The Armenian conductor Ruben Gazarian has been named general music director at Altenburg-Gera, a merged theatre in Thuringia.
Gazarian, 48, was chosen from 109 candidates. He starts next month.
The last chief, Laurent Wagner, walked out in July.
15:11,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 27, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on bestowing doctor Hagop (Hrayr) Hovaguimian with the National Hero highest title, the ministry of healthcare said.
Doctor Hagop Hovaguimian received the Order of Motherland for saving numerous human lives, for his exclusive services in the healthcare sector, creating an innovative medical center conducting complex heart surgeries, preparing new specialists, etc.
The Armenian President signed the respective decree based on the Prime Minister’s petition.
The Order of Motherland is awarded for exceptional services of nationwide importance rendered to the Republic of Armenia in the spheres of the defense of the state and strengthening of law and order, as well as for creation of significant national values. Person awarded with the Order of Motherland is considered a National Hero of Armenia.
Hagop (Hrayr) Hovaguimian is the first doctor National Hero.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
ArmInfo. A public opinion survey on the COVID-19 pandemic, commissioned by the World Bank, showed that 66% of respondents in Armenia consider that economic considerations should prevail over health ones, and see the new restrictions as even greater harm to the economy. Moreover, 39% of respondents said restrictions should not be imposed even with the increase of new coronavirus cases in Armenia.
This survey was conducted by telephone by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) in cooperation with the CRRC-Armenia Foundation (Caucasus Research Resources Center), the results of which were published on August 24. The study notes that continuous monitoring of public perceptions of infection and institutional responses is necessary to identify areas of greatest concern to society, as the pandemic continues to affect the health of citizens and exacerbate the economic crisis.
35% of the total number of respondents, either lost their jobs or faced a decrease in income during the coronavirus pandemic. It is noteworthy that 45% of the men surveyed noted that they either lost their jobs or began to work according to the schedule of reduced working hours, while the number of female respondents in such a situation was 27%.
43% of respondents began to spend less on essential goods, 36% reduced their spending on food, and 28% spent family savings on essential needs. 54% of respondents noted that their financial situation worsened during the pandemic. Nevertheless, 25% of the respondents are optimistic in the hope that their well-being and the financial situation of their families will improve over the next 12 months. But 30% of respondents are of the opinion that nothing will change, 24% are pessimistic, and 9% are expecting deterioration.
When asked what challenges Armenia faces during the epidemiological crisis, 36% of respondents pointed to the coronavirus pandemic, 33% to a lack of jobs and unemployment, 18% to poverty and inequality, 17% to a negative impact on the economy, 17% – problems in the field of education, and 15% – problems in the health sector.
51% of respondents noted that coronavirus is a task of the health care system, it is noteworthy that among women there were 56% having such an opinion and among men there were 47%. And the majority (47%) believed that the main reason for the spread of the pandemic was the violation of anti-epidemic canons (not observing social distance, not wearing masks and gloves, and another 12% added to this a low level of hygiene. Interestingly, 9% of respondents consider that the reason of the spread of coronavirus was political / economic competition of influential forces of the world, 6% see the reason in tourism, and 4% see the reason in the change in ecology and climate. It is interesting that 74% of respondents answered that they wear masks, often wash their hands or use disinfectants. As for health risks in the context of COVID-19 34% of respondents assessed a high risk of contracting coronavirus, at the same time 24% of respondents considered a high risk of a severe course of the disease when infected with the virus. 46% responded that they would apply to hospital in case of signs of infections, while 17% will call ambulance.
When asked about their trust in government agencies, 54% of respondents expressed a positive opinion of the healthcare system, while 41% were in favor of the Ministry of Health, 43% of respondents expressed confidence in the police, and 35% in the commandant's office. Of the citizens surveyed, 25% expressed complete confidence in WHO, and another 23% said that they most likely trust this organization. 32% of the respondents found it difficult to answer the question about trust in international donor organizations, but 33% expressed confidence. 42% of respondents, at the expense of government efforts in the context of countering the spread of coronavirus, said they would like to see a focus on the health system in terms of mitigating the impact of the pandemic. And only 22% of those surveyed said they would like to see more government efforts in terms of providing direct financial assistance. Meanwhile, the majority of respondents – 65% – noted that neither they nor their families used any state aid program. Regarding the mitigation of the financial situation complicated by the pandemic, 27% of respondents expressed a desire to extend the terms of loan payments and extend the loan maturity. 24% said that during a state of emergency they would like to see utility bills subsidized, and another 14% would like to receive a minimum salary compensation during the period of forced downtime.
