Armenian News...John Bolton remarks in Armenia

News.am, Armenia

Oct 29 2018

Russian foreign ministry comments on John Bolton's remarks during Armenia visit 

                  

Russian Foreign Ministry has released a statement in connection with the remarks made by the national security adviser John Bolton during his visit to Armenia.

“The farewell speech by U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills has been recently commented on during the briefing of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. He publicly instructed the leadership of the host country on economic policy issues and promised local NGOs generous funding for inspecting the government.

It seemed that there could no longer be more impudence which cannot be separated from direct interference in internal affairs. It turned out to be wrong,” the statement reads.

Russian foreign office said John Bolton publicly demanded that Armenia abandon the “historical cliché” in its international relations  and adds that it was not a secret that it was a traditional friendship with Russia.

“He also said that he expects from N.Pashinyan active steps towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after the parliamentary elections in Armenia. 

Naturally, he did not forget to advertise American weapons, which Armenia should acquire instead of the Russian ones.

However, not everything that was said by J. Balton in Yerevan deserves criticism. A wonderful thought was voiced in his interview with Radio Liberty on October 25: ‘For Armenia it is of fundamental importance to be completely sovereign, and not to be dependent or subject to excessive external influence.’ It would be great for J. Bolton to ponder on the meaning of his own words,” Russian Foreign Ministry said.

RFE/RL Report

Armenian Parliament Triggers Snap Elections

November 01, 2018

The Armenian National Assembly on November 1 failed to elect a new prime minister, triggering early elections

Snap parliamentary elections are to be held in Armenia after the country’s National Assembly on Wednesday for the second time in two weeks failed to elect a new prime minister in accordance with a political agreement.

The failure of the vote comes amid a push by Nikol Pashinian to force fresh general elections in December in a bid to unseat his political opponents, who have maintained a majority in parliament despite the change of government last May.

Under the Armenian constitution, snap elections can be called only if the National Assembly fails to elect a prime minister within two weeks after the prime minister’s resignation. Pashinian resigned for tactical reasons on 

October 16.

The pro-government Yelk Alliance, which holds only nine seats in parliament, and members of the second-largest parliamentary faction controlled by wealthy businessman Gagik Tsarukian formally nominated Pashinian for the second voting, which was held on the assumption that it would fail due to prior political 

agreements.

From among 70 lawmakers registered for the session none voted “for” or “against” Pashinian’s candidacy. Thirteen lawmakers abstained from voting.

As a result, Pashinian’s formal bid did not gather enough votes and the National Assembly will, therefore, be dissolved by virtue of law.

In his speech preceding the vote Pashinian described today’s event as historical for Armenia. “What is historical about it is not that for the first time a parliament in Armenia is dissolved and we are going to have the first early parliamentary elections in our country. What is historical about it is that after the nonviolent, velvet, people’s revolution that took place in 

April-May we fully return the power in the Republic of Armenia to its citizens. We return to the citizens and the people of the Republic of Armenia the power to decide the fate of further political processes,” Pashinian said.

Under the constitution, new elections shall be held no earlier than within 30 days and no later than within 45 days – approximately in the first half of December.

Later on Thursday, President Armen Sarkissian issued a decree appointing the pre-term parliamentary elections for December 9. Pashinian will continue to perform his prime-ministerial duties in the interim.

The political team of Pashinian, who came to power on the wave of anti-government demonstrations last spring, is tipped to win the upcoming polls by a landslide.

Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire

November 1, 2018 

Karabakh refuses to swap prisoners with Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan's offer of an all-for-all exchange of prisoners and captives with Nagorno-Karabakh is incommensurate, the breakawayrepublic said.

"Stepanakert received no such offer," Karabakh president's press secretary David Babayan told Interfax on Thursday.

"As for Guliyev and Asgarov, these people are criminals, murderers, while those being held on the Azeri side are innocent civilians whom Baku must free in accordance with international norms," Babayan said.

"How can one compare a murderer, terrorist to an innocent person? Of course, this cannot be considered on the same level," Babayan said, noting that from the legal standpoint, "these people are murderers sentenced to punishment for committing a crime."

"To make such a proposal to exchange them for innocent people is simply blackmail," Babayan said.

An informed source told Interfax earlier that Baku had offered Yerevanto swap their prisoners and captives under the "all for all" prisoners.

Currently three Armenian citizens are imprisoned in Azerbaijan: Arsen Bagdasaryan, Karen Kazaryan and Zaven Karapetyan. Baku sees them as saboteurs and war criminals.

