Category: News

The Armenian translation of Turkish historian Taner Akcam has been published in Yerevan, Akunq.net reports.

The book titled “Forced Islamization of Armenians: Silence, Denial and Assimilation” consists of three parts. In the first part the author speaks about the impossibility of an unbiased study of the Armenian Genocide issue in Turkey, about the difficulties and persecutions he has passed through.

The second part presents the story of discriminatory and biased discussions on the Turkish edition of Armenian Officer Sarkis Torossian’s Memoires, which raised a second wave of criticism against Taner Akcam, who tracked down Torossian’s family in America.

In the third part the author presents the policy of forces Islamization and assimilation of Armenians between 1915 and 1918. Taner Akcam describes this as a structural element of the Armenian Genocide.

The book has been translated and prepared for publication at the Research Center on Western Armenian Studies. Meline Anumyan has translated the book from Turkish, Haykazun Alvrtyan is the managing editor.

The book published under the sponsorship of the Jerair Nishanian Foundation is dedicated to the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide.

President Serzh Sargsyan today sent a cable of condolences to his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella over the that claimed tens of human lives and caused destructions. The message reads:

I express my deepest condolences and support to you and the families of the victims, whishing them endurance and strength of spirit. We pray for the health of those injured and wish them a speedy recovery.

I’m confident that due to consistent efforts of the Italian authorities the consequences of the earthquake will be eliminated as soon as possible.

Our hearts and thoughts are with the friendly people of Italy.

Photo: Reuters

 

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least 37 people dead and 150 missing, as rescuers search for survivors, the BBC reports.

Many of the dead were in the village of Pescara del Tronto which was levelled to the ground and there were fears the number of casualties could rise.

Much of the town of Amatrice was reduced to rubble and a family of four were feared dead nearby in Accumoli.

The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome.

Although it struck at a shallow depth of 10km, its intensity was compared to the Aquila earthquake in April 2009 in which 309 people died. The epicentre was around Accumoli where several people died.

The International Weightlifting Federation has declared that as a consequence of the IOC’s reanalyses of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (IOC – wave 2), the samples of a number of athletes have returned Adverse Analytical Findings.

Gold medal winner in the 85kg weight category Andrey Ribakov of Belarus is among the athletes that failed the doping test. That means Armenia’s Tigran Martirosyan, who had won a bronze medal at Beijing Olympics, will now get the silver.

Martirosyan had lifted a combined 380 kg (177+203).

On August 23, 1990 the Supreme Council of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia adopted Armenia’s Declaration of Independence, ending decades of Soviet rule and beginning a new chapter in history.

The adoption of the Declaration marked the start of the process of establishment of independent statehood positioning the question of the creation of a democratic society based on the rule of law.

The country was renamed the Republic of Armenia and a year later, on September 21, 1991 Armenia became an independent state.

With the purpose of guaranteeing the security of the Republic of Armenia and the inviolability of its borders, the Republic of Armenia created its own armed forces, internal troops, state bodies and public security under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council.

Under the Declaration, the Republic of Armenia guaranteed the use of Armenian as the state language in all spheres of the Republic’s life, created its own system of education and of scientific and cultural development.

 

About 30 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival fired more than 30 shots from firearms of different calibers in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep full control of the situation at the frontline and continue with the reliable protection of the military positions.

Photo: EPA

Turkey has bombarded so-called Islamic State (IS) targets in northern Syria amid reports Syrian rebels are to launch an offensive against the group, the BBC reports.

Artillery positions inside Turkey fired on IS as well as Kurdish YPG militia targets in the towns of Jarablus and Manbij.

Some 1,500 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are thought to be in the Turkish town of Gaziantep waiting to attack.

This follows a bomb attack on a wedding there that killed more than 50 people

On 22 August Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited one of the borderline sections located in the south-eastern part of the republic, met there the command staff, got acquainted with the course of service and current situation.

RA and NKR defense ministers Seyran Ohanyan and Levon Mnatsakanyan and other officials partook at the meeting.

 

 

 

The rumors about the plans to cede territories have nothing to do with reality, President of the “National Security” Party Garnik Isagulyan told reporters today.

Summing up the developments on the Karabakh issue since 1988, he said “the issue of territories has always been raised in negotiations ever since the conclusion of ceasefire in 1994.”

“Unfortunately, our political scientists, politicians think that when we speak about territories, it means the Armenian side is ready for unilateral concessions,” Isagulyan said.

“There are a number of areas occupied by Azerbaijan. Why doesn’t one think that when we speak about territories, it’s about the return of Azeri-occupied lands to the Armenian side?” he added.

According to Garnik Isagulyan, neither the NKR President, nor any official representative of Artsakh has ever spoken of unilateral concessions, although ,he said, “it has never been revealed what ‘mutual concessions’ mean.” He sees no problem with Armenia rpresentng Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiations.

Isagulyan believes the format is even more beneficial for the Armenian side. “Irrespectoive of what Armenia and Azerbaijan may agree upon one day, Artsakh can clearly state it disagrees with the position of Armenia,” he explained.

He assured no one is going to cede territories and added that no one can force Armenia and Artsakh make concessions. He added that the Armenian side has not signed any document ever since 1994. All other documents just form the basis of negotiations and are not signed by anyone.

Armenian troops are participating in the Unbreakable Brotherhood 2016 joint peacekeeping exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The drills kicked off in Belarus today and will continue through August 27.

The opening ceremony was attended by Belarus’ Defense Minister Andrey Ravkov, CSTO’s Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov, Head of the CSTO Joint Staff, Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, high-ranking officials from CSTO member states.

The exercise involves more than 1,500 officers and peacekeepers from the Armed Forces, the Internal Troops and the Police of all of the CSTO’s six member states – Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Tajikistan – as well as over 500 aircraft, armored and automotive vehicles.