Category: News

Security forces in Egypt have mistakenly killed 12 people, including Mexican tourists, during an anti-terror operation, the interior ministry saysm, the BBC reports.

The tourists were travelling in four vehicles that entered a restricted zone in the Wahat area of the Western Desert, a ministry statement said.

Ten Mexicans and Egyptians were also injured and are being treated in a local hospital.

The ministry said it had formed a team to investigate the incident.

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto condemned the incident and said he had “demanded an exhaustive investigation by the Egyptian government”.

The Mexican foreign ministry confirmed that at least two of its nationals had been killed and said it was working to confirm the identities of the other victims.

In a statement, it said Mexico’s ambassador in Egypt, Jorge Alvarez Fuentes, had visited the local hospital and spoken to five Mexicans who were in a stable condition.

Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on Sept. 15-16, the Foreign Ministry has announced.

During his visit, Sinirlioğlu will discuss Turkish-Azerbaijani relations and regional and international developments, including the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, with his counterpart Elman Memmedyarov, the ministry said in a statement.

Sinirlioğlu is also expected to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Artur Rasizade.

Australia will get its fifth prime minister in eight years after the ruling Liberal Party on Monday voted out Tony Abbott in favor of longtime rival Malcolm Turnbull, following months of infighting and crumbling voter support, Reuters reports.

Turnbull, a multi-millionaire former tech entrepreneur, won a secret party vote by 54 to 44, Liberal Party chief whip Scott Buchholz told reporters after the meeting in Canberra.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was elected deputy leader of the party which, with junior coalition partner the National Party, won a landslide election in 2013.

“Ultimately, the prime minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs,” Turnbull told reporters at parliament house ahead of the vote.

“We need a different style of leadership.”

Abbott pledged to fight the challenge but was ultimately unsuccessful in overcoming the “destabilisation” that he said had been taking place within the party over months.

On September 8, Dr. Vaughan Turekian, formerly the Chief International Officer at The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), was named the 5th Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, according to the State Departament’s official website.

In this capacity, Dr. Turekian will advise the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment on international environment, science, technology, and health matters affecting the foreign policy of the United States. Dr. Turekian will draw upon his background in atmospheric chemistry and extensive policy experience to promote science, technology, and engineering as integral components of U.S. diplomacy.

A grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, Turekian is the son of Karl K. Turekian, a pioneering Yale geochemist. Vaughan Turekian was also visiting professor at the American University of Armenia in 2000, Asbarez reports.

Dr. Turekian brings both technical expertise and 14 years of policy experience to the position. As former Chief International Officer for The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Director of AAAS’s Center for Science Diplomacy, Dr. Turekian worked to build bridges between nations based on shared scientific goals, placing special emphasis on regions where traditional political relationships are strained or do not exist. As Editor-in-Chief of Science & Diplomacy, an online quarterly publication, Dr. Turekian published original policy pieces that have served to inform international science policy recommendations.

Prior to his work at AAAS, Turekian worked at the State Department as Special Assistant and Adviser to the Under Secretary for Global Affairs on issues related to sustainable development, climate change, environment, energy, science, technology, and health and as a Program Director for the Committee on Global Change Research at the National Academy of Sciences where he was study director for a White House report on climate change science.

US Co-Chair of the OSCE Misnk Group James Warlick has called for joint use of the Sarsang water reservoir.

Warlick uploaded the photo of the reservoir on

“I took this photo last year with the Co-Chairs. We need to ensure that the reservoir continues to provide safe reliable power to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Co-Chair wrote.

“It’s also important that the dam is safe and that those downstream in Azerbaijan have water when it is needed. Why can’t the sides cooperate when it is in their mutual interest? This is a win-win and we are ready to help,” James Warlick said. 

Guarantees of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention related to the access to justice in environmental matters in the context of modern international developments were discussed at the OSCE-supported workshop on 11 September 2015 in Yerevan.

The workshop was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan together with the Centre of Economic-Legal Analyses in co-operation with the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.

The event aimed at bringing together high-level professionals in the field to share experiences, identify challenges and explore possible ways to enhance the implementation of the “Access to Justice” pillar of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).

Participants were introduced to the experts’ view on the protection of environmental rights and the basic directions of its improvement.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan has been promoting implementation of the Aarhus Convention through the establishment of a network of 15 regional Aarhus Centres in Armenia, which provide information and advice, organize discussions on environmental issues.

Aram Papoyan, Director of the Institute for Physical Research of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, has won an ICO Galileo Galilei Award for his “considerable achievements in the field of spectroscopic study of high solubility of alkali atoms and his contribution to the development of experimental atomic physics in Armenia,” Press Service of the National Academy of Sciences reports.

The ICO Galileo Galilei Award recognizes the promotion of Optics under difficult circumstances. The award was established by the 1993 General Assembly of ICO and has been awarded annually since 1994.

Aram Papoyan was born in Yerevan in 1959. The scope of his study includes laser and atomic physics, as well as quantum and nonlinear optics. In 2004 he received RA President’s Award in Physics for the series of papers on “New possibilities for the study of laser radiation interaction with atomic vapor opened by new optical cells.”

He is a member of the Alfred Kastler Foundation of the French Academy of Sciences and a member of the Armenian Optical Society.

Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Malena Mard was summoned to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Sept.11, over the resolution adopted by the European Parliament, Trend reports.

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev informed Mard about the country’s position on this document.

“Azerbaijan strongly condemns the resolution adopted by the European Parliament,” he said.

Noting that this document is ‘biased and destructive,’ Mammadguliyev said that it is a blow to Azerbaijani-EU relations.

Azerbaijan’s Milli Mejlis will hold an extraordinary session September 14 to consider the attitude toward the resolution of the European Parliament. MPs have been hastily recalled from their vacations on this occasion.

Remind that in a resolution adopted on Thursday the MEPs call for the release of all political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The European Parliament calls for the immediate and unconditional release from jail of all political prisoners, human rights defenders, journalists and other civil society activists, including Khadija Ismayilova, Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunus, in line with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights and/or a prompt investigation into the death of the journalist Rasim Aliyev.

It demands that the Azerbaijan government immediately end its crackdown on civil society and human rights work and says that “the negotiations for a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Azerbaijan should be immediately put on hold as long the government fails to take concrete steps in advancing respect for universal human rights”.

The resolution calls on the Commission “to review and suspend temporarily, if needed, all funding not related to human rights, civil society and grassroots level people-to-people cooperation granted to Azerbaijan through the European Neighbourhood Instrument, and recalls Parliament’s decision to send a delegation to Azerbaijan.

The non-legislative resolution was adopted by 365 votes to 202, with 72 abstentions.

On 11 September Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan convoked a consultation dedicated to preparedness for the September 13 elections to local self-government bodies.

Head of the Central Electoral Commission Srbuhi Arzumanyan delivered a corresponding report.

President Sahakyan expressed confidence that as always everything would be done for holding the elections on a high level, open and transparent, in full correspondence with democratic norms.

National Assembly chairman Ashot Ghoulyan, prime-minister Arayik Haroutyunyan and other officials partook at the consultation.

On September 10 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport John Whittingdale.

Minister Nalbanidn hailed Mr. Whittingdale’s past activity in the House of Commons as the head of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group, underlining that the Armenian-British parliamentary ties actively developed under his leadership.

Minister Nalbandian expressed gratitude to John Whittingdale for his participation in April 24 events in Yerevan dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

During the meeting reference was made to the perspectives of expansion of Armenian-British relations in the field of culture and discussed the implementation of joint programs with a view of presenting the Armenian cultural heritage in the UK.

Edward Nalbandian visited the British Parliament, where he met with members of the House of Lords Caroline Cox and Henry Harrison. Issues related to Armenian-British parliamentary cooperation were discussed.

The same day Minister Nalbandian met with members of the commission coordinating the Armenian Genocide centennial events in the United Kingdom.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the events organized in Armenia and the world, dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

During the meeting reference was made to the preparations for the ecumenical service to be held at the Westminster Abbey in October to commemorate the Armenian Genocide centennial.