The Artsakh Defense Ministry has released the footage of suppressive actions the Defense Army undertook in response to the activeness of the Azerbaijani troops at the line of contact on the night of May 17.
The Defense Army says it possesses authentic information on the losses the Azeri troops have incurred.
The future of energy is renewable. And it is a future that Armenia can take advantage of, for its pocketbook today and for future generations as well. That was the message of a day-long conference organized by the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the firm Contour Global. They brought together representatives from some of the top U.S. renewable energy companies to meet with 70 Armenian businesses to discuss how they can best partner.
The session on May 17 allowed U.S. companies to detail their expertise and technology for clean energy and smart electric grid development.
“Armenia and its energy sector have grown so much over the last 25 years. I am excited to think about what the next 25 years will bring, knowing that it will be developed through partnerships started here today,” said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr., who opened the session along with the Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources.
The one-day conference was designed to strengthen the increasing commercial ties between the U.S. and Armenia by introducing leading U.S. companies to Armenian energy sector operators, allowing the American companies to showcase the latest technological advances in the field.
Clean, renewable energy is an increasing part of Armenia’s Clean, renewable energy is an increasing part of Armenia’s energy sector, which has grown over the past few years. From 2010 to 2015, Armenian production of electricity grew 20%, which Ambassador Mills noted was why the U.S. Embassy sees investment opportunities in Armenia for U.S. companies.
“As many of you know, this year we are marking 25 years of U.S.-Armenian relations. Twenty five years ago, I remember well working on the issues of the newly-independent Armenia at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Those of you old enough remember well that in those early years of independence, Armenia’s energy situation was shaky. Outages were the norm. Trees were clear-cut to provide heat. It was a time of true crisis,” he said. “But Armenia did not surrender to the darkness and scarcity. Instead, with the support of friends and partners like the U.S., Armenia developed into a nation that is able to meet its needs, and in fact able to export its excess electricity.”
He highlighted the valuable work done by the Armenian government to encourage energy diversification and clean energy production, including a Solar Cell Investor Conference it organized in January. And he mentioned how the U.S. has partnered with the Armenian government, describing an exchange trip organized last month for Armenian officials and private sector representatives to visit experts in the U.S. to gain best practices for solar power energy production.
Seven U.S. companies – Honeywell Building Solutions, Honeywell Smart Energy, MacLean Power Systems, First Solar Power Solutions, Caterpillar, General Electric and Contour Global – sent representatives to the conference to share their experiences and to learn about business opportunities in Armenia. The one-day program also featured presentations by International Finance Corporation (IFC), German Development Bank KfW, Ameria Bank, Switzerland-based Meeco Group, and Armenian government officials.
“The Armenian government has been leading the efforts in diversifying the nation’s energy sector into renewables and of boosting energy efficiency programs. They have put into place mechanisms and programs enabling the growth of Armenia’s renewable and solar cell energy sectors,” Ambassador Mills said. “And as we have for the past 25 years, the U.S. government will continue to be a partner with Armenia.”
During the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) held on May 16, 2017 in Tehran, it was decided to move the Federation’s headquarter from Istanbul, Turkey to Yerevan, Armenia.
With the majority of “for” and no “against” votes, the General Assembly elected Armenia as the new host country for the FEAS’s headquarter, after 22 years of operation in Turkey, since the establishment of the Federation in 1995.
Moving the Federation’s headquarter to Armenia NASDAQ OMX Armenia will start to support the administration of the Federation. Governance of the Secretariat has been entrusted to Mr. Konstantin Saroyan, CEO of NASDAQ OMX Armenia, who was appointed as FEAS Secretary General. His appointment was recommended by the Executive Board and approved by the majority of General Assembly.
“We are starting a new era of FEAS operation, administering the Federation from Armenia. Always being considered as cross-road of eastern and western cultures, Armenia will link different economic and political structures within FEAS, bringing success and growth to the Federation”, said Mr. Konstantin Saroyan, CEO, NASDAQ OMX Armenia.
To recall, Armenia, represented by “Yerevan Stock Exchange” (later “Armenian Stock Exchange” and after “NASDAQ OMX Armenia”) was among 12 founding members of the FEAS. Since November 2016 NASDAQ OMX Armenia has also been acting as FEAS Executive Board Member.
The Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) was established on May 15, 1995 with 12 founding members. The founders were: Amman Stock Exchange, Bratislava Stock Exchange, Central-Asian Stock Exchange (Kazakhstan), First Bulgaria Stock Exchange, Istanbul Stock Exchange, Karachi Stock Exchange, Ljubljana Stock Exchange, State Commodity Raw Materials Exchange (Turkmenistan), Tehran Stock Exchange, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Yerevan Stock Exchange and Zagreb Stock Exchange.
The purpose of the Federation is to contribute to the cooperation, development, support and promotion of capital markets in the Euro-Asian Region (i.e. Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean Basin).
Currently FEAS has more than 40 members, including stock exchanges, post trade institutions, dealers associations and regional federations from over 30 countries.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree, dismissing Gevorg Kostanyan from the post of Adviser to President.
According to Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan’s decision, Kostanyan has also been relieved of the duties of Armenia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights.
Gevorg Kostanyan has been elected to the National Assembly, which is set to hold its first session Thursday.
A reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election has pulled out to smooth the path for the moderate incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, the BBC reports.
The withdrawal of Mr Rouhani’s ally, Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, from Friday’s poll had been expected.
On Monday, Tehran’s  mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf withdrew his candidacy and urged his supporters to back conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.
He is now seen as the main threat to Mr Rouhani, who is seeking a second term.
A recent poll had put support for the two hardliners at 52% and for Mr Rouhani at about 42%. Another had Mr Rouhani at 29%, Mr Qalibaf at 12% and Mr Raisi at 11%, with 28% respondents undecided and 20% declining to answer.
If none of the four candidates remaining wins more than 50% of the vote, a run-off will be held on 26 May.
Mr Jahangiri, 60, announced his withdrawal in a speech to several thousand people gathered in the southern city of Shiraz on Tuesday, saying he had run as a candidate to “make the voice of reformists heard”.
“I have completed my historic duty and, together with you, I will vote for Rouhani to help continue on the path to progress for this country,” he said.
“Vote for Rouhani because he is the man for difficult situations,” he added.
The Russian court has recognized the verdict of the Shirak Court of General Jurisdiction on Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, who killed a family of 7 in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri.
The Russian side guarantees the unconditional and full implementation of the verdict under a procedure defined by an international agreement between Armenia and Russia.
Valery Permyakov from Russia’s military base was sentenced to life for killing a family of 7 in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri.
The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015.
Permyakov was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.
On August 12, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.
On October 13, Permyakov was found sane. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime. He also could recognize the consequences of his actions.
On October 16, Permyakov was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.
Artsakh has dismissed Azeri reports claiming that the Armenian side tried to down a helicopter carrying the country’s Defense Minister.
“This unserious misinformation that has nothing to do with reality aims to solve two issues – justify the attack on Defense Ministry’s military objects and improve Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov’s image among the public, to show the “dangerous” conditions Hasanov works in,” Senor Hasratyan, Spokesman for the Artsakh Defense Ministry, said in a Facebook post.
“There is no need to down the helicopter carrying the Defense Minister, at least for now,” Hasratyan said.
Armenian Weekly – A group of peaceful demonstrators protesting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to the United States, were attacked by pro-Erdogan groups at the Sheridan Circle near the residence of the Turkish Ambassador to the U.S.
“[This was] the type of violence you would never expect to see in America’s capital. It was the type of violence you’d expect to see in Erdogan’s Turkey and in other dictatorships,” said Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian, who captured parts of the attack and streamed the aftermath live on the ANCA’s Facebook page. “This is the very type of intolerance that has come to predominate in Turkey and it has now been exported here,” he added.
The demonstration, which began at Lafayette Square at noon, was organized by a coalition of organizations, including the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the American Hellenic Council. Several different groups, which included representatives from the Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, and Assyrian communities, participated in the protest, while President Erdogan met with U.S. President Donald Trump a the White House.
“I saw a group of peaceful protesters in Sheridan Circle—a grassy area across from the Turkish Ambassador’s residence—who were protesting and exercising their constitutional right to speak their minds, to hold signs, to share their opinions, and express their views get rushed from across the street by a group of a pro-Erdogan [demonstrators], who broke through the police lines and attacked literally anybody within their reach with their fists and anything else they could get a hold of,” Hamparian said in the live video moments after the attack. Hamparian went on to explain that the crowd of Erdogan supporters beat as many people as they could and that many were bloodied and had to be taken to the hospital.
“This is exactly the type of violence you see in Ankara and they are exporting it here. It’s one thing for the Turkish government to do that to its own citizens—[which is] a terrible thing. It is another thing for us, as Americans, to see that exported to the United States,” Hamparian said.
In April, AGBU Lebanon announced its participation in the United Nations Global Compact Platform (UNGC), an international platform for development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable policies and practices. It calls for the participation of both businesses and NGOs to work toward a vision of creating “an engaged community that advances sustainability practices nation-wide.”
AGBU Lebanon is the first Armenian non-profit organization in Lebanon to take part in the UN Global Compact platform and supports the ten principles of the compact with respect to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. “Our leadership believes that the key to reaching out to the Lebanese community at large lies in partnerships. This partnership follows in the footsteps of earlier partnership with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Foundation of Human and Humanitarian Rights, Lebanon. With this commitment, we express our intent to support the Global Compact by advancing these principles and will make a clear statement of this commitment to our stakeholders and the public,” says Anita Lebiar, the executive director of AGBU Lebanon.
AGBU Lebanon believes it is possible and crucial to create and ensure sustainability, a belief that coincides with the vision of the Global Compact Network in Lebanon. “Our participation will reflect our values: envisioning the Lebanon we want; setting ambitious and achievable community targets; institutionalizing and mobilizing to make these targets happen; and implementing and monitoring them. We look forward to partnering with other UN agencies and being part of other platforms, the vision of which align with our scope of work. UNGC is just the start,” says AGBU Lebanon District president Gerard Tufenkjian. Through this partnership, AGBU Lebanon is also demonstrating a commitment to act responsibly; contribute to the development of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as quality education, gender equality and partnerships; and collaborate with national and regional stakeholders on various projects.
Officially launched at the UN headquarters in New York in 2015, UNGC is the largest sustainability platform with 9,000 business, 4,000 non-business and 85 local networks in more than 160 countries worldwide. It calls for institutions to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards environment and anti corruption.
Photo:Â REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
Cholera has killed at least 180 people in Yemen in recent weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday, a day after authorities declared a state of emergency in the capital Sanaa and called for international help, Reuters reports.
Sanaa is controlled by the armed Houthi movement, which is aligned with Iran and fighting a Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition. More than 10,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in more than two years of war, which has also destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure.
Only a few medical facilities are still functioning and two-thirds of the population are without access to safe drinking water, the United Nations has said.
Dominik Stillhart of the ICRC told reporters in the port city of Aden that at least 180 people had died from the acute diarrhoeal disease since April 27, and that 11,000 more suspected cholera cases had been reported across the impoverished country.
Houthi authorities have said 115 of those who have died were in the city of Sanaa and its province.
According to the data of the Armenian Embassy in Egypt, there are no Armenian nationals in cholera-hit Yemen, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan said in a Twitter post.