Author: Tania Jagharian

“Should Azerbaijan unleash new military offensive, the issue of recognition on Nagorno Karabakh will be brought to agenda,” Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

He clarified that the refers to the approval of the Government opinion on the draft law on recognition of Artsakh, not the bill itself.

“According to the Government opinion, recognition depends on the future developments. Should Azerbaijan unleash new military offensive, the issue of recognition on Nagorno Karabakh will come into agenda,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments to Panorama.am.

The bill has been authored by MPs Zaruhi Postanjyan and Hrant Bagratyan.

“We believe that any document discussed and developed without the participation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, is simply not viable, NKR Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan said at the Q&A session at the National Assembly.

He added that “this is not only а conviction, but also a logical conclusion.” “That is why we insist, and you know our official view, that the Karabakh party should return to the negotiation table as full-fledged party to the negotiation process. And by saying the negotiation process we mean all its stages; from putting forward certain ideas to the development of a common philosophy of negotiations, also, if possible, the joint discussion of the arrangements reached, agreeing upon them, and, why not, also their implementation, i.e., putting them into effect,” Mirzoyan said.

On April 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan received Member of the European Parliament Jaromir Štětina (Czech Republic). Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zakaryan accompanied the guest on his visit to Artsakh.

The sides exchanged views on the large-scale military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2-5 against the NKR and its consequences.

The NKR Foreign Minister noted that it was a long prepared and deliberate attempt by Azerbaijan to disrupt the peace process and solve the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict by force, which had failed. He stressed that during the aggression Azerbaijani armed forces had committed war crimes which were accompanied by mass violations of laws and customs of war as well as the international humanitarian law.

During the meeting sides also touched upon a number of issues concerning the strengthening and development of ties between Artsakh and the European Union.

 

 

 

Armenian delegates to the Parlaimentary Assmebly of the Council of Europe will have a serious work to do next week, when PACE spring session kicks off on April 18. Three requests for current affairs debate on Nagorno Karabakh have been submitted by French, Azerbaijani and Armenians delegates. The Bureau will decide which of the three requests will be considered. The Armenian delegates are resolute to bring the truth about the four-day war to the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly.

The first request titled “The recent and tragic escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” was submitted by French MP Francois Rochebloine, Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Hermine Naghdalyan told Public Radio of Armenia.

Immediately after that the Azerbaijani delegation submitted a request for a debate on “The tragic escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan.” This was followed by a proposal of the Armenian side to discuss the “War crimes committed by Azerbaijan during the recent aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“These are proposals to discuss the same topic under three different titles. Obviously, the choice of the title will affect the debate.  The struggle of the proposals is going to be very interesting. Some proposals are being brought to the agenda in order to harm the other ones, to foil their consideration at PACE,” Hermine Naghdalyan said.

Therefore, it’s clear that the Parliamentary Assembly will hold a current affairs debate on Nagorno Karabakh, but it’s not yet clear which of the proposals will be preferred. After one of the three requests is chosen by the Bureau, the issue will be discussed at the plenary sitting.  The author will have ten minutes to present the issue and his/her approaches, which will be followed by 90-minute debates. After the debates the Bureau is authorized to decide whether the topic will be summed up by one discussion or will be considered further with a view of developing a report.

A Russian court has found Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko guilty in the case of two Russian journalists killed by mortar fire, the BBC reports.

Prosecutors argued that she ordered the mortar fire that killed the journalists in eastern Ukraine and want her jailed for 23 years.

But her lawyer said phone records proved she was captured by pro-Russian rebels before the journalists died.

The sentence will be handed down on Tuesday, after the court explains its reasons for the guilty verdict.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan visited today the Technology and Science Dynamics Company, which produces the Armtabs and Armphones.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the industrial process and the future plans. It was noted that the quality of the Armenian tabs and phones is no worse than that of the famous brands, while the price is considerably lower.

The Technology and Science Dynamics Company distributed 700 tabs to Armenian schools last year. The production of the company is sold in Armenia and abroad. Talks are under way with Armenian ICT companies on the sale of the production on the Armenian retail market.

The Technology and Science Dynamics Company cooperates with foreign partners towards development of research programs. The company currently employs 117 people, whith the number expected to increase in the future.

Stressing the importance of the company’s activity, PM Abrahamyan said the government prioritizes the IT sphere and will maintain support to the development of the field.

 

Switzerland’s Gianni Infantino has succeeded countryman Sepp Blatter as Fifa president, the BBC reports.

The Uefa secretary general polled 115 votes in round two, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein was third with four, while Jerome Champagne failed to get any. Tokyo Sexwale withdrew before voting began in Zurich.

The first round of voting had failed to determine an outright winner.

“I accept the result of this election, thank you,” said Infantino.

“I went through an exceptional journey, met many fantastic people who love football, who breathe football.

“I want to be the president of all of you, of all 209 nations.

“I want to work with all of you to work together and build a new era where we can put football at the centre of the stage.”

A simple majority of more than 50 per cent – 104 votes – was sufficient for victory in the second round.

Infantino is a 45-year-old lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter’s hometown of Visp.

Blatter, who led world football’s governing body since 1998, stood down last year and was later banned from football for six years.

A Turkish tribunal has confirmed a medical diagnosis that Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob II of Constantinople is no longer capable of making his own decisions because of advancing dementia, and a guardian should be appointed to handle his duties, according to .

Patriarch Mesrob has been suffering for years from Alzheimer’s disease, and since 2008 a patriarchal vicar has been handling the daily affairs of the Armenian Church in Constantinople. But other Armenian prelates have been reluctant to elect a successor while the Patriarch is alive.

In November 2014, during his trip to Turkey, Pope Francis made an unscheduled private visit to meet with Patriarch Mesrob. The Armenian prelate’s physical health, as well as his mental condition, has reportedly been deteriorating since that time.

Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh risk escalation in 2016 due to Baku’s “sustained military buildup coupled with declining economic conditions in Azerbaijan,” U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9.

“Baku is in full military buildup while the deteriorating economic conditions in Azerbaijan raise the possibility that the conflict escalates in 2016,” warned Clapper.

“Azerbaijan’s aversion to publicly relinquishing its claim to Nagorno-Karabakh proper and Armenia’s reluctance to give up territory it controls will continue to complicate a peaceful resolution,” he said.

Photo: Ilya Pitalev/TASS

 

Moscow will not forgive Turkey’s aiding and abetting terrorists but will stay friendly towards the Turkish people, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Italy’s Limes magazine, TASS reports.

“We will not forgive this aiding and abetting terrorists,” he said. “But we have never put an equal mark between some of the current ruling establishment that bear direct responsibility for the death of our servicemens in Syria, and our old and reliable friends among the Turkish people.”

The Russian top diplomat stressed that anti-terrorism efforts, as well as Syrian settlement are of principal importance for Russia. “That is why the attack of the Turkish air force on the Russian bomber cannot change our approaches,” he said.

“If Turkey’s provocation was meant to achieve this goal, its inventors have obviously failed.” According to the Russian diplomat, after Turkey’s attack on the Russian Su-24 bomber in November a moment of truth arrived in the fight against terrorism.

“Ankara’s move was an unprecedented challenge for the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said. “It is evident that such actions could not but impact the Russian-Turkish relations, and the confidence for Turkey as a partner has been seriously shattered,” Lavrov said.

As a result, the cooperation between Russia and Turkey has been suspended in many areas despite great efforts to develop ties in the recent years, Lavrov said, stressing: “This was not our choice.”

“So far we have heard neither apologies of the Turkish leadership nor showing readiness to somehow compensate the consequences of the act, nor an intention to punish those guilty in the right way,” he said.

“On the contrary, Ankara claims that the Turkish side was right and protected the sovereignty that had been allegedly violated,” Lavrov said, adding that the statements of Turkish politicians on “regrets” are incompatible with the seriousness of what has happened. Russia has repeatedly voiced concerns over the growing terrorist threats in Turkey and Ankara’s unpreparedness to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, Lavrov reminded.