Tag Archives: Armenia

Armenia to send officer to Mali

MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia agreed to send a military officer as a token member of a United Nations peace-keeping force in Mali, west Africa.

Although from a practical point-of-view sending a solitary officer is a purely symbolic gesture, it still resonates with Armenia’s sense of self-esteem.

Media quoted defence minister Seyran Ohanian who was emphatic on the motives behind supporting the UN peace-keeping mission to Mali.

“Armenia’s involvement in international peacekeeping operations is aimed not only at increasing the international prestige of our country and helping build a pro-Armenian position in the world, but also at prevention and mitigation of possible threats (to Armenia) outside the country,” he said.

The emphasis should, just possibly, lie on ambitions to increase Armenia’s international prestige. Nobody has suggested that Mali’s security is a major concern in Yerevan.

It’s also worth remembering that Mali, and its collapse into a near failed state, was French foreign adventure and Armenia views France as one of its key international supporters.

Armenia has been involved with UN peace-keeping missions since 2004. Its main involvement has been in Lebanon, where an estimated 100,000 Armenians live, although it has also sent its forces to Afghanistan and Kosovo.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Armenia negotiates gas discount with Russia

MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia has negotiated a reduced price for gas from Russia’s Gazprom but the government will not pass this saving on to consumers, energy minister, Yervand Zakharyan, said. Instead, Mr Zakharyan said, consumers will pay the same price.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Armenia extends nuclear site

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament approved a Russian plan to extend the life-span of the Metsamor nuclear plant by 11 years to 2026, media reported.

Metsamor, built in the 1970s, provides 40% of Armenia’s power but it is controversial. There are concerns over its safety record and its position in an area known for earthquakes.

Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom will carry out maintenance at the nuclear site, media reported, a project also funded by Russian cash. In February, Russia agreed to lend Armenia $230m to pay for the maintenance and also to give a $30m grant.

Whatever Armenia professes about its various pro-West policies, it is in Russia’s pocket. Russia owns the gas pipeline monopoly, maintains a large military base in Armenia and has pulled Yerevan into its economic union.

This nuclear deal at Metsamor, which has been a few years in the making, just confirms its grip over Armenia.

The Metsamor nuclear plant, which sits near Yerevan near the border with Turkey, is no stranger to controversy. In 2011, the National Geographic magazine published a story with the headline: “Is Armenia’s Nuclear Plant the World’s Most Dangerous?”

The EU and the US appear to think so. The EU offered Armenia nearly $300m to fund the closure of the nuclear plant, an offer Armenia rejected.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Georgia-Armenia relations sour over S.Ossetian visit

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Relations between Georgia and Armenia threatened to sour after the speaker of the Armenian parliament, Galust Sahakyan, met a delegation from the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia in Nagorno- Karabakh.

Initially, Mr Sahakyan’s meeting with South Ossetian official Anatoly Bibilov, who was in Nagrono-Karabakh to monitor local elections, appeared to suggest some degree of official Armenian support for the rebel government. Tbilisi was incensed.

Georgia and Russia fought a brief war in 2008 over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russia and a handful of crony states which want to curry support from the Kremlin — think Pacific Island states looking for aid handouts — have recognised their independence although Georgia still says it wants to reclaim the regions.

Georgia’s government called in Armenia’s ambassador to Tbilisi to explain Mr Sahakyan’s actions and later Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili spoke to Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan to avoid a diplomatic incident.

An Armenian government spokesman later said: “The meeting between Galust Sahakyan and Anatoly Bibilov was purely of private nature. No official issues were discussed whatsoever. A meeting between private individuals has nothing to do with political positions.”

The statement concluded by confirming Armenia’s support for Georgia’s claim over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Armenian police arrested Ex-MP

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Armenia arrested a former MP for allegedly being involved in a murder plot, media reported. Gohar Yenokyan, 73, had been an MP for the opposition Prosperous Armenia party. No specific details of the apparent murder plot were released.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Armenia and US to sign trade deal

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Washington next week, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan will sign a trade deal with the US, media reported quoting US government sources. Although Armenia is an ally of Russia it is also improving ties with the West.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Armenia needs diaspora support

APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s minister for diaspora, Hranush Hakobyan, called for Armenians based abroad to support the Armenian economy by opening up bank accounts. The Armenian diaspora acts as an important support for Armenia’s economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Armenia wants sanction-free Iran

APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps looking to boost relations with its neighbour, Armenia has been quick to welcome a potential reduction in sanctions over Iran, media reported quoting Armenian foreign minister Eduard Nalbandyan. Armenia and Iran have steadily improved trade and political links.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Armenia remembers 1915

APRIL 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia officially marked the 100th anniversary of the killing of thousands of its countrymen by Ottoman Turks, an event it wants recognised as a genocide.

On the eve of the ceremony in Yerevan, Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, joined a growing list of countries calling the death of up to 1.5m Armenians a genocide.

“What happened in the middle of the First World War in the Ottoman Empire under the eyes of the world was a genocide,” media quoted Bundestag Presi- dent Norbert Lammert as saying at the debate on the issue.

The issue is sensitive in Germany as historians have said Nazi leader Adolf Hitler used the killings of the Armenians in the east of modern-day Turkey as evidence the world would turn a blind eye to his plans to kill Jews in Europe.

Presiding over the sombre ceremony in Yerevan, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said: “Recognition of the genocide is a triumph of human conscience and justice over intolerance and hatred.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande were among the foreign dignitaries to attend the service.

The US sent a delegation but President Barack Obama has pointedly steered away from describing the deaths as a genocide.

Turkey has denied the genocide. It says Armenians died in the chaos around the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that he feels Armenia’s pain over the killings but he is quick to criticise descriptions of the deaths as a genocide.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Armenia’s economy to grow

APRIL 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Speaking at a regional conference, Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan said he forecast economic growth in 2015 despite predictions of the opposite. Media quoted Mr Abrahamyan as saying he thought the economy had grown by 2.5% in Q1.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)