Category: News

 

 

 

The massacre of Armenians started on this day 26 years ago and continued for a week.  Those guilty for the events of 1990 have not been punished; the exact number of the victims is still unknown. What’s obvious, however, is that the real number considerably exceeds the official data.

The events in Baku 26 years ago were real genocide against the Armenian population. Tens of Armenians were killed in Baku between January 13 and 20. They were robbed of their property and exiled.

“More than a quarter of century after the massacre, the events have not been properly assessed,” President of the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians Grigory Ayvazyan told reporters today.

“The neighboring country glorifies the organizers and perpetrators of the crime. Even today killing an Armenia is not seen as a crime in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan brings up generations on the example of cutthroats and murderers,” he said.

“The massacre of Armenians is a serious counterargument for all those, who try to imagine Artsakh under Azerbaijani jurisdiction. In this case the reoccurrence of ethnic cleansings will be unavoidable. Remembering Baku and Sumgaint, we’ll not allow the same in Artsakh,” sociologist Aharon Adibekyan said.

According to him, the book titled “Armenophobia in Azerbaijan” will soon be released. The book, which has been translated into English, tells about the Armenian massacres in Baku and Sumgaint and their consequences. Adibekyan said “we must make it clear to the world who we have to deal with in the face of Azerbaijan.”

World football’s governing body FIFA has dismissed secretary general Jerome Valcke, the BBC reports.

The Frenchman, 55, is currently suspended from all football activities for his alleged involvement in a scheme to profit from World Cup ticket sales.

FIFA has recommended that he should be banned from football for nine years.

Valcke, who was appointed in 2007, also faces bribery allegations, but denies any wrongdoing.

“The FIFA emergency committee decided, on 9 January 2016, to dismiss Jerome Valcke from the position of Fifa secretary general with immediate effect,” said a FIFA statement.

FIFA’s ethics committee said on 7 January it had decided to open “formal adjudicatory proceedings” against Valcke after studying a report submitted by its investigatory chamber.

Valcke, effectively the number two behind president Sepp Blatter, has been accused of being party  to a potential $10m bribe paid to Jack Warner, the former head of the North and Central America football governing body Concacaf, in return for his vote and backing to South Africa’s successful bid to host the 2010 World Cup.

Blatter, the outgoing president of world football’s governing body, and vice-president Michel Platini were both suspended for eight years in December following a FIFA ethics investigation.

 

 

 

The Armenian National Archive will publish archive documents related to the Armenian Genocide and World War II this year, Director of the National Archive Amatuni Virabyan told a press conference today.

He said the copies of original Ottoman documents and their translations will also be made public. Most of the documents refer to the properties of the Armenian Church.

Virabyan said the Archive has undertaken the digitalization of the documents. The digital copies will also be kept at the National Archive.

Amatuni Virabyn said thanks to cooperation with national archives of other countries they acquire the copies of all Armenia-related documents.

A seven-member family was killed in Gyumri on this day a year ago. Soldier Valry Permyakov from the Russian military base #102 in Gyumri entered the Avetisyans’ house and killed six. The youngest member of the family, Seryozha Avetisyan succumbed to injuries days later.

Hours after the crime, Permyakov was caught close to eth Armenian-Turkish border.
Valery Permyakov stood before the Armenian court on December 18.

In August Permyakov was already tried by Russia’s military court and sentenced to 10 years in prison on desertion and arms and ammunition stealing charges.

The next hearing on the case will be held on January 18.

– A single-engine airplane landed safely on the southbound 23 Freeway in the Moorpark area on Monday evening, at times flying just inches above cars travelling on the crowded freeway.

The fixed-wing single-engine plane came down around 4:37 p.m. in traffic lanes near Tierra Rejada Road, according to the California Highway Patrol incident log.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, described the incident as a “precautionary landing.”

“We just had an engine problem,” said the pilot Sevak Sargsyan. “The engine was sputtering and we had to land.”

Sargsyan, who is also an instructor, was on a training flight out of Van Nuys with a student pilot at the time of the incident.

The main concern, Sargsyan said, was the safety of everyone on the ground.

“I was looking for a spot where I could put the plane down,” Sargsyan said.

The aircraft made a safe landing and no injuries reported, according to Capt. Mike Lindbery with the Ventura County Fire Department.

An explosion occurred on Jan. 12 in Istanbul’s touristic Sultanahmet neighborhood, reportedly causing injuries and deaths, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

According to reports by private broadcaster CNN Türk, the explosion occurred by the obelisk of Theodosius in the touristic Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul’s Fatih district.

The explosion was strong enough to be heard in nearby neighborhoods, the broadcaster reported, quoting witnesses.

An investigation into the cause of the explosion is continuing.

A number of ambulances, police and fire trucks have been deployed to the scene.

Erdogan did not specify which group his government thinks is behind the explosion, which happened between the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque tourist attractions in the cultural and historic heart of the city.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus later said the bomber was born in 1998 and was from Syria. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to Argentina Alexan Harutyunyan has been appointed  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Chile (seat in Buenos Aires).

Armenian Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan has filed his resignation. Spokesperson for the Ombudsman Shushan Danielyan confirmed the news to Public Radio of Armenia.

In a post on the Facebook page of the Armenian Ombudsman, Karen Andreasyan expresses gratitude to all colleagues for joint work and voices hope that the defense of human rights will remain a priority for our state and society.

No further explanations are expected.

Photo: AP

 

Germany has been sending an increasing number of migrants back to Austria every day since the beginning of the month, Austrian police say, the BBC reports.

Many had no valid documents, whilst others did not want to apply for asylum in Germany but in other countries, notably in Scandinavia, police said.

New Year’s Eve attacks on women in Cologne, blamed on migrants, have put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Most of those sent back to Austria are not Syrians, who usually get asylum.

Instead, they are migrants mostly from Afghanistan as well as Morocco and Algeria, Austrian police said.