Category: News

Armenian Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan received Samir Al-Balushi, a representative of Oman’s SABCO Group and General Manager of its National Mineral Water Company, on 9 October.

According to Armenia’s Ministry of Economy, the meeting addressed opportunities to export Armenian processed goods to Oman, ensure their long-term presence in the market and use Oman as a logistics hub.

“Arman Khojoyan noted that diversifying export markets is one of the Armenian government’s key priorities and that Armenia has significant potential to become a reliable partner for Oman as well,” the ministry said.

It added that both sides expressed confidence that the agreements reached on issues of mutual interest during the meeting would provide a firm basis for practical steps, helping to expand bilateral cooperation.

“During their visit to Armenia, SABCO Group representatives also plan to meet representatives of several local companies producing mineral water, juices and canned goods,” the ministry said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that the White House will consider anyone who does not adopt his preferred term of “super intelligence” as “the enemy,” escalating his campaign to rebrand artificial intelligence amid calls to erect more guardrails.

“The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!” Trump said on Truth Social.

The renaming of AI to “super intelligence” is part of a rebranding effort by the president to cast a more positive light on the rapidly developing technology, Politico reported.

The technology has encountered intense scrutiny by lawmakers and experts about whether it has the appropriate guardrails to address safety and security concerns, particularly as instances of rogue agents accessing government websites have cropped up in different parts of the world.

Trump has largely brushed off calls to rein in AI development, meeting with billionaire executives at the White House to vouch for the rapidly developing technology as an overall positive for the world, as well as necessary for economic growth and national security.

He has argued that “super intelligence” is a better portrayal of the technology’s capabilities and has gotten some of the industry’s executives to use the term.

The White House has also updated its website on AI, removing all mentions of AI and replacing them with SI, short for “super intelligence.”

Armenia’s Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan met with Georgia’s Minister of Sports Shalva Gogoladze in Tbilisi.

According to the ministry’s readout, the ministers discussed the continuity of cooperation between Armenia and Georgia in the field of sports and opportunities to expand partnership, particularly in organizing joint training camps, as well as major regional and international sporting events.

Minister Shalva Gogoladze noted that he had received an invitation from Armenia to participate in the 10th Francophone Games (Jeux de la Francophonie), to be held in 2027, and expressed his readiness to discuss issues related to Georgia’s participation.

Minister Zhanna Andreasyan emphasized that Armenia attaches importance to Georgia’s participation in the Francophone Games, noting that such events are an important platform both for developing sports cooperation and for strengthening ties between the youth of the two countries and expanding friendly relations.

The ministers also emphasized the importance of jointly hosting the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029, noting that for Armenia and Georgia it is not only a major sporting event, but also an important opportunity to promote cooperation, exchange experience, and strengthen regional partnership.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers held a joint press conference.

Eight people were injured when a Mercedes-Benz minibus overturned at around 7:50 a.m. on October 8 at the 50th kilometer of the Yerevan-Sevan highway, the Rescue Service said.

The figure of eight injured is preliminary.

Further details were not immediately available.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that the Investigative Committee’s work is crucial to strengthening public trust in state institutions and creating a sense among citizens that they live in a fair country.

Pashinyan made the remarks on October 8 at a ceremonial meeting marking Investigative Committee Personnel Day.

Pashinyan congratulated those present on the occasion and thanked them for their service.

Referring to the part of Investigative Committee Chairman Artur Poghosyan’s speech concerning the recent solving of the murder of Artsrun Margaryan, a former Armenian security official who was killed in the late 1990s, Pashinyan said that this demonstrates a new level of quality and consistency in the Committee’s work.

“I want to thank the Investigative Committee employees and investigators who participated in the case, and you as well, Mr. Poghosyan.”

Pashinyan said that during this period, the murder of Vahram Khorkhoruni, a high-ranking Armenian Defense Ministry official who was killed in the late 1990s, and a number of other cases had also been solved. He emphasized that the use of modern technologies makes solving cases easier, but said that the cases mentioned above demonstrate the Investigative Committee’s continued development.

“Thank you also for noting that the Government is sparing no effort. Indeed, I do not remember a single issue that the Investigative Committee has raised with the Government that has not been resolved.”

According to the Prime Minister, these breakthroughs also contribute to creating a sense among citizens that they live in a fair country.

“The fundamental issue here is not only the specific cases, but also public trust in state institutions and the state. Today, as yesterday, the biggest problem that people see and the biggest demand and expectation they have is justice. And how do we reach a point where citizens can say that they live in a just country and in a just environment? This, incidentally, is not a simple problem, because there are no simple formulaic solutions there. It is a deep social-psychological, philosophical, but also very concrete operational problem, and at least a significant part of that problem is considered precisely in the context of the investigation of criminal cases. I hope that what you are saying, Mr. Poghosyan, really does not mean that we have solved one, two or four more cases, but that we have entered a completely different phase and that the problems we had before are no longer being repeated.”

Pashinyan stressed that the work of the Government, ministries and the Investigative Committee will never be perfect, but said the issue is not perfection, but the extent to which they are committed to justice.

“As a state, we must take particular care of the rights of those people who have limitations in terms of their ability to protect their own rights,” the Prime Minister said, adding that every citizen should feel the protection of the state, the protection of the law and the protection of their rights.

In this context, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Investigative Committee has a great responsibility in this regard, and that this responsibility will continue to grow, as expectations among the public increase. He said that cases dating back 10, 15 or 20 years, which people believe were not solved fairly, are creating growing expectations that they will now be solved.

Pashinyan also made the following observations:

“There are indeed cases that reach a dead end on their own and cannot be solved. This is not only the case in Armenia; this problem exists throughout the world. This is where we need to make sure that new technologies and capabilities are introduced, including in the work of the Investigative Committee. At least, I believe and hope that it is visible that the Government and I personally greatly appreciate the work being done and are trying to do everything within our power to ensure that the Investigative Committee develops normally, because the effectiveness of the Investigative Committee’s activities depends on this.

“We are trying to do everything so that investigators and Investigative Committee employees have as reliable a system of social guarantees as possible. And, of course, we will continue this policy. But on the other hand, we must understand that these two processes are very interconnected, because, by and large, the capabilities of the Republic of Armenia and the state budget also depend on the work of the Investigative Committee. I do not mean only the recovery of damages in specific criminal cases, but also that it is very important for economic activity that potential investors know that, if there is a problem, they will be able to protect their rights and operate under equal competitive conditions with their other competitors.

“Of course, this is an issue that does not concern only the Investigative Committee, but a number of state agencies. But I want us to recognize the interconnectedness of these processes and be able not to forget every day in our work what problem we are solving. All of us, in my opinion, are solving the problem of forming, in the mind of the citizen of the Republic of Armenia, justice and fairness in the Republic of Armenia as a social psychology — so that a person thinks that they live in a just country, so that a person thinks that the possibilities of becoming a victim of injustice are becoming fewer and fewer.”

Concluding his remarks, the Prime Minister said:

“We must record that the trend in criminal case statistics ultimately also testifies to this: people are turning to the Investigative Committee with greater confidence. An increase in the number of criminal cases does not always mean an increase in crime; sometimes it means an increase in trust, when people can turn to law-enforcement bodies, and particularly to the Investigative Committee, with greater confidence.”

Once again congratulating Investigative Committee employees on their professional day, Pashinyan wished them success in carrying out, with increasingly high quality, the very important state, moral and human mission of establishing justice and the administration of justice in Armenia.

A number of Investigative Committee employees were awarded Prime Minister’s commemorative medals, certificates of appreciation and valuable gifts. 

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has pushed back against Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev’s statement that Armenia could become “a new Ukraine,” saying Armenia is instead moving toward greater sovereignty.

Pashinyan said he could not understand why Medvedev would make such a statement.

“Armenia has already faced such a danger and been in such a situation when the CSTO did not fulfill its obligations toward Armenia. Why is Mr. Medvedev making such a statement? One could also make a statement saying that Armenia should not suddenly become a new Russia, because explosions are being heard in various places in Russia. This is not a good genre. Armenia is going to become an increasingly sovereign state,” Pashinyan said at a press conference when asked to comment.

Earlier, Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said while speaking about Armenia that the “worst thing” would be for Armenia to become “a new Ukraine.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday that no meetings are planned as of now with the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents during the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Turkmenistan.

Pashinyan will participate in the summit, which is taking place on October 8-9.

“There will certainly be contacts, as we will be in the same place together today and tomorrow. Officially, no meeting is planned, but there will be contacts and conversations. It has happened before that we agreed on the spot and talked,” Pashinyan told reporters.

Pashinyan also pointed out that meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had taken place last month in Bishkek, while he and Putin spoke by phone yesterday.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that his Civil Contract ruling party’s mission is the signing and ratification of the initialed peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

“We cannot leave the people’s government on the street. The mandate given to us by the people must be fulfilled to the end: the Peace Agreement must be signed and ratified, and we will consider our mission accomplished,” Pashinyan said at a press conference.

The Prime Minister also responded to a journalist’s question about whether the government is concerned that Armenia could turn from a democratic state into an authoritarian state.

“If any democracy does not have concerns about becoming authoritarian, the likelihood of those concerns becoming reality is greater. Of course, we have concerns. We believe that it is also necessary to move beyond this current-former logic. By the way, people accuse us, saying that if justice had been carried out against [ex-president] Robert Kocharyan and [Gagik] Tsarukyan until now, this situation would not have occurred. We also ask ourselves within the party: why is a new political force not emerging in parliament, one that is new in its nature and ideology? And should we do something new about that or not? If we do something new, we may, unintentionally, fall into the field of ‘clients,’ when there was the government, the opposition, and the ‘government’s client opposition.’ But we do not have such resources and are ideologically incompatible [with this],” Nikol Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan added that major opposition political forces have monopolized the political field, including through financial resources, and are leaving no room for the formation of other political forces.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the fate and whereabouts of people missing as a result of wars can be determined through cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, noting that both countries have missing persons.

Speaking at a press briefing, the Prime Minister said that from the 1990s to the present, Armenia has around 1,000 citizens whose whereabouts remain unknown as a result of wars.

“Azerbaijan has missing persons, and we have missing persons. This issue can be resolved through cooperation, by trying to determine the whereabouts and fate of missing persons. We have said that we are ready to cooperate. Another matter is that there are circles in Azerbaijan that use the issue for political purposes, that is, to generate hostile rhetoric and for other purposes,” Pashinyan said.