Category: News

On September 4, 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 northern direction of Kuropatkino settlement of the NKR Martuni 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 Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic) and Yevgeny Sharov (Ukraine).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by staff member of the Office Peter Svedberg (Sweden) 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.

The Azerbaijani forces kept shelling the Armenian villages of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, Vazashen and several others in the evening of September 3.

An Armenian civilian and a contract serviceman were reported injured. Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan confirmed the news to .

He said both have been hospitalized. The wounds are not life-threatening.

Hovhannisyan dismissed the reports that the Armenian side is moving armored forces to the border.

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was registered in Azerbaijan at 08:49 local time (04:49 GMT), the Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection reports.

The quake measuring 7-8 at the epicenter was felt in a number of Armenian settlements, namely Vanadzor, Kapan, Stepanavan, Ijevan, Noyemberyan, Choratan, Aygedzor and Yerevan.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 100 times at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan overnight, the NKR Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Despite the decreased number of ceasefire violations, the rival fired 1,800 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions using weapons of different caliber, including 60 and 80mm mortars.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army pressure the activeness of the rival and confidently continue with their military duty all along the line of contact.

Congressman Adam Schiff has called to speak out in the face of outrageous Azeri aggression.

“On September 2 the Nagorno Karbakh Republic celebrated their 24th Independence Day. We must continue to stand with the people of Artsakh in their fight for freedom, self-determination, and prosperity by supporting this young democracy and speaking out in the face of outrageous Azeri aggression,” Rep. Schiff said in a statement.

The Church of Cyprus has announced that 34 treasures that were stolen from the island’s Turkish-occupied areas, are expected to return on Friday afternoon to Cyprus. The treasures will return to Cyprus following a decision by the Munich Court of Appeals, on March 16, in the case of Turkish art smuggler Aydin Dikmen, according to the

Among the artifacts, 24 are Byzantine relics and some prehistoric antiquities coming mostly from the collection of Chr. Chatziprodromou, from Ayios Epiktitos Church. Among the Byzantine relics there are three pairs of bema doors (Monastery of Antiphonitis Christ, Virgin Mary Monastery in Kantara), wall paintings from the Monastery of Antiphonitis Christ, the church of Agia Solomoni in Coma tou Yialou and the Monastery of Panagia Apsinthiotissa in Sychari. Also the treasures include a hand written manuscript of 17th century (omilario) from the Monastery of the Panagia Trooditissa, and the hand written gospel of the Armenian community of Cyprus stolen during the Turkish mutiny in 1963.

More than 500 churches situated in the areas under Turkish occupation since 1974 have been destroyed, plundered and looted or turned into stables, warehouses, restaurants and hotels. The Cyprus government and the church have repeatedly protested to the UN, the World Council of Churches and many other international and religious organisations.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been voted the player of Matchday 3. The Armenian international convinced the voters with his impressive performance in the match against Hertha BSC.

With a strong performance and impressive start series of nine points and 11: 1 goals this season Borussia Dortmund showed on Matchday 3 all that can be expected. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the most outstanding player.

With 46 percent of the ballot Mkhitaryan clearly won the first place in the voting on .

Mkhitaryan provided an assist in the team’s 3: 1 win over Hertha and was involved in five of the 15 BVB shots.

He is the player with the most targeted-participations and no one gave more shots on goal. But the Armenian is not only dangrous in the penalty box: Mkhitaryan won for being a good offensive player with 53 percent of his tackles and sprinted 22 times over the square. This was also the best result.

Luc Castaignos came second with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Thomas Müller with 10 percent.

Armenian contract serviceman Hayk Tevoyan, born in 1975, died as a result of shooting at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan told reporters today.

“The rival actively fired all along the Tavush section of the border until midnight. The Azerbaijani side used artillery weapons of different caliber, including large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles, 60 and 80mm mortars. Two civilians were injured,” he said.

Hovhannisyan said the frontline villages have sustained losses, but the situation is now under control, the rival has been silenced.

The Spokesman said the Azerbaijani side incurred losses as a result of the tension of the past two days.

The sixth hearing in the retrial of defendants accused of assassinating Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was held at the 5th High Criminal Court in İstanbul on Thursday morning, only to be adjourned until December with minimal progress having been made, reports. 

Despite eight years having passed since the murder of the journalist, efforts to pinpoint suspect Osman Hayal in the security camera footage stills from the incident have failed. Dink, the late editor-in-chief of Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in Istanbul.

Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the murder was linked to the “deep state,” a term that refers to a shadowy group of military and civilian bureaucrats in Turkey believed to have links with organized crime. Now, the Dink family lawyers are intent on having the identity of Osman Hayal verified from the security camera footage taken from the Akbank Bank and Saray Drapery, located near the Agos headquarters during the incident. Osman Hayal, who was released pending trial, is the brother of Yasin Hayal, who confessed to telling then-minor Ogün Samast to murder Dink.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey claimed after initial investigations that there are too many people in the frame to identify the suspect. During Thursday’s hearing, the court accepted Dink’s family’s lawyer Hakan Bakırcıoğlu’s request that newly marked men in the security footage be identified by Council

The next hearing will be held on Dec. 22.

A group of activists called Friends of Hrant who are closely following the case held a demonstration outside the Caglayan Courthouse prior to the hearing, also making a statement.

“We will continue to stand on duty for justice. This case will not be over until the real suspects are tried and our friend’s murderer receives the punishment they deserve. We are tired of repeating our request for the true suspects to be tried. In fact, we are not the only ones requesting this,” stated Baran Seyhan on behalf of the activist group.

“The state and its State Supervisory Board have also clearly identified those who need to be tried. As the lawyers have shared, Article 83 of the Turkish Penal Code deals with negligence causing death due to the failure to take appropriate action to prevent the death, and the state is protecting those who are behind the murder,” Seyhan stated.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the delegation of the French National Assembly headed by President of the Socialist faction Bruno Le Roux.

The parties attached importance to the frequent reciprocal visits and contacts, which further reinforce the Armenian-French friendship and provide an opportunity to discuss issues of mutual interest.

The interlocutors agreed that inter-parliamentary cooperation comprises a significant part of inter-state relations, and emphasized the role of Armenian-French Friendship Groups established in the Parliaments of the two countries in their development.

Bruno Le Roux conveyed the warm greetings of French President Francois Hollande.

The lawmakers also attached importance to their visit to Nagorno Karabakh. They assured that France is interested in the continuation of dialogue towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

President Sargsyan briefed the guests on the process and goals of constitutional reforms. Bruno Le Roux underlined that any constructive change targeted at establishing the best government system is welcome and added that “it’s a sign of political maturity of a state.”