Tag Archives: Armenia

Pashinyan accused of nepotism

JAN. 10 2022 (The Bulletin) — Three Armenian NGOs accused PM Nikol Pashinyan of nepotism after he appointed his childhood friend, Vahe Ghazaryan, as interior minister. They pulled out of a high-profile project with the government to reform the Armenian police, often accused of being corrupt and incompetent. Mr Ghazaryan has been head of Armenia’s national police force since 2020. Mr Pashinyan approved the re-establishment of the interior ministry in December, two decades after it was disbanded. Its main job is to organise and monitor the police.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Turkey lifts ban on sending cargo flights to Armenia

JAN. 6 2023 (The Bulletin) — Turkey lifted a ban on cargo flights to Armenia, part of its package to “normalise” relations. The move was agreed in July 2022 and is designed to lay the foundations for the slow opening of the Armenia-Turkey border. There have been no diplomatic or trade relations between Turkey and Armenia since 1993 when the border was closed. Armenia and Turkey have agreed to open the border to citizens of third countries although they have not put a timeline on this.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Armenia makes masks mandatory

NOV. 1 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s government made it mandatory once again to wear masks in public to try to dampen a rise in the coronavirus infection rate. The authorities are increasingly worried that the health service in Armenia is on the brink of collapse because of the rise in coronavirus cases. Its schools and universities have also switched to online learning.

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— This story was published in issue 506 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Nov. 4 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Erdogan opens new Nagorno-Karabakh airport

OCT. 26 2021 (The Bulletin) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Nagorno-Karabakh, the region recaptured by Azerbaijan in a war last year against Armenia, for the third time in the past 12 months to open a new airport alongside his ally, Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev. The new airport at Fizula is being promoted as one of the highlights of Azerbaijan’s infrastructure push in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia increases its military budget

OCT. 25 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia will increase its defence spending by 11% to 345b dram ($720m) from 2022, PM Nikol Pashinyan told parliament. Mr Pashinyan has had to respond to accusations that the Armenian army was underfunded and under-armed when it lost a war last year to Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. His opponents said that 11% is not a big enough rise and pointed out that Azerbaijan’s annual military budget in 2021 had been around $2.6b.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia and Iran agree to build road bypassing Azerbaijan

OCT. 25 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia and Iran agreed to build a stretch of road that avoids crossing through territory now controlled by Azerbaijan and to smooth customs regulations, Iranian media quoted Iranian officials as saying. The deal is considered significant as it underlines the neighbours’ commitment to each other despite pressure from Azerbaijan to break up the alliance. It now controls a 20km stretch of road that it captured after defeating Armenia in a war for Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenian hospitals on brink of collapse

OCT. 24 2021 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s hospitals are on the brink of running out of beds for people suffering from the coronavirus, health minister Anahit Avanesyan said. Armenia has a vaccination rate of only 10% and is now trying to cope with a surge of coronavirus infections which has pushed new cases up to a record of around 2,000 per day and deaths to more than 50 per day.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia’s new medical tourism

>> Armenia is cashing in on a medical tourism industry focused on the pandemic, writes James Kilner

YEREVAN/JULY 22 2021 (The Bulletin) — Finding a hotel room or an apartment to rent in Yerevan has become a challenge but, in the second year of the global coronavirus pandemic, it is not Armenia’s relaxed attitude towards facemasks and social distancing that is attracting tourists. Instead, Armenia’s offer to vaccinate anybody against the coronavirus has created a new “medical tourism” industry.

The vast majority of these so-called medical tourists are from Iran, as data from Armenia’s tourism ministry showed. It said that the number of people arriving from Iran over the past month has doubled.

And the epicentre of this coronavirus-motivated migration lies at the top of Yerevan’s North Avenue. 

Across the road from the hulking grey Soviet-built opera house, an ambulance parks up every day. From 10am, anybody is invited to have a coronavirus vaccination. Priority is given to Armenians but the take up has been poor. The Armenian doctor instead talks to the crowd in English. Standing next to her, a Farsi translator repeats her instructions.

“We did about 100 vaccinations today,” she said later. “A few at the start were Armenian but most, by a long way, are from Iran.”

One of these was Makhmoud from Tehran. He had been waiting for his vaccination standing a few metres back from the crowd, pulling on a slim cigarette, his facemask pushed down under his chin. His wife sat on a bollard next to him.

“What choice do we have?” he said. “The vaccination programme in Iran is falling over and we may have to wait another three or four months for our turn. I’m 57-years-old.”

According to Makhmoud, a retired gas complex worker, the Iranian authorities have only offered the vaccine to people over the age of 60. He had flown to Yerevan but he said that thousands of people were making the overland crossing via Tabriz in the northwest of Iran.

“The problem now, though, is that it is expensive. Now everybody who enters has to wait 10 days to have a vaccine,” he said.

The new rules, that people have to stay in Armenia for at least 10 days before they can have the vaccine were imposed on July 15 and it is clear from ministers’ comments that they were introduced to generate extra income. “Tourism indicators show growth,” media has quoted economy minister Vahan Kerobyan as saying. “Now is a good time to think about medical tourism.”

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Iran talks up trade deals with the EEAU

JULY 21 2021 (The Bulletin) — Iranian diplomats are talking up a trade agreement with the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEAU) which they hope will create a series of free trade zones that will spur joint projects. The EEAU includes Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Media reported that a group of 40 Iranian businessmen had flown to Bishkek to look at potential investments in Kyrgyzstan.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Power cut strikes Yerevan

JULY 21 2021 (The Bulletin) — A power cut hit a large part of Yerevan, a blackout that analysts linked to a heatwave that has triggered heavy use of air conditioning units and fans. Analysts have said that Armenia needs to do more to increase its electricity production to meet a surge in demand linked to a rise in living standards. It is over-reliant on the Soviet-era Metsamor nuclear power station to generate power. The 45-year-old power plant was supposed to be decommissioned in 2017/18. Instead, its lifespan has now been extended until 2027.

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— This story was published in issue 493 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 22 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021