Month: November 2016

Some 58 young people from Armenia gathered today in Yerevan for the start of a two-day simulation of the OSCE’s Permanent Council, one of the key decision-making bodies of the Organization, to build their skills in negotiation, diplomacy, conflict prevention and to learn more about the OSCE.

Organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the two-day Model OSCE Conference will see participants discuss the diplomatic relations between the hypothetical countries of Dalutia and Varbia, which need to solve questions related to territorial disputes and cyber-security. The aim of the exercise is to give young people hands-on experience on dealing with some of the most important issues that states face in the era of information technology.

“The Model OSCE Conference has become a good tradition in Armenia, providing participants with an opportunity to practice and improve their negotiating skills,” said Ambassador Argo Avakov, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. “The Conference has proved to be a productive way to promote OSCE values among youth. It also enables young people to come together and try to reach consensus through peaceful negotiations.”

Prior to the Model OSCE conference, the participants attended practical trainings in negotiation skills, public speaking, as well as lectures on the OSCE, its activities and cyber-security. The simulation aims to promote the engagement of Armenia’s youth in  issues that are important for the country. It gives them a chance to act as ambassadors and to discuss an agreement that meets the interests of all.

Last month a Model OSCE Conference was organized for students of the Russian-Armenian University. The focus of that simulation exercise was to find a solution to challenges relating to national minorities between two hypothetical states. The OSCE Office in Yerevan has been organizing Model OSCE Conferences since 2008.

The exterior walls of the Bomonti Mkhitarian Armenian School of Istanbul were vandalized with anti-Armenian graffiti recently. “One night, we suddenly will be in Karabagh,” read the graffiti in Turkish, reported Istanbul’s Agos bilingual newspaper, the reports.

On Nov. 15, former Republican People’s Party (CHP) Member of Parliament Aykan Erdemir shared an image of the vandalized wall on social media with the caption: “Hate graffiti on the walls of Istanbul’s Bomonti Mkhitarian school. Third Armenian school targeted [in] the last three months.”

The person or persons responsible for the crime have not yet been identified.

“We’re not afraid, we’re not going anywhere,” read a part of a statement that the Istanbul based Nor Zartonk movement published on social media on Nov. 16.

The vandalism of the Bomonti Mkhitarian School walls comes about three months after the walls of the Uskudar Surp Khach Seminary and two months after the walls of the Uskudar Kalfayan School were defaced with anti-Armenian graffiti.

There has been a long-standing support from the US to the region and supported for the Minsk Group process to try to find a resolution to the Karabakh conflict, Bridget Brink, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told reporters in Yerevan.

She said the support has been consistent and voiced hope it would continue after Donald Trump’s election as US President.

Bridget Brink said the US supports the agreements on two confidence-building measures on expansion of Andrzej Kasprzyk’s monitoring mission and implementation of an investigation mechanism reached in Vienna.

Bridget Brink said the status quo has been unstable for a long time, and the April events came to prove that. “We would like to see those confidence-building measures implemented. The resolution of the Karabakh conflict would be very positive for the region,” the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State said.

8th Eastern Partnership Informal Ministerial Meeting is taking place in Yerevan on 17 November. Session on Research, Scinece and Innovation was hosted by Levon Mkrtchyan, Armenian Minister of Education and Science.

During the session Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations and Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation launched the EU4Innovation initiative together with the Eastern Partnership countries.

Commissioner Moedas commented “Innovation is crucial for competitiveness and addressing global challenges such as climate change and sustainable development. Our new initiative, EU4Innovation, will boost the innovation capacities of our Eastern partners. It will stimulate innovative ideas and support them on the way to market, while at the same time draw on the existing knowledge and networks we are building in the EU.”

Some bars in Russia have renamed Americano coffee into Russiano after a joke at the meeting of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Commission held in Moscow on November 16.

It was reported earlier that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the name of the coffee was ‘politically incorrect’ and suggested to rename it.

The Russian 360 TV has revealed, however, that the idea was suggested by Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.

“Let’s rename Americano,” Medvedev joked. His Armenian counterpart continued the phrase, offering to call it Russiano instead.

А «руссиано»-то кофе предложил назвать не Медведев, а кто-то из делегации Армении. ?

