Category: News

On September 27, in the framework of the working visit to Belgium Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan met with the leadership of the EU-Armenia Friendship Group headed by the President of the group Eleni Theocharous.

During the meeting, a range of issues related to Artsakh-Europe relations, settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and regional processes were discussed.

On the same day Karen Mirzoyan met with the President of the Friendship group with Artsakh in the European Parliament Frank Engel and other members of the group. During the meeting, a number of issues related to the activity of the friendship group were discussed. The sides highlighted the importance of deepening ties with various European structures, including the European Parliament.

Later in the day, Karen Mirzoyan, as a keynote speaker, delivered a speech at a round-table organized by Frank Engel entitled “Nagorno Karabakh Republic: 25 years of state-building in a volatile region” at the premises of the European Parliament.

In his speech, the NKR Foreign Minister stated, in particular, that 25 years ago the people of Nagorno Karabakh voted for independence on a nation-wide referendum which became the logical continuation of Artsakh liberation struggle in response to decades of discrimination and oppression by Azerbaijan.

“In spite of the peaceful and legitimate nature of the Karabakh movement, from the very beginning Azerbaijan rejected any dialogue and resorted to the language of threats and intimidation which led to a large-scale war against Nagorno Karabakh and its peaceful population”, Karen Mirzoyan said.

The NKR Foreign Minister stressed that even today the people of Artsakh literally have to defend the young democracy in the conditions of constant attempts of Azerbaijan to return Nagorno Karabakh to the past. Karen Mirzoyan noted that the NKR had repeatedly spoken out publicly about Azerbaijan openly preparing for the resumption of war by, however, the international community did not react to these warnings. The impunity enjoyed by Azerbaijan led to the resumption of hostilities against Nagorno Karabakh on April 2, 2016.

Karen Mirzoyan stressed that the people of Artsakh cannot remain hostage to the destructive policy of Azerbaijan and will continue to develop even in the conditions of the unresolved Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. In this regard the Foreign Minister mentioned that the NKR authorities attach great importance to the expansion and deepening of foreign relations of the NKR at all levels, its integration into the international processes.

Karen Mirzoyan expressed confidence that expansion of the international cooperation will be an important contribution to strengthening peace and security in the region.

“We believe that the time has come for the international community to support our struggle. It’s time to recognize and support the reality – existence and consistent development of the free and democratic Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, Karen Mirzoyan concluded.

The NKR Foreign Minister answered questions of participants.

Members of the NKR National Assembly delegation, members of the European Parliament and experts attended the discussion.

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Artsvik Minasyan has been appointed as Minister of Environmental Protection.

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Artem Asatryan has been appointed as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs.

The Armenian Central Bank said on Tuesday it had decided to cut its refinancing rate to 6.75 percent from 7.25 percent.

Annual deflation in the South Caucasus country was at 1.9 percent in August, compared to 1.3 percent deflation in July, according to central bank data. Monthly deflation in August was 0.5 percent, compared to 2.3 percent deflation in July.

The government forecasts annual inflation in a 2.5-5.5 percent range in 2016, the same as last year’s target.

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Suren Karayan has been appointed as Minister of Economy.

 

 

 

Yerevan will host Welcome to Armenia forum to mark World Tourism Day observed on September 27.

The forum to be held on September 28 will consist of two parts, program coordinator Vruyr Penesyan told reporters today. In the first half state agencies will present their views on the development of different directions of tourism, namely sports, health, cultural and eco-tourism.

In the second half the Mayors of resort towns will present the capacities of their cities.

“Armenia is especially popular for religious tourism and pilgrimage,” Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Economy, told Public Radio of Armenia.

The World Tourism Day is celebrated on September 27 every year. The idea of World Tourism Day was born in the 3rd session of the UNWTO General Assembly in 1979 and it has been celebrated since 1980. In 1997 the UNWTO General Assembly decided to choose a host country every year from various regions, which would collaborate with the organization in celebrating the World Tourism Day

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Levon Altunyan has been appointed Minister of Health.

A chance encounter in Texas led two Adelaide filmmakers into an adventure of a lifetime as they catalogued the one thing that links almost every culture in the world: barbecue, according to the

“The day we turned up in the Philippines, the airline had lost all our cameras,” says Matthew Salleh, one half of Urtext Films along with Rose Tucker. “So, for a week, the cameras were lost until we found them in a shed full of live chickens and fruit at the airport. You have to be pretty versatile when you’re flying around filming like that.”

Salleh is talking about just one of the dozen stops made on their epic documentary feature, Barbecue. Visiting 12 countries over nine months, Tucker and Salleh delved deep into the world’s myriad barbecue cultures to produce their diverse, humorous and inspiring documentary about the bonds forged between people over meat and fire.

“Everyone thinks that their barbecue is the best,” Tucker says. “Everywhere you go, their barbecue is the best. There’s no arguing.”

Tucker and Salleh are bursting with stories from their carnivorous odyssey. One quirky tale comes from one of the first countries selected to visit, and perhaps most surprising from the Australian perspective: Armenia.

“We were picking what countries we were going to go to, and we saw this video of this old man talking about Armenian barbecue, saying things like ‘Armenian barbecue is best barbecue’,” Salleh says. “His daughter had posted it online and gotten five million views or whatever. We thought it was hilarious. We just messaged them, his daughter lived in Melbourne. We skyped him and he arranged a room for us in Armenia.

Counting on her fingers, Tucker tells The Adelaide Review the places they visited. “We did, in order, Sweden, The Philippines, Mongolia, then South Africa, Armenia, a refugee camp on the border of Syria and Jordan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and then finished it off this year with Uruguay, Mexico and went back to Texas.”

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Levon Mkrtchyan has been appointed Minister of Education and Science.