Author: Takmazian

‘RANSOM BID’ IN CYPRUS BODY THEFT

BBC NEWS
urope/8557540.stm
2010/03/09 12:53:46 GMT

A ransom was demanded for the return of the body of Cyprus ex-President
Tassos Papadopoulos, which was stolen three months ago, a minister
has said.

The body was found in a cemetery in Nicosia late on Monday after an
anonymous tip-off. DNA tests confirmed it was that of Papadopoulos.

However, spokesmen for the Papadopoulos family have denied that any
ransom demand was made to the family.

Papadopoulos was president from 2003 to 2008. He died in December 2008.

‘Broken Greek’

The BBC’s Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia said Cypriots had been baffled
by the crime, as there had been no apparent motive.

" The finding of the body of our beloved Tassos has finally put an
end to the ordeal " Fotini Papadopoulos, widow But Cyprus’s justice
minister later confirmed that a ransom had been demanded.

Loucas Louca would not say when the demand was made but stressed that
no money had been handed over.

However, a Papadopoulos family spokesman, Chrysis Pantelides, quickly
denied the family had received any demands.

He said: "We should all at this moment in time be acting responsibly,
especially all those in authority."

Another family spokesman, Vassilis Palmas, told Associated Press that
the family had received no demands.

Mr Pantelides had earlier told media that a caller speaking "broken
Greek" had telephoned the family and had been redirected to the police.

Police have sealed off a telephone booth in a village south of Nicosia
from where the tip-off was made.

Papadopoulos’s widow, Fotini, said in a statement on Tuesday: "The
finding of the body of our beloved Tassos has finally put an end to
the ordeal which has overwhelmed us for the past three months and
has restored calm to our family.

"We hope that the police investigation will lead to the location of
the culprits as soon as possible."

Papadopoulos’s successor, President Demetris Christofias, expressed
"relief and satisfaction" at the outcome.

The body will be returned to the family for a private reburial.

It was stolen on 11 December last year, one day before a memorial
service was to be held to mark the first anniversary of Papadopoulos’s
death from lung cancer.

Police had described the theft as "deliberate and carefully planned",
with a marble slab weighing 250kg (40st) lifted to dig up the grave.

Papadopoulos had a long political career after fighting British
colonial rule in a guerrilla group.

He led Greek Cypriots in rejecting a UN plan to reunite the divided
island.

Turkish Cypriots voted in a simultaneous referendum to back the plan,
but it failed and the Greek sector later joined the EU.

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DAVUTOGLU SAYS TURKEY WON’T GIVE IN TO PRESSURES OVER RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

Trend
March 8 2010
Azerbaijan

Turkish foreign minister on Monday said his country would not bow down
to any pressure over the course of relations with Armenia after a U.S.

House panel had adopted a resolution over the tragic events of 1915 —
shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Anadolu Agency reported.

"We will maintain our peaceful perspective but we will not let
anyone put pressure on Turkey over issues on which we can give no
concessions. We hope our counterparts on this issue had received the
message," Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters at a joint press conference
with his Mauritanian counterpart Naha Mint Mouknass in capital Ankara.

U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee last Thursday
adopted the resolution with 23 votes against 22, raising concerns
that the approval might hurt rapprochement between Ankara and Yerevan,
which have recently signed protocols to open their border and resume
diplomatic relations.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador in Washington, Namik Tan, to Ankara
for consultations shortly after the House panel vote.

Davutoglu said he had met with Tan today, adding that their
consultations would continue for some time.

RELATIONS WITH MAURITANIA

Davutoglu told reporters that Turkey and Mauritania are set to open
embassies in each other’s countries.

The Turkish foreign minister said the two countries had a deep rooted
history of cooperation, adding that Turkey considered Mauritania as
"a country of special importance."

Davutoglu said Turkey is set to introduce a special training programme
for young Mauritanian diplomats, adding that the two countries had
also agreed to cooperate in mining sector.

