16:41, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Russia has said that it shares Armenia’s priorities as President in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and is ready to support the country in implementing them.

Armenia holds the EEU presidency for 2024.

“Good luck to our Armenian colleagues,” Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at the EEU meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan. “We’ve closely studied the priorities for further development of integration proposed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. They mostly match with Russia’s position. We are ready to provide full support for their implementation,” TASS quoted Mishustin as saying.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan chaired the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Almaty on February 2.

 10:11, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Israel prepared Thursday to advance its war on Gaza farther south, close to the Egyptian border, after claiming to have dismantled Hamas in Khan Younis, as diplomatic efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire accelerated, Reuters reports.

Reuters cited Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as saying that success in the fight against the Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a major ground attack last week, meant its forces could advance to Rafah on the enclave's southern border.

More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are sheltering in this area, mainly cold and hungry in makeshift tents and public buildings.

"We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us," Gallant said in a statement.

At the same time, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoped for a positive response from Hamas, which runs Gaza, to the first concrete proposal for an extended halt to fighting, agreed with Israel and the U.S. at talks in Paris last week.

A Palestinian official close to the negotiations told Reuters the text envisages a first phase of 40 days, during which fighting would cease while Hamas freed remaining civilians among the more than 100 hostages it still holds. Further phases would see the handover of Israeli soldiers and bodies of dead hostages.

Health officials in the enclave said on Thursday the confirmed Palestinian death toll had risen above 27,000, with thousands more dead still lying under the rubble.

 10:51, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. A group of Yerevan City councillors representing the ruling Civil Contract faction have introduced a bill seeking to oust several councillors for what they describe as 'unexcused absences' from the body’s sittings.

The bill will be debated at an extraordinary session of City Council that will be convened by Mayor Tigran Avinyan on February 5. The bill seeks the ousting of former Mayor, head of the National Progress faction Hayk Marutyan and Mother Armenia faction councillors Narine Hayrapetyan, Sona Aghekyan, Gevorg Stepanyan and Zaruhi Postanjyan.

 11:57, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) have introduced a bipartisan resolution requesting a report on Azerbaijan’s human rights practices pursuant to Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reports.

The resolution requests information from the U.S. State Department on Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses both within the country, as well as during its sustained military assault against Nagorno-Karabakh  that last year resulted in the ethnic cleansing of its entire indigenous Armenian population. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Gary Peters (D-MI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Peter Welch (D-VT) have joined as original cosponsors.

“The need to hold Azerbaijan’s government accountable and forge a peaceful path forward is long overdue,” said Senator Markey. “Military action has never been the solution to peace and stability in Nagorno-Karabakh. This resolution puts pressure on Azerbaijan’s government to uphold human rights and stop committing crimes against ethnic Armenians in the region. We must protect the will, the rights, and the bedrock freedoms of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“Azerbaijan has already been bulldozing holy sites and starving Armenian communities. This is the type of country the Biden administration wants supplying LNG to Europe instead of Louisiana natural gas?” said Dr. Cassidy.

A House version of the 502B(c) request on Azerbaijan – H.Res.735 – was introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) during Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

“The Administration’s continuing support for the Aliyev regime, which regularly commits atrocities and human rights violations, simply isn’t in line with our values as Americans. Given Azerbaijan’s egregious military action against Artsakh on September 19, it is imperative that President Biden and Secretary Blinken reconsider our aid policies,” said Representative Schiff. “This resolution aims to gather information on human rights abuses and war crimes being committed by Azerbaijan and to halt future aid. As a country that champions human rights, we must ensure our foreign aid reflects our commitment to core values and does not contribute to further violence against the Armenian people in Artsakh. This resolution is a step towards aligning our international aid with the ethical standards and interests of the United States.”

The Markey-Cassidy resolution will require the Department of State to provide a detailed description of widely documented human rights abuses perpetrated by Azerbaijan, including unlawful or arbitrary killings, torture of detainees, the displacement of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, and the destruction of religious and cultural sites – in addition to violations of internationally recognized human rights including freedom of speech, assembly, political participation, and religious freedom.

The Markey-Cassidy 502B(c) resolution on Azerbaijan will build on ongoing efforts to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its human rights violations – including the recent unanimous passage of S.3000, led by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), which would prohibit the executive branch from exercising its waiver authority over existing restrictions on military assistance to Azerbaijan pursuant to Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.

Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act is a long-standing yet underutilized statute that prohibits U.S. security assistance to “any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violation of internationally recognized human rights.” If the Markey-Cassidy resolution passes, it will mark the first time that Congress has requested a report under Section 502B(c) since 1976.

Section 502B(c) is a potent tool to reassert long-overdue Congressional oversight and human rights standards on U.S. military assistance. As a privileged measure, Senators have the ability to discharge a 502B(c) report and force a vote on the Senate floor. Upon passage of the resolution, the State Department must provide a report within 30 days detailing a country’s human rights practices and the steps taken by the United States to prevent these abuses – or security assistance will automatically be suspended until such a statement is transmitted. Following the provision of the requested report by the State Department, Congress may then vote to terminate or restrict security assistance through a joint resolution of disapproval.

Over 25 civil society organizations have welcomed Senator Markey and Cassidy’s introduction of a 502B(c) request in Azerbaijan’s human rights practices, including: Amnesty International USA, Freedom House, Human Rights Foundation (HRF), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), National Council of Churches (NCC), the Arms Control Association (ACA), Friends Commitee on National Legislation (FCNL), Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), Center for International Policy (CIP), Peace Action, Common Defense, Action Corps, Foreign Policy for America (FP4A), Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), National Iranian American Council (NIAC) Action, Women for Weapons Trade Transparency, Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding & Policy, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), In Defense of Christians (IDC), American Friends of Kurdistan (AFK), and the Anglican Office for Government & International Affairs.

 13:33, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Police Chief Major General Aram Hovhannisyan has held meetings with Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle and CEPOL Executive Director Montserrat Marín López.

Hovhannisyan and De Bolle discussed the implementation of the provisions of the agreement signed between the Armenian police and Europol, as well as joining the SIENA system and other issues of mutual interest.

The police chief then discussed the internal affairs ministry academy’s needs with the CEPOL (European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training) chief. Montserrat Marín López expressed readiness to assist in resolving the issues.

Hovhannisyan then met with the Deputy Police Chief of Cyprus and discussed the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement between the police academies.

At another meeting, the Armenian police chief and Moldova’s Ştefan cel Mare Academy executives decided to revise the current agreement to establish new directions of cooperation.

 14:33, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The AI For Business conference has brought together leading IT specialists and experts in Yerevan to study modern artificial intelligence strategies.

Speakers at the forum include CEO and founder of Embodied, Inc. Paolo Pirjanian, McKinsey & Company partner Leonid Kirakosyan and ABBYY founder and Board Director David Yang.

“This conference is important for us because it matches with the main goal of our economic policy, which is the increase of productivity of work,” Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said at the event.

Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan said the forum will enable to identify the directions for introducing AI instruments in Armenia’s economy and the fields of digitization and science. Hayrapetyan said his ministry will assume leadership in promoting AI in the country. He said that the fears of AI must be broken in order for the country to become competitive.

Vice Speaker of Parliament Hakob Arshakyan said that AI will bring great changes in the world very soon and warned that countries failing to use all positive opportunities of AI could appear in deep crisis.

“I want us to treat this seriously,” Arshakyan said. He said that the country needs to create databases in order to be able to introduce AI and conduct various procedures such as paperwork circulation or research.

[see video]

 16:26, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reiterated his call for a common energy market within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Speaking at the EEU Intergovernmental Council meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Pashinyan said that a common energy market would give a number of advantages to all member states.

“Although the common gas, oil and petroleum markets are planned to be launched in 2025, it is obvious that at this moment the member states don’t have a clear common approach in terms of the prospects of building and developing a common energy market,” Pashinyan said.

He said that a common energy market would be conducive to economic development, improvement of the welfare of peoples and strengthening of energy security in all EEU countries.  “Taking this into account, we believe that our dialogue must be aimed at seeking compromise agreements.”

 19:10, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Davit Balayan has been elected as a candidate for the judge of the Constitutional Court by the General Assembly of Judges, Supreme Judicial Council spokesperson Lilit Shaboyan said on social media.

 19:59, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Türkiye has been announced, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, the Anadolu news agency reports.

He said that Putin will discuss the situation in Ukraine with his Turkish counterpart.

The leaders will also discuss bilateral issues and the regional situation.

 20:47, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, was solemnly celebrated at the Chinese Embassy in Armenia. China's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia, Fan Yong, addressed the audience, extending his best wishes to all the Chinese individuals working, studying, and living in Armenia, including teachers, students, employees of enterprises financed by China and their families.

"During the past year, thanks to the involvement and joint efforts of both sides, bilateral relations between China and Armenia have developed in a new way. Governments, academic institutions, enterprises, as well as cultural and art  figures of the two countries, have continuously engaged in close exchanges and visits. The cooperation in various fields has flourished. China remains Armenia's primary trade partner, main export market, and source of imports. January-November 2023.The volume of trade between China and Armenia reached 1.93 billion US dollars, increasing by 23.1% per year," Fan Yong said.

The Ambassador highlighted the projects implemented by China in Armenia, which play an important role in improving the quality and modernization of Armenia's infrastructure.

"Chinese language learning is on the rise in Armenia, and interest in the Chinese language and culture continues growing," said the Ambassador.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the People's Republic of China Sergey Manasaryan noted: “The year 2023 essentially marked the first year of the post-COVID period, with intense contacts at all levels being recorded, and somewhat frozen programs were resumed. The preceding year was also significant for trade and economic relations, as the regular session of the intergovernmental economic commission was convened. If the current pace of cooperation is maintained, this year we  will exceed the threshold of two billion dollars in turnover. The political dialogue in the format of international organizations has also seen positive development, brilliantly demonstrating the high level of stable, friendly relations," said Manasaryan.