Author: Emil Karabekian

The Armenian woman killed in Nice attack saved her baby by covering the carriage with her body, witness to the attack Susan Mkhitaryan (Davtyan) told .

She said almost the whole city gathers to watch the fireworks on National Day. “The lorry ploughed into the crowd immediately after the fireworks. The Police were shooting to stop it. We managed to drop in at the nearest restaurant and hide there,” Susan said.

According to her, the driver ploughed on for 2km, leaving dozens killed. “It was a horrific scene, the situation in the city is terrible,” she said.

Susan said she he heard a lot of Armenian exclamations during the incident.

Thomas Tuchel claims Borussia Dortmund did everything they could to keep Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mats Hummels and Ilkay Gundogan.

The star trio were all under contract until June 2017 and Dortmund were initially hopeful they would sign new deals.

The club ultimately failed to agree the renewals, though, and were forced to cash in when Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich registered their respective interest in Gundogan, Mkhitaryan and Hummels.

“A lot has happened. It feels a bit like a fresh start. Three extremely important players have left us,” head coach Tuchel told a news conference, Yahoo News reports.

“We have lost three key men with the departure of Hummels, Gundogan and Mkhitaryan. They are three players of the highest level. We did everything within our powers to hold on to them. The offers were pushing our boundaries. We have to acknowledge that there are clubs higher in the food chain.

“The three players who have left have had an enormous influence on the team. They were examples for the others.

“I am no more disappointed about losing Mkhitaryan than about losing Mats and Ilkay. Of course, I was disappointed to see him go. I am a huge fan of Mkhitaryan. But I am looking forward to working with our new signings.”

Dortmund have brought in a number of promising youngsters to replace the departed stars, with Emre Mor, Ousmane Dembele and Mikel Merino among the new arrivals at Signal Iduna Park, and Tuchel is looking forward to the rebuilding job at hand.

“We have decided to go with talented youngsters. We are no longer thinking about what we had, but are focused on creating something new,” he said.

“We have to be creative and find solutions. It might be a risky path, but risks can get rewarded. All our new players are fully committed to BVB. We want to develop a team the fans can identify with.

“We want to challenge the big teams in the Champions League, fight for the Bundesliga title and win the DFB-Pokal.”

The Vatican says Pope Francis will meet with Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders during his Sept. 30-Oct. 2 trip to Georgia and Azerbaijan, adding a strong interreligious dimension to an already politically delicate trip, the Associated Press reports.

The Vatican on Monday released the itinerary for the Caucasus trip, which was originally planned as an extension of Francis’ recent visit to Armenia but was split up.

In Georgia, after meeting with the president, Francis will call on the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, and meet with the Assyrian and Chaldean Catholic community. In majority-Muslim Azerbaijan, Francis will celebrate Mass with the tiny Catholic community and meet with the chief imam, the Orthodox bishop of Baku and head of the country’s Jewish community.

Armenia will host the sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of CSTO member states, Press Service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The heads of delegation of the member states and the CSTO Secretary General will be received by President Serzh Sargsyan.

The sitting will be chaired by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. Minister Nalbandian and CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha will give a joint press conference following the meeting.

President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman has suggested the country’s Chamber of Deputies to discuss a resolution on condemnation of the Armenian genocide, reports.

The issue was discussed during the President’s meeting with Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamáček, president’s spokesman George Ovčáček said on Twitter.

During a recent trip to Armenia President Zeman had promised to urge the Parliament to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian Americans will be closely following Pope Francis’ historic trip to Armenia this weekend, energized by his moral leadership during the Armenian Genocide Centennial last year and hopeful that his courage will inspire our U.S. President and Congress to end their complicity in Turkey’s genocide denial, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

A highlight of the Pontiff’s busy three day schedule in Armenia will be his visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial (Tsitsernakaberd) on Saturday morning (local time), after which he will meet a dozen descendants of the 400 Armenian orphans who were rescued in 1915 and lodged at the papal Castel Gandolfo residence near Rome.

“The Pope’s prayers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial will echo around the world,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The presence of Pope Francis at the Armenian Genocide Memorial – over the strident objections of Turkey’s leaders – stands as a powerful moral testament against Ankara’s ongoing obstruction of justice for this crime. In bearing witness – before all the world – at this most sacred site, Pope Francis is openly challenging Turkey’s efforts to erase from history its massacre and exile of millions of Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, and other ancient Christian nations from their biblical era homelands.”

Hamparian went on to share his hope that the Pope’s visit will inspire U.S. leaders to stop aiding and abetting Turkey’s century-long campaign of Genocide denial. “President Obama, Speaker Ryan and all our Congressional leaders would do well to follow the courageous moral leadership of Pope Francis in rejecting Ankara’s gag-rule and speaking honestly about Turkey’s near genocidal annihilation of the Christian Armenian nation,” explained Hamparian. “This visit by Pope Francis to the first Christian state both reflects and reinforces the Christian world’s solidarity with the Armenian people.”

Armenia has been elected Vice-President of the 71^st session of the UN General Assembly, according to the .

By secret ballot, the General Assembly elected by a margin of four votes Peter Thomson of Fiji as President of its seventy-first session, also selecting, in consecutive meetings, Bureaux members of its six Main Committees.

The General Assembly also elected by secret ballot 21 Vice-Presidents of its plenary:  Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Mauritania, Nigeria and Zambia from the African States; Bangladesh, Nepal, Solomon Islands and Turkmenistan from the Asia-Pacific States; Armenia from the Eastern European States; Bahamas, Belize and El Salvador from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Belgium and Germany from the Western European and other States.  The five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States) serve as Vice-Presidents, as well.

On the occasion of the National Holiday of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II – President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron.

On the occasion of the Holiday, the President of Armenia congratulated and sent good wishes to the Queen, Royal Family, and the friendly people of the United Kingdom. “Armenia attaches great importance to the relations with the United Kingdom. A continuous political dialogue has been formed, joint works have been carried out in the areas of trade and encouragement of investments, contacts in the area of culture and education have developed, and efficient cooperation has been going on in the framework of different programs aimed at the implementation of reforms in Armenia. I am hopeful that we will be able to augment all this with new accomplishments. I thank you and the Royal Family for the contribution to the development of cooperation between Armenia and the United Kingdom. I am confident that Your Majesty will continue to keep the development of our relations in the focus of Your Majesty’s attention with the same consistency,” reads the congratulatory message of the President of Armenia to Queen Elizabeth II.

In the congratulatory message addressed to Prime Minister David Cameron, Serzh Sargsyan expressed confidence that the Armenian-British relations, which are based on mutual interests and friendly ties, through joint efforts will continue to deepen for the benefit of the two nations.

On the occasion of the Great Britain’s National Holiday, President Serzh Sargsyan visited today the residence of the UK Ambassador to Armenia. He congratulated Ambassador Judith Farnworth and the entire staff of the Embassy and wished the friendly people of the Great Britain well being and prosperity. The President expressed confidence that this Holiday has a special meaning for the citizens of the UK because in the person of Her Majesty the people of Great Britain see not only the longest reigning monarch in the history of their country, but a wise and caring leader, whose activities for decades have been promoting the reputation of the United Kingdom.

Ankara does not want to see relations with Berlin damaged, as the German parliament prepares to vote on a resolution aimed at recognizing the deaths of Armenians in 1915 as ‘genocide’, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Yildirim’s remarks were delivered to reporters at Esenboga Airport in the Turkish capital ahead of his first official visit to the Northern Cyprus.

“We do not have anything secret or hidden…Let the past and history of all countries be investigated. But, let historians do this,” he said.

Yildirim warned that history was being made an “instrument of politics”.

Referring to Germany’s large Turkish community, Yildirim added: “I hope that the German parliament and decision makers will not turn a deaf ear to 3.5 million voters. Therefore, we do not desire that such a resolution be passed,” Yildirim said.

“This is null and void for us but we do not want [it] passed,” he added.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip by phone to share Ankara’s sensitivities over the resolution.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will leave for France on May 12 for a working visit, Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign affairs reports.

Minister Nalbandian is expected to have meetings with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayraul, other high-ranking officials.