Today, the Royal Mail celebrates The Queen’s 90th birthday with the release of a photograph featuring four generations of the Royal Family. The image will appear on a special commemorative Stamp Sheet.
The Royal Mail celebrates its own special birthday this year: its 500th anniversary. The Queen will mark the anniversary with a visit to the Royal Mail Windsor delivery office this morning, the first of this year’s 90th birthday events.
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Pedro Agramunt has held meetings with the heads of Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations to PACE.
“Met with Azeri and Armenian chairs of delegations in PACE. No conflict can be solved without dialogue,” Agramunt tweeted.
Met with and chairs of delegations in : no conflict can be solved without .
— Pedro Agramunt (@PACE_President)
A memorial dedicated to the innocent victims of the genocide of Yazidis in Sinjar, Iraq, will be unveiled in downtown Yerevan on April 21 as part of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The monument will stand as a witness to the immortal spirit of the Yazidi people, their will to live and create, President of the Council of the Media – Shangal National Union of Yazidis NGO Amo Sharoyan told reporters today.
“We are a nation that has passed through genocide and survived. Although we cannot change the bloody past, we have to create a future void of such crimes,” Sharoyan quoted Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan as saying.
Fikret Igrek, President of the exile Council of Sinjar noted that genocide continues in the 21st century. “Islamists massacred and enslaved thousands of Yazidis in august 2014,” he said.
Speaking about the recent escalation in the Karabakh conflict zone, Tamaz Mhoi, President of the Federation of Yazidis of France, said they condemn the Azerbaijani policy.
“On behalf of the Federation of Yazidis of France, we have sent a letter to the Azerbaijani Embassy, urging them to stop the war. We sent the letter on April 3, but have not received any response by now,” he said.
Massis Post – A delegation of the Armenian Council of America (ACA) participated in the annual Armenian Genocide Advocacy Day sponsored by the California Armenian Legislative Caucus on April 18 at the State Capitol, marking the 101st year of commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
Following a press conference in the morning with members of the Armenian Caucus, H.E. Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America conducted a requiem prayer ceremony on the State Assembly floor. He payed homage to the 1.5 million Armenians who perished during the Genocide and discussed the situation in Nagorno Karabagh condemning the acts of violence against the peaceful Armenian people in Artsakh by the Azeri dictatorship. He proclaimed that one day, Artsakh will be a free and sovereign state.
Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-Sherman Oaks) invited Assemblymember Katcho Achajian (R-San Luis Obispo) to introduce Assembly Joint Resolution 34 (AJR 34) which designates the year of 2016 as “State of California Year of Commemoration of the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923 and April 24, 2016, as “State of California Day of Commemoration of the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923.”
AJR 34 calls upon the President of the United States and Congress to formally and consistently reaffirm the historical truth that the atrocities committed against the Armenian people constituted genocide.
Assemblymember Achadjian described the plight of the Armenian people and said that our history exemplifies resilience. Achadjian noted that AJR 34 honors the memory of those lost during the Genocide and reaffirms our commitment to our brothers and sisters in Armenia.
Celebrating the importance of Armenian Americans in the U.S. through their achievements, Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) expressed his pride for representing a large Armenian American constituency. “I stand in solidarity with the Armenian community,” added Holden.
Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) spoke about Armenian women who were subjugated to shame and ridicule as they were robbed of their dignity by Turks who owned them as property after the Genocide. She emphasized that it is our duty to bring to light this often forgotten issue in Armenian history.
Sharing a personal Genocide survival story about his wife’s family who originated in Van, migrated to Russia and later settled in Iran, Assemblymember Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) urged that all textbooks in California include material discussing the Genocide. He also advocated for AB2650 which urges Calpers to divest from Turkey. He added that Armenians have not only survived, but they have thrived.
Assemblymember Gatto (D-Los Angeles) whose district represents the largest Armenian American constituency in the U.S. stated that it is a privilege to serve in the Armenian Caucus. He urged those in attendance to continue telling the stories of the survivors who are no longer with us. “The survivors have died, but the truth has not died,” added Gatto.
AJR passed unanimously 76-0 on the State Assembly floor.
Following the passage of AJR 34 on the Assembly floor, the Resolution was introduced in the State Senate by State Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), where he emphasized the importance of proper recognition of the Genocide not only in the United States and other countries, but the need for the current Turkish government to stop the campaign of denial in order to prevent future atrocities that may occur in other parts of the world.
The Resolution passed the California Senate floor with a vote of 37-0.
Subsequently Senator de Leon introduced deputy Consul-General of Armenia Valeri Mkrtumyan who expressed the Republic of Armenia’s gratitude for the State of California.
The State Capitol had on display educational posters and materials on Armenian Americans in politics who have served in the past and are present, including information about early Armenian American immigrants who settled in California’s San Joaquin Valley making it one of the richest agricultural regions in the nation.
“The Karabakh conflict is not about territory, but about the cardinal principle of international law -the peoples’ right to self-determination,” member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Naira Karapetyan said in a speech for free debate at PACE. The full text of the speech is provided below:
Dear colleagues,
Most of you are informed about recent tragic escalation of violence in Nagorno Karabakh. On the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh, using armored fighting vehicles, Multi launch rocket systems and air force equipment among other weapons.
The military action violated not only obligations taken by Azerbaijan on principle of good faith negotiations in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, but also constituted violation of a set of principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter, 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States, 1975 Helsinki Final Act, the UN Security Council resolutions, which Azerbaijan loves to cite constantly and other international instruments.
Aside from the acts of use of force contrary to the UN Charter, constituting act of Aggression, the Azerbaijani army has also carried out heavy artillery bombing on civilians and civilian objects, including using cluster ammunition and other non-discriminatory weapons. 12-year-old child was killed and two other schoolchildren were wounded heavily in the shelling by MM-21 Grad MLRS, launched by Azerbaijani forces. Two other children, 12-year-old Vardan Andreasyan and 11-year-old Gevorg Grigoryan, were wounded heavily when a school was bombarded by Azerbaijan.
And this is not the only act of violence against civilian population during the four-day war, as it is called in Karabakh. After temporal overturn of Talish village by Azerbaijani armed forces, elderly couple was shot at home with their ears being cut off. Azerbaijani soldiers also executed 92-year-old old woman. All the killed persons were aged and reasonably infirm.
Moreover, the servicemen of Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army, Kyaram Sloyan, Hayk Toroyan, Hrant Gharibyan were beheaded by Azerbaijani troops. Numerous photos in social network is a real evidence of cruel treatment of Azerbaijani soldiers posing with the head of Kyaram Sloyan as a trophy. Later the head was transferred to local Azerbaijani population demonstrating it as an Armenian symbol encouraging hatred and aggression towards Armenians. No action by official Baku has followed to punish the guilty. And by doing so Azerbaijan once more violets numerous international treaties, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, European Convention on Human rights, Geneva Conventions on protection of victims of war and many others. The head of the soldier was returned to the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh only on April 9.
Another episode includes torture of Prisoners of War and mutilation of bodies of 18 dead Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army soldiers, handed over to Nagorno-Karabakh authorities in presence of the representatives of the ICRC a week after the hostilities.
Yes, dear colleagues, Azerbaijan calls itself a Land of fire, and it is pure true. This is not a fire of life, of peace and democracy, but the fire of war, fire of horror, fire of death.
I strongly blame Azerbaijan’s hostilities against Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani forces and armed militants have committed multiple terrorist acts against the Nagorno-Karabakh troops and the civilian population, which are defined as war crimes and crimes against humanity under the international law.
President Aliyev continues defying international calls to reach a negotiated settlement that will ensure a lasting peace in the region. Until Azerbaijan faces strong and meaningful consequences over their policy of escalation and violence and its self-serving refusal to agree to international monitoring of the line of contact, there is little chance of resolving the conflict and avoiding further bloodshed.
