Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
July 23 2014

Baku says OSCE Minsk Group almost lost its significance

23 July 2014, 18:21 (GMT+05:00)
By Jamila Babayeva

The OSCE Minsk Group has almost lost its significance and Azerbaijani
people don’t trust it any more.

Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees
and IDPs Ali Hasanov made the remark at a commemoration ceremony on
the 21st anniversary of occupation of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region by
Armenia.

Hasanov underscored that throughout history, Azerbaijani people have
been in trusting relationships with their neighbors. “The OSCE Minsk
Group would be better to teach Armenia to trust, rather than
Azerbaijan,” he stressed.

The official expressed regret that Azerbaijan is once again holding
the occupation anniversary of Aghdam region rather than its liberation
anniversary adding that sooner or later, Aghdam and all occupied
territories of Azerbaijan will be liberated from the Armenian
occupation.

Hasanov further told journalists that the member states and co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group should abandon the policy of double standards.

He underscored that the OSCE Minsk Group, engaged in the settlement of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, should take notes
from the latest speech of President Ilham Aliyev at the session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Hasanov stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group should either resolve the
problem, or step aside, paving the way for the conflicting parties to
settle their problems by themselves.

“If the Armenian people want to live in prosperity, they should first
get rid of the current regime and re-establish good relations with
Azerbaijan. Otherwise, they will continue to live in poverty,” he
said.

Hasanov emphasized Azerbaijan will eventually liberate its territories
occupied by Armenia.

Speaking about the Azerbaijani civilians taken hostage by the Armenian
forces, Hasanov said Azerbaijan views them as heroes and they
shouldn’t be accused of violating laws under any circumstances.

Hasanov said that the Azerbaijanis (reportedly Shahbaz Guliyev, Dilgam
Asgarov and Hasan Hasanov) were taken hostage by Armenians while
visiting the graves of their relatives.There is no information about
them so far.

Armenia violated the international legal norms by taking hostage the
Azerbaijani civilians as they didn’t violate any border law between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. They were on their own native Kalbajar region.

Commenting on the related reports of the Armenian media, the deputy
prime minister underscored that the Armenian side accused the captured
Azerbaijanis of committing various crimes.

Hasanov said the Armenian media reported that Shahbaz Guliyev and
Dilgam Asgarov have repeatedly visited the occupied territories of
Kalbajar region.

“At the time of their visit, a 17-year-old Armenian was killed there
and Armenians, failing to solve the issue began to accuse Guliyev and
Asgarov of committing the murder,” he noted.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus
neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council’s four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have
not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the US and the OSCE Minsk
Group are underway on the basis of a peaceful outline -called Madrid
Principle -proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The negotiations
have been largely fruitless so far.

PreventionWeb (press release)
July 23 2014

HFA helps Armenia reduce risk

Date:23 Jul 2014

Source(s):UNISDR Office for Northeast Asia and Global Education and
Training Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction at Incheon (UNISDR
ONEA-GETI); United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction –
Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)

By Andy McElroy

Yerevan – Armenia’s Minister of Emergency Situations has praised the
Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) for inspiring “significant progress”
in his country’s efforts to reduce disaster risk.

Minister Armen Yeritsyan said the implementation of the HFA over the
last decade, provided a good starting point for the upcoming World
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in Sendai, Japan, in March
2015, and that Armenia “is optimistic that a very useful new framework
to help countries further reduce their disaster risk would be
developed”. A new framework will be adopted at the World Conference
following extensive worldwide consultations.

The Minister added: “We have seen significant gains in our country as
a result of implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action, which Armenia
adopted in 2005. We have: strengthened our policies in risk reduction;
integrated disaster risk reduction in government policies and plans;
and recognized this issue as a country priority for our development
and increasing security.

“We have learnt that disaster risk reduction cannot be done by one
ministry or agency alone but is the responsibility of several
ministries and many partners. And we have benefitted from an inclusive
approach to disaster risk reduction with big contributions from
partners such as the Red Cross.

“We also value the sharing of international experience and we hope to
step up such partnerships with our national academy for disaster risk
reduction playing a leading role to build local and national
government capacity in Armenia and in the region.”

Minister Yeritsyan was addressing a “Mainstreaming Climate Change and
Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development” forum hosted at
his ministry in the capital Yerevan. Sixty city leaders and DRR
practitioners from Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic,
Macedonia, Russia, and Tajikistan heard the Minister outline the
importance of urban resilience.

“Sixty-five percent of the Armenian population currently lives in
cities and this increasing trend is seen throughout the world. For us
ensuring city resilience is a priority. We have enjoyed a fruitful
partnership with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
and we are proud to have 10 Armenian cities in its Making Cities
Resilient campaign,” Minister Yeritsyan said.

The forum, organized with the support of UNISDR’s Global Education and
Training Institute (GETI) based in Incheon, Republic of Korea, is
leading participants through the initial steps of developing a
resilient city action plan, based on the Ten Essentials of the Making
Cities Resilient campaigns, for their respective municipalities.

Armenia is exposed to a variety of hazards including earthquake,
landslides, floods, drought, and hailstorms. The Spitak earthquake, in
December 1988, killed at least 25,000 people and left 517,000
homeless.

The Political Football Continues

The Mirror Spactator
Editorial 7-26

By Edmond Y. Azadian

As soon as the World Cup was over in Rio, the political version of the
game resumed in Armenia’s backyard, with the ball being the Armenian
Genocide.

Of course, eventually the issue of the Genocide appearing in the
political and international news is beneficial, especially on the eve
of the centennial. But we need to sort out who is taking advantage of
the complex situation of world politics and how that can impact
Armenia’s standing on the issue.

With Armenia wrapped up in its local politics as well as its hardening
relations with Iran and Russia, it does not seem to have the global
reach to take part in the Middle East discourse.

It is not the first time that the Armenian Genocide has been rendered
into a political football; of all possible quarters, Ankara is
becoming the defender of people against whom genocide is perpetrated.
And, of course, this gives an opportunity to Turkey’s adversaries to
point out Turkey’s own skeletons in the closet, meaning the Armenian
Genocide.

Under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey rose to the position
of an international political player, albeit, some of its feats were
based on rhetoric and cheap populism. Especially, the Arab street
throughout the Middle East was hungry for the feast of bravura Mr.
Erdogan was providing. He converted his popularity not only into
political dividends but also economic opportunities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu wins accolades among hawks
with Israel’s assault on Gaza, said Mahir Zeynalov, a journalist at
the English-language Turkish daily, Today’s Zaman. There is another
leader who benefits from the tragedy in Gaza: Turkey’s prime minister
who is skilled at exploiting Arab causes for his own political
ambitions. Now, it is time for Arabs to reject another leader who only
makes empty promises for political ends.

Indeed, Erdogan’s heroic march in the Arabic popular imagination began
in Davos in 2009, when he had a fallout with Israel’s President Shimon
Peres and walked off the stage, accusing Israel of committing Genocide
against the Palestinians. His popularity skyrocketed in the Muslim
world with the Mavi Marmara raid, which incurred 10 casualties at the
hands of Israeli forces.

While Erdogan was duping the Arab public, Turkish-Israeli military
contracts remained intact and the trade volume increased from $3.4
billion in 2008 to $4.4 billion in 2011 and exceeded $4 billion in
2012. It is reported that foreign trade between Turkey and Israel has
increased 27.6 percent in the first half of 2014 compared to the same
period in 2013.
In the meantime, Erdogan’s son was continuing his lucrative business
in Israel. And Kurdish oil, running illegally from Iraq to Turkey, was
being sold to Israel.

With the Israeli raids on Gaza raging, Mr. Erdogan has, once again,
resorted to his mantle as the defender of the Palestinian cause. They
curse Hitler morning and night, Erdogan told thousands of supporters
in the Black Sea city of Ordu. However, now their barbarism has
surpassed even Hitler’s.

Erdogan had already invoked Hitler on July 15 to criticize an Israeli
lawmaker. On July 18, he accused Israel of attempted genocide in Gaza.
Israel ordered the withdrawal of diplomats families from Turkey last
week after anti-Israel demonstrations there.

Even if Erdogan’s rhetoric has lost its luster in the Arab world, it
continues to retain its value as domestic currency in his electoral
campaign.

The Israeli government has retaliated against Erdogan’s accusations by
invoking the Armenian Genocide. Indeed, Arutz Sheva
(IsraelNationalnews.com) reports that Transportation Minister Yisrael
Katz of the Likud Party hit back at Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, after the latter accused Israel of attempting
systematic genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. In 1915 the Turks
massacred a million and a half Armenians and he accuses us, who are
fighting his friends in Islamic movement, of genocide? Who wants a
relationship with such a person?

Of course, this is a necessary quote for all journalists and
historians who deviously often characterize 1915 as what Armenians
call a genocide.But Mr. Katz statement will remain a self-serving
disingenuous sound bite if he does not go further by bringing the
Armenian Genocide issue before the Israeli parliament.

For Mr. Erdogan, the time of reckoning has also come in the Arab
world. He was the darling of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. During
former president Mohammed Morsi’s administration, and even before,
Turkey had built inroads in Egyptian society and had permeated
academia to produce a number of articles in the news media and books
in scholarly circles promoting Turkish views on the issue of the
Armenian Genocide. Now, the tables have turned; not only are newspaper
articles being published but scholarly debates are conducted on TV
screens providing objective documentation on the Armenian Genocide.
And Mr. Erdogan has been demonstrating his genius in provoking such
rebuttals to his statements. Last week, he lambasted Egypt’s President
Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as an illegitimate tyrant and said Cairo could
not be relied upon to negotiate a truce with Israel.

A news item on Tahrirnews.com responds to Erdogan’s statement once
again, referring to the Armenian Genocide: Dr. Ayman Salama, professor
of law and member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs said
that Turkeys prime minister has made clumsy statements blaming the
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and insulting the Egyptian
political system. He further pointed out that it is surprising that
Erdogan speaks of tyranny in Egypt, forgetting the centennial of the
horrible genocide of the Armenians in the 20th century, committed by
Erdogan’s Ottoman grandparents.

As we can see, the issue of the Armenian Genocide has become a
political currency in the turmoil of the Middle East and Armenians
have no way of capitalizing on it.

The war in Gaza and the crash of the Malaysian airliner in Ukraine are
two major events dominating the news and the Genocide issue is popping
out of nowhere when politicians need to settle scores. However, it has
become a marginal issue rather than one that can stand on its own in
the global landscape.

If we had a strong and organized diaspora, serving as an extension of
Armenia’s foreign policy establishment, we could bank all these
developments and derive dividends for the Armenian cause.

At this crucial junction of history, the diaspora remains rudderless
and Armenia can hardly deal with its own challenges, much less right a
historic wrong. And thus we are allowing history to bypass us yet
again.

Meanwhile, the political football continues.

Georgia ombudsman comments on incident near Armenian church in Tbilisi

15:00, 22.07.2014

Georgia Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili commented on the incident
that occurred nearby the Holy Etchmiadzin Armenian Church in the
Georgian capital city Tbilisi, and demanded that the criterion of the
respective criminal case be changed.

“The investigation is conducted pursuant to Article 125 (beating) of
the Georgian Criminal Code. But after the inquiries by the Public
Defender’s Office of Georgia and the study of the video recording of
the incident, it is confirmed that there could be hooliganism,
organization of group of violence, and causing damage to health.

“At the same time, the law enforcement agencies of Georgia need to
investigate all the circumstances of the case, including those which
could point to an ethnically motivated crime,” Gruzia Online news
agency of Georgia quoted the Georgian ombudsman as saying.

According to the statement by the Diocese of Georgia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, on the evening of July 19, a group of people carried
out a planned attack against the clergy of the Holy Etchmiadzin
Church.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan to attend event commemorating Genocide victims

14:32 | July 23,2014 | Social

On July 2, representatives of the Ararat Patriarchal Diocese’s Youth
Associations are organizing commemorative events at Liberty Square in
Yerevan dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

This is the third event organized by the Youth Associations with the
blessing of Vicar of the Ararat Patriarchal Diocese, His Eminence
Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan.

Within the framework of the program, the Youth Associations at the
head of Priest Petros Malyan will organize a series of events,
discussions, pilgrimages, on the 24th of each month. The initiative
aims at keeping alive the memory of the Genocide victims.

