcast programs of Balapan, Kazakh TV, Khabar24 TV channels in Azerbaijan.
He noted that specific measures would be taken to ensure the broadcasting of Kazakh TV channels in Azerbaijan, and invited Azerbaijani specialists to the largest media event in Central Asia – Astana Media Week.
In turn, the Azerbaijani delegation expressed interest in the experience of Kazakhstan in the media sector, including in the production of animation, and its intention to take part in the event.
A rendering of the Armenia American Museum’s facade
Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday released his May Revision budget plan for the State of California, which includes $10 million in additional funding for the Armenian American Museum currently under construction in the City of Glendale. The proposed new funding would bring the state’s total investment in the museum to $19.8 million.
“The museum leadership and community are extremely grateful to Governor Gavin Newsom for his continued belief and commitment to the Armenian American Museum,” stated Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian. “From his day as Mayor of San Francisco to his time as Governor, he has been a consistent supporter of the Armenian American community. We are also grateful to Senator Anthony Portantino in the State Legislature who has been the most ardent supporter of our community’s effort to make the museum a reality.”
Governor Gavin Newsom
The major announcement follows the museum’s highly acclaimed Legacy Gala where museum officials unveiled that the landmark center has surpassed the $31 million fundraising milestone. The additional proposed state funding would bring the total amount raised for the historic project to $41 million.
State Senator Anthony Portantino during the museum groundbreaking in July, 2021
The Governor’s proposed budget will need to be approved by the State Legislature and is anticipated to be signed into law in June 2022.
Senator Anthony Portantino has been a champion of the museum since its inception and has been collaborating with the Governor’s office to educate state officials and colleagues on the historic significance of the project.
“I was very pleased, excited, and thankful to the Governor when his office informed me of the additional $10 million proposal for the museum,” stated Senator Anthony Portantino. “Governor Newsom understands how important the project is for the Armenian American community and State of California. The Governor has always had a deep appreciation and respect for Armenian Americans in California and this proposed allocation reaffirms it with action.”
The Armenian American Museum is a world class cultural and educational institution that is currently under construction in the museum campus at Glendale Central Park. The museum will offer a wide range of public programming through the Permanent Exhibition, Temporary Exhibitions, Auditorium, Learning Center, Demonstration Kitchen, Archives Center, and more. The museum celebrated its historic groundbreaking and commenced construction on the project in Summer 2021.