Category: News

Head of the Azerbaijani community of Moscow Region Qalib Agayev has been arrested after a criminal case was instigated against him in January.  The man  accused of fraud is currently under house arrest, reports.

According to the source, Agayev is accused of embezzlement of budget funds at the amount of 600 thousand rubles.

He received the funds in 2015 under the “Russia in the eyes of Turkish and Azerbaijani schoolchildren” grant program provided to the “Russian world” Fund of the Ministry of Education.

Agayev had to organize the visit of Azerbaijani and Turkish schoolchildren to Russia for a tour around the Golden Ring.

Presumably, the man used the large sum at his discretion.

The Signature Series at Berklee on March 8 presents the ninth annual Berklee Middle Eastern Festival. This year’s edition features the music of Armenian pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan, the reports.

The event brings together guest artists, community musicians, Berklee students, visual artists and dancers from all over the world to celebrate the music of the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Mediterranean.

The Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble, directed by festival founder Christiane Karam, associate professor of voice, will perform some of Hamasyan’s most celebrated works spanning his prolific and diverse career. The concert will also include excerpts from his choral album “Lyus i Luso,” arranged for choir, piano and strings, featuring the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir, also led by Karam; and the Berklee World Strings, led by Grammy Award-winning Berklee professor Eugene Friesen.

Hamasyan will also present a solo set, performing selections from his upcoming album, “An Ancient Observer.”

Known for melding jazz, folk, progressive rock and classical forms, Tigran Hamasyan has established himself as one of the most innovative artists of his age. His career has included an impressive number of accolades, including top piano award at the 2013 Montreux Jazz Festival, and the grand prize at the 2006 Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition. In 2015, Hamasyan garnered the Paul Acket Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival and in 2016, he earned the Echo Jazz Award (the German Grammy) for International Instrumentalist of the Year, Piano, for his album Mockroot. Tigran’s latest release is 2017’s An Ancient Observer, his second solo album for Nonesuch Records, and his eighth overall as a leader.

“Hamasyan has inspired millions of people around the world. His energy, unique approach to blending seemingly unrelated musical influences, and his incredible skills make him a force to be reckoned with,” said Karam. “On a personal note, having Armenian roots myself, I find that his reverence for Armenia and the traditions he comes from are conveyed very strongly in his musical voice and give it an undeniable soulfulness. It’s truly a privilege having him with us.”

Germany says it has received 136 asylum requests from Turks holding diplomatic passports since the July coup attempt against the Turkish president, the BBC reports.

The figure is a total for the period August 2016 to January 2017, German media report.

Turkey has urged Germany not to grant asylum to any military officers. Some posted to Nato bases in Germany are thought to be among the group.

In Greece, two more Turkish soldiers have requested asylum.

The pair – reported to be commandos – are believed to have taken part in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They are in Greek police custody, having applied for asylum last week in Orestiada, a small border town near Turkey.

Last month a Greek court rejected Turkey’s request to extradite eight other Turkish soldiers who fled after the coup attempt. Turkey is appealing against that ruling.

The German interior ministry did not identify the 136 Turks who requested asylum. Not only diplomats but also their spouses and children hold diplomatic passports.

It is not clear if any of them have been granted asylum yet.

England captain Wayne Rooney says he is staying at Manchester United, after being linked with a move to China, the BBC reports.

The 31-year-old striker said he hoped to “play a full part” in the rest of the Premier League club’s season.

Rooney’s agent, Paul Stretford, had travelled to China to see if he could negotiate a deal, although it is not known which clubs he spoke to.

 

Rooney is United’s record goalscorer and has won five Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy since joining them as an 18-year-old for £27m from Everton in 2004.

The forward, whose contract expires in 2019, has said he would not play for an English club other than United or Everton.

 

Rooney’s statement in full:

“Despite the interest which has been shown from other clubs, for which I’m grateful, I want to end recent speculation and say that I am staying at Manchester United.

“I hope I will play a full part in helping the team in its fight for success on four fronts.

“It’s an exciting time at the club and I want to remain a part of it.”

NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will meet with the President of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr. Serzh Sargsyan on Monday, 27 February 2017, NATO’s Press Service reports.

The NATO Secretary General and the President of the Republic of Armenia will give a joint press conference at NATO Headquarters.

