Author: Maral Takmazian

Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences and STARMUS sign Memorandum of Understanding

Maral Takmazian

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 17:36,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Ashot Saghyan and Founding Director of STARMUS International Festival, Doctor Garik Israelian signed a memorandum of understanding on August 22.

According to the MoE, the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia is officially the partner and supporter of the organization of STARMUS festival in Yerevan.

STARMUS VI festival will be held in Yerevan, Armenia on September 5-11, 2022. The previous STARMUS festivals were held in Spain, Norway and Switzerland.

“This festival will firstly create new directions for cooperation and opportunities for new discussions because world-renowned scientists, Nobel Prize winners are going to visit Armenia. This event will particularly be of special importance for young scientists. With these events we should try to guide our young scientists and keep them in science. I welcome this initiative and on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences I want to thank the organizers, Mr. Israelian, the respective structures of our government who support the holding of the festival”, Ashot Saghyan said.

“STARMUS VI festival is first of all for our youth in order to motivate them not to leave science, continue working in science sector and be convinced that the role of science in society will further strengthen. There was a phase when science capacity declined, but I always say that it is in the past, and now we are entering a new stage. Everyone will gradually understand that humanity has no future without science”, Garik Israelian said.

Garo Paylan appeals to Ankara Prosecutor’s Office

Maral Takmazian
NEWS.am
Armenia – Aug 17 2022
Garo Paylan appeals to Ankara Prosecutor’s Office
18:41, 17.08.2022

The lawyer of Garo Paylan, an Armenian deputy in the Turkish Parliament, provided details online about an assassination attempt on his client, which was planned several years ago.

According to Turkey’s Bianet, Paylan himself said in connection with the post that an assassination attempt was attempted on him in 2016, but some people prevented it. “After the assassination attempt was reported, law enforcement agencies have been very slow, which is why I went to the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office,” he said.

The deputy’s lawyer Mehmet Incen, on the other hand, noted in his entry that weapons were sneaked into the parliament building in 2016 to organize an assassination attempt on Garo Paylan.

Demand to resettle outrages Akhavno villagers

Maral Takmazian
Caucasian Knot
Aug 8 2022
Residents of the village of Akhavno in Nagorno-Karabakh have called on presidents of France and the United States to intervene in the situation with their forced resettlement. They demanded to include their village into the area of the new transport corridor built 1200 meters off Akhavno.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Armenian authorities announced the start in August of the construction of a road bypassing the Lachin Corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. The villagers of the communities of Akhavno, Sus and Berdzor were told that they should leave their homes by August 25, as the Lachin Corridor would be handed over to Azerbaijan.

In social networks, the Armenian Council of the National Democratic Pole has published a letter signed by 56 Akhavno villagers addressed to presidents of France and the USA – the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group – Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden.

The authors of the letter are sure that the forced resettlement of Armenians from the communities is undertaken under a secret agreement of Yerevan, Baku and Stepanakert.

Andranik Chaushyan, the head of the Akhavno community of 200 people, said that half of the villagers hope they won’t be kicked out of their homes, while others are gradually packing up.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 8, 2022 at 03:07 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:
Stepanakert states Baku’s demand to use highway bypassing Lachin Corridor, Baku analysts assess prospects for return of Lachin under Azerbaijan’s control, Forced migrants from Nagorno-Karabakh call for easier allocation of housing in Armenia.

Author: Alvard Grigoryan Source: СK correspondent
Source:
© Caucasian Knot

Employers to be required by law to adapt working conditions for people with disabilities

Maral Takmazian

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 14:21,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. There are 196,000 people with disabilities in Armenia, and according to the latest data from the Statistical Committee over 27,000 people with disabilities are employed.

Many employers have already adapted working conditions for them.

Now, the Armenian Government is introducing legislation requiring employers to ensure reasonable adaptations at the workplace for people with disabilities.

The new regulations will take effect January 1, 2023.

“We’ve defined reasonable adaptation types, which I will present now so that employers don’t think that it implies big expenses. For example, a person with disability with diabetes can agree with their employer to change the lunch break hours from the 1 hour break to 15-minute breaks every 2 hours. Another example, the replacement of the door handle which must be lowered, and so on,” Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Tatevik Stepanyan said at a news conference.

United States Congresswoman Linda Sanchez condemns Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh

Maral Takmazian

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 11:01, 9 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9, ARMENPRESS. United States Congresswoman Linda Sanchez condemned Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attack on Artsakh.

“I am disturbed by reports that Azerbaijan has violated its ceasefire agreement & launched an unprovoked attack on the people of Artsakh. I strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression, & I join the international community in calling for an immediate end to hostilities in the region,” Sanchez said in a statement published on Twitter.

Reuters: Kremlin calls for restraint from Azerbaijan, Armenia over Karabakh fighting

Maral Takmazian
Reuters
Aug 4 2022
Reuters

MOSCOW, Aug 4 (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Thursday called for restraint from both sides after Azerbaijan said its forces had crushed an Armenian attack near the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. read more

The dispute over the region, a mountainous territory inside Azerbaijan controlled since the 1990s by ethnic Armenians, flared in 2020 into a six-week war in which Azeri troops regained swathes of territory.

Both sides accused each other of violating the terms of a Russia-brokered ceasefire on Wednesday, which prompted international calls for an end to the 30 years of fighting.

“We are watching very closely, we are naturally concerned about the situation worsening,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We ask the parties for restraint and most importantly to implement all provisions of the trilateral documents.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to work on a peace plan after a ceasefire but the two sides periodically accuse each other of firing shells.

Peskov said there were currently no plans for President Vladimir Putin to speak to his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, but that any contact could be quickly arranged.

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

Turkish press: Kremlin calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to exercise restraint in Karabakh

Maral Takmazian
Jeyhun Aliyev   |04.08.2022

Russian military control center in Karabakh, Azerbaijan ( Stringer – Anadolu Agency )

ANKARA

The Kremlin on Thursday said it is concerned about the recent situation in the Karabakh region, calling on Armenia and Azerbaijan to exercise restraint and implement the tripartite agreements.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan may exchange views on the situation around Karabakh during a meeting in Sochi on Friday.

Putin and Erdogan will discuss the situation in Ukraine and Syria during the meeting, he also said.

Putin’s schedule does not yet include contacts with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev amid the escalation in Karabakh, according to the Kremlin spokesman, but “it can be quickly organized if necessary.”

Azerbaijan said it launched a retaliatory operation Wednesday against Armenian forces in Karabakh after Armenia opened fire and killed an Azerbaijani soldier, according to its Defense Ministry.

Azerbaijan “took relevant measures” and launched a counter-operation after Armenian forces tried to seize Girkhgiz hill and establish new combat positions, a ministry statement said.

“As a result of the ‘revenge’ retaliatory measure carried out by Azerbaijani Army Units, the Girkhgiz peak, as well as Saribaba along the Karabakh ridge of the Lesser Caucasus and a number of other important heights, were taken under control,” it added.

Separately, the ministry on Thursday reported “full control over the operational situation” in the region.  

Ukraine grain export deal

Meanwhile, touching upon the sustainability of the grain export deal signed in Istanbul, Peskov said this mechanism, established to support the export of grain accumulated in Ukrainian ports, “does not cover a one-time process. We hope it continues to work with the same efficiency.”

The agreement is a “good example of how the most difficult issues can be resolved with the interests of all parties in mind,” he added.

He also said Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “personally made a great contribution.”

Besides, the two leaders are expected to exchange views on the issue of grain shipments during a meeting in Sochi, he noted.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a historic deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.

To oversee Ukrainian grain exports, a joint coordination center (JCC) in Istanbul was officially launched on July 27, comprising representatives from Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine to enable the safe transport by merchant ships of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers from the three key Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper Karabakh), a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

During the conflict in fall 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for nearly three decades.

A Russian-brokered deal in November 2020 brought an end to the conflict.

Artsakh parliamentary factions call on all int’l organizations to take practical steps to prevent new crimes

Maral Takmazian

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 12:48, 4 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s another encroachments are a gross violation of the ceasefire achieved in November 2020, which aim at continuing the policy of Armenophobia and causing panic in Artsakh, the parliamentary factions of Artsakh said in a statement released today.

“Since August 1 the armed forces of Azerbaijan have resorted to provocative military operations in different sections of the Line of Contact between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, as a result of which we have casualties and wounded.

The factions of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh call these encroachments of Azerbaijan a gross violation of the ceasefire regime achieved in November 2020, which pursue a goal to continue the anti-Armenian policy and cause panic moods in Artsakh.

Azerbaijan is regularly accusing Armenia and Russia of not fulfilling the trilateral agreements of November 9, in case when Azerbaijan itself has not fulfilled almost any point of that statement.

This behavior is not something new for us. Azerbaijan has always carried out a policy of ethnic cleansing, forced deportation, consistently violating the vital interests and rights of the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh. The recent incidents, the presence of the victims and wounded once again prove that peaceful co-existence within Azerbaijan is ruled out for Artsakh. Peace is a highest value, however, there couldn’t be peace under a threat of force and constant violations of human rights and dignity.

During the 44-Day War in 2020 we witnessed the silence of the international community and at that period all crimes committed against the people of Artsakh didn’t receive a proper condemnation, and as a result of this Azerbaijan continues expanding the scales of aggressive actions.

We call on the parliaments of different countries and all international organizations to grossly condemn the latest actions of Azerbaijan and take practical steps to prevent new crimes.

We urge the Russian peacekeepers to take all necessary actions to ensure establishment of stability in the Line of Contact.

Bowing before all victims of the Artsakh liberation fight, we once again affirm our people’s right to have a free and independent state as the only guarantee of living safely”, the statement says.

The statement has been signed by “Free Motherland-UCA”, “Justice”, “United Motherland”, ARF, “Democratic Party of Artsakh” factions.

France’s Macron talks to Pashinyan and Aliyev, expresses concern over recent escalation

Maral Takmazian
Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 5 2022
August 5, 2022, 02:05

President of France Emmanuel Macron is closely following the development of the situation in the South Caucasus. He spoke by telephone with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, this Thursday, August 4, 2022, and had talked the day before to the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan.

He expressed his concern over the serious incidents that have occurred in recent days, particularly in the Lachin corridor. He called for everything to be done to avoid an escalation. He stressed the importance of respecting the commitments made under the statement on ceasefire of November 9, 2020.

“France keeps in close contact with the parties and with its partners in order to continue to support and contribute to efforts in favor of dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and for stability in the region,” Macron’s press office said.