10:11, 14 September, 2021
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stephane Visconti, the PM’s Office reports.
The officials discussed the ways of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, in that context emphasizing the importance of the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ format.
Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021 |
Dozens of members of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch watched in amazement as the Golden Gates from Armenia performed Sept. 9 at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club.
The Golden Gates from Armenia is a group of 15 musicians and dancers between the ages of 14 and 25 with the Reunite Cultures Fund, which was a nonprofit founded by Rotarians in 2003.
“The idea of the organization is to give the opportunity for young people to introduce their country in the United States and discuss more about a relationship with the United States,” said Vitaliy Bezronlov, the founder and coordinator of the Reunite Cultures Fund.
The music the group performed gave Rotary members a look into Armenian history and culture. For example, musician Lilit Petrosyan played a qaran and Alex Danielyan and Emil Abrahamyan performed a dance that is done before going into battle. A qaran is an Armenian stringed instrument.
“I thought they were great,” said Mark Golub, the program chair for the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch who coordinated the Golden Gates from Armenia’s visit. “I’m so glad they were able to come. I hope we can donate to some of their creative work in the future, and I hope we can have them back again.”
Some members of the rotary club, such as Carey Leichter, volunteered to host a few performers in their homes.
Leichter has always enjoyed meting people from other countries and looked forward to getting to know the performers.
“Music is a universal language,” Leichter said. “My children are all musical as well, so I thought it was a great way to have the guests be comfortable in our culture and hopefully get a sense of what our family is like.”
MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. Moscow and Yerevan have agreed to continue efforts to remove mutual irritants in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday after talks with his visiting Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan.
Lavrov said that during the talks they discussed the implementation of the November 9, 2020, trilateral agreements of the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders that made it possible to stop the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. “We agreed not to relax attention to the efforts geared to remove mutual irritants in relations between Yerevan and Baku, including the final solution to the problem of the release of Armenian prisoners and sharing mine location maps, and reiterated the importance of further activities of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,” he said.
The situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been tense since May 12, when Armenia’s defense ministry said that Azerbaijani armed forces had tried to carry out “certain works” in a border area in Syunik Province in a bid to “adjust the border.” Since then, the sides have been reporting border incidents from time to time.The two top diplomats exchanged views on the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border outside the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “We are convinced that all problems must be resolved by political and diplomatic means only and a lasting settlement is possible only through the delimitation and demarcation of the border. The Russian president’s initiative on this matter is well known. We spoke today about how to ensure its swift implementation. We reiterated our readiness to promote this process,” Lavrov stressed.
The minister expressed the hope that the activities of the trilateral working group co-chaired by the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani deputy prime ministers to unblock transport and economic ties in the South Caucasus would create a reliable basis for political settlement and prosperity of the entire region.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. Apart from that, a number of districts came over to Baku’s control.
18:09, 2 September, 2021
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. In the framework of events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Artsakh Davit Babayan visited one of the military units of the Defense Army.
ARMENPRESS reports Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh informs that the Minister congratulated the servicemen on the occasion of the important holiday, discussed a number of issues related to foreign policy and state building.
”He also emphasized that the armed forces were and will remain one of the key guarantees of the security of the Republic of Artsakh’’, reads the message released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh.
At the end of the meeting Davit Babayan wished the servicemen good and trouble-free service.
By News Desk
Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) issued the following statement:
After initiating a war last year, Azerbaijan is continuing to act aggressively and violently toward Armenia, despite the cease fire agreement. Wednesday’s attack that killed three Armenian soldiers is the latest example of Azerbaijan’s commitment to aggression, and that is why the US must cease our support for their military which enables such violence.
I’m proud to be a cosponsor of Rep. Frank Pallone’s amendment to the State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill that would end all Foreign Military Financing for Azerbaijan. Today, as the House debates this bill, we will have the chance to put the US on the right side of this issue by ending this aid and pressuring Azerbaijan to stop their war mongering and violence.
I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment that will bring peace and save lives.
The US House of Representatives has unanimously passed a legislative amendment that would partially cut military aid to Azerbaijan following the country’s offensive against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year.
Proposed by Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone for the 2022 budget, the amendment was passed late Wednesday and states that “none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this act under ‘International Military Education and Training’ and ‘Foreign Military Financing Programme’ may be made available for Azerbaijan”.
