Category: News

Armenia’s Ambassador to Canada Armen Yeganian unveiled a monument to Armenian Genocide victims in the city of St. Catharines.

Attending the event were representatives of the federal, regional and municipal authorities of Canada, diplomats accredited to Canada, religious leaders, political and public figures, representatives of the Armenian community and journalists.

The opening ceremony was followed by an official reception. Addressing the attendees, Ambassador Yeganian noted that the unveiling of the monument to Armenian Genocide victims in St. Catherines is of particular importance, considering that  the city is where the first Armenian community of Canada was formed.

The Ambassador thanked the Canadian authorities and the local Armenians for their role in the development of Armenian-Canadian relations.

President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to the President of the RA National Academy of Sciences Radik Martirossian on the occasion of his 80th birth anniversary.

“Your contribution to the development of radiophysics in Armenia is significant. Your longtime scientific and tutorial activities are commendable.

You headed the State University for years and later the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, bringing your substantial input to the important task of administering education and science in our country.

I wish you good health, boundless energy, and success in your patriotic activities,” reads the congratulatory letter of the President of Armenia.

On April 30, 1991, 25 years ago, the operation “Ring” began with a massive shelling of Getashen and Martunashen, which became a prelude to the subsequent full-scale military aggression of Azerbaijan against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. During the operation, the Armenian villages were at first surrounded by the interior forces of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Soviet Army. And afterwards, the Azerbaijani OMON and militia entered those villages under the pretext of “passport checks”, but in fact for murder, robbery, terror against the Armenian population, followed by deportation.

The operation “Ring” became the continuation of a series of Armenian pogroms and ethnic cleansing in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and other settlements of Azerbaijan, as well as in the villages of Northern Artsakh in 1988-1991, which were intended to strangle at its birth  the national liberation struggle of the Armenians of Artsakh and deprive them of their homeland. The Azerbaijani authorities did not conceal that they considered the operation “Ring” as the beginning of a large-scale deportation of all Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh.

As a result of the operation, during which tanks, combat helicopters and artillery were used, more than two dozen villages of Northern Artsakh and Shahumyan, Hadrut and Shushi regions were completely devastated and destroyed. Almost 10 thousand people were deported, more than 100 killed and several hundred taken hostage. The fate of many of them still remains unknown.

25 years later, on the night of April 2, 2016, the Azerbaijani authorities unleashed yet another aggression against the NKR, which as in 1991, was accompanied by numerous violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes committed against the civilians and soldiers of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, including targeted shelling of peaceful settlements, killings of civilians, as well as the mutilation and ill-treatment of the dead bodies.

However, both in 1991, and now all the attempts of the Azerbaijani authorities to intimidate and break the people of Artsakh, to suppress their strive for freedom and, eventually, to deprive them of their homeland, resulted in a complete failure.

Azerbaijan’s criminal behavior only strengthens the determination of the people of Artsakh to build and develop their independent and free state as the guarantor of its security and peaceful existence. Acknowledgment by the international community of this fact, and, as a result of it, the international recognition of the NKR will put an end to the ongoing attempts of Azerbaijan to destroy Artsakh and eliminate its people, and ensure peace and security in the region.

The Azerbaijani side kept violating the ceasefire regime all along the line of contact with Karabakh forces last night, NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

The rival used artillery weapons of various caliber, as well as 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars.

Serviceman of the NKR Defense Army Ashot Shavarsh Zohrabyan (born in 1991) was killed a result of firing in the eastern direction (Martuni) of the frontline.

The NKR Defense Ministry shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its condolences to the family and friends of the killed serviceman.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army undertook relevant measures to pressure the activeness of the rival.

The Azerbaijani side kept firing all along the line of contact with Karabakh forces last night, using artillery weapons, as well as 60 and 82 mm mortars and grenade launchers, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

Two Armenian servicemen Gagik Movsisyan (born in 1997) and Vazgen Harutyunyan (born in 1968) were killed as a result of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side.

The NKR Defense Ministry share the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its condolences to the families and friends of the killed soldiers.

“The actions of the rival will not go unpunished, and the Azerbaijani side will bear full responsibility for the consequences,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, called for a “Leahy Law” investigation into reports that the Azerbaijan armed forces, which annually receive millions of dollars in U.S. military aid, committed gross violations of human rights during Baku’s April 2nd offensive against Nagorno Karabakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In remarks during an Armed Services hearing today on the National Defense Authorization Act, Rep. Sanchez noted that she has reviewed credible allegations that units of the Azerbaijani military have committed gross violations of human rights.  “I believe that these blatant human rights violations warrant action on our part to direct our Secretary of Defense to work with our Secretary of State on an investigation on possible human rights violations.  And I believe the U.S. should conduct an investigation on whether the ‘Leahy Law’ is being violated by the Azerbaijani military,” stated Rep. Sanchez.  “We, the United States, we are a leader on human rights and we cannot afford to support militaries that commit human rights violations.”

