Author: Andranik Taslakhchian

“The targeted attacks on the Armenian border villages and the NKR Army divisions stationed kilometers away from the military positions, which claimed the lives of civilians and servicemen come to prove that in the face of Azerbaijan the international community has to deal with a state that has adopted a terrorist way of action and is guided by irresponsible and unbridled impunity,” the Public Council of the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement released today.

“Baku does not conceal, and even impertinently demonstrates its negligent attitude towards international opinion, legal and humanitarian norms and its own commitments. By inciting armed clashes and escalating tensions at the border, Azerbaijan is actually eliminating the ceasefire regime and replacing it with a regime of political blackmail, thus foiling the mediating efforts towards the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” the Council said.

“Despite all this, the political self-determination of Artsakh is a full-fledged and irreversible fact,” the Council said, adding that the Aliyev’s delirium of annexing it to Azerbaijan is a mere unrealizable dream, and following it will be disastrous for Azerbaijan itself.

“We offer our condolences to the families and friends of the victims and share their pain. We also express our support to the soldiers, officers and commanders of our Army, we are confident in the might of our Armed Forces,” the statement concludes.

The Azerbaijani side undertook a fresh infringement attempt in the eastern direction of the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan at 01:40, August 28.

The front troops of the NKR Defense Army averted the advancement of a 20-25-member group and forced the rival to retreat, incurring losses. No casualties are reported on the Armenian side.

The Azerbaijani side also violated the ceasefire regime 110 times overnight, firing 2,000 shots from weapons of different caliber, including 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars.

The activeness of the rival was pressured as a result of retaliatory actions taken by the NKR Defense Army.

The Armenian forces keep control of the situation all along the line of contact.

For the first time, teams from Diyarbakir and Dersim will participate in the Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan, the  reports.

They join 57 other teams this summer from cities in Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Lebanon, Iran, France, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the United States, and more. The players from Diyarbakir and Dersim will participate in futsal, which is a variant of soccer that is played on a smaller field and considered as a version of five-a-side soccer. Soccer teams from Sasun and Istanbul will also be participating for the second time.

The organizers of the Diyarbakir group are members of the Surp Giragos Dikranagerd Church Restoration Committee. Since the restoration project was a global initiative with many donors and supporters from North America, Armenian athletes from the U.S. and Canada with roots in the region were invited to be part of the team. Five players from Turkey and five from North America (two from Canada, and three from the United States, including the captain of the U.S. Eastern Region Homenetmen soccer team, Asadur Tufeckgian) make up the team.

“I was honored to be invited on the team by the Church Restoration Committee,” said Toronto resident Daron Bedrosyan, who will represent Diyarbakir at the games. Speaking to the Armenian Weekly, Bedrosyan said that participating in the Pan-Armenian Games in the year of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide was especially meaningful for him. “My family’s history in Dikranagerd [Diyarbakir] dates back as far as we can trace our roots—at least two centuries back. This has been a historic year for all of us as Armenians with everything that transpired for the Centennial commemorations. The Pan-Armenian Games will also be a significant commemoration in this regard,” he said.

A group from Diyarbakir and Dersim will also travel to Yerevan to support the athletes and participate in the Ari Tun program organized by the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora. This will be the second time that Armenians from the region will participate in the program. The main objectives of Ari Tun are to introduce Diasporan Armenian youth to Armenian history, culture, public life, religion, and family traditions. Participants will visit historical and cultural sites in Armenia, and attend concerts, festivals, exhibitions, and plays. Courses will also be offered in Armenian language, literature, dance, history, and church traditions.

Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar has indicated he is interested in bringing striker Yura Movsisyan back to the Major League Soccer club, according to
Movsisyan made 53 appearances and scored 15 goals for Real Salt Lake between 2007 and 2009, winning the MLS Cup in his final season at the club.

Cassar told local radio station ESPN700 that Movsisyan, who currently plays for Spartak Moscow, is one of a number of options the Utah-based club are looking at during the summer transfer window.

“Yura’s a player we’re very familiar with,” Cassar said of the Armenia international.

“Obviously we won a championship when he was here. He’s gone on to do fantastic things.

“But we are in contact with him, as well as with a lot of players on their status with their clubs, or if they’re a free agent.

“He’s just one player that we’re interested in, but at the end of the day, he belongs to another team.”

Manchester United have agreed a £12.7m fee with Torino for Italy full-back Matteo Darmian, The Daily Star reports, quoting Sky Italia.

The Red Devils are reported to have had two bids for the 25-year-old rejected but the two clubs have now come to an agreement.