43% of respondents are inclined to believe that schools will start working as usual since September. And of the respondents surveyed, 51% of parents said they would send their children to school, and 21% of parents expressed a preference for distance learning. To note, 9605 calls were made within the framework of the survey, and data collection was carried out from June 21 to June 29. 31% of the respondents had higher education, 32% – secondary education, 21% - secondary specialized education, and 2% – postgraduate professional education (with an academic degree). 37% of the respondents were from Yerevan, 36% were rural residents, and 27% were from other cities of Armenia. Of the citizens surveyed, 36% were aged 18-35, 33% were 36-55, and 31% were 56 and older. At the time of the survey, 58% of respondents had a job. Of these, 18% were employed in agriculture, 14% in the field of jurisprudence and law, 12% in trade. For 31% of the respondents, income fluctuated within the range of 48 thousand-120 thousand drams ($ 98-245), and only 5% of the income exceeded 575.001 thousand drams ($ 1178).
As the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3 approaches, arguments between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden have reached a climax. As we all know, Biden is leading in all polls. Many people and institutions even say that it is already over for Trump, and Biden will win, yet I think it is better to be wary, as Nov. 3 is a long way off.
One of the most common questions is: “What is Biden’s foreign policy going to be?” It is better not to have high expectations, as Biden is expected to adopt a policy in line with former U.S. President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. Biden, who was the vice president during Obama’s presidency, played a pioneering role in Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine. Let us remind you that he was a longtime member of the Foreign Relations Committee when he was a senator from 1973 to 2009. Biden has an extensive foreign policy background.
During his speech at a university in New York in 2019, Biden said: “In my opinion, foreign policy is domestic policy, and domestic policy is foreign policy. They are deeply connected.” He added that U.S. security was directly dependent on having “the strongest possible network of partners and allies working with one another.”
Let’s take a look at Biden’s possible foreign policy. When we look at his Asia policy, the first thing that comes to mind is China. Characterizing Trump’s tariffs against China as self-determined and irregular, he is expected to take a more globalist approach, lowering the tariff on some products and imposing sanctions according to international trade rules. Criticizing the treaty of commerce in January, he stressed that China is the top winner. He is expected to invigorate the naval assets of the U.S. in the Asia Pacific and establish closer ties with Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He says he will fight against China’s persecution of 1 million Muslims in China and that Washington thinks the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will condemn China. North Korea is also another issue in the region, and Biden says diplomatic relations should continue and North Korea must cease with its use of nuclear weapons, adding that he will not meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in person.
The Middle East is one of the top foreign policy agendas for the U.S. The U.S.-Israel relationship in particular is the most important item when we talk about issues in the Middle East. Biden, who describes himself as a Zionist, says he will continue to have good relations with Israel but believes in the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian issue. He has said he would appreciate it if the U.S. embassy remains in Jerusalem. He states that he opposes the idea of Israel unfairly expanding to residential areas of Palestine and that he is open to financial support for Palestine, which Trump has cut off.
Regarding Iran, he sides with the return to the nuclear deal – that is to say, he adopts a soft policy on Iran, but he is also against the manufacturing of nuclear weapons there. Moreover, he states that the murder of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani has triggered the tension with Iran in a cruel manner. Regarding the Syria issue, he thinks that the YPG/PKK terrorist group should be supported and that it is wrong for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from Syria, as it only advances the humanitarian crisis and the potential gains of Daesh terrorists.
Biden does not have warm feelings when it comes to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is held responsible for the murder of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi and for the civil war in Yemen; hence, Biden has had a distant relationship with the Saudis since 2014.
European Union and Russia
Biden, who is of Irish origin, wants to establish closer relations with some countries, and especially with France. He also sides with the return of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as a partnership in 5G against China. Greeks have full support for Biden, and he is well aware of the demands of the Greeks and answers to their problems.
When it comes to Russia, he has stated that Putin is attacking Western democracy and trying to weaken NATO. Biden sides with establishing a special investigation commission on Russia’s attack on U.S. democracy and putting more pressure on Russia with the support of NATO and the European Union. Ukraine also sides with boosting military aid against Russia.
Biden's views on Turkey include:
– He is against storing nuclear weapons at the İncirlik Air Base.
– He is against Turkey’s military operations in Syria and stated that YPG/PKK was betrayed by the U.S.
– He made statements relating to concerns about freedom of the press and human rights in Turkey.
– He emphasizes that, in collaboration with its allies in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey must be isolated.
– He sides with Turkey’s withdrawal of Russian S-400 missiles; otherwise, he demands sanctions.
– He has not made any statements about the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) or the extradition of its members to Turkey, and nothing was done on the issue during his vice presidency.
