Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijani Institute of History to hold conference in Poland devoted to Khojaly genocide (PHOTO)

15 February 2019 16:05 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

The Institute of History of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences will hold a conference in Poland devoted to the Khojaly genocide, director of the Institute, academician Yaqub Mahmudov, said, Trend reports referring to the Institute.

Mahmudov made the remarks at the meeting of the Scientific Council in Baku on Feb. 15.

The academician stressed that the Institute of History is actively involved in the information war with Armenia and its aggressive policy, adding that his recent awarding with the Emek Order of the first degree is a high assessment, which was given not only to him, but also for the activity of the Institute of History and its scholars as a whole.

On Feb. 9, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree awarding Yaqub Mahmudov with the Emek Order of the first degree for many years of fruitful activity in the field of research of the Azerbaijani history.

The Scientific Council of the Institute expressed gratitude to the president for the award.

In 2012, 13 employees of the Institute received the Azerbaijani state awards for the works on the history of Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Irevan khanate upon President Aliyev’s order.

The presentation of the books by historian Nazim Mammadov and journalist Latif Shamkhal (Mustafayev) was held at the scientific council.

During the ongoing Karabakh war, on February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As a result of the genocide, 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly, 487 people became disabled, and 1275 residents were taken hostage.


Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijani-Armenian FMs may meet at Munich Conference

15 February 2019 19:22 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov may meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and discuss the possibility of a summit of the two countries' leaders, RIA Novosti cited Mammadyarov, Trend reports.

"I think this topic will be discussed as part of a meeting with my counterpart from Armenia and, of course, as part of the visit of the Minsk Group co-chairs," Mammadyarov said.

When answering the question whether a meeting with Mnatsakanyan will be held in Munich, the Azerbaijani minister said that they may definitely meet during the conference.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.


Azerbaijani press: Expert: Courses on how to change power in Russia – an attempt by wily Armenian activists to make money

15 February 2019 20:00 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Matanat Nasibova – Trend:

The courses on how to change power in Russia, held by the activists who took part in the change of power in Armenia, should be regarded as an outrageous manifestation of the unfriendliness of Yerevan towards Moscow, Andrei Ivanov, head of the Strategic Analysis Center of the Russian Institute for Innovative Development, told Trend.

The well-known Russian expert was commenting on the American-funded four-day courses "How to make a revolution in Russia?” in Yerevan.

The fact of holding the courses was also confirmed in a recent report aired February 12 in the program “Time” on Channel One Russia.

As it became known, the courses were organized by the Prague Civil Center, which is funded by the US Congress in accordance with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

Ivanov says these courses in Armenia can in no way affect the political situation in Russia.

"One cannot compare the small Armenia with the Russian Federation, where the system of power itself is much more sophisticated due to the size of the country. It was necessary to block only a couple of streets in the center of the capital to change the power in Armenia. This scenario is simply impossible in Russia. Nevertheless, I will note one other thing.”

“It turns out that on the one hand, new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talks about the importance of relations with Moscow, he constantly assures Russian President Vladimir Putin of his friendship, and, at the same time, Pashinyan’s supporters gather representatives of Russian marginal circles in Yerevan and teach them how to sow chaos in their own country,” he said.

Ivanov said the victorious supporters of Pashinyan are in certain euphoria.

“It seems to them that they have already made their country happy and now it is necessary to start helping other nations,” he noted. “They say that it is worth holding several seminars for small groups from Russia, and the experience of the Armenian revolution will immediately spread over a huge space. I don’t rule out the factor of self-interest of these activists who started the courses.”

The political analyst added that the seminars for the Russian opposition are paid for by the US structures that are interested in destabilizing the situation in Russia.

“There are a lot of people willing to conduct such seminars and receive grants,” he said. “Now, Armenian political analysts decided that it is their time to make money from the US desires of coup d'états in other countries. They gained the trust of Washington, and now there are people in Armenia who got the opportunity to earn extra money. However, it is important to understand that the stability of any power depends, above all, on the ability to perceive the needs of the society. No seminars, no foreign funding can ignite the fire of popular discontent.”

Ivanov noted that he sees the holding of seminars in Armenia for Russian activists as an attempt of some particularly wily Armenian activists to earn money.


Turkish press: French President Macron should face crimes committed by his country, Erdoğan says

DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published16.02.2019 00:07Modified16.02.2019 00:26

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday criticized French President Emanuel Macron for the recent plan to declare April 24 as a national day to commemorate the controversial Armenian "genocide," saying that he needs to face the crimes committed throughout the world by his country.

"I told Macron that he is still new to politics and that he should learn his history," President Erdoğan said, speaking on a joint live broadcast on AHaber and ANews channels.

The president continued by saying that Turkey has no record of genocide in its history.

Erdoğan briefly went through the atrocities committed by French colonialists, starting with the Algerian example in 1830.

He noted that just after nine years, French colonialists established a center for the slave trade in Gabon.

Between 1872 and 1954, over 500,000 people were slaughtered by the French in Vietnam, while thousands of others were killed in Algeria between 1881 and 1884.

Erdoğan noted that France used numerous countries as colonies, exploiting their wealth and resources, and tried to change the religion and language of these countries, such as Guinea, Benin, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Djibouti, Algeria and Rwanda.

Turkey refutes the claims of "genocide" and says it is an attempt to defame the country. The annual commemoration on April 24 marks the deaths of Armenians who died in eastern Anatolia in the early years of World War I, when the Ottoman Empire's Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) government decided to deport Armenians to Syria when some sided with the invading Russians and revolted.

Poor conditions, disease and attacks from irregular units caused numerous casualties. Ankara does not accept the alleged "genocide" but acknowledges there were casualties on both sides during World War I.

Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act of genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Turkey accepts the mass deaths of Armenians during their forced deportation during the war but claims the death toll was much lower.

Armenia demands recognition of the incidents as "genocide" in order to advance relations between the two neighboring countries.

In April 2014, Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, offered condolences for the Armenian deaths that occurred in 1915 – a first for a Turkish leader as the country froze diplomatic relations with Armenia both over the genocide issue and Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave also claimed by Turkey's close ally, Azerbaijan. The move was seen as a significant step toward a possible reconciliation.

Many Armenians argue that denying allegations that the events of 1915 constituted "genocide" should be a crime, just as negating the Holocaust is. Lobbying efforts by Armenian diaspora whose number is high, particularly in France and the United States, helped to gain recognition of the incident as a "genocide." France was one of the first European states to recognize it and more than 20 other countries followed suit.

Turkish press: Turkey’s ruling party expects ‘transparency’ from China in Xinjiang – Turkey News

Criticizing China’s policy in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, spokesperson of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party has demanded transparency.

Ömer Çelik, speaking at a press briefing in Ankara on Feb. 11, said that Turkey respects China's integrity and security, "but holding more than 1 million Uighur Turks in concentration camps and prisons is unlawful."

“If a transparent approach is adopted on this issue, it will create an opportunity to defuse tensions and allow everyone to understand what is happening,” he said.       

Stating that the policy carried out by the country was open to assimilation in many ways,  noted that many opinion leaders, artists and intellectuals of East Turkestan were missing.

China's Xinjiang region is home to around 10 million Uighurs. The Turkic Muslim group, which makes up around 45 percent of Xinjiang's population, has long accused China's authorities of cultural, religious and economic discrimination.

China stepped up its restrictions on the region in the past two years, banning men from growing beards and women from wearing veils and introducing what many experts see as the world's most extensive electronic surveillance program, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As many as 1 million Muslims in Xinjiang have been incarcerated in an expanding network of “political re-education” camps, according to U.S. officials and UN experts.

‘France should face crimes in Africa’

Meanwhile, Çelik also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks about violent 1915 events in Anatolia.

“What France should judicially face, from Cameroon to Algeria, are the acts of human rights violations and killings by the French authorities.       

"What is tragic is [French President Emmanuel Macron's] talks about facing history. Facing history must be a term that should be used in another meaning for France," he said.

"While the crimes committed by the French authorities are obvious, hiding behind a term like 'facing history' is a result of a lobby support approach of Macron, who is in political turmoil,” he said, referring to Macron's tweet about the 1915 Armenian events.

Last week, Macron announced April 24 as a day to commemorate the so-called Armenian genocide.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy for both sides.

Turkey, China, Xinjiang, Uighur, Justice and Development Party, Ömer Çelik

Armenia’s steps raise some hopes among Azerbaijani president: political analyst

Aysor, Armenia
Feb 14 2019

During the recent months Azerbaijan has gained a serious privilege and its positions in the negotiation process are better than previously, political analyst Aghasi Yenokyan said, speaking to Aysor.am, referring to the statement of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev that Azerbaijan has privileges at the table of negotiations and in battle field.

He said Azerbaijan’s privilege is seen both from their rhetoric and toughening of their formulations.

“With all this, I may say that Ilham Aliyev’s remark is right. As to Azerbaijan’s status in the battle field, according to the open sources and the available information on how many weapons the country has acquired during the recent years, then yes, we may register that Aliyev is right,” Yenokyan said.

As to the recent thought voiced by Aliyev in an interview with Real TV that Artsakh conflict must be regulated only in the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, the analyst said that it is the Azerbaijan’s dream and Armenia’s recent steps at the negotiation process aroused some hopes among the Azerbaijani president.

“But I think both Armenia and the OSCE mediators will not allow unbalanced solutions. In any case Aliyev’s statement’s are addressed both to the domestic and foreign audience and such rhetoric of the country’s president is agreed with the Azerbaijani progress in the process, or more right to say Armenia’s regress,” he said.

As to Aliyev’s statement that “force factor becomes dominating in the world today” and “force gives birth to right,” Yenokyan said that Azerbaijani president allows himself such phrases because OSCE Minsk Group mediators do not forward the pre-condition of exclusion of force.

“Of course, force is not the only thing that determines everything. Issues in the world are being solved in combination of different factors,” the political analyst said.

Armenian parliament adopts government program

Panorama, Armenia
Feb 14 2019

The Armenian National Assembly adopted today the government’s action plan for the next five year.

A total of 82 lawmakers voted for the program, while 37 voted against.

Earlier the Bright Armenia faction announced its intention to vote against the document, while Prosperous Armenia faction said it would vote in favour of the program if their proposals are accepted. 

Pashinyan to Bright Armenia: What are you doing here if revolution has not taken place?

Aysor, Armenia
Feb 14 2019

Our government is symbol of trust, Armenia’s PM Nikol Pashinyan said at the concluding speech in the NA today, referring to the criticism of the opposition that citizens must believe in themselves.

“We consider our mission to help citizens believe in themselves, overcome the misery, leave despair behind, while they say you are putting responsibility on the people,” he said.

Referring to the criticism that “poverty is in their heads” Pashinyan said that he says it as a person who did it himself.

Pashinyan also applied to the head of the Bright Armenia faction calling on him to never compare him with the previous leaders.

“You were telling the same in 2018.  Serzh Sargsyan has nothing to do here, we are not fighting against personalities, let us go and take posts of deputy ministers and build from inside,” he said.

As to some comments that what happened is not a revolution, Pashinyan said, “Look in front of you and your sides, if revolution has not happened what are you doing here with 18 MPs. Of course, for you revolution has not taken place.”

Bright Armenia Party: Government demonstrates intolerance towards opposition

News.am, Armenia
Feb 14 2019
Bright Armenia Party: Government demonstrates intolerance towards opposition Bright Armenia Party: Government demonstrates intolerance towards opposition

15:53, 14.02.2019
                  

YEREVAN. – Current Armenian government demonstrates intolerance towards the opposition, Bright Armenia Party head Edmon Marukyan said on Thursday in Parliament.

“I am surprised how fast the force which was an opposition becomes so intolerant toward the opposition,” he said.

The opposition leader also commented on Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that “poverty is in people's heads.”

“I remember the 90s when I was a child, and we were poor the only one to blame was Levon Ter-Petrosyan. In 2000s when we were poor, the only one to blame was Robert Kocharyan. Until 2018 the it was Serzh Sargsyan to blame for us being poor. This is our political system. The revolution comes then, and the leader of the revolution says that the poverty is in the heads of the people,” Marukyan noted.

According to him, Armenians are used to the fact that all responsibility lies on the leadership, and this is fully justified.