HEGHINE YEPREMIAN GAINS SILVER MEDAL IN EUROPEAN YOUTH WEIGHTLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIP
Noyan Tapan
Sep 3, 2007
PAVIA, SEPTEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The European Youth Weightlifting
Championship is continuing in the city of Pavia in Italy. The second
silver medal of the Armenian delegation was gained by Heghine Yepremian
from Kasakh, who took part in the 58kg weight category.
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 1 2007
Armenian Armed Divisions Violate Cease Fire Regime in Six Directions:
Azerbaijan Defence Ministry
Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. E.Huseynli / Armenian Armed divisions
violated cease fire regime in six directions on 31 August and 1
September, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry’s press-service reported
on 1 September.
Armenian Armed Forces has been intensively violating the cease fire
regime for latest three months. Several soldiers of the Azerbaijani
Armed Forces have been killed.
The Armenian Armed divisions fired Yarimca and Chayli villages of
Azerbaijan within several hours.
Fire was observed from 22:10 to 22:45.
The Armenian Armed Forces fired the Azerbaijani National Army from
the position located on by 3 kilometres on the west from Ahmadli and
Shikhlar villages of Agdam region on 1 September.
ARMEIAN DISAGREES PACE RAPPORTEUR EDWARD O’HARA’S VISITING NAGORNO KARABAKH VIA AZERBAIJAN, THE VISIT WAS PUT OFF AGAIN
Azeri Press Agency
Aug 31 2007
Azerbaijan
The PACE Rapporteur for Cultural Heritage in the South Caucasus,
British MP, Edward O’Hara’s fact-finding travel to Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Armenia from August 28 through September 6 has been
postponed again, Milli Majlis press service told APA.
The statement reads that Azerbaijan has always supported this
initiative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
and PACE Rapporteur Edward O’Hara’s fact-finding visit to the region,
including Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, Nagorno
Karabakh and the other territories occupied by Armenia.
Azerbaijan objected to Armenian side’s demand at PACE during
preparation for the visit that the fact-finding mission should travel
to Nagorno Karabakh through Armenia (by car from Yerevan).
Related to this issue, Samad Seyidov, head of Azerbaijani parliament
delegation to the PACE, informed the Secretary General Mateo Sorinas
of Azerbaijan’s official stance, underscoring recognition of the
country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty by the international
community and international organizations like UN, OSCE, NATO, CE etc.
Azerbaijan clearly announced its position that both domestic and
international missions and delegations have to seek permission of
official Baku to travel to its territory of Nagorno Karabakh and
other adjacent regions under occupation, and Azerbaijan will not
change its firm position in any condition.
As a result, PACE didn’t support Armenia’s unconstructive and baseless
stance and postponed the visit.
DES ARMENIENS S’ENTRAîNENT AU PLAN D’EAU
Remi Gayot
La Nouvelle Republique du Centre Ouest
Edition Vienne
30 août 2007 jeudi
Depuis dimanche, les membres du " Modèle circulaire marin "
accueillent, pour quinze jours, une delegation d’Armeniens aux Iles
de Payre, dans le cadre des entraînements aux championnats de "
racer au pylône ", qui se derouleront a Amiens (Somme) de jeudi a
dimanche prochain.
Pour le club de Payre preside par Gayane Barbotin, cinq seniors et six
juniors y sont inscrits. Du côte armenien, cinq jeunes concurrents sont
loges dans les familles des membres du club de Payre. Les dialogues
sont un peu difficiles, mais on s’explique par gestes, en francais
ou en armenien par l’intermediaire de Gayane Barbotin, la presidente
armenienne, belle-fille de Pierre Barbotin, secretaire du club.
Sur le plan d’eau, les entraînements s’enchaînent avec des nouvelles
machines qu’il convient de mettre au point, un excellent temps vient
d’etre effectue a 270,677 km. D’Amiens, les Francais iront deposer
les concurrents etrangers par Senlis pour prendre leur avion a Roissy
dimanche soir.
–Boundary_(ID_jgWJLz3XNV9WnDc6itBoPg)–
ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISIT TWO CAPTURED AZERBAIJANI CIVILIANS
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 29 2007
Representatives of Nagorno Karabakh Office of International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Azerbaijani civilians-Terter resident
Anar Aliyev and Aghdam resident Ashraf Jafarov on August 24, ICRC
office in Azerbaijan told the APA.
Detention condition of the captured people, their psychological and
physical condition was monitored. Captured persons are allowed to
exchange letter with their family members. Anar Aliyev and Ashraf
Jafarov wrote a letter to their families. Anar Aliyev’s father
Maarif Aliyev asserted the information and stated that the letter
was handed to his son who is living in Baku. He said the letter says,
"Don’t be worry about me. I am safe and sound".
Aliyev basing on that his opinions are misinterpreted in several
media outlets refused to tell whereabouts of his son living in Baku.
Ashraf Jaafrov’s brother Ramin Jafarov said that he visited ICRC
Office in Baku today, but no letter was given to him.
"On the contrary, I got paper from ICRC for writing a letter to my
brother," he said.
21-year old Ashraf Jafarov was captured by Armenians in the front
line on June 30. 29-year old Terter resident Anar Aliyev trespassed
on Armenia on August 2. ICRC representatives visited Jafarov six
times and Aliyev three times.
REPRESENTATIVE OF HERITAGE PARTY: POVERTY IN ARMENIA IS OVERCOME NOT REALLY, BUT ONLY QUANTITATIVELY
arminfo
2007-08-28 16:50:00
"Over the past few years within the framework of the governmental
program on poverty reduction, poverty in Armenia is overcome not
really, but only quantitatively, which is not correlated with price
increase", Larisa Alaverdyan, an Armenian MP from the opposition
Heritage Party, the first Ombudsman of Armenia, said at the View
club, Tuesday.
According to her, the governmental program on poverty reduction should
be drastically reconsidered, as it fails to reflect the desires of the
society and specialists, which were expressed at the first stage of
the document’s elaboration. "Initially, we, as members of the working
group, suggested proceeding from no less than 10% conventional
economic growth, however, the government settled upon 7%. Thus,
under the conditions of 10-12% indicator, which is currently being
officially declared, artificially overevaluated indices of poverty
reduction are published," L.Alaverdyan said.
The MP also pointed out that the new version of the program on
poverty reduction should distinctly stipulate specific steps aimed at
radical change of the situation in villages, as the current version
provides for rapid poverty reduction only in cities, first of all,
in Yerevan. According to Larisa Alaverdyan, another serious problem
is the failure of fight against corruption.
AZERBAIJAN HAS NO INTENTIONS TO CANCEL VISA SYSTEM WITH TURKEY
Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 27 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Agayeva / The Press Secretary of
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Khazar Ibrahim, said on 27 August that
the issue of canceling the visa system with Turkey is not discussed
by the Azerbaijani side and it is unlikely that the issue will be
discussed in the near future.
>From 1 August Turkey has eliminated the visa system for citizens of
Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. This
condition entails visiting Turkey for 30 days without a visa. Turkey
highlighted its intention to increase its list of countries. Turkey
reached agreements with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait regarding non-visa entry into its territory.
According to Ibrahim, from the point of view of international
diplomatic law, this step by Ankara is one-sided and does not have
to be reciprocated.
Earlier the Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan, Huseyn Avni Karslioglu,
reported to Trend that this decision by the Turkish Government was
directed towards maximizing the potential to cross the Turkish borders
for those citizens who have a common root. "The Government of Turkey
eliminated the situation which was assessed as an obstacle. However,
we cannot oblige any country to eliminate the visa system with Turkey,"
Ambassador said.
Currently Azerbaijan applies a mutual non-visa system with Russia and
Georgia but not with Turkey. Senior officials of Azerbaijan link it
with the non-settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
Azerbaijani experts believe that simplifying the visa system with
Turkey will not significantly expand relations between the two
countries.
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Aug 22 2007
TURKISH JEWS REGRET STATEMENT ON ARMENIANS BY US JEWISH ORGANIZATION
Istanbul, 22 August: "We have difficulty in understanding why the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the most important Jewish
organizations in the USA, has changed stance and decided to
acknowledge Armenian allegations regarding 1915 incidents," Turkish
Jewish Community announced on Wednesday [22 August].
Releasing a statement, the Community regretted the change in ADL’s
stance and recalled ADL’s National Director Abraham Foxman’s
statement that the ADL believed that the 1915 incidents "were not a
genocide".
"We have difficulty in understanding recent developments in US public
and the sudden change of views that caused difference of opinion
among some Jewish organizations," the statement noted.
The statement said that Jewish organizations in the USA will maintain
their attitude not to support the Armenian thesis regarding 1915
incidents and the related Resolution No 106 as they will not serve a
compromise between Turks and Armenians.
"We would like to stress that the news reports that begin with the
expression ‘Jews’ in local web-sites may be misleading and this view
only represents the opinion of American Jewish organizations," the
statement pointed out.
In the statement, Turkish Jewish Community stressed that the
community thinks that this matter should be discussed in academic
level within the framework of archives of all concerned parties and
continues to support the theses that parliaments are not the ground
to make decision on historical realities.
"Our state institutions are well aware of our efforts to defend
Turkey’s interests and theses, and our efforts will continue," the
statement added.
ARMENIAN TUG OF WAR A Country Searches for Balance between Moscow and
Washington
By Uwe Klussmann
DER SPIEGEL 34/2007 – August 20, 2007
*Armenia stands out from its Caucasus neighbors because of its close ties
with protector Russia. But the United States is also working to establish a
beachhead in the small but strategically located country.*
Visitors to Yerevan — the capital city of the smallest republic in the
Caucasus, snuggled between Europe and Asia — inevitably find themselves
wondering whether they have landed in the right country. Young Russian women
control passports at the airport alongside Armenians. The country’s
second-largest city, Gyumri, also seems like a garrison town from the
neighboring country. Indeed, the 5,000 soldiers on the Russian base provide
livelihoods to local craftsmen, bakers, taxi drivers and innkeepers.
Even the village of Lusarat is under foreign protection. Russian soldiers
patrol in front of the barbed wire that separates Armenia from Turkey. The
settlement lies by the foot of the eternally snow-capped Mount Ararat,
Armenia’s national symbol. The locals like to call the mountain — which
became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and has stood on
Turkish territory since 1923 — the "Biblical Mountain." It’s a name that
was also made popular by a Russian — the poet Alexander Pushkin.
Yes, it’s true, relations with Russia are good, confirms Armenian President
Robert Kocharian, speaking softly. He is sitting in the presidential palace
in the capital with an oil painting of a bleak steppe landscape behind him
— and he immediately addresses the issue that has made Armenia unique in
the Caucasus. The country’s neighbors — be it rebellious Georgia or
oil-rich Azerbaijan — have strained relationships with Moscow: Georgia is
pushing to become a NATO member, and Azerbaijan’s political stance is
unclear.
Kocharian says his country will "not join" the Western military alliance,
arguing that Armenia would not stand to gain greater security from the move.
Instead, it would "spoil our relations with Russia and Iran." Armenia’s
military pact with Russia is a response to the country’s "national security
needs," Kocharian adds.
Moscow has recently been listening very carefully to what the government in
Yerevan has to say about the issue. True, Russian President Vladimir Putin
also praises his country’s relations with Armenia as "splendid." But he
knows that, in the struggle for spheres of influence on the territory of the
former Soviet Union, the United States is building another front line in
Armenia — thereby putting pressure on Russia. Washington is wooing members
of the political opposition and dispatching economic and military aid to the
oldest Christian country in the world, which finds itself wedged between
mostly Muslim neighbors.
*Ambitious Plans*
The large US embassy building on the edge of Yerevan hints at Washington’s
ambitious plans for the country. Led by retired navy officer and embassy
Chargé d’Affaires Anthony Godfrey and renowned experts on Russia, some 800
US government employees are working here to boost Armenian support for
Western predominance.
The United States has transferred $1.5 billion to the impoverished Caucasian
nation since its independence in 1991.
An agreement reached in March 2006 between Washington and Yerevan promises
Armenia, which lacks raw materials, an additional $235 million during the
next five years. The overseas aid will provide money to fund everything from
the expansion of rural water pipelines and preventive medical checkups for
women at risk for breast cancer to tax investigator training.
One Western European military official believes the US strategists are
progressing "on tip-toes." One day the Pentagon sends three dozen
instructors to Yerevan to train military officers; another day, it invites
45 Armenian officers to the George C. Marshall European Center for Security
Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the German state of Bavaria, along
with the deputy defense minister.
Still, the United States faces a lengthy tug of war with Moscow. The
Russians also have some aces up their sleeve: They sell the Armenia military
technology at prices charged to Russia’s own military and 90 percent of
Armenian officers are trained in Russia.
Moreover, the Russians provide almost all of the natural gas consumed in the
country, and the pipelines belong to Gazprom, the industry giant controlled
by the Kremlin. Another Russian energy giant, United Energy Systems (UES),
is the operator of Armenia’s only nuclear power plant, as well as most power
plants and the country’s power grid. Additionally, Moscow’s foreign trade
bank controls Armenia’s state-owned savings banks.
But having control over the Armenian economy by no means ensures a country
can win its people’s hearts. When Russia raised the price of natural gas
from $54 to $110 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2006, resentment spread
immediately. Even pro-Moscow politicians complained that the Russians do not
invest in most of the businesses they have purchased.
Members of the pro-Western political opposition such as Artur Bagdassarian,
the former parliamentary chairman, and Raffi Hovanissian, the former foreign
minister, are trying to fan the flames of anti-Moscow sentiment. "We want to
be friends of Russia, but not vassals," Bagdassarian emphasizes.
Hovanissian, a former Armenian exile and US citizen who has returned to his
home country, is pushing for a "rediscovery of sovereignty." Despite
cautious support from Washington, though, both politicians’ parties achieved
only 13 percent of the votes in May’s parliamentary election.
But that could also be a result of the fact that the presidential office
has begun exercising close control over the television and radio channels.
Excessive amounts of government propaganda have been broadcast ever since.
Still, the friends of the West in Yerevan face a dilemma: Any gesture of
rapprochement towards NATO could also come across as an attempt to curry
favor with Armenia’s archenemy Turkey. The genocide perpetrated against the
Armenians in 1915 by Turkey ensures that relations with Ankara remain
venomous to this day. Turkey still keeps its borders to its eastern neighbor
closed, partly due to the conflict surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The mountainous region is officially part of Azerbaijan. But after a war of
secession during the early 1990s, the Armenians created the Republic of
Nagorno-Karabakh — an area shaped by ethnic cleansing, where a Kalashnikov
rifle is in greater demand than the Internet. The Azerbaijanis were driven
out of Karabakh, and the Armenians out of Azerbaijan.
*Russian Protection*
Given the tensions they share with their neighbors, Armenians are happy to
accept their limited sovereignty in return for protection both from vengeful
Azerbaijanis and the unpopular Turks. The border troops of the Russian
intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), guard strategic
positions.
For signs of Armenia’s deep ties to Moscow one need look no further than
Yerevan’s Republic Square, where souvenir peddlers sell Armenian and Russian
flags as a two-pack bargain. Across the street, in a government building
that dates back to the Stalinist era, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan promises
that a "victory of pro-Western forces" is "out of the question" during the
presidential elections to be held at the beginning of next year.
Kocharian’s term in office will soon end, but if he has his way Prime
Minister Sargsyan — the former defense minister who has the Kremlin’s
backing — will become his successor. Nevertheless, Moscow’s emissaries
tirelessly issue warnings about "geopolitical rival" Washington when they
visit Yerevan — as if the Russians don’t quite trust the Armenians, who
Putin describes as "brothers."
Sargsyan says his country is "connected to Russia by a thousand threads,"
trying repeatedly to reassure Armenia’s protector. But he sometimes strikes
a different tune when talking to people from Western Europe. Then, the
politician, who knows the West well, describes himself as "pro-Armenian" and
says he is in favor of opening his country up more to Europe.
(c) DER SPIEGEL 34/2007
Source: ,1518,5 01146,00.html
Friday, Aug 24 2007
Turkey will try to win back the hearts of the American Jewish community
DUYGU GÜVENÇ
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
The recognition of the World War I-era killings of Armenians as
genocide by the national Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has shocked
Turkey, which is now trying to overcome this by taking compensatory
measures. The ADL is an advocacy group aiming to stop the defamation
of the Jewish people.
Experts and advisors to the government cabinet held a meeting with
diplomats at the Foreign Ministry yesterday to determine a strategy
that will win back the hearts of Jewish Americans, the Turkish Daily
News learned.
A similarly strategic meeting is expected to be held in the coming
days by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan. He might try to engage
in phone diplomacy to convince the Jewish lobby, according to the
diplomatic sources.
`The strategy is to convince the ADL first, and if we cannot do that
then Turkey will try to counter the Jewish lobby in the U.S. This
cannot be a blank acceptance for Turkey,’ said a Turkish diplomat.
`We were not expecting such a decision. Last week, they fired the
director who used [the term `genocide’]. What I understood is that
after the director was fired, a discussion started in the ADL. We were
in contact with the ADL two days ago,` said an expert on
American-Turkish relations.
The decision might negatively influence Jewish votes in the
U.S. Congress since there are more than 100 Jewish Americans in the
House of Representatives, the expert said.
`We will try to establish a connection with the ADL again and will try
to convince them first,’ said a person who attended the meeting.
`If they insist on defining the period as genocide, then Turkey will
take necessary steps against that. Of course we will not identify the
Turkish Jewish community with the American Jewish one. We will also
get in contact with Israel to understand the reasons behind the
decision,’ added the source.
Since the Jewish lobby is seen as an important political tool for
Turkey’s policies in Washington, Ankara avoids making non-diplomatic
statements in reference to the Jews.
Ankara fears that the U.S. will recognize the events of 1915-1919 as
genocide, and is also concerned about its impact on bilateral
relations.