Author: Yeghisabet Vorskanian

The Council of Europe and European Union will carry out four projects in Armenia under the Programmatic Cooperation Framework in 2015-2017.

The projects will focus on improving electoral processes in the country, combatting ill-treatment and impunity, strengthening healthcare and human rights protection in Armenian prisons, as well as fighting corruption in higher education in Armenia.

The projects are funded by the EU and the Council of Europe, and are implemented by the Council of Europe. The total budget of these projects is 2.2mn euro. In addition to these country-specific projects, Armenia also participates in 14 regional initiatives covering several countries.

The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting on the margins of the Assembly’s autumn plenary session in Strasbourg, approved the following statement yesterday:

“The Monitoring Committee welcomes the progress of constitutional reform in Armenia, which has been conducted in close co-operation with the Venice Commission. This has resulted in a text that, in the view of the Venice Commission, is of high quality and in line with international standards.

The committee similarly welcomes the fact that the constitutional changes will be adopted by referendum, and it calls on all political forces to participate in the referendum and the consultations that are part of it.

The committee notes that some issues in the proposed reform are politically contentious and hotly debated in Armenian society. The choice of political system is for Armenian citizens, and only for them, to decide in the forthcoming referendum. The committee therefore calls on all political stakeholders to ensure that the referendum is conducted according to the highest democratic standards.”

In a statement adopted today, the State Commission Coordinating the Armenian Genocide Centennial Events expressed gratitude to the peoples of the Middle East, who sheltered the Armenian Genocide survivors 100 years ago. The statement reads:

“Now that the life of the peoples of the region, the existence of the ethnic and religious communities is endangered, we consider it a moral obligation to stand by them.

On these days the attention of the world is focused on the tragic events in the Middle East, especially Syria and Iraq, the fate of the refugees that flee terrorism and civil war.

Armenia has opened its doors for Armenians of Syria and Iraq and has accepted more than 16 thousand refugees so far. All Armenian state structures are involved in solving their problems and accelerating their integration with the society.

The Armenian Diaspora structures, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund have initiated and implemented a number of programs to ease the condition of Armenians of Syria and Iraq.

• Deeply concerned by the events in the Middle East;
• Interested in the soonest establishment of peace and stability in the region;
• Strongly condemning the crimes committed by terrorist organizations, which claim the lives of thousands of innocent people, destroy holy places and cultural values;
• Assessing these barbarities as crimes against humanity and civilization;
• Aware that the defense of the peoples of the region requires combined efforts and comprehensive support, including provision of humanitarian aid both to the refugees and the endangered communities;

The State Commission Coordinating the Armenian Genocide Centennial Events applies to:

• All inter-governmental and international humanitarian organizations, countries implementing programs targeted at solving refugee problems to provide soonest comprehensive support to the people of Syria, who have found themselves in a disastrous situation, to take corresponding measures to provide assistance to all states that have taken practical steps to accept refugees, including Armenia;
• All state institutions, public and private organizations in Armenia to take comprehensive steps to ease the solution of problems facing the Syrian Armenians;
• All community organizations and individuals to take all possible means to support and provide comprehensive assistance to the community in Syria and those who have moved to Armenia.

The worrying situation of Syrian Armenians is a challenge facing the whole Armenian nation and requires urgent combination of the powers and capacities of Armenia and Diaspora to coordinate all actions to solve the problems of compatriots with joint efforts.”

The State Commission concluded that assisting any Armenian in need is a sacred duty and responsibly, pledging the willingness of the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora to maintain support for any Armenian in an emergency.

The Office of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office held a regular monitoring of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the direction of the Aygepar village in Tavush region.

From the Armenian side the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistants of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Yevgeny Sharov (Ukraine) and Peter Svedberg (Sweden).

Before the monitoring the OSCE officials were briefed on the situation at the Tavush border and the statistics of ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani side. The heads of Movses and Verin Karmiraghbyur communities voiced their concern over the shelling of civilians.

During the monitoring the parties established radio communication and provided security guarantees. No incidents were registered during the monitoring.

The OSCE officials were also accompanied to one of the villages that suffered as a result of the attack to register the consequences of the shelling on the ground and learn about the concerns of the local population.

The Field Assistants of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office made some notes, which they will include in future reports.

Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan participated in a charity event at the Football Academy today.

Mkhitaryan signed balls, which were presented to 30 kids, beneficiaries of the Armenian Caritas, including 10 Syrian Armenians.

Mkhitaryan also signed 2 t-shirts and 20 balls, which will be auctioned in the future: all proceeds will be donated to Armenian orphanages.

Diaspora Armenian businessmen Tigran Tchablakian and Grigor Jaburyan from Tecbuy and Airpo-Tech companies gifted an “Erebouni Haverzh” unique golden pen to Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The player signed the balls with the pen.

Dear Compatriots!
I congratulate you on the occasion of the Independence Day of Nagorno Karabakh.

