Author: Mary Lazarian

‘It is all the same for me who will be in power’, Seyran Ohanyan on street fighting

Mary Lazarian
Aravot, Armenia

“I will continue my activities in the social-political sphere and about the formats, I’ll tell later”, said the leader of the ORO alliance, former Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan, during a talk with journalists, at the end of the “Heritage” party conference.

Journalists asked whether he is for that “ORO” alliance becomes a united party. “There should be a broad consolidation of powers and more organized activities. We will define its formats. Anyway, we will continue to be in close relations, we will be with people”, said Seyran Ohanyan.

In response to the question, “Will you go out for a street fight? May that happen next year, when Serzh Sargsyan resigns his commission?”, Seyran Ohanyan said, “I do not know who will be in the government and in power, it is all the same for me. The important is that the government should carry out relevant activities so that the country can move forward. I have always been in favor of change”.

Luiza SUKIASYAN


Sports: Armenian Olympian Simon Martiroyan Crowned World Junior Weightlifting Champion

Mary Lazarian
The Armenian Weekly

By Weekly Staff on

TOKYO, Japan (A.W.)—Armenian Olympic silver medalist Simon Martirosyan was crowned the World Junior Weightlifting Champion (+105 kg Men) after winning gold at the 2017 World Junior Weightlifting Championships held in Tokyo, Japan.

Martirosyan at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics

Martirosyan lifted 191 kg in the snatch and 235 kg in the clean and jerk in the +105 kg weight category on June 23 to be crowned world champion.

Born on Feb. 17, 1997 in Haykashen, Martirosyan is the current youth world record holder for the snatch, the clean and jerk, and total in the +94 kg division.

The Armenian athlete won a gold medal at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, a bronze medal in 2016 European Weightlifting Championships, and became Armenia’s first medal winner at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after winning a silver in men’s 105 kg weightlifting on Aug. 15, 2016. Martirosyan lifted a total of 417 kg, and placed second only to Ruslan Nurudinov of Uzbekistan, who set an Olympic record with a total weight of 431 kg.

Two other Armenian athletes—Sona Poghosyan (70 kg) and Samvel Gasparyan (105 kg)—won bronze medals at the 2017 World Junior Weightlifting Championships.

BAKU: Russia says it’s doing ‘everything possible’ for compromise to be reached on Karabakh conflict

Mary Lazarian
APA, Azerbaijan

Russia, as a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, is doing everything possible for a compromise to be reached, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

 

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have their own views on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Zakharova said while asked to comment on Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s statement that the four UN Security Council resolutions must be taken as the basis for the resolution of the conflict, an APA correspondent reported from Moscow.

 

She noted that there is an established format for the resolution of the conflict.

 

“This is really an old problem, which involves finding a compromise. The essence of the conflict’s settlement is finding a compromise between the conflict’s parties, which seem to be taking quite opposite stance,” Zakharova said.

 

“The situation requires moving forward, and, therefore, contacts in various formats have recently intensified,” she added.

 

The spokesperson stressed that Russia, as a mediator in the conflict’s settlement, is doing everything possible for a compromise to be reached.

 

“Of course, we would like a compromise to be found as soon as possible, but not to the detriment of the peoples of the two countries, as well as people living in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Zakharova added.

 

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

 

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

 

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

 

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

 

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.  

 

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

BAKU: Estonia’s FM: There is no military solution to Karabakh conflict

Mary Lazarian
APA, Azerbaijan

There is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser.

 He made the remarks at the press conference June 12 following the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku, APA reports.

 He noted that peaceful settlement of the conflict serves the interests of the parties. “They should avoid rhetoric that can impede the situation. We are sure that OSCE Minsk Group will take more effort for solution of this conflict,” he said. 

BAKU: French envoy: Macron to make every effort to resolve Karabakh conflict peacefully

Mary Lazarian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 2 2017
2 June 2017 17:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The newly-elected French president will make every effort to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully, French Ambassador to Baku Aurelia Bouchez said at a press conference on June 2.

She noted that President Emmanuel Macron realizes the value of rich bilateral ties existing between France and Azerbaijan.

Bouchez added that Macron is informed about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“He will make every effort to settle the conflict peacefully. I think his position will be aimed at the peaceful settlement of this conflict and the role of the OSCE Minsk Group in this matter,” the envoy said, stressing that the main priority is to find a peaceful solution to this problem.

France along with Russia and the U.S. is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

For more than two decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevan’s aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.