dpa-AFX International
Saturday 10:58 PM GMT
Germany implores Spain not to send arrested author Akhanli to Turkey
By dpa correspondents Berlin (dpa) - Spain received an entreaty from
Germany late Saturday not to extradite a German author of Turkish
heritage to Turkey and to take part in extradition proceedings. German
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel called his Spanish counterpart Alfonso
Dastis on Saturday evening to discuss the case, the Foreign Office in
Berlin. Gabriel also requested the quickest consular support possible
for Dogan Akhanli, who was arrested Saturday morning at the behest of
Turkey.
Akhanli was on vacation in Granada, Spain, at the time of the arrest,
his lawyer told dpa, though it is unclear what he was accused of.
Spanish police, who also said the detention request came from Turkey,
told local media that Akhanli would be handed over to authorities.
Akhanli's lawyer, Ilias Uyar, told a German newspaper that
international police organization Interpol had issued a red notice -
an arrest request - for the author. A red notice can come from a
member country or an international tribunal, but Interpol countries
are not obligated to take a flagged individual into custody. Akhanli
has written extensively about the Armenian genocide, and the arrest
was meant as the latest shot in the ongoing spat between Turkey and
Germany, according to Spiegel, citing security sources. The PEN
writer's association said the arrest was 'clearly politically
motivated,' and the head of the group's German branch, Sascha
Feuchert, called on Spain not to extradite Akhanli to Turkey. Akhanli,
a German citizen, has been living in Germany since he fled Turkey in
1991. Akhanli was cleared in absentia by a Turkish court in 2011 after
being wanted for robbery and homicide since 1989. His exoneration was
later overturned by a higher court, which claimed he had links to
terrorists.
PanARMENIAN.Net – The staff of Armenia‘s human rights defender has summed up Azerbaijan‘s violence and shelling of border villages in a report based on its own fact-finding mission.
In particular, the Ombudsman‘s office has focused on Azerbaijan’s targeting of civilian populations in Armenia’s border communities with the intention to injure them.
The final results were sent to international agencies and human rights organizations.
The defender’s office is currently working to schedule meetings and discussions on violations detailed in the report.
This photo is reportedly of an alleged Israeli “suicide drone” that crashed near the Armenian army during a battle with Azerbaijan forces last month. The Defense Ministry is investigating the matter, which may constitute a live-target test, which is forbidden under Israeli law.
According to a new report, Israeli drone maker Aeronautics Defense Systems is under investigation by the Defense Ministry’s Defense Export Controls Agency over claims one of its drones was used in an attack by the Azerbaijan government against the Armenian army.
The Times of Israel reports:
According to the report, the firm sent a team to the Azerbaijan capital Baku to demonstrate its Orbiter 1K unmanned aerial vehicle, which can be outfitted with a small explosive payload, 2.2 to 4.4 pounds (one to two kilograms), and flown into an enemy target on a “suicide” mission.
According to the complaint, while demonstrating the Orbiter 1K system to the Azerbaijani military sometime last month, the company was asked to carry out a live fire test of the system against an Armenian military position. The two countries have been been fighting a sporadic conflict for nearly 25 years, which has ramped up over the last 16 months over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Such a test would be illegal under Israeli law, as companies require a seldom-granted permit allowing them to carry out demonstrations against real targets. In this case, Aeronautics Defense Systems would be even less likely to receive such a permit, as Israel does not consider Armenia to be an enemy state.
The two Israelis tasked with the demonstration attack reportedly refused to comply. Two senior company representatives then attempted to follow through with the attack, but missed their intended target. No damage or injuries were sustained as a result.
Despite being a Muslim-majority country, Azerbaijan has been long viewed as a strong ally of Israel against any potential conflict with neighboring Iran. The Times reports Azerbaijan has purchased nearly $5 billion worth of weapons and defense systems from Israel.
Soran National park in Berd city of Armenia’s Tavush regions will host the traditional festival of Shamshadin Honey and Berry on August 13. The annual event that takes place during the month of August will be preceded by the Jazz on the Border” Festival. The guests and residents of the region will listen to Jazz music till midnight and taste Shamshadin-produced honey and other locally prepared food in the next morning.
“We have conducted unpreceded works this year for the overnight stay of our guests,” Hayk Chobanyan, the Head of Spiritual Revival Foundation of Tavush region told reporters.
In his words, the festival is aimed at branding and promoting the locally produced honey with expected popularity of beekeeping and honey production in the area.
