Category: News

Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan could miss the UEFA Europa League match against Azerbaijan’s FC Qäbälä set for October 22.

According to reports in Azeri media, Borussia Dortmund’s #10 may be denied a visa because of his visit to Nagorno Karabakh in 2011.

Baku has blacklisted hundreds of politicians, actors, public figures and journalists over their visit to Artsakh.

“We hope that this is not true,” BVB spokesman Sascha Fligge told the German . “At the moment Henrikh is a super important player for us, who has shows brilliant achievements for weeks.”

Igor Nazaruk, the newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus, today handed over his credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan, President’s Press Office reported.

The RA President congratulated the Ambassador on the occasion of taking up his functions and wished every success in fulfilling his diplomatic duties.

Serzh Sargsyan underlined that the bilateral relations between Armenia and Belarus were developing in all dimensions, including the high level political dialogue and partnership on the level of executive and legislative authorities. The President expressed hope that the newly-appointed ambassador would make efforts to fully realize the existing potential of the cooperation between the two countries in the economic sphere, considering that the membership in the EAEU opens up new perspectives for mutually beneficial partnership.

According to the interlocutors, the participation of Armenia in the Eurasian integration processes would enrich the agenda of Armenian-Belarusian cooperation, elevating them to a qualitatively new level of development.

The RA President and the Belarusian ambassador agreed that active political dialogue, boost of the economic and trade relations, partnership in the humanitarian and other fields were in line with the long-term interests of the two countries and the spirit of the friendly relations between Armenian and Belarusian people.

At the meeting Ambassador Igor Nazaruk assured that during his tenure he would make the utmost efforts towards the strengthening and development of Armenian-Belarusian partnership based on the historical friendly relations.

The population of Armenia will plunge to 1.8 million by 2100, the 2015 Revision of World Population Prospects by UN projects.

UNFPA Armenia Assistant Representative Garik Hayrapetyan and demographer Ruben Yeganyan shared insights on the results of the latest UN report.

According to a press release from the Media Center, the forecasts of demographic rates, Garik Hayrapetyan said, are made through average projections.

“Actually, projections are made by optimistic, medium variant and pessimistic scenarios. In 2100 Armenia will have 1.8 million population. The pessimistic variant projection states the population will decrease to less than one million in 2100,” told a press conference at the.

The world population is projected to reach 11.2 billion from current 7.3 billion by 2100. Asia will see a likely contraction of the total population size. Europe will suffer a decrease, with 646 million people in 2100. The fastest-growing area is Africa where population is projected to reach 4.4 billion. Population growth in Turkey and Iran will remain high but they will also see a decrease.

“A major concern for Armenia is the number of workers per retiree. Currently the ratio in the country is 5.4 workers per retiree whereas the medium variant projection defines the number will be 2.4 per one retiree in 2100 and the pessimistic projection sets the one per one variant. It will evolve into a huge social-economic burden for workers and put an end to the principle of generations’ solidarity,” Hayrapetyan said.

With respect to the sex ratio in Armenia, Hayrapetyan said, “Now the sex ratio is 86 males to 100 females but this covers the whole population of Armenia. Meanwhile, among 0-19 olds males exceed females by 11.4,” Hayrapetyan said.

Ruben Yeganyan prioritized migration as a main factor determining these rates. “Now 30 thousand people annually emigrate from Armenia.” In the coming years Armenia’s population is expected to decrease by 12 thousand per year.

Yeganyan added, however, that the UN projection could turn non-realistic. Yeganyan, though, does not consider the presented rates unexpected and believes the country should work to address the issue, develop mechanisms to influence the situation so that the projections do not eventually come true.

On August 28th, U.S. Ambassador Richard M. Mills, Jr. and Armenian Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan attended the graduation ceremony for 12 trainers of military medics of the Armenian Army who are the first graduates of an innovative medical training course taught by members of the U.S. military.

For the past three months, six U.S. Army personnel have led classes for the Armenian military medics, who will now serve as instructors for the Armenian military paramedic school. The course is a collaboration between the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation and the Armenian Ministry of Defense, designed to improve the medical treatment of Armenian military wounded.

“You will save lives. Thanks to you, more of your brothers and sisters in arms will return home from places that others fear to tread, dangerous places where you agree to go in the name of peace,” Ambassador Mills told the graduates.

The U.S. military’s training team of highly skilled and experienced U.S. Army sergeants and an officer led the Armenian military medics through an extensive course of the latest techniques, based on the same curriculum used to teach American military medics. Thousands of pages of material were translated into Armenian, marking the first time the course has been offered in a language other than English. As a result of this successful partnership, other nations are requesting the U.S. military conduct similar courses in their native languages.

“The strong American-Armenian partnership is once again demonstrating what we can achieve when we work together,” Ambassador Mills said. “Today’s graduation is, indeed, just the latest illustration of a bilateral relationship that continues to strengthen and grow. This training is one more example of our nations’ mutual progress, our joint friendship, and our strong trust and belief in one another. I know our partnership will strengthen as we continue to face international challenges to security and stability that cannot be solved by any one country alone. The challenges of today’s world require strong international cooperation between like-minded countries and this ceremony is evidence that U.S.-Armenian cooperation is alive and well.”

The partnership between the American military and the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade is a long and important one. A platoon of the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade deployed in 2004 as part of a NATO force to maintain stability and peace in Kosovo. Since that time, Armenian soldiers have actively supported NATO peacekeeping operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Last November, Armenia troops went to Lebanon as part of a UN International Peacekeeping Force.

 

Turkey will keep contributing to the training and equipment of Syrian opposition fighters, in accordance with its agreement with the U.S., the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Within the scope of the agreement with U.S., the train-and-equip program is being carried out as outlined,” Spokesman Tanju Bilgic said at a press conference Thursday.

He said that after the first group which has already entered Syria, a second group of 100 people were currently receiving training.

“Moving forward, train-and-equip activities will continue uninterruptedly,” Bilgic said.

A total of 54 Syrian opposition fighters went into the country early in August after completing a training regimen at the beginning of July.

The Europa League group stage draw was held in Monaco today. Borussia Dortmun will feature in Group C along with PAOK (Greece), Krasnodar (Russia) and Gabala (Azerbaijan).

Draw in full:

Group A: Ajax, Celtic, Fenerbahce, Molde.

Group B: Rubin Kazan, Liverpool, Bordeaux, FC Sion.

Group C: Borussia Dortmund, PAOK, Krasnodar, Gabala.

Group D: Napoli, Club Brugge, Legia Warsaw, Fc Midtjylland.

Group E: Villareal, Viktoria Plzeň, Rapid Vienna, Dinamo Minsk.

Group F: Marseille, Braga, Slovan Liberec, FC Gronigen.

Group G: Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Lazio, Saint Etienne, Rosenborg.

Group H: Sporting Clube de Portugal, Besiktas, Lokomotiv Moscow, KF Skenderbeu

Group I: FC Basel, Fiorentina, Lech Poznan, Os Belenenses.

Group J: Tottenham, Anderlecht, Monaco, Qarabag.

Group K: Schalke, APOEL, Sparta Prague, Asteras Tripoli

Group L: Athletic Bilbao, AZ, Augsburg, Partizan.

 

The Azerbaijani side undertook a fresh infringement attempt in the eastern direction of the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan at 01:40, August 28.

The front troops of the NKR Defense Army averted the advancement of a 20-25-member group and forced the rival to retreat, incurring losses. No casualties are reported on the Armenian side.

The Azerbaijani side also violated the ceasefire regime 110 times overnight, firing 2,000 shots from weapons of different caliber, including 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars.

The activeness of the rival was pressured as a result of retaliatory actions taken by the NKR Defense Army.

The Armenian forces keep control of the situation all along the line of contact.

“We look forward to bringing the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan together at the UN General Assembly in September,” US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick told APA.

He said the Minsk Group Co-Chairs are planning to visit the region in the fall, although no specific dates are set.

“We look forward to bringing the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan together at the UN General Assembly in September and exchange views on the way forward on a negotiated settlement.  We need a renewed commitment at the highest level to finding a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” said James Warlick.

Mesut Ozdemir has one month left to achieve his life-long dream: to open a new school for the Armenian community in Istanbul, reports.

“I am very delighted to see the school is almost done. Moving to a new building after 171 years makes us all happy,” Ozdemir, who is chairman of the Surp Asdvadzadzin Church Foundation, tells Anadolu Agency.

Construction on the project began three years ago. From the outside, it is not much different from other schools. Yet it is still unique: it is the first school that Istanbul’s Armenian community is building in Republican Turkey within a legal framework.

The community opened schools in previous decades but these were dependent upon special permission granted by prime ministers.

There are 22 minority schools In Istanbul; five of them are Greek, one is Jewish, and the remaining 16 are Armenian.

What made this latest project possible was a 2008 legal reform brought forward by the government and pushed through parliament.

The changes allowed minorities to acquire and renovate properties. The Turkish government also began returning previously confiscated properties to minority communities.

Such changes were welcomed and supported at the local level. Bakirkoy Municipality exempted the Armenian school from certain fees to smooth construction. “Members of the local council unanimously voted for the exemption,” Ozdemir recalls.

Despite such help from the municipality, Ozdemir says that financing was challenging for the community. The foundation depended on several fund-raising efforts to finish the job.

To relieve some of the financial burden, the government added minority schools to a list of institutions eligible for state aid.

In Turkey, the state partially aids students with financial difficulties so that they can enroll in private institutions. Minority schools are not categorized as ‘private’ institutions, but the government included them in the list, Ozdemir says.

“We thank everyone who helped us to have this joyous moment: Ministers, mayors and the Armenian community…” Ozdemir says, adding that first day of the school year, September 28, will be its official inauguration day.

Over 3,000 students currently attend Istanbul’s 16 Armenian schools. The Bakirkoy neighborhood on Istanbul’s European side housed one small school which was constructed 170 years ago by an Ottoman official, Hovhannes Dadyan.

Across the decades, the Armenians of Bakirkoy depended on that one school but, as their numbers increased, capacity became a problem. Now the school has to accommodate 400 children — more than enough for the old building.

The new school has now more space to accommodate even more than 400. Ozdemir says the school now is able to offer a kindergarten service to the Armenian community; that will increase number of students to 500.

“We now have a bigger sports and conference hall,” Ozdemir says, adding that parents and students toured the construction site to see what the school would be like and were excited for the upcoming education term.

New schools, bigger halls and new services not only pleased Armenian students and parents but also broadened the community’s expectation for the new generation. “We expect more qualified people from this environment,” Ozdemir says.

On 28 August President Bako Sahakyan convoked a meeting of the NKR Security Council. Issues related the celebrations of the 24^th anniversary of the NKR proclamation and the situation along the Karabakh-Azerbaijani line of contact were on the agenda of the meeting, Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic President reported.

NKR Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Aghabekyan and Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan delivered corresponding reports.

The President gave concrete instructions to the NKR government and appropriate structures on proper implementation of the activities concerning the issues discussed.