Weekly update

16 November

• In light of the further advancement of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the President of Turkey recently made controversial statements, which distort the reality, Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, News.am reported. “These statements contain claims aimed at justifying the Genocide by means of insulting the dignity of the victims. On April 24, 2019 the President of Turkey already attempted to justify the Armenian Genocide by qualifying it as “the most reasonable act” and referring to the victims of the Genocide as “Armenian gangs and their supporters”. All the more, presently the President of Turkey deprives the victims of the Armenian Genocide of their historic homeland by way of calling them nomads, thus forgetting the history of his ancestors and the indigenous people of the region,” the statement reads.

15 November

• Two days after resigning from the post of the chairman of the Public Council Vazgen Manukian has announced his plans to return to politics. In presenting his resignation, Manukian criticized the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of allowing “an atmosphere of mistrust and hatred of an unprecedented level to be formed in our country.” Talking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) on Friday, Manukian said that he is reviving his National Democratic Union, a political party that once was prominent in Armenia’s political field and was represented in the country’s legislatures in 1995-2003. In the meantime, the Vernatun public-political club set up by Manukian held its first meeting today. Among those who attended the meeting were mainly former officials and members of the governing coalition, including members of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun), representatives of the circles close to Armenia’s former President Robert Kocharyan, including chief of his office Viktor Soghomonian.
• According to Reuters, Turkey will not step back from its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, a senior aide to President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, two days after talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. Erdogan and Trump held talks in Washington on Wednesday to overcome mounting differences between the NATO allies, ranging from looming sanctions threats over Turkey’s purchase of S-400s and Syria policy. Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its F-35 jets and has suspended Turkey’s involvement in the jet program.

• Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Serbia and 18 other countries voted against the updated draft resolution on respect for human rights in Crimea and Sevastopol at a meeting of the relevant committee of the UN General Assembly together with Russia, News.am said. Twenty three states voted against the updated draft resolution: Armenia, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Sudan, Syria, Uganda , Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

14 November

• The Italian government has declared a state of emergency in Venice due to an unprecedented flood, DWreported. Italian PM Giuseppe Conte announced a national state of emergency on Thursday evening after floodwater levels in Venice reached the highest level in over 50 years. The PM also tweeted that the Italian Cabinet approved €20 million to help the city recover from the floods.
• A US Senator has blocked a resolution to formally recognise the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One as a Genocide. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said lawmakers should not "sugarcoat history or try to rewrite it," BBC reported. Mr Graham's objection came hours after he attended a meeting with US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The vote on the issue was viewed by Turkey as highly contentious. To become official policy, the resolution needed to be approved by both houses of Congress and then be signed by the president. The resolution was blocked by Mr Graham on Wednesday when it reached the Senate. Under Senate rules, a single senator can block any resolution. "I just met with President Erdogan and President Trump about the problems we face in Syria by the military incursion by Turkey. I do hope that Turkey and Armenia can come together and deal with this problem," he told the Senate floor.

13 November

• On 12 November Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. The meeting addressed a range of issues on the situation along the line of contact between the Artsakh and Azerbaijan armed forces, Artsakh president’s office reported.

12 November

• President Armen Sarkissian received today the US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy. Present at the meeting were also the Deputy Chief of Mission Christopher Smith, Director of USAID Armenia Office Deborah Grizer, and the Embassy’s Counsellor of the Political and Economic section Ryan Campbell, said the Presidential Office.
  The President welcomed the guests and underscored the high level of the Armenian-American cooperation in various areas. The President of Armenia stressed the importance of a continuous development of the bilateral relations and hailed the assistance provided by the Government of the United States to Armenia. He noted that each, even the smallest step, could yield great results. Ambassador Tracy noted that the United States is interested in developing as much as possible the efficient cooperation with Armenia. She stressed that there exist multiple opportunities for positive changes.
• Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan participated in a thematic discussion in the sidelines of the 2nd Paris Peace Forum. The discussion was facilitated by Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Europe for The New York Times Steven Erlanger. Inviting PM Pashinyan to take the floor, Steven Erlanger noted that Nikol Pashinyan is an interesting person and he has a unique attitude towards him, because he is a former journalist, has been in prison a number of times and later became the Prime Minister of his country. “This is a very unusual path. I am a former reporter of Moscow and have been in your country. I want to thank you for being here”, Erlanger said. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, PM Pashinyan thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for such an important initiative, noting that it’s an important platform for discussing the current security challenges, developing joint concepts for overcoming those challenges.

11 November

• It is impossible to reach any agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh without the consent of the population of that region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday following talks with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, reported TASS. When asked about Russia’s attitude towards the proposal to return Nagorno-Karabakh to the negotiating table as a full-fledged participant in the settlement process, the minister said it was up to the parties themselves "to coordinate and determine the composition of the participants in the negotiations."

10 November

• The centuries-old friendship between the Armenian and Russian peoples offers good guarantees for building security and stability in the Caucasus region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Yerevan, said Tert.am. Addressing the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, Lavrov also thanked the National Art Gallery's administration for providing its grandiose halls for the organization of the event.

9 November

• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Secretary for Relations with States within the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, News.am informed. The Prime Minister welcomed his visit to Armenia and expressed hope that it will give momentum to further development and strengthening of relations with the Vatican. Pashinyan reiterated Armenia’s interest in expanding ties with the Vatican. He spoke about Armenian people’s warm attitude towards Pope Francis and the Holy See.

Sources: https://www.azatutyun.am/en, https://armenpress.am, https://news.am/eng/, https://www.president.am, http://president.nkr.am/en/, https://www.reuters.com/, https://www.tert.am/en, https://tass.com, https://www.bbc.com/, https://www.dw.com/.