Today we live in a society, which can not imagine life without expressing views on social media. Probably it does have certain advantages. Nevertheless, many participants of active discussions have already forgotten or do not even know about the developments, which unfolded in Armenia 5, 10 or 15 years ago.  

To fill the gap Mediamax presents 5/10/15 project, which introduce developments in Armenia 5, 10 and 15 years ago.

•    10 YEARS AGO: OCTOBER 29 – NOVEMBER 4, 2008

“Cold shower”

“If the South Ossetia situation did not happen, Azerbaijan, which was almost openly preparing for a war, might have tried to solve the Karabakh issue with the use of force,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said on October 29.

“The events around South Ossetia became a “cold shower” of sorts for the Azerbaijani leadership, making them suspend their militaristic rhetoric that the Karabakh conflict might be settled with the use of force,” Nalbandian said in the interview to BBC Russian Service.

“What’s important is the result, not the process”

On October 30 Edward Nalbandian said that Armenia attached importance to the result, not the process in the dialogue initiated with Turkey.

Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoglu

Photo: Photolure

“We have no intention to get involved in the process for the sake of the process,” he said, noting that “our goal is to establish diplomatic relations and open the border without preconditions”.

“Very positive”

NATO assessed as “very positive” the implementation of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with Armenia, Head of Euro-Atlantic Integration and Partnership Directorate at NATO Political Affairs and Security Policy Division Jaroslaw Skonieczka said in Yerevan on October 29.

According to Skonieczka, “there were many skeptics in the alliance 3-4 years ago, when the talks started on elaborating Armenia’s Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO”.

Jaroslaw Skonieczka

Photo: Mediamax

“However, two years of implementation of IPAP have demonstrated Armenia’s determination to realize the outlined reforms and adherence to commitments. You never promise something you cannot do, but you always realize what you have promised,” said Skonieczka.

The joint declaration

Presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia signed a joint declaration on November 2 following the results of the meeting in Meyendorff Castle, the Russian presidential residence near Moscow.

The declaration read:

“The Presidents of the Azerbaijani Republic, the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation, upon meeting in Moscow at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation on November 2, 2008,

and having substantially and comprehensively discussed in constructive atmosphere the situation and the prospects of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement by political means, through continuation of a direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia at the mediation of Russia, the USA and France as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs,

1. State that they will contribute to improvement of the situation in South Caucasus and establishment of the atmosphere of stability and security in the region by means of the political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the principles and norms of the international law and the decisions and documents adopted within the mentioned framework, which will create auspicious conditions for economic development and all-comprehensive cooperation in the region.

2. Confirm the importance of the continuation of mediatory efforts by OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, taking into account their meetings with the sides in Madrid on November 29, 2007 and the following discussions aimed at further elaboration of the basic principles of the political settlement.

3. Agree that the peace settlement should be accompanied by legally binding international guarantees for all its aspects and stages.

Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan

 

4. Note that the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to continue working on the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including during the further contacts at the highest level, and have charged their Ministers of Foreign Affairs with stirring up the further steps in the negotiation process in cooperation with OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs.

5. Consider it important to encourage the establishment of conditions for the measures on consolidating trust in the context of the efforts aimed at the conflict settlement.”

•    5 YEARS AGO: OCTOBER 29 – NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Aronian is ranked 2nd

The World Chess Federation (Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE) released the ratings of top chess players on November 1, which ranked Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian 2nd with 2801 points.

Levon Aronyan

 

As of 31 October 2018, Aronian is ranked 10th by FIDE.

Ara Tadevosyan