Author: Arbi Tashjian

A delegation of bishops and priests of the different Churches of Jerusalem visited the Armenian Patriarchate to extend Easter wishes to the Patriarch and his community, the reports. 

The delegation, led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, was composed of the main leaders of the Churches of Jerusalem and the priests and pastors accompanying them. Anglican, Lutheran, Ethiopian, Coptic, Syriac, Melkite, Roman Catholics and others met, greeted, and settled together in the elegant reception salon of the Armenian Patriarchate. All the Jerusalem Churches have the tradition of meeting in the different bishoprics, in a warm-hearted and fraternal ambience, exchanging greetings and good wishes during the two major liturgical feasts – Christmas and Easter.

On behalf of all the Churches, the Latin Patriarch has the privilege of delivering a short speech extending best Easter wishes to His Beatitude, Archbishop Manougian, and to the Armenian community.

In his remarks, Patriarch Twal highlighted how “all Christians are  united in joy in the risen Christ”. A week after the one hundred and first anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the Latin Patriarch assured his “Armenian brothers” of prayers for all Armenians facing the “terrible situation of suffering that they endured and continue to endure, in certain countries.”

The Patriarch did not fail to make an explicit reference to the genocide perpetrated by the Turks, 101 years ago: “We recall the events of the genocide and pray they will never be disregarded. Sadly, though we are told never to forget, many do...”

Speaking next, Patriarch Manougian warmly thanked Patriarch Twal and the present leaders of Churches, while recalling in turn how the Paschal mystery constitutes the heart of the faith of all Christians. Referring to the brotherly friendship that unites the Churches, he mentioned, not without emotion, the “support and assistance” given by the Latin Church and the Vatican during the genocide: “A support that Armenians will never forget.”

“Erdogan’s statement is a confession of the fact that the mentality of the Turkish leadership has not changed even after 101 years after the Armenian Genocide,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minster Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

The comments come after “Armenia is playing with fire”  and reminded about “more than 100,000 Armenians living in Turkey.”

“The Turkish President is trying to threaten Armenia, linking the dependence of the Armenians of Turkey on the country’s authorities to  his denialist statement released on April 24 this year,” Kocharyan said in comments to Tert.am.

“According to Erdogan, Azerbaijan is different from  neighboring countries and Ukraine. The only thing I have to add is that with its xenophobia, its mania of spreading a wave of instability and bloodshed, with its genocidal approaches, Azerbaijan is like and even identical with one country – Turkey,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

“Such convulsive statements coming from both Ankara and Baku are the expression of their horror of finding themselves intentionally isolated as a result of their racist policy,” Shavarsh Kocharyan concluded.

A large cargo plane belonging to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has landed in Israel twice in recent weeks, apparently at the Uvda military airfield in the Negev. The flights, which took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku, occurred about two weeks ago, in the midst of the latest round of fighting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian armies in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a publicly-accessible online flight database, reports.

Israel and Azerbaijan have a strategic alliance going back many years. According to foreign reports, Israel has become a key supplier of arms to Azerbaijan in recent years, selling nearly $5 billion worth of weapons over the past four years. Azerbaijan is also one of Israel’s chief oil suppliers.

The Ilyushin 76 cargo plane arrived in Israel on April 4 and again on April 6, according to an internet flight database. The plane, which flies under the call sign AZAF8 (Azerbaijani Air Force 8) came from the direction of Turkey, flew over Cyprus and entered Israeli airspace over Tel Aviv, according to the report.
The plane remained on the ground for two to three hours each time before taking off again for Baku. It is not clear whether the plane unloaded cargo or loaded it, Haaretz said.

The plane, which bears the registration number “K-781314” on the side, has been owned by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry since September 1, 2014.

President of the Republic of Armenia, Chairman of the CSTO Collective Security Council Serzh Sargsyan received today CSTO secretary general Nikolay Bordyuzha, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, and the heads of delegation of the general staffs of the CSTO member states – Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who have arrived in Armenia to participate in the eights sitting of the CSTO Military Committee.

The guests briefed President Sargsyan on the issues on the agenda of the Military Committee sitting and their role in the reinforcement of the CSTO military component. The interlocutors exchanged views on the steps towards raising the level of efficiency of the CSTO activity. Reference was made to issues related to ensuring security and stability in the Caucasus region, namely the situation created as a result of the military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact.

Later on President Serzh Sargsyan and CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyzha met face-to-face. Issues related to the Armenian presidency of the CSTO were discussed.

Photos by Karl Mancini, Gianmarco Maraviglia

In light of the recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan, Newsweelk presents the life of young people in Nagorno Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert. Excerpts from the article are provided below:

Many of Karabakh’s residents are given frequent reminders of a war they are too young to recall. Yet despite the harsh and fickle realities of the nearby frontline, they continue to dream and find ways to have fun.

There are not many signs of nightlife in Karabakh for teens and 20-somethings even in the capital of Stepanakert, by far the most populous and developed settlement in the aspiring republic. To those looking for a night out, Stendhal Club is the only disco opened until late in the city. Others prefer to meet at home or in restaurants.

Parts of Stepanakert, which stands around 20 kilometers from the contact line with Azerbaijan, have been rebuilt since the war. “The situation and city is quite dark,” Gianmarco Maraviglia, one of the two photographers behind our gallery says. “The frontline is very close and the people know it.” Other towns around such as Shushi, where little to no rebuilding has happened, bear the scars of war even more heavily.

Lika Zaqaryan is a political science major at Stepanakert’s Artsakh State University, where she is also prima ballerina in the ballet troupe. She knows opportunities lead abroad but she says she will always return to Karabakh.

“I want to go to another country to improve my education but when I do that I don’t want to stay there,” Zaqaryan says. “I want to come back and live here in Nagorno Karabakh. I hope it will be a peaceful Republic of Nagorno Karabakh or maybe a part of the Republic of Armenia.”

She says everyone worries about their brothers, fathers or grandfathers in the military but hopes the “problems with Azerbaijan on the border” can be resolved.

Grigor Khagramanyan, 13, has his sights on traveling the world. “I’d like to go to Iran. I’d like to see their carpets,” he says, looking on from his school window. “And Singapore, to see their many high buildings. Maybe South Africa will be good,” he says. “I have one friend, his father is working in the army, he’s a general. He wants to be like his father, I know.” Grigor himself says he has heard a lot about the army from his friend. He says it is “interesting.”

Knar Babayan, a photographer and journalist, is old enough to remember the violence of the late 1980s and so proud that she has had the chance to leave Karabakh and returned. “I studied here, then moved to Yerevan and I also had a chance to study in Georgia. I was also abroad to participate in workshops,” she says. “Every time I come back my friends ask me ‘Really you don’t want to leave Karabakh?’”

“I found that I could not live more than 10 days away from home,” she laughs. “One of my lecturers told me I am lucky because at my age I understand that I have a home.”

Wealthy benefactors from the Armenian diaspora have helped finance a handful of venues in Karabakh to help better the lives of the young and their career prospects. A small new soccer field has been built in central Stepanakert, where children can play. For those whose minds are more tech-geared, Stepanakert has also opened the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.

The center is modeled after projects in Armenia, and it allows children develop skills in art and computer science, with a well stocked inventory of digital resources. The center is open free of charge to any under-18s and its sister-centers in Armenia have already established three startups.

Gohar Aushar, an aspiring filmmaker at the Tumo center in Stepanakert, says she would like to hone her craft abroad, but her inspiration will “always be Karabakh and Stepanakert.”

“I think a documentary would be a good idea,” she says. “Our country has a lot of history and I think other countries should know about it. I would like to film a story about our historical memorials and shoot Tigranakert.”

“I think there is no difference between Armenians and Karabakhis because we are one nation,” she says.

Russia calls on all parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to observe agreements on cessation of hostilities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on Monday after talks with his Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter, reports.

“We call on the sides to observe the agreements reached on cessation of hostilities,” Lavrov said. “We are interested in positive shifts on the political track toward reaching agreements on settling this uneasy conflict,” he added.

The large-scale offensive operations unleashed by ‪Azerbaijan‬ against Nagorno-‪‎Karabakh‬ in recent day not only violate the Ceasefire Agreement, signed by the latter in 1994, and the Trilateral Agreement on theconsolidation of ceasefire regime signed 1995, but are also accompanied with gross violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, the Armenian Foreign Ministry says.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s statement on “unilateral ceasefire” is misinformation, the NKR Defense Ministry says.

The Azerbaijani side launched large-scale military actions against Nagorno Karabakh on April 1 and 2, using all possible types of military equipment in its arsenal, the Ministry said in a statement.

According to the report, the Azerbaijani side shelled the Armenian settlements, namely the city of Martakert, from MM-21 volley fire rocket installations and 152 mm cannons after issuing the statement.

“The above-mentioned facts, as well as the use of the terms “counterattacking actions” and “reinforcement of the liberated territories” demonstrate the false nature of the document, which aims to create an imitation of ceasefire.”

“The Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army is ready to meet to discuss the proposal to enact a ceasefire within the context of restoring the original positions of the sides,” the statement reads.

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