Category: News

Armenia duly fulfills its obligations undertaken under the UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, State Committee under the RA Government on Nuclear Safety Regulation (ANRA) said in a statement.

According to the committee, inspectors have conducted about 200 inspections: no any non-compliance or deviation from the requirements of international treaties has been recorded.

The full text of the statement is provided below:

In 1991, the Republic of Armenia (RA) joined the UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and then ratified the Agreement between the Republic Armenia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in connection with the NPT and the Protocol Additional to the Safeguards Agreement.

In accordance with the Law of the RA on Safe Utilization of Atomic Energy  for Peaceful Purposes, the RA established the state system on accounting for and control of nuclear materials. The RA Government adopted relevant legal acts to ensure fulfillment of its obligations undertaken under the international treaties.

The RA performs continuous accounting for and control of nuclear materials that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

In accordance with the NPT and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement, the state accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented at three levels:

1. The facility level: the accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented by the facility personnel.
2. The state level: the accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented by the state authority empowered by the legislation, i.e. the state committee under the RA Government on nuclear safety regulation.
3. The international level: the accounting for and control of nuclear materials is implemented by the IAEA inspectors.

In accordance with the mentioned agreements and the procedures established by the laws, the IAEA inspectors regularly conduct on-site inspections to verify the presence of the nuclear material accounted and reported. In its turn the RA submits relevant reports and declarations to the IAEA.

In accordance with the safeguards procedures, video cameras have been installed by the IAEA inspectors to continuously control the movement of nuclear material.

Nodes, installations, safe boxes housing nuclear materials are sealed by special IAEA seals any damage of which is recorded directly through the satellite by the IAEA special unit.

The IAEA inspectors have conducted about 200 inspections: no any non-compliance or deviation from the requirements of international treaties has been recorded.

The RA has participated in four Nuclear Security Summits held at the initiative of the US President. In this context a number of measures have implemented aimed at strengthening the safety of nuclear installations, nuclear and radioactive materials, enhancing their physical protection level as well as preventing the illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials.

The RA duly fulfills its obligations undertaken under the international treaties.

Radio Free Europe journalist Khadija Ismayilova has been freed from jail in Azerbaijan on Wednesday after the country’s Supreme Court amended her imprisonment to 3 1/2 years of suspended sentence, Reuters reports. 

In September, an Azeri court sentenced Ismayilova, a prominent journalist known for exposing corruption among the ruling elite, to seven-and-a-half years in jail.

By Harut Sassounian
The California Courier

A decade ago, two Turkish Islamist leaders — Recep Erdogan (now President) and prominent Sunni cleric Fethullah Gulen — were the best of friends. Their common enemy was the Turkish military. But as Erdogan solidified his dictatorial rule by castrating the generals, he turned against his old ally, Gulen, to monopolize his grip on power. Erdogan purged and jailed hundreds of Gulen followers: journalists, judges, police, and state officials.

To expand its global investigation into the activities of Gulen-led organizations, the Turkish government hired, for $50,000 a month, the London-based law firm of Amsterdam and Partners. The law firm will also provide legal advice on the Erdogan regime’s request for Gulen’s extradition from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

“We have been retained by the Republic of Turkey to expose allegedly unlawful conduct by the Gulen network worldwide,” stated Robert Amsterdam, founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, during a recent press conference in Washington DC. “The activities of the Gulen network, including its penetration of the Turkish judiciary and police, as well as its political lobbying abroad, should concern everyone who cares about the future of democracy in Turkey.”

The high-powered lawyer’s insincere lament regarding “the future of democracy in Turkey,” is preposterous, as Erdogan himself has single-handedly demolished all vestiges of democracy in Turkey!

In a recent press release, Amsterdam claimed that “The Gulen network, which operates more than 100 charter schools in the U.S., has become the subject of federal and local law enforcement and regulatory investigation in the United States. According to separate cases filed against Gulen-affiliated schools, the group has allegedly engaged in systemic abuse of the American visa system.” The lawyer representing Turkey also asserted: “Globally, the Gulen network operates thousands of schools and has an agreement with the African Union to open 1,000 new schools in the region.”

Erdogan’s long arm has now reached all the way into Texas, going after Harmony Public Schools, the largest charter school system based in Houston, which has 30,000 students and operates under various Gulen-affiliated non-profit organizations.

Last November, Amsterdam and Partners filed a 90-item public information request that would cost Harmony $4.5 million to complete. Even after the lengthy list was shortened, it would still cost Harmony $690,000 to compile and provide that information. The Texas Attorney General will now have to decide the appropriateness of the Turkish request.

This week, Amsterdam and Partners is expected to file a 30-page complaint with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) against Harmony schools. Jim Arnold, an Austin-based lobbyist, also hired by Turkey, sent an e-mail to the Texas Governor’s office stating that the complaint “will outline a series of allegations concerning Harmony’s financial operations as well as their alleged misconduct, and request a comprehensive investigation by TEA.”

In response, Soner Tarim, chief executive officer and co-founder of Harmony Public Schools, told the Houston Chronicle that the targeting of his schools by the Turkish government is “mind-boggling and politically motivated.”

