Author: Jirair Kafian

Ukraine’s President congratulates Armenian people on Independence Day, wishes peace and prosperity

Jirair Kafian

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 15:37,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a congratulatory message to Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian on the 30th anniversary of independence, wishing peace and prosperity to the Armenian people, the Armenian President’s Office reports.

“I hope the exercise of the potential of bilateral relations between our states, as well as the centuries-old relationship between the Armenian and Ukrainian nations will contribute to the strengthening of dialogue based on mutual understanding and respect.

I wish you, Your Excellency, good health and success in your responsible activity, and to the Armenian people – peace and prosperity”, the Ukrainian President said in his letter.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Security Council secretary to visit Tajikistan for CSTO meeting

Jirair Kafian

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 13:44, 13 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan will visit the city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan from September 14 to 17 to participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) joint meeting of the foreign ministerial, security council and defense ministerial committees.

Bilateral meetings are expected as part of the visit, Grigoryan’s office said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 16-09-21

Jirair Kafian

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 17:43,

YEREVAN, 16 SEPTEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 16 September, USD exchange rate down by 0.63 drams to 486.37 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 3.32 drams to 572.46 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 6.72 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.26 drams to 672.07 drams.

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

Gold price up by 29.36 drams to 28099.19 drams. Silver price up by 3.20 drams to 372.71 drams. Platinum price down by 175.64 drams to 14714.56 drams.

Setting up post by Azerbaijani law enforcers sparks protests in Armenia

Jirair Kafian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Sept 14 2021

An Azerbaijani post on the Goris-Kapan highway was set up in violation of international norms, Arman Tatoyan, the Armenian Ombudsperson, has stated. The opposition demanded to organize a parliamentary discussion of the situation with the participation of the director of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia.

According to Mr Tatoyan, the police post established by the Azerbaijani party on September 9 began operating on September 11. "Video cameras record car license plates, the number of passengers, their faces, as well as drivers' faces. Thus, the collection of personal data is carried out in violation of international standards for the protection thereof," the Ombudsperson has stated.

Besides, at least four masked men armed with submachine guns and other weapons are constantly on duty at the police post, Arman Tatoyan has reported.

The Ombudsperson has recalled that the delimitation and demarcation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border has not yet been carried out; and there were no grounds for setting up the post.

The oppositional "Armenia" bloc has demanded to hold a parliamentary discussion of the situation on the Goris-Kapan highway with the participation of the NSS Director.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 04:32 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Head of Armenian village accuses Azerbaijani soldiers of stealing a car, Residents of Syunik Region of Armenia complain about Azerbaijani militaries, Armenian MoD report mortar shelling of its positions.

Author: Tigran Petrosyan; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

FM: Slovak company in talks to participate in modernization of Armenian NPP

Jirair Kafian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 14 2021

Relations between Armenia and Slovakia have great potential, Slovakia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Ivan Korčok told a joint news conference with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Yerevan on Tuesday.

“I am here to reaffirm the growing dynamics of relations between Armenia and Slovakia, which need to be intensified. There is no doubt that relations between our two countries have great potential [for development], in particular in the economic sphere,” the Slovak FM said.

Korčok highlighted the opening of the Slovak Republic Embassy in Yerevan in February last year.

“We have the potential for economic cooperation. Last year, there was a certain growth in trade turnover, but we must surpass these numbers,” he said, adding that the Armenian and Slovak peoples will benefit from it.

According to the Slovak minister, the energy sector is very promising in terms of cooperation.

“A company in Slovakia is currently in talks to participate in the modernization of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant,” Korčok said, adding that there are also opportunities for cooperation in agriculture, tourism, IT and renewable energy sectors.

From 1915 to 2021, Armenian Communities Suffer

Jirair Kafian
Sept 12 2021
By ICC’s Country Correspondent

09/12/2021 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Mrs. Alvard was the gardener of the only school in the village of Nor Verinshen in Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh), currently occupied by Azerbaijanis. Her son Robert was on military duty when the war started in late September of 2020. While Robert fought on the frontline against Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression for 44 days, Mrs. Alvard moved with her daughter-in-law, Aregnazan, and six young grandchildren to Armenian territory. This current displacement is the second during her lifetime, with the first was in the late 1980s before the first Artsakh war.

In the beginning, relatives welcomed the family and provided their two-bedroom condo to stay in, along with other displaced family members, totaling 21 people. At that time everyone thought it was temporary, the war will finish in a few days or weeks, and shortly they will move back home. Mrs. Alvard naively recalls counting down the days to get back to her beautiful green garden at peak harvest season.

November 10’s agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended the war broke all the hopes of family return home permanently. A few days before handing over their district to Azerbaijanis (originally scheduled for November 15, but surrendered on November 25), Aregnazan went back to the village with her husband’s sister where she first visited the graves of her father and sister in the cemetery, likely for the very last time. “I could not bring much of the household items, but I didn’t want to leave the puppy, the ducks, and the chickens behind. I put all of them together in a big rabbit cage and brought them with me,” Aregnazan said.

