Armenia and Georgia have reached agreement to extend the hours of operation of the Stepantsminda-Lars checkpoint from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.
The move aims to ensure the uninterrupted export of agricultural products from the Republic of Armenia.
Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik Beglaryan negotiated the issue with Georgian counterparts upon the instruction of Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey was prepared for all necessary measures to tackle security threats along its borders, highlighting Ankara’s growing anxiety about conflict near its southern frontier in Syria, Reuters reports.
He was speaking on television late on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s meeting of a National Security Council meeting, where Syria was expected to top the agenda, and as local media reported Ankara was considering military steps to counter security risks from Syria.
Syrian Kurdish forces secured the town of Kobani near the Turkish border over the weekend, beating back Islamic State militants.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Turkey would never allow formation of a Kurdish state along its southern borders.
“If any harm is to come to Turkey’s border security, if Turkey reaches the conclusion that this garden of peace is being threatened, it is prepared for any eventuality,” Davutoglu said in comments broadcast late on Sunday.
“We will take the necessary measures to reduce the risks related to cross-border security.”
The pro-government Star newspaper said a possible cross-border operation would be considered at the national security council meeting, citing unnamed sources.
One option that could be considered was the creation of a 110 km “secure zone” within Syria, the newspaper said.
Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak has signed a three-year contract with Bundesliga rival Stuttgart, Goal.com reports.
The Australia international, 26, joined Dortmund from Melbourne Victory in 2010, making his debut in a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in February of the following year.
Langerak made nine league appearances for the Signal Iduna Park outfit last term and became a regular between the posts in the latter stages of Jurgen Klopp’s stint as coach.
The shot-stopper is the second goalkeeper to arrive at Stuttgart in a matter of days, with Przemyslaw Tyton having joined from PSV last week.
Dortmund, now coached by Thomas Tuchel, brought in Roman Burki from Freiburg earlier this month to compete with Germany goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
A Canadian cabinet minister, two MPs, a Toronto councilor, a former judge, a newly-elected Kurdish MP from Bingöl, Turkey, an evangelist preacher, the European representative of the ‘Kurdish Rojave Cantons Regional Government’ in Syria, and Syrian-Kurdish spokesman took part in the Canadian Conference on the Kurdish Humanitarian Crisis on June 21 in Toronto.
While the gathering’s name focused on the Kurdish tragedy, the speakers also addressed the plight of the other Syrian and Iraqi minorities victimized by the so-called Islamic State and other terrorists. About 250 people attended the conference.
According to conference organizers the Syrian Civil War has resulted in one of the largest refugee crisis in the 21st century with an estimated 12 to 14 million people who have been internally and externally displaced.
“In the Kurdish regions, about two-and-half million Kurdish people and Christian minorities such as Armenians, Assyrians, Yezidis are in urgent need of humanitarian aid,” according to conference organizers. “Sunni and Shia Arabs, and Turkmens too are arriving to the Kurdish regions for safety and well-being,” reported a flyer promoting the gathering.
Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish PYD (Democratic Union Party) addressed the crowd via skype and said Kurdish fighters were standing fast in the positions they have taken from the Islamic State. He also underlined the humanitarian crisis in the Kurdish areas of Syria.
Prof. Hisyar Ozcoy, recently elected to the Turkish parliament (HDP-Bingöl), said that Erdogan’s folly led to the defeat of the party. “He became overly ambitious in his dreams to run Turkey the way he wanted,” said Ozcoy. Until recently a professor in Michigan, Ozcoy moved to Turkey to run in the elections.
Keynote speaker Senam Mohammadi, European representative of ‘Rojave Cantons Regional Government’, described in fluent English the calamity and the Kurdish resolve to defeat the extremists.
Former MP and now Toronto councilor Jim Karygiannis began his speech by saying: “You all know who the elephant in the room is. It’s Turkey.” The Toronto politician accused Turkey of being behind the Civil War in Syria and in Iraq. He also called on the Canadian government and its allies to expose Turkey for instigating and fueling the crisis.
“It is time we engaged all sides on the issue regarding ISIS. All sides need bear responsibility. Canadian federal politicians should stop pandering to the communities of the region for votes and stand with them shoulder-to-shoulder in order to defeat ISIS. Many words have been spoken about how they (the federal politicians) and their parties are assisting. However, they have and will continue to fail if they do not engage and hold Turkey also responsible,” said Karygiannis.
While Turkey speaks about engaging and helping with the fight against ISIS it still continues to persecute its minorities and deprive them of their rights, added the Toronto politician.
