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According to the plan of the joints actions of the units of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) joint air defense system (JADS), the units of Armenian Air Defense Forces are participating in combat firing drills underway at Ashuluk training ground near Russia’s Astrakhan, defense ministry reported on Tuesday in a release.
Konstantin Zatulin, Director of Institute of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Nagorno Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan, while the conflict settlement requires certain territories to be returned, Konstantin Zatulin, Director of Institute of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) stated on Thursday in Yerevan.
“In my opinion it is highly unlikely to see Karabakh to be part of Soviet Azerbaijan, since no Soviet Azerbaijan exists. The time when the Soviet Union was in process of dissolution, Azerbaijan had no more control over considerable parts of Nagorno Karabakh. Nevertheless, there are certain territories that are to be returned for the conflict settlement,” noted Zatulin, who is paying visit to Armenia to participate in the fourth joint session of Russia’s Federal Assembly State Duma Committee on the CIS Affairs and Armenian National Assembly Standing Committee on External Affairs.
Speaking of the April events, Zatulin stressed Russia condemns Azerbaijani actions and remains keen on eliminating distrust among the Armenian public.
“We look to end those days, the sentiments in the Armenian public, dobting Russia’s partnering relations. Steps taken by the heads of our countries are aimed at eliminating those suspicions. As you know the two ministers of defense signed an agreement on creating joint Russian and Armenian military forces. Aside from that, Armenia was provided with “Iskander” missile system this summer. To note, this is the first case when such a system is transferred to other state and seeks to maintain the balance in the region,” explained Zatulin.
Travel.ru tourism service has found out which travel destinations in the CIS countries Russian tourists have preferred so far in the current year.
And accordingly, Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, is in the top five CIS cities that are most popular for Russian citizens.
And Armenia—with 7 percent—is among the CIS countries that are most-liked by Russian tourists.
The number of Russian citizens’ online reservations for traveling to Armenia has increased by one-third so far in 2015, as compared to the year past.
Russian tourists have spent an average of 3.5 days so far this year in Armenia, and spent US$65 per day in a hotel in the country.
According to the 2015 summer season results, Armenia’s Lake Sevan is in fifth place in terms of the most popular CIS resorts for Russian tourists.
The opening ceremony of ‘Combat Commonwealth 2015’ joint air-defense exercises of CIS countries took place in the Ashuluk training range in Russia’s Astrakhan region, Armenian Defense ministry said.
Troops from CIS countries are taking part in the military drills – Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s press service reported yesterday that the drills involve anti-aircraft missile systems ‘S-400 Triumph’ and “S-300 Favorite’ as well as 40 crews of combat aircraft MiG-29, Su-24, Su-24, Su-27, Su-30, Su-25, MiG-31 and Tu-22M3.
Source: Panorama.am
A Russian soldier suspected of killing six members of in the same family in Armenia and wounding a seventh, an infant boy, has been detained on the Turkish border. The serviceman from Russia’s 102 Military Base went AWOL with his weapons Monday morning.
Six family members, including a two-year-old girl, were shot dead in Armenia’s second-largest city of Gyumri on Monday at about midday. The family’s only survivor, a six-month-old boy, was operated on for gunshot wounds in the chest and is currently in a stable yet serious condition, Interfax reported.
A criminal case has been launched, and serviceman Valery Permyakov, from a Russian military base in Gyumri, is suspected of the murders, as boots bearing his name were found in the house of the murdered family.
“In the house of the slain Avetisyan family, investigators found military boots, marked on the inside with the name Valery Permyakov, who serves at a Russian military base. The murder was committed with an AK-74,” Sona Truzyan, an official at Armenia’s Investigative Committee, told Interfax.
Earlier on Monday, at 6 am it was discovered that an armed serviceman was absent from his post, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that a search for the man was under way.
Investigators believe that the killings most likely arose in connection with a crime of passion, RIA Novosti reported.
The Russian Embassy in Armenia has expressed its condolences, saying in a statement that the two countries are working together on the case. Russian officials are providing all the necessary assistance to solve the crime as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his Armenian counterpart, Eduard Nalbandyan.
Armenia was ranked 56th in Forbes’ new Best Countries for Business – 2014 list, leaving behind its CIS neighbors – Azerbaijan was placed 60th, Russia 91st, Moldova 75th, Ukraine 88th, Kyrgyzstan 101st.
Among the regional states, Georgia took the 47th spot, Turkey – 50th, Iran – 132nd.
According to Forbes, Armenia has improved its position in the “monetary freedom” and “tax burden” criteria.
The neighboring Azerbaijan is estimated to have worsened its position in the “personal freedoms” criteria. “Azerbaijan has had a limited progress only in the market-oriented economic reforms. Corruption in the private sector and structural economic weaknesses remain an obstacle to growth, especially in the non-energy sector,” Forbes said.
United States was placed 18th in the ranking, with Denmark named the best country for business in 2014, followed by Hong Kong and New Zealand.