Author: Antonian Lara

– The Andean Parliament, a legislative body composed of representatives of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, approved on September 17 a recognizing the “Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between the years 1915-1923” and condemning “any policy of denialwith respect to genocide and crimes against humanity suffered by the Armenian nation.”

The resolution, presented by Pedro de la Cruz, representative of Ecuador, and approved unanimously at a meeting of the organization in Montevideo, expresses its solidarity with the Armenian people and communities of the diaspora, while “urging” the international community to “acknowledge this historical fact as an unconditional support for truth and justice and as a form of rejection of such acts that shame all humanity.”

The Andean Parliament is the “governing body and representative of the peoples of the Andean Community,” according to a constitutive treaty of October 25, 1979. Its work focuses on the “parliamentary management, policy development and popular representation on issues related the Andean integration process such as education, mobility, migration, social and labor rights, energy, environment and climate change, coexistence and security, food security and sovereignty, competitiveness and entrepreneurship, among others.”

President Serzh Sargsyan has left for the Republic of Kyrgyzstan for a working visit.

President Sargsyan will participate in the sitting of the Council of Heads of CIS member states.

Photo: Suren Stepanyan

 

 – The little robot makes odd beeps as it spins around the room, detecting fires with its thermal sensors and extinguishing flames with a strong blast of air.

Its mission accomplished, the beeps die down and the machine comes to an abrupt halt.

Rather than being the brainchild of experienced engineers in a hi-tech lab, the firefighter robot was designed by Armenian schoolboys Rafael and Sahak Sahakyan – brothers aged 18 and 14.

It is one of several inventions to come out of Armenia’s youth robotics programme, which aims to establish engineering groups in every school by 2019. Already there are 121 after-school clubs, catering for pupils between 12 and 18.

The government hopes the scheme will improve the quality of engineering education and encourage inventors of the future.

At the brothers’ school in Gyumri, one of the poorest cities in Armenia, more than 20 pupils gather after lessons every week to design and create robots.

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On August 29 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the delegation of the German-Armenian Forum headed by Member of Bundestag Albert Weiner.

Minister Nalbandian hailed the activity of the Forum targeted at the further reinforcement and expansion of bilateral ties.

The interlocutors praised the high-level cooperation established between Armenia and Germany and discussed steps towards the deepening of relations.

Albert Weiner briefed Minister Nalbandian on the current activities and plans of the Forum.

Edward Nalbandian hailed the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the German Bundestag and valued the efforts of the German-Armenian Forum in the process.

During the meeting reference was made to Armenia-EU relations and the ongoing negotiations on a new legal framework with the EU.

The Armenian Foreign Minister briefed the German lawmakers on the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group targeted at the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue.

The Armenian neighborhoods of Aleppo came under rocket attack of the opposition militants on Wednesday, reports, quoting its sources in Aleppo.

According to the source, the rockets fell in the area adjunct to the Armenian Evangelical Church in Aleppo. Head of the Armenian Evangelical community of Aleppo, Rev. Harutyun Selimyan confirmed no fatalities were reported.

He said there were children taking exams at the school at the moment of the attack. “They were lucky to survive,” Rev. Harutyun Selimyan said. He added, however, that the attack had caused serious material damages.

Other districts of Aleppo were also targeted by militants. Six were killed, dozens were wounded.

On 23 July President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree according to which the medal “For Service in Battle” was posthumously awarded to serviceman of the NKR Defense Army’s N military unit Arsen Arakelyan for courage shown during the defence of the NKR state border.

Arsen Arakelyan was killed as a result of shooting from the Azerbaijani side this morning.

Turkey will temporarily suspend the implementation of its obligations emanating from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in line with the declaration of a state of emergency in the country, a senior government official has said, while assuring that fundamental rights and freedoms will not be affected during this period, the reports.

“France proclaimed a state of emergency, too. And they have suspended the ECHR upon article 15 of the convention,” Numan Kurtulmuş, deputy prime minister and government spokesperson, told a group of Ankara bureau chiefs of media outlets on July 21.

“A declaration of a state of emergency is not against the ECHR,” he said, adding Turkey would announce its decision to suspend the ECHR through a statement.

Article 15 of the ECHR stipulates: “In time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation any High Contracting Party may take measures derogating from its obligations under this Convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law.”

The state of emergency will give the government a good opportunity to fight against coup plotters and clean the state apparatus fully of the members of the Gülenist organization, Kurtulmuş said. “I want to guarantee that fundamental rights and freedoms and normal daily life will not be affected by this. Our citizens should feel comfortable about that.”

Photo: AP

 

The bodies of 22 people have been found on a migrant dinghy in the Mediterranean, the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said, the BBC reports.

The 21 women and one man were found “in a pool of fuel and water” at the bottom of the boat, off the coast of Libya.

They had been on the dinghy “for hours”, the aid group said.

More than 200 survivors who were on the dinghy have been transferred to a boat operated by MSF. There were 50 children among them.

Former Turkish Ambassador to Germany Hüseyin Avni Karslioglu was injured in his leg after being hit by a helicopter in Ankara during the July 15 coup attempt, the reports.

He is reported to be in a good condition and is able to walk. He has now left hospital after receiving initial treatment.

Ankara’s ambassador in Berlin until recently, Karslioglu was recalled to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for a consultation after the German Parliament recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide on June 2.

Manchester United has announced that Henrikh Mkhitaryan has completed his transfer from Borussia Dortmund. Henrikh joins on a four-year contract with the option to extend for a further year.

Mkhitaryan, 27, made 140 appearances and scored 41 goals for Borussia Dortmund after joining them in 2013. Last season he scored 23 goals and registered an impressive 32 assists across all competitions. Henrikh was voted Bundesliga Player of the Season for 2015/16 in a poll of his fellow professionals, and he was named in the Team of the Season following votes by the players’ union in Germany, VDV.

The midfielder is Armenia’s all-time top scorer, with 19 goals in 59 appearances since his international debut in January 2007. Henrikh captains his national team and has received the Armenian Footballer of the Year award on five occasions.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan said: “I am very proud to join Manchester United, this move is a dream come true for me. I am excited to play for a club with such an illustrious history and hope to be part of it for a long time. I thank the trust the club and Jose Mourinho have put in me. Finally, I believe playing for such a great club honours my father’s memory, and the inspiration and drive he gave to me when I was young.”

José Mourinho said: “Henrikh is a very talented footballer who has been in such prolific form for both his club and his country. He is a real team player with great skill, vision and also has a good eye for goal. I am delighted he has chosen to sign for United. I believe he will make an impact on the team very quickly as his style of play is suited to the Premier League. We are all looking forward to working with him.”