Latest Articles about Armenia
ARMENIAN SECURITY SERVICES SUSPECTED OF SPYING ON OPPOSITION LEADER
Armenia’s intensifying parliamentary election campaign has been jolted by a scandal over the secret recording of a recent confidential meeting between a top opposition leader and a Yerevan-based Western diplomat. Details of that conversation have been controversially disclosed by a pro-establishment newspaper, in what is... MORE
MOSCOW SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN POWER HANDOVER
With less than a month to go before Armenia’s crucial parliamentary elections, Russia has signaled its support for an anticipated handover of power from Armenian President Robert Kocharian to newly appointed Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian. In a series of early April visits to Yerevan, senior... MORE
ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER REPLACES DECEASED PRIME MINISTER
Armenian President Robert Kocharian has appointed his longtime influential associate, Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian, as prime minister, formalizing the latter’s status as Armenia’s second-most powerful leader. The appointment, officially announced on April 4, has been widely anticipated ever since the sudden death on March 25... MORE
RETIRED GENERALS SPICE UP ARMENIAN ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Three retired army generals have added an element of intrigue and uncertainty to political life in Armenia with their separate decisions to stand in the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 12. Two of them resigned from the military for that purpose last month and are... MORE
ARMENIAN DIASPORA GROUPS FACE NEW AZERI CHALLENGE
On March 9, the first meeting of a new “Forum of Azerbaijani-Turkish Diaspora Organizations” convened in Baku, Azerbaijan. But as one participant described the event, “Lots of talk, but I wonder if all of this will turn into a real action. Perhaps the real goal... MORE
YEREVAN MOVES TO DEPOLITICIZE LAW-ENFORCEMENT, JUDICIARY
Armenia is embarking on a sweeping structural reform of its law-enforcement system that is supposed to bring it into greater conformity with European standards. Under a government bill approved by parliament on February 26, Armenian prosecutors will be stripped of their most significant authority: to... MORE
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION RACE KICKS OFF
Armenia’s parliamentary elections have officially been scheduled for May 12, ushering in the traditional period of political upheaval that has defined just about every poll held in the country since independence. Although campaigning is to formally get underway in late March, the leading Armenian parties... MORE
RUSSIA SET TO EXPAND ECONOMIC PRESENCE IN ARMENIA
Russia looks set to enhance its already strong economic presence in Armenia by capitalizing on Armenian President Robert Kocharian’s apparent desire to secure his political future with the Kremlin’s backing. The two governments have indicated that Russian companies will soon get hold of more chunks... MORE
U.S. UNABLE TO NAME NEW ARMENIA ENVOY AMID GENOCIDE ROW
For months the Bush administration has been unable to appoint a new U.S. ambassador to Armenia due to a dispute with the influential Armenian community in the United States over the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. The row broke out last... MORE
REGIONAL LEADERS SEAL KARS-AKHALKALAKI-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY DEAL
Last Saturday, January 13, representatives from the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey took a significant step forward in the realization of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway project, which will link Asia and Europe through the Caucasus. Representatives of three parties met in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi,... MORE