Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday advised citizens not to travel to Egypt and Tunisia for the moment but had no immediate plans to evacuate Armenians remaining in the two unrest-stricken countries. In its travel warning, the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan cited the continuing turmoil there. According to ministry estimates, some 200 Armenian nationals, most of them tourists, are currently in Egypt. At the moment, however, Armenia is not planning to evacuate its citizens. “There is no necessity to evacuate them at the moment,” Tigran Balayan, the press officer of the ministry mentioned. Over the past decade, Egypt has been an increasingly popular destination for Armenian holidaymakers mainly attracted by its Red Sea coast. 164 such tourists flew to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on a charter flight from as recently as on January 25. An airport spokesman said there have been no more flights to Egypt since then. “None of the tourists has expressed a desire to return home earlier. Their return flight is scheduled for February 5,” said the head of the Yerevan branch of Russia’s Tez Tour operator, which organized the trip. It was also informed five Armenian university students studying in Cairo on exchange programs have vacated their rented apartments and been given temporary shelter in the Embassy compound for security reasons. A day ago the April 6 radical movement of Egypt petitioned to conduct a pan-national hunger strike starting from Tuesday. “On February 1 we should be able to take out on the streets at least 1 million people on the streets of Cairo,” state the oppositionists of Egypt.
