ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia Friday Forecast: Considering that in issue of Iranian gas transit, Serzh Sargsyan is guided by Moscow`s opinion, there will not be need to replace it Yerevan August 11 David Stepanyan. Certainly, in the first turn the issue of transit of Iranian gas through Armenia to Europe as a geopolitical background. Director of Armenian Center for Political and International Relations Aghasi Yenoqyan expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo. I do not think that there are special economic problems here, since technically the organization of the transit of Iranian gas through Armenia to Europe can be solved quite easily. In this sense, I consider the question of transit in the same plane as the actual lack of response to the US $ 8 billion investment proposal. All this is only discussed, and in theory. "The emergence of transit Iranian gas in Armenia will be a serious challenge for Gazprom, since the issue will not be in the sphere of providing gas to Armenia, but in the gas supply of the European market." This is in the context of Gazprom's longstanding policy of achieving gas monopoly in Europe "Of course, it should be noted that in recent years, such prospects have significantly escalated, in particular, thanks to the US sanctions against Russia," he said. Nevertheless, talking about the refusal of Moscow from the idea of becoming a gas monopoly in Europe, and for the sake of Armenian-Iranian projects, in Yenokyan's view, is premature. The main problem, according to his estimates, is not even in Tehran, but in the ability of the Armenian authorities to resolve the eradication of Gazprom's monopoly in the country. In this light, he believes that Serzh Sargsyan should still be guided by Moscow's opinion on this issue. The political scientist believes that Serzh Sargsyan does not refuse to discuss the establishment of gas transit through the territory of Armenia, thereby leaving a window of opportunity open for himself. Moreover, the situation at the global level is heated to the limit, allowing to hope for the resolution of the issue of Armenian gas transit in a matter of months. For example, it stipulates the possibility of Armenia gaining transit functions by significant changes in the relations between Moscow and Brussels as a result of the strengthening of the same sanctions regime. According to Yenokyan's estimates, Serzh Sargsyan is quite capable of sitting in the prime minister's seat himself. However, with the same success in this chair after 2018, Karen Karapetyan may remain. The political scientist is convinced that the main thing for Sargsyan is the preservation of the sole control over the corruption pyramid in his hands and if Karapetyan does not show any significant pincushion in the Prime Minister's chair, Sargsyan will not interfere with the continuation of his premiership. "Serzh Sargsyan can only assume the functions of prime minister to maintain complete control over financial flows in conditions of minimal responsibility." It is important who Sargsyan himself wants to see at the post of prime minister, and not someone in Washington, Brussels and even Moscow. I believe that his current policy puts Russians in need of his replacement, there is nothing to worry about, at least until Sargsyan follows their instructions. Therefore, he does not really need to resist his next re-enactment in power in Moscow Will be, "concludes Yenokyan.
Author: Emma Nadirian
Delegation of Armenian Armed Forces General Staff to attend closing ceremony of Army Games
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 12 2017
The Armenian delegation led by Lieutenant-General Movses Hakobyan, Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, has departed for Moscow, the press service of the Defense Ministry told Panorama.am.
As the source inform, the Armenian delegation will attend the final competition, award-giving ceremony and the closing day of the International Army Games 2017.
Too remind, the third International Army Games, with participation of 4000 military personnel from 28 countries, started near Moscow on July 29.
The Armenian Army was represented by a 75-member team in the competition. The Armenian servicemen competed in the tank biathlon, as well as in the competitions of sappers, scouts, and snipers.
Sports: Wrestling and celebration: Traditional Armenian kokh
MediaMax, Armenia
Chess: Armenian GMs Aronian, Melkumyan and Hovhannisyan to play FIDE World Cup
Panorama, Armenia
Sport 16:31 26/07/2017 Armenia
FIDE has released the full list of the participants of this year’s FIDE World Chess Cup 2017. As the Chess Federation of Armenia told Panorama.am, leading Armenian chess player Levon Aronian, member of men’s national chess team of Armenia Hrant Melkumyan and GM Robert Hovhannisyan will represent Armenia in the tournament.
