News.am, Armenia
Armenian ruling party’s faction head on Sasun Mikayelyan’s speech Armenian ruling party’s faction head on Sasun Mikayelyan’s speech
15:29, 12.05.2020
Category: 2020
‘Mother of Soldier’ NGO leader discontent with Armenian government
News.am, Armenia
‘Mother of Soldier’ NGO leader discontent with Armenian government ‘Mother of Soldier’ NGO leader discontent with Armenian government
15:44, 12.05.2020
Erdogan vows to fight Greek & Armenian lobbies
Greek City Times
by Paul Antonopoulos
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in a state of shock after the joint declaration by the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates, condemned Turkey’s illegal attempted drilling in Cypriot waters, violations of Greek airspace, instrumentalisation of illegal immigrants and backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya, as reported by Greek City Times.
In response to the joint declaration, Erdoğan said “we will continue to defend our interests and rights in the Aegean, the Mediterranean and Cyprus until the end.”
He then took aim at not only the Armenian and Greek lobbies in their diaspora communities, but also the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Fethullah Gülen’s movement known as FETO. Gülen is in self-exile from Turkey to the United States and the once ally of Erdoğan is now his harshest critic and is blamed for the 2016 coup attempt against the Turkish president.
“We will not leave the field to either the PKK or FETO, nor to the Armenian and Greek lobbies, nor to the enemy forces, nor to the forces of evil that originate from Gulf countries,” Erdoğan said.
His statement comes as Turkey faces a major economic catastrophe that could see its three biggest banks collapse and the Turkish lira continue to tumble.
In addition, Turkey is becoming increasingly isolated in the region, as its sole ally in the Eastern Mediterranean is the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya who are on the verge of collapse under pressure of the Greek-friendly Libyan National Army. The Muslim Brotherhood only control a portion of the capital city of Libya and the city of Misrata that is a center of jihadism and the Turkish minority in the country.
Meanwhile Greece has strong relations with the Libyan National Army, whose many top leaders trained at Greek military schools. Greece also strong relations with Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and has recently renewed its ties with Syria, showing that Greece has many friends and allies in a region that is becoming lonely and isolated for Turkey.
The Treaty of Sèvres haunts Turkey as it is paranoid that it could come to fruition, meaning Constantinople and Smyrna would be a part of Greece, an independent Kurdistan would exist, Syria would once again control Iskenderun that Turkey now calls “Hatay province,” and Armenia would control Pontus and large areas of eastern Anatolia – effectively severing Turkey to a much more reduced state.
<img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-61238″ src=””https://greekcitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2-19.jpg” alt=”Erdogan vows to fight Greek & Armenian lobbies 3″ width=”602″ height=”294″ srcset=”https://greekcitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2-19.jpg 602w, 300w, 450w, 20w, 600w, 225w, 570w” sizes=”(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px” title=”Erdogan vows to fight Greek & Armenian lobbies 3″>
The treaty was signed on the 10th August 1920, in the aftermath of World War I by the Central and Allied Powers. The Treaty was renegotiated at the end of the Greco-Turkish War with the Treaty of Lausanne and the Treaty of Kars that reversed the Treaty of Sèvres.
However, a 1998 cable titled “The Turks on the Kurds: Getting the message right,” released by the U.S. State Department in 2014 found that “Turkish officials and members of the social/political elite are especially sensitive to statements of actions which they interpret as resurrecting the 1920 Treaty of Sevres and its explicit efforts to partition Turkey in favour of Kurds, Greeks, Armenians, the French and the British.”
<img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-61239″ src=””https://greekcitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2-20.jpg” alt=”Erdogan vows to fight Greek & Armenian lobbies 4″ width=”859″ height=”859″ srcset=”https://greekcitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2-20.jpg 859w, 300w, 150w, 768w, 180w, 90w, 450w, 270w, 20w, 225w, 550w, 470w, 570w, 100w” sizes=”(max-width: 859px) 100vw, 859px” title=”Erdogan vows to fight Greek & Armenian lobbies 4″>
The Turks, according to the cable, believe that any Kurdish succession from Turkey can see the rest of the country dismantle with Greeks, Syrians and Armenians reclaiming their historical homeland.
As the Greeks and Armenians have powerful lobbies in their diaspora communities, there is little doubt that Erdoğan is paranoid that these lobbies can begin pushing for the Treaty of Sèvres to be reinstated.
