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Turkey capitulate agrees to let German lawmakers visit troops

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turkey,BERLIN – Reuters,

Turkey has agreed to let German lawmakers visit soldiers serving at an air base in Turkey next month as part of a NATO trip, according to a letter from the German foreign minister showed on Aug. 8, after Ankara refused a visit there in July.

A letter from German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to the head of Germany’s parliamentary defense committee said Turkey had agreed to a NATO proposal for a visit to the air base near Konya on Sept. 8.

Under the plan, NATO’s Deputy General-Secretary Rose Gottemoeller would lead the delegation and take up to seven members of the parliamentary committee with her.

“The Turkish foreign minister has agreed to this proposal,” Gabriel wrote.

Details are reportedly still being worked out about which lawmakers would be included in the visit. Turkey had objected particularly strenuously to participation by members of Germany’s far-left Left party, which Ankara accuses of “supporting terrorists.”

Repeated refusals by Ankara to let lawmakers visit German soldiers at the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey prompted Berlin to relocate those troops to Jordan. Turkey also refused a visit from German MPs to the Konya base planned for mid-July.

Germany’s armed forces are under parliamentary control and Berlin insists lawmakers must have access to them.

On Aug. 7, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Germany of “assisting terrorists” by not responding to files sent from Ankara to Berlin or handing over suspects wanted by the Turkish authorities.

UAE foreign minister Shaikh Abdulla visits Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex

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UAE foreign minister visits Armenian Genocide Memorial Yerevan, July 19 (BNA): UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, H.H. Shaikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Tuesday visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex as part of his official visit to Armenia.
According to the UAE News Agency (WAM), Shaikh Abdulla placed a wreath on the memorial commemorating the 1.5 million Armenians killed during the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

The UAE Minister also observed a minute’s silence for the victims, and placed flowers under a 1.5 metre deep “eternal flame”, which burns throughout the year in memory of those who died.

Shaikh Abdulla expressed his appreciation at the privilege of visiting the monument, stressing the UAE’s keenness to promote the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among people and spread those messages throughout the world.

The memorial, which was built in 1967, is located on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd overlooking Yerevan and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
Many thousands gather there on April 24th each year to mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, WAM said.

Journalists from Egypt visit Tsitsernakaberd Memorial complex

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egyptian journalist visit Tsitsernakaberd MemorialFive Egyptian journalists who visited Armenia on the first regular flight of “Air Cairo” Airlines, visited number of Armenia’s sightseeing, Garni, Geghard, Lake Sevan, Tsakhkadzor, Echmiadzin, and Matenadaran Scientific Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts named after Mesrop Mashtots.
The Egyptian journalists also visited Tsitsernakaberd Memorial complex to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Hakob Berberyan, who accompanied the foreigners, told Panorama.am the journalist themselves wished to visit the Memorial complex.

“They knew well the story of the Armenian Genocide,” Berberyan added.

Kazakh president starts official visit to Armenia

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The president of Kazakhstan on Wednesday started his two-day official visit to Armenia.

Arriving at the Zvartnots International Airport, Emomali Rahmon  was greeted by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The presidential press service said earlier that the Kazakh leader is scheduled to have meetings with top government officials in the course of the visit.

After high-level talks at the Presidential Palace in Yerevan, the Armenian and Kazakh leaders will join a ceremony of signing bilateral interstate documents.

They will later hold a joint press conference to sum up the meeting.

Ankara maintains ban on German visit to Incirlik base

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Ankara maintains ban on German visit to Incirlik baseAnkara, June 5, 2017 (AFP) – Turkish foreign ministers said on Monday that German deputies were still not allowed to visit the incirlik military base in southern Turkey where German soldiers are deployed .

“At present, it is possible (to the Germans) to visit the NATO base in Konya (center), but not Incirlik,” Mevlüt Cavusoglu told a joint press conference with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in Ankara.

The latter said “regret” this decision, reiterating that Germany could, if necessary, “transfer its soldiers” elsewhere. However, “there is not yet a decision or concrete plan” in this sense, added Mr. Gabriel.

This issue has caused a renewed tension between Ankara and Berlin, two partners within NATO whose relations have deteriorated in recent months, notably since the missed putsch of July 15.

Ankara banned German parliamentarians in mid-May from traveling to Incirlik to meet German soldiers deployed there. Turkey justified its ban by accusing Berlin of granting political asylum to Turkish nationals, including soldiers accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being linked to the July coup attempt. The Incirlik base, located in southern Turkey, is used in particular for the operations of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke last month about possible “alternative solutions to Incirlik”, such as Jordan. Another subject of tension between Ankara and Berlin is the case of Deniz Yücel, a binational journalist imprisoned since February in Turkey where he is accused of “espionage” and “terrorist” activities.

“The accusation is not related to journalistic activities, but with terrorist activities,” said Mr. Cavusoglu on Monday, adding, before Gabriel, that “European intelligence agencies use journalists as spies “.

After his Turkish counterpart, Mr. Gabriel was to be received in the afternoon by President Erdogan.

On the other hand, a planned meeting with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was canceled by the Turkish side because of an “overloaded agenda”, a Turkish official told AFP.

30 bloggers announce a trip to Artsakh

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“Artsakhakertum” non-governmental organization along with Artsakh Journalists Union organizes an international forum of bloggers in Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic) on March 19-20 with around 30 bloggers from 11 states expected to attend the event.

As the organizers of the forum inform, the main topic of the discussion will be the coverage of conflicts on social media and the mechanism to guarantee the freedom of journalists and bloggers.

Famous Russian blogger Anton Nosik is among the participants of the forum as he has announced about it on his personal blog accompanied by a quote from Russian poet and essayist Osip Mandelstam. The latter was known for his affection and close bonds to ancient Armenian land of Artsakh and Armenians.

Nosik has commented on the possibility of being placed on the so-called Azerbaijani “black list” for what it claims to be an ‘illegal visit’, saying he does not care much about that.

“Azerbaijani existence as a sovereign state is a historic mistake and an embarrassment,” the blogger wrote.

The organization of the forum comes a month after the extradition of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin from Belarus to Azerbaijan. Lapshin was wanted by Azerbaijan after visiting the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) and criticizing the Azerbaijani leadership.

Azerbaijani prosecutors launched a criminal case into “repeated public anti-state calls” and “illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s state border,” punishable with a prison term of five to eight years.

The extradition and persecution against Lapshin was widely slammed as a gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of speech and movement.

Greek foreign minister to visit Armenia

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The foreign minister of Greece is starting a three-day official visit to Armenia on Friday, March 10.
Upon his arrival in Yerevan, Nikolaos Kotzias will be greeted by the President of Armenia and and the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Foreign Ministry’s press service reports.
The Greek official is scheduled to have meetings with Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan.
Later the same day, he will meet with FM Edward Nalbandian for private talks and a subsequent news conference.

 

Armenian ambassador to US visits Fresno State

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FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) —

The ambassador of Armenia stopped by Fresno State during his visit to the Valley Saturday.

He visited the university’s Armenian Genocide Monument and paid tribute to the martyrs of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The ambassador said the monument is a tremendous expression of solidarity.

“This monument is a powerful symbol we feel creates solidarity and commitment to fighting injustices in the future,” ambassador Grigor Hovhannissian said. “It’s very good that students see this.”

The ambassador formally invited Fresno State president Joseph Castro to visit Armenia.

Turks visit the last Armenian family of Derik on the occasion of the Holy Nativity

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In Derik is a town and a district of the province of Mardin in the south-east of Turkey, a group of inhabitants visited the only Armenian family in the region, on the occasion of the Nativity. According to the Turkish site Mardinlife, among the group of people who visited Derik’s only Armenian family, the writer Eyoub Gyuven said that the Armenians are among the peoples originating from the region and it is to congratulate the birth of Christ, the group visited with gifts to the last Armenian family that of Nayif Demirdji.

“The fact that Armenians have left this region is of great problem, but we remember them and bring them our congratulations on the occasion of the Holy Nativity” said Eyoub Gyuven. Recall that the Armenians did not leave the region of Mardin of their own free will. As on all the Ottoman Empire they were victims of the genocide between 1915 and 1923. Armenians who were massacred, died on the road of exile or who fled so as not to suffer the death programmed by the Turkish authorities.

Krikor Amirzayan

Iran’s President to Visit Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan

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The trip to Yerevan will be made at the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, and is aimed at boosting bilateral relations and deepening mutual cooperation with neighbours and regional states, Esmaeili added.

Rouhani will then pay official visits to Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as well.