Author: Kanayan Tamar

TURQUIE
Les négociations UE-Turquie au point mort, la crise menace en 2012

Les négociations d’adhésion de la Turquie à l’UE tournent à l’aigre et
la crise risque de monter d’un cran en 2012, Ankara ayant menacé de
geler ses relations avec l’Europe quand Chypre prendra la présidence
tournante du bloc des 27 en juillet prochain. « Il y a de la
frustration des deux côtés » car les pourparlers entre Bruxelles et
Ankara « n’ont pas évolué en un an », a déclaré hier Stefan Füle, le
commissaire européen en charge de l’Élargissement, en présentant son
rapport annuel d’évaluation des candidats à l’adhésion à l’UE. « Il
est temps de donner un nouvel élan » au processus lancé en 2005 dans
un climat d’ouverture et d’optimisme, mais qui s’est depuis totalement
enlisé, au grand dam d’Ankara, a-t-il ajouté. Mais le rapport signale
que la voie sera longue et complexe. S’il se félicite des « progrès
notables » réalisés par la Turquie dans le respect de certains
critères fixés par Bruxelles, aucune avancée n’a été réalisée sur les
principaux points de blocage. « Il n’y a pas de progrès sur le chemin
de la normalisation des relations bilatérales » entre Chypriotes grecs
et Chypriotes turcs, en dépit « des appels répétés » lancés par les
Européens, regrette le rapport.

Lancés en 2008, ces pourparlers sous l’égide de l’ONU entre la partie
sud, non reconnue par Ankara, et la partie turque s’éternisent même si
le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a réclamé une issue
d’ici à la fin 2011. La tension entre les deux parties est même montée
fin septembre lorsqu’un navire turc de prospection gazière a été
envoyé au large des côtes chypriotes sous escorte militaire. La
Turquie a adopté un ton très ferme sur ce dossier en menaçant de «
geler ses relations avec l’Union européenne pendant la présidence
tournante de Chypre », au second semestre 2012. « Il ne nous est pas
possible de discuter avec l’administration chypriote grecque », a
déclaré M. Erdogan. Des avancées sur le différend chypriote pourraient
pourtant permettre de débloquer une partie des 22 chapitres
thématiques des négociations UE-Turquie qui restent gelés depuis 2006.
À ce jour, seuls 13 chapitres ont été ouverts, et un seul bouclé.

Par ailleurs, Bruxelles a proposé aux États membres de l’UE que la
Serbie obtienne le statut de candidat à l’Union sous réserve d’une
reprise du dialogue avec le Kosovo. Bruxelles a également proposé une
ouverture des négociations d’adhésion avec la Serbie si le dialogue en
question enregistrait des « progrès ». Le président serbe, Boris
Tadic, a estimé pour sa part que son pays peut obtenir le statut de
candidat à l’UE en décembre, se déclarant « fier » des propositions
faites par la Commission européenne, a annoncé l’agence de presse
serbe Tanjug. Les 27 États membres de l’UE se prononceront sur les
propositions de la Commission européenne début décembre.

dimanche 23 octobre 2011,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

HALTEROPHILIE
Armen Ghazarian (69 kg) vice-champion du monde
le représentant de l’Arménie avait fini 4e à Antalya

La Fédération internationale d’haltérophilie a sanctionné un nombre
important d’haltérophiles pour usage de produits dopants. Ainsi le
Chinois Liao Hay champion du monde l’an dernier des 69 kg à Antalya
(Turquie) a été exclu de toute complétion jusqu’en 2014 et son titre
mondial annulé. Dans cette même catégorie, le vice-champion le Roumain
Ninel Mikulescu est interdit à vie de toute compétition. Par ces
sanctions le Turc Mete Binay devient médaille de bronze à Antalya
devient champion du monde et le représentant de l’Arménie Armen
Ghazarian -qui est aujourd’hui sous les couleurs de la Russie- hérite
du titre de vice-champion du monde. Mais deux haltérophiles Arméniens
ont également sanctionnés par la Fédération internationale. Il s’agit
d’Elen Krikorian (53 kg) vice-championne d’Europe cette année à Kazan
et Kevork Boghossian (94 kg), médaille de bronze. Tous les deux
perdent leur médaille et sont exclus des compétitions jusqu’en 2015.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 23 octobre 2011,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Glendale News Press, CA
Oct 22 2011

They’re marching for a match
Group takes a walk in an effort to expand size of Armenian bone marrow registry.

By Mark Kellam, [email protected]
October 22, 2011 | 3:59 p.m.

Sporting yellow T-shirts with photos of six local Armenians in need of
bone marrow transplants, volunteers at this year’s walkathon to
benefit the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry scurried about
Saturday morning getting ready for the Glendale event, which had about
500 participants – 100 more than last year, according to organizers.

The sixth annual walk, which creates awareness about bone marrow
diseases and encourages people to donate, had more youth participants
than ever before, said Frieda Jordan, a biochemist and founder of the
registry.

Students came from several area schools and colleges such as UCLA,
USC, CSUN and Glendale Unified, joining other participants as they
walked from Glendale Memorial Hospital to Verdugo Park.

There are about 19,000 patients on the registry awaiting transplants,
Jordan said, though not all of them are Armenian. The registry,
founded in 1999, currently has about 22,000 prospective donors, up
from 20,000 last year.

Jordan explained that many ethnic subgroups such as Armenians have
difficulty finding matching donors because they are unique genetically
and don’t often marry outside their ethnicity.

Lara Manjikian of Pasadena donated bone marrow in 2009 to her brother,
who had leukemia. Even before her brother became ill, Manjikian had
told him that he could count on her.

`I told my brother, `if you ever need blood, platelets, marrow – you
can get it from me.’ I’d be the first in line for that. I would do
anything for my brother,’ she said.

It turned out she was a 100% match when her brother needed a bone
marrow transplant. Today, he is cancer-free.

Manjikian said she would donate again even to someone she doesn’t
know, adding that she is on the Armenian donor registry and
marrow.org.

Arpine Zohrabyan of Tujunga donated last May to a 3-year-old girl she
didn’t know. New technology has resulted in a procedure that is much
less painful than an older method, which involved taking the marrow
from a person’s hip. Today, blood is drawn, the cells that are needed
are removed and the remaining blood is returned to the donor.

Doctors told Zohrabyan, however, that the girl would have the best
chance to survive if the marrow came from her hip. She agreed to
undergo the procedure. While she continued to feel pain for about a
week, Zohrabyan knew it was the right choice.

`It’s a very small part of you to give to save a life,’ she said.

The event drew local dignitaries including Rep. Adam Schiff
(D-Burbank) and Glendale Mayor Laura Friedman.

`You can imagine the trauma of a family that has an ill child whose
only hope is a match on the bone marrow registry,’ Schiff told the
crowd. `The more we can expand that registry, the more we can give
those children, young people and older people a chance to continue
with a great life.’

Friedman told walk participants about a 26-year-old Latina she knew
who had recovered from breast cancer, but the cancer treatments caused
a rare side effect. She developed leukemia and needed a bone marrow
transplant.

Doctors tried for a year to find a match for her. However, she died
before a match could be found, leaving behind two small children,
Friedman said.

,0,7612653.story

BoxingScene.com
Oct 22 2011

Kentikian, Hammer, Krasniqi, Pianeta Win Bouts

By Alexey Sukachev, photos by Wilhelm Springer, box-info.net

Brandenburg Halle, Frankfurt, Brandenburg, Germany – Susi Kentikian
(29-0, 16 KOs) added another strap to her ever-growing assortment of
titles after a one-sided drubbing of tough but techincally weak
19-year old Thai boxer Teeraporn Pannimit (14-4, 5 KOs). Kentikian
gradually turned more and morre aggressive and was close to stopping
the Thai in the later rounds with her non-stop attacks. The German
Armenian, who won a sweepout decision – 100-90 across the board – is
now WIBF, WBA and WBO flyweight champion.

Photos at

Bako Sahakyan received justice minister of the Republic of Armenia

(Noyan Tapan – 22.10.2011)

On 22 October Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received
justice minister of the Republic of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan.

Issues related to cooperation between the two Armenian states in the
corresponding sphere were discussed during the meeting.

NKR justice minister Narine Narimanyan partook at the meeting, the
Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic
President informs.

OSCE willing to continue the close cooperation with Armenia

armradio.am
22.10.2011 15:40

Armenia’s Permanent Representative at the OSCE Arman Kirakosyan
presented his credentials to OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zanieri.

The parties discussed the problems the OSCE faces and Armenia’s
approaches on the cooperation within the framework of the
organization.

The OSCE Secretary General expressed willingness to continue the close
cooperation with Armenia.

During the meeting reference was made to the current stage of the
Karabakh conflict settlement and issues of security and cooperation in
the region.

Armenian NPP CEO refuses to increase pays, fires 160-member staff

October 22, 2011 – 12:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Nuclear Power Plant CEO Gagik Markosyan
released the plant’s staff, one of the employees told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

On September 20, 160 members of NPP engineering staff submitted
letters of resignation, demanding pay increase.

Mass staff dismissal may challenge the re-launch of NPP after the
renovation works to be completed Oct 27.

As Gagik Markosyan said in reply to employee’s demands, `I’d prefer to
hire a new staff rather than increase pays.’

Hard Turkey
Shlomo Avineri

2011-10-21

JERUSALEM ` The recent surge in Turkey’s military actions against the
Kurds in northern Iraq is an indication that, somewhat surprisingly `
but not entirely unpredictably ` Turkish foreign policy has undergone
a 180-degree turn in less than two years. The Turkish offensive is
also an indication that these changes go beyond the current tensions
between Turkey and Israel, which are just one facet of much deeper
trends.

Just a couple of years ago, after the European Union slammed the door
in Turkey’s face (despite some significant military and penal reforms
by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government), Turkey
re-oriented its policy away from Europe towards its immediate region.
Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu’s `zero conflicts with neighbors’
approach gave this re-orientation its strategic and theoretical
foundation.

Opening an impressive new page, Turkey reached out to Armenia;
softened its position on Cyprus; tried to draw Iran into a positive
dialogue with the West; convinced Syria to settle the two countries’
simmering border dispute; and, as a crowning achievement, launched
peace talks between Syria and Israel under Turkish mediation.

Yet these good-neighborhood policies did not work out as intended.
Rapprochement with Armenia stalled; no significant progress was made
on Cyprus, especially after a less-accommodating leader was elected in
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (an entity that only Turkey
recognizes); the opening to Iran did not soften the mullahs’ position
on nuclear development (and strained relations with the United
States); the Syria-Israel talks failed; and Turkey’s participation in
the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, and Israel’s brutal response to it,
signaled an end to decades of close Israeli-Turkish cooperation.

To top it all off, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, ostensibly
Turkey’s closest new ally, emerged as the most oppressive and bloody
regional tyrant. Assad has now spent the better part of 2011 killing
his own people as they demonstrate for liberalization and reform.

Notwithstanding these failures, Turkey’s strategic stature did not
suffer, partly because the diminution of US engagement under President
Barack Obama enabled Turkey to fill the ensuing regional power vacuum.
The Arab Spring, despite its still-inconclusive outcome, greatly
weakened Egypt’s role in regional politics and made it possible for
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an to position Turkey ` and himself `
as the leader of a Muslim bloc and a model of co-existence between
Islam and democracy. Last but not least, the AKP’s victory in recent
parliamentary elections has encouraged ErdoÄ?an to embrace Putinesque
ambitions.

All of this exposed the built-in ambivalence in DavutoÄ?lu’s `zero
conflict’ policy. While initially viewed as pacific and moderate, it
was underpinned by an overarching view of Turkey as the hegemonic
regional power ` as an arbiter of conflicts, but ultimately also as an
enforcer of its own views on lesser players. It may be incorrect to
call Turkey’s behavior `neo-Ottoman,’ but some neighboring countries,
after expecting a mediator and facilitator, may now feel faced by a
possible bully.

ErdoÄ?an’s policy re-orientation vis-Ã-vis Israel can be understood as
an attempt not only to overcome traditional Arab suspicion of Turkey,
given its imperial past, but also to present a more moderate Islamic
alternative to theocratic Iran and its unpredictable president. But
ErdoÄ?an’s threat to consider using the Turkish navy as a military
escort for further flotillas to Gaza already borders on saber
rattling, as does his declared willingness to use force to prevent the
Republic of Cyprus from exploring for gas in its continental shelf.
Indeed, ErdoÄ?an’s has warned of a diplomatic rupture with the EU if
Cyprus accedes to the Union’s rotating presidency in 2012.

At the same time, renewed violent incursions into northern Iraq in
pursuit of alleged guerillas suggest a reversion to hardline
anti-Kurdish policies. The withdrawal of US forces from Iraq only
seems to have encouraged Turkey’s will to create a cordon sanitaire on
the Iraqi side of the border ` and possibly to establish a
counterweight to Iran’s influence on a Shia-led government in Baghdad.
And, while Turkey’s agreement to host NATO anti-missile radar
facilities, and its recent seizure of a Syrian-registered arms ship,
may please the West, here, too, its policies are focused on `hard’
military power.

Similarly, ErdoÄ?an’s recent visit to Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia brings
out the ambivalence of Turkey’s new claim to regional hegemony. While
Egypt’s shaky military junta welcomed ErdoÄ?an, many Egyptians were not
happy about his hectoring them ` and other Arabs ` to follow Turkish
policies and to regard Turkey as their Muslim leader. A new sultanate?
ErdoÄ?an as the new Saladin?

Turkey has an enormously important role to play in the region. It
could be a bridge between the West and the East, between Islam and
modernity, and between Israel and the Arabs. But it runs the danger of
succumbing to the arrogance of power, which has corrupted and
sidelined many strong states in the past.

Shlomo Avineri, a professor of political science at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, is a former director-general of Israel’s
Foreign Ministry.

Russian Foreign Ministry: Saakashvili will never be welcome in Moscow

October 22, 2011 – 10:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia will never invite Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili to visit Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on
Friday, Oct 21.

`He will never be invited here, ever… We, for obvious reasons, have
taken him off the list of our partners. He is the one who ordered to
kill our peacekeepers and also people he regarded as his fellow
citizens – I mean South Ossetians,’ Lavrov said, according to RIA
Novosti.

“LITERARY ARK 2011: TEN YEARS AFTER” IN ARMENIA

Panorama
Oct 21 2011
Armenia

On October 20th the participants of “Literary Ark 2011: Ten Years
After” cultural program met H.H. Karekin II, Catholicos of All
Armenians, visited the grave of Mesrop Mashtots and held a presentation
of “Homo Ludens” program in Yerevan.

Yesterday, European writers that arrived in Armenia in the frames of
“Literary Ark 2011: Ten Years After” cultural program, visited the
grave of Mesrop Mashtots in Oshakan, Zvartnots Temple and the Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin where they had a meeting with H.H. Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians.

In the evening at the Khnko Aper library a presentation of “Homo
Ludens” (Man the Player) program was held. During the presentation
Dutch writer and designer Arlette van Laar along with historian and
actor Serge van Daynhoven presented their vision of a creative person
and the world he lives in.

After the presentation the participants of the “Literary Ark 2011:
Ten Years After” visited Parajanov Museum and met Armenian artists.

Armenian Public Organization of Cultural Cooperation with Foreign
Countries ant Ministry of Culture of RA are holding a new “Literary
Ark 2011: Ten Years After” program that will be held on October 19
to 28, 2011. Within its frameworks, 15 European writers will visit
Armenia to learn more about its people, traditions and culture,
their present life, as well as discuss the issues related to modern
literature and culture.