Yeghisabet Vorskanian – Page 31 – Armenian Directory & News

Prominent Nigerian journalist Dele Olojede joins the Aurora Prize Selection Committee

September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 2 2021

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is glad to announce that prominent Nigerian journalist Dele Olojede, the first African-born person to win a Pulitzer Prize, has joined the Selection Committee of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. As the press service at IDeA Foundation reported, in this new capacity, he will assist Nobel Laureates, former presidents, prominent political figures, highly respected humanitarians and well-known human rights activists dedicated to recognizing modern-day heroes and their exceptional impact. Every year, members of the Selection Committee review a shortlist of candidates and select the Aurora Humanitarians to later name one of them the Aurora Prize Laureate.

60-year-old Dele Olojede is a writer, editor, and publisher whose career in journalism spans nearly four decades and took him to more than 100 countries. He was the founder and publisher of NEXT, a groundbreaking investigative newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria, that circulated in the 2000s.

In 2005, Dele became the first African-born winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. He is also a public speaker, particularly on what constitutes the good society and how we might hope to achieve it, preferably in our lifetimes.

“We are delighted that Dele Olojede has made the decision to join this Committee. For decades, he has been the voice of the underserved and overlooked communities in distress, and we are very pleased to have him onboard and appreciative of his invaluable input and expertise. I’m positive that his contribution to the work of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee will greatly benefit the humanitarian cause we all serve,” said Lord Ara Darzi, Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee.

Dele Olojede is the founder and host of the annual Africa in the World festival, which brings together provocative thinkers from around the world in the Cape winelands of South Africa to discuss some of the largest challenges and opportunities facing Africa. Besides this, he is a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and a moderator of Aspen leadership seminars. Dele Olojede serves on the global advisory board of Luminate, the board of EARTH University in Costa Rica and various other organizations and is a Distinguished Alumnus of Columbia University.

“I’m very honored and excited about this new challenge in my career. I think the Aurora Prize is extremely important as it raises awareness of the plight of those who need our immediate help and of the heroic actions of people who put themselves at risk to help them. As a journalist, I believe visibility and representation matter, so I’m honored to have this opportunity to ensure both for those doing the heroic work of preserving and improving human life in our time, and across the globe,” said Dele Olojede.

The 2021 Aurora Prize Ceremony and accompanying events will take place in Venice, Italy, on October 8-10, 2021. There will be ample opportunities for the guests and participants, including members of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee, Aurora Humanitarians, and other representatives of Aurora’s community, to explore the rich legacy of this location. In the meantime, nominations are still open for the 2022 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. Until October 31, 2021, any person can submit a nomination for the candidates they believe have overcome great personal challenges to help others.

Recovery growth registered in almost all branches of Armenia’s economy – Eurasian Expert Club coordinator

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

15:59,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 30, ARMENPRESS. Recovery growth has been registered in almost all branches of the economy of Armenia in the first half of 2021 according to the results of the economic research conducted by the Eurasian Expert Club.

Coordinator of the Club, political analyst Aram Safaryan told a press conference in Armenpress that in 2020, because of the coronavirus pandemic and the Artsakh War, Armenia has registered an economic regress, nearly by 8%.

“After last year’s coronavirus pandemic, we are registering significant recovery growth rates in the first half of this year. We can be optimistic after this fact, moreover, in July 2021, compared to May, these developments are of a progressive nature. This shows that the economy’s recovery dynamics is at a positive field”, Aram Safaryan said.

According to him, this recovery growth registered in all branches of the economy has a tendency to continue. He said there are exclusively opportunities for Armenia’s economic development thanks to its membership to the Eurasian Economic Union.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Turkish press: Macron continues Islamophobic hate speech over war on terror

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

ISTANBUL ISLAMOPHOBIA

AUG 29, 2021 10:07 AM GMT+3

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Irbil international airport, Iraq, Aug. 29, 2021. (AP Photo)

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has drawn fire on many occasions for his Islamophobic rhetoric, engaged in the same hate speech once again Saturday in a tweet linking extremism and activities by the Daesh terrorist group to Islam and Muslims.

“Even though we have defeated Daesh's territorial caliphate, the battle against Islamic terrorism is not over,” he said in the tweet that was heavily criticized by Muslims worldwide, among whom terrorist groups such as Daesh have no legitimacy due to the fact that their actions are explicitly prohibited in Islam. “As long as the terrorist groups operate and Iraq asks us to do so, France will remain engaged in Iraq,” Macron vowed.

Muslims argue that the main problem with the _expression_ “Islamic terrorism” is that it implies a tight-knit association with Islam – which is, in fact, a religion that preaches peace and respect to everyone’s lives and properties – and terrorism, which includes many types of actions, all of which are explicitly prohibited by the Islamic faith.

Macron also argued previously that "Islamic separatism" was problematic, and added that, "The problem is (that it is) an ideology that claims its own laws should be superior to those of the republic."

In October of last year, Macron unveiled a new bill that would extend the ban on religious emblems, which notably affects Muslim women who wear headscarves or veils, to private-sector employees providing public services. The state will also have the power to step in where local authorities make unacceptable concessions to Muslims, he said, citing "religious menus" in school canteens or segregated access to swimming pools. The draft law proposes restricting home schooling to avoid having children "indoctrinated" in unregistered schools that allegedly deviated from the national curriculum.

Macron also previously said that he won’t prevent the publishing of insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad under the pretext of freedom of _expression_, a statement that sparked outrage in the Arab and Muslim world. Even though caricatures insulting a prophet are legal in France on freedom of speech grounds, it is illegal to deny the so-called "Armenian genocide," which is not recognized as such by most of the countries in the world.

An international alliance of 36 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) representing 13 countries also petitioned the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the systematic anti-Muslim actions of Macron-run France.

Prominent NGOs, lawyers and religious bodies called on the OHCHR to act on France’s “breadth of state abuse against Muslims” that has been raging in the country for over two decades. The coalition accuses the French government of violating “a number of basic rights that are protected in legislation that is ratified by Paris.”

The statement also alleged that the French government weaponized "laicite," the French version of secularism, to justify the intrusion of the state in the religious and political practices of Muslims.

"France stands in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. France infringed on freedoms of children, specifically to target Muslim children in violation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child," the statement added.

The document calls upon the U.N. to ensure that France upholds and enforces the group's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) along with every directive on the prohibition of discrimination and racism.

The statement further urges France to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination and to "take all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on the grounds of religion in this matter."

The NGOs also sought the intervention of international bodies due to the lack of any real or effective remedy within the French legal system to tackle these types of discrimination.

Macron's anti-Muslim rhetoric has been met with criticism not only across the world but even in his own party. Earlier in May, Macron’s La Republique En Marche (LREM) barred Muslim candidate Sara Zemmahi from running in a local election after she was seen wearing a hijab in a campaign flyer. LREM asserted that the party believes that secular France should not have room for the open display of religious symbols in election campaign documents.

“This woman will not be an en Marche candidate,” the party’s General Secretary Stanislas Guerini told RTL radio.

The flyer depicts Zemmahi wearing a white hijab, a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who consider it part of their religion, standing next to three other people. “Different, but united for you,” says the flyer in reference to diversity.

Jordan Bardella, No. 2 in Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National party, condemned the LREM, posting a flyer on Twitter with the message: “Is this how you fight separatism?” Guerini delivered an immediate response, saying that the flyer must be taken down or Zemmahi would lose the party's support.

“Undignified. Running after (far-right) votes will only allow their ideas to prevail. Enough is enough,” tweeted LREM lawmaker Caroline Janvier.

Human rights group Amnesty International said in March that the new regulations "would be a serious attack on rights and freedoms in France."

“Time and again we have seen the French authorities use the vague and ill-defined concept of ‘radicalization’ or ‘radical Islam’ to justify the imposition of measures without valid grounds, which risks leading to discrimination in its application against Muslims and other minority groups,” Amnesty International Europe researcher Marco Perolini said, adding that “this stigmatization must end.”

Pashinyan officially appointed Armenia’s prime minister

August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

CTV News, Canada

Aug 2 2021

The Associated Press Staff

Published Monday, August 2, 2021 10:06AM EDT

YEREVAN, ARMENIA — Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been officially appointed to the post by the country's president after Pashinyan's party won an early parliamentary election in June.

The newly elected parliament convened for the first time on Monday, and Pashinyan's Civil Contract party, which has the majority of the seats, nominated him to be the prime minister. Shortly after, Armenia's President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree to that effect. In accordance with the country's constitution, a cabinet must be formed within 15 days.

Pashinyan's party won 71 seats in the June 20 election, while 29 went to a bloc headed by former President Robert Kocharyan. A different bloc that formed around another former president, Serzh Sargsyan, won seven seats.

Those blocs and two smaller parties appealed the election results, arguing to the Constitutional Court that they should be declared invalid because of alleged voting violations, but the court rejected the appeal and upheld the results last month.

Pashinyan called the early election after months of protests demanding his resignation because of a November peace deal he signed to end six weeks of fighting with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The peace agreement saw Azerbaijan reclaim control over large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas that had been held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century. Protesters in Armenia denounced the deal as a betrayal of national interests,

Pashinyan stepped down as prime minister, as required by law to hold the election, but has remained in charge as the country's acting leader.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pashinyan-officially-appointed-armenia-s-prime-minister-1.5531783

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Congressman Schiff urges State Department to pressure Azerbaijan to abide by ceasefire

August 2, 2021August 2, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Panorama, Armenia

July 29 2021

Congressman Adam Schiff condemned Azerbaijan's latest attack against Armenia, killing 3 Armenian soldiers.

“Reports that Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the ceasefire agreement with Armenia, killing three Armenian soldiers and seriously wounding two others at the border are alarming. If true, this would constitute yet another deadly act of aggression by Azerbaijan that, if allowed to escalate, could result in further violence, death, and destruction,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

“We must acknowledge the fact that continued United States assistance to the Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan provides no disincentive to their aggression and poses an imminent threat to Armenians. I’m urging the Department of State and Secretary Blinken to speak out about the events of the last 24 hours, and pressure Azerbaijan to abide by the ceasefire. The United States should never provide military funds or support to a country that routinely violates human rights and encroaches on the independence of its neighbor. It’s time for accountability,” Schiff said.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said later on Wednesday that four Armenian servicemen had been wounded in the Azerbaijani attack.

An agreement on restoring the ceasefire on the Gegharkunik section of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border was reached at the mediation of the command of Russian peacekeeping forces on Wednesday. The ceasefire went into effect at 10am local time.

However, the Azerbaijani forces again violated the ceasefire early on Thursday, opening fire at the Armenian positions, as a result of which another Armenian soldier was injured. The situation on the border area was calm as of 9:30am.

‘A huge loss’: Armenians bid final farewell to legendary duduk player Jivan Gasparyan

July 25, 2021July 25, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Panorama, Armenia

Culture 19:12 24/07/2021Armenia

Legendary duduk player Jivan Gasparyan’s death is a huge loss for the Armenian people, duduk payer Kamo Seyranyan told reporters on Saturday, as Armenians bade a final farewell to the master at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan.

Jivan Gasparyan passed away in the US on 6 July at the age of 92. He will be buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan.

“Not only the Armenian culture, but also the Armenian people have suffered a huge loss, we have lost the legendary master of duduk,” Seyranyan said.

He underlined that dudukists learned a lot from the master.

“In recent years, I had the honor of being friends with him, his jokes were interesting. Once he said, ‘I have built the road and turned on the lights, get on the road!" He really created a great path for us, duduk players, the duduk received world-class recognition,” Seyranyan said.

Actor Michael Poghosyan descried Jivan Gasparyan a “wise Armenian man”, adding he was the only Armenian living in Yerevan who received worldwide recognition.

“His voice sounded like duduk, his melody sounded like duduk and it all came from the heart. His kindness, wisdom, aphorisms … I use those aphorisms in daily life,” Poghosyan said.

The actor remembered Jivan Gasparyan once telling him, "When your friend gets a position, you need to get to know him again."

“He called me once and said, ‘Misha jan [dear]. I have brought you a present from the US. I visited him and saw that it was a pair of shoes. He’s like, ‘I saw these stylish shoes and thought that they would be suitable only for you.’ I still keep the shoes as a great memory. Losing the master is very painful, but he went to eternity,” the actor noted.

Duduk player Gevorg Dabaghyan expressed gratitude to the master for everything.

“Even in the most difficult and undesirable life situations, he still knew how to find a way out with his humor, words, he knew how to solve problems. He had a unique energy on stage. When we sat down to a meal together after the rehearsals, he would say, "Until death gets to me, there will be no more death’,” he said.

Dabaghyan recalled a story: “After a concert in Turkey, reporters asked Gasparyan, ‘You keep saying that the duduk is an Armenian instrument and Armenians play it the best, but we also play it well.’ In response, Gasparyan said, ‘We also play the balalaika, but it is not Armenian.’ That is, he wanted to say that the Turks can also play the duduk, but it cannot be Turkish.”

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 07/17/2021

July 18, 2021July 18, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

                                        Saturday, 

Constitutional Court Upholds Armenian Election Results


Armenia - The Constitutional Court announces its decision to reject opposition 
appeals against official results of the June 20 parliamentary elections, 
Yerevan, .


Armenia’s Constitutional Court on Saturday rejected opposition demands to 
overturn official results of the June 20 parliamentary elections which gave 
victory to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party.

The court upheld the vote results in response to separate appeals lodged by 
opposition alliances led by former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh 
Sarkisian and two smaller groups that failed to win any seats in the Armenian 
parliament.

The four opposition forces alleged serious irregularities which seriously 
affected the election outcome. In particular, they accused Pashinian of abusing 
his government levers, bullying opposition activists and resorting to “hate 
speech” during the election campaign and forcing military and security personnel 
to vote for his ruling Civil Contract party.

Opposition representatives presented what they called evidence of the alleged 
violations during court hearings on the appeals that began on July 9 and lasted 
for six days.

The Constitutional Court also questioned representatives of the Central Election 
Commission, the Armenian government and Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. They 
all dismissed the opposition allegations as baseless.

Pashinian and his political allies maintain that the snap elections were free 
and fair, pointing to their largely positive assessment by European election 
observers. The latter concluded in a preliminary report that the vote was 
“competitive and generally very well-managed.”

The court’s refusal to cancel the vote results was announced by its chairman, 
Arman Dilanian. He said the ruling will be fully publicized in due course.

It was not immediately clear whether all of the court’s nine judges agreed with 
the decision. Five of them, including Dilanian, took the bench after the 2018 
“velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian to power.

Representatives of Kocharian’s Hayastan alliance and Sarkisian’s Pativ Unem bloc 
said they expected such a ruling. They claimed that it was handed down under 
strong government pressure.

According to the CEC, Pashinian’s party won 53.9 percent of the vote, followed 
by Hayastan that got just over 21 percent. Pativ Unem came in a distant third 
with 5.2 percent.

None of the 22 other parties and blocs that participated in the polls did well 
enough to be represented in the new National Assembly.

Citing a complex legal formula, the CEC has given 71 parliament seats to Civil 
Contract, compared with 29 and 7 seats to be held by Hayastan and Pativ Unem 
respectively.

The two opposition forces challenged not only the official results but also the 
distribution of the 107 parliament seats, saying that it unfairly benefits the 
ruling party.



