High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini will visit Armenia on March 1 at the invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
Federica Mogherini is expected to have meetings with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
Photo: AFP
Almost 100 rebel factions have agreed to respect an imminent cessation of hostilities in Syria, the main Syrian opposition group has said, the BBC reports.
The High Negotiations Committee said Free Syrian Army factions and the armed opposition had signed up to the temporary truce from midnight Saturday.
World powers agreed on 12 February that a truce would start within a week but that deadline passed and scepticism had lingered over the new plan.
Warring parties in Syria were meant to make their intentions known by midday (10:00 GMT) Friday ahead of the pause in fighting.
Announcing the intentions of rebel factions, the HNC said the Syrian government and its allies must not use the “proposed text to continue the hostile operations against the opposition factions under the excuse of fighting terrorism”.
Fifa will get a new president on Friday when 207 delegates from around the world gather in Zurich, Switzerland to vote for a successor to Sepp Blatter, the BBC reports.
In charge of world football’s governing body since 1998, Blatter, 79, said last year he was standing down amid a growing corruption crisis.
Five candidates want to replace him.
They are Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, Gianni Infantino, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne.
The election process is expected to begin at 12:00 GMT, but several rounds of voting may be required before a winner is known.
Having a house has become a sacred dream for many families in Gyumri that have been living in temporary dwellings for 27 years now. A photostory was created about three years ago to draw attention to the issue. The photos were even posted on the pages of the National Geographic, but the initiative failed to bring the desirable results.
Photographer Hayk Barseghyan, one of the authors of the initiative, said they tried to find a different solution to the issue. They organized a fund-raising campaign on the British Crowdfunder website earlier this year to help 13 most vulnerable families. All families would have homes, had 120,000 Armenians donated £1 each.
Hayk Barseoghyan tld reporters today that the sum will be enough for just one house, but added they have found alternative ways to raise funds. They have worked out a comprehensive program of events. In particular, personal items of famous Armenians will be put on sale at a charity auction expected in a few days. Wrestler Arsen Julfalakyan, footballer Henrikh Mkhitaryan and many others have joined the initiative.
World-famous pianist Tigran Hamasyan will perform an hour-long concert in Gyumri to benefit the families in need.
The photography exhibition “Sınırda” (On the Border), featuring a total of 49 black and white photographs by three young photographers from Koç University’s Photography Club (KUSHOT), will be on display at Istanbul Archeology Museum’s Assos Hall until March 20, reports.
Students Hüseyin Karabacak, Orhun Şener and Çağatay Gürbay, whose paths crossed “on the border,” explore the borders of life in the eastern part of Turkey, as well as people and their voices, faces and feelings from the eastern province of Kars to Armenia’s Yerevan and Gyumri provinces. Curated by academician Laleper Aytek of Koç University, the exhibition reveals the photographers’ journey to the unknown. “On the Border” displays various layers in the society, which were formed as an expression of collective memory.
Tonight, at the A. Spendiarian
President Serzh Sargsyan was present at the 15th Haikian award ceremony of the Youth Fund of Armenia at the Opera and Ballet National Academic Theater after Alexander Spendiaryan. It is called to encourage achievements of the youth organizations, certain young individuals, including students who in the course of the year stood out with their active stance and substance of the programs carried out in different areas.
The 2015 awards were bestowed in a number of nominations such as the best public youth organization in Yerevan, the best public youth organization in marzes, the exceptional youth project, the best Chairperson of the Student Council, the best higher education establishment program, the best youth announcement, the best journalistic project, the best international structure, the best scientific achievements made by a young scientist, the best student self-governing body.
Along with the traditional nominations presented were also special awards which were handed to the winners by President Serzh Sargsyan. Special awards were handed to Gohar Martikian for the Formula of Living military and patriotic book collection-program, Youth State Orchestra of Armenia for its contribution to the dissemination of classical art among young people and public at large and on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, to Edgar Vardanian – an alumnus of the specialized school of Physics and Mathematics for excellence in the international subject Olympiads in 2014-2015, to Samvel Karapetian for the Eghern after Eghern program carried out in the framework of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Aram Antinian for implementing the idea on the creation of the first in Armenia charity café and for helping numerous needy people, to the serviceman of the Armenian Armed Forces, Major Sargis Stepanian for valor in executing his duties and infinite dedication. President Sargsyan congratulated all winners of Haikian award and once again welcomed and stressed the importance of this initiative by the Armenian Youth Fund and wished the young people undying vigor and new success.
“I would like to confess frankly that I always attend the Haikian award ceremony with pleasure, because I find myself in a milieu where new ideas, new initiatives, good deeds are being commended, appreciated and encouraged. It is not only gratifying but also useful because a person gets positive impulses. I really do not have any participation in the award process, so I don’t know why all the awardees thank me. You’d rather thank your peers. This is one of the advantages of this award because the initiative comes for young people, the appreciation comes from the young too. It means that adults do not impose their will, don’t say one thing is good, the other is bad. It is the young who say this one is fine, the other – not so. It is, of course, inspiring. Inspiring because what we’ve seen today in this hall is directly related to the future of our country, with what’s ahead. These are clichés, however it should be repeated constantly that the future of the country is always in the hands of the young. You all are brilliant people, nice young people. I should say frankly that the majority of our young people are brilliant, they are defending our Fatherland. Today Army is the youngest structure in our Republic. Our young people have achievements in every area. Look, today he can be called a young man – he defends Armenia’s honor at the international subject Olympiads, there are other like him, twenty-one young people. At the moment we have success in every area, and it became possible because of young people. It means that the future of our country is in strong hands. I wish that in 20, 30, 40 years you become the speakers on this podium and you think what kind of initiatives you should come up with to encourage young people, where to lead them. And it should go on and on, for a million years. Thank you,” said President Serzh Sargsyan in his welcoming remarks for the young people.
Moscow does not hide its military-technical cooperation with Yerevan and asks Baku to treat this with understanding, Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday, TASS reports.
“We already informed the Azerbaijani side via diplomatic channels that Russia and Armenia are connected by allied relations and develop military-technical cooperation as well,” Zakharova said.
“This is a well-known fact. We cooperate without hiding anything — transparently and openly. We hope that Azerbaijan will treat this fact with understanding,” she added noting that Moscow takes into account all risks in the region when it supplies weapons.
“Any weapons are delivered to Armenia or friendly Azerbaijan with careful consideration of necessity to preserve the existing balance of power in the region,” she said.
On Wednesday Azerbaijan to Russian Foreign Ministry over supplying Armenia with weapons.
The German Alliance 90/The Greens Party will make mention of the Armenian Genocide 100 years ago.
The bill to be presented by Cem Ozdemir, Chairman of the German Alliance 90/The Greens Party, notes that “the German Bundestag bows to the victims of forced displacement and massacre of the Armenians and Aramaeans, Assyrians and other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire, which began 100 years ago. It deplores the actions of the then Turkish government, almost full annihilation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
The commemoration of the German Parliament will be an expression of special respect before Armenians as the oldest Christian nation on earth.
The bill states that “An honest appraisal of history is the most important basis for reconciliation It is given to a clear distinction between the guilt of the perpetrators and the
With the motion the German Bundestag will call on the Federal Government to encourage the Turkish side to face the history in order to lay the necessary foundation for reconciliation with the Armenian people. The German Government will be urged to continue to provide support scientific, civic and cultural exchange between Turkey and Armenia through budget resources, to actively support the Turkish-Armenian relations through scholarships for researchers, to encourage Turkish and Armenian government representatives to ratify the Zurich protocols signed in 2009 and resume diplomatic relations.
The German Bundestag held a debate on the Armenian Genocide today but did not vote on the bill proposed by the Alliance 90/The Greens. The ruling coalition said it’s not the proper time to adopt the bill and proposed to continue the discussions in the coming weeks to prepare a new finalized document until April 24, 2016.
Chairman of the Alliance 90/The Greens Cem Ozdemir agreed to withdraw his bill on condition that the new document to be agreed before April 24 clearly mentions the events of 1915 as genocide, accepts Germany’s role in the massacre and contributes to the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations.
The issue was brought to the agenda by the Alliance 90/The Greens, which has always urged to describe the events of 1915 as ‘genocide.’
Addressing the Bundestag today, Ozdemir said “the authorities have no common stance on the issue out of the fear to irritate Erdogan. “I don’t understand why we cannot vote for this bill. We should do that for the simple reason of clearing our conscience,” he said.
“Turkey is distorting its own history, while our goal is to establish the truth. A clear message on the part of Germany could change a lot,” Ozdemir said.
Klaus Brähmig of CDU/CSU said, in turn, that “the current Turkish authorities are not responsible for their ancestors, but can take steps to improve relations with Armenia.”
“Today we need no reports criticizing Turkey. Instead, we need steps that will contribute to the settlement of the migrants’ issue. Judging from our own history, we can say that no matter how actively we invite Turkey to assess their own past, their people must be ready for it. It will happen, when there is no pressure from the outside. Therefore, we cannot vote in favor of this resolution,” he said.
“We need to respect ourselves and refrain from kissing Turkey’s eyes every time. You asked for time, and we gave you plenty,” Ozdemir told the coalition. “Turkey speaks of civilized society, but persecutes journalists who dare speak openly,” he added.
“If we really manage to work out a new document before April 24 on the basis of the three above-mentioned points, we’ll say “We are with you.” But when time comes, you’ll find other obstacles,” Chairman of the Greens Party said.
The bill debated today noted that “the German Bundestag bows to the victims of forced displacement and massacre of the Armenians and Aramaeans, Assyrians and other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire, which began 100 years ago. It deplored the actions of the then Turkish government, almost full annihilation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
The resolution noted that “the fate of the Armenians stands as exemplary in the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and yes, genocide, which marked the 20th century in such a terrible way.” German President Joachim Gauck used the same wording as he addressed a commemoration ceremony on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The bill stated that “An honest appraisal of history is the most important basis for reconciliation.”
The bill also referred to the German role in the Armenian Genocide, noting that “today’s German authorities are obliged to contribute to the resumption of the Armenian-Turkish relations, opening of the shared border.”
Unlike the resolution adopted by the Bundestag in 2005, the bill considered today clearly described the events as “genocide.”
Photo: ChinaFotoPress
Beijing has overtaken New York as the city with the highest number of billionaires for the first time, a new report by China-based firm Hurun says, the BBC reports.
A total of 100 billionaires are now living in the Chinese capital, compared with 95 in New York, the report said.
Shanghai, China’s centre of commerce, came in fifth place.
Hurun, which tracks wealth in China, has released an annual Global Rich List for the past five years measuring billionaires’ wealth in US dollars.
It found that Beijing had welcomed 32 new billionaires since last year, allowing it to vault past New York which it calculated only saw four new billionaires.
Overall, China has overtaken the US as the country with the highest number of billionaires. However, the top 10 billionaires in Hurun’s list is still dominated by Americans.
China has 568 billionaires after gaining 90 new ones, compared with the US which has 535.
China’s billionaires boast a combined net worth of $1.4 trillion (£1.01 trillion), which is similar to the GDP of Australia.