Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 18-08-22

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 17:21,

YEREVAN, 18 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 18 August, USD exchange rate down by 0.17 drams to 405.79 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.13 drams to 412.81 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.13 drams to 6.83 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.95 drams to 489.18 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 109.50 drams to 23055.69 drams. Silver price down by 2.98 drams to 259.69 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

Armenpress: Yerevan blast death toll rises to 10, another 23 are missing

Yerevan blast death toll rises to 10, another 23 are missing

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 01:16,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. As a result of the explosion in Yerevan's "Surmalu" shopping center, the number of victims has reached 10, ARMENPRESS reports spokesperson of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Hayk Kostanyan said.

"Rescuers have just pulled out two more bodies from the ruins," Kostanyan said, noting that the number of victims has reached 8.

Search and rescue operations are going on.

23 persons are believed to be missing, 6 of which are citizens of Iran and one is citizen of Russia.

Armenian Ambassador to Kyiv raises issue of POWs held in Azerbaijan

ARMINFO
Armenia – Aug 8 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo. In an interview with the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukrain, Armenian Ambassador to Kyiv Vladimir Karapetyan raised the issue of Armenian  prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan.

Vladimir Karapetyan noted that Azerbaijan claims that 38 Armenian  servicemen are in captivity, while the Armenian side believes that  there are another 26 servicemen also in captivity.  Vladimir  Karapetyan noted that Azerbaijan claims that there are 38 Armenian  servicemen in captivity, while the Armenian side is convinced that  the number of servicemen in captivity is 26 more than indicated.

The ambassador stressed that there was an agreement at the highest  level that the exchange of prisoners should be based on the  principle: "all for all." The Armenian side handed over all the  prisoners, even criminals convicted under completely different  articles, including murder.  According to the ambassador, the  Armenian side has relevant documentary evidence, video recordings, as  well as testimonies of prisoners who have already returned to  Armenia.  Karapetyan added that the Azerbaijani side released part of  the Armenian servicamen in exchange for maps of minefields.  "The  leadership of Armenia, as a manifestation of goodwill, handed over  maps of minefields that we had at our disposal since the 1990s, since  the first Karabakh war," the ambassador explained, "Armenpress"  reports.  The diplomat emphasized that the handed over maps  significantly reduced the number of people who died due to landmines.  

"Despite the fact that Azerbaijan publicly and repeatedly complained  about some inaccuracy of these maps, however, after their transfer,  the number of explosions significantly decreased, there were only one  or two accidents. Our maps are quite accurate, but the elapsed time  must also be taken into account," he concluded.  

It is worth noting that the exact number of prisoners of war and  civilians held in Azerbaijani captivity after the large-scale  military aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh in the fall of 2020  is still not known.  According to experts, there are several hundred  of them. Baku confirms that there are 38 prisoners of war.  Armenian  prisoners of war and civilians are subjected to inhuman treatment and  torture in captivity. Many of them have been sentenced to long-term  prison terms in fabricated criminal cases.

Yerevan blast: Third body retrieved from under the debris at Surmalu

Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 14 2022

Body of another citizen has been retrieved from under the debrils at Surmalu trade center in Yerevan.

The death toll has now reached three. Twenty-seven are missing.

Sixty-one people receivef treatment at various hospitals. Of those hurt, 24 remain hospitalized. Their condition is assessed as moderate.

A powerful explosion hit a large market in Yerevan on Sunday, starting a fire.

The blast happened at a building where fireworks were stored. The cause is unknown.

Posts on social media showed a thick column of black smoke above the market, with successive detonations audible.

Opinion | Who benefits from dragging out the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

Aug 11 2022
 


With sporadic violence being met by a constant stream of mutual recriminations, peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan can seem like a murky prospect. But while both sides need to do more to reach a lasting peace, who benefits most from the continuation of the conflict is clear.

On 22 May, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels through the mediation of EU President Charles Michel. According to Michel, the parties productively discussed humanitarian issues, delimitation of borders, and demining of territories.

Upon their return, the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed decrees establishing border delimitation commissions, which met shortly after for the first time.

After 30 years of conflict and two wars, some media and experts said, peace seemed to be on the horizon.

It didn’t take long for reality to assert itself. 

Almost immediately after his return from Brussels, Ilham Aliyev announced that the issue of opening the ‘Zangezur corridor’, connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan, had been resolved in Brussels. Such rhetoric frequently sparks outrage in Armenia — where the government has steadfastly denied that Azerbaijan would receive any sovereign ‘corridor’ through Armenian territory. Commenting on recent anti-Pashinyan protests in Armenia, he also threatened a new war.

