15:42,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, ARMENPRESS. An Azerbaijani soldier fighting for Ukraine was killed near Nikolayev, the Azerbaijani news media reported.
According to Ukraine-based Azeri journalist Anar Natikoghlu, the killed soldier’s name is Said Huseynov, a volunteer who joined the Ukrainian army to fight Russian forces.
13:13,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The Sisian-based VH Stone has reopened.
VH Stone, a stone processing plant, was founded in 2000. Since 2015 VH Stone has been owned by the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine. Once employing over 120 people, the factory ceased operations in 2019.
In 2022, the new leadership of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine made a strategic decision to re-launch the plant given its significance for the town of Sisian, and as part of a program to increase efficiency of all enterprises owned by Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine and expansion of economic impact.
Preparations for the re-launch began in May of 2022. Now, the plant employs 40 people. Output stands at 1500 sq.m. of product monthly. VH Stone has the capability to expand its industrial capacity up to 5000 sq.m. and open 80-100 jobs. Nearly 100% of the employees are Sisian locals.
Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine CEO, President of the GeoProMining Group of Companies Roman Khudoliy, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, Governor of Syunik Robert Ghukasyan and staffers of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine attended the reopening ceremony.
“The reason why we are here today is very important for the town of Sisian, this region, for our staff and personally for me. Today we are reopening a factory which will provide jobs for many people. This is a strategic decision, to ensure the restoration of industrial capacity and not rely solely on social program. The Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine is reopening this factory believing that by having the chance for dignified work the population of this region can shape their future and develop their city and region with their own hands and work,” CEO Khudoliy said.
VH Stone is the only active industrial enterprise in Sisian.
The product of the factory is exported to Russia. VH Stone is planning to restore exports to several European countries, as well as South Korea.
The City Council of Willoughby, Australia, has made a unanimous decision to condemn Azerbaijan’s recent aggression against the Republic of Artsakh, the Armenian National Committee of Australia reports.
The motion, proposed by Armenian-Australian Councillor Sarkis Mouradian and seconded by Councillor Brendon Zhu was adopted at the Council meeting held on Monday 22nd August, 2022.
The City of Willoughby is home to a large number of Armenian-Australians, and its Council officially recognised the rights to self-determination of the people of the Republic of Artsakh in November 2020 during the 44-day war launched by Azerbaijan.
AYF Australia Central Executive representative, Olivia Dilanchian and ACYA Sydney Chairperson, George Najarian addressed the Council Meeting urging Willoughby Council to once again take a stand against Azerbaijan’s ongoing acts of aggression.
Dilanchian thanked the Council for their consistent support of the Republic of Artsakh, stating: “This council is doing what too many fear to do, standing up for human rights, justice, truth and equality. Although on-the-ground peacekeepers called out Azerbaijan for their aggression in this latest attack, the majority of the world is silent. All levels of government must condemn Azerbaijan’s belligerent actions, for our failure to draw red lines around their criminal activity will simply lead to its continuation.”
Najarian added: “It is clear that the war never ended for Azerbaijan. Whether cultural or religious desecration, or military attacks, Azerbaijan will stop at nothing to remove Armenians from Artsakh. I am hopeful that the Willoughby Council will take a stand, guide Australia onto the right path and adopt this motion and condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression.”
The motion adopted directs council to make representation to the NSW State Member for Willoughby, Tim James and Federal Member for North Sydney, Kylea Tink urging them to advocate on behalf of the Armenian-Australian community in support of Artsakh.
James and Tink will be asked to call on Australia’s Federal Government to recognise the independence of the Republic of Artsakh, call on Turkey and Azerbaijan to respect the OSCE Minsk Group peace process, call for the release of all Armenian prisoners of war and condemn Azerbaijan’s act of cultural desecration in the occupied territories of Artsakh.
Councillor Mouradian spoke in favour of the motion, expressing the views of the broader Armenian-Australian community, and noted the importance of educating residents living within the Willoughby Local Government Area through such motions.
Following Mouradian’s remarks, Councillor Nic Wright thanked the Armenian National Committee of Australia for their advocacy efforts in support of issues of importance to the local Armenian community living in Willoughby.
Willoughby City Council is one of four legislatures across Australia to have recognised the Republic of Artsakh, along with City of Ryde Council, the NSW Parliament House and South Australian Parliament.
ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian thanked Willoughby City Councillors for their principled stance and ongoing support of the Armenian-Australian community and issues of importance to them.
“Our community is humbled by the courage and conviction shown by Willoughby City Council and thank Councillor Sarkis Mouradian and his fellow councillors for standing up for an Armenian nation once again under threat by genocidal forces,” said Kolokossian.
The full motion can be read below.
That Council:
1. Condemn Azerbaijan’s violations of the Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement dated 9 November 2020, including Azerbaijan’s most recent offensive against the Republic of Artsakh on 28 July 2022;
2. Recognise the concerns of the Australian Armenian community regarding the continuing violation of human rights and international humanitarian law in Nagorno Karabakh; and
3. Recognise the local Armenian community’s appeal to their elected representatives at all levels of government to stand for the rights of the Indigenous Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh;
4. Write to local State member Tim James MP and Federal member Kylea Tink MP within the month to advocate to the Federal and State Governments to:
(a) Call on Azerbaijan to cease all hostilities and honour the Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement dated 9 November 2020;
(b) Recognise the right to self-determination of the Indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh and the independence of the Republic of Artsakh;
(c) Call on the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey to respect the OSCE Minsk Group peace process for the Karabakh/Artsakh conflict, in particular the non-use of force;
(d) Call on Azerbaijan to release all Armenian prisoners of war remaining in forced captivity since the cease fire agreement dated 9 November 2020; and
(e) Condemn Azerbaijan’s desecration of ancient Armenian Christian and cultural sites.
The Russian Embassy continues to closely follow the selfless work of Armenian Emergencies Ministry officials to eliminate the consequences of the explosion on the territory of the Surmalu shopping center.
From the first minutes, the Russian-Armenian Humanitarian Response Center got involved in this work, which is another example of the fraternal nature of the relations between our countries. The center provided rescue equipment and machinery. Special technical means made it possible to assess the scale of destruction and identify flash points. An emergency rescue vehicle equipped with a set of hydraulic rescue equipment is also on site.
The night before, the Center’s staff, together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, also installed lighting equipment, which allowed to continue the clearing of debris and search for victims at night.
The Embassy has received appeals from Russian medical institutions. In particular, the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy and the Volga Medical Research University have expressed their readiness to provide necessary assistance to Armenian friends, the Russian Embassy noted in a Facebook message.
10:33,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan delivered a press briefing and presented details from the ongoing search and rescue operation at the Surmalu market in Yerevan.
“As of this moment we have 16 deaths and 17 others are presumed missing. The number of those missing was 18, but we received a call regarding one of them and turned out the person is abroad, meaning the person is safe and sound and wasn’t even here at all,” the minister said.
Firefighters are now carrying out cooling operations as the fire was put out. “The search and rescue operations are ongoing in full volumes,” he added.
Pambukhchyan said rescuers don’t use heavy equipment because there is still some probability that there might be survivors under the rubble.
“We are clearing the area as much as we can, then rescuers are inspecting the given section and then only the heavy equipment is brought in,” he said.
As of this moment 6 of the victims are identified, while 10 bodies are yet to be identified. He said that most probably the number of those unaccounted for will decrease when all bodies are identified.
Pambukhchyan also addressed reports in the press and social media claiming that survivors were pulled out. “I am asking our citizens to follow only official updates because such reports give [false] hope to the families and it doesn’t anyhow help our work. I am asking and urging everyone to stop spreading such news. We are actively working with the media, we are the first to know all news and we inform the press and the public right away,” Pambukhchyan said.
He added that the fire which caused the blast started from the warehouse of flammable materials.
150 people work on the site of the blast during the day. Most of the work is carried out by rescuers and volunteers from the Armenian Red Cross and the VOMA survival-training organization.
Pambukhchyan said they have the required number of manpower and equipment.
He said he can’t say when the search and rescue operations will be completed.
12:36,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. The Embassy of Japan in Armenia offered condolences over the Surmalu market explosion in Yerevan.
“The Embassy of Japan extends heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the people of Armenia over the terrible blast at the “Surmalu” market. At this hard moment of bereavement the people of Japan sincerely share the grief and pain of the families of victims and wish swift recovery to the injured people,” the Embassy of Japan said in a statement.
13:55,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reports some information about the contacts of the Armenian and Turkish special representatives for normalization Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic.
Rubinyan and Kilic met 4 times (once in Moscow and 3 times in Vienna).
Hurriyet reported citing an anonymous source from the Turkish foreign ministry that Rubinyan and Kilic had more than 500 phone talks so far.
“Officials from the ministries of transport, trade and foreign affairs of the two countries will discuss the technical aspects of the steps taken within the scope of the normalization process, according to sources,” Hurriyet reported, stating that the next meeting will take place in September.
On August 11 however, the Armenian foreign ministry said there is no agreement on the next meeting so far.
The Turkish-Armenia border
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday reiterated Ankara’s preconditions to normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey, while Yerevan, countering Turkish media reports, said no new talks with Ankara have been scheduled.
Turkish media, quoting unnamed sources from the foreign ministry, said that the Turkish and Armenian special envoys on normalization, Serdar Kilic and Ruben Rubinyan, were scheduled to meet in a new round of talks in September in Kars, which is on Turkey’s border with Armenia.
At a conference of ambassadors on Thursday, Cavusoglu acknowledged then brushed aside “concerns” voiced by Armenia about Ankara’s insistence to coordinate normalization efforts with Azerbaijan. Cavusoglu said that “both Turkey and Azerbaijan are sincere.”
“We are a democratic country. Even though the normalization process is two-sided, it is necessary for all of us to take steps to establish stability in the South Caucasus,” Cavusoglu said.
Kilic and Rubinyan, the special envoys, last met on July 1 in Vienna, where they agreed to open the land border between Armenia and Turkey to citizens from third countries and begin air cargo shipments. Later last month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two discussed the need for the implementation of the agreements.
Since then, however, Cavusoglu announced that the normalization with Armenia will take place once Yerevan has signed a peace deal with Baku and the opening of the so-called “Zangezur Corridor”—a scheme being advanced by Baku calling for a land corridor connecting mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan through Armenia. Erdogan also repeated these preconditions.
Official Yerevan, which has touted the normalization talks “without preconditions,” has yet to comment on Ankara’s clear set of preconditions. Armenian officials, however, have expressed concerns with Ankara’s insistence to coordinate normalization effort with Azerbaijan.
“The process of normalization of relations with Armenia continues. The fifth meeting with Armenia will take place in September in Kars. A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [of Turkey] stated that the process is fragile, it is necessary to achieve a solid peace,” Turkish media reported on Thursday.
One media outlet reported that Turkey is opposed to having the normalization talks in a third country, with the anonymous source reportedly saying: “It is not a meeting of enemies, it should not be held in a third country.”
Armenia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said there was not a meeting scheduled between the Turkish and Armenian envoys.
“As of this moment there is no agreement regarding a meeting. We are informing the public about the meetings of the special representatives of the Armenia-Turkey normalization process ahead of time, in proper timeframes,” Hunanyan said.
14:25,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS. The traffic at the 341-342km part of the M2, Yerevan-Yeraskh-Goris-Meghri-Iran border inter-state road is restored, the Road Department said.
Traffic was at the abovementioned section due to a car crash earlier on August 10.
No one from the Armenian Defense Ministry received the parents of the deceased servicemen, who had been waiting for more than five hours.
As Zhora Sahakyan’s father Vahrid Sahakyan said, the Defense Ministry said it could not summon the battalion commander Pavlik Karamyan for a confrontation. “We were told that the question of confrontation with Kyaramyan is in the competence of the investigator. On this part we will still decide on our next steps. But we have come here with our demand. We want to meet with the Minister of Defense, because there are questions that concern us. We are waiting for Suren Papikyan to receive us,” said Suren Papikyan, the father of fallen soldier.
Reminder: the sons of the parents, who organized a protest demonstration in front of the Defense Ministry building, served in the 4th Battalion of 5th Defense District in Martakert. The parents demand to meet with the battalion commander Pavlik Karamyan, whom they accuse of their sons’ deaths, as well as with either Defense Minister Suren Papikyan or his deputy Arman Sargsyan.