Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Tatev Eghiazaryan performed with jazz creations

18:45, 24 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS: `Narekatsi’ arts union hosted Tatev
Eghiazaryan who lives already for many years in USA and her friends
who performed with jazz creations. `Armenpress’ was informed from
`Narekatsi’ arts union that during the concert jazz sounds came from
piano, trumpet and other musical tools. Were performed parts from
creations of Duke Ellington, Caul Porter, Axel Staurdall, Matt Denis
and Tatev Eghiazaryan’s works.

`My last concert was in 2009 together with Vahagn Hayrapetyan. This
year I came to visit my father and decided to have a concert,’ said
Eghiazaryan stressing that she fell in love with jazz since
childhood. She is admired by mystery of jazz sounds. `I know Narek
for many years and prepared my CD in his support.

So our cooperation has a long history,’ said Tatev Eghiazaryan meaning
founder of `Narekatsi’ arts union Narek Haroutyunyan who considered as
a honor to introduce the family of Eghiazaryans’.

Armenia sends second open letter to ICRC, UN, EU and OSCE MG with
requirements in connection with H.Indzhighulyan issue

17:42 24/08/2013 » LAW

The Azerbaijani side has consistently failed to comply with the
requirements of international humanitarian law, and has once again
broken the existing rules. The world community in its turn does not
show an adequate response to the fate of Armenian serviceman Hagop
Indzhigulyana captivated in Azerbaijan. In this connection the first
Ombudsman of Armenia, the executive director of the foundation
“against legal tyranny “Larisa Alaverdyan and the leader of the
project” The Ordinary Genocide ” Marina Grigoryan were forced to
initiate a second open letter to draw the attention of relevant
organizations to this problem.

You can read the second letter, which is open for signing, below.

`We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned of the faith of Armenian
soldier Hakob Indjigulyan, who lost his way in the midst of the night
on August 8 and wrongly crossed the Nagorno-Karabakh – Azerbaijan
border. The fact that private Indjigulyan crossed the Line of Contact
accidentally was also verified by Shahin Sailov, the Secretary of the
State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of
Azerbaijan, who said `…it was clarified that the Armenian got lost and
crossed into the territory controlled by Azerbaijani armed forces.’
()
We are shocked that the representatives of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) were granted an opportunity to meet the
prisoner of war only after 12 days, that in itself is a violation of
the Geneva Convention.

Few days after the capture of Indjigulyan, several Azerbaijani news
websites revealed a video of him giving “interview” to Azerbaijani ANS
TV channel, dressed in Azeri military uniform. In this obviously
decorated video appearance, private Indjigulyan’s statement, made in
Armenian, is not translated accordingly, but rendered into Azerbaijani
language with flaws, in a way to create impression that the soldier
crossed the border voluntarily.

Ten days later appeared another interview of Hakob Injigulyan on ANS
TV channel of Azerbaijan, which was later uploaded on YouTube video
hosting. This time the Armenian prisoner of war is obediently
pronouncing the sentences, which were attributed to him in the first
interview.

The behavior of Hakob Indjigulyan and the flow of his speech deserves
careful medical and psychological examination, which, we believe, may
reveal the cause of the sharp changes in the tone and content of the
messages uttered in his second interview.

However, from the perspective of international humanitarian law the
most important aspect is the fact, that the interview with the
Armenian POW is entirely broadcasted under the headline of
“Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict”. Moreover, in the conclusion the
designated host of the TV interview, leaving aside the humanitarian
character of the POW issue, links it to the political situation in the
region, specifically – the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in its official
Azerbaijani interpretation.

Thus, Azerbaijan demonstrates a manifest disregard for the norms and
provisions of the Geneva Conventions in favor of short-term political
and propaganda purposes. The aims of the orchestrated interview with
the Armenian POW private Indjigulyan are racist in nature, are in
grave violation of the erga omnes obligatrions of states imposed by
international humanitarian law, and serves the well-known official
policy line of Azerbaijan to discredit Armenia and the Armenian nation
as a whole.

The `interviews’ with private Indjigulyan and their wide dissemination
in the media and other sources is in flagrant violation of Article
13(2) of the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of the Prisoners
of War, which introduces an international obligation on States to
protect POWs of “public curiosity”.

Noteworthy, this unlawful policy is employed by Azerbaijan for the
second time in a row with the aim of serving domestic political ends.
Previously, on September 11, 2010, an Armenian shepherd Manvel
Saribekyan, captured by the Azeri military, was interviewed by the
same ANS TV channel several days after the capture, under visible
psychological and physical pressure. The inadequate attention of the
international community and human rights advocacy groups resulted in
Saribekyan’s alleged suicide in Azeri prison cell in the night of
October 5, 2010. The body of Saribekyan was transferred to the
Armenian side, and the medical examination revealed numerous traces of
torture, while earlier a similar examination in Azerbaijan did not.
Impunity and lack of an adequate response from the international
community has in fact encouraged Azerbaijan to carry out continuous
and conscious violations of international humanitarian law.

Hereby, we call on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and all relevant international organizations and agencies,
commissioned to serve the values of humankind, to hold Azerbaijan
accountable for the gross and systematic violations of international
humanitarian law and to require compliance with those international
conventions, to which Azerbaijan is a party.
Specifically, in order to ensure that the rights of Armenian POW
private Indjigulyan are fully guaranteed in captivity, as well as to
exclude any further attempts of humiliation of his national and human
dignity, we urge all international human rights and advocacy groups –
especially the ICRC, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,
UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, UN High Commissioner on
Refugees, OSCE Minsk Group co-Chair countries Ambassadors in Baku and
others with access to Azerbaijan – to demand a meeting with Hakob
Indjigulyan, in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 12 August
1949 and other treaties of international humanitarian law. We also
urge to fulfill the obligations under Art. 126 (3) of the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949 and to ensure POW private Indjigulyan’s
`compatriots… be permitted to participate in the visits’.

We hope that all relevant organizations and peace-loving countries
will show commitment to the norms and values of international
humanitarian law and will force the Azerbaijani authorities to stand
conscious of its erga omnes obligations before the international
community of states.’

Source: Panorama.am

PROSPECTS OF NEW US MEDIATOR’S APPOINTMENT FOR KARABAKH SETTLEMENT IN SPOTLIGHT

Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 21 2013

By Sara Rajabova

The appointment of the new co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group from
the United States could be seen as a positive signal for a peaceful
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The
appointment of James Warlick is expected to be helpful in the
resolution of the bitter conflict, which has persisted for more
than two decades, but experts are divided on its prospects for the
challenging peace process.

Associate Director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian
Studies (IERES) at George Washington University, Cory Welt, said in
an interview to Azerbaijan’s news website Day.az that having served
as the principal negotiator of the US-Afghanistan Bilateral Security
Agreement, Ambassador Warlick is well-versed in dealing with thorny
negotiations on complex political-security issues. “So, he should
feel right at home in the Minsk Group,” Welt said.

The appointment of James Warlick as the next U.S. Minsk Group co-chair
was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry on August 5. Warlick
is due to take up his new position in September.

Warlick most recently served as Deputy Special Representative for
Afghanistan and Pakistan and lead negotiator for the Bilateral Security
Agreement with Afghanistan. He served as Ambassador to Bulgaria from
2009-2012, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau
of International Organization Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Director
of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs from 2005
to 2006.

Welt noted that it is the right time for a new co-chair to come
aboard. The expert also said there has been no obvious pathway to a
breakthrough for some time, and it will be helpful to have someone
with a fresh eye assessing how to get Armenia and Azerbaijan to agree
on the Basic Principles of the conflict settlement or whether it is
time to reconsider the existing framework.

He added that the American interests in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
haven’t changed much — the priorities are to prevent an outbreak of
war and to justly resolve the conflict.

Also, Director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council and a
former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan and Turkey Ross Wilson told Day.az
that the South Caucasus is a significant priority for US policymakers,
whether the issue is Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
Caspian gas development and the Southern Gas Corridor or democratic
and economic development.

“It will be helpful that the [US] administration’s nominee to serve as
Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ambassador Victoria
Nuland, was responsible for American policy in the South Caucasus for
much of the second Clinton administration, and this will be an asset
for the United States in working with regional leaders and others on
these and other issues,” Wilson said.

