Clothing photoshoot in Yerevan leads to homophobic uproar online

A photoshoot for a new designer brand has caused a homophobic uproar in Armenia after a passerby posted photos from the shoot online.

Several of those sharing the photos with critical comments accused the authorities under Nikol Pashinyan of being to blame for ‘homosexual campaigns’ in the country since coming to power.

Others have warned that opponents of the government are whipping-up homophobic hatred in an attempt to damage their popularity.

One of the first to share the photos was Armenuhi ‘Ariana’ Hovsepyan, the founder of NewsPress.am and the Give Smile Charitable Foundation. 

‘Those who speak of Nikol as the person who freed them from 20 years of slavery and g

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry: Information spread by Armenian MFA once again confirms its …

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 1

Trend:

Information spread by Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the recent meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement once again confirms its completely unfounded position, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

Abdullayeva was commenting on the information spread by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Trend reports on July 1 referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The spokesperson stressed that the Armenian Foreign Ministry distributed official information about the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers held on June 30 in the format of a videoconference with the participation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the

Armenia's dilemma: economic collapse or Covid-19 outbreak

As Armenia’s COVID-19 epidemic continues to metastasize, with its infection rate among the highest in the world, the country’s leadership has said that it will continue to rely on voluntary self-isolation rather than reimposing a lockdown.

The country ended its two-month lockdown on May 4 and since then the spread of the novel coronavirus has accelerated rapidly, Eurasianet writes in the article Armenian officials rule out new lockdown even as COVID worsens. For most of June, Armenia has been registering more than 500 new cases per day, often more than 700; it is the leader in the Caucasus and Central Asia in total cases and total deaths from coronavirus even as it has the

Ten thousand COVID-19 tests reach Armenia thanks to EU and WHO

A shipment of 10 000 COVID-19 tests, procured by WHO with the financial support of the European Union (EU), arrived in Yerevan, helping boost Armenia’s response to the pandemic.

The tests, obtained at the behest of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, will allow wider testing for COVID-19 across the country free of charge, reflecting WHO recommendations to test all suspected COVID-19 cases to detect the disease in a timely manner and control its spread.

The tests are of a type included in WHO’s list of quality-assured supplies and are capable of producing accurate results in just 75 minutes. This short processing time saves healthcare workers’ time and energy, helps decrease the probability of human error and allows a larger number of tests to be carried out

Letters for Peace Publishes 54 Letters Between Youth in Armenia and Azerbaijan

Letters for Peace (LFP), a project at the intersection of creative writing and conflict transformation, announces the publication of its full catalogue of letters exchanged between Armenian and Azerbaijani youth. A total of 54 letters — available in English, Armenian and Azerbaijani — can now be accessed on the website www.lettersforpeace.org, and soon in a physical book published by Zangak Publishing House. 

Participants in Yerevan and Baku wrote letters after a series of two-week workshops — two in the summer of 2018 and four in the summer of 2019 — involving guest lecturers, site visits and exercises. Through writing and dialogue, LFP participants explored the possibilit

Armenia's Central Bank Sees Economy Contracting 4% in 2020

YEREVAN — Armenia’s economy will contract by 4% in 2020 due to the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but is expected to recover and grow 5.5% next year, Martin Galstyan, the country’s central bank head, said on Tuesday.

The central bank had previously forecast a contraction of 0.7% this year after growth of 7.6% in 2019. The worst-affected sectors of the economy are services and construction as well as international tourism, Galstyan said while presenting the bank’s quarterly inflation report.

Inflation is expected to be around 1.9% in 2020. Armenia’s consumer price index declined 0.1% in May month-on-month, but rose 1.2% yea

Posted byarmeniaitnJune 30, 2020Posted inUncategorizedTags:Armenia, Caucasus, YerevanLeave a comment on Armenia's Central Bank Sees Economy Contracting 4% in 2020

Survey: Armenians less inclined to leave country forever after revolution

June 30, 2020 – 14:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The number of people who are interested in permanent emigration from Armenia has dropped after the revolution of 2018, according to a new study by the Caucasus Research Resource Center.

The Caucasus Barometer report is the annual household survey about social economic issues and political attitudes conducted by CRRC. Data from Armenia for the recent edition of the study was compiled between February 21 and March 15, 2020.

In an earlier edition conducted half a year before the revolution, 35% of respo

WFP Armenia – Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives

Located in the mountainous southern region of the Caucasus, Armenia is ranked among the 60 most disaster-prone countries in the world and is further impacted by the Nagorno-Karabakh’s conflict dynamics since the early ‘90s. To that, the geopolitics of Armenia and its neighboring countries result in the closure of two out of the four borders of the country, leaving open only the northern and southern corridors with Georgia and Iran respectively, thus further endangering humanitarian responses in case of potential shocks. The country has been experiencing different macroeconomic progresses which have been followed by the implementation of structural reforms over the last decade but their results have not reached the Armenian society equally. This resulted into a weak, unevenly-distributed growth and created structural

Study: 14% of Armenians say it is acceptable for women to have sex before marriage

June 29, 2020 – 16:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – 14% of Armenians believe it is acceptable for a woman to have sexual relations before marriage, and 82% think it is not, according to a new study by the Caucasus Research Resource Center.

The Caucasus Barometer report is the annual household survey about social economic issues and political attitudes con

Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh appeals to UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 27

Trend:

Head of International Relations department of the Azerbaijani community of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region Aybaniz Ismayilova sent an appeal to UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) Special Envoy Angelina Jolie on behalf of the community’s women on the occasion of World Refugee Day which was marked on June 20, Trend reports citing the community.

“There are more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan. These people have a common destiny because of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia. Azerbaijan has been suffering from the aggressive and occupational policy of Armenia for about 30 years,” the appeal said.

“Despite