Armenian builders of the Talin-Lanjik and Lanjik-Gyumri sections of the North-South highway are holding a protest action. It is already six days that they refuse to work.
Workers demand from the Chinese “Sinohydro” company to increase salaries, reduce working hours and ensure their safety during construction work.
An impressive phalanx of young, strong grandmasters faced off at the RTU-Open in Latvia, among them the cream of the German crop: Bluebaum, Donchenko, Svane, Schroeder, Kollars — a series of (roughly) 2600s, which testifies that at the top of the German chess the “young savages” are gaining ground. In Riga they could expect both stronger opposition and a threefold higher prize fund (€15,000 euros) than in the German Championship.
Of this group, Svane performed the best with five wins and four draws to reach a tie for 3rd-9th places. The biggest piece of the prize cake was sliced off by two Armenians: Robert Hovhannisyan and Manuel Petrosyan landed in shared first with 7½ / 9, followed by local hero Igor Kovalenko and upcoming Russian star Andrey Esipenko among two of the seven players with 7/9.
The 16-year-old Esipenko is going to be one to watch in the coming years. He has been steadily moving up the ranks of the Top Juniors list — currently at number 18.
In the seventh round, he dismantled IM Cruz Lledo’s dubious novelty 9…f5 in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted.
Also in the seventh round, Hovhannisyan took down his main rival GM Igor Kovalenko with a killer blow:
Petrosyan won his last three games to pull into a tie for first place including a fine effort in the last round against local Latvian GM Nikita Meshkovs.
White has been dutifully “playing for two results” and has managed to get his opponent into a position where he has no constructive moves. But 34…h6 proved to be quite destructive after the nice manoeuvre, 35.Nc3 Re5 36.Rxe5 Qxe5 37.Rd5! Qf6 38.Rf5, targeting the f7 pawn. Black is helpless.
For the German delegation, the tournament went pretty well. After two thirds she was closed on the upper ranks to find — with one exception: Matthias Bluebaum started poorly (2/4) and even had to look up to his father Karl-Ernst (Elo 2253) playing on a higher board.
Kreisl, from Austria, scored his second GM-norm after pragmatically taking a short draw with white in the ninth round to finish with a performance of 2629.
Armenia’s vast diaspora, estimated at 7-10mn people worldwide, is to be offered government-issued diaspora bonds, global development media platform devex reported on August 15.
The diaspora far outnumbers the impoverished post-Soviet nation’s population of 2.9mn, thus the Armenian government sees a rich opportunity to leverage the support of the far-flung Armenian community for long-term, sustainable development work.
The administration, led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, the non-violent protest leader who came to power in the spring after a people’s revolution, in May appointed Babken DerGrigorian as an economic advisor and Deputy Minister for the Diaspora. A native Californian of Armenian descent, he is pushing the plan for diaspora bonds. It’s a model that Israel and India have both used effectively, but it has been less successful in other places, such as Ethiopia, the media platform wrote.
The government reportedly expects to release a formal strategy for the bonds by the end of the year.
devex quoted DerGrigorian as saying in an interview: “We have a diaspora that is already very involved in charity, but the point is to leverage a small amount of charity intention for a much greater financial impact. These government bonds generally will be lower than the market rate of return, but still better than putting your money in a bank account. It is a win-win situation, in the sense that the government also gets access to cheaper credit on the international market, usually local currency.
“The proposition you make to the diaspora is that instead of giving away money to charity as a donation, [you can] use your charity intention to take on the risk associated with local currency bonds.”
YEREVAN, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS. In a meeting with the residents of Noyemberyan PM Pashinyan assured that Armenia does everything to organize the safe return of Karen Ghazaryan captured by Azerbaijanis. ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan reminded that his wife, Anna Hakobyan, visited Karen Ghazaryan’s family a few days ago.
“We take that issue very seriously and are seriously engaged in it. If you know recently my wife, Anna Hakobyan, visited Karen Ghazaryan’s family after which a letter was conveyed to Karen and there was a good news that he is alive”, Pashinyan said.
According to Pashinyan, the Armenian side does everything for organizing the return of Karen Ghazaryan.
“The Justice Ministry immediately after the incident with Karen Ghazaryan took urgent and professional measures at the ECHR and a very important decision over Karen Ghazaryan has been made, which enforces the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure his safety. The rest is a matter of negotiations and be confident that Armenia will do everything to solve that issue”, Pashinyan said.
On July 15, 2018 the Azerbaijani defense ministry announced that it pushed back, with the formulation of the Azerbaijani media, a sabotage group of the Armenian Armed Forces in the direction of Qazax region, and one of the group members was taken captive. Immediately after this statement Armenia’s defense ministry announced that that person is Karen Ghazaryan, a resident of Berdavan village of Armenia’s Tavush province, who faces mental problems, doesn’t serve and has never served in the Armenian Armed Forces.
Edited and translated byTigran Sirekanyan
A bipartisan letter – spearheaded by the Armenian Caucus, backed by the bipartisan leaders of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees, and signed by 48 U.S. Representatives – was sent today calling on President Trump to meet with Armenia’s new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as part of a larger effort to both broaden and deepen U.S.-Armenian dialogue and bilateral cooperation, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We want to thank the leaders of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues and all those who joined with them in signing this bipartisan appeal – notably the leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel, and also Chairman Devin Nunes and Ranking Member Adam Schiff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” said Aram Hamparian, ANCA’s Executive Director. “We join with our legislative friends in promoting high-level dialogue and concrete cooperation across a broad set of bilateral priorities, with a special focus on the growth of mutually-beneficial U.S.-Armenia economic relations.”
The cosigners of the Congressional letter to the President include (in alphabetical order): Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Robert Brady (D-PA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Jim Costa (D-CA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Joe Kennedy (D-MA), Peter King (R-NY), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), James McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ted Poe (R-TX), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Edward Royce (R-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Dina Titus (D-NV), Norma Torres (D-CA), David Trott (R-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).
The ANCA’s U.S.-Armenia economic policy priorities include 1) a $140 million MCC Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math grant for Armenia’s public schools, 2) a modern Tax Treaty to eliminate double taxation and promote financial transparency, 3) a Social Security Agreement to protect benefits earned by people who divide their careers between the U.S. and Armenia, 4) non-stop commercial and cargo flights from Los Angeles to Yerevan, and 5) maximizing the effectiveness of the existing Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council and the U.S.-Armenia Economic Task Force.
The ANCA is also working with Armenian Caucus leadership and Congressional appropriators to expand FY2019 economic, military and refugee assistance to Armenia and demining, rehabilitation and peacekeeping assistance for Artsakh.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter to their Congressional colleagues, the Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dave Trott (R-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA) and Vice-Chairs Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), wrote, “since being elected into office by Parliament, Prime Minister Pashinyan has committed himself to advancing Armenian issues both domestically and internationally and has stated his intent to deepen ties with the United States. Without question, a conversation between President Trump and Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasizing economic development, security and democracy is critical for a strong pivot towards a strategic partnership between our countries.”
Armenian chess player Sergei Movsisyan performs successfully in the Grandmaster Cup of Pardubice in Czech Open-2018 chess tournament.
After six rounds, he is the only leader of tournament table with 5.5 points followed by 8 chess players who have 5 points each. Today, in the seventh round our chess player will compete with Russian grandmaster Mikhail Mozharov.
David Paravian, our compatriot from Moscow, shares the 10th -33th places with 4.5 points and he will compete with Czech international master Karel Malinovsky today.
Robert Kocharyan’s interrogation at the Special Investigative Service (SIS) ended and he left there. SIS reported this to Armenpress. Investigative activities were carried out with his participation. As we have already informed, Yuri Khachaturov is at the SIS. Other investigative actions are underway with his involvement.
Robert Kocharyan was interrogated on March 1 case.
Kocharyan’s office had appealed to the video interview process. Sasun Khachatryan, Head of the SIS, told a press briefing that the interrogation will be recorded and attached to the criminal case. However, according to him, this does not mean that the video will be published.
From left, Homenetmen Central Executive chairman Karnig Mgrdichian, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian at the Homenetmen Centennial celebration in Yerevan
YEREVAN—The Homenetmen family, which has been celebrating the organization’s centennial in Armenia with various events, including a scouting jamboree and a parade of athletes and scouts at Republic Square, held a celebration event on Tuesday at the Alexander Spendaryan Opera and Ballet Theater with a capacity crowd in attendance that included Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian.
In his remarks at the celebration, Pashinyan congratulated the athletic and scouting organization and hailed the fact that centennial jubilee was being held in Armenia after the dramatic events, which ushered in a new era for Armenian around the world.
Homenetmen Centennial celebration has attracted thousands from the DIaspora to Armenia
“Allow me to say that the recent peaceful, velvet, democratic revolution in Armenia in fact brought to life Homenetmen’s motto of ‘elevate yourself and elevate other with you,” said Pashinyan referencing the organization traditional maxim.
“What happened in the Republic of Armenia?” asked Pashinyan. “The poor citizens rose up and elevated their homeland, their name and their status in their own homeland,” added Pashinyan, who was greeted with fervent applause and cheers by the participants of the event.
The crowds cheered President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
“This is a very important achievement: but this is not all we want to achieve. We should continue… elevating our our homeland. We hope the citizens of Armenia will continue their path, will develop it, will take flight toward our national aspirations and dreams,” said Pashinyan.
“Today we are calling on everyone to come and collectively elevate [our homeland]. We are inviting our Diaspora businessmen to the Republic of Armenia to rise with their civic consciousness, the consciousness of their duty before the law and rise in terms of their personal and business achievements,” explained Pashinyan.
He stated that the Homenetmen has played a critical role in the history of the Armenian people and continues to do so.
“It’s symbolic that the 100th anniversary of the Homenetmen, founded in Istanbul, is being celebrated in Yerevan, the capital of independent and free Armenia. This also symbolizes our vision toward the future,” expressed.
“This is the mission that unites us, and we should definitely emerge victorious in this mission. Long live freedom, long live the Republic of Armenia, long live our children who live and will live in free and happy Armenia,” concluded Pashinyan.
Asbarez will provide detailed coverage of the Homenetmen Centennial events in Armenia in its future editions.
PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijan is making threats against Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) all the time, Armenia must be ready for any provocation by Baku, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in response to a question posted on Facebook.
“The military-political situation is tense, and Azerbaijan is constantly making threats,” Pashinyan said.
“I have ordered the Armed Forces to always be vigilant and ready for any provocation by Azerbaijan.”
According to him, Baku behaves aggressively in terms of statements, gestures, and the conduct on the border, and Armenia must be ready to defend and retaliate at any moment.
“But there is good too: today the Armenian people in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora are united more than ever, and this consolidation is the most important factor of our strength,” he said.
“And no one should doubt that in the event of provocations by Azerbaijan we will ensure nationwide consolidation and make use of all the means – financial, human, diplomatic and military resources – for the protection of Artsakh and a retaliatory blow.
“Any Armenian in any part of the world should be ready to leave everything and be ready to defend our homeland.”