12:14,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The head coach of Armenia’s national football team Joaquin Caparros was named “Best Coach of the Year” for the second consecutive time.
The Football Federation of Armenia announced the voting results for the Best Coach of the Year 2021 category, with Caparros garnering 90 points.
FC Ararat Armenia’s Dmitry Gunko came in second with 54 points, while FC Ararat’s Vardan Bichakhchyan received 45 points.
Does anyone doubt that the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) continue and will continue their struggle for the Armenian future of Artsakh, international recognition of independence of Artsakh and, eventually, unification with Mother Armenia. This is what Minister of State of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan wrote on his Facebook page, adding the following:
“The will and aspirations of the Armenians of Artsakh need to be inviolable and serve as a basis for supporting the homeland for every Armenian. There need to be specific goals, principles and red lines established on the basis of national interests, above any type of narrow and short-run interests, including the political situation in the country, and this concerns the political forces and figures in Artsakh, Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, starting from me.
EVERY ARMENIAN WHO BELIEVES ARTSAKH NEEDS TO REMAIN ARMENIAN, HAS SOMETHING TO DO, AND HE OR SHE MUST FIRST AND FOREMOST NOT HARM, AND MUST THEN SUPPORT.”
Last year, when I got tired of reading restaurant obituaries, I decided to write restaurant love letters instead. I’d hoped it was a one-off, but the pandemic hasn’t ended, and neither have the obituaries. But I still managed to eat well, and so I have more love letters.
These ten restaurants (in alphabetical order) came to life for me during the past year. A couple are new, but most are worth celebrating because they adapted and hung on. Some have Michelin stars while others don’t even have menus. They all reminded me of the origin of the word restaurant—to restore, to take care of, to make feel complete.
An Armenian baker making lavash at Tsaghkunk
DAVID EGUI
Truth be told, I found myself in this village about an hour from the Armenian capital for a once-in-a-lifetime event, a collaboration between the restaurant staff and Noma founding chef Mads Refslund, which was meant to elevate the local cooking and—equally important—establish Armenia on the culinary map. (I’ll go as far as to call it the new Georgia.) Refslund and his team have long since returned to New York, but the restaurant was plenty appealing before they got there. When I went for breakfast, chef Susanna Guckasyan and her team turned out a feast of fresh and smoked cheeses, fresh herbs, lavash (flatbread), egg dishes, a sort of lasagna, aveluk (wild sorrel) and, my favorite, gaylakhash, a sour yogurt soup with greens.
18:22,
YEREVAN, 21 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Aghajanyan on December 21 met with Ambassador of People's Republic of China to Armenia Fan Yong, ARMENPRESS was informed from the National Assembly of Armenia.
Eduard Aghajanyan highlighted the contacts of the two parliaments, talked about the realization of potential of bilateral relations and necessity of development of cooperation in a number of fields. According to the Chairman of the Standing Committee, since the establishment of diplomatic relations the ties between Armenia and China have recorded a positive development.
The Ambassador emphasized that it is necessary to further deepen the cooperation and expressed readiness in that issue.
A reference was made to prospects of cooperation in the fields of tourism, infrastructure, education, culture and other fields. The sides expressed readiness of implementing mutually beneficial programmes.
For decades, Turkish-Armenian relations have been very hostile due to various reasons. The bilateral historical mistrust, negative perceptions, geopolitical confrontations during and after the Cold War and the lack of trade cooperation were significant hurdles. There are no official diplomatic ties between the two countries, and their land border has been sealed since April 1993 because of the Armenian occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding Kalbajar district.
The negative influence of the Armenian diaspora, international political actors that instrumentalized the hostile relations and the Armenian allegations against Turkey about the 1915 events were some other problems that further damaged relations. The deep rift is beyond the political level. Except for a few minor initiatives, no serious efforts to normalize diplomatic relations were attempted.
In 2008, "football diplomacy" facilitated the opening of communication channels between the then-leaders of the two states. On Sept. 6, 2008, the then Turkish president accepted the invitation of the then Armenian president and attended a FIFA World Cup qualifier football match between the Turkish and Armenian national teams at Hrazdan Stadium in Yerevan.
In 2009, following busy traffic of consultations in Switzerland and the encouragement of the Minsk Group members (France, the U.S. and Russia), both sides' foreign ministers signed the Zurich Protocols that signaled a normalization era. The protocols were however never ratified by the parliaments of the two states. Armenia’s continuing illegal occupation of Azerbaijan territories was the main reason behind Turkey’s unwillingness to ratify the Zurich Protocols. No progress had been therefore achieved in the normalization. All the relevant parties were frustrated for different reasons after signing the protocols.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was at the epicenter of the obstacles preventing the normalization. Both societies were also unprepared for such a normalization, not to mention the further steps through reconciliation. Baku was skeptical about Ankara’s efforts to normalize ties with Yerevan before resolving the conflict. That’s why the earlier normalization efforts could not find popular support on both sides. There were also too many domestic and international spoilers on both sides that challenged the potential for progress.
The occasional military escalations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Karabakh before Azerbaijan’s military victory in the 44-day war last year was another potential setback in the normalization. Both domestic and international contexts were more suited for prolonging the stalemate and even further escalation of tensions rather than taking bold steps in the direction of transformation.
After the failure of the Zurich Protocols, Turkey aligned more openly and closely with Azerbaijan. Military, economic and political relations between the two brotherly states strengthened, particularly in military cooperation. Azerbaijan paid more attention to influencing Turkish public opinion after signing the Zurich Protocols. The Turkish-Armenian relations were more closely linked with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In a sense, Turkish-Armenian concerns were more closely and reversely correlated with the Armenian-Azerbaijan relations.
Turkey's foreign policy took a defensive turn starting at the end of 2011 due to the instability across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Turkey’s relations with its Western allies also deteriorated during this period. There were no pressing incentives from Brussels and Washington to promote the idea of normalization of Turkish-Armenia relations. There was limited opportunity and motivation to improve connections.
There are still significant hurdles on the practical and perceptual levels. Yet, the change in the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s victory in the recent war generated a new momentum in the region. Leaders from Ankara, Yerevan and Baku signaled their desire to engage more constructively. Despite the occasional skirmishes along cease-fire lines between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the post-war stalemate has been restored. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian also survived the resilience test and won elections after the war. While Baku was satisfied with the victory, the Armenian side recognized the futility of trying to return to the prewar status quo. After all, the 30 years of preparation for a war, which made the country more vulnerable economically and politically and isolated it from the region, ended in a tragedy for the Armenian side. This new situation provided Pashinian with opportunities to change the official discourse in Yerevan. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinian’s encouraging signals after the war paved the way for a new era in constructive dialogue and diplomacy.
Turkey appointed its former Washington ambassador, Serdar Kılıç, as a special envoy to normalize diplomatic relations with Armenia. The spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Vahan Hunanyan, also mentioned that Armenia is ready for normalization with Turkey without preconditions. The official statements and steps from Ankara, Yerevan and Baku confirm the strong signals of a new and more constructive era in the relationships between the three countries. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also mentioned that Ankara would establish normalization with Armenia in consultation and close communication with Baku.
The normalization of Turkish-Armenian diplomatic relations is the right path to overcome decades of trouble. It will support a more comprehensive peace and stability in the entire region. It would be unrealistic to expect a resolution of all the problems in the short term. Yet, the coordinated efforts of all the key stakeholders may help the acceleration of the normalization. A concrete road map and mutual and coordinated confidence-building steps with the external actors may help to overcome the existing hurdles gradually. All of the parties must take on the responsibility of maintaining this fragile process. There are lots of lessons from earlier failed initiatives. Preparing the public for such a constructive dialogue and peaceful change is a step that needs to be prioritized at this stage. There should also be a crisis communication mechanism that may prevent unexpected escalations.
12:50,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. FLYONE Armenia says its first flight from Yerevan to Moscow was cancelled due to “circumstances beyond their control, including due to the Russian authorized bodies’ concerns relating to countering the coronavirus epidemic.”
The airline was thus forced to cancel the Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan flights scheduled for December 15 and 16.
“The airline has already ensured the swift and safe transfer opportunity for all passengers of the abovementioned flights to their points of destination,” FLYONE Armenia said in a statement.
“Our employees maintain permanent and individual contact with all passengers of the abovementioned flights for duly rendering the full package of air transportation and other services,” it added, emphasizing that FLYONE Armenia’s passenger support service is available to all passengers and is ready to swiftly resolve any issues.
“We are informing that our flights to other destinations will proceed as scheduled. FLYONE Armenia apologizes to our passengers for the inconvenience and informs that we are making all efforts to overcome the existing issues as soon as possible.”
13:36,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with President of Moldova Maia Sandu in Brussels on the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership summit.
In a Twitter post, the Moldovan President called the meeting with Pashinyan “productive”. “We discussed opportunities to launch a joint business forum and explore mutual investment opportunities in Moldova and Armenia. We also agreed to take joint actions to increase trade volumes between our countries”, she said.
Doha – HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, met on Thursday afternoon with President of Armenia HE Armen Sarkissian, and First Lady HE Nouneh Sarkissian, at the Qatar National Convention Center.
During the meeting, they discussed areas of mutual interest in education, innovation and research.
HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, was in attendance.
17:19, 7 December, 2021
YEREVAN, 7 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 7 December, USD exchange rate up by 1.38 drams to 492.41 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.37 drams to 555.14 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.04 drams to 6.62 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.73 drams to 652.79 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 254.15 drams to 28158.43 drams. Silver price up by 0.83 drams to 353.67 drams. Platinum price down by 84.94 drams to 14754.82 drams.
Dadivank monastery complex, located in Artsakh's Shahumyan district, which fell under the control of Azerbaijani forces as a result of the 2020 Artak war, has not accepted Armenian pilgrims since May of the ongoing year, the Primate of the Artsakh Diocese His Grace Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan told reporters on Monday.
"Our clergymen continue their service at the presence of Russian peacekeepers. During a prayer service, of course, every bishop would like to turn back and see the faithful in front of him. If the church is empty they feel the need to see worshippers as soon as possible. We are working hard to change this reality, however, our efforts have not yielded success yet," Bishop Abrahamyan said.
The Primate of Artsakh Diocese stressed that the lives of Dadivank clergymen are not endangered as Russian peacekeepers are carrying out their service there.
Asked by Panorama.am reporter to comment on earlier reports, suggesting six clergymen are in the church and unable to get out as the exit is blocked, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan said: " The entrance and exit of Dadivank monastery have always been under control. It would be false to claim the opposite and insist the entry is free. If Dadivank is under Azerbaijani control, entering the church or leaving it is problematic," he said.
As to the clergymen blocked inside the church, the Primate said all necessary measures are taken to ensure their basic, medical and other needs related to Yerevan or the Mother See in Holy Echmiadzin.