http://www.rferl.org/archive/Armenia/latest/652/655.html RFE/RL's latest news, features, commentary, and multimedia content on Armenia http://www.rferl.org/img/rssLogo.gif http://www.rferl.org/archive/Armenia/latest/652/655.html en-US Copyright 2009 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:22:27 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian, made "important progress" today at four hours of talks in the German city of Munich to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, mediators say. http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_Armenian_Presidents_Meeting_Again_To_Discuss_NagornoKarabakh/1884679.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_Armenian_Presidents_Meeting_Again_To_Discuss_NagornoKarabakh/1884679.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:25:05 +0000 News http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_Armenian_Presidents_Meeting_Again_To_Discuss_NagornoKarabakh/1884679.html#relatedInfoContainer Azerbaijan said upcoming talks with Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would be "decisive" and warned that its troops were ready to use force to take back the rebel region if they fail, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said. http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijan_Says_Karabakh_Talks_Last_Chance_For_Deal/1884135.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijan_Says_Karabakh_Talks_Last_Chance_For_Deal/1884135.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:31:49 +0000 News Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian has pledged to markedly improve Armenia's business environment, crack down on tax evasion, and strengthen the rule of law as he laid out his government's new and ambitious reform agenda on November 18, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Government_Vows_New_Economic_Reforms/1884793.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Government_Vows_New_Economic_Reforms/1884793.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:17:54 +0000 From Our Bureaus Armenia's Foreign Ministry has declared that Yerevan and Ankara will hold no further major negotiations until their parliaments ratify bilateral agreements on closer relations, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Says_No_Talks_With_Turkey_Until/1883313.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Says_No_Talks_With_Turkey_Until/1883313.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:14:04 +0000 From Our Bureaus Former Armenian President Robert Kocharian has dismissed opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrossian's criticism about his policies on Turkey and Nagorno-Karabakh, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Former_Armenian_President_Rejects_TerPetrossians_Criticism/1882833.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Former_Armenian_President_Rejects_TerPetrossians_Criticism/1882833.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:27:02 +0000 From Our Bureaus Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has accused Armenia of delaying efforts to resolve the conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_President_Criticizes_Armenia_On_Karabakh_Talks/1882645.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_President_Criticizes_Armenia_On_Karabakh_Talks/1882645.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:41:51 +0000 From Our Bureaus Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian has become a member of the governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Prime_Minister_Joins_Ruling_Party/1882257.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Prime_Minister_Joins_Ruling_Party/1882257.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:57:07 +0000 From Our Bureaus Turkish-Armenian newspaper columnist Sevan Nisanyan says he has received hundreds of deaths threats after altering a famous quote from the founder of modern Turkey to make a case for reforms in the country, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/TurkishArmenian_Writer_Reports_Death_Threats/1881056.html http://www.rferl.org/content/TurkishArmenian_Writer_Reports_Death_Threats/1881056.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:37:45 +0000 From Our Bureaus http://www.rferl.org/content/TurkishArmenian_Writer_Reports_Death_Threats/1881056.html#relatedInfoContainer A key Armenian parliamentary committee has rejected a proposal by the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) to criminalize public statements denying that the massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey nearly 100 years ago constituted genocide, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Dashnak_Genocide_Bill_Stalls_In_Armenian_Parliament/1881379.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Dashnak_Genocide_Bill_Stalls_In_Armenian_Parliament/1881379.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:57:17 +0000 From Our Bureaus Authorities in Armenia are seeking additional supplies of Tamiflu as swine flu continues to spread there, with the number of confirmed cases more than doubling recently to 11, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Orders_More_Tamiflu_As_SwineFlu_Cases_Mount/1880802.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Orders_More_Tamiflu_As_SwineFlu_Cases_Mount/1880802.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:47:08 +0000 From Our Bureaus Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian says that despite complaints by Iranian officials Yerevan is fully complying with an agreement to import natural gas from Iran, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Honoring_Gas_Deal_With_Iran/1878868.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Honoring_Gas_Deal_With_Iran/1878868.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:08:01 +0000 From Our Bureaus Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian has questioned successive governments' commitment to "European values" such as democracy and human rights, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Politician_Yerevan_Not_Committed_To_European_Values/1878040.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Politician_Yerevan_Not_Committed_To_European_Values/1878040.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:51:14 +0000 From Our Bureaus The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is dismissing opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian's harsh criticism of its hard-line on Turkey and says he has ceased to be Armenia's top opposition leader after making overtures to President Serzh Sarkisian, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Nationalists_Hit_Back_At_TerPetrosian_Criticism_/1878035.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Nationalists_Hit_Back_At_TerPetrosian_Criticism_/1878035.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:40:58 +0000 From Our Bureaus Adam Michnik, the editor in chief of Poland's "Gazeta Wyborcza" and a leading member of the Polish democratic opposition from 1968 to 1989, was in Prague this week to attend a conference marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain. He spoke to Irina Lagunina of RFE/RL's Russian Service about Russia, the West, and the post-Soviet letdown felt in the former Eastern bloc countries. http://www.rferl.org/content/Twenty_Years_After_Communisms_Fall_Polish_Dissident_Says_Life_Probably_Not_A_Paradise_But_Its_Not_Hell_Anymore/1877551.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Twenty_Years_After_Communisms_Fall_Polish_Dissident_Says_Life_Probably_Not_A_Paradise_But_Its_Not_Hell_Anymore/1877551.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:58:06 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Twenty_Years_After_Communisms_Fall_Polish_Dissident_Says_Life_Probably_Not_A_Paradise_But_Its_Not_Hell_Anymore/1877551.html#relatedInfoContainer Two Armenian police officers are on trial for using disproportionate force during the violent break-up of demonstrations staged by the opposition after the 2008 presidential election, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Police_Tried_For_Excessive_Force_During_Protests_/1877283.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Police_Tried_For_Excessive_Force_During_Protests_/1877283.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:45:48 +0000 From Our Bureaus Before the autumn revolutions in Eastern Europe, there was the Moscow Spring in the Soviet Union. In 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev's reform policies hit their high-water mark, as the USSR held its first competitive elections, press freedom flourished, and civil society awakened. http://www.rferl.org/content/Revolutions_of_89_The_Moscow_Spring/1876450.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Revolutions_of_89_The_Moscow_Spring/1876450.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:14:45 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Revolutions_of_89_The_Moscow_Spring/1876450.html#relatedInfoContainer Armenian opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrossian has signaled his readiness to recognize the legitimacy of President Serzh Sarkisian and attacked nationalist critics of Yerevan's ongoing rapprochement with Turkey, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Leader_Backs_President_On_Turkey/1876209.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Leader_Backs_President_On_Turkey/1876209.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:20:43 +0000 From Our Bureaus A leading Armenian opposition newspaper has altered its name to get around a court order suspending its publication, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Newspaper_Changes_Name_To_Evade_Ban/1875835.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Newspaper_Changes_Name_To_Evade_Ban/1875835.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:26:43 +0000 From Our Bureaus http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Newspaper_Changes_Name_To_Evade_Ban/1875835.html#relatedInfoContainer A former government minister who fled Armenia in 2004 has become the second opposition candidate disqualified from a parliament by-election in Yerevan, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Another_Candidate_Barred_From_Armenian_ByElection/1875828.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Another_Candidate_Barred_From_Armenian_ByElection/1875828.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:23:03 +0000 From Our Bureaus Armenian authorities have barred Nikol Pashinian, an outspoken opposition figure and newspaper editor, from standing in an upcoming parliamentary by-election, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Jailed_Armenian_Editor_Barred_From_Running_For_Parliament/1874866.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Jailed_Armenian_Editor_Barred_From_Running_For_Parliament/1874866.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:16 +0000 From Our Bureaus http://www.rferl.org/content/Jailed_Armenian_Editor_Barred_From_Running_For_Parliament/1874866.html#relatedInfoContainer Armenian Health officials have urged people not to "panic" after the first cases of swine flu were reported in the country, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Reports_First_Suspected_SwineFlu_Cases/1874812.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Reports_First_Suspected_SwineFlu_Cases/1874812.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:01:30 +0000 From Our Bureaus International mediators say the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to hold talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute later this month, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Azerbaijani_Leaders_Agree_To_Meet_Again/1873893.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Azerbaijani_Leaders_Agree_To_Meet_Again/1873893.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:43:52 +0000 From Our Bureaus A senior NATO official says Armenia will soon send a small contingent of troops to Afghanistan to assist the United States and its NATO allies against the Taliban insurgency, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_To_Send_Troops_To_Afghanistan_/1873439.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_To_Send_Troops_To_Afghanistan_/1873439.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:18:12 +0000 From Our Bureaus A top Armenian military official says the number of draftees evading compulsory military service has shrunk considerably in the past decade, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Official_Says_Draft_Evasion_Drops_In_Armenia/1872498.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Official_Says_Draft_Evasion_Drops_In_Armenia/1872498.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:34:14 +0000 From Our Bureaus The opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) has reaffirmed its strong condemnation of agreements to normalize Armenia's relations with Turkey, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Reaffirms_Rejection_Of_Turkey_Deal/1872477.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Opposition_Reaffirms_Rejection_Of_Turkey_Deal/1872477.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:13:46 +0000 From Our Bureaus The U.S. State Department has strongly denied an Azerbaijani media report that alleges Washington threatened to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state unless Baku commits to a peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute over that territory, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/US_Embassy_Denies_Karabakh_Recognition_Threat_/1871501.html http://www.rferl.org/content/US_Embassy_Denies_Karabakh_Recognition_Threat_/1871501.