Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan on November 24-26 met in Moscow with a group of Russian-Armenian entrepreneurs and philanthropists to discuss issues on the implementation of various programs in Artsakh, the Presidential Office reports.
President Sahakyan noted with satisfaction that our compatriots in Russia had been actively involved in the development of Artsakh, expressing hope that the high cooperation dynamic would be preserved in the future too.
Alexander Avanesov. The economy of Armenia is not so large that the key companies are turned off from the national economic circulation. This was stated by the head of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) Andrei Belyaninov at a briefing in Moscow on November 22 on the occasion of the completion of the annual meeting of the bank.
According to him, the political situation in Armenia is not critical, the republic is a full member of the EDB. The projects that the bank is implementing in Armenia are being specified and many programs are in working condition, under study. "I would not want to link everything with the political situation in the country, time will tell. We have no intention to offend our shareholder, since all shareholders are equal regardless of the size of contributions. The internal political situation in Armenia is an internal affair of Armenia. I had the opportunity to meet with Nikol Pashinyan, who pointed out the importance of paying taxes in the country: "Pay taxes – sleep well".
"Companies that behave in good order and for which there are no complaints are full-fledged participants in the business, especially since we are talking about leading companies in the country, such as Spike, YUKOM and the Electric Network of Armenia. We have been working with these projects for almost a year, and they are good, "said Belyaninov. According to him, when the bank assessed projects, it also assessed the risks. "The risks are certainly scary, but we are working to close these risks, therefore, the EDB is not afraid of the situation in Armenia," the head of the EDB said.
The captain of the Armenian national team, Arsenal midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, has been included in the symbolic team of the Nations League Division D group phase, by Whoscored.com. index. He was awarded 7.77 points.
During the group tournament six matches, Mkhitaryan scored one goal and made four goal transfers. The team of Macedonia leads Group D.
Yerevan
Naira Badalyan. The Republican Party and the Free Democrats will go to early parliamentary elections as part of the We bloc. The corresponding memorandum was signed on November 10 by party leaders – Aram Sargsyan and Khachatur Kokobelyan.
According to Aram Sargsyan, the "We" bloc holds the view that the velvet revolution in Armenia will achieve its final goal if there are important changes in both the domestic and foreign policy of the republic. Note that in December 2016 the Enlightened Armenia Party (the leader – Edmon Marukyan), "Republic" (leader – Aram Sargsyan) and "Civil Contract" (leader – Nikol Pashinyan) announced the unification into the "Elk" bloc and jointly participated in the parliamentary elections in spring 2016. In the last elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan, the Republic Party took part, together with Enlightened Armenia, with the Luys bloc. Meanwhile, on November 4, the Enlightened Armenia Party announced that as a result of lengthy discussions with the Republic Party, it decided to independently participate in the upcoming elections to the National Assembly according to its list – with its own vision and program.
Early parliamentary elections will be held on December 9, 2018. About 3 billion drams will be directed to the organization and holding of parliamentary elections. The campaign starts on November 26th. Parties and blocks may submit applications for participation before 6 pm on 14 November. Registration at the CEC is held until 6 pm on November 19. The time for campaigning is November 26 – December 7. According to IC, a period of 12 days is granted.
Alexander Avanesov. The South Caucasus Railway Company, which is the concession manager of Armenia's railways, assesses certain provisions of the draft resolution of the Government of Armenia "On the approval of the railway infrastructure development strategy" as not corresponding to the current realities.
SCR reports that in the process of preparing the document it was not agreed upon and was not discussed with the company that most fully possesses information in this restricted professional field. Judging by the text of the document, its authors do not have information regarding the real situation. As a result the draft includes provisions and assessments that do not reflect the current state of affairs and contradict individual points of the concession agreement on the basis of which SCR operates.
Assessing the current situation with the railway infrastructure, which is managed by SCR, the drafters of the document obviously took as a basis the realities of 2008, when the Company had just took over the management of the assets of the Armenian railway. The Decree of the Government of Armenia N1497-H of October 12, 2006, describes in detail, to put it mildly, the depressing situation in this area when the volume of deferred investments of the Armenian Railway was $ 112.5 million.
Meanwhile, since 2008, about 110 billion drams have been invested in the reconstruction and modernization of the railway infrastructure, the renewal of rolling stock and the formation of a modern machine-building complex on the basis of the Gyumri and Yerevan locomotive depots and the Gyumri wagon depot. 463 km of track and 40 bridges were also repaired. In addition, a program has been launched to upgrade the suburban passenger train, which will be fully implemented in the 2020s. A new modern electric train has been launched, which runs in the Yerevan-Gyumri route. At the same time, a comprehensive investment program for rolling stock fleet renewal is being worked out.
As a result, over the 10 years of SCR activity, the number of transport accidents (security status indicator) on the railway decreased 6-fold, the failures of technical means of power supply – 4-fold, the failures of technical means of railway automatics – 10-fold. The average train speed increased from 25 km / h to 60 km / h (in some cases up to 100 km / h), 8 large station complexes were modernized, labor productivity increased by 46%, new technologies were introduced in Armenia. The complex of these measures led to a multiple decrease in emergency events. Thus, if in the first year of SCR operation, in 2008, 151 coming- offs of organized trains (including 4 passenger trains) were recorded on the railway, then in 2017 there was 1 case, and that was not the fault of the SCR employees.
SCR Company, as a company responsible for the development of the strategic railway sector of Armenia, will continue to fulfill its obligations to the state in full scale and is ready to cooperate with all the stakeholders. CJSC "South Caucasus Railway" is a 100% subsidiary of OJSC "Russian Railways" and carries out concession management of Armenian railways. The railway infrastructure of Armenia was transferred to the concession management of SCR CJSC according to the Concession Agreement signed on February 13, 2008. The term of the concession management is 30 years with the right of prolongation for another 10 years.
Marianna Mkrtchyan. The delegation led by Defense Minister of Armenia David Tonoyan had a working visit on October 31 to Kosovo. The Defense Ministry's press service told ArmInfo that the delegation included the head of the RA mission to NATO Gagik Hovhannisyan, the head of the defense policy department of the Defense Ministry Levon Ayvazyan and others.
In Pristina, Tonoyan met with the commander of the forces in Kosovo (KFOR), General Salvatore CUOCI. The latter expressed gratitude to the RA Ministry of Defense for the conscientious service of the Armenian peacekeepers involved in the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. In turn, Tonoyan stressed the importance of assistance provided by the commander of KFOR to the Armenian peacekeeping mission.
On the same day, the Defense Minister met with the Armenian contingent carrying out the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. The contingent commander Karen Davtyan reported on the functions assigned to them, assigned tasks, and raised other issues related to the performance of service. Tonoyan examined the military base, familiarized himself with the conditions of service.
The Armenian delegation also visited the ''Slatina'' military airfield, where the Armenian contingent is serving, got acquainted with the conditions and gave the necessary instructions to the command.
YEREVAN, November 1. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan unveiled today his position on the Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, when speaking at an extraordinary session of the parliament.
Pashinyan said the borders of two of Armenia’s four neighboring countries, Turkey and Azerbaijan, are closed and the borders with the other two –Iran and Georgia – are partially closed. Regarding Iran, he said the border with it may be closed because of geopolitical developments and that with Georgia because of weather conditions.
“It turns out that Armenia is an island without a sea and this largely explains some of our foreign policy approaches. As for Armenia, it is ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions,” said Pashinyan.
According to Pashinyan, Armenia’s desire to establish relations with Turkey in no way belittles the issue of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, since this is a matter of international security.
He said Armenia is ready to open borders with Turkey without preconditions, moreover, from the Armenian side it is not closed. It is Turkey that closed its border because of the Karabakh conflict.
"If someone believes that they can force Armenia to one or another Karabakh settlement option they are wrong. We are ready for negotiations, but we will never make a step under pressure and coercion. On the contrary, we will strengthen, unite and achieve our national goals," said Pashinyan.
Armenian former President Serzh Sargsyan declared on March 1 the Armenian-Turkish protocols void and null. In 2009, on October 10, Armenia and Turkey signed "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" and the "Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations" in Zurich which were to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.
However, on 22 April 2010, the president of Armenia signed a decree suspending the ratification of the protocols, stating that Turkey was not ready to continue the process, since it became known that the protocols had been automatically removed from the Turkish parliament’s agenda.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations; the border between the two countries was closed in 1993 by Ankara in solidarity with Azerbaijan. Relations between Armenia and Turkey remain tense because of Ankara’s biased stance on Karabakh problem and its painful reaction to Armenia’s efforts to obtain worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide, committed by the Ottoman Turkey during World War I. -0-
In order to reduce the radiation background, c
St. Akhtala Church Construction works are being carried out since September 25 in the yard of the church. The expert group of the American University of Armenia has conducted research and found out that the radiation in the area is high.
A fundraising event was organized to solve the problem, and the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund also participated.
The donated funds were directed to organization of radiation reduction activities and improvement of church territory. The soil layer is first flattened and then coated with a protective film.
More information is in “Ankyun +3” video footage.
Civil Contract party most probably to participate in early parliamentary elections with My Step alliance format
10:37,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Civil Contract party will most probably participate in the upcoming early parliamentary elections with My Step alliance format, acting Prime Minister of Armenia, member of the board of the Civil Contract party Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Armenpress reports.
“Most probably we will participate with My Step alliance format. It is probable that this will happen, but no final decision has been made yet”, the acting PM said.
Asked whether his colleagues from Yelk faction will be in the alliance, Pashinyan said: “I don’t think so since I stated that we will move on with the format of the Yerevan City Council elections”.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Charles Aznavour (Aznavourian, de son vrai nom) avait beau vivre en Suisse, il ne reconnaissait que deux patries : la France et l'Arménie. Né en 1924 à Paris de parents arméniens exilés à Salonique (Grèce) au moment du génocide de 1915, le "Frank Sinatra français" parlait toujours de l'histoire de sa famille arménienne. Charles Varenagh Aznavourian aurait d'ailleurs dû porter le prénom arménien de Shahnourh. Mais il fut finalement francisé en Charles par la sage-femme, indique une biographie parue en 2006.
Cet ouvrage révèle aussi les liens d'amitié étroits qui existaient dans les années 30 entre la famille Aznavourian et un autre Arménien d'origine, entré depuis dans l'Histoire de France : Missak Manouchian, chef du groupe FTP (Francs-tireurs partisans) de "L'affiche rouge", exécuté en février 1944 par les nazis avec 22 autres résistants. Manouchian qui, en 1940, écrit cette phrase prémonitoire à la mère d'Aznavour : "Charles (ndlr : alors adolescent donc) sera l'honneur du peuple arménien, et une gloire pour la France".
Le combat de Charles Aznavour ? Dénoncer l'horreur ce génocide qui a fait plus de 1,5 million de victimes, selon l'Arménie et de nombreux historiens. Cette cause, il en discutait ouvertement en 1975 pour le 60e anniversaire du génocide arménien à travers une chanson marquante : "Ils sont tombés", dont les paroles résonnent encore aujourd'hui ("Tombés sans trop savoir pourquoi/Hommes, femmes et enfants qui ne voulaient que vivre/Avec des gestes lourds comme des hommes ivres/Mutilés, massacrés les yeux ouverts d'effroi/Ils sont tombés en invoquant leur Dieu"). Et la chanson de se terminer par "Je suis de ce peuple qui dort sans sépulture".
