Category: News

“Self-determination is the only solution for Nagorno- Karabakh. The European Union should impose sanctions against Baku with regards to the new outbreak of Azeri aggression against the people of Nagorno Karabakh,” MEP Eleni Theocharous said at a plenary session of the European Parliament.

“The Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh have resisted against the Soviet totalitarianism for 60 years now and have managed not to be absorbed by the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan, to which they were unwillingly given by the South Soviets. After many bloody fights, the Armenians have gained their freedom and their right to self-determination. This would be the only fair solution for Nagorno Karabakh,” she said.

“Since 1994, the Armenians are defending themselves against the constant attacks by Azerbaijan, which uses its economic power towards purchasing heavy weapons whereas at the same time its own people live in absolute poverty. Its utter purpose is the destruction of the Karabakh people since the continuous attacks and killings of civilians are Azeri practices,” the MEP added.

“It is therefore the EU’s responsibility to support the people of Nagorno Karabakh, who fight for their freedom, and thus not to support the continuation of an unjust status quo. Peace equals recognition of the right to self-determination for the people of Nagorno Karabakh,” Eleni Theocharous concluded.

The history of Armenia is closely connected with Byzantium and Greece, through common course and tragic events. The Athens-based Byzantine and Christian Museum, hosts the exhibition “Armenia: The spirit of Ararat, from the Bronze Age to the 20th century,” organized in collaboration with the History Museum of Armenia and the Embassy of Armenia in Greece.

Director of the Byzantine and Christian Museum Mrs. Katerina Delaporta told that “the exhibition includes 104 items, starting from prehistoric times, findings that emerged from excavations of the Hellenistic and Roman period to digital material from the modern history of Armenia, presenting the destruction of monuments and the Armenian Genocide.”

It is the first time that archaeological treasures of Armenia are on display in Greece. Visitors will certainly find the historic link between the two countries.

Armenians made their presence felt both in Europe and the Middle and Far East and India and China. This geographic expansion of their commercial networks, particularly to the east, influenced their cultural preferences, which are visible on objects in the collection.

The exhibition will remain open until May 31.

Bundestag is set to vote on an a motion for recognition of the Armenian Genocide  on June 2,  quoted Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) First Secretary Michael Grosse-Brömer as saying, reports.

Speaking to AFP, Green Party Co-Chair Cem Özdemir said: “We would like this motion to be brought to Bundestag sooner. However, there is something more important than the date, which is the fact that all political parties will speak the same.”

Özdemir also said, “Finally, there will be a clear and explicit statement in Bundestag. Yes, the name of the crime committed against Armenians in Ottoman era is genocide. Moreover, Germany is also responsible for it.”

“Christian Democratic Union keeps its promise. There is no turning back now,” Özdemir said.

Green Party , but the voting was postponed, since coalition parties Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) demanded a common motion.

for the first time, but there was no voting. While the government avoided using the term “genocide”, President Joachim Gauck and President of Bundestag Norbert Lammert openly used the word “genocide” to describe the events of 1915.

At a recent meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan Chancellor Angela Merkelassured the bill would be brought to Parliament.

Armenia’s Andranik Karapetyan (77 kg) won gold at the European Weightlifting Championships under way in Norway.

Another Armenian weightlifter Tigran Martirosyan came in second in the same weight category.

Photos by Karl Mancini, Gianmarco Maraviglia

In light of the recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan, Newsweelk presents the life of young people in Nagorno Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert. Excerpts from the article are provided below:

Many of Karabakh’s residents are given frequent reminders of a war they are too young to recall. Yet despite the harsh and fickle realities of the nearby frontline, they continue to dream and find ways to have fun.

There are not many signs of nightlife in Karabakh for teens and 20-somethings even in the capital of Stepanakert, by far the most populous and developed settlement in the aspiring republic. To those looking for a night out, Stendhal Club is the only disco opened until late in the city. Others prefer to meet at home or in restaurants.

Parts of Stepanakert, which stands around 20 kilometers from the contact line with Azerbaijan, have been rebuilt since the war. “The situation and city is quite dark,” Gianmarco Maraviglia, one of the two photographers behind our gallery says. “The frontline is very close and the people know it.” Other towns around such as Shushi, where little to no rebuilding has happened, bear the scars of war even more heavily.

Lika Zaqaryan is a political science major at Stepanakert’s Artsakh State University, where she is also prima ballerina in the ballet troupe. She knows opportunities lead abroad but she says she will always return to Karabakh.

