Author: Kanayan Tamar

“THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA HAS NOW SEEN THE TURKEY’S MASK FALL DOWN”

22/10/14

(Agencia Prensa Armenia).- Giran Ozcan works for the Kurdistan
Solidarity Committee in Latin America, he arrived two months ago to
Argentina and on Tuesday October 21 he was one of theorganizers of
a rally in front of the Turkish Embassy in Argentina to support the
resistance of the Kurdish people in the Syrian city of Kobane, which is
currently battling the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Turkish government.

“We are trying to raise awareness of the resistance in Kobane. The
Islamic State for the past forty days has been attacking a little town
called Kobane. The fighters of the city has been defending themselves,”
said Ozcan in the interview with Prensa Armenia. On November 1st there
will be a global demonstration in solidarity with the Kurdish people.

“What we are asking the Turkish state is to remove the blockade they
have been putting on the city. They are not allowing Turkish people to
enter or help defend the city, and they are not allowing for supplies
to enter the city. In other words, they are objectively aiding ISIS
in trying to occupy Kobane,” he adds.

The Turkish army has been helping ISIS?

There are a lot of reports on the ground. Maybe they are not directly
helping them. There are reports of the Turkish army helping directly,
but I don’t have any proofs of that. But I do have proof of the
objectively way they have stopped the Kurds from carrying help,
and there are a lot of videos of ISIS members crossing the borders.

The same thing happened a few months ago in the Armenian town of
Kessab. Do you think this is a policy?

Definitely. ISIS is an organization that is closed to anyone other
than itself. It is trying to make anyone believe what they believe,
so anyone that doesn’t share the values that they share, I mean,
if you could call them values, will either be killed or forcibly
assimilated into their beliefs. This is true for the Armenians,
the Kurds, the Yezidis and any other ethnic populations in the area.

United States launched a series of missile attacks last week. What
were the targets?

They have been hitting ISIS targets. The YPG (People’s Protection
Units), which is the Kurdish force resisting ISIS in Kobane right now,
has confirmed that the attacks in the past 10 days were against ISIS.

But you can’t read this without the context. A lot of people have
been saying that ISIS is the result of the US foreign policy in Middle
East. So, America suddenly bombing ISIS doesn’t change the dynamics,
their policies and politics in Middle East. They were forced to bomb
ISIS in Kobane because of the resistance there. The first three weeks,
America didn’t do a single thing. But when they saw the resistance
in Kobane they were forced to do it. As John Kerry said, it would be
stupid not to get involved, because the resistance raised awareness
in the whole world.

What happened to the Kurds that took to the streets in Turkey to
protest about this?

Thousands were arrested, forty people lost their lives. The police
killed a lot of civilians that were protesting in the streets. For the
Kurdish people there is no difference between the Kurds in Syria and
the Kurds in Turkey, or the Kurds in Iran or the Kurds in Iraq. We are
all one people. So if someone is attacking the Kurds in Syria, they
are attacking at the same time the Kurds in Turkey. And the Turkey
State is acting against the Kurds in Syria, so the Kurds in Turkey
can’t just sit there and watch, they tried to push the government to,
at least, stop helping ISIS. They didn’t ask for the Turkish State
to help the Kurds. They just want Turkey to stop attacking the Kurds,
because if the Turkey State is helping ISIS, it means it is attacking
the Kurds as well.

Do you think this could lead to another PKK-AKP conflict in Turkey?

Well, the tensions have been rising. Turkey is officially in the
coalition against ISIS, so everyone was expecting them to fight ISIS.

But last week, the Turks bombed PKK positions and airplanes. So
everyone was shocked. The Kurds are fighting against ISIS and Turkey
is supposed to be in the coalition against ISIS, but Turkey is bombing
the people who are fighting against ISIS.

Do you think the international community will do something about this?

I think the international media has now seen the Turkey’s mask fall
down. Now, a lot of reports in the western media are saying that Turkey
is not an ally anymore. Turkey is not an ally to the West against ISIS,
because Turkey changed its priorities. Everyone has seen the two faces
policies that the Turkish State has been pursuing in the Middle East:
on one hand, looking like a NATO ally for the West, and on the other
hand, they have been supporting radical extremists and inhumane gangs
in the Middle East.

What could the Latin American countries do about this situation?

I think the responsibilities of the Latin American States is to see
the game that is being played by NATO in the Middle East. Rather
than criticizing this from far away, they have to put their own
alternative. The Latin American States like Argentina, Brazil or Chile
have to see that there is people resisting against both NATO and the
Islamic State. And these people need allies, because the forces on the
other side are very strong. The responsibilities of the governments
such as Argentina is to side with the people of the Middle East.

And how could they help?

Right now, for example, the first need is humanitarian. At the very
least, the governments here could give humanitarian aids to the
Kurdish people, to the people that are suffering for the games of
NATO and ISIS.

BUILDING WAS SOLD NEGLECTING THE RESIDENTS (VIDEO)

15:45 | October 23,2014 | Regions

The problem of 9 families living in the hostel in Kapan Lernagortsner
1 still remains obscure. The hostel formerly belonging to
Lernagortsner factory, which has been inhabited since 1987, lacks
simple conditions. The building doesn’t have communal facilities,
there is only one toilet, it is damp and the walls are cracked. The
residents don’t leave it as they have nowhere to go.

In 2005 the building was auctioned, but the residents didn’t know about
it. The building has a new owner. The latter applied to the court by
demanding the residents to leave the territory without compensation. It
means that if the court makes a decision in support of the new owner,
9 families will appear on the street.

Details in “Sosi” TV video

PRESENTATION OF BOOK ‘SELF-DEFENSE OF ARMENIANS IN KIROVABAD IN 1988-1989′ HELD

14:58 * 23.10.14

The National Academy of Armenia hosted the presentation of the book
“Self-defense of Armenians in Kirovabad in 1988-1989” by ethnographer
Hranush Kharatyan and Grisha Oganezov.

“People were doing their work by recording and video recording the
victims’ stories and making pictures. After going through hardships,
the people still trusted the USSR Prosecutor’s Office and provided
a package of documents to it, which disappeared later. Let us hope
the document will re-appear,” Ms Kharatyan said.

According to Mr Oganezov, the book is supposed to answer future
generations’ questions.

“It is most important that Azerbaijani young people read the book as
well, because they know very little about their own history.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

“LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACION INTERNACIONALES YA VIERON CAER LA MÁSCARA DE TURQUIA”

22.10.14

Giran Ozcan trabaja para el Comite de Solidaridad Kurdistan en America
Latina, llego hace 2 meses a Argentina y el martes 21 de octubre fue
uno de los organizadores de la marcha contra la embajada de Turquía
en Argentina para apoyar la resistencia del pueblo kurdo en la ciudad
siria de Kobani (Kobane en kurdo), que actualmente esta combatiendo
al Estado Islamico (ISIS) y al gobierno turco.

“Estamos tratando de dar a conocer la resistencia en Kobani. El Estado
Islamico (ISIS) durante los últimos cuarenta días estuvo atacando a un
pequeño pueblo llamado Kobani. Los combatientes de la ciudad se estan
defendiendo solos”, explica Ozcan en la entrevista con Prensa Armenia.

El 1° de noviembre habra una manifestacion mundial en solidaridad
con el pueblo kurdo, que tambien se replicara en Argentina.

“Lo que estamos pidiendo al Estado turco es que elimine el bloqueo al
que estuvo sometiendo a la ciudad. No estan permitiendo que los turcos
entren o ayuden a defender la ciudad, ni estan permitiendo que entren
los suministros. En otras palabras, estan ayudando objetivamente al
ISIS para intentar ocupar Kobani”, agrega.

¿El ejercito turco estuvo ayudando al ISIS?

Hay una gran cantidad de informes desde alla. Tal vez ellos no estan
ayudando directamente. Hay informes de que el ejercito turco los
apoyo directamente, pero yo no tengo ninguna prueba de eso. Pero sí
tengo pruebas objetivas de que impidieron a los kurdos llevar ayuda,
y hay una gran cantidad de videos de miembros del ISIS cruzando las
fronteras (desde Turquía).

Lo mismo ocurrio hace unos meses en la ciudad armenia de Kessab. ¿Cree
que esta es una política?

Definitivamente. El ISIS es una organizacion que esta cerrada sobre
sí misma. Esta tratando de hacer que cualquier persona crea en lo que
ellos creen, por lo que cualquiera que no comparta sus valores -si es
que se les puede llamar valores- o bien son asesinados o asimilados por
la fuerza a sus creencias. Esto ocurre con los armenios, los kurdos,
la yezidís y otro grupo etnico de la zona.

Estados Unidos lanzo una serie de ataques con misiles la semana
pasada. ¿Cuales eran los objetivos?

Estuvieron atacando objetivos del ISIS. El YPG (Unidades de Proteccion
Popular), que es la fuerza kurda que resiste al ISIS en Kobani en este
momento, confirmo que los ataques de los últimos 10 días fueron contra
el ISIS. Pero no se puede leer esto sin el contexto. Un monton de gente
estuvo diciendo que el ISIS es el resultado de la política exterior
de Estados Unidos en Oriente Medio. Así, que Estados Unidos bombardee
de repente al ISIS no cambia la dinamica ni sus políticas en Oriente
Medio. Se vieron obligados a bombardear al ISIS en Kobani debido a
la resistencia. Las primeras tres semanas, Estados Unidos no hizo
nada. Pero cuando vieron la resistencia en Kobani se vieron obligados
a hacerlo. Como dijo John Kerry, sería estúpido no involucrarse,
porque la resistencia concientizo a todo el mundo sobre lo que ocurría.

¿Que paso con los kurdos que salieron a la calle en Turquía para
protestar por esto?

Miles de personas fueron detenidas y cuarenta personas perdieron la
vida. La policía mato a un monton de civiles que protestaban en las
calles. Para el pueblo kurdo no hay diferencia entre los kurdos en
Siria y los kurdos en Turquía, o los kurdos en Iran y los kurdos en
Irak. Todos somos un solo pueblo. Así que si alguien esta atacando a
los kurdos en Siria, esta atacando al mismo tiempo a los kurdos en
Turquía. Y el Estado de Turquía esta actuando contra los kurdos en
Siria, por lo que los kurdos en Turquía no pueden simplemente quedarse
sentados sin hacer nada. Trataron de presionar al gobierno para que,
al menos, deje de ayudar al ISIS. No le pidieron al Estado turco que
ayude a los kurdos. Ellos solo quieren que Turquía deje de atacar
a los kurdos, porque si el Estado de Turquía esta ayudando al ISIS,
significa que esta atacando a los kurdos tambien.

¿Cree que esto podría conducir a un nuevo conflicto entre el PKK y
el AKP en Turquía?

Bueno, las tensiones han ido en aumento. Turquía esta oficialmente en
la coalicion contra el ISIS, por lo que todo el mundo estaba esperando
que luche contra el Estado Islamico. Pero la semana pasada, los turcos
bombardearon posiciones y aviones del PKK. Los kurdos estan luchando
contra el ISIS y Turquía, que se supone que esta en la coalicion contra
el ISIS, bombardea a las personas que estan luchando contra el ISIS.

¿Cree que la comunidad internacional va a hacer algo al respecto?

Creo que los medios de comunicacion internacionales ya vieron caer la
mascara de Turquía. Ahora, hay una gran cantidad de informes en los
medios de comunicacion occidentales que estan diciendo que Turquía ya
no es mas un aliado. Y Turquía no es un aliado de Occidente contra el
ISIS porque cambio sus prioridades. Todo el mundo vio las dos caras
que el Estado turco estuvo llevando a cabo en el Medio Oriente: por
un lado, se muestra como aliado de la OTAN para Occidente, y por otro
lado, estuvieron apoyando a los extremistas radicales e inhumanos en
Medio Oriente.

¿Que podrían hacer los países latinoamericanos sobre esta situacion?

Creo que las responsabilidades de los Estados de America Latina es
ver el juego de la OTAN en el Oriente Medio. En lugar de criticar
esto desde lejos, tienen que generar su propia alternativa. Los
Estados de America Latina como Argentina, Brasil o Chile tienen que
ver que hay personas que resisten tanto contra la OTAN como contra el
Estado Islamico. Y esta gente necesita aliados, porque las fuerzas del
otro lado son muy fuertes. La responsabilidade de los gobiernos como
Argentina es la de ponerse del lado de los pueblos de Medio Oriente.

¿Y como podrían ayudar?

Ahora mismo, por ejemplo, la primera necesidad es humanitaria. Como
mínimo, los gobiernos de aquí podrían enviar ayuda humanitaria a la
poblacion kurda, a las personas que estan sufriendo los juegos de la
OTAN y del ISIS.

DUTCH MAN BUILDS “NOAH’S ARK” AFTER HE DREAMS HOLLAND WILL BE FLOODED

13:24, 23 Oct 2014

A Ditch Man Johan Huibers built an “Ark of Noah” after he dreamt that
Holland would be flooded, the Daily Mail reports.

Constructed from the metal hulls of old barges and held together by
Scandinavian pine, this 23-metre high, 30-metre wide and 135-metre
long real-life Noah’s Ark stands four-storeys tall, is as long as a
football field and even comes with its own animals.

Dutch contractor Johan Huibers – who took three years to build the
vessel – was inspired by a dream about a flood that would wipe out
Holland.

“I dreamed a part of Holland was flooded,” Mr Huibers, explained during
an interview with the American television programme the Today Show.

‘Then, the next day I get the idea to build an ark of Noah.’

The gigantic wooden structure is the closest to the original ark
in terms of its dimensions as Mr Huibers built the vessel to the
specifications in the Bible, which states that Noah’s Ark was 50
cubits wide, 30 cubits high and 300 cubits long.

The tourist attraction, which is so big it’s classed as a building
not a boat, cost an estimated $1.6 million (over £1 million) to build.

Mr Huiber’s began planning the structure in 1992 but construction of
his ark began only in 2009. Work was completed in 2012 by his team
of 50 people.

The Dutchman had previously built a smaller model measuring nine-metres
wide, 13-metres high and 70-metres long which he sold in order to
concentrate on the real-life version.

Inside the Ark are two amphitheaters and fake animal displays as well
as presentations on Noah’s history.

Despite its ability to float on water and sail, Huibers told has said
that, ‘this time the Ark is not meant to save people from a global
flood as Noah did 4,000 years ago, but to tell people that there is
a God who loves us, and that He has a plan for our lives’.

The ark, located at Dordrecht, is now open to the public.

DIALOGUE WITH NEIGHBORS: ARMENIA IN TALKS WITH IRAN, GEORGIA AHEAD OF JOINING RUSSIAN-LED BLOC

ANALYSIS | 22.10.14 | 10:20

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

RELATED NEWS

Iran ready to assist Armenian initiatives, says President Rouhani

Armenia is trying to improve its relations with neighbors ahead of the
country’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) expected next
year. Two of Armenia’s four neighbors – Turkey and Azerbaijan – are
blocking its communications, while the other two – Iran and Georgia –
do not yet know how their relations with Armenia are going to develop
after it becomes a member of the pro-Russian alliance.

Armenia has no borders with any of the current EEU member country
(Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan). The only transit route lies through
Georgia, which recently signed an association agreement with the
European Union. And although it is noted that the determination of
the two countries in different economic systems will not interfere
with trade and transit links, some problems still remain.

Armenian-Georgian bilateral talks are to be held soon to address the
problems that have emerged in the relations between the two South
Caucasus neighbors after their accessions to different blocs. This
was announced by Georgian Ambassador to Armenia Tengiz Sharmanashvili,
who talked to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service earlier this week.

“There are some details that need to be clarified. It is for this
purpose that on November 11-12 Georgia’s economy minister will visit
Yerevan so that we can thoroughly go through all these questions. I
suppose there will be no insurmountable issues in the agreements,”
the Georgian ambassador said.

Earlier, advisor to the president of Armenia Karine Minasyan, who
is expected to become a representative of Armenia to the Eurasian
Commission, said that Armenia will export products to the EEU countries
through Georgia without customs consequences – with Georgian transit
declaration and a special identification label. But the statement
of the Georgian ambassador shows that not all issues appear to have
been settled.

There is no certainty in the Armenian-Iranian relations either.

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani on Monday during his two-day official visit to the
Islamic Republic. Rouhani said that Iran is ready to assist the
initiatives of the Armenian side, as well as the implementation of
joint programs. In response, Premier Abrahamyan noted that Armenia’s
membership in the EEU enables it to act as a link between the
EEU-member countries and foreign business circles.

This dialogue, which seems to be a bit strange, was taken by some
Armenian experts as delegation by Armenia of its rights to foreign
trade relations to the EEU, in other words, to Moscow. After joining
the EEU, Armenia will lose the right to carry out sovereign foreign
trade and customs policies, as it will be determined by the Eurasian
Council. It was not accidental that RFE/RL’s correspondent asked the
Georgian ambassador whether Georgia and Armenia can resolve these
issues on their own without coordination with Brussels and Moscow. The
ambassador replied succinctly: “They can.”

IRAN, ARMENIA DISCUSS EXPANSION OF ECONOMIC TIES

Mehr News Agency, Iran
Oct 20 2014

Tehran, 20 October: Iran’s first deputy-president and Armenian Prime
Minster Hovik Abrahamyan met today [20 October] to discuss plans for
expanding economic and cultural ties.

During the meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan on
Monday, Iran’s first Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said: “A joint
commission supervised by Mr Abrahamyan and I will also be regularly
held between the two ministries.”

“At present, the volume of trading between Iran and Armenia is about
300m dollars,” said Mr Jahangiri. “We export gas and in return,
import electricity from Armenia. There are other goods exchanged
between the two countries as well.”

“The two countries’ ministers of energy debated mutual projects
including the construction of the third line of an electrical
transmission and a hydropower plant in Armenia, the generalities of
which have been agreed upon,” maintained Jahangiri.

Jahangiri noted that the two countries also discussed and reached
an agreement in various environmental and cultural fields and said:
“Since Armenia is now recognized as a Eurasian country, our private
sectors have ample investment opportunities.”

Hovik Abrahamyan, for his part, expressed satisfaction for expansion
of bilateral ties and said: “The joint commission between Iran and
Armenia is of great significance and will promote economic ties.”

Mr Abrahamyan expressed gratitude towards Iran for the conservation of
the Armenian heritage and their respectful treatment of the Armenians
and said: “I have invited Mr Jahangiri to visit Armenia. There are
plenty of projects the implementations of which will greatly benefit
the two countries, and my country will do its best to further develop
ties with Iran.”

IRAN PLANS TO CONSTRUCT HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS IN ARMENIA

Energy Business Review
Oct 21 2014

EBR Staff Writer Published 21 October 2014

Iran is planning to construct hydroelectric power plants in Armenia
in order to implement previous bilateral agreements, Iran First Vice
President Eshaq Jahangiri said.

Islamic Republic News Agency cited Jahangiri as saying that the two
nations intend to establish a joint commission to boost bilateral ties.

Jahangiri told FARS News Agency in a joint press conference with
Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan in Tehran that: “We have
agreed to launch the third power transmission line and also build
hydroelectric power plants for Armenia.

“The value of exchanges between the two countries is around $300
million; we export gas to Armenia and import electricity from that
country, but there are other goods for exchange purposes as well.”

Abrahamyan said: “We have a lot of work to do to develop and complete
the joint projects of the two countries.”

In recent years, Iran and Armenia worked together to strengthen and
expand their relations particularly in the economic sector.

PRESIDENT ALIYEV, EU REP. SALBER DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 21 2014

21 October 2014, 10:55 (GMT+05:00)
By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Herbert Salber on
October 20.

The sides exchanged views on the process of negotiations over the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

During his Baku visit, Salber will meet with Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov and Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee
for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov.

The EU special representative for the South Caucasus also plans to
meet with IDPs settled in the suburbs of Baku.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing
of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were
killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale
hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20
percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven surrounding regions.

Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security
Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal
of armed forces.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S.

have produced no results so far.

CIS AIR DEFENSE COMBAT READINESS CHECK SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

14:19, 22 Oct 2014

Combat readiness tests of the integrated air defense system of members
of the Commonwealth of Independent States /CIS/ have been completed
successfully, the press service of the Russian Defence Ministry said
on Tuesday, OTAR-TASS reports.

“Results of trainings have once again proved the reliability and
efficiency of the integrated missile defense system in protecting air
space of CIS member states,” Lieutenant General Alexander Golovko,
the commander of Russia’s Airspace Defense Forces, who headed the
training tests, said.

The training involved about 100 warplanes and helicopters, including
fighters, attack aircraft and bombers. Apart from that, more than 160
units of radio-technical troops and more than 40 air defense missile
systems of the integrated missile defense system, took part.

More than 9,000 troops represented Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Armenia, Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.