News.am, Armenia
Jan 19 2020
13:52, 19.01.2020
Category: 2020
Ex-Armenia security chief: Kutoyan was one of the most honest people I’ve known
News.am, Armenia
Jan 19 2020
Ex-Armenia security chief: Kutoyan was one of the most honest people I've known Ex-Armenia security chief: Kutoyan was one of the most honest people I've known
18:25, 19.01.2020
Armenian National Council head says ex-official death should be considered as a separate case
News.am, Armenia
Jan 19 2020
20:02, 19.01.2020
Enough evidence this was suicide, Armenian prosecutor general says about ex-official’s death
News.am, Armenia
Jan 19 2020
Enough evidence this was suicide, Armenian prosecutor general says about ex-official's death Enough evidence this was suicide, Armenian prosecutor general says about ex-official's death
22:23, 19.01.2020
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte: I remember Azerbaijani man, whose arms I scratched to get away from his sweaty grip
News.am, Armenia
Jan 18 2020
21:13, 18.01.2020
The Armenian-American public figure, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte had a speech Saturday at the joint special session of the inter-parliamentary committee of the National Assemblies of Armenia and Artsakh, and dedicated to the 30th anniversary of these pogroms.
“We escaped to Yerevan a few weeks before the final massacre of Armenians in Azerbaijan in January of 1990,” she said. “We have spent months either hiding in our apartment or hoping that violence against Armenians would but it never ended.” “Finally my parents had a horrible feeling that something would happen to us,” she said adding that they left everything behind and fled. “We barely escaped in fall of 1989. Many of my neighbors and family friends were not so lucky.”
“It’s been thirty years, yet I remember these days as if it happened yesterday,” she added. “I can also remember the utter horror of being injured by a grown Azerbaijani man, neighbor, whose arms I scratched and hit to get away from his sweaty and enraged grip.”
“I imagine the sweet faces of my neighbors and relatives as if I saw them yesterday. I remember tyotya Janna, who was my best friend’s mother. She died in January 1990 at 35 years old. Her mother died of injuries and of a broken heart,” she noted adding that the woman's son grew up in Russia as orphan.
“A stranger lives in my family’s house now, my neighbors were killed, my grandparents graves were bulldozed over because they were Armenian. Our friends and our relatives are now spread across the world form the US to Russia to Ukraine and Armenia,” she added.
She noted that the life of 350,000 people is like hers. But we are here as survivors now, she said adding that we have succeeded in different professions, in different places and we all support Armenia and Artsakh.
Anna Astvatsatryan noted that there is an anti-Armenian policy at the state level in Azerbaijan, and Armenia does not have a clear position, a consistent presentation on these events. According to her, the presentation is made occasionally by Armenia, and Azerbaijan gets a great opportunity to present the story in its desired way.
Sports: Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, Pampero Firpo were one and the same
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Jan 19 2020
Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, Pampero Firpo were one and the same
By Patrick Reusse Star Tribune JANUARY 19, 2020
MINNEAPOLIS STAR AND TRIBUNE FILE – RPA –
March 31, 1970: Pampero Firpo
Juan Kachmanian came out of Argentina and started wrestling in 1953 as Ervan the Armenian. Ervan wasn’t going to cut it as a wrestling name, so he changed nationalities and became a Russian: Ivan the Terrible.
Promoters in the golden age of wrestling from the 1950s into the 1970s, when local cards and story lines were pitched on TV shows, relied on the region’s fans for bouts of amnesia.
Example: Kachmanian first came to the Twin Cities market in 1958 as Ivan the Terrible, an evil Russian. When he returned in 1964, he was Pampero Firpo, billed as the “Wild Bull of the Pampas,” and a title previously used by a famed Argentinian heavyweight boxer from the 1920s, Luis Angel Firpo.
“He hadn’t changed his appearance any, either; he had the same bushy hair,” said George Schire, author of four pro wrestling history books and counting. “If a hardcore fan noticed it was ‘same guy, different back story,’ the promoters just denied it.”
Pampero died Jan. 9 at age 89 in California. He was a member of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wichita Falls, Texas.
He had four runs in the Twin Cities region: Ivan the Terrible in 1958-59; an extended stay in the mid-’60s, featuring a feud with the Crusher leading to cage matches; a return after a three-year “suspension” when he wound up teaming with the Crusher against Mad Dog and Butcher Vachon; and a final stay as a good guy in 1974-75.
There were interesting twists with his departures, Schire said:
• “Suspensions generally didn’t include a time to be served, but it was announced as three years for Pampero due to his complete ignoring of the rules. He spent three years wrestling in Florida, all over, but when he came back, he had a shrunken head around his neck and was going to do that to the Crusher, to make up for three years of lost wages.”
• “In 1975, Larry Hennig and Firpo had a losers-leave-town match with the Valentine brothers. Hennig and Firpo won, the Valentines headed for a new area, but Pampero left, too. The joke was Pampero must have misunderstood the rules.”
Write to Patrick Reusse by e-mailing [email protected] and including his name in the subject line.
PLUS THREE
• Pampero’s sign-off on TV interviews was: “It is I, it is me, it is Pampero Firpo … oooh, yeeeaah.” Randy Savage would make the extended “oh yeah” his signature.
• Pampero retired in 1986 and spent two decades walking a route as a postal carrier in San Jose, Calif.
• Crusher had a mystery partner for the Vachons sitting on a chair under a cloak. He was revealed to be Firpo, which was a great shock to TV interviewer Marty O’Neill.
Azerbaijani press: Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan addresses letter to UN Secretary General on illegal arrest of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev
18:46 (UTC+04:00)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.18
Trend:
The letter addressed by Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations to the Secretary-General of the organization regarding the illegal arrest of Azerbaijani civilians Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev by Armenia has been circulated as a document of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, Trend reports.
The document underlines that "the illegality of the puppet regime has been repeatedly stated at the international level; it is under Armenia’s direction and control and is ultimately nothing other than the product of aggression, racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing". “In its leading judgment of 16 June 2015 in the case of Chiragov and others v. Armenia, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights established that Armenia exercises effective control over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” it says.
The document emphasizes that the international community has consistently reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, which includes the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding areas occupied by Armenia; condemned the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan; and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from those territories.
It also mentions that in July 2014, the Armenian armed forces brutally killed an Azerbaijani civilian, Hassan Hassanov, and captured Asgarov and Guliyev, while they were attempting to visit the graves of their parents and relatives in the occupied Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan. “The Armenian side not only did not release those civilians but also fabricated charges against them and unlawfully sentenced Asgarov to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years in jail, while the body of Hassanov was returned to Azerbaijan, with the facilitation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, after almost three months, on 2 October 2014.”
The document stresses that in his statement at the 26th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Bratislava on 5 and 6 December 2019, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov specifically referred to the case of Asgarov and Guliyev and noted that Armenia stubbornly rejected releasing them, even on the basis of the “all for all” principle.
“Asgarov and Guliyev were unlawfully arrested, detained, subjected to an ostensible “trial” and convicted to lengthy terms of imprisonment under fabricated charges by an illegal and incompetent organ of the puppet regime that Armenia has established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They were not told of the reasons for their arrest or informed of the charges against them and were detained incommunicado for at least several days,” the document says.
It notes that Asgarov and Shahbazov were not presumed innocent, as Armenian officials made public statements in which they were called “hired criminals”, “saboteurs” and “murderers” before and during the “trial”.
“They were not informed of the charges against them in a language they understood and were not given adequate assistance through interpretation,” according to the document. “They are presently kept in complete isolation in prison, without contact with other inmates and without mail, news and – except for visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross – contact with the outside world.”
The document also points out that Asgarov and Guliyev were subjected to discriminatory treatment because of their ethnicity and national origin, adding that the humiliating arrest and arbitrary detention of Asgarov and Guliyev and the sentence had no legal basis or legitimacy, and the violation of their rights is now the subject of a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights.
"The Republic of Azerbaijan expects that the United Nations, including its relevant human rights mechanisms and procedures, will not remain indifferent to the fate of Asgarov and Guliyev and will spare no efforts to ensure their immediate and unconditional release and reunification with their families,” the document concludes.
The letter which was circulated as the document of the UN Security Council and General Assembly is available at https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/444/89/pdf/N1944489.pdf
Turkish press: ‘Memory site’ captures heart, soul of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist – Turkey News
- 13:14:16
Thirteen years since his assassination on the steps of an Istanbul-based newspaper he once ran, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's office has at long last been reopened to the public as a memorial.
Founder and editor of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his Istanbul office in 2007 on Jan. 19.
The final result of Dink's murder case has long been awaited, with his family and friends continuing on the quest for justice. A total of 76 suspects are on trial as part of the case.
Every year on Jan. 19, thousands gather in front of the building, where Dink was killed to commemorate the slain journalist.
Due to the "symbolic significance of the site and its place in the collective memory," the Hrant Dink Foundation – founded after his assassination — turned the building into the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory, named after an article penned by Dink in Agos on April 23, 1996.
Agos continues to circulate in Turkey in both languages, albeit from a different location where it moved in 2015.
"We gave this name [to the site] inspired by Hrant's article, in which he talked about April 23 and 24 and said: 'I wish we could combine these two days and promise a future encouraging hope at the end of these two days'," Sibel Asna, a board member at Hrant Dink Foundation, said.
"April 23 is a holiday for sovereignty and April 24 is a tragedy for us all," Asna said, adding: "The site was opened between these two days, and is called 23.5, which promises hope and kindness."
April 24 is the international day of mourning of the events of 1915.
The year 1915 saw mass relocations, which then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed condolences for in 2014.
An important figure in the Armenian community in Turkey, Dink had sought to kickstart public discussion on the issue and was an advocate of
democratization and human rights.
He was repeatedly prosecuted for "denigrating Turkish-ness" over articles he wrote about Armenian identity and mass deportations of Armenians in 1915.
A plaque that reads: "Hrant Dink was murdered here, January 19, 2007, at 15:05" was embedded in the sidewalk in front of the building where Dink was killed, serving as a stark reminder for visitors and passers-by alike in Istanbul's teeming Şişli district.
Gagik Khachatryan’s son has not been charged. Announcement
- 18.01.2020
- Հայաստան
- arm
- rus
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Լուսանկարում Գագիկ Խաչատրյանն է
Գագիկ Խաչատրյանի որդուն մեղադրանք չի առաջադրվել: Այս մասին հայտարարություն է տարածել Խաչատրյանների փաստաբանական խումբը՝ անդրադառնալով «Հրապարակ» թերթի այսօրվա լուրին:
Հայտարարությունում, մասնավորապես, ասվում է. «Մեղադրանք է առաջադրվել Գագիկ Խաչատրյանի որդուն» վերտառությամբ հոդված, որը չի համապատասխանում իրականությանը։
Պաշտոնապես հայտարարում ենք, որ Գուրգեն Խաչատրյանին մեղադրանք առաջադրված չէ։ Խնդրում ենք զերծ մնալ անձի բարի համբավը, անմեղության կանխավարկածը խախտելու դրսևորումներից»:
Armenpress: MPs of Armenia and Artsakh hold minute’s silence to honor victims of Baku massacres
MPs of Armenia and Artsakh hold minute’s silence to honor victims of Baku massacres
11:27,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. The joint special session on the 30th anniversary of Baku massacres held by the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between Republic of Armenia and Artsakh started with a minute’s silence, reports ARMENPRESS.
The Committee is co-chaired by Presidents of the National Assemblies of Armenia and Artsakh Ararat Mirzoyan and Ashot Ghoulian.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan