Category: News

Ambassador Richard E Hoagland will assume the position of U.S. Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group on an interim basis starting in January 2017.

He replaces Ambassador James B. Warlick, who will step down on December 31, the US Embassy to Armenia says in an official press release.

Ambassador Hoagland brings over 30 years of diplomatic experience to the position. He served as US Ambassador to Tajikistan from 2003 to 2006, US Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2008 to 2011, and as Deputy Ambassador to Pakistan from 2011 to 2013. Ambassador Hoagland most recently led US-Russian military coordination for the Cessation of Hostilities in Syria and served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the State Department in Washington. Prior to these assignments, Ambassador Hoagland led the Office of Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs in the Bureau of Europe and Eurasian Affairs and was Press Spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow.

Ambassador Hoagland’s extensive diplomatic experience will be critical as the United States works with the sides toward a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The United States continues to call on the parties to maintain their commitment to the ceasefire and to implement agreements reached at the Vienna and St Petersburg summits, and urges a return to negotiations on a settlement, which would benefit all sides.

The permanent replacement for Ambassador Warlick will be announced at a future date.

The Prime Minister of Vietnam has approved the establishment of the Vietnam sub-committee in the Vietnam-Armenia inter-governmental committee on economic-trade and science-technology cooperation, reports.

The sub-committee will be headed by a Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade and a department-level official of the Government Office will serve as its secretary. The sub-committee members are representatives from ministries and agencies having cooperation with Armenia.

The PM assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in coordination with related ministries and sectors of Vietnam and Armenia, to organise the first session of the Vietnam-Armenia inter-governmental committee in Hanoi in early 2017.

On December 28, the annual press conference of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan took place.

Karen Mirzoyan briefed on the activities of the Foreign Ministry during the year and noted that in 2016, too, the priorities of the NKR foreign policy agenda were the international recognition of the independence of Artsakh and the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

The Foreign Minister noted that during the year, the most serious challenges facing the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in general and the Foreign Ministry in particular were the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2 and the elimination of its consequences. In this context, the Foreign Ministry has taken consistent steps to inform the international community about the causes and consequences of the April aggression, to reach the condemnation of the aggression, blatant violations of international humanitarian law, and the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces during that period. In particular, the NKR MFA circulated relevant notes in different international organizations, as well as contributed to the dissemination of the information provided by other state agencies and institutions of the NKR. Thanks to the work carried out with the mass media, the situation on the ground caused by the aggression and the stance of Artsakh on the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict were presented to the international audience.

Touching upon the process of the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Karen Mirzoyan noted that, first of all, the efforts should be focused on ensuring stability and predictability on the Line of Contact, as well as creating necessary conditions for resuming the negotiations. Realization of the agreements, reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, will become a serious step in this direction.

The NKR Foreign Minister reiterated that real progress in the process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement can only be reached if the trilateral format of the negotiations is restored and the NKR, as a full-fledged party, directly participates in all its stages. Karen Mirzoyan also noted that against the background of the April aggression it had become especially evident that any proposal, which can pose even a minimal threat to the independence and security of the country, is unacceptable for the NKR people and authorities.

Karen Mirzoyan also noted that the international recognition of Artsakh is the imperiatve of time as an efficient means of preventing another aggression by Azerbaijan. The Foreign Minister expressed confidence that the international recognition of the NKR would also positively impact the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, ensuring its irreversibility, and allow to focus on the development of necessary mechanisms and conditions for the peaceful coexistence of two independent and sovereign states.

Karen Mirzoyan assured that in 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would continue to work consistently for the international recognition of Artsakh and expansion of international cooperation on different levels.

“The CSTO Secretariat was worried to learn about the armed incident near the village of Chinari in the Republic of Armenia,” CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha said in a statement.

“We consider these actions on the territory of a CSTO member state as a provocation, especially against the background of a rather serious incident in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic with application of heavy weapons and armored vehicles in April this year,” Bordyuzha said.

“It seemed that considering the efforts taken by both parties, as well as the leaders of a number of countries, the process of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue could finally proceed more actively,” the Secretary General said.

However, he said, the recent reports from the region on the ceasefire violations, especially the recurrent incident on December 29 that resulted in the death of servicemen, cause serious concerns,” he said.

The AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC) officially partnered with My Armenia-a program funded by USAID and implemented by the Smithsonian Institution- to boost tourism and cultural preservation in the rural region of Vayots Dzor in Armenia. During the press conference, plans were announced to co-publish a multimedia e-book on the region as part of the AVC series.

“Tourism is one of the many dynamic developing sectors in Armenia. Committed to its mission of supporting Armenia’s socio-economic progress, AGBU is actively engaged in the development and promotion of innovative products, such as e-books, to increase awareness and promote Armenia as a unique touristic destination attractive for people of all age groups and diverse interests,” said AGBU Armenia president and AGBU Central Board member Vasken Yacoubian.

The Vayots Dzor e-book will be part of AVC’s multi-platform media product series accessible from smart phones, tablets and web browsers. The new e-book will cover the history and geography of the region of Vayots Dzor and will contain a range of information on local cuisine, architecture, archeology, festivals, regional events and adventure trips. Available in seven languages, subscriptions to the e-book series are free. The first two in the series are The Armenian Highland and Exploring Yerevan. History of AGBU, the third e-book in the series, is set to be launched by the end of 2016.

“This project comes to add to the mission and continued efforts of the Armenian Virtual College in introducing the Armenian heritage to the global community,” said Dr. Yervant Zorian, AVC founder and AGBU Central Board member. “Seeing the popularity of our multimedia e-book series, we believe e-publication is the best means to present the wealth of our heritage in a state-of-the-art manner. We are delighted that the Smithsonian Institution and USAID are also committed to further developing tourism in Armenia and are excited about this collaboration. The e-book on Vayots Dzor is going to be part of a series that will be covering various regions of Armenia.”

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum and research complex in the United States attracting more than 30 million visitors per year. It also has an overseas presence in 130 countries promoting cultural resilience, conserving biodiversity, studying and supporting cultural and natural heritage. The Smithsonian My Armenia program aims to enhance and increase cultural heritage tourism in the regions outside of the capital city of Yerevan through a unique combination of research, scholarship, support for artisan craft, capacity building, and a strong focus on fresh thinking for tourism development. Smithsonian and Armenian researchers are working with local communities to identify and document their cultural expressions, including food, crafts, music, dance, and traditional knowledge. The information collected will then be used in the AGBU AVC e-book and other platforms to promote and share stories about Armenia’s cultural, historic, and artistic riches with visitors from around the world.

“Through USAID and Smithsonian joint efforts, the My Armenia program will aim to demonstrate the productive relationship that can occur between culture and economic development. Enhanced and diversified cultural heritage tourism developed by experts and the efforts of My Armenia, in close cooperation with key partners such as AGBU AVC, can drive sustainable economic growth in rural communities and support them in improving the sustainability of Armenian cultural heritage,” said Olivier Messmer, chief-of-party of the Smithsonian My Armenia program.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement, strongly condemning the Azeri infringement attempt at the Armenian state border, which resulted in human losses.

“Under the conditions, when the serious damage caused to the negotiation process as a result of the Azeri aggression unleashed against Artsakh in April, Baku resorts to new adventurism, harshly violating the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg and ignoring the commitment to solve the issue in a peaceful way. This is the way Baku responds to the requirement of the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries to unconditionally respect the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995,” the Ministry said in a statement.

“The international community, in the face of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, has on many occasions urged to respect the ceasefire, especially on holidays. By resorting to an act of sabotage at the threshold of the New Year and Christmas, Baku goes against universal human values,” the Ministry said.

“The international community, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries should sober the Azerbaijani leadership, which stubbornly ignores their calls and requirements and which has lost the sense of reality,” the statement reads.

At least 50 people have died and thousands have been left homeless after severe flooding in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the BBC reports.

Torrential rain caused the Kalamu river, which flows through the city of Boma, to burst its banks on Tuesday.

The bodies of some of the victims had ended up in neighbouring Angola, after being carried away by the surge, a local governor said.

Locals said that some areas of the city were buried in up to a metre of mud.

Photo: AP

 

US actress Debbie Reynolds has died, a day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher, her son has announced, the BBC reprts.

US media said the 84-year-old had a stroke. She was taken to a Los Angeles hospital earlier on Wednesday.

The Hollywood legend is best known for her role in the 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain, opposite Gene Kelly.

Fisher – renowned for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series – died on Tuesday aged 60, following a cardiac arrest on a plane.

Reynolds was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre after being taken ill on Wednesday.

Announcing her death later, her son Todd Fisher told AP news agency: “She’s now with Carrie and we’re all heartbroken.”

He added that the stress of his sister’s death “was too much” for their mother.

Agencia Prensa Armenia – The institutions of theArmenian community in Argentina signed  an agreement to create an entity with an aim of better structuring and coordinating community joint efforts. The initiative was based on the successful experience of the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial.

The three Armenian historical parties ARF-Dashnaktsutyun, Hunchakian and Ramgavar, represented through the respective public non-profit organizations of Armenian Cultural Association, Armenian Cultural Union Sharjum and Armenian Democratic Liberal Organization, along with the Administrative Institution of the Armenian Church, the Armenian Cultural Union, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Armenian Fund and Logia Ararat, signed a historical document in the Saint Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church of Buenos Aires under the auspice of Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, the Primate of the Apostolic Armenian Church of the Republic of Argentina and Chile.

Professor Khatchik DerGhougassian, who was one of the two representatives of the Argentine-Armenian community that coordinated the activities with the Armenian Genocide Centennial State Committee in 2015, said: “We have given an important step towards the institutionalization of the space for a better coordination of the activities of the institutions of the Armenian community. This is not yet a representative body but it definitely opens the path to reach that goal in the near future.”

The document that the institutions of the working group signed was a first step. It included six principles known as a Basic Consensus, which will be sent to all the other institutions. Any institution in any part of Argentina that gives its official agreement to adhere to these principles will have its place within the structure described as “open, democratic, inclusive and horizontal.” Meanwhile, the group will continue to work on an official name, a working mechanism and a protocol of rules of conduct. “It is a work in process, they said, and we will proceed step by step listening to any healthy criticism and suggestion that any institution can make to improve the project.”

The six principles of the Basic Consensus are the following:

A) The demand for moral and material restitution of the consequences of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and 1923 of Turkey as an heir to the Ottoman Empire responsible for the organization and implementation of the crime against humanity.

B) The repudiation of any attempt to silence, forget, question, deny, relativize or trivialize the Armenian Genocide.

C) The recognition of the Armenian Republic as guarantor of the survival of the Armenian people and the realization of their legitimate aspirations.

D) The evaluation of the historical role of the Armenian Apostolic Church, without any prejudice to the valuable contribution of other religious denominations or freedom of consciousness of each individual.

E) Respect for the role of community institutions as spaces for the preservation, development and dissemination of Armenian cultural values.

F) The prioritization of the education as the main factor for the formation, enrichment and development of the Armenian identity in its permanent and dynamic interaction within the social and cultural context of the country.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking measures connected with an Azeri attempt to violate the Armenian state border, the Ministry’s Spokesman Tigran Balayan told Public Radio of Armenia.

The Spokesperson noted that the steps include contacts with both the Peronal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.