26 October - 2 November

Հայացք Երևանից 02 November 2019

Weekly update

Armenpress informed, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia is actively working towards the launch of a visa liberalization dialogue with the European Union, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said in the Parliament on November 1. “The visa liberalization process is a very important and vital issue for us. We are working both with the Commission and the member states. We are also working very actively at the bilateral level in order to be able to make closer that moment and have the launch of the dialogue process for the liberalization of visas. The dialogue process is not the liberalization yet, but is a very vital stage for moving forward that process”, the FM said.

As part of his working visit to the United States, Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Masis Mayilyan delivered a speech at the Washington-based Center for the National Interest. The meeting, organized in the Chatham House format, was attended by representatives of expert and analytical centers, reported Tert.am.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Vice President of the European Investment Bank Vazil Hudák, the PM’s Office told Armenpress. The PM highlighted the cooperation between the Armenian government and the Bank, as well as the ongoing joint investment programs in various areas. Pashinyan said the programs implemented in partnership with the EIB are very important for Armenia’s business circles and citizens as these projects are directed for funding the private sector, improving various infrastructures. The PM said the government is interested in discussing the opportunities to implement new programs with the Bank.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly condemned on Wednesday a U.S. congressional resolution recognizing the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, calling it the “biggest insult” to the Turkish people, said Azatutyun. “This step taken has no value,” Erdogan said of the resolution overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday. “We do not recognize it.” Erdogan also condemned a separate House bill calling for U.S. sanctions on Turkey over its military operation in Syria.

It is the first time that a chamber of Congress has officially designated the 1915 slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide, reported The New York Times. The House voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to formally recognize the Armenian genocide and denounce it as a matter of American foreign policy, a symbolic vindication for the Armenian diaspora made possible by a new torrent of bipartisan furor at Turkey.

The Armenian genocide is casting its shadow on the halls of Congress once again this week, as lawmakers in the House of Representatives consider a resolutionrecognizing the crime. The resolution would acknowledge the uprooting, dispossession and destruction of an entire nation during World War I, encourage public understanding and commemoration of what happened, and reject the denial of genocide, published Washington Post.

Russia’s 102nd military base stationed in the town of Gyumri in Armenia will almost double its combat potential after it is rearmed with new and upgraded weapon systems, Base Commander Colonel Nikolai Martynyuk reported to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday, reported TASS. Also, Chief of Staff of Russia’s Southern Military District Lieutenant-General Sergei Kuzovlev reported to the defense minister that the 102nd military base in Armenia “is provided with materiel, military hardware and armament in full.”

President Armen Sarkissian received today delegation headed by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, said the Presidential Office. President Sarkissian hailed the close cooperation established between our country and UN in different areas which resulted in the implementation of multiple important programs. “We have a pretty comprehensive and efficient cooperation, and there is also a great desire to make it more practical and targeted,”President Sarkissian said.

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians today received the delegation led by General Secretary of the Swiss Bible Society Eva Tommy at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The delegation was accompanied by General Secretary of the Bible Society of Armenia, Archbishop Yeznik Petrosyan and Programs Director of the Society Arshavir Gabujian, informed Armenian News-News.am. During the meeting, Archbishop Yeznik presented the goals of the delegation’s visit to Armenia and the effective cooperation between the two organizations and particularly mentioned that the guests have visited various shrines in Armenia and will be taking part in the presentation of the third DVD of the Bible translated into sign language.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the deadly shootings in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia. As a result of the crime committed 20 years ago, NA President Karen Demirchyan, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Vice Presidents Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, MPs Armenak Armenakyan, Henrik Abrahamyan, Mikael Kotanyan, and Deputy Minister of Operations Leonard Petrosyan were killed, said News.am. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan honored memory of the victims of October 27 attack on the Armenian parliament. He was accompanied by Armen Sargsyan, brother of killed PM Vazgen Sargsyan, son and widow of Karen Demirchyan, president of the Armenian National Assembly, as well as family members and friends of other deputies killed in the attack.