Month: September 2015

The International Hrant Dink Award will be presented for the seventh time on Hrant Dink’s birthday, September 15.

A boat has capsized off the coast of Turkey drowning at least twenty two migrants attempting to reach the shores of the Greek island of Kos, Euronews reports.

The Turkish Coastguard says it was able to rescue a further 200 people and bring them back to shore.

The group was reportedly attempting to cross the Aegean Sea when it went down near the Datcha peninsula, not far from Bodrum, where Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi’s body washed up two weeks ago.

Greece is on the frontline of the migration crisis sweeping Europe.

Member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Moscow-led security alliance of former-Soviet republics, signed an agreement on military contingent and cargo transportation, Serzh Sargsyan, the president of Armenia, said on Tuesday, TASS reports.

“An agreement was signed on cooperation in the sphere of transporting military contingent and moveable property as well as military-purpose products,” Sargsyan told journalists following the summit of the CSTO member states in Tajikistan.

The Armenian leader added that the CSTO members also decided to extend an agreement on the logistics and technical support of railways in the countries of the post-Soviet security bloc.

Member-states the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have approved a decision on introducing rotation of the post of the secretary general, CSTO chief Nikolay Bordyuzha said on Tuesday.

“It was considered useful to switch in the future to the rotation system of the general secretary’s post. The heads of states set the task to devise a respective draft decision by December and introduce changes to the legal basis and the CSTO Charter, what we will do now,” Bordyuzha said.

The Collective Security Treaty was signed in 1992 and the organization itself was set up 10 years later. Russia, which held the presidency in the CSTO, passed the rotating chair this year to Tajikistan.

The CSTO, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, regularly holds military drills on the territories of its member states.

Over its presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Armenia will pay special attention to the development of the peacekeeping component and strengthening of the CSTO defense, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Tuesday at an extended meeting of the CSTO summit, TASS reports.

“Such tasks as further improvement of control over the collective security system, including collective regional forces, promptness in taking and implementing decisions, holding joint drills, such as the Opyt-2016 (Experience) exercises due in Armenia, are coming to the fore,” he said. “Of great importance is joint effort to develop the system of CSTO crisis management.”

The Armenian President stressed that over his country’s presidency in the CSTO “big attention will be also paid to the organization’s peacekeeping component.” “It is time to set up a basic organization to train CSTO peacekeepers,” Sargsyan said. “We suggest the center for training Armenian army’s peacekeeping brigade be considered as a base for such organization.”

“Our efforts should be rooted in due account of joint liabilities and opinions of the partners,” the Armenian president stressed. “Another topical task is to expand CSTO’s cooperation with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).”

“The Armenian Presidency “will also focus on joint struggle against international terrorism and radicalism, neo-fascism, chauvinism and other expressions of xenophobia,” President Sargsyan told journalists following the summit of the CSTO member states in Tajikistan, President’s Press Office reported.

“In this context we attach importance to the intensification of joint efforts to tackle cybercrime,” the Armenian President said.

Armenia takes over presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization after today’s session of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

 

Stolen relics from Turkish-occupied north Cyprus went on exhibit today at the Byzantine Museum, Gibrahayer E-magazine reports.

Among them was a 14th century Armenian Gospel that was stolen by Turkish Cypriots in 1963 from Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in Victoria street.

The Church of Cyprus that 34 treasures that had been stolen from the island’s Turkish-occupied areas, returned to Cyprus following a decision by the Munich Court of Appeals, on March 16, in the case of Turkish art smuggler Aydin Dikmen.

Among the artifacts, 24 are Byzantine relics and some prehistoric antiquities coming mostly from the collection of Chr. Chatziprodromou, from Ayios Epiktitos Church. Among the Byzantine relics there are three pairs of bema doors (Monastery of Antiphonitis Christ, Virgin Mary Monastery in Kantara), wall paintings from the Monastery of Antiphonitis Christ, the church of Agia Solomoni in Coma tou Yialou and the Monastery of Panagia Apsinthiotissa in Sychari. Also the treasures include a hand written manuscript of 17th century (omilario) from the Monastery of the Panagia Trooditissa, and the hand written gospel of the Armenian community of Cyprus stolen during the Turkish mutiny in 1963.

The attempts of the Azerbaijani side to escalate the situation threaten to destabilize the situation in the region at large, should the international community fail to give a proper response, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told journalists following the summit of the CSTO member states in Tajikistan

Speaking at the session, President Sargsyan informed the heads of CSTO member states about the situation in the South Caucasus. He called attention to the escalation of tension at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has welcomed the election of Malcolm Turnbull as the new Prime Minister of Australia.

Turnbull challenged sitting Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, for their party’s (LIB) leadership in a spill that took place on Monday night in Parliament House. By winning the Liberal Party leadership, Turnbull immediately became Prime Minister-elect, and will be sworn in on Tuesday.

Turnbull, a long time friend of the Armenian-Australian community, has been a strong and vocal supporter of Armenian Genocide recognition by the Parliament of Australia. On 23 November 2013, in this capacity as Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband, he addressed the House of Representatives in an impassioned speech calling for the formal recognition of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides.

“They [ANC Australia Advocacy Week delegation] are assembled here, as we are, to lament what was one of the great crimes against humanity, not simply a crime against the Greeks, the Assyrians and the Armenians but a crime against humanity—the elimination, the execution, the murder of hundreds of thousands of millions of people for no reason other than that they were different. This type of crime, this sort of genocidal crime, is something that sadly is not unique in our experience,” Turnbull said.

He added: “We must own up to it. We must recognise it for what it is.”

He also called on the Republic of Turkey to acknowledge the genocidal crimes of their predecessors, the Ottoman Empire, to pave the way for reconciliation into the future, and live up to their multicultural past.

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Vache Kahramanian, wrote to the Prime Minister-elect congratulating him on his election as Australia’s 29^th Prime Minister.

“We welcome the election of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of Australia. His strong track record on Armenian related issues has been formidable and we look forward to continuing this strong relationship,” Kahramanian said.

“We also congratulate Tony Abbott on his service as Prime Minister Australia.”

ANC Australia has sought a meeting with the newly elected Prime Minister to discuss a wide range of issues important to the Armenian-Australian community.

Federal MP for Bennelong, John Alexander has delivered a blistering speech on the floor of Parliament after meeting with a visiting Azeri MP, condemning Azerbaijan’s ongoing disregard for human rights and peace in Nagorno Karabakh, the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) reports.

His statement was delivered following on from a meeting – in his capacity as Chair of the House Standing Committee on Economics – with Khanlar Fatiyev MP, who is visiting Australia as part of an official Azeri Parliamentary delegation.

After attacking Azerbaijan’s capture of human rights activists, Alexander said: “I also raised my strong concerns about Azerbaijan’s actions in the on-going dispute with Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has invested over $1 billion in armoured vehicles and artillery in the past few years, making a mockery of any supposed desire for peace in the region.”

He added: “As we commemorate the centenary of the commencement of the Armenian Genocide it is essential for us as community leaders to call out persecution, and to stress to trading partners like Azerbaijan the importance of protecting human rights and political freedoms for all.”

ANC Australia’s Executive Director, Vache Kahramanian remarked: “John Alexander today spoke truthfully and powerfully on the true character of Azerbaijan. That country has spent billions around the world in an attempt to showcase itself as a democracy but actions speak louder than words.”

“Australia is a country built on the rule of law and on the fundamental respect for human rights. Azerbaijan has continued to be a blatant violator of human rights, ranking poorly in global rankings for consecutive years. Its ongoing aggression towards Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have further added to its sorry state of affairs,” Kahramanian added.

“Mr. Alexander has had a long track record of setting the record straight in the Australian Parliament on such important matters. Australia has been well served by this distinguished leader who speaks openly and honestly on such important matters,” Kahramanian concluded.

Security forces in Egypt have mistakenly killed 12 people, including Mexican tourists, during an anti-terror operation, the interior ministry saysm, the BBC reports.

The tourists were travelling in four vehicles that entered a restricted zone in the Wahat area of the Western Desert, a ministry statement said.

Ten Mexicans and Egyptians were also injured and are being treated in a local hospital.

The ministry said it had formed a team to investigate the incident.

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto condemned the incident and said he had “demanded an exhaustive investigation by the Egyptian government”.

The Mexican foreign ministry confirmed that at least two of its nationals had been killed and said it was working to confirm the identities of the other victims.

In a statement, it said Mexico’s ambassador in Egypt, Jorge Alvarez Fuentes, had visited the local hospital and spoken to five Mexicans who were in a stable condition.