Armenian News... A Topalian... Panorama Armenia

Panorama, Armenia
Sept 27 2017
UK looks to work with the Armenian authorities to improve the country’s investment climate: Alan Duncan 

The United Kingdom seeks to raise trade volumes in Armenia, Alan Duncan, UK Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, told a joint press conference with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan, Armenia. 

“We have a number of approaches and perspectives. Firstly, we look to work with the authorities of Armenia to increase trade flows to the country: to improve the business climate, which can attract investors,” the UK official said. 

He also pointed to the process of joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative scheduled for next year as another good step to that end. 

Alan Duncan stressed they also want to find ways to do business in other spheres as well. “For this purpose, we have appointed a trade representative who will come to study the fields.” 

The senior UK official also noted that he has brought to Armenia the warm wishes of Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as an important message – the UK will leave the European Union but never Europe and the world. “We shall continue playing an active role in the international arena through the UN, NATO, OSCE and will show a particular interest towards this region in issues referring to defense, security and trade,” Alan Duncan highlighted. 


PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 27 2017
UK minister visits Genocide memorial in Armenia 
A delegation led by the United Kingdom's minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, lawmaker Alan Duncan visited the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan on Wednesday, September 27. 

The guests laid flowers near the eternal fire to pay tribute to the 1.5 million innocent victims and observed a moment of silence. 

Also, Duncan toured the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute (AGMI) and watched the exhibits and photographic materials showcased inside. 

The minister then left a note in the book of memories. 


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Alan Duncan: We condemned Armenian massacres 100 years ago (video)
September 27,2017

[but we keep quiet about it now]

Alan Duncan, Minister of State of the UK for Europe and the Americas at the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, was on the way to surprise Armenian journalists when answering a question about Great Britain`s position on the Armenian Genocide.

“Great Britain condemned the massacre of Armenians 100 years ago. Today I visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and after laying a wreath, I visited the Genocide Museum-Institute. There are also British documents there,” Mr. Duncan said today during a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Before that the Minister of State congratulated Armenia for the constitutional referendum as a result of which the country decided to switch to a parliamentary system of government. He says several years later Armenians will undoubtedly have something to tell the British [people] about the benefits of this system of government.

During the joint press conference, the two diplomats discussed joint efforts in the fight against terrorism as well as actions to increase trade volume between the two countries. Journalists were particularly interested in the idea that the Minister expressed during the Sixth Armenia-Diaspora Conference in Yerevan. The Armenian FM said in part that Armenia should surrender several regions to resolve the Karabakh issue. Which districts did the Minister mean?

“Some quotes and comments were cut out of the context. I didn`t speak about concrete regions or about the conflict. I spoke about the three principles included in the five statements of the [OCSE] Minsk Group co-chairing countries, which, as the co-chairs state, are a whole and the attempts to single out any of the principles will make the settlement impossible. This is what Azerbaijan has been doing [for years],” Mr. Nalbandian said.

Mr. Nalbandian reminded everyone that the most important is the issue of Artsakh’s status and security. Armenia’s approaches are in line with the proposals included in the co-chairs’ statements which Armenia tries to accept as a basis for negotiations while Azerbaijan simply neglects them. Journalists asked the minister to present Armenia’s stance on the independence referendum organized by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.

“We expect the Government of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq to avoid [further] tensions and have an opportunity to solve the existing problems,” the Armenian FM said.

See Armenian News video:
http://en.a1plus.am/1264129.html 

National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
Sept 27 2017
Event with Heading United Kingdom and Armenia-Partners in Parliamentary Democracy Held 
On September 27, the event with the heading United Kingdom and Armenia-Partners in Parliamentary Democracy was held in the RA National Assembly, during which the Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom Alan Duncan delivered a speech.

The RA NA Deputy Speaker, the Head of the NA Armenia-Great Britain Friendship Group Arpine Hovhannisyan, welcoming Alan Duncan in parliament has noted that this year sees the 25 th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and the United Kingdom, and during that period significant achievements have been recorded in numerous spheres.

The RA NA Deputy Speaker noted with gratitude the involvement of the Government of the United Kingdom in the numerous Armenia-based programmes and highly appreciated the support of that country in the ongoing economic and democratic reforms in Armenia.

Alan Duncan has highlighted the holding of the meeting in the RA National Assembly, noting that this building symbolises Armenia’s transition from one-party state into multi-party state. He has expressed conviction that the parliaments of the United Kingdom and Armenia will find common ends of cooperation. The Minister emphasized Armenia’s decision of passing into parliamentary system of government, considering it a significant step in the democratic process.

Alan Duncan presented in detail the history of the parliamentary government of the United Kingdom and the experience of overcoming the obstacles on that path. The Minister has touched upon the structure and the members of the UK House of Commons; and one-third of them are women, the ethnic minorities and the handicapped are of considerable number. Mr Duncan has noted with joy that the UK Government finances the programmes being implemented in the RA National Assembly, which will improve the parliamentary checks and balances, promoting that control of the government activity, the activation of cooperation with the society.

In the Minister's word, the United Kingdom assists the Armenian Government to implement wide scale programmes: in the spheres relating to the judicial-legal reforms, protection of human rights, fighting corruption.

Regarding the NK conflict, Alan Duncan has noted that the United Kingdom supports the OSCE Minsk Group efforts – to peacefully solve the long-lasting conflict. According to the Minister, courage will be required for establishing long-lasting peace.

At the end of the event the speaker answered the attendees' question, which related to the mechanisms and tools of parliamentary oversight, the NK conflict and the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as well as the international corruption scandal over Azerbaijan.


New Europe
Sept 27 2017
Nagorno-Karabakh in Fire
By Kassandra 

It is a question of months, if not weeks, for Trans-Caucasus to turn into fire.

Trans-Caucasus and not Caucasus because it is a Russian affair. The use of the terms “trans” is a geographical connotation. Literally, westerners use the terms “Caucasus” as such for the three former Soviets, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russians speak of these countries in relation to their location vis-a-vis Moscow, as they are located on the other side of the Caucasus mountains.

The starting theatre of the potentially upcoming conflict it will be Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri enclave, landlocked within Armenia. In this case, the belligerent parties, in the first place will be Azerbaijan and Armenia without excluding the involvement of Turkmenistan and other interested parties in South Caspian.

The conflict, according to intelligence sources, is likely to be fuelled by the Kremlin, to restore the “peace and balances” in Trans-Caucasus. For Russians, Azerbaijan, which was a energy-rich Soviet Republic, went too far by keeping equal distances between “East and West” is search of a “Finlandization” status in the Caspian. Now it seems that the Kremlin, decided to restore the “status quo ante” as the potential geopolitical re-shuffle in the area is close to the point of no-return. This is the reason Azerbaijan has gone into a crazy race of arms purchasing, from all possible suppliers.

Reality is that while Finland, in the years of the Cold War, was on the border separating the two blocs, Azerbaijan is the centre of the former Soviet Empire locked between two genuine Russian satellites, Armenia in the west and Turkmenistan in the east.

For years Azerbaijan was building ties with the West. This was a worrying signal for the Russians who consider the Caspian, except Iran, their economic zone. Past efforts to make Baku understand its geopolitical limitations failed. Not even Alexander Lukasenko , the President of Belarus, faithful ally to the Kremlin and close friend of the Azeri Presidential family, was able to convince Ilham Aliyev to reconsider his far-fetched openings to the West.

Russian has a significant penetration in the Presidential Administration, the inner circle of power in Baku. High ranking officials inherited in the Presidential Administration from the father of the President, late Heydar Aliyev Major General of KGB and Member of the last Soviet Politburo, are close to the Kremlin.

An armed conflict of Azerbaijan with Armenia may open another front in the east. The long-standing claims of Turkmenistan over the delineation of the continental shelf separating the territorial waters between the two countries is disputed by Ashgabat. The later claims that Apsheron (it is the Azeri peninsula in the Caspian where Baku is build), must not be considered in the delineation of the continental shelf. Baku is rejecting this claim otherwise its offshore oil fields will come under Turkmen ownership.

On top, there are about 20 million Azeri origin Iranians living in Iran next to the Azerbaijan border. This Azeri minority is double the size of Azerbaijan population and is the nightmare for Baku. Indeed, if for any reason, including Russian pressures, one day Teheran decides to send them back home, Azerbaijan will be totally destabilized.

Finally, under any circumstances, Russians consider Azerbaijan still an intra-Soviet affair in which the United States have neither legitimate nor any other interest to intervene


ARKA, Armenia
Sept 27 2017
Export of Armenian wines to Russia surges by 68 percent 
Export of Armenian wines to Russia surged by 68% in the first half of 2017, when compared to the same period in 2016 - from 614,200 liters to almost 1.1 million liters, according to the Customs Service.

According to customs data, the customs value of the exported wines to Russia in January-June 2017 was about $3.8 million, up from about $1.9 million in the same period in 2016.

Russia accounts for 81% of Armenian wine exports. Overall, exports of Armenian wines in the first half of 2017 increased by 61% from the year ago to about 1.3 million liters.

