Author: Boris Nahapetian

Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) have blown up three funerary towers at the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria’s antiquities chief has said, the BBC reports.

Maamoun Abdul Karim told the AFP news agency that “the best preserved and most beautiful” had been destroyed.

The multi-storey sandstone monuments, standing outside the city walls in an area known as the Valley of the Tombs, belonged to rich Palmyrene families.

Their demolition comes only days after IS blew up Palmyra’s two main temples.

The group, which captured the Unesco World Heritage site from government forces in May, has previously destroyed two Islamic shrines near Palmyra, which they described as “manifestations of polytheism”.

Armenian archbishop announced on Tuesday that a religious event planned for September in a historic church in the eastern Turkish province of Van has been canceled due to security, Daily Sabah reports.

Aram Ateshian, acting head of the Armenian Patriarchate, said they cancelled the event scheduled for Sept. 6 at Akhtamar Church due to security problems. Atesyan said the mass and related events may be held in the future but for now, visitors were afraid of visiting the region.

“Many people cancelled the bookings here and when we realized the attendance would be low, we decided to cancel it as it wouldn’t be a major event as we intended to do,” Ateshian said. He underlined that people were naturally scared because of rising violence and they were concerned as well. “We will hold the mass on another date if the situation improves,” he said.

Turkey has been hit by violence since a suicide bomb attack by a suspected Islamic State of Iraq and a-Sham (ISIS) supporter killed 33 activists in Suruç on July 20.

The father who raised more than half a million dollars to help raise his Down syndrome baby boy has been accused of spending the money on himself, the reports. 

New Zealander Sam Forrest had the heartfelt sympathy of people across the globe when his Armenian wife abandoned him and their baby Leo just one week after he was born on January 21 in her home country where disability is considered shameful.

But since the $600,000 was raised for their son, his wife Ruzan Badalyan has reunited with her family in New Zealand and now a family friend claims there are hundreds of thousands of dollars that have vanished.

The fact Mr Forrest is now $600,000 richer thanks to the money that was raised for Leo, is not the reason why Ms Badalyan changed her mind, she told 3News. She is just delighted to be reunited wither her son.

‘It was the happiest day,’ she says. ‘He was so small, so cute. I remember I hugged him. He started making some noises. He was so cute. I was very happy.

She has asked not to be judged by New Zealanders – it has not been revealed exactly where in the country they are living – but that they can just be left alone to get on happily as a family.

Armenian Kevork Tavityan has been appointed Director of the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. Tavityan is also the head of the Istanbul Opera Choir.

Speaking to Agos, Tavityan said he’s happy and proud to assume this important post.

Born in Istanbul.Tavityan graduated from the Opera Academy of the State Conservatory of Istanbul (Mimar Sinan University) and achieved a Master of Performance degree at the same Academy.

Tavityan made his professional debut with the Opera of the Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall in the role of Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’Amore in 1995 and has been singing for State Opera of Istanbul since 1998.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has banned Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, a Russian opera singer after she recently took a trip to Nagorno Karabakh.

“Lyubov Kazarnovskaya’s name will be included in the list of ‘unwanted’ persons,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told RIA Novosti.

The Opera singer visited Stepanakert last week, where she held a master class at the musical college.

Kazarnovskaya has said she’s proud to be in the same list with Montserrat Caballe. “Nagorno Karabakh is a splendid place, and I took young interns there. There will never be pace on the planet as long as there is aggression. There, in Karabakh people do not want war. They want peace, they want to give birth to children and hear the sounds of music,” she told the Russian News Service.

Moscow hopes that answers will be found to all the problems in strict compliance with Armenian laws and wishes peace and prosperity to Armenia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says, TASS reports.

Kremlin hopes that differences in Armenia will soon be settled and prosperity and peace will be restored, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

“We hope that answers will be found to all the problems in strict compliance with Armenian laws. We wish peace and prosperity to Armenia. We also wish it to settle all the differences, ” Peskov said.

Asked whether there had been any contacts with the Armenian leadership, Peskov said that Russia and Yerevan maintained close partnership and jointly participated in integration processes. “These contacts are permanent,” the Kremlin spokesman explained.

Peskov refused to predict how the situation in Armenia could develop further . “We do not make forecasts,” he said.

 

The Armenian authorities must urgently ensure an impartial, independent and thorough investigation into allegations that police used excessive force – including dousing people with water cannon – to disperse a mainly peaceful demonstration before arresting more than 200 protesters on the streets of the capital Yerevan early this morning, Amnesty International said.

Yerevan police said they arrested 237 people after a crowd marched away from round-the-clock protests in a central square towards the presidential headquarters. Since 19 June, thousands of people have taken part in the demonstrations against rising electricity prices in Yerevan and elsewhere, including the town of Gyumri where 12 others were arrested.

“For the Armenian authorities to disperse what was up until then a peaceful demonstration is a heavy-handed tactic that must be avoided to protect the right to freedom of expression and assembly. Video footage showing high-powered jets from water cannon flinging peaceful protesters to the ground is a cause for concern,” said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“It is our understanding that the Armenian authorities are investigating the protesters for ‘hooliganism’, rather than the heavy-handed police response. They must not do this at the expense of an impartial and independent investigation into the police’s alleged use of excessive force, including water cannon, against demonstrators who may have obstructed traffic but were peaceful. Any security forces found responsible of violations must be disciplined or prosecuted.”

In a statement, police said that stones were thrown and that at least seven protesters and 11 police officials were injured. No serious injuries were reported.

Police and an eyewitness also confirmed that journalists were targeted as well as peaceful protesters. Despite the journalists showing press credentials, police confiscated and damaged video equipment.

“The allegations that police specifically targeted journalists have worrying implications for freedom of expression, and must also be independently investigated,” said Denis Krivosheev.

President Bako Sahakyan participated in the opening session of the 6^th convocation of the National Assembly.

In his opening remarks the President congratulated the attendees on the beginning of the 6^th convocation National Assembly activities, pointing out that elections held through free competition, complying with democratic principles lay an important foundation for the effective work of the newly-formed parliament.

Bako Sahakyan conveyed words of gratitude to the 5^th convocation National Assembly deputies, adding that the previous had carried out quite comprehensive work in the legislative field, playing a very visible role in the internal and external political life of our republic.

Touching upon the 6^th convocation National Assembly the Head of the State underlined that professional parliament would require a high-level responsibility from each deputy. “Expectations from the newly-elected parliament first of all concern its law-making activity. We hope that a new impetus will be given to law elaboration process, taking into consideration the experience of developed countries and the peculiarities of our republic,” Bako Sahakyan stressed.

The President also actualized the activity of the National Assembly in the development of inter-parliamentary ties, considering it among the most effective measures of establishing bilateral relationships and international recognition of Artsakh.

“The efficiency of the National Assembly’s activities to a great extent is derivative from a civilized, working atmosphere based on mutual respect, which should be prevalent in the parliament”, – noted Bako Sahakyan in his speech. According to the President the formation of such an atmosphere is one of the components of political culture, and our state being in a unique geopolitical situation, must do everything possible for acquiring a high and exemplary political culture.

In response to recent news of the partial demolition of Camp Armen in the Tuzla district near Istanbul, the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) has written to the Turkish president, prime minister, and the United States ambassador of the Republic of Turkey asking for their intervention and support, the Armenian Weekly reports.

During the partial demolition of the camp in early May, a group of Armenians from Turkey, including some of the former students of the Youth Home of Istanbul who grew up in Camp Armen, rushed to the site and kept guard day and night, thus halting further demolition of the camp.

Among those who went to the camp as a child was Rakel Dink, the widow of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

In the letters, Zaven Khanjian, the executive director/CEO of the AMAA, asked the Turkish leaders to strongly consider intervening to avoid the further demolition of this historically significant and beloved camp, and to secure the return of the property to its rightful owner—the Armenian Evangelical Church of Gedik Pasa in Istanbul.

“We are imploring the help of the Turkish leaders in this matter,” said Khanjian. “Camp Armen was home to over 1,500 Armenian orphans who were gathered from the depths of Anatolia, and was where Hrant and Rakel Dink met, grew up, and were married. The camp was a labor of love for the orphans and it became their ‘Atlantis’ civilization. It is an important part of a very meaningful chapter in our Armenian history, and one which we do not want to lose. We pray that God will grant us all a peaceful resolution of this legal struggle.”

The AMAA calls upon other Armenian churches and organizations to raise their voices and send similar letters and requests to the leaders of the Turkish government.

The Spanish football season will be allowed to finish after the week-long Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suspension and players’ strike ended, the BBC reports.

After Spain’s High Court ruled the players’ strike over a TV rights dispute was unlawful, the RFEF reversed a

Barcelona can win La Liga on Sunday, with a game to spare, if they beat current champions Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish Cup final will also go ahead as planned on 30 May.

Barca, who have also reached the Champions League final where they will take on Juventus, play Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp in the domestic Copa del Rey final.

The RFEF and the players’ union (AFE) are not satisfied with a new law introducing collective bargaining for domestic television rights, which was supported by the National Professional Football League (LFP) which runs Spain’s top two professional divisions.