President Serzh Sargsyan hailed the dynamically developing Armenian-Greek relations, praising the local Armenian community’s role in the continuing partnership and dialogue.
Speaking at a news conference held jointly with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the Armenian leader said that the nation will never forget the Greek people’s attention and care to the Armenian Genocide survivors in the country.
“We will never forget the Greek brothers’ assistance and the broad opportunities offered to the Armenians to live and create in the new fatherland. I highly appreciate Armenia’s principled stance on the recognition and condemnation of that extremely grave crime. Greece reaffirmed its commitment to that, adopting the Anti-Racism and Xenophobia Bill (9 September, 2014) ahead of our national tragedy’s centennial to criminalize also the Armenian Genocide denial. It thus addressed an exemplary message to the world civilization. In turn, the National Assembly of Armenia unanimously adopted the statement on condemning the genocide of Assyrians and Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. This vividly proves that the spirit of solidarity has for centuries united and will keep uniting our peoples,” the president said.
Tsipras: Iran-Armenia-Greece collaboration is full of prospect
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who is on an official visit to Greece, on Tuesday laid a wreath to the Armenian Genocide monument in the Greek capital city of Athens, and paid tribute to the victims of this tragedy.
Subsequently, the President met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece.
The interlocutors underscored the need to make bilateral cooperation grow deeper in several domains, and to promote mutual investments and contacts between the business circles of the two countries.
Tsipras, for his part, considered the development of Iran-Armenia-Greece collaboration to be full of prospect, too. He added that Greece sees opportunities also in the establishment of cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union, and wishes to contribute to this objective. In addition, the Greek PM expressed readiness to assist in the development of Armenia-EU relations.
Separately, the Armenian President and the Greek PM exchanged views on current international matters, challenges, and regional developments.
Alexis Tsipras stressed that Greece supports the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through peace talks, and within the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.
The tête-à-tête between the President of Armenia and the Prime Minister of Greece was followed by the talks in an expanded format.
Subsequently, the parties signed documents aimed at the development of Armenian-Greek cooperation in a number of domains.
President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras summed up the results of the negotiations with joint statements before the media.
Greece: Serzh Sargsyan chairs top-level Armenian-Greek talks in Athens
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Greece on an official visit, has chaired a top-level meeting in the country’s capital, Athens, after private talks with his Greek counterpart, Prokopios Pavlopoulos.
The Armenian leader hailed the two countries’ centuries-old friendship, praising the traditions inherited from the dawn of civilization. “Representing two ancient civilizations, the Armenian and Greek peoples created culture side by side, leaving their trace on the chapters of world history. They struggled side by side, earning the right to existence. And they stand side by stand also today – as bearers of shared values and morals. Relying on that heritage, we continue strengthening the Armenian-Greek friendship which gained an interstate importance 24 years ago.
“Today, we have an enriched bilateral agenda, ranging from an active political dialogue to cooperation in education and culture. We are closely collaborating in the military sector. Greece is among our key partners in the Armenia-EU relations. The high-ranking visits, which have become repeated, give us an opportunity to outline new prospects of cooperation. A fair example of this statement of mine is my current visit, which is aimed at upgrading our economic relations to a new level, relying on the existing potential,” he said.
Greeting President Sargsyan and his delegation, the Greek leader agreed that the official visit demonstrates the willingness to develop and deepen cooperation in most different sectors. Noting that the two nations are tied by the firm bonds of history and friendship, Mr Pavlopoulos said he thinks that the existing high-level interstate relations were shaped over the course of centuries, resisting the hardships and challenges of time.
“In the early 20th century, the two peoples experienced moments of suffering that had a common cause. History bears witness to that, describing the [plight] of the Armenian people, the Pontic Greeks and those in Asia Minor. We will never forget the 1915 Armenian Genocide. We are proud that Greece was among the first countries to give home to the Armenian exiles and also the first country to recognize the Genocide against Armenians, with the Armenian parliament, on the other hand, recognizing the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks. We must bear in mind, Mr President, to that historical memory is important for humanity’s collective existence, as well as from the point of view of its future,” he added.
The Greek president further spoke of broad possibilities of development and the bilateral ties promising good perspectives.
Greece to Become Bridge Between Iran, EU – Prime Minister
Greece intends to become an economic and energy bridge between the European Union and Iran, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Tsipras arrived in Tehran to strengthen political and economic ties with Iran, including in the energy field.
“Greece will become an energy, economic and trade bridge between Iran and European Union,” Tsipras said, as quoted by the Mega television channel.
The two counties can cooperate in technology and innovation, energy, trade and culture sectors, the prime minister said.
Greece and Iran launched discussions to resume Iranian oil deliveries to Greece two weeks ago, after Tehran was found in compliance of a landmark nuclear deal allowing the lifting of years-long sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran delivered an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil per day to Greece in 2011, a figure equaling one-third of the Hellenic Republic’s total oil imports.
In 2012, Iran’s oil exports were slashed in half after the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions against Tehran as punishment for what they believed was Iran’s covert pursuit of nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program.
Greece: Thousands protest pension reforms in Greek capital
Thousands of people have poured onto the streets of the Greek Athens to voice their outrage at the government’s planned pension reforms demanded by international lenders under the debt-ridden country’s third bailout package.
White-collar professionals, including doctors, lawyers and engineers took part in Thursday’s event outside the Greek parliament.
Waving their neckties and banging drums, the demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Quit, Quit,” “Take back this law, I can’t pay you, Alexis,” in reference to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
“No to the law that dumps us in the street,” read one of the banners held during the 6,000-strong protest.
Greece’s leftist government recently drafted pension reforms, which will increase social security contributions and recalibrate future pensions.
“According to this proposed law, 84 percent of our earnings will go to taxes and other contributions (to the state),” said an engineer who introduced himself as Haris.
Dinos Diamantis, another engineer, also criticized the reforms, accusing the Greek officials of forcing people out of their profession.
“With this law … all engineers and self-employed professionals are closing their offices and they are being forced to leave Greece, just like the 200,000 scientists and professionals that have already left,” said Diamantis.
Lawyer Panayiota Bourletidou, described the legislation as both punishing and illogical, warning that it will take away about 80 percent of a self-employed professional’s income if combined with tax thresholds.
In July last year, Greece signed a deal with its creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – to receive an EUR 86-billion (USD 96-billion) bailout in exchange for fresh austerity reforms in the cash-strapped Mediterranean state.
Tsipras agreed to the demands for austerity measures by lenders in exchange for the bailout deal. The decision triggered outrage from Greeks, who argue that the premier came to power on an anti-austerity platform.
Greece has already received two bailouts in 2010 and 2012, worth a total of EUR 240 billion (USD 272 billion) from its creditors following the economic crisis in the Southeast European country back in 2009.
Greek coast guard confronts Turkish smuggler with dead children migrant bodies
Yorgo Kırbaki – ATHENS,
The Greek coast guard has confronted a Turkish human smuggler with the dead bodies of three migrant children who were in his capsized boat “as a lesson,” while charging the trafficker with 120 years of imprisonment.
The smuggler, identified only as Özkan A., was trafficking 23 migrants, including six children and five women, to the Greek island of Samos when his boat capsized off Turkey’s Aegean coast.
While Özkan A. and 20 of the migrants were rescued by the search and rescue foundation Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), three children were retrieved dead. According to reports, two of the children were four years old and the other was two years old.
After the MOAS rescue boat docked at Samos Island, Greek coast guard teams entered the boat and handcuffed Özkan A., before forcing him to kneel and confront the bodies of the children who lost their lives.
Video footage of the incident has emerged showing the smuggler as he sits and cries watching the toddlers as they are placed inside coffins.
Özkan A. has confessed to being paid $3,000 each time he smuggled a boat of migrants to Greece, saying he previously trafficked migrants to the islands of Lesbos and Samos, Doğan News Agency reported.
He now faces up to 120 years in prison, reports added.
Daily Hürriyet contacted the father of Özkan A., who lives in the Milas district of Turkey’s southwestern Muğla province.
The father claimed that his son had behavioral disorders and psychological problems, for which he had received medical treatment until 2013.
“He [Özkan A.] has the intelligence of a six-year-old,” he said, adding that his son had left home and phoned the family on Jan. 13 but they had not heard from him since.
Greek islands in the Aegean Sea saw more than 800,000 migrants – many of them refugees fleeing war-torn Syria – land on their shores from Turkey in 2015, their first EU stop on a journey to new lives in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere.
Turkey itself has taken in over 2 million refugees from neighboring Syria where a conflict has been continuing since the early days of 2011.
January/19/2016
President: Greece plays huge part in Armenia relations with EU and NATO
YEREVAN. – The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Thursday met with the visiting Minister of National Defence of Greece, Panagiotis “Panos” Kammenos.
The President welcomed the guest to Armenia, and expressed the hope that the Greek minister will have constructive and productive meetings in capital city Yerevan, giving new impetus to cooperation of the two friendship states in the area of defense, which has traditionally been one of the cornerstones of Armenian-Greek state relations.
Highlighting that the warm relations between Armenia and Greece were formed on a strong historical basis, Sargsyan stressed the importance of common approaches toward different issues of international agenda, and the role of Greece in the context of Armenia-EU and RA-NATO relations, and cooperation in peacekeeping.
The President highly valued the regular reciprocal visits between the defense ministries of the two countries, which, in his words, enable to discuss the prospects for cooperation. Serzh Sargsyan also welcomed the agreements reached during Minister Kammenos’ visit, and which are aimed at deepening and invigorating bilateral cooperation.
The Minister of National Defence of Greece, for his part, thanked the President for the warm welcome he received in Armenia and the mutual readiness to develop cooperation in the area of defense. He assured the President of Armenia that excellent cooperation has been established with the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, and that Armenian-Greek military and technical cooperation will continue to grow through mutual efforts, including military education and peacekeeping.
At the ensuing talk, the parties spoke about the regional and international security issues and challenges, and the current phase in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Greek Jets Target Intruding Turkish F-16 Fighter
A Turkish jet intruded into Greek airspace, which according to the Turkish General Staff, led two Greek jets to keep a radar lock on it as a target.
Two Greek F-16 fighter jets held a radar lock on a Turkish F-16 over the Aegean Sea, the Turkish General Staff said on Thursday.
Turkey refuses to recognize a 10-mile airspace zone around Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, which led to 1,233 airspace violations so far this year, 31 of which took place over Greek territory. On November 24, Turkey shot down a Russian jet over Syria for an alleged airspace violation.
“The Turkish F-16 fighter jet was conducting a training flight over neutral waters. During its mission, two Greek air force F-16s began pursuing our fighter jet, holding it as a target on the radar for three minutes and 40 seconds,” the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.
The General Staff’s statement added that its pilots demonstrated “the necessary reaction.”
Turkey has a long history of intruding Greek airspace, with incidents rising over the past several years, to 1,269 in 2014. Intruding flights over Greek territory have more than doubled in 2015, compared to the previous year.
Reuters: Israel trained against Russian-made air defense system in Greece: sources
Russian S-300 anti-missile rocket system move along a central street during a rehearsal for a military parade in Moscow May 4, 2009. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin
Israel has quietly tested ways of defeating an advanced air-defence system that Russia has deployed in the Middle East and that could limit Israel’s ability to strike in Syria or Iran, military and diplomatic sources said.
The sources said a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft system, sold to Cyprus 18 years ago but now located on the Greek island of Crete, had been activated during joint drills between the Greek and Israeli air forces in April-May this year.
The activation allowed Israel’s warplanes to test how the S-300’s lock-on system works, gathering data on its powerful tracking radar and how it might be blinded or bluffed.
One defense source in the region said Greece had done so at the request of the United States, Israel’s chief ally, on at least one occasion in the past year. It was unclear whether Israel had shared its findings with its allies.
“Part of the maneuvers involved pitting Israeli jets against Greek anti-aircraft systems,” one source said. Two other sources said the Crete S-300 was among the systems turned on.
The sources spoke to Reuters on condition they not be identified by name or nationality. The Greek and Israeli militaries declined to confirm or deny any use of the S-300 system during drills held in the Eastern Mediterranean last April-May or similar exercises in 2012 and 2010.
A senior Greek Defence Ministry official, asked whether the system was operating during Greek-Israeli military exercises, said: “At this moment the S-300 is not in operation.” He said Athens’ general policy was not to permit any other country to test the system’s abilities.
The S-300, first deployed at the height of the Cold War in 1979, can engage multiple aircraft and ballistic missiles up to 300 km (186 miles) away. Israel is concerned by Russia’s plan to supply S-300s to Iran.
Israel says Egypt, with which it has a cold peace, has bought a variant of the system. The Israelis also worry about Moscow’s announcement last month that it will deploy the S-300 or the kindred system S-400 from its own arsenal in Syria, in response to Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian jet there.
Israel has bombed Syrian targets on occasion and is loath to run up against the Russians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met President Vladimir Putin at least twice in recent weeks to discuss coordination and try to avoid accidents.
LEARNING FROM FRIENDS
Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military expert with the Royal United Services Institute in London, said that for Israel training against the Crete S-300 would be “precisely what you need” to study the system’s radar frequency, pattern and reach.
“If you know all these details then you are perfectly fitted to replicate this same signal, which means you have a chance to imitate, to sort of bluff-echo” the S-300, he said.
“You can brutally jam it,” he said. “You can take the signal and return it, and then you send another ping which imitates the same signal. So instead of one target, the radar operator sees three, five or 10 and he does not know where to fire.”
Tal Inbar, senior scholar for the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies near Tel Aviv, said S-300s in areas where Israel operates or might want to operate would challenge its advanced, U.S.-backed military – but not insuperably so.
“In general, any system can be defeated this way or that. Some are harder and some are easier,” he said. “The rule of thumb is that if your friends have a system that you are interested in, you can learn all kinds of things about it.”
The Crete S-300 was originally bought by Cyprus in 1997, triggering a vitriolic response from Turkey, its decades-old adversary. Under pressure from Britain and NATO, then Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides agreed to store the S-300 on Crete. A 2007 Greek-Cypriot arms swap formally transferred it to Athens.
Greece has experienced a boom in ties with Israel since Israel’s once-strong alliance with Turkey broke down in 2010.
After this year’s joint drill, Israel’s official air force journal said maneuvers had involved all of Greece’s air combat arm and “other apparatuses”. It offered no details, but quoted an Israeli air force captain as saying the exercise had fostered “flexibility in thinking and dealing with the unknown”.
(Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Luke Baker and Janet McBride)
Source: Reuters.com
Armenia and Greece MODs sign 2016 military cooperation plan
YEREVAN. – A delegation from the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Armenia, and led by head of the MOD Department of Defense Policy Levon Ayvazyan, paid a visit to Greece on Monday.
The Armenian MOD informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that, during the trip, Ayvazyan met with several high-ranking Greek military officials.
At the talks, the parties discussed the avenues for the development and deepening of Armenia-Greece military cooperation, the present-day situation in the region, and some other matters of bilateral interest.
As a result of the visit, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and the Ministry of National Defense of Greece signed a military cooperation plan for 2016.
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