VivaCell-MTS’ new base station near Khosrov Forest State Reserve

23-07-2014 13:07:50 | Armenia |

In the frame of its commitment to providing mountainous, far-reaching,
and thinly-populated areas of Armenia with access to mobile
communication services, VivaCell-MTS has installed from the scratch a
new base-transceiver station in the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge, a
high-altitude area, adjacent to the Khosrov Forest State Reserve. The
high-mountainous landscape added to the difficulty of the construction
works. Climbing up the mountain area is difficult even for special
transportation vehicles. An electricity transformer was installed, and
a 1.5 km-long high voltage power line was carried on from the major
supply line to the top of the mountain, using wooden poles. The
base-transceiver station is located on a mountain which is about 1,300
meters above the sea level.
The new station is aimed at providing the staff of the FPWC’s Caucasus
Wildlife Refuge with reliable cellular communication and serving the
staff and visiting scientists in conducting research. In addition to
providing the rangers with reliable means of communication in a wide
mountainous area, together with their traditional multi-band handheld
radio devices, the newly-installed BTS will also allow for
newly-installed digital cameras, equipped with SIM-card module,
provided by VivaCell-MTS, to transfer information online to the
Urtsadzor Eco Training Center, in the real time. This information can
be of various types, and can include, reports on wild animal
detection. Access to mobile communication services will also help
interact with various agencies, in case there will is a need for
additional intervention.
High-speed Internet will be available to the visitors of the Urtsadzor
Eco Training Center making possible to communicate with the outer
world, including exchanging big files, administering websites,
receiving updates on weather forecast, etc. The Caucasus Wildlife
Refuge is located in an isolated remote area, surrounded by mountains.
In the winter time, in case of heavy snowing, the roads can be
impassable. Therefore, access to mobile communication is critical. In
its day-to-day activities, Urtsadzor Eco Training Center relies on
solar energy for getting both hot water and heating. Thanks to
VivaCell-MTS, another power line will be provided to the center, for
pumping water from the river and for watering 2,000 newly-planted
trees needing regular irrigation.
When making decisions on the installation of base stations in
far-reaching areas, VivaCell-MTS is not guided by return-on-investment
considerations only. Apart from other social spheres, VivaCell-MTS,
socially-responsible company, also supports the long-term initiatives
of the FPWC, aimed at increasing the awareness of, as well as
protecting and studying the precious flora and fauna of Armenia. The
Caucasus Wildlife Refuge project is an excellent tool helping raise
the international awareness about Armenia’s treasures of nature and
their endangerment. The availability of mobile voice and data services
will also help develop eco-tourism in rural areas, mainly in Ararat
region.
“Innovation is an end in itself if not supporting to the progress of
the humanity. The role of VivaCell-MTS in our society is not limited
to providing services to the population based on the considerations of
gaining profit. Our environment is endangered. Our landlocked country
is one of 34 regions worldwide defined by Conservation International
as outstandingly important for the protection of the globe’s
biodiversity. It means Armenia is one of the unique countries in terms
of the richness of endemic species. We have to support with the
important environmental cause of protecting our natural heritage.
Otherwise, tomorrow, it can be too late,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager
Ralph Yirikian commented.

News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan
– See more at:

No third tailing dump in Tukhmanuk

by Karina Manukyan

ARMINFO
Wednesday, July 23, 16:29

The confrontation of ecologists and Melik village residents against
“Mega gold” company, which was going to build the third tailing dump,
seems to end. As the head of the “Centre for birds lovers”, Silva
Adamyan, told Arminfo correspondent, Armenia’s Nature Protection
Ministry declined the project, as it would negatively affect the
environment.

The project caused displeasure both of ecologists and local residents.
In particular, “Mega gold” company did not implement recultivation
work at the two tailing dumps of Tukhmanuk, which contains the risk
of heavy metals penetration in soil.

Adamyan also added that a lawsuit has been filed against “Mega Gold”.
She has already met with representatives of the law-enforcement
agencies, and submitted materials about activity of the company, which
they were interested in.

Last year ecologists called on Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office
to revise the license on open pit mining of Tukhmanuk.

Vladimir Dorokhin: None of the Azerbaijanis detained at the territory
of Armenia are Russian citizens

by Marianna Lazarian

ARMINFO
Wednesday, July 23, 14:48

None of the Azerbaijanis detained by Armenians in Kalbajar are
Russian citizens, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin
said in his letter to vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar
Muradova, APA reports quoting Russian embassy’s website.

“I officially declare that there is no Russian citizen among the
Azerbaijanis detained by Armenians in Kalbajar”, he said in his
letter. According to some media reports, Dilgam Asgarov, who has been
detained in Kalbajar, is a Russian citizen.

To recall, in the first decade of July, Azeris made new attempts to
mount a sabotage attack on the Armenian-NKR section of the border
(near Karvachar) last week. The Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry has
told ArmInfo that they revealed and neutralized all members of the
Azerbaijani subversive group. Some members of the group were captured,
and others escaped. As reported earlier, the Nagorno- Karabakh
Defense Army released a photo of Gyulin Shahbaz Jalaloghlu (born in
1968), the captured member of the Azerbaijani sabotage and
intelligence team. Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan informed on
Saturday that the Armenian soldiers killed an Azerbaijani saboteur
while neutralizing the subversive group on Friday. But an Armenian
officer, major Sarkis Abrahamyan (born in 1972) was killed and an
Armenian woman, Karina Davtyan (born in 1977) was wounded. The NKR
Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a lawsuit regarding Azerbaijani
raiders Gyulin Shahbaz Jalaloghlu (born in 1968) and Dilham Asgarov
(born in 1960) for illegal crossing of the border.

Armenia Refused Peacekeepers and Division of Artsakh

Naira Hayrumyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 23 July 2014, 17:28

In fact, Armenia and Azerbaijan have not agreed on a meeting of
presidents. At least, no such statement was made after the meeting of
the ministers of both countries with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
There was not a traditional joint statement of co-chairs.

The Armenian side seems to have no reason to refuse a meeting.
Moreover, the issue of settlement has come out of sharp focus and all
the efforts of Armenia and some co-chairs are aimed at prevention of
military actions and correspondingly focused on maintaining the status
quo.

In any case, judging by the statements of the American co-chair James
Warlick, the United States wants this. In an interview with the
Azerbaijani mass media prior to the meeting Warlick announced that war
cannot be a solution and the co-chairs want to meet in Brussels to
discuss further steps.

Armenia is also directing its efforts at prevention of military
actions. In particular, the minister of foreign affairs Edward
Nalbandyan pointed to Azerbaijan’s high-level military rhetoric and
attacks, which is not acceptable. And the Armenian officials,
including the president, are criticizing supply of Russian arms to
Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani MFA has released a short message on the discussion of
the Karabakh settlement based on the publicly known principles and
statements of the heads of states of the Minsk Group co-chairs.

These principles suggest shift of the status quo – division of
Karabakh and surrender of its greater part to Azerbaijan, as well as
stationing of peacekeepers. However, Armenia has categorically refused
peacekeepers because it is aware that its consequence will be division
of Karabakh.

Iran did the same. The ambassador of this country Mohammad Reisi
announced that Iran is against deployment of forces of third countries
because it “threatens” the region. In fact, Iran is for territorial
integrity of Karabakh and maintenance of the status quo.

The interests of Armenia, Iran and the co-chairs urging for peace are
in line. Everyone understands that the change of status quo will lead
to resumption of military actions, and nobody in the region needs any.
The region is preparing to become an important area of communications
and military actions, threats and foreign forces are not needed but a
peace agreement is needed. Apparently, Azerbaijan does not like this.

– See more at:

Georgian Patriarchate condemns Armenian Church attack

15:44 23.07.2014

The Georgian Orthodox Church condemns the incident at the Armenian
Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi and calls on the participants in
the confrontation to make peace.

On July 22 Prelate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, Bishop Vazgen
Mirzakhanyan met with representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church
to discuss what happened on Saturday. The parties noted that the
conflict emerged as a result of an incident and does not have a
religious or ethnic basis.

“The Georgian Church condemns the incident and calls on participants
in the confrontation to make peace,” according to a statement by the
Georgian Orthodox Church. “The Church as usual will help to solve the
problem and to create peaceful coexistence of religious confessions in
the country.”

The Georgian ombudsman earlier addresses law enforcement bodies to
properly and effectively investigate the attack on priests at an
Armenian church on July 19. On Saturday, about 50 people attacked Surb
Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi. The Armenian Diocese says the attack
was motivated by religious and ethnic prejudice, but the Interior
Ministry denies the incident was a case of discrimination.