Two soldiers of the NKR Defense Army Kamo Hovhannisyan and Temur Suloyan, born in 1997, were fatally wounded as a result of an incident in one of the military units located in the southeastern direction of the Defense Army at about 7 a.m. this morning, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.
Probe into the details the case is under way.
The NKR Defense Ministry shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its support to the families and friends of the killed soldiers.
The Azerbaijani side used artillery weapons of different caliber, also as HAN-17 grenade launchers as it fired more than 800 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions last night, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.
The Ministry said the Defense Army keeps full control of the situation at the line of contact and confidently continues with the protection of the military positions.
On February 9, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; received Deputy Maya Goykovich, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and her delegation. She was accompanied by Mr. Eduard Sharmazanov, the Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
His Holiness welcomed the guests and noted with satisfaction that due to recipricol visits at high state level, the friendly relations between the two nations are becoming increasingly closer. The Catholicos of All Armenians reflected on the Armenian community established in Serbia since ancient times and the historical Armenian-Serbian ties.
Taking the occasion, His Holiness expressed his appreciation to the Serbian people, for the assistance provided to the Armenians during the disastrous earthquake of 1988.
His Holiness also reflected on the existing warm relations and cooperation between the Armenian Apostolic and Serbian Orthodox Churches.
Deputy Goykovich spoke about the historical past and current cooperation between the two nations. She also stressed the importance of ecumenical relations between the two churches, noting that the church plays an important role in the life of society.
During the meeting, they also spoke about the challenges facing the countries and the support of the churches in overcoming them. In this regard, His Holiness affirmed that the Armenian and Serbian peoples, who profess the same Christian values, have survived all the trials during the centuries with hope and faith, and have realized their wishes and cherished dreams through the spirit of optimism.
His Holiness also conveyed his fraternal greetings to Patriarch Irineos of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Attended the meeting was His Eminence Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the External Relations and Protocol Department.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström will pay an official visit to Armenia February 8-9 at the invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
Margot Wallström is expected to meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be followed by a joint press conference.
The European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday recognizing the Islamic State militant group’s (ISIS) systematic killing and persecution of religious minorities in the Middle East as a genocide, reports.
The vote, decided by a show of hands at a European Parliament plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg, was the first time the body has recognized an ongoing conflict situation as a genocide. The resolution states that those who intentionally commit atrocities for ethnic or religious reasons should be brought to justice for violations against international law, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
ISIS has systematically persecuted religious minorities in its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria, kidnapping hundreds of Assyrian Christians in Syria, forcing Christians to live under its radical strand of Islam in the central Syrian city of Al-Qaryatain, enslaving and raping Yazidi women and children in northern Iraq, as well as killing Yazidi men and dumping them in mass graves.
Lars Adaktusson, Swedish member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) Group, who tabled the resolution, calls the vote a “historic decision” that represents a further step towards recognition of ISIS crimes against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities at the United Nations.
“It’s really important that the Parliament passed it, on a political level and a moral level. The significance is the obligations that follow by such a recognition,” he says, speaking to Newsweek by phone. “The collective obligation to intervene, to stop these atrocities and to stop the persecution in the ongoing discussion about the fight against the Islamic State.”
He adds: “It gives the victims of the atrocities a chance to get their human dignity restored. It’s also a historical confirmation that the European Parliament recognized what is going on and that they are suffering from the most despicable crime in the world, namely genocide.”
Russian President Vladimir has been informed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants a “personal conversation” after an alleged violation of Turkish aispace, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, reports.
The alleged incident involving a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber took place on Friday, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which also said the plane was warned by Turkish air radar units.
On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the incident.
“Vladimir Putin has been informed of President Erdogan’s wish,” Peskov told journalists.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied the claim and said no such violation had actually happened. Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov dismissed Ankara’s statement as “naked propaganda.”
“I’ll remind you that representatives of the Defense Ministry refuted claims by the Turkish side that one of our planes [violated] Turkish airspace. And that’s what we believe,” Peskov commented on the statement by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Today, UNDPI Armenia organized an event dedicated to International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Flowers and candles were displayed around the memorial as multiple people came and paid their respect towards the victims and the day itself.
Notable people at the event itself included representatives of the Jewish Community, UN Staff including Resident Coordinator Bradley Busetto, along with UNDPI and UNHCR representatives.
The United Nations established an International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust to promote and make aware of the fundamental importance of humanity.
The United States today began implementing changes under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 (the Act), the U.S. Emassy in Armenia infoms.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) welcomes more than a million passengers arriving to the United States every day and is committed to facilitating legitimate travel while maintaining the highest standards of security and border protection. Under the Act, travelers in the following categories are no longer eligible to travel or be admitted to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP):
These individuals will still be able to apply for a visa using the regular immigration process at their embassies or consulates. For those who need a U.S. visa for urgent business, medical, or humanitarian travel to the United States, U.S. embassies and consulates stand ready to process applications on an expedited basis.
Beginning January 21, 2016, travelers who currently have valid Electronic System for Travel Authorizations (ESTAs) and who have previously indicated holding dual nationality with one of the four countries listed above on their ESTA applications will have their current ESTAs revoked.
Under the new law, the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive these restrictions if he determines that such a waiver is in the law enforcement or national security interests of the United States. Such waivers will be granted only on a case-by-case basis. As a general matter, categories of travelers who may be eligible for a waiver include:
o Individuals who traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria on behalf of an international organizations, regional organizations, and sub-national governments on official duty;
o Individuals who traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria on behalf of a humanitarian NGO on official duty;
o Individuals who traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria as a journalist for reporting purposes;
o Individuals who traveled to Iran for legitimate business-related purposes following the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (July 14, 2015); and
o Individuals who have traveled to Iraq for legitimate business-related purposes.
Again, whether ESTA applicants will receive a waiver will be determined on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the terms of the law. In addition, we will continue to explore whether and how the waivers can be used for dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran and Sudan.
Any traveler who receives notification that they are no longer eligible to travel under the VWP are still eligible to travel to the United States with a valid nonimmigrant visa issued by a U.S. embassy or consulate. Such travelers will be required to appear for an interview and obtain a visa in their passports at a U.S. embassy or consulate before traveling to the United States.
The new law does not ban travel to the United States, or admission into the United States, and the great majority of VWP travelers will not be affected by the legislation.
An updated ESTA application with additional questions is scheduled to be released in late February 2016 to address exceptions for diplomatic- and military-related travel provided for in the Act.
Information on visa applications can be found at .
Current ESTA holders are encouraged to check their ESTA status prior to travel on CBP’s website at .
Azerbaijan imposed some limits on foreign currency outflows in a package of measures adopted by parliament on Tuesday to prop up the oil producer’s depreciating manat currency, reports.
Rising prices have stirred protests rarely seen in a country where oil money and well-equipped security forces have long ensured public loyalty to President Ilham Aliyev.
The manat has lost about a third of its value against the dollar in the past month and the central bank has burned through more than half its foreign currency reserves, which now stand at about $5 billion, trying to protect its value from low oil prices. Oil and gas account for 75 percent of the Azeri state’s revenues.
Azerbaijan’s 10-year dollar bond, which matures in 2024, rose 0.45 cents to trade at 90.08 cents as the government acted to contain the crisis. The bond’s yield premium over safe-haven U.S. Treasuries narrowed 11 basis points to 582 bps.
Central bank chief Elman Rustamov said the government would impose limits on foreign currency outflows and introduce a 20 percent tax on currency exports related to direct investment, the purchase of real estate or securities abroad.
The problems may spur consolidation in Azerbaijan’s banking sector and Rustamov said five or seven of the country’s banks may have to merge.
The central bank had already received requests to approve several mergers, he told reporters, saying international financial institutions had shown some interest in getting involved. There are 42 lenders with banking licences in Azerbaijan.
Georgia is taking measures for the sake of safeguarding the country’s natural gas supply, reports.
Today Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze met the Director General of SOCAR Energy Georgia, Mahir Mammedov, in Tbilisi to discuss the possible ways for avoiding natural gas supply deficit.
After the meeting Kaladze told journalists that this year Azerbaijan could not fill the gas supply deficit in Georgia. Kaladze warned the supplies of Azerbaijan’s natural gas will soon be insufficient to cover Georgia’s needs.
In order to solve the gas supply deficit problem the sides discussed several projects that would ensure increasing the Azerbaijani gas supply in Georgia.
One of the projects discussed during the meeting was construction of an underground natural gas storage facility. Kaladze said SOCAR expressed interest to participate in this project. Georgia was going to start construction works in 2016.
Another project was about increasing the existing capacity of SOCAR gas transit.
It will be very important for our country to implement this project [underground natural gas storage facility] in order to solve country’s natural gas supply problem. SOCAR’s both natural gas pipelines operate at full capacity. In the future we plan to implement such project that will ensure us to increase the capacity of gas transit,” Kaladze said.
Another project the sides discussed in order to avoid the natural gas supply deficit in Georgia was Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea, offshore from Azerbaijan, that opens Europe for Azerbaijani gas.
Kaladze said the second stage of the project would be completed by 2019. $400-700 million USD will be invested in Georgia in the framework of construction for the second stage of development of the Shah Deniz project.
Kaladze said Shah Deniz project would enable Georgia to enjoy additional supply of natural gas.
“At the meeting we have discussed the technical problems that we face during the winter. There are some periods when gas consumption reaches its peak level. And especially in winter when we used to balance the gas supply deficit with Russian gas. I want to say once again that Georgia and Azerbaijan are strategic partner. We will continue cooperation in the future,” Kaladze said.
The Energy Minister explained technically it was impossible to receive additional supply of gas from Azerbaijan this year. However after implementing the above mentioned projects Georgia would overcome the natural gas supply deficit challenge.
Earlier this week Kaladze explained extra gas supplies from Russia and Iran could be necessary only in a transition period until Azerbaijan’s Shah-Deniz field begins having an impact in 2019.