Author: Vardan Badalian

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, traveled to the region October 26-28. We met with the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Co-Chairs released the following statement today:

The Presidents confirmed their commitment to hold a summit under the auspices of the Co-Chairs before the end of the year to discuss key elements of a settlement and other issues. We stressed to the Presidents the dangers of violence along the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The use of heavy weapons, such as mortars and rocket launchers, is unacceptable and presents a serious danger to the civilian population. We deeply regret the casualties and loss of life among innocent civilians and expect the sides to take every step to avoid violence. We raised existing proposals designed to stabilize the security situation and create a more constructive atmosphere for negotiations.

In Baku, we met representatives of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh. We encourage dialogue among all those affected by the conflict as an essential part of the peace process, and support programs that bring Armenians and Azerbaijanis together. We also met with the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yerevan to discuss the implementation of a data exchange on missing persons, a humanitarian measure we fully support.

Immediately after a routine crossing of the Line of Contact by the Co-Chairs, repeated gunfire from an undetermined location forced OSCE monitors to take cover. The sides have made an obligation to guarantee the safety of monitoring personnel. This incident represents a deliberate effort to undermine progress towards a settlement. It also underscores the need for the OSCE to have the ability to investigate violations of the ceasefire.

On September 30, President Serzh Sargsyan had meetings in Washington with the executives of the Armenian Assembly of America and with the leadership of the Armenian National Committee of America and the ARF representatives of the U.S.A. East Coast. Armenia’s president welcomed and attached importance to the activities of the American-Armenian organizations which have always been engaged in dealing with issues of Pan-Armenian importance, discussed the current activities of the aforementioned organizations and also issues pertaining to their prospects, taking into account the new realities and challenges emerging in the rapidly changing world that require fresh, adequate approaches and actions.

Serzh Sargsyan presented the meetings he had had during his working visit to the U.S. and the main points of his address at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, touched upon the tensions at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and at the contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh caused especially by recent ceasefire violations of Azerbaijan, and also responded to questions from the participants.

During the aforementioned meetings, the parties reflected upon the situation in the Middle East. The representatives of the Armenian organizations thanked the Armenian president for showing a caring attitude towards the issues to support Syrian-Armenians, giving shelter to our compatriots in Armenia and also for trying his best to support Armenians in Syria.

On the evening of September 30, President Serzh Sargsyan will also meet with representatives of the American-Armenian community at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the U.S.A.

Seventeen members of the Tovmasyan family, who fled Kobane to Turkey after the Islamic State attack earlier this year, have found refuge in Armenia with the assistance of the Ministry of Diaspora.

Hovsep Tovmasyan, 43, was killed by ISIS in front of his 13-year-old son. Other members of the family (families of four Tovmasyan brothers including 11 children) managed to escape and lived in a school building in Turkey’s Suruc region for three months.

The family moved to Armenia thanks to financing from Raffi Ardhaljian, a US-based adviser to the Minister of Diaspora.

The family has been provided housing in Yerevan’s Silikian district.

Kim Kardashian’s ex Reggie Bush welcomed a baby boy with his wife Lilit Avagyan at the weekend, E! News reports.

The newborn has an extra special birthday – it’s his mum and dad’s first wedding anniversary.

A source confirmed to E! News: “The baby is healthy and the couple are so thrilled and excited.

“All their family and friends are around them.”

The American footballer married the Armenian dancer at an upscale resort in San Diego in 2014 after 2 years of dating.

The couple are also parents to 2 year old daughter Briseis who was born in May 2013.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the Eastern Partnership is not aimed against any third countries and particularly it is not aimed against Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told German lawmakers on Thursday that the EU’s so-called Eastern Partnership “is not directed against anyone, and not against Russia.” She pointed out that the European Union’s neighbors to the east are not presented with an “either-or” choice between Russia or the West, reports.
Talks at a two-day EU summit in Riga between the EU and Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia serve to reaffirm ties between the bloc and the six former Soviet republics despite pressure from Russia.

In her speech in the German parliament on Thursday, Merkel emphasized that “since Vilnius, marked progress has been achieved, for example with the association agreements with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.”

But she also made it clear that the “Eastern Partnership is not part of the EU’s enlargement policy” and that “we should not foster false hope.”

Among the six countries in the eastern partnership, there are “vastly different expectations from the various countries,” Merkel said, adding that Germany, for example, “respects Armenia’s point-of-view” and that “it was up to Belarus to put in place the necessary conditions” for closer cooperation with the EU.

Russia’s economic contraction will curb the growth prospects this year for ex-Soviet republics in central Asia and the Caucasus, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Declining remittances from migrant workers in Russia will take a heavy toll on countries from Armenia to Tajikistan, while oil producers such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan also have to wrestle with sharply lower global crude prices.

The EBRD released forecasts for the region during its annual meeting, held this year in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

“As the Russian economy has declined, remittances from Russia to Central Asia and to eastern Europe and the Caucasus have been declining at an alarming rate,” the EBRD said.

Neighbouring Armenia, heavily dependent on aid and Russian investment, will contract by 1.5 percent this year and grow by 1 percent in 2016, the EBRD predicted.

 

Armenia could be the Switzerland of the Caucusus, a tranquil alpine retreat enclosed by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Turkey, the writes.

The heart of this, the first country to adopt Christianity, lies in its monastic tradition. Of more than three thousand monasteries none is more appealing or more remote than Noravank, sited at the head of a pass in the southern mountains.

A handful of monks convene for the sacred liturgy, afterwards welcoming the few guests under the watchful eyes of a pair of boot eagles circling above. Leopard, lynx and porcupine live hereabouts, and the monastery even has its own ‘holy bear’ residing in a nearby cave, drawn by the odour of sanctity – or possibly the monastic recycling bin.

“Enjoy a lunch of barbecued chicken and plum wine in a carpeted cave restaurant lower down the pass, an indication of growing visitor numbers. With much of the Middle East in flames adventurous travellers are beginning to divert to Armenia, so rich in folklore, topography and cultural treasure,” the Magazine suggests.

Departures is a Luxury Magazine, covering travel, shopping, fashion, design, arts and culture.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have appeared outside the hospital with their daughter, who was born earlier on Saturday, the reports.

The princess slept in her mother’s arms during her first public appearance on the steps of St Mary’s Hospital. They then left for Kensington Palace.

The couple emerged from the London hospital to crowds of well-wishers and the world’s media. They stood on the steps for a while before heading back into the hospital to put the princess in a car seat. Prince William then drove them to Kensington Palace.