Author: Kajoyan Gevork

The Azerbaijani side kept violating the ceasefire regime over the weekend, the NKR Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The rival violated the truce about 300 times at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, firing more than 5,000 shots from weapons of different caliber, including 60 and 82mm mortars. TR-107 reactive rocket launchers were also used.

The Front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the line of contact and resort to retaliatory measures if necessary.

A total of 12 people have been killed after a public bus rammed into a bus stop in the Dikimevi neighborhood of Ankara, according to initial reports, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The public bus rammed into people waiting at the bus stop near the central Dikimevi metro station when the unidentified driver lost control of the wheel.

The bus, which also struck several parked cars, finally came to a stop after 60 meters.

Ankara Gov. Mehmet Kılıçlar said eight people were wounded in the incident.

The main road where the incident occurred was closed to traffic in the aftermath of the mishap.

Firefighters are continuing to pull dead bodies from under the bus.

The Armenian office of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, in cooperationwith the Public Journalism Club and the Media Center, will hold a discussion on the position of Iraqi Yezidi refugees in Armenia on September 30.

Three Yezidi families from Iraq have obtained refugee status in Armenia so far, but community representatives are expecting the government to do more. For instance, the Sinjar Yezidi National Union Sinjar has previously asked the Armenian foreign ministry to work with its Georgian counterpart to facilitate travel from Turkey. The ministry has said this will be a long process since the National Security Service will need to check each individual separately.

Yezidis are the largest minority in Armenia. According to the 2011 census, there were more than 35,000 of them, accounting for about one per cent of the population. Many Yezidis began settling here during the Russian-Turkish wars of the 19th century, and more fled the Ottoman Empire alongside with Armenians during the massacres of 1915.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, express their serious concerns about Armenian and Azerbaijani forces using mortars and heavy weapons in and around civilian areas.

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs issued the following statement today:

The use of such weapons represents an unacceptable escalation in the conflict. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and recognize the casualties on each side of the international border and Line of Contact. We appeal to the sides in the strongest possible terms to avoid civilian casualties. The sides have an obligation under the Geneva Conventions to protect the safety and security of non-combatants.

We regret that these incidents took place on the eve of the agreed meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in New York.  We expect the Ministers to have a serious discussion on the escalation of violence and the issues surrounding a negotiated settlement. While we are unable to determine with certainty how the violence originated since each side accuses the other, the parties should work towards an OSCE investigation mechanism as discussed between the Presidents.

We will continue our work with the sides at the highest levels to de-escalate tensions and advance a lasting and peaceful settlement.

On September 23, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with China Export-Import Bank (CEIB) Vice Chairman, President Liu Liange, Government’s Press Service reports.

Discussed were issues related to the possibility of China Export-Import Bank’s involvement in a number of investment projects in Armenia and cooperation prospects.

Prime Minister Abrahamyan said Armenia would appreciate Chinese companies’ involvement in our country’s economy. In his words, the sides had discussed a number of large-scale investment projects over the past few years, including the construction of Armenia’s southern railway.

Assuring of their keen interest in deepening economic relations with Armenia, Liu Liange expressed confidence that the cooperation would be expanded and developed ahead. He stressed the importance of Iran-Armenia railroad project, which may promote economic development in the region. During the meeting, the parties discussed other issues of mutual interest.

On the same day, the Prime Minister and the members of his delegation called at the Summer Palace in Beijing, which was built in 1750 AD during the reign of Qing Dynasty and used to be a royal summer residence. While being briefed on the history of the Summer Palace, the guests were shown ancient Chinese artifacts.

A 2006 Olympic ice dancing champion says she is to marry President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman later this summer, the Associated Press reports.

Tatiana Navka has been dating Dmitry Peskov, a father of three from two previous marriages, for several years and they had a daughter in August last year. Despite frequent public appearances together Peskov has not spoken publicly of his relationship with Navka, who also has a daughter from a previous relationship.

Navka, 40, said in an interview with the state-owed news agency on Thursday that the wedding is planned in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, scene of the Winter Games in 2014. She didn’t disclosed the date.

Peskov, 47, has said he would not comment on his private life, which is “nobody else’s business.”

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Ruling simultaneously on the Sargsyan vs. Azerbaijan and Chiragov vs. Armenia cases, the European Court of Human Rights decided on June 16, 2015 that Armenia and Azerbaijan had violated the rights of refugees who had fled during the Karabagh (Artsakh) conflict.

Azeri government officials, however, misled their citizens, declaring that Azerbaijan had won and Armenia had lost.

Here are the details of both court cases: On April 6, 2005, six Azerbaijani Kurds filed a joint complaint against Armenia with the European Court. They claimed to have been forced to flee their homes during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in 1992, after Armenian troops took over the Lachin region which separated Armenia from Artsakh. The Azerbaijani refugees alleged that Armenia had violated their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights: 1) protection of property, 2) right to respect for private and family life, and 3) right to an effective remedy.

