Author: Kanayan Tamar

An EgyptAir airliner has been hijacked and forced to divert to Larnaca airport on the south coast of Cyprus, the BBC reports.

Flight MS181, an Airbus A320 carrying 81 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo, was taken over after a passenger said he was wearing an explosives belt.

EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all those on board apart from the crew and four passengers.

No demands have been made by those in control of the plane.

Larnaca airport has been closed and scheduled flights diverted elsewhere.

Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronian beat Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the 6th round of the Candidates Tournament in Moscow, and  tied for the first place with Russia’s Sergey Karjakin.

Karjakin and Aronian have 4 points each, former world champion Viswanathan Anand comes second with 3.5 points.

The seventh round is scheduled for Sunday, March 19.

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met with the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday morning, as part of his official visit in Greece, according to Greece.com.

“Our people know what it is to be refugees, to be uprooted… we are on the first line of humanism to address the crisis. I want to believe that the truce in Syria will stop the flow of people. Our countries face these challenges with the head high” the Greek PM said during the meeeting with the Armenian President.

“We’ve had long-standing ties with Armenia. Today, I welcomed President S. Sargsyan, to further deepen our relations,” the GReek PM tweeted. 

We’ve had long-standing ties with Armenia. Today, I welcomed President S. Sargsyan, to further deepen our relations.

— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu)

President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Greece on official visit, today laid a wreath at the monument dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide located at the Nea Smyrni Square in Athens and accompanied by the representatives of the Armenian community, clergy and Armenian cadets, who receive military education in Greece, paid tribute to the memory of the victims.

Later, at the government building the President of Armenia had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras. Serzh Sargsyan and Alexis Tsipras stressed the importance of deepening the mutually beneficial cooperation in a number of areas – trade and economy, agriculture, culture, education, health care, tourism and others, as well as the necessity to encourage investments and contacts between the representatives of business circles and with this regard highlighted the role of the intergovernmental commission. Prime Minister Tsipras assessed as promising the development of the trilateral Iran-Greece-Armenia cooperation, considering warm and friendly relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. He noted that his country has a good experience of such trilateral cooperation in the Greece-Cyprus-Israel and Greece-Cyprus-Egypt formats, which in his assessment, are functioning efficiently. The Prime Minister noted that Greece also sees opportunities in cooperation between the EU and EEU and would like to bring his participation to the process. On behalf of his country, the Prime Minister of Greece expressed readiness to support the development of the Armenia-EU relations, bringing to a successful conclusion negotiations on a new Armenia-EU legal document on cooperation. Along with the discussions on the bilateral agenda items, the President of Armenia and Prime Minister of Greece exchanged views on current international problems, challenges, as well as regional developments. Presenting the position of his country regarding current international problems, Alexis Tsipras underscored that they must be solved through peaceful means, based on the norms of international law. He also underlined that Greece supports a peaceful resolution of the NK problem through negotiations in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and would like to see a peaceful, secure and stable development of the region.

After the private meeting of the President of Armenia and Prime Minister of Greece, there took place extended negotiations with the participation of the official delegations. At the conclusion of the discussions, the parties signed a number of documents aimed at the development and deepening of the Armenian-Greek cooperation in a number of areas. In particular, signed were the Program of Cooperation between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia and Ministry of Health of the Hellenic Republic in the area of Health Care and Medical Aid for 2016-2018, Action Plan of Cooperation between the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and Government of the Hellenic Republic for 2016-2020, Program of Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and Government of the Hellenic Republic on Cooperation in the area of Education and Research for 2016-2020.

President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras recapped the results of the negotiations with the joint statements for the representatives of mass media.

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Statement by President Serzh Sargsyan at the meeting with the representatives of mass media after his meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

Your Excellency,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, allow me to express gratitude to you personally, Mr. Prime Minister, President Pavlopoulos and of course to the brotherly Greek people for this special reception. Each time I visit Greece, I feel exceptional warmth. There is no doubt that that warmth is emanating from the friendship of our two peoples which withstood the test of centuries and today has become the cornerstone of our interstate relations. I should mention with satisfaction that in the course of my visit, I have had very open and constructive discussions with my Greek partners – President Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Tsipras. We have discussed the entire agenda of the Armenian-Greek relations and prospects of cooperation. We have registered with pleasure that our approaches in bilateral as well as with on regional and international issues mainly coincide. At the same time, we agreed that we should do more in bilateral as well as multilateral formats to give a new impetus and new quality to our relations. We stressed the importance of the documents signed in the framework of the visit, which are aimed at deepening of our cooperation in the areas of health care, medicine, culture, education and research. These are areas in which our countries have competitive advantage which means that we should work hard to use it. We also agreed that unfortunately in our bilateral agenda the weakest link is the trade and economic area which undoubtedly is conditioned by objective reasons. I told Mr. Tsipras that we are watching closely efforts by the Greek governments aimed at addressing the existing problems. We are confident that your country will overcome all obstacles. Armenia is greatly interested in the economic and political stability and advancement of the friendly Greece. We noted with satisfaction that military area has become a traditional area of our cooperation, and today we continue to expand our cooperation. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the Government of Greece for the years-long consistent assistance in the area of civil and military education. In last twenty years, over 200 Armenian servicemen and officers have been trained in Greece. This is the basis which allows to register new success in this area. We should never depart from the idea that security of our two nations is interlinked.
Of course cooperation with Greece is important in the context of Armenia-EU all-inclusive cooperation since the European Union continues to be one of the most important partners for Armenia with regard to the implementation of the reforms; EU is also a major trade partner for Armenia. We are also grateful for the assistance provided in this axis.

We attach special importance to the balanced position of Greece in the resolution of the NK issue and support to the continuous efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. There is no doubt that the Armenian community of Greece has a great role in the preservation of the incessant Armenian-Greek friendship. We will never forget assistance of the brotherly Greek people which lent a helping hand to the Armenians who survived in the Genocide and provided them with the opportunity to live and create in their new Fatherland. I also highly value Greece’s principled position on the recognition and condemnation of that horrendous crime. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of our national tragedy, Greece reiterated its pledge adopting the resolution on Fight Against Racism and Xenophobia (September 9, 2014), which also criminalized the denial of the Armenian Genocide sending an exemplary message to the world. In its turn, the National Assembly of Armenia in 2015 unanimously adopted a Declaration on the Condemnation of the Genocides of Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire. This is a vivid manifestation of the fact that the spirit of solidarity continues to unite our two nations. Centuries long spiritual and cultural commonalities of our two nations are testified to by the Armenia: The Spirit of Ararat Exhibition opened in the framework of my visit at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. Events like these are important for the preservation of the spirit of friendship and from the viewpoint of passing it on to future generations. From this viewpoint it is also essential to conduct high-level reciprocal visits. In this context, I have invited Mr. Tsipras to visit Armenia. I am very glad that he accepted the invitation, and we once again referred to the significance of a constant work towards solidifying our friendship. Friendship ought to be nourished and enhanced, and frequent meetings are a means to achieve that.

I once again express my thanks for the warm welcome.

“The two nations are still divided by the open wound of Nagorno Karabakh,” Federica‪ Mogherini High Representative of the ‪‎European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission said, summit up the results of her recent trips to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“For the European Union the peaceful solution of the conflict is high on the agenda, and we are constantly involved through our Special Representative,” she said.

Tensions were high at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan last night, the NKR Defense ministry reports.

The rival used artillery weapons of different caliber as it fired more than 2,000 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

“The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the state border and resort to retaliatory measures if necessary,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Armenian figure skating pair Tina Garabedian and Simon Senekal won a silver medal at the Bavarian Open 2016 international competition, press service of the Armenian National Olympic Committee reports.

With a total score of 140.16 in free dancing the Armenian couple came second after Penny Coomes- Nicholas Buckland of Great Britain.

The Garabedian- Senekal pair will now be able to participate in the World Championship in Boston.

The Azerbaijani side used weapons of different caliber as it fired more than 800 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army have responded to the provocative actions of the rival and have confidently carried out their military duty.

Photo: Sputnik/ Ilya Pitalev

The Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces have reportedly managed to liberate another strategic town in the western province of Latakia, Sputnik News reports.

Another key town has been taken back by the Syrian Army and the country’s National Defense Forces (NDF) after heavy fighting with militants in Latakia province in western Syria, media reports said.

Dozens of terrorists were killed and many more wounded after the Syrian troops finally took full control of the town of Bashoura, located in northern Latakia, sources said. Two days ago, it had been announced by Islamic Front-connected sources that Ahrar al-Sham, a coalition of multiple Islamist and Salafist units, had been targeting Syrian Army positions around the village.

The new offensive came after the Syrian Army and the NDF cleared the militants out of the strategic heights of Ziyaret al-Beidha, Zahra al-Beidar al-Mahrouq and Khandaq al-Shahour in Latakia.

Earlier this week, the Syrian forces managed to win back more villages and heights in northern Latakia near the border with Turkey, sources said, mentioning the villages of Dahret al-Baiday al-Mahrouq and Ard al-Kataf, as well as the hill of Ziyaret al-Beidha.

In another development, the Syrian Army continued their offensive in the northern province of Aleppo, regaining full control of the strategic town of Taana in the eastern part of the region.

The Syrian Air Force attacked terrorists’ positions in the towns of Hayan and Hraytan as the army continued to advance toward Tal Rafat in Aleppo.
Scores of terrorists were killed and injured in the army’s mop-up operations in the newly regained towns.

During the meeting the sides exchanged opinions on a range of issues of mutual interest, in particular, the  situation on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, as well as the monitoring conducted by the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

The importance of maintaining stability on the Line of Contact was mutually emphasized.

The sides also touched upon a range of issues related to the activities and upcoming plans of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

After the preliminary counting of the votes at the constitutional referendum held on December 6, 2015, President Serzh Sargsyan hosted numerous officials, political and civil figures at the Presidential Palace. The President made a statement at the beginning of which he requested to honor the memory of the victims of the 1988 earthquake with a minute’s silence.

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, we together crossed over an important threshold which we were facing for the last two years. Wisdom, vision and light of faith dispelled the fog of uncertainty, suspicions and concern. Yesterday we chose to embark on the road of long-lasting and sustainable development, and because of that the Armenian statehood today is moving into the next stage.

Many of the proponents of “No” were presenting themselves as a “front”. I was trying to avoid that word as much as I could. It is my deep conviction that we have no right to have “fronts” within our country. For a nation which had the history like ours, it would be unaffordable luxury. Besides, among other objectives these changes are aimed at eliminating the necessity of organizing fronts or fighting each other.

Today, we are ready to state that parliamentary system of governance has become a reality for our country. It means we will have strong authorities and strong opposition, the role of political parties will increase, and there will be new opportunities for their development. It means also development of the partisan system which is an important prerequisite for any democratic state. Transition to parliamentary system will provide utmost transparency in the activities of the legislative and executive authorities. Responsibilities of the executive power will become more clear-cut and its accountability will grow, while its activities will become more predictable for the parliament as well as for the people.

Finally, the changes allow to be more confident about the security of our state. Constitutional provisions which envisage administration and operative management of the armed forces allow to adopt swift and efficient decision in the situation which have already become ordinary for us, or in critical situations.

Many of us were concerned with the impact these changes might have for our national security and defense. Be assured, that everything was measured with the utmost precision, otherwise, in case of a tiniest threat, I would stop the entire process.

Dear colleagues,
It is very important that during the campaign, “Yes” was promoted not only by the Republican Party but also by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Prosperous Armenia represented in the National Assembly, as well as by a number of other parties.
“Yes” doesn’t mean that we didn’t have disagreements, disputes, or discussions. There were plenty, trust me. Nevertheless, we always were able to find compromise and develop mutually acceptable options.

I am confident that this framework of cooperation will continue to expand for the benefit of our nation state, for the benefit of the Republic of Armenia.

The reforms are an important milestone for the strengthening of the Armenian state and democratic institutions. We have to breathe new power, new life to our Constitution.

We have not yet reached our destination; on the contrary, today we just stepped on a new road.

Constitutional changes should have their proper reflection in the entire legal system of the Republic of Armenia. New constitutional laws shall be adopted, changes should be made in hundreds of laws. We need to fling ourselves into this hard work right away to prepare a new Electoral Code. These works must be finished by June 1, 2016, so that parliamentary elections of 2017 are conducted in the atmosphere of greater trust, so that results of the election are not doubted by either political parties, or our citizens.

We are ready to conduct the most open and inclusive discussions in all possible formats to finally adopt a new, faultless Electoral Code. We are ready to discuss any mechanism which can provide for transparency and trust. I hope our opponents will accept this offer, and together with us will undertake this important task.

In our turn we are ready to work hard to bring our Electoral Code in line with the best world practices. We are well aware that the quality of the forthcoming elections will shape the future of our state, our nation. For that very reason we will work openly and transparently, because trust, increasing trust is the most important thing for us.

Candid dialogue, resolution of the current problems aimed at the regulation of social life – these are prerequisites of our country’s advancement.

Today we need trust not only among political forces but also public’s trust towards the political forces. This is the only way for the political forces to mature as authorized representatives of the society in the task of carrying out changes. The National Assembly must become the primary platform for ideological disputes, for finding solutions to the most pressing issues.

In the elections, there mustn’t be those who get everything and those who get nothing.
Today when we are ready to embark on a new road, I am expressing my gratitude to all those who for the last two years were promoting this process with their efforts and dedication. I express gratitude to the Chairman of expert commission and the members for their professionalism and principled stance. I thank leaders and representatives of the political forces, to the citizens who believed in and supported this initiative. My thanks to all those who provided for the high organizational level of the referendum. It was a huge and comprehensive work, and we did it standing shoulder by shoulder.

In the process, I spoke more than once about the importance of conducting fair and transparent referendum. I am more than confident that the law enforcment bodies did their best so that this state event was conducted in a due, normal way. Now it’s time for the relevant bodies to conduct proper procedures, true to the letter and spirit of the law, and give assessment to all signal about violations. It is really important for our future.

Dear Colleagues,
Now we are much more well-prepared to move on more confidently on our road towards a well-organized state. I have no doubt that our quarter of a century experience of statehood will allow us to tell the difference between transient and eternal, between primary and secondary. And most importantly, I am confident that probably for the first time in the history of the newly independent Armenia, we will be able to make power a factor which will not separate but will unite all able forces. The strength of the state is not defined by the intentions of the leaders, or by their sincere wishes and promises but by a steady system which will allow to make them true. We have already made the first but a very important step towards an active and logical system. We will make next steps together and together we will pass on our generations an efficient state.

Thank you all for that.