Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the moment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, TASS reports.
According to the spokesman, the compensation for Russia’s Su-24M bomber downed by Turkey depends on the agreement following today’s conversation.
“I invite you to be oriented exclusively towards the results of the contact between the heads of state,” Peskov told the media.
On July 5 the Knesset will hold a debate on the Armenian Genocide,” Israeli historian Yair Auron said in an interview with the Zoryan Institute.
“Israel refrained from allowing a public debate to have a free vote on the subject of the Armenian Genocide for fear of alienating the Turkish government, a key ally to Israel and the United States,” Dr. Auron said.
“On May 15, 2016, Jerusalem Post, reported that the Knesset speaker, Yuli Edlstein, had called on the government to recognize the 1915 genocide of Armenian people, by the Ottoman Turks, at a special debate on the subject in the parliament. ‘It is no secret that Israel has taken too ambivalent of a stance on the Armenian Genocide,’ Edlstein said. ‘There are many reasons, diplomatic and otherwise, for the Israeli stance being too hesitant and restrained, which downplayed the magnitude of the historical event. We Jews who are still suffering from the impact of the Holocaust cannot minimize the tragedy,’ he added.
“This year, on July 5th, the Knesset will hold another debate on this subject. This debate comes almost a month after Germany’s parliament voted to recognize the 1915 massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces as ‘genocide.’ The Bundestag resolution admitted Germany’s historic role, as a military ally of the Ottoman Empire, in aiding the ‘organized expulsion and annihilation of the Armenians’ from their ancestral homeland and failing to stop ‘these crimes against humanity.’ The resolution also acknowledged ‘the German Reich’s complicity in the events,’” Yair Auron said.
“When we look at the recent German recognition of the Armenian Genocide against that background, a few lessons stand out. The modern Republic of Turkey is not the perpetrator state of the Armenian Genocide, but it is the legal inheritor of all rights and responsibilities of the Ottoman Empire. Rather than acknowledge that genocide, every successor administration of the Turkish Republic has gone out of its way to obfuscate and deny it. Moreover, it has used its considerable geo-political, military and economic leverage to coerce and co-opt other countries to go along with its denial policy, the historian added.
“Two of the most notable countries that have acquiesced in this are the United States and Israel. United States officials so thoroughly documented the Genocide, and the American peoples’ response was a massive and unprecedented outpouring of humanitarian aid for the ‘starving Armenians.’ Furthermore, the US has gone out of its way to honour the memory of another genocide, the Jewish Holocaust. Unfortunately, even today, certain academics and governments insist on the uniqueness of the Holocaust. I cannot accept that because the Holocaust is not unique, and needs to be studied as one example of genocide and not in isolation. Israel, a state born out of the Holocaust, is expected not to barter with the memory of the genocide of another people. In fact, there are moral strictures in the Talmudic tradition against ‘standing idly by the blood of your neighbour.’ (Leviticus 19:16) Yet, Israeli officials have explicitly denied that what happened to the Armenians is anything like what happened to the Jews,” he said.
“American presidents have produced high-sounding statements for April 24 every year, ostensibly to acknowledge the memory and lessons of the Armenian Genocide, but studiously avoid using the word ‘genocide.’ Israel has gone even further, not only denying the status of the Armenian Genocide, but honouring the tragic killing of a small group of Azerbaijanis at Khojaly during the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at a commemoration in 1915, ‘We are gathered here today to talk about the necessity to combine the experience of Israel and Azerbaijan in order to prevent such tragedies in the future,’” the scholar said.
According to Dr. Auron, “when modern Germany admits the complicity of Imperial Germany in the Armenian Genocide, how can anyone go along with Turkish denial? Indeed, legally, this denial would make modern Turkey an accessory after the fact.”
He said “it’s past time that Israel officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide, if, as Foreign Minister Lieberman claims, we need to combine Israeli experience with that of others in order to prevent genocide in the future. Every year now, the Knesset debates this issue. The votes are there, but the government does not allow it to come to a vote. Let this year be different. Let the Knesset have a free vote on whether or not to recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
Dr. Auron completed his interview by stating: “Now that Israel and Turkey have mended fences and are about to renew their diplomatic ties, the Knesset must give a clear message that Israel’s relations cannot be held hostage to Turkey’s denial of these incontestable historical facts, especially after Germany’s admittance of its complicity, as an ally of Ottoman Turkey. It should further emphasize that Armenian Genocide recognition by Israel is not about friendship or enmity towards Turkey, but it is rather a moral responsibility of Israel. Furthermore, after Germany’s admittance of complicity, the failure of the Israeli Knesset to openly label the ‘events of 1915’ as ‘genocide’ is no longer only a simple moral issue, it is also a matter of credibility.”
