Shavarsh Kocharyan: aim of intermediaries at this stage is not to allow repeat of military actions

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Thursday


Shavarsh Kocharyan: aim of intermediaries at this stage is not to
allow repeat of military actions

Yerevan August 10

Naira Badalyan. OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs today are aimed not so much
at reaching an agreement on Karabakh settlement issue, as not to allow
the resumption of hostilities at the contact line. Armenian Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan stated in an interview with
journalists after the Government meeting on August 10. According to
him, the intermediaries at this stage are very well aware that it is
impossible to talk about progress in the negotiation process until
Baku's policy regarding the resolution of the Karabakh conflict
changes. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of
Armenia, Azerbaijan has never refused a military solution to the
conflict and a policy of blackmail. "Today's relative calm on the line
of contact does not mean that we should lose our vigilance because
Azerbaijan is not committed to a peaceful solution to the problem,"
Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan stated.

Sports: Henrikh Mkhitaryan Is Set To Unleash His Full Potential

Stretty Rant

Aug 11 2017


 Nebojsa Markovic 

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is ready to become a Manchester United favourite. Popularly nicknamed Micki, the Armenia international starts his second season at Old Trafford.

After an oddly inconsistent and yet fruitful season – both for the winger and his team – Mkhitaryan should have a much smoother ride in the Premier League. With the pre-season behind us and the first competitive match of the season archived, we have enough material to draw some conclusions.

One of them is former Borussia Dortmund man. His debut season was good and he is expected to build on that in the coming one. Armenian’s displays in Europa League were top class and at the age of 28, he is at his peak.

Jose Mourinho is not the manager known for giving much freedom to his attacking-minded players. It is well-known even a flamboyant player like Eden Hazard had to contain himself in order to facilitate all Mourinho’s requirements.

With the arrival of Nemanja Matic from Chelsea, attacking side of Man United’s midfield is supposed to prosper, above all Paul Pogba, yet Mkhitaryan could fall into that category as well. He is not new to this team anymore. Both player and the manager know their surroundings much better and more flexibility could be given to Mkhitaryan.

Still, the better part is Mourinho’s new formation. Man United have been practicing 3-5-2 formation during pre-season friendly matches and Mkhitaryan often played as a striking partner to Romelu Lukaku. While Micki is not an out-and-out striker, he was given more freedom to roam around Lukaku, wandering on both sides to the Belgian.

In fact, it would look more like a 3-6-1 with a second striker next to Lukaku, with Mourinho shrewdly utilising Mkhitaryan’s first class work rate and positioning. His off the ball movement is impeccable as well and this is where his assisting skills could be put on the show. As well, having next to him a real striker in form of Lukaku, their relationship could go really well. Lukaku’s goal-scoring record was great at Everton with poorer service, but with Mkhitaryan at his best, he could prosper even more.

If there is anything Mourinho likes in a player, it is his ability to adapt to all of his wishes. Matic was bought for that exact reason – he will do the job he is told to do and he will do it really well. And Mkhitaryan showed glimpses of that last year. He did not start as often as some would expect, he would also often be substituted, but while at the pitch, he would do what he was told.

Mkhitaryan is also versatile. He plays as a winger, but can also play as a number 10. He is creative and knows how to take on players, but he is also intelligent enough to make good runs and track back to help out defensively. His defensive duties are evident, and he was making 2.86 interceptions and tackles combined per 90 minutes. In comparison, Chris Smalling had a combined 1.57 per 90 minutes in that category.

During his last season at Borussia Dortmund, he scored 13 goals and made staggering 20 assists across Bundesliga and Europa League. He has an eye for finding team-mates – especially since he was Dortmund’s playmaker and prime creator. However, last season he also showed other qualities.

Despite his playing time restricting him to just over 24 full games (2169 minutes across 35 appearances in Premier League and Europa League), he showed he could take his chances. His goal conversion ratio was 18.5 per cent, which means he needed just 5.4 shots on average to score a goal.

Jose Mourinho has many options regarding using Mkhitaryan in both of 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2, but it is on Armenian winger to shine in any of them, the way he did two years ago for Borussia Dortmund.

Putin grants pardon to Marina Janjgava and Annik Kesyan convicted for high treason

News.am, Armenia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday granted pardon to Marina Janjgava and Annik Kesyan, who were convicted for high treason, Meduza reports. 

The respective decrees, published on the official internet portal of legal information, will enter into force ten days after their publication.

Marina Janjgava and Annik Kesyan were convicted for sending SMS on Russian military equipment, which they saw on the Sochi railway shortly before the conflict in South Ossetia. 

Azerbaijan: Russia Stopped Us From "Breaking Armenia’s Resistance" in 2016

EurasiaNet.org

July 14 2017


Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visits troops on the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh. Hasanov has provided new details about Russia's involvement in last year's fighting. (photo: MoD Azerbaijan)

Russia intervened to stop Azerbaijan's advances in last year's conflict with Armenia, Azerbaijan's defense minister has said.

While some Russian behind-the-scenes role in stopping the fighting had been known, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov provided some new details and suggested that Azerbaijan would have made more military advances if not for Moscow's involvement. Hasanov made the comments in an interview with RIA Novosti, his first-ever interview with foreign media. 

Through its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russia-led security bloc, "Armenia has made other countries hostages to their provocations," Hasanov said. "They know that if no one intervenes in the situation, they wouldn't last for three days. This is what happened in April 2016. If they hadn't stopped us, the resistance would have been broken. In 40 minutes we ran over the lines of defense that the enemy had been building for many years." The fighting last April was the worst since the two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994, killing at least 200 people and further hardening the distrust on both sides.

Armenia "already on the second day" of fighting last April appealed to Russia to intervene, Hasanov said. As a result, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu called him, he recalled. "He said 'this business' had to stop, the leadership of the countries were going to talk about it." A similar call was made by the chief of general staff of the Russian armed forces to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Hasanov said. 

Assuming this account is true, the intriguing, missing bit of information is why Azerbaijan acceded to Russia's requests to stop its offensive. 

One area of leverage that Russia enjoys over Azerbaijan is the arms trade, as Baku has been heavily arming itself with largely Russian weaponry. In the interview, Hasanov said that the muti-billion-dollar deal that Azerbaijan signed with Russia a few years ago is nearly complete, with 90 percent of the arms shipped to Baku already and the bill entirely paid up.

Azerbaijan is continuing to look at new options for weaponry, he added, suggesting that Baku will continue to buy weapons from other countries while maintaining its Soviet/Russian-legacy base: "We're placing a priority on maneuverability, increased striking power, and more precision strike. I'm not going to go into details," he said. "We're now further studying several models of weapons, inquiring, testing. Buying arms is a multifaceted issue. From the one side, you need to diversify, on the other hand variety creates problems in servicing. It's a very difficult question."

The interview also covered a number of other topics, possibly the most curious of which was a question about whether Azerbaijan's military is capable of peacekeeping in Syria. Rather than addressing the possibility — presumably nil — of Azerbaijan actually deploying to Syria under some sort of Russian aegis, Hasanov confirmed that yes, Azerbaijan's military is capable of doing whatever you ask it to do. 

It should be noted that Azerbaijan-Russia relations have been going through a bit of a rough patch, with Russia shutting down an Azerbaijani diaspora association in the country and publicly criticizing Baku for discrimination against Russian citizens of Armenian descent. Meanwhile, a Russian citizen is on trial in Baku for going to Karabakh. So things are pretty in flux, making it hard to guess how Russia might act next time there's a flareup over Karabakh.

Armenia’s Suren Manukyan elected IAGS Board member

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Tuesday


Armenia's Suren Manukyan elected IAGS Board member



YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS. During the 13th conference of the
International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) in the
University of Queensland in the Australian city of Brisbane the
elections of the IAGS leadership was held, the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute told Armenpress.

Henry Theriault has been elected IAGS President.

Adam Muller and Melanie O’brien have been elected Vice-Presidents.

Hollie Brehm , Sara Brown, Hilary Earl, Christian Gudehus, Suren
Manukyan (Armenia, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute) and Andrew
Woolford have been elected members of the IAGS Board.

The IAGS was founded in 1994 and is the largest organization in the
world uniting genocide scholars.

Music: Julietta Aleksanyan wins Khachaturian Competition

Classical Music
July 3 2017


Julietta Aleksanyan wins Khachaturian Competition

2017 6:01, 3rd July 2017

Katy Wright
Deputy Editor, Classical Music

Armenian soprano Julietta Aleksanyan has won the Aram Khachaturian Interational Competition’s inaugural vocal category.

Second prize went to Kazakhstani baritone Azamat Zhleyrguzov and third to Armenian baritone Gagik Vardanyan. Armenian tenor Tigran Ohanyan won the audience choice award, and pianist Elena Vardazaryan won the prize for best accompanist.

The final round of the competition took place in Yerevan, Armenia on 14 June. The jury was chaired by conductor Constantine Orbelian, and also included Askonas Holt executive director Mark Hildrew, Welsh Nationa Opera artistic director John Fisher, and soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian.

Established in 2003, the Aram Khachaturian International Competition originally rotated annually between piano, violin and cello until 2016, when a conducting category was added. The next edition of the competition, which will take place in June 2018, will be dedicated to the cello.

www.akhic.am/www.akhic.am/

Reject Weapons Sale to Turkish Bodyguards, Trott & 35 members urge Tillerson

 Congressional Documents and Publications



REJECT WEAPONS SALE TO TURKISH BODYGUARDS, TROTT and 35 MEMBERS URGE TILLERSON


Rep. Trott leads bipartisan letter to Administration urging rejection
of proposed weapons sale to Erdogan bodyguards who violently attacked
protesters in D.C.;
Rep. Dave Trott (R-MI) News Release

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS


WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Representative Dave Trott (MI-11), Co-Chair
of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, issued the following statement
after leading a bipartisan letter of 36 Members of Congress, including
Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone, Intelligence Chairman Devin
Nunes, Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Eliot Engel, and Intelligence
Ranking Member Adam Schiff, to Secretary of State Tillerson urging him
to reject the proposed sale of semi-automatic handguns and ammunition
to the Turkish government:

"Right here, on U.S. soil, we witnessed President Erdogan's blatant
disregard for democracy as his henchmen waged a brutal attack on
peaceful protestors. As the very model of freedom and liberty around
the world, the United States cannot condone such an overt suppression
of democracy and this proposed arms deal would be nothing less than an
endorsement of Erdogan's henchmen's brutal attack. We need to call out
and hold accountable President Erdogan and his bodyguards for who they
really are - thugs."

On June 6, 2017, the House of Representatives unanimously passed
H.Res.354, condemning Turkish President Erdogan's bodyguards' attack
on peaceful protestors and demanding the perpetrators be held
accountable.

With over 17,000 Armenian-Americans in Michigan, Rep. Trott serves as
Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus. Rep. Trott's resolution to
recognize the Armenian Genocide (H.Res. 220) has garnered strong
bipartisan support with 45 co-sponsors, -including the Chairman and
Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Since coming to Congress, Rep. Trott has led the fight to recognize
the Armenian genocide joining a Congressional delegation to visit
Armenia for the 100th anniversary of the genocide and co-sponsoring a
resolution to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the 114th Congress.
Historians believ-e as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks starting in 1915, yet international governments -
including the United States - have refused to label the killings as a
genocide.

A PDF of the signed letter is available here
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__trott.house.gov_sites_trott.house.gov_files_Proposed-2520Weapons-2520Deal.pdf&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=bQ7XED32rQhBhXMtPFt7rhvVsuJmhxru00VQihfdQRE&s=8HK9lfRKgNnDlJOj8pp4UgNONwhmjqwY0-9JVf8Fohw&e=
 .

Full text of the letter is as follows:

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write today to urge you to reject the proposed sale of
semi-automatic handguns and ammunition to a Turkish government
controlled entity authorized to import firearms to the Department of
Security of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.

As you know, on May 16, members of President Erdogan's security detail
violently attacked peaceful protestors outside the residence of the
Turkish Ambassador in Washington, DC. With President Erdogan just feet
away, looking on, armed members of his security detail unleashed a
vicious attack, targeting non-violent protestors and American
Diplomatic Security Officers, resulting in severe neurological, oral,
and maxillofacial injuries. Unfortunately, this is only the latest in
a series of disturbing attacks by President Erdogan's security forces
in the United States, including a brawl at the United Nations, and a
series of physical fights in Washington, DC in May 2016. This same
security force now stands to be the beneficiary of a potential arms
deal.

On June 6, 2017, the House of Representatives spoke strongly and
swiftly, voting unanimously to pass House Resolution 354, condemning
the violence that took place outside the Ambassador's residence on May
16, and calling on the perpetrators to be brought to justice under
U.S. law. We can no longer enable Turkey to compromise our democratic
values, and this proposed arms sale is nothing short of an endorsement
of the actions of President Erdogan's security force. As such, we
strongly urge you to reject this proposed sale and any potential
weapons transfer to President Erdogan's security detail.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.

Read this original document at:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__trott.house.gov_media-2Dcenter_press-2Dreleases_reject-2Dweapons-2Dsale-2Dturkish-2Dbodyguards-2Dtrott-2D35-2Dmembers-2Durge-2Dtillerson&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=bQ7XED32rQhBhXMtPFt7rhvVsuJmhxru00VQihfdQRE&s=gJ1gg-QIaClSxMiOVVv2vbD5i5idbZZ1bjp-GJf-3Lk&e=
 

‘Co-chairs must consider steps to restrain Azerbaijan’, Narek Minasyan

Aravot, Armenia



‘Co-chairs must consider steps to restrain Azerbaijan’, Narek Minasyan

“Azerbaijan’s adventurism can be described as an attempt to pressure
the Armenian side in the process of negotiations. It expresses
Azerbaijan’s recent impudent behavior. One reason is that the
international community has expressed a neutral attitude towards
Azerbaijan’s actions, which created a false perception of impunity in
Azerbaijan”, touching upon the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border provocations
by the enemy, said political analyst Narek Minasyan. Let us remind
that within 2 days Armenia suffered 4 losses.

Narek Minasyan reminded that on June 19 the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
are visiting Baku, “Of course, such an adventurism right before the
visit affects the co-chairs’ image. I believe that in the summarizing
statement on the visit to region Azerbaijan’s actions will be
considered, otherwise, the effectiveness of the Minsk Group operation
will be under doubt”. The expert noted that on the same day military
exercises are expected in Azerbaijan, through which the enemy will
again try to pressure the Armenian side.

According to Narek Minasyan, it is noteworthy that in a given
situation the actions of the Armenian side will be responded, “They
should be more than perceptible for the co-chairs”.

In response to the question whether the co-chairs will again make an
addressed statement in the result of the visit to Baku, Minasyan said,
“We should not be happy about addressed statements. These are
prerequisites for the effective functioning of the Minsk Group. In
order to achieve efficiency, the Minsk Group should have made the
addressed statements as his style a long while ago, but this rarely
happens. Even if they make an addressed statement this time as well,
experience has shown that it does not have enough potential to
restrain Baku. Here arises a problem of taking another step. I think
the co-chairs should consider steps to restrain Azerbaijan in their
internal discussions. Within the framework of their mandate, there are
possible measures to restrain Baku. Moreover, Russia, the USA, and
France in their bilateral relations with Azerbaijan can force the
latter to take a constructive position in the Artsakh conflict”.



Luiza SUKIASYAN


 

BAKU: Official: Azerbaijan expects more serious work from OSCE MG

Trend, Azerbaijan
18:51 (UTC+04:00)                                        

Baku, Azerbaijan, June 14

By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:

Azerbaijan expects more serious work from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for reaching a fair decision as they will visit the region, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov told reporters in Baku June 14.

He noted that the Minsk Group should not consider its mission accomplished by paying visits to the region.

“The OSCE Minsk Group members have long been carrying out activities, but no proper steps have been taken to find a fair solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said Ahmadov.

“They carry out certain work and I don’t want to give an unfair assessment to their activities. However, the main work to resolve the conflict and improve the lives of IDPs has not been done. Azerbaijani lands have not been liberated and the conditions for the return of our compatriots to their homes have not been created,” he said, adding this is what Azerbaijan expects from the OSCE Minsk Group.

Ahmadov added that the unresolved conflict increases tension in the region.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Chess: Armenian GM Artashes Minasian among leaders at European Individual Championship

Panorama, Armenia
June 2 2017

The games of Round 3 at European Individual Chess Championship 2017 have been played in Minsk, Belarus. Armenian GM Artashes Minasian claimed the third victory in the round, outplaying Daniele Vocaturo from Italy.

As the Chess Federation of Armenia told Panorama.am, another Armenian player Hovhannes Gabuzyan drew his game against Andrei Volokitin.

Hrant Melkumyan, Tigran Harutyunyan, Gevorg Harutyunyan, Vahe Baghdasaryan, Arman Mikaelyan and Artur Davtyan also secured victories in Round 3.

After three rounds, nine chess players have scored 3 points apiece and are leading the table with Armenia’s Artashes Minasian being among the leaders.

Hrant Melkumyan and Hovhannes Gabuzyan have scored 2.5 points each.

To note, European Individual Chess Championship 2017 is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 participants will be qualified for the world chess tournament.