Armenian Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan resigns

Armenian Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan has filed his resignation. Spokesperson for the Ombudsman Shushan Danielyan confirmed the news to Public Radio of Armenia.

In a post on the Facebook page of the Armenian Ombudsman, Karen Andreasyan expresses gratitude to all colleagues for joint work and voices hope that the defense of human rights will remain a priority for our state and society.

No further explanations are expected.

Paris attacks suspect’s ‘bomb factory’ found in Brussels

Photo: Reuters

 

Belgian prosecutors believe they may have found a bomb factory also used as a hideout by one of the jihadists after the Paris attacks, the BBC reports.

Police found traces of explosives, three handmade belts and a fingerprint of fugitive Salah Abdeslam.

The apartment in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels had been rented in a false name that might have been used by a person already in custody.

Islamic State (IS) suicide attackers killed 130 people in the attacks.

Top 100 players of 2015: Henrikh Mkhitaryan ranked 17th

 has counted down the top 100 players of 2015 as ranked by WhoScored.com.

After every game,  gives players competing in Europe’s top five leagues a mark out of 10 based on a wide range of statistical data.

Each player received an average score for 2015, and to qualify for the list, players had to have made at least 20 league appearances.

With an average rating of 7.618, Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is placed 17th.

“One of the most talented players in the world,” according to Jurgen Klopp, but the Armenian appears to have benefited from the appointment of Thomas Tuchel at Dortmund.

The attacking midfielder is in WhoScored’s Bundesliga team of the season at the winter break with a rating of 7.9 and has provided the joint-most assists along with Raffael.

Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan meet in Bern

Negotiations between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev were held in Switzerland’s capital city of Bern, President’s Press Office reported.

The talks mediated by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs started in the presence of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov, Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (USA), Pierre Andrieu (France) and the Personal Representative of the OCSE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. Later the Presidents talked face-to-face.

The negotiations focused on the steps targeted at easing tensions in the conflict zone and opportunities of furthering the conflict settlement process.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian talked to media representatives after the meeting to present the results of the negotiations.

In Bern, President Sargsyan met also with the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Didier Burkhalter.

 

 

Armenian government presents Morgenthau Medal to William Parsons

Earlier this year, the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia’s Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute awarded William S. Parsons with the Ambassador Henry Morgenthau Medal on behalf of the government of Armenia, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

In a formal ceremony at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia on the evening of December 10, Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Tigran Sargsyan presented the award to Parsons for his exceptional service to humankind through education on the Armenian Genocide and the defense of human rights.

William S. Parsons worked at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) for 25 years where he served as chief of staff and director of education. Prior to joining USHMM, he co-founded Facing History and Ourselves, an organization that specializes in training teachers in human rights education in order to help students confront the lessons of genocide and the Holocaust, and learn the value of tolerance. Facing History and Ourselves developed the first national curriculum on the Armenian Genocide in the U.S., which serves as the template for all educators today.

“It was my great honor to participate in the awarding of a longtime friend of the Armenian people,” stated Armenian National Institute (ANI) Director Dr. Rouben Adalian. “Perhaps no other person in the United States has done more and achieved more as a human rights educator than William Parsons,” added Dr. Adalian.

Parsons has reached thousands of teachers across the United States and around the globe. He co-authored the teachers’ resource book Facing History and Ourselves: The Holocaust and Human Behavior. He also co-edited, along with other significant educators, Centuries of Genocide: Essays and Eyewitness Accounts, which has gone into its fourth edition and sold tens of thousands of copies, making it the most popular college textbook on human rights and genocide.

The Secretary of the Republic of Armenia State Commission for the Centennial sent a letter accompanying the award.

“I am very pleased that William Parsons has received this significant award and recognition from the Armenian government for his pioneering efforts in Armenian Genocide and Holocaust education,” stated Assembly Board of Trustees Vice Chairman and Counselor Aram Kaloosdian. “I had the pleasure of serving with him on the ANI Academic Council and will always remember his dedication and perseverance in the fight against denial of the Armenian Genocide,” Kaloosdian said.

At the Armenian Embassy reception, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the U.S. Tigran Sargsyan also honored Maryland entrepreneur Boris Ghazaryan with the Prime Minister’s Medal.

In addition to the award ceremony, Ambassador Sargsyan welcomed the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan to the United States. Mirzoyan was visiting Washington as part of a 3-day working trip where he spoke at the annual Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh independence celebration on Capitol Hill and met with U.S. government officials, Members of Congress, and the Armenian Assembly of America.

Erdogan praises Mark Zuckerberg over pro-Muslim message

Mark Zuckerberg has received praise from Turkish President Erdogan for his stance against anti-Muslim rhetoric. It comes after presidential candidate Donald Trump’s demand for a ban on Muslims traveling to the US, reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday for defending Muslims against discrimination.

“I highly value Mark Zuckerberg’s message for pointing out the profound difference between Islam and terrorism since these two concepts are often mentioned in the same breath these days,” he wrote on his official Facebook account.

“As I always express on different platforms, Islam is a religion of peace.”

Erdogan’s post, which was in English and also his native Turkish, came in response to Zuckerberg’s message on Wednesday, which said the Muslim community should not fear being “persecuted for the action of others” after attacks in Paris and elsewhere have brought fear and confusion towards Muslims around the world.

“After the Paris attacks and hate this week, I can only imagine the fear Muslims feel that they will be persecuted for the actions of others.”

“If you’re a Muslim in this community…I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that we will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment for you,” Zuckerberg wrote on his official Facebook page.

Zuckerberg’s supportive message came days after Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump demanded a ban on Muslims traveling to the United States.

Stonehenge may have been first erected in Wales, evidence suggests

Evidence of quarrying for Stonehenge’s bluestones is among the dramatic discoveries leading archaeologists to theorise that England’s greatest prehistoric monument may have first been erected in Wales, reports.

It has long been known that the bluestones that form Stonehenge’s inner horseshoe came from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, around 140 miles from Salisbury Plain.

Now archaeologists have discovered a series of recesses in the rocky outcrops of Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin, to the north of those hills, that match Stonehenge’s bluestones in size and shape. They have also found similar stones that the prehistoric builders extracted but left behind, and “a loading bay” from where the huge stones could be dragged away.

Carbonised hazelnut shells and charcoal from the quarry workers’ campfires have been radiocarbon-dated to reveal when the stones would have been extracted.

Prof Mike Parker Pearson, director of the project and professor of British later prehistory at University College London (UCL), said the finds were “amazing”.

“We have dates of around 3400 BC for Craig Rhos-y-felin and 3200 BC for Carn Goedog, which is intriguing because the bluestones didn’t get put up at Stonehenge until around 2900 BC,” he said. “It could have taken those Neolithic stone-draggers nearly 500 years to get them to Stonehenge, but that’s pretty improbable in my view. It’s more likely that the stones were first used in a local monument, somewhere near the quarries, that was then dismantled and dragged off to Wiltshire.”

The dating evidence suggests that Stonehenge could be older than previously thought, Parker Pearson said. “But we think it’s more likely that they were building their own monument [in Wales], that somewhere near the quarries there is the first Stonehenge and that what we’re seeing at Stonehenge is a second-hand monument.”

There is also the possibility that the stones were taken to Salisbury Plain around 3200 BC and that the giant sarsens – silicified sandstone found within 20 miles of the site – were added much later. “Normally we don’t get to make that many fantastic discoveries in our lives,” Parker Pearson said. “But this is one.”

 

50.51 percent of voters participate in Constitutional Referendum

50.51 percent of the eligible voters participated in the referendum on amendments to theConstitution of teh Republic of Armenia, the Central Referendum Commission reported.

 

Province Number of eligible voters Voter turnout (preliminary) %
Yerevan 845,885 388,506 45.93
Aragatsotn 115,363 61,451 53.26
Ararat 217,789 144,452 66.33
Armavir 229,554 127,701 55.63
Gegharkunik 187,876 98,993 52.69
Lori 238,048 110,054 46.23
Kotayk 235,549 123,044 52.24
Shirak 230,562 95,171 41.28
Syunik 109,448 66,786 61.02
Vayots Dzor 47,149 27,327 57.96
Tavush 109,487 52,883 48.30
Total 2,566,730 1,296,368 50.51

“My Armenia” project to support cultural heritage tourism

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Smithsonian Institution have partnered for an innovative project to support cultural sustainability through cultural tourism in Armenia. The project was launched on November 20 at an official ceremony at the Matenadaran Scientific Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan, which holds one of the world’s richest collections of medieval manuscripts and books.

The ceremony included remarks by the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr., Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan, and the Senior Advisor of the Smithsonian’s Office of International Relations, Halle Butvin. About 100 people attended the event, including representatives of the Government of Armenia, the private sector and the tourism industry at large.

The goal of the four-year project, which is funded by USAID, is to enhance and increase cultural heritage tourism in the regions outside of Armenia’s capital Yerevan, through a unique combination of research, scholarship, support for artisan craft, capacity building, and a strong focus on fresh thinking for tourism development.

“The global tourism market continues to grow and touch new destinations. Armenia’s rich cultural heritage, unique cuisine, beautiful natural environment and welcoming people make it a special place,” said Ambassador Mills.

“The purpose of the “My Armenia” project is nothing less than to put Armenia on the map as a world-class tourist destination. We intend to not only contribute to the development of the tourism industry in Armenia, but also ensure that the benefits of that growth are widely distributed across the country by promoting tourism to regions outside of Yerevan, thus enhancing the economic prospects of Armenia’s rural communities.”

The Smithsonian has a long history of working with communities around the world to support efforts in cultural sustainability, whether protecting cultural heritage threatened by human conflict and natural disaster, or supporting the long-term sustainability of diverse cultural sectors.

Through training, programming, community engagement and documentation, and other methods, Smithsonian curators and project staff from across the Institution will work with partners in Armenia to develop new strategies for sustaining cultural heritage.

This project will support traditional arts, crafts and music in the country and lead to greater benefits for rural communities in Armenia, broader awareness about Armenia in international markets, as well as help protect and enhance Armenia’s natural and cultural heritage.

“Tourism can be a driver of economic development by generating employment in hotels and restaurants, as well as increasing business for taxi drivers, those making and selling souvenirs, or those providing goods and services to tourism-related businesses,” Ambassador Mills said.

“However, to spread the wealth generated by tourism, Armenia needs to develop anchor tourism sites outside of Yerevan and link them together in a tourism circuit that spans the length and breadth of the country. This new project will provide technical assistance to develop such a circuit, which will encourage travelers to travel outside of Yerevan and spend more money in the regions. This is just one of the many ways the U.S. Embassy is partnering with the Armenian people to strengthen the economy of Armenia’s rural regions.”

The Smithsonian has a long history of working with USAID on international programming to support the conservation of biodiversity, museum workforce capacity building, and emerging cultural institutions.  Reflecting a renewed partnership between the two organizations established through a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding, the “My Armenia” project signifies a new, collaborative approach to combine the strengths of the two organizations for greater impact.