C'était également en 1975 que commençait une série de quelques quatre-vingt attentats de l'Armée secrète de libération de l'Arménie (Asala). Au total, 50 morts jusqu'en 1984 -dont un carnage à Orly en 1983. Basé au Liban, ce groupuscule tendance marxiste-léniniste était majoritairement composé d'Arméniens de la diaspora et voulait que l'Etat turc reconnaisse le génocide de 1915. En 1981, l’"Opération Van", une prise d'otages à l'Ambassade de Turquie à Paris, a notamment marqué les esprits. Les quatre auteurs furent arrêtés. Envers et contre tous, Aznavour les a soutenus jusqu'au bout, dispensant un témoignage en leur faveur à travers une lettre lue lors du procès en appel.
Toute son existence, Charles Aznavour avait toujours tenu à préciser ses positions à l'égard de l'Etat turc et du peuple turc sur le génocide arménien. En 2014, à la déclaration de Recep Tayyip Erdogan, alors Premier ministre turc, qui avait présenté les condoléances de la Turquie "aux petits-enfants des Arméniens tués en 1915", le chanteur avait estimé que cela ne devait pas être lu comme "une reconnaissance du génocide, pas plus qu'une présentation d'excuses de la part de la Turquie". Faisant allusion à sa "nature optimiste d'éternel artiste", il disait cependant vouloir croire "en l'installation d'un dialogue entre les deux parties permettant de faire face aux réalités du fait historique".
Et quelques années plus tôt, en 1998, il s'était déclaré "soulagé" après le vote de l'Assemblée nationale reconnaissant "politiquement" au nom de la France "le génocide arménien de 1915", car "tout peuple a le droit d'écrire son histoire et les Arméniens ont été gommés de la face du monde".
"Pour toi, Arménie"
Les liens de Charles Aznavour avec l'Arménie n'étaient évidemment pas que politiques, mais aussi affectifs. En 1988, après le tremblement de terre ayant dévasté le nord du pays et coûté la vie à environ 25.000 personnes, il fonde alors le comité "Aznavour pour l'Arménie" pour collecter des fonds. Il se rend ensuite place pour écrire le texte de la chanson humanitaire "Pour toi Arménie", enregistrée début 1989. Réunissant pas moins de 90 artistes, elle sera vendue à plus d'un million d'exemplaires. Un succès ayant contribué à la nomination du chanteur comme ambassadeur permanent en Arménie par l'Unesco.
Cet amour de Charles Aznavour pour l'Arménie était également réciproque. En 1996, le réalisateur Atom Egoyan veut ainsi faire un film avec lui sur la diaspora arménienne, conçu comme un travail de mémoire. Ce sera Ararat en 2002 et l'oeuvre sera présentée au Festival de Cannes. Un an plus tôt, une place d'Erevan avait été baptisée au nom de Charles Aznavour, avec une statue à son effigie. En 2004, pour ses 80 ans, le chanteur est même nommé "héros national" du pays par le président Robert Kotcharian. En 2008, son successeur, Serge Sarkissian, lui confère la citoyenneté arménienne. Un passeport diplomatique arménien que Charles Aznavour considérait comme la "juste récompense d'un engagement sans faille" et qui faisait sa fierté.
En 2016, le chanteur, célèbre aussi aux Etats-Unis, reçut une étoile d'honneur à Hollywood, remise par la communauté arménienne de Los Angeles, une des plus importantes au monde : "Ce qui m'amuse beaucoup, c'est que la Turquie a raté quelque chose, ils n'ont pas un seul grand chanteur", avait-il lancé en recevant cette distinction honorifique. "Ce qui prouve que les génocides ne servent à rien, il y a toujours des survivants."
https://www.lci.fr/people/aznavour-porte-drapeau-de-la-diaspora-armenienne-pourquoi-la-reconnaissance-du-genocide-turquie-de-1915-etait-le-combat-de-sa-vie-2100089.html