10:44, 8 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Nearly 30% of the adult population of Armenia has received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan said during the joint session of the parliamentary standing committees dedicated to the debate of the 2022 state budget draft.
890,797 vaccinations have been carried out as of November 7. The minister assures that no cases of post-vaccination complications have been registered so far. Based on Armenia’s example, the minister says that vaccinations are safe, effective and the only mean for preventing the deaths.
“The number of citizens who received the first dose is 613,846. This is almost the 30% of the adult population. And the number of those who received the second dose is 276,948”, the minister said.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Yerevan and Tehran are considering liberalization of bilateral transit and transportation. This is what Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan said in response to deputies’ questions during today’s discussion on the draft state budget for 2022 in parliament.
Kerobyan recalled that he had the opportunity to discuss this matter with Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Mohammad Eslami in May of this year.
“Discussions are in progress. Armenian cars may enter Iran and take cargo from the Bandar Abbas port located in the Persian Gulf, and Armenia, in its turn, will lower the customs duties for Iranian cars. There is already a Memorandum of Understanding on this,” Kerobyan said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again set out conditions for normalization of ties with Armenia, AFP reports.
“If Armenia shows sincere goodwill towards Azerbaijan, then there will be no obstacles for the normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia,” Erdogan said.
“Turkey will reciprocate to Armenia’s steps aimed at building lasting peace in the region,” he told a news conference after attending the opening of a newly-built airport in Artsakh’s Varanda (Fizuli) region captured by Azerbaijan during the six-week war last year.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations, and the bitter relationship has deteriorated more recently over Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan, which last year unleashed large-scale aggression against Artsakh.
Armenian officials have stated on many occasions that the relations with Turkey must be normalized without preconditions.
The Armenian parliament did not pass a statement on Artsakh drafted by the opposition Armenia and With Honor factions after urgent debates on the border situation during a special session of the National Assembly held behind the closed doors on Tuesday.
The statement read out by With Honor faction MP Tigran Abrahamyan on Wednesday condemned the 2020 Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Artsakh, involving terrorist groups and mercenaries.
The gross violations of international law with regard to prisoners of war and civilian captives, even after the end of hostilities, as well as continuous provocations against Artsakh and the invasion of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia were also condemned.
The statement highlighted that Azerbaijan continues to use hate rhetoric, incite Armenophobia, disseminate distorted information and make territorial claims against Armenia.
The state borders are determined on the basis of international law, the UN Vienna Convention, which stipulates, inter alia, that any agreement on borders using or threatening to use force is invalid. The right of the people of Artsakh to live on their historical land and the de-occupation of the territories of Artsakh is the key precondition for establishing peace in the region in the OSCE Minsk Group format, the draft statement said.
It also obliged the Armenian government to refrain from engaging in negotiations, written or verbal agreements, which would run against the Armenian Constitution and the will of the Armenian people enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.
In addition, accoridng to the document, the authorities had to provide information about the army reforms, as well as step up the modernization of security system to make it in line with the post-war challenges.
The head of the ruling Civic Contract party’s parliamentray faction, Hayk Konjoryan, said that they received the draft document on Tuesday afternoon, and the political majority was not involved in drafting the statement.
He stated that the statement included certain wording of domestic political nature, reflecting the opposition’s political approaches. Meanwhile, he said, a document on such an important issue should be consensual.
Therefore, Konjoryan announced his facton’s decision not to take part in the voting.
The statement failed to be adopted after receiving 26 votes.
© Council of Europe
Two animation films, namely about military service of women and about the social guarantees for military servicepersons in the armed forces of Armenia were produced within the framework of the Council of Europe’s Project “Human Rights and Women in the Armed Forces of Armenia-Phase II’’. The films are developed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Defence and the Human Rights Defender’s Office of Armenia. The activity supports the implementation of the Action Plan of the Human Rights Protection National Strategy for 2020-2022.
The first film introduces the topics of equal military service opportunities for women, possibilities to combine professional duty with personal life, and women’s engagement in peacekeeping missions. The second animation film puts emphasis on the system of social guarantees and benefits for all military servicepersons, highlighting housing allowance and free healthcare and medical services available for military staff of the armed forces. More information about the social guarantees in the armed forces of Armenia will be presented in part II of the second film to be developed.
The animation films will be broadcasted by TV program “Zinuj” of the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Armenia shown at Armenian Public TV. The films will be also demonstrated in the military units as well as other relevant institutions.
The films are available online in Armenian language with English subtitles:
The Project “Human Rights and Women in the Armed Forces in Armenia – Phase II’’ is implemented by the Council of Europe within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022. Action Plan level funding is provided by Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Sweden.
15:02,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Russia is going to invest 1 billion dollars into Armenia’s economy in the near future, Deputy minister of economic development Dmitry Volvach told reporters in Yerevan on the sidelines of the Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum.
“The trade turnover restoration rates between our countries in 2021 are not bad, 17%. This is in case when we had a 4% decline in the pandemic year. Our cooperation is developing in the field of investments, over 2.2 billion dollars jointly collected investments from Russia to Armenia. We know that there are concrete programs worth 1 billion dollars which will soon be invested into the economy of Armenia”, the Russian deputy minister of economic development said.
He added that the investments will be very important for the development of economic, social and cultural relations between Armenia and Russia.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
UN International Court of Justice launches hearings over urgent measures of Azerbaijan v. Armenia case
21:20,
YEREVAN, 18 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. UN International Court of Justice has launched oral hearings on urgent measures of Azerbaijan v. Armenia case. ARMENPRESS reports the Facebook page of the Permanent Representative of Armenia to the ECHR informs that the plaintiff filed a request for urgent measures, in response to which the Republic of Armenia has submitted well-founded counter-arguments.
The oral hearings will continue on October 19.
14:31, 13 October, 2021
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will soon receive more Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine doses, CDC Director of Department of Epidemiology of Infectious and Non-Infectious Diseases Romella Abovyan said on Wednesday.
She didn’t specify the quantity, timeframes or the brand of the batch.
“We had a little problem regarding the quantity of vaccines, but now I can say we don’t have any problem at all,” she added. In addition, Abovyan noted that they are negotiating over a potential supply of Pfizer vaccines.
“We are engaged in active discussions in the direction of importing the Pfizer vaccine. I think soon authorities will announce the timeframes of its arrival to Armenia.”
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
20:00, 13 October, 2021
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Coronavirus-related weekly deaths continue to decline, and are currently at their lowest level in a year, ARMENPRESS reports Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus said in Geneva in a briefing with reporters.
However, he noted that the death toll is still high – about 50 thousand cases per week, and the real number, according to Ghebreyesus, is undoubtedly much higher.
“Death toll is falling in all regions except Europe, where a number of countries are facing new waves of disease and death,” Ghebreyesus said, adding that the highest mortality rates are in countries where vaccine availability is low.
By now, according to the WHO, 238 million 229 thousand 951 cases of infection have been registered in the world since the beginning of the pandemic, 4 million 859 thousand 277 have died.