Tuesday,
More Armenian POWs Freed By Azerbaijan
• Naira Bulghadarian
ARMENIA -- People stand at a Russian military plane with some of Armenian
captives upon its arrival at a military airport outside Yerevan, December 14,
2020
Azerbaijan set free and repatriated five more Armenian prisoners of war late on
Tuesday.
The soldiers were flown from Baku to Yerevan by a Russian military transport
plane. They were immediately taken to a military hospital in the Armenian
capital for a medical checkup.
Dozens of other Armenian soldiers remain in Azerbaijani captivity. Most of them
were taken prisoner in Nagorno-Karabakh shortly after last year’s
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Many of these POWs were given lengthy prison sentences earlier this year in
trials condemned by the Armenian government. Armenia regularly demands their
unconditional release, saying that they are held in breach of a Russian-brokered
agreement that stopped the six-week war.
Azerbaijan says the agreement does not cover them because they were captured
after the ceasefire took effect in November.
Baku freed this summer 30 Armenian POWs in exchange for maps of Armenian
minefields in districts around Karabakh that were retaken by Azerbaijani forces
during and after the war. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed early this
month that those maps are not accurate and said Yerevan should provide more
detailed information.
Shortly afterwards Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian signaled his readiness to give
Baku more such maps to secure the release of more Armenian prisoners.
It was not immediately clear if the release of the five Armenian soldiers was
the result of such an exchange. They returned home ahead of a fresh round of
Russian-mediated talks in Moscow on the reopening of transport links between
Armenia and Azerbaijan envisaged by the Karabakh truce accord.
Jailed Mayor’s Backers ‘Rounded Up By Police’ After Election Win
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (L), Goris Mayor Arush
Arushanian (C) and other officials walk through the center of the town,
September 12, 2020.
Dozens of supporters of the jailed opposition-affiliated mayor of a major
community in Armenia’s Syunik province were reportedly taken to a local police
station for questioning one day after he was reelected in a weekend vote.
An opposition bloc led by Arush Arushanian, the mayor of the town of Goris and
surrounding villages, defeated the ruling Civil Contract party by a wide margin
three months after his controversial arrest. Arushanian remains in detention.
The Armenian police deployed additional personnel in Goris and raided the bloc’s
local headquarters during Sunday’s vote, searching it for several hours. It
emerged afterwards that they suspect Arushanian’s father and campaign manager
Gagik of trying to bribe local voters.
Representatives of the opposition bloc bearing the arrested mayor’s name
denounced the police raid as a government attempt to influence the outcome of
the closely watched election. Arushanian’s bloc won 62 percent of the vote,
according to preliminary election results.
Armen Melkonian, a lawyer representing the bloc, said on Tuesday that 33 of its
members and supporters were taken in for questioning in Goris on Monday. “This
is real terror,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Melkonian, who was present at the interrogations, dismissed police explanations
as “ridiculous.” Gagik Arushanian also categorically denied trying to buy votes.
“They want to discredit us but won’t succeed,” said the mayor’s father. “This is
fresh blackmail. This is a loser’s mindset. They can’t come to terms with their
defeat. There is not a single person who can come out and say that they were
offered [a vote bribe.]”
Armenia - Arush Arushanian's father Gagik talks to journalists in Goris, October
17, 2021.
Vladimir Abunts, Civil Contract’s defeated mayoral candidate in Goris, defended
the police actions and denied that they are aimed at bullying local opposition
forces.
Arushanian Sr. was not charged with any crime or even questioned by the police
as of Tuesday evening. Nor did the police issue any statements on the crackdown.
Daniel Ioannisian, who coordinated election observers deployed in Goris and
other parts of the country, said they heard claims about vote irregularities
committed by both the ruling party and Arushanian’s bloc. He criticized
law-enforcement authorities for not investigating allegations that a government
loyalists handed out vote bribes in Tegh, a rural community not far from Goris.
Civil Contract won the local election held there.
“We see in the government’s behavior a failure to properly investigate what
happened in Tegh, but we see no problem with what they are doing in Goris
because we have credible information that vote bribes were distributed in
Goris,” said Ioannisian.
The Yerevan-based activist did not specify whether members of his monitoring
team witnessed any instances of vote buying.
Arush Arushanian, in office since 2017, was one of the four heads of urban
communities in Syunik who were arrested shortly after the June 20 parliamentary
elections on various charges rejected by them as politically motivated. They all
demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation and joined the main
opposition Hayastan alliance formed by former President Robert Kocharian in the
run-up to the snap polls.
Arushanian was remanded in pre-trial custody on July 16 after being charged with
trying to buy votes. The Special Investigative Service (SIS) claims that he
ordered the head of a village close to Goris to provide financial aid to local
residents who will promise to vote for Hayastan.
The 30-year-old community chief strongly denies that, saying that the poverty
benefits approved by the local council were allocated on a regular basis and had
nothing to do with the general elections.
Pashinian Backs Closer Economic ‘Integration’ With Russia
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior officials attend a
Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan, September 20, 2021.
Armenia is committed to further deepening commercial ties with Russia, its main
ally and trading partner, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Tuesday.
“The Russian Federation not only plays a key role in maintaining peace and
stability in our region but also occupies a central place in our country’s
economy,” Pashinian said in an address to a Russian-Armenian interregional
conference held in Yerevan.
“We need to improve our economic relations in a way that will foster the
development of competitive industries in our countries,” he told government
officials and businesspeople from the two states attending the forum. “In this
context, we regard as important further mutual integration of our economies,
which must be based on a free movement of goods, services, labor and capital.
The [Russian-led] Eurasian Economic Union serves this strategic goal.”
Bilateral commercial ties should be diversified to cover knowledge-based sectors
of the Russian and Armenian economies, added Pashinian.
According to Armenian government data, Russian-Armenian trade rose by almost 12
percent in the first eight months of this year, to $1.54 billion, after
shrinking by 4 percent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Russia thus
remained Armenia’s number one trading partner, accounting for about 31 percent
of its overall foreign trade, compared with the European Union’s 20.2 percent
share in the total.
Russia’s Deputy Minister for Economic Development Dmitry Volvach hailed the
renewed growth in bilateral trade when he spoke with journalists during the
Yerevan forum.
Russian companies plan to invest $1 billion in the Armenian economy “in the near
future,” the Armenpress news agency quoted Volvach as saying. He said the
investments will be channeled into energy, transport and other infrastructures.
Speaking at a recent Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan,
Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian said his Moscow-based Tashir
Group will invest up to $600 million in the Armenian energy sector in the coming
years.
Tashir owns the South Caucasus country’s electricity distribution network,
largest thermal-power plant and second most important hydroelectric complex.
Armenian Court Asked To Approve First Asset Seizure
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - The main entrance to the Office of the Prosecutor-General.
Armenian prosecutors have asked a court to allow the confiscation of expensive
properties belonging to the family of a former security official who was fired
last year after allegedly disclosing an influential government minister’s
criminal record.
Serob Harutiunian, who used to run a counterintelligence division in the
National Security Service (NSS), his wife and son risk becoming the first
persons to lose their assets, worth a combined 485 million drams ($1 million),
as a result of a controversial law enacted by the Armenian government last year.
The law allows prosecutors to seek asset forfeiture in case of having
“sufficient grounds to suspect” that the market value of an individual’s
properties exceeds their “legal income” by at least 50 million drams ($110,000).
Courts can allow the nationalization of such assets even if their owners are not
found guilty of corruption or other criminal offenses.
A spokesman for the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Gor Abrahamian, told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday that the Harutiunian family’s assets,
including an expensive apartment in downtown Yerevan, caught the law-enforcement
agency’s attention when it was conducting a separate criminal investigation in
early 2020.
Harutiunian was accused at the time of leaking to an Armenian newspaper the fact
that then Minister for Territorial Administration Suren Papikian had spent a
year in prison for stabbing his commander during his compulsory military
service. Papikian, who is now the country’s deputy prime minister, publicly
urged law-enforcement authorities to find out who publicized “the secret
information relating to my private life.”
The NSS colonel was eventually cleared of the charges but still lost his job. He
and his family members will now have to prove the legality of their holdings in
the court. The prosecutors filed a relevant lawsuit on Monday.
The law in question allows an out-of-court settlement of such cases which would
require suspects to hand over 75 percent of their assets to the state.
According to Abrahamian, the prosecutors hope to cut such deals with about a
dozen other individuals also suspected of illegal enrichment. They include
Vladimir Gasparian, Armenia’s national police chief from 2011-2018, Arman
Sahakian, the former head of a government agency on privatization, and a niece
of former President Serzh Sarkisian.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly portrayed the asset forfeiture
mechanism as a major anti-corruption measure that will help his administration
recover “wealth stolen from the people.” Opposition figures have condemned it as
unconstitutional and accused Pashinian of planning a far-reaching
“redistribution of assets” to cement his hold on power.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Category: 2021
Armenia invites Russian companies to bid for construction of North-South highway to Iran
TASS, Russia
Oct 19 2021
According to Minister of Territorial Development and Infrastructure of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan, the Iranian side is also interested in taking part
YEREVAN, October 19. /TASS/. Armenia expects Russian companies to take part in the tender for the construction of the strategic North-South highway leading to Iran, Minister of Territorial Development and Infrastructure of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan said on Tuesday. He was speaking on the sidelines of the 8th Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum.
“During this forum we did not discuss the participation of Russian companies in the construction of the North-South project, but, you know, that we will have a rather extensive tender process in which various international construction firms will participate. I think that our Russian partners will participate in the tender,” he said.
According to Sanosyan, the Iranian side is also interested in taking part.
Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the government intends to spend about $1 billion on the construction of the North-South road.
Russia plans to invest $1 bln in the Armenian economy in the near future
TASS, Russia
Oct 19 2021
Business & EconomyOctober 19, 13:57
YEREVAN, October 19. /TASS/. Russia plans to invest $1 billion in the Armenian economy in the near future, Deputy Economic Development Minister Dmitry Volvach said at a briefing on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 8th Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum.
“Our mutual trade is recovering quite well — a 17% growth in 2021. This is despite the fact that it fell by almost 4% in the pandemic year. Our investment cooperation is growing: there are more than $2.2 billion of jointly accumulated investments from Russia to Armenia. We know that there are specific projects to the tune of more than $1 bln, which will soon go to the Armenian economy,” he said.
According to Volvach, the investments will become a significant contribution to the development of economic, social, and cultural relations between Russia and Armenia. In particular, they will contribute to the creation of new high-tech jobs and facilitate exchange in various areas of the economy, culture, and infrastructure development.
“According to statistics, currently, Russian investments account for 40% of foreign investments in the Republic of Armenia. It seems to me that it is quite logical at least to maintain this share. It is clear that there are investments from other countries, from other partners, but I hope that Russia and Russian business will retain their role and significance in the Armenian economy,” he added.
In turn, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov confirmed that in the coming years, Russian companies are ready to invest about $1 billion in the Armenian economy. “Our trade turnover has already exceeded the pre-covid indicators, and Russian companies are among the largest taxpayers in Armenia,” he added.
The forum is sponsored by Russia’s Economic Development Ministry and Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia. Russian-Armenian interregional forums have been held since 2011 to expand cooperation between the regions of the two states.
Vera Peltekian to lead HBO Max production in France
BroadBand TV News
Oct 19 2021
Canal+ executive Vera Peltekiann has been named VP and Commissioning Editor of Original Production France, Warnermedia International.
Based in Paris, Vera will commission Original Programming for HBO Max, the company’s direct-to-consumer video streaming platform. She’ll join the company in November.
Commenting on the appointment, Antony Root, EVP and Head of Original Production WarnerMedia EMEA said: “Vera is a world-class television executive whose passion for nurturing storytellers has seen her work on some of France’s most creative and ambitious programming.” He continued, “this appointment ensures we can start to develop exciting new content, so when we launch HBO Max in France, we can present a slate that will intrigue and delight audiences”.
Peltekian added, “I’m happy and proud to join such a talented team. WarnerMedia means a lot to everyone working in this industry in France and Europe. It is a symbol of ambition, creativity and respect for the audience and talent – always taking a chance to be the best. These qualities are exactly what we need in a competitive market.”
Since 2006, Peltekian has managed French drama series and co-produced original programming at the Canal+ group, working closely with some of France’s top creative talent. She has worked on The Returned (Best Drama Series, International Emmys 2013), Spiral (Best Drama Series, International Emmys 2015), The Tunnel, Kaboul Kitchen (Golden FIPA award 2012), Savages (part of the Primetime program at Toronto International Film Festival 2019) and Paris Police 1900.
WarnerMedia’s flagship SVOD service, HBO Max launches in the Nordics and Spain on 26th October and next year expands to 20 additional territories across Europe including Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Turkey.
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2021/10/19/vera-peltekian-to-lead-hbo-max-production-in-france/
Also Read
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/canal-drama-exec-vera-peltekian-101354636.html
https://www.c21media.net/news/canal-exec-vera-peltekian-to-lead-original-television-production-for-hbo-max-in-france/
Suing for Peace: Can Clerics Reconcile Armenia and Azerbaijan Better Than Courts?
Oct 19 2021
Image: Courtesy of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I reads a joint statement flanked by Armenian Catholicos Karekin II (left) and Azerbaijan Grand Mufti of the Caucasus Allahshukur Pashazade (right) in Moscow on October 13.
After 17 tries, there is still no peace in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Almost a year ago, Russia brokered a November 2020 ceasefire to end the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Caucasus mountain enclave. Azerbaijan reclaimed most of its internationally recognized territory occupied since 1994 by ethnic Armenians, who demand independence.
Armenia has been a Christian nation since A.D. 301. Azerbaijan is majority Muslim. But spiritual leaders have been no more successful than politicians or generals at securing reconciliation.
Yet that has not stopped Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I from trying.
“Our religions have a unique peace-making potential,” he stated at last week’s tripartite summit of top clerical leaders. “No matter how difficult Armenian-Azerbaijani relations are at this stage, we believe that it is faith in God, and love, that can help heal the wounds.”
And they are many.
The post–Soviet Union conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh—called Artsakh by Armenians—killed 30,000 people and displaced 1 million. As Azerbaijan recaptured the territory—slightly larger than Rhode Island—last year, another 7,000 were killed. Mutual acrimony has characterized relations, with both sides accusing the other of destroying their religious heritage.
The first meeting of spiritual leaders was held in 1993. The 16th in 2017.
Simply by bringing these leaders together, Kirill achieved a level of success. Standing with Karekin II, the Armenian catholicos on his right, and Allahshukur Pashazade, Azerbaijan’s Grand Mufti of the Caucasus, on his left, he read a joint statement calling for respect for shrines and monuments, resistance to radicalization, and the avoidance of hate speech.
“Religious wars are the most horrible, sinful pages in the religious history of mankind,” said Kirill at his opening greeting. “We are called to preach mercy from God, even when it seems difficult.”
The spiritual representatives of the warring nations agreed.
“It is impossible to call for war and hatred from the religious throne,” said Pashazade, “because the bloody war has brought irreparable harm to both peoples.”
Karekin spoke similarly: “There are no winners in wars, all are defeated.”
Image: Courtesy of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I hosts a Moscow summit with Armenian Catholicos Karekin II (right) and Azerbaijan Grand Mufti of the Caucasus Allahshukur Pashazade (left) on October 13.
In separate statements following the summit, both leaders also shared some theology. Karekin quoted Luke 2 about peace between men, but also the Quran on the divine intention for diversity. His prayer was for solidarity and mutual understanding.
Pashazade applied to the situation a well-known but contested Islamic interpretation. “The clergy have no right to question the political decisions of the leaders of our states,” he said. “It is our duty before the Almighty God to convey this truth to our peoples.”
Freedom House ranked Azerbaijan “not free” on its 2021 Freedom in the World report, scoring the nation only 10 out of 100. Armenia was ranked “partly free” with a score of 55.
The rest of both clerics’ separate statements was almost wholly political—and partisan.
Azerbaijan’s restoration of territorial integrity was justified according to international law, said Pashazade. He called for a new era of cooperation for the benefit of all citizens but rejected discussion of the Armenian-populated enclave’s political status in the context of interfaith dialogue. He also refused to call the region “Nagorno-Karabakh,” which implies an identity separate from Azerbaijan.
Yet there can be no peace, Karekin stated, until the status of Artsakh Armenians is clarified. The “bloody and catastrophic aggression” can only be made right when Azerbaijan ends its expansionist policy, returns prisoners of war, and respects Armenia’s cultural and religious heritage.
Last month, Armenia filed suit against Azerbaijan at the UN’s International Court of Justice at The Hague, alleging violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. A week later, Azerbaijan counter-filed.
Armenia cites alteration of its churches and monasteries, and the prevention of pilgrims from reaching religious sites. Azerbaijan cites the destruction of mosques during Armenia’s three-decade occupation.
The suit will likely take years to reach decision, if it fully proceeds. But each side requested provisional injunctions, which may settle more quickly.
Azerbaijan demands a crackdown on hate groups and a map describing the location of landmines on reclaimed territory. Armenia demands the release of prisoners of war and the closure of the Military Trophies Park in the capital city of Baku, where bullet-ridden helmets are on display along with degrading mannequins of captured Armenian soldiers.
