Category: News

The Spanish city of Aldaia (Valencia) officially recognized the Armenian Genocide on October 27.

The resolution introduced by the Armenian “Ararat” Union was put on a vote at the City Council by Spokesman for the Left Union Juanjo Llorente.

All four parties represented in the City Council unanimously voted to call the massacre of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey “genocide” and condemn its denial.

Present at the sitting were representatives of the Armenian community and public and political figures of Spain.

Seven candidates will stand in FIFA’s presidential elections on 26 February, BBC reports.

The candidates are: Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.

Trinidadian ex-footballer David Nakhid was not included on the list, despite saying he had submitted his candidacy.

The election is to find a successor to the suspended Sepp Blatter, who is under criminal investigation.

The Swiss 79-year-old announced he would be stepping down in June, with world football’s governing body at the centre of a corruption scandal.

 

With a score of 28 Armenia is ranked as a free country in a fresh released by the Freedom House.

Georgia is another post-Soviet country rated as “free.” Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan are partly free, while Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are rated as “not free.”

The report says the internet penetration rate in Armenia has continued improving over the past few years, alongside improvements in the stability of the internet’s infrastructure and relatively few restrictions on online content. Additionally, citizen groups and NGOs have made use of online communication tools to promote and organize campaigns, particularly surrounding the protests in Yerevan against hikes in electricity prices in mid-2015.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the internet penetration rate reached 46 percent by the end of 2014, compared with 42 percent in 2013 and just 15 percent in 2009. The Public Service Regulatory Committee of Armenia estimates the rate slightly higher, at 50 percent in 2014.

The mobile penetration rate in Armenia was 116 percent as of 2014,and the number of mobile broadband subscriptions is also growing. As of December 2014, broadband subscriptions reached 257,610, an increase of 16,934 compared with of the same period in 2013

There have been no reports of restrictions on internet access imposed by the government or temporary disconnections from the internet since June 2014. In practice, the Armenian government and the telecommunication regulatory authority, the PSRC, do not interfere with or try to influence the planning of network topology. Operators plan and develop their networks without any coordination with either the government or the regulatory authority. Moreover, the regulatory authority requires service providers to indicate any technological restrictions in their public offers. Armenian internet users enjoy access to internet resources without limitation, including peer-to-peer networks, voice and instant messaging services.

Armenian internet users are able to access a wide array of content online, though online media outlets based within the country are subject to financial and political pressures. Currently, self-censorship is not a widespread practice in the online sphere. The Armenian government and the ruling political elite have not applied extralegal measures to prevent political opponents or independent internet resources from publishing online content.

Technical attacks against government websites and civil society groups continue, with most of the attacks originating from the “Anti-Armenia” group based in Azerbaijan.

In addition, Turkish hackers from the Turk Hack Team group claimed that they launched DDoS attacks against websites of the Armenian government, as well as Armenian business and media sites, causing disruptions on April 24, the Armenian Genocide commemoration day. However, there were no interruptions recorded by these entities.

Freedom on the Net 2015 finds internet freedom around the world in decline for a fifth consecutive year as more governments censored information of public interest while also expanding surveillance and cracking down on privacy tools.

Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan has dismissed reports on the arrest of an Armenian national in Egypt.

Five foreigners and one Egyptian were arrested for joining “Islamic State” Monday, the reported.

The six individuals are accused of volunteering to join IS, conducting acts of sabotage, and harming the country’s economic and social interests.

The defendants were identified as former army officer Ishan Jan from Tajikstan, Ali Akbr Abduallah from Serbia, Akhbar Yan Ali Tan from Belarus, Mohamed Share Ali, 44, a businessman from Armenia, Mohamed Bahaai from Iran, Bashar Ali Abduallah Al-Ansary from Syria, and Mohamed Faaz from Egypt.

The security forces arrested them inside a car while they were monitoring the Giza Pyramids area. The security forces seized six laptop devices with them, with IS and Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis logos, Egyptian police and armed forces uniforms, daggers, rifles, and Egyptian and foreign currency, according to state newspaper Al-Ahram.

The Armenian Embassy in Egypt requested clarifications from authorized bodies, Tigran Balayan said.

“Egypt authorities confirmed to Armenia Embassy in Cairo that there is no citizen of Armenia among the arrested members of the Islamic State,” the Spokesman said in a Twitter post.

Israel is interested in signing an agreement on the free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) as soon as possible, the country’s Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Zeev Elkin, told Russian reporters on Wednesday, TASS reports.

“We believe that this has a big potential also for Israel’s economy and there may be also the interest for the countries part of the Customs Union,” said the minister, who also co-chairs the Russian-Israeli inter-governmental commission.

“I think there is no reason to delay this,” he said.

Israel has given “high priority” to the talks on the free trade zone with the EEU, Elkin said. “We are sincerely interested in doing this efficiently to the maximum level, and we propose that the Russian side should launch talks already in early 2016 and hold at least two rounds of negotiations in 2016,” he said.

The Israeli politician said it is difficult to forecast the exact date for reaching the deal. “This depends on the number of difficult issues but as a rule if the work is normal, then it is possible to reach signing such an agreement in two years,” he said.

“For our part, we will do our utmost so that this happens as soon as possible,” the minister stressed.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is the economic bloc which came into force in January 2015 and now consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Syrian Army, with the support of armed militia fighters, has liberated 50 villages in the south-east of Aleppo province, a militia source said Tuesday, reports.

Asbarez – In response to the recent escalation of violence and war threats by the government of Azerbaijan against Armenians in Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia, Councilmember Paul Krekorian, the first Armenian-American elected to public office in the City of Los Angeles, urged U.S. Congressional leaders to take immediate action to save Armenian lives. In an recent letter to Southern California Congressmembers, Krekorian asked leaders to sign the Royce-Engel letter and hold Azerbaijan accountable for its crimes, refrain from further violence and take measures toward establishing a lasting peace in the region. Krekorian’s letter is attached and reprinted below:

Dear Congressmember:
As you know, more than 20 years after Artsakh’s declaration of independence and the ceasefire in its subsequent war with Azerbaijan, ongoing tension in the Caucasus region continues to devastate innocent lives and threaten regional stability. In particular, the Republic of Azerbaijan has engaged in both increasingly bellicose rhetoric and an increasing willingness to engage in active violence in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

In the past few weeks, for example, Azerbaijan’s shelling of villages in the Tavoush region of Armenia has killed numerous civilians, including 83-year-old Paytsar Aghajanyan, Sona Revazyan, 41, and Shoushan Asadryan, 94, along with at least four Armenian soldiers. Many other innocent civilians have been wounded in separate unprovoked attacks. Shellings like these, as well as cross-border killings by Azeri snipers, have taken countless lives of civilian men, women and children.

The response from our government has been pathetically weak. U.S. Ambassador and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair James Warlick has said that both sides should refrain from violence, but the United States refuses to state clearly that there is only one state that continues to be the predominant aggressor and provocateur, and that is Azerbaijan.

Any statement of moral equivalence in the face of continued aggression by the government of Azerbaijan is not an acceptable way forward. It could give the world the perception that the U.S. government sees no difference between the perpetrators of violence and the victims. Our government has an obligation to stand on the right side of this issue and should not give Baku cover for their crimes against the Armenian people in Artsakh and in the Republic of Armenia.

I urge you to join so many of your colleagues in signing the Royce-Engel letter, calling for a transition away from a failed policy of false parity to a constructive, accountability-based approach to peacekeeping. Renewed U.S. leadership in keeping the peace along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact is absolutely necessary as Azerbaijan steps up its attacks.

This sensible, bipartisan letter proposes three concrete steps to help save lives, avert war, and reach a just and lasting peace:

1. An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact;
2. The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact; and
3. The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.
Armenia has already agreed to abide by these principles, but the Aliyev regime continues to refuse to do so.

Please sign the Royce-Engel letter today. Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attacks will continue unless we stand together for justice and peace. The government of Azerbaijan must honor its OSCE obligations to refrain from violence and to undertake confidence-building measures toward a lasting peace.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. I am confident that your leadership will make a material difference in helping to prevent the destructive slide toward a new war.

Georgia and Armenia are expanding commercial, economic and tourism ties by building a new bridge to better connect the two countries, Agenda.ge reports.

A delegation from Armenia visited Georgia today to sign an agreement on building the new bridge over the Debed River, near the Armenian border.

The new bridge will be built at the Sadakhlo-Bagratashen border checkpoint. Currentl this border crossing point only has a single narrow bridge built in Soviet times.

The decision to build a new bridge was made last year when Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Armenian counterpart Hovik Abrahamyan met. While discussing ways to deepen political and economic relations, two officials agreed to jointly construct a bridge to commemorate their friendship.

For this reason, the bridge would be called “a bridge of friendship”.

Construction of the new bridge will be carried out by the Georgian Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure. Further details of the construction plans or the anticipated costs have not been revealed.

Stephan P. Barnicle’s new choral composition — “A New Armenia!” — that was commissioned by the Master Singers of Worcester premiered at the Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemorative Concert Oct. 25 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, the  reports.

The concert was co-sponsored by the Master Singers of Worcester and the Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester. The program also featured sacred and secular music of Armenia, and the Worcester premiere of American composer Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living.”

The Master Singers were joined by a chamber orchestra, organist William Ness, singers and dancers from the Armenian community, and the children’s choirs of First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury and St. Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury.

The countries in which people feel the safest to walk home alone at night have been revealed in the 2015 Gallup Law and Order Index, reports. Armenia is placed 9^th in the list.

 is a worldwide measure of people’s sense of personal security in local areas, as well as their own experiences with law enforcement.

The report is based on more than 142,000 interviews with adults in 141 countries in 2014.

For one of the measurements, respondents were asked: “Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?”

Singapore and Hong Kong share the honour of the countries in which people are most likely to feel safe, both achieving 91 per cent.

Venezuelan adults are the least likely to say they feel safe walking alone at night, with only 22 per cent.