Author: Lara Chatinian

Trial of the public officials as part of Dink case continues today. Before the 7th hearing that will be held on November 7, 8, 10 and 11, Friends of Hrant made a statement to the press in front of the court house, reports.

Reminding that the course of the case is changed in accordance with the political developments, Friends of Hrant stated: “We don’t care about the political developments. The murderers of Hrant Dink are not unidentified. Their names and positions are very well known. Their parts in this murder are obvious.”

Friends of Hrant pointed out that former chief of Istanbul Security Directorate Celalettin Cerrah, former chief of Istanbul Police Directorate Intelligence Branch Ahmet İlhan Güler and the former chief of General Security Directorate Intelligence Branch Sabri Uzun will be heard during this round of hearings and asked addressing the public officials who have been saying that they hadn’t seen the reports about the murder: “Will those public officials explain such absurdities? Will the court press them to explain? We will see soon enough.”

Friends of Hrant also mentioned the arrested writers of Cumhuriyet and MPs of HDP: “The operations against Cumhuriyet and HDP weaken our trust in justice even more. That is why we won’t forget who are the murderers and perpetrators. As HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been arrested a couple days ago, says: Fear may be contagious, but so is courage.”

President Serzh Sargsyan has left for the United States for a working visit. On October 10 in New York he will participate at the Armenia Investment Forum, President’s Press Office reports.

The Forum will be attended by  representatives of dozens of leading companies from different areas, representatives of financial institutions and over one hundred international investors.

In the framework of the visit, the President of Armenia will also hold a number of bilateral meetings.

Terrorist groups continued shelling the peaceful population in Nor Kiugh, Mogambo and Muhafaza neighborhoods of Aleppo after midday, the Armenian Kantsasar newspaper reports.

According to the source, two Armenians were killed and one was wounded in the attack. The victims are identified as Gaspar Shatoian (born in 1986) and Movses Movsessian (born in 1987).

The National Postal Operator of Armenia “HayPost” CJSC today announced the launch of an unprecedented service in the history of Armenia. Starting from the 1^st of October 2016, HayPost will carry out regular scheduled mail and cargo transportations to and from Europe.

The new program and the vehicles imported for the program implementation were presented on the 29^th of September in the Republic Square, Yerevan. The Minister of Transport and Communication of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Martirosyan and the Managing Director of “HayPost Trust Management” B.V. Juan Pablo Gechidjian handed the symbolic keys to the drivers, wishing them a good journey.

The new service is meant to expand the connectivity of Armenia, by means of weekly mail and cargo transportations from Yerevan to the hub in Frankfurt and vice versa. This innovative reliable, fast and secure service facilitates the process of export and import of products to and from Armenia, enabling the Armenian companies to expand their business. At the same time, the new service will help to dramatically increase the volumes of the online commerce in Armenia.

In order to provide the new service, HayPost introduced 2 brand-new Mercedes-Benz Actros 2530 GigaSpace 6×4 trucks with 530 horsepower, with the capacity to carry 27 tonnes of cargo each one, and with their extra fuel tanks they have a range of 4,500 km with no refueling.

The trucks dispose of the latest equipments from the industry leaders and provide the drivers with the most comfortable conditions for long distance drive. The flexible configuration of the refrigerated cargo holds allows the transportation both of perishable and of general cargo. The trucks correspond to the highest European Euro-6 emission standards, ensuring the lowest level of CO emissions up today.

Together with the mentioned trucks, today HayPost adds to its fleet 12 brand-new Renault Dokker vans, the routes of which will reinforce the connectivity within Armenia. The vans are eco-friendly, they run with compressed natural gas, minimizing the level of CO emissions.

The total amount invested in these 14 new vehicles made about 1.000.000 USD.

This new service continues the series of innovations made by the Trust Manager of HayPost. During the last 7 years HayPost with the leadership of “HayPost Trust Management” B.V. has added 140 new vehicles to its fleet. This enlarged fleet runs 3.500.000 km per year, interconnecting the whole territory of Armenia up to Nagorno Karabakh. The Company has also renovated 250 Post Offices all over the country and created the largest online network in Armenia, with more than 700 Post Offices connected up today.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has broken his silence on his absence from Manchester United’s squad by revealing that he is still working towards regaining full fitness.

Mkhitaryan last featured for United in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on September 10. The Armenia international has been sidelined with a thigh problem since then.

And now, Mkhitaryan has revealed via Facebook that he has returned to training ahead of his return: ‘Really happy to have started training with team and I am on my way to getting fully fit!

Photo: AP

 

North Korea says it has successfully carried out its fifth nuclear test, the BBC reports.

The announcement on state media came hours after a seismic event was detected near its nuclear test site.

South Korea believes it is the North’s biggest ever test, raising fears the state has made real nuclear advances.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called it an act of “self-destruction” showing the “maniacal recklessness” of leader Kim Jong-un. The US warned of “serious consequences”.

China’s foreign ministry said Beijing was resolutely opposed to the test and urged North Korea to avoid further action that would worsen the situation.

The North said the test had been of a “newly developed nuclear warhead” and that it was now capable of mounting a nuclear device on ballistic rockets.

South Korea’s military has suggested that the explosive yield of this blast could be almost twice that of the previous nuclear test. Analysts have expressed fears this could mean the North is a step closer to having a useable nuclear weapon.

About 55 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces over the weekend.

The rival fired more than 600 shots from weapons of different calibers in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the line of contact and confidently continue with reliable protection of the military positions, the NKR Defense Ministry said.

 

 

 

About 40 Yazidi teachers are participating in training courses at the National Institute of Education of the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science.

The course is led by Hasan Tamoyan, editor of the Yazidi programs of the Public Radio of Armenia.

“Our language is rather complex. It’s not easy to learn all rules,” Hasan Tamoyan says. Upon the conclusion of the course certificates will be given to those who meet the required standards..

The teaching of Yazidi language was introduced in Armenia in 2005. Hasan Tamoyan says the achievements in the sphere are apparent.

The Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee on Monday announced it recognizes the Armenian genocide and urged the government to formally acknowledge the 1915 mass slaughter of 1.5 Armenians as such, the reports.

“It is our moral obligation to recognize the Armenian genocide,” said committee chair Yakov Margi (Shas) at a committee meeting.

Margi expressed regret that the State of Israel does not currently recognize the genocide by Ottoman Turks 101 years ago, and called on Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to do so.

Israel’s refusal thus far to formally recognize the Armenian slaughter as genocide is based on geopolitical and strategic considerations, primary among them its relations with Turkey, which vehemently denies that Ottoman Turks committed genocide. Israel and Turkey signed a rapprochement deal in June, upgrading their diplomatic relationship after years of frosty ties worsened by a fatal melee between IDF soldiers and Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound ship in 2010.

During Monday’s meeting, Meretz MK Zehava Galon, Zionist Union MKs Zouheir Bahloul and Nahman Shai, and Joint (Arab) List MK Dov Khenin voiced support for the measure.

Earlier this month, Edelstein (Likud) urged Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide, despite the friction it might cause with Turkey.

“We must not ignore, belittle or deny this terrible genocide,” Edelstein declared as the Knesset marked the 1915 mass killing. “We must disconnect the current interests, bound to this time and place, from the difficult past, of which this dark chapter is a part.”

President Reuven Rivlin, who was one of the most outspoken advocates for recognition of the genocide during his time as Knesset speaker, eschewed using the term during the centenary commemoration last year, disappointing Armenian leaders. He used it, however, several weeks earlier at a different event.

Israel’s ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide has thus far survived several debates in the Knesset and even efforts by a former education minister to add the topic to school curricula.

Photo: AP

 

Turkish officials say that nearly 8,000 police officers have been suspended, reportedly on suspicion of having links to the failed coup attempt at the weekend, the BBC reports.

Some 6,000 members of the judiciary and military, including generals, have been detained in connection with the coup.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to purge state bodies of the “virus” that caused the revolt.

The EU’s foreign policy chief says the rule of law in Turkey needs protection.

The Turkish government claims cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the plot.