Varuzhan Sukiasyan will take charge of the Armenian national football team.
Sukiasyan’s candidacy was unanimously approved at the sitting of the Executive Committee of the Football Federation of Armenia.
He previously headed Yerevan’s “Ararat.”
Employees of the Public Radio of Armenia, Liana Yeghiazaryan and Maria Balayan are visiting Germany under the program of “Expansion of cooperation of civil society in the Eastern Partnership countries.”
The program is financed by the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and the German Embassy in Yerevan.
Liana and Maria were hosted at today. In an hour-long interview they talked about today’s Armenia, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Nagorno Karabakh and even the Syria crisis.
Air France said Tuesday it is to resume flights from its Paris hub to Tehran, a route suspended in 2008 after Iran was hit with international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions, AFP reports.
“Air France is showing its ambition to develop its business in a country with dynamic growth, the European Union being Iran’s fourth-biggest economic partner,” the company said in a statement in revealing it would start three flights a week starting in April.
The move comes as the two countries look to strengthen commercial ties in the wake of last July’s landmark deal on Iran’s nuclear program following almost two years of talks.
Photo:Â REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/FILE
Facebook, Google and Twitter are stepping up efforts to combat online propaganda and recruiting by Islamic militants, but the Internet companies are doing it quietly to avoid the perception that they are helping the authorities police the Web, Reuters reports.
On Friday, Facebook Inc said it took down a profile that the company believed belonged to San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband is accused of killing 14 people in a mass shooting that the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.”
Just a day earlier, the French prime minister and European Commission officials met separately with Facebook, Google, Twitter Inc and other companies to demand faster action on what the commission called “online terrorism incitement and hate speech.”
The Internet companies described their policies as straightforward: they ban certain types of content in accordance with their own terms of service, and require court orders to remove or block anything beyond that. Anyone can report, or flag, content for review and possible removal.
“I’ve voted for the sake of our stable future,” Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said after he cast his vote in the referendum on Constitutional changes.
“After the voting the government should combine its efforts to ensure economic development to meet the expectations of the people,” the Prime Minister said.
He said everyone should be provided with the opportunity to vote freely and added that any outcome would be acceptable to the authorities.
“I cast my vote for the sake of our stable future and development. We’ve done our best to ensure the transparency of the voting. We’ve urged all our teammates not to do a disservice. Let the public decide whether to accept the Constitutional changes or not. I’ve not received any reports on serious violations so far. I hope the commissions will do their utmost to avoid violations,” Hovik Abrahamyan said.
He urged the teammates to avoid any provocation and ensure transparent voting.
Pope Francis said on Monday that Christians and Muslims were “brothers”, urging them to reject hatred and violence while visiting a mosque in the Central African Republic’s capital which has been ravaged by sectarian conflict, AFP reports.
On the last leg of a three-nation tour of Africa, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholic visited a flashpoint Muslim neighbourhood in Bangui on what was the most dangerous part of his 24-hour visit.
Thousands of people gathered at the roadside, cheering as his popemobile drove down the red dirt roads. As his vehicle passed, many waving Vatican flags and dressed in long traditional robes, ran down the road after it.
“Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters,” he said after meeting Muslim leaders at the Koudoukou mosque in the PK5 district, the last Muslim enclave in Bangui where tensions remain high after months of violence.
“Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself,” he said.
The pope later flew out of Bangui at the end of his first trip to Africa that has also taken him to Kenya and Uganda.
Francis’ message of peace and reconciliation appeared to have made a powerful impression, with a group of Muslim rebels turning up to join tens of thousands watching a papal mass at the capital’s Barthelemy Boganda Stadium.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Paris on the sidelines of the UN climate conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, TASS reports.
“The meeting with Erdogan (in Paris) is not planned, this meeting is not being discussed. There will be no such meeting,” Peskov told reporters.
Peskov stressed that no other contacts with the Turkish leader, including a phone conversation, are included in Putin’s schedule.
The Turkish president has tried to call Putin twice and later sent an official request for the meeting with the Russian leader at the Paris conference on Monday.
– The symbol of the confiscation of the properties of Armenian society, Kamp Armen’s deed has been returned to GedikpaĹźa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation. Foundation’s lawyer Sebu Aslangil declared that the returning process is done.
The most unconscientious confiscation
Kamp Armen is one of the most important memory centers of Armenian society. Tuzla Armenian Children’s Camp, which was bought by Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation with the permission of the governorship and General Directorate for Foundations, hosted children from outside Istanbul for years, including Hrant Dink and Rakel Dink.
The land that was bought by GedikpaĹźa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation, with its facility that was built by children themselves, was returned to the original owner by the state on the basis of 1936 Declaration. The confiscation process was ended on 1987, when the Supreme Court affirmed the decision.
Administrators of the foundation took all the legal actions they can for getting the camp back, but they obtained no results. Even the law suits that they were opened to get compensation for the facility they built on the empty land remained inconclusive.
With the changes in Law of Foundations in 2011, the process of returning the confiscated properties of the foundations began and an application was made to General Directorate for Foundations for Tuzla Children’s Camp. However, the Directorate didn’t consider the camp as a “confiscated property” because the sale was annulled legally; so, there was no returning or compensation.
175 days of resistance
Fatih Ulusoy, the owner of the camp land, tried to demolish the facilities of the camp, but the demolition was stopped because of people’s reaction. After that, the negotiations between NGO representatives of Armenian society and politicians started; Prime Minister Davutoğlu intervened and the returning process begun. During this process, Nor Zartonk and Kamp Armen Solidarity Movement were on watch on the camp. During this watch, activists were attacked twice.
A part is expropriated
On May 22, Ulusoy declared that he will return the deed to the foundation. However, he didn’t do it despite his announcement. Meanwhile, the meeting with committees including officials from Tuzla Municipality, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and AKP government continued.
While the meetings were continuing, Tuzla Municipality expropriated a part of the camp land; so, the land that was owned by Ulusoy became smaller. After the expropriation, as a result of the meetings, Ulusoy returned the deed to Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation.
Anakara’s police, intelligence and security chiefs have been suspended in the wake of bombings that left 97 people dead in Turkey’s capital, the BBC reports.
The interior ministry said the move would enable a “robust” investigation.
The attack, the worst in Turkey’s modern history, triggered widespread anger against the government.
Turkey’s president visited the site of the bombing on Wednesday. The prime minister said both Islamic State and the PKK could have played a role.
Turkish officials have said two suicide bombers carried out Saturday’s attack, which targeted crowds gathering for a rally against violence between Turkish government forces and the outlawed PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party).
Authorities said on Wednesday that they had detained two people with alleged ties to the PKK on suspicion of having prior knowledge of the attack.
Initially, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said IS, the PKK and far-left groups were all capable of such an attack. On Monday, he said IS was the prime suspect.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid flowers for the victims as he visited the site of the attack with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
Prior to discussing the items on the agenda of the 6th session of the State Commission on Coordination of the Events for the Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide which has started today at the RA Presidential Palace and continues at the Government Reception House, Serzh Sargsyan touched upon the grave ceasefire violation cases of Azerbaijan during the last two years and assured that the Republic of Armenia will do everything consistently reveal, disclose and persecute each committer of such crimes. In his speech, Armenia’s president said the following:
“Before going on to the agenda items, I have something to say about the events of the last two days.
On the eve of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly and amid the regular peacemaking efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs, before the eyes of the entire world, confident in is impunity, and inspired by the practice of numerous international players to put an equals sign between the conflicting sides’ actions, Azerbaijan again impenitently violated its very obligations to maintain the ceasefire. As a consequence of the ceasefire violation, we have suffered painful losses: 4 Armenian young soldiers, the guardians of their motherland’s tranquility, soldiers who were very far from the immediate danger zone and were engaged in their everyday activities 5 km away from the frontline, were killed. And one day ago, in their own house, in their own garden, in front of their beloved people were killed 3 women, a mother, a sister and a daughter, who would take care of their family with their peaceful work.
They were killed because an entire world can’t make Azerbaijan understand that the path of human losses, bloodsheds, sufferings and tortures, and of drowning out the voice of its own citizens does not lead to peace, does not lead to prosperity, and does not lead to stability and security.
As demonstrated by the modern history of human kind, the path chosen by Azerbaijani authorities, the path of crimes against humanity either results in an international punishment or leads to the scaffold put up by own people completely run out of patience.
By deviating from the path to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, Azerbaijan is also deviating, gradually and steadily, from the path of other norms of international law. Gradually and steadily, Azerbaijan’s criminal regime is further plunging into the swamp of crimes against humanity.
The law of the civilized world calls upon humanity to put an end to the impunity of crimes against humanity. The Republic of Armenia is committed to this position. We will consistently reveal, disclose and persecute each committer of such crimes, starting from the private solider executing an order to the commander issuing such an order. Lacking alternatives, we ourselves will be humanity’s retributive sword against committers of these crimes. We will do it on our own as long as the civilized world is not able to find a more effective mechanism.
These are not mere words when we say that we are afraid of war, but are not afraid to fight. Armenia and by Armenia I also mean Nagorno-Karabakh as its inseparable part, is one of the most militarized zones on the earth. As you know, our grandfathers would say that no pilaf is given out during a battle. And throughout more than 20 years of the imposed ceasefire, which has been impossible to transform into peace on account of Baku’s authorities, we have tried our best to avoid a new confrontation. We will continue in the same vein, and that also includes retributive actions so that the opponent does not think that his impertinent behavior is remained unpunished.
Without a doubt, we will certainly force Azerbaijan’s government to give an account to its people for causing them continued suffering. This much for now”.