By the decree of President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, Paruyr Hovhannisyan has been recalled from the post of Permanent Representative of Armenia to the Council of Europe, as reported on the official website of the President of Armenia.
Turkey’s main battle tank Altay seen in this file photo, Nov. 15, 2012. (Photo by Mesut Er)
Adeclaration of intent regarding the supply of engines for Turkey’s domestic main battle tank (MBT) Altay was signed by officials from South Korea, which was previously reported as being a procurement option in the project.
The related statement was made by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday.
The minister, who said that Turkey and South Korea are important partners in the defense industry, noted in a Twitter statement that Minister Kang Eun-ho, the South Korean minister responsible for the Defense Procurement Program (DAPA), informed him about the signing of the declaration of intent on the supply of Altay tank engines.
“It is an important step in the context of the project,” he added.
Media reports said in March that Turkish land vehicles manufacturer BMC, the company that is undertaking the Altay project, agreed with two South Korean companies, Doosan Infracore Co. and S&T Dynamics Co., for the engine and transmission.
Turkey initially kicked off the MBT project in 2007, while the procurement of an engine has been a preventive step for a while as some European companies refused to sell the powering unit.
The prototype for the Altay was unveiled at a 2011 defense show in Istanbul.
Previously, the next-generation battle tank’s prototype was powered by a 1,500 horsepower diesel engine from Germany’s MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. The German Rheinmetall has also established a joint venture with BMC aimed at joint production of armored vehicles, particularly the main battle tank, Altay. However, the production and supply of the tank engine came to a halt following Berlin’s decision to limit arms exports to Turkey, a longtime NATO ally.
The German arms embargo came as a result of the flare-ups in Syria that have put weapons sales to Ankara under intense scrutiny by its Western allies. Germany has repeatedly announced that it limits arms sales to Turkey, which launched a counterterrorism operation in northern Syria that targeted both Daesh terrorists and the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian branch, the YPG.
Ankara has long criticized German authorities for not taking serious measures against the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, and waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 40 years, causing the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children.
Meanwhile, Turkish defense officials have reiterated several times that the engine to be purchased from abroad will only be used on the first mass-produced tanks while in the subsequent productions, Altay tanks are to be powered with domestic engines that are under production.
ANCA-WR fall interns
A bright and determined group of students that are committed to expanding their leadership and advocacy skills in service to the Armenian Cause have joined the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region for its Fall 2021 Internship Program. The 7 interns, hailing from 5 universities, will embark on an 11-week program and will be given the opportunity to gain hands-on experience within the American political system.
“Our Internship program shows the commitment of the ANCA-WR to invest in programs that benefit emerging leaders in our community” remarked Verginie Touloumian, ANCA-WR Community Outreach Director. “We are excited to work with our new class and help them develop their leadership and communication skills, which will certainly serve as a springboard for a lifetime of effective advocacy supporting our homeland and the Armenian-American community.” she continued.
The program is curated to give each intern the opportunity to work on a wide-variety of projects based on their individual interests and participate in a series of lectures and workshops featuring community leaders and elected officials.
The ANCA-WR Spring 2021 Interns are:
Michael Davtyan – University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), History
Jibid Melkonian – Glendale Community College (GCC), Political Science
Nare Nazaryan – University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Chemistry
Noris Serobyan – University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Public Law
Celine Abrahamian – University of California, San Diego (UCSD), International Relations
Danielle Mikaelian – Columbia University, English
Michael Tatevossian – California State University of Northridge (CSUN), International Business
Established in summer 2006, the ANCA Western Region Internship Program is a selective part-time leadership program, which introduces college students and recent college graduates to all aspects of the public affairs arena. The program provides an opportunity for student leaders and activists to gain an in- depth understanding of the American political system, Armenian-American issues and advocacy efforts on the local, state and federal levels. Summer session of the program will begin in June of 2021; interested students can find more information on the ANCE-WR website. st1yle=”font-size:16px;margin:0px 0px 1.25em;padding:0px;border:0px;line-height:inherit;,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;vertical-align:baseline”>The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.
