Category: News

Today, on the occasion of Argentina’s Independence Day President Serzh Sargsyan visited the Embassy of Argentina in Yerevan. The President of Armenia congratulated Ambassador Gonzalo Urriolabeitia, the entire staff of the Embassy and in their person the people of Argentina on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence and wished the friendly Argentina prosperity and new success. The President of Armenia wished the Ambassador of Argentina impressive achievements in the strengthening of the Armenian-Argentine relations.

The President expressed confidence that thanks to the practical steps of the leadership aimed at the advancement in various areas, Argentina will continue to uphold its considerable role in the regional as well as global processes. “I am confident that our interstate relations based on mutual trust will develop upward, registering achievements which will further deepen and strengthen our bilateral cooperation,” underscored President Sargsyan and assured that Armenia is ready to do her best to elevate the Armenian-Argentine relations to a qualitatively new level. Serzh Sargsyan noted with satisfaction that close relations between Armenia and Argentina manifest themselves also in the special attitude towards the issues which are sensitive for the two countries. In this context, the President of Armenia praised Argentina’s unbiased position on the NK conflict, as well as the considerable contribution of the people and government of Argentina to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

In the dynamic development of bilateral relations, the President of Armenia and Ambassador of Argentina stressed the importance of the active political dialogue and high-level reciprocal visits. According to the parties, the strong Armenian-Argentine friendship is also testified to by the fact that Armenia and Argentina were the first to open embassies in their respective regions. Ambassador Gonzalo Urriolabeitia stressed the role of the Armenian-Argentine community in the development of the interstate relations. “Relations between our people have a much longer relations than the period since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two states. In difficult for the Armenian nation time, which was conditioned by historical events, part of the nation had found refuge in Argentinaand was able in a short period of time to display its positive trends, acquire great reputation, to integrate into the Argentine society and contribute to the development of the country,” noted the Ambassador of Argentina to Armenia Gonzalo Urriolabeitia. He expressed gratitude to the President of Armenia for the visit to the Embassy, congratulations and warm words.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the Armenian family found killed in Javakhk.

Ofelya Kachotyan and her three children aged 5, 16 and 18 were found dead in the village of Vachian in Akhalkalak region, Javakheti News reports.

Investigation into the circumstance of the case is still under way, but the fact of a brutal murder is obvious.

Villagers say Ofelya’s husband was in Russia, the family lived a modest life with average revenues.

Vachian is an Armenian-populated village 6 km away from Akhalkalak.

Armenian Ambassador to Georgia Yuri Vardanyan has talked to the governor of Samtskhe-Javakhk region Akaki Machutatde and chief of Police Teymuraz Kalandasze.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that the suspect has been arrested.

The Armenian Embassy keeps in touch with the law-enforcement bodies of Georgia and closely follows the developments.

Photo by Ameyaw Debrah ‏via Twitter

 

Brazil football legend Pele is getting married Tuesday for the third time, tying the knot with his girlfriend of six years Marcia Cibele Aoki, Agence France-Presse reports.

Pele, 75, told O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that this time, he has found “love forever.”

Pele and Aoki met in New York in the 1980s but only started seeing each other in 2010, when they crossed paths in an elevator in Sao Paulo.

Aoki, a 42-year-old businesswoman, has been by the three-time world champion’s side for nearly all his public appearances since 2012, as well as during his repeated hospital visits in recent years.

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele is held by many as being the greatest footballer in history.

He scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches, appeared 91 times for Brazil between 1957 and 1971 and played his club football for Brazil’s FC Santos as well as the New York Cosmos.

 

 

 

Armenian President’s speech at NATO summit included three important messages, Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly, Spokesman for the Republic Party of Armenia Edward Sharmazanov told reporters today.

First, he said, the President stressed that “Armenia and Artsakh stand for the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

According to Sharmazanov, another important point was the statement that “NATO is not the platform for the discussion of the Karabakh issue.” The President deemed the attempts to move the consideration of the issue to other platforms inappropriate and contradicting to the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries.

The third message was the importance of unconditional implementation of the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, Sharmazanov said.

According to him, the reference to the status quo was also essential. “The status quo will change when the people of Nagorno Karabakh receive the opportunity to exercise their right of self-determination,” President Sargsyan stated in Warsaw.

“This means, it’s necessary to eliminate the reasons of the conflict, not the consequences. President Sargsyan made it clear in Warsaw that the primary issue is that of Artsakh’s status and the realization of the people’s right to self-determination, not the territories or refugees,” Edward Sharmazanov said.

A 24-year-old resident of the Vachian village in Javakhk, Georgia has been arrested on suspicion of having killed an Armenian family in the same village, jnews.ge reports.

According to the Georgian Ministry of Interior Affairs, the suspect, identified as Nodar A., entered one of the houses in the village of Vachian. The hostess and her children spotted the man and showed resistance. As a result, Nodar A. struck the 37-year-old woman and her two daughter aged 16 and 18 with a blunt object in the head, leaving them killed.

To conceal the crime the accused set the house on fire and escaped from the site. The fourth member of the family, a 5-year-old boy, died of strangulation, the Ministry said.

The law-enfocement bodies arrested Nodar A. the day after the crime was committed. Two mobile phones belonging to the victims were found close to the scene of the incident.

The Ministry says that the man has confessed to killing the four. Investigation has een launched under Article 109.1 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (Premeditated murder under aggravating circumstance, premeditated murder of two or more persons).

The Gas and Transport Company of Georgia has officially informed Gazprom Armenia about the temporary suspension of Russian natural gas supply to Armenia from July 10 to August 10.

The suspension is connected with reconstruction works on the damaged parts of the gas pipeline along the Kazakh-Saguramo highway, Press Service of Gazprom Armenia Company reports.

The gas supply will be implemented from underground storage in Abovyan.

– The leaders of Germany and Turkey sought on Saturday to clear the air in their first private talks since the German parliament infuriated Ankara by branding the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide, but they did not overcome their differences.

Chancellor Angela Merkel met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Warsaw to discuss the tensions in their often prickly but strategically important relationship.

Ties between Turkey and Germany – vital partners in efforts to curb mass migration to Europe – have been strained since the Bundestag passed the Armenian resolution on June 2. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation.

Turkey has since denied German parliamentarians access to the Incirlik airbase where 250 German soldiers are taking part in NATO operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq, causing anger in Berlin.

“We discussed all outstanding issues,” Merkel told reporters at a brief news conference. “The atmosphere was constructive … and very businesslike in an effort to solve the existing conflicts.”

Asked whether the issues had been resolved, she said: “The differences don’t just disappear through such a discussion. But I believe it was important that we talked them through.”

A source close to the Turkish presidency said Erdogan had expressed his disappointment over the Bundestag resolution to Merkel, who said she would do her utmost to ensure this event would not harm German-Turkish relations.

The source said Merkel also expressed satisfaction with the way Turkey was keeping its word in preventing refugees and migrants crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece after more than one million flooded into Europe last year, most ending up in Germany.

The Turkish source said Merkel had raised the issue of the Incirlik airbase and had asked Erdogan to restore access for lawmakers, who approve all military spending and investment in infrastructure at the base.

Erdogan replied that the airbase was not a place for “public shows and marketing” but Turkey would consider the request in the light of German statements on relations, the source said.

The two leaders also discussed intelligence cooperation in the fight against foreign fighters recruited by Islamic State in Syria, some of whom have returned to carry out attacks in Europe.

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.

The row triggered by the German parliament’s Armenia resolution is rumbling on. Bundestag MPs have threatened to scupper NATO’s new reconnaissance flights if they cannot visit German soldiers at Incirlik, Turkey, reports.

The diplomatic impasse between German MPs and the Turkish government has escalated, with the Bundestag’s defense committee threatening to deny the mandate for Germany’s participation in reconnaissance flights over Syria if they are not allowed to visit the German soldiers stationed at the Incirlik NATO base in southern Turkey.

The Bundeswehr has about 250 personnel stationed at the base who help fly Tornado planes on reconnaissance missions to locate the “Islamic State” militia in Syria. But the Bundestag’s vote in early June to recognize the Ottoman massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-16 as genocide has precipitated a diplomatic fallout that is threatening the countries’ military cooperation.

On Thursday, committee chairman Wolfgang Hellmich told the “Bild” newspaper that the Bundestag could vote to block the AWACS reconnaissance flights that NATO wants to fly over Syria.

“I hope that the NATO secretary general realizes that if he wants to have AWACS, then German soldiers are necessary,” committee spokesman Rainer Arnold told DW.

Just two weeks after the vote on the Armenia resolution, which triggered personal abuse from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against certain MPs, Turkey refused to allow a senior German defense official and several Bundestag members to visit the base. The trip was “seen as inappropriate,” in the words of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu – though he suggested that a “nonpolitical” delegation would be allowed.

The Left party MP Alexander Neu said the committee was planning a trip to Incirlik on September 15 – which is now likely to be seen as a test of relations. The Defense Ministry was also hoping to sign a new stationing agreement with Turkey and build new barracks and a command post, all plans that are currently on hold because of the deadlock.