exchange Archives

Erdogan Suggests Release of Jailed U.S. Pastor in Exchange for Gulen Extradition

October 1, 2017 by administrator

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that Ankara will free detained American pastor Andrew Brunson if Washington extradites exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

“‘Give us the pastor back,’ they say. You have one pastor as well. Give him to us…then we will try him and give him to you,” Erdogan said during a speech to police officers at the presidential palace in Ankara on Sept. 28, RT reported.

Turkey accuses Gulen of being behind last year’s failed coup attempt in the country.

“The [pastor] we have is on trial. Yours is not—he is living in Pennsylvania. You can give him easily. You can give him right away,” Erdogan went on.

Brunson was detained in Turkey on terrorism charges last October. As the pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church—a small Protesant church with about 25 congregants—Brunson was applying for Turkish permanent residency, having lived there 23 years, when he was imprisoned on Oct. 7, 2016, accused of being a member of the Gulen movement.

The U.S. says the pastor has been wrongfully imprisoned and has called for his release. According to a letter to the president of Turkey signed by 78 members of the U.S. Congress in February, “There appears to be no evidence to substantiate the charges against him for membership in an armed terrorist organization.”

U.S. President Donald Trump also asked Ankara to return Brunson to the U.S. in May, according to a statement released by the White House.

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Iran, Armenia to quadruple power exchange volume

December 5, 2016 by administrator

Iran’s Energy Minister has announced that the capacity of electricity exchange between the Islamic Republic and Armenia will soon grow from 300 to 1200 MWs, Mehr News Agency reports.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 14th session of Iran-Armenia Joint Commission also attended by the Armenian Minister of Energy Infrastructure and Natural Resources Ashot Manukyan, Iranian Minister Hamid Chitchian said the joint session tackled implementation of the third power transmission line, North-South Transit Corridor as well as construction of a pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Black Smea.

He pointed to the upcoming visit of Armenia’s president to Iran’s capital in the near future, asserting that “the arrival in Tehran of Serzh Sargsyan would offer the best opportunity for the development of bilateral cooperation between Iran and Armenia in energy sector and economy.”

The official, while stressing that several platforms exist for expanding and deepening bilateral relations between the two states, also said that the 14th session of Iran-Armenia Joint Commission will pave the path for further bolstering of ties in various fields like rail, aviation, agriculture, livestock, water, electricity, mining, petroleum, petrochemicals and tourism sectors.”

Chitchian also dwelled upon electricity exchange between Iran and Armenia underlining that creation of infrastructures and construction of new transmission lines will raise volume and capacity of power exchanges between the two states.

Referring to commencement of constructing the third electricity transmission pipeline between the two sides, Iran’s energy minister said implementation of the new project will bring a fourfold rise in the capacity of power exchanges between the two countries.

Also, Chitchian voiced Iran’s readiness to step up economic cooperation with Armenia reiterating that the two neighboring countries could boost economic and energy relations more than in the past.

Artsakh rules out exchange of Azeri saboteurs for pilots’ bodies: official

November 21, 2014 by administrator

Stepanakert has no intention to exchange the Azerbaijani saboteurs for the bodies of pilots of Nagorno Karabakh’s helicopter downed by Azeri armed forces during a training flight on Nov 12.

Artsakh President’s spokesman David Babayan has ruled out such a possibility, according to RFE/RL.

Commenting on the developments, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said the issue should be resolved by the NKR authorities. “These saboteurs have committed a crime. They are standing trial and must be punished. Our diplomatic efforts resulted in a statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, who urged Azerbaijan to stop fire and allow access to the remains,” he said.

Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov are undergoing trial in Stepanakert. The two Azeris were caught making an incursion into Armenian territory (Karvachar) in summer 2014. The third one, Hasan Hasanov, was killed, and his body was handed over to Baku earlier in October. The actions of the group left an underage resident of Karvachar and an Armenian serviceman killed, as well as one woman wounded.

A video containing footage of interrogation of Baku-captured Armenian serviceman Hakob Injighulyan was found in Askerov’s video camera, the saboteur unable to explain how the footage was obtained.

Earlier, Baku offered to exchange the saboteurs for then-captive Injighulyan and Karen Petrosyan, a villager, who died in captivity.

Meanwhile, Artsakh defense army reported that the number of ceasefire violations along the line of contact has increased, with 190 violations registered on the night of Nov 21.
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