Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accepted Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s invitation to visit Yerevan.

“The Foreign Minister of Armenia invited me to visit Yerevan, and I accepted the invitation,” Lavrov told reporters at the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of establishment of the Armenian-Russian relations, TASS.

“The date of the visit will be discussed separately,” Lavrov added,

“The Armenian-Russian relations are an exemplary model of bilateral cooperation, probably the most effective and successful one on post-Soviet space,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said.

The Armenian Missionary Association of Australia (AMAA) and the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) have announced an event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, which will feature a keynote address by his widow, Rakel Dink, reports.

Hrant Dink, the former Editor-In-Chief of Agos, was murdered on 19th January, 2007 in front of the Istanbul office of his Armenian-language newspaper after being singled out as “insulting Turkishness” by authorities. While charges for the murder have been laid, investigations into involvement by police officials and public authorities remains ongoing, with honourable testimonies existing that the killing was “deliberately not prevented”.

Rakel Dink has dedicated her life to honouring her late husband’s memory and continuing his legacy. She is the President of the Hrant Dink Foundation, which “carries out various programs dedicated to protecting human rights in Turkey, to preserving the culture of minorities in the country, to researching hate speech and to normalising Armenian-Turkish relations”.

Rakel Dink will be the guest of the AMAA and ANC-AU in Sydney this March for a Commemoration Evening honouring Hrant Dink, 10 years after his assassination.

ANC-AU Managing Director, Vache Kahramanian said: “We all remember when the funeral of Hrant Dink saw many tens of thousands of Turkish people march in Istanbul, chanting ‘We are all Hrant! We are all Armenian!’. This heralded hope in a country that has trouble dealing with its Armenian past, and proved that Hrant did not die in vain.”

Kahramanian added: “Armenian-Australians will have the opportunity to share an audience in Sydney with Mrs. Rakel Dink, as we honour her husband’s life. We as Armenians are very lucky to have the likes of Mrs Rakel Dink, Garo Paylan and others continuing the foundations set by Hrant Dink.”

The event will take place on Sunday, 19th March 2017, 6pm at The Concourse Theatre in Chatswood.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan awarded over two hundred military servicemen and freedom fighters with the highest awards of the Republic of Armenia, medals and orders, and bestowed on them high military ranks for the courage manifested in defending the borders of the Fatherland, valor, boundless dedication, as well as for their contribution to the army building and enhancement of the battle readiness of the troops.

The President of Armenia congratulated the servicemen and the freedom fighters on the occasion of the holiday and on receiving high state awards.

Congratulatory remarks of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan addressed to the awardees

Dear Awardees,

I congratulate you on the occasion of the Army Day and on the receiving the Fatherland’s high awards and ranks.

We are grateful to you for the enormous work you have done and which is called the service to the Fatherland. First, we shall commemorate those immortals who are being awarded today posthumously. We, as a nation, stand by the parents who raised these heroes and send to their families the words of compassion and support.

Those boys fell defending their families, their friends and us all. They fell so that Armenia can live, so that aspirations of our people live on and become a reality. They became immortals and together with us will continue the millennia-long and incessant march of the Armenian nation.

I congratulate those present in this hall and those who in our Armed Forces carry on with the dedicated work of their fallen brothers in arms. Be aware that the Fatherland trusts you and believes in you. We are proud of you; you are the worthy sons of our nation, the power and reliance of our people,” said President Serzh Sargsyan. In the presence of the particiapats of the official award ceremony, the President sent his congratulatory message to the people of Armenia on the occasion of the Army Day.

Congratulatory message by President Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of Army Day

Dear Compatriots,

I congratulate you on the occasion of the Army Day and the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

The Armenian Army was created along with the reestablishment of our statehood. However, the formation of the Army started earlier, and it started not from the top but from the bottom, spontaneously, through the instinct of self-defense of the people.

Hideous events, which had taken place in Sumgait, Baku, and other places in Azerbaijan, awaked our historic memory with the blood-chilling pictures of massacres and forced deportations. Formed spontaneously but deeply consciously the voluntary movement and first units of volunteers had become the axis on which the glorious and victorious structure – the Armenian Army would rise.

We, as a nation, had united. Last time, we had been united like this at Sardarapat. The superior resources of the foe did not scare us. On the contrary, that fact made us serious, organized, and focused. Our Army was formed at the battlefield. We were fighting agains the enemy literally inside our own home.

I recall a true story: a man with the arms in hands was fighting the enemy in his own home. He fought and retreated from the doorway to the kitchen, then still fighting he retreated to the living room, then he took back his kitchen and his doorway. This is not an allegory; this is a true story from the heroic battle of Karintak. The war imposed on us, made us all the Army; this is the truth.

On the other hand, we need officers – professional, experienced, and deeply knowledgable of the military science. We have been able to smoothly and effortlessly to intertwine the professional capabilities of the military and the strong battle spirit of the home guard. We were aware that the Fidai movement, even if of a heroic nature, had no prospects. The time had come to create a professional army. Military servicemen all over the Soviet Union answering the call of the Fatherland gathered here and carried out that tremendous task.

Dear Compatriots,

Twenty-five years ago, by the order of Vazgen Sarkissian our Army became a state structure. From that day one, we were fighting in the self-defense war at the state level. From that day on, the new and glorious history of the Armed Froces of the Republic of Armenia is being written. Many of the pages and heroes of that history have already appeared in history books. Moreover, that history has become an indivisible part of our national identity. That history is our self-respect, human and national dignity, the proof of our freedom.

I have stressed on many occasions that no military action, to say nothing of a new war can solve the Artsakh issue. Moreover, a new war will become an additional, thorny component of the issue which is complex enough, but not a solution.

Events of last April proved once again (and I stress “once again’) to our adversaries that the use of force or threats to use force is a tragic and dead-end road, which means it’s not a road at all.

Those events had also proved the vital and crucial importance of the safety zone created around Artsakh. We are not going to fight another elongated war in the doorway and kitchen of our own home, we have done it already.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

The blood of our martyrs is the price we have paid for our freedom and our future. Today, the thankful generation is bowing to the memory of our immortals and continues with honor the patriotic work of their grandfathers and fathers.

Today’s servicemen and conscripts, now with new structures and new weapons, continue to improve and develop, continue to be the unswerving shield for Armenia and Artsakh. Currently, it would be hard to find a stronger defender and a more ardent proponent of peace that the Armenian Army.

Next twenty-five years will be a period of a new qualitative rise for our Army. Officers, as a special stratum of our national intelligentsia, will have a greater public standing and weight, will have a greater professional, including technological, efficiency. For the conscripts, the military service will truly become a school of life, starting from the military skills and up to civil and psychological readiness.

The 25th anniversary of the creation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia is a great holiday, a great holiday indeed. I once again congratulate us all and wish courage, indestructible resolve, and peace.

Thank you.

The King of Spain Alfonso XIII tried to save the outstanding Armenian intellectuals detained in April 1915. Archives reveal the King sent a letter to the Ottoman Government at the time, reports.

In a response letter to the King, the Ottoman leadership falsely said the Armenian intellectuals had been launching a revolutionary activity and said outstanding figures like Aknuni, Daniel Varuzhan and Siamanto had escaped to Russia.

However, as it is known, they all were brutally killed in the Ottoman Empire shortly after the letter dated July 1915.

The documents have been found from the Ottoman archives and translated by US-based researcher Gevorg B. Hakobyan.

At least 50 people have died and thousands have been left homeless after severe flooding in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the BBC reports.

Torrential rain caused the Kalamu river, which flows through the city of Boma, to burst its banks on Tuesday.

The bodies of some of the victims had ended up in neighbouring Angola, after being carried away by the surge, a local governor said.

Locals said that some areas of the city were buried in up to a metre of mud.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is set to resign on Tuesday to free himself to do battle for the Socialist nomination in next year’s presidential election, AFP reports.

Announcing his candidacy on Monday France’s prime minister of the past two-and-a-half years said he would step down to try to rally the fractured left ahead of a primary in January.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are among those tipped to succeed him as premier for the six months until the next legislative elections.

In a combative speech, 54-year-old Valls vowed to take the fight to the conservative opposition and the far-right National Front, who are both leading the Socialists in election polls.

His announcement came four days after President Francois Hollande announced he would bow out after a single term, paving the way for Valls to try to become the left’s new standard bearer.

“My candidacy is one of reconciliation,” Valls, seen as a divisive figure, said in a speech from his political base in the tough Paris suburb of Evry.

He warned of the risk of far-right leader Marine Le Pen pulling off a repeat of France’s 2002 electoral upset when her father Jean-Marie Le Pen edged the Socialist candidate for a place in the presidential runoff.

The 4^th Conference on Armenian-French Decentralized Cooperation was held in Yerevan today. Attending the event were Armenia’s Minister of Territorial Administration David Lokyan, Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan, French Ambassador to Armenia Jean-Francois Charpentier, high-ranking representatives of local self-government bodies of Armenia and France.

“The Armenian-French cooperation has been developing and reinforcing in different directions over the past years,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in his opening remarks. He put a special emphasis on the development of inter-parliamentary ties, expansion of economic cooperation, continuous deepening of cultural and scientific-educational exchange.

Speaking of decentralized cooperation, Minister Nalbandian reminded that “joint programs are being implemented in the fields of tourism, agriculture, education, culture, healthcare and other within the framework of more than 70 agreements signed between the Armenian and French cities and regions.”

He voiced confidence that the fourth conference would open new perspectives and reveal new horizons for decentralized cooperation between the two countries.

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has challenged Henrikh Mkhitaryan to produce in the Premier League as he did in the 4-0 Europa League defeat of Feyenoord on Thursday, ESPN FC reports.

Mourinho handed Mkhitaryan just his second start of the season, while leaving out Anthony Martial. Mkhitaryan’s previous start came in the 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City on Sept. 10.

The Armenian had only made one further appearance since then, as a sub in the 2-1 defeat at Fenerbahce on Nov. 3, before being selected to face Feyenoord.

Discussing Mkhitaryan’s display, Mourinho said: “He just needs now to try to replicate this kind of performance in the Premier League. The Premier League is different. He needs one more step.

“Obviously now the confidence level is higher. This performance gives him the right to believe that he can play the next match.

“The Premier League has more physicality, more aggression. He needs a bit more of that. But, with the quality, we know why we bought him. He has a high level of technical quality. He’s very intelligent, very bright, with how he reads the game.”

“The reception [from the fans] he deserved because he played very well. Always improving, improving, improving, improving until the moment he was really tired and I felt it was the right moment to take him off and to let him come off with a very good performance. It was important for his confidence and he will try to keep adapting and trying to replicate this kind of quality performance in the Premier League which is a competition with different difficulties,” Mourinho.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire about 90 times last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 1,100 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

On November 19 the Azeri forces used a 60mm mine thrower in the northeastern direction of the line of contact.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the frontline and confidently continue with their military duty.

Photo: Getty Images

 

Canadian singer Leonard Cohen has died aged 82, according to a statement on his official Facebook page.

“It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” the announcement said.

“We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.”

There were no details about the cause of Cohen’s death. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date, the announcement said.

The Montreal-born singer’s hits included Suzanne and I’m Your Man and he released his 14th album, You Want It Darker, just last month.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.