Author: Maral Takmazian

Photo: Getty Images

 

Russia says that chemical gas that killed and injured dozens of civilians in a rebel-held town in northern Syria came from rebel weapons on the ground, the BBC reports.

Its defence ministry acknowledged that Syrian planes had attacked the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.

But it said the aircraft had struck a depot producing mines filled with a poisonous substance, for use in Iraq.

The US and others said Syrian planes had dropped chemical weapons, which Damascus denied.

UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll in Khan Sheikhoun at 72, including 20 children.

Today, during his working visit to the Republic of Malta, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the Congress of the European People’s Party held at the “Arena” conference center of the “Intercontinental” hotel in Saint Julian’s. The congress was conducted by the President of the European People’s Party Joseph Daul. The Head of the European Union Donald Tusk, The Head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, The Presidents of states and governments representing the parties which are members to European People’s Party from the EU member states and Eastern Partners and the Leader of the Nationalist Party of Malta Simon Buzitil participated at the Congress.

During the two-day Congress, the spotlight of all the delegates will be the importance of pan European issues and the agenda, specifically, focuses on the political discussions on the essential topic of “The Future of Europe.” They will also turn to the issues of the European neighborhood, the current developments in the sphere of Eastern Partnership and to the current international challenges.

President Serzh Sargsyan made a speech during today’s first plenary session of the congress, in which he touched upon the relations and cooperation between Armenia and the European Union, he stressed the new opportunities and prospects for expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation, and he also touched upon the upcoming parliamentary elections after the constitutional amendments and stressed the importance of the mission and problems of the European big family which is a key milestone in the path of Armenia’s democratization.

The President of the Republic of Armenia expressed the hope that the European Union would succesfully overcome all the problems faced by this stage and all the challenges, continuing its specific mission of spreading peace, stability and development, which would be beneficial for the people of Europe as well as for its partners.

Statement by President Serzh Sargsyan at the Congress of the European People’s Party

Distinguished Mr. President,

Ladies and gentlemen,

At the outset, l’d like to thank President Daul of the European People’s Party for inviting us to attend this event. Of course, I am also sending all my best wishes to the President Mr. Buzitil at the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I’m glad to register that form the very beginning this year has been very active for the Armenia-European Union relations. A historical achievement was registered in February: jointly with President Tusk, we had announced the conclusion of negotiations on the new legal document regulating our relations-Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. It will open up a new page in the relations between Armenia and European Union, and consolidate its institutional foundations, establishing new opportunities for the further expansion and deepening of our partnership.

Armenia-European Union partnership is a success story, a model of a successful partnership that resulted on one hand from Armenia’s consistent European agenda, and on the other – stemmed from the tailor-made approaches of the recent years in EU’s cooperation with the Eastern Partnership nations. Throughout this process Armenia has vividly demonstrated that it has been possible to make compatible various integration processes while harvesting and sowing everything positive and useful, which unite and does not divide nations.

Dear colleagues,

Just in three days from now on, Armenia will hold parliamentary elections. This is going to be an important stage on the path of democratization of my nation since constitutional reform. Taking into account peculiarities of my country’s development we pursue the objective of taking a decisive step towards building a democracy of European model and further strengthening of the democratic institutions. We are committed and spare no effort in order to conduct elections in line with the highest international criteria. All appropriate international structures, such as OSCE/ODIHR, PACE, European Parliament, OSCE and CIS PAs had been invited to Armenia to observe elections.

We are grateful to the European Union and the European People’s Party for standing by us throughout these important processes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Few days ago European communities solemnly celebrated the 60-th Anniversary of the Rome Treaty, which established necessary conditions for the current prosperity and sustainable development of European citizens. We, in Armenia closely follow with great interest both those jubilee events and accompanying discussions. The history of the EU is first and foremost one of jointly settling the issues, overcoming disagreements and, last but not least, jointly building the success.

His Holiness Pope Francis had rightly noted on this occasion: “The founding fathers remind us that Europe is not a conglomeration of rules to obey, or a manual of protocols and procedures to follow. It is a way of life, a way of understanding man based on his transcendent and inalienable dignity.”

We believe that European Union will also successfully overcome all the issues and challenges it faces at this stage and it will continue with its unique mission of peace, stability and development for the benefit of both people of Europe and Europe’s friends.

Thank you.

Photo:PA

UK Parliament has passed the Brexit bill, paving the way for the government to trigger Article 50 so the UK can leave the European Union, the BBC reports.

Peers backed down over the issues of EU residency rights and a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal after their objections were overturned by MPs.

The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent and become law on Tuesday.

 

The Azerbaijani side undertook another attack on the front troops of the Artsakh Republic last night. The enemy incurred losses and was thrown back, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

“The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan had been aggravating the situation at the line of contact for several days and spreading misinformation.

After the losses incurred last night, the Azerbaijani side was again speaking about “attacks” of the Armenian side to mislead its own people and the international community.

“The Armenian side is committed to the maintenance of the ceasefire regime and calls on the Azerbaijani party to refrain from further aggravation of the situation,” the Defense ministry said.

“The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for tension at the line of contact,” the Ministry said.

Twenty-seven Russian citizens arrived in Armenia on internal passports on February 23, spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan has said.

“Twenty-seven citizens of Russia arrived in Armenia on internal passports on the first day,” Balayan tweeted.

The decision of the Armenian government came into force on February 23.

Representatives from Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) visited Yerevan, Armenia, earlier this month to negotiate changes to the terms of the third portion of a loan to Armenia.

According to an EDB press release, the changes aim to optimize parts of the loan and define new terms and conditions based on the changing priorities of the Armenian government. One recommendation included that the government pursue a means of fiscal stability. The parties plan to discuss budget deficit issues again later in the year.

They also discussed a time frame for making social service centers operational, with 20 slated to open in the near future, down from an original 38 planned.

The third installment of the loan is also designed to help make the country more attractive to investors and entrepreneurs and to boost economic activity, increasing access to loans for small- and medium-sized businesses.

The United States has warned Azerbaijan against the attempts to force the closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

“We are very concerned by the situation regarding the OSCE Office in Yerevan,” US Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Kate M. Byrnes told the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

“This office, like all OSCE field missions and institutions, is an important element of the work done by this organization to assist participating states with the implementation of their OSCE commitments,” she said.

“Should the Office in Yerevan be forced to close, this will reflect poorly on Azerbaijan and its government’s commitment to the OSCE,” Byrnes warned.

She urged the government of Azerbaijan “to constructively engage in finding a compromise solution as soon as possible that will allow the office in Yerevan to remain open.”

The situation was relatively calm at the line of contact between the armed force of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival violated the ceasefire about 15 times in due period, firing over 140 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces used an antitank grenade launcher in the eastern direction, the Ministry said.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army refrained from response actions and continued with the reliable protection of the military posts.

On January 24, 2017, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the north-west of Seysulan village of the NKR Martakert region.

From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic) and Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria), Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative Simon Tiller (Great Britain), and staff member of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Peter Svedberg (Sweden).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. No violation of the cease-fire regime was registered.

From the Karabakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.

With the financial support of the Devecyan, Ekserciyan families and Krikor Simsiroglu of Argentina, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is building a buckwheat-processing factory in Bavra, a village in Armenia’s Shirak Region. The project is being implemented in partnership with the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), through the latter’s buckwheat-cultivation program. Launched in Armenia in 2015, the program provides local farmers with agricultural equipment as well as training. Armenia’s first buckwheat-processing factory was opened on December 6 in the village of Tsovagyugh, with the support of ENPARD.

Bavra’s buckwheat factory will be housed in a former agricultural building. To date, crews have renovated the structure’s walls, ceilings, and floors, and installed a new roof as well as new windows, and gates. In addition, ENPARD is connecting the building to the power grid. The next phase of the project will include the installation of electrical, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and gas systems, exterior and interior decoration, and the construction of an adjacent lab. The project is slated to be completed by the summer of 2017.

Koryun Sumbulyan, the future factory’s manager, says that it will serve cooperatives of close to 430 farmers throughout the regions of Shirak, Lori, and Aragatsotn. “Buckwheat production is a new development in Armenia,” Sumbulyan says. “Our climate is ideal for growing this crop, and already we have reaped our first harvest. I think within a few years we will be able to produce up to 9,000 tons of buckwheat annually at our factory, thereby meeting local demand at affordable prices.”

Bavra is the gateway to Northern Armenia. In the past three years, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has built a community center, a playground, and a sports field in the village, all through the sponsorship of the Devecyan family.