Category: News

“For the first time in the history of mediating efforts, the OSCE Minsk Group had to point out that Azerbaijan is the initiator of escalation of situation at the line of contact and violation of the ceasefire regime,” MP Samvel Farmanyan saidat a parliament sitting today.

According to him, the statement was a ‘forced step,’ considering that Azerbaijan continues to refuse to implement the agreements on investigation mechanisms reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

“I believe we should all welcome this statement and I think that the Minsk Group should publish data on the losses incurred by the Azerbaijani side as a result of the ceasefire violations,” he said.

“As we know Azerbaijan conceals the manpower losses from its society, thus misleading its own citizens,” Farmanyan said.

In a released Thursday, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs stressed that “Azerbaijani armed forces fired a missile across the Line of Contact, striking military equipment,” and added that “Armenian armed forces retaliated with mortar fire of various calibres.”

The Co-Chairs condemned “these recent ceasefire violations” and called upon the sides to take all necessary measures to prevent any further escalation in the conflict zone.

Photo: Getty Images

Instagram is rated as the worst social media platform when it comes to its impact on young people’s mental health, a UK snapshot survey suggests, the BBC reports.

The poll asked 1,479 people aged 14-24 to rate which of five popular social media platforms had the most negative effect on their users.

They were asked to score each platform on issues such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, bullying and body image.

Mental health charities urged companies to act to increase users’ safety.

The online survey asked participants a series of questions about whether YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter had an impact on their health and well-being.

Participants were asked to score each platform on 14 health and well-being issues.

Based on these ratings, YouTube was considered to have the most positive impact on mental health, followed by Twitter and then Facebook.

Snapchat and Instagram were given the lowest scores overall.

The Texas House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 191, titled “Recognizing the Armenian Genocide,” on May 19, thus making The Lone Star State the 46th state in the U.S. to officially classify and commemorate the 1915-1923 annihilation of Ottoman Turkey’s indigenous Armenian community as genocide.

“We are grateful to the Texas House of Representatives for standing on the right side of history by making their dynamic state the latest member of our Union to unequivocally and vociferously honor the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide despite overwhelming Turkish opposition,” remarked Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) Chair Nora Hovsepian.

“This incredible victory, which achieves universal recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Western Region’s 19 states, was possible because of the outstanding unity and activism demonstrated by the diverse Armenian community of Texas, the unflinching leadership of State Representative Scott Sanford and his fellow lawmakers, as well as the dedication and persistent work of our grassroots—ANCA-Houston and ANCA-Dallas—and staff. While many Texan-Armenians and community groups were instrumental in the passage of and building ground for HR191, I would like to specifically recognize the former ANCA-Dallas founding chair Lucia Nazarian for initiating Texas’ recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as well as Focused Advocacy President Brandon Todd Aghamalian and University of Texas Austin Professor and Armenian Church of Austin representative Mihran Aroian for their leadership in bringing the Armenian community together to make this important recognition a reality,” continued Hovsepian.

, which had more than 50 original bipartisan cosponsors and passed unanimously, declares, in part, that “During World War I, the crumbling Ottoman Empire began a systematic campaign to eradicate its Armenian population, which then numbered more than two million; and… as many as 1.5 million Armenians perished and today, only 3 million live in Armenia, a country that covers no more than 10 percent of the ancient Armenian homeland, while the Armenian diaspora numbers 8 to 10 million in countries around the world, including the United States,” concluding with the resolved clause “That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas Legislature hereby recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

The recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Texas follows renewed activism in The Lone Star State, including the 2015 defeat of anti-Armenian resolutions as well as adoption of HR 1541, which recognized Texans’ contributions to the Near East Relief that saved 132,000 orphans of the Armenian Genocide. The latter humanitarian effort was recognized by ANCA-Dallas during its April 2, 2016 ‘Texas We Thank You’ Gala, at which Rep. Sanford received the ANCA-Dallas Advocate of Justice award for his long-time support for Armenian Genocide awareness.

HR 191 was introduced by Rep. Sanford on jan. 26, followed by a public hearing in the International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs committee on April 24, during which ANCA-WR Chief Legislative Consultant Haig Baghdassarian joined a large group of Armenian Americans as well as representatives from the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission and Houston’s Holocaust Museum in testifying in support of HR 191. Following the testimony, ANCA-WR called its online activists in Texas to action, as a result of which hundreds of letters were emailed to state legislators. Many more phone calls were made through joint efforts of the Armenian community in a strong demonstration of unity and grassroots activism.

Texas’ passage of HR 191 follows the Wyoming Governor’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide in April, thus completing universal recognition in the ANCA-WR, which consists of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Sweden’s director of public prosecutions has decided to drop the rape investigation into Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the BBC reports.

Marianne Ny filed a request to the Stockholm District Court to revoke his arrest warrant, apparently ending a seven-year stand-off.

Mr Assange, 45, has lived in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition.

He feared being extradited to the US if sent to Sweden.

He could face trial in the US over the leaking hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic documents.

A brief statement ahead of a press conference by the prosecutor later on Friday said: “Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape (lesser degree) by Julian Assange.”

With the latest revelations regarding Lieutenant General Michael Flynn’s opposition in concert with Turkey against a U.S. military operation that had been planned for months, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) renewed its call for a thorough investigation of Turkey’s surreptitious influence over U.S. officials to the detriment of U.S. national security.

Today, the Assembly sent to the Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), House Intelligence Chairman David Nunes (R-CA), and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) highlighting key concerns on this matter.

“Time and time again, we have seen Turkey’s corrosive attempts to influence U.S. policy. Given the aforementioned issues, we respectfully renew our request for a thorough investigation of Turkish activities that compromise America’s national security and democratic institutions,” Assembly Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian said.

Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. stated: “It is even more troublesome that [Flynn] failed to disclose his actions and that he may have compromised our efforts to defeat ISIS in order to please his former client. With Mr. Flynn’s willingness to conceal relationships with foreign powers, we must investigate if there are other interactions that have yet to be revealed.”

According to a report in McClatchy Washington Bureau, “Flynn’s rejection of a military operation that had been months in the making raises questions about what other key decisions he might have influenced…”

This new revelation follows Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s November 8th op-ed in The Hill wherein Flynn argued that “we need to see the world from Turkey’s perspective.” Flynn was paid over $500,000 for his work on behalf of Turkey according to his recent FARA filing, which he failed to disclose until he was caught.

News about Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn comes just after a brutal attack by Turkish bodyguards against those peacefully protesting in front of the Turkish Ambassador’s residence.

The Azerbaijani forces used 60 mm mortars as they shelled their own positions from 12:19 to 13:32 today, which led to blasts at Seysulan-Yarimsha section of the frontline, Artsakh Defense Ministry reports.

The Ministry said the actions are “beyond common sense” and follow the Azerbaijani attempts to deliberately aggravate the situation at the line of contact with Artsakh forces.

“The incident comes to prove the lack of vertical management in the Azerbaijani army,” the Ministry said in a statement, adding that “it could also be a preparation for a new provocation.”

The Defense Ministry informs that the Armenian side has strongly observed the ceasefire regime throughout the day.

Baku continues the gross violations of the trilateral cease-fire agreements in defiance to the consistent calls of the Co-Chair countries and the international community, Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said, addressing the 127th Session of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe in Cyprus. Edward Nalbandian’s full speech is provided below:

Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Secretary General,
Dear Colleagues,

Dear Ioannis, dear friend, congratulations for your successful chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. The priorities of the Cyprus Chairmanship were well placed to address the current challenges that the Europe faces.

Protection of cultural heritage is important for the Armenian people that have suffered immense losses of cultural legacy throughout its history and most recently in Azerbaijan by the hands of its government and in Syria by the terrorist groups. In this regard we welcome the adoption of the Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property,

Another focus of the Chairmanship on Democracy through Education is an important dimension of fostering inclusive and tolerant societies. The right of people to their memory, their right to teaching and learning history of past tragedies through education and remembrance has a pivotal role in preventing genocides and crimes against humanity.

Dear Colleagues,

It is commendable that in his annual report on the “State of Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law” the Secretary General has highlighted populism, which is particularly dangerous, when combined with state sponsored hate speech and xenophobia. Free media, education for democratic citizenship and human rights, active civil society are essential in overcoming this phenomenon. Moreover, the notion of “rule of law” represents a concept that is diametrically opposed to “the rule by force” or “use of force”.

We already had an opportunity to share another view of the Secretary General on the concept of “Democratic Security”, according to which democracies are less likely to go to war. Obviously, authoritarian regimes do not face this dilemma.

Such a case was witnessed during new large-scale offensive in April 2016, when Azerbaijan committed gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Two Summits were convened after the April aggression of Azerbaijan, where agreements were reached aimed at creating conducive conditions for advancement of the peace process. Baku refuses to implement these agreements although their importance has been highlighted on numerous occasions, including during April 28 trilateral mebakueting of ministers of foreign affairs of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moreover, Baku continues the gross violations of the trilateral cease-fire agreements in defiance to the consistent calls of the Co-Chair countries and the international community.

We value the recent initiatives that call on the equal application of the pan-European human rights instruments to the whole continent without distinction, including in the conflict zones. It is the primary goal of Council of Europe to ensure that the common values and individual rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights are not dependent on the status of the territory where people live.

Dear Colleagues,

On the April 2nd the parliamentary elections were held in Armenia. They were marked by unprecedented high number of international observers, who stated that the elections were well administered, fundamental freedoms were respected, and the results reflected the will of the population.

Armenia highly appreciates the contribution of international partners to its reforms aimed at consolidating the democratic institutions and the electoral process, in particular the expertise provided by the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission. We look forward to the continuation of fruitful cooperation in this regard.

Regarding the recent institutional crisis and credible reports on corruption in the PACE, we join the calls for full investigation of the situation in order to rectify the damage done to this Organization.

And finally, I want to use the opportunity to wish all the success to the incoming chairmanship of the Czech Republic.

Thank you.

Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland on the sidelines of the 127th Session of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe in Cyprus.

The interlocutors discussed a number of issues facing the Council of Europe and the routes of their resolution. The Secretary General hailed the effective cooperation established between Armenia and the Council of Europe.

Edward Nalbandian briefed Thorbjørn Jagland on the results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia in April and praised the Venice Commission’s export support. Reference was made to the developments within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the need to take practical steps to recover the trust in the organization.

Edward Nalbandian presented the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs towards creation of conditions conducive to furthering the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Armenia’s top diplomat said “Baku is doing the utmost to disrupt the peace process.” Opposing the consistent calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the international community to strongly observe the ceasefire regime, Azerbaijan keeps violating the trilateral agreements on ceasefire.”

Edward Nalbandian stressed that “Armenia constantly calls on the OSCE Minsk Group to point out the party responsible for ceasefire violations. “By turning down the creation of an investigation mechanism, Azerbaijan is trying to avoid responsibility for periodic violations of the ceasefire regime,” Nalbandian said.

He added, however, that “the non-standard statement issued by the Co-Chairs yesterday clearly points to the party responsible for escalation.”

Iranians are voting an a presidential election, in which Hassan Rouhani is seeking a second term, the BBC reports.

Mr Rouhani, 68, a moderate cleric who negotiated a landmark nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, is standing against three other candidates.

His main challenger is seen as Ebrahim Raisi, 56, a hardline cleric and former prosecutor who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

If no-one wins more than 50% of votes cast, a run-off will be held next week.

Every incumbent president has been re-elected in Iran since 1985, when Ayatollah Khamenei himself won a second term.

He cast his ballot just minutes after polls opened at 8:00 local time (03:30 GMT).

“Everyone should vote in this important election,” he said, urging citizens to get the polls early.

Mr Rouhani voted about an hour later.

More than 54 million people are eligible to vote in Friday’s election.

Early election results are expected on Saturday.