On 11 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan together with first lady Anahit Sahakyan met in the Stepanakert airport Premier Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia and his wife Anna Hakobyan who arrived in Artsakh with a working visit.
YEREVAN, March 1. /ARKA/. The Armenian government decided Thursday at its regular meeting not to take the AMD 615.2 million ($1.3 million) it has received from the High-Voltage Electric Networks CJSC as dividends.
The thing is that the government intends to increase the company’s authorized capital by increasing the nominal cost of the shares.
These dividends were to be paid from the profits received from the construction of the 3rd 400-kV Iran-Armenia electric line. –0—
Artsakh denies suffering UAV loss
09:42,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh is denying reports on Azerbaijan downing one of its UAVs in the Aghdam section, labeling it disinformation.
“The February 21 statement of the Azerbaijani defense ministry claiming to have downed an Armenian unmanned aerial vehicle in the Aghdam section is false. The Defense Army has not had any UAV loss. Regarding the photos published in Azerbaijani media, these are obviously old pictures. It is also noteworthy that Baku’s disinformation somehow “coincided” with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ regional visit,” the Artsakh Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The ministry added that “as always, the Armed Forces of Artsakh have all means to safely and efficiently employ all types of UAVs under its disposal”.
“We assure, in the event of necessity we will use [the UAVs] rather purposefully in the future, just like we have used them until now”.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Parliament Speaker links success of government’s Action Plan with citizens’ trust and participation
13:43, 14 February, 2019
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government’s Action Plan will be implemented if the government succeeds in awakening the citizens’ belief, consciousness and participation, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan said during the debate of the Action Plan, reports Armenpress.
“The Prime Minister is right when he says that we can stop on the development path, and this Action Plan will be implemented only when the government succeeds in awakening the citizens’ trust, consciousness and participation. And the victory of the citizens will be ensured in this case. This is the only and most serious challenge of the government. The government’s success on ensuring this will lead to the success of the Action Plan, construction of these reservoirs and increase of pensions. In case of failure, the Action Plan will not be implemented”, the Speaker noted.
He commented on the views according to which there are no concrete numbers and timeframes in the Action Plan. “The Action Plan says that the government is going to construct reservoirs. Our colleagues ask for mentioning concrete numbers, timetables and the quantity of reservoirs to be built. Yes, there are no answers to these questions in the government’s Action Plan, but these reservoirs will be constructed”, he said.
The Armenian Parliament continues debating the government’s Action Plan.
The debate launched on February 12 during which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced the Action Plan which was followed by a Q&A session.
According to the Constitution of Armenia, the Parliament approves the government’s Action Plan within seven days by the majority of votes of the total number of MPs.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to Die Zeit weekly newspaper of Germany, and reflected on the velvet revolution that took place in Armenia last year.
The PM stressed that what had occurred in the country was unique, News.am reports.
“From the very beginning of our movement, its most important symbol was our hands raised up; it was describing our objectives,” Pashinyan said. “Even if the [then] government were to use force [against us], we were not going to respond by force.”
The PM ruled out that violence can be justified under any circumstance.
“We want to rule out violence in Armenia,” Pashinyan added, in particular.
When asked whether a leader is needed to succeed, the Armenian premier responded that his greatest contribution to this revolution was that he had declared that he was not a leader.
“From that moment on, our movement decentralized and began to grow,” Pashinyan stressed. “The real leaders of our revolution were our citizens.”
And when asked why there should be positive changes in Armenia, in the case when after the “color revolutions” in Eastern Europe, the situation was not so good in those countries, Nikol Pashinyan responded that what had occurred in Armenia was not a “color revolution.”
He stressed that no foreign force was associated with them.
“It was a pure internal process, rather than a political game,” the PM added. “Solely Armenia’s citizens, who want a better future, were involved in our revolution.”
A portrait of San Jose State President Mary Papazian, painted by MFA candidate Daniel Cruit, is part of an exhibition on display at the King Library through March 22, 2019. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose State student Daniel Cruit presents SJSU President Mary<br />Papazian with a study of the portrait he painted of her. The painting<br />is part of an exhibition on SJSU presidential portraits on display at<br />the King Library through March 22, 2019. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News<br />Group)
Armenia to expand mutual partnership with partner countries of Middle East
15:51, 6 February, 2019
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government will take active steps to develop the unique and friendly relations with Iran and Georgia that will be free of other geopolitical impacts as much as possible, the government said in its draft Action Plan released today, reports Armenpress.
According to the draft, the government will actively work to expand multisectoral broad cooperation with China, develop and deepen the friendly and mutually beneficial partnership with India and Japan.
Armenia plans to expand the mutual partnership with the partner countries of the Middle East, develop the cooperation with the American, Asian, African and Pacific states.
An importance is attached to Armenia’s active engagement in the multilateral platforms – the UN, OSCE, CoE and other international structures, as well as protection of its interests including in the fields of security, sustainable development and human rights.
The active cooperation within the CSTO, as well as the development of the bilateral relations with the CIS states, the continuation of political dialogue with the NATO, the consistent implementation of the Individual Partnership Action Plan, the deepening of Armenia’s engagement in the International Organization of La Francophonie and conducting Armenia’s chairmanship at the IOF at the highest level are highlighted.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The strongest guarantor of our homeland’s independence and security is the Armenian Army, toward which the Armenian nation’s gratitude and obligation has no boundaries.
We are elevated by the victories of our glorious Armenian Army and we bow our heads to the sacrifice of our fallen and wounded soldiers. The life of every single soldier on the frontlines is precious and invaluable. It is with that understanding that we unequivocally support programs that make our borders impenetrable. We support efforts to assist the families of our fallen and wounded soldiers, and those aimed of securing a dignified life for the soldiers that are currently serving.
We wish a safe tour of duty to our soldiers and eternal gratitude to Armenia’s victorious Armed Forces.
ARF Western U.S. Central Committee
Los Angeles, California
Two Armenian bloggers David Manukyan and Karina Karina Lazaryants have been arrested for 10 days for obstructing traffic while filming a video in Moscow, Russia.
They decided to shoot the video in downtown Moscow at a rush hour, blocked roads and thus disturbed the traffic, which amounts to a violation of public order, a Moscow court ruled.
A video posted earlier on Instagram show how the bloggers blocked several lanes of the New Arbat (Novy Arbat) Avenue to film the video.
Top Iranian military officer sides with neighboring Azerbaijan in Karabakh dispute
By Ruslan Rehimov
BAKU, Azerbaijan
Iran's top military officer affirmed on Wednesday that the disputed region of Karabakh is the territory of neighboring Azerbaijan.
"Iran considers Karabakh to be Azerbaijani territory and supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," said Lt. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s chief of General Staff. "Changing borders by force is unacceptable, and Iran always stands by the [Azeri] side on this issue."
Speaking after meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on his visit to the capital Baku, Bagheri stressed the importance of deep bilateral ties between the two countries.
Aliyev extended his gratitude to the Iranian delegation and said that Azerbaijan highly appreciates Iran’s position.
Iran has a large Azeri minority.
Karabakh – a disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia – broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with military support from neighboring Armenia, and a peace process has yet to be implemented.
Three UN Security Council resolutions and two UN General Assembly resolutions refer to Karabakh as being part of Azerbaijan.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe refers to the region as being occupied by Armenian forces.
The Armenian occupation of Upper Karabakh led to the closing of the frontier with Turkey, which sides with Baku in the drawn-out dispute.