The Azerbaijani side used artillery weapons of different caliber, also as HAN-17 grenade launchers as it fired more than 800 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions last night, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.
The Ministry said the Defense Army keeps full control of the situation at the line of contact and confidently continues with the protection of the military positions.
According to the senior official, Iran is now reconnected to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the global provider of secure financial messaging services through which LCs can now be issued as well.
In an update on its website, SWIFT said the European Union has announced that the Implementing Legislation has taken effect. SWIFT has informed the relevant stakeholders about the necessary measures that need to be put in place to make it possible for those banks that are delisted by the Implementing Regulation to reconnect to SWIFT.
The announcement follows implementation of Iran’s nuclear agreement, where the EU, the United Nations and the United States lifted sanctions on the country in exchange for curbs on its civilian nuclear activities.
On February 15 Armen Yeganian, the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Canada, met Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada.
The sides outlined with satisfaction the intensification of political dialogue between the two countries. Ambassador Yeganian stated that during 2015 Yervand Zakharyan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and Hranush Hakobyan, Minister of Diaspora, visited Canada; the official visit of Galust Sahakyan, Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, took place in May of 2015. At the same time, the Ambassador welcomed the visits of two Canadian official delegations to Armenia during last year, headed by Minister Chris Alexander and Minister Christian Paradis.
The progress achieved in bilateral trade and economic relations during the recent years was emphasized, and the visit of the first Canadian trade mission to Armenia in 2015 is the proof of that progress. The Ambassador mentioned that Canadian companies are interested in the different brunches of Armenian industry, especially in the mining sector.
Upon the request of Minister Dion, Ambassador Yeganian briefed on the commemoration events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, held in different countries, including Canada.
The sides also discussed the results of the 31st Ministerial Conference of the International Organization of La Francophonie, which took place last October in Yerevan.
They agreed to continue efforts towards the further enhancement of bilateral political dialogue and deepening of trade and economic ties.
During the meeting regional issues were discussed as well.
The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has cut its key refinancing rate to 8.50 percent from 8.75 percent.
Annual deflation in Armenia was at 0.4 percent in January, down from 0.1 percent in December, according to CBA data. Monthly inflation in January was 2.2 percent, up from 1.7 percent inflation in December.
The government forecasts annual inflation within a range of 2.5-5.5 percent in 2016, the same as last year’s target.
Photo: AP
Survival drama “The Revenant” was the top winner at Britain’s biggest movie awards on Sunday, taking the best film prize and honors for leading actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro G. Inarritu, Reuters reports.
The movie earned five British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, including for cinematography and sound, at a ceremony in London, two weeks before it vies for Hollywood’s top honors, the Oscars.
In the film, which has already picked up several trophies in this awards season and leads Oscar nominations, DiCaprio portrays fur-trapper Hugh Glass, who after being attacked by a bear, is left for dead by his companions during an 1820s expedition. He survives in harsh winter conditions and sets out for revenge.
DiCaprio is heavily favored to win the best actor Academy Award on Feb. 28, which would be his first in five Oscar acting nominations. In collecting his first BAFTA, he paid tribute to his mother and listed actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Peter O’Toole among his inspirations.
“All of this was not expected tonight … Often we have talked about how difficult this movie was to make, and it was, but we are so proud,” he told reporters.
Kate Winslet, who won best supporting actress forplaying a Polish Armenian in the biopic “Steve Jobs”, said it had been an “extraordinary year for women.”
She dedicated her prize “to all those young women that doubt themselves”.
“When I was only 14, I was told by a drama teacher that I might be okay as long as I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts. Look at me now,” she said after accepting the award.
has raised the market value of Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The 27-year-old Armenian international, who currently plays for Borussia Dortmund, now costs €28 million (up from €22 million).
Mkhitaryan moved to Dortmund from Shakhtar Donetsk for €27.5.
The Armenian has scored 18 goals and provided 17 assists in all competitions this season.
By Christopher Thornton
On a dimly lit side street in central Tehran, a bright yellow light shines above a wooden door. Step inside and you might imagine you had left the Islamic Republic. An unveiled woman greets guests and leads them to a spacious dining room, where other women have hung their veils and monteaux at the door. It is early summer, so sleeveless tops reveal bare arms and shoulders. When one patron produces a bottle of Scotch, a waiter brings him a tumbler with ice.
This is one of Tehran’s three Armenian clubs—informal “Islamic-free zones” where Armenian Christians can socialize without the constraints of Islamic law. There are other kinds of Christians in Iran—Assyrians and Chaldeans, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox—but Armenians are the most numerous. It is estimated that there are three hundred thousand of them in Iran. They are allocated five seats in the religious-minorities section of parliament, freely attend services in the six hundred Armenian churches throughout the country, hold observer status on the powerful Guardian Council, and operate their own schools so that their children can be taught in the Armenian language.
Christianity has a long history in Iran. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that Parthians, Persians, and Medes converted to Christianity at Pentecost, and the Parthian kings allowed the new religion to spread throughout the empire. Christians fleeing Roman persecution found a safe haven there. But for the next fifteen hundred years the fortunes of Persian Christians were subject to the political conflicts that swept across Asia. The fourth-century Zoroastrian ruler Shapour II initially allowed religious freedom but then cracked down on both Christians and Jews. In the early centuries of Islamic rule, Christians enjoyed the status of a protected minority, but the Crusades revived old religious tensions. The early Mongol rulers converted to Christianity after they invaded in the thirteenth century, but when later rulers opted for Islam, Christians were again persecuted.
