Author: Antranik Varosian

 

 

 

A memorial dedicated to the innocent victims of the genocide of Yazidis in Sinjar, Iraq, will be unveiled in downtown Yerevan on April 21 as part of the events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The monument will stand as a witness to the immortal spirit of the Yazidi people, their will to live and create, President of the Council of the Media – Shangal National Union of Yazidis NGO Amo Sharoyan told reporters today.

“We are a nation that has passed through genocide and survived. Although we cannot change the bloody past, we have to create a future void of such crimes,” Sharoyan quoted Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan as saying.

Fikret Igrek, President of the exile Council of Sinjar noted that genocide continues in the 21^st century. “Islamists massacred and enslaved thousands of Yazidis in august 2014,” he said.

Speaking about the recent escalation in the Karabakh conflict zone, Tamaz Mhoi, President of the Federation of Yazidis of France, said they condemn the Azerbaijani policy.

“On behalf of the Federation of Yazidis of France, we have sent a letter to the Azerbaijani Embassy, urging them to stop the war. We sent the letter on April 3, but have not received any response by now,” he said.

About 300 people demonstrated in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Wednesday April 13 to protest the aggression initiated by Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno Karabakh, reports.

“This happened days ago in Buenos Aires and Cordoba, in Argentina. It will replicate in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has happened in all other major capitals of the world,” said Federico Waneskahian member of Armenian National Committee of Uruguay, to EFE agency.

“This will keep happening if measures are not taken to punish and define clearly who is the aggressor in this case and condemn the aggression of Azerbaijan,” he added.

The demonstration was attended by Tourism Minister Liliam Kechichian, Senator Ruben Martinez Huelmo, Deputy Daniel Radio and former Vice Chancellor Belela Herrera.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay issued a statement days ago in which they expressed a “serious concern” over the matter and urged the parties to “respect the cease-fire and end hostilities.”

Iran hopes that ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh will allow to start negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusma.

“We are very happy to see an end to hostilities right now and cessation of hostilities or a ceasefire,” Zarif said. “We hope this would be the prelude to serious negotiations in order to resolve this issue. Our region requires cooperation between everybody,” he added.

“We believe Armenia as a neighbor and Azerbaijan as a close friend of Iran need to have good relations and we hope, we support all efforts aimed at resolving this problem,” the foreign minister noted.

He reminded that after the most recent outbreak of hostilities Iranian President Hassan Rouhani “called both presidents calling for an end to hostilities.”

Two Spanish cities – Puente Genil and La Roda de Andalucía – have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.

Corresponding resolutions have been unanimously adopted by the City Councils of the two countries.

The bills condemn the Turkish policy of denial and urge other Spanish cities and the authorities of Spain to follow their example and address a call to Turkey.

The Mayors of both countries have noted the preventive nature of the resolutions, stressing that the crime has no statute of limitations and emphasizing the importance of its condemnation.

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian continues to inform a number of his international counterparts and the heads of international organizations on the aggression of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh.

On April 4-5 Edward Nalbandian had phone conversations with Foreign Minister of Germany, the OSCE Chairperson-in-office Frank-Walter Steinmeier, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of European Commission Federica Mogherini, Foreign minister of Belarus Vladimir Makei, Foreign Minister of Georgia Mikheil Janelidze, Foreign Minister of Litva Linas Linkevičius, Foreign Minister of Iran Javad Zarif, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andrieu. The current situation was extensively discussed with Michaëlle Jean, the Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Foreign Minister of Armenia briefed his interlocutors on the continuing large-scale offensive by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as introduced the consequences of missile attacks against civilian objects and peaceful population in Artsakh.

Minister Nalbandian emphasized that Azerbaijan disseminates propaganda disinformation in parallel to the military operations, in a futile attempt to justify its aggressive actions, targeting of civilian objects and peaceful population.

“On numerous occasions Armenia has warned that Azerbaijan intentionally takes the path of escalation of the situation and has an overt intention to use force. We have drawn the attention of the international community that in the absence of the practical measures to bring Baku to order, the aggressive stance of Azerbaijan is getting out of control and this is what we witness today. The urgent and definite steps of the international community are ever more imperative now to stabilize the situation, and to bring Azerbaijan back to the table of negotiations, as a side which has been rejecting to negotiate under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and has attempted to impose its maximalist approaches by its aggressive actions”, said the Foreign Minister of Armenia.

Edward Nalbandian’s interlocutors agreed that the use of force is inadmissible and that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They deemed imperative to immediately cease the fire and resume the negotiations under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Asbarez – The Organization of Istanbul Armenians (OIA) has initiated a Commemorative Oratorio Concert to be presented in memory of the Martyred Armenian Hero Hrant Dink, with the active support and participation of a wide spectrum of leading pan-Armenian institutions and community organizations.

The “Hrant Dink Oratorio Organizing Committee” (HDOOC) is comprised of numerous local Pan Armenian organization representatives.

The special event, “Hrant Dink the Legacy” featuring the North American debut performance of the Oratorio will also mark the start of the week of commemorative  activities  on the occasion of  the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide . The Oratorio will be presented on April 16, 2016, at 7:30 p.m., at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, a beautiful venue famous for its amazing acoustics.  We are very excited to announce that Mrs. Rakel Dink will be our Guest of Honor at the performance.

Joining Mrs. Dink will be the Composer of the Oratorio, renowned musician Majak Toshigian.  The lyricist is Berchuhi Berberian.  Los Angeles is justifiably the first venue for this performance, outside Yerevan and Istanbul when it was performed in September 2015 and January 2016, respectively. Los Angeles, California, home to the largest presence of the Armenian Diaspora and where Hrant Dink delivered his last major speech to the Armenian people on October 5th, 2006 is clearly the natural host for this tribute to his legacy.  This commemorative occasion will also serve as an occasion for solidarity for All Armenians who demand and await justice for the crime of Genocide and for its most recent victim, a Martyr who was the voice his people, who loved his ancient homeland and relentlessly fought for justice. United as one Nation we will all proclaim “We Are All Hrant Dink”.

Dutch icon Johan Cruyff has died at the age of 68, the Daily Mail reports.

Cruyff, who represented Holland 48 times as well as playing for Ajax and Barcelona, passed away in Barcelona on Thursday after a battel with cancer.

A statement on Cruyff’s website read: ‘On March 24 2016 Johan Cruyff (68) died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard fought battle with cancer.

‘It’s with great sadness that we ask you to respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.’

US presidential front-runners, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, have continued their winning streaks, taking Arizona, the BBC reports.
The issue of immigration loomed large in the south-western state, the biggest prize in the latest round of contests.
Polls showed that Mr Trump’s anti-immigration message resonated with the state’s conservative voters.
With Arizona’s growing Latino population, Mrs Clinton continued her success by courting minority voters.

Keeping his campaign in the race, Democrat Bernie Sanders decisively won caucuses in two smaller states, Idaho and Utah.

On March 13 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European People’s Party (EPP) initiated by Austrian FM Sebastian Kurz.

Attending the meeting were Foreign Ministers of twelve countries, EPP President Joseph Dole, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Elmar Brok, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, other high-ranking officials.

Issues on the agenda included fight against terrorism and radicalism and migration.  Discussions focused on issues existing in the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus and the ways of their resolution. Reference was made to cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership.

Speaking about the flow of migrants, Minister Nalbandian said: “Armenia has provided refuge to about 20 thousand Syrian refugees, being the third European country with the number of migrants hosted per capita.”

The Armenian Foreign Minister stressed that “when seeking solution to migration issues, it’s first of all necessary to refer to their causes.” Minister Nalbandian attached importance to the joint fight against migration and the political process of settlement of the Syrian crisis.

Edward Nalbandian referred to the relations between Armenia and the European Union, emphasized the talks on a new legal framework, noting that the new agreement would reflect the depth of cooperation and the achievements.

The Armenian Foreign Minister briefed his counterparts on the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group towards the resolution of the Karabakh issue and stressed that there’s no alternative to a peaceful settlement.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has blamed Azerbaijan for lack of solution to the Karabakh conflict. “We have always appreciated the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Azerbaijan is to blame for the lack of solution to the Karabakh conflict, not the Co-Chairs or Armenia,” Minister Nalbandian said in an interview with Russian Kommersant Daily.

“The Karabakh conflict is one of the rare cases where countries like Russia, the US and France have a common approach. They have made concrete proposals reflected in five statements by Presidents of the co-chairing countries that could lead to a settlement,” Edward Nalbandian said. He noted that while Armenia has accepted the proposals, Azerbaijan continues to pretend there have not been any [statements] at all,” he said.

Minister Nalbandian stressed that “there is no alternative to peace talks” and reiterated Armenia’s willingness to continue to works with the Co-Chairs towards a peaceful resolution of the issue.

Speaking about the military-technical cooperation between Yerevan and Moscow, as well as the supply of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan, the Armenian Foreign Minister said: “We have to make efforts to keep the balance in the region and exclude new escalation. It’s well known that Azerbaijan has considerably increased its military expenses, with the military budget reaching several billion dollars. Under these conditions Armenia has to make efforts to keep the balance of power in the region.”

“We have allied relations with Russia and close military-technical cooperation. It’s no secret that we are buying weapons primarily from Russia. The fact that Russia sells weapons to different countries is natural, because Russia is one of the largest producers of armament and is very competitive on the market. Of course we cannot be delighted by the fact that Azerbaijan buys weapons from Russia and threatens to launch new war every day. We cannot be content with the fact that Baku is buying weapons from our partner, which is trying hard in cooperation with Armenia and within the framework of the CSTO to maintain peace and stability in our region,” Minister Nalbandian said.

As for the perspectives of military-technical relations with Russia, the Armenian Foreign Minister said “the close cooperation will continue into future.”