Category: News

Jose Mourinho has named a 20-man travelling squad for Manchester United’s Europa League match against FC Rostov on Thursday evening.

The Reds flew out of Manchester Airport, bound for Russia, on Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the Round of 16 first leg at the Olimp-2 Stadium, where kick-off is scheduled for 18:00 GMT.

In this first-ever meeting between United and Rostov, Mourinho is keen to see his side establish what could be a crucial advantage ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at Old Trafford.

United’s travelling squad in full: De Gea, Romero, O’Hara; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Blind, Darmian, Young; Carrick, Herrera, Fellaini, Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Mkhitaryan; Martial, Rashford, Ibrahimovic.

Eric Bailly has not travelled to Russia due to the one-match suspension that he earned as a result of his dismissal in United’s last European match, away to Saint-Etienne.

Luke Shaw and Wayne Rooney are not in the group after starting against Bournemouth on Saturday, while Bastian Schweinsteiger has stayed at home, presumably with the minor injury that the boss revealed last Friday.

On a positive front, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has returned to the group and could feature for the first time since suffering an injury moments after scoring the only goal in last month’s win in France.

Asbarez – The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is launching the educational project “Zarmanazan” as part of its Western Armenian revitalization program. The initiative will incorporate two components that will mutually nourish each other:

• A summer camp for children between the ages of 10 to 15, in a creative and playful world, aimed at encouraging the practice of Western Armenian.
• A training internship designed for Western Armenian teachers or teachers-in-training in the Armenian Diaspora, leading to university certification by the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris (INALCO).

For 25 days, children and teenagers will reside together with a team of 15 experienced facilitators in an inspiring environment. While totally immersed in Western Armenian, they will create, discover, learn, and have fun through engaging workshops in music, arts, theater, dance, as well as various sports and games. Through these activities, language will become a natural means of communication and creation.

The Zarmanazan camp, organized in partnership with the Mille et un Mondes organization in Lyon, will offer a space for meeting and interaction between all participants who will have the opportunity to learn from one another and develop friendships, living an enriching and unique experience.

The camp is open to all children and teenagers living in the Armenian Diaspora. The number of places is limited to 40. There is no requirement for a minimum level of proficiency in Armenian.

The teacher development component of the camp will host 15 teachers (or teachers-in-training). They will follow an intensive program combining expert direction with practical training, interactive lectures, and the latest pedagogic approaches and materials.

The location of the camp is in La Bourboule, France.

Azerbaijan is trying to undermine and fail the agreements on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan has said. “Speaking about the resumption of talks or about negotiations being frozen by Armenia is at least hypocrisy,” Balayan told .

The comments come after Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov accused the Armenian side of having stopped the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict settlement.

“Negotiations with Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh are currently stopped,” Mammadyarov said, speaking at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

He then accused Armenia of refusing from negotiations. “We proposed to continue substantive negotiations, but the Armenian side does not go for it. On April 2, parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia. We proposed to hold talks after this date,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister said.

“This fully meets the logic of Azerbaijan’s non-constructive provocative policy,” Tigran Balayan said.

“It’s well known that after the aggression of April 2, 2016 the international community was insisting on the need to create conditions conducive to the continuation of negotiations,” the Spokesman said. He reminded that two summits were organized in Vienna and St. Petersburg, where concrete agreements were reached on creation of those conditions.

He added, however, that Azerbaijan refuses to implement the agreements and keeps preventing their implementation. “Therefore, speaking about the resumption of negotiations or about talks being frozen because of the Armenian side is at least hypocrisy,” Tigran Balayan stated.

Prime Ministers of Armenia and Russia Karen Karapetyan and Dmitry Medvedev had a meeting on the sidelines of the sitting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council on Bishkek.

The parties referred to the process of implementation of the agreements reached during the Armenian Prime Minister’s earlier visit to Moscow, particularly the creation of an Armenian-Russian investment fund, involvement of Russian companies in the Meghri Free Trade Zone, supply of agricultural equipment.

A wide range of issues on Armenian-Russian economic agenda was discussed.

The Armenian and Russian Prime Minister reiterated the willingness to keep expanding the Armenian-Russian allied cooperation both in bilateral format and within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan has left for France for an official visit.

In the framework of the visit, the President of Armenia will meet with the highest leadership of France – President François Hollande, President of Senate Gérard Larcher, President of the National Assembly Claude Bartolone, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, and with the Secretary General of the International Organization of Francophonie Michaëlle Jean.

Based on the results of the high-level Armenian-French negotiations, the parties will sign a numer of documents aimed at the strengthening and deepening of the bilateral relations and cooperation.

In Paris, the President of Armenia will meet with the representatives of the French business circles and representatives of the Armenian communities of Europe.

President Sargsyan will also visit Lyon where he will meet with the Mayor of the city Gérard Collomb.

Photo: AFP

 

Turkey’s president has compared German officials to Nazis, in the latest escalation in a war of words, the BBC reports.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit out after German authorities cancelled rallies designed to woo ethnic Turkish voters in Germany ahead of a key referendum.

“Your practices are not different from the Nazi practices of the past,” Mr Erdogan said.

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the comments were “absurd, disgraceful and outlandish”.

About 1.4m Turks in Germany can vote in the April referendum, which could give Mr Erdogan sweeping new powers.

Voters will be asked whether they back a new constitution, which would transform the country from a parliamentary republic into a presidential one.

That would give Mr Erdogan, as president, new powers over the budget and the appointment of ministers and judges, as well as the power to dismiss parliament.

 

 

 

Enmity has become the only driving force for Azerbaijan, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan says.

“Aliyev sees this imitation of war as the only way after the April failure,” Melik-Shahnazaryan told a press conference today. He added, however, that neither Yerevan, nor Stepanakert will tolerate this any longer.

“There is an imitation of war, and the Azerbaijani propaganda is doing its best to demonstrate there is large-scale fighting at the line of contact,” Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said. He said “as long as domestic turmoil continues, Aliev will be seeking for ways to use external threats to distract public attention.”

Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan is confident, however, that Azerbaijan will not be able to solve the issue by force. “Therefore, the only thing Azerbaijan can do is to create an imitation of war.”

Speaking about the response of the Armenian side, the political scientist said “Azerbaijan’s actions force Armenia to choose between the military and diplomatic options to restrain aggression, which will inevitably result in further escalation of tension.”

He noted that “the Armenian Armed Forces are quick to spot, respond to and eliminate the potential threats, which was not the case in April last year.”

“The destabilized situation can go dangerous and get out of control for any stakeholder in our region. I don’t think that anyone, except Turkey, will give a nod to Azerbaijan’s plans to start war. Even if Turkey gives its consent, it cannot provide Azerbaijan with guarantees, because Turkey also sees it in a hard situation because of both developments in the Middle East and processes inside the country.”

The political scientist said “we should never ignore the potential threats from Azerbaijan.” Therefore, he added, “we must be ready for war in order not to allow that war happen.”

The Azerbaijani side used firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire 55 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival fired over 1,000 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions, Artsakh Defense Ministry reports.

The Azeri forces used a 60 mortar and a grenade launcher in the northeastern direction of the line of contact.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep the situation under control and confidently continue with their military duty.

Yelk bloc will run for parliament under the slogan “Election, change, victory.” They pledge to be innovative, to offer new solutions in the campaign, to be open and transparent.

The alliance has decided to campaign in different regions of Armenia simultaneously. Edmon Marukyan, who leads the party list, will campaign in the northern provinces of Aragatsotn, Lori, Tavush and Shirak, Aram Sargsyan will work in the southern provinces of Armavir, Ararat, Vayots Dzor and Syunik. Nikol Pashinyan will mostly be in Yerevan, while Sasun Mikayelyan will travel to Gegharkunik and Kotayk.

Free Democrats have chosen the slogan “We can.” At a convention that marked the start of the campaign the party presented its election platform.

Ex-Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, who sits second in the proportional list, referred to the hard social-economic conditions in the country, which ‘have led to large-scale migration.’

“Don’t rely on someone to come, invest in the country and develop its economy. You have to develop Armenia. China’s example is instructive,” Bagratyan said.

The Armenian Renaissance Party urges to “Vote for change, vote for renaissance.” the party chose to start the campaign with a press conference.

The party will present the provisions of its platform to voters separately. The Armenian Renaissance has prepared videos that will introduce to the 30 points of the party’s program.

Tsarukyan alliance says it’s “Time to change and build.” The bloc started the campaign from the borderline Tavush province. Divided into ten groups, members of the alliance traveled to different settlements of Tavush to deliver their messages to people.

Before the start of the campaign member of the bloc Varuzhan Babajanyan had reported pressures against their activists. Speaking to Public Radio of Armenia, Babajanyan said “all issues have been settled.”

The Congress-People’s Party bloc started the campaign without Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Presenting the platform, Congress’ Vice-President Levon Zurabyan said “it’s a program of telling people the truth.”

Addressing the public, member of the Armenian National Congress, economist Zoya Tadevosyan attached importance to eliminating monopoly in Armenia, attracting foreign investors.

The Republican Party of Armenia says it has the answers to the issues people are concerned with. “Elections meeting the letter and spirit of law will be the victory of all of us,” Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said at the start of the campaign.

The party, which has chosen “Security and Progress” as its slogan, considers they will be able to present their programs and outlook to people during the campaign.

The Communist Party of Armenia, which has chosen the “Motherland, labor, socialism” as its slogan, started the campaign from Tavush province.

The party aims to restore socialism in Armenia and intends to deepen the political, economic and cultural ties with Russia.

The Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance will campaign under the slogan “Heritage, unity, victory.” Ex-Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan says they are coming to form a new-quality leadership and restore the faith of the public. He also promises to fight all problems.

The alliance has already published the election platform titled “365 days: everyday change.”

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation started the campaign under the slogan “New beginning, fair Armenia.”

Head of the ARF faction Armen Rustamyan, who heads the party list, says the upcoming elections will be unprecedented in Armenian history.

“While others are speaking about changes, we’re bringing about these changes,” ARF faction secretary Aghvan Vardanyan said at the start of the campaign.

Russia will help Baku and Yerevan reach mutually acceptable solutions to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday after talks with his visiting Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mamedyarov.

“Naturally, we spoke about the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. Russia will continue to help the sides reach mutually acceptable solutions both in its bilateral relations with Baku and Yerevan and in the formal of trilateral meetings between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, of course, in its capacity as Minsk Group Co-Chair,” he said.

“We believe the Karabakh conflict can be solved,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

He said the opinion is reinforced by the “results of long-term contacts, as a result of which common ground has been reached on a number of key issues of conflict settlement – security, humanitarian issue, return of territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh, determination of the status of Nagorno Karabakh (with the opinion living there taken into consideration), defining the parameters of international peacekeeping forces, etc.”

Lavrov said there is understanding on a number of asepcts of final settlement and added that “two or three key issues are still being discussed. “We are far from the point where we can see the parties develop a common approach towards the remaining issues,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister underlined that “before we can resume substantial talks it’s important to deescalate the situation on the line of contact and the public environment.”

He stressed the importance of confidence-building measures, including the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg and the proposals worked out within the framework of the OSCE.