Armenian News
The Iranian churches St. Thaddeus, St. Stephanus, and Dzordzor (Zorzor) in East Azerbaijan Province and West Azerbaijan Province were registered on the UNESCO's World Heritage List
See pictures & description by clicking http://irpersia.blogspot.com/2008/09/9th-iranian-heritage-registered-to.html
TURKISH, ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS HOLD TRIPARTITE MEETING
Anatolia News Agency
Sept 27 2008
Turkey
New York, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Friday
[26 September] that Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan
and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov suggested me to
continue tripartite talks to establish a better political dialogue
and an understanding forum.
The three foreign ministers made a press release after the historical
meeting in New York.
Babacan said, "I met Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers today
to assess regional matters. We believe that Caucasus has a very big
potential. We also believe that we will be able to achieve success in
case we manage to restore peace and stability in the Caucasus. This
will be very good for the welfare of our peoples and at the same time
will assist regional stability and peace."
Babacan said, "we discussed Caucasus Cooperation and Stability
Platform, an initiative suggested by Turkey, and started to negotiate
some specific regional matters during today's meeting."
Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandyan said his country welcomed the
initiative on Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform suggested
by Turkey.
Referring to his meeting with Babacan that took place prior to
the tripartite meeting, Nalbandyan said stability, security and
cooperation in our region lie under the idea of this Caucasus Stability
and Cooperation Platform. He said they also discussed the steps that
were and would be taken to fully normalize bilateral relations.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mammadyarov in his statement said they
discussed Turkey's suggestion for the platform and the recent ongoing
developments in the region.
Mammadyarov said everybody was aware that there were risks and
difficulties in the region. "The problems should be overcome. We
think this initiative is timely. We may establish a more understanding
regarding how to cope with the important developments in the region."
Asked when the next meeting would take place, Armenian foreign minister
said, "very soon".
NAMIK TAN: KNESSET'S RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO DAMAGE TURKEY-ISRAEL RELATIONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.10.2008 16:55 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Knesset
will badly damage the Turkish-Israeli partnership, said Namik Tan,
Turkey's ambassador to Israel.
He reminded that Ankara recalled its envoys from U.S. and France when
parliaments of these states voted for recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.
Ambassador Tan criticized the Israeli parliamentary initiative to
discuss the Armenian Genocide issue. "I support President Shimon
Peres who said that the "Armenian tragedy is an issue for historians
bit not politicians." Just fancy a Turkish political figure accusing
Israel of genocide of Palestinians," he said, adding that he hopes
Israel will never spoil relations with Turkey.
Earlier, Kadima's Zeev Elkin said that discussion of the Armenian
Genocide will not "cause trouble" with Turkey and Azerbaijan. "These
countries should understand that Israel can't neglect discussion of
an issue that has already been considered by all western parliaments,"
he told IzRus portal.
Meanwhile, Tan remarked that "the parliamentarians fell under the
influence of the Armenian minority."
He stressed the importance of developing Ankara-Baku-Jerusalem
strategic alliance to neutralize "the Armenian threat."
"We want the Azeri oil and gas go to Israel and then to China and
Japan through Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline," he said.
Anatolia News Agency
Sept 25 2008
Turkey
New York, 26 September: The Turkish president said on Thursday that
his aim was to create a positive climate between Turkey and Armenia.
Turkey's President Abdullah Gul said that he wanted that climate to
eliminate problems between the two countries.
"I am very hopeful about this," he said in a meeting organized by
the American-Turkish Society in New York.
Gul said that Turkey and Armenia did not have diplomatic relations,
and their borders were closed although Turkey was one of the first
countries recognizing Armenia's independence.
"However, two countries have had humanitarian activities," Gul said
and gave Turkey's wheat assistance to Armenia in 1990s as an example.
Gul said thousands of Armenian citizens were working in Turkey due to
economic reasons, there were flights and cultural activities between
the two countries.
"My recent visit (to Armenia) was for a soccer game, but I did not only
watch the game with Mr [Serzh] Sargsyan (the Armenian President). We
had the opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, Caucasus and
Azerbaijan," he said.
Gul underlined necessity of solving regional problems through dialogue,
and expressed his hope that everything would normalize in the end.
President Gul also said that one of indicators that relations would
normalize one ay was the trilateral meeting the foreign ministers of
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia would hold in New York on Friday.
"What leaders should do is to eliminate problems, not to feed
enmities," Gul also said.
Gul said that many projects could be carried out between Turkey and
Armenia, like establishing industrial zones at the border, after
problems were solved.
As Talks with Azeris/Turks Falter, Armenia Expands Access to Georgia/Iran
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
The budding relationship between Armenia and Turkey, which started with last
month's "football diplomacy" with much fanfare and high expectations, is
facing serious difficulties.
While no one expected a quick resolution of the long-standing issues
stemming from the Genocide and its persistent denial by Turkey, few
anticipated that the nascent rapprochement would falter so quickly.
After a very friendly and hopeful first meeting between the presidents and
foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey, occasioned by the unprecedented
soccer match between their national teams on September 6 in Yerevan, it
appears that the Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict is the main reason for the
sudden rift.
To begin with, it was strange that the presidents of Armenia and Turkey did
not hold a follow-up meeting during their attendance of the U.N. General
Assembly sessions in New York in late September. When Pres. Gul was asked by
Turkish journalists why no meeting was scheduled with the Armenian
President, he first said he was not aware that Pres. Sargsyan was coming to
New York and then assured them that they would run into each other during
one of many diplomatic receptions. Despite such optimistic talk, the two
presidents never meet. They may have been waiting for the outcome of
discussions between the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey
who met on the last day of their stay in New York.
On September 28, two days after Pres. Sargsyan left New York, he told
reporters that there were "no concrete results yet" from the foreign
ministers' meeting and that he had not expected much from their encounter.
On the same day, Pres. Gul confirmed that there had not been any significant
movement to merit the lifting of the blockade of Armenia. Taking a tough
stand, he told a Turkish group that "no talks on border opening are possible
before Armenia's liberation of Azerbaijani territories," according to the
AzeriTaj news agency. Thus, Pres. Gul was reverting to Turkey's previous
preconditions that had been long rejected by the Armenian side. A senior
aide to Azerbaijan's president, in his turn, confirmed this week that
several serious issues remain unresolved on the Artsakh issue.
Ankara and Baku assumed that since the Georgian-Russian conflict had
temporarily deprived Armenia of the opportunity to import more than 70% of
its vital supplies from Georgia's Black Sea ports, this was the ideal time
to force Yerevan into making serious concessions on the Genocide issue and
the Artsakh conflict.
Whether it was coincidence or not, several major initiatives announced by
Pres. Sargsyan last week had the effect of countering the hard-line taken by
Ankara and Baku in their recent negotiations with Armenia, and dispelling
the false impression that Yerevan is desperately seeking to reopen the
border with Turkey at any cost.
Pres. Sargsyan announced during his last week's visit to Tbilisi that he had
reached an agreement with Pres. Saakashvili to jointly build a modern
highway that would considerably shorten the transport time between the
Georgian Port of Batumi and Yerevan.
In a nationally televised speech delivered for the first time in the
Armenian Parliament - akin to the State of the Union address by American
presidents before the U.S. Congress - Pres. Sargsyan announced that a new
railway would be constructed to link Iran with Armenia, to facilitate and
expand trade between the two countries. He also said that Armenia would
build a new nuclear power plant to ensure that the country remains energy
self-sufficient when its aging plant is shut down. Finally, he stated that a
Pan-Armenian Bank and an investment fund would be established in Yerevan to
finance these projects. He said that these "large and daring initiatives"
would solve Armenia's important strategic and economic problems.
Along with these major programs, Armenia just formed a new Diaspora Ministry
to streamline and strengthen its relations with millions of Armenians living
abroad. On September 24, during a major banquet in New York, Pres. Sargsyan
gave the 700 Armenian guests an uplifting message of unity, urging them to
join forces for the betterment of Armenia and the Diaspora. He also thanked
all those assisting in the resolution of the Artsakh conflict, "the
condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, and the restoration of historical
justice."
These new initiatives are bound to improve Armenia's bargaining hand and
help negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan from a position of strength. The
expansion of Armenia's alternate land routes through Georgia and Iran would
considerably diminish the utility of opening the border with Turkey and
circumvent more effectively the blockades imposed by Ankara and Baku.
While Armenian officials do want to improve relations with all of their
neighbors, they are not so desperate as to make unacceptable concessions on
the Genocide and Artsakh issues
Armenian Soccer Body Changes Logo After Uproar
By Ruben Meloyan
The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) said on Wednesday that it has
decided to change its new emblem widely criticized for not depicting a
biblical mountain in what is now eastern Turkey.
The FFA's previous logo, which carried a picture of Mount Ararat, was
dropped ahead of last month's match in Yerevan between Armenia's and
Turkey's national soccer teams that was watched by the presidents of the
two neighboring states.
The move prompted strong criticism from domestic political groups,
notably the pro-government Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), that suggested that it was designed to please the
Turks. Dashnaktsutyun leaders cast doubt on the credibility of FFA
assurances that there were no political motives behind the change of the
logo emblazoned on the jerseys of national and youth team players.
Located in northeastern Turkey and visible from Yerevan and much of
southern Armenia, Ararat is considered by many Armenians a national
symbol. The snow-capped peak, the supposed resting place of Noah's Ark,
is depicted in the center Armenia's national coat-in-arms.
Ruben Hayrapetian, the FFA chairman who has previously dismissed the
Dashnaktsutyun criticism, said on Wednesday that the decision to leave
Ararat out of the current logo was a mistake. `I apologize to the entire
public for this real mistake,' he told reporters.
`We did not think that there will be such an uproar,' Hayrapetian said,
adding that the FFA has already commissioned graphic designers to
develop another Armenian football emblem. He said it will definitely
carry an outline of Ararat.
`In the meantime, our national football teams will wear jerseys with the
emblem of the Republic of Armenia,' the FFA's executive director, Armen
Minasian, told RFE/RL.
Both he and Hayrapetian insisted that the logo change had nothing to do
with the Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifier played in Yerevan on
September 6. `We began the process of logo change last year before we
knew that are going to play Turkey,' said Minasian. `There was never any
deliberate effort to remove Ararat.'
ORANGE TO LAUNCH ARMENIA NETWORK
by David Masters
The Telecom
October 8, 2008
UK
France-based mobile operator Orange has been awarded a licence to
launch a new mobile network in the Republic of Armenia.
It will be the third mobile network to set up in the country.
The Armenian government announced the licence yesterday after Orange
submitted a formal licence bid of â~B¬51.5 million on 6th October.
This was far in excess of the Armenian government's asking price -
just â~B¬10 million.
The two other bidders in the race - British-Irish group CEO Blackrock
Communications and Sweden-based Tele2 AB - offered â~B¬31.7 million
and â~B¬45.6 million respectively.
A GSM and 3G network will now be launched in the country, with Orange
winning the right to issue 055 and 095 dial codes.
As part of the licence agreement, Orange is required to invest at
least â~B¬200 million in the network roll-out.
The Republic of Armenia has a population of three million, a third
of which live in the capital, Yerevan.
Around 72% of the population already owns a mobile phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment