Month: February 2015

PSAKI: US PREVIOUSLY ADVOCATED RELEASE OF ASGAROV AND GULIYEV

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 24 2015

24 February 2015 – 12:42pm

The US has previously advocated the release of Dilgam Asgarov
and Shahbaz Guliyev, taken hostage in the Azerbaijani territories
occupied by Armenia, the spokesperson for the US Department of State,
Jen Psaki said, commenting on a question regarding the remarks made
by the US Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland, who during a visit to
Baku urged the relevant authorities to make a humanitarian gesture
concerning the Azerbaijani hostages.

“We’ve previously advocated through Ambassador James Warlick and others
the release of these two prisoners to the Government of Azerbaijan,”
Trend cited Psaki.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH FM: PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN KARABAKH ARE PROVOCATION

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 24 2015

24 February 2015 – 3:30pm

Turkish Republic considers the ‘parliamentary elections’ to take place
on May 3 in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which has been under
Armenian occupation for more than 20 years, are part of attempts to
unilaterally legitimize the unlawful situation in those territories,
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said today.

“Such initiatives would mean an apparent violation of international
law, UN Security Council resolutions and OSCE principles. At a time
when the OSCE negotiations, aimed at achieving a peaceful solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict
are continuing, these illegal ‘elections’ are not going to contribute
to settlement efforts in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region,” the
Turkish Foreign Ministry said, stressing that the country strictly
condemns this act, which is aimed at a new violation of Azerbaijan’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity, and does not recognize any
results of these kinds of illegal initiatives that have nothing to
do with international law.

The separatist Nagorno-Karabakh regime is planning to hold
‘parliamentary elections’ in the occupied Azerbaijani territories on
May 3.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES ‘GOVERNMENT CRISIS’

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 24 2015

24 February 2015 – 4:14pm

Today the discussion on the draft declaration of the power crisis in
the country continued in the National Assembly of Armenia.

The draft was introduced by ‘Prosperous Armenia’, ‘Heritage’ and
the Armenian National Congress in October 2014. Faction leader Levon
Zurabyan, presenting the project, said that the government had admitted
failure in all areas of life -economic, social, domestic and foreign
policy. The sharpness of the discussion that followed revealed the
depth of the split not only between the government and the opposition,
but also among the opposition itself.

The co-authors of the draft statement, the PAP faction, boycotted
the session because of the “difficult and tense internal political
situation”, and the press secretary of the Republican Party, Edward
Sharmazanov, accused them of an inability to “unite even their
partners.” The Armenian National Congress’s MP Nikol Pashinyan,
whose project of President Serzh Sargsyan’s impeachment bill failed
yesterday, expressed confidence that the authorities in Armenia will
not be replaced for another 20 years in such circumstances.

The press secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party, Tigran
Urikhanyan, told ‘Vestnik Kavkaza’ that the faction decided to skip
yesterday’s session as a “manifestation of the political position,
including instruments to influence the situation, to which political
organizations often resort”.

“A concrete step, a specific boycott, it is generally accepted in the
civilized world as a political tool, a method of reaction to what is
happening,” Urikhanyan said.

According to him, “the political landscape which there is in the
country, requires, firstly, a reassessment of the situation.”

“We must note that many things need to be revaluates, priorities
established according to the beliefs, the position, the policy and
the program provisions for which we stand. At the moment, ‘Prosperous
Armenia’ is developing a position and an action plan for the near
future, which will be appropriate to the current internal shuffling,”
Urikhanyan said, adding also that according to information about the
possible resignation of Gagik Tsarukyan, an official statement will
be made soon.

EU DOES NOT PERMIT VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AGAINST ASGAROV AND GULIYEV

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 24 2015

24 February 2015 – 2:16pm

The EU disapproves of any actions and developments that create tensions
and undermine the efforts toward a peaceful and negotiated settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the spokesperson for the European
commissioner for enlargement and European neighbourhood policy,
Maya Kosyanchich, said.

The EU underscores the obligations under international humanitarian
law, in particular with regard to civilians and treatment of persons
taken into custody during times of conflict.

“The heads of the delegations of the Minsk Group co-chair countries,
in their statement issued on December 4, 2014 at the OSCE Basel
Ministerial Council, called on the sides to settle humanitarian
issues in the spirit of the Astrakhan statement of October 2010 by
the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation,”
Trend cited her as saying.

POPE AWARDS HIGH CHURCH HONOR TO ARMENIAN MYSTIC ST. GREGORY

Associated Press International
February 23, 2015 Monday 11:34 AM GMT

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press
VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis has given a gift of sorts to Armenian
Catholics commemorating the 100th anniversary of the massacre of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks, declaring a revered 10th-century mystic
and poet, St. Gregory of Narek, a doctor of the church.

The Vatican said Monday that Francis had agreed to bestow one of
the highest church honors on Gregory after the decision was taken by
the Vatican’s saint-making office. The designation, however, clearly
reflects a desire of Francis, who as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
was particularly close to the Armenian community in Buenos Aires.

The title of doctor of the church is reserved for people whose writings
have greatly served the universal church. Only 35 people have been
given the title, including St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales and
St. Teresa of Avila.

Gregory, who lived around 950 to 1005, is considered one of the
most important figures of medieval Armenian religious thought and
literature. His Book of Prayers, also called the Book of Lamentations,
is his best-known work, a mystical poem in 95 sections about “speaking
with God from the depths of the heart.”

The designation comes a few weeks before Francis celebrates a Mass
in St. Peter’s Basilica to commemorate the centenary of the start of
the Armenian massacre.

Several European countries recognize the massacres as a genocide;
Turkey, however, denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying
the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of
civil war and unrest.

Francis provoked Turkish anxiety when in June 2013 he told a visiting
delegation of Armenian Christians that the massacre was “the first
genocide of the 20th century.”

The Vatican spokesman subsequently said the remarks were in no way a
formal or public declaration and therefore didn’t constitute a public
assertion by the pope that genocide took place.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SPECIAL PROJECT. SURVIVORS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE. MISAK AGHBALYAN ON DEPORTATION OF KARIN POPULATION

Aysor.am is launching the third series of project “Armenian Genocide:
Breaking the Silence.” Under the headline “Survivors” we will regularly
present the testimonies of survivors of the 1915 Armenian massacres
in the Ottoman Turkey. We present the first eyewitness testimony from
the series.

On May 23 the government told 165 Armenian households to move to
Mosul. The 165 Armenian households informed the Primacy about the
government’s plan and were included in a list. On June 3, 25-30
households of them leased 200 horses and moved to Kharberd along
Kghi road.

The rest of those 165 households on June 6 traveled in carts to
Yerznka through Bayburd route. On June 8 the Government again told
500 households to leave the city within 8 days.

On June 15, 500 households went to Yerznka via Bayburd route. On June
20, artisans (1259 households) were offered to migrate. On June 25
they also left Karin via Bayburd route. Only 100 houses – widowed
women and orphaned children remained in the city, but they too were
told to leave on July 8. They were deported in 8 days.

Bishop Smbat was ordered to move to Yerznka on July 15. Armenian
doctors and surgeons had to migrate on July 16. Only 10 households
of artisans were left in the city. The belfry was pulled down on
December 2.

The project was prepared with the assistance of the Information and
Analytical Center of the Armenian Government Staff.

11.02.15, 21:17

ARTIST BUYUKTASCIYAN’S QUERY ON ‘UNSAID WORDS’ IN ATHENS GALLERY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 24 2015

Contemporary artist Hera BuyuktaÅ~_cıyan, known for her eloquent
site-specific installations on issues related to identity, memory
and history, is currently showcasing a solo exhibition at the State
of Concept gallery in Athens, the only non-profit contemporary art
institution in the Greek capital.

Titled “Fishbone,” this is BuyuktaÃ…~_cıyan’s first solo exhibition in
Greece, which has a significant role in the artist’s life since she is
Greek on her mother’s side and thus Athens is a place where the artist
can confront that part of her identity. “This is why I approached this
exhibition differently and in time the work became site-specific,”
BuyuktaÃ…~_cıyan said during a recent interview with Today’s Zaman.

“In the beginning, I was making these small feet shapes out of a
bronze material and when I put wooden parts onto them, I started to
question what they were turning into. Then I remembered some of my
childhood memories I had recalled in one of my previous visits to
Athens. It was about the problems I had related to talking in Greek
in my childhood. My father is Armenian and my mother is half-Greek,
half-Armenian so as a consequence we spoke Armenian at home. My
mother’s relatives used to call me the ‘quiet child’ because I
couldn’t talk in Greek with them. Although I internalized the language
completely and felt it to be something of my own, I always felt it
was stuck in my throat and never came out. I can read and write and
understand people speaking Greek but still cannot respond. I dealt
with this issue in my previous works, too. The theme of having a lump
in my throat is something I have been thinking about a lot. I’m trying
to figure things out one by one,” BuyuktaÃ…~_cıyan said, noting that
“fishbone” became a metaphor for this process.

The main installation, titled “The Stranger in my Throat,” is the
centerpiece of the exhibition, held in a gallery that used to be a
glove shop in the past. “There is a table which was used in this shop
and many artists have included it in their exhibitions before me,”
BuyuktaÅ~_cıyan noted. A line she created with small bronze leg-shaped
statuettes resembles a huge fishbone extending from that table.

The artist said she read a lot of books on fishing and related issues
during the preparation process and finally found herself at the port of
Piraeus near Athens. “I collected several crates fishermen use there
and included them in the show,” she said. A green curtain at the top
of the table also evokes the idea of fishing, and together with the
green stones on the floor gives the impression of being underwater.

On the walls of the gallery are several drawings that are linked
to the idea of things that cannot be uttered or come out. While
BuyuktaÅ~_cıyan was artist in residence at the Delfina Foundation in
the United Kingdom, she had the chance to visit the East coast. “While
walking on the beach I saw giant iron ropes half buried in the sand.

Later on I learned that these were the submarine cables installed
between the UK and France [during the] 1800s. They are in fact the
first telegram cables in the world. I was really moved by the idea of
connecting two countries — connecting lands underwater. I started to
think about the invisibility of connection. They are disconnected on
the surface of the water but are actually connected underneath.” Her
drawings in the exhibition are based on gravures she collected from
libraries and archives that depict workers installing submarine cables
in different countries in the past.

In a press statement announcing the show, the gallery describes
“Fishbone” as an “intervention of revealing hidden aspects of memory,
stuck in the ‘throat’ of the mind.”

“Things that have been nailed and forgotten at murky corners of time
do not allow the new to pass through in order to become visible. A
fishbone may get stuck during a moment when an unexpected particle
of language is about to flow out. It is like a wreck that carries
the sharp edges of time, and scrapes everything whilst coming out
from the spot it is plunged,” the press release continues.

“This exhibition is an attempt to remove those bits of sharp edges
one by one in order to see what has been blocking the path of unsaid
words and unspoken memories. The fragments in the show, such as the
bronze-legged organisms, the works on paper — in a dialogue with a
saint and an angel who heal and bless throats that are blocked by
aspects of time — are a gathering of different memories from the
artist’s life.”

“Fishbone” is on display until April 4 at State of Concept in Athens.

From: Baghdasarian

MOST HONORABLE OUTCOME OF HONORABLE LONELINESS

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 24 2014

by ERTUÄ~^RUL OZKOK

>From the moment our flag was lowered at the Tomb of Suleyman Shah on
Sunday, the honorable breakdown of our foreign policy, which has been
imposed on us as “honorable loneliness,” is as follows:

â~@¢ Syria: We do not have an ambassador in Syria. The forces of Bashar
al-Assad are about to enter Aleppo, although two years ago we said
he would to “be gone in three months.” The world’s leading countries
have now gone back to the policy of “continuing with Bashar al-Assad.”

â~@¢ Egypt: We do not have an ambassador in Cairo. The leading nations
in the world have recognized Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. France has decided
to sell 24 Rafalle war planes to Egypt.

â~@¢ Libya: Turkish citizens have been evacuated from Libya, and
Turkey has almost been declared an enemy.

â~@¢ Yemen: Our embassy is closed. When the arms that Turkey secretly
sent there were caught twice, we also lost this country.

â~@¢ Iraq: Do not count on the news stories that our relations with
this country are recovering. Negative reactions against Turkey are
growing in Iraq with each passing day.

â~@¢ Saudi Arabia: Our president’s rush to attend the funeral of the
Saudi king did not in any way help to improve the chill in relations.

A secret war between Saudi Arabia and the Turkish government is
continuing at full speed.

â~@¢ Iran: Iran is currently the rising power in the region. Its
influence over Iraq and Syria has increased to a great extent.

â~@¢ Qatar: Turkey’s only ally in the region, Qatar, has recently
changed its policies, putting a distance between itself and the Hamas
administration in Gaza.

â~@¢ Armenia: When Ahmet Davutoglu was our foreign minister, he
suspended the process of improving relations. Our relations remain
disrupted.

â~@¢ Our Syrian border: Bashar al-Assad’s forces are about to shut
down the road between Aleppo and Turkey. The Turkish border area is in
either the hands of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) administration
of Kobane or al-Nusra, which is pro-Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) and pro-al-Qaeda.

â~@¢ Moderate opponents: The moderate Syrian opposition that Turkey
was supporting is almost nonexistent now. Everybody in the region is
sure that any weapons given to them will end up in the hands of ISIL
or al-Nusra within three months.

â~@¢ Europe: The picture of the French president taken with two women
from the Kudish PYD fighting in Kobane, which appeared in Hurriyet
last week, sums up the European view of the region: “Against the
beheading, torching alive and throwing-from-buildings brutality of
ISIL, it is the Kurds – especially Kurdish women – who are fighting
heroically. Turkey, by allowing the jihadists to cross the border,
is indirectly supporting ISIL.”

â~@¢ Turkey’s defense minister returned from his recent visit to the
United States without even having been able to meet the U.S. secretary
of defense, let alone Barack Obama or Joe Biden.

â~@¢ And the tragic end: Turkey, the other day, declared the immediate
vicinity of Kobane, where severe fighting was ongoing, a “Prohibited
military zone,” and was forced to hide it from the eyes of the Turkish
public and the world. Two days later, the flag that has been flown at
the Tomb of Suleyman Shah for many years by our ancestors was lowered.

What made us lower our flag was not Bashar al-Assad, who our president
declared his personal enemy, but rather ISIL, which we have positioned
on our border with our own hands.

We saw on Sunday the honorable outcome of our honorable loneliness.

God save us from any other honorable loneliness…

February/24/2015

WILL TURKEY GO TO WAR?

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 24 2015

by FATÄ°H CEKÄ°RGE

To answer this question, first we have to outline these facts:
A military operation was conducted to save our troops guarding the
Tomb of Suleyman Shah. Turkey took its sons overnight from where
they were under siege. By all measures, this is a very appropriate
political decision and a successful operation.

Syria’s mandatory objections and threats actually have no value.

What else would Turkey have done? Would it leave its troops on this
land under the siege of terror, where domestic clashes are ongoing
and where no state authority is left?

Of course not. Whatever it takes to be a state has been done. The
world has also found this operation to be justified.

As soon as the operation became known to the public, people were
asking, “Will Turkey be engaged in war?”

First of all, Syria is not in a position to even make a scenario for
a war. In other words, there will not be a war because of this.

However, there are more important and deeper issues than this, such
as the situation of Mosul and Kirkuk.

A U.S. Central Command official was speaking to reporters the other
day. He said, “An Iraqi and Kurdish military force of 20,000 to
25,000 troops is being prepared to recapture the city, probably in
April or May.”

These words trigger three important questions:

1) A war is in store in the months of April and May over Mosul and
Kirkuk, which are critically important for Turkey. What will Turkey’s
position be in this war?

2) For the Kurdish forces to conduct a joint operation with the
U.S., how will that affect the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and
the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria? How will the possible
reflections from that war affect the peace process in Turkey and,
most importantly, the laying down of arms of the PKK?

3) What does the U.S. official’s referring to Iraqi and Kurdish forces
separately mean? Are Kurdish forces other than the PYD, the Peshmerga
and even the PKK, in question?

Indeed, these questions are also being asked to Ankara.

Election calendar

If we carry these questions to a further date, we will come to the
general elections in June. In other words, while Turkey is approaching
a general election, it is entering a highly critical period which
can also shape its domestic politics in a very sensitive region,
such as in Mosul and Kirkuk right across its borders.

To state the question more clearly: “While the PYD and the Peshmerga
in the north of Iraq and Syria are being armed by the U.S., will the
PKK, which defines itself as a force in the region, be willing to
lay down arms easily?”

This question must have a share in the close contact between Ankara
and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, because Ankara considers
any Kurdish forces other than Barzani’s to be illegal.

To be able to better analyze how critical the coming months are,
we should note that the peace process is a historic benchmark for
Turkish democracy. One leg of these talks is in Kandil. The indicator
of this is the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) delegations shuttling
between İmralı and Kandil. The laying down of arms of the PKK is the
most critical condition of the peace process, but these developments
across our borders are making this condition more difficult.

Well, this is the essential issue. Replies expected to come from
Kandil in the coming days will make this situation clearer.

Well, would Turkey go into a war over Mosul and Kirkuk? No, I
don’t think so. But this war would keep on going at our door, at
our threshold. Well, when did we have a peaceful door, anyway? The
Iran-Iraq war, the Israel-Syria war, the Azerbaijan-Armenia war, the
blood of the brothers we have been shedding domestically for 30 years,
Kardak, the continental shelf and Cyprus, the civil war in Syria and
1.5 million refugees in our country…

Look at this history and geography… It is full of bloodshed…

We are already in a war, our neck is bleeding…

February/24/2015

TERM OF ARREST OF ARIF YUNUS EXTENDED FOR FIVE MONTHS

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
February 23, 2015 Monday

Baku / 23.01.15 / Turan: Today the Nasimi court extended for another
5 months – until August 5, 2015, the term of arrest of the conflict
researcher Arif Yunus accused of high treason.

Turan was told by the lawyer Afghan Mammadov. He said the court’s
decision is unreasonable. The defense intends to file an appeal. He
also noted that Yunus refuses to testify.

Yunus was arrested on August 5, 2014, a week after the arrest of his
wife, human rights activist Leyla Yunus. The couple is accused of
espionage in favor of Armenia. However, they reject the allegations
and find them far-fetched and politically motivated.

Amnesty International recognized them as “prisoners of conscience”.

From: A. Papazian