Category: News

A landmark case which may have “exceptional significance” for over a million internally displaced people in Armenia and Azerbaijan will culminate this week at the European Court, just as the European Games gets underway in Azerbaijan, according to .

The case concerns the Sargsyan family who were forced to flee their home in 1992 following heavy bombing by Azerbaijani forces of their village, during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

As a result of the war, the Sargsyan family were forced to flee to Armenia as refugees. According to the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) based at Middlesex University in London – the organisation defending the family along with an Armenian NGO – the Azerbaijani government never allowed the family to return to their home, claiming the area to be too dangerous,

The original applicant, Minas Sargsyan, applied to the European Court in 2006 to seek redress for his family’s enforced displacement, but he died in 2009, as did his widow in 2014. Their two children have been pursuing the application on their behalf ever since.

The Sargsyan family claim that their inability to return to the village, and lack of compensation for the loss of their land and property, breaches both their property rights and their right to respect for their family life and home under the European Convention on Human Rights. They have also argued that they are unable to visit their relatives’ graves in the village, which they say violates their human rights.

They will learn whether they have been successful in their claims on Tuesday.

Professor Phillip Leach, director of EHRAC, describes the case as a “long fought battle” and one that could potentially be a landmark ruling affecting refugees throughout Europe.

“This case raises very important issues for the rights of refugees and internally displaced people,” Leach told Newsweek. “From this conflict alone more than a million people on both sides have been displaced, and this is fundamentally about what obligations governments have to refugees.”

“A positive outcome would be a landmark decision, as the European Court has not had to consider a situation like this before, and would establish the rights of refugees against governments,” he continues. Leach also explains that a positive outcome could lead to more cases of this kind being brought, not only regarding this conflict, but other similar cases across Europe.

The European Court has discretion to award compensation to the Sargsyan family, and Leach believes a positive outcome could reinvigorate talks to ensure a political settlement between the two countries over the disputed region.

A parallel case against Armenia, brought by Azerbaijani refugees, will also be heard on the same day.

Soldier of the Russian Military Base #102 in Armenia was found dead at the Mother Armenia monument in Gyumri in the neighborhood of the military base. The serviceman was identified as Ivan Novikov.

The Investigative Committee says a criminal case has been launched under Article 104 of the Armenian Criminal Code (murder). All urgent investigative and legal measures are being taken to reveal the details of the murder.

Three Armenians were killed as a result of heavy flooding in Tbilisi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports, quoting the Armenian Embassy in Georgia.

The victims are citizens of Georgia and are identified as Zhanna Yeghiazarova, Svetlana Yeghiazarova and Liana Yeghiazarova.

 

 

 

June 15 is the day of Armenian state symbols. The symbols are “eternal truths” that pass  not only information, but also values from generation to generation. In a way, they represent the collective memory of mankind.

Like every nation, Armenians have created their symbolsin the course of centuries, but the state symbols are particularly dear to us, as a nation that has lost and regained statehood several times in history.

The third Republic of Armenia inherited and adopted all three symbols of the first Republic of Armenia proclaimed on May 28, 1918 – the flag, the coat of arms and the anthem.

The coat-of-arms of the Republic of Armenia was confirmed on August 23rd 1990 by the Armenian Supreme Counsel. The new modern design is based on the coat-of-arms of the first Republic of Armenia (1918-1920), which originally was designed by architect Aleksandr Tamanyan and painter Hagop Kodjoyan.

In the centre of the shield is Mount Ararat – the symbol of the Armenian nation. On its peak rests Noah’s Ark, which, according to the Bible, came to rest here after the great flood. Surrounding Mount Ararat are symbols of old Armenian dynasties.

At the bottom of the shield are five objects: a broken chain representing our freedom and independence; a sword, which stands for the power and strength of our nation; a bundle of wheat flower, representing the industrious nature of the Armenian people’ a feather pen symbolizing the intellectual and cultural heritage of the Armenian people, and a tricolor ribbon – the flag of the Republic of Armenia.

The Armenian flag has three equal sized horizontal bands: the top stripe is red, the middle one blue and the bottom stripe is orange. The colors on the Armenia flag represent its people.

The red symbolizes the Armenian Highland, the Armenian people’s continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Christian faith, Armenia’s independence and freedom. The blue stands for the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The orange symbolizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia.

“Mer Hayrenik” (Our Fatherland) is the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia. Adopted on 1 July 1991, it was also the national anthem of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920), the first modern Armenian state.

The lyrics of the anthem are adapted from a version of Song of an Italian girl by Mikael Nalbandian (1829–1866) later set to music by composer Barsegh Kanachyan (1885–1967).

A support group of four were delegated from Yerevan Zoo to Tbilisi to render necessary help to the partners in Tbilisi Zooafter the Georgian capital was hit by deadly floods.

The trip is financed by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets, the Yerevan Zoo informed on its Facebook page.

Yerevan has expressed its willingness to provide refuge to the animals left without shelter after the Tbilisi Zoo was destroyed as a result of heavy flooding in the Georgian capital, Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan said during working consultations at the City Hall.

Specialists of the Yerevan Zoo left for Tbilisi immediately after the disaster on Sunday to provide every assistance to the Georgian counterparts.

Pope Francis said on Monday that  oil and weapons seem to weigh more on the scale of economic interests than the  lives of thousands of Christians in the Middle East, and while proclaiming peace and justice the world tolerates traffickers of death, Vatican Radio reports.

The Pope’s  words of condemnation were pronounced as he greeted participants of ROACO’s 88th Plenary Assembly in the Vatican.

In his address the Pope said the continuing conflict in the Middle East “make us feel the cold of a winter and a frost in the human heart that never seem to end”, and he remarked that “the land in these regions, crossed by the footsteps of those who seek refuge, is irrigated by the blood of so many men and women, including many Christians persecuted for their faith.

Pope Francis spoke with gratitude of the daily work and experience of the “sons and daughters of the Eastern Churches and their Pastors”, who share the suffering of the people and carry out the work of listening and service that is inscribed in the statute of the agencies coordinated by the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

He encouraged the delegates to continue in their humanitarian assistance with a Christian approach promoting people and nations with compassion and mercy.

Looking back to the drama that has been unfolding in the past months, Pope Francis said it would appear that the world’s conscience has been jolted and it has opened its eyes to the fact that Christians have been present in the Middle East for millennia.

And with a heartfelt appeal, Pope Francis encouraged those present to “continue the service of Christian charity, to denounce all that tramples on human dignity.”

Pope Francis also noted that during the Assembly particular attention with be devoted to the situation in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

According to the Official Vatican Network, on the occasion of the centenary memorial of the Medz Yeghern suffered by the Armenian people, a session will be dedicated to the Armenian Catholic Church in Eastern Europe, which is present in Georgia and Russia, as well as Armenia.

June 13, 2015 young Armenian activists of Nor Seround mobilized for a peaceful sit-in in front of the Turkish Consulate General in Lyon to remember and demand from the Turkish State to recognize and take responsibility for the Armenian Genocide,  reports.

The employees of the Turkish consulate attacked the activists, hit one who was recording and stole his phone. Later the Consul General himself showed up and attacked and cursed the young Armenian Activists.

The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our overseas passport and visa systems.  This issue is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan informs.

This issue is affecting Americans and all foreign visa applicants, including tourist, student, and business visa applicants.  The Bureau of Consular Affairs is apologizes for the inconvenience and is working urgently to correct the problem and restore full operability.

U.S. passport applications accepted overseas on or after May 26, 2015 are affected by this delay.  If you applied for a U.S. passport at the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan during this time frame and have travel plans within the next 10 business days, please consider requesting an emergency passport at the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.

Applications for a U.S. visa made after June 8, 2015 are also affected by this delay. Individuals with urgent travel should contact our visa appointment scheduling office at .  You can also call the following phone numbers: +374-60-270-113 or +1-703-439-2353, or the Skype address USVISAARMENIA.  Travelers with an urgent humanitarian need for travel should contact via email at .

Kim Kashkashian, the American violist who made her debut in the 2013 edition of the Istanbul Music Festival, returned to the festival and the same venue – the ancient Surp Vortvots Vorodman Church in Kumkapi – on June 10, with pianist Péter Nagy, to premiere a new work by Tigran Mansurian, reports.

According to the source, it was a musical match made in heaven. Its enthusiastic reception, coupled with such an ideal setting for a program dedicated largely to Armenian music, was a moment in history for the festival and Mansurian. The composer’s richly emotional “Sonata da Chiesa for Viola and Piano: In Memoriam Komitas Vardapet” deserves worldwide attention and is destined to become a prominent piece in the viola literature.

Known for her adventurous repertoire that often includes contemporary and newly commissioned works, Kashkashian is a 2013 Grammy Award winner for her recording “Kurtag/Ligeti Music for Viola.” Mansurian has previously written three works for her and he himself participated as pianist and vocalist the recording of one of them.

The June 10 world premiere was a commission from the festival organizers –  the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). The 76-year old Mansurian, who is one of Armenia’s most revered living composers, was in attendance. Prior to the concert, he participated in a pre-concert interview with choir master and music teacher Hagop Mamigonyan. The composer revealed that the title’s “Sonata da Chiesa” (Church Sonata) referred to the Surp Vortvots Vorodman Church and it was dedicated to the Armenian ethno-musicologist, composer, and singer Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935), who spent the last days of his creative life in Istanbul.