Goris Today published a video showing Azerbaijanis moving a cross-stone on the Berdzor road.
According to the source, the new road bypassing the city of Berdzor, which is being built by Azerbaijanis, will pass through this section, starting near the village of Kornidzor in Syunik and passing through the villages of Hinshen and Metshen in Artsakh, ending in Lisagor.
The representative of Armenia Karen Grigoryan took part in one of the chess events held in Madrid near the World Chess Candidates Tournament.
In the blitz tournament, the Armenian grandmaster scored 7.5 points out of 9 and took the third place.
The title of the winner was won by the Spaniard Eduardo Iturrizaga, who scored 8 points. The second place was taken by Cuban Yusnel Bacallao Alonso with 7.5 points.
Armenian representative Homeros Arakelyan (55 kg) lost in the semifinals of the European Youth Championship in Greek-Roman wrestling (under 20 years), which takes place in Rome, the press service of the Wrestling Federation of Armenia reported.
His opponent was Denis Florin Mihai (Romania).
This was evident after the Turkish state occupied Syrian territory, pointing its mercenaries at the head of the local and administrative councils that controlled the necks of the components of the region, and the remaining residents of the Syrian regions.
The Armenian people, like other peoples, suffered from the Ottoman Empire since ancient times from massacres and displacement with the aim of robbing them of their land and melting them in the crucible of the Ottoman Empire, applying the Turkification, and blowing up their civilization and culture, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of families to escape from this hell to neighboring lands such as Syria, Iraq and European countries Neighboring.
These families, fleeing from the furnace of the Ottoman Holocaust, merged with the peoples they had migrated to while preserving their customs and traditions, and among these areas was the province of Girê Spi and its countryside, where they had in the province an entire neighborhood called “The Armenian Quarter”, in which they found a place of stability in the framework of coexistence.
After Turkey occupied Girê Spî canton after an aggression it launched against the northern and eastern regions of Syria on October 9, 2019, it displaced more than 100,000 residents of the canton, including Armenian families.
Armenian families, like others, were not spared the looting and seizure of property, the latest of which was documented by our agency about the seizure of the land of the Armenian diaspora “Akoub”, which is estimated at 170 dunams, near the town of Al-Ali Baglia of the occupied Girê Spî district, on which a religious complex is currently being built with Kuwaiti funds under the supervision of the so-called Tel Abyad local council of the Turkish occupation.
What the co-chairman of Girê Spî canton Hamid Al-Abed commented on this violation by saying: Turkey and its mercenaries, since their occupation of Girê Spî canton, have not spared people or stone, and committed the most heinous violations against those who remain of our people in that area, including “killing, kidnapping, looting of property.”
During his speech, he condemned what the Turkish occupier and its mercenaries had committed by seizing the land of the Armenian diaspora “Akoub” to make it an endowment for building associations “of an extremist religious nature, aimed at reviving terrorism by feeding extremist ideology, and making it tools for spawning terrorist elements and threatening global peace and security.”
At the end of his speech, he called on the international community to intervene and pressure Turkey to stop its violations against the peoples of the occupied Syrian regions, including the Armenian people, who previously suffered from the persecution of their Ottoman ancestors who ruled with iron and fire.
ANKARA
Türkiye supports dialogue to thaw relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the immediate opening of the Zangezur corridor, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday.
In a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani and Kazakh counterparts, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “We strongly support the Zangezur corridor, which will provide a connection between the western regions of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan,” an exclave of Azerbaijani territory currently reachable only through Armenia.
Earlier on Monday, a trilateral meeting was held between the ministers of foreign affairs and transport in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.
“We are expecting the opening of the corridor immediately,” Cavusoglu said, adding that this development will have a positive impact on the region.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said in late May that Baku agreed with Yerevan on the opening of the Zangezur corridor, including the construction of both railways and highways.
Following the completion of the railway, Azerbaijan will be able to reach Iran, Armenia and Nakhchivan. The railway will also link Türkiye with Russia through Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a 44-day war in September 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
The war, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal, saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
Russia-Ukraine war
Referring to the grain supply shortage caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, Cavusoglu said supported by the UN, Türkiye is making all-out efforts to solve the issue.
“We have seen once again in this crisis how important sustainable and safe transportation lines are,” he said.
Ukraine is among the leading exporters of grain in the world, however, Russia’s continued blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports has created a global food shortage.
Türkiye has been pushing Ukraine and Russia to reach a deal to resolve the issue with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visiting Ankara last week.
Underlining that Türkiye made “significant investments” to increase its national and regional capacity, Cavusoglu highlighted the importance of the projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and TANAP pipeline, which were earlier put into operation in the region.
The Turkish foreign minister added that the tripartite meeting will also contribute to the work of the Organization of Turkic States, a regional body.
“We are once again demonstrating our common will for the spread of peace and prosperity in our region and the transformation of the Turkic world into a more integrated structure in the future,” he said.
For his part, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said: “During the talks, we focused on the development of the Trans-Caspian Corridor and the current freight traffic accordingly.”
“If particular attention is paid to current issues, ways can be found to expand our transport and communications cooperation to eliminate obstacles,” he said.
Bayramov stated that the new realities that emerged after the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation were also on the agenda of the meeting.
“The Zangezur corridor plays a special role in establishing a route to the European Union, Türkiye and Asia,” he said.
Moreover, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said: “Our goal is to further strengthen the relations between our countries.”
Baku declaration signed by Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan
Following the tripartite meeting, the foreign ministers signed the Baku Declaration.
At the top huddle, participants discussed ways to develop the potential of the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor Initiative.
Also called the Middle Corridor, the network of railways and roads starts in Türkiye and covers Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia to reach China, making it an important effort to revive the ancient Silk Road.
ANKARA
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met on Monday with Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha to discuss the bloc’s vision to promote Islamic solidarity and joint Islamic action.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 11th session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers in the capital Baku.
“President [Aliyev] pledged Azerbaijan’s full support to the Secretary-General’s vision and mission to protect and safeguard the interest of the Muslim world,” the OIC said in a statement.
During the meeting, Taha congratulated the Azerbaijani leader on the liberation of its territories from Armenian occupation and voiced support to the country’s efforts to reconstruct its liberated areas.
On Sept. 27, 2020, a 44-day conflict ended with Azerbaijan’s liberation of several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost three decades.
09:41,
YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS. India and the European Union (EU) will hold the first round of negotiations around the free trade agreement (FTA) on June 27 after a 9-year pause, Doordarshan India reported.
“The first round of talks around the free trade agreement will be held today in New Delhi. The discussions will last for five days, until July 1”, the TV said, adding that the sides are expected to focus on reaching agreements around investment protection issues, facilitation of trade deals over agricultural goods, etc.
India and EU have started the talks on signing a free trade agreement in 2007, however, they were suspended in 2013 due to some disagreements between the sides.
Paris, Yerevan, — The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its Armenian member organisation, the Civil Society Institute, and CEE Bankwatch Network, publish a report on the multiple human rights and environmental abuses linked to the Amulsar gold mine project in Armenia. Located in a particularly sensitive area, and home to several protected species, rivers, and water reservoirs that are vital to the nearby spa town of Jermuk, the project has been plagued by major risk management problems and allegations of corruption since its inception in 2007.
Read the executive summary here.
For 15 years, two of the world’s largest development banks financed an Armenian gold mine that harmed the environment and the rights of local communities. Civil society activists were critical of the mine, blocking its entry and taking the case to court. Weakened by the armed conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan, the Armenian government, elected after the 2018 Velvet Revolution amid promises of democratic reform, wants to reopen it and just passed a law that could weaken civic participation in mining projects.
Taking advantage of Armenia’s opaque governance of natural resources, Lydian, a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange until 2020, developed the project without seriously consulting local affected populations. As early as 2018, 85.7% of the surveyed inhabitants of Jermuk reported impacts on their health such as asthma attacks, lung diseases, headaches, and insomnia.
“During the Velvet Revolution, Armenians’ voices grew freer and mobilisation against the project became very strong,” explained Inga Zarafyan, president of EcoLur informational NGO. “Our protest is based on serious assessments provided by dozens of independent experts and on reliable scientific data.”
“After all these years, we have the right to challenge unreasonable and anti-democratic decisions. But the mining company is doing everything it can to stop us.”
In 2018, Lydian launched no fewer than 20 “SLAPP suits” – legal actions designed to silence or intimidate – against human rights and environmental defenders, journalists, and even a member of parliament. Critical voices are regularly subjected to smear campaigns. Despite such smear campaigns and repression, the neighbouring populations set up a blockade at the entrance of the mine that lasted over two years, from 2018 to 2020.
The report highlights the failure of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a branch of the World Bank) – two multilateral development banks that respectively supported the project from 2007 to 2017 and 2009 to 2021 – to uphold their human rights and environmental obligations in accordance with international standards and their own policies. The development banks have so far refused to shoulder any responsibility for the project’s failures or to provide remedy for the damage caused to local communities. In 2014, the EBRD’s internal grievance mechanism held that two complaints filed by affected people were ineligible, before the bank’s new complaints mechanism finally launched a compliance investigation in 2020, which is ongoing.
“The IFC and the EBRD failed to bring high standards of transparency, participation in decision-making and accountability to the mining project.”
“Instead of leading by example and adding value, the EBRD refused to communicate to civil society about Amulsar and tolerated dozens of SLAPPs by Lydian, which was unprecedented in our experience,” said Fidanka Bacheva-McGrath. “I hope the EBRD’s accountability mechanism will soon deliver a critical review and recommendations for effective remedy.”
Amulsar can be seen as a test for Armenia’s young democracy, which in three years has experienced a revolution, the consequences of the pandemic, and then a harsh armed conflict that has caused heavy human, moral, territorial, and economic losses.
Under intense diplomatic and economic pressure, the Armenian government approved a five-year action plan in November 2021, that included operating the Amulsar mine.
In addition to recommendations to the development banks and Lydian, the report calls on the Armenian government to revoke Amulsar’s licences and urgently implement all of the recommendations of international experts from the UN and the Bern Convention who have reviewed the situation.
“We are concerned by the recent turn of events in Armenia. The government seems to be enacting dangerous reforms that could further weaken citizen participation in decision-making around mining projects, instead of learning the lessons from Amulsar,” explained Artak Kirakosyan, director of CSI and vice-president of FIDH.
“Yes, reform of mining regulation is needed. But only if it prioritises the effective participation of affected communities and the protection of human rights and the environment.”
The full report is available in Armenian and English.
Armenia Plans to Normalize Relations with Turkey, Pashinyan Says
June, 28, 2022 – 12:10 Other Media news
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Armenia sees opportunities to normalize relations with Turkey and will do everything to take advantage of them, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during an online press conference.
At the same time, according to him, the statements made by Turkey about the “Zangezur corridor” hinder the process of the Armenian-Turkish settlement, but this does not mean that Armenia will stop the dialogue with Turkey, RIA Novosti reported.
Baku insists on laying the so-called Zangezur corridor, which will connect Azerbaijan with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic through the Syunik region of Armenia.
Azerbaijan’s future plans include the connection of Zangilan, located in the region of Eastern Zangezur, with Western Zangezur, and then through Ordubad with Nakhichevan and Turkey. Yerevan does not agree with the idea of a transport corridor from the western regions of Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia. In Armenia, they say that we can talk not about a corridor, but about a road.
There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993 at the initiative of Ankara. Difficult relations between the countries are caused by a number of circumstances related, in particular, to Ankara’s support for the Azerbaijani position on the Karabakh problem and Turkey’s sharp reaction to the process of international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
On January 14, Moscow hosted the first meeting of special representatives for the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey – Deputy Chairman of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan and former Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilych. As the Russian Foreign Ministry reported, the parties during the talks showed their readiness to conduct a dialogue in a constructive, non-politicized manner. Two more meetings were held in Vienna.