Category: News

Massis Post – The co-mayors of Bitlis and Mutki just paid a courtesy visit to St. Sarkis Armenian Church in Kensington, London. Huseyin Olan (Bitlis) and Ozcan Birlik (Mutki), who are on a working visit to London, met with the Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic church in Great Britain, bishop Hovakim Manukyan, to discuss improving contacts between the Armenian diaspora and Kurdish communities in south-eastern Turkey. The meeting included Ali Gul Ozbek, the mayor of Haringey, as well as others.

Both Olan and Birlik are longstanding champions of better Kurdish Armenian relations and are well aware of the history of Armenians. Over the years they have hosted Armenian guests in their cities, supported exhibitions on Ottoman Armenians, and even a conference on the Armenian Genocide. The city of Bitlis even renamed a street after William Saroyan. These are all ongoing practical steps aimed at addressing Armenian issues and paving the way to a better future.

On the occasion of their visit to St. Sarkis, the co-mayors issued a formal statement inviting Armenians to reengage with their ancestral lands in Turkey, including Bitlis and Mutki

Statement Dated 11 September 2016

Today we are visiting our Armenian brothers and sisters at St. Sarkis Armenian church in London. It is good to see this fine church and members of its congregation in one of the great capitals of the world. There used to be many such Armenian communities in the Ottoman Empire, within the borders of modern Turkey. They lived on their ancestral lands alongside other communities, until 1915, when they were subjected to the first genocide of the modern era. Over a million Armenians were killed by their own government. Modern Turkey still bears the scars of those days, including in Bitlis and Mutki, where we come from. The Turkish republic still denies what happened to Armenians.

We can never reverse the terrible legacy of 1915 but, as the mayors of Bitlis and Mutki, we can express our sorrow and extend our hands of friendship to all Armenians. We want to build new bridges with you, to replace those that were destroyed in the past. The future is in our hands and we can still imagine better days ahead. We hope to see you again in Bitlis and Mutki.

The former Israeli President, Shimon Peres, has been rushed to hospital outside Tel Aviv after suffering a stroke, his office says, the BBC reports.

The 93 year old was fully conscious and in a stable condition at the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel HaShomer, a spokesperson told the Ynetnews website.

Mr Peres had already begun receiving treatment for the stroke, they added.

In January, he spent two nights at the same hospital under observation. Tests showed he had an irregular heartbeat

The Football Federation of Armenia has announced its support for Alexander Čeferin in teh upcoming elections of UEFA President.

“Appreciating the importance of Alexander Čeferin’s program for the development of football, Football Federation of Armenia announces its support for Alexander Čeferin’s candidacy in the upcoming UEFA presidential elections and in implementation of his action plan provisions in case of his election as the UEFA president,” the Federation said in a statement.

On 13 September Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

The meeting addressed a number of issues related to the situation along the line of contact between the Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan armed forces.

President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree today, appointing Karen Karapetyan as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

Karen Karapetyan, 53, graduated from Yerevan State University, department of applied mathematics in 1980 and holds PhD in economics.

From 2001 to 2010, he held the position of Director General of ArmRosgazprom joint enterprise, which subsequently became a subsidiary of Gazprom, Russian gas giant.

In 2011, Karapetyan became a Vice President of Gazprombank and, in conjunction, from 2012 he held the position of Deputy Director General of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz.

Since 2015, Karen Karapetyan has been Deputy Director General for International Projects of Gazprom Energoholding LLC.

On September 13, political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway took place at the MFA of Armenia in Yerevan.

The consultations were chaired by Mr. Gagik Ghalachyan, Head of the European Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and Mrs. Hilde Svartdal Lunde, Deputy Director General of Department of Security Policy and High North, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.

During the consultations the Armenian and Norwegian delegations discussed issues of bilateral agenda. The sides stressed the importance of furthering the political dialogue, strengthening the inter-parliamentary relations, as well as discussed the steps aimed at the development of economic and trade ties between the two countries. They also referred to the cooperation within international organizations.

On the same day the Norwegian delegation had a meeting with Mr. Garen Nazarian, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia. During the meeting the sides touched upon the urgent issues of regional and international agenda, exchanged views on the prospects of Armenia-EU cooperation. In the course of consultations, the sides touched upon the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Armenia has much to offer to U.S. students interested in studying abroad, attendees of a two-day workshop held by American Councils heard on Tuesday.  During the workshop, made possible by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s recently-established U.S. Study Abroad office, speakers from American Councils and the U.S. Embassy emphasized that Armenia has the potential to attract greater numbers of U.S. students, and discussed with representatives of Armenian higher education institutions ways of expanding their marketing to the American audience.  U.S. students are increasingly looking for non-traditional destinations that offer unique experiences for short-term study related to their fields of interest, and Armenian higher education institutions have much to offer in these fields.

“The U.S. places great importance on study abroad programs and encourages American students to explore these opportunities for many reasons, said Public Affairs Officer Jacqueline Deley.  “First and foremost, study abroad promotes mutual understanding between people of different countries and the U.S. Americans studying abroad forge strong, life-long friendships with citizens and other foreign students in their host countries, and can appreciate the histories and cultures of other countries in ways that cannot be learned in books.  At the same time, by sharing American culture and values with host country friends and contacts, these students can be enormously effective citizen diplomats.  The U.S. and Armenia have been friends and partners for many years, and we believe that increased flows of exchange students between our two countries will strengthen our bilateral relationship even further. We hope that more American students will take advantage of study abroad opportunities in Armenia, to serve as ambassadors of goodwill, and to contribute to the mutual understanding and friendship between our two peoples and experience the many delights this country has to offer.”

The two-day workshop included sessions on U.S. study abroad trends, the value-added of academic exchanges, lessons learned from past U.S. student programs, and tips for communicating with U.S. audiences.  In the audience were higher education professionals from public and private institutions in Armenia and representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science.

The mission of the State Department’s U.S. Study Abroad Branch is to not only increase the number of Americans studying overseas, but also to promote diversity of students, fields of study, locations of study, and types of higher education institutions.

The Brussels Airlines will start regular flights between the Belgian and Armenian capitals.

A corresponding application of the Belgian civil aviation was handed over to Armenian Ambassador Tatul Margaryan today.

The parties have agreed to launch the flights next year and increase their frequency, if necessary.

The cessation of hostilities in Syria that came into effect at sunset on Monday appears to be holding, reports suggest, the BBC reports.

The deal, brokered by Russia and the US has been described by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, as possibly the “last chance to save a united Syria”.

Residents in the embattled northern city of Aleppo say there is calm there.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it was “quiet” on nearly all fronts.

However, other reports spoke of sporadic attacks carried out by both government forces and rebels after the ceasefire had come into effect.

The Observatory said they included aerial bombardment of some villages in Hama province, and shelling near Damascus.

The Syrian army has said the truce will be applied throughout Syria for seven days, but that it reserves the right to respond decisively to any violation by armed groups.

A number of rebel factions have given a guarded welcome to the deal but expressed reservations about its implementation.

The delegation of the Armenian Defense Ministry participated in the Second International Military and Technical forum “Army-2016” held at Patriot Park near Moscow from September 6 to 11.

The Armenian booth was attended by the leadership of the CSTO, representatives of the Federal Service of the Russian Military-Technical Cooperation, officials from the Russian Defense Ministry and others.

The Armenian enterprises represented at the forum received proposals for cooperation from Russian and Belarussian companies.

The Armenian delegation received the Grand Prix of teh Army-2016 forum along with delegations from Belarusa nd Kazakhstan.