Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

YEREVAN, JULY 30, ARMENPRESS. Arthur Tovmasyan, head of the Fatherland (Hayrenik) faction of the Artsakh parliament, has said he is convinced that the investigation and judicial proceedings over former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will proceed in compliance with the Constitution and the spirit and letter of the legislation, and that everything will be revealed with time.

Speaking to ARTSAKHPRESS, the lawmaker mentioned that he was saddened to hear about Kocharyan’s arrest.

“I have worked with Robert Kocharyan when he served as President of Artsakh and I was the Speaker of Parliament. Our joint work was difficult, but productive,” Tovmasyan said.

Most of the Free Fatherland (Azat Hayrenik) party’s members said they are convinced that the judicial process will proceed within the legal arena, not political, noting that they trust the current justice system of Armenia.

“We believe that only this way it is possible to combat crime. And as far as Robert Kocharyan’s accusations are concerned, we cannot assess the credibility and fairness of it, it is the exclusive function of the court, however we expect that the entire process will process maximally transparent and professionally, in order for justice and wide public trust for the process not to be affected,” he said.

Former President Robert Kocharyan, currently under arrest, is charged with breaching constitutional order during the final days of his presidency in 2008, in what is known as March 1 – the deadly protests which claimed the lives of two police officers and eight demonstrators.

CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian general who served as deputy defense minister in 2008, is also charged with the same article.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preliminary conditions, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday.

YEREVAN, July 27. /TASS/. Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preliminary conditions, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday.

"It was Turkey that closed the border with Armenia. The border has always been open on our part. Turkey must take a decision to open the border. Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preliminary conditions," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera television channel.

He pledged that his country is committed to peaceful ways of settling regional problems. "We are ready to be constructive to see our region more safe, peaceful and prosperous," he stressed.

Armenia and Turkey have a common border but they don’t have diplomatic relations. In 2009 in Zurich, the two countries’ top diplomats signed protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations and on principles of relations but these documents have not been ratified by the sides. On March 1, 2018, Armenia said these protocols had been revoked.

YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. Katarína Mathernová, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, has announced in Yerevan that the purpose of her visit is requirement assessment and adjustment of assistance of the government.

“This visit is very convenient because your Prime Minister was in Brussels at the NATO summit and had many meetings there. This is a good chance to continue all the discussions and negotiations which took place there,” she said.

Speaking about the CEPA between Armenia and EU, the EU official said they will do their best to contribute to the full implementation of the agreement. “We are very happy over the orientation which the new government has mentioned among its priorities. We will do everything to support the government and the civil society in their activities,” Mathernová said.

She said they will hold seminars with Armenian officials tomorrow to present the mechanisms with which it will be possible to work more productively with the EU.

Speaking about EU funding, she said they have active agreements with Armenia which are currently under implementation or pending implementation. She said these are nearly 240,000,000 Euro worth of assistance deals.

Asked by a reporter whether this 240,000,000 was added after the revolution, Mathernová said: “This agreement existed before the velvet revolution, but this year’s allocations are a part of the “more for more” allocation. With this we are accepting the reforms initiated by the government. We don’t work solely with the principle to provide money only because a revolution has taken place. The purpose of my visit is to understand the needs of the government and to make adjustments in our assistance.”

Speaking about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement in Brussels that Armenia has greater expectations from the European Union, she said that during this visit they can have intensive discussions with the government to understand what assistance has been provided and what the government requires.

“I think there are certain things to be clarified and explained, perhaps there is a certain misunderstanding. Numbers can be confusing if you look at only one mechanism of assistance and not study the entire picture. This statement of the Prime Minister hinted us to revise these numbers and understand what we have provided in general, and we too were surprised that what was provided was a lot more than we ourselves thought,” Mathernova said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

The Head Coach of the team Avetik Vardanyan told Mediamax Sport that the last preparatory training will be held on July 23 at Olympavan and they will depart for competition on August 2.

The athletes to participate in the tournament are Arsen Harutyunyan (57kg), Vazgen Tevanyan (61kg), Gegham Galstyan (65kg), Arman Andriasyan(70kg), Hrayr Alikhanyan(74kg), Arman Avagyan (79kg), Mher Markosyan (86kg) and Hovhannes Maghakyan (120kg).

“The team has returned from Dagestan and will take a break for several days. We have great athletes and our expectations are high,” Vardanyan said.