Category: News

On March 9, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; received Mr. Nikos Kotsias, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece. He was accompanied by his delegation, and Mr. Karen Nazaryan, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and the Ambassadors of the two countries.

During their conversation, His Holiness reflected on the centuries-old friendly relations between the two nations, which serves today as a solid basis for effective cooperation between the two countries.

His Holiness presented to the Minister the historical role of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the life of the Armenian people, particularly noting the difficulties faced by the Church during Soviet times, and as well as the current mission and challenges.

The Catholicos of All Armenians referred to the brotherly relations between the Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox Churches and the close cooperation between Greece and the Mother See, through which members of the Brotherhood of the Mother See continue their higher spiritual education in Greek Universities.

Minister Kostsias spoke about the important mission of Churches in the life of the people. He stressed that the Church is implementing an important service, contributing to the preservation of national identity and moral values in society, and the spreading of a spirit of tolerance, solidarity and optimism.

During the meeting, the Catholicos of All Armenians and Minister Kotsias also spoke on the tragic situation in the Middle East.

Attending the meeting was His Eminence Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the External Relations and Protocol Department of the Mother See.

The lack of talks on Nagorno Karabakh is connected with the huge blow to the negotiation process caused by the aggression against Artsakh last April, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press conference with visiting Foreign Minister of Greece Nikolaos Kotzias.

“This pushed the negotiation process back,” Minister Nalbandian said. He added that Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries are making efforts to create conditions conducive to the furthering the negotiation process.

The comments come after Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov accused Armenia of freezing the Karabakh talks.

“It’s well known that the international community, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and Armenia are speaking the same language, while Azerbaijan is speaking a different language,” Edward Nalbandian said. He blamed Azerbaijan for the failure to implement the agreements reached at Vienna and St. Petersburg summits.

Minister Nalbandian stressed that there is no alternative to the negotiations, and the OSACE Minsk Group Co-Chairs maintain efforts to further the negotiation process.

“The Co-Chairs will arrive in Armenia on March 27 and will visit Stepanakert, as well,” Edward Nalbandian informed.

Azeri human rights activists, journalists and political dissidents have been the targets of a fraudulent and sustained ‘spear phishing’ campaign using emails and Facebook chat, apparently aimed at gaining access to their personal information and private communications, said Amnesty International in a new report launched today.

The investigation reveals that the attacks, which can compromise passwords and contacts, have been directed at various government critics for the past 13 months. Victims told Amnesty International they believed the Azerbaijani authorities are behind the attacks.

“Our research reveals that a targeted and coordinated cyber campaign is being waged against critical voices in Azerbaijan, many of whom are long-time victims of government repression,” said Claudio Guarnieri, Senior Technologist at Amnesty International.

“The malware used has been designed with the express intention of gathering as much private information as possible about a target. Given the profiles of those targeted, it is not hard to see why victims believe the authorities are responsible.”

The report, , details how victims have been targeted using a practice known as ‘spear phishing’, which involves an email with an attachment containing a virus – known as malware – being sent to a target from a fake address.

President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree, relieving Oleg Yesayan of the duties of Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Russia.

According to another presidential decree, Vardan Toghanyan has been appointed Armenia’s Ambassador to Russia.

“Russia intends to continue its mediating mission in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement together with the French and US Co-Chairs and on the basis of the provisions stipulated for in the five joint statements of the Presidents of Russia, the United States and France,” Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova told a press conference today.

She reminded that the statements stress the unacceptability of the use of force in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and urge the leaderships of Armenia and Azerbaijan to solve disputable issues on the basis of the principles of non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity and the right of peoples to self-determination.

Maria Zakharova said that Russia will continue individual efforts, considering the country’s close relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, which allow for frank exchange of opinion on key issues.

She reminded that Russia played a direct role in the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 1994, which remains in force to date. “An important phase in Russia’s mediating efforts was the adoption of the Moscow Declaration in 2008, which stipulates for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is the first and the only document bearing the signatures of the Presidents of the two countries,” the Spokesperson said.

At a trilateral meeting mediated by Russia in 2011, the parties agreed to implement an investigation mechanism. Russia played a key role in ceasing the large-scale military actions in April last year by inviting the Chiefs of General Staffs of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Zakharova said.

She stressed that “observance of all above-mentioned agreements is key to the consistent continuation of the peace process aimed at reaching a sustainable resolution to the conflict.”

Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan paid tribute to the Armenian supporters who backed him at the Olimp-2 stadium and insists the Reds will keep fighting to win every game after a 1-1 draw away to FC Rostov in the Europa League.

The Armenia international returned to the United side for the first time since injuring his hamstring in the 1-0 away win over Saint-Etienne in the round of 32 and he marked it with a goal, scoring the opener from close range. He was backed by fans who made the trip from his homeland to join the travelling Reds in cheering Jose Mourinho’s men on.

It was Mkhitaryan’s third successive away goal in the competition and he accepted it was crucial for the club to go into next week’s second leg at Old Trafford with a slight advantage.

“I am happy to be back and I’m happy to score today,” he told . “I am thankful [to the Armenian fans] that they came to support me and maybe I did a good present for them, scoring a goal, so they enjoyed watching our game. I think it’s good that we scored an away goal and we have good chances for the second game.”

United were in control of the first half but conceded early in the second period, in what were tricky conditions for the Reds.

“They scored a goal and everything changed,” Mkhitaryan continued. “We played as well as we could on this pitch so I don’t even want to speak about it because, for both sides, the pitch was an awful thing.”

United have conceded just once at Old Trafford in the Europa League this season – Robin van Persie scoring in the 4-1 victory over Fenerbahce – and Mkhitaryan believes the second leg “is going to be more important” than the first.

Mourinho’s side now turn their attentions to Monday night’s Emirates FA Cup quarter-final against Premier League leaders Chelsea before welcoming FC Rostov to Manchester on Thursday.

Armenia is open to normalizing relations with Turkey without any preconditions, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press conference with visiting Foreign Minister of Greece Nikos Kotzias.

Minister Nalbandian said he hopes Turkey will once adopt a similar stance and will respect the agreements reached.

Minister Nalbandian reminded about the Armenian President’s initiative to normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions, which the latter turned down. “Although two protocols were signed, Turkey refused to ratify and implement those,” he said.

Minister Nalbandian said that “as a nation subjected to the first genocide of the 20th century, Armenia feels obliged to make efforts to prevent new genocides, new crimes against humanity.”

“We are taking steps on different international platforms, including the UN in that direction,” Minister Nalabdnian said, adding that a number of resolutions have already been adopted.

The Minister reminded that the UN recently accepted Armenia’s initiative to proclaim December 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.

The Azerbaijani forces used firearms of different calibers,including sniper rifles, as they violated the ceasefire more than 30 times at the  line of contact with Karabakh forces last night, firing over 550 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions, Artsakh Defense Ministry reports.

The Azeri forces used Instiglal and SVD sniper rifles in the  eastern direction and a 82 mm mortar in the northeastern direction of the line of contact.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep the situation under control and confidently continue with their military duty, Artsakh Defense Ministry said in a statement.

AP Photo/ Cem Bakırcı/Depo

 

– At least four Russian nationals were on board of a helicopter that crashed in an Istanbul suburb on Friday, Turkish NTV channel reports.

A fire-fighting helicopter has crashed near Istanbul on Friday. According to the local media reports, the incident occurred due to strong fog.

As a result, five people died, the head of the Buyukcekmece suburb said Friday.

“There is preliminary information that five bodies have been found. The helicopter fell directly on the road, there were no cars on the road. The fog is strong, absolutely nothing is visible,” Mayor Hasan Akgun said in a broadcast on Turkey’s NTV.

​A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, registration number TC-HEZ, departed Istanbul Ataturk Airport and crashed near Büyükçekmej at 11:21 A.M. local time, the news agency DHA reported. According to DHA, there were 7 people aboard: 2 crew members and 5 passengers.

Photo: EPA    

Lawyer Amal Clooney has urged the UN to act against so-called Islamic State by backing a UK-led investigation into the group’s atrocities in Iraq, the BBC reports.

Speaking at the UN, Mrs Clooney said IS had declared it will “destroy” the country’s Yazidi ethnic group through murder, rape and forced conversions.

The British-Lebanese human rights lawyer said IS was also attacking Christians, and Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Mrs Clooney, who is based in London, accused the UN of “inaction”.

She said: “The UN was created as the world’s way of saying ‘never again’ to the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis.

“And yet here we are, 70 years later, discussing the UN’s inaction in the face of a genocide that we all know about, and that is ongoing.”

The UK is drafting a Security Council resolution to establish a UN investigation, but Mrs Clooney said the Iraqi government needs to send a letter formally requesting the inquiry before the 15-member council can vote.