Category: News

– Preparing the indictment against the public officials and carrying the investigations about the crime organization in Dink case, Gökalp Kökçü’s is appointed to another office.

According to Aljazeera Turk’s report, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu released the division of labor and working order for 2016. Salihoğlu made important changes in appointments in  the courthouse.

As part of the new working order, Gökalp Kökçü, who prepared the indictment against public officials, is assigned to a different office. Carrying the investigations about the claims of conspiracy in Balyoz case and against military police officers who were present in the region during Hrant Dink murder, prosecutor Kökçü is appointed to the Bureau of Preparations for Investigation. Kökçü won’t be able to deal with the cases within the scope of terrorism and his investigations on cases of Balyoz and Dink will be transferred to another prosecutor.

The indictment prepared by Kökçü was returned two times.

Prosecutor Kökçü was assigned to Dink case on December 2014 and he prepared an indictment against 26 public officials, including former Istanbul Provincial Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah and Istanbul Intelligence Branch Chief Sabri Uzun, who were in office at the time of the assassination, former Trabzon Provincial Police Chief Reşat Altay and the current Chief of Security General Directorate Intelligence Branch Engin Dinç.

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.

On 11 January, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan was elected President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Office for Project Service (UNOPS), the Organizations’ governing body, for a one-year term.

The Executive Board is made up of representatives of Member States and is mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide inter-governmental support to and overall supervision of the activities of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS. The Board meets three times a year ensuring that the three Agencies remain responsive to the evolving needs of programme countries.

“2016 will be a pivotal time for our Board and sister-agencies in light of the recent adoption of the new set of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The year will also be critical in view of the mid-term review of the strategic plans for 2014-2017, as well as the upcoming discussions of the new cycle of Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review, which remains the main political mechanism for member states to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and impact of the UN development system’s support to national development efforts”, – stated Ambassador Mnatsakanyan in his acceptance remarks.

Information: Armenia is a member of the Executive Board of the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS since 2014. In June 2015, the Board approved the UNDP’s and UNFPA’s country programme documents for Armenia for the period of 2016-2020.