Category: 2022

Yerevan’s Cafesjian Center hosts ‘Tereza Mirzoyan 100’ retrospective exhibition

Toneyan Mark
Panorama
Armenia –

Yerevan’s Cafesjian Center for the Arts announces the opening of the retrospective exhibition, Tereza Mirzoyan 100 in Eagle Gallery of the center on April 22, dedicated to the centenary of the celebrated sculptor, the Cafesjian Center told Panorama.am.

Tereza Mirzoyan (1922-2016) was one the significant artists who had an enormous input in the Armenian sculpture of the 20th century. Unfortunately, her name is not that famous amongst a broader society in Armenia. Nevertheless, not only she left a rich artistic heritage, but also had a priceless impact on the development of Armenian sculpture, being one of the first lecturers at the Fine Arts Academy of Armenia and working there for nearly sixty years.  

Summing up Tereza Mirzoyan’s oeuvre, the show gives an opportunity to reveal the wide range of layers in her aesthetical approach, artistic language, varied techniques and media, as well as themes.

“Tereza Mirzoyan was one of the few female sculptors in Armenia in the 20th century, which makes it even more actual today to reveal and present her work,” states Vahagn Marabyan, the Executive Director of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

Tereza Mirzoyan 100 retrospective exhibition will be open to the public from April 22 to June 19, 2022. The admission is free.

Tatoyan: Current Armenian authorities have lost their legitimacy

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The incumbent Armenian authorities have lost their legitimacy in issues concerning the security of Armenia and Artsakh, former Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan claims.

“Their current policies contradict the manifesto they unveiled at the 2021 parliamentary elections,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“It is clear that they would not have formed a government if their program had been based on the current policies (concessions to Azerbaijan, unlawful reinforcement of the Azerbaijani military near Armenian villages and roads, significant weakening of Armenia’s positions in the international arena, and the like).

“The authorities have misled citizens, gained votes and are pursuing a policy against the will of the people,” Tatoyan said.

“An anti-democratic process is taking place, undermining the source of the government’s legitimacy,” he added.

Opposition MP: Russia-West crisis doesn’t allow Armenian authorities to speed up Artsakh’s surrender

Liana Toganian
Panorama
Armenia –

The deep crisis between Russia and the West does not allow the Armenian authorities to speed up the process of handing over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Azerbaijan, according to MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition With Honor faction.

“The only room for “maneuvering” in the talks on Artsakh remains the deep crisis between Russia and the West, which does not allow to speed up the process of Artsakh’s surrender sought by the Armenian authorities,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“Of course, in this crucial process concerning us, the Armenian authorities are in the status of a victim to see who and how will punish them, but the problem is that Armenia and Artsakh will suffer because of it.

“Despite the fact that the authorities have driven Armenia’s negotiating capacity to a historic low and moved the process to inertia, relative peace is preserved only because at this stage the regional actors exercise particular caution, but these processes are simmering in the background, and it is difficult to say what new blows Armenia and Artsakh will suffer,” Abrahamyan said.

Pashinyan: Russian peacekeepers’ contribution in Nagorno-Karabakh ‘undeniable’

Ani Tigranian
Panorama
Armenia –

The contribution of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is “undeniable”, Nikol Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting on Friday.

In the meantime, he stressed the need to improve the efficiency of peacekeeping operations “in a number of episodes”.

“The invasion of Azerbaijani troops into the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, in particular into the area of Parukh, is extremely concerning,” Pashinyan said.

“It is significant in terms of an overall assessment of the situation, and we hope that the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh will ensure the complete withdrawal of the Azerbaijani army units,” he noted.

Armenian opposition announces start of street protests to remove current authorities

Liana Toganian
Panorama
Armenia –

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament from the main opposition Hayastan faction, has announced the start of street protests to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his team and thus prevent the loss of the Armenian statehood.

“It’s time for action. This is not a struggle for power, but a nationwide struggle for the preservation of Artsakh’s Armenian identity and the Armenian statehood,” the MP said in a video message on Friday.

The politician said that civil disobedience actions will be held across Armenia starting from April 25.

“From four symbolic places people will march to the capital of Armenia. Starting April 25, different protest actions will be held in Yerevan every day. We will report on further actions on a daily basis. This is a sacred struggle and there is no way to retreat,” he stressed.

Earlier on April 17, Artur Vanetsyan, leader of the opposition With Honor faction and the Homeland Party, started an open-ended sit-in in Yerevan’s Liberty Square, urging all those concerned about the fate of Artsakh and Armenia to join him.

The “5165″ opposition movement, Hayastan alliance as well as public and political figures backed the move.

Deep crisis between Russia and the West only "venue for maneuvers" in the Karabakh process – Tigran Abrahamyan

Khoyetsian Rose
ARMINFO
Armenia –
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo. The deep crisis between Russia and the West is the only “venue for maneuvers” in the Karabakh process, which does not allow the Armenian authorities to  speed us the surrender of Arstakh, Tigran Abrahamyan of the  opposition parliamentary faction With Honor believes. 

“In this process of crucial importance for us Armenia’s government,  as a victim, is looking at who and how is going to punish them. But  the problem is that Armenia and Artsakh. Although the government has  reduced Armenia’s potential for negotiations to a historical minimum,  relative peace is maintained only due to the regional actors’  caution. However, the processes are bubbling along and it is  difficult to say what new blows will be directed at Armenia and  Artsakh and when,” he said. 

Populism fighting populism in Armenia – Garegin Miskaryan

Alex Jidarian
ARMINFO
Armenia –
David Stepanyan

ArmInfo.Populism is fighting populism in Armenia. The Opposition is using populist methods and instrument to fight against the authorities it is accusing of  populism, the public and political figure Garegin Miskaryan said in  an interview with ArmInfo.

“All these flags and failed visits to Artsakh is nothing but  populism. And if we dig deeper, we can see there is no either  parliamentary power or opposition – only because the people there  have nothing in common with Armenia’s national interests. They are  just incapable of solving our state problems, and their activities  are nothing but miserable struggle for power,” Mr Miskaryan said. 

The reason is the poor Armenian political thought. And the flags and  the rest – as well as populist statements and steps – are nothing but  means for the opposition forces to remind others of their existence.   And the ruling party is doing nothing but keep pace with them. 

Yerevan’s foreign policy formulated under external pressure is the  result of absence of political forces serving Armenia’s national  interests in Armenia’s parliament and of a political agenda. In this  context, the answer to the question as to whether Armenia will sit  down at the negotiating table with Azerbaijan depends on the  interests and influence of geopolitical actors rather than on the  Armenian authorities or opposition forces. 

It is clear that not all the steps by the Armenian leadership are in  conflict with Armenia’s interests.  Sometimes are can be in line with  the agenda of the external forces in control of Armenia’s  authorities.  However, they cannot oppose the external pressure when  the external forces’ foreign agenda is, to put it mildly, in conflict  with Armenia’ interests.   

“Over the last three decades the authoritarian Armenian authorities  have been serving the interests of external authoritarian systems.  And breaking out of this vicious circle is only possible by forming a  political culture and political forces of a new quality. The  incumbent political forces are unable to nor are they seeking to,” Mr  Miskaryan said. 

Important agreements have been reached in Moscow on principles of unblocking regional communications: Pashinyan

Edgar Tavakalian
ARMINFO
Armenia –
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo. Important agreements have been reached in Moscow on the principles of unblocking regional communications. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated on April 22, at a government meeting, describing his two-day official  visit to the Russian Federation as productive. 

He expressed gratitude to his Russian counterparts led by President  Vladimir Putin.  According to him, during the Moscow meetings the  most key issues on the bilateral agenda were discussed, which is  reflected in the joint statement of the President of the Russian  Federation and the Prime Minister of Armenia. Particular attention  was paid to issues of regional stability and security. “Important  agreements have been reached on the principles of unblocking regional  communications, the similarity of the approaches of the Republic of  Armenia and the Russian Federation has been fixed,” he said.

In this direction, as Pashinyan pointed out, it is possible to fix  the commonality of approaches of all international partners. “I would  like to reaffirm the readiness of the RA to launch as soon as  possible the construction of a railway and a highway connecting East  and West through the territory of Armenia. I hope that in the near  future the trilateral working group at the level of the Deputy Prime  Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan will be able to develop  and agree on the necessary documents for process start”,the head of  government stressed. 

Artsakh MFA issues statement on holding of "5th Congress of Azerbaijanis Worldwide" in Shoushi

Markos Nalchajian
ARMINFO
Armenia –

ArmInfo.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh made statement on the occasion of holding the “5th Congress of the Azerbaijanis Worldwide” in Shoushi. 

As the press service of the Artsakh MFA reports, the statement reads,  in part:  

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh considers  extremely destructive the initiative to hold the “5th Congress of the  Azerbaijanis Worldwide” in the Armenian town of Shoushi occupied by  Azerbaijan, which includes obvious elements of Armenophobia and  expansionism.  Such an “initiative” is also an attempt to escalate  tensions in the region. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh strongly  condemns the nationalist and aggressive policy of official Baku,  which aims to torpedo and disrupt the peaceful settlement process of  the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict.”

It should be noted that today the “5th Congress of Azerbaijanis  Worldwide” opened in the Karabakh city of Shoushi. 400  representatives of diaspora organizations of Azerbaijan from 65  countries will participate in the congress.  The first such congress  was held in Baku in 2001.

There will be discussions on two main topics in the Congress:   “Challenges facing the Azerbaijani diaspora in the post-war period”  and “Contribution of the Azerbaijani diaspora to the restoration and  reconstruction of Karabakh”.

Official Baku decided this time to hold a Congress in the occupied  Karabakh region of Shoushi as a “symbol of a historic victory”. Some  observers believe that by doing so, the Azerbaijani regime is more  concerned with self-promotion than with the problems of the world’s  Azerbaijanis.

Pashinyan announces another record – this time in terms of jobs

Hagop Kamalian
ARMINFO
Armenia –
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo. At a government meeting on April 22, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced another record, this time in terms of the number of jobs.

“In March 2022, an absolute record was registered in the republic in  terms of the registered jobs,” the prime minister said. Thus, the  figure reached 654,784, and, as the prime minister emphasized, these  statistics take into account only those jobs in which people received  a salary and for which income taxes were paid.

Compared to March 2021, the indicator for March 2022 is higher by  32,622 registered jobs (5.3%), compared to March 2019 – by 70,714  registered jobs (12.1%), compared to March 2018 – by 120,660  registered jobs (22.4%). With the indicator for the same period in  2020, as Pashinyan pointed out, the authorities decided not to  compare, since the year is considered a crisis.

As of March 2022, the average monthly salary was 243,607 drams, which  increased by 32,202 drams (15.2%) compared to March 2021, by 59,730  (32.4%) compared to March 2019, and compared to March 2018 – 69,530  (39.9%)

At the same time, as Pashinyan noted, the purpose of these statistics  is not to state that inflation has in no way affected the standard of  living of citizens. “I just wanted to show that there are such  balancing factors,” the prime minister added.

In 2021 inflation reached 7.7%. In March 2022 to March 2021,  inflation of 7.4% was recorded (against inflation of 5.8% in March  2021 to March 2020). Next month, as RA Minister of Economy Vahan  Kerobyan recently forecasted, we are likely to see higher inflation  again as food and energy prices rise.