Author: Arsine Chaltikian

 10:27,

YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian parliament has adopted the government-authored bill on criminalizing “public calls for violence” and “publicly advocating violence”.

The bill passed the second reading with 97 in favor and 14 against.

Public calls for violence, or advocating and justifying violence against a person or a group of persons based on their gender, race, ethnic or social background, genetic characteristics, language, religion, way of thinking, political or other views, affiliation to a national minority, age, personal, social or any other circumstances will constitute a crime punishable by up to 1 year behind bars.  Such acts should contain clear and present danger to constitute the crime.

Reporting, writing by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:40,

YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. The European Union will provide 92 million Euros in aid to Armenia to fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and overcome the economic crisis, deputy minister of economy Varos Simonyan said during a press conference today.

“At this moment 92 million Euros in aid will be provided by the EU to Armenia. The sums will be directed for a number of areas, in particular, to the healthcare system, people and citizens most affected from the crises, as well as to small and medium entrepreneurs. Within what tools this assistance will be provided is still under discussion”, the deputy minister said.

He informed that the amount of assistance is still under discussion and it may increase. “This assistance will be provided to all countries which need it. The assistance tool is called Team Europe, and within this framework nearly 20 billion Euros in aid has already been approved”, he said.

Reported by Karen Khachatryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

With the April 24, the national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide approaching, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute urged all Armenians and friends of Armenia around the world to pay tribute to the innocent victims of the tragedy on Facebook.

The public post on the museum-institute’s Facebook page reads:

"The citizens of the Republic of Armenia and Armenians all over the world will commemorate the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Along with Armenians, friends of the Armenian people from all corners of the world will also commemorate the anniversary. For a long time, the Armenian Genocide has moved beyond the boundaries of ethnic memory, not being views as a crime committed against Armenians and a purely Armenian tragedy any longer. It is a universal tragedy, one of the greatest crimes committed against the humanity. A crime, the international recognition and condemnation of which, as well as the elimination of repercussions, are part of the struggle for justice.

Regardless of the epidemiological situation in the country on April 24, regardless of whether the restrictions on the movements of people will be in force on the day due to health and safety concerns, we call for remembering and paying homage to the Armenian Genocide victims, survivors and resistors using the opportunities provided by the Internet.

To this end, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute calls to citizens of Armenia, all our compatriots and friends of the Armenian people to replace their Facebook profile pictures on April 24 with photos of their relatives who fell victim to or survived the Genocide in a frame designed for the purpose. In the absence of photos, write their names and surnames and their brief stories. In case you have no Genocide victim or survivor relative, upload photos of Western Armenian intellectuals who were victims of the Genocide, public and political figures, freedom fighters, private soldiers and commanders. Place photos of the treasures of Western Armenia’s cultural heritage, share images of Western Armenian available to you, adding the simple hashtag #IRemember in Eastern or Western Armenian.

One century has passed since the crime against humanity and civilization in 1915-1923, but its consequences are still there. Armenian people remember their grandparents who fell victim to the Genocide, the dozens of heroes of self-defense battles, the resistors who stood for the right to life, the survivors, who formed the basis not only for the Armenian Diaspora, but also for almost half of today's population of Armenia. They remember the churches and monasteries created over millennia, but now left homeless and ruined, towns and villages, districts and houses, trees and their grandmothers’ stories on fruit flavors, dances, songs and the sweetness of the dialect being forgotten. They remember the prominent representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia: writers, doctors, journalists, art workers, architects, artists, multi-skilled craftsmen, merchants and farmers. They remember those who saved orphans and missionaries, great humanists and benefactors. They remember them with pride and tender emotion.

A century has passed since the Genocide. It's a long time. Times have changed. Currently, the young Republic of Armenia is thirty years old. The time has come to revalue and redefine some realities. During the harsh years of the Genocide, the Armenian people fought not only with weapons but also with spirit. Thousands upon thousands did not betray their religion and language, relatives and friends. Even if they were forced to change their lifestyle, they returned to their roots at the earliest opportunity. Thousands of people simply did not have the opportunity to do so, but the spirit and memory of Armenianness lived in them throughout their lives. People fought and become heroes not only on the battlefield, but also in the daily struggle for survival. Parents saved their children, the little saved the old, neighbors saved each other, strangers saved each other. They shared a piece of bread in a desert or in an orphanage. There have been exceptional examples of family solidarity and mutual assistance, reaching out each other in difficult moments during the Genocide, worth writing novels and poems about.

Therefore, we must continue to properly value the manifestations of moral and dignified behavior, and remember with respect and pride both the victims, resistors and survivors of the Armenian Genocide.”

 17:27,

YEREVAN, 10 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 10 April, USD exchange rate down by 1.92 drams to 491.18 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.01 drams to 537.60 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 6.67 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.12 drams to 612.85 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 417.04 drams to 26540.49 drams. Silver price up by 0.81 drams to 239.64 drams. Platinum price down by 140.50 drams to 11606.97 drams.

 18:50, 7 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS.  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan chaired a regular meeting on April 7, which discussed solutions to those socio-economic problems arising from the coronavirus crisis.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Premier was briefed on the process of implementing 9 programs meant to deal with the economic impact of COVID-19. Information was provided on the amount of economic and social assistance provided so far and on the process of developing procedures for specific social activities.

Daily monitoring is ensured by the government departments concerned, which report back the findings to the Prime Minister. Nikol Pashinyan instructed to complete work on approving the implementation order of social activities, so that beneficiaries could be assisted as soon as possible.

The meeting went on to discuss the proposals developed by the Armenian State Interest Fund (ASIF) in a bid to support the ongoing investment programs. During the exchange of views that followed, the speakers came up with new ideas and recommendations concerning the mechanisms and standards of implementation of target programs based on the public-private sector partnership principle, as well as on risk management toolkits.

The Prime Minister tasked officials in charge to develop investment support scenarios with accurate definition of spheres, standards and restrictions.

Deputy PM hopes Armenia will return to normal life from mid-April-early May

 18:28, 31 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. The current stage of the fight against the spread of coronavirus is the period of the strictest limitations, which will last until April 14, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, State of Emergency Commandant Tigran Avinyan said at a press conference, presenting the strategy of the Commandant's Office.

He noted that during this period all possible restrictions on free movement, economic activities will be imposed. ''We will force entrepreneurs to respect safety and sanitary epidemiological regulations, we will add control mechanisms and will apply various penalties and fines'', Avinyan said.

According to him, the next stage is planned after April 14. Avinyan hoped that during that period they will be able to develop tools that will allow to take effective preventive measures.

''Those tools already exist and we are waiting for the bill to be adopted, so as to be able to effectively detect the circle of people who possibly have interacted with the infected people and make sure that the rules of self-insulation are strictly respected'', the Deputy PM said.

State of Emergency Commandant Tigran Avinyan hoped that Armenia will return to normal life after mid-April-early May, if they are able to perfectly implement all the preventive measures.

The total cumulative number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Armenia is 532. With 31 recoveries and 3 fatalities, 498 are active cases.

On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, at 17:00.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 12:02, 2 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. Amid the growing number of coronavirus cases in the country, Armenian healthcare authorities are designating more hospitals for treating only COVID-19 patients.

Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said at the Cabinet meeting that besides the Nork Infectious Diseases Hospital of Yerevan, six other medical facilities have been designated to receive coronavirus patients only. The medical facilites are – the Orthopedics Insitute, the Police Hospital, the maternity ward of the Holy Mother of God Medical Center, the Medical Center of Artashat, the Vanadzor Infectious Diseases Hospital and a separate building of the Kapan Medical Center.

In addition, he said that given the growing numbers of infections they have decided to designate Armenia’s largest hospital – the St. Gregory the Ilumniator Medical Center of Yerevan – as a coronavirus-only hospital. Torosyan said other patients will be transported to other medical facilities.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 21:07, 2 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. The official visit of PM Pashinyan to the Netherlands on April 13-15 has been postponed, PM’s spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan said, commenting on the issue of the visit and the Cabinet decision of April 2. According to the decision, 6 million AMD will be allocated from the reserve fund for the creation and transportation of the khachkar (cross-stone) of Atom Verakatsu in the Netherlands.

''The sum is for paying for the already done works of preparing the duplicate of Atom Verakatsu's khachkar. The khachkar was planned to be erected in the garden of Hague's Peace Palace during the PM's visit. We hope that in the near future the coronavirus-caused crisis will be finished and the kachkar will be raised in the sidelines of the PM's official visit to the Netherlands'', she said.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan