Author: Kanayan Tamar

Sputnik/ Valeriy Melnikov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has addressed journalists following the downing of the Russian Su-24 jet by an air-to-air missile launched from a Turkish F-16, Sputnik News reports.

The Russian minister held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart earlier in the day.

“Moscow is not avoiding contacts with Ankara — my phone conversation with the Turkish FM is a proof,” Lavrov said.

Turkey’s foreign minister expressed his sincere condolences to Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister said. But the Turkish minister tried to excuse the incident, Lavrov added.

The Turkish minister said that Turkey did not know it was a Russian jet.

“We have serious doubts it was an accident and prepared footage of the jet downing suggests it wasn’t,” Sergei Lavrov said. “It all looks like a planned provocation”.

“Let me remind you, Russian warplanes were in Syrian airspace. But even if a Russian jet crosses into Turkish airspace serious questions arise as to why Turkey did not use the emergency communication line with Russia before or after downing the Su-24 bomber jet,” the Russian Foreign Minister added.

“I reminded him [Turkish foreign minister] that on Russia’s initiative a hotline between the Russian National Defense Control Center and the Turkish Defense Ministry was established. The line was established at the beginning of the Russian Aerospace Forces operation in Syria, and was used neither yesterday nor before that, which provokes serious questions,” Lavrov told the press.

Ankara has stated it was unaware that the aircraft belonged to Russia.

Russia is still expecting apology from Turkey over the downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber jet over Syria.

“We’re not going to wage a war against Turkey,” Sergei Lavrov said answering a question from a journalist.

According to the Russian foreign minister, “the attitude toward Turkish people has not changed.”

“We have questions only to the current Turkish government,” Lavrov noted.

But Russia will seriously reassess all agreements with Turkey, he added. As for specific measures, we’ve recommended our citizens not to travel to Turkey, Lavrov said.

“In regard to the current level of our relations and agreements that we have concluded with the Turkish government currently in force in Ankara, as the [Russian] president has said, we will seriously reassess and review everything that is going on in our relations taking into count the attack that was delivered against our airplane,” Lavrov said at a press conference.

Too many indicators showing terrorist threats have appeared on Turkish soil, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

“We cannot leave everything that has happened without a reaction not because we have to respond somehow, that’s not it. Actually there have been too many indicators on Turkish soil that show a direct terrorist threat to our citizens,” Lavrov said at a press conference.

Russia may raise the issue in the UN Security Council of developing an overall understanding on the fight against channels of equipping and financing militants in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Smithsonian Institution have partnered for an innovative project to support cultural sustainability through cultural tourism in Armenia. The project was launched on November 20 at an official ceremony at the Matenadaran Scientific Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan, which holds one of the world’s richest collections of medieval manuscripts and books.

The ceremony included remarks by the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr., Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan, and the Senior Advisor of the Smithsonian’s Office of International Relations, Halle Butvin. About 100 people attended the event, including representatives of the Government of Armenia, the private sector and the tourism industry at large.

The goal of the four-year project, which is funded by USAID, is to enhance and increase cultural heritage tourism in the regions outside of Armenia’s capital Yerevan, through a unique combination of research, scholarship, support for artisan craft, capacity building, and a strong focus on fresh thinking for tourism development.

“The global tourism market continues to grow and touch new destinations. Armenia’s rich cultural heritage, unique cuisine, beautiful natural environment and welcoming people make it a special place,” said Ambassador Mills.

“The purpose of the “My Armenia” project is nothing less than to put Armenia on the map as a world-class tourist destination. We intend to not only contribute to the development of the tourism industry in Armenia, but also ensure that the benefits of that growth are widely distributed across the country by promoting tourism to regions outside of Yerevan, thus enhancing the economic prospects of Armenia’s rural communities.”

The Smithsonian has a long history of working with communities around the world to support efforts in cultural sustainability, whether protecting cultural heritage threatened by human conflict and natural disaster, or supporting the long-term sustainability of diverse cultural sectors.

Through training, programming, community engagement and documentation, and other methods, Smithsonian curators and project staff from across the Institution will work with partners in Armenia to develop new strategies for sustaining cultural heritage.

This project will support traditional arts, crafts and music in the country and lead to greater benefits for rural communities in Armenia, broader awareness about Armenia in international markets, as well as help protect and enhance Armenia’s natural and cultural heritage.

“Tourism can be a driver of economic development by generating employment in hotels and restaurants, as well as increasing business for taxi drivers, those making and selling souvenirs, or those providing goods and services to tourism-related businesses,” Ambassador Mills said.

“However, to spread the wealth generated by tourism, Armenia needs to develop anchor tourism sites outside of Yerevan and link them together in a tourism circuit that spans the length and breadth of the country. This new project will provide technical assistance to develop such a circuit, which will encourage travelers to travel outside of Yerevan and spend more money in the regions. This is just one of the many ways the U.S. Embassy is partnering with the Armenian people to strengthen the economy of Armenia’s rural regions.”

The Smithsonian has a long history of working with USAID on international programming to support the conservation of biodiversity, museum workforce capacity building, and emerging cultural institutions.  Reflecting a renewed partnership between the two organizations established through a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding, the “My Armenia” project signifies a new, collaborative approach to combine the strengths of the two organizations for greater impact.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will attend multilateral talks on finding a political solution to the conflict in Syria in Vienna this week, a government spokeswoman has said, the BBC reports.

It will be the first time Iran – an ally of President Bashar al-Assad – has attended such a summit with the US.

Representatives of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will also attend the talks.

The main round of talks is expected to take place on Friday, but diplomats say some preparatory meetings could happen on Thursday evening.

“We have reviewed the invitation, and it was decided that the foreign minister would attend the talks,” Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.

Egypt and Iraq also confirmed they had accepted invitations to the meeting.

Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia has launched the new round of Acceleration Program, targeting startups with innovative solutions. 14 teams, presenting various solutions have been selected out of more than 50 applicants in the result of strict selection and interview. In line with the tendencies, currently dominating in the international market, teams in Armenia offer solutions in such areas as e-commerce, B2B solutions, video editing, social solutions etc.

Artashes Vardanyan, the head of Acceleration Program of Microsoft innovation center mentions that the startups, involved in the program are at different stages of development. There are teams at the idea or prototype stage, at the same time under the Acceleration Program assistance will also be provided to startups, which already have users and ensure stable retention rate, as well as have managed to attract their first investments.

Under the 12-week acceleration program startups will work on the development of their products, powered by mentorship from experienced specialists. This round of the program will involve specialists from Silicon valley, Israel, Australia, Russia, who have huge experience in turning idea into a product. Armenian experts will work with the teams and provide professional and business consultancy. In addition, the participating teams will receive working space and other facilities in the center. They will be able to participate in all events, training courses and seminars, organized by MIC Armenia. Taking into account that some of the teams have already their products developed, the Acceleration program will try to make some connections with investors and venture funds. The program will culminate in the MIC Demo Day, where a global audience will witness the product demonstrations and startups will receive feedback from experts. 4 startups: Solo Learn, Forkize, Flaxton և Penny, involved in the previous rounds of the Acceleration program attracted more than 350,000 USD for the further development and marketing of their products.

The teams, participating in this round of the Acceleration program are the following:

• BeeCart – an online system of on-demand grocery delivery
• Archimedes – a solution, intended to automate lessons scheduling process at higher educational institutions
• Challenger – an app, intended to help people to achieve their procrastinated goals, by creating challenges and competing with each other
• CPU panda – an online CPU retailer with worldwide shipping
• Follow My Youtube – a web solution, allowing to watch youtube videos together with friends at the same time but from different places
• Friendhub – a mobile application, intended to help people to socialize in real life
• Homesweet – an on-demand cooking order of your favorite food
• Helpie  – a solution to make better UX and to help and support communications
• gShop – an automated delivery of household goods, based on consumption behavior
• Masoor solutions –  a smart medical scheduler to help patients to take medicine and treatment in time
• NeedChange – an app, that will help to avoid inconvenience while visiting places of entertainment and make reservations.
• Renderforest – a free online video making tool
• New life – an e-commerce platform/aggregator of clothes stores
• Filmer – a mobile app intended to help you find your next favorite movie for watching

Representatives of Musaler Compatriotic Union visited Tsitsernakaberd today to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

They visited the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute (AGMI) to participate in the presentation of a book by French Armenian engineer Georgia Kevorkian, titled “The Aid of the French Navy to Armenians in 1909-1915.”

Hailing Georgia Kevorkian’s work, AGMI Director Hayk Demoyan awarded him with a Franz Werfel medal. The author also received a “Musa Ler” order of honor.

The presentation was followed by an exhibition of items brought from Musa Ler that present the life of its residents.

After the event the guests participated in a tree-planting ceremony.

The headquarters of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party has been attacked. Windows were smashed at the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) building in Ankara, Euronews reports.

Nationalist anger towards Kurds has increased in response to a number of recent attacks on security forces and police officers by the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).

“Tonight alone, 186 attacks were carried out. And our headquarters were targeted. This is definitely a planned attack that was orchestrated from one particular place,” said HDP Deputy Chaiman Alp Alitinors. “The president and his staff at the palace are the ones behind these attacks.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the HDP of links to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Erdogan has suggested that the immunity from prosecution of its lawmakers be lifted.

The attack on the HDP’s building comes after 14 police officers were killed on Tuesday (September 8) by Kurdish militants in a bomb attack in the east of the country.

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was registered in Azerbaijan at 08:49 local time (04:49 GMT), the Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection reports.

The quake measuring 7-8 at the epicenter was felt in a number of Armenian settlements, namely Vanadzor, Kapan, Stepanavan, Ijevan, Noyemberyan, Choratan, Aygedzor and Yerevan.

On July 23 and the night of July 24th the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime on the Line of Contact between Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflicting forces for about 160 times, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

During that time more than 2,500 shots were fired in the direction of the Armenian defense guards from weapons of various caliber including 82mm mortars and various grenade launchers.

As a result of the response of advanced units of the Defence Army, the activity of the enemy was suppressed.

The Azerbaijan armed forces continued intensively violating the ceasefire all along the  Line of Contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces on July 21.

According to the operative data of the NKR Defence Army, the adversary violated the ceasefire about 160 times. More than 1,600 shots were fired in the direction of Armenian military positions, from rifles and artillery weaponry including 123 mortar shells of caliber 60 mm, 3 missile from a grenade launcher RPG – 7, about 140 shots from heavy machine guns.

The Frontline Forces of NKR Defence Army took retaliatory actions, and as a result, the adversary’s attacks were quelled.

The Defense Army reports it keeps teh situation under control and is ready for  disproportionate and punitive measures in any development of events.