Author: Edgar Tavakalian

Pashinyan highlights supplementing CSTO collective forces with latest and new, including drone formations

Edgar Tavakalian

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 13:25,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The chairmanship of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) passes to Armenia, and on this occasion the Armenian side would like to propose its partners to focus on the joint consistent work aimed at dynamically developing the organization and raising the efficiency of its mechanisms, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his speech during the extended-format meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council in Dushanbe.

He emphasized the need for continuing the work on foreign policy coordination and deepening of mutual support.

“For this purpose we give a major importance to the regular holding of multi-level consultations, including in the format of a high-level group, which the deputy foreign and defense ministers are member of. We believe that the practice of adopting joint statements has justified itself, and it should expand”, the PM said. “The necessity for monitoring, forecast and prevention mechanisms of crisis situations is obvious. This will be formed in practice, including through ensuring the full operation of the Crisis Response Center”, he said.

Pashinyan said Armenia plans to closely cooperate with CSTO member states to raise the combat preparedness, harmony and mobility of the CSTO forces.

“There is no doubt that it is necessary to upgrade and develop the potential of the CSTO collective forces, supplement them with modern and new, including drone formations, arm them with latest means and improve their management”, he stated.

Armenia is also proposing to strengthen the CSTO reputation in the international arena, also through the expansion of the cooperation with other interested international organizations, the PM said.

“In this sense it’s important to maximally use and develop the existing joint working experience with the UN, OSCE and other organizations. We believe that while solving such issues we could have relied on the support of our parliamentarians”, Nikol Pashinyan said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Belarus to take part in Armenia Expo 2021

Edgar Tavakalian
Belarus – Sept 9 2021

MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) – Belarus will take part in Armenia Expo 2021 with a Made in Belarus exposition. The event in Yerevan will be running from 16 to 18 September, BelTA learned from the website of the Belinterexpo exhibition enterprise at the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Made in Belarus exposition will feature 11 Belarusian manufacturers that will exhibit the best latest products adapted to the preferences and needs of Armenian consumers.

The Belarusian food industry concern Belgospishcheprom will have the largest stand featuring well-known Belarusian brands: Slodych and Kommunarka confectionery factories, Slutsk Sugar Mill, and Minsk Kristall Group, Belarus' largest producer of alcoholic beverages in Belarus.

The Belarusian dairy industry will be represented by Slutsk Cheese-Making Plant and Kalinkovichi Dairy Plant. "Slutsk Cheese-Making Plant is the second largest dairy in Belarus. The company will showcase cheeses, milk powder and butter under the Yas Belous trademark. These types of Belarusian products are traditionally in demand in the Caucasus region. In 2020, they, along with cream and cottage cheese, prevailed in the Belarusian export to Armenia," Belinterexpo said.

The products of Kalinkovichi Dairy Plant are familiar to consumers in the CIS countries, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In Armenia, the company will present skimmed milk powder, whole powder, butter, dry whey, hard and semi-hard cheeses under the Kalinka trademark.

The Made in Belarus exposition will also feature manufacturers of farm machines. For example, Gomselmash is one of the world's leading producers of combine harvesters and other sophisticated agricultural machines. Two Palesse harvesters have been working on the fields of Armenia since last year.

Grodnooblselkhoztechnika, a major manufacturer of agricultural machinery in Belarus, will take part in the expo too. It incorporates 12 enterprises producing tillage, fodder harvesting, post-harvest handling equipment, and milking systems. Its products sell into Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia.

The exposition will also feature Gomel Electromechanical Plant. For more than 20 years, the company has been producing locomotives and rolling stock, and other complex systems.

"In 2021 Belarusian exporters took part in Expo Food & Drinks in Yerevan in May. Then the Belarus – Taste of Nature exposition brought together seven enterprises of the food industry," the exhibition company added.

The organizer of the Made in Belarus exposition is Belinterexpo at the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event will be held with the support of the Embassy of Belarus in Armenia.

Lieutenant-General Rustam Muradov positively assesses Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno Karabakh

Edgar Tavakalian

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 12:21,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Former commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno Karabakh, Lieutenant-General Rustam Muradov assesses positively the work of the Russian peacekeepers.

“I assess it only positively. The peaceful population gives us the assessment. Today the life in Karabakh is in normal course. There are, of course, very complex issues, but the process is underway – the people’s return, the solution of a number of problematic issues. Therefore, I think, everything will be normal”, he said, reports TASS.

Rustam Muradov added that after the recent Nagorno Karabakh war, the Russian peacekeepers have been deployed there for five years based on the statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020.

“A decision over the extension of the Russian peacekeeping mission will be made in the future”, he said.

Lieutenant-General Rustam Muradov’s mission in Nagorno Karabakh completed on September 6, 2021. Mikhail Kosobokov is the new commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Salaries and social payments to be increased by 20% on average in Artsakh

Edgar Tavakalian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 9 2021

Artsakh Republic president Arayik Harutyunyan convened on Thursday an enlarged working consultation dedicated to the identification of social sector issues, the development and implementation of programs to be carried out in their direction, as well as a number of issues in the fields of education and healthcare.

As the Information department at the President's Office reported, first of all, the new program of providing financial assistance to the displaced residents as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020, which is already being finalized, was discussed during the meeting.

As a result of comprehensive discussions, a decision was made to provide additional one-time financial assistance to a large part of the population of Artsakh with the help of the state budget of the Artsakh Republic, which will allow to mitigate the existing social and living difficulties in the post-war period.

