Author: Emil Karabekian

 

 

 

The Prayer of Peace Pope Francis and Catholicos of All Armenians offered at the Republic Square has the power to bring peace to the region, Armenia’s Ambassador to the Holy See Mikael Minasyan told .

“I hope our neighbors will listen to it. I’m confident that the prayer offered by His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Karein II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians has the power to open the door, to lay the ground for the establishment of peace in the region,” the Ambassador said.

“We should work in that direction and should pray for it,” Ambassador Minasyan added.

 

– Pope Francis has departed from Italy for a three-day Apostolic Voyage to Armenia.

As the Pope began his journey, he sent the following telegram to Sergio Mattarella, the President of Italy:

In the moment in which I undertake my Apostolic Voyage to Armenia in order to draw from the ancient wisdom of that people, to confirm them in the faith, to support every effort along the path of peace and reconciliation, I address to you, Mr President, and to the whole Italian nation my cordial greetings, which I accompany with an encouragement to the entire country to remain on the front line of solidarity, looking to the future with confidence and hope.

Pope Francis travels to Armenia June 24-26 in the footsteps of John Paul II who came here in 2001. Ahead of the visit the Vatican Radio remembers an earlier pope connected in a special way to this nation, to its darkest chapter.

By Veronica Scarisbrick

He’s Benedict XV elected to the See of Peter in 1914, so Roman Pontiff at the time of the Great War. And as historian Professor John Pollard, in his book ‘Benedict XV and the Pursuit of Peace’ writes:

“The Vatican’s relations with the Ottoman Government in Istanbul, had not been good for a long time, but they deteriorated further during the course of the war, due to the Turk’s treatment of Christian populations in their empire and most particularly, the massacre of the Armenians, who were considered disloyal. In April and  May 1915 a campaign of what would now be called ‘ethnic cleansing’ was launched against the Christian, mainly Armenian, populations of Anatolia. In July the Apostolic delegate in Constantinople, Monsignor Dolci was instructed to protest against the massacres; the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary were also asked to bring pressure to bear on their ally to stop the killings, and Benedict himself sent an autograph letter on the 10th of September to the Sultan who in his role as Caliph of Islam, was like the Pope a world- wide religious leader. By the end of the war it was estimated that over a million Armenians had died, either killed outright by the Turks or as a result of maltreatment by starvation”.

For the record on March 12, 1918 Pope Benedict XV sent a second letter to Sultan Muhammad V. But while his diplomatic endeavors may have fallen on deaf ears his humanitarian efforts in assisting Armenian refugees did not it seems. According to the Jesuit magazine ‘La Civiltà Cattolica’ at the time the Holy See: “mobilized a continual flow of financial aid and supplies in an era when there were no other international humanitarian organizations beyond the Red Cross and the Near East relief.” Significantly too, at the time Benedict XV opened the doors of his summer residence, the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo, to young orphaned refugees from Armenia.

Proof of this is that on Saturday 25th of June when Pope Francis pays tribute to the fallen at the ‘Tzitzernakaberd’ Memorial complex dedicated to the fallen during the massacres of the Armenian population under the Ottoman Empire, which the people of this nation refer to as the ‘Medz Yeghern’ (Great Evil), he’ll be meeting with ten descendants of these same Armenian refugees. In the very place Armenians travel to in great numbers each year as Fr John Barker who heads the tiny Anglican community in Armenia tells Philippa Hitchen.

Pointing to a loss of trust between OSCE countries in recent years, the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly’s political affairs and security committee, Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden), has authored a report and draft resolution geared towards strengthening international dialogue and improving co-operation to meet common challenges facing the OSCE region. The resolution will be considered at the OSCE PA’s 25th Annual Session, being held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 1 to 5 July.

“Since so many international problems require real multilateral engagement, the gridlock and loss of trust we have recently seen across the OSCE area has had a tangible and negative impact on our mutual security,” Cederfelt said today. “Only by strengthening dialogue and political will can diplomatic efforts succeed in bringing together belligerent parties, resolving conflicts and addressing common threats.”

In this regard, she said that the OSCE should utilize its full capacity to tackle problems including transnational terrorism and the crisis in and around Ukraine. The resolution also points to conflicts and challenges of refugees and internally displaced persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova as requiring greater attention and political will.

