Delegation of the Lithuanian Parliament Friendship Group with Artsakh in the National Assembly
Parliament.am, 29 August 2014
https://www.parliament.am/news.php?cat_id=2&NewsID=6772&year=2014&month=08&day=30&lang=eng
On August 30 the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Artak Zakaryan and the members of the Committee met with the delegation of the Friendship Group of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania with Artsakh led by the Head of the Group Dalia Kuodytė. Welcoming the guests, Artak Zakaryan thanked the Lithuanian parliamentarians for the initiative of creating a Friendship Group with the Artsakh Parliament. He highlighted the activities of the Armenian-Lithuanian Friendship Group in the Seimas of Lithuania. Touching upon the Nagorno Karabakh issue, Mr Zakaryan has noted that the NK problem is one of the most important issues on the RA political agenda, and Armenia sees the settlement of the problem only through peaceful means, within the framework of the negotiations going on in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. The Committee Chairman referred to the events to be organized in Yerevan ahead of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide in April 2015 and expressed hope that the Lithuanian MPs will be at the Armenian people’s side during those days.
Europe-Armenia Relations
European Court Data On Armenia Released
AZATUTYUN.am, 28 August 2014 https://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/26555327.html
The European Court of Human Rights has handed down almost 50 rulings against the Armenian authorities in the past seven years, costing them over 576,000 euros ($770,000) in damages, a senior official said on Thursday. Deputy Justice Minister Arman Tatoyan said most of these cases have involved serious breaches of the due process of law which the Strasbourg-based court believes were committed by Armenian law-enforcement authorities and ignored by courts.
Armenia fell under the European Court’s jurisdiction as it joined the Council of Europe in 2001. Its government lost the first case in Strasbourg in 2007.
UK envoy welcomes Armenian FM’s visit to Turkey
PANORAMA.am, 29 August 2014
https://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/08/29/ambassador/
UK Ambassador to Armenia Katherine Leach welcomes the decision of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian to attend the inauguration of Turkish President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Glad Turkey invited - and Armenia accepted,” the envoy said in a Twitter post.
Turkey-Armenia Relations
Erdogan Handed Armenian Invitation
AZATUTYUN.am, 29 August 2014 https://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/26556768.html
Turkey’s new President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was formally invited to visit Armenia next April and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire after being sworn in for a five-year term on Thursday. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian handed Erdogan a corresponding letter from President Serzh Sarkisian as the two men briefly spoke at a reception in Ankara that followed the presidential inauguration. Nalbandian’s press office reported no other details of the conversation.
Sarkisian first publicly extended the invitation in May, three months before the Turkish presidential election. In televised remarks, he urged the winner of the ballot to visit Yerevan on April 24, 2015 and “face up to telling testimonies of the history of the Armenian genocide.
General News on Armenia
New Season: Geopolitically “hot August” sets stage for eventful autumn in Armenia
ARMENIANOW.com, 1 September 2014
https://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/56489/armenia_august_2014_analysis
August 2014 turned out to be a hot month not only in the sense of unprecedented dry weather, but also geopolitically. Armenia is entering September with a large body of crucial issues that require immediate solutions. First of all, it concerns the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The escalation of the situation in the Karabakh conflict zone and at the restive Armenian-Azerbaijani border in late July-early August continued until the Armenian forces managed to deliver powerful counterblows. Armenian experts, citing Russian pundits wrote that the latest escalation of tensions had been inspired by Russia with the aim of introducing troops into the region.
Serzh Sargsyan attends school opening in Karabakh village
ARMENIANOW.com, 1 September 2014 https://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/09/01/president-school-opening/
As part of his working visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has taken part in the opening of a newly-constructed school in Martakert region. The school in the village Chapar has come to replace the old building, which had suffered major damages during the 1990’s war. The new two-storey construction is designed for 84 pupils; it will have 53 young learners this academic year. Accompanied by Bako Sahakyan, the president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the Armenian leader also visited a monument to the Karabakh war heroes to pay respect to their memory.
Medvedev’s Armenia visit cancelled
PANORAMA.am, 1 September 2014 https://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/09/01/h-abrahamyan/
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Armenia will not take place, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan has said in response to a question from Yerkir.am.
Hovik Abrahamyan stated recently that according to a preliminary agreement, the Russian PM was to visit Armenia on September 8-9. According to Abrahamyan, there was an agreement that the Prime Ministers of the EaEU member states will visit Armenia, but then the issue was moved to the presidential level.
Prosperous Armenia delegation to travel to China
PANORAMA.am, 1 September 2014 https://www.panorama.am/en/
A delegation of the Prosperous Armenia Party led by Gagik Tsarukyan will visit China on September 2-6 at the invitation of the Communist Party of China, the press office of Prosperous Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan reports. The delegation includes MPs Vartan Oskanian, Naira Zohrabyan, Vahe Hovhannisyan and Mikael Melkumyan. During the visit, meetings are scheduled with the representatives of the Communist Party's political bureau, ruling body and business circles.
General News on Nagorno-Karabakh
About 250 ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan reported last week
ARMRADIO.am, 1 September 2014 https://www.armradio.am/en/2014/09/01/about-250-ceasefire-violations-by-azerbaijan-reported-last-week/
According to the data of the NKR Defense Army, about 250 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan from August 24 to 30. The rival fired more than 2,000 shots from weapons of different caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions. The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army remained committed to the maintenance of the ceasefire regime and resorted to retaliatory actions only in case of extreme necessity.
News from Azeri sources
Armenia occupied Azerbaijani lands, this conflict is not religious in character
APA.az, 1 September 2014 https://en.apa.az/news/215708
A press conference has been held in connection with the meeting on “Intercultural dialogue: interaction between culture and religion” within the framework of the 2014 Council of Europe exchange on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue organized in Baku. Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Mubariz Gurbanli said that Azerbaijan is known in the world as an exemplary country in terms of tolerance. He noted that though Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, different religious communities are freely operating here and representatives of the Council of Europe hold positive positions on religious tolerance in Azerbaijan: “They visited Guba and familiarized with the activity of the synagogue.”
Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Gurbanli said that Armenian occupied Azerbaijan’s lands and this conflict is not religious in character: “There are about 30,000 Armenians and an Armenian church in Baku. This is an indicator”.