NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow received today Armenia’s Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan.
Among other issues the parties referred to the Nagorno Karabakh issue.
“There can be no military solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” NATO Deputy Secretary General said.
“Nagorno Karabakh conflict urgently requires de-escalation and diplomatic progress under the auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,” Mr. Vershbow said.
Members of parliament unanimously approved the motion – which is not binding on the government – by 278 votes to zero.
The vote in the 650-seat lower House of Commons calls on ministers to accept formally that IS actions against Christian, Yazidi and other religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and Iraq constitute genocide.
But Foreign Office junior minister Tobias Ellwood, who has specific responsibility for the Middle East, said it was up to the courts rather than the government to make such a judgement.
“I believe genocide has taken place, but as the prime minister (David Cameron) has said, genocide is a matter of legal rather than political opinion,” Ellwood said.
MPs from all parties urged Britain to use its position as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to get the situation referred to the International Criminal Court.
The Regional Assembly of Sicily became the 105th local self-government body in Italy to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
In a resolution unanimously adopted by the Assembly on April 20 the lawmakers express their solidarity with the struggle of the Armenian people aimed at recognition of the historic reality.
The resolution calls on the Sicilian regional authorities and the national government to support the events aimed at recognition of the Armenian Genocide and disseminate information about historic facts for the sake of peace, democracy and the right of peoples of self-determination.
The measure was authored by MPs Cordaro Salvatore, (D’Asero Antonino, Papale Alfio and Grasso Bernadette Felice.
A group of young people rallied in front of the government building today, urging Armenians to refuse from goods of Turkish production.
Participants of the action inform that the goods imported from Turkey start with the code 869 and advise customers to pay attention to the figures.
Protesters say they have even discovered Azerbaijani goods in Armenian shops.
As a sign of protest, the participants threw Turkish goods into the dustbin.
German Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier had a meeting with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs James Warlick, Igor Popov and Pierre Andrieu and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.
Discussions focused on the Nagorno Karabakh issue.
The flame for the Olympic Games in Brazil has been lit in southern Greece, the BBC reports.
It will be taken by various runners on an international torch relay that will culminate at the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August.
The ritual was established eight decades ago for the Berlin Games.
The lighting ceremony took place in Ancient Olympia, where the games took place for more than 1,000 years. A priestess performed it, focusing the sun’s rays on a metal torch.
The flame was kindled on Thursday by Greek actress Katerina Lehou.
The torch will now begin a six-day relay across Greece, passing through the town of Marathon – which which gave its name to the long distance race – as well as a camp for refugees and migrants in Athens, the International Olympic Committee has said.
The flame is due to arrive in Brazil on 3 May for a 100-day relay across the country, travelling through 500 cities and villages in every Brazilian state.
It will be carried by about 12,000 torch bearers.
Following the recent large-scale act of aggression by the Azeri regime against the citizens of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), the Armenian Armed Forces demonstrated their determination and resolve in defending their ancestral homeland. As a result, the enemy suffered hundreds of casualties and approximately $170 million of loss in military hardware.
An all-Boston concert on Fri., April 29, will feature a number of artists and musicians from our community. All parties have donated their time and services, and the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center (ACEC) has graciously provided the Hovnanian Hall free of charge for this event, the reports.
The list of performers is growing, as is the list of the event sponsors. As of this writing, the event is co-sponsored by the ACEC, ARF “Sardarabad” Gomideh, Armenian Relief Society (ARS) “Leola Sassouni” and “Shushi” Chapters, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Greater Boston “Nejdeh” Chapter, Hamazkayin-Boston, Boston Homenetmen, St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church and School, and the Tekeyan Cultural Association.
The performers list includes Jasmine Atabekyan, the Arev Ensemble, the John Berberian Ensemble, Sevag Khatchadourian, Maroukhian Trio, Gegham Margarian, Meghri Choir, Shahan Nercessian, Markos Shahbazyan, and the Zangakner Children’s Choir.
One-hundred percent of the funds collected through this benefit concert will go directly to the NKR Ministry of Finance’s bank account to support fellow Armenians in need.
Today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan disseminated yet another cynical statement turning obvious facts upside down in an attempt to put the responsibility for military actions, unleashed on April 2 by itself against Nagorno-Karabakh, on the Armenian side, the purpose of which is to avoid responsibility for the committed war crimes.
It is not for the first time that Baku makes futile attempts to distort the obvious reality. During communications our international partners have also confirmed that, beyond any doubt it was Azerbaijan, which initiated the large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in hundreds of killed and maimed, and committed war crimes.
Armenia strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s futile attempts to cast doubt on the trilateral ceasefire agreement of 1994, signed by Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, that does not have time limitations. It is a dangerous step which threatens with further destabilization of the situation in the region. The aggressive military actions launched by Azerbaijan at the beginning of April could not result in the cessation of the 1994 agreement, rather they raise the liability of the party which violated it.