Meanwhile, Amsterdam and Partners has filed similar complaints against the Gulen-affiliated Magnolia Charter Schools in California, “urging the California Department of Education to conduct a full investigation of the charter network’s financial practices,” according to the Houston Chronicle.

In a strongly-worded letter, Cong. Brad Sherman complained about the Turkish government’s attacks on Magnolia Charter Schools: “President Erdogan is a repudiation of everything that good American schools stand for. He has personally done tremendous damage to democracy in the Republic of Turkey.”  Cong. Sherman also wrote in his April 26 letter that “Amsterdam & Partners was being paid $600,000 a year to disparage Magnolia Public Schools” and that “at various times, President Erdogan’s government has assisted ISIS. Accordingly, I cannot think of a worse source of information about American education than President Erdogan and his paid agents,” the Houston Chronicle reported.

Tarim told the Houston newspaper that regretfully “The Turkish government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless time attacking these American schools, forcing Harmony to match the effort. The money and energy would be better spent on students.”

Armenian-Americans can sit back and watch with great interest this costly and scandalous court battle between the Turkish government and Gulen’s organization. Let them waste their money and energy by fighting each other rather than wining and dining U.S. officials on all-expense paid extravagant junkets to Turkey and lobbying members of Congress against Armenian issues!

Armenia is the only country, were Yazidis have been provided with broad opportunities to preserve their national identity, head of the Yazidi community of Armenia Aziz Tamoyan told reporters today.

The Yazidis pledge to stand by the friendly Armenian nation to rebuff the assaults of a common treacherous enemy if necessary.

More than 50 Yazidi volunteers left for Artsakh to stand next to Armenian brothers during the large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan in early April.

“Everyone knows that Artsakh has historically belonged to the Armenian people, and Aliyev’s criminal activity is doomed to fail,” Tamoyan said.

“The international community, the progressive mankind, the international organization should strongly condemn Aliyev’s misanthrope policy and punish him as a war criminal,” Tamoyan said. He added that “Yazidis in different countries of the world will combine their efforts to achieve this.”

Five Yazidis were killed in the April war. The beheading of serviceman Kyaram Sloyan will never be forgotten.  Volunteers, who have just returned from Artsakh, say they have the duty to punish such barbarities.

A team of scientists comes up with an unusual idea to preserve the disappearing snows of Armenia, according to .

Because of climate change, the weather in the small mountainous country of Armenia is getting hotter and hotter. The mountain snows that normally serve as a source of water now melt earlier, meaning floods in the spring and droughts in the summer.

Filmmaker Vardan Hovhannisyan follows a team of Armenian scientists on Mount Aragats who has come up with an unusual new idea to preserve the mountain snows.

Bundesliga’s Player of the Season Henrikh Mkhitaryan has thanked all Bundesliga professionals for the votes.

“Truly honored to be voted Best Player of the Season! Thanks to all the‪ ‎Bundesliga professionals  for this amazing recognition!” Mkhitaryan said in a Facebook post.

Borussia Dortmund’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named the footballer of the Bundesliga 2015-16, according to a poll conducted by German magazine

Mkhitaryan topped the list with 31.1 percent of the votes, followed by Bayern Munich’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski with 22.1 percent, reports Efe.

Bayern’s Thomas Muller came third with 13.6 percent, ahead of Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 13.2 percent.

The best goalkeeper of the season was Bayern’s Manuel Neuer with 23.8 percent, followed by Mainz’s Loris Karius with 13.6 percent and Bayer Leverkusen’s Bernd Leno with 12.8 percent.

Czech President Milos Zeman will visit Armenia and Macedonia in early June, the quotes Zeman’ spokesman Jiri Ovcacek as saying.

The journey to Macedonia and Armenia will take place on June 8-10.

At first, Zeman will visit Macedonia, where the migrant crisis is likely to be one of the topics.

Then he will fly to Armenia where he will speak about the current issues in the region.

The Istanbul-based Aras publishing house has released The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Western Armenian and Hamshen Armenian, reports, quoting CNN Turk.

According to the source, the novella was translated into Western Armenian by Luiz Bakar, a long-time Spokesperson for the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey.

The text has been translated into Hamshen Armenian by Mahir Özkan, editor at the “Gor” magazine.

The Hamshen Armenian translation has been published in Latin script.

The books released on May 18 will be available to readers in June.

On 24 May Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received French National Assembly deputy, chairman of the France-Artsakh friendship circle François Rochebloine and head of the France-Armenia Parliamentary friendship group René Rouquet, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

Issues related to developing ties between the Artsakh and French parliaments, public and political circles were discussed at the meeting.

The Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement and regional developments were discussed.

President Sahakyan expressed gratitude to the guests for the activity aimed at deepening friendly relations between the two countries and peoples, qualifying it as an exemplary manifestation of sincere friendship and humanism.

NKR National Assembly vice-chairman Vahram Balayan and other officials partook in the meeting.

In her first public address as will discuss how grassroots initiatives in conflict-afflicted communities are influencing humanitarian engagement and shifting the rules of engagement, the official website of the Aurora Prize reports.