The Armenian national basketball team beat Iran 77:73 in the second match of the SADA CUP international tournament under way at Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex.
Andre Spight Mkrtchyan earned 26 points and was named player of the match.
Armenia will face Syria in the final match on Sunday, June 26.
Armenia beat tesm USA 94։59 in the opening match.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received confirmation of his readiness to take part in the delimitation commission during his visit to Yerevan, he said during a briefing with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Baku, responding to a question about Armenia’s alleged failure to fulfill its obligations in order to buy time.
“We spoke a couple of weeks ago in Yerevan with both the prime minister and the foreign minister. They confirmed their readiness to participate in a second meeting within the framework of the delimitation commission,” Lavrov said.
That meeting will be held in Moscow, he said. We are now negotiating the date with both sides. Lavrov said that he had not seen any signals from either party that they had changed their minds and did not want to take part in this work: “On the contrary, I have received confirmation both in Yerevan and today during the talks that delimitation is a very important component of all efforts at the current stage.”
Earlier, during the same press conference Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that artificially dragging out the talks on the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations carries serious risks.
Sona Ghazaryan, a member of Armenia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), delivered remarks at the PACE Plenary Session.
“I highly appreciate the report, well-penned and very much on time. Political parties, among other actors, are responsible for combating hate speech, racism, and xenophobia. However, what we often see today is that political parties, instead, build their election campaigns, rhetoric, sometimes even actions on hatred, racism, and xenophobia.
This happens in Europe, and this happens beyond Europe.
And then sometimes, these political parties and their leaders find themselves in their own trap. They build up and build on hate so much that they then do not know how to control and deal with the amount of hatred they have created themselves.
This is especially dangerous when hatred is proliferated towards a society living in close proximity, towards a neighbor. And even more dangerous when there is an unresolved conflict in need of a robust peace process. This is the case in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the systemic Armenophobia in Azerbaijan.
You know too well the case of the trophy park in Baku that glorifies war and that depicted Armenian soldiers in captivity degrading human dignity and dehumanizing Armenians. Schoolchildren were taken to this park. This was an outrageous case of state-sponsored hatred and racism. The mannequins of Armenian soldiers were taken down only after Armenia filed a case at the International Court of Justice based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The International Court of Justice has already produced an interim decision in which it calls on Azerbaijan to “take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination, including by its officials and public institutions, targeted at persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin.” I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the International Court of Justice has stated that it is the officials and public institutions in Azerbaijan that incite and promote hatred against Armenians.
I believe that the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly should also be very vocal and direct calling state-level hate speech, racism and xenophobia by name, and we should together combat this because hatred is a poison similar to mercury; it is very hard to collect once it spills over,” Sona Ghazaryan said in her speech.
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Minister of State Artak Beglaryan on Saturday attended the official opening of Munk techno school in Haghorti village of Martuni region.
Welcoming the initiative of this techno school, the state minister noted, in particular: “I am glad that this initiative was brought to fruition in a short period of time in the post-war scene (…). This techno school is an exemplary model for ensuring modern education and community development, alike, thanks to which I am convinced [that] great successes in education and development will be recorded in Haghorti and the adjacent settlements.
“The [Artsakh] government stands with such initiatives as they fortify the foundations of Artsakh’s strategic development, and this is a good example of state-community-private sector cooperation.”
Photos at the link below
12:23,
YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. The session of the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils of CSTO states has been completed in Yerevan on June 17.
After the session, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan, who was chairing the session, told reporters that the Secretaries of Security Council specifically focused on global security challenges and threats and the situation in the CSTO responsibility zone.
Armen Grigoryan said that the session was held in a constructive and interesting environment.
“Today’s session is specific in a sense that this year is a jubilee year for the organization as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Treaty on the Collective Security and the 20th anniversary of the foundation of CSTO, and on the other hand the session is taking place in the conditions of growing challenges and threats both in the world in general and the CSTO responsibility zone. Of course, this factor requires making effective decisions on time aimed at neutralizing these challenges and threats and ensuring the security of the CSTO member states”, he said.
The session also covered issues relating to counter-terrorism, joint creation of governing bodies, strengthening the organization’s military component, etc.
Armen Grigoryan informed that a number of documents were signed with the session results, which all have passed the respective procedures. Particularly, the Committee approved the draft decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council on giving a regional anti-terrorism operation status to the operational-preventive measures complex named ‘Mercenary’.
Today’s session was held within the frames of Armenia’s chairmanship at the CSTO.
Friday, Armenian General Arrested Armenia -- An Armenian soldier fires a howitzer during Russian-Armenian military exercises at the Alagyaz firing range, September 24, 2020. The former commander of the Armenian army’s artillery units has been arrested in an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged supplies of inadequate ammunition to them. The National Security Service (NSS) claimed on Friday that Major-General Armen Harutiunian abused his position to seal a deal with a private firm that sold $1 million worth of artillery rounds to Armenia’s Defense Ministry. In a statement, the NSS said that the rounds manufactured in the Czech Republic fell short of the firing range of cannons used by the Armenian army, preventing the latter from successfully carrying out “combat tasks” during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan. The ammunition was designed for a more short-range artillery system, it said. The statement said that Harutiunian arranged the deal to “embezzle a large sum from the Defense Ministry.” Investigators have brought corresponding charges against the general and the unnamed company’s owner and chief executive, added the statement. It was not immediately clear whether the suspects will plead guilty to the accusations. Harutiunian was among seven senior generals who were sacked in February through presidential decrees initiated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. They included the chief of the army’s General Staff, Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian. Davtian, two other generals as well as former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan went on trial in January on charges stemming from the purchase of allegedly outdated air-to-surface rockets for the Armenian Air Force. They all deny the charges. Unlike the other defendants, Tonoyan is held in detention. In a January statement, he warned the authorities against scapegoating him for Armenia’s defeat in the six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh. He pledged to make “surprise” revelations in that regard. Opposition politicians and other critics of the Armenian government hold Pashinian primarily responsible for the outcome of the war that left at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers dead. Some of them claim that the criminal cases against the former defense minister and generals are aimed at deflecting blame from Pashinian. Armenia Again Asks Russian-Led Military Bloc For Help Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with top security officials of CSTO member states, Yerevan, . Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday renewed his calls for the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to help Armenia deal with what he called serious security threats emanating from Azerbaijan. Citing continuing “aggressive statements” by Baku, Pashinian said the military alliance of Russia, Armenia and four ex-Soviet states should specifically consider dispatching a monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The Armenian government appealed to the CSTO for help shortly after Azerbaijani troops reportedly crossed two sections of the border and advanced several into Armenian territory in May 2021. It asked the alliance to invoke Article 2 of its founding treaty which requires a collective response to grave security threats facing a CSTO member states. Russia and other member states expressed concern over the border tensions but did not issue joint statements in support of Armenia. Some of their representatives argued that the heavily militarized frontier has not been demarcated. Armenia - Yerevan-based foreign military attaches visit an area in Armenia's Syunik province where Armenian and Azerbaijani troops are locked in a border standoff, May 20, 2021. Pashinian described that argument as “dangerous” when he met with the secretaries of the security councils of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan who gathered for a regular session in Yerevan. “As the holder of the [CSTO] presidency, I want to stress that this issue needs to be discussed in earnest,” he said. “Why? Because we can see that aggressive statements by Azerbaijan are continuing.” Pashinian cited a 2010 document that regulates the deployment of CSTO monitoring missions to crisis spots. The missions are required to recommend concrete joint actions to the member states. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday implicitly threatened to resort to military action if the Armenian side continues to oppose the opening of a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. Armenia - Nikolay Patrushev (C), secretary of Russia's Security Council, meets his Armenian counterpart Armen Grigorian, . The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, ruled out such an extraterritorial corridor when he spoke at the meeting of the top CSTO security officials on Friday. He said that Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Russia call for only conventional transport links between the two South Caucasus states. Grigorian held a separate meeting with his powerful Russian counterpart, Nikolay Patrushev, late on Thursday. His office said he briefed Patrushev on the current station in the Karabakh conflict zone and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in particular. It cited Patrushev as saying that “Moscow supports Armenia in the processes of ensuring regional security.” Russia’s Security Council reported, for its part, that the two men discussed Russian-Armenian cooperation “in the interests of stability in the South Caucasus region.” It said they also spoke about Russian assistance to Armenia’s energy and cyber security. Yerevan Insists On Deal On Karabakh’s Status Armenia - Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric address media, . A comprehensive peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan should address the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s future status, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan insisted on Friday. Mirzoyan discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric during her visit to Yerevan. “I reaffirmed the Armenian government’s readiness to make efforts to establish peace and stability in the region,” he said after their meeting. “In this context, it is fundamental to address the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which should include the key provisions of ensuring the security and all rights of the Artsakh people and determining Nagorno-Karabakh’s status.” Mirzoyan’s comments came the day after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned Armenia against bringing up Karabakh’s status in peace talks with Azerbaijan. Aliyev again said that Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 war with Armenia put an end to the conflict and even Karabakh’s existence as a territorial unit. “If Armenia continues to call into question Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity then Azerbaijan will have no choice but do the same [with regard to Armenia,]” he said. Baku has been pushing for a peace treaty with Yerevan that would commit the two sides to recognizing each other’s territorial integrity. Armenian officials have said that Karabakh’s status and the security of its population should also be on the agenda of planned talks on the treaty. Aliyev on Thursday also implicitly threatened to resort to military action if the Armenian side continues to oppose the opening of a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, ruled out such an extraterritorial corridor on Friday when he spoke at a meeting in Yerevan with his counterparts from Russia and other ex-Soviet states making up the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization. Grigorian stuck to the official Armenian line that Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Russia and the European Union call for only conventional transport links between the two South Caucasus states. Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
12:53, 7 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Match officials have been appointed for UEFA Nations League B league Group 1 match between Scotland and Armenia, the Football Federation of Armenia said.
The referee is Sebastian Gishamer (AUT), assistant referees are Maximilian Weiss (AUT) and Jasmin Sabanovic (AUT), the 4th official is Christopher Jaeger (AUT). The Video Assistant referee will be Felix Zwayer (GER), and the Assistant Video Assistant Referee Stefan Lupp (GER).
Scotland-Armenia match will take place on June 8 at 22:45 (Yerevan time).
Foreign ministers of Russia and Armenia, Sergei Lavrov (left) and Ararat Mirzoyan during a joint press conference in Yerevan on June 9
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday in Yerevan that the mechanism that will be introduced for the opening of transit routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan are based on the absolute sovereignty of the territory of Armenia.
“As you know, the railway route has been agreed upon, now the agreement on the automobile route is being completed, as well as an agreement over the mechanism that will be instituted is being completed. It will be based absolutely on the sovereignty of the territory of Armenia. There could not be any ambiguity here,” Lavrov said, speaking at a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.
Lavrov is in Armenia to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of Collective Security Treaty Organization, know as the CSTO. Ahead of that meeting on Friday, Lavrov met with Mirzoyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vahagn Khachatryan. The top Russian diplomat also visited the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.
During the joint press conference, Lavrov said that a final agreement on relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be forthcoming, adding that Yerevan and Moscow have similar approaches to the issue.
“In my view, we have a common perception that the process moves forward. Perhaps, it would be desirable for the process to be faster, nevertheless, it is moving forward with substantive, positive, albeit still intermediate results being achieved,” said Lavrov.
“But there is no doubt that there will also be final agreements. We try to contribute to it in every way. Of course, the sides have their own visions, which do not always correspond to one another, especially on how to proceed in the upcoming stage. In any case our partners and us agree that the three agreements are very simple roadmaps that should guide us all,” added Lavrov.
Lavrov said the activities of the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan deputy prime ministerial working group dealing with the unblocking of transportation and economic communications in the region have also greatly moved forward. He also added that the commission tasked with addressing the opening of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border will meet in Moscow in the near future.
“Therefore, I am sure that there is no other way than the complete normalization of the relations,” Lavrov said.
The Russian leader also praised efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey, saying that this process will greatly enhance stability in the region.
“In this context, in our common opinion, it is necessary to ensure the dynamic work of the ‘3 + 3’ regional platform with the participation of the three countries of the South Caucasus and their three neighbors. This is an important additional channel for the formation of dialogue and development of multilateral cooperation between the countries of the region and their neighbors,” Lavrov added.
While welcoming official Ankara’s statements about normalizing relations with Armenia, that include establishing diplomatic relations and opening the border, Mirzoyan, in his turn, voiced concern that Turkish authorities’ attempt to correlate the Turkey-Armenia and Armenia-Azerbaijan issues were not constructive.
“We are seeing differences in approaches in the sense that Turkey constantly announces that this normalization process must take place without any precondition, but we regularly see connection between the Armenia-Turkey normalization process and the Armenia-Azerbaijan processes. A connection that the representatives of Turkey’s leadership are trying to find or highlight on every occasion,” said Mirzoyan. “We do not think that this is constructive.”
Mirzoyan also said that there are also difference in approach as Yerevan has a more nuanced approach toward the pace of the talks. Nevertheless, he said, Armenia welcomes sentiments by Turkey about opening the border with Armenia.
11:29,
YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. The next session of the CIS Economic Council is planned in Moscow on September 23, Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee-Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev said, reports TASS.
“The next session of the CIS Economic Council is planned in Moscow on September 23, 2022”, he said at the CIS Economic Council’s session in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
During the session the heads of the delegations were provided with information about the main targeted macro-economic indicators of the economic development of the CIS participating states.
PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia won two more medals at the 2022 European Weightlifting Championships in Tirana, Albania on Sunday, June 5.
Varazdat Lalayan snatched silver in the men’s 109+ category, raising a total of 451 kg above his head, while Olympic medalist Gor Minasyan, also competing in that category, took silver. The gold medal went to Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze, who is now a seven-time European champion.
The Armenian men’s team ranks the second by the number of medals and points collected throughout the Championships. Earlier, Rafik Harutyunyan won gold in the 81 kg weight category, Davit Hovhannisyan and Ara Aghanyan took gold and silver, respectively, in the 96 kg event, Samvel Gasparyan (102 kg) won silver, while Arsen Martirosyan (109 kg) snatched a bronze medal.
Also, Andranik Karapetyan secured a silver medal in the snatch event of the 89 kg category, while Tatev Hakobyan from the women’s team took bronze in the snatch event of the 76 kg category.