Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will meet on Saturday, July 16.
The meeting will take place in Tbilisi, Georgia, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vahan Hunanyan informs.
The Foreign Ministers last met in Dushanbe in Mid-May. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also participated in the meeting.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency William Burns.
The interlocutors discussed issues related to international and regional security and the fight against terrorism.
Reference was made to the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region․
Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, met with the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, Mr William Burns.
The interlocutors discussed further development of the Armenia-US bilateral relations.
During the meeting, the Secretary of the Security Council presented the regional security environment, existing challenges and Armenia’s approach to establishing peace in the region.
In this context, the parties discussed the negotiation processes between Armenia-Azerbaijan and Armenia-Turkey.
Armenia is planning to open a diplomatic office in Cyprus next year, Armenia’s Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus Tigran Mkrtchyan said in an interview with the Public Television of Cyprus.
He voiced hope that Cyprus would also open a diplomatic representation in Armenia in the near future.
During his meeting with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of RIK TV Company Michalis Mikhail the Ambassador Mkrtchyan emphasized that there are long-term close relations between the two countries, expressing hope that in the near future it will be possible to open diplomatic missions on the principle of reciprocity in the capitals of both countries, Yerevan and Nicosia.
The Ambassador also referred to the Cyprus-Armenia-Greece cooperation in a trilateral format, noting that a number of meetings have taken place within the framework of this cooperation in various fields, such as military, political, diaspora affairs, expressing hope that the scope of this cooperation will be further expanded.
Ambassador Mkrtchyan expressed his deep gratitude to the Republic of Cyprus for its support to Armenia.
In turn, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of RIK TV Company Michalis Mikhail noted that efforts will be made to further expand and deepen cooperation with Armenia, including cooperation in the field of news and information and added that RIK also broadcasts daily radio programs specifically for Armenian Cypriots.
Vartkes Mahdessian, state representative of the Armenian Cypriot community in the House of Representatives of Cyprus, was also present at the meeting.
Lawyer Gevorg Danielyan, a former justice minister, has reflected on the government’s decision to ban Mourad “Franck” Papazian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau and co-chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF), from entering Armenia.
Papazian, who has been declared a “persona non grata” in Armenia, was detained at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport and deported back to Paris early on Thursday.
"The only reason for declaring Mourad Papazian a “persona non grata” could be reliable data on alleged damage to the country's national security,” Danielyan said in a social media post.
“In the case of a person who obviously enjoys a good reputation in France and has been received personally by the president many times, it does not inspire confidence that there is such compromising reliable data. Anyway, it is a state secret and we can only judge from the figure’s public activities,” he added.
Danielyan addressed the claims that Papazian disparaged national symbols.
“Under Article 21 of the Constitution, the state symbols of Armenia are the flag, coat of arms and anthem. As far as I am familiar with Papazian's public activities, I have noticed just the opposite: he is a staunch defender of the symbols,” the lawyer said, calling for release of evidence to substantiate the claims.
ARARAT Museum on Thursday hosted famous Oscar-winning director Terry George in the frames of the 19th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival.
Terry George is the Jury President of this year’s film festival and in the list of his notable works are such films as “The Promise”, “Hotel Rwanda” any many others.
During his visit, Terry George got acquainted with the history of legendary Armenian brandy, secrets of its creation, the creative searches and innovative approaches of the brandy masters.
The film director also visited the Treasury of ARARAT Museum, where a unique collection of ARARAT brandies is kept. On behalf of the Yerevan Brandy Company, Terry George was presented with ARARAT Charles Aznavour Signature Blend brandy.
“To be presented with Charles Aznavour Signature Blend is a great honour. Charles Aznavour is a great hero of mine, a great hero of Armenia and I will save this for very special occasions,” noted Terry George.
MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition Pativ Unem faction has visited the border villages of Shurnukh and Vorotan in Armenia’s Syunik Province.
He clams after the closure of the Goris-Kapan highway the daily life in the villages “has turned upside down”.
“Just like in other areas, Azerbaijanis are fortifying their positions here as well, carrying out extensive work,” the MP wrote on Facebook on Friday.
“I last visited the area 7-8 months ago; the state programs are slow-paced, but there are individuals and organizations that have implemented or are implementing separate programs there,” Abrahamyan said.
He says the border troops of the National Security Service take active efforts to ensure the security of local residents.
“My views on border security naturally differ from the approaches and actions of the current authorities, but the border troops are evidently doing remarkable work in this area to solve the current problems. However, much remains to be done in the medium and long run and the principles of their implementation should be fundamentally revised,” the deputy said.
Expert on Iran Vardan Voskanyan has called attention to the poor condition of the only road connecting Armenia and Iran.
"The media outlets controlled by the Baku dictator recently referred to one of my interviews, expressing concern that the provision of an uninterrupted and high-quality road link between Armenia and Iran and the launch of international communication channels through it would limit the possibilities of Azerbaijan and Turkey in our region,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
“After the occupation of the Vorotan section of Armenia’s Goris-Kapan highway by the enemy, the poor condition of Tatev-Aghvani, the only road that provides vital connection between Armenia and Iran, indicates, unfortunately, that we are dealing with a complete lack of strategic thinking. And this makes Armenia even more vulnerable not only and not so much economically, but primarily in geopolitical terms,” Voskanyan said.
ArmInfo.The Ministry of High-Tech Industry intends to intensify its cooperation with the My Step Foundation in human resource development, Minister Robert Khachatryan and Deputy Minister David Sahakyan stated at their meeting with Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, CEO, My Step Foundation.
The sides discussed current issues related to the NerUzh (Potential) Diaspora Tech Startup Program.
Mr Hayrapetyan briefed Minister Khachatryan on the Quanta quantum and mesoscopic physics programme and on the Foundation's further projects, particularly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) development in Armenia's schools.
ArmInfo.The absence of preconditions at this stage of negotiations between Armenia and Turkey is due to other Turkish interests in other regions. Political scientist Robert Ghevondyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"Interests that are quite capable of influencing the process of the Armenian-Turkish normalization. For example, in response to the West's demand to ensure a certain level of relations with Armenia, Turkey can gain geopolitical preferences in the same Syria. Geopolitical games do not end with the Armenian-Turkish vector for Ankara playing on different boards. This is the reason for the numerous turns of Turkish policy in order to obtain the greatest benefit on this or that board," he noted.
Against this background, Ghevondyan is convinced that at the first attempt of Ankara to start talking with Yerevan again in the language of preconditions, Armenia should immediately withdraw from the negotiations. Because Turkish preconditions can go beyond the Armenian red lines. In the opinion of the political scientist, taking into account the stage of fairly rapid geopolitical transformations in which the world is today, each player seeks to acquire new political opportunities when the situation is entering a phase of relative balance in order to use them in the future.
Against this background, Ghevondyan is not at all inclined to completely and directly condition the Armenian-Turkish normalization by the current processes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The political scientist sees their indirect influence on the Armenian-Turkish process in parallel with the influence of the Armenian-Russian, Russian-Turkish and Turkish-American relations.
"One way or another, I am not a big optimist in terms of the Armenian-Turkish prospects. And I do not expect the eradication of enmity between our countries. At the same time, I am well aware that the establishment of relations is possible with any enemy. The latest example of which is the energy cooperation of the Russian Federation with the West. Hence a request for a lack of emotions and cold calculation in the process of implementing Armenia's foreign policy. Where cooperation is possible, we should cooperate. And where we see a threat of going beyond our red lines, we must demonstrate hostility," the political scientist summed up.