Category: 2020

EU allocates additional €24 million in grants to support Armenia’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 23 2020

The European Union (EU) announced on Wednesday about the disbursement of additional €24 million in grants to support Armenia’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic. As the EU Delegation to Armenia said in a statement, the decision follows a positive assessment on progress in development of a Mid-Term Recovery Plan (MTRP), macroeconomic stability, public financial management and state budget transparency, in the frame of the COVID-19 Resilience Contract signed between the EU and the Government of Armenia.

As part of the European Union’s € 92 million response package to the COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia, this new disbursement of €24 million is meant to help Armenia in its fight against the COVID-19 crisis and in strengthening the economic and financial resilience in the country. This EU assistance announced today is an extra support to the recently disbursed Euro 35.6 million of last month and creates additional fiscal space to implement Government healthcare and anti-crisis measures for vulnerable groups and businesses affected by COVID-19.

“We firmly believe that it will greatly contribute to Armenia’s recovery from the pandemic, supporting the Government in overcoming the socio-economic hardships resulted by the crisis,” Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan has said. 

Andrea Wiktorin, EU Head of Delegation, in turn, said in part: “Our assistance is expected to help implement important economic reforms, preserve jobs & small businesses and promote inclusive growth in Armenia. The fight against pandemic is definitely not over but we can overcome it only by standing together as one”

According to the source, the EU’s response follows a Team Europe approach, aimed at saving lives by providing quick and targeted support to our partners to face this pandemic. It combines resources from the EU, its Member States and European financial institutions to support partner countries and address their short-term needs, as well as the longer-term structural impacts on societies and the economy.


Armenian Protesters Demand PM’s Resignation

Samvel Nahapetian
Republic World
Dec 23 2020
Written By

Associated Press Television News

Thousands of people took to the streets of Yerevan again on Tuesday demanding the Armenian prime minister's resignation over his handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

Opposition politicians and their supporters have been calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to step down for weeks since he signed a peace deal that halted 44 days of deadly fighting at the cost of territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.

Crowds of protesters on Tuesday gathered near government buildings in Yerevan, chanting "Nikol, go away!"

Several hours into the rally, opposition supporters erected tents on Yerevan's main square.

Heavy fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in late September in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, killing more than 5,600 people on both sides.

A peace deal brokered by Russia on November 10 saw Azerbaijan reclaim control over broad swathes of the region and surrounding lands which were held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century.

The peace deal was celebrated in Azerbaijan as a major triumph, but sparked outrage and mass protests in Armenia where thousands repeatedly took to the streets.

Pashinyan has defended the deal as a painful but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

(IMAGE CREDITS:AP)

Iran Ready to Help Permanently Settle Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Official

Emil Lazarian
Iran Front Page
Dec 23 2020
By IFP Editorial Staff
–

Iran has expressed its readiness to contribute to a permanent and definitive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Mahmoud Vaezi, the chief of staff of Iran’s Presidential Office, made the comment in a meeting with visiting Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev Abdulla oglu.

Vaezi said he was pleased to see the military conflict between the Azerbaijan Republic and Armenia has come to an end.

“Iran has always believed that differences between countries, especially neighbours, should be resolved through negotiations, and that war is, by no means, a replacement for political solutions,” he said.

He said holding multilateral meetings such as the trilateral session between Iran, Iran and the Azerbaijan Republic, or the five-way meeting between Iran, the Azerbaijan Republic, Russia, Turkey and Armenia will bring the countries closer together and contribute to the promotion of constructive and fruitful economic cooperation in the region.

“As the Azerbaijani president has stressed, Iran regards its borders with that country as a border of peace and friendship. Iran has always respected the territorial integrity of all countries and has asked other countries, too, to respect one another’s territorial integrity,” the Iranian official noted.

“Iran believes and has repeatedly emphasized that governments and neighbours should not allow foreign powers to meddle in their relations, and so far we have seen that foreign interference has only fueled differences and conflicts between neighbours and jeopardized peace and stability in the region,” Vaezi said.

“Any move or action which would result in misunderstanding and set the stage for straining relations with others should be avoided,” the Iranian official underlined.

He said officials of both countries are set to forge closer ties, which could expedite the implementation of joint ventures and further enhancement of economic cooperation as well.

The Azerbaijani official, in turn, conveyed warm greetings by his country’s president Ilham Aliyev for his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani.

He said Aliyev always regards borders between the two countries as serving peace and friendship.

The Azerbaijani official expressed gratitude to Iran for helping settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and supporting his country’s territorial integrity.

He added Baku regards its relations with Tehran as “strategic.”
Meanwhile, Vaezi told reporters after the meeting that new conditions have emerged in the region following the end of the military conflict between the Azerbaijan Republic and Armenia, “so it was necessary to have a meeting and discuss issues of mutual interest.”

He echoed remarks by the Azerbaijani president who had described borders between the two countries as frontiers for peace and friendship.

During his meeting with the Azerbaijani deputy prime minister, Vaezi further told reporters, the two sides agreed to hold a meeting of the Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Cooperation Commission and speed up the implementation of joint projects on the construction of railways, dams and power stations.

Bishops of the Church of England urge UNESCO to help protect Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh

Emma Jilavian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 23 2020

The Lord Bishop of Southwark, the Right Reverend Christopher Chessun, has written to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, along with the Bishops of Leeds, Coventry and Ebbsfleet, about the danger of Azerbaijan’s cultural genocide, reports the Armenian National Committee of the United Kingdom.

The Bishops warn that “it is time to act now before centuries of history are lost forever.”

“We are concerned by the reports of damage to several historic religious sites in the region and that this has been motivated by a desire to diminish historical roots and cultural diversity. If true, and if left unchecked, such action risks fueling and exacerbating an already complex post-conflf environment so impeding attempts at post-conflf reconciliation,” the letter reads.

The Bishops, therefore urge UNESCO to take all possible and appropriate measures to protect the sites on the territories currently under Azerbaijani control.


Iran-Armenia gas pipeline not blown up – Ministry

Diana Dabaghian
Public Radio of Armenia

Dec 23 2020

The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia has denied reports claiming the Azerbaijani side has blown up the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.

The comments come after the politik.am website published a video allegedly showing the blowing up of the pipeline.

The Ministry says “the information does not correspond to reality” and adds that “the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline continues to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to Armenia.”

The Ministry urges media outlets to refrain from spreading unverified information, not to cause unnecessary panic in the public.


Commodities worth $233m exported to Armenia in 8 months

Lara Chatinian
Tehran Times
Dec 23 2020

– 11:28

TEHRAN- Iran has exported products worth $233 million to Armenia during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-November 20), an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) announced.

Behrouz Hasan Olfat, the director-general of TPO’s office of trade with Europe and America, said that the eight-month export shows a 27-percent fall year on year, adding, “But we hope to make up for this in the last quarter of the year.”

The official put Iran’s worth of the import from Armenia at $11 million during the first eight months of the present year.

He also referred to the trade data released by Armenia and said Iran-Armenia trade during January-October 2020 stood at nearly $330 million, of which $254 million has been the share of Iran’s export and $74 million was the share of Armenia’s export.

The ten-month trade between the two neighbors shows a 0.6-percent rise year on year, he added.

Iran’s preferential trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has had a significant impact on the country’s trade relations with Armenia, according to the head of Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“The two sides are applying tariff discounts offered based on the agreement and there has been no problem in this regard”, Hervik Yarijanian said in January.

According to the official, the volume of trade between the two countries has witnessed an outstanding rise since the agreement became effective last October.

Iran mainly imports red meat from Armenia, while Armenia imports polymer raw materials, machinery, industrial gases, manufactured artifacts, leather, and leather goods from Iran, he said.

He further noted that Iran has a much greater export capability compared to Armenia, adding that traders have not yet gotten used to the idea of the preferential trade agreement and hopefully with the expansion of this deal, more Iranian traders will be attracted to the Armenian market.

Iran and Armenia have been emphasizing the need for preserving and expanding trade relations between the two countries since the preferential trade deal between Iran and EAEU was implemented.

While the U.S. renewed sanctions on Iran are aimed at isolating the Islamic Republic both politically and economically, Iran’s relations, especially in the economic sectors, with its neighbors are seemed not to be affected by the sanctions.

The northwestern neighbor Armenia is one of the countries preserving and expanding its economic relations with Iran regardless of the sanction condition.

MA/MA

Hayastan All Armenian Fund provides temporary housing to more than 100 people displaced from Hadrut

Arsine Chaltikian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 23 2020
Hayastan All Armenian Fund provides temporary housing to more than 100 people displaced from Hadrut

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund will cover the short-term housing and food needs of more than 100 people displaced from Hadrut currently living in different hotels.

Many people from Artsakh were left without shelter as a result of the war, and displaced families from Artsakh continue to stay in Armenia accommodating in different temporary shelters, guest houses and hotels.

Last week the deputy director of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund Ararat Khlghatyan visited Artsakh to meet with State Minister Grigory Martirosyan and Minister of Urban Development Aram Sargsyan. The current status of the Fund’s projects implemented in Artsakh was monitored and the details of new projects were discussed.

“The Himnadram will try to fund the renovation of war-damaged apartments and houses in Artsakh by investing about 2 million USD.” said Haykak Arshamyan, Executive Director of the Fund.

The Hayastan All Armenian Fund continues to stay true to its mission by contributing to the proportional development of Armenia and Artsakh.


