Mike Maghakian – Page 55 – Armenian Directory & News

Sports: As World Cup approaches, a budding team has no opponents

May 19, 2018May 19, 2018 Mike Maghakian

Associated Press International / Washington Post

Thursday 9:45 AM GMT

As World Cup approaches, a budding team has no opponents

By DAVID KEYTON, Associated Press

In this Friday, May 11, 2018 photo, an army officer prepares for training as his teammates listen to the coach of the soccer national team of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, in Stepanakert, the capital of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ethnic Armenian team has the shirts and the shoes, and even practices five days each week on an artificial field a short distance from the center of Stepanakert. The reason for the lack of opponents has nothing to do with sports and everything to do with politics. UEFA and FIFA have a general policy of not allowing teams into competition if they don’t represent an internationally recognized country or territory. (Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press)

DATELINE: STEPANAKERT

STEPANAKERT (AP) – With the World Cup less than a month away, there is a budding national team in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with no one to play against.

The ethnic Armenian team in the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh has the shirts and the shoes, and even practices five days each week on an artificial field a short distance from the center of Stepanakert, the territory's capital. But that's about as far as the team goes.

"UEFA doesn't let us participate anywhere," said Artsakh defender Aram Kostandyan, who wishes he could inspire the younger generation of players and show them "why they are playing football."

The reason for the lack of opponents has nothing to do with sports and everything to do with politics.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region, as it's known by its Soviet name, is considered part of neighboring Azerbaijan by the international community, located just north of Iran in the South Caucasus region. But since a six-year separatist war ended in 1994, it has been controlled by the local ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

Living in a state of frozen conflict, the de facto Republic of Artsakh – in reference to the name of the region before Soviet times – is unrecognized by international institutions and the people of the region are prohibited from taking part in most international activities under their national flag.

UEFA and FIFA have a general policy of not allowing teams into competition if they don't represent an internationally recognized country or territory. That policy was weakened when Gibraltar and Kosovo joined FIFA in 2016 despite being only partially recognized.

The Artsakh national team has made several unsuccessful requests for UEFA membership, the last time in 2017.

Compounding political sensitivities is an Azerbaijani team playing under the name of Qarabag which made it to the Champions League this year. The team was previously based in Agdam, a town in occupied territory adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh that was entirely destroyed during the 1988-94 war. Today, they are based in Baku, supported financially by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's government and with a fan base of refugees and their descendants.

"They represent one country, we represent another," Artsakh coach Slavik Gabrielyan. "We see them using this name as a political statement."

The reality of life playing soccer in Nagorno-Karabakh is vastly different from the splendor of the Champions League.

A mud road leads to the entrance of the Stepanakert Republican Stadium and an old Lada car is parked on the track circling the field. Metal scraps rust away on the edge of the stands, and a youth team is practicing at the other end.

All the players are professionals, but with a salary of about $120 per month, most cannot survive solely on soccer.

Midfielder Arsen Sargsyan played in the Armenian league for more than seven years, but has now returned to Stepanakert. Besides playing soccer, Sargsyan also has a small business, helps out on the farms, and generally does "every job I can get my hands on."

Despite the hardship, the team says it is united and holds on to the hope that one day it will be able to make the locals proud.

The few tournaments they can partake in involve other unrecognized states, or the pan-Armenian games which take place every four years. In 2015, they won that tournament by beating a team of Russians living in Armenia.

"The Karabakh spirit is very high," Sargsyan said with a smile as he spoke about a future where the Artsakh team can "play under our country's flag."

That's something pretty much everyone with the team can agree on.

"We have hope. We believe," said Gabrielyan, who has spent 18 years as a player and 30 as a coach. "This grassy field is my second home. Look how beautiful it is with its two goals on each side."

168: Convers Bank has commenced placement of bonds in three currencies (photos)

May 11, 2018May 11, 2018 Mike Maghakian

| 10:07 | May 10 2018

Armenia needs social and political reforms, says president’s adviser

May 8, 2018May 8, 2018 Mike Maghakian

TASS, Russia

May 7 2018

YEREVAN, May 7./TASS/. Armenia needs social and political reforms, president’s adviser Tevan Poghosyan told TASS on Monday.

"We must all change and realize that if we have become a country which has the supremacy of the statute law, a lot depends on our actions," Poghosyan said, urging the society and political forces to work towards reforming the country.

Poghosyan was appointed adviser to President Armen Sarkissian on May 4. In 2012, politically uncommitted Tevan Poghosyan was elected to the country’s parliament from the opposition Heritage Party, having a parliamentary seat until 2017.

Mass opposition rallies broke out in Armenia on April 13. Ten days later on April 23, Armenia's then-newly appointed Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned amid the ongoing unrest. Deputy Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan was appointed as Acting Prime Minister. Two days later, the ruling parliamentary coalition collapsed following the exit of the Dashnaktsutyun party.

On May 1, Armenia’s parliament rejected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan’s bid to become prime minister. Pashinyan was backed by 45 lawmakers, but failed to obtain the 53 seats he needed to have a majority. After that, he called on his supporters to continue large-scale civil disobedience actions.

Turkish press: Armenians protest as acting leader suggests new elections

April 27, 2018April 27, 2018 Mike Maghakian

15:50:24

Police took up positions in the center of the Armenian capital on April 25 as tens of thousands of people protested against the ruling elite and the acting prime minister suggested new parliamentary elections to defuse the political crisis.

“The fight is not over!,” said 21-year-old Susana Adamyan, one of the demonstrators, who was clutching a placard calling on people to take a stand as policemen looked on.

Other protesters, many of them young people, held portraits of government officials whose faces had been crossed out with red paint.

Though protests have so far been peaceful, the sudden upheaval has threatened to destabilize Armenia, a Russian ally in a volatile region riven by its decades-long, low-level conflict with Azerbaijan.

Moscow, which has two military bases in Armenia, is closely watching events.

The crisis has seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets in anti-government protests in the last two weeks and looked to have peaked on April 23 when Serzh Sargsyan, the object of protesters’ fury, resigned as prime minister.

Demonstrators, led by opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, had accused Sargsyan of manipulating the constitution to cling to power and crowds wildly celebrated after he quit.

Pashinyan had been due to hold talks with Karen Karapetyan, the acting prime minister, to decide on the next steps.

Those talks were canceled after the two sides failed to agree an agenda.

Karapetyan suggested on April 25 that early parliamentary elections be held so as to test the level of popular support for Pashinyan and his potential viability as prime minister.

“What does ‘people’s candidate’ mean?,” Karapetyan told a news conference.

“I don’t know any country where a prime minister is chosen like that. There are elections for that. If he [Pashinyan] is the people’s choice, that means the people will choose him.”

The economy of the landlocked South Caucasus country of three million would face problems if the crisis continued, Karapetyan said.
He did not say when new elections might be held.

In a sign the unrest could already be affecting the economy, Pashinyan said protesters had blocked a customs post at the border with neighboring Georgia.

Separately, President Armen Sarkissian said he would start talks with political forces to try to resolve the crisis.

“I am starting consultations with parliamentary and non-parliamentary representatives to discuss the situation that has been come about in the country and a way out of it,” Sarkissian said in a statement.

Although thousands of people have taken to the streets and rallied behind him, political forces in parliament loyal to protest leader Pashinyan hold only about 8 percent of seats.

However, the second biggest party in parliament said on April 25 it was joining the protest movement and would encourage its supporters to take to the streets.

Armenia, protest, new election law

Armenia’s political crisis explained: What comes next?

April 26, 2018April 26, 2018 Mike Maghakian

dpa international (Englischer Dienst), Germany
 Tuesday 2:18 PM GMT


Armenia's political crisis explained: What comes next?

by Peter Spinella in Moscow

Moscow (dpa) -

Representatives of the country's leadership and political opposition
are expected to meet for negotiations, including the prospect of snap
elections, after the prime minister resigned in less than a week.

Armenia's prime minister, Serzh Sargsyan, tendered his resignation
this week after a series of protests against his rule.

Q: Why did he resign?

A: Sargsyan, 63, was president of the former Soviet republic for a
decade until he reached his term limit this year. He was out of power
for a week and a half before parliament appointed him prime minister
this month.

As Sargsyan promoted his candidacy and then became prime minister,
Armenia's capital, Yerevan, was jolted by several days of protests.

"Sargsyan was not an oppressive leader," said Simon Saradzhyan, an
international affairs expert at Harvard's Belfer Center. "When he
realized that one of the likely alternatives to his resignation is
bloodshed, he stepped down," Saradzhyan told dpa.

Q: What does the political opposition demand?

A: Opposition politicians, led by parliament member Nikol Pashinyan,
had called for Sargsyan to be ousted and snap elections to be held.
Representatives of the country's leadership and opposition are
expected to meet on Wednesday for negotiations.

The government is likely to offer partial concessions in an effort to
divide the protest movement, said Mikael Zolyan, a political analyst
at the Regional Studies Center think tank in Yerevan. "The opposition
will keep up the pressure," Zolyan told dpa. "I suspect continued
protests."

Q: How had the prime minister's powers been increased?

A: Armenia held a national referendum two-and-a-half years ago to
strengthen the authority of the prime minister, directly appointed by
parliament. The political system was thus to be changed from
semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic.

The referendum, firmly backed by the dominant Republican Party of
Armenia, passed amid allegations of vote tampering.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which
independently monitored the vote, had cited in its report "widespread
irregularities, interference and intimidation in the voting and
counting process throughout the country."

Q: What's next?

A: Whether the political opposition will be appeased largely depends
on who the next prime minister will be. Currently, the previous prime
minister, Karen Karapetyan, has resumed the post for the interim.

"The Republican Party controls the majority of seats in parliament, so
while there's a significant change, it is not revolutionary," said
international affairs expert Saradzhyan.

"I hope whoever ends up running the country realizes that there's deep
discontent among the public with socio-economic ills, corruption,
etc," he said.

Armenian opposition leader detained amid political unrest

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018 Mike Maghakian

The Guardian, UK

Armenian opposition leader detained amid political unrest

Nikol Pashinyan ‘forcibly taken’ by police following a meeting with new PM Serzh Sarksyan

Agencies

Sun 22 Apr 2018 11.57 BST Last modified on Sun 22 Apr 2018 15.59 BST

The new Armenian PM Serzh Sarksyan, left, debates Nikol Pashinyan in a televised encounter, shortly before Pashinyan, an opposition leader, was detained. Photograph: Vano Shlamov/AFP/Getty Images

Armenian police have detained the opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as protests against the former president Serzh Sarksyan’s appointment as prime minister entered a tenth day.

Police said Pashinyan was forcibly taken from a rally on Sunday, shortly after Sarksyan rejected demands to step down, as riot police and demonstrators clashed in the capital. Nearly 200 protesters were also detained.

Demonstrators accuse Sarksyan of clinging to power following 10 years as president. Tens of thousands of opponents have marched through Yerevan in recent days, blocking streets in the city centre and staging sit-ins.

Under a revised constitution approved in a 2015 referendum, most state powers in the small, former Soviet state have shifted to the prime minister and the presidency has become a largely ceremonial post. Opponents say the shift effectively makes Sargsyan Armenia’s leader for life.

Sarksyan met Pashinyan, the opposition politician leading the protests, in Yerevan on Sunday but left talks a few minutes after their talks began.

“This is not talks, not a dialogue. It’s just an ultimatum, blackmail of the state, of the legitimate authorities,” Sarksyan told Pashinyan.

He said the opposition had failed to learn the lesson of 1 March, referring to a protest rally after his re-election in 2008 when 10 people were killed in clashes with police.

“No one has dared and will dare speak to us in the language of threats. I am telling you, you have no understanding of the situation in the country. The situation is different to the one you knew 15-20 days ago,” Pashinyan told Sarksyan.

“The situation in Armenia has changed, you don’t have the power of which you are told. In Armenia, the power has passed to the people,” he said.

Pashinyan then vowed to step up pressure on Sarksyan to force him to resign. He was detained hours after the encounter.

“Despite repeated calls to stop illegal rallies, Pashinyan continued leading a demonstration,” police said in a statement, adding that he and two other opposition MPs were forcibly taken from the site as riot police dispersed the rally. They dismissed reports that Pashinyan had been arrested.

Sasun Mikaelyan, an opposition MP, earlier told journalists that Pashinyan had been arrested. “People must liberate Nikol,” he said.

As an MP, Pashinyan is protected by a parliamentary immunityand cannot be arrested without its approval, according to the constitution.

Opposition supporters have criticised 63-year-old Sarksyan over poverty, corruption and the influence of powerful oligarchs in the landlocked South Caucasus nation of 2.9 million people.

More than 70 people were arrested on Saturday, according to authorities, including two people suspected of preparing bombs. In the evening, about 50,000 demonstrators gathered in the capital’s central Republic Square.

AP, Reuters and AFP contributed to this report

New air carrier in sky of Armenia (video)

March 30, 2018March 30, 2018 Mike Maghakian

19:48 | March 29,2018 | Economy
Հայ
Рус

The new air carrier in the sky of Armenia: the Russian company Red Wings has been operating flights to Moscow-Yerevan-Moscow since March 14, according to the company’s head Evgeny Klyucharev, the main feature of Red Wings is the price-quality ratio and high-quality service.

“We cannot call ourselves a low cost carrier, we are a hybrid carrier, in our work there are elements of the low cost concept, we offer a variety of flexible conditions in the issue of tariffs.”

Already on April 3 flights will be operated with a frequency of 7 flights per week, as the company’s general director notes, Red Wings can become a transit carrier for Armenians in Europe.

Flights are carried out by Airbus A320 aircraft.

Aznavour hopes Azerbaijan will not hinder placing of investigative mechanisms on Karabakh conflict line of contact

March 24, 2018March 24, 2018 Mike Maghakian

News.am, Armenia

Aznavour hopes Azerbaijan will not hinder placing of investigative mechanisms on Karabakh conflict line of contact Aznavour hopes Azerbaijan will not hinder placing of investigative mechanisms on Karabakh conflict line of contact

15:04, 23.03.2018

Armenia’s Ambassador to Switzerland, Charles Aznavour, underscores the placing of investigative mechanisms on the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and Azerbaijan, and he expressed the hope that Azerbaijan will not hinder these mechanisms, which the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have called for.

The world-renowned French Armenian singer told about the aforesaid in an interview with UN Special magazine of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland.

Also, Aznavour highlighted the need to fully respect the trilateral (Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia) cease-fire agreements signed in 1994 and consolidated in 1995.

The interview is devoted to the 25th anniversary of Armenia becoming a UN member, as well as to the grand concert that was organized by the embassy of Armenia in Switzerland on November 24, 2017, and in connection with the 25th anniversary of Armenia-Switzerland diplomatic relations.

Ambassador Aznavour reflected also on the importance of Armenia’s membership to UN and the country’s respective commitment to take part in the international community’s efforts to build a peaceful future.

Furthermore, Armenia’s ambassador to Switzerland spoke about Armenia’s active engagement in the activities being carried out by the UN and its agencies. In particular, he reflected on the resolution on genocide prevention, which Armenia initiated in 2015 at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and which condemns genocide as the most terrible crime committed against humanity.

In addition, Charles Aznavour touched upon the 17th Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie, which Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan will host in October, and which, as per Aznavour, will be the “largest event” in the “history of independent Armenia.”

Nearly 20000 Iranians to visit Armenia (video)

March 20, 2018March 20, 2018 Mike Maghakian

15:44 | March 19,2018 | Social
Հայ
Рус

The New Year holidays of our neighbor country, Iran begin tomorrow. Iranians are on tour on Novruz, many come to Armenia, says Iranian expert Tigran Davudyan.

“Only this month, 20,000 Iranians are coming to Armenia.”

Novruz means a new day and is considered one of the oldest holidays in the world.

Traditionally, two weeks before the celebration, wheat is sown on the plate; and tables are decorated with its sprouts, which in Iranian is called khavtsin, as it is necessary to have seven products, which begin with the letter S. The Iranians celebrate Novruz at home, in a family environment, and then visit ther relatives. Novruz lasts for two weeks.

Iranian women entrepreneur Hale Edemandy has been living in Armenia for more than a year now, and her children study at one of Armenia’s universities.

“Nature in Armenia is good and cultures are similar. We feel very welcome here. ” Hale Edemandy is pleased with the Armenians, she says they are warm-hearted and hospitable.

When asked why the Iranians prefer to spend their holidays in Armenia, Hale Edemandy asnwered “In Armenia it is cheaper, unlike Azerbaijan or Turkey. Armenia is more interested in middle class, who do not have money for the plane but can come to Armenia by their own car “.

Russia supports NK conflict’s full format settlement – foreign ministry spox

March 16, 2018March 16, 2018 Mike Maghakian

| 14:03 | March 15 2018