Category: News

Two Yazidi women who escaped sexual enslavement by so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq have won Europe’s top human rights award, the Sakharov prize, the BBC reports.

Nadia Murad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar were among thousands of Yazidi girls and women abducted by IS militants and forced into sexual slavery in 2014.

But both survived and now campaign for the Yazidi community.

The freedom of thought prize is awarded annually in memory of Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet scientist and dissident.

Pope Francis has sent a medal and a signed photo to Armenian micro miniaturist Eduard Ter-Ghazaryan.

The miniaturist carved the Pope’s smallest portrait and handed it over to the Pontiff during the latter’s visit to Armenia in June.

“Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin handed me a surprise gift from Pope Francis, a medal and a signed photo,” Eduard Ter-Ghazaryan said in a Facebook post.

Armenian Genocide-themed documentary “The Other Side of Home” has been shortlisted for 89th Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 89th Academy Awards has been narrowed to 10 films, of which 5 will earn Oscar nominations.

Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 61 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

Armenia and Russia have launched a large-scale project of modernization of the T-72 main battle tanks under Armenia’s possession, reports.

The tanks will be upgraded to T-72B4 sports class, which the teams used during the Tank Biathlon.

The modernization has already started, Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan confirmed to Izvestia. He did not specify the number of the military vehicles to be modernized and the terms.

The agency reports, quoting its sources, that dozens of tanks are going to be upgraded, the main modernization works will take place in Armenia, which will help cut the costs.

Famed Armenian novelist, editor, screenwriter and  translator Ruben Hovsepyan passed away today at the age of 77.

Born in Yerevan in 1939, Hovsepyan graduated from the Faculty of Geology of Yerevan State University and went on to study screenwriting in Moscow.

His first book Searches was published in 1965. His more than a dozen books have been translated into several languages. Hovsepyan has also edited several volumes and journals.

Hovsepoyan has translated the works by Leo Tolstoy and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude.

On 26 October President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree, according to which serviceman of the NKR Defense Army Gurgen Ayvazyan was posthumously awarded with the “For Service in Battle” medal for bravery shown during the defence of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic state border, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

Arthur Abraham has withdrawn from his November 12 rematch with Martin Murray because of an injury, Boxing News Online reports.

The pair were set to provide a sequel to their 2015 meeting, in which Abraham retained his WBO world super-middleweight title on a close decision in Germany.

Since then both men have lost, Abraham to Gilberto Ramirez and Murray to George Groves, but were set to meet in Monte Carlo next month.

Murray later clarified that he mistyped the tweet and that Abraham’s injury is the reason for the fight being called off.

The St Helens man will still box on the Monte Carlo show, though against whom is not yet yet clear. It is believed that the Abraham-Murray rematch will potentially be rescheduled for a later date.

By Harut Sassounian
The California Courier

The whole world is following with great interest the flood of internal emails released by WikiLeaks: over 400,000 emails of the Turkish ruling party (AKP), 2.8 million U.S. diplomatic emails, over 30,000 emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State, and 27,000 emails and attachments hacked from the Democratic National Committee.

I will single out a few out of the hundreds of leaked emails that touch upon Armenia or Turkey:

1. On April 19, 2015, Jake Sullivan, Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy adviser, sent an email to a half dozen senior campaign staffers, including Chairman John Podesta, asking if they should issue a statement on the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Sullivan also wanted to know if Clinton would use the term “genocide” as she did as Senator and presidential candidate eight years ago, or will she avoid that term as she did as Secretary of State? Sullivan pointed out that “the White House studiously avoided using ‘genocide’ so far,” and would probably continue to do so. Sullivan wondered whether Clinton’s campaign should proactively issue a statement on the Armenian Genocide or wait until asked to do so by “Armenian groups.” Sullivan ended his email by acknowledging that the Armenian Genocide issue “matters enormously to Armenian-Americans.” Within hours, Podesta suggested that a quotation from Pope Francis acknowledging the Armenian Genocide be included in the genocide statement which ultimately the Clinton Campaign decided not to issue.

2. Ismail Cobanoglu, First Counselor of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., sent an email on Sept. 9, 2015 to Campaign Chairman John Podesta, asking if Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu could “pay a courtesy call on Mrs. Clinton,” in New York, between Sept. 26 and 30. Strangely, Cobanoglu stated that he had first written to the State Department, but was told that Clinton was no longer Secretary of State! Cobanoglu told Podesta that Davutoglu is making this request “in light of his prior friendship with Secretary Clinton dating back to the time when they were colleagues as Secretary of State/Foreign Minister.” On the same day, Podesta told Cobanoglu that Mrs. Clinton’s “schedule is quite difficult, but this would be a priority meeting if at all possible. Huma Abedin, the campaign’s Vice Chair, will follow up.” Podesta then asked Ms. Abedin: “How do you want to handle?” She responded the next day to Cobanoglu informing him that Mrs. Clinton “would be happy to meet with the Prime Minister but we aren’t certain that she will be in New York any of days you suggest. We will let you know as soon as we are more clear on her schedule. We will be in touch soon.” It is not known if the requested meeting ever took place.

3. On December 17, 2010, Huma Abedin, who at the time was Secretary of State Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, forwarded her news about a ruling by the Federal Appeals Court, allowing heirs of Armenian Genocide victims to seek compensation from three German life insurance companies. Interestingly, and ominously, the subject line of Abedin’s email stated that Foreign Minister Davutoglu referred to this court case in his earlier phone call to Clinton. The next day, Harold Koh, Legal adviser of the State Department, sent a copy of the court verdict to Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, and Joe MacManus, Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State, asking them to forward this important document to Secretary Clinton. Koh added that “since FM [Foreign Minister] Davutoglu mentioned it in his phone call to her on Friday, we wanted to get this to her ASAP.” Sullivan sent the court verdict to Secretary Clinton with the following note: “Importance: High.” In my opinion, this was an unwarranted and blatant interference by the Turkish Foreign Minister in the US judicial system, seeking to enlist the Secretary of State in pressuring the courts to reverse the verdict! It is not known if Mrs. Clinton took any action in this regard. However, the Federal Court of Appeals subsequently struck down the earlier decision.

4. Finally, in a March 17, 2016 email, Campaign Chairman John Podesta listed 39 individuals as potential Vice Presidential candidates for Mrs. Clinton. One of the surprising names on the list was Muhtar Kent, a Turkish-American who is Chairman of The Coca Cola Company. His father, Necdet Kent, was Consul General of Turkey in New York City, where Muhtar was born. He attended high school in Mersin, Turkey. As we know, Mrs. Clinton ended up picking Tim Kaine as her running mate, not Muhtar Kent.

Former England international Paul Merson says Henrikh Mkhitaryan is Manchester United’s ‘best player,’ Goal.com reports.

Manchester United’s 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday, which has left them with just one victory in their last six Premier League outings, has sparked inevitable discussion regarding what Jose Mourinho needs to do in order to rejuvenate his Red Devils.

Paul Merson is among those who feel the Portuguese needs to get ruthless with his under-performing squad, culling those struggling for form and introducing those unfortunate to have found themselves on the outside looking in.

He wrote in his Sky Sports column on potential changes to United’s forward line: “Ibrahimovic used to be world class but he’s 35. He used to be in the top three or four players in the world but he’s not the same player anymore. Even Lionel Messi won’t be world class when he’s 35.

“He can’t play twice a week either now, which we saw on Sunday. He played Thursday and Sunday and he didn’t get a kick.

“I think Wayne Rooney has got to come back in. He got the blame before they dropped him and they’ve not improved since then. He got dropped for not doing too much wrong.

“At the moment I just don’t think Mourinho has options that he likes on the bench. At least if he drops Ibrahimovic then he’ll have an option to bring him on.”

Merson also feels that the Red Devils need to bring added creativity to their ranks by offering an opportunity to a summer signing he considers to be the best player on the Old Trafford books.

He added: “I think he [Mourinho] needs to get Henrikh Mkhitaryan fit and in the team. He’s got the X Factor and they need to get him playing.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit France on October 27.

Minister Nalbandian is expected to have a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.