Author: Antranik Varosian

Pope Francis will arrive in Armenia on June 24.  Ahead of the visit the Pope asked the faithful to pray for his upcoming trip to Armenia. “I ask you to pray for me, who in a few days will go as a pilgrim to an eastern land, Armenia, the first among the Nations to receive the Gospel of Jesus,” he said at an audience for the Reunion of Aid Agencies For the Eastern Churches.

“The Pontiff’s visit is a remarkable event for any country and any country he enters tries to best comprehend the meaning of the Pope’s messages,” theologian Vardan Khachatryan says. According to him, Armenia has always been seen in the Christian world as a key country, and it’s not accidental that the pope describes the visit as “pilgrimage to the first among the Nations to receive the Gospel of Jesus.” He considers that the visit at a time of turmoil in the region is not a coincidence, either.

The Pope will pray in a country, which shared the destiny of Jesus Crist by dying and rising again after the genocide. “This also contains an important message,” Vardan Khachatryan says. “Today Europe faces the challenge of restoring the Christian value system, a value system, which the Western civilizations are actually build upon.

Fr. Shahe Ananyan, Director of the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, says the Prayer of Peace by the Pope and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and the Catholicos of All Armenians can serve a brilliant message of establishment of peace and religious tolerance in the region.

“I think this visit is first and foremost a sort of pilgrimage: the Pope’s gesture is one of affection and admiration for this ancient Church with its century-old Christian tradition; it is an act of devotion towards this country, the first to adopt Christianity in 301 when St. Gregory the Illuminator led the entire nation to conversion and baptism,” Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches said in an interview with La Stampa.

“The Pope will bring his gratitude and esteem for a people who were molded by the Christian spirit and managed to protect the precious treasure of faith and their own identity for centuries. This is the spiritual power upon which Armenia can build a future of peace and hope,” the Cardinal said.

Over 92% of Armenians are confident the Armenian Armed Forces and the NKR Defense Army will be able to rebuff actions of the Azeri army, while 82% are ready to participate in military actions, if necessary, according to a poll conducted by the Armenian Representation of the Gallup International Association. Its director Aram Navasardyan presented the results of the survey on “Public response to the four-day April war” to reporters today.

The survey has been conducted among 1,106 citizens of the Republic of Armenia between May 13 and 24.

According to the public opinion poll, 72.5% consider that war is the most serious challenge facing our country, followed by unemployment.

What was the reason behind Azeri aggression in April? 46.7% believe it was incited by outer forces, namely Turkey; 32.5% consider the military actions served a cover for domestic problems in Azerbaijan.

More than 84.4% of the respondents said the Armenian Army is fully prepared to rebuff any large-scale assault, while 86.4% believe it’s necessary to purchase new military equipment to get better prepared for any possible attack in the future. Thirty-eight percent consider it’s necessary to reduce the corruption risks in the Armed Forces.

Which was the primary source of information during the four-day April war? Most respondents say they have received information from TV, Facebook, the public and the Facebook page of the Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.

As for the reliability of information, 76.5% said they trust the official information. 82% pledged ready to participate in military actions, if necessary.

According to Artsrun Hovhannisyan, Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, such surveys help reveal both the achievements and shortcomings.

“This optimistic study makes us return to reality, which often gets distorted on Facebook,” Hovhannisyan said.

On 6 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited the town of Charencavan and met there with a group of Talish village residents temporarily residing there as a result of the large-scale military operations launched by Azerbaijan from 2 to 5 April, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

During the visit the President inquired about their social and living conditions, current issues and further plans, noting that these questions were always at the spotlight of the Artsakh authorities.

Bako Sahakyan expressed gratitude to the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, Kotayk region and authorities of the Charencavan town for supporting Talish residents having found themselves in difficult situation.

NKR minister of labor and social affairs Samvel Avanesyan, governor of the Kotayk region Karapet Guloyan, head of the Martakert regional administration Vladik Khachatryan, Charencavan mayor Hakob Shahgaldyan and other officials partook at the meeting.

Hours after the OSCE monitoring in Martakert region, the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire at tahe line of contact, leaving an Armenian soldier killed. This testifies to the fact that the Azerbaijan ignores the mediating efforts targeted at the settlement of the Karabakh issue, Armenia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The Azerbaijani side used artillery weapons of different calibers, mortars and grenade launchers as it violated the agreement on ceasefire starting from 19:30, May 11.

According to the NKR Defense Ministry, private of the NKR Defense Army Armen Hrayr Martirosyan, born in 1996, was killed in Azeri firing in the northern direction of the line of contact at about 20:00, the Ministry said.

Investigation into the details of the case is under way.

The activeness of the rival was pressured as a result of retaliatory measures taken by the front divisions of the NKR Defense Army.

The fact that the incident occurred hours after the OSCE monitoring in Martakert region comes to prove the urgency of implementation of investigation mechanisms, the Armenian Defense Ministry said.

Moscow considers that the most important at this point is to prevent any violation of the ceasefire regime along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact by working out practical mechanisms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“Of course, the most important now is to avoid new losses and prevent and ceasefire violations and work out practical mechanisms for that,” he said.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on this some five years ago, when they met at the initiative of then President Dmitry Medvedev.

“They spoke for creation of a mechanism for investigation of border incidents and confidence-building measures. The OSCE was tasked with addressing the issue, but, unfortunately, no developments followed. We want the parties to return to that, the OSCE German presidency is also interested in intensifying its role and we welcome this willingness,” Lavrov said.

He said the Co-Chairs will meet in the near future.

Lavrov noted that “Moscow sees no reasons for panic connected with the initiative of the Armenian MPs on recognition of Nagorno Karabakh.”

“It’s not Armenia discussing the issue, it’s an initiative of two MPs, and the Armenian Government has to present an opinion on the draft law,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister noted that “although it;s difficult, it’s still possible to incorporate the ideas on the political settlement of the Karabakh issue in a document”

The Karabakh issue is a very sensitive topic, and our approach should be very cautious  in order not to harm, Russian President Vladimnir Putin said during the Q&A session today.

“It’s an old conflict that has been frozen for years. Unfortunately, there was an outbreak of violence,” Putin said, adding that “it’s necessary to reach a lasting solution, to find a compromise exclusively through political means.

“Russia is interested in the solution of the issue, we want to work fully with both Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the President said.

He pledged Russia’s support to the settlement of the conflict both in bilateral format and within the framework of international organizations, but added that “it’s up to the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan to find a final solution.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned about the humanitarian impact of fighting along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh, which seriously deteriorated on 2 April 2016. Casualties reported on both sides included civilians.

“We are ready to assist and support those affected by the recent escalation of fighting, as well as to act as a neutral intermediary between the parties”, said Patrick Vial, head of the operations for the region. “All sides to the conflict have an obligation to respect the rules of international humanitarian law. As per these rules, the parties must ensure that civilian life and infrastructure is protected”, he added.

The ICRC has been present in the region since 1992 in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Through the delegations in Baku and Yerevan and the mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ICRC supports communities living along the line of contact and international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In addition, the ICRC works to clarify the fate of missing persons and help their families, visits detainees and acts as a neutral intermediary to facilitate transfer and repatriation of persons released on both sides of the border and the line of contact.

An ethnic Armenian has been injured in Istanbul blast today. Oksan Khachanyan, 40, was at his workplace, when the bomb blast occurred in the city’s shopping area, editor-in-chief of teh Istanbul based Armenian Jamanak daily Ara Gochunyan told Public Radio of Armenia.

A suicide bomb attack killed at least four people, officials say. Another 36 were injured – 12 foreign nationals – as the bomb went off near a government building on Istiklal Street.

No-one has admitted carrying out the attack, the latest to target Turkey in recent months.

The Turkish government has blamed Kurdish militants for previous attacks and has retaliated against them.

Baku will send a protest letter to Belgium’s executive and legislative bodies over the visit of Belgian MPs to Nagorno Karabakh, Hikmet Hajiyev, Spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry mtold Trend.

Hajiyev further added that the Belgian MPs will be included in the list of ‘persona non grata’ of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Within the framework of a recent visit to Nagorno Karabakh Flemish lawmakers , held meetings with Head of the Artsakh Diocese, Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan and .

The delegation was headed by Kaspar Karampetian, President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD).