Author: Kalashian Nyrie

“The security of Nagorno Karabakh can be guaranteed only outside Azerbaijan,” Armenian President Serzh Sarsgyan said in an interview with Al Mayadeen TV, a pan-Arab news station.

“It’s up to the people of Nagorno Karabakh to determine their final status just like it happens all over the world. Had self-determination not been respected, the UN would consist of 60-70 states today. The same Armenia and Azerbaijan would not be independent countries,” President Sargsyan said.

“Nagorno Karabakh has never been part of Azerbaijan,” President Sargsyan said. He reminded that Karabakh was annexed to Azerbaijan at the decision of the Caucasus Bureau of the Communist Party.

“The same happened to Nakhijevan, which has been completely cleansed of Armenians, where the Armenian historical-cultural monuments have been razed to ground, and no one, including UNESCO, has able to prevent the crime,” the President said.

He stressed that it’s impossible to convince the people of Nagorno Karabakh to live under Azerbaijani jurisdiction.

Pope serves Holy Mass at Gyumri’s Vardanants Square

Pope Franics visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today accompanied by President Serzh Sargsyan  and Mrs. Rita Sargsyan, His Holiness Karekin II, other clergymen and officials.

After a prayerr at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims, the Pope visited the Memory Alley, where he watered and blessed a fir-tree planted on his behalf.

The Pope also left a note in the Book of Honorary Guests.

Later, Pope Francis talked to descendants of the 400 Armenian orphans who were rescued in 1915 and lodged at the papal Castel Gandolfo residence near Rome.

Speaking at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Pope Francis  denounced the “ideologically twisted, planned genocide of Armenians starting in 1915.”

Today’s meetings with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will help to build trust between the parties, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in a Twitter post.

“Today’s meetings with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev build trust between the parties, accelerate confidence-building, and create conditions for a framework document on peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” Warlick said.

The Public Services Regulatory Commission ruled today to cut the gas price. Those consumers, who use up to 10 thousand cubic meters of gas monthly, will now pay AMD 146,700 including VAT (down from  AMD 156.000).

For those with a monthly consumption of 10 thousand cubic meters or more, the current price will be calculated under the formula of P = 257.56 * E, where P is the cost of natural gas for consumers of 10 thousand cubic meters of gas or more, and E is the average exchange rate of AMD against USD 1 as of the 25^th of the previous month.

The changes come into force from July 1.

US President Barack Obama is to visit Hiroshima on Friday, where the US dropped the world’s first nuclear bomb, the BBC reports.

The visit, after the G7 summit, will be the first to the Japanese city by a serving US president.

Mr Obama has said he will not be issuing an apology for the nuclear attack, but will honour all those who died in World War Two.

He told Japanese media the visit would show that “even former adversaries can become the strongest of allies”.

“Hiroshima reminds us that war, no matter the cause or countries involved, results in tremendous suffering and loss, especially for innocent civilians,” he wrote in the Asahi newspaper.

The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 killed at least 140,000 people. Two days later a second nuclear bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing another 74,000.

The situation at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagono Karabakh and Azerbaijan remained calm last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used  mostly artillery weapons of different calibers as it violated the agreement on ceasefire. Sniper rifles were also used in some directions.

The font divisions of the NKR Defense Army remained committed to the agreement on ceasefire and confidently continued with their military duty.

Connecting U.S. businesses to the Armenian market is a win-win proposition. Businesses are always looking for investment opportunities, and bringing more companies to Armenia diversifies and strengthens the nation’s economy.

To facilitate these new connections, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, the Armenian Ministry of Economy, and Converse Bank, organized a one-day business conference focused on investment opportunities in Armenia for U.S. businesses. The event was held on May 18 in Yerevan.

“One of my priorities, as Ambassador, is to further developing our bi-lateral economic ties,” said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr., who opened the conference alongside Armenian Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan. “The Embassy and our colleagues at the Ministry of Economy are working to strengthen our joint commercial ties to the benefit of both our nations’ economies.”

“Reliable partners are critical for building durable and lasting business ties, for implementation of mutually beneficial projects and for making long-term investments. Events like this are a serious boost for further strengthening of economic cooperation, identifying new opportunities for businesses and opening up new markets,” said Minister Minasyan. “I am convinced that this new round for development of Armenian-American relations will encourage closer and more effective cooperation between Armenian and American business communities and facilitate establishment of mutually beneficial business ties and identifying new areas of partnership.”
Attending the conference were many Armenian business leaders as well as executives from a dozen U.S. firms, which are successful in the region and looking at investing in Armenia. The conference was an opportunity for U.S. businesses to hear from experts and financial institutions about the investment outlook in Armenia. Armenian governmental leaders shared the nation’s economic development priorities. The day was also an opportunity for Armenian businesses to discuss future partnerships and deals with their U.S. counterparts.

“We know Armenian businesspeople are great deal makers and are always looking for ways to bring new products and services to the Armenian market and to find new outlets for Armenian-made products and services,” Ambassador Mills said. “By connecting Armenian businesses with some great U.S. companies, we hope to see an even larger growth of our bilateral trade. This is what the Armenian people need — the resources and connections to develop their economy.”

A dozen U.S. corporations, representing the IT, engineering, energy, consumer goods sectors, manufacturing and chemical industry, sent representatives to Yerevan for the conference, allowing Armenian business leaders access to well-known U.S. companies eager to enter and expand in the Armenian market.
The one-day program featured presentations by the Ministry of Economy and other Armenian Government officials, the Central Bank of Armenia, Armenia’s stock exchange, EBRD, IMF and the Asian Development Bank.
The event was conducted as a follow up to the first meeting of the U.S.-Armenia Council on Trade and Investment held in Yerevan in November 2015. The council was established after the two countries signed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in May 2015.

Vice-Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov received today Member of Bundestag Ulla Jelpke and members of the Hamburg Parliament Martin Dolzer and Hasan Burgucuoglu.

Edward Sharmazanov hailed the relations established between Armenia and Germany and praised Germany’s support to our country.

The Vice-President of the National Assembly welcomed the German lawmakers’ planned visit to Artsakh, saying it’s a good opportunity to see everything on the ground, especially considering that Germany is currently presiding over the OSCE.

Sharmazanov briefed the guests on the Azeri aggression against Nagorno Karabakh in April this year. “You know that the aggression claimed the lives of not only servicemen, but also civilians. We must stop this. The people of Artsakh have self-determined and the international community will recognize their right to self-determination sooner or later. We aim to reach the international recognition of Artsakh in a peaceful way.”

Referring to the consideration of the Armenian Genocide recognition bill in the German Bundestag scheduled for June 2nd, Sharmazanov noted that “only through recognition and prevention will it be possible to close the path for perpetration of new genocides.”

Member of Bundestag Ulla Jelpke said their party is striving to reach not only recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also the acknowledgement of the German responsibility. The German lawmaker voiced support for the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.