Author: Arbi Tashjian

President Sargsyan comments on need to find alternative for Upper Lars road

Arbi Tashjian
| 16:47 | November 2 2017
Category
Politics

The Goergian side is courteously fulfilling its neighbor and other commitments in trade relations with Armenia with EEU member countries, President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Russia’s BFM.

“Currently Armenia doesn’t have the opportunity to establish commercial relations with EEU member countries with another way than through Georgia. Initially, people who were dealing with the formation of the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union believed it to be a big obstacle. However, when they calmly analyzed the situation, they understood that this isn’t the case”, he said.

He stressed that it can only be about a technical obstacle, which however can be overcome. “Here the only obstacle, certainly is the not quite good road. I mean the mountainous road – floods, snowfalls etc. We are currently thinking about building a second road”, Sargsyan said,

The President also spoke about the need to improve the border checkpoint work in Upper Lars. “We regularly raise these issues. On one hand it is necessary to improve the work of checkpoints, on the other hand it is necessary to find alternative options for transporting products to the Russian market”, he said.

‘The Promise’ Screened in Damascus

Arbi Tashjian
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10 hours ago

DAMASCUS, Syria (Public Radio of Armenia) – An open screening of the Armenian Genocide film “The Promise” was held at Al-Kindi Cinema in Damascus. Attending the event were Armenia’s Ambassador to Syria Arsahak Poladyan, Chairperson of the Syria-Armenia Friendship Group in the Syrian Parliament Nora Arissian, Syrian Cinema workers, religious leaders, journalists, and representatives of the Armenian community.

Ambassador Poladyan briefed the audience on the Armenian Genocide and referred to the policy of hatred towards Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. He drew attention to present-day Turkey’s anti-Armenian stance and its policy of denial, noting that the Armenian Genocide recognition has entered a new stage despite Turkish provocations.

The Ambassador noted that the Armenian Genocide Centennial was a message to the civilized world and attached special importance to the liturgy in Vatican and the Pope’s visit to Armenia.

Poladyan said any dialogue with Turkish authorities on the Armenian Genocide is impossible unless Turkey stops attempts to deny the facts, distort the reality and turn it upside down.

The screening of the film was followed by a discussion.

Russia ready to cooperate with Armenia in agricultural machinery deliveries – PM

Arbi Tashjian 
ITAR-TASS. Russia
 Tuesday 2:42 PM GMT


Russia ready to cooperate with Armenia in agricultural machinery deliveries - PM

EREVAN October 24

HIGHLIGHT: Russia is ready to broaden cooperation with Armenia in
terms of agricultural machinery deliveries, Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev said on Tuesday.



/Update/

EREVAN, October 24. /TASS/. Russia is ready to broaden cooperation
with Armenia in terms of agricultural machinery deliveries, Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

"We are ready to continue working on supplies of agricultural
machinery products," the prime minister said. "I believe we have vast
opportunities in this area," he said.

Fruits and juices from Armenia enjoy demand in Russia, Medvedev said.
The food embargo currently effective in Russia is positive for the
increase in deliveries from member-states of the Eurasian Economic
Union, including Armenia, he noted.

"We do not have major greenhouse and processing projects so far. We
should definitely deal with that," Medvedev said.

Serzh Sargsyan will remain one of the most prominent political figures of the country after April 2018 – RPA faction head

Arbi Tashjian
| 13:42 | October 9 2017
Category
Politics

Being the leader of the political majority President Serzh Sargsyan will remain in the political arena and will be one of the most prominent political figures of the country, Vahram Baghdasaryan – head of the RPA faction, said in response to a question what will President Serzh Sargsyan do after April 2018.

“Serzh Sargsyan is the President of Armenia until April of 2018, and we have not had any discussion what will happen after April, time will come, we will discuss and will inform you. When time comes, Serzh Sargsyan personally will talk about it”, Baghdasaryan told reporters in the Parliament.

After the Constitutional reforms the parliamentary system of governance will come into force in Armenia starting from April of 2018.

OSCE Special Representative in Armenia

Arbi Tashjian
  • 17:42 | September 29,2017 | Official
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On September 29, the RA NA Speaker Ara Babloyan received the OSCE PA Special Representative on the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin.

Ara Babloyan welcomed Kristian Vigenin’s visit to Armenia, highlighting it within the framework of the visit to the South Caucasus countries. The RA NA Speaker expressed conviction that the OSCE representatives’ visits to the region would give an opportunity to get acquainted with the regional problems, and get an unbiased picture about them. In Ara Babloyan’s word, Armenia supports the OSCE position and called on his all colleagues to act according to the OSCE principles and international norms. The RA NA Speaker expressed regret that the OSCE Office terminated its activities in Yerevan, expressing hope that the organisation would find new ways for closely contacting and cooperating.

Touching upon the NK conflict settlement, the RA NA Speaker reaffirmed the position of Armenia, noting: “To us human being is a greatest value: everything is created around human being. The protection of human rights is also important. As a doctor, who has fought for saving the human lives, I am equally sorry for the young people from the both Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.”

The RA NA Speaker highlighted the right of the human beings to live secure and in peace, opining that the two peoples would like to establish peace and not to have victims on the line of contact. According to the RA NA Speaker, the NK conflict should be observed not only with respect of the regional, but also the human rights view, honouring Artsakh people’s right to self-determination and to live free.

Touching upon the ongoing reforms in Armenia, Ara Babloyan has noted that Armenia is the bearer of the European values, and ready to negotiate and have dialogues over the problems of the region.

The RA NA Speaker has noted that Armenia is ready to continue the cooperation with the OSCE and reopen the Office in Yerevan.

Kristian Vigenin thanked Ara Babloyan for the reception and also expressed regret with the relation to terminating the activities of the OSCE Offices. Mr Vigenin highly assessed the activities of the RA NA Delegation in the OSCE PA.

In the word of the OSCE PA Special Representative, the goal of his mission is to promote the dialogue between the countries of the region, the establishment and preservation of peace. He highlighted the role of the parliamentary diplomacy in the solution of the conflicts.

According to Mr Vigenin, the conflicts shall be solved through peaceful means, because not only the countries, but also the ordinary citizens pay high price for them.

Regarding the ongoing reforms in Armenia, Kristian Vigenin has noted that one of his goals must be to make Armenia recognizable not only by the NK conflict, but also as a country, where there is democratic progress, and constitutional reforms have been held.

At the end of the meeting Kristian Vigenin expressed hope that in the course of time it would be possible to restore the OSCE presence in Armenia, noting: “It will be fine to be created a situation, where it will not be necessary to have the OSCE presence in the region.”

Azerbaijani Press: Baku counts on U.S.’s support in Karabakh settlement, MP says

Arbi Tashjian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 27 2017
14:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The position of the United States on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is aimed at peaceful settlement of the long-standing problem in the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and remains unchanged.

Azerbaijani MP, Chairman of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Sahiba Gafarova said that these suggest that the U.S. attaches particular importance to the relations with Azerbaijan, its strategic partner in the South Caucasus.

Gafarova, talking to Day.Az said that statements of American officials confirm this.

“American politicians say that the U.S. would like to see Azerbaijan a strong, stable, independent, democratic country, and this suggests that a high level of interaction has been achieved thanks to the adjusted state policy of Azerbaijan,” Sahiba Gafarova said.

U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta earlier noted that the U.S. is committed to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and that a visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the region is expected in the near future. The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Andrew Schaefer, also noted that he hopes to visit the region in the coming weeks.

Gafarova reminded that such statements are not addressed to neighboring Armenia, as the country is not of interest to the U.S.  “Obviously, the U.S. gives partner preference to Azerbaijan, but not to Armenia,” she added.

The U.S. is one of the three countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at finding a peaceful settlement to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

However, Armenia, the country that occupied 20 percent of internationally recognized lands of Azerbaijan, does everything to avoid negotiations on the settlement of the conflict and remains unpunished for such an attitude. In this regard, the U.S.’s making pressure on Armenia is of great importance.

Sahiba Gafarova noted that the U.S., as a leading world power, is able to exert pressure on Armenia in order to force it to implement the UN Security Council resolutions, which demand withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan’s occupied lands.

“I think the international community should not remain indifferent to Armenia's aggression, and the regime in Yerevan must pay in accordance with international laws for all atrocities committed against Azerbaijani civilians,” the MP said.

She reminded that the Armenian side has been ignoring the resolutions of authoritative organizations for many years, and the requirements on the withdrawal of its military units from the occupied Azerbaijani territories have not been fulfilled, which confirms the terrorist nature of the Armenian state.

“This fact must guide the major powers, particularly the U.S. that oppose the spread of international terrorism,” Gafarova said, expressing hope that the U.S. will increase its mediatory mission in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict both within the OSCE Minsk Group, and at the level of interstate dialogue.

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