Author: Arpi Talalian

 18:19,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on August 24.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, Minister Mirzoyan expressed condolences to the French side regarding the human casualties caused by the storm in Corsica on August 18. Minister Colonna, in turn, expressed condolences to the Armenian side regarding the human casualties as a result of the explosion in the “Surmalu” shopping center and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Catherine Colonna expressed satisfaction with the high level of special Armenian-French relations. In this context, the sides expressed willingness to take active steps in the direction of further deepening of mutually beneficial cooperation and enrichment of the bilateral agenda through the implementation of specific projects.

During the telephone conversation, issues of regional security and stability were touched upon.

Minister Mirzoyan presented to his counterpart the approaches of the Armenian side regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the establishment of regional peace.

The parties emphasized the role of France as the Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in promoting the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Referring to the solution of the humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war, the Armenian Foreign Minister stressed the need to repatriate the Armenian prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in Azerbaijan, and to reveal the fates of the forcibly disappeared and the missing and the missing.

 16:27,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. President Vahagn Khachaturyan received Rector of the French University of Armenia Bertrand Venard, the Presidential Office said.

During the conversation Bertrand Venard said that his term in office ends soon, adding that during this period he has tried not only to contribute to the fulfillment of the goal of providing students with quality education, but also to support the further development and deepening of the Armenian-French friendly relations. He introduced the President on the activities being carried out by the University in Armenia, the new educational programs and future projects.

The President thanked for the productive work, particularly highlighting the programs in informatics and applied mathematics being implemented in the University. Vahagn Khachaturyan expressed hope that the work done by the Rector of the French University in Armenia will continue with the same spirit.

Views were exchanged also on the potential and prospects of development of education, science and high technologies in Armenia.

Erdoğan and Assad may meet in Uzbekistan – Shahan Gantaharian’s comment

 21:18,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS. After many years of conflict, the Turkish-Syrian relations, which have been going through historical upheavals, show signs of normalization again. Talking to ARMENPRESS about this topic, the editor-in-chief of the Lebanese “Aztag” Armenian daily, political analyst Shahan Gantaharian stressed that all the prerequisites for the rapprochement of Turkey and Syria should be considered in the framework of Russia-Turkey strategic cooperation.

Turkish, Arabic, and Iranian media are writing these days that the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar Al-Assad, may meet for the first time in 10 years in Uzbekistan, at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which will be held on September 15-16 in Samarkand.

The editor-in-chief of “Aztag” presented his point of view on this information, saying that there have been talks about the possibility of Ankara-Damascus rapprochement or re-establishment of relations for some time, and it is noticeable that Ankara’s official representatives are more active about this than Syria’s.

“Reconciliation initiatives of the Syrian opposition and Syrian President Bashar Assad under the mediation of Turkey are also on the agenda. Çavuşoğlu (Turkey’s Foreign Minister-ed.) announced that the security services of the two countries are already talking and are holding joint discussions on common issues. It is clear that security issues refer to the first problem for Ankara, the Kurdish factor,” the analyst noted.

Shahan Gantaharian draws attention to the statement of the President of Turkey that his country is in favor of maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria and has no intention of ousting Assad.

“I believe that all these preconditions for rapprochement should be considered in the sidelines of Moscow-Ankara strategic cooperation. It should not be forgotten that Damascus coordinates such actions, steps and breakthrough positions with Moscow. Let’s add that until now Ankara has not managed to form the geography of the security zone that it proposed from the first stage of the Syrian war. And Turkey did not have the permission not only of the West, but also of Moscow,” emphasized Shahan Gantaharyan.

 12:18,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is holding discussions in the direction of launching an assistance program for the victims of the Surmalu trade center explosion, the ministry spokesperson Zara Manucharyan told ARMENPRESS.

“At this moment there are discussions in the ministry in the direction of carrying out a state assistance program for the families of those who were killed in the Surmalu trade center blast and those who were physically injured,” Manucharyan said, adding that details of the coverage will be released additionally.

Asked whether or not the businesses who suffered damages will also receive support, Manucharyan said that this matter is not in their ministry’s jurisdiction.

A view of the drill, in Kars, eastern Türkiye, Aug. 18, 2022. (AA PHOTO)

MOSCOW

The death toll from a powerful explosion at a market in the Armenian capital Yerevan rose to six on Monday, according to the country’s Emergency Ministry. 

Sunday’s explosion in an explosives warehouse at the Surmalu shopping center caused a fire and led to the collapse of the three-story building.

“Rescuers recovered the body of another person from the rubble. Thus, the total number of deaths reached six people,” spokesman Ayk Kocharyan told reporters in Yerevan.

In total, more than 60 people were injured while 17 went missing, he said, adding that rescue operations and efforts to douse the fire continue.

 16:44, 9 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9, ARMENPRESS. On August 9, 2022, Minister of Defence of Armenia Suren Papikyan received Alexander Konyuk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

The newly appointed Defence Attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus, Colonel Alexei Babkov, as well as the retired Defence Attaché, Colonel Yevgeny Artyomenko also attended the meeting.

The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia congratulated Colonel Babkov on taking office, wished him success in his responsible mission, and thanked Colonel Artyomenko for his active and effective military-diplomatic work in the Republic of Armenia.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on international and regional security issues. The Armenian Defence Minister informed about the situation in the region and presented the latest developments in the border areas of Armenia and Artsakh.

The sides also discussed ways to further deepen the Armenian-Belarusian cooperation in the defence sphere, as well as the course of events planned in multilateral formats.

 10:05, 4 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. What Azerbaijan has recently carried out in Nagorno Karabakh is ethnic cleansing, Ambassador-at-Large of Armenia Edmon Marukyan said in a statement on social media.

“What Azerbaijan has been recently conducting in Nagorno Karabakh is called ethnic cleansing in international law. The policy of ethnic cleansings carried out by Azerbaijan is an international crime. Sooner or later, it will bring the Azerbaijani leadership into responsibility.

Our partners of international structures should clearly distinguish between the victim of the situation and the perpetrator of ethnic cleansing. Only in that case the vague, toothless statements directed to both sides will be replaced by clearly targeted ones, raising the question of responsibility and stopping the policy of ethnic cleansings. There is no other way”, Edmon Marukyan said.

On August 3, two Artsakh soldiers were killed and around 20 others were wounded when Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire and launched an attack on Artsakh military positions. The Azerbaijani military used mortars, grenade-launchers, combat UAVs in attacking a permanent deployment location of an Artsakh military base.

 15:12, 4 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. The close contacts between Armenia and Russia at various levels will allow to clarify the questions that Yerevan has regarding the activity of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

“There are trilateral documents that are considered to be the main starting point. The important is to implement all the obligations assumed by the sides with these documents. If there are questions, they definitely need to be answered. At the same time, we have close contacts with the Armenian side at various levels which will allow us to clarify the existing issues”, he said.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced today that “a number of events that have taken place in Nagorno Karabakh since 2020, including those in recent days, evoke questions from the Armenian public about the content and nature of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno Karabakh. “In this context, there is an urgent need to agree the details of the peacekeeping operation there”, the PM said as quoted by TASS.