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Turkey riots In Istanbul against Erdogan visit

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Besiktas-fans-light-flares-outside-the-Vodafone-Arena-the-new-stThe stadium Besiktas Istanbul is a political issue. The fans of the club are considered leftist. That Erdogan their Arena initiates, ends in chaos. For him was even rescheduled.

n Istanbul, the police has taken on Monday night with tear gas and water cannons against thousands of fans of the force as a left football club Besiktas. This had gathered for the first home game in front of the initiated just the day before new club stadium.

As an AFP photographer reported, ran a lot of fans in black and white club jerseys before the riot in search of protection of other pelted police with bottles.

Source: welt.de

Pope’s Visit to Armenia Set for June 24

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Pope Francis (left) with Catholicos Karekin II in the Vatican in April 2015

Pope Francis (left) with Catholicos Karekin II in the Vatican in April 2015

ROME—After much rumor and speculation, the Vatican confirmed on Saturday that Pope Francis will visit Armenia this June. Vatican sources say he will arrive in Armenia on June 24 and continue his visit until June 26.

The Vatican also announced that the Pope planned to visit Georgia and Azerbaijan in the fall. That trip, sources announced, will take place from September 30 to October 2.

Francis had expressed his desire to visit Armenia last November, during an airborne press conference coming back from his Africa tour.

President visits Armenian soldiers wounded during hostilities

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16959YEREVAN. – The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Monday paid a visit to the Ministry of Defense Central Clinical Military Hospital in capital city Yerevan.

At the medical center, Sargsyan met with the military servicemen who were wounded in the hostilities around the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact.

The President asked the physicians about the health condition of these soldiers, and expressed his support to these servicemen and wished them a speedy recovery.

The situation at the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone dramatically escalated in the early morning hours on April 2. From regular shootings and frequent sabotage-reconnaissance attempts, Azerbaijan switched to large-scale attacks all along the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact, using a variety of weaponry as well as artillery, armored vehicles, and air force. Both sides have suffered casualties.

Many Iran tourists to Turkey visit Armenian church on Akhtamar Island

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akhtamar_holy-cross_0The Iranians, who visit Turkey’s eastern provinces during Newroz—the Persian new year—, most visit Akhtamar Island in Lake Van—and where the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross is located—, and the Fortress of Van.

Head of the Van Tourism, Cultural Heritage Preservation and Development Association, Abdullah Tunçdemir, stated the aforesaid.

Tunçdemir told Milliyet daily newspaper of Turkey that a large number of Iranians have arrived in the country’s eastern provinces on Nowruz, and most of them have preferred Van.

He stressed that all hotels in Van are full during the Nowruz holidays.

Greece: Serzh Sargsyan chairs top-level Armenian-Greek talks in Athens

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Armenian-president-visitArmenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Greece on an official visit, has chaired a top-level meeting in the country’s capital, Athens, after private talks with his Greek counterpart, Prokopios Pavlopoulos.
The Armenian leader hailed the two countries’ centuries-old friendship, praising the traditions inherited from the dawn of civilization. “Representing two ancient civilizations, the Armenian and Greek peoples created culture side by side, leaving their trace on the chapters of world history. They struggled side by side, earning the right to existence. And they stand side by stand also today – as bearers of shared values and morals. Relying on that heritage, we continue strengthening the Armenian-Greek friendship which gained an interstate importance 24 years ago.
“Today, we have an enriched bilateral agenda, ranging from an active political dialogue to cooperation in education and culture. We are closely collaborating in the military sector. Greece is among our key partners in the Armenia-EU relations. The high-ranking visits, which have become repeated, give us an opportunity to outline new prospects of cooperation. A fair example of this statement of mine is my current visit, which is aimed at upgrading our economic relations to a new level, relying on the existing potential,” he said.

Greeting President Sargsyan and his delegation, the Greek leader agreed that the official visit demonstrates the willingness to develop and deepen cooperation in most different sectors. Noting that the two nations are tied by the firm bonds of history and friendship, Mr Pavlopoulos said he thinks that the existing high-level interstate relations were shaped over the course of centuries, resisting the hardships and challenges of time.
“In the early 20th century, the two peoples experienced moments of suffering that had a common cause. History bears witness to that, describing the [plight] of the Armenian people, the Pontic Greeks and those in Asia Minor. We will never forget the 1915 Armenian Genocide. We are proud that Greece was among the first countries to give home to the Armenian exiles and also the first country to recognize the Genocide against Armenians, with the Armenian parliament, on the other hand, recognizing the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks. We must bear in mind, Mr President, to that historical memory is important for humanity’s collective existence, as well as from the point of view of its future,” he added.
The Greek president further spoke of broad possibilities of development and the bilateral ties promising good perspectives.

 

Pope Francis to visit Armenia in September, Mother See says

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206404Pope Francis is set to visit Armenia in September 2016, press service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin reports.

The issue was discussed Wednesday, February 18 at the session of the Supreme Religious Council, chaired by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

The Mother See currently coordinates the details of the visit with the Vatican.

Also, the session decided to convene the National Ecclesiastical Assembly in 2017 and hold an Ecclesiastical Representatives’ Assembly in October 2016.

Pope urges Iran to act for peace in Middle East.

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ppp.thumbPope Francis on Jan. 26 urged Iran to back peace efforts in the Middle East as the Islamic Republic’s emergence from international isolation took a significant step forward with President Hassan Rouhani’s first visit to the Vatican.

Fresh from securing the lifting of international sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program, Rouhani spent 40 minutes at the Vatican talking privately to Pope Francis, a strong backer of the deal with Tehran.

In a statement afterwards, the Vatican said Francis had urged the Iranian leader to use Iran’s important role to promote, together with other countries, “adequate political solutions” to the problems afflicting the region and to help combat terrorism and arms trafficking.

“I thank you for your visit and I hope for peace,” Francis told his guest at the end of their meeting, when journalists were briefly allowed to listen in.

A smiling Rouhani, who presented the pope with a hand-made carpet from the ancient city of Qom, replied with one of Francis’s catchphrases.

“I ask you to pray for me,” he said. “It was a pleasure to meet you and I wish you well in your work.”

In return for his gift, Rouhani was given a medal depicting St Martin cutting his cloak in half to give to a poorly clothed beggar.

The Iranian leader also went away with English and Arabic versions of Francis’s extended essay on the environmental challenges faced by the world. “Laudato Si” (Praise Be) has not been translated into Farsi.

It was the first official visit to the Vatican by an Iranian president since Mohammad Khatami was hosted by John Paul II in 1999. Khatami also attended the Polish pope’s funeral in 2005.

Rouhani is on a five-day trip to Italy and France looking to drum up trade and investment to modernize Iran’s economy, partly by pitching the country as a beacon of stability in a conflict-wracked region.

Speaking to an audience of Italian and Iranian business leaders earlier in the day, Rouhani also portrayed Iran as the ideal base for companies seeking a foothold in a region of 300 million people, reassuring would-be investors their contracts would be honored.

“Iran is the safest, the most stable country in the entire region,” Rouhani said. “Everyone understood that the nuclear negotiations represented a win-win situation for both sides.

“Now we have created the conditions for investment and for the transfer of know-how. There has to be an advantage for both sides: we invite you to invest and we will provide stability and ensure that you can make adequate returns.”

He emphasized that all sections of Iran’s often-divided political class, right up to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were firmly behind the post-sanctions drive to secure the trade and investment needed to create new roads, rail links, airports and other infrastructure.

Rouhani outlined a vision of Iran being transformed into a hub for intra-regional economic development, linking the Middle East to South and Central Asia and even the Western fringes of China.

“Do not regard us as just one country but as a country at the center of a much larger market,” Rouhani said, citing the example of the port of Chabahar on Iran’s southern coast.

 

Pope Francis may visit Armenia on 101st anniversary of Genocide

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203337Visiting Armenia in April 2016, the 101st anniversary of the 1915 Genocide, is a possibility for the Pope, although this has not been absolutely confirmed, World Religion News reports.

He hopes to visit the country, but admits, “I am old and these trips are heavy.”

The Pope may also visit three South-American nations: Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are also awaiting a visit from the Pope. It is speculated that these trips could be joined with his visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, whose 300th anniversary he promised to celebrate in the country in 2017.

Pope Francis confirmed that he will be visiting Mexico in the first half of 2016 while celebrating Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe last December 12. The Holy See will begin in Mexico City, and then will go on to make two day trips: to Chiapas to meet indigenous individuals, and to the Morelia, a high-crime area, to meet young people. The Pope is scheduled to return to Rome via Ciudad Juárez on the Mexico-U.S. border. This will be his first time visiting the country and second time in the North American continent. His itinerary also includes a visit to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine.

Related links:

World Religion News. Pope Francis 2016 Travel Schedule

President Serzh Sargsyan visited the soldiers at the front northeast of Armenia

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arton120500-480x320Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, chief of the general staff of the armed forces Ohanian accompanied by the Minister of Defence, visited the front on a defensive position to the northeast of the border with Armenia occasion of New Year and Christmas. The Armenian president has met with the soldiers and officers of the military command to take stock of the conditions of life and defense of these soldiers. He offered gifts to some soldiers who were distinguished for their acts during their service. Around a table Armenian President then shared a meal while talking with the soldiers. He thanked the soldiers for the defense of the borders of Armenia and the Armenian people said that was proud of his soldiers who are a credit to their country by their courage and their effectiveness against the enemy. Sarkisian then visited the border village of Bardavan and met the people in this town that have expressed many applications for safety and economy.

Krikor Amirzayan

Syria: Assad makes surprise Christmas visit to Damascus church

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Syrian President Bashar Assad (C-L) and his wife Asma al-Assad (C-R) posing for a picture with a Syrian man as they attend a Christmas choral presentation at the Lady of Damascus Catholic Church in the Syrian capital on December 18, 2015. © HO / AFP

Syrian President Bashar Assad (C-L) and his wife Asma al-Assad (C-R) posing for a picture with a Syrian man as they attend a Christmas choral presentation at the Lady of Damascus Catholic Church in the Syrian capital on December 18, 2015. © HO / AFP

A Christmas choir had a surprise visitor overnight after Bashar Assad made an appearance at a church in the Syrian capital of Damascus where rehearsals were taking place.

The Syrian president and his wife, Asma, visited the Notre Dame de Damas Church, an ancient cathedral located just 2 kilometers from the rebel-held neighborhood of Jobar in the eastern suburb of Ghouta in Damascus.

Assad and his wife chatted with the men and women of the “Joy Choir,” who were practicing ahead of a performance on Christmas Eve, state media said Saturday.