Former US Ambassador John Evans sees progress in Armenia

Former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans has said he see serious reforms in Armenia since his last visit to the country fives years ago.

Speaking at a discussion organized by the Civilitas Foundation, Evans said there are more shops in the capital Yerevan now, while the Yellow Pages have more new companies registered.

“Reforms in Armenia are large-scale, but that does not mean we are living in the heaven,” said he.

“There were still debates over development issues in the US 230 years after its independence,” Evans added.

Speaking about the leaks by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks about the 1, 2 March 2008 post-election unrest, Evans said he was not in Armenia at that time, adding that those events negatively affected Armenia’s image.  Read more... (176 words)

No One Can Force Armenia or Turkey, Insist Ambassadors in Armenia

No one from outside can force Armenia, Azerbaijan or Turkey to take this or that step. These countries have to sit together and resolve their problem, said former US Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans today at the “Assessing Independence in Armenia and the Region” public forum organized by the Civilitas Foundation.

“As you know we often have difficult relations with Turkey, as, for example, in the war with Iraq, Turkey refused to get troops into Iraq. Thus, America can’t force, it can support processes through different formats, but resolving the conflict is the problem of those countries,” he said.

German Ambassador to Armenia Hans-Jochen Schmidt, also speaking on the panel, likewise emphasized that the “outside world” cannot force a decision.  Read more... (211 words)

French presidential nominee remembers the Armenian Genocide ahead of presidential race

Francois Holland, a French presidential nominee representing the Socialist Party, has promised French-Armenians to back the bill penalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

At a meeting with the Armenian community in Alfortville, Holland said he will ask the Senate to include the bill in the agenda.

He recalled that President Nicolas Sarkozy had not kept his earlier promise to the Armenians.

Jean Eckiyan, a French-Armenian journalist, reported from Paris that the meeting was organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashaksutyun, a political force which endorses Sarkozy.

In May 2011, the French Senate rejected the draft by a vote of 196 in favor and 74 against.  Read more... (142 words)

The PR of Parade: Armenian experts say Yerevan’s military display attracted more media attention than Baku’s

The military parade held in Armenia last week to mark the 20th anniversary of the republic’s independence still continues to attract attention from international media.

The nation’s fifth parade since the 1991 declaration of independence held on September 21 was attended by about 4,000 troops and featured 300 pieces of modern military hardware. Most importantly, though, the military demonstration for the first time featured Armenia’s offensive arsenal, including modern sophisticated weaponry.

The military parade in the heart of the Armenian capital elicited a broad response in the region and far beyond. Director of the Yerevan-based Sociometer sociological center Aharon Adibekyan cites surveys conducted by his staff, showing that within a few days after the parade as many as 850 English-language websites reported information. Meanwhile, he says, the military parade held in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku in June was covered by less than 100 English-language websites.  Read more... (443 words)

Turkish PhD Student – “I hear more interesting views from average Armenians than the intellectuals”

An interview with Turgut Kerem Tuncel, PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Trento (Italy).

Mr. Tuncel, native of Turkey, is in Armenia to do research for his thesis entitled “Mayr Hayastan, Im Hayrenik; The memory and politics of the construction of the Armenian homeland”.

What prompted you to do your thesis on the Armenian experience?

Well, it all came out of my initial interest in Jewish studies and anti-Semitism. Then I decided to make a comparative study of the survival strategies of the Jewish and Armenian communities in Turkey. Then, I started to focus on the Armenian community there and the concept of the “diaspora”.  Read more... (1727 words)

Mothers of deceased Armenian soldiers protest outside government building

A group of Armenian citizens had gathered outside the Government Building in Yerevan, protesting for various issues.

Several women, wearing black clothes, were demanding the government to find out the real reasons of the deaths of their sons in the army.

Some of them assumed that their sons might also participate in the military parade celebrating the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, were they alive today.

Some of those gathered outside the Government Building were former residents of North Avenue in central Yerevan, protesting for the protection of their rights.

Also protesting were owners of kiosks who were condemning the decision of the Yerevan Municipality to dismantle their trade facilities.  Read more... (182 words)

Armenia’s nuclear power plant may face lack of personnel, if salaries are not reviewed

Armenia’s Nuclear Power Plant is set to face a shortage of personnel after 158 of its employees submitted resignation letters on September 20 over their salaries.

The employees submitted the letters after receiving no response to their request sent a month earlier to the NPP’s management, Armenia’s president and the minister of energy and natural resources.

In the request they had asked to review their salaries against the backdrop of inflation, the recent hike in prices.

Speaking to Tert.am, Lusine Harutyunyan, the spokesperson of the minister of energy and natural resources, said that their letters are at the ministry and that the ministry will inform about the results of their reviewing.  Read more... (275 words)

EU Expects Action From Yerevan For Visa Facilitation

Armenia should take concrete steps to address European Union concerns about illegal immigration if it wants to promptly secure less stringent visa requirements for Armenians travelling to the EU, a senior European diplomat said on Thursday.

Armenia is entitled to signing a visa facilitation agreement with the EU as part of its involvement in the latter’s Eastern Partnership program for six former Soviet republics. The agreement would also commit it to help EU immigration authorities expedite the repatriation of Armenian illegal immigrants.

The bloc’s executive European Commission announced this week that it has asked EU member governments to give the formal green light for the start of negotiations with Yerevan on the signing of such a deal. The commission is expected to receive the relevant “mandate” in the coming weeks. It is still not known just how long those talks will last.  Read more... (305 words)

World-famous singers to commemorate Armenian Genocide victims

Flora Martirosian, Arto Tuncboyacıyan, Serj Tankian, Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, as well as many other world-famous stars, will give a joint concert in Los Angeles, California, USA, on Nov 1.

The concert will commemorate Armenian Genocide victims, Flora Martirosian told journalists Sept 22.

“That concert will inaugurate a large-scale project we have decided to implement until 2015. Before that, we plan to give concerts in many countries by holding a least one concert a year. Many of the world-famous singers will join us because they are against violence and terror,” she said. A concert series is an excellent opportunity for the Armenian people to appear in the international arena. “We can present not only our national songs and art, but also our goods, to the world,” Martirosian added.  Read more... (283 words)