Category: News

A major car crash in the Central Anatolian province of Niğde has killed at least 13 people and injured one, the Turkish police have stated, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

A car and a light commercial vehicle were involved in a collision in the early hours of Sept. 25 on the Aksaray-Adana highway, near the Bor district of Niğde.

Eleven people died at the scene.

Three injured people were rushed to a hospital in Niğde for treatment, but two could not be saved.

No official statement has been issued about the cause of the crash.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, express their serious concerns about Armenian and Azerbaijani forces using mortars and heavy weapons in and around civilian areas.

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs issued the following statement today:

The use of such weapons represents an unacceptable escalation in the conflict. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and recognize the casualties on each side of the international border and Line of Contact. We appeal to the sides in the strongest possible terms to avoid civilian casualties. The sides have an obligation under the Geneva Conventions to protect the safety and security of non-combatants.

We regret that these incidents took place on the eve of the agreed meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in New York.  We expect the Ministers to have a serious discussion on the escalation of violence and the issues surrounding a negotiated settlement. While we are unable to determine with certainty how the violence originated since each side accuses the other, the parties should work towards an OSCE investigation mechanism as discussed between the Presidents.

We will continue our work with the sides at the highest levels to de-escalate tensions and advance a lasting and peaceful settlement.

The Azerbaijani side continued the intensive shelling in the direction of the Armenian forces last night.

The rival violated the ceasefire 260, firing more than 4,000 shots from artillery weapons of different caliber, as well as 60 and 82mm mortars, RPG-7, HAN-17 and SPG-9 grenades.

The adversary also used Turkey-made TR-107 reactive rocket launchers.

The activeness of the Azerbaijani side was pressured as a result of retaliatory measures taken by the front troops of the NKR Defense Army.

The Defense Army keeps control of the situation all along the line of contact, the NKR Defense Ministry said in a statement.

After a nearly decade-long process working closely with the Kansas National Guard, the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade earned certification as a NATO partner following a large-scale exercise in the Republic of Armenia Sept. 15-18, according to 

The brigade earned the accreditation by passing NATO Evaluation Level 2 of the Operational Capabilities Concept of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program. The endorsement certifies Armenia’s capabilities to support NATO peacekeeping operations worldwide and adds them to the NATO Pool of Forces.

Command and control, communication, logistics, tactics, techniques and procedures were all under the microscope as four evaluation teams analyzed the various metrics and performance measures under the close supervision of a team of NATO monitors representing Germany, Austria, Ukraine, France and Sweden.

The brigade was evaluated according to NATO standards to ensure operational readiness.

Lt. Col. Ingo Schoeppler, Armed Forces of Germany, serves as a NATO monitor and noted the improvements he has seen.

“We witnessed that the Peacekeeping Brigade is in great shape with motivated, well-trained, young and experienced soldiers and are a very strong partner to the NATO alliance,” Schoeppler said.

Schoeppler also credited the Kansas National Guard’s efforts in helping Armenia in this certification process. Kansas and Armenia are partners in the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program.

The State Partnership Program builds relationships between a state’s National Guard and the armed forces or equivalent of a partner country in a cooperative, mutually-beneficial relationship.

“NATO is extremely grateful that the Kansas National Guard has such a close cooperation to Armenia and especially to this peacekeeping brigade,” said Schoeppler. “The Kansas National Guard plays a crucial part in the success and improvement of the capacity and capabilities of the unit.”

The exercise scenario played out over the course of 76 hours as Armenian soldiers were evaluated in three phases beginning with an in-barracks inspection focused on reviewing the units’ documentation and plans followed by a field inspection and live exercise.

The Kansas National Guard OCC team has had many interactions with their Armenian counterparts since being partnered in 2003. One month prior to the exercise, a nine-Soldier Kansas Guard team visited Armenia to assist with evaluation preparations.

“The peacekeeping brigade has improved vastly,” said Lt. Col. Richard Fisher, officer in charge of the KSARNG OCC team. “My first time in Armenia was in 2003. One thing that hasn’t changed is the motivation, professionalism and dedication of the soldiers.”

Fisher worked closely with Armenian Lt. Col. Armen Martirosyan in evaluating staff procedures.

“There’s a huge improvement both in procedures and paperwork, and performance as well,” said Martirosyan. “From my personal point of view, I’m very happy with what we’ve seen this year.”

Master Sgt. Samantha Wier, who has served as logistics subject matter expert on a number of information sharing trips to Armenia, also remarked on the improvement in Armenia’s forces.

“I’ve seen tremendous progress,” said Wier. “The Armenian army has their own version of how they manage to do things, but they have come a very long way in embracing the NATO tactics and paperwork, supply chain and systems that were unfamiliar to them.”

According to Wier, working with her Armenian counterparts is a give and take relationship.

“I enjoy working with my Armenian counterparts,” she said. “They enjoy practicing English with us. They’re very jovial, very smart in their fields. I’ve learned so many things that I can take back with me for my logistics career.”

 

The board of scandal-hit Volkswagen meets on Friday to shake up its management.

On the agenda will be choosing a replacement for chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned on Wednesday.

Reports have said that the front-runner for the top job is Porsche chief executive Matthias Mueller.

VW is also expected to dismiss executives tainted by the scandal over the rigging of emissions tests by software in its diesel cars in the US.

Asbarez – The Executive committee of the Syrian Armenian Relief Fund (SARF) will hold a fundraising telethon in late February 2016 to provide financial assistance to Syrian Armenians who are victims of the ravaging civil war.

A special task force was formed and preliminary activities have started. The telethon will be broadcast in Southern California on cable TV channels. It will also be webcast worldwide on www.syrianarmenianrelieffund.org. More details will be provided to our community in the days to come.

Pre-telethon fund raising has already started and representatives of SARF will soon contact individuals and various organizations to secure their support.

We are confident that once again our community will rise to the occasion and do its utmost to give generously and help our suffering people.

SARF was established 3 years ago in Los Angeles and is comprised of 10 major organizations of the Armenian community in the Southland: Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, Western Diocese of the Armenian Church, Armenian Catholic Eparchy in North America, The Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, Social Democratic Hunchagian Party, The Armenian Relief Society, Armenian General Benevolent Union, The Armenian Missionary Association of America.

Upon his arrival in New York on the evening of September 24th, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andrieu. Anjey Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman in office participated in the meeting.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia expressed his indignation to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs on the gross violations of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan, which caused human losses among the civilian population.

“Azerbaijan has developed a bad practice of escalating the situation, even at the expense of human casualties, on the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and at the border with Armenia, ahead of important visits to the region and high level meetings, thus undermining the meetings and impeding the negotiation process”, underlined Minister Nalbandian.

Strongly condemning the killing of three Armenian citizens, as a result of ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan, Minister Nalbandian said: “This yet another provocation by Azerbaijan came as a response to the expectation, expressed by the Minsk Group Co-chairs on holding productive talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in New York.”

The possible steps on stabilisation of the situation were discussed at the meeting.

Four Armenian soldiers were killed as the Azerbaijan side opened fire from Turkey-made TR-107 reactive rocket launchers in the north-eastern direction of the Defense Army at about 17:30, NKR Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The victims were identified as Norayr Khachatryan, born in 1995, Robert Mkrtchyan, born in 1995, Harut Hakobyan, born in 1997, Karen Shahinyan, born in 1997. The Ministry said several soliers were also wounded.

Probe into the details of the case is under way.

The NKR Defense Ministry shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its sympathy to the families and friends of the killed soldiers.

 

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of football’s world governing body Fifa, the BBC reports.

The attorney general’s office said he was suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal and of a “disloyal payment” to European football chief Michel Platini.

Mr Blatter was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added.

Fifa said it was co-operating with the investigation.

Mr Blatter, 79, has run Fifa since 1998 and has always denied any wrongdoing.