Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Turkey’s Oriental Orthodox Christians, the country’s largest Christian denomination, held mass on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning to celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus, which they observe on Jan. 6, reports. 

On Tuesday evening, Christmas Eve mass was held at several Oriental Orthodox churches throughout the city. The pews of the Surp Vartanants Armenian Church were filled during the service, which was conducted in Armenian. Those present sang hymns such as Der Voghormia (Lord of Mercy). The congregation then filed out of the church holding candles and sang and prayed together in the front yard of the church. The candles are held to symbolize the light that Jesus brought the world with his birth. Afterwards, bread and salt were distributed to symbolize the abundance of food for the next year.

The Surp Vartanants Armenian Church is located in the Feriköy neighborhood of İstanbul’s Şişli district, where many members of the local Armenian community reside. Armenians are Turkey’s largest Christian minority population and celebrate the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem as well as the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6.

There are an estimated 65,000 Armenian Orthodox, 15,000 Syriac Orthodox, 8,000 Chaldean Catholic and 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey. There are also members of other denominations such as Bulgarian Orthodox and Georgian Orthodox, as well as Protestants.

Kurdish groups in southeastern Turkey have called for self-rule, separate from Ankara, as heavy fighting between them and the Turkish Army continues, Reuters reports.

Over 200 Kurdish militants were killed on Sunday during a security operation by the army.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had cancelled a planned meeting with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Saturday, saying its politics were rooted in violence.

The call came at the tail end of a summit of the Democratic People’s Congress (DTK), a coalition of non-governmental Kurdish groups.

“To form a democratic autonomous region including one or several neighbouring provinces, one needs to take into account their cultural, economic and geographic affinities,” said Hatip Dicle, Leader of Kurdish Democratic People’s Congress.

The final resolution of the meeting called for the formation of autonomous Kurdish regions, including several neighbouring provinces.

Photo: Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov

 

Turkey will not be able to violate the Syria airspace after Russia had deployed S-400 defense system in Hmeymim airabse, Russian president Vladimir Putin told journalists during the press-conference in Moscow, Sputnik News reports.

 

 

 

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan could meet in Tbilisi today , Armenia’s Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters today. Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov are attending an informal Eastern Partnership meeting in Georgia.

What are the expectations from the meeting? Shavarsh Kocharyan said “there can be expectations only in case Azerbaijan puts an end to its “everything or nothing” approach and refuses from the idea of seizing a favorable solution by force.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister said he has no serious anticipations. “On the other hand, it does not mean such meetings are not necessary. Meetings and talks are held even between countries in war.”

Commenting on the possible impact of the Russian-Turkish relations on Armenia, Kocharyan said: “This is a question involving our ally on one hand and our immediate neighbor on the other hand. Therefore, we should keep an eye on the developments.”

“Attempts to change the format of negotiations on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict or create parallel mechanisms can disrupt the negotiation process and impede progress towards a settlement,” the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs said in a statement today. The statement reads:

“In response to questions received by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group about the report and draft resolution currently under discussion in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), we take note of the attention paid by PACE to a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. We share concerns, expressed in the resolution, regarding an increase of tensions along the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan and along the Line of Contact. We deeply regret the loss of lives, including civilians.

We agree that the conflict has lasted too long. The sides should undertake all measures necessary to expedite a peaceful settlement.

We are convinced that measures to reach a negotiated settlement should be based on mutual agreement between the sides as emphasized in the Joint Statements made by the Presidents of France, the Russian Federation, and the United States, and supported by the international community.

The Co-Chairs will continue to render assistance to the parties, taking into consideration our mandate, approved by the OSCE. According to the OSCE mandate, our task is to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict and in particular to facilitate negotiations on a comprehensive settlement.  We are neither judges nor advocates for particular positions.

There are proposals to create new negotiating formats and working groups on the settlement of the conflict. We believe that in the framework of the Minsk Group there is unique mediation experience. The Minsk Group format is accepted by the parties and has the full confidence of all OSCE participating States. Considering the sensitivity of the negotiations, attempts to change the format or create parallel mechanisms can disrupt the negotiation process and impede progress towards a settlement. At the same time, we are prepared to cooperate with all international organizations, which demonstrate an interest in finding a just and sustainable settlement to the conflict.”

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire about 120 times at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the weekend, the NKR Minstry of Defense reports

The rival fired more than 2,000 shots from weapons of different caliber, including RPG-7 grenades in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation and confidently continue with their military duty.

President Serzh Sargsyan took part on October 16 in the session of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Burabay. The session was presided over by the host country’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Prior to going on to the discussion of the agenda items, the CIS heads of state congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on taking a convincing victory in the presidential elections, and Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev on the successful end of the parliamentary elections.

During the narrow and broadened sessions of the council, the presidents discussed and adopted a wide range of issues pertaining to integration collaboration within the frames of the commonwealth, concluded around two dozen documents, including the Statement on the 70th Anniversary of the Foundation of the United Nations, the Statement on the Fight Against International Terrorism, and the Address on the 30th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster.

During the session, the parties put special emphasis on security issues and attached importance to collaboration in the given sphere. The CIS heads of state signed a number of international agreements related to the areas of law-enforcement and elimination of consequences of natural and technogenic emergency situations. The council session also adopted the 2020 Concept Paper on Defense Cooperation, the 2016-2020 Cooperation Program on Strengthening the Security of External Borders, and approved the list of the CIS member states’ border and other agency formations aimed at dealing with crisis situations on the CIS member states’ external borders.

The CIS heads of state also dwelled on the issues aimed at deepening humanitarian collaboration. The parties decided to implement the program “Cultural Capitals for Cooperation” in Turkmenistan, proclaiming the country’s Daşoguz city as a 2016 CIS cultural capital.

It was decided to hold the next summit of the CIS heads of state on October 16 2016 in Kyrgyzstan. The 2016 CIS chairmanship was taken by the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.

 

 

 

Expert of Arabic studies Arayik Harutyunytan considers Russia’s actions in Syria are rather successful. He believes that by engaging in the Syrian issue, Russia comes out of the isolation of the past 1.5 years. Besides, Russia shows the West that in order to solve the issue of migrants and prevent the inflow of refugees, it’s necessary to solve the very reason of it.

The term of Russia’s presence in Syria depends on several factors, he said. “First of all, it depends on the objectives Russia pursues. Russia’s statement that it’s not possible to solve the issue through air strikes only envisages possible land operations, as well.”

Director of the “Caucasus” Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan says that “what’s happening in and around Syria is more complicated than presented by the media.” According to him, Syria will never be the same it was before the war. “Syria is divided and will remain so,” he said.

Alexander Iskandaryan considers that “the settlement of today’s complex problems in Syria exceptionally in a military way is obviously impossible.”

Arayik Harutyunyan believes that Russia and the West are destined to cooperate with each other, at least when it comes to the exchange of information on air strikes against ISIS. He considers that Russia and the United States ate in secret talks on the future developments in Syria and says the results of it will be tangible obvious in 10-15 days.

Armenian GM Levon Aronian leaves the Chess World Cup in Baku.

Armenia’s leading chess player lost to Alexander Areshchenko of Ukraine in a tiebreak.

Other representatives of Armenia Gabriel Sargsyan, Hrant Melkumyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan had left the competition at an earlier stage.

US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has said the escalation at the line of contact is unacceptable.

Warlick took to Twitter to comment on the situation at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the past day.

The mediator uploaded the picture of a 120mm mortar released earlier by the with the following message attached:

“This is a 120mm mortar reportedly used in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Such escalation is unacceptable.”

This is a 120mm mortar reportedly used in the Nagorno- conflict. Such escalation in unacceptable.

— James Warlick (@AmbJamesWarlick)