Author: Hambardsumian Paul

Photo: Sergei Bobylev/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

Around 100 aircraft, radar troops and air defense forces from seven CIS member states are taking part in the Joint Air Defense System drills, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, TASS reports.

“The exercise began with sentries from Eastern European and Central Asian regions detecting control targets of the token enemy performed by the Russian Tupolev Tu-160 and Tupolev Tu-85MS strategic bombers as well as the Tupolev Tu-22MS long-range bombers,” the statement says.

The drills are taking place in the air space of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. The exercise involves strategic bombers Sukhoi Su-27, Mikoyan MiG-29, MiG-31, Sukhoi Su-24, Su-34, Su-25 war planes as well as Mi-8 and Kamov Ka-27 helicopters.

During the drills, the Air Defense forces will conduct exercises against aircraft breaching the CIS countries’ borders, actions to be taken in the event of aircraft hijacking, and assistance to planes and helicopters in distress.

Armenian Defense Minister  Vigen Sargsyan received today OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andrieu and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

At the request of the Co-Chairs, the Defense Minister referred to the military-political aspects of the negotiation process and the situation along the line of contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

Minster Sargsyan informed that Azerbaijan keeps destabilizing the situation at the line of contact even after the military actions in April. He said the number of ceasefire violations tends to grow with the calibers of the weapons used also changing.

Vigen Sargsyan noted that Armenia  attaches importance to the unconditional maintenance of the ceasefire regime and implementation of confidence building measures for registering progress in the talks.

The parties exchanged views on the continuation of the negotiation process on  the basis of the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg and the ways of expanding Ambassador Kasprzyk’s mission.

 

As part of its 2016 fundraising events worldwide, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has launched its donations-through-Haypost campaign in Armenia. This year’s fundraising efforts, which include the forthcoming Thanksgiving Day Telethon, are being organized under the slogan “My Artsakh.”

As in previous years, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has joined forces with Haypost, Armenia’s postal service, to encourage supporters to make donations at Haypost offices throughout the republic. All contributions will be used to help rebuild war-ravaged communities in Artsakh.

The Haypost campaign will run from October 20 until the end of the year. Every single donation helps implement a vital project.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) shared the lessons drawn from more than a century of Armenian-American efforts to foster a culture of caring and building durable, resilient and responsive community institutions at a Diaspora in Development forum in Washington, DC, that attracted hundreds of American diasporan civic, development and economic leaders with roots across Asia, Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe.

The day-long forum, held in the Knight Conference Center of the iconic Newseum in the nation’s capital, was jointly hosted by the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the International Organization for Migration, and the George Washington University.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian participated in the conference, taking part in a panel discussion titled “Case Study: Creating Powerful Diaspora Networks.”  He spoke alongside two internationally respected experts in diasporan development, Jo Addy of the African Diaspora Network and Magalie Emile-Backer of Haitian Renewal Alliance.

The panel was moderated by Nicolas Bassey, USAID’s innovative Division Chief for Frontier Partnerships.  Among the themes stressed by Hamparian were the long-term benefits of constructively managing diversity and consensus building, standing up sustainable, multi-generational models of community engagement, and developing smart solutions to transform the challenges of diasporan life into opportunities to promote more robust community engagement and civic advocacy.  The panel discussion was held in an open, interactive format, featuring an open discussion among the participants and panelists.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs hope the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsayn and Ilham Aliyev will agree to hold the next meeting on Karabakh conflict settlement, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“We hope the Presidents will agree on a next meeting. The date and place have not yet been set for a meeting,” Warlick said.

According to him, the Co-Chairs are working with the sides to solve the conflict.

“During the UN General Assembly session in New York the Co-Chairs held separate meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss the agreements reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg and to outline the future steps,” the diplomat said.

“We plan to hold meetings and discuss issues with the parties during our visit to the region by the end of the month,” Warlick stated.

Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed he is still not sure if he will be fit for the Manchester derby.

The Armenian international was forced off on the 38th minute in a friendly against the Czech Republic and had to miss the 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Denmark.

“We win and lose together…I am very disappointed to have missed yesterday’s game vs Denmark, but I would like to thank the team for their hard work,” Mkhitaryan said in a Facebook post.

“I continue extensively my rehabilitation, but I am not sure yet if I will be fit for the derby this weekend,” he added.

“I am motivated as ever and plan to put all my energy to be in great shape as soon as possible…a simple devotion to what I love most – football! Thanks for sending me your love and support,” Mkhitaryan wrote.

The Armenian Ministry of Health says 45 people applied to different medical institutions after clashes between police and protesters outside the seized police station in Erebuni district.

Twenty-five of the injured were policemen, 18 were driven to hospitals in ambulance cars.

The Ministry said those injured are getting due treatment and pledged to provide more detailed information later.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

 

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms the death of a second citizen of the Republic of Armenia in Nice attack.

The Ministry had about one Armenian killed in the attack.

At least 84 people have been killed after a lorry ploughed into a crowd attending Bastille Day celebrations in the French city of Nice on Thursday night, in what is being investigated as a terror attack.

The driver ploughed on for 2km on the Promenade des Anglais after fireworks, before being shot dead by police.

Theresa May is set to become the UK’s next prime minister after Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the contest to become Conservative Party leader, the BBC reports.

The timing of the handover of power from David Cameron is currently being discussed, but could be within days.

Mrs May, 59, who backed staying in the EU, has been home secretary since 2010.

Mrs Leadsom, who campaigned to leave the EU, said the UK needed “strong and stable government” and that Mrs May was “ideally placed” to implement Brexit.

In a speech earlier on Monday setting out her leadership campaign platform, Mrs May – who rejected the argument that the next leader and prime minister had to have been someone on the winning side of the EU referendum – said: “Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it.”

In her brief statement in Westminster, Mrs Leadsom – who was a leading light of the Brexit campaign – said a nine-week leadership campaign at such a “critical time” for the UK would be “highly undesirable”.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan attended today the conference on “European Business Perspectives, obstacles and opportunities in Armenia” organized by the European Business Association.

Addressing the conference, the Prime Minister said “the government implements a continuous policy of making Armenia a more attractive country in terms of business environment. We have announced and are consistently implementing an “open doors” policy, applying almost no restriction on investment opportunities.”

He said the steps toward improvement of the business climate have been highly assessed by renowned international organizations. “We’re implementing a policy targeted at ensuring equal conditions for all. Foreign companies should feel comfortable and safe in Armenia,” the Prime Minister said.

According to him, Armenia can serve a bridge between the Eurasian Economic Union and the EU member states. “Another opportunity is the Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment signed between the Republic of Armenia and the United States, which creates favorable conditions for investments and promotion of commodity turnover between the two countries,” the PM added.

“We attach great importance to investment programs with a view of creating new jobs and attracting new investments by offering a broad framework of privileges to entrepreneurs,” Hovik Abrahamyan stated.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski said “EU wants to work more closely with businesses and propose concrete steps to improve the business and investment climate.