Yerevan’s Alashkert defeated Gyumri’s Shirak 3-0 in the sixth round of the Armenian championship.
Ararat Armenia scored four unanswered goals against Van.
Alashkert are at the top of the standings with 16 points. Ararat Armenia (10 points) are in the second place. Van are in third place with 10 points. Shirak are in the 8th place with 4 points.
13:45,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The European Union welcomes the IAEA visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and will demand a full demilitarization of the area around the plant, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said upon arriving to Prague for the EU informal foreign ministerial meeting.
“The IAEA delegation is now on its way to Zaporizhzhia. We fully support [IAEA Director General] Grossi. We call for demilitarization around the largest nuclear power plant of Europe,” TASS quoted Borrell as saying.
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) set off on Wednesday from the Ukrainian capital towards the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to inspect for damage after shelling nearby sparked fears of a radiation disaster, Reuters reported on August 31.
The mission is being led by the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and comes after extensive negotiations.
“We are now finally moving after six months of strenuous efforts,” Grossi told reporters before the convoy set off, adding that the mission planned to spend “a few days” at the site.
“We have a very important task there to perform – to assess the real situations there, to help stabilise the situation as much as we can.”
He said the IAEA hoped to set up a permanent mission at the plant, which is being run by Ukrainian technicians. Grossi said one of the priorities of the mission would be speaking to them.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday hit out at what she described as “Europe’s inaction” regarding the crisis around the nuclear power plant (NPP) which according to Moscow is under continual attack by the Ukrainian military, emphasizing that this is cause for alarm and a ‘dangerous game’.
“[The right decision can be] the cessation of the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Any child can tell you that. In order to make the facility safe, it is necessary to stop shelling it. It is strange that adults do not understand this. This nuclear power plant is located in the heart of Europe. To pretend that no one understands the entire array of problems is a very dangerous game,” the diplomat said in an interview with Sputnik radio on Wednesday.
The “out-of-control Kiev regime” has gone as far as using the nuke plant as a tool for blackmail, the spokeswoman stressed.
“But, perhaps, precisely because there is an understanding among the EU’s ranks that they cannot do anything – and the Kiev regime is just controlled by Washington while Brussels is also indirectly an instrument in US games – perhaps, this is why they simply distract the attention of their own population with endless anti-Russian sanctions,” the diplomat pointed out.
“I sincerely hope that deep inside the Brussels bureaucracy, they are seriously pondering about the situation after all,” Zakharova added.
“On the one hand, I have no desire to sow panic but this sense of inactivity by the leading European powers on this issue, which they have always regarded as extremely important verbally, evokes my feeling of alarm, to put it mildly,” she said, pointing out that some time ago many European countries had given up nuclear power precisely due to safety concerns.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
ISTANBUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Turkey’s foreign visitors jumped 53% in July from a year earlier, exceeding pre-pandemic levels and paving the way for $37 billion in tourism revenues sought by the government in support of President Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox economy policy.
Foreign visitors to Turkey leapt to 6.67 million in July, mostly on the back of wealthy Russian visitors who opted for Turkey, due to flight restrictions applied by Western countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Numbers of German and British visitors also rose strongly.
Tourism revenues are vital to Turkey’s economy as Erdogan’s economic plan focuses on expanding the current account surplus in order to tackle high inflation and interest rates.
The tourism ministry raised its year-end targets last month to 47 million tourists and $37 billion in tourism revenues.
“July figures were strong and so is August. When we look at the current bookings, number of flights and seats allocated by tour operators for September, October and November, it seems that ministry’s targets will be achieved,” said Bulent Bulbuloglu, Vice Chairman of Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TUROFED).
Along with high demand from Britons and Germans, Bulbuloglu pointed out wealthy Russians newly coming to Turkish market.
“Wealthy Russians who used to travel to more expensive destinations such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece have also turned their faces to Turkey due to flight restrictions by Western countries,” said Bulbuloglu.
Year-to-date, Germans were the top source market with 2.99 million visitors, followed by 2.2 million Russians and 1.8 million Britons. Turkey’s total foreign visitors were up by 128% on the year to 23.03 million, still a tad below 2019’s 24.7 million.
“Especially the number of Russians are increasing day by day. Now we have around 80 daily flights from Russia to Antalya and we know that that number will also go up,” said Ulkay Atmaca, General Manager of Innvista Hotels in Antalya’s Belek.
Atmaca said, the outlook for the next two months was also optimistic, adding that he expected the season to be extended until November.
Weakening lira also makes Turkey a more attractive destination for foreign visitors.
Lira which is traded at historical lows, has lost 27% of its value this year, after it lost more than 40% of its value last year.
“Turkey has a big price advantage when compared with its European rivals. And no bdoubt, recent weakeness in lira makes the country more attractive” said TUROFED’s Bulbuloglu.
In a statement issued on Monday night, the embassy said that the six Iranian citizens were thought to be missing after the fire and blast took place in a shopping center in Yerevan.
But the embassy has been informed by those Iranian nationals that they were safe and sound and that they had not been able to contact their families because they had been on the way to Georgia and had no access to the Internet.
Iran’s embassy announced after the blast that all Iranian citizens in Armenia were fine, but the status of six Iranians was unknown.
9416**9417
14:18,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. There is no danger of a new explosion in the Surmalu market, the Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Davit Hambaryan told reporters.
Asked whether or not there are still any flammable materials inside, Hambaryan said they are now attempting to visually determine what materials are left inside.
“It is not possible to enter the building because it is dangerous for the rescuers. We will continue visually determining whether any flammable materials are left inside,” he said.
Hambaryan said that they are losing hope to find anyone alive under the rubble.
“No other action other than cooling of the building and visual monitoring is done. We must determine a plan with other agencies to understand what to do with the part of the building which is still standing. But before that, the ministry of emergency situations is carrying out full swing search and rescue operations,” Hambaryan said.
Preliminarily, authorities have decided not to bring down the exploded building until every missing person is found.
12:44,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Greek City Times newspaper published an article about the attacks on journalists in Azerbaijan.
“Although Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the IGB natural gas pipeline, which connects the national natural gas transmission system of Greece with the Bulgarian network and will be able to transport billions of cubic metres of gas per year from Azerbaijan, as a “pipeline of values”, even if we ignore the continued ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians, how true is the Greek leaders statement?” asks the author in the Attacks against Azerbaijani journalists continue unabated in 2022 article.
“If we look towards the media sphere, as one example, there is a lack of these values that Mitsotakis talks about.
The very first thing the Azerbaijan page of Reporters Without Borders says is: “President Ilham Aliyev has wiped out any semblance of pluralism, and since 2014, he has sought ruthlessly to silence any remaining critics.”
“No independent television or radio is transmitted from within the country, and all print newspapers with a critical stance have been shut down. Most independent news sites, such as Azadliq and Meydan TV, targeted by state censorship, are based abroad.”
It also explains that no official or police officer in the past 20 years has been sanctioned for hitting or insulting a journalists and that “the Baku regime tries to tame independent journalists in exile by pressuring their friends and family who remain in the country.”
Even more alarmingly though is that the Aliyev regime exports its targeting of journalists outside of Azerbaijan’s own borders.
On May 31, Azerbaijani blogger Tural Sadigly, who lives in Germany but is currently staying in the UK, stated that a conspiracy was being prepared against him by the Azerbaijani authorities.
“I assure you that my life is in serious danger. This time they are planning something against me. The instruction was given by the presidential administration.
For this reason, my parents will hold a protest in front of the presidential administration building in Baku tomorrow. I ask political parties, human rights activists, activists, journalists, everyone – to support them”, Sadigly wrote on his Facebook page.
A little later, an Azerbaijani journalist, former political prisoner Afgan Mukhtarli, who lives in Germany, confirmed the threat to the life of the blogger on his social media.
“Azerbaijani migrant and blogger living in Germany, head of the Azad söz (Free Speech) YouTube channel Tural Sadigly wrote about the serious danger to his life.
The Aliyev regime repeatedly arrested, kidnapped and blackmailed its opponents residing abroad. Ilham Aliyev used terrorist groups more than once against those whom he could not arrest.
Last year, among the oppositionists living abroad, Bayram Mammadov was killed in Istanbul, Vugar Rza in Belgium, Huseyn Bakikhanov in Tbilisi.
Attempts were made to kill Magomed Mirzali, Orkhan Agayev, Ordukhan Babirov, Gabil Mamedov.
French police arrested several individuals for an attempted murder of Magomed Mirzali.
The threat of murder against Tural Sadigly, the search for his address are quite serious. European law enforcement agencies must ensure the safety of Tural Bey”, Mukhtarli said.
Another Azerbaijani opposition blogger was attacked in Europe. This time the victim of the attack was blogger Manaf Jalilzade, who is known for his criticism of Mehriban and Ilham Aliyev, according to Infoteka24.
“Blogger Manaf Jalilzade, who lives in Switzerland, was brutally beaten by three Azerbaijanis in front of his house on April 29, 2022 at 23:00. His condition is very critical,” another French-based opposition blogger, Mirzali Muhammad, tweeted.
These are just a few examples in 2022, but cases can be brought up in every year of Azerbaijan’s post-Soviet era.
Take some of these examples:
17:33,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. At the advice of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a decree appointing Areg Hovhannisyan as Ambassador of Armenia to Australia.
Ambassador Hovhannisyan will be serving concurrently in his current capacity as Ambassador to Japan.
After the appointment, Hovhannisyan said in a statement that serious efforts are needed to utilize the huge untapped potential. “It is a great honor to be the first accredited ambassador of Armenia to Australia,” he said.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 3, Baku announced the conduct of the “Retribution” operation in Karabakh after the death of an Azerbaijani soldier. The Azerbaijani Army has occupied the Sarybaba heights in the Shusha District and Gyrkhgyz heights in the Khodjaly District; and on August 6, it took control over the strategic height of Buzdukh.
The conflict escalation occurred amid the construction of an alternative road to the Lachin Corridor, built according to the Aliev-Pashinyan-Putin agreement.
Alexei Malashenko, an economist, believes that it was an Armenia’s military provocation. He is sure that the Lachin Corridor is “the Azerbaijan’s territory.”
Mekhman Aliev, the director of the “Turan” News Agency, thinks that Armenia’s claims are unjustified. According to his version, Baku “continues ensuring the security of Armenia’s transport communication with the part of Karabakh, where the Armenian population lives.”
In the opinion of Suren Surenyants, a political analyst, the tripartite agreement contains some unclear wordings.
“Russia deliberately compiled it with contradictions. For example, one of the points says about the need to withdraw Armenian armed units. A question arises: does this apply to Armenia’s units or the units by ethnicity?” he has asked.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 06:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
See earlier reports:
Analysts treat shootouts in Nagorno-Karabakh after “Retribution” as insignificant, Baku analysts assess importance of Mount Buzdukh capture for Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MoD did not confirm information about withdrawal of troops from heights in Karabakh.
Author: Oleg Krasnov, Faik Medjid, Tigran Petrosyan Source: СK correspondents
Source:
YEREVAN—The Armenian translation of “Storm Over the Caucasus” («Փոթորիկ կովկասում»), a collection of articles by Russian, Armenian, Turkish, and international experts on the 2020 Artsakh War, was recently published by Yerevan-based publisher Newmag. The Armenian edition was translated by CivilNet’s editor-in-chief Karen Harutyunyan and sponsored by the Tufenkian Foundation.
Originally published in Russian by the Moscow Center for Strategies and Technologies in 2021, “Storm Over the Caucasus” (Буря на Кавказе) is edited by Ruslan Pukhov. The book features nine articles by 12 experts, including political scientists and military strategists, who address various aspects of the War, including military operations and regional developments. The book’s foreword was written by former Chief of the General Staff, Yuri Baluyevsky, and its epilogue was penned by Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.
The Armenian edition was presented to the public as part of Newmag’s annual Summer Fest, which took place at Yerevan’s Yeraz Park on July 16. It was one of seven new books released by the publisher that day.
The front and back cover of “Storm Over the Caucasus.” Photo credit: Newmag
“The book delves into a variety of topics, but most chapters either attempt to explain how Azerbaijan won the war, including details of the weapons employed and lessons for modern warfare, or the geopolitical ramifications of the conflict, particularly for Russia and Turkey,” wrote Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, in his review of the book for the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST).
The book’s translator, Karen Hautyunyan, said that since Nov. 2020, there have been many discussions and speculations among the Armenian public regarding Armenia’s disastrous defeat, from conspiracy theories to accusations of political immaturity. “By providing wider access to the book to the Armenian public, experts, and especially decision-makers, we can work to correct the mistakes made in the war and help prevent them in the future,” Harutyunyan said.
“Storm Over the Caucasus” is a valuable resource for military experts, political scientists, journalists, university and graduate students, as well as for anyone interested in the war and modern warfare. The book is available at bookstores across Armenia. Those interested in purchasing the book in the United States can do so through the Online Armenian Store.
Established in 1999, the Tufenkian Foundation addresses the most pressing social, economic, cultural, and environmental challenges facing Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh). Since its inception, the Tufenkian Foundation has supported various community initiatives as well as civic activism and public advocacy campaigns to help improve life in Armenia, while providing housing, education, social, health, and livelihood support for the Armenians of Artsakh.