By Vafa Ismayilova
The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry has stated that Armenia attempted another provocation on the state border in order to create a military confrontation.
In an official statement posted on its website on November 10, the ministry said: “The Armenian side once again attempted to commit a provocation on the Lachin section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.”
The ministry stressed that at noon on November 9, about 60 Armenian servicemen on two military trucks moved towards Lake Garagol in Lachin region and settled on the road leading to the Azerbaijani army’s positions.
“The Armenian side used metal obstacles to block the Azerbaijan army’s path between positions on this section of the border and attempted to strengthen itself in the area in order to create a deliberate military confrontation,” the ministry said.
The Azerbaijani army units stationed in this direction took immediate measures in the shortest time, concentrating additional personnel and military equipment in the area.
“As a result of the taken measures about 60 Armenian servicemen were under siege, all their actions were limited, and in the morning, taking into account the request of the Russian side, the Azerbaijani servicemen allowed the Armenian servicemen to return. We state that the military provocation of the Armenian side has failed,” the ministry stated.
It pledged “harsh and more effectual measures” if similar provocations repeat in the future.
“We hope that this time disgrace of the Armenian army will be a lesson learned and they will not take such provocative steps in the future. There are no losses among the military personnel of the Azerbaijan army, as well as territory loss. The Azerbaijan army units control the operational situation. The entire responsibility for the recent tension that occurred on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border falls on the military-political leadership of Armenia,” the ministry said.
The Azerbaijani foreign and defence ministries earlier described Armenian Defence Minister Arshak Karapetyan’s visit to Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region as Armenia’s another provocative act.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva underlined that this shows that Armenia is deliberately trying to aggravate the situation.
“And the fact that these steps were taken on the eve of the first anniversary of the signing of the trilateral statement serves the purpose of casting a shadow on the activities of the Russian peacekeepers, and in general, this is a violation of the provision of the trilateral statement,” she stated.
Moreover, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry described Karapetyan’s unauthorized entry into the Azerbaijani territory, holding meetings with illegal Armenian formations and expressing views on their combat readiness as a military-political provocation.
“The political and military leadership of Armenia, grossly violating the provisions of the trilateral statement, attempts to destabilize the situation in the region and overshadow the activities of Russian peacekeepers,” the ministry stressed.
The ministry emphasized that the visit of the Armenian defence minister once again demonstrates that Armenia continues to directly support irregular Armenian military units, aggressive separatism, and terrorist acts on the Azerbaijani territory.
“We would like to remind the Armenian defence minister of the fate of his former colleagues and other Armenian generals who made utopian claims such as ‘impassable Ohanyan line’, ‘new wars, new territories’,” the ministry stated.
“We warn the military-political leadership of Armenia that in case of a continuation of such illegal visits to Azerbaijan’s territory, the necessary measures will be taken to prevent aggressive separatism and terrorist acts in accordance with the legislation of Azerbaijan,” the ministry added.
15:15,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received today United Nations’ Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp on the occasion of completion of his mission in Armenia, the PM’s Office said.
Pashinyan highly appreciated Mr Sharp’s work in developing the cooperation between Armenia and the UN agencies. He also attached importance to the UN’s support to Armenia for fighting the coronavirus pandemic and expressed regret that the UN humanitarian aid is still not available to the people of Nagorno Karabakh. In the context of Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, the PM highlighted the importance of the 2021-2025 UN Sustainable Development Partnership framework document for Armenia, which was signed between the Armenian government and the UN this year in June.
Shombi Sharp thanked the Armenian PM for the appreciation and said it was a great honor for him to serve in Armenia, adding that he leaves the country with warm impressions. He highly valued the partnership with the Armenian government, the evidence of which are the effective joint programs. He said that the UN will continue to stand by Armenia and the Armenian people, assist the implementation of reforms, overcome the difficult challenges.
The sides exchanged views on the agenda of the Armenia-UN partnership, the agenda of peace and stability in the region.
PM Pashinyan wished good luck to Shombi Sharp in his future activities, stating that Mr Sharp will remain the good friend of Armenia and its people.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
It is necessary to form the new possible actions of the pan-Armenian national opposition in order to prevent the Turkification of Armenia and the eviction of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Ishkhan, Saghatelyan, the National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker from the opposition “Armenia” Faction, stated about this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
“We do not need any additional information that could confirm our concerns. We do not try to confirm them or persuade anyone. We have had enough time to become convinced that the incumbent authorities are able to provide the country only with defeat and various disasters,” Saghatelyan said.
To the question why the opposition “Armenia” Bloc decided to resume the street struggle in November and not in September when the weather conditions in Armenia were more favorable, the vice-speaker of the parliament gave a negative answer.
“If we condition our actions on weather conditions, we must take into account both the summer heat and the winter cold. We do not believe that all problems will be solved in one step. That way we will not achieve our goal. It is a long-term and sequential process,” he said.
In his opinion, the Armenian diaspora should also join this movement. He is convinced that this struggle must become networked.
“We must show the incumbent authorities, the whole world, the enemy that new concessions will not be forgiven by the Armenian people—although we have not forgiven their past sins,” the opposition MP said, stressing the need to continue the struggle within the legislature.
According to him, the Armenian opposition continues to demand the resignation of the incumbent authorities and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
To the question whether second President Robert Kocharyan—who heads the “Armenia” Bloc—will take part in the November 8 rally, Saghatelyan gave a firm answer.
“He will participate and send a message,” the NA deputy speaker concluded.
To note, the “Armenia” Bloc will hold a rally on November 8, starting at 6pm, at Yerevan’s Freedom Square.
At the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles, Artsakh State Minister Artak Beglaryan met with a member of the California State Assembly, Senator Anthony Portantino, Senator Adrin Nazaryan, and Mayor of Glendale Paula Devine.
