Category: News

Asbarez – A lawsuit filed last year by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of seeking the return of the historic Sis Catholicosate has been rejected by Turkey’s Justice Ministry, the Cilician Catholicosate press service reported Thursday.

The lawsuit, which was filed on April 27, 2015, in Turkey’s Constitutional Court detailed, with relevant documentation and archival materials, the critical role the Sis Catholicosate played in the lived of Armenians living under Ottoman rule, the forced deportation and exile of the His Holiness Sahag II, the Sis Catholicos and the entire clergy, as well as the eventual seizure of the property, whose ruins still stand in that city now renamed Kozan.

In August of last year, the Constitutional Court agreed to hear the case. However it decided to send the docket to Turkey’s Justice Ministry, which after reviewing the case urged the court to reject the lawsuit.

In a May 11 letter, the Turkish Justice Ministry, through rationalizations and other justifications, urged the court to drop the case, at which time the court gave the Catholicosate 15 days to present an appeal.

The Catholicosate legal team, on May 26, presented its appeal, in which it deemed the Justice Ministry’s reasoning and rationale baseless and reasserted the demand to return to the Sis Catholicosate to its rightful heir, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.

Catholicos Aram I and the Catholicosate are awaiting a final verdict on the status of the lawsuit from Turkey’s Constitutional Court.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have confirmed their participation in the forthcoming meeting of the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Saint Petersburg.

“The co-chairs expect the sides to follow up on the outcomes of the May 16 meeting in Vienna, the US co-chair James Warlick told APA.

“I look forward to attending the June 20 meeting as the US Minsk Group co-chair. Specifically, we are hopeful the sides will finalize an agreement to implement an OSCE investigative mechanism and agree to resume negotiations on a comprehensive settlement,” said Warlick.

“As the Russian and American co-chairs, I will participate in this meeting,” French Co-Chair Pierre Andrieu said.  “Our expectations of course are great, we hope that during the summit the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will restore mutual trust and make progress to resolve the conflict,” the he said.

OSCE Acting Spokesperson Natacha Rajakovic had said earlier that the OSCE was not involved in the organization of the three-party summit in Nagorno Karabakh.

Few days ago “HayPost” took part in “New York-2016” world philately expo.

The Armenian collection with stamps from 2013, 2014 and 2015, presented by “HayPost”, took the second place at the philately competition organized under the auspices of the Universal Postal Union within the framework of the expo.

The collection consists from 29 stamps and Souvenir sheets, dedicated to the Armenian culture, history, the nature of Armenia, etc.

The exhibition of “HayPost” in the great international philately expo of New York, organized once a decade, awoke high interest among the experts.

Special attention was attached to the models of stamps and S-sheets dedicated to the Pope, developed and designed by the experts of “HayPost”. These stamps and S-sheets are already printed and shall be cancelled in a solemn ceremony during the visit of the Pope to Armenia.

The expo featured participants from more than 120 philately unions and organizations of different countries, National Operators of Postal Communication from more than fifty countries. This was the first time “HayPost” presented an individual pavilion in an exposition of such a high range, making Armenia more visible to the philately world.

Two S-sheets, dedicated to “New York-2016” expo and “Rio-2016” Summer Olympics, were cancelled by “HayPost” during this event.

The Armenian Public Radio (Los Angeles) and TmbaTa band (Yerevan) will participate in the 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Sounds of California July 7-8.

At the 2016 Folklife Festival, Sounds of California will present a series of evening concerts as well as daytime performances and activities, offering a glimpse into how musical culture mirrors the movements reshaping the state and the nation today. The festival will feature artists who contribute to the soundscapes of California, who demonstrate the social power of music and cultural heritage.

The Armenian Public Radio builds a bridge between contemporary musical styles and traditional Armenian music, bringing a new perspective to Armenian folk songs that have withstood the test of time. Based in Los Angeles, the acoustic trio has made it their mission to revive these songs in their community and introduce them to wider audiences.

The group’s members grew up in California as children of families who emigrated from Western Armenia to Syria and Lebanon before coming to the United States. Living in a musically vibrant Armenian diaspora, these artists reinterpret the Armenian music of their childhood in an innovative and enthusiastic style which holds multigenerational appeal. Armenian Public Radio chooses their songs from a broad mix of genres and all songs are sung in Armenian, the language of their lives.

For some of their presentations, Armenian Public Radio will be joined by members of TmbaTa, a youth folk rock band born from the music program of the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2013. Led by Arik Grigoryan of The Bambir, they perform original compositions based on traditional Armenian folk songs combined with rock and experimental music. The group is comprised of thirty teens who learn all stages of music creation including composition, performance, recording, mixing, and mastering.

Tumo Center for Creative Technologies is an innovative after-school program where thousands of students aged twelve to eighteen are in charge of their own learning. Tumo is a partner in the Smithsonian’s My Armenia project.

 is a collaborative cultural sustainability and tourism program between USAID, Smithsonian Institution, and the people of Armenia.

