15:03,
YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a phone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, Milliyet reported.
The situation in Ukraine was discussed during the phone talk.
A day before Cavusoglu and Kuleba held a meeting in Lviv.
Before traveling to Ukraine, the Turkish FM visited Russia and held several meetings with government officials.
After the visits, Cavusoglu said that he has higher hopes for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
11:27,
YEREVAN, 12 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. On March 12, President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan received ARF newly elected Bureau member David Ishkhanyan and representative of the ARF Artsakh Central Committee Arthur Mosiyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Artsakh President’s Office.
Highly appreciating the role of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun in the solution of the pan-Armenian issues, the President of the country highlighted the efforts exerted towards the effective realization of the structure’s worldwide potential, emphasizing his commitment in that respect. The President specially mentioned the cooperation with the Armenian National Committee offices, noting that after the 34th General Assembly of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun he had an effective meeting and discussion with President of European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy Kaspar Karampetian as well.
The interlocutors also discussed issues related to the domestic and foreign policy of the republic, the existing challenges, as well as the processes taking place in the region and the world.
16:44,
YEREVAN, 12 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan is trying to take advantage of the extremely tense international situation to aggravate the situation both on the border with Armenia and in Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports Armenian Ambassador to Greece Tigran Mkrtchyan said in an interview with TV100 Thessaloniki, one of the largest Greek TV channels, referring to the recent ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
Speaking about the adoption of the resolution “On the destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno Karabakh” by the European Parliament, the Ambassador highly appreciated the involvement of Greek and Cypriot MEPs in its adoption.
Answering the journalist’s question on the Armenia-Turkey normalisation process, Ambassador Mkrtchyan noted that two meetings of special representatives have already taken place, and the parties agreed to continue the negotiations aimed at a full normalisation without preconditions.
Ambassador Mkrtchyan referred to the current level of relations between Armenia and Greece, noting that they can be considered sufficient, at the same time emphasizing the need for continuous work in all possible spheres.
In his speech, Ambassador Mkrtchyan also presented the centuries-old cultural ties between the two countries, the progress made in Armenia in recent years in various fields, spoke about the opportunities for scientific cooperation and tourism, and praised the role of the Greek-Armenian community in developing relations between the two countries.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomes and highly appreciates the almost unanimous adoption of the resolution on the destruction of the cultural heritage in Artsakh, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan said.
His remarks came during a conversation with Armenpress. According to him, this decision demonstrates the strong stance of Armenia’s partners represented in the European Parliament.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh after discussions on Thursday.
The document was supported by 635 deputies, 2 voted against it, and 12 more abstained. The resolution condemns the destruction of the cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for its immediate protection; stresses the universality of cultural heritage as testimony of history, inseparable from the identity of peoples, which the international community has a duty to protect and preserve for future generations; recalls that historical revisionism, defacement and destruction of cultural or religious heritage contradict the judgment of the International Court of Justice of 7 December 2021, as well as the European Parliament resolution of 21 May 2021.
The resolution calls on the EU, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the OSCE to jointly promote and support efforts to safeguard cultural and religious heritage; calls on the EU and member states to continue to support the work of international organizations aimed at protecting cultural and religious heritage; calls on the Commission to use all available levers to prevent acts of vandalism, destruction or alteration of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.
20:30, 9 March, 2022
YEREVAN, 9 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The opening ceremony of the “France-Armenia Cooperation Perspectives” conference dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Armenia-France diplomatic relations took place on March 9, co-chaired by Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan who is in France as part of the delegation led by PM Pashinyan, and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, State Secretary of the French Foreign Ministry.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, in his speech at the beginning of the conference, FM Mirzoyan touched upon the prospects of the development of the Armenian-French unique relations, emphasizing that the centuries-old traditional ties between the two peoples are an important basis for the development of the Armenian-French interstate relations.
Ararat Mirzoyan said that despite the 30-year rich Armenian-French agenda, there are great opportunities for expanding cooperation, particularly in the economy, infrastructure, education, healthcare, culture and other spheres.
It was stressed that there is a mutual determination to expand the Armenian-French economic cooperation in the spirit of the unique relations between Armenia and France, bringing it in line with the friendship of the two peoples and the level of high-level close political dialogue.
The joint meeting of the working group on economic issues and the signing of a five-year roadmap for Armenian-French economic cooperation in Paris last December were especially highlighted as a milestone in the development of the economic agenda.
Summing up his speech, Ararat Mirzoyan noted that the relations between Armenia and France are entering their 30th anniversary with significant achievements, for the deepening and strengthening of which there is mutual readiness and great potential.
Against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, the West approved a package of sanctions against Russia. The sanctions may also affect the Armenian economy to some extent, since Russia is Armenia’s key trade partner and accounts for a large share of Armenian exports, thus the country cannot remain aloof from these processes.
The war has already started to negatively impact the economy. First, the ruble is rapidly depreciating against the dollar and the euro, which will create problems for exports of Armenian goods.
Economists say that the sanctions will cause both economic and financial losses. In particular, investments and the volume of private transfers are expected to drop sharply, while the decline in the solvency of the Russian market may lead to a reduction in exports from Armenia to the country.
“The devaluation of the Russian ruble means that Russians’ purchasing power will significantly decrease, i.e. Russian consumers will be able to buy almost two and a half times less goods for the same amount,” economist Tatul Manaseryan, head of the Alternative Research Center, said in an interview to Panorama.am on Monday.
Naturally, according to him, exports of Armenian goods to Russia will cut and the Armenian products will become uncompetitive in the Russian market due to the ruble devaluation.
“The Armenian dram has revalued against the Russian ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia, which means that the prices of exported products have increased and the demand for goods exported from Armenia will decrease in these markets. Naturally, the export rate cannot remain the same,” the economist explained.
“Therefore, Armenia should try to find new markets for both exports and imports. The more we diversify the imports and exports sources, the more flexible and competitive our economy will be,” Manaseryan added.
According to the economist, due to the devaluation of the Russian ruble, transfers may decrease, thus the income of people living on remittances will also decrease.
“The reduction in private transfers will lead to a drop in the people’s purchasing power. It will also have a negative impact, as 10-12% of Armenia’s population lives off remittances. Here we will see a certain increase in poverty, which will reduce consumption in Armenia,” he said.
10:22, 1 March, 2022
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Acting Speaker of Parliament Hakob Arshakyan received the Special Envoy of Canada to the European Union and Europe, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federal Republic of Germany Stéphane Dion, the Parliament’s press service said.
The Chair of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan also attended the meeting.
Welcoming the guests, Hakob Arshakyan has underlined that this year is significant for Armenia and Canada: the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries turns. In the Armenian-Canadian bilateral relations, the Acting Speaker stressed the role of the inter-parliamentary cooperation, particularly the Parliamentary Friendship Groups.
Hakob Arshakyan has opined that the close and effective cooperation with the European Union is of special importance for Armenia and has added that the opportunities of the RA-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement shall be fully used. “That is a firm basis in terms of the development of mutually beneficial relations with the EU and the EU member states,” Hakob Arshakyan documented.
Hakob Arshakyan highly evaluated the fact that from the first days of the 2020 Artsakh second war Canada had actively tried to make efforts for ceasefire. In this aspect he valued the decision of the Government of Canada for stopping the supply of the Canadian armament to Turkey.
Touching upon the post-war still non-overcome problems, Hakob Arshakyan highlighted the realization of all provisions of the trilateral statement, considering of priority the issue of the immediate repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and the civilians being held in Azerbaijan. The Acting Speaker has reminded that the return of the abovementioned persons is postponed with fake criminal cases in Azerbaijan.
“We hope that the international counterparts will decently respond to the fact and we will be able to advance in the region with the committed peace agenda,” Hakob Arshakyan stressed.
In this context the importance of the demarcation and delimitation process and the complete withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the Armenian sovereign territory was touched upon. With regards to the establishment of peace in the region it has been underscored that the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey actively negotiate in registering progress in the Armenian-Turkish relations.
During the meeting the sides referred to the efficiency and continuity of the development program of the Staff being implemented with the cooperation between the National Assembly Staff and the Parliamentary Centre of Canada.
With respect to the development of parliamentary diplomacy Hakob Arshakyan and Arman Yeghoyan emphasized the implementation of such strategic programs. The efficiency of the implementation of the exchange programs was underlined.
Stéphane Dion in his turn highlighted the continuous development of the Armenian-Canadian relations and the deepening of the relationship. In this context he especially stressed the role of the Friendship Groups.
17:36, 1 March, 2022
YEREVAN, 1 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.94 drams to 484.86 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 108.45 drams to 649.42 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 4.77 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 105.31 drams to 541.98 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 447.46 drams to 29771.91 drams. Silver price up by 2.91 drams to 379.58 drams.
All the countries having interests in the South Caucasus region are gradually getting their “share of dividends” from the new situation caused by the 2020 Artsakh war, political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan says.
“One got the lands, the other – the roads, the third one – geopolitical presence, the fourth one – a great influence… And only we again found ourselves with nothing,” he wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, attributing it to Armenia’s failure to learn lessons from the 1920 events.
“I naturally understand what others what in our region, and why we have ended up in such a situation. A thinking man cannot fail to see this extremely simple picture.
“But there is one important circumstance that we must continually bring up: more has been taken from us than it was agreed upon. And never mind that the main culprit for this is the witless authorities of Armenia. Those who steal are just as guilty. And the thieves should also be reminded of this.
“As I repeatedly said, Shushi and Hadrut must be regained, also Karvachar – as a punishment for crossing the borders of already criminal decisions. This should be the key issue on the agenda of our next government,” Melik-Shahnazaryan said.
16:49, 25 February, 2022
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The main forces of the Russian paratroopers joined the Russian paratroopers forces deployed in Gomel and have blocked Kiev from the west, RIA Novosti reported citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Earlier the Mayor of Kiev said in an address that the Ukrainian capital is now in a defensive stage and the situation is difficult.