Author: Vardan Badalian

Edik Baghdasaryan: Corps commander was Artak Davtyan when Azeris positioned themselves toward Yelpin village

Vardan Badalian
NEWS.am
Armenia – July 8 2022
14:34, 08.07.2022

The Azerbaijanis positioned themselves in May 2018 in the area from which they have fired in the direction of Yelpin village. Edik Baghdasaryan, the editor-in-chief of Hetq online newspaper of Armenia, wrote this on Facebook.

"At that time, the commander of our corps was Artak Davtyan. Azerbaijanis had advanced their positions in the neutral zone, and a huge area came under their control. And the section of Areni-Yelpin villages of the interstate road came under direct fire. A few days after that, [PM] Nikol Pashinyan appointed Artak Davtyan as the Chief of the General Staff [of the Armed Forces]," Baghdasaryan added.


Russia MFA: It became possible to bring Armenia, Azerbaijan positions together on transport communications’ restoration

Vardan Badalian
NEWS.am
Armenia – July 6 2022
15:11, 06.07.2022

Work on unblocking all economic and transport links in the South Caucasus continues within the framework of the trilateral group—under the co-chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. This was announced by Alexey Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"As a result of the meeting of the trilateral working group held in Moscow on June 3 as well as the contacts of the co-chairs within the framework of the St. Petersburg International [Economic] Forum, some progress was made, it became possible to bring the positions of Yerevan and Baku closer on various aspects of the restoration of transport communications.

As is known, the launch of railway and automobile communication in the region—for the benefit of Yerevan, Baku, and their neighbors—is being discussed within the framework of the trilateral working group. When concrete agreements are reached, the co-chairs will inform the media separately about the results of their work," Zaitsev added.


Music: Jivan Gasparyan bust unveiled in Yerevan

Vardan Badalian
Panorama
Armenia – July 6 2022

A bust of legendary Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan was unveiled at Yerevan’s Komitas Pantheon on the first anniversary of his death on July 6.

The musician, dubbed “Master of the Duduk”, passed away in the U.S. in 2021 at the age of 92. He was buried at the Yerevan pantheon on July 24.

The bust is authored by sculptor Aleksan Babayan.

Born in Solak, Armenia, to parents from Mush, Gasparyan started to play duduk when he was six. In 1948, he became a soloist of the Armenian Song and Dance Popular Ensemble and the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra. He won four medals at UNESCO worldwide competitions. In 1973 Gasparyan was awarded the honorary title People's Artist of Armenia received the WOMEX (World Music Expo) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. In 2006 he was nominated for Grammy awards for the Best Traditional World Music Album.

He toured the world several times with a small ensemble playing Armenian folk music. His music has been chosen on the soundtrack of several international films.

He collaborated with many artists, such as Sting, Peter Gabriel, Hossein Alizadeh, Erkan Oğur, Michael Brook, Brian May, Lionel Richie, Derek Sherinian, Ludovico Einaudi, Luigi Cinque, Boris Grebenshchikov, Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Hans Zimmer and Andreas Vollenweider.

He also recorded with the Kronos Quartet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Armenian Speaker of Parliament receives Ambassador of Israel

Vardan Badalian

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 14:26, 29 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Alen Simonyan received today Ambassador of Israel to Armenia Joel Lion, the parliament’s press service said.

Alen Simonyan congratulated the Ambassador on appointment, wishing a productive activity.

“Embassies are a cornerstone for the further development of the bilateral relations. I hope your activity will have a practical significance for the Armenian-Israeli relations and will contribute to the further development of the inter-parliamentary cooperation”, the Speaker said.

During the meeting the sides highlighted the activity of parliamentary friendship groups in the context of inter-parliamentary ties.

Both sides stated that the historical-cultural ties existing between the Armenian and Israeli peoples and the similarity of fates are important preconditions for creating a favorable environment for cooperation.

Ideas were exchanged also on establishing lasting stability in the region.

Armenpress: Canada opens its first embassy in the South Caucasus in Armenia. Armenian FM welcomes the decision

Vardan Badalian

Canada opens its first embassy in the South Caucasus in Armenia. Armenian FM welcomes the decision

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 22:14,

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Canada opens its first embassy in the South Caucasus in Armenia․

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Mélanie Joly considers her country's decision as an important guarantee of increasing Canada's support for Armenian democracy.

"This will allow for stronger ties between our countries and increase Canada's support for Armenian democracy. As the rules that ensured stability and security are challenged, Canada will work to protect peace and democracy globally.," the Canadian FM said in a Twitter post.

Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan welcomed Canada's decision to have a resident ambassador. " This is yet another milestone in progressively developing Armenian-Canadian relations which will further reinforce our bilateral cooperation based on common values," said Minister Mirzoyan.

On June 28, Foreign Minister of Armenia held a phone conversation with Mélanie Joly. The sides commended the effective cooperation between the two countries within a number of spheres and stressed reciprocal commitment to make efforts towards the further deepening of Armenian-Canadian relations. Minister Mirzoyan welcomed the report of the Special Envoy of Canada to the European Union and Europe Stéphane Dion, entitled "Support to Armenian Democracy", which contains important provisions in terms of outlining new opportunities for the development of Armenian-Canadian relations.