Review of the Year: Azerbaijan takes the upper hand in Nagorno-Karabakh Access to the commentsCOMMENTS

Emil Lazarian
EuroNews
Dec 23 2020
 
 
Review of the Year: Azerbaijan takes the upper hand in Nagorno-Karabakh
 
By Manuela Scarpellini
 
Armed conflict erupted in the Caucasus in September 2020. It would last 44 days, leave more than 5000 people dead and redefine the map of the Caucasus.
 
It was over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh: internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but controlled by ethnic Armenians since a separatist war in 1994.
 
Conflicting explanations of the outbreak
 
What provoked the latest conflict was a matter of dispute: there’d been clashes over recent years but not on this scale.
 
Two weeks into the fighting – the leaders of each side gave Euronews their side of the story.
 
"We regret that civilians are being killed,” said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. “And of course, we were not the source of this attack. They attacked our cities and villages and we had to respond. But our response is primarily is on their military positions".
 
"We have not attacked anyone,” said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “Our actions and the actions of Karabakh are only for self-defence. We have not and do not have the purpose to kill anyone. Our only purpose is to protect the Armenian people from another genocide. It is a self-defence purpose."
 
It was Azerbaijan who got the upper hand in the fighting – and Russia, traditionally close to the Armenians – who stepped in to stop the contest. In November Vladimir Putin brokered a ceasefire agreement, signed by both sides, in separate ceremonies.
 
"We proceed from the premise that the agreements reached will create the necessary conditions for a long-term and full-scale settlement of the crisis around Nagorno-Karabakh on a just basis and in the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples,” he said.
 
Russian peacekeepers and Russian and Turkish observers were sent in to oversee the ceasefire, the construction of highways and the free movement of people. Territorially, the deal consolidated Azerbaijani gains: a part of Nagorno-Karabakh itself and three territories around it, taken back from Armenian control.
 
Pashinyan faces calls to resign
 
Azeris celebrated what they saw as a victory, but in the Armenian parliament, frustrations exploded.
 
Opposition anger was directed towards Nikol Pashinyan, who was labelled as a traitor and called on to resign.
 
According to the Armenian government, some 90,000 ethnic Armenians have been displaced by the conflict. In areas which have been handed over to Azerbaijan, they burnt their homes to the ground before leaving, to ensure they wouldn’t fall into Azeri hands.
 
The peace agreement has "frozen" the status quo but has certainly not resolved what is one of the world's oldest conflicts.
 
The deal ratified the growing Russian and Turkish influence in the region. France, which has a large Armenian community and had a major role in previous negotiations, was sidelined.
 
 
 

Parliament of Wallonia (Belgium) condemns Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh

Lara Chatinian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 23 2020
Parliament of Wallonia condemns Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh
The Parliament of Wallonia has strongly and unanimously condemned the Azerbaijani military aggression backed by Turkey against the Armenians of Artsakh, reports the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD).

In particular, the Parliament asks the Walloon government to speak up with the federal government in order to:

– to condemn the military attack on the Republic of Artsakh and any aggression and violation of international humanitarian law and to call on all parties to respect the strictest international humanitarian law in view of foreign interference inciting the parties to armed confrontation, coming from in particular of the Republic of Turkey;

– ensure that no military offensive takes place and that substantive negotiations take place under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group and note that the task of this group is to decide on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh;

– to encourage the parties to enter into discussions without delay and without any preconditions under the auspices of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group with the participation of representatives of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, the main population affected by this conflict.

The Parliament also strongly condemns the execution of Prisoners of War and calls on the Belgian government to ensure that such crimes are prosecuted and punished.

It requires Turkey not to promote in any way the potential transfer and settling of Syrian mercenaries to Nagorno-Karabakh and to play an active role in ensuring the return of at least 2,500 Syrian mercenaries who moved to the region during the hostilities to their country of origin.

Finally, it calls on the federal government to support UNESCO so that it intervenes with the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh in order to guarantee the safeguarding and conservation of the exceptional heritage.

Expert reveals ‘price’ Armenia will have to pay to normalize relations with Turkey

Ani Tigranian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 23 2020

Expert in international studies Suren Sargsyan has revealed the “price” Armenia will have to pay for Armenian-Turkish normalization.

“The ruling elite is talking much about the need to normalize relations with Turkey with a serious face. I would like to remind you that since the 1990s Turkey has set and does not abandon the following preconditions:

1. Removal of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide from Armenia’s foreign policy agenda, that is, rejection of the recognition.

2. Recognition of the borders of Turkey (territorial integrity) by Armenia.

3. A clear statement on the absence of territorial claims of Armenia against Turkey.

4. Re-editing of Armenia’s Declaration of Independence.

5. Removing the image of Mount Ararat from the coat of arms.

6. Return of the whole of Artsakh to Azerbaijan.

This is the price that Armenia will have to pay if it wants to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

The expert stated the current Armenian authorities do not have the skills or moral rights to hold negotiations on the matter.

“So it's better for them not to start. Although, if they have fulfilled the sixth point, they may do the rest as well… " he added.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2020/12/23/expert-relations-Turkey/2425336