Three opposition parties have agreed to join forces and challenge the government in the legislative elections scheduled for April.
One of them, Hanrapetutyun (Republic), was the first to announce this cooperation on Thursday evening. “The three parties will make a joint declaration on 12 December,” he said.
The other two parties are the Civil Contract of Nikol Pashinian and Bright Armenia of Edmon Marukian. The two relatively young men.
Russian Defense Ministry: Half of East Aleppo cleared of militants
The Syrian government forces have cleared practically half of Aleppo from militant strongholds, liberating some 80,000 residents, tens of thousands of them children, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday in a released statement.
“In fact, half of the territory in parts of eastern Aleppo occupied by militants in recent years has been completely freed,” spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, as reported by Sputnik Agency.
“Most importantly, more than 80,000 Syrians have been liberated, tens of thousands children. Many received for the first time water, food, medical care from Russian humanitarian centers,” he stressed, as quoted by the source.
Arsinee Khanjian calls for the Diaspora to be deeper engaged with Armenian political processes
Armenian-Canadian actress and producer Arsinee Khanjian has urged the Diaspora Armenians around the world to actively participate in Armenia’s political processes and make their voice heard in the country’s forthcoming elections.
“Along with number of like-minded Armenians we are undertaking an election observation mission aimed at bringing Diaspora compatriots’ participation, their engagement with political processes of Armenia during the 2017 Parliamentary Elections, to have their say in a cause of having a more democratic country based on rule of law” Khanjian told at a discussion on Monday devoted to the first steps of the “Justice Within Armenia” Initiative.
To note, the initiative, which appeared two months ago in the form of a petition on change.org is a call by prominent Armenians throughout the world for ‘the fundamental preservation and protection of human rights, direct engagement in fair and transparent elections, respect for the rule of law, democratic change through civic engagement with the citizenry of Armenia”.
Khanjyan informed, that several organized groups in the Diaspora are actively working toward the implementation of the initiative steps and are receiving membership applications throughout the Diaspora.
“They will be equipped with necessary knowledge to conduct monitoring mission within a clearly planned coordination of their activity in Armenia,” said Khanjian, adding the core group of the “Justice Within Armenia” initiative is formed abroad and comprise known intellectuals from Armenia as well with “thousands of Armenian citizens standing in solidarity’.
In the words of the Armenian-Canadian actress, it has been the high time for the Diaspora Armenians to bring their participation to the Armenian events, making use of their resources and contacts in the Diaspora. Khanjyan also expressed concern over what she described as ‘unhealthy political climate, human rights violations, poor economic indicators, lack of justice and migration’ in the homeland.
“The diaspora is much concerned with all the aforementioned,” Khanjian explained.
To remind, Arsinee Khanjian’s quick involvement into the Armenian politics came in the aftermath of the July events, when she was among the active supporters of the armed group members that violently broke into a police station in Yerevan, resulted in days long hostage standoff with three police officers killed and dozens of wounded, including some members of the armed group.
In one of the episodes Khanjian was detained by the police ‘due to public safety reasons’ in a daily gathering in front of the seized police station, that the actress attended regularly.
Hours later the police apologized to her and released.
Afterwards, Arsinee Khanjian expressed her intention to be engaged with Armenian politics in an interview with “Azatutyun” radio station.
Iran, Armenia to quadruple power exchange volume
Iran’s Energy Minister has announced that the capacity of electricity exchange between the Islamic Republic and Armenia will soon grow from 300 to 1200 MWs, Mehr News Agency reports.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 14th session of Iran-Armenia Joint Commission also attended by the Armenian Minister of Energy Infrastructure and Natural Resources Ashot Manukyan, Iranian Minister Hamid Chitchian said the joint session tackled implementation of the third power transmission line, North-South Transit Corridor as well as construction of a pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Black Smea.
He pointed to the upcoming visit of Armenia’s president to Iran’s capital in the near future, asserting that “the arrival in Tehran of Serzh Sargsyan would offer the best opportunity for the development of bilateral cooperation between Iran and Armenia in energy sector and economy.”
The official, while stressing that several platforms exist for expanding and deepening bilateral relations between the two states, also said that the 14th session of Iran-Armenia Joint Commission will pave the path for further bolstering of ties in various fields like rail, aviation, agriculture, livestock, water, electricity, mining, petroleum, petrochemicals and tourism sectors.”
Chitchian also dwelled upon electricity exchange between Iran and Armenia underlining that creation of infrastructures and construction of new transmission lines will raise volume and capacity of power exchanges between the two states.
Referring to commencement of constructing the third electricity transmission pipeline between the two sides, Iran’s energy minister said implementation of the new project will bring a fourfold rise in the capacity of power exchanges between the two countries.
Also, Chitchian voiced Iran’s readiness to step up economic cooperation with Armenia reiterating that the two neighboring countries could boost economic and energy relations more than in the past.
Death toll from Oakland warehouse fire rises to 24, officials say
The death toll spiked from nine to 24 as the search continued overnight, Alameda County Sheriff’s Sargent Ray Kelly said on Sunday, warning that more bodies are likely to be discovered.
Investigators at the site are still trying to determine cause of the deadly fire, Kelly said, adding that arson isn’t suspected and the warehouse isn’t currently being viewed as a crime scene.
Eighty percent of the building has yet to be searched, Melinda Drayton, battalion chief at the Oakland Fire Department, said.
The search will be a “long and arduous process,” as the firefighters have been going through the debris, “bucket by bucket,” she said.
“It was quiet; it was heartbreaking,” Drayton added.
People are still reporting missing relatives and friends who were among the crowd at the ill-fated show.
The blaze broke out in a converted warehouse on 31st Ave in Oakland during a party advertised as a ‘Rave Cave,’ which was part of musician Golden Donna’s West Coast tour.
The fire raged for several hours, requiring over 50 firefighters to douse.
There have been reports that the building had no sprinkler system, and it appears that no smoke detectors went off during the blaze.
Iraqi Kurdistan: Twin explosions kill, injure 13 in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah
At least 13 people have been killed or injured in twin bomb attacks that rocked the province of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s semi-autonomous region, local media say.
On Sunday, two bombers detonated their explosive belts near residential areas at a village close to the town of Darbandikhan, Shafaaq News website quoted a Kurdish military source as saying.
A third bomber also failed to set off his explosives and was killed by security forces.
The exact number of casualties is still unknown.
Following the blasts, clashes broke out between a group of armed men and Kurdish security guards in the area.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, which bear the hallmarks of Daesh terrorists.
The latest terror attacks come as Iraqi forces are engaged in large-scale battles to drive Daesh out of the northern city of Mosul, the terror group’s last remaining bastion in Iraq.
The Iraqi army has the backing of different military groups, including Kurdish Peshmerga forces, in its military push to liberate Mosul.
Daesh has in recent weeks stepped up its terror activities in different parts of Iraq, particularly Baghdad, in revenge for the heavy blows it is taking on the Mosul front.
The UN said in a report earlier this week that the acts of terrorism and violence left nearly 3,000 people dead in Iraq in November.
‘Islamic State’ militant killed in North Caucasus, Russian security forces report
Russian security forces have killed a regional leader of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group. Several other militants were also killed in the raid.
The leader of IS’ North Caucasus branch was killed on Saturday along with four other militants, Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, said in a statement.
Rustam Asildarov, an “emir” who swore allegiance to IS in 2014, was killed in a raid in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, after he and his fellow militants refused to surrender.
Police stormed the single-family home where the militants were hiding after they opened fire on the police during the negotiation process. The FSB said that Asildarov was behind several attacks, and some plots that were never carried out, such as one meant to target New Year’s Eve revelers in Moscow in 2010.
IS named Asildarov the governor of a newly declared Caucasus province and has claimed responsibility for attacks in Dagestan. When he was declared the group’s leader in the region, the US State Department officially labeled him a “foreign terrorist fighter.”
Many foreign jihadist fighters in Syria and Iraq are known to come from the region.
blc/jlw (dpa, AFP)
Armenian-Russian agreement on joint force to enable Armenia to improve supervision of Russian military base – Hrant Melik Shahnazaryan
By signing an Armenian-Russian agreement on joint armed force Armenia will not face any sovereignty-related problems, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told Tert.am.
In fact, the armed force has operated for a long period, and the new agreement will give new impetus to bilateral cooperation.
“I think by signing the agreement Armenia attempts to tighten its supervision of the Russian military base in Armenia. I think there was a need to resolve technical problems by means of such an agreement. We find ourselves in some controversial situations involving the military base, and the Armenian side cannot be properly involved in the process,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.
The agreement will not cause any problems to Armenia’s sovereignty unless any border tension occurs. Nor any problems are expected in terms of aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Given the previous experience, especially the air-defense system, Armenia’s politico-military leadership did not allow similar agreements to restrict our troops from accomplishing their military and tactical tasks. I am sure that it is going to be so this time as well. There are ever mechanisms to utilize the potential of agreements in the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Armenia officially stated it is a guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security and I am sure it will honor its commitments,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.
On the other hand, however many agreements are signed, Armenia relies on its own strength, without request any aid, which was the case this April.
“Agreements envisage deployment of additional forces, but not the main forces,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.
Turkey rebranding al-Nusra terrorist to new name so-called “Army of Aleppo”
Russia says the formation of the so-called Army of Aleppo in the east of the Syrian city is an attempt to disguise and shield the al-Nusra Front terrorist group.
“I do not rule out that this is just another attempt to rebrand al-Nusra Front and shield it from righteous retaliation,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Rome on Friday.
Lavrov stressed that nearly all the militant groups in the eastern part of the flashpoint Syrian city, where the “Army of Aleppo” was recently formed, are under the control of al-Nusra Front.
“As I have already mentioned, according to our intelligence,… practically all armed opposition groups in eastern Aleppo report to al-Nusra Front. Nusra has some 1,500 militants there, while other groups under its command have up to 6,000 militants,” he said.
Al-Nusra Front is an affiliate of al-Qaeda that has recently renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and has claimed to have broken up with al-Qaeda in what has largely been interpreted as a decoy attempt.
Russia has long been pressing for the designation of al-Nusra as a terrorist group at the United Nations Security Council. Such attempts have, however, been hindered by the United States.
Lavrov also said his country had supported an initiative by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on the exit of militants from eastern Aleppo.
“De Mistura proposed allowing all terrorists to leave eastern Aleppo, we, despite the idea’s controversy, supported it and were ready to cooperate with it,” he said, adding the proposal “was blocked by those who, we are convinced, are interested in eastern Aleppo remaining under the control of terrorists.” He did not elaborate.
The Syrian government holds and defends the city’s western side and has been purging its east of militants.
Meanwhile, a monitoring group said on Friday that Syrian troops had taken control of half of the militant-held areas in eastern Aleppo.
Rami Abdel-Rahman, the head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the government forces “consolidated their control” over two eastern districts on Friday, adding they are now “comfortably in control of half” of the militant-controlled areas in Aleppo’s east.
He added the Syrian forces were advancing toward the recapture of the rest of the areas under the militants’ control in the east of the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry had already announced on Tuesday that the Syrian army had extended its control to half of those areas.
Russia has been offering military support to the Syrian government.
Elsewhere in his Friday remarks, Lavrov blamed the foreign-backed opposition for the stall of the intra-Syrian peace talks for more than six months, saying they “put forward ultimatums in the form of an absolute precondition to oust President [Bashar] Assad.”
The conflict in Syria, which flared up in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to an estimate by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
Syria army retakes more than 60 percent of Turkish supported FSA rebel-held east Aleppo
Syrian troops have moved deeper into the city of Aleppo, taking 60 percent of rebel-held areas, a monitor says. But the EU’s top diplomat says the fall of the city will not end the Syrian conflict.
Syrian government forces and allied troops have advanced further into rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo, recapturing some 60 percent of the terrain held by rebels since mid-2012, a group monitoring the country’s long-running conflict said on Saturday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the district of Tariq al-Bab had been taken overnight to Saturday by the Syrian army and allied forces. Recapturing the area means that the road from the government-controlled west of the city to the international airport to the east of Aleppo, also held by the regime, is now open.
The advance by government forces has caused more civilians to flee, either to remaining rebel-held districts further to the south, Kurdish-controlled areas, or those held by the government. Some 50,000 people are thought to have left the area so far.
More than 300 civilians have been killed in the ferocious assault on east Aleppo since November 15, according to the Observatory, with nearly 65 civilians killed by rebel fire in the west during the same period. Government forces have been backed by airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force, Moscow being a long-time ally of Assad.
The growing violence has aroused international outrage, with the UN warning that east Aleppo could become “a giant graveyard.”
No end in sight?
Losing eastern Aleppo would by the biggest blow yet to rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s more than 5-year-old war.
However, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Saturday that she was sure the conflict would continue nonetheless.
UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency, says nearly 20,000 children have fled
“I’m convinced the fall of Aleppo will not end the war,” she said at a conference in Rome.
At the same meeting, the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he hoped some means could be found to prevent the situation in Aleppo degenerating even further.
“I was feeling it would be a terrible battle ending up by Christmas-New Year. I hope the battle will not take place, that there will be some type of formula,” he said.
More than 300,000 people have been killed so far in Syria’s conflict, which had its roots in peaceful, Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests in March 2011. More than half of the country’s population has been displaced.
tj/jlw Reuters, AFP, AP)