– He criticized the decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
– He said that he would recognize the so-called Armenian genocide.
Biden, in an interview with The New York Times in January, clearly expressed that the U.S. should interfere in Turkey’s domestic policy and should support these efforts by taking a certain side, as Washington was involved in such activities in the past.
He has visited Turkey four times. He made his first visit in December 2011, during the Arab Spring, and his second visit took place just after the U.S. air bombardments against Daesh terrorists in November 2014. Following his third visit in January 2016 for meetings against Daesh, he visited Turkey for the fourth time after the failed coup attempt in August 2016.
Biden has made two apologies to Turkey so far. He described Turkey as the most problematic country in the Middle East in a speech at Harvard University in October 2014. After witnessing the reactions to his speech, he called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to apologize. The second apology took place on his last visit after the 2016 failed coup attempt. Barack Obama was one of the first people Erdoğan called after the attack, and the American president had said, "The American people stand by you." But Biden wanted to apologize for not coming soon enough following the failed coup attempt, saying: “But I do want to apologize. I wish I could have been here earlier.”
Apart from this, he is expected to take steps such as lifting the ban on immigrants from Muslim countries, improving relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), stopping the efforts to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, and rejoining UNESCO and the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
As I always say, whoever becomes the president of the U.S. should not break ties with Ankara due to Turkey’s NATO membership and strategic position. Ankara will continue to discuss and solve problems through diplomacy.
If Trump wins the election again, relations between Turkey and the U.S. will remain pretty much the same. If Biden wins, yes, it still will not be an easy relationship, and some new problems will be added to the current issues, but the ties will not break completely.
Let’s remember what famous American statesman Dean Gooderham Acheson said: “Effective leaders don’t just look after their own interests; they also care for the interests of their allies genuinely.”
Whoever wins the elections in November, the international reputation of the U.S. will continue to deteriorate if they do not relearn how to care for the general interest in their relations, not only with Turkey but also with other allies.
*Senior foreign policy expert, a 2019 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient
11:09,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 13, ARMENPRESS. 229 coronavirus cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, the Armenian Center for Disease Control and Prevention said. 405 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 33897.
3 COVID-19 patients died over the past day, raising the total death toll to 809. The total death toll doesn’t include the deaths of 238 other people infected with the virus, who died from other pre-existing illnesses, according to health authorities.
The cumulative total number of confirmed cases stands at 41023.
As of August 13 the number of active cases is 6079.
A total of 180497 tests were conducted so far, of which 1465 in the last 24 hours.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
The article was published by Opendemocracy.net
For over two years, the Amulsar gold mine in Armenia has been under blockade. Now, as part of the mining company’s restructuring process, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development says its investment in the flagship project is finished.
A European Bank for Reconstruction and Development investment in a controversial $400m gold mine in Armenia is to end, a new assessment by the bank’s complaint body states.
For the past two years, Lydian International’s Amulsar gold mining project in southern Armenia has been under blockade by local people and environmental activists, who blocked access to the mine in the wake of the country’s 2018 ‘Velvet Revolution’. News that the EBRD’s investment is due to end comes as protests have been renewed at the Amulsar site in recent weeks, after the Lydian group hired a new private security firm and removed a trailer belonging to activists.
The London-based development bank has funded exploration, drilling and feasibility studies and environmental and social mitigation measures by Lydian since 2009, and has been targeted with criticism by civil society groups over its support for the company.
“The EBRD owes the public a proper statement expressing its position on the project and current developments,” said Fidanka McGrath, EBRD policy officer at CEE Bankwatch Network. “The recent despicable provocation by Lydian’s security company [at Amulsar] is only a sign of the reputational damage that this investment will continue to inflict on the EBRD, even after its shareholdings in Lydian International are wound up.”
The Amulsar blockade has led to a complex standoff between Armenia’s government, headed by former protest leader Nikol Pashinyan, Anglo-Canadian mining company Lydian International and protest participants themselves. The standoff has also drawn in the mine’s international backers, including the EBRD, as well as the UK and US governments.
The ongoing blockade and a government-ordered environmental audit have prevented Lydian, Armenia’s largest foreign investor, from completing work at the mine, as well as causing it financial difficulties. An assessment report by the EBRD’s Independent Project Assessment Mechanism (IPAM), published on 7 August, states that the bank’s investment will be “terminated” as part of Lydian’s corporate restructuring process.
