Latest Articles about Armenia
AMENDMENTS TO KEY LAWS UNLIKELY TO FOSTER ARMENIA’S DEMOCRATIZATION
The Armenian authorities claim to have taken a further step toward meeting their membership commitments to the Council of Europe with the May 20 passage of amendments to the country's controversial laws on elections and rallies. President Robert Kocharian's leading political allies say the move... MORE
U.S. RELUCTANT TO PRESS YEREVAN DESPITE FREEDOM PLEDGE
U.S. President George W. Bush's emphatic endorsement of Georgia's 2003 "Rose Revolution" and its consequences was meant to demonstrate U.S. support for similar change elsewhere in the world. But it exposed a fundamental contradiction in his administration's stated pursuit of democratization across the South Caucasus... MORE
BIG FISH LARGELY UNAFFECTED AS YEREVAN CRACKS DOWN ON TAX EVASION
The Armenian authorities have released new data on Armenia's leading corporate taxpayers. The previously unreleased data reveal the first results of the government's new crackdown on tax evasion. The figures suggest that, while the administration of President Robert Kocharian is on course to achieve a... MORE
ARMENIAN REGIME CONFIDENT AS OPPOSITION AGAIN PLEDGES “REVOLUTION”
"Revolution" is again a buzzword in Armenia. Armenian opposition leaders, buoyed by a series of successful anti-government uprisings across the former Soviet Union, have opened a new political season with pledges to effect regime change in their country in a similar fashion. Some of them... MORE
ARMENIA SET TO MISS COUNCIL OF EUROPE DEADLINE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
The Armenian authorities look set to miss a June deadline, set by the Council of Europe, for enacting sweeping amendments to Armenia's controversial post-Soviet constitution. Officials in Yerevan admit that a nationwide referendum on constitutional changes put forward by President Robert Kocharian and his governing... MORE
RUSSIAN BASES WON’T SOLVE PROBLEMS IN JAVAKHETI
Armenia appears to have given Georgia fresh assurances that it will use its influence to prevent a major destabilization of the situation in the southern Georgian region of Javakheti, which is predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. Tension in the impoverished area bordering Armenia and Turkey... MORE
PUTIN VISIT HIGHLIGHTS RUSSIAN INTEREST IN ARMENIA
Russian President Vladimir Putin underlined Armenia's geopolitical importance for Russia as he paid a brief working visit to Yerevan on March 24-25. The visit came against the backdrop of Moscow's loss of influence over its "near abroad," which has been accelerated by a series of... MORE
KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS AGAIN IN LIMBO
The long-running international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict are again facing an uncertain future following the cancellation of the next and potentially decisive round of talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which were scheduled for March 2 in Prague. The official reason for the delay... MORE
ARMENIANS PUZZLED BY U.S. OFFICIAL’S GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
A senior U.S. diplomat has caused a stir in America's relations with Turkey and Armenia by publicly declaring that the 1915-1918 killings of some 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was "the first genocide of the 20th century." The statements by Washington's ambassador in... MORE
WAR OF WORDS INTENSIFIES BETWEEN ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER AND PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
Armenia's governing coalition has been thrust into fresh turmoil by a bitter row between two of the three political parties represented in it. The row between the Republican Party (HHK) of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian and the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party led by... MORE