Category: News

A cross-stone dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims was solemnly opened and consecrated in the yard of the Armenian Church of St. Virgin Mary in the Swedish city of Södertälje. The ceremony was led by His Grace Bishop Markos Hovhannisyan.

Armenian Ambassador to Sweden Artak Apitonyan, Södertälje Major Boel Godner and Fr. Tiran Petrosyan, Pontifical Legate for Central Europe and Scandinavia, offered opening remarks.

Attending the event were representatives of Swedish state bodies and sister churches, members of the Armenian community.

Ambassador Apitonyan noted that “the first-ever cross-stone dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims unveiled in Sweden is not only of religious and cultural value.” “It also symbolizes the devotion of the Armenian community of Sweden to national identity, as well as the decisiveness of the Armenian nation to continue the struggle for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide,” he said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel told Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper on Tuesday that people with Turkish roots living in Germany should be loyal to the country, reports.

“We expect that people of Turkish origin who have been living in Germany for a long time should develop a high level of loyalty to our nation,” Merkel said.

“Therefore we are trying to have open ears to hear their concerns and to understand them. And for this we are also keeping in close contact with immigrant associations.”

Merkel’s talk of loyalty comes as the government is considering new measures to combat terrorism, including getting rid of dual citizenship. Members of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) have said that dual nationality poses a “huge obstacle to integration”.

The Chancellor also commented on the current situation in Turkey where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been cracking down on suspected dissenters in the wake of a failed coup last month. She urged Germany’s Turkish community to remain calm despite the circumstances dividing the country.

“Freedom of opinion and to demonstrate are meant for everyone who lives here in Germany, but of course everyone must peacefully express their differences of opinion,” Merkel said.

Erdogan and his supporters in Germany criticized German authorities when officials denied the Turkish president the chance to speak via video link to a rally of tens of thousands in Cologne at the end of last month.

Photo: TASS

 

Russia will not compete at next month’s Paralympics in Rio after losing an appeal against a ban imposed for state-sponsored doping, the BBC reports.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) ban on all Russian competitors.

The IPC made the decision in light of the McLaren report.

The Paralympics begin on 7 September.

The IPC’s decision to ban the entire Russian team “was proportionate in the circumstances”, according to the Cas panel, which said it would publish the full grounds of its decision later.

It added that the Russian Paralympic Committee did not file any evidence contradicting the facts put forward by the IPC.

Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, accused of killing a family of 7 in Armenia’s second city of Gyumri has been sentenced to life.

The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015.

Permyakov was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.

On August 12, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.

On October 13, Permyakov was found sane. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime. He also could recognize the consequences of his actions.

On October 16, Permyakov was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.

Armenia fetched four medals at 31^st Summer Olympic Games in Rio and came in 42^nd among 206 countries in the medal count.

Greco Roman wrestler Arthur Alexanian (98 kg) won the first gold medal for Armenia after a 20-year break.

Armenia was deprived of a second gold medal after a biased decision of the arbiter in the men’s 66 kg Greco-Roman wrestling final. The Serb wrestler was given the gold, while Armenia’s Migran Arutyunyan won a silver medal.

Weightlifters Simon Martirosyan (105 kg) and Gor Minasyan (+105 kg) both fetched silver medals.

Manchester United fans have already created brilliant chant for Henrikh Mkhitaryan who joined United from Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer, reports.

Supporters have finally managed to get over the trickiness of the Armenian’s seven-syllable name since his £27million signing at the beginning of July.

“Whoa Mkhitaryan, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, he’s our midfield Armenian,” is how the simple but effective chant goes, to the tune of Sting’s classic Englishman In New York. 

And Mkhitaryan is clearly loving his new chant after he ‘liked’ the video of Twitter.

أهزوجة مختاريان
Whoa Mkhitaryan,
Henrikh Mkhitaryan,
he’s our midfield Armenian.

— ماجد السهلي . (@maged_aloosh)

The Rio Olympics ended with a spectacular carnival-inspired closing ceremony, and the official handover to 2020 hosts Tokyo, the BBC reports.

The colourful ceremony, lasting almost three hours, celebrated Brazil’s arts and was held in a wet Maracana.

Among the highlights were Tokyo’s impressive showcase and a vibrant carnival parade.

“These were a marvellous Olympics, in a marvellous city,” said International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach.

