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News.am, Armenia
April 4 2019
Armenia President: It's time for Armenia to be part of Silk Road
On 4 April, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with Vice-Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Shen Yueyue and the delegation led by her, reports the official website of the President of the Republic of Armenia, according to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
Greeting the guests, President Sarkissian stated that Armenia and China are ancient countries, the cooperation between which traces back to centuries and back to the times of the Silk Road. He attached importance to the enhancement of that cooperation in the 21st century through the Belt and Road Initiative being implemented by China’s top leadership. “It is time for Armenia to form a part of the Silk Road,” President Armen Sarkissian said.
Shen Yueyue attached importance to the friendly relations with Armenia and talked about the need to intensify the existing cooperation.
The interlocutors emphasized that there is great potential for the development of relations and strengthening of ties between Armenia and China that needs to be used. They particularly attached importance to the expansion of cooperation in the spheres of infrastructure development, the mining industry, environmental protection and tourism, as well as high technologies and artificial intelligence.
EurAsian Times
April 4 2019
Armenia vs Azerbaijan: How Pakistan Backed Azerbaijan Confronts India Backed Armenia?
There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan mainly due to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan had formal governmental relations between 1918 and 1921, during their brief independence from the Russian Empire, as the First Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan; these relations existed from the period after the Russian Revolution until they were annexed by the USSR.
Pakistan-Azerbaijan relations are very healthy especially in the field of military cooperation. Pakistan was the second country to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence after Turkey on December 12, 1991.
In the early years of independence, the progress of military relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan were limited due to the social and economic problems which Azerbaijan faced that time. However, after Azerbaijan gains domestic political stability and economic development, friendly and allied relations with Pakistan reached to military co-operation.
In particular, “April Four Day War” between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2016 once again showed that Azerbaijan and Pakistan are not just allies, but also fraternal countries. The first reaction to the April wars was given by the Defence Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 3 April. The Pakistani Defence Ministry “Pakistan Defence” page shared “Pakistani people support Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh region belongs Azerbaijan”
Chairman of the National Assembly of Pakistan Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who attended the first meeting of parliamentary speakers in the Russian capital, said that “If there is no other way of solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we are ready to support friendly country anyway. The Pakistani army’s troops are not involved in military operations in other countries. But with the consent of the government, the Pakistani military does not spare support for the friendly countries.”
It is also known that Pakistan has prepared its 80,000 troops ready to support Azerbaijan. This fact was highly appreciated by the Azerbaijani leadership and led to the further development of cooperation with Pakistan. As a result, military cooperation between Pakistan and Azerbaijan began to experience its “golden age.”
Member of the Azerbaijani National Assembly, Tahir Rzayev commented on India’s arms sales to Armenia, saying that “if Armenia has India, Azerbaijan has Pakistan.” This statement helps to analyze the existing relations. Historic moment bounded two brother country suffers from violence. Highly appreciating Pakistan’s support after the April wars, Azerbaijan has decided to see more Pakistani weapons in its military arsenal. This decision also affected the tension between Azerbaijan and Russia after the April wars. Azerbaijan and Pakistan entered a new era of military cooperation after the April wars.
Pakistan and Azerbaijan are in the phase of negotiation for the purchase of JF-17 Thunder” and “Super Mushshak” jet fighters from Pakistan. “Super Mushshak” is an upgraded version of Saab’s while JF17 Thunder fighter is an alternative to Su-24 for Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, according to the agreement signed between Russia and Armenia, at the initial stage 8, then 12 Su-24 fighters will be sold to Armenia. That’s why Azerbaijan has focused attention on the JF17 produced by Pakistan.
On March 22, 2019, the delegation of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which was on a visit to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, met the President of the country, Arif Alvi and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Armed Forces of the Pakistan Islamic Republic General Zubair Mahmud Hayat. During the meetings, the sides discussed military, political, economic and other issues, an agreement on enhancing of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan was signed. This agreement will enable Azerbaijan to receive new weapons from Pakistan and intensify its military cooperation in the near future.
Military parade of Pakistan’s Armed Forces was held on March 23 in Islamabad. Along with the Pakistan Army units in the parade, Azerbaijani Army units also attended. When the infantry unit of Azerbaijani Army crosses the tribune, the delegations of Pakistani government stood up and greeted. The speaker of the Parade in the Azerbaijani language “Long live Azerbaijan! Long live Azerbaijan – Pakistan friendship! “
Public Radio of Armenia
April 4 2019
German Bundestag ratifies EU-Armenia deal
The German Bundestag today ratified by a large majority the U-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.. The decision was based on a recommendation of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Bundestag notes that the agreement is largely similar to a previously negotiated association agreement, with the exception of the establishment of a free trade area, which is no longer possible because of the accession of the Republic of Armenia to the Eurasian Economic Union.