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:22:33 +0000 From Our Bureaus A senior International Monetary Fund official says the IMF agrees with the World Bank that the Armenian economy is dominated by monopolies and other "oligopolistic" structures that hamper the country's development, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/IMF_Shares_World_Bank_Concern_About_Monopolies_In_Armenia/1871216.html http://www.rferl.org/content/IMF_Shares_World_Bank_Concern_About_Monopolies_In_Armenia/1871216.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:36:42 +0000 From Our Bureaus The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is supporting calls to prosecute anyone in Nagorno-Karabakh who publicly advocates the return of Azerbaijani territories that are now controlled by Karabakh Armenians, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Party_Seeks_To_Criminalize_Talk_Of_Karabakh_Concessions_/1870903.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Party_Seeks_To_Criminalize_Talk_Of_Karabakh_Concessions_/1870903.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:08:43 +0000 From Our Bureaus Official statistics suggest that after seven consecutive months of negative economic growth, the Armenian economy has begun to recover. But some prominent former officials are skeptical. http://www.rferl.org/content/Has_Armenias_Economy_Bottomed_Out/1869325.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Has_Armenias_Economy_Bottomed_Out/1869325.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:33:37 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/Has_Armenias_Economy_Bottomed_Out/1869325.html#relatedInfoContainer Jailed Armenian opposition newspaper editor Nikol Pashinian says he will run as a candidate for parliament, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Jailed_Armenian_Journalist_To_Run_For_Parliament/1869261.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Jailed_Armenian_Journalist_To_Run_For_Parliament/1869261.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:26:53 +0000 From Our Bureaus Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian defended his reconciliation policy with Turkey at a meeting of leading clerical and secular representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church on November, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_President_Defends_Turkey_Policy/1869223.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_President_Defends_Turkey_Policy/1869223.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:17:53 +0000 From Our Bureaus The European Union's special representative to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, said he hopes the rapprochement protocols signed by Armenia and Turkey will be ratified soon, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Envoy_Hopes_TurkeyArmenia_Protocols_Approved_Soon/1867525.html http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Envoy_Hopes_TurkeyArmenia_Protocols_Approved_Soon/1867525.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:52:45 +0000 From Our Bureaus The Armenian government says Russia will build a nuclear power plant in Armenia that will nearly triple the country's current levels of nuclear energy production, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_To_Build_New_Nuclear_Plant_In_Armenia/1867519.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_To_Build_New_Nuclear_Plant_In_Armenia/1867519.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:49:12 +0000 From Our Bureaus A senior Armenian Foreign Ministry official says Turkey should ratify the rapprochement agreements signed between the two countries within a "reasonable time frame," RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Official_Says_Turkey_Should_Ratify_In_Reasonable_Time_Frame/1867509.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Official_Says_Turkey_Should_Ratify_In_Reasonable_Time_Frame/1867509.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:44:06 +0000 From Our Bureaus Armenian Justice Minister Gevorg Danielia says the country will have to amend its criminal, civil, and land codes if the Turkish and Armenian parliaments approve normalization protocols signed earlier this month, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Minister_Says_Turkey_Deal_Means_Legislative_Changes/1866475.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenian_Minister_Says_Turkey_Deal_Means_Legislative_Changes/1866475.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:59:25 +0000 From Our Bureaus A Turkish parliamentary delegation has arrived in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, for a visit aimed at easing tensions over Turkey's rapprochement with Armenia, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. http://www.rferl.org/content/Turkish_Parliamentary_Delegation_In_Baku/1862478.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Turkish_Parliamentary_Delegation_In_Baku/1862478.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:21:40 +0000 From Our Bureaus On October 27, 1999, a group of armed men stormed the Armenian parliament and opened fire, killing eight people, including Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian and speaker Karen Demirchian. The gunmen later surrendered and were subsequently sentenced to life in prison. But lawmakers and other officials in Armenia say the event had a permanently chilling effect on the Armenian parliament and permanently changed the emerging institutions in post-Soviet Armenia. http://www.rferl.org/content/Ten_Years_Later_Deadly_Shooting_In_Armenian_Parliament_Still_Echoes/1862158.html http://www.rferl.org/content/Ten_Years_Later_Deadly_Shooting_In_Armenian_Parliament_Still_Echoes/1862158.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:18:50 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/Ten_Years_Later_Deadly_Shooting_In_Armenian_Parliament_Still_Echoes/1862158.html#relatedInfoContainer Foreign ministers of the three South Caucasus countries today met with an EU troika of top officials in Luxembourg. The routine meeting takes place yearly under the aegis of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements the EU has with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The EU is offering all three countries an upgrade to an Association Treaty, which could eventually bring with it free trade and visa-free travel, but would not open the door to EU membership. http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Reviews_Cooperation_With_The_South_Caucasus/1861508.html http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Reviews_Cooperation_With_The_South_Caucasus/1861508.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:24:02 +0000 Features http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Reviews_Cooperation_With_The_South_Caucasus/1861508.html#relatedInfoContainer