Author: Badalian Vardan

Photo: Reuters

 

International prosecutors investigating the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 say the missile that hit the plane was fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels, the BBC reports.

They said the missile launcher was brought into Ukraine from Russia.

All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died when it broke apart in midair flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) consists of prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

An inquiry by the Dutch Safety Board last year found that a Russian-made Buk missile hit the plane but did not say where it was fired from.

Footage published by a Turkish broadcaster appears to show that six former gendarmerie intelligence officers who are currently being tried over links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) were complicit in the 2007 assassination of journalist Hrant Dink. In the images published by A Haber, they can be seen near the scene at the time of the murder of the Armenian-origin Turkish journalist in 2007, the reports.

In the footage, unearthed as part of a probe trying former gendarmerie officials suspected of having links to FETÖ and being involved in the July 15 coup attempt, investigators observed that six gendarmerie intelligence officers currently under arrest were present close to the scene when Dink’s murder took place on the afternoon of Jan. 19, 2007, strengthening the suspicion that they were in close contact with the assailant of the murder, Ogün Samast.

The prosecutor in the case has accused the Fetullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) of staging the assassination.

In his demand for the arrest of the suspects, Dink probe prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü said it would be “far from a legal definition” to identify the acts of the suspects as mere membership or leadership in an armed terrorist organization in light of the failed July 15 coup attempt, which has been blamed on FETÖ. Kökçü claimed that the Dink murder was the “first bullet fired” on the road to the coup.

Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight outside the offices of Agos in central Istanbul.

Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.

But the case grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that security forces had been aware of a plot to kill Dink but failed to act.

Relatives and followers of the case have long claimed government officials, police, military personnel and members of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.

Turkey’s top court in July 2014 ruled that the investigation into the killing had been flawed, paving the way for the trial of the police officials.

In January 2016, Supreme Court of Appeals ruled to tie the main case into Dink’s murder and prosecution into the public officers’ negligence to prevent the killing of Dink. Indictments for 26 people are now included in the merged case.

Turkey’s prime minister offered condolences on Friday over the death of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, Reuters reports.

“Uzbek President Islam Karimov has passed away. May God’s mercy be upon him, as the Turkish Republic we are sharing the pain and sorrow of Uzbek people,” Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, speaking in a televised meeting with his cabinet.

Manchester United’s midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan Henrikh Mkhitaryan has shared the photos of Armenian medalists at Rio Olympics.

“Olympic gold‬ for Armenia Really proud of our sportsmen in ‪‎Rio2016‬. Artur Aleksanyan (Gold), Migran Arutyunyan (Silver), Simon Martirosyan (Silver), Gor Minasyan (Silver),” Mkhitaryan wrote in a Facebook post. 

Gor Minasyan won the third silver medal for Armenia at Rio Olympics in  men’s +105kg weightlifting with a combined 451 kg.

Ruben Aleksanyan came in forth with a result of 440 kg.

Georgian Lasha Talakhadze won the gold medal with a record 473 kg. His compatriot Irakli Turmanidze cam in third with a result of 448 kg.

Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler Mihran Arutyunyan beat Rasul Chunayev of Azerbaijan in the men’s Greco-Roman 66 kg semifinal and secured at least a silver medal.

Arutyunyan will face Davor Stefanek of Serbia in the final.

Arthur Aleksanyan, in turn, beat Cenk Ildem of Turkey in the men’s Greco-Roman 98 kg semifinal and is set to face Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera of Cuba in the final.

 

 

 

As of 9 a.m. 51 citizens had applied for treatment after the clashes between police and demonstrators outside the seized police station in Yerevan’s Erebuni district late on Wednesday, Minister of Health Armen Muradyan told reporters after the government sitting today. He said 28 of them were police.

“All of them have received necessary treatment and none is in danger,” the Minister said.

Speaking about the condition of those injured during the Sunday attack, Minister Muradyan said policeman Gagik Mkrtchyan was in grave condition, but there are positive trends.

Negotiations on the release of people kept hostage at Erebuni police station are under way, the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) informs.

According to NSS, five people have been released since the armed attack on the premises of patrol police regiment early on Sunday.

The National Security Service declares once again that the measures being taken are special and highly professional. Therefore, it said, there is no need in unauthorized interference or assistance.

The special forces of the Armenian law-enforcement bodies remain in the state of combat readiness, but there are no preconditions for intensive actions at this point.

“We’re working on Nagorno-Karabakh,” US Secretary Of State John Kerry said in an interview with the Meet the Press on NBC.

“We’re still working on the issue of Ukraine and we still haven’t resolved the issue of Ukraine. And frankly, we’ve spent a good deal of time in the conversation with President Putin laying down the steps that we need to take to deal with Ukraine, also,” Kerry said, commenting on his recent trip to Russia.

“So we’re working on a number of different issues. We’re also working on Nagorno-Karabakh. But with respect to Syria, nothing in what we talked about is based on trust. I’m not sitting here naively trusting what the Russians may or may not do. What we have done is laid out a series of steps concretely,” the Secretray said.

George W Bush has been criticised for his behaviour at the Dallas memorial after he was caught on camera dancing along to a sombre hymn.

The ceremony was held yesterday in honour of the five police officers killed in the shootings on July 7.

Holding Michelle Obama’s hand on one side – and his wife Laura’s hand on the other – the former US President was captured by cameras as he swayed during a choir’s performance of ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’.

He continuously smiles at the pair while waving their arms around, as Michelle attempts to stand still.