Author: Albert Nalbandian

President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Arayik Harutyunyan, who is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Shushi University of Technology, convened the Board’s session today.

As reported the press service of the President of Artsakh, the formation of a new Board of Trustees, as well as the introduction of amendments to the University’s Charter and the University’s building conditions were on the agenda.

In addition to the items on the agenda, the President assigned to the State Minister of Artsakh to set up a task force that will deal with the development of a general policy on development of higher education in Artsakh, as well as short-term and long-term programs in this direction.

The head of state also assigned to explore the paths and measures for creating opportunities for students of Artsakh to receive higher education abroad. “Education is one of the strategic directions for our country’s development, and this is why any educational program needs to be implemented after needs assessment and in-depth research on the existing potential and obstacles,” Harutyunyan emphasized.

YEREVAN. – It is obvious to the international community that the Armenian people do not want to fight for their lands, and the results of the recent [snap parliamentary] elections in Armenia became the vivid confirmation of that. Tevan Poghosyan, director of the International Center for Human Development NGO of the country, stated this at a press conference Friday.

According to him, many people may now have a logical question: “And do Armenians need Karabakh [(Artsakh)] at all?”

“The international community can now say, ‘Well, if that is their choice, if the votes were distributed that way, then everything is clear,’” Poghosyan added.

Moreover, he stated that Armenia’s authorities have, in fact, handed over to the Azerbaijani side the initiative to ensure the security of the country’s borders, as the Armed Forces of Armenia do not actually ensure the security and inviolability of their country’s borders.

“Now the Azerbaijanis themselves decide how deep to move forward in our territory, whereas the Armenian military retreats without trying to show any resistance to them,” Tevan Poghosyan said.

We support the exploitation of any corridor via any route, without change of borders between states. Seyed Abbas Musavi—Ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan—said this in an interview with Turan when asked if Iran is discontent with the prospect for exploitation of the ‘Zangezur corridor’ which isn’t in Iran’s interests.

The Ambassador recalled that the statement by the Supreme Leader of Iran clearly states that Iran is against change of borders, not the opening of the corridor. “I don’t think anyone in the region supports forceful change of borders. We support the exploitation of any corridor via any route, without change of borders between states. The opening of this corridor concerns Azerbaijan and Armenia. The forceful change of borders through the military will violate stability in the region.

President Aliyev’s proposal to restore routes in the region will help restore ties and cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan and will be beneficial for the whole region. Thus, the countries of the South Caucasus, as well as Russia, Turkey and Iran need to do everything possible to stimulate the opening of railway, automobile and other means of communication,” the diplomat said.

Asked how the ‘Zangezur corridor’ can be built, if Iran has built the ‘Khudaferini’ and ‘Giz Galasi’ reservoirs on Araks River which have flooded the sector of the railway between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan by a few kilometers, the Ambassador stated that the Iranian minister of road construction and urban development recently visited those sites with the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan and a task force has been set up to deal with the matter.

Ahead of Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s—who is the ruling Civil Contract Party’s candidate for Prime Minister—visit to Goris town in Armenia’s Syunik Province, the video camera of Armenian News-NEWS.am spotted a sniper located on the roof of a building near the town square.

Earlier, Goris Deputy Mayor Menua Hovsepyan had posted a photo, noting that there were virtually no Goris residents at the election rally with Pashinyan, and those in attendance were primarily the participants in his motorcade.

Video at link: