NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a ratcheting up of tension, Armenia promised “grave consequences” after Azerbaijan shot down one of its military helicopters. Azerbaijan said that the Armenian helicopter had attacked its positions. Armenia said it had been on a training exercise.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan said that it had shot down an Armenian military helicopter, killing all three crew members.
Armenia later confirmed the downing of its helicopter. The incident triggered the most serious stand-off between the two neighbours since a UN negotiated cease-fire ended a war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1994.
Pro-Armenian rebels now control Nagorno-Karabakh but Azerbaijan has pledged to re-take the region and it has spent much of its recent oil wealth building up its army and buying the latest hi-tech weapons.
Azerbaijan’s military later released an animation showing how the Armenian helicopter had been flying over its territory and opened fire on its soldiers before it was shot down.
Armenia countered that the helicopter was on an unarmed exercise when it was shot down.
A Conway Bulletin correspondent in Baku said that most Azerbaijanis supported their government’s action.
“Armenia should respect Azerbaijan’s borders,” 28-year- old Muard Guliyev told the Bulletin. “If it doesn’t, there will be hard times head.”
International agencies and countries urged both Azerbaijan and Armenia to reduce the rhetoric.
Earlier this year, a shootout between the two sides killed several soldiers.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran is to build a hydro-electric plant in Armenia, one of the strongest signals yet that the two neighbours are developing ever closer relations.
The Iranian state-run news agency, Fars News quoted Iran’s energy minister Hamid Chitchian as saying that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the two sides and that construction of the hydro-electric plant will start shortly.
The two neighbours have been working on the deal for some time.
In many ways, both Armenia and Iran have been forced to work with each other because of their various geo- political scenarios.
Armenia borders Azerbaijan and Turkey, both enemies, and is short of friends in the region. Iran is looking for allies to bolster its position during the current US- imposed sanctions.
Over the past few years Armenia and Iran have widened their cooperation, particularly with energy swaps.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances to Armenia from Russia were 8.6% lower in September this year than in the same month in 2013, media reported quoting the Central Bank. Armenia’s economy is closely linked to Russia which is suffering from a severe downturn triggered by a falling oil price and Western imposed sanctions.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Yerevan, US software company Microsoft praised Armenia’s drive to boost its tech sector. Mark Day, a senior official at Microsoft, described Armenia’s tech sector as reaching a “world level”. Armenia has highlighted technology as an area it can attract foreign investment.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Aiming to give tourism a lift, Armenia said it would join the EU-funded Black Sea Silk Road Corridor which already includes Georgia, Turkey and Greece. The focus of the corridor is a 3,000km path that weaves through 150 cultural sites. Armenia’s government has earmarked tourism as a way of boosting the economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia plans to re-establish its Interior Ministry ahead of joining the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.
PM Hovik Abrahamian said that several ministries would be merged together to create an Interior Ministry, which was abandoned in 2002.
“Nineteen ministries is too many for Armenia,” the official Armenpress news agency quoted Mr Abrahamian as saying. “In the future we will turn the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Local Government into the Ministry of Internal Affairs as it is the case in many European countries.”
In the former Soviet space the Interior Ministry is one of the more powerful government institutions. It has its own army and is tasked with imposing internal security and order. In 2002, Armenia disbanded the Interior Ministry and handed these pseudo military powers to the police force. This will now revert back to the Interior Ministry.
Armenia is joining the Eurasian Economic Union in the New Year, a group that already includes Belarus and Kazakhstan alongside Russia. Kyrgyzstan is also intending to join.
All these countries have a strong Interior Ministry. It’s likely that joining the Eurasian Economic Union and re-establishing the Interior Ministry in Armenia are linked.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a sign of improving Azerbaijani- Armenian relations, Armenia said that it would send a team to participate at the inaugural European Games in Baku next year. Armenia and Azerbaijan are arch enemies and have disputed the region of Nagorno-Karabakh since the early 1990s.
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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a visit to Sweden by Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandalian, Armenia opened an embassy in Stockholm. Armenia has been looking to open more embassies abroad to both boost its support base and lobby for allies to back it with its dispute with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and Georgia are building a €300m electrical line between the two countries, Armenian energy minister Ara Simonyan told a cabinet meeting. The power line will improve the Georgian and Armenian electricity grid and help solidify the countries’ trade relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
