Month: November 2016

Photo: Reuters

 

A suicide bomber on Monday killed at least 27 people and wounded 35 in an explosion at a crowded Shia mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said, reports.

The attacker entered the Baqir ul Olum mosque during a ceremony, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of the Kabul police Criminal Investigation Department, said at least 27 people were killed and 35 wounded when the explosion tore through the worshippers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Antananarivo November 22-25 to participate in the session of the International Organization of the Francophonie.

Within the framework of the visit Minister Nalbandian will have meetings with his counterparts from a number of countries.

James Warlick will step down as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair on December 31.

“It has been an honor to serve in the Department of State for more than 30 years,” Warlick said in a Twitter post.

Ambassador James B. Warlick will join Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners’ team in Washington, D.C. in January 2017. He will be responsible for working with U.S. and international clients, development of strategic client relationships, legislation and public policy.

Thirteen Aleppo Armenians have arrived in Yerevan under the IDeA Foundation’s “Support to Syrian Armenians” program.

On October 15 the IDeA Foundation announced a $250 000 contribution to Syrian Armenians. The sum will be allocated through the strategic partner AGBU that has been involved in relief efforts from early days of the conflict and other non-governmental organizations who currently implement Syrian Armenian support projects in Armenia – RepatArmenia, Mission Armenia, Aleppo NGO, and the funds will be aimed at planning and implementing the following:

– aid to those who continue to remain in Syria

– aid to those who seek temporary refuge outside Syrian borders

– aid to those who have decided to relocate to Armenia

– aid to those who want to work and live in Armenia

“The IDeA Foundation is committed to improving the lives of Armenia’s citizens. Yet, we do not do this in isolation. We are aware of what is happening in the world around us and we feel an obligation to participate in doing what can be done to alleviate pain and suffering wherever possible,” the IDeA Foundation said in a statement today.

“As we watch the continuing violence in Syria, particularly in Aleppo, we feel compelled to offer financial support to bring Syrian-Armenian refugees to Armenia. We are prepared to join other organizations and individuals around the world in this effort. This is something that must happen now. Even those who stayed and continued to stay throughout the years of fighting are now looking for safe haven elsewhere. We believe it is our duty as Armenians to help them.

We are joined in this by several private foundations and we are working with the Armenian government to ensure that those who come are offered the basic official facilitation necessary to be able to legally seek refuge in Armenia.

In the years following the Genocide, the Armenians of Aleppo were the first-line saviors for Armenian survivors in Anatolia. Today, they are looking for first-line saviors themselves”, the statement reads.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, Head of the European Conservatives Group at PACE, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today, accompanied by Vice-president of the Armenian National Assembly Hermine Naghdalyan.

The guest laid flowers at the memorial to the Armenian genocide victims and paid tribute to their memory with a minute of silence.

Ian Liddell-Grainger visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute and left a note in the guest book.

On 21 November Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received relatives of Artsakh Hero Robert Abajyan who heroically perished during the war unleashed by the enemy in the early April of the current year.

President Sahakyan noted that feat of Robert Abajyan and other heroes had been carved with golden letters in our history embodying the invincible spirit, patriotism and devotion of our people.

Photo: AFP

 

French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy has been knocked out of the contest for a centre-right presidential candidate and signalled his withdrawal from politics, the BBC reports.

Admitting defeat, Mr Sarkozy endorsed Francois Fillon, a moderate who finished first in Sunday’s first round, according to near-complete results.

Alain Juppe, who like Mr Fillon is an ex-prime minister, finished second.

They will face each other in a run-off next Sunday. The winner will compete in next year’s presidential election.

The winner of the Republican primary is likely to make the presidential run-off, where he or she will probably face far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Following an international call for tenders, Veolia, through its subsidiary Veolia Djur, has won the affermage contract for all drinking and wastewater services in Armenia. The 15-year contract is worth €800 million. Already present in Erevan for more than 10 years, Veolia will now provide the entire Armenian population with its expertise and know-how. By 2030, Veolia will be supplying drinking water 24/24 to around three million Armenians.

Under this contract, Veolia is entrusted with managing drinking water production and distribution and wastewater treatment facilities; and developing and improving the yield of the country’s drinking water network. Drinking water production, distribution and invoicing will amount to almost 174 million cubic meters a year by the end of the contract. Veolia will be extending to the entire Armenian population the service quality and continuity that it already provides to the one million residents of the country’s capital, Erevan.

International financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), KFW Development Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will also be contributing to this major project in Armenia by financing the $200 million investment required over the coming four years.

“This success is exemplary: it is the result of a joint effort by Veolia’s teams who have managed to capitalize on the experience and professionalism of the Group’s employees in Erevan and to apply the best practices developed by a network of experts working in over 40 countries. The contract is confirmation of Veolia’s international expertise in managing and optimizing large public networks on behalf of local authorities. It is also an affirmation of the relevance of our development strategy in Central and Eastern Europe, and further strengthens our lead position in the field of drinking water production and distribution,” explains Malika Ghendouri, Vice President of Central and Eastern Europe for Veolia.

 

 

 

Donald Trump’s election as US President will have a positive impact on the situation in the Middle East, since the confrontation between Russia and the US will tend to weaken, expert of Turkish studies Ruben Safrastyan considers.

Speaking about the perspectives of development of American-Turkish relations, Safrastyan said “the close allied relations will be maintained, but the relationship will be void of extra sensitivity.”

What’s more important to Armenians is the perspective of recognition of the Armenian Genocide. “American Armenians face a tough task in this respect as they have not raised the issue during Trump’s candidacy,” political scientist Stepan Grigoryan says. According to him, this is the first time American Armenians get no promise, the first time they do not work in that direction.

“Trump, who has a reputation of an unpredictable man, may once recognize the Armenian Genocide in the same unexpected way,” Stepan Grigoryan says.

According to Ruben Safrastyan, for the first time American Armenians will have to deal with President, who has never been related to Armenians or the Armenian Cause, which is a challenge to both American Armenians and Armenia.

“Before the inauguration ceremony scheduled for January 20, Armenians have to do their best to have Trump’s administration present him true information about Armenia-related issues,” Safrastyan says.

He notes that “Donald Trump has not given importance to the South Caucasus during his campaign, which means  he will approach the issues of the South Caucasus from the Russian perspective.”

Photo: AFP

 

The death toll following the derailment of a train in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state has now passed 100, with more than 150 injured, police say, the BBC reports.

Fourteen carriages of the Indore-Patna Express derailed just after 03:00 local time on Sunday (21:30 GMT Saturday) near the city of Kanpur.

Rescuers are still trying to reach the injured and recover the dead from the twisted carriages.

The cause of the crash near the village of Pukhrayan is not yet known.

However, the Times of India quoted sources as saying a fracture in the track could have been to blame.