Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan the Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenian Catholic Church, passed away Tuesday morning in Beirut, Lebanon, as reported on the Facebook page of the Levonian Pontifical Armenian College.
Gabroyan was born on November 15, 1934 in Aleppo, Syria.
Bishop Gabroyan became the Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenian Catholic Church on July 25, 2015, replacing the dear departed Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni.
During the session of the coordinating council of chairmen of the committees on security and defense of the parliaments of member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) adjunct to the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, CSTO Deputy Secretary-General Valery Semerikov said the recent escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border requires the undertaking of urgent measures.
According to him, overall, the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone has become stable after the trilateral statement on ceasefire signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020. “Russian peacekeepers and the ongoing negotiation process are helping strengthen the prospect for long-term peace,” Semerikov said, adding that the recent escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border requires the undertaking of urgent measures, that is, “solutions to political diplomacy issues and then issues related to the demarcation and delimitation of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan”.
The participants of the session were also introduced to the “Military Political Situation in the Caucasus” report by Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly of Armenia Andranik Kocharyan in which the latter assesses the situation in the areas of the Syunik Province of Armenia bordering Azerbaijan and underscores the inadmissibility of encroachments on the territorial integrity of a member state of the CSTO.
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Azerbaijani soldiers used firearms on the border near the village of Verin Shorzha, and as a result, a 32-year-old contract soldier was killed, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Armenia reports today.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on May 12, according to the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani armed forces advanced to the Black Lake area in the Syunik Region of Armenia. On May 13, the Armenian MoD announced the prevention of another attempt by Azerbaijani soldiers to cross the border.
32-year-old Junior Sergeant V. Khurshudyan from Armenia has been killed in a shootout on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the “News.Am” reports today with reference to the Armenian MoD.
The shootout began after a shelling attack from the Azerbaijani side on the Armenian border in the Gegarkunik Region, the “Sputnik-Armenia” reported.
The Azerbaijani military personnel shelled Armenian posts “at 2:20 p.m. on the border, near the village of Verin Shorzha in the Gegarkunik Region of Armenia,” the international news agency “News-Armenia” quoted the Armenian MoD as reporting.
According to the Yandex.Maps service, the village of Verin Shorzha is located 63.6 kilometres from the Black Lake.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 04:45 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
15:11,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Armenia on May 26 and not May 25 as reported earlier, the Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan told ARMENPRESS.
She added that a number of meetings are planned during the visit. Naghdalyan did not elaborate further.
Earlier the Iranian news media reported that FM Zarif will also visit Azerbaijan on May 25.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
15:21,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Mr. Francis Malige, Managing Director, Financial Institutions for the EBRD, speaks on how challenging the 2020 was for EBRD, the global economy recovery after the crisis, likelihood of new projects and opportunities, current state of the banking system in Armenia and fruitful cooperation with Ameriabank.
“Ameria is clearly the best place of the Armenian banks for an IPO today. To fund IPO you need a few things to work. One is you actually need market appetite. So that is not entirely dependent on Ameria. There is a crisis out there so investor appetite, we need to be engaged properly by the arrangers of the transaction. But you also need strong fundamentals. And those strong fundamentals go in two buckets in my view. One that you need is a minimum critical size. Ameria is reaching that minimum critical size which is not easy in the Armenian market because it’s not such a big market. But it is reaching that size. They can actually go and be offering a pool of investors a number of shares that will make it into a meaningful IPO on the international stage. And it’s not just about being big. It’s also about being good. And Ameria has a very good management team has very good products, a good set of clients and so is ready, in my view, for an IPO’’.
You can watch the full interview here.
[see video]
15:48,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has no doubt that the Armenian-Russian relations will continue developing in accordance with the spirit of mutual trust, strategic and allied partnership.
“Our country is always ready to provide help to the brotherly Armenian people. The evidence of this are the mediation efforts of Russia, President Vladimir Putin personally thanks to which it became possible to stop the military operations in Nagorno Karabakh in autumn 2020 and launch a process of settling the situation in the region.
Today it can be said that the trilateral agreements of the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, which have been achieved in the 2020 November 9 and 2021 January 11 statements, overall are successfully being implemented. It, in particular, relates to the elimination of the humanitarian and socio-economic consequences of the conflict, the unblocking of transportation and economic communications in South Caucasus. The Russian support is highly appreciated by Armenian friends”, the Russian FM said during an interview to Argumenty i Fakty newspaper, asked whether Russia managed to keep the warm relations with Armenia given the latter’s unfavorable outcome in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
Mr. Lavrov said the relations between Russia and Armenia are not limited to the Karabakh conflict. He said there is unprecedented active and reliable political dialogue between the two countries at the highest and other levels.
“Only this year our leaders have met twice, have held numerous telephone conversations. I visited Yerevan early May. Inter-parliamentary mutual visits are taking place.
