“I’ll be the first passenger of the Yerevan-Stepanakert flight,” said President Serzh Sarkisian Thursday during a joint press conference with the visiting Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey.

President Serzh Sarkisian announced Thursday that he has urged President Barack Obama to use the word Genocide in his annual April 24 address, news sources reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahemt Davutoglu said that he personally asked his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian “to return one or to regions of Nagorno-Karabakh,” to save face with Azerbaijan and to advance Armenia-Turkey protocols process, but Armenia refused, according to Yerevan-based Azg daily newspaper editor Hakob Avedikian who interviewed Davutoglu.

Swiss president Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in Armenia late Wednesday and held meetings with top Armenian officials including President Serzh Sarkisian on a number of issues related to Swiss-Armenia cooperation.

Chamlian Chamlian Armenian School students displayed their best sportsmanship as they participated in the 27th Annual Homenetmen KAHAM Games in Glendale. All of their hard work paid off at the recognition ceremony on Sunday, March 27, when the First Place Sergei Aftandelian Overall Trophy was presented to Chamlian for the third year in a row.

The Clark University Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will host a lecture by Rev. Dr Paul Haidostian entitled “The American Missionaries and the Armenian Genocide: How to Assess their Ministry?” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in Tilton Hall, Higgins University Center, 950 Main St.

KCET will premiere filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian’s new documentary “Armenian Minstrels” on Tuesday, April 5. Asbarez’s Georges Adourian caught up with the director to discuss his new film and his passion for filmmaking.

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a brought against the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities by a Turkish advocacy group, saying the university was within its rights when it discouraged students from using a Web site that challenges the Armenian Genocide, reported Chronicle.com.

In an eye-opening piece reported by EurasiaNet, author Shahin Abbasov discusses Azerbaijan’s recent foray into weapons manufacturing and its desire to become a full-fledged arms dealer in the region.

Turkish-Armenian Daron Acemoglu, citing his ongoing academic career, declined an appointment by Turkish foreign minister, Ahemt Davutoglu as Turkey’s permanent representative at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, in Paris, reported Hurriyet Daily News.

With a prayer from a priest and a traditional blessing of the bread ceremony, Heritage Party founder and leader Raffi Hovannisian ended his 15-day hunger strike at Liberty Square Wednesday.

)—“We see certain positive progress toward reforms and democracy in the South Caucasus countries, but flashpoints of tensions and conflicts delay these processes,” the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Latvian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis said in his interview to DELFI news agency.

Armenia’s national gas distribution company announced on Wednesday a 24.2 percent price discount for tens of thousands of socially vulnerable families which will take effect later this week.

Members of the Orange County Armenian community gathered on Friday, March 11, for a public lecture delivered by Dr. Ara Khanjian on the topic of unfair government policies and economic inequalities in Armenia.