June 1, 2021
The participants of the MOU signing ceremony
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed Tuesday between the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and Impact Hub Armenian Social Innovation Development Foundation to establish a Trade and Services Desk in Armenia.
Taking part in the signing ceremony, which was live-streamed, were California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Dee Dee Myers, the director of the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development and Senator Anthony Portantino who spearheaded the effort when he introduced and successfully shepherded a passage of a resolution in the state legislature. Armenia’s High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan and Raffi Kassarjian from Impact Hub Yerevan represented Armenia during the ceremony.
“Formal trade relations between California and Armenia have long been a priority of the Armenian American community in California,” stated Portantino.
“I am proud to have helped launch this historic trade opportunity and to have it set up in Yerevan is of particular importance to me and Armenian neighbors across the 25th Senate District. I am incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom, High Commissioner Sinanyan, Lieutenant Governor Kounalakis, and GO-Biz Director Dee Dee Myers for their leadership and commitment to this important endeavor.”
The California Trade and Services Desk will establish Armenian and California as economic partners, strengthen efforts for mutual economic benefit, and encourage trade and investment by California and Armenia businesses. Yerevan is the first California International Trade and Services Desk to be established by the Newsom administration. California is home to the largest Armenian American community in the United States.
In September 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Armenia’s then foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan signed a memorandum of cooperation between Armenia and California.
“Starting with Jack Scott in 2001, and continuing to today, many people and organizations have pursued and encouraged a formal relationship between California and Armenia. I have been blessed to represent the legislative district with the largest Armenian American Community in the country and to have worked closely with local Armenian leaders to bring this recent effort to the forefront,” said Portantino in an article he authored for Asbarez.
“For over a decade, the California Armenian American community has wanted to rekindle formal economic ties with Armenia… In concert with this effort, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis was tasked by Governor Newsom to spearhead California’s international efforts. The newly established Trade Desk will be under her purview and be placed in the Governor’s Office of Business Development,” explained Portantino in the 2019 article.
The Baku Court of Grave Crimes has accepted the case of 14 Armenian citizens accused of creating an armed grouping, terrorism and illegal crossing of the Azerbaijani border near the village of Gadrut.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on December 15, 2020, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities lost contact with the staff of several Karabakh military posts stationed in the area of the villages of Khtsaberd (the Azerbaijani name of Chailakkala) and Khin Takher (Kyokhne Taglar). On December 16, residents of the Shirak Region of Armenia blocked the Gyumri-Yerevan highway, stating that dozens of their fellow countrymen had been captured in the Gadrut District. According to the data of the Karabakh Ombudsperson, about 60 soldiers were captured in the vicinity of Khtsaberd village.
According to Azerbaijani investigators, a group of Armenian residents acquired weapons and ammunition and created an armed grouping. On November 26-27, 2020, they crossed the Azerbaijani border and took up combat positions in the forest of Gadrut village of the Khodjavend District. Until December 13, these residents of Armenia committed armed attacks on enterprises and institutions in Azerbaijan. The grouping also attacked people, made explosions and fires, the “Trend.az” quotes the investigators’ version.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 3, 2021 at 10:46 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source:
© Caucasian Knot
21:57, 27 May, 2021
YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. France expresses concern over the rise of incidents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the latest of which is the incident of capturing 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijani forces overnight May 26-27, ARMENPRESS report, reads the Foreign Ministry of France.
”France calls on the sides to demonstrate maximal restraint and refrain from any type of provocations. Demarcation and delimitation between the two states should be carried out as part of negotiations between the sides, without any successive action՛՛, reads the statement.
The French Foreign Ministry reminds the May 13 statement of French President Emmauel Macron. The Élysée Palace had announced that for restoring security and stability in the region, the situation can be solved through the UNSC.
‘’Emmanuel Macron has reaffirmed commitment to the territorial integrity of Armenia and emphasized the necessity for an immediate withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces form the sovereign territory of Armenia’’, reads the statement of the Élysée Palace.
MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Russian peacekeepers have not registered any ceasefire breaches or provocations against Russian military personnel in Nagorno-Karabakh, Spokesman for Russia’s Peacekeeping Contingent in the Region Colonel Dmitry Perepelkin said, on Friday.
Russian army engineer groups continue clearing the terrain and facilities in the region of mines, he said.
“As of today, 1,844 buildings and over 657 km of roads have been surveyed, and 2,121 hectares of territory have been cleared, and 25,613 dangerous explosive devices have been found and eliminated,” he specified.
President Sarkissian calls on army, NSS to take toughest measures against encroachments on Armenia’s territory
18:35,
YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian issued a statement, calling on the Defense Ministry, the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the National Security Service to make all possible efforts and take the toughest measures against the encroachments on Armenia’s territorial integrity and border violations.
ARMENPRESS reports, the statement runs as follows,
”Dear compatriots,
During these days, for obvious reasons, we are all focused on our borders. The Azerbaijani armed forces violated the Armenian border in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces and it’s already a few days they are illegally situated in our country.
In the current situation, the unconditional responsibility of the state and state structures to bring the country out of the crisis is especially important, particularly, in terms of ensuring security.
I call on the Defense Ministry, the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the National Security Service to make all possible efforts and take the toughest measures against the encroachments on Armenia’s territorial integrity and border violations.
No less important is the use of our diplomatic arsenal with all its might. Strengthening Armenia’s international preputation, cooperation with international partners and deepening allied relations are a necessity. These relations must be built on a realistic, targetted agenda. It is necessary to launch the whole toolkit of both traditional and public diplomacy, to involve the Diaspora, to use all the resources.
The existing situation and our approach and response must be understandable to our international partners.
The society must be timely and accurately informed about the processes taking place, being sure that they are protected, that the state, regardless of political or other factors, carries out its functions.
Dear compatriots, In the current situation, national unity is again imperative: Armenia, Artsakh, Diaspora. Only then can we solve security, economic, domestic and all other problems. We must realize that we have one border, the border of the Homeland.
As a state and nation, we must have one and the same national agenda. Each of us, in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora, must act within the framework of that common agenda. Only a strong, stable, united, Armenia can represent and defend the interests of Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian people”.
Turkey has urged swift international action against Israeli attacks that killed and wounded scores of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and Jerusalem as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned of grave consequences should Israel’s offensive endures.
“We call on the international community to intervene swiftly to stop these attacks, which will cause further loss of civilian lives,” read a written statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on May 14.
The statement came as the news reported that Israeli troops were preparing for a more comprehensive attack against Gaza as the death toll exceeded 109 as of early May 14.
“The rapid increase in civilian casualties in Israel’s airstrikes against Gaza, the damage to the schools affiliated to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees [UNRWA], injuring the cameraman and photojournalists of Anadolu Agency serving in the region, clearly reveal Israel’s disproportionate indiscriminate attacks,” the ministry stated.
“It was learned with concern that Israel started firing tanks and artillery against Gaza this time,” it added.
Erdoğan warned on May 14 that the situation may worsen in Palestine in case the Israeli attacks are not halted and called on both individual countries and international organizations to swiftly intervene.
“It is imperative that the U.N. Security Council rapidly take steps to ensure peace and tranquility in Jerusalem, in line with the decisions taken in the General Assembly. As Turkey, we are ready to actively support any initiative launched within the U.N. and to take responsibility for peace,” Erdoğan said.
Turkey’s stance based on principles
Underlining that Jerusalem is the sacred city for three main religions and that Israeli attempt to loot the city is unacceptable, President Erdoğan accused Tel Aviv of crossing all the possible limits in Jerusalem.
“To stand against Israel’s aggression in Palestinian cities, Jerusalem is duty of honor for humanity,” he said, describing Israel as a terror state. “Those who remain silent or openly back Israel’s bloodshed should know one day it will be their turn.”
Erdoğan recalled that he spoke with the leaders of 19 nations so far in a bid to coordinate diplomatic actions against Israel.
“Our stance towards Israel is principle-based,” he said, likening Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan’s efforts to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation with the current support pledged to Palestine against the Israeli offensive.
“Turkey will not remain silent on Israeli persecution in Palestine, even if the entire world ignores it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s presidential spokesperson urged the international community early on May 14 to prevent the escalation of Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people.
İbrahim Kalın said on Twitter that Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian community “are against international law and basic morality” and “must come to an immediate end.”
Noting that Turkey will keep supporting the Palestinians, he said: “We urge the world to take action now to stop the new waves of Israeli aggression.”
Vice President Fuat Oktay on May 13 denounced Israeli aggression on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Palestinians, underlining that the city “is and will remain the capital of Palestine.”
“We have Palestinian martyrs and brothers and sisters wailing under Israel’s reckless attacks and persecution,” he said.
“You drop bombs on vulnerable people. Then you go and make accusations claiming self-defense without feeling shame … This is a shame upon humanity,” he added.
Asserting that condemnations and U.N. resolutions had so far proven fruitless, he stressed that countries “trying to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel and those trying to force Jerusalem’s acceptance as the capital of Israel are complicit in this persecution, and everyone not taking a clear stance against it is also part to it.”
Separately, Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop also condemned Israel’s violent attacks against civilians.
“The world, especially Islamic countries, must take a common stance against [Israel’s] attitudes, occupation and policies of cruelty that are against international law,” Şentop said.
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem over the past month as Israeli settlers swarmed in following a court order for the eviction of Palestinian families in the area.
Most recently, tensions further escalated, moving from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognized by the international community.