EU’s Michel Reaffirms Hefty Aid Package For Armenia


Armenia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and European Council President 
Charles Michel arrive for a news conference after holding talks in Yerevan, July 
17, 2021.


European Council President Charles Michel reaffirmed on Saturday the European 
Union’s pledge to provide Armenia with up to 2.6 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in 
economic assistance and investments over the next five years.

Visiting Yerevan, Michel said the “unprecedented financial package” is designed 
to help the Armenian government continue “democratic reforms” and improve the 
socioeconomic situation in the country.

The hefty sum is part of an “economic and investment plan” drafted by the 
European Commission for six ex-Soviet republics covered by the EU’s Eastern 
Partnership program.

The EU’s executive body said earlier this month that it has asked the bloc’s 27 
member states to approve the plan, potentially worth 17 billion euros in “public 
and private investments,” at an Eastern Partnership summit slated for December.

The commission is specifically seeking 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in EU 
grants, loans and loan guarantees for five “flagship initiatives” drawn up by it 
for Armenia. That includes up to 500 million euros in funding for some 30,000 
small and medium-sized enterprises and 600 million euros worth of capital 
investments in the country’s transport infrastructure.

EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi announced in 
Yerevan on July 9 that the EU will also raise an additional 1 billion euros for 
Armenia “together with our international partners.”

Michel, who heads the EU’s top decision-making body, said the projects to be 
financed by the grants and loans reflect the Armenian government’s socioeconomic 
priorities.

“I do not underestimate the huge work that will be needed in order to implement 
and … make this huge financial package very concrete and very visible for the 
[small and medium-sized enterprises] and for the people,” he told reporters 
after holding talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Pashinian again hailed the promised EU funding, saying that it will give a “very 
serious impetus to Armenia’s economic development.”

Michel arrived in Yerevan on Friday evening on the first leg of his tour of 
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. He said he is visiting the three ex-Soviet 
states to underscore “the EU’s commitment to this region.”

“We want to reinforce links between the countries of this region and the 
European Union,” added the former Belgian prime minister.



Azerbaijan Accused Of Planning Truce Violations

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia - A soldier at a new Armenian army post on the border with Azerbaijan, 
June 16, 2021.


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Azerbaijan on Saturday of avoiding peace 
talks with Armenia and planning instead to provoke renewed fighting in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

“Armenia is prepared for the resumption of negotiations but there has been no 
reaction from Azerbaijan,” Pashinian said after talks with visiting European 
Council President Charles Michel.

“And according to information obtained from unofficial sources, Azerbaijan is 
intent on provoking new military clashes in Karabakh and along the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border. We are now seeing manifestations of that at a 
Nakhichevan section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” he told a joint news 
conference with Michel.

Pashinian referred to recent days’ shootouts between Armenian and Azerbaijani 
forces deployed near an Armenian village bordering Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan 
exclave. One Armenian soldier was killed there on Wednesday.

The Armenian military said Azerbaijani troops again opened fire on Friday at its 
border posts in the area about 70 kilometers south of Yerevan.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has blamed the Armenian side for the skirmishes 
which have also left at least one Azerbaijani soldier wounded.

The skirmishes came amid a continuing military standoff along other sections of 
the frontier where Azerbaijani troops reportedly advanced several kilometers 
into Armenian territory in May.

The situation in the conflict zone was a major theme of Pashinian’s talks with 
Michel, the European Union’s top official who arrived in Yerevan on the first 
leg of his tour of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Michel, who is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on 
Sunday, called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to pull back their troops from 
“contested” sections of their border and embark on its demarcation. He also 
urged the two warring nations to avoid inflammatory rhetoric, explore “possible 
cooperation projects” and restart talks on resolving the Karabakh conflict.

Aliyev again claimed on Wednesday that Baku “unilaterally” ended the dispute 
with its victory in the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire 
last November. Pashinian dismissed the claim.

The Armenian premier on Saturday reaffirmed his support for the idea of troop 
disengagement also backed by the United States.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Mayor of Goris remanded in custody for two months

July 17, 2021July 17, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

14:24,

YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction has approved the motion to remand in custody Mayor of Goris, candidate for the parliament from the Armenia bloc, Arush Arushanyan.

Arushanyan will remain in custody for two months.

The Goris Mayor has been charged for offering bribes to vote in favor of the Armenia bloc during the June 20 snap parliamentary elections.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Global COVID-19 weekly case tally surpasses 2.6 mln, WHO says

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

13:18,

YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. More than 2.6 mln COVID-19 cases and over 57,000 deaths were recorded worldwide last week, the coronavirus incidence surged by 2%, while the death toll fell by 10%, reaching a new low since November 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday, reports TASS.

"Globally, COVID-19 incidence remains very high, with an average of over 370,000 cases reported each day over the past week," the WHO stated in its weekly epidemiological bulletin. "The number of new deaths continued to decrease, with over 57,000 new deaths reported globally. This is the lowest weekly mortality figure since those recorded in early November 2020."

Over the past week, some 2,600,313 new COVID-19 cases and 57,603 deaths were recorded across the world. As of June 27, as many as 180,492,131 cases of infection and 3,916,771 deaths were confirmed.

Last week, the COVID-19 incidence decreased in the Western Pacific Region (by 6%) and Southeast Asia (by 5%), while the figure rose in Africa (by 34%), the Eastern Mediterranean (by 13%) and Europe (by 10%). The coronavirus mortality rate surged in Africa (by 42%), however, it dropped in Southeast Asia (by 33%), the Western Pacific region (by 13%) as well as in the Americas (by 2%) and Europe (by 1 %).

Europe reported over 372,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 6,000 deaths over the past week. In the Americas, more than 1.1 mln new weekly cases of infection and over 30,000 deaths were registered. In Southeast Asia, doctors recorded over 573,000 coronavirus cases, while the death toll surpassed 13,000.

According to the WHO, the spread of COVID-19 strains classified as "variants of concern" is growing. In particular, the Alpha strain, found in September 2020 in the UK, was recorded as of June 29 in 172 countries (two more than a week earlier). The Beta strain, originally identified in South Africa, is now circulating in 120 countries, while there were 119 a week ago. The Brazilian Gamma strain, found in September, expanded its geography from 71 to 72 states in seven days. Furthermore, the Indian Delta strain, which has been discovered since October 2020, hit 11 new countries in a week, bringing their total number to 96.

According to the WHO bulletin, the Delta strain is likely to spread across a larger number of countries, since the possibilities for identifying COVID-19 variants are limited. Some countries attribute the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to the Delta variant’s presence. The Delta strain, "given the increase in transmissibility, is expected to rapidly outcompete other variants and become the dominant variant over the coming months", experts predict.

OSCE Chair calls for release of Armenian detainees, resumption of high-level talks

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Public Radio of Armenia

I have urged Armenia and Azerbaijani to release all detainees and resume high level negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group to find a solution to all outstanding issues, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said at a joint press conference with OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmidt.

“There is still no real peace agreement between the parties,” she said.

Ann Linde disagreed with the opinion that the OSCE has not been putting enough effort in the Karabakh conflict.

“I have a Special Representative, who is very active. I had a physical meeting with him to discuss the situation. We have co-chairmanship comprising the United States, Russia and France, who try to play a positive role even if they have not been able to enter the area for the last year, partly because of Covid and other reasons,” the Chairperson said.

She reminded that in mid-June there was an agreement to return 15 detainees to Armenia and hand over information to Azerbaijan that will help facilitate important demining work.

“I think it was a welcome confidence-building measure, and here was valuable role-play by Georgia, the United States, as well as excellent cooperation between the President of the European Council and our Swedish chairpersonship. I have urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to release all detainees and resume high level negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group to find a solution to all outstanding issues,” she stated.