Large crowds turned out in the Caspian Sea city of Lankaran, to bid farewell to a man allegedly involved in racketeering, drugs, bribery, and lots more. (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service)
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Large crowds turned out in the Caspian Sea city of Lankaran, to bid farewell to a man allegedly involved in racketeering, drugs, bribery, and lots more. (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service)
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Recently, a draft agreement on normalization between Turkey and Israel was submitted to the Turkish parliament. It is expected to be approved in the coming days.
According to the document, within 25 days, compensation to the tune of $20 million will be paid to the families and relatives of those killed on the Mavi Marmara ship during a conflict on May 31, 2010.
This move will relieve the legal and criminal responsibility from the Israeli troops involved in the operation. The Mavi Marmara case will be closed.
In an interview with Sputnik, Turkish political analyst Ozlem Tur said Ankara wants to normalize ties with Israel in a bid to break the regional isolation of Turkey.
“Why did Turkey come up with such an agreement? I think the reason is the situation in the region. Turkey is seeking ways to break the isolation provoked by its foreign policy. This agreement is very important for Ankara,” she said.
Moreover, the Turkish government believes that Israel is interested in cooperation with Turkey, especially in energy.
At the same time, for a long time the Israeli government insisted it had no need for cooperation with Turkey since it had “alternative options.”
However, after Ankara sent a clear signal of normalization, Israel accepted the offer, partially because of the need to find new partners in the region.
“Ties between Turkey and Israel will be based on mutual benefits, with respect to the interest of each country. And only time will tell how far this cooperation could go. What is also important, it will depend on the situation in Syria because Turkey-Israel normalization is part of the regional security,” the analyst pointed out.
Another key factor in the process is the Kurdish problem. Turkey is likely to ask Israel for help, including sharing intelligence data.
“I think the initial impulse for normalization was not energy but the security situation in the Middle East,” she added.
“Intelligence cooperation is very important for Turkey’s policy towards Kurds. Tel-Aviv’s assistance is of strategic importance for Ankara. Turkey wants the assistance it hasn’t receive from the United States, from Israel. Cooperation with Israel will help Turkey prevent undesired scenarios in the Kurdish problem,” she said.
Normalization with Israel is geo-strategically important for Turkey despite criticism from the Arab world because cooperation with Tel-Aviv would help resolve such priority issues as the Syrian crisis and the Kurdish problem, the analyst concluded.
Source: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160819/1044444137/turkey-israel-normalization.html
The officials led by the Minister of Science, Culture and Sports have put flowers at the memorial to students killed during the war in Artsakh.
192 students received their master’s degrees
Graduation with honor were awarded to 36 students.
Yesterday Armenia had no representative in the competitions of the 13th day of the 31st Rio Olympics. Today August 19 at the 14th day, the last 4 athletes from Armenia to the Olympics in Rio will compete in freestyle wrestling competitions. We closely monitor David Safaryan could win a medal, like the other three Armenian wrestlers.
The last 4 Armenian sportsmen in the wrestling competitions are Karnig Mnatsakanyan (57 kg), David Safaryan (65 kg), Georgi Ketoev (97 kg) and Levan Berianidze (125 kg).
With 4 -1 gold medals and 3 silver-Armenia was ranked 36th last in the table of Rio Olympics medals. Performance already quite exceptional, with Armenia that was before Georgia, Azerbaijan -and its billions of dollars invested in the purchase of foreign athletes wearing the colors azéries- and Turkey also purchased abroad sport in hopes of medals …
Krikor Amirzayan
LORI, TAVUSH, Armenia—The Armenian Youth Federation’s ‘With Our Soldiers’ campaign is continuing to report on its work to deliver funds to the families of servicemen and volunteers who were killed in action during the Four Day War. As of August 15, 2016, the campaign has reached out to 82 families, distributing a total of $96,750 in assistance. The WOS task force has also periodically featured the stories of fallen heroes in its press releases, and today the biographies of servicemen from Tavush and Lori, who were killed in action in April, are presented, along with the breakdown of the monetary aid provided to their families.
As in the past, the ‘With Our Soldiers’ campaign allocated $1,000 to the family of each fallen soldier, with an extra $250 payment for each child. A total of $7,250 was distributed to six families of fallen soldiers in Tavush and Lori, including the families of two servicemen (Nodarik Margaryan and Karen Davtyan) who had children and dependents. The ‘With Our Soldiers task force is once again providing a detailed report on the families that have been served through the program, including receipts signed by the family members who have received the financial assistance.
Nodarik Margaryan (b. 1963) from the village of Gugark (Meghrut) had a difficult life: he lost his father at a young age, his wife passed away recently, and his youngest son was born with a disability. As the war broke out, the 52-year old Nodardik – who had settled in Mataghis (Artsakh) with his family and served as a driver in the local military unit – sent his children to Armenia and went to defend the frontline. He was killed in action during the first hours of the Four Day War. The friends and the villagers describe Nodarik as a hardworking, patriotic man who loved his family and his neighbors. Nodarik left behind daughter, Lusine (30 y.o.), who is divorced and has an 8-year old kid, two sons, Zorik and Narek, and his 81-year old mother. Narek, who is 24, has a disability that prevents him from working. Zorik lives in Russia on a permanent basis, and after Nodarik’s passing, is the sole provider for the family. Given the unique circumstances of this family, the With Our Soldiers campaign provided $1,750 to Nodarik’s daughter, Lusine, who is taking care of the remaining family members. To learn more about Nodarik’s family, a video is available below.
Read more: http://asbarez.com/154091/with-our-soldiers-campaign-helps-families-of-fallen-heroes-in-armenias-tavush-and-lori-provinces/
The concept behind Nagorno-Karabakh’s new constitution represents a resolute effort towards restating the sovereign state’s specific character and essence, says Hrayr Tovmasyan, a former justice minister who collaborated with the commission tasked with elaborating Armenia’s constitutional reforms.
Speaking to Tert.am, Tovmasyan, now the chief of the Armenian National Assembly’s staff, described the current developments in the country as a serious step towards reinforcing democracy.
“This is a self-reliant and confident step towards demonstrating Nagorno-Karabakh’s unique character as an independent state. It isn’t modeled after Armenia in terms of its legislation and state system. [Nagorno-Karabakh] is trying to build its own state system considering its peculairaties. In terms of democracy and counterbalances of solutions, that’s a process running counter to the developments in the region. While Azerbaijan is preparing for constitutional reforms in an effort to eternalize the Aliyev dynasty, the processes in Karabakh are much more democratic in essence,” he noted.
An Azerbaijani businessman was wounded and his driver was killed in an armed clash that erupted early on Aug. 18 in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Two assailants opened fire on businessman Ravşan Aliyev and his driver at around 12:30 a.m. after they departed from a meeting at a hotel on Yıldız Street inside a luxury jeep. An armed clash later erupted when the duo responded to the assailants.
Aliyev and his driver were wounded in the clash as the assailants fled the scene on foot.
The two were transferred to hospital but Aliyev’s driver subsequently succumbed to his injuries.
In addition, one automatic weapon and two pistols were found at the scene.
Police conducted an operation to apprehend the fleeing assailants.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani media named Aliyev as well-known mafia leader Rövşen Lenkeranski (Aliyev), according to Doğan News Agency.
According to a report by the yenicag.az website, the personal bodyguard of Lenkeranski reportedly said they were assaulted after a dinner and that his condition was critical.
The report added that Lenkeranski was among the suspects wanted by Italian Interpol, after which he changed his surname. He is also reported to have given an order to kill an Armenian-origin gangster named Ded Hasan.
Aliyev also reportedly killed the judge who ordered the arrest of his father.
However, the Azerbaijani consulate in Istanbul announced that the death reports circulating in Azerbaijan did not reflect the truth and that they had not been informed of any casualties.
August/18/2016
Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/azerbaijani-businessman-wounded-driver-killed-in-armed-clash-in-istanbul.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102987&NewsCatID=509
First, village guard Müslüm Yaldız was killed, and a soldier wounded in clashes with PKK militants in the village of Nazar, Hurriyet Daily News reports. Then, a hand-made explosive went off on a road near the village of Gayda, when a military vehicle was passing by. Three soldiers were killed and six injured in that attack.
Early Thursday, a car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig, the administrative center of Elazig Province.
A bomb-carrying car exploded in front of the police station building, creating a hole in it and severely damaging the facility, according to local media.
Another car bombing attack on a police station in the eastern province of Van, near the Iranian border, killed a police officer and two civilians late Wednesday.
https://twitter.com/MunzurMunzur62/status/766184632098426880
After the police raid against the daily Özgür Gündem, police raided the house of the journalists from the daily Filiz Kocali and Keskin.
Filiz Kocali as Eren Keskin, were not home at the time of the raid.
Police also raided the apartment of Sinan Zarakolu, the son of the editor, columnist and journalist Ragip Zarakolu, who lives at this address.
It was reported that Zarakolu was not in his son’s apartment, and police broke everything the apartment and seized his books.
Zarakolu has announced the incident on Facebook by writing; “I protest against the closure of the daily Özgür Gündem and barbaric police raid in my son’s apartment.”
“The recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the only reasonable solution to the Karabakh conflict; if there were any other solution it would have already been found within 25 years of negotiations… As for the territories, there is one very simple logic here: if you lose a war, then mostly territories are gone as well. As far as I recall, it was Azerbaijan that insisted on the war in early 1990s and not anybody else, and they lost it”, – said Frank Engel, Member of the European Parliament (Luxembourg) in an interview with Nvard Chalikyan of Panorama.am, commenting on the current realities of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Mr. Engel believes that one of the main reasons for the lack of the solution of the conflict is not the Minsk Group (one of the tasks of which is to formulate avenues for solution) but the current stance of Azerbaijan and the fact that the compromise solution seems to be far from reality.
“The problem with the avenues of solution is that any scenario other than ‘everything goes to Azerbaijan’ is not going to be accepted by Azerbaijan. And Nagorno-Karabakh will never accept being ruled by Azerbaijan again – this is not only applicable to Karabakh, but it applies to the present-day NKR (11,4 sq km) which is something else than it was in 1990s…”, – said the MEP.
Mr. Engel doesn’t find it at all probable that the NKR could go back to the borders of the Autonomous Oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh (NKAO) as it was in the Soviet Union.
“I understand perfectly that the people of Karabakh, given the circumstances, would not be in the position to accept being encircled by Azerbaijan again… this is a security issue for them. Under those circumstances there is really not very much else that we need to talk about. There are facts in life that one simply has to accept, and Karabakh is one of those facts”, – said the MEP, emphasizing that Azerbaijan has to accept that it has lost the war.
Commenting on the response of the EU and other third parties to the 4-day war in April, which often drew a false equation sign between the aggressor Azerbaijan and the Armenian side instead of directly condemning Azerbaijan’s attack, Mr. Engel said that this most probably will remain the formal rhetoric for quite some time. According to him this is because there are other similar conflicts such as Ukraine, South Ossetia and Abkhasia and they should try to keep a consistent approach to all these conflicts.
To the question as to whether there will be a stronger international reaction in case the Azeris (who want to completely wipe the Armenians from the region, unlike Georgians in the case of the Abkhaz or Ossetians) tomorrow attack Karabakh and Stepanakert, Mr. Engel answered,
“I’m afraid until that happens nothing is going to change, regrettably… I believe if we saw that April events were repeated any time soon then people would start moving, but it’s extremely sad and it’s extremely cynical in fact to have to wait for another large-scale attack for people to get together and say that something is wrong there.”
For preventing future Azeri aggression the MEP particularly emphasized the importance of the OSCE ceasefire monitoring mechanisms, noting that Azerbaijan has repeatedly been rejecting these mechanisms because they knew they would be caught if these were in place. “I am relatively convinced that if we use all the technological means at our disposal we will quickly find out who aggresses here and who doesn’t”, – he added, saying that the EU should strongly push for the implementation of the observation mechanism and to make it clear that who doesn’t accept this will be suffering consequences.
“Everyone knows that there is only one party (Azerbaijan) that has an objective interest in violating the ceasefire, but this can only be sunk into the consciousness of European political decision-makers if there is objective verification and if it becomes clear that the shots come from one side only”, – he said.
The MEP also noted that in the EU there is a problem of awareness of what Azerbaijan is and how Azerbaijan functions – this knowledge is not sufficiently developed in European political institutions including among those who indulge in foreign policy, although EU does hold debates on Azerbaijan’s deplorable human rights situation which makes Azerbaijan highly nervous.
“Azerbaijan is basically a kleptocratic dictatorship, which has willingly and knowingly withheld redistribution and development from its people just to keep them alert to getting Karabakh back. That is something which in the same density and intensity is not to be found elsewhere. This means that we would really have to kneel on Azerbaijan in principle in order to tell them that at some point the fun is over and if ever a war of aggression took place on a larger scale than what we have seen, there would be massive retributions directed at the aggressor”, – said Frank Engel.
Mr. Engel also believes that the current regime in Azerbaijan needs to sustain the Karabakh conflict in order to stay in power.
“If the Karabakh issue disappeared from Azeri politics the current regime would break down. Then there would be nothing left for the Aliyev family to hold on to, and people would start demanding fair distribution of oil revenues, asking why there is no decent housing, no freedom of opinion and no nothing. So they desperately need the Karabakh conflict to continue in order to sustain themselves in power. And this concludes the circle – this is why they will never accept compromise”, – he said.
Mr. Engel believes that the Karabakh conflict is a part of a bigger picture which includes also Turkey and that this issue should be brought on the EU-Turkey agenda.
“If I hear Erdogan saying ‘we will stand by Azerbaijan until the end’, that tells me two things – first of all, nothing is done in Baku which Ankara isn’t aware of and secondly, ‘until the end’ means something other than signing a peace treaty. We would be well advised to put this on our Turkish agenda as well”, – he said adding that in this context it is also important that Turkey comes to terms with its past and recognizes the Armenian Genocide as well as refrains from being equated with Azerbaijan.
“Turkey must recognize at the end of the day that it is ridiculing itself if it descends to the same league and to the same level as Azerbaijan. This cannot be the model that Turkey would want to embrace”, – said Frank Engel.
Interview by Nvard Chalikyan