Category: News

On 14 September Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory address to the newly-appointed prime-minister of the Republic of Armenia Karen Karapetyan.

The address runs as follows:

“On behalf of the people and authorities of the Artsakh Republic and on my own behalf, I extend my cordial congratulations to You on being appointed to the post of Republic of Armenia’s Prime Minister.

You have rich experience and knowledge, high personal and professional abilities that will greatly favor the realization of Your activity in this responsible position.

I am confident You will continue serving selflessly to the patriotic mission of bringing prosperity and development the Motherland’s and native people’s, strengthening the Armenian statehood, securing economic progress, deepening and widening ties between Armenia and Artsakh on a consistent basis.

I wish You great success for the glory of the Republic of Armenian and the Armenia people”.

Pope Francis stands for the diplomatic settlement of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Vladimir Fekete, Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Church in Azerbaijan said at a press conference in Baku on September 14.

Accoridng to reports in Azeri media, Fekete added that “the Catholic Church opposes war and urges to solve such conflicts peacefully.” He said the Catholic Church is not directly dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Fekete didn’t mention whether the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would be discussed during Pope’s visit to Baku.

Pope Francis will visit Baku on October 2. The Pontiff is expected to meet with Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, the chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office, as well as representatives of other religious communities, a spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Church in Baku Jamila Mammadova, said at a press conference in Baku on September 14.

The regular 11^th sitting of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation is under way in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

The Armenian delegation is headed by Movses Hakobyan, Head of the Logistics Department of the Ministry of Defense.

The European Union needs a military headquarters to work towards a common military force, the Commission president has told MEPs in Strasbourg, the BBC reports.

Jean-Claude Juncker said the lack of a “permanent structure” resulted in money being wasted on missions.

Part of his annual state of the union address was devoted to the UK’s unexpected vote to leave the EU.

He insisted that the bloc was not at risk and urged Brexit negotiations to take place as quickly as possible.

Mr Juncker warned that the UK could not expect selective “a la carte” access to the internal market without accepting free movement of people.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan had a telephone conversation with Head of RF Government Dmitry Medvedev. The Prime Minister of Armenia congratulated and offered his best wishes on his Russian counterpart’s birthday.

Karen Karapetyan highly appreciated Dmitry Medvedev’s personal contribution to the development of friendship-fostered cooperation between Armenia and Russia. Highlighting the importance of active cooperation between the two governments, the Prime Minister of Armenia stressed the need to deepen bilateral economic and trade relationship in the best interest of our two peoples in both bilateral and multilateral formats, including within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Karen Karapetyan thanked Dmitry Medvedev for congratulating him on his appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

On September 13, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan received Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

During the meeting, the sides discussed a range of issues related to the monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan conducted by the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

– The world premiere of the late Kirk Kerkorian’s legacy project—the much anticipated Armenian Genocide epic “The Promise”—had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 11. The film had the honor of being designated as one of the gala presentations of the prestigious festival.

The sold-out, star-studded gala took place at the iconic Roy Thomson Hall, with over 1,000 movie lovers and guests in attendance. The screening was attended by most of the primary cast, including Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, Marwan Kenzari, and Angela Sarafyan; musical artists who contributed to the soundtrack such as Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and Serj Tankian (System of a Down); director Terry George; and the production crew.

Prior to the screening, the film team was introduced on stage, and the importance of depicting the Armenian Genocide in film was presented to the audience. A resounding applause was given when Kirk Kerkorian’s name appeared at the beginning of the screening, considering the film would not have been possible without his vision.

The film begins with Michael (Isaac), an aspiring medical student who leaves his village for Constantinople to pursue his studies. In both locations, the audience is shown the delicate coexistence of religious and ethnic minorities within the larger society of the Ottoman Empire—minarets and church domes side by side in the landscape, Armenian and Turkish businesses competing against one another for customers.

In Constantinople, Michael meets Ana (Le Bon), an Armenian from Paris he quickly falls in love with, and Chris (Bale), Ana’s boyfriend and an outspoken Associated Press reporter. A love triangle quickly develops—a plot twist that is perhaps overdone in film and could have been better executed, but effective in moving the story forward nonetheless. He also befriends a wealthy fellow Turkish student Emre (Kenzari), the fictional son of Djemal Pasha, who honorably treats his Armenian friend with respect and loyalty throughout the film.

The second act of the film sees the Ottoman Empire entering World War I, as the relative peace of the society gives way to mass arrests, violent mobs, beatings, and hangings of the Armenian and other minority populations. The cold and systematic actions by the army officials fills the viewer with dread and underscores the premeditated nature of the historical crime.

Michael is eventually apprehended and deported. He experiences a harrowing journey of repeated separation, loss, trauma, and hope.

The film excels in portraying the traumatic emotional and physical experiences of the victims of the genocide, showing entire villages murdered and disposed in rivers, mass executions, deportation lines, and large groups of Armenian orphans.

Although the film does not rely solely on being a history lesson, those familiar with the history of the Armenian Genocide will notice familiar figures appear in the film, such as Father Komitas, Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, as well as Talaat and Enver Pashas, and Nazim Bey. The heroic resistances of Van and Musa Ler are portrayed in the film as well.

It is also worth commending the film for portraying various characters who stand up for the persecuted minorities. Bale excels in his role as Chris, who sees the warning signs of turmoil before his Armenian friends, and works tirelessly to document the horrors around him and bring them to the attention of the American people. United States ambassador Henry Morgenthau speaks to Talaat Pasha in an attempt to stop the violence and disregards diplomacy, declaring the Young Turk’s true plans for the Armenians. Finally, Kenzari’s depiction of Emre, a wealthy and comfortable Turk, whose steadfast loyalty to his Armenian friend at his own personal peril reminds viewers that there were those during the Genocide who put humanity and compassion over hate and violence.

The movie leaves viewers with the weight of the experiences of those who perished and those who fought to survive. Armenian and non-Armenians alike feel the same depth of pain, which shows that genocide recognition and prevention are a common cause for all humanity. The personal connection developed with the characters helps deepen the empathy felt by the audience and many in the concert hall were tearful by the end of the film.

Kerkorian’s vision was realized—the film will help the world will recognize the trauma of the genocide as it has long been felt by the Armenians.

The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation presents the ebook  an English version of the original in Spanish by the Argentinian author Sulim Granovsky.

Edited and published by the foundation in 2010 (Spanish ebook format), the research focuses on the tragic events that took place in 1915. As all the works that comprise the RWF Digital Library, this new ebook is freely accessible to all.

Sulim Granovsky comments on his creation in his own words: “Six hundred years of peaceful coexistence had elapsed within the empire, where Armenians shared in managing finance, business and the exports. Most of the buildings in Constantinople were built by Armenian architects. The main mosques were also the work of Armenian architects. Armenian officials advised the Turkish hierarchy. However, it was a false peace, because a series of vicissitudes anticipated the end of the precarious harmony, prior to the 1915 Genocide. In just a couple of years since 1895 Abdul Hamid, the Red Sultan, named after his bloodthirsty intentions, unleashed the annihilation of 300,000 Armenians. During the Hamidian era “any Muslim had permission to test the sharpness of his sword on the neck of an Armenian Christian.” Hamid’s murderous instinct was somewhat selective: he ordered the massacre of the Armenians in Anatolia, particularly if they had links to political parties and religious missions that could pose a threat to his regime because of the strong influence they had over the people. Truth is that in 1908 the rising movement of the Young Turks had overthrown Hamid, generating the support of the Armenians. However, the charm did not last long, because in the course of secret meetings of the Union and Progress Party, the Young Turks resolved that the Armenians were internal enemies of the Turkification process and should be persecuted and annihilated. The Interior Minister, Talaat Pasha, considered that, since the Armenians “had lost the right to life in the Ottoman Empire”, not a single bullet should be wasted in a holy war and, therefore, they should be killed with knives or drowned in the Euphrates. And this was what was done.”

This edition in English, commissioned to prestigious translator Elizabeth Birks, excels not only as a splendid translation, but also as a model of rhetorical precision.

 

 

 

The National Assembly started the 10^th session with discussions on the appointment of the new Prosecutor General.

Deputy Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan is still the only candidate. Addresing the lawmakers, he outlined the priorities of the field with a special emphasis on the transparent and public activity of the Office.

Asked to comment on his formula of changing the formula of justice, Arthur Davtyan said: “I see problems here, and I see the solution in the publicity. I often hear opinions and assessments, which contradict the objective information we possess. The information simply needs to be presented so that the public can form an objective comprehension of the events.”

Three Syrian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of being sent by so-called Islamic State (IS) to launch attacks, prosecutors say, the BBC reports.

The men – aged 17, 18 and 26 – were detained after a series of pre-dawn raids in the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony on Tuesday.

Police are reported to have seized “extensive material”.

But no concrete missions or orders had so far been found, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s office said.

In a statement, it said investigations so far suggested the three had come to Germany in November 2015 with the intention of “carrying out a previously determined order [from IS] or to await further instructions”.

They are said to have travelled through Turkey and Greece on false passports.

Investigators believe the men had volunteered for the alleged mission – and that the 17-year-old had been trained in handling weapons and explosives.

They were arrested when 200 police and security officers raided several premises including three refugee shelters.