Iran heads to World Greco-Roman Cup final
Tehran, Feb 14, IRNA – Iran’s National Greco-Roma Team reached the
final stage of world competitions in Armenia and will compete with
Turkey in the final cotests, it is reported on Sunday.
After defeating Cuba, the Scandinavian selected team and Armenia, the
Iranian team headed to the final.
After choosing the winner, the World Cup in Greco-Roman wrestling in
Armenia will end on Monday.
It kicked off on Saturday.
TURKISH, ARMENIAN GROUPS STEP UP LOBBYING EFFORTS AS KEY VOTE NEARS
By Kevin Bogardus
The Hill
turkish-armenian-groups-step-up-lobbying-efforts-a s-key-vote-nears
Feb 11 2010
Both sides in a contentious debate over a proposed genocide resolution
are pumping up their grassroots campaigns in anticipation of a key
congressional vote.
Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, recently announced that on March 4 his panel will mark up a
non-binding resolution that recognizes the killing of an estimated 1.5
million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide.
That has set off a scramble in Washington as lobbyists for both sides
coordinate lawmaker visits, gather signatures for petitions and rev up
phone banks for what could be the last step before a House floor vote.
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee
of America, said he was "very confident" that the resolution would
pass the committee and it has "very strong prospects for passage"
on the House floor.
The resolution passed the House committee in 2007 by a close vote
with 27 members voting for it, versus 21 voting against it. It does
not have the same number of co-sponsors this time, though, with 137
lawmakers signing onto the bill so far compared to 212 by the end of
last Congress.
Like last time, Turkish-American groups and the government of Turkey
will lobby heavily against the resolution in Congress.
"This resolution is one-sided and ignores historical atrocities
committed against those of Turkish descent during this turbulent
period in history," said G. Lincoln McCurdy, president of the Turkish
Coalition of America. "The committee’s choice to win quick political
points with the Armenian-American lobby would surely be detrimental
to the ongoing progress to bring peace between the peoples of Turkey
and Armenia."
The Turkish Embassy also has a roster of high-profile K Street talent
ready to defeat the resolution, including former House Speaker
Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), now at Dickstein Shapiro, and past House
Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (Mo.), at his own firm and PR giant
Fleishman-Hillard.
Turkish officials have said that passing the resolution will hurt
the national security interests of the United States since Turkey
is a key ally of the U.S. military in the Middle East. That pressure
ultimately forced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to withdraw
the resolution from a floor vote in 2007. More recently, Turkish
officals have said it could hamper the protocols Turkey reached with
Armenia last year to reestablish relations between the two nations.
A big difference for the resolution this time on Capitol Hill will
be the new administration. Veering from his promise during the
presidential campaign, President Barack Obama has not called the
massacre of Armenians a genocide. His administration has also come
under increasing pressure from Armenian-American groups to not give
Turkey free reign in the peace agreement it reached with Armenia
last year.
But Hamparian believes the Obama administration will not mount the
same lobbying effort against the resolution as the past White House
did. In 2007, President George W. Bush made several public statements
opposing the bill while high-ranking officials, such as Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, lobbied
lawmakers to move against it as well.
Hamparian pointed to remarks recently made by Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon at a Feb. 1
press conference that the Turkish-Armenian peace accord needs to
move forward "independently" of other issues, including the genocide
resolution. Typically, the State Department has outright opposed the
resolution under prior administrations.
"If Secretary Gordon’s statement reflects the view of this
administration, we are not going to see the same strident opposition to
the resolution as the Bush administration expressed," Hamparian said.
TURKEY-ARMENIA RAPPROCHEMENT COULD LAST UP TO 20 YEARS
AssA-Irada
February 9, 2010 Tuesday
Azerbaijan
The Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland has said a
rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, the two neighbors that face
decades of hostility, could last five to ten, or even twenty years. I
dont know whether or not the protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia
will be passed in the two countries parliaments, Jagland told CNN Turk
TV channel in Turkey. There are political hurdles standing in the way.
But the first step has been taken, and I am confident that this
wont be the last one, Jagland said. Turkey and Armenia do not have
diplomatic relations and the border between the two countries has
been closed since 1993. Armenia’s occupation of the territories of
Azerbaijan, Turkeys ally, and Yerevans claims on the 1915 genocide
have been obstacles to normal relations between the two countries. On
October 10, 2009, the two governments signed two protocols to establish
diplomatic relations and reopen their borders, in a bid to normalize
their strained relations. However, the documents require parliamentary
ratification, and Ankara has ruled out normalization with Yerevan
until progress is made in resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
ARMENIA HAS NO PROBLEM RATIFYING THE PROTOCOLS, SAID SARGSYAN: SHARMAZANOV
Tert.am
17:08 11.02.10
In his London speech, RA President Serzh Sargsyan clearly said that
Armenia has no problem ratifying the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, should
Turkey ratify them, ruling Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson
Eduard Sharmazanov told Tert.am today.
"Furthermore, the president clearly mentioned that the process will
be suspended should suspicions be confirmed that Turkey’s aim is not
ratifying the Protocols, but delaying the process," said Sharmazanov.
Sharmazanov said that, in his speech, the president remained committed
to fulfilling the obligations Armenia has assumed, saying the Protocols
will be sent to Armenia’s Parliament, and once again stating that
Armenia is a reliable partner.
Sharmazanov drew attention to a segment of Sargsyan’s speech where the
president said he would invite Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to
the potential opening of the Armenia-Turkey border. With that step,
according to Sharmazanov, our president with his own example tried
to show other leaders in the region that any problem can be solved
not by military might, but through negotiation.
UNIVERSITY OF VENICE ORGANIZES INTENSIVE SUMMER COURSE OF ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
NOYAN TAPAN
FEBRUARY 10, 2010
VENICE
VENICE, FEBRUARY 10, NOYAN TAPAN-ARMENIANS TODAY. The intensive summer
course of Armenian Language and Culture of the University of Venice,
in collaboration with the Cultural Association "Padus-Araxes" and
ESU of Venice will take place from August 2 nd to August 18th. To the
program can be take part at least of eighteen years of age. The course
has four basic levels from the Absolute beginners to the Advanced.
Lessons take place from Monday to Friday. According to
elease/2010/pressrelease.htm
the arrivals of the partecipants will be on July 31st and August 1st
and departure: on August 20th and 21st.
"SAFER INTERNET PROGRAM" LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2010 21:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Safer Internet" month-long program launched today
at the Yerevan school named after Chekhov. This year celebrations are
taking in more than 60 countries on all 5 continents across the world,
including all 27 countries of the European Union. Safer Internet
Day 2010 celebrates the theme "Think B4 U Post". Since 2004 European
INSAFE network advocated safe and responsible usage of Internet and
mobile technologies, empowering users to benefit from the positive
aspects of internet whilst avoiding the potential risks.
In the frame of the Safer Internet program Media Education Center in
partnership with Microsoft Armenia, World Vision and Internet Society
of Armenia will hold a series of seminars and public discussions.
Safer Internet Program is aimed at raising public awareness about safe
and responsible usage of the Internet and fighting illegal content.
According to coordinator of the Safer Internet program in Armenia,
Narine Khachatryan, born in an information revolution era this highway
of knowledge provides unprecedented and unlimited possibilities
for study and research. At the same time, the global communication
network, where everyone has access, hides multiple threats especially
for children and youth.
The laws in virtual networks are similar to the norms of behavior
in real life, Microsoft Armenia director Grigor Barseghyan said. And
therefore, adherence to these standards can help to effectively use
Internet resources.
According to the director of Media Education Center Haykaz Baghyan,
a new website was developed with links to and
a collection of teaching and learning resources devoted to e-safety and
social networking. The web-site contains sections on blogs, chat rooms,
social networks, file-sharing and filtering. Armenian users can read
about Internet-related risks, such as cyber-bulling, fishing, farming,
Internet fraud and identity theft. It contains useful tips to parents,
children, teenagers and teachers on safer and more responsible behavior
on the web. Media education Center examined more than 10 000 web-
sites and created "Internet safety zone" containing 3 000 links to
educational sites.
The Safer Internet monthly program is timed to the World Safer Internet
Day, celebrated on the first Tuesday since February 2004 by INSAFE
with support of the European Commission. Expanding from year to year,
this initiative brings together people to fight against illegal,
harmful and obscene online content.
ARMENIAN POLICE ATTENTIVELY FOLLOWING MASS MEDIA REPORTS
ArmInfo
2010-02-10 15:32:00
ArmInfo. Head of the Armenian Police Alik Sargsyan told media on
Wednesday that the Police headquarters is charged to attentively follow
and study all the reports in Mass Media and even photos telling about
possible crime or offence to report to the Police Head.
"However, surveys showed that part of the reports does not correspond
to reality. Some journalists often show fires as arsons and incidents
as attacks," Alik Sargsyan said.
AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENTARIAN: ARMENIA HAS NO OTHER CHOICE, BUT TO LEAVE AZERBAIJAN’S OCCUPIED LANDS
Z. Ahmadov
Today
1284.html
Feb 10 2010
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani MP says Armenia already realizes that it pursues wrong
policies.
"Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia has been engaged in
an aggressive and expansionist policy against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied one-fifth of Azerbaijani territory, which led to severance of
diplomatic relations and closure of borders with another neighboring
country – Turkey, to which Armenia also has territorial claims.
Armenia experiences some difficulty also with Georgia, because Yerevan
tacitly claims to a part of a neighboring country," member of the
Azerbaijani Milli Majlis (Parliament) Musa Guluyev said.
"As a result, today Armenia has good relations with only one
neighboring state – Iran. Besides, Armenia has been out of energy and
transport corridors. Thus, the Armenian leadership pursues policy of
self-isolation," the deputy said.
"Azerbaijan was able to bring to the world community the truth about
the Karabakh conflict. As a result, policy of double standards is now
used less with regard to Azerbaijan. In addition, territorial claims
to Turkey, as well as efforts promote recognition of the "Armenian
genocide" made it impossible to establish diplomatic relations and
open borders with Turkey. Thanks to Armenia’s poliicies, the country
was not invited to Munich to attend a conference on security. This
is not surprising, since Yerevan has nothing to say in important
international events," the MP added.
"I think Armenia already realizes that it pursues a wrong policy
and sooner or later it will have to withdraw from Azerbaijan’s
lands by peaceful means since Armenia simply has no other choice,"
Guliyev noted.
DINK’S ASSASSINATION WAS AN OFFICIAL, POLITICAL AND COLLECTIVE CRIME
Tert.am
13:43 ~U 09.02.10
The assassination of Hrant Dink, the former chief editor of
Istanbul-based Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos, was an official,
political and collective crime, said Paris-based Association of
Lawyers representative Vincent Niore, after the 12th court session
in Dink’s murder trial, reports Milliyet.
"We are asking that the court do its best. Hrant’s assassination will
not go unpunished," said Niore.
Turkish news agency Cihan reports that 11 days after Dink’s
assassination, a witness, whose name was kept secret, said during
the interrogation that it were Ogun Samast and Yasin Hayal who shot
the Agos chief editor.
However, till now, there is a widespread opinion that the person who
actually shot Dink is Ogun Samast, while Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tunjel,
the other key suspects, instructed him at that time.
SAFARIAN: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE DOESN’T MAKE GREAT SENSE
Aysor
Feb 9 2010
Armenia
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s message to his Turkish counterpart
Abdullah Gul won’t make great sense for the international communities,
as it’s rather sent for internal affairs, said at the press conference
leader of the Heritage Party of Armenia Stepan Safarian.
He pointed that without any statements and messages it’s clear that
Armenia doesn’t protest against Armenia-Turkey relations.
"Via this message, President Serzh Sargsyan is trying to sign over
that he hasn’t got any problems in terms of normalisation of relations
with Turkey; he is interested in reconciliation and is moving forward,
while Turkey has lots of internal and external problems," said Stepan
Safarian.
When asked by Aysor’s correspondent if there are any links between
Armenian President’s visit to Great Britain and message to Abdullah
Gul, Stepan Safarian said that the UK had been carrying serious
activity in the region over past years. So, it’s impossible to ignore
its role.
"Armenian side, meanwhile, is trying to gain from Turkey’s position
of caprices, sensibilities and so on.’
According to politician, up to the moment Turkey hasn’t yet deployed
military troops in Afghanistan, which is the important goal of the UK
and US. "Taking into account all these, Armenian side is just trying
to suppress Turkey."