Author: Arbi Tashjian

Media must work together to counter AI threat, says press agencies head

Arbi Tashjian

 15:51,

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. The head of the European Alliance of News Agencies has called for press agencies to work together to counter the threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI).

Clemens Pig was speaking at the opening of the fifth Future Media Conference organised by the Polish Press Agency (PAP) in Warsaw.

“AI in the wrong hands can lead to massive waves of fake news, attacking and endangering democratic societies,” said Pig.

“Therefore it is crucial for us, as news agencies, to work together, benefit from each other in building knowledge of AI, its challenges and opportunities, and to cooperate on joint solutions in order to be able to deal with AI-supported waves of false news and similar challenges.

“Serious media can only survive in this battle with credible and trustworthy journalism,” he added.




Azeri troops attempting to advance into Armenia to raise flag pushed back by countermeasures – NSS

Arbi Tashjian

 10:41,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenian security forces on Thursday morning took countermeasures to thwart the Azerbaijani military’s attempt to advance, authorities said in a statement.

The National Security Service Border Guards said that a group of servicemen of the Azerbaijani Border Guards attempted to advance into the territory of Armenia from the direction of the Hakari Bridge around 08:40, June 15 with the purpose of raising a flag in the territory of Armenia.

“As a result of measures taken by the Armenian side, the attempt by the Azerbaijani servicemen to advance and install a flag in the territory of Armenia was thwarted,” the NSS Border Guards said in a statement.

As of 10:00 the situation was relatively stable.

WATCH: Pashinyan, Macron chat in Moldova

Arbi Tashjian

 14:41, 1 June 2023

CHISINAU, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and French President Emmanuel Macron talked briefly within the framework of the 2nd European Political Community Summit in Chisinau.

The two leaders were seen talking shortly after the official opening ceremony of the summit.

A meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President of the European Council Charles Michel will take place later today.

Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan speak of peace progress while arguing in front of Putin

Arbi Tashjian
May 25 2023

MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) – The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Thursday both spoke of progress towards ending their decades-old conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, even as they argued openly in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan, has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century.

In 2020, Azerbaijan seized control of areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountain enclave, and since then it has periodically restricted access to the only access road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, on which the enclave relies for financial and military support.

At a meeting in Moscow, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of causing a humanitarian crisis by blocking the only land route from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.

He called it a “direct violation” of a 2020 ceasefire that ended the six-week war between the two countries, and called for an international mission to be sent to evaluate the situation.

Azeri activists in mid-December began obstructing the road known as the Lachin corridor, which Pashinyan noted should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers, and Baku last month erected a checkpoint along it.

Azerbaijan says it took that step because Armenia was using the route to send weapons to Nagorno-Karabakh, something Armenia denies.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev responded to Pashinyan: “Azerbaijan did not block any corridor… There is no need to use this platform for unfounded accusations.”

The two leaders continued arguing for several minutes in Russian before Putin – who is mounting a new effort to broker a deal – closed off the conversation, which took place at an economic meeting of former Soviet republics in Moscow.

Despite their testy exchange, both Pashinyan and Aliyev said there had been progress lately towards a settlement based on mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity.

Putin was later due to host three-way talks with Aliyev and Pashinyan, where he said they would have the chance “to talk about everything calmly in a businesslike manner”.

Russia has traditionally been the main power broker between the two countries on the southwest edge of the former Soviet Union which have fought two major wars in the three decades since the collapse of the former superpower.

Distracted by the war in Ukraine, Russia faces a challenge to maintain that role as the United States and European Union have mounted their own efforts to bring the sides together.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted by the RIA news agency earlier on Thursday as saying the West was trying to interfere in the conflict and discredit Russian peacekeeping policy.

Outstanding issues between the two sides include the rights and security of some 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Tatiana Gomozova, Caleb Davis and Felix Light, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Andrew Osborn and Andrew Heavens

Georgian Independence Day solemnly celebrated in Armenia

Arbi Tashjian

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 11:15,

YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. May 26 marks the Georgian Independence Day and the country’s Ambassador to Armenia Giorgi Saganelidze hosted a reception on this solemn occasion.

Photos by Hayk Manukyan

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, government officials, cultural figures and foreign ambassadors were in attendance.

Ambassador Saganelidze was wearing Georgian traditional clothing during the event.

In his remarks, the Georgian Ambassador said that on May 26, 1918, Georgia declared independence and the first Social-Democratic state emerged on the world map.

“For more than a century the freedom-loving Georgian people were selflessly fighting against the Imperial regime, and in 1918 we succeeded and returned to the thousand-years practice of independent state. Despite the fact that the first Georgian republic existed only two years and nine months, it achieved much. Georgia was the first state in the region to give the right to vote to both men and women, and five women were elected to the supreme legislative body, one of whom was an Armenian,” the Georgian Ambassador said.

Speaking about the present-day Georgia, the ambassador said that over the course of 32 years of independence the country succeeded and is now in a leading position among 19 countries in the region in the corruption perception index. He said that in 2020 Georgia was ranked number 1 among 23 countries of Europe and Central Asia in the Ease of Doing Business report and is 5th globally in the economic freedom index.

“In this phase we have double-digit economic growth and unemployed dropped in half in the past ten years. The Georgian people’s will has been recorded on the Constitutional level on integrating into the European Union and NATO,” the ambassador said.

Speaking about the Armenian-Georgian friendship, he said that the centuries-old tradition of good-neighborliness, friendship and brotherly relations between Georgians and Armenians is an unprecedented example in world history.

“Numerous Armenian public figures have been displaying their special love for Georgia, including Naghash Hovnatan, Sayat Nova, Shamchi Melko, Khachatur Abovyan, Avetik Isahakyan and, of course, Hovhannes Tumanyan. Many Georgian classical writers have done the same. We are happy to note that the cooperation level in political, cultural, energy, tourism and other sectors is on the historical high today. There’s been an unprecedented growth in trade turnover and soon Georgian and Armenian nationals will be able to cross the border without a passport, only with [IDs], which will further strengthen and deepen the eternal brotherhood of Georgia and Armenia,” Ambassador Giorgi Saganelidze said.

Speaker Alen Simonyan, wishing peace and prosperity to Georgia, said that the two countries know the price of independence very well, which is the entirety of struggle, patriotism, great sacrifice and unity.

Armenia and Georgia are tied with Christian and many other cultural links, he added.

“The huge Armenian-Georgian cultural heritage has a special role in our relations, on which the great Sayat Nova, Hovhannes Tumanyan, Petros Adamyan, Sergey Parajanov and others have had their permanent trace. Our peoples have numerously faced the issue of being absorbed by powerful states, but today, we stand as independent and democratic states. We are going through difficult times now as well. In times of new geopolitical transformations and development of new architecture, we are facing the most serious challenges and we must support each other, unite efforts to withstand them. Together we will succeed in creating strong foundations for regional security, peace and development,” Simonyan said, praising the development of intergovernmental and interparliamentary ties. He noted the frequent meetings taking place between the Armenian and Georgian leaders.

Simonyan concluded his speech by reciting a piece by Tumanyan addressed to Armenians and Georgians. “Look at everything from the heights of friendly love, love that rises, love that thrives, love that unites and warms.”

Armenia says Iran-EEU free trade agreement ‘priority’

Arbi Tashjian
MEHR News Agency
Iran –

TEHRAN, May 27 (MNA) – The implementation of the free trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union is a priority, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow.

“Given the high dynamics of the development of cooperation with Iran, the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement and its subsequent implementation are priorities for us in the context of a real expansion of trade cooperation with third countries,” Pashinyan was quoted as saying by Public Radio of Armenia.

He said continued negotiations with India and Egypt, as well as the development of comprehensive dialogue on the economic agenda and the deepening of trade and economic cooperation with the UAE and Indonesia, will give an additional impetus to the process of integrating EEU into the world economy.

Armenia expects Azerbaijan to be open for the transportation of Armenian goods to the Russian Federation and Iran on a parity basis, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

He noted that the border and customs services of Armenia are ready to ensure the normal passage of all vehicles through the country.

“We expect that the Azerbaijani railroad will also be opened for trains of the Republic of Armenia through Nakhichevan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, for example, to the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. And we expect this issue to be resolved on a parity basis, on the basis of the sovereignty and jurisdiction of countries,” he said.

According to a tripartite statement of Nov. 9, 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan, mediated by Russia, agreed to unblock regional transport and economic communications. A special commission of vice premiers of the three countries has been set up to work on this issue. 

Armenia has repeatedly stated that it is ready to fulfill this paragraph of the statement, noting that all communications should be under the jurisdiction of the countries through which they pass.

The Eurasian Economic Union may strike a deal on a free trade zone with Iran earlier than with other countries, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Overchuk was quoted as saying by TASS.

“We are closest with Iran,” he said when asked which countries the EEU is closest to reaching an agreement with on a free trade zone.

EEC (Eurasian Economic Commission) Trade Minister Andrey Slepnev said earlier that the agreement on a free trade zone between the EEU and Iran could be signed as early as this year.

“Russia is negotiating free trade zone agreements with a number of Muslim countries,” Overchuk said.

“Within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, we have been negotiating the creation of a free trade zone with a number of Islamic states, including Egypt, Iran, the UAE. We have already started negotiations with them, and we are about to begin talks with Indonesia,” he told the plenary session of the 14th international economic forum, Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum on Friday.

“We see our bilateral trade growing, and it may indicate that our countries are becoming closer to each other. Our task for today is to reduce trade barriers and simplify contacts, primarily in the economic sphere,” Overchuk said.

MNA/PR

Armenpress: The illegal abduction of Armenian servicemen is an attempt by Azerbaijan to withdraw from its obligations. MFA

Arbi Tashjian

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 19:02,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The illegal abduction of 2 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan is an attempt to deviate from its own obligations, ARMENPRESS reports, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia said in a Twitter post.

“We call on Azerbaijani authorities to release them and fulfill commitment to release all Armenian POWs in line with Trilateral Statement of Nov 9, 2020, as well as calls of international partners and institutions”, reads the post.

Armenia and Azerbaijan announce end to their territorial dispute

Arbi Tashjian
IRAN FRONT PAGE
ByIFP Media Wire

Yerevan and Baku are ready to end the 30-year dispute over Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced on Thursday in Moscow.

During the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two leaders confirmed that they are prepared to normalize relations on the basis of “mutual recognition of territorial integrity,” in the words of both Aliyev and Pashinyan.

Putin said he was “very pleased” that the two former Soviet republics seem to have come to an agreement, “including on transport communications.” This appeared to be a reference to Azerbaijan’s access to the territory of Nakhichevan, located between Armenia and Turkey.

Pashinyan agreed that the two countries were “making good progress in settling our relations” on the basis of mutual recognition, but objected to Aliyev’s use of the phrase “Zangerzur corridor,” saying that this could be regarded as a claim on Armenian territory.

The November 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh truce “speaks of only one corridor, Lachin, which needs to be under the control of Russian peacekeepers but has sadly been illegally blockaded by Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan stated, adding, “However, I wish to confirm Armenia’s readiness to unblock all transport and economic connections and roads passing through Armenian territory.”

“The word ‘corridor’ is not an encroachment on someone’s territory,” Aliyev replied, insisting that one would have to “try very hard or have a very rich imagination” to interpret his phrasing as territorial aspirations, which Azerbaijan does not have. The fact that Armenia has “officially recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan” is a major opportunity to reach a peace agreement, he added.

Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region within Soviet Azerbaijan, but with an ethnic Armenian majority population. It broke away from Azerbaijan even before Baku declared independence from the USSR, triggering an ethnic conflict that claimed thousands of lives before it was frozen by a 1994 truce.

The most recent flare-up, in 2020, resulted in Azerbaijani troops advancing to cut the main road between Karabakh and Armenia proper. Russia stepped in to mediate a ceasefire, which has mostly held ever since.

Pashinyan signaled that Armenia was willing to cede Karabakh ahead of the Moscow meeting, but said he would seek international guarantees for the remaining ethnic Armenians there. He also said Yerevean might consider leaving the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), suggesting that the Russian-led military bloc had failed to protect Armenia. Pashinyan has taken this line since the September 2022 visit to Yerevan by Nancy Pelosi, who was speaker of the US House of Representatives at the time.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/11/2023

Arbi Tashjian 
                                        Thursday, 
Heavy Fighting Again Reported On Armenian-Azeri Border (UPDATED)
Azerbaijani (L) and Armenian army posts by the Sotk gold mine in Armenia's 
Gegharkunik province, June 18, 2021/
Armenia accused Azerbaijan of trying to derail ongoing peace talks after heavy 
fighting broke out at a section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border early on 
Thursday.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani forces began shelling its 
positions near the border village of Sotk at 6 a.m. local time and four Armenian 
soldiers were wounded as a result. Armenian army units are taking “appropriate 
defensive-preventive measures” in response, said the ministry spokesman, Aram 
Torosian.
The intensity of the fighting eased after 10 a.m. and the situation at the 
border section was “relatively stable” early in the afternoon, Torosian reported 
afterwards.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry blamed the Armenian side for the ceasefire 
violation. It said that Armenian troops seriously wounded an Azerbaijani soldier 
overnight before opening mortar fire at Azerbaijani army positions in the 
mountainous area. Another Azerbaijani serviceman was killed in the morning 
skirmishes, according to the ministry.
Tensions in the area have run high for the past month. Armenia’s largest gold 
mine located near Sotk halted production operations in mid-April due to what its 
management and workers described as cross-border Azerbaijani gunfire. The 
village sustained heavy damage during more large-scale clashes that broke out at 
this and other border sections last September.
The latest escalation came just three days before talks between Armenian Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev which European 
Council President Charles Michel is due to host in Brussels.
Pashinian claimed that Baku’s “provocative” actions are aimed at torpedoing the 
upcoming summit and “nullifying progress” made by the Armenian and Azerbaijani 
foreign ministers during marathon talks held outside Washington last week.
“Experience shows that Azerbaijan needs the negotiation process only to get an 
escalation and an excuse for war,” he charged during a weekly cabinet meeting in 
Yerevan.
At the same time, Pashinian said that he still intends to fly to Brussels for 
the planned trilateral meeting with Aliyev and Michel. He went on to stress that 
they are unlikely to sign an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
For its part, the Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Baku of trying to “exert 
pressure on Armenia” through the use of force.
EU Reaffirms Follow-Up Meeting Between Aliyev, Pashinian
        • Heghine Buniatian
Belgium - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev begin talks in Brussels, August 31, 2022.
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to meet not only in Brussels 
on Sunday but also in Moldova on June 1 in the presence of French President 
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the European Union insisted 
on Thursday.
The Brussels meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will be hosted by European Council President 
Charles Michel.
Michel’s office announced on Monday that Aliyev and Pashinian will also hold 
follow-up talks together with Macron and Scholz on the sidelines of a European 
summit in Moldova’s capital Chisinau slated for June 1.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aykhan Hajizade, said on Thursday 
that there is still no “final decision” on the Chisinau summit. He said Baku 
wants to make sure that the four-party talks do not replace the “Brussels 
format.”
Michel’s spokesman, Barend Leyts, insisted, however, that Sunday’s summit in 
Brussels “will be flanked by a meeting in Chisinau” to be attended by Macron and 
Scholz.
“Following ongoing contacts with all sides, we have confirmed a political 
commitment to these meetings and plan to convene them,” Leyts told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service.
The planned Armenian-Azerbaijani summits will follow marathon talks held by the 
foreign ministers of the two South Caucasus states outside Washington last week. 
The U.S.-mediated talks focused on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. 
According to the U.S. State Department, the ministers “made significant progress 
in addressing difficult issues.”
Karabakh Patients Evacuated By Russian Peacekeepers
Azerbaijani troops are setting up a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, April 23, 
2023.
Russian peacekeeping forces on Thursday transported nine critically ill 
residents of Nagorno-Karabakh to hospitals in Armenia at the request of the 
authorities in Stepanakert.
Such medical evacuations were carried out until this month by the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC stopped them on April 29 six days 
after Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, further tightening 
its blockade of the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia.
According to Karabakh authorities, Baku wants to impose passport controls on 
Karabakh patients and Red Cross staff passing through the corridor.
The authorities said that because of “the obstacles created by the Azerbaijani 
side” they asked the Russian peacekeepers to “transfer patients in urgent need 
to Armenian medical institutions in order to save their lives.”
Twenty-one other Karabakh patients are now awaiting evacuation, the health 
ministry in Stepanakert said, adding that Karabakh doctors are “taking every 
possible measure to prevent further deterioration of their health.”
Azerbaijan claims that its checkpoint was set up to stop the transfer of weapons 
from Armenia to Karabakh.
The Armenian side has strongly denied any arms supplies and accused Baku of 
another gross violation of a Russian-brokered agreement that stopped the 2020 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war. Russia and the United States have also criticized 
Baku’s move.
Saudi Airline To Launch Flights To Armenia
SAUDI ARABIA -- Saudi women roll their suitcases at the departure hall of the 
Jeddah Airport, August 6, 2019
A Saudi airline will reportedly launch first-ever commercial flights to Armenia 
next month in another sign of rapprochement between the two states that have no 
diplomatic relations.
Senior executives of Flynas, Saudi Arabia’s first low-cost carrier headquartered 
in Riyadh, visited Yerevan and met with the head of the Armenian government’s 
Tourism Committee, Sisian Boghossian, on Thursday.
“Flynas will be launching direct flights from Saudi Arabia to Armenia in June 
2023,” the committee announced in a statement on the meeting.
It said that the two sides discussed “opportunities for cooperation in the 
tourism sectors of Armenia and Saudi Arabia.”
Saudi Arabia has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with 
Armenia due to its conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The 
oil-rich kingdom signaled a change in that policy after its relations with 
Armenia’s arch-foe and Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey deteriorated significantly 
several years ago.
Saudi Arabia - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman talks to Armenian 
President Armen Sarkissian during the Future Investment Initiative forum in 
Riyadh, October 26, 2021.
The policy change was highlighted in October 2021 by then Armenian President 
Armen Sarkissian’s visit to Riyadh. Sarkissian sat next to Saudi Arabia’s de 
facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at the opening ceremony of an 
international conference held there.
Saudi Arabia signaled more overtures to Yerevan in February 2022 when its 
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Armenian counterpart 
Ararat Mirzoyan held talks on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in 
Germany. It was the first-ever face-to-face meeting of the top diplomats of the 
two countries.
Armenia subsequently voiced support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the Expo 2030 
world fair. It remains unclear, however, whether Riyadh is now ready for a full 
normalization of Saudi-Armenian relations.
Armenia maintains cordial relations with other Gulf Arab monarchies, notably the 
United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Both nations have embassies in Yerevan.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Armenia’s Narek Manasyan wins heavyweight bronze at IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships

Arbi Tashjian

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 16:49,

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Narek Manasyan will bring home bronze from the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Tashkent after failing to defeat his rival in the heavyweight semi-finals.

Manasyan lost 0:5 to Italy’s Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine and took the bronze medal. 

Team Armenia’s light welterweight Hovhannes Bachkov is set to compete against Uzbek Ruslan Abdullaev later tonight.