Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERBAIJANI STUDENTS MAKE STATEMENT AGAINST LIES SPREAD BY ARMENIAN STUDENTS
M.Aliyev

Trend
Sept 20 2010
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Students Union (ASU) issued a statement against the lies
spread by the Council of Armenian students, ASU told Trend on Monday.

Last week the Council of Yerevan State University sent a letter of
protest to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of
State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, OSCE Secretary General
Marc Perrin de Brichambaut and OSCE Yerevan office that as though
Azerbaijan pursues aggressive policy towards Nagorno-Karabakh and
creates obstacles for security in the region.

“The fact that the Armenian students called Azerbaijan as an occupier
country, the allegation that the ceasefire on the front line is broken
by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, etc. are baseless. As a result of
monitoring conducted on the frontline by special representatives of
the OSCE, the facts were found that the ceasefire regime is broken by
the Armenian troops. The UN and other international organizations’
recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan is an undeniable
fact. Statements made by the Armenian students turn the world community
to mislead,” ASU statement said.

The statement, which expresses protest against the lies spread by the
Armenians, requires to combat such actions. In order to prevent similar
events in the future, ASU calls upon active students to combine their
efforts in addressing these issues.

The statement will be sent to international organizations, embassies
and the OSCE Office in Baku. Also this statement will be sent to the
student council of Yerevan State University, active student and youth
organizations of Armenia.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI WOMEN TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE IN TBILISI ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
N. Kirtskhalia

Trend
Sept 20 2010
Azerbaijan

Armenian and Azerbaijani women from both sides of the longstanding
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the Caucusus nations will hold a
press conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, on the International Day of
Peace on Tuesday.

The event, taking place with the support of the United Nations
Development Fund for Women and Belgian Senator Dominic Tillman, will
be held Sept. 21 in Tbilisi’s Betsy Hotel at 4pm, its organizers
told Trend.

The press conference addresses peace talks held in Georgia between
the Armenian and Azerbaijani women upon initiative and with the
assistance of the Belgian senator. The first such meeting was held
on May 4-5 in Brussels.

The meetings have addressed Armenian and Azerbaijani women’s role in
the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict and the prospects
of implementing UN Security Council’s Resolution 1325 “On women,
peace and security” in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

This resolution underlines the importance of the participation of women
in all stages of restoring confidence and resolving the conflict. The
resolution was adopted Oct. 31, 2000.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES OWE EXISTENCE TO LOST INDEPENDENCE, ANM REP SAYS

news.am
Sept 20 2010
Armenia

The Armenian authorities owe their existence to the country’s lost
independence, Aram Manukyan, Board Chairman, Armenian National Movement
(ANM), told a press conference.

According to him, Armenia’s positions in the international arena are
not so strong as before, and its sovereignty is in danger. Major
evidence thereof is emigration. “Any independence is out of the
question when massive emigration is tasking place. When there was
war, hunger and cold, it could be understood. Now people have all
that they did not have then, but emigration is growing,” Manukyan said.

Pointing out psychological factors, he called the Armenian people
defenseless and unsure of its future. The Armenian people is displeased
with the “thickheads” ruling over the country and with the “botchers”
sitting in Parliament. “What this country lacks is universal laws and
democracy. Instead we have political prisoners – people who struggled
for Armenia’s independence,” Manukyan said.

Speaking of Armenia’s image, he said it has been tarnished over the
past decade. “Armenia has registered a 40% decline in all the fields –
democracy, human rights, small and medium business development. The
country ranked 75th to 90th among the world countries, whereas it is
125th-130th now,” Manukyan said. According to him, the unfavorable
dynamics indicated in all international reports on Armenia is among
the factors undermining the country’s independence, he said.

From: A. Papazian

START OF SCHOOL YEAR CREATES TRAFFIC JAMS IN TURKEY’S BIG CITIES

Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 20 2010
Turkey

Crowds fill metrobuses and metrobus stations as the new school year
starts in Turkey.

With some 16 million students and 600,000 teachers returning to
schools to start the new academic year, traffic was congested Monday in
Turkeyâ~@~Ys big cities despite measures to boost public-transportation
ridership.