Amid fighting the coronavirus pandemic Russia has supplied several tens of thousands of doses of Sputnik V vaccine to Armenia. We are discussing the issue of further support. We are successfully developing the trade and economic ties, which is also contributed by the regular meetings held by the chairmen of the Armenian-Russian inter-governmental commission”, he said.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
15:54,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Two foreign nationals were apprehended by Armenian law enforcement agencies pursuant to arrest warrants issued by Georgian authorities in 2019.
The two fugitives, men aged 29 and 31, were apprehended on Garegin Nzhdeh Street in Yerevan and booked at the Shengavit police precinct and later placed under arrest. The fugitives are wanted by Georgia on charges of aggravated murder and illegal possession of firearms.
The Georgian authorities were notified on the arrest, the Armenian police said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
16:11,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s caretaker Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan held a meeting with the visiting Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammed Eslami.
They discussed the possibilities for enhancing the partnership between the two countries in road transportation sector, and also the construction of the interstate highways spanning to the Armenian-Iranian border, as well as issues of bolstering Armenia-Iran transit shipments and regulations and facilitations in the cargo transportation procedures, the ministry said in a readout.
Papikyan expressed certainty that Eslami’s visit will boost the further development of Armenian-Iranian transport communication. He presented to his Iranian counterpart the Armenian government’s priorities in improving road and transport infrastructures, including by highlighting the construction of the North-South highway and the possibilities it will create in increasing trade-economic turnover between the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea.
Minister Eslami reaffirmed Iran’s readiness towards mutually-beneficial initiatives contributing to deepening of economic ties, namely in bringing to life the Persian Gulf-Black Sea international transport corridor project. Eslami expressed Iran’s interest in expanding auto and rail communication with Armenia and involvement in the construction of the southern parts of the North-South road. In this context the sides exchanged ideas over the possibilities of enhancing the participation of Iranian companies in the projects aimed at infrastructure improvement in Armenia.
Papikyan briefed his Iranian counterpart on the development and launch of construction of the Sisian-Kajaran and Kajaran-Agarak parts of the North-South road. Stressing that high-level standards of construction are ensured, the minister said that involving state resources will create good prerequisites for the involvement of foreign, including Iranian construction companies.
Issues of facilitating the procedures and regulations in transit cargo shipments were also discussed. Papikyan said that the Armenian government has initiated a package of legislative changes which envisages to revise the tariffs and calculation parameters of the payments charged for Iranian transit cargo shipments through Armenian territory, and that as a result of the changes the tariffs will be lowered several times.
Other issues of inter-departmental cooperation were also discussed, and the joint work within the framework of the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission was touched upon.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenian President receives EU Delegation chief
16:38,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian received Head of the European Union’s Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, the President’s Office told Armenpress.
The post-war problems in Armenia and in particular, the current border situation were discussed during the meeting.
The Armenian President and the EU Ambassador exchanged views also on the possibilities of deepening the partnership and expanding the cooperation with the EU in a number of areas.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Moscow took action after Armenia accused Azerbaijan of sending troops across the border last week.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that after Armenia accused Azerbaijan of invading the border, Moscow offered to mediate negotiations.
Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of sending troops across borders The fragility of the Russian broker’s ceasefire was emphasized last week. Last year’s ceasefire interrupted the fighting between Armenians and Azerbaijani for six weeks.
Azerbaijan denied crossing the border and stated that its troops were only defending itself.
But Armenia said Friday that Azerbaijan has not fulfilled its promise to withdraw troops that crossed the border.
Lavrov told reporters during a visit to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on Wednesday: “Russia first provided assistance to delimit the border.”
He added that Moscow is proposing to establish an Armenian-Azeri joint committee, and Russia may participate as an advisor or mediator.
According to TASS, Armen Grigoryan, secretary of the Armenian Government’s Security Council, stated that the demarcation work can only begin before the Azerbaijani forces leave Armenian territory.
However, according to Interfax news agency, the Armenian Defense Ministry stated earlier on Wednesday that a dialogue between the Armenian Defense Minister and Azerbaijani defense officials is ongoing.
“Without a peaceful resolution within a reasonable period of time-if the Azerbaijani army cannot be restored without any prerequisites, the Armenian armed forces have the right to resolve this issue by other means, including force,” the Ministry of Health said.
After November, Moscow helped ensure a ceasefire During the battle, the Azerbaijani army drove the Armenians out of large tracts of territory Since the 1990s, they have been in control of the Nagorno-Karabakh area and surrounding areas.
Russia has a military base in Armenia and last year sent peacekeepers to the area to help implement the ceasefire.
It has strong ties and mutual defense treaties with Armenia, but it also maintains friendly relations with Azerbaijan.