Author: Dabaghian Diana

On 10 December President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory address on the NKR State Independence Referendum and Constitution Day.

The address runs as follows:

“Dear Artsakh people,

On behalf of the republic’s authorities and myself personally I would like to convey cordial congratulations on the NKR State Independence Referendum and Constitution Day.

Our people cherish this holiday as it symbolizes their strive towards building a free and independent, democratic and legal state marked with supremacy of law, where human rights and freedoms, legal interests and security of the citizens and the state are protected.

Following proclaiming its independence in 1991 Artsakh went through the imposed war, overcame numerous difficulties and challenges, registering glorious victories and achievements on its path.

Among the most important achievements of the state building process has been the adoption of the Constitution, our country’s basic law. The referendum held in 2006 once again witnessed the fact that the path chosen by our people was right and steady, with nobody and nothing being able to disrupt it. Our rival, who never misses the opportunity to turn to provocations, must also realize it.

Joining hands with our sisters and brothers from Armenia and the Diaspora we will do our best to further strengthen the Artsakh statehood, safeguard our people’s security and ensuring their well-being, increase the defense potential, develop economy and improve living standards of the citizens. Artsakh must become a developed and modern country and take its deserved place in the international community.

Dear fellow citizens,

I once again congratulate all of you on this memorable holiday and wish peace, robust health and all the best”.

Two Turkish generals and a colonel were detained on Saturday for intercepting Syria-bound trucks that belonged to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.

In January 2014, Ankara Gendarmerie Major-General Ibrahim Aydin, former Adana Gendarmerie Brigadier-General Hamza Celepoglu and former Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory Head Colonel Burhanettin Cihangiroglu stopped Syrian-bound trucks in southern Turkey after they received information from an anonymous source that the trucks were illegally carrying weapons to militants in Syria.

When the information about the trucks became public, MIT officials and high-ranking Turkish politicians, including President Recep Teyyip Erdogan, who was Prime Minister back then, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, then the country’s foreign minister, were furious that the gendarmes stopped the trucks and said the Syria-bound trucks were carrying “humanitarian aid” to Turkmen living just south of Turkey, the newspaper said.

“Yes, I’m saying this without any hesitation. That aid was going to the Turkmens. There will be a war next door and we will watch our Turkmen, Arab and Turkish brothers being massacred,” Davutoglu said, as cited by Today’s Zaman.

However, members of opposition parties and some Turkish media said the trucks were indeed transporting weapons to Islamic extremists in Syria.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov made has said in Tbilisi that Sergey Lavrov presented a proposal on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement during his recent visit to Armenia. According to Mammadyarov, this implies that “one should focus on the withdrawal of the Armenian military forces, return of internally displaced persons and establishment of contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno Karabakh.”

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian responded to the claims at the Eastern Partnership Informal Ministerial Dialogue in Tbilisi, Spokesman for Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan said in comments to Radio Liberty. Minister Nalbandian said, in part:

“All of us, gathered here, can only express bewilderment, as we did at the Riga Summit, when Azerbaijan rejected the wording proposed by everyone, including the EU member-states and EaP states in the Summit’s Final Declaration on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, which was based on the well-known statements by the Heads of Co-Chair states. It is known that they reflect the principles and elements of the settlement as an integrated whole. The joint approach of the Co-Chair states – Russia, United States and France, is well-known, that selective approach to those principles and elements will make the settlement of the conflict impossible.

Azerbaijan’s approaches should not be presented as a position of the Co-Chairs, especially given the fact that those principles and elements are published in the five well-known statements.
Regarding to what Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister presents and how he attempts to ascribe it to Sergey Lavrov, such an approach has not been proposed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia to the Armenian side, and I do not think that he would have proposed such an approach to the Azerbaijani side.
One should not turn the reality upside-down.”

Two prominent Turkish journalists have been charged with espionage after alleging that Turkey’s secret services sent arms to Islamist rebels in Syria, the BBC reports.

Can Dundar, the editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet daily, and Erdem Gul, the paper’s Ankara bureau chief, face life imprisonment if found guilty.

Their report and video footage attracted a political storm in Turkey and a lawsuit filed by the president.

Turkey faces severe criticism over its press freedom record.

The journalists, who deny the allegations against them, reported that trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence agency MIT were used to carry weapons to Islamist opposition groups in Syria.

Video footage published alongside their report purported to show Turkish police officers intercepting the trucks and discovering crates containing weapons and ammunition.

On 18 November Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the delegation of the city of Montebello, California, let by its Mayor Jack Hadjinian.

Issues related to cooperation between Stepanakert-Montebello sister-cities were on the agenda of the talks.

President Sahakyan highlighted consistent deepening and expansion of ties between Artsakh capital and Montebello, considering it exemplary in terms of sincere friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Photo by Reuters

The European Commission has called on Turkey urgently to address significant failings on human rights and democracy, the BBC reports.

A delayed annual report on Turkish prospects for EU membership says there have been serious setbacks in the past two years on freedom of expression.

It also says the independence of the judiciary had been undermined and that new laws run against EU standards.

The report’s publication comes at a time when the EU needs Turkey’s help in trying to control the refugee crisis.

It also follows parliamentary elections in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) regained the majority it lost in June.

The report had been pushed back by several weeks because sensitive negotiations on the refugee crisis were taking place with leading Turkish officials, including the president, shortly before the 1 November elections.

Although Mr Erdogan himself is not named in the report’s key findings, there are fairly direct criticisms of Turkey’s powerful president.

After several years of progress on freedom of expression, the report warns of “serious backsliding” over the past two years.

“Ongoing and new criminal cases against journalists, writers or social media users, intimidation of journalists and media outlets as well as the authorities’ actions curtailing freedom of media are of considerable concern,” it says.

Changes to Turkey’s internet law, allowing the authorities to block websites without a court order, were a significant step back from European standards, it adds.

The report says there has also been a severe deterioration of its security situation and that it is imperative that peace talks resume with the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by the Turkish government and the EU.

Hundreds have been killed in fighting between Turkish security forces and PKK fighters in the country’s east and south-east since a ceasefire collapsed in July.

Baku escalates the situation during each visit of the Co-chairs to the region, Armenian Foreign Minister has said, as he commented on the ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan at the time the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs were crossing the line of contact.

“That incident took place days after the Co-chairs directly called upon Azerbaijan to agree to the creation of the mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations. Baku escalates the situation during each visit of the Co-chairs to the region,” Minister Nalbandian said in comments to Radio Liberty.

“The Azerbaijani provocations aim at undermining the negotiation process, and questioning the necessity of the mediation efforts. It is noteworthy that in their statement made as a follow-up to the regional visit the Minsk Group Co-chairs labeled the incident as an attempt to undermine the peace efforts. It is not a coincidence that just on the next day of the provocation the President of Azerbaijan came up with new threats and criticized the Co-chairs,” the Foreign Minister said.

Edward Nalbandian reminded that “Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee joined by 83 Congressmen addressed an open letter to the U.S. Co-chairman of the Minsk Group. The Congressmen rightly pointed out that artificial evenhandedness of generic calls to refrain from the use of force made to all parties to the conflict after each violation of the cease-fire regime cannot reduce the tensions. On the contrary up to now they have contributed to the dangerous escalation of the situation.”

“We hope that the US Co-chairman will not only follow the just appeals of the US Congressmen but also together with other Co-chairmen of the Minsk Group will take efforts to fulfill their own proposal on the establishment of the mechanism for investigation of the cease-fire violations, which will make it meaningless to make unaddressed calls,” he said.

“Baku continuously rejects the proposal of the Co-chairmen on the creation of the mechanism of investigation of the cease-fire violations, thus bearing full responsibility for the consequences of ceasefire violations,” Minister Nalbandian concluded.

On a visit to Athens, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, had a meeting with Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos.

His Holiness praised the organization of the conference on “Peaceful religious and cultural co-existence in the Middle East.” He stressed the important role of Greece as a bridge between the East and the West.

Aram I hailed the Greek President’s support for the Armenian Cause since the start of his political career, which continues during his presidency.

President Pavlopoulos, in turn, expressed his respect for the Armenian people and reiterated his support for the Armenian Cause.

The President also praised the Armenian community of Greece, which makes n important contribution to the prosperity and development of the country.

Photos by famous Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler will be on display in Tbilisi from October 16. The exhibition is organized by the Georgian National Museum and the Turkish Embassy in Georgia.

The works by Ara Guler, the Photographer of the Century, adorn many museums of the world, private and national collections.

Ara Guler has taken photos of prominent figures like Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, William Saroyan, Winston Churchill, Bertrand Russell, Indira Gandhi, Sergei Parajanov and many others.

Guler’s photos will be on display through October 31.