According to the data of the Belgian authorities, there are no Armenians among the victims of the Brussels blasts, the Armenian Embassy in Brussels informs in a Twitter post.
The Embassy also notes that there will be no passenger flights into and out of Brussels Airport tomorrow, 24 March and advises to contact the airlines for flight information.
Turkish genocide scholar Taner Akcam’s book titled “The Armenian Issue is Resolved” has been republished for the seventh time by Iletisim Publishing, Akunq.net reports.
According to the source, immediately after the Balkan War, the Committee of Union and Progress cleansed the Anatolian lands of all non-Muslim elements and Turkified them. The 1915 massacre of Armenians was the last stage of the Turkish policy.
In the work based on Ottoman documents Taner Akcam focuses on what the primary sources are telling about the events. The author presents the atrocities carried out under the constant control of Talaat Pasha and the reasons behind the so-called ‘deportation.’
The book quotes Tallat Pasha as saying in one of the telegrams that “The Armenian issue is resolved. There’s no need to stain the nation and the government with extra atrocities.”
The last sitting of the fifth plenary session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels has been cancelled, member of the Armenian delegation to Euronest PA Karine Achemyan told Public Radio of Armenia.
She said that after consultations with the Armenian Ambassador to Belgium, head of the Armenian delegation Artak Zakaryan decided that the Armenian delegates would not leave the hotel at all.
The date of the Armenian lawmakers’ return is not unclear, either, as the airport remains closed.
“The lasting solution to the Karabakh conflict is a priority for us,” US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in an interview with the
“The attempts to violate the ceasefire are a cause of great concern for us, the clashes reported in January last year were unprecedented since the conclusion of the ceasefire agreement. The most worrisome are the losses suffered by the peaceful population, we condemn the use of heavy weapons,” Warlick said.
Ambassador Warlick spoke about the Royce-Sherman letter circulated in the US Congress. The letter co-signed by a number of Congressmen outlines a program of maintaining peace in Karabakh. Among the proposals is the installation of equipment at the frontline that would control the direction of firing, as well as the deployment of OSCE observers at the line of contact for better oversight of the ceasefire.
Mr. Warlick noted that “although the letter has not been finally confirmed, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs support this process targeted at the maintenance of peace.
“Our purpose is to work with the parties to reach a common ground,” Ambassador Warlick noted.
Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze will pay an official visit to Armenia March 24-25 at the invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
The Georgian Foreign Minister will be hosted by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be followed by a press conference.
Renowned Armenian tenor Gegham Grigoryan passed away today aged 65.
World-famous tenor Gegham Grigoryan graduated from Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, the class of People’s Artist of Armenia professor Sergei Danielyan. Grigorian made his first appearance on the big stage in 1971 at age 20, in 1972 he went to West Berlin to appear with solo concerts.
In 1975 he made his debut at the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Armenia in the role of Edgar (opera “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Donizetti). This was followed by Saro (opera “Anush” by Tigranian), Tirith (“Arshak II” by Chukhajyan), Sayat Nova (“Sayat-Nova” by Harutyunyan), Count Almaviva (“The Barber of Seville” by Rossini), Faust (“Faust” by Gounod.)
In 1978 he took part in the competition of the School of Art in Milan at the theater La Scalaand was one of the four lucky winners who were invited to qualify for this school. During his traineeship in Italy, he participated in several concerts. In “La Scala” Gegham Grigoryan made his debut in the role of Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly by Puccini). After that performance, he signed a contract with the theater “La Scala” on the leading rols of the operas “Boris Godunov” and Tosca. The performances were conducted by Claudio Abbado, then he was principal conductor of La Scalla.
Unfortunately, the Soviet authorities, for unknown reasons, forbade him to act outside the territory of the Soviet Union for 10 years. In those years Grigoryan was in the list of so-called restricted artists to travel abroad.
In 1980, Virgilijus Noreika, artistic director of Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre invites Grigorian to work In Vilnius. There Grigorian worked with the famous conductor Jonas Alex. He sang in the operas “Eugene Onegin”, “Don Carlos”, “Boris Godunov,” “La Traviata,” “Madame Butterfly,” “Rigoletto” and many others.
Since 1989, at the invitation of Valery Gergiev he performed at the Mariinsky Theater as the lead singer.
Gegham Grigoryan was the art director of National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after A. Spendiarian.
The leadership of Azerbaijan names the Co-Chair states provocateurs only because they propose to create a mechanism for investigation of incidents,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a meeting with the faculty and students of the Artsakh State University.
“In fact, that criticism is directed not only against the Co-Chairs, but at least against the past and present participating states that presided over the OSCE, the United Nations, European Union, and in general all the states and institutions that have supported and support that proposal,” he said.
“The Azerbaijani leadership does not refrain from accepting, that it is behind the cease fire violations and escalation of the situation. It is even boasting of that fact. Leaving aside whether Baku genuinely thinks there is something worth boasting of, or it is just a propaganda trick for the internal consumption, it should be once again stated that the Azerbaijani leadership has lost its sense of reality,” Minister Nalbandian said.
“This refers not only to the Nagorno Karabakh issue. They state, that Azerbaijan is no less than the most economically stable, the most democratic, the most tolerant state and the most secure place in the world in terms of the protection of human rights, that they may set an example for other states, while different international organizations, international HR institutions state the opposite. A kingdom of crooked mirrors is created in that country, the leaders of which, looking in those mirrors, admire themselves and call upon others to live in such a kingdom of crooked mirrors,” Edward Nalbandian stated.
On 23 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received foreign minister of the Republic of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, NKR President’s Press Office reports.
Several issues related to foreign policy and cooperation of the two Armenian states in this field were discussed during the meeting.
Artsakh Republic foreign minister Karen Mirzoyan partook at the meeting.
Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president wanted to clean up his record before a planned visit to Washington on March 31st, writes.
According to the paper, “the amnesty that Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president, declared for the holiday of Novruz on March 17th was a rare piece of good news for Azerbaijan’s civil-society activists. Of the 148 people pardoned, 14 were political prisoners, according to local watchdog groups. Among the close-knit dissidents in Baku, the capital, speculation was rife over the reason for the pardons.”
“Were they a result of international pressure? Perhaps the president wanted to clean up his record before a planned visit to Washington on March 31st? Foreign supporters hope it was their advocacy that did the trick. But local observers chalk it up to the low price of oil, Azerbaijan’s chief export. Mr Aliyev, they think, is running short of the cash he normally uses to buy off foreign critics through “caviar diplomacy”, and needed to find a substitute,” the article reads.
Two suicide bombers who attacked the international airport in Brussels have been named by Belgian media as the brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, the BBC reports.
The RTBF broadcaster said the pair were known to police. A third man pictured with them at the airport is still being sought.
Twin explosions at the airport and another at a metro station on Tuesday left about 34 dead and 250 wounded.
Belgium is observing three days of national mourning.
So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the attacks and warned that more would follow.
A minute’s silence for the victims will be held at midday (11:00 GMT).