Traffic jams were common in Istanbul, where around 3 million students
and 13,000 school buses headed to 3,500 preschools, primary schools and
high schools around the city, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday.

In Ankara, resurfacing work on the cityâ~@~Ys two main arteries caused
serious gridlock across town as lines of cars extended for kilometers
in every direction. The mayor called off the construction work for the
day and brought in extra traffic police to try to ease the situation.

Rush to Istanbulâ~@~Ys free Metrobus

In an effort to help relieve congestion, the Istanbul Metropolitan
Municipality offered free rides on the cityâ~@~Ys Metrobus system
Monday morning, a move that led to long lines and heavy traffic in
the Metrobus-only lanes, the DoÄ~_an news agency reported.

The commuter traffic caused approximately 50 Metrobuses to sit bumper
to bumper between Ã~GaÄ~_layan and Zincirlikuyu. Would-be riders
crowded Metrobus stops and were often left to wait even longer as
some of the buses arrived full and would not take on any additional
passengers.

Despite the long waits, some commuters at the stops said they were
pleased with the free service, while others who grew tired of waiting,
especially in the Mecidiyeköy area, decided to walk instead.

The free Metrobus rides lasted from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Istanbul municipality also offered free rides on other forms of
public transportation, including the buses, tramway, city ferries
and metro run by the Istanbul Public Transport Authority, or Ä°ETT,
and the Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc., or Ä°DO.

Ankara crawls to school

The start of the school year combined with extensive roadwork resulted
in severe traffic congestion in Ankara on Monday.

Many people were late for work as cars piled up in front of schools
while parents dropped off their children. Adding to the traffic jam
were tough road conditions due to the repaving of asphalt on major
streets.

Mayor Melih Gökçek stopped the construction work on the main
arteries of the city, the EskiÅ~_ehir and Konya roads, to alleviate
the congestion. Traffic police also worked overtime to ease the flow
of vehicles at key points in the city, especially near schools.

The construction was ongoing because the asphalt being used
to resurface the roads can only be applied in specific weather
conditions. The temperature must be over 20 degrees Celsius, reducing
construction hours to between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

While the special asphalt dries quicker, the roads were left stripped
of the old asphalt, and the unpaved gravel roads contributed to the
slow traffic. The newly asphalted roads will last four to six times
longer than the old ones.

New school year figures

Around the country, 1,226,000 students will start primary school for
the first time this year; these students will have free time for four
or five hours a day in order to get used to going to school, CNNTürk
reported on its website Monday. In addition, the number of provinces
where preschool education is compulsory has been increased from 32
to 57, boosting the number of kids enrolled in preschool education
from 980,000 to 1,100,000.

With the coming of the new school year, the Education Ministry
has distributed a total of 193,925,000 textbooks free-of-charge to
students, including texts in Armenian for students who are Turkish
citizens of Armenian origin.

Across Turkey, there are 26,681 preschools, 33,310 primary schools
and 8,913 high schools. The first half of 2010-2011 academic year will
end Jan. 28, 2011. The second half will begin Feb. 14, 2011, and end
June 17, 2011. The 2011-2012 education year will start Sept. 12, 2011.

From: A. Papazian

NEARLY 100 YEARS ON, A STEP FORWARD FOR ARMENIANS AND TURKS

Sydney Morning Herald
Sept 21 2010
Australia

AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey: A service at a historic church in eastern
Turkey underscored both the desire for reconciliation between Turks
and Armenians and the hurdles that remain nearly a century after a
violent massacre of Armenians.

It was the first service held in the 1100-year-old Armenian Church of
the Holy Cross since 1915, when a wave of violence largely destroyed
one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East.

Many Armenians in the diaspora and neighbouring Armenia boycotted and
denounced Sunday’s service on Akdamar Island after Turkish authorities
did not allow a cross to be raised on the church dome, allowing it
to be placed on church grounds nearby instead.

Advertisement: Story continues belowStill, hundreds of Armenian
pilgrims attended, many from the large Armenian community in Istanbul,
but also from Iran, Germany, France and the US.

“This church, which is a valuable piece of art, is a cultural monument
that belongs to the whole of humanity,” said Archbishop Aram Atesyan
of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey during his service, according
to Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia News Agency.