The Referendum on the draft Constitution of Artsakh Republic took place on Monday, February 20. According the Central Electoral Commission’s announcement, 87.6% (69,540 votes) of citizens voted in favor of the drafted constitutional amendments, 9.7% (7,686 votes) opposed. The invalid percentage of votes was 2.8% (2,202 votes). 76.44% of eligible voters participated in the referendum.

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) deployed a mission of eight professional, highly experienced independent observers from Spain, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, and Slovenia to observe the Referendum.

The short-term observers who visited 48 polling precincts in all eleven constituencies reported transparent, well-organized and orderly electoral process. The isolated cases of irregularities did not influence the general outcome of the Referendum.

After the observation, the four deployed teams presented positive reports about the electoral procedures. They mentioned the high level of awareness of the population about the voting procedures, as well as the competence and professionalism of commission members referring to the majority of the precincts.

The electoral procedures were in general executed in an efficient way and in correspondence with the electoral law, despite several irregularities connected to non-competent actions of some commission members.

“This is already the second short-term observation mission that is deployed by our organization to follow the electoral process in Nagorno-Karabakh, the first being the Parliamentary Elections of May 2015,” said EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian.

“This time, again, for the referendum on Artsakh constitution we had employed a team of eight independent observers, as we believe observation of electoral processes are part of establishing a democracy. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), the European Union (EU), and other international organizations should also deploy teams of official observers, as such observations contribute greatly to the democratic process of every state, whether it is recognized or not,” Karampetian added.

“Moreover, it is another step towards breaking the isolation of Artsakh imposed by the Azerbaijani government. We are glad to receive very positive feedback from independent STOs about transparent and free Referendum in accordance with international standards,” he concluded.

Prior to the referendum, the short-term observers had a chance to meet with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Nagorno-Karabakh. During the meeting, the observers were provided with thorough information about the electoral processes and on competencies and responsibilities of the CEC.

The observers also met the President of the Republic, Bako Sahakian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karen Mirzoyan, as well as Artsakh civil society organizations, where they were familiarized with the realities facing the young Republic.

On June 2, 1915 Ottoman Interior Minister Talaat Pasha sent a secret telegram to the Governor of Ankara, instructing to hand over the arrested Armenian intellectuals to the Military Court of Diyarbakir.

Despite the telegram, the Armenian intellectuals arrested and exiled to the city of Ayas were brutally killed without any judicial proceedings.

US-based researcher Gevorg Hakobyan has provided the copy of the document to .

 

Representatives from Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) visited Yerevan, Armenia, earlier this month to negotiate changes to the terms of the third portion of a loan to Armenia.

According to an EDB press release, the changes aim to optimize parts of the loan and define new terms and conditions based on the changing priorities of the Armenian government. One recommendation included that the government pursue a means of fiscal stability. The parties plan to discuss budget deficit issues again later in the year.

They also discussed a time frame for making social service centers operational, with 20 slated to open in the near future, down from an original 38 planned.

The third installment of the loan is also designed to help make the country more attractive to investors and entrepreneurs and to boost economic activity, increasing access to loans for small- and medium-sized businesses.

An agreement on the elections of the Patriarch of Istanbul has been reached after two days of discussions at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Bishop Sahak Masalyan, General Vicar of the Patriarch of Istanbul Aram Atesyan and Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Germany Karekin Bekdjian came together in Yerevan for a meeting chaired by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

Thus, the Locum Tenens will be elected by the Clerical Assembly by March 15. The elections will terminate the powers of the General Vicar of the Patriarch Aram Atesyan. The Bishops will have equal rights to participate in the elections of the Locum Tenens.

After the elections, the Clerical Assembly will form a commission comprising clergymen and secular figures to organize the transfer of power from the General Vicar to the Locum Tenens.

The elections of the initiative group will be organized within 10 days after the election of the Locum Tenens. The group will, in turn, organize the elections of the Patriarch of Istanbul within a six-month period.

An Islamic State car bomb killed more than 40 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels backed by Turkey, sources in the region and a war monitor said, a day after the jihadist group was driven from its last stronghold in the area, Reuters reports.

The blast hit a security checkpoint controlled by rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner in the village of Sousian, killing 41 people including 35 civilians, the sources in the region said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 42 people were killed.