Davutoglu said the two countries also had been cooperating on military
issues in a bid to boost Mauritania’s stability

THE PROCESS OF RECOGNIZING THE GENOCIDE IS ACTIVATED

Aysor
March 9 2010
Armenia

"If till now they were just talking about the International recognition
of the Genocide, now they also speak about the need of abolishment
of its consequences" ,- told Karen Avagyan, member of the National
Assembly, in his conversation with Aysor.am.

"Our friends from Diaspora at first worried thinking that the Armenian
– Turkish process will interfere the process of Genocide recognition,
but later they saw that the process of international recognition of
the Genocide does not suffer at all.", – highlighted Avagyan.

According to him the Armenians of Diaspora seeing all these things
have started to make much more efforts for bringing the process to
its logical ending. The deputy stressed for one more time that the
process of recognizing the Genocide internationally is one of the
most important issues that is registered in the agenda of the foreign
policy of Armenia.

DEFENSE MINISTRY’S SPOKESPERSON DENIES AZERBAIJANI DISINFORMATION

Aysor
March 9 2010
Armenia

Armenia’s Defense Ministry has denied disinformation, spread by the
Azerbaijani media outlets that officers of the Armenian Armed Forces
had violated the ceasefire in adjoining to Tchambarak territories,
and let fly at the Azerbaijani positions at the north-east line
between the countries.

A spokesperson for the Defense Ministry of Armenia said that Armenia’s
Armed Forces follow the agreement on cease-fire between the opposing
sides and are used to shooting only if Azerbaijan’s officers and
soldiers commit aggressive actions and fire.

GENOCIDE RESOLUTION MAY HELP NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

Tert.am
14:28 ~U 09.03.10

Russian analysts think the Armenian Genocide Resolution adopted by the
US House Committee on Foreign Affairs may play an essential role in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and may also signal to Ankara
that it must stop insisting to return the disputed areas to Azerbaijan.

In an interview with Russian online newspaper Gazeta, Vladimir
Zakharov, a senior scientist from the Caucasus Research Centre at the
Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations, said America actively
mediated the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement last year.

"Against the backdrop of the global recession, Washington, as well as
other regional players, wants to see a peaceful Caucasus. And for that
purpose, the US exerts diplomatic pressure on Turkey, which considers
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue an important aspect in its relations with
Armenia," said Zakharov.

Referring to the Armenia-Turkey Protocols without any preconditions,
the newspaper writes: "That means that Armenia does not tie recognition
of the Armenian Genocide to that document. Turkey, in turn, should have
withdrawn from its demand to return Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. But
in 2010, it turned out that Yerevan has accepted those conditions,
while Ankara has not."

STUDENTS TO DESIGN GENOCIDE MUSEUM

Harvard Crimson
March 8 2010

HGSD Students Create Design for Armenian Genocide Museum

Though the U.S. government has yet to recognize the post-World War
I mass killings in Armenia as a genocide, some students and faculty
at the Graduate School of Design have–and have taken action.

Two weeks ago, Design School professors Allen Sayegh and Martin
Bechthold took 12 of their graduate students to Armenia.

The trip–which concluded last week–was part of a new studio class,
which focuses on designing a genocide museum in the capital of Armenia,
Yerevan.

In its conceptual phase, the project is meant to reside near the
current genocide memorial in Yerevan, and will commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the mass killings that occurred in Armenia at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Though the museum is only a design project–meant to encourage students
to utilize immersive multimedia techniques to deal with a complex
political issue–it has garnered attention in Armenia, the group said.

While in Armenia, Sayegh, Bechthold, and their students met with an
array of people, including Armenian students, professors, descendents
of survivors, and government officials, to try to grasp the complexity
of the event’s legacy.

"It’s a controversial topic, especially right now, how politics is
involved in human rights issues, and about how you take all these
forces to come up a with a museum when you don’t have any artifacts,"
Sayegh said.

Both professors said they felt it was important for their students
to physically be in Armenia and experience the ways in which the mass
killings have affected the country.