The Armenian police revealed the name of the Russian border guard who died on October 29 in a car accident. According to the ministry, 23-year-old KamAZ driver Lev Sakolnik died after a truck fell into the gorge. His 28-year-old passenger was hospitalized with injuries.
A military vehicle of the Russian FSB border troops crashed into the gorge from a height of 150 meters on the Yerevan-Meghri highway.
10:51, 27 October, 2021
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. On October 26th Lilit Makunts, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Unites States of America, met with Assistant to the Speaker of the House Representatives, Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D – Massachusetts). Katherine Clark is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, one of the most important committees, the Embassy of Armenia in the USA said in a statement on social media.
Ambassador thanked Congresswoman for her continuous support to the issues concerning Armenia and Artsakh.
In her turn, Congressman Clark highly assessed the role of Armenian-Americans in strengthening bilateral relations.
Ambassador presented the situation in Armenia due to COVID-19 and briefed about the preventive steps implemented by the Government of Armenia.
During the meeting interlocutors discussed issues aimed at further deepening of Armenian-American inter-parliamentary cooperation. In this regard Congresswoman Clark expressed readiness to make efforts towards promoting the cooperation between the legislative bodies.
11:01, 27 October, 2021
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The ruling bloc and opposition lawmakers failed to agree upon the text of the National Assembly Statement drafted by the opposition which was supposed to be adopted as result of the urgent discussions on “The Current Situation and Demarcation Issues at the Line of Contact of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan”.
Opposition Pativ Unem bloc MP Tigran Abrahamyan presented the draft statement before a voting.
The draft statement particularly condemned the 2020 Azeri-Turkish aggression involving terrorist formations and mercenaries against Artsakh, gross violations of international law against captives committed by Azerbaijan after the hostilities ended, the actions committed by Azerbaijan constituting war crimes, the annexation of territories of the Republic of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani state-sanctioned Armenophobic rhetoric. It further noted that the abovementioned crimes are still ongoing and that Azerbaijan is displaying aspirations against territories of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh; and that the determination of borders is the sector of exclusive jurisdiction of bordering countries and that borders are determined through consent of the bordering countries based on international law.
The draft statement noted that the guaranteed exercise of the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh in their historical territory and the de-occupation of the annexed territories is the main pre-condition of establishing peace in the region in the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format.
Among others, the draft statement, further obliged the government to refrain from engaging in negotiations, written or verbal agreements, which would violate the requirements of the Armenian constitution and the will of the Armenian people enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.
Majority Leader Hayk Konjoryan said they received the draft statement in the afternoon of October 26. “The political majority wasn’t anyhow involved in drafting the statement,” he said. However, Konjoryan noted that despite receiving the text late in the day, they tried to work with the opposition lawmakers to achieve a consensus variant, but failed.
“The clauses and notions in the draft pertaining to the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan, the crimes against humanity – we don’t see any problem with these clauses. Moreover, the parliamentary majority is using all its channels and the government is fighting at all levels to raise awareness on these issues internationally and solve the issues,” he said.
However, Konjoryan claimed that the draft statement included certain terming of domestic political nature, approaches which are part of the opposition’s political narrative, which can’t be included in a statement like this, and therefore they didn’t reach an agreement.
The statement failed to be adopted.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
PUBLISHED
1 HOUR AGO
ON
OCTOBER 28, 2021
Today (28 October), the European Commission adopted two new decisions certifying that COVID-19 certificates issued by Armenia and the United Kingdom are equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. As a result, the two countries will be connected to the EU’s system and the COVID certificates they issue will be accepted in the EU under the same conditions as the EU Digital COVID Certificate. At the same time, the two countries agreed to accept the EU Digital COVID Certificate for travel from the EU to their countries.
Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said: “Safer travel is a reality thanks to the EU Digital COVID Certificate, which is now the leading global standard: 45 countries in four continents are connected to the system and more will follow in the coming weeks and months. We are open to other countries to join our system.” The two decisions adopted today will enter into force as of tomorrow, 29 October. More information on the EU Digital COVID Certificate can be found on the dedicated website.
Last week, the new NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Mr. Javier Colomina, travelled to the South Caucasus, visiting Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia to introduce himself in his new capacity. He discussed regional security issues with high-level civilian and military officials, took stock of NATO’s relations with these important partners and shared views on future political dialogue and cooperation, especially in the context of the ongoing preparations for the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid.
The Secretary General’s Special Representative expressed appreciation for Azerbaijan’s support to NATO in Afghanistan, and specifically for the role played by Azerbaijan units in supporting the evacuation efforts of Allied and partner personnel and Afghans at risk, from Kabul airport, this past August. He listened to views on the challenges faced by Azerbaijan following the 44-day war. He also reviewed current NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation, including the resumption of cooperation with the Azerbaijan authorities within the Planning and Review Process partnership framework.
In Georgia Mr. Colomina expressed support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and highlighted the importance of moving reform forward in key areas, including judiciary reform, oversight of the security sector, and electoral reform. He praised Georgia for its continued contributions to Euro-Atlantic security and for its support to NATO operations, including with regard to the evacuation efforts from Kabul this Summer, as well as Georgia’s constructive role in the region. He also visited the Administrative Boundary Line where he reiterated NATO’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
In Armenia the Secretary General’s Special Representative spoke with his interlocutors on ways to further political dialogue and sustain NATO-Armenia practical cooperation in various domains, such as civil emergency, peacekeeping operations, and Women, Peace and Security. He listened to views on the challenges faced by Armenia following the 44-day war. He also recognized Armenia’s troop contributions – including in Kosovo – and its valuable participation in different NATO’s partnership-frameworks, such as the Planning and Review Process, the Defence Education Enhancement Programme and the Building Integrity Programme.
The position of the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia was established to place a special focus on these two strategically important regions for the Atlantic Alliance, following the decision taken by NATO Allies at the Istanbul Summit in June 2004.
There won’t be obstacles for Turkey to normalize relations with Armenia, if Armenia solves its problems with Azerbaijan. This is what President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday during a press conference with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Kovsakan, which is currently under the control of Azerbaijan. Erdogan was in Azerbaijan to attend the opening of the airport that was under construction for the past few months in Varanda.
“The conditions for building strong peace are favorable now more than ever. In this regard, Armenia needs to show sincere will to settle the problems with Azerbaijan. If Armenia does this, there won’t be any obstacle for the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia,” Erdogan declared.
During a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Turkologist Ruben Safrastan expressed the view that Erdogan’s statements are being used within the Turks’ traditional rhetoric that is not aimed at paving the real way for launching negotiations with Armenia and normalizing relations. “The real goal is to take advantage of Armenia’s defeat in the war and strengthen pressure on Armenia in order to achieve Armenia’s acceptance of Turkey’s preconditions, not normalize relations,” Safrastyan stated.
On October 28, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told CNN Turk that Turkey is considering with Azerbaijan the normalization of relations with Armenia. Safrastyan noted that Turkey is an elder partner in its relations with Azerbaijan and that now it is informing Baku about its actions, not reaching an agreement on them with Baku.
Touching upon the statement that the President of Russia made at Valdai Discussion Club a few days ago that the establishment of peaceful coexistence will also favor Armenia, Safrastyan noted that Russia is interested in the establishment of stability in the region, the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and the operation of communications. He also agrees with the views that Turkey may intend to penetrate into the economy of Armenia which has become weak after the war.
“Turkey will seek to make sure Armenia accepts and meets its conditions. If Armenia accepts and meets the conditions (the additional condition is the so-called “Zangezur corridor”), Turkey will establish relations with Armenia, open borders, do trade, etc. As to how favorable this is for Armenia, that’s a different story. In my opinion, it’s not favorable. I am certain that Turkey won’t take this step until Armenia doesn’t make concessions. In its turn, Russia wants to see the normalization of relations, but doesn’t have a picture of how difficult it is going to be.
The post-war situation is unprecedented — Russia seems to be losing its monopoly of calling the shots in the region. Now Turkey is taking advantage of Armenia’s defeat in the war and its successes in absorbing Azerbaijan and is trying to play its game in the region. Regional issues may also be discussed during the Russian-Turkish negotiations. Turkey and Azerbaijan are persistently talking about the corridor, and an attempt is being made to exert pressure and turn the opening of the corridor into a more real issue,” he said.