Armenian Defense Minister Attends NATO Sitting in Brussels

On February 27, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan participated in the meeting of the Defense Ministers of the countries contributing to NATO-led operation in Afghanistan and the sitting of the Euro-Atlantic Council dedicated to issues of defense capacity development and cyber crimes.

During the sitting, the participants discussed the ISAF mission which is coming to an end in 2014 and the new initiatives to be launched from 2015.

Within the framework of the visit to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Mr. Ohanyan took part in the commemoration ceremony dedicated to the 26th anniversary of the Sumgait massacre against the Armenians in Azerbaijan.

Source: Public Radio of Armenia

Unified Young Armenians (UYA) have organized a protest at the Azeri Consulate for the 24th Anniversary of the Sumgait Massacres

Los Angeles, CA. February 27, 2012 – Pogroms, beatings, and ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Azerbaijan escalated to inconceivable measures 24 years ago, on February 27, 1988, in Sumgait. UYA has organized a protest to mark the anniversary of the Sumgait massacres and call for an end to Azerbaijan's state sponsored campaign of hatred targeting populations of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.


On Monday, February 27, 2012, at 10:00 AM, UYA has planned a protest at the Azerbaijan Consulate, located at: 11766 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. 

The Sumgait tragedy and its bloody repetitions in Azerbaijan, lasting through the years of 1988 to 1991, led to the disappearance of 450,000 inhabitants living in an established Armenian community in Azerbaijan. It stimulated the military aggression against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 until 1994, as the latter pushed for peaceful demands for self-determination.

Dozens of Armenians were killed, majority of whom were set on fire alive, after being beaten and tortured. Hundreds of innocent people recieved injuries of varying severity. Women, among them minors, were raped.

In his address to the Supreme Council of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region, a leader of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Mr. Hidayat Orujev, stated days before the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait: "If you do not stop campaigning for the unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia, and if you do not sober up, 100,000 Azeris from neighboring districts will break into your houses, torch your apartments, rape your women, and kill your children." This same Orujev is currently the Chairman of the State Committee for Work and Religious Organization for the Republic of Azerbaijan.

UYA is a non-profit grassroots youth organization. It is non-partisan and non-religious. UYA’s goal is to encourage activism among the Armenian youth, while advocating justice and human rights. It upholds the power of knowledge and education. UYA’s mission is to serve the collective good and promote a world free of genocides.

Who is buried in Azerbaijan's Shahid Alley?

Lilit Muradyan
“Radiolur”

The world should know that murderers who killed Armenians are buried in the Shahid Alley of Baku, members of the organizational committee of the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan told reporters today.

As part of the protocol, officials visiting Baku lay a wreath in the Shahid Alley or the graves of those killed for the sake of Azerbaijan’s freedom and independence, as they call it. However, those buried at the Shahid Alley are the perpetrators of the Baku pogroms of 1990.

“We have decided to put an end to silence and send out letters to all countries, which Armenia has diplomatic relations with,” committee secretary Mariam Avagyan told a press conference today.

“As you know, January 20 is marked in Azerbaijan as the commemoration day of all who died for the country’s independence. All events are centered around the Shahid Alley, which is honored like a “sacred place”. All delegations arriving in Azerbaijan are scheduled to visit and lay a wreath to the graves. But do all know who was buried in this Alley? These are some of criminals, who perpetrated the massacre of Armenians in Baku. There are also some Russians, who, actually, had no connection with those criminals. This is nothing but mockery of the memory of civilians and Soviet soldiers, who were killed during those days,” the letter reads.

Members of the committee decided to send the first letter to Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union.

“We intend to launch an international investigation to dispel Baku’s myths about Shahid Alley,” Mariam Avagyan said. “We will address to the International Court of Justice,” she said.
Source: Public Radio of Armenia

Armenian citizen tortured to death in Azerbaijan

Public Radio of Armenia - A criminal case has been initiated on the death of the citizen of Armenian Manvel Saribekyan captured by Azerbaijan on the murder committed with particular cruelty, Press Service of Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia reported.

Manvel Saribekyan the resident of Ttujur village of Gegharkunik region born on February 27, 1990 was captured on September 11, 2010. According to the preliminary data the 20-year-old young man took several cattle to the pasture. At about 05:00 p.m. because of fog he lost his orientation in the “Keghut” pasture and found himself on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and was captured by the Azerbaijanis.

On November 4, 2010 the Azerbaijani side returned to Armenia Manvel Saribekyan’s body who, according to the official announcement made by Azerbaijan died on October 5, 2010 as a result of strangulation.

By the preliminary examination of the body it has turned out that it wasn’t kept properly in Azerbaijan as the body was decomposed. According to the preliminary data of the forensic examination there are signs of violence on the body which confirms that M. Saribekyan was inhumanly tortured.

The RA Prosecutor General has tasked to initiate a criminal case according to the RA Criminal Code Article 104, part 2 (murder committed with particular cruelty). The preliminary investigation of the criminal case has been tasked to the General Investigation Department of the RA Police.

The results of the preliminary investigation and the forensic examination will be informed.