Author: Badalian Vardan

Karabakh conflict nears impermissible threshold – former EU official

NEWS.AM
October 15, 2012 | 14:23

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is drawing near the impermissible
threshold of tension, Peter Semneby, the former EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus and current Swedish Ambassador
to Afghanistan, told RFE/RL.

`The present situation has deteriorated a lot as compared with several
years ago; the risk is much higher. This is a conflict that should be
taken seriously. Europe should make serious efforts to peacefully
resolve the Karabakh conflict,’ Semneby said.

In his words, there is a great risk that each incident could bring the
situation out of control. `We observe incidents that may contribute to
the escalation of tension. Of course, this should cause a concern for
the conflicting parties in the first place, but the international
partners likewise must consider this situation because if something
happens in Nagorno-Karabakh, its consequences will affect the EU
countries as well,’ Peter Semneby noted.

Souren, Diagnosed with Leukemia, Needs Your Help!

!.html
14:13, October 15, 2012

Souren Aslamazyan had been serving at an Artsakh military unit until
he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Now the 24 year-old native of the Lori village of Darpas is fighting
for his life. The entire monthly income of his family is Souren’s
33,000 AMD ($81) disability pension.

The following bank account has been opened for those wishing to donate
in order that Souren can get the medical care he so desperately needs.

Areximbank – Vanadzor Branch – #23-800-27-17-28-40-100.

APA, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2012

Bill on so-called “Armenian genocide” submitted to Italian parliament

[ 13 Oct 2012 14:00 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementeva – APA. The bill on so-called “Armenian
genocide” has been submitted to Italian parliament.

The bill envisages April 24 as Remembrance Day of the victims of
so-called `Armenian genocide’ in Italy, said head of Italy-Armenia
Parliamentary Friendship Group. Sandra Chapman at the meeting with
speaker of the Armenian parliament Hovik Abrahamyan, APA reports
quoting Armenian press.

She further highly assessed Armenian people’s contribution to the
European culture, economy and other fields.

`It’s time for Europe to return to you what throughout history you
invested in Europe,’ she said.

BIAnet.org, Turkey
Oct 15 2012

`Forced Landing of Syrian Plane is a Legal But Hostile Act’

Turkish air force jets forced a Syrian passenger plane en route from
Moscow to land while it was bound for Damascus over Turkish air space
on Oct. 11. Turkish officials also ordered another Armenian passenger
plane bound for Aleppo to land in the northeastern province of Erzurum
today. Such moves are legal but hostile acts that are not in
conformity with regular aviatian practices, according to Assistant
Prof. Volkan Günel.

Ayça SÃ-YLEMEZ

Turkish air force jets forced a Syrian passenger plane en route from
Moscow to Damascus to land in an airport while it was passing through
Turkish air space on Oct. 11 on the grounds that the plane was
carrying arms to Syria. Turkish officials also ordered another Air
Armenia passenger plane to land today while it was bound for the city
of Aleppo in the neighboring Arab country.

Such conduct is legal from the perspective of international law but
constitute a hostile act that is out of line with regular aviation
practices, according to Assistant Prof. Volkan Günel, an expert on
international law from Istanbul’s Ã-zyeÄ?in University.

Moreover, forcing a civilian plane to land with fighter jets also
threaten the passengers’ lives which also amounts to a legal error, he
also added.

“There are no examples of such conduct in practice. Civilian planes do
not get ‘pulled over’ like this. The Convention on International Civil
Aviation has very strict rules. [Forcing] a plane to land is a hostile
act that is extremely inimical to [established] practice,” Assist.
Prof. Günel said, adding that interrupting with the flow of civilian
aviation would also have negative repercussions for a country in the
long term as well.

The Air Armenia plane that was forced to land in the northeastern
province of Erzurum today was carrying humanitarian aid, according to
reports.

Bound for Aleppo, the plane took off from Armenia at 11:30 and bore a
cargo of some 1,500 plastic bottles of sunflower seed oil, 1,500
plastic bottles of vegetable oil, 3,000 boxes of jam, 1,500 boxes of
peas, 1,500 boxes of caviar, 1,500 packages of rice, 1,500 kilograms
of sugar, 3,000 kilograms of cereals and 1,500 kilograms of pasta.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry had already announced that the plane
would not be allowed to fly directly through Turkish air space and
would be subject to a search.

Those circumstances did not apply to the Syrian passenger plane that
was forced to land on Oct. 11, however.

After Turkey announced that it had sealed its airspace to Syria in
wake of the incident, the Arab country then responded by reciprocating
Turkey’s move and announced that it had also shut Syrian air space to
civilian Turkish planes as well.

A Russian backlash?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also announced after the
incident that Turkish-Russian relations would not be affected by this
matter, but Assist. Prof. Günel said Lavrov’s statement bore a deeper
meaning:

“This statement from Russia could mean that Turkey may soon receive a
response because by forcing the plane to land, Turkey ended up saying
that it did not trust Russia and did not believe in its sovereignty,”
he said.

“Buffer zone a threat of force”

Assist. Prof. Günel also elaborated on the prospects of the
establishment of a buffer zone inside Syria, a move which Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu had also recently voiced his support
for.

“Even the announcement of a buffer zone [in an area] under Syrian
sovereignty without Syria’s permission is tantamount to a violation of
international law. Besides, at the moment we cannot say that Syria
would issue such a permit either,” he said.

“A buffer zone is established through military force, an armed
offensive. To say that one is going to establish a buffer zone is to
threaten the use of force, according to international law. Making such
a threat is legally prohibited,” Assist. Prof. Günel added.

Assist. Prof. Günel also spoke about the recent motion which passed
through Parliament to authorize the Turkish government to deploy
troops abroad:

“The motion bears no practical meaning. International law already
recognizes the right to legitimate self-defense. This motion
represents a threat to use force and does not employ the language of
peace. They are trying to get the people to [assume responsibility]
for an intervention,” he said.

The authority to use force rests with the Security Council of the
United Nations without whose consent even NATO cannot roll into
action, he said, adding that “legitimate self-defense” constituted the
sole exception to this rule. (AS)

Businessweek / Bloomberg
Oct 15 2012

Turkey Clears Syria-Bound Armenian Plane After Cargo Search

By Selcan Hacaoglu on October 15, 2012

Turkey allowed a Syria bound cargo plane from Armenia to resume its
journey after it landed in eastern Turkey for a search today to make
sure it only carried humanitarian aid and not weapons.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said authorities had verified
Armenia’s statement that the plane carried relief supplies to Aleppo,
Syria, the state-run Anatolia agency said.

The landing of the plane in the eastern city of Erzurum came a week
after Turkey grounded and searched a Syrian plane that took off from
Russia, and confiscated some of its cargo saying it contained military
supplies destined for President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Turkey
has backed the rebels who have been fighting to end Assad’s rule since
March last year, and says it won’t turn a blind eye to arms shipments
to Syria.

Arinc said the search of the Armenian plane shows that Turkey is
`serious’ in monitoring shipments to Syria.

The plane was carrying aid and the stop in Turkey was planned, Tigran
Balayan, a spokesman for Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, said in an
e-mailed response to questions. Turkey permitted the flight on
condition it would carry out the search.

Armenia requested flight permission for the Air Armenia plane from
Turkey on Oct. 10, when Turkey grounded the Syrian plane, Anatolia
said. The Antonov-12 was carrying 14 tons of food supplies including
sunflower oil, rice and sugar from Yerevan to Aleppo, Anatolia said.

Aiding Rebels

Tensions between Turkey and Syria, once allies, have escalated since a
shell fired from Syria landed in a Turkish border town earlier this
month, killing five people. In June, a Turkish plane was shot down by
Syrian forces in the east Mediterranean. Turkey has deployed
additional troops and weapons to the border with Syria.

More than 30,000 people have been killed as Assad’s government fights
the uprising in Syria, according to pro- opposition rights groups.
Syria has accused Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, of
helping the rebels obtain arms and money.

Turkey is hosting more than 100,000 Syrian refugees, including
defected soldiers, and has allowed rebel military forces to operate
from Turkish bases.

Turkey allows humanitarian and commercial flights to and from Armenia
even though the countries do not have diplomatic ties. Turkey closed
its border with Armenia in 1993 to protest Armenia’s war with
Azerbaijan, and insists on withdrawal of Armenian troops from the
Armenian-occupied enclave Nagorno- Karabakh in Azerbaijan before it
will reopen the border.

Ahram Online, Egypt
Oct 15 2012

Turkey orders Armenian plane to land for security check: official

Turkey orders an Armenian plane heads to the Syrian city of Aleppo for
security checks on its cargo

AFP , Monday 15 Oct 2012

An Armenian plane on its way to Syria’s battered second city of Aleppo
was forced to land in Turkey on Monday for security checks on its
cargo, a foreign ministry official said, just days after a similar
move against a Syrian plane flying from Russia.

“The civilian plane carrying humanitarian aid from Armenia to Aleppo
asked for permission to use Turkish airspace,” the official told AFP
on condition of anonymity.

“We gave the permission on condition that the plane takes a technical
landing and it will take off if the cargo is clear after security
checks,” added the official.

The plane was intercepted by Turkish fighter jets, the Milliyet
newspaper reported on its website.

Last Wednesday, Ankara forced a Syrian passenger plane en route from
Mosow to Damascus to land in the Turkish capital because it was
believed to be carrying suspect cargo.

Greek Reporter
Oct 15 2012

AHI, ANCA Want Obama, Romney to Speak Up

By A. Papapostolou on October 13, 2012

Two of the leading Greek and Armenian American advocacy organizations,
representing nearly five million citizens from across the United
States, jointly called upon President Barack Obama and Republican
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney to end their silence on Armenian
and Greek issues and outline their views.

`As two of the leading Greek and Armenian American advocacy
organizations, we join together today in calling upon President Obama
and Governor Romney to publicly present the specific principles,
priorities, and policies that would guide their Administration’s
actions on issues of special concern to our nation’s nearly 5 million
citizens of Greek and Armenian heritage,’ said American Hellenic
Institute (AHI) President Nick Larigakis and Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

Both the AHI and ANCA have separately written to officials from both
campaigns providing them with candidate questionnaires, and inviting
them to share their views with voters, many living in swing states
that may prove decisive in what is widely expected to be a close
electoral contest.

Armenian President attends presentation of new apartments in
earthquake disaster zone

news.am
October 15, 2012 | 16:17

President Serzh Sargsyan was on hand at the official handing of 1,756
new apartments in Armenia’s Gyumri city.

The respective construction was carried out along the lines of the
project to eliminate the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in
1988, and all the aforementioned apartments are supplied with natural
gas, Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter informs.

Glendale Hills Company is the constructor of this state-run program
and the constructed buildings can withstand a quake measuring up to
magnitude 9.

Also, the President attended the official opening of a new school,
which is intended to provide education for 1,080 children. A
280-capacity kindergarten is planned to be built as well.

To note, this state-run program was launched in 2008 and it will
continue until 2013. A total of 3,653 families already have received
apartments while 61 have been given powers of attorney to purchase
apartments along the lines of this program.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to make a speech at EPP Summit

16:51, 15 October, 2012

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 15, ARMENPRESS: President of the Republic of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan will participate in the Summit of European People’s
Party held in Bucharest, Romania, on October 17, 18. As reports
Armenpress referring to EPP official web site Serzh Sargsyan’s speech
is included in the agenda of October 17.

In Bucharest, the EPP congress will be hosted by Romanian President
Traian BÄ?sescu, who has last week returned to office following an
attempt of the ruling coalition led by Ponta to oust him from power.
Prime Ministers and President of different countries are going to
participate in the Summit. EPP summit will be attended by members of
the opposition party leaders from a number of countries. EPP is the
largest and most influential political party in Europe. Founded in
1976, the EPP strives for a democratic, transparent and efficient
Europe that is close to its citizens. EPP wants a prosperous Europe
through the promotion of a free market economy with a social
consciousness. EPP is the largest political organisation of Europe
with 73 member-parties from 40 countries, 23 heads of state and
government (16 EU and 7 non-EU), 13 European Commissioners (including
the President), and the largest Group in the European Parliament with
271 members.

8 die as Turkish army, Kurdish militants clash

October 15, 2012 – 18:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish security forces killed six Kurdish militants
in gun battles in southeastern Turkey on Monday, October 15 during a
helicopter-backed raid on one of their camps, security sources said,
according to Reuters.

One soldier and a villager were also killed in ensuing clashes in the
Cukurca district of Turkey’s Hakkari province, a mountainous area
bordering Iraq and Iran, the sources said. Four other soldiers and
three militants were wounded.

Militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a
terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union,
have carried out a spate of attacks on military targets in the past
few months, stepping up a 28-year-old insurgency.

Fighting between the army and the PKK intensified over the summer, a
development which Ankara sees as linked to the chaos in neighboring
Syria. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has accused Syria’s President
Bashar al-Assad of arming the PKK militants.

The fighting in Turkey over the summer was some of the heaviest since
the PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out a Kurdish
state. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.