Author: Kanayan Tamar

Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian MPs congratulate president-elect of Artsakh

 19:20, 27 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. The Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian Parliamentarians congratulates the newly elected members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, and President-elect of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan.

''The first round of the presidential elections took place on 31 March 2020 during which none of the 14 candidates achieved more than 50% of the votes. On 14 April 2020 the second round was held, here Mr Arayik Harutyunyan, the former Prime Minister, was elected the next President of the Artsakh Republic. If all goes as planned, he will be assuming office on 21 May 2020. On 31 March 2020 Artsakh also held legislative elections. Five different political parties gained seats in the National Assembly, which is a positive result in terms of political plurality in a small country such as Artsakh.

The Friendship Group welcomes the commitment of the people of Artsakh to organize their society in a democratic way despite the imposed political isolation. The people of Artsakh have confirmed their commitment to democracy, a choice they already made since the first years of the country’s independence.

We want to emphasize the crucial necessity of the participation of the elected Artsakh representatives in the negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Unfortunately, the independent international election observation mission planned by the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) as well as many other observation missions had to be cancelled due to the global health crisis caused by the COVID19 pandemic and the general lockdowns.

The Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian Parliamentarians has always held very good contacts with President Bako Sahakyan and members of the previous National Assembly, and stresses its willingness to maintain this cooperation on the same level with the newly elected representatives of the Republic of Artsakh. 22 April 2020 Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian Parliamentarians'', reads the statement.

 21:01, 24 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. The names of the candidates of ‘’Aurora-2020’’ are known. ARMENPRESS reports their names were announced during an online discussion organized by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative on the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

There are 4 candidates of ‘’Aurora-2020’’. Chairman of the Selection Committee Ara Darzi presented their names. He noted that they received most applications this year and though it was hard to make a choice, they chose 4 candidates.

Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman from Somalia, who fought for peace in their country,

Angelique Namaika from Congo, who organized assistance to refugees,

Sophie Beau and Klaus Vogel, who helped 30 thousand refugees in the Mediterranean,

Sakina Yaqubi from Afghanistan, who helped 16 million Afghans and Pakistanis, mostly women, get an education.

The fourth annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mirza Dinnayi, Co-Founder and Director of Luftbrücke Irak (Air Bridge Iraq) in 2019. Driven by his passion to save lives, the Yazidi activist has found a way to overcome numerous bureaucratic and logistic obstacles to help the most vulnerable members of the Yazidi community during numerous conflicts in Syria and Iraq. He was named the 2019 Aurora Laureate at the Ceremony in Yerevan that was held during the Aurora Forum. The Aurora Prize is granted by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors.

Tom Catena, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Chair and 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate, praised the 2019 Aurora Prize Laureate Mirza Dinnayi by saying: “What makes Mirza Dinnayi an outstanding human being is the fact he couldn’t live in good conscience knowing that good people are left behind, that the innocent are suffering. Trying to help others while facing an unspeakable evil can be challenging and frustrating, but he never wavered. I am delighted to congratulate Mirza Dinnayi with being awarded with the Prize and welcome him to the Aurora family.”

As the 2019 Aurora Prize Laureate, Mirza Dinnayi will receive a $1,000,000 grant, through which he is given the opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by supporting organizations that have inspired his work. He has chosen to donate the funds to three organizations that provide medical care and rehabilitation to victims of ISIS terror:

• Air Bridge Iraq;
• SEED Foundation;
• Shai Fund.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

 16:27,

YEREVAN, APRIL 21, ARMENPRESS. The Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan will be closed for all visitors on April 24th, the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Eduard Aghajanyan – the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office – said at a news conference.

He said the entrance to the memorial will be sealed from today due to organizational and security issues.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:13,

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation today during which the draft strategy of Police reforms were discussed, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

The PM was thoroughly introduced on the actions expected to be taken in 2020-2022 on the sidelines of the reforms. The reforms will mainly focus on creating a Ministry of Interior and a patrol service. According to the strategy the following priority directions of the reforms are proposed: structural changes in the Police system and clarification of functions, creation of a patrol service and an operative management center, raising the efficiency of preliminary investigation, maintenance of public order, revision of community police, attractiveness of service in the Police, preparation of personnel and professional development, improvement of human rights, transparency and public accountability.

PM Pashinyan highlighted the implementation of reforms in the Police system and the formation of a new image of a police officer. “The service in the Police should become attractive and the system must be provided with cadres with high professionalism”, he said, highlighting the necessity of ensuring social guarantees.

Touching upon the road traffic control Pashinyan said the policy should be not fining the citizens, but taking measures to prevent violation of rules. “Our this project is very important, and I do not see any obstacle for it to be implemented within the set timetable”, the PM said and gave concrete instructions to the responsible officials for implementing the strategy.

According to the strategy the patrol service will start operating in the first quarter of 2021.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 07-04-20

 17:24, 7 April, 2020

YEREVAN, 7 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 7 April, USD exchange rate down by 2.18 drams to 499.37 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.68 drams to 543.06 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.04 drams to 6.62 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.84 drams to 614.92 drams.

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

Gold price stood at 26011.57 drams. Silver price stood at 232.04 drams. Platinum price stood at 11513.4 drams.

 01:37, 31 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. Filipino-born Australian chess player Arianne Caoili has died at the age of 33 in Yerevan, Armenia, two weeks after being seriously injured in a car crash.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately available.

Caoili’s husband, the Armenian chess grandmaster Levon Aronian, tweeted: “I have no words to express the grievance over my wife Arianne's death. She was intelligent , hard working and joyous person that lived a beautiful life…
I love you honeybun, sleep tight”.

Many renowned chess players from all over the world, namely Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri, expressed condolences to Aronian.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Panorama, Armenia

April 2 2020

 16:42, 2 April, 2020

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan visited today the village of Talish to lay a wreath at the memorial on the occasion of the 4^th anniversary of the April War, the President’s Office told Armenpress.

On the same day President Sahakyan convened a consultation with the highest commanding staff of the Defense Army led by Defense Minister Jalal Harutyunyan.

During the consultation issues relating to the army-building and raising the combat preparedness level of the Defense Army were discussed.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan