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.

A mass was held on Wednesday at Mar Gregory Cathedral for Syriac orthodox in Damascus, on the centennial anniversary of the Syriac genocide (Seyfo 1915). The mass was led by Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Karim, reports.

Patriarch Aphrem said the memory of martyrs, Assyrians and Armenians, who were killed at the hands of Ottomans, gives us a momentum to remain in Syria and defend it in the face of terrorism that targets the one Syrian family.

“The memory of massacres that killed half million of Syriac people and more than million and a half of Armenians will remain alive in our hearts as we will remember them in our prayers,” the Patriarch said.

He called on the world governments and parliaments to recognize the genocides, hailing the stance of the German parliament that lately recognized the genocide, demanding states that ignite the crisis in Syria to stop doing so.

Following the mass, a march of candles set off from the patriarchate into the park of Syriac martyrs.

Ombudspersons of Armenia and NKR have issued a joint statement urging to return the driving license of Mr. Aleksan Arakelyan, the NKR Defense Army Lieutenant-colonel, RA citizen, found in Azerbaijan.

On 14 June 2016 the Azerbaijani media disseminated information on a driving license issued by the Republic of Armenia authorities was found in Baku

(,). The driving license (class BC, issued on 27 August 2014, number: RG 052597) bore the name of Mr. Aleksan Arakelyan.

The Human Rights Defenders’ Offices of Armenia and Artsakh (NKR) conducted separate inquiries and made a conclusion that the mentioned document prima facie belonged to Mr. Aleksan Arakelyan, the NKR Defense Army Lieutenant-colonel, a citizen of Armenia. He became missing on 2 April 2016, the very first day of the full-scale Azerbaijani aggression against NKR (for more information on aggression, see NKR Ombudsman’s Public Interim Report at ). The body of Mr. Arakelyan was returned by Azerbaijan to NKR authorities on 10 April 2016.

In this regard, the Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh (NKR) state that Azerbaijani authorities shall fulfill their obligation under the International Humanitarian Law, explicitly envisaged in Article 16 of the 1949 Geneva Convention (I), and ensure the document in question to be returned to Mr. Aleksan Arakelyan’s family in compliance with all rules and procedures.

The Azerbaijani authorities shall conduct also a comprehensive investigation and provide detailed public explanations on the fact on how the Lieutenant-colonel Mr. Arakelyan’s personal document appeared up in Baku and, moreover, in a public place.

At the same time, we call on international organizations, specifically on those conducting their activities in Azerbaijan and having a human rights protection mandate, to strictly observe the processes of Azerbaijani authorities to eliminate the described violation of the International Humanitarian Law, as well as investigate the reasons of violation.

We declare that this issue will be in the center of attention of both Human Rights Defender of Artsakh (NKR) and Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

Starting from July 15, 2016 Ukraine International Airlines will be operating 14 flights a week instead of current 7 on the direction Kyiv-Yerevan-Kyiv, Press Service of the Armenia International Airports CJSC reports.

This destination has recently started to become more popular especially for passengers, who have chosen Europe as their final destination.

Daniel Sturridge struck an injury-time winner as England came from behind to beat Wales and secure their first victory at Euro 2016, the BBC reports.

England keeper Joe Hart’s dreadful blunder allowed Gareth Bale’s 30-yard free-kick to creep in and put Wales ahead just before the interval in Lens.

Manager Roy Hodgson’s side were jeered off at the break and, with England’s campaign – and arguably his future – on the line, he gambled by introducing Jamie Vardy and Sturridge for the struggling Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane.

The roll of the dice worked as Vardy scrambled in an equaliser from close range after 56 minutes before constant England pressure saw Sturridge work his way into the area and poke past Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey at the near post.

England move top of Group B and need a point against Slovakia on Monday to earn automatic qualification into the last 16, while Wales must beat Russia to guarantee a top-two finish.