Author: Ani Tigranian

Photo: AFP

Turkish state broadcaster TRT has gone off air in the last few minutes, Reuters reports. Earlier, soldiers reportedly took control of its offices and an announcer read out a statement declaring martial law.

In his first comments today, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CNN Turk, in a webcam interview, that this was an act encouraged by a “parallel structure”. He said the coup attempt will be given the “necessary response” and called on Turkish people to go out on the streets.

Access to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was blocked in Turkey soon after reports of a coup emerged, according to Reuters.

“Turkey Blocks, a group that monitors internet shutdowns in the country, and Dyn, which monitors internet performance and traffic globally, both reported it was difficult or impossible to access social media services in Turkey,” it says.

Arthur Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs) will face Tim-Robin Lihaug (15-1, 8 KOs) in a WBO International Super Middleweight title fight on Saturday night at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.

Speaking at a final press-conference Abraham insisted he is fully on the fight at hand as he looks to atone for his World title defeat to Gilberto Ramirez and land another shot at World honours.

‘’Things did not go right for me last time, but now we look to the future,’’ he said. ‘’I am fully prepared for this fight and ready to do whatever it takes to win. First, I must defeat Lihaug and then I hope for another World title challenge.’’

Lihaug, however, maintained his belief that he would defeat Abraham and take his place at the top of the super middleweight division.

The word ‘genocide’ was not included in the  initial text Pope Francis was to deliver at the Presidential Palace today, Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi told a press conference in Yerevan. He said “the Pope says what he finds appopriate, and no can decides what the Pontiff should say.”

“The Pope had no reason to avoid the word ‘genocide,’ the Vatican Spokesman said.

Pope Francis not only used the word ‘genocide’, but also described the tragedy as “the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire peoples.”

Fr. Lombardi said he can’t predict Turkey’s reaction, but added: “The Pope always speaks about peace, reconciliation and dialogue. We must remember the past to prevent new wars in the future, we must understand the lessons of the past to prevent their reoccurrence the future.”

As fo the results of the Pontiff’s first day in Armenia, Fr. Lombardi said: “The Pope is in good health and happy to be Armenia.’”

He described the joint prayer of the leaders of the two Churches at the Mother Cathedra in Etchmiadzin as a “powerful meeting.”

The Spokesman said the Pontiff was most surprised at the gift he received from the Armenian Catholicos – the Pope’s portrait 1 mm in size, which can be seen only though a microscope.

Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, will not arrive in Armenia. Fr. Vahram Melikyan, Director of the Information Services Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, confirmed the news to .

The Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul had earlier announced that Archbishop Atesyan was planning a visit to Armenia to participate in the sitting of the Supreme Religious Council and the events organized on the occasion of the Pope’s visit.

Fr. Vahram Melikyan did not go into detail about the reasons of the decision. “Speaking about the reasons is inexpedient,” he said.

Asbarez – The Armenian American Museum and Ararat-Eskijian Museum will co-host “Curator in the Spotlight: Illuminating the Armenian Middle Ages” at the Brand Library & Art Center at 7pm on Thursday, May 26. The event will present a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Morrison, Senior Curator of Manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Dr. Elizabeth Morrison will discuss the fascinating world of medieval Armenian manuscript illumination, which is admired across the world for its delicacy, vibrancy and sheer beauty. The luminous colors and complex figures of these precious relics made entirely by hand delight the eye and engage the senses. In addition to giving an overview of the illumination tradition, Dr. Morrison will focus on the work of T’oros Roslin, the most celebrated Armenian artist of the Middle Ages, whose innovations were integral to the conception of the painted page for centuries to come.

Dr. Elizabeth Morrison received her Ph.D. in the History of Art from Cornell University and began work at the Getty in 1996. She has curated numerous exhibitions and published articles on both Flemish and French illumination. She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Center of Medieval Art and is currently a counselor for the Medieval Academy of America.

This program is one in a series taking place in conjunction with “Armenia: An Open Wound” an exhibition presented by The City of Glendale and the Library, Arts & Culture Department in partnership with the Armenian American Museum and curated by the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia [Museum of Memory & Tolerance] in Mexico City. The exhibit will be on view at the Brand Library Art Galleries through June 11, 2016 during the library’s regular hours: Tuesday and Thursday 12-8pm, Wednesday 12-6pm, and Friday and Saturday, 10am-5pm. Docent-led tours are available every Tuesday, 6:30 PM and Saturday, 10:30 AM on a walk-in basis. All events are free and open to the public.

UEFA President Michel Platini will resign from European football’s governing body after failing to have a six-year ban from football overturned, the BBC reports.

A Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) panel reduced the ban to four years on Monday.

Following the judgement, the 60-year-old said he would be stepping down.

Platini and former Fifa counterpart Sepp Blatter, were last year found guilty of ethics breaches over a 2m Swiss Franc (£1.3m) “disloyal payment”.

The pair, who deny wrongdoing, had their original bans reduced from eight to six years by the FIFA appeals committee.

Platini had taken his case to Cas seeking to get the ban overturned, but a three-man panel said it “was not convinced by the legitimacy of the payment”.

The two said the payment in 2011 was made for consultancy work Platini had carried out for Blatter between 1998 and 2002, and that they had a “gentleman’s agreement” on when the balance was settled.

A group of young people rallied in front of the government building today, urging Armenians to refuse from goods of Turkish production.

Participants of the action inform that the goods imported from Turkey start with the code 869 and advise customers to pay attention to the figures.

Protesters  say they have even discovered Azerbaijani goods in Armenian shops.

As a sign of protest, the participants threw Turkish goods into the dustbin.

The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee has released the schedule of events to commemorate the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Sydney and Melbourne, the Armenian National Committee of Australia reports.

This year, the National Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening will be held on Sunday 24^th April from 7pm at the Willoughby Concourse Concert Hall, Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. The keynote speaker will be Professor Peter Stanley, Professor at the University of NSW (Canberra).

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today Ambassador Gunter Bechler, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office  for the South Caucasus.

Minister Nalbandian briefed the Special Representative of the OSCE German Presidency on the situation established as a result of the recent large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan –and the ongoing ceasefire violations.

Ambassador Bechler noted that the OSCE German Presidency is strongly concerned by the escalation of situation along the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan and expressed condolences over the human losses as a result of the military actions.

During the meeting the parties exchanged views on the perspectives of the negotiation process under way within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. Edward Nalbandian presented Armenia’s position on the settlement of the conflict.

The interlocutors stressed the importance of unequivocal support to the efforts of the co-chairing countries targeted at the exceptionally peaceful resolution of the issue.

Minister Nalbandian said “Azerbaijan keeps manipulating the negotiation process, while the proposals of the co-chairing countries are well-known and clearly formulated.” He added that “the realization of the right of the Artsakh people to self-determination is the cornerstone, and Armenia has declared on many occasions that it is ready to continue the negotiations on that basis.”