Category: News

President Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia.

The interlocutors discussed the situation established as a result of the recent Azerbaijani offensive along the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

They attached importance to the mobilization of the efforts of the state and the church for the sake of solution of the most important problems and challenges.

The Catholicoi spoke about their forthcoming visit to Nagorno Karabakh.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Nobel Prize winners in the area of medicine and adjacent areas Aaron Ciechanover, Ada Yonath, Dan Shechtman, John Robin Warren, and Ei-ichi Negishi.

These scientists, who were awarded the greatest prize in the area of science, have arrived to Armenia in the framework of the scientific event organized by the M. Heratsi State Medical University of Yerevan.

At the meeting, discussed were issues related to the development in Armenia of science, particularly of medicine and adjacent areas.

To commemorate 101 years since the Armenian genocide, the Cyprus Committee on the Memory of the Armenian Genocide organizes a series of events to mark the dark anniversary, according to a press release on Tuesday, reports.

On Wednesday, April 20, a book in Greek and English that includes articles on the Armenian genocide in the Greek Cypriot press between 1914-1923 will be launched at the University of Nicosia’s UNESCO amphitheatre at 7pm.

On Saturday, April 23, at 5:30pm, the youth will walk from the capital’s Makarios Avenue to the Armenian Church on Armenias Street where they will be joined by community members for a remembrance event set for 7:30pm.

This will be under the auspices of House President Yiannakis Omirou who is the main speaker. The Armenian Archbishop and Mehdessian will also address the gathering.

The events aim to maintain remembrance for the 1.5 million Armenians who died at the hands of Turkey during the 1915 genocide, and to push for recognition of the genocide by Turkey.

Turkey’s any interference with the Karabakh conflict settlement can only harm the process, because of Turkey’s unilateral stance and its mania of supporting Azerbaijan at any cost, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

“The aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact and Turkey’s provocative statements are the best proof of it,” he added.

Speaking at the Islamic Cooperation Organization, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speculated the ‘Islamic solidarity,’ thus trying to present Azerbaijan’s military actions against self-determined Nagorno Karabakh as a religious conflict. Kocharyan labelet it a “dangerous attempt.”

“The current policy of the Turkish authorities is a consequence of the wave of instability, terrorism and bloodshed both inside Turkey and outside its borders. With the above-mentioned provocative statement the Turkish Foreign Minister actually reveals its plans to extend the wave to the South Caucasus,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

“We’re confident that aware of the real goals of Turkey, our traditionally friendly Muslim countries, will not give in to Ankara’s provocations,” Shavarsh Kocharyan concluded.

Two Russian military pilots have died after their helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs, the BBC reports.

The aircraft, an M-28H attack helicopter, was not shot at, Russia’s defence ministry said.

The crash happened in the early hours of Tuesday, the ministry said. The bodies were recovered and brought to Russia’s Hmeimim air base.

Russia joined the Syrian conflict in September, launching air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Armenia’s First Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan met with Mrs. Caroline Douilliez, Head of the ICRC delegation in Armenia

The parties discussed issues related to the search for and recovery of the bodies of the soldiers killed as a result of the military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan.

David Tonoyan expressed gratitude to the Head of the ICRC Delegation for organizing the exchange of bodies with the mediation of the ICRC and OSCE representatives.

The Deputy Defense Minister informed Mrs. Douilliez that all 18 bodies handed over the Armenian side were mutilated, which not only violates the second paragraph of  Common Article 3 of all 1949 Geneva Conventions (…To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture), the 1st paragraph of Article 130 of the 1949 4th Geneva Convention, the provisions of  Article 4.2. of the Second Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions, but also constitute a heavy crime under the criminal jurisdiction of any legal state.

David Tonoyan noted that the Armenian side will pursue the condemnations of the crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces by the international community and specialized bodies.

Russia calls on all parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to observe agreements on cessation of hostilities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on Monday after talks with his Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter, reports.

“We call on the sides to observe the agreements reached on cessation of hostilities,” Lavrov said. “We are interested in positive shifts on the political track toward reaching agreements on settling this uneasy conflict,” he added.

The deputy chairman of a Swedish-Turkish association has resigned after derogatory comments he made about Armenians last week, the Associated Press reports.

Barbaros Leylani, who called for death “to Armenian dogs” at a Stockholm rally, apologized Monday on the association’s website saying he’d been misunderstood.

Swedish legal watchdog Juridikfronten said it had reported the speech for incitement to racial hatred to police and an Armenian association says it also plans to make a police report.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will hold a debate on Nagorno Karabakh, according to the session posted on PACE’s official website.

The current affairs debate on “The recent and tragic escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” is scheduled for April 18, the first day of the spring session.

On 11 April President Bako Sahakyan held a meeting with the Armenian National Assembly deputy chairman Edward Sharmazanov and a group of deputies from Greek and Latvian parliaments.

The meeting addressed issues relating to the military operations recently launched by Azerbaijan against the Artsakh Republic.

Bako Sahakyan hailed the support of many countries, representatives of their political and public circles to the peace process and condemnation of aggression

The President noted at the same time that the international community must have a tough and targeted assessment of the Azerbaijani militaristic and destructive policy, highlighting the importance of an adequate of the response for restraining aggression.