Weekly update
16 July
A meeting of Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov was held in Tbilisi Saturday, hosted by Foreign Minister of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am. During the meeting, Mirzoyan and Bayramov touched upon a wide range of issues regarding the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this regard, the parties discussed the implementation of previously undertaken commitments and exchanged views on further possible steps. FM Mirzoyan reiterated the position of the Armenian side that the political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict is essential within the process of achieving sustainable and lasting peace in the region, and stressed the importance of using the institution and experience of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in accordance with its international mandate.The FM of Armenia highlighted the importance of addressing humanitarian issues, including the release and return of all Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan and finding out the fate of missing persons. The willingness of the sides to continue the discussions was underscored.
https://news.am/eng/news/712199.html
15 July
According to armenpress.am the U.S. House passed four Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)-backed amendments demanding Baku’s release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), calling for investigations into Azerbaijani war crimes, reporting on the impact of U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, and placing restrictions on the sale of F-16s to Turkey, ANCA reports. Three of the measures were adopted as part of larger groupings, or blocs, of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA – H.R.7900). The fourth, placing restrictions on F-16 sales to Turkey, passed by a vote of 244 to 179, withstanding powerful opposition from pro-Erdogan lobbyists during final days of consideration of the measure. The U.S. House is expected to pass the underlying NDAA measure later Thursday evening. “The ANCA thanks the Congressional leaders, coalition partners, and tens of thousands of ANCA activists from across the United States who made today’s victories possible,” said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1088311.html
14 July
The Genocide Education Project of the United States, in cooperation with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, has organized a ten-day intensive professional development program in Armenia for a group of American educators. In line with armenpress.am the Genocide Education Project Executive Director, American-Armenian Roxanne Makasdjian told ARMENPRESS that the organization has been founded around 20 years ago by herself and two friends. It’s an independent initiative aimed at introducing and teaching the US teachers on the history of the Armenian Genocide so that they will start teaching the Genocide to their students. “The program is being held in the conference hall of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in a format of a lecture-practical training. The historical, legal, social-psychological perspectives of the Armenian Genocide will be presented to the participants, at the same time showing them the long-term impact of that crime, its impunity on Armenia’s current political and economic situation”, she said.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1088221.html
13 July
Armenia’s National Security Service put forward on Wednesday a bill that sets more stringent requirements for Armenian foreign nationals seeking to become citizens of Armenia. As reported by azatutyun.am the legal amendment drafted by it would make them eligible for fast-track dual citizenship only if they have stayed in the country for at least 60 days over the past two years. The NSS said this would minimize applications from individuals who want Armenian passports in order to more easily migrate to other parts of the world and/or simply “have nothing to do with Armenianness.” Armenia allowed dual citizenship as a result of constitutional changes enacted in late 2005. This was supposed to strengthen the country’s links with several million Diaspora Armenians scattered around the world. Tens of thousands of them have received Armenian passports since then, taking advantage of a separate law on citizenship that sets no residency requirements for them. In a written justification of the proposed amendment posted on a government website, the NSS said the law contradicts an article of the constitution which stipulates that Diaspora Armenians can become dual citizens “from the moment they settle in the Republic of Armenia.”
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31942023.html
12 July
The government and the ruling Civil Agreement faction of the National Assembly are carrying out large-scale reforms in three directions in the fields of the Police, the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces, Armen Grigoryan, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, said at the parliamentary hearing on the process of creating the Ministry of Internal Affairs organized by the Standing Committees on National Defense and Security Affairs. According to armradio.am the Secretary of the Security Council informed that in the context of the reforms, it is planned to create a separate foreign intelligence agency. The office of the Security Council has already started discussions with colleagues on forming a new structure.
https://en.armradio.am/2022/07/12/armenia-planning-to-create-foreign-intelligence-agency/
11 July
Survey Finds Community Prioritizes the Security of Artsakh and Armenia against Existential Turkish and Azerbaijani Threats. According to asbarez.com an overwhelming majority of Americans of Armenian heritage oppose Artsakh being forced under Azerbaijani rule, according to a recent nationwide Armenian National Committee of America’s foreign policy survey. The poll also showed strong support for Armenia’s security as the highest priority in U.S.-Armenia bilateral relations – a finding at odds with the U.S. government’s prioritization of domestic “reforms.” The key findings of the ANCA survey were as follows: 97.65% of respondents strongly agree (95.25%) or agree (2.4%) that Artsakh should never be forced under Azerbaijani rule, 98.4% strongly agree (92.7%) or agree (5.7%) that Armenia faces existential threats from Azerbaijan and Turkey.
https://asbarez.com/armenian-americans-support-artsakhs-freedom/
10 July
Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, in a statement released today, has ordered a halt to construction work underway at the top of Mount Hatis where businessman Gagik Tsarukyan wants to erect a huge statue of Jesus Christ. In line with hetq.am Mt. Hatis (aka Shamiram’s Mountain), an extinct volcano 2,528 meters above sea level, is 28 kilometers northeast of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. The ministry today said the idea of project is “acceptable” but must pass an environmental review given the presence of historical and cultural sites on the mountain. The ministry claims that it had received a letter from Tsarukyan’s charity foundation about its plan to erect the statue and had responded that the exact location of the statute would have to be reviewed according to Armenia’s Law "On the Protection and Use of Immovable Monuments of History and Culture and Historical Environment" and exclude it from being placed in the areas of historical and cultural monuments or their conservation zones. The ministry says it never heard back from the charity and had only read about construction work atop the mountain from the press. On July 7, the Armenian government gave its preliminary approval to the plan.
https://hetq.am/en/article/146391
9 July
The Armenian government has, in effect, canceled legislation that would have criminalized “grave insults” in a win for press freedom advocates, who had previously warned of a chilling effect on freedom of speech in the country should the changes have gone into force. According to civilnet.am a new version of the criminal code that came into effect last Friday effectively supersedes legislation passed last summer that would have set fines of up to half a million drams (about $1,200) for making “grave insults” or insulting others in an “extremely indecent manner.” In addition, making such insults due to a person’s “public activities” would have been punishable by fines ranging from 1-3 million drams ($2,500-$7,400) and a prison sentence of up to three months, had the changes gone into effect. Armenian Justice Minister Karen Andreasyan confirmed last month that the new criminal code “no longer envisages liability for grave insults,” but noted that making such insults is still punishable by fines of up to 3 million drams under Armenia’s civil code. By removing charges for grave insults from the criminal code, the government is “continuing its commitment to the protection of freedom of speech,” he said. Armenian civil society organizations roundly criticized the legislation when it was first passed, noting that very few media organizations in Armenia could afford to pay the new maximum penalties and continue operating.
https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/667581/armenia-backtracks-on-criminalizing-grave-insults/
Sources: news.am, armenpress.am, asbarez.com, azatutyun.am, armradio.am, hetq.am, civilnet.am