Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received today the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick, and Piere Andrieu, and the Personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.
Urgent issues of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process, including the process of implementation of the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg, as well as the current situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact.
Germany’s European Commissioner told the Bild newspaper on Tuesday that Turkey would probably not join the European Union while Tayyip Erdogan was president, Reuters reports.
Turkey began talks about joining the European Union in 2005 but has made little progress. The prospect of the mainly Muslim country becoming an EU member worries many countries and relations have become more strained since a failed coup in July.
“It will probably be an issue for the period after Erdogan,” Guenther Oettinger said in an interview with the newspaper.
“Given the current conditions, accession is not realistic until well into the next decade,” he said.
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday he did not see Turkey joining the EU during his own political career, noting that the bloc would not be in a position to accept Turkey even if Ankara met all the entry requirements tomorrow.
In June, German lawmakers voted to label the 1915 mass killings of Armenians an act of genocide, infuriating Turkey, which rejects that view of the killings of Christian Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War One amounted to genocide.
Photo: AFP
In the wake of the powerful earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday, Pope Francis at the General Audience postponed his prepared catechesis, and led the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square in the recitation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary, Vatican Radio reports.
The Holy Father expressed his “heartfelt sorrow and spiritual closeness” to all those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks. He said he was deeply saddened upon learning several children were among the dead, and of hearing of the total destruction of the town of Amatrice.
“I want to assure all the people of Accumuli, Amatrice, the Diocese of Rieti,Ascoli Piceno, and all the people of Lazio, Umbria, and Le Marche, of the prayers and close solidarity of the entire Church, who in these moments extends her merciful love, as well as the concern of all of us here in the Piazza, Pope Francis said.
He asked everyone to join him in prayer to Jesus, that the Lord might “console the broken-hearted, and, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, bring them peace.”
“With Jesus,” Pope Francis concluded, “let our hearts be moved with compassion.”
US Congressman Jim Costa visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. Rep. Costa laid flowers at the eternal fire and paid tribute to the memory of the victims with a minute of silence.
Jim Costa visited the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute and watched the posters of the film “Auction of souls” featuring genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganian, her photos and personal items.
Jim Costa left a note in the Museum’s Guest Book.
One policeman and the ambulance driver have been released from police premises in Yerevan, where gunmen still hold several hostages, the National Security Service (NSS) reports.
The armed group refuses to release the rest of the hostages, including high-ranking police officers, to lay down arms and surrender to the authorities. The life and health of the people illegally held hostage is still endangered, the NSS said.
“The terrorists, who have already committed sever crimes and possess a large quantity of weapons and ammunition pose an apparent threat not only to the hostages, but also the society, as a whole,” the statement reads.
The law-enforcement bodies of Armenia take all possible measures to settle the situation peacefully, but this may turn insufficient under the current conditions.
The National Security Service reiterates its call to the members of the armed group to refrain from actions that could lead to new victims and grave consequences and to stop the armed resistance. “There is still time and possibility for this,” NSS said in a statement.
Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert
Martakert is celebrating the 23th anniversary of liberation today. The day started with a military march. Authorities and citizens of Martakert and surrounding regions laid flowers at the monument of glory and visited the museum of memory of the victims of 1992-1994 military actions.
A concert featuring a group of singers from Armenia will take place at the culture house of the city later today. The author of the initiative is Shushan Petrosyan, a long-standing fiend of Martakert.
People in the city say, however, that their feelings and memories are connected with the developments of April 2016 rather than the events of 23 years ago.
Much has changed in Martakert in the course of the past 23 years. People say many found nothing but ruins when they returned to their homes after the liberation. But the city has been reconstructed ever since.
The events of April this year brought about new destructions, fifteen houses were completely ruined, more than 100 were damaged. The reconstruction works are nearing end now, Mayor Mikael Gyurjyan says.
Many of Martakert residents never returned after the exile of 1992. The biggest wish of those who live in the city, who have experienced the difficulties of surviving in a city raising form ruins, have faced the horror of the April war is to see all their fellow-citizens return to Martakert.
They dream of building a country that will make repatriation inevitable.
From June 24-26th, Pope Francis will visit the land where tradition says that Noah’s Ark stopped after the Flood, at the foot of Mount Ararat.
Armenia is a country of rich and ancient history, full of joys and sorrows like the genocide of 1915. The Pope defined it as the first genocide of the twentieth century. During his trip, he is expected to honor the Yerevan memorial, on behalf the 1.5 million victims who perished as a result of hatred.
“The Armenian nation, the entire Armenian people is preparing to welcome the Pope on this special occasion and show their gratitude for having taken into account and commemorate, as he did the centennial of the Armenian genocide, ” Monsignor Boutros Marayati, Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo (Syria), said in an interview with
In April last year, Pope Francis presided over a mass in St. Peter’s to honor the victims of genocide to mark the centenary. His words infuriated Turkey and even Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who filed a complaint. But for Boutros Marayati, the Pope’s next trip should not be looked at in the light of any political interest.
“The Holy Father will come to Armenia as a pilgrim, as a pastor, as a promoter of unity because he will visit an ancient Apostolic Church. He will also come as an apostle of peace because he will pray for Armenia to be in a place of peace with its neighbors,” the Archbishop said.
Besides the tension with Turkey, the situation on the border of Armenia with Azerbaijan remains committed to the territorial dispute of Nagorno-Karabakh, as it is a site of reoccurring conflict, especially in the last few weeks.
Referring to the recent escalation of tensions at the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Monsignor Boutros Marayati said: “We need to do a reading of peace, openness, a reading that says that everyone should live together. The problem of Nagorno-Karabakh has to do with Azerbaijan, which is a problem because we still don’ know how the Pope is going to face this. It is a very, very delicate problem.”
Rome Reports reminds that Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, even before the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan in 313 at the hand of Emperor Constantine.
Slovenia supports the efforts of Armenia to achieve full recognition of the 1915 massacre of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide, a spokesperson for the Slovenian Foreign Ministry told Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Czech President Milos Zeman said he would ask his country’s parliament to adopt a resolution recognizing the killings of Armenians in 1915 by the Turks as genocide.
“The Republic of Slovenia fully respects Armenia’s efforts to achieve genocide recognition, because massacres, death marches, and unbearable living conditions have fatally marked Armenians’ identity and historical and cultural heritage,” the spokesperson said, adding that “Slovenia deeply regrets the tragic events of 100 years ago.”
Moreover, Turkey and Armenia should join forces to address the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, that would help to prevent the repeat of such atrocities in the future, a spokesperson for the Slovenian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik Wednesday.
“Slovenia believes that the issue of mass killings of Armenians should be addressed, above all, by Armenia and Turkey,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson reiterated the words of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that keeping the memory of the victims alive and establishing cooperation between Armenia and Turkey in identifying facts could contribute to prevention of similar atrocities.
“Slovenia also believes that positive steps towards resolving historical issues will contribute to peace, security and stability in the region and around the globe,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that Slovenia devotes particular attention to genocide prevention, “because numerous crisis areas where people experience mass violence remind us repeatedly that continued efforts are necessary to prevent crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.
Ambassador Kasprzyk briefed Minister Nalbandian on the details of the monitoring conducted at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
The interlocutors discussed the agreements reached at the Vienna summit on May 16, particularly the steps towards expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office.
The US and other countries are concerned over the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ambassador said, noting that there is no military solution to the conflict.
Cekuta stressed that the Minsk Group co-chairing countries are making every effort to involve the parties in negotiations towards a comprehensive peace agreement.
The ambassador called on the parties to abide by the ceasefire regime and begin working on a comprehensive peace agreement.
He added that both US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick and State Secretary John Kerry continue their efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict.