Author: Samvel Nahapetian

The negotiation process can be resumed only after the elimination of consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said during a Q&A session at the National Assembly.

The joint efforts of Armenia and the international community, primarily the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, are aimed at eliminating the consequences of the large-scale military actions and excluding their reoccurrence in the future.

The Minister said “Armenia has never withdrawn from the negotiation process.” “Armenia has always backed a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, and it’s not Armenia refusing from meetings,” he said.

“Today Azerbaijan is making void attempts to question the trilateral agreements on ceasefire and its reinforcement. Such attempts were made in Vienna in New York. The Co-Chairs stressed in response that the agreements signed in 1994-1995 remain in force and their provisions should be implemented.

Minister Nalbandian said “it’s time for the international community to take concrete steps to bring Azerbaijan to order, to return it to a constructive field. Only then will it be possible to resume talks.

Edward Nalbandian said the Azerbaijan unleashed war, because it failed in th negotiations. “They tried to gain advantages on the battlefield, but failed again.They will definitely have to return to the negotiating table, because there is no alternative to talks.

Prominent musician and political activist, Serj Tankian has composed a special track called “Aurora’s Dream.” The composition will be the theme music for the upcoming inaugural Aurora Prize ceremony to be held in Yerevan, Armenia on April 24, 2016. The Aurora Prize was born of the 100 LIVES initiative, which is rooted in the inspiring stories of courage and survival during the Armenian Genocide one hundred years ago.

The Armenian community in Jerusalem today protested Israel’s sale of weapons to Azerbaijan, which are being used against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh region,  reports. 

Nasser Atta, a producer for ABC News in the Middle East, tweeted some photos and videos from the demonstration, which occurred in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.  

of protest Israeli supply of weapons to in front of the Israeli forgien ministry

— Nasser Atta (@nasseratta5)

“Israel supports Azerbaijan’s state terror,” read one sign being held aloft by a protester. 

There was a separate protest by Armenian residents of Israel last week at Jerusalem’s Monument of the Armenian Genocide.

“The search for the bodies continues, no ceasefire violation has been registered,” Spokesman for the NKR Defense Army Senor Hasratyan told Public Radio of Armenia.

He said that the “period of silence” announced at 3 p.m. will be maintained until 8 p.m.

The parties agreed to cease all hostilities today to search for the bodies of the killed soldiers.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is far from stable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, TASS reports.

“The situation is certainly far from stable,” Peskov said. “That’s why it is impossible to stop at what has already been achieved, and no one is going to do this,” he added.

Talking about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in general, “a setback has occurred,” Peskov said. “Very good progress was made before the resumption of heated clashes. Now, unfortunately, a setback occurred, and there’s a lot of catching up that will need to be done,” he concluded.

Moscow will continue its efforts to assist the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s peaceful settlement, Peskov went on to say.

“Certainly, this time again very prompt and major efforts have been exerted with a view to stopping the fire,” he said. “These Russia’s efforts have been welcomed by the parties concerned. Of course, Moscow will continue its consistent policy.”

The Ministry of Defense of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic has released the photos of the downed Azerbaijani MI-24 helicopter.

Members of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly realize that the Nagorno Karabakh issue should be considered within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship and understand that the Assembly is not a podium for discussions on conflict settlement, member of the Armenian delegation to Euronest PA Tevan Poghosyan told reporters at the National Assembly.

“We managed to bring to our colleagues that it’s not the right place to discuss the Karabakh issue. There is a different format for that, which we have accepted. We’ve agreed that any wording that can harm the conflict settlement process will not be considered at the Euronest,” Poghosyan said.

He added that the Euronest Co-Chairs plan to visit Baku in April to convince the latter to return to the structure. Baku has been boycotting the activities of Euronest for seven months now. According to Tevan Poghosyan, Azerbaijan has lost interest because of the failure to implement its programs, as every member has the right to “veto.”

The Armenian delegation wants Azerbaijan to participate in Euronest activities, head of the Armenian delegation Artak Zakaryan said. “We have always declared we want Azerbaijan to participate in the PA activities, for the Euronest to work in ‘half-format.’ We stand against the blackmail Azerbaijan periodically uses against the European Parliament,” he added.

Eros Ramazzotti has cancelled the concerts in Russia, Estonia and Armenia, TASS reports quoting the Trident Music Srl Company.

The Perfetto 2015/2016 producing company – the organizer of Ramazzotti’s world tour – accuses the Russian party of violating a number of provisions of the agreement.

The Company says the Russian Global Communication OJSC has violated the financial commitments on many occasions.

The concert in Yerevan was scheduled for April 26. The Armenian Forpostart Production is holding additional talks with Trident Music Srl, trying to ‘save’ the Yerevan concert.

Amal Clooney has described how her family were forced to flee to Europe as their homeland was ravaged by civil war during a meeting with Syrian refugees, reports.

Amal and her husband George Clooney met with Syrian refugees living in Berlin to mark the fifth anniversary of the Syrian conflict, which has displaced at least 4.8 million people internationally and six million internally. They have repeatedly urged Governments to act in the crisis and in February to back her open door policy on refugees.

In a video of their meeting, which was released by the International Rescue Committee, they spoke to one refugee who said he was detained as a political prisoner and tortured with electricity. Others described how they had escaped shootings with their children and feared for their lives.

Amal, a leading human rights lawyer, recalled how her own family were forced to flee violence when she was three, leaving their home in Beirut, in Lebanon, behind.

“My own family is from Lebanon,“ she said. “They also ran away from a war and was lucky enough to be accepted by a European country in 1982 when the violence there was really bad. Many years later, my family is doing well. My father has returned to Beirut.

“I hope you will be able to go back to a safe and free Syria.”

George also explained how his family were Irish descendants and criticised the US for “forgetting who we are”.

“I’m of Irish descent and in America, 100 years ago, we were refugees, my family. Irish were treated terribly in America for a period of time and not accepted, and America learned to accept all of these ideas. It’s what our country is, a country of immigrants.”

Speaking directly about the Syrian crisis, he went on: “You forget that these are people who didn’t just leave their country for no reason at all. These are people who left because a terrible tragedy.

‘We always look around at the end of these tragedies and say if we knew, we would have done something and the reality is, of course we know.

‘What is shocking to me is not that it happened but its continuing to happen for five years.’“

Belarus is hosting the Days of Culture of Armenia on 8-11 February, reports, quoting the Belarusian Culture Ministry.

The first event in the program of the Days of Culture will be the opening of the exhibition of ancient Armenian books at the National Library of Belarus on 9 February. Rare and unique books will be on display at the museum.

The opening ceremony of the Days of Culture of Armenia will take place at the Belarusian State Philharmonic on 9 February. Guests of the event will enjoy a scintillating performance of the Armenian State Jazz Orchestra.

The Mikhail Savitsky Art Gallery in Minsk will host the exhibition of modern Armenian artists. The exhibition will open on 10 February. The concert of the Armenian State Jazz Orchestra will take place at the concert hall of the Belarusian State Music Academy the same day.

The Days of Culture of Armenia have been organized in Belarus within the framework of the cooperation program between the culture ministries of the two countries designed to run in 2014-2017. The program aims to promote the establishment of direct contacts between the museums of the two countries, organize guests tours of theaters, music and dance companies of Belarus and Armenia, hold the Days of Belarusian Cinema in Armenia and the Days of Armenian Cinema in Belarus as part of the program.