Category: 2020

Armenian President signs Lanzarote Convention

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed the Lanzarote Convention, previously ratified by the RA National Assembly. This was reported by the press service of the President of Armenia.

To recall, the Convention, ratified by the Armenian parliament on May  11, declares the protection of children from sexual and other  violence. The methods proposed to protect children from the described  types of violence include sex education at school, which, according  to experts, is depravity rather than protection of children. The  discussion of the Convention caused a sharply negative reaction in  the Armenian society.

Second criminal case launched against former head of Armenian Football Federation

Albert Nalbandian
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. A second criminal case has been opened against the former president of the Football Federation of Armenia Ruben Hayrapetyan.

According to the press service of the RA Police, in 2014 Ruben  Hayrapetyan on behalf of the FFA refused land worth 800 million drams  per benefit of the mayor’s office of Yerevan. After that, with the  help of the then mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan and other  officials of the Yerevan municipality, a fictitious auction was held  in 2015, as a result of which land was acquired in parts for only 169  million drams by persons having ties with the head of the FFA. This  was followed by the signing of a number of documents on the transfer  of land as a gift, in the end, it was registered with members of the  Hayrapetyan family and his relatives.

In addition, the head of the FFA in 2017 first sold his “Porche  Cayenne Turbo” to one of his close associates for 2 million drams,  and two months later the Federation bought this car for 25.7 million  drams (the real value of about 6.5 million).

A criminal case has been opened, the materials have been sent to the  Special Investigation Service.

To recall, on May 21, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal  case against Hayrapetyan, accusing him and his son of arbitrariness,  deliberate and illegal deprivation of liberty. The court of general  jurisdiction of Yerevan granted the arrest of the former president of  the Football Federation of Armenia. On May 27 he was put on the  wanted list. 

38 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Karabakh

Emil Lazarian
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. According to the situation, as of 11 am on May 30, 67 citizens were isolated in  Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). This was reported by the  information headquarters of Artsakh.   According to the source, 38 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed. A  total of 863 citizens were tested for coronavirus. 26 people  recovered, isolated 863 citizens, no death cases were recorded.

Azerbaijani forces fired 600 shots toward Armenian positions over the past week

Edgar Tavakalian
Panorama, Armenia

The Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact over 100 times in the past week. In the period from May 24 to 30, the adversary fired around 600 shots towards the Armenian defense positions from firearms of different calibres, the Artsakh Defense Ministry told Panorama.am.

The Defense Army’s frontline troops maintain the ceasefire regime and continue confidently fulfilling their military tasks. 

4 films to be produced in Armenia till the end of the year

Badalian Vardan
Panorama, Armenia

Three film production companies in Armenia completed 43 films since 2015 with 14 films planned to release till the end of the ongoing year, according to the data by the State Statistical Committee of Armenia.

The film productions finished in 2019 include full-length, documentary short and animation films. Some 1 140 448.4 AMD have been allocated for production of 43 films, out of which 750 thousand for the year of 2019, the source said.

Former NSS chief elected chairman of Homeland party

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia

Politics 18:15 30/05/2020Armenia

The founding session of Homeland (Hayrenik) party took place on Saturday in Yerevan. The agenda of the session included the election of the party chairman, board members as well as the revision of the party charter and program. As Homeland press service reported, Artur Vanetsyan, the former chief of National Security Service (NSS) was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the new party.

The delegates also approved the board comprising of nine members. It is noted the Homeland will position itself as center-right party.
Following the procedural voting, Vanetsyan delivered remarks, outlining the goals of the newly established political party.

“All of us and the majority of all Armenians had great hopes and were inspired to accept the velvet revolution. Not only we accepted it but most of us contributed through their experience, capabilities, efforts and enthusiasm to turn the goals of the revolution into reality,” Vanetsyan stated, adding the main factor for him to enter into active politics is the sense of responsibility. “I see major risks, complex issues and dangerous mistakes our country faces every day, as I predicted. Regretfully, all my predictions came into reality. I do insist that hard work is ahead of us to prevent negative developments. That was the reason I decided to enter into real politics,” said Vanetsyan.

Vanetsyan next outlined the principles and approaches the new party will adopt in acting in the political field of Armenia. “We offer a program and work style that should rest on basics such as:
Responsibility against infantilism
Sincerity against lies and manipulation
Discipline against anarchy
Unity against cleavage
System agains chaos
Stability against uncertainty
Pragmatism agains populism.

Our people need leaders who will feel, act and declare themselves as the leaders of the whole nation regardless of their personal preferences. We need leaders who will not play on people’s current emotions but unite all around solutions of real problems for the sake of decent and better living. We need leaders who will refuse fake and false agendas, work styles and tools. We need leadership that will switch from the regime of “internet live” to the one of overcoming the real challenges of life,” Vanetsyan stated.

Reconstruction works of Akhalkalaki Castle rescheduled for next year

Christine Harutyunian
Panorama, Armenia
Society 11:58 30/05/2020 Region

The reconstruction works in the XI century Akhalkalaki Castle have been postponed for a year and will begin in 2021, Jnews reported.

Head of public relations at the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation Beka Baramidze earlier told the news outlet in an interview that the reconstruction works were scheduled for April 2020, however, the works have been postponed until 2021 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease.

“Our plan was to start reconstructions this year, however the occurred situation made us change the decision,” Baramidze said, adding the approximate dates of the works are yet to be finalized.

As to the reports suggesting the area adjacent to the castle is reportedly used as a shelter for cattle, Baramidze said the local authorities are expected to address the matter. One solution is to fence in the territory and protect the site from external influences.

Music: The National Center of Chamber music to live stream concert dedicated to Komitas 150th anniversary

Anna Tamamian
Panorama, Armenia
Culture 11:05 30/05/2020 Armenia

The National Center of Chamber Music will live a stream a concert by Armenian State Chamber Choir dedicated to the 150th birth anniversary of prominent Armenian composer, musicologist Komitas. The artistic director is Robert Mlkeyan. 

To note, the 150th anniversary of Komitas was marked in 2019.

Livestream at

Film: Armenian Genocide documentary now streaming on Amazon Prime

Emil Lazarian
PanArmenian, Armenia
– 16:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – “An Armenian Trilogy”, a new documentary about Dan Yessian’s journey from advertising music creator to writing his first classical composition in honor of the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, has been released on Amazon Prime, reports the Armenian Weekly.

In addition, his three-movement classical composition, “An Armenian Trilogy – Live in Yerevan”, performed by the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, is now available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon.

The concert is also included as bonus footage at the end of the film. Yessian is the founder of Yessian Music Inc., an international music production company responsible for creating original music for TV commercials and programs, movie trailers, video games, theme parks and memorials, including the One World Observatory at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City.

The Armenian Genocide, when 1.5 million Armenian citizens were massacred by the Turkish Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1922, made headlines in December 2019 when the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to recognize the mass killings as genocide and then again mid-February 2020, when the Syrian Parliament also recognized the massacres as genocide.

Theater: Puppet theatre organizes an open-air performance in Yerevan

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia

Culture 19:30 30/05/2020Armenia

The Yerevan State Puppet theatre is organizing an amusing concert-performance on June 1 to mark the International Day for Protection of Children. As the Theatre informed on its Facebook page, the spectacle will be played from an open-air balcony, the so-called amphitheater stage of the Puppet theatre on Sayat Nova street.

The performance is 20 minutes long and will be played at 12.00, 13.00 and 14.00 Yerevan time.

The seats of the spectators will be reserved ahead of the performance with due consideration of social distancing measures, the source said. The organizers also urge the visitors to wear face masks and gloves when planning to attend the performance.