Category: News

Turkey is “completely detached from reality” in calling the Dutch fascists, European Council President Donald Tusk has said, the BBC reports.

His remarks come amid a row between Turkey and European nations over campaigning for a Turkish referendum.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Dutch government of being “Nazi remnants”.

He was infuriated when a minister was barred from addressing a Rotterdam rally, sparking clashes with police.

Mr Erdogan’s rhetoric intensified when he accused the Dutch of carrying out the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia in 1995.

In his remarks to the European Parliament on Wednesday Mr Tusk said the Netherlands was “a place of freedom and democracy. And for sure Rotterdam,” he said.

“The city of Erasmus, brutally destroyed by the Nazis, which today has a mayor born in Morocco,” he added.

“If anyone sees fascism in Rotterdam, they are completely detached from reality.”

Germany and Austria have also acted to stop Turkish rallies aimed at stirring support for a “yes” vote in a 16 April referendum on giving President Erdogan greater powers.

The Clerical Assembly elected Archbishop Karekin Bekciyan, Primate of the German Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church as Locum Tenens —a patriarchal alternate today, Istanbul-based Agos newspaper reported.

The voting is seen as the first step of patriarchal elections.

Thirty members of the Clerical Assembly participated in the elections. Elected by clerics, the Locum Tenens will be responsible for managing the process of electing the Armenicn Patriarch of Istanbul.

General Vicar of the Patriarch Aram Atesyan, Bishop Sahak Masalyan and Armenian Primate of Germany Archbishop Karekin Bekciyan were initially named as candidates. However, Masalyan, in a statement before the election, declared that would withdraw and support Bekciyan.

Aram Atesyan will now step down as General Vicar.

The Clerical Assembly is expected to form a commission comprising clergymen and secular figures to organize the transfer of power from the General Vicar to the Locum Tenens.

The elections of the initiative group will be organized within 10 days after the election of the Locum Tenens. The group will, in turn, organize the elections of the Patriarch of Istanbul within a six-month period.

Photo: Michael Wand

 

The municipal authorities of Colonge, Germany, have paved the way for a memorial dedicated to the “victims of the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the years 1915/16,” reports.

The Armenian Christian community in Cologne, with its more than 5,000 members, is now allowed to erect a “cross-stone”, an artfully carved memorial stone. It is to be erected on the Armenian burial ground of the cemetery Lehmbacher Weg in Cologne-Brück.

The decision was adopted by the main committee by an overwhelming majority of the votes on Monday.

Social Democratic Party of Germany also considers the Armenian community’s plea for a proper place of mourning and commemoration of the genocide, which will be “completely legitimate and appropriate.”

The now approved genocide memorial in Cologne is likely to further aggravate the German-Turkish relationship.

“I am sure we can identify untapped areas in the trade and economic fields in order to eliminate the disproportion, or asymmetry, as minister Kotzias said, between our political relations and economic dialogue”, stated Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Garen Nazarian during an interview with the .  The Deputy Minister highlighted the fact that “interstate relations between Armenia and Greece are based on historical bonds of friendship” between the two nations and added that “there is a vibrant Armenian community in Greece effectively integrated into the social, economic and political life of the country”. Finally as far as relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan are concerned Nazarian made it clear that the closing of the border by the Turkish side “has to be revised”.

Read the full interview

Greece and Armenia are connected through a centuries old friendship and have always cooperated at multiple levels. Which areas of cooperation do you consider important for the further development of these relations and what do you plan to do? Mr. Kotzias spoke of three asymmetries that need to be addressed.

First of all I would like to warmly welcome minister Kotzias and his delegation. This is his first visit to Yerevan and we will use the opportunity to have substantial discussions aimed at expanding our bilateral relations in all possible areas. The interstate relations between Armenia and Greece are based on historical bonds of friendship between our nations and we share a lot of commonalities.

During the meeting ministers rightly highlighted the asymmetric issues and we need to pay more attention to that aspect and in particular the full implementation of previously agreed commitments, including those that are entrenched in our legal framework. The latter will also need a further assessment; and we will start working on that immediately, to identify the potential areas for a beneficial cooperation.

We are fortunate to have an extensive political dialogue between our friendly governments. High-level reciprocal visits are taking place on both sides. In 2014 the President of Greece was in Armenia, in 2016 the President of Armenia visited Greece. We have regular meetings and exchanges between our foreign and defence ministers and these are the best opportunities to exchange views on priority issues of bilateral, regional and international concern.

More meetings are planned for today between our Foreign Ministers and later on, with the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and we look forward to the outcome of these meetings. I am sure we can identify untapped areas especially in the trade and economic fields in order to eliminate the disproportion, or asymmetry, as minister Kotzias said, between our political relations and economic dialogue.

Potential areas of expanding the sectoral cooperation would be tourism, which is already happening. As you know, the number of Armenians who are visiting Greece increased last year more than three times. We also expect Greeks visiting Armenia. We welcome the resumption of regular direct and charter flights between our countries. Strong cultural interconnections, along with the exchanges in the fields of education and science can also form solid grounds for future cooperation. And of course trade and investment issues will be on our special focus. We have been tasked to start the preparation of the business forum by the end of this year and this will require careful and targeted steps on both sides.

What about the visa liberalisation for Armenian citizens? Can this occur soon or is it difficult?

Visa liberalisation dialogue for the citizens of Armenia has been referred to in the joint declaration of the Riga Summit of the Eastern Partnership in 2015 and this is an important bilateral commitment on behalf of Armenia and the European Union to move towards that direction. Armenia is implementing the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission in good faith and based on the positive assessment of the implementation of mentioned  agreements we hope very much to be able to launch the Visa dialogue soon and we also count on the support of friendly Greece and other partners in Europe.

The geographical position of Armenia has made it a crossroads of civilizations and tensions. Over many years, your relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan were strained. Which is the best way to resolve these differences? How can Greece help in a solution?

As you know the border is closed by the Turkish side and this unilateral coercive measure imposed on Armenia is subject for international condemnation. This action by the neighbouring country has to be revised in order to make the implementation of different projects possible in the region at large and create a conducive environment for regional cooperation. As a landlocked country we give an utmost importance to create and maintain a favourable political and economic environment in order to further our relations with the neighbouring countries, as well as the EU, Russia and others. So, we are very much interested in continuing the dialogue with Greece and other interested countries on this and other regional matters and I am glad that in many aspects, including on the issue of closed borders, we share the same views and positions.

A few days ago you proceeded to an agreement with the EU for a more integrated partnership. At the same time you participate in the Eurasian economic union (EAEU). Isn’t this contradictory?

Some ten days ago the President of Armenia was in Brussels and during the meeting with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, they jointly announced the completion of negotiations between Armenia and the EU on the new legal framework. Armenia has been advocating from the very beginning of this process the need to seize the opportunities for cooperation with different integration formats. Throughout the process of negotiations with the EU we have identified compatible areas of cooperation with both EAEU and EU. This exercise, these negotiations have demonstrated that it is possible to be a member of the EAEU and at the same time have a comprehensive and enhanced partnership with the EU. As I said, we already completed the negotiations and we look forward to the next steps – the initialing and signing of the agreement.

It is known that the Diaspora has approximately three times as large a population than the permanent citizens of Armenia. How much do they affect the political and economic life of the country? Is there a balance in this relationship?

Since ancient times, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. However, the modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed as a result of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, when the Armenians living in their ancestral homeland were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman government. The remnants of the nation miraculously found refuge in neighbouring countries. Today, there is a vibrant Armenian community in Greece effectively integrated into the social, economic and political life of the country. The Armenian communities serve as an important bridge between the homeland and their host countries. They are strongly linked with Armenia and very much focused on the domestic and foreign policy that Armenia conducts in number of areas. It is important to maintain this strong linkage and traditions in our relationship with Armenians living abroad. This is another area where we can effectively cooperate and combine our efforts given that fact that there is a strong presence of Greeks in many countries of the world.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Karen Mirzoyan is on a working visit to the Hellenic Republic to participate in the March 13-15 events entitled “Our Heroic Artsakh”, organized by the Armenian National Committee of Greece.

The Foreign Minister started his visit by attending the Armenian Evangelical Church of Greece as well as some Armenian educational institutions, in particular, the Galpakyan and Zavaryan Colleges, where he got acquainted with the college activities and talked to the students.

On the same day, in the Armenian National Prelacy of Greece Karen Mirzoyan met with the Patriarchal Vicar, Archbishop Komitas Ohanian and members of the Armenian National Administration of Greece. The Foreign Minister briefed on the processes taking place in Artsakh and the situation on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, as well as answered the questions of the participants.

Asbarez – The American Hellenic Council on Monday released a statement urging the Greek American community and all descendants of the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Genocide, to boycott the new Turkish-produced film “The Ottoman Lieutenant,” expressing the AHC’s solidarity with the Armenian Youth Federation Western United States, which issued a similar call last week.

“The film is a blatant attempt to repudiate the upcoming movie, The Promise, and mislead impressionable youth into believing the Genocide was a ‘two-sided’ event, reads a part of the statement.

AHC Executive Director Ioannis Fidanakis, who signed the statement, asks the Greek community to join “an AYF-initiated letter writing campaign to local theaters to educate them about the purpose of the film.”

Below is the text of the AHC’s statement.

Dear Supporter,
We, the American Hellenic Council (AHC), in solidarity with the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Western United States, urge the Greek-American community, as well all descendants of the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Genocide, to jointly boycott the recently released film, The Ottoman Lieutenant.

The movie, which was produced by a Turkish production company, was released on March 10 and stars Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett, and Ben Kingsley, is set in Ittihadist Turkey at the time of the Genocide. The film is a blatant attempt to repudiate the upcoming movie, The Promise, and mislead impressionable youth into believing the Genocide was a “two-sided” event.

Although we at the AHC, acknowledge that Ottoman Turks were affected by the state of war throughout the Empire, like all Ottoman citizens, their suffering cannot be equated with a systematic campaign of extermination, which befell the native Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian peoples of Eastern Thrace and Anatolia.

Therefore, we ask the Greek-American community to refrain from paying to watch this film in theaters or supporting it in any way.”

The Board of Management of the Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund has approved €250 000  for the film Spitak directed by Alexander Kott (Russia).

The National Cinema Development Foundation Armenia is a co-producer of the feature film.

At its 146th meeting held from 7 to 10 March 2017 in Strasbourg, the Board of Management of the Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund agreed to support 19 fiction, 2 documentaries and 3 animation film projects.

Photo:PA

UK Parliament has passed the Brexit bill, paving the way for the government to trigger Article 50 so the UK can leave the European Union, the BBC reports.

Peers backed down over the issues of EU residency rights and a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal after their objections were overturned by MPs.

The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent and become law on Tuesday.

 

“New aggression against Artsakh unleashed in April 2016 struck a serious blow to the negotiation process and reinforcement of confidence-building measures between parties,” President Sargsyan said in an interview with Russian Izvestia.

He noted that the escalation of situation in late February came to prove the need for soonest establishment of control over the observance of the ceasefire regime, which the parties had agreed on earlier.

“It’s time for our counterparts in Baku to understand that Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries are speaking the same language: there is not alternative to negotiations in a civilized world,” President Sargsyan stressed.

Serzh Sargsyan said war is not an option for solving problems and dialogue is the only way to reach peace.

He noted that the Karabakh conflict should be solved on the basis of the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination.

Shushan Yeritsyan will represent the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (Artsakh Republic) at the contest.

The contest will take place in Spain May 5-15.

“It’s a great pride to represent free and independent Artsakh on the international arena,” Shushan Yeritsyan said in a .

She pledged to spare no effort to represent the country on the highest level and return with best results.