PM Pashinyan congratulates Erdogan on reelection

 23:40,

YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his reelection to a third term.

"Congratulations to President RTErdogan on his re-election. Looking forward to continuing working together towards full normalisation of relations between our countries,” PM Pashinyan said on Twitter.

Turkish election authorities announced that Erdogan has defeated Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff election.

Erdogan claimed 52.14% of the vote to Kilicdaroglu’s 47.86%,

At high level meeting, Security Council Secretary presents threats facing Armenia

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 15:11, 24 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan is in Russia for the 11th meeting of High Level Representatives Coordinating Security Affairs.

Grigoryan has delivered a speech at the session.

The Secretary of the Security Council spoke about the international and regional security challenges, Grigoryan’s office said in a press release.

Grigoryan spoke about the reciprocal recognition of territorial integrity between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the 1991 Almaty Declaration and presented the challenges threatening Armenia’s territorial security by Azerbaijan.

At the same time, Armen Grigoryan mentioned the installation of a checkpoint by Azerbaijan on April 23, 2023 in the Lachin Corridor, the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping mission, emphasizing that this constitutes a gross violation of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, with which Azerbaijan seeks to subject the NK population to ethnic cleansing. In this context, the Secretary of the Security Council attached importance to launching an international mechanism ensuring the rights and security of the NK population, as well as the need for sending international monitors to NK and Lachin Corridor.

Grigoryan also emphasized that Armenia is taking steps to normalize relations with Turkey and expressed hope that the process would advance more intensively.

Shoigu Notes Importance Of Armenia’s Participation In Joint Drills Within CSTO Framework

May 25 2023

 

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 25th May, 2023) It is important that Armenia take part in joint military exercises within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.

"Armenia is a member of our organization, our ally.

We are interested in establishing peace and are doing everything possible to stabilize the situation in the Transcaucasus. At the same time, I would especially like to note the importance of the participation of the Armenian side in joint operational and combat training activities within the framework of the CSTO," Shoigu said at a meeting of CSTO defense ministers in Minsk.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/shoigu-notes-importance-of-armenias-particip-1697299.html

Yerevan Wine Days 2023 to feature broader program

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 17:13,

YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Wine Days, one of the most popular festivals in Armenia, will take place June 2-4 in downtown Yerevan, featuring 72 winemakers who will be offering their products to visitors.

This year, the festival will have a broader program, organizers said.

“We’ve expanded the venue, added more pavilions, updated the programs,” EventToura co-founder and Creative Director Nune Manukyan said at a press conference.

The event will feature gastro-shows, live music and much more.

The Yerevan Wine Days 2023 will be the 7th edition of the festival.

The idea behind organizing the festival was to promote wine tourism and Armenia as a top winemaking country with history.

Winemaking is growing rapidly in Armenia, according to experts.

In 2018, there were 25 winemaking companies in Armenia, whereas now the number is over 150, according to Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia Director Zaruhi Muradyan.

The festival will be held for three days in a row – June 2, 3 and 4, at the Moskovyan-Saryan-Tumanyan streets section.

Dilijan to host first Armenian-Georgian cultural culinary festival

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 13:10,

YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. The Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions organization, with support from the Tourism Committee, is organizing the first ever Armenian-Georgian cultural-culinary festival.

The event will take place on 17 June in Dilijan, Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions President Sedrak Mamulyan said on May 25.

The festival will feature Armenian and Georgian culture and cuisine.

“We’ve been working on this since 2019. We wanted to create a platform where we would talk with our neighboring Georgians about cultural heritage and present each other our culture and cuisine, thus create a regional product. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed our plans, but this year, with support from the Tourism Committee, we will launch this project,” Mamulyan said.

The festival will be themed around Mimino, the 1977 comedy film by Soviet director Georgiy Daneliya starring Vakhtang Kikabidze and Frunzik Mkrtchyan. The event will be dedicated to the memory of Kikabidze, who died in early 2023.

The second festival is expected to be held in Georgia, and it will be dedicated to Mkrtchyan.

Ucom’s LEAD Leadership Program for middle managers has produced its first graduates

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 13:10, 10 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The LEAD multi-module leadership program for middle managers at Ucom, launched in 2022, has produced its first graduates. It was specifically designed for Ucom mid-management in collaboration with Grow Edutainment. 

The program aimed to provide continuous development opportunities for mid-managers and leadership skills, create uniform management approaches, prepare participants for the smooth implementation of various processes introduced in Ucom, and strengthen inter-functional cooperation and communication channels between employees.

"The LEAD program is tailored to the needs of our company, and has inspired our emerging middle leaders to embark on the path of continuous education and development. It has taught them that leading people is first and foremost a great responsibility," said Ralph Yirikian, Director General at Ucom.

The program was long-term, consisting of both courses and practical tasks. It also provided post-course individual counseling and mentoring by invited specialists.

FlyONE Armenia’s Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flight delayed until May 14 due to technical malfunction of the aircraft

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 13:12,

YEREVAN, MAY 13, ARMENPRESS. The Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flight scheduled for May 13 of this year was postponed until May 14 at 00:20 due to a technical malfunction of the aircraft, ARMENPRESS was informed from FlyONE Armenia.

"As of now, the malfunction has been eliminated, the flight will take place according to the newly announced schedule," FlyONE Armenia informed.

In response to inquiries, FlyONE Armenia also reports that the airline could not use another aircraft to operate the flight, since the Turkish aviation authorities have given permission for only a limited number of aircrafts.

"According to the aviation rules, the passengers were provided with water after 3 hours. The airline accommodated all passengers who needed to stay in both Yerevan and Istanbul in hotels until the flight will take place.

The airline is studying the videos on social networks about the flight, from which it will draw appropriate conclusions.

The airline apologizes to passengers for the caused inconvenience.

For all questions related to the delayed flight, the airline asks passengers to contact . E-mail or phone +37412400003", FlyONE Armenia said.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1110866.html?fbclid=IwAR0sILpKmvm1r27PlVaW4MweBa7gGDeKDvA02csUnI1fgQha71PSuzyhIAM

OPINION: Is this weekend a unique chance for Armenia-Azerbaijan peace?

May 9 2023

BERLIN, TODAY, 12:20

This Sunday (14 May), the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia will resume peace talks in Brussels. They follow the meeting of Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov and their delegations from 1-4 May at US-hosted talks in Arlington, Virginia.

Some sources even claim that the meeting in Brussels might lead to peace treaty. Even though not much has been said about the details of the talks in the US, it is still a rather surprising development looking at the number of incidents which have happened on the ground this year.

In the latest one, on 23 April, Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the only road that connects Karabakh and Armenia — the Lachin Corridor — blatantly ignoring a ruling of the International Court, which had called on Baku to stop the blockade of the enclave which had already begun in December 2022.

And in the beginning of April, a clash between Armenia and Azerbaijan even led to seven soldiers being killed. The general fear of a severe outbreak of violence was also echoed in an interview of the head of mission of EUMA, the EU's monitoring mission in Armenia, where he claimed that "Many Armenians believe there'll be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this doesn't happen, our mission is already a success."

EUMA will (once fully operational) consist of 100 unarmed personnel, of which about 50 will work as monitors.

Baku has not been happy about the deployment, constantly complaining about EUMA. President Ilham Aliyev described EUMA with its expanded mandate as "very unpleasant" and felt it would disrupt direct negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

To ease tensions, the mission and the EU's special representative (EUSR) inform Azerbaijan in advance about the routes that the monitors plan to take.

The clashes around Karabakh and at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan during the last two months have shown how volatile the situation is, and that the EU is taking quite a risk in deploying EUMA to the border region.

The mission intends to contribute to reducing tensions in the conflict areas and near the border between the two countries. It also feeds into analyses of the situation on the ground and in that way helps inform the EU's efforts on border delimitation and demarcation. This includes the area near the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh.

But the EU is facing potential pitfalls.

Russia has been skeptical of EUMA, considering the mission an attempt to displace Russian influence in the region. In addition to the 2,000 peacekeepers in Karabakh, Russia has nearly 3,000 military and Federal Security Service (FSB) border guards in Armenia, controlling, among other things, the state border with Iran.

They also intercepted several patrols of the EU's temporary predecessor mission in 2022 on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. This shows that in places where the demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan is unclear EUMA, too, could find itself in tricky situations.

An increased engagement through EUMA and the talks led by EU Council president Charles Michel are not only an opportunity for the EU to make an important contribution to the stabilisation of the conflict — it could also be a turning point for the South Caucasus, where the traditional Russian presence is struggling to retain its influence.

Germany has become the major contributor to EUMA, not only providing the German head of mission, but also about 15 percent of EUMA's staff, by far the largest national contribution of any EU member states.

Berlin might be seen as a more neutral broker than Paris, which has been hamstrung by Azerbaijan's claim that it is merely acting on behalf of the large Armenian community in France. Both chancellor Olaf Scholz and foreign minister Annalena Baerbock have highlighted the German contribution to EUMA in recent speeches.

And it was at the Munich Security Conference in February 2023, where Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan met the last time and even shared a panel.

In 2023, the EU commands an interesting combination of instruments, which now seem to yield useful results.

EUMA can observe, verify, and build trust on the border, complementing the demarcation process, the tripartite talks between Michel, Pashinyan and Aliyev, and the work of the EU special representative for the Southern Caucasus and Georgia.

For Armenia and Azerbaijan, the talks in Virginia and now in Brussels can offer a unique chance for peace — even tough incidents from the ground might continue to tell a different story.

Tobias Pietz is deputy head of team analysis at the Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF) in Berlin.


Armenia’s press freest in region – Reporters Without Borders

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 13:04, 3 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has improved its position in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

Armenia is ranked 49th in the 2023 index. Last year the country was 51st.

Just like last year, in 2023 Armenia still has the freest press in the region.

Armenia’s neighbors Georgia is 77th, Turkey is 165th, Azerbaijan is 151st, while Iran is 177th.

The report mentions that Armenia is ‘facing an unprecedented level of disinformation and hate speech’.

 

ANCA-Western Region Endorses John Harabedian for California State Senate District 25

ANCA-WR’s endorsement of John Harabedian for California State Senate District 25 graphic


LOS ANGELES—The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region announced its endorsement of John Harabedian for California State Senate District 25. Harabedian is a former elected official, an attorney, and an advocate for the Armenian-American community.

Harabedian was born and raised in the small town of Sierra Madre, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. His post-secondary education saw John graduate from the prestigious schools of Yale, Oxford, and Stanford Law School. John Harabedian is a former Councilmember and Mayor of Sierra Madre, California, where he served from 2012 to 2020. He carries a diverse background in law, business, and public service. Harabedian is currently an attorney and investment manager at Omni Bridgeway. He also serves as a Regional Vice Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and a California State Commissioner. 

“John Harabedian is a son of the Armenian-American community, and we are confident that he will be a strong voice for our issues in the California State Senate, as he follows in the footsteps of Senator Anthony Portantino who has been our close friend and ally for many years,” said Nora Hovsepian, Esq., Chair of the ANCA-Western Region. “We look forward to working with him on the issues that matter to our community and ensuring Armenian-Americans are well represented in the State Legislature,” she continued.

Harabedian expressed gratitude for the endorsement and admiration for the ANCA-WR’s work. “I’m extremely honored to receive the endorsement of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region.  The ANCA-WR’s endorsement is deeply personal for me and the 25th Senate District, which is home to the largest population of Armenians in the United States.  I share the ANCA-WR’s mission of supporting a free, united, and independent Armenia and Artsakh.  The ANCA-WR’s grassroots work to represent the interests of Armenian Americans is second to none, and I look forward to working with them to attain our shared goal of having more robust Armenian representation in Sacramento,” concluded Harabedian.

Senate District 25 includes the cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, South Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Duarte, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, and Rancho Cucamonga. It also is home to the core of the Armenian-American population centered in Glendale, Burbank, and Pasadena. The primary election in California will take place on March 4. 

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.