17:35, 4 March 2023
YEREVAN, MARCH 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Artur Davtyan has won the gold medal – his second consecutive gold medal at a world cup series – at the 2023 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series in Doha, Qatar.
Davtyan scored 15.083 in the vault finals and took the gold. This is the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist’s second consecutive gold following his victory in the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Cottbus, Germany.
13:43, 2 March 2023
BERLIN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Berlin, Germany, ARMENPRESS correspondent reported.
The Armenian Prime Minister is visiting Germany on March 2-3 where he will meet with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Pashinyan and Scholz will hold a joint press conference after their talks.
The meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to take place on March 3.
The Armenian PM is also scheduled to visit the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).
Other meetings are also planned.
The Prime Minister’s wife Anna Hakobyan is accompanying him on the visit.
BAKU, February 28. /TASS/. Russia has confirmed its readiness to host trilateral talks between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia at the level of foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.
“We confirmed our readiness to provide an opportunity to continue such meetings,” he said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The Russian top diplomat specified that the Azerbaijani side expressed its readiness to hold a new meeting in such a format. “The Armenian side said it had no objection either, but has not yet given its final consent,” Lavrov added.
He recalled that Moscow had provided a venue for a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers several times, including in December 2022, but then “Armenian colleagues said they would not be able to participate in this event.”.
15:46,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Students from various universities of Armenia gathered outside the UN office in Yerevan on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Sumgait pogrom to demand recognition and justice.
The demonstrators were displaying posters with statements condemning the Sumgait pogrom, the 44-Day War of 2020, the September events and the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan.
“The purpose of the demonstration is to remind about the Sumgait pogrom. We want the world to acknowledge this fact and change its stances on Artsakh. The world’s silence is odd and we think it is important to remind the world about the atrocities committed against Armenians in Sumgait and Baku, the concealment of the state-sanctioned crimes and Azerbaijan’s ongoing anti-Armenian and belligerent policy,” one of the students said.
The students walked from the Yerevan State University to the UN Office and held a silent protest outside the building.
In late February 1988, Azerbaijanis began a state-sponsored massacre of the Armenian population in Sumgait, which became known as the Sumgait pogrom.
11:30,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. On February 28, on the occasion of the Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Massacres organized by Azerbaijan and the Day of Protection of the Rights of Armenian Refugees, President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan, accompanied by Chairman of the National Assembly Artur Tovmasyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, representatives of the legislative and executive bodies, members of the Security Council attended the Stepanakert Memorial Complex, paid tribute and laid a wreath at the memorial stone perpetuating the memory of the Armenians who fell victims to the massacres organized by the Azerbaijani authorities, the Artsakh Presidential Office said in a press release.
Thereafter, a requiem ceremony was performed by Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan dedicated to the memory of the victims of the massacres.
The survey was carried out among members of World-Architects, a network of US designers and building professionals. They were presented with a list of 40 projects and asked to choose which was the “most significant” building completed in the US last year.
The church in Carrollton, in the Dallas–Fort Worth conurbation, was chosen by 64% of the total votes cast.
The design was based on the archetypal Church of Saint Hripsime close to the Armenian capital of Yerevan, which was completed in 618 AD, but updated with the help of modern digital design and production technologies.
Printed façade
One of the most striking details in Hotson’s design is the church’s west façade, which is covered by high-resolution printing carried out in Italy in collaboration with Fiandre Architectural Surfaces.
At first sight this forms a traditional Armenian cross, which on closer inspection is composed of interwoven geometric patterns derived from the Armenian artistic tradition.
On still closer inspection, the pattern dissolves into a grid of tiny pixels, inspired by the Armenian symbol for infinity. Each unique pattern symbolises an individual who died in the genocide.
The church was consecrated on 23 April, and the first service was celebrated the following day, which is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the genocide.
No visible services
The interior of the church was stripped of lighting fixtures and has no visible mechanical services, which the architect says lends it an ethereal quality.
A remote plant room silently introduces conditioned air at low velocity through vents under the pews.
Hotson commented: “This award is shared with everyone involved in the design and construction of this building, including the members of the congregation and the international Armenian diaspora for whom this building has a special meaning.
“High on the list of invaluable collaborators was the team at Fiandre who have contributed an extraordinary level of innovation and an impeccable level of execution that is central to the aesthetic, emotional and experiential success of this special project.”
15:28,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Economic Union’s (EEU) mutual trade volume grew by 10,3% and totaled 80,6 billion dollars in 2022, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) said in a statement citing the Eurasian Development Bank’s data.
It added that Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan increased their exports in the EEU by 9,8 billion dollars (1,4 times), of which by 9,5 billion dollars into Russia.
“Armenia’s exports to the EEU grew by 1,6 billion dollars (2,8 times), Belarus’ exports by 5,6 billion dollars (1,3 times), Kazakhstan’s exports by 1,9 billion dollars (1,2 times) and Kyrgyzstan’s exports by 646 million dollars (1,8 times), the EEC said.
The EEC said that the importance of the union’s market grew significantly for Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The share of the union’s countries in the total exports of Armenia grew from 29,3% to 46,8%, and from 28,8% to 65,8% for Kyrgyzstan.”
A group of medical professionals is scheduled to depart Fresno Yosemite International Airport on Saturday morning, traveling halfway around the world to help those in need.
They originally planned to leave Friday only to have their flight canceled.
It is the seventh Fresno Medical Mission-Armenia, arranged by Armenian Honorary Consul Berj Apkarian. Every year since 2015 (absent the 2020 pandemic year), a volunteer group has traveled to Armenia to provide aid.
“With the recent aggression by Azeris and attacking sovereign nation, it fueled our energy to do even more and to give more. And I tell you, I am so proud of our community,” Apkarian said at the airport Friday before the canceled flight.
The focus of this year’s trip is to help injured soldiers and others affected by recent military skirmishes with Azerbaijan, said Apkarian.
Apkarian’s employer, Community Health Systems, is helping fund the trip.
The Fresno group, 16 strong, will join up with 17 other medical professionals round the country for two weeks. They are also bringing medicine and supplies. The combined delegation will include surgeons, dentists, pediatricians, and physiotherapists.
“I think that’s why we all went into this profession, physical therapy. We wanted to help or assist people in some way. We have that altruistic characteristic.” — Kristina Koroyan
Several in the delegation say the nearly 20-hour journey from Fresno to Dallas to Doha, Qatar to Yerevan, Armenia is well worth it.
Kristina Koroyan is a therapist with Sanger Physical Therapy. This is her third trip.
“The need there is lots of hands-on work. I think with the injuries that we’ve seen, individuals have then been given the right exercises or the right protocols to follow after a certain injury. So I think our role is to educate them as much as possible,” Koroyan said.
She hopes to train therapists in Armenia as well.
“I think that’s why we all went into this profession, physical therapy. We wanted to help or assist people in some way. We have that altruistic characteristic, I suppose,” Koroyan said.
For Clovis dentist Dr. Vatche Wassilian, it is about giving back. He is originally from Lebanon and attended medical school in Armenia.
“This is the spirit of the United States. That’s what we learned here from this great country. … to help when there are people that need to be helped,” Wassilian said. “This is the time to go. When you have the chance because the people, they need us. (Armenia) needs us.”
Just after midnight Tuesday (late Monday evening), Azerbaijani troops launched simultaneous attacks on a number of towns and villages in Armenia proper, leaving at least 49 Armenian soldiers killed in action and three civilians injured, one critically.
Wide-scale fighting within Armenia marks an unprecedented escalation in hostilities between Yerevan and Baku, and the death toll makes Tuesday the single deadliest day in the region since the outbreak of the Karabakh war almost two years ago.
August 30 is International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
303 Still Missing after 2020 War, Says Armenia’s Human Rights Defender
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances Armenia’s foreign ministry accused Azerbaijan of ignoring decision made by the European Court of Human Rights that call on Baku to adhere to international laws and the Geneva Convention.
“After the ceasefire signed on November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan still continues holding Armenian prisoners of war, including civilians, in captivity, and the fates of hundreds of missing in action and those who were forcefully disappeared as a result of the first and the 44-Day Karabakh wars are still unknown,” explained the foreign ministry.
“The absence of cooperation by the authorities of Azerbaijan makes it impossible to clearly estimate the number of missing persons and get reliable information about the fates and location of missing persons.
Azerbaijan continues ignoring the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, regarding the use of interim measures on providing information about the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, as well as the urgent measures of the International Court of Justice applied on December 7, 2021, which oblige Azerbaijan to stop its racist and discriminative policy against Armenians,” added Yerevan.
“The issue of disappearances is a humanitarian priority which must be depoliticized and solved with a firm political will and cooperation,” the foreign ministry said, calling on the international community to assume responsibility to ensure an unconditional entry to the entire territory of Nagorno Karabakh which, it said, could mitigate the existing humanitarian crisis.
“On the International Day of Enforced Disappearances, we are expressing solidarity to the families of the victims and all those who suffer from these inhuman acts. We are fighting for the rights of the disappeared, we continue fighting for justice and against the impunity of this crime. We reaffirm our urgent call to put an end to the impunity of enforced disappearances,” the foreign ministry added.
Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Kristine Grigoryan on Tuesday highlighted the need for more active efforts to find and identify missing persons after the 2020 war, as she addressed a message marking International Day of the Victims of Enforces Disappearances.
The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly to shine a spotlight on this form of human rights violations, which unfortunately plagued Armenia and Artsakh as a result of the brutal and aggressive attack launched by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in 2020.
“The enforced disappearances of persons are a recurrent and ongoing violation of human rights. They are initiated by the permission or consent of state representatives and officials, and are followed by the denial or concealment of the whereabouts of the missing person,” explained Grigoryan in her statement.
“Enforced disappearances have a severe impact both on the victims, who are usually subjected to torture and live in a constant fear on their lives, and on their relatives and family members, who are unaware of their fate, and live with constant anticipation of their return,” added the statement.
“Regrettably, the ongoing conflicts in the modern world have created a ‘favorable’ environment for enforced disappearances, unfortunately we know this through our own example, and we continue to suffer the pain and constant battle of the victims of enforced disappearances and their relatives during and after the 44-day war,” she said.
“According to the data presented by the International Committee of the Red Cross in August 2022, 303 persons are still considered missing as a result of the 44-day war in 2020,” the statement informed.
“The continuous Azerbaijani policy of providing distorted or no information at all on the prisoners of war, civilian captives, and missing persons is a blatant act of using human rights issues for political purposes, violating al norms of international humanitarian law,” emphasized Grigoryan. “Unfortunately, international response mechanisms to cases of enforced disappearances have demonstrated their lack of effectiveness during these critical days. Therefore, this is a reason to actively work with all competent actors in this direction.”
“At the same time, it should be noted that in order to implement the rules provided by international law, states must fix these norms in their respective domestic legislation and take all the necessary measures to ensure their implementation. Therefore, in this regard, The Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia is ready to work with the Government of Armenia in the direction of improving the domestic legislation and institutional framework aimed at ensuring the rights of missing persons and their relatives,” said the rights defender.
“Taking all the necessary measures within the context of the mandate of the Human Rights Defender in finding and assisting the missing persons, I strongly condemn all cases of enforced disappearances, and I call on to unite all efforts and take all the necessary measures to find all missing persons and to effectively guarantee their rights and those of their families,” concluded Grigoryan.