Secretary General of the CSTO Yuri Khachaturov returned to Moscow on August 4 and has resumed the implementation of his duties. ARMENPRESS reports CSTO’s press secretary Vladimir Zaynetdinov told TASS.
“CSTO Secretary General returned to Moscow from Yerevan on August 4 and has fully resumed the implementation of his duties”, he said.
RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the graduation ceremony of the graduates of the 2017-2018 academic year at the Ministry of Defense.
The Prime Minister congratulated all the graduates on the occasion of graduating from educational institutions, receiving the rank of officer, and personally handed over the graduation documents to a group of graduates.
Addressing the audience, Nikol Pashinyan, in particular, noted: “What does it mean to be an officer of the Armenian armed forces, the Armenian army? it means dedicating one’s life to the cause of defense and security of the motherland, it means dedicating one’s life to the cause of peaceful life, restful sleep, peaceful living of compatriots. But the representatives of the armed forces, the officers, by ensuring the quiet life of others, they, in fact, sacrifice the quiet life of their mothers, their wives, and their relatives. They very often sacrifice the time they should have spent with their families, children, and friends for the sake of protecting the homeland. And so, as a result of all this, the question arises: what makes a person to assume these honorable shoulders, this high rank? I want to believe that the sense of mission, awareness of mission leads each of you to the rank and service of an officer. Tomorrow the Armenian army will no longer be the same as it was yesterday, because tomorrow the Armenian army will have many of you, the lieutenants, as serving officers, commanders, while yesterday the Armenian army did not have you as such, in that capacity. Also, tomorrow the senior officers will receive new appointments, with a higher status, while yesterday the situation in the army was completely different.
And so, I want, I hope, I am sure that each of you realizes that with your presence, your activity, your new status, you will change something in the army, and it is very important that each of you, with this awareness of the mission, clearly understands and realizes what is changing in the army and in what direction. I hope and believe that each of you goes to the new assignment with the awareness that the future of the Armenian army and the defense of the homeland depends on him, on that one officer, on that one person. Yes, each of you can change a lot within your reach, within your competence, and I hope that each of you strives for perfect service in your service and believes that you can create perfect service not only for yourself but also for others.
To be a commander is to be responsible to others and to be responsible for others, to be a commander is to have the will and determination to issue orders to die at the most important moment and this is a very heavy responsibility and this is a very powerful responsibility and this responsibility can only be borne by people with a really strong, unbreakable will. And I see in your eyes that you have the will not only to serve, but also to win, to bring victory to our people, our state, our homeland. I see in your eyes our future victories, I see in your attitude our future victories and therefore you I wish you a glorious service in the armed forces of Armenia, in the Armenian army, because our goal is one, our future is one, our present day is one. The Armenian people won the war, the Armenian people won in the construction of statehood, and the Armenian people won in establishing their power in their country, and no one from outside or inside can and will not dare to take that victory away from the hands of the people. And the number one, most important defenders of that victory are you.
And so, long live the Republic of Armenia, long live the Armenian army, long live the armed forces of Armenia and glorious Armenian soldiers and officers.”
Azerbaijani armed forces have made nearly 150 individual ceasefire violations in one week (July 15 – July 21) in the line of contact, Artsakh’s defense ministry said in a statement.
Artsakh’s military said Azerbaijani forces fired more than 1300 rounds at their positions during the week.
Artsakh said their military controls the tactical-strategic situation and continues its service “confidently”.
The series includes three detailed texts. This time around, we’ll talk about the details of forming the new government in Armenia. The second issue will touch on measures being taken to fight corruption. The third will discuss election reform
In 2018 a change in power took place for the first time in the history of independent Armenia as a result of a revolution. The long period of demonstrations was headed by opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan who was later elected Prime Minister on 8 May by parliament.
The following is the first installment in a series which will look at the first steps of the revolutionary PM. This article will touch on a number of details concerning the 15th government of Armenia formed by Pashinyan.
T
he constitution gave the PM 15 days to form a cabinet, though he made the appointments within a week. On 21 May, the new government was sworn in and began carrying out its responsibilities.
There are three vice-PMs in the government and 17 ministers.
Nikol Pashinyan announced his principles for the formation of a new government before he was elected PM:
Judging by the number of resignations and dismissals, it would seem that there wasn’t a lot of potential among the former staff.
A majority of the government leaders are members of Nikol Pashinyan’s ‘Civil Contract’ party.
The youngest faces in the government are VP Tigran Avinyan (29) and Minister of the Diaspora Mkhitar Hayrapetyan (28).
Nine ministers are younger than forty years old, and the oldest, Minister of Foreign Affairs Zograb Mnatsakanyan, is 52.
PM Nikol Pashinyan is 43 years old.
It’s not just the ministers that have ‘gotten younger’, but other state leaders as well. For example, the head of Lusashokh village is now a 25-year-old student, Narine Galstyan.
There have been some mixups along the way though. Vagarshak Hakobyan (27) was appointed adviser to the Minister of Diaspora. The Armenian media wrote at the time that according to the law ‘On public service’ he could not occupy the position until he turned thirty.
The ministry replied that Hakobyan’s candidacy was appropriate given his qualifications, though he was replaced in the position and made an assistant to the minister.
The following positions have been taken up by key figures from the revolution:
Out of 20 members of government, 12 received an education abroad: in the UK, the Netherlands, Greece, the USA and also in Russia.
Their records appear to be spotless.
The new cabinet has a vibe of being ‘poor and honest’. In their declaration of income and assets, some even said they had nothing in their bank accounts. This is true of the Head of the State Oversight Service, David Sanasaryan.
This cabinet has little experience, which is a result of the age of its members. However, it seems they enjoy the trust of the public which is putting aside its doubts and fears and expects effective work.
However, not all of the PM’s appointments have been inspiring.
In particular, the appointment of Valeri Osipyan as police chief has been met with a number of different opinions. He was formerly the deputy head of the Yerevan Police Department, and he personally oversaw the situation on the ground during the protests against the former authorities.
The prime minister had to explain his decision to the public, which he did during one of his regular Facebook addresses:
“Valeri Osipyan is not corrupt, and this is rare for the police system. He is also not a member of some ‘clan’, including the police clan.”
However, certain appointments to the State Revenue Committee and to the police have left certain questions unanswered.
Only three ministers from the old cabinet have remained ministers – however in different positions:
There are no members of the former ruling Republican Party in the new cabinet. The party has passed a resolution allowing its members to ‘freeze’ their membership in the party and to work in the new government. However, only the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection Khachik Hakobyan made use of this possibility.
There is an unwritten coalition at play in the new government, too.
In addition to the Yelk political bloc represented by Pashinyan, the Bright Armenia and Dashnaktsutyun parties are also in the government. There are even non-affiliated ministers in the cabinet.
Bright Armenia has one Vice PM, four ministers and governors of four regions in the government. The Dashnaks have two governors and two ministers.
Pashinyan’s son recently joined the army. Earlier, the PM called on Armenians living abroad to return home to go through military service. Around 320 responded to his call and returned home for the summer draft and entered the military service.
However, there are quite a few in the new government who have not served, including the first Vice PM Ararat Mirozyan, Vice PM Tigran Avinyan, the Minister of Education and Science Araik Harutyunyan, the Minister of the Diaspora Mkhitar Hayrapetyan and the Minister of Economic Development and Investment Artsvik Minasyan.
Nikol Pashinyan has not served in the army either.
He explained this fact in the following way:
“According to the law in 1991, the state simply did not draft me and sent me to do something else. It was said: given that two older brothers are serving in the army, we won’t take the third. There are two different situations. The first is one of a person who solves the problem of how not to serve, and the second, in which the state said: ‘Dear citizen, in this situation we want you to do something else other than serve in the army’.
“If it is discovered that a government official avoided army service or other responsibilities, he will be fired.”
The government is often reminded of the fact that it has rejected statements it made earlier.
In particular Yelk, which was represented by Nikol Pashinyan, demanded in 2017 that Armenia exit the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). However, before being elected Prime Minister, Pashinyan stated that the new government did not intend to exit the EAEU.
The question of the country’s external alignment has come up on multiple occasions: is the country pro-West or pro-Russia? There is no concrete answer to this question yet. The PM himself has stated on several occasions that he is neither a pro-Russian nor a pro-West politician: he is pro-Armenian.
Representatives of the European Union have stated that they are ready to support his government in all its endeavors. Russia, in turn, has welcomed the activities of the new PM.
The public is mostly interested in an improvement in socio-economic conditions in the country and a real fight against corruption.
