Tag Archives: Armenia

Armenian president signs deals with UAE

MARCH 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to boost investment from the UAE, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan travelled to Dubai to sign various deals. The most significant deal was a visa waiver between Armenia and the UAE. Media reports of Mr Sargsyan’s visit to the UAE said that discussions had focused on expanding bilateral relations, especially in tourism, agriculture and water management.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Armenia joins China-led AIIB

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MARCH 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia was one of 13 new members to be approved by the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This was the first new intake of members at the AIIB since its inception in January 2016 and brings its total to 70. In the Central Asia/South Caucasus region, only Turkmenistan has declined to join the AIIB. The US, a non-member, sees the AIIB as an attempt by China to try to extend its influence.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)f

Armenian police arrest activist for smuggling missile

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YEREVAN, MARCH 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Armenia arrested influential opposition activist Samvel Babyan for allegedly smuggling a surface-to-air shoulder-launched missile into the country.

Mr Babyan’s supporters said that the accusations were absurd and that they were politically motivated. Two other men were also arrested with Mr Babyan.

The arrest comes just days before a tense parliamentary election in Armenia, the first under a new constitution that will shape Armenian politics for the next few years. Under constitutional amendments, power will shift from the president to parliament.

And Mr Babyan, a former defence minister in the Armenia-backed government of Nagorno-Karabakh, publicly supports the Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanyan bloc, named after three former government ministers who now lead the opposition to the ruling Republican Party.

They condemned his arrest.

“This behaviour exercised by the government is aimed at spreading the atmosphere of fear and affecting the results of the elections in an illegal way,” the Reuters news agency quoted their statement as saying.

Armenia’s security services said that the two men had been caught smuggling the missile in from Georgia, in order to deliver it to Mr Babyan. Although he has denied the charges, Mr Babyan’s reputation as a tough guy will mean that many ordinary Armenia’s will take the authorities’ view.

In 2000 he was sent to prison for 14 years for trying to assassinate a former leader of Nagorno-Karabakh. Released in 2004 he moved to Russia and only moved back to Armenia last year.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Only a UN negotiated peace deal in 1994 ended the fighting, although the peace remains shaky.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Record number of Iranians flock to Georgia and Armenia for Nowruz

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TBILISI/YEREVAN, MARCH 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iranians have been piling into Georgia and Armenia to celebrate Nowruz, one of the biggest Muslim holidays of the year.

Visitor data for both Armenia and Georgia will be released later this year but evidence shows that the holiday, the biggest annual get-away for Iranians, is likely to have triggered a record number of tourists from Iran.

Media in Iran said that airlines were going to run 22 flights a week over the Nowruz period from Iran to Armenia to cope with the demand.

Both Georgia and Armenia scrapped visas for Iranians last year, triggering a boom in tourist numbers and also in business links. Iran has become an important revenue generators for Georgia and Armenia, especially during the economic downturn that has hit the region.

According to statistics held by Georgia’s National Tourism Administration, nearly 150,000 Iranians travelled to Georgia in 2016, a 6-fold increase from 2015.

Masoud Silakhori, economic advisor of the Georgia-Iran Common Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The Conway Bulletin that Iranian investment in Georgia has grown exponentially since the visa free regime reintroduction.

“Nearly 20,000 Iranian companies have been registered in Georgia in the last year,” he said.

In 2012, when Georgia first relaxed restrictions on Iranians doing business, there was a reported rush of new companies linked to Iran being open — 1,500 in total.

And it’s changing the face of Georgia’s streets too. Now Farsi signs hang above shop windows in Tbilisi, head scarves are an increasingly common sight and the Iranian flag competes for space among other more familiar flags outside businesses.

Geopolitics and the spread of terrorism, is also an issue. Nima Farzaneh, the owner of the Iranian restaurant 1001 Nights told the Bulletin that along with the establishment of visa free regime, the high number of terror attacks in Turkey played a role too.

“For many years Iranians went to Turkey, but since terrorism spread there, our tourists decided to come here. That also helped the increase of Iranian businesses,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Russia wants Armenia-Turket detente

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MARCH 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Armenian media, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said that Russia would help Turkey and Armenia patch up their differences. Relations between Armenia and Turkey are strained over a row over an alleged genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks at the end of the Second World War. Russia is Armenia’s biggest patron and is now also on decent terms with Turkey.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Protests grow in Armenian capital after ‘Bread Provider’ dies

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YEREVAN, MARCH 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Thousands of demonstrators have marched for four consecutive days through the Armenian capital demanding answers from the government about the death of 49- year old Artur Sargsyan, one of the men arrested and imprisoned last year for capturing a police station.

His death and the subsequent demonstrations have galvanized support for opposition groups only a fortnight before a parliamentary election, the first to be held under a new constitution that shifts power away from the presidential office.

The mainly young protesters have marched arm-in-arm through Yerevan shouting for the government to resign and holding aloft pictures of Sargsyan, known by his nicknamed as ‘The Bread Provider’.

During the two-week-long capture of the police station in July by a group of opposition gunmen, Sargsyan had broken through a police cordon to give them food. He was arrested when they surrendered, and died on March 16 in a hospital 10 days after ending a 25-day hunger strike.

For President Sargsyan and his Republican Party the death and protests, estimated at being 1,000-strong every night, have come at precisely the wrong time. They don’t want voters to see TV footage of police forcibly pulling young protesters off the roads and into their waiting vans.

Richard Giragosian, director of Regional Studies Center based in Yerevan, said that protests have been the defining image of Armenia over the last couple of years and that these latest demonstrations reminds voters of this.

In 2015 there were weeks of protests and clashes with police over a proposed electricity price increase and in 2016 there were more clashes between police and supporters of the gunmen who had captured the police station.

“Although the aftermath of his death may be fairly temporary, and limited to a spontaneous outburst of anger, nevertheless, public anger and deep discontent have also defined this country’s coming election,” said Mr Giragosian said.

The only public opinion poll so far, published on March 6 by Gallup, showed that the party led by millionaire Gagik Tsarukyan, who is broadly sympathetic to the current government, would receive 26.4% of the votes compared to 22.8% for the Republican party.

The poll also showed the other seven political parties and blocs, considered the real opposition forces, failing to pass the threshold to win seats.

The demonstrations may shift that, though, Mr Giragosian said “The government’s arrogance has already undermined both their position and popularity,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Armenia signs up to be EITI candidate

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YEREVAN, MARCH 9/14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s government started the task of implementing various standards ordered by the global governance watchdog, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), five days after it was approved as a candidate country.

At the same meeting in Bogota that Armenia’s candidature was approved, the EITI suspended Azerbaijan for not improving its rules over NGO registration. The next day Azerbaijan quit the group calling its biased and accusing it of mission creep.

Still, Armenian PM’s chief of staff, Davit Harutyunyan, explained the importance for Armenia of the EITI’s candidate status.

“A well-managed natural resource extraction can become more profitable for the citizens of Armenia, and the EITI is the right tool to achieve this goal,” he was quoted as saying in an EITI press release.

Originally aimed at improving governance in countries where the extractive industries, either mining or oil and gas, dominate, the EITI Standards have become more widespread and diluted. Armenia mines some gold and copper, but it is a small part of its economy compared to other products such as electricity and banking. According to the EITI press release, mining accounts for just 5% of Armenia’s GDP.

But, as well as widening its remit, the EITI Standards have become important in international fiance. International lenders use it as governance benchmark. The EBRD has warned Azerbaijan that it may consider pulling funding from projects if it fails the EITI Standards. It has yet to comment on Azerbaijan quitting the EITI.

At its AGM, the EITI said both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan had made progress towards meeting its Standards but there was more work to be done.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Armenia to open consulate in Kurdistan

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MARCH 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia will open a consulate in Ebril, the capital of Kurdish Iraq, media reported, highlighting what appears to be a drive to boost relations across the Middle East. Media said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had signed the order to open the consulate after PM Karen Karapetian had said that he wanted to boost relations with the region. Armenia is also strengthening ties with Iran.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Armenian leader flies to Paris for talks with Hollande over Nagorno-Karabakh

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YEREVAN, MARCH 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan flew to Paris to meet with French President Francois Hollande to sign deals on tourism and educational issues as well as discuss the ongoing simmering conflict around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Earlier this month Azerbaijan said five of its soldiers had been killed in the region and Armenia-back rebels said one of its soldiers had been killed. This was the worst outbreak of fighting since April last year when Azerbaijani tanks rolled into the region controlled by Armenia-back rebels. At least 100 people were killed in the fighting last year.

In an interview with AFP news agency ahead of his trip to Paris, Mr Sargsyan blamed Azerbaijan for the fighting.

“The danger of a new war is constant and will persist until Azerbaijan is persuaded that there is no military solution to the conflict,” he said.

Azerbaijan disputes this and has blamed Armenian rebels for the war in the early 1900s that and was only stopped by a UN ceasefire.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Election campaign begins in Armenia

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MARCH 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia officially began campaigning for a parliamentary election set for April 2. There are five political parties and four blocs competing in the election which is being held under new rules. It is also the first parliamentary election held under a new constitution that shifts some power from the president to the parliament.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)