Armenian News ... A Topalian
ARKA, Armenia
June 17 2019
Pashinyan unveils new ideology of his party
Speaking on June 16 at the 5th congress of his Civil Contract Party, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presented its ideological peculiarities.
"We are a party that rejects the 'isms," because in the modern world there are no more stereotyped ideologies. In a political sense, we are not liberals, neither centrists, nor social democrats. We are an exclusively civil party," he said.
According to him, the Civil Contract party has gone beyond ideological standards and is creating an ideologically new platform which is based on four key principles - statehood, citizenship, national identity and individuality.
"Our activities are aimed at the development of these institutions, since the modern world is changing so rapidly that the ideologies of the 17th and 20th centuries can no longer meet current requirements," he said. As an example, Pashinyan cited China, where the communist ideology is combined with the principle of private property, and the US where its liberal authorities pursue a policy of economic protectionism.
"It is for these reasons that our ideological core is the rejection of such ideological clichés. We believe in the development, which is a combination of individualism, national identity, statehood and citizenship," he said.
The congress of the Civil Contract Party was to elect a new 21-member executive board out of 51 candidates.
Armenpress.am
17 June, 2019
Artsakh launches massive military exercises
The Artsakh’s military has commenced command-staff exercises on June 17, the country’s defense ministry reported. It said the drills have been initiated “in accordance with the 2019 training plan of the Artsakh Armed Forces”.
Around 10,000 soldiers, more than 200 artillery systems, nearly 150 armored vehicles, more than 50 air defense systems, more than 400 vehicles and other mobile systems are involved in the drills. The exercises will continue until June 20.
The main emphasis of the exercises is the “completion of missions at nighttime”.
New warfare episodes are also planned to be developed, the Artsakh military said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
BBC Monitoring Trans Caucasus Unit
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
June 14, 2019 Friday
Azeri pundits urge Baku to start war for Karabakh
Two Azerbaijani pundits have called on the government in Baku to start war to reclaim the Armenian-controlled breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven districts around it.
Reserve army Col Sair Ramaldanov was commenting on recent reports that Armenians tried to shoot down Azerbaijani military aircraft by missiles. Ramaldanov told Report news agency that Armenia seeks to aggravate the situation at the front line to affect the Karabakh peace process and that it might continue "to resort to these kinds of provocations". He said "tension continues to increase in Nagorno-Karabakh" and that "whenever domestic tension runs high in Armenia or another round of [peace] talks is coming up, the enemy stages more provocations at the front line and the cease-fire is violated more frequently". He said that Armenians had never fired on Azerbaijani pilots before and that "it is the first time in recent years that the enemy has used its air defence system and tried, unsuccessfully, to hit Azerbaijani aircraft by missiles". Ramaldanov concluded that that Azerbaijan needs to start war to reclaim the land if Armenia does not "see reason".
The other commentator, military expert Abuzar Abilov, told Minval.az news website that "war is inevitable in the very near future". He suggested the latest tension at the front line showed that "there is something happening in Armenia, and voters who voted for [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan are now not happy that he is there". He said Pashinyan had always had "unsuccessful" talks with the Karabakh separatists, and the latter therefore "have provoked the aggravation at the front line" just to "spite" the Armenian prime minister. Abilov added that he believes that Baku should no longer pin any hopes on peace talks and needs to start war to reclaim the land.
Abilov also said that three Armenians soldiers were killed on 11 June but the Defence Ministry and media in that country kept silent about it. Meanwhile, Yerevan-based News.am has reported the defence ministry in Nagorno-Karabakh as saying that Azerbaijani troops had killed an Armenian soldier in the breakaway region on 13 June.
In the meantime, news sources have reported that the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet in the United States on 20 June to discuss the Karabakh settlement.
armenpress.am
18 June, 2019
President Sarkissian sees need for changes in Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, sees need for making changes in the Fund.
During the annual meeting of the Fund’s Board of Trustees today in Yerevan, President Sarkissian said the Fund needs to become more dynamic, mobile, flexible and powerful structure.
