Category: News

Jamaica’s Minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, says plans are under way to market brand Jamaica in Armenia, the  reports.

“We were able to establish a new partner in Armenia that now will be selling destination Jamaica with Qatar Airlines to bring new arrivals into the country,” he said.

Bartlett, who was speaking at a recent press conference held in New Kingston, said the partnership will provide new opportunities for a diversified local tourism market, while boosting arrivals to the country.

Initial discussions were held during the minister’s attendance at the 38th plenary session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) affiliate members in Armenia from October 1 to 4.

Further details on the partnership are to be announced later this year.

The Azerbaijani side kept violating the ceasefire regime at different sections of the line of contact with the Karabakh forces today, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

Aside from firearms, the rival used automatic grenade launchers and antitank grenade launchers in the northeastern (Talish) direction of the line of contact, the Ministry said.

Private of the NKR Defense Army Gurgen Avetik Ayvazyan was fatally wounded as a result of a ceasefire violation by the Azeri side at about 17:00.

Investigation into the details of the incident is under way.

The NKR Defense Ministry shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its support to the soldier’s family and friends.

The  Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have issued the following statement:

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, traveled to the region from 23 to 25 October 2016.

‪The Co-Chairs met with the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Armenia’s newly appointed Defence Minister, and de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh. The purpose of the Co-Chairs’ visit was to discuss the situation after the unprecedented violence last April, and to clarify positions on the negotiation process.

‪During the meetings, the sides confirmed that the situation on the ground remains relatively calm.  The Co-Chairs underscored that respect for the ceasefire provides a critical foundation for ongoing negotiations, and stressed the importance of fully implementing decisions taken in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

‪The Co-Chairs also discussed current working proposals to advance substantive negotiations towards a lasting peace. The Presidents each expressed their views on how to move the settlement process forward.  The Presidents also reaffirmed their agreement to expand the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, and operational details are still being discussed.

‪The Co-Chairs plan to meet with the Ministers including on the margins of the December 2016 OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Hamburg to discuss a possible meeting of the Presidents at the earliest opportunity.  Such a dialogue at the highest level is necessary to make progress towards a settlement.

‪While in the region, the Co-Chairs also met with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss the work the organization has undertaken on the exchange of data on missing persons, a humanitarian measure which the Co-Chairs have fully supported in meetings with officials at all levels.

A government delegation, led by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, will be paying a working visit to the Republic of Belarus on October 27-28.

On October 27, the Prime Minister will attend a regular meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Minsk. On October 28, Karen Karapetyan will participate in the session of the Council of CIS Heads of Government.

 – Thousands of people attended the festival Buenos Aires Celebrates Armenia organized by the government of the City of Buenos Aires and the Armenian community in Argentina, with shows that included Armenian dances and music, food stands and artistic and cultural events.

The singer Grigor Mirzoyan was the main attraction of the show, which was then accompanied by the Argentine-Armenian band Nor Arax, the violinist Aida Simonian and singers Valeria Cherekian and Arman Gasparyan. The Armenian folk dances groups Nairi, Masis, Kaiane and Narek interpreted the songs with traditional Armenian dances.

The event in an outdoor park was attended by the Secretary for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism of the Nation Claudio Avruj, President of National Bank Carlos Melconian, Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church for Argentina and Chile and the Consul of Armenia in Argentina, Ester Mkrtumyanalong with officials, leaders of the Armenian community in the country, scout groups and representatives of the community schools.

The “Buenos Aires Celebrates” program was created in 2009 to organize thematic festivals of all communities of Argentina.

Arthur Abraham has withdrawn from his November 12 rematch with Martin Murray because of an injury, Boxing News Online reports.

The pair were set to provide a sequel to their 2015 meeting, in which Abraham retained his WBO world super-middleweight title on a close decision in Germany.

Since then both men have lost, Abraham to Gilberto Ramirez and Murray to George Groves, but were set to meet in Monte Carlo next month.

Murray later clarified that he mistyped the tweet and that Abraham’s injury is the reason for the fight being called off.

The St Helens man will still box on the Monte Carlo show, though against whom is not yet yet clear. It is believed that the Abraham-Murray rematch will potentially be rescheduled for a later date.

By Harut Sassounian
The California Courier

The whole world is following with great interest the flood of internal emails released by WikiLeaks: over 400,000 emails of the Turkish ruling party (AKP), 2.8 million U.S. diplomatic emails, over 30,000 emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State, and 27,000 emails and attachments hacked from the Democratic National Committee.

I will single out a few out of the hundreds of leaked emails that touch upon Armenia or Turkey:

1. On April 19, 2015, Jake Sullivan, Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy adviser, sent an email to a half dozen senior campaign staffers, including Chairman John Podesta, asking if they should issue a statement on the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Sullivan also wanted to know if Clinton would use the term “genocide” as she did as Senator and presidential candidate eight years ago, or will she avoid that term as she did as Secretary of State? Sullivan pointed out that “the White House studiously avoided using ‘genocide’ so far,” and would probably continue to do so. Sullivan wondered whether Clinton’s campaign should proactively issue a statement on the Armenian Genocide or wait until asked to do so by “Armenian groups.” Sullivan ended his email by acknowledging that the Armenian Genocide issue “matters enormously to Armenian-Americans.” Within hours, Podesta suggested that a quotation from Pope Francis acknowledging the Armenian Genocide be included in the genocide statement which ultimately the Clinton Campaign decided not to issue.

2. Ismail Cobanoglu, First Counselor of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., sent an email on Sept. 9, 2015 to Campaign Chairman John Podesta, asking if Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu could “pay a courtesy call on Mrs. Clinton,” in New York, between Sept. 26 and 30. Strangely, Cobanoglu stated that he had first written to the State Department, but was told that Clinton was no longer Secretary of State! Cobanoglu told Podesta that Davutoglu is making this request “in light of his prior friendship with Secretary Clinton dating back to the time when they were colleagues as Secretary of State/Foreign Minister.” On the same day, Podesta told Cobanoglu that Mrs. Clinton’s “schedule is quite difficult, but this would be a priority meeting if at all possible. Huma Abedin, the campaign’s Vice Chair, will follow up.” Podesta then asked Ms. Abedin: “How do you want to handle?” She responded the next day to Cobanoglu informing him that Mrs. Clinton “would be happy to meet with the Prime Minister but we aren’t certain that she will be in New York any of days you suggest. We will let you know as soon as we are more clear on her schedule. We will be in touch soon.” It is not known if the requested meeting ever took place.

3. On December 17, 2010, Huma Abedin, who at the time was Secretary of State Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, forwarded her news about a ruling by the Federal Appeals Court, allowing heirs of Armenian Genocide victims to seek compensation from three German life insurance companies. Interestingly, and ominously, the subject line of Abedin’s email stated that Foreign Minister Davutoglu referred to this court case in his earlier phone call to Clinton. The next day, Harold Koh, Legal adviser of the State Department, sent a copy of the court verdict to Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, and Joe MacManus, Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State, asking them to forward this important document to Secretary Clinton. Koh added that “since FM [Foreign Minister] Davutoglu mentioned it in his phone call to her on Friday, we wanted to get this to her ASAP.” Sullivan sent the court verdict to Secretary Clinton with the following note: “Importance: High.” In my opinion, this was an unwarranted and blatant interference by the Turkish Foreign Minister in the US judicial system, seeking to enlist the Secretary of State in pressuring the courts to reverse the verdict! It is not known if Mrs. Clinton took any action in this regard. However, the Federal Court of Appeals subsequently struck down the earlier decision.

4. Finally, in a March 17, 2016 email, Campaign Chairman John Podesta listed 39 individuals as potential Vice Presidential candidates for Mrs. Clinton. One of the surprising names on the list was Muhtar Kent, a Turkish-American who is Chairman of The Coca Cola Company. His father, Necdet Kent, was Consul General of Turkey in New York City, where Muhtar was born. He attended high school in Mersin, Turkey. As we know, Mrs. Clinton ended up picking Tim Kaine as her running mate, not Muhtar Kent.

Former England international Paul Merson says Henrikh Mkhitaryan is Manchester United’s ‘best player,’ Goal.com reports.

Manchester United’s 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday, which has left them with just one victory in their last six Premier League outings, has sparked inevitable discussion regarding what Jose Mourinho needs to do in order to rejuvenate his Red Devils.

Paul Merson is among those who feel the Portuguese needs to get ruthless with his under-performing squad, culling those struggling for form and introducing those unfortunate to have found themselves on the outside looking in.

He wrote in his Sky Sports column on potential changes to United’s forward line: “Ibrahimovic used to be world class but he’s 35. He used to be in the top three or four players in the world but he’s not the same player anymore. Even Lionel Messi won’t be world class when he’s 35.

“He can’t play twice a week either now, which we saw on Sunday. He played Thursday and Sunday and he didn’t get a kick.

“I think Wayne Rooney has got to come back in. He got the blame before they dropped him and they’ve not improved since then. He got dropped for not doing too much wrong.

“At the moment I just don’t think Mourinho has options that he likes on the bench. At least if he drops Ibrahimovic then he’ll have an option to bring him on.”

Merson also feels that the Red Devils need to bring added creativity to their ranks by offering an opportunity to a summer signing he considers to be the best player on the Old Trafford books.

He added: “I think he [Mourinho] needs to get Henrikh Mkhitaryan fit and in the team. He’s got the X Factor and they need to get him playing.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit France on October 27.

Minister Nalbandian is expected to have a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.

The collection of notes of Khachaturian’s famous works’ arrangements for piano trio will be presented at Aram Khachaturyan House Museum on November 9.

The collection comprises some of Aram Khachaturian’s famous works, arranged for piano trio by Avetik Pivazyan and Ruben Asatryan special for Khachaturian trio. The authors have remained faithful to the original works and retained Khachaturian’s artistic style and colours.

The collection has been published at “Komitas” publishing house. The book is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia. Besides, a little concert will take place during the presentation. These arrangements will be performed by the musicians of Khachaturian Trio.

On the same day the museum will also host the opening of the exhibition “Dedication to Aram Khachaturian”. The works of the Honored Artist of Armenia Henrik Elibekyan will be presented to the audience.