Author: David Nargizian

The delegation led by Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan participated in the 6th Moscow Conference on International Security.

Topics included global and regional challenges, international terrorism and rise of tensions on the Korean peninsula. The rise of extremisms and terrorism in the Middle East, information security and other topics were also discussed in separate panels.

Vigen Sargsyan held several meetings with his counterparts from other nations. In particular, he met with the Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hossein Dehghani. A number of questions of mutual interest were discussed during the meeting. References were  made to the Karabakh conflict. The parties stressed that the conflict cannot be solved through force.

Vigen Sargsyan met with the Minister of Defense of Serbia on the same day. Highlighting the similarities between the Armenian and Serbian peoples, the sides expressed confidence that these similarities will be great precedents in deepening Armenian-Serbian relations. It was noted that a large scope of cooperation exists in military industrial, research, military medical, military educational and other areas.

Cooperation in peacekeeping operations was mentioned as an example of effective cooperation. The Ministers of Defense of Armenia and Serbia agreed to communicate more intensively, in order to render the discussions concerning bilateral cooperation more practical.

At the premiere of the Intent to Destroy documentary, a former U.S. ambassador called Armenian Genocide denial the worst alternative fact, David Crow writes in the . 

An eye-opening documentation about the history of the Armenian Genocide—as well as a companion film to Terry George’s sweeping melodrama on the same subject, The Promise—the Intent to Destroy makes for an efficient and precise record on a grim topic many Westerners have been deprived of learning about for the better part of the last century.

According to the author, the most fascinating aspect of the film is not a recollection of where the bodies were buried (both in reality and on the Portugal set of George’s narrative fiction), but rather how a multi-generational campaign by the Turkish government, and with an increasing complicity by the U.S. one, has attempted to erase this devastating crime against humanity from the history books.

Former US Ambassador John Evans was present at the screening.

“The denial of the Armenian Genocide, I think, is the worst case of alternative facts of the last hundred years,” Evans told a theater full of filmmakers, journalists, and descendants of Armenian survivors. “Governments do tell falsehoods from time to time for reasons they think outweigh the ethical considerations.” And that includes 102 years of denials first by the Ottoman Empire during World War I and then by its Turkish successor.

“It has everything to do with the alliance with Turkey, with all the things we saw in the film about Turkey’s position in the Middle East,” Evans said during the premiere. “We’ve invested great hopes in Turkey over the years, and after the recent referendum, we’re very worried about the direction in which Turkey is going. But it’s significant in 1951, in a written submission to the World Court at The Hague, the United States characterized the Turkish massacres of Armenians as one of the outstanding examples of genocide in human history, along with the first Roman persecutions of the Christians and the Nazi massacres of Jews and Poles in World War II. In 1952, a year later, Turkey joined NATO. Since that time, the United States has not used the word genocide.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan found the net v Sunderland and spoke to after the game..

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was naturally delighted to find the net in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Sunderland, and is targeting more goals as the Reds continue to push for a top-four finish.

It took the Armenian just 47 seconds of the second half to notch his eighth goal of the season, a strike that added to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s superb opener and all but ensured victory against the home side, who had been reduced to 10 men just before the break.

Marcus Rashford added a third in the dying minutes of the match to seal the win, which Mkhitaryan believes could prove to be “very important” for the Reds.

“It was a very important game and an important win after two draws,” he told MUTV after the game. “We have done everything to win; we knew it would not be easy but it was most important that we played well and we won 3-0.

“I think it was very important to score the second goal because the game was not over and then they had a little bit of control in the second half but, thanks to my team-mates, they could help me to score. At the end we scored the third one and the game was already over.

“I am always happy to score, not only to score but also to assist; it doesn’t matter to me. I am always working and I want to score as many goals as I can. Scoring goals is always enjoyable.”

Attention now turns to Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Anderlecht in Brussels. Mkhitaryan has impressed in the competition this season, scoring crucial goals away to Zorya Luhansk, Saint-Etienne and, more recently, FC Rostov in the last round.

“It’s going to be a very important game against Anderlecht,” he added. “It will be a very tough game because it’s not going to be easy against Anderlecht. They are a very good team with very good young players and I think we have to be ready to have a very good game.”

Manchester United forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan is prioritising UEFA Europa League glory this term.

“It is one of my goals for this season – to win the Europa League,” he said. “I know it is not going to be easy, particularly at this stage of the competition as there are no easy opponents.”

The reward for United could be more than just lifting that trophy in Stockholm in May. José Mourinho’s men are still jostling for position in the Premier League but, regardless of where they finish domestically, would be assured of at least a play-off place in next season’s UEFA Champions League should they win the UEFA Europa League for the first time.

United face Anderlecht in the quarter-finals, with the first leg in Brussels next Thursday. Mkhitaryan and his team-mates could also make history should they go all the way, since they are aiming to become only the fifth team – after Ajax, Bayern, Chelsea and Juventus – to win all three major UEFA trophies.

“Obviously we understand the importance of the tie with Anderlecht in the quarter-finals,” the Armenian international told “We know that we are going to have two very tough games and, of course, Anderlecht are not easy opponents. I know this because I have watched some of their games in Europe; they are playing very well and have very good players of high quality.”

On April 5, 2017, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh, the OSCE Mission will conduct a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, in the direction of Hadrut region, near Karakhanbeyli, Press Service of the Artsakh Foreign Ministry informs.

From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring will be conducted by Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Michael Olaru (Moldova) and Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), as well as staff-member of the OSCE High-Level Planning Group Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Farrelli (Ireland).

The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh have expressed their readiness to assist in conducting the monitoring and to ensure the security of the OSCE Mission members.

On March 9, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; received Mr. Nikos Kotsias, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece. He was accompanied by his delegation, and Mr. Karen Nazaryan, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and the Ambassadors of the two countries.

During their conversation, His Holiness reflected on the centuries-old friendly relations between the two nations, which serves today as a solid basis for effective cooperation between the two countries.

His Holiness presented to the Minister the historical role of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the life of the Armenian people, particularly noting the difficulties faced by the Church during Soviet times, and as well as the current mission and challenges.

The Catholicos of All Armenians referred to the brotherly relations between the Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox Churches and the close cooperation between Greece and the Mother See, through which members of the Brotherhood of the Mother See continue their higher spiritual education in Greek Universities.

Minister Kostsias spoke about the important mission of Churches in the life of the people. He stressed that the Church is implementing an important service, contributing to the preservation of national identity and moral values in society, and the spreading of a spirit of tolerance, solidarity and optimism.

During the meeting, the Catholicos of All Armenians and Minister Kotsias also spoke on the tragic situation in the Middle East.

Attending the meeting was His Eminence Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the External Relations and Protocol Department of the Mother See.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with three minutes remaining to give Manchester United a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton in the EFL Cup final,  Goal.com reports.

A dramatic contest at Wembley was settled when Ibrahimovic headed in Ander Herrera’s cross just as the match appeared destined to move into extra-time.

A controversial and thrilling match saw Southampton have Manolo Gabbiadini’s strike wrongly ruled out for offside before Ibrahimovic struck with an impressive free-kick at the other end.

Jesse Lingard got the second, finding the bottom-right corner after a neat team move to net on his third consecutive Wembley appearance for United, before Gabbiadini got a goal that did count in first-half stoppage time.

Gabbiadini made it five goals in three Saints matches with a magnificent finish early in the second half, but Ibrahimovic had the last word with his 26th goal of the season.

United have now won the tournament on five occasions, a record bettered only by Liverpool.

Mourinho claims the first major trophy of his United reign and his fourth overall victory in the competition, tying the record jointly held by Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson.

A group of Armenians from Turkey wrote a letter addressed to Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, before the meeting that will be held in Etchmiadzin on February 23 to discuss the patriarchal election.

In the letter, Armenians of Turkey demanded that Karekin II advises the resignation of General Vicar of the Patriarch Aram Ateşyan.

The text of the letter is below : 

“His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II,

The seat of the patriarch of Armenians of Turkey has been vacant since 8 years.

The church and some leaders of our society postponed the election on the excuse of the state.

We informed you about this matter with a letter signed by over 5.000 people.

Unfortunately, we haven’t received any response from Mayr Ator.

In these 8 years, there has been many adverse situations. His Eminence Aram Ateşyan, who was assigned by the state against our traditions, has been using the authority that he doesn’t deserve. Unfortunately, His Eminence Aram Ateşyan, deprived of qualities of leadership, ignored what we lost in 1915 and gashed the souls of those who carry this pain in their hearts and express this truth whenever possible. Our sole consolation is the fact that April 24 commemoration ceremonies are still held in many cities of Turkey despite this submissive attitude.

The patriarchate became the very source of problems, though it is the seat that is supposed to solve the problems. Clerics couldn’t have stood up against the pressure and some of them became accomplices to sins. In the end, Armenian society’s ties with the church got weaker. People ran out of patience and came to protest in front of the patriarchate.

His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II,

After several crises, now we got the chance to elect our patriarch.

We know that some people will try to prevent the election, but we are determined to hold this election more than ever.

We should remember that the elected patriarch will not only be the head of the church, but also he will represent Armenians of Turkey before the state.

We are pleased to see that you step in, even though we expected you to do it earlier.

We, Armenians of Turkey, are determined to solve our problems on our own.

What we are asking from you is this: please advise His Eminence Aram Ateşyan to get rid of his personal ambitions and resign from vicarship, and to advise our clerics to chose an impartial değabah (trustee).

Let us remind once again, we will elect a cleric who will protect the members of the church, but equally importantly, he will also be a “leader” who will represent the entire Armenian society before the state and law both in and outside of the country.

His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II,

The fact that you are concerned with us and trying to solve our problems keeps us going.

This letter is written with the purpose of expressing the feelings of the majority of Armenians of Turkey.”

Horizon Weekly – Despite continuous efforts by Azerbaijani authorities to discourage foreign diplomats, parliamentarians and observers from visiting the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh/NKR), former Canadian parliamentarian, the Honourable Jim Karygiannis will be visiting Artsakh in the upcoming week to serve as an international observer in the republic’s constitutional referendum that is set to be held on February 20, 2017.

A long-time supporter of Artsakh’s independence and its people’s right to self-determination, Mr. Karygiannis is visiting Artsakh at the request of the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC). Previously and as recent as 2012, Mr. Karygiannis led a team of Canadian Election Observers for the presidential election in the Republic of Artsakh.

In a statement released after the elections, he explicitly stated; “It was a picture-perfect election from start to finish and witnessing the election process in a new democracy was a positive learning experience. I also met with government officials, residents of Nagorno Karabakh and members of the Canadian Diaspora who were visiting and learned more about the challenges facing this Artsakh”.

“Mr. Karygiannis’ timely visit to Artsakh is yet another indication that the young republic is a democratic and a fully functioning state, with a thriving market economy and an active civil society, that is striving to achieve its freedom and the formal recognition of its independence,” ANCC said.

Photos of Artsakh-based photographer Areg Balayan won the second place at the prestigious . The photos were made during the April war.

Elena Anosovs of Russia won the contest, Antonie Bruy of France came third.

Selected by a diverse international jury, the award-winning photographers hail from 44 photographers from 22 countries on five continents, representing an intriguing and inspiring cross-section of contemporary photography today.