Author: Badalian Vardan

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan received today China’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Tian Erlong.

The Prime Minister attached importance to the continuous expansion and intensification of relations with China and stressed the need to take steps to utilize the existing potential.

Karen Karapetyan emphasized the opportunities of attracting Chinese investments in a number of infrastructure programs and added that the Armenian government is ready to discuss any proposal.

According to PM Karapetyan, Armenia can become an important platform for Chinese business, even as a route to third countries.

Tian Erlong noted that his mission is aimed at contributing to the development of Armenian-Chinese relations and attached special importance to the deepening of economic cooperation in a number of spheres.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

The President noted that the Armenian-Italian relations, which date back to the depth of centuries, are full of a number of friendly expressions that have served a basis for the consistent development of interstate ties ever since Armenia gained independence in 1991.

Serzh Sargsyan voiced hope that Minister Gentiloni’s visit would serve as a new impetus for the political dialogue and contribute to the further deepening of cooperation in different spheres.

The interlocutors referred to issues of enhancing the bilateral economic ties.

The Armenian President and the Italian Foreign Minister exchanged views on regional issues and challenges, including the Karabakh conflict settlement process, the priorities of the Italian Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2018.

Today President Serzh Sargsyan was present at the opening of the Yerevan fair trade center. The creation of the center was initiated by the SIL Concern Company. During the tour, the President was briefed by the officials of the Company on the works carried out at the first stage, investments, new jobs, and the upcoming development programs, particularly the works envisaged for the second stage.

It was noted that in January-June 2016, over 250 employees were engaged in the construction on a permanent basis with the average salary of 200.000 AMD. The segment of the fair constructed during the first stage of the works will allow to hire 550 employees with the average salary of 150.000 AMD.

According to the officials, investments at this stage came close to 2 billion 500 million AMD. After the second phase of construction works is completed, in summer of 2017 Yerevan will have a fair, which will occupy 430002 meters, with 850 pavilions for retail and wholesale trade, with all modern facilities. The fair will create over 1000 new jobs with the average salary of 150.000 AMD.

Armenian Genocide-themed documentary “The Other Side of Home” has been shortlisted for 89th Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 89th Academy Awards has been narrowed to 10 films, of which 5 will earn Oscar nominations.

Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 61 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative are partnering to fund a research program that will enable the IRC to provide vital assistance in the form of reliable and accountable cash distribution to those affected by the conflict in Syria.

With the US $100,000 support of Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, the IRC is chartering the development of a Cash First Roadmap—a yearlong campaign which will propose a methodology to identify the country-level barriers to wider cash transfer programming but also inform the means to address them.

The outcome will provide an established framework for the IRC and wider humanitarian community to follow.

“Every day, the number of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world steadily grows. Now is the time to redouble our efforts not just to raise the necessary resources, but to put in place the evidence-based programs that transform lives,” said David Miliband, President and CEO of the IRC. “It is crucial that the humanitarian community continues to look toward and adopt the most cost-effective measures for providing relief, in order to maximize impact to the greatest number of beneficiaries.”

In contrast with other forms of humanitarian aid, which use donor funds to purchase and distribute relief items, cash transfer programming is a proven effective and efficient means to deliver assistance. Evidence shows that delivering cash is cheaper and faster than alternative forms of aid that require procurement, shipping, storing and distribution. Notably, cash transfer programming gives beneficiaries a greater degree of choice and dignity, allowing them to prioritize their own needs and become agents in their own recovery process. Additionally, evidence shows that the provision of cash to communities to spend on existing markets has a multiplier effect on the local economy.

“We’re glad to work with the IRC to further our shared goals of helping those who are most in need,” said Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Co-Founder Ruben Vardanyan. “Like those special few who intervened with courage on behalf of Armenians one hundred years ago, we are proud to continue in their spirit today by supporting organizations addressing today’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. We are pleased to support a more innovative means of delivering aid—one which provides faster assistance and greater satisfaction to recipients.”

The IRC, which currently deploys cash assistance to more than 113,000 beneficiaries in 19 countries, will use the Roadmap to further increase its capacity to implement cash programming, and shift focus away from the provision of less-effective, in-kind assistance.

Head coach of the Armenian National team Varuzhan Sukiasyan has announced his resignation after the unsuccessful start of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.

“Head coach of the Armenian national team Varuhan Sukiasyan has informed the Secretariat of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) about his resignation from the post,” FFA press service said in a statement.

Ten soldiers and eight civilians were killed on Oct. 9 in an Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) suicide bomb attack targeting a military road checkpoint in the Şemdinli district of the eastern province of Hakkari, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has announced, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Speaking ahead of a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) consultation meeting in Istanbul, Yildirim said 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed in the suicide attack when a PKK bomber blew himself up inside a bomb-laden pickup that drove into the Durak gendarmerie road checkpoint in the district.

Yildirim said five tons of explosives were used in the attack, which created a six-meter deep hole at the scene and damaged buildings nearby.

Two of the killed soldiers were identified as Pvt. Eyüp Hacıoğlu and Gendarmerie Specialized Sgt. Hasan Aydoğdu.

In addition, the Hakkari Governor’s Office also stated that 27 people, including 11 soldiers, were wounded in the attack and were transferred to hospitals with a military helicopter.

President Serzh Sargsyan has left for the United States for a working visit. On October 10 in New York he will participate at the Armenia Investment Forum, President’s Press Office reports.

The Forum will be attended by  representatives of dozens of leading companies from different areas, representatives of financial institutions and over one hundred international investors.

In the framework of the visit, the President of Armenia will also hold a number of bilateral meetings.

Photo: Reuters

International prosecutors investigating the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 say the missile that hit the plane was fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels, the BBC reports.

They said the missile launcher was brought into Ukraine from Russia.

All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died when it broke apart in midair flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) consists of prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

An inquiry by the Dutch Safety Board last year found that a Russian-made Buk missile hit the plane but did not say where it was fired from.

Footage published by a Turkish broadcaster appears to show that six former gendarmerie intelligence officers who are currently being tried over links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) were complicit in the 2007 assassination of journalist Hrant Dink. In the images published by A Haber, they can be seen near the scene at the time of the murder of the Armenian-origin Turkish journalist in 2007, the reports.

In the footage, unearthed as part of a probe trying former gendarmerie officials suspected of having links to FETÖ and being involved in the July 15 coup attempt, investigators observed that six gendarmerie intelligence officers currently under arrest were present close to the scene when Dink’s murder took place on the afternoon of Jan. 19, 2007, strengthening the suspicion that they were in close contact with the assailant of the murder, Ogün Samast.

The prosecutor in the case has accused the Fetullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) of staging the assassination.

In his demand for the arrest of the suspects, Dink probe prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü said it would be “far from a legal definition” to identify the acts of the suspects as mere membership or leadership in an armed terrorist organization in light of the failed July 15 coup attempt, which has been blamed on FETÖ. Kökçü claimed that the Dink murder was the “first bullet fired” on the road to the coup.

Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight outside the offices of Agos in central Istanbul.

Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.

But the case grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that security forces had been aware of a plot to kill Dink but failed to act.

Relatives and followers of the case have long claimed government officials, police, military personnel and members of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.

Turkey’s top court in July 2014 ruled that the investigation into the killing had been flawed, paving the way for the trial of the police officials.

In January 2016, Supreme Court of Appeals ruled to tie the main case into Dink’s murder and prosecution into the public officers’ negligence to prevent the killing of Dink. Indictments for 26 people are now included in the merged case.