Category: News

In case of the official recognition of the NKR, everyone will first hear about this from the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan,” President’s Spokesman Vladimir Hakobyan has declared.

“Azerbaijan has lived in tyranny for such a  long time that even the highest governmental circles have forgotten about the existence of people outside prisons in other countries, who constitute opposition and who have the right to come forth with legislative initiatives.  And what a surprise – in other countries the governments are obliged to put the opposition’s initiatives on their session agenda and discuss them,” Vladimir Hakobyan said in comments to News.am.

The comments come after statements of the Azerbaijani Presidential administration, the Foreign Ministry and other officials regarding the draft law on recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) on the agenda of the Armenian Government session.

“Currently Armenia is watching the “parade” of delirious statements of Azerbaijan’s different high-ranking officials, which besides surprising can only amuse. One gets an impression that even books on democracy, which can be read in order to get informed, have disappeared from Azerbaijan,” he said.

Hakobyan also added: “Let no one doubt that in case of the official recognition of the NKR, everyone will first hear about this from the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. ”

During its forthcoming sitting on Thursday the Armenian Government will consider the draft law on recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic co-authored by opposition MPs Zaruhi Postanjyan and Hrant Bagratyan.

Researchers and students across Georgia and Armenia are now able to participate in collaborative work with their peers in Europe and other parts of the world thanks to two direct Internet links to the pan-European GÉANT network recently implemented through the EU-funded EaPConnect project.

EaPConnect aims to create a world-class regional research and education (R&E) network in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and connect it to the European network. It is in line with the recently revised European Neighbourhood policy that aims for increased interconnectivity and economic development for the European Union and its neighbours.

“The project will further contribute to Europe being a hub for global research and education collaboration”, said DG NEAR Director for Neighbourhood East Lawrence Meredith. “EaPConnect is bridging the digital divide and bringing people together. We are proud to support the integration of Armenia and Georgia into the global landscape”.

“Armenia has a long history of achievements in scientific research. Connecting to the GÉANT network will bring positive outcomes to our pool of talents and projects while contributing to advance European and global science,’’ said Dr Hrachya Astsatryan, head of the Center for Scientific Computing at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

Steve Cotter, CEO of GÉANT, commented: “We are proud to welcome two new members to the European research and education community and expand to over 40 connected local networks. GRENA and ASNET-AM are already established partners of global scientific institutions such as CERN in nuclear research and physics and the European research community looks forward to extending their collaboration with their Georgian and Armenian colleagues.’’

“The Georgian research community has a strong interest in European Technologies and scientific values. I believe that scientists working in high-energy physics, medicine, meteorology, climate change, seismology and computational biology will greatly benefit from the established network and implemented service,’’ said Dr Ramaz Kvatadze, Executive Director of GRENA.

“The Armenian sides do not oppose the step-by-step settlement of the Karabakh conflict, but Azerbaijan should recognize the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic as a first step. Then it has to return the occupied territories (parts of Martakert region and Shahumyan) and start talks with NKR on further clarification of the state border,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in an interview with .

The Deputy Foreign Minister noted that all documents – the Madrid Principles, the Kazan document, actually propose a package for bringing the approaches of the parties closer through mutual concessions.

“Formally backing the package, Azerbaijan, in essence, puts the emphasis on points favorable for itself,” Kocharyan said. He added, however, that all provisions of the documents on the negotiating table need to be reconsidered after the recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan.

According to the Deputy FM, the recent developments showed that Azerbaijan has not refused from its policy of power and hatred for Armenians.

He reminded that the trilateral agreements on ceasefire and reinforcement of ceasefire of 19914 and 1995 remain in force until a final political deal is reached. “By trying to denounce the agreements, Azerbaijan is refusing from its international commitments,” he added. “There are no guarantees that Azerbaijan will not refuse from an agreement in the future. It’s impossible to move forward without taking this into consideration.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister added that “the issue of Karabakh’s status should not be left uncertain, while speaking about territories is untimely today at least for two reasons.”

