Author: Jane Topchian

 19:10, 4 February, 2022

YEREVAN, 4 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Chairman of the Council of Constitutional Reforms Karen Andreasyan wants balance of powers of the government branches, balancing the so-called system of "super-prime minister" within the framework of the reforms, ARMENPRESS reports Andreasyan told the reporters after the first sitting of the Council.

"Our current Constitution has not given any significant levers and capabilities to the President of the Republic. We see that we are often blamed that the Prime Minister has too much influence, the current constitution has given leverage to the Prime Minister. It is true that it will take some power away from us, but we are ready to discuss and balance the powers of the branches. And what happened in 2015 in connection with the creation of a real parliamentary state, unfortunately, the balance turned out to be violated. And that is what I think should be discussed and corrected first of all”, Andreasyan said.

According to the Minister, at the same time the powers of the government, the prime minister should not be just taken away and given to the president or the parliament.

He noted that there is a discussion to return to the presidential, semi-presidential system. He is personally against the change of the governing system, but he can not say for sure what the government's approach will be, as neither the government nor the party have a final decision. "And it is normal that there is no final decision, because we have not come to dictate to the people gathered here, we do not place orders on what to do. We came to listen to them, then to the professional commission," he said, not ruling out that he might change his opinion.

Referring to Armen Sarkissian’s resignation from the post of the President, Minister Andreasyan noted that if the reason for the President's resignation was the lack of certain powers, then he hurried. "Why do I say he hurried, because this Council and this process will solve those problems," Andreasyan said.

 19:37, 3 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. Ukraine and Turkey have signed an agreement to expand production of Turkish Bayraktar UAVs in Ukraine, ARMENPRESS reports, citing "RIA Novosti", the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"An agreement was signed today, which will significantly expand the production of "Bayraktar” UAVs in Ukraine. These are new technologies, these are new jobs, an increase in Ukraine's defense capabilities," Zelensky said after talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

 11:56, 2 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The tête-à-tête meeting of Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria Alexander Schallenberg was held in Yerevan today, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on social media.

The spokesperson added that the conversation of the two FMs will be followed by the meeting in enlarged format.

 14:42,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia addressed a congratulatory message on the Armenian Army Day.

“Today is the Armenian Army Day, in other words, the day of the protection, security, dignity and strengthening of our nation and homeland. Let’s pray for our army, let’s stand by our army. The strengthening of the Armenian Army is the strengthening of the homeland and our nation”, Catholicos Aram I said.

The Republic of Armenia and Armenians around the world celebrate the 30th anniversary of foundation of the Armenian Armed Forces on January 28.

 20:26,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received the newly elected Mayor of Gyumri Vardges Samsonyan and Deputy Mayors Artur Papikyan and David Arushanyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister greeted and congratulated them on their election as Gyumri Mayor and Deputy Mayors. "I am glad that our political forces decided to focus on solving the problems of Gyumri. We must say that the changes that have taken place in Gyumri in the recent years have started to be noticed, of course, needless to say, this is a very important issue for the Government. I hope that this model, which is currently being tested in Gyumri, will finally show its effectiveness, because it is important to show that of course, elections have their place, but after the elections we formulate a common agenda based on our pre-election programs, focus on the implementation of that agenda and implement it.  Of course, our compatriots in Gyumri, Shirak Province and the Republic of Armenia in general will benefit from it. You can count on the support of the Government and where the support of the Government will be needed, of course, we will make every effort to finally eliminate the traces of the catastrophic earthquake in Gyumri. Congratulations again and greetings.”

The newly elected Mayor of Gyumri thanked the Prime Minister for the reception and noted that they will do everything to solve the problems related to Gyumri as soon as possible. "We have numerous programs with the the EBRD related to subsidies, factories. We can appropriate appropriate lands, why not buildings, as a result of which new jobs will be created," Vardges Samsonyan said. The Mayor added that $ 6 million is envisaged for illumination within the framework of the EBRD program. During today's consultation, the possibility of directing these funds to the general improvement, asphalting and lighting of the 58th district of Gyumri was discussed. "There are also funds not related to subsidy programs, which we will try to direct again to street construction works. In the case of implementing the EBRD and subsidy programs, we will have better streets," said the Mayor. Deputy Mayor David Arushanyan, in turn, noted that work planning and automation reforms will start in Gyumri Municipality. "Today we had a meeting in Yerevan Municipality. Yerevan’s experience is very important for us," the Deputy Mayor said, adding that the cooperation with Yerevan’s partners successfully continues.

During the meeting, issues related to the programs envisaged in Gyumri for the near future in different spheres were discussed.

 15:17,

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender of the Artsakh Republic Gegham Stepanyan sent a letter to Google, urging not to give in to the Azerbaijani provocations, to ignore the baseless demands presented by Azerbaijan, to refrain from removing the Armenian toponyms and geographical names of Artsakh from the digital maps.

The Ombudsman particularly noted that these efforts of Azerbaijan are another manifestation of Azerbaijan's long-standing policy of depriving the people of Artsakh of their homeland and denying the Armenian identity of Artsakh. He reminded that the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh in the Fall of 2020, aimed at the seizure of the entire territory of Artsakh and destruction of its people, became the culmination of Azerbaijan's criminal policy.

In order to support its alleged rightfulness of claims over Artsakh, Azerbaijan has been deliberately erasing, destroying, and eradicating any traces of Armenians and Armenian culture and history from every centimeter of the territory under its control.

“The true motives behind the request of Azerbaijan to remove Armenian toponyms from maps can be easily defined: Nagorno Karabakh is not just a place name, but a totality of Armenian culture and history. The Armenian toponyms of Artsakh are memories of places, as well as living memories of the people who gave these names to such places. It is well-known that toponyms serve as symbols of regional culture and thus reflect the history, habitat, and environment of a place. Azerbaijan’s request to remove Armenian toponyms from the maps is nothing more than an attempt to create desired reality on the maps”, the Ombudsman said.

In the letter, the Ombudsman presented the regulations of international law, which enshrine the right of peoples to freely use and preserve their place names, to inherit from generations. He stressed that international law does not consider toponyms and geographical names to be the property of states, but considers them to be the intangible heritage of peoples.

Gegham Stepanyan noted that the removal of Armenian toponyms will only condone Azerbaijan’s gross violations of human rights of the people of Artsakh and support its efforts aimed at legitimization of the results of illegal use of force.

Appreciating Google’s human-centered approach to use the Armenian geographical names in its maps, the Ombudsman expressed confidence that the company will reject Azerbaijan’s continuing attempt to alter maps and engage in ethnic cleansing.

 14:39, 8 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. An Israeli national was killed in the violent protests that have shaken Kazakhstan, Israel's Foreign Ministry said, reports Reuters.

The 22-year-old was killed by gunfire in Almaty on Friday, the ministry said in a statement. He had been residing in Kazakhstan for the past few years.

On January 2, protests sparked in several cities of Kazakhstan. In several days, they escalated into mass riots and assaults at the bodies of authority in many cities. Thousands of people were injured, and there were casualties. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for assistance. CSTO peacekeepers have already commenced their mission in Kazakhstan. According to the authorities, the constitutional order in Kazakhstan was generally restored on January 7. The situation in Almaty remains the most complicated, reported by TASS.

 09:42, 3 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The ban on plastic bags (up to 50 microns) entered force January 1 in Armenia, a move initiated by the government to reduce harming the environment.

The Ministry of Environment is considering substituting the plastic bags in the market with biodegradable bags.

Eco bag_withme is also offering alternatives with its fabric bags.

Businesses who will continue using the plastic bags will face fines.