Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

Azerbaijan to suffer defeat in the next war it decides to unleash, Armenia’s First President says

By

Azerbaijan will definitely suffer a major defeat and lose other regions should it unleash the next war against Artsakh – whenever that might happen, Armenian First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan stated at the Armenian National Congress party convention held in Yerevan on Saturday. Ter-Petrosyan’s remarks received applauds among the party members.

“What will follow [the defeat], only God may know. I guarantee that,” Ter-Petrosyan added, smiling.

In the former president’s words, despite his belligerency, Ilham Aliyev [President of Azerbaijan] is a “rational state figure who is able to take commensurate steps towards establishing peace, including to the benefit of his own people”.

“He is interested in peace and reconciliation as much as we are,” noted Ter-Petrosyan.

He next touched upon the NK settlement process, suggesting no other than “phased” option for the settlement of the conflict have been discussed since 1997. In his conviction, in the current world the laws of the jungle implying one can take whatever he has won work no longer and the conflict settlement based on mutual concessions remains the only option to proceed with.

 

Source Panorama.am

Netanyahu of Israel gift to Azerbaijan, weapons of mass destruction

By

BY YARON WEISS

The Israeli government’s support for Azerbaijan is unacceptable and disgraceful. Many Israelis are concerned about the cooperation between Israel and one of the darkest dictatorships in the world. Earlier this year, Zehava Galon, one of the leaders of the opposition in Israel, accused Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Defense Minister, as a “foreign agent” collaborating with the government of Azerbaijan.

Many Israelis feel empathy and solidarity towards Armenia. The two nations have suffered genocide. Armenia is a small country surrounded by enemies as Israel. However, the Israeli government’s policy is the opposite of the feelings of Israeli citizens. It seems that the Israeli government sells its values for money.

Netanyahu warned the world that Iran is a dangerous country and threatens to exterminate Israel. He demands to impose sanctions on Iran. But at the same time, he sells weapons to Azerbaijan who threatens Armenia.

Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia is similar to Iran’s aggression against Israel.

Even in the past, Israel has sold weapons to dictatorships. As a result, oppressed nations began to hate Israel. Everyone remembers the cooperation between Israel and South Africa during apartheid regime. It is no coincidence that South Africa’s Goverment is hostile toward Israel.

In the seventies, Israel sold weapons to the Shah of Iran. Later, the weapons turned against Israel. This is what is likely to happen with Israeli weapons in Azerbaijan.

Two months ago, I visited in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), and met a courageous and determined people. Nothing in the world will change the fact that Artsakh has been and will be forever Armenian. No drones and no sophisticated weapon systems can subdue the courage of the Armenians. We will continue to demand that the Israeli government stop selling weapons to Azerbaijan. We will continue to demand that the Israeli government will adopt a moral foreign policy. It is proven that relationships between countries based on shared values persist for a long time.

We have seen in the past that giving priority to material interests alone without moral partnership do not hold for long. I believe that in the end, common sense will prevail.

The question is, how many victims will there be until that time?

Armenia parliament votes to outlaw unexplained wealth

By

The Armenian National Assembly on its second and final reading unanimously approved a law on the criminalization of illicit enrichment.

All the 100 lawmakers voted in favor of the new bill.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan in early November instructed Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan to introduce a bill on the criminalization of unexplained wealth to help combat corruption.

The law stipulates that those illegally enriched officials whose increase of capital and/or reduction in commitments unreasonably exceed their legitimate income, will be imprisoned for three to six years.

The law will come into effect beginning July 1, 2017.

Russia ratifies Unified Air Defense System agreement with Armenia

By

Today Russia’s State Duma has ratified an agreement between Armenia and Russia on the creation of   Unified Regional Air Defense System in the Caucasian region of the collective security. TASS Russian news agency reports.

As the source reports, the main issues of the unified system are to organize and maintain air defense combat duty in the Caucasian region of the collective security, to support the combat management system, as well as to keep the weaponry and the military hardware of the Unified Air Defense System on alert in order to use them.

The joint activities of the troops of the forces included in the Unified Regional Air Defense System and the other regional air defense systems will be coordinated by the commander in chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the general management will be carried out by the commander of the troops of the southern military district of Russia.

 

Source Panorama.am

Bagrat Yengibaryan: Products of Armenian IT companies shining on the world map “Video”

By

Projects implemented in Armenian IT sphere come to prove we are able to establish companies that create own products and offer solutions, Bagrat Yengibaryan, Director at Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) told reporters on Wednesday, adding products by Armenian IT companies are now shining on the world map.

Bagratyan presented the two grant competitions “Support to SME Development in Armenia” (SMEDA) project, which is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Furthermore, the competitions aim at stimulating the rate of technology absorption and commercialization of research ideas, and also fostering the collaboration between science and the private sector, especially the Armenian SMEs.