Karabakh has three Azerbaijanis in prison. Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov, who is a Russian citizen, are serving a 22-year sentence anda life, respectively, for killing a Karabakh child, infiltratingKarabakh, and spying. The third one is Elnur Huseynzade.

Panorama, Armenia

Nov 1 2018

Freedom House names Armenia as country with free internet

Armenia has risen from Partly Free to Free Country in the annual Freedom on the Net 2018 report by Freedom House independent human rights watchdog. 

Freedom on the Net is a comprehensive study of internet freedom in 65 countries around the globe, covering 87 percent of the world’s internet users.  

Armenia is ranked among the 19 countries where the organization has observed progress over the past year.

“Of the 19 countries with overall score improvements, two – Armenia and the Gambia – earned upgrades in their internet freedom status,” the report says.

“Armenia rose from Partly Free to Free after citizens successfully used social media platforms, communication apps, and live-streaming services to bring about political change in the country’s Velvet Revolution in April,” reads the document.

The study found that the “global internet freedom declined for the eighth consecutive year in 2018.”

“The biggest score declines took place in Egypt and Sri Lanka, followed by Cambodia, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Venezuela,” says the report. 

Arminfo, Armenia

Oct 31 2018

Starting next year, Armenian organic wine will appear on European shelves

Alina Hovhannisyan. Starting next year, the Armenian Trinity Canyon Vineyards Winery, which is the beneficiary of the The Organic Agriculture Support Initiative (OASI) program, funded by the EU, will start exporting organic wine. The executive director of the plant, Hovakim Saghatelyan, told journalists about this as part of a study tour with the EU delegation to Vayots Dzor region.

Answering the question of ArmInfo, H.. Saghatelyan noted that since the time of its foundation, an organic wine has been produced at the winery, but production has received certification only this year. The vast majority of products is exported to a number of European countries - Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, and is sold in specialized stores in the domestic market. On average, the total production is 30 thousand bottles per year.

"Organic farming is the future of Armenia. And our most important task is to return to our sources and produce organic wine, which our ancestors produced more than 6 thousand years ago. Today we are trying to establish a niche in the market under the conditional name historical wines, which we hope to fill with other producers in the region - Georgia and our other neighbors. And then a European will want to taste the wine from which the history of the wine began, "he said.

To note the vineyard "Trinity" was founded in 2009 in Areni on the territory adjacent to one of the oldest wine regions in the world. The production process itself has been launched since 2013.

To note Karine Sargsyan, marketing specialist of the OASI (The Organic Agriculture Support Initiative ) program of the Austrian Development Agency, said earlier that in the GDP structure the share of agriculture is 20%, of which only 0.01% is organic. The expert attributed low production volumes to the lack of public awareness about the benefits of organic production, which certainly affects the level of consumption. At the same time, K. Sargsyan noted that Armenian organic products are ahead of the quality of producers in European countries, taking into account the climatic conditions and the number of sunny days.

OASI was launched in Armenia in January 2015 and is being implemented by the Austrian Development Agency with EU funding. The initiative is aimed at the development of organic agriculture and the sale of organic products in Armenia both in the domestic and foreign markets. The total program budget is 3.3 million euros.

According to the latest data of the RA Customs Service, in 2017 Armenia exported 2.8 million liters of wine, with an annual growth of 50.5%, while the customs value grew by 81% to $ 10.78 million. -0-

Arminfo, Armenia

Nov 1 2018

Catholicos of All Armenians condemns upcoming LGBT Christian forum in

Ani Mshetsyan. 

At today's meeting, the Supreme Spiritual Council in Holy See of Echmiatsin touched upon the issue of the upcoming LGBT Christians forum in Yerevan.

According to the press service of the Catholicos , members of the Supreme Spiritual Council expressed their concern about these undesirable circumstances, stressing that advertising for homosexual behavior poses a threat to traditional national values.

During the discussions, the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, presented his point of view on this issue, noting that this forum causes widespread discontent among the residents of Armenia, and that Armenians have always been faithful to traditional values.

"God created commandments and moral norms for people. However, attempts are being made to escape from these norms and spread under the guise of ensuring human rights and freedoms. The Holy Church of Christ has already expressed its position in connection with homosexuals - calling this phenomenon unacceptable and urging those who have sinned to repent. The actions of the LGBT community are reprehensible, "concluded Karekin II. 

To note from November 15 to 18, a forum of LGBT Christians is planned in Armenia in Yerevan.