Category: News

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan received EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) Board of Directors Dutch team leader Frans Weekers.

Appreciating the ongoing effective cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which numbers several joint projects, the Prime Minister expressed readiness to deepen it on behalf of his government.

Highlighting the need to provide continued support for those projects intended for the private sector, the Prime Minister stated in part, “We are considering several projects during our visits to the regions of Armenia, which imply collaboration with the private sector and, as a tool, we would appreciate if the EBRD could take interest in cooperating in the proposed areas. The Government seeks to stimulate the business environment in different ways, and this process can change the business environment, since the ideas are being developed based on specific business logic.”

Given the vast experience accumulated by the EBRD in working with investors, the Premier suggested considering the possibility of cooperation in the frame of the Government Strategic Initiatives Center and the upcoming Investment Fund. Karen Karapetyan said the Government would appreciate if the Bank could contribute to the development of public-private partnership-related legislation and the establishment of the Office of Business Ombudsman.

Frans Weekers said Armenia and the EBRD boast long experience of successful cooperation that has led to numerous joint projects and initiatives. He welcomed the government’s steps aimed at improving the business environment and promoting private investment, as well as the short-term and long-term action plans.

Frans Weekers described as quite promising the idea of establishing a center for strategic initiatives and an investment fund and went on to note that the EBRD is ready to develop cooperation in the areas mentioned by the Prime Minister.

The parties took the opportunity to discuss issues related to the current strategy of GoA- EBRD partnership. In this context, they referred to the programs implemented in different fields of activity mediating both the public and private formats.

Russia will try to solve the issue connected with the detention of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin over his visit to Nagorno Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference today, reports.

The authorities in Belarus detained Lapshin in Minsk on December 15, 2016 at the request of Azerbaijan.

Lavrov said “Russia stands against criminalization of the visits by journalists or other persons to this or that territory in different regions. He added that “Moscow disagrees with the extradition of Russians detained abroad to a third country.”

“We’ll take all measures to settle the situation with full respect for the rights of the citizen of the Russian Federation, who is also a citizen of Israel,” Lavrov said.

US astronaut Gene Cernan – the last man to walk on the Moon – has died aged 82, the BBC reports.

America’s space agency Nasa said it was “saddened by the loss” of the retired spaceman.

Captain Cernan was one of only three people to go to the Moon twice and the last man to leave a footprint on the lunar surface in 1972.

The final words he spoke there were: “We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind.”

He was the commander of the Apollo 17 mission at the time.

Twelve people have walked on the Moon, and only six of them are still alive today.

Photo: TASS

The agreements on the implementation of the mechanism of investiagyion of border incidents and the expansion of the OSCE monitoring mission in the Karabakh conflict zone have not been called to life because of the lack of consensus within the OSCE, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference today, TASS reports.

The Foreign Minister reminded that “considering the mutual accusations of Armenia and Azerbaijan after the aggravation of the conflict in April it was decided to create an investigation mechanism and increase the number of the OSCE monitors immediately along the line of contact.

He voiced regret over the lack of consensus on the implementation of the decision and said that for the reasons behind its absence, “one should ask representatives of the OSCE.”

“There is a whole set of solutions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” Lavrov said. He reminded about the OSCE Security Council resolutions demanding to cease fire and said that the requirement to return the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh remain in place, but “never by force and only in case of determination of the final status of Nagorno Karabakh.”

The Russian Foreign Minister said “all this is enshrined in numerous decisions of the OSCE Minsk Group, also as statements and decisions signed by the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

Lavrov said that “the bloody events of April 2016 cause serious concern” and reminded that “Russia played a key role in stopping the bloodshed at the time.”

AFP – Ten years after campaigning Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was shot dead in Istanbul, Armenians and Turks have still not achieved the reconciliation of which he dreamt.

The murder of Dink by a teenage gunman on January 19, 2007, near the offices of the Agos newspaper which he founded, sent shockwaves through Turkey. Thousands of Turks flooded onto the streets after Dink’s death declaring “We are all Armenians” in an unprecedented show of solidarity.

“Hrant made two great endeavours. To encourage dialogue between Turkey and Armenia. And to tell Turkish society about the Armenian issue in Turkey,” said Yetvart Danzikyan, who holds Dink’s former job of Agos editor-in-chief. But the dark ages of history cast a long shadow.

Born in the Anatolian city of Malatya – which once had a large Armenian population but now almost none – Dink moved to Istanbul and in 1996 sprung to prominence by founding Agos. Agos was not the first or only Armenian newspaper in Turkey but it was the first to be published in Turkish as well as Armenian, allowing a debate of issues that had long remained taboo.

“Hrant Dink gave the chance of telling Turkish society of the major problems of Armenians stemming from 1915,” said Agos’ Armenian language chief editor Pakrat Estukyan who knew Dink. “He made huge contribution and, unfortunately, paid for it with his life.”

Dink’s death became a symbol of the peril of such moves. The photograph of his corpse covered by a sheet, with just the soles of his shoes complete with a hole showing, underlined the tragedy. And although his assassin, just 17 at the time, was rapidly arrested and sentenced, the trial into the killing still grinds on with Dink’s supporters losing confidence on its ability to shed light on the plot.

In subsequent years, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to build bridges with Armenia, a reconciliation process encouraged by the United States. But that process hit the buffers due to the simmering row over 1915, although analysts have long called for the historical dispute to be decoupled from more practical issues like border opening and trade.

The atmosphere became all the more poisonous during the 2015 100th anniversary, with Turkey cranking up the nationalist rhetoric in an election year and making clear it would never acknowledge genocide. “With his murder, he (Dink) also came to represent the peril of the process of normalisation,” Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC) independent think tank in Yerevan, told AFP.

Underlining the acute sensitivity, an Armenian lawmaker for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Garo Paylan, was suspended from the Turkish parliament last week for declaring in a debate the events of 1915 were “genocide”.

Dink’s assassin, Ogun Samast, is still behind bars but the trial into dozens of police accused of covering up the plot rumbles on.
The police on trial have been linked to Erdogan’s arch enemy, the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. Anger was caused by a video that emerged showing Samast bantering with police officers after his arrest and even holding up a Turkish flag.

“After 10 years, this court has still not shed light on the murder. We don’t have expectations from this process,” said Estukyan. Yet the taboos that Dink smashed remain broken. A few years before it would have been inconceivable to even have an Armenian in the Turkish parliament, let alone even utter the word “genocide”. Analysts hope that reconciliation is still possible.

“The man may be gone, but his mission continues and his spirit lives on, inspiring a new generation to look forward,” said Giragosian.

South Korea’s special prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant for Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong, accused of bribery, embezzlement and perjury, the BBC reports.

The case is linked to a scandal that led to the impeachment of the country’s President Park Geung-hye.

Samsung is accused of giving donations to non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of Ms Park, in exchange for government favours.

The firm said the issuing of the arrest warrant was “hard to understand”.

Seoul Central District Court must now decide whether to go ahead and issue the warrant.

If this happened, Mr Lee would be the first executive to be arrested in connection to the scandal.

He is currently vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, but since his father, Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack in 2014, he is considered de facto boss of the entire Samsung Group conglomerate.

10th round of hearings of Dink murder case will continue today in Istanbul. Friends of Hrant was in front of the court house, Agos reports. 

The case on the murder of Agos’ editor-in-chief Hrant Dink will continue today (January 16) in Istanbul.

Hearings will continue until Friday and Ali Fuat Yılmazer will present his defence.

Before the hearing, Friends of Hrant was in front of the court house, demanding justice again.

Speaking on behalf of Friends of Hrant, Bülent Aydın reminded that hearing of defences will be completed soon and now, it is Ali Fuat Yılmazer’s turn.

Saying that “For 10 years, Hrant is not here and there is no justice,” Aydın announced that they will gather  in front of the old Agos building, where Dink was shot, on January 19 at 2.30 pm.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament, has appealed to the Constitutional Court for interruption of his January 13^th speech and his further suspension from Parliament, Agos reports.

Paylan labels the incident as “the violation of the right to immunity and the freedom of speech.”

Garo Paylan has also applied to the Grand National Assembly, demanding to overturn the decision on his suspension, as it “contradicts the Parliament’s rules of procedure.”

Garo Paylan representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Saturday was suspended from parliament for three days after speaking about the Armenian Genocide during the legislature debate of a new Turkish constitution.

In his speech, which angered the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members, Paylan said that from 1913 to 1923 the Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and Jews registered in the country, were “exiled from these lands or subjected to tortures as a result of large massacres and genocide”.

“At one time we comprised 40% of the population,” Paylan said despite an uproar by AKP members.  “Today we are one among 1000. Something happened to us, and I call it genocide whatever you call it. The Armenian people know very well what happened to them. I know very well what happened to my father, grandfather. Let’s face [history] together,” he added.

AKP member Metin Külünk demanded that Paylan  “correct  the word genocide.” The legislative session ended, with parliament members condemning Paylan’s statements.

Angelina Papikyan and Sabina Manvelyan will represent Armenia in the new music show “Ты-супер” (“You’re super”) to be hosted by the Russian NTV channel.

Angelina Pepanyan, 15, studies at the Gyumri’s boarding school after Fridtjof Nansen. Sabina Manvelyan, also 15, lives at children’s home in Vanadzor.

The project provides a chance to talented children without parents to express themselves. According to the rules of the project, every country should be represented by two participants.

The girls will leave for Moscow in the coming days and are looking forwards to the start of the show.