11:12,
YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan arrived on a working visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, ARMENPRESS reports, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia informs.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia informed that on July 16, the meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov will take place in Tbilisi.
The Armenian Defense Ministry has denied Azerbaijan’s accusations of cross-border shooting. Also, it says Azerbaijan itself violated the ceasefire in the border area last night.
“The statement of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry alleging that the Armenian army units opened fire on Azerbaijani combat positions deployed in the eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on the night of 15-16 July is disinformation,” the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani military fired at Armenian positions in the border area, also using large-caliber firearms.
“The Azerbaijani fire was suppressed after Armenia’s retaliatory measures,” the statement said.
YEREVAN. – Speaker Alen Simonyan of the Republic of Armenia National Assembly (RA NA) on Thursday received Serbian Ambassador Tatjana Panajotovic Cvetkovic, the NA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.
Welcoming the guest, the RA NA President noted that he is happy that he accepted her credentials while standing in for the President of Armenia, adding that the establishment of a permanent diplomatic representation in Yerevan is the best stimulus for the development of Armenian-Serbian relations and cooperation. The sides referred to the importance of parliamentary diplomacy, considering the exchange of experience and mutual visits as a starting point.
Alen Simonyan pointed to the active contacts of the friendship groups, giving key importance to the development of close cooperation with Serbia within the framework of international organizations: UN, OSCE, CoE, and BSEC.
Reference was made to the issues of the establishment of peace and security in the region. Alen Simonyan noted that Armenia is advancing the agenda of opening an era of peace in the region.
The prospects for the development of Armenian-Serbian multi-sectoral cooperation were discussed.
18:47,
YEREVAN, JULY 13, ARMENPRESS. US President Joe Biden's plane landed on Wednesday at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, where the welcoming ceremony for the American leader is currently starting, ARMENPRESS reports, TASS informs.
Biden is welcomed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and other Israeli government ministers.
This is Biden’s first trip to the Middle East after taking office. From July 13 to 16, he will visit Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia.
ArmInfo.Turkish President Recep Erdogan could well attempt to destabilize the South Caucasus to consolidate his positions before the 2023 elections, Professor Ruben Safrastyan said in an interview with ArmInfo.
He does not rule out foreign policy gambling to distract public attention from the grave socio-economic situation in Turkey, which would enable Turkey to try to destabilize the situation in the Caucasus by means of Azerbaijan, purely for domestic political gain.
"It should be noted at this point that the recent polls show the ruling Justice and Development Party second for the first time over two decades, surrendering the top place to the Kemalist Republican People's Party. However, other polls show Erdogan as the most popular Turkish politician, who, according to Turkish and foreign experts, is most likely to win the run-off," Mr Safrastyan said.
The rumors have been circulating in Turkey over the last year about the Turkish president's intention to hold an early presidential election this November. This June, however, Erdogan stated once again that no early presidential or parliamentary elections would be held in the country, and the elections would take place in June 2023. Recep Erdogan's traditional rival, the Republican People's Party, is claiming that by means of early elections the Turkish president is seeking to identify his falling rating, with all the recent polls being evidence thereof.
Anyway, the sad socio-economic and financial situation in Turkey and widespread popular discontent is sure to affect the rating of Recep Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party. And any realistic forecasts are too early to make given the ruling party's shaky positions in confronting a six-party opposition coalition.
"I think that a victory of the Republican People's Party over Erdogan would bring about changes in Turkey's policy toward Armenia, as that state's foreign policy would be more predictable and more coordinated with the West – the USA and NATO. However, I do not expect any radical changes in Turkey's regional policy and its policy toward Armenia," Mr Safrastyan said.
Shamkhani arrived in Yerevan on Thursday morning as part of a tour of the Caucasus.
The top Iranian security official is going to hold meetings with Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues and the plans for cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan to ensure regional security and stability.
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival, Shamkhani highlighted the Iranian administration’s policy of expansion of relations with the neighboring and regional countries.
Stressing the need for the efforts to establish peace and stability in the region through intra-regional cooperation, he said Iran supports formats such as the 3+3 South Caucasus Platform to that end.
He also expressed hope that the negotiations between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan would lead to sustainable peace with the protection of territorial integrity of the both nations, adding, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is opposed to any measure resulting in changes to the geopolitics of the region.”
After the trip to Armenia, Shamkhani will travel to a number of other Caucasus countries.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2022/07/07/2740087/iran-opposed-to-geopolitical-changes-in-region-shamkhani
ArmInfo. Laura Hochla, Director of the Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts, serves as the current OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair, as we have formally notified all parties involved. This was reported to ArmInfo by the US Embassy in Armenia.
Laura Hochla has been serving as the State Department's Director of Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts since 2022. Previously, she served as the Director for European Affairs at the White House National Security Council. She is a career diplomat who previously held the positions of Deputy Economic Counselor at U.S. Embassy Madrid, (2017-2020), Internal Political Chief at U.S. Embassy Tbilisi, Georgia. (2014-2017)
ISTANBUL
Turkish and Armenian officials have agreed to open the land border for third country citizens visiting both countries as soon as possible, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Envoys for the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan “agreed to enable the crossing of the land border between Türkiye and Armenia by third country citizens visiting Türkiye and Armenia respectively at the earliest date possible and decided to initiate the necessary process to that end,” the ministry said in a statement.
Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Armenian National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, special representatives for the normalization, held their fourth meeting in Vienna, Austria’s capital.
“They also agreed on commencing direct air cargo trade between Türkiye and Armenia at the earliest possible date and decided to initiate the necessary process to that effect,” the statement said.
The Turkish and Armenian officials also “discussed other possible concrete steps that can be undertaken towards achieving the ultimate goal of full normalization between their respective countries,” it added.
“Finally they reemphasized their agreement to continue the normalization process without preconditions,” the statement said.
The first round of normalization talks was held in Moscow on Jan. 14, where both parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions, according to a statement released after the meeting.
Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second time in Vienna on Feb. 24, and the third meeting was held on May 3 in the Austrian capital.
Also, a historic bilateral meeting took place between the foreign ministers of Türkiye and Armenia on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on March 12.
As part of the efforts, Türkiye and Armenia have also resumed commercial flights as of Feb. 2 after a two-year hiatus.
The two countries have been divided on a range of issues, including Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and 1915 events during the Ottoman Empire era, and the border between the two neighboring countries has been closed since 1993.
A tragic incident took place today in Yerevan, shamshyan.com reported.
Around 11:00 a.m. the police department of the Malatia district got a message that the corpse was found near the Armenian Genocide museum.
The policemen and patrol found out the name of the deceased – it was a 23-year-old resident of Kotayk who committed suicide by throwing himself.
According to Gagik Shamshyan, in the morning his mother went to the Malatia police department and told that he had sent a text message to his relative, then arrived at the aforementioned place in his car, parked and threw himself from a height.
Shamshyan also says that the materials prepared by the investigator will probably be transferred to the investigation department of the Malatia-Sebastia administrative district of the Investigative Committee of Armenia.
According to the investigator's decision, a forensic examination of the corpse is scheduled.
https://news.am/eng/news/709057.html