Author: Antonian Lara

Should the negotiation fail, Armenia will recognize the Nagorno Karabakh and take all other steps to ensure Artsakh’s security, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at the National Assembly today.

Asked about Armenia’s steps in case of Azerbaijan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, Minister Nalbandian said the issue is not on the agenda. “All members of the EEU have the tight for their opinion, and such decisions should be made by a consensus,” he added.

Speaking about the recent escalation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijani forces, Edward Nalabndian said: “The Co-Chairs have issued targeted statements, clearly indicating who’s responsible for the ceasefire violations. They offer to create mechanisms for investigation of border incidents, and declare that Armenia has accepted the proposal, while Azerbaijan refuses to do so.”

“Thus, the Co-Chairs make it clear that Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the ceasefire violations and border incidents,” the Minister said.

He reminded that Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY) of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee recently sent , proposing three concrete pro-peace steps that would, “in the short-term, save lives and help to avert war.”

“This means the initiative of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs finds support not only among different international structures, but also national parliaments, including the US Congress. Moreover, James Warlick has reacted to the letter, saying he fully agrees with the Royce-Engel proposals for Karabakh peace,” Minister Nalbandian stated.

“We also welcome, because that’s what we have always been saying. It’s about withdrawal of snipers, reinforcement of the ceasefire regime and creation of mechanisms for investigation of border incidents,” the Minister  concluded.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov over an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian warplane, the ministry said in a statement Monday, RIA Novosti reports.

According to the statement, a Russian warplane violated Turkish airspace in the province of Hatay near Syria on October 3. The aircraft left Turkish airspace after being intercepted by two Turkish F-16 fighter jets.

“The Russian ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry, where a strong protest was voiced to him. The protest was also voiced by Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu in a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Sinirlioglu has discussed the incident with his counterparts from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy and is seeking a discussion on the issue with NATO Secretary General [Jens Stoltenberg] and German Foreign Minister [Frank-Walter Steinmeier],” the statement reads.

The Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reports quoting Turkish military sources that Russia has informed Turkey that the violation of Turkish airspace near the Syrian border on Oct. 3 was due to a “navigation error.”

The Russian authorities informed the Turkish military attaché in Moscow about the error, Russian Embassy officials in Ankara told Hürriyet Daily News.

Member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Moscow-led security alliance of former-Soviet republics, signed an agreement on military contingent and cargo transportation, Serzh Sargsyan, the president of Armenia, said on Tuesday, TASS reports.

“An agreement was signed on cooperation in the sphere of transporting military contingent and moveable property as well as military-purpose products,” Sargsyan told journalists following the summit of the CSTO member states in Tajikistan.

The Armenian leader added that the CSTO members also decided to extend an agreement on the logistics and technical support of railways in the countries of the post-Soviet security bloc.

Member-states the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have approved a decision on introducing rotation of the post of the secretary general, CSTO chief Nikolay Bordyuzha said on Tuesday.

“It was considered useful to switch in the future to the rotation system of the general secretary’s post. The heads of states set the task to devise a respective draft decision by December and introduce changes to the legal basis and the CSTO Charter, what we will do now,” Bordyuzha said.

The Collective Security Treaty was signed in 1992 and the organization itself was set up 10 years later. Russia, which held the presidency in the CSTO, passed the rotating chair this year to Tajikistan.

The CSTO, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, regularly holds military drills on the territories of its member states.

There is a growing belief within the US government that the Islamic State militant group is making and using crude chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria, a US official has told the BBC.

The US has identified at least four occasions on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border where IS has used mustard agents, the official said.

The official said the chemical was being used in powder form.

The US believes the group has a cell dedicated to building these weapons.

“They’re using mustard,” the individual said of IS. “We know they are.”

The mustard agent was probably being used in powder form and packed into traditional explosives like mortar rounds, the official said.

“We’ve seen them use it on at least four separate occasions on both sides of the border – both Iraq and Syria.”

On September 8, the feast of the birth of the Holy Virgin Mary, with the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; the icon of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide was placed in the St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother Cathedral of Yerevan for veneration and prayers of our faithful.

The icon of the Holy Martyrs was consecrated on April 23, during the of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.

The icon will reside in the Mother Cathedral for a month.

Armenia’s Arthur Aleksanyan (98 kg) retained the World Champion’s title as he claimed victory in the 2015 Wrestling World Championships.

Aleksanyan defeated Ghasem Rezaei of Israel in the final round.

The Greco-Roman wrestler won his first World Champion’s title in Tashkent last year.

Arpine Hovhannisyan of the Republican Party faction will be appointed as new Justice Minister, Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan has revealed, Armenpress reports.

“The issue of appointment was discussed at the sitting of the Executive Body of the Republican Party. It was decided to nominate Arpine Hovhannisyan to the post,” the Speaker said.

Police in Thailand have launched a probe into whether Turkish nationals were involved in a recent blast in the capital Bangkok, reports. 

Officials said on Thursday that they were checking the arrivals of Turkish nationals in Thailand in the days leading to August 17, when the blast killed 20 people in Bangkok’s Hindu Erawan Shrine.

Turkey was infuriated last month after Thailand deported more than 100 Turkic-speaking Uighurs to China, with people in Istanbul staging a demonstration in front of the Thai consulate.

Turks say they share many cultural and religious characteristics with the Uighurs who are mostly based in far west China and complain about discrimination by the Chinese government.

According to the Thai media, an investigation has been launched into the arrival of 15 to 20 Turkish people in Thailand over the two weeks before the blast.

“There are probably more Turkish [people] coming into Thailand than that. We investigated groups which may have come into the country,” Prawut Thavornsiri, the spokesman for Thai national police, said.

Observers say the attack on the shrine may have been in retaliation for Thailand’s decision on July 9 to deport Uighurs to China. They say a famous Turkish gang known as the Grey Wolves could be the prime suspect in the case.

Turkish authorities said they were aware of the probe on their nationals in Thailand, adding, however, that Bangkok has submitted no official request to Ankara for receiving relevant information for the investigation.

The case of Uighurs has also sparked a diplomatic row between Turkey and China, with officials in Ankara accusing Beijing of being too harsh with the Muslim community. China defends its crackdown on the community, saying its members have intensified their attacks on civilians and security forces over the past years.

India’s Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for signing and ratification of an Inter-Governmental agreement between India and Armenia, on cooperation in the field of Agriculture, the reports.

This Agreement will promote cooperation through short and medium term programs, within the framework of the joint activities mentioned in the agreement. The Biennial Work Plan will be drawn up by mutual agreement between the two parties to give effect to the objectives of the agreement.

The agreement will provide for a Joint Working Group for agricultural cooperation which shall be responsible for elaborating Biennial Work Plans. The Joint Working Group shall identify areas and forms of cooperation, and shall coordinate their implementation. The Joint Working Group shall meet periodically and alternatively in India and Armenia.

The agreement will promote understanding of best agricultural practices in the two countries and will be mutually beneficial.

Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) – the two U.S. Representatives of Armenian heritage – have called for a vote on the Armenian Genocide Truth + Justice Resolution, a bipartisan genocide-prevention measure they describe as “a principled and practical approach to fostering improved relations between Turkey and Armenia,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a letter to Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel, Ranking Member of this panel, Reps. Speier and Eshoo noted that they had recently traveled to Armenia as part of the U.S. Presidential Delegation for the April 24th Centennial. Stressing their unique role as “the only Members of the U.S. House of Representatives of Armenian heritage, descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide,” they called on the Committee leadership to hold a hearing and vote in the Foreign Affairs Committee on H.Res.154, the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution before the August District work period.

H.Res.154, a bipartisan measure spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Robert Dold (R-IL), Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), has over 60 cosponsors. It builds upon the substantial record of U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide by calling upon the President work toward improved Armenian-Turkish relations based upon the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgement of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime.

Dear Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel,

Earlier this spring on Capitol Hill we came together as colleagues to honor the women and men who died during the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. In April, several of us traveled to Armenia as part of an official presidential delegation to participate in the 100th anniversary memorial events. We were honored to be part of this historic delegation, but remain disappointed Congress has not to this date recognized the Armenian Genocide, which President Obama recently called “the first mass atrocity of the 20th century.”

As the only Members of the U.S. House of Representatives of Armenian heritage, descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, we ask you to hold a hearing and vote in the Foreign Affairs Committee on H.Res.154, the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution.

This bipartisan genocide-prevention measure represents a principled and practical approach to fostering improved relations between Turkey and Armenia, which remains a priority of U.S. foreign policy. The adoption of this resolution would send a clear and powerful signal to those committing atrocities against minorities today that the United States will never compromise our moral stand against genocide for reasons of political expediency.

The first subcommittee hearing on the Armenian Genocide was held by Rep. Chris Smith in 2000 and Chairman Howard Berman convened a hearing and vote in 2010. Former and current Members have at length during special order hours and other debates on the genocide. As of this year, twenty-eight countries and 43 states have recognized the genocide, including Canada, England, France, and Russia. During Sunday services in April, Pope Francis called the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians the “first genocide of the 20th century.” It is not the first time that the Pope has described the Armenian deaths as a genocide – Pope John Paul II did so in a written statement in 2001.

Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel, we respectfully ask you to bring the resolution to the Committee for a vote before the August District work period. We stand ready to meet with you to discuss the matter further and explore avenues for the timely adoption of this resolution.