ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER HAS NOT VISITED ANY NON-CIS COUNTRIES
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 25 2014
25 September 2014 – 11:46am
Armenian Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan has not visited any countries,
other than the ones of the Eurasian Economic Union, in 5 months
at the post. U.S. authorities did not want Abramyan to take part
in the opening of the ArmTec-2014 Forum. The order to organize a
visit of Abramyan to an influential state has been fruitless to far,
Zhokhovurd reports.
HOW TURKEY PLANS TO “COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM”
Gatestone Institute
Sept 25 2014
by Burak Bekdil
September 25, 2014 at 5:00 am
In Turkey, hate speech is a crime only if it is committed against
Muslim Turks.
The penalty for failing to pay the tax [only for Jews] should be the
revocation of the Jew’s business and the seizure of his property. —
Faruk Kose, columnist for Yeni Akit, honored with a permanent seat
aboard Turkish President Erdogan’s private jet.
At the beginning of September, President Barack Obama met with Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in
Wales. After the meeting, the White House said in a statement: “They
exchanged views on how best to cooperate in the struggle against ISIL
[Islamic State of Iraq and Levant/Syria] and violent extremism in Iraq
and Syria, and on the need for strengthened measures against foreign
fighters transiting to and from the battlefield.” What could be more
normal if the U.S. president discussed measures against extremism
with the president of a country that now borders ISIS?
But it was bizarre that Obama and Erdogan also discussed one topic
that was neither NATO- nor ISIS-related. The White House said: “The
President and President Erdogan also discussed the importance of
building tolerant and inclusive societies and combatting the scourge
of anti-Semitism.”
Apparently, the White House wanted to tell American Jews that the
president had finally wanted to be tough with Erdogan on the new
heights of anti-Semitism in Turkey. In return, Erdogan may have
replied: “What anti-Semitism in Turkey? That’s unheard of!” To which
Obama may have replied: “Ah, thank you president, I feel relieved!”
President Barack Obama talks with then Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, in a previous meeting, in Washington, Dec. 7, 2009.
[Official White House Photo]
More or less on the same day as “the President and President Erdogan
discussed the importance of building tolerant and inclusive societies
and combatting the scourge of anti-Semitism,” a shop in central
Istanbul put up a sign, featuring a photo of an Israeli tank, and
saying: “Jew dogs are not permitted entry.” Not really creative. The
sign was an echo of a 2009 wall poster elsewhere in Turkey that read:
“Jews and Armenians are not allowed, but dogs are.” (Of course, none
of the explicit hate crimes has ever been indicted; in Turkey hate
speech is a crime only if committed against Muslim Turks).
A few days after “the President and President Erdogan discussed
combatting the scourge of anti-Semitism,” an Islamist columnist called
for Turkey’s dwindling Jewish community to pay for reconstructing
buildings in Gaza damaged during Operation Protective Edge, an idea
reminiscent of a wealth tax Turkey had imposed on its non-Muslim
minorities in 1942.
Faruk Kose, a columnist for the daily Yeni Akit, wrote that the
“Gaza Fund Contribution Tax” should apply to Turkish Jews as well as
foreign Jews doing business in Turkey and any Turkish nationals with
commercial ties to the Jewish state. He even suggested that the tax
should apply to any company or business that maintains a partnership
with a Turkish Jew. The penalty for failing to pay the tax should be
the revocation of the Jew’s business license and the seizure of his
property, Mr. Kose proposed.
It would have been easy to shrug off the man with a “he is just nuts”
wave of the hand. In reality, Yeni Akit has a permanent seat aboard
Erdogan’s private jet, an honor that shows how much Erdogan admires
the newspaper’s editorial policy — and most likely the columnist
Kose, too.
Most ironically, a journalist from Yeni Akit was among Erdogan’s
select group of journalists accompanying him to Wales aboard his jet
— the same jet taking Erdogan to a meeting with Obama to discuss
“combatting the scourge of anti-Semitism.” Did Obama know? Not easy
to know. But if he knew, he could tell Erdogan that a good start
to combatting the scourge of anti-Semitism could be not to honor
newspapers that propose taxing Turkish Jews to reconstruct Gaza by
inviting them on his private jet.
And around the same time as Obama and Erdogan discussed combatting
the scourge of anti-Semitism, Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, a body
controlled by the government, fined a private channel for airing the
Academy Award-winning film, “The Pianist.” The 2002 drama directed by
Roman Polanski is based on an autobiographical Holocaust-era memoir
of the same name, by Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Wladyslaw
Szpilman.
The watchdog claimed that its ruling was based on “scenes of violence
depicted in the film which might adversely affect the psychological
and mental development of minors.”
“This is simply ridiculous,” said an opposition member of parliament,
Ali Oztunc, from the social democrat Republican People’s Party. He
was right. “The Pianist” had been aired several times by different
Turkish channels before, with no fine or warning from the broadcasting
watchdog. Since the scenes it contains have not been re-filmed since
it was made in 2002, what could have changed to make the film qualify
for a fine? The film has not changed, but Turkey has.
When combined, all of these otherwise independent events best exhibit
how Erdogan’s Turkey responded to Obama’s call for combatting the
scourge of anti-Semitism, with Erdogan most probably smiling in
the background.
Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hurriyet
Daily News and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
CHORRORD ISHKHANUTYUN: CONTROL CHAMBER CONDUCTS CHECKS IN YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY
12:28 25/09/2014 >> DAILY PRESS
Armenia’s Control Chamber recently conducted checks in Yerevan
Municipality. Chorrord Ishkhanutyun’s sources say that the checks
focused on financial documents regarding asphalting, construction of
streets and pavements, reconstruction and renovation activities as
well as garbage disposal.
“Reconstruction of motorways is known to be a key source of kickbacks
and money laundering. After all, it is not accidental that in recent
years the Municipality periodically asphalts the same streets in
Yerevan,” writes the newspaper.
Source: Panorama.am
SOUTH CAUCASUS POSSIBLE ROUTE FOR IRANIAN GAS SUPPLY TO EUROPE
12:09 * 25.09.14
South Caucasus appears to be the most convenient route for exporting
the Iranian natural gas to Europe, says Garegin Chugaszyan, the
coordinator of the Pre-parliament group.
Commenting on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s recent statement
that the country can be a reliable source of energy supply for Europe,
Chugaszyan noted that the Islamic Republic had made similar statement
repeatedly before.
“Iran’s energy minister announced several years ago that there are
three routes for exporting the natural gas to Europe. One of the
routes passes across Arab countries; the second goes via Turkey and
the third – via Armenia,” he told Tert.am, considering the former
scenario unrealistic in light of the ISIS operations in Middle East.
“Turkey is Iran’s regional rival, so the Turkish route would make it
dependent on the country. The second most convenient route is actually
the one passing across the South Caucasus, Armenia and Georgia,”
he explained.
Chugaszyan said he knows that there is also a fourth route which
somewhat skips the Iranian side’s attention. “That’s the route
crossing the territory of Azerbaijan, but they do not discuss it,
even in theory. So those are the three routes Iran had declared in
advance,” he noted.
Chugaszyan said he thinks that the global developments suggesting
switchover to a multi-polar world increase the role of the South
Caucasus. “So it raises the price of the South Caucasus corridor in
global terms, increasing simultaneously the price for Armenia. We
all have to realize well that with the increasing price for the
corridor, Armenia’s price grows too. So we need to make up the right
conclusions,” he added.
Chugaszyan said further that he doesn’t underrate Russia’s role in the
project. “We have here interests which coincide, as well as interests
which conflict with one another. When the Azerbaijanis were developing
the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, they naturally managed to convince the
Russians that it might be useful for them. Hence the negotiations
with Russia have to make Armenia’s position clear,” he said, stressing
the need of emphasizing Armenia’s role for Russia as an ally country.
Commenting on the outcomes and impacts of the project, the political
analyst Sargis Asatryansaid he believes that the Russian factor
would reduce Iran’s role to an alternative country of gas supply
(given especially the recent activeness in the Iran-West talks and
the attempts of normalizing relations).
Unlike the Pre-parliament activist, Asatryan thinks Turkey to be the
best transit country for gas supply.
“But let us not forget that Iran can supply gas to Europe through
Turkey, as the country already sells its natural gas and oil, using
Turkey’s territory. They can launch a big gas pipeline when they reach
an agreement. In case of using Armenia’s territory for gas supply,
the transit countries’ number will increase, covering the territories
of Armenia, Georgia and the Black Sea,” he said, noting that that
Armenia’s involvement in the project would create extra difficulties,
with the region being considered highly sensitive for big investments.
The analyst said he expects Russia to do everything possible in the
present circumstances to maintain its monopolistic positions in Europe.
“I don’t know what Russia will do as a final step but I believe they
will elaborate certain projects and become main stakeholders together
once they see that it isn’t any longer possible to restrain Iran.
Asked whether he doesn’t think that Azerbaijan’s Southern Gas Corridor
project is a good alternative to Russia’s resources, Asatryan replied,
“No matter how much Azerbaijan will try to be an alternative,
Russia is, after all, a world leader with its natural gas resources,
with Iran being the second. With Europe’s gas demands increasing
by every year, it is necessary to be able to supply that quantity
of gas to the consumers. So will Azerbaijan alone manage to ensure
that supply? I don’t think so. They also want to involve Middle Asian
countries -Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan – in all thus, as they also
posses oil and gas resources. The situation remains entangled, as it
is difficult to make out what solution the problem will eventually
find. Russia keeps maintaining its monopolistic positions for the
simple reason that it owns huge resources. And it actually manages
to meet that big market’s demand.”
Commenting on the tensions in Turkey-Iran relations, Asatryan said he
knows that issues of the kind are normally pushed to the background
when it comes to economy.
Economist Tatul Manaseryan for his part stressed Armenia’s role as a
one-time Silk Road. “I think that the current geopolitical situation
offers us a good chance to develop the relations with Iran. And the
close cooperation met an understanding approach by the US in the
recent years. So it is possible to consider such a project in case
of a good organization,” he noted.
Asked to comment on Russia’s possible stance, the economist said he
finds that the country can combine its interests with the Iranian
project. “I see complimentary rather than conflicting projects in
this sense,” he noted.
ARMENIAN JUVENILE CHARGED IN MURDER CASE BEAT BY 8 PEOPLE AT POLICE STATION: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
09.24.2014 23:12 epress.am
Many violations have occurred during the preliminary investigation
and trial of the murder of 16-year old Tigran Hayrapetyan who died
during a fight on April 9, 2014, while, according to human rights
defender Mikayel Danielyan, a false accusation has been placed on a
person who did not murder Hayrapetyan. Mikayel Danielyan, chairman
of the human rights defense organization “Helsinki Association,”
spoke to journalists about the latter case.
The human rights defender said that a murder charge was intentionally
placed on juvenile Hayk Aghamalyan, which would potentially result
in an 8-10 year prison sentence, while there is no evidence against
him, even possession of a knife. “I asked the prosecutor (Hakob
Melkonyan), how could you charge him if there is no possession of
a knife. He responded with, why do I need a knife to charge him,”
Danielyan explained. The latter issue has begun the day Aghamalyan
was taken into custody.
Without a search warrant, the police searched Aghamalyan’s home,
with knowledge that he was at his grandmothers, they went after him
and during the process of taking him into custody, the police stroke
both Aghamalyan and his grandmother.
The police did not allow Aghamalyan’s mother to enter the precinct
and was only able to see her son in the morning, while noticing
traces of violence on his body. Subsequently, Hayk Aghamalyan said
that eight people had beat him and hit on the back while pulling him
from his hair.
The other violation within the preliminary investigation is that no
forensic examination had taken place. According to the human rights
defender, Aghamalyan’s confession testimony was the grounds for
him being charged. Danielyan noted, that in reality, Aghamalyan did
strike a teenager with a knife during the fight but not the person
who later died.
Furthermore, Danielyan finds it odd that video footage of the fight
participants walking on Teryan Street has been studied, while there
no footage exists of the actual fight. He stated that it may have
been in a central location and has likely been videotaped.
Recall, that premeditated murder can lead to a sentence of 20 year
to lifelong imprisonment and in consideration to Aghamalyan being of
juvenile, the accuser has demanded 8-10 years imprisonment.
EU INCREASING URGENCY OF IRAN GAS IMPORT AS RELATIONS THAW
September 24, 2014 – 17:52 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – The European Union is quietly increasing the
urgency of a plan to import natural gas from Iran, as relations with
Tehran thaw while those with top gas supplier Russia grow chillier,
Reuters reported.
Two “ifs” – the removal of sanctions on Iran and the addition of some
pipeline infrastructure – are not preventing EU planners preparing,
a European Commission source involved in developing EU energy strategy
told Reuters.
“Iran is far towards the top of our priorities for mid-term measures
that will help reduce our reliance on Russian gas supplies,” the source
said. “Iran’s gas could come to Europe quite easily and politically
there is a clear rapprochement between Tehran and the West.”
Russia is currently Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas, meeting
a third of its demand worth $80 billion a year. The EU has imposed
sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, increasing the need
for gas from elsewhere.
While sanctioned itself, Iran has the world’s second largest gas
reserves after Russia and is a potential alternative given talks
between Tehran and the West to reach a deal over the Islamic Republic’s
disputed nuclear program.
“High potential for gas production, domestic energy sector reforms
that are underway, and ongoing normalization of its relationship with
the West make Iran a credible alternative to Russia,” said a paper
prepared for the EU’s Directorate-Generale for External Policies
following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine.
However, the paper added that Iran was not a credible alternative
energy supplier in the short-term due to sanctions and large
infrastructure needs before exports become viable.
Internal EU energy security documents seen by Reuters also describe
plans to tap new non-European gas import sources in central Asia,
including Iran.
Iran, exploiting the reversal of old enmities caused by the upheaval
of the Islamic State militants in the Middle East, is also keen to
sell its gas.
“Iran can be a secure energy center for Europe,” its President Hassan
Rouhani was quoted on Wednesday telling Austrian President Heinz
Fischer in New York.
Tehran’s assertions over reliable supply are likely to ring alarm
bells at Russia’s giant Gazprom, after interruptions to its exports
via Ukraine in previous disputes scared Europe.
“Iran is trying to position itself in Europe as an alternative to
Russian gas. It’s playing a very sophisticated game, talking with
Russia on the one hand about cooperation on easing sanctions and also
talking to Europe about substituting Russian gas with its own,” said
Amir Handjani, an independent oil and gas specialist working in Dubai.
“Given Russia’s current strategy politically, which is one of
confrontation with Europe, I see the EU having little choice but to
find alternative gas supplies,” he added.
“TO HELL WITH YOUR RATIFICATION”: ARMENIA CONSIDERS RECALLING THE TURKEY PROTOCOLS
22:27 24.09.2014
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan participated in the 69th session
of the UN General Assembly, where he made a speech.
Distinguished President of the General Assembly, Distinguished
Secretary General, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President,
We conduct this meeting in a symbolically significant period between
the centennial of World War I and the 70th anniversary of the end of
World War II, the two turning points in the history of humanity. The
United Nations Organization was established almost seventy years
ago at the end of World War II, and its mission was to form new
civilizational environment and culture of preventing the repetition
of the past tragic pages.
2015 bears particular significance for Armenians all over the world.
On April 24 Armenians around the globe will commemorate the most
tragic page of the nation’s history – the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide. It was an unprecedented crime aimed at eliminating the
nation and depriving it of its homeland: a crime that continues to
be an unhealed scar for each Armenian. The 1915 Genocide was a crime
against civilization and humanity, and its inadequate condemnation
paved the way for similar crimes of mass murder in the future.
Addressing the Assembly ahead of that centennial year of the Armenian
Genocide from this prominent podium, which I would call the podium
of Honor and Responsibility, I declare vociferously:
Thank you Uruguay, France, and Russia!
Thank you Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden!
Thank you Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, and Cyprus!
Thank you Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, and Vatican!
Thank you for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide
regardless of the format and language adopted. I thank the U.S.A.,
European Union, and all those personalities, state bodies, territorial
units and organizations in numerous countries, who publicly called
things by their proper names. That is indeed extremely important
since denial is a phase of the crime of genocide.
For a whole century now Armenians around the globe as well as
the entire progressive international community expects Turkey to
demonstrate the courage and face its own history by recognizing the
Armenian Genocide, thus relieving next generations of this heavy burden
of the past. Alas instead, we continue to hear ambiguous and ulterior
messages, in which the victim and the slaughterer are equalized,
and the history is falsified.
Armenia has never conditioned the normalization of the bilateral
relations with Turkey by recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In
fact, Armenia was the party that initiated such a process which
culminated in the signing of the Zurich Protocols in 2009. However,
those Protocols have been shelved for years now awaiting ratification
in the Turkish Parliament. Ankara declares publicly that it will
ratify those Protocols only if Armenians cede Nagorno- Karabakh,
the free Artsakh, to Azerbaijan. In Armenia and Artsakh ordinary
people often just retort to such preconditions: “To hell with
you ratification.” This vernacular phrase concentrates the age-old
struggle of the entire nation, and it unequivocally explains to those
who attempt to bargain the others’ homeland that the motherland is
sacrosanct, and they had better stay away from us with their bargain.
It is in these circumstances that currently the official Yerevan is
seriously considering the issue of recalling the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols from the parliament.
The tragic events in Syria and Iraq, which we are currently witnessing,
demonstrate how the groups whose creed is hatred are targeting
religious and national minorities. Two days ago, on Independence
Day of the Republic of Armenia, the Church of All Saint Martyrs in
Deir-ez-Zor, Syria, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the
Armenian Genocide, where their remains were housed, was mined and
blown up by terrorists. Such a barbarity is a criminal Godlessness
in no way or shape related to any faith. The catastrophic situation
in Syria and the north of Iraq continuously deteriorates, and today
hundreds of thousands of peaceful people are directly imperiled. Among
them are tens of thousands of Armenians of Aleppo. This is an instance
of a peril to consider in the context of our joint commitments to
preventing the crimes against humanity. Armenia has voiced on numerous
occasions the necessity to defend the Armenian population of Syria
and the Yezidi population of north-western Iraq, and we are encouraged
by the unified stance of the international community in this regard.
The very essence of our organization is the preservation of world peace
and security. In recent years, Armenia has consistently consolidated
its peacekeeping capabilities thus preparing ourselves for a more
proactive engagement in that field. Armenian peacekeepers will very
soon be dispatched to the south of Lebanon within the framework
of the UNIFIL mission under the auspices of the United Nations. It
became possible due to close collaboration we enjoy with our Italian
colleagues. I strongly believe that our servicemen will fulfill their
mission with dignity and high professionalism also utilizing the
extensive experience they have garnered in the last decade in Kosovo,
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Distinguished colleagues,
It has been more than twenty years our neighbor aborts the efforts
of the international community directed at the just and peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by its unconstructive
and maximalist stance. The failure of an adequate international
characterization of the bellicose declarations and various threats
put forth at the highest level in Azerbaijan has resulted in all-out
permissiveness. The President of Azerbaijan designates the entire
Armenian nation as the “the enemy number one”, and what is considered
in the rest of the world to be a crime, is considered to be a glorious
deed in Azerbaijan.
Despite the fact that each conflict is unique, fundamental human rights
and freedoms, including the right of peoples to free expression of
will and self-determination, continue to evolve as a determinant to
their resolution. The vote held a few days ago in Scotland, once again
proved that nowadays the institute of referendum is more and more
widely perceived as a legal model for peaceful settlement of ethnic
conflicts. It was no coincidence that the right to govern one’s own
fate through referendum is in the core of the proposal put forward
by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ladies and gentlemen,
While discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement I cannot but
address the four UN Security Council resolutions, which were adopted
during the war, that every so often are exploited by Azerbaijani
authorities in order to justify their obstructive policy.
It is about those four Resolutions that demanded unconditionally as a
matter of priority cessation of all military hostilities. Azerbaijan
failed to comply. Azerbaijan’s own non-compliance with the
fundamental demands of these Resolutions made their full implementation
impossible. The Resolutions contained calls upon the parties to cease
bombardments and air strikes targeting peaceful civilian populations,
to refrain from violating the principles of international humanitarian
law but instead Azerbaijan continued its indiscriminate bombardments
of civilian populations. Azerbaijan did not spare children, women
and old men thus gravely violating all legal and moral norms of
international humanitarian law.
Now Azerbaijan cynically refers to these Resolutions – refers
selectively, pulling them out of context as a prerequisite for
the settlement of the problem. The adequate interpretation of the
UN Security Council Resolutions is not possible without correctly
understanding the hierarchy of the demands set therein.
The Resolutions inter alia request the restoration of economic,
transport and energy links in the region (UN SC Resolution 853) and
removal of all obstacles to communications and transportation (UN SC
Resolution 874). It is no secret that Azerbaijan and Turkey imposed
blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia from the
outset of the conflict. The Azerbaijani President in his statements
even takes pride in this fact promising his own public that direction
would remain the priority of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.
The abovementioned UN Security Council Resolutions called upon
Azerbaijan to establish direct contacts with Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan refused to establish any direct contact with
Nagorno-Karabakh, which was a legally equal party to the Ceasefire
Agreement concluded in 1994, as well as to a number of other
international agreements. Moreover, Azerbaijan preaches hatred towards
people it claims it wants to see as a part of their state.
None of the UN SC Resolutions identifies Armenia as a conflicting
party. Our country is only called upon “to continue to exert its
influence” over the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians (UN SC Resolutions 853,
884) in order to cease the conflict. Armenia fully complied, and partly
owing to its efforts a ceasefire agreement was concluded in 1994. All
the UN SC Resolutions have clearly recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a
party to the conflict.
Azerbaijani authorities have failed to implement the fundamental
demands of the Security Council resolutions, including abiding and
sticking by humanitarian norms. Incidentally, Azerbaijan has been
gravely violating this demand every now and then. Azerbaijan’s cruel
and inhumane treatment of the Armenian civilian prisoners of war
regularly resulted in their deaths. Although, I think, one shall not
be surprised about it because it is the same state that suppresses
and exercises the most inhumane treatment of its own people. A clear
proof of it was the decision of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of
Torture to suspend its visit to Azerbaijan due to the obstructions
it encountered in the conduct of the official Baku.
The Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only specialized
structure that has been dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue
according to the mandate granted by the international community. While
Azerbaijan is very well aware that it could not possibly deceive or
misinform the Minsk Group, which is very-well immersed in the essence
of the problem, it attempts to transpose the conflict settlement
to other platforms trying to depict it as a territorial dispute or
exploiting the factor of religious solidarity. That is ironic, since
Armenia traditionally enjoys very warm relations with the Islamic
states both in the Arab world or, for instance, with our immediate
neighbor Iran.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We highly value the indispensable role of the United Nations in the
adjustment and implementation of the development goals. I strongly
believe that through the new “Post-2015” development agenda we will
continue our efforts at seeking solutions and responding to challenges
of global nature stemming from the Millennium Development Goals.
In conclusion, I would like to underline that we have passed the
substantial part of the road leading to shaping the “Post-2015
Development Agenda” and we will continue our endeavors in this regard
by displaying necessary flexibility in order to bring this process
to its logical conclusion.
I thank you.
GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRY RESPONDS TO AZERBAIJAN’S DIPLOMATIC NOTE
Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 24 2014
24 September 2014, 13:05 (GMT+05:00)
By Saba Aghayeva – Trend:
Germany’s position on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is
unchanged. The country considers Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral
part of Azerbaijan’s territory, Acting Spokesman for the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend Sept. 24.
The German foreign ministry responded to the diplomatic note of the
Azerbaijani embassy in connection with German MPs Manfred Grund’s
and Albert Weiler’s visit to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
“The German foreign ministry constantly urges Bundestag members to
avoid such visits and inform them of Azerbaijan’s fundamental position
in relation to those making such illegal visits,” Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev said that the embassy also appealed with the appropriate
letter to the Bundestag and received a reply stating that German MPs’
trip can not be regarded as a visit initiated by the Bundestag.
“The foreign ministry and the Bundestag said that Bundestag members’
visit to the occupied territories was private,” he said.
“The Azerbaijani embassy in France also intends to take appropriate
actions in connection with the visit of a representative of the French
Senate to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
US EMBASSY IN AZERBAIJAN: JAMES WARLICK DIDN’T MEAN NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S PARTICIPATION IN THE NEGOTIATIONS AS A THIRD SIDE
APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 24 2014
[ 24 September 2014 15:51 ]
Baku. Rufet Ahmadzadeh – APA. “By saying Nagorno-Karabakh need to
have their voices heard in the negotiations during a press conference
in Armenia, the OSCE Minsk Group’s US Co-Chair James Warlick did not
mean Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation in the peace negotiations as a
third side”, press secretary of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan Nicholas
Barnett told APA.
The ambassador then added that US policy regarding the format of the
OSCE Minsk Group negotiations remains the same.
Noting that he clarified the matter, the embassy representative said
in his response to a tert.am employee’s question about the tensions
on the front line and the probability of NK’s participation in future
negotiations as a third side, Warlick said:
“It’s a tragedy when innocent civilians become victims of war. It
incites me to work to avoid civilian casualties as well as putting
an end to the violence, but particularly civilian casualties. These
are often innocent men, women and children who are victims. It’s
extremely important for both sides to find ways to avoid these kinds
of casualties. The incidents on the border are a tragedy. With regard
to the defacto authorities in NK, their voice needs to be heard. That
is precisely why the Co-Chairs travel to NK on a regular basis to
meet with the de-facto authorities”.
VASILY GROSSMAN’S FATE: FROM STALINGRAD AND ARMENIA TO THE WEST
Russia Beyond the Headlines
Sept 24 2014
September 24, 2014 Georgy Manaev, RBTH The translation of Vasily
Grossman’s An Armenian Sketchbook, by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler,
was included in the shortlist for this year’s Read Russia Prize. A
memoir written during a trip to Armenia in the early 1960s, the
book is an unusually personal perspective on his journey through the
country, offering reflections on its people and landscapes as well
as nationalism and illness.
An Armenian Sketchbook, an account of a trip Vasily Grossman made
to Armenia in the early 1960s, translated by Robert Chandler and
Elizabeth Chandler, was made one of the nominees for this year’s Read
Russia Prize, which is awarded for the best translations of Russian
literature into foreign languages.
The most recent translation of Vasily Grossman’s works by the pair,
An Armenian Sketchbook (New York Review Books Classics, 2013) is
a short memoir written in early 1962 that was not published during
Grossman’s lifetime, and which translator Robert Chandler believes
offers a rare glimpse into the writer’s inner world.
‘An Armenian Sketchbook’ by Vasily Grossman, NYRB Classics, Maclehose,
2013 “There is not a lot of reliable information about Grossman’s
life,” says Chandler, who explains that this account of the two months
Grossman spent in Armenia in late 1961 is of particular interest
since it is his only autobiographical work.
“From it we get a clear sense of Grossman’s sense of humor, of his
reluctance to take himself too seriously, and of his constant curiosity
about other people,” says Chandler of An Armenian Sketchbook, which
also features “vivid evocations” of the country’s barren landscape,
“lucid, witty discussions of nationalism,” a description of a village
wedding, and what Chandler describes as “several unforgettable pages
about a night when Grossman thought he was dying.”
Honesty banned
Russian writer Vasily Grossman (1905 – 1964) was little-known to
British audiences until 2011, when a BBC drama serial based on
Grossman’s epic novel of Stalingrad, Life and Fate (1959), aired
on Radio 4. After that, the novel, first translated to English by
Robert Chandler in 1985, became a huge success in the UK, topping
Amazon’s bestseller list at one point. Military historian Antony
Beevor has named Life and Fate, whose manuscript was confiscated by
Soviet authorities in February 1961, the best Russian novel of the
20th century.
One of possible reasons reason for the ban on the book’s publication
was the unprecedented honesty and courage of the author, who wrote
about the Second World War not in the polished, patriotic style of many
accounts, but instead poured out all the truth about the hardships and
bitterness of life at war. In 1941, Grossman, already 36 at the time,
worked as a war correspondent, dispatching articles straight from the
front about the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin. His
novel People are Immortal was among the first and still the best
first-hand accounts of the historical feat of the Soviet people.
Grossman’s ‘Life and Fate’ manuscript has left the secret archives
“Vasily Grossman was a man of unusual courage, both physically and
morally,” Robert Chandler said to RBTH. “He spent longer than any other
Soviet journalist in the thick of the fighting on the right bank of
the Volga, in the ruins being fought over building by building and
even room by room. And then, within months of the Soviet victory at
Stalingrad, he was writing some of the first articles and stories
published in any language about the Shoah. His mother – to whom he
later dedicated Life and Fate – was one of the 12,000 Jews shot by
the Nazis in a massacre outside the town of Berdichev.”
In Mandelstam’s footsteps
However, after the war, Grossman had to heavily edit his novel about
the Siege of Stalingrad, For a Just Cause – it was heavily criticized
in the Soviet press. Life and Fate was to become the sequel for this
novel, but in 1961, the manuscript was confiscated from the author by
the KGB – because of the anti-Stalinist message of the novel. Life
and Fate, smuggled to Europe by Grossman’s friends after his death,
was first published in Switzerland in 1980. In the USSR, it was
released only in 1988, during perestroika.
After Life and Fate was banned, Soviet publishers stopped printing
all of Grossman’s books. In search of any kind of income, Grossman
managed to get a commission to translate an Armenian novel and went to
Armenia – just like another Russian writer, Osip Mandelstam had done
30 years earlier, also in a quest to escape the wrath of the Soviet
authorities. The Armenian trip, during which Grossman created the
series of non-fiction sketches and stories that later became the work
that the Chandlers have given the title An Armenian Sketchbook, turned
out to be one of his last works – he died of cancer in Moscow in 1964.
The Armenian works were published in the USSR only posthumously,
in 1967.