Category: News

Officers of the Central Criminal Police Department of Georgia have detained Robert A. (born in 1977) wanted by the Armenian law enforcers, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.

The man was detained on the basis of a relevant notice from the Armenian law enforcers. He was wanted under the articles 235, paragraph 2, and 235.1, paragraphs 2 and 1of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

The arrest is connected with the case of alleged illegal smuggling of parts for Igla antiaircraft missile complex.

Former Artsakh Defense Minister Samvel Babayn was arrested last week on weapon smuggling charges.

On 28 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office and accompanying them officials.

At the beginning of the meeting President Sahakyan congratulated newly-appointed French and American co-chairmen Stéphane Visconti and Richard Hoagland on taking the responsible positions, wishing them success in their mission.

Issues related to the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict settlement and recent developments were discussed during the meeting.

President Sahakyan noted that Azerbaijan kept maintaining its unconstructive stance violating the ceasefire regime and continued to pursue anti-Armenian policy.

The Head of the State highlighted the necessity of elaborating the mechanisms of maintaining ceasefire regime and revealing violations considering it among pivotal components of the peace process.

Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan reaffirmed the commitment of the official Stepanakert to the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict within the frameworks of OSCE Minsk group.

Over the millennia, countless nations and countries have arisen and disappeared into the annals of history, but some have stuck around, Armenia among them.

presents ten of the oldest countries and nations in the world. Armenia is included in the list along with Greece, China, Portugal, France, Japan, Iran, San Marino, Ethiopia and Egypt.

“Armenia is a nation well known for its great diaspora. Nonetheless, the Armenians have possessed a country for most of the last 2600 years, with the first mentions of Armenia occurring in the 6th century BCE,” the website writes.

“Yerevan, now the capital of Armenia, was founded as far back as 782 BCE. The Armenians were also the first state to officially accept Christianity as a state religion in 301, and the country still adheres very strongly to their own Armenian Apostolic Church. Besides the diaspora, another unfortunate similarity that the Armenians share with the Jews was a genocide perpetrated against them at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-16,” The Culture Trip writes.

Greece

Greece Fort © Pixabay

China

Photo: Sputnik/ Alexey Filippov

 

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will exert necessary efforts to guarantee the participation of Russia’s representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 hosted by Ukraine, the chairman of the Reference Group of the Eurovision said, reports.

The national football team of Kazakhstan is still in Armenia.

The plane carrying players of the national team had to make an emergency landing at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airpot shortly after take-off.

The flight of the Russian Severstal Airline initially scheduled for 00:30, but the plane took off at 1:13, the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia reports.

The plane had to return to Yerevan because of landing gear malfunction to avoid further problems and landed at Zvartnots Airport at 2:46.

The national team is expected to leave at 16:00 today.

On 27 March President Bako Sahakyan received Armenia’s newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation Vardan Toghanyan.

The President congratulated Vardan Toghanyan on assuming the responsible position.

The meeting addressed a wide range of issues related to providing truthful information on Artsakh on various platforms in the Russian Federation and deepening the inter-Armenian ties.

NKR foreign minister Karen Mirzoyan was present at the meeting.

Azerbaijan should recognize the right of Artsakh people to self-determination, Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly, has said.

“Resisting security challenges in today’s world requires swift, flexible and exact decision-making,” Vice-Speaker Edward Sharmazanov said, addressing the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.

“Today the CSTO faces new challenges. We live in a rapidly changing world and escalation of tensions in the area of CSTO responsibility, including the South Caucasus, is obvious,” he added.

“Azerbaijan resorted to military adventurism at Armenia’s state border during the fall and spring sessions of CSTO PA, thus violating the 1994 ceasefire agreement and the agreements reached at Vienna and St. Petersburg summits. Such behavior is impermissible and condemnable,” Sharmazanov said.

“The CSTO officially condemned the act of sabotage, labeling Azerbaijan’s actions ‘provocation’,” Sharmazanov reminded. He noted, however, that none of the CSTO partners except for CSTO Secretary General and Russian lawmakers condemned the provocative actions of Azerbaijan.