The first needs time, and the public is patient. The second expectation that the government fight corruption is being realised through a series of anti-corruption measures, investigations and high-profile arrests. Simultaneously, large sums of money are being returned to the treasury.
PM Pashinyan recently stated it like this:
“We will remediate the damage done to the state to the very end, we will not turn from this path.”
From July 17 to 19, the working group of the Military Topographical Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will visit the Republic of Armenia.
RA Ministry of Defense informs that for the purpose of discussing issues of cooperation in the field of military topography, navigation, geodesy and cartography.
Armenia’s law enforcement agencies say that a local town official and his family are suspected in embezzling state funds and vote-buying.
Mher Movsisyan, the head of Malishka – a small village in the province of Vayots Dzor – is suspected in accepting about 27,000 dollars in cash from Ashot Arsenyan, a candidate in the 2017 elections who was running for parliament. The candidate for MP had given the money to the town official to use it as election bribes, police said. Movsisyan is a member of the Republican Party.
In addition to the electoral fraud, Movsisyan is also suspected in misappropriations. Police say he fraudulently hired his wife as a nurse at a local school to embezzle the salary. She never went to work, police said.
Movsisyan is also suspected in falsifying official documents to embezzle state fund’s under the cover of social assistance.
Police have forwarded the case to the Special Investigative Service.
Edgar Tonoyan, son of Armenia’s defense minister Davit Tonoyan, will conduct his military service in the Republic of Artsakh.
Recently Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s son, Ashot Pashinyan, has also been conscripted for the military service. He voluntarily expressed a wish to serve in Artsakh.
PM Pashinyan called on all Armenians living abroad who are at the conscript age to come and serve in the Armenian Army.
State Revenue Committee (SRC) president Davit Ananyan vows to step down in the event of the SRC’s failure of complete implementation of duties.
Ananyan says he had a discussion over this matter with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who had certain reservations over Ananyan’s appointments of several high-ranking SRC officials.
“Indeed, we are staffing the SRC with young figures from the “bottom”, and this flow is currently being implemented on a great volume, but on the “top” level, in terms of the decision-makers, my policy is that I trust figures who have experience. I don’t see any problem in this regard. I must say that the issue isn’t about staffing, but rather what tasks the SRC faces, are these tasks being implemented or not. The Prime Minister had certain reservations about appointments made by me. We talked and reached an agreement that if the SRC is fulfilling its tasks in complete volumes then the appointments were correct, if it doesn’t then we must draw conclusions. In this event I won’t have anything to do in the SRC along with my appointments,” Ananyan said. Asked if he means that he will resign in that event, he replied: “Of course”.
Speaking about Ara Gabrielyan’s appointment as his deputy, which a newspaper labeled as “an embarrassment”, mentioning Gabrielyan’s criminal conviction in the United States for spying on his ex-girlfriend through GPS, Ananyan said: “We don’t care about it that much. The problem lies in the fact whether or not he is considered a convict under the Armenian legislation, and is there is a problem from the legal perspective over his appointment. If he has been subjected to criminal accountability, has fully served his sentence, he isn’t a convict under our legislation.
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The Artsakh Defense Army has taken appropriate measures to prevent all the provocations coming from Azerbaijan on the contact line to escape further military escalations, Tigran Abrahamyan, an advisor to the Artsakh president, said in an interview with Panorama.am.
The official says that the mobilization and accumulation of Azerbaijan’s troops and military equipment along Artsakh contact line have become less intensive compared to the past few weeks, which, according to Abrahamyan, may be linked with the massive military drills being held in Azerbaijan from 2 to 6 July.
“Meantime, we must take into account the fact that the military exercises are taking place at such a distance from the contact line that can prompt tensions within hours,” he said.
Speaking about the possible attempts of subversive attacks or sniper shots by Azerbaijani military in the recent period, the advisor said the Azerbaijani sniper fire is noticeably active to a degree, but no major sabotage infiltration attempts are observed at the moment.
Asked what measures the Armenian forces are taking to counteract the Azerbaijani military accumulations, the official refrained from providing detailed information. “I can only state that the [Artsakh] Defense Army is undertaking measures consistent with the situation, due to which all the provocations of the adversary, including subversive attacks, attempts by snipers to inflict damage on manpower and technical means, including civilians, as well as setting areas close to the frontline on fire, have been prevented against the backdrop of recent Azerbaijani activation to escape further escalations of the situation,” he said.