Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan participated today in the unveiling of a monument dedicated to the heroes killed in the April war.
The monument was erected in the park named after Tatul Krpeyan at the initaitve of the Student Council of the Armenian State University of Economics and the Youth Foundation of Armenia.
The author of the monument is Vardan Harutyunyan.
PM Abrahamyan laid flowers at the memorial and the graves of the fallen freedom fighters, paying tribute to their memory.
Photo: AFP
Chad’s ex-ruler Hissene Habre has been convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison at his war crimes trial in Senegal, the BBC reports.
The judge also convicted him of rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings.
It was the first time an African Union-backed court has tried a former ruler for human rights abuses.
The prosecutor at the court in Senegal’s capital Dakar requested a life sentence for Habre, who refused to recognise its legitimacy.
The ex-president denied accusations that he ordered the killing of 40,000 people during his rule from 1982 to 1990.
John Fisher, the musical director of one of the leading opera theatres in the world – the Metropolitan Opera House, will arrive in Yerevan on June 4 at the invitation of the “Aram Khachaturian Competition” Cultural Foundation. The musical director of one of the most prestigious opera stages is the special guest of the 12th Aram Khachaturian International Conducting Competition held in June 6.
The event will be attended by a number of outstanding musicians, art-managers, who will get an opportunity to discover young talented people in the framework of the contest.
The international competition will kick off on June 6, Aram Khachaturian’s birthday. Fifty-seven conductors from dozens of countries applied for participation in the contest. Only 14 of them have been selected to fight for a trophy from June 6 to June 14.
The Aram Khachaturian International Competition is the member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. The Khachaturian Competition has is conducted thanks to joint efforts of the Ministry of Culture of RA, “Aram Khachaturian – Competition” Cultural Foundation and the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan and is held under the high patronage of the spouse of the President of RA Mrs. Rita Sargsyan – the honorary president of the Board of Trustees of the competition.
The work on expanding the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office (PR CiO) is well advanced, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, told APA.
The ambassador noted that at the summit of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Vienna on 16 May, the presidents agreed to finalize an OSCE investigative mechanism, to expand the Office of the PR CiO, to continue the exchange of data on missing persons and to hold the next round of talks with an aim to resuming negotiations on a comprehensive settlement.
“To this end, I was asked by the Chairperson-in-Office to prepare a concept for the expansion of my Office, with the support of the OSCE Secretariat,” Kasprzyk said. “The work is well advanced and I hope to present the final outcome in the coming days for approval by the participating states of the OSCE in Vienna, including an updated budget.”
The ambassador stressed that the expansion will not change his existing mandate, but will increase the number of field assistants. “Thus my Office will be able to increase the number of monitoring exercises, as well as have more regular contact with the authorities,” he said.
The ambassador added that this will allow the OSCE Chairmanship and the co-chairs to receive more comprehensive information about the ongoing situation and provide a more rapid and flexible response to requests for support under his current mandate, reducing the risk of escalation.
The statement by the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry about the alleged military use of monuments of Islamic architecture located on the territory of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic does not correspond to reality and is another allegation in a series of fraud and forgery, constantly used by the Azerbaijani side, Press Service of the NKR Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Azerbaijan, with its rich experience of using religious monuments for military purposes, which is proved by the conversion of the Kazanchetsots church in Shushi into a military warehouse in 1992, once again is trying to ascribe its own behavior to the Karabakh side.
There are numerous compelling evidences of systematic and deliberate destruction of Armenian cultural heritage sites by the Azerbaijani authorities on the whole territory of Azerbaijan, as well as in the occupied Shahumyan region of the NKR.
The most blatant act of vandalism is the destruction of the medieval Armenian khachkar/cross-stone cemetery near the town of Jugha (Julfa) in Nakhichevan and turning the site into a military range in 2005. Despite numerous international appeals, the Azerbaijani side, trying to avoid responsibility, does not allow international experts to visit the area, where there was a cemetery of cross-stones.
If the Azerbaijani authorities are genuinely interested in the implementation of the fact-finding mission to assess the situation with the historical and cultural monuments, and do not pursue merely political or propaganda aims, then we can expect that the work of the mission will start from visiting the occupied Shahumyan region of the NKR and Nakhichevan.
At the same time, we consider it necessary to note that all the monuments located in the territory of the NKR, irrespective of their origin, are included in the State Registry of the NKR Historical and Cultural Immobile Monuments and are under state protection.
The Nagorno Karabakh Republic has been and remains open to international cooperation in the protection and preservation of cultural and historical heritage, and expects a similar openness of Azerbaijan.”
The Board of the IRWF has unanimously resolved to award the Raoul Wallenberg Medal to the late Dr. Stanley E. Kerr and his wife, Elsa, for their devoted work in favor of Armenian women and children in the 1920’s who had managed to survive the great tragedy which started to unfold in 1915.
The relief effort was organized and provided by the Near East Relief (NER) and among the American volunteers was they 21 year old Stanley Kerr, at that time, a junior officer with the US Medical Corps. After having served in Aleppo he was transferred to Marash, in Anatolia, where he headed the American assistance operations, at a great risk for the Turks regarded the Americans as collaborators of the Armenians. In 1922, he moved to Beirut where he and his wife Elas, established the Near East Relief Orphanage for Armenian children at Nahr Ibrahim, Lebanon. In this position, the couple was instrumental in aiding a significant number of Armenian mothers and children.