“It’s more than 25 years the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is implementing its pan-national mission as a unique structure uniting Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora. It is the most important donor for Artsakh’s development, it is such today and should remain so in the future. In 2018 the Fund has carried out a total of 100 programs of different fields and volumes. Some programs are still in process. The Fund needs to become more dynamic, mobile, flexible and powerful structure. For this purpose first of all it is necessary to be changed with psychology, mind, acting style, composition, programs and charter. There is no need to be afraid of change, especially when the world is changing quite rapidly”, he said.
The President highlighted that the Fund should not be perceived by us as a structure that only builds road or an irrigation network.
“It should be accepted, viewed and perceived first of all as a pan-national trust institution which lives not with the past, but with the future. In other words, lets value the work done in the past and think about the future through the present. Lets move towards the future. Any change relating to the Fund’s activity, be that legal or moral-psychological, should have one clear message, and that is the following: “Hayastan All-Armenian Fund should be a structure beyond suspicions, assumptions, speculations, with Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora and Armenians goals. The Fund created in the 20th century has reached many successes, it’s time for the Fund to become a national institute of the 21st century”, President Armen Sarkissian said.
The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has kicked off today in Yerevan. The meeting is attended by Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan and other high-ranking officials from Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
RFE/RL Report
Former U.S. Mayor To Manage Armenia’s Ties With Diaspora
June 14, 2019
Arus Hakobian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday appointed the Armenian-born former mayor of Glendale, a city in Los Angeles County, as head of a newly formed
government division tasked with coordinating Armenia’s relations with its worldwide Diaspora.
Pashinian created the post of “commissioner general of Diaspora affairs” after abolishing the Ministry of Diaspora as part of a recent restructuring of the
Armenian government. The first commissioner, Zareh Sinanyan, will have a 25-member staff.
Sinanyan, 43, was born in Soviet Armenia and lived there until emigrating to the United States with his family in 1988. He served as mayor of Glendale, a
city with a sizable ethnic Armenian population, from 2014-2015 and 2018.
Sinanyan resigned from the Glendale city council last week ahead of his anticipated appointment to the new government position in Yerevan.
A vocal critic of Armenia’s former government, Sinanyan strongly supported last year’s “velvet revolution” which brought Pashinian to power. In a May 2018 interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service, he suggested that many Diaspora Armenians will be ready to move to their ancestral homeland after the
revolution.
“We must change our policy towards the Diaspora and make it more effective,” Pashinian told Sinanyan when they met later on Friday. He said his government will seek to increase the Diaspora’s involvement in Armenia’s economic, social and even political life.
“You are not an unknown figure in Armenia and the Diaspora, and I think that there is a good chance that we will accomplish our new tasks set in the new
era,” added Pashinian.
Sinanyan spoke, for his part, of “huge potential” for the Diaspora’s closer ties with Armenia as well as Nagorno-Karabakh.
ARKA, Armenia
June 18 2019
Around $400 million remitted from Armenia to other countries in four months of 2019
Some $396.9 million were remitted from Armenia to other countries by individuals in the first four months of 2019, an increase of 8% over the same period last year, the Central Bank said.
It said $153.7 million were remitted to the Russian Federation through Armenia-based banks, by $21.8 million or 16.6% more than in the same time span of 2019. Some $74.5 million were sent to the USA, an increase of 15.5%.
At the same time, money transfers to Armenia in the reporting period increased by 10.7% to $535.7 million. About $272.7 million arrived from the Russian Federation, an increase of 0.65%). -- 0--
Armenpress.am
17 June, 2019
Armenia to receive 19 mln Euro support from CoE for implementing judicial reforms
The government of Armenia does everything to ensure the independence and impartiality of judiciary, Foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said during an event dedicated to the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022.
The Foreign minister said Armenia has showed that it wants to become a country that will be modeled with the European standards and will be firmly based on democracy and human rights. “This year we have a greater aspiration, the budget is quite ambitious – 18.9 million Euros, and is concentrated on those directions of the reforms which are priority for the government. They are mainly directed for the judicial reforms”, he said.
The minister added that this is the will and desire of the people which is reflected with this government’s determination and commitment.
