Category: News

 

 

 

ArmHiTec-2016 first international exhibition of Arms and Defense Technologies opened in Yerevan today.

The exposition features advanced weapons and military technical equipment, security systems, special police equipment, including armored vehicles, missile armament and equipment, military aircraft, small arms and ammunition, unmanned aerial vehicles and systems, communications, automated command and control systems and robotic systems, means of protection and personal protective equipment, laser, information and telecommunication technologies, information protection systems, outfit, equipage medical support plus some more.

“Drones and three types of unmanned planes have been developed, constructed and are being used by the Military Aviation Institute.  They are competitive on the international market and are no worse than other similar products,” Daniel Balasanyan, Head of the Military Aviation Institute, said at the opening of the exhibition.

“The Armenian military production industry has enough novelties and all opportunities of becoming a locomotive in the field of high technologies,” Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan said in his opening remarks. He urged all local producers, representatives of the scientific field, leading students of local and foreign higher educational establishments to spare no effort to outline the framework of their involvement in the army-society link.

The Defense Minister hopes the exhibition will contribute to the expansion of international military-technical cooperation and the development of the military production potential of the participating countries.

Head coach of the Armenian National team Varuzhan Sukiasyan has announced his resignation after the unsuccessful start of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.

“Head coach of the Armenian national team Varuhan Sukiasyan has informed the Secretariat of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) about his resignation from the post,” FFA press service said in a statement.

President Serzh Sargsyan sent today a congratulatory message to Antonio Guterres on his election as Secretary General of the United Nations.

“It is gratifying and inspiring that the responsible mission of leading the global Organization is assumed by a professional statesman such as yourself who has a decades-long experience in the national as well as international areas. Your wisdom, knowledge and abilities are in great demand particularly now when the international peace, security, and development are going through a turbulent period of time. I have no doubt that your skillful leadership will strengthen the structure of the United Nation and move forward its agenda items. I wish you every success in this difficult and important mission.

I would like to express Armenia’s and my own support to you with the anticipation that we will have many opportunities for cooperation. Armenia will undoubtedly continue to bring her input to the implementation of the goals and aspirations of the United Nations,” reads the congratulatory message of the President of Armenia.

Head the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Hermine Naghdalyan had a meeting with PACE President Pedro Agramunt) on October 12. During the meeting, current issues concerning the Assembly works, the possible developments of the political processes, the cooperation and the procedure of the initiatives in PACE were discussed, Press Service of the National Assembly informs.

According to the tradition, the Assembly Presidents visit member states, and the incumbent PACE President expressed the wish to visit Armenia.

Pedro Agramunt informed about the plans to initiate contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations and discuss the perspectives of organizing the PACE activities in a more constructive way.

Hermine Naghdalyan stressed the importance of the ongoing processes and new initiatives at PACE. She noted that the Armenian side expects a more unbiased, balanced and impartial approaches from PACE President, which, she said, will contribute to the efficiency of Assembly’s work and the improvement of the atmosphere.

The parties agreed to refer to the issues raised at the meeting during the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly.

The Academy has disqualified Armenia’s submission in the best foreign-language film race, Zemletryaseniye (Earthquake).

“The committee deemed that Earthquake did not meet submission requirements,” a spokesperson for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told on Wednesday. “Armenia’s selection committee was notified of the decision and given the opportunity to submit another film for consideration.”

The Academy’s problem with the film was that there are too many Russians and an insufficient number of Armenians among the crew, a spokesperson for Mars Media, the Moscow-based production company of Earthquake, told THR.

Mars Media sent to the Academy documents proving that the film was a coproduction between Armenia and Russia.

“We still hope that the film will be put on the list,” Ruben Dishdishyan, head of Mars Media, said in a statement, adding that the film was “by 90 percent made by Armenians from Armenia, Russia and France”.

Earthquake, a $3 million disaster movie directed by Sarik Andreasyan, is a dramatized recreation of one of the Soviet Union’s most devastating natural disasters — the Spitak earthquake in northern Armenia in December 1988.

The pic was Armenia’s fifth submission in the best foreign-language film Oscar category since the country gained independence in 1991.

None of the previous submissions — including If Only Everyone by Nataliya Belyauskene, Autumn of the Magician by Ruben Gevorkyants and Vahe Gevorkyants, Vodka Lemon by Hiner Saleem and Symphony of Silence by Vigen Chaldranyan — has been nominated for or won an award.

President Serzh Sargsyan met today with the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon who has arrived to Armenia to participate at the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to be held in Yerevan on October 14, President’s Press Office reports.

The President of Armenia welcomed his colleague to our country and underscored that Armenia is interested in developing friendly and brotherly relations with Tajikistan. Noting that the current level of the Armenian-Tajik relations does not reflect the high level of the political relations between the two countries or the friendship of the Armenian and Tajik peoples, Serzh Sargsyan noted that nevertheless dynamics for the development of the interstate relations is there and it is necessary to mutually and consistently deepen and strengthen it. The President of Armenia underlined that in Armenia we anticipate with pleasure the official visit of President Emomali Rahmon, which will give a start to new and multiple agreements.

The President of the Republic of Tajikistan thanked the President of Armenia for a kind welcome extended to him and his delegation. He noted that this is his third visit to Armenia, and he has arrived to Yerevan one day before the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council to have an extra opportunity to meet with the Armenian partners and his friend, to exchange views and discuss the prospects of the Armenian-Tajik bilateral relations in all areas.

The President of the Republic of Tajikistan underscored that there are many topics to discuss in the CSTO and bilateral formats.

President Rahmon also noted that in his country they are following closely developments in the world, and naturally in the framework of the Yerevan session of the Collective Security Council discussed will be current issues as well as issues pertinent to the regional security.

At the meeting, the Presidents of Armenia and Tajikistan discussed in detail a wide range of issues related to the development of the bilateral interstate relations.

Portugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres has been officially appointed as the next UN secretary general, the BBC reports.

Mr Guterres, 67, will become the world’s top diplomat on 1 January when Ban Ki-moon’s second five-year term ends.

The Portuguese, who led the UN refugee agency UNHCR for 10 years, was chosen from among 13 candidates last week.

He said he would fulfil his role with gratitude and humility.

Mr Guterres, who trained as an engineer, entered politics in 1976 in Portugal’s first democratic election after the “Carnation revolution” that ended five decades of dictatorship.

As head of the UNHCR refugee agency from 2005 to 2015, he led the agency through some of the world’s worst refugee crises, including those in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

During that time, he repeatedly appealed to Western states to do more to help refugees fleeing the conflicts.

“First and foremost, the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh issue is aimed at the determination of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh through the legally binding expression of will of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in response to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s statement on Nagorno Karabakh.

“Another attempt of the Foreign Minister of Turkey to distort the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process proves once again what we have been emphasized on numerous occasions that Turkey should be kept away from the settlement process as far as possible,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments to “First News Service” of Public TV.

Regarding the Turkish Foreign Minister’s statement on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, then if

Referring to Cavusoglu’s statement on the normalization of relations with Armenia, the Deputy FM said: “If Ankara really wanted to normalize relations with Armenia, it would have then ratified and implemented the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed back in 2009 in Zurich.”

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime about 55 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival used weapons of different calibers as it fired more than 1,000 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces used sniper rifles in the southern and eastern directions of the line of contact, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the frontline and confidently continue with their military duty.

The genocides we witnessed, the crimes committed against ethnic Yezidis, military crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Islamic State in Northern Iraq unfortunately continue today, member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Naira Zohrabyan said, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly today.

In this context she stressed the importance of elaboration of more flexible mechanisms of cooperation with the International Criminal Courtto fight against impunity.

Naira Zohrabyan reminded that during the April military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh soldiers and civilians, including children were severely tortured, killed and beheaded. She added that the actions constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law and amount to war crime.

“Both the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenia, as a guarantor of Artsakh’s security, will do their best to have Azerbaijan recognized as war criminal,” Zohrabyan added.

She reminded that Azerbaijan unleashed a military offensive against Artsakh, violating the territorial integrity of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic – a party to the trilateral ceasefire agreement of 1994.

“Azerbaijan should be recognized as war criminal and most of you are aware of the Azerbaijani atrocities,” Naira Zohrabyan told PACE.