U.S. House committee approves Karabakh assistance

July 25, 2013 By administrator

July 25, 2013 – 14:34 AMT

The House Appropriation Committee on Wednesday, July 24, approved assistance to Nagorno Karabakh within the Fiscal Year 2014 Foreign Aid Bill, which, however, does not cite a specific level of aid to Armenia, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“Within the funds provided under this heading, the Secretary of State should provide assistance for victims of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict at levels consistent with prior years, and for ongoing needs related to the conflict,” reads the committee report attached to the bill that will move through the House.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian welcomed the decision, stating: “We are gratified that Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Lowey have, at the urging of Congressman Schiff, agreed to a manager’s amendment to the full House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY14 foreign aid bill restoring language that, amid sharp cuts to overall spending, prioritizes keeping aid levels for Nagorno Karabakh consistent with prior years.”

“The priority the Committee attaches to America’s vital aid program for Nagorno Karabakh, the only Caucasus aid program specifically mentioned in the House report, is particularly meaningful given that this year’s foreign aid bill is marked by deep, across-the-board cuts, the removal of many country-specific aid level citations, and even the complete elimination of a number of assistance programs,” said Hamparian.

“At the same time, we remain troubled that the version of the foreign aid bill moving through the House, for the first time since Armenia’s independence, does not cite a specific aid level for Armenia.”

Penn, Sarandon and intellectuals condemn Gezi crackdown in letter addressed to Turkish PM

July 25, 2013 By administrator

Artists and scholars, including celebrities known for their activism, such as Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Ben Kingsley and movie director David Lynch, have condemned the Turkish authorities’ heavy-handed crackdown on the Gezi Park protests in Turkey in a full-page letter published July 24 in the British broadsheet The Times and addressed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The signatories, who described the Turkish government as “a dictatorial rule,” slammed Erdoğan’s uncompromising stance regarding the protesters’ demands. Erdoğan’s orders “led to the deaths of five innocent youths,” the letter said, adding that he might be called to render account to the European Court of Human Rights for the police’s violence.

They also likened the counter-rallies organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a response to the protests with the annual Nuremberg rallies organized by the German Nazis.

“Only days after clearing Taksim Square and Gezi Park relying on untold brutal force, you held a meeting in Istanbul, reminiscent of the Nuremberg Rally, with total disregard for the five dead whose only crime was to oppose your dictatorial rule,” the letter said, emphasizing that more journalists were imprisoned in Turkey than in Iran and China combined.

“Moreover, you described these protesters as tramps, looters and hooligans, even alleging they were foreign-led terrorists. Whereas, in reality, they were nothing but youngsters wanting Turkey to remain a Secular Republic as designed by its founder Kemal Atatürk,” the letter added.

Andrew Mango, the biographer of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Fazıl Say, the Turkish pianist who was recently sentenced for blasphemy after tweeting several lines attributed to a poet, were also among the signatories.

Other signatories included: Irish novelist Edna O’Brien, British Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, British actress Vanessa Redgrave, British film director of Turkish origin Fuad Kavur, Hungarian Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and American freelance journalist and writer Claire Berlinski.

RT: Snowden granted entry to Russia, free to leave airport

July 24, 2013 By administrator

Russia’s Immigration Service has reportedly granted entry permission to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has been stranded at a Moscow airport since last month.

The American is currently getting ready to leave. He will be given new clothes. Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena will bring the papers he needs to leave the transit zone of the airport,” says Interfax citing a source familiar with the situation. The migration service would not immediately confirm the information.

Kucherena, who arrived at the airport at about 4pm Moscow time, had a large paper bag with him. According to ITAR-TASS, he indeed carries all the paperwork needed for Snowden’s release. He went straight to meet the whistleblower in the transit zone without taking time to speak to the journalists, saying he would do so only after consulting with him.

Kucherena and Snowden conversed in the transit zone, according to an Interfax source.

Snowden has been then handed over his travel documents from Russia’s Immigration Service, the source told Interfax.

“They talked and Mr. Kucherena handed Snowden a package with documents, among which was the certificate that now allows him to leave the transit zone and go through Russian customs.”

Snowden, who had been living in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport since the day he arrived from Hong Kong on June 23, applied for temporary asylum in Russia last week.

Military leadership meets in Karabakh

July 24, 2013 By administrator

Armenia’s top army generals and other military officials held an unprecedented meeting over the weekend in Nagorno-Karabakh, which the Defense Ministry in Yerevan said focused on their ongoing efforts to strengthen the Armenian military, Asbarez reported.

The meeting in Stepanakert, chaired by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, brought together the heads of various Defense Ministry departments, the leadership of the Armenian army’s General Staff and all major detachments as well as the commanders of Karabakh’s Armenia-backed armed forces.

A ministry statement quoted Ohanian as emphasizing the “exceptional” venue of the meeting and stressing the need to increase the effectiveness of ongoing “processes carried out in the defense system.” He also called for “deepening cooperation and exchange of experience between the armed forces of the two Armenian republics.”

According to the statement, Ohanian’s opening remarks were followed by a discussion of the results of the Armenian military’s “2013 winter training phase.” It said Armenian and Karabakh generals presented “a state of combat readiness and discipline” in the army ranks.

Ohanian was reported to issue orders on addressing “shortcomings registered during the semester” and improving efforts to boost discipline and combat readiness. He also said military commanders should do a better job of preventing “accidents,” an apparent reference to non-combat deaths of soldiers. No further details were reported.

The Stepanakert meeting followed an annual gathering of Karabakh Armenian officers, during which they discussed the situation along the “line of contact” east and north of Karabakh.

The meeting came less than a month after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev voiced fresh threats to win back the disputed territory and other Armenian-controlled territories surrounding it at a military parade in Baku. Aliyev claimed last week that offensive weapons displayed by the Azerbaijani army scared many Armenians. Some of those weapons were recently purchased by Azerbaijan from Russia in a $1 billion deal that was disclosed by the Russian media last month.

The Armenian leadership has downplayed the Russian arms deliveries, saying that they will not undermine the military balance in the Karabakh conflict. Ohanian insisted earlier this month that a new Armenian-Azerbaijan war is unlikely to break out soon.

1 killed, 17 injured as Syrian rebels attack bus carrying Armenians

July 24, 2013 By administrator

July 24, 2013 – 12:37 AMT

A rebel attack on two buses on Aleppo-Beirut route carrying workers Syrian Armenians, among others, left several dead and injured.

According to Armenian embassy in Syria, 40-year-old Tamara Srunyan was killed in the attack, with 17 more Armenians injured.

Turkey to buy armored vehicles amid PKK talks

July 23, 2013 By administrator

BURAK BEKDİL

Ankara leaves defense analysts scratching their heads as it plans to buy anti-PKK weapons despite the ongoing – if slow-moving – peace process

A Turkish move to purchase hundreds of armored vehicles for its land forces has puzzled military analysts and diplomats who were expecting a suspension in the government’s purchase of weaponry solely aimed at Kurdish militants amid the current peace process.

“It came as a surprise that the Turks are still too keen to buy the rest of the mine-resistant vehicles a producer had failed to deliver. A more politically consistent and financially rational move could have been to suspend this purchase at least … during the peace process,” said one senior EU ambassador in Ankara.

“The move, in a way, reveals that Ankara is powerfully calculating the possibility of a failure in negotiations with the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and of renewed violence,” a London-based military analyst said. “There is no other immediate security threat than the PKK that the Turkish army could use these vehicles for.”

Instead, the Turkish government has decided to go ahead with two contracts for new armored vehicles that will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In July, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said Turkey would look for a new supplier for the 175 mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles (MRAPs) a local company had failed to deliver. “In coordination with the Armed Forces, we will look into a new model that will substitute for the undelivered Kirpis,” Yılmaz said.

Procurement officials said in addition to the 175 Kirpis for the army, the police force could order 20 of the same vehicle. They also said follow-up orders from both the army and the police were likely.

Failure in BMC orders

Earlier this year, the Turkish Armed Forces terminated a contract with Turkish armored vehicle producer BMC for the acquisition of 468 Kirpi vehicles the company would manufacture. The Kirpi is the country’s first locally designed and developed MRAP.

Under a 2009 contact with the Turkish government, BMC produced and delivered an initial batch of 293 Kirpi vehicles but failed to comply with the delivery schedule as stated in the original contract.

One source at BMC blamed “acute financing difficulties and failure to have access to a helping credit line” for the failure to deliver on time. Immediately after the termination of the contract, the country’s procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), fined BMC 8 million euros.

One of the major players in Turkey’s booming armored vehicles market, BMC, was seized in May by government authorities due to financial obligations its parent company failed to fulfill pending sale.

The Kirpi can accommodate 13 personnel. It can move over any ground condition at a maximum speed of 105 kilometers per hour.

In 2011, BMC was in talks with Iraq and Afghanistan to sell scores of the Kirpi to the insurgency-weary countries. Industry sources say they see significant demand for the Kirpi in countries exposed to the risk of mine and ballistic attack threats.

They also predict substantial foreign demand for the MRAP vehicle, including some Asian and African countries. BMC was planning to launch a special production line for right-hand drive version of the Kirpi.

Separately, SSM has recently announced a two-way competition for the acquisition of 184 tracked and 76 wheeled armored weapon carriers (a total of 260 vehicles). In late June, the office sent requests for proposal to two local armored vehicle manufacturers, Otokar and FNSS.

Procurement officials estimate this contract to be anywhere between $150 million and $200 million.
Presently, the Turkish army transports weapons with its aging M-113 armored carriers, Land Rovers and Willy’s.

In 2006, SSM announced competition for the purchase of 1,075 4×4 wheeled weapon carriers, issuing requests for a proposal in 2008. Local manufacturers Otokar, FNSS, Hema, Nurol and BMC submitted bids but in 2010 SSM canceled the competition.

Poll: Americans say Snowden isn’t a traitor

July 22, 2013 By administrator

A new poll suggests American voters disagree with how many Washington lawmakers are characterizing National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, as reported by the website of MSNBC TV.

Approximately 55% of American voters view Snowden as a “whistle-blower,” according to new Quinnipiac University poll. Only 34% consider him a “traitor” for revealing details on two of the nation’s top secret surveillance programs.

A majority view him as a whistle-blower in every subgroup–political party, gender, income, education, and age–except for African -American voters, among whom 43% call him a traitor and 42% a whistle-blower.

Researchers also spotted a “massive swing in public opinion” when it comes to how the public feels about spying programs in relation to civil liberties. Now, 45% of voters say the government goes way too far restricting civil liberties in regard to its anti-terrorism efforts. That’s a big switch from 2010 when 63% felt the government didn’t go far enough in its efforts to protect the country from terrorists.

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac polling institute, said “the massive swing in public opinion about civil liberties and governmental anti-terrorism efforts, and the public view that Edward Snowden is more whistle-blower than traitor, are the public reaction and apparent shock at the extent to which the government has gone in trying to prevent future terrorist incidents.”

Greece’s summer music and camping festivals

July 21, 2013 By administrator

By Yiota Sykka

For older generations, the mountainous area of Grammos on the Greek-Albanian border is associated with dark memories from the four-year civil war of 1946-49. But for the past few decades, the region has attracted hundreds of young people who yearn to explore the battlefields in which their relatives fought and died, and to appreciate the area’s beauty and its vibrant natural environment. At many of its small cafes you will invariably come across an elderly woman ready to tell her war stories during the day, whereas at night, the same cafes are filled with young people eager to share their experiences from the Nestorio River Party.

About 25 kilometers from the city of Kastoria, it’s not just the sounds of the famous brass bands that attract visitors, but also the hoards of young people enjoying themselves. The festival has been around for 35 years, and it is no longer attracting just locals; rather, visitors travel to this area from all over the country, including from Crete and the Peloponnese. The festival is an environmentally- and pocket-friendly way to tour this part of Greece.

The Nestorio River Party is considered Greece’s oldest and most popular camping festival – last year it drew 50,000 campers.

It began in 1978, growing into a festival from an end-of-summer party organized by a group of 18-year-olds.

In 2012, it was dubbed one of Europe’s 12 most important festivals by the Europe Festival Awards.

This year, the festival, which will mark its 35th anniversary, will run from July 31 to August 4. Some of the performers include popular acts such as Giannis Aggelakas, Socrates Malamas, Tzimis Panousis, Imam Baildi and Kostis Maraveyas.

Changing landscape

According to Dionysis Potsolakis, one of the country’s oldest and most experienced concert organizers, the Greek live music landscape is changing drastically.

“There used to be a category of event that was first held in Attica and then traveled to remote villages and were supported by municipal authorities. It would present two to three singers, a couple of theatrical shows and a dance performance or two, and all of this would be molded together into a week of festivities. These events were paid for by the municipality, which rarely made profit,” said Potsolakis. “The market essentially collapsed with the merger of municipalities in 2010. Concerts are still held today, but purely because of private initiatives.”

With the cash all but dried up, most acts and producers are looking for alternative ways to get their music out there, with the artists especially becoming more willing to adopt concepts they may have snubbed a few years ago, as well as significant reductions to their pay checks. Potsolakis added that another consequence of the crisis is that the public has become more selective about where it will spend its hard-earned euros.

“The public no longer has the money it once had. So now people think more about how much they have to spend – which is rarely much. If, say, back in the day someone would put aside 100 euros to spend on concerts over the course of a year, now they would probably have no more than 30 euros. This means that someone will choose to splurge on three concerts – each costing 10 euro. Back in the day, you would pay for five concerts – each costing 20 euros. Sometimes you can find tickets for 8 euros, but you can’t expect much in terms of quality,” Potsolakis added.

According to the organizer, camping festivals like that at Nestrio and Fokida have come to be considered the most pocket-friendly way to enjoy good music, combined with a brief nature break.

“With five days of musical events that include 30 concerts and camping accommodation, all for 50 euros, a festival like the Nestorio River Party, is a bargain. Interest in attending such events has increased over the last few years,” Potsolakis said. “The crisis has surely helped the popularity of such festivals. If back in the day a group of friends had 800 euros to spend on a vacation, now they have 200 – which is just enough for five days at the River Party.”

However, the Nestorio River Party is not the only camping music festival to take place in Greece.

The Sounds of the Forest

Two-and-half hours from Athens, on the outskirts of the village of Kaloskopi in Fokida, central Greece, the Sounds of the Forest Festival, running through July 21, celebrates 12 years marked by alternating locations – four in all to date – allowing the public to become better acquainted with the mountains of Fokida.

“With the passage of time, we realized that moving the festival would prove difficult for its success, mainly because of financial reasons. During the festival’s first few years, it did not have the necessary support, but it managed to become a hit with time,” said Panagiotis Koniakos of Elia, an association that deals with regional development and is also the festival’s main organizer, working together with the Fokida Regional Authority, the Municipality of Gravia and the Community of Kaloskopi.

“Now we are now almost able to self-finance everything, though we do receive some limited support from the regional authority. We hope to do better; all of our revenues are reinvested in the event,” Koniakos added.

Last year, the festival had 4,500 visitors and even more are expected to attend this year to enjoy acts such as Mode Plagal and Orpheas Peridis.

“With three-day passes priced at 20 euros and four concerts per day, we can’t hide the fact that financially we are struggling,” Koniakos admitted, adding the festival was started by a group of friends.

“They had an ecological and social conscience, and created an association in the hopes of improving the region through the implementation of alternative actions,” Koniakos, who joined the association in 2008 after leaving Athens, explained.

“We’re all volunteers here. This is a powerful form of entertainment and it shows that gradual changes are taking place in us Greeks, who are starting to ask for more out of life,” Koniakos said.

Mouson Festival

Also in northern Greece, in Elatohori in the region of Pieria, the Mouson Festival runs through July 22 in what is only its second year of operation. It is named after the nine muses of Greek mythology.

The event features acts such as Lakis Papadopoulos, Ble and Thanasis Papaconstantinou, while parallel activities include a bazaar, a photography exhibition, environmental awareness campaigns and a music seminar, among others.

‘Facts should drive’ Genocide analysis, says UN Ambassador-nominee Samantha Power

July 19, 2013 By administrator

UN Ambassador-nominee Samantha Power said during her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday that “facts should drive” analysis of Genocide, Asbarez reported.

This came in response to a series of questions from committee chairman, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who was probing Power’s position on Genocide, given her past record of being an advocate for Armenian Genocide recognition.

Power played an instrumental role in getting Sen. Obama to issue a strongly-worded statement on the Armenian Genocide and Armenian issues in general during Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She also made a video in which she recounted Sen. Obama’s outstanding record on issues of special concern to Armenian Americans, including his “very forthright statement on the Armenian Genocide; his support for the Senate Resolution acknowledging the Genocide; his willingness as President to commemorate it and call a ’spade a spade’; and to speak the truth about it.”

Power failed to deliver—just as the Obama Administration—on her pledge to get US recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

“Is genocide, genocide when all of the facts that we observe would lead to a conclusion that a genocide has taken place, or is that only when it is convenient to acknowledge it as genocide?” asked Menendez.

“The former, the facts should drive the analysis,” responded Power.

“And if the facts drive the analysis, then we should call that set of actions–whether historical in nature or present, god forbid–in reality a genocide,” queried Menendez.

“I believe so, yes,” said Power.

“Is violation of human rights a violation of human rights depending upon where it takes place, or is it universal?” asked Menendez, to which Power responded: “Universal, sir.”

“I think you understand why I asked you those questions. And I hope that your past history in this regard–even in the context of understanding the new role that you’ll play–will not diminish your fire for making the case internally why genocide should be called genocide when the historical facts attain themselves to that standard,” Menendez told Power, who had no response to the statement.

Menendez told Power that he is “incredibly appreciative of the principled position you’ve taken on the Armenian Genocide.”

At the start of the highly anticipated and widely broadcast hearing, Chairman Menendez noted that, “You have been an unrelenting, principled voice when it comes to human rights and crimes against humanity – and I know that voice will be heard around the world — should you be confirmed,” adding: “Personally, I am incredibly appreciative of the principled position you’ve taken on the Armenian Genocide. In 2007, you wrote in Time Magazine – ‘a stable, fruitful, 21st century relationship’ [with Turkey] cannot be built on a lie,’ and I completely agree,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

The New Jersey Democrat also stressed that, “Your belief that we should use the lessons of what clearly was an atrocity of historic proportions to prevent future crimes against humanity is a view consistent with my own and which is supported by your role on the President’s Atrocities Prevention Board. I agree that we must acknowledge and study the past, understand how and why atrocities happen, to put-into-practice and giving meaning to the phrase, “never again.”
In 2003, Power received the Pulitzer Prize in literature for the best general non-fiction book was awarded to Samantha Power for her book “A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide.”

Power’s book revisited the Armenian Genocide–the Holocaust–Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge–Iraqi attacks on Kurdish populations–Rwanda–and Bosnian ethnic cleansing. Power makes a compelling argument that US intervention in all these instances of genocide has been inadequate.

Sen. Menendez praises Samantha Power’s stance on Genocide

July 19, 2013 By administrator

July 19, 2013 – 10:36 AMT

Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, opened his hearing on the confirmation of Samantha Power to serve as U.N. Ambassador by telling her that he is “incredibly appreciative of the principled position you’ve taken on the Armenian Genocide,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).