The head of state noted that in addition to one-time financial assistance programs, it is necessary to develop and implement a toolkit that will allow to significantly contribute to the provision of social guarantees and raise the living standards of the people of Artsakh. In this regard, Arayik Harutyunyan first of all, instructed the officials of the relevant bodies to review the amounts of all salaries, pensions and other social payments paid from the state budget from January 1, 2022, increasing them by an average of 20 percent.

President Harutyunyan also inquired about the reforms in the healthcare system. He instructed to complete the free healthcare program in a short period of time, at the same time working to modernize the healthcare system and increase its efficiency.

Touching upon the education sphere, the President of the Artsakh Republic expressed his dissatisfaction with the implementation of the program of reimbursement of tuition fees for undergraduate students of the current system of Artsakh universities. Arayik Harutyunyan instructed to give a solution to the mentioned issue, as soon as possible, the source said. 

Iraq’s President highlights expansion of Armenian diplomatic presence in the country

Edgar Tavakalian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 7 2021


September 7, 2021, 11:51

 1 minute read

On September 6, on the occasion of the completion of the diplomatic mission, the Ambassador of the Republic Armenia to Iraq Hrachya Poladyan met with the President of Iraq Barham Saleh, the Embassy of Armenia in Iraq reports.

During the meeting, President Saleh thanked Ambassador Poladian for the effective work done within the framework of the development of bilateral relations, attaching importance to the expansion of diplomatic presence of Armenia in Iraq, the intensification of economic, cultural programs and initiatives.

During the meeting President Saleh conveyed his warm greetings and best wishes to the leadership of Armenia.

Ambassador Poladian thanked the President Saleh for the warm welcome and words of appreciation noting the active support of Iraqi authorities and President Saleh personally, in the implementation of various programs and initiatives of the Armenian Embassy in Iraq.

Armenian FM: There are no talks on delimitation and demarcation of borders

Edgar Tavakalian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 1 2021
23:49, 01.09.2021

There are no negotiations on the delimitation and demarcation of borders.

At the moment, t are underway, the outcome of which will once again demonstrate the degree of negotiability of official Baku, as well as the latter's readiness to abandon the policy of initiating an artificial agenda through a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told RIA Novosti.

"There are no talks on the delimitation and demarcation of borders. At the moment, negotiations are underway, the outcome of which will once again demonstrate the degree of negotiability of official Baku, as well as the latter's readiness to abandon the policy of initiating an artificial agenda through a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law. If Azerbaijan takes a constructive position and withdraws its troops from the sovereign territory of Armenia, that is, returns to the positions that were as of May 11 this year, then favorable conditions will be created for the start of the process of delimitation and demarcation," he noted.

"These negotiations are being conducted with the direct participation of the Russian side, and we look forward to the possibility of finding a solution to this issue in the course of such discussions, in which there will be no need to contact the structures you mentioned."

‘Capitulators’ will move to fabricate new cases against their opponents – Robert Hayrapetyan

Edgar Tavakalian
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 30 2021

Lawyer Robert Hayrapetyan says that a new article of the Criminal Code criminalizing grave insults comes into force on 30 August, stating that it runs counter to the Constitution and Armenia's international obligations.

“The first addressees of this change will be the media, and, to put it mildly, it is not clear how the media can possibly face imprisonment for any manifestation of freedom of _expression_,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

“The amendment also contradicts the case law of the ECHR and the European Convention on Human Rights, which not only prohibits criminalization, but also the provision of special protection to government officials, arguing that officials holding public office, on the contrary, should be less protected when it comes to defamation and insult than ordinary citizens.

“In Armenia, defamation and insult were decriminalized in 2010, when the government took into account the PACE call to the member states. In fact, defamation and insult were again criminalized at the proposal of the Prosecutor General's Office.

“From August 30, the capitulators will move to fabricate new cases against their opponents,” Hayrapetyan said.

Deputy governor of Armenia’s Syunik: Negotiations on reopening of Goris-Kapan motorway resumed

Edgar Tavakalian
News.am, Armenia
Aug 26 2021
16:22, 26.08.2021

Negotiations on reopening the Goris-Kapan motorway have resumed Thursday at around 3pm. Kamo Avanesyan, Deputy Governor of Syunik Province of Armenia, told about this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"There were negotiations in the morning, then they stopped, then they resumed in the afternoon. Trilateral [i.e., Armenian-Russian-Azerbaijani] negotiations are underway. We are waiting for a positive result so that the issue is resolved today, the road is [re]opened. It will be clear by 6pm," Avanesyan said, noting that the Azerbaijani side, however, first refused to meet with the Armenian side, but then agreed.

As reported earlier, the Azerbaijani soldiers have blocked a section of the Goris-Kapan motorway as of 11pm Wednesday, and they refuse to reopen it. About four dozen cars on this road section were evacuated at night. At the moment, the Kapan-Goris motorway is closed near Vorotan.

And the Office of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia reported that at around 12:20pm on Thursday, the Azerbaijani servicemen have closed off as well the road leading from Goris city to Vorotan village in Syunik Province.

Azerbaijani aggression is aimed at getting the so-called ‘corridor’ – Tigran Abrahamyan

Edgar Tavakalian
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 27 2021

Lawmaker from opposition "I have Honour" faction Tigran Abrahamyan commented on the recent actions of the Azerbaijani servicemen who had blocked the interstate road leading from Goris to Kapan in Armenia's Syunik province. 

"I have no doubt that the main aim of the Azerbaijani aggression is to get a 'corridor' from Armenia and not only in one direction. In fact, Azerbaijan is in tactical tricks but its strategic goal is to get a pivot in the most southern part of Armenia. Meghri and Agarak are the key in terms of security with a lot of work and a need to revisit our previous approaches," Abrahamyan wrote.