Author: Vanyan Gary

“The aim of the Armenian side at the meeting in Vienna was to find out whether the negotiations were deadlocked and war was the only option or there was a way to solve the issue with less losses. My colleagues and I are generally satisfied with the results of the talks,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on board the plane en route to Yerevan.

Without going into details about the results of the discussions, the President said: “The Azerbaijani President assured his country had no intention to solve any issue through war. That’s good, but not trustworthy.”

He added, however, “that we have no right to be guided by our predictions only, because war is not the best option.” “We are ready for any outcome, but we prefer the peaceful solution.”

The parties agreed to meet in the near future. “We made a constructive proposal to hold the meeting after the mechanism of monitoring of ceasefire violations is implemented,” the President said.

“We aim to solve issues through negotiations in a peaceful way, but if Azerbaijan breaks its promises and violates the provisions of the ceasefire agreement, we’ll have no option other than giving an equivalent response,” President Sargsyan said.

“The signing of the agreement on cessation of hostilities and military actions on May 12, 1994 between Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has no time limitations, became possible as the leadership of Azerbaijan initiated direct negotiations with the leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said, commenting on the 22nd anniversary of ceasefire agreement.

“This comes to prove that progress in the conflict resolution is possible only in case of Nagorno-Karabakh’s full participation in the negotiation process,” he said in comments to Armenpress.

“We should also outline that the maintenance of 1994 ceasefire is an international commitment of the sides, and resumption of military actions against Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan on April 2-5 is a gross violation of that commitment, as well, and an explicit demonstration of aggression,” the Deputy Foreign Minister added.

“Azerbaijan’s April aggression proved to everyone that over the past 22 years Baku has used the negotiation process as a cover to arm and resolve the issue through military means, which has been the main reason behind the maintenance of the status-quo in the conflict zone,” Shavarsh Kocharyan noted.

“The calls of the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries to strictly preserve and consolidate the ceasefire established by the 1994 trilateral agreement as a basis for peaceful negotiations are quite understandable,” he concluded.

Eighteen songs will participate in the first Semi-Final, and professional juries in each of the participating countries, as well as in Sweden, France and Spain, voted on yesterday’s dress rehearsal. They accounted for 50% of the overall total.

Tonight the remaining 50% of the votes will be decided by the public televote in the same 21 countries. These votes will be added to those of the juries to determine the ten countries that will qualify for the Grand Final on Saturday the 14th of May.

 

 

 

“Today is a holiday, and we’ll always celebrate it together,” Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Armenia Ivan Volynkin told reporters today.

Speaking about the Karabakh conflict, the Ambassador said “weapons will not solve the issue.” “The conflict can be solved only in a peaceful way, only at the negotiating table,” he added.

As for the sale of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan, Amb. Vollynkin said: “Show me documents, according to which Russia keeps selling weapons to Azerbaijan.” Besides, he said “Russia sells weapons to Armenia, as well.”

The newly established Bedford High School Armenian Club will hold a lecture open to all Bedford High students at 1 p.m. May 6 at the school, 9 Mudge Way, reports.

Lecturers will include Ara Jeknavorian, a research scientist and independent consultant and Tom Vartabedian, an award-winning writer and photographer. The students will receive an informative introduction to the Armenian Genocide in the context of other genocides. Both lecturers are representatives of the Armenian Genocide education committee of the Merrimack Valley. The Bedford High School Armenian Club was established this past year by a small group of Armenian students at the school. The mission of the club is to educate Bedford residents about Armenian culture, history and customs in order to extend diversity in Bedford.

Photo: Reuters

 

Ukraine is holding commemorations to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, the BBC reports.

Sirens were sounded at the same moment as the first explosion at the reactor, in the early hours of 26 April 1986.

The meltdown at the plant remains the worst nuclear disaster in history.

An uncontrolled reaction blew the roof off, spewing out a cloud of radioactive material which drifted across Ukraine’s borders, into Russia, Belarus and across a swathe of northern Europe.

The relatives of those who died attended candle-lit vigils at several churches, including in the capital Kiev and in Slavutych, a town built to re-house workers who lived near the nuclear plant.

 

 

 

The German Bundestag is set to vote on an Armenian Genocide bill on June 2, according to an agreement reached in April between the Greens and the government.

The ruling coalition, the Left and the Alliance90/Green Parties have reached an agreement to call the 1915 events “genocide.”

If adopted, the bill will come to replace the special resolution adopted by the Bundestag on 2008, which, failed to label the events as “‘genocide,” calling them “massacre” and “forced deportation” instead.

“The things that come on German agenda, are shown on German TV or discussed in the Bundestag are not decided by Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Putin or other authoritarian leaders. I’m glad that thanks to consistent serious work we’ve reached a joint approach with the Federal Government to raise the issue of the genocide of Armenians and other Christians in the Bundestag,” Green Party Co-Chair Cem Özdemir told .

“I’m glad that we can finally recognize the Armenian genocide with a joint resolution,” he said.

Green Party brought the motion to the parliament in February, but the voting was postponed, since coalition parties Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) demanded a common motion.

Bundestag discussed a motion on April 24, 2015 for the first time, but there was no voting. While the government avoided using the term “genocide”, President and President of Bundestag Norbert Lammert openly used the word “genocide” to describe the events of 1915.

“Friendship with Turkey does not mean we have to keep silent about the issues, especially considering that we share the responsibility as an ally of the Ottoman Empire. We want to see a strong, European Turkey. The opening of the shared border is in the interests on not only Turkey, but also Armenia and Europe,” Özdemir said.

The National Association of Armenian Veterans and Resistance Movement Participants (ANACRA), and many elected officials of the French Republic, along with the Ambassador of Armenia in France, paid tribute to the dead Armenians in France, and commemorated the 101th anniversary the genocide of Armenians in 1915.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the situation around Nagorno Karabakh during a phone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.

Lavrov and Kerry also discussed the Syrian and Ukraine conflicts.

The Armenian community in Jerusalem today protested Israel’s sale of weapons to Azerbaijan, which are being used against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh region,  reports. 

Nasser Atta, a producer for ABC News in the Middle East, tweeted some photos and videos from the demonstration, which occurred in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.  

of protest Israeli supply of weapons to in front of the Israeli forgien ministry

— Nasser Atta (@nasseratta5)

“Israel supports Azerbaijan’s state terror,” read one sign being held aloft by a protester. 

There was a separate protest by Armenian residents of Israel last week at Jerusalem’s Monument of the Armenian Genocide.