Category: 2019

ArmInfo. In order for Jermuk to  maintain its status as a resort and health city, appropriate  conditions must be provided not only within the city, but also its  circumference.  This opinion was expressed by Edgar Ghazaryan, former  Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Poland, now the head of the  apparatus of the Constitutional Court, former  governor of Vayots  Dzor region (2012-2014) in an interview with the Prime Minister of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

According to Ghazaryan, in addition to other negative effects, it  must be understood that the operation of the mine involves about  10-25 explosions daily, which is about 25 tons of dust. In this  context, according to the head of the Constitutional Court’s  apparatus, no matter what the examination would say, this effect on  the resort and health town cannot be ignored. “Jermuk is the only  resort and health resort city of national importance, which means  that within a radius of 50-60 km the heavy metal industry is not  allowed (the Amulsar gold mine is 10 kilometers in a straight line  from Jermuk, Ed. note),” Ghazaryan said.

In addition, as the former governor pointed out, despite the fact  that, perhaps, the company operating the Amulsar mine compares  favorably with others by a higher level of social responsibility, it  must be remembered that initially the same Kajaran was built as a  mine, and only then settlements created around the mine. “In the  meantime, Jermuk was created as a health resort city, and the  development of a mine in the neighborhood will cause permanent damage  to the city,” he said.

To recall, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Jermuk today in  order to ascertain the mood of the people regarding the development  program of the Amulsar gold mine. Residents of the city categorically  told the prime minister that they insisted: “Jermuk should remain a  resort city, Amulsar – without a mine.” Many tourists and guests of  the city, in an interview with the Prime Minister, noted that they  chose the city precisely because of its spa and wellness character,  and if the mine is developed in the immediate vicinity, it is  unlikely that they will visit Jermuk next time.

To recall, on August 14, the Investigative Committee of Armenia  presented an expert opinion on the Amulsar project of the consulting  company Earthlink & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD).  Based on  the conclusion of the examination, the IC of Armenia stated that  there is no direct connection between the underground waters located  on the territory of the Amulsar project and the thermal hot springs  of Jermuk. There is also no connection with the waters of the Sevan  basin. Moreover, as indicated in the IC, during an earthquake, a  certain concentration of acid drainage can penetrate into the basin  of Lake Sevan through the Spandaryan and Ketchut reservoirs. However,  the combination of this concentration will be insignificant on the  scale of Lake Sevan. The third important conclusion: the impact on  the Arpa, Vorotan and Darb rivers can be mitigated if Lydian Armenia  takes 16 environmental mitigation measures proposed by experts. As  the head of the IC Hayk Grigoryan pointed out, Lydian Armenia  representatives have already expressed their readiness to implement  15 of the proposed 16 measures: they are already carrying out 10  measures, 5 will be ready to conduct them in the near future.   Residents of the resort town of Jermuk, environmentalists and  activists opposed to the development of the mine did not agree with  the conclusions and came out to protest.  

On August 21, during the promised “live broadcast,” the Prime  Minister gave approval to the development of the Amulsar mine.  According to him, the Armenian government will conduct constant  monitoring during the development of the Amulsar mine. “Today,  according to our clear data, Amulsar does not harm Sevan.  It will  work according to the highest environmental criteria. If we do not  fulfill the conditions set by us, they will not take us seriously. I  am 99.9% sure that the mine does not pose a threat to the environment  of the RA. Therefore , we must fulfill the conditions that we set,  “he said, concluding by expressing bewilderment by the protest  actions of disobedience arranged by citizens. 

ArmInfo.Residents of the villages of Saravan and Gorayk, Vayots Dzor region of Armenia support the implementation of the Amulsar mine development project. They  announced this on August 23 during a meeting with Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan.

