Tina Garabedian and Simon Senecal, ice dance couple representing Armenia, had their first training at the Beijing Olympics.
They will perform their short program on 12 February.
The opening ceremony of the Beijing Games will be held on 4 February.
Watch the video at
Moscow police have interrupted the screening of a film about Armenian statesman and military strategist Garegin Nzhdeh (Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan), Regnum reported, citing its source.
Accordingly, those in attendance to this screening were dispersed by the police—and on the grounds of the Russian Criminal Code article on the inadmissibility of the "rehabilitation of Nazism."
The screening of this film was organized by the Union of Armenians of Russia.
11:27,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Argentina Hovhannes Virabyan presented his credentials to President Alberto Fernández on January 25, the Armenian foreign ministry said.
The meeting was held at the presidential residence – the Casa Rosada (Pink House).
No private meeting with the President of Argentina was planned during the ceremony due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
The candidacy of the new Human Rights Defender (ombudsperson) of Armenia is being debated on at Friday’s sitting of the National Assembly (NA).
The ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction of the NA has nominated Kristine Grigoryan—the now former Deputy Minister of Justice—for this office.
Grigoryan's biography was presented by "Civil Contract" Faction MP Vladimir Vardanyan.
Accordingly, Kristine Grigoryan born in 1981 in the city of Sevan. She graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University. She has a master's degree. Aside from Armenian, she speaks English, French, Russian, German, and Arabic. Grigoryan has no party affiliation. And in 2019, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice.
Under the respective law of Armenia, the Human Rights Defender of the country is appointed to this office for a five-year term.
The candidacy of the new ombudsperson is being considered now in connection with the imminent end of the term of office of the current Human Rights Defender, Arman Tatoyan.
On the home front, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is upping his rhetoric, threatening after last week’s Friday prayers to “rip out the tongues” of those who speak ill of the prophet Adam, referring to a five-year-old song by Turkish popstar Sezen Aksu.
Yet, beyond the country’s borders, the longtime Turkish leader is all about harmony. “If we are going to do politics, it can’t be done through confrontation,” Mr Erdogan said last week, citing emerging plans for the Israeli president to visit Turkey for the first time in 15 years. “We have to pursue politics along the path of peace.”
Turkish officials say Russia and Ukraine have expressed interest in Ankara’s offer to host peace talks, as some 120,000 Russian troops linger along the Ukrainian border awaiting instructions from Moscow.
The UAE finalised its $4.9 billion currency swap with Turkey last week and the two countries expect to sign further agreements when Mr Erdogan visits Abu Dhabi, potentially next month, suggesting Ankara’s years-long tensions with Gulf states have largely subsided.
But Turkey’s most meaningful rapprochement may be with Armenia. Despite sharing a 311-kilometre border, the two have never had formal relations. Divided by religion and conflicting origin stories, Ankara and Yerevan have long clashed over what happened in south-east Anatolia before, during and after the First World War.
The latter is convinced that 1.5 million Armenians were intentionally killed by Ottoman forces in a genocide, while the former admits many Armenians died but argues that all sides experienced a significant loss of life during the bloody years of conflict.
Many observers had thought the double whammy of Armenia losing the Nagorno-Karabakh war to Turkey-backed Azerbaijan in late 2020 and US President Joe Biden officially recognising the Armenian genocide six months later would drive them even further apart. But in recent weeks, almost out of the blue, the two have embarked on a normalisation drive, their third such attempt since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The first collapsed in April 1993 after Armenian forces occupied the Kelbajar region of Azerbaijan, prompting the first Karabakh conflict. Then in October 2009, the countries’ foreign ministers signed agreements establishing diplomatic ties. But the next year, Mr Erdogan decided against endorsing them due to pressure from Baku regarding the Karabakh deadlock.
The first rumblings of this latest effort came last month, when both sides appointed special envoys to oversee negotiations – though 64-year-old Serdar Kilic is a bit more experienced than 31-year-old Armenian envoy Ruben Rubinyan. In mid-January, they met for “positive and constructive” talks in Moscow, the first high-level diplomatic meeting between the rivals in more than a dozen years.
Turkey-Armenia flights, the first since 2019, are expected to resume next week. Another positive sign is that Azerbaijan has refrained from voicing any objections, with Baku signalling continued friendliness towards Ankara with an expected €1bn ($1.13bn) currency swap.
Azerbaijan’s late 2020 recapturing of occupied lands in Karabakh removed the primary Azerbaijani and Turkish objections to normalisation. Yet, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is widely thought to seek further concessions from Armenia. His likeliest objective is full control over the soon-to-be restored road and rail links through Armenia to Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan – an issue on which Yerevan has waffled.
Turkey also backs the so-called Zangezur corridor, envisioning increased trade and broader influence in the Caucasus and Turkic-dominated Central Asia. Armenia may be willing to agree, as normalisation could grant it access to Black Sea, Caucasus and even EU markets. A European Parliament report asserts that re-opening its borders “would benefit greatly Armenia's economy and society…and open the way to the county's full integration into the region".
Russia, the US and the EU seem in rare alignment on Turkey-Armenia. They all support normalisation, believing it has the potential to strengthen the region’s energy infrastructure, boost economic growth and increase regional stability. The next round of talks is likely to be announced soon, but the road from here to normalisation is long and filled with potholes.
For one thing, the lack of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Armenia is not just a random European anomaly, but the result of a deeply rooted divide. The Armenian diaspora in particular strongly opposes Yerevan’s decision to exclude recognition of the genocide as a precondition. “An unrepentant genocidaire cannot be a trusted party with which one can negotiate in good faith,” Harut Sassounian, an Armenian-American commentator and former UN delegate, wrote this month.
With the lira holding steady, Mr Erdogan’s approval rating has ticked up of late, one of the few positive bumps he’s had since the pandemic began. But if talks drag on, he may risk alienating his nationalist parliamentary partner, the MHP, as elections approach in mid-2023.
Turkish nationalists tend to get exercised by any sign of kindness towards Kurds, Greeks or Armenians. Just last week, a prominent Turkish publisher cancelled the publication of a major book on Ottoman history because it mentioned the “Armenian genocide”.
Cosying up to Armenia right now could be problematic, which may explain why Mr Erdogan is latching onto conservative issues and lashing out at progressives like popstar Aksu. If he was aiming for a good old-fashioned culture war to distract the masses, Turkish social media suggests he has got his wish.
“Is it now down to ripping off artists’ tongues?” renowned Turkish actress Mujde Ar said in response to Mr Erdogan’s comment. “This is a clear and terrible threat, inciting the public against the artists. We don’t give up.”
Thousands gathered in Istanbul this week to demand full justice for high-profile Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed 15 years ago.
Placards reading “We are all Hrant, We are all Armenian” and “For Hrant, For Justice” were waved as the crowd gathered outside the building where a teenage gunman in 2007 shot Dink.
Candles and red carnations were placed next to a commemorative plaque, and Turkish and Armenian songs played in the background. The facade of the building, which was once home to Dink’s media outlet, was covered with a large poster of the journalist and the words: “15 missing years.”
"The beautiful thing is that after 15 years, so many people do not forget Hrant Dink and the message he gave,” Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), told VOA.
Peace advocate
As the founder and editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was a leading advocate for peace between the Turkish and Armenian communities.
But his writing and speeches on Armenian identity and calls for reconciliation made him a target of nationalists in Turkey.
He was prosecuted several times during his journalism career, including a lawsuit in 2005 in which Dink was convicted of “publicly insulting and degrading Turkishness.”
At the time of his death, Dink was awaiting trial as part of a lawsuit over his use of the word “genocide” to describe attacks in 1915 that Armenia says left 1.5 million dead.
The U.S. and some other countries recognize it as a genocide. Turkey acknowledges killings during the Ottoman Empire but denies any genocide.
In early January, special envoys from Turkey and Armenia met in Moscow to try to normalize an otherwise strained relationship.
SEE ALSO: Observers Welcome Dialogue Between Turkey, Armenia
Search for justice
In 2011, Ogun Samast was sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison by a juvenile court on charges including premeditated murder for shooting Dink.
Since then, 76 other suspects accused of involvement in Dink’s killing have been tried. In March 2021, a court in Istanbul sentenced several former high-ranking public and police officers to life in prison for convictions on several charges, including premeditated murder and violating the constitution.
SEE ALSO: 14 Years Later, Turkish-Armenian Journalist's Assassination Leads to Life Sentences
The Turkish government believes a network linked to Fethullah Gulen was behind the attack and that those involved have been brought to justice. The U.S.-based Gulen, whom Turkey also accuses of being behind a failed attempted coup, denies the accusations.
Omer Celik, spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), paid tribute to Dink on Twitter, saying: “Hrant defended brotherhood in this country and resisted those who tried to bring hostility to this country from outside.”
Bu ülkede kardeşliği savundu, bu ülkeye dışardan husumet sokmaya çalışanlara direndi Hrant…Hrant Dink’i canice bir saldırı sonucunda kaybedişimizin bu yıldönümünde de saygıyla anıyoruz. #HrantDink
— Ömer Çelik (@omerrcelik)
CCAF calls on French government to demand apology from Azeri authorities or else recall ambassador over Aliyev’s threats
10:38,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF – Conseil de coordination des Organisations Arméniennes de France) issued a statement on January 13 regarding Azeri president Ilham Aliyev’s threats against Valérie Pécresse, the President of the Regional Council of France’s Île-de-France and a candidate for the French presidency.
Aliyev had said that the Azeri government was unaware of Pécresse’s visit to Nagorno Karabakh, and if they knew she was there the Azeri authorities wouldn’t have allowed her to leave Nagorno Karabakh.
CCAF called on the French government to demand an explanation and apology from the Azerbaijani government for making such terrorizing statements against a French presidential candidate. CCAF said the French government ought to recall its ambassador from Baku and expel the Azeri ambassador from Paris if the explanations and apology aren’t issued by the Azeri authorities.
Talking to the news media, Pécresse herself stressed the seriousness of Aliyev’s threats against a presidential candidate, and noted that a candidate must be free to go wherever they want.
Pécresse said she doesn’t feel intimidated by the threats, but that she is shocked from the French government’s silence. The French politician said she’d want Paris to officially respond to Aliyev’s threats.
Pécresse visited Armenia and Artsakh December 21-23, 2021. The ex-foreign minister of France and former European Commissioner Michel Barnier and the head of the Republicans of the French Senate Bruno Retailleau accompanied her.
Representatives of the Armenian Classroom and School Improvement Project are gathering school supplies in Yerevan. This time, they have put together furniture that will go to a school in Aparan, in Armenia’s Aragatsotn region.
The Armenian Classroom and School Improvement Project was initiated by Suren Sarkisov, an Armenian from the US who runs an IT company. Education is crucial for Sargisov and he wants to give Armenia’s children the opportunity to succeed. His organization is collecting donations in the diaspora to provide a more interactive type of education for children in Armenia’s schools.
Four farmers were targeted by Azerbaijani forces when doing agricultural work in pomegranate orchard near Nakhichevanik village in Artsakh’s Asekran village, Artsakh Police informs.
Different types of firearms were used during the shooting the intensive shooting that lasted 15 minutes. The regional police department was alarmed about the incident at about 5 pm today.
The fire was stopped by the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, and the citizens of Artsakh were evacuated unharmed.
Agricultural machinery was partially damaged.
Earlier today the Azerbaijani side opened fire in the direction of the Karmir Shuka community, a vehicle caught fire near the kindergarten.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a press conference at the G-20 summit in Rome on October 31, 2021. LOAN: Bloomberg photo by Alessia Pierdomenico. (Alessia Pierdomenico)
Turkey and Armenia, longtime enemies, will begin new talks next week in Moscow to normalize relations and open the last closed border left over from the Cold War.
The January 14 meeting came more than two months after President Joe Biden called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Rome to work to establish diplomatic relations with landlocked Armenia and open the country’s common borders. official. Turkey closed the border in solidarity with Azerbaijan, an ally that fought a war with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993.
Washington and European capitals are backing talks to reach a lasting solution to the conflict and to counter Moscow’s influence in the Soviet hinterland. Russia’s determination to dominate the region has re-emerged after sending troops to quell protests in Kazakhstan. Turkey’s goal is to tell US-led NATO allies who are dissatisfied with Russia’s acquisition of air defense systems that it is trying to stop Russian expansionism and become a safe trade route between China and the West.
“Normalization with Armenia fully corresponds to this picture. This will help Turkey to weaken Moscow’s influence in the region and expand Turkey’s influence, “said Emre Peker, Eurasian Group’s European Director.
Richard Giragosian, director of the Center for Regional Studies in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, said normalization of relations for landlocked Armenia was “an important means of overcoming isolation.”
Turkey’s and Armenia’s sharp animosity stems from the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and tensions over how to characterize the events of 1915, when 1.5 million Armenians were deported, killed and marched to their deaths. Armenians, backed by the Biden administration, describe it as genocide. Outraged by this characteristic, Turkey says that Armenians and Turks were killed in ethnic clashes during the collapse of the empire after Armenian groups sided with Russia in World War I.
In 2020, the Turkish army supported Azerbaijan when the armed conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is an enclave with an ethnic majority, re-ignited inside Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has regained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas with the firing of armed drones supplied by Turkey. A troubled ceasefire was drafted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, but no peace agreement was signed.
Turkey has said that the dispute over the genocide allegations will not be on the table, and Giragosian commented on Armenia’s unconditional policy as “the issue of genocide has been postponed and entrusted to the post-normalization reconciliation process.”
But the road can be rocky. Peker said there was a “big risk” that the Armenian diaspora, along with the Armenian government, which in the past claimed that Turkey recognized the genocide, would play a role in decision-making.
After the agreement reached in 2009, previous attempts to defuse tensions failed after Turkey demanded the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh as a precondition.
The new talks come ahead of Ankara’s expected talks in Washington, including Turkey’s purchase of S-400 air defense systems from Russia, which has poisoned relations between NATO allies. Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stressed that Turkey is in full coordination with Azerbaijan, and that Turkish and Armenian representatives are expected to work on a roadmap that includes confidence-building measures in preparation for the meetings.
If Turkey agrees to open its border, businesses on both sides of the sleepy border could thrive, as it would link Armenia directly to one of the Middle East’s largest economies. Armenia lifted its embargo on Turkish goods on Jan. 1 in response to pressure from its business community seeking a way out for exports. The two countries have already agreed to resume direct charter flights.
“Armenia can open its economy. The lifting of the blockade will reduce the influence of both Iran and Russia in Armenia, “said Michael Rubin, a resident scientist at the American Institute of Entrepreneurship. “At the same time, businesses in eastern Turkey can benefit. There will be no real losers. “
Sarah Khojoyan from Bloomberg contributed to this report.