France’s Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Désir visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today.
He laid flowers at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims and toured the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute accompanied by its Director Hayk Demoyan.
Harlem Désir has arrived in Armenia to participate in the 31st Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie October 10-11.
The 1st European Universities Chess Championship kicked off in Armenia today. The event has brought together 25 university teams from nine countries.
Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan said in his opening remarks “it’s an honor for Armenia to host the first European Universities Chess Championship.”
“We are an exceptional country to have won the Chess Olympiad three times, an exceptional country, where chess is taught in schools a s a compulsory discipline,” the Minister said.
“Chess has become part of our national pride,” he added.
“It’s an honor to be the first European capital to host the Universities Chess Championship,” the Minister stated.
Team from Poland, Russia, Portugal, France, turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Armenia are participating the championship.
Representatives of Armenian communities across Europe and the Middle East sent a letter to the UN asking for a resolution to ban the term ‘Islamic’ State, or ISIS, since the terror organization does not represent Islam, Sputnik News reports.
Members of the Armenian diaspora have sent a letter to the UN requesting a resolution to ban the use of the term ‘Islamic’ to describe the terror organization that has taken control of large parts of Iraq and Syria, because the militants do not represent Islam.
“We are very upset at the fact that important politicians, international organizations and the media call a dangerous terrorist organization the ‘Islamic State,’” Amram Petrosyan, the group’s president, .
“In our view, this is unjust and even provocative. We know that Muslims, Christians and people of other confessions always lived peacefully in the Middle East. If there were conflicts between communities, they were the fault of politicians and national leaders.”
“Fighters engaging in a bloody war need to be called terrorists, never Muslims. The very name of this terrorist organization in official documents as the ‘Islamic State,’ creates the basis for xenophobia and religious intolerance.”
The letter requesting a ban on the term ‘Islamic’ was sent by representatives of the international ‘New Armenia’ organization in Syria, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Montenegro and Serbia on October 7.
It has particular importance for Armenian resistance fighters who are battling the Islamic State in Syria, a commander of the Armenian militia in the Syrian city of Homs told Izvestiya.
“The Armenian militia as part of the Syrian National Defense Force, together with our Muslim brothers with whom Armenians have lived for more than ten centuries, through the good times and the bad, and regardless of religious affiliations, today are fighting the terrorists side by side,” said Viken Glchyan.
“Shedding blood together with Muslims against terrorists, we are upset when civilized countries call them the ‘Islamic State.’”
The letter from the Armenian diaspora follows a similar call from Russia’s Central Muslim Spiritual Board, which condemned the terrorist organization’s use of the term ‘Islamic,’ and suggested it instead be called ‘Daesh,’ the Arabic abbreviation for ISIS. On September 30 the Board announced its “resolute support” for Russia’s military intervention to help the Syrian government fight the terror group.
Four Armenian soldiers were killed as the Azerbaijan side opened fire from Turkey-made TR-107 reactive rocket launchers in the north-eastern direction of the Defense Army at about 17:30, NKR Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The victims were identified as Norayr Khachatryan, born in 1995, Robert Mkrtchyan, born in 1995, Harut Hakobyan, born in 1997, Karen Shahinyan, born in 1997. The Ministry said several soliers were also wounded.
Probe into the details of the case is under way.
The NKR Defense Ministry shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its sympathy to the families and friends of the killed soldiers.
Iranian trucks transporting goods to Georgia through Turkey currently prefer the route through Armenia, although the roads are more inconvenient because of the mountainous relief, Akunq.net reports, quoting its sources.
The reason is that the Iranian trucks have been burnt by unknown armed groupings in Turkey over the past 4-5 months.
The source reports, quoting Iranian drivers, that 40-50 trucks have been burnt in Turkey over the past months. They are not certain, however, who stands behind this – state officials or PKK militants.
Stolen relics from Turkish-occupied north Cyprus went on exhibit today at the Byzantine Museum, Gibrahayer E-magazine reports.
Among them was a 14th century Armenian Gospel that was stolen by Turkish Cypriots in 1963 from Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in Victoria street.
The Church of Cyprus that 34 treasures that had been stolen from the island’s Turkish-occupied areas, returned to Cyprus following a decision by the Munich Court of Appeals, on March 16, in the case of Turkish art smuggler Aydin Dikmen.
Among the artifacts, 24 are Byzantine relics and some prehistoric antiquities coming mostly from the collection of Chr. Chatziprodromou, from Ayios Epiktitos Church. Among the Byzantine relics there are three pairs of bema doors (Monastery of Antiphonitis Christ, Virgin Mary Monastery in Kantara), wall paintings from the Monastery of Antiphonitis Christ, the church of Agia Solomoni in Coma tou Yialou and the Monastery of Panagia Apsinthiotissa in Sychari. Also the treasures include a hand written manuscript of 17th century (omilario) from the Monastery of the Panagia Trooditissa, and the hand written gospel of the Armenian community of Cyprus stolen during the Turkish mutiny in 1963.
On 24 July Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited the Nor Seysulan village in the Martakert region.
The Head of the State laid a wreath at the monument commemorating freedom fighters perished during the Artsakh Liberation War, the Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President reported.
Bako Sahakyan thereafter partook in a solemn ceremony of opening of a new kindergarten in the village. The President noted that widening the network of the pre-school institutions in the countryside was one of the priorities of the state, and everything possible would be done to have kindergartens corresponding to contemporary conditions in rural areas.
The President expressed his gratitude to philanthropist Vahagn Khachatryan from Russia for implementing the projects, adding that constant support delivered by him to his native village was an exemplary manifestation of patriotism.
Turkish authorities cut off access to Twitter Inc. on Wednesday to block the spread of information about a suicide bombing that has convulsed the country and to prevent unauthorized demonstrations, the reports.
The Twitter blackout just hours after a court in the southern province of Sanliurfa ordered the suppression of images and videos on Monday’s suicide bombing in Suruç, which killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 100 others. Turkish officials have blamed the attack on the Sunni Muslim extremist group Islamic State
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the ban was triggered by the dissemination of information about the attack and calls for what it described as “illegal mass demonstrations.”
Turkey’s Internet Service Providers Association delivered court orders to Twitter, Facebook Inc. and Google Inc.’s video-sharing website, YouTube, demanding the removal of attack-related content, the news agency said.
While Facebook and YouTube quickly removed the banned content and kept operating, Twitter was unable to immediately comply with the order and shut down. The microblogging site would go back online once it does so, Turkish officials said.
The Human Rights Association (İHD) in Turkey has brought the case of a partly demolished Armenian orphanage in Istanbul to the agenda of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Demolition of the Kamp Armen orphanage started in May but was subsequently halted, when the owner of the land said he would donate it to the Armenian community in Istanbul.
Speaking at a press conference on June 29, a member of the İHD’s central executive board, lawyer Eren Keskin, along with other members of the association, said they had sent separate letters to Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks and European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey Kati Piri to draw attention to the Kamp Armen issue.
“In the letter, we said it was a heavy human rights violation that Kamp Armen’s certificate of ownership had not been returned to the Armenian community and that Turkey was not fulfilling the European Union criteria it had vowed to reach,” said Keskin.
Efforts to demolish the orphanage – where thousands of Armenian orphans, including slain journalist Hrant Dink, had grown up – began on May 6, drawing widespread attention once news broke on social media. Later in the day, the demolition was stopped when groups including activists and leading figures from the Armenian community rushed to the area to protest the destruction.
The protesters, who had held a vigil for 19 days, vowed on May 27 that they would continue camping in the area until the license for the buildings is given to the foundation.
Keskin claimed that Turkey was breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, which as an international agreement holds higher validity than national laws. He added that Turkey was also violating the Treaty of Lausanne, in which the rights of Turkey’s minorities were outlined.
Pastor Krikor Ağabaloğlu of the Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church said they planned to rebuild the demolished structures as soon as they receive the license.
“The orphanage cannot be used at the moment. But we plan to demolish it and rebuilt it in the same way. [When it reopens] it will not host only Armenian children, its doors will be open to children from all nations,” Ağabaloğlu told daily Hürriyet on May 27.
Fatih Ulusoy, the owner of the camp’s land, was reported as promising on May 24 to donate Kamp Armen to the Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church and School.
On June 25 the delegation headed by Armenian defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan participated in the meeting of Defense Ministers of the countries contributing to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
The Defense Ministers of NATO partner countries discussed the progress of NATO mission in Afghanistan, the political and security situation in the country. The participants decided to start the second stage of the mission on May 1, 2016. The NATO presence will be restricted to capital Kabul and its neighborhood.
Minister Nalbandian reiterated Armenia’s commitment to contribute a 131-member group until the end of the mission.
Within the framework of the visit Minister Ohanyan participated in ministerial consultations organized by Germany, where the strategy of the mission was discussed.
The same day Seyran Ohanyan met with Georgia’s newly elected Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli. The parties discussed the perspectives of defense cooperation and exchanged views on issues of international and regional security.