Author: Maral Takmazian

Russia and Armenia discussed on Monday the possibility to supply the Armenian nuclear power plant (ANPP) with additional fuel to create a fuel reserve, Russia’s TVEL fuel company, which is part of the state-owned Rosatom nuclear energy corporation said in a statement, reports.

Representatives of TVEL held a meeting with ANPP General Director Movses Vardanyan on the sidelines of the Atomexpo 2016 forum.

“During the meeting, the prospects of further cooperation, including the possibility of additional deliveries of Russian fuel for reserve were considered,” the statement said.

Photo: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Real Madrid were crowned champions of Europe for the 11th time after defeating Atletico Madrid in a dramatic penalty shootout in Milan.

Sergio Ramos’ first-half goal was cancelled out by Yannick Carrasco in the 79th minute, but neither team could find a winner in 120 minutes.

In the shootout, Atletico’s Juanfran hit the post and Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the clinching penalty for Real to secure their second Champions League title in three years, and their fifth since 1998.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and US Secretary of State John Kery are holding a meeting in Vienna, President’s Spokesman Vladimir Hakobyan informed in a Twitter post.

 

 

 

The German Bundestag will approve the Resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide on June 2, Member of Bundestag, Head of the Germany-Armenia Forum Albert Weiler declared in Yerevan today.

“I assure that the Armenian Genocide recognition bill will be put on a vote at the plenary session of the Bundestag. I think the resolution will pass with a vast majority of the votes, he said.

According to Weiler, the parliamentary forces are still holding discussions on the content of the bill, but one thing is clear – the term ‘genocide’ will be included in the title, and the events of 1915 will finally have the right formulation.

Referring to Turkish Ambassador’s warning to Germany, Weiler noted that “not only the Turkish, but also the Azerbaijani side is trying to interfere with the issue.” Despite that he hopes that the bill will pass almost unanimously.

The German lawmaker said “part of the resolution will refer to the restructuring of the Armenian-German relations.” “Germany should take up the responsibility of contributing to the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations,” he said.

“Recognition of the Armenian Genocide will be a message to Armenia and Turkey to normalize the bilateral relations irrespective of the forces in power in Turkey. I hope the day we’ll be able to cross the Turkish border with my Armenian friends is not far away,” the Member of Bundestag said.

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney, is representing award-winning Azerbaijan reporter Khadija Ismayilova at the European Court of Human Rights.

President Serzh Sargsyan, who is participating at the Second Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide convened at the K. Demirjian Sport and Concert Compound, during the break between the sessions conversed with the participants of the Forum, exchanged views with the delegates, and presented Armenia’s views regarding a number of issues.

Speaking about the difficulties posed by the geographical location of our country, President Sargsyan said in particular, “It is true that two out of Armenia’s four neighbors are conducted hostile policy toward our country. Nevertheless, since independence we have adopted a multi-vector policy trying to develop relations with all our neighbors. Even with Turkey, we were the initiators of reestablishing the relations without preconditions. It was an initiative which revealed to the world why the Armenian-Turkish is closed, who is setting preconditions and why the Turkish-Azeri “one nation- two states” formula is a real factor. Those who until now have not yet comprehended the political essence of that formula, in their calculations have missed an important element. We are a peaceful nation. We hate no one and do not build our relations on animosity or hatred toward anyone. Our people don’t like to fight but we do it when we are forced to. We are forced to fight for one simple reason: we want to live on our own land and we want to be free.”

The President spoke also about Russia’s role in the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh issue. “Yesterday I received Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov, who was on a visit in Yerevan. I presented to him our position regarding the situation which has been established after the large-scale offensive unleashed by Azerbaijan. Russia as the OSCE Minsk Group member state is actively involved in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process. For years, we were a responsible member of that process, were trying to find mutually acceptable solutions, were trying to be constructive. Obviously, the blunt violation by Azerbaijan of the 1994 Ceasefire Agreement has thrown the peace process far back. We were convinced that the problem could be solved through exclusively peaceful means, however today the situation is different. Ceasefire and supporting agreements have been violated, five statements of the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states – US, France, and Russia – were violated, bloodchilling war crimes were committed, and now we are telling everyone – point your finger to the aggressor, expose the aggressor so that lessons are learned, so that we can move forward,” said President Serzh Sargsyan.

The Peace of Art, Inc. has installed a billboard dedicated to Artsakh in Massachusetts.

One of the seven digitals billboards of this year, which were dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, was replaced by a new message “Support Peaceful Solutions to the Current Conflict in Artsakh” with a web address “Help-nkr.com” directing to the official website of the government of Artsakh, where there are links to make money transfers to accounts “, explained “Peace of Art, Inc.,” president Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

Note that the remaining six digital billboards dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will be up on following Massachusetts highways; Rte. 1, Lynnway; Rte. 1, Malden; Rte. 495, Haverhill:

All seven digital billboards will remain until the end of April.

 

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), has expressed solidarity with Artsakh.

“Yesterday, more than 3,000, including these fantastic interns from ANCA Western Region, gathered in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate on Wilshire to protest Baku’s attacks on Artsakh. We are all united for peace and justice. We are#ArtsakhStrong,” Rep. wrote as a caption to the photo he shared on Facebook.

Adam Schiff earlier released a statement condemning the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno Karabakh.

““Until Azerbaijan faces strong and meaningful consequences over their policy of escalation and violence and its self-serving refusal to agree to international monitoring of the Line of Contact, there is little chance of resolving the conflict and avoiding further bloodshed. The true victims of this policy are the people of Artsakh who simply want to live free of sniper fire and mortar barrages and to exercise their right of self-determination,” Schiff said in the statement.

The Azerbaijani side kept firing the Armenian positions last night nad this morning, the Armenian Defense Ministry informs.

The Ministry reported reduced intensity of firing and said irregular shooting was registered in the northern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border (Tavush province).

The front divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces confidently control the situation at the border and resort to retaliatory measures only in case of extreme necessity.

 

 

 

Eleven of the 13 homeless families in Gymri will have apartment, pledges have been made to buy the remaining two. The fund-raising campaign still continues and will be wrapped up on March 20 with a charity auction at Northern Avenue in Yerevan, acompanied by a gala concert, member of the SOS Gyumri initiative Maxim Sargsyan told reporters today.

Among the interesting items are a jersey signed by Real Mardid players, a Barcelona flag signed by Lionel Messi and 10 other Barca stars, the jerseys of Henrikk Mkhitaryan and Yura Movsisyan, outfits of Arsen and Levon Julfalakyan, a ball signed by players of legendary Ararat-73, and others.

The issue of housing for vulnerable Gymri families united scores of people both in Armenia and abroad. Photographer Hayk Barseghyan created a photo story three years ago to draw attention to the issue. Photos were featured in the National Geographic. The photo story marked the launch of a new initiative, which caught the attention of world media. Al Jazeera prepared a 40-minute film, while the BBC crew is expected to arrive in Armenia in April.