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Asbarez: Kalavan, Once an Obscure Village in Armenia, Now Gaining International Fame

December 2, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

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VIEW GALLERY: A panoramic view of Kalavan

BY ADROUSHAN ANDY ARMENIAN

Who has heard of Kalavan? An insignificant and inaccessible village in the mountains of the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia, near Lake Sevan, with only 108 inhabitants, mostly survivors Sumgait pogroms who resettled to Kalavan in the early 1990’s.

Reversing the Trend and Revitalizing the Village
I was planning a trip earlier this month to Armenia and allocated three days to visit Kalavan and to understand the excitement about this village. The declining village population is a major challenge in Kalavan and other villages in Armenia. Some countries have been successful to reverse the trend by providing various types of incentives such as subsidized housing to attract young families to relocate to the villages. I don’t believe there are such programs in Armenia, however Kalavan could serve as an excellent case study of how a village, with their own resources, were able to reverse the trend and set an example. With few viable projects such as ecotourism, excavations, hiking and extreme sports Kalavan has proven that you could reverse the trend of village depopulation.

However, one man, Robert Ghukasyan, successfully placed Kalavan on the worldwide Archeological and Eco-touristic destination lists. Rubo, as the villagers call him, grew up and earned his primary education in Kalavan, and later obtained an Archeological degree and worked overseas in various countries. In 2013 he moved back to Kalavan to pursue his dream of revitalizing a dying and disappearing village.

Three elements helped Robert in his mission; First, the forests around Kalavan have several archeological sites with both human and animal bones that date back some 5,000 years. Second, the mountains and forests provide magnificent hiking and trekking options. Third, Kalavan is an unspoiled village without even a single retail store, reminiscent of the forgone era.

Bed & Breakfast and Home-stays
With Robert’s guidance, archeologists from Germany and Israel started visiting Kalavan for extended stays and local digs. This triggered the idea of providing visitors with basic Bed & Breakfast facilities and encouraged the building of extended restrooms attached to homes. The community also installed solar water heaters to provide hot water for overnight guests. Robert and the villagers are adamant to maintain the existing authentic village character while also offering basic comforts; the community is not interested in building modern and extended-stay hotels in Kalavan.

The traffic generated by visitors for scientific and archeological projects has generated such enthusiasm that there are currently no houses for sale in Kalavan. Dilapidated houses that you could have previously purchased for a mere $1,000, are currently worth over $20,000. Of the 31 homes in the village, eight offer B&B options with a total capacity of 40 guests. This has provided an economic stimulus to the villagers and has prompted modification of two additional houses to ultimately house 60 guests by the summer of 2019.

You should be warned that there are no local grocery stores, bakeries or any type of retail stores in Kalavan. All supplies must be sourced from nearby towns which is how the villagers would like to keep it.

The village school and the remains of the old Soviet-era House of Culture:
I visited the village school which was clean, however the classroom desks date back to the Soviet times, and walls show signs of humidity and decay. Two of the seven classrooms were recently renovated, and waterproofed but the remaining five rooms need new windows and weatherproofing. There are currently 19 students at the school; the principal was excited to share that there were eight births in the village last year, which means eight additional students in a few more years.

Adjacent to the school is the ruins of the House of Culture and the blue Volga, a reminder of a forgone era.

“Time Land Foundation” and the New Scientific Center
The most significant and notable achievement for Robert and Kalavan is the establishment of the non-profit “Time Land Foundation” and its two-story, 250 square meters (2,700 Sq. Ft.) new building which will serve as a scientific and research center for visiting scientists as well as serve as a library, cultural and community center for the local youth. The $150,000 project is being funded by USAID, UNDP, and private donors.

“Our kids don’t have to travel to Yerevan or other major hubs to be able to experience modern technologies,” Robert explains. He believes in providing local youth with a state-of-the-art learning facility which will help them stay attached to the village and not rush to relocate to Yerevan at their earliest opportunity.

Continuing Needs for the Village
Kalavan still needs help and support to continue with their initiatives to stabilize the village. The school needs repairs to make it a safe environment for both students and teachers and the town has adamantly requested for aid from the provincial government to repair the 7-kilometer dirt road connecting the village to the main road.

Currently you need a four by four vehicle and will take you around 40 minutes to cover the 7-kilometer dirt road. The villagers simply ask to complete to road repairs by compacting gravel which should reduce the travel time by half. With a $60,000 excavator/backhoe the villagers would be able to repair and maintain the dirt road, additionally provide basic irrigation channels for the local farms and build hiking and biking trails around the village

Kalavan, a truly unique town with ambition and opportunity. I encourage all to visit the village in the mountains of Lake Sevan to experience the excitement and growing projects. The new Scientific Center backdropped with breathtaking views provides an unforgettable experience.

Pashinyan-Lukashenko spat intensifies, threatening CSTO schism

November 21, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

EurasiaNet.org

Nov 21 2018

Joshua Kucera Nov 21, 2018

Long-running tensions between Yerevan and Minsk have broken into the open in recent days after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko criticized Armenia for trying to bring “street politics” into international diplomacy while warmly hosting Ilham Aliyev, the president of Armenia’s foe, Azerbaijan.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in response, has taken a defiant tone and vowed that Armenia would become more assertive with its nominal allies. But the clash threatens to undermine Armenia’s delicate geopolitical balancing act and has exposed how few cards Yerevan has to play in the international arena.

The origin of this round of clashes was the recent summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led political-military bloc, in Astana. There, Lukashenko and his Kazakhstan counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, moved to deprive Armenia of its leadership in the CSTO. The most recent secretary general, the Armenian Yuri Khachaturov, is being investigated by Armenia’s new authorities as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the crackdown on protests against fraudulent elections in 2008.

Yerevan formally recalled Khachaturov at the beginning of November, opening up a debate on whether Armenia would get to pick a replacement to finish Khachaturov’s term (which had been scheduled to expire in 2020) or whether the leadership post would move to the next in line alphabetically: Belarus.

After the summit, the clash intensified. After Pashinyan criticized Nazarbayev for openly calling for a Belarusian replacement in the CSTO, a spokesperson for Belarus’s Foreign Ministry hit back with a statement that betrayed the unease that many in the CSTO – in large part a club of autocrats – feel about Pashinyan’s rise to power on the back of massive popular protests this spring.

“In interstate relations there are clear rules of protocol and etiquette,” the spokesperson said. “Perhaps, Mr. Pashinyan has not realized that the rules of the so-called street democracy are unacceptable in big politics. It’s a pity. We hope that it will go away with time.”

Exacerbating the situation was the fact that Aliyev visited Minsk shortly after the summit. During the visit, Aliyev and Lukashenko reportedly discussed the CSTO summit and Azerbaijan and Belarus signed agreements that included a deal for Azerbaijan to buy more weapons from Belarus.

“In the shortest possible time it will be transformed into a contract to purchase another consignment of military equipment from Belarus,” Aliyev said following his meeting with Lukashenko. “It is no coincidence that military technical cooperation between our countries has a long history. It is characterized by big volumes and a good trend towards expansion.”

“Imagine if I invite an ambassador of a country that is not a CSTO member state and tell him about the behind closed-doors session. That’s a closed-door session of a military-political bloc, where the heads of member states hold discussions. If the session is behind closed doors, it means that it’s a classified conversation between allies,” Pashinyan told reporters on November 17. “I am shocked that a person who has been a head of state for about 30 years behaves like this. Of course, I have to demand explanations from the president of Belarus, and not only from the president of Belarus,” he said, an apparent reference to Nazarbayev.

Pashinyan also noted that Aliyev had earlier this year said that Azerbaijanis should “return” to Yerevan, which he identified as “historical Azerbaijani lands.” Many in Armenia saw that as a military threat to Armenia (this was likely a bad-faith misinterpretation, but Aliyev’s long history of aggressive rhetoric leaves him little benefit of the doubt). Azerbaijan “announced that it will capture the capital city of Armenia,” Pashinyan continued. “Are you selling weapons to them so that they capture our capital city?”

At another press conference on November 20, Pashinyan reiterated those complaints and suggested that under his leadership, Armenia won’t be pushed around any more. “I think that all international partners should remember that their relations with Armenia will no longer be the same as what they are accustomed to,” he said. “We will not be a silent listener.”

Armenia has in fact had a long-standing feud with Belarus in the CSTO. In 2017, after Belarus extradited a Russian-Israeli travel blogger to Azerbaijan because he had visited the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, members of the then-ruling Republican Party of Armenia proposed kicking Belarus out of the CSTO.

