Category: News

Turkish historian Taner Akcam has released a new book (with Umit Kurt) on the plunder of Armenian properties.

The book titled “The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of Wealth in the Armenian Genocide” examines the confiscation of Armenian properties during the genocide and subsequent attempts to retain seized Armenian wealth.

Through the close analysis of laws and treaties, it reveals that decrees issued during the genocide constitute central pillars of the Turkish system of property rights, retaining their legal validity, and although Turkey has acceded through international agreements to return Armenian properties, it continues to refuse to do so.

The book demonstrates that genocides do not depend on the abolition of the legal system and elimination of rights, but that, on the contrary, the perpetrators of genocide manipulate the legal system to facilitate their plans.

HDP Batman MP Ali Atlan brought the fire that had broken out in and around an Armenian monastery in Meşeli village in Sason district of Batman on August 15 to the parliament’s agenda, reports. 

A fire broke out on August 15 in and around Surp Bedros (St. Peter) Monastery in Meşeli (Gomk) village in Sason. The bones in the Armenian cemetery, which is on the region where the fire broke out, were also damaged. HDP Batman MP Ali Atlan brought this fire break out to the parliament’s agenda. MP Ali Atlan submitted written questions to the Minister of Interior Affairs Sebahattin Öztürk and asked whether they have launched a legal action concerning this break out.

Here are the questions that Atlan addressed to the Minister of Interior Affairs Sebahattin Öztürk:

Will the assaulted Armenian Surp Bedros Monastery and the Armenian cemetery around it be restored? If so, when will this restoration take place?

Have you identified the assaulters? Is there any legal action that is launched against the assaulters or are you planning to do so?

Do you think that these assaults against Armenian monasteries and cemeteries in Turkey might be related to racism?

Do you consider to launch legal actions against security forces and local authorities who haven’t gone to the site of the assault?

Though we are on 2015 now, there is no roads in that region and because of that, fire-fighting vehicles couldn’t have gone there; who is responsible for this? Who will compensate these pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages that was inflicted because of someone’s irresponsibility?

Is there any video footage of the assault that took place on 15 August 2015?

Cemeteries have high sentimental value for people; so, what is the measures that you are currently taking for preventing these kinds of assaults against the cemeteries?

A man who shot two journalists on live TV in the US state of Virginia has died after shooting himself, police say, the BBC reports.

Vester Lee Flanagan, 41, an ex-employee of WDBJ7 TV known professionally as Bryce Williams, was in a car that was surrounded by police following a chase.

WDBJ7 TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were killed some seven hours earlier during an interview in the town of Moneta.

The gunman later uploaded a video of himself opening fire at close range.

The White House has urged Congress to rapidly pass gun control laws in the wake of this latest shooting in the US.

Within the framework of consultations with political forces on the constitutional reforms, President Serzh Sargsyan today held a meeting with the representatives of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party – Armen Rostamyan, Aghvan Vardanyan and Arsen Hambardzumyan.

The parties discussed the overall process of constitutional reforms. They touched upon approaches embedded in the Draft Constitutional Reforms elaborated by the Specialised Commission on Constitutional Reforms adjunct to the RA President as well as certain provisions of the draft.

The ARF representatives expressed readiness to continue active and comprehensive discussions on the Draft Constitutional Reforms, elaborated by the Specialised Commission, in the RA National Assembly. According to them, the main highlights, ensuring the development of the country, that are of importance to them and the ARF approaches are embedded in the draft.

A gunman killed a reporter and videographer for a CBS affiliate in Virginia in a shooting that was broadcast live Wednesday morning.

Alison Parker and Adam Ward, a reporter and cameraman for CBS Roanoke affiliate WDBJ-TV, died in the shooting, Parker’s mother confirmed to CBS News.

that deputies from Franklin County and Bedford County were on the scene.

The shooting happened at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Virginia.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – boasting a massive $41billion fortune – has topped a list revealing how the world’s richest young billionaires have generated their staggering wealth, the Daily Mail reports. 

Among those to feature in the world’s top 20 billionaires under the age of 35 are the brilliant young entrepreneurs responsible for start ups such as Snapchat, Airbnb and Facebook.

However, many others have inherited old money – companies, fortunes and vast real estate empires passed down from their parents, and in some cases, their grandparents.

Dwarfing the fortunes of all others on the list is Zuckerberg, 31, who founded Facebook in 2004, and is now worth an estimated $41.6bn.

His nearest competitor on the list is his 31-year-old co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, who, like Zuckerberg, is self made, but has only earned a comparatively paltry $9.3bn.

In third place sits Huiyan Yang. Heir to her father’s massive mainland China real estate empire, she boasts a $5.9bn fortune and as a member of the governance board of Country Garden, is a fierce businesswoman in her own right.

When Mark Moogalian saw the gunman on the train, he was the first to rush him and tried to wrest an assault rifle from his grip.

The two men struggled, and Moogalian was shot in the neck. The Armenian-American Professor collapsed to the floor, bleeding heavily.

He made eye contact with his wife.

“C’est fini,” Moogalian told her. “It’s over.”

“I really thought he was going to die,” his wife Isabelle Risacher Moogalian said in an interview with .

In an exclusive TV interview, Risacher Moogalian said her husband played dead to avoid getting shot again.

Moogalian was one of five passengers on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train to try to disarm the gunman, who wielded enough weaponry to kill everyone on board.

Moogalian, who’s currently recovering at a hospital in France, spoke exclusively to

Mark and his wife Isabelle were sitting in carriage 12 with their dog quietly sleeping under the table. They were playing cards to pass the time.

Half an hour after the train stop in Brussels, Mark noticed a man with strange behavior through the glass door.

“”I saw a young man arrived with a large suitcase with wheels. He entered the toilet with his luggage. It was odd, unusual. I waited for him to exit, but it dragged on. So I decided to go and see. I got up. I saw him coming out of the toilet.”

“I grabbed the gun. We fought. I do not know how, but I managed to tackle his Kalashnikov,” Moogalian said.

Photo from Paris Match

Armenian archbishop announced on Tuesday that a religious event planned for September in a historic church in the eastern Turkish province of Van has been canceled due to security, Daily Sabah reports.

Aram Ateshian, acting head of the Armenian Patriarchate, said they cancelled the event scheduled for Sept. 6 at Akhtamar Church due to security problems. Atesyan said the mass and related events may be held in the future but for now, visitors were afraid of visiting the region.

“Many people cancelled the bookings here and when we realized the attendance would be low, we decided to cancel it as it wouldn’t be a major event as we intended to do,” Ateshian said. He underlined that people were naturally scared because of rising violence and they were concerned as well. “We will hold the mass on another date if the situation improves,” he said.

Turkey has been hit by violence since a suicide bomb attack by a suspected Islamic State of Iraq and a-Sham (ISIS) supporter killed 33 activists in Suruç on July 20.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met with representatives of the Prosperous Armenia Party to discuss the constitutional amendments.

The interlocutors discussed the overall process of constitutional reforms. Reference was made to separate provisions of the draft Constitution worked out by the Professional Commission for Constitutional Amendments adjunct.

The parties stressed the importance of active and comprehensive discussions at the National Assembly.

The exhibition “Armin T. Wegner: eyewitness of the Armenian Genocide” was opened at the Armémuseum of Stockholm on August 25. The expo showcases around thirty photos taken by Wegner with author’s notes and explanations.

The exhibition was organized by joint efforts of the Embassy of Armenia in Sweden, the Armémuseum, and armenica.org organization as part of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemoration events in Sweden.

The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mr. Björn Söder, Parliamentary Group Leader of Christian Democrats Mr. Andreas Carlson, other MPs, Ambassadors accredited to Sweden, social, political and cultural figures, journalists, representatives of the Armenian community. Opening remarks were offered by the Director of Armémuseum Mrs. Eva-Sofie Ernstelle and historian Vahagn Avedian.

The exhibition will be open for three months.

The Armémuseum is one of the leading cultural institutions of Stockholm and is included in compulsory educational programs.