Author: Lilit Nahapetian

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister David Tonoyan received today Ambassador Pierre Andrieu, French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Issues related to the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact were discussed.

David Tonoyan briefed Ambassador Andrieu on the details of the increased tensions at the line of contact and the consequences of ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan.

The parties stressed the inadmissibility of further tension at the frontline and emphasized the importance of demonstrating a constructive approach in the negotiation process.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the establishment of an atmosphere of trust and the perspectives of maintenance of the ceasefire regime.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has discussed the urgent issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlemen with co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (US, France, Russia, OSCE), TASS reports, quoting the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“Urgent issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, the current situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the contact line were discussed,” the ministry said.

“The Minsk Group Co-Chairs are committed to seeking new solutions and implementing the existing ones towards the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” Lavros said Sunday.

“I’m very glad for this opportunity to compare notes and see what else we can do in addition to the steps taken to achieve progress in the settlement process,” the Russian Foreign Minister said at the beginning of the meeting with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

“Every co-chairing country is committed to the process, be it a French, American or Russian initiative in this direction,” Minister Lavrov said.

After a nearly decade-long process working closely with the Kansas National Guard, the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade earned certification as a NATO partner following a large-scale exercise in the Republic of Armenia Sept. 15-18, according to 

The brigade earned the accreditation by passing NATO Evaluation Level 2 of the Operational Capabilities Concept of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program. The endorsement certifies Armenia’s capabilities to support NATO peacekeeping operations worldwide and adds them to the NATO Pool of Forces.

Command and control, communication, logistics, tactics, techniques and procedures were all under the microscope as four evaluation teams analyzed the various metrics and performance measures under the close supervision of a team of NATO monitors representing Germany, Austria, Ukraine, France and Sweden.

The brigade was evaluated according to NATO standards to ensure operational readiness.

Lt. Col. Ingo Schoeppler, Armed Forces of Germany, serves as a NATO monitor and noted the improvements he has seen.

“We witnessed that the Peacekeeping Brigade is in great shape with motivated, well-trained, young and experienced soldiers and are a very strong partner to the NATO alliance,” Schoeppler said.

Schoeppler also credited the Kansas National Guard’s efforts in helping Armenia in this certification process. Kansas and Armenia are partners in the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program.

The State Partnership Program builds relationships between a state’s National Guard and the armed forces or equivalent of a partner country in a cooperative, mutually-beneficial relationship.

“NATO is extremely grateful that the Kansas National Guard has such a close cooperation to Armenia and especially to this peacekeeping brigade,” said Schoeppler. “The Kansas National Guard plays a crucial part in the success and improvement of the capacity and capabilities of the unit.”

The exercise scenario played out over the course of 76 hours as Armenian soldiers were evaluated in three phases beginning with an in-barracks inspection focused on reviewing the units’ documentation and plans followed by a field inspection and live exercise.

The Kansas National Guard OCC team has had many interactions with their Armenian counterparts since being partnered in 2003. One month prior to the exercise, a nine-Soldier Kansas Guard team visited Armenia to assist with evaluation preparations.

“The peacekeeping brigade has improved vastly,” said Lt. Col. Richard Fisher, officer in charge of the KSARNG OCC team. “My first time in Armenia was in 2003. One thing that hasn’t changed is the motivation, professionalism and dedication of the soldiers.”

Fisher worked closely with Armenian Lt. Col. Armen Martirosyan in evaluating staff procedures.

“There’s a huge improvement both in procedures and paperwork, and performance as well,” said Martirosyan. “From my personal point of view, I’m very happy with what we’ve seen this year.”

Master Sgt. Samantha Wier, who has served as logistics subject matter expert on a number of information sharing trips to Armenia, also remarked on the improvement in Armenia’s forces.

“I’ve seen tremendous progress,” said Wier. “The Armenian army has their own version of how they manage to do things, but they have come a very long way in embracing the NATO tactics and paperwork, supply chain and systems that were unfamiliar to them.”

According to Wier, working with her Armenian counterparts is a give and take relationship.

“I enjoy working with my Armenian counterparts,” she said. “They enjoy practicing English with us. They’re very jovial, very smart in their fields. I’ve learned so many things that I can take back with me for my logistics career.”

 

There is a growing belief within the US government that the Islamic State militant group is making and using crude chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria, a US official has told the BBC.

The US has identified at least four occasions on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border where IS has used mustard agents, the official said.

The official said the chemical was being used in powder form.

The US believes the group has a cell dedicated to building these weapons.

“They’re using mustard,” the individual said of IS. “We know they are.”

The mustard agent was probably being used in powder form and packed into traditional explosives like mortar rounds, the official said.

“We’ve seen them use it on at least four separate occasions on both sides of the border – both Iraq and Syria.”

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) announces the launch of Im Armenia [My Armenia], a new travel app that takes children on a virtual journey through Yerevan and its surroundings. Im Armenia is the first travel guide to introduce children to the sites of Armenia in a fun and interactive way.

Im Armenia teaches basic vocabulary words in Eastern Armenian, offers easy-to-navigate maps and colorful graphics of some of the country’s most popular tourist attractions, including Holy Etchmiadzin, Matenadaran, Sardarapat, Cascade and many more. Users can take their own pictures, select photos from the gallery and write their thoughts in a journal at each location.

The app can be used by children of all ages to prepare them for their trip to Armenia, to keep them engaged on their trip and to spark curiosity about the country. “We just took our kids to Armenia for the first time and they loved using Im Armenia! They loved setting up their profile and reading about each site before getting there. It was fun and exciting for them to find some of the hidden symbols at each site,” said Maria Stepanian, a mother of children ages 11 and 14.

Designed for both iPhone and iPad, Im Armenia is available for download through the App Store for Apple devices and Google Play for Android devices. The app is currently available in English and plans are in the works to develop versions in French, Spanish and other languages of the diaspora. “This beautifully illustrated app offers many ways to learn about Yerevan. We have plans to expand outside of the city and into the diverse regions of Armenia with future versions,” said Natalie Gabrelian, Director of Scholarships and Alternative Education at AGBU.

Im Armenia is part of AGBU Education Innovation, a series of quality Armenian e-products for children, parents and teachers that strives to make educational apps, e-books and online language courses readily available to all. Earlier this year, AGBU Education Innovation released Exploring Yerevan: A Look Inside the City’s Past & Present, the second in its series of interactive e-books by the Armenian Virtual College (AVC).

The pioneering multimedia e-book series is designed to offer historical, social and demographic information to readers interested in visiting Yerevan or learning about the city. The e-book offers a variety of information, ranging from city tours and hikes to cultural and social events. Videos, interactive maps, virtual visits, picture galleries, 3D and panoramic images and puzzles are used to introduce readers to the city and its surrounding areas.

“With a groundbreaking presentation and a fresh wave of information, the Exploring Yerevan e-book is a perfect resource for anyone who wants to make the most out of their visit to Yerevan and learn about one of the oldest cities in the world. I am sure this book will acquire a broad readership and will contribute to making Yerevan one of the best touristic destinations in the world,” said Dr. Yervant Zorian, AVC founder and president.

The English version of the e-book will be accompanied by Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, Russian, French, Spanish and Turkish translations. Exploring Yerevan is preceded by the first AGBU AVC e-book, The Armenian Highland, released in 2014. Both books are available for free download and online browsing on computers and mobile devices through the Apple iBook store, the AVC website and AGBU online bookstore.

President Serzh Sargsyan took part today in the solemn opening ceremony of the 6th Pan-Armenian Summer Games at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium. The president made an opening speech.

Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan on the Opening of the 6th Pan-Armenian Summer Games

Dear compatriots,

I cordially welcome all the participants and guests of the 6th Pan-Armenian Summer Games. On behalf of all of us, I would like to say to our diaspora sisters and brothers welcome to the homeland, welcome to mother Armenia.

The Olympic Movement truly accomplishes a great and crucial mission in the present-day world. All countries and peoples consider it an honor to take part in that movement. Undoubtedly, the Olympic Games, too, are based on healthy competition, fair struggle and on the postulate that the winner is the strongest, where the most important principle is participation, not victory.

When organizing the Pan-Armenian Games, our first goal was to ensure the broadest participation so that sports and a healthy way of life reach every one of us. Moreover, it is very important for sports to unite people and become one of the realities consolidating our people all over the world.

Dear athletes,

I am confident that you keep these central values burning in your hearts. The sports teams that have arrived here to take part in the 6th Pan-Armenian Games come from different countries of the world.

Let us look and see what progress we have made over these 16 years. In relation to the first games held in 1999, the number of participating countries has increased by one third, rising from 23 to 36. The number of participating cities has grown two and a half times, rising from 63 to 175, and the number of athletes has increased six times, rising from 1141 to 6352. The number of sports categories has grown from seven to 17.

Many of you represent already the 4th or 5th generation born in the diaspora. There are people among you who have visited their homeland for the first time. There are people who find it hard to talk Armenian. But Armenia is always in their soul, and Armenia’s heart is open to them.

All the people present here are bound together by one commonality – the Armenian identity. No matter how many new and different additional strata of identities are added, Armenianness, being Armenians is our mother identity. It is that very identity that in this year marked by Armenian Genocide commemorative events makes us repeat the slogan of 2015 – “I Remember and Demand.”

Dear friends,

Today, representatives from the younger generations of different communities in mother Armenia, Artsakh and the diaspora are taking part in this solemn ceremony.

During the games, you must compete in a way befitting Armenians, i.e. fairly and justly, in a true Olympic spirit. During these days, you will find new friends, and will keep the fire of that friendship burning throughout your entire lives. I strongly believe that the flame of the Pan-Armenian Games will keep on guiding you for many years to come.

Congratulating all of us, I would like to announce the opening of the 6th Pan-Armenian Games.

Thank you.

The Uniting Church in Australia has formally acknowledged that the Armenian massacres and forced deportations constitute a genocide.

The UCA is the third denomination at a national level to acknowledge the genocide that took place 100 years ago.

Carried out during and after World War I under the Turkish Government, the genocide was implemented in two phases – the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour.

This was followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert.

Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre.

The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at 1.5 million. A further one million were displaced.

Rev. Dr Krikor Youmshajekian from St Andrews Longueville Uniting Church  and former minister at the Willoughby Armenian Evangelical Uniting Church of Sydney addressed the Assembly.

“In the years of 1915-1918, the Armenian people were under the grip of annihilation and the brutal plans of genocide – but God saved this first Christian nation from being wiped out, said Rev. Dr Youmshajekian.

Rev. Dr Youmshajekian said that many countries and many communities in Australia had been involved in providing support, relief, food, and safe places for the Armenian people to live.

“By accepting this proposal the assembly will keep the story of the first Christian nation alive,” he said, giving thanks to the many Uniting Church congregations who had held liturgies to commemorate the genocide.

Rev. Dr Chris Walker, National Consultant for Christian Unity Doctrine and Worship, told the Assembly that it was deeply fitting for the Uniting Church to make give this acknowledgement as the Armenian people mark the 100 year anniversary of the Genocide.

Rev. Dr Walker acknowledged that both the World Christian Council and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA)had made statements acknowledging the massacre that took place and the suffering of the Armenian community.

“Accepting this proposal would be an act of ecumenical solidarity with the Armenian people who have suffered so much and continue to do so.”

After the proposal was adopted a prayer was offered by the NSW Moderator Rev. Dr Myung Hwa Park, both sung and spoken in Korean and English.

The 14th Assembly has also agreed to:

• commend the NSW and SA governments in acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and encourage the Federal and other state governments to do the same
• affirm the value of recognising a date on or near the anniversary of the Armenian genocide, as a day of observance and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
• Request the National Consultant Christian Unity, Doctrine and Worship to prepare

 

 

 

Famous English film director Sean McAllister’s film A Syrian Love Story is included in the competition of documentary films of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival.

It is a story of love and family under the conditions of the Syrian crisis. Filmed over five years, A Syrian Love Story charts an incredible odyssey to political freedom in the West. For Raghda and Amer, it is a journey of hope, dreams and despair: for the revolution, their homeland and each other.

“I have tried to avoid politics as much as possible and focus on the love story of a couple, which is more universal than politics,” Sean McAllister told a press conference today.

Having left school at 16, Sean McAllister worked in a variety of factories in the North of England before he picked up a camera and filmed his way into the National Film School, where he graduated in 1996.

His first film, Working for the Enemy was followed up with The Minders and both earned him Royal Television Society Award Nomination. After these came Settlers (2000) and Hull’s Angel in 2002.

From his early films to his more recent international successes, Sean McAllister’s films portray, with characteristic intimacy and frankness, people from different parts of the world who are struggling to survive but are survivors. They are caught up in political and personal conflicts, trying to make sense of the world we live in.

 

 

The United States has asked Switzerland to extradite seven Fifa officials arrested on corruption charges in May, the Swiss authorities say, the BBC reports.

Formal extradition requests were submitted on Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said.

The seven top Fifa executives arrested in Zurich are among 14 Fifa officials indicted on charges of “rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted” corruption.

The charges follow a major inquiry by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FOJ said Zurich police, acting on its behalf, would give the seven Fifa officials a hearing over the extradition requests.

The officials and their lawyers would have 14 days to respond to the request, which could be extended “if sufficient grounds exist”, the FOJ statement said.

After that, the FOJ would give its decision “within a few weeks”, but that warned any ruling could be challenged in both the federal criminal court and the federal supreme court.