Category: News

Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain’s longest-reigning monarch later when she passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, teh BBC reports.

The Queen will have reigned for 63 years and seven months – calculated at 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes at about 17:30 BST.

Prime Minister David Cameron will lead tributes in the House of Commons and there will be a River Thames salute.

Business in the Commons will be postponed for half an hour so MPs can pay tribute to the Queen.

Buckingham Palace has released an official photograph to mark the occasion, taken by Mary McCartney in the Queen’s private audience room.

This is where she holds weekly audiences with prime ministers of the day, and receives visiting heads of state and government.

“Along with aggravating the situation on the line of contact and making repeated attempts of reconnaissance and sabotage, as well as continuously shooting with large caliber mortars and artillery, Azerbaijani authorities have launched a hysterical campaign against the ongoing democratic processes in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,” NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“On August 31, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the forthcoming September 13 elections to local self-government in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. This statement contains the traditional set of baseless accusations against the NKR and Armenia is actively disseminated in international organizations and structures. In its turn, the state-controlled Azerbaijani media have started a race in their attempts of attaining similar accusations from the representatives of various countries and international organizations,” the Ministry said.

“Condemnation of the municipal elections in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic by Azerbaijan is a manifestation of panic phobia of Azerbaijani leadership towards the democratic processes taking place in the NKR. This is especially evident against the background of the deteriorating situation with human rights and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, where elections are an open ended process of inheritance, human rights activists and journalists are persecuted for dissent, and the population deprived of the opportunity to fully realize their fundamental rights and freedoms. Bringing to the end any illusion of democracy in its country, the leadership of Azerbaijan does not fall short of attempts to impose its own “standards” of human rights throughout the international community including its neighboring countries,” the statement reads.

The Ministry notes that in line with its commitment to democratic values and principles, the organization of public life and the formation of the NKR authorities are carried out solely by means of free, fair, transparent and competitive elections, which have become an integral part of the political culture of the NKR.

Forthcoming September 13 elections are the sixth elections to the local government in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The first municipal elections, including the elections of the mayor of Stepanakert, were held on September 27, 1998.

Implementation of the local self-government in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, safeguarding the citizens to participate directly in the conduct of public affairs is regulated by the Constitution of the NKR in full compliance with international law and, particularly, the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

“Attaching special importance to the institution of local self-government as a form of direct and representative governance by the people as well as the foundations of any democratic regime, the NKR authorities will spare no efforts to enhance its further development and strengthening,” the Ministry concluded.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit London September 9-10 at the invitation of the Philip Hammond, UK Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs.

Minister Nalbandian will have meetings with his British counterpart Philip Hammond, Minister for Europe David Lidington and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport John Whittingdale.

Within the framework of the visit Minister Nalbandian will speak Armenia’s foreign policy priorities at the Chatham House.

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Turkey has not only refused to join its NATO allies in fighting against ISIS, but has trained, armed and facilitated the infiltration of thousands of terrorists into Syria and Iraq.

The British Guardian reported that, in May when U.S. Special Forces raided the compound of ISIS leader Abu Sayyaf in Eastern Syria and killed him, documents seized during the raid revealed Ankara’s close collaboration with ISIS. Hundreds of articles have been published around the world describing various aspects of Turkish assistance to ISIS. Daniel Pipes in his Washington Times article, “Turkish Support for ISIS,” reported that “Turks offered far more than an easy border crossing: they provided the bulk of ISIS’ funds, logistics, training, and arms.” Pipes also revealed that wounded ISIS fighters are treated in Turkish hospitals, and Turkey has paid $800 million to ISIS for illicit oil shipments.

Vice President Joe Biden confirmed Turkey’s sinister role in helping Islamist terrorists at a Harvard University speech last October: Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates “poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad — except that the people who were being supplied were all Nusra and al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.” The Vice President also revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had told him privately: “You were right. We let too many people through.” Biden later apologized for his public remarks to soothe Erdogan’s wrath.