36-year-old Aregnazan’s voice trembled as she recalled her final journey from Artsakh to Armenia. Crying and unable to hide her tears she remembered, “it looked like the 1915 deportation during the Armenian Genocide with only one difference – people were moving by vehicles not walking. The roads were blocked by traffic. There were cars that were damaged on the roads. The women, with their children in their arms, were waiting in that cold weather outside until the cars were repaired. Some cars were totally unloaded their cargo on road to be repaired. It was chaos, a real nightmare.”

After 10 months of moving from place to place, the family finally bought their own house with small agricultural land and fruit trees in one of the villages. The Armenian community in the Netherlands and a family from the U.S. contributed the difference sum in addition to Aregnazan and Robert’s savings.

There is still a lot of work to be done to renovate the house. To accommodate their space restrictions, part of the living room has curtains closing off a portion for the children’s room. Their roof is in desperate need of repair. In the future, the adjacent garage could be turned into rooms. They lack several household appliances and electronics, but Aregnazan does not complain. She is happy to have their own place. The family is optimistic and ready to start their new life from scratch.

In their new garden, the beehives are placed at trees. Robert, who was united with his family after the war, says they belong to his friend but together they will share the honey. The family puppy guards the beehives with pride.

“We will do agriculture work. The kids will attend the school. My 14-year-old daughter is happy; finally, she is not going to change the schools (during the last year she changed 4 of them). My 6-year-old son hasn’t gone to school after the war interrupted his first year three weeks class in Artsakh”, says Aregnaz with a sad smile on her face. She often smiles because realizes that her smile also strengthens her children.

Certainly, the family misses and remembers often their old house in Artsakh where they were happy. Aregnazan misses her two pianos she left behind. For years she used to work in the cultural club of their village where they always used to host concerts. All her kids played musical instruments as well. Like a proud mother, she opens her phone and shows the last video of her children play at Dadivank monastery last year. The family never loses hope and still believes and prays that one day they will go back home to Artsakh.

 

Sports: Lothar Matthäus calls Germany victory over Armenia a “dream evening”

Jirair Kafian
Sept 7 2021

Is Germany getting its mojo back?

By CSmith1919@TheBarrelBlog  Sep 7, 2021, 2:00am CEST







Former Bayern Munich and Germany great Lothar Matthäus was one of the many people ecstatic with Die Mannschaft’s incredibly dominant 6-0 victory over Armenia on Sunday.

Like many fans, Matthäus has watched Germany scuffle and stumble under Joachim Löw for the past six-and-a-half years. German supporters were left yearning for the days when the team looked like it had a purpose and were — gasp — fun to watch.

And while no one — including Matthäus — would dispute that Löw’s early years were wildly successful, his last stretch since the 2014 World Cup was marred by bad decisions, poor strategies, loyalty to the wrong players, and an overall malaise.

Now, though, it seems like there is life back in the squad and Matthäus loves it.

“It was a dream evening of soccer for German soccer. After many years, again a German team that thrilled the fans. It was a super game by the German team and a convincing team performance,” Matthäus said (as captured by Tz). “Standing ovations, the wave went through the stadium five or six times. That was what the team rightly got for their performance.”

Listen to this article at 

Sports: Lichtenstein hold Armenia to 1-1 draw in FIFA World Cup qualifier

Jirair Kafian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 8 2021
September 8, 2021, 22:02

 

Lichtenstein held Armenia to a 1-1 draw in a FIFA World Cup qualifier held in Yerevan.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the score shortly before the end of the first half from a penalty kick.

Lichtenstein ‘s Noah Frick leveled the score in the 80th minute.

Armenia remain second in Group J with 11 points.

Leaders Germany have 12 points and will face Iceland later today.

Armenpress: Azerbaijani MFA sends complaint letter to Russia for using ”Republic of Nagorno Karabakh” term in an official website

Jirair Kafian

Azerbaijani MFA sends complaint letter to Russia for using ''Republic of Nagorno Karabakh'' term in an official website

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 16:55, 4 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The foreign ministry of Azerbaijan sent a complaint letter to Russia for using ‘’Republic of Nagorno Karabakh’’ term in the website of the Unified Information System of the Government of the country, ARMENPRESS was informed from Azerbaijani media.

Th Azerbaijani media outlets note that the Russian side explained it as a ''technical error'', but it has not been eliminated yet.

A Russian governmental website has used the term “Republic of Nagorno Karabakh”, something it has avoided doing in the past.

The term was used in the procurement section of the Russian government’s single information platform in the defense ministry’s bid for buying maintenance services for the barracks of the Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.




Remains of two more fallen serviceman found in Artsakh search operation

Jirair Kafian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 2 2021

Artsakh rescuers on Wednesday found the remains of two fallen Armenian soldier as a result of their search operations for the 2020 Artsakh war casualties.The remains were retrieved from the occupied Jrakan (Jabrayil) region, the State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh’s Interior Ministry reported. The bodies are yet to be identified through a forensic medical examination.

Since the end of hostilities, a total of 1,654 bodies of Armenian soldiers and civilians have been found and recovered from the Artsakh territories temporarily occupied by Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day war unleashed by it.