Author: Adrine Hakobian

“Azerbaijani suffered a military defeat, as it failed to reach the goals it had posed thanks to our officers and soldiers. Today we hold a trump card given us by the Armenian soldier, and we should use this in diplomacy, as well,” Hayk Demoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, told reporters today.

According to Demoyan, one of the reasons of the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno Karabakh is the end of the “oil honeymoon.”

“The military adventurism was not just Ilham Aliyev’s caprice, this means the weakness of the state of Azerbaijan needs to be saved, and at least a small victory on the Karabakh front is the only tool at this point,” Demoyan said.

According to him, it was meant to ensure unity, to create new myths and heroic stories, that cement artificial state and artificial ethnic communities.

However, Demoyan said, Azerbaijan failed to achieve the goals. “The cement
fell to the ground like spot putty,” he said.

“In the current situation the two Armenian states have to come forth with a joint statement outlining our expectations and making it clear what we are ready for. The Armenian side should insist that Azerbaijan must be held accountable for the launching of large-scale military actions, for the unprecedented violation of the ceasefire regime, or whatever it was.”

Demoyan believes it’s high time to review the National Security Strategy. “Nothing has changed in the documents since 2007, while we’re facing a new situation and new challenges today,” he added. According to AGMI Director, the recent developments have changed the situation, and this cannot but affect the negotiation process.

Another Azerbaijani attacking drone was shot down in Artsakh at about 23:00 yesterday, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The delegation led by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial today to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

The Russian Prime Minister laid flowers at the eternal fire and respected the memory of the victims with a minute of silence.

Dmitry Medvedev later visited the Memory Alley and watered the fir tree he planted in 2008.

Escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could lead to a major conflict in the Caucasus region, the secretary general of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) told Sputnik Serbia on Tuesday.

“This [escalation] threatens with the outbreak of a very big conflict in the Caucasus region that’s why the leaders, first of all of Azerbaijan, should understand it,” Nikolay Bordyuzha said.

He added that the CSTO was participating in the settlement of the conflict by political means.

“Today we should take all the necessary measures to prevent the conflict from growing, to stop it, to stop warfare, bombardments,” Bordyuzha said.

This picture is believed to be the only photograph of Vincent Van Gogh as an adult.

An art historian claims to have identified the Dutch painter among a group of 34 men who posed for the image in Paris in 1888, the Daily Mail reports. 

Until now, the only images the world had of him were those drawn by the artist himself because he was famously camera shy.

Other photographs had only been taken of him when the Impressionist painter was a teenager.

But Antonio De Robertis, a leading authority on the artist, believes one of the men in the Paris photograph ‘is, in all probability, Vincent Van Gogh’ after comparing the image with his self-portraits.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Head of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office in Yerevan Ambassador Andrey Sorokin who is concluding his mission in our country.

The President thanked Ambassador Sorokin for his active work throughout his tenure in office and noted with satisfaction that under his leadership the OSCE Office in Yerevan in recent years worked efficiently and implemented many programs in different areas.

“Please be assured that you leave in Yerevan not only your accomplishments but also people who highly value your work as well as you human qualities. I wish you success in your future endeavors and in personal life,” said President Sargsyan and expressed hope that the new head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan will display the same vigor and readiness for cooperation, further strengthening relations between Armenia and the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Andrey Sorokin thanked the President of Armenia for warm words and good wishes as well as for the trust and efficient cooperation of the Armenian state bodies with the OSCE Office throughout his tenure in Yerevan. He noted proudly that thanks to the programs implemented in recent years, strong foundation and excellent prerequisites have been established for the future close cooperation between Armenia and OSCE Office in Yerevan and implementation of new programs in a number of areas.

Armenia is placed 116th (up from 123^rd) in the March edition of the FIFA World Ranking.

At the table’s summit Belgium continue to dominate, while Argentina, Spain, Germany and Chile stay closely pressed to the leaders. Four-time world champions Italy (14, plus 1) meanwhile, recorded the only positive movement in the top 20 this month.

The most impressive movers for March were Venezuela and Armenia. The South Americans climbed 6 places and gained 57 points to rise to 75th position, thanks to an impressive 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in Barinas on 2 February.

Armenia, meanwhile, enjoyed the biggest climb of the month (116, up 7).

Photo: Omega Auctions

An extremely rare and valuable Beatles record that was found languishing in a loft is to be auctioned next month, the reports.

Described as “a Holy Grail item”, the 1962 10-inch record of Till There Was You and Hello Little Girl lay forgotten in the home of Les Maguire for decades.

Maguire, the keyboardist in fellow Liverpool act Gerry and the Pacemakers, said it could be seen as the record “that sparked The Beatles’ success”.

The acetate bears the handwriting of the Fab Four’s manager Brian Epstein.

A conservative estimate is that the 78 RPM record – the first Beatles disc to be cut before the band broke through into the national charts in late 1962 – will fetch upwards of £10,000 when it is auctioned, although it is such a rare item it is difficult to predict what the sale price will be.

The record of Til There was You – labelled as being the work of “Paul McCartney & The Beatles” – was made at the HMV store in Oxford Street, London, and presented to future Beatles producer George Martin at the EMI record label in a bid to secure the band a recording contract.

Hello (misspelled by Epstein as “Hullo”) Little Girl, on the other side of the disc, was recorded as being the work of “John Lennon & The Beatles”.

Maguire, 74, of Formby, Merseyside, was given the disc by Epstein in 1963 after it had been returned to him by Martin.

Turkish pro-government Bugün newspaper has run a front-page story in the paper’s Tuesday edition targeting a spokesperson from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Selin Sayek-Böke, for her Christianity, reports. 

The daily stated that one of their reporters phoned the Izmir parliamentarian and asked, “Are you Christian?” To which Sayek-Böke told the reporter to ask her party’s headquarters. The pro-government daily claimed that her Christian identity has caused “serious disturbances” within the party due to her high rank in the party.

The article also highlighted the Armenian Christian Orthodox beliefs of CHP deputy Selina Doğan, who is from Istanbul.

Social media users criticized the report, saying that it is targeting her religious identity. Journalist Ismail Saymaz stated, “The racists and religious people think Selin Sayek Böke being Christian is a ‘defect’ or ‘an offense’.”