Category: 2021

Armenia local elections: Ruling party loses by more than 13.5% in Vanadzor

Christine Harutyunian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 6 2021
09:23, 06.12.2021

The Mamikon Aslanyan opposition bloc, led by the former mayor, has won convincingly after processing the voting results of all polling stations in Sunday’s Council of Elders elections in Vanadzor, the third-largest city of Armenia

Accordingly, 38.71% of Vanadzor voters have cast their ballots in favor of the aforementioned bloc. The ruling Civil Contract Party received only 25.06%. And little-known Labor Socialist Party of Armenia registered an unexpectedly high result; it garnered 14.53% of the votes. But the fact is that the electoral list of this party was headed by not unknown Arkadi Peleshyan, who was once the deputy mayor of Vanadzor.

In fourth place is former National Security Service chief Artur Vanetsyan’s opposition Homeland Party, which received 4.48%. It is followed by the Country to Live party, with 4.29% of the votes.

The other five political forces running in these elections, however, did not pass the 4% threshold to win seats in the Vanadzor Council of Elders.

Armenia local elections: Ruling party suffers crushing defeat in Aparan

Liana Toganian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 6 2021
03:43, 06.12.2021

The ruling Civil Contract Party (CCP) suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday’s Council of Elders elections in Aparan, Armenia.

It is noteworthy that this happened with a record high voter turnout of 64.7 percent.

According to the Central Electoral Commission data, as a result of the processing of all ballots cast in this now-enlarged community, 66.69% of voters voted for the Karen Yeghiazaryan bloc of opposition parties. The latter’s only opponent, the CCP, received 33.31% of the votes.

Russia official: 1988 Armenia earthquake’s tragic experience gave impetus to creation of effective warning system

Jane Topchian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 6 2021
12:59, 06.12.2021

The tragic experience of the Spitak earthquake in Armenia in 1988 gave impetus to the creation of an effective system for the prevention and elimination of the consequences of natural disasters. Russian Deputy Minister of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief  Nikolay Grechushkin said this during Monday’s scientific-practical conference, entitled “Historical experience of Spitak earthquake, modern technologies of seismic protection,” in Yerevan.

He, in particular, recalled that the abovementioned natural disaster that took place 33 years ago on December 7 had covered an area with a population of more than one million.

“More than 40% of the [Armenian] republic’s industrial potential was destroyed overnight. Earthquake remains one of the most devastating natural disasters [in history]. At the same time, this is the most difficult phenomenon in terms of predicting. But today we have accumulated considerable experience in the field of seismic safety monitoring,” said the Russian deputy minister of emergencies.

Grechushkin added that he considers the aforementioned conference in Yerevan an important event, especially in terms of dialogue with the professional community as well as regarding the methodology of exchanging and evaluating respective experience.

Opposition ‘Armenia’ Faction MP: Premier Pashinyan gave best assessment of local elections

Jalatian Sonya
News.am, Armenia
Dec 6 2021
14:01, 06.12.2021

PM Nikol Pashinyan probably gave the best assessment of the local elections in terms of results, by admitting that the ruling Civil Contract Party (CCP) failed in this election. Artur Khachatryan, an MP of the opposition “Armenia” Faction of the National Assembly, told this to a press conference Monday.

According to Khachatryan, Pashinyan attempted—in his respective Facebook past—to justify this failure by saying that they are busy with external security challenges, had more important things to do, that’s why they registered worse results than they expected, as they did not buy votes and no electoral fraud was committed.

“But I want to recall that on the eve of these elections, the state had allegedly accidentally opened the ‘purse’ of social assistance to the provinces and communities. This is not just a coincidence. Also, the [community] enlargement ‘bouquets’ are designed in a way that they [i.e., the authorities] be able to collect as many votes as possible, which is also not a coincidence. Let me remind that before the elections, the opposition candidates were persecuted. Let me also remind that they had mobilized all their administrative resources. But despite all this, they have lost,” Khachatryan said.

He noted that in only 15 of the 36 enlarged communities the CCP managed to get enough votes to form a local government on its own, whereas in the other 21 communities the non-governmental forces can form a majority in eight of them, on their own, and in 13 others—in a coalition.

“We can record that after 2018, the authorities lost more than 200,000 votes in 2021, and continue their chain of defeats. The authorities have lost in Kapan, Gyumri, Meghri, Goris, Akhuryan, and this is an ongoing process. If this continues, they will very soon see that they have no support [at all],” the opposition lawmaker stressed.

https://verelq.am/hy/node/99284?fbclid=IwAR1LGZ20s91Ddt6EuMR7kjcJL4qz_aP2gifIJ5KJQ-e_k5j6zZ0BmqsYoB8

Andranik Taslakhchian
  • 02.12.2021

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  • Armenia:

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On December 2, the President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan called a meeting with the participation of a group of parents of the victims of the Third Artsakh War and officials of the relevant bodies to discuss the progress of the construction of the complex in the military pantheon of Stepanakert.


As reported by the Main Information Department of the Office of the President of the Republic of Artsakh, the head of the country noted that during the discussion of the issues related to the construction works with the relatives of the victims, it was found that there are justified grievances, and the purpose of the consultation is to find appropriate solutions for the existing problems. According to Harutyunyan, the volume of works is large, and it is understandable by the public that it is not possible to complete it in one year, but it is unacceptable that the design works are still in progress.

Regarding the agenda, Arayik Harutyunyan gave a number of instructions to those in charge, mentioned the need to attract new labor and emphasized that if the design work is not completed within the promised time frame, strict sanctions provided by the law will be applied.

During the meeting, other issues were also discussed.

CivilNet: Azerbaijan’s punitive attacks and the humanitarian crisis in Armenia’s south

Antranik Varosian
CIVILNET.AM

04 Dec, 2021 08:12

Arman Tatoyan, the Human Rights Ombudsman of Armenia, talks to CivilNet’s Emilio Luciano Cricchio about Azerbaijan’s actions and how they impact the daily lives of Armenian villagers in the Syunik region. Mr. Tatoyan furthermore explains what Armenia’s red lines should be in the negotiations with Azerbaijan and what his political aspirations are after his tenure ends. 

Armenpress: Azerbaijan’s attacks on the population of Artsakh are becoming systemic – MFA Armenia

Yeghisabet Arthur

Azerbaijan’s attacks on the population of Artsakh are becoming systemic – MFA Armenia

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 21:13, 3 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement today, referring to the killing of a civilian of Artsakh by Azerbaijani armed forces on December 3. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA, the press secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia Vahan Hunanyan said in the statement,

“While carrying out agricultural work near the Chartar community of the Martuni region of Artsakh, Seyran Sargsyan, a resident of Chartar, was captured and deliberately killed by Azerbaijani units on December 3.

We strongly condemn and consider the killing of a civilian by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in gross violation of international humanitarian law inadmissible.

It is noteworthy that the attacks and acts of terrorism against the Armenian civilian population of Artsakh become systemic, which is the result of justifying previous similar crimes committed by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces with baseless motives by Baku, which leads to a recurrence of such behavior.

The recent atrocities committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the civilian population of Artsakh are a continuation of the Azerbaijani authorities’ policy of anti-Armenianism, eviction and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, which once again proves that guaranteeing the physical security and right to life of Artsakh Armenians is impossible under Azerbaijani jurisdiction.

Properly investigating this and previous attacks on civilians and bringing the perpetrators to justice can create the preconditions for preventing similar crimes in the future”.

At Erdoğan’s request, Putin presents the results of a trilateral meeting in Sochi

Emil Lazarian

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 21:24, 3 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. On the initiative of theTurkish sideRussian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a telephone conversation, during which, among other issues, they discussed issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as well as the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Kremlin.

It is noted that at the request of the Turkish President, Vladimir Putin informed about the main results of the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi on November 26, dedicated to the anniversary of the signing of the November 9, 2020 declaration on Nagorno Karabakh.

“It is important that Baku and Yerevan confirmed readiness to cooperate in the context of ensuring stability in the region, as well as the establishment of demarcation and delimitation mechanisms between the two countries was confirmed during the talks. In addition, the parties are committed to resolving practical issues for restoring trade, economic and transport links.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed the importance of the Russian Federation’s mediation role and called for further coordination of efforts, including using the opportunities of the Russian-Turkish Center for Ceasefire Control”, reads the statement.

Armenian FM and OSCE MG Co-Chairs highlight peaceful settlement under the Co-Chairs’ mandate

Albert Nalbandian

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 21:40, 3 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), Stefan Visconti (France) and Andrew Chaffer (USA) in Stockholm. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also took part in the meeting.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, during the conversation, the importance of fully expanding the peace process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and under its mandate was stressed.

Ararat Mirzoyan considered unacceptable the continuous belligerent rhetoric of the Azerbaijani leadership and aggressive actions. In this context, the Armenian FM highlighted taking concrete steps to reduce tensions in Nagorno Karabakh and the region. The Minister considered it necessary to solve the humanitarian problems immediately, in particular, the immediate return of prisoners of war and other detainees, the detection of cases of enforced disappearances, the preservation of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the territories under Azerbaijani control, the creation of opportunities for international organizations to operate in Nagorno Karabakh.

The Armenian side reaffirmed its commitment to continue working within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ mandate for a comprehensive, lasting settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on the well-known principles and elements.

Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministerial meeting in Stockholm didn’t take place – MFA spox

Tambiyan Samvel

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 10:08, 4 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. A meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Sweden didn’t take place, Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan told Armenpress.

“A meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers within the framework of the 28th OSCE Ministerial Council didn’t take place. I would like to note that the Armenian side has never avoided meetings in the framework of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship”, the spokesperson said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan