The Azerbaijani side resumed the ceasefire violations starting from midday, May 25, using artillery weapons of different calibers and HAN-17 grenade launchers, NKR Ministry of Defense reports.
The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army refrained from response actions and confidently continued with their military duty.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.
Ambassador Kasprzyk briefed Minister Nalbandian on the details of the monitoring conducted at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
The interlocutors discussed the agreements reached at the Vienna summit on May 16, particularly the steps towards expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office.
The RA Presidential Awards Ceremony for Year 2015 took place Presidential Palace today. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the representative of the Robert Pogossian and Sons Foundation, the benefactor from Diaspora Albert Pogossian presented the awards to the winners for their significant contribution in a number of areas. The awards comprise Certificates and monetary bonuses. President Sargsyan congratulated the awardees and wished them recurrent success in their future activities.
Remarks by President Serzh at the Award Ceremony
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Awardees,
I am glad to welcome you to the Presidential Palace where you will participate at this important award ceremony.
With the assistance of the Pogossian family, we continue every year to publicly encourage fundamental works, singling out all that is bright, lasting, and valuable. We are confident that every significant work should be acknowledged and appreciated. This Award program was created and is being carried out based on that very logic.
The mission of identifying and acknowledging those worthy is one of the important tasks of the state, while you, dear Awardees, I am sure will not tire and will not be complacent with your works and accomplishments. I want this Award to be only the beginning for the recognition of your achievements. I hope that new creative inspirations will follow and will receive international acclaim.
In the category related to the works aimed at the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, this time we have recognized the outstanding contribution of the authors of the Egyptian “Who Killed Armenians?” documentary and the Armenian-American author Peter Balakian. The Armenian nation is grateful to you for this enormous undertaking. Mr. Nasir, Mrs. Zaki, you have proved clearly that the Armenian Genocide is not an Armenian issue exclusively but a great pain for the people of good will all over the world, regardless of their nationality or religion, while Peter Balakian with his duel identity – Armenian and American, has revealed in English the power of the artistic manifestation of that pain.
In conclusion, I would be remiss not to mention the significant contribution of the Pogossian family in the implementation of this project. This is a momentous journey which we have started together and will continue standing shoulder to shoulder.
Dear Awardees,
I congratulate you once again and wish you new artistic zeal and achievements.
Thank you.
By the Presidential decrees, the RA Presidential Award for Year 2015 for the significant contribution to the process of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide was awarded to Peter Balakian (USA) for presenting through artistic expression and relaying to the world the Armenian Genocide as a all-human issue, Mohamed Hanafi Nasri and Miriam Zaki (Egypt) for the documentary “Who Killed Armenians?”
By other decrees of the President of Armenia, the RA Presidential Award for Year 2015 was awarded to:
In the area of natural sciences the Award was bestowed on Poghos Vardevanian, Valeri Arakelian, and Armen Karapetian for the series of scientific articles “A bond between the nucleic acids and biologically active compounds: Theory and Practice”, to Grigor Karagulian for the series of scientific articles “Some issues of the convergence of the orthogonal series”,
In the area of technical sciences and information technologies the Award was bestowed on Sevan Davtian and Anahit Tonoyan for the monograph (in Russian) “Theory and Practice of Adiabatic and Frontal Polymerization”,
In the area of medical science the Award was bestowed on Armen Minassian, Hrant Kalenterian, Igor Nalchajian, Shahane Gevorkian and Marine Hovakimian for the work on the “Reanimation of the Newborns and Development of Intensive Therapy in the Republic of Armenia”,
In the area of physics the Award was bestowed on Arthur Ishkhanian, Tigran Shahverdian and Tigran Ishkhanian for the series of scientific articles on “Analytical Models of the Duplex Quantum Task”,
In the area of Literature the Award was bestowed on Susanna Harutyunian for the book “Ravens before Noah”,
In the area of humanitarian sciences the Award was bestowed on Albert Kharatian for the work “Western Armenian periodicals at the closing of their history (1900-1922)
The RA Presidential Award for Year 2015 was not awarded in the area of arts.
The RA Presidential Youth Award for Year 2015 was bestowed on Narek Barseghian for the series of “Identity” paintings, Gay Ghazanchian for the series of “Beyond the Walls” paintings, Simon Petrossian for the series of the “Mythological Stories” sculptures.
In the area of literature the Award was bestowed on Grig (Grigor Shashikian” for the stories “The Cat of Jesus”,
In the area of classical music the RA Presidential Youth Award for Year 2015 was bestowed in the category of Vocal Art to Christine Safarian and Tigran Ohanian for the outstanding performance, in the category Instrumental Performance the Award was bestowed on Ani Parsadanian (violin), Instrumental Trio – Anahit Dilbarian (piano), Vigen Harutyunian (basson), Avetik Ghazarian (clarinet).
Since its establishment in 2001, the RA Presidential Award has been bestowed on 335 individuals and organizations.
Statement of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Azerbaijan’s fabricated accusations on the use of white phosphorus has been distributed in the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, the Armenian Foreign Ministry informs on Twitter.
On 25 May Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received a group of deputies of the Bulgarian Parliament representing the “National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria” party headed by its leader Valery Semeonov.
Issues related to developing Artsakh-Bulgaria parliamentarian ties were discussed during the meeting.
President Sahakyan signified deepening cooperation with the Bulgarian parliament considering it as a pivotal direction of strengthening bilateral relations.
NKR National Assembly deputy chairman Vahram Balayan and other officials partook at the meeting.
Since May 10, dozens of civil engineers and structural craftsmen based at the Robins Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Georgia have been working on important renovations at Yerevan Elderly Institute #1, improving the safety and conditions of 12 residential suites and the common area of the institute.
These members of the 116th Civil Engineer Squadron of the Georgia Air National Guard came to Armenia as part of the U.S. military’s Humanitarian Civic Assistance Program. The military engineers replaced the flooring of the institute, making the entire facility safer for the elderly who rely on it. They also repaired bathrooms in the building, worked on sewage lines and electrical wiring, and replaced and refinished many walls. The renovation provided crucial skill-set training for the engineers, who were able to practice their skills in real-world settings. At the same time, the renovation continues the long-lasting friendship between the Armenian people and the citizens of the United States.
“We will be grateful for many years for the work you have done here,” said Khachik Sargsyan, director of Yerevan Elderly Institution No. 1. “The work carried out here will help our residents with hot water and heating and provide a safe and cleaning living environment.”
“These members of the Georgia Air National Guard represent some of the best of the best in the U.S. military, and now they have a personal understanding of the Armenian people that they can carry with them as they return home,” said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr., who was joined at a ribbon cutting for the renovated facility on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, by the Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Issues Artem Asatryan.
This is the third year the U.S. European Command’s Humanitarian Civic Assistance Program has been active in Armenia.
“Through efforts such as this renovation, in partnership with the Armenian government and civil society, we at the Embassy are working to improve the lives of the Armenian people and help this historic nation have the secure, peaceful, and prosperous future it deserves,” Ambassador Mills said.
Today, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Commonwealth of Australia to the Republic of Armenia Peter Tesch (residence in Moscow) presented his credentials to the President of Armenia.
President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated the Ambassador on assuming his position and expressed hope that during his tenure he will spare no effort to develop friendly relations between Armenia and Australia. Wishing Ambassador Tesch all the best, Serzh Sargsyan assured that the state structures of Armenia will provide comprehensive support to the activities of the Ambassador aimed at the strengthening of the Armenian-Australian relations.
In the context of making the bilateral relations more substantial and elevating them to a qualitatively new level, the two parties stressed the importance of high-level reciprocal visits and regular contacts at different levels, including in the interparliamentary format, close and efficient cooperation in the framework of international and regional organizations as well as the development of economic relations in the mutually attractive areas.
Ambassador Peter Tesch spoke with esteem about the large Armenian community of Australia and stressed that in his country the Armenians have fully integrated into the social and political life of Australia and bring their input to the development of different areas and at the same time promote the strengthening of the Armenian-Australian friendship.
Photo: AFP
A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters has begun a campaign to expel Islamic State (IS) militants from land north of Raqqa, the BBC reports.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is believed to have deployed about 30,000 fighters.
US-led coalition warplanes will support the offensive and Russia has also given its backing.
The SDF did not mention any plan to take Raqqa, the de facto capital of the “caliphate” proclaimed by IS in 2014.
Photo: Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree pardoning Nadezhda Savchenko, who was sent to Kiev, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, reports.
“Relatives of the murdered journalists requested that Vladimir Putin pardon Nadezhda Savchenko as a humane gesture,” Peskov added.
Savchenko was sentenced in late March to a 22-year jail term in Russia for her part in killing Russian journalists in Donbass. On June 17, 2014, a court ruled that she had directed the artillery fire at a group of Lugansk militia and Russian journalists, which lead to deaths of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin.
Two Russian citizens who had been jailed in Ukraine, Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, have also been freed.
“The transfer of Nadezhda Savchenko to Ukraine and Russians Alexandrov and Yerofeyev to Russia has been completed. This happened on the basis of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, ratified by Russia and Ukraine,”Russian Upper House Speaker Valentina Matvienko said.
“This is not a prisoner swap,” she added.
The plane carrying Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov has landed at Vnukovo Internatinal Airport.
In May 2015, Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov were detained by Ukrainian forces near a front-line town in the Lugansk Region in eastern Ukraine. A Kiev court sentenced them to 14 years in prison, having found them guilty of terrorism-related activities.
No violations of the agreement on ceasefire were registered at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan last night, NKR Defense Ministry reports.
The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep the operational situation under control and take necessary steps to organize a reliable protection of the military positions.