Monday, January 29, 2017 Sarkisian Vows To Implement Defense Plan For 2018-2024 . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian gives a speech at the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan, 27 January 2018. With just over two months to go before the end of his final term, President Serzh Sarkisian pledged at the weekend to personally help to implement a seven-year program of modernizing Armenia's armed forces. "We will continue to consistently enhance the combat readiness of our army," Sarkisian said in a speech delivered at the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan. "To that end, we have adopted a seven-year program of modernizing the army which we will put into practice in accordance with a timetable." "I personally will spare no effort to ensure that our army becomes more modern and stronger," he added during an official ceremony to mark the 26th anniversary of the official creation of the Armenian military. He did not specify in what capacity he will be doing that. Sarkisian's second and final five-year presidential term will end on April 9. It will be immediately followed by Armenia's transition to a parliamentary system of government. Most of the existing presidential powers, including that of army commander-in-chief, will be transferred to the next Armenian prime minister. Local observers believe that the outgoing president, who leads the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), will remain in power in one way or another. Many of them think that he will become prime minister. Sarkisian himself has not clarified his political plans yet. The seven-year plan cited by him was drawn up by the Armenian Defense Ministry earlier this month. It has not yet been formally endorsed by the head of state. Speaking to reporters at Yerablur, Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian declined to divulge any details of the unpublicized document."There is a different format for doing that," he said. "We will definitely address it." The Armenian president said in October that the plan in question will call, among other things, for sizable annual increases in defense spending. It is projected to rise by about 18 percent to 247 billion drams ($515 million) this year. Armenian Health Ministry Seeks Heavy Fines For Smoking . Anush Muradian Armenia - An anti-smoking campaigner talks to passersby in Yerevan, 31May2011. The Armenian Ministry of Health has drafted a bill that would introduce a blanket ban on smoking in cafes, restaurants and other public places and impose heavy fines on people violating it. The bill posted on a government website is part of the ministry's efforts to reduce the large number smokers in Armenia blamed by medics for the country's high incidence of lung cancer. According to ministry estimates, 55 percent of Armenian men are regular smokers. The smoking rate among women in the socially conservative society is much lower: 3 percent. It is considerably higher in Yerevan where around 10 percent of women aged between 30 and 40 are tobacco addicts. The Armenian authorities already took a set of anti-smoking measures over a decade ago. A special law that came into force in 2005 banned smoking in hospitals, cultural and educational institutions and public buses. Additional restrictions introduced a year later required other entities, including bars and restaurants, to allow smoking only in special secluded areas. But with no legal sanctions put in place against their violation, those measures have proved largely ineffectual. The new bill would extend the ban to cafes, bars, restaurants, government offices and even elevators. People caught smoking there would be fined 250,000 drams ($520), a figure exceeding the average monthly salary in the country. A repeat offense detected within three months would carry an even heavier fine: 500,000 drams. Smoking inside public buses or minibuses and even at bus stops would be punishable by 100,000 drams. The fine for smoking bus drivers would be set at only 50,000 drams. The bill, which the Ministry of Health has submitted to the Armenian cabinet for approval, also calls for some restrictions on sales of cigarettes and a ban on any form of tobacco advertising. Armenian TV and radio stations were banned from airing cigarette ads several years ago. People randomly interviewed by RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in Yerevan on Monday generally approved of the proposed anti-smoking measures, while objecting to the proposed amount of fines. "It's definitely about health and it's is very good," said one smoking man. "In my view, it's the right thing to do," agreed another male smoker. "But how are they going to enforce the fines? The figure is too high. But I think they would be right to fine people." "Let them fine smokers. The state will get richer," another Yerevan resident commented with sarcasm. A middle-aged minibus driver criticized the proposed penalty for fellow drivers smoking at the wheel."Fining is a wrong solution," he said. "In this nervous job, people smoke to calm their nerves." Armenian Ratification Of Key Deal With EU Imminent, Says Nalbandian . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, . Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian confirmed on Monday that the Armenian parliament will likely ratify by the end of March an extensive agreement on deepening Armenia's political and economic ties with the European Union. The chairman of the parliament's foreign relations committee, Armen Ashotian, predicted the impending ratification of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) when he spoke RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on January 10. "Armenia has stated that it is taking steps to ratify this document before April," Nalbandian told a news conference. "But we are looking further. We hope that it will also be ratified by other European countries." One EU member state, Estonia, has already ratified the CEPA. The 350-page agreement also needs to be endorsed by all other EU member states as well as the European Parliament. But some of its provisions can be implemented even before the ratification process is complete. Nalbandian emphasized this fact. "That may start on May 1 or June 1," he said of the CEPA's provisional implementation which is conditional on Armenian parliamentary ratification. The minister also described the deal as an "important milestone" in Armenia's relations with the EU. Under the CEPA, the Armenian government is to carry out political reforms aimed at democratizing the country's political system and boosting human rights protection. It must also gradually "approximate" Armenian economic laws and regulations to those of the EU. President Serzh Sarkisian set up on December 25 an ad hoc government commission tasked with ensuring Yerevan's compliance with the deal. Sarkisian's Preferred Successor Starts Talks With Armenian Parties . Ruzanna Stepanian . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia - Former Prime Minister Armen Sarkissian visits Echmiadzin, 18 October 2012. The outgoing President Serzh Sarkisian's preferred successor met lawmakers representing the ruling Republican Party (HHK) on Monday at the start of political consultations which he has said will help him decide whether to become Armenia's next president. The HHK's governing board unanimously accepted on January 19 Sarkisian's proposal to nominate Armen Sarkissian (no relation), Armenia's ambassador to Britain, for the post. The latter did not immediately accept the nomination. He said he needs to talk to major political parties, civic groups, prominent intellectuals and "business circles" before making a "final decision." Sarkissian, who had briefly served as Armenian prime minister, repeated that statement when he was approached by reporters after the meeting with members of the HHK's parliamentary faction. He refused to comment further. Sarkissian met with leaders of the HHK's junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, later in the evening. The HHK's parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) earlier in the day that he and his colleagues expect their potential presidential candidate to give a short speech before answering their questions. He made clear that the ruling party will continue to support his candidacy regardless of the course of the meeting. "Armen Sarkissian could get clearer ideas as a result of this meeting," said Baghdasarian. "This is why he will be meeting with political forces." Armenia - Armen Sarkissian meeting representatives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Yerevan, . The next Armenian president will be elected by the parliament, rather than popular vote, and unlike the previous heads of state, will have largely ceremonial powers. President Sarkisian expressed hope on January 19 that should he decide to accept the HHK nomination the former prime minister would try to win the backing of the three other political groups represented in the National Assembly. One of them, the opposition Yelk alliance, has already made clear that it would vote against Armen Sarkissian. Yelk's Edmon Marukian said on Monday that he and other leaders of the bloc have nonetheless accepted Sarkissian's proposal to meet. The meeting will take place next week, said Marukian. It is not clear when Sarkissian will meet with representatives of the Tsarukian Bloc, the second largest parliamentary force which also claims to be in opposition to the government. According to a senior Tsarukian Bloc member, Mikael Melkumian, no agreements to that effect have been reached yet. Sarkissian, 64, has lived in London for nearly three decades. A physicist and mathematician by education, he worked at the Cambridge University before being appointed as newly independent Armenia's first ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1991. He served as prime minister for four months in 1996-1997 before being again named ambassador in London in 1998. Sarkissian's second ambassadorial term was cut short in 1999 by then President Robert Kocharian. The ex-premier stayed in the UK and made a big fortune there in the following years. He was named ambassador for a third time in 2013. Press Review (Saturday, January 27) "Zhamanak" looks at possible reasons why a new plan to modernize Armenia's armed forces, which is due to be approved by President Serzh Sarkisian, will span a seven-year period. "Generally speaking, seven years is probably the length of time envisioned by Serzh Sarkisian for the continuation of his rule," writes the paper. "If there are elections in Armenia during which no vote bribes are handed out, the ruling party does not abuse its administrative resources, opposition forces are not pressurized, that will surely be a successful test of maturity for our country," writes "Haykakan Zhamanak." "Or if the scale of corruption in Armenia substantially falls, the pace emigration significantly decreases, the poverty rate falls noticeably, government officials stop engaging in business activities, economic competition rises sharply, courts administer even a bit of justice, impunity is eliminated and the quality of education improves. These are probably the other tests. Our independent state, which is nearly 30 years old, is still failing to pass those maturity tests for one simple reason: these are not regarded as important subjects by the Armenian authorities." "Hraparak" wonders if Armenians will take to the streets this spring to voice their grievances to the authorities. "Are people different and are their leaders solving totally different issues now?" asks the paper. "Zhoghovurd" claims that the Armenian government is "jubilant" about official statistics showing that economic growth in Armenia sharply accelerated last year. "The government is also buoyed by foreign trader indicators," says the paper. "The rise [in foreign trade in 2017] came in at 26.9 percent. Exports rose by 25.2 percent and imports by 27.8 percent." But, it says, Armenian exports are still dwarfed by imports. (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Author: Lara Antonian
It is a serious victory, when months before the concert, there was not even one ticket left in the ticket box – Sergey Smbatyan
They were just 18 and 19-years-old students of the Conservatory, when they came together and decided to create a youth orchestra.
After twelve years from their first concert, the orchestra received a state symphonic status. Today, the orchestra has successes not only in Armenian, but also abroad.
“I think people in Armenia love us,” says the conductor of the Armenian State Symphonic Orchestra, Sergey Smbatyan. “However, I consider a serious victory, when months before the Hamburg concert, there was not even one ticket left in the ticket box.”
The orchestra has huge plans for this year. On February 13-17, a festival dedicated to Krzysztof Penderecki will be also held, as well as they will perform in Germany and Malta.
Today is the orchestra’s birthday
Azerbaijani press: Protest mood ups in Armenia due to worsening socio-economic situation
6 January 2018 11:58 (UTC+04:00)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 6
Trend:
Protest moods are becoming more active in Armenia this year due to the deterioration of the socio-economic situation and a sharp rise in prices for essential products, believes Armen Martirosyan, the deputy chairman of the opposition Heritage party.
The year 2018 started in Armenia with the rise in price of gasoline, diesel fuel and gas at filling stations. The rise in price is linked with amendments to the Tax Code and increased excise taxes.
Chairman of the Union of Armenian Employers Gagik Makaryan, in turn, believes that the rise in price of gasoline and gas will affect all sectors of the Armenian economy. "The prices have increased more than expected. The rise in price of compressed gas may lead to an increase in transport prices, "Makaryan said.
The price of 'Regular' gasoline grew by about 5 percent compared to the end of 2017 and by 10 percent compared to the beginning of December 2017. At the beginning of December 2017, gasoline cost 390 drams ($0.80), at the end of December 2017 it cost 410 drams ($0.84), and starting from Jan. 1 it costs 430 drams ($0.89).
The price of diesel fuel grew 7 percent, having risen on the New Year’s eve from 410 drams ($0.84) to 440 drams ($0.91).
The price for gas at filling stations increased most of all. Before the New Year, it was sold at 180-200 drams ($0.37 – $0.41) per cubic meter, but starting from Jan. 1, the price grew 10 percent. About 90 percent of cars in Armenia, including city transport and taxis, use natural gas.
In addition, a gradual rise in price of more than 800 items of goods is expected in Armenia.
Senior Saudi royal on hunger strike over purge
News.am, Armenia
Jan 3 2018
Senior Saudi royal on hunger strike over purge Senior Saudi royal on hunger strike over purge
16:23, 03.01.2018
Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz, the father of Alwaleed bin Talal and first progressive reformer in the House of Saud, has gone on a hunger strike in protest at the purge being carried out by his nephew Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the detention of three of his own sons, Middle East Eye reported
The 86-year-old prince, who is the half brother of King Salman, stopped eating on 10 November, shortly after his first son, Alwaleed, was arrested on 4 November, and has lost 10 kilos in one month.
Last week, a feeding tube was inserted into him, but his condition at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh remains weak, according to several people who have visited him.
It was noted that the prince had made no public statement about his refusal to eat. When his half brother King Salman visited him in late November to express his condolences about the death of their sister, Madawi, the king was pictured kissing the hand of Talal, who was then in a wheelchair.
The visitor said that the prince did not raise the issue of the arrest of his three sons with the king on that occasion because Talal did not want to use his access to the king to press for the release of his sons, while others remained in prison.
As the "The return of Saudi Arabia's Red Prince" article noted, the family of Talal's mother Munayer were most likely Armenian Christians from eastern Anatolia. In 1915, the family had been forced to flee in terror before the vast anti-Armenian massacres of that year. Unlike the hundreds of thousands of Armenians who fled west to Athens or Beirut, Munayer, her father, mother, and two other siblings traveled southward, along old caravan routes, deep into the interior of Wahhabi Arabia. It was a strange choice for a Christian family. They may have been too terrified to reason carefully. Or perhaps they intended to head for Lebanon or even Persia – safe havens then for fleeing Armenians – and simply got lost.
Signing of new agreement with EU is a victory of healthy logic – President Sargsyan
Categories
Politics
World
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan says it’s not right to consider the signing of the new agreement with the European Union under the formulations of concession or mutual concession.
In an interview to ARMENIA TV, the President said Armenia has never considered the dialogue at eastern and western directions as a contradiction. “It’s not right to consider the signing of the new agreement with the EU under the formulations of concession, mutual concession. This is my belief. I think the healthy logic really won, and if any side signs an agreement this means that the sides reached at least the minimum they want in terms of that agreement. Thus, how we have reached the signing of the agreement, it’s just a negotiation process. We have never considered the dialogue at western and eastern directions as a contradiction. We were always convinced that it’s necessary to cooperate, hold dialogue both with the West, the East, although it’s difficult to call Russia as the East, concretely with Russia”, the President said.
He added that this is a good chance to brief on the history of talks because many people, who had different opinions before the signing of the agreement, just didn’t made effort to go back and start from the roots.
“If you remember, the EU announced the Eastern Partnership program in 2010 and starting from this period we were holding talks aimed at using the results of this program, as well as signing an agreement. And if you remember, during this period, maybe earlier, integration processes were taking place in the CIS space. If we were starting the first round of talks with the European Union, we honestly told our European partners that Russia is our ally, sincere friend of our people and our economy is first of all linked with the economies of Russia and the remaining CIS states. And we cannot hold talks on an agreement which can undermine our economic ties. Our European partners gladly listened to this, accepted it and we were negotiating for a long time. But there was a moment when the negotiator put conditions and stated that the provisions of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) contradict to the provisions of our agreement. In other words, we had to choose between the two, so-called, economic markets. We had to remind that in 2010 we have agreed in this way, and if you think that this is an obstacle, we cannot take a step which involves risks. If you remember, we made this transparently repeatedly stating that this Eastern Partnership program, the Association agreement do not contradict to participation in other integration processes”, the Armenian President said.
Commenting on the view that Europeans were stubborn at the beginning of talks, the Armenian President said they were stubborn not at the beginning, but during the talks before Armenia’s membership to the Eurasian Economic Union.
“I am saying the reason of the decision. When people say that I made a decision in a night, it’s just ridiculous for me since public speeches exist and there cannot be any other opinion”, the President clarified.
President Sargsyan reaffirmed that he informed the EU partners about joining the EAEU 4 months before it, but added that the talk is not only about that, but also about the public speeches.
“In any case the negotiations continued. They continued under new principles, and this mainly happened during the Riga summit in 2015. The Riga summit is a historical event in this sense and a decision was made there that there is a need to show a differentiated approaches to the Eastern Partnership countries since in all cases a common thing unites all of us, being as post-Soviet states, but Armenia significantly differs both from Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The negotiations continued already with this spirit, and I am happy that it became really possible to sign the agreement. As I said, I consider it a victory of healthy logic demonstrated by both our EU partners and us. Here the problem is something else: if we think about contradictions that one day there can be a contradiction, we are obliged to think someway, and we link our actions only by this, we will not achieve many things. Finally, the EU has a big market, the Customs Union has a huge market and our goal should be boosting the export and it is so. In other words, we need to produce and export more products, and now it depends on us how our economy will grow, how many products we can export, and these products can be equally exported to the EAEU and the EU markets just as it is now. 28% share of our exports goes to the EU market, a bit less to the EAEU market. Of course, there is a difference in terms of structure, but in any case the volume is such”, President Sargsyan said.
He emphasized that Armenia should always act by combining the interests, rather than to try to play on contradictions. According to him, those who try to play on contractions, always have a lot of problems.
ANCA-WR Endorses Tarkanian for U.S. Senate
Danny Tarkanian speaking at an ANCA Las Vegas Genocide commemoration
GLENDALE – The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region announced Friday its endorsement of Danny Tarkanian, Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Nevada. Tarkanian will be facing incumbent Senator Dean Heller in the 2018 primary.
“As the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, Danny Tarkanian is committed to the cause for justice not just for his own family, but for all Armenians. Having him in the United States Senate will surely empower our community, and we look forward to working closely with him to achieve our common goals,” said ANCA-WR Chairperson Nora Hovsepian.
“I am honored and grateful to receive ANCA-WR’s endorsement and look forward to working with them during my campaign and after elected as the first American Armenian US Senator on issues of importance to our country and the Armenian-American community. As someone whose grandparents lived through the Genocide, I will be a strong voice for improving the bilateral relations between Armenia and the United States, and I will work tirelessly alongside ANCA-WR towards the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States government,” said Tarkanian.
A prominent businessman and son of renowned college basketball coach, the late Jerry Tarkanian who was honored at the ANCA-WR Gala Banquet in 2013 as the “People’s Champion” and Las Vegas City Council member Lois Tarkanian, Danny has proven to be a passionate advocate of Armenian American issues. In the past, the ANCA has endorsed Tarkanian as he narrowly lost his bid for Congress in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District in 2016.
Tarkanian, a candidate familiar to the political arena, has worked consistently to galvanize the support of the people of Nevada. He’s widely known in the state as a strong candidate.
Danny Tarkanian with the ANCA-WR Board and staff members
“Danny Tarkanian and the Tarkanian Family have been great supporters of the Armenian community in Las Vegas. They have contributed not only with the proud legacy of Danny’s late father, Jerry Tarkanian, Las Vegas’ iconic and beloved UNLV basketball coach, but also with Lois’ dedication to our community including recounting of genocide stories she heard from Jerry’s surviving family at the Centennial Commemoration. Danny and his family are with the Armenian community every step of the way as major donors to the Armenian Genocide Monument in Clark County, a memorial plaque & tree at UNLV as a tribute to Armenian Genocide survivors and supporting every significant community event from Genocide commemoration, Independence Day celebrations & telethons in Las Vegas,” said ANCA Nevada co-chair Lenna Hovanessian.
Tarkanian is the founder of the non-profit Tarkanian Basketball Academy, an organization that helps at-risk youth develop basketball and life skills. He earned his bachelor’s degree at UNLV, and his law degree at the University of San Diego. He’s worked as a lawyer, served as assistant coach with his father in Division I basketball, and started his own real estate development firm. Danny and his wife, Amy, together have four children.
“Tarkanian, a Las Vegas native since age 12, has been a pillar and supporter of the Las Vegas-Armenian community. He and his dedicated wife, Amy Tarkanian, have always been present at our community events. Recently, in June 2015, Danny and his two daughters, Lois and Ava, visited Armenia for the first time and fell in love with Armenia’s nature and culture and reinvigorated their passion towards the Armenian-American community,” added ANCA Nevada co-chair Hera Armenian.
To learn more about his campaign or to volunteer, please visit dannytarkanian.com.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.
Saakashvili supporters free him from van
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, was arrested in Ukraine today as a result of the actions taken by the Prosecutor General’s Office. During the search in Saakashvili’s home, he threatened to jump off the roof of the building.
After being arrested, he was taken out of the building and seized a minibus. However, supporters of Saakashvili released him from a vehicle of Ukrainian special service by breaking the back door.
After being released, Saakashvili started to sing a national anthem of Ukraine with his supporters.
Chomsky Calls Turkish Trial against ‘Academics for Peace’ a Shocking Miscarriage of Justice
The Armenian Weekly
Dec 4 2017
TUCSON, Ariz. (A.W.)—Renowned linguistics professor and political activist Noam Chomsky has called the penal case against the signatories of the “Academics for Peace” petition is a “shocking miscarriage of justice, which friends of the Turkish people can only view with dismay.”
Chomsky (L) speaking to David Barsamian (R) at the 2014 Armenians and Progressive Politics conference, organized by the ARF Eastern U.S. (Photo: Aaron Spagnolo)
In January 2016, 1,128 concerned academics in Turkey (and 356 international scholars) signed a peace declaration called “We will not be a party to this crime.”
These academics, known as “Academics for Peace,” were then targeted by the Turkish government and the media, because they called upon the state authorities to end the curfews and stop the human right violations in heavily Kurdish-populated provinces of Turkey.
“The wording of the indictment, throughout, makes it clear that the case is an assault against fundamental rights of free _expression_ that should be zealously safeguarded,” Chomsky wrote in an open letter, dated Dec. 4.
Signatories were prosecuted and subjected to disciplinary investigations by their universities. This persecution inspired widespread solidarity campaigns around the world, which have collected over 2,000 signatures. Thousands of academics and academic organizations around the world condemned the prosecutions, including the National Academy of Sciences Human Rights Commission that published a statement signed by several Nobel Prize laureates.
“To take only one example, the signers are accused of calling on the government ‘to lift the curfew, punish those who are responsible for human rights violations, and compensate those citizens who have experienced material and psychological damage,’” Chomsky wrote. “These are entirely reasonable appeals, quite standard in free societies, and very natural and praiseworthy on the part of concerned citizens.”
In his letter, Chomsky added that there is nothing in the petition that supports terrorism “in the slightest way.” “The tortured attempt of the prosecution to distort a principled appeal for peace and justice into support for terrorism should not be tolerated in a society that values freedom and basic human rights,” the letter concluded.
Chomsky is Institute Professor (emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.
‘Risk to the whole of Europe’: Armenia’s antiquated nuclear power
Le Monde Diplomatique
Dec 1 2017
‘Risk to the whole of Europe’: Armenia’s antiquated nuclear power
A Soviet-era nuclear reactor supplies 40% of Armenia’s power needs. It’s ageing and in the middle of a seismically active zone just outside the capital Yerevan.
by Damien Lefauconnier
Armenia’s antiquated nuclear power
Cucumbers, anyone? Armenia has long been asked to shut down its Soviet-era Metsamor nuclear power station
AFP · Getty
The nuclear power station at Metsamor, near Aramvir, lies between Mt Aragats (4,095m), Armenia’s highest peak, and Mt Ararat (5,165m), Turkey’s highest, 50km to the south. A group of women were picking tomatoes near the gates. One said: ‘Our husbands all work at the plant. They say there’s no danger.’ Her friend said: ‘Of course, we are worried there will be another earthquake.’
Metsamor was built in the Soviet era, in a highly seismic area where the Arabian and Eurasian plates meet. The first VVER-440 reactor, with an output of 400MW, came online in 1976 and was followed in 1979 by a second unit with the same capacity. In 1988 an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale destroyed the town of Spitak, 70km to the north, killing 25,000 people and creating 500,000 refugees. The government suspended the operation of the two reactors as a precaution.
After independence, in 1991, Armenia faced a severe energy shortage, made worse by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the blockade Azerbaijan and Turkey have imposed ever since. In 1995 the government decided to restart the no 2 reactor, despite the concerns of neighbouring countries. A European Union envoy wrote in 2004 that the plant ‘continues to represent a considerable risk for the whole of Europe due to its age and its location in a highly seismic zone’ . The EU offered Armenia €100m in aid to close the site, but this was judged insufficient. Sharon Zarb of the EU’s External Action Service said: ‘It is still the Commission’s position that the reactor should be stopped as soon as possible, as it doesn’t conform to internationally recognised standards.’
Former deputy energy minister Areg Galstyan (now a ministerial
adviser) said: ‘To us, Metsamor is a matter of life and death. In the
early 1990s we had a severe energy crisis. We started overexploiting
the water of Lake Sevan, and cutting down trees on a massive scale.
Restarting the plant was vital for our economy and for the
environment.’According to government figures, the plant today supplies
40% of Armenia’s energy needs.
Like an open-air museum
Though Armenian NGOs regularly criticise the government over a lack of
information, I was given permission to see inside Metsamor. It feels
like an open-air museum of Soviet-era nuclear power generation. At the
entrance, employees are searched and made to walk through a metal
detector, and groups of soldiers patrol the facility. General director
Movses Vardanyan said: ‘The 1988 earthquake didn’t break even one
window,’ adding that ‘since 1995, we have made 1,400 safety
improvements.’ These include metal reinforcing plates fixed to
external walls, to increase seismic resistance, and impressive
cross-bracing on the upper floors, especially in the building that
houses the reactors and turbines.
There is a total ban on taking photographs of the lower part of the
hall. It’s easy to see why, from the dusty mess of pipes and machinery
belonging to the no 1 reactor, which has stood idle since 1989 and
hasn’t yet been dismantled. The operational no 2 reactor is an exact
copy of the first, but better maintained. The steam pipes have been
patched up with metal plates; 64 hydraulic shock absorbers, made in
Japan, have been installed under key parts of the plant. ‘In the event
of an earthquake, they will absorb the shockwave,’ said Vahram
Petrosyan, director of Armatom (Armenian Scientific Research Institute
for Nuclear Power Plant Operation), miming a surfer. ‘The plant is
able to function normally during [a peak ground] acceleration of
0.47g,’ According to a study by the Electric Power Research Institute
quoted by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the peak
ground acceleration in 1988 exceeded 0.5g and may have reached 1.0g.
The control room was filled with dials and diodes typical of the
1970s. The plant’s output, in red figures, fluctuated between 258 and
362MW. A computer display on the back wall showed the same values as
the displays scattered around the room. Vardanyan said: ‘This
computerised safety system allows us to stop the reactor from
outside.’ When asked why there was no confinement structure around the
reactor hall, he said it would be impossible to build one, as ‘the
foundations wouldn’t take the weight.’
Radioactive waste
Another sensitive issue is the management of radioactive waste, which
has been stored at the plant since 1976. ‘Experience shows fuel rods
can be stored for 50 years, so we’ll have problems in a few years’
time,’ Vardanyan said. I was not allowed to see the storage site.
Gérald Ouzounian, director of the international division of France’s
national agency for radioactive waste management Andra, has visited
Metsamor several times: ‘The casks are stored at the plant, but
ideally they should be kept in such a way as to avoid any future risk
of release of radioactivity into the environment. The situation at
Metsamor reflects the Soviet practice of leaving spent fuel rods on
site until power plants reached the end of their service life, and
then disposing of them at the same time as the waste produced when the
facilities were dismantled. Unfortunately, the ageing of the casks
makes this rather less easy than the designers originally
envisaged.’The Armenian government says it is looking at a scheme for
storing radioactive waste for 300 years.
The town of Metsamor, 2km south, was built to house the plant’s 1,700
workers and their families, and is mainly tall, dilapidated, apartment
blocks. The residents place their faith in the IAEA’s regular
inspections, reassured by the prestige of an international
institution. According to a woman who has worked at Metsamor since
1977 as a decontamination technician, ‘there has never been any
problem’. The IAEA sends a specialist team about every two years. Greg
Rzentkowski, director of the nuclear installation safety division,
said there had been ‘progress in the implementation of earthquake
protection measures and updating of a number of safety systems,’ but
when asked about the state of the reactor, Armenian working practices
and seismic risk, he regretted he couldn’t be more specific, because
of IAEA restrictions.
There are rumours of exposure to radiation. Naira Arakelyan, director
of the NGO Aramvir Development Centre, said that around 30 local
families were concerned about their children’s handicaps. We set up a
meeting, but some managers from the plant turned up and would not let
the others speak. I later met Tsovinar Harutyuanyan at her
apartment.‘A few years ago,’ she said, ‘we used to meet quite
regularly, but not any more. I remember there were two little blind
children, and others with different physical problems.’ Her son
Rostom, 20, is severely mentally handicapped. ‘His illness can’t be
genetic. There are no similar cases in my family or my husband’s. My
husband works at the plant as a machinery operator. Maybe there was an
accident in the danger zone?’
Vahagn Khachatryan, mayor of Yerevan 1992-6 and adviser to Armenia’s
president 1996-8, said that one of his friends, who worked at the
plant, had died of cancer a few days earlier. ‘I don’t know if it’s
possible to establish a link to the plant. But every time I drive past
in my car, I think how dangerous it is, mostly because the metal in
the reactor is ageing.’
Researchers sent by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
to help the Armenian government assess seismic risk in 2012 were
surprised at the safety advice given in Armenia’s national plan to
protect its population in a nuclear emergency: ‘According to this
plan, people should stay on the ground floor of their house or go into
the cellar for shelter, but in a major earthquake, it’s too dangerous
to stay indoors as aftershocks may cause buildings to collapse. In an
earthquake, the first priority is to secure an escape route.’
Was Russian report suppressed?