The State Minister thanked the elected officials of California for the constant support of the people of Artsakh, stressing the need to expand and develop relations. He stressed that the 2014 resolution on California’s recognition of Artsakh’s independence was not only a political act, but also opened a window for practical cooperation, towards which the Artsakh side is ready to take clear measures.
According to the source, Adrin Nazaryan and Anthony Portantino expressed their readiness to deepen the existing relations in all possible ways.
During the meeting with the Mayor of Glendale Paula Devine, they exchanged views on the sides of cooperation with the cities of Artsakh, mutually noting the importance of both material and technical support and programs aimed at capacity development.
Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has been honored with the Grand Collar of the Papal Order of Pius IX. The Pope bestowed the highest order for his outstanding contribution to the development of relations between Armenia and the Holy See.
Substitute for General Affairs to the Secretary of State Edgar Peña Parra handed over the award to the President during a meeting in Yerevan.
“The Pope has instructed me to present to you the highest award of the Vatican,” said the Deputy Secretary of State of the Holy See. “This is the evidence of the unique relations between our countries. By opening the Apostolic Diocese in Yerevan, we want to establish a very high level of relationship, to show the world the importance of the first Christian nation in history for us.”
It was noted that President Sarkissian is the first in Armenia and the only person in the region to be awarded the highest order of the Holy See, the Grand Collar of the Papal Order of Pius IX.
The President once again commended the continuous development of the interstate relations between Armenia and the Holy See and noted. “I am very happy that the Holy See will have a permanent representation here. This is good news for Armenia and the Apostolic Church.”
Noting that receiving the high award is a great honor, President Sarkissian said. “I take it as an assessment of my modest work, as well as an acknowledgment of the fact that I was the first ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See. I have always worked for the sake of close relations between Armenia and the Vatican. So I accept this, promising to do more. ”
The President of Armenia conveyed his warm wishes to Pope Francis and noted with gratitude that at times of hard and difficult challenges for our country, the Vatican extended a hand of solidarity to our state and people. “We all remember and appreciate the support we received from the Pope and the Vatican during the difficult days for Armenia,” said President Sargsyan.
17:58,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of China to Armenia Fan Yong is very much satisfied with the development pace of the Armenian-Chinese relations, the Chinese Ambassador told ARMENPRESS at the solemn opening ceremony of Confucius classroom at the Armenian-Russian University.
“I can say that at the moment it’s not enough to say that I am satisfied with the level of development of those relations, but I am very satisfied,” the Chinese Ambassador to Armenia said.
Recalling that the relations between Armenia and China have a history of several thousand years, dating back to the time of the ancient Silk Road, Ambassador Fan Yong added that in the modern times the relations between the two countries are developing steadily.
“We are very happy to see that many young people in Armenia today are interested in China, Chinese culture and language. I came to Armenia last year, I can say that since then I see that the number of students and pupils studying Chinese is increasing, their level of language skills is improving. Every year, our embassy organizes an event that financially encourages students, pupils, and lecturers. And I have already found that there are students among them who are very good”, Fan Yong said, reminding that the Chinese Embassy also cooperates with ARMENPRESS news agency.
According to the Ambassador, they have come up with a very good plan, thanks to which more Chinese tourists will visit Armenia to see the nature here and the beautiful places.
“I hope that as a result of our further cooperation, the flow of Chinese tourists to Armenia will increase even more, we will be able to see an increase in the number of tourists,” said the Chinese Ambassador.
13:05,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. The government projects construction and industry to be the main segment guiding economic growth in 2022, unlike the service sector in 2021, the minister of finance Tigran Khachatryan said at a joint parliamentary committee session debating the 2022 state budget draft.
He said that as of now the government’s forecast for 2021’s economic growth is around 6,5%, and 7% is the target placed in the basis of the 2022 budget. Khachatryan said the projections are accompanied by rather high inflation backgrounds of the current year.
“For next year we expect the inflation environment to return to the range defined by law, thus ensuring a more stable macro-environment,” he said.
“If this year the services were the main guiding sector for economic growth, next year it will be construction and industry. While in terms of expenditure components there will be greater impact with final consumption and export impacts.”
“In 2022 there will be a complete return to tax-budgetary rules. Current spending will not exceed tax revenues, and capital spending will be at least not less that the size of the state budget’s deficit,” he added.
The government projects capital spending to comprise 4,5% of the GDP in 2022.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank Vice Governor Nerses Yeritsyan called the 2022 state budget draft “ambitious”.
“Overall we can say that the 2022 state budget program is rather ambitious, and compared to the government’s mid-term spending program implies a significant acceleration of economic growth and potential,” he said, adding that government spending policy will be aimed at encouraging growth.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
21:26, 21 October, 2021
YEREVAN, 21 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan met with the Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the French Republic Pascale Gruny on October 21.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan mentioned that the meetings with the French partners are always unique for their friendly and warm atmosphere. According to the President of the National Assembly, the support of France and its people to Armenia and Armenian people first in the fight against the coronavirus, then during the catastrophic war is a testament of sincere friendship. In this context, the adoption of resolutions condemning the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Artsakh and on the necessity of recognition of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh by the two chambers of the parliament was emphasized. The President of the National Assembly of Armenia noted that Armenia always highly appreciates the serious role of France as a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in the only internationally recognised format of the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
The parties referred to the interparliamentary relations by pointing the remarkable role of the latter in developing and enriching the political dialogue between Armenia and France.
The Vice President of the Senate of France conveyed to Alen Simonyan the invitation of the President of the Senate to pay a visit to the Republic of France. He also presented the proposal of the President of the French Senate on signing a memorandum of cooperation with the National Assembly of Armenia.
The sides also had a conversation on the efficient Armenian-French parliamentary cooperation at multilateral platforms.