Author: Raffi Khondkarian

Yerevan Mayor receives French Ambassador

Raffi Khondkarian

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 15:13, 6 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. Mayor of Yerevan Hrachya Sargsyan had a meeting with Ambassador of France to Armenia Anne Louyot, the press service of the Yerevan City Hall said.

Highly valuing the role of France in the programs implemented in Yerevan so far, the Mayor expressed confidence that the warm relations with the Embassy will continue, which in its turn, he said, will contribute to the further expansion of the friendly and practical relations between Yerevan and French cities.

The French Ambassador thanked for the readiness to expand the partnership and said that she will do the utmost within her powers to assist all the initiatives aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties.

Today the Yerevan City Hall is cooperating with Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Île-de-France. The sides highlighted expanding this partnership.

Touching upon the next conference of decentralized cooperation to take place in Lyon this year in June, the Mayor of Yerevan and the French Ambassador expressed confidence that it will serve as a good occasion to discuss the vision and programs of future cooperation.

Young opposition activists continue awareness campaign in Yerevan

Raffi Khondkarian
Panorama
Armenia –

A group of young activists continued their awareness campaign in Yerevan on Wednesday, urging students to join the opposition fight for the future of Armenia and Artsakh.

The activists organized a flashmob in front of the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinematography, dancing Kochari, a traditional Armenian dance, and chanting “Struggle!”.

Actor and Honored Artist of Armenia Davit Hakobyan joined them.

The activists were holding the national flags of Armenia and Artsakh.

Opposition MP: Russia-West crisis doesn’t allow Armenian authorities to speed up Artsakh’s surrender

Raffi Khondkarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The deep crisis between Russia and the West does not allow the Armenian authorities to speed up the process of handing over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Azerbaijan, according to MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition With Honor faction.

“The only room for "maneuvering" in the talks on Artsakh remains the deep crisis between Russia and the West, which does not allow to speed up the process of Artsakh’s surrender sought by the Armenian authorities,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“Of course, in this crucial process concerning us, the Armenian authorities are in the status of a victim to see who and how will punish them, but the problem is that Armenia and Artsakh will suffer because of it.

“Despite the fact that the authorities have driven Armenia's negotiating capacity to a historic low and moved the process to inertia, relative peace is preserved only because at this stage the regional actors exercise particular caution, but these processes are simmering in the background, and it is difficult to say what new blows Armenia and Artsakh will suffer,” Abrahamyan said.

Armenia sets up group to work on Gagarin Project

Raffi Khondkarian
Public Radio of Armenia
, 15:28

 2 minutes read

A task force has been set up at the Government to work on the Gagarin Project, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan informs.

“The project is complex, ambitious and risky, but it is a great responsibility and honor to implement such a program with the team of DAR Foundation, the Dutch MVRDV and large institutional investors,” the Minister said, adding that the target goal is a turning point.

Commissioned by the Armenian non-profit organization DAR Foundation for Regional Development and Competitiveness, MVRDV’s vision for the Gagarin Valley will make the 18,000-hectare area more sustainable and ecologically diverse. In the Gagarin Valley, 10,000 plant species will soon flourish on as many plots. With the help of innovative facilities and future-proof housing that will add 12,000 new housing units, the valley will become an ideal base for sustainable agriculture and ecotourism and welcome a new generation of residents.

Armenia’s Gagarin Valley – named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – is located near Lake Sevan, the largest lake in the Caucasus and only 50 kilometers from the capital Yerevan. Surrounded by mountains, roughly 11,000 inhabitants live in several villages spread throughout the valley. The landscape consists of a patchwork of different pieces of land, of which the local community owns about one third.

The first step towards this self-sustaining valley is to embrace the history of the area: the mosaic of 10,000 existing plots will be preserved and reinforced, and the water system in this dry region will be improved by lining the boundaries between them with canals, public paths, and greenery. This forms the base of the valley masterplan, reducing evaporation while enhancing water buffers and biodiversity. On each plot, different species will be planted. This will not only make the landscape visually more attractive, but will also stimulate economic diversity.

In the valley, existing roads will continue to form the starting point for connecting all the villages. Additional walking and cycling paths are created within existing structures. Water management will be improved tremendously: the restoration and enlargement of the route of the Hrazdan River, in combination with the new canal system, is an important part of the vision, and water reservoirs in the mountains and other water sources can be used to irrigate farmland.

The patchwork of 10,000 different gardens will contain various facilities that will make a stay in the valley even more attractive. The vision proposes a market hall, a commercial centre, a centre for the arts, and a sunken stadium for 4,500 visitors. The heart of the valley will be formed by an educational agricultural centre, around which the highest density can be found, with houses stacked to form vertical villages.

Armenian opposition group launches campaign to oust Pashinyan

Raffi Khondkarian
Panorama
Armenia,

Armenia’s “5165” opposition movement led by Karin Tonoyan on Tuesday launched a campaign to remove Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet.

Members of the movement first joined the indefinite anti-government protest being staged in Yerevan’s Liberty Square since Sunday evening.

Afterwards, they started a march through the central streets of Yerevan holding a long red ribbon. The protesters also tied red ribbons around their sleeves, saying they symbolize the "red lines" that the Armenian authorities have crossed.

Edgar Ghazaryan, a member of the movement, urges all those seeking Pashinyan's ouster to wear red ribbons at work, in school and elsewhere as a symbol of protest.

The protest action, according to organizers, will be long-lasting.

Armenian parliamentary standing committee approves draft agreement on EAEU-Singapore economic cooperation

Raffi Khondkarian

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 15:40,

YEREVAN, APRIL18, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Ministry of Economy proposes to ratify the draft agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union, its member states and Singapore.

Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan presented the draft today during the session of the parliamentary standing committee on regional and Eurasian integration affairs.

The minister said that the single package of agreements on development of commercial cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and Singapore has been developed based on the 2016 December 26 decision of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.

“The agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation envisages an obligation of multilateral development of interaction of the sides, which aims at promoting the trade of goods and services, expanding the cooperation, and ensuring capital investments, contemporary standards for the foundation of companies and protection of their activity”, the minister said.

Kerobyan said that 7 negotiation stages were held with Singapore, within the frames of which talks were also held over the signing of the Framework agreement, which aims at creating a package of agreements, as well as bilateral talks over the signing of agreements on trade of services and investments.

“The agreement aims at creating an environment and conditions for the development of commercial relations and promotion of economic cooperation between the sides in areas of mutual interest, as well as for eliminating the trade and investment barriers between the sides, reducing the business expenditures and raising the economic efficiency”, he said.

Based on this the minister said that the ministry of economy finds the ratification of the agreement by Armenia appropriate.

The parliamentary standing committee on regional and Eurasian integration affairs approved the draft.

Armenia revenue committee ex-chairman: Change of power should have been willingly on November 10 morning

Raffi Khondkarian
News.am
Armenia –
14:39, 18.04.2022

Former chairman of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia, Davit Ananyan, also visited Monday Freedom Square where Artur Vanetsyan, the leader of the "With Honor" Faction of the National Assembly, is on a sit-in, and two young men who fought in the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war in the fall of 2020 are on a hunger strike.

"It's no surprise I'm here. I came to salute my friends and go," Ananyan told reporters.

Asked whether—former National Security Service chief—Artur Vanetsyan is his friend, Ananyan responded: "Of course. He is my good friend—from work. If my greeting did not have an element of support, I could have [just] called over the phone and say ‘hello.’ I have never been involved in active politics; consider this as my civic duty. I came, greeted my friends, now I am going to work."

Ananyan added, however, that he is naturally concerned about the situation in Armenia. According to the former SRC chief, there are probably no words in the human lexicon that will accurately describe the situation in the country.

"The situation is not good, to put it mildly," he said.

And to the question whether he demands a change of power in Armenia and whether that will be the beginning of saving the country, Davit Ananyan answered: "The change of power should have been willingly, on the morning of November 10 [2020]. This is my position which I do not renounce until now as well."

Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that Artur Vanetsyan, the leader of the "With Honor" Faction of the National Assembly of Armenia, on Sunday announced the start of protests—and with no term or end—at Freedom Square in downtown Yerevan. Sometime thereafter, Nver Kirakosyan and Artur Avagyan, two participants of the 44-day Artsakh war in the fall of 2020, announced a hunger strike, and they came to Freedom Square Monday morning.

Opposition factions boycott parliament session, travel to border towns and Artsakh

Raffi Khondkarian

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 10:30,

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Both opposition blocs of the Armenian parliament announced that they are boycotting the parliament session and will instead travel to border towns of Armenia and to Artsakh.

Hayastan faction leader Seyran Ohanyan said that Armenia and Artsakh are facing the most serious challenges and cited the “red lines” which they had stated during their latest rally in Yerevan.

“The provisions stipulated in the Consitution of Armenia, our territorial integrity, sovereignty, are not for bargain, we find unacceptable any option of resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that would make Artsakh part of Azerbaijan,” Ohanyan said.

Ohanyan accused the Pashinyan administration in being incapable of solving numerous foreign and domestic issues. He said the latest developments show that everything is proceeding by the "Azeri-Turkish agenda".

“Based on this situation, the parliamentary opposition announces that it won’t participate in this week’s sessions and votes, we are going to Artsakh and to border provinces of Armenia,” Ohanyan said.

Secretary of Pativ Unem bloc Hayk Mamijanyan also announced that they won’t participate in the sessions. He said their lawmakers are also traveling to Artsakh.

Meanwhile, ruling Civil Contract bloc lawmaker Vagharshak Hakobyan accused the opposition MPs in “endangering the citizens of Artsakh and Armenia” by traveling to Artsakh.

“A narrative was voiced here, that they are traveling to Artsakh to follow the most important agenda and to protect the citizens of Artsakh. I’d like to argue the contrary, by traveling to Artsakh now they are endangering the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh and the citizens of the Republic of Armenia. Take this into consideration,” Hakobyan said.

Armenia’s Khoznavar village is surrounded by Azerbaijanis on 3 sides after 2020 war

Raffi Khondkarian
NEWS.am
Armenia – April 9 2022
14:36, 09.04.2022

After the war in the fall of 2020, a total of 250 hectares of pastures, 80 hectares of grassland, and 15 hectares of arable land in Khoznavar village of Armenia’s Syunik Province has passed to the adversary.

Khoznavar resident and former village head Varo Grigoryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that this rural community is currently surrounded on three sides by Azerbaijani military positions, there is only one road out of the village, but it is under direct enemy fire.

"The enemy is 500-600 meters away from the road; the road is not safe. And the village is surrounded by Azerbaijanis, like a peninsula, and [the military forces of] ours are standing across," he said.

Referring to the Armenian PM’s proposal of a “mirror withdrawal” of both troops, the former head Khoznavar noted that they have no place to withdraw. Otherwise, they would have to leave the village.

"It is not correct. In my view, they [i.e., the Azerbaijani army units] have come, settled. If they were going to go back, they would have been gone now," he added.

Grigoryan said the situation in Khoznavar is calm, and there are no shootings.