Noting that Baku’s behavior is a provocation not only towards Armenia, but also the CSTO as a whole, Sharmazanov said “condemning statements by CSTO PA representatives are more than necessary.”

“Our parliamentary delegation stands for exceptionally peaceful resolution of conflicts in CSTO area, particularly the one in Nagorno Karabakh. We have to do the utmost to establish stability in the region. However, to reinforce stability Azerbaijan first needs to recognize the full realization of Artsakh people’s right to self-determination,” the Vice-Speaker said.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have one important message as they visit the region.

“We are at the one year anniversary of the violence that occurred in April last years in Nagorno Karabakh.  The main message is that this anniversary should be marked at negotiating table, it should not be marked on the battlefield,” US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group told a press conference in Yerevan today.

“It’s time to negotiate,” he stressed. “The most important is to have political will at the top leadership on both sides to return to negotiations to find a peaceful solution.  It’s up to the leaders and up to their people to decide on how to live in peace and prosperity in the future. There are plans on the table that could be discussed, and it’s time to return to the negotiating table to discuss them,” Ambassador Hoagland said.

Responding to accusations that the Minsk Group often fails to issue targeted statements, Richard Hoagland said: “I assure we do know what is going on, but because we are mediators, we have to keep a little degree of distance so that we don’t overtly offend one side or the other side. When that happens, the possibility for discussion and mediation gets closed down. We cannot allow those doors to close. We have to keep the doors open. We’ll always note when there is an issue that needs to be called attention to, but we have to be a little careful of what we say in public, even though we know what’s really happening behind those closed doors.”

Speaking about the perspectives of organizing a high-level meeting, the US Co-Chairs said “we’re always working to find the right conditions to bring together the Foreign Ministers or even the Presidents. There is a process going on now. The two Foreign Ministers have been meeting in Moscow separately, and we hope that in the near future the two will be able to meet in Moscow to prepare the ground for the Presidents to meet.”

“Our job tight now as Co-Chairs is to talk to all the players,” the Ambassador said. He disclosed the plans of the Co-Chairs to visit Nagorno Karabakh to meet authorities in Stepanakert

“We cannot allow violence to be the solution to this long-standing issue. Violence is not an answer. Violence destroys families, violence harms economies, so we have to look for the most positive solution, and our job as Co-Chairs is to  continue to work together to encourage the negotiation process to continue,” he said.

“As co-chairs we try to find the most common ground for moving forward. We are facilitators. We ourselves cannot solve the issue. We can help create the conditions so that the leaders involved can make the final decision that will benefit all the people in the region,” Richard Hoagland said.

He said that although there is a new administration in Washington, the US policy remains unchanged. “We are fully committed to the Minsk Group, to the co-chairmanship process, to working quietly with all parties to find a solution that leads to peace.”

He said there are no strong differences between the three Co-Chairs, and the same goes for the governments of their respective countries. “Even if our governments disagree on certain issues, this is one issue where we really do work together extremely well.”

“The negotiation process has slowed down very dramatically, that’s why we say it’s time for the parties to return to the negating table and think how to move forward. What we want to do is to create the conditions that people feel ready and comfortable to talk again.  War is the worst possible solution. What everyone needs is a solution that brings peace and prosperity to all people involved. It’s possible to find win-win situations,” Richard Hoagland stated.

The Azerbaijani side used firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire regime 40 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival fired over 340 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions, Artsakh Defense Ministry reports.

The front divisions of the Artsakh Defense Army keep the situation under control and confidently continue with the protection of the military positions.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, Stéphane Visconti and Richard Hoagland and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The Co-Chairs briefed Minister Nalabndian on the results of the meetings in Baku.

The interlocutors discussed ways of furthering the Karabakh settlement process, emphasizing the importance of implementation of the agreements reached at Vienna and St. Petersburg summits.