Patriarch Bartholomew, the rabbi, and group of Armenians accused of supporting ‘the arch-terrorist’ Fethullah Gülen
Asia Times, Italy
by NAT da Polis
The charge is published in journal close to President Erdogan. John Paul II, the former Armenian patriarch of Turkey Snork Kaloustian, Hillary Clinton and some already deceased Turkish politicians also accused. Phanar points to risk that such reporting “could spark dangerous acts of racism and intolerance”. The Jewish community: “Unfounded accusations … in a publication of hatred”.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew; the chief rabbi of Istanbul, Isahak Kahleva; some members of the Armenian community are being described as collaborators of the Fethullah Gülen movement, the imam exiled in the United States since 1999, for opposing the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The accusation is contained in a special 176-page edition of the Turkish Islamist magazine “Gerçek Hayat“, which belongs to the editorial group of the pro-government newspaper “Yeni Safak“, owned by the family of the Turkish president’s son-in-law.
In the special edition, entitled “Fetus”, the long history of the movement of Fethullah Gülen, defined as “arch-terrorist” is traced with religious minorities in Turkey and their leaders targeted and accused of having supported the failed coup d’état of 16 July 2016 against President Erdogan.
In addition to Patriarch Bartholomew and Rabbi Isahak Kahleva, Pope John Paul II, the former Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Snork Kaloustian, as well as Hillary Clinton and already deceased Turkish politicians such as Ismet Inonu, Bulent Ecevit and Suleyman Demirel are also named and branded.
The Phanar and the Jewish community in Istanbul. In its release, the Ecumenical Patriarchate states that the information reported in the magazine, which targets religious leaders and members of minorities, “is completely false and biased.”
“The publication of these claims – continues the patriarchal communiqué – cause distress among Christians, Jews and Muslims and are particularly serious and irresponsible, because they undermine the unity of our people”.
Unfortunately, continues the Phanar statement, “such information is extremely dangerous and could be the cause of dangerous acts of racism and intolerance. The same ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew feels very bitter and resentful for the accusations that have been made against him, despite his efforts for the good of our country “.
“Therefore – concludes the statement – we are convinced that the competent Turkish authorities will do justice”.
The Turkish Jewish community in Istanbul intervened with a post on its Twitter account, stating: “We condemn the discrimination and provocation caused by these publications, with baseless accusations against our chief rabbi. These hate publications are damaging Turkey. For our part, we hope for an immediate restoration of the truth against these publications of hate – through correct information and legal means – as they influence our Turkey, of which we are an integral part. “
Disinformation and campaigns have occurred very frequently in the history of Turkey, both Ottoman and republican. According to Mihail Vassiliadis, director of the historical Turkish newspaper in Greek, “Apgevmatini”, a new fact is emerging: for the first time, non-Muslim minorities have expressed themselves and protested openly, making it clear that they will not accept abuses such as in the past.
Garo Paylan raises the issue of attack on Armenian church with Turkish Interior Minister
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia introduces news method to tally coronavirus deaths
JAM News
12.05.2020
The Armenian Ministry of Health is introducing a new approach to tallying statistics for coronavirus-related deaths, and will now specify the number of patients who were infected with coronavirus but died from other causes separately. As of May 12, 19 such deaths have been registered in Armenia.
146 new cases of coronavirus infection were registered in Armenia on May 12. In total, the country has 3,538 infected. Another patient has passed away. A total of 47 people died from coronavirus. According to the Ministry of Health, two more patients infected with coronavirus died for other reasons, their total number was 19.
A spokeswoman for the Minister of Health explained the method is being used to determine what patients were dying from other diseases.
Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan made a worrying forecast:
“At the moment, we are at the stage of doubling the cases of coronavirus in 15 days. This means that if the trend continues, there will be 6,350 cases of coronavirus infection in Armenia on May 24, and on June 8 their number will reach 12,700 cases. ”
According to him, there will be thousands cured of the coronavirus and, unfortunately, dozens of deaths.
Will the state of emergency be extended again?
Will the state of emergency be extended for the second time? This issue is being actively discussed throughout the country.
The commandant’s office of the state of emergency says this is possible.
The state of emergency was introduced in Armenia on March 16 and was supposed to end on April 14. But it was extended for another month until May 14.
Moreover, on May 4, most of the restrictions were lifted: the inhabitants of the country were allowed free movement, most of the enterprises worked.
However, the number of new infections has sharply increased. All this time in Armenia, the number of people infected per day increases by a hundred or more. On May 11, the number of new cases was less: just 79 people.
According to the commandant’s spokesman Vahan Hunanyan, the issue of extending the state of emergency is being considered:
“When the final decision is made, of course, this will be announced. There is a possibility of extension, since the circumstances that led to the imposition of the state of emergency are still relevant”, Hunanyan said.
Armenia finally passes child sex abuse convention
EurasiaNet.org
Ex-president Kocharyan’s lawyers filed 14 complaints with ECHR
Panorama, Armenia
The defense team of former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan has filed 14 complaints with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Hayk Alumyan, one of Kocharyan’s lawyers told Ria Novosty news agency.
The defense team of Kocharyan who faces charges of overthrowing the constitutional order, demand to change the detention measure of their client. They had earlier filed motions to administrative and civil courts to free him from pre-trial detention amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawyers pointed to the ex-president’s health condition and the fact that in his 60s the former is in high risk group to contract the virus.
“The defense team of Kocharyan has filed 14 complaints with ECHR, 10 of which have been registered for review,” Alumyan said.
The agency reminds that the ex-president has been placed in custody for about two years, pending trial. He is charged with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order during the March 1-2, 2008 post-election events in Yerevan, but strongly denies any wrongdoing. Kocharyan and his defense team strongly denies any wrongdoing and consider the charges as political persecution.
Azerbaijani press: Expert: Info on work of Armenian PM’s grandfather with Nazis shows glorification of fascist servants
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 12
By Huseyn Safarov – Trend:
The information that the grandfather of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan collaborated with the Nazis during WWII fits into the general model of behavior and decision-making by the new leadership of Armenia, Russian expert and TV presenter Yevgeny Mikhailov told Trend on May 12.
Information on collaboration of Nikol Pashinyan’s grandfather with the fascists has previously appeared on Armenian media outlets.
“If this information is reliable, this explains a lot. First of all, this explains Pashinyan’s reluctance to heed the calls of the world community and, above all, Russia about the inadmissibility of the glorification of fascist servants and the ideology of national superiority. This information also fits into the general model of behavior and decision-making by the new leadership of Armenia, which intentionally decided not to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism,” said Mikhailov.
“This sensation caused a shock also for the head of Armenia, who previously said that his grandfather was a “war hero”. In the current interpretation of the history, which is often presented to us by propaganda, the grandfather of the Armenian prime minister may be a hero for himself, but then it turns out that he is from the ranks of Roman Shukhevych, Stepan Bandera, Garegin Nzhdeh, Dro and so on,” Mikhailov stressed.
“I think that Nikol Pashinyan himself did not expect such a stir around the name of his grandfather, but why didn’t the special services in Armenia check this information and inform Pashinyan before? Maybe it is the special services themselves who went for this provocation to overthrow Pashinyan, since he did not fulfill his promises to the people and damaged the local security forces as well,” he said.
“And it can be assumed that there are forces in Yerevan that want peace with Azerbaijan, some of which are under the control of special services. Otherwise, I cannot assess such a hype around the biography of a relative of the Armenian prime minister”, the Russian expert said.
Azerbaijani press: FM: Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict blocks realizing potential for integration within CIS
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 12
Trend:
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov took part in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CIS through videoconferencing on , the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.
“First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945,” the foreign minister added. “The people of Azerbaijan also made an important contribution to this common victory.”
“The memory of everyone who contributed to the victory in the war, one of the most terrible wars in the history of mankind, will live forever,” Mammadyarov added. “At the same time, I would like to emphasize that we are particularly concerned about the heroization of the Nazi movement and those who cooperate with the Nazi movement in our region in any form, including the erection of monuments. We consider it important to eliminate such disturbing tendencies by joint efforts.”
“I would like to note that our today’s meeting is taking place at a difficult time, amid coronavirus pandemic – COVID-19,” the foreign minister said. “A pandemic undoubtedly affects international activity. Due to the crisis, some meetings, visits, as well as international events were postponed. However, at the same time, we are witnessing the fact that many meetings are being held in a different format, as today – through video conferencing.”
“We are all witnessing that the pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need to increase the effectiveness of cooperation, mutual assistance, and coordination at the international level,” Mammadyarov said. “COVID-19 has become a kind of test of the world’s preparedness for the global crisis.”
“Azerbaijan plays an active role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic both in the country and in the world,” the foreign minister said. “Demonstrating global solidarity, Azerbaijan has provided voluntary financial assistance to the World Health Organization in the fight against coronavirus in the amount of $10 million. Azerbaijan also provides financial and in-kind assistance to individual countries.”
“I would also like to bring to your attention information on the operational and preventive steps taken by Azerbaijan to prevent the spread of coronavirus within the country,” Mammadyarov said. “In accordance with the prevailing conditions, restrictive measures have been taken. So, in February, an operational headquarters was created under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan to prevent the importation and spread of new coronavirus infection on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
“From the beginning of March, the educational process in all educational institutions was phased out in the country,” the foreign minister added. “All mass events planned in the country were postponed or cancelled. Since mid-March, a special regime was imposed, which included a series of measures of social isolation, and since the end of March, a special quarantine regime has been applied.”
“Today, the Government of Azerbaijan is taking all necessary measures to successfully overcome the unprecedented difficulties that have arisen,” Mammadyarov said. “All resources of the state are mobilized and effectively implemented in achieving the goals set.”
“The evacuation of our citizens, who found themselves abroad, to their homeland has become one of the most important tasks during the crisis,” the foreign minister said. “For the time being, in the current situation, all necessary measures have been taken for the return of our citizens from other countries. These measures are ongoing, and today, about 20,000 Azerbaijani citizens have been returned to their homeland.”
“The result of periodically toughened restrictive measures was positive, and for the past three weeks, there has been a positive trend in Azerbaijan,” Mammadyarov said. “I mean, there are more people who have recovered from the coronavirus than infected people. The relatively low mortality rate indicates that the work is carried out in a positive direction. Since May 4, Azerbaijan has proceeded to the second phase of the mitigation of restrictive measures.”
“I believe that the CIS is an important platform for discussing joint efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus infection, as well as for exchanging experience regarding the actions that we are taking at the national level, supporting each other at the right time and strengthening solidarity between our peoples,” the foreign minister said.
“Dear colleagues, the current agenda provides for the discussion of pressing issues in such areas of humanitarian cooperation as international youth cooperation, as well as the development of cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports,” Mammadyarov said. “Azerbaijan pays great attention to these areas. Traditional close ties in the humanitarian sphere and in the field of culture are fertile ground for strengthening cooperation between our countries.”
“In this regard, I would like to note the importance of signing at today’s meeting the Decision on the draft Strategy for the Development of Cooperation between the CIS member States in the field of physical culture and sports for 2021-2030,” the foreign minister said. “I am sure that this Strategy will allow us to significantly strengthen our cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports, to achieve important results in attracting citizens to physical culture and sports.”
“As it is know, in a very short time, Azerbaijan has turned into a center of sports competitions, where events at the various international levels are held,” Mammadyarov said. “The support provided by the state to sports, the implementation of state programs are highly appreciated by international sports structures.”
“Over the past five years, international events such as the European Games, Islamic Solidarity Games, the World and European Championships, World Cups and Grand Prix competitions in many sports have been successfully held in our country,” the foreign minister said. “This year, we again started planning to hold prestigious sports competitions. Four matches of the European Football Championship, including one quarterfinal, are among them. However, in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has shifted the dates for the European Championship from 2020 to 2021.”
“I am confident that the decision ‘On the draft Strategy for International Youth Cooperation of the CIS member States for 2021-2030’ adopted today will allow us to significantly expand international youth cooperation within the CIS, to more actively involve young people in solving the problems of socio-economic development of our countries,” Mammadyarov said.
“The realities prevailing today in the world require effective interaction and coordination of efforts of all states in countering new challenges and threats to stability and security,” the foreign minister said.
“However, the unresolved conflicts existing in the Commonwealth space, in particular the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, do not allow to fully and effectively realize the integration potential within the Commonwealth and are the main obstacle to closer interaction of the CIS member states in countering new challenges and threats,” Mammadyarov said.
“Recent statements by the Armenian leadership show that the Armenian side is doing everything possibleto impede the activation of the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict, thereby creating new threats to regional stability and security,” the foreign minister said.
“Azerbaijan is committed to an early political settlement of the conflict,” Mammadyarov said. “At the same time, negotiations cannot last forever and should not serve for continuing and maintaining the situation that arose as a result of the use of force, occupation, and ethnic cleansing.”
“I would like to remind once again that Azerbaijan has every right to restore its territorial integrity by all means within its internationally recognized borders, as enshrined in the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris and the well-known UN Security Council resolutions,” the foreign minister said.
“The earliest settlement of conflicts based on the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of the borders of states will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening regional and international security, social progress, and economic cooperation in the region,” Mammadyarov said.