In 1925, Stanley Kerr earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, a field where he distinguished himself, and returned to Beirut to chair the Department of Biochemistry of the American University of Beirut. In 1965, he retired with the rank of Distinguished Professor and was awarded the Order of Merit from the Republic of Lebanon.
Besides their actual help to Armenian orphans, Stanley wrote a remarkable memoir documenting his experiences in Marash – The Lions of Marash: Personal Experiences with American Near Esast Relief, 1919-1922), providing a first-hand account of the plight suffered by the Armenian people.
One of the couple’s sons, Dr. Malcolm Kerr, an acclaimed scholar specialized in Middle Eastern Studies, became the President of the American University of Beirut and was tragically assassinated in Beirut by extremists in 1984.
Malcolm’s son, Steve Kerr, was a prominent Basketball player and currently head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
The Raoul Wallenberg Medal will be posthumously bestowed to Stanley and Elsa Kerr, in the hands of their grandchildren and it will be coordinated with them, together with other commemorative initiatives such as a special stamp dedicated to the heroic couple.
Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian, Chairman of the IRWF, said that “Dr. Stanley Kerr and his wife Elsa are an example of pure humanitarianism and as such, they should be recognized and remembered. They should serve as role models for the young generations”.
Photo: Reuters
The Iraqi army says it has begun an operation to storm Falluja, a bastion of so-called Islamic State (IS), the BBC reports.
It comes a week after the government launched a concerted effort to retake the city, which has been held by the jihadists since 2014.
An estimated 50,000 civilians are trapped inside, with only a few hundred families escaping so far.
As the army pushed on Falluja, a wave of bombings in and around the capital, Baghdad, killed at least 20 people.
Today, President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Luxemburg (Grand Duchy of Luxemburg) on a working visit participated at the Summit of the European People’s Party (EPP) dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Party. The event was chaired by the President of EPP Joseph Dole. Present at the Summit were Presidents of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker, Heads of state and government of the EU and Eastern Partnership Countries – members of the EPP. They gave congratulatory speeches on the occasion of the EPP jubilee, touching in their statements upon the history of the Party, its achievements, European Community and Eastern Partnership agenda items, as well as issues related to the development and strengthening of the EPP.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the largest Pan-European family – European People’s Party President Serzh Sargsyan gave a speech.
Noting that for years the EPP has been one of the most important entities for the re-assessment of the European values and a driving force behind the Pan-European advancement, Serzh Sargsyan underscored that numerous political forces – members of the EPP today too play a significant role in the political processes of many European countries.
In his statement the President of Armenia paid special tribute to the blessed memory of Wilfried Martens, who made a remarkable contribution to the creation of the Party, its maturing and copious achievements, and noted his input and multifaceted assistance to Armenia’s European integration and to the EEP membership of Armenia’s Republican Party and two alternative political forces.
The President of Armenia attached great importance to the inter-party cooperation with the EPP for the dissemination of the European political culture and strengthening of the Pan-European system of values.
“The Armenian nation is an indivisible part of the European civilization through its past and culture, aspirations and goals, while membership of the Armenian parties to the EPP stems from our common Christian heritage and commitment to the basic freedoms, democracy, and human rights. With this regard, membership of the Armenian Republican Party’s Youth and Women’s organizations to the corresponding structures of the EPP is also noteworthy.
I also highly value the EPP’s position on the issues related to Armenia in different European structures as well as on the interparliamentary platforms.
The assistance of the European People’s Party to the development of our relations with the European Union has been impressive. Today, these relations have reached an important and meaningful milestone. Negotiations on the Armenia-EU new comprehensive legal document have already kicked off. It will reflect the nature of our relations and will reveal new directions of our mutually beneficial cooperation. I have no doubt that in calling to life this new document, the EPP will stand by our side,” said President Sargsyan in his congratulatory message and expressed confidence that under the able leadership of President Dole EPP family will continue to carry its mission which stems from the fundamental values of the Party.
The Bundestag will most probably adopt the resolution on the Armenian Genocide, but there are no guarantees that it will be ratified by the German Chancellor, Director of the “Arevelk” Research Center, historian Gevorg Melkonyan told reporters today.
“Armenians still demonstrate an emotional attitude towards the events of 1915. The issue here is not about the word “genocide.” What’s more important is to understand what stands behind all this. By bringing the bill to the Bundestag floor Germany acknowledges its complicity in the Armenian Genocide and commits itself to contributing to the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations,” Gevorg Melkonyan said.
How will Armenia benefit from the adoption of the bill? According to political technologist Vigen Hakobyan, we’re wise enough to understand that Germany is not guided by pro-Armenian motives.
Hakobyan links the issue of Armenian Genocide recognition to certain geopolitical factors. “The Armenian, Kurdish and other factors are simply tools of pressure in the hands of important geopolitical circles,” he said.
According to him, Merkel’s reputation is “at stake.” Besides, the sentiments in Europe have seriously changed, the West reacts harshly to domestic developments in Turkey. Considering all of these factors, the adoption of the bill on Armenian Genocide recognition is quite probable, Vigen Hakobyan said.
Armenian gymnast Harutyun Merdinyan won a gold medal in the pommel horse competition of the 2016 Men’s European Championships held in Bern.
The win marked the first ever European title for independent Armenia and the first for an Armenian gymnast since Albert Azaryan in 1955.
Vahagn Davtyan and Artur Davtyan brought Armenia two silver medals.