Category: News

Azerbaijan imposed some limits on foreign currency outflows in a package of measures adopted by parliament on Tuesday to prop up the oil producer’s depreciating manat currency, reports.

Rising prices have stirred protests rarely seen in a country where oil money and well-equipped security forces have long ensured public loyalty to President Ilham Aliyev.

The manat has lost about a third of its value against the dollar in the past month and the central bank has burned through more than half its foreign currency reserves, which now stand at about $5 billion, trying to protect its value from low oil prices. Oil and gas account for 75 percent of the Azeri state’s revenues.

Azerbaijan’s 10-year dollar bond, which matures in 2024, rose 0.45 cents to trade at 90.08 cents as the government acted to contain the crisis. The bond’s yield premium over safe-haven U.S. Treasuries narrowed 11 basis points to 582 bps.

Central bank chief Elman Rustamov said the government would impose limits on foreign currency outflows and introduce a 20 percent tax on currency exports related to direct investment, the purchase of real estate or securities abroad.

The problems may spur consolidation in Azerbaijan’s banking sector and Rustamov said five or seven of the country’s banks may have to merge.

The central bank had already received requests to approve several mergers, he told reporters, saying international financial institutions had shown some interest in getting involved. There are 42 lenders with banking licences in Azerbaijan.

A total of 3,030 people have signed a petition that has been delivered to the Şişli Municipality in Istanbul on Monday morning demanding that it change street names with Turkish nationalist connotations in the district’s Kurtuluş neighborhood, reports.

The delegation from the HDP that delivered the petition met with Hacı Kuru, the director for culture and society in Şişli Municipality, which is governed by the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The 159-page petition calls for the changing of name of Ergenekon Avenue to Hrant Dink Avenue, after the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was murdered on the adjacent Halâskârgazi Street, the location of the former headquarters of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly newspaper Agos.

Tuesday’s meeting was held one day before the ninth anniversary of the assassination of Dink, which has been commemorated every year since with a march and demonstration in the district, with hundreds holding black signs that read, “We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian!”

 

 

 

New perspectives will open up for Armenia after the lifting of Iran sanctions, expert of Iranian studies Vardan Voskanyan told reporters today.

According to him, with Iran-Azerbaijan and Iran-Turkey relations strained for now, Armenia remains the most efficient, the most reliable and the most important route for Iran to the north.

“In this context Armenia can assume a very important role, as it has allied relations with Russia and good relations with Iran and Georgia,” he said.

According to the expert, the fears that Russia will necessarily block Iran’s energy projects through Armenia have no basis. “Russia understands that it must participate in the programs, as it’s clear that Iran will get to the international market anyway,” he said.

“We have the best opportunity to link Iran to the Black Sea through the North-South Highway, and we have to accelerate the process of construction, since every day spared works against Armenia’s interest in this new conjuncture,” Vardan Voskanyan said.

The expert believes the construction of the Iran-Armenia railway is also realistic. “Funding can be the only obstacle,” he said, reminding that China is another party interested in the project.

Vardan Voskanyan said “the unfreezing of Iranian assets will results in the further growth of investments in Armenia, especially considering that Armenia enjoys privileged regimes with both the Eurasian Economic Union and the EU.”

Photo: Reuters/Express News

 

At least seven people have been killed in a bomb blast close to a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police and local officials say, the BBC reports.

About 20 people were also wounded in the blast, which took place in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on the outskirts of Peshawar.

There has been fierce fighting in the region between security forces and the Pakistani Taliban.

No-one has yet said they carried out the attack.

TV footage of the latest attack showed vehicles parked near the blast site on fire after the explosion.

The bomb went off near Peshawar’s Karkhano Market, The Express Tribune reported.

It quoted eyewitnesses as saying the bomb was planted on a motorbike – but there are conflicting reports as to whether it was a suicide blast or a remotely controlled explosion.

“Who Killed the Armenians?”- the first Arabic film devoted to the Armenian Genocide, will be presented in the feature/documentary film category at the Socially Relevant Film Festival to be held in New York, member of the Armenian National Committee of Egypt Armen Mazlumyan told .

The film was produced by director Muhammad Hanafi and journalist and host Myriam Zaki. The film presents the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Turks 100 years ago, also as several archival photos and materials, most of which are released for the first time and affirm the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The survivors’ eyewitness accounts affirm that the Genocide was previously planned. The shootings took place in Armenia, Egypt and Lebanon.

The first screening of the film took place on November 8 in Cairo.

Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey has died at the age of 67, the band has announced, the BBC reports.

He died in New York City on Monday from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia.

“Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us,” his family and fellow band members said.

The Eagles were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, with multiple hit singles, including Hotel California in 1976.

Frey co-founded the Eagles in 1971 with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.

He co-wrote Hotel California with Henley, and composed a number of the band’s biggest songs on his own, including Heartache Tonight and Lyin’ Eyes.

The Eagles notched up more than 150 million album sales worldwide, with Hotel California and their greatest hits among the best selling in history.

Amid calls for a boycott of the Academy Awards over its all-white acting nominees and Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith both announcing they would sit out this year’s ceremony, the academy’s president said it was time for major changes and soon, the Associated Press reports.

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs issued a statement promising more diversity, and quickly, after both Lee and Pinkett spoke out on Monday.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Lee said he “cannot support” the “lily white” Oscars. Noting that he was writing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lee who in November was given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards said he was fed up: “Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all,” he wrote. “We can’t act?!”

In a video message on Facebook, Pinkett Smith also said she wouldn’t attend or watch the Oscars in February. Pinkett Smith, whose husband Will Smith wasn’t nominated for his performance in the NFL head trauma drama “Concussion,” said it was time for people of color to disregard the Academy Awards.

“Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity and diminishes power,” she said. “And we are a dignified people and we are powerful.”

She added: “Let’s let the academy do them, with all grace and love. And let’s do us differently.” The video had amassed 4.5 million by mid-Monday afternoon.

Last year’s all-white acting nominees also drew calls for a boycott, though not from such prominent individuals as Lee and Pinkett Smith. Whether it had any impact or not, the audience for the broadcast, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, was down 16 percent from the year prior, a six-year low.

Press Statement by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian following the 16th meeting of Armenia-EU Cooperation Council

2016-01-18

Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the framework of the 16th session of Armenia-EU Cooperation Council, together with our EU colleagues, we have had extensive discussions on the further development of Armenia – European Union relations, which included such issues as: Political dialogue, negotiations on a new framework agreement between Armenia and the EU, that would adequately reflect the depth and essence of our partnership, mobility, human rights, pace of reforms and others.

2015 was a special year for the Armenia-EU cooperation. We witnessed high level visits, an intense and constructive dialogue with an impressive number of bilateral meetings, simultaneous negotiations on Armenia- EU agreements in various areas.

The Eastern Partnership summit in Riga in May 2015 was a success with Joint Declaration reaffirming our shared vision of the Partnership based on mutual interests and commitments, supporting sustained reform processes in partner countries and highlighting the main directions for the further developing and strengthening of comprehensive cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.

Armenia welcomed the European Neighborhood Policy review process. We highly appreciated the EU initiative to engage the partner countries in this process. We are pleased to note that on 14th December 2015 the EU Council endorsed the principle of differentiation to be applied to the partners, taking into account the progress made in implementation of their commitments and reforms.

We expressed our appreciation to the EU for its continued support and assistance provided to our country over the years which have been instrumental for the effective implementation and sustainability of the reform process and institutional capacity building in Armenia.

Last month’s launch of the negotiations on a new legal framework of Armenia – EU relations was a new threshold in our relations. We hope that the new agreement will reflect the depth and essence of our bilateral relations and set new guidelines for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Based on shared values, Armenia is interested in working with the EU on to the continuous promotion of human rights and rule of law, consolidation of democratic institutions and improvement of judiciary, good governance, fight against corruption, strengthening the civil society. We are thankful to the EU for its valuable support in this regard.

Constitutional reform in Armenia that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe characterized as of “extremely high quality” and “ in line with international standards”, was approved by the nation-wide referendum last December. It is another important step also aimed at advancing many of the mentioned goals.

Dear Colleagues,

During recent months alongside the deliberations on the legal basis of our relations, the Armenian side has been actively engaged in negotiations with the relevant bodies of the European Commission regarding our participation in a number of EU programs. We are glad to state today that negotiations on Armenia’s participation in the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 are successfully concluded and we expect the Agreement to be signed shortly.

We look forward to develop our cooperation in the transport area as well, in this respect we underlined the importance of timely starting of negotiations on the Common aviation area.

We attach great importance to people to people contacts, and view enhanced mobility of our citizens as an important prerequisite for bringing our societies closer. It is almost two years now that the EU-Armenia Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements are being implemented. We believe that time has come to move forward towards the Dialogue on Visa liberalization as it is enshrined in Joint Declaration of Eastern Partnership Riga Summit.

I have presented our European colleagues on the worldwide events on Armenian Genocide centennial, which we marked last year. Several thousands commemoration events held on all continents, supported by the four fundamental pillars. Those are remembrance, gratitude, prevention, and revival. These four notions are also deeply symbolic for the commemoration of all other crimes of genocide committed throughout the human history. I have used this opportunity to express our gratitude to the European Parliament, EU countries for their principled position on this issue and expressions of support and sympathy to Armenia.

I also talked about Armenia’s active engagement in efforts of international community on prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity. We thank the EU countries for their support to Armenian initiatives within the UN formats.

I briefed the Council on latest developments related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and in particular on the results of the meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Bern. The agenda of that summit was dictated by the escalation of situation as a result of Azerbaijan’s provocations, gross violations of cease-fire regime. Unfortunately, the relative calmness in the conflict area has ended with resumption of gross violations of cease-fire regime by Azerbaijan.

We also touched upon regional security issues and other topics of international political agenda.

Thank you.

Sarkis Eken, an 86-year-old known as one of the oldest Armenians born and residing in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, passed away at Dicle University’s hospital, where he was receiving treatment, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Ekenwas born in 1930 in the Başbuk village of Diyarbakir’s Silvan district and was living in the Meryem Ana Assyrian Church in its central Sur district for 55 years.

He lived out his final years alone after losing his wife of 65 years, Baydzar Eken, in 2014, only two months after their official civil marriage.

His funeral was initially planned in Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Sur’s Fatihpaşa neighborhood, but the venue was changed due to the curfew in Fatihpaşa.

The one-hour ceremony, which was orchestrated by priest Yusuf Akbulut of Meryem Ana Assyrian Church, was attended by Diyarbakir Church spiritual leader Ahmet Güvener, Sur deputy mayor Azize Değer Kutlu from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), local authorities,  artists and Eken’s relatives and friends.

Priest Akbulut said the ceremony would have been attended by many more from both Turkey and abroad if there were not any ongoing clashes in Sur district. He added that Eken was a beloved man who always aimed at being a good person.

Eken was laid to rest in the Christian church in Diyarbakır’s Urfakapı district.

Photo: Reuters

Oil prices hit their lowest since 2003 on Monday, as the market braced for a jump in Iranian exports after the lifting of sanctions against the country over the weekend, Business Today reports.

The UN nuclear watchdog on Saturday said Tehran had met its commitments to curtail its nuclear programme, and the United States immediately revoked sanctions that had slashed Iran’s oil exports by around 2 million barrels per day (bpd) since its pre-sanctions 2011 peak to little more than 1 million bpd.

On Sunday, Iran – a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – said it was ready to increase its exports by 500,000 bpd.

“Iranian exports come at a very bad time,” said Barclays analysts. A chronic global surplus of a million barrels or more of crude daily has pulled down oil prices by over 75 per cent since mid-2014 and by over a quarter since the start of 2016.

Worries about Iran’s return to an already glutted oil market drove down Brent to $27.67 a barrel early on Monday, its lowest since 2003. The benchmark was at $28.55 by 0523 GMT, still down over 1 per cent from its settlement on Friday.

US crude was down 38 cents at $29.04 a barrel, not far from a 2003-low of $28.36 hit earlier in the session.