Category: News

The 6th session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was held at UNESCO headquarters from May 30 to June 1.

Elections to the Intergovernmental Committee for the term of 2016-2020 were held within the framework of the session.

Armenia was unanimously elected member of the Committee from the second regional group (Eastern Europe) for a four-year term.

Countries elected from other regional groups include Cyprus, Austria, Guatemala, Columbia, Cuba, Philippines, Zambia, Senegal, Mauritius, Palestine and Lebanon.

The core functions of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage are to promote the objectives of the Convention, provide guidance on best practices and make recommendations on measures for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.

The Committee will further examine requests submitted by States Parties for the inscription of intangible heritage on the Lists as well as proposals for programmes and projects. The Committee is also in charge of granting international assistance.

The Members of the Intergovernmental Committee are elected by the States Parties meeting in General Assembly according to the principles of equitable geographical representation and rotation.

States Members to the Committee are elected for a term of four years, and every two years, the General Assembly shall renew half of them. A State Member of the Committee may not be elected for two consecutive terms.

The province of Entre Rios, Argentina, has approved a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide, which establishes every April 24 in Argentina as the “Day of Action for Tolerance and Respect between Peoples,” reports.

The Senate of Entre Rios unanimous passed the bill “in commemoration of the genocideagainst the Armenian people and with the spirit that its memory is a permanent lesson for the present and our future goals.”

Also on Tuesday, May 31, the Deputy Governor of Entre Rios and President of the Senate, Adan Humberto Bahl, along with Senator Lucas Larrarte, Chairman of the General Law Committee of the Senate, met with Nicolas Sabuncuyanand Jorge Dolmadjian, members of the Armenian National Committee of South America.

“The meeting was extremely positive and we deduct that the Government will enact the law. In addition, this will be the beginning of a way to work together with the province in the issues of human rights in different areas,” said Jorge Dolmadjian.

The bill (), was filed on March 30, 2015 by the then deputy Maria Laura Stratta, who is now Minister of Social Development. On May 12 of the same year it obtained the initial approval in the Chamber of Deputies of Entre Rios. Among the grounds, it is mentioned that “the memory of the Armenian Genocide interpellates modern society about the consequences that can lead to intolerance and discrimination, and invites us to reflect on the meaning of respect between peoples and individuals and the importance of active memory and ongoing injustice and impunity. The recognition, condemnation and denunciation are the basis for preventing the repetition of this abhorrent crime.”

“Ten years after the enactment of the law that put Argentina in first place in the struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, it is very important that the representatives of the people of Entre Rios decided to join that path,” said Nicolas Sabuncuyan, Director of the Armenian National Committee of Buenos Aires.

The Article 4 of Law 26,199, that was enacted on December 13, 2006 and promulgated on 11 January 2007, invited provincial governments to “adhere to the provisions of this law.” The provinces that have already joined the recognition law are: Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Córdoba, Corrientes, Jujuy, La Pampa, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Black, San Juan, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Tierra del Fuego.

Armenia was the first to condemn the crimes against the Yazidis in Iraq and Armenians in Deir Zor and Kessab committed by the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimyan said at an anti-terror conference on “Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization” in Berlin.

According to him, it’s necessary to pay greater attention to the prevention of crimes committed on the basis of hatred, since they immediately link violent radicalism to terrorism.

The Deputy Foreign Minister said ‘the existing conflicts create a fertile soil for violent extremism, especially when the state authorities use the conflicts to restrict human rights and seed hatred towards conflicting parties.

“Unfortunately, the recent developments in our region come to prove the concerns of the Armenian side. Following the example of Ramil Safarov and Islamic State, the Azerbaijani armed forces were beheading and torturing not only servicemen, but also civilians, including elderly people and women. The perpetrators of these crimes not only escaped criticism, but were also awarded by Azerbaijani President,” Ashot Hovakimyan said.

The Deputy FM stressed that any attempt on the part of states to make radicalism and terrorism serve their goals should be strongly condemned.

