Category: News

The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh is on a visit to Budapest, Hungary, to attend an International Conference on “Victims of armed conflicts at the juncture of international humanitarian law and human rights law.”

The Conference has been organized by the foreign affairs agencies of Hungary and Switzerland.

On 10 May Ruben Melikyan had meetings with the leadership and members of Armenian self-government in Hungary, with the Spokesman of the Armenian minority in the Hungarian Parliament Dr. Tamás Turgyán, and had an interview with Armenian minority program broadcasted by the Hungarian Public Radio.

While referring to Ramil Safarov’s extradition, Mr. Melikyan highlighted its causal link with the atrocities carried out by Azerbaijani armed forces during the 2016 April War.

Ruben Melikyan noted that Safarov’s glorification was accompanied by the state encouragement to set his crime exemplary for the Azerbaijani youth, and the example was taken in April 2016.

The ombudsman added that Artsakh people remember the thousands of Hungarian citizens, who raised their voice of protest against the decision to extradite Safarov.

The Artsakh Foreign Ministry has commented on the shooting at the vehicle of TV crew, which left the cameraman wounded.

“This incident is another proof that Azerbaijan does not abandon its traditional policy of aggravation of the situation and escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact,” Ministry Spokesman Artak Nersisyan said in comments to Tert.am.

“The incident comes to reaffirm the importance of immediate implementation of the agreements reached at the Summits in Vienna, May 16, 2016, and St. Petersburg, June 20, 2016, aimed at the stabilization of the situation on the Line of Contact,” he said.

 

 

 

Armenia has always been interested in the extension of mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tighran Balayan said in comments to .

The remarks come after accusations of failure to prevent the closure of the Office in Armenia.

“Those who declare that Armenia, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have not taken steps to ensure the extension of the mandate, do not understand the processes taking place within the OSCE,” Balayan said.

Second, he said, “they are not aware of the statements made by the current Austrian and the previous German chairmanships of the OSCE and the European Union.”

The Spokesman said the accusations are “void and have nothing to do with reality.” “Armenia has been declaring until the last moment that it’s interested in the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and continuation of its activity in the country,” Tigran Balayan stated.

On May 11 Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the delegation of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union (YVU) headed by chairman of the organization’s board Manvel Grigoryan.

A range of issues related to the situation along the Karabakh-Azerbaijani borderline, army-society ties and upbringing of the younger generation were addressed during the talks.

For courage and bravery shown during the defense of the Homeland and in connection with the Victory Day, the 25^th anniversary of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Defense Army and Liberation of Shushi President Sahakyan handed in high state awards to a group of YVU members.

The crew of Armenian Shnat TV Company came under Azeri fire in the northern section of the line of contact at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The rival opened fire at the vehicle carrying the crew using large-caliber firearms, Shant TV reports.

Cameraman David Atoyan was wounded in the incident. No additional details are reported.

The Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun signed a coalition agreement today.

Under the coalition the two forces assume responsibility for the activity of the government. The document outlines the strategic goals of cooperation, the priorities of the coalition, its activity and rules of organization.

“The cooperation will focus on the state and the citizen. We have a number of similarities in our value systems, based on which we’ve developed the text that will determine the cooperation between two national parties during the coming five years,” Vice President of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan told a briefing following the signing ceremony.

Among the main directions of cooperation Ashotyan pointed out anti-corruption struggle, the full implementation of the “Nation-Army” concept, legal reforms, development of competitive economy and further development of human rights institutions.

The Azerbaijani side used firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire more than 65 times at the line of contact with the Artsakh forces, firing over 1,700 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces also used a 82mm mortar (4 shells) and D-44 cannons (8 shells) in Martakert direction.

Aside from ceasefire violations, the Azerbaijani side moved armored vehicles (about 10 tanks) in Tapkarakoyunlu-Talish direction at about 13:30, May 10. The tanks returned to their initial positions at 14:55.

The front divisions of the Artsakh defense Army resorted to response actions to pressure the activeness of the rival and continued with their duty all along the line of contact.

Private of the Armenian Armed Forces, Lance Sergeant Gagik Mesropyan (born in 1997), was wounded in one of the military units at about 08:40 this morning and succumbed to wounds on the way to hospital, the Investigative Committee reports.

The death is believed to be caused by the breach of rules for handling weapons.

A criminal case has been instigated, investigation into the details of the incident is under way.

The Defense Ministry has issued a statement, offering condolences to the soldiers family and friends.

Photo: Getty Images

 

US President Donald Trump has approved supplying weapons to Kurdish forces fighting so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria, the Pentagon says, the BBC reports.

Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would be equipped to help drive IS from its stronghold, Raqqa, a spokeswoman said.

The US was “keenly aware” of Turkey’s concerns about such a move, she added.

Turkey views the Kurdish rebels as terrorists and wants to stop them taking more territory in Syria.

The SDF, which comprises Kurdish and Arab militias, is already being supported by elite US forces and air strikes from a US-led coalition.

The group is currently battling IS for control of the city of Tabqa, an IS command centre just 50km (30 miles) from Raqqa.

ARARAT Ani  6 years aged brandy received a gold medal at the Berlin International Spirits Competition, while Yerevan Brandy Factory won a special international award “Distillery of the Year” by a unanimous decision of judges. This year the competition was held from March 5 to 6 and featured nearly 400 spirits from more than 20 countries worldwide.

The Berlin International Spirits Competition is unique in its kind with judges being the leading professionals of the spirits industry: restaurant and top retail stores owners, distributors and importers, who have the ability to make a direct impact on brand sales.

It is worth mentioning that according to the organizers ARARAT is the first Armenian brand to ever represent Armenia in the competition throughout the entire history of the competition.

By this medal ARARAT continues the series of triumphs at  prestigious international competitions.. Among the latest awards of ARARAT  are the Gold Medal of San Francisco (SFIWSC) competition and the World Spirits Awards.

ARARAT Ani is named after the medieval capital of Armenia. The symbol of the Bagratuni royal dynasty is a gracious leopard depicted on Ani’s main gate and  can be seen on the packaging of this ARARAT brandy.