Category: 2022

 11:01, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan received the delegation led by Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili, the Presidential Office said.

The delegation arrived in Armenia to attend the 67th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe.

In his remarks President Khachaturyan praised the fact that the relations between Armenia and the UNWTO are developing steadily. He said that tourism is a very important sector for Armenia and has been declared by the government as one of the priority areas for the development of economy.

The UNWTO Secretary-General highlighted the fact that after the COVID-19 pandemic the first meeting of the Organization is taking place in Yerevan and congratulated Armenia on being elected as member of the UNWTO Executive Council for 2021-2025, which will contribute to improving Armenia’s position and raising awareness on it in the European region.

The meeting also touched upon issues on further enriching the cooperation agenda, developing new guidelines for boosting tourism sector, etc.

It was stated that Armenia makes big efforts for the development of digital technologies, education, science and innovations, which will contribute to raising and strengthening the potential of the tourism sector.

 11:03, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. The authorities of Artsakh think that the European Union should not participate in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan said in an interview to RIA Novosti.

“Taking into account the format of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the effective role of the Russian peacekeeping mission, we think that the Karabakh conflict settlement issue should not become a subject of negotiations for the European Union”, Beglaryan said.

According to him, dialogue is necessary, but it should not be part of Russia’s complex relations with the West. He reminded the OSCE Minsk Group as the main operating format for the settlement of the conflict.

He attached great importance to the fact of the presence of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the country. “We think that the peacekeeping mission should stay here for an unlimited time, as the conflict is not settled”, he said.

Artak Beglaryan said the authorities of Artsakh want to keep the presence of the Russian peacekeepers in the region as Azerbaijan is not ready for negotiations based on the three main principles proposed by the international mediators, that is the territorial integrity, the nations’ right to self-determination and the non-use of force and threat of force. “Currently there is a strong necessity for the presence of the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh”, he said.

According to him, the settlement of the NK conflict in the foreseeable future is impossible because there is a serious contradiction in the positions of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, “they are diametrically opposed”.

He said that the main difference is that it is a matter of “prestige and ambitions” for Azerbaijan, but for the residents of Karabakh “it is a matter of life and death, their existence and historical justice”.

 11:27, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. Painter Mushegh Grigoryan considers himself an expressionist. He believes that painting should be emotional and sincere. The painter, who creates interesting works of landscapes, still life, self-portraits, works in abstract genres, confesses that he paints by never thinking about where he will go or what artistic solutions he will come up with. But he subconsciously tries to do his best to attract art lovers.

Speaking to ARMENPRESS about art, painting, and the spiritual link between him and his father, People’s Painter of Armenia Zulum Grigoryan, Mushegh Grigoryan said: “I grew up in the studio of my father, People’s Painter of Armenia Zulum Grigoryan, in an environment of painters, actors and artists. This was very close to me, but I loved mathematics, physics and other exact science. I decided to engage in science, and I have a great respect to it till today. I wanted to become a cyberneticist, which was very interesting, I even was admitted to the postgraduate course at the Polytechnic University. I was 25 years old that time, I was writing articles and so on, but I was painting with oil paint since the age of 20. I remember, I painted several paintings that time, I wasn’t so concentrated, but it worked. Painters called them interesting.

Asked what a problem he seeks to solve with his works, the painter said: “If I say that I am putting a special task to influence the other person, it won’t be right, but I subconsciously try to create a work that will impress art-lovers. For that to happen, it is necessary to be as free as possible in emotions. If I work very concentrated, the expressionism will be lost. Each painting direction puts its task and has its own path. Expressionism as well.  Life has shown that if any work of art keeps its value for centuries, it is objectively powerful”.

The painter is living in the United States for several months.

“I travelled to the United States as a tourist, but I also had an exhibition there. My personal exhibition opened at the Creo Studio led by Taguhi Vardanyan and Tigran Baghdasaryan in Glendale in April. It was very beautiful and well organized. Several exhibitions are at a preparation stage. I am working and maybe I will display new paintings at these exhibitions”, he said, adding that when he comes back to Armenia, he will initiate a new exhibition.

 

 

Interview by Anzhela Hambardzumyan

Photos were provided by Mushegh Grigoryan

The full version of the interview is available in Armenian

 12:15, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. The number of the Russian peacekeepers deployed in Artsakh should be increased, State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan said in an interview to RIA Novosti.

“We think that it is necessary to increase the number of Russian peacekeepers and expand their powers”, the State Minister said, citing the fact that after the latest Karabakh war the line of contact has been extended by almost 2.5 times.

The State Minister of Artsakh has also accused Azerbaijan of provoking border incidents.

 12:16, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. From now on thanks to Ucom, all the exhibition halls of the Komitas Museum-Institute will be provided with the high-speed internet access. The Komitas Museum-Institute, in cooperation with Ucom, has created an opportunity to reinterpret the areas for exhibitions, concerts and other programs as an educational and cultural environment through the use of modern technologies. 

Nikolay Kostandyan, the director at the Museum-Institute noted: “Thanks to the cooperation with Ucom it is now possible to provide internet access to the scientific-educational, cultural programs and concerts, moreover, we can use multimedia means during presentations and hence expand the formats of informative access to the exhibitions”.

“Taking into account the growing digitalization of world-class exhibitions, we are not left out of the application of such an experience in Armenia, and hence we are glad to cooperate with the Komitas Museum-Institute in particular. Providing information about the outstanding representatives of the Armenian culture to visitors should be delivered in a much more interesting and dynamic way”, said Ara Khachatryan, Director General at Ucom. 

Komitas Museum-Institute officially opened its doors on January 29th, 2015 and has allowed for the appreciation of and continuation of Komitas’s legacy ever since. The Museum-Institute aims to present Komitas’s life and his various creative activities comprehensively, as well as raise public awareness of his multilateral impact on music.

 12:28, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. According to the decision of the Armenian government that came into force on April 16, the import of electric vehicles to the republic is duty-free. Tariff quota up to 6400 items has been set up. Previously, the customs duty rate of 15% was being applied, the State Revenue Committee said.

The SRC said that there are tariff privileges and quotas also for a number of other goods. For instance, in case of importing no more than 60,000 tons of white sugar to Armenia, a zero customs duty is applied.

In order to use the tariff quotas, a license is needed, which is issued by the ministry of economy according to the decision of the government. The deadline for the tariff quota is from March 28 to September 30.

 12:36, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan received today the delegation led by the European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, the Office of the Security Council said.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues relating to the normalization of the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and in this context Armen Grigoryan highly valued the role of the European Union.

The sides specifically touched upon the existing humanitarian problems, particularly the issue of repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and other persons held in Azerbaijan.

 13:29, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. The US Department of State published the 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom on June 2.

In the Azerbaijan section of the report, the State Department recalls the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) relating to the humanitarian consequences of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, where PACE expressed its concerns about the future of the many Armenian churches, monasteries, including the Dadivank monastery, cross-stones and other forms of cultural heritage that came under the control of Azerbaijan.

The State Department report says that the Azerbaijani government has repeatedly denied access to the Armenian pilgrims to the Dadivank monastery. Azerbaijanis continued to be unable to visit many mosques and religious sites due to mine contamination from the fighting, it added.

The report recalls the PACE resolution which expressed “concern about a developing narrative in Azerbaijan promoting a ‘Caucasian Albanian’ heritage to replace what is seen as an ‘Armenian’ cultural heritage.”  

“There were numerous reports during the year of vandalism and destruction of Armenian cultural and religious sites, as well as deliberate actions by the government to sever and distort the connection of religious sites to their Armenian heritage”, the State Department said in the report.

 14:03, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili, who arrived in Armenia to attend the 67th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe, the PM’s Office said.

Welcoming the visit of Zurab Pololikashvili’s delegation to Armenia and highlighting the fact that Armenia was elected member of the UNWTO Executive Council for 2021-2025, the Prime Minister said this will further boost the productive partnership. He said that tourism is the most affected branches of the economy from COVID-19, which is now at a recovery stage, and the government assists this process with different programs.

The UNWTO Secretary-General expressed gratitude to the Armenian side for the warm welcome and congratulated the Armenian PM on birthday, wishing good health and a productive work. He welcomed the Armenian government’s decision to hold the meeting in Yerevan, shared his impressions on the course of the event and the meetings held, assessing the session works as effective. Zurab Pololikashvili praised the recovery trends of tourism sector in Armenia and expressed readiness to deepen the partnership with the government of Armenia.

The sides discussed the prospects of expanding the cooperation in tourism sector. Both sides attached importance to the initiatives aimed at the development of tourism and agrotourism, improvement of infrastructure, implementation of programs directed to doing tourism business, as well as the empowerment of women entrepreneurship. The Prime Minister presented the government’s programs in these directions and highlighted the UNWTO consulting support in this context.

Views were exchanged also about the possibilities of holding an investment forum on tourism in Armenia next year, and agreement was reached to continue the active work towards the fulfillment of the cooperation agenda.

 14:23, 3 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. Mher Margaryan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations, delivered a statement in the UN Security Council open debate on “Strengthening Accountability and Justice for Serious Violations of International Law”, the Permanent Mission of Armenia said.

In his remarks Mher Margaryan touched upon the issue of impunity of crimes that happened in the past, in the context of prevention of genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“Armenia alerted the international community about the level of hate speech and racist rhetoric dominating the political discourse in Azerbaijan, where state-led anti-Armenian policies extensively reported and documented by international institutions seek to dehumanize one particular nation which come to manifest that genocidal ideology does not merely belong to the past. The fact that a large-scale military aggression was unleashed amid the unprecedented global pandemic in the fall of 2020 is a crime of global proportion in itself and should be evaluated and addressed as such”, he said, also touching upon the fact that Azerbaijan is still holding Armenian prisoners of war and civilians in captivity.

“As the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice has a central role in ensuring justice and accountability and upholding the faith in international law”, he said.

[see video]