In 2016, then-president Serzh Sargsyan complained publicly that his CSTO allies were more sympathetic to Azerbaijan than to Armenia: “Every time that Azerbaijan’s armed forces use small arms fire of all calibers, mortars and artillery against the Republic of Armenia, they are firing at Astana, Dushanbe, and Bishkek, at Moscow and Minsk.”

The problem then, as now, is that Armenia has few other options. The CSTO has long been little more than a tool for Russia to pretend that it has allies, and in exchange for that minor boost in prestige, it gives a security guarantee and military aid (in the form of discounted weapons) to the other members. For Armenia, those discounted weapons and the security guarantee (as unreliable as it may be) have been essential factors in restraining Azerbaijan from taking back Nagorno-Karabakh by force. In an interview last month, outgoing U.S. ambassador to Yerevan Richard Mills said that Armenia’s close relations with Russia were “probably cemented in the early 1990s when the decision was made to engage in a military approach to NK,” or Nagorno-Karabakh.

Meanwhile, Armenia gets basically nothing from the other CSTO members, but they also get nothing from Armenia. From Azerbaijan, though, the CSTO members (not least, Russia) get the prospect of a rich arms market. It’s not clear how Pashinyan intends to change this calculus, but there appears to be a rocky road ahead.

Joshua Kucera is the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet, and author of The Bug Pit.

Sports: Armenian weightlifter clinches gold in world championship

November 9, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

ARKA, Armenia

Nov 9 2018

YEREVAN, November 9. /ARKA/. Armenian weightlifter Simon Martirosyan in the 109 kg category has clinched gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championships in Turkmenistan.

Martirosyan lifted a record weight of 240 kg in the clean and jerk and 195 kg in the snatch. The total weight was 435 kg.

Martirosyan won the gold medal at the Youth Games of 2014 and the silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Rio (2016) .

The 84th World Weightlifting Championships runs from the 1st to the 10th of November in the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat. -0-

Armenian young wrestlers prepare for year’s top “exam”

November 9, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

19:29 | November 8,2018 | Sports
Armenian:
Rus

12 wrestlers from Armenia will participate in the World Wrestling Championships in Bucharest on November 12-18.

Vardges Karapetyan (65kg weight category), Gevorg Mkheyan (70kg), Andranik Gabrielyan (74kg), Hovhannes Mkhitaryan (86kg) and Sargis Hovsepyan will compete in the freestyle wrestling team of the Armenian Wrestling Federation.

The Greco-Roman wrestling team will be include 7 wrestlers, but the team’s final squad has not yet been decided.

Azerbaijani Press: The fail policy: Armenia pins hopes on regional forces that support Azerbaijan

November 3, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

Trend, Azerbaijan

Nov 2 2018

The fail policy: Armenia pins hopes on regional forces that support Azerbaijan

by Elchin Mehdiyev, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

Nov. 02–French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez has made a special statement, saying that France fully supports and recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Samad Seyidov, Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee on International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations told Trend.

Seyidov was commenting on the recent illegal visits of several French mayors to the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and signing certain “documents”.

“Ambassador Bouchez stressed that the papers signed during these visits have no legal force. During the recent visit to the region of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, various documents and project agreement were signed in Georgia, an economic forum was held in Azerbaijan, but not a single issue was put on the agenda in Armenia, apart from talks on general topics,” Seyidov said.

“Germany also unequivocally recognizes, supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and calls on Armenia to resolve this conflict in the framework of international laws. I will give another example: the EU has repeatedly stated that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. However, there is also the following aspect. During the period of Sargsyan’s rule, the EU allocated seven million euros for election held in Armenia. It was mentioned in the address made the EU after the election that the votes were fabricated, the election was rigged and held in a biased way. And now Pashinyan has appealed to the EU so that the funds would be allocated for holding election in December,” he said.

Seyidov noted that at first glance it may appear that Pashinyan, who intends to build a “democratic Armenia,” should be allocated major funds.

“Because the government of Sargsyan was a regime mired in corruption, eventually thrown by the Armenian people into the dustbin of history. The EU has allocated three million euros for the election to the Pashinyan’s government, that is, two times less than at the previous election. Because the official Yerevan has already lost confidence, and no one believes Pashinyan’s statements, the work of his government, and the policy conducted by him,” Seyidov said.

Seyidov added that recently, Pashinyan asked for one billion euros for the Armenian economy and other activities in the country from the EU.

