Agence France Presse July 20, 2017 Thursday 12:21 PM GMT Azerbaijan jails Russian-Israeli blogger for three years Baku, July 20 2017 Azerbaijan on Thursday sentenced a Russian-Israeli travel blogger who wrote in support of Armenian separatists to three years in jail for visiting the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh. Alexander Lapshin -- who also has Ukrainian citizenship -- was put on trial after he was arrested in the Belarusian capital Minsk in 2016 and extradited to Azerbaijan in February. Lapshin was found guilty of illegally crossing tightly controlled Azerbaijan's state border by visiting the territory of Nagorny Karabakh in 2011 and 2012. He was acquitted of a second charge of making public statements against the country. Nagorny Karabakh has been under Armenian control since it was seized during a bloody conflict in the early 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union. The territory is still internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan and visiting it without Baku's permission is a criminal offence in the country. In court Lapshin told the judge that he felt a "moral, not a criminal guilt" and apologised for writing blogs advocating for Nagorny Karabakh to be split officially from Azerbaijan. The sentence makes Lapshin the first foreigner to be jailed in Azerbaijan for visiting Nagorny Karabakh. Amnesty International has previously condemned the detention of Lapshin -- who mainly wrote about his experiences travelling the globe -- and called for his immediate release. Azerbaijan and Armenia remain locked in a bitter dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, with frequent exchanges of fire along the volatile frontline nearly spiralling back into all-out war last year. The two sides have never signed a definitive peace deal and attempts to negotiate a final settlement have long been stalled. Azerbaijan has been under the authoritarian rule of President Ilham Aliyev since he rose to power after the death of his father Heydar. The oil-rich country has repeatedly been accused by rights groups of using spurious charges to crack down on dissent against Aliyev's regime.
Category: 2017
AbuDhabi: Abdullah bin Zayed meets Armenian Foreign Minister to review bilateral relations
Emirates News Agency, UAE July 19, 2017 Wednesday 3:32 PM EST Abdullah bin Zayed meets Armenian Foreign Minister to review bilateral relations YEREVAN, Armenia, 19th July, 2017 (WAM) -- H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on Tuesday met with the Armenian Foreign Minister, Eduard Nalbandyan, as part of his visit to the country. The meeting touched on a variety of topics including ways of boosting bilateral relations between their countries in various fields, including politics, economics, trade and investment. The two ministers also discussed the latest developments in the Middle East and reviewed a number of international issues of common concern, especially the situations in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Sheikh Abdullah said that the UAE and Armenia have strong bonds of friendship and cooperation, and expressed his keen interest in strengthening those relations in all fields. The Armenian Foreign Minister welcomed Sheikh Abdullah's visit, stressing his government's desire to enhance bilateral cooperation. The meeting was attended by Dr. Jassim Mohammed Mubarak Al Qasimi, UAE Ambassador to Armenia.
Moscow favors upgrading of OSCE monitors’ capabilities in Nagorno-Karabakh
Interfax - Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama July 19, 2017 Wednesday 7:43 PM MSK Moscow favors upgrading of OSCE monitors' capabilities in Nagorno-Karabakh MOSCOW. July 19 No decisions on stepping up the work of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Nagorno-Karabakh have been made because of the conflicting parties' positions, Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said. "Indeed, there is the need to step up operational capabilities on the contact line to monitor ceasefire observance and non-resumption of military confrontation. Unfortunately, no such decisions have yet been achieved because the positions of the two conflicting parties run counter to each other," Lukashevich said to journalists during a TV link with Vienna on Wednesday. "But the objective is very certain, and it is supported by the co-chairs [of the OSCE Minsk Group]. I think the OSCE is currently unlikely to be able to do more than the three Minsk Group co-chairs," he said. "The co-chairs are not magicians, and they cannot ensure a level of security guaranteeing that the parties won't use force," he said.
AbuDhabi: UAE Foreign Minister meets with Armenian Prime Minister to examine furthering relations
Emirates News Agency, UAE July 19, 2017 Wednesday 3:54 PM EST UAE Foreign Minister meets with Armenian Prime Minister to examine furthering relations YEREVAN, Armenia, 19th July, 2017 (WAM) -- H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation met with Karen Karapetyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia, to discuss avenues for enhancing cooperation between the UAE and Armenia in various fields. During the meeting on Tuesday, which was held as part of Sheikh Abdullah's visit to Armenia, the two sides also exchanged views on Middle East developments and a number of international topics of common concern. Sheikh Abdullah reiterated his country's keenness to strengthen UAE-Armenian cooperation relations in all sectors and take them to a higher level. The Prime Minister of Armenia in turn welcomed Sheikh Abdullah's visit, stressing the importance of enhancing friendly and cooperation links with the UAE. He also praised the cultural development the UAE is undergoing and the leading position it holds at the regional and international levels. The meeting was attended by Dr. Jassim Mohammed Mubarak Al Qasimi, UAE Ambassador to Armenia.
Turkish foreign minister demands OSCE Minsk Group make more active efforts toward settling Karabakh conflict
Central Asia General Newswire July 19, 2017 Wednesday 4:52 PM MSK Turkish foreign minister demands OSCE Minsk Group make more active efforts toward settling Karabakh conflict BAKU. July 19 Ankara calls on the OSCE Minsk Group for settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to intensify its efforts, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. "We demand that Armenia stop shelling [populated localities in Azerbaijan] and reiterate the necessity of withdrawing Armenian troops from occupied Azerbaijani lands. We stand ready to always support Azerbaijan and demand that the OSCE Minsk Group make more active efforts to settle the conflict," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Baku on Wednesday. The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan discussed political cooperation at a meeting in Baku on Wednesday, Cavusoglu said. "But our economic matters are also important. We have a decline in trade with some countries. The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor is nearing completion, and trains should start operating on this railroad in the fall," he said. All three countries are "interested in strengthening economic cooperation," he said. "Today's meeting was aimed at preparing a summit in Ashgabat, but we will hold preparatory meetings for the summit before this, at which various agreements will be signed," he said.
Equipment was removed from Tanks on New Year’s Night
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia) July 19, 2017 Wednesday EQUIPMENT WAS REMOVED FROM TANKS ON THE NEW YEAR'S NIGHT by Oleg Goryaev Source: Kommersant, July 17, 2017, p. 4 HIGHLIGHT: CONTRACT SERGEANTS RECEIVED MINIMAL TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT FOR THEFT OF RADIO STATIONS AND CONTROL BLOCKS FROM TANKS; Contract servicemen were sentenced for theft of military property in the North Caucasian Military District. The North Caucasian district military court declined the appeals of contract junior sergeants of the 102nd Russian military base (Gyumri, Armenia) Dmitry Londarenko and Nikolai Onishchuk, 22. The fifth garrison court sentenced them to one year and four months and one year of imprisonment in penal colony respectively for theft of radio stations and command blocks from tanks for the purpose of theft. The instance of appeals of the North Caucasian district military court heard the complaints about the sentences to Londarenko and Onishchuk sentenced according to accusation of two episodes of theft committed by a group of persons according to preliminary conspiracy (article 159 of the Criminal Code). According to documents of the case, junior sergeants Londarenko and Onishchuk, 22, who came from Ukraine and served since 2013 under contract in Armenian Gyumri as tank driver and deputy commander of a platoon respectively decided to steal radio stations from the technical park of Alagyaz training range. A local resident who worked as a cook in the mess room was their accomplice. In the afternoon of December 30 of 2016, the criminals drove in the cook's car to the combat hardware park of the 102nd Russian military base. Londarenko unnoticeable entered the garage, opened the lids of hatches of three T-72B tanks and stole radio stations from them. Afterwards, the fellow-servicemen carried the equipment to the car of the accomplice who had to sell the stolen items. Nest night, the sergeants decided to repeat the attempt but this time the cook gave them his car but did not go with the servicemen and stayed home to celebrate the New Year. Investigators found out that at 3 a.m. on January 1 of 2017, the junior sergeants penetrated into the park of combat vehicles again. Onishchuk was on the watch again and Londarenko carried out five radio receivers, two radar stations and three command blocks K-1. The criminals loaded the equipment into the car that they drove back to the owner. The theft was discovered in the morning of January 8, officers of the military unit conducted investigation and found involvement of Londarenko and Onishchuk into the crime. They did not deny the guilt and said that the cook proposed them to commit the theft having promised to pay 60,000 Armenian drams (approximately 7,500 rubles) for one radio station. A criminal case was instituted against Londarenko and Onishchuk about the fact of theft of property of the military unit worth 455,200 rubles. Law-enforcement agencies of Armenia conducted investigation against the cook. During preliminary investigation the servicemen compensated the military unit for 132,000 rubles of loss. Having studied the case about theft of radio equipment, the fifth garrison military court sentenced Londarenko to one year and four months of imprisonment and Onishchuk to one year of imprisonment in penal colony. The court did not impose monetary penalties on the sentenced but obliged them to repay the remaining damage worth 322,000 rubles. The contract servicemen considered the sentence too harsh: their families are in dire straits and they have no possibility to take care about them. However, the instance of appeals considered the sentence of the garrison court justified and declined the complaint. [Translated from Russian]
Armenian government ratifies joint military detachment deal with Russia
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia July 20, 2017 Thursday Armenian government ratifies joint military detachment deal with Russia YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government approved the law on ratifying the agreement between Armenia and Russia on forming a joint detachment of troops. Russia’s Federation Council (upper house) ratified the agreement on July 19. Earlier on July 14, the country’s State Duma (lower house) had ratified the deal. The agreement was signed on November 30, 2016 in Moscow. It defines the rules and regulations of forming and deploying the troops. Issues related to information exchange and technical matters are also regulated under the deal. “The detachment is formed in the Caucasian region of the Collective Security, with the purpose of timely discovery of military offensive preparations, to carry out control of the common land borders, as well as participate in the air, radio-electronic and information infrastructure defense”, the State Duma said in a statement. The staff of the detachment will be defined by the ministries of defense of Armenia and Russia, based on the joint analysis of the military-political situation, and agreement on taking into account the possible threat directions and deployment of the detachment.
Moscow preparing meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents – media
Vestnik Kavkaza
July 20 2017
Russia is trying to organize a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan by the end of this year.
Moscow is the main mediator in this matter, as the attempts of the other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs failed, Russian newspaper Izvestia cited a source in the Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
“The maintenance of dialogue is of fundamental importance. Due to this, a full-scale war did not break out in the region. However, the goals and visions of the sides are still different,” the source in the Russia’s Foreign Ministry noted.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts on the sidelines of the OSCE Informal Ministerial Meeting, where a proposal to organize a meeting of the President was made.
Artsakh celebrates Chartar Town Day
Panorama, Armenia
July 20 2017
On 20 July Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic President Bako Sahakyan took part in the celebration of the Chartar Town Day held at the town’s Culture Palace, the Central Information Department of the Artsakh President’s Office reports.
The Head of the State considered important holding such events and noted with satisfaction that they had already become a good tradition.
The story of a Turkish intellectual’s escape from prison
Al-Monitor
July 20 2017
Author: Sibel Hurtas
Posted July 20, 2017
The Turkish Twitter-sphere went abuzz July 14 with a post that read, “The bird has flown away. Wishing the same for the remaining 80 million.” The tweet belonged to ethnic Armenian linguist and writer Sevan Nisanyan, who had been behind bars since January 2014. True to his flamboyant style, Nisanyan had chosen Twitter to announce he had escaped from prison and was a free person again.
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After years of controversy and trials, Armenian intellectual Sevan Nisanyan dropped a bombshell on Twitter, announcing his escape from a prison in Turkey.
Author:
Posted July 20, 2017
Translator: Sibel Utku Bila
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For years, Nisanyan stood out as a colorful individual on Turkey’s intellectual scene. A Yale and Columbia University alumnus, he is the author of a prominent etymological dictionary and travel guides, but the book that made him a truly controversial figure was the “Wrong Republic,” which questioned taboos about the Turkish Republic and its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, infuriating secular and nationalist Turks. With his blunt criticism of religion, he also drew the wrath of pious Turks as well.
The chain of events that led to his imprisonment began in 1995, when Nisanyan relocated to the picturesque village of Sirince, near Turkey’s Aegean coast. Sirince was in a state of decay, and Nisanyan began renovating its traditional houses, converting them into stylish hostels known as “pensions.”
Thanks to Nisanyan’s efforts, Sirince soon became a popular tourist destination. Yet, there was a problem. The place was a protected area — off-limits to construction — which meant that Nisanyan had engaged in illegal construction activity. His transgression, however, had more to do with the cumbersome Turkish bureaucracy. After the village was declared a protected area in 1987, the authorities were supposed to revise the area’s zoning plan within a year, which they failed to do. A stone’s throw from the magnificent Ephesus, one of Turkey’s top historical sites, the village fell into a state of disrepair. Exasperated from petitioning the authorities for the new zoning plan, Nisanyan decided to go ahead anyway. In the meantime, he had begun to produce his controversial writings, which, quite tellingly, coincided with a series of demolition orders for the pensions. In one interview, Nisanyan said his troubles began after he became a columnist for the Taraf daily in 2009. “Twenty-three demolition decisions followed in 2010,” he said.
In an illegal construction haven such as Turkey, the authorities’ sternness vis-a-vis Nisanyan and the trials that followed were quite unusual. The most striking example is perhaps President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s gigantic palace, which was erected on a protected area despite a court ruling that had ordered the construction to stop. After the 2014 ruling, Erdogan challenged the court with a memorable comment: “Let them demolish it if they can.”
Nisanyan, too, refused to heed the demolition orders. In a further act of defiance, he erected a tower to “proclaim his own republic.” When word came that the authorities would carry out the demolitions, he said “only over my dead body” and sent out invitations for his own “funeral” to draw public attention to the controversy. Sirince eventually remained intact, but Nisanyan landed behind bars on Jan. 2, 2014, after one of his convictions was upheld.
Before going to prison, he gave an interview to a magazine, for which he posed in a bathtub, holding a glass of wine. “The state cannot ruin my spirits, even if I have to serve another 8½ years in jail,” he said.
Myriad campaigns were organized for Nisanyan’s release, including one involving prominent Turkish mathematician Ali Nesin, who had set up a unique Mathematics Village in Sirince. Nesin, too, faced an investigation on charges of illegal construction, which demonstrates how the judicial stick is being used against intellectuals in Turkey.
While in prison, Nisanyan was convicted in a number of other cases. Keeping track of his trials and jail terms has become quite difficult. According to Nisanyan, the upheld convictions totaled close to 18 years, which, under procedural rules, meant he would spend 6½ years in jail — that is, if no other convictions followed.
Nisanyan was put in an open prison, where inmates are allowed to leave the jail premises on certain days. Nisanyan used this right to escape. He simply did not return to prison this time. Following his Twitter post July 14, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag hurriedly made a statement that an arrest order had been issued for the escapee. Prison officials, meanwhile, faced disciplinary procedures.
Nesin describes his friend as a polyglot who speaks fluent English, French and German, in addition to having skills in Arabic and Latin, not to mention his “terrific” command of the Turkish language and its etymology. Nisanyan’s whereabouts remain unknown, but this outstanding intellectual is believed to be no longer in Turkey.
While Nisanyan was escaping, six leading human rights defenders — Idil Eser, Gunal Kursun, Veli Acu, Ozlem Dalkiran, Peter Steudtner and Ali Gharawi — were rounded up after police raided their training seminar on an Istanbul island without any legal justification. The activists have now joined other prominent colleagues in Turkish prisons, where about 170 journalists as well as parliament members and writers are also languishing — victims of Ankara’s massive crackdown on dissent since last year’s coup attempt. Hundreds of academics, meanwhile, are grappling with trials, in addition to their expulsions from universities. Those who remain free live under the constant threat of judicial action.
This brings us back to Nisanyan’s tweet, in which he seemed to liken all of Turkey to a prison, wishing freedom for all his compatriots. Referring to the clamor his message provoked, he later tweeted, “I guess I put the feelings of the [whole] country into words. Eighty million dream of fleeing the madhouse in which they are locked up.”