After Lydian’s lenders revoked their agreement to suspend the company’s interest and principal payments, which had been initiated as a result of the Amulsar blockade, the group is now owned by its three senior lenders, resource investment firms Orion Resource Partners, Osisko Mining and Resource Capital Funds. Lydian's existing parent company in Jersey, in which EBRD held a 5% shareholding, is being liquidated as part of this restructuring. The IPAM report states that EBRD “has no financial interest” in restructured Lydian's new parent company, which is incorporated in Canada, and the completion of the Jersey proceedings “will result in the termination of EBRD’s shareholding”.
“The EBRD can still redeem itself by speaking up in support of democracy and by working with the Armenian government to remedy the environmental harm and social conflicts caused by the project,” said Fidanka McGrath. “Either way the bank will have to answer for its failure to ensure proper consultations with affected communities.”
Disagreements over the potential environmental and social harm of the Amulsar mine, which is 75% complete, have animated much of the public tension over the flagship mining project. Campaigners have cited concerns over the mine’s potential impact on environmental damage, local tourism and social change, and a petition signed by 26,000 people has called on the mine’s financial backers, including the EBRD, to divest. In 2017, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s development arm, withdrew its funding from Lydian International, stating that its investment was no longer necessary.
Lydian calls the mine blockade illegal, and has accused the Armenian government of “inaction” over the situation. In March 2019, Lydian notified Armenia of a potential international arbitration dispute under British and Canadian bilateral investment treaties over what it calls an “ongoing campaign by the Armenian Government targeting Lydian’s investments in Armenia”.
Lydian, originally based in Jersey, states it has followed the highest international standards on environmental mitigation and protection for the proposed mine – as required by EBRD, which has been invested in the company since 2009.
“There is no environmental issue here, it has grown into a political issue,” Lydian Armenia director Hayk Aloyan said in a recent interview. “The entire world follows the situation in Armenia, where the most environmentally-sound mining investment project has become hostage to political games.”
The unfinished mine was set to employ 750 people once it came online, Lydian states, with another 3,000 jobs created by local companies linked to the mining operation. Company projections put the number of its tax and royalty contributions to the Armenian state budget at €432 million through the ten-year operation of the mine.
The EBRD IPAM report comes in response to a complaint by residents of the local tourist town of Jermuk, as well as five non-governmental organisations in May this year. They claim that Lydian had “failed to ensure that the project complies with the requirements of the bank’s Environmental and Social Policy”, and that they had “already experienced serious environmental harm from the project, resulting from pollution of water, air and land”.
The EBRD stated in response to the complaint that “environmental and social due diligence on the Project was undertaken and that the issues presented in the Request had been adequately addressed by the Company”. The report did not state Lydian’s position on the specifics of the complaint, but that the company “had indicated their willingness… to move discussions with stakeholders forward and with the intent of resolving issues”.
In its summation, IPAM stated that “Problem Solving would offer limited potential for a constructive dialogue… due to the lack of trust between the Parties”, and that the “Parties share irreconcilable differences in their own principles”.
09:11,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. Inspections have been carried out at the presently defunct Vanadzor Chemical Combine to reveal potential hazards regarding the storage of explosive and toxic materials at its warehouse.
After the Beirut August 4 ammonium nitrate disaster, the Armenian opposition Bright Armenia party leader Edmon Marukyan raised the issue by asking authorities to order an immediate inspection at the chemical plant’s territory in Vanadzor, citing an earlier article that claimed there is around 90 tonnes of liquid ammonium, as well as other dangerous substances, abandoned in the facility for nearly 4 years after its bankruptcy.
But inspectors say the volumes of the substances are far less. “There is no information about 90 tonnes of ammonium”, Urban Development, Technical and Fire Safety Inspection Agency chief Gegham Shakhbazyan told ARMENPRESS. “There is approximately 9 tonnes of ammonium [there]”.
He says the volumes kept at the facility pose no risk to the nearby population.
Hypothetically speaking, he says the liquid ammonium is able to cause a local fire, but even if that were to happen it would be easily stopped due to the low volumes.
What will happen to the ammonium is up to the bankruptcy administrator; the substance could potentially be sold or gradually disposed of.
The inspectors also found mercury, but the substance is stored safely and poses no risk.
However, the inspection revealed other technical and fire safety violations at the defunct plant. The bankruptcy administrator in charge of the premises will be ordered to implement the fire safety procedures. By Armenian legislation, ammonium is listed as an hazardous material, and storing it requires an annual technical safety inspection, which wasn’t implemented at the plant’s territory for 4 years.
Apart from the Vanadzor’s defunct plant, Shakhbazyan said his agency will soon launch similar inspections at the Nairit Plant in Yerevan, as well as petroleum, fireworks and other explosive substance warehouses.
Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan