16:08, 3 May, 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is among the top ten countries having the lowest crime rate as of March 3, 2022 according to World Population Review independent international organization, the Prosecutor-General of Armenia Artur Davtyan said in parliament.
Armenia has lower crime rates than all other CIS countries and most of European countries.
Artur Vanetsyan, the leader of the opposition Homeland Party and With Honor (Pativ Unem) parliamentary faction, congratulated Armenians on Victory Day, the anniversary of the 1992 liberation of Shushi and the formation of the Artsakh Defense Army marked on May 9.
“May 9 is one of the most glorious pages in our history. The day marking the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the liberation of Shushi and the formation of the Artsakh Defense Army stands as a symbol of national pride, turning the impossible into the possible and overcoming difficulties through unity. May 9 is a day of unity, devotion, sacrifice, faith, struggle and victory,” he said in a message.
Vanetsyan paid tribute to all those who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War, the first Artsakh war, including the battles for Shushi, the April 2016 war and the 44-day war in 2020 as well as throughout the years when “we were in a "no peace, no war" situation.”
At the same time, he stresses the Armenian people are living through tough times now, adding the 2020 war and Armenia’s defeat in it "have changed a lot".
“Today, our beautiful Shushi is in captivity, some parts of Artsakh’s territories are occupied by the enemy, the issue of Artsakh's status is up in the air and the borders of Armenia are threatened. In the current situation, we are offered so-called peace at the price of meeting all the conditions of the enemy, kneeling down before it,” the deputy said.
“It is today, on this symbolic day, that we should declare publicly that the Armenian people who forged the May victories will never kneel down and will stand up, not begging for peace, but imposing peace, a decent peace.
“Happy triple holiday, dear compatriots! The Armenian people will hold out, will break the cycle of defeats and will definitely achieve new victories,” the message says.
16:54, 7 May, 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 7, ARMENPRESS. A miner working in the Sotk gold mine in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province was shot and wounded by Azerbaijani military shooting on May 7, the mine’s operator GeoProMining told ARMENPRESS.
GeoProMining representative Ruzanna Grigoryan told ARMENPRESS that the shootings began in the evening of May 6 but intensified midday May 7. “The victim is the driller. He is hospitalized and is in a stable condition. The man was wounded in his left arm, in the direction of the heart, but fortunately he didn’t suffer internal organ injuries,” Grigoryan said.
The mine’s operations are now suspended and all employees were evacuated.
As of 17:00 the shootings had stopped, Grigoryan said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia told ARMENPRESS that it would soon issue a on the incident.
UPDATES:
17:17 – Ministry of Defense issues
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1082690.html?fbclid=IwAR3xmN32cVHQSnHNYoX1mE9bz_zBo3OpBXbXQ77TeuBms132rZlFVjvO81I
Over 20 federal and state political leaders have demonstrated the growing disparity between the elected parliamentarians of Australia and the country’s Government with 107th Anniversary statements accurately characterizing the Armenian Genocide and calling on their colleagues in the executive branch to do the same, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).
Video statements from political leaders across Australia and all represented major parties were broadcast during Australia’s National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, which was viewed by thousands on Facebook Live and YouTube on 26 April 2022.
These calls for Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides followed statements from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese referring to the Armenian Genocide as “massacres”, “expulsion”. “deportation”, “dispossession” and “deaths”.
Prime Minister Morrison, who in 2011 called on Federal recognition of the Armenian Genocide, acknowledged the outpouring of Australian support for victims of the Armenian Genocide and through the country’s first humanitarian relief effort and went as far as referring to the events of 1915 as “one of the greatest crimes in modern history”.
Opposition Leader Albanese used his statement to call for the Ottoman Empire’s successor state. Turkey to “come to terms with its history”.
Both stopped short of calling these crimes by their name – genocide.
In contrast, the condolence messages from both federal and New South Wales state political leaders in light of the 107th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide went one step further, accurately characterizing the crimes and genocide and calling on the Australian Government to do the same.
Messages were received from Hon. Paul Fletcher MP – Minister Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and Art, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Senator Hon. Kristina Keneally, as well as their Federal parliamentary colleagues, including Leader of The Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP, Co-Chair of the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Union Trent Zimmerman MP, Tim Wilson MP, Julian Leeser MP, Senator Janet Rice, Senator Eric Abetz, Steve Georganas MP, Mike Freelander MP and Jason Falinski MP and Josh Burns MP.
Minister Fletcher conveyed: “I’m proud on this 107th anniversary to repeat my call to again express my strong belief that the Armenian Genocide must be recognised, it must be accurately described for what it was, and that Australia as part of the community of nations must maintain efforts to ensure there is full awareness of what happened,”
Senator Keneally also referred to the Armenian Genocide accurately, and revealed: “(The Australian) Labor (Party) believes the (U.S. President Joe) Biden administration’s decision (to recognise the Armenian Genocide) is an opportunity for the Australian Government to engage in dialogue with diaspora communities in Australia and our international partners on this issue.”
The Australian Greens is the largest cross-bench party in the Australian Parliament with a formal policy supportive of Australian recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Their leader, Adam Bandt said: “The Greens have consistently called on the Australian government to recognise the Armenian Genocide. We must not remain on the wrong side of history along with Turkey and other nations that refuse to acknowledge this horrific tragedy.”
On the 107th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, these sentiments were echoed by nine other federal parliamentarians, while New South Wales Premier Hon. Dominic Perrottet added his name to the long list of the state’s leaders who have addressed the Armenian-Australian community marking the occasion by recalling the “great crime of the Armenian Genocide”.
Perrottet said: “Our commemoration is about more than just remembering, it’s about commitment. Commitment to learn from such atrocities, commitment to making sure these crimes against humanity are never repeated again.”
“25 years ago, the New South Wales parliament became the first in Australia to formally recognise any condemn the Armenian Genocide. I am proud to be part of that parliament because we cannot forget,” he added.
The Premier was joined by fellow state parliamentarians, including Hon. Jonathon O’Dea MP, Hon. Mark Coure MP, Hon. Victor Dominello MP, Hon. Damien Tudehope MLC, Hon. Walt Secord MLC, Hugh McDermott MP, Tim James MP and Tanya Davies MP, who similarly characterised the massacres against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks accurately.
ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian welcomed the support from the legislators for their “principled stance”.
“What we saw in November 2021 was the exhibition of Australia’s will on this issue, when the Australian Parliament’s House of Representatives unanimously debated in favour of a motion calling for Federal recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides,” said Kayserian.
“These statements from over 20 representatives we’ve elected to parliament echoes those sentiments and represent a further manifestation of when the everyday Australian stands on this issue, and for this we are eternally grateful.”
Kayserian added: “It is now time for the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader of Australia to stand with their constituents and their elected representatives and take one final step by recognising the Armenian Genocide accurately, and stop bowing to empty threats from a foreign dictatorship, whose century-long campaign of denial has been defeated.”
ArmInfo.. As a result of the monitoring conducted by the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, a number of violations were revealed by representatives of law enforcement agencies during the detention of participants in opposition protest actions that took place on May 3 and May 4.
According to the press service of the Armenian Human Rights Defender's Office, its employees provided advisory assistance to 32 detainees, registering violations by the Police. Cases of violations of fundamental human rights were identified, including cases of forcible identification of people through unauthorized access to personal data – mobile phones. The defenders specifically warned the Police about the inadmissibility of such unlawful measures that grossly violate the fundamental rights of citizens. These rights, emphasized in the Office, have priority importance before police officers carry out their duties and police officers must refrain from committing obvious violations of these rights.
Also, cases of disproportionate physical force were again recorded. In particular, in personal conversations with persons taken to the Nor Nork Police Department, it was recorded that during the arrest, police officers used violence against the detainees, inflicting physical injuries on the mind, using swearing. The police pushed the detainees, dragged them along the ground, roughly pushing them into police cars. Misbehavior of police officers was also noted.
It is noted that the Office of the Human Rights Defender intends to consistently conduct a detailed investigation of each of the registered violations.
At the same time, the monitoring of the media and social networks conducted by the Office of the Human Rights Defender revealed manifestations of intolerant and offensive behavior towards the Police officers themselves.
Large numbers of police officers have been deployed outside the building of the Armenian National Assembly amid an opposition rally which started in Yerevan’s France Square late on Wednesday afternoon.
Police officers are wearing helmets and carrying metal shields.
Nikol Pashinyan is today expected to attend a Q&A session in the parliament, which is close to France Square.
17:12, 29 April, 2022
YEREVAN, 29 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 29 April, USD exchange rate down by 3.41 drams to 453.26 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.41 drams to 478.91 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.08 drams to 6.40 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.46 drams to 569.79 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 167.40 drams to 27520.44 drams. Silver price down by 9.52 drams to 337.50 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.
11:22,
YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS. 3 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed over the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total number of confirmed cases to 422,858, the Armenian Healthcare Ministry said.
No new deaths were recorded and the death toll stood at 8,622.
216 people recovered (total recoveries: 410,814).
2,546 tests were administered (total tests: 3,045,254).
As of April 28 the number of active cases stood at 1,739.
Monday,
Armenian Opposition Gears Up For ‘Big Rally’
• Gayane Saribekian
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Opposition members and supporters led by deputy parliament speaker
Ishkhan Saghatelian (center) march through Yerevan, .
Armenia’s leading opposition alliances began on Monday coordinated small-scale
demonstrations in Yerevan in preparation for mass protests aimed at toppling
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Senior members of the Hayastan alliance again pledged to thwart what they say
are sweeping concessions to Azerbaijan planned by Pashinian as they led several
hundred supporters on an “awareness march” through the city’s northern Arabkir
district.
Earlier in the day, a group of Hayastan activists blocked Arabkir’s main
thoroughfare, Komitas Avenue, before being detained by riot police.
Several others headed to Yerevan on foot from Pashinian’s hometown, Ijevan. The
opposition bloc headed by former President Robert Kocharian promised similar
marches to the Armenian capital from three other parts of the country.
“Every day we will be organizing various protests, marches and demonstrations in
Yerevan,” Hayastan’s Ishkhan Saghatelian told reporters.
“Our goal is to get our people all over Armenia to rise up over the next five
days,” he said, adding that the opposition has scheduled its first “big rally”
for Sunday.
“We have come out for a decisive fight,” said Anna Grigorian, another lawmaker
representing the bloc. She charged that Pashinian and his political team are
“ready to see Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan.”
Meanwhile, Artur Vanetsian, a leader of the Pativ Unem alliance, led a similar
march through the city center. Vanetsian and a group of his loyalists had begun
a nonstop sit-in in Liberty Square on April 17.
Armenia - Opposition leader Artur Vanetsian (right) and his supporters protest
in Yerevan, .
Vanetsian said on Monday morning that he has succeeded in attracting public
attention and that the opposition can now switch to the “second phase” of its
“decentralized” campaign.
Pativ Unem and Hayastan jointly rallied thousands of supporters in Liberty
Square on April 5 to warn Pashinian against agreeing to restore Azerbaijan’s
control over Nagorno-Karabakh. The prime minister met with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev in Brussels the following day for talks hosted by European Council
President Charles Michel.
Speaking in the parliament on April 13, Pashinian said the international
community is pressing Armenia to scale back its demands on Karabakh’s status and
recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He signaled Yerevan’s intention to
make such concessions to Baku.
Some pro-government lawmakers insisted afterwards that Pashinian did not call
for the restoration of Azerbaijani control of Karabakh.
Karabakh Leader ‘Reassured’ By Pashinian
Armenia - Prime Minsiter Nikol Pashian meets with Karabakh President Arayik
Harutyunian, Yerevan, July 9, 2021
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leader said on Monday Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has
assured him that Armenia will not back any agreements on the territory’s status
unacceptable to the Karabakh Armenians.
Addressing the Armenian parliament on April 13, Pashinian said that the
international community is pressing Armenia to “lower a bit the bar on the
question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status” and recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. He signaled Yerevan’s intention to make such concessions to Baku.
The speech welcomed by the United States and the European Union stoked Armenian
opposition allegations that Pashinian has agreed to Azerbaijani control over
Karabakh.
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership openly deplored it. In a resolution
unanimously approved by its members, the Karabakh parliament demanded that the
Armenian authorities “abandon their current disastrous position.”
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, again commented on the issue at a
meeting with other officials in Stepanakert. Harutiunian was quoted by his press
office as telling them that “no document on the status of Artsakh (Karabakh) is
being discussed at this stage.”
He announced a “clear agreement with the prime minister of Armenia to the effect
that in case of any discussion on the future status of Artsakh at the
international level the position of the Armenian side must be agreed with the
opinion of the Republic of Artsakh’s authorities and people.”
Pashinian insisted on Friday that his administration has no plans to “surrender”
Karabakh through a peace deal with Azerbaijan. But he again did not specify
Karabakh’s status acceptable to Yerevan in the current circumstances. He
attacked his political opponents instead, saying that a tougher line advocated
by them would lead to another war with Azerbaijan and a complete loss of
Karabakh.
Armenia Plans New Nuclear Plant
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - A general view of the Metsamor nuclear plant, 12May2011.
Armenia has revived plans to build a new nuclear plant and is already
cooperating with Russia for that purpose, a senior Armenian official said on
Monday.
Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Hakob
Vartanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that a joint task force formed by the
Armenian and Russian governments will explore ways of implementing the ambitious
project.
“The working group has already held the first meeting,” he said. “Right now we
are working on a feasibility study, and yes, we are going to build a new
[nuclear] energy block.”
Roughly 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity is currently generated by the
nuclear power station at Metsamor. Its sole functioning reactor went into
service in 1980 and was due to be decommissioned by 2017. Armenia’s former
government decided to extend the life of the 420-megawatt reactor after failing
to attract billions of dollars in funding for the construction of a new and
safer nuclear facility.
In 2015, the Russian government provided Yerevan with a $270 million loan and a
$30 million grant for major safety upgrades at Metsamor. Russian and Armenian
specialists essentially completed the modernization last year. Armenian
officials say the Soviet-built plant located 35 kilometers west of Yerevan is
safe enough to operate until 2036.
Vartanian indicated that the new plant would be built in time for the planned
decommissioning of the Metsamor reactor. He said the cost of the project depends
on the plant’s design capacity which is due to be recommended by the
Russian-Armenian task force.
The Russian side, the official went on, has already floated the idea of building
multiple and smaller reactors in Armenia.
“But I’m not sure that we will opt for building small modular energy blocks,” he
said, arguing that small reactors are not necessarily more cost-effective than
large ones.
Armenia, Azerbaijan To Start Talks On Border Demarcation
• Naira Nalbandian
ARMENIA -- Azerbaijani (L) and Armenian checkpoints at the Sotk gold mine on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Gegharkunik province, June 18, 2021
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to start negotiations on delimiting and
demarcating their long border, the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.
The ministry said Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani
counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov reached the agreement in what was their second phone
call in two weeks. The two sides will soon hold a “meeting regarding the
commission” on border demarcation, it said without giving any dates.
According to the ministry’s readout of the phone call, Mirzoyan and Bayramov
also discussed preparations for separate negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace treaty.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, meanwhile, that he has already
appointed Azerbaijani negotiators two will discuss the treaty and border
demarcation with their Armenian counterparts.
It was not clear whether Yerevan has also named members of its two negotiating
teams. The Armenian government could not be reached for comment.
Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian first agreed to form such a commission
during their trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last
November. However, it was not set up in the following months not least because
of confidence-building measures demanded by Yerevan.
Aliyev and Pashinian pledged to form the commission before the end of this month
during their April 6 talks in Brussels hosted by European Council President
Charles Michel. The latter said they also plan to “move rapidly” towards
negotiating the peace treaty.
Russian responded by accusing the European Union and the United States of trying
to hijack Russian efforts to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan as part
of the ongoing geopolitical standoff over Ukraine.
In a joint declaration issued after their April 19 talks, Pashinian and Russian
President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s key role in the peace process. They
said they will speed up the planned creation of the border demarcation
commission.
“We are ready to provide advisory assistance to the bilateral Commission on
border delimitation, to provide the necessary cartographic materials,” a senior
Russian Foreign Ministry, Denis Gonchar, told the RIA Novosti news agency in an
interview published on Monday.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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