Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Sports: Preview: Iceland vs. Armenia – prediction, team news, lineups

Eduard Nalbandian
Sports Mole, UK
Oct 6 2021
By James Mackenzie, Reporter | 5h
   English

Armenia travel to Laugardalsvollur to take on Iceland on Friday evening as the World Cup 2022 European qualifiers head towards their conclusion.

The hosts have had a poor campaign and sit fifth in the group, whilst some disappointing recent results have seen Armenia fall back towards the chasing pack for second.

© Reuters

Iceland competed at a World Cup for the first time in their history in 2018, but they now look very unlikely to repeat that feat four years later – in fact, if they lose to Armenia on Friday, it will become statistically impossible to do so as they will be 10 points behind with just three games remaining.

They were given a tough start to their qualifying campaign with a trip to take on Germany in the opening match and, after being beaten comfortably 3-0, never really picked up any form of momentum.

Arnar Vidarsson was promoted from managing the under-21 side to take charge of the full national team in 2020, but has been unable to match up to their underdog heroics of recent years and has witnessed his side lose four of their six qualifiers to this point.

Their only win came against minnows Liechtenstein in the third game and, despite a restful summer having failed to qualify for Euro 2020, Strakarnir okkar were unable to build on that when they returned to competitive action, with a draw at home to North Macedonia sandwiched between a 2-0 loss to Romania and a 4-0 loss to Germany.

A win on Friday will give them a glimmer of hope that they could still qualify and, under normal circumstances, they would fancy their chances in this fixture, but this is no ordinary Armenia side.

© Reuters

A total of 10 points from their first four matches left Armenia top of Group J, one point clear of four-time world champions Germany, with the team bidding to qualify for their first ever World Cup.

The Collective Team did not let their lowly world ranking – currently 89th – define them as they started with three consecutive wins over Liechtenstein, Iceland and Romania, and even went one year without losing a competitive match.

When that loss did come – precisely one year to the day after their previous defeat – it was a heavy one, however, as they lost 6-0 away to Germany.

That result cost Joaquin Caparros's side their place at the top of the group and perhaps dented their confidence as they could only draw in the following game against Liechtenstein, where Henrikh Mkhitaryan's first-half penalty was cancelled out by Noah Frick in the 80th minute.

Armenia now find themselves just one point above Romania and two above North Macedonia and will be desperate to pick up three points here to reclaim their grip on the second qualification spot.

Iceland World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
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Iceland form (all competitions):
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Armenia World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
  • W
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Armenia form (all competitions):
  • W
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© Reuters

Iceland boss Vidarsson largely trusts his experienced core of players but has been forced into a change in recent games, with captain Aron Gunnarsson absent to due to injury, and the captain is not fit to be a part of the squad once again for this international break.

Birkir Bjarnason, Andri Baldursson and Isak Bergmann Johannesson have formed a strong midfield unit in his absence, though, and are all fit for Friday's game.

Jon Gudni Fjoluson is another injury problem with Blackpool defender Daniel Gretarsson having been called up to the squad to replace him.

As ever, Armenia's captain Mkhitaryan will be the first name on the team sheet as the side's most experienced player and leading goalscorer.

The big news in Caparros's squad, however, has been the inclusion of Columbus Crew's attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan, who announced himself as eligible to play for Armenia, despite never having set foot in the country, due to it being the place of his grandfather's birth.

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Saevarsson, Hermannsson, Ingi Bjarnason, Thorarinsson; Anderson, Bjarnason, Baldursson, Palsson, Gudmundsson; Gudjohnsen

Armenia possible starting lineup:
Yurchenko; Hovhannisyan, Voskanyan, Haroyan, Terteryan; Bayramyan, Zelarayan, Grigoryan, Adamyan; Barseghyan, Mkhitaryan

Both teams will be determined to get something from the game and they may well cancel each other out to some extent. Each side has a strong defensive unit and has struggled to score goals in recent games, so a low-scoring draw seems a strong possibility.

Analysts treat flights from Baku to Nakhichevan via Armenia as exceptions

Eduard Nalbandian
Caucasian Knot
Oct 10 2021

Air flights from Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan via the territory of Armenia are no harbinger of unblocking two countries' communications, Armenian analysts believe. These flights will not affect Armenia's relations with Iran, which has closed the airspace for Azerbaijani military aircrafts, the analysts have added.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 6, an Azerbaijani passenger plane made a flight through the Armenia's airspace for the first time in seven years.

