Month: October 2016

The Azerbaijani forces undertook an infringement attempt in the eastern and southern directions of the line of contact with the Karabakh forces between 23:00 and 23:30, October 20, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army were quick to spot the advancement of the special forces of Azerbaijan and threw them back to their initial positions, inflicting losses. No casualties are reported on the Armenian side.

Besides the act of sabotage, the rival violated the ceasefire about 50 times last night. The Azeri side used weapons of different calibers as it fired over 2,800 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The rival used DShK large-caliber machine guns in the southern direction.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep full control of the situation at the line of contact and are ready to prevent any provocative step, the Defense Ministry said.

According to a decree signed by French President Fracois Hollande, Stéphane Visconti has been appointed new Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Stéphane Visconti will replace current Co-Chair Pierre Andrieu.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan still has work to do to force his way back into the Manchester United team, manager Jose Mourinho has said, the Daily Mail reports.

The Armenian winger watched from the directors’ box as United eased to a 4-1 win over Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday.

Mkhitaryan, a big-money summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, has not played since injuring his thigh more than a month ago.

Manager Jose Mourinho said ahead of the game that he was fit but, with competition for places intense in the forward positions, Mkhitaryan may have to wait for his chance.

Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial both scored against Fenerbahce while Juan Mata also impressed and all three will hope to keep their places for Sunday’s key Premier League clash with Chelsea.

Mourinho said: ‘The situation is that we played with Lingard, with Mata and Martial. I am not an Einstein. I don’t know a tactical system that can play with four wingers at the same time.

‘He has to work more to get the intensity and fitness to play at a high level. To have him on the bench and give him 15 or 20 minutes like I did to Memphis (Depay), I think it is much better for him to work and wait for his chance, but he is ready very soon.’

 

 

 

The Armenian National Assembly voted 85 to 7 today (with 6 abstentions) to approve the Government Program.

Before the voting the factions summed up their approaches. Head of the Orinats Yerkir faction Heghine Bisharyan said she sees both positive and negative aspects in the program. Therefore, Bisharyan said she couldn’t vote for or against the document.

The Prosperous Armenia faction did not participate in the voting. Mikael Melkumyan declared that the Party members “cannot assume responsibility for the activity of this government.”

Secretary of the ARF faction Aghvan Vardanyan urged to support the program and help call it to life.

Head of the Armenian National Congress faction Levon Zurabyan did not make a distinct statement, but criticized the program. The party voted against the document.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan noted in his closing remarks that the government was open for cooperation with everyone.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the opening of the annual Armprodexpo specialized exhibition at the Yerevan Expo exhibition complex of the Yerevan research institute of mathematical machines, President’s Press Office reports.

The exhibition is aimed at revealing the capacities of the agricultural production, agricultural produce processing industry, to assess the competitiveness of the local production, to expand export opportunities, to establish business ties, to demonstrate to the visitors and guests the variety of high quality agricultural goods and products.

The exhibition is attended by the representatives of the regions of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh engaged in almost every branch in agriculture and goods processing as well as by the representatives of over 90 organizations which work in the area of agricultural services.

The President of Armenia toured the exhibition hall, familiarized with the goods on display, and conversed with the participants about their development programs and problems.

Suleyman Karaman has long been caretaker of an ornate Armenian Orthodox Church built more than 100 years ago in Istanbul’s Yali quarter – an area now under threat from the city’s relentless expansion.

The softly-spoken custodian, who lives with his wife in a cottage on the grounds of the Surp Tateos Partogomeos church, is among hundreds of Yali residents watching with mixed feelings as their historic district transforms before their eyes, reports.

Once home to Armenians and Greeks who bequeathed the elegant buildings, the area fell into disarray after its original inhabitants abandoned the city amid anti-minority policies.

By the time most of the Armenians had left – to be replaced by Kurds from the southeastern province of Mardin – Suleyman Karaman had also headed west from the province of Batman and become caretaker of the Surp Tateos Partogomeos church.

Apart from Karaman and his wife, today there are just 10 Armenians living in the neighborhood.

“Usually, around 10 or 15 people show up [to church], but if there are those coming from Bakırköy [a district with a large Armenian population] there are as many as 50,” Karaman said, lighting a rolled cigarette from a small tin box emblazoned with a photo of Istanbul’s iconic Galata Tower

Another local, Mehmet, 51, rents out a building he owns in Yali and lives elsewhere, but he still prefers to spend his days in the quarter where he lived for decades and where he once restored the former home of the priest at the Armenian church.

He is unhappy at what he says is the suffocation of the neighborhood by the urban projects going on around it.

“We can’t breathe,” he said. “But we’ve been here 50 years. Where else will we go?”

Photo: Reuters

Islamic State (IS) militants have mounted a ferocious counter-attack in north Iraq, killing at least 19 people in and around the city of Kirkuk, the BBC reports.

They attacked government buildings, killing at least six police officers, and a power station under construction, where 13 employees died, officials say.

Twelve IS fighters also reportedly died and fighting seems to be continuing.

Government and Kurdish forces began a long-awaited operation against the IS capital in Iraq, Mosul, on Monday.

Mosul lies 170km to the north-east of Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic city claimed both by Iraq’s central government and the Kurds.

Government forces said on Friday they had regained control of a further two villages – al-Awaizat and Nanaha – south of Mosul, evacuating 65 displaced families and killing 15 IS militants.

On October 18-19, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan hosted a two-day workshop, bringing together Armenian and Georgian government officials and NGOs to exchange best practices in controlling the flow of weapons of mass destruction, delivery systems, and conventional weaponry.

During the workshop, organized by the Embassy’s Export Control and Related Border Security Program (EXBS), policymakers and technical experts from both countries shared the methods they currently employ to inform exporting industries about the latest regulations, procedures, and export requirements related to dual-use technology (which can be used for both weaponry and peaceful purposes). The Armenian and Georgian officials also learned new ways to safeguard dual-use technology from being transferred to proliferating states and terrorist groups.

Twenty representatives from relevant Armenian and Georgian agencies, U.S. Department of Energy officials, and NGOs from both countries discussed the mutual challenges they face and the approaches they have undertaken to achieve their goals.  They also discussed the important role that NGOs can play in educating businesses and governments on export controls. “Having agencies from both countries discuss how they reach out to export industries allows for mutual good practices among these neighboring countries to be shared. Also, the chance to network with each other’s counterparts in such a setting strengthens the bilateral relationship between Armenia and Georgia. This workshop provides a basis for future discussions on other relevant export control issues,” said Ashley Fullenwider, the principal Political Science Analyst from the Argonne National Laboratory.

The EXBS program takes a regional and multilateral approach to help harmonize national export control systems with international standards and facilitate information-sharing among nations.

Administered by the Department of State, EXBS operates in more than 65 countries, and is designed to strengthen a country’s export control system by providing legal and regulatory advice, training of licensing officials, enforcement and interdiction equipment, and industry-to-government outreach. Better export control systems help fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, conventional weapons, and related materials.

On 21 October Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received defense minister of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan, head of the General Staff of the RA Armed forces Movses Hakobyan and advisor to the Armenian President, chief military inspector Michael Haroutyunyan.

Issues related to the army building and cooperation between the two Armenian states in this sphere were on the agenda of the meeting, attended by NKR Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan.

The President congratulated Vigen Sargsyan and Movses Hakobyan on being appointed to such responsible positions and wished them great successes in the consistent development of the army and strengthening of the country’s defense capacity.

 

 

 

October 19 marked the 24th anniversary of formation of the Rocket Forces and Artillery.  On this occasion Representatives of the General Staff of RA Armed Forces, Colonel Zorayr Gabrielyan and Colonel Artavazd Yaghmuryan presented the path of the rocket forces and artillery, the achievements registered in the course of 24 years. They also referred to the newly acquired Russian missile systems.

Armenia will face no technical difficulties using the Iskander and Smerch systems, Artavazd Yaghmuryan told reporters. He said relevant specialists had been trained before acquiring the systems.

He said the Republic of Armenia is authorized to make decisions on the necessity of using the missile systems.

Zorayr Gabrielyan added that “Russia possesses no technical means to prevent the use of those weapons.”

The systems now serve as a restraining factor, but according to the agreement, there are no restrictions on their use. The systems belong to our Armed Forces, and we’re going to plan their use and apply them without any restrictions if necessry, the high-ranking military officials assured.