An Armenian delegation headed by Deputy Defense Minister, Chief of Logistics Department Movses Hakobyan has departed for Moscow to participate in bilateral Armenian-Russian negotiations on military-technical cooperation, Press Service of the Armenian Defense Ministry reports.
Category: News
Turkey ready to calm Armenia row with Berlin: Foreign Minister
Turkey’s foreign minister suggested Wednesday Ankara was ready to calm a row over a German parliamentary resolution labelling the Ottoman massacre of Armenians a genocide but warned against treating Turkey as a “second-class country,” AFP reports.
The bitter dispute has seen Turkey barring German lawmakers from visiting their nation’s troops at the Turkish airbase of Incirlik, from where NATO forces are fighting jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
Germany last week stressed that the June parliamentary vote was a political statement and not legally binding, and voiced hope its parliamentarians would be able to visit Incirlik in October.
Asked about the request, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Die Welt daily that “if Germany continues to conduct itself as it does now, then we will consider it”.
“But if Germany tries to treat Turkey badly, then this won’t be the case,” he added, according to the newspaper’s German translation, stressing that “Turkey is not a second-class country”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a G20 summit in China at the weekend and afterwards said she hoped for progress “in the coming days” on the requested airbase visit.
Germany hopes to invest 58 million euros ($65 million) in mobile barracks and other facilities for its more than 200 troops in Incirlik, from where it runs surveillance and refuelling flights as part of multinational efforts to fight the Islamic State group, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
Other sources of discord remain, including German criticism of the Erdogan government’s treatment of critical journalists, its Kurdish minority and of many of the alleged plotters detained in sweeping arrests after a failed coup in July.
OSCE monitoring: No violation of the cease-fire regime reported
On September 7, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, in the Omar pass.
From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Gennadie Petrica /Moldova/ and staff member of the Office Peter Svedberg /Sweden/.
From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant of the Personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic) and Personal Assistant of the OSCE CiO Simon Tiller (Great Britain).
The Monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. No violation of the cease-fire regime was registered.
From the Karabakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.
New Australian MP Tim Wilson speaks of Armenian heritage in maiden speech
During the first sitting week of the 45th Parliament, Tim Wilson, the new Member for Goldstein and former Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) acknowledged his Armenian heritage when he delivered his maiden speech in the House of Representatives, the Armenian National Committee of Australia reports.
Wilson rose to political fame in Australia as an outspoken believer of true liberalism and has advocated for maximum “freedoms” as a think tank director and as Human Rights Commissioner in the past, and he pledged to do the same in Federal Parliament.
Wilson’s wide-ranging maiden speech touched on his upbringing and family tree, as these speeches often tend to do. He referred to the bloodied past of his mother’s father, who had to endure and survive the Armenian Genocide, which was a source of inspiration for Wilson.
He said: “My maternal Grandpa left behind the genocide of his people. I never met him. He died before I was born. But I still see him everyday when I look into the mirror and into his dark and recessed Armenian eyes.”
Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) Executive Administrator, Arin Markarian said: “We congratulate Mr. Wilson on his fantastic maiden speech as he enters public office. It is also encouraging to see Mr. Wilson seek inspiration from his family’s history, mentioning his grandfather who survived the Armenian Genocide.”
Mr. Wilson was elected to his seat, taking over from former Minister for Trade and Investment, the Hon. Andrew Robb.
Armenia’s representative to succeed Bordyuzha as CSTO chief
MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. The name of the new secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be announced at a meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council in Yerevan on October 14, that will be a representative of Armenia, the organization’s Secretary General, Nikolai Bordyuzha, told on Tuesday.
“Armenia’s representative will be my successor as the CSTO secretary general, who exactly, I cannot say now… His name will be announced at the upcoming meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council at the presidential level in Yerevan on October 14,” he said.
Catholicos visits military unit in Artsakh
His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, visited one of the military units of the NKR Defense Army to meet with the commanders and soldiers.
The Catholicos was welcomed by NKR Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Levon Mnatsakanyan.
“We have come to express our appreciation and love to you, and bring our tribute for your feats we witnessed during the April war. We saw how you rebuffed the attack of the Azeri troops and drove them sway from our borders. We bring our tribute to the brave soldiers –the hero sons of our nation, who defended our Motherland at the cost of their lives,” His Holiness Karekin II said at the meeting.
Noting that the protection of the Motherland is a sacred mission for every son of the nation, His Holiness stressed the importance to the power of faith.
Soldier fatally wounded in Karabakh
About 30 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were reported at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.
The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired more than 370 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.
Private of the NKR Defense Army Arman Alik Ghandilyan, born in 1997, was fatally wounded as a result of breach of rules of military duty.
Investigation into the details of the case is under way.
The NKR Defense Army shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses support to his family and friends.
Karabakh reports 40 ceasefire violations by Azeri side overnight
About 40 cases of ceasefie violations by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, the NKR Defense Army reports.
The rival used firearms of differenet calibes as it fied more than 600 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.
The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the frontline and confidently continue with their military duty.
Piotr Świtalski: For the EU, Armenia is not just a neighbour but part of the European family
In an interview produced by the EU Neighbours East project, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Świtalski, explains why Armenia is so important to the EU, and highlights the significant impact of cooperation on the ground.
What are the important values shared by the EU and Armenia?
Armenia is part of the European family in a wider sense. Armenia shares the values that we consider to be European values. European values, in the cultural sense, are sometimes associated with rationalism, striving for truth, but also respect for diversity, tolerance, and I think in this sense Armenians are as European as many other members of the European Union and the bigger European family.
In the political sense, the common European identity is linked to the three fundamental values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. By becoming a member of the Council of Europe, Armenia has subscribed to these values. In this sense, the EU and Armenia build their relationship on the strong basis of common values.
Sometimes here in Armenia, some people believe that because Armenian society is so conservative, European values, so-called European values, are too liberal for them. They overlook the fact that one of the elements of the European identity is plurality and diversity, even within the European family. Inside the European Union there are definitely more conservative societies than Armenian society. The beauty of Europe is the richness of its cultures, and this makes enough space for Armenians to feel at home in terms of values.
Why is the partnership between the EU and Armenia important for Europe?
For centuries, Armenia has considered itself to be a European state. Armenia is the first state in history that adopted Christianity as its official religion, and therefore the bridge between Armenia and Europe here, perceived from this local perspective, is very strong.
For Europe, Armenia is not only part of the neighbourhood – and neighbourhood is important because of the risks originating from the neighbourhood, that proximity is what makes us feel particularly concerned about what is happening here – but Armenia is part of the European space, Europe in its larger sense. Therefore for the European Union Armenia is important.
Still, being a small country, in some ways an isolated country, because one long frontier is closed, another one is still on fire, due to the conflict in and around Nagorno Karabakh, but still Armenia is important for Europe, Armenia is one of the gates connecting Europe with Asia. Armenia through its border to Iran has a strategic importance, the whole region of the South Caucasus is a crossroad, is a gate, it is a meeting place of different cultures, different interests, but also a place important for trade and for communication. Therefore the European Union is interested in having a strong relationship with a country like Armenia.
You talked about the neighbourhood: what does it mean to be a good neighbour?
From the legal point of view, the idea of good neighbourly relations is well recorded in fundamental international and European documents, starting from the United Nations charter, going through the OSCE Helsinki final Act, the Charter of Paris for a new Europe, so good neighbourly relations are one of the fundamental principles of international law, and international relations as such.
Good neighbours are friendly neighbours. Good neighbours are open neighbours. Good neighbours are reliable neighbours. Good neighbours are neighbours whose mutual attitude is based on respect, on solidarity, and on mutual tolerance. But the main essential elements of good neighbourly relations are a peaceful attitude, cooperation, solidarity, the readiness to help in times of need.
What impact does the EU really have in Armenia?
I think the European Union in Armenia is an important factor. We are the number one international donor in Armenia. We are the number one foreign investor in Armenia. And we are the number one foreign trade partner of Armenia. But our relationship goes beyond this element of trade, of investment, of development cooperation.
Our contribution to the development of this country is very versatile, visible everywhere in the country, we contribute to the improvement of infrastructure: the EU is the main supporter of the north-south corridor going through the whole of Armenia from the southern border to the northern border, we have provided more than 10 million in the upgrading of the metro system in Yerevan, we spent millions in helping Armenia to organise a modern waste collection system, a water purification system. The EU is helping to close the development gap between Yerevan and other regions, and in particular our efforts in the field of agriculture have this important economic and social aspect. We improve border management, we contribute a lot to improve governance…
The European Union is the main promoter of e-governance in Armenia – few people know for instance that, thanks to the EU, all Armenians are being equipped with new ID cards, more than half a million Armenians have new biometric ID cards. We support improvement of the justice system. With the help of the European Union, 12 court buildings were built in Armenia, but more importantly, several important pieces of legislation strengthening the independence of the judiciary, streamlining the functioning of the justice system were enacted in Armenia.
Education is an important field where we are very present, not only through the possibilities offered by the Erasmus programme, but also the European Union is very visible contributing to the improvement of the vocational education system. We have built, renovated or upgraded several colleges in Armenia, and we also contributed to reforming the education system.
We are also helping Armenia to modernise their human rights protection system, we are helping Armenia to boost their economic environment, in particular through the support to small and medium-sized enterprises, so as you can see, the spectrum of activities of the European Union is very wide, we have our priorities, and I think that the European Union is a visible factor of modernisation of this country.
Supervisor Antonovich to unveil Armenian Genocide monument at Grand Park
Asbarez – Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich will officially unveil a permanent Armenian Genocide monument at Grand Park’s Olive Court on September 17 at 5:00. Last year, Supervisor Antonovich sponsored the highly popular and well-received iWitness public rt installation at Grand Park and the Music Center. Moved by the great response, LA County has teamed-up with the iwitness project to install a permanent memorial to the Genocide. The unveiling will include musical performances and speakers.
The iWitness project is a collective made up of artists Ara Oshagan, Levon Parian, architect Vahagn Thomasian and other activists and artists.
The permanent monument is made of black volcanic tuff rock imported directly from the Ararat Valley of Armenia. Tuff is indigenous to the Armenian highlands and deep-rooted in that millennial history. It has been the material of choice for centuries and used to build hundreds of churches, historical buildings and artworks. The monument is a silent witness to that history as well as a witness to the Genocide itself. The sculpted angular shape of the iwitness monument is an echo and extension of the iwitness installation.
“This remarkable memorial honors the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide and offers a space for contemplation and reflection,” said Supervisor Antonovich. “I’m thrilled to have this monument in Grand Park where people from diverse backgrounds gather to celebrate and reflect in this urban oasis. It’s a natural fit.”
Sculpted by Vahagn Thomasian, the monument is both organic and conceptual. It is sourced from the earth itself and blends in with the natural flora and fauna of Grand Park. The monument is split in two, symbolizing the spiritual and physical rupture of the Armenian Genocide: a disruption of history and community not only for the Armenian nation but also for all of humanity.
“The idea that a rock can be a witness is perhaps unusual but very significant”, says artist Ara Oshagan. “It was there and that history is imbedded in it. A witness need not speak to be a witness. Just like the trees around Auschwitz are witnesses to the Holocaust.”
The juxtaposition of smooth and rough surfaces on either half of the iwitness monument further symbolizes the past and the present and re-emphasizes the disruption between the two realities.
April 24 is the infamous day the Ottoman Turks began their systematic annihilation of the Armenian people. Armenians worldwide annually commemorate April 24 with memorials, vigils, marches, protests and demands for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, which the present Turkish government continues to deny.
Wrapped around the foot of the iwitness memorial are words by the Pulitzer Prize winning Armenian- American playwright and author, William Saroyan—urging a celebration of life and hope for the future. “This is a memorial to a horrible event,” says artist Levon Parian, “but Saroyan’s words elevate and remind us of the mysteries and joys of being alive. We remember the past, but live in the today- reaching for the future.”