He also pointed out that the United States remains a mediator on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a member of the Minsk Group and the
importance that Washington attaches to this role is reflected in the
recent appointment of Ambassador Warlick by the US Secretary of State.

Wilson said Warlick is a highly experienced diplomat and he will
bring important assets to the position of the US Minsk Group co-chair.

“Ambassador Warlick will bring a fresh perspective that may be helpful
now. I hope that he will put early consultations on Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict with his fellow co-chairs and personally with the parties
on the top of his to-do list. If and as the parties demonstrate a
willingness to close the remaining, small gaps that stand in the way
of agreement at least on basic principles, they will find Ambassador
Warlick and others all the way up to Secretary Kerry and President
Barack Obama to be active and energetic partners,” Wilson said.

On the other hand, some experts argue that despite the appointment
of the new Minsk Group co-chair, there will not be any improvement
in the resolution of the conflict.

Michael Rubin, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute,
told Day.az that “any attention to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh
is a good thing but I do not believe there will be any breakthrough.”

“Secretary of State John Kerry likes to travel, but there is no
indication that he will make Nagorno-Karabakh a priority; rather, U.S.

attention will be on Iran, Syria, Russia, China and the
Israel-Palestine conflict. There is a limit to what Warlick can
accomplish in the Minsk Group under such circumstances,” Rubin noted.

He also said that the American interests are greater than many in
Washington realize: Karabakh may be an issue of justice to Azerbaijan,
but for the United States, it reportedly enables transit for Iranian
and Russian weaponry and drugs.

However, the time is on Azerbaijan’s side, Rubin said. “Armenia has
lost one-third of its population to emigration since its independence
and is on a negative demographic trend.”

He stressed that Azerbaijan deserves justice sooner rather than later,
but will ultimately achieve what it wants.

Meanwhile, Director of the Institute of Political Studies of the
Academy of Public Administration under the President of Azerbaijan,
political expert Elman Nasirov told the ruling New Azerbaijan
Party’s website that regardless of who is appointed to the co-chair’s
position, he pursues the political course of Washington and fulfills
the instructions of the State Department.

He therefore expects the new co-chair to continue pursuing the same
policy of the United States in the Minsk Group.

“If the United States presents any serious project to achieve
resolution of the conflict, Warlick’s potential will be revealed in the
process of its implementation. So far, we are not witnessing…any
drastic change in the US policy towards the settlement of the
conflict,” Nasirov commented.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early
1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed
forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions.

The United States, along with Russia and France, has long been working
to broker a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the
Minsk Group, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by
the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known
as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the
final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia
to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to
return home.

TURKEY BANS AUSTRALIAN MPS OVER GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

Assyrian International News Agency AINA
Aug 21 2013

(AAP) — Turkey warns some NSW MPs will not be welcome at the
Gallipoli service after state parliament officially recognised the
Ottoman genocide of the Armenians earlier in the year.

The NSW legislative council in May passed a motion calling for the
official recognition of the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek genocides.

Turkey strongly condemned the move and said the motion was not
compatible with historic facts.

“Although the solid friendly relations existing between the peoples of
Turkey and Australia will not deteriorate because of this unilateral
decision … its negative repercussions are nonetheless inevitable,”
Turkey’s foreign ministry said in May, which ABC television reported
on Wednesday.

The proponents of such initiatives would “doubtlessly be deprived of
the hospitality and friendship that we will never withhold from the
people of Australia”, the ministry warned. Digital Pass $1 for first
28 Days

“These persons who try to damage the spirit of Canakkale/Gallipoli
will also not have their place in the Canakkale ceremonies where we
commemorate together our sons lying side by side in our soil,” it said.

Turkish consul-general Gulseren Celik was asked whether the statement
meant that Premier Barry O’Farrell and other NSW MPs would be denied
visas to attend the Gallipoli service.

“Yes,” she told ABC television.

TURKEY DESCRIBES ANZAC ACCOUNTS OF GENOCIDE AS ‘FABRICATIONS’

ABC Transcripts (Australia)
SHOW: PM 7:13 PM AEST ABC
August 21, 2013 Wednesday

REPORTERS: Michael Brissenden

MARK COLVIN: The Turkish government is using the centenary celebrations
at Gallipoli to try to shut down criticism of the Armenian genocide.

Turkey’s threatened to ban outspoken politicians from the commemoration
in Turkey in 2015.

In May this year the New South Wales parliament passed a motion
recognising the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides at the hands
of the Ottoman Turk regime.

Turkey’s Consul General in New South Wales says the parliament is
hijacking the special bond that exists between the two countries.

He describes eyewitness accounts of atrocities at the time by ANZAC
(Australian New Zealand Army Corps) prisoners of war as fabrications.

This special report from our defence correspondent Michael Brissenden.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Mythology that now surrounds ANZAC has become
all consuming and as we prepare for the centenary of the Gallipoli
landing’s in 2015 some fear the legend and the centenary Gallipoli
industry that’s sprung up around it may obscure another important
commemoration.

By the time the First World War came around the hatred and animosity
between the Muslims and the Christians in the region knows as Anatolia
was thousands of years old.

But just days before the Gallipoli landing, and 30 years before the
term genocide was even coined, the Ottoman’s, in the dying days of
empire, began instigating a final solution.

Colin Tatz is a world renowned genocide scholar.

COLIN TATZ: There is categorical evidence from scholarship around
the world that what happened between 1915 and 1922 was a genocide
of the Armenians, the Pontian Greeks and the Assyrian communities,
to the extent of roughly one half of their total population

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: According to most estimates more 1.5 million
Armenians, Pontian Greeks and Assyrian’s were wiped out in mass
evacuations, forced marches and executions. But describing what
happened as a genocide has been vigorously and consistently opposed
by the Turks as a one-sided view of history. And the modern Turkish
state has lobbied hard to prevent any official recognition of the
term genocide.

It’s a campaign that’s been remarkably effective; only 21 countries
have passed resolutions to that effect. The British and the US
governments haven’t and neither has the Australian Federal Parliament.

But the South Australian parliament has, and in May this year the New
South Wales parliament unanimously endorsed a motion put forward by
the Upper House member and Christian campaigner Fred Nile to formally
recognise what’s widely referred to as the Armenian genocide.

FRED NILE: And in fact it’s interesting, when Adolf Hitler planned
to have the genocide of the Jews there were some questions asked;
and he said himself don’t worry who remembers the Armenian genocide –
who remembers it? He said that.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Fred Nile has just returned from a tour of Armenia
with a cross-party delegation

FRED NILE: The fact that I moved that motion and the parliament voted
for it, has made us heroes of Armenia.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: But the response from the Turks has been
blistering.

GULSEREN CELIK: These people want to hijack this very special bond
between the Turkish-ANZAC spirit. This is their target.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Gulseren Celik is the Turkish Consul General
in Sydney. She has written a lengthy and angry response to the New
South Wales parliament motions condemning what she describes as the
baseless allegations of genocide.

And the Turkish state has hit back hard too. A foreign ministry
statement says the proponents of this motion will no longer be welcome
at the Gallipoli commemorations. And the local Gallipoli council has
also made it clear that critics will not be welcome to the centenary
celebrations in 2015.

So the Premier and members of the parliament will not be welcome at
the 2015 celebrations?

GULSEREN CELIK: Well I think one should read the press statement of
our ministry carefully.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Well the press statement says they won’t be
welcome. So one would assume they won’t be given the visas to go?

GULSEREN CELIK: Yes.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: In her letter to the New South Wales parliament
the Turkish consul general has also dismissed the other significant
Australian link to the Armenian genocide, the evidence of Australian
POWs (Prisoners of War) who were at the time imprisoned in Armenian
churches and villages that had been emptied of residents.

Some describe seeing Turkish soldiers using whips to hurt Armenian
women and children on to sheep trailers on trains. Others, including
Thomas White, who later became a politician and minister in the Lyons
government, describes passing columns of Armenians being marched
through the desert to certain death. He writes “of roads littered
with dead bodies”.

The Turkish consul general says these reports are fabrications.

MARK COLVIN: Michael Brissenden.

ARTHUR ABRAHAM SAYS MKHITARYAN MAY BECOME SECOND MESSI

August 21, 2013

German Bild has interviewed Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Arthur Abraham,
two Armenians who are now living and working in Germany.

“He is a national hero. And he still has a huge potential. Dortmund
must be happy. Henrikh will be the second Messi,” Abraham said.

Asked about Germany, Mkhitaryan said the food is still not his thing,
but beer is excellent.

“I am trying to control my weight,” he said commenting on a remark
that Arthur Abraham has problems ahead of fights.

Mkhitaryan said he is taking German lessons three times a week.

Abraham noted that he would not have problems with German, as he
already speaks five languages.

NEWS.am Sport

ARMENIAN-SYRIAN MUSICAL FESTIVAL TO BE ORGANIZED IN CASCADE

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

Armenian-Syrian musical festival to be organized in Cascade
17:20, 21 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) organizes an Armenian-Syrian
musical festival in Cascade on August 23. The representatives of the
Syrian-Armenian community of the Republic of Armenia will participate
in the aforesaid event.

In a conversation with “Armenpress” the External Relations Associate
at the Armenian Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) Anahit Hayrapetyan stated:

“There is a number of very gifted individuals among the
SyrianArmenians. About 5000 out of 10000 Syrian-Armenians have some
talents. We have decided to organize this event to promote their
achievements and integration. 30 dancing, musical, and recitation
performances will be introduced at the course of the aforesaid
festival. “Nur” Ensemble and popular singer Zaruhi Babayan will also
participate in the upcoming event.”

SYRIAN AIRLINES TRY TO RESTORE SYRIA-ARMENIA AIR COMMUNICATION

10:42, 21 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS: The restoration of the SyriaArmenia
air communication is not excluded. This was reported to Armenpress
by the Manager of the Yerevan Office of the Syrian Airlines Svetlana
Hovhannisyan. “At this moment I cannot say anything official. The
works are being carried out to make the Damascus-Qamishli-Yerevan
flight possible on August 28”, – said Svetlana Hovhannisyan.

The Damascus-Qamishli-Yerevan flights have been suspended by indefinite
term. The first and the only flight was implemented on April 16.

The land roads of Aleppo are also dangerous. Armenians have been
recently kidnapped there, a bus transferring Armenians has been
attacked and the airport is closed. Nearby the airport the governmental
forces try to establish control but the oppositionists have already
occupied several districts. After the suspension of the flights
to Aleppo, the Syrian Airlines implemented DamascusLatakia-Yerevan
flights, which have also been suspended.

FORMER SPEAKER OF SLOVAKIAN PARLIAMENT: EUROPE IS OBLIGED TO PROTECT CHRISTIANITY STARTING WITH ARTSAKH, A STRONGHOLD OF CHRISTIANITY
by David Stepanyan

Wednesday, August 21, 12:15

Europe is obliged to protect Christianity starting with Artsakh, a
stronghold of Christianity, says Former speaker of Slovakian Parliament
Frantisek Miklosko in his latest book entitled “Signs of the Time.”

According to Frantisek Miklosko, Europe’s Christian and cultural
values are seriously endangered and Europe is obliged to protect them
and the protection should be started from Artsakh.

“Losing Artsakh, we will lose Armenia and endanger the Europe’s
future”, – this is the credo of Frantisek Miklosko. He believes
that fighting the Muslim pressure alone, Artsakh is the stronghold
of Christianity.

Azerbaijan’s blacklist includes First President of the Slovakian
National Council Frantisek Miklosko along with other ‘personas
no-grata’ who visited Nagorno Karabakh. When in NKR to monitor the
local parliamentary elections, Frantisek Miklosko urged the European
Union to recognize independence of Nagorno Karabakh.

FREEDOM-FIGHTERS’ PROBLEMS DISCUSSED AT ARMENIA’S DEFENSE OFFICE

18:56 21.08.13

A working group set up to deal with the problems of freedom-fighters
held a meeting at the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, on Wednesday.

Armenia’s First Deputy Minister of Defense David Tonoyan, who is
Chairman of the group, presided over the meeting.

The relevant departments of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense reported
on the work done as well as discussed further activities.

The meeting discussed urgent problems and realistic ways of
resolving them. The meeting decided to resume the discussions with
freedom-fighters’ participation.

Armenian News – Tert.am