Author: Greg Madatian

The participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in talks is crucial for resolving the regional conflict, Armenia’s top diplomat told .

MEP Frank Engel and Ruben Melikyan, Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Nagorno-Karabakh, presented on  14 February 2017, a report on the human rights implications of the four-day war that took place in Nagorno-Karabakh in April 2016.

They also discussed the need for international observers to be present during such incidents in order to ensure that the human rights of the local population are safeguarded and that violations are reported.

Please follow to read the report.

 

Photo: Anahid Kaprielian

 

Thousands will gather in New York’s Times Square (43rd St./Broadway) to commemorate the 102^nd anniversary commemoration of the Armenian Genocide On April 23, 2-4 p.m., the Armenian Weekly reports.

In recognition of Genocide Awareness Month in April, Holocaust Remembrance Day will also be commemorated, along with other genocides committed in contemporary history.

This powerful event, free and open to the public, will honor the 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred by the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman Empire and the millions of victims of genocide worldwide. Speakers will include well-known artists, politicians, academics and humanitarians. Dr. Rachel Goshgarian, Professor of History at Lafayette College and Armen McOmber, Esq. will preside over the program. The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Turkey is Guilty of Genocide: Denying the Undeniable is a Crime.”

The 102^nd Armenian Genocide Commemoration is organized by the Mid-Atlantic chapters of the Knights & Daughters of Vartan (www.kofv.org), an international Armenian fraternal organization headquartered in the United States, and co-sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the Armenian Assembly of America, and the Armenian Council of America and the Armenian Democratic League-Ramgavars.

Participating organizations include the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, Prelacy of the Armenian Church of America, Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA), Armenian Catholic Eparchy for U.S. and Canada, the Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA), the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF-YOARF), Armenian youth organizations and university Armenian clubs.

On January 27, Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, had a meeting in Vienna with Lamberto Zannier, the Secretary General of the OSCE.

During the talks the Minister and the Secretary General reflected on a number of issues related to the OSCE activities.

Edward Nalbandian presented to Lamberto Zannier the efforts exerted by Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs towards the implementation of agreements reached during the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits.

The sides  commended the activity of the OSCE’s Yerevan Office and attached importance to the operation of the only OSCE office in the South Caucasus region.

Islamic State militants have destroyed one of the most famous monuments in the ancient city of Palmyra, the Tetrapylon, and the facade of its Roman Theatre, Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told on Friday.

Islamic State control the Palmyra site after capturing it in December for a second time from Syrian government forces.

Government forces and their militia allies, backed by Russian air power, had taken back the city from Islamic State last March after first losing it in 2015.

Manchester United generated the most revenue of any football club in the world last season, according to a report published by Deloitte, the BBC reports.

United dethrone Real Madrid – who held top spot for 11 years – after accumulating a record revenue of 689m euros (£515m) during the 2015-16 term.

The Premier League club saw commercial revenue grow by 100m euros (£71m).

Combined revenue for the top 20 clubs during the 2015-16 season grew 12% to 7.4bn euros (£6.41bn) – a new record.

It is the first time Manchester United have topped the annual Deloitte Football Money League since the 2003-04 season.

Real drop down to third, behind Spanish rivals Barcelona, who remain in second spot.

German giants Bayern Munich move up a position to fourth and Manchester City also climb a spot to fifth – having generated 524.9 euros (£392.6m) – up from 463.5 euros (£352.6m) during the previous season.

Deloitte Money League Table 2015-16 season – the top 10

1 Manchester United
2 Barcelona
3 Real Madrid
4 Bayern Munich
5 Manchester City
6 Paris St-Germain
7 Arsenal
8 Chelsea
9 Liverpool
10 Juventus

 

 

 

After the closure of the OSCE Office in Baku, the OSCE Office in Yerevan has been the only full-functioning representation in the region.

“The role of the office is valued by the OSCE presidency, the secretariat, other OSCE bodies, as well as the overwhelming majority of the participating states, except one” Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan told .

He added that the OSCE acts on the basis of consensus decision-making. “Despite large-scale support, it has not yet reached consensus on the decision to extend the activities of the Yerevan Office,” Balayan said.

The Spokesman said the negotiations continue, and Armenia is a party to talks. He refrained from disclosing further details of the negotiations, saying it would be ‘inexpedient’ at this point.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin had a meeting with Nicolas de Rivière, Director General for Political Affairs and Security at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The parties discussed the perspectives of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Reference was made to the ways of overcoming the Ukrainian crisis and issues on the Russian-French agenda.

Giuseppe Galati (Italy, EPP/CD) and Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today.

The guests laid flowers at the Eternal Fire and paid tribute to the memory of the victims with a minute of silence.

The co-rapporteurs visited the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute and familiarized with documents proving the Armenian Genocide.

Alan Meale noted that the atrocities and genocide committed against Armenians by Turks should be condemned by everyone. “Governments should recognize what has happened in reality. People must be informed, genocide should be taught at schools and everything should be done to prevent their reoccurrence,” he said.

According to Giuseppe Galati, the Council of Europe has been doing a huge work towards clarification and stabilization of relations between countries of different beliefs to avoid such tragedies.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan met with mass media representatives to present the program of increased social security benefits to be paid to families of military servicemen killed or handicapped in action or during combat duty.

Attaching importance to meetings with media representatives, Vigen Sargsyan noted that “they provide an opportunity to confer complete information both on the initiative under discussion and army-related issues of public interest.”

Minister Sargsyan briefed the participants on the ideology of “nation-army” and the main directions of the strategy of achieving maximal results.

The Defense Minister referred to the ongoing works in the armed forces and the future plans, the achievements and omissions.

Noting that the “nation-army” ideology does not lead to the militarization of the public or the state, Vigen Sargsyan noted that “only by utilizing the potential of the army, ensuring full interaction between the economic, social, public, educational, scientific and other fields will it be possible to guarantee the combat readiness of the army and the security of the state.”