The Armenian community of Iran was formed in 1603, when Shah Abbas allowed five-hundred thousand Armenian Christians who were persecuted by the Ottoman Turks to resettle in Esfahan. Three centuries later, the Armenian genocide of 1915 led fifty thousand more Armenians to seek refuge in Iran, primarily in Tabriz, Tehran, and the enclave of Esfahan that had come to be known as New Julfa, after the city in Azerbaijan where the Armenians originated. As Reza Shah and his son Mohammed Reza Shah sought to modernize Iran in the twentieth century, Armenians rose to high positions in the government, as well as in the arts and sciences.
Since its construction in 1606, Vank Cathedral has served as the spiritual heart of the Julfa district. It is also one of Esfahan’s major tourist attractions. Christian pilgrims, foreign tourists, and visiting Iranians all pass through its gates. In one corner of the cathedral’s grounds stands a memorial of the 1915 genocide—a slender spire encircled by an apron of grass. Inside the Armenian Museum, photographs and documents offer a moving record of the genocide. Visitors, both Christian and Muslim, also gaze at handwritten Bibles, distinctive crosses, vestments, and chalices.
The main attraction is the cathedral itself, where the beauty of the Armenian religious tradition is revealed in all its glory. At the top of the central dome the creation story is painted in patterns of blue and gold. Winged cherubs, a traditional Armenian motif, decorate the stone columns, and traditional Persian imagery appears in the floral patterns that adorn the entrance ceiling.
The cathedral isn’t the only church in Julfa. Knock on the wooden door of the Church of St. Mary and a caretaker will open it to admit visitors to the inner courtyard. Built by a wealthy silk merchant in the seventeenth century, St. Mary’s was later expanded to accommodate overflow crowds. Then there is the Church of Bethlehem, where the life of Jesus is portrayed in seventy-two wall paintings. The crosses of both churches rise above their central domes to share the skyline with the local minarets.
Many Westerners think of Iran as a theocratic monolith. They would no doubt be surprised to discover Christians of various kinds living there comfortably. Some of these Christian communities are ancient; some arrived more recently, seeking asylum. But even the newcomers now regard Iran as their home. They think of the Shiite majority not as their hosts, but as neighbors with whom they have much in common. For example, Muslim and Christian Iranians are united in their enthusiasm for the recent nuclear deal, which will release their country from stifling economic sanctions. In an interview with the Fides News Agency, Hormoz Aslani Babroudi, director of the Pontifical Missionary Society of Iran, offered his endorsement of the agreement: “Christians, along with all the Iranian people, are rejoicing because their prayers were answered. From now on it will be easier for the world to have a positive view of Iran.” He added, “We do not consider ourselves foreigners but Iranians, and we are proud of it.”
Christopher Thornton teaches at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Photo: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
Russia will support a motion in favor of raising in the UN Security Council the question of Ankara’s provocative actions towards Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, TASS reports.
“Moscow expresses the most serious concern over the Turkish authorities’ aggressive actions towards the neighboring state,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Russia will support a motion for putting the issue on the UN Security Council’s agenda. The Security Council should express its clear opinion of Ankara’s provocative polices, posing a threat to peace and stability in the region of the Middle East and outside it.”
According to the ministry, Turkey continues assisting the penetration of new terrorist groups into Syria.
“According to incoming information, the Turkish side continues assisting the illegal penetration of fresh groups of jihadists and mercenaries with arms into the territory of Syria to replenish the units of the Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State and other terrorist groupings battered in battles,” the ministry’s statement said.
“Wounded militants are being brought into Turkey across the border along with scattered bandit groups for rest and subsequent re-formation,” the statement said.
On 15 February NKR President Bako Sahakyan received Armenia’s newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States Grigor Hovhanissyan, NKR President’s Press Office reported.
The President congratulated Grigor Hovhanissyan on assuming the responsible position.
The meeting touched upon a range of issues related to providing truthful information about Artsakh in various US platforms and deepening the inter-Armenian ties.
NKR foreign minister Karen Mirzoyan was present at the meeting.
Energy Minister, Kakha Kaladze, started visit to Iran on Monday to discuss potential gas imports and cooperation in other areas of energy sector, the Georgian Energy Ministry said, Civil Georgia reports.
“The Georgian and Iranian sides are at this stage studying possibilities of import of Iranian gas to Georgia. Possibilities for implementation of various other investment projects in the energy sector will also be discussed,” the Georgian Energy Ministry said in a brief statement on Monday.
At a public discussion on Georgia’s energy policy, hosted on February 10 by Tbilisi office of Heinrich Böll Foundation, Georgian Deputy Energy Minister Mariam Valishvili said that buying Iranian gas at this stage is not commercially viable for Georgia as it is about 25% more expensive. She said that some type of energy swap arrangements are not ruled out, but it is a long-term perspective and she does not foresee anything tangible for a short-term period.
“But we want to be in the forefront of negotiations with Iran, because the latter is interested with our region and we are interested in this resource [Iran] – so there is a concurrence of interests, but now it’s difficult for me to say what kind of shape this relations may take,” Valishvili said.
Georgian Foreign Minister, Mikheil Janelidze, met his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on the sideline of the security conference in Munich on February 12.
Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili spoke by phone with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on February 8.
Starting from February 15 Georgia reinstated 45-day visa-free rules for Iranian citizens, which were scrapped by Tbilisi in 2013.