Additionally, the grant competition specifically targets innovations in the architecture, including engineering cities. Organizations operating in Armenian marzes are provided with privileged conditions to participate in the competition. Companies based in Gyumri and Vanadzorr will have 15 percent share of the co-financing, instead of the acting 50 percent.

“The four competitions are aimed at fully keeping the technology sphere engaged for 2-2,5 years,” Bagratyan said.

The competition is open to Armenian companies with a high technology background, for example in the field of Engineering, Cleantech, Biotech, etc., All the information related to the competition may be found at EIF’s website: www.eif.am.

“Venture forums are planned in the scope of the competition, to be attended by number of investors, who might wish to finance companies and products irrespective of their winner status,” Yengibaryan told.

Head of the EU Cooperation department of the EU Representation in Armenia Hoa-Bin Ajemyan, present at the meeting, pointed out the education sphere as the primary obstacle to the IT sphere.

“We are working with the government of Armenia in that direction to make qualified Armenian student meet the European market demands,” Ajemyan noted.

 

Source Panorama.am

Israel: Netanyahu to visit Muslim Azerbaijan, to Build drone factory in Baku Against Christian Armenia.

By

Iranian university students in the Ardabil Province protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned trip to the Republic of Azerbaijan, December 12, 2016.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is to begin a rare visit to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan amid media fanfare, but protesters have already taken to the streets to condemn his presence in the Muslim countries.  

The two-day tour, which is to begin on Tuesday, is the first by an Israeli prime minister to the region in a quarter century.

Members of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan gathered in front of the country’s Foreign Ministry in Baku on Monday, venting their anger at Netanyahu’s planned visit to their country.

The Times of Israel has billed the trip as a vehicle to “bolster trade, [and] political support” with the two Muslim countries.

Azerbaijan, which supplies 40 percent of Israel’s oil, is a notable trade partner of the regime. Baku has also maintained controversially strong military cooperation with Tel Aviv.

The two sides have previously signed an agreement on the sale of 1.6 billion dollars worth of Israeli drones, anti-aircraft systems, and missiles to the Caucasian country which borders Iran and Russia.

The Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd has announced in the run-up to Netanyahu’s visit that it would build a drone factory in Baku, while reports pointed to the republic’s interest in Israel’s Iron Dome missile system.

The Jerusalem Post has described the bilateral partnership as an “iceberg,” with no more visible part than a tip. “The invisible parts of this ‘iceberg’ are mutual benefits,” it wrote in an opinion piece.

Netanyahu will, however, reportedly spend no more than seven hours in Azerbaijan, after which he will head to Kazakhstan with a reported agenda to discuss the potential provision of military training and technologies for the Asian country.

The trip comes amid considerable criticism, even among the traditional allies, of Tel Aviv’s persistent expansion of illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories.

Azerbaijan shares an extensive border with Iran. On Monday, university students in Iran’s Azeri-speaking Ardabil Province held a rally to condemn the visit and Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.

The protesters chanted “down with Israel” and denounced the visit as an unwelcome inroad into a Shia Muslim country.

Source: presstv.com

New Armenian Opposition Bloc Formed

By

Armenia – Leaders of the opposition Civil Contract, Bright Armenia and Hanrapetutyun parties announce the creation of an electoral alliance in Yerevan, 12Dec2016.

(azatutyun) Three Armenian opposition parties critical of Russia formally agreed on Monday to set up an alliance that will challenge the government in parliamentary elections slated for April.

The Hanrapetutyun (Republic), Bright Armenia and Civil Contract parties said they will not only contest the election with a common list of candidates but also negotiate on their possible transformation into a single party.

The three groups have yet to decide who will top that list and thus be the still-unnamed bloc’s candidate for the post of Armenia’s prime minister. Civil Contract officially nominated its de facto leader Nikol Pashinian’s candidacy for the post earlier this year.

Pashinian made clear that his party is “not bound” by that decision.” “In this context, all discussions have to start from scratch,” he told reporters. “None of the parties intends to impose some decisions on its partners.”

“We are confident that we will reach a common denominator as a result of discussions,” he said after the chairmen of the three parties signed a memorandum on the creation of the electoral alliance.

Hanrapetutyun and Bright Armenia have a pro-Western orientation, while Civil Contract advocates a more neutral Armenian foreign policy. Still, Pashinian has opposed Armenia’s membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

The joint memorandum says that the three parties will strive for a “European model of the democratic, rule-of-law and social state” in Armenia and are strongly committed to the country’s “sovereignty.” But it does not elaborate on the new bloc’s foreign policy orientation.

The Hanrapetutyun leader, Aram Sarkisian, said at the signing ceremony that he and his opposition allies agree on “geopolitical” and “strategic” issues. He did not go into details.

Hanrapetutyun was a key opposition force in the 2000s but has kept a low profile in recent years and is not represented in Armenia’s parliament. Its leader served as prime minister in 1999-2000.

Both Pashinian and the Bright Armenia leader, Edmon Marukian, are members of the current National Assembly. The two men aged 41 and 35 respectively traded bitter recriminations ahead of a recent municipal election in Vanadzor, the capital of the northern Lori province and the Bright Armenia stronghold. In particular, Pashinian questioned Bright Armenia’s opposition credentials.

Both men downplayed the spat on Monday, with Pashinian saying that their disagreements have been “broadly overcome.”

“We were criticized not only for being intransigent but also for not uniting,” Marukian said for his part. “Having discussed and put all that aside, we are stepping onto a new and very important path.”

Source: http://www.azatutyun.am/a/28171790.html

US may blacklist Armenian officials under Magnitsky Act – politician

By

The US Senate on Thursday passed a bill allowing the administration to enforce the Magnitsky Act against any country’s official responsible corruption and human rights violations.
The measure raises concerns that the “black list”, which formerly included only Russian citizens (predominantly government officials), may now apply also to Armenia.

Speaking to Tert.am, Styopa Safaryan, the founder of the Armenian Center of Strategic and National Studies, described the decision as a tool enabling the Congress to impose sanctions not only upon foreign countries’ officials but also US citizens responsible for corruption, torture, murder or other violations of human rights.
“Both former and current government members may be easily blacklisted. The former government members were comprehensively engaged in money laundering and were found to have spent money ineffectively. As for the current administration, any failure to combat corruption may serve as grounds for enforcing sanctions. ”
The sanctions in the Magnitsky Act require banning not only the said group of individuals’ entry to the United States but also blocking their access to the US financial systems and banks.

Back in 2010, Armenian businessmen-MP Samvel Aleksanyan (ruling Republican Party) was reported to be having difficulty in obtaining a visa for the United States. After repeated rejections by the US Embassy, he eventually turned to the Heritage party (of which Safaryan is a member) for help. “He had great hopes and expectations, which certainly got crushed,” the politician said.

 

But he hesitated to attribute that to any sanction. “In all likelihood, there were political reasons,” Safaryan said, not ruling out the possibility that the Magnitsky Act may now apply to a range of other Armenian government officials.

 

 

Ani Gevorgyan

Parliamentary friendship group for Armenia announced in Australia parliament

By

The Parliamentary Friendship Group for Armenia was announced in the Federal Parliament of Australia by the group’s elected Chair, Trent Zimmerman MP.

The Member for North Sydney has been working closely with fellow MPs and the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) to re-form the group after the most recent Federal Elections.

Zimmerman told the House of Representatives: “Our relationship with modern Armenia – which celebrated 25 years of independence just this year – is an important one. I am pleased this has been recognised through the establishment of a Parliamentary Friendship Group for Armenia and I am honoured to have been appointed as its Chair.”

He added: “I want to thank the many members who have helped establish the group, including the Member for Hunter (Joel Fitzgibbon MP) and the Member for Bennelong (John Alexander MP) – both of whom have been such strong supporters of the Australian-Armenian community. I also want to particularly acknowledge the advocacy of the Armenian National Committee which has done so much to encourage the formation of the Group.”

ANC-AU Managing Director, Vache Kahramanian welcomed the formation of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Armenia.

“The Armenian National Committee of Australia always looks for ways to improve ties between Australia and Armenia, and the formation of this group – which has a sister group in Armenia’s National Assembly.

Sex-selective abortions kill 1,400 girls in Armenia yearly – project

By

A total of 1,400 female babies are not born in Armenia because of sex-selective abortions, according to the project “Combating Gender-Biased Sex Selection in Armenia” implemented since May 2015 by the International Center for Human Development (ICHD) in partnership with the Stichting Save the Children Nederland (STC Netherlands), Armavir Development Centre (ADC), Martuni Women’s Community Council (MWCC) and Save the Children (STC) International and funded by the European Union (EU).

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the male/female child ratio is 108/100 in Armenia this year against 113/100 last year, which is certainly progress.

Such an outcome was due to awareness raising activities and public consolidation campaigns in the regions, said Vahan Asatryan, a representative from ICHD.

“We conducted collaborative work in all those directions in the regions. The state policies towards promoting public awareness are very important. Any attempt to put off fire is certainly good, but when you blow it out, it may erupt instead of extinguishing. Hence, we need knowledge to achieve that. That is why we have prioritized the issue,” he said, noting that sex-selective abortions are often motivated by economic factors (when women feel they have a secondary role in the society).

Asatryan admitted that the male-female ratio in Armenia is a concern also against the backdrop of the decreasing birth rate.