Author: Jirair Kafian

The number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria to neighbouring countries has now passed four million, confirming that crisis as the world’s single largest refugee crisis for almost a quarter of a century under UNHCR’s mandate.

New arrivals in Turkey and updated data from the Turkish authorities on refugees already in that country have taken the total number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries to more than 4,013,000 people.

Furthermore, at least an additional 7.6 million people are displaced inside Syria – many of them in difficult circumstances and in locations that are difficult to reach.

“This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. It is a population that needs the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into poverty,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

Tragically, and with no end in sight to Syria’s war, now in its fifth year, the crisis is intensifying and the number of refugees are rising. The four million milestone comes barely 10 months since the total of three million was reached. At current rates, UNHCR expects the figure to reach around 4.27 million by the end of 2015.

“Worsening conditions are driving growing numbers towards Europe and further afield, but the overwhelming majority remain in the region,” Guterres added. “We cannot afford to let them and the communities hosting them slide further into desperation.”

Refugee outflows in June 2015 saw more than 24,000 people arriving in Turkey from Tel Abyad and other parts of northern Syria. Turkey is now home to around 45 per cent of all Syrian refugees in the region.

The figure of four million comprises 1,805,255 Syrian refugees in Turkey, 249,726 in Iraq, 629,128 in Jordan, 132,375 in Egypt, 1,172,753 in Lebanon, and 24,055 elsewhere in North Africa. Not included, are more than 270,000 asylum applications by Syrians in Europe, and thousands of others resettled from the region elsewhere.

Meanwhile, funding of the Syria refugee situation has become an equally pressing problem. For 2015 as a whole, UNHCR and partners appealed for US$5.5 billion. However, as of late June, only around a quarter of the humanitarian funds requested have been received. This means refugees face tough new cuts in food aid, and struggle to afford lifesaving health services or send their children to school.

Life for Syrians in exile is increasingly tough. Some 86 per cent of refugees outside camps in Jordan live below the poverty line of US$3.2 per day. In Lebanon, 55 per cent of refugees live in sub-standard shelters.

Throughout the region, hope of returning home is dwindling as the crisis drags on. Refugees become more impoverished, and negative coping practices such as child labour, begging and child marriages are on the rise. Competition for employment, land, housing water and energy in already vulnerable host communities is straining the ability of these communities to cope with the overwhelming numbers and sustain their support to them.

After a marathon of amendment voting, PACE  approved its resolution on democratic institutions in Azerbaijan by 140 votes to 13.

The Assembly voted 85 to 78  to accept the amendment tabled by the Armenian delegation to exclude the term”occupation” with regard to Nagorno Karabakh.

The Parliamentary Assembly says in the final text of the Resolution it “is fully aware of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which dominates to a large extent the Azerbaijani foreign policy agenda.”

The draft reaolution read: “The Assembly is fully aware of the occupation by Armenia of NagornoKarabakh and seven other provinces of Azerbaijan, which dominates to a large extent the Azerbaijani foreign policy agenda.”

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan attended today the opening of the 8th annual DigiTec Business Forum in Yerevan.

The forum has been organized by the Union of Information Technology Enterprises under the high auspices of the Prime Minister.

Greeting the participants of the forum, PM Hovik Abrahamyan said “the forum is an opportunity for the companies offering new technologies and services to present their achievements, approaches and solutions.”

“The field of Information Technologies is one of the most rapidly developing ones in Armenia, and is one of the key directions of the Government program. We greatly value the implementation of far-reaching programs through close cooperation between the public and private sectors targeted at the development of technologies, which help attract foreign investments, promote entrepreneurships and contribute to the creation of new companies and jobs,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Abrahamyan noted that the new ICT solutions and proposals are being successfully implemented in different spheres of Armenian economy, which contributes to the overall progress of the economy and boosts competitiveness.

The 8^th DigiTec Business Forum has brought together more than 70 companies representing the IT, business and other spheres. For the first time 10 companies will be honored with  DigiBusiness Awards.

AC Milan have confirmed the dismissal of coach Filippo Inzaghi halfway through his two-year contract with the Italian outfit, Goal.com reports.

The former youth-team coach only took charge of the senior squad last summer, succeeding Clarence Seedorf at the helm.

However, after a disappointing 2014-15 campaign, which saw Milan fail to qualify for Europe after finishing in 10th in Serie A, the Rossoneri decided to part company with the World Cup winner.

“AC Milan announces that it has sacked the coach of the first-team squad, Filippo Inzaghi, who has been thanked for the work done,” read a short statement released on the club’s official website.

Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi had already been publicly pursuing a new coach, having done his utmost to try to persuade former boss Carlo Ancelotti to return to San Siro after his Real Madrid exit.

However, with Ancelotti having opted to take a break from the game to recover from scheduled back surgery, the Rossoneri are now set to hire Sinisa Mihajlovic, who stepped down as Sampdoria coach at the end of last season.

EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan says that EU six Eastern Partnership nations will not be expected to join the Union’s sanctions against Russia, Sputnik News reports. 

The European Union’s (EU) six Eastern Partnership nations will not be expected to join the Union’s sanctions against Russia, EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan told Sputnik.

“In none of these cases do we expect alignment on European Union foreign policy, that is expected of [EU]candidate countries,” O’Sullivan said on Thursday.

O’Sullivan noted that only EU candidate countries are expected to come in line with the sanctions policy, “which is not yet the case for any of the Eastern Partnership countries.”

In a Thursday speech to the Atlantic Council, EU Commissioner for European Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said relations with the six Eastern Partners were “not black and white.”

Hahn cited Armenia as an example “to demonstrate that it is possible to be a member of the Eurasian [Economic] Union, but also to explore… the scope of cooperation with the European Union.”

President Serzh Sargsyan visited the Yerevan Zoo together with his grandchildren where for the first time large-scale works have been carried out as part of the 2014-2015 Yerevan Zoo Renovation and Development Program, President’s Press Office reports.

Accompanied by Mayor Taron Margaryan, the Armenian president toured the zoo, familiarized himself with the works aimed at the improvement and development of the municipal zoo and the conditions of the newly-built aid station saturated with modern technologies.

During the tour, the president was presented that prior to the renovation, out of the zoo’s 34-hectare area only seven had been inhabited by animals and had been of use, while presently this number has reached 16 hectare.

The lighting system of the zoo has been totally redesigned, as a result of which lightening will be provided through energy-saving light bulbs. According to the executives, the lightening will also get artistic solutions and all the external cables spoiling the appearance of the zoo have been lowered down into the ground. All the roads and alleys of the zoo have been asphalted and renovated. New drinking fountains have been installed and a 7000 m2 piece of land has been landscaped, new tree varieties and shrubs have been planted and flower design works have been carried out. Artificial waterfalls with original place solutions have been built. The playgrounds of the zoo have been improved and refreshed. A new playground has been built where for the first time inclusive playgrounds for children have been installed (1/3 part). Electric machines have been acquired and will be put into use to make walking at the zoo more convenient and interesting. The checkpoint of the zoo has been rebuilt to be equipped with devices for electronic inspection and registration.

 

 

 

Turkey will vote in parliamentary elections in two weeks. Expert of Turkish studies Gevorg Petrosyan says the elections are historic, as four Armenians representing three different parties are running for Parliament.

In particular, Armenian Margar Yesayan nominated by the ruling Justice and Development Party is the 12^th in the list and is likely to be represented in the Grand National Assembly. The expert says this is an expression of the Turkish cunning policy and does not exclude that Ankara will use the presence of Armenian MPs it the Turkish legislature for its own interests. He reminds that Margar Yesayan is a journalist and a proponent of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

Petrosyan says Yesayan will always be in the center of discussions on Armenian-Turkish relations, and Turkey will use this to show it’s a democratic country.

The opposition Republican People’s Party has one Armenian in the list, while two Armenians are included in the list of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party.

Gevorg Petrosyan is confident we’ll have two or three MPs represented in the Turkish Parliament in June

On a working visit to Latvia, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan today had a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to Armenian-German interstate relations, and praised the fact that the bilateral agenda of cooperation that  has considerably expanded and enriched in the recent period, has been consolidated by about sixty agreements.

President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the German Government for continuous support to Armenia.

The interlocutors referred to Armenia-EU relations and the perspectives of development. The Armenian President stressed the essential role of Germany in the deepening of those relations.

During the meeting reference was made to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the commemoration events held in Germany and a number of other countries. President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the German authorities for their position on the condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.

The interlocutors exchanged views on regional issues in the South Caucasus, including the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

A post-screening discussion of the Armenian genocide has been cancelled after NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian, a senior figure in the Armenian-Australian community, withdrew, allegedly in response to the presence of Turkish “genocide deniers” on the panel, the reports.

The panel discussions had been planned to accompany screenings at the German Film Festival in Sydney and Melbourne of the film The Cut, from acclaimed German-Turkish director Fatih Akin.

The Cut opens in 1915, just before the events that led to the death of more than a million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. The film focuses on the story of an Armenian blacksmith searching for his two daughters, years after he was separated from them.

The atrocities depicted have come to be known as the Armenian genocide, but that is a term rejected by many Turks.

According to Dr Arpad Solter, director of both the film festival and the Goethe-Institut, “the minister was concerned about appearing on a platform with genocide deniers”.

A spokesman for the Treasurer refused to confirm that was the case. “It’s fine for the organisers to say that, but we’re not actually commenting on it at all,” the spokesman said.

Dr Solter said that once the minister pulled out, other Armenian representatives did too. “If there’s no dialogue possible, and that’s what we were aiming for, then the decision had to be made to cancel.”

He said the panel was “meant to offer Armenians and Turks in Australia a forum to share and discuss their most painful history and to open new, fresh avenues for exchange, open debate and mutual understanding”.

The need to cancel, Dr Solter said, indicated that the subject is, after 100 years, “still a minefield”.

“It’s too sensitive, and too painful, most of all. I believe at the end of the day, reason and research and enlightenment will prevail, but it will take time.”

The CEO of the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance, Ertunc Ozen, who was to be one of the Sydney panellists, said he was disappointed at the cancellation, and the missed opportunity for “open and respectful dialogue with people of a different point of view”.

He said no one was disputing the fact that “hundreds of thousands of civilians lost their lives and were uprooted and moved throughout this period. There’s never been any denial of that.” However, he added that he “absolutely” disputed the term “genocide”.

Author and historian Robert Manne, one of the Melbourne panellists, said he regretted the cancellation.

“Given that the Armenians have been trying for 100 years to have the astonishing crimes committed against them acknowledged, the fact that a panel discussion about a straightforward film on the genocide is cancelled, that’s a matter of great dismay.”

By Ara Khachatourian

His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, said Wednesday that the lawsuit filed last week in Turkey’s Constitutional Court by the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia to regain ownership of the historic headquarters of the Armenian Church is Sis (currently Kozan), in south-central Turkey, a “positive” step.

“We believe these are the first steps in order to continue the demand of the rights of the Armenian people,” said Karekin II expressing hope that the lawsuit will have a positive outcome.

The pontiff explained that the Armenian Church holds properties, which were confiscated by Turkey during the Armenian Genocide and lawsuits such as the one filed last week seek to regain those properties and have it returned to the church.

Karekin II said that the lawsuit was a positive first step to bring justice to the Armenian people.

The Catholicos, who is currently if Washington to preside over and attend events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial, spoke to reporters via a telephone press conference on Wednesday afternoon and touched on other issues such as the conflict in Syria and the Middle East.

Convinced that recognition of the Genocide and compensation should go together, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia on the year of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, has filed the lawsuit In Turkey, thus setting a precedent for the descendants of the martyrs to reclaim their family belongings.