Category: News

On 28 February Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The meeting addressed a number of issues related to the situation along the contact line between the Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan armed forces.

Special attention was paid to the penetration attempt made by the Azerbaijani subversion unit on 25 February. The President described it as a provocative policy aimed at undermining peace and stability in the region.

Within this context the President highlighted the need for targeted and tough response by the international community, considering it an important component in containing the destructive policy waged by the adversary.

On February 27, the Armenian National Institute (ANI) launched a Turkish-language version of its popular website documenting the facts and acknowledgments of the Armenian Genocide available at .

The ANI site is visited over four million times a year and the number of people accessing from Turkey is substantial. As Turkey regularly censors foreign and domestic websites and the ANI English site has been hacked by denialists, the new ANI Turkish site was designed to give access to broader Turkish-language audiences, both in the Republic of Turkey and outside. The Turkish-language site will parallel many of the most commonly used features of the ANI site. For its first phase, the Turkish site features translations of official documents from countries around the world that formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The resolutions, laws, and declarations from countries that have historically recognized the Armenian Genocide can now be read in Turkish. They range from the May 24, 1915 Joint Allied Declaration that invoked crimes against humanity at the time the genocide was being committed to more recent parliamentary resolutions, including the 2016 German Parliament resolution that recognized the historic events and admitted German responsibility in the matter. Earlier this month the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany upheld the validity of the resolution.

“The Turkish-language ANI site looks forward to contributing toward dialogue by paving one more path to a common understanding of history and by taking one more step toward a reconciliation cognizant of the consequences of the past while building forward toward a future where neighboring nations live in peace,” stated ANI Chairman Van Z. Krikorian.

Audiences in Turkey are also unaware of the voluminous Turkish records that confirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide. In 2004 the proceedings and legal analysis by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), commissioned by the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission, was published in Turkish and several books have appeared in print since, but there is a massive gap in resources for Turkish speakers.

The ICTJ legal opinion in Turkish is available on the new website, which also includes a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section and a photographic collection. Additionally, a section for entries from the Encyclopedia of Genocide addressing several aspects of the Armenian Genocide is currently under construction.

The site will have new features that will be of particular interest to Turkish readers. The Institute is looking forward to expanding the site in the same systematic manner and by the same objective standards by which the ANI site was created.

“Many courageous individuals have spoken up and some brave scholars have pioneered groundbreaking research documenting the Armenian Genocide on the basis of official Ottoman records. Despite the broad-ranging global dialogue on the historical importance and dark precedent of the Armenian Genocide, more progress in Turkey is necessary for Turks to understand and reconcile with their own real history,” Krikorian added.

This policy continues to have serious domestic consequences. Recently Turkish parliamentarian of Armenian origin Garo Paylan was penalized with suspension from participation in three sessions of the legislature for daring to reference the consequences of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey itself.

His suspension in January arrived almost to the day of the tenth anniversary of the assassination of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, a crime that remains in many ways unsolved. Dink’s courage in raising awareness of the legacy of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey emboldened many others in the Turkish media to re-examine the issue, while it infuriated ultranationalists who took the law into their own hands.

The new site also features the ANI map keyed in Turkish, and links to other popular features, such as its digital exhibits and online museum.

ANI Director Dr. Rouben Adalian stated: “The Turkish site was created thanks to the support and encouragement of many contributors, including translators, consultants and web designers who helped to make this information on the Armenian Genocide accessible to readers in Turkey and elsewhere. New translations will be added very soon and we look forward to enhancing the site to reflect the vast amount of information on the Armenian Genocide already available on the ANI site.”

The four-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan in April 2016 was the was the reflections of Baku’s long-term belligerent policy and propaganda, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“It caused a great harm to the  conflict settlementprocess. Azerbaijan’s aggression came to confirm that there is no alternative to the Artsakh people’s struggle to live in safety and freedom on their own land. This is not an opinion, but a reality imposed on us as a result of Azerbaijani policy,” President Sargsyan said.

President Sargsyan blamed Azerbaijan for the failure to implement the agreements reached at Vienna and St. Petersburg summits. “If Azerbaijan is truly interested in changing the status quo, there is one way to do this – recognize the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination,” he said.

The President said Baku apparently uses the Karabakh conflict to solve issues inside the country – to divert attention from pressing social-economic problems and the growing discontent with the gross violations of human rights.

Serzh Sargsyan stressed that “both Armenia and Artsakh stand against use of force and support the peaceful settlement of the conflict through negotiations.” “New attempts of military adventurism on the part of Azerbaijan are fraught with unpredictable consequences for Azerbaijan itself. Armenia, as a guarantor of Artsakh’s security, has said on many occasions that it is ready to give an adequate response to any attempt of use of force,” he noted.