As one of the residents of the village of Goraik stated, perhaps some  residents of the village are against the development of the mine, but  the main part is for. According to him, they consider the program as  an employment opportunity. According to Gorayk residents, “for a  country in a state of war with a poor economy, it is impermissible  luxury to abandon the economic potential of the project.” Already  today, as he pointed out, 30 villagers are working in the Lydian  Armenia, which develops the Amulsar gold mine.

Another resident of the village immediately complained that there  were no representatives of the village of Gorayk among the Lydian  leadership. “There is no one hundred percent safe mining industry.”  But, if risk can be managed, the mine must be exploited, “said the  third. The latter, as it turned out, is a” second specialty “as a  geologist, and he received his education thanks to financial support   from Lydian ” 

It should be noted that today Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan visited Jermuk in connection with the protests of the  residents of the city against the development of the Amulsar gold  mine. The latter is located 10 kilometers in a straight line from  Jermuk. Residents of the city categorically told the prime minister  that they insisted: “Jermuk should remain a resort city, Amulsar –  without a mine.” Many tourists and guests of the city, in an  interview with the Prime Minister, noted that they had chosen the  city precisely because of its spa and wellness significance, and if  the mine is developed in the immediate vicinity, they are unlikely to  visit Jermuk next time. 

As the former Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Poland, now  the head of the apparatus of the Constitutional Court(to note, in  2012-2014 he held the post of governor of Vayots Dzor region), Edgar  Ghazaryan stated to the Prime Minister, Jermuk will lose the status  of a health resort city if the Amulsar mine is developed, since it  was created as a health resort city, and the development of a mine in  the neighborhood will cause irreparable damage to the city.  It was  reported that after Jermuk, the head of government was going to visit  the Gndevaz community, which is the zone of direct impact of the  project, but Pashinyan visited to the villages of Saravan and Gorayk.  According to the Jermuk residents, the latter are interested in  implementing the mine development program, because they believe that  because of their location they are safe from risks, and the Amulsar  mine does not pose any immediate danger to them, and if it is  developed, jobs for village residents can be created.  Lydian Armenia  is a subsidiary of British Lydian International. The total cost of  the Amulsar project is $ 370 million. The mine’s life will be 10  years and 4 months, with an average of 200 thousand ounces of gold  being mined annually.  Amulsar mine is the second largest reserves in  Armenia.

ArmInfo.The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia proposes to close four boarding schools providing round-the-clock childcare, giving priority  to day centers and the establishment of community service centers in  more than 30 settlements. This is stated in a statement released by  the ministry on Friday.

In particular, we are talking about the closure of institutions: < Dilijan Boarding>, , , .

, the social agency  said in a statement.

It should be noted that work to realize the right of children to live  in a family began several years ago, as part of it, three of the  seven boarding schools have already been converted to day care  centers.

The current policy of the Ministry is to provide the necessary  services in day care centers through the delegation of public  organizations, which will be selected on a competitive basis.

, the Ministry  of Labor and Social Affairs explained.

ArmInfo.Editor-in-chief of the journal “Russia in Global Affairs”, Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club,  Fyodor Lukyanov in an interview with ArmInfo shares his own vision of  the possibility of the Karabakh conflict developing into a military  confrontation. He analyzes the geopolitical regional background  around the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, discusses the  causes and future prospects of the US-Iranian confrontation.

– Since the establishment of the ceasefire on the Line of Contact in  Artsakh in 1994, there has always been a threat of military  escalation of Karabakh conflict, which became especially clear in  April 2016. In your opinion, are there any geopolitical prerequisites  for the resumption of large-scale hostilities, taking into account  the interests of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group,  Iran, Turkey and the conflicting countries themselves?

Escalation of any frozen conflict should never been completely ruled  out. This applies to all conflicts, especially the Karabakh conflict,  given the outbreak of violence that took place relatively recently,  in April 2016. This outbreak showed that none of the major players:  Russia, the United States and Europe are interested in the escalation  of this conflict. Accordingly, as soon as something happens around  Karabakh, measures are immediately taken to extinguish it. And I  understand why this is done. The overall situation in the region and  in the world is tense to the degree of unpredictability. Accordingly,  nobody needs a new hotbed of escalation of war in the region, where  wars, as a rule, develop not only very brutally, but also spill over  its borders, involving many new forces, including non-regional ones.   Nobody needs it at the moment, because everyone has enough of their  own problems, moreover, more and more internal ones.  Therefore, it  seems to me that, despite the constant balancing on the verge of  collapse, on the verge of resumption of hostilities, the Karabakh  conflict has a rather high degree of stability of this very frozen  state.

– The frozen state, which is caused by external factors:

External factors, plus the presence of a certain military parity  within the conflict itself. Conversations and even outbreaks of  violence, of course, may occur. But, it seems to me, Azerbaijan  realizes that it cannot win the war. A similar understanding, I  think, exists in Yerevan. Accordingly, in this regard,  the fragility  of the situation around Karabakh, does not at all contain high risks  of its escalation. Often, rather passive conflicts contain a more  explosive potential than conflicts like Karabakh that are constantly  talked about.

– The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan periodically voices  threats against Artsakh and Armenia. But does Ilham Aliyev have the  opportunity today to make a sole decision on another aggression  against Artsakh and Armenia?

I think in the current situation, the decision to start hostilities  will ultimately be made by the parties to the conflict, and not by  external forces. At the same time, the rhetoric of Baku is still  political in nature. The transfer of conflict into the military phase  is not its purpose. Rather, this is due to the desire of the  military- political leadership of Azerbaijan to maintain the existing  state of affairs. The theme of Karabakh plays a very important role  in the political structure of Azerbaijan. Accordingly, it must be  constantly maintained.

May the development of confrontation between the United States and  Iran into the military phase become a catalyst for the resumption of  the Karabakh conflict?

This is a very difficult question. A new wave of destabilization in  the region, which includes not only the Caucasus, but also other  destabilization centers in the Middle East and around Iran and Turkey  in particular, is in fact capable of creating a new wave of  destabilization, even more powerful in scale. And this wave may quite  well sweep the South Caucasus, moreover, it will have absolutely  nothing to do with Karabakh. According to my estimates, at the moment  there is no similar threat directly to the Karabakh conflict. The  situation in Turkey is very complex, but nevertheless, it is far from  predicting any disasters.  The conflict around Syria has overcome its  most acute phase. And it seems to me that there will be no war around  Iran. Donald Trump is not a warrior. The current president of the  United States does not like to fight, he loves to intimidate and  strangle the enemy in every possible way. Accordingly, considering,  in general, the low chances of escalation in the surrounding region,  we can conclude that in Karabakh one should not expect escalation  linked to the region.

– What, in your opinion, determines Trump’s relentless focus on Iran?

Trump and his administration are the most pro-Israeli U.S. president  and administration for the first time in many years. Accordingly, his  worldview and views on the region are largely determined by the  position of Israel. Israel’s position is obvious – it is strictly  anti-Iranian. Further, specific people, such as Trump’s national  security adviser John Bolton, who has always been known by his  anti-Iranian moods, continue the same line. So Trump’s attitude  towards Iran is more determined by the personal factor than the real  politik.

– Then how do you see the settlement of the crisis around Iran? Can  this only become possible after Trump leaves?

I think that the matter may concern not so much a settlement as a  long-term mid-level confrontation between the US and Iran. Without  war, bombs and airstrikes, but with the United States trying to  squeeze Iran, put pressure on it economically even more. The  prospects for such a policy depend on a number of factors. First of  all, on the degree of resistance to such pressure from Iran itself.  Russia is also interested in resolving the situation. For Moscow,  Tehran is the most important partner in Syria, where Russia needs to  move forward. Without Iran, as well as without Turkey, such  advancement is impossible. Accordingly, Russia, of course, supports  Iran. Russia will demonstrate this support by refusing any  participation in the US campaign of pressure on Iran.