Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan resigns. He announced the decision at the government sitting today.

Hovik Abrahamyan said the country is facing a number of new challenges, which require new approaches.

The action plan for beginning the visa liberalization with Armenia will be on the agenda of the next Eastern Partnership summit in 2017, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski said at the “Civil Society Perspectives on EU-Armenia Relations” conference in Yerevan.

“There is an increasing interest in Armenia concerning the future of relations with the European Union, and we are now going into a very busy period in our relations. The negotiations on a framework agreement are under way. We will soon start discussing the partnership priorities between Armenia and EU within the framework of the Neighborhood Policy,” the Ambassador said, addressing the conference.

Outlining the EU priorities in Armenia, the Ambassador said they want to contribute to the economic stability of the country and enhance good governance. The third priority is connectivity, he said.

“We want Armenia to be better connected to Europe in terms of infrastructure, roads, electricity connections, but also in terms of people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges, intellectual connectivity,” he added.

“Another priority is the security cooperation. The EU wants to help its neighbors to deal with security challenges. Of course in Armenia, the security component has a very concrete connotation, because the country faces very material military threats. But from the European perspective, we speak about a very broad range of security issues –ranging from cyber security to terrorism,” Amb. Switalski noted. Another priority is the outreach to civil society and issues relating to human rights.

Speaking about the reasons why the European Union has been trying to develop a political agenda and build bridges with Armenia, Ambassador Switalski said: “We want to show that it is possible to be a loyal member of another integration project and live with European standards and have good relations with the European Union, that there is no contradiction between membership in another integration project and European values.”

The Ambassador said they now have a common understanding with Armenia on issues such as fight against corruption, economic governance, etc. and the conclusion of the framework agreement will open a new chapter in the relations.

“It is the Armenian party determining the ambition in our relations. On countries like Armenia we are not trying to pursue anything, to impose egoistic agenda on the part of the European Union,” Piotr Switalski stressed.

The Ambassador said in the Eastern Partnership there are two groups of countries – association countries and non-association countries. The first group includes Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, while Armenia is put together with Azerbaijan and Belarus. He added however, that the offer presented by the European Union is still non-discrimination. “Even without the association agreement the countries can enjoy a lot from the European Union,” he said.

Anush Elbakyan, 25,  has received a in the “Outstanding News Report – Serious Feature” nomination.

Anush Elbakian is a recipient of two other prestigious awards – a  Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize for Marathon bombing coverage and Online Journalism Award of the Online News Association.

Photo: Aravot.am

Turkey and Germany are “two very important allies” and the German parliament’s qualification of World War I killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide will not destroy their relations, Turkey’s prime minister said Friday, AFP reports.

“Germany and Turkey are two very important allies. No one should expect that relations will suddenly deteriorate completely because of this decision or similar decisions,” Binali Yildirim told a news conference.

“That doesn’t mean however that we will not react, that we will say nothing.”

The comments came a day after Turkey reacted with fury to the vote, recalling its ambassador to Germany for consultations and threatening further measures.

Berlin’s lower house of parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution on the 1915-16 killings – one MP voted against and another abstained – in a move touching a raw nerve in Turkish-European relations.

Yildirim Friday also said he considered the vote “seriously damages relations between Germany and Turkey”, and said the “appropriate responses” will be made.

But he added that “we will continue our relationship with our friends, with our allies.”

“The four-day war showed again how fragile the situation is. It made us aware that military conflict in this region can have unpredictable consequences,” Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski said in an exclusive interview with .

“The war showed that there is no military solution to the conflict. Therefore, we should work together strongly for peace. I think it’s the lesson from the four-day war. Let’s work together not only with the countries directly involved, but also the international community towards peace,” he said.

According to him, the summit in Vienna on the 16^th of May brought a new positive dynamics into the efforts to find a settlement. “We can only hope that the agreements reached between the parties will be followed by a proper diplomatic and political action. Let’s approach it as a big chance for peace. If we miss this opportunity, we might face very bad consequences,” the Ambassador said.

 The Armenian side has always been committed to peaceful resolution of the conflict. It’s the Azerbaijani side instigating the attacks. Wouldn’t it be better if the statements were addressed to one of the sides?

“I think that one of the basic principles applied by the mediators like the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group is the non-prejudicial approach. They will always avoid statements and messages, which may complicate the efforts to achieve peace,” he said.

“The international community will always be concentrated on how to achieve peace. At this juncture the most important is to ensure the best conditions for the implementation of conclusions from Vienna – to enlarge the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, discuss confidence-building measures, and elements of the investigative mechanism, which could be put in place,” Amb. Switalski said.

“If things go well, we can have a high-level meeting in June, and hopefully the start of new peace negotiations,” he said. The Ambassador added that the European Union will do its best to support the diplomatic activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

He said the purpose of the investigative mechanism is to see clearly what is happening at the line of contact. The investigative mechanism will be able to develop a clear view on who is responsible for what. “From my personal perspective I would see the investigative mechanism as a preventive or deterring measure. I believe that with the introduction of the investigative mechanism we would be able to reduce significantly the number of incidents occurring on the line of contact. And this would stabilize the situation, which, I think, is the most important thing with a view of the peace settlement. ”

How high is the probability that Aliyev will agree to the implementation of the measures? “I think that the conclusions reached in Vienna on these measures, including the investigative mechanism, show that there is a positive dynamics in the discussions. It is clear that if we want to make progress, if we want to reach a settlement, the positions of the sides should become more flexible.  And the Vienna summit sent a clear signal to the international public opinion that the sides are willing to consider making their positions more flexible. Of course, it is understandable that there is a big confidence gap between the sides. I’m often asked here in Armenia how we can trust them? But the whole purpose of these diplomatic effort are targeted at helping overcome this mistrust,” the Head of the EU Delegation said. “Although we, as the European Union, are not participating in the mediation efforts, we are ready to contribute to the confidence-building process,” he added.

“I cannot downplay the risk of destabilization, I’m very concerned about such a possibility, but at the same time this should be an incentive to mobilize all involved parties to work for peace,” Mr. Switalski said.

Is there any possibility of change of the OSCE Minsk Group format? The Ambassador said that the issue is not on the agenda. “After the four-day war we have clear signals that both parties confirmed the validity of the Minsk Group format. For the first time in many years the Minsk Group in its full composition adopted a statement in Vienna,” he said, adding that the current processes are also taking place under the full authority of the Minsk Group. Therefore, he said, now is not the time to discuss the format, because the existing format is working very well.

“It should be clear to all of us that the success of Europe, the success of the European integration, the prosperity, the freedom, the open borders are based on a very difficult, but simple notion of “reconciliation.” There should be no doubt that the European Union condemns the use of force, atrocities, inhuman behavior. It is clear that propagating hate speech, propagating hatred towards other nations is not compatible with European ideals. Europe for ages has been the stage for terrible wars and atrocities. Many states consider themselves to be eternal enemies. But the EU was a project that was built on breaking out of this vicious circle of hatred, revenge.  The European success was built on the assumption that we cannot change our neighbors. What we can choose is the way we live with them. Therefore, after the worst of all wars, where millions of Europeans were killed, Europeans decided to extend the hand, to forgive and to ask for forgiveness,” the Ambassador said.

“I’m convinced that Armenians are ready for this. Armenians have gone through terrible sufferings throughout history. There are probably very few other nations  that have suffered so much in history. I’m also a representative of a nation that has suffered a lot. Many of my very close relatives were killed during the Second War War. But I belong to the generation that believes we cannot continue like this.   ” the Ambassador concluded. I think that when we have peace in the region, a peaceful settlement, Armenians will follow this European logic, Armenians will follow the European ideals, because this approach is a sign of moral strength, a sign of self-confidence. So, I hope that we as the European Union will work with Armenia and Azerbaijan to open a new page in the history of the region,” the Ambassador concluded.

Photo: AP

At least 65 people have been killed in multiple blasts in Syrian government coastal strongholds, reports say, the BBC reports.

Explosions hit the cities of Tartous and Jableh. Several of the blasts were suicide bombings, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

State media said packed bus stations and a hospital were among the targets.

Attacks of this scale are rare in these areas. A news agency linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) says the jihadist group was behind the attacks.

The liberation of Shushi became a turning point in a war waged by Azerbaijan, and the fact that the day overlaps with the victory over fascism may not be accidental, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in comments to Public TV.

“Today the victorious Army of Artsakh is fighting a new expression of fascism. The aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in early April was nothing but fascism. The statements full of xenophobia, intolerance and hostility coming from Baku were nothing but fascism. Today’s holiday is a vivid example of what happens to fascism,” Minister Nalbandian said.

“Six hundred thousand Armenian participated in World War Second, and only half returned home. My father participated in the victorious Battle of Stalingrad, my two uncles were killed in the war. There is no Armenian family that has not participated in the Great Patriotic War,” he added.

According to Edward Nalbandian, the Armenian nation has made a great contribution to the victory over fascism, and as we see, keeps doing that today.

The Azerbaijani side used artillery weapons, 82 mm mortars and hand-held antitank grenade launchers as it kept violating the agreement on ceasefire at the line of contact with Karabakh forces last night.

Front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the frontline and resort to actions consistent with the development of the situation in case of necessity.