Armenian-Polish Intergovernmental Commission to be Established

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Karine Ghazinyan arrived in Warsaw on February 10 to participate in the political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Poland.

On the first day of the visit the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister met Marcin Korolec, Poland’s Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Economy.

The parties stressed the necessity of promoting the Armenian-Polish economic cooperation. Mrs. Ghazinyan informed about the economic cooperation agreements reached between Armenia and the European Union.

The same day Karine Ghazinyan had a meeting with members of the Poland-Armenian Deputy Friendship Group of the Polish Sejm. The parties attached importance to the necessity of deepening the cooperation between the Armenian and Polish delegations within parliamentary assemblies of international organizations.  Read more... (199 words)

Movses Hakobyan: Nagorno Karabakh Republic Army Not Afraid of Azeri Threats

The Defense Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Movses Hakobyan welcomes the common understanding reached during the trilateral meeting in Sochi. He assures that the soldiers at the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact line are always ready for war and will never yield.

Last year the Azerbaijani side violated the cease-fire 3442 times, which is 30% more than in 2008, NKR Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan told a press conference today. The OSCE Minsk Group has been informed about all the cases of violation.

Movses Hakobyan considers that Azerbaijan has no bases to realize its bellicose statements. The Defense Army is not afraid of Azerbaijani threats. “If the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were confident of their victory, they would have restarted war long ago,” he said.  Read more... (147 words)

Armenian Government Plans To Curb Key Tax Exemption

Risking renewed protests from small businesses, the Armenian government confirmed on Tuesday plans to significantly restrict a legal exemption from valued-added tax (VAT) enjoyed by them.

The government introduced the VAT threshold in August 2007 as part of its efforts to phase out simplified tax which tax authorities said was increasingly abused by larger businesses keen to evade taxes. It ordered all small firms and even market traders to install cash registers in order to be able to calculate their real turnover.  Read more... (467 words)

International Conference on “Perspectives to Reach Gender Equality in Armenia: Political and Legal Aspects”

A three-day international conference on “Perspectives to reach gender equality in Armenia: political and legal aspects” opened today in Tsakhkadzor Writers’ Union House. It was jointly organized by the Association of Women with University Education (AWUE), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia.

The conference is conducted under the auspices of the RoA National Assembly, the UN Armenia and OSCE Yerevan offices.

The draft of the RoA law “On provision of Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women and Men,” drafts of the RoA Gender Policy Concept and its implementation strategy, as well as reports on the UN strategy and the European institutional policy in the field of gender equality were presented to the participants for further discussion.  Read more... (342 words)

Analysis: Ankara is Lingering, Yerevan is Responding

The Armenian president’s unexpected response to Turkey’s attempts at linking the ratification of the Armenia-Turkey protocols with the Karabakh issue settlement could not have emerged overnight, and is an ‘escape hatch’ in case if the normalization process reaches a deadlock. It is also obvious that the president’s statement is Yerevan’s official message to the international community as a response to Ankara’s uncompromising stand.

“If Turkey keeps delaying the ratification process of the Armenian-Turkish protocols Yerevan will immediately reply by taking measures regulated by the international law,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said last week in Yerevan.

What are those measures the president was referring to?  Read more... (560 words)

Will Corruption in Armenia Be Eradicated?

Armenian Young Lawyers Association today marched through Yerevan’s central streets carrying the posters: “No to Corruption!”

The action was aimed at acknowledging people with the struggle against corruption, violated rights and mechanisms of their restoration. The marchers distributed booklets informing citizens about their rights.

“Things will better after each of us gets armed with will to struggle against corruption. We must unite our efforts in the struggle to achieve tangible results,” said Norayr Harutyunyan, a legal advisor of the Association.
Association member Marat Atovmyan thinks corruption hinders reforms in different spheres.

“If we are able to exercise the principle of inevitability and bring an official breaching the law before court, we shall register serious changes in the combat against corruption,” said Marat Atovmyan.  Read more... (130 words)

Spread of (common) Flu Leads to Call for Schools Closure in Armenia

Armenia’s chief infection specialist Ara Asoyan’s appeared on Public Television over the weekend calling for the immediately closure of schools throughout Armenia as a precaution against the spread of seasonal flu.

The doctor’s call raised concern and some alarm among the public, and prompted health officials to meet today (December 7) to discuss the situation. A decision is expected to be reached Monday or Tuesday on whether it is necessary to close public schools.

“Currently the Municipality of Yerevan and the Heath Ministry are cooperating to collect the indexes of attendance at schools, and the decision to be made depends on them,” Shushan Hunanyan, assistant to the Minister of Health of Armenia, told ArmeniaNow. She says that if the decision is positive, “schools and kindergartens will most probably be closed beginning next week.”  Read more... (294 words)

President of Armenia Serzh Sarkisian Again Warns Turkey, Azerbaijan

President Serzh Sarkisian again warned Turkey against delaying the implementation of its agreements with Armenia and vowed a “tough” response to a possible Azerbaijani attempt to win back Nagorno-Karabakh by force as he defended his foreign policy over the weekend.

Critics say Ankara will exploit the formation of a Turkish-Armenian commission of historians, envisaged by one of the two “protocols,” to keep more countries from officially recognizing the 1915-1918 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.  Read more... (467 words)

Aliyev’s Statement Aims to Ruin Armenian-Turkish Process, Says Analyst

Ilham Aliyev’s warlike statements are not new for not only the Armenian public but also the international community, political analyst Stepan Grigoryan said when commenting on the Azerbaijani president’s recent statements, upon Tert.am’s request.

Grigoryan said that he has repeated those bellicose statements numerous times, but he is sure the statement made on November 20, by its nature, differs from previous statements.

“It is the first time that the statement has no connection whatsoever with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. It serves [only] one purpose, to ruin the establishment process of Armenia-Turkey relations, and the ratification of the Protocols,” Grigoryan said.

The analyst said that the improvement of Armenia-Turkey relations will bring qualitative changes into the region, as a result of which Azerbaijan’s role will diminish.  Read more... (187 words)