On August 11, 2006, Minas Sargsyan filed a similar complaint against Baku in the European Court of Human Rights. He charged that Azerbaijan had violated his rights, the same ones claimed by the six Azerbaijani refugees, since he too was forced to flee in 1992 from his native village of Gulistan in the Shahumian region, controlled by Azerbaijan.

Both parties asked that their property rights be restored and demanded fair compensation.

In March 2010, after years of inactivity, the Court forwarded both cases to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, consisting of 17 judges from Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Cyprus, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Ukraine. The Grand Chamber’s decisions are final and not subject to appeal.

A decade after the these cases were first filed, the Grand Chamber issued two identical judgments on June 16, 2015, finding that both Armenia and Azerbaijan had violated the rights of each other’s refugees. In a lengthy document of 221 pages, including the two verdicts and the dissenting and concurring opinions, the Court ruled that the 20-year long peace negotiations did not free the two governments from their responsibility to protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of refugees. The Grand Chamber noted that there are over 1,000 individual applications pending before the Court, filed by Armenians and Azerbaijanis displaced during the Artsakh conflict.

The six Azerbaijani applicants claimed they had suffered $9 million in monetary damages and $330,000 in non-monetary damages. They further estimated their legal expenses to be around $65,000 as of October 2013. The Azerbaijani applicants’ representatives requested that an expert be appointed to evaluate the total damages their clients had incurred.

On the other hand, the Armenian applicant Minas Sargsyan had requested the restitution of his property, including the right of return to his home. He claimed $415,000 in monetary damages and $210,000 in non-monetary damages, in addition to non-specified legal fees.

Acknowledging “the exceptional nature” of the two cases, the Court did not make a final determination on awarding compensation or “just satisfaction.” The Grand Chamber asked the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments and the respective applicants to submit their “written observations on the matter” within 12 months, and “to notify the Court of any agreement that they may reach.”

In my opinion, the European Court’s parallel decisions were aimed at pressuring the two governments to expedite a negotiated settlement that would resolve all outstanding issues, including rights of refugees.

One of the most significant, yet unexpected outcomes of these court cases were the two written opinions — 25 pages each — by Judge Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque of Portugal and appended to the court’s verdicts, in which he presented a strong legal case for Artsakh’s independence: “Whenever a part of the population of a State is not represented by its government and the human rights of that population are systematically infringed by its own government, …the victimized population may have recourse ‘as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression,’ to use the powerful formulation of the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” The Judge also wrote that when a State systematically abuses the human rights of a seceding population, it is lawful for another State to take military action in favor of the seceding population, after the latter has established control of its territory and declared its secession.

Indonesian officials say 141 bodies have been recovered after a military transport plane crashed in a residential area of Medan on Tuesday, the BBC reports.

The military says none of the 122 people on board the Hercules C-130 survived when it hit houses and a hotel before bursting into flames.

Many of the victims are thought to have been relatives of servicemen and women.

But the latest death toll indicates there were at least 19 people killed on the ground.

 

A Canadian cabinet minister, two MPs, a Toronto councilor, a former judge, a newly-elected Kurdish MP from Bingöl, Turkey, an evangelist preacher, the European representative of the ‘Kurdish Rojave Cantons Regional Government’ in Syria, and Syrian-Kurdish spokesman took part in the Canadian Conference on the Kurdish Humanitarian Crisis on June 21 in Toronto.

While the gathering’s name focused on the Kurdish tragedy, the speakers also addressed the plight of the other Syrian and Iraqi minorities victimized by the so-called Islamic State and other terrorists. About 250 people attended the conference.

According to conference organizers the Syrian Civil War has resulted in one of the largest refugee crisis in the 21^st century with an estimated 12 to 14 million people who have been internally and externally displaced.

“In the Kurdish regions, about two-and-half million Kurdish people and Christian minorities such as Armenians, Assyrians, Yezidis are in urgent need of humanitarian aid,” according to conference organizers. “Sunni and Shia Arabs, and Turkmens too are arriving to the Kurdish regions for safety and well-being,” reported a flyer promoting the gathering.

Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish PYD (Democratic Union Party) addressed the crowd via   skype and said Kurdish fighters were standing fast in the positions they have taken from the Islamic State. He also underlined the humanitarian crisis in the Kurdish areas of Syria.

Prof. Hisyar Ozcoy, recently elected to the Turkish parliament (HDP-Bingöl), said that Erdogan’s folly led to the defeat of the party. “He became overly ambitious in his dreams to run Turkey the way he wanted,” said Ozcoy. Until recently a professor in Michigan, Ozcoy moved to Turkey to run in the elections.

Keynote speaker Senam Mohammadi, European representative of ‘Rojave Cantons Regional Government’, described in fluent English the calamity and the Kurdish resolve to defeat the extremists.

Former MP and now Toronto councilor Jim Karygiannis began his speech by saying: “You all know who the elephant in the room is. It’s Turkey.” The Toronto politician accused Turkey of being behind the Civil War in Syria and in Iraq. He also called on the Canadian government and its allies to expose Turkey for instigating and fueling the crisis.

“It is time we engaged all sides on the issue regarding ISIS. All sides need bear responsibility. Canadian federal politicians should stop pandering to the communities of the region for votes and stand with them shoulder-to-shoulder in order to defeat ISIS. Many words have been spoken about how they (the federal politicians) and their parties are assisting. However, they have and will continue to fail if they do not engage and hold Turkey also responsible,” said Karygiannis.

While Turkey speaks about engaging and helping with the fight against ISIS it still continues to persecute its minorities and deprive them of their rights, added the Toronto politician.

“There have been reports by community members in Canada that Turkey not only does not engage with the fight against ISIS but is assisting them by staying neutral. There is a genocide which is going on right now by ISIS against other religious and ethnic minorities. The first genocide of the 21st century was perpetrated against the Pontian Greeks and then against the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire–today’s Turkey,” said Karygiannis.

The Canadian politician stressed that Turkey continues its aggression by the invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus and added: “Turkey is doing nothing to assist against the fights with ISIS except pay lip service. It is time to stop today’s genocide.”

Aris Babikian, Armenian community activist, said: “I am here in solidarity with you and with the other persecuted minorities in the Middle East. As a representative of a nation which was the target of the same ideology currently sweeping in the region, I know what it means to be victimized by a policy bent on eliminating anyone who does not share that racist and vile ideology.”

Babikian said that the racist ideology is bent on eradicating not only people and religions but also thousands of years of civilizations.

“After 100 years of what the Armenians endured at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, today the world is witnessing the same barbaric acts being implemented in the same Middle East,” said Babikian and added: “The neo-Ottomans in Turkey are once again the core enablers of the atrocities committed against the Kurds, the Alawites, Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, the Druz, the Yezidis and other minorities.”

He also thanked Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Jason Kenney for their “principled stand and moral fortitude.” In addition to taking part in the attacks on ISIS, per capita Canada is the largest provider of safe haven to Syrian refugees in Canada (over 10,000 in two years). Babikian said he wanted to see other countries act as compassionately and generously.

“We are grateful for Canada’s leadership. We urge the government to go a step farther and use its global stature to pressure the Turkish government to stop training and arming extremists and helping them infiltrate Syria and Iraq,” said Babikian and added Canada’s allies should stop Turkey from acting as a middle man which “facilitates the financing of the fanatics by purchasing the looted Syrian and Iraqi oil and historic treasure and to export them to world markets.”

Hon. John Duncan, minister of state and government whip; MP Bernard Trottier, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs and for La Francophonie, and MP Mark Adler also addressed the conference. Rev. Majed el-Shafei, founder and president of One Free World International, gave a rousing speech. El-Shafei visited Iraq, Armenia and Turkey last year.

In the second part of the conference, a panel discussion was held titled “Kurdish Struggle: What’s in the future and global issues”. The panelists were Hadi Elis, sociologist and independent researcher; Andrew Marjoran, general manager of the MacKenzie Institute of Toronto; and Prof. Ofra Bengio of Tel-Aviv University.

The 16th edition of the International Human Rights Film Festival () organized by the DerHumALC Multimedia Institute and sponsored by Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained for Political Reasons and the Armenian National Committee of South America was launched on Wednesday June 17th, reports

One of the festival sections will be the “Focus on Armenia”. The Armenian films that will be screened are “A World Without Men”, “Beyond the Ararat”, “Memories without Borders”, and “Tevanik”. Carolina Karagueuzian, Director of the Armenian National Committee of Buenos Aires and one of the jury members of the festival, said that the films related to Armenia “are materials that account the current consequences of this genocide that even today, after almost a century, remains unpunished and continually denied by its perpetrator, the Turkish State and, in recent years, with the support of its strategic partner, Azerbaijan.”

“It is important to remember in this festival, which focuses on the Armenian Genocide, that the genocide was completely unpunished. There were trials, but there was also denial,” added Vera Jarach, member of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Florencia Santucho, the festival director, detailed that they will screen 112 films from 39 countries in a total of eleven cultural centers.

The opening ceremony was attended by important figures and defenders of human rights, like the President of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Estela de Carlotto, Vera Jarach and Nora Cortinas, representatives of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the organizations that search the stolen and illegally adopted children of the Argentine Dirty War. The event was also attended by Judge Daniel Rafecas, Undersecretary for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism of the City of Buenos Aires Claudio Avruj, member of Human Rights Secretary of Argentina Carlos Pisoni, along with Alfonso Tabakian and Carolina Karagueuzian, from the Armenian National Committee of South America.

DerHumALC Multimedia Institute is an organization created in 1999 in Argentina to “strengthen the treatment and study of topics on human rights from civil society.”