| CYPRUS PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT MARIOS GAROYIAN, LEAVING FOR ARMENIA ON MONDAY, ON FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT |
| Nicosia - Gibrahayer - November 4, 2008 - The Armenian Cypriot President of the Cyprus House of Representatives - Marios Garoyian - will be leaving for Armenia for an official visit that begins on Monday.
He will meet the President of Armenia, the President of the National Assembly and the Foreign Minister. He will also have meetings with Armenian Parliamentary groups and sub-committees.
On Marios Garoyian's request, joining him is Armenian MP in the Cyprus Parliament Vartkes Mahdessian, as well as a Cyprus Parliament staff.
The Cyprus delegation will visit Dzidzernagapert, the Madenataran and Sourp Etchmiadzin and meet Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.
more on the visit in next week's issue |
| WITH NO SOLUTION TO CYPRUS AND ARMENIAN ISSUES, TURKEY'S EU PROSPECTS OUT OF QUESTION |
| Daniel Gros, director of the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, warned Turkey it would need to get things moving.
`Turkey is losing time,' said Gros, adding that he has seen no progress in Turkey's reform process for EU membership. `The two big stumbling blocks, Cyprus and Armenia, sooner or later have to be resolved.'
`The later Turkey takes steps on the Cyprus issue, the more difficult it will become as each year passes,' Gros said. `If there is no solution to the Cyprus and Armenian issues, we will not be able to speak about Turkey's EU prospects.'
The Armenian issue is, `a secondary question,' because it is not a member of the EU, Gros added, placing the emphasis on Cyprus. He said he remained optimistic over the future of northern Cyprus. `As long as northern Cyprus develops nicely, which it seems to be doing now, over time it will become a de facto state and this reality will be recognised,' Gros said, the Turkish Daily News reports. |
| CYPRUS SOLUTION UPDATE |
| Omphalos tis Gis - Federal issues were discussed yesterday at the weekly meeting of the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus after which they again instructed their representatives, Nami and Iacovou, to continue their discussions in an effort to narrow remaining differences. They began their session with a one hour tête-à-tête and finished it off with a preliminary exchange of views on the legislature.
They will continue these discussions next week when they will have two meetings on Tuesday 11 and Friday 14 November. Asked by the press afterwards if there was a narrowing of the gap, the UN Special Representative in Cyprus, Mr Tayé-Brook Zerihoun replied: "They are moving forward".
Quizzed by reporters when he returned to the Presidential Palace yesterday, Mr Christofias called for patience adding that when progress was achieved, he would announce it. “Some people are in a hurry. I have said this before. A lot of patience is required and nerves of steel, which I believe I possess,” he said.
He also said he would continue to have tête-à-tête meetings with Talat as he did yesterday for one hour before negotiations proper, because it was useful in helping relieve tension between the two sides. “Explanations are given on issues which have taken place and I think that this is useful,” he said.
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| PRESIDENT CHRISTOFIAS TO INAUGURATE
NEWLY BUILT LIMASSOL NAREG SCHOOL |
| The newly built Limassol Nareg school will be inaugurated by President of the Republic Demetris Christofias today Wednesday 5 November at 5:00 pm. Images and story in next week's issue. |
| PLEDGE FOR PEACE |
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BARVIKHA, Russia (asbarez.com - combined sources) - The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Sunday called for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after peace talks near Moscow. A joint declaration, signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan, said the two sides would "continue their work... to agree on a political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
The declaration affirmed the importance of OSCE mediation and ordered the country's Foreign Ministers to "activate further steps in the negotiating process," foiling Turkey's efforts to skirt the OSCE Minsk Group with its own bid to mediate the Karabakh conflict.
It also pledged the two countries to improving the situation in the South Caucasus.
Sunday's talks were hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, acting as Caucasus peacekeeper after Moscow's war with Georgia in August destabilised the volatile region.
The meeting, which took place at Medvedev's residence, Meiendorf Castle, lasted less than three hours.
The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met with Russian, French and American diplomats co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group in Moscow on Saturday, ahead of the Sunday summit. The talks between Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammedyarov were hurriedly scheduled late last week after Medvedev announced he would be hosting trilateral talks between his Armenian and Azeri counterparts. Medvedev launched the latest push to end the conflict during a visit to Armenia in October, just two months after sending tanks into nearby Georgia after Tbilisi moved to retake its secessionist region of South Ossetia.
The US also proposed peace talks recently, promising to step-up its efforts to help secure a pact. Washington also echoed Moscow's hints that the region must avoid a recurring of the August war with Georgia over similar disputes.
A resolution of the Karabakh dispute would be a boost to the whole South Caucasus region -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia -- said the declaration, read aloud by Medvedev at a signing ceremony at his residence outside Moscow.
An agreement "would contribute to the improvement of the situation in the South Caucasus to restore stability and safety to the region... and create favourable conditions for economic development," it said.
In October, Sargsyan said he was ready for talks on the basis of principles worked out at negotiations in Madrid last year that would give Nagorno-Karabakh the right to self-determination.
The Kremlin would act as guarantor of a new accord, an administration official was quoted as saying ahead of Sunday's talks.
Sunday's declaration said "the achievement of a peaceful settlement must be accompanied by legally binding international guarantees of all aspects and stages."
In supporting the peace process, Moscow is bidding to boost its influence in the region, analysts said.
Moscow is vying for influence in Azerbaijan, a key energy exporter that ships oil and gas through Western-backed pipelines through Georgia and Turkey, bypassing Russia.
The Kremlin could strengthen its position in the region by pushing close ally Armenia toward compromise on the issue, Armenian political analyst Stepan Grigoryan said. |
| NEW GENOCIDE PHOTO UNCOVERED
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The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) recently revealed a rare photograph that documents the massacres of the Armenian population of Mush, one of the many historic Armenian provinces decimated during Ottoman Turkey's Genocide of the Armenians in 1915-1923.
The photo, acquired by the AGMI recently, was taken by Russian soldiers on the Caucasus front in 1915. It portrays the remains of the Armenian villagers who were burned alive during the massacres of Mush.
The one of a kind photo is well preserved and was found in a photo album of genocide refugees, published in Tbilisi in 1917. The album contains 62 unique photos that document the Armenian Genocide. Only a few of the original 62 have survived and most of them are in dire conditions, with the Mush photo being surprisingly well preserved.
On the back of the picture is a quote in Russian that says: "Armenians burnt alive in Sheykhalan by Turkish soldiers." The photo is also marked with the number 74, which indicates the existence of a larger collection of photographs captured by Russian soldiers during World War I.
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