More Armenians would be in Akhtamar if border was open, observers believeSeptember 22, 2010 - 16:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Observers believe that more Armenians would have been in the eastern city of Van in Turkey to attend the September 19 religious ceremony in Holy Cross church on the island of Akhtamar if the border between Armenia and Turkey was open. "If the border was open, all Armenians from Armenia would be there," said Kaan Soyak, co-founder and co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC). Soyak also said that “Armenians in Armenia had difficulties understanding why the cross was not properly fixed on top of the church's steeple in time for the service.” "They thought that the Turkish government is against putting the cross there. We tried to tell both the Armenian diaspora and Armenia that that was not the case," he said, quoted by Today's Zaman. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |