US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has arrived in Moscow for consultations on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
“I will arrive in Moscow today and look forward to consultations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We are working together for peace in Nagorno Karabakh,” Warlick said in a Twitter post Sunday.
Goalkeeper of the Armenian national team Roman Berezovsky has rejected the reports about his intention to retire as footballer, Sport Express reports.
The 40-year-old will start working with the coaching staff of Dinamo Moscow this summer, but will continue playing for the national team.
Earlier reports in Armenian media suggested Berezovsky was going to quit his career.
“I have not made any final statement,” the goalkeeper said.
“No decision has been made. I may still play a few matches for the Armenian national team, if I’m in good form,” he said.
Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan Pascal Monnier says when the parties take no steps, the process stops.
He made the remarks commenting on the progress of negotiations to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“It is important that both parties take steps and set up claims,” the Ambassador told Trend News Agency.
“The Azerbaijani and Armenian sides should know that this point is very important and is in everyone’s interests.”
The ambassador said that France puts efforts for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Having reminded about the visits of French President Francois Hollande in September 2014 and April 2015 to Azerbaijan, Monnier said that talks were held during the visits.
He said that this issue was discussed more than once with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Baku on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the first European Games.
“Also, the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group traveled to France, where the discussions continued,” said the ambassador. “The OSCE Minsk Group is trying to organize a meeting of presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.”
The ambassador went on to add that France has good relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan and intends to expand cooperation with these countries.
“France is home to half a million Armenians, who are very active,” said the French ambassador. “Azerbaijan is important to France as a strategic partner. Every eight months, the French president meets with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
President Serzh Sargsyan, who has paid a working visit to the Kingdom of Belgium, today took part in the Summit of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Brussels. It was presided over by EPP President Joseph Daul and was joined by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, as well as by heads of state and government representing EPP member parties from EU and Eastern Partnership countries.
The participants discussed the current developments in the Eastern Partnership process after the Riga summit, as well as the approaches to dealing with the agenda items during the upcoming European council meeting.
The Armenian president will return to Armenia late tonight.
The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our overseas passport and visa systems. This issue is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan informs.
This issue is affecting Americans and all foreign visa applicants, including tourist, student, and business visa applicants. The Bureau of Consular Affairs is apologizes for the inconvenience and is working urgently to correct the problem and restore full operability.
U.S. passport applications accepted overseas on or after May 26, 2015 are affected by this delay. If you applied for a U.S. passport at the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan during this time frame and have travel plans within the next 10 business days, please consider requesting an emergency passport at the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.
Applications for a U.S. visa made after June 8, 2015 are also affected by this delay. Individuals with urgent travel should contact our visa appointment scheduling office at . You can also call the following phone numbers: +374-60-270-113 or +1-703-439-2353, or the Skype address USVISAARMENIA. Travelers with an urgent humanitarian need for travel should contact via email at .
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today Ebrahim Rahimpour, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who has arrived in Armenia to participate for inter-agency consultations.
Minister Nalbandian noted that Armenia and Iran are tied by warm, mutually beneficial relations, evidenced by high-level inter-state dialogue and active cooperation in different spheres.
Ebrahim Rahimpour conveyed the greetings of the Iranian Foreign Minister and said “Iran attaches importance to the reinforcement of friendly relations and expansion of cooperation with Armenia.”
The interlocutors referred to a number of issues on bilateral agenda, stressed the importance of cooperation in inter-parliamentary format and discussed the steps being taken towards the development of economic cooperation between the two countries. In this context the parties discussed the implementation of joint transport and energy projects.
Edward Nalbandian and Ebrahim Rahimpour exchanged views on a number of unrgent international and regional issues.
Iran’s Deputy FM briefed Minister Nalbandian on the latest developments in the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programs.
Minister Nalbandian presented the efforts towards the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
Humanity continues to consume far more natural resources than the planet can sustainably provide. Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points. It is time for us to change.
The goal of sustainable development is to increase the quality of life for all people without increasing environmental degradation, and without compromising the resource needs of future generations. We can do this by shifting our consumption patterns towards goods that use less energy, water and other resources, and by wasting less food.
The owner of a historic Armenian orphanage in Istanbul has decided to donate it to the Armenian community after days of protests over its planned demolition,  reports.Â
Camp Armen, a historic orphanage for Armenian children in Istanbul’s Tuzla district, may see its glory days again after the property’s owner, Fatih Ulusoy, announced he would donate it to the Armenian community.
The site, which has remained in ruins for years, was planned to be demolished by its current owner before activists, mostly from the Armenian community, rushed to stop the demolition earlier this month. The group camped out at the site for days, blocking bulldozers and later took to the streets for a rally against the destruction of the place that once housed orphaned Armenian children from all over Turkey.
Ulusoy issued a written statement announcing he has decided to donate the place to the GedikpaĹźa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation that built the orphanage in 1962. Ulusoy said Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄźlu had asked Istanbul Mayor Kadir TopbaĹź to help resolve the dispute, and he decided to donate it “to contribute to social peace and unity at a time of speculations over the 1915 incidents.” He was referring to the Armenian campaign to force Turkey to recognize the mass deaths of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide. Ulusoy said he was unaware that the orphanage was seized by the state in a controversial legal process when he bought it nine years ago.
Activists welcomed Ulusoy’s decision to halt the demolition and donate the land. Alexis Kalk, spokesman for Nor Zartonk (New Renaissance), an Armenian nongovernmental organization (NGO) whose members staged the sit-in strike for 18 days at the orphanage, announced the decision to the applause of activists. Kalk said they would continue their “struggle” until the formal process for the donation of the title deed to the foundation is completed. Kalk said the orphanage was not the only Armenian property seized by the state in the past and there were hundreds of others awaiting return to the Armenian community. He called on the government to draft a return policy for these properties and not to leave it to legal processes between current owners and the Armenian community.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Kalk said they were pleased that the matter was resolved “with the will of the government” and was not dragged down “despite it being a pre-election period,” referring to the upcoming general elections on June 7. He said Camp Armen would be restored and will likely be used as a center focused on children’s activities.
Camp Armen was confiscated after the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in 1974 that foundations set up by those who are not Turkish cannot acquire properties, based on a controversial 1936 regulation that paved the way for the seizure of properties from non-Muslim communities. The title deed for the orphanage, where more than 1,500 Armenians spent their childhood before its closure, was canceled in 1979. It was returned to its former owner and changed hands several times since then. Among the orphans raised in the historic building was the late Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the Agos daily and a renowned figure from the Turkish-Armenian community who was assassinated in 2007. His wife Rakel Dink also spent time there.
Since 2011, in the wake of a landmark government decree paving the way for the return of properties seized from non-Muslim minorities, several historic buildings in Istanbul and other cities were returned to minority communities, including Armenians. Minority community foundations have been granted the return of properties forcibly confiscated by the state in the past under discriminatory policies through lawsuits.
Ten youths have been arrested by Canadian police on suspicion of planning to travel to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State, the BBC reports.
All 10 had their passports confiscated after they were detained at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport at the weekend.
Police said in a statement on Tuesday that none of the suspects had been charged, but investigations were ongoing.
Their families have been informed.
“These are very difficult times for the relatives and loved ones of the persons arrested, as the decision to leave the country was not that of the family, but of a single family member,” the statement said.
“As a result, family members often find themselves at a complete loss and unable to understand the decision made by the youth.”
Police said they could not disclose the identity of the suspects or provide information about what led to their arrests.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Slovakia to participate in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the EU Eastern Partnership countries and the Visegrad Group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland or Slovakia), Press and Information Department of the Ministry of foreign Affairs informs.