Author: Samvel Nahapetian

Newspaper: Araik Harutyunyan appeals to Deputy Prime Minister’s post

Samvel Nahapetian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
Newspaper: Araik Harutyunyan appeals to Deputy Prime Minister's post
07:39, 23.07.2022

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Arayik Harutyunyan has ambitions to become a Deputy Prime Minister.

"It is conditioned by the fact that he is several times more active than the Prime Minister, holding meetings and the government website is full of news and photos of his meetings. One gets the impression that he is the state's number one and a particularly hard-working official. Yesterday the official government website reported that he "received the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Syrian Arab Republic to Armenia, Nora Arisian."

Such a text is usually circulated about the RA president or prime minister. "After greeting the guest, Arayik Harutyunyan congratulated the Ambassador on her appointment and wished her fruitful work. During the meeting the interlocutors discussed issues related to the current state and prospective directions of bilateral relations."

By the way, there are reports that in the run-up to the "hot autumn" Pashinyan has decided to conduct changes in the government. Perhaps Harutyunyan hopes his dream will come true. Well, his deputy, whose main job is to manage the official press and fake news, wants to be chief of staff," the Hraparak newspaper wrote.

Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijani soldiers detain, send back convoy of Russian peacekeepers in Aghdam

Samvel Nahapetian
Politics Materials 20 July 2022 18:43


BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 20. A convoy of Russian peacekeepers [which are temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region following the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020 signed between Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders to end the second Karabakh war], passing through Azerbaijan’s Aghdam along the Asgaran-Aghdara route, which tried to smuggle at least five Kalashnikov guns, was detained by Azerbaijani soldiers, Trend reports.

The convoy consisting of one armored personnel carrier 82A and three Ural trucks was stopped and sent back.

Ammunition was found in the cargo compartment of one of the vehicles at 17:15 (GMT+4) on July 19 at the checkpoint of the Azerbaijani army.

Turkey parliament speaker does not hide who needs ‘Zangezur corridor’

Samvel Nahapetian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
15:21, 21.07.2022

The opening of "Zangezur corridor" will create new opportunities for Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan. Speaker of Turkish National Grand Assembly, Mustafa Sentop, stated about this at the second trilateral meeting of the speakers of the Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Pakistani parliaments in Istanbul, APA's correspondent in Istanbul reports.

According to Sentop, the peoples of these three countries are linked to each other with close historical and cultural ties.

It is noteworthy that the Turkish legislature speaker managed to talk about the "Zangezur corridor" without mentioning Armenia once.

FM: There are all opportunities to save Artsakh

Samvel Nahapetian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
11:52, 22.07.2022

Artsakh is seriously wounded and its “healing” is a super task for all Armenians. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Foreign Minister David Babayan wrote this on Facebook.

“The future of the entire Armenian people depends on the fate of Artsakh. Artsakh faces existential threats, but despite all the dangers and difficulties, there are all opportunities to save the country and ensure its secure future. This requires a patriotic and professional approach not only to work, but to life in general,” the Artsakh FM added.

Armenia military unit medical aid station head died as result of car accident

Samvel Nahapetian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
13:54, 16.07.2022

Contract soldier, Junior Sergeant Kristine Chichyan, 37, the chief medic of the medical aid station of a military unit of Armenia who died Saturday, was from Shirak Province.

According to Armenian News-NEWS.am’s information, she died as a result of a car accident.

An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding her death.

Earlier we reported that Chichyan on Friday sustained injuries and was taken to hospital as a result of an accident that occurred in the aforesaid military unit. But despite the efforts made by doctors, she died on Saturday.

Construction of massive Jesus statue in Armenia suspended

Samvel Nahapetian
Ani Mejlumyan Jul 12, 2022
Gagik Tsarukyan (right) at the groundbreaking ceremony for what would be the tallest statue of Jesus in the world. (photo: Facebook, Gagik Tsarukyan)

The return of Jesus Christ to Armenia – in the form of what would be the world’s largest statue to the savior – has hit a snag.

The country’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports on July 10 ordered a halt to construction of the statue, citing concerns about the archaeologically significant site on which it is supposed to be built. The next day, the Ministry of the Environment announced that construction had in fact been halted.

The statue has been the source of controversy and mockery since tycoon and former opposition leader Gagik Tsarukyan announced earlier this year that he planned to build it. The statue itself would be 33 meters tall, and with the pedestal, 77 meters – more than double the height of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue.

The proposal got preliminary government approval on July 7, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan praised the statue as being a boon to tourism. “Our initial opinion is positive since we think that it will significantly increase tourist interest,” he said during a cabinet meeting discussing the proposal. But Pashinyan also added that the relevant government organs were still reviewing documents submitted as part of the proposal.

Pashinyan’s endorsement got some pushback: two days later, the Association of Professional Tourist Guides in Armenia wrote an open letter disputing the notion that the statue would be a significant tourist attraction. It also noted that, unlike in Catholic countries like Brazil, Armenian Christianity does not have a tradition of statuary.

“Tourism cannot exist in fabricated, false conditions,” the letter read. “After all, tourists come to see and experience real life. And how consistent would it be for them to see a huge statue of Jesus on top of a mountain in a country where even small statues do not exist in churches?” It concluded: “We request and demand to stop the implementation of this anti-national, anti-cultural, anti-natural, and anti-aesthetic project.”

The proposed site of the statue is Mount Hatis, about 30 kilometers northeast of Yerevan. The 2,528-meter mountain is the site of some 20 sites registered in Armenia’s list of cultural and historical monuments that are protected by the law, including a Bronze-Iron Age fortress discovered in 2019.

But Tsarukyan owns 146 hectares of land on the mountain, which he bought in 2008, including the top of the mountain on which the statue is to be built.

Tsarukyan didn’t waste any time, and took Pashinyan’s statement as a green light in spite of the lack of formal approval. On July 9 he officially opened the site with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan and the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili.

“A few years following this historic day, the statue of the Savior will rise in Armenia as a symbol of unity, hope, and light,”  Tsarukyan wrote in a Facebook post.

But the culture ministry had other ideas. On July 10 it said that Tsarukyan’s charity foundation had never responded to queries it had sent about the statue’s proposed location, and that the proposal would have to be reviewed in light of Armenia’s law on protection of historical sites. The next day, the environment ministry announced that construction had been suspended.

The same day, the Ministry of the Environment reported that it had not received the paperwork from Tsarukyan’s foundation required for its approval, as well.

Tsarukyan has yet to respond to the ministry’s announcement.

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.

Expert condemns Armenian authorities’ failure to respond to Cavusoglu’s remarks on opposition

Samvel Nahapetian
Panorama
Armenia – July 5 2022

The Turkish leadership on Monday again interfered in Armenia’s internal affairs, Varuzhan Geghamyan (Ph.D.), an expert on the Middle East and the South Caucasus, said on social media on Tuesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the Armenia’s opposition groups are an “obstacle” to the Armenian-Turkish normalization process.

“Moreover, he labeled the opposition as "extremist groups on Armenian streets". Of course, Armenian MFA raised no voice to prevent this verbal intervention,” Geghamyan tweeted.

He accused the authorities of collaboration and failure to defend the interests of Armenian citizens. 

“Let’s not forget about more than a hundred Armenian men have been held in Baku’s prisons for almost two years and whose "status" the capitulant [Nikol Pashinyan] and his regime lowered from "prisoners of war" to "persons held in Azerbaijan", which deprived them of additional legal protection and now no one even talks about them,” Geghamyan wrote on Telegram.

“Happy Constitution Day of the Republic of Armenia, a state that has ceased to exist for more than a year!” he added.

Estonian Parliament Speaker’s Visit to Shushi Angers Yerevan

Samvel Nahapetian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 July 8, 2022

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Latest, News, Top Stories

Estonia’s Parliament Speaker Jüri Ratas


A visit by Estonia’s Parliament Speaker Jüri Ratas in May was deemed “extremely troubling” by his Armenian counterpart Alen Simpnyan, who on Friday conveyed Yerevan’s disappointment when meeting with Estonia’s Ambassador to Armenia Riina Kaljurand.

Ratas visited Azerbaijan and attended an event in Shushi on May 24 and was praised by that country’s president Ilham Aliyev when he met the Estonian lawmaker in Baku.

In discussing the cooperation with the Estonian legislature, Simonyan told Kaljurand, the ambassador, that Ratas’ visit to Shushi and his subsequent remarks were “extremely troubling.”

Simonyan told the visiting ambassador that Ratas’ statements in Shushi not only did not reflect the scope of friendly relations that exist between Armenia and Estonia, but also contradict Estonia’s official support for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

The Speaker told the Ambassador that he has sent a letter to Ratas on this occasion, where he explained the essence of the conflict and the consequences of the 2020 devastating war.

Simonyan expressed hope that his Estonian counterpart will visit Armenia in the future and will get acquainted with the situation, as well as will meet with officials from Artsakh.

The Estonian ambassador expressed hope that there will be an opportunity to discuss all these issues with Ratas in the future. She then presented an invitation to Simonyan on behalf of Ratas. In accepting the invitation, Armenia’s Parliament Speaker reiterated that Ratas should visit Armenia.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan to miss Friday’s rally in Yerevan

Samvel Nahapetian
Panorama
Armenia – July 8 2022

MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan of the opposition Hayastan alliance, who is currently in Strasbourg on a working visit, will be missing Friday’s rally in central Yerevan.

The rally of the opposition resistance movement starts at 7:30pm on France Square.

“For obvious reasons, I will not attend today’s rally. Naturally, the rally will be held and my colleagues will make statements on pressing issues,” Saghatelyan, who is the main speaker at opposition rallies, said in a Facebook live video, urging all to join it.

The lawmker said he held a number of meetings in the European Parliament over the past few days to share the approaches of the Armenian opposition on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia’s security and red lines.

The meetings also addressed the domestic political challenges and democratic processes in Armenia.

“The so-called Armenian authorities, particularly the parliamentary diplomacy, have carried out a careless and unprincipled work, which had led to a big gap. It should be made clear that the interests of Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian people in general are not properly represented and we have a lot of work to do here," he said.

Any attempt for geopolitical changes in the region unacceptable for Iran – Pashinyan receives Iranian official

Samvel Nahapetian

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 19:11, 7 July 2022

YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ali Shamkhani, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister welcomed Mr. Shamkhani's visit to Armenia, attaching importance to the continuous development of friendly and brotherly relations with Iran. "High-level mutual visits are important for solving this issue. I am happy to note that we have managed to create a very good working atmosphere with the Iranian President, Mr. Raisi. I am happy to see that there are also good working relations between our other partners, which is appropriate for two neighboring and friendly states,” Nikol Pashinyan said. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that Mr. Shamkhani's visit will be effective in the context of the issues on the bilateral agenda.

The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran thanked for the reception and conveyed to Prime Minister Pashinyan the warm greetings of the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi. Ali Shamkhani noted that Iran is also interested in developing and strengthening relations with Armenia in all fields. In this context, the interlocutors referred to a number of issues of bilateral cooperation.

The sides exchanged thoughts on ensuring regional stability and security. Ali Shamkhani emphasized that Iran considers any attempt to change the geopolitical situation in the region unacceptable and noted that his country also supports the process of unblocking infrastructure within the framework of preserving the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

The interlocutors emphasized that strengthening of economic ties is fundamental for the development of Armenian-Iranian cooperation in various directions. In this context, Nikol Pashinyan and Ali Shamkhani emphasized the need to boost the existing cooperation in trade, infrastructure, energy, industry and other areas. The parties discussed current programs and projects, as well as those of mutual interest.

Prime Minister Pashinyan asked to convey his warm greetings to both President Raisi and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei.