Author: Lena Karagyozian

Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will stand down at an extraordinary congress of his ruling AK Party later this month, the BBC reports.

Speculation about his resignation has been rife since Mr Davutoglu met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

He is long thought to have disapproved of Mr Erdogan’s plans to move Turkey to a presidential system of government.

The congress will be held on 22 May, reports say.

The reports emerged after Mr Davutoglu held talks with senior party leaders.

Earlier on Thursday, presidential aide Cemil Ertem appeared to confirm the speculation when he said there would be no snap elections following the appointment of a new leader.

He also told Turkish TV that the country and its economy would stabilise further “when a prime minister more closely aligned with President Erdogan takes office”.

On 2 May Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met with head of the General Staff of the Republic of Armenia’s Armed forces, colonel-general Yuri Khachaturov.

Issues related to the large-scale combat operations launched recently by Azerbaijan against the Artsakh Republic and cooperation between the two Armenian states in the sphere of army-building were addressed during the meeting.

NKR Defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan partook in the meeting. 

As the anniversary of the April 24, 1915 Armenian Genocide approaches, one of the world’s most visible descendants of that atrocity, SOAD frontman Serj Tankian has released his score for 1915, a fantastical, fictional narrative steeped in the tragedy.

“I’ve done 20 some soundtrack pieces before on different films and whatnot and [the Morning Star] video game score. But 1915 is my first full film-scoring gig. Since then, I have another film, which will be going to festivals this year,  The Last Inhabitant. It’s great. I really love scoring and doing pieces for orchestras. I’m still writing rock music, of course, that’s on the horizon here and there, but most of my time is actually spent doing more classical type of compositions,” Tankian said in a ninterview with Alternative Press. 

President Serzh Sargsyan has left for the Nagorno Karabakh Republic for a working visit, President’s Press Office reports.

At Stepanakert Airport Serzh Sargsyan was welcomed by NKR President Bako Sahakyan, the Defense Ministers of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, other officials.

 

 

 

Armenian MP at the Georgian Parliament Samvel Petrosyan has called on the authorities to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide.

Addressing the plenary session of the Parliament, he said events that took place in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago are an enormous trauma for the Armenian nation.

“The genocide of Armenian has been recognized by many international organizations and states. We, as a democratic country, must acknowledge that fact, at least because the Ottoman Empire has occupied Georgian lands, as well. I’m sure that had the Armenian Genocide been condemned at the time, such crimes would not reoccur in different parts of the world. I urge everyone to recognize and condemn the genocide and thus, restore historical justice,” Gruzia Online quotes Petrosyan as saying.

In response to that, leader of the parliamentary majority Zviad Kvachantiradze declared that “no one should give in to the provocations coming from a malevolent neighbor.”

“Quite recently we witnessed an attempt to re-escalate a big, deep and sleeping conflict in the Caucasus. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the international community there seem no perspectives for the serious developments in the conflict, but we must remember that there are forces surrounding us interested in a constant war in the Caucasus, involving the countries of the South Caucasus. I urge everyone not to give in to provocations that could come from a malevolent neighbor,” Kvachantiradze declared

This is not the first rime the Armenian Genocide issue is being raised at the Georgian Parliament, but it flares hot discussions every time. Last year Samnvel Petrostyan’s speech on the topic was interrupted by ethnic Azerbaijani MP Azer Suleymanov from the United National Movement Party.

In 2012 Suleyman started a brawl, when Georgian MP Bagaturia called on his colleagues to recognize the Armenian Genocide. He even advised the Georgian lawmaker to change his surname to Bagaturyan.

Russian President Sergey Lavrov is planning to visit Armenia April 21-22, Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

It was earlier reported that Lavrov would visit Baku on April 6 to participate in a trilateral meeting with his Iranian and Azerbaijani counterparts.

The High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini spoke this morning with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, and with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian concerning the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The HR/VP urged the immediate de-escalation of violence, an end to the targeting of civilians and strict observance of the ceasefire by all parties. The High Representative reiterated that a large-scale conflict is in the interest of no-one. The conflict requires a comprehensive and peaceful solution, not a military one.

The HR/VP once again reiterated, as she did during her recent visits to Baku and Yerevan, the European Union’s full support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and the three Co-Chairs, urging both sides to resume the negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. In this context, the High Representative stressed that all parties must take the necessary steps to create an environment conducive to successful negotiations, including avoiding actions and statements which could further complicate the already complex environment.

The High Representative will personally remain in close contact with her Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts, as well as through EU Special Representative Herbert Salber.

Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to exert maximum efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh. He made the statement at an international people’s diplomacy forum held within the framework of the NATO Week in Georgia, TASS reports.

“We very much hope that the leaders of Armenian and Azerbaijan will exert maximum efforts for settling the tense situation by both peaceful and diplomatic means with the active participation in the international community for the conflict’s peaceful resolution,” he said.

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze has spoken on the phone with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan about the current fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia.ge reports.

Last night the Georgian official instigated the phone conversation following a similar talk with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

“The Georgian Foreign Minister expressed his extreme concern over the recent escalation of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone along the Line of Contact, which resulted in casualties, inter alia, among the peaceful population,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Janelidze said cessation of hostilities and ensuring peace on the ground was of “vital importance”.

He underlined continued fighting would aggravate the current situation and have a negative impact on regional stability.

During the conversation, the Georgian official put particular emphasis on the need to use all possible formats to deescalate the situation through the involvement of the international community.

Reality star Kourntey Kardashian has said she would like to visit Armenia.

“I’d still really love to visit Armenia at some point. I wasn’t able to go with my sisters last year,” Kardashian said in a Twitter post.

I’d still really love to visit Armenia at some point. I wasn’t able to go with my sisters last year…

— Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash)

Kim and Khloe Kardashian visited Armenia last April. The sisters were joined by Kanye West and cousins Kourtni and Kara on their trip.

Monday, March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day, the day when we celebrate the mathematical constant of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is approximately 3.14159.

According to the official Pi Day website, Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits. It is an irrational and transcendental number that will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern.

Pi Day was organized by Larry Shaw in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium when he and other physicists marched in a circle and then ate fruit pies.

Coincidentally, the day is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.