First, he said, it’s only up to Nagorno Karabakh to speak about territories. Second, speaking about concessions is useless, when the rival excludes any status for Karabakh.

“Unilateral concessions are excluded,” he stressed.

Shavarsh Kocharyan said resumption of talks is senseless as long as Azerbaijan is shooting. It will be possible to return to the negotiating table only after Azerbaijan stops firing, excludes the possibility of recurrence of such incidents in the future and when peoples are prepared for peace and an atmosphere of trust is established.

“Should Azerbaijan unleash new military offensive, the issue of recognition on Nagorno Karabakh will be brought to agenda,” Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

He clarified that the refers to the approval of the Government opinion on the draft law on recognition of Artsakh, not the bill itself.

“According to the Government opinion, recognition depends on the future developments. Should Azerbaijan unleash new military offensive, the issue of recognition on Nagorno Karabakh will come into agenda,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments to Panorama.am.

The bill has been authored by MPs Zaruhi Postanjyan and Hrant Bagratyan.

Leicester City have won the Premier League title in one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, the BBC reports.

Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Monday confirmed a stunning achievement for Claudio Ranieri’s side.

Leicester started the campaign as outsiders for the title after almost being relegated last season.

But they have lost just three league games in what has been described as a “fairytale” and the “most unlikely triumph in the history of team sport”.

Closest challengers Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and last year’s champions Chelsea, have all failed to match the Foxes’ consistency across the season.

Photo: AFP

 

Russia’s foreign minister says a unilateral truce declared by the Syrian military could be extended to the city of Aleppo “in the next few hours,” the BBC reports.

Sergei Lavrov said Russia was working with the UN and US to include Aleppo in the “regime of calm” that has covered Damascus and Latakia since Saturday.

But Mr Lavrov warned that rebels would have to leave areas where allied jihadist militants were being targeted.

More than 250 people have been killed in Aleppo in the past 10 days.

About two-thirds of those deaths have been in the rebel-held eastern side of the city, including 50 in an air strike on a hospital the US says was deliberate.

On Tuesday, 14 people were killed by rebel rocket fire in government-controlled areas of Aleppo, including three in an attack on a hospital, state media reported.

The European Commission will give conditional approval for Turks to travel without visas to Europe’s passport-free Schengen area, the BBC reports, quoting its sources.

The move is part of a deal in which Turkey is taking back migrants who have crossed over the Aegean Sea to Greece.

But Turkey must still meet EU criteria, and the deal must be approved by the European Parliament and member states.

The EU fears that without a visa deal, Turkey will not control migration.

The draft law on recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic co-authored by Zaruhi Postanjyan and Hrant Bagratyan is on the agenda of the forthcoming government sitting.

According to the Government opinion on the draft law, “the adoption of the bill submitted to RA Government depends on the results of discussions between Armenia and Artsakh, with consideration of the future developments and external factors.”

During the parliamentary discussions on the bill Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan will come forth with a supplementary report.

The newly established Bedford High School Armenian Club will hold a lecture open to all Bedford High students at 1 p.m. May 6 at the school, 9 Mudge Way, reports.

Lecturers will include Ara Jeknavorian, a research scientist and independent consultant and Tom Vartabedian, an award-winning writer and photographer. The students will receive an informative introduction to the Armenian Genocide in the context of other genocides. Both lecturers are representatives of the Armenian Genocide education committee of the Merrimack Valley. The Bedford High School Armenian Club was established this past year by a small group of Armenian students at the school. The mission of the club is to educate Bedford residents about Armenian culture, history and customs in order to extend diversity in Bedford.

Borussia Dortmund playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been named the Bundesliga Player of the Month for April.

April was a quite a month in the 2015/16 Bundesliga season, with the title race still on the boil, one of the relegation spots filled and several teams improving their position in the hunt for European qualification, but BVB’s Armenian was the standout performer according to the users.

VOTE!
April Player of the Month: or Julian

— Bundesliga (@Bundesliga_EN)