During the reporting period, Armenia also increased exports of brandy from 8.8 million liters ($60.5 million) to 12.3 million liters ($85.4 million). Some 91% of Armenian brandies are sold in Russia.


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Armenia starts to export more electricity
September 27,2017 

In the first eight months of the year, the electricity export from Armenia increased by 9.9%. Overall, about 955 million kilowatt hours of electricity were shipped compared to 868 million kilowatt last year.

The main part of exports went to the Iranian market. Supplies also have been restored to Georgia. Over 116 million kilowatt of electricity was supplied to the Georgian market. This became possible in February due to the signing of a contract on electricity transmission between Armenia and Georgia, signed between Energomash CJSC and Global International Energy Corporation.
It is expected to increase the export growth by at least 20% by the end of the year.

Also, it is noteworthy that 4.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity were consumed in the domestic market, which exceeded the indicator of the previous year by 276 million kilowatt hours or 7.2 percent.


Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
September 26, 2017 Tuesday
Armenian Genocide pictures displayed in Birth of Christianity in the
Middle East exhibition in Paris
The Birth of Christianity in the Middle East exhibition was opened on 

 September 25 in Insitut du Monde Arabe museum in Paris, France.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese President Michel Aoun
inaugurated the exhibition, Archimandrite Father Koryun Baghdasaryan
from the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem told ARMENPRESS.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has sent two 14th century
manuscripts and a 1798 altar curtain to the exhibition.

Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan, Primate of the Diocese of France of the
Armenian Church, and Archimandrite Father Koryun Baghdasaryan from the
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem participated in the grand opening
from the Armenian Church.

Patriarch of Assyrians Ephrem II was also present at the event.

The exhibition also touched upon the Armenian Genocide – presenting
the settlement of Armenians in Syria and Egypt through pictures.

Congressional Documents and Publications
September 26, 2017
Pallone Sees Tremendous Progress in Armenia after Visit
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) News Release
Washington, DC Returning to the US after a visit to Armenia during the
week celebrating Armenia's independence, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr
(NJ-06). said, "The progress of the country economically and
politically is immediately evident. I visited Armenia several times in
the 1990s and early 2000s. Great strides have been made in terms of
economic development and improvements in the political system since
then," said Pallone.

The Congressman was part of an exchange with Armenian Members of
Parliament who expect to come to Washington in the next six months.
His colleagues on the trip included Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs, Jackie
Speier (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA), as well as Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI). Pallone is the founder and remains a
co-chair of the Armenian Caucus in Congress.

"Yerevan looks increasingly like a modern Western city, but even in
the rural areas we saw on the way to Dilijan and Lake Sevan, there
were clearly major improvements to the infrastructure and the
agricultural economy.

"When I first visited Armenia 20 plus years ago, I worried that
subjects where Armenians excelled, for example in education and the
arts, would be lost due to the Artsakh War, the earthquake, and the
Turkish boycott. There's still a long way to go, but things are coming
back more rapidly than expected; in part because of help coming from
diaspora Armenians. The high tech programs we witnessed at the
Armenian University at Yerevan and the classical performances at a
public school with music students were signs of renewed excellence by
younger Armenians. The IT sector has grown over 30% over the last year
alone," Pallone continued.

The New Jersey Congressman also believes there is recent progress
towards democracy and the rule of law.

"Armenia is embarked on political reform with a new Constitution. The
parliamentary elections last spring were mostly transparent and seen
as largely free by international observers. The MPs are embarked on
judicial reform legislation, and efforts to make judges more
independent of government influence. Again, there is a way to go, but
I felt the MPs and their leadership were determined to make progress
towards democracy," Pallone said.

Pallone and his Congressional colleagues met with the Armenian
President, Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Speaker, and Vice Speaker
of the Parliament, as well as opposition leaders. They also visited
with the Catholicos in Etchmiadzin.

"We met with the Defense Minister just prior to the independence
celebration and fireworks. He mentioned that despite Armenia's
dependence on Russian troops for defense purposes and entry into the
Russian Customs Union, the country was determined to improve ties with
the West. He stressed the importance of Armenia's participation in
NATO's Partnership for Peace and the contribution to US efforts
fighting terrorism in the Mideast.

"President Sargsyan made it clear that Armenia intends to sign an
agreement with the European Union this fall that would put the country
back on track towards integration with Western Europe. He also asked
for more progress on trade and taxation issues that affect American
investment in Armenia," Pallone continued. "Overall, this trip was a
great opportunity for Armenia Caucus members to learn what we need to
follow-up on when we're back in Congress to improve US-Armenian
relations with regards to trade, military cooperation, and many other
areas, " the Congressman concluded.