Author: Garnik Zakarian

Islamic State militants have attacked a cafe in Iraq frequented by supporters of the Spanish football club Real Madrid, killing at least 12 people, the BBC reports.

Three men opened fire with machine guns at the al-Furat Cafe in the mainly Shia town of Balad early on Friday.

The assailants fled and hours later one blew himself up after being cornered by Shia militiamen, killing four of them.

In a claim of responsibility, IS said the attack had targeted militiamen and did not mention any connection to Real.

But a statement from Real Madrid said 16 members of a supporters club had died in the attack.

“The club expresses its great sadness and offers its regards and condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” the statement said.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan received today PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs Alan Meale and Giuseppe Galati.

The Prime Minister welcomed the co-rapporteurs’ visit to Armenia, attached importance to the cooperation with the Monitoring Committee and expressed gratitude for the technical assistance to our country.

Hovik Abrahamyan presented details from the discussions on the Electoral Code and their results. He noted that a number of proposals of the opposition forces and the civil society have been taken into consideration.

Speaking about the fight against corruption, Hovik Abrahamyan noted that an anti-corruption council has been established, the strategy and action plan has been approved. He stressed that there is a political will to take concrete steps to fight corruption.

Referring to the four-day April war, the Prime Minister noted that the large-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the peaceful population of Nagorno Karabakh, including children and elderly people, accompanied by gross violations of the international commitments in the field of human and humanitarian rights, should be widely discussed, and condemned by the international community.

The Prime Minister stressed that the position of the Armenian side is clear: the Karabakh issue should be solved through peaceful negotiations within the framework of the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The co-rapporteurs expressed their support to Armenian partners in the processes of democratic development in the country and attached importance to the steps towards adoption of the Electoral Code.

Alan Meale and Giuseppe Galati expressed their condolences over the lives lost in the war and voiced their support for the OSCE Minsk Group efforts.

The co-rapporteurs said they are going to present the facts of killing and decapitation of Defense Army soldiers to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

The deputy chairman of a Swedish-Turkish association has resigned after derogatory comments he made about Armenians last week, the Associated Press reports.

Barbaros Leylani, who called for death “to Armenian dogs” at a Stockholm rally, apologized Monday on the association’s website saying he’d been misunderstood.

Swedish legal watchdog Juridikfronten said it had reported the speech for incitement to racial hatred to police and an Armenian association says it also plans to make a police report.

Twenty-nine Armenian soldiers have been killed, 101 wounded as a result of the clashes along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact, Colonel Victor Arustamyan, Head of operative department of the NKR Defense Army, told a press conference today. He said that another 28 servicemen are missing.

The Armenian side has lost 14 tanks, while the Azerbaijani side has lost 24 tanks, 4 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 helicopters, 12 drones and 1 Grad multiple launch rocket system.

The Defense Ministry also presented an intercepted recording of a phone conversation between two Azeri women, according to which the number of the casualties on the Azerbaijani side exceeds 2,000.

He said that the status quo that existed before April 1 has been restored, no Armenia positions or regions are under Azerbaijani control.

Col. Arustamyan added that the ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani side side continued even after the agreement on cessation of hostilities at midday. The rival kept firing in the direction for Martuni, Martakert and Talish, although the ceasefire violations were not very intensive.

On a working visit to the United States on a working visit, on March 30 met with the Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker. At the meeting, which took place after the official welcoming ceremony, the President of Armenia noted with satisfaction that Armenia and the United States maintain friendly relations and close cooperation. He expressed gratitude for the continued assistance provided by the US to Armenia in various areas. In the development of the bilateral interstate relations, President Serzh Sargsyan stressed the significant role played by the states and state of Massachusetts in particular. The President noted that Armenia attaches importance to decentralized cooperation and with this regard would like to establish direct ties with Massachusetts. According to the President, cooperation can be of the instructive nature but can also promote close ties in the areas of education, science, information technologies and other areas.

The President of Armenia expressed gratitude for Governor Baker’s resolute stance on the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide and support to the Armenian nation. Serzh Sargsyan noted that he was glad that the leadership of Massachusetts has traditionally maintained a fair position on this issue which is proved by the fact that at the end of the 19th century, a large number of the Armenians who had managed to escape massacres of the Hamidian era and later the Armenian Genocide, found refuge here, in Massachusetts. According to the President, it is also testified to by the fact that the history of the Armenian Genocide was introduced in the curriculum of the state schools.

The President of Armenia hailed special role of Massachusetts, which played a decisive part in America’s fight for independence, toward the NK issue.

Highlighting Massachusetts’ considerable potential in the area of science and noting that it would suffice to mention among prestigious institutions functioning here the Harvard University and MIT, President mentioned with appreciation that Massachusetts and the United States in general with its scientific and educational potential after Armenia’s independence has also supported Armenia in statehood building processes. The President of Armenia hailed the assistance provided by the Government of the United States in preparing high class Armenian professionals.
Underlining that Armenia-Massachusetts relations have a promising future and Armenia is interested in maintaining close relations with the state, Serzh Sargsyan invited Governor Charlie Baker to visit Armenia.

At the conclusion of the meeting, there took place a working dinner with the participation of Governor Charlie Baker, members of the state House of Representatives, and community leaders.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been handed a return to Borussia Dortmund, with the Reds facing the German side in the Europa League quarter-finals, the BBC reports.

Klopp, 48, left Dortmund last summer after leading them to two Bundesliga titles and a Champions League final.

Sevilla, trying to win the competition for the third successive season, face Athletic Bilbao in an all-Spanish tie.

La Liga rivals Villarreal meet Czech side Sparta Prague, while Portugal’s Braga face Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.

The quarter-finals will be played on 7 and 14 April.

Liverpool will travel to Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion in the first leg.

The Azerbaijani side fired about 3,000 shots from artillery weapons of different caliber, also as 60mm mortars, HHN-9 and HAN-17 grenades in the direction of the Armenian positions over the weekend.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the line of contact and confidently continue with their military duty, Press Service of the NKR Defense ministry said.

Iveta Mukuchyan will represent Armenia in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest with her deeply emotional song LoveWave. Tonight her song has been premiered by the Public Television Company of Armenia.

LoveWave is based on Iveta’s inner world struggles and personal emotions, as she explains:

“I wanted to sing about a feeling we all know and crave for. A feeling that creates and destroys, empowers and weakens, rips and completes. A feeling out of space and time, that is unpredictable as an ocean and powerful as a wave. A feeling that is worth fighting for. Love.”

The music video is artistically abstract. We see emotions instead of actions, through a non-scripted scenario the struggling inner world of the characters is revealed.

LoveWave was composed by Lilith Navasardyan and Levon Navasardyan. Its lyrics were written by Iveta Mukuchyan and Stephanie Crutchfield.

The music video is the result of a co-production between AMPTV and German BLACKSHEEP communications. It was separately shot in Germany and Armenia, and it features Iveta Mukuchyan and Swedish top model Ben Dahlhaus, who is based in Germany and is most famous for his work with world leading fashion brands. The authentic looks used in the music video were created by Arevik Simonyan, the founder and chief designer of Kivera Naynomis.

In a new published today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) notes that corruption remains an important problem for Armenian society, even though the fight against it has been high on the political agenda for years. The report specifically looks at the situation with preventing corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors.

The judiciary in Armenia appears to be particularly prone to corruption, the report says, and to suffer from the deficit of independence. There are also concerns about the lack of clear separation of powers, the weakness of the Parliament and insufficient transparency in public decision-making.

“Concerns about the current system of state powers and public governance should be addressed with a comprehensive and inclusive reform process,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland. “Reform should be pursued with determination and without delay. Fighting corruption is a priority. We stand ready to assist Armenia in this process, and we trust the authorities will take our recommendations on board.”

GRECO specifically recommends that the rules on the acceptance of gifts by parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors, as well as on submitting regular asset declarations, on their control and enforcement be further developed and made more effective. Further improving the transparency of the parliamentary process, adopting a code of conduct for members of parliament, preventing circumvention of the restrictions on business activities by parliamentarians, are among other recommendations.

The existing procedures for recruitment, promotion and dismissal of judges and prosecutors, including the Prosecutor General, as well as disciplinary procedures need to be further amended. A deliberate policy for preventing improper influence on judges and prosecutors, as well as conflicts of interest and corruption within the judiciary and the prosecution service should be pursued. The immunity of judges should be limited to activities related to the administration of justice.

By the end of April 2017 the authorities of Armenia are to report back on measures taken to implement the 18 recommendations included in this report. GRECO will assess the effectiveness of these measures in a “compliance report” in the second half of 2017.

            On 23 February Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan issued a congratulatory address in connection with the Motherland Defender’s Day, President’s Press Office reported.

The address runs as follows:

“Dear compatriots,

On behalf of the Artsakh Republic authorities and personally myself I cordially congratulate you on the Motherland Defender’s Day.

Today is a holiday in every Artsakh home as it is hard to find a family in our country that has not participated in the sacred mission of defending the Motherland. This day is a holiday for our whole people for many brave Armenians from all around the world carved the freedom and independence of Artsakh.

I congratulate all of you and especially those who day and night are guarding the borders of our native country, defending the peace of the native people, giving us the opportunity to live and work in peace. I am referring to our brave soldiers, officers and generals, our heroic Army that has always been and would remain the pride of our people, the main guarantor of our security. Eternal glory and honor to the devoted sons of Artsakh!

Dear friends,

On this festive day I wish peace, robust health, success and all the best to you, invincible strength and power to the defenders of the Motherland”.