Category: News

The Russian Foreign Ministry will study the inquiry of Russian parliamentarians on denouncing the Moscow Treaty of Friendship and Brotherhood with Turkey signed on March 16, 1921, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on Wednesday, reports.

“Indeed, the Russian Foreign Ministry has received a query from State Duma members proposing to denounce the treaty,” Zakharova said answering a question from an Azerbaijani journalist on the impact of the proposed move on Russia’s relations with this country, since Azerbaijan’s interests are affected in the treaty as well. “I can tell you that at this stage the query should be studied, what exactly is proposed. All this will be done in accordance with the established procedure. Meanwhile, we need to study this initiative.”

Zakharova added that “we are developing relations with Azerbaijan and will not do anything that could worsen them. On the contrary, we will focus on what could improve our relations with this country.” “We have a lot of things in common, in all areas,” she said.

Members of Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) Valery Rashkin and Sergei Obukhov (Communist Party faction) have to the country’s leadership and the Foreign Ministry proposing to denounce the Moscow Treaty of Friendship and Brotherhood signed on March 16, 1921, by the government of Soviet Russia (RSFSR) and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Russia’s Izvestia daily wrote.

“We should consider a possibility of legal review of all Russian-Turkish agreements that are unfavorable for our country and its allies. Ankara must understand what the escalation of the conflict could be fraught with for it. Only this can bring it to earth and prevent it from carrying out new provocations,” Obukhov told Izvestia. He noted that “two of the three Transcaucasian republics – Georgia and Armenia – did not recognize the terms of the treaty considering it unfair.”

Under the treaty “the former Kars region and the southern part of the former Batumi region that were part of the Russian Empire since 1878 as well as former Surmalin district of Erivan Governorate that was part of the Russian Empire since 1828 with Mount Ararat were ceded to Turkey.”.

Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh risk escalation in 2016 due to Baku’s “sustained military buildup coupled with declining economic conditions in Azerbaijan,” U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9.

“Baku is in full military buildup while the deteriorating economic conditions in Azerbaijan raise the possibility that the conflict escalates in 2016,” warned Clapper.

“Azerbaijan’s aversion to publicly relinquishing its claim to Nagorno-Karabakh proper and Armenia’s reluctance to give up territory it controls will continue to complicate a peaceful resolution,” he said.

Task performance readiness inspection takes place in the Russian military base in Armenia in the course of the Southern MD unannounced combat readiness inspection, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports.

In the course of the inspection, motorized rifle, tank, artillery, air defence and special units are holding tactic, firing and driving control exercises.

The training is held at Kamhud and Alagyaz high-mountainous ranges and Erebuni military airfield. The main task of the inspection is to assess readiness level of the units to perform assigned tasks.

Navodchil-2 and Orlan-10 UAV complexes are used in order to provide control over the units.

The training is taking place at day- and nighttime at the altitude of 800-2,500 meters above the sea level in extreme weather conditions.

30- and 100-kilometer marching with meeting different qualification standards in units will become the final stage of the training.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says he is leaving his post to be named chief of the Constitutional Council, France’s top court making sure that bills are compliant with the Constitution, teh Associated Press reports.

Fabius, 69, was in charge since 2012. His successor is not known yet, as a government reshuffling is expected in the coming days.

During a public event on February 10, USAID announced the launch of the Advanced Science and Partnerships for Integrated Resource Development Project (ASPIRED) – a three-year initiative designed to curb the rate of groundwater abstraction in the Ararat Valley to sustainable levels. USAID Armenia Mission Director Karen Hilliard, Deputy Minister of Nature Protection Simon Papyan, representatives of the central government, regional authorities of Armavir and Ararat provinces, and local and international organizations attended the event.

USAID’s recent assessment of the status of groundwater resources in the Ararat Valley – the country’s key agricultural hub – has indicated an alarming situation. The decreasing level of the groundwater supply and the uncontrolled use of artesian water by fish farms has left some 30 communities in the Ararat and Armavir marzes without reliable access to drinking or irrigation water.

In addition, these water shortages pose a real threat to the country’s agricultural sector, the socio-economic and environmental well-being of these regions, as well as the safety and security of Armenia’s sole nuclear power plant, Metsamor, which relies on these water resources for its cooling system. Despite recent measures by the Armenian government to regulate the use of artesian water in the valley, the situation remains serious and is among the Armenian Government’s top priorities.

USAID’s new ASPIRED project will assist the Government of Armenia in developing consistent policy and technical solutions for a more regulated use of these vital groundwater resources. The project will focus on closing data gaps, improving technical capacities and tools for informed decision-making, increasing access to innovative water conservation and energy efficiency technologies, and promoting regulatory and enforcement mechanisms.

ASPIRED will also conduct an inventory of the wells and springs in the Ararat Artesian Basin, create a publicly accessible integrated data system for the valley, install an automated control system for monitoring groundwater abstraction in ten selected fisheries, and pilot innovative technologies for efficient groundwater and energy use. Policy recommendations will be provided to the Armenian government to optimize fees for underground water use by fisheries and introduce stricter water permit practices and oversight.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Germany February 12-13 to participate in the Munich Security Conference, Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repots.

Minister Nalbandian is expected to meet with his counterparts from a number of countries and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Head of Aras Free Zone Organization has expressed readiness to host joint investments of Iranian and Armenian private sectors, reports. 

President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree, relieving Sergey Manasaryan of the duties of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia.

According to another presidential decree, Sergey Manasaryan has been appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to the People’s Republic of China.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received today Shamshad Akhtar, UN Under-Secretary-General, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the cooperation between Armenia and the Commission. President Sargsyan stressed the importance of the Commission’s activity and reiterated Armenia’s willingness to develop the cooperation.

Noting that the Asian and Asia-Pacific regions are facing a serious challenge hampering the economic development, Serzh Sargsyan attached importance to the effort towards forming a common agenda, working out a comprehensive program to resist the challenges.

President Sargsyan assured that “Armenia is willing to make its modest participation in the process.” Mrs. Akhtar said she’s grateful for Armenia’s readiness to cooperate.

She briefed on the Commission’s future programs towards ensuring steady development in the region and the measures to be taken towards that end. She attached importance to the economic vision and political commitments of the countries of the region.

The parties also stressed the importance of regional integration and development of cooperation.

Eight suspects have been captured over the murder of an Armenian-origin Turkish homeowner, an assault on his wife and the burglary of their shared home on Feb. 6, the reports.

A special team formed by several officers from the homicide bureau of the Istanbul Police Department Public Order Unit captured three of the suspects in the Black Seaprovince of Trabzon late Feb. 9 while five other suspects, who were reported to have helped commit the burglary, were captured in Istanbul on the same day.

The move came days after Hagop Yakup Demirci, an 85-year-old Armenian man living in Istanbul’s Şişli district with his wife, Seta Ayda Demirci, 79, was found dead after the three burglars left the old Armenian couple hogtied inside their apartment, from which the burglars stole 100,000 Turkish Liras on Feb. 6. The body of Demirci was retrieved from the apartment located in Şişli’s Harbiye neighborhood with a ladder from the fire department.

The three burglars who were captured in Trabzon were preparing to travel to Batumi, a commercial hub in Georgia, with fake identity cards, police sources said, adding that the trio had former criminal records.

On Feb. 6, a cleaner came to the apartment of the couple at around 2 p.m. but could receive no response, prompting the person to inform the couple’s family and the police.

The couple was taken out of their apartment on the third floor of a building in a joint effort by police officers and firefighters. Hagop Yakup Demirci was pronounced dead while his wife was found severely wounded with her face bruised.

A special team formed by several officers from the homicide bureau of the Istanbul Police Department Public Order Unit captured three of the suspects, one of whom has been a servant for the Armenian couple, in the Black Sea province of Trabzon late Feb. 9 while five other suspects, who were reported to have helped commit the burglary, were captured in Istanbul on the same day. All eight of the suspects, five women and three men, were revealed to be Armenians upon a police investigation.