In her remarks, Rep. Sanchez cited sharp criticism of Azerbaijan’s human rights record and called attention to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev’s pardon and praise for Ramil Safarov, who axe-murdered an Armenian officer while he slept during a NATO peace-keeping training program in Hungary.  Rep. Sanchez’s statement accompanied an amendment that she submitted, but later withdrew for procedural purposes.

“Armenia and Artsakh are  not against the step-by-step solution of theteh Karabaakh conflict,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

The comments come after Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar mammadyarov’s stateemnt regarding the step-by-step solution.

Shavarsh Kocharyan stressed, that “within that framework Azerbaijan should first of all recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, return the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and start negotiations with the NKR on the clarification of borders.”

The Azerbaijani side kept violating the agreement on ceasefire all along the line of contact with Karabakh forces last night, the NKR Defense Ministry informs.

The rival used artillery weapons of various caliber, also as 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars, RPG-7, HHN-9  and HAN-17 grenade launchers.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the frontline and confidently continue with their military duty.

The Spanish cities of Carcaixent, Alaquas and Elda officially recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide on April 27-28.

All political forces represented in the City Council of Carcaixent unanimously adopted an institutional statement.

Representatives of the People’s Party and Ciudadanos abstained during the voting at Alaquas City Hall.

In Elda the Ciudadanos Party was the only force opposing the resolution.

The sittings in the three cities were attended by representatives of the Armenian community, who expressed their gratitude to the City Councils.

Violent tension between lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) descended into a brawl during a plenary session on April 27, delaying efforts to pass legislation on an EU migration deal,  the reports.

Deputies threw punches, pushed and tried to restrain each other in the assembly late on April 27 in a row over deadly operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeast.

Fighting erupted after HDP Şırnak deputy Ferhat Encü “commemorated all civilians and children massacred by the security services.”

“I remember the civilians recently massacred by shelling in [the southeastern district of] Silopi. I remember the 34 people, including children, who were brutally bombed by Turkish warplanes in Roboski four years ago,” said Encü.

Turkish warplanes killed 34 villagers, Encü’s relatives, in late 2011 on the border with Iraq in the eastern district of Uludere in the Roboski Massacre.

The acting speaker announced at the end of the April 27 session, following the scuffles, the parliament would not meet again in a full session until May 2.

Lawmakers had been expected to work on April 29 and April 30 on legislation needed for Turks to secure visa-free travel to Europe, a key part of Ankara’s deal with the European Union on stopping uncontrolled migration to Europe.

“You may not like it, but unfortunately these things are true,” he added.

During the speech, AKP deputies reacted angrily and started shouting, declaring Encü a supporter of the PKK. “You are a murderer. You support murderers. You are despicable. You are a terrorist and a defender of murderers. You should be in jail. You came from the mountains,” the AKP MPs were heard shouting, referring to the Kandil Mountains that are known as the PKK’s headquarters in northern Iraq.

In response, Encü said “those accusing him of being a terrorist are the real terrorists.”

After the fight erupted between the MPs, Parliamentary Speaker Ahmet Aydın declared a break in proceedings.

Encü later wrote on his Twitter account that he was “not afraid” of the AKP deputies who targeted him in parliament.

“They attempted to lynch me for commemorating the civilians massacred by the security services. They think that Turkish officers don’t kill. Is that so? If you’ve had just a little honor, you wouldn’t say that to me, as 34 of my own relatives were massacred by law enforcement,” he also wrote.

The fight broke out during debates on a draft bill to establish a supervisory commission to oversee law enforcement officers’ compliance with the law, which was opened on April 27.

The drafts suggested the commission would be led by the Interior Ministry’s undersecretary and have seven members work to enhance the law enforcement complaint system, as well as make it function transparently, improve its credibility, and centralize the recording of processes initiated against law enforcement officers for their alleged crimes and offenses.

While the general assembly was shut, there were scuffles again on April 28 during a meeting of a constitutional commission which was discussing legislation on lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution.

Since interest from both members of parliament and journalists on deliberations over the government-led provisional change in the constitution that would allow parliament to lift legislative immunities was high, the meeting began with a large number of attendees standing in order to follow the debate. The HDP objected to an attempt to usher journalists out of the commission room and asked for a change of the venue.

Tension rose when AKP deputies opposed the HDP’s proposal.