Author: Edgar Tavakalian

In today’s Grand Chamber judgment1 in the case of Perinçek v. Switzerland (application no. 27510/08) the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority, that there had been: a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the criminal conviction of a Turkish politician for publicly expressing the view, in Switzerland, that the mass deportations and massacres suffered by the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and the following years had not amounted to genocide.

Being aware of the great importance attributed by the Armenian community to the question whether those mass deportations and massacres were to be regarded as genocide, the European Court of Human Rights held that the dignity of the victims and the dignity and identity of modernday Armenians were protected by Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the Convention.

The Court therefore had to strike a balance between two Convention rights – the right to freedom of expression and the right to respect for private life – taking into account the specific circumstances of the case and the proportionality between the means used and the aim sought to be achieved.

The Court concluded that it had not been necessary, in a democratic society, to subject Mr Perinçek to a criminal penalty in order to protect the rights of the Armenian community at stake in the case. In particular, the Court took into account the following elements: Mr Perinçek’s statements bore on a matter of public interest and did not amount to a call for hatred or intolerance; the context in which they were made had not been marked by heightened tensions or special historical overtones in Switzerland; the statements could not be regarded as affecting the dignity of the members of the Armenian community to the point of requiring a criminal law response in Switzerland; there was no international law obligation for Switzerland to criminalise such statements; the Swiss courts appeared to have censured Mr Perinçek simply for voicing an opinion that diverged from the established ones in Switzerland; and the interference with his right to freedom of expression had taken the serious form of a criminal conviction.

TBS’s late-night show host Conan O’Brien is taking his show to Armenia, according to the

The Conan star will be the first American late-night host to ever do a show from the country. O’Brien’s longtime Armenian assistant, Sona Movsesian, will join him when they shoot the installment of his TBS show, which will air at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The trip will mark the first time in Aremia for both O’Brien and Movsesian. “I think it’s every boss’s responsibility to take their assistant back to their ancestral land,” said O’Brien. “That’s why I’m going to make sure my next assistant was born in a five-star resort in Tuscany.”

In addition to doing shows in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta, the host most recently filmed Conan from Comic Con in San Diego. In the spring, he made headlines as the first American late-night host to shoot in Cuba in more than 50 years.

O’Brien is planning to continue to do shows from various locations around the globe, with specific details being released over the next few months.

Conan airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m.

The US co-chair commented on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s recent statement that Nagorno-Karabakh is an inseparable part of Armenia.

The co-chairs remain committed to addressing all elements of a settlement that are of importance to the parties, Warlick added.

It was not the only deadly incident attributable to the fast-moving water. In Zion National Park’s Keyhole Canyon, four people who were canyoneering were killed and three are missing, National Park Service officials said.

At least six children and three women died in the vehicles that were swept away in the border area, according to Utah officials in the city of Hildale and with Washington County Emergency Services.

Three people survived Monday’s flood, including a boy who was found walking around a creek, said Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow.

Two survived by escaping from their vehicle, he said. The youngest fatality was a child about age 4, said Hildale Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Barlow.

The two vehicles carried a total of 16 women and children after a visit to a park, the mayor said.

Turkey’s state-run television says 12 police officers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Turkey, the Associated Press reports.

TRT television says three other policemen were injured today in the attack in the province of Igdir, near Turkey’s border with Armenia.

The attack comes amid a sharp escalation of violence between Turkey’s security forces and Kurdish rebels. Sixteen soldiers were killed in a similar attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, on Sunday.

US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has said the escalation at the line of contact is unacceptable.

Warlick took to Twitter to comment on the situation at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the past day.

The mediator uploaded the picture of a 120mm mortar released earlier by the with the following message attached:

“This is a 120mm mortar reportedly used in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Such escalation is unacceptable.”

This is a 120mm mortar reportedly used in the Nagorno- conflict. Such escalation in unacceptable.

— James Warlick (@AmbJamesWarlick)

Armenian international Yura Movsisyan may leave his current club Spartak Moscow this winter, football agent Roman Oreshchuk has said in an interview with NTV+Football (НТВ+футбол).

According to him, English clubs are interested in the services of the Armenian striker.

Movsisyan has scored three goals and provided an assist in the first seven matches this season.

“The 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide marks a new start in the process of recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said as he lectured at the Yerevan State University today.

“The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is an irreversible process that proceeds on different levels and in different directions,” he added.

Speaking about the Karabakh conflict, the Minister noted that “despite the provocative and non-constructive policy of Azerbaijan, Armenia will continue to work jointly with the OSCE Minsk Group to solve the conflict exclusively through peaceful means.”

The Foreign Minister also referred to Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, the allied relations between Armenia and Russia, Armenia’s cooperation with the United States, the European Union and the neighboring countries.

The Azerbaijani side has undertaken several acts of sabotage over the past days, all of which have been successfully averted, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan told reporters today.

“Our people can be assured the Armenian Army keeps the situation under control,” the Minister said.

US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has said the mediators are planning a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in the fall.

Speaking of the expectations from the meeting, Ohanyan said: “We expect all types of shooting and assaults to stop thanks to every meeting within the framework of the negotiation process.”

The annual liturgy at the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van has been cancelled, the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul reports.

“The pilgrimage to Akhtamar planned for September 6 has been cancelled,” the Patriarchate said in a statement.

The decision was made, considering the terrorist acts committed over the past day. “The liturgy has been postponed to avoid creating security problems in Van and the surrounding areas,” the Patriarchate added.