Contents tagged with Armenia

  • Pope Francis uses term genocide to describe massacre of Armenians during WWI

    During his visit to Yerevan, Pope Francis used the term genocide to describe the massacre of Armenians in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, Radio Svoboda reported.

    Addressing the President of Armenia and the diplomatic corps on June 24th, Pope Francis used the Armenian term "Mets Exern" (the evil), but then added the words "this genocide" to the prepared text in order to describe what he had called "the first among a series of disasters of the last century."

    In April of 2015, Francis held a mass in …

  • Armenian government to consider a legislative initiative to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh

    The government of Armenia will debate a bill which recognizes the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as reported on Tuesday, May 3rd on the Prime Minister’s website.

    The draft bill is included on the agenda for the May 5th session. The language of the draft bill indicates that its approval is contingent upon negotiations between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with "due regard for further developments and external factors." Representatives of the oppositional factions, …

  • More attacks reported in Nagorno-Karabakh

    The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh intensified overnight on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. Both sides of the conflict, Azerbaijan and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), backed by Armenia, accuse each other of violating the ceasefire, claiming that they were forced to return fire.

    The Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan stated that the Armenian Armed Units attacked Azerbaijani settlements with the use of “Grad” rockets.

    In turn, according to the Ministry, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces …

  • Lavrov accuses Turkey of escalating the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh

    Russia criticized Turkish authorities for their “absolutely unacceptable” comments during the violence in Nagorno-Karabakh between the separatists supported by Armenia and the Azerbaijani forces.“These were calls not for peace but for war,” the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov stated on April 2nd after negotiations with his Armenian colleague, Edward Nalbandian, in Yerevan.The four-day outbreak of violence resulted in ceasefire agreements but sporadic firing is still on-going. …

  • Armenia, Georgia, Iran and Russia sign energy memorandum

    Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Iran have signed a roadmap on the preparation of collaboration of power supply systems of the four countries in Yerevan, and also agreed on a memorandum of mutual understanding and cooperation in the sphere of energy.

    RIA Novosti reports that the documents were signed by the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia, Levon Yolyan, the Minister of Energy of Iran, Hamid Chitchian and the …

  • Azerbaijan says Armenian-backed forces violated the ceasefire 125 times in one day

    During the last 24 hours, the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh was violated 125 times. The use of heavy machine guns was reported. The Trend publication disclosed this, quoting the statement of the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.

    Baku clarified that the Armed Forces of the Republic answered the enemy with 125 response fire strikes.

    At the same time, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) reported that the ceasefire …

  • Baku and Yerevan accuse the other of violating the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

    Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of violating the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Radio Svoboda reported.

    The two camps stated that there were attacks on Friday but no casualties were reported.

    According to a statement issued by Azerbaijani authorities on Saturday, the Armenian-backed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh violated the ceasefire 120 times on Friday night. At the same time, Armenia accused the Azerbaijani armed forces of carrying out mortar attacks on their …

  • Medvedev: If Russia stopped supplying arms to Azerbaijan and Armenia, they would get them elsewhere

    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev explained the supplies of Russian weapons to Armenia and Azerbaijan, stating that if Moscow abandons these sales, the situation in the region will become more complicated. Medvedev said this during the weekly “Vesti on Saturday” program on April 9th.

    “If we imagine for a minute that Russia declined playing this role, we are accurately aware that this place would not be empty,” the Prime Minister stated, meaning that Armenia and Azerbaijan would continue …

  • Sargsyan: Russia remains Armenia's strategic partner despite supplying weapons to Azerbaijan

    According to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the Kremlin remains a strategic partner of Armenia, despite the fact that Russia supplies arms to Azerbaijan, as reported by Sputnik.

    "It's a fact that Russia is our strategic ally and we are a member of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization). We are sensitive to the fact that Russia and other CSTO countries continue to supply weapons to Azerbaijan. But, as you know, our abilities to resist this are limited," Sargsyan said.

    On April 2 …

  • Azerbaijani Defense Ministry declared its readiness to attack Stepanakert

    The Head of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, Zakir Hasanov, has prepared his troops for a possible attack on Stepanakert. Baku promises to launch an attack if the shelling from the Armenian side continues.

    The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan are ready for an attack on Stepanakert and other cities in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on Monday, April 4, that this order was given by the Head of the Ministry, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov. According to Defense Ministry …