Category: News

– Panos Aghzarian (b. 1994), an ethnic Armenian member of the Syrian Armed Forces, was killed in military clashes in Aleppo on July 10, according to a report by Aleppo-based Kantsasar news.

Fighting between the Syrian Army and rebel forces in Aleppo has intensified in recent days, with some reports claiming as many as 40 dead and nearly 300 wounded, including two ethnic Armenians—Hripsimeh Chazarian and Sosi Ghazarian-Hekimian—who were injured on July 9, according to Kantsasar.

Aghzarian’s death comes a little more than a month after five ethnic Armenians were killed in a week. Aleppo’s Armenian-populated Nor Kyugh and Zvartnots districts were attacked by more than 30 missiles on June 2, killing several civilians—including 4 ethnic Armenians. The attack, which reportedly came from militant opposition groups, injured several others and destroyed many buildings, including homes and stores. Vazken Jabaghchourian, Levon Kelkhacherian, Hovsep Janessian, and Khatchig Aboulaboutian were among those killed in the June 2 attack.

The NKR Defense Ministry reports 14 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side at the line of contact with the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh overnight.

The rival fired more than 100 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 all along the line of contact.

Armenian Ambassador to Lithuania Tigran Mkrtchyan handed his credentials to Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė today.

During the meeting reference was made to bilateral relations, and the perspectives of Armenia-EU negotiations.

Dalia Grybauskaitė said “Lithuania is interested in investing in Armenian economy.”

Amb. Mkrtchyan said, in turn, that “Armenia is interested in the further deepening of cooperation with Lithuania, reinforcement and expansion of relations in all directions of mutual interest.”

Ambassador Mkrtchyan briefed President Grybauskaitė on the negotiations on the Karabakh issue. The latter stressed that “Lithuania stands for exceptionally peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

A session of Iran’s Cabinet made decisions on abolition of visa requirements between Armenia and Iran, reports. 

Theresa May is set to become the UK’s next prime minister after Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the contest to become Conservative Party leader, the BBC reports.

The timing of the handover of power from David Cameron is currently being discussed, but could be within days.

Mrs May, 59, who backed staying in the EU, has been home secretary since 2010.

Mrs Leadsom, who campaigned to leave the EU, said the UK needed “strong and stable government” and that Mrs May was “ideally placed” to implement Brexit.

In a speech earlier on Monday setting out her leadership campaign platform, Mrs May – who rejected the argument that the next leader and prime minister had to have been someone on the winning side of the EU referendum – said: “Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it.”

In her brief statement in Westminster, Mrs Leadsom – who was a leading light of the Brexit campaign – said a nine-week leadership campaign at such a “critical time” for the UK would be “highly undesirable”.

Two of Manchester United’s signings so far this summer are set to add to the impressive number of nationalities to have played for the club at first-team level over the years, according to the club’s official website. 

Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly and Armenia skipper Henrikh Mkhitaryan will take the tally of different countries to have appeared for the Reds to 40.

On what his transfer will mean to fans in his homeland, Mkhitaryan told MUTV: “Everyone was waiting for this transfer deal and I’m very happy that everyone can be proud of me. It’s an honour for me to be the first Armenian in the Premier League, and I will try to meet their expectations.”

The 38 nationalities to have played for the club so far, with Germany being the most recent addition with Bastian Schweinsteiger, are displayed in our ‘United Nations’ infographic.

Not every player on our map has gone on to represent their country at international level, but it still highlights the diverse range of nationalities to have donned the famous red shirt.

Bailly and Mkhitaryan’s fellow new arrival Zlatan Ibrahimovic will become the fourth Swede to play for United, after Jesper Blomqvist, Bojan Djordjic and Henrik Larsson.

Several German lawmakers said on Sunday the country’s soldiers working at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase should be brought home if Ankara continued to prevent parliamentarians from visiting the station, reports.

Turkey, angered by a resolution passed by the German parliament last month that branded the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide, has denied German lawmakers access to the base.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the parliamentarians must be allowed to visit the 250 soldiers at the base who are taking part in NATO operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq but she stopped short of threatening to withdraw the soldiers.

A leader of Germany’s opposition Greens, Cem Ozdemir told ARD television the situation was unacceptable.

“As lawmakers who send soldiers to places, we must know where they are, how they are and be able to talk to the soldiers. If that is not possible in Turkey then the soldiers must come back to Germany,” he said.

Lawmakers approve military spending and investment in infrastructure at the base.

Asked if she would consider withdrawing troops from Incirlik if no agreement were reached, Merkel said she was focusing on resolving the matter by talking.

“A way must be found for the lawmakers to visit the soldiers. We must continue to work on this, the solution is not yet there,” she told broadcaster ZDF in an interview.

Merkel met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Warsaw on Saturday. She said the atmosphere was constructive but the differences remained.

Andreas Scheuer, General Secretary of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) who are part of Merkel’s conservative bloc in parliament, said lawmakers had to be allowed to visit soldiers.

“As a result of his behaviour, Turkish President Erdogan is risking the withdrawal of the German army,” he told Monday’s Tagesspiegel daily, according to extracts sent in advance.

A brilliant strike by Eder clinched Portugal’s first-ever major title, as the nation prevailed over hosts France 1-0 to take the Euro 2016 trophy.

Fernando Santos’ men suffered a blow early on when Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off injured, and Rui Patricio made a string of excellent saves to keep France at bay.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan participated at the meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the NATO member and non-member states dedicated to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan which is held in framework of the NATO Summit. The President of Armenia made the following statement:

Distinguished President Duda,

Distinguished Secretary General,

Dear Colleagues,

We are all here united by the idea that it is necessary to provide the friendly people of Afghanistan with peace, security and stability.

Armenia, as an advocate for the cooperative security, is determined to make its modest contribution to the efforts in consolidation of international peace and security. In the course of the Peacekeeping Summit, which took place in New York in September 2015, Armenia undertook additional commitments to develop capabilities such as Role II medical hospital and training of associated personnel, as well as training of a company of EOD/C-IED (Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Counter-Improvised Explosive Device). We have reiterated our engagement with up to 130 servicemen with the Resolute Support mission, and stand ready to continue with it also beyond the year 2016. In this context, I should like to underline the effective cooperation we have enjoyed with Germany, and that, in my view, is one of the best and most illustrious examples of a partnership between a NATO member State and Partner Nation.

We have also expressed our readiness to participate in the NATO Enduring Partnership mission, when it will replace the Resolute Support mission. With that objective in mind Armenia has already engaged with the planning process for the establishment of a civilian-led temporary presence.

Dear Colleagues,

Armenia is also an active advocate for peace and stability in our region, and it has always stood for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue, which is the most vital issue we face. On May 16 in Vienna a meeting took place with the high representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, namely the U.S. Secretary of State, Russian Foreign Minister and French State Secretary for European Affairs, which resulted in their Joint Statement that reiterated that there could be no military solution to the conflict, and further underlined the importance of respecting the 1994 agreement on ceasefire and 1995 agreement on consolidation of the ceasefire regime, both of which were unconditional.

Meanwhile, the Statement also registered introduction of the OSCE investigative mechanism to record the violations of the ceasefire and expansion of the capabilities of the existing office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. These approaches were further consolidated in the statement adopted by the trilateral meeting held in Saint Petersburg with the participation of the Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. As for the allegations voiced by the President of Azerbaijan, I don’t believe it is appropriate to artificially turn this meeting and the NATO declarations into a platform for the discussions of the NK issue: there is a specialized structure for it. I see it as my duty to underscore that today the main obstacle on the road towards the settlement of the conflict is the policy conducted by the highest leadership of Azerbaijan and the lack of will to solve the problem peacefully. It was vividly demonstrated by the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh last April, which was a heavy blow to the efforts carried out by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and aimed at the peaceful settlement of the issue. The status quo will change when the people of Nagorno Karabakh will received the opportunity to exercise their right of self-determination.

Thank you.

President Serzh Sargsyan met with his French counterpart Francois Hollande on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Warsaw today.

President Sargsyan thanked Hollande for his consistent support on issues of vital importance to Armenia and stressed that Armenia is proud of its privileged relations with France.

Serzh Sargsyan underlined the considerable expansion of economic cooperation between Armenia and France and noted that France remains a leading country in the EU in terms of investments in Armenia.

President Sargsyan expressed gratitude for the adoption of a bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

During the meeting reference was made to the Karabakh issue. Serzh Sargsyan attached importance to the active role of France, in its capacity of Minsk Group co-chairing country, in the procreations.ss of peaceful settlement of the issue through negotiations and thanked Francois Hollande for his personal efforts and consistent contribution.

The Presidents attached importance to the unconditional implementation of the provisions incorporated in the statements adopted at meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg. They exchanges views on the perspectives of furthering the negotiation process.