Category: News

The team spent three days in Armenia to take photos for the world’s most famous fashion magazine.

American-Armenian photographer David Mushegian first visited Armenia a few months ago and was stunned by the beauty of his historic homeland. When he was offered to take photos of ethnic costumes for the Russian Vogue, he advised a trip to Yerevan. He was joined on the trip by Victoria’s Secret Angel Stella Maxwell.

The Vogue team was hosted by Armenian artist Lusik Aguletsi, who collects Armenian national costumes and keeps her own museum. Lusik herself is always dressed in taraz – the Armenian national costume.

The team also visited Armenia’s legendary duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, 86.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to the Armenian Genocide issue at a meeting Sunday, according to a report posted on the German Government’s .

The parties talked about certain issues related to the year 1915 and the resolution pending at the German Bundestag, Davutoglu told a press conference following the meeting.

Davutolgu reiterated his long-standing view that the issue should be discussed on an ‘academic level’ by a commission of historians, which would include German scholars, inter alia.

“We are ready to provide any assistance in this regard. We want of course, to reach a historical reconciliation between Turkey and the Armenia and are ready for any cooperation,” Davutoglu said.

Chancellor Merkel, in turn, expressed gratitude for the “offer on the Armenian-Turkish issue.” “I believe we can and will continue our work intensively,” she said.

Geoffrey Robertson QC and Amal Clooney of Doughty Street Chambers represented the Republic of Armenia intervening as a third party in the case Perincek v Switzerland before the European Court of Human Rights. In an interview with the Public TV of Armenia, Amal Clooney comments on the importance and scope of the Grand Chamber’s ruling in that case and explains why this constitutes a victory for Armenia.

“We are very happy for the judgment. This is a victory for Armenia. Armenia was neither a plaintiff, nor a defendant in this case. Armenia was  a third party that intervened in the case and did so for one reason – because the low court judgment had in three paragraphs cast doubt on the reality of the Armenian Genocide. It cast doubt on whether the massacres of 1915 constituted genocide, and used language insulting the Armenian community,” Amal Clooney said, adding that they went to the court to ensure that that Grand Chamber not repeat it.

“Those were the arguments and we won. The Court said that the findings of the lower court were inappropriate. Ten of the judges said they should never have discussed the point at all, as it was out of the Court’s jurisdiction. Another seven judges said that the ‘Armenian Genocide is a clearly established historical fact.’ That’s why the judgment is a victory for Armenia,” she added.

“What the European Court actually decided is that “Perincek’s speeches should not be criminalized, because they didn’t rise to the level of speech, inciting racial hatred and violence in the county they were made, which is Switzerland. This is an encouraging decision from the perspective of the freedom of expression, because the court should be concerned with any country’s laws that make speech a crime. It’s understandable that the Court wants to be very careful about ensuring that states only criminalize a speech in the most extreme circumstances. This is not a finding Armenia needs to be concerned with. People who talks about the Armenian Genocide are not being prosecuted in the courts of Yerevan. They are, however, being prosecuted by courts in Turkey. And it is interesting that in the aftermath of the judgment Turkey’s former Foreign Minister said to Al Jazeera that “Oh, Turkey celebrates the judgment, because it respects freedom of expression.” The reality is that in all the cases that have come before the European Court up to 2014 there have been 591 findings of violation of expression and almost half of them are violations by Turkey.  What we hope for is that Turkey is paying close attention to the judgment. We hope Turkey embraces this high standard for freedom of expression that has been set so that journalists like Hrant Dink are no longer prosecuted by the Turkish court for insulting Turkishness or insulting the Turkish state,” the lawyer said.

In conclusion, Amal Clooney said it was a true honor to represent Armenia in this case. “Looking back I’m sure Armenians don’t really care much about what Perincek has to say. If we look at the issue as a whole, we can say that Armenians care about what the Pope will say, and we know that the Pope has come out to say this was genocide. We know that President Obama, before he became President, said it was genocide. So, you may have Turkey continue to deny that reality, but they can no longer after today’s judgment point to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights to support that view,” Mrs. Clooney concluded.

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Turkish jets have shot down an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle near the Syrian border, the Turkish military said in a written statement on Oct. 16, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“Today, an aerial vehicle of unknown nationality was detected inside our airspace on the Syrian border, and when it continued its movement despite being warned three times, our aircraft on patrol mission on the border fired and shot down the vehicle within the rules of engagement,” the statement posted on the Turkish General Staff’s official website read.

“The Turkish Armed Forces is executing its tasks with determination within the rules of engagement,” the military added in the statement.

Palestinians have torched a Jewish holy site in the West Bank city of Nablus, amid soaring tensions with Israel, the BBC reports.

Rioters set fire to a tomb which Jews revere as that of the biblical figure Joseph. Firefighters put out the blaze but the site was badly damaged.

It came hours after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinian leadership to stop a wave of attacks.

There have been near-daily stabbings by Palestinians of Israelis this month, as violence between the two sides spirals.

Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in stabbings and shootings. At least 30 Palestinians, including several of the attackers, have also been killed in the growing unrest.

The upsurge began last month when tensions at a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims boiled over amid rumours Israel planned to relax long-standing rules to increase Jewish rights at the complex. Israel has repeatedly denied such claims.

The Russian Navy’s ships in the Mediterranean may be involved in the strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria, a deputy chief of the Russian General Staff said on Friday in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

“Undoubtedly,” Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov said in reply to this question, TASS reports.

According to the military officer, Russia’s General Staff does not rule out creating a military base in Syria with the naval, air and ground components.

“I would rather talk about creating one Russian military base. This will be one base to comprise the naval, air and ground components,” he said in the interview.

EU states have backed an action plan with Turkey, which it is hoped will ease the flow of migrants to Europe, the BBC reports.

Nearly 600,000 migrants have reached the EU by sea so far this year, many of them travelling from Turkey.

The leaders agreed to speed up visa liberalisation talks for Turks if Ankara stems the influx and to “re-energise” Turkey’s accession dialogue.

Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said he felt “cautious optimism” over the deal.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov left the Brussels talk on hearing the news.

Turkey had also asked for €3bn in aid, something German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU states were considering.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said talks over the aid would continue with Turkish officials over the coming days.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 120 times last night, the NKR Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The rival fired more than 2,600 shots from weapons of different caliber, including 60 and 82 mm mortars, in the direction of the Armenian positions.

More intensive shelling was registered in the southern direction of the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

Divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep the situation under control and confidently continue with their military duty all along the line of contact.

The Armenian Studies program, Fresno State, held the second in a series of lectures on Wednesday that focused on works of art by Western Armenians up until the early 20th century, reports.

Dr. Ronald Marchese, a Fresno State alumnus and professor emeritus of ancient history and archeology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, was the guest speaker.

The lecture explored different works of art created by Armenians, particularly religious artifacts in the form of metal work.

The relics shown displayed biblical stories that were very detailed in their artistry. Some details were even as tiny as a fingernail, Marchese said.

Marchese also said that this artwork was made during a time that people were illiterate or semi-illiterate.

“How did you tell the stories that created the foundation of the faithful?” Marchese asked. “Through imagery.”

Marchese said the religious art and objects illustrate deep attachment to Armenian Christian values and culture as well as adherence to Christian beliefs in a time and place otherwise dominated by Muslim culture.

Marchese noted a relationship between the Armenian art and life for the Armenians during that time in the city formerly known as Constantinople. It’s now known as Istanbul, the capital of Turkey.

“This is obviously the tragedy of one specific group, but this is also a celebration of culture and achievement,” Marchese said.

Marchese also talked about his recently published and co-authored book titled, “Treasures of Faith: Sacred relics and Artifacts from the Armenian Orthodox Churches of Istanbul.”

Dr. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Armenian studies coordinator, said that the book was well-illustrated and meticulously researched.

“It’s a really landmark book in the field of studying Armenian art in Constantinople,” Mugrdechian said. “The significance of the Armenians in Constantinople is very important.”

“We’re looking at the material here as artifacts as if it’s an archeological excavation,” Marchese said. “Except you’re excavating a depot that every church had of the donations made by people from the congregation.”

Asbarez – The United Armenian Fund, teaming up with AmeriCares, delivered $5.9 million worth of much needed medicines and medical supplies to Armenia and Artsakh, in a 40 foot sea container.

This extremely valuable shipment, donated by AmeriCares, included penicillin, anti-infective, anti-diabetic, cardiovascular, psychotherapeutic, dermatological, ophthalmic, analgesic, and gastrointestinal medicines and medical supplies.

“Through the years AmeriCares has donated tens of millions of dollars of life-saving medicines, medical supplies and equipment to Armenia and Artsakh. We value and appreciate very much this long-standing partnership with AmeriCares,” said Harut Sassounian, President of the United Armenian Fund.

In the past 26 years, the UAF has delivered to Armenia and Artsakh a total of $720 million worth of relief supplies on board 159 airlifts and 2,258 sea containers.

The UAF is the collective effort of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Relief Society, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.