Author: Chakrian Hovsep

Armenia has always been interested in the extension of mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tighran Balayan said in comments to .

The remarks come after accusations of failure to prevent the closure of the Office in Armenia.

“Those who declare that Armenia, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have not taken steps to ensure the extension of the mandate, do not understand the processes taking place within the OSCE,” Balayan said.

Second, he said, “they are not aware of the statements made by the current Austrian and the previous German chairmanships of the OSCE and the European Union.”

The Spokesman said the accusations are “void and have nothing to do with reality.” “Armenia has been declaring until the last moment that it’s interested in the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and continuation of its activity in the country,” Tigran Balayan stated.

Paul Pogba’s world-record transfer from Juventus to Manchester United last year is the subject of a Fifa inquiry, the BBC reports.

Football’s world governing body has written to the Premier League club “to seek clarification on the deal”.

It is believed to concern who was involved in the £89.3m transfer, and how much money was paid to them.

A United spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual contracts. Fifa have had the documents since the transfer was concluded in August.”

Pogba, 24, is in his second spell at Old Trafford, having left the club for Juventus for £1.5m in 2012.

The France midfielder first joined United from French side Le Havre in acrimonious circumstances in 2009.

He returned to the club last summer for a world-record fee of 105m euros.

United also agreed to pay Juventus 5m euros in performance-related bonuses plus other costs, including 5m euros if Pogba signs a new contract.

When they confirmed the transfer, Juventus said the “economic effect” to their club was “about 72.6m euros”.

A book published in Germany this week – The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football – and reproduced in media reports, includes what it says is a breakdown of the Pogba fee and alleges his agent Mino Raiola earnt £41m from the deal.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has issued a message on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2017:

Journalists go to the most dangerous places to give voice to the voiceless.

Media workers suffer character assassination, sexual assault, detention, injuries and even death.

We need leaders to defend a free media. This is crucial to counter prevailing misinformation.

And we need everyone to stand for our right to truth.

On World Press Freedom Day, I call for an end to all crackdowns against journalists – because a free press advances peace and justice for all.

When we protect journalists, their words and pictures can change our world.

Pedro Agramunt, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was banned from chairing the Assembly sitting as His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain was addressing the sitting.

According to member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Samvel Farmanyan, Agramunt was banned from chairing the sitting under the pressure of PACE political groups.

Farmanyan is confident today is Agramunt’s last working day at PACE and expects the Spanish to resign tomorrow.

Serj Tankian says he hopes to give a concert in Artsakh.

“I would like to come and play in Artsakh one day and bring other artists with me, if possible.  The most important today is to speak about Artsakh and present it in different places and to different people,” Tankian told .

“Everyone should know that Artsakh is a beautiful country, and people here wait for everyone with smile and love. I hope we don’t have to wait long for my concert here,” the System Of A Down frontman said.

Serj Tankian, film directors Arom Egoyan and Eric Nazarian, actresses Arsine Khanjyan are visiting Artsakh at the initiative of the Tufenkian Foundation.

Asbarez – The second annual Armenian Genealogy Conference took place at the University of Michigan-Dearborn on March 18, while several related events were held in the Detroit area throughout the weekend. The conference was sponsored by the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and co-sponsored by the Cultural Society of Armenians from Istanbul, the Nor Keghi Association, and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). Over 250 people from 18 states attended the conference.

The conference kicked off on the evening of March 17 with an opening reception, where over 150 people of Armenian ancestry gathered at St. Sarkis Lillian Arakelian Fellowship Hall to connect with each other and to enjoy a traditional Armenian buffet, in which each item was identified by its historic origins. Der Hrant Kevorkian, pastor of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, extended a warm welcome to the guests who were seated at tables that mapped the geography of Historic Armenia with each table being designated a particular province. This gave conference attendees the opportunity to connect with others whose ancestors hailed from the same regions of Historic Armenia. Whether Keghitsis, Everegtsis, Adanatsis or Kharpertsis, compatriots made their way for group pictures taken according to regional roots.

On March 18, the conference opened with introductory remarks and a welcome by George Aghjayan and Ani Boghikian Kasparian of the organizing committee as well as by Dr. Ara Sanjian, the director of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Armenian Research Center. The morning sessions touched on genealogy 101 (Tracy Keeney), the hidden Armenians of Turkey (George Aghjayan) and the history of the Palu region (Vahe Tachjian).

In the afternoon, participants went into four consecutive break-out sessions on various themes, including the Armenian Immigration Project (Mark Arslan), genealogy and social media (Tracy Keeney), DNA testing (Janet Achoukian Andreopoulos), Armenian/Ottoman records (George Aghjayan), success stories (Jen Langley), and sources in Armenian research centers (Ani Boghikian Kasparian). Speakers shared “success stories” of genealogical discovery and encouraged those in attendance to start putting together the puzzle pieces of their own family history.

In her presentation, Tracy Keeney, creator of the Armenian Genealogy Facebook page, encouraged conference attendees to become more involved in tracing their family lines, whether it is through genealogy websites, newspapers and national archives, or Google, stating “You never know what you’re going to find and where you’re going to find it.” Keeney also emphasized the importance of connecting with living relatives. “You’re not going to find this all on ancenstry.com,” she said. “There’s so much more to genealogy than names and dates.”

Meline Lachinian, who has been interested in Armenian genealogy for twenty years, described the conference as “a labor of love.” She explained that as a result of a meeting with the director of the Houshamadyan Project Vahe Tachjian at last year’s genealogy conference, he published an article about her family narratives and photos.

Saturday evening, the banquet participants enjoyed the culturally rich program with traditional songs and dances of historic Armenia. Harry Kezelian III, accompanied by Dickran Callan, sang songs from various regions, explaining the occasion of when they used to be sung, while playing the oud. The Hamazkayin Arax Dance group of Detroit, led by Nayiri Karapetian, performed dances from Vasbouragan, Shirak, Kessab, and Sepastia. They invited the guests to join them in an effort to reintroduce some of the original steps.

Conference attendees on Sunday morning had an opportunity to attend mass at the local Armenian churches.  In the afternoon, everyone was shuttled to St. John’s Armenian Apostolic church for a tour of the Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum. As everyone was gathered in the art gallery, Lucy Ardash, the director of the museum, highlighted some of the special artifacts from the collection. With docents in each of the six galleries of the museum, the guests went through at their own pace, identifying with artifacts from their ancestral towns and villages.

The tour was followed by the farewell reception with a warm welcome by Hayr Aren Jebejian, pastor of St. John’s Armenian Apostolic Church. Guests enjoyed more Armenian pastries and more time with newly discovered family and friends. Participants thanked the organizers, George Aghjayan, Janet Achoukian Andreopoulos, Mark Arslan, Luc Baronian, Ani Boghikian Kasparian, Tracy Keeney, Jen Langley, Marc Mamigonian, and Shoghig Shahinian for a worthwhile conference and left with great anticipation for its next installment.

The situation was relatively calm at the line of contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan last night, Artsakh Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire more than 25 times, firing over 140 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep the situation under control and confidently continue with the protection of the military positions.

AP Photo/ Cem Bakırcı/Depo

– At least four Russian nationals were on board of a helicopter that crashed in an Istanbul suburb on Friday, Turkish NTV channel reports.

A fire-fighting helicopter has crashed near Istanbul on Friday. According to the local media reports, the incident occurred due to strong fog.

As a result, five people died, the head of the Buyukcekmece suburb said Friday.

“There is preliminary information that five bodies have been found. The helicopter fell directly on the road, there were no cars on the road. The fog is strong, absolutely nothing is visible,” Mayor Hasan Akgun said in a broadcast on Turkey’s NTV.

​A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, registration number TC-HEZ, departed Istanbul Ataturk Airport and crashed near Büyükçekmej at 11:21 A.M. local time, the news agency DHA reported. According to DHA, there were 7 people aboard: 2 crew members and 5 passengers.

Iran and Armenia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on closer consular interaction around seven months after abolishing mutual visa regime, Tasnim News Agency reports.