“There have been reports by community members in Canada that Turkey not only does not engage with the fight against ISIS but is assisting them by staying neutral. There is a genocide which is going on right now by ISIS against other religious and ethnic minorities. The first genocide of the 21st century was perpetrated against the Pontian Greeks and then against the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire–today’s Turkey,” said Karygiannis.
The Canadian politician stressed that Turkey continues its aggression by the invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus and added: “Turkey is doing nothing to assist against the fights with ISIS except pay lip service. It is time to stop today’s genocide.”
Aris Babikian, Armenian community activist, said: “I am here in solidarity with you and with the other persecuted minorities in the Middle East. As a representative of a nation which was the target of the same ideology currently sweeping in the region, I know what it means to be victimized by a policy bent on eliminating anyone who does not share that racist and vile ideology.”
Babikian said that the racist ideology is bent on eradicating not only people and religions but also thousands of years of civilizations.
“After 100 years of what the Armenians endured at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, today the world is witnessing the same barbaric acts being implemented in the same Middle East,” said Babikian and added: “The neo-Ottomans in Turkey are once again the core enablers of the atrocities committed against the Kurds, the Alawites, Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, the Druz, the Yezidis and other minorities.”
He also thanked Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Jason Kenney for their “principled stand and moral fortitude.” In addition to taking part in the attacks on ISIS, per capita Canada is the largest provider of safe haven to Syrian refugees in Canada (over 10,000 in two years). Babikian said he wanted to see other countries act as compassionately and generously.
“We are grateful for Canada’s leadership. We urge the government to go a step farther and use its global stature to pressure the Turkish government to stop training and arming extremists and helping them infiltrate Syria and Iraq,” said Babikian and added Canada’s allies should stop Turkey from acting as a middle man which “facilitates the financing of the fanatics by purchasing the looted Syrian and Iraqi oil and historic treasure and to export them to world markets.”
Hon. John Duncan, minister of state and government whip; MP Bernard Trottier, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs and for La Francophonie, and MP Mark Adler also addressed the conference. Rev. Majed el-Shafei, founder and president of One Free World International, gave a rousing speech. El-Shafei visited Iraq, Armenia and Turkey last year.
In the second part of the conference, a panel discussion was held titled “Kurdish Struggle: What’s in the future and global issues”. The panelists were Hadi Elis, sociologist and independent researcher; Andrew Marjoran, general manager of the MacKenzie Institute of Toronto; and Prof. Ofra Bengio of Tel-Aviv University.
The US Embassy has called on the sides of of the Yerevan protests to display peaceful, restrained behavior.
“We are concerned by tense situation downtown,” the US Embassy in Armenia said in a Twitter post.
“Urge all sides to display peaceful, restrained behavior befitting democratic values,” the Embassy added.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan held consultations with the agencies responsible for the Republic’s economic policy to discuss issued of energy security and solution of existing problems.
Speaking about the ongoing protests against the planned electricity price hike, President Sargsyan hailed the mutual trust established between the protesters and the law-enforcement bodies over the past days.
“I have been following the recent developments and I can assert that over the past week Armenia has turned into a large and effective educational center, where our citizens and law-enforcers, journalists and lawmakers, intellectuals and foreigners teach each other, listen to each other, tolerate each other, something that rarely happens in the world.,” the President said.
The President reminded that during a meeting with Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov he stressed the importance of conducting an audit at the Armenian Electric Networks. He added, however, that the decision on price hike was justified.
“I’m confident that if the price is not increased, the energy system will face the danger of collapse.”
He suggested to select an experienced international consulting company to conduct an audit at the Electric Networks, to give an answer to the following questions: to what extent the price hike is justified and which are the dangers threatening the energy system in case the price is not increased.
The President said that before the final decision, the government will assume the burden of the increased prices.
“If the audit comes to prove that the price hike is justified, the consumers will start paying the cost. In case the audit concludes that the planned price hike was groundless, the government will do its best to get back the sums spared by the Electric Networks and will call the officials to accountability,” President Sargsyan stated.
An an interview with Aravot daily Armenian Foreign Minister speaks about the European Court rulings on Chiragov vs. Armenia and Sargsyan vs. Azerbaijan cases and referred to their possible impact on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
Question: Mr. Minister, the first question has somewhat general nature. What is the opinion of the Republic of Armenia on the European Court of Human Rights?
Edward Nalbandian: Armenia highly values the role of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the effective protection of the human rights of the 800 million people of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Armenia has always supported the processes and reforms aimed at strengthening the effectiveness and full implementation of the activities of the ECHR.
Question: Ever since the publication of the Chiragov case by the ECHR, Azerbaijan tries to manipulate it, to interpret it in its own arbitrary version, in particular claiming that the Court blamed Armenia for the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories. Is that the case?
Edward Nalbandian: As for the interpretations of Azerbaijan as if the ECHR judgment on the Chiragov vs. Armenia case allegedly refers to the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, it should be stressed that the Judgment of the Court does not contain any such assertion.
Furthermore, in the 168th paragraph of the case the Court reiterated its principled position that this Judgment applies only to the protection of the rights pertaining to the European Convention on Human Rights, and nothing more. As it is mentioned in the case the Judgment refers to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights on the protection of property, respect for private and family life and effective remedy.
Question: In your comment just after the Judgment was issued you said that the issues related to the right of the refugees and displaced persons to return are integral part of the negotiation process, they can be settled as a result of the comprehensive resolution of the issue. Can the ECHR’s Judgment have an impact on the negotiation process?
Edward Nalbandian: The decision of the Grand Chamber of the ECHR on the admissibility of the case notes that it may be reasonable for applicants to wait for the outcome of political processes such as peace talks and negotiations which, in these circumstances, may offer the only realistic hope of obtaining a solution. At the same time the decision finds that irrespective of the ongoing negotiation process the individuals have the right to pursue the protection of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Azerbaijan notorious of its violations of the human rights does not shay away to exploit for its political calculations the Judgment of one of the most prominent institutions on the human rights protection. Once again Baku tries to present the issues related to the protection of human rights, including the rights of refugees, in its own arbitrary interpretative manner, thus falsifying the whole essence of the Case. The Judgment of the ECHR on the Chiragov case pertains to an individual court case, to the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and cannot have any impact on the negotiation process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.
Question: Does the Judgment anyhow touch the circumstances that made the applicants leave their homes?
Edward Nalbandian: To the observation of the Armenian side that Nagorno-Karabakh has exercised its right to self-defense, in the paragraph 197 of the Judgment the Court takes note of the claims that the district of Lachin was of military strategic importance and that there was a need to deliver food, medicine and other supplies into Nagorno-Karabakh. In fact the Court takes note that under the conditions of the Azerbaijani aggression the liberation of Lachin had a vital importance for the survival of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh ensuring the access of its population to the essential supplies.
Question: What was the reaction from Baku on the Sargsyan vs. Azerbaijan case?
Edward Nalbandian: You are right, on the same day of the Chiragov’s case Judgment, the Court adopted another Judgment protecting the rights of Mr.Sargsyan who was forcefully displaced by Azerbaijan from the Gulistan village of the Shahumyan region. In both cases the Judgments of the Court are almost symmetrical. In both Cases the Court has registered the violation of the same rights of the Convention. It is noteworthy that Baku tries to circumvent any mentioning of the Sargsyan vs. Azerbaijan case.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Court makes Judgments on the protection of the rights of the displaced persons. As it is mentioned in the 129th paragraph, the Court examined for the first time the rights of displaced persons in 1996 and later on has had a number of similar cases where it in accordance to the European Convention protected the rights of displaced persons.
Question: Are there any formulations in the Sargsyan vs. Azerbaijan case which, as you mentioned, make Azerbaijan to refrain from mentioning about this Judgment of the Court?
Edward Nalbandian: The 32nd paragraph of the Sargsyan vs. Azerbaijan case notes that in April-May 1991 the USSR Internal Forces and the special-purpose militia units (the OMON) of the Azerbaijan SSR launched a military operation with the stated purpose of so called passport checking. However, that was only the pretext to expel the Armenian population of a number of villages in the Shahumyan region, forcing them to leave their homes and flee to Nagorno-Karabakh or Armenia. The expulsions were accompanied by arrests and violence towards the civilian population. In 1992, when the conflict escalated into a full-scale war, Shahumyan region came under attack by Azerbaijani forces. The Armenians in other regions faced the same fate. The ECHR confirms that Azerbaijan exercised violence and expelled the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. In the 216th paragraph of the Case the Court observes again that the applicant is one of the hundreds of thousands of Armenians who fled during the conflict leaving property and home behind. Getting familiar with the materials of the Case it becomes clear why Azerbaijan stays silent about this Judgment.
Question: Is it possible to consider the Judgments of the ECHR as interference in the conflict resolution?
Edward Nalbandian: While examining the issues within the Court’s jurisdiction the Court notes in the 216th paragraph of the Sargsyan case that it is the responsibility of the parties to find a political settlement to the conflict. In other words the Court itself underscores that its Judgment is not related either to the settlement of the conflict or to any of its elements and hence once again refutes Azerbaijani falsifications. The Court goes on to state that the comprehensive solutions to such questions as the return of refugees to their former places of residence, or payment of compensation can only be achieved through a peace agreement.
In the paragraph 236 of the Case the Court underlines the importance of the peace process in the framework of the Minsk Group Co-chairs and observes that the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence is one of the elements contained in the Madrid Basic Principles which have been elaborated in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and form the basis of the peace negotiation. Here again the ECHR reiterates that its Judgment pertains neither to the conflict resolution nor to its elements, including the right to return of refugees and internally displaced persons, which should find their solution within the only internationally mandated framework o
f the conflict resolution – the Co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group.
That the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process runs within the framework of the Minsk Group Co-chairs and has nothing to do with the mentioned Judgments of the ECHR has been once again confirmed on June 22nd in Strasbourg during the Summer Session of the PACE by Igor Crnadak, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Referring to the Chiragov and others vs. Armenia and Sargsyan vs. Azerbaiajn cases he said that the Committee of Ministers monitors the execution of the judgments. At the same time he stressed that the mediation for the settlement of the conflict is done by the OSCE Minsk Group, and the peaceful settlement was a joint commitment by Armenia and Azerbaijan upon accession to the Council of Europe.
However, even after the unequivocal statement of the Chairman of the Committee of the Ministers, Azerbaijan continues to boast that allegedly the Judgment of the Court pertains to the conflict resolution.
Question: What Azerbaijan strives to achieve by such policy?
Edward Nalbandian: The manipulation of the Judgment of the ECHR can harm the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-chairs aimed at the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. By this Azerbaijan again tries to shift the negotiation process of the conflict settlement to other formats, mislead the international community, and undermine the efforts of the Co-chair countries.
Based on its own arbitrary interpretation of the Judgment of the ECHR Azerbaijan already makes statements alleging that the withdrawal of the armed forces will ensure conditions conducive to the return of the refugees and that this issues should in no way be considered as a compromise. Therefore, Azerbaijan by its arbitrary and selective interpretations once again opposes the proposals contained in the five well-known statements of the leaders of the Co-chair countries. Baku forgets that the Co-chairs consider these elements as an integrated whole as any attempt to select some elements over others would make it impossible to achieve a balanced solution. This is another evidence that Azerbaijan is not ready for the conflict settlement based on the norms and principles of the international law and elements proposed by the heads of the Co-chair countries in their statements at L’Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville, Los Cabos and Enniskillen. This attitude of Azerbaijan does not allow reaching a comprehensive settlement, which would also solve the issues of the refugees and displaced persons.
In the absence of any grounds to justify its non-constructive approach opposing the Co-chairs Azerbaijan resorts to falsifications as the last available possibility under its disposal. The exploitation of the ECHR Judgment on the Chiragov case is just the last evidence of this attitude.
The standoff on Baghramyan Avenue enters the 5th day. No incidents were reported overnight.
The protests were sparked by the decision of the regulatory body to raise the electricity prices from August 1, 2015.
Turkey has been accused of allowing Islamic State jihadists to cross its border to attack the Kurdish town of Kobane, according to
Twin car bombs exploded close to the crossing point with the Turkish town of Mursitpinar, and Kurdish activists and residents claimed they had come across the border, despite its being heavily policed on the Turkish side.
Convoys of cars carrying up to 40 ISIS fighters – reportedly using the uniform of Kurdish YPG militia as a guise – then attacked Kobane from three sides in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Kobane became an important symbol in the battle against ISIS after the group launched a bid to take it last year.
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD) and Sir Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC), have appealed to police as well as protesters to show maximum restraint in order to ensure that peaceful protests can take place unhindered, without them degrading into violence as happened on the evening of Monday 22 June.
The right to demonstrate peacefully must prevail, they stressed. They welcomed the release of those detained on 22 June and the reported agreement between the leadership of the “No Plunder Initiative” and the national police that has led to a de-escalation of the tensions in Yerevan.
At the same time, the co-rapporteurs expressed their concern at allegations of the excessive use of force and the purposeful targeting of journalists by the police when breaking up the protests on 22 June. These allegations should be impartially and transparently investigated, they said.
The co-rapporteurs are due to present an information note on their last visit to Armenia at a meeting of PACE’s Monitoring Committee on 3 September 2015 in Sarajevo.