Nevertheless, closer alignment with the EU standardization and regulation system should be encouraged in order to favor trade and investment.
"The agreement also addresses new, common issues such as the fight against terrorism, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, disarmament and nuclear safety, international crime and trafficking, climate change and transport infrastructure," the Bundestag said on its official website.
Armenia and the European Union signed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels on November 24.
RIA Novosti, Russia
March 31 2019
What did Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders speak about in Vienna?
by Hayk Khalatyan
[Groong note: the below is translated from Russian]
First negotiations between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group, [which is mediating in the settlement of the conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh] were held on Friday [29 March] in Vienna. The leaders of the two countries have already come across several times previously, but the meetings were informal. However, for example, their "on-the-run" conversation in Dushanbe in September enabled to sharply decrease tensions on the line of contact and reduce losses on the frontline to zero for several months.
In addition, a number of incidents not only in Nagorno-Karabakh, but also on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border preceded the meeting. That is why the joint statement by the foreign ministers of the two republics and the OSCE Minsk Group said that "recalling their conversation in Dushanbe, the leaders reaffirmed the need in reinforcing the ceasefire regime and enhancing the mechanism of direct ties". They also agreed to develop a number of measures in the humanitarian sphere.
Although the leaders of the two countries and OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs assessed the meeting positively, in all appearances, no concrete and serious agreements were reached there, which Pashinyan himself confirmed at his meeting with the Armenian community in Austria: "My assessment of the meeting is positive in general, but I cannot say that there was a breakthrough, revolution, or some landmark event".
Taking this into account, the question arises as to what the leaders of the two countries held negotiations about in such a case. How can humanitarian projects help the sides to arrive at a joint opinion on the key issue - the status of Nagorno-Karabakh? Any solution to the conflict implying the independent status of Nagorno-Karabakh is unacceptable to Baku and the Armenian side finds Karabakh's being part of Azerbaijan unacceptable even with a broadest possible autonomy, which Baku is promising.
It is necessary to understand that the high level of public support the new Armenian government enjoys, which, as mediator's think, gives an opportunity to Pashinyan to resort to cardinal steps in the settlement of the conflict, is determined not by his readiness for concessions, particularly if they are unilateral, but by the expectation that his position on the Karabakh problem will be tougher than that of his predecessors. It should also be born in mind that Armenian society's disappointment in [former President] Serzh Sargsyan's actions during the "four-day war" [in Karabakh] in April 2016 and the loss of some territories have played quite a big role in the victory of the "velvet revolution" [led by Pashinyan].
It is no accident that having come to power, Pashinyan stressed on many occasions that before asking what concessions the Armenian side was ready to make, it was also necessary to specify, what concessions Azerbaijan was going to make in order to settle the conflict. There is going to be no "peace in exchange for territories", so what does the Azerbaijani side want?
At the same time, the new Armenian leader decided to take efforts aimed at returning the government of Nagorno-Karabakhto the negotiating process, which will effectively mean an end to the Madrid principles with their clause of the need to return districts around the former [Soviet-time] NKAO [Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast to Azerbaijan] (which is the reason for Armenian society's rejection of the Madrid principles).
However, Baku flatly objects to the involvement of the Artsakh [Karabakh] government in the negotiating process and the co-chairmen are not eager either to give up on many years of work on the basis of the Madrid principles, which is fraught with the full freezing of the negotiating process and the threat of the resumption of war.
Both sides are actively preparing for it [war]. In the meantime, if the current status quo and "endless" negotiations that produce no concrete results are completely acceptable to the Armenian side, Baku is saying straightforwardly that it does not intend to reconcile with this. President Aliyev has said on many occasions (even over the past few months) that he is ready to use force to resolve the conflict. It was no accident that commenting to Fox News on the forthcoming meeting in Vienna, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United States Elin Suleymanov said that war could start in Karabakh at any time.
RFE/RL Report
April 03, 2019
Armenian Tax Revenues ‘Keep Soaring’
The Armenian government’s tax revenues continued to grow rapidly in the first quarter of this year, the head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC), Davit Ananian, said on Wednesday.
Ananian said that the SRC collected 296.5 billion drams ($610 million) in various taxes and customs duties, up by almost 24 percent year on year. The government agency comprising the national tax and customs services thus
exceeded its first-quarter revenue target by 4 percent, he stressed.
The government’s tax revenues already soared by over 14 percent, to 1.3 trillion drams ($2.7 billion), last year. It was project to reach 1.4 trillion drams in 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian promised last week that the SRC will surpass that target by 40 billion drams. The extra revenue will allow the government to raise the salaries of schoolteachers and military personnel by 10 percent and repair more than 300 kilometers of roads, he said.
Ananian reaffirmed that pledge at a news conference in Yerevan. He said the first-quarter surge in budgetary revenue was primarily driven by proceeds from the 20 percent value-added tax (VAT) collected from imported and domestically manufactured goods and services.
SRC data released by Ananian shows a sharp rise in cash receipts issued in January-March 2019by Armenian retailers and other small businesses paying VAT.
Their combined monetary value was up by 17.4 percent year on year.
Pashinian regularly urges Armenians to demand such receipts when buying goods and services to prevent businesses from evading VAT and other taxes. He says
that this is essential for the success of an “economic revolution” promised by him.
Pashinian’s government pledged to crack down on widespread tax fraud when it took office in May. Over the next two months alone the SRC recovered more than 20 billion drams in unpaid taxes from 73 companies.
Armenian tax revenue rose by more than 7 percent in 2017. Ananian acknowledged in May that his predecessor, Vartan Harutiunian, combatted the informal sector
of the Armenian economy “quite effectively.” But he said the fight against tax evasion will be tougher and “even more effective” during his tenure.
The SRC also reported on Wednesday a more than threefold increase in appeals that were filed by companies protesting against fines imposed on by them by tax officials. More than half of those financial penalties were overturned by a special SRC body.
PanArmenian, Armenia
April 4 2019
Armenia PM's wife urges Azerbaijani women to join her peace initiative
The wife of the Armenian Prime Minister, Anna Hakobyan, in a speech in Congress has urged Azerbaijani women to join her "Women for Peace" initiative.
Hakobyan is paying a 17-day visit to the United States where she is set to hold a number of meetings with lawmakers, officials, civil society members and representatives of the Armenian community.
Following her husband Nikol Pashinyan’s appointment as Armenia’s Prime Minister, Hakobyan has become the Chairwoman of Board of Trustees of "My Step" and "City of Smile" charity foundations.
According to her, the “Women for Peace” initiative aims to unite women from all the sides of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to reject war and help save lives.
Hakobyan said in Washington that the ultimate goal of the initiative is to create a global network for establishing peace in Karabakh (Artsakh) and other hotspots around the world.
“As a woman and mother, I am confident that the most valuable thing in the world is human life,” she said in her speech.
“We call on women in Azerbaijan to join this initiative and send the message to decision-makers there."
ARKA, Armenia
April 4 2019
Level of Lake Sevan to rise by 45 centimeters
Armenian Minister of Emergency Situations Felix Tsolakyan said today that the level of Lake Sevan will increase by 45 cm by the beginning of the irrigation season that starts in June. He said also the Arpa-Sevan tunnel has been reopened on April 3.
He said 1 cm rise is the equivalent of 12 million cubic meters of water and by that time ‘we will have additionally about 570 million cubic meters of water.’
According to him, by the end of the year the water level in the lake will be 5-10 cm higher than last year. "At the moment, the water level in Sevan is 7 cm lower compared to last year, but this is a normal because in 2018 it was warmer and the ice melted earlier filling the lake," said Tsolakyan, noting that with warming the situation will return to normal course.
The 48.3 km-long Arpa-Sevan tunnel is supplying Lake Sevan with waters of Arpa and Yeghegis rivers. Lake Sevan is the largest body of water in Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is also one of the largest fresh water high-altitude lakes in Eurasia .
The Lake is situated in Gegharkunik province at an altitude of 1,900 m above sea level. Its’ basin’s total surface area is about 5,000 km2 , which makes up 1⁄6 of Armenia's territory. The lake itself is 1,242 km2 . It is fed by 28 rivers and streams. Sevan has significant economic, cultural, and recreational value. Its only island (now a peninsula) is home to a medieval monastery.
The Economist
Mar 28th 2019
Australian voters keep rejecting nativist campaigns
Immigrant voters recoil from a Labor leader who railed against Asians with phds
Nationally, it has been behind in the polls for years. Several of its mps have defected from the party. Many others have said they will not contest the next election, due in May. The bickering about what has gone wrong and who is to blame has become deafening. So how did the ruling Liberal party win a state election in New South Wales this week?
Gladys Berejiklian, the Liberals’ leader in the state, expressed pride at having won despite being both a woman and “someone with a long surname”. But that may have worked in her favour. During the campaign, the opposition Labor party tried to stir indignation about immigration. Days before the vote, a video surfaced in which Michael Daley, the local Labor leader, complained about an influx of phd-wielding Asians. “Our kids are moving out and foreigners are moving in and taking their jobs,” he protested. He apologised (and has since resigned), but Sydney’s huge immigrant population turned against him.
Meanwhile Ms Berejiklian, the daughter of Armenian immigrants, eschewed “the culture wars bullshit”, as a member of her government put it, focusing instead on the strength of the local economy under the Liberals, who have been in office for eight years. New South Wales has the strongest economy in Australia: its budget is in surplus and unemployment, at 3.9%, is at a record low.
At the national level, however, the pattern is the reverse. It is the Liberals who have been trying to stoke fear of immigration. Scott Morrison, the prime minister, has fiercely resisted a law allowing sick asylum-seekers detained in camps abroad to be treated in Australia, on the grounds that hordes of boat people would set sail in the hope of making use of this loophole. He has also lowered the annual cap on immigrants, from 190,000 to 160,000. At another recent state election, in Victoria in November, the Liberals were trounced after they attempted to whip up fear about non-existent African gangs.
Ms Berejiklian distanced herself from her colleagues’ more noxious policies, and all but banned Mr Morrison from the campaign trail. She even admitted that climate change was a problem—a notion that is controversial within the national party. She has also laid out a winning electoral strategy, which her more senior colleagues seem determined to ignore.
Panorama, Armenia
April 4 2019
Armenia’s Sergey Smbatyan, London Symphony Orchestra make joint recordings
These days Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra Sergey Smbatyan was in Great Britain, where he participated in a recording with the London Symphony Orchestra.
The recordings were made at the famous Watford Colosseum, the Armenian Symphony Orchestra said, adding this was not the first cooperation between Sergey Smbatyan and the London orchestra.
The London Symphony Orchestra is one of the best orchestras in the world. It was founded in 1904 and was the first orchestra of its kind in the UK. In 1906, it became the first British orchestra to perform abroad (Paris). The orchestra has closely collaborated with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Carl Bohm, and other world-renowned conductors.
The recording producer is Grammy-Award winner Christopher Alder, who produces the recordings of the world's most famous classical musicians. His recordings have won scores of international awards and have featured on every worldwide classical best-seller chart.
The next recording of Sergey Smbatyan and the London Symphony Orchestra is scheduled for June 4, 2019.
The CD, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Smbatyan, will be released with Naxos.
Arminfo, Armenia
April 4 2019
Asya Balayan
Konstantin Orbelyan: My dismissal has become a powerful public relations campaign for Armenia
ArmInfo. Already former director of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theater Konstantin Orbelyan does not consider the arguments of the Ministry of Culture about the illegality of his appointment convincing.
"Former Minister of Culture Armen Amiryan appointed me to this position, it turns out that he appointed me in violation of the law. Then, why are the claims against me, let the new government sue the former government, let us say, Amiryan, and how does that has anything to do with me?," Orbelyan, reiterating that he intends to appeal the decision of the Ministry of Culture of his dismissal in court. According to Orbelyan, the arguments of his lawyers will prove the groundlessness of the charges against Acting Culture Minister Nazeni Gharibyan.
According to Orbelyan, the new government initially sought his departure: "But I said that I would not voluntarily go, and they decided to dismiss me". Commenting on his earlier statement that when leaving the theater he would take away all the property that the theater had acquired solely with his assistance, Orbelyan noted: "If I leave, all this property will be transferred to the Yerevan Music School named after Konstantin Orbelyan>. He noticed that a lot of issues in the theater were decided at the expense of sponsorship. For which he personally applied and received.
Commenting on the accumulated debt in the amount of 92 million drams, he said that he had nothing to do with these debts and them from the previous leadership of the theater.
Nazeni Gharibyan herself stated that I have nothing to do with these debts. However, lately, we have been negotiating with the Ministry of Culture to pay these debts by holding performances for schoolchildren, but, unfortunately, negotiations have been interrupted, and now we pay them back as far as possible, "he explained.
Speaking about his resignation, he noted that his dismissal had become a powerful public relations campaign for Armenia, for himself and for the Opera and Ballet Theater. , he said.
Commenting on the rumors about his connection with the former authorities, and in particular, former First Lady Rita Sargsyan, thanks to which, according to exaggerated information, he was appointed head of the theater, and what caused his resignation, Orbelian said: "I was appointed because that I am Konstantin Orbelyan. I was appointed not by friendship, but by service," he explained. It should be noted that Orbelyan's resignation caused a wide public response. The Ministry of Culture, however, assured that it only observes the norms of the law, since one and the same person cannot occupy several managerial positions at once, meanwhile, Orbelyan is part-time director and artistic director of the Opera and Ballet Theater.
Panorama, Armenia
April 4 2019
Armenia drops fives positions in latest FIFA ranking
Armenia's national football team has dropped five positions to 106th in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday.
Belgium, France and Brazil are the three teams retaining the three top positions in the ranking.
To remind, Armenia’s drop in the ranking came following two defeats from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Finland in the opening matches of the the EURO 2020 qualifications campaign in March.
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