Month: February 2021

France officially recognized the Armenian Genocide on January 29, 2001.

Twenty years ago, French President Jacques Chirac promulgated the law relating to the recognition by France of the genocide of Armenians.

On February 5, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron declared April 24 as Armenian Genocide commemoration day in France.

On April 24, 2019 France held its first “national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide,” fulfilling a pledge by President Emmanuel Macron that sparked an angry response from the Turkish government.

Macron announced the commemoration at a meeting with representatives of the country’s large Armenian community in February 2019, honoring a promise made during his 2017 presidential campaign.

“France is, first and foremost, the country that knows how to look history in the face,” he said at the time, noting that France was among the first countries to denounce the World War I slaughter of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. 

The Artsakh Defense Army denies reports claiming 15 Armenian soldiers were captured.

Referring to materials circulating on the web, the Ministry said “those have no real basis, are completely imaginary, and aim to tarnish the reputation of the structure that performs its task in the difficult post-war conditions.”

“In particular, various Internet users have been spreading information about the capture of 15 Armenian soldiers, about some episodes of the 44-day war, the name of the commander of the N military unit, Colonel Gor Ishkhanyan is also being speculated in connection with changes in military positions,” the Ministry stated.

“Taking into account the sensitivity of the people to any news related to the army, we reaffirm that no serviceman of the army was taken prisoner today or during the previous days. During the war, the military unit under the command of Colonel Ishkhanyan performed the assigned tasks exclusively on the basis of the orders of the superior command. There was a need to implement the provisions of the tripartite declaration. He did not surrender a single position to the enemy during the hostilities, and the withdrawal after the war (also from the areas where there were command posts, fortifications) was due to the need to implement the provisions of the tripartite statement,” the Defense Ministry said.

The Defense Ministry asks to refrain from spreading false information, noting that it does not contribute at all to strengthening the defense capacity of the homeland.

In response to the Artsakh war, the subsequent media conflict, and the imperative need for incontestable scholarly research and analysis, AGBU is announcing the Artsakh Research Grants. This newly established initiative will raise awareness and enhance knowledge of Artsakh by expanding both mainstream and scholarly access to the region’s history, culture, and current affairs and disseminate this array of information to the public.  The AGBU grant will enrich assets on Artsakh studies by adding original published work to a greater pool of primary resources and accurate accountings based on pioneering research and other existing publications.

“The genesis of this grant was the concept of knowledge-based identity formation,” said AGBU Central Board Member and Education Specialist Lena Sarkissian. “We established the grant to enhance the skills and research methods that help shape the Armenian identity to further understand the Armenian reality, promote awareness, and build reliable knowledge of Armenia and Artsakh. We want to control and spread our narrative to the world with quality data, verifiable sources, and on-the-ground research that will withstand the test of time.”

The grant is open to students and scholars of all heritages. Graduate students, academics, researchers, post-doctoral scholars, independent writers, freelance journalists, and others interested in developing an expertise and understanding of Artsakh are encouraged to apply.

Research may include but is not limited to historical and/or contemporary work examining social, cultural, psychological, legal, economic, technological, humanitarian, and environmental issues of the region’s past, present and future. Published work may include articles, reports, papers, as well as high-quality videos and podcasts. 

Grant proposals must include samples of previously published work, a resume/CV, and a proposed budget with strategy for the on-the-ground research project. Proposals and completed works can be submitted in English, French, Spanish, or Russian.

Applications are in English and will be accepted on a rolling basis until April 30, 2021.

UEFA’s appeals body has upheld a €100,000 fine imposed last November on Qarabag FK and rejected the club’s appeal.

The fine was meted out as part of a wider sanction handed down on the Azerbaijani champions for a social media post that showed “racist behavior” and “incidents of a non-sporting nature.”

UEFA banned an Qarabag official Nurlan Ibrahimov for life from football-related activity after the Armenian Football Federation (FFA)  complained about a post on social media by Nurlan Ibrahimov “calling to kill all the Armenians, old and young, without distinction.”

Ibrahimov posted: “We [Azerbaijanis] must kill all Armenians – children, women and the elderly. We need to kill them without making a distinction. No regrets. No compassion.”

UEFA requested FIFA to extend worldwide the above-mentioned life ban. It also fined Qarabag FK €100,000.