US security aid to Azerbaijan had increased to $100 million per year in 2019 under former president Donald Trump.
The Pallone Amendment blames this assistance for empowering Baku’s destabilising policies.
“The more than $120m in military aid the US has recklessly provided Azerbaijan has emboldened the tyrannical regime in Baku, materially empowering their ethnic cleansing in Artsakh last September and encouraging Baku to continue invading and occupying Armenian land today,” the amendment read.
But the amendment does not block the discretionary assistance the US Department of Defence provides to Azerbaijan.
It also includes language that would require Secretary of State Antony Blinken to consider “the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the diplomatic consequences of such disparity in military assistance” when issuing next year’s waiver allowing for US security assistance to be sent to Baku.
A report accompanying the amendment calls for boosting aid to Armenia “for economic development, private sector productivity, energy independence, democracy and the rule of law, and other purposes”.
Ryan Bohl, a security analyst at the intelligence firm Stratfor, said the bipartisan support for the amendment “reflects rising pro-Armenia sentiment in Congress”, even though the scope of the bill is limited.
“It’s symbolic of the return of human rights in American foreign policy under Joe Biden,” he said.
President Joe Biden recognised the Armenian Genocide last April, in a further display of the pro-Armenia mood in the US government. But the White House has been more cautious when it comes to aid to Azerbaijan.
Last April, Mr Biden extended a waiver allowing for US assistance to Azerbaijan under Section 907.
Mr Bohl said that the Biden administration wants to preserve critical interests with Baku.
“Azerbaijan is warm to Israel and warm to the US against Russia and Iran. While it’s not a close relationship, Washington sees the geostrategic position of Baku as something they should try to keep in their back pocket and not necessarily fully sacrifice over human rights,” the expert explained.
On Wednesday night, the US State Department issued a statement calling for a halt to the fighting that recently resumed in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“We call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to uphold their ceasefire commitments by taking immediate steps to de-escalate the situation,” department spokesman Ned Price said.
He also urged both sides to return to the negotiating table under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group to achieve a long-term political settlement to the conflict.
The Pallone Amendment will now go to the Senate for a vote as part of the full foreign aid spending bill before it becomes law.
15:40,
YEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. The agenda of the first session of the new Parliament of Armenia has been announced.
During the first session it is expected to create audit committee.
The Parliament will also elect Speaker and three Vice Speakers.
Formation of standing committees and election of their chairmen are also on the agenda.
The MPs will also approve the government’s program.
The first session of the new Parliament will take place on August 2.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Russian soldiers have started clearing agricultural fields in the Martuni District from unexploded ordnance, including at the request of local residents, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reports.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the peacekeepers ensure the safety of residents of the villages near the demarcation line in the Martuni District. So, on June 10, at the request of residents of the village of Chartar in the Martuni District, the Russian soldiers began to protect them during agricultural works in the fields.
The found unexploded ordnance is being destroyed at a military training range, and Russian combat engineers arrive at the request of local residents, the Russian MoD reports. As an example, the Russian military officials refer to a case when a local resident found an unexploded bomb at a pasture. Russian combat engineers decided to blow it up on the spot.
Since November 23, 2020, Russian combat engineers have cleared 2157 hectares of unexploded ordnance in Karabakh, the Russian MoD reports. 25,640 explosive items have been found and neutralized.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 2, 2021 at 09:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent
Source:
© Caucasian Knot
Expert in Iran, member of “Homeland” party Vardan Voksanyan reflected on Facebook on the outcomes of the recent meeting between Russian and Turkish FMs held in Antalya.
“All details of the recent meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, especially at the level of the rhetoric, should be analyzed through a magnifying glass amid the absence of any specific content of the talks. Since in the diplomatic language there are no unimportant words, it is noteworthy that Russian top diplomat used a very interesting term for Russian-Turkish relations when it came to the Armenia-Azerbaijan and Artsakh issues. He used the word ‘interaction’ («взаимодействие») instead of cooperation («сотрудничество»),” Voskanyan wrote.
“This rhetoric comes to prove once again that despite the visibly positive backdrop Russia and Turkey compete rather than cooperate in the South Caucasus which is characterized by the diplomatic word of ‘interaction’ from the Russian side,” added the expert.