— Рустем Адагамов (@adagamov)

On November 17, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges Dr. Jamie Shea and Responsible Representative for Armenia in NATO International Staff Gwen Vamos visited the National Defense Research University (NDRU) of the Armenian Ministry of Defense within the framework of “NATO Week” events. They were accompanied by Gagik Hovhannisyan, PhD in Political Science, Head of the Arms Control and International Security Department (ACISD) of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Karen Israyelyan, PhD in Philology, Head of NATO Division of the ACISD, MFA, and Serob Bejanyan, Deputy Head of Permanent Mission of the RA in NATO.

The guests were hosted by the Head of the NDRU, Doctor of Political Science, Professor, LTG Hayk S. Kotanjian.

NDRU’s Deputy Head for Research – Head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), PhD in History Beniamin Poghosyan, Head of the Center for Regional Strategic Analysis of the INSS, PhD in History Davit Manasyan, and NDRU Research Fellows also attended the meeting.

LTG Hayk S. Kotanjian introduced to the guests the mission, goals and primary tasks of the NDRU. During conversation, Dr. Kotanjian and NDRU Research Fellows presented in detail the research and educational programs of the NDRU. They noted that significant attention is paid to the fields of cybersecurity and information resources’ management. The program of establishing the Institute of Cybersecurity and Information Resources Strategy (ICIRS) on the basis of the NDRU’s Center for National Security Policy and Information-Communication Technologies (CNSPICT) is focused on these fields. Head of the CNSPICT Arman Grigoryan presented the programs aimed at the development of the sphere.

Dr. Shea praised research and educational programs at the NDRU and expressed confidence that they would significantly contribute to the modernization of Armenia’s defense security system.

Armenia and EU have achieved progress in the six rounds of negotiations on a new framework agreement, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalabndian told a press conference after the 8^th informal meeting of the informal meeting of the European Partnership Foreign Ministers.

The Minister informed that the next round of talks is set to be held in December and added that the talks will be completed after 2-3 rounds.

“Both Armenia and the European Union want the new framework agreement to fully express the new quality, depth and volume of relations we have,” Minister Nalbandian said.

Minister Nalbandian said the implementation of the provisions of the Riga Declaration has been in the spotlight over the past two years.

“We have held six rounds of talks on a new framework agreement and have registered progress. We have joined a number of programs, such as the COSME program of SME development, the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. We have kicked off the process of joining the Creative Europe program, which will provide an opportunity to expand the framework of cultural exchange. In the near future we expect to start negotiations towards joining the European Common Aviation Area. We also hope to start the dialogue on visa liberalization soon,” Minister Nalbandian said.

Manchester United will trigger a financial penalty in their £750 million kit deal with Adidas if they fail to secure a top four finish this season, but the club will avoid an instant £22.5m black hole in their finances, reports, quoting its sources.

Jose Mourinho’s United face fourth-placed Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday currently lying six points adrift of Arsene Wenger’s team in the race for Champions League qualification.

Having failed to finish in the top four under Louis van Gaal last season, the terms of the 10-year agreement with Adidas ensure that United will suffer a cut of 30 percent to their annual £75m payment from the sportswear giant if they miss out on the Champions League for consecutive campaigns.

However, it has now emerged that, rather than see their Adidas payment drop to £52.5m immediately after two failed attempts to qualify for the Champions League, the £22.5m deduction figure will instead be spread over the full 10 years of the contract.

As a result, United will pay a catch-up penalty fee of £4.5m for years one and two of the agreement and then suffer a deduction of £2.25m from the annual £75m payment if Mourinho’s team are unable to finish in the top four.

United will then continue to receive £72.75m from Adidas on an annual basis for the remainder of the deal, unless further failures to reach the Champions League trigger additional cuts to the figures banked by the club.

During a conference call to investors on Thursday, following publication of the club’s first quarter accounts, United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward confirmed the details of the financial penalty looming at the end of the season.

United spent in excess of £145m on new players during the close season, adding Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and £89.3m world-record signing Paul Pogba to the squad.

But despite the team’s slow start under Mourinho,i n which they have only won five of their opening 11 Premier League fixtures, Woodward insisted to investors that there is still reason for optimism.

“On the pitch, it is still early in the season,” Woodward said. “We have 27 more Premier League games to play and have advanced to the quarterfinals of the EFL Cup.”