Ex-Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan had a meeting with Vardan Oskanian, President of the Consolidation Party.
Issues related to the domestic and foreign policies, as well as he forthcoming parliamentary elections were discussed, Press Secretary for the Consolidation Party Aregnaz Manukyan informs.
Photo: AFP
Turkish police have arrested the main suspect in the New Year’s Eve attack on an exclusive nightclub in Istanbul after a huge manhunt, the BBC reports.
Abdulkadir Masharipov is believed to have mounted the assault on the Reina club which left 39 people dead.
The Uzbek national is said to have been caught in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district.
Citizens of Israel, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, India, Belgium, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were among the victims, and dozens of people were injured.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
The gunman arrived at the club by taxi early that Sunday, before rushing through the entrance with a long-barrelled gun he had taken from the boot of the car.
He fired randomly at people celebrating the new year.
MP Gagik Tsarukyan has revealed plans to participate in the 2017 parliamentary elections.
“The 2017 parliamentary elections will be fatal for Armenia,” Tsarukyan said in a statement today.
“Considering the domestic and foreign challenges facing our country, as well as the public demand for my return, I declare I’m reopening the closed page of my political activity and will participate in the 2017 parliamentary elections, forming a broad coalition,” Gagik Tsarukyan said.
“Our doors are open to all political forces and politicians concerned by the future of our country,” he said.
“We can and we have the potential develop and strengthen our country,” he stated.
Armenia has been included in the UN’s 2017 Honour Roll for having paid its regular budget assessment in full.
In January 2017 Armenia paid $151,338 as a regular assessment.
The roll includes the countries that have paid their regular budget assessments in full within the 30 day due period specified in Financial Regulation.
Nine out of 193 UN member states were in the Honour Roll as of January 10, 2017.
The NKR National Assembly voted 20 to 7 with one abstention today to approve the President’s proposal to put the draft Constitution of the Artsakh Republic on a referendum.
“All of us are interested in having a better Constitution,” National Assembly Speaker Ashot Ghulyan said addressing the lawmakers.
“We already have certain traditions in the sphere and this maturity should become visible, when adopting the Constitution in 2017,” he said.
President’s representative Ararat Danielyan presented the main changes to the draft Constitution. All in all, 184 proposals had been submitted by factions and MPs, of which 30 were adopted. Another 13 offers were adopted partially, while the other 154 proposals were turned down due to different reasons.
PHOTO: BLAINE ALAN GIBSON
The search for the Malaysian airliner that disappeared three years ago with 239 on board has been suspended, the BBC reports.
In a statement, Australia, Malaysia and China said the decision was taken with “sadness” after a fruitless search in more than 120,000 sq km (46,300 miles) of the Indian Ocean.
Families of the victims called it an “irresponsible” move that must be reconsidered.
Flight MH370 vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in 2014.
So far only seven of the 20 pieces of recovered debris have been identified as definitely or highly likely to be from the Boeing 777.
At the invitation of Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev, RA Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan will be off to the Russian Federation on January 24 for a two-day official visit.
During the visit, Karen Karapetian is scheduled to meet with RF Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. The two heads of government will discuss the agenda of the Armenian-Russian cooperation.
The Prime Ministers of Armenia and Russia will also touch upon the joint efforts aimed at furthering integration in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, which in turn will contribute to the strengthening and deepening of the multifaceted Armenian-Russian cooperation.
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.
The National Assembly of the Nagorno Karabakah Repubvlic will convene a special session on January 17.
A corresponding decision was signed by Speaker Ashot Ghulyan today.
The lawmakers are set to resume discussions on the draft Constitution.
Although disappointed not to win, Henrikh Mkhitaryan enjoyed the “amazing” atmosphere at Old Trafford in his first experience of Manchester United’s fierce rivalry with Liverpool.
The Reds were held to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League as Zlatan Ibrahimovic notched his 19th goal of the season to cancel out James Milner’s first-half penalty at a raucous Theatre of Dreams.
In particular, the noise levels inside the stadium erupted when Zlatan equalised on 84 minutes as the crowd willed the team on to secure a possible comeback victory. While a second goal unfortunately never came, Mkhitaryan told afterwards that he relished the whole experience.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Henrikh said. “I want to see more of this kind of atmosphere in the stadium. Thanks to the supporters. They were believing in us and they supported us until the end.”
Offering his assessment of the match, Mkhitaryan continued: “It wasn’t the right result but we were down 1-0 so it wasn’t a bad result. We could have won, we could have lost, but I think we deserved to win more because we played very well like a team and did our best to win the game.
“The score was 1-1 at the end so we were pushing up a bit, trying to find the net for the second time but unfortunately we couldn’t. So 1-1 is not a bad result because we are still very close to the top four and we will do our best in the next games.”
Marouane Fellaini made a telling impact as a substitute on Sunday as his header that bounced off the post led to Ibrahimovic scoring a vital goal just seconds later. Mkhitaryan was quick to praise the Belgian afterwards, but also had positive words for United’s two other replacements.
“Not only Marouane but also Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata put freshness in the team,” Micki explained. “They helped us a lot up front and we are happy that they could change something in our game. We are happy to have them coming on.”
Mkhitryan is unconcerned that United’s nine-match winning run has come to an end, saying records are not the main focus this season, yet he hopes to begin another run at Stoke City next weekend.
“For sure, why not?” he said. “We have to win, try to win the next game. We are not looking for records, we are doing our best to be in the top four and to do that you have to win games. Do not think about records because one day they will break. We are just trying to do our job by winning every game.”