Author: Diana Dabaghian

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in a telephone conversation on Wednesday dicussed the settlement of the Krabakh conflict, TASS reports, quoting the Kremlin.

Putin informed Obama on the June 20 meeting in St Petersburg on peace settlement of the conflict.

The Armenian Church and the historic Gavur bath in Aksehir, Turkey, are ruined, Akunq.net reports, quoting Turkish websites.

According to the source, there are huge cracks in the walls of the church, while the bath risks collapsing. The Aksehir City Hall, which owns the church, has not taken any steps to restore it.

The church built by the Armenian community in the 19^th century and used for different cultural events, has never been renovated by the Turkish authorities, despite promises.

The package solution to the Karabakh conflict should be based on Azerbaijan’s recognition of the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has said.

The comments come after Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration’s foreign relations department, said in an interview with local TV channels that an agreement on the stage-by-stage settlement of the Karabakh conflict had been reached in St. Petersburg.

“Novruz Mammadov has never participated in any negotiations, and the summit in Saint Petersburg was no exception. He was present only at the working dinner, during which reference was made only to the creation of an investigation mechanism and enlargement of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office,” Minister Nalbandian said in comments to Armenpress.  

“As for the package settlement of the Karabakh conflict, it should be first of all based on the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh people’s right to self-determination by Azerbaijan,” Edward Nalbandian said. He added that no agreement on the final resolution of the conflict had been reached in Saint Petersburg.

“At this stage Azerbaijan should unequivocally implement the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, which include: settlement of the Karabakh conflict exceptionally in a peaceful way, respect for the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, and expansion of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. All this will allow to create favorable conditions for the resumption of talks on the settlement of the conflict,” Minister Nalbandian concluded.

The 9th DigiTec Business Forum will be held in Yerevan June 17-18 with an aim of contributing to the search for best technological solutions, providing the technology companies with an opportunity to meet and present themselves to potential customers. About 70 organizations have applied for participation this year.

Yes For Europe forum of European Partners and an Armenian-German business forum will be held within the framework of the event.

Modernization of military industry through application of innovative technologies will be the key topic of the forum, Karen Vardanyan, Executive Director of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE), told reporters today.

The Armed Forces and UITE have established a joint commission to sum up the framework of issues that will be submitted to IT specialists for solution.

According to Karen Vardanyan, three issues related to the modernization of military production are being considered today. “The short-term goal is to find solutions to counter the rival, which envisages either purchase of new weapons or modernization of old ones.  The medium-term objective is to create new military industry on the basis of existing technologies. The third issue is a strategic one, we have to think what kind of military industry we want to see in 15-20 years,” he said.

Representatives of the Armed Forces are expected to actively participate in the DigiTec forum.

Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan said the April war focused the attention on the need to ensure cyber security.

The situation remained calm at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used mostly firearms as it violated the agreement on ceasefire, the Ministry said.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army refrained from response actions and continued with the reliable protection of the military positions.

France has identified Saturday’s match between England and Russia in Marseille as one of the Euro 2016 soccer games most likely to lead to violence involving fans, and is determined to avoid more trouble after scuffles on Thursday and Friday, according to Reuters.

“This is one of the five risky matches of the tournament … British and Russians with the heat, that can be explosive,” Sports Minister Patrick Kanner told i-Television on Saturday. “Everything will be done to secure that match tonight” he added.

French police stepped in to break up small groups of English and Russian fans who squared up and hurled taunts at one another in Marseille, southern France, on Friday.

Late Thursday, about 100 England fans and 50 local residents were involved in another fracas around the Vieux Port (Old Port) area, where several English and Irish bars are located.

In the 1998 World Cup, England fans were involved in serious disorder over several days in Marseille before and after a match against Tunisia.

About 1,000 police will be deployed in the Mediterranean city as up to 70,000 England fans and 20,000 Russians arrive ahead of the match between the two countries.

Asbarez – On May 26, a racist blurb against the Armenian people was written in student-funded satirical paper, The Koala, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Disappointed in the distasteful writings of the paper which touched upon stereotypes, comparisons to animals, and the Armenian peoples’ genocidal history, the UCSD’s Armenian Students’ Association, Alpha Gamma Alpha, Alpha Epsilon Omega, and the All-Armenian Students’ Association released a statement regarding their concern with the lack of inclusivity The Koala exudes and calling upon the university, that rejects any act of discrimination, to “honor their promise to take action due to the clear violation.”

“To whom it may concern,

At the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), we are proud to promote a climate of inclusivity and diversity, and this includes all students of different race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. As Armenian students who attend this institution, our respective organizations (the Armenian Students’ Association, Alpha Gamma Alpha, Alpha Epsilon Omega, and the All-Armenian Students’ Association) aim to uphold the Principles of Community created by the University and every student’s right to feel safe on campus.

On May 26th, 2016, it was brought to our attention that The Koala, an independently student funded paper at the University of California, San Diego, recently published a problematic and hateful blurb aimed at the Armenian population, violating the Principles of Community. In the satirical segment, titled “Top 5 Downsides of Having an Armenian Baby,” Armenians were ridiculed not only for their physical appearance, but also stereotypically compared to Kim Kardashian and to animals, also suggesting an Armenian baby be sacrificed to Turks. Although we understand that The Koala is a satirical paper, we do not appreciate this poor taste in journalism, which was very clearly aimed at our minority group. Satire is aimed to support victims, not further isolate and demean them.

Most specifically, the segment made light of the Armenian people’s genocidal past. The Armenians are an ethnic minority who experienced genocide from 1915 to 1923 by the hand of the Ottoman Empire, annihilating 1.5 million individuals and leaving thousands without homes or families in the process. We are appalled that a group of supposedly educated collegiates in the 21st century would feel the need to publish such ignorant, hateful, and insensitive content. Mocking the atrocities that were inflicted on our ancestors and the trans-generational trauma we as modern day Armenians experience is crossing the line. More than an entire century after the genocide started, it is painful to see that certain individuals still refuse to acknowledge the severity of the situation. We as Armenians have prospered and contributed immensely to the United States as a whole, yet we are perpetually made to feel unwelcome by acts such as this. Furthermore, though we comprise a small percentage of the student population at UCSD, we work to add to the collective consciousness of the UCSD student body by educating about the Armenian Genocide, and also stand with other minority groups who experience outright racism and hate-speech on a daily basis.

The Koala has published various other problematic articles throughout its existence aimed at various ethnic groups and social issues. According to the Principles of Community, UCSD rejects “acts of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs, and, will confront and appropriately respond to such acts.” We as Armenians at the university, will not stand for this form of harassment and call upon the administration to honor their promise to take action due to the clear violation. As a group who has endured victimization throughout our history, this form of hate will not be tolerated in the 21st century. We refuse to feel unsafe on our own campus and we will fervently pursue our efforts in bringing forth justice not only for this isolated incident, but for the hundreds of other articles published in the past aimed at other minority groups.

We acknowledge that the writers at The Koala, and any other individual at the University are entitled to the freedom of speech. We also acknowledge that any statement made by The Koala does not reflect the views of UCSD proper. That being said, we are concerned that a school that prides itself on hosting an inclusive campus climate would allow such hate and discrimination to continue for so long. It is time to put an end to this lude behavior that has clearly made thousands of student in the past feel unsafe and thousands more to come.”

Armenia was the first to condemn the crimes against the Yazidis in Iraq and Armenians in Deir Zor and Kessab committed by the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimyan said at an anti-terror conference on “Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization” in Berlin.

According to him, it’s necessary to pay greater attention to the prevention of crimes committed on the basis of hatred, since they immediately link violent radicalism to terrorism.

The Deputy Foreign Minister said ‘the existing conflicts create a fertile soil for violent extremism, especially when the state authorities use the conflicts to restrict human rights and seed hatred towards conflicting parties.

“Unfortunately, the recent developments in our region come to prove the concerns of the Armenian side. Following the example of Ramil Safarov and Islamic State, the Azerbaijani armed forces were beheading and torturing not only servicemen, but also civilians, including elderly people and women. The perpetrators of these crimes not only escaped criticism, but were also awarded by Azerbaijani President,” Ashot Hovakimyan said.

The Deputy FM stressed that any attempt on the part of states to make radicalism and terrorism serve their goals should be strongly condemned.

Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert

Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the ceasefire agreement signed between the Defense Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Commander of the Nagorno Karabakh Army.

The document has no time limitation and had been in place for 22 years with relative success. However, in April this year Azerbaijan unleashed large-scale military actions against Karabakh, but the aggression was rebuffed and on April 5 the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a verbal agreement on cessation of hostilities. Afterwards, Azerbaijan tried to refuse from the trilateral agreements signed in 1994-1995, but the attempts were void.

Masis Mailyan, Head of the NKR Public Council on Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, participated in the signing of the 1994 agreement in the capacity of the Adviser to the NKR Army Commander on political Issues. He says that “after the April war the parties are farther from a political deal than they were in 1994.”

According to him, the “no war, no peace” situation has changed today. Azerbaijan officially declares it withdraws from the ceasefire agreement, which means that the issue of defense of Armenia and Artsakh becomes urgent. “We need guarantees of non-resumption of war, and the NKR Defense Army is the main guarantee. As for the diplomatic field, the Armenian sides should strive to ensure NKR’s return to the negotiating table and change the logic of the talks,” Masis Mailyan said.

Expert Hrach Arzumanyan also agrees that the Armenian side should assume a different stance in the negotiations, but before returning to the negotiating table we should reach the condemnation of Azeri aggression.

“Azerbaijan keeps shooting, which comes to prove that Azerbaijan has not refused from the idea of solving the issue through force, while every aggression should be condemned,” the expert said. “The international law provides for this opportunity,” he said.