Category: News

President Serzh Sargsyan today offered condolences to the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi over the deadly blasts at St. George’s Church and St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, which claimed the lives of dozens of innocent people.

“The Republic of Armenia strongly condemns these inhumane acts and reaffirms its solidarity to fight against international terrorism.

At this difficult time for Egypt I express my deepest condolences to you, to the friendly people of Egypt and to families of the victims, wishing them fortitude and a speedy recovery to the injured,” President Sargsyan said in a letter.

Manchester United kept their hopes of a Premier League top-four finish alive with a routine 3-0 win over 10-man Sunderland on Sunday, Goal.com reports.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 28th goal of the season set the visitors on course at the Stadium of Light before Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubled the lead after Sebastian Larsson’s red card.

Larsson was  dismissed for a tackle on Ander Herrera and United made their extra advantage count early in the second half, as Mkhitaryan struck to kill the game before Marcus Rashford had the final say late on.

Substitute Rashford added gloss to the scoreline in the 89th minute with his first league goal since September, collecting Ibrahimovic’s throughball before drilling low across Pickford from 12 yards.

During his working visit to the Republic of Artsakh, the President of the Republic of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief of the RA Armed Forces Serzh Sargsyan today met in Shushi the soldiers demobilized in 2017 as well as the ones still in service.
Moreover, he had meetings with the couple of demobilized officers and with the group of military servants who demonstrated courage and valor during their service. The President was accompanied by the RA Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan as well as by the legendary soldiers such as Lieutenant General Norat Ter-Grigoryants and Major General Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan, whose path can serve as an example for the current military servicemen.

During this traditional format of the meeting, the President proposed soldiers to speak openly about their concerns, ideas on the defense sector modernization, reforms, further strengthening and development of the homeland and to come up with suggestions. Serzh Sargsyan expressed his willingness to answer questions given by the participants of the meeting, listen to the opinions of soldiers on the ideas such as “Pativ unem (I have an honor)” and “Es em (It’s me)” proposed earlier by the Minister of Defense.

“It was after the first meeting when the idea to make these meetings regular was born, hoping that the conversation previously taken place in Dilijan on January will have its further development and last in the same way. This enables us, from one perspective to use these meetings as an incentive, because the probability is quite low for many of you to meet such people as Komandos, Norat Ter-Grigoryants in real life, and from another perspective, it gives us an opportunity to focus on the issues and circumstances that might not be visible for us at first sight, for example the comfort of your uniform, weapons integrity and combat readiness issues.

Today is a very memorable day for all of us, because if not this day 25 years ago we would not be able to sit here and we would have already lost the Artsakh world, because the liberation of Shushi allowed us to fully mobilize our forces, become “nation-army”, reach completely liberated Karabakh and at least ensure the safety of those who live here.

Nowadays, many try to interpret, some of them from the positive viewpoint and some from the negative, others somewhat ironic, the idea proposed by the Minister of Defense, in other words the idea of “nation-army.” The ones who do not fully grasp the very essence of this idea I will advise to interact with the people who took active participation in the liberation war, regardless whether they were part of the armed forces or they lived civil life.
I want you, while assessing the merits of others and the merits of the ones who have made our victory possible, also to assess your merits, because if it were not for you and soldiers before you, it is obvious, that the victories of the older generation would not cost even a penny. Victory is a victory when you can maintain it. Assessing your merits you should be claimant and active in order our country to develop, have an opportunity to keep its armed forces and equip armor”, – President said at the beginning of the meeting.

The Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan presented to the RA President and participants of the meeting another project named “Ditaket (Outlook)” being implemented in the framework of the modernization and reforms of the defense sector. According to the Minister, this project will address all the existing problems units-by-units with the participation of demobilized servicemen, give solutions to them and ensure maximum transparency and accountability in the army.

The President welcomed and stressed the importance of the project’s contribution. He also instructed to report him periodically about the project results for him to be able to make conclusions.

Four political forces will be represented in the Armenian Parliament, according to final results of the poll published by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

 

The CEC said 2,575,786 citizens or 60.93 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections.

The Republican Party of Armenia will hold 58 seats in the 105-member National Assembly, Tsarukyan Alliance will claim 31 seats. Yelk bloc and ARF Dashnaktsutyun will be represented by 9 and 7 lawmakers respectively.

Photo: EPA

 

Two blasts targeting Coptic Christians in Egypt on Palm Sunday have killed at least 40 people, officials say, the BBC reports.

In Alexandria, an explosion outside St Mark’s Coptic church killed 13 people. Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Church, had been attending Mass inside and was unhurt, state media reported.

An earlier blast at St George’s Coptic church in Tanta killed 27 people.

So-called Islamic State (IS) says it is behind the explosions. The group has recently targeted Copts in Egypt.

Four police officers, including one policewoman, were among those killed in Alexandria, the interior ministry said. The suicide bomber blew himself up after they stopped him from entering the church.

The first explosion in Tanta, 94km (58 miles) north of Cairo, took place near the altar.

Security forces later dismantled two explosive devices at the Sidi Abdel Rahim Mosque, also in Tanta, the state-run Al-Ahram news website reports.

The explosions injured at least 78 people in Tanta and 35 others in Alexandria, the health ministry said.

Armenia’s Simon Martirosyan claimed gold in the 2017 European Weightlifting Championships held in Split, Croatia.

The Olympic bronze medalist snatched 184 kg and lifted 230 kg in the clean & jerk.

 

Russia has reacted angrily after the US launched a missile strike on a Syrian government air base, the BBC reports.

US officials said the base had been used to launch a chemical weapons attack in north-western Syria that left dozens of civilians dead on Tuesday.

But Russia, which backs President Bashar al-Assad, condemned the US strike and suspended a deal designed to avoid mid-air collisions over Syria.

It is the first direct US military action against Syria’s government.

At least six people are reported to have been killed.

It comes just days after some 80 civilians, including many children, died in the suspected nerve gas attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.

The Syrian opposition and Western powers say the Syrian government launched the attack but Syria denies this.

AFP – A gleaming white structure topped with seven domes, set to be the world’s biggest Yazidi temple, is being built in a tiny village in Armenia.

Long persecuted, most recently by Islamic jihadists in Iraq, the Kurdish-speaking, religious minority hopes the new temple will prove a symbol of strength as it tries to preserve its unique blend of faiths.

Yazidis, adherents of an ancient religion rooted in Zoroastrianism, number around 35,000 in Armenia today but currently have just one tiny temple in the Caucasus country.

The new edifice, called Quba Mere Diwane, is being constructed in Aknalich, a village 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the capital, Yerevan, thanks to funding by a wealthy Moscow-based Yazidi businessman Mirza Sloyan, who was born nearby.

Aknalich is home to 150 Yazidis, as well as the existing temple, built in 2012 which only holds up to 30 people.

Created from granite and marble, the new 25-metre-high (82-foot) structure will include a large prayer hall, religious school and museum. Its seven domes represent seven angels revered by the Yazidis.

Of the world’s 1.5 million Yazidis, the largest community is in Iraq where they have long been one of the country’s most vulnerable minorities. Persecution by Saddam Hussein forced thousands of families to flee.

In August 2014, Yazidis were brutally targeted by Islamic State jihadists when their bastion Sinjar in northwestern Iraq was seized. They suffered crimes which the United Nations has described as genocide.

“We suffered terrible losses in Sinjar and are extremely depressed, but this temple gives us a glimmer of hope for revival,” said Sheikh Hasan Hasanya, the spiritual leader of the Armenian Yazidis.

“If we can build such a splendid temple, that means Yazidis withstood, they didn’t give up,” he told AFP by telephone.

The country’s largest minority group, Yazidis are well integrated into Armenian society, enjoy freedom of religious belief, and publish Yazidi-language newspapers and textbooks.

But widespread poverty and unemployment have sent a wave of migrants to Europe, Russia and the United States in search of work.

“I hope that the new temple will motivate my children — who are living in Europe — to come back to Aknalich, remind them that they are Yazidis,” said local resident Misha Davrshyan.

Yazidis worship one God, who, they believe, created the world and entrusted it to seven Holy Beings, the most important of which is Melek Taus, or Peacock Angel.

Their unique beliefs — which over time integrated elements of Judaism, Christianity and Islam — have often been misconstrued as satanic.

Orthodox Muslims consider the peacock a demon figure and refer to Yazidis as devil-worshippers.

Fearing assimilation, Yazidis discourage marriage outside the community and even across their caste system, and strictly follow traditional customs — some refrain from eating lettuce or wearing the colour blue.

“We have no state and, as a vulnerable minority, we risk imminent assimilation if we stop protecting our traditions,” said Hasanyan.

He said he hoped that the new temple, expected to open this year, “will become a major spiritual centre for Yazidi pilgrims from all over the world.”

“There is an old Yazidi prayer asking God to give peace and happiness first to the world’s other nations and then to our tormented people,” he said.

“That’s what we will be praying for in the new temple.”

Armenian Weekly – The Supreme Court of Appeals in Turkey has annulled the decision to expropriate Surp Giragos of Diyarbakir, reported Istanbul-based Agos.

The decision to expropriate the largest Armenian church in the Middle East was adopted in March 2016. In addition to Surp Giragos, the Surp Sarkis Chaldean Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the St. Mary Syriac Church, and the Protestant Church were among some of the other sites in the city that were subjected to expropriation by the Turkish cabinet.

The Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation had previously appealed to the State Council for the annulment of the expropriation.

The Turkish court had then sent an inquiry to the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urban planning, questioning the expropriation of the church. After the lack of answers regarding the expropriation of the church, the court decided to suspend the decision.

The court ruled that Surp Giragos Church is registered in the list of immovable properties and that it is protected by the Law on the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Property. The ruling also stated that an expropriation of the church opposes agreements made during the Treaty of Lausanne.

According to that document, minorities are given equal rights for founding, administrating and controlling religious, charitable, and social institutions, while the Turkish government guaranteed that it will protect the churches and religious institutions belonging to minorities.

The Armenian Apostolic Holy Church will celebrate the Palm Sunday, the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, on April 9. Under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; Palm Sunday is also annually declared to be the Blessing of Children Day.

On the occasion of the Feast, a special service of Blessing of Children will be held at all Armenian Churches.

This year, with the blessings of the Catholicos of All Armenians; the Social Service Department of the Mother See will hold an event for 150 disabled children from the Hrazdan Children’s Support Foundation Day Center. Following the Blessing Service, a reception will be held for the Children of the Day Center, during which the Catholicos of All Armenians will distribute gifts to the children.