The proximity of tectonic faults is one of the main factors experts
consider when assessing seismic risk. Officially, the nearest fault is
more than 19km from the plant and for this reason the proximity factor
‘can be reasonably excluded.’ But Hakob Sanasaryan, former member of
the national assembly and now head of the NGO Greens’ Union of
Armenia, claims the government has suppressed the far more alarming
conclusions of a 1992 report by four members of the Russian Academy of
Sciences (RAS) for Armenia’s National Seismic Protection Service: ‘The
greatest danger to the plant is a tectonic fault in the immediate area
(0.5km away), at the intersection of the Aragats-Spitak and
South-Yerevan faults, where there is high seismic potential. Between
851 and 893AD, a series of devastating earthquakes measuring at least
IX on the Mercalli scale, 6.5 on the Richter scale, occurred in an
area less than 50km east of the plant, killing a very large number of
people.’ Tenth-century historian T‘ovma Acrcuni described an
earthquake in 893, which destroyed the city of Dvin, the former
capital of Armenia, 25km southeast of Metsamor (3).
To us, Metsamor is a matter of life and death. Restarting the plant
after the energy crisis of the early 1990s was vital for our economy
and for the environment Areg Galstyan
Since the 9th century, around 20 earthquakes measuring between 5.5 and
7.5 on the Richter scale are thought to have occurred within an 80km
radius of Metsamor, according to the Armenian National Atlas. The
atlas describes a magnitude 6 earthquake in 1830 near Metsamor itself.
Valentin Ivanovich Ulomov of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, a
co-author of the 1992 report, confirmed its conclusions but would not
discuss the team’s mission in greater detail. Evgeny Alexandrovich
Rogozhin of the RAS, another co-author, said he did not remember if
the team had investigated the seismic fault themselves. Artem
Petrosyan of the Armenian energy ministry, when asked for more
information on seismic risk, said the documents were ‘not accessible
to the public.’
The general hospital in Metsamor would lead the medical response in
the event of a radiation release. It claims to have iodine pills for
distribution to the local population. The upper floors of the hospital
building are dilapidated and mouldy, with big holes in the walls.
Samvel Aleksanyan, head of oncology, said: ‘When the Russians left,
the people in charge at the plant said they had no more money for the
hospital. The maternity department closed, and the radiation exposure
department. People with money go to Yerevan for treatment. The rest
come here.’
Despite the risks, Armenia is not ready to abandon nuclear power. In
2015 the government decided to keep the current plant running until
2026, allowing time to build a new one, financed by Russia, on the
same site. Galstyan said: ‘The new plant will have an output of
between 600 and 1,000MW, almost certainly 1,000. So we have about nine
years in which to choose the technology, its scale and its capacity.’
(1) See Philippe Descamps, ‘Dug in for the duration’, Le Monde
diplomatique, English edition, December 2012.
(2) See European Commission, ‘European Neighbourhood and Partnership
Instrument: Armenia, Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013’.
(3) Quoted in Emanuela Guidoboni and Jean-Paul Poirier, Quand la Terre
tremblait (When the Earth Shook), Odile Jacob, Paris, 2004.
Music: “Babi Yar” symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich premieres in Armenia
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 1 2017
Culture 19:57 01/12/2017 Armenia
The Armenian premiere of the Symphony No.13 “Babi Yar” by Dmitri Shostakovich took place within the framework of the 5th Khachaturian International Festival on November 30.
The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia, headed by conductor Sergey Smbatyan, presented the composition jointly with the soloist of the Hamburg State Opera Vladimir Baykov (bass) and Choir of Khachaturian International Festival (choirmaster Radik Melikyan), the orchestra’s press service reported.
Vladimir Baykov noted that previously he had only presented excerpts from this symphony. In Armenia, he performed the whole composition for the first time.
Notably, this was Baykov's second performance in Yerevan. He performed here for the first time 15 years ago, presenting Symphony No.14 by Dmitri Shostakovich with Araks Davtyan.
The Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia Sergey Smbatyan highlighted the content of the symphony. He expressed hope that they succeeded in conveying to the audience all the messages that Shostakovich and Yevtushenko summed up in the ideological content of their compositions.
Yerevan is hosting the 5th Khachaturian International Festival, which is held under the high patronage of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. It is implemented thanks to the joint efforts of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia (General Partner of the Orchestra – VivaCell-MTS), with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the “Khachaturian” Foundation and European Foundation for Support of Culture.