Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Prima Pagina Molise
22 giugno 2012

Tennis: Ani Amiraghyan prima finalista del torneo di Campobasso

Il Torneo Internazionale di Tennis Regione Molise ha la sua prima finalista.

Si tratta dell’armena Ani Amiraghyan, che ha sconfitto la tedesca
Bianca Koch, con il finale di 6-4; 7-5 al termine di due ore di gioco
intense, che hanno visto le due atlete susseguirsi ai vantaggi.

Passa, dunque, la numero 511 del ranking e dovrà vedersela con la
vincitrice dell’incontro tutto azzurro tra Martina Di Giuseppe e la
testa di serie numero 1 del torneo Federica Di Sarra.

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Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 22 2012

France to regain access to Turkish energy industry after genocide row

22 June 2012 / REUTERS, ST PETERSBURG

Turkey’s resumption of diplomatic ties with France means French
companies may regain some, if not full access to Turkey’s energy
sector, including its nuclear industry, Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner
Yıldız said on Friday.
After a meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
and new French President Francois Hollande, Ankara announced on
Thursday it would restore ties with France after a six-month hiatus in
a dispute over the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Ankara cancelled all economic, political and military meetings with
Paris in December after France’s lower house of parliament voted
overwhelmingly in favor of a draft law to make it illegal to deny that
the killings amounted to genocide.

France’s highest court overturned the law two months later but the
Turkish measures, which included restrictions on French military
aircraft and ships landing or docking on its territory, have remained
in place.

Yıldız said the government expected an improvement in relations with
Hollande in power.

“I believe that this burden will be taken out or removed after the
meeting (Hollande) had with his excellency ErdoÄ?an,” Yıldız told
reporters during an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“As the energy sector we are ready for a variety of cooperation with
France, although our projects and our business is really large and we
can not separate them from the international politics,” he said.

“Therefore we cannot ignore some political approaches that will affect
our industry. I believe that from now on the prospects will be much
better compared to the time of (Hollande’s predecessor Nicolas)
Sarkozy.”

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the
Ottoman government.

Turkey says there was a heavy loss of life on both sides during the
fighting in which Armenian partisans supported invading Russian
forces.

Ties weakened during Sarkozy’s term in office, when the former French
president was also an outspoken opponent of Turkish membership in the
European Union.

Iran ties

Noting Turkey’s relationship with Iran was “not like the relationship
of any European countries with Iran,” Yıldız said Turkey would
continue to import some Iranian crude oil after its sole refiner cut
imports of Iranian crude by 20 percent.

The EU itself has largely banned intake of Iranian crude from July 1.
Iran’s oil buyers around the world have been cutting imports to avoid
US financial sanctions which aim to stop Iran’s nuclear program
through effective limits on dollar transactions.

Washington is pressing Turkey to cut Iranian supplies over the next
six months or face sanctions, but the 20 percent cut has earned Ankara
a 180-day exemption from financial sanctions, during which Halkbank
can make payments for imports.

“The oil trade being done with Iran right now is not illegal. So trade
operations are being implemented within all of those laws and
regulations,” Yıldız, said, adding it was able to pay for oil in
Turkish lira.

He said the lost Iranian volumes would be replaced by Libyan and Saudi
Arabian crude, which have been in greater supply through increased use
of Saudi spare capacity and the recovery of the Libyan energy industry
from a violent uprising which ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

Interfax, Russia
June 22 2012

Karabakh welcomes OSCE Minsk Group’s call for dialogue in settling conflict

YEREVAN. June 22

The Foreign Ministry of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
supports a joint statement by the Russian, U.S., and French presidents
on the Azeri-Armenian conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We have always taken a positive attitude toward such initiatives
aimed at peacefully solving the problem based on international law
principles, and we once again reaffirm our preparedness to follow the
calls and recommendations by the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group
countries,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“Progress in negotiations on settling the Azeri-Karabakh conflict can
be achieved and durable peace can be established in the region only
through political dialogue, with Nagorno-Karabakh’s full-fledged
participation,” it said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Barack Obama, and
French President Francoise Hollande earlier issued a joint statement
calling on the parties to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to step
up efforts toward its settlement.

Palestinians push Nativity church as Heritage site

,167195#ixzz1yhWcsr00
Jun 23

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is becoming the church of
contention, with a bid by the Palestinians to use their position as
the newest members of the U.N.’s cultural arm to obtain World Heritage
status for the iconic Christian site and perhaps boost their own
campaign for legitimacy.

The effort by the Palestinian Authority, like its overall efforts for
global recognition for an independent Palestinian state, is drawing
resistance. And it may fail at the World Heritage Committee meeting
that starts Sunday.

An experts committee has turned down the emergency bid to quickly
confer on the Church of the Nativity, and its pilgrimage route, the
status as an endangered World Heritage site, saying the application
needs more work. Even custodians of the holy site, the Greek Orthodox,
Roman Catholic and Armenian churches are opposed, according to a
document obtained by The Associated Press.

The church which drew some 2 million visitors last year and parts of
which are 1,500 years old stands above the grotto that Christians
believe was the birthplace of Jesus. The Palestinians’ application
asks for recognition as a site of “outstanding universal value”
urgently in need of attention.

There is concern by the United States and others that the Bethlehem
holy site and the integrity of the World Heritage process risk falling
victim to the politics that for decades have torn the region asunder,
with the Palestinians using their foothold in the U.N. system to grab
symbolic recognition of their elusive bid for statehood in a
long-disputed land.

The World Heritage candidacy of the Church of the Nativity and the
pilgrimage route is one way for the Palestinians to prove they are
responsible stewards of the site which draws tourists the world over.
Above all, it is part of a broader attempt by Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas to seek international recognition for a state of
Palestine after its controversial backdoor entry into the U.N. system.

Negotiations with Israel on the terms of a Palestinian state have been
frozen since 2008, mainly because Abbas and Israel’s hardline prime
minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have failed to reach enough common
ground for meaningful talks.

Meantime, Abbas has tried to create new leverage, including with a
quest for U.N. membership for a state of Palestine in the West Bank,
Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel occupied in 1967. The
U.N. bid has been stalled for months, but Abbas hopes to garner
recognition for Palestine wherever possible, including with a nod from
UNESCO for Bethlehem.

Angry at Palestinian membership in UNESCO, the United States pulled
its $80 million in annual dues 22 percent of the overall budget from
the Paris-based organization after the October vote that made the
Palestinians the 195th member.

Bucking the bad feedback, the Palestinians refused to follow UNESCO
custom and withdraw the candidacy as the French did with their
emergency bid for the Chauvet cave, with its hundreds of prehistoric
drawings, when it got a negative recommendation from the experts.

The Palestinians now risk losing face at the World Heritage Committee
meeting from Sunday until July 6 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, when 33
sites from around the world will be considered for the coveted World
Heritage status.

A surprise thumbs up could feed rancor and rivalries in a volatile
region, within the church itself and perhaps at the U.N. Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Already, the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar, has
denounced a “persistent campaign of rumors” at the organization.

Protecting the cultures of the world is among UNESCO’s core missions
and there is little doubt the Church of the Nativity with a
longstanding problem of leaks from the roof is in need of repair. A
program administered by the Palestinians is already in progress.

Located in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, it is managed by three
churches, each jealous of its role as custodian of the site, defined
under an agreement dating back to the Ottoman Empire.

With a big measure of diplomacy, the leaders of the Greek Orthodox,
Catholic and Armenian churches rebuffed the Palestinian proposal,
politely reserving judgment on its reasons.

“In our opinion, we do not think it opportune to deal with this
request that the Basilica and its entire complex be included in the
list of World Heritage sites, due to different considerations,” read a
letter to Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas signed by the three
leaders. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

Among other things, a World Heritage designation raises fears that the
delicate arrangement of custodianship might be disturbed. Fights among
priests using broomsticks have been known to break out in the past
over a perception that boundaries are being overstepped.

“When it comes to the Church of the Nativity, no one can interfere,”
said Yousef Daher of the World Council of Churches in Jerusalem. “They
(the Palestinian Authority) figured it wrong.” He called the
Palestinian bid a “surprising request.”

“A church is a church, it shouldn’t become a world heritage. It’s a
sacred place and its ownership is not for anyone,” Daher said.

The Palestinian emergency application cites lack of regular
restoration on the church due to the political situation since 1967
when Israel occupied the territories and difficulties procuring
equipment because of lack of free movement imposed by Israeli forces.

Though Israel captured the West Bank, it turned much of Bethlehem over
to the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s.

The U.S. State Department did not hide its disapproval of the
Palestinians’ emergency bid.

“We are disappointed by the Palestinians’ intention to push through an
emergency inscription against the recommendation of UNESCO’s own
experts and without thoroughly consulting all stakeholders,” a
statement said. It made clear that Washington’s objection stems from
the rush job that an emergency candidacy implies and which prevents a
full review including by those with a stake in the outcome.

“We hope the Committee will act responsibly as good stewards of the
World Heritage Convention, rather than allowing yet another U.N. forum
to become a victim of politicization,” the U.S. statement said. “The
site is sacred to all Christians.”

An experts report, conducted for UNESCO by the Rome-based
International Council on Monuments and Sites, which reviews all
applications, concluded that the Palestinians failed to show that
damage or dangers to the Church of the Nativity “make its condition an
emergency that needs to be addressed … for immediate action
necessary for the survival of the property.”

It suggests the application be resubmitted under normal procedures
with fuller detail. That takes about 18 months, meaning it could be
re-nominated in 2014.

“Palestinians are continuing with their bid, and they are still
hopeful and optimistic that they will succeed,” said Palestinian
government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. He declined to elaborate.

The Palestinian delegation to UNESCO refused any comment until after
the Saint Petersburg meeting. However, a letter circulating among
delegations suggested a plot was afoot.

In a letter, Ambassador Sanbar denounced a campaign of pressure
against the bid from “those who do not want to see Palestine exercise
its legitimate rights.”

The June 11 letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated
Press, included what is purported to be a statement of support for
Palestinian leader Abbas signed in type by the Roman Catholic and
Greek Orthodox leaders, noting the Armenian was absent.

That letter “gave some delegations the impression that the churches
had changed their opinion and were no longer opposed to the
inscription,” said one UNESCO official. “Was it designed for that
purpose? I don’t know.”

The official asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity
surrounding the Palestinian bid.

Despite fears by some that Palestinian backers on the committee will
win the church the emergency designation as an endangered World
Heritage site, others say it would be highly unusual for the voting
committee to ignore the experts’ negative recommendation.

“The committee is a sovereign body. Experts are there to give expert
advice that is usually taken on board,” said UNESCO spokeswoman Sue
Williams.

Win or lose, the Palestinians are looking to putting their mark on
other sites under their purview, including historic Bethlehem.

That gets a green light from the custodial churches at the Nativity as
long as the church itself stays off limits.

___

Dalia Nammari in Jerusalem and Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank
contributed to this report.

Associated Press

ARMENIE
Publication d’une encyclopédie sur les femmes arméniennes

La présentation d’une encyclopédie en deux volumes sur les femmes
arméniennes a eu lieu à Erevan.

L’édition contient des informations sur 1236 femmes arméniennes
d’Arménie, du Nagorno-Karabakh et de plus de 50 autres pays, qui ont
glorifié leur Patrie en faisant de grandes contributions dans divers
secteurs dans différents pays.

L’encyclopédie contient des informations sur les femmes arméniennes
qui ont travaillé dans la médecine, dans les sciences, la littérature,
les arts, le sport, l’architecture et d’autres secteurs.

L’édition contient aussi des informations sur les héroïnes du
Mouvement de libération national, des figures publiques, philanthropes
et même des déesses, princesses et Saintes femmes.

L’encyclopédie a été publiée avec le patronage du Président Serge
Sarkissian et avec la bénédiction du Catholicos Karekine II.

L’auteur Zori Balayan est le rédacteur en chef de l’encyclopédie.

L’encyclopédie à deux volumes a été publiée par les éditeurs Amaras.

dimanche 24 juin 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

DEFENSE and SECURITY
WPS Agency, Russia
June 19 2012

PARIS SECRETS OF YEREVAN AND BAKU

BY: Yuri Roks
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, #113, 19.06.2012, p. 6

On Monday Azerbaijan and Armenia were expecting news from Paris.
Foreign ministries of the two countries, Elmar Mammadyarov and Eduard
Nalbandian, came there on the initiative of the Minsk group (MG) of
the OSCE responsible for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The
pre-planned negotiations seem highly necessary because of the critical
complications on the line of contact of the conflict parts and in some
cross-border Armenian-Azerbaijani regions. Some sources in Baku and
Yerevan suggest that the meeting in Paris precedes the negotiations of
the presidents.

Rendezvous between Mammadyarov and Nalbandian had received an
additionsl intrigue due to the statement made by the U.S. Secretary of
state Hillary Clinton who had visited Yerevan and Baku in the
framework of a regional tour in the beginning of June. Clinton’s
meaningful intonations might read that the “new approach” will put an
end to the longstanding enmity of the neighbouring countries.

Her visit coincided with an unprecedented for the post-war years
worsening of the conflict not only in Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR), but
actually in the Azerbaijani-Armenian border regions. Military
provocations have markedly reversed her appeal to peace.

[translated from Russian]

ARYE GUT: ARMENIA IS MONO-ETHNIC COUNTRY

AzerTag
June 22 2012
Azerbaijan

Public hearings on the so-called “Armenian genocide” have recently
been conducted at the plenary session of the Israeli Knesset.

Commenting on this meeting in his blog spokesman of the International
Association “Israel-Azerbaijan” (Aziz), an expert in the field of
international relations Arye Gut said that, unfortunately, this
issue is a matter of political provocation initiated by the Armenian
community of Israel and supported by a number of Israeli MPs.

“This is a fact that official recognition of the so-called “Armenian
genocide” is not only undermines, but rather destroys the complex,
tense Turkish-Israeli relations,” Gut writes.

“The Turkish and the Jewish people have a rich 500-year history of the
relationship and mutual understanding. Do not forget the historical
facts. At the time, the Turkish sultan saved Jews from annihilation in
Spain, giving them full civil rights. During the Second World War, when
European Jews were subjected to terrible and barbaric annihilation,
Turkey, defended and saved the Jews, ” Gut adds.

According to Gut, the recognition of the so-called “Armenian genocide”
would seriously undermine Israel’s relations with Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan today is a true regional leader of the South Caucasus,
which has serious geopolitical and geo-economic perspective. For
20 years, Israel has developed a very strong strategic partnership
with Azerbaijan. Today, many large Israeli companies are operating
in Azerbaijan in various fields, such as high technology,
telecommunications, oil and gas industry, medicine and agriculture.

Trade turnover between the two countries reached nearly $ 5 billion,”
says Gut.

“And now look at the situation in Armenia. Though chairman of the
Jewish Community of Armenia Rimma Varzhapetyan is trying to defend
Armenia in this situation, it’s time to face the truth. We are all
well aware, as Mrs. Varzhapetyan protects mono-ethnic country where
chauvinism and nationalism pass from the mother’s milk. Almost every
year a monument to innocent victims of the Holocaust in Yerevan is
being defiled. This fact confirms that the genocide of Azerbaijanis
in Khojaly was the result of the Nazi ideology of ethnic cleansing,
which is now preaching the ruling clan of Armenia. This clan has
come to power with large blood to create a mono-ethnic state and
expelled Azerbaijanis from their lands. Some 200,000 Azerbaijanis
were brutally driven out from Armenia, there are no Russians and no
Jewish here any more,” says Gut.

TURKEY-FRANCE: ECONOMIC TRUCE ENCOURAGED

Trend
June 22 2012
Azerbaijan

Ellada Khankishiyeva, Trend Analytical Centre Head

The warm meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and new French president Francois Hollande today in Brazil became
a good end to the absurd story between the two powers with the
recognition of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

The Lower House of the French Parliament adopted a bill criminalising
the denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide” on Dec 22, 2011.

Senate (upper house of the French Parliament) voted for the adoption
of this law on January 23, 2012. Some 127 senators voted for, while
86 – against. The bill demands a year’s imprisonment and a fine of
45,000 euro for denying the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the
Turkey – Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against
the Armenians living in Anatolia, and achieved recognition of the
“Armenian Genocide” by the parliaments of several countries.

This awkward situation can be considered absurd for the reason
that flared up passions due to the recognition by the French Senate
of the bill criminalising denial of so-called “Armenian genocide”
in the end was successfully resolved in favor of Turkey – France’s
Constitutional Court declared the law unconstitutional and violating
freedom of speech. However, relations between Turkey and France
were damaged to the extent that Ankara has introduced a range of
sanctions against Paris, accompanied by breaking off both economic
and political relations.

It should be recalled that sanctions included a recall of the Turkish
ambassador from France, freezing all bilateral economic, political
and military talks, the ban on the use by French military aircraft
and ships of air bases and ports in Turkey without a special permit,
cancellation of a joint Turkish-French meeting on economic issues,
abolition of all military exercises with France.

To mark the start of a new stage of relations between the two
countries, Turkey is preparing to lift a number of sanctions imposed
on France. And if the political relations between countries can be
restored easily and relatively quickly, it is not easy to revive
economic ties: joint investment projects stand idle, trade links get
broken, the provision of counter economic services stops. For this
reason, Turkey had been taking a wait and see stance on the issue
of economic sanctions against France and had not been in a hurry
with making them tighter, limiting economic cooperation at the level
of negotiations.

There is a pleasant fact that the period of Turkish sanctions against
France was short and completed without developing fully. The Turkish
export statistics indicate that if France was fifth in the top 10
trading partners before the sanctions were imposed, it dropped only by
one step in the period from January to May 2012, becoming the sixth
honorary partner where Turkey mainly delivers its textile products
and appliances.

The entrepreneurs of both countries believed that the populist decision
of French politicians will be rejected, because the deterioration of
Turkish-French relations will not benefit any party.

Turkey has a large number of French companies in the areas of banking,
power enginnering, motor-car construction, retail trade, cosmetics
and pharmaceuticals. French companies EDF, GDF Suez and Areva plan
to participate in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Turkey.

The volume of investments of 350 Turkish companies operating in
various sectors of the French economy is $500 million.

The economic potential between the two countries has not been
exhausted. The resumption of relations between the two countries
will give an impetus to the further development of Turkish-French
economic cooperation.

LOST ARMENIAN GOLD LOCATED BY TURKISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Hurriyet
June 22 2012
Turkey

The Turkish Historical Society has claimed that gold that was obtained
from the auctioning off of Armenian assets during the Ottoman era was
seized by Ally forces as war reparations in the aftermath of World
War I, daily Bugun has reported.

Around 5 million pieces of Ottoman gold reportedly belonging to
Armenians who left the empire were taken by Ally forces, possibly by
Britain, according to a recent two-year study by the society.

A group of Armenian-Canadians were paid compensation by a British
bank from the seized fund, which now equals 1.3 million pounds.

The money was initially transferred to a German bank and was then
divided between the Allies.

The U.S. government has been investigating the sources of the transfer
in the Allies’ budget as well, Bugun reported.

HEARING TURKEY’S ARMENIANS

International Relations and Security Network

June 22 2012
Switzerland

Armenian flags used during a protest in Yerevan, Armenia

The aim of this report is not only to introduce the problems that the
Armenian population has been living with, but also the opinions of
the different segments of Armenian society about the democratization
process in Turkey. The authors focus on the issues that are mostly
ignored by policy makers and society in Turkey such as access to
education and employment; assuring the freedom of faith and religious
practices; freedom of intellectual, cultural and artistic expression;
elections of the Patriarch and directors of community foundations,
and demands concerning confiscated property.

© 2012 Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)

Download:

English (PDF · 130 pages · 2.0 MB)

Author: Gunay Göksu Ozdogan, Ohannes Kılıcdagı

Editor: Mehmet Ekinci, Pınar Canga

ISBN/EAN: 978-605-5332-01-3

Series: TESEV Publications

Publisher: Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV),
Istanbul, Turkey