Category: News

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, will pay a two-day working visit to Moscow.

His Holiness will participate in the events dedicated to the 70th birth anniversary of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Photo: AFP

 

The death toll following the derailment of a train in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state has now passed 100, with more than 150 injured, police say, the BBC reports.

Fourteen carriages of the Indore-Patna Express derailed just after 03:00 local time on Sunday (21:30 GMT Saturday) near the city of Kanpur.

Rescuers are still trying to reach the injured and recover the dead from the twisted carriages.

The cause of the crash near the village of Pukhrayan is not yet known.

However, the Times of India quoted sources as saying a fracture in the track could have been to blame.

Georgia became the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The country was represented by Mariam Mamadashvili. She is ten years old and has been performing since she was four years old.

Armenia – represented by Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan – came second.

The Turkish defense minister said Ankara was in talks with Moscow on the procurement of Russian S-400 air defense systems, reports.

“As for missile defense, work is continuing. We are negotiating on S-400 not only with Russia, but with other countries that have similar systems. Russia’s position on this issue now is positive,” Isik said in an interview with Turkey’s NTV broadcaster.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said last month that Moscow and Anakara had agreed to work out the details of a possible cooperation on implementing the Turkish national missile defense system project.

“We hope that NATO member states would take this seriously, and our system will be compatible with the alliance’s requirements. But we do not in any way reject the Russian proposal, and are actively working on it. Our ultimate goal is to manufacture these systems at home,” Isik said.

New figures confirm that security is the main concern for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and that combined support for independence or unification with Armenia grows from 91.7% in 2015 to 95.1% in 2016.

Hovhannes Grigoryan, CEO of the Institute for Political and Sociological Consulting (IPSC), presented results of a new opinion poll on socio-economic developments, public perceptions of foreign affairs, international recognition, and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution. The poll was conducted in July 2016 (shortly after the Four-Day War) on a sample of 1,081 people in Stepanakert and the 7 regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, and cross-referenced with a similar survey conducted in March 2015.

The figures show an increase in the number of people who believe Nagorno-Karabakh should be independent, compared to those who prefer it become a part of Armenia. An even more significant trend was observed among younger and educated, who support the independence in a much higher proportion (61.2% of population between 18 and 30 years support independence; 53.6% of university educated support independence).

Furthermore, public’s approval of Government’s performance in the sectors of Defence and Foreign Affairs has decreased, while the perception that Nagorno-Karabakh is on the right track is still considerably high at 78.9% percent.

The question of peace and security remains the predominant concern for half of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, followed by unemployment and international recognition of the NKR. Despite these concerns, declared intentions for migration remain at a very low level.

Commenting on this last aspect, Hovhannes Grigoryan said that: “the poll has showed that the Four-Day war of April 2016 has not affected the migration tendencies of the Nagorno-Karabakh population, which remain the lowest in the South Caucasus region, when compared to figures from similar polls conducted in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In other words, people of Karabakh, regardless of the hardships of the unexpected war outbreak in April, are determined to stay in their country”.

Member of the European Parliament Frank Engel underlined the political maturity of people in Nagorno-Karabakh: “The Four-Day War changed the situation, but it hasn’t changed it fundamentally. People of Nagorno-Karabakh are very mature about their positions, especially on the independence of the Artsakh, and it is obvious that despite them becoming more critical of their state and authorities, they express strong loyalty to their country. Further tensions are likely to strengthen these sentiments, rather than to invalidate them.”

Following the presentation of the research, Diogo Pinto, EuFoA Director said: “The results of this latest opinion poll, conducted after April’s Four-Day war, very clearly show the determination and the resilience of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh, in spite of the continued Azerbaijani aggression and attempts for destabilisation. Although an overwhelming majority believes that further aggressions are likely to happen in the near future, they crave for peace and trust the OSCE Minsk Process and the international community. As European Friends of Armenia, we urge the international community and the EU in particular, not to let the people of Nagorno-Karabakh down. Pressure must be kept on Azerbaijan so that it understands that only a peaceful solution is acceptable and that no further violations of the cease-fire will be tolerated”.

For full results click.

 

 

 

A task force will be set up to promote the exports of Armenian goods, including food and agricultural products to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan has given the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments five days to discuss and present a project in cooperation with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Healthcare and Agriculture.

PM Karapetyan said at a government sitting today that the task force should work with the Iranian side towards creation of institutional structures in Armenia with a view of ensuring the compatibility of Armenian products with Iranian standards, so that they can be exported to Iran according to a simplified procedure.

The Prime Minister said he expects the head of the task force to report on progress by December 25.

Karen Karapetyan also instructed the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments to hold discussions with interested bodies and enterprises the perspective of establishing a free trade zone at areas bordering Iran and present a proposal before December 25.

Manchester United attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan would be a good option in the No.10 role, claims former Chelsea and Celtic midfielder Craig Burley.

The Armenian has been overlooked by Jose Mourinho this season, however, can still be of use to the Red Devils according to the pundit.

The former Borussia Dortmund man has started just once for the side in all competitions since joining – against Manchester City in the Premier League – and has made a total of four appearances for United this season.

Despite this, Burley says the 27-year-old has much to offer the Old Trafford outfit.

“I would argue that Mkhitaryan, given a chance and longevity, could probably do a good job in that role, but that, for some strange reason, doesn’t see as if it is going to even get off the starters blocks,” said the Scotsman, as reported by ESPN.

The Red Devils host Arsenal this weekend at Old Trafford, with United looking to improve their current position of sixth on the Premier League table.

On November 18^th, 2016, 2 postage stamps dedicated to the theme “Museums of Armenia. Sergey Paradjanov Museum” have been cancelled and put into circulation.

The postage stamps with nominal values of 300 AMD and 380 AMD are printed in “Cartor” printing house in France.

The postage stamp with nominal value of 300 AMD depicts a part of the facade of the Sergey Paradjanov Museum and the stamp with nominal value of 380 AMD represents the collage image of the halls of the S. Paradjanov Museum.

The postage stamps were cancelled by the “HayPost” CJSC Trust Manager Juan Pablo Gechidjian, the President of the Union of Philatelists of the RA Hovik Musayelyan and the Director of the Sergey Paradjanov Museum Zaven Sargsyan.

Date of issue: November 18, 2016

Designer: David Dovlatyan

Printing house: Cartor, France

Size: 60,0 x 30,0 mm

Print run: 50 000 x 2

Photo: AFP

 

The dress worn by Marilyn Monroe as she sang “Happy Birthday Mr President” to John F Kennedy has been sold at auction for $4.8m (£3.9m), the BBC reports.

The figure-hugging Jean Louis gown, with 2,500 crystals, was bought by the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum chain, exceeding the $3m guide price.

The company’s vice president said it was “most iconic piece of pop culture that there is”.

Monroe died from a drug overdose just three months after the performance.

The sultry rendition for President Kennedy’s 45th birthday at a 1962 Democratic fundraiser at New York’s Madison Square was one of her last public appearances.

President Kennedy was shot dead a year later.

The dress, which the auction house said was so tight she had to be sewn into it, had previously been bought at auction for $1.3m in 1999 by the late business mogul and collector Martin Zweig.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 50 million to finance projects promoted by SMEs and MidCap companies in Armenia.

The EIB loan is being provided to the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, which will make the EIB funds available to eligible SMEs and MidCap companies throughout the country via numerous financial intermediaries, including banks and universal credit organisations. The loan is further EU measure to support Armenian businesses and is provided in the context of the EU4 Business initiative.

EIB Vice-President Jan Vapaavuori stated: “EIB funds intermediated through the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, a well-established partner of the EIB, will improve the access of Armenian SMEs and Mid-Caps to long-term finance in local currency on favourable terms. This will contribute to the diversification of the Armenian economy and private-sector development and will have a positive influence on job creation in the country”.

Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Arthur Javadyan, commented: I am confident that this loan will mimic the success story of its predecessor by its effectiveness and accuracy in targeting the access to finance for SMEs in Armenia.

With this loan the EIB and the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia are continuing their successful co-operation in support of Armenian small and medium-sized businesses. The previous EUR 50 million loan for SMEs,signed in 2014, has already been fully disbursed for eligible projects of Armenian SMEs and Midcaps. The EIB funds provided to the Central Bank of Armenia are currently available to SMEs and Midcaps in Armenia through 16 financial intermediaries. To date, more than 100 projects throughout the country have benefitted from them, in particular in the tourism and agri-food sectors. Under this existing loan, the participating financial intermediaries as well as small and medium businesses had an opportunity to benefit from related technical assistance activities funded by the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF).