Author: Jagharian Tania

Following seven convictions for Hrant Dink murder, OSCE Representative calls on Turkish authorities to identify all involved including masterminds

Jagharian Tania
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)


VIENNA, Austria

The following information was released by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE):

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Desir, welcomed today the court decision in Turkey handing down prison sentences to seven people over the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Hrant Dink, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos Magazine, was shot dead in front of his office in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. Twelve years after his murder, a Turkish court announced verdicts against nine defendants, whose case files were previously separated to prevent a possible violation of the statute of limitations.

“The court decision convicting seven people in relation to the murder of the prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, is a positive step forward, but more needs to be done. I remain hopeful that all others involved in this murder will face justice,” Desir said.

The court ruled that the murder was an ‘organized crime’, and sentenced Erhan Tuncel to 99 years and six months in prison for his connection to Dink’s murder and being a member of an armed group. Yasin Hayal, who was previously sentenced to life for instigating the murder, received seven years and six months in prison for forming and leading an armed group. The assassin, Ogun Samast, who was previously sentenced to 22 years and ten months, received another two years and six months in prison for membership of an armed group.

Ersin Yolcu and Ahmet Iskender each received jail terms of just under two years for their role in the murder, while Tuncay Uzundal and Zeynel Abidin Yavuz were sentenced to more than ten years in prison. Two defendants were acquitted.

“After twelve years, Hrant’s family, friends and fellow journalists deserve to know the full truth behind this heinous killing. It is therefore of utmost importance that the Turkish authorities identify and bring the masterminds of Dink’s murder to justice,” Desir said.

The Representative will continue to monitor developments as the trials of further suspects continue.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. He provides early warning on violations of freedom of _expression_ and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom

Contacts

Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

Wallnerstrasse 6

1010 Vienna

Austria

Office: +43 1 514 36 6800

Fax: +43 1 514 36 6802

[email protected]

Communist Party of Armenia: Europeans forced our authorities to act as we proposed

Jagharian Tania
News.am, Armenia
Communist Party of Armenia: Europeans forced our authorities to act as we proposed Communist Party of Armenia: Europeans forced our authorities to act as we proposed

12:51, 16.07.2019
                  

YEREVAN. – The Venice Commission has made it clear—with open text—to our authorities that it is necessary to abandon the idea of massive vetting of judges, as well as an obvious criticism was made aimed at the blocking of the courts in May, and the unconstitutional nature of Constitutional Court member Vahe Grigoryan’s statement was stressed. The Communist Party of Armenia (CPA) has noted this in a statement.

“In fact, the European partners of our authorities forced them to act in the way the communist party was proposing two months ago, that despite the need for reforms in the judiciary [of Armenia], it is indispensable to act within the framework of the Constitution, [and] without any vetting and things like that,” the CPA statement also reads. “Armenia and its people need a creative work that will be aimed at improving the socioeconomic situation [in the country] and preparing for withstanding major external challenges.”

Sports: Unforgettable victory: Marcos Pizzelli

Jagharian Tania
MediaMax, Armenia
July 4 2019
Unforgettable victory: Marcos Pizzelli

Marcos Pizzelli has had quite a few victorious moments in Armenia’s national football team.

Having played 65 games for Armenia since 2008, Marcos Pizzelli recalls the most noteworthy episodes from his career in this edition of Mediamax Sport’s Unforgettable victory column.

I’ve had a number of impressive games that I will never forget. I did not play in the 4-0 win over Denmark, but it is one of the matches that impressed me the most.

Armenia beat Slovakia with the same score, and it made the Republican Stadium go wild with excitement. Everyone was so happy! It was truly a night to remember.

Another moment that stands out for me is the penalty I converted in the game against Portugal. Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s hat-trick gave the three points to the Portuguese team. Our 4-1 and 4-0 wins over Macedonia are something I will never forget too.

The most dramatic moment for me was the last game against Ireland in the Euro 2012 qualifier, when our goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was sent off and we were down to 10 men. We had a real chance to reach the next stage of the tournament, the squad was the best one in years, so that moment stuck with me.

I don’t celebrate wins anymore, because it is my job. I train year-round without days off to be ready to play and do everything to secure a win for the team. That is how I feel I’ve done everything right. But big wins like the ones I mentioned, are to be celebrated, and they definitely make me very happy.

Hasmik Babayan talked to Marcos Pizzelli


Sports: Armenian football team advances 9 spots in FIFA rankings

Jagharian Tania
Panorama, Armenia
Sport 19:42 14/06/2019 Armenia

FIFA announced on Thursday the new ranking for national teams as of June 2019, with the Armenian national team moved up by 9 positions to hold the 97th now.

According to the new ranking, the list is still topped by Belgium, followed by France and Brazil.

Among Armenia’s competitors in the Euro 2020 Group J Italy holds the highest 14th position, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 39th, Greece – 52nd, Finland – 56th, and Lichtenstein is the 186th.

Verelq: “Black swan” on the Karabakh front: Baku may be attacked

Jagharian Tania
  • 13.06.2019

    •  

  • Armenia:

    •  

  • arm

    •  

  • rus

 61

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Artsakh announced that there is an increase in training flights of Azerbaijani drones and military aviation along the front line, which often violate the established flight zone.


Within the so-called elevator diplomacy, Azerbaijan maintained a ceasefire on the border for some time, but it did not last long. A few days ago, an Armenian soldier was killed on the border of Artsakh, and the Azerbaijani armed forces started firing larger-caliber weapons in the direction of Armenian positions.


All this is happening in the conditions of Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises in Nakhichevan. In this way, Baku is trying once again to use the threat of force to achieve unilateral concessions from the Armenian side on the Karabakh issue.


The Armenian parties have clearly stated that they are not going to cede territories, that is, the Madrid principles, on which the negotiations have been going on in recent years, are no longer relevant.


However, the co-chairs sent a clear message to Yerevan that Artsakh’s return to the negotiation table is impossible at the moment due to Baku’s uncompromising position. In order not to bring the issue to a dead end, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has to continue the negotiations in the RA-Azerbaijan format, meeting with the president Ilham Aliyev: If the negotiations break down, the alternative is a full-scale war, which is not in the interest of the superpowers, including the Minsk Group member Russia, the United States and France.


A full-scale war in Karabakh will cross the East-West energy-transport logistics, the Southern Gaza Corridor, which involves the delivery of Caspian energy carriers to Europe, bypassing the Russian Federation. A large-scale war that would disrupt the creation of that energy-transport corridor bypassing Russia is not in the USA’s interest.


As for the Russian Federation, Moscow is creating close economic, energy and transport ties with Azerbaijan, besides, the military-technical cooperation is also at a high level. Russia does not want the destabilization of its southern neighbor, Azerbaijan, which will also affect Russia’s North Caucasus. Parallel to that, RA is Russia’s number one strategic ally in the South Caucasus, a CSTO member ally, which means that in case of Azerbaijani aggression against RA, Russian troops must stand by RA and the Armenian people.


However, in geopolitics there is the so-called “black swan” (“чёрный лебедь”) phenomenon, that is, when unforeseen developments occur that change the entire geopolitical landscape. The April 2016 four-day war was also such a “black swan”. No one predicted such a military operation by Azerbaijan. Baku, finding the right time and the gaps in the Armenian positions and the vanguard, went on the attack and recorded success. Baku occupied certain positions in the north of Artsakh and the Lele Tepe hill in the south of Artsakh. They are springboards for a future full-scale war against Artsakh.


Azerbaijan can get Turkey’s support and, taking advantage of the tense internal political developments in Armenia, including the RA-Artsakh contradictions, make a miscalculation, hoping that the Armenian parties are busy fighting each other and go on the offensive without receiving the silent consent or neutral position of the superpowers.


RA and Artsakh should beware of Baku’s unpredictable behavior, which may be based on miscalculations: internal political tension in RA, pre-election situation in Artsakh and internal contradictions between Artsakh elites and certain problems observed in Armenian-Russian relations.

Sports: UEFA investigates claims turnstiles were opened in Baku to fill empty seats

Jagharian Tania
The Guardian, UK
 
 
Uefa investigates claims turnstiles were opened in Baku to fill empty seats
 
• Local officials alleged to have taken action against Uefa wishes
• Governing body looking into it with stadium authorities
 
Press Association
 
Fri 16.13 BSTLast modified on Fri 16.43 BST
 
 Empty seats at the Europa League final in Baku. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
 
Uefa is investigating claims that local officials opened the turnstiles at Baku’s Olympic Stadium during the Europa League final on Wednesday because of embarrassing pictures of empty seats.
 
A lack of direct flights, the price of charter options and the usual concerns about high ticket prices and accommodation costs resulted in Chelsea and Arsenal returning around half of their 6,000-ticket allocations.
 
There were vast expanses of empty seats at the start of the game, won 4-1 by Chelsea, and the Times has reported that the Azerbaijan authorities ordered stadium staff to open the turnstiles, contrary to Uefa’s wishes.
 
It quotes an Arsenal fan saying “lots of local people, including kids” arrived in their section, holding Arsenal flags, about 30 minutes into the game.
 
Asked whether this was true, a Uefa spokesperson said: “We are looking into the alleged matter with the stadium authorities and have no further comment to make at this stage.”
 
Uefa said the official attendance was 51,370, the third-highest for a Europa League final. The stadium’s capacity is 69,000 but this was reduced to 62,000 for the final.

Heritage Party congratulation letter to EPP President

Jagharian Tania

The
Heritage Party
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 271600
Fax: (+374 – 10) 524846
Website: www.heritage.am

Honorable Mr. Joseph Daul,

 

I have the honor to congratulate you on behalf of the Heritage Party for the victorious outcome of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament’s elections. The European citizens’ vote of confidence has once again emphasized the important role of our political unit in the coming political stages.

I am deeply convinced of the further success of the European political and civilization model, in which the role of the European People’s Party, led by you, is strengthening gradually and gaining its momentum.

 

With best regards,

Andranik Grigoryan

Chairman of Heritage Party

Sports: Az to be one of the trickiest journeys for London rivals

Jagharian Tania
Sunday Life
May 26, 2019 


AZ TO BE ONE OF THE TRICKIEST JOURNEYS FOR LONDON RIVALS

by  MARK MANN-BRYANS

CHELSEA and Arsenal will meet in the Europa League Final on Wednesday after taking a long and winding road to the Olympic Stadium in Baku.

The decision taken by UEFA to stage the Final in Azerbaijan’s capital -a city further east than Baghdad and Riyadh -has come under further scrutiny since two clubs separated by just seven miles reached the showpiece event.

Those fans lucky enough to have landed both a ticket -with just 6,000 allocated to each club -and been able to organise travel will also then have to contend with a local kick-off time of 11pm to appease television audiences across the continent.

The few direct flights between London and Baku sold out quickly, some even before Arsenal and Chelsea were confirmed as the finalists, while other non-direct routes can take over 10 hours.

It is also a drive of over 50 hours behind the wheel or a potential four-day train ride.

Even if you are a fan with both ticket and travel, you could still find yourself being rejected for an Azerbaijan visa -Arsenal reporting some of their supporters with dual British-Armenian citizenship had come across such an issue.

Hostility remains between neighbouring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, where a ceasefire was declared in 1994 after fighting erupted several years earlier.

Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, captain of the Armenia national team, missed the Europa League group game against Qarabag in Baku earlier this season because of the issue.

The club are now working with UEFA in the hope safety measures can be put in place to allow the 30-year-old to travel for the Final as part of Unai Emery’s squad.

Once a ball is kicked in anger inside the Olympic Stadium on May 29, attention will hopefully switch to a London derby with plenty at stake.

The success of both Emery and Maurizio Sarri’s respective first seasons in England could be defined in this 90 minutes -plus the potential extra-time and penalties -so far from home.

Emery, who won the Europa League three years in a row with Sevilla and has not lost a knockout game in the competition since 2012, replaced Arsene Wenger last summer with the remit of returning Arsenal to the Champions League.

Their stumbling end to the Premier League season meant they finished fifth, missing out on an elusive top-four spot by a single point.

Victory for the Gunners would see Emery achieve his first aim as well as add a piece of silverware to toast his maiden season at the helm at the Emirates Stadium.

The Spaniard will continue in the job even if he is on the losing side, whereas counterpart Sarri does not even have the comfort of knowing victory in the Final will be enough to keep his.

The 60-year-old has faced adversity, a common theme among recent Chelsea managers, whether it be supporters lamenting his style of play, his goalkeeper refusing to be substituted late on in the Carabao Cup Final defeat to Manchester City or contending with constant speculation that Eden Hazard will leave this summer.

It is a credit to Sarri that he has steered the ship through such rough seas, guiding the Blues to third in the table -already securing Champions League football next year -and taking them all the way through to Baku.

There still may be no room for him in the Stamford Bridge dugout next season, such is the shelf-life of a modern Chelsea boss working under Roman Abramovich.

On the pitch, too, there are plenty of talking points.

Could it indeed be the last appearance of Hazard -who is seemingly bound for Real Madrid -in a Chelsea shirt? The Belgium forward has reportedly already told the club of his wishes.

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud joined from Arsenal in January 2018 and will be looking to end the Europa League as top goalscorer as he heads into the Final with 10 goals to his name already this season.

To finish as the outright leading marksman, Giroud will need to beat Petr Cech.

The Arsenal goalkeeper will retire after the Final, which he has declared is his “dream” way to bow out as he comes up against a team where he won no fewer than 14 major honours.

It may well have been a long road to Baku for the club, players and supporters.

But even after the Final, the journey of some of their main protagonists will be far from over.

As a woman and mother my message is to solve NK conflict through negotiations – Armenian PM’s spouse to Azerbaijani reporter’s question

Jagharian Tania
| 12:05 | May 24 2019
Category
Society

Armenian Prime Minister’s spouse Anna Hakobyan responded to the question of an Azerbaijani reporter relating to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict during the discussion on the sidelines of the Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan, stating that as a woman and mother her message is to start to think about solving this conflict through negotiations, not war.

In his question the Azerbaijani reporter said the Armenian PM’s son is serving in the army in Nagorno Karabakh which is not an internationally recognized territory of Armenia. He also added that in May 2018 after his election as PM Nikol Pashinyan visited Stepanakert and spoke to the cameras. The journalist asked whether in such conditions it is possible to create confidence between the sides. He tried to ask also the second question, but his microphone turned off, but before that the Forum’s coordinator interrupted him urging to ask a question, rather than to make a statement.

In response Armenian PM’s spouse Anna Hakobyan said she doesn’t want to enter into details and in politics. “I am here as a woman and my call, my message is as a woman and mother. But I want to tell you that the war is not over yet, that’s why our son is serving in the army in Nagorno Karabakh.

So, my message is to start to trust each other and to start to think about solving this conflict through negotiations, not war. You know that in 2016 a large-scale war has been initiated by the Azerbaijani side, and we lost hundreds of young people from both sides. And my message is not to repeat the same, never repeat the same and to start to think about solving this conflict through negotiations”, she said.

The PM’s spouse noted that the Armenian side never started war. “And if you are talking about the messages coming from our family or the Armenian side, you have to remember the speeches and messages coming from the Azerbaijani government and Ilham Aliyev. You know better than me what kind of hostility exists in his speeches. So I want to repeat that my message is to start not to hate each other. I know it’s very difficult, but is not impossible.

I think that if women and mothers for the beginning give the same message to the political decision-makers, the negotiators, the OSCE Minsk Group coordinators never again to let a new war and try to solve the conflict through negotiations, we will come to a point”, she said.

Sports: Arsenal Player Left Off Squad’s Azeri Final Draws Armenia’s Ire

Jagharian Tania
Bloomberg
 
 
Arsenal Player Left Off Squad’s Azeri Final Draws Armenia’s Ire
 
By Sara Khojoyan
‎May‎ ‎22‎, ‎2019‎ ‎1‎:‎57‎ ‎PM
 
Azerbajian says criticism over soccer final is ‘baseless’
Armenia, Azerbaijan are in decades-long territorial conflict
 
Armenia criticized neighboring Azerbaijan for refusing visas to soccer fans of Armenian origin “irrespective of their nationality” to attend the UEFA Europa League final between Arsenal and Chelsea.
 
The denial of visas raises “serious concerns” and is evidence of “deep-rooted intolerance,” Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said Wednesday in a statement. Arsenal’s decision not to include Armenian player Henrikh Mkhitaryan in its squad for the May 29 final showed the “incapacity of Azerbaijan to provide a credible security environment,” she said.
 
The Azeri Foreign Ministry rejected the criticisms as “baseless” in a website statement that said it had committed to ensure the security of Mkhitaryan “as well as all the fans” attending the final in the capital, Baku, of European club soccer’s second-most important competition. Armenian athletes have been involved in past sports events in the country, it said.
 
The two nations are embroiled in a decades-long conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The dispute flared into a brief war in 2016, the worst outbreak of violence since Armenians took over the enclave and seven adjacent districts from Azerbaijan in fighting after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. While major hostilities ended in 1994, years of attempts by international mediators to resolve the conflict have failed to produce a peace agreement between the two sides, who have no diplomatic relations.
 
The soccer dispute took place even as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev agreed at March talks in Vienna to seek to establish contacts between their citizens as part of new efforts to resolve the conflict.