According to Armen Vardanyan, a political analyst, the permit for the Azerbaijani party to fly in Armenia's airspace will not become an instrument of pressure on Azerbaijan.

Akop Badalyan, a political observer, believes that the provision of Armenia's airspace to Azerbaijan will not affect the Armenian-Iranian relations. Armenia will not be able to use the air corridor as an instrument of pressure on Azerbaijan, since this is not the only route to Nakhichevan, the observer has added.

Mr Badalyan was sceptical about chances of opening Armenian-Azerbaijani communications. According to his version, so far there are no prerequisites for this, since the opening of communications is not so much an economic as a political agenda; and there are contradictions among the parties.

Goar Iskandaryan, an Iranian scholar, believes that European countries, including France, Germany and Austria, are interested in opening this air route.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 9, 2021 at 07:33 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Tigran Petrosyan; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Geopolitical rivalry in Caucasus gets militarized

Eduard Nalbandian
Oct 7 2021
The geopolitical power struggle in the Caucasus is growing increasingly militarized as converging interests pit Iran and Armenia against Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Israel.
An Armenian veteran visits a grave of his relative killed during a military conflict with Azerbaijan marking the 30th anniversary of the nation independence in Yerevan, on Sept. 21, 2021. - KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty Images
Metin Gurcan
@Metin4020
October 7, 2021

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey began five days of military exercises this week to enhance their preparedness to protect regional economic projects. The Eternity 2021 exercises, which kicked off in Georgia Oct. 4, aim to develop capabilities on both command and staff level to ensure the security of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, according to the Georgian Defense Ministry. 

Meanwhile, the three countries' defense ministers met in Georgia’s Kakheti region Oct. 5 to discuss ways to advance military cooperation, including in the fields of military technology and education. The ministers signed a protocol on trilateral military cooperation and Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze said Turkey and Azerbaijan had been invited to another military exercise called Eagle Spirit to be held in Georgia in the near future. 

The growing military cooperation between the three countries has led observers to question whether a trilateral security bloc is emerging in the Caucasus.

The military rapprochement between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, coupled with growing military ties between Azerbaijan and Israel, seems to be ringing the alarm bells in Iran. Last week Tehran launched surprise military exercises near its border with Azerbaijan. Tellingly, the drills were named “Conquerors of Kheibar,” a reference to the Battle of Khaybar waged by early Muslims against Jews in the 7th century at Khaybar, an oasis in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. In a clear sign that Tehran now sees Azerbaijan as Israel’s chief ally in the region, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said, “Iran will not tolerate the presence of the Zionist regime near our borders.”

Ostensibly, many in Tehran have come to conclude that Azerbaijan, counting on Israeli and Turkish support, is seeking to redraw borders by annexing a strip of territory across Armenia’s southernmost province of Syunik, which borders Iran and separates mainland Azerbaijan to the east from the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the west. In the Russian-mediated cease-fire deal that Azerbaijan and Armenia signed in November 2020 after a six-week war over the nearby Nagorno-Karabakh region, Armenia committed to guarantee transportation links between Azerbaijan proper and Nakhchivan, a route that Baku calls the Zangezur corridor and has threatened to secure by force if need be. Azerbaijan’s capture of the strip could cut the direct border connection between Armenia and Iran while establishing a land link between Azerbaijan and Turkey via Nakhchivan.

Such a move by Azerbaijan would deal a major economic and geostrategic blow to Iran by cutting its only land link of trade and transit to Armenia and thus the entire northern Caucasus. Logically, Israel would support the move in the interest of containing Iran from the north. Azerbaijan’s quiet but close ties with Israel, including its purchases of Israeli military equipment, have long irked Iran and added to rising tensions between the two neighbors in recent days. According to reports this week, Azerbaijan is considering buying Israeli-made Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile systems, one of three flagship interceptor missiles built jointly by Israeli and US producers.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Oct. 3 against Israeli influence in the region. “The military forces of the region are able to ensure the security of the region and should not allow foreign armies to interfere or have a military presence there to secure their own interests. What is happening in northwestern Iran, in some neighboring countries, should be resolved with the logic of avoiding foreigners' presence," he said. In an apparent reference to Turkey’s alleged role in the current standoff between Iran and Azerbaijan, Khamenei warned, “The person who sets a trap for his brothers is the first one to fall into it.” 

Iranian officials have thus far refrained from explicitly targeting Turkey, focusing their attacks on Israel. Baku, for its part, denies any Israeli military presence in Azerbaijan. 

The tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran flared up in mid-September as Azerbaijan began charging fees from Iranian trucks on a road through southern Armenia, a section of which has come under Azerbaijani control as a result of Baku’s territorial gains from last year’s war with Armenia. Azerbaijan has established police and customs checkpoints on the road, which connects the Armenian towns of Goris and Kapan and is in the same region with the envisioned Zangezur corridor.

In response, Iran and Armenia have intensified contacts. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan traveled to Tehran Oct. 4 for talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The two sides have reportedly agreed to cooperate on the speedy completion of an alternative route bypassing Azerbaijan. 

In further trouble for Armenia, the Georgian authorities have reportedly been keeping about 200 Armenian trucks from crossing to Russia, while letting other vehicles cross the border.

Azerbaijan's joint military exercises with Georgia and Turkey are of great importance in terms of improving security cooperation, increasing interoperability between their militaries, dominating the airspace of the Caucasus, securing energy pipelines, limiting Armenia's land connection with Russia and surrounding Armenia geographically from the west, north and northwest. 

Joint military exercises between Azerbaijan and countries neighboring Iran also point to a shift in the strategic balance in the Caucasus. Israel's strong defense cooperation with Azerbaijan is a clear indication that Iran is now under threat from the north.

A possible operation by Azerbaijan to control a strip connecting Nakhchivan to Nagorno-Karabakh and then mainland Azerbaijan, thus disabling Iran's direct land passage to Armenia, would cause many stones to be moved in the Caucasus.

In fact, some in Baku have been expecting Armenia to cede the Zangezur area to Azerbaijan instead of paying war reparations over the Nagorno-Karabakh clashes. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly asserted that Armenia’s provision of a corridor to Azerbaijan enabling the free movement of people, vehicles and goods in both directions is a must for normalization and a lasting peaceful solution to the problem. 

Azerbaijan’s increased profile in the area would constitute a major obstacle to Iran's trade route to the north Caucasus, although the area remains under Armenian sovereignty. The latest row is thus about Baku’s resentment toward Tehran for providing economic sustenance through trade and transit options to its landlocked arch-nemesis, Armenia. 

Such spats between Baku and Yerevan over the implementation of the cease-fire deal have been further exacerbated by recent border tensions. Yerevan has accused Baku of a military buildup at the border, a charge Baku has denied. 

Thus, Tehran is seriously concerned about the risk of a Zangezur corridor falling under Azerbaijani sovereignty in the future and thus losing Iran’s border connection with Armenia.

Also, Iran has been carefully monitoring Israel’s alleged increasing military and intelligence profile in the Caucasus as well as northern Iraq, wary that it could end up contained from both the north and the southwest. Last month, Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib threatened “active and aggressive” moves against US and Israeli bases in neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan should they try to stoke instability in Iran and urged the expulsion of Iranian-Kurdish dissidents based in Iraqi Kurdistan. In the same vein, Tehran sees Azerbaijan as a Trojan horse letting Israel into the Caucasus.

Russia has offered help for a diplomatic solution of the Zangezur spat through the formation of a border commission, but such efforts have yet to yield tangible results. At the geopolitical level, Russia has been keeping Turkey and Azerbaijan at bay, while trying to keep Armenia under its full domination and defuse Iran's concerns. However, Russia’s balancing policy is hardly sustainable, given the fragility of the Nagorno-Karabakh deal and the increasing geopolitical complexity in the Caucasus due to the power game between Turkey, Iran and Israel.


Nagorno-Karabakh reports death toll in 2020 autumn war

Eduard Nalbandian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Sept 29 2021

At the today’s meeting in the Parliamentary Commission of Armenia on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, within the discussion “The rights of Artsakh migrants from the occupied regions”, Permanent Representative of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia Sergey Gazaryan has presented the updated figures concerning victims of the Karabakh war among the citizens of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the autumn of 2020.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on September 27, marked one year since the start of the Karabakh war in 2020.

The full-scale combat actions took place in Nagorno-Karabakh in the period from September 27 to November 9, 2020. The "Caucasian Knot" has released a map marking the deployment of peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. Another map prepared by the "Caucasian Knot" indicates what territories Azerbaijan got after the autumn war.

According to the Sergey Gazaryan’s information, 742 soldiers and officers, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, were killed in the 44-day war. 45 are considered missing. According to Sergey Gazaryan, 80 civilians fell victim to the war. 38 citizens are being kept in Azerbaijan as prisoners.

More than two dozen civilians from Karabakh have gone missing, although they did not take part in the war, said Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson Gegam Stepanyan in his comment to the “Azatutyun” Radio Station*. “These are mainly elderly or disabled people who did not manage to leave their houses when the Azerbaijani armed forces rushed there. These are residents of the Gadrud, Shushi, and Askeran District of Karabakh. Azerbaijan did not give out their bodies to the Armenian side and did not provide any information about them,” claimed Sergey Gazaryan as translated from the Armenian language by the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

* A fragment of a message created and disseminated by a foreign mass media outlet acting as a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 29, 2021 at 12:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Armenia: IC updates Karabakh war casualties, Analysts criticize Armenian authorities' passivity on anniversary of start of last autumn war, Yerevan residents commemorate victims of Karabakh war with torchlight march.

Author: Armine Martirosyan; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Newspaper: Azerbaijanis demand taking down Artsakh flag placed on Amaras Monastery

Eduard Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 22 2021
09:06, 22.09.2021

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: Yesterday, the Azerbaijanis advanced their position in Machkalashen community of Artsakh's Martuni region, and deployed in the neutral zone.

As a result of the steps taken by the residents and the head of the community, the Russian peacekeepers arrived at the scene, who, after negotiations with the Azerbaijanis, managed to send the latter back to the starting position. But they [i.e., the Azerbaijanis] posited a condition that the Artsakh flag placed on Amaras Monastery contiguous to the community be taken down.

The head of community of Machkalashen, Lernik Avanesyan, confirmed the information that they [i.e., the Azerbaijanis] advanced the position. And regarding the flag, he said that he had heard yesterday that the Russian general had told our military to take down the flag of Artsakh, put that of Armenia [instead]. "I have not gone [there] yet, I do not know if they did or not. I, too, heard that the Russian general had said such a thing," said the head of community.

Of Terror and Terrorists: Turkey, Azerbaijan and the New Narrative

Eduard Nalbandian
            Sept 15 2021

Published

 21 hours ago 

on

 September 15, 2021

By

 Opinion

We have been fed the narrative, by the press and governments, that a terrorist dwells in the desert, shouts “Allahu Akbar” as he haphazardly fires his AK-47, and has advanced from hijacking airplanes to overrunning countries. The terrorist we imagine is dressed in attire appropriate for the desert. Running parallel to this is a disinformation campaign designed to create a false narrative that Turkey, and its lackey Azerbaijan, are anything but terrorists.

Turkey did a remarkable job of rebranding itself when the Ottoman Empire collapsed a century ago. The fez, a telltale sign you receive mail in the desert, was banned; men swapped tunics for Tommy Hilfiger. The Ottoman Turkish Empire morphed into the Republic of Turkey, who quickly hoisted the “under new management” banner. The change was in name only as Turkey left unchanged many of its predecessor’s business practices.

With nothing distinguishable between them, they are one and the same. Chief among certain unchanged business practices is genocide. Turkey invented genocide and unleashed it on the Armenians beginning in 1915. When Mustapha Kemal Ataturk initiated the Ottoman-to-Turkey name change in 1923, no decree was signed ending the Genocide. In fact, it continues today. Turkey is the original terrorist state – this is the new narrative.

Marshall Moushigian

Opinion

After the First Republic of Armenia folded in 1920, the Soviet Union’s presence served as an iron curtain behind which Armenians were safe from the Turkish sword. Opposite that curtain, Turkey destroyed nearly every sign of anything Armenian.

By 1991 the curtain lifted and beginning in 1992 Turkey was making plans to invade today’s Armenia. Intent on finishing what it started in 1915 and fulfilling the dream of Pan Turkism (a race-based ideology, not unlike Nazism, connecting the Turkic states from the Asian Steppe to the Bosporus), the only thing in the way was Christian Armenia. But Turkey, aware of its manufactured and false reputation as a Western ally, needed a stooge – Azerbaijan would be a perfect fit.

As much as the Soviet Union offered protections to its constituent republics, it let certain things go. The historic Armenian territories of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh) and Nakhichevan are perfect examples. Early in the Soviet Union, Commissar of Nationalities Joseph Stalin, cunning and twisted, gave these two territories to Soviet Azerbaijan. Armenians of Nakhichevan were forcibly resettled to Soviet Armenia, after which a campaign of complete erasure of Armenian presence occurred.

Prior to the Soviet Union’s demise, nearly 100 Armenian churches stood in Nakhichevan (geographically, the size of Madera County) and thousands of ornate khatchkars (cross stones), unique to Armenian culture. After Azerbaijan’s independence, and due to its destructions of anything Armenian, UNESCO declared the Julfakhatchkar field a protected site. But laws be damned – in 2005 an Armenian priest in Iran, directly opposite Julfa, filmed the Azeri military entirely demolishing its nearly 2,000 khatchkars.

Azerbaijan responded that reports of wrongdoings were due to “Armenian propaganda”; regarding the absence of these churches and structures, Azerbaijan claimed Armenians were never there in the first place. The unpunished destruction in Nakhichevan has been described as the greatest campaign of cultural cleansing this century, exceeding the destruction caused by ISIS.  That’s no surprise since Turkey, Azerbaijan’s mentor and ethnic brother, performed the greatest campaign of cultural, and ethnic, cleansing of last century. Today, no trace of anything Armenian remains in Nakhichevan.

While Nakhichevan was being cleansed of all things Armenian, the Armenians of Artsakh remained the population’s majority but, as Armenians under Azeri (Turkic) rule, they were second-class citizens. With Moscow rejecting decades of reunification requests with Soviet Armenia, the Artsakh governing body voted nearly unanimously for reunification in 1989 – furious with this, the Azeris attacked Armenians in Azerbaijan – rape and murder was commonplace. Armenians fled to Soviet Armenia and as the Soviet Union collapsed, the Azeri military turned its guns on the Armenians of Artsakh with devastating results. Seeing that genocide was the natural next step, the Armenians organized, fought back, and won their independence.

Although a cease-fire was signed in 1994, for the Azerisit was on paper only. From then on they continually violated the cease-fire, killing soldiers and civilians alike. Not once did the Armenians violate the cease-fire; yet not once was Azerbaijan called to answer. In fact, both sides were told to refrain from violence and continue negotiating. The victim was labeled an equal aggressor while the aggressor was labeled an equal victim. This bought Azerbaijan time to bribe and manipulate the press and governments.

Because the West knew there was oil in the Azeri-controlled Caspian Sea it was loathe to criticize ever-increasing Azeri aggression. Once the oil began flowing, the money began flowing, from Baku straight to Western press and legislators. One of the largest bribery schemes ever, totaling nearly $3 billion, the “Azeri Laundromat” was a well-conceived scheme to dupe the civilized world into believing that a terrorist state was one of them. Sadly, it has worked as planned.

The choreographed mischaracterization of this war and its players also bought time for Azerbaijan to purchase weapons, mostly suicide drones from Israel. Azerbaijan repeatedly declared it would retake Artsakh by force. The time to launch a full-scale invasion was September 2020. Azerbaijan had Turkish commanders on the ground training Azeri soldiers; Turks also engaged in the ground and air invasion. Put into clearer context, Turkish strongman Erdogan recently reminded the world that Turkey and Azerbaijan are “one nation; two states”. With Turkey’s help, Azerbaijan imported Islamic jihadist terrorists to fight against the Christian Armenians. Put into even clearer context, Azerbaijan is now doing Turkey’s bidding.

During the invasion, the Azeri military targeted schools, maternity hospitals, residential neighborhoods, churches and other civilian targets with suicide drones and banned cluster bombs. Since oil money buys a lot of silence, nobody said a word about these war crimes. The ever-emboldened Azeris then unleashed the banned chemical weapon white phosphorus.

Azeri Dictator Ilham Aliyev is currently, despite a ceasefire and following the blueprints of Turkey and ISIS, destroying Armenian churches and culture in Artsakh. He claims that various regions of Armenia proper, including the capital, Yerevan, are Azeri lands and will be liberated. To this end, Azeris are attacking Armenia proper with terror tactics and infantry incursions. Aliyev is diverting water from Artsakh. Anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan is on par with the racist rhetoric of the Nazis. Institutionalized dehumanization of Armenians occurs all across Azeri society, including pre-schoolers. Turkey’s Grey Wolves, a nationalist terror group that has been banned in France, has established a school in Artsakh.

Today’s genocide-minded terrorist does not need weaponry, but rather money to bribe and spineless press and legislators to receive. Turkey and its partner in crime Azerbaijan know this well.

