Demonstrators have gathered outside the German Bundestag in Berlin to create a so-called ‘Chain of Truth’ around the building as the parliament votes on a resolution characterizing the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915 as a ‘genocide.”
provides live streaming of the rally.
President Serzh Sargsyan will leave for Luxembourg today to participate in the jubilee summit dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the European people’s Party, President’s Press Office reports.
The President of Armenia, President of the Chess Federation of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan today at the Tigran Petrossian Chess House attended the opening ceremony of the World Individual Deaf Chess Championship. The tournament, which will last until May 26, will take place in 7 subgroups with the participation of over 120 sportsmen from 24 countries. Present at the ceremony were also the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the President of the International Chess Committee of the Deaf Phillip Gardner, Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margarian, and officials of Armenia’s Chess Federation. At the chessboard, the President of Armenia and President of FIDE made the first moves, signaling the start of the Championship.
Before the beginning of the Championship, the President of Armenia and President of FIDE laid flowers at the Tigran Petrossian memorial and paid tribute to his memory. In the framework of the World Individual Deaf Chess Championship, the President was also familiarized with the automated program of the sign language interpretation (for the deaf-mute).
Later, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the inauguration of the Shengavit Chess School for Children. This is the largest Chess School in Yerevan. The President toured the premise of the fully renovated and equipped School and familiarized with the conditions created for the learning process. The School will accommodate 240 kids divided in 21 groups. According to the officials, this educational establishment can accommodate up to 450 children.
The anti-aircraft defense and electronic warfare divisions of RA Armed Forces neutralized an unmanned flying vehicle near Yelpin community in Vayots Dzor province.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan uploaded the photos of the downed drone on his Facebook page.
Further details about the ownership and production of the drone will be provided later.
Armenia’s entrant at Eurovision 2016 Iveta Mukuchyan and members of the Armenian delegation had a meeting with Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Sweden Artak Apitonyan.
“I have no doubt we’ll succeed, as the Armenian performance is one of the most discussed ones,” the Ambassador said. He voiced hope Armenia would be on the top.
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 will take place in Stockholm May 10-14. Iveta will perform 7th in the first semi-final on May 10.
Armenia has not lost the Armenian Genocide case at the European Court of Human rights, human right lawyer Amal Clooney said in an
“The case was brought to the Court by little known Turkish politician Dogu Perincek. He appealed against Switzerland, which found him guilty of denying the Armenian Genocide,” Clooney said.
She reminded that Armenia’s demands were in no way related to whether or not Perincek would incur criminal penalties. “Our objections of Armenia were related to the wording used in the case, implying the denial of genocide,” she said.
“For example, the Court was stressing the difference between the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, saying that the first one is provable, while the second is not. Our objective was to ensure that the Court refuse from using such wording in the Perincek case. And we won,” Amal Clooney said.
“When making the decision, a number of judges said the Court shouldn’t have considered the matter at all, as it has nothing to do with the case, but many agreed that there is proof of the Armenian Genocide. I respect Armenia’s position in this case. It was defending the freedom of speech, no one was saying Perincek had to be jailed,” the lawyer added.
“There are people of higher status than Perincek who have openly recognized the fact of the Armenian Genocide, the Pope, for instance. That’s why I don’t think they are particularly concerned by Perincek’s opinion,” Clooney added.
“On the other hand, Turkey also had something to say on the case, but that country has the worst freedom of speech record in the Council of Europe. I think people do not completely understand the case,” she noted.
“Neither Armenia, nor I as Armenia’s representative, stood against freedom of speech. We just wanted the Court to be precise, when considering the genocide case,” Amal Clooney concluded.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are working to organize a new meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti reports, quoting French Co-Chair Pierre Andrieu.
“We have met with the Presidents of both countries and we’re now trying to organize their meeting,” Andrieu said.
According to him, there are no concrete plans on the visit of the Co-Chairs to the region.
“The ceasefire regime must not be violated, it’s necessary to resume the negotiation process as soon as possible,” he said.
Armenian delegates to the Parlaimentary Assmebly of the Council of Europe will have a serious work to do next week, when PACE spring session kicks off on April 18. Three requests for current affairs debate on Nagorno Karabakh have been submitted by French, Azerbaijani and Armenians delegates. The Bureau will decide which of the three requests will be considered. The Armenian delegates are resolute to bring the truth about the four-day war to the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly.
The first request titled “The recent and tragic escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” was submitted by French MP Francois Rochebloine, Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Hermine Naghdalyan told Public Radio of Armenia.
Immediately after that the Azerbaijani delegation submitted a request for a debate on “The tragic escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan.” This was followed by a proposal of the Armenian side to discuss the “War crimes committed by Azerbaijan during the recent aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“These are proposals to discuss the same topic under three different titles. Obviously, the choice of the title will affect the debate. The struggle of the proposals is going to be very interesting. Some proposals are being brought to the agenda in order to harm the other ones, to foil their consideration at PACE,” Hermine Naghdalyan said.
Therefore, it’s clear that the Parliamentary Assembly will hold a current affairs debate on Nagorno Karabakh, but it’s not yet clear which of the proposals will be preferred. After one of the three requests is chosen by the Bureau, the issue will be discussed at the plenary sitting. The author will have ten minutes to present the issue and his/her approaches, which will be followed by 90-minute debates. After the debates the Bureau is authorized to decide whether the topic will be summed up by one discussion or will be considered further with a view of developing a report.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, has announced he will resign next week, blaming politicians’ failure to enact “real changes,” the BBC reports.
“I am resigning as Prime Minister and I would like to stress with dignity my national liability before the state. I see my competences wider than those of a head of government,” he said in a regular weekly televised address.
Mr Yatsenyuk, in office since former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February 2014, said he would inform parliament on Tuesday.
The current President, Petro Poroshenko, asked him to quit in February, saying he had lost support.
His government has been accused of inaction and corruption.
The investigation has revealed the sources of financing and the suppliers of weapons to the armed gang neutralized in Yerevan’s Nork Marash district in November 2015, Mickael Hambartsumyan, First Deputy Chief of the Investigation Department of the National Security Service, told reporters today.
Members of the group received funding amounting to $65,000, Hambartsumyan said, but refrained from mentioning any names. He said the funder is from Armenia and is one of those 33 charged. The official added that those who supplied the gang with weapons are also in custody.
According to preliminary results, the group plotted simultaneous attacks on the National Assembly building, the Government, the Presidential Palace and the Constitutional Court. The group had gathered information about 147 statesmen and politicians, including lawmakers, the first and second Presidents of Armenia.
The investigative body also possesses the video and the letter that had to be released after the attack.
“The facts prove that the gang was planning a military coup, violence against state institutions,” Mickael Hambartsumyan said.