Friday 30 March 2018

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


[is the border hotting up again?
anything to do with the forthcoming Azeri presidential elections 

with a very predictable result?] 

Panorama, Armenia
March 24 2018
Azerbaijan violates ceasefire nearly 150 times, applies drone over past week 

The Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire along the Line of Contact between Artsakh and Azerbaijan around 150 times over the past week (from 18 to 24 March), firing more than 3,500 shots towards the Armenian defense positions, the press service of the Artsakh Defense Ministry told Panorama.am.

In addition to the mentioned violations, the Azerbaijani military applied an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on March 19 in the north-eastern (Talish) section of the Line of Contact aimed at conducting reconnaissance flights. However, the drone was timely detected and downed by the Artsakh Defense Army.

The frontline units of the Defense Army continue to maintain full control over the frontline situation and take necessary steps to organize reliable defense of their military posts.


ArmInfo, Armenia
March 21 2018
A look from London: Mistrust of the parties to the Karabakh conflict works on political regimes in Azerbaijan and Armenia
David Stepanyan. 

The contradictory nature of the package and stage-by- stage approaches to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict is one of the main factors, obstacles to the settlement.

Similar opinion was expressed by ArmInfo researcher of the program for the study of Russia and Eurasia of the Royal Institute of International Relations (Chatham House) Lawrence Broers.

"It is quite possible that after gaining these regions, Baku will not go on any compromises on the status of Karabakh , which, quite rightly, causes fears of the Armenian side." And from the point of view of Azerbaijan, having received unlocked borders in exchange for these regions, the Armenian side of the conflict can in fact refuse to continue negotiations simply because they are useless, "the expert believes.

Based on the above, the British expert believes that the trust between the parties to the conflict is capable of allowing the implementation of certain creative approaches in order to realize the basic components of the settlement is simply not there. Mistrust of the parties to the conflict, according to his estimates, is due to the lack of liberal demand for the formation of a concept aimed at achieving a peaceful exit from the existing impasse.

"Such a situation, in my opinion, works in favor of preserving the Armenian control over Karabakh and in favor of political regimes in the conflicting countries.Any serious change in the status quo will be accompanied by a loss of security and, possibly, the emergence of new trends threatening the power of these regimes," "Broers summed it up.


RFE/RL Report
Russian Official Plays Up Fresh Arms Supplies To Armenia
March 26, 2018
Artak Hambardzumian


Russia has supplied Armenia with more weapons and other military equipment in
response to the April 2016 fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a senior Russian
lawmaker said during a visit to Yerevan on Monday.

“We do realize that after the 2016 escalation, which was initiated by one of
the parties, Armenian public opinion showed serious discontent with Russia
regarding arms supplies to Azerbaijan on the part of Russia,” Konstantin
Zatulin told reporters. “We very much regret that Azerbaijan found no use for
them other than violating the ceasefire agreement on the [Karabakh] Line of
Contact reached in 1994 with our help.”

“We have drawn conclusions regarding the breach of the military balance in the
region and provided Armenia with state-of-the-art defense equipment which we
had a chance to see at the [September 2016] military parade organized on the
occasion of [Armenia’s] Republic Day,” said the deputy chairman of a Russian
State Duma committee on relations with former Soviet republics.

Despite its military alliance with Armenia, Russia signed an estimated $5
billion worth of defense contracts with Azerbaijan in 2009-2011. Many in
Armenia feel that the resulting deliveries of hundreds of Russian tanks,
artillery systems and combat helicopters to Baku encouraged the latter to
launch the April 2016 offensive in Karabakh.

The four-day hostilities, which Moscow helped to halt, left at least 180
soldiers from both warring sides dead.It was the worst escalation of the
Karabakh conflict since 1994.

Visiting Yerevan earlier this month, another senior Russian lawmaker,
Konstantin Kosachev, indicated that Moscow will scale down its future arms
dealings with Baku. “Of course, we are reacting to what occurred in April
2016,” said Kosachev, who chairs the foreign relations committee of the
Federation Council, the Russian upper house of parliament.

The fresh Russian arms supplies to Armenia mentioned by Zatulin stem, in part,
from a $200 million Russian loan allocated in June 2015. The Armenian military
has used that money for buying, among other things, Smerch multiple-launch
rocket system, thermobaric and anti-tank rocket systems and shoulder-fired
surface-to-air missiles.

At its September 2016 parade in Yerevan, the military also demonstrated
medium-range Buk air-defense systems and, more importantly, Iskander tactical
missiles. Armenia most probably received the precision-guided missiles shortly
before or after the four-day war in Karabakh.

In October 2017, the Armenian government announced that Moscow will provide it with a further $100 million loan that will be spent on the purchase of more
Russian weapons at internal Russian prices set well below international
market-based levels. Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian said in December
that the Armenian side has already finalized three defense contracts with
Russian arms manufacturers as part of the loan agreement.

Zatulin, who is known for his pro-Armenian views on the Karabakh conflict, on
Monday also denounced Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent pledge to
“return Azerbaijanis” to Yerevan and other parts of Armenia which he called
“historic Azerbaijani lands.” “It’s just not clear how anyone can take such a
statement seriously,” added the veteran lawmaker.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also criticized Aliyev’s remarks last month.
Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani leader repeated his claims last week.


News.am, Armenia
March 23 2018
UN Human Rights Council adopts Genocide Prevention Resolution initiated by Armenia
Genocide Prevention Resolution initiated by Armenia was adopted at the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council by consensus in Geneva on March 23. Nearly 6 dozens of countries introducing all the regional groups of the Human Rights Council joined Armenia and co-authored the resolution. The resolution will be open for the co-authoring for two more weeks, the press service of the MFA Armenia reported.

“Armenia’s representative emphasized in his speech that the initiation of the mentioned resolution is the demonstration of Armenia’s resolve and continuous commitment to the prevention of the crime of genocide. He underlined the special importance of adopting the resolution on Prevention of genocide by consensus by the HRC in the year marking the 70th anniversary of the first UN international agreement on human rights.

The resolution reaffirms that fight against impunity is a key factor for preventing genocides. It expresses concern over the attempts to deny or approve genocides, stressing that they undermine the fight against impunity, reconciliation of peoples and crime-prevention efforts.

The resolution pays special attention to the exposure of signs and reasons of genocides.

It welcomes the call of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide to for a universal adoption of the resolution ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Convention.

The document also expresses satisfaction over the declaration of December 9 International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime by the UN General Assembly.

The resolution recommends the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize a high-level discussion during the September session of the HRC dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Convention on preventing and punishing the crime of genocide.

The resolution also envisages that the Secretary General of the UN will prepare a report based on the information received from the Member States on genocide education and the illustration of the Convention.


ArmInfo, Armenia
March 21 2018
French Ambassador: Macron will take part in the summit of Francophonie in Yerevan
Mariana Mkrtchyan

French President Emmanuel Macron will take part in the summit of Francophonie in Armenia, a French Ambassador to Russia Sylvie Bermann expressed this point of view.

"We are very happy that the Francophonie summit will be in Yerevan, I think that the president of the republic will participate in this event, and only that the Armenian Ambassador to Russia said that Charles Aznavour will be present at the summit, and this is very important from the point of view view of culture, "Berman said, Russian media reports.

The 17th summit of the International Organization of Francophonie will be held in Yerevan on October 11- 12, 2018. The event will be attended by high-ranking delegations from more than eight dozen states.


MENA English (Middle East and North Africa Financial Network)
March 26, 2018 Monday
Egyptian parliament: "Turkey leads mass extermination war" 

Comparing it to the Armenian Genocide, the Egyptian parliament's Arab affairs committee condemned Turkey's military action in Syria and Iraq.

"This is a new mass extermination war and it reminds us of Turkey's massacre of the Armenian people during the first World War," the lawmakers said in a statement.

The committee deplored that "both Russia and the United States are turning a blind eye to Erodgan's war crimes and its racial cleansing operations against the Kurds in Syria and Iraq," Ahram Online reported.

The committee's statement argued that "it is clear that dictator Erdogan's internal failures have forced him to mount military adventures against Turkey's neighbours in a way that poses a threat to international peace and stability in the Middle East."

The statement called on the Arab League, Arab leaders and Arab peoples to take a united stand against aggressive Turkish policies in the Arab world.


ArmenPress, Armenia
March 22 2018
China to provide Armenia with 200 ambulances
English –translator/editor:Tigran Sirekanyan 

Healthcare Minister of Armenia Levon Altunyan and Adviserof trade and economicissues at the Embassy of People's Republic ofChinainArmenia Vang Shicai signed on March 22 an agreement on providing Armenia with 200 ambulances on a grant basis. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Healthcare Ministry of Armenia , the ambulances will arrive in Armenia within 110 days after signing the agreement.

In a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Armenia TianErlong and the delegation of “China National Township Enterprises Corporation” Levon Altunyan thanked the leadership of China for the assistance. He stressed that the assistance will significantly improve the ambulance service.

The project is implemented in the sidelines of the agreement signed between the Governments of China and Armenia on May 12, 2017.

The Chinese Ambassador noted that though China is much larger than Armenia and has incomparably greater population, the health issues in both countries have similarities. Now in China struggle against smoking is underway like in Armenia . Welcoming the project aimed at healthy lifestyle in Armenia , TianErlong noted that smoking in public areas is prohibited in Chinese cities.

Other issues were also discussed at the meeting.


ARKA, Armenia
March 26 2018
Moody’s: Armenia’s economy will be growing over next two years 

Moody's Investors Service says in a press release that that Armenia's (B1 positive) credit profile reflects its track record of solid economic and financial management, robust but volatile growth, and high debt affordability.

And, strengthening policymaking institutions bolster the country's resilience to external shocks, as demonstrated during the large 2014-2016 regional economic shock, caused by the sharp drop in commodity prices.

Moody's expects Armenia's economy to grow strongly over the next two years, driven by the recovery in household consumption, solid exports, and forthcoming production from the country's new and largest gold mine.

Credit challenges stem from: 1) the government's moderately high debt burden that is vulnerable to a sharp currency depreciation, 2) Armenia's small and low-income economy that is highly exposed to external developments, and 3) latent geopolitical tensions with neighbouring Azerbaijan (Ba2 stable).
The high — but gradually declining — level of dollarisation in the economy also leaves Armenia and its banking sector exposed to external shocks, although the central bank has introduced measures that promote de-dollarisation.

Moody's conclusions are contained in its just-released credit analysis on Armenia and which examines the sovereign in four categories: economic strength, which is assessed as "low (+)"; institutional strength "moderate"; fiscal strength "low"; and susceptibility to event risk "moderate".

The report constitutes an annual update to investors and is not a rating action. Moody's says that underpinning the positive outlook on Armenia's sovereign rating are effective macroeconomic policies that indicate increasing institutional strength and lower vulnerability to external shocks. Ongoing reforms of the fiscal framework could also shore up fiscal strength over time.

Triggers for a rating upgrade include further economic and/or institutional reforms that point to sustained gains in economic competitiveness and institutional strength. In particular, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that Armenia signed with the European Union (Aaa stable) in November 2017 could foster such reforms, although any tangible impact would likely materialise only over the medium term.

Indications that Armenia's debt burden is falling durably and markedly faster than Moody's currently expects would also be credit positive in rebuilding some of the fiscal buffers that eroded during 2014-2016.

Although the positive outlook on Armenia's sovereign rating signals that a rating downgrade is unlikely over the next 12-18 months, Moody's could change the rating outlook to stable if there was a loss in reform momentum, fiscal slippage removing prospects of the government's debt burden declining over the medium term, and/or an escalation in the conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

Armenia’s economy grew by 7.5% in 2017, up from the government-projected 3.2%. The forecast for 2018 is 4.5%.


World Boxing Association
March 26, 2018 Monday
Goulamirian knocked out Merhy and is the new WBA Cruiserweight champion
Arsen Goulamirian had an impeccable performance in Marseille, France, and achieved a technical knockout in the 11th round against Ryad Merhy to become the World Boxing Association (WBA) Cruiserweight Champion.

The French born in Armenia gave Merhy no respite and began to pressure him from the first minute to prevent his opponent from making combinations of punches.

Goulamirian took the risk to exchange blows in front of a powerful boxer. That risk paid off as he took the best part and wasted Merhy until he could finish him off.

A combination of many consecutive unanswered blows to Merhy forced the referee to stop the fight, which made Goulamirian the new champion.

Goulamirian left his record at 23 wins, no defeats and 15 knockouts, while Merhy left his record at 24 wins, 1 loss and 20 knockouts.

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