Day: October 10, 2023

Cyprus welcomes the joint statement following the meeting between EU Council President Charles Michel, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“We condemn the use of force by Azerbaijan in Nagorno Karabakh. We call for full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia. Refugees need to be able to return to their homes,” the Cyprus Foreign Ministry said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

After a meeting in Granada on October 5, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz underlined their unwavering support to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Armenia, the leaders said in a joint statement.

The TUMO Center for Creative Technologies is announcing a new initiative, TUMO for Artsakh Teens, aimed at meeting the needs of young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who have been forcibly displaced from Artsakh. The multi-year, holistic initiative will accompany displaced adolescents throughout their teenage years, helping them gain access to the different types of resources they need to ensure their well being and their healthy integration into their new home environments. The T4AT initiative is part of the TUMO Armenia campaign, which aims to make the TUMO program accessible to all Armenian teenagers by 2026.

TUMO has worked with tens of thousands of Armenian teenagers for the past 12 years, including thousands in Artsakh, through a center in Stepanakert and boxes in Askeran, Martakert and Martuni, and will now take responsibility of assessing their needs and family circumstances in coordination with relevant partner organizations, and will facilitate and monitor the provision of services to them by governmental and international agencies and NGOs. A dedicated team set up within TUMO will collaborate closely with partners specializing in data collection, social work, and support services.

The key components of the initiative include:

1. Tracking and maintaining contact with every displaced teenager from Artsakh, from today through their 19th birthday or until they no longer require assistance.
2. Facilitating their entry into the TUMO program in Armenia wherever facilities are available.
3. Monitoring their evolving needs for services such as housing, healthcare, mental health support, scholarships, access to equipment, university admissions support and career counseling.
4. Acting as an advocate for the teenagers, connecting them with service providers, and monitoring the provision of those services through regular check-ins.
5. Raising funds, channeling them to third party service providers and ensuring adequate reporting to donors.

“We consider all young Armenians as our children,” said Marie Lou Papazian, “Our Artsakh teens need our help more than ever, but we also need them. If we help them recover and reach their full potential, we will all benefit from the addition of so many bright young minds working for a prosperous and secure future.”

Präsident Ilham Aliyev: Erst kürzlich wurde bekannt, dass Malibeyli …  AZERTAC Deutsche

Ruslan Nasibov has been appointed Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree appointing Elchin Huseynli as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to India.

Tigran Avinyan of the ruling Civil Contract party has secured his position as Mayor of Yerevan despite failing to win a majority and after the ruling party’s worst electoral performance since coming to power in 2018.

Avinyan was appointed by the Yerevan City Council on Tuesday, the first time the council had convened since elections in late September.

Avinyan was the only candidate nominated by the council, as two of three opposition groups boycotted the vote.

The Mother Armenia alliance and National Progress party boycotted the session in hopes of failing quorum and forcing new elections. The move failed after Public Voice, the third opposition party in the council, decided to attend.

Due to the ruling party’s failure to win a majority on the council, Avinyan was forced to gain the support of Hanrapetutyun, a centre-right party. After the vote, Civil Contract and Hanrapetutyun signed a memorandum on jointly managing the city.

Avinyan was a founding member of Civil Contract. He previously held the position of Deputy Prime Minister, and has since September 2022 served as Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor.

A small protest took place outside City Council as it convened, with protesters carrying banners that read ‘you do not have a mandate’.

The opposition in disarray

On 19 September, Civil Contract secured 24 of 65 seats in the City Council, winning just 33% of the vote — a marked decline from the previous elections in 2018, when they won 81% of the vote. 

Along with Hanrapetutyun’s eight seats, the ruling party will still be forced to run a minority council in the capital, with 32 of 65 seats. The remaining 33 seats went to three opposition parties: National Progress, led by former Yerevan mayor Hayk Marutyan; Mother Armenia, an alliance backed by former president Robert Kocharyan; and Public Voice, a party founded by fugitive Vardan Ghukasyan.

Despite collectively winning one more seat than the ruling party and their allies, the opposition failed to reach a consensus on a joint candidate.

Hayk Marutyan, whose party came second with 14 seats on the council, called on the other two opposition groups to boycott the first session. 

Public Voice’s leader, Vardan Ghukasyan, refused, citing the security situation in the country and a deepening humanitarian crisis due to the influx of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Ghukasyan added that he did not want to ‘strengthen the positions’ of Kocharyan and former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who was forced to resign following the 2018 revolution.

The post Ruling party secures Yerevan mayorship despite underperforming in elections appeared first on OC Media.

Tim Scott calls for investigation into release of $6B to Iran  The Hill

С ночи 10 октября и в течение всего следующего дня в Аджарии ожидается усиление облачности, дожди, а в высокогорных районах мокрый снег, — сообщает гидрометеорологическая обсерватория Аджарии. Скорость ветра составит 10-15 метров в секунду. Ожидается его усиление в некоторых районах, примерно до 17-22 м/сек. В прибрежных районах температура воздуха днём будет колебаться от 16 до […]