Category: News

On November 5, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the eastern direction of the Talish village of the NKR Martakert region.

From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring was conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and his Field Assistants Yevgeny Sharov (Ukraine) and Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria), as well as by staff member of the Office Peter Svedberg (Sweden).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic) and Personal Assistant to the Personal Representative of the CiO Simon Tiller (Great Britain).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. No violation of the cease-fire regime was registered.

From the Karabakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.

Photo from AFP

 

A major rescue operation is under way to save dozens of people thought to be trapped in rubble after a factory collapsed in Lahore, Pakistan, the BBC reports.

At least 17 people died when the factory, which was under construction, collapsed on Wednesday.

Cranes and bulldozers are being used and the army is assisting in the rescue efforts.

The cause of the collapse is still unknown. Building safety levels are often below standard in Pakistan.

Two floors of the factory, in the Sundar Industrial Estate on the outskirts of the city, were operational, while a third was being built.

Baku escalates the situation during each visit of the Co-chairs to the region, Armenian Foreign Minister has said, as he commented on the ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan at the time the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs were crossing the line of contact.

“That incident took place days after the Co-chairs directly called upon Azerbaijan to agree to the creation of the mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations. Baku escalates the situation during each visit of the Co-chairs to the region,” Minister Nalbandian said in comments to Radio Liberty.

“The Azerbaijani provocations aim at undermining the negotiation process, and questioning the necessity of the mediation efforts. It is noteworthy that in their statement made as a follow-up to the regional visit the Minsk Group Co-chairs labeled the incident as an attempt to undermine the peace efforts. It is not a coincidence that just on the next day of the provocation the President of Azerbaijan came up with new threats and criticized the Co-chairs,” the Foreign Minister said.

Edward Nalbandian reminded that “Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee joined by 83 Congressmen addressed an open letter to the U.S. Co-chairman of the Minsk Group. The Congressmen rightly pointed out that artificial evenhandedness of generic calls to refrain from the use of force made to all parties to the conflict after each violation of the cease-fire regime cannot reduce the tensions. On the contrary up to now they have contributed to the dangerous escalation of the situation.”

“We hope that the US Co-chairman will not only follow the just appeals of the US Congressmen but also together with other Co-chairmen of the Minsk Group will take efforts to fulfill their own proposal on the establishment of the mechanism for investigation of the cease-fire violations, which will make it meaningless to make unaddressed calls,” he said.

“Baku continuously rejects the proposal of the Co-chairmen on the creation of the mechanism of investigation of the cease-fire violations, thus bearing full responsibility for the consequences of ceasefire violations,” Minister Nalbandian concluded.

Evidence now suggests that a bomb planted by the Islamic State militant group is the likely cause of last weekend’s crash of a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, U.S. and European security sources said on Wednesday, reports.

Islamic State, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria and is battling the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula, said again on Wednesday it brought down the airplane, adding it would eventually tell the world how it carried out the attack.

The Airbus A321 crashed on Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after taking off from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board.

The U.S. and European security sources stressed they had reached no final conclusions about the crash.

Britain on Wednesday cited the likely possibility of an explosive device as the cause of the crash, but made no mention of any group that may have been responsible.

“We have concluded that there is a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive device on board the aircraft,” Britain’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said after a meeting of the government’s crisis response committee chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron.

 

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Dominik Cardinal Duka, Czech Primate and Archbishop of Prague.

The president welcomed the guest, who, according to the president, is one of the Armenian people’s best friends and is always a welcomed guest in Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan warmly recalled his previous meeting with Cardinal Duka and expressed satisfaction with the fact that Armenian-Czech meetings at various levels give a fresh impulse to bilateral relations, and they continue to develop dynamically.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, the opening of the Czech embassy in Armenia in pursuance of the agreement made during his meeting with President Zeman will greatly contribute to the strengthening of friendship between the Armenian and Czech peoples and to the reinforcement of relations between the two countries. “As a first country of the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion, we greatly value the broadening of spiritual ties and relations with the peoples sharing similar worldviews. Undoubtedly, the Czech people belong to that group. In that context, I attach great importance and value to your visit to Armenia,” said President Serzh Sargsyan.

At the meeting, the parties placed importance on the cooperative climate between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Czech Catholic Church, in which, according to the president, Cardinal Duka has played an invaluable role. Armenia’s president expressed his satisfaction with the allocation of Prague’s Church of the Holy Spirit to the Gregory the Illuminator parish community of the Armenian Apostolic Church, considering that step a great event in the life of the Czech-Armenian community from the perspective of preserving their faith and identity.

“I am delighted that I have had the chance to visit Armenia, a country which was not only the first to adopt Christianity as a stat religion, but also has a rich ancient history and culture and a people which represent all of that and command high respect,” said the Czech Primate and the Archbishop of Prague.

Noting that the Czech people are well aware of the crime committed against the Armenian people at the beginning of the last century, Cardinal Dominik Duka stressed that he is confident the close relationship and collaboration between the two friendly peoples, states and churches should be also aimed at promoting peace in the world and at eliminating intolerance.

Photos by Christie Goodwin

 

By Pierre Perrone

Three songs into what turns out to be a lengthy, 2-hour long set you’d hardly expect from a 91 year-old, now officially the oldest performer to headline the regal London venue, Charles Aznavour takes off his slate-coloured jacket and flings it on the grand piano as he reveals a pair of bright red braces.

The most diminutive chanson legend means business and punches the air after dramatically hitting the high note at the end of ”Paris Au Mois D’Août“ (Paris In The Month of August), the title song of a doomed love affair film he made with Susan Hampshire five decades ago. In fact, he’s not just singing to the French expats who have wandered up from South Kensington with a glass of rosé – fact! – the British and the London-based Armenian community love him too, and with good reason.

He makes fun of the téléprompteur that enables him to give a masterclass in song-writing in between duetting with his daughter Katia on ”Je Voyage” and delivering a sublime ”She”, the 1974 chart-topper revived by Elvis Costello for the Notting Hillsoundtrack 15 years later. If this is your entrée into the thousand-plus chansons Aznavour has composed, you’re in for a treat. After nonchalantly singing ”The Old Fashioned Way”, he returns for ”What Makes A Man A Man”, arguably the first song about homosexuality by a non-homosexual. Its message of acceptance is magnified by the bouquet of flowers he carries on the shoulder like a gun as he wanders off stage, an impish smile on his face. He promises to be back when he is 100. Don’t bet against it! Chapeau Monsieur Aznavour!

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has applied to the Russian Foreign Ministry with a request to arrange the transportation of the bodies of the pilots that died in South Sudan crash through its Embassy in Uganda and South Sudan.

The Ministry says further information will be provided.

A cargo plane crashed Wednesday morning along the banks of the Nile River after taking off from South Sudan’s capital of Juba. The crash killed 36 people and left an infant clinging to life.

Six of the plane’s crew members — five Armenians and a Russian — were among the dead.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Paris November 5-6 to participate in the 38th session of the UNESCO General Assembly.

Minister Nalbandian is expected to address the assembly.

Sir Elton John says he is currently arranging to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss gay rights, the BBC reports.

The pop star has said he wants to talk to Mr Putin about his “ridiculous” attitude to the issue – but previously fell victim to prank callers pretending to be the Russian leader.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, the star said he had now received a genuine call from the president.

“He was very affable, he was very apologetic, he was very sincere.

“As soon as I can get a date in my diary that coincides with him, then I will be going… to Moscow and I will meet him,” he told the Today Programme.

“Whether or not I make any progress, I don’t know. I’m not going to go straight in there and go, ‘come on, you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that.’ This is the starting of a dialogue and you don’t get anywhere without a dialogue.”

President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with British rock star Elton John, Krmelin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday commenting on the singer’s plans to meet with the Russian leader next year, TASS reports.

“This is not an issue for negotiations,” Peskov said. “The president said he was ready to meet with Elton John. We hope they’ll meet when their schedules cross.”

 

Asbarez – The construction of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument at Sunset Park is coming to conclusion and the unveiling is scheduled for 10:00am on Saturday, November 14, 2015.

Sunset Park is the largest park in the City of Las Vegas, centrally located and close to the McCarran international airport. The park has over 4 million annual visitors.

The monument project is the initiative of the Armenian-American Cultural Society (AACS) of Las Vegas, with the participation of all Las Vegas Armenian churches and organizations.

The memorial monument will be a gift to the people of southern Nevada from the Armenian-American community.

H.E. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of Western Diocese and H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of Western Prelacy, officials from Republic of Armenia and Republic of Lebanon as well as local city officials and State of Nevada Congressional Representatives, and the Nevada Consular Corps will participate in the unveiling.