Author: Hovik Karapetian

More than 20 years after the ceasefire agreement, families still do not know what happened to relatives who went missing during the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says.

As part of efforts to find answers, the ICRC has handed the parties to the conflict an updated list containing the names of 4,496 people registered as missing by its delegations in Baku and Yerevan and its mission in Nagorno Karabakh.

The previous edition of the list dates from 2004, and since then the ICRC has worked closely with the Commissions on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People and with families of missing persons, registering and following up the cases of people who disappeared during the armed conflict.

Under international humanitarian law, the parties to a conflict must do all they can to clarify the fate of missing persons. The ICRC believes that the new version of the list will help the authorities to consolidate information and intensify their efforts towards this objective. As a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, the ICRC will continue to support the parties with its expertise, and by acting as a neutral intermediary between the sides.

The ICRC has been active in the region since 1992, and clarifying the fate of people missing in relation to the conflict is one of the organization’s priorities.

The has released the list of Christian churches and monasteries in Syria that have been destroyed by ISIS and other Muslim groups.

Attacks on Christians in Syria began almost immediately after the Syrian civil war began. The attacks have targeted villages, churches monasteries and the clergy, and have been perpetrated by Al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra Front, ISIS and other Muslim groups.

On February 23 ISIS attacked the 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur river in Hasaka, Syria, capturing 253 Assyrians. In the subsequent months it destroyed 11 churches and villages, rendering some villages uninhabitable.

According to the agency, three Armenian Curches have also been destroyed by terrorists. The St. Rita Tilel Armenian Church in Aleppo was bombed by ISIS on April 28. The Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Der Zor was destroyed by ISIS in September, 2014. The Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs was torched by ISIS and its cross atop its clock tower removed.

Fifteen rock paintings discovered in a village close to the ancient city of Ani in Kars will play a significant role for the area to be declared a world heritage site by UNESCO.

The head of the Culture and Arts Association in the eastern province of Kars, Vedat Akçayöz, has said the registration of 15 rock paintings discovered around the Alem village, some 11 kilometers away from the ancient city of Ani on the Turkish-Armenian border, has been sent to the Museum Directorate, adding the hope was to have the entire area added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list, the reports.

Akçayöz said the 15 rock paintings carved on the rocks depicted hunting scenes with horses, dogs, mountain goats, deer and humans.

He said that upon their application, Kars Museum Director Necmettin Alp, Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Hakan Doğançay and Board of Protection of Cultural Property Director Yasin Dursun had begun works to register the Prehistoric-era rock paintings.
Akçayöz said they had asked for the region to be declared an archaeological site, adding they hoped the ancient city of Ani and its environment would be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2016.

A rare pressing of the Beatles’ White Album from Ringo Starr’s record collection has sold at auction for $790,000, the Associated Press reports.

Julien’s Auctions says an anonymous buyer made the purchase Saturday at a sale in Beverly Hills, California. The mono pressing was the very first in the United Kingdom of the 1968 album.

The auction house said the White Album sale smashed a record set in 2015, when Elvis Presley’s first acetate recording sold at auction for $300,000. It followed a sale on Friday of one of Starr’s early drum kits for $2.2 million to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

The two-day auction included over 800 items owned by Starr and his wife, actress Barbara Bach. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the couple’s Lotus Children Foundation.

Four members of the gang, which operated under the guise of religion, were neutralized as a result of a special operation conducted by the Azerbaijani law enforcement representatives in Baku’s Nardaran settlement, Trend reports, quoting a joint statement made by the Interior Ministry and Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan. Another 14 members of the gang have been arrested.

The law enforcement bodies say that Tale Bagirov, Elman Agayev, Zulfigar Mikailov and Abulfaz Buniyadov created the Muslim Unity movement for the purpose of changing the constitutional system of the country by force and creating a religious state, governed by the Shariah laws.

The four gathered with their supporters in various parts of the country and in Baku, providing them with different kinds of firearms, ammunition, explosive substances.

In addition, by holding illegal assemblies in Nardaran settlement, they discussed ways to organize rebellion in the country against the authorities and instructed their supporters in this connection, as well as spread leaflets among the population.

In order to detain those people the Interior Ministry held a special operation in Nardaran settlement of Baku. During the operation the police officers faced resistance the criminals used firearms and a hand grenade.

A special operative group killed four members of the criminal grouping and wounded several others.

Two police officers were also killed.

Automatic guns, a hand grenade and cold arms were confiscated from the spot. The criminal grouping and 14 people led by Tale Bagirov were detained. A criminal proceeding has been instituted into the case, investigation is underway.

DHA Photo

Turkish police have arrested 20 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group in Antalya a week before the city hosts a G20 summit, the BBC reports.

US President Barack Obama will be among the world leaders arriving in city on Turkey’s southern coast for the summit on 15-16 November.

Two of the suspects arrested on Friday are said to be Russian.

Turkey has stepped up operations against IS militants following a string of deadly bombings.

Anti-terror police carried out simultaneous raids in three districts of Antalya early on Friday, local media said.

Officers reportedly seized “digital materials” during the operation.

Arzu Geybullayeva (photo from PEN International)

Azerbaijan-born journalist and blogger Arzu Geybullayeva has written for major news outlets like Foreign Policy and al-Jazeera. Yet it’s her work for Agos, a Turkish-Armenian newspaper, that has led to threats from her native land, according to the

For the Istanbul-based Geybullayeva, the criticism of her work for Agos began with small Azeri outlets, and spread to Azerbaijan’s state-owned media. Eventually, Geybullayeva, who frequently blogs about human rights in Azerbaijan, received death threats online. By 2014 she realized it was no longer safe for her to return to her home country.

Among the tactics the Azeri government has used against Geybullayeva is to apply pressure to her family in Azerbaijan, a strategy it has used against other journalists and dissidents.

A whale-watching boat has sunk off the coast of British Columbia in western Canada, leaving at least five people dead, the BBC reports.

The boat carrying 27 people sank near Tofino on Vancouver Island, the coastguard said. Sea conditions at the time were reported to be calm.

Emergency officials said 21 people had been rescued and one other person was still missing.

The nationalities of the victims are not yet known.

The boat, Leviathan II, made a mayday call late on Sunday afternoon, the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre said.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Anatoly Torkunov, rector of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MSIIR), who has arrived to Yerevan to take part in the 3rd International Forum of the MSIIR Alumni. The meeting was also joined by RF Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya.

The president welcomed the guests, noting that he is glad to host them within the frames of the abovementioned prestigious international forum being held I Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan attached great importance to the MSIIR special role in training qualified cadres, experts in international relations and diplomats, including for Armenia, many of whom, according to the president, have achieved great success in public policy, social and scientific spheres.

Serzh Sargsyan stressed Anatoly Torkunov’s weighty contribution to the maintenance of the institute’s best traditions.

At the meeting, the president awarded academician Anatoly Torkunov, rector of Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the RA high state decoration, the Order of Honor, for his activities aimed at the strengthening and development of the Armenian-Russian friendship, as well as at the deepening of scientific and educational ties.

Rector Anatoly Torkunov thanked the RA president for recognizing his activities, as well as for praising his educational institution.

During the conversation, the RA president and MSIIR Rector stressed the major role of education and science in the development of states and their societies.