The key ingredient, however, is hate.  A recent article on North Korea stated: “It’s just the worst place on earth, and a symbol of what man’s ingenuity and tenacity can achieve when organized for evil”. This is Turkey and Azerbaijan. For the past century the world has watched with blind eyes wide open Turkey, and now Azerbaijan, go unchecked. Last week Erdogan said he’s “open to cooperation” with the Taliban. There are 1,000 Azeri soldiers in Armenia proper. The time to accept the new narrative is now.

About the Author

Marshall Moushigian is an attorney and financial adviser in Fresno.

 

Armenia strongly condemns all acts of terrorism: President addresses message to US counterpart

Eduard Nalbandian

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 14:34, 13 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian addressed a message to US president Joe Biden on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terror attack, the Presidential Office reports.

The message says:

“20 years have already passed since the 9/11 terror attack in the United States. More than 3000 innocent people, including American-Armenians, were killed, and over 10,000 were injured. Our hearts still grieve for the innocent victims, and our prayers are with those who survived and with their families.

Armenia strongly condemns all manifestations of terrorism and the violation of human values. We stand by the American people, in defense of ideas of freedom and peace. During the entire course of the history, suffering and tragedies have been the fate of our country, we know how unbearable that pain could be. We are convinced that we can fight jointly with all civilized nations against terrorism and evil. Terrorism and other harmful acts must not exist in our world. Armenia has already shown its commitment to supporting that international fight.

The common history, values and visions are a firm base for the strengthening of the relations and the deepening of the cooperation between our countries.

The Armenian-American relations have always been based on mutual respect, shared ideas and firm belief towards a more prosperous future”.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Current developments are better than expected, cenbank governor says on economic growth

Eduard Nalbandian

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 16:27, 14 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. The current developments of economic growth in 2021 are better than projected, Central Bank Governor Martin Galstyan said at a press conference.

Galstyan said this is due to greater growth in agriculture and services.

“Gross demand is growing faster than expected too, which is greatly contributed to by the high growth of private consumption – the bigger than expected volumes of monetary transactions from abroad and the positive environment of foreign demand,” he said.

However, the growth of private investments is still comparably restrained.

Galstyan added that the short-term acceleration of inflation in recent months is mostly due to the increase in prices of seasonal food products, while the normal increase has formed lower than expected.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Aurora to recommend 2021 laureate to direct funds for urgent humanitarian issues in Artsakh

Eduard Nalbandian

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 12:02,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS.  The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative has announced the adjustment of the structure of its flagship program, the Aurora Prize.

From 2022 onwards, half of the Prize award will be directed by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative to combat one of the worst humanitarian crises where human suffering requires urgent intervention. In addition, this year, considering the acute needs of the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) affected by the 2020 war, Aurora will recommend the 2021 Aurora Prize Laureate to direct $250,000 (or 25%) of the award funds to addressing urgent humanitarian issues in Artsakh. The Aurora Co-Founders are committed to matching this contribution to bring the total amount to $500,000, IDeA Foundation said in a news release.

Since its inception in 2016, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative has awarded an annual Aurora Prize of $1M to outstanding individuals in recognition of their humanitarian work. The Prize is a unique form of Gratitude in Action: its recipients continue the cycle of giving by donating 90% of the award to the organizations that help people in need.

Five years on, the Committee that oversees the Prize has, in consultation with the Aurora Laureates, decided to adjust its structure to better reflect the reality of ongoing global humanitarian crises. The decision on where to direct the funding will be made by the Aurora Laureates together with the Aurora Prize Committee and the Initiative’s Co-Founders.

“As someone who has spent many years working in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian crisis in a conflict zone, I am aware of how badly help is needed there. That is why I am fully supportive of the decision to prioritize addressing such issues and supporting the people who fight them,” noted Dr. Tom Catena, 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate and Chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.

At the final stage, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative will work with the most recent Laureate to choose or develop up to three projects to be supported or launched with the $500,000 share of the Aurora Prize award in the selected crisis area. The remaining $500,000 of the Aurora Prize award will be distributed in accordance with the Gratitude in Action principle – the next Aurora Prize Laureate will receive a grant and the rest of the funding is to be divided between up to three humanitarian organizations that help people in need in proportions proposed by the Laureate.

The 2021 Aurora Prize Ceremony and accompanying events will take place in Venice, Italy, on October 8-10, 2021, whereas nominations are currently open for the 2022 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. Until October 31, 2021, any person can submit a nomination for candidates they believe have overcome great personal challenges to help others.