Ankara does not want to see relations with Berlin damaged, as the German parliament prepares to vote on a resolution aimed at recognizing the deaths of Armenians in 1915 as ‘genocide’, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Yildirim’s remarks were delivered to reporters at Esenboga Airport in the Turkish capital ahead of his first official visit to the Northern Cyprus.

“We do not have anything secret or hidden…Let the past and history of all countries be investigated. But, let historians do this,” he said.

Yildirim warned that history was being made an “instrument of politics”.

Referring to Germany’s large Turkish community, Yildirim added: “I hope that the German parliament and decision makers will not turn a deaf ear to 3.5 million voters. Therefore, we do not desire that such a resolution be passed,” Yildirim said.

“This is null and void for us but we do not want [it] passed,” he added.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip by phone to share Ankara’s sensitivities over the resolution.

The 7^th Summer Pan-Armenian Games will be held in Artsakh. The decision was unanimously adopted at the sitting of the Executive Board of the “World Committee of the Pan-Armenian Games” NGO.

“This is a historical decision – the basis for realization of our ideas. The decision will really reflect our objective of strengthening the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity,” said Ishkhan Zakaryan, President of the Committee, said.

The 2^nd Winter Pan-Armenian Games will take place in Tsakhkadzor in February 2018.

On 1 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan issued a congratulatory address in connection with the International Children’s Day, NKR President’s Press Office reports. The message reads:

“Beloved children,

Dear parents,

I convey sincere congratulations on my own behalf and on behalf of the Artsakh Republic authorities on the International Children’s Day.

Children are our wealth, joy and future. Our entire life changes with their birth, acquiring new meaning and significance. And from this very moment on we bear responsibility for their healthcare, education and upbringing.

Artsakh authorities do their best to secure peaceful and prosperous life for our children, to make them healthy, happy and carefree. Diverse programs annually implemented in our republic pursue this very aim.

Unfortunately, the Four Day April war has left an indelible mark in the memory of Artsakh’s little residents. Thus, each of us ought to do everything possible to see laughter and smile, songs and joy on our children’s lips, for their life to be filled with the brightest colors and hues.

Dear children,

I once again congratulate everybody on this wonderful holiday and wish clear blue sky, green-lit and smooth way as well as great success in your entire life”.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will leave for Paris on June 2 to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The wording used in the Bundestag resolution on the Armenian Genocide includes interesting elements, expert of Turkish studies Ruben Melkonyan told reporters today.

“The bill refers to the “Genocide in the Ottoman Empire 101 years ago, which is an important message to the world that even 101 years after the genocide the process of its perception of the genocide extends into the international community,” Melkonyan said.

On the other hand, he said, the bill refers to the “Genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities.” “Thus, the resolution comes to prove that there has been a genocide against Christians in the Ottoman Empire, which points to the state policy of xenophobia. Although this somewhat shadows the exceptionality of the Armenian Genocide, the positive emphasis is obvious,” the expert said.

As for Tukish reactions to the scheduled vote, Melkonyan said “this is the first challenge the Turkish diplomacy has to withstand without its foreign policy architect Ahmet Davutoglu, and the first international trial for the newly-appointed Prime Minister.”

There are 630 Deputies in the Bundestag, and this complicates the adoption of the bill, Melkonyan said. He’s not optimistic about the perspectives of the passage of the bill, as real political interests often conflict with the moral issues, and political interests often triumph.”

He said, however, that “even if the bill fails to pass, it will bring a positive wave that might contribute to the acknowledgement of the fact of genocide among the German public.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel agrees with her party that the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces should be branded a genocide but will not attend a parliament vote Thursday on the issue, her spokeswoman said, reports. 

“She told me this morning that she sided with her parliamentary group,” her spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz told journalists, when asked if Merkel signalled her approval of the Armenian genocide resolution during a party meeting on Wednesday.

However, the German leader will not be able to attend the vote at the Bundestag due to other official engagements on her schedule, her spokeswoman said.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats and junior coalition partner Social Democrats, along with the opposition Greens, prepared the resolution entitled “Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916”, which also carries the word throughout the text.