Category: News

Armenia pays tribute to the memory of Pontian Greek Genocide victims

Hagop Kamalian
Public Radio of Armenia
17:58,

Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov, other MPs, representatives of the Greek Embassy in Armenia and the Greek community visited the Tsitsernakaberd memorial today to pay tribute to the memory of victims of the Pontian Greek genocide.

On behalf of the Armenian Parliament, Edward Sharmazanov laid a wreath at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims.

Condemning the crime committed by Ottoman Turkey at the turn of the 20th century, Edward Sharmazanov said “This is also a day of revival.”

“We’ll do our best to prevent reoccurrence of such crimes against humanity in the future. An evidence of this is the existence of two Greek and two Armenian states.  The Armenian authorities will do everything to reach international condemnation of genocides against Christian nations, and we have to combine efforts, because the denial of genocide is as dangerous as its perpetration,” Sharmazanov stated.

In 1994 the Hellenic Parliament recognized and condemned the genocide of more than 600 thousand Pontian Greeks. Many of those who fled the genocide found refuge in Armenia and integrated into the social-economic and political life of the country.

The genocide of Pontian Greeks has been recognized by Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Artsakh Republic.

The Armenian National Assembly observed a minute of silence today in memory of victims of the genocide.

Armenia’s PM receives U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

Manouk Vasilian
Panorama, Armenia

Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan received on Friday Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the U.S. to the Republic of Armenia Richard Mills.

As the Public Relations Department of the Armenian Government reports, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of regular meetings held in this format that provide a good opportunity to exchange views on the prospects for the furtherance of US-Armenia cooperation.

On behalf of US Government, Ambassador Mills congratulated Karen Karapetyan on being reappointed as Prime Minister of Armenia and wished him fruitful work.

The interlocutors went on exchanging views on economic cooperation agenda and joint projects, including investments, improvement of business environment, tax-customs administration and judicial reforms, as well as the cooperation in the fight against corruption.

Karen Karapetyan and Richard Mills took the opportunity to discuss ways of furthering interaction in the fields of energy, tourism, information technology, mining industry and agriculture.

Minsk Group’s non-standard statement points out the part responsible for escalation – Nalbandian

Garik Boshkezenian
Public Radio of Armenia


17:09,

Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland on the sidelines of the 127th Session of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe in Cyprus.

The interlocutors discussed a number of issues facing the Council of Europe and the routes of their resolution. The Secretary General hailed the effective cooperation established between Armenia and the Council of Europe.

Edward Nalbandian briefed Thorbjørn Jagland on the results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia in April and praised the Venice Commission’s export support. Reference was made to the developments within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the need to take practical steps to recover the trust in the organization.

Edward Nalbandian presented the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs towards creation of conditions conducive to furthering the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Armenia’s top diplomat said “Baku is doing the utmost to disrupt the peace process.” Opposing the consistent calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the international community to strongly observe the ceasefire regime, Azerbaijan keeps violating the trilateral agreements on ceasefire.”

Edward Nalbandian stressed that “Armenia constantly calls on the OSCE Minsk Group to point out the party responsible for ceasefire violations. “By turning down the creation of an investigation mechanism, Azerbaijan is trying to avoid responsibility for periodic violations of the ceasefire regime,” Nalbandian said.

He added, however, that “the non-standard statement issued by the Co-Chairs yesterday clearly points to the party responsible for escalation.”

MP Samvel Farmanyan welcomes OSCE Misnk Group’s targeted statement.

Babken Chilingarian
Public Radio of Armenia
14:51,

“For the first time in the history of mediating efforts, the OSCE Minsk Group had to point out that Azerbaijan is the initiator of escalation of situation at the line of contact and violation of the ceasefire regime,” MP Samvel Farmanyan saidat a parliament sitting today.

According to him, the statement was a ‘forced step,’ considering that Azerbaijan continues to refuse to implement the agreements on investigation mechanisms reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

“I believe we should all welcome this statement and I think that the Minsk Group should publish data on the losses incurred by the Azerbaijani side as a result of the ceasefire violations,” he said.

“As we know Azerbaijan conceals the manpower losses from its society, thus misleading its own citizens,” Farmanyan said.

In a statement released Thursday, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs stressed that “Azerbaijani armed forces fired a missile across the Line of Contact, striking military equipment,” and added that “Armenian armed forces retaliated with mortar fire of various calibres.”

The Co-Chairs condemned “these recent ceasefire violations” and called upon the sides to take all necessary measures to prevent any further escalation in the conflict zone.

Tehran: Armenian Archbishop of Tehran Hails High Turnout in Elections

Varazdat Torgomian
Tasnim, Iran
Armenian Archbishop of Tehran Hails High Turnout in Elections 
           
News ID: 1412916 Service: Politics

May, 19, 2017 – 17:21

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Sarkissian described the great participation of Iranians in the elections as very important in the regional and international arenas.

“The (massive) participation will lead to admiration for the level of political awareness of the country’s citizens,” the archbishop said.   

He went on to say that the high turnout would further strengthen the country’s Leader and next president to resolve domestic problems and play a major role in regional and international equations.

Iranians headed to the polls as soon as the stations opened to elect the country’s 8th president.

There are four candidates seeking the presidency in the polls, namely incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Hashemitaba, and Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim. Two other hopefuls, Eshaq Jahangiri and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, dropped out of the race in favor of Rouhani and Raisi, respectively.

Concurrently, the 5th City and Village Councils elections are being held across the country.

Near 63,500 polling stations across Iran opened on Friday morning. Around 14,000 mobile ballot boxes have been also prepared for inaccessible and rural areas.

According to the Interior Ministry, the election process involves around 1.5 million executive forces and monitors, 350,000 security forces, 70,000 inspectors, and around 100,000 representatives of local governors.

Authorities say the number of eligible voters stands at above 56,400,000, more than 1,350,000 of whom are allowed to vote for the first time.

More than 600 local and foreign reporters and journalist cover the news of the election.

Will Sargsyan’s lies form basis of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement?

Jhanna Virabian
Vestnik Kavkaza

May 19 – 2:50 pm

Yesterday, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, addressing the new parliament, made an attempt of a verbal overthrow of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reversing black and white, right and wrong. speaking before the parliament, which did not have a single non-supporter of the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories,he presented a "new vision" of the conflict that crosses out all previous 23 years of the OSCE Minsk Group's work.

Yerevan's "new vision" of the Karabakh conflict is based on the assertion that the only point on the table of peace talks is the recognition of the separatist regime in the occupied territories as an independent state through the right to self-determination of "the people of Karabakh," that is, the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh and which are represented as separate nationality. According to Sargsyan, it will be a compromise between the parties to the conflict.

"Armenia has repeatedly spoken for resolving the conflict on the basis of mutual compromises, the essence of which is the recognition and implementation of the right of Karabakh to self-determination. Yes, on the basis of compromises, not one-sided concessions,driven by Azerbaijan's threats to start a war. We do not wish to preserve the status quo a day longer. we do not wish to place the burden of the resolution of this problem on the shoulders of the next generations. And this is the purpose of our our joint efforts with the co-chairing countries," Serzh Sargsyan managed to lie several times in one paragraph.

The plan of the outgoing Armenian president is simple: to shift all the charges against Yerevan to Baku. Recently, he has been blamed for trying to preserve the status quo in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict too often, which means that it is necessary to present the situation in such a way that the preservation of the status quo is the desire of Azerbaijan. "The Karabakh issue has not been resolved because of Azerbaijan, which has been disrupting the negotiation process.

The president decided to explain it by the distortion of facts and unverifiable disinformation, rejecting in his speech the classic Madrid principles of 2007 and referring to the 'Kazan formula' as the basis for the talks. The 'Kazan formula' was a revision of the Madrid principles and contains the same points: de-occupation of the Azerbaijani territories, the return of refugees, the introduction of peacekeepers to the conflict zone, a plebiscite with the participation of all residents of Karabakh. The document was never adopted or officially published, and Serzh Sargsyan decided to use it, inventing its content.

"For the first time in the process of conflict resolution, it was recorded that the final decision on the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh by the free will of the people of Karabakh will be legally binding. The working documents also state that the representatives of Karabakh will have a decisive voice in resolving the conflict. The scheme for a political settlement of the Karabakh conflict is clear, and the Azerbaijani president publicly admitted that the mediators are imposing on him a decision on the recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh," the President "disclosed" the allegedly existing information.

"The only right way is to fight for the Karabakh people's right to self-determination. There is no alternative to realizing the right to self-determination of Karabakh and guaranteeing the security of its people. This position is clearly manifested in the negotiation process. For the first time the right of Karabakh to self-determination, the definition of binding legal force and the ground connection between Karabakh and Armenia are set out in several joint statements by the presidents of the co-chairing countries," the President Sargsyan concluded his deceitful statement in the Armenian parliament.

The Madrid principles and the Kazan formula really presuppose both the right of the residents of Karabakh (including those expelled) to self-determination during the plebiscite, and the binding legal force and the corridor between Armenia and Karabakh – but they do not put it at the center of the corner.

The first point at all negotiations is always the deoccupation of the territories and the return of refugees to their native lands. Sargsyan offers to present a peaceful settlement as a struggle of the Karabakh Armenians for their self-determination. Sargsyan invites Armenia to forget about the principle of territorial integrity specified in the Helsinki Final Act, and believe in the reality of a unilateral "compromise", which was set in an unpublished document.

How can one explain such a radical lie of the Armenian president before the parliament? According to political consultant, candidate of historical sciences Oleg Kuznetsov, it is a political program, with which Armenia as a parliamentary republic will act at the talks on Karabakh.

"If in the presidential republic Serzh Sargsyan had a personified responsibility for any actions of the state, then in the parliamentary republic this responsibility is divided among all the deputies of the Armenian National Assembly. Sargsyan organized himself the opportunity to shift responsibility to others and he will use it," Oleg Kuznetsov explained.

In his estimation, it is explained by Armenia's new ideology. "It was most clearly manifested in the installation of a monument to Garegin Nzhdeh at the central square of Yerevan near the buildings of the government of the Republic of Armenia. This actions indicate that Armenia has never intended to abandon the regime of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories. Previously, some verbal camouflage was used, but such a need has disappeared, and the irreconcilable position has finally been exposed," the political consultant concluded.

Will Serzh Sargsyan be able to deceive Azerbaijan and international mediators with this speech? Only time will tell.

Karabakh Defense Ministry: Azerbaijan shells its own positions

Edgar Tavakalian
Panorama, Armenia

Following the intentional escalations of the situation along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact and various provocative measures taken in recent days, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on Friday took actions that can no way fit into logic.

As the Press Service of Artsakh Ministry of Defense informed Panorama.am, the video recording devices installed along the frontline have detected that at around 12:15-12:19 and 13:32-13:36, the adversary opened fire on its own positions from 60mm mortars by preliminary data in Seysulan-Yarmja section of the Contact Line, which resulted in explosions in the mentioned area.

“This once again comes to prove that either military of the adversary’s camp does not master its professional responsibilities or there is a lack of vertical management and any commander on the frontline can make a decision on launching an operation. Or, if not the case, Azerbaijani military-political leadership paves a way for its further provocations through such insidious acts.

Artsakh Defense Ministry informs that during the day the Armenian side adhered to the ceasefire regime and refrained from taking any measures, in particular using weapons of large calibres,” the statement of the ministry reads.

  

First Aurora Prize laureate Marguerite Barankitse is in Armenia

Suren Karakhanian

Ahead of 2017 Aurora Prize Events the first Aurora Prize Laureate Marguerite Barankitse pays a special visit to Armenia. She will meet with communities, cultural and religious leaders in Armenia and Artsakh and will present her mission and the impact of the 2016 Aurora Prize.

“After one year I am extremely happy to visit Armenia again and this time I have more stories to tell. I have brought to Armenia the message of all those happy children and young people who has shelter or better education thanks to the Aurora Prize. Now they can dream more,” said Marguerite Barankitse, 2016 Aurora Prize Laureate. “I look forward to meeting young people of Armenia and Artsakh and everyone who will open their doors and hearts to me.”

On May 20 Marguerite Barankitse visited Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute where a special exhibition is opened dedicated to Aurora Mardiganian, the inspirational woman behind the Aurora Prize. Mrs. Barankitse left a note in the Memory Book of Honorable Guests and laid flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial. At the end of the visit the First Aurora Prize Laureate planted a tree in the Memory Alley of Tsitsernakaberd complex in memoriam of the Armenian Genocide victims.

“The mission and idea behind the Aurora Prize is very important to us and we felt the need to invite the Aurora Prize Laureates to have their symbolic presence at Tsitsernakaberd Complex planting a tree every year. It will become a continuous tradition both for Armenia and Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex,” said Hayk Demoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

From Yerevan Maggy will travel to the south of Armenia where she will visit the medieval Tatev monastery complex. In Goris she will meet local NGO representatives, cultural leaders and students. She will also visit Axel Bakunts house-museum. Later Marguerite Barankitse will take a trip to Artsakh where in Shushi she will visit St. Ghazanchetsots church, Upper mosque, and Naregatsi Art Center where a cultural performance will be set and she will meet with local community.

In Stepanakert Marguerite Barankitse will meet the students of Artsakh State University, will visit War Martyrs Museum. Later she will go to Gandzasar monastery.

Marguerite will also pay a visit to Gyumri where she will go to the Armeian Catholic Church and “Trchunyan” orphanage. In Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Marguerite Barankitse will meet His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians and will present her work and the impact of the 2016 Aurora Prize. Maggy will also meet with the representatives of «Altitude 5165» humanitarian organization in Etchmiadzin.

From May 26 with hundreds of other guests Marguerite will attend Aurora Prize Events in Yerevan and Dilijan. The events will culminate with the 2017 Aurora Prize Award Ceremony on May 28 in Yerevan.

Marguerite Barankitse, the founder of Maison Shalom and REMA hospital, received the Aurora Prize on April 24, 2016, for the exceptional impact of her actions on preserving lives during the years of civil war in Burundi. To date, she has saved 30 thousand children and offered them shelter and care.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Man Utd have to win Europa League final

Garnik Zakarian

Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan says losing the Europa League final against Ajax is not an option.

United go to Stockholm next week after their final Premier League game of the campaign against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday, following a guaranteed sixth-place finish in the top flight.

A win on Wednesday night would see them claim their third trophy of the season after the EFL Cup and Community Shield, and would also hand them a spot in the Champions League group stage for next season.

Jose Mourinho has described the game as the biggest in United’s history, and Mkhitaryan also claimed it is one of the most important of his own career.

Mkhitaryan Sky Sports: “I can say that of course there is only one choice and that is to win, we are not going to the final to lose.

“We want to win and have to win, for us it is very important to win this trophy, and also the opportunity to play in the Champions League because Manchester United are not the team who has to play three years in a row in the Europa League.

“It’s going to be one of the most important games in my life. I don’t want to lose this opportunity. I am only thinking of winning that game, I know we are able to win, and I know it will be a big pleasure to win it.

“If we are going to win the Europa League final it will be an amazing season for us, because have already won two trophies, and this one would be the third one.

“I will not be nervous because I’m not a kid anymore. I know how to handle the pressure, how to get ready for that game, just play my game and be myself.

“I watched some Ajax games, they are a young team, have very good football players individually, and I can say they are very aggressive, they are trying to play the football they are used to playing.”

Reflecting on his own season, his first at United since moving from Borussia Dortmund last summer, the Armenian forward says though it started off as a struggle, he would class the campaign as “not bad”.

Mkhitaryan burst into form around winter following a slow start under Mourinho, but insists there is more to come next year, and he has enjoyed the challenge.

He said: “My first year was not very easy because at the very beginning I had a little bit of struggle, but that’s part of football, I just kept trying to work hard and wait for my second chance, which I took very well.

“I used it, and then I started to have good times. It wasn’t a bad year, a normal year, maybe I am able to do more, but for this year it’s not bad, and I will try to do more next year.

“Of course I am always positive, and I know I’m capable of doing more. I’m sure I will do more, so I’ll keep working hard with a positive mind, and will wait for next season to score more and assist more.

“Manchester United have big ambitions and are always trying to do the best and the maximum, I like that challenge to do something new and challenge myself also.”

Germany, Turkey at odds again over Incirlik base visits

Babken Chilingarian 
U.S. Air Force photos by Senior Airman Daniel Phelps

 

Ankara and Berlin are again in war of words over access to an air base in the south of Turkey.

Germany is out of Turkey after its lawmakers were denied entry to the Incirlik Air Base, which has been used by the anti-IS coalition since 2014 for combat operations against the militant group. The German government said it was considering alternatives in Jordan, Cyprus or Kuwait.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel  called Turkey’s ban “unfortunate.” “The Bundeswehr is a parliamentary army and this makes it absolutely necessary for our lawmakers to have access to our soldiers,” Merkel was in German media as saying.

“If it is not possible to work normally at Incirlik
 We will have to look for alternatives,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel German newspaper,” .

“I can only hope that the Turkish government will change its mind in the coming days. Otherwise, the parliament will no longer let our soldiers go to Turkey,” he added.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister said in response that Germany was welcome to withdraw its troops from Incirlik air base if it desired.

“If they want to leave, let’s just say goodbye,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV. “That’s up to them and we won’t beg.”

The dispute is believed to be due to Turkish soldiers seeking asylum in Germany, but the reasons behind the row could be wider.

“Germany has long been critical of Turkey’s policy and its President Erdogan for the pressures inside the country,” says Ruben Safrastyan, an expert of Turkish studies, told Public Radio of Armenia in a phone interview.

“Germany has blamed Erdogan for establishing a one-man rule in the country. The German leadership has said on many occasions that the path Turkey has chosen does not meet European standards,” Ruben Safrastyan added.

The expert recalled a number of other incidents that could also mar relations between the two courtiers. These include the arrest of a reporter of the prominent newspaper Die Welt, Deniz Yucel, in Turkey, Germany’s disapproval of Turkey’s pressure on Kurds, the row over the attempts to campaign among Turkish citizens in Germany ahead of the Turkish constitutional referendum that secured Erdogan near dictatorial powers. “The list could be continued,” he said.

A decision on where and wether to move the troops is likely to be made in the next few weeks, with Jordan seen as a favorite, quotes sources from the Bundestag Defense Committee as saying.

Safrastyan does not believe, however, that Germany will move its units to other locations.  “Germany is trying not to station its troops in many places outside the country,” he said.

The expert does not see perspectives of Germany creating a separate base aside from the one at Incirik used by NATO to hit Islamic State forces in Syria. “I don’t think they are ready to do that at this point,” Ruben Safrastyan said.

This is not the first time German lawmakers have called on the German military to pull out of Turkey. Tensions between Germany and Turkey have been ups and downs for a couple of years. Last year Turkey blocked German delegation airbase trip over Armenian genocide row. The lawmakers were allowed to the base only after the German Government hinted the resolution was “not legally binding.”

On June 2, 2016 the German Bundestag adopted a on the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities with an overwhelming majority of the votes. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and junior coalition partner Social Democrats, along with the opposition Greens, had prepared the resolution entitled “Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916”, which also carried the word throughout the text.

Turkey to Germany ‘for a brief consultation,’ after the vote, but it was not until October 2016 that to send its envoy back to Berlin, which saw a slight thaw in ties.

Whether Turkey will lift a ban on MPs visiting German troops stationed in the country this time remains to be seen. Ruben Safrastyan believes it depends on relations on the highest level.

“They will allow access if relations between Erdogan and Merkel get warmer,” he concluded.

German media reports claim Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to raise the Incirlik issue directly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO summit in Brussels next week.

Germany’s deployment at the Incirlik air base forms part of the anti-IS coalition’s reconnaissance and refueling mission.

Since 2015, around 260 German troops, six high-tech Tornado surveillance jets and a tanker aircraft have been stationed in Incirlik Air Base, providing support for anti-IS operations, according to .

Excluding Turkish forces, the US has the most troops deployed at the Incirlik air base, with around 1,500 US military personnel on the ground, followed by the UK, reports.

The Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Czech Republic, and non-NATO states Saudi Arabia and Qatar also have deployed troops to the base to take part in anti-IS operations.