Tag Archives: Armenia

Top Muslim position established in Armenia

MAY 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s official Muslim group, the Assembly of Muslims of Armenia, has created the position of chief mufti for the first time, online media reported.

Importantly, it gave the top job to an Iranian trained cleric, Arsen Safaryan.

Regional analyst Paul Goble wrote in his blog that there were a handful of reasons why this was an important development.

The first reason, he said, was that the new job challenges the Baku-based Muslim Special Directorate of the Caucasus. Azerbaijan is a Muslim country and the natural location for a regional Muslim chief.

Mr Globe then wrote: “This move gives Iran an opening to expand its influence among Shiia not only in the post- Soviet space, also a direct challenge to Azerbaijan, but also among the nearly 400,000 Armenian Muslims (the Hemshins) living in the Middle East and Europe and also among the Yezidis who vastly outnumber the Shiia in Armenia.”

There were, Mr Globe explained, thousands of Muslims living in Armenia but most fled to Azerbaijan in the 1990s after war over Nagorno-Karabakh broke out. There are now only around 1,000 Muslims in Armenia.

Iran and Armenia have been steadily improving ties over the past few years. They are both short of regional allies. Now, it appears, Armenia could be quietly handing more responsibility for Armenia’s small Muslim community over to Iran.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

EU wants deal with Armenia

MAY 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Less than two years after Armenia appeared to turn its back on the EU by agreeing to sign up to the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union, the EU wants to start negotiating a new treaty to deepen political and economic ties with Yerevan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quoted an unnamed official in Brussels as saying.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

EBRD agreed loan with Armenia

MAY 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it had agreed a €3.5m, 15-year loan with Armenia to build the country’s first EU-compliant landfill site. The EU has also agreed a €3.5m grant for the project.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Slow price rise in Armenia

MAY 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Consumer prices in Armenia rose by 5% in the first four months of the year, media reported quoting the National Statistics Agency. This rise represented a steady, but not alarming, price inflation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Cigarette production rises in Armenia

MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Cigarette production in Armenia is booming, media reported quoting official statistics. In Q1 of 2015, cigarette production in Armenia increased by 28.4% compared to the same period in 2014.

ENDS

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

Armenian flag photoshop-ed

MAY 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s government scrubbed the Armenian flag from a photo posted on its website of a parade in Moscow to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union, media reported. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

ENDS

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

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)