Strained Ties With Armenia ‘Undermine Turkey’s Clout’

Turkey will only boost its international standing if it agrees to unconditionally normalize relations with Armenia, according to Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian.

In an interview with CNN aired late on Wednesday, Sarkisian also indicated that he supports, in principle, Turkey’s eventual membership in the European Union.

“It’s not just an issue for Armenia,” he said, commenting on historically strained relations between the two neighboring states. “Turkey’s political clout and weight will only grow if Turkey follows international rules of the game. Its clout is undermined by problems that Turkey is continuing to have with its neighbors.”

“Turkey should continue to carry out the democratic reforms on the path towards EU accession, in which case we are able to easily build a sustainable relationship with our neighboring country,” added Sarkisian.  Read more... (392 words)

Left-wing political forces to unite ahead of Armenia elections

We will try to unite left-wing political forces and join the parliamentary race in a united front, Aram G. Sargsyan, the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia, told a news conference today.

He said a conference will be held in the first week of July to present the “alternative to the political course,” and that all leftist political forces, including the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun and the Communist Party of Armenia, will be invited to attend.

“We want people to have an alternative,” Sargsyan said. “The democratic socialism – working in Europe and in a way in China – should be established in Armenia too. Our conference agenda will include the issue of establishing democratic socialism in Armenia.”  Read more... (152 words)

Karabakh: Mediators upbeat on peace prospects as they testify in European Parliament

International mediators expressed more hopes for a breakthrough in the protracted Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh as they testified before a key European Parliament committee on Wednesday.

During the hearings of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh at the session of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee staged less than two weeks before a Russia-hosted summit of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, expected to result in the sides’ approving some sort of a framework agreement, the United States and French cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group (the group’s presidency also includes Russia) reported on their activities in recent years, including efforts to help the sides negotiate a peace deal around the so-called Madrid Principles proposed to the parties to the conflict in 2007.  Read more... (403 words)

Exhibit on Armenian architects in Istanbul opens in Yerevan

The National Museum-Institute of Architecture of Armenia hosted the opening of the “Armenian Architects in Istanbul in the Era of Westernization” exhibition on Wednesday.

The exhibition was attended by Rakel Dink, the widow of the slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink and the Chair of Board of the “Hrant Dink Foundation”.

Present at the exhibit were also Sevan Karabedoglu, the Chairmen of the Board of Directors of the union of architects HAYCAR, and Ashot Grigoryan, the Director of the National Museum-Institute of Architecture of Armenia.

The exhibition is organized by “Istanbul as Europe’s Cultural Capital in 2010,” “Hrant Dink Foundation,” HAYCAR, National Museum-Institute of Architecture of Armenia.

In September works included in this exhibition will be exhibited in Vanadzor and Gyumri.  Read more... (135 words)

Karabakh Peace Process ‘Nearing Implementation Phase’

A senior U.S. diplomat said international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are set to enter “the implementation phase” as he advocated the European Union’s greater role in the peace process on Wednesday.

Testifying before a key committee of the European Parliament, Robert Bradtke, the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, reiterated international mediators’ hopes that the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will reach a framework agreement at their upcoming meeting in Kazan, Russia.

“As we move from this stage of the process — from negotiations to agreement, to implementation — I think there will be more room for all countries to do more, to have a larger role in supporting the peace process. And I think that’s certainly true for the European Union,” he said.  Read more... (595 words)

Pressure on Facility Owner Forces Cancellation of Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention in Armenia

A convention organized in Vanadzor by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenia did not come to fruition, according to a press statement issued by Jehovah’s Witnesses on Tuesday.

“Just a few hours before the start of their ‘Let God’s Kingdom Come!’ District Convention at a rented auditorium in Vanadzor, Armenia, Jehovah’s Witnesses were forced to leave the facility because the owner refused to honor the contract, effectively canceling the Witnesses’ convention,” reads the press release, which continues as follows:  Read more... (457 words)

Experts in Yerevan: No dramatic developments in relations with Armenia likely in post-election Turkey

Most experts in Armenia believe Turkey’s parliamentary elections that were held last Sunday will hardly open a new page in Armenian-Turkish relations.

They say Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been led by current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to a landslide victory, will hardly introduce any major changes in terms of Ankara’s relations with Yerevan and Baku.

Turkologist Artak Shakaryan says: “Azerbaijan will remain a priority direction for Turkey. They will try to make some steps towards progress in relations with Armenia, but at the same time will be careful not to harm relations with Azerbaijan or hit Azerbaijan’s interests.”  Read more... (575 words)

Turkish PM Erdogan’s party strengthening positions in Islamic world

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a predictable victory in the country’s parliamentary elections last weekend, receiving 49.9 percent of the vote. The Republican People’s Party that was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the father of all Turks) gained 25.9 percent of the vote.

Thus, for the third consecutive time a force espousing “neo-Ottomanism” as a state ideology has registered a landslide victory in Turkish parliamentary elections.

AKP’s first success came in June 2002 when in parliamentary elections it managed to win 363 seats in the 550-member Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The party was founded in August 2001 by former members of the moderate conservative wing of the banned Turkish Islamic Virtue Party. Its leaders are current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.  Read more... (583 words)

Armenia Fined By European Court For Yerevan Evictions

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered the Armenian authorities to pay 12,000 euros ($17,300) to two former Yerevan residents who were forcibly evicted from their home as a result of a controversial redevelopment of the city center.

Nelli Minasian and her daughter Yelena Semerjian owned a tiny apartment in an old house in a Yerevan neighborhood that was bulldozed in 2003-2007 to make room for expensive residential and office buildings.

Hundreds of local families were displaced in the process. Many of them staged protests, saying that financial compensation offered to them was set well below the market value of their homes because of government corruption.  Read more... (401 words)