Author: Babajanian Karo

URUGUAY : RECONNAISSANCE DU NAGORNO-KARABAGH

Collectif VAN

14-09-2011

Vendredi dernier, le chef de la diplomatie uruguayenne a annonce que
l’Uruguay envisageait de reconnaître la Republique du Haut-Karabagh. ”
Je suis personnellement convaincu que le Haut-Karabagh fait partie de
l’Armenie historique, qu’il doit etre independant et bientôt rattache
a l’Armenie. C’est la seule solution au problème de l’Artsakh “,
a declare Luis Almagro.

Rappelons que l’Uruguay a ete le premier pays a reconnaître
officiellement le genocide armenien en 1965. Le Collectif Van vous
livre la traduction de cet article en anglais paru sur le site
Asbarez.com le 9 septembre.

Legende photo : Luis Almagro, le ministre des Affaires etrangères
de l’Uruguay

L’Uruguay pourrait reconnaître la Republique du Nagorno-Karabagh

Asbarez

Vendredi 9 septembre 2011 |

MONTEVIDEO – Vendredi, dans une annonce sans precedent, le ministre
des Affaires etrangères de l’Uruguay, Luis Almagro, a dit que son
gouvernement avait entame le processus d’annonce officielle sur le
statut du Haut-Karabagh.

” Nous examinons aujourd’hui la question [du Haut-Karabagh] afin
de presenter la position gouvernementale officielle sur ce sujet
“, a declare Almagro. ” Je suis personnellement convaincu que le
Haut-Karabagh fait partie de l’Armenie historique, qu’il doit etre
independant et bientôt rattache a l’Armenie. C’est la seule solution
au problème de l’Artsakh. ”

Almagro s’est exprime dans la capitale de l’Uruguay, lors d’une
conference organisee par le Comite National Armenien d’Amerique
du Sud et le groupe parlementaire Uruguay-Armenie, pour marquer le
20ème anniversaire de l’Independance de l’Armenie, et souligner les
relations Uruguay-Armenie.

Le chef de la faction parlementaire de la Federation Revolutionnaire
Armenienne, Vahan Hovannesian, a salue la declaration d’Almagro,
qu’il a qualifie de declaration sans precedent.

” Pour la première fois, un pays progressif et democratique comme
l’Uruguay exprime officiellement une position qui reflète celle des
forces politiques dirigeantes “, a dit Hovannesian, qui a cependant
affirme que le processus prendrait un certain temps.

©Traduction de l’anglais C.Gardon pour le Collectif VAN – 14 septembre
2011 – 07:10 –

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : Asbarez

EUCOM, USACE TEAM UP TO DELIVER KINDERGARTEN TO ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

States News Service
September 12, 2011 Monday

The following information was released by the United States European
Command:

By Rachel Goodspeed, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District

It has been 53 years since the tragic flight and crash of a U.S. Air
Force C-130 just north of here in Armenia.

Since Sept. 2, 1958, the people of this small, rural village have
commemorated the memory of the 17 U.S. Airmen who died that day,
said Aragatsotn province Governor Sargis Sahakyan.

Following a solemn memorial with the local community, U.S. and
Armenian officials gathered together at the local kindergarten
for a ribbon-cutting ceremony opening its newly-renovated doors to
Sasnashen’s children.

“Three years ago, we asked the mayor if there were any issues we might
be able to assist him with,” said Col. D. Peter Helmlinger, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers Europe District commander. “His immediate response
was, ‘We need better school conditions for our children.'”

And better school conditions he got. The $425,000 renovation project,
funded by the U.S. European Command and managed by the USACE Europe
District in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy Office of Defense
Cooperation, provided a complete overhaul to kindergarten. The Armenian
branch of World Vision International provided all new furnishings
for the kindergarten.

“It’s a big celebration for our community today — we are opening the
kindergarten,” said Sasnashen Mayor Andranik Shomyan. “Traditionally,
our community has had a high level of education. Now that we have
these new facilities, I believe that the quality of education will
get even better.”

And quality education is something both countries have strived to
deliver to their communities, Helmlinger said.

“This village is no different than any other village or town in the
world,” he said. “All parents place a high importance on education
for their children. We are happy to support your community in your
efforts to provide a brighter future for your children.”

As Helmlinger handed over a traditional USACE key plaque to commemorate
the occasion, he also thanked Shomyan for his efforts in bringing
the project to fruition.

“Thank you for your strong support,” he said. “We were able to
procure the money for this renovation, but without your hard work
and dedication, this project would never have happened.”