"For the students, it opened up…a complexity which they probably
were not able to grasp before the trip," Bechthold said. "The denial
is like a thorn in the flesh that is just not going away."

Bechthold and Sayegh’s students agreed with these sentiments.

"[Armenians] are trying to emerge out of the genocide and Soviet
rule," said Tricia L. Ebner, who is a student in the class. "The key
to attacking this is by inserting elements [in the conceptual museum’s
design] which can be identified as moving forward."

The project comes in the wake of new political developments in the
U.S. While the House of Representatives signaled its readiness last
week to vote on recognition of the 1915 mass killings in Armenia as a
genocide, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the White House
would try to block such a vote–despite Obama’s campaign promise to
recognize the killings as a genocide.

Turkey is currently an American ally, noted by assistance in Iraq
and Afghanistan and involvement in the trade of oil and natural gas.

Il Giornale, Italia
4 Marzo 2010

Armenia, Stati Uniti: "Il massacro fu genocidio"

Al Congresso la Commissione affari esteri approva una risoluzione che
definisce "genocidio" i massacri avvenuti tra il 1915 e il 1917.

Crisi diplomatica: la Turchia condanna il documento e va su tutte le
furie. Poi fa rientrare l’ambasciatore

Condividi su Twitter Washington – La Commissione Affari Esteri del
Congresso apre la crisi diplomatica fra Stati Uniti e Turchia: per i
senatori infatti, tra il 1915 e il 1917 ci fu un "genocidio" degli
armeni. Crisi che l’amministrazione Obama aveva fatto di tutto per
evitare. La Commissione ha votato il testo a strettissima maggioranza,
23-22. I deputati hanno deciso di procedere con la votazione
nonostante la messa in guardia dell’ amministrazione a non compiere un
passo che avrebbe messo in difficoltà le ottime relazioni tra
Washington e Ankara. Ma l’invito è caduto nel vuoto e i risultati dal
punto di vista diplomatico sono stati immediati: mentre l’Armenia
esulta per il voto della Commissione, la Turchia fa sapere che
richiamerà in patria il suo ambasciatore a Washington. E questo
nonostante il presidente a Barack Obama avesse parlatocon il
presidente turco Gul, invitandolo a proseguire sulla via della
normalizzazione dei rapporti tra Turchia e Armenia.

La decisione di Washington E’ questo il quadro emerso a Washington al
termine di una giornata che ha visto l’amministrazione giocare su due
fronti. Da un lato la Casa Bianca ha confermato la telefonata di Obama
a Gul. Dall’altro lato, il segretario di Stato americano, Hillary
Clinton, ha chiamato il Congresso per chiedere di evitare di mettere
ai voti un testo in cui si parla esplicitamente e senza giri di parole
di "genocidio armeno". Immediata da Ankara è arrivata la notizia che
la Turchia richiamerà in patria il suo ambasciatore. I motivi della
protesta sono di carattere storico: per i turchi la parola "genocidio"
non esiste. Le decine di migliaia di morti in Armenia tra il 1915 e il
1917 furono la conseguenza di una guerra civile, non di un genocidio
premeditato e sistematico, come invece sostengono gli armeni.

La politica della Casa Bianca "Il riavvicinamento tra Turchia e
Armenia è uno dei nostri obiettivi" aveva detto il portavoce della
Casa Bianca, Robert Gibbs. Per questo Obama aveva detto a Gul che "é
importante" che il Parlamento turco "passi i protocolli per la
normalizzazione dei rapporti firmati a Zurigo nello scorso ottobre –
ha detto Gibbs -. Ma la Casa Bianca riconosce che la questione armena,
che dura da quasi un secolo, non è di facile soluzione". Obiettivo
degli Usa è "fare progressi". Proprio per questo Hillary Clinton aveva
chiamato il presidente della Commissione Affari Esteri della Camera,
Howard Berman, per chiedergli di evitare il voto. Ma la Commissione,
seppur spaccata, ha votato ugualmente.

ia_stati_uniti_il_massacro_fu_genocidio/05-03-2010 /articolo-id=426870-page=0-comments=1

U.S. administration to block Armenian genocide bill

WASHINGTON, March 6 (RIA Novosti)

The U.S. government will "work very hard" to block a controversial
resolution condemning as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by
Turks during World War I, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said
on Friday.

"We are against this decision. Now we believe that the US Congress
will not take any decision on this subject," the BBC quoted Clinton as
saying at a news conference in Guatemala.

She added that the government would "work very hard" to ensure that it
would not reach the full House floor.

The U.S. State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, confirmed on
Friday that the government would seek to block the bill.

"We don’t think any further congressional action is appropriate," he
said at the department meeting. "We continue to believe that the best
way for Turkey and Armenia to address their shared past is through
their ongoing effort to normalize relations."

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives
voted on Thursday 23-22 in support of the resolution following almost
six hours of heated debates.

Ankara condemned the bill and recalled its newly appointed ambassador
to the United States, Namik Tan, for consultations.

President Abdullah Gul said Turkey would "not be responsible for the
negative results of this vote."

Turkey, which has always refused to recognize the killings of an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman period in
1915 as an act of genocide, earlier warned Washington that this move
could jeopardize U.S-Turkish cooperation and set back the talks aimed
at opening the border between Turkey and Armenia, which has been
closed since 1993 on Ankara’s initiative.

A similar vote in the committee was approved by a wider margin in
2007, but the U.S. Bush administration, anxious to retain Turkish
cooperation in Iraq, scuttled a full House vote.

A number of states have recognized the killings in Armenia as the
first genocide of the 20th century, including Russia, France, Italy,
Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece, as well as 42 of the 50
U.S. states. The Vatican, the European Parliament and the World
Council of Churches have also denounced the killings as genocide.
Uruguay was the first to do so in 1965.

However, on the eve of the vote, the Obama administration urged the
committee not to approve the resolution, fearing it could alienate
Washington’s NATO ally, whose help the White House considers
invaluable in solving confrontations in the Middle East and
Afghanistan.

CQ Transcriptions
March 4, 2010 Thursday

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS PHILIP J. "P.J."
CROWLEY HOLDS STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING

TEXT:
MR. CROWLEY: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Department of State. A
few things to mention before taking your questions.

The Secretary is in Costa Rica today. She had a meeting with female
entrepreneurs before moving to the Pathways for Prosperity
ministerial, which I think she is still in the midst of. Later on this
afternoon, she will have a meeting with Costa Rican President-elect
Laura Chinchilla and dinner with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

At the Pathways ministerial, she will engage – she has – is engaging
with her colleagues on how to promote growth, democracy, open markets
in the hemisphere, sharing best practices, promoting entrepreneurial
development. In her remarks (inaudible) I think we will have for you,
you’ll hear about promoting sustainable inclusive prosperity,
expanding economic opportunities in the region, regional integration,
expanding trade, increasing competitiveness, while protecting both
workers and the environment.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, along with the Senior
Director for Asian Affairs Jeff Bader, are now in Tokyo for meetings
with senior officials of the Japanese Government. In Beijing, they had
talks with senior PRC officials, including Foreign Minister Yang and
State Councilor Dai. The U.S. and PRC agreed on the high importance
each attaches to the relationships and their commitment to building a
positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship. The two sides
engaged in an in-depth exchange of views on issues of mutual concern,
and they look forward to working together constructively to address
these issues. In particular, the U.S. raised concern over Iran’s and
North Korea’s nuclear programs, economic, trade and market access
issues, and climate change.

The U.S. responded to PRC’s concerns over Taiwan by reiterating that
it has followed a consistent approach, pursued by both administrations
of both political parties on a one-China policy, adherence to the
three joint communiques in the Taiwan Relations Act, and expectations
of a peaceful resolution of the differences across the strait.

Mr. Steinberg and Bader indicated a willingness to try to work
together with China to bridge differences and deepen cooperation on
areas of common interest.

Special Envoy Senator George Mitchell will travel to the region for
meetings on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Monday
with Palestinian President Abbas. He departs the United States
tomorrow night and is expected to return to Washington on Monday,
where he will update Secretary Clinton.

And with that, Elise.

QUESTION: Turkey – the Armenia genocide resolution being marked up in
the House right now, I understand that Secretary Clinton called
Chairman Berman to urge him to not vote on this right now because it
could hurt the talks between Turkey and Armenia, and it seems like he
is going ahead with the vote anyway. If you could just speak to that.

MR. CROWLEY: Secretary Clinton did call Chairman Berman yesterday, and
in that conversation, she indicated that further congressional action
could impede progress on normalization of relations. I think the
President also spoke yesterday with President Gul and expressed
appreciation for his and Prime Minister Erdogan’s efforts to normalize
relations between Turkey and Armenia. And in that call, I think he
continued to press for rapid ratification of the protocols that have
been worked out between the two countries.

QUESTION: Well just – well, if you don’t mind, just to follow up, I
mean, this Administration has specifically asked Congress not to go
ahead, and it seems that at least the committee is going ahead. You
saw what happened last time when this resolution passed the committee.
The Turks recalled their ambassador for a period of time. There was a
lot of tension in the relationship. I mean, are you worried about
damage to U.S.-Turkish relations if this happens?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, I mean, we’ve worked very hard to assist Turkey and
Armenia. As the President has made clear, it – we promote a free – a
fair, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts related to the
historical events of 1915. We are concerned that possible action that
Congress would take would impede the positive momentum that we see in
the Turkey-Armenia normalization process. We’ve made that position
clear to Chairman Berman, and we’ll see what Congress does as a
result.

QUESTION: Well, I mean – I’m sorry. What about U.S.-Turkish relations?
And I mean, this – it’s going ahead. They’re voting at 2:15. I mean —

MR. CROWLEY: I understand. I do understand that.

QUESTION: — they’ve ignored your pleas. I mean, do you think this is
for political means?

MR. CROWLEY: I – well, Elise, let’s see what happens in Congress and
then let’s see how Turkey reacts to it. We have had very specific
conversations with Congress. There – I think they have a firm
understanding of our views on this issue. We have also talked to
Turkey. The Secretary had a meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan in
Doha a couple of weeks ago. So this is obviously something that has
come up before, and we are concerned about its potential impact on our
relations with the affected countries. We do think that the
normalization process is the proper mechanism within which to address
these issues, and we will continue to work very, very hard on this.

We’ve had – this has been a very, very significant issue for the Obama
Administration since coming to office. We’ve had a lot of high- level
meetings with Turkey and Armenia on these issues. We’ve pressed hard
to see the progress that we’ve seen to date, and we certainly do not
want to see that jeopardized.

[unrelated parts omitted]

QUESTION: One more thing. I’m sorry. Just – we’re just wondering if
additionally to the concerns that you expressed that Secretary Clinton
has, you know, regarding the Turkey-Armenia issues, are there concerns
as well – further concerns – that this could affect Turkey- U.S.
relations, for example, within NATO and affect relations in the Middle
East?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, let’s take this a step at a time. The United States
and Turkey are NATO allies. That means that we have a very strong
partnership and mutual security responsibilities. I would certainly
not expect anything to change in that fundamental alliance. We
understand Turkey’s concerns. We share those concerns. We’ve
communicated those concerns to representatives of Congress and will
continue to work and work through this issue in the coming days.

QUESTION: Thank you.

END

Yonhap News, S. Korea
March 6 2010

S. Korea to ink deal to tap Armenian copper mine

SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) — The state-run Korea Resources Corp. (KORES)
will sign a preliminary deal with the Armenian government to jointly
tap a copper and molybdenum mine, the company said Saturday.

The deal will be signed Saturday (Armenian time), the South Korean
company said.

The mine is located in Teghut, 110 kilometers north of Yerevan, the
capital of the Central Asian country.

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