The Independence Day of Artsakh is a festivity for Armenians in all over the world, but first of all it is the festivity for the people from Artsakh. On this very historic day in 1991 due to the declaration of independence a suffering but at the same time heroic segment of Armenians was saved from the clutches of violence and totalitarian regime, national and religious discrimination, persecution and pogroms, lie, falsehood and anti-Armenian racist propaganda. And it was you who did it.

And our struggle was not over with that heroic deed; on the contrary, it entered a new stage of fight for the right to live in our own house with dignity, for the human and national rights. On the battlefield the Artskhian defended his and his children’s life, saved his and his children’s future.

In 2015 that marks the 100th anniversary of Meds Yeghern, when we commemorate the canonized martyrs, independent and proud-spirited Artsakh gains deeper significance and value for all of us.

Dear compatriots,

Day by the number of friends of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and its people is growing. Day by day the international reputation of Artsakh, steadily walking along the path of independence and democracy, is growing. It is the result of both your just and creative efforts and your achievements in the statehood- and army-building.

Once again I congratulate you on the occasion of this glorious day, recalling the longstanding and wise motto “Freedom does not have an alternative”.

The delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan visited the Armenian Apostolic Church in Marseille.

The spiritual leader of the church Priest Aram Ghazaryan briefed the Mayor on the history of foundation of the church and its current activities.

Attaching particular importance to preserving the national culture and traditions and to the role and significance of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Diaspora, Mayor Taron Margaryan thanked Priest Aram Ghazaryan for consistent work towards unity of the Armenian community of Marseille.

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia team and the Global Builders volunteer team from the U.S., led by Cynthia Reimers Erickson, celebrated the 400th home milestone in Lejan village of Lori Region.

It’s the call of blood and the will of helping others that brings  Cynthia Erickson to Armenia already 10 years; and she comes not alone, but with teams of volunteers who do tremendous work in short time building homes for Armenian families in need of decent housing.

The day was of triple celebration; the 400th home milestone construction became more noteworthy with the 10th year celebration of the dedicated veteran team leader, Cynthia Reimers Erickson and a devoted, selfless volunteer Charles Takesian – 10 years with Fuller Center for Housing Armenia, 10 years of dedicated and selfless service to help the dream of having a decent home of the families in need come true.

”I am very happy to be working with the Fuller Center Armenia all these years. They have dedicated and extremely competent staff who have generous hearts and are devoted to helping their fellow Armenians be successful in Armenia. It is a pleasure for me to bring a team of Americans to Armenia to work with these selfless folks and contribute to the completion of a suitable home for a family.  Armenia is in my blood and, for me, this is the best way I can honor the memory of my grandparents and their family members who were deprived of their lives and their homeland – by helping others gain a home and strengthen their homeland,” said Cynthia Reimers Erickson.

Many families have felt the constructive force of Cynthia Erickson’s team. This time the Margaryans from Lejan Vilage of Lori Region were among the happy ones, who have been the eyewitness of the unreal seeming change of their house since June 15.

The Margaryans lost their house during the 1988 earthquake and since then they have been living in a temporary shelter (domik).

”Each time I see the Armenian families becoming homeowners  it fills me with special joy and sense of pride. Today it’s the 400th times I am the eyewitness of such happiness. I hope that we will still build many more homes with the help of our friend, Cynthia, who helped us in our mission throughout her 10 years of devotion, her team and many other volunteers who come to Armenia to help build homes,” said Fuller Center for Housing Armenia President Ashot Yeghiazaryan.

On 17 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan and Deputy Head of the General Staff of the Republic of Armenia’s Armed Forces Movses Hakobyan.

A number of issues related to army building and cooperation between the two Armenian states in this sphere were discussed during the meeting.

NKR Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan was present at the meeting.

 

 

 

An international conference on “NATO-Armenia relations in the context of new challenges” initiated by the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) was held in Yerevan today.

According to ACGRC Head Stepan Grigoryan, Armenia’s cooperation with NATO is rather constructive, but it cannot go too deep because we are part of a different security system.

“There is no doubt that the cooperation with NATO comes to supplement our security. I think NATO has chosen the right way of cooperation with Armenia to the extent the latter wants, without any noise and ambitions,” Grigoryan said.

The cooperation with NATO has risen to a certain level in the field of peacekeeping operations, which has led to the improvement of Armenia’s international standing, Stepan Grigoryan said. He added that the “humanitarian and scientific programs are also on a high level.”

Gerlinde Niehus, Head of Communications at NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, said Armenia is a very important country for NATO. She hailed the cooperation in international peacekeeping and voiced hope that the collaboration would further succeed.

German Ambassador to Armenia Rayner Morel voiced his appreciation for the level of Armenia’s relations with NATO.

Amb. Morel noted that Armenia is a good member of the CSTO and added that there are other opportunities the country should use.

As for statements from Azerbaijan suggesting that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship should be extended to include Germany, the Ambassador said “Germany supports the OSCE Minsk Group, but has no wish to join it.”

Speaking about the Armenian Genocide Resolution pending at the Bundestag, Rayner Morel said he can make no predictions, but voiced confidence that discussions will take place. He reminded that the German President made it clear that the what happened in 1915 was genocide.