12:07, 2 May 2023
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. At its meeting today, the Board of the Central Bank of Armenia decided to leave the refinancing rate unchanged at 10.75%, the Central Bank said in a press release.
The Lombard repo facility rate is set at 12.25%.
The Deposit facility rate is set at 9.25%.
A commemoration will be held in Montebello Saturday to mark the 108th anniversary of the start of the events that are widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.
The commemoration at the Montebello Armenian Genocide Monument in Bicknell Park will begin at 11 a.m. and include a religious ceremony, cultural program, speeches by elected officials and placement of flowers.
The event is organized by the United Armenian Council of Los Angeles.
A rally seeking an immediate end to Azerbaijan’s blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday outside the Azerbaijan Consulate in Brentwood, organized by Unified Young Armenians, which is also organizing an “Armenian Genocide Commemorative Rally for Justice” at 10 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue in Little Armenia.
Glendale will conduct its 22nd annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event at 7 p.m. Monday at the Alex Theatre, with the theme, “The Armenian Experience Through the Lens,” celebrating the 100th anniversary of Armenian cinema.
On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, leading to an estimated 1.5 million people being killed. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
Launches Congressional Letter to Commerce Sec. Raimondo Citing Azerbaijan’s ongoing Anti-Armenian Aggression and 125+ Day Blockade
WASHINGTON—Rep. Adam Schiff is calling on his Congressional colleagues to join him in demanding that the Commerce Department explain why it is considering licensing the sale of high-powered U.S. rifles to Azerbaijan, in the face of Azerbaijan’s 125-plus day blockade of Artsakh and ongoing attacks on Armenia, which left four Armenians dead and six injured just last week, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.
“The same Biden Administration that continues shipping military aid to oil-rich Azerbaijan and has yet to investigate the discovery of U.S. parts in the Turkish drones deployed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh is now considering the direct sale of U.S. rifles to Azerbaijan, a dictatorship whose military openly executes unarmed Armenian POWs with rifles, then posts, trophy, videos of these killings on social media,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We join with Congressman Schiff, Senator Menendez, and all those – Democrats and Republicans – in the House and Senate who stand against this reckless arms sale,” concluded Hamparian.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter to U.S. House members, Rep. Schiff is urging his colleagues to co-sign a letter to Secretary Raimondo seeking “additional information from the Commerce Department about the status of any requests for export licenses to send lethal weapons to Azerbaijan and safeguards to prevent U.S. weapons from being used in the commission of human rights violations.”
Rep. Schiff stated, “approving the export of more lethal weapons to be pointed at Armenia would only fuel conflict, especially in the hands of security forces with a history of human rights violations. The State Department’s 2022 Human Rights Report documents ‘credible reports of unlawful killings involving summary executions of Armenian soldiers in Azerbaijani custody,’ torture, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment with high levels of impunity.”
Members of Congress have until Friday, April 21st to co-sign the letter to Secretary Raimondo. The ANCA is working with regional and local affiliates to encourage broad bi-partisan support for the letter.
News of a possible sale of U.S. rifles – including assault-style and semi-automatic sniper models – to Azerbaijan broke on February 1st when Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced his “deep concern and strong opposition” to the proposed sale.
“The export of weapons to an authoritarian country that wages war against a neighbor, blockades a vulnerable population, and commits rampant human rights violations at home is not consistent with the Administration’s commitment to democracy and human rights,” Sen. Menendez stated in a letter to Secretary Raimondo. “Further, the consideration of this export license further compounds my dismay that the Administration continues to allow the export of assault-style and sniper rifles abroad – even while supporting an assault-style rifle ban domestically – and deepens my reservations about the Department of Commerce having jurisdiction over such exports,” concluded Senator Menendez.
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian and the local ANC chair from Secretary Raimondo’s home state of Rhode Island, Steve Elmasian, expressed similar concerns in a February 13th letter to Secretary Raimondo. “As you know, from your long friendship with Americans of Armenian heritage in Rhode Island and across the United States, our community is deeply troubled by the U.S. military aid program to Baku, and even more shocked by the possibility that American offensive weaponry may be deployed against Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Armenia. The victims of Azerbaijan’s attacks are, very often, the relatives and friends of Armenian American citizens,” stated Hamparian and Elmasian.
Artur Davtyan won the gold medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships held in Turkey.
In the vault final, the World and European Champion scored 15.033 points. Davtyan brilliantly performed both jumps.
Representative of England Jake Jarman (15.016) became the vice-champion of Europe, Ukrainian athlete Igor Radivilov (14.750) became the bronze medalist.
The Armenian National Team led by Hakob Serobyan took home 3 medals – 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
Vahagn Davtyan won a silver medal in ring exercises, while Artur Davtyan became the bronze medalist in the pommel horse exercises.
17:28,
YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) strongly condemns the visit of the delegation of the National Commissions for UNESCO of the member states of the International Organization of Turkic Culture to the occupied Armenian city of Shushi on 8 April.
Below is the full statement issued by the Artsakh MFA.
“We strongly condemn the visit of the delegation of the National Commissions for UNESCO of the member states of the International Organization of Turkic Culture to the occupied Armenian city of Shushi on 8 April. It is obvious that this illegal visit, as well as holding other similar events in the occupied Armenian city of Shushi, are aimed at legitimising by Azerbaijan and its allies the results of the aggressive war unleashed by Baku in 2020 and the illegal use of force against the Republic of Artsakh and its people. We emphasise again that the city of Shushi is an integral part of Artsakh, both in the territorial, cultural, economic and historical aspects.
The visit by the National Commissions for UNESCO to Shushi looks even more blasphemous and provocative against the backdrop of the illegal blockade of Artsakh that has been going on for 4 months now, as well as the systematic destruction of Armenian religious, historical and cultural monuments and the falsification of their identity in the territories that came under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces, including in the ancient Armenian city of Shushi, and the persistent obstruction by the Azerbaijani authorities of sending a UNESCO assessment mission to Nagorno-Karabakh to conduct an inventory and assessment of the state of cultural heritage sites.
By such actions, the Azerbaijani authorities seek to obtain from representatives of individual states and international structures tacit approval of their criminal plans to carry out ethnic cleansing aimed at leaving Artsakh without Armenians and traces of the centuries-old Armenian presence. The abuse of kinship ties between countries and peoples to falsify history and promote their own political narratives is unacceptable and does not contribute to strengthening peace and mutual understanding among peoples.
In this regard, we remind once again that the ongoing acts of vandalism and desecration by Azerbaijan against Armenian churches and other cultural and religious monuments in Artsakh, including in the occupied Armenian city of Shushi, constitute gross violations of international law, as well as the Order of the International Court of Justice of 7 December 2021 on the indication of provisional measures.”
The European Union's civilian mission to Armenia and the European Parliament's report condemning human rights violations in Azerbaijan could jeopardize the bloc's deal with Baku on increased gas deliveries, the Politico newspaper reported on Monday
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 10th April, 2023) The European Union's civilian mission to Armenia and the European Parliament's report condemning human rights violations in Azerbaijan could jeopardize the bloc's deal with Baku on increased gas deliveries, the Politico newspaper reported on Monday.
Last July, Brussels negotiated a deal with Azerbaijan for the latter to double its annual gas deliveries to the EU to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027. This February, the EU sent a special mission to Armenia to assist the normalization of the situation at the border with Azerbaijan. In March, the European Parliament said that Azerbaijan's record in terms of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is "very negative" and needs improvement.
"We were hoping for a different scenario with Baku. We are sharing all relevant information on patrols and so on with Azerbaijan because we don't want any issues," a senior official in the EU's diplomatic service told the newspaper.
In September 2022, a new outbreak of hostilities between Yerevan and Baku broke out. Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of shelling and reported losses in their ranks. In December 2022, the Lachin corridor, the only road that links Armenia to the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, was blocked by a group of Azerbaijanis described by Baku as environmental activists.
Yerevan and Baku started peace agreement negotiations last year. At the beginning of February 2023, Yerevan received new peace treaty proposals from Azerbaijan and started to examine them. The UN's main judicial body ruled in February that Azerbaijan must ensure unimpeded movement along the Lachin Corridor. Armenia, in turn, demanded that Azerbaijan "cease its orchestration and support" of the blockade.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/business/eu-mission-in-armenia-may-jeopardize-blocs-g-1674325.html
20:01,
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. On March 27, the President of the Republic of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, convened an extraordinary extended-format session of the Security Council with the participation of representatives of the political forces of the National Assembly, ARMENPRESS was informed from the office of the President of the Republic of Artsakh.
The President noted that the purpose of the meeting is to jointly discuss the existing problems in the created military-political situation and make the necessary decisions.
Speaking about Azerbaijan's regular violation of the provisions of the trilateral declaration since 2020 and the consistent increase in humanitarian, socio-economic, military, political and psychological pressures on Artsakh in the conditions of the ongoing blockade since December 12, 2022, President Harutyunyan noted that despite our many statements and exhortations, international actors continue to limit themselves to declarative statements, being unconsistent in the implementation of weighty decisions.
"Therefore, our task is to soberly assess the degree of complexity and responsibility for the created situation, to re-evaluate all available resources and mechanisms to prevent possible new threats, and make the necessary conclusions and carry out relevant actions. I am sure that through our reasonable steps it is possible to overcome this difficult period, preserving and protecting the vital interests of the Republic of Artsakh," President Harutyunyan emphasized.
Defense Minister Kamo Vardanyan made a report on the operational situation at the session.
There was an exchange of ideas on the issues of the agenda.
The President of the Republic gave a number of instructions to the relevant bodies.
21:05, 21 March 2023
YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
ARMENPRESS reports, according to a post on the Twitter page of the Secretary of State, Blinken expressed support for the establishment of ssustainable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing the readiness of the US to support these efforts.
"The only way to achieve sustainable and strong peace is through direct negotiations," he wrote.
19:20, 22 March 2023
YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. On March 22, regular political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran were held in Yerevan headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan and Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Iran Ali Bagheri Kani, ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia.
The interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues of the Armenian-Iranian bilateral political agenda, commended the high level of political dialogue, touched upon the Armenia-Iran cooperation in political, trade-economic and regional security spheres, as well as on multilateral platforms. Views were exchanged on a number of issues of regional and international agenda of mutual interest.
Vahan Kostanyan briefed upon the situation unfolded in the region as a result of Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the details of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the blockade of the Lachin corridor since December, 2022. The Deputy Minister also emphasized that the illegal actions, warmongering rhetoric and maximalist stance of the Azerbaijani leadership are seriously undermining the efforts towards achieving peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
Both sides highlighted the importance of deepening and strengthening spiritual-cultural ties between the two countries. In this regard, the Deputy Minister briefed his Iranian counterpart on Azerbaijan's groundless attempts to artificially manipulate the religious factor on various platforms.
Following the consultations, Ali Bagheri Kani was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan. Both sides commended the high level of political dialogue between Armenia and Iran, highlighting the importance of regular political consultations in this context. A number of issues of bilateral agenda and the latest developments of the security situation in the region were discussed.