The spiritual summit on October 13 preceded opening arguments at the Hague by a day. October 14 also witnessed a political summit between the three nations’ prime ministers.
On the 15th, Armenia stated in court that Azerbaijan had confirmed the offending exhibits have been removed from the trophy park. And Armenia’s prime minister announced readiness to exchange land mine maps in exchange for releasing remaining prisoners of war.
Whether political achievements or evidence of ongoing prayer, the spiritual leaders did not cede ground. Pashazade denied Azerbaijan holds any prisoners, stating that captive Armenian soldiers are being held for violation of the ceasefire. Karekin, meanwhile, called on Azerbaijan to stop provocations and encroachments on the border.
Both summits were held in Moscow, and as guarantor of the ceasefire, Russia must struggle also with wider regional rivalries. Azerbaijan’s victory was largely achieved through its drone warfare superiority gained in alliance with Turkey and Israel. Iran, allied with Armenia, stated it will not tolerate the presence of the Zionist regime on its borders, and surprise military drills were named after a famous battle of Muhammad against Arabian Jews.
And so into the arena, again, stepped Kirill—focused only on the local.
“The Russian Orthodox Church is praying for the reconciliation of its two friendly nations,” he said. “For the Azerbaijani-Armenian peoples, there is no future other than coexistence.”
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/october/armenia-azerbaijan-karabakh-peace-kirill-karekin-pashazade.html
Five Armenian prisoners returned from Azerbaijan to Yerevan
Oct 19 2021
- JAMnews, Baku-Yerevan
REC: 20+ Russian Exporters Participate in Business Mission to Armenia
Sputnik
Oct 19 2021
More than 20 Russian exporters are taking part in an international multi-industry business mission to Yerevan, the Russian Export Centre reported.
The exhibition was opened jointly by Dmitry Volvach, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and Vache Terteryan, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of the Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, on Monday.
“The event which has been organised by the Russian Export Centre JSC (part of VEB.RF Group) will take place from 18 to 20 October 2021 with the support of Armenia’s Fund Investment Support Centre, and will be attended by 24 Russian exporters and more than 70 Armenian companies,” the statement said.
Russian companies will be showcasing a whole host of industries including food, agricultural machinery, construction equipment, information technology for various industries, energy, mechanical engineering, medicine and pharmaceuticals.
Businesses represented at the event include Npg Sady Pridonya, a leading juice and baby food producer, JSC Tander which, as the owned of the Magnit supermarket chain is one of Russia’s largest grocery producers, and Mikromir which makes equipment for outdoor children’s playgrounds.
“Roughly 250 targeted meetings between Russian and Armenian businesses are planned over the three days, as well as a plenary session on ‘Development of Economic Cooperation and Partnership: New Opportunities for Armenian-Russian Interaction’ and a roundtable on ‘State of the Healthcare System in Armenia and Prospects for Russian Companies to Enter the Armenian Market’,” the REC said.
There will also be individual off-site events for exporters.
The business mission has been co-hosted by the Republic of Armenia’s Ministry of Economy, and the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Armenia.
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant re-connected to grid after major repair
12:20,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS. After a 141-day planned preventive repair the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant has been re-launched and re-connected to the power grid.
Over 600 specialists from Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and elsewhere took part in the repair work, the NPP operator said.
The repair will contribute to extending the lifecycle of the 2nd power unit, as well as the increase of the safety level.
The crew also conducted the planned annual repair works.
Prominent Italian saxophonist Federico Mondelci to give concert in Armenia
12:23,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Prominent Italian saxophonist Federico Mondelci will visit Armenia to give a concert in memory of legendary French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour and Russian-Armenian composer Michael Tariverdiev.
The concert will take place on October 26 at the Aram Khachatryan concert hall.
The State Chamber Orchestra of Armenia led by artistic director and chief conductor Vahan Martirosyan will perform at the concert.
New covers of the works of Aznavour and Tariverdiev will be presented to the audience.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
COVID-19: 588,385 vaccinations carried out in Armenia so far
12:49,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS. A total of 588,385 vaccinations against COVID-19 have been carried out in Armenia so far, of which the first dose is 403,431 and the second dose – 184,954, the ministry of healthcare reports.
The following vaccines are available in Armenia: AstraZenca, Sputnik V, Sinopharm, CoronaVac, Moderna.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan