Deputy Minister of Justice Yeranuhi Tumanyants condemns aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan at Summit for Democracy initiated by U.S. President Joe Biden

Deputy Minister of Justice Yeranuhi Tumanyants remotely participated in and gave a speech at the third on-line meeting of the group co-ordinating the Summit for Democracy initiated by U.S. President Joe Biden.

During the Summit, Deputy Minister Tumanyants touched upon the large-scaled armed attack by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia on 13 September 2022 — the shelling done in the directions of the positions of the Armenian side, as well as peaceful settlements — Goris, Jermuk, Vardenis, Kapan and Sotk, as a result of which there were several victims among the border guard troops, and the peaceful population was injured.

“The aggression displayed by Azerbaijan is a grossest violation of international law, the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. In the current geopolitical conditions, Azerbaijan is, in essence, attempting to achieve its demands and aspirations through the use of force and the threat of use of force,” Deputy Minister Tumanyants noted.

The Deputy Minister expressed special gratitude to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a number of Congressmen for speaking out about the actions unleashed by Azerbaijan. It was also mentioned that, in spite of the dire situation that has been created, Armenia attaches importance to the continuation of implementation of actions aimed at strengthening democracy, and the course of fulfilment of the commitments assumed by Armenia within the scope of the activities of the Summit and the results recorded were presented.

Deputy Minister Tumanyants noted that in the context of the ongoing improvement of comparative indicators, particularly the fact that Armenia rose from 50 to 60 points of the Worldwide Governance Indicator of the World Bank, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has adopted the 2022-2026 Strategy for Judicial and Legal Reforms of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the 2022-2024 Strategy for Public Administration Reforms.

Yeranuhi Tumanyants also presented the institutional anti-corruption reforms in Armenia and the progress made as a result of implementation thereof, particularly informed that the Anti-Corruption Committee was established in 2021 and highlighted the importance of the establishment of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption as another preventative body, as well as talked about the activities aimed at establishing the Anti-Corruption Court.

The Deputy Minister noted that the fight against climate change is also on the agenda of the Government as a pillar for democratic governance and presented the reforms made in the energy sector with low emissions and in the sector of viable green economy. In particular, it was mentioned that Armenia has made a progress in the International Energy Efficiency Scorecard, ranking 53^rd among 127 countries.