Category: News

The Azerbaijani side used firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire 55 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival fired over 1,000 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions, Artsakh Defense Ministry reports.

The Azeri forces used a 60 mortar and a grenade launcher 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.

Yelk bloc will run for parliament under the slogan “Election, change, victory.” They pledge to be innovative, to offer new solutions in the campaign, to be open and transparent.

The alliance has decided to campaign in different regions of Armenia simultaneously. Edmon Marukyan, who leads the party list, will campaign in the northern provinces of Aragatsotn, Lori, Tavush and Shirak, Aram Sargsyan will work in the southern provinces of Armavir, Ararat, Vayots Dzor and Syunik. Nikol Pashinyan will mostly be in Yerevan, while Sasun Mikayelyan will travel to Gegharkunik and Kotayk.

Free Democrats have chosen the slogan “We can.” At a convention that marked the start of the campaign the party presented its election platform.

Ex-Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, who sits second in the proportional list, referred to the hard social-economic conditions in the country, which ‘have led to large-scale migration.’

“Don’t rely on someone to come, invest in the country and develop its economy. You have to develop Armenia. China’s example is instructive,” Bagratyan said.

The Armenian Renaissance Party urges to “Vote for change, vote for renaissance.” the party chose to start the campaign with a press conference.

The party will present the provisions of its platform to voters separately. The Armenian Renaissance has prepared videos that will introduce to the 30 points of the party’s program.

Tsarukyan alliance says it’s “Time to change and build.” The bloc started the campaign from the borderline Tavush province. Divided into ten groups, members of the alliance traveled to different settlements of Tavush to deliver their messages to people.

Before the start of the campaign member of the bloc Varuzhan Babajanyan had reported pressures against their activists. Speaking to Public Radio of Armenia, Babajanyan said “all issues have been settled.”

The Congress-People’s Party bloc started the campaign without Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Presenting the platform, Congress’ Vice-President Levon Zurabyan said “it’s a program of telling people the truth.”

Addressing the public, member of the Armenian National Congress, economist Zoya Tadevosyan attached importance to eliminating monopoly in Armenia, attracting foreign investors.

The Republican Party of Armenia says it has the answers to the issues people are concerned with. “Elections meeting the letter and spirit of law will be the victory of all of us,” Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said at the start of the campaign.

The party, which has chosen “Security and Progress” as its slogan, considers they will be able to present their programs and outlook to people during the campaign.

The Communist Party of Armenia, which has chosen the “Motherland, labor, socialism” as its slogan, started the campaign from Tavush province.

The party aims to restore socialism in Armenia and intends to deepen the political, economic and cultural ties with Russia.

The Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance will campaign under the slogan “Heritage, unity, victory.” Ex-Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan says they are coming to form a new-quality leadership and restore the faith of the public. He also promises to fight all problems.

The alliance has already published the election platform titled “365 days: everyday change.”

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation started the campaign under the slogan “New beginning, fair Armenia.”

Head of the ARF faction Armen Rustamyan, who heads the party list, says the upcoming elections will be unprecedented in Armenian history.

“While others are speaking about changes, we’re bringing about these changes,” ARF faction secretary Aghvan Vardanyan said at the start of the campaign.

Russia will help Baku and Yerevan reach mutually acceptable solutions to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday after talks with his visiting Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mamedyarov.

“Naturally, we spoke about the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. Russia will continue to help the sides reach mutually acceptable solutions both in its bilateral relations with Baku and Yerevan and in the formal of trilateral meetings between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, of course, in its capacity as Minsk Group Co-Chair,” he said.

“We believe the Karabakh conflict can be solved,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

He said the opinion is reinforced by the “results of long-term contacts, as a result of which common ground has been reached on a number of key issues of conflict settlement – security, humanitarian issue, return of territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh, determination of the status of Nagorno Karabakh (with the opinion living there taken into consideration), defining the parameters of international peacekeeping forces, etc.”

Lavrov said there is understanding on a number of asepcts of final settlement and added that “two or three key issues are still being discussed. “We are far from the point where we can see the parties develop a common approach towards the remaining issues,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister underlined that “before we can resume substantial talks it’s important to deescalate the situation on the line of contact and the public environment.”

He stressed the importance of confidence-building measures, including the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg and the proposals worked out within the framework of the OSCE.

Photo: AP

Iraqi government forces have captured Mosul’s al-Hurriya (Freedom) Bridge over the River Tigris, Iraqi military and Kurdish sources say, the BBC reports.

It is the second of five bridges to be recaptured since the operation to retake the city from so-called Islamic State began in October.

The news comes a day after Iraqi forces launched a new push against the western part of Mosul.

The eastern part was recaptured in January after heavy fighting.

All five bridges were damaged in coalition air strikes but the capture of the second bridge, also known as the al-Jamhuriya bridge, will provide a foothold for government forces.

The bridges were put out of action with the aim of limiting ability of IS to resupply or reinforce their positions in the east.

Mosul is the last stronghold for IS in Iraq.

A Norwegian friend of Armenia, presented his Norwegian language book, a love confession to Armenia and Armenians, to an excited audience in Oslo today, the Armenian Cultural Association of Norway reports.

Sven-Erik is an Armenia expert who has written articles and op-eds about Armenia and the Armenian genocide in national and local newspapers. He has led many public lectures about Armenia for different audiences. He has also led a tour for an enthusiastic group of Norwegian tourists. Sven-Erik Rise proudly calls himself an “Armenian-by-choice” and dreams of having an Armenian passport.

The book is a breathtaking story of his love to a country and its people, presented in a most intimate, humoristic and personal manner. In the book, the author takes the reader to a tour in Armenia, where he and his Turkish friend explore the country, meet many exciting people who have many good stories to share. The author discusses the Armenian Genocide, compares with the Jewish Holocaust, analyses the denialist industry and discusses the Artsakh conflict (Nagorno Karabakh conflict). This book is a good mix of a novel and a well researched and argumented work, which makes it easy to read and gives the reader a fascinating and exciting reading experience.

The introduction of the book is written by auther and veteran journalist of the state broadcaster NRK, Jahn Otto Johansen.

The book has got many good reviews, among others from author and TV personality Stein Morten Lier.

The master of ceremonies was Magnus Jensen. Among speakers were author and TV personality Stein Morten Lier, the leader of the Armenian Cultural Association of Norway Liana Arutyunyan, representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church Society Narine Harutyunyan and representative of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee Lene Wetteland.

Half of the print copies were sold by the end of the book presentation.

Asbarez – The Los Angeles premiere of “The Last Inhabitant,” filmed in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic, will take place on April 7 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California.

The screening is presented by the Artskah Arts and Cultural Foundation.

Inspired by true events, The Last Inhabitant is an Art House film with English subtitles filmed in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). It was considered for the 2017 Golden Globe Awards.

Evicted as a result of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Abgar stays behind alone in a gradually shrinking enemy ring. He is waiting for his daughter, who has become a witness to her husband’s murder by an angry mob and was hospitalized with a trauma disorder. An Azerbaijani named Ibrahim, in exchange for finding and bringing Abgar’s daughter, suggests that Abgar work on the construction of a mosque. A few days later, Ibrahim finds the girl, named Yurga, in one of the psychiatric hospitals of Baku and brings her to Abgar.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

Noting that Armenia and Russia will celebrate the 25^th anniversary of diplomatic relations in a month, President Sargsyan said it’s a good occasion to assess the bilateral relations and establish guidelines for the future.

The Russian State Duma Speaker emphasized the dynamic development of interstate relations and said the parliaments of the two countries are planning to expand relations and the cooperation framework. Vyacheslav Volodin attached importance to decentralized cooperation.

President Sargsyan stressed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in the development of interstate relations and attached importance to the continuous reinforcement of inter-parliamentary relations.

Photo: AFP    

The Paris home of France’s conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon has been raided by investigators, French media report, the BBC reports.

The search was part of an investigation into an allegedly fake job given to his wife. He denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Fillon has vowed to continue his presidential campaign, despite growing pressure for him to step down.

He was once seen as the favourite to win the election but his poll ratings have dropped since the scandal emerged.

The allegations circling around the Fillon family focus mainly on his Welsh-born wife Penelope, who is also reported to be facing an investigation.

The Le Canard Enchaine newspaper alleges she was paid €831,400 over several years for working as a parliamentary assistant for Mr Fillon and his successor, but had no parliamentary pass – raising questions over whether she did the work she was paid for.

“Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to appoint his wife as Vice-President raised a wave of discussions. Therefore, the provocations at the line of contact were meant to distract public attention from the fact,” says Shahin Mirzoyev, Talyshi activist, journalist at Tolishi Sado newspaper, who has fled Azerbaijan and been provided asylum in Armenia.

Speaking to reporters in Armenia today, Mirzoyev said he feels good in Armenia, but keeps receiving threats from Azerbaijan. MPs even suggest introducing the death penalty and sentence Mirzoyev to death.

“And this is how they are going to solve the Karabakh issue in a ‘peaceful way’,” Shahin Mirzoyev said.

Speaking to Public Radio of Armenia, the Talysh activist said he has relatives in Azerbaijan, who are being insulted, but Mirzoyev is not sure they will also be able to escape to Armenia.

Having had an opportunity to compare the public opinion in Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said “societies in both countries are ready for dialogue on the Karabakh issue.” He added that “dialogue is possible only in case Ilham Aliyev’s regime is ousted,” but added that “Aliyev is doing his best to have the conflict and enmity continue in order to keep power.”