12:03, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The farewell ceremony for former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is taking place in Moscow’s House of the Unions, RT reports.
Gorbachev passed away on August 30 at the age of 91, after a prolonged illness. He became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 and served as the first and only president of the Soviet Union (1990-1991).
12:47, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. United States Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV) were joined by a bi-partisan group of over 45 Members of Congress in calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power to “take immediate steps dedicating significant resources” to support the at-risk Armenian population of Artsakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“Our American blockade on U.S. humanitarian aid to Artsakh – as a practical matter – effectively abets Azerbaijan’s attempts to strangle Artsakh’s population, ethnically cleansing the indigenous population of a region at the very core of the ancient Armenian homeland,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “It’s wrong. Our government knows it’s wrong. It has to stop – and, with sufficient Congressional leadership, it will.”
The Congressional letter, sent on the thirty-first anniversary of the Republic of Artsakh’s declaration of independence, notes that, “the people of Artsakh continue to face severe hardships caused both by the deadly 44-day war that Azerbaijani forces provoked in 2020 and the ongoing aggressions committed against innocent civilians.” The letter specifically calls on the State Department and USAID to “to significantly increase funding that will directly assist the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, including assistance for housing, food security, water and sanitation, health care, rehabilitation, and demining and UXO clearance services they need to safely rebuild their lives, homes, and communities. We also urge you to take every action possible to protect the historic and cultural Armenian sites in territory held by Azerbaijan, which many reports indicate are currently under threat.”
Members of Congress also asked for an update on Biden Administration efforts to assist the people of Artsakh and to conduct an updated needs assessment on the humanitarian crisis there, to be shared with Congress to best determine Fiscal Year 2023 U.S. assistance levels.
Joining Representatives Pallone and Titus in cosigning the Congressional letter on Artsakh assistance are Representatives: Nanette Barragan (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jim Himes (D-CT), William Keating (D-MA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), John Larson (D-CT), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Susie Lee (D-NV), Mike Levin (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), James McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Scott Peters (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Katie Porter (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Trone (D-MD), and David Valadao (R-CA).
On August 22nd, ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian, in letters sent to Congressional leadership and rank and file U.S. Senate and House members, called for Congressional inquiries into the Biden administration’s effective blockade on humanitarian aid to Armenian families of Artsakh. “America must not be complicit in the ethnic-cleansing of Artsakh by Azerbaijan,” stressed Hamparian.
13:29, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Continued arbitrary, false interpretations of the negotiations and the avoidance to implement the agreements make an impression that Azerbaijan intends to undermine the peace process and continue its policy of ethnic cleansing through the use of force, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said regarding some speculations on the Brussels meeting of August 31st.
“The position of the Armenian side regarding the five provisions proposed by Azerbaijan is unchanged. As we have stated before, we find nothing unacceptable in the proposals forwarded by Azerbaijan on March 10, 2022. Another thing is that these proposals do not address all issues of the Armenia-Azerbaijan comprehensive peace agenda. With our response forwarded to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, we completed the agenda, and therefore, on that basis, we are ready for the continuation of peace negotiations.
This was once again confirmed by Prime Minister Pashinyan during the recent discussions held in Brussels.
Not listening or trying not to listen to this position gives the Armenian side a reason to question the sincerity of Azerbaijan's intention in achieving peace. Moreover, the continued arbitrary, false interpretations of the negotiations and the avoidance to implement the agreements make an impression that Azerbaijan intends to undermine the peace process and continue its policy of ethnic cleansing through the use of force,” FM Mirzoyan said.
13:38, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a phone talk with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, RIA Novosti reports.
Erdogan conveyed condolences over the death of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Putin and Erdogan also discussed the situation in Ukraine and issues related to the “grain deal”.
They also addressed partnership issues and reiterated cooperation in trade and energy.
Gunmen kill more than 40 people in Ethiopia's Oromiya region – Reuters
14:03, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Gunmen killed at least 42 people in Ethiopia's Oromiya region, two residents who buried the bodies in mass graves said on Friday, the latest killings in the country's most populous region where escalating violence has left hundreds dead, Reuters reports.
The latest attack by an armed group against local residents occurred on Tuesday, they said, in the Amuru district, around 370 km (230 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa.
They said the victims were all Oromos and described the attackers as members of a volunteer militia known as Fano, mostly composed of ethnic Amharas.
Clashes between the Oromo and Amhara, Ethiopia's two largest ethnic groups, have been rising in recent months.
14:30, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Air temperature will reach +40 degrees Celsius in Yerevan and several other parts of Armenia September 3-4 with an incoming heat wave from Iraq, the meteorology agency reported.
Clear weather is expected September 3-4.
Showers and thunderstorms are forecast September 5-6, during the night of September 8 in individual areas and in most parts of the country on September 7.
Air temperature will drop by 6-9 degrees September 5-7.
14:41, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The toll from cataclysmic floods in Pakistan continued to climb on Saturday with 57 more deaths, 25 of them children, Reuters reports.
A high-level body set up to coordinate the relief effort met in Islamabad on Saturday for the first time, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,265 people, including 441 children.
15:02, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone talk with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and discussed in detail, among others, the situation in South Caucasus, the Kremlin said in a readout.
The importance of ensuring stability and security on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and coordinated efforts for establishing economic and transport connections in the region was noted. In this context the intention to consistently implement the trilateral agreements signed between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on 2020 November 9, 2021 January 11 and November 26 was reiterated.
Aliyev informed Putin about the August 31 EU-mediated meeting with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels.
15:26, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense has released fresh disinformation falsely accusing the Armenian military in opening fire at Azerbaijani military positions in the eastern part of the border.
The Azeri propaganda didn’t even mention a date and only noted that it happened “recently”.
The Ministry of Defense of Armenia denied the claims as disinformation and added: “The situation on the border is relatively stable and is under the full control of the Armenian Armed Forces.”
15:33, 3 September 2022
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army of Artsakh is denying accusations from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense on opening fire.
“The September 3 Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense’s statement accusing the Defense Army detachments in shelling Azerbaijani positions deployed in various parts of the Republic of Artsakh for three times on September 2 is false,” the Artsakh Defense Army said in a statement.