Author: Markos Nalchajian

Human remains retrieved from the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804 suggest there was an explosion on board that may have brought down the aircraft in the east Mediterranean, a senior Egyptian forensics official said on Tuesday.

“The logical explanation is that an explosion brought it down,” the official told The Associated Press.

The official, who is part of the Egyptian team investigating the crash that killed all 66 people on board the flight from Paris to Cairo early last Thursday, has personally examined the remains at a Cairo morgue. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

All 80 pieces that have been brought to Cairo so far are small. “There isn’t even a whole body part, like an arm or a head,” said the official, adding that one piece was the left part of a head.

“But I cannot say what caused the blast,” he said. He did not say whether traces of explosives were found on the human remains retrieved so far.

Egyptian officials have disputed a claim that the condition of human remains found at the crash site of an EgyptAir plane suggests an explosion.

An unnamed forensic examiner quoted by the Associated Press said the remains were so small an explosion was the only “logical” explanation.

But an Egyptian justice ministry spokesman told the BBC no traces of explosives had been found.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Kristian Vigenin, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus.

President Sargsyan said Armenia appreciates the OSCE role as an important pan-European security organization and as a significant platform for equal dialogue between participating states. According to the President, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly provides broad perspectives for contacts and cooperation between parliamentarians.

Kristian Vigenin first congratulated the Armenian President for the important step toward the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue taken in Vienna.

The OSCE PA Special Representative noted, however, that great efforts are still needed for achieving lasting peace.  He added that “the OSCE PA sees its role in supporting the efforts towards establishment of peace.”

“I reiterate that for the OSCE PA there is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict, and the Parliamentary Assembly fully supports the actions of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs,” Kristian Vigenin said.

 

 

 

Armenian Revolutionary Federation Hai Tahd Committee representatives consulted with the Nagorno Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian this week at Artsakh’s Tigranakert Muesum Conplex. They met with reporters in Yerevan today to present the results of the discussions.

The four-day war and its consequences were high on the agenda.  Hakob Ter-Khachaturian, President of the Governing Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, said the forthcoming actions will be focused on countering Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian propaganda in the West. Besides, he, said, the efforts will continue towards the realization of Artsakh’s right to self-determination and its recognition by foreign countries. Hakob Ter-Khachaturian considers that there has been some positive progress in that direction.

“A number of US States have already recognized Artsakh. We hope the eighth state will join them soon. Although it’s on the regional level, the process has started. In Uruguay it was recognized by law, and was followed by a statement of the Foreign Minister,” he reminded.

Hakob Ter-Khachaturian stressed the importance of uniting the Diaspora potential to support the Armenian Army.

Vera Yacoubian, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee in the Middle East, the issue of support to Syrian Armenians is also on the agenda. There are concerns connected with the migration of Syrian Armenians to the West, particularly Canada, and also Australia.

She said representatives of the Hai Thad Committees coordinated the strategies with the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Artsakh. She said that “the full utilization of the potential of Armenians against the Azerbaijani oil dollars and military policy will produce results.”

 

Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert

Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the ceasefire agreement signed between the Defense Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Commander of the Nagorno Karabakh Army.

The document has no time limitation and had been in place for 22 years with relative success. However, in April this year Azerbaijan unleashed large-scale military actions against Karabakh, but the aggression was rebuffed and on April 5 the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a verbal agreement on cessation of hostilities. Afterwards, Azerbaijan tried to refuse from the trilateral agreements signed in 1994-1995, but the attempts were void.

Masis Mailyan, Head of the NKR Public Council on Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, participated in the signing of the 1994 agreement in the capacity of the Adviser to the NKR Army Commander on political Issues. He says that “after the April war the parties are farther from a political deal than they were in 1994.”

According to him, the “no war, no peace” situation has changed today. Azerbaijan officially declares it withdraws from the ceasefire agreement, which means that the issue of defense of Armenia and Artsakh becomes urgent. “We need guarantees of non-resumption of war, and the NKR Defense Army is the main guarantee. As for the diplomatic field, the Armenian sides should strive to ensure NKR’s return to the negotiating table and change the logic of the talks,” Masis Mailyan said.

Expert Hrach Arzumanyan also agrees that the Armenian side should assume a different stance in the negotiations, but before returning to the negotiating table we should reach the condemnation of Azeri aggression.

“Azerbaijan keeps shooting, which comes to prove that Azerbaijan has not refused from the idea of solving the issue through force, while every aggression should be condemned,” the expert said. “The international law provides for this opportunity,” he said.

Hundreds of Armenian expatriates attended the opening of a new cultural centre in Musaffah on Friday, situated by the first Armenian Church in the capital, Gulf News reports.

The centre, which will serve as a cultural hub for Armenian expats in Abu Dhabi, was inaugurated by Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, and His Holiness Aram I, patriarch of the Armenian diaspora.

Addressing the congregation, Shaikh Nahyan hoped the place of worship would serve as an important centre for enriching life, interaction and communication and help in taking care of the affairs of the Armenian community in Abu Dhabi and the UAE at large.

“This building underscores that the UAE, under the leadership of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has always been and continues to be a country whose people embrace Islam, the religion that preaches tolerance and respect for other faiths, values which constitute the basic pillars of our country and created the fertile ground where all people live in co-existence, peace and security,” Shaikh Nahyan said.

“The church is a spiritual symbol for the power of belonging and loyalty of the members of the Armenian community and for deepening social and religious interaction,” he added.

Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia, which is based in Antelias, Lebanon, appreciated the efforts being made by Shaikh Khalifa for promoting tolerance between different religions and nationalities living in the UAE.

According to Hair Mesrob Sarkissian, Head of the Armenian Church in the UAE and Qatar, the Armenian community in the UAE is 10,000 strong, with more than 2,000 populating the capital. “The community centre stands next to the first Armenian church in the capital, which was officially inaugurated in December, 2014. The centre will serve as a hub for the Armenian community in Abu Dhabi.”

Hair Mesrob said the inauguration of the church and community centre would not have happened if not for the liberality of the country’s leaders. “We are grateful to the UAE government, who has been continuously promoting religious tolerance and inter-cultural communication.

A delegation of bishops and priests of the different Churches of Jerusalem visited the Armenian Patriarchate to extend Easter wishes to the Patriarch and his community, the reports. 

The delegation, led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, was composed of the main leaders of the Churches of Jerusalem and the priests and pastors accompanying them. Anglican, Lutheran, Ethiopian, Coptic, Syriac, Melkite, Roman Catholics and others met, greeted, and settled together in the elegant reception salon of the Armenian Patriarchate. All the Jerusalem Churches have the tradition of meeting in the different bishoprics, in a warm-hearted and fraternal ambience, exchanging greetings and good wishes during the two major liturgical feasts – Christmas and Easter.

On behalf of all the Churches, the Latin Patriarch has the privilege of delivering a short speech extending best Easter wishes to His Beatitude, Archbishop Manougian, and to the Armenian community.

In his remarks, Patriarch Twal highlighted how “all Christians are  united in joy in the risen Christ”. A week after the one hundred and first anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the Latin Patriarch assured his “Armenian brothers” of prayers for all Armenians facing the “terrible situation of suffering that they endured and continue to endure, in certain countries.”

The Patriarch did not fail to make an explicit reference to the genocide perpetrated by the Turks, 101 years ago: “We recall the events of the genocide and pray they will never be disregarded. Sadly, though we are told never to forget, many do...”

Speaking next, Patriarch Manougian warmly thanked Patriarch Twal and the present leaders of Churches, while recalling in turn how the Paschal mystery constitutes the heart of the faith of all Christians. Referring to the brotherly friendship that unites the Churches, he mentioned, not without emotion, the “support and assistance” given by the Latin Church and the Vatican during the genocide: “A support that Armenians will never forget.”

The European Commission will give conditional approval for Turks to travel without visas to Europe’s passport-free Schengen area, the BBC reports, quoting its sources.

The move is part of a deal in which Turkey is taking back migrants who have crossed over the Aegean Sea to Greece.

But Turkey must still meet EU criteria, and the deal must be approved by the European Parliament and member states.

The EU fears that without a visa deal, Turkey will not control migration.

Azerbaijan has accused the NKR Defence Army of shelling its civilian population.

“With such statements Azerbaijan has once again demonstrated that its cynicism and zeal to justify the failed military aggression unleashed against the NKR and numerous war crimes being committed by the Azerbaijani army know no bounds,” NKR Foreign Minister’s Spokesperson Ani Sargsyan said in comments to Panorama.am.

“The NKR Ministry of Defense has released undeniable proofs that Azerbaijan deploys its military objects in the settlements along the frontline in violation of the norms of the international humanitarian law, thus turning the populated areas into firing positions, which threatens the peaceful population of the NKR, demonstrates the utter falsehood of the claims and the criminal nature of the tactics of the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan,” she added.

“We have already stated that in order to guarantee the security of the NKR and its people, as well as to promote peace and stability in the region, NKR authorities will take diplomatic and other measures to ensure the full implementation of the agreements of 12 May 1994 and 6 February 1995, and to exclude the possibility of developments along the criminal scenario planned by the Azerbaijani authorities,” the Spoksperson said.

On April 28, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Edward Djerejian, eminent US diplomat, director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The interlocutors discussed steps carried out towards strengthening of Armenian-US relations.

Upon the guest’s request, Minister Nalbandian presented the situation unfolded due to large-scale military aggression launched by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, continuing gross breaches of the cease-fire regime by Baku, attempts to undermine negotiation process on peaceful settlement of the issues.

Edward Nalbandian and Edward Djerejian exchanged thoughts on developments in the Middle East, pressing international issues.

The European Ombudsman Institute (EOI) has published on its official website () the NKR Human Rights Defender’s Interim Report () on Atrocities Committed by Azerbaijani Military Forces against the Civilian Population of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Servicemen of the Nagorno Karabakh Defence Army on 2-5 April 2016.

The EOI has also officially condemned the Azerbaijani atrocities against Armenian civilian settlements and peaceful civilians. The EOI expressed its concern that the NKR civilians had been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The EOI has addressed the attacks initiated on civilian settlements, especially, schools and kindergartens and also intolerable inroads against children and old people, by noting that these actions are violating the European high values of human rights and principles of international humanitarian law.

The EOI is one of the most important institutions in the field of human rights protection in Europe. The NKR Human Rights Defender’s Office is a member of the EOI since 2009.