It was in 2009 on the 51st anniversary of the tragedy that the ODC
announced the funding to repair and refurbish Sasnashen’s kindergarten.

“Completion of this Office of Defense Cooperation repair project will
help show our appreciation to the villagers who have continued to
bring honor to the memory of those servicemen who perished here in
the line of duty over 50 years ago,” said then-Defense Attache Lt. Col.

Robert Webster.

Additionally, the kindergarten provided more than just an educational
facility to the local community. The project also provided an
opportunity for local contractors to become familiar with U.S.

construction procedures and U.S. military members to learn Armenia’s
processes, Helmlinger said.

“[This project] provided job for members of the community and a
unique opportunity for U.S. military forces to become acquainted
with local construction procedures,” he said. “This not only improves
construction techniques on this project, but on all future projects
with [the contractor] CESCO.”

Including the kindergarten, so far roughly $1.2 million has been
invested in the country’s health and educational facilities this year.

According to the ODC, this investment by the Defense Department
improves the lives of Armenians through access to better health care
and education, which in turn leads to a stronger partnership.

“Thanks to all of our guests,” Shomyan said to the U.S. delegation.

“The doors of my house are always open. We are ready to welcome you
any year, any time. Our relationship is to the point where we owe
that respect towards each other. Thank you very much.”

REPORT: ISRAEL NO LONGER ‘FRIEND’ FOR TURKEY’S F-16S, WARSHIPS

Today’s Zaman
Sept 13 2011
Turkey

A Turkish Air Force F-16 jet fighter prepares to take off from an
air base in the central anatolian city of Konya in this April 28,
2010 file photo. (Photo: Reuters)

Turkey’s Military Electronics Industry (ASELSAN) has produced a new
identification friend or foe (IFF) system for Turkish jet fighters,
warships and submarines and the new software, contrary to the older,
US-made version, does not automatically identify Israeli planes and
ships as friends, a news report said on Tuesday.

The new IFF has already been installed in Turkish F-16s and is expected
to be installed in all Navy ships and submarines, the report, published
in Turkish daily Star, said. It will be fully operational when it is
installed in all military planes, warships and submarines.

The F-16 jet fighters, purchased from the US, came with pre-installed
IFF software that automatically identifies Israeli fighters and
warships as friends, disabling Turkish F-16s from targeting Israeli
planes or ships. ASELSAN-made IFF will allow Turkish military
commanders to identify friends and foes on the basis of national
considerations.

Turkey was unable to make modifications to the friend or foe
identification codes in US-made F-16s, while Israel was given a
different version of the software allowing Israeli authorities to
make modifications. Israel was also authorized to view the version
given to Turkey, according to Star.

The report comes amid a severe crisis in ties with former ally Israel.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan set the stage for a possible naval
confrontation with Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying last
week that Turkish military ships will escort civilian ships carrying
aid to Gaza, under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

A news report on Monday said three frigates were to be sent to the
Eastern Mediterranean to protect aid ships from a possible interception
by Israeli warships. The frigates, according to the report, will get
as close as 100 meter to any Israeli military ship if those ships
are outside of Israeli territorial waters.

Star also suggested that the new IFF system could be linked to a
series of suspicious suicides in ASELSAN. Three ASELSAN engineers
committed suicide in 2006 and 2007, but the media speculated that the
engineers might have been murdered given the families’ testimonies
that the suicides seem to come out of the blue with no warning signs.

The report added that all three engineers had worked on the new IFF
system to be used for F-16 fighters.

OSCE PA MUST DEMONSTRATE OBJECTIVE POSITION ON KARABAKH CONFLICT – MP

news.az
Sept 13 2011
Azerbaijan

‘Azerbaijani delegation will actively participate in the autumn
session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA).

This organization must demonstrate an objective position on the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict’, Azerbaijani Parliament’s Committee Chairman,
member of Azerbaijani delegation to OSCE PA Eldar Ibrahimov told
YAP’s official website.

Ibrahimov reminded that some prestigious international organizations
adopted documents on Nagorno Karabakh problem. According to him,
these documents are the factors, which were strengthening Azerbaijan’s
position in the negotiations process:

‘Unfortunately, OSCE PA hasn’t adopted any document on
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Being a delegation, we consider
the adoption of such document important, because OSCE has been
conducting for many years a mediatory mission towards settlement
of Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I consider that
new special representative of the OSCE PA Joao Soares will show an
objective position in his activity.’

RELIGIOUS CEREMONY HELD AT ARMENIAN CHURCH IN EASTERN TURKEY

Xinhua General News Service
September 11, 2011 Sunday 6:10 AM EST
China

A religious ceremony began at the Akdamar Church on Akdamar island
in Lake Van in eastern Turkey on Sunday morning, the semi-official
Anatolia news agency reported.

