RA PARLIAMENT’S PARK WILL HOST HOVHANNES TUMANYAN’S 140TH ANNIVERSARY AND HOLY TRANSLATORS’ DAY CELEBRATIONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.10.2009 21:30 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On October 15, RA Parliament’s park will host
Hovhannes Tumanyan’s 140th anniversary and Holy Translators’ Day
celebrations.
The event will be attended by RA NA leader Hovik Abrahamyan and
Primate of AAC Ararat Patriarchate, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan.
ARF RALLY WILL TAKE PLACE
5541.html
15:49:55 – 14/10/2009
Regardless the City Hall refusal, the ARF is going to hold its
tomorrow’s rally near the Moscow cinema. The head of the ARF NA faction
Vahan Hovhannisyan today stated that the City Hall made its decision
on ARF rally refusal violating the law. According to Hovhannisyan,
the City Hall in accordance with the law had to propose another place
for the rally if the place is not free or it had to propose to hold
the rally in the same place but at a different hour. While, the City
Hall did not do anything but only informed not in written form that
the square near the Moscow cinema is not free. "We are not ready to
agree with this and our rally will take place", he said.
PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN TO HAVE PRIVATE MEETING WITH HIS TURKISH COUNTERPART
Panorama.am
18:04 14/10/2009
"At the invitation of Turkey’s President, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan is due to leave for the Turkish city of Bursa Wednesday
midday to watch Turkey-Armenia football match. Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian, Deputy Foreign Ministers Arman Kirakosyan and
Shavarsh Kirakosyan, other high-rank officials, as well as several
dozens of Armenian journalists will accompany the President," Armenian
President’s press secretary Samvel Farmanyan said.
According to the press secretary, in Bursa President Serzh Sargsyan
will visit the members of the Armenian National team to encourage
them before the match. The President will have a private meeting
with his Turkish counterpart. A meeting on an extended format will
follow. Reception and dinner will be held in honor of the Armenian
President. The Armenian delegation is due to return to Yerevan after
the match.
Remind that this is President S. Sargsyan’s first visit to Turkey, and
the fourth one paid on Presidential level since Armenia’s Independence.
FIFA BANS AZERBAIJANI FLAGS IN BURSA
Panorama.am
16:57 14/10/2009
Several hours prior to Turkey-Armenia football match due in the
Turkish city of Bursa October 14, tensions arose again over the
Azerbaijani flag.
According to the Turkish Zaman, FIFA banned any other flags in the
stadium, except the Armenian and Turkish ones.
At the moment FIFA President Michel Platini and UEFA Vice-President
Senes Erzik are holding talks over the issue in Istanbul.
Bursa authorities had previously announced the Azerbaijani flags
will be banned at the stadium. Whereas according to the statements
made yesterday, any flags, including the Azerbaijani ones, will be
allowed unless the flag-holders cause disorder or sound any slogans.
TURKISH MEDIA: PARLIAMENT APPROVAL DEPENDS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH DISPUTE
ArmInfo
2009-10-13 11:38:00
ArmInfo. Following the signing of a protocol on Saturday between
Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic relations, the approval
process of the protocol in the Turkish Parliament will begin after
Armenia withdraws from Nagorno- Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory,
government sources told Today’s Zaman.
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group deputy
chairman Bekir Bozdag said the approval process of the agreement will
depend on Armenia’s withdrawal from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Stressing that the entire world wants the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
to be settled, parliamentary foreign affairs committee spokesman
and AK Party deputy Suat Kiniklloglu said: "The internal process
in Parliament is, of course, clearly defined in the regulations of
Parliament. It will first come to the foreign affairs committee and
will be debated there. If it passes the committee, then it will be
sent to the advisory council of the speaker’s office and from there
it would be sent to the floor of the general assembly.
When and how this process will fare is dependent on parallel
processes. Here the political will and courage of the Azerbaijani
and Armenian leadership is key. The Minsk Group demonstrated its
support during and before the signing ceremony. Not only Turkey and
our Parliament but the whole world is expecting positive movement
on Karabakh."
Kiniklloglu said a significant step has been taken toward
normalization in the southern Caucasus, as he added: "This is a
historic process. We welcome the overall optimism and encourage the
parties to take appropriate steps to further strengthen the ongoing
process of normalization in the South Caucasus. We always maintained
that Turkish-Armenian normalization is forcing the South Caucasus to
be transformed into a stable and predictable neighborhood of Turkey."
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) accused the government of taking a "backward
step" in Turkish foreign policy by signing the deal with Armenia and
say the protocol will place Azerbaijan in a difficult situation and
should not be approved by Parliament. CHP deputy leader Onur Oymen
said the protocol, which he said included the demands of Armenia,
does not have any chance of being approved by Parliament, while MHP
group deputy chairman Oktay Vural called on the entire nation to stand
up against the approval of the protocol in the Turkish Parliament.
POSITIVE OUTCOME OF RA-TURKISH PROCESS IN BOTH PARTIES’ INTERESTS
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.10.2009 17:20 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Protocols signed in Zurich are of primary importance
for normalization of Armenian-Turkish ties, NAS Oriental Studies
Institute Director Ruben Safrastyan told a Yerevan-Ankara-Moscow TV
bridge on problems and realities of RA-Turkey rapprochement.
"I attach much importance to the fact that parties agreed to sign
Protocols without preconditions. We do certainly realize that this
is a rather complicated process, but I hope Yerevan and Ankara will
keep up their political spirit," experts said, stressing that positive
outcome was in both parties’ interests.
IN HIS ADDRESS TO PEOPLE PRESIDENT DISCLOSED DASHNAKTSUTYUN’S CONCERNS
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.10.2009 18:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recent discussions in Armenia and Diaspora over
RA-Turkish Protocols revealed serious concerns over documents which
contain all three preconditions satisfying Turkey , Kiro Manoyan,
ARFD Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office director, told a news
conference in Yerevan.
"Such concern was also expressed by President during his October
10 address. Serzh Sargsyan disclosed the threats and preconditions
voiced by Dashnaktsutyun. We are confident that if President had
assumed such stance earlier, Protocols wouldn’t have been signed,"
ARFD says in a statement. Dashnak activists also claim that that all
Armenian officials, as well as those who support signed Protocols
should have supported such position.
On October 10, RA President Serzh Sargsyan addressed the following
statement to Armenian people, "The whole world became aware that
RA-Turkish relations involve not only 3 million Armenian residents,
but also 10 million Armenians all over the world. Armenian nation is
united in its goals, and attempts to separate Armenia and Diaspora
are useless. Independence requires the will and determination for
brave decisions, realism and consistent work. I’ve chosen this way
and did it with a deep sense of responsibility and belief in Armenia’s
future. I’d like to once again emphasize that any relations with Turkey
can’t question the veracity of Armenian Genocide. Intergovernmental
committee’s subcommission is not a historical committee. The issue on
the absence of borders between Armenia and Turkey is to be resolved
in accordance with international legislation. RA-Turkey relations
are not linked to NKR conflict settlement".
SOCCER DIPLOMACY MAY SPEED TURKISH-ARMENIAN THAW
Panorama.am
14:41 12/10/2009
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan may not mind if Turkey’s soccer
team thrashes Armenia this week. He has his sights set on a higher
goal – ending a century-old dispute between the two neighbors,
Bloomberg reported.
Sargsyan is due to attend the Oct. 14 World Cup qualifier in Bursa,
northwest Turkey, the first visit by an Armenian leader in a decade,
as a guest of his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. A year ago,
Gul broke new ground by watching the last match between the sides in
Armenia in a move dubbed as "soccer diplomacy" by the press.
The visit comes four days after the two countries agreed a road-map
for establishing diplomatic ties, which Turkey hopes will assuage
European Union opponents of Turkish membership. Armenia hopes it will
raise living standards. Politicians from both sides face opposition
though, as Armenians demand that Turkey recognize the massacre of
their compatriots in 1915 as genocide.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who helped mediate a
last-minute hitch at the road-map signing ceremony in Zurich on
Oct. 10, said ratification is "going to be difficult but that’s the
next step," Clinton told reporters after the signing..
Successive U.S. presidents including Barack Obama have pledged to
recognize the Armenian genocide, straining relations with NATO member
Turkey, though they haven’t fulfilled the promises.
Obama has backed the current negotiations and told the Turkish
parliament during a visit in April that "an open border would
return the Turkish and Armenian people to a peaceful and prosperous
coexistence."
Turkey can point to the Armenian accord to bolster its EU application
and also improve ties with the U.S., said Wolfango Piccoli, a
London-based analyst at the Eurasia Group, which measures political
risk in emerging markets.
The opening of the border may be delayed as Turkey seeks progress
in talks over Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave
within Azerbaijan, said Piccoli.
The sport has served a diplomatic purpose in the past. Iranian
and U.S. players exchanged flowers before a 1998 World Cup
match, symbolizing a political thaw under then-President Mohammad
Khatami. Co-hosting the 2002 tournament helped ease historic tensions
between Japan and South Korea.
In 1969, though, Honduras and El Salvador went to war days after
a World Cup qualifier in which Salvadoran authorities burned the
Honduran flag during pre-match ceremonies and ran a used dishcloth
up the flagpole instead.
IF ALIYEV IS DISSATISFIED, SARGSYAN CANNOT HELP HIM
Tert.am
12.10.09
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, at Zvartnots Armenia International
Airport before leaving for Moscow, commented on Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev’s statements after their Chisinau (Kishinev) meeting
that the issue of the territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh was
discussed, said:
"That which is surprising in that interview was not that the
Azerbaijani president is dissatisfied with the results of the
negotiations…I don’t know with whom the Azerbaijani president
agreed with, and if you noticed, there are uncertainties in that very
paragraph. He doesn’t state when and where. We have never discussed the
issue of returning territories with the Azerbaijani president. He is
dissatisfied with the process and outcome of the negotiations because
we discussed only two issues: the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s final
status and its interim status. And if he is dissatisfied, I cannot
help him in any way in this issue."
THE UAE WELCOMED SINGING ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
12.10.2009 09:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UAE welcomed an accord signed by Turkey and
Armenia for normalizing relations, re-establishing diplomatic ties
and reopening their shared borders.
In a statement the UAE Foreign Minister said the historic agreement
would provide an important stabilizing factor in the region, in
general, and south of Caucasus, in particular, and would contribute
to enhancing regional cooperation in various areas of development
for the interest of the Turkish and Armenian peoples.
"The understanding constitutes a proper framework for solving potential
disputes through dialogue and peaceful means in a way that preserves
international security and peace, the statement added, WAM reported.