All of this shows that, despite the calls of the international community to continue the negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, Baku’s real intention is to undermine the settlement process. The fact that the lengthy statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry does not contain any reference not only to the statements of the heads of the Co-Chair countries on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution but it also lacks any mentioning of the only internationally mandated mediation format of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs whatsoever, clearly demonstrates that.
Azerbaijan strives to portray the negotiations as a kind of a process that discusses solely those issues which fit Baku’s interests.
It is obvious that calls and appeals are not sufficient anymore to bring Baku back to senses. Decisive steps are needed to bring Azerbaijan to order and into a constructive mood.
Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Samvel Mkrtchian laid the responsibility for recent violence in Nagorno-Karabakh squarely at the feet of Azerbaijan, urging the Azeri leadership to respect the cease-fire and re-engage in the peace talks administered by the OSCE. “These recent events, unfortunate and very deplorable events, at the beginning of April, the so-called Four Day War, was undoubtedly launched by the Azeri side in order to impose its will yet another time on Nagorno-Karabakh’s people,” Mkrtchian told Wednesday in an interview at the Armenian Embassy in Mtaileb.
“It has been already quite some time since Azeri leadership at the top level, including the president himself, have [used] very harsh rhetoric, and during the last [few] years Azerbaijan has increased its military budget 10 to 20 times and acquired and purchased new armaments. They were not making any secret that they might resort to a military solution of this conflict,” the Ambassador said.
Mkrtchian said Azerbaijan may have breached the cease-fire out of a desire to divert attention from problems at home created by falling oil prices.
“The danger which has been … pointed at by different experts is that if the Azerbaijani revenues from oil decline, they might resort to a military solution. Probably it is linked now also to the recent escalation, because with the drop of the price of oil in international markets, Azerbaijan is experiencing really hard problems with its economy, with its financial situation, which are further exacerbated with the restrictions on human rights and freedoms in the society,” he said.
“The recent events might indicate that the Azeri leadership tried for this escalation on the line of contact to deviate the public opinion form those internal problems.”
Mkrtchian also said that the recent fighting overlapped with revelations of massive corruption involving Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and his family.
“The coincidences in this are exemplary. The recent escalation came exactly on those dates when the Panama Papers became public,” the ambassador remarked.
Mkrtchian said he was pleased the international community moved quickly to call for the violence to stop. “There was a unanimous reaction coming [from] around the world that this conflict has no military solution and the only way to move forward and have lasting peace is to go back to the table of negotiations.”
The ambassador said he did not know if the recent deterioration of relations between regional powers Turkey and Russia played any role in the clashes, but called Turkey’s absolute support for Azerbaijan detrimental to negotiations.
“With their unequivocal backing of the Azerbaijani position, Turkey directly or indirectly encourages the other side to stick to a harsh position during the negotiations and not be inclined to make the required and necessary compromises in order to have a solution,” Mkrtchian said.
He had kinder words for Moscow, an Armenian ally that ultimately facilitated a halt to the fighting. “The Russian Federation never shows any unequivocal support for the Armenian or for the Azeri side, they try to keep the balance.”
Russia is the primary arms supplier for both countries, and has said it would continue to provide such military support, citing the value of deterrence and maintaining an equality of arms. Its position precipitated protests at the Russian embassy in Yerevan last week.
“That made the Armenian side extremely unhappy. … We expressed our concern in regard to Russia’s selling armaments to the other side, especially when those armaments are of offensive nature,” the ambassador said. “That’s a real concern for the Armenian side.”
Mkrtchian repeatedly emphasized Armenia’s support for the conflict resolution efforts pursued by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Minsk Process.
He blamed Azerbaijan for not embracing the framework outlined in the peace talks and for rejecting overtures from both the OSCE and Armenia to provide for the independent monitoring of cease-fire violations. But the ambassador said he was confident that the 22-year-old process was the best way to bring resolution to the conflict.
“It is really our hope that the peaceful negotiation process will be revived, and a new impetus will be brought into this process,” he said, citing the upcoming visit of U.N. General-Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to the area as a sign of increased international engagement.
Mkrtchian sounded an optimistic note on the long-term prospects for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We are neighbors; we are not going to go away from this area. It’s extremely unfortunate that we cannot live peacefully side-by-side and to normally trade and normally interact, because we are natural economic partners and both sides will benefit from that kind of relationship.”
Prince has died aged 57 at his estate in Minnesota.
Sources told TMZ that his body was found this morning at his Paisley Park studio.
Paramedics were called out at 9.43 this morning and Carver County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that there had been a fatality.
Prince – full name Prince Rogers Nelson – was hospitalized six days ago with flu symptoms.