«Թեքեյան» մշակութային միության Լիբանանի շրջանային վարչության անդամները և լիբանանցի պատանի երաժիշտները հյուրընկալվեցին Սփյուռքի նախարարությո = ?UTF-8?Q?=D6=82=D5=B6=D5=B8=D6=82=D5=B4?=

Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.

Sincerely,
Media and PR Department
(+374 10) 585601, internal 805


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Armenian official at PACE: Agramunt is a missioner, defender of Azerbaijan’s interests

news.am, Armenia



 Armenian official at PACE: Agramunt is a missioner, defender of
Azerbaijan's interests

21:03, 27.06.2017



President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) Pedro Agramunt is a missioner, that is the defender of
Azerbaijan's interests, representative of the Armenian delegation to
PACE, Deputy Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly (NA) Mikayel
Melkumyan stated in his speech at the PACE plenary session on Tuesday.


''The fact that Agramunt is the defender of Azerbaijan's interests was
also confirmed by the speech of the Azerbaijani delegation
representative Samad Seyidov. Therefore, today's discussion is
directly linked to Agramunt's conduct, which is unacceptable. But he
is again absent. Thus, he should resign and leave,'' he noted.

According to Melkumyan, the struggle against corruption should be
measurable and visible, certain steps being taken by Armenia in this
direction, particularly with regard to legislation and administration:
the country has adopted laws on criminalization of unlawful enrichment
and formation of a new anti-corruption body.

''I think the international community and the governments of different
states should unite their forces for preventing this issue and its
further overcoming. But how can one work effectively in that direction
if, for instance, in a country like Azerbaijan the head of the state
himself backs development of corruption, provoking aggressive military
actions as it happened in April 2016 all along the Nagorno-Kaarbakh
and Azerbaijani border. Materials have been published in a number of
official periodicals and other media sources, including within the
framework of Panama Papers, pursuant to which Azerbaijani President
Aliyev's family and, particularly, his daughters possess enormous
wealth in different countries of the world. I had an opportunity to
voice about this phenomenon during the previous plenary sessions of
our organization. But because the topic under discussion is the
struggle against corruption, I would like to reiterate that we should
make efficient proposals and provide guarantees for overcoming this
phenomenon,'' he said.


 

BAKU: Interpol Not to Extradite Yunus Couple on Demand from Baku

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition
 Tuesday


Interpol Not to Extradite Yunus Couple on Demand from Baku



Baku / 06/13/17 / Turan: Following a letter from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and on behalf of lawyers from the
European Human Rights Advocacy Center addressed to the Secretary
General of Interpol, Prof Dr Jürgen Stock, Secretary-General, INTERPOL
received a joint appeal of 26 international human rights organizations
entitled: "Prevent the misuse of Interpol in case of prominent
Azerbaijani human rights defenders".

The link of this appeal in English is: 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__iphronline.org&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=zi4PQSy9Dajv9cp5HDFaFYuvvwMTYCE2Jz6D385l3nY&s=QOoQBtsn7GOBupurhzD1AYYTr_pToPNiseDinjq6Gc4&e=
 
/joint-ngo-appeal-prevent-misuse-inter, the historian Arif Yunus said.

The Interpol response has already been received, which says that the
Azerbaijani authorities' request to arrest Arif and Leila Yunus and
forced deportation to Azerbaijan will be rejected.

"Thus, the question of our compulsory extradition with the help of
Interpol is closed, but we are not going to end our struggle on
this.Amongless that, the authorities of Azerbaijan raised an important
topic: the need to reform Interpol to prevent the use of this
international institution in the struggle of dictatorial and
authoritarian regimes with dissidents. After all, these regimes in
many countries in the post-Soviet space and in other regions of the
world have long been trying to use Interpol to arrest and deport
dissidents from their countries. We raised this issue to prevent the
use of Interpol in the dirty intentions of the dictators," A. Yunus
said on the Facebook page.

In May, the Baku Court of Appeal ruled that the human rights activists
and former political prisoners Leila and Arif Yunus that had to leave
the country and are currently living in the Netherlands should be
forcibly brought to the court.

* Recall that Leila and Arif Yunus were arrested in 2014, and
convicted on a far-fetched charge of spying for Armenia in 2015. They
spent about a year and a half in prison. They were released on parole,
but the charges were not quashed. Later they were allowed to go abroad
for treatment. -0-

US ambassador to Armenia: We await our future cooperation with emergency ministry

news.am, Armenia
US ambassador to Armenia: We await our future cooperation with emergency ministry

16:59, 12.06.2017

YEREVAN. – The Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia, Davit Tonoyan, on Monday received a US delegation, led by Ambassador Richard Mills. 

Tonoyan stressed the importance of regional cooperation and noted that, with US assistance, this cooperation can become closer and more effective, the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Mills, for his part, said the US and Armenia have been partners for 25 years, the US embassy in capital city Yerevan has always considered the MES a reliable partner, and that they await their future cooperation with the ministry.

The interlocutors discussed avenues for intensification and expansion of cooperation in disaster risk reduction and in emergencies.

Armenian Defense Minister calls mediators’ attention to border situation

 A1 Plus, Armenia
 
 

On June 10, Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan received the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Richard Hoagland, Igor Popov and Stephane Visconti, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The parties discussed the state of the Karabakh conflict, the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact, the developments since the last meeting with the Co-Chairs.

The Armenian Defense Minister called the attention of his guests to the recent incident on the frontline and welcomed the targeted response of the international mediators.

As an important guarantee of the productivity of negotiations over the conflict, Vigen Sargsyan emphasized the importance of implementation of investigation mechanisms in accordance to the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements, and thereby the formation of an atmosphere of mutual trust.

Pope Francis congratulates Archbishop Levon Zekiyan on golden jubilee of priestly ordination

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Wednesday


 Pope Francis congratulates Archbishop Levon Zekiyan on golden jubilee
of priestly ordination



YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Spiritual leader of Turkey’s Armenian
Catholic community Archbishop Levon Zekiyan received a congratulatory
letter from Pope Francis on the golden jubilee - 50th anniversary of
the priestly ordination, Istanbul’s Armenian ‘Zhamanak’ newspaper
reports.

Although such congratulatory letters are usually sent by cardinals of
relevant departments, in Zekiyan’s case the letter was sent personally
from Pope Francis with his signature.

In the letter Pope Francis said they pray for divine consolation to
comfort Archbishop Zekiyan and reward his personal virtues.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__armenpress.am_eng_news_893016_pope-2Dfrancis-2Dcongratulates-2Darchbishop-2Dlevon-2Dzekiyan-2Don-2Dgolden-2Djubilee-2Dof-2Dpriestly-2Dordination.html&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=8nDkaEyHixrOlzE79irKDtyM_k3TWY8tXk4kKZ6oc7k&s=nIJ1r6-mTnEGUKOImIpBn7J6yOabSd_rj1lqt_YbQB0&e=
 

BAKU: Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform issues statement on Vahan Martirosyan

APA, Azerbaijan

“Vahan Martirosyan, who was repeatedly persecuted in Armenia, was forced to leave his homeland. He continued his peacekeeping ideas after moving to Ukraine”, says the statement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace, APA reports. 

 

However, a group of criminals which established their power based on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict, opposing to application of international norms and principles to this conflict and showing interest in maintaining the existing status-quo, found Vahan Martirosyan in Ukraine. “Vahan Martirosyan facing pressure from people, who continue the occupation policy and don’t want peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, addressed a video to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace. He repeatedly mentioned European Institutions and International organizations in the message and it is clear evidence that the cooperation between the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform and these organizations cause concern of people, who don’t want peace between the two nations. European parliamentarians' visit to the region, support for the initiative of Peace Platform’s participation in the European Union's programs caused concern of the enemies of peace.  Member of Parliament Kyiv Regional Rada, ethnic armenian Armen Shaharyants faced the same problem when he issued statement on joining the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace. It caused great interest of Armenians. It didn’t happen due to pressures. Similar events occur regarding the activity of the Peace Platform. Fore example,

a young writer Lusine Nersisyan, who is living in Khankendi, left the Peace Platform under pressure and a number of Armenian activists are fearing from joining the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace, but are always supporting us.

 

Peacekeeping requires great sacrifice, courage and effort. As the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace, we understand that Vahan Martirosyan would be unable to take part in the process of peace-building under total pressure of the Armenian power structures and express gratitude to him for going with us through this difficult path. This once again proves that growing international support for the Peace Platform disturbs some forces that regard the establishment of peace, the peaceful coexistence of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples dangerous for their continued existence. As a result of it, the pressure on the Peace Platform increases. Peaceful representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan should cooperate more actively with the Peace Platform as a protest to the forces that oppose this fragile peacemaking process. International Organizations should properly assess the uniqueness of the Peace Platform and strengthen relations with the platform for establishing trust between the two peoples.  For this reason, we call upon all international organizations that want peace in the region to help and contribute to the breakthrough in peacekeeping activities in order to unite efforts and ensure the protection of the rights of Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace will continue to intensively pursue its activities for reconciliation of the two peoples and the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” says the statement.

BAKU: Armenian government approves next silly idea to stop corruption

AzerNews

By Rashid Shirinov

The widespread corruption in Armenia is gaining momentum, and now the government of the country has come up with another silly idea.

In addition to the Anti-Corruption Council, Armenia is going to create the second body, now not for fight against corruption but for its prevention.

The Armenian government has proposed to establish another almost identical body to combat the corruption in the country. The draft law "On body for prevention of corruption" was approved at the government meeting on May 25, the Armenian media report.

The Armenian media reported that the new body on prevention of corruption will monitor ethics of the country’s officials, conflicts of interest and other requirements for the Armenian officials.

These requirements will apply not only to high-ranking officials, but also to employees in sectors with high potential risks of corruption: public procurement, public prosecution and investigative bodies.

So far, the Anti-Corruption Council of Armenia failed to fight against this problem, which is destroying the country and its statehood.

The fact of destructive corruption in Armenia was repeatedly pointed out by many foreign representatives in the country. In particular, the U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills has recently harshly demanded from the Armenian authorities to stop this outrage. The diplomat noted that if Armenia does not manage to solve the problem of corruption, it will affect the relations between the two countries in specific areas – for example, in investments.

It is obvious that no matter how many state bodies against corruption Armenia creates, nothing will change while its current president Serzh Sargsyan rules the country. Instead of implementing a serious fight against the problem, the authorities make unrealistic promises for poor Armenian population, just like Sargsyan has recently made at the first meeting of the newly elected Parliament.

The 2015 report of the Transparency International Anti-corruption Center showed that Armenia is one of the most corrupt country of the world.

Despite the European Union Delegation to Yerevan contributing €1.5 million towards two anti-corruption projects in the 2011-2014 period, the doleful situation has shown no signs of change. Moreover, the Armenian authorities do not support the fight but impede it, as the government is itself mired in corruption.