Category: 2022

Armenia briefs diplomatic corps on details of Sisian-Kajaran road construction project

Emil Lazarian

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 11:30,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, jointly with the Road Department Foundation, presented to a group of foreign ambassadors accredited in Armenia the details of the tender of North-South Road Corridor’s Tranche 4 section (Sisian-Kajaran section).

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan said in his remarks that the pre-qualification phase of the tender was announced recently and that they will wait 70 days for applications.

“The construction of this road section is highly important for Armenia both strategically, economically and in terms of security,” he said.

“This is a rather major and interesting project with numerous technical and specialized solutions. It will be a rather difficult and interesting road section with its kind. We are asking for your support, so that you inform major construction companies in your countries about this project so that they participate in the tender. Our goal is to attract highly experienced companies with powerful capabilities, in order to be able to organize the project properly in terms of the timeperiod and quality,” Sanosyan said.

Pashinyan congratulates Macron on 30th anniversary of establishment of Armenia-France diplomatic relations

Nahapetian Samvel

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 13:30,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan sent a congratulatory letter to President of France Emmanuel Macron on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the PM’s Office said.

The letter reads:

“Respectful Mr. President, dear Emmanuel,

February 24th, 1992 is a memorable year for Armenia and France. 30 years ago this day Armenia, which opened the page of its new history with the declaration of independence, established diplomatic relations with the French Republic.

Thus, the Armenian-French connections and friendship, having a history of centuries and strengthened by the presence of the Armenian community of France, gained an interstate framework for further development.

I praise the fact that over the past three decades Armenia and France have managed to establish unique relations based on close political dialogue and regular high-level contacts, active parliamentary partnership and decentralized cooperation, as well as to develop multisectoral cooperation in economic, educational, scientific, cultural, healthcare and other areas.

We attach great importance to the close cooperation with France within the frames of European structures and international organizations.

For Armenia, as an active member of the International Organization of La Francophonie, holding the Francophonie Summit in Yerevan in autumn 2018 was of exceptional importance, within the frames of which it was a special honor also to host you in our country. I would like to note that the French University in Armenia, which is one of the most significant achievements of our bilateral relations in educational field and plays a vital role in Armenia’s higher education system, brings its valuable contribution to the spread of Francophonie also in our country.

We highly appreciate the valuable commitment of France to assist Armenia’s economic development which is reflected in the Armenian-French economic cooperation development roadmap signed in Paris in December 9, 2021 and defines our common commitment to raise our bilateral partnership in infrastructure, agriculture, new technologies and healthcare absolutely to a new level and quality in the next five years. Moreover, the importance on deepening the comprehensive partnership with France is also reflected in the Armenian government’s five-year action plan.

The recognition of the Armenian Genocide by France as the first country and declaring April 24 as an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in France based on your decree are of special importance in the history of the interstate relations of Armenia and France. With this step France has once again showed its solidarity with Armenia and the Armenian people, as well as its deep dedication to the universal values.

France is always careful and consistent with the protection of Armenia’s vital interests and the fundamental rights of the Armenian people. We highly appreciate the clear positions and solidarity of France and yours personally during the military aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, as well as your determined efforts and commitments to resist the geopolitical and humanitarian problems caused by the war, including in the preservation of the historical-cultural heritage of Artsakh.

Armenia also attaches great importance to France’s key role together with the other OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – Russia and the United States, in the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which aims at clarifying the status of Nagorno Karabakh with the guarantee of the rights of Artsakh-Armenians to self-determination.

Today, the relations between Armenia and France mark their 30th anniversary with important achievements, which, I am sure, will continue deepening and expanding with our joint efforts, by opening new bright pages in the history of the Armenian-French unique relations for the long duration of the Armenian-French brotherly friendship.

Looking forward to meeting with you soon and continuing our regular discussions, please accept, Mr. President, the assurance of my highest respect”.

Armenian PM arrives in Kazakhstan for Eurasian Inter-governmental Council session

Arbi Tashjian

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 13:51,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Kazakhstan, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The Armenian PM was greeted at the Nur-Sultan airport by Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov.

PM Pashinyan will participate in the Eurasian Inter-governmental Council’s narrow-format and expanded-format sessions in Nur-Sultan on February 24 and 25 respectively.

Azerbaijani MPs’ tour of Yerevan sparks scandal

George Mamian
EurasiaNet.org
Feb 25 2022
Ani Mejlumyan Feb 25, 2022
Two Azerbaijani members of parliament visit Yerevan’s Blue Mosque. (photo: Tahir Mirkishili, Facebook)

Two members of Azerbaijan’s parliament, on a visit to Yerevan, sparked a scandal by picking fights over the city’s history.

The MPs, Tahir Mirkishili from Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party and independent (but pro-government) Soltan Mammadov, arrived in Armenia on February 21 to take part in meetings connected with the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, a forum that includes members of the European Parliament and the parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Whenever Euronest meetings take place in Baku and Yerevan, the focus invariably is on the MPs from the other country and the messages they take to “enemy” territory. With nerves still deeply raw in Armenia’s difficult post-war environment, this visit was no exception.

The MPs’ arrival was greeted by protests from the outset, as members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Youth organization held a demonstration on February 21 in front of the Marriott Hotel where the Azerbaijanis were staying.

The protests continued the next day at the conference center where the session took place. “Today, the presence of Azeris here is symbolic, because back in 2021, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced that the Azeris, taking the so-called Zangezur corridor, will return to Yerevan,” Edgar Ghazaryan, a former chief of staff of Armenia’s Constitutional Court and one of  the protest organizers, told reporters. An Azerbaijani seizure of Yerevan “doesn’t necessarily have to be by tanks,” he added.

Things got especially tense when Mirkishili posted on Facebook about his February 23 visit to Yerevan’s 18th-century Blue Mosque. While the structure is today presented in Armenia as “Persian,” as it was built when the territory was part of the Persian Empire, Azerbaijanis argue that it is part of their history, given that the Turkic-speaking builders were the ancestors of today’s Azerbaijanis.

“We have been to the Blue Mosque. As far as we know, it is the only Azerbaijani monument preserved in Yerevan, although there are inscriptions related to another state on its walls,” Mirkishili wrote, apparently referring to Iran. “Its architecture, walls, and spirit as a whole are affiliated with Azerbaijan. We believe that its true owners will soon be able to offer their prayers in the mosque.”

Predictably, the post angered many Armenians.

A lawmaker from Armenia’s ruling party, Tatevik Hayrapetyan took Twitter, to shoot back. She shared a screenshot of the post, tagging the Iranian embassy in Yerevan. 

A few hours later, the embassy tweeted its own statement, saying the Blue Mosque is a “symbol of Iranian art.” 

Regular Armenians also expressed their outrage. One user wrote: “Why are Turks [a term Armenians use to describe Azeris in a derogatory fashion] hanging around in our home, send them away.” Another wrote: “What is this filth doing in Armenia in the first place? Stop barking.” Other comments were even harsher.

The session itself was rocky, as well.

Asked about the Armenians who remain in Azerbaijani prisons, the MPs denied there were any. “All the prisoners of war and detainees were returned to Armenia after the war,” Mammadov said. Armenians count between 30 and 130 prisoners still remaining in Azerbaijani custody; the last return of prisoners from Azerbaijan was on February 7, when Baku repatriated eight Armenians.

The Azerbaijanis also repeated Baku’s argument that the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh was “closed” and that the war decided its status in favor of Azerbaijan. Armenians argue that the status of the territory, where tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians still live, has yet to be decided. “Conflicts are not over by simply stating that they are over. They are over when the causes of the conflict are eliminated,” responded Arman Yeghoyan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract party.

“The European continent has seen ‘peace at any cost.’ Peace must be built by work, respect for others’ rights, human rights, the right to life, and right to property. Is Armenians’ right to life and property guaranteed in Azerbaijan? I don’t think so,” he concluded.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, observing the proceedings while on a visit to Moscow, suggested the two MPs were in physical danger while they were in Yerevan.  “In order for them to go there, we received a guarantee from the State Security Committee or the Ministry – I do not know what it is called in Armenia – about the safety of these people,” Aliyev said at a February 23 meeting with Russian journalists.

“It is not difficult to imagine what kind of lynching they would be subject to, and what the outcome would be, if they had gone without agreement and without all security measures,” he said. “I’m sure at least they would have been beheaded in front of everyone.”

There is a long history of such contentious encounters at Euronest.

In 2017, the event was held in Baku and one of the Armenian participants criticized “Armenophobia and xenophobia” in Azerbaijan’s school system, and gave a book titled “Azerbaijan: Childhood in Hate” to the host country’s deputy education minister.”

When the event was held in Yerevan in 2015, the Azerbaijani side boycotted it, citing Armenia’s “aggressive criminal actions” against it. 

With additional reporting from Heydar Isayev.

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.

  

EU to sanction head of English-language Russian broadcaster RT Margarita Simonyan

Nahapetian Zhanna
POLITICO
Feb 23 2022

Margarita Simonyan ‘is a central figure of the Government propaganda,’ document says.

Putin presents flowers to editor-in-chief of Russian broadcaster RT Margarita Simonyan | Evgenia Novozhenina/AFP via Getty Images
BY CLOTHILDE GOUJARD AND JACOPO BARIGAZZI
 4:18 pm

The European Union is set to sanction Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the English-language broadcaster RT, for spreading government propaganda, according to a draft document seen by POLITICO.

Simonyan “is a central figure of the Government propaganda,” reads the document, dated February 22.

The document states that Simonyan “promoted a positive attitude to the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas,” and supported actions and policies undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine.

The document lists more than 20 people and entities to be sanctioned by the EU as part of a package expected to be finalized later today.

 

Armenia And Azerbaijan In 2021 Moved Toward New Stability In South Caucasus – OpEd (Paul Goble)

David Nargizian
Feb 25 2022
   

By Paul Goble

For most of the year following the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, problems in and between them appeared to dominate both the internal lives of these two countries and in the geopolitical situation of the South Caucasus. But at the end of 2021, things moved stabilized significantly, Irina Dzhorbenadze says.

Over the last several months, the Rosbalt observer says, a sense grew that new life was beginning across the region and that “a stable system of security in the region” was emerging, one in which all the parties involved have a vested interest in not seeing overturned anytime soon (rosbalt.ru/world/2022/01/02/1937648.html).

Negotiations regarding the opening of transportation corridors are “still not complete but, as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said, ‘there is now a possibility of reaching agreement with Azerbaijan on this point” and he has overseen confidence-building measures like returning prisoners and handing over maps of minefields.

One sign of just how much improvement has occurred, Dzhorbenadze says, is Turkey’s willingness to engage in talks with Armenia about the normalization of relations. Those negotiations won’t be easy or quick, of course; but they wouldn’t have begun if there had not been the start of a normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

As for Armenia, the year 2021 was “financially poor, morally difficult and politically extremely unstable.” The opposition continued to try to oust Pashinyan but failed. However, “in principle, the situation in Armenia both politically and economically after the war could have been much worse.”

Some economic growth resumed. Nearly one million tourists came, a dramatic recovery from 2020. And Russia continued to supply Armenia with gas and with investment. Consequently, the situation in these areas too appeared to stabilize albeit at a lower level than many hoped for.

Azerbaijan in contrast has seen its economy respond vigorously, despite the decline in oil prices and the pandemic. But there has been one major shift, Dzhorbanadze says. “If earlier in Azerbaijan, Western countries were the main investors, now, under the influence of the pandemic, globalization is being displaced by regionalization.”

The relative stability both within the two countries and between them suggests that investments from the outside will increase in 2022, given that money loves quiet and big money especially. But these investments, the Moscow analyst says, will add to the stability seen over the last several months. 

Click here to have Eurasia Review’s newsletter delivered via RSS, as an email newsletter, via mobile or on your personal news page.

Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia. Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Earlier, he served as vice dean for the social sciences and humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and a senior research associate at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia. He has served in various capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Mr. Goble maintains the Window on Eurasia blog and can be contacted directly at  .

Aircompany Armenia’s Yerevan-Moscow flight diverted to Samara airport

Babken Chilingarian

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 14:15,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The partial closure of the Russian airspace due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict impacted the Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan flights, the Aircompany Armenia said in a statement, adding that changes have been made in the schedule.

“Dear colleagues and passengers, we are informing that currently Aircompany Armenia’s flights in the Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan route are carried out with a nearly 1-hour deviation from the timetable. As a result of the military operations the airspace of Russia is partially closed, which led to operating the flight in another, longer route. At this moment flight NGT930 operating the Yerevan-Moscow route made an unplanned landing in the Samara city airport at the instructions of Russian air traffic control. After receiving the respective permit, flight 930 will continue towards the Vnukovo airport in Moscow,” the airline said.

Some are evacuating, but most Armenians of Donetsk prefer to stay – says community leader

Yeghisabet Arthur

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 15:00,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Some Armenians living in Donetsk are being evacuated but most of the Armenian residents prefer to stay, according to Vahagn Matevosyan, the President of the Donetsk Representation of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine.

“We had actually prepared the evacuation plan weeks ago. The Armenians in Donetsk region who wanted to leave have left. There were some Armenians who wanted to leave but didn’t have cars so we supported them. But a very large segment prefers to stay in Donetsk, they don’t want to leave their homes,” Matevosyan said.

He said there are large queues outside pharmacies, banks, gas stations and ATMs in Donetsk, like elsewhere. People are unable to withdraw money from ATMs.

“Sounds of gunfire are heard in the city, we feel that heavy artillery is firing, but I find it difficult to convey specific details now. I can only say that there are no victims among Armenians,” Matevosyan told ARMENPRESS’s Anna Gziryan.

Russia has begun a military operation in Ukraine following a request from the authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics for assistance in repelling Kiev’s military aggression, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in urgent address on Thursday.

He said that Moscow would seek the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine, called upon the Ukrainian army to lay down weapons and warned there would follow a prompt response to attempts at foreign intervention from outside.




FLYONE Armenia starts Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan regular direct flights

Antranik Varosian

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 15:04,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian airline FLYONE Armenia will start operating Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan regular direct flights from March 1 as the company received the permit of the Armenian and Russian aviation authorities, the company told Armenpress.

The first flight to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport is scheduled on March 1.

The company will then operate the flight twice a week – on Mondays and Fridays.

The flights will be operated from the Zvartnots Airport with convenient timetable and affordable prices.

The tickets and additional services of FLYONE Armenia can be acquired at www.flyone.am or in a mobile app available in Google App or App Store, as well as in the offices of all partner companies.

About FLYONE Armenia

FLYONE Armenia (www.flyone.am) started its operations in 2021. On 27 October 2021, the Civil Aviation Authority of Armenia offered us the National Air Operator Certificate, assigning the IATA 3F code, which contains 2 characters and ICAO FIE code- 3 characters.

The airline’s fleet consists of Airbus A320 aircraft, on which we will operate both scheduled and charter flights. Each aircraft has 180 seats and meets all International Air Transport Association (IATA) and EASA safety standards. Also, in pandemic conditions, the aircraft is equipped with HEPA air filters, which remove 99.97% of viruses and bacteria.

FLYONE (www.flyone.eu) was launched in 2016 on the Republic of Moldova market and is currently one of the leaders in the aviation market there. FLYONE has received IOSA certification, the highest safety standard in operational management. As well, it has been ranked multiple times in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in the TOP 10 “Most punctual company” according to the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) category.