FEB. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Reports from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh said shootouts between Azerbaijani and Armenia soldiers have intensified over the past few weeks. Information from Nagorno-Karabakh is generally patchy and difficult to verify. The dispute, though, is considered a dangerous flashpoint for regional stability.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
FEB. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Technology and Science Dynamics Inc. an Armenian-US joint venture, unveiled its much anticipated Armtab tablet. The Armtab has been heralded as a significant step for Armenia’s fledgling technology sector. The Armtab is similar in size to Apple’s iPad.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
FEB. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia unveiled a so-called road map to joining the Russia-led Customs Union by September 2014. Last year Armenia elected to join the Customs Union ahead of further integration with the EU. Importantly, though, this move did not set off the anti-government protests that have rocked Kiev in the past few weeks.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Paris to continue their glacier-slow peace talks over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. In the region, though, reports said that there had been an increase in the number of shootouts between the two sides. Both sides reported casualties.
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(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s government ratified a deal to sell its 20% stake in Armenian gas supplier ArmRusGazprom. The deal gives Russian gas monopoly Gazprom 100% ownership of ArmRusGazprom and, therefore, control over Armenia’s gas supply. Last year, Armenia surprised the EU by deciding to join the Russia-led Customs Union.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — An estimated 4,000 people protested in central Yerevan against planned changes to the pension system. The protest dispersed quietly. The change in the pension law means that people aged 40 or under will have to pay 5% of their salary into a pension. Like other states in the former Soviet Union, Armenia needs to reform a pension scheme now considered overly generous.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
DEC. 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — ArmTab, the computer tablets produced in Armenia by an Armenian-US joint-venture, will go on sale in Yerevan priced $185, media reported. According to Armenia’s economy minister, Vahram Avanesian, 30,000 ArmTabs will be produced in the first year. The project is a major boost for Armenia’s technology industry.
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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)
DEC. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited Yerevan, the first high-level trip to Armenia by an official from Turkey for nearly five years. Mr Davutoglu’s trip has sparked hope that relations between the two neighbours will improve. Turkey is the main ally of Azerbaijan, Armenia’s biggest enemy.
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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)
DEC. 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Armenian and a Turkish actor broke the world record for the longest handshake in a stunt aimed at improving ties between the two neighbours. Oganes Ajinyan, an Armenian, and Denis Barish, a Turk, shook hands for 43 hours in Tbilisi. Relations between Armenia and Turkey are strained over genocide accusations from World War I.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The world’s attention has focused on the massive street demonstrations against the Customs Union in Kiev but in Armenia another, far smaller, crowd has also been demonstrating against the Russia-led group. And this crowd of roughly 500 were within earshot of the visiting Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The core of the debate is similar to the issues facing Ukraine. Faced with the option of moving closer to the EU or shifting towards Russia, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan earlier this year chose the Kremlin. This surprised EU officials but unlike in Ukraine, the decision was generally welcomed in Armenia. Russia is seen as something of a security blanket for Armenia. It controls Armenia’s gas supplies and maintains a large military base in the country. It has also vowed to intervene if Azerbaijan threatens it.
Tigran Abrahamyan, a political scientist in Yerevan said the military aspect of the Customs Union was critical for Armenia. “Armenia will buy military equipment from Russia at a lower price and import it without paying customs fees,” he said.
Most Armenians are not anti-EU but they also understand the importance of military equipment and that is something that Russia’s army, and not the EU, can offer them.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)