The true victims of this policy are the people of Artsakh who simply want to live free, in peaceful environment, in a country where human rights and democracy are real values, and exercise their right to live, liberty and pursue to happiness!
This is not a conflict for territory, but a cardinal principle of international law of nations right to self-determination.
AFP/Getty ImagesImage
At least 413 people are now known to have died in the earthquake that struck Ecuador, the country’s government says, the BBC reports.
The 7.8-magnitude quake struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast on Saturday, and the search for survivors continues.
The cost of rebuilding is likely to be in the billions of dollars, President Rafael Correa said during a visit to the worst-affected region.
He said it was the biggest tragedy to hit Ecuador in the past seven decades. Some 2,500 people were injured.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan handed in state awards to a group of servicemen for the courage demonstrated during the protection of the NKR state border during the large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan between April 2 and 5.
Dozens of former Turkish public officials, including former police chiefs, went on trial on April 19 on charges of negligence over the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 that sent shockwaves around the country, the reports.
The suspects face accusations of failing to uncover the plot to murder Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly Agos and a passionate advocate of reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.
A total of 34 suspects — including eight who are under arrest — went on trial in the first hearing at the Istanbul criminal court, Anadolu Agency reported.
Among those on trial are the former national police intelligence chief Ramazan Akyürek, former Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah and former Istanbul police intelligence chief İlhan Güler.
Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight outside the offices of Agos in central Istanbul on January 19, 2007.
Ogün Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.
But the case grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the security forces had been aware of a plot to kill Dink but failed to act.
Also among those on trial on April 19 was Ercan Demir, who was police intelligence chief of the Black SeaTrabzon region where the gunman came from.
Anatolia said that another prominent suspect, former top Istanbul police official Ali Fuat Yılmazer, was already under arrest as part of investigations into the outlawed group of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, the arch enemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
There have been numerous indications that the authorities want to emphasise the alleged links between the suspects and Gülen, whose followers are the subject of a major nationwide crackdown.
Turkey’s top court in July 2014 ruled that the investigation into the killing had been flawed, paving the way for the trial of the police officials.
“Azerbaijani military forces recently unleashed an aggression against the people of Nagorno Karabakh in what has been describes a four-day war,” member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Samvel Farmanyan said at the Assembly session today.
“Azerbaijani armed forces used deadly offensive weaponry obtained in the course of the past twenty years in a gross breach of all international norms set by the OSCE. Use of force by Azerbaijan goes contrary to the key documents of international law – the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and others. The Azerbaijani attack amounts to an act of aggression in line with international law,” the MP said.
“Azerbaijani army targeted civilian infrastructures and peaceful population. Twelve-years-old Vaghinak Grigoryan was killed and two other children were wounded heavily at the schoolyard bombarded by Azeri forces. And this is not the only case of violence against the civilian population. An elderly couple was shot in the home, with their ears being cut off by the Azerbaijani military. They also executed a 92-year-old Marusya Halabyan and tortured 104-year-old woman, who is six years older than Azerbaijani itself as a country,” Farmanyan noted.
“Moreover, soldiers of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army were beheaded by Azerbaijani troops, beheaded in ISIS way, and all the photos can be found in the social network. These are evidences of cruel treatment by Azerbaijani soldiers, posing with the head of Karam Sloyan as a trophy. Later the head was transferred to local Azerbaijani population, demonstrating it as a trophy and encouraging hatred and aggression against Armenians,” the Armenian lawmaker said.
“No action by official Baku has followed to punish the guilty. By doing so Azerbaijan once again violated numerous international treaties, namely the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Victims of War and others,” he stressed.
“Another episode includes torture of prisoners of war and mutilation of bodies of eighteen dead Karabakh soldiers handed over to Nagorno Karabakh authorities in presence of the representatives of the International committee of the Red Cross a week after the hostilities,” Farmanyan said.
“We can’t close our eyes on these crimes committed by Azerbaijani military,” he concluded.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Armenia April 21-22 at the invitation of Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
The Russian Foreign Minister will be hosted by President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be followed by a joint press conference.
Sergey Lavrov will visit Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.