‘They [the opposition] think that if they come to power they can achieve something. Absolutely not!’ the Azerbaijani President said. ‘On the contrary, if they do not want to have their heads crushed again, they should sit tight and look away.’ 

On 28 May, a day after Aliyev’s comments, another skirmish took place on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, during which an Armenian soldier was killed.

Why does this animosity endure, even when peace seems so possible, and so close at hand? The answer is simple: Ilham Aliyev does not want it. 

The Armenian authorities need peace at almost any cost because they understand that, after their crushing military defeat in 2020, Azerbaijan speaks from a position of power. 

Ilham Aliyev, on the other, does not need a full-fledged peace deal, because he does not know what to do with it. The war and the consequent victory, for the first time, brought Aliyev immense popularity among his people. Previously, his power rested on weak authority, the police, and the suppression of free media and the opposition.

Then, he could not get rid of the image of being a ‘pale shadow of his father’ — the previous president of Azerbaijan, the late Heydar Aliyev, who is still greatly respected in the country. As time went on, the younger Aliyev’s authority declined as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remained frozen and the standards of living in the country fell steadily.

Before the war, Aliyev did not often appear in public, rarely gave interviews, and could most often be seen at yet another formal opening of a factory, museum, or even an overpass.

During and after the war, however, the president eagerly took on the role of a victorious leader and bringer of good news about newly liberated settlements. He eagerly gave interviews to foreign media and started to act confidently, knowing that the world would do little to stop the Azerbaijani army’s advance.

Aliyev does desire a peace treaty on paper in order to consolidate territorial gains, so long as in that treaty, Armenia recognises Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. But even if such a treaty does come to pass, the peace it brings is unlikely to last.

Aliyev may be moved to violate it at any moment, if discontent again begins to grow in the country, as he has seen that it is only through war that he has been able to reliably increase his ratings.

In this vein, Aliyev has only continued to reinforce the nationalistic and militaristic mood of his population — including by making new territorial claims on Armenia. Since the end of the war, Aliyev has often said that Armenia’s Syunik Province, which he now refers to as ‘Western Zangezur’, and the city of Yerevan itself are ancestral Azerbaijani lands. 

Nor has fighting on the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the interstate border stopped. Only a few months ago, Azerbaijani troops briefly crossed the line of contact and took control of an Armenian-inhabited village, only vacating after the intervention of Russian peacekeepers.

Finally, should a fullfledged peace be concluded, Ilham Aliyev would have nothing to replace his ideology with. The whole national-patriotic idea in the country was based on the return of Karabakh and confrontation with Armenia. 

The authorities probably still do not know how to explain to the population a possible peace with the ‘eternal enemy’, or how to distract people from the problems in the country in the absence of the frozen conflict.

Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians declare that the conflict is a matter of rights to self-determination, life, and security. For Azerbaijan, this is a matter of territorial integrity and national pride. While Azerbaijan also promotes the issue of IDPs publicly to motivate support for war, the authorities have shown little interest in their situation.

In spite of repeated statements, the Azerbaijani authorities have so far done nothing to prove to Armenians that their rights would be protected. On the contrary, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh sees that even Azerbaijanis themselves lack basic democratic rights — with rights and democratic metrics at the level of countries like Myanmar or Sudan — and both society and the state are extremely hostile toward Armenians. 

The simple fact is that Armenia, and even Nagorno-Karabakh are reported to perform much better in terms of democracy and human rights than Azerbaijan.

Nor has Baku presented a plan for the integration of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians or given any indication that they would have any different form of governance. This is in line with the policies Azerbaijan has towards other ethnic minorities in the country, who are severly underrepresented in local or state government institutions.

Azerbaijani troops have even used mobile loudspeakers to psychologically pressure local residents and apparently cut off the gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh in the dead of winter. 

Azerbaijan also continues to deny any Armenian cultural heritage on the territory of Karabakh. Churches and other cultural and religious sites, recognised globally as part of Armenian cultural heritage are recognised by Azerbaijan as the heritage of the ancient state “Caucasian Albania”.

The question of how the Karabakh Armenians would receive an education has also not been raised. In Azerbaijan, national minorities, except for Russians and Georgians, do not study in their own language. As a result, the languages of ethnic minorities inhabiting Azerbaijan are slowly dying out. When representatives of national minorities complain about their problems, they are called separatists.

Is there any possibility of peace? Unlikely as it may be, I think, yes.

For that Armenia needs to continue its current course, not allowing the nationalist opposition, playing on the traumas of people from the last war, to return to power, and then build legitimacy on a hatred of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis.

In Azerbaijan, however, it is much more difficult. For a peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict, the current authorities have to go, because it is plainly against their interests to have a meaningful and lasting peace.

Azerbaijan needs a new, democratic government, reforms in education, the economy, as well as the rule of law. Only if the state renounces nationalist and militaristic rhetoric, combats it and then ensures a fair representation of national minorities, will space for a proper peace emerge.

The onus for changing the narrative of historical memory is on both countries. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan need to acknowledge the war crimes they have committed against each other and the suffering that they have caused. If this is done, then the sort of nationalist propaganda, based on a denialist one-sided narrative of pure victims and pure perpetrators, and resulting calls for revenge, will shrink.

As for the integration of Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan, I believe that is also possible based on the model which emerged from the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian War in 1995.

There is no president in Bosnia, where three previously conflicting nationalities (Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats) live. Instead, the country is ruled by a presidium of three people from each of the peoples and each with veto power. The parliament consists of an equal number of deputies from each nation. Today, though the country certainly still has its problems, the conflict has not reared its head again, and the country even seeks to join the European Union.

All the peoples living in Azerbaijan will equally benefit from decentralisation according to the Bosnian scenario. There will be less opportunity to concentrate power in the hands of one person or group of people with common interests and the potential for a new dictatorship will decrease.

Residents of the regions will be able to both choose their representatives in Baku and the local authorities who will be accountable to them. The peoples living in Azerbaijan will be able to freely learn their own language along with the state language, and the culture of these peoples will not be subjected to forced assimilation and oppression.

With the guarantee of the rights of Armenians to life, language, and with their representation in state institutions, along with the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and the resettlement of Azerbaijani and Armenian refugees who want to return to their homes, the conflict will finally be resolved. And just to be sure, a contingent of UN peacekeepers could be deployed in the region to prevent conflicts between two nations that have been separated from each other by barbed wire for so very long.

The opinions expressed and place names and terminology used in this article are the words of the author alone, and may not necessarily reflect the views of OC Media’s editorial board.

No significant ceasefire violations or incidents recorded on line of contact – Artsakh Defense Army

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 09:48,

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. The situation on the line of contact was relatively stable despite the certain remaining tension overnight August 10-11 and as of 09:00, the Defense Army of Artsakh said in a statement.

No significant ceasefire violations or incidents were recorded, it added.

“Measures continue being taken together with the Russian peacekeeping contingent to further stabilize the situation.”

Primate of Artsakh Diocese visits wounded soldiers in Stepanakert central hospital

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 13:56, 4 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Primate of the Artsakh Diocese, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan visited the wounded soldiers today in the central hospital of Stepanakert.

The Primate of the Artsakh Diocese delivered prayer for the speedy recovery of the servicemen and thanked the medics for their dedicated service.

On August 3, two Artsakh soldiers were killed and 19 others were wounded when Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire and launched an attack on Artsakh military positions. The Azerbaijani military used mortars, grenade-launchers, combat UAVs in attacking a permanent deployment location of an Artsakh military base.




Azerbaijani President to meet Armenian PM in Brussels

MEHR News Agency, Iran
Aug 6 2022

TEHRAN, Aug. 06 (MNA) – President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will hold a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels, President of the European Council Charles Michel said.

The meeting was announced by Charles Michel in a Twitter message.

“Ahead of our next leaders' meeting in Brussels, pursuing dialogue and achieving concrete progress on all items on the agenda is key. The EU remains committed,” he wrote.

Tensions in Karabakh between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces has escalated as the Armenian side accuses the other side of conducting drone attack on its forces.

The Armenian side of Karabakh said in a statement on Wednesday that "Eight Armenian soldiers wounded and another one killed in another gross breach of ceasefire by Azerbaijan."

As the border clashes escalate, the forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan's authorities announced on Wednesday that one of their soldiers was killed as a result of the shooting of the Armenian forces in the "Lachin" district.

MNA/FNA

Situation relatively stable: Artsakh MoD reports ceasefire violation in some areas

Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 7 2022

Despite some tension, the operational situation was relatively stable during the night and this morning, Artsakh’s Defense Ministry reports.

In some areas, units of the Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire regime, using firearms.

With the mediation of the Russian military personnel, the work towards further stabilization of the situation continues.

Turkish press: Turkey values Russia’s cooperation in fight against terrorism: Erdoğan

Turkish and Russian troops patrol on the M4 highway, which runs east-west through Idlib province, Syria, March 15, 2020. (AP Photo)

Turkey attaches importance to cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's coastal city of Sochi to discuss bilateral ties and international issues.

Addressing reporters together ahead of their closed-door face-to-face meeting, Putin said that the Syria issue would be the main topic while Erdoğan underlined that discussing the developments in Syria on this occasion will bring relief to the region.

"Turkey attaches importance to cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism," Erdoğan added.

He underlined that the meeting would be "very important" in terms of putting forward the role played by Turkey and Russia in the region.

According to the Turkish presidency, the leaders would hold a one-on-one meeting and chair the talks between delegations during Erdoğan's one-day working visit.

The Syria crisis and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month, were to be addressed during the Sochi meeting.

The leaders also evaluated bilateral ties between the two countries, mainly focusing on the economy, trade, and energy that constitute the driving force behind Turkey-Russia relations. They exchanged views on the potential steps to enhance bilateral cooperation as well.

Erdoğan was riding high from the diplomatic success of helping orchestrate the resumption of Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea when he visited Sochi for his second face-to-face meeting with Putin in just over two weeks.

Erdoğan and Putin meet in person for the second time in 17 days after the meeting in Iran's capital Tehran, where the leaders had a trilateral gathering with their Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi for the Seventh summit in the Astana format to discuss recent developments in Syria, the fight against terrorist groups, as well as the humanitarian situation and the voluntarily return of Syrians.

During their meeting on July 19, the leaders condemned the increased presence and activities of terrorist groups and their affiliates under different names in various parts of Syria.

Turkey constantly emphasizes its determination to root out terrorist organizations, including Daesh and the PKK, along with its Syrian branch, the YPG, in Syria that threaten its security.

The country also reiterates the possibility of another Turkish counterterrorism operation across its southern border into northern Syria, following other operations in recent years, as long as Ankara’s longstanding concerns have not been met.

But there are tensions. The Turkish leader was told by Putin in Tehran last month that Russia remains opposed to any new operation that Turkey might be planning against YPG militants in northern Syria.

The Kremlin also said on Friday that Turkey has legitimate security concerns over Syria and that it will take them into account.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was important to avoid actions that could "jeopardize Syria's territorial and political integrity."

Ankara has carried out multiple operations in northern Syria since 2016, seizing hundreds of kilometers of land and targeting the YPG, despite opposition from Moscow.

Russia and Turkey are two major international players in Syria, a country torn apart by war since 2011, in which Moscow backed Damascus and Ankara the opposition groups.

Russia's army helped Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad survive a decade-long rebellion by opposition groups backed by Turkey.

Erdoğan is warning to launch an operation into northern Syria to establish a buffer zone that pushes out the YPG terrorists threatening the national security of the Turkish state.

Putin told Russian media in Tehran he still has "certain disagreements, obviously" with Erdoğan about Syria.

Analysts believe these strains form part of the "competitive cooperation" that has defined the two leaders' relationship over the past 20 years.

Moreover, attempts by NATO member Turkey to remain neutral in the face of Moscow's historic standoff with the West over Ukraine are starting to pay off.

Months of Turkish efforts saw Moscow and Kyiv sign an U.N.-backed agreement in Istanbul last month to resume grain deliveries from Ukrainian ports.

Turkey wants to translate this success into truce talks in Istanbul between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"We discussed if the grain agreement could be an occasion for a sustainable cease-fire," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said after talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Asia on Wednesday.

A top aide to Erdoğan also said on Friday that the international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Moscow. Turkish Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said the agreement attested to the success of NATO member Turkey's efforts and the direct diplomacy between the two leaders while criticizing the role played by other countries.

"The truth is that some of our friends do not want the war to end. They are shedding crocodile tears," Altun told Reuters, saying some were actively trying to undermine Turkey's efforts without specifying who.

"The international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Russia. Diplomacy and peace must prevail," he said.

Turkey has relatively good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. But while it has criticized the invasion and provided Ukraine with arms, it has broken with Western allies by not imposing sanctions on Russia. That careful balance reflects the complexity of its ties with Russia, ranging from close cooperation on energy supplies to military competition in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan.

"We are looking to harness Turkey's relationships with Russia and Ukraine to work toward a mutually acceptable solution," Altun said.

Turkey is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.

In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month, with casualties piling up on both sides. Turkey also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya in March and recently hosted four-way meetings in Istanbul between Moscow, Ankara, Kyiv and the United Nations to solve the grain crisis.

The Kremlin on Thursday also said it is concerned about the recent situation in the Karabakh region, calling on Armenia and Azerbaijan to exercise restraint and implement the tripartite agreements.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Peskov said Putin and Erdoğan may exchange views on the situation around Karabakh during the meeting in Sochi.

While there is close cooperation with Russia on energy supplies, there has also been military competition between them in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan.

In Libya, Turkey's military support turned back an assault on the internationally recognized government in Tripoli by eastern-based forces who were supported by fighters from the Russian Wagner Group.

In Azerbaijan, Turkey supported a military operation to drive ethnic Armenian forces out of much of the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the south Caucasus, a region that Russia considers part of its sphere of influence.