In an astounding revelation, Mitchell Prothero of McClatchyDC.com reported on August 24 that Turkish intelligence had alerted Islamist terrorists that a group of U.S.-trained fighters was about to cross from Turkey into Syria. Upon arrival, many of the 54 graduates of the $500 million U.S. training program were promptly intercepted and kidnapped by al-Qaida’s Nusra Front!

Last month, when Turkey finally agreed to join the war against terror and ‘allowed’ the United States to launch airstrikes on ISIS targets from Incirlik Air Base, U.S. officials’ initial delight turned into dismay when they realized that the Turkish military’s priority was attacking the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, not ISIS. By going after Kurdish militants, Turkey was in fact helping ISIS because the Kurds were the only reliable U.S. military partners on the ground.

Beyond wishing to undermine long-held Kurdish aspirations for an independent Kurdistan, by unleashing large scale bloody attacks against Kurds in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, Erdogan is hoping that on November 1 Turkish voters would help his party regain the parliamentary majority it lost in the June elections. Unfortunately for Erdogan, the attacks on Kurds have created a widespread backlash among many Turkish citizens who lost their loved ones serving in the military, simply to boost the President’s political rating!

In desperation, Erdogan may well resort to one more trick in the coming weeks. Seeing that bombing Kurds is not generating the expected public support in the upcoming elections, he could order massive attacks on Kurds throughout Eastern Turkey. He would then use the excuse of an all-out civil war to declare a state of emergency, suspend Parliament, and rule with the iron fist of a theocratic Ottoman Sultan!

The United States and its NATO allies have an obligation to do everything possible to stop the monster they have created before he destroys everything on his path. Erdogan is a serious menace to his own citizens — Turks, Kurds, and others — as well as a destabilizing force to the entire region! The vicious attacks on the Kurdish population in Eastern Turkey makes the best case why Kurds deserve independent statehood and can no longer tolerate the brutal Turkish regime!

The Obama administration should follow the wise counsel of Eric S. Edelman, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and under secretary of defense from 2005 to 2009. In a commentary published in The New York Times on August 27, Edelman suggests that the United States “restrict Turkey’s access to senior-level meetings; reduce intelligence cooperation; and withhold American support for Turkey in international financial institutions.” These steps and many others must be taken in the next few weeks before November’s parliamentary elections.

In an August 31 editorial, The New York Times Editorial Board described Erdogan’s political shenanigans as an attempt to “salvage his ambitions for continued authoritarian rule and greatly expanded powers.”

To bring the problem of terrorism in Syria and Iraq under control, restore stability in these countries, and stop the escalating bloodshed inside Turkey, the Turkish people must ensure that Erdogan’s party does not regain its lost parliamentary majority!

A British Airways plane bound for London caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides, the BBC reports.

Airport officials said at least 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off.

The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out.

There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board.

Asbarez – Vista Players, the acclaimed theater ensemble that “set the standard by which others were judged” (Sacramento News & Review), will stage the world premiere of “Happy Armenians,” the latest work by Elly Award-winning playwright and director Aram Kouyoumdjian. “Happy Armenians” will open on October 2, 2015 at the NoHo Arts Center, where it will enjoy a 12-performance run over four weekends through October 25.

“Happy Armenians,” a dramedy, tells a “parallel world” version of history in which Armenia has become a global empire, upending the world order as we know it. Its king, however, has only 30 more days to live, and Levon, a blood relative, is the unexpected – and unwilling – heir to the throne, who must manage a war against Switzerland, the geopolitics of African and South American colonization of Europe, and his budding love for a brilliant scientist named Siran.

A humorous, imaginative, and poignant rumination on love, war, and the burdens of history, “Happy Armenians” boasts a stellar cast, led by Daniel Hubbard as Levon and featuring the talents of Heather Lynn Smith, Tavis L. Baker, Jade Hykush, and Mark Eric Howell.

Maro Parian is designing the production’s towering set and constructing its unique costumes. Henrik Mansourian is the show’s lighting designer and Armineh Hovanesian its stage manager. Ara Dabandjian is composing the play’s original music score.

Performances are on Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 pm (except on Saturday, October 3, when the curtain rises at 7:00 pm), and on Sundays at 3:00 pm. Due to the intimate nature of the performances, no late seating will be allowed.

Kouyoumdjian is the winner of Elly Awards for playwriting (“The Farewells”) and directing (“Three Hotels”), and has been hailed for having “an adventurous artistic sensibility for intelligent productions” (Sacramento Bee). His directing credits include “Arcadia,” “Far Away,” “Marvin’s Room,” “The Play About the Baby,” and “Six Degrees of Separation.” His feature plays and solo pieces have been performed in half a dozen cities, from Los Angeles (Fountain Theatre) to London (Finborough Theatre). His most recent productions include “Ancient Gods” (Garni Theatre Ensemble at the NoHo Arts Center, 2014) and, earlier this year, the open-air, site-specific performance “i Go On” at DTLA’s Grand Park.

Vista Players is an award-winning theater ensemble devoted to staging contemporary plays of social relevance. It was founded in Northern California, where its premier outing was “Six Degrees of Separation.” Over the course of six seasons, the “acclaimed” troupe (Sacramento Bee) staged esteemed productions of nine plays by such leading playwrights as Tom Stoppard, Caryl Churchill, and Edward Albee. Vista Players is now L.A.-based, and “Happy Armenians” marks its relaunch in Southern California.

“The Karabakh talks suffered after Ramil Safarov’s extradition, when it became clear Azerbaijan is not an adequate partner,” says Karen Vrtanesyan, coordinator of Razm.info military-analytical website. At a meeting with reporters the expert referred to the recent escalation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the reasons behind it.

“By escalating tensions at the border, Azerbaijan pursues one goal – to grab concessions from Armenia through psychological pressure on the Armenian public,” Vrtanesyan told a press conference today.

The expert said the policy leads to a “deadlock.” “Azerbiaijan only suffers losses, while the Armenian side is not going to make concessions under the pressure of provocations,” he said.

Karen Vrtanesyan rules out the view that Azerbaijan is inciting war through border tension. According to him, Azerbaijan is afraid of war, primarily for economic reasons. “The Aliyev clan cannot be happy about the perspective of losing the successful oil business.”

Under Article 4 of the CSTO Treaty, “If an aggression is committed against one of the States Parties by any state or a group of states, it will be considered as an aggression against all the States Parties to this Treaty.” The organization never interferes with the developments at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, although Armenia is one of its founding members and has been in a military alliance with the member states since May 15, 1992.

“We see no need to apply to CSTO. We have been successfully fulfilling our tasks by now,” Karen Vrtanesyan said.

The expert believes that for more effective control and objective assessment of the border situation, the monitoring missions should be replaced by smaller and more flexible groups that will even keep watch over the frontline villages to react to any assault against the peaceful population on the ground.

Armenia also in favor of de-dollarization in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Grodno, BelTA reports.

According to the Prime Minister, Armenia endorses the draft documents that cover different areas of cooperation in the EEU. “We fully support the steps to strengthen and expand the industrial cooperation. Our countries have potential for efficient collaboration,” he said.

Hovik Abrahamyan also backed the earlier reached agreements on the regulation of the financial market. “The EEU needs measures to expand the use of national currencies in mutual transactions and reduce dollarization. Sharing the experience in the implementation of the coordinated macroeconomic policy is of utmost importance as well. In this respect the Russian ruble should be made an anchor currency in the mutual strategic trade in the EEU,” the Armenian Premier believes.

Close cooperation with the European Union is equally important, he added. “Keeping in mind our rich experience of negotiations in the trade and economic cooperation with the European Union, we are ready to assist the Eurasian Economic Commission in establishing such a dialogue and, if necessary, take the corresponding commitments of a negotiator in certain issues,” the Prime Minister said. Such cooperation should be based on the principle of mutually beneficial development of integration processes aimed at securing free movement of goods, workforce, services and capital.

The Prime Minister also informed the meeting participants that Armenia is ready for the fulfillment of all the commitments it has undertaken and for the active cooperation with partners in the EEU. “The Armenian side will soon present its candidate for the post of the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission,” the Premier said.

Hovik Abrahamyan suggested holding the next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan.