Author: Lilit Nahapetian

The Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has expressed gratitude to delegates, who demonstrated a principled stance and rejected a report dangerous for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict presented by Robert Walter.

The Armenian delegation said in a statement that the two reports debated at PACE today “grossly distort the history and essence of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and impermissibly interfere with the peaceful settlement process.” “This is supported by an earlier statement released by the OSCE Minsk Group and the speeches of a number of delegates during the plenary sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly,” the statement reads.

“Aware of the responsibility of the moment, members of the Parliamentary Assembly rejected the report on “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan.”

As for the second report on Sarsang water reservoir “a number of MPs voted in favor of it, ignoring the opinion of the international community and demonstrating a unilateral stance, thus attributing a political meaning to a humanitarian-technical report.”

Aras Ozbiliz seems very close to a Besiktas move, reports, quoting  Haber1903.

According to the report, the Armenian international winger has reached an agreement on all terms with the Black Eagles and will arrive in Istanbul today to sign a contract for 4,5 years after he passes his medical.

Ozbiliz will be bought from Spartak Moscow for a fee of around € 3 million and will be directly loaned out to Spanish La Liga side Rayo Vallecano until the end of the season. Reason for this is because Gökhan Töre will most likely be sold at the end of the season. Özbiliz will have 6 months to get in good shape at a good level, La Liga, and he can immediately take Töre’s place when he is sold for a good transfer fee.

Ozbiliz played in the youth academy of Ajax Amsterdam before getting in their first team. He played two seasons for the Dutch club, in which he had some very good games. His most memorable moment for them was when he scored the equalizer at Old Trafford against Manchester United in 2012. At the end of that season he was sold to Krasnodar, before moving to Spartak Moscow only one year later for a transfer fee of € 8 million. Besiktas have been following him for nearly two years now and it seems like he will finally make his transfer to the club.

Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications Gagik Beglaryan on Tuesday called for activation of regional transport corridors between Iran, Armenia, central Asian countries and the Persian Gulf, reports.

Beglaryan held a meeting with Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhundi.
Beglaryan told reporters that he discussed ways to activate Persian Gulf corridor to the Black Sea to develop transit passage for the regional countries.

‘I am confident that the outcome of joint cooperation on transport would be very positive. Armenia intends to construct suitable roads to promote transit in the region.’

Beglaryan said that the two sides discussed cooperation on railways and transit of goods in light of the capacities of the regional states railway networks.

The Armenian minister said that in talks with Iranian minister, he reached agreement on fixed transport tariffs for the two countries.

Real Madrid has fired coach Rafa Benitez after seven months and replaced him with former player Zinedine Zidane, the Associated Press reports.

Club president Florentino Perez announced the decision at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Monday, a day after Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Valencia deepened a crisis that started with an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to rival Barcelona in November.

Madrid won seven of nine matches since that demoralizing defeat but fans continued to demand the departure of Benitez, whose Liverpool side won the Champions League in 2005.

Real Madrid is third in the Spanish league, four points behind leader Atletico Madrid and two behind Barcelona.

France soccer great Zidane, who was Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant in 2014 when Real Madrid won the Champions League, has been coaching Madrid’s “B” team in the third division.

Armenian Ambassador in Damascus Arshak Poladian warned against the danger of the continuation of the unjust project which has been started from more than one hundred years ago by the Ottoman tyrants, who seek to obliterate the historical, civilizational, geographical and humanitarian roots of the Armenian people, SANA reports.

Ambassador Arshak, participating in a symposium held Sunday at Damascus-based Abu Rumana Cultural Center under the title “lights on the History of the Armenian Issue,” said that the genocide committed by the Ottomans against the Armenians is an obnoxious crime and terrorism against people inside their homeland.

He reiterated that despite of the Turkish attempts, the tragedy, in which about a million and half of the Armenian people were killed between the years 1915 and 1923, is still moving from one generation to another and it leaves a destructive cultural and moral effect on all the Armenians.

He clarified that Syria and its people have been the safe sanctuary for the Armenian people during that difficult stage as Syria embraced many of the survivors and it provided the safety and security and a decent living to them, and over the years, they mingled in the mosaic of the Syrian society.

The Ambassador concluded by thanking the Syrian people and expressing deep gratitude for them, wishing that security and stability will return to Syria and its people and that Syria will overcome the crisis.

A six-minute long film was screened during the symposium. The film talks about the Armenian deep-rooted culture and charming nature and beautiful streets which have been described by the historians as the God’s paradise on the earth.

The film was accompanied by a sad melody reflecting the difficult circumstances which the Armenian people went through at that time.

Photo: AP

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family members are directly involved in illegal oil deliveries from Islamic State (IS) oil fields in Syria, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

These oil revenues are used not only to enrich the Turkish leadership but to arm terrorists as well, the General Staff stated.

Oil from IS-controlled areas in Syria is shipped to refineries in third countries after being transported to Turkey, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command said Wednesday.

“Space reconnaissance has reliably showed that after crossing the border, tank trucks carrying oil head to the ports of Dortyol and Iskenderun,” Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy told reporters.

Russian deputy defense minister said that Russia will continue to provide facts that Turkey steals from its neighbors, adding that it’s a surprise no one in the West ever noticed that Erdogan’s son is the owner of one of the largest energy companies, while the president’s son-in-law was appointed energy minister.

Russian Defense Ministry’s information on IS oil trade will be published online.

Moscow calls on Ankara to provide access to places where, according to Russian data, IS oil trade centers are located, Antonov said.

“I am certain that there will be claims that everything you’ve seen here now is false. Well, if there are no such things, they [Turkey] should grant access to the places we showed journalists today,” Antonov said after presenting satellite data and photos said to prove Turkey’s involvement in illegal IS oil trade.

Bulgarian authorities discovered an explosive device on Tuesday in a van parked just outside the capital Sofia’s international airport, Reuters reports.

“An explosive device had been found in the van,” Sofia airport spokeswoman Daniela Veleva said, adding that police were still trying to dispose of the device.

Bulgarian police had earlier evacuated a section of the airport’s Terminal 1 while bags seen in the van were checked.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Paris on the sidelines of the UN climate conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, TASS reports.

“The meeting with Erdogan (in Paris) is not planned, this meeting is not being discussed. There will be no such meeting,” Peskov told reporters.

Peskov stressed that no other contacts with the Turkish leader, including a phone conversation, are included in Putin’s schedule.

The Turkish president has tried to call Putin twice and later sent an official request for the meeting with the Russian leader at the Paris conference on Monday.

Photo: Sputnik/ Michael Alaeddin

 

The Syrian armed forces have thwarted the terrorists’ attempt to seize a military airfield in Syria’s northeastern Deir-az-Zor province, killing 25 attackers and wounding many others, Russian media reported Friday.

“The airfield’s defenders beat back the attack coming from eastern, northeastern and southeastern directions, killing 25 of them,” a military source told RIA Novosti news agency.

“A series of airstrikes by the Syrian air force helped the army to repel the enemy attack and then counterattack, seizing several villages outside the airbase,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Most of the Deir-az-Zor province remains under the terrorists’ control and the local airbase is the government forces’ main stronghold there.

The militants make regular attempts to storm the base using explosives-laden trucks and armor.

The latest such attack in September lasted for 15 hours, but the Syrian garrison, backed by aviation, has successfully been repelling all enemy attacks and driving out the ISIL fighters holed up in the nearby villages.

Egyptian officials have arrested two Sharm al-Sheikh airport workers on suspition of aiding terrorists in planting a bomb on board the Russian flight A321, according to security staff, Sputnik News reports.