“Despite Azerbaijan’s continuous threats, the people of Artsakh continue to build their future,” the President said.

He emphasized that Artsakh shares equal rights with the democratic world to enjoy all universal Freedoms, President Sargsyan said, adding that “Artsakh is better aware of the cost of living in freedom and has paid for it with the blood of its sons.”

“While Artsakh is taking decisive steps towards a stronger democracy, its neighbor Azerbaijan is taking steps to ensure full dictatorship with power inherited from generation to generation,” President Sargsyan stated.

Photo: AFP

US private rocket company SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon, the  BBC reports.

The mission is planned for late 2018, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, adding that the tourists “have already paid a significant deposit”.

“This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years,” he said.

The two unnamed people will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year.

Mr Musk said the co-operation of America’s Nasa space agency had made the plan possible.

He said the two passengers “will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them”.

Mr Musk declined to reveal their identities, only saying that they knew each other and that “it’s nobody from Hollywood”.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America, released the following statement:

According to reports from  the Ministries of Defense of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as other sources, in the early morning of February 25  there was a serious breach of cease fire on the Line of Contact, resulting in casualties. Several bodies remain in the no-man’s land. The Sides accuse each other of an incursion attempt.

The Co-chairs call upon the Parties to keep heavy military equipment, which had been moved earlier close to the LOC, in its present positions and to allow recovery of the dead, as it was agreed upon yesterday under mediation of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chaiman-in-Office.

The Co-chairs remind the Parties of their commitments to refrain from the use of force.

Photo: AP

The Iraqi military says it has retaken a bridge across the River Tigris in Mosul, after driving back Islamic State militants in the city’s south-west, the BBC reports.

The Federal Police Rapid Response Force advanced into the Jawsaq district on Monday and reached the Fourth Bridge.

Mosul’s five bridges have been badly damaged in fighting since October.

But once it is repaired, the Fourth Bridge could help the military bring in reinforcements and supplies from the government-held east of the city.

European Union member states have backed a proposal to allow Georgian citizens into Europe’s passport-free area without visas for short stays, the Associated Press reports.

The 28 member states on Monday endorsed the visa waiver which will allow Georgians with a biometric passport to enter the 26-nation Schengen area for 90 days for business, tourist or family reasons but not to work.

Monday’s backing was another major step to make the Georgian visa waiver a reality after the EU legislature also backed it earlier this month. Both the council of member states and the parliament still need to sign it formally.

Georgia had long been seeking the waiver and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos called it “a historic day for Georgia and its citizens.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with three minutes remaining to give Manchester United a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton in the EFL Cup final,  Goal.com reports.

A dramatic contest at Wembley was settled when Ibrahimovic headed in Ander Herrera’s cross just as the match appeared destined to move into extra-time.

A controversial and thrilling match saw Southampton have Manolo Gabbiadini’s strike wrongly ruled out for offside before Ibrahimovic struck with an impressive free-kick at the other end.

Jesse Lingard got the second, finding the bottom-right corner after a neat team move to net on his third consecutive Wembley appearance for United, before Gabbiadini got a goal that did count in first-half stoppage time.

Gabbiadini made it five goals in three Saints matches with a magnificent finish early in the second half, but Ibrahimovic had the last word with his 26th goal of the season.

United have now won the tournament on five occasions, a record bettered only by Liverpool.

Mourinho claims the first major trophy of his United reign and his fourth overall victory in the competition, tying the record jointly held by Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson.

The Secretary General thanked Armenia for its contributions to NATO’s missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo. He stressed that the Alliance is committed to working with Armenia and other partners.

“Together, we are developing a new Individual Partnership Action Plan, tailored to your needs and requirements,” said Mr. Stoltenberg.

He added that there are opportunities for further cooperation on interoperability, defence reform and defence education. The Secretary General praised Armenia for its participation in NATO’s Building Integrity Programme to counter corruption in the armed forces, and its progress on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 to promote the role of women in peace and security.

The Secretary General and President Sargsyan also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mr. Stoltenberg expressed concern over the continuing violence along the line of contact.

“It is important to avoid escalation, because there is no military solution to this conflict and its persistence is holding back the region,” he said. NATO encourages both Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to the negotiating table and work toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has published the names of the names of its soldiers killed in no man’s zone as a result of an act of sabotage undertaken by the Azerbaijani forces on February 25.

Baku claims that the Karabakh side hindered the recovery of the bodies, bringing forth new requirements.

The Defense Ministry of the Artsakh Republic declares that according to an agreement reached between the parties with the mediation of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the recovery of bodies was to be organized on February 26 with the participation of ICRC representatives.

Artsakh says Azerbaijan is to blame for the failure to recover the bodies. “Evacuation of bodies did not take place because the Azeri side violated agreements,” the Ministry said in a statement.