Author: Kanayan Tamar

Armenian government to spend night in combat positions

22:40, 09.08.2014

The Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan and government
delegation will spend the Saturday night in combat positions of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

According to the PM, the purpose of the visit is to be on the front
line next to the soldiers.

“The people in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh stress the security issue.
Every citizen must understand that the security of Armenia begins with
the security of Nagorno-Karabakh, ” he said.

The PM added that during the visit be wants to get acquainted with the
problems so that “our soldiers realize that the authorities and the
people are united.”

“We will spend the night in combat positions on the front line, next
to our servicemen. We are ready to provide any financial resources for
our army, to protect our land and borders. We have no alternative, ”
Abrahamyan said.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Putin attends sambo tournament with Armenian and Azerbaijani colleagues

23:08, 09.08.2014

The presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin,
Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev attended the international tournament
in combat sambo in Sochi.

According to the Kremlin press service, this year the Russian martial
arts team opposes the strongest athletes from Europe, Asia and
America.

The heads of the three countries met in Sochi to discuss topical
issues, the most important of which is the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. There were separate meetings of Vladimir
Putin with the Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts. On August 10
there is scheduled a trilateral meeting.

Armenian citizen Karen Petrosyan was unarmed, asked for tea,
Azerbaijani villagers say

14:08 ¢ 10.08.14

31-year-old Armenian citizen, resident of Chinari village, Tavush
region, Karen Petrosyan appeared near the house of Röyal Ä°smixan oÄ?lu
Quliyev, a resident of AÄ?bulaq village, Azerbaijan, at about 1:00pm,
on August 7, 2014, and asked for a cup of tea.

In a report by Azer life, Mr Quliyev tells his mother was the first to
see Armenia who lost his way and asked for a cup of tea and
cigarettes.

`I came up to the door and saw his sitting. `Who are you?’ I asked.
`Tea, tea,’ he answered. Them I told my son an Armenian man was
sitting at the door. Then our neighbors came and asked him questions.
We gave him tea and then the military came.’

Interestingly, the video shows a scuffle between the villagers and the
soldiers who arrived to detain the Armenian man, panorama.am notes.

In a report by the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE/RL), Fariza Tagiyeva, who noticed the Armenian man, tells
that the locals asked him why he was afraid and he told them he had
nothing with him, no arms, and his name was Karen.

`I greeted him, searched him, saw his sneakers, he had nothing with
him,’ says local resident Niyamat Mammedov. Karen had no arms with him
and he did not offer any resistance. He only had a phone in his hands.

The locals do not trust the official reports by Azerbaijan’s Ministry
of Defense, which claims Karen Petrosyan was a `saboteur.’ Armenian
posts are too far from the village, which has not even the status of a
borderline village.

`He cannot have come from the [Armenian] posts,’ says Fariza Tagiyeva.

On August 8, referring to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense,
Azerbaijani mass media reported that Karen Petrosyan had suddenly died
of heart failure. According to the reports, `the autopsy was being
performed at the Ganja center of forensic medicine and pathologic
anatomy.’

Azerbaijan claimed Karen Petrosyan was a `saboteur’ and circulated a
video of his interrogation. However, the video clearly showed the man
had been tortured into confessing.

All the facts show Karen Petrosyan was tortured to death in Baku,
whereas autopsy on his body is being performed in Ganja, 372
kilometers away from Baku.

Ruling regimes temporary, homeland for ever – Gagik Ginosyan

11:58 * 10.08.14

Each Armenian must be ready to be conscripted at any moment, Director
of the Karin folk dance group Gagik Ginosyan told Tert.am.

According to him, all the political regimes are temporary, while the
homeland is for ever.
“I think each Armenian, must be ready to be conscripted at any moment.
Nzhdeh said, ‘I love my homeland regardless of the regime ruling now.’
The political regime has nothing in common with the homeland. We must
not repeat our predecessors’ mistakes. For example, there was the
following tendency during Dashnak rule: ‘If I am not a Dashnak. I have
nothing to do with the government.’ Or now some say, ‘I am not a
Republican Party of Armenia member, so let them fight.’ But people
fight for their homeland, not for the currently ruling regime. All the
regimes are temporary, but it is the homeland that is for ever. And,
in defiance of the regime, to shirk the responsibility for fighting
for your homeland is, I think, opportunism. Each Armenian must be
ready to fight for the homeland. I did not fight for any person. I can
trust or mistrust a person. But people do not go to war for a person’s
sake.”

Armenia, Azerbaijan exchange accusations on border ceasefire violations

Tension has been growing sharply in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area
since late July. Both sides numerously violated the ceasefire regime,
inflicting causalities on each other.

FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE
* Saturday, 09 August, 2014

Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged mutual accusations of ceasefire
violations in the border area on Friday as two countries’ presidents
set to meet in Russia’s Sochi on August 8-9.

“Last night and today in the morning Azerbaijan has once agains
violated ceasefire on several stretches of the state border between
Armenia and Azerbaijan using small arms as well as large-caliber
weapons,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said in its statement.

The Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan in turn accused Armenia’s forces of
opening fire on the Azerbaijani troops in the border area as well as
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone saying that the attack “was
suppressed by return fire.”

Tension has been growing sharply in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area
since late July. Both sides numerously violated the ceasefire regime,
inflicting causalities on each other.

The escalation of tensions prompted urgent talks on the issue between
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliyev, who are due to begin on Friday their two-day
negotiations on the conflict settlement.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began on February 22, 1988. On November
29, 1989 direct rule in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended and Azerbaijan
regained control of the region. However, a joint session of the
Armenian parliament and the top legislative body of Nagorno-Karabakh
later proclaimed the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

On December 10, 1991, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum,
boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an
independent state.

The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and
Azerbaijan obtained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By the
end of 1993, the conflict had caused thousands of casualties and
created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides. An unofficial
ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.

As of August, 2008, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group were
attempting to negotiate a full settlement of the conflict. On August
2, 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan travelled to Moscow for talks with Dmitry Medvedev, who
was Russian president at the time. As a result, the three presidents
signed an agreement that calls for talks on a political settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. — ITAR-TASS

APA, Azerbaijan
Aug 9 2014

Ahmet Davutoglu: “The tension between Armenian and Azerbaijan is
caused by the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the region”

[ 09 August 2014 13:10 ]

Baku – APA. “The tension between Armenian and Azerbaijan is caused by
the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the region”, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with Kon TV channel
broadcasted in Konya region.

Asked about the recent tension regarding the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, Davutoglu noted that he discussed the situation in the
region with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov over phone
and Turkey will always be next to Azerbaijan.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 9 2014

Turkey to benefit from EU-Russia row: Minister

Erdinç Çelikkan
ANKARA

The dispute between Russia and the Western world tends to create
economic opportunities for Turkey, as the country is seeking a bigger
role in Asian trade and to-build stronger economic ties

The crisis that Russia is facing with the West may present Turkey new
opportunities, according to Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci.

`Amid the deadlock between Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the
United States, we will carry our interests to the peak while
[remaining] closer to Russia,’ the minister said during a recent
interview with a group of journalists. `We will gain advantages from
that.’

The Russian embargo on U.S. and European goods was launched in
retaliation against U.S. and European sanctions over Russia’s alleged
role in eastern Ukraine separatist violence.

Russia is in talks with a number of countries such as Belarus,
Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on issues like free
trade or a customs union, Zeybekci said, adding that Turkey’s
intention was not to join such a customs union but engage in
`preferential trade.’

What happens in Russia will be a `big change’ for the Turkic republics
and Turkey, he said, adding that Turkey had not lost its position in
free-trade deal talks between the EU and the U.S.

`Countries that account for 50 percent of world trade are reshaping
the map of the economy. We cannot stay out of this in an environment
that the changes so fast,’ he said. `The developments in Iraq are
making Turkey a compulsory [trade destination].’

The country is also a good spot for European capital, according to the minister.

`When Europe goes under a monetary expansion, there isn’t another
[destination] that this money would go to,’ he said.

Turkey will shift from a `passive economy’ to an `active economy’
starting Aug. 10, he said, in an open reference to the presidential
elections over the weekend.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, who is competing against
Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoÄ?lu, the joint candidate of the main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP), as well as Selahattin DemirtaÃ…?, the co-chair of the People’s
Democracy Party (HDP), is promising a more hands-on presidency if
elected.

`If we continue with the production and marketing habits that we are
used to and have conducted until today, it will be impossible to reach
the 2023 goals. We cannot reach them even by 15 to 20 percent,’ he
said, adding that the country had reached its current position as a
subcontractor in a business habitat where raw materials and energy
resources are controlled by other countries.

`What Turkey should do next is control consumption networks itself.
We can reach the 2023 [goals] only via an active economy, not a
passive one,’ he said.

The Middle East, the Caucasus, the northern Black Sea, the Gulf and
the Arabic peninsula are the targets for such goals, he said.

The minister also said Iran would be an important country for the
Turkish economy, mainly due to a recent preferential trade deal.

August/09/2014

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 9 2014

Russian and Azerbaijani presidents discuss Karabakh issue

9 August 2014 – 3:28pm

Russian-Azerbaijani ties are developing in a very successful way,
Russian President Vladimir Putin said today during his meeting with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti reports on Saturday.

“Bilateral relations are developing successfully. We maintain direct
contact. Mutual ties are developing in various fields including in the
economy and the humanitarian sphere,” the Russian president is quoted
by the news agency as saying.

The positive dynamics in Russian-Azerbaijani relations have been
evident for many years, his Azerbaijani counterpart stressed. “Russia
is one of our main partners in the international community,” the
Azerbaijani leader said.

On the initiative of the Russian president the two heads of states
discussed the ongoing Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We have discussed Azerbaijan’s long term conflict with Armenia. We
agreed that the conflict should be resolved,” the Azerbaijani
president said.

Independent Catholic News
Aug 9 2014

Iraq: As ISIS massacres Christians, Lord Alton asks: Does anybody care?

This morning I received a plaintiff gut wrenching message from a
family who have fled from Nineveh. Describing how they were
overwhelmed by ISIS militias they fled “to protect our children and
sisters and wives.” They asked “where is the UN? Where is NATO? Where
is EU and US? Where is Putin?”

“Nobody cares about us. We are fleeing from one place to another, we
are exhausted. We are betrayed. We are being massacred and nobody
cares. We speak the language of Jesus, we are the first Christians but
the Christian world has forgotten us. We are the indigenous people of
Nineveh and everybody wants to see us killed.”

They simply plead that the international community must “do what you
can to stop this Genocide.”

It is welcome that belatedly the UK Cobra committee has at last met to
discuss this unfoldng catastrophe and that the US military aircraft
have begun air-dropping supplies to members of Iraq’s Yazidi
community. Trapped on a mountain without food and water after they
fled the advance of Islamic State fighters, they have been left with
the cruel choice of starving to death or being murdered by Jihadists.

It is to the credit of Kurdish and Shiite towns that they have opened
their doors to fleeing Christians, forced to leave Mosul and other
areas that fell under the control of the Islamic State.

Many have listened, as we should do, to the voice of Muslim religious
leaders such as Sayyed Hussein al-Sadr who issued a statement on the
displacement of Christians from Mosul, affirming their “national
belonging to Iraq.”. He rightly said “They are our brothers in the
country and in humanity, and have equal rights with all Iraqis.” But
now those who have opened their homes are the target of the Islamic
State.

If Iraq’s minorities are to be spared “slaughter-in-waiting”, and if
genocide is to be headed off, then Iraq’s authorities and the Kurdish
Peshmerga must urgently be given every assistance in resisting ISIS.
Fail to do this, fail now to protect minorities like the Yezidis and
Christians, and the Islamic State, will be further emboldened. As
their genocidal campaign engulfs all who refuse to accept their
dictats they will doubtless be echoing Hitler’s famous question “who
now remembers the Armenians?” No one needs to be reminded of the
consequences of the failure to protect the Armenians and all the other
minorities slaughtered in every genocide which has followed.

The indifference of many western governments to the plight of Iraq’s
minorities is truly shocking. The Islamic State is waging a genocidal
war against Christians, Yezidis and other minorities and the
international community looks away. It has now seized territory that
is almost two-thirds the size of Great Britain.

Houses have been looted and robbed. Graves and shrines have been
demolished. Crosses smashed and removed from churches. And beyond this
destruction is the visceral hatred directed at an ancient people who
had lived here in peace alongside their neighbours for centuries.

Iraqi Christians are the original residents of Mesopotamia –
descendants of the ancient Babylonians, Chaldeans, Assyrians and a
large number of Arab tribes, present in Iraq since the First Century
AD.

2,000 years later, the descendants of these original Christians have
seen their homes daubed with the identifying symbol of Nazarenes and,
if they refuse to convert, are forced to leave or be executed.

Welcome attempts to provide armed protection, by the Kurdish
Peshmerga, are reported, in some cases, to have been overwhelmed by
ISIS. UNICEF have reported the deaths of around 40 Yezidi children.
Christian families forced to leave in only the clothes which they were
wearing have been given temporary refuge and are hanging on to life by
their finger tips.

In the face of this religious cleansing and unfolding human rights
catastrophe the silence of President Obama, Secretary Kerry along with
the leaders of most Western governments has created the impression of
indifference.

Britain has been criticised by the Church of England for failing to at
least follow the French lead in providing asylum. The bishops are
right to be critical and, in the short term, asylum and the provision
of humanitarian relief are essential. But, in the long term, it is
unconscionable that the international community should collectively
shrug its shoulders with barely a murmur of protest and accept these
crimes against humanity.

In Bosnia and Rwanda the international community failed persecuted
minorities. We always say “never again” but in Mosul and Nineveh it’s
never again all over again. It’s yet another example of the abject
failure to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
UN’s doctrine of “a responsibility to protect.”

Armenia-based company obtains Crimea’s new mobile operator K-Telecom

by Emmanuil Lazarian
Thursday, August 7, 01:26

Crimea’s new mobile operator, K-Telecom, a company that came to
replace MTS-Ukraine, is owned by Armenia-based Cell Group Worldwide
Holding CJSC, reports Vedomosti, referring to Armenia’s legal entities
registry.

According to the source, the Armenian company belongs to Cell Group
Worldwide Ltd, a company with unknown jurisdiction.

Just a week after its registration in Krasnodar in late May, K-Telecom
was given MTS’s GSM frequencies in Crimea. The initial owner was
private travel consultant Anna Berezkina, followed by Nikolay Balashov
and finally Cell Group Worldwide Holding.

Vedomosti notes that MTS has K-Telecom subsidiaries in Armenia and
Russia but they in the company say that those operators have nothing
to do with the Crimean K-Telecom.

According to the source, K-Telecom has launched a one-way technical
roaming service for subscribers of Russian operators. So, the holders
of MTS sim-cards in Crimea will not be left without communication.
Referring to a source in a Russian operator, Vedomosti suggests that
the reason the company did it was to convince Russian operators to
sign roaming contracts with it.

According to iKS Consulting, as of late 2013 Crimea and Sevastopol had
2.97mln mobile service subscribers. 57% of them were subscribed to
MTS- Ukraine, 21% to Kyivstar (Ukrainian subsidiary of VimpelCom Ltd)
and 16% to Astelite Mobile (controlled by TurkCell).