Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov said on Wednesday his party had submitted a bill to parliament on holding to account anyone who denies that the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces was a “genocide”.
“We have just submitted a bill on responsibility for failure to acknowledge the fact of a genocide of Armenians by Turkey in 1915,” Mironov, the leader of the opposition Just Russia party, said on his Twitter account.
Photo: Getty Images
Beachgoers will be protected from sharks by drones and “smart” drum lines, according to the New South Wales (NSW) government, the bBC reports.
A trial will begin on the NSW north coast where there have been several attacks in the past 12 months.
The drones will feed images back to operators looking for sharks using GPS co-ordinates.
The measures are part of a shark management strategy which also includes barriers and helicopter surveillance.
“There is no easy way to reduce risks for swimmers and surfers,” NSW minister for primary industries Niall Blair, said in a statement.
“We are delivering on a commitment to test the best science available, including new technologies, as we try to find a long term-term solution to keep our beaches safe,” he said.
Expert of Turkish studies Gevorg Petrosyan advises to look back at the start of the Syrian crisis in order to understand why Turkey shot down the Russian jet.
“While Russia was backing Assad from day one, Turkey was doing its best to overthrow him, Petrosyan said.
He added, however, the discrepancies never halted the economic cooperation between the two countries.
“Ankara could no longer tolerate Russia’s military presence in Syria, because it was against Turkey’s interests, which was, in turn, trying to reinforce its positions in Syria and support the forces fighting against Bashar Al-Assad,” the expert said.
How will the escalation of tension in Russian-Turkish relations affect Armenia? According to Gevorg Petrosyan, any “extremity” in those relations goes against Armenian interests. The expert said, however, he does not see a threat of large-scale war between Russia and Turkey, but added that Moscow will definitely find a way to hit back, e. g. by downing a Turkish jet crossing the Syrian border.
According to Petrosyan, Turkey will suffer serious losses on the economic front, particularly in the fields of energy and tourism.
“This country has found itself in a difficult situation, as the West has changed its attitude towards the warm relations between Turkey and the Islamic State after the Paris attacks,” the expert said.
What is the supreme interest that unites Turkey and the Islamic State? Petrosyan says it’s the factor of Kurds, which both are fighting. “Turkey’s ultimate goal is to prevent the formation of a Kurdish state close to its border.”
The 350th anniversary of the first Armenian Bible printed by Voskan Yerevantsi in 1666 and the 200th birth anniversary of Hovhannes Ayvazovski (1817-199) have been included in UNESCO’s 2016-2017 calendar.
The decision was made within the framework of the 28th session of the General Conference held in Paris November 4-18.
Twenty-one applications by the Republic of Armenia have been included in UNESCO calendar since 1998.
Alleged representatives of the so-called Islamic State (IS) released a video yesterday, which showed fighters speaking Georgian addressing the Muslim population of Georgia. The fighters urged them to support the ‘Islamic Caliphate,’ reports.
The fighters threatened to establish a ‘Caliphate’ in Georgia. One of the extremists stated “I would like to address the faithless people living in Georgia that have been fighting Islam for a long time. Everybody who has acted against Islam, no matter in Iraq or Afghanistan, will be judged by God’s law.”
The address, published on , emphasized that “God is very strict,” and called on [you] to stop persecuting Muslims. “Your actions against the Muslim will be not remain unanswered. Everybody will be accountable for it.”
Another group of fighters threatened Muslim Khoja and Muftis living in Adjara (Georgia), accusing them of misleading people. “You will pay for what you have done. Be afraid of Allah but not the dirty leaders, don’t be afraid of their orders, you will fulfil them without hesitation,” the group has stated.
Soon after the address, the Georgian State Security Service announced it was launching an investigation into the case. The Security Service did not wish to speak about any possible additional measures surrounding the issue.
One of the parents of one of the fighters in the video commented yesterday that the video is aimed at spreading panic and intimidating people, Ilia Gobadze boldly declaring “no one will come and blow us up.”
The head of the Press and Public Relations Department of the State Security Service, Nino Giorgobiani posted an update on her Facebook page telling the Georgian Media not to contribute to spreading the video footage via the internet.