The government of the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has
strived to reach out to Armenians in an effort to smooth Turkey’s
path towards the European Union.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY’S AIM TO ENSURE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY

news.am
Sept 20 2010
Armenia

It is a pleasure to know that a liturgy was conducted at an ancient
Armenian church, but it is also upsetting that it was done for the
exclusive purposes of Turkish propaganda, Armen Martirosyan, an MP of
the Heritage Party, told a September 20 press conference, commenting
on the liturgy in Surb Khach church on Akhtamar Island, Van, Turkey.

According to him, the Turkish Government’s gesture was not aimed
improving Turkish-Armenian relations. The main aim was to ensure
Turkish diplomatic activity in the international arena and getting a
peacemaker’s status. “The absence of a cross on the dome of the church
proves that, at the highest diplomatic level, Turkish diplomats, being
well aware of Turkey’s benefits, are regularly trying to take advantage
of any trifle and score a triumph in international processes related
to the Armenian Cause. The sooner the authorities properly assess the
situation and draw necessary conclusions the better,” Martirosyan said.

As to how well Turkey succeeded in carrying out its plans concerning
Surb Khach church, Martirosyan said: “If the sides sit down at the
diplomatic table, Turks will say a liturgy has been conducted at the
Armenian church, whereas the Armenian side did not take part in it for
some reasons. Nevertheless, the liturgy will be viewed as a positive
fact. May be Turkey failed to succeed one hundred per cent, which,
however, does not mean that it has not obtained benefits from this
process. Turkey’s benefit is minimal, but it will use it as a trump
card in international processes.”

According to Martirosyan, the subject of Surb Khach church on
Akhatamar Island has not yet been exhausted, as it is part of the
Armenian-Turkish process. The issue is most likely to be considered
settled after the Turkish authorities install a cross atop the church
for it to serve its purpose.

From: A. Papazian

“This is a museum. Prayer is illegal in here:” Turkish guard warns
Austrian priest in Sourb Khach

13:12 – 19.09.10

A CNN reporter witnessed something extraordinary as he was preparing a
reporting about today’s mass to be served in Sourb Khach Church (Saint
Cross) on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van, Eastern Turkey.

`Inside, a man was seated barefoot in lotus position on the floor,
singing. His voice echoed off vaulted ceilings decorated with
hand-drawn icons painted cobalt blue and charcoal black,’ writes Ivan
Watson, adding that an embarrassed Turkish security guard approached
and interrupted.

“This is a museum. Prayer is illegal in here,” the guard explained.
“Even if someone comes and reads a poem out loud, even if a Muslim
prays here, we have to stop them,” said he and offered the man a
candle, and directed him towards a dark alcove in the church where
visitors were invited to light candles.

The singer turned out to be Father Anno Schulte-Herbruggen, a visiting
Catholic priest from Austria.”At least they cannot forbid me to pray
silently,” Father Anno later said.

Further Ivan Watson mentions that an ethnic Kurd visitor from
Switzerland expressed his admiration about the church and the site.

“This place is really wonderful! It’s a church and we are Muslims…
so its interesting,” he quotes Dilan Bal as saying.

Bal and several other friends from Europe had been performing
impromptu folk dances inside the church. They were among the day’s
handful of visitors to Akhtamar.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

RMC.fr Radio MonteCarlo
Sept 16 2010

Docteur David et Mister Nalbandian

Parfois montré du doigt, David Nalbandian est depuis de nombreuses
années le pilier de l’équipe argentine de l’équipe de Coupe Davis. Le
personnage fait débat. Il s’en fiche royalement !

David Nalbandian n’est pas homme à s’épancher dans la presse. Très
discret sur sa vie privée, il limite au maximum les rencontres avec
les journalistes argentins. Quant aux entretiens avec les médias
étrangers, ils n’apparaissent même pas dans son agenda. Absent des
magazines, Nalbandian est décrit par ses proches comme un homme
humble, pas méchant, très proche de sa famille. Loin de la fureur de
Buenos Aires, ce petit-fils d’Arménien se plait dans la quiétude.
Alors quand la folie argentine s’empare de Lyon, le joueur de 28 ans
redouble de vigilance. « Il y a du changement entre le Nalbandian du
terrain et celui en conférence de presse, plaide Diego Gomez,
l’attaché de presse de la Fédération. Il est très intelligent et pense
déjà aux questions des journalistes. Il doit quand même faire preuve
de diplomatie. Son intelligence va parfois plus vite que celle des
journalistes. »
Jamais vainqueur d’un Grand Chelem, souvent blessé, accusant de façon
structurelle un embonpoint étonnant à ce niveau, le grand blond se
plait à jouer les trouble-fêtes en Coupe Davis. En 31 rencontres,
l’ancien numéro 3 mondial n’en a perdu que neuf. « Il compare souvent
le tennis au football, parle souvent de son drapeau, témoigne Jorge
Viale, journaliste chez ESPN. Il est très excité à l’idée de jouer
pour son pays. Il a réalisé ses meilleures performances en Coupe
Davis. Quand il est motivé, il peut battre tout le monde. »
Comme par exemple sortir les numéros 1, 2 et 3 mondiaux à Madrid en
2007 ou encore stopper une série de 25 victoires de rang de Rafael
Nadal à Bercy, toujours en 2007. Alors forcément, dans le clan
français, on se méfie. « David revient à son meilleur niveau. Il adore
la Coupe Davis. C’est un moment de sa vie où il joue son meilleur
tennis », lche Monfils qui le retrouvera dès ce vendredi.
Modesto Vasquez va encore plus loin. « Dans l’histoire du tennis
argentin, trois joueurs ont marqué la Coupe Davis. Le premier est
Enrique Morea (ndlr : président de la Fédération argentine et
demi-finaliste à Roland-Garros en 1953 et 1954), le deuxième est
Guillermo Vilas et le troisième, David Nalbandian », lche le
capitaine sud-américain. Nalbandian ne s’occupe donc pas des avis des
uns et des autres. Comme lorsqu’il est le seul joueur à ne pas se
présenter lors d’un point presse organisé à l’improviste par la
Fédération de son pays ou quand il répond aux journalistes qu’en ne
lchant que un ou deux mots. Lui préfère taper dans la balle ou défier
les Français au tennis-ballon. Toujours avec le sourire et surtout
bien plus bavard.

From: A. Papazian

Felling in Gougark forest acquires a scandalous nature

2010-09-14 14:38:00

ArmInfo. The situation with felling in Gougark forest acquires a
scandalous nature like confrontation between green activists and
authorities, Ecolur reported.

Late in August youth green movement activists disseminated information
and photos in the press on wide- scale felling in Gougark forestry
enterprise near “Lori” Rest House where trucks with and without number
plates are taking away timber.

Inspection and supervisory bodies also got involved in this matter,
but check results didn’t satisfy eye- witness Vahe Vardoumyan who
submitted certain proof: more trees have been cut down than the State
Environmental Inspection of the Ministry of Nature Protection has
recorded.

Center for Forest Monitoring invited the activists to conduct in that
particular area. Henceforth almost a detective story begins. On 9
September, at about 21:30, youth green movement activist Mariam
Sukhudyan phoned EcoLur who said they were left not only without
people who accompanied them, but also without car with their
equipment, documents and money in the forest. She also said, the
police showed up there and pressure was exercised both on activists
and journalists: the main aim was to make activists hide the factual
scale of felling. According to Mariam, they had detected 116 cut down
trees, and, as a matter of fact, the number of these trees is more,
just neighbouring territories should be examined as well.

EcoLur contacted with the Center for Forest Monitoring, where we were
assured “everything will be o.k.” After an hour we phoned and the
center representative tuned out to be with activists.

Judging by the fact that on 10 September activists publicized the
incident, they didn’t manage to come to an agreement.

One question is left: why it was necessary to involve activists in the
joint monitoring, if they actually needed to hide the felling scale,
whether the pressure exercised was unauthorized activity at local
level, or it was an order given from above. As a matter of fact, one
thing is clear: public got focused on forest, and in this situation we
should do our best not to allow the forest to become token money and
to preserve the forest as one of the most valuable natural resources
which we have been destroying successively for almost 20 years, Ecolur
reported.

From: A. Papazian

Does the Moscow-Ankara-Rome Axis Stand a Chance?

WORLD | GULEVICH Vladislav (Ukraine) | 13.09.2010 | 20:42

Italy Russia Turkey

Turkey dropped Russia from its list of potentially threatening
countries.Largely due to its support for the Kurdish resistance, the
list used to include the USSR and subsequently Russia. As a country
from the US orbit, Turkey was somewhat slow to assess the geopolitical
landscape of the emerging multipolar world, but over the past several
years Ankara started showing increasing interest in Moscow.

Historically, Turkey is a key power in the Mediterranean region which
has for centuries been the scene of geopolitical rivalry. The
Mediterranean Sea is a strategic hub from which control can be
exercised over the coasts of three continents – Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Great Britain, for example, gained a stable position in the
Gibraltar and turned it into a NATO base, thus securing its grip on
the link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The
permanent presence of the US Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and a
network of 11 US military bases scattered over Spain, Portugal, Italy,
and Turkey demonstrate how high the region ranks on the list of
Washington’s priorities.

Predictably, the US is not going to tolerate rivals in the
Mediterranean region even if they are its nominal allies. This
explains the character of the US relations with Turkey, a country
Washington is permanently attempting to subject to a kind of political
micromanagement. The main threat – that used to be posed by the USSR –
evaporated a long time ago, but things have not become any simpler for
Ankara. The US holds its Turkish partners on a short leash and allows
them minimal space for maneuvers in international politics. In the
Soviet era the fear of the USSR led Turkey to embrace the arrangement,
and the US used its territory to keep the southern part of the Soviet
Union at gunpoint. The situation began to change when the US launched
the Greater Middle East project which implies an overhaul of the
borders of the region’s countries including those in the proximity of
Turkey.

Upon toppling S. Hussein in Iraq, the US started reshaping the
oil-rich Iraqi Kurdistan, and the process echoed with legitimate
concern in Ankara. The possibility of independent Kurdish statehood in
northern Iraq which is openly discussed in the US political circles
worries Turkey where the Kurdish population of some 18-20 million
people might seek unification with their Iraqi brethren numbering
around 6 million.

The deployment of elements of the US missile defense in Romania, the
country competing against Turkey in the Mediterranean, also took a
toll on the relations between Ankara and Washington. Ankarais aware
that – absent the Soviet threat – the US no longer needs a strong
Turkey. The unequal partnership between the two countries continues to
exist but is already viewed skeptically by the Turkish elite.

Turkey has the potential to take a bigger role in the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea regions. The Turkish army with its more than 600,000
servicemen is the biggest one in Europe and second only to the US in
NATO in terms of manpower. Turkey has 4,200 tanks, 3,200 armored
vehicles, 750 aircrafts, 16 submarines, and a fairly strong navy. On
top of that, Turkey maintains its own impressive military-industrial
complex. The Turkish leadership is increasingly wary of accepting the
US political oversight and begging for the EU membership of which the
majority of Turkish politicians used to dream a short time ago. There
is growing concern in the Turkish society that shedding the country’s
identity – both Muslim and secular – would be the price to be paid for
admission to the EU. Turks are determined to take on the task of
preserving their cultural identity in the settings of Turkey’s secular
statehood and the ongoing globalization.

Turkey is not the only Mediterranean country resenting the US quest
for hegemony. Italy’s Institute of Geopolitical Studies suggested
officially that Rome reorient its regional politics doctrine so as to
take into account the rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara. Italy
is also interested in regional leadership (which only France could
potentially contest) but – hosting 7 US military bases – it clearly
lacks political autonomy from Washington. As a result, the US is
active in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe while Rome
routinely puts Italian political interests below Washington’s on its
own agenda. Italy seems unable to overcome the dependence on the US on
its own, but in this respect partnering Turkey might help seriously.
Of course, Rome will not allow its relations with Washington to turn
sour, but Rome no less than Ankara is considering the possibility of
refreshing its political priorities in the Mediterranean region.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was fully aware of the geopolitical potential of
the Ankara-Moscow axis and under his presidency Turkey was among the
first to recognize the Soviet Russia. Rebuilding the tradition,
especially given some positive signals from Rome, could tilt the
balance of forces in the Mediterranean.

From: A. Papazian