The Turkish involvement in the recent attack on Kassab reminded Syrian Armenians of a dark chapter in their history: the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman empire in 1915, says The Wall Street Journal. 

 The stalemate in the Minsk Process aiming at settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continued for most of 2013, says ENP Country Progress Report 2013 on Azerbaijan. 

Pan-Armenian Environmental Front (PAEF) has preferred the meeting with the prime minister to radical steps for environmental protection, activist Yeghia Nersisyan told reporters, Thursday. 

He recalled the recent attempt of the green activists to break the international conference "Establishment of Responsible Mining Industry in Armenia: Opportunities and Challenges" in Yerevan on 25 March. Then the activists offered a glass of river water to Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan.  Nersisyan does not think it was aggressive behavior, as many villagers are reluctant to irrigate their agricultural lands with the given polluted water and even give it to the cattle. 

PAEF plans to take radical steps to protect the environment, as the numerous efforts of activists to draw the attention of officials to the disastrous situation in Syunik have brought no result.  The activist said that over 10 polymetalic deposits are developed in the given region and there are over 10 tailing dumps. The waste of the Ler-Ex enrichment plant polluted the River of Geghi.  Nersisyan thinks the prime minister's proposal to meet with the activist is nothing but a show. "It they brought the leadership of Ler-Ex Company responsible, we could meet with the prime minister," he said.  To recall, on March 25 Head of the Government Staff - Minister Vache Gabrielyan offered the activists to meet with the prime minister after they tried to break the international conference "Establishment of Responsible Mining Industry in Armenia: Opportunities and Challenges." They chanted "Shame!" "Away from Armenia!" protesting against environment pollution. It was reported later on 27 March, that the activists and the prime minister would meet on 28 March at 4:00pm.

Nersisyan said that neither PAEF nor the Teghout Protection Group are going to meet with the prime minister, as their alarms of the environmental damage caused by the mining industry have been ignored for several years already.

 The Azerbaijani armed forces intensively fired at the village of Aygepar, Tavush region, Armenia, for two hours overnight. No victims or casualties are reported, Head of Aygepar Village Administrtion Andranik Aldinyan told ArmInfo.

No clean river will remain in Armenia in several years, the head of Armenia's "Green Union", Hakop Sanasaryan, said at today's press-conference.

The Government's refusal to resign may stir mass protests, MP from Prosperous Armenia Party Vahan Babayan told journalists on Friday.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Traian Hristea introduced the Armenia-EU cooperation report, Thursday. According to him, the financial assistance package for Armenia is currently being discussed. This year, the EU has already provided 40 million euro to Armenia, Traian Hristea said adding that the cooperation with Armenia will be continued as actively as before despite the recent trends. A new program of cooperation is currently being drafted, the ambassador said.

 The Constitutional Court will pass a verdict that nobody will understand, the secretary of the parliamentary group of the Armenian National Congress Aram Manukyan told journalists on Friday, when asked to comment on the CC's hearing on the constitutionality of compulsory accumulative pension system in Armenia.

 Հայաստանի խորհրդարանական պատվիրակությունը` ՀՀԿ պատգամավորներ Սամվել Ֆարմանյանի գլխավորությամբ, Դամասկոսում հանդիպում է ունեցել Սիրիայի նախագահ Բաշար Ասադի հետ:

 The law "On military and industrial complex" should promote opening of the new military and industrial companies in Armenia, vice-speaker of the parliament, Edward Sharmazanov, said at today's session of the parliament. He also added that the alterations to the above-mentioned law offered by the government of Armenia are very much important as they resolve a problem of raising security of the country. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned of the dangers of terrorism and extremism backed by the West and some countries in the region, Syrian Arab news agency (SANA) reports. 

 Serzh Sargsyan's stance on Crimea is a display of political shortsightedness, Raffi Hovannisian, Leader of Heritage Party, said at a Roundtable on Ukraine organized by the Armenian Center of National and International Studies (ACNIS).

"The allegations by some circles that Turkey is providing support to the opposition forces by letting them use its territory or through some other ways during the conflict which have intensified recently in the Latakia/Kesab region are totally unfounded and untrue," the Turkish Foreign Ministry says in a press release. 

If Ukraine joined the Customs Union, it would experience an economic growth for the coming 5-7 years. Afterwards, it would face a period of standstill, said Igor Roman, Advisor at the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia, speaking at a Roundtable on Ukraine organized by the Armenian Center of National and International Studies (ACNIS) in Yerevan, Thursday.

According to the highly reliable sources of Haykakan Zhamank daily, the initial decision, according to which Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan will be the authorities' candidate for president in the 2018 presidential election, is getting stronger and becoming serious, Haykakan Zhamanak daily reported.

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan spoke together in The Hague at NSS2014 (Nuclear Security Summit), James Warlick, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair of the USA, twitted, Thursday.

 The Swiss OSCE Chairmanship is ready to provide any support to the OSCE Minsk Group and to create relevant conditions, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for South Caucasus, Angelo Gnadinger told Trend.

  The Armenian National Assembly delegation comprising parliamentarians Samvel Farmanyan, Naira Karapetyan, Levon Martirosyan, Arman Sahakyan, Tevan Poghosyan and Edmon Marukyan left Damascus for Latakia to meet with the Armenians of Kessab who have found refuge there having fled from their town after attacks by Turkish terrorists. 

Lydian International will contribute to development of the local labor market, Didier Fohlen, Executive Vice President at Lydian International Limited, said at the March 26 international conference entitled "Responsible Mining in Armenia: Opportunities and Challenges". 

 Armenia will abstain from voting on Ukraine's draft resolution that suggests declaring the Crimean referendum invalid, Azatutyun (RFE/RL Armenian Service) reports with reference to Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan. The voting will be held at the UN General Assembly on March 27.