“I want to go to another country to improve my education but when I do that I don’t want to stay there,” Zaqaryan says. “I want to come back and live here in Nagorno Karabakh. I hope it will be a peaceful Republic of Nagorno Karabakh or maybe a part of the Republic of Armenia.”

She says everyone worries about their brothers, fathers or grandfathers in the military but hopes the “problems with Azerbaijan on the border” can be resolved.

Grigor Khagramanyan, 13, has his sights on traveling the world. “I’d like to go to Iran. I’d like to see their carpets,” he says, looking on from his school window. “And Singapore, to see their many high buildings. Maybe South Africa will be good,” he says. “I have one friend, his father is working in the army, he’s a general. He wants to be like his father, I know.” Grigor himself says he has heard a lot about the army from his friend. He says it is “interesting.”

Knar Babayan, a photographer and journalist, is old enough to remember the violence of the late 1980s and so proud that she has had the chance to leave Karabakh and returned. “I studied here, then moved to Yerevan and I also had a chance to study in Georgia. I was also abroad to participate in workshops,” she says. “Every time I come back my friends ask me ‘Really you don’t want to leave Karabakh?’”

“I found that I could not live more than 10 days away from home,” she laughs. “One of my lecturers told me I am lucky because at my age I understand that I have a home.”

Wealthy benefactors from the Armenian diaspora have helped finance a handful of venues in Karabakh to help better the lives of the young and their career prospects. A small new soccer field has been built in central Stepanakert, where children can play. For those whose minds are more tech-geared, Stepanakert has also opened the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.

The center is modeled after projects in Armenia, and it allows children develop skills in art and computer science, with a well stocked inventory of digital resources. The center is open free of charge to any under-18s and its sister-centers in Armenia have already established three startups.

Gohar Aushar, an aspiring filmmaker at the Tumo center in Stepanakert, says she would like to hone her craft abroad, but her inspiration will “always be Karabakh and Stepanakert.”

“I think a documentary would be a good idea,” she says. “Our country has a lot of history and I think other countries should know about it. I would like to film a story about our historical memorials and shoot Tigranakert.”

“I think there is no difference between Armenians and Karabakhis because we are one nation,” she says.

The Azerbaijani side kept violating the agreement on ceasefire along the line of contact with Karabakh forces all through April 13, the NKR Defense Army reports.

Between 17:15 and 18:00 the rival used 82 mm mortars in the northern direction (Martakert).

At about 17: 50 the Azerbaijani forces used 60 mm mortars, as they shelled the Armenian posts located in the Talish direction.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army remained committed to the oral agreement on ceasefire and resorted to retaliatory measures in case of extreme necessity.

On Thursday April 21, Thomas Jefferson School of Law will be hosting a lecture entitled, “Genocide and the Law 101 Years Later.” This event will coincide near the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey.

The lecture will feature famed Armenian-American criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, who had represented several celebrities and was one of the lead lawyers in a pair of groundbreaking federal class-action lawsuits against New York Life Insurance and AXA Corporation for insurance policies issued in the early 20th century during the Armenian Genocide.

This event is organized by the Thomas Jefferson School of Law Armenian Law Student Association.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan participated today in the sitting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Moscow.

The Heads of Government of EEU member states discussed a wide range of issues on the EEU agenda. The participants attached importance to raising the dialogue and economic cooperation with China to a new level. A number of decisions were signed upon the conclusion of the sitting.

On the sidelines of the sitting PM Hovik Abrahamyan talked to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

At the initiative of the Russian Prime Minister, the next sitting of the Council will take place in Yerevan on May 20, 2016.

On 13 April Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan had a meeting with His Holiness Garegin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia.

A wide range of questions covering the state-church, Homeland-Diaspora ties was discussed at the meeting.

Issues relating to the large-scale combat operations launched by Azerbaijan from 2 to 5 April and their consequences were in the focus of special attention.

President Sahakyan noted that during this ordeal the entire Armenian nation demonstrated exemplary unity and cohesion, fervent patriotism and self-dedication highlighting the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in this process.

The Head of the State acknowledged the visit of the Supreme Patriarch, Catholicos of All Armenians and Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia to Artsakh, pointing out its historic significance from spiritual, political and the younger generations’ patriotic upbringing perspectives.

Primate of the Artsakh Diocese Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, a group of supreme ecclesiastic representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church partook in the meeting.

The situation in Nagorno Karabakh will be discussed at the plenary session of the European Parliament today.

Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini will make a statement, which will be followed by a debate.