Author: Liana Toganian

Photo: Reuters

 

Barack Obama has become the first serving US president to visit Hiroshima since the World War Two nuclear attack, the BBC reports.

Mr Obama said the memory of 6 August 1945 must never fade, but did not apologise for the US attack – the world’s first and only nuclear bombing.

Mr Obama spoke to a number of survivors and in an address called on nations to pursue a world without nuclear weapons.

At least 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and another 74,000 two days later in a second bombing in Nagasaki.

Mr Obama first visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum before walking to the Peace Memorial Park, accompanied by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

 

 

 

The anniversary of the Genocide of Pontic Greeks was commemorated in Armenia today. A delegation headed by Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly Edward Sharmaznaov visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today to pay tribute to the memory of Pontic Greeks and pray for the peace of their souls.

The Armenian National Assembly unanimously condemned the Greek Genocide in 2015.

“Greeks understand the Armenian pain and the Greek MPs were among the first to visit Yerablu Pantheon and Artsakh after the four-day military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan,” Sharmazanov said.

Head of the Chairman of “Patrida” organization of Greeks in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Edward Polatov noted that the same genocidal country stood behind the April military actions. He stressed that the international community should condemn the genocides committed at the turn of the 20^th century instead of closing its eyes.

Greek Ambassador to Armenia Ioannis Tayis praised the condemnation of the Pontic Genocide by the Armenian Parliament last year.

The participants stressed the need to combine efforts to fight Turkey’s denialism.

German-Turkish film director Fatih Akin and other artists urge Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Bundestag to finally call the Armenian genocide as such, reports.

In an open letter the artists call “to take a stand on 2 June and to refer to the crimes committed against the Armenian people as “genocide.” This is more than a historical period, more than an apology to the descendants of the victims. “Imagine you lived in Germany and the Holocaust would be denied – would that not be a continuation of the actual fact?”

Among the signatories of the open letter are Markus Rindt, Head of the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, German-Turkish-Armenian composer and guitarist Marc Sinan director of Kampnagel theatre in Hamburg Amelie Deuflhardand the general director of the Saxon State Library, Thomas Bürger.

In the open letter to Merkel and the deputies the art workers write : “We therefore call on you today to stand by the fundamental European values and find the correct wording. The Armenian Genocide denial creates the basis for violence in the present. In 1915 the Armenians were called terrorists, their property was expropriated, only in 2015 more than 5,000 Kurds have been killed in Turkey because they are supposed to be terrorists. This became possible because Turkey systematically refuses to face its history.”

“The Bundestag and its predecessor institutions have been silent on the Armenian Genocide for 100 years now,” the artists say.

The Bundestag is set to vote on a cross-party bill on Armenian Genocide on June 2.

Emmy-nominated host Laura McKenzie’s one-hour primetime special, LAURA MCKENZIE’S TRAVELER-ARMENIA in honor of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day will air April 23 in major U.S. markets, including KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles, the reports.

In the new primetime special, Laura gives a firsthand account of her explorations through Armenia, including destinations like the capital city of Yerevan, Tsitsernakaberd: The Genocide Museum and Memorial, the ancient Temple of Garni, and the Monastery of Tatev, featuring the longest gondola ride in the world. She also discovers local markets, learns to make ethnic cuisine, and tries her hand at the ancient art of carpet weaving. While there, she gets a personal account of the dismal conditions during the war years in Yerevan by the famed international conductor, Maestro George Pehlivanian.

“Armenia was a total surprise to me. I was not expecting it to be so incredibly fascinating, not only for ancient sites and natural beauty, but for the friendliness of the people,” Laura said. “Armenians love Americans and their hospitality is genuine.”

Laura McKenzie is the number one television travel expert in the country. She has received dozens of awards including two Emmy nominations and a Gracie Award for her Syndicated television series, “Laura McKenzie’s Traveler.” She’s written and produced 42 home videos on travel and appears on national talk shows as a travel expert. She co-hosted “World’s Funniest Moments” and 10 seasons of “American Adventurer” with Erik Estrada and is the permanent co-host of the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.

She is also a contributing writer for “USA Weekend Magazine” and won the “Video of the Decade” award from Billboard Magazine for “Laura McKenzie’s Travel Tips-Hawaii,” distributed by Republic Pictures, broadcast on the Travel Channel and Discovery.

“Laura McKenzie’s Traveler,” the number one travel show on broadcast television, will air the special locally in all major markets across the US, including: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and more. Check local listings for more information!

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Beijing April 15-16.

In China Minister Nalbandian will have meetings with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Rashid Alimov.

Within the framework of the visit Edward Nalbandian will sign a memorandum under which Armenia will be granted a dialogue partner status at SCO.

Today, on the death anniversary of the former Prime Minister of Armenia, state and political figure Andranik Margarian, President Serzh Sargsyan, accompanied by the highest leadership of the country, visited the Komitas Pantheon and paid tribute to the memory of Andranik Margarian, President’s Press Office reported.

Syrian government forces and their allies pushed forward against Islamic State fighters to reach the outskirts of the historic city of Palmyra on Wednesday, Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, Reuters reports.

Clashes raged around the town after government forces took control of most of a nearby hill with air cover from Syrian and Russian warplanes, it said.

The Syrian army is trying to recapture Palmyra, which Islamic State seized in May, to open a road to the mostly IS-held eastern province of Deir al-Zor.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met with Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Karen Mirzoyan today.

During the meeting, Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Artsakh thoroughly discussed issues on the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Edward Nalbandian and Karen Mirzoyan touched upon the cooperation between the MFAs of Armenia and Artsakh, issues of training of the diplomats.

The wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hailed the harem of the Ottoman sultans as “a school for preparing women for life,” AFP reports.

Emine Erdogan’s comments come a day after the president triggered protests by saying he believed that “a woman is above all a mother” in a speech marking International Women’s Day.

Critics have accused Erdogan’s government of trying to impose strict Islamic values on Turkey and curtailing women’s civil liberties.

“The harem was a school for members of the Ottoman dynasty and an educational establishment for preparing women for life,” Emine Erdogan said at an official event on the Ottoman sultans in Ankara, according to Turkish TV stations.

President Erdogan has come under fire in the past for urging Turkish women to have at least three children and railing against efforts to promote birth control as “treason”.

He and his wife regularly speak of their attachment to Islamic principles and the values of the old Ottoman empire, from the ruins of which the modern Turkish state was founded in 1923.

Photo: Unicef

 

The Afghan boy who became an online hit after wearing a homemade shirt bearing Lionel Messi’s famous number 10 has finally received the real thing – from the Argentine footballer himself, the BBC reports.

BBC Trending helped to locate the child known as “Messi’s biggest fan”, five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi, who comes from the Jaghori District, in the eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan.

Messi’s management team confirmed on Thursday that Murtaza was sent a signed Argentina shirt and football from the Barcelona forward, who has been crowned the world’s best player five times.

“I love Messi and my shirt says Messi loves me,” Murtaza said – already perfecting his own goal celebration.

The online search for the boy was sparked by a single photo that went viral, showing him wearing the homemade shirt made from a striped blue plastic bag, imitating the famous Argentina strip.