The resolution expresses over recent military escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, with the resolution urging parliamentarians to encourage political will from the sides in the region to promote an agreement on confidence building-measures to reduce the risk for further hostilities.

President Serzh Sargsyan sent today a congratulatory message to the Pulitzer Prize winner, poet Peter Balakian on the occasion of his 65th birth anniversary and wished him excellent health, happiness and prolific literary work.

“You have once again raised the theme of the Armenian Genocide in the American literature and have once again reminded the world community on the tragedy of our nation and our rebirth.

Your creations, which are full of high morality and fascinating charm, are love and appreciated by many readers as well as by the critics which is vividly testified to by the Pulitzer Prize recently awarded to you. Your literature is all-human and lasting. In Armenia, we love you and we are proud of you,” reads the congratulatory message of the President of Armenia.

On 7 June the delegation at the head of Artsakh Republic President arrived in Belgium for a working visit, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

On 8 June the President met in Brussels with Els Van Hoof, head of the friendship group with Armenia in the Belgian Federal Parliament and a group of parliamentarians.

The meeting addressed issues relating to the development of ties between Belgian and Artsakh parliaments.

President Sahakyan noted that Artsakh was willing to develop parliamentary relations with Belgium, anticipating here active assistance from the friends of the Armenian nation.

PHOTO: EUNAVFOR MED

 

Up to 30 migrants are feared dead after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast while some 50 were rescued by EU vessels from the sea, the BBC reports.

Ships from an EU task force and Italy’s coast guard raced to the scene 65km off the coast as survivors clung to the hull or swam.

The alert had been raised by a Luxembourg reconnaissance plane which saw the capsized boat.

The Italian navy rescued 562 migrants from a capsized boat on Wednesday.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who has arrived in Yerevan to participate in the regular sitting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan.

President Sargsyan briefed the Russian PM on the results of the Vienna discussions. “We’ve reached an agreement on the monitoring of ceasefire violations and implementation of a mechanism of investigation of border incidents. We’re ready to do our best to exclude ceasefire violation, and I do hope that the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries will be consistent in implementing the decisions,” he said.

Dmitry Medvedev, in turn. expressed gratitude for hosting the meeting of the EEU Intergovernmental Council in Armenia and voiced confidence that the member countries would reach agreements necessary for boosting their economies.

He said Russia is closely following the developments in the Karabakh conflict zone and doing the utmost to help settle the current situation.

“It’s important to maintain the current ceasefire regime. In this context we welcome your meeting with the President of Azerbaijan in Vienna, and support the efforts within the framework of the OSCE Mink Group aimed at maintaining dialogue, and preventing such incidents in the future, taking into consideration of the agreements reached in 1994-1995 and with a view of ensuring stronger peace in the region and moving towards a final settlement to the Karabakh conflict,” Medvedev said.

“You can rest assured that Russia has always assisted and will keep assisting in the settlement of this complex issue,” the Prime Minister noted.

Moscow considers that the most important at this point is to prevent any violation of the ceasefire regime along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact by working out practical mechanisms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“Of course, the most important now is to avoid new losses and prevent and ceasefire violations and work out practical mechanisms for that,” he said.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on this some five years ago, when they met at the initiative of then President Dmitry Medvedev.

“They spoke for creation of a mechanism for investigation of border incidents and confidence-building measures. The OSCE was tasked with addressing the issue, but, unfortunately, no developments followed. We want the parties to return to that, the OSCE German presidency is also interested in intensifying its role and we welcome this willingness,” Lavrov said.

He said the Co-Chairs will meet in the near future.

Lavrov noted that “Moscow sees no reasons for panic connected with the initiative of the Armenian MPs on recognition of Nagorno Karabakh.”

“It’s not Armenia discussing the issue, it’s an initiative of two MPs, and the Armenian Government has to present an opinion on the draft law,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister noted that “although it;s difficult, it’s still possible to incorporate the ideas on the political settlement of the Karabakh issue in a document”

Although rare ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani side were reported last night, the concentration of troops and active movement is observed at the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh forces, the NKR Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army follow the steps of the Azeri forces and are ready to take relevant measures if necessary.

No violations of the ceasefire agreement are reported at this point. The situation is under vigilant control of the NKR Defense Army.