FARS News Agency, Iran Tuesday Iran Cautions Rising Tensions Between Armenia, Azerbaijan Over Nagorno-Karabakh Region TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi voiced concern over the escalation of tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and said that the increase in conflicts is not in the interest of Azeri and Armenian people. "Iran will spare no efforts to decrease tensions in this region," Qassemi said. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman expressed the hope for restoration of peace and stability in the region and cautioned about enemy's plots for provoking violence. In relevant remarks in January 2015, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be resolved only through political solutions. "We hope that the (Nagorno-) Karabakh dispute will be resolved only through compliance with the international laws and talks between the two sides," Zarif said in Yerevan. He further reiterated that Iran wishes peace and stability for its neighbors. Despite facing strong international pressure, the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have failed to agree on the basic principles of ending the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict put forward by Russia, the United States and France in 2011. Armenia and Azerbaijan thus remain officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh and the dispute is a major source of tension in the South Caucasus region wedged between Iran, Russia and Turkey. No country - not even Armenia - officially recognizes Karabakh as an independent state. The mountainous rebel region has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since it broke free of Baku's control after a fierce war in the early 1990s that killed 30,000 people.
Category: 2017
Mediators propose Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders hold meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh issue until year ends
ITAR-TASS, Russia Tuesday 11:04 PM GMT Mediators propose Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders hold meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh issue until year ends YEREVAN July 12 International mediators on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh issue have proposed that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan hold a meeting until the year ends, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan told TASS following talks between the two countries top diplomats in Brussels. /updates with additional information/ YEREVAN, July 12. /TASS/. International mediators on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh issue have proposed that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan hold a meeting until the year ends, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan told TASS following talks between the two countries top diplomats in Brussels. "The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh have asked the two countries’ ministers to pass their proposal to the presidents to hold a summit later in the year," he said. "An agreement was reached that the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers would meet once again in September, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York," Balayan pointed out. The meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan and Azerbaijani top diplomat Elmar Mammadyarov took place in Brussels on July 11 upon the initiative of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France) and Richard Hoagland (the US). The meeting was also attended by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. "The meeting’s participants discussed ways to create conditions for advancing the negotiating process concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. According to the Armenian foreign ministry spokesman, Nalbandyan "emphasized the need to stabilize the situation along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh." "In this connection, he pointed to the need to implement the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits," Balayan said. He added that the agreements concerned the expansion of the OSCE mission’s monitoring capabilities and the implementation of mechanisms to investigate into incidents taking place along the line of contact. Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh (or Mountainous Karabakh) is a mostly Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan’s territory. It is a self-proclaimed independent republic, not recognized by any of the United Nations member states. In 1988, hostilities broke out there between the forces reporting to the Baku government and Armenian residents. In 1994, a ceasefire was reached but relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia has remained strained ever since. Azerbaijan insists that its territorial integrity should be restored, refugees should return to Nagorno-Karabakh, and after that talks about its status could begin. Baku is ready to grant autonomy to the region, but is unwilling to hold direct talks with Nagorno-Karabakh. At the same time, Armenia strongly opposes the region’s reunification with Azerbaijan and says that its right to self-determination should be considered first. Russia, France and the United States co-chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which seeks to broker an end to the conflict.
Armenian, Russian foreign ministers discuss Karabakh settlement
Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire Tuesday 3:53 PM MSK Armenian, Russian foreign ministers discuss Karabakh settlement YEREVAN. July 11 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and cooperation at a meeting in Austria's Mauerbach on Tuesday. "The foreign ministers of Armenia and Russia met on the sidelines of an informal meeting of the foreign ministers of OSCE member states in Mauerbach on July 11. The ministers considered relevant aspects of Russian-Armenian allied interaction, attaching particular significance to the implementation of agreements reached between the Russian and Armenian leaders," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said. "The parties discussed problems of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process and emphasized the need to implement the agreements reached during the summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg," it said. Lavrov and Nalbandian also exchanged opinions on a number of relevant international and regional problems, it said. va ng kl
Armenian, Azerbaijani foreign ministers to discuss Karabakh in Brussels
Interfax - Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama Tuesday 6:22 PM MSK Armenian, Azerbaijani foreign ministers to discuss Karabakh in Brussels YEREVAN. July 11 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will meet with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Brussels on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Interfax. "Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will meet with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Brussels on July 11 with the mediation and in the presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs," the spokesman said. "The meeting will take place on Tuesday evening," Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev told Interfax. "The main topics of the Brussels meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will be the current status of negotiations and their development in a serious and fruitful manner," Hajiyev said. Baku is counting on profound and efficient negotiations on the Karabakh settlement process, he said. Tensions escalated in the Karabakh conflict zone on July 4 after Azerbaijan had accused the Armenian army of shelling a village in the Fizuli district, causing the death of an elderly woman and a child. Stepanakert stated that fire was opened in response to Azerbaijani shelling. Yerevan and Baku nonetheless said that their foreign ministers would still have the meeting scheduled for July to address the Karabakh peace process.
ANKARA: Draft bill bars certain terms in parliament
Hurriyet, Turkey July 10 2017 Draft bill bars certain terms in parliament ANKARA A draft bill proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has recommended imposing sanctions on who use the terms “Armenian genocide” and “Kurdistan” in addresses to parliament’s General Assembly. The change comes as part of an 18-article draft bill, expected to be discussed at parliament next week, overhauling the internal regulations of parliament. The AKP says the changes are necessary to overcome what it says are opposition parties’ efforts to slow down legislative works. The draft bill includes sanctions for lawmakers who use the expression “Armenian genocide” while describing the 1915 killings of Armenians. Deputies who use the term will be banned from three General Assembly sessions and two thirds of their salary, which is around 18,000 Turkish Liras ($4,957), will be cut. This sanction will also be valid for deputies who describe Turkey’s southeastern region as “Kurdistan,” and provinces in this region as “Kurdish provinces.” The articles have been included in the drafted internal regulation upon the request of the MHP, which has allied with the AKP government in recent months, including in the contentious April referendum on shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system. The move comes following a number of angry exchanges over the years after some MPs, mainly from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), have used these terms in speeches at parliament. Another important change, added to the draft upon Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman’s request, is the requirement that the parliament speaker must wear a frock coat with a white tie while chairing the General Assembly. The new bill stipulates the wearing of dark suits for both the speaker and deputies. July/10/2017
BAKU: Argentine citizen of Armenian origin apologizes for death threats to Azerbaijanis
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
15:04 (UTC+04:00)
By Rashid Shirinov
An Argentinean citizen of Armenian origin has been forced to apologize for death threats to the Azerbaijani embassy officials.
In the past, Leonid Stepanyan was making death threats to the Azerbaijani embassy’s officials through the embassy’s Facebook page. On April 4, 2016, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Argentina appealed to the relevant state structures of the country and demanded to take measures against Stepanyan in accordance with the law.
Stepanyan has sent a letter of apology to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Buenos Aires, a source in the embassy told Trend on July 12.
In his letter, Stepanyan promised to never again express protest to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Argentina and any citizen of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are in state of war due to Yerevan’s aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Today, Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
Armenians killed Azerbaijani people not only in the frontline, but also in Baku and other cities. Since the late 80s, Armenian terrorist organizations and intelligence agencies, including ASALA, have committed more than 32 terrorist attacks in the transport system and other public facilities of Azerbaijan.
BAKU: Aliev’s journey from Warsaw to Istanbul
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Tuesday Aliev's journey from Warsaw to Istanbul by Analytical Service Turan Aliyev's tour began with a visit to Poland on June 26-28, and ended with a dinner with President Erdogan and a conversation with US Secretary of State, Tillerson, during an oil conference in Istanbul on July 9-10. In Poland, Aliyev actually announced a return to active pro-European politics, somewhat even in a defiant tone, which until quite recently could seriously disappoint Moscow. But today the information coming from various capitals: from super-power to the countries barely noticeable on world maps, show that the time of compromises between East and West begins to replace the era of the last years of confrontation in the space from Ukraine to Syria. Important geopolitical players in the South Caucasus, the United States and Russia, at the G-20 summit in Hamburg demonstrated to the whole world the convergence of positions in Ukraine and Syria, which are clear destabilizing factors of relations between the West and Russia. Perhaps the meeting between Trump and Putin was the most notable informal agenda for the summit, which, at the time of the settlement of an important geopolitical confrontation, unleashed a knot of issues - combating climate warming and a free trade zone. This key meeting, which satisfied both sides, creates prerequisites for reaching agreement on the South Caucasus, where the closer regional cooperation between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the European Union and the achievement of a compromise peace between the two belligerent states finding in the transaction between the Soviet past and the European future are important regional themes. Reports from Yerevan that Armenia is preparing to sign an agreement on a comprehensive and expanded partnership with the consent of the Kremlin suggest that the South Caucasus figured the US-Russian dialogue. This agreement may be called a compromise, since it excludes the wording on the goal of EU membership, but at the same time, it lays the platform for association with this interstate organization. The same agreement is being prepared with Azerbaijan, which, as always, is more restrained in the issue of reaching a deal with the EU. It is expected that both countries will sign agreements with the EU in November in Brussels at the summit of the "Eastern Partnership". The last established cooperation between the US and Russia creates real chances for this. It should also be taken into account that unlike Georgia, which always outstripped its Caucasian neighbors in the European integration, Armenia and Azerbaijan became members of various European unions and projects virtually simultaneously. This was the case with membership in the Council of Europe, Partnership for Peace, etc. Facts give grounds to say that both sides will conclude long-awaited agreements with the EU in November, which will raise the bar of relations to a new level of European integration. These issues, as shown by the brief official report on the meeting between Aliyev and Tillerson, were touched upon in Istanbul. The Secretary of State, who took part in the G20 summit on the eve of the meeting, and has information on Trump and Putin's agreements on a range of issues, could more confidently talk with Aliyev about the near future of his country's destiny, opening the corridor for maneuvers in the framework of the latest agreements between the presidents of the United States and Russia. The meager and veiled information of the Aliyev administration on his meeting with the Secretary of State, shows that the issue of Azerbaijan's development based on a stable transaction from authoritarianism to democracy was the key one. The silent reaction of the United States to the last year's referendum in Azerbaijan, which opened the way to intra-family continuity of power, is now being continued in the Azerbaijani-American dialogue and increasingly points to the fact that the issue of the 2018 elections with the planned castling of Ilham and Mehriban Aliyevs becomes more realistic . But this castling is closely tied to the commitment to reforms, of which 12 road economic maps and national human rights action plans, etc., of which Washington has been mildly reminiscent recently, are an integral part. We talked about Aliyev's visit to Poland and Turkey, but we do not know anything about his meetings between June 28 and July 8. However, However, his one-to-one dinner with Erdogan, which plays an important role in Azerbaijani affairs, shows that Aliyev was already ready by this time for a talk with Tillerson in the atmosphere of the warming the Turkish-American, American-Russian and Turkish-Russian relations. This mutual agreement between the important participants of the Caucasian process creates favorable conditions for the reform of Azerbaijan, stuck in the midst of the ups and downs of its 25-year post-Soviet autonomous existence. But, of course, the conversation between Aliyev and the Uzbek delegation was not about it.
Sports: Henrikh Mkhitaryan sets the record straight over that unflattering picture of him in Manchester United’s new kit
mirror.co.uk
Tuesday 9:20 PM GMT
Tuesday 9:20 PM GMT
Henrikh Mkhitaryan sets the record straight over that unflattering picture of him in Manchester United’s new kit
Armenian midfielder was mocked when United tweeted an image of him ‘looking fat’ last week
By Samuel Luckhurst
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has set the record straight after an unflattering picture of him modelling Manchester United ‘s new home kit was posted on Twitter.
The Armenian midfielder was accused of overindulging during the summer break when United released a promotional snap of him looking out of shape in their latest red adidas shirt.
After a number of comments pointed to what appeared to be his distinct paunch, the club quickly deleted the tweet.
But the Manchester Evening News understands the photoshoot took place before the end of last season and Mkhitaryan actually trained every day while on holiday in his homeland.
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Mkhitaryan ended his maiden United campaign with an acrobatic clincher in the Europa League final and the 28-year-old was also included in the competition’s squad of the season.
Pictures of him in California during United’s training session at the UCLA campus on Monday also showed the 28-year-old looking lean and trim ahead of the new campaign.
Mkhitaryan’s dedication to training is renowned sincehis days at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he lived at the club’s idyllic Kirsha Training Centre.
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After returning at midnight following one Champions League tie, Mkhitaryan could not sleep due to adrenaline and decided to train in the gym on his own and a successful three years in the Ukraine led to his 2013 transfer to Borussia Dortmund.
After he was omitted from the United squad which drew with Burnley in October, Mkhitaryan chose to enhance his fitness at the club’s training complex while his team-mates enjoyed a day off, contrary to reports claiming he was made to train alone.
That commitment helped win over Jose Mourinho and Mkhitaryan became a key cog during United’s campaign and, in particular, their Europa League run.
Mkhitaryan scored six times in the Europa League, with five of them coming in the knockout rounds.
Sports: Three Armenian divers to participate at the World Championships
Panorama, Armenia
The diving team of Armenia has left for Budapest to participate at the FINA World Championship to take place from July 14-22.
As the National Olympic Commute of Armenia reports, the Armenian team comprises three athletes – Lev Sargsyan, Vladimir Harutyunyan, and Vartan Bayanduryan. The latter is included in the national team for the first time.
Harutyunyan and Bayanduryan will compete in the 10m platform event, while Vladimir will participate at the 10m synchronized platform with Lev Sargsyan.
Sports: Three Armenian freestyle wrestlers included in United World Wrestling rankings
Panorama, Armenia
The United World Wrestling (UWW) has released the updated ranking list for the freestyle wrestlers. As Panorama.am was informed from the official website of the Armenian National Olympic Committee (ANOC), the rankings feature three Armenian freestyle wrestlers, who captured bronze medals at the European Championships.
Volodya Frangulyan (61kg) has climbed up a few spots, taking the 12th position. Grigor Grigoryan has also improved his position, ranking the 10th in the rating list. Levan Berianidze (125 kg) remains in the 6th place.
The Armenian freestyle wrestling team is currently preparing for the World Championships.