Author: Adrine Hakobian

The Armenian Embassy in Damascus on Sunday held a reception commemorating the 24th anniversary of independence at al-Sham Hotel, Press and Information Department of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The reception was attended by Speaker of the People’s Assembly (parliament) Mohammad Jihad al-Laham and a number of senior officials in addition to economic, religious, cultural and media figures.

In his speech Armenia’s Ambassador to Syria Arshak Poladyan referred to Armenia’s achievements over the past years, the Armenian-Syrian relations, the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the efforts of the Arab people of Syria to shelter and save Armenians who fled the massacres, as well as the domestic political situation in Syria.

“Armenia welcomes any initiative targeted at the establishment of peace, national unity and stability in Syria,” the Armenian Ambassador said.

Earlier the day His Grace Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of Diocese of Damascus of the Armenian Apostolic Church, celebrated a Holy Mass dedicated to the 24th anniversary of Armenia’s independence.

Divisions among world leaders on Syria have been laid bare in speeches at the UN General Assembly.

The US and France insisted Syria’s President Assad must go, but Russia said it would be an “enormous mistake” not to work with him to tackle Islamic State (IS) militants, the BBC report.

However, the US and Russia did hint at compromise. Barack Obama said he would work with any nation and Vladimir Putin called for a “broad coalition”.

In his speech, Mr Obama said compromise among powers would be essential to ending the Syrian conflict, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives and forced four million to flee abroad.

“Lasting stability can only take hold when the people of Syria forge an agreement to live together peacefully,” he said.

“The US is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict. But we must recognise that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.”

Speaking soon after, Mr Putin said it was an “enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face-to-face”.

He also called for the creation of a “broad anti-terror coalition” to fight IS, comparing it to the international forces that fought against Nazi Germany in World War Two.

The Gothenburg Intenational Book Fair, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, kicked-off on September 24.

Armenia was presented at the fair for the first time with a separate pavilion dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial. The latest publications about Armenia were showcased with a separate section of books on Genocide in Armenian, Swedish, English, Turkish and other languages.

On September 25, the Armenian exhibitors held a seminar titled “The Armenian Genocide of 1915: Contemporary Perspectives and Analysis”. The speakers of the seminar were the Professor of History of the Lund University, author of the book “Those Innocent Today May Be Guilty Tomorrow” Klas-Göran Karlsson, Professor of International Law Ove Bring and the author of “Genocide of Armenians through Swedish Eyes” Göran Gunner.

On September 24, the «Artos & Norma» publishing house arranged a workshop titled “Genocide and Denial” with a presentation of the book “I cannot: Alma and the Armenians” by Swedish writer and journalist Janne Carlson and the monography “Cultures of Denial. Compering Holocaust and Armenian Genocide Denial” by the PhD student of Lund University Maria Karlsson based on her academic research.

Janne Carlson will have a separate seminar on September 26 under the title “The Witness of Genocide”, and one of Sweden’s leading daily newspapers, the Svenska Dagbladet will also hold a seminar-discussion at its pavilion with participation of its cultural editor Anders Q Björkman, Professor of Lund University Svante Lundgren and journalist of the Sydsvenskan newspaper Rakel Chukri.

The Gothenburg International Book Fair will be open until September 27.

On 21 September Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in connection with the Independence Day.

The letter runs as follows:

“Your excellency, Mr. Sargsyan,

I cordially congratulate You and our whole nation on the 24^th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Armenia, a holiday that symbolizes our century-long will and resolution to be free and independent.

Having lost the statehood the Armenian people were subjected to multiple trials for centuries, resisted encroachments of the enemies and suffered severe deprivations. However, they never despaired, never lost their national identity, faith, language and never relinquished their goals even for a moment.

These goals became reality in 1991 when the independent statehood was restored on the ancient Armenian land. That was the path to the salvation of our nation, a way to victories and achievements, realization and self-affirmation that the Armenians pass with dignity and overcome all the difficulties and hindrances due to their unity and unwavering spirit, day by day solidifying and strengthening the native country and carving its reliable future.

Respectful Mr. President,

I congratulate You and all our compatriots on the Day of Independence once again. I wish peace, successes and all the best to our people and Mother Armenia – the Motherland of all the Armenians, the source of pride and confidence”.

At least ten people were killed and dozens wounded when a car bomb exploded in the Syrian city of Latakia on Wednesday, state television said, in a rare attack in a coastal stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, Reuters reports.

Latakia has so far been largely spared the violence that has ravaged Syria during more than four years of civil war, killing around a quarter of a million people.

The explosion was in a main square, state television said.

The governor of Latakia, Ibrahim Khader al Salem, told pro-government television channels that insurgents sought to strike at the heart of government-held safe areas that had become a refuge for tens of thousands of displaced families in an attempt to sow “destruction and fear”.

State media said a white van filled with at least half a ton of explosives was parked near a school and had created a huge crater in the square that lies at a major crossroad inside the port city.

State media said at least two explosive-laden cars had been discovered in recent days in the city in foiled attempts to blow up heavily populated areas.

Separately, a mortar attack on part of the campus of Damascus University killed at least two students and wounded several, state media said.

Latakia is home to a large Armenian community.

The last two Armenian cemeteries in the center of Tuzluca (Koghb) province in the east of present-day Turkey have been taken under protection of the Kars Regional Protection Council, Akunq.net informs, quoting reports in Turkish media.

According to the source, the two Armenian cemeteries are located in the Republic District and the Central District of Tuzluca.

Hundreds of Armenian cemeteries in Turkey have been destroyed by treasure hunters or as a result of construction works.

Pluto has mountains made of ice that are as high as those in the Rockies, images from the New Horizons probe reveal, the BBC reports.

They also show signs of geological activity on Pluto and its moon Charon.

On Wednesday, scientists presented the first pictures acquired by the New Horizons probe during its historic flyby of the dwarf planet.

The team has also named the prominent heart-shaped region on Pluto after the world’s discoverer Clyde Tombaugh.

The spacecraft sped past the dwarf planet on Tuesday, getting as close as 12,500km and grabbing a huge volume of data

Barely two months after the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, relatives of those who survived the mass killings are now fighting to prevent the graves of their loved ones from being exhumed to make way for a luxury resort in the coastal town of Byblos, according to

Escorted by police, a group of laborers arrived at the historic cemetery Monday morning to begin digging up the graves, but they were stopped by a last minute court order filed by the relatives of one of the deceased. Relatives had previously filed a complaint in March soon after the project was first announced and a judge had opened an investigation into the case.  Yet despite this ongoing investigation, an attempt to dig up the graves was made yesterday, according to Vartan Avakian, great-grandson of Hagop Avakian, who was born in 1894 in Turkey and among the earliest genocide survivors to settle in Lebanon.

The younger Avakian, who has been researching and lobbying officials about the case for the last few months, says his family members notified local authorities when the workers showed up. Through a lawyer, they then contacted Judge Joseph Ajaka of the court of urgent matters who has now issued a temporary stop order until the investigation is complete.

But despite this intervention, Avakian worries about rumors that a second attempt to exhume the bodies is being imminently planned.

According to the source, the Armenian Church that manages the cemetery– The Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia– has apparently made a deal with a developer to lease the seaside property for a beach resort. There is concern that the church building itself, one of the oldest Armenian churches in Lebanon–may also be used to host a spa or restaurant for the future resort, which is reportedly linked to former telecom minister Jean-Louis Qordahi.

In the early 1900s the site known as “Bird’s Nest” was part of a Dutch missionary orphanage and school thatsheltered large numbers of genocide survivors, and later became an anchor for one of Leabanon’s earliest Armenian communities.

However Avakian contends that the cemetery property is actually under the jurisdiction of the state’s Directorate of Antiquities, since the land  is just a few meters from the 10,000 year old Byblos ancient port site and has also seen very recent excavations. Following Avakian’s claim,  Judge Ajaka has ordered excavation works stop until the Directorate has clarified its position.

The Church has announced that the bodies will be honored at a new shrine far from the coast, but this will reportedly serve as a mass grave. It’s hard to imagine why a developer or the church don’t find it problematic to exhume the graves of genocide survivors. The idea that the church itself could be used for a resort project is likely to upset many in the community who frequented the place of worship for family events or attended a primary school that was part of the church complex.

The Byblos area hosts one of the few publicly accessible coastal areas in Lebanon, yet a number of private resorts have been controversially built along the shore, including the well-known and extraordinarily priced Edde Sands. The entrance fees of these resorts are  far out of the price range of the average Lebanese person. Because they are patrolled by guards and fences, very little of the coast remains natural and open to the public as can be seen in this map:

 

 

Fellow soldier has confessed to killing a Russian serviceman in Armenia’s second city of Gyumri, where the Russian Military Base #102 is stationed.

“According to preliminary information, the murder could be a result of a conflict with fellow serviceman,” Interfax reports, quoting the press service of the Southern Military District.

Soldier of the Russian Military Base identified as Ivan Novikov was stabbed to death this morning near the Mother Armenia monument in Gyumri.

The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey will seek soonest normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, in case it succeeds in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, Vice-President of the Party Nazmi Gur told RIA Novosti.

Twenty parties are running for Parliament in the June 7 elections, four of them having a real chance to clear the 10 percent threshold. Survey results suggest that 41% are going to vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party.

The Republican People’s Party can count for 29 percent of the votes. The Nationalist Movement Party and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party are likely to receive 14 and 11 percent respectively.

“We stand for implementation of the protocols on the normalization of relations of Armenia and the opening of the shared border. The Turkish-Armenian relations should not be linked to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. It’s a question of the Armenian and Azerbaijani nations, which should be solved through negotiations. We also stand for the recognition of the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,” Gur said.