Author: Mike Maghakian

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Vienna on March 13 to participate in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European People’s Party (EPP), Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The Azerbaijani side used weapons of different caliber as it fired more than 900 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions last night, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army mostly refrained from retaliatory actions and confidently continued with their military duty all along the line of contact.

Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia at the “Financing the 2030 Agenda: A discussion on financing for the SDGs building on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda”

Excellencies,

“It always seems impossible until it’s done”: These are the words of Nelson Mandela – a man who made the impossible come true. No matter how ambitious and challenging is the task, the joint determination and synergy of efforts that 50 years ago lay at the foundation of the United Nations Development Program to build a better life for all, without exclusion, should guide our endeavours. We need to act collectively and resolutely to alleviate the plight of the most vulnerable groups and communities, who need it most.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In its Agenda 2030 the international community has reaffirmed the inter-linkages between sustainable development and peace, good governance, human rights and rule of law. Humanitarian response to crisis situations and emergencies consumes significant resources of the international community and takes growing prominence in the global agenda, including within the UN system. Thus, it remains a priority for the UN system to advance its conceptual, normative and operational capacity aimed at strengthening and adapting its prevention function.

With a growing relationship of over 20 years, there have been a number of joint projects implemented in Armenia by the UNDP in key areas such as democratic governance, poverty reduction, integrated border management, the environment protection, and disaster risk reduction. Last year the Government of Armenia and the United Nations signed the third Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which is a strategic document that will guide our cooperation for the period of 2016-2020 reflecting Armenia’s vision and commitment for improving the living standards of its population.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The adoption of the Vienna Programme of Action for the Landlocked Developing Countries and its integration into the Agenda 2030 has been an important step to promote a sustainable and inclusive development agenda. To ensure the effective implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action and mainstream it into our policies, a few weeks ago, our Government adopted a national strategy for its implementation. It will be important to give proper consideration to the implementation of the international commitments to address the specific needs of the landlocked countries within a comprehensive global reporting framework for the Agenda 2030. Such a follow-up and reporting framework should involve multiple stakeholders, including the transit countries.

The focus of our session today has a direct link to the synergies and links between the ongoing developmental processes, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as a number of other important agreements reached earlier – the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the COP 21 landmark agreement.

The conventional approach to financing the Sustainable development goals requires updating from a range of perspectives. Enhancement of infrastructure and sustainable investment, including through blended finance, will be critical to delivering on an ambitious development agenda. Addressing the issue of projects bankability and ensuring public-private solutions to financing projects is an important aspect of Armenia’s work with international financial institutions, in particular, for the infrastructure projects we are currently implementing.

Coherent steps should be taken on a global level to address insufficient investment in infrastructure. The crucial need to bridge the global infrastructure gap has been recognized as an important priority in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. We welcome the international commitment to bridge these gaps, including the annual gap of 1 to 1.5 trillion dollar in the developing countries.

It is important that together with limitations in finance we look at the barriers to sustainable development as well – closed borders, blockades, unduly discriminating trade regimes. The fact that a highly important inter-state railway (Gyumri-Kars) between Armenia and Turkey is not being used in the vital interests of sustainable development and regional connectivity due to an ongoing illegal blockade is a vivid example.

Infrastructure development is a high priority for Armenia, duly reflected in the recently adopted Strategy for Prospective Development for the upcoming decade.

To address the inequalities both within and among nations, we need to continue to promote rules-based, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading systems, in line with the commitments under the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. We share the view that it can effectively contribute to achieving the Sustainable development goals.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

2016 is the first year to follow up on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In holding the Presidency of the Executive Board of the UNDP, Armenia looks forward to continue its cooperation within this organisation on the Sustainable Development Goals and related matters.

Pope Francis is expected to visit Armenia in September 2016, Information Service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin reports.

The issue was discussed today at the sitting of the Supreme Religious Council held under the chairmanship of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

The Mother See keeps in touch with the Vatican to organize the Pope’s visit.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has issued the following statement on World Radio Day:

In times of crisis and emergency, radio can be a lifeline.

For people in shattered societies, or caught in catastrophe, or desperately seeking news, radio brings lifesaving information.

Radio can help in emergency response operations – and it can assist with rebuilding.

Through community radio, local people can raise their voices and be heard.

This year, as we start carrying out the Sustainable Development Goals, let us resolve to use radio for human progress.

In the lead-up to the World Humanitarian Summit this May, let us find ways for radio to do even more to help people in emergencies.

On this World Radio Day, let us resolve to prove that radio saves lives.

Georgian Defense Minister Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli visited Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

If people of different nations know each other, there would be no misunderstanding and gradually they will love each other, says the archbishop of Armenian community and the primate of the diocese of Tehran.

“The new year is, willingly or unwillingly, a new chapter for all people of the world. So, I greet 2016,” Sebouh Sarkissian said, wishing a year full of peace and friendship all over the world.

“We should know each other. That means you have to acknowledge and know your neighbor. Knowledge generates love. That is the key for a better life,” Sarkissian told the .

He said he believed that differences between nations should be narrowed, so that they can develop mutual respect and understanding. This leads to the birth of love in heart and minds of people, Sarkissian noted.

“The problem is that countries do not have trust in each other. So they try to protect themselves and attack others. This issue causes problems and difficulty and enmity.”

“People go away from world of God. No religion in the world encourages killing, war and harming human being. We are all creatures of God. Killing somebody is killing God. Unfortunately, people are not conscious about this fact,” he lamented.

He added human beings are “essentially and existentially religious creatures but nowadays people in different parts of the world suffer from inhumanity caused by politics and worldly interest.”

He called “trust and mutual understanding” the most important things within societies.

Celebrating New Year in Armenian style

“Historically speaking, until the 4th AD, all Christians celebrated the birth of Christ on January 6. After Rome accepted Christianity as the state religion, some Christians began to celebrate December 25 as the birth of Sun-God. However, Armenian churches kept the old tradition and celebrated January 6 as the revelation of God,” he stated.

“In Tehran, Christians gather on the eve of January to celebrate Mass, however, we don’t have such religious rituals and rites related to the New Year,” he explained.

“Before the Armenian genocide [in 1915], we had some traditions to celebrate the New Year in our country. At that time, people lived in their own lands, cities, and villages and they celebrated traditions that came down to them,” he said.

Sarkissian said today Armenians have some traditions and rituals, which depend on the place they live in to celebrate the New Year. For example, he added, in some villages people go to rivers and at 00:00 of January 1 enter the water to clean themselves symbolically for the New Year.

“Actually, such traditions have nothing to do with religion. Most of them are national traditions,” he explained.

He went on to say that in Iran and some Arab countries like Syria and Lebanon, Christians celebrate their New Year freely.

“Our Muslim brothers accompany us during the celebration. However it is not the case in all countries. For example, in Saudi Arabia there is no such thing.

“When I served in Kuwait, I was responsible for the Persian Gulf area, including Saudi Arabia, but I never went there because they don’t allow any religious person enter any Christian region. So, you can imagine how life would be for Christians in that country. They don’t have churches, they don’t have any clergymen. They have to move around and go somewhere else to have their religious rituals,” he lamented.

Iranian Muslims and Armenians are long time neighbors

“I served in Iraq in the beginning of 1970s for four years. I have been in Syria for three and a half years. I was in Lebanon and Kuwait and I have been here since 1999.

“Shia Muslims have always been open-minded toward others and toward Christianity and Iran, especially, has always been the land of coexistence for people of different religions,” Sarkissian boasted.

All Armenians around the world consider Iran as a part of their identity because of the same root, being long time neighbors, and sharing common culture, he pointed out.

“Depending on broad-mindedness and narrow-mindedness of rulers in Iran, the Iranian-Armenian relationship has changed during history, but most of the time they were in peace with each other.

“Our relationship is not new. The good relationship between Persians and Armenians dates back to before the birth of Christ and some of our countrymen moved to Iran during the Safavid era,” he explained.

“Nowadays, Armenians have over 3,000 churches in Iran, including Qareh Kelisa and St. Stephanus, which are part of Iran’s cultural heritage and are supported by the government,” the archbishop noted.

Inter-religious trust and respect

Iranian Muslims and Armenians have a good understanding of each other’s beliefs and rituals. On the last days of December, shops in Armenian neighborhoods in Tehran are decorated with Christmas tree and ornaments.

“Armenians respect their Muslim neighbors during mourning season of Muharram for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions by good willing gestures.

“I am respecting you because you are keeping firmly to religious tradition. I understand Islam because I studied about Islam and my master thesis is about event of Karbala and martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS),” he remarked.

He was right. We were old good neighbors who were with each other during hard days of Iran’s history. When I was leaving the church, I was imbued with good feelings of respect and friendship and I think that is all it should be!

A rare pressing of the Beatles’ White Album from Ringo Starr’s record collection has sold at auction for $790,000, the Associated Press reports.

Julien’s Auctions says an anonymous buyer made the purchase Saturday at a sale in Beverly Hills, California. The mono pressing was the very first in the United Kingdom of the 1968 album.

The auction house said the White Album sale smashed a record set in 2015, when Elvis Presley’s first acetate recording sold at auction for $300,000. It followed a sale on Friday of one of Starr’s early drum kits for $2.2 million to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

The two-day auction included over 800 items owned by Starr and his wife, actress Barbara Bach. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the couple’s Lotus Children Foundation.

 

 

 

Expert of Turkish studies Gevorg Petrosyan advises to look back at the start of the Syrian crisis in order to understand why Turkey shot down the Russian jet.

“While Russia was backing Assad from day one, Turkey was doing its best to overthrow him, Petrosyan said.

He added, however, the discrepancies never halted the economic cooperation between the two countries.

“Ankara could no longer tolerate Russia’s military presence in Syria, because it was against Turkey’s interests, which was, in turn, trying to reinforce its positions in Syria and support the forces fighting against Bashar Al-Assad,” the expert said.

How will the escalation of tension in Russian-Turkish relations affect Armenia? According to Gevorg Petrosyan, any “extremity” in those relations goes against Armenian interests. The expert said, however, he does not see a threat of large-scale war between Russia and Turkey, but added that Moscow will definitely find a way to hit back, e. g. by downing a Turkish jet crossing the Syrian border.

According to Petrosyan, Turkey will suffer serious losses on the economic front, particularly in the fields of energy and tourism.

“This country has found itself in a difficult situation, as the West has changed its attitude towards the warm relations between Turkey and the Islamic State after the Paris attacks,” the expert said.

What is the supreme interest that unites Turkey and the Islamic State? Petrosyan says it’s the factor of Kurds, which both are fighting. “Turkey’s ultimate goal is to prevent the formation of a Kurdish state close to its border.”

The Kremlin believes that the forthcoming visit of French President Francois Hollande to Washington and Moscow as a step towards creation of anti-terrorist coalition, Russian Presidential aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters on Friday, Reuters reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Hollande in Moscow on Nov. 26 to discuss fighting against terrorism and Syrian crisis, Ushakov said.

“Before Moscow, French President will visit Washington, and we consider it as a creation of the widest anti-terrorist coalition,” he said, adding that Putin and Hollande would meet again during a conference in Paris on Nov. 30.

Ushakov also added that during Russia’s President visit to Iran on Nov. 23, Putin would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to discuss with Syrian conflict, Iran nuclear program, and tackling terrorism, including the Islamic State.

Putin will take part in a meeting of Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Iran.

According to Ushakov, presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela have requested meetings with Putin and the Kremlin “is trying to find slots” in Russian president’s schedule for these meetings.