Mnatsakanyan is confident that this action plan will serve at best for the implementation of Armenia’s judicial reforms, and in 2021 the state will already have tangible results.
“The government has clearly stated that it will do everything to ensure the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, with no pressure on judicial authorities”, he said.
The Armenian FM thanked the CoE Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland who expressed readiness to assist the implementation of these reforms.
“This is the meaning of our cooperation with Europe. High-level experts visited here from Europe within a week who started working on judicial reforms, their content and financing directions. This shows how valuable this cooperation is. The completion of the fair and impartial judicial reforms program will make complete the entire philosophy of the revolution for us”, the FM said.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Panorama, Armenia
June 17 2019
The country of Parajanov in need of modern model of cinematography - Piotr Świtalsky
The European Union is set to assist Armenia in developing its cinematography, the Head of the EU delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Świtalsk stated on Monday during the parliamentary hearings on developing legislative initiatives in the sphere of cinematography.
To note, the hearings have brought together the sector representatives to elaborate on the cinema legislation and the development of the sector.
“First, we believe that culture is a great tool for Armenia that may not only raise the country’s image but also bring investments into the economy. Secondly, cinematography is one of the spheres where Armenia has huge potential which should be restored and developed. The country of Parajanov is in need of modern model of cinematography. And finally, we want to support Armenia’s participation in the “Creative Europe” program,” Świtalsky said during his speech, adding Armenia is part of two ongoing subprograms that may bring benefits to the country.
“We learnt in Brussels that Armenia wants to participate in the 2020-2022 Cooperation Plan, and culture is a major comonent to make that involvement possible. We will do our best to ensure Armenia’s involvement in the “Creative Europe” program,” added the Ambassador.
ARKA, Armenia
June 17 2019
First smart cattle-breeding farm opens in Stepanavan
The first smart cattle-breeding farm opened today in Stepanavan, in Armenian province of Lori. The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Economy Artak Kamalyan.
The building of the farm was built under the program Animal Health Management in Armenia and Georgia, implemented by the CARD Foundation with the financial support of the Austrian Development Agency.
The building was built on the basis of a greenhouse construction, which is considered an innovative method in Armenia. As an innovation, a cooling system, ventilation, lighting, and a remote animal video surveillance system have been also installed. Favorable conditions have been created for animals to increase yields and meat. The farm has 12 cows.
In early April the government of Armenia approved an assistance program for construction, reconstruction and technological re-equipment of small and medium-sized "smart cattle-breeding farms.’ The goal of the program is help farmers increase their productivity. In 2019-2021 some 3.2 billion drams are to be invested in the construction of 230 "smart’ farms.
Earlier Deputy Economy Minister Tigran Gabrielyan said the government planned to finance 30 farms this year, but already received 135 applications and approved 123 of them. Gabrielyan said that all the submitted projects will get government funding. He said also ten day intensive courses will be held for farmers by the Agrarian University.
Three models of farms are offered – with 130-280 square meters, designed for 15 cattle worth 11 million drams, with 280-450 square meters for 25 cattle worth 23 million drams and with 450 square meters for 45 cattle worth 35 million drams.
The deputy minister said the government will provide grants for the construction of these cattle-breeding farms in the amount of 5.5 million drams, 11.5 million drams and 17.5 million drams respectively, which is almost half of the cost.
The size of subsidies for residents of border regions and for persons, who received disabilities during military service, will be 7.7 million drams, 16.1 million drams and 24.5 million drams respectively (70% of the cost).
Armenpress.am
17 June, 2019
Armenian international footballer Henrikh Mkhitaryan gets married at St. Lazarus Island
Midfielder of Armenia national football team and London's Arsenal club Henrikh Mkhitaryan got married with Betty Vardanyan.
ARMENPRESS reports Mkhitaryan posted a photo on his twitter page with his wife Betty Vardanyan and wrote, “Merry me and stay with me forever”. The wedding ceremony took place in Venice, in Armenian St. Lazarus Island.
Mkhitaryan’s wife is the daughter of Armenian businessman Mikayel Vardanyan.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
For photos.click on;
No comments:
Post a Comment