Author: Emma Jilavian

“The world is facing a growing threat of proliferation and use of the weapons of mass destruction by non-state actors, which is a serious challenge to global security,” Armenia’s Permannet Representative to the UN, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said at the UN Security Council open debate on stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by non-State actors.

“The globalization has facilitated the opportunities of acquisition and use of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons by non-state actors – terrorists and criminal groups. Although the existing technical barriers still prevent the production of contemporary means of their delivery, even small-scale attacks can lead to disastrous results,” Ambassador Mnatsakanyan said.

“Today’s imperative is to work out a national control and non-proliferation mechanism accompanied by international cooperation, to prevent the proliferation and use of those weapons by non-state actors – terrorists and other criminal groups,” Zohrab Mnatsakanyan added.

According to the Ambassador, Armenia attaches great importance to issues of nuclear security on domestic and international levels by working out corresponding internal legislation, ratifying and applying international legal agreements.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan reminded about the 2015 decision of the Armenian government on the reinforcement of security of the physical and nuclear facilities of Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant. He added that “Armenia’s 2015-2020 program of national actions envisages concrete steps targeted at the review of current measures and elaboration of future actions.”

“We are actively involved in a number of programs aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons. The Armenian Government keeps working in bilateral and multilateral formats against the smuggling of nuclear materials,” Amb. Mnatsakanyan said.

The death toll in the deadly Istanbul bomb attacks rose to 41.

Two explosions struck Saturday night outside a major soccer stadium in Istanbul after fans had gone home, the Associated Press repots.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement saying “unfortunately we have martyrs and wounded” but did not specify the number.

One of the blasts was thought to be a car bomb and the second appeared to have been caused by a suicide bomber.

Police cordoned off the area as smoke rose from behind the newly built Vodafone Arena Stadium, known colloquially as Besiktas Stadium after the local team and neighborhood. Witnesses also heard gunfire after the explosions.

Photo: Reuters

 

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger has become a father again at age of 73, his publicist has confirmed, the BBC reports.

The singer already has seven children whose ages range from 17 to 45 and he became a great-grandfather in 2014.

His 29-year-old girlfriend, American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, gave birth to a boy in New York on Thursday, the singer’s publicist Bernard Doherty said.

A statement said Hamrick and Sir Mick were “both delighted” at the birth.

It added: “Mick was at the hospital for the arrival.

“Mother and baby are doing well and we request that the media respect their privacy at this time.”

Minister of Culture Armen Amiryan briefed President Serzh Sargsyan on the priority directions of the Ministry’s activity –popularization of the Armenian culture in Armenia and abroad, new initiatives aimed at intensification of the cultural life outside capital Yerevan.

Minister Amiryan presented the issues raised during his meetings with culture workers.

Armen Amiryan offered to create a pan-Armenian symphony orchestra that will bring together talented Armenians from different sides of the world. He said the first concert is expected on April 24, 2017, after which the orchestra will perform in different cities of the world.

The President welcomed the idea, underling that it goes in line with his vision of Armenia-Diaspora cooperation and can well serve an example for cooperation in other spheres, as well.

Two people have been fined for hurling online abuse at two German politicians of Turkish origin. Both officials had backed the parliament’s Armenia Genocide resolution, angering many Turks and Erdogan supporters, reports.

A Berlin court handed financial fines to two people who directed online abuse at German parliamentarians of Turkish origin, according to media reports on Thursday.

A Turkish national was handed a fine of 600 euros ($665) for comments aimed atBundestag member Sevim Dagdelen, of the Left party, on Facebook.

Another man was fined 700 euros for verbally abusing the co-leader of Germany’s Green Party, Cem Özdemir. In return, charges against him were dropped, at least provisionally.

Dagdelen and Özdemir had backed the German parliament’s Armenian genocide resolution in July, which formally labeled the Ottoman Empire’s killing of 1.5 million Armenians and other Christian minorities during World War I as  “genocide.” Both officials were subsequently bombarded with online abuse from Turkish nationalists, including those residing in Germany.

Both targeted officials welcomed the court’s decision. “It is good that the internet is not a lawless environment,” Dagdelen told the “Berliner Zeitung” newspaper. “I hope that the judgment has a deterring effect.” However, there remain outstanding threats of violence and murder that must be curtailed, she said. “I intend to pursue these civil claims.”

Özdemir said that he welcomed the court’s decision to punish online insults and threats. However, “some state prosecutors are reacting too cautiously,” he said. “Some take the issue seriously within our formidable democracy. Others are somewhat more lenient.”

On behalf of the European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA), I extend my warmest congratulations to the Armenian people as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia, on September 21st.

On this special day, I reaffirm EuFoA’s unwavering and steadfast commitments to strengthen Armenia’s independence, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Armenia in their quest for democracy, justice and prosperity, and their legitimate aspirations for peace and security.

As an organisation seeking to support integration and build bridges between Armenia and Europe, EuFoA congratulates the citizens and leaders of Armenia on their achievements over the past quarter century, and wishes them success on their way to build a fairer, safer and more prosperous society, in cooperation with their European friends.

Long live Armenia and the Armenian nation!

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan will most likely be appointed Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), reports, quoting sources at the Armenian Government.

“Seyran Ohanyan will be dismissed from Defense Minister’s post in the near future. He will be appointed as CSTO chief,” the souse said.

SCTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha had declared earlier that his successor would be announced on October 14 during the CSTO Collectives Security Council sitting in Yerevan.

There are conditions for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, but what we lack is the political will of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in a an interview with

He said the Karabakh settlement is the “sphere where the United States, Russia and France have complete understanding.”

The diplomat said “the ceasefire has been more or less maintained after the four-day war in April and this creates an atmosphere conducive to achieving progress in the negotiations.”

“We would like to hold another meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. We would like to continue to work on the proposals to find points of rapprochement and reach a final solution to the conflict that has been continuing for 20 years now,” Warlick said.

He said there is no clarity with respect to the time and place of the possible meeting of the Presidents. “As Co-Chairs we’ll meet with the Foreign Ministers to lay the basis for the next summit. We hope to see both Presidents in New York in a fortnight on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session to discuss the next steps. We hope the Presidents will meet there,” James Warlick said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. A number of issues on Armenian-Russian agenda were  discussed.

The Foreign Ministers of the two countries referred to the implementation of the agreements reached at Vienna an St. Petersburg summits, which will create conditions for furthering the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in the Eastern Partnership Informal Dialogue Meeting of the Foreign Ministers. The full text of Minister Nalbandian’s speech is provided below:

Dear Pavlo,
Dear Johannes,
Dear Helga,
Dear Colleagues,

I would like to thank our Ukrainian colleague for hosting this informal ministerial dialogue.

This year we already have met twice – in Prague and Brussels, sharing our vision in regard to the cooperation with European Union and perspectives of multilateral relationship within the Eastern Partnership. We hope the EU will be able to overcome the situation created by the Brexit soon. As for Armenia, we will continue our efforts to further develop and deepen the partnership with the European Union, EU member states as well as the UK.

Months that passed since our last meeting in this format in Tbilisi were fruitful for the Armenia-EU cooperation. Negotiations on a new framework document between Armenia and the European Union were launched last December. This agreement will reflect the depth and essence of our bilateral relations and set new guidelines for enhanced and comprehensive partnership. Four rounds of negotiations have been held so far, recording a steady progress.

Dear Colleagues,

The outcomes of the Riga Summit and the Joint Declaration adopted in May 2015 provided a shared vision for our partnership and cooperation in coming years.

Agreement on the participation of Armenia in the COSME Programme (for small and medium-sized enterprises) was signed last December. A month ago Armenia joined Horizon 2020 programme (for research and innovation). We envisage becoming soon a part to the Creative Europe Programme, (which offers a broader frame for cultural exchanges) and we also expect the negotiations on the Common Aviation Area agreement to start this year.

The enhanced mobility remains one of the important prerequisites for making our societies closer. A month ago third meeting of the Joint Committees on monitoring the implementation of the Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements took place in Yerevan. The parties highlighted their successful realization. We are looking forward to live up to our joint commitment to secure mobility and contacts between people by launching a Visa Liberalization Dialogue.

Dear Colleagues,

The Government of Armenia continues the reform process aimed at the consolidation and strengthening of the democratic institutions. On May 25th the National Assembly adopted the new Electoral Code. The Joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR recognized “the tangible efforts made by the authorities to take into account the recommendations on the basis of broad engagement with domestic stakeholders” and stated that “the draft electoral code could provide an adequate basis for the conduct of democratic elections”.

To take an extra step forward the Government of Armenia continued to work with the opposition and civil society and a deal was signed between the Government and the representatives of the parliamentary opposition to introduce new amendments in order to conduct more fair, inclusive and transparent elections.

In this context, let me note that we highly appreciate the EU’s continued support and assistance provided to our country over the years, which has been instrumental for the effective implementation and sustainability of the reform process and institutional capacity building in Armenia.

Dear Colleagues,

The ENP Action Plan was our cooperation roadmap for the last decade. Now, after the ENP Review, we are looking forward to elaborating a new Partnership Priorities document that together with the new framework agreement will become the core of our enhanced political and economic cooperation with the EU.

Dear Colleagues,

Since we are here to discuss also the security challenges, I would like to bring to your attention recent developments regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

The Vienna and St. Petersburg Summits were first and foremost aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone in the aftermath of large-scale military offensive unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in April, which was accompanied by the gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws. First of all, it is a necessity to implement what was particularly emphasized and agreed upon in the frameworks of the Summits in order to create conditions for the continuation of the negotiation process – the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict, the full adherence to the 1994-1995 trilateral ceasefire agreements, which do not have time limitations, the creation of mechanism for the investigation of ceasefire violations, the expansion of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

Unfortunately, Azerbaijan after both Summits tries to ignore the reached agreements hindering the advancement of the peace process. Armenia will continue its efforts together with the Co-Chair countries aimed at exclusively peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Dear Colleagues,

Giving full credit to the effectiveness of this setting in following up, discussing and moving forward the issues ahead of us, Armenia would like to host the next Eastern Partnership Informal Dialogue Meeting of the Foreign Ministers in Yerevan. We count on your consent in this regard and hope to make a meaningful contribution to our cooperation through the Yerevan meeting.

Thank you.