Yair Auron is an Israeli historian, scholar and expert specializing on Holocaust and genocide studies, racism and contemporary Jewry. He is a board member of The Zoryan Institute of USA & Canada.
The Karabakh issue will be high on the agenda during German Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit to the region. Official Stepanakert hopes the discussions will have a positive impact on the efforst to maintain peace and stability in the region.
“We hope that in its capacity of OSCE presiding country Germany will take important steps toward development and implementation of the mechanism of investigation of border incidents,” Spokesman for the NKR Pesident David Babayan said in an interview with .
He added that “if Germany manages to register progress in that direction, it will be a great achievement.”
David Babayan said the resolution of the Karabakh conflict is in the interest of all three co-chairing countries. “There is no confrontation or even competition between the mediators. Moscow always informs the other co-chairs about the results of discussions with the parties, and invites their representatives to participate in meetings.”
“No one is interested in large-scale war in the region. Peace and stability are in everyone’s interest both from the humanitarian perspective and from the point of view of the national interests of the three countries,” the Spokesperson said.
“All co-chairing countries have overlapping views on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” he concluded.
Pioneering rock guitarist Scotty Moore, who was a member of Elvis Presley’s original band, has died aged 84, the BBC reports.
He died in Nashville on Tuesday after several months of poor health.
He is credited with helping Elvis shape his music that came to be called rock ‘n’ roll, and inspired generations of guitarists.
Moore was the last survivor of Elvis’s original band which included Presley, bassist Bill Black and producer Sam Phillips.
As part of The Blue Moon Boys Moore backed Presley on many of his legendary songs including Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes and Jailhouse Rock.
President Serzh Sargsyan today offered condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the terrorist act at Turkey’s Ataturk airport that claimed the lives of dozens of innocent peopleand left many injured.
President Sargsyan strongly condemned this act of terrorism, expressed his deep condolences to the relatives of the victims and wished speedy recovery to the injured.
Holding talks with Georgia and Armenia is among top priorities of Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) to increase exports of the country’s oil products, an official in the company told Shana news agency on Monday, eports.
Amir Vakilzadeh, the manager of exports and imports department of NIOPDC, noted that Georgia, which stands among the customers of Iranian oil, can be Iran’s gateway to European market. He added that negotiations with Armenia to enter the Georgian market are underway.
Vakilzadeh said that NIOPDC seeks new markets for its products, while preserving the market of its neighboring countries.
Export of gasoil, as Iran’s strategic oil product, to neighboring countries and the Middle East region is on the agenda.
“The military-technical cooperation between Armenia and Russia is developing. All agreements are being implemented on due level,” Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan told reporters at Yerablur Pantheon.
Speaking about the interstate loan agreement, the Minister said “it allows Armenia to purchase modern weapons at internal prices in Russia and the CSTO.”
As for the new Joint Air Defense System with Russia, Minister Ohanyan said “it will provide us with an opportunity to involve the fourth-generation multi-purpose fighter jets of the 102nd Russian military base in Armenia, as well as all capacities of the aerospace to solve air defense issues in the Caucasian region.”
“This will allow to collect all reconnaissance data in one place and prevent all violations, including the ones committed by our rivals. We do not see a more reliable partner than Russia in this respect,” the Minister added.
He assured that “all capacities of the Joint Air Defense System, the aviation forces and means will be planned and used under the leadership of RA Armed Forces and the aviation.”
Seyran Ohanyan dismissed the reports that it could lead to the worsening of relations with NATO.
France reaffirms plans to host a summit on Nagorno Karabakh.
The issue was discussed at the meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Russia and France Sergey Lavrov and Jean-Marc Ayrault.
“France reaffirms the willingness to organize a summit featuring the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to help resolve the crisis,” Jean-Marc Ayrault told a joint press conference following the meeting.
Lavrov supported the initiative of arranging a new meeting.
“We are Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group together with the United States. We have regular contacts with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Lavrov said.
“Last year the French President hosted a meeting with the Presidents of the two countries and some time ago the Russian President invited his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts to discuss the ways of settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” Lavrov said.
On 29 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met with chairman of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) Garo Armen and adviser to the fund’s Board of Directors, former US ambassador to Armenia John Evans.
Issues related to the realization of various programs in Artsakh were on the agenda of the meeting.
President Sahakyan noted that the COAF’s activity substantially contributed to children’s patriotic upbringing as well as development of the countryside adding that Artsakh was interested in expanding cooperation with the organization.