Category: 2021

"The Armenian authorities try to silence the opposition through fabricated criminal cases and arrests instead of addressing their legitimate concerns," Artur Vanetsyan, the Leader of Homeland party told an interview with Hraparak daily. Armenia, per Vanetsyan, thus is backtracking from democratic values. 

"On one hand, law enforcement bodies have literally turned into henchmen of the authorities. I call on those officers, who are serving in the law enforcement structures today, to remind that nothing lasts forever, the current leadership in Armenia as well. The time for accountability will come, and all should claim responsibility for their actions or criminal inaction," Vanetsyan said. 

At a question how long the arbitrariness of the authorities may last, Vanetsyan responded: "I can clearly state that as long as Nikol and his team are in power. Violence and hatred are integral part of their essence and their work-style. As a proof to that I can mention the recent local elections and the illegalities by the authorities," Vanetsyan said, pointing to the fabricated criminal case launched against elected member of  Vanadzor City Council Mamikon Aslanyan who was arrested right after the victory in the local self-governmental elections. 

The officers of the Artsakh Republic Humanitarian Demining Center have detected 173 remnants of weapons of different calibre in Martuni, Martakert and Askeran regions in the past week, the Artsakh Republic State Service for Emergency Situations. According to the source, 215 weapons of large calibre were detected and neutralized and more than 92,400 sq. m territory has been cleared of unexploded ordnance. 

In total, since September 2020, 859,029 explosives and ammunition have been detected and destroyed in the territory of the Republic. 

"Armenia is heading to normalise relations with Turkey according to Turkey's agenda, as the latter has always been declaring about preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia," Artur Vanetsyan, the Leader of Homeland party told an interview with Hraparak daily. 

Vanetsyan recalled preconditions set forward by Turkey which were refusal from Artsakh, refusal from the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and recognition of its territorial integrity by Armenia. 

"After the 44-day war, another precondition was added to the list, the provision of what they call 'Zangezur corridor'. Ankara has never made a statement confirming it has withdrawn its reconditions, quite the opposite, has stated that favorable conditions have been created for normalizing relations. Doesn't this mean that Armenia's leaders have agreed to those preconditions?" Vanetsyan asked, pointing specifically to inadmissibility of undermining the process for the international recognition of the Genocide. 

"I want to stress that the process of the international recognition of the Genocide is not only about restoring the historical justice. It is an important issue of security for Armenia and the Armenian people," said Vanetsyan. 

The former Chief of the National Security Service indicated another important aspect of the normalisation process, asking whether it is run bilaterally without a mediator or there are mediators. 

"This is extremely important to grasp the full picture of the process. In short, the process of Armenian-Turkish normalisation is dangerous, does not consider Armenia's interests," Vanetsyan concluded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his greetings on Christmas and the New Year 2022 to heads of foreign states and governments, as well as leaders of international organizations, the Kremlin press service reported on Thursday.

In addition, the Russian leader wished a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to a number of former heads of foreign states and governments, in particular Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan and third President Serzh Sargsyan, as well as Shinzo Abe, Silvio Berlusconi, George W. Bush, Angela Merkel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Romano Prodi, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Fillon, Tarja Halonen, King Juan Carlos I and Gerhard Schroeder.

2021 was the year of post-war repercussions, and very serious efforts were required to keep the situation in Armenia and around it controllable, Nikol Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting on Thursday, adding at the beginning of 2021 they faced that problem.

“It took huge efforts from the public administration system to be able to overcome the domestic situation in 2021 without shocks,” he said. “We encountered very serious problems in the external environment, and we still continue to encounter them. The invasion of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the Sotk-Khoznavar section since May 2021, the consequences of that act, and the incident of November 16 further underscore our security concerns.”

He proposed the participants of the meeting to observe a minute's silence to honor all those, who sacrificed their lives for the homeland in 2021 and in the past.

Afterwards, Pashinyan referred to the plans of the government for 2022.

“We must make every effort in 2022 to make it a year of prosperity and revival. This is our main message today. It is clear that the post-war agenda and the consequences will still be felt for a long period, and we must step by step, consistently overcome this situation and try to solve all the problems that are on the foreign policy agenda. My conviction is that we must do everything in our power to find solutions. We must do our best to leave inheritance to the next generations, to the next governments, not problems that are constantly becoming more complicated, but a stable and recorded situation, which is a key precondition for ensuring the further normal development of the country,” he said

“On the other hand, of course, this is not easy; no matter how much we are willing to take responsibility for making decisions, we must also state that making those decisions often does not depend only on us. This is the most important point. We must be able to bring to maturity a process that will finally give us the opportunity to record the situation and complete the agenda of opening an era of peaceful development for Armenia and our region," Pashinyan noted.

GM Levon Aronian, the Armenian star-player who recently moved to and now represents the United States, finished day one of the World Blitz Chess Championship with 10/12 and in clear first, Chess.com reports.

Behind him are Egyptian GM Bassem Amin, the five-time African champion with 9.5/12, and 21-year-old Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo, with 9/12.

GM Haik Martirosyan of Armenia finished day one with 8.5/12, sharing the 4th-13th places, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports reported.

The World Blitz Chess Championship will conclude on Thursday. The marathon event was jam-packed with action as 179 participants in the open section played no fewer than 12 games in one day, and they will play another nine today.

Armenia lacks not only a vision of economic development, but also of the country in general, Doctor of Economics, Professor Tatul Manaseryan told Panorama.am in an interview on Thursday, summing up the economic year.

According to him, development tendencies have been observed in the country this year, but they do not stem from the socio-economic policy of the state.

"The development is mostly due to the consistent efforts made by the private sector in these difficult times… In other words, the private sector is paving the way for itself," said the economist, adding that the economy is mainly developing by inertia.

According to him, although Armenia is in the process of recovery after the 2020 Artsakh war, the authorities still have no idea how to get the country out of the current situation.

He also denounced the economy minister’s unrealistic economic growth forecasts for the next year.

“In fact, we need to restore the economy, and clear priorities must be set for it. First of all, bonuses, representation expenses and car purchases for officials must be ruled out for the time being. Until the country stabilizes, let the officials go to work on foot or use public transport. It has always been the case in Artsakh, that's why there are no rifts between officials and the people, as in Armenia," Manaseryan said.

The economist considers the rule of the current leadership a “bigger disaster” for the country, than the war and the earthquake. He expressed surprise at the silence of the intellectuals, who do not react to the developments taking place in the country.

“Those who remain silent are no less accomplices than those, who are in power today," the economist said.

On December 23-24, a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani public and cultural figures was held in Moscow for the first time since last year’s war in Artsakh, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing broadcast by RT on Thursday.

"We believe that this meeting has served its purpose, namely, the establishment of good communication between representatives of scientific and cultural elites of the two neighboring countries with the creation of a favorable background for a consistent normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan," she said.

According to her, the participants were unanimous on the role of intellectuals in reducing the degree of distrust between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples.

"The mood for a constructive dialogue was demonstrated also during the discussion of sensitive humanitarian topics, including the return of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan and the handover of the remaining minefield maps by Armenia,” Zakharova said.

“We have supported and will continue to support such endeavors. We believe that such a unifying agenda is extremely relevant and will help reach substantial agreements, which will in turn create an atmosphere for moving forward in other directions as well.

“We are planning to hold such contacts on a regular basis in the future, including in Azerbaijan and Armenia," Zakharova noted.