Photo: Reuters

 

Iraqi forces recaptured the local municipal building in Falluja from Islamic State, state television said on Friday, symbolizing government control of the city, an hour’s drive west of Baghdad, nearly four weeks after the offensive began, reports.

A military statement said the federal police had raised the Iraqi flag above the building and were continuing to pursue the ultra-hardline militants, who continued to hold other areas.

Italy are through to the last 16 of the European Championship finals after Eder struck late on to beat Sweden, the BBC reports.

The game looked to be heading towards a dull goalless draw before Eder raced onto Zaza’s knockdown to drive home from the edge of the box.

Sweden failed to produce a shot on goal for the second successive game, with captain and star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic kept quiet throughout.

Italy are top of Group E with six points while Sweden are third on one.

Head of the Armenian Mission to the OSCE, Ambassador Arman Kirakosyan has expressed concern over the recent attacks of the Al-Nusra Front against the civilian population of Aleppo, which has left many killed.

Addressing the 1105th sitting of the OSCE Permanent Council, Ambassador Kirakosyan strongly condemned the planned and consistent shelling of the Christian-populated neighborhoods of Aleppo, which has led to dozens of casualties among the peaceful population and caused a serious damage to “Zvartnots” Armenian Catholic Church, the Armenian nursing home and other historical-cultural and scientific-educational buildings.

The Ambassador noted that “the Armenian mission has been consistently raising the issue of foreign militants in Syria and Iraq, the functioning of the Islamic State, Al Nusra Front and Al-Qaeda affilieated groups. He said that the religious minorities, including the Armenian community, are the primary target of those groups.

Ambassador Kirakosyan noted that the activity of the above-mentioned terrorist groups poses a serious threat to the security of the OSCE region. “Violent radicalism, extremism and terrorism target the ethnic and religious minorities, threaten their existence in the Middle East and further aggravate the migration crisis over the OSCE area. The Armenian community of Aleppo was established by Armenian genocide survivors, and 101 years later that community is struggling for its survival under the conditions of transboundary support for the terrorist groups,” he added.

Arman Kirakosyan called on the OSCE participating states to meet their commitments of fighting terrorism and urged Turkey to refrain from providing its territory for cross-border attacks against the civilian population, including the ethnic and religious minorities in Syria.

Russian athletes remain banned from international competition including the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the BBC reports.

Athletics chiefs have decided not to lift the suspension, which was imposed in November following accusations of state-sponsored doping.

But individual athletes can compete as neutrals if they prove they are clean.

Meanwhile, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva said she would challenge the IAAF’s decision in court, claiming it was “a human rights violation.”

In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Sport said it was “extremely disappointed” by the decision.

It continued: “Clean athletes’ dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behaviour of other athletes and officials. They have sacrificed years of their lives striving to compete at the Olympics and now that sacrifice looks likely to be wasted.

“We have done everything possible since the ban was first imposed to regain the trust of the international community. We have rebuilt our anti-doping institutions which are being led by respected international experts.

“Our athletes are being tested by the UK’s anti-doping agency (UKAD) and every one of them is undergoing a minimum of three tests in addition to the usual requirements. We have nothing to hide and feel we had met the IAAF’s conditions for re-entry.”

Photo: EPA

 

Dozens of US State Department officials have signed an internal memo protesting against US policy in Syria and calling for targeted military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the BBC reports.

They argue the current approach is working against the Syrian opposition and helping Mr Assad to stay in power.

It was signed by 51 mid-to-high level officials who advise on Syria issues.

It is not unusual for internal “dissent cables” to be filed through State Department channels.

However, it is rare to have this number of diplomats voice opposition to a White House position.

A State Department spokesman acknowledged receipt of the memo but declined to comment on its contents.

 

 

 

Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Aram Atesyan will be welcomed by protests at Zvartnots airport.

The move comes after the Archbishop’s highly controversial message to the Turkish President Regep Tayyip Erdogan following the German Bundestag’s vote on the Armenian Genocide.

“At a time, when Bundestag MPs of Turkihs descent urge to ban Erdogna from Germant, we, as descent children of the Armenian nation, which respects the memory of the 1.5 million canonized victims of the Armenian Genocide, won’t allow Atesyan to enter Armenia,” reads a statement of a Facebook initiative, which calls itself

Historian Gevorg Yazichyan believes that the Armenian Foreign Ministry should have declared about the inexpediency of Atesyan’s visit. He’s disappointed by attempts of some clergymen to justify the Archbishop’s behavior.

“Anti-human, not anti-Armenian.” This is how MP Zaruhi Postanjyan assesses Aram Atesyan’s statement.

To some members of the Armenian society it’s unacceptable that Aram Atesyan remains a member of the Supreme Religious Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church and is coming to Armenia to participate in the meeting of the Council. According to Gevorg Yazichyan, the assertions that the Armenian Church has no right to defrock Archbishop Atesyan are groundless.