Category: News

Iran’s Paykan football team has completed the signing of Armenian international defender Levon Hayrapetyan, reports.

Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov describes the trilateral meeting between the Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan in Saint Petersburg as “encouraging and useful.”

According to him, no breakthrough was expected, the Armenian side anticipated “talks on resumption of talks.”

“The meeting solved the minimum goal – exclusion of resumption of military actions in the conflict zone,” Sharmazanov said.

“The meeting was useful, considering that it was a step towards peace, not war,” he said. The Deputy Speaker did not rule out, however, that peace could be temporary, “as we’re dealing with an unpredictable neighbor.”

“If the mediators want serious progress, our position is clear: there are ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, which should be a landmark for all, including Azerbaijan,” Sharmazanov said.

He stressed the importance of commitment to all provisions of the agreement, which Nagorno Karabakh is also a party to. “No progress is possible without the participation of Nagorno Karabakh,” he added.

Former Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt faces a $2,500 fine for not reporting legal assistance provided by a pro-Turkish group, C reports.

The Turkish Coalition of America Inc., which aided Schmidt in several legal disputes connected to her political career, will pay a $25,000 fine, the Federal Election Commission said in its letter to all parties in the matter.

The June 10 agreement with the FEC comes nearly five years after Schmidt political opponent David Krikorian leveled the accusation, part of a multi-front battle between the two over Schmidt’s support of Turkey in Congress and Krikorian’s characterizations about her support.

Neither Schmidt or Krikorian are in politics anymore, but the battle has continued, long after voters rejected them both. Schmidt beat Krikorian in 2008 to keep her 2nd Congressional District seat but later lost the 2012 Republican primary to now-Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Columbia Tusculum.

Schmidt reported she had repaid Turkish Coalition of America $42,812 in legal fees and expenses, but in fact, the TCA provided free legal services to Schmidt worth $651,244 in several cases from 2008 to 2011, the FEC said. Schmidt was represented by TCA’s legal arm, the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund.

“We are pleased that this matter was resolved in the manner that explains the mitigating circumstances and the ambiguous state of the law,” said David Saltzman, legal counsel for the Turkish Coalition of America. “Rather than litigate this matter, the Turkish Coalition of America agreed to settle on favorable terms and thereby keeps its focus on its programs that help foster understanding and cooperation across the globe.”

“With these actions, the FEC has finally delivered a small measure of justice,” said Krikorian in an emailed statement. “The Turkish Coalition of America should have its ‘charitable’ status revoked for its willful and egregious violations of campaign finance law.”

Several groups of Russian pilgrims will visit Armenia to pray with Pope Francis and thousands of Catholics at a Holy Mess in Gyumri’s Vartanats Square on June 25, Fr. Petros Yesayan, leader of the Armenian Catholic community of Russia told RIA Novosti.

Groups from Moscow, Bryansk, Krasnodar, Sochi, Adler and other cities are expected to visit Armenia. According to Fr. Yesaya, there are three Catholic priests serving in Russia today.

The visit of Pope Francis to the Republic of Armenia will start on 24 June. The official welcoming ceremony will be held upon his arrival at the Zvartnots International Airport, following which the Pope will travel to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where a welcoming service will be offered in the Mother Cathedral.

In the evening, Pope Francis will meet with President Serzh Sargsyan, of the Republic of Armenia; then with the authorities and community leaders and representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia. The first day will conclude with a meeting at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

On the morning of 25 June, His Holiness Pope Francis will visit Tsitsernakaberd, the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and Museum in Yerevan. Pope Francis, along with His Holiness Karekin II, will visit the city of Gyumri, where a Divine Liturgy will be offered in Vardanants Square. The Pope will also visit Our Lady of Armenia Convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Gyumri; then the Seven Wounds St. Mary Church of the Diocese of Shirak of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and the Holy Martyrs Armenian Catholic Cathedral. In the evening, an outdoor Ecumenical Service and Peace Prayer will be held in Yerevan – in Republic Square.

On 26 June, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Pope Francis will meet with Armenian Catholic bishops, and then participate in a Divine Liturgy and an Ecumenical dinner, along with the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Archbishops and Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, Armenian Catholic Archbishops and Bishops and the Papal delegation. Pope Francis will also meet delegates and benefactors of the Armenian Church. His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Karekin II will sign a joint declaration.

The Spiritual leaders will offer their prayers at the Khor Virap Monastery, following which Pope Francis will depart for Rome.

Armenian football fans in Lebanon are backing Germany in this year’s European Championship, reports.

Abboul Al Damouri, an Armenian living in the capital Beirut, says he has supported Germany in the past.

But this year, following Germany’s recognition of the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 100 years ago as ‘genocide’, he wants to shout his allegiance from the rooftops.

Sounding his horn loudly, he drives through the capital’s busy streets on a bicycle festooned with German flags and colours.

To show their support for Germany in Euro 2016, many residents of the Armenian neighborhood of Burj Hammoud in East Beirut have hung German flags in the streets.

They say it is in gratitude for the German parliament approving a declaration earlier this month recognising the 1915 killings as genocide.

Armenian restaurant owner, Kaburk Jokjokian, is even offering food free of charge to German fans.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan, who is on a working visit to the Kingdom of Denmark, participated in the annual People s Meeting «Folkemødet» public forum in the Danish Island of Bornholm.

On June 19, in the framework of the forum, Karen Mirzoyan delivered a speech at a meeting-discussion in the pavilion of the European Movement of Denmark chaired by the сhairperson of the organization Stine Bosse.

In his welcoming speech, the Foreign Minister stressed the importance of the meeting in terms of raising awareness about Artsakh in Denmark, as well as presenting the existing realities in the NKR and the position of Artsakh on international and regional issues.

Answering the numerous questions of the participants, the NKR Foreign Minister briefed them on a range of issues related to the national-liberation movement of Artsakh, the current stage of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, the achievements of the NKR in the state-building process, and the foreign policy priorities of the Republic.

On the same day, Karen Mirzoyan visited the Art Museum of the island of Bornholm. During the ceremony organized there, he handed over a sculpture by talented sculptor of Artsakh Hayk Hakobyan to Director Lars Kærulf Møller for the collection of the museum. In its part, the Bornholm Museum donated a work by Bornholm artist Lenny Goldemberg to the Shushi State Museum of Fine Arts. The sides exchanged views on the prospects of possible cooperation in  the spheres of culture and museology.

The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, on Tuesday briefed journalists on Pope Francis’ 3-day visit to Armenia taking place from 24-26th of June. He said the papal visit underlines the Pope’s desire to show his closeness to the entire nation of Armenia, whose people who have suffered so much during their long history and who shares their desire for peace, reports.

Father Lombardi noted that the Pope’s visit to Armenia should be considered as the first part of a trip that will take him to three nations in the Caucus region in 2016. The second leg will take place from September 30th to October 2nd when the Pope will travel to Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Ecumenism is a key focus of the Pope’s journey to Armenia that follows a visit to the Vatican in April 2015 by Catholicos, Karekin II, the Patriarch of All Armenia, during which a Mass was celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica to commemorate the centenary of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman troops in 1915.

During his trip to Armenia, the Pope will meet descendants of those killed during that massacre when he travels to a memorial complex in the city of Tsitzernakaberd situated in the south of the nation, according to Radio Vatican.

Father Lombardi also revealed that among the journalists travelling to Armenia for the papal visit is Evangelina Himitian, the daughter of an Armenian evangelical pastor in Argentina and a friend of the then Cardinal Bergoglio during his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The journalist’s grandparents were witnesses and victims of the Ottoman persecution of Armenians and their lives were saved through the help of some Turkish peasants who offered them protection.

Other highlights of the Pope’s programme during his visit to Armenia include the Pope’s meeting with the civil and religious authorities including the Catholicos and other representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Pope will also visit, Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, where he will hold an open-air Mass before returning to the capital to attend an ecumenical meeting and prayer for peace.

On his final day, the Pope will visit the Khor Virap monastery near the Turkish border where he will release doves in the direction of Mount Arafat. The monastery is revered as the site where St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of Christianity in Armenia, was imprisoned.

The reports that as a consequence of the International Olympic Committee’s reanalyses of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the samples of the following Athletes have returned Adverse Analytical Findings: Hripsime Khurshudyan (ARM), Alexandru Dudoglo (MDA), Nadezda Evstyukhina (RUS), Nurcan Taylan (TUR), Marina Shainova (RUS), Intigam Zairov (AZE), Ilya Ilyin (KAZ).

In line with the relevant rules and regulations, the IWF imposed mandatory provisional suspensions upon the Athletes, who remain provisionally suspended in view of potential anti-doping rule violations until their cases are closed.

Following the IOC’s decisions, the IWF will be in a position to take over the results management of these cases.

Should it be determined in any of the cases that no anti-doping violation was committed, the relevant decision shall also be published.

The IWF will not make any further comments on the cases until they are closed.

The City Hall of the Turkish city of Tuzluca (historic Koghb) in Igdir Province has demounted the Armenian signboards at the entry and exit of the city, Anadolu Agency reports.

The signboards reading “Welcome” and “Good bye” in four languages, including Armenian, were posted in Tuzluca in September 2015.

The Armenian inscription angered the local activists at the time.