Author: Toneyan Mark

 11:39,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenia faces serious challenges threatening its security, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his speech delivered at the session of the Eurasian Inter-governmental Council in Yerevan.

“Dear colleagues, unfortunately, today’s session is being held in a tense situation for our country. I can’t not notice like it was a year before when we were taking part in the session of the Inter-governmental Council, today as well Armenia is facing serious challenges threatening its security. Our region was involved in a new escalation stage, which, unfortunately, led to human losses. Azerbaijan is responsible for this, the military provocation of which is directed to distorting our country’s territorial integrity and the agreements reached in the 2020 November 9 and 2021 January 11 trilateral statements”, the PM said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:18,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Tension persists at the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno Karabakh, despite measures that are being taken, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas said at the ninth meeting of CIS security council chiefs in Moscow on November 17, reports TASS.

The trilateral agreement reached by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 9, 2020, made it possible to halt the bloodshed in Nagorno Karabakh, he said.

“However, despite the steps that are being taken, tension still persists at the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides”, Zas said.

On November 16, the Azerbaijani armed forces launched a major attack on Armenia from the eastern border. The Azerbaijani military deployed artillery, various caliber firearms and armored equipment in the attack. The fighting stopped through a Russian-mediated ceasefire later in the day.

Balance has not changed in any way as a result of yesterday’s operations – Pashinyan on Azerbaijan's aggression

 17:37,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. According to Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, as a result of the hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan on November 16, the balance has not changed in any way, ARMENPRESS reports the Armenian PM said at the National Assembly, during the parliament-Cabinet Q&A session, answering the question of MP Vahagn Aleksanyan from “Civil Contract” Party whether new territories have passed under the Azerbaijani control.

As for the 41 square kilometers occupied as a result of the Azerbaijani aggression, the PM said that this number was not formed as a result of yesterday’s or the previous day’s operations. “As a result of yesterday’s operations, the balance has in no way changed. I mean these 41 square kilometers existed and a week ago, in the period since May 12, and remains the same following yesterday’s operations. It’s not so that the Azerbaijani armed forces have a full control of those 41 square kilometers. As a result of the processes following May 12, in fact the positions of the Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces are located like a chess desk, sometimes deep into one another in an illogical way”, Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister highlighted the correct understanding of the situation particularly now. According to him, before May 12, about 40 square kilometers of the territory of Armenia was under the control of Azerbaijan, as a result of the first war. "We know the precise locations of those areas. As a result of the first war, there are also territories of Soviet Azerbaijan, which are under the control of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan said, adding that for these reasons he attaches great importance to the demarcation or delimitation process.

Armenia committed to becoming a really Smart State, devoted to Nature, Planet and Humanity: President addresses COP 26

 November 2, 2021, 18:40 4 minutes read

Armenia is committed to becoming a really Smart State, devoted to our Nature, Planet and Humanity, President Armen Sarkissian said in an address to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

“And I’m optimistic that we can overcome these difficulties and build a brighter future for all of us,” the President said.

Below is the President’s speech in full:

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank Her Majesty and Her Majesty’s Government for organizing this significant and timely event.

Special thanks to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his colleagues and the City of Glasgow for an excellent summit and warm hospitality.

First about Armenia – a small state but a global nation.

According to the World Bank analysis, Armenia is the 4th most vulnerable country to climate change in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Armenia has registered a 1.3-degree Celsius increase in temperature, and a 9 per cent decrease in precipitation.

Despite the challenges by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we are committed to a stronger integration into the global agenda on climate change and to demonstrate an increase in our climate ambition.

Armenia has consistently expressed its commitment to joining global efforts to combat climate change. In 2021 Armenia reaffirmed our commitment through the Nationally Determined Contributions and declared an objective of 40 per cent reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to the 1990 levels.

The long-term objective of Armenia is to achieve climate neutrality in the second half of this century.

Transition to climate neutrality is at the core of the country’s energy independence, energy security and green growth policies.

Our vision of resilient and low-carbon growth is directly connected to a solid and effective adaptation strategy based on an ecosystem approach, reforestation, investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, new high technologies, promotion of electric mobility and further development of nuclear energy.
Dear colleagues,

Substantial public debt burdens most developing economies in their ability to access concessional and non-concessional climate finance.

In this regard, a creative approach is crucial. I am delighted to share with you our renewed “Debt-for-Climate Swap” Initiative. It presents a new climate finance instrument. And it will help developing countries to adapt more efficiently to climate change finance, provides new economic opportunities.

Mr. President,

Exactly one year ago during its war against Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan used internationally banned weapons to target not only civilians but also beautiful forests of the large area, causing massive forest fires and creating environmental disasters in place. We call on international community to step up its efforts to prevent such irresponsible, inhumane behavior.

The environmental challenges do not recognize borders and conflict lines, and we should bring all states of the world into comprehensive cooperation.

Now just a couple of words about this conference.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opening of the conference, enjoyed the speeches of my colleagues from worldwide. And it was confirmed by everybody here, that there’s a big problem which is the climate change. But that’s not the only problem that we have these days, because we are facing also pandemic, we are facing economic difficulties worldwide, we are facing rise of populism, we are facing uncertainty, we are also facing unpredictability here.

By having all of these problems, we have also recognized here globally that there’s huge wealth and that wealth is in trillions of dollars that could resolve the issue. And on the other side during the hundred years of development based on quantum technology and quantum physics, we have achieved phenomenal achievements in science and technology, and that technology today can resolve our problems be that in climate changes, be that in Covid and other problems that we are facing.

So where is the problem? Why are not we so effective or efficient? I think that there’s one thing that we should learn from the history of science when 100 years ago great scientists, people like Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Heisenberg, realized that the classical laws of physics and mechanics cannot be applied to the new discovered small particles and atoms. You have to change your mentality, you have to change your philosophy, your logic, even your common sense to understand and create the theory of quantum physics.

We are on the crossroad. The world has become quantum. This is a crossroad that we have to start thinking differently because the world that’s ahead of us, is not the one that was there 10 or 20 years ago. If we change our mentality and form our ambition and strategy, then we can effectively use the finances and the wealth that the world created during this phenomenal development and use the technology to handle the problems that we are facing. But not only to resolve the problems but also to create the basis of development to the brighter future years to come.

At the opening of this Summit Professor Brian Cox took us to a trip to Cosmos to see from the above how amazingly beautiful this Planet is and to realize that in the whole Universe this is our Home and the Only One and there is no other alternative for us but to work and to fight for this Green and Blue Planet.

Armenia is committed to become a really Smart State, devoted to our Nature, Planet and Humanity. And I’m optimistic that we can overcome these difficulties and build a brighter future for all of us.

PM Pashinyan holds separate meetings with the heads of Sada and Service Titan companies

 20:17,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had separate meetings with Ara Mahdessian, President of Sada Company and Hovig Safoian, one of the founders of Service Titan Company, which operate in the field of high technologies, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

During both meetings, the Prime Minister highlighted the activities of the above-mentioned companies in the field of high technology, emphasizing that this area is one of the Government priorities. Nikol Pashinyan added that the Government is interested in the development of IT companies, the expansion of the latter as a result of new investments, and the creation of jobs. The Prime Minister noted that during such meetings he is ready to discuss issues of concern to those companies, opportunities to provide appropriate assistance to the companies within the framework of Government tools.

Hovig Safoian, referring to the activities of Sada company, noted that the branch of the company operating in Armenia now has 30 employees, but they plan to increase that number to 350 as a result of new investment programs in the near future. He added that the company cooperates with a number of leading companies in the world, including Google, develops various software solutions, including in the field of education. Mr. Safoian noted that in particular, the platform designed for the sphere of education, which was developed in cooperation with Google, was introduced in the education systems of different countries, and is ready to be introduced in Armenia in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Prime Minister Pashinyan highlighted the initiative, noting that he will instruct the responsible Government departments to discuss with Mr. Safoian the opportunities of cooperation in that direction.

Ara Mahdessian, one of the founders of Service Titan, provided details about the company's activities and upcoming programs. He noted that the company's Armenian office, which was established in 2018, already has 200 employees, the amount of investments in Armenia has reached $40 million. Mr. Mahdessian emphasized that the Armenian team is constantly expanding, new departments with new specializations are being opened, and investment projects will continue to develop. The programs are aimed at the continuous growth of the company, product improvement, training and involvement of the best specialists.

Prime Minister Pashinyan welcomed the successful operation of Service Titan, adding that both this company and other successful organizations in the field contribute to the continuous development of the high technology sector in Armenia. In this regard, the Prime Minister highlighted the preparation of highly qualified specialists and the steps taken to ensure their long-term activities in Armenia.

 12:15,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Over 2.9 mln people have contracted the coronavirus infection worldwide over the past week, more than 49,000 died. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of new infections has increased by 4% over seven days, while the number of fatalities has gone up by 5%, reports TASS.

"During the week of 18 to 24 October 2021, the global number of new cases increased slightly (4%) compared to that of the previous week, with just over 2.9 million new cases," the WHO’s COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update said. The European region accounted for more than half of new weekly cases. Over one week, only this region has recorded an increase in incidence (by 18%), while it decreased in five other regions. The largest decrease in new cases was documented in Africa (by 21%) and the Western Pacific region (by 17%). The mortality has increased by 5% globally over the past seven days. The highest growth was registered in Europe (by 14%) and South-East Asia (by 13%). At the same time, the number of fatalities has significantly decreased in the Western Pacific (by 16%), Eastern Mediterranean (by 13%) and Africa (by 11%).

According to the statistics cited in the document, from October 18 through October 24, some 2,940,336 infections and 49,413 fatalities have been recorded worldwide. The US reported the highest number of weekly infections (512,956), followed by the UK (330,465), Russia (248,956), Turkey (196,850) and Ukraine (134,235).

According to the WHO, as of October 26, some 243,857,028 people have been infected worldwide and 4,953,246 deaths have been reported. Over the past 24 hours, 295,432 infections and 5,469 fatalities have been reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is welcomed by Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev in Shusha, Azerbaijan, June 15, 2021 (AA Photo)

 10:26,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. The Tatev-Aghvani strategic significance road will be fully put into operation by late November, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Suren Papikyan said in a statement on social media.

“On October 24, together with Chief of Staff at the Prime Minister’s Office Arayik Harutyunyan and Governor of Syunik province Melikset Poghosyan, we visited the Tatev-Aghvani road section to get acquainted with the construction works. This strategic significance road is expected to be put into a full operation by the end of November”, Papikyan said.

He also informed that the construction of alternative roads in Syunik is also at an active stage, which will be ready in spring 2022, as a result of which the province will have a completely new system of road communication.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan