Category: News

Today, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Appropriations Bill, which covers assistance to Armenia and the region, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) reported. The bill maintains Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act and includes language for aid to nations hosting Syrian refugees.

Specifically, the SFOPS Report highlighted the need for additional assistance to “vulnerable populations in Syria and in neighboring countries,” comprised of Syrian refugees, Christians, and other minorities afflicted by the Syrian civil war and persecuted by the Islamic State (ISIS). According to the bill, funds “shall be made available for programs in countries affected by significant populations of internally displaced persons or refugees.”

The Committee also recommends the expansion of humanitarian programs to ensure services reach these vulnerable populations. In addition, the House has incorporated a section on Genocide Victim Memorial Sites, where funds are appropriated “to establish and maintain memorial sites of genocide.”

Similar to Fiscal Year 2016, this year’s Committee report did not delineate funding levels for the South Caucasus generally, however, the Senate approved version provided $24.1 million in non-military assistance to Armenia as well as called for continued aid to Nagorno Karabakh.

“As Congress finalizes the House and Senate Appropriations Bills, the Armenian Assembly will continue to push for additional assistance to help Armenia cope with the influx of refugees fleeing from violence in Syria, as well as for much needed humanitarian assistance to help Nagorno Karabakh rebuild after the April war launched by Azerbaijan,” Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny stated.

Earlier this year, 33 Members sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee outlining funding and policy issues for the region. Ardouny, in testimony submitted to the Committee, outlined nine key policy priorities for the Armenian American community, including assistance to Christian Armenians in the Middle East, the majority of whom are descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. According to Ardouny’s testimony: “The Assembly also urge[d] enhanced assistance to Christian and other minority communities at risk in the Middle East, with a particular focus of concern regarding the continued unrest in Syria, particularly the battleground city of Aleppo where Armenian churches and other institutions have come under attack.”

The House Appropriations Bill, similar to the Senate’s, maintains Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act as well, restating the six customary exemptions for humanitarian and other assistance to Azerbaijan. Section 907 of the 1992 FREEDOM Support Act was enacted to address Azerbaijan’s hostile actions against Armenia.

The has enlisted Armenia’s Vayots Dzor among the 15 wine trails worth getting sidetracked on.

Today, the choice of wine routes and tours from the essential (Bordeaux) and the scenic (Cape Town) to the historic (Armenia) or the unexpected (Brazil) is greater than ever, the CNN writes.

The article reads:

“According to the Bible, Armenia was the first wine-producing region in the world, since it was on the slopes of Mount Ararat that Noah planted the first vine after the flood.

Archaeologists agree – at least on the long tradition: a 6,100-year-old winery was discovered not long ago.

The local Areni variety has been unchanged for centuries, being highly resistant against disease with a thick skin that helps shield it from cold extremes.

The easiest wine-growing region to get to from the capital, Yerevan, is Vayots Dzor, where a microclimate ensures 300 sunny days a year.

Most organized tours zoom in on the Areni Noir, an incomparable red that put Armenia on the map when it was launched internationally in 2012.”

The 15 best routes include also Hunter Valley (Australia), Napa and Sonoma (California), Alentejo (Portugal), Cape Winelands (South Africa), Route des Vins (Alsace, France), Santorini (Greece), Maipo (Chile), Okanagan (Canada), Tuscany (Italy), Bento Goncalves (Brazil), Mendoza (Argentina), Rioja (Spain), Moselle Valley (Germany), Bordeaux (France).

New United signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan will thrive under Jose Mourinho’s playing style and training methods, according to former Armenia coach Raymond Verheijen, according to . 

The midfielder, who is Armenia’s all-time top scorer, made the £26 million move to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund last week.

The 27-year-old is expected to slot in on the right wing of Mourinho’s new-look side and could make his debut in that famous red shirt against Wigan on Saturday.

Although he is the first Armenian to ever play in the Premier League, Verheijen believes Mkhitaryan’s time at Dortmund will stand him in good stead in adjusting to the rigours of English football.

“What I think has been very smart is that he went from Shakhtar to Dortmund and from Dortmund to United.” he told M.E.N. Sport.

“I think the Bundesliga has made him sufficiently strong to take the next step to the Premier League. He will need time to adapt, but I trust Mourinho and his staff to let him gradually adapt to that level.”

Known for his blistering pace, Mkhitaryan once joked that had he not made it as a footballer, he would have been a sprinter instead.

This was a quality that struck Verheijen, who has also worked with Manchester City, the Netherlands, Barcelona and Russia, when he was involved with the Armenia national team in 2012.

“There is one characteristic of him that I have almost never seen with other players and that is the fact that he has an acceleration after an acceleration,” he said.

“When he starts dribbling, he accelerates quickly but then, just before somebody tries to challenge him, he can accelerate for a second time. That is something that I thought was very special.

“That is a talent that he has which makes him difficult to defend, especially in the counter-attack. United need to make sure he gets the ball as quickly as possible.”

One of Mourinho’s hallmarks is “his less is more” approach to training, with extensive ball work sessions favoured over fitness focused drills without the ball.

Verheijen previously criticised Mourinho’s predecessors, Louis van Gaal and David Moyes, for over-training United’s players and feels Mourinho’s approach will get more out of Mkhitaryan et al.

“If you look with Chelsea winning the title two years ago, they played with the same XI in almost every game,” he said.

“I think the same will happen this year with United. He will have significantly less injuries than Van Gaal and Moyes and he will play with the same XI much more often.

“When you do play and train with the same XI more often, the communication between your players and the tactical understanding between your players increases dramatically.”

Photo: AFP

Turkey has said it wants to develop good ties with Syria – in an apparent reversal of its policy towards its war-stricken neighbour, the BBC reports.

Turkey has long said the only solution for regional peace would be for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to go.

But Turkish PM Binali Yildirim insisted good ties with Syria were needed “for the fight against terrorism” and for stability in the region.

Turkey has recently moved to end rifts with both Russia and Israel.

Turkey-Syria diplomatic ties were severed after the Syrian conflict began in 2011 and Turkey has since argued that only Mr Assad’s departure could bring stability.

But Mr Yildirim said in comments broadcast live on television: “It is our greatest and irrevocable goal: developing good relations with Syria and Iraq, and all our neighbours that surround the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

“We normalised relations with Russia and Israel. I’m sure we will normalise relations with Syria as well. For the fight against terrorism to succeed, stability needs to return to Syria and Iraq.”

Since taking office in May, Mr Yildirim has repeatedly said that Turkey needs to “increase its friends and decrease its enemies.”

Photo: NASA

The American space agency’s new Juno mission to Jupiter has returned its first imagery since going into orbit around the gas giant last week, the BBC reports.

The picture shows a sunlit portion of the planet, together with three of its big moons – Io, Europa and Ganymede.

The fourth major satellite – Callisto – is out of view.

Juno is currently moving away from Jupiter on a large arc, but will sweep back in during August, enabling its “JunoCam” to take even better images.

At the moment, scientists are just relieved to know that the equipment is in good health after its encounter with Jupiter’s harsh radiation environment during the spacecraft’s orbit insertion manoeuvre on 5 July (GMT).

The mission team is now turning on all the probe’s instruments to check their status.

Legal successors of a family killed in the Armenian city of Gyumri in 2015 have lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly’s Vanadzor office informs.

The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015. Valery Permyakov, a soldier at a Russian base in the Armenian town of Gyumri, was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.

On August 12, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.

On October 13, Permyakov was found sane. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime. He also could recognize the consequences of his actions.

On October 16, Permyakov was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.

He has pleaded guilty to killing seven members of the family.

In late June, a court in Armenia dismissed a lawsuit filed by the killed family successors seeking €450,000 in compensation from Russia for moral harm.

In the application filed with the ECHR the successors alleged that their rights had been violated under Article 2 (Right to life) and Article 13 (Right to effective remedy) of the European Convention of Human Rights.

They claim that Russia has not fulfilled its obligation for prevention of obvious threat to the victims’ lives, allegedly knowing that Permyakov could not be conscripted into the army and had no right to use weapon. They also insist in the complaint that Russia has not informed Armenian law enforcement officers about Permyakov’s desertion in time.

The fact that the successors of the murdered family have not received access to investigation conducted by Russian authorities is mentioned among procedural faults.  Thus, the applicants blew their chances for enforcement of their rights in the case including the right to file motions, challenge investigators’ decisions and others.

On a working visit to Lithuania, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan had a meeting with the country’s Minister of National Defense Juozas Olekas and Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius.

The Defense Ministers of Armenia and Lithuania discussed the perspectives of defense cooperation between the two countries and the programs implemented under Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan.

The parties referred to the current stage of Armenia-EU negotiations, the opportunities provided by the Eastern Partnership Program.

The interlocutors attached importance to the need of exchange of experience. Within that framework representatives of RA Armed Forces will continue the training in military-educational institutions of Lithuania.

Seyran Ohanyan and Juozas Olekas referred to security issues around Armenia and Lithuania, including the Karabakh conflict. Minister Ohanyan briefed his Lithuanian counterpart on the situation around the conflict.

Minister Olekas, in turn, expressed concern over the unprecedented escalation of the situation in April, offering his condolences over the loss of life. He noted that “there is no military solution to the Karabakh conflict.”

Seyran Ohanyan and Linas Linkevičius discussed the perspectives of bilateral cooperation and referred to the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict settlement.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister voiced his support to the peace talks within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship.

Minister Linkevičius also attached importance to the negotiations under way between Armenia and the European Union.

The French Embassy in Ankara and the French consulate in Istanbul will be closed until further notice after the country’s diplomatic missions in Turkey have cancelled their planned events to mark France’s National Day due to security concerns, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“Information points to a serious threat against plans for the celebration of the July 14 national holiday in Turkey. As a precaution, we have decided, in conjunction with the Turkish authorities, to cancel the celebrations,” a statement from the mission in Istanbul said.

The consulate general had been due to hold a reception on the evening of July 13, while French missions in the capital Ankara and the Aegean coastal city of İzmir had planned events for the following day.

Turkey has recently been facing security threats, including from militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which was blamed for an attack on an Istanbul airport last month which killed 45 people and wounded hundreds.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is partnering with IAB International Academy of Business to help Armenian banks strengthen risk management systems, so that they continue providing much-needed finance to businesses, amid the challenges in operating environment.

IFC’s advisory team and IAB International Academy of Business are launching a series of workshops for banks on risk management and non-performing loans (NPLs) over the next 12 months, part of efforts to reinforce the stability of the financial institutions and prevent further NPLs.

The initiative also aims to help financial institutions introduce innovative solutions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), helping the banks expand this line of business and increase lending to smaller businesses. Access to finance was identified as the main challenge for SMEs by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016.

“Given increased volatility, it can no longer be assumed that financial institutions will continue operating as they used to in the past. Additional measures are required to help develop the foundation of the financial sector and support its growth,” said Araksya Martirossian, CEO of IAB International Academy of Business. “This is an exciting initiative for the development of Armenia’s economy and we are delighted to be partnering with IFC for its delivery.”

“In challenging economic times, financial institutions tend to tighten their lending and focus on mid-size and large businesses. This results in credit becoming less accessible to SMEs,” said Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus. “This initiative aims to help Armenian banks strengthen their risk management practices and continue financing small businesses, a key engine of economic growth.”
The efforts also aim to help Armenian financial institutions understand their capital adequacy models, especially important in light of increased minimum capital regulatory requirements. It is part of the IFC Strengthening Financial Systems in Europe and Central Asia project, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Armenia became an IFC member in 1995. Since then, IFC’s long-term investment commitments have totaled $340 million, including nearly $23 million mobilized from other lenders, financing 47 projects across a range of sectors. IFC has also supported trade transactions worth around $130 million through its trade finance program, and implemented a number of advisory projects focused on private sector development.

In fiscal year 2015, IFC invested almost $18 billion in developing countries worldwide.