Darmian can play on either side of the defence although his preference is at right-back, a position Louis van Gaal has made his priority to strengthen.

Cristiano Ronaldo completed his third straight hat-trick in as many games for club and country as Portugal came from behind to defeat Armenia in the Euro 2016 Group I qualifier in Yerevan, according to UEFA’s official website.

In the 14th minute Armenia were ahead, thanks to Marcos Pizzelli’s superb free-kick from around 25 metres out to get Sargis Hovsepyan’s first game as coach off to a deceptively fine start.

The visitors were level 15 minutes later. Henrikh Mkhitaryan brought down João Moutinho in the box and Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty.

Just before half-time Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovski pulled off a good stop from Fábio Coentrão. Howvber, Armenia were holding their own and in the 54th minute Pizzelli shot just over.

There was a sting in the tail, though, as Ronaldo ran on to a Ricardo Carvalho clearance and snuck in ahead of Robert Arzumanyan to chip the ball in over Roman Berezovski and increase his record number of UEFA European Championship goals to 25.

It did not take him long to make it 26, the Portugal captain superbly controlling Rui Patrício’s clearance, turning and beating Berezovski from distance. Soon after Portugal were down to ten men, Tiago receiving a second booking for a foul on Artur Sarkisov.

With 20 minutes left Armenia had a lifeline, Hrayr Mkoyan pouncing after Patrício could only parry a shot from substitute Aras Özbiliz. Portugal held out with comfort though.

Armenia closely follows the developments in Syria and tries to find ways to ensure the security of Syrian Armenians, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press conference with visiting OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić.

Speaking about his recent visit to Syria, the Foreign Minister said the objective was to see the developments on the spot.

“We consider that it will be possible to solve the crisis by immediately stopping the military actions, launching dialogue between all political forces in Syria,” Minister Nalbandian said.

“There are thousands of Syrian Armenians living in Armenia today. The Armenian leadership has been doing and continues to do its best to support them,” the Minister added.

“It was important to meet with representatives of the Syrian Armenian community, to offer them our support and to reconfirm that Armenia stands by them,” Edward Nalbandian said.

The Spanish city of Santa Margarida has officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, Press Service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The decision of the City Council reads, in part:

“Considering that some governments, including those of Turkey and Spain, do not acknowledge the Armenian Genocide,

Considering that the crimes against humanity have no statute of limitation,

Taking into consideration that the Armenian the Armenian people have not received any economic, territorial or humanitarian reimbursement,

Taking into consideration that the Armenian Genocide is a precedent for the Holocaust, the genocides in Rwanda and the Balkans,

The City Hall decides to support the genocide recognition and reimbursement, to demand from the Spanish Government to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and organize the passage of this decision to international structures.”

The Spanish football season will be allowed to finish after the week-long Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suspension and players’ strike ended, the BBC reports.

After Spain’s High Court ruled the players’ strike over a TV rights dispute was unlawful, the RFEF reversed a

Barcelona can win La Liga on Sunday, with a game to spare, if they beat current champions Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish Cup final will also go ahead as planned on 30 May.

Barca, who have also reached the Champions League final where they will take on Juventus, play Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp in the domestic Copa del Rey final.

The RFEF and the players’ union (AFE) are not satisfied with a new law introducing collective bargaining for domestic television rights, which was supported by the National Professional Football League (LFP) which runs Spain’s top two professional divisions.

 

 

 

is ranked 43rd out of 124 countries in the Human Capital Index 2015 released by the World Economic Forum. Armenia has scored 72.5% out of 100.

Other countries in the region are placed as follows: Russia – 26^th, Azerbaijan – 63^rd, Turkey – 68^th, Iran – 80^th; Georgia is not included in the rating.

The Baltic States are leaders among the ex-Soviet countries (Estonia is 16^th, Lithuania is 18^th, Latvia is 23^rd.

Armenia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic Union Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are placed 37^th and 44^th respectively. No data is provided for Belarus.

Globally, Finland tops the rankings of the Human Capital Index in 2015, scoring 86% out of a possible 100. Norway (2), Switzerland (3), Canada (4) and Japan (5) make up the rest of the top five. They are among a group of only 14 nations that have crossed the 80% threshold.

In addition to the 14 countries that have reached 80% human capital optimization, 38 countries score between 70% and 80%. A further 40 countries score between 60% and 70%, while 23 countries score between 50% and 60% and nine countries remain below 50%.

The index takes a life-course approach to human capital, evaluating the levels of education, skills and employment available to people in five distinct age groups, starting from under 15 years to over 65 years. The aim is to assess the outcome of past and present investments in human capital and offer insight into what a country’s talent base will look like in the future.