“Over the last 16 days a united Brazil inspired the world, in difficult times for all of us, with its irresistible joy for life.”

Bach officially closed the Games of the 31st Olympiad after 16 days of competition, featuring 11,303 athletes from 206 nations and a refugee team.

One of the biggest cheers of the night came when Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared dressed as computer game character Super Mario, rising out of a huge green pipe in the stadium.

The ceremony, watched by billions around the world, featured the parade of athletes and a dramatic extinguishing of the Olympic flame.

Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection in New England hosted its annual summer festival Sunday, according to ,

The Stanley Street parish hosted hundreds of people, many of whom share family ties, according to the church’s pastor, Kapriel Mouradjian.

“A lot of people here are related to one and other,” he explained. “It’s like two degrees of separation.”

Local families were joined by fellow Armenians from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. In a few weeks, many of them will head to Springfield, Mass., where St. Mark Armenian Church will be hosting its annual picnic.

Members of the New Britain church spent over a week preparing food for Sunday’s event, expecting to serve over 400 meals. On the menu were lamb kebab, shish kebab, rice pilaf, tabouleh and a khema sandwich, filled with spiced minced meat.

“We make a lot of money for the church today,” said Violet Terdjanian, one of the cooks. “We work a few hours and then we eat. It’s nice to see people come and enjoy.”

The event has been happening since the church building was consecrated in 1982. Before that, the church was on Erwin Place and the festival was held at Falcon Field.

 

In October, the parish is hosting another celebration, in honor of its 75th anniversary.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has thanked the country’s State Security Service (SSS) for  that had the potential to instigate a major threat, Agenda.ge reports.

Kvirikashvili’s comments come several hours after a special briefing by the SSS, which revealed the agency had taken definitive action to prevent a terrorist attack on several sections of the Russia-Armenia pipeline that goes through Georgian territory.

Kvirikashvili said thanks to the actions of the SSS, this “huge threat” was averted.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express gratitude to each person involved in this operation, as a major disaster was averted. Making such timely and effective decisions and actions is of utmost importance,” said the PM.

He refused to make any further comment as an investigation is now underway into the incident.

Earlier today the SSS announced seven people had been arrested for attempting to blow up several sections of the gas pipeline, located in at Saguramo Village about 21km from Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

The people were arrested and charged with terrorism-related offences on August 20 moments before they were due to blow up the pipeline.

Five people were charged with organizing a terrorist act, illegal purchase and possession of explosives and military weapons. The other two were charged with other illegalities in relation to the case.

 

 

 

There can be no negotiation process unless Artsakh is involved in talks, Executive Director of the Foundation Against the Violation of Law (FAVL), Armenia’s first Human Rights Defender Larisa Alaverdyan told a press conference today. She said the process under the aegis of the Minsk Group is living a crisis.

“Whatever we call the process under way within the framework of the Minsk Group, it is in crisis. The lack of agreement on meetings and the cautious statements of the Co-Chairs come to prove this,” she said.

Larisa Alaverdyan said the steps of the Armenian side are unclear to her. “The OSCE has other institutes beside the Minsk Group – the OSCE Fact-Finding Mission, for example.” She noted that Azerbaijan applies to the mission on every occasion, while we never do.

Director of the Modus Vivendi Analytical Center, political scientist Ara Papyan noted that “the document on the table today is not new. It comes from the 1994 agreement.”

He said “the last document that has been spoken about is that of Kazan” and added that the solution of the issue in that format is unacceptable.

Speaking about the steps of the Armenian side, Ara Papyan stressed the need to change the “ground and essence” of the negotiation process. “The principle of territories against nothing should be cancelled,” he said.

According to the political scientist, there are both positive and negative factors in the geopolitical developments. “The positive factor is that there are opportunities Armenia should use to develop relations with the West, thus creating an alternative,” he said.

Larisa Alaverdyan does not exclude the perspective of a large-scale war. “The possibility is high, considering the lack of cusses in diplomacy. That means that Azerbaijan’s failed nasty attack in April was a signal to our authorities to reinforce the armed forces,” she said.

Alaverdyan said she has no expectants form the Minsk Group, but added that she’s not against meetings. “Meetings at least mean there should be no war.”

Ara Papyan does not expect from a possible Paris meeting, either.