“Today honey is a brand in this region as the wine for Areni. We have witnessed serious progress over the past years in apiculture,” Chobanyan said, adding the festival will also contribute to the social, cultural, and infrastructure development of the Berd region.
20 Pedro Belo (POR) – 9 Artsiom Parakhouski (BLR) – Belarus v Portugal, 2017 FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers, Minsk – Palace of Sports(BLR), European Pre-Qualifers, 9 August 2017
MINSK (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers) – Belarus and the Slovak Republic inscribed their first wins in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers, while Bosnia and Herzegovina finally halted Armenia’s undefeated run in Sarajevo.
Artsiom Parakhouski came up with all the big buckets for Belarus in crunch-time to secure their first win in Group D, holding on to take a hard-fought 78-75 victory against Portugal, who dropped to 0-2 after picking up a loss in Minsk.
After jumping out to a big 16-point lead in the opening quarter, Belarus couldn’t maintain their momentum after Portugal switched from man-to-man coverage to zone defense. The visitors battled back and made it a close contest riding Tomas Barroso’s hot 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, tying the game on several occasions in the fourth period.
Parakhouski, who stepped up in the closing moments of the game with a couple of big mid-range jumpers, finished the night with 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Vitaly Liutych added 16 points, 7 boards and 3 steals.
Having collected all 18 points from long range, Portuguese guard Barroso was the game’s top scorer, with Pedro Pinto and Stefan Djukic adding 15 and 12 points respectively.
After a couple of road losses to start their campaign, the Slovak Republic finally got the ball rolling in Group A with a 68-59 victory against Sweden at the Hant Arena in Bratislava, which hosted the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 only a couple of days previous.
The hosts broke away after the halftime break, outscoring their Swedish rivals 23-11 in the third quarter to get a double-digit advantage heading into the final frame of play. The visitors from Scandinavia had at one point made it a one-possession game, but the Slovak Republic held on.
37-year-old Radoslav Rancik finished the game with a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double, Michal Batka also double-doubled with 15 points and 11 boards, while Andre Jones had 15 points with 6 rebounds for the winners.
Adam Ramstedt and Tobias Borg were the only double-digit scorers for Sweden with 13 and 11 points respectively.
In the other game of the group, Bosnia and Herzegovina outgunned the visitors from Armenia 98-85 in an offensive-minded affair in Sarajevo to move atop the standings with a 2-1 record.
The Dusko Vujosevic-coached side took control of the game in the second period and never took their foot off the gas pedal, with 18-year-old starlet Dzanan Musa, still playing with a face mask, providing the seemingly never-ending fuel with a team-high 28 points.
Almir Hasandic collected 14 points for the winners, Edin Atic and Adin Vrabac chipped in with 12 points apiece, while Armenia’s naturalized point guard Ryan Boatright posted 30 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Estonia kept their undefeated status in Group C with a convincing 76-50 home win against Kosovo in Tallinn, discontinuing coach Mike Greenberg’s fairytale start of the Pre-Qualifiers with the Kosovar side.
Reinar Hallik led all scorers with 15 points and 4 assists, Sten Sokk collected 14 points, while Rain Veideman chipped in with 12 points and 3 steals, as Estonia moved to 2-0 in the standings.
Erjon Kastrati was the only double-digit scorer for Kosovo with 11 points, with the competition’s leading scorer Dardan Berisha having a rough time against the Estonian defense with 8 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the field with 6 turnovers.
The Netherlands had to work harder than expected against Albania for the 91-77 victory in Amsterdam, but did find a way to move their mark to 2-0 in Group B with improved play after intermission.
Having trailed by a couple of points at intermission, the Dutch side turned things around with a 40-24 second-half, guard Jessey Voorn pacing the winners with a team-high 20 points.
A U.S. general overseeing the Kansas National Guard is visiting Armenia for a third time in less than a year shortly after his troops trained more Armenian soldiers as part of growing U.S.-Armenian defense cooperation, Asbarez reports.
Major General Lee Tafanelli, the Kansas adjutant general, met with Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on Wednesday. He reportedly pledged to continue training programs for Armenian military personnel mostly serving in a special brigade that contributes troops to multinational peacekeeping missions around the world.
The Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade has received considerable technical assistance from U.S. Army Europe and the Kansas National Guard. In particular, U.S. instructors have been training the brigade’s medical personnel and demining experts. The Armenian military inaugurated a U.S.-sponsored paramedic school in October last year.
Tafanelli’s department reported earlier this week that more soldiers of the Peacekeeping Brigade have undergone training at a Kansas National Guard facility in Salina, a small city in the U.S. state.
The Kansas Adjutant General’s Department also released several photographs of the joint exercises held this month.
The U.S. has also helped Armenia to recruit and train more non-commissioned contract officers. As part of that effort, 25 Armenian army sergeants underwent further training in Kansas in August 2016.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, Sargsyan and Tafanelli discussed these training programs at their meeting. “The American side expressed readiness to continue cooperation in these directions through long-term programs,” read a ministry statement.
“The most exciting thing is that they started to think about the abilities of people with disabilities and very often express the idea of equal opportunities and equality.
“They understood that human abilities have no limits.
“I would like to extend a big thank you to the Agitos Foundation for financial support to this project and for the I’m Possible toolkit.”
Armenia has never won a Paralympic medal at either the Summer or Winter editions.
The country debuted at Atlanta 1996 following independence from the Soviet Union.
They sent a team of two women to Rio 2016 in September – powerlifter Greta Vardanyan and swimmer Maga Hovakimyan.
Mher Avanesyan has represented the country at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, in sailing and Alpine skiing.
He had both arms amputated aged seven after touching a high-voltage wire at a power station.
Armenian foreign minister’s visit to the occupied Azerbaijani Kalbajar District under the pretext of participating at a religious ceremony Gandzasar 777 is another example of how Armenia politicizes the falsification of history and religion at the state level, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.
Hajiyev reminded Armenia’s FM that the Albanian-Christian temple, located in the Kalbajar District occupied by Armenian armed forces, is called Ganjasar, but not Gandzasar, and it has nothing to do with the Armenian Orthodox Church.
“This has been proved by Azerbaijan and foreign historians,” he noted.
The architecture and composition of the temple complex and sculpture elements confirm the temple’s belonging to the architecture of Caucasian Albania, said Hajiyev. The pseudo-Armenian historiography is unable to explain the difference between the Ganjasar temple and an Armenian church, he added.
Hajiyev noted that in general, Armenia’s appropriation of Islamic and Christian temples belonging to the Azerbaijani people is a grave violation of international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions.
“Participation of the Armenian FM at the event once again demonstrates that Armenia is not interested in a peaceful settlement of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict and tries to strengthen the status quo, continuing the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and adjacent districts,” Hajiyev said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
How could you compare Ilham Aliyev with Bako Sahakyan, asks the Republican lawmaker Armen Ashotyan, replying to the journalist’s question on Bako Sahakyan being elected as Artsakh President for the third time. He says that it is impossible to see Aliyev walking in Baku without bodyguards, but Bako Sahakyan tours in Stepanakert, he says the photos of tourists can prove it.
As for yesterday’s meeting between Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, the Republican lawmaker says, “Putin met with Trump as well, but it doesn’t mean that Russian-American relations are warm.” He advises journalists not to confuse the diplomatic tool with the outcome.
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
Wednesday
Project on creating center for visits in Byurakan Observatory
presented to President Sargsyan
YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. Byurakan Observatory proposes to create
a center for visits which will include a virtual museum of
astronomical history, a hall for public lectures, improvement of the
road leading to the telescope, as well as its adjacent areas, reports
Armenpress.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan today visited the Byurakan
Observatory aimed at getting introduced on the idea to establish such
center.
Director of the Observatory Areg Mikayelyan said the project will be
ready in the upcoming two weeks.
“The visit of the President is very important since only the visit to
the scientific center is important in itself in terms of the public
attitude towards the field. Science requires much more serious
investments at all directions, such as scientific research, technical,
preparation of cadres and etc. It is being carried out by various
means, and in this case we have proposed a program which is based on
the so-called scientific tourism idea one of the most important points
of which can be the Byurakan Observatory. The talk is about to make
the visit to scientific places interesting for tourists: those are
both the contemporary scientific structures, and the historical sites,
and the science museums and medieval universities”, the Director said.
According to Areg Mikayelyan, there are numerous such kind of places,
and it is necessary to coordinate the visits to such places for
tourism directions.
“Armenia has huge wealth in this field, however, it is necessary to
coordinate and examine this. Today the Byurakan Observatory hosts
5.000 visitors annually which is very low since the number could be
ten times more. The main problem is linked with improvement of
domestic conditions. If we make a little investment and create more
comfortable conditions for tourists, school-children, as well as the
remaining visitors, the flow will increase, the tour companies will
include Byurakan in their packages”, he said, adding that the
President’s attitude was positive, although he proposed to discuss the
project after developing it in-detail and presenting with respective
calculations.