“It was ridiculous, and no one was going and is going to give them any money. As a result, the position of the EU, France, Germany, the US and Russia, as well as the tripartite meetings held in Istanbul on October 29-30, and the voiced statements suggest that the isolation of Armenia in the region is deepening, its policy is failing, the forces in the region, on which Armenia pinned its hopes, also support Azerbaijan’s position based on international laws,” he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Gymnast Arthur Davtyan takes ninth place in World Championships

November 2, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

13:58 | November 1,2018 | Sports
Armenian:
Rus

Armenian gymnast Artur Davtyan took the 9th place in the World Junior Gymnastics Championships in Doha.

As the press service of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia states, it is the best result in the history of the gymnasium of independent Armenia. Artur Davtyan scored 83,140 points in the final.

By the way, our compatriot Artur Dalaloyan representing Russia was declared the world champion, showing 87,598 results.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/26/2018

October 27, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

                                        Friday, 
Former Ruling Party Set To Run In Snap Elections
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Vahram Baghasarian of the Republican Party of Armenia speaks at a 
news conference in Yerevan, .
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) gave more 
indications on Friday that it will participate in early parliamentary elections 
expected in December.
A senior HHK figure, Vahram Baghdasarian, said the party will hold a conference 
“in the coming days” to finally decide whether to enter the parliamentary race.
“Our aim is to form a parliament befitting a parliamentary republic,” he told 
reporters. “We are entering the [new] National Assembly to show and restore our 
face. We will be a radical-constructive opposition force.”
Baghdasarian said the conference will also decide who will top the list of the 
HHK’s candidates in case of its participation in the elections. He declined to 
specify whether Sarkisian would the party’s top candidate.
Sarkisian, who ruled Armenia from 2008-2018,has made very few public 
appearances and statements since mass protests led by Nikol Pashinian, the 
country’s current prime minister, forced him to resign in April.
According to some media reports, the HHK’s electoral list will likely be headed 
by former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian, a U.S.-educated protégé of the 
ex-president.
The HHK won Armenia’s last parliamentary elections held in April 2017. 
Observers believe that it is now too unpopular to make a strong showing in 
December. Some of them say that it would fail to win any parliament seats.
Earlier this month, the HHK leadership tried unsuccessfully to delay the snap 
polls until next May or June.
Baghdasarian and another leading HHK member, Eduard Sharmazanov, argued against 
an election boycott when they spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service last week. 
Sharmazanov said the former ruling party is now Armenia’s sole genuine 
opposition force and must therefore be represented in the new parliament.
Bolton Satisfied With ‘Productive’ Talks In Armenia
Armenia - U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at a news 
conference in Yerevan, .
John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, described 
Armenia on Friday as an “important friend” of the United States after visiting 
the country and meeting with its leaders.
“Yesterday I had a nice visit to Armenia, an important friend in the region,” 
Bolton wrote on his Twitter page. “I enjoyed productive conversations with the 
Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinian] and his national security team.”
Bolton also retweeted a U.S. Embassy post that quoted him as telling Pashinian 
that the U.S. supports the new Armenian government’s “efforts to address 
corruption, increase judicial transparency and enhance the government’s 
accountability to its citizens in ways that strengthen democracy, rule of law 
and regional stability.”
Speaking in Yerevan, Bolton said he discussed with Pashinian a “very wide range 
of subjects,” notably the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said Washington expects 
the Armenian leader to take “decisive steps” towards a compromise peace deal 
with Azerbaijan after his widely anticipated victory in upcoming general 
elections.
Bolton also indicated that the Trump administration is ready to allow Yerevan 
to buy U.S. weapons and thus reduce Russia’s “excessive influence” on Armenia.
The Trump adviser noted that Russia has been the principal arms supplier of 
both Armenia and Azerbaijan. That has given Moscow “enormous leverage” against 
the two warring nations but “not contributed to the resolution” of the 
conflict, he said.
Together with France, the U.S. and Russia have long been jointly spearheading 
international efforts to broker a Karabakh settlement.
Azerbaijan -- U.S. National security adviser John Bolton, second left, and 
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, right, during talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, 
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018.
Armenian officials have not yet publicly commented on Bolton’s surprise offer. 
One of them said earlier this month that Yerevan is seeking yet another Russian 
government loan for more arms acquisitions from Russian manufacturers.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), a Washington-based lobbying 
group, voiced concern at some of Bolton’s statements later on Thursday.
“Bolton expressed openness to U.S. arms sales to Armenia, which - almost 
certainly - would happen in the context of such sales to Azerbaijan,” it said 
in a statement. “The danger here is that Azerbaijan, given the size of its 
military budget, can afford significantly more advanced U.S. arms than Armenia 
- leading to imbalances both on the battlefield and in terms of political 
relationships.”
Armenia’s relations with neighboring Iran and renewed U.S. sanctions against 
Tehran were another major theme of Bolton’s talks in Yerevan.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Bolton said he told Pashinian 
that the Trump administration will enforce those sanctions “very vigorously.” 
For that reason, he said, the Armenian-Iranian border, one of Armenia’s few 
conduits to the outside world, is “going to be a significant issue.”
“Obviously, we don’t want to cause damage to our friends in the process,” added 
the U.S. official.
The ANCA said in this regard that it “will work with key government 
stakeholders to ensure that regional sanctions do not improperly or unduly 
impact Armenia.”
Jailed Armenian General Offers Land To State
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - General Manvel Grigorian attends an event organized by the Yerkrapah 
Union, 5 March 2018.
Manvel Grigorian, a retired Armenian army general arrested in June on 
corruption charges, has offered to donate vast land holdings to the state, it 
emerged on Friday.
Grigorian’s lawyer, Levon Baghdasarian, said the 330-hectare plot owned by him 
is part of a beaver fur farm located in a village about 40 kilometers west of 
Yerevan.
“Real estate experts estimate its minimum market value at about $10 million,” 
Baghdasarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Baghdasarian claimed that the offer extended to the Armenian government is a 
gesture of good which is not aimed at pleasing the public or ensuring his 
lenient treatment by the authorities. He argued that his client continues to 
deny the grave accusations levelled against him.
Grigorian was arrested when security forces raided his properties in and around 
the town of Echmiadzin on June 16. They found many weapons, ammunition, 
medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the Armenian Defense 
Ministry.
They also discovered canned food and several vehicles donated by Armenians at 
one of Grigorian’s mansions. A widely publicized official video of the raids 
caused shock and indignation in the country.
The Armenian parliament, of which Grigorian is a member, was quick to allow 
investigators to keep him under arrest him on charges of illegal arms 
possession and embezzlement. The once powerful general denies the accusations.
Grigorian’s lawyers have repeatedly demanded his release from pre-trial 
custody, saying that the 61-year-old is suffering from a number of serious 
illnesses. Armenian law-enforcement bodies and courts have ignored those 
demands so far. It remains unclear when he will go on trial.
Grigorian served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 2000-2008. Until his 
arrest he was also the chairman of the Yerkrapah Union of Karabakh war 
veterans, an organization which was particularly influential in the 1990s and 
the early 2000s. He was reelected to the parliament last year on the ticket of 
then President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” describes as sensational U.S. National Security Adviser John 
Bolton’s effective offer to Armenia to buy U.S.-manufactured weapons and other 
military hardware. The pro-Western paper says Washington has never expressed 
readiness to supply weapons to Yerevan before. It says this development 
underlines the need for Armenia to be “sovereign,” rather than heavily 
dependent on Russia.
Lragir.am also comments on Bolton’s “surprise” statement on possible arms 
supplies to Armenia. The publication is also encouraged by his remarks on the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, speculating that Washington is not forcing Armenia 
to accept a peace deal with Azerbaijan not favorable to the Armenian side. 
“They know in the United States that any coercion on the Artsakh (Karabakh) 
issue makes Armenia more dependent on Russia and isolated from the 
international community,” it says. “Besides, it strengthens pro-Russian 
circles’ positions in Armenia.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that some of Armenia’s leading medics and healthcare 
professionals have appealed to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to take action 
against the recently appointed head of Armenia’s state-run Center for Mental 
Health, Narek Vanesian. The latter reportedly behaved in a rude, offensive and 
even violent way at an event in the Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU) 
attended by two Nobel Prize winners visiting Armenia.
“His impudent behavior is hardly accidental,” comments “Zhoghovurd.” “Vanesian 
is a friend of Health Minister Arsen Torosian and therefore enjoys the latter’s 
support. What is more, Vanesian has hinted in many places that he played a 
large role in Torosian’s appointment as minister.” The paper says the 
government’s failure so far to hold him accountable makes mockery of Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s claims that there are no longer privileged 
individuals enjoying impunity in Armenia.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

President Sarkissian to apply to Constitutional Court to question the constitutionality of amendments in the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of Armenia

October 24, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

| 08:28 | October 24 2018

Armenian Prime Minister and Estonian President discussed prospects for cooperation in field of information technologies

October 14, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

Arminfo, Armenia
Oct 13 2018
Armenian Prime Minister and Estonian President discussed prospects for
cooperation in field of information technologies
Yerevan October 12
Ani Mshetsyan. On October 12, Armenian Prime Minister received
President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid.
According to the press service of the government, during the meeting,
the sides discussed prospects for deepening cooperation between the
two countries. The Prime Minister of Armenia, in particular,
considered the development of cooperation in the field of information
technologies and exchange of experience interesting. According to
Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian government is consistently working on
the introduction of digital technologies and electronic systems in
management, and in this regard, studying the Estonian experience can
be useful. Kersti Kaljulaid noted that Estonia attaches great
importance to the development of cooperation with Armenia, including
the expansion of interaction in the field of information technology
and is ready to work actively in this direction.
The sides also exchanged opinions on Armenia-EU cooperation, as well
as discussed the development of democracy. Touching upon the changes
taking place in our country, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted that
democracy is not a foreign policy orientation for Armenia, it is an
internal political orientation, and radical reforms are aimed at
achieving a new level of democracy in the country.

Nikol Pashinyan, Justin Trudeau discuss future development of bilateral relations

October 14, 2018March 12, 2026 Torgomian Varazdat

ArmenPress, Armenia
Oct 12 2018
Nikol Pashinyan, Justin Trudeau discuss future development of
bilateral relations
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol
Pashinyan received Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, who is in
Armenia on an official visit.
An official welcoming ceremony took place followed by a narrow-format
meeting of the two Prime Ministers. As ARMENPRESS was informed from
the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia, PM Pashinyan
said in his welcoming speech,
“Honorable Mr. Prime Minister,
I am glad to welcome you in the capital city of Armenia. You are the
first Prime Minister of Canada to pay an official visit to the
Republic of Armenia and this is a historical event. I think you have
already felt the positive attitude in our country towards your country
and personally you and I hope that the already established relations
will help to raise the friendly relations between our countries to a
new level. I once again welcome you and I am glad to see you in
Armenia”.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said in his speech, “Mr. Prime
Minister, I am very grateful to you for the reception. It’s a great
honor to be in Armenia. I think you know that years ago I had the
honor to visit Armenia with my father on summer holidays. He was no
longer the Prime Minister of Canada at that time, which means I am the
first Prime Minister of Canada to pay an official visit to Armenia.
But even at that time I felt the friendship between Armenians and
Canadians and the reception I received in Armenia today and in the
previous days was great. It just an honor to be here. I am thankful”.
PM Pashinyan presented his Canadian counterpart with the Armenian
translation of the book “Common Ground” authorized by Justin Trudeau.
“This is another proof that you have a unique place in the perceptions
of the citizens of Armenia and this is the Armenian translation of
your book which I am glad to present to you”.
Justin Trudeau thanked for the gift, noting that he was not aware
about the translation and is very happy for that.
The interlocutors discussed a number of issues of bilateral interest,
including the political changes in Armenia. Justin Trudeau noted that
when developments jeopardizing democracy were taking place throughout
the globe, Armenia served as an example for the entire world, which
was excellent not only for Armenia, but for the entire world. The
Canadian PM emphasized that he has visited Armenia also for the reason
to show the readiness of his country to support Armenia’s development.
“The democratic developments of Armenia are a reason of pride not only
for Armenians, but the entire world”, Justin Trudeau emphasized,
adding that Canada is ready to support Armenia in the directions of
economic development, attraction of investments, improvement of
infrastructures and so on.
Speaking about the economic development of Armenia, PM Pashinyan
emphasized that the goal of the Government is to change the economic
structure of the country, making Armenia a technological country, and
expressed confidence that there is the potential necessary for that.
The PM added that the Government of Armenia has achieved serious
success in the direction of fighting corruption and expressed
confidence that it will foster the improvement of business environment
and economic progress of the country.
Nikol Pashinyan and Justin Trudeau referred to other issues of
development of Armenian-Canadian cooperation in various spheres.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan