PM Pashinyan sees serious problem in education sector

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 12:06,

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS. The general education reforms have been among the priorities of the government since 2018, and it will always be a priority, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting today.

“We believe that today any issue we deal with in our life relates to education sector. Each gap, shortcoming we see, be it security, diplomacy or public administration, is connected with education field. And therefore, education is the matter of matters. In other words, there is education and then all other issues. Education is a lifelong process, that does not end in university and school, but the gaps formed in preliminary school education and general education may not be possible to fill later in life. We don’t talk about it, but the studies of 2019 show that illiteracy is creeping back into our society. It seemed this problem was solved in the first half of the past century, but now let’s face this problem. And this illiteracy is expressed in all spheres of our life. Let’s finally admit this”, he said.

According to him, there are multi-layered problems in education field, and the first of which for the government has been the remuneration of teachers and the competitiveness of the work of a teacher.

“We have recorded that there are teachers in our general education sector who receive a monthly salary of 30,000 drams. This is a serious systematic problem. And the maximum teachers receive a salary of 150-170 thousand drams. The increase in salary of teachers has always been on agenda for us”, the PM said.

Uruguayan President criticized racist gesture of Turkish Foreign Minister towards Armenian demonstrators

ARMINFO
Armenia –
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo. President of Urugua Luis Lacalle Pou rejected Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's racist gesture against a group of demonstrators from the Armenian  community after the opening of the embassy in Montevideo this  Saturday and noted that it should be "strongly criticized."

Thus, according to The La News, "The community is hurt and rightly  so"He said in the presence of journalists. "We spoke with Foreign  Minister Bustillo and tomorrow he will be convening the Turkish  ambassador in Uruguay. Unfortunate situation. The Armenian-Uruguayan  community knows that they have always had us all in the cause of  Uruguay, the coalition, the National Party in particular and whoever  speaks," he added.

At the same time, the President of Uruguay stressed, "advancing on  trade issues does not mean that the government shares "the domestic  or foreign policy" of countries like Turkey.

For his part, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo, speaking  at the event dedicated to the 107th anniversary of the Armenian  Genocide, condemned the gesture that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut  Cavusoglu made towards demonstrators from the Armenian community.

In his speech at the event held at the Armenian Square in  Montevideo, the Minister confirmed the recognition of the Armenian  Genocide by Uruguay. Bustillo said that his country is a country of  memory and principles that protects the peace, therefore all actions  that give rise to physical or moral violence and hatred are condemned  and rejected.

As ArmInfo previously reported, on April 23, Turkish Foreign Minister  Mevlut Cavusoglu, leaving the territory of the new Turkish embassy in  Montevideo, showed from the car window to the Armenians protesting  against his visit the gesture of the "gray wolves" – an extreme  right-wing terrorist paramilitary group banned in many countries.  Before that, Cavusoglu watched the protesters from the car with a  grin. In connection with this, the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry called  the Turkish ambassador for an explanation. 

An agreement reached over several important issues during meeting with Putin, says Pashinyan

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 14:20,

YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of his official visit to Russia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the State Duma and met with the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.

The latter welcomed the Prime Minister's official visit to Russia, underlined the fact of the continuous development of the Armenian-Russian allied relations. "I know that you had fruitful talks with the Russian President, based on the results of which an important joint statement was adopted," Volodin said, emphasizing that the visit of the Prime Minister of Armenia is a special event in the further expansion of bilateral relations. The Chairman of the State Duma also attached importance to the strengthening of inter-parliamentary ties, adding that there is a close dialogue in this direction. According to Mr. Volodin, the existing mutual trust between the two countries gives a good opportunity to further develop ties.

Prime Minister Pashinyan thanked for the warm reception, noting that such contacts give a new impetus to interstate relations and cooperation. The Prime Minister of Armenia also attached importance to the strengthening of inter-parliamentary cooperation and active dialogue. "We had a fruitful discussion with President Putin, we adopted a joint statement," Nikol Pashinyan said, adding that they reached an agreement on a number of important issues, including the security of Nagorno Karabakh, the unblocking of regional infrastructure, and delimitation and demarcation processes of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border.

During the meeting the interlocutors exchanged views on the activities of the Armenian-Russian interparliamentary commission, the holding of the sitting of the CSTO Interparliamentary Assembly in Yerevan, the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh and other issues.

Nicholas Kristof concerned about Azerbaijani aggression toward Artsakh villages

Panorama
Armenia –

American journalist and political commentator Nicholas Kristof has expressed concern over Azerbaijani aggression against Armenian villages in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

“Lots of concern about Azerbaijani aggression toward Armenian villages, including the "ethnic cleansing" of the area. The necessary focus on Ukraine shouldn't allow other countries to get away with such behavior,” he said in a tweet on Thursday, sharing a statement of Baroness Caroline Cox.

“I receive almost daily reports of Azerbaijani military offensives against Armenian villages. By megaphones and loudspeakers, villagers are ordered to leave their homes. Women and children are evacuated, including recently from Karmir Shuka and Khnushinak in Martuni and Khramort in Askeran, where Azerbaijani forces continue to accumulate military equipment and manpower,” Cox said.

EU special envoy calls Pashinyan’s speech ‘important and forward-looking’

Panorama
Armenia –

Toivo Klaar, the European Union's special representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, has praised Nikol Pashinyan's speech in the Armenian parliament on Wednesday as “important and forward-looking”.

“An important and forward-looking speech by Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan in the National Assembly today,” he said in a tweet.

“Many challenges remain on the road to a comprehensive settlement but it is important to move forward. Armenian has the EU’s support in the search for a just peace,” Klaar noted.

Idea that Karabakh has no future as part of Azerbaijan erroneous, MP states

ARMINFO
Armenia –
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo. Vigen Khachatryan of the dominant parliamentary faction Civil Contract considers erroneous the idea that Karabakh has no future as part of Azerbaijan.  

"Back in 1996, [Armenia's first president] Levon Ter-Petrosyan stated  that Karabakh had no future in Azerbaijan. Years later I can say that  idea was wrong," Mr Khachatryan stated in Parliament on Thursday.   

Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan was utterly sincere while speaking  of the details of the negotiations and risks of refusing to recognize  Turkey's ally Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. After all, Armenian  should realize if they want to be destroyed as heroes or live and  progress. 

Lena Nazaryan of the dominant faction stated meetings with the killed  servicemen's relatives show consensus on the peace agenda.

"I am joining this public consensus and supporting the prime  minister, foreign minister and government in their determination to  put this agenda into practice," Ms Nazaryan said. 

Speaking in Parliament on April 1, 2022, Armenia's premier stated:  "Some are saying now: 'Could you prevent the war? We could have  prevented the war and, as a result, would have had a similar  situation, without victims, of course." 

Armenian, Russian Economy Ministers discuss issues of restoration of volume of trade turnover between Armenia and Russia

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 18:39,

YEREVAN, 13 APRIL, ARMENRPRESS. In the framework of the visit to the Russian Federation, Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan and deputy minister Narek Teryan met with Minister of Industry and trade Denis Manturov of Russian Federation.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Economy of Armenia, the sides discussed the state of the trade cooperation between Armenia and Russia, as well as priority directions of common activities.

“In 2021 the mutual trade between Armenia and Russia increased by 12.7%, amounting to 2.5 billion dollars. The export of Russian industrial production on a yearly basis increased by 14%, and the import of Armenian goods also increased by 10%.

During the meeting Vahan Kerobyan gladly emphasized the fact of the significant increase of trade turnover and expressed concern with the noticeable decrease of indicators in March, offering to carry out work on urgently eliminating the reasons for the decrease and restore growth”, the message says.

The interlocutors referred to a number of common programmes in different fields. Denis Manturov highlighted the development of cooperation in mining, metallurgy, chemical industry and agricultural machine building.

At the end of the meeting Denis Manturov invited Vahan Kerobyan to participate in the upcoming “INNOPROM. Central Asia” international industry exhibition in Tashkent.

Zakharova informs about the continuation of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in online format

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 19:12,

YEREVAN, 13 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. Russia and Ukraine continue the negotiations in online format, ARMENPRESS informs, official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova announced during the briefing.

“The Russian-Ukrainian negotiations concerning the agreement on the resolution of the situation in Ukraine continues. These are held in online format.” she announced.

Zakharova expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian delegation “makes efforts not to reach agreements but to just delay the negotiations.”

Armenia, Russia agree to create joint portfolio of investment programs

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 13:43,

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan and his deputy Narek Teryan are in Russia since April 10 on a three-day visit. During the visit the Armenian delegation was hosted by Russia’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach, the Armenian ministry said in a news release.

Thanking for the welcome, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said Armenia is interested in deepening and expanding the cooperation with Russia in industry, trade and mutual investments, taking into account the targeted and successful work aimed at improving the bilateral business environment.

“Depending on the location and targeted direction, foreign investors could register a company and conduct an effective activity in Armenia in the fields of energy, light and heavy industry, pharmaceutics, telecommunication, jewelry or diamond production, logistics and transport, as well as IT”, the minister said.

The Russian deputy minister of economic development said the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in 2021 increased by almost 13% and has reached 2,6 billion dollars, whereas the mutual trade only in January 2022 has increased by 50% compared to the same period of the previous year.  

“These are high figures, and today, in new conditions, we continue the mutual cooperation for keeping our partnership rates. There is a big potential for that. We don’t want to stop on the existing achievements and are interested in searching for new joint projects and developing the investment potential”, Dmitry Volvach said.

He also said that there are more than 40 large Russian companies operating in Armenia. Russia has invested around 2 billion dollars in the real sector of Armenia’s economy.

For the development of commercial partnership, the Russian side made effective proposals for the development of transport, energy, social infrastructure, implementation of prospective investment programs in Armenia.

The inter-regional cooperation was also touched upon during the meeting. Today Armenia maintains relations with more than 70 regions of Russia. Moreover, it is planned to organize works to select inter-regional cooperation projects and assist their implementation.

The activities being implemented within the Eurasian Economic Union were also discussed. At the moment the focus is on the macro-economic situation and the sustainable development of the economies of the Union’s member states.

Armenpress: United States announces additional $100 million security assistance for Ukraine

United States announces additional $100 million security assistance for Ukraine

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 09:45, 6 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. The United States announced an additional 100 million dollars in assistance to Ukraine.

“I have authorized, pursuant to a delegation from the President earlier today, the immediate drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $100 million to meet Ukraine’s urgent need for additional anti-armor systems,” United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press release.

“This authorization is the sixth drawdown of arms, equipment, and supplies from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.  Combined with $300 million in assistance announced by the Department of Defense on April 1 under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, this additional drawdown brings the total U.S. security assistance commitment to Ukraine to more than $2.4 billion since the beginning of this Administration, and more than $1.7 billion* *since the beginning of Russia’s brutal assault against Ukraine began on February 24.”

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he ordered the launch of a “special military operation” in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no intention of occupying Ukrainian territories and that the goal of the operation is the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.

Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two rebel regions by force.