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US President Donald Trump has dismissed FBI director James Comey, White House says, the BBC reports.
“Today, President Donald J Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office,” said a White House statement.
The surprise move comes after it emerged Mr Comey gave inaccurate information about Hillary Clinton’s emails to Congress last week.
Mrs Clinton has blamed Mr Comey for her election defeat to Donald Trump.
There is no military solution to the conflicts that exist in our region and the world, at large, Armenia’s Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan has said.
“We proceed from the fact that there is simply no military solution to the Karabakh conflict. We do hope that this is very well understood in Azerbaijan. We do hope that decision-makers in Baku realize that it’s very easy to open the doors to chaos, large-scale military actions and escalation in the whole region, which will be very difficult to stop. This will definitely strengthen the role of terrorist groups in the region and will boost the role of non-regional players, which will try to make use of the situation,” Minister Sargsyan said in an interview with Russian agency.
“Nagorno Karabakh is a country (although unrecognized), not a conflict,” the Defense Minister stated. He stressed that “there will be no settlement unless there is full understanding of this fact.”
“Real people have been living there for over a quarter a century under the conditions of de facto independence. They are responsible for making decisions, forming their government based on democratic principles through free elections,” Vigen Sargsyan stated.
Speaking about the measures taken after the April escalation last year, Minister Sargsayn said “Retooling of the Army is a constant process. We analyze the results and change priorities after any event, even planned military exercises, it’s a natural process.”
“Of course, such analysis is always of a deeper nature after military actions and is based on the assessment of effectiveness of the equipment used by the rival.  We’ve implemented a number of changes in the control system at the line of contact, in the types of weaponry needed to keep the balance and prevent the possibility of such escalation in the future,” he added.
The Armenian Defense Minister stressed that “any violation of the ceasefire regime is a violation of international commitments of the parties – in this case Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, the signatories of these agreements, and Armenia. Any divergence from the agreements is fraud with threats of escalation.”
“We stand for introduction of mechanisms of monitoring and control over the line of contact. Such agreements were reached at meetings held in Vienna and St. Petersburg under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Russian President respectively,” he noted.
“Unfortunately, yet again Azerbaijan is refusing from commitments, which leaves a negative imprint on the whole process of search for ways of settlement. Every party is making its own choice. But we consider that the situation that exists today (with regular violations of the ceasefire regime) does not provide for perspectives of conflict settlement,” Vigen Sargsyan stated.
 –  During the Argentine football match of Boca Juniors against Arsenal on Sunday, April 30, the Armenian Genocide was remembered with a banner for the 102nd anniversary.
For some years in the “Bombonera” stadium the Armenian Genocide has been remembered at the initiative of the Armenian Youth Federation of South America.
Last year, a similar banner was shown during the “Superclasico” between Boca and River, one of the most important football matches.
Asbarez – Garo Paylan, Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was in Toronto on April 30, with over 1500 attendees from the Toronto Armenian community gathered to greet the parliamentarian.
The event was sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) and organized by a joint Toronto-Armenian organizing committee comprised of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Evangelical Church of Toronto, St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church and the St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church of Toronto along with the Bolsahay Armenian Cultural Association, Nor Serount Cultural Association, and the Armenian National Committee of Toronto.
Representatives of the major Armenian organizations including: the aforementioned organizing bodies along with the Zoryan Institute, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian Relief Society, Armenian Youth Federation, Armenian Seniors Organization of Toronto, Homenetmen and Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Society were all present. Also present was Raffi Bedrosyan, a lead organizer of the Surp Giragos Diyarbakir Church reconstruction project in Turkey.
Representing Toronto’s Kurdish and Assyrian communities were the Toronto Kurdish Community Centre and the Centre for Canadian-Assyrian Relations, respectively.
The event started with a short video presentation highlighting Garo Paylan’s civic activism over the past few years. Sevag Belian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, then took the stage to present the organizing committee message and introduced Paylan. Belian commended Paylan’s ongoing pursuit for equality, justice, and democratic values, proclaiming “Mr. Paylan, your actions are humbling and inspiring. An inspiration that with it displays a tenacity that forces one to fully appreciate the true meaning of our struggle for justice and democracy.”
The parliamentarian took the stage to great applause and appreciation. He provided an overview of the current political climate in Turkey, the aftermath of the constitutional referendum and the ongoing uncertainty and concern regarding the rights and freedoms of the minorities living in Turkey. Paylan stressed the importance of acknowledging history, specifically in regards to the Armenian Genocide, stating, “unpunished crimes lead to new crimes.”
Furthermore, Paylan highlighted the importance of maintaining and upholding the values of democracy, tolerance, respect and human rights in the Republic of Turkey and around the world.
The attendees had the opportunity ask questions, after which, Belian invited the President of the Armenian Community Centre of Toronto to present Paylan with two gifts on behalf of the joint organizing committee: Aram Adjemian’s “The Call from Armenia, Canada’s Response to the Armenian Genocide” reference publication and Kaloust Babian’s photography retrospective.
Paylan’s presence and exceptional remarks were an inspiration to the entire community and particularly to the upcoming generations who vowed to carry on the torch in the collective struggle of the Armenian people around the world.
Garo Paylan is a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and is a deputy representing the 3rd district in Istanbul. Paylan is a member of Turkey’s Armenian community and has long been an activist on human rights, freedom of speech, minority rights – particularly Kurdish and Armenian issues, including the Hrant Dink murder case.
The Armenian National Committee of Toronto (ANCT) is a chapter of the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.
On April 11 the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia performed within the framework of the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland. Headed by conductor Sergey Smbatyan the Youth Orchestra presented compositions by Aram Khachaturian, Ghazaros Sarian, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall.
The president of the Ludwig van Beethoven Association Elżbieta Penderecka said “the concert proved that there is a great orchestra in Armenia headed by wonderful conductor Sergey Smbatyan. “Not only Polish, but also international music lovers enjoyed the concert,” she said.
The Ambassador of Armenia to Poland Egdar Kazaryan noted that he felt pride, joy, excitement, as the Polish audience was introduced to Armenian classical music by the talented young musicians, and the concert was accompanied by ovations.
The concert of the orchestra was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Poland and the 650th anniversary of the Armenian community in Poland. Soloists Narek Hakhnazaryan (cello) and Jarosław Nadrzycki (violin) performed with the orchestra.
The EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Świtalski announced € 2.9 million Grant Scheme designated to promote an inclusive and empowered society in Armenia, by facilitating participation of the civil society and local authorities in poverty reduction and sustainable development process at local level. It will contribute to raising the economic competitiveness, creating jobs and reducing tendencies of outward migration in regions.
EU Ambassador noted: “The EU is committed to reinforce and support Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities in Development in Armenia. We believe that we can do so by facilitating the participation of the civil society and local authorities in poverty reduction and sustainable development process at local level. Innovative ways to develop local community through sport, culture, education and tourism can contribute significantly to this objective”.
This call for proposals has an objective to enhance people to people contacts and local community development within the country and within the region through sport, culture, education and tourism. Projects proposal can support among other things the development of (1) outdoor activities such as summer and winter sports that can have an impact on tourism development; (2) educative programmes complementing existing compulsory education and higher education institutions offering innovative learning platforms and spaces; (3) cultural associations promoting the development of performing arts, music, theatres, literature, painting, animation, filming, etc.
The European Union Delegation to Armenia has launched two grant schemes for project proposals of a total budget of € 4.4 million in order to reinforce Civil Society in Armenia and to support Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities in Development. These two calls complement the very significant ongoing capacity building and re-granting programmes for civil society in Armenia and the recently announced € 1 million Grant Scheme for Regional Development designed to promote culture and creative sectors. The grant scheme “Reinforcing Civil Society in Armenia” with an overall budget of € 1.5 million was announced in Yerevan on 10 April.
Armenia’s Ministry of Culture has announced plans to rent out four caves and one group of caves with a view of developing tourism.
The Ministry has announced a competition and is seeking contenders to rent the caves for five years with a possibility of 20-year extention.
The competition is open to all, including foreign legal entities and businessmen. Bidders can apply for renting one or all of the following five caves:
Magelan’s Cave is one of the largest caves in Armenia and is situated in Gnishik community of Vayots Dzor Province, 105 km south of Yerevan. The cave has a unique underground eco-system, rich biodiversity, many layers of paleontological and archeological artifacts. It is a unique shelter for bat species included in the Red Book of Animals of the Republic of Armenia and the Red List of The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Trchuneri (Birds’) Cave is situated in Areni, Vayots Dzor Province, 105 km away from Yerevan. Based on the results of radiocarbon examination, samples taken from these layers are traced back to late 5th- early 4th millennia BC. A more recent excavation uncovered evidence of wine production from the Chalcolithic period, which is one of the earliest known sites for wine fermentation in the world (4th millennium BC). The earliest known footwear (6000 years old) has also been found here.
Archi or Bear’s Cave is located in Arpi, Vayots Dzor Province, 123 km south of Yerevan. It is the biggest cave in Armenia and is the main shelter for Rhinolophus Euryale, which is inscribed in the Red Book of Animals of the Republic of Armenia.
The Cave of Mozrov is located in Vayots Dzor province in Arpi community, 126 km south of Yerevan. Lots of stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and crystals come out from top and bottom in its extensive chambers. From time to time the cave becomes a shelter for the Rhinolophus euryale and Myotis mystacinus.
Stone doors cave is located in Aghdzk in Aragatsotn Province, 33 km away from Yerevan. With its unique and stable microclimate the cave was perfect for food storage.
All five caves have been granted the status of immovable monument of history and culture.
Detailed information on the terms of the competition is available on the website of the .
The deadline for submitting applications is May 12, 2017.
Today President Serzh Sargsyan attended the second plenary session of the congress of the biggest pan European political family, the European People’s Party (EPP) and discussions of the subsequent summit.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is to join Chicago Fire as a deal has been agreed with Manchester United and the player, according to the club’s official website.
The 32-year-old German midfielder’s move to MLS is subject to a medical and a visa being obtained but Chicago are keen to finalise a swift transfer.
“I am sad to leave so many friends at Manchester United,” said Schweinsteiger. “But I am grateful to the club for allowing me the chance to take up the challenge at Chicago Fire.
“I have enjoyed working with the manager, the players and staff here and wish them all the best in the future. But I have to reserve special thanks to the United fans – whose support has been a very special part of my time in Manchester.
“I was delighted to be part of the squad that won the FA Cup for them last season and will always remember their energy and their passion. Now is the right time for me to start a new chapter in Chicago and I am looking forward to it.”
Enmity has become the only driving force for Azerbaijan, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan says.
“Aliyev sees this imitation of war as the only way after the April failure,” Melik-Shahnazaryan told a press conference today. He added, however, that neither Yerevan, nor Stepanakert will tolerate this any longer.
“There is an imitation of war, and the Azerbaijani propaganda is doing its best to demonstrate there is large-scale fighting at the line of contact,” Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said. He said “as long as domestic turmoil continues, Aliev will be seeking for ways to use external threats to distract public attention.”
Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan is confident, however, that Azerbaijan will not be able to solve the issue by force. “Therefore, the only thing Azerbaijan can do is to create an imitation of war.”
Speaking about the response of the Armenian side, the political scientist said “Azerbaijan’s actions force Armenia to choose between the military and diplomatic options to restrain aggression, which will inevitably result in further escalation of tension.”
He noted that “the Armenian Armed Forces are quick to spot, respond to and eliminate the potential threats, which was not the case in April last year.”
“The destabilized situation can go dangerous and get out of control for any stakeholder in our region. I don’t think that anyone, except Turkey, will give a nod to Azerbaijan’s plans to start war. Even if Turkey gives its consent, it cannot provide Azerbaijan with guarantees, because Turkey also sees it in a hard situation because of both developments in the Middle East and processes inside the country.”
The political scientist said “we should never ignore the potential threats from Azerbaijan.” Therefore, he added, “we must be ready for war in order not to allow that war happen.”