A 128-player knockout, FIDE World Chess Cup 2017 is scheduled for Tbilisi, Georgia, from 2 to 27 September, with the top two finishers being qualified for the 2018 Candidates’ Tournament.
This year’s FIDE World Cup is strongest chess tournament ever held, featuring almost all the leading chess players, led by world champion Magnus Carlsen.
The Valley’s Armenia: Help and Hope for Gyumri Families
Your Central Valley, CA
July 20 2017
You are about to see four lives in Gyumri, Armenia .. Change in an instant..
Siranush Galoyan, her mother Farida, and two daughters Shushan and Anahit, just found out they’re about to have a fully furnished, permanent home. Their first ever. An anonymous donor from Los Angeles gave $25,000 to change these four lives. Through the work of the Armenia Fund in the western U-S.
We’ve seen first hand the work of this 23 year old non-profit and its mission to rebuild the Armenian Homeland. Two years ago, we toured some of the large scale projects: roads, new schools, community centers. 200 million dollars in projects funded by generous donations. But sometimes it’s the small projects, like a new home, that can touch your heart. “It’s an indescribable moment. So many bad things have happened in my life. I just can’t believe that something good can actually happen to me.” Galoyan says.
Armenia Fund Executive Director Sarkis Kotanjian says what has happened to Galoyan and her family is meaningful. “It’s one of those projects that you really feel that you’re making a difference,” says Kotanjian.
Siranush and her mom and kids are the 28th family to receive a donated home from the Armenia Fund. Two more will receive the life-changing news later this year. “This is more of a personal kind of project for us. People who work in Armenia Fund, because we really get connected to these families,” Kotanjian says.
Siranush is like many in Gyumri. She’s a hairdresser and works hard, but barely makes ends meet. KSEE Photographer Kevin Mahan and I were touched two years ago, when we met Arusyak Barseghyan, a widow raising three kids in what was essentially a packing shed. We were thrilled this trip to see a more relaxed looking Arusyak in her wonderful home. “We’re finally living as decent people. And the only thing is I would like to have a constant job. There is an issue with that. But we still create. We still create,” Barseghyan says.
Armenia has it’s challenges. High Unemployment. Poor infrastructure. And in Gyumri, a devastating earthquake in the late 80’s that left the region and it’s people in shambles. The Armenia Fund is one of many organizations to step in and offer help. “The government has done a lot of work. There are a lot of great humanitarian organizations who did their part, but still there are several hundred families that are kind of caught in between,” Kotanjian says.
We had the privilege of accompanying Siranush as she took her first steps into her new apartment. A new home free and clear. What she earns now can be focused on providing for her family. “God bless them. God bless everyone that will help families like us,” Galoyan says.
According to Kotanjian, “Every Armenian should at least contribute something. And the majority of our donors are regular people that donate $10, $20, 50’s and the occasional 100.” Regular people giving a gift, that can dramatically change lives, in an instant.
For more information about the Armenia Fund, follow this link:
Minister Vahan Martirosyan promises: ‘In the near future no private owners of public transport will be present’
Aravot, Armenia
The technical task of forming a joint public transport network was given an approval during the government’s session yesterday. After the session, the Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Vahan Martirosyan told that this project intends to form 1-2 large transport operators: “Depends on how many operators in which province. We will have a single transport network and concepts like owner of the transport, separate routs will not exist.”
When this beautiful project will come to life, the minister hesitated to say, for now, they have developed technical tasks.
What volume of investments the implementation of this project requires and whether operators are in place, the minister answered: “Until the assessment, we need vehicles, what routes and investments are required we cannot say.”
We told that in the upcoming few years it will hardly come to life. The minister responded: “No, the upcoming few years is much you say, but it will not be realized in a month either. There are agreements on transport networks and we can implement that after the deadlines are expired… Now they are over 100, we plan less.”
Annual Digithon of Veon Eurasia Company launched in Armenia
ARKA, Armenia
YEREVAN, July 12. /ARKA/. Annual Digithon of VEON Eurasia Company was launched Tuesday in Lake Sevan coastal area.
According to the press office of ArmenTel Telecommunication Company (brand Beeline, a part of VEON Group), VEON teams from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine will be competing throughout one week.
The participants create prototypes of innovative digital services, the best of which will be used at VEON Group.
Armenia is represented in the contest by Digital Pirates team, the winner of the local final, with its Bottle Letter project.
Andrey Pyatakhin, CEO of Beeline in Armenia, is quoted in the press release as saying that Beeline pays special attention to innovative programs and encourages its employees’ innovative and creative mentality.
«The projects, services and applications offered by them are based on clients’ needs and current trends in the area, and they can make our services more modern, simple and convenient to our clients,» he said. «We are very proud of our victory in 2016 and we are glad to host another Digithon this year. Good luck to all participants.»
The previous Beeline Digithon Eurasia took place in Kyrgyzstan. Armenia’s BeeForce team, with its cloud game solutions, won the then contest, and therefore this year’s contest is hosted by Beeline Armenia, the winner.
ArmenTel CJSC, a subsidiary of Russian VimpelCom (trading as Beeline), provides fixed and mobile telecommunication services and a high-speed access to Internet. -0—
14:25 12.07.2017
Nalbandian: Azerbaijan bears responsibility for consequences of agreessive behavior
Tert.am, Armenia
10:39 • 12.07.17
Below is Armenian Foreign Minsiter Edward Nalbandian’s speech delivered at the OSCE Informaal Ministerial meeting in Brussels
Mr Chairman,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank the Austrian Chairmanship and particularly Minister Sebastian Kurz for organizing this informal Ministerial discussion.
Joining efforts with a view to overcoming distrust and increasing confidence is enshrined in the birth certificate of this Organization, while dialogue and cooperation have been long identified as the instruments for achieving our common goals. We appreciate the Chairmanship’s initiative to once again apply to the foundations of the OSCE, since neither dialogue, nor cooperation can be taken as granted nowadays. We hope that this kind of discussions can contribute to reviving the true spirit of cooperation, being mindful that the most noticeable accomplishments of the OSCE have been secured through dialogue and compromise, political will and good faith.
The setbacks of our cooperation and erosion of trust do not merely limit to the existing disagreements on number of areas. Here we refer also to the abuse of the principle of consensus, the consequences of which go far beyond from damaging the trust, especially in the cases where there is none, but rather shaking the very essence of the OSCE which is designed to solve the issues through dialogue and cooperation and never through imposing the position of one participating State at the expense of all others and the entire Organization. Thus, the refusal of Azerbaijan to join the consensus on the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan damages not merely the integrity of the field missions of the OSCE but its capacity of inclusive cooperation in implementing the commitments. Azerbaijan failed to respect the OSCE commitments back home and eliminated the OSCE Office in its own country before it attacked and closed the OSCE last assets in the region.
The violation and abuse of shared norms and principles do not happen in a vacuum. It does not come as a surprise that this participating State found itself alone and in isolation in challenging the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The dire record of Azerbaijan’s noncompliance encompasses all three dimensions of the OSCE. The leadership of Azerbaijan uses every opportunity to boast about multiculturalism allegedly cultivated by them. In reality thousands masterpieces of Armenian cultural and historic heritage, sacred sites, churches, monasteries, cross stones destroyed and erased by Azerbaijan testify to the contrary. The 2016 report of the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance states: “Political leaders, educational institutions and media have continued using hate speech against Armenians; an entire generation of Azerbaijanis has now grown up listening to this hateful rhetoric”. It is this generation raised in the environment of such propaganda that again and again commits despicable crimes. How could the leadership of Baku talk about multiculturalism at the same time declaring that “all Armenians of the world are number one enemies of Azerbaijan”? Probably it considers this to be part of Baku’s self-proclaimed “intelligent power”. There is nothing smart in trying to mislead the international community, especially those countries that do not have, difficulty to find out the truth, to warn their citizens of the Armenian origin to avoid visiting Azerbaijan, where they will be subjected to outrageous racist discriminating practice on the basis of their ethnicity.
Mr Chairman,
In April 2016 Azerbaijan unleashed a large scale aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh that was accompanied by the grave violations of international humanitarian law, atrocities against the civilian population, including children, women and elderly persons, mutilation of the bodies, Daesh-style beheadings, which have been condemned by international community.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries initiated Summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg aimed at overcoming the consequences of Azerbaijan’s aggression as well as at creating conducive conditions for the advancement of the negotiation process.
During the Vienna Summit it was particularly agreed upon and then reconfirmed in St. Petersburg to establish the OSCE mechanism for investigation of the ceasefire violations; to increase the number and enhance the capacity of the OSCE monitors on the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, and on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The commitment on the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict was reiterated, the strict adherence to the 1994-1995 ceasefire agreements was emphasised.
Trust and confidence are built when agreements are implemented. With this understanding Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh gave their consents to implement the mentioned high level agreements. Azerbaijan backtracked from those agreements as it had done with prior commitments many times before. This attitude of Azerbaijan questions its credibility for being a party to negotiations, which honours its agreements.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the framework of the OSCE trust means first of all trust into Organization and its ability to address eminent security challenges in Europe. We firmly believe that based on the proposals of the Co-Chairs the OSCE should enhance its presence on the ground in the conflict zone on more permanent and stronger basis. In this respect the OSCE could help all parties to the conflict to respect ceasefire, avoid military escalation and build trust and confidence. The OSCE is an organization which was created on the lessons of history and history teaches us on many occasions that war is an outcome of misperception and miscalculation of security environment while peace is an outcome of trust. Azerbaijan has chosen a different path.
People on all sides of the conflict deserve to know who pushes them to the path of loss and suffering. Identifying the security threats in impartial and responsible manner is important for credibility of this Organization as well.
We took note that in their statement the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs identified Azerbaijan as a party who first resorted to the violence. This has been far not the first appeal of the Co-Chairs addressed directly to Azerbaijan. On previous occasions the Co-Chairs have made a number of clear cut statements calling Baku to refrain from the escalation of the situation, to reaffirm the commitment to peaceful settlement of the issue, to refrain from criticizing the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and to respect their mandate, give up efforts to shift the conflict resolution to other formats, to agree to the establishment of investigation mechanism of ceasefire violations. In response to Azerbaijan’s claims that tried to question the validity of the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, the Co-Chairs clearly stated that these agreements have no time limitation and should be strictly adhered to.
However, Azerbaijan ignores all appeals of the Co-Chair countries and continues to stick to its highly destructive attitude at the negotiation table and provocative actions in the conflict zone.
On July 4th the Azerbaijani leadership once again resorted to the tactics of notorious terrorist organizations and as many times before used its civilian population as a human shield for shelling the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh by heavy weaponry, including by multiple rocket launcher systems. In response, the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh was obliged to exercise self-defense against the aggressive actions of the Azerbaijani side. Baku clearly demonstrated that it is not capable to comprehend the appeals of the Co Chairs.
As long as Azerbaijan fails to respect its international commitments in compliance with 1994-1995 trilateral ceasefire agreements, refuses to implement the Vienna and St. Petersburg Summit commitments, especially on the creation of the mechanism for investigation of the ceasefire violations, that can become also a mechanism for prevention of escalation, Baku bears full responsibility for all consequences for such behaviour.
This stresses once again the imperative for the international community to consider more tangible means to curb Azerbaijan.
We are bound together to advance the cause of peace and security through the OSCE. We will continue to be actively involved in all efforts aimed at building cooperation, consent and trust in the OSCE area.
Thank you.
Film: Arclight Films sets sci-fi feature with Sarik Andreasyan to direct
Panorama, Armenia
Arclight Films film studio, which is best known for its investments in independent TV and film programs, has announced a sci-fi action film, Robots, which has Armenian filmmaker Sarik Andreasyan attached to direct, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, where deadly creatures known as “Wretches” torment humans. Led by Cassius, a group of men sets out to save what is left of humanity from these Wretches.
Production will take place in both Russia and China. Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton will produce, along with Ying Ye, Mike Gabrawy and Andreasyan. Ruzanna Kegeyan will executive produce.
Armenia Gets Ready to Launch the World’s Longest Zip Line
EurasiaNet.org