Category: News

President Serzh Sargsyan today attended the opening of the office of Wikimedia Armenia scientific-educational NGO on 2 Arshakunyats Street in Yerevan.

The Armenian president toured the office, familiarized himself with the activities of Wikimedia Armenia and its upcoming development projects. The president was presented that the goal of Wikimedia Armenia, an Armenian branch of the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), is to encourage the distribution and development of wiki-based projects in Armenia and in the region and to popularize the idea of free knowledge.

At the conference hall of the office, Serzh Sargsyan took part in a discussion of issues pertaining to the development of wiki-based projects in Armenia which was also joined by RA Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, the Director of the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, Hakob Hakobyan, its founder Artur Janibekyan, the President of Wikimedia Hayastan NGO Susanna Mkrtchyan, the Chair of the WMF Board of Trustees, Jan-Bart de Vreede, the Head of WMF Grants and Global South Partnerships, Asaf Bartov, the Manager of Wikipedia Education Program, Anna Koval, GLAM-Wiki Coordinator for Europeana Liam Wyatt, the Director of the Intellectual Veratsnund Foundation Marina Sultanyan and project coordinator Armen Martirosyan.

As part of the opening ceremony of the Wikimedia Armenia Office, the participants watched a video on the results of cooperation between the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation and Wikimedia Armenia scientific-educational NGO.

Russia and Greece have signed a deal to create a joint enterprise for construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline across Greek territory, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said. The pipeline will have a capacity of 47 billion cubic meters a year, reports.

The construction costs are about €2 billion and the parties will sign a roadmap Friday, Novak told RIA at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

The Greek extension of the Turkish Stream project is called the South European pipeline in the memorandum signed on Friday, Novak said, adding that the construction will start in 2016 and be completed by 2019.

The two countries will have equal shares in the company, Novak said.Construction of the pipeline in Greece will be financed by Russia, and Athens will return the money afterward.

As part of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Committee for the Defense of the Armenian Cause (CDCA) has organized a roundtable discussion at the National Assembly of France, Nouvelles d’Armenie reports.

The discussion titled “Justice and Reparation for the Armenian people” features His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Geat House of Cilicia, Bruno Le Roux, President of the Socialist Group in the National Assembly, a number of prominent public and political figures.

At least 41 people have died after drinking tainted liquor in a slum in India’s financial hub of Mumbai, police said Friday, the Associated Press reports.

Police officer Deepak Gaikwad said 21 other people were hospitalized in critical condition after drinking the cheap liquor in Malad in northern Mumbai.

Police arrested three men and were questioning them about making and selling the drink to poor workers.

Devendra Fadnavis, the top elected official in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is the capital, ordered an investigation.

Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in India because the poor cannot afford licensed liquor. Illicit liquor is often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase its potency.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has offered condolences on the demise of Kirk Kerkorian:

“It is with deepest grief that I learned about the passing away of a great Armenian, Kirk Kerkorian.

The irretrievable loss befell Armenians all over the world as we  lost a remarkable person, an outstanding patriot, a man of a great virtue who has given so much to his people, to his ancestral homeland.

Kirk Kerkorian’s generous and continuous support was immensely important for the development of Armenia. His Lincy charitable foundation established right after the devastating earthquake in 1988 made enormous investments throughout the years in various projects in Armenia and Artsakh.

He gave his unconditional love to its people which repaid him with great admiration. He was bestowed as a National Hero of Armenia, and a true Hero he was indeed!

I would like to express my profound condolences to the Kerkorian family, relatives, friends and Armenians all over the world.

Kirk Kerkorian’s memory and legacy will always remain alive in our hearts and minds.”

Gita Elibekyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Tbilisi

Tigran Hamasyan will provide the proceeds from his Tbilisi concert to the fund for assistance to the flood victims. The charity concert will take place at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire at 8 p.m. tonight. The pianist had another concert at St. Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi last night.

Within the framework of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Tigran Hamasyan plans concerts in over 100 churches around the world. The program is titled Luys i Luso (Light of Light), which has a religious meaning.

“I wanted the program to have a bright name, because we are performing religious music, a living music, which survives and develops,” Hamasyan said in an interview with Public Radio of Armenia.

With new improvisations Tigran Hamasyan gives a fresh breath to the Armenian religious music – the works by Mesrop Mashtots, Grigor Narekatsi, Nerses Shnorhali, Mkhitar Ayrivanetsi and Makar Yekmalyan.

“Our religious traditions are combined with improvisation here,” the pianist said.

The tour that kicked off in Yerevan will continue in different countries of the world and will conclude in Turkey.

India has confirmed it will sign a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union on June 18 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2015). “We are definitely signing this agreement,” Amit Telang, First Secretary of India’s embassy in Russia told TASS on Thursday.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is an international organization for regional economic integration. The member states of the union, which started operation on January 1, 2015, are the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Armenia.

The EAEU is aimed at economic development of the member states by coordinating their economic policy and guaranteeing free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce.

Apart from India, currently Vietnam, Iran, Egypt and Israel are negotiating the possibility of forming free trade zone agreements with the EAEU.

“The negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement are not conducted within the framework, under the umbrella, or through the mediation of the European Court of Human Rights. The Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only internationally mandated format dealing with the resolution of the issue,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said as he commented on the European Court ruling on Chiragov v. Armenia case.

“Decision on Chiragov’s application is an individual court case, which cannot have any impact on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process,” the Minister said in comments to Radio Liberty.

“The manipulation of this case by Azerbaijan can only harm the efforts aimed at the peaceful settlement,” he added.

“Issues related to the right of the refugees and displaced persons to return are integral part of the negotiation process, they can be resolved as a result of the comprehensive resolution of the issue. The well-known statements of the heads of Co-Chair countries on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement also have reference to it,” Minister Nalbandian concluded.

Mustafa Isciler, a history student at Boğaziçi University of Istanbul, will bike from Van to Yerevan, Ermenihaber.am reports, quoting the Turkish Birgun website.  According to the source, the student wants to write down the memories and stories of the people living in those regions.

Mustafa Isciler intends to conduct field research on Islamized Armenians, Genocide and Yezidis for his Master’s thesis.

The trip will kick off on August 12 and will continue for three weeks. The route includes the Akhtamar Island, the ancient Armenian villages, Mount Ararat, Bayazet, Igdir, Kars, Ani, etc., as well as Georgia and Armenia.

Isciler told Birgun that he will not be alone on the journey. A six-member group will start the trip from Istanbul; they will be joined by a six-member group of Armenians in Diyarbekir.

The researchers will write down people’s memories and stories in every village and will prepare a documentary.