“I ask the media not to contribute to spreading threatening video footage via the internet due to public security. The State Security Service is working on the issue. An investigation has already been launched,” the update read.
Turkey has entered the war on the side of the Islamic State, the Vice President of the Italian Senate Roberto Calderoli said after a Russian Su-24 jet was downed over Syria with an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 fighter, Sputnik News reports.
On Tuesday morning a Russian Su-24 fighter jet crashed in Syria with two people aboard. Ankara claims Turkish F-16s shot down the plane because it violated the country’s airspace. Contrary to Turkey’s accusations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the aircraft was 0.6 miles away from Turkey when it was shot down.
“Turkey has officially entered the war on the side of ISIS by downing at the order of [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan a Russian aircraft which has participated in operations against Islamic terrorists in Syria,” the leading member of the Northern League (Lega Nord) Party wrote on his Facebook page.
According to Calderoli, Turkey is a “’Trojan Horse’ with which assistance the Islamic fundamentalism would like to take a clear shot at the West.”
“Why is Turkey still in NATO after what happened? What else can be expected of the UN apart from taking a strong stand on ISIS and its allies?” Calderoli wondered.
The politician has also criticized Rome’s official stance.
“The Government [of Matteo Renzi] is on the wrong side with [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, instead of taking the side of Putin in this war to defend our values, our freedom and our traditions,” Calderoli wrote.
On November 21, presentation of unique series of seven-volume set of books by Father Georges-Henri Ruyssen was held in the Pontifical Oriental Institute of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The event was organized by the Embassy of Armenia in the Holy See.
Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute David Nazar, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio Andrea Riccardi, president of the Community of Sant’Egidio Marco Impagliazzo, clergymen of Armenian Apostolic and Catholic churches, representatives of public and political sector, members of Armenian community in Italy were among the participants of the event.
The publication presents all the documents on the Armenian Genocide from the period of the Hamidian massacres till the post-Genocide years of Kemalist rule, which were preserved in the Vatican closed archives, and gives a full picture of all the stages of this crime, from planning to implementation of the genocide.
During his speech Ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See Mikael Minasyan particularly stressed the fact that this seven-volume set is a significant achievement for Genocide studies and is a history which also that of the Turks. “The work by Father Ruyssen helps us to trace back the facts. It helps us to read the past thus learning the lessons for the future.”
At the event Ambassador Minasyan handed over to Father Georges-Henri Ruyssen the Order of Honour awarded by the President of Armenia for the development of the Armenian studies and for his significant contribution to dissemination of spiritual values.
An explosion has hit a bus carrying presidential guards in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, state TV reports.
At least 11 people have been killed in the blast, the interior ministry said, the BBC reports.
The cause of the explosion in main avenue of the capital is not immediately clear.
Tunisia has been targeted by the Islamic State group, including an attack by a gunman on the beach resort of Sousse in June, killing 39 people, mostly foreign tourists.
The latest explosion took place on the Mohamed V Avenue.
Photo: Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS
A group of Russian journalists came under fire in Syria on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Three were lightly injured and one shell-shocked, TASS reports.
“On September 23, when a group of Russian journalists visited the Syrian government army’s frontline positions in the area of Dagmashliya their vehicles were attacked with a guided anti-tank missile. Three Russian journalists were lightly injured and one of them shell-shocked.
“The group of Russian journalists has already returned to the Hmeimim airbase to get qualified medical aid,” the ministry said.
TASS correspondent Alexander Yelistratov and also correspondents of Russia Today international TV channel’s Arab-language service Sargon Khadaya and English-language service Roman Kosarev were among those who came under fire and were slightly injured.
Kosarev was also shell-shocked. The journalists’ health condition is not life-threatening.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Nov. 24 he would not visit Turkey as planned on Nov. 25 following Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet.
“The president clearly stated that this could not but affect Russian-Turkish relations. In this context, it was decided to cancel the meeting between Russia’s and Turkey’s ministers of foreign affairs, which was planned for tomorrow [November 25] in Istanbul,” Sergei Lavrov said.
Lavrov also advised Russians not to visit Turkey and said the threat of terrorism there was the no less than in Egypt, where a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger plane last month.
“We need to underline the fact that terrorist threats are growing in Turkey,” he added.