Author: Garnik Zakarian

President Serzh Sargsyan received Herbert Salber, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Conflict in Georgia.

President Sargsyan presented his views on the escalation of the situation as a result of Azerbaijan’s non-constructive and belligerent stance, and the reasons behind that country’s attempts to foil the negotiation process.

Referring to the facts of the war crimes committed by the Azeri armed forces during the April events, President Sargsyan stressed the need for immediate reaction on the part of the international community and specialized bodies to such impermissible and condemnable actions.

The parties underlined that there is no alternative to the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and citizens of Georgia and Ukraine with the 71st anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin press service said on Sunday.

Putin stressed that the Victory Day is a sacred celebration that will forever remain the symbol of heroism and unity of peoples that defended their lands in bloody battles and liberated the world from Nazism.

The Russian president that history should not be allowed to be rewritten and tragic mistakes of the past should not be repeated. “Our common duty is to carefully preserve the memory about those who died in the Great Patriotic War and to care about veterans in every possible way,” he noted.

The Russian leader expressed hope that friendship and brotherhood tested in the common struggle will continue to serve as a basis for further strengthening of inter-state relations, facilitate development of integrational processes on the Eurasian continent.

Putin conveyed sincerest gratitude to veterans and home front workers, wished them good health and longevity.

On 5 May Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received prelate of the Tehran Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan.

Issues related to the state-church relations, the large-scale combat operations launched by Azerbaijan from 2 to 5 April and their consequences were discussed during the meeting.

President Sahakyan underlined that the Armenian Apostolic Church had a great contribution in cementing and expanding the Motherland-Diaspora ties and expressed gratitude to Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan for continuous assistance shown to Artsakh.

Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan partook in the meeting.

On April 23, 2016, the Second Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide entitled “Living Witnesses of Genocide” will be held in Yerevan, Armenia.

The discussions of the Forum, along with other issues, will focus on the assessment of the definition of genocide through the prism of forced deportation, as well as the current challenges to the prevention of genocide and protection.

On April 22, at 5:00 p.m., a joint press conference of the organizers of the Global Forum and the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity will be held at the Matenadaran after Mesrop Mashtots (Armenia’s state repository of ancient manuscripts) to present the conceptual and structural aspects of the Forum.

 

 

 

“The military actions launched by Azerbaijan unprecedented not only after the 1994 ceasefire, but also in comparison with the first Artsakh War because of several factors,” Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said at the government sitting today.

“The actions were unprecedented first of all for the density of firing, the types of the weapons and military equipment used, the number of troops involved and the great number of losses,” the Minister said. He added that the number of Azerbaijani casualties considerably exceed those of the Armenian side.

He also emphasized the high combat readiness of the conflicting parties, and the fact of terrorists fighting on the Azerbaijani side at different sections of the line of contact and their aggressive actions.

The Armenian Defense Minister said, however, that Azerbaijan achieved nothing as a result and turned town the Azeri reports of having conquered several Armenian settlements. “Talish and Nor Seysulan villages are under Karabakh control,” he said.

The Minister said the agreement on ceasefire has been reached on the level of the General Staffs of the armed forces of the two parties.

Seyran Ohanyan added that the actions of the Azerbaijani side, including torture and decapitation, amount to war crime.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s statement on “unilateral ceasefire” is misinformation, the NKR Defense Ministry says.

The Azerbaijani side launched large-scale military actions against Nagorno Karabakh on April 1 and 2, using all possible types of military equipment in its arsenal, the Ministry said in a statement.

According to the report, the Azerbaijani side shelled the Armenian settlements, namely the city of Martakert, from MM-21 volley fire rocket installations and 152 mm cannons after issuing the statement.

“The above-mentioned facts, as well as the use of the terms “counterattacking actions” and “reinforcement of the liberated territories” demonstrate the false nature of the document, which aims to create an imitation of ceasefire.”

“The Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army is ready to meet to discuss the proposal to enact a ceasefire within the context of restoring the original positions of the sides,” the statement reads.

On 2 April, the commemoration day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, with the blessing of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; the Mother See will solemnly transport the relics of St. John the Baptist from the Gegharkunik Diocese.

The 14th century cross reliquary will be taken to the Gavar Diocese, the Holy Mother of God Church. From there, at 10:30 a.m., the clergy and faithful will walk by procession, and take the relic to the St. Karapet Church, where a Divine Liturgy will be offered.

At the end of Holy service the relic will be used for the service of the blessing of the four corners of the world (Andastan).

The relics of St. John the Baptist will remain in the Church narthex until 5 p.m. for the faithful to have the opportunity to be blessed by the sacred relics.

Pope Francis is more popular than any political world leader, an opinion poll has suggested, the BBC reports.

The poll by WIN/Gallup International indicates that Roman Catholics and Jews have the most favourable opinion of the Pope.

More than half of the world’s protestants and even the majority of atheists and agnostics view him favourably.

About 1,000 people were questioned in 64 countries.

Those taking part in the poll were asked: “Irrespective of your own religion, do you have a very favourable, somewhat favourable, somewhat unfavourable or very unfavourable opinion of Pope Francis?”

The Pope was most popular with Roman Catholics, of whom 85% said they had a favourable opinion of him, and among Jews questioned the figure was 65%.

Among the 64 countries polled, the Philippines was the most enthusiastic nation with 93% thinking favourably of the Pope.

WIN/Gallup said that the Pope heads the rankings when compared to the global popularity of political world leaders.

It gave him a net score – the difference between favourable and unfavourable opinions – of +41 ahead of US President Barack Obama on +30; German Chancellor Angela Merkel on +13; UK Prime Minister David Cameron on +10 and French President Francois Hollande on +6.

Just like the Olympics, it happens every four years, and Google has marked this quadrennial occasion with its search engine doodle recognising February 29.

Showing one bunny jumping over another two, this cute doodle celebrates the Leap Year, which brought the Gregorian calendar into line with the solar year back in 45 BC.

Back then, there were 355 days in the calendar with an extra 22 day month every two years which spurred Julius Caesar into tasking his astronomer Sosignenes with making things a bit easier.

He came up with the idea of adding the extra hours onto one day. The last day of February was chosen because it was the last month of the Roman calendar.

Pope Gregory XIII coined the term “Leap Year” and declared that such a year could be divisible by 100 but not by 400. This means 2000 was a leap year, but 1800 and 1900 were not.

The Europa League last 16 draw has been made in Nyon. The two legged-ties will take place on March 10 and March 17. Borussia Dortmund have been drawn against Liverpool in the Europa League’s last 16.

Europa League draw in full

Shakhtar Donetsk v Anderlecht
Basel v Sevilla
Villarreal v Bayer Leverkusen
Athletic Bilbao v Valencia
Liverpool v Manchester United
Sparta Prague v Lazio
Borussia Dortmund v Tottenham
Fenerbahce v Braga