Asbarez; Judicial Council Head Fired for Accusing Government of Blackmail

Vardan Badalian
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Armenia, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Ruben Vartazaryan


YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The nominal head of a state body overseeing Armenia’s courts was formally relieved of his duties on Thursday three days after publicizing what he sees as evidence of illegal government pressure exerted on him.

Ruben Vartazaryan was already suspended as chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in April 2021 immediately after being charged with obstruction of justice amid rising tensions with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Pashinyan’s political allies accused him of encouraging courts to free arrested government critics.

Vartazaryan denied the charges and said that he was indicted as part of government efforts to replace him with Gagik Jhangiryan, a controversial former prosecutor widely seen as a figure loyal to Pashinyan.

Jhangiryan was named as acting head of the SJC pending the outcome of the criminal investigation into Vartazaryan, which is still going on.

The SJC launched disciplinary proceedings against Vartazaryan last month following a newspaper interview in which he claimed that Jhangiryan was appointed as a member of the judicial watchdog in breach of Armenian law.

In its decision read out by Jhangiryan, the SJC said Vartazaryan has been sacked as both chairman and member of the council as well as judge of a Yerevan court of first instance for a “significant disciplinary violation.” The decision was backed by eight of the nine other SJC members.

Jhangiryan claimed that the decision was made on June 16 and is only being made public now. He thus seemed to deny any connection between it and a scandalous audio of his February 2021 meeting with Vartazaryan which the latter secretly recorded and publicized on June 20.

The 14-minute recording suggests that Jhangiryan warned Vartazaryan to resign or face criminal charges. He also said he wants to help Pashinyan prevent former President Robert Kocharian from returning to power.

The audio caused uproar in Armenia, with opposition and civil society figures describing it as clear evidence of political orders executed by Jhangiryan and his illegal interference in the work of law-enforcement bodies. They said that he must be not only sacked but also prosecuted.

The country’s main opposition groups portray Vartazaryan’s revelation as further proof that Pashinyan’s administration has been trying to tighten control over the judiciary, rather than reform it.

The SJC discussed the scandal on Tuesday but did not move to take even disciplinary action against its acting head.

For their part, prosecutors ordered the Investigative Committee to look into the audio. The law-enforcement agency has still not opened a criminal case in connection with it.

Vartazaryan’s lawyer, Hovannes Khudoyan, said on Thursday that his client has been summoned to the Investigative Committee for questioning.

Government to allocate 268.5 mln drams from state budget for subvention programs of governorates

Vardan Badalian

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 11:36, 17 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government will provide 268.5 million drams from the state budget with a co-finance for the subvention programs of the governorates.

During the Cabinet meeting today, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan said that the funds will be provided for 20 subvention programs of 18 settlements. “Since January 2022 we have already provided 5.6 billion drams for 229 programs, and provide funds for 20 more programs today. This year we complete a total of 249 programs as of June 17 and allocate 5.9 billion drams for these works”, he said, adding that these applications are mainly directed to capital investments in communities, such as renovation of streets, parks, playgrounds, construction and renovation of community buildings, cultural houses, kindergartens, etc.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his turn that last week he visited Ararat province and noticed that large-scale works are underway in the province.

“We were very happy to see that, the works are being carried out in a proper quality. We returned from Ararat province with positive impressions and energy and are planning to make similar visits to all provinces”, the PM said, highlighting the construction of pools necessary for drip irrigation with subvention programs, which, he said, is a very important technology system.

Prime Minister of Armenia leaves Doha, Qatar

Vardan Badalian
Qatar –
Published: 14 Jun 2022 – 07:43 pm | Last Updated: 14 Jun 2022 – 07:45 pm
QNA - Doha – Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia HE Nikol Pashinyan left Doha on Tuesday afternoon following an official visit to the country.

His Excellency and the accompanying delegation were seen off upon departure at Doha International Airport by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs HE Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Armenia HE Mohammed bin Hamad Al Hajri and Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the State of Qatar HE Armen Sargsyan. 

https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/14/06/2022/prime-minister-of-armenia-leaves-doha

Ardem Patapoutian elected honorary member of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences

Vardan Badalian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
, 18:14

 1 minute read

By the decision of the General Assembly of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia on June 9, the prominent American-Armenian scientist, Nobel Prize winner, molecular biologist-neurobiologist, Professor Ardem Patapoutian was elected an honorary member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.

Professor Patapoutian has outstanding achievements in the field of molecular biology and neurophysiology. In 2021 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of receptors for temperature and touch.

Artem Pataputyan was born in 1967 in Beirut. In 1986 he moved to the United States. In 1990 he received a bachelor’s degree in cell development biology from the University of California, and in 1996 he did his PhD in biology at the California Institute of Technology.

In 2000 he became a lecturer at the Scripps Research Institute. From 2000 to 2014 he worked as a researcher at the Novartis Research Foundation, and from 2014 at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Professor Patapoutian heads the Scripps Research Endowed Chair in Neurobiology at Scripps Research.

Exhibition on Armenian-Arab relations opens at Qatar National Library

Vardan Badalian

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 14:54,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. “Arabic messages from Armenia: Heritage for Cultural Dialogue” temporary exhibition opened in the National Library of Qatar on June 14 on the sidelines of the official visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his delegation in Doha, Armenpress correspondent reports.

9 duplicate samples from the numismatic and archeological collections of the History Museum of Armenia were displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition posters presented cultural values and historical facts about the Armenian-Arab long-lasting relations.

The exhibition will remain open for a week.