The ceremony is led by Turkish Armenian Patriarchate’s Archbishop Aram
Atesyan, said the report, adding that the income received from the sale
of candles at the church will be donated to famine stricken Somalia.

The church, built by Architect Bishop Manuel during the years of
915-921 A.D. under the supervision of King Gagik I, has received
more than 30,000 tourists during the first seven months of the year,
Turkish tourism officials were quoted as saying, adding that they
expected the number of tourists visiting the church would reach 60,000
by the end of 2011, when another religious ceremony will be hosted.

The church remained as a part of a monastic complex until the beginning
of the 20th century. It was abandoned during the World War I and left
in a bad condition for many years.

Turkish authorities restored the church during the years of 2005-2007
and opened it as a museum. It hosted a religious ceremony for the
first time after 95 years in September 2010.

FM DAVUTOGLU RETURNS TO THE DRAWING BOARD

Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 12 2011
Turkey

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s “zero problems with neighbors”
policy was based on a well-intentioned attempt at surrounding Turkey
with an “arc of friendship” by using Ankara’s “soft power,” which
was considered to be increasing in line with its growing political,
strategic, and economic strength. Turkey would thus not only contribute
to overall stability in a volatile region, but also help solve disputes
between countries and/or groups as an impartial mediator.

The 2009 attempt at starting diplomatic relations with Armenia appeared
to be a highlight of this policy, and was taken as a sure sign that
Turkey was indeed determined to surround itself with “an arc of
friendship” regardless of how problematic ties with some neighbors
may be.

The attempt with Armenia went awry of course, as we know now.

In the meantime there was much cozying up to Syria and Iran, especially
since Davutoglu became foreign minister in 2009, which appeared to show
that the “zero problems” policy was providing visible results. But
as has been said in this column in the past, that policy was very
much predicated on the status quo in the Middle East continuing. The
idea was that the region would “evolve” with guidance from Turkey,
toward democratic societies based on a liberal economic outlook.

Never was it considered that revolution would break out in the Middle
East and North Africa, thus upsetting plans that looked great on
paper. Meanwhile ties with Israel hit a hard rock, upsetting what
appeared, for all the difficulties in the past, to be a relationship
based on a cold-blooded pragmatism that served mutual interests.

Ties with Syria and Iran, on the other hand, did not developed the way
the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, wanted, while the unsolved
Cyprus problem has once again raised the specter of a new confrontation
in the eastern Mediterranean Sea due to Greek Cypriot plans to search
for offshore gas by overlooking the rights of Turkish Cypriots.

The bottom line is that from aspiring to having zero problems with
neighbors, Turkey has today surrounded itself with problems with all
of its key neighbors, and other countries in the region. Ties with
Israel are all but broken, dialogue with Syria is all but non-existent,
and the extremely warm atmosphere between Tehran and Ankara of only
a year ago has all but dissipated due to serious differences over
Syria, as well as Turkey’s decision to participate in NATO’s missile
defense shield.

In addition to this, ties between Ankara and Baghdad, as well as
Ankara and Arbil, are again being overshadowed by Turkish military
incursions into northern Iraq in pursuit of PKK terrorists, which
appears set to continue for the foreseeable future. As for ties with
Armenia, they are not going anywhere.

Turkey’s angry – some may say bellicose – tone today, especially in
its warnings to Israel and Greek Cypriots, also indicates a shift
from “soft power” to a traditional flexing of military muscles to
protect the national interests. Turkey cannot be faulted, of course,
for the unexpected developments in the region. No one, after all,
foresaw the advent of the Arab Spring.

The problem however is that Ankara was so set on pursuing its one
track line that it did not factor in the “unexpected,” which should
be part and parcel of foreign policy administration, especially in
terms of anything to do with the Middle East where the ground is
always slippery. Put another way, the AKP was not fully in touch with
regional realities, instead captivated by its own image.

Today Mr. Davutoglu will have to develop a new approach to foreign
policy given the set of new problems Turkey faces with its neighbors.

Turkey may also need mediation in some of the disputes it has, which
is a far cry from the heady days when Ankara was ready to mediate in
every regional dispute.

One thing in all this is becoming increasingly clear. It is back to
the drawing board for Foreign Minister Davutoglu.

BELARUS DEVELOPS TRADE PARTNERSHIP WITH ARMENIA – PRESIDENT

news.am
Sept 12 2011
Armenia

MINSK. – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko believes that
relations between Belarus and Armenia are dynamically developing.

However, there is still some roughness.

“Political cooperation is on high level, as we are members of the same
military CSTO block. There are still some issues, and we should solve
them in future and build strong relations in international arena,”
Lukashenko said at the meeting with the Armenian FM Edward Nalbandyan,
AFN.by reports.

The president emphasized that the two states have overcome much to
bring bilateral trade-economic relations on a higher level.

Armenian FM stated that in the framework of his current visit to
Belarus he plans to discuss issues of regional and international
importance and bilateral relations.

Belarusian and Armenian FMs plan to sign a plan for 2011-2012
cooperation.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

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Dear fellow Armenians,

Human resources is the indicator of a nation’s or community’s inner power
and creative mind and a guarantor of its bright future. The Armenian
Diaspora is rich with human resources. It is vitally important that we get a
clear, accurate and comprehensive information about our human resources in
the Diaspora. Indeed, “Information is power; and the power of knowledge and
information becomes a source of deeper self-understanding and
self-affirmation” according to His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia.

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia has initiated a program aimed at
gathering information about our human resources in the Diaspora. By human
resources we basically mean: community leaders, clergy, economists, people
of media, writers, politicians, artists, public figures, medical doctors,
teachers, university lecturers, businessmen, and generally specialists in
the area of science and technology, etc. This initiative has the full
support of His Holiness.
Thus, we kindly ask you to fill in the Form
() and submit it to the Catholicosate,
Antelias, Lebanon. We also ask you to forward this e-mail (with the link
) to your friends.

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ARMENIAN CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA

ARMENIAN AMERICANS SAY RICCIARDONE WRONG CHOICE FOR ANKARA POST

news.am
Sept 12 2011
Armenia

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has encouraged
Armenian Americans to contact their legislators to express their
opposition to Amb. Ricciardone’s confirmation.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey nominee Francis Ricciardone, through errors
of fact and bias in his responses to Senate inquiries, has proven to
be the wrong candidate to continue his posting as U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey, ANCA says in a statement.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to vote on his
nomination on Tuesday September 13th. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
nominee John Heffern will also be considered that day, in addition
to several other nominations.

ANCA recalls that in a written response to questions submitted to
him by Senator Robert Menendez, Amb. Ricciardone made the patently
incorrect claim that “most of the Christian churches functioning
[on the territory of present-day Turkey] prior to 1915 are still
operating as churches.”

Responding to a wave of grassroots outrage and growing Congressional
concern, Ambassador Ricciardone backed away from his most obvious and
offensive misrepresentations about Turkey’s destruction of Christian
churches, but sparked renewed controversy by artificially inflating
the number of currently operating Christian houses of worship, and
again using strained euphemisms to help Ankara escape responsibility
for its crimes.

IRANIAN-AZERBAIJANI POET IN TURKEY SAYS IRAN WOULD EXECUTE HIM FOR HIS WRITINGS ABOUT ARMENIA

news.am
Sept 12 2011
Armenia

ISTANBUL. – Turkish Yeni Þafak daily published an article about an
Iranian-Azerbaijani poet, a certain Habib, who allegedly escaped
from Iran because he would be sentenced to death for his poems about
Karabakh. Translation from the excerpts of this article is as follows:

Because of Iran’s close relations with Armenia and his Azerbaijani
identity, the Iranian-Azerbaijani Habib was persecuted, and he
voluntarily came to Istanbul for saying things that are prohibited in
Iran. The penalty for saying such things is death. He is a 33-year-old
poet and activist. He has left his homeland in order not to go to
jail and not to remain silent, and has chosen to live in Turkey.

“Because of Iran’s relations with Armenia, we cannot criticize what
Armenia has done to us. If they find my poems in Iran, I would be
executed,” Habib says. So, he came to Istanbul to speak more freely,
compile his poems in a book, and enroll into university. “Our
newspapers, television channels, and books are in Farsi; they do
not allow us to read and write in Turkish. Being 55 percent of the
population, we have a right to read and write in our language,”
Habib says.

He also says this is because they wish to obstruct the Turks from
getting stronger in Iran. “The Azerbaijani nation had a great empire
800 years ago, but now they are separated it into pieces. The
world does not want for the Turkish nations to unite. Since the
world realized our might, they separated us into pieces and are
trying to control us. The Communists took over Karabakh, each and
every Azerbaijani went to different places, and they think that if
the Azerbaijanis unite, they could restore their strength from 800
years ago.”

Habib also says the Azerbaijanis are oppressed in Iran. “They write
bad things about us in papers, present us as immoral, and do not
respect our ideas.”