The Armenian Defense Ministry reports that tensions were reduced along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border last night.
Only several shots were registered in the northeastern part of the border. No shooting was reported at the Armenia-Nakhijevan borderline.
The front divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces confidently control the situation at the border and resort to retaliatory measures only in case of extreme necessity.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani sides exchanged bodies of those killed in action near the Bash Karvend settlement.
The bodies of eighteen soldiers were handed to the Armenian side, Spokesman for the NKR President David Babayan told Public Radio of Armenia.
The exchange was carried out with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman–in-Offi
The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, has announced he will resign next week, blaming politicians’ failure to enact “real changes,” the BBC reports.
“I am resigning as Prime Minister and I would like to stress with dignity my national liability before the state. I see my competences wider than those of a head of government,” he said in a regular weekly televised address.
Mr Yatsenyuk, in office since former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February 2014, said he would inform parliament on Tuesday.
The current President, Petro Poroshenko, asked him to quit in February, saying he had lost support.
His government has been accused of inaction and corruption.
Thousands marched in Yerevan in memory of the soldiers killed along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact over the past days.
The participants of the March of Silence visited Yerablur Pantheon to pay tribute to the memory of the fallen soldiers.
On April 10th, 2016, Armenians gathered in front of the Azerbaijan’s embassy in Brussels, Belgium, to protest against the military aggression Azerbaijan unleashed against the Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from April 2nd to April 5th.
– More than 3,500 community members heeded the calls from the Armenian Youth Federation on Friday and gathered in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard to protest Baku’s savage attacks on Artsakh, where civilians and children were also targets of the Azeri aggression.
At one point during the peaceful rally, the protesters, who were huddled on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue, began to cross the street northbound and staged a spontaneous sit-in in the middle of the street, blocking eastbound and westbound traffic.
Chanting, “Not One Inch,” protesters the protesters sent a clear message to the Azerbaijani authorities that no amount of aggression and gunfire will force Armenians to concede any territory in Artsakh.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which was caught when protesters staged the sit-in, worked with organizers to ensure the safety of the protesters and those around them. The organizers thanked LAPD for their service, as well as the community around the consulate building for understanding the just cause for which the protest was staged.
In fact, the messages delivered by the speakers were loud and resolute. That as long there is a threat to Armenians anywhere in the world—and in this instance to the population of Artsakh—the nation will come together to defend the homeland.
AYF member Verginie Touloumian invited the crowd to observe the moment of silence in memory of the those who lost their lives in defense of Artsakh and proceeded to read the names of those soldiers, civilians and the 12-year-old boy who died during last week’s attacks by Azerbaijan.
Areni Hamparian, a member of the AYF Junior Organization, delivered a moving speech, in Armenian, declaring that as long as there was an existential threat on Artsakh, or any other Armenian land, Armenians will continue to fight for justice.
Puzant Berberian, a member of the AYF San Fernando Valley Sardarabad chapter spoke about attempts to distort facts and recounted Artsakh’s centuries old history as a bastion of Armenian culture and heroism.
AYF Central Executive Chairman Gev Iskajian directed his remarks to the Azerbaijani Consulate by delivering a clear message of resistance and condemnation, saying that a nation that won the Artsakh war in the first place, has the resolve and the means to ensure “not one inch” of land is conceded and that the brutal savagery on display by Azerbaijan would not be tolerated.
After rallying the crowd with messages of victory and heroism, Davit Arakelyan informed the crowd that the AYF’s “With Our Soldiers” campaign was busy working to ensure that our soldiers and families were taken care of and urged the community to assist in that effort, and encouraged to community to support Artsakh though the Armenian Relief Society’s fund that was established after last week’s attacks.
His message was clear: Armenians in Los Angeles and around the world will continue to fight until justice prevails and a Free, United and Independent Armenia is established.
The protesters vacated the street peacefully and moved to the front of the consulate building, where after singing the Armenian National Anthem, they collectively pledged their resolve and solidarity to Artsakh.
This was part of the Western US community mobilization effort in the wake of the renewed attacks on the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, with members and activists coming together to voice their unified protest against this, the most large-scale attack on Karabakh since the 1994 cease-fire agreement.
Massis Post – John M. Evans, former United States Ambassador to Armenia, will be the guest of the Armenian Studies Program for a special evening talk on his new book “Truth Held Hostage: America and the Armenian Genocide—What Then? What Now?” at 7:30PM on Monday, April 25, in the Leon and Pete Peters Educational Center Auditorium (in the Student Recreation Center, next to the SaveMart Center), on the Fresno State campus.
Ambassador Evans, who recognized the Armenian Genocide while U.S. Ambassador, was dismissed from his post by the State Department. In his talk, an unrepentant Evans will discuss his new memoir, which gives a blow-by-blow account of his understanding of the Armenian issue, why he criticized United States policy in 2006, and why he still thinks the State Department should change its position on the Armenian Genocide. Truth Held Hostage promises to reframe the Armenian Genocide debate in the United States and has already been praised as the most important work about the Armenian Genocide by a U.S. diplomat since Henry Morgenthau’s groundbreaking Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story in 1918, a compelling, page-turning read, and an even-handed account of a matter of international importance.
Evans first broke with the State Department on the Armenian Genocide issue in Fresno, and it is fitting that he will be back to update us on developments—and his thoughts about the future.
The Azerbaijani side kept firing the Armenian positions last night nad this morning, the Armenian Defense Ministry informs.
The Ministry reported reduced intensity of firing and said irregular shooting was registered in the northern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border (Tavush province).
The front divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces confidently control the situation at the border and resort to retaliatory measures only in case of extreme necessity.
French President Francois Hollande met with Charles Aznavour yesterday. Mr. Hollande shared the photo on Instagram. No details are available about the topics discussed.
“The deployment of peacekeepers along the Karabakh-Azerbaijan state border is possible only after the two countries recognize each other, after important humanitarian issues are solved,” Spokesman for the NKR President David Babayan told .
He said that only after all other issues are solved, peacekeepers could be stationed along the Azerbaijan-Karabakh state border or parts of it as a demonstration of goodwill or as a sign of willingness of the international community to contribute to the reinforcement of stability and peace in the region.
Babayan added, however, that in this case the deployment of peacekeepers could be senseless. “There are hundreds of countries sharing a state border, but we don’t see peacekeepers stationed between all countries.”
“This conflict is unique in the sense that there have never been peacekeepers here, but the parties have maintained the ceasefire, good or bad,” David Babayan stressed. He added that “this shows that Artsakh and Azerbaijan are able to co-exist together as two independent states, and it’s a fact.